Among the first things that an observant visitor to any American city notices are the American flags fluttering on flagpoles of public and private buildings. Although there is no law that mandates edifices to fly the national flag, most prominent buildings have flagpoles from which the Stars and Stripes proudly flies.
Not only do most major American buildings fly the American flag, but they also fly flags that are clean and respectable-looking. The handsomeness of the Stars and Stripes makes the entire spectacle truly pleasing to the eye.
By contrast, few buildings in Philippine cities fly the national flag. Only buildings housing big corporations do so. Every public building should fly the flag, but this is not the case. There are numerous government edifices that do not appear as such because of the absence of a Philippine flag flying outside them. It is bad enough that most Philippine buildings--public as well as private--do not fly the national flag. What is worse is that in those instances where a flag is flying, the flag is almost always dirty and unrespectable looking, even embarrassing. The red, white and blue of the flag are discolored and its fabric appears close to being reduced to tatters. One gets the impression that government agencies and private business establishments think that it is enough to fly a Philippine flag, no matter how disgraceful-looking. This attitude, if true, is a great mistake.
If a building, public or private, cannot fly a clean and respectable-looking Philippine flag, it would be better if it did not fly one at all. Not only is a dirty and tattered flag an insult to the community, but it is also unpleasing to the eye.
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