Filipino roots

What reminds me always of my own identity

being born in the Philippines, a poor nation;

faith and history that nurture my thinking,

their colossal meaning shows how I am doing.

Perhaps an upbringing in my own family culture

can add a vital implication in my behavior

yes, it's pretty evident as I keep going

with my own certainty in language articulation.

Our constant struggles, miseries and beliefs

provide a perspective that comes with faith;

it's a way to get plunged into the mainstream

that life in the Philippines has shaped my whole being.

Major hurdles as reflected in various situations,

the core truth of being subject to wrestle with life,

along with the fullness of time and the so-called 'leb'20

a challenge, indeed; the incarnation of my interior sense.

It is an awareness that poverty in most parts of the country

makes me realize that something has to be done so far,

it's a person's longing to achieve that goal of going elsewhere

like in the States, UK, Australia, Hong Kong or Malaysia.

That quest for greener pastures and other human aspirations

employment takes the centerpiece as a redeeming treasure;

like a "chiaroscuro"21 in the haven of human acquisition

where hope begets hope and where faith begets faith.

Well, seeing the reality of my own people's struggles

I cannot help but be responsive to what they long for;;

a call from within drawn across the cry of the poor,

my own people, my sibling souls in the right direction.

I've developed that attitude of love and compassion

especially to those who're eclipsed by epic proportion

in their search for peace, justice and Christian thought

with their roots plunged into the depth where we are.

20 cf. Psalm 13:5. "My heart shall rejoice in your salvation." Yet the leb in Hebrew

means far more than the usual sense of "heart" in English. The leb is not merely

the seat of the emotions, but of the will, even the mind. The leb is the whole inner

person; thoughts, feelings, choices, purposes.

21 It refers to the use of light and dark in art. Many people who have spent time

painting have learned that sometimes to make a light space really bright, it has to