What's the difference between nationalism and patriotism? Manolo Quezon explains

“Do we need to be proud of what's going on in the Philippines to commemorate and celebrate June 12?”

This was the question posed by Howie Severino on his podcast, during an interview with Manuel Quezon III, ahead of the 125th Philippine Independence Day on June 12.

The grandson of the second President of the Philippines is more popularly known as Manolo Quezo, an accomplished writer and historian.

“I think we need to distinguish patriotism from nationalism," Manolo said. “Ang ugat ng maraming mga complaint ay kulang tayo sa nasyonalismo."

Manolo said that nationalism is defined by Merriam-Webster as “loyalty and devotion to a nation.”

“'Yung bayan, ito talaga ang parang — 'yun ang native sa atin. 'Yung konsepto ng bayan, na bayan katulad ng iyong barangay, bayan katulad ng iyong bansa,” he said.

Manolo added that a country or nation is made up of a government’s baggage, its management systems, and societal forms.

“So basically, what I'm trying to say, kung gagawin mong komplikado at ipapasok mo lahat ng mga -ismo, du'n medyo tagilid ang pakiramdam natin,” Manolo said. “Dahil medyo mahina ang ating tiwala at pagkakaintindi pagdating sa mga institusyon, sa papel na ginaganap ng mga ito at ang silbi nila sa atin bilang mga ordinaryong tao.”

“Ngunit kung bayan ang pag-uusapan, lupa, lugar kung saan tayo nanggaling, location ng ating mga damdamin kasi nandito ang pamilya natin, pagkain natin, pananampalataya natin — malakas na malakas,” he added. “But kung may pananaw tayo na bahagi tayo ng isang sistema ng pamamahala, sistema kung saan inaalagaan at binibigyan ng aruga ang bawat miyembro ng ating lipunan, 'yun ang hindi ko alam. Feeling ko kapos na kapos ang ating pakiramdam doon.”

With this, Manolo said that patriotism and nationalism are still shown in the small things, such as spending money on Philippine flags and hanging it up until it fades.

“Kahit papaano, there’d be a spike dun sa mga playlist na may patriotic songs at mga folksong. Maraming kakain ng ating sariling pagkain sa araw na iyon at kahit paano, maraming mag-iinuman, mag-to-toast and that sort of thing,” he said.

“‘Yung iba sasabihin hindi malalim but, e, kailan ba kailangan maging malalim ang isang kaarawan, hindi ba? Salu-salo siya, e. Paraan para magkaisa ang isang pamilya.” he added. “And I think on that sense, kahit walang ginagawa ang pamahalaan o kahit ordinaryo lang ang gagawin ng pamahalaan, kahit paano makikilahok tayo.” —JCB, GMA Integrated News