Filipinos Have Big Hearts

Filipinos are well known for having extended families. Recently, my brother Jojo (who lives in California) told my cousin Honey (who lives in Oregon), that they'll visit them. They were going to Portland for a conference so they decided to come earlier so they can see Honey and her family. Honey is Filipino so it won't be a surprise if she invited Jojo, Brenda and their two boys to sleep in their house. But it was Harry, Honey's husband, and a true-blue American, who invited Jojo and his family to stay over. My brother was pleasantly surprised and told Harry he must be getting more and more a Filipino.

A kind person is usually referred to as having a big heart. And it implies that (s)he has room for others in his/her life. Filipinos must generally have big hearts. How else can they open their houses to others if that is not so? I think of Papa Domy and the fact that his brood of seven children live within his and Mama Luchie's place, or nearby? (Not to mention that I'm a squatter in Honey's pad). I think of Ate Ched and how her house is the open house of the Bagatsolons who live nearby? (That means free playstation, snacks, internet, playmate and even room).

Filipinos must have big hearts. And that's not only in having open houses. What about the open hands to give? Why indeed is the Philippines having such good GNP lately? That's because of the multitude of OFWs who send their hard-earned cash to their parents, their brothers and sisters, their cousins, their inaanaks, their I-don'-know-what-relation. I think of Jojo and Brenda and how they are the source of never-ending financial, emotional, financial help to me and the rest of the Sosoban, Bagatsolon, Saco, Canlas, and myriad other families. Multiply that with the millions of Filipinos abroad who regularly call, email, send cash, send balikbayan box, text, and we can get a slight picture of these OFWs investment into their families back home.

The Philippines is one of the countries euphemistically called "developing countries." Its poverty has caused it to be one of the top exporters of labor. We are not always a race that people look up to, nor do we many times look at ourselves and give ourselves a pat on the back. But I won't hesitate to say that we Filipinos have big hearts. Our GNP should always be rising. The investment that Filipinos invest with their hearts should make our economy bullish, if nothing else.