It's All About Respect (also on Facebook)
CJ and I went to the Philippine Consulate General in L.A. today. We arrived there at around 2:30 pm, took a number - which happened to be number 889 - and waited for our turn. The moment we sat down to wait, they announced the next number, "774." Sheesh. All we could hope for was that we'd be called on time (they close at 5). Maybe some of you are already thinking, "Well duh, you should have gone there first thing in the morning." But I won't apologize for not being there at 9am or earlier, for several reasons: First, we did make it on time, and had our business there settled. Second, people that had numbers just before us were there at 9 or 10am, and they had to spend their whole day at the consular office WAITING (They had a TV, but all it showed was how to correctly fill out application forms). We even heard some people comment that it would have been better if they arrived there in the afternoon. And last but not the least, we came there right at the perfect time - we were able to witness dual citizenship applicants take their oath. In the middle of calling numbers and names, the office made an announcement, "All dual-citizenship applicants stand by the flag to take your oath." There were about 10 of them, more or less, that stood by the flag, which was at the very same room where people like me were waiting for their turn to be called. As a consular officer led the people in taking their oath, CJ noticed that there were applicants that weren't even reciting the oath; they just stared blankly at the piece of paper they were reading and swearing by. Also too, as the consular officer led the applicants, "Repeat after me...I, state your name." "Number 819. 819. 820. 820," you can here at the background the numbers as they were being called and the indiscreet chatter of people among themselves or of people on their cellphones as they have been waiting for quite some time now. I remember a friend of mine just took her U.S. citizenship last year and was telling me the part about taking their oath - how beautiful it was, how meaningful it was, how emotional it was. I'm not sure what prompted these 10 individuals that I saw today to take their dual citizenship - maybe for property ownership, maybe for business ownership (although this may present significant tax implications). I know people take their U.S. citizenship primarily because this land presents better opportunities for them - despite the downturn in the economy - and probably people cherish their U.S. citizenship oath because this oath brings them a hope of abundance, a hope of success, a hope of a future. But for whatever reason people apply for their dual citizenship, I think our country deserves a little bit more respect. It should be a lot more than just a piece of paper you sign, or a fee that you have to pay - and it should be treated significantly both by the people applying for it and also by the people that are issuing and administering it. And I do admire the work of the Philippine consulate. Especially the one in Los Angeles. Especially that their office is the only Philippine consulate office that handles the states of California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. And although people might find some fault in their system and put the blame on them why people don't pay much attention to things like oath-taking - all I wanted is for us Filipinos, in general, to treat our country with a little more dignity, with a little more respect. And again not only with how we treat our own country, but also with how we treat others. It's easy to be conscious about racism; to not offend others; but it is harder making sure that we are not being a racist towards our own country. Because come to think of it, racism is about one thing and one thing alone - disrespect.
