Anatomy of a Filipino

The Anatomy of a Filipino By:

Prof. Felix Bautista

All: I like to think that I am a Filipino, that I am as Good, a Filipino as Anyone.

Girls: My heart thrills, when, I Hear, the National anthem, being played.

Boys: And my Blood Rises, when, I see our flag, Fluttering in the breeze.

All: And Yet, I find myself asking, How Filipino Am I, Really?

Boys: My First Name is American.

Girls: My Last Name Is Chinese.

Boys: When I' am with Girlfriends or more correctly, when, I' am with my Friends, who happen to be girls

- I talk to them in English.

Girls: If they are thirsty, I buy them, a Bottle of American coke.

Boys: If they are hungry, I treat them, to an Italian Pizza pie.

All: And when, I have the money, I give them a real Chinese Lauriat.

Boy (solo): Considering all these, considering my taste, for many things foreign, what right do I have, to call myself, a Filipino?

Girls (solo): Should I not call myself, a culture orphan? The illegitimate child of many races?

All: Rightly or wrongly, whether we like it or not, we are the end products, of our history, fortunately or unfortunately, our history is a co-mingling, of polyglot influences.

Boys: Malayan and Chinese.

Girls: Spanish and British.

Boys: American and Japanese.

All: This is historic fact, we can not ignore, a cultural reality we can not escape, form to believe otherwise is to indulge in fantasy.

Boy (solo): I must confess, I' am an extremely confused, and Bewildered young man. Wherever I' am, whatever I may be doing, I' am Bombarded, on all sides, by people who want, me to search for my national identity.

All: Tell me the Language I speak should be replaced, by Filipino; they urge me to do away with things foreign to act and think, and buy Filipino.

Girl (solo): Even in art, I' am getting bothered and Bewildered.

All: The Writer should use Filipino, as his medium, the nationalists cry.

Boys: The Painter should use his genius, in portraying themes purely Filipino, they demand.

Girls: The Composer should exploit, endless Possibilities, of the haunting kundiman, they insist.

All: