QUEZON City, Philippines (January 18) – Baltazar: “My blood is not Pinoy, but my heart is Pinoy.”
Foreigners or half-Filipinos playing for a sport team is not new in the Philippines or in other countries, for that matter. Other countries are also recruiting other players from a different ethnicity. In our country, where being able to speak good English is a source of pride, still, there are some who are raising issues against someone being a half-Filipino and not being a pure-blooded Filipino.
I don’t have any problem having ahalf-Filipino playing for our country. Actually, it is inspiring that these so-called not-so “pure” Filipino are giving their service to the Philippine flag, they do their best just to give pride and honor to our beloved country. The Philippine Azkals contributed so much in introducing the sports football in the Philippines, coz’ if it weren’t for them, some of us would still be ignorant of this kind of sport.
Definitely, some of us are also dreaming of having all pure-blooded Filipino in the Football team or in any sport representing our country, but producing something like this is not easy. Yes, there are a lot of talented and enthusiastic football players in our country but it takes time, effort and of course, money to support and train them to be as good or should I say, better than the Azkals players today. Maybe, if the government gives funds as well as their full support to this kind of sport perhaps, it may be possible to have a football team that has all pure Filipino members.
A true Filipino is when you’re giving honor and serving your country with all your heart, the Azkals is a great example of this and I’d bet the team members are proud to represent the Philippines even those members who grew up in other countries. Choosing the Philippines instead of the other country they grew up is a big sacrifice already.
In spite of all the victories Azkals brought to our country, it is heartbreaking that some of us are still making big issues about Azkals, being only half-Filipinos. Even the Constitution does not discriminate between the “pure” Filipino and the half-Filipino so why should we? In fact, these people are Filipino whole-heartedly. Those people who called the Azkals as not pure Pinoys are the people who doesn’t know the meaning of what a real Filipino is. For me, looks, language or race doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s in your heart? If your heart utters that you’re a pure Pinoy then you should follow it. Bashing and raising issues against our fellow Pinoys will bring us nowhere.
(written by Mia Lydia Caragay, edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Lovely Ann Cruz)
