My country -in dependence

How ironic is it that two words that make up "independence" mean precisely the opposite? What stand between "independence" and "in dependence" is just a little space that brings a world apart in meaning.

My country has been officially independent for... oh, how many years now? Are we counting from world war 2 or insisting the year Aguinaldo raised the flag over a hundred year ago? Does it matter? For the average Filipino, does independence really mean anything apart from day off school or work?

When you think about it, my country, far from standing strong on her own, is rather deeply "in dependence" of a multitude of things-the goodwill of nature not to send us any more natural disasters, the billion of dollars sent by overseas workers whom we cannot convince to stay in the country, a government that seems to exist only for the purpose of stealing from the people who depend most on it.

Which beg the question: Can't we count on ourselves for anything?

As an independent nation, we are free to make of our lives what we want. We are free to build the kind of country we want.

But we would still be heading nowhere if we don't first find out what truly went wrong in the last 109 years, and accept and address these costly mistakes. We need to work harder to unfetter ourselves from the chains that keep us from being truly free. Only then can we start charting a new course toward a truly independent Philippines.

My Father

One of the greatest lessons my father taught us is that money isn't everything. He shunned offers for career advancement and other things that meant time away from his children. Others took this as a lack of ambition on his part. Truth is he had ambition, but it wasn't like anyone else's - it didn't involve having a big house, a fat bank account, and luxury cars. What he aspired for was to be a good father, to be able to devote his time to his kids, and guide us through every stage of our lives.

It certainly wasn't easy for him. His faith has been tested a number of times but he has not faltered in his belief. I think there's a particular reason he makes such a wonderful father, it's because he does not get in the way of the grand plan for his kids. He recognizes that he is here to guide us and teach us sound judgment, but not to call the shots for us.

He constantly reminds us that whatever consequences result from our independently - made decisions will be for us to face independently, as well, and this has made my sisters and I very cautious in the things we do.

My father understand that he does not own us because there is a greater Being that placed us here, therefore he never acts like he deserves to be treated in a certain way or that we owe him anything for all he does for us. He never stakes claim on the achievements that we had. He is content to stay on the sidelines where he is often hardly noticed, and let us enjoy all the glory.