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| Ambassador Cruz addressing the UPAAS members (Photo grabbed from UPAAS' Flickr account) |
Im a fan.
I have seen the ambassador before in some of the events at FOWS- STP where I am a volunteer. Commonly referred to as Amba’, she was there at lunches, final presentations, beauty pageants, and what-have-yous. Always supportive and ever approachable. I heard that she hails from the same province as mine so it should be easy to talk to her because we have something in common (pardon my indulgence) but I never dared approached her because Im shy hihi
The first time that I heard her speak was at the UPAAS “Pakiusap” concert where she thanked and encouraged everyone, sanz the cheesiness, to continue supporting the scholarship program of the organization because of its noble objectives. She then went on to stress the importance of education and helping those who do not have access to it because by doing so, we will be fostering the value of helping each other out. Those who were granted scholarships will hopefully find ways to help needy students in the future. And it will become a beautiful cycle. I don’t remember much of what she said because Im that forgetful but I will not forget how good she was as a speaker.
Last Saturday, she was a guest at the UPAAS AGM. Since she’s going back to Manila to head the Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs at the DFA, the organization prepared a short video showcasing her support to the organization from its inception in 2003 until now. I felt that she was enjoying the video as much as we were enjoying the candid moment with her, occasionally remarking “Tingnan mo, ang itim ko pa noon. Ngayon medyo maputi na.” I couldn’t help but giggle. The ambassador has the concerns of an average Filipino – kung paano pumuti. She is just one of us after all.
She gave an inspiring speech. She touched on several topics, saying that the more pictures that she sees, the more thoughts come to her mind.
These are some points that resonated in me:
·
As OFWs, we are all ambassadors of the country. Cliché but true. Whatever we do or say will always
reflect on the Philippines and Filipinos.
And it’s difficult. On the one
hand, you don’t want to be an apologist for the country. On the other hand, you feel defensive every time
you feel that your motherland and your compatriots are unfairly judged by
people whose main source of information is the media or someone who had a
single unfortunate encounter with the Philippines or Filipinos. It’s like walking on eggshells 24/7.
·
As migrants, we will raise third culture
kids. In as much as we want to expose
them to different cultures, we would also want them to have that strain of
Filipino-ness (whatever that means) in them.
The challenge is how.
·
Always think of a way to give back to the
country and to the society. Help those
who could not help themselves. The
question should not just be about “which condo should I buy?” but also “how can
we help?” She also asked, “how much is
enough?”
·
Philippines will always be home. (It was
emotional to sing Lupang Hinirang and UP Naming Mahal in Singapore.)
After her talk was the ceremonial
photo-ops with the whole group. But Mitchie and I went
further, we had our photo taken with her J We knew that chances like these
do not come every day so we went to her and asked, “Maam, pwede pong
magpapicture?” To which, she replied “Oo naman”. And this is the proof of our fangirl moment. |
| Me, Ambassador Cruz, Mitchie (Photo grabbed from UPAAS' Flickr account) |
Most of the time, inspiration doesn't just arrive at your doorsteps. You have to go and find it.
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