“Don’t be a writer,” insisted local fiction writer and columnist Jessica Zafra at her talk at the Ayala Museum last August 2. The first out of the 10 reasons she gave was that the job offered little to no security. The second was that there isn’t a culture of reading in the Philippines.
It isn’t just reading, however. I think that there isn’t much of an appreciation for the arts at all in the Philippines. Philippine theater, cuisine and artistic achievement for instance, cater to a niche audience.
The situation is unsurprising given our economic situation. As sociologist Pierre Bourdieu explained, “taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier.” The extent to which one is able to appreciate culture is an economic identifier. This shouldn’t be a problem in itself—many Filipinos do have more pressing concerns than the state of the arts in our country. It does become a problem, however, when the government and our nation’s stakeholders don’t see the need to cultivate culture, nor see it as an instrument for nation-building.
For instance, the Commission on Higher Education supposedly had the best interests of the nation in mind when they issued Memorandum Order No. 20, series of 2013. The memorandum causes Filipino to be taught to Grades 11 and 12, rather than on the tertiary level. It also implies, though, that the value of Filipino literature is not enough for it to warrant discourse at the university level.
Another arguable instance is the view that an interest in our designers’ current take on traditional dress during the president’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) is trivial. One can insist that it distracts from the seriousness of the important event, but that begs the question: Why isn’t fashion—a glimpse into our country’s culture and mindset at this point in history—not deemed important?
For a country like the Philippines, where geography alone is a hindrance to national identity, an appreciation of dress and language becomes even more important to societal progress—the kind that stems from a love for country. The solution for issues like brain drain, corruption and apathy can be kickstarted by the cultivation of at least an interest in an inclusive national culture—“inclusive,” because our national culture should bridge all gaps be it geographic or economic.
In light of this, I don’t believe that the coverage on SONA fashion is as bad as it is made out to be. I would, of course, prefer that the senators were less extravagant; their excess is insensitive in light of the hardship that many of our countrymen face. But because the SONA is something that’s relevant to our entire country, and the discourse on dress— whether it is mocking or critical—involves many Filipinos from all walks of life, there may be some value to the SONA red carpet coverage.
The same goes for any aspect of the arts. Culture may be an economic identifier, but that doesn’t mean that it should belong to a niche. Filipinos should realize that their craft, cuisine, way of life, contributes to that underlying something that makes us uniquely Filipino. When we show little appreciation for it, when our government issues policiesthat demean it, then it should come as no surprise that our progress is at a standstill.
Perhaps there is no culture of reading in the Philippines. And perhaps this aggravates the lack of security that writers—and even artists—typically experience. But when people like Zafra keep on anyway, it gives me hope.
