Freedom. A word so powerful it belies you to longing for it, yet so delicate to the throes of the present as it was in the past. And here we are on the 124th anniversary celebration of the momentous declaration of independence of the Philippines from a foreign oppressor. Tell me, what have we made sense of the freedom we attained, as Filipinos?

Over a century ago, our forefathers have fought tooth and nail, papers and ink to fight for the liberty of our country, tired of the indifference of our colonial overlords. We have taken to action against the Spaniards, the Americans, and the Japanese. And for the past century, we have been living in this Eden where our freedom has gone uncompromised. Yet, as years have passed, we are burdened with different challenges detriment to it.

We have come to many interpretations of how we understand the word ‘freedom’. Often times, and arguably the most common, we act with the hand of prejudice puppeteering our every actions and, invoke the word ever so nonchalantly, conceitedly thinking that the person on the other side of the argument would turn the other cheek.

We have direly forgotten that our freedom has always had consequences. These consequences have varied greatly from the times our ancestors and forefathers have dwelled, but it is a consequence we are burdened all the same: to exercise it with responsibility and civility, because freedom does not excuse us from consequence. For instance, one can actively participate in discriminatory actions online, but it does not thoroughly excuse them from the repercussions of doing so. It is one of the many things that happen daily, which leads it to another point.

We often take our freedom for granted, rather we take for granted the things convenient to us because we have our freedom. Often than not, we forget to honor the history and the people who have made it possible. Aside from commonly foregoing to learn the past that have led to the peace we dwell in today, we find ourselves in a society where our historic figures are desecrated, and there is little to no appreciation of the effigies of our history. The majority of the people in the country does not bother attending flag ceremonies anymore in school and only consider it as a chore, and on top of it, forget the words and the songs that go with it. And to think that is bare minimum.

Consequentially, it relegates to the warped idea of freedom we have. This can be seen upon as a form of freedom where we forego our basic, nationalistic, and patriotic duties for the sake of the idea. An irony on itself. Which begs the question, what is freedom? And what does it truly mean to be free?

I hope today, as we celebrate the country’s Independence Day, we take the time to reflect and think what brand of freedom we impose to ourselves as a society. Freedom, in itself, has always been a responsibility and has its consequences. It is best to think that we are still battling for freedom, however, this time it is an entirely different battle than our forefathers had. It is in our efforts that we may hope to reflect what it means to be truly free.

[DOS CENTIMOS]

Column by Ton Sierolf Cairo