333 years; but it seems to be just like yesterday that the Spaniards were here still controlling our minds, beliefs and lives, but tell me, is it any different now? I find it hard to accept that we seem to have forgotten what our forefathers fought for, what they teach us in school about a writer who fought the wars with his mighty pen and one who showed his pride by fighting wars with his sword ready to die for his nation or the people who take so much pride in being a Filipino when in reality it seems to be more of something to be ashamed of.

What's missing? Historical reminders? Present conditions? Are these not enough to remind us that we're meant for more than what we have now. The freedom our forefathers fought for did not have a picture of public servants having thick wallets, of Filipinos trying so hard to be COCONUTS (brown outside but white inside), of people who are ashamed of their own fellow country men in times of mistakes and can never forgive them; we talk so much of UNITY, do we even know what it is? Don't swallow everything they tell you or show you, ASK QUESTIONS. The system will always have a hidden agenda no matter how 'win win' the situation seems; in the talk about a nation, nothing is as it seems. Before we apply for that great paying job abroad, let's look back and see who really needs our services; another world power, or our nation? My dear countrymen, I ask, HAVE WE FORGOTTEN?