Stop dreaming, she isn’t ours

Let’s all stop dreaming that the girl who almost made it to the title of “American Idol” is a Pinay, just like you and me. Remember, she was born, grew up and lived all her life in the United States. Yes, she did say something about knowing her roots, but perhaps that was calculated to rouse the Filipino votes which, actually helped to get her the Number Two ranking. But let us disabuse our minds of the idea that Jessica Sanchez thinks of herself as a Filipina.

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And, obviously, some sectors in the United States also want to impress on her the fact that she is an American citizen. Note that they did not invite the winner of AI to do the honors of singing the American National Anthem as well as God Bless America during the Memorial Day rites at the nation’s capital. And yesterday it was announced that she is going to sing at the Pacquiao-Bradley fight in Las Vegas on Saturday (Sunday in the Philippines). Jessica Sanchez will sing the National Anthem, but not that of the Philippines. She will sing the Star Spangled Banner, not our Lupang Hinirang. And remember how fervently she sang “God Bless America, My home, sweet home” at the Memorial Day ceremony?

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As for the Philippine Anthem, I think Pacquiao had already chosen a 14-year-old girl, a Filipina, I believe, since she speaks Tagalog, to sing for him before the fight. I only hope they also asked the National Historical Commission to check on the way this girl will render the anthem, and warn her that any distortions could mean trouble as there is already a law that penalizes those who sing it improperly.

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Has Senator Miriam Santiago never head of the saying “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”? Reacting to the suggestion of lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre that she undergo psychological testing before she reports to the International Court of Justice, lest she ruin the image of the country, La Miriam’s reaction showed that she never heard of the famous Golden Rule. A news report quoted as saying (in an aggrieved manner, I understand), “Please do not ask me that… I feel very insulted… it’s very offensive, it’s very rude and discourteous to me…”

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Obviously, indeed, she does not think that those she had yelled at, insulted and threatened during the impeachment trial of her friend, Renato Corona, had ever felt insulted or that she had been offensive, rude and discourteous, to quote her own words. Does that mean she is the only one privileged to treat people that way? By the way, the man who made the suggestion (and probably the one who instigated the report to the International Court of Justice as well) was the same Vitaliano Aguirre, who had the temerity to clap his hands over his ears while she was berating somebody.

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When I was in Manila recently, we heard Sunday mass at the San Antonio Church in Makati and were introduced to one of her brothers, the one, I think, who used to be a high official of the Air Force. He laughed when he saw the expressions on my face and that of my sister when he was identified as “the brother of Miriam”. Ah yes, he said in Ilonggo, “Miriam. She is very maisug (brave) a typical Ilongga”. I didn’t remind him anymore that we were Ilonggas also, and didn’t wish to be measured against his sister.

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Well! Our MassKara is truly going places! The latest is that it won the first prize in the contest of participants in the Filipino advanced Independence Day celebration in New York City. The parade passed through the popular Madison Avenue where thousands must have watched it. Many Pinoys in the U.S., I heard, are still talking about the feat of Bacolod’s festival that had also won the championship in the recent “It’s Showtime” program of ABS-CBN that was shown world-wide.

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I continue to be dismayed by the practice of President Noynoy Aquino to speak in Tagalog even when he is addressing groups abroad as in the U.S. and the United Kingdom lately. Hasn’t anybody ever told him that many of the Pinoys in those areas are non-Tagalog speaking, especially those who have been away for many, many years now? And what about the foreign media trying to cover him – does he not care that he does not communicate with them? Me, I just change channels when he goes on like that, and I know a lot of people who do that, too.*

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