The Dirty and Calloused Hands of My PeopleBy

8/13/2019 The Dirty and Calloused Hands of My PeopleBy

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The Dirty andCalloused

Hands of MyPeopleBy:

Cyrill N.TanMy land oforigin has


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made its markonto the world

as the countrywhichcitizens

serve othernations. From

the


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generations ofthe past and

the presentwehave been

known to theworld as

nannies to


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their kidswhile our own

childrenareleft behind

motherless;as caregivers

to strangers


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while our veryown elders

areleftunattended;

and asjanitors to

sweep the


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floors of aforeign land

while our veryabode

remains soiledwith the

solitude of a


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brokenhome.Hard

and tryingtimes are

faced by theworld today.

What with


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recessionandthreats of

terrorism,even the

worldspowerful

nations have


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peoplequietlycontinue what

they dobestbeing

in service toothers.

Indeed, we


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havebeeneyed. We

have beenmocked by

the monarchsof the world

sitting on


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their talltowers as we

continueharvesting

what is tospare from

their fields.


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We havebeencalled the

country ofslaves. A

country whichcitizens are

slaves to


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foreignpeoplein distant

lands, andeven slaves

to foreignpeople in their

very own


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land!We areslaves born

and to diewith dirty

hands.If this istheir reason

to ridicule us,


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then let it be.My hands are

dirty, butthisdoes not

mean I amnot wise. My

hands are


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calloused,but this does

notmean Ilack skills and

talent. Myhands are

dirty, but this


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does notmean I am

notrich invirtues that

come rarelythese days.

My hands are


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callousedbecausewhile

the world sitsand relaxes

in the comfortof the

present, I


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have toiledmyway

making surethe future will

not be easilyshaken. I

have toiled,


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yes, andtoohard have I

toiled.I amproud of

beinga Filipino and

to that extent


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being aBulakenyo

whosehandshave been

dirty from thevery start.

Why should I


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not be proud?Even inthe tall

offices whereFilipinos

work, theirhands are

soiled, not


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withcorruption,but

with good andhard labor.

Now, that theworld is on the

brink of losing


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what itholdsmost dearly,

everybodypanics.

Everyonewho sat

relaxing all


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thesetimeshad their

seats shakenhard that they

may hit theground only

to find out


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whenthey getup that they,

too, havebeen covered

with dirt. Whoknows how to

build aship


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wrecked bystrong winds

better than theordinary

crew?Is it OKthen to be a

slave? Well,


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the answer isyes and no.

Yes, it is OKtobe a slave

only if you aredoing so that

you may set


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yourself andthe people

youcare forfree from

slavery! Webelong to a

noble race. I


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can not denymyself being

a Filipinoto anyone

becauseit shows. I

am hospitable


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, admirablyraisedin ever

y grace, patterned into th

at solid moldof bravery,

generosity,in


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dustriousness and above

all, humilityand all of

these plusthe fact that

myhands are


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dirty easilypoint out that

I am aFilipino. The

fathers andmothers

waybefore us


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did well inbeing slaves

that we maybe free. We

may not beknown tothe

world as the


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America thatflew to the

moon, orGreece with

herbrilliantthinke

rs, or even


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Japan withtechnologies

to boast; butbeing

namelessandfaceless

dont mean


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were good fornothing.

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