*Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope, PhD, EdD, DM
When I was still in college not so long ago, I was a political activist. I was young, idealistic, and deeply concerned about what was happening in society. I wanted to understand poverty, inequality, exploitation, and the forces that kept ordinary people powerless. I believed that remaining silent in the face of injustice was itself a form of surrender.
Sa mga pagtitipon, pagkilos, at mahahabang talakayan, nakakasama ko ang iba’t ibang uri ng aktibista. Some were moderates. Others were hardliners who passionately embraced Marxism, Leninism, or Maoism. They spoke fiercely against capitalism, American imperialism, multinational corporations, and the foreign domination of our economy. Their words were intense. Their convictions appeared unbreakable.
But one day, I noticed something that quietly disturbed me. After passionately condemning American imperialism, some of them went straight to McDonald’s. They ate hamburgers and drank Coca-Cola while continuing their discussion about defeating capitalism. Some wore American-branded shirts, shoes, and jeans. Others carried products created and marketed by the same global economic system they had just denounced. I was young, but I could already see the contradiction.
Hindi ko naman sila agad hinusgahan. Perhaps they were simply hungry. Perhaps those products were convenient, affordable, or already inseparable from modern Filipino life. Using a foreign product does not automatically make someone unpatriotic. Speaking English does not make a person less Filipino. We live in an interconnected world, and complete separation from global commerce is neither realistic nor necessarily desirable.
But that experience left me with a question that has remained with me through the years: How can we condemn foreign domination while allowing foreign powers to dominate our habits, desires, economy, ideology, and imagination?
Madaling sumigaw laban sa imperyalismo. Ngunit pagkatapos ng rally, babalik din tayo sa mundong halos lahat ng ating ginagamit, kinakain, pinapanood, at hinahangaan ay produkto ng mga bansang ating kinokondena. We rejected the imperialist in our speeches, but welcomed the imperialist into our daily lives.
The contradiction was never merely about hamburgers, soft drinks, shoes, or branded shirts. It was about something much deeper. It was about dependency. It was about a country that had achieved formal political independence but remained economically, culturally, intellectually, and strategically dependent on foreign powers.
Many years have passed, but the contradiction remains.
Today, we continue to hear people condemning imperialism. Some denounce the United States while defending China. Others condemn China while treating the United States as though it were the unquestionable guardian of Philippine interests. Some admire European powers because they associate their wealth and influence with superior institutions. Others romanticize European systems as though everything developed in the West were automatically superior to anything Filipino.
We hate one imperialist while protecting another.
Kapag ang bansang hindi natin gusto ang gumawa ng mali, galit na galit tayo. Ngunit kapag ang bansang ating kinakampihan ang gumawa ng kaparehong bagay, naghahanap tayo ng dahilan upang ipagtanggol ito. We do not always apply our principles consistently. We adjust our principles according to our chosen foreign allegiance.
Is that nationalism? No. That is foreign loyalty wearing a Filipino costume.
We must understand a basic reality of international relations: powerful nations advance their own interests. China wants to expand its influence and protect what it considers strategically important. The United States wants to maintain its global leadership and preserve its alliances. European powers continue to protect their economic, political, cultural, and strategic interests around the world. Different flags, different political systems, and different languages, but beneath their public declarations is the same enduring reality: nations pursue power and protect their interests.
Hindi sila kumikilos dahil mahal nila ang mga Pilipino nang higit kaysa mahal natin ang ating sarili. They establish alliances, provide assistance, extend loans, invest in infrastructure, sell weapons, and negotiate trade agreements because they expect something in return.
Foreign policy is not charity.
This does not mean that every partnership is harmful or that every foreign country is automatically our enemy. The Philippines needs friends, markets, investments, technology, and security cooperation. We cannot develop by isolating ourselves from the world. But friendship between nations must never be confused with permanent loyalty, blind trust, or unconditional obedience.
Walang permanenteng kaibigan sa pandaigdigang politika. Ang permanente ay pambansang interes.
If powerful countries are expected to protect their interests, why should the Philippines be ashamed of protecting its own? Why do we expect foreign governments to defend the Philippines more faithfully than Filipinos defend the Philippines? Bakit tayo nagagalit kapag pinakikialaman nila ang ating bayan, pero tayo rin ang nagbubukas ng pinto at humihingi ng kanilang basbas? Why do we complain that foreign powers are playing with us when some of our own leaders willingly place the country on their geopolitical chessboard?
Napakasakit isipin. We loudly condemn foreign domination, yet sometimes we voluntarily submit to it.
Some Filipinos behave as though defending America were automatically equivalent to defending the Philippines. Others treat criticism of China as an attack against peace itself. Still others import foreign ideologies and apply them to Philippine realities as though our own history, culture, and national experience had nothing valuable to teach us.
We have become so busy choosing among foreign powers that we have forgotten to choose ourselves.
Hindi natin kailangang maging maka-Amerika laban sa China. Hindi natin kailangang maging maka-China laban sa America. Hindi natin kailangang maging maka-Europe upang patunayang marunong tayo sa pandaigdigang politika.
We must be pro-Filipino.
We can cooperate with the United States without surrendering our independent judgment. We can trade with China without abandoning our territory and sovereign rights. We can build partnerships with Europe without approving everything its governments do. We can learn from European institutions without believing that Filipino ideas and systems are inherently inferior.
We can be friends with everyone while remaining owned by no one.
That is the meaning of an independent foreign policy. It is not isolation. It is not hatred. It is not hostility toward the world. It is the courage to declare that every agreement, alliance, loan, investment, and military arrangement must first answer one fundamental question: Is this truly beneficial to the Filipino people?
Hindi dapat ang interes ng America ang una. Hindi dapat ang interes ng China, Europe, o anumang makapangyarihang bansa. The Philippines must come first.
But saying “Pilipino Muna” is easy. Building a nation capable of standing independently is much harder.
A weak, corrupt, divided, and economically dependent country will always be vulnerable to foreign manipulation. Kapag nabibili ang ating mga lider, nabibili rin ang ating mga desisyon. Kapag mahina ang ating industriya, umaasa tayo sa produkto ng iba. Kapag kulang ang ating kakayahang pandepensa, umaasa tayo sa proteksiyon ng mas makapangyarihang bansa. Kapag gutom ang mamamayan, madali silang manipulahin ng pera, propaganda, at mga pangakong hindi naman natutupad.
When education is weak, foreign narratives become easier to implant. When corruption becomes normal, outside influence becomes easier to purchase. When political fanaticism divides the population, foreign powers do not even need to conquer us.
We conquer ourselves on their behalf.
Ito ang pinakamasakit na uri ng pananakop. Walang kailangang dumaong na dayuhang hukbo dahil tayo na mismo ang gumagawa ng trabaho para sa kanila. We insult one another, weaken our institutions, sell our resources, protect corrupt officials, and place political personalities above the national interest.
Pagkatapos, magtataka tayo kung bakit hindi tayo iginagalang ng mundo.
Respect is not begged for. It is built.
If we want the Philippines to lead rather than be ruled, we must become economically productive, intellectually independent, technologically capable, militarily credible, and morally trustworthy. We must modernize agriculture so that Filipino farmers can feed the Filipino nation. We must strengthen manufacturing so that we do not remain merely consumers of what other countries produce. We must invest in science, technology, research, and innovation. We must protect our seas, land, forests, minerals, and other natural resources from both foreign exploitation and domestic greed.
Hindi sapat na imported ang lahat ng ating hinahangaan. Dapat dumating ang araw na ang produktong Pilipino naman ang hinahanap sa buong mundo. Hindi sapat na ipinagmamalaki natin ang galing ng mga Pilipino kapag nagtagumpay sila sa ibang bansa. Dapat tayong magtayo ng isang lipunang nagbibigay sa kanila ng dahilan upang manatili, bumalik, lumikha, mamuhunan, at magtagumpay dito.
Our nurses, engineers, teachers, artists, scientists, seafarers, entrepreneurs, and workers have already proven that Filipinos can compete globally. We do not lack intelligence, talent, courage, or creativity. What we lack is unity of national purpose.
May talento tayo. May sipag tayo. May tapang tayo. May puso tayo. Ngunit madalas, watak-watak tayo.
And a divided people will always be ruled by someone more united.
Our greatest revolution must therefore begin in the Filipino mind. We must overcome the belief that everything foreign is automatically better. We must stop treating the Philippines as a temporary waiting room before leaving for another country. We must stop defining ourselves according to ideological battles created by other nations.
We need our own national vision, one rooted in Philippine history, Filipino values, and the actual needs and aspirations of our people.
This does not mean rejecting the world. Hindi natin kailangang kamuhian ang mga dayuhan upang mahalin ang sariling bayan. Nationalism must never become racism, isolationism, or hostility toward other peoples. The love of country does not require contempt for humanity.
To love the Philippines is to build it. To defend the Philippines is to strengthen it. To honor the Philippines is to refuse to steal from it.
To place Filipinos first does not mean declaring that other people are inferior. It means recognizing that no foreign government will assume primary responsibility for our future. That sacred responsibility belongs to us.
Should the Philippines someday become powerful? Yes.
Should we dream of becoming a nation capable of influencing Southeast Asia, Asia, and eventually the world? Absolutely.
But we should not dream of becoming another cruel empire. If we condemn imperialism because it exploits weaker nations, we must never celebrate the possibility of doing the same thing to others. Otherwise, we are not ending oppression. We are merely changing the nationality of the oppressor.
Hindi natin kailangang sakupin ang ibang bansa upang patunayang hindi na tayo kayang sakupin.
Let the Philippines lead through ideas, innovation, culture, integrity, diplomacy, and economic excellence. Let Filipino scientists develop technologies that improve human life. Let Filipino educators influence how the world learns. Let Filipino artists shape global culture. Let our businesses become respected international institutions. Let our diplomats become builders of peace. Let our principles inspire nations that are still struggling to find their own identity.
That is how we can lead without becoming oppressors.
The highest form of national power is not the ability to conquer another country. It is the ability to determine our own future without asking permission from anyone. It is the power to feed our people, educate our children, defend our territory, protect our resources, create our own technologies, and provide dignified opportunities to every Filipino.
We must rule our own destiny before dreaming of influencing the destiny of the world. We must master our weaknesses, govern ourselves with integrity, and build a country strong enough that no foreign power can dictate what we should believe, whom we should fight, or what part of our sovereignty we should surrender.
Balang araw, hindi na sana tayo ang bansang laging naghihintay ng utos. Hindi na tayo ang bansang walang ibang magawa kundi humingi ng tulong. Hindi na tayo ang bansang pinaglalaruan, pinaghahati-hati, at pinag-aagawan ng mga makapangyarihan.
Balang araw, tayo naman ang magbibigay ng direksiyon.
Not because we want to enslave the world, but because we have finally learned to stand before it with dignity.
That day will not come through slogans, angry rallies, online bravado, or empty nationalism. It will come when Filipinos choose country over political personality, integrity over corruption, production over dependency, discipline over division, and long-term national interest over temporary foreign approval.
Kailangan muna nating talunin ang mga imperyalistang naninirahan sa loob ng ating sariling pagkatao: ang kasakiman, pagkakawatak-watak, inferiority complex, at pagnanais na ipagkanulo ang bayan kapalit ng pansariling pakinabang.
Before we can lead the world, we must learn to lead ourselves. Before we can become powerful, we must first become united. Before we can demand respect, we must build a country worthy of respect.
The Philippines must never become the puppet, military outpost, economic colony, or ideological extension of any foreign power. We are not America’s Philippines. We are not China’s Philippines. We are not Europe’s Philippines. We are not the property of any other foreign power.
We are the Philippines.
At kapag tunay nating naunawaan iyon, darating ang araw na hindi na tayo basta pinamumunuan, ginagamit, o pinag-aagawan ng iba.
We will stand. We will build. We will lead.
Someday, the Filipino will no longer ask which imperialist should rule us. The world will instead see a people who have finally decided to govern themselves, shape their own destiny, and influence humanity through intelligence, integrity, courage, and compassion.
Pilipino muna. Pilipinas higit sa lahat. Someday, we shall lead and no longer be ruled.
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