Who is a Filipino?

It is my deepest desire to see our nation advance and I know that I share this desire with many. Therefore, to all my fellow citizens of our one Republic of the Philippines I ask this question:

Who is a Filipino and what sets us apart as a Filipino nation distinct from all the nations of the world?

To some, the answer might come easily. To some, the answer might come hard. But for all, the answer must be found. For the answer to this question, adequately expressed, shall serve to define for us the bedrock foundation of that certain unity that binds our one people together; that same, purposeful unity that shall lead us deeper into an awareness of that characteristic Democratic will that drives our one Republic forward, under the eternal vigilance of God, in the annals of human history.

What makes us one and unique, one people and one nation, from among the one family of mankind? I believe the answer to this question shall not be adequately expressed in the common experience of just one generation but shall evolve into completeness across many generations.

What is important, in my mind, is that the question be asked.

For we have emerged from the remembrance of our Almighty God into the light of the present as a people who have fought bravely, long and hard, to win for ourselves, through war and shedding of sacred blood, this one Republic: Our one hope of true freedom and independence from fear and oppression for all our generations.

But the living memory of our martyred past along with the blood of all our heroes, known and unknown, continue to cry out to us today: How much longer, O nation, how much longer must we struggle in tears before we can begin to struggle in hope?

Let us walk in peace and goodwill with one another, serving all souls without distinction, as we begin today to write together the history of our generation for all the generations to come here at the very threshold of the third Christian millennium.

Let us be thankful to Almighty God for our native motherland!

May Almighty God bless us and keep us alive in His memory and alert to His grace until that great and everlasting Day of our joyful reunion in the land of our true and heavenly country from where we shall remain at peace forever contemplating the face of our one, true God Who is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

- EJ San Miguel