Not so. Under American rule, Commonwealth Act No. 613 (August 26, 1940) or “The Philippine Immigration Act of 1940” used the word “alien” solely throughout its wording to refer to non-natives. It’s been 80 years since and, to this day, the Philippine Government basically adheres to it and continues to implement it thru the Bureau of Immigration. It was only after 3 new laws and 1 rule that, 63 years later in 2003, Philippine law began to refer to a non-native as a “foreigner” for the first time by the enactment of Republic Act No. 9208 (May 26, 2003) or the "Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003,” so that we now use "alien" or "foreigner" interchangeably in our rules and conversations. If our laws had originally been in native language, instead of in Spanish or English, I suppose we would be referring to non-natives non-defensibly or more kindly as “travelers” or “sojourners,” the Tagalog word for a non-native being “dayuhan,” meaning “traveler” from the word “dayo” which means "to travel;" and the Cebuano word for a non-native being “langyaw” which means “traveler” or “to travel.”
So be it. Obviously, it appears Filipinos as a people are determined to allow serious “progressive” changes in their way of life proceed only ever so slowly.
Yes or maybe, the Father's will be done. Having a profound sense of how one’s days are numbered and of how the unknown end comes unexpectedly with everything to be left behind, I think Filipinos will remain a nation poor in spirit, content if they have safe shelter and enough food and clothing. In much the same way that apostle Paul testified in Philippians 4:11-13, Filipino Christians have learned how to be content with whatever they have, resilient throughout conquest, colonization, war, invasion, disaster, or pandemic. They know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. They have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether on a full stomach or an empty one, with plenty or with little. And the secret is faith in Christ who strengthens and provides to sinner or saint alike, in good time. "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth."
I'd recently been pondering the Filipino tendency to believe that God will provide, no matter what. This philosophy has been particularly visible in the pandemic. The downside of this of course is that it's often used as an excuse for poor decision making to be acceptable, or at least, accepted. The positive is that those who truly believe it, don't care what others think anyway and must have a level of inner peace that we all wish we had. Language is just sounds. I'm sure there must be many utterances that 'foreigners/aliens' make that Filipinos find on the verge of insulting or belligerent. It's just an inevitable cultural difference thing.
When I lived in Malta (2003-2010) I was an alien too! They even stated it on the national ID-card! Sting considered himself an alien in this song... (Englishman in New York)
Believing is a conscious personal choice, not a mindless cultural inclination. One is drawn near and then one is moved to personally decide to believe or disbelieve. If one chooses to believe, then he accepts and receives. Filipinos are naturally intelligent but in spirit they are not obsessed with intellectualisms or pseudo-intellectualisms as many others are. Still, if the term "philosophy" means "love of wisdom,” then love of God would be the Filipino Christian’s philosophy. And one sees in every day people’s life narratives how humble believing in the unseen Omnipotent has proven time and again as the key to every providential thing.
