The Formation of Identity in the Filipino Intellectual Not all men may be aware of the laws governing them

but even an imbecile himself knows where his faith lies. For faith to each man is inherent. The existence of laws imparted the knowledge of order to all men yet has brought about even more dispute and antagonism to the world of diverse cultures and principles. But faith, my brothers in arms, has given reason to even the most downtrodden individuals to live for what he devotes himself into. Taken from Faith and Law: An Influential Struggle Abraham Gerard Alzate The Formation of Identity in the Filipino Intellectual Thesis Statement A Reflection on the emotions of oneself is the key to the formation of an Intellectual Identity capable of handling tasks in the public sphere. My choice intellectual is Abraham Alzate, my classmate. I was given a chance to read and keep copies of several of his works. He is my intellectual because he is the perfect or the most close to perfect person who fits the category of Edward Saids Intellectual. He is an exile in the sense that his classmates and his friends make a laughingstock out of him due to his views that are very radical yet are contained in a practical sense of application. It is his idealism that sets him aside from the rest, including myself. Idealistic as he may be he has not lost his touch with reality but has gained more of it. In his work Faith and Law: An Influential Struggle, he writes down his thoughts and reflections on the limitations that humans suffer from because of the Physical, Spiritual, and Moral laws that contain them. He writes how humans have become unaware of the laws that limit them, because the laws have been forgotten due to their everyday occurrence thus giving them a right be to be called normal and gives practical examples like one cant take a one step with both feet at the same time because of gravity. He writes how faith can bring us out of this limited realm of laws and brings us closer to what it really means to live, to exist, and to go beyond what is now normal to us. His work is based on no other Philosopher but the twitching rationality and emotions of the Philosopher living in him, that he has been dealing with for the past years. He writes on faith though his very faith has been in question for long. He has been stereotyped as the Anti-Christ, the Atheist, and the Deviant in the class but however I do strongly stand by my point that Abraham is if not the only, one of the only intellectuals in I-APH. In this essay I will try to prove that A reflection on ones emotions is the key to the formation of an Intellectual Identity (Filipino in this sense) capable of handling tasks to the public sphere. I will look to Abraham and his works in order to understand how the Filipino intellectual is to be born. In Dr. Demeterios Critical Essay, The Structure of Filipino Morality, it can be deduced from the texts that Filipino Morality is not one of the destroy the evil nor shame forms of morality known to the West, but rather a what is the trend of society, and who runs society morality. This means that Filipinos tend to follow what has been set to them, because it appeals to their emotions. They consider themselves inferior intellectually and emotionally thus leading to mediocrity and in the end loss. It can also be deduced that it is easier to appeal to a Filipinos emotions than to his rationality as seen in the past done by our heros in igniting passion for revolution. My first argument is if Filipinos are more emotional then rational, then why try to build a foundation of truth on reason, when emotions can be a sufficient vindicator of reason per

se thus enabling one to build his rationality on his emotions. Recalling from my earlier classes with Sir Cadz, he said that, Without emotions one cant philosophize. It simply means that emotions are essential to philosophy and to the formation of a Filipino Identity as well because Filipinos can be referred to as emotional by nature. It was the works of Dr. Rizal that exacerbated the Filipino emotion during the reign of the Spanish rule thus resulting into a revolution, which in the middle part resulted into a formation of a pseudo-democracy under Gen. Aguinaldo. Thus I conclude that the easiest, most feasible way to come up with a Filipino Identity is to reflect on the countrys emotion and see what the countrys longings are. Since a country or a society is a mere reflection of the individual self of its constituents, I would like to put Abraham as an example of the typical Filipino. Ascribing him to be a provinciano, a student, a rebel, a martyr, and a being bounded by the laws only his faith in his beliefs can set him free from. To begin I would like to reflect on Abrahams very emotions. Why has he become emotional, why has he become a radical, why has he become deviant from a society or a public (I-APH) and the world when many of his fellow country men are doing nothing to stop the oppression caused by the very mediocre siding attitude of the Filipino Psyche? Being young and innocent, it is natural for people to have idealism. What causes emotion however is different. People may vary emotionally but emotions are all the same, they are triggered by actions. What triggers emotion is not important, but rather what it is capable of leading to. In Abrahams case, he is driven by love and passion, by kindness and goodness, by what is worthy of praise and respect. He detests all that does him harm and seeks to fix his life slowly and gently, and seek out what is best for him and for all the people around him. This is common amongst all humans, especially all Filipinos. When one reflects on what causes his emotions he will have a better understanding of who he is. For the Philippines to constitute a nation or a nationalism they must first have something in common, if the culture is so diverse that it cant be unified under one structure, then emotions will be the only way to form a nation, an identity and nationalism. Unlike the West, where pragmatism and practicality are so well professed, in the Philippines what a person wants is heavier than what a person needs, this is my mental model to prove that emotions are the key to a national identity. It is like this, in the west, to them the basic needs are more important than the basic wants because they seek survival, which is a rational thing to do; in the Philippines, the basic wants like beer, parties, cell phones weigh more than the basic needs, this is a very emotional thing to do happiness over survival. Thus in a way the Filipinos are impractical. To solve the impracticality, one must deviate from the common trend of emoting and pursue a paradigm of emotion that is in line and near equilibrium with ones rational capacity. To do this, he or she must accept that understanding the emotions is a step into progress of the entire nation. To follow ones heart and to be guided by ones rationality at the same time is stronger and more intellectual than both. Abraham might just be a common man, a struggling average student, but he has made a step not many choose to take because not many know exist and not many have the virtue to carry the responsibility of being an intellectual. People like Abraham in the Philippines lack the representation that they need; their righteous place in society is taken by the pseudo-intellectuals who have the money and power in this oligarchy. The second and final argument is that even though an Intellectual like Abraham may come into a public (I-APH), there is no longer an existence of an appreciation for his views because even in Philosophy, one is of his own beliefs and to each his own. He may represent his views on politics, and present them in very well written English but who has the time and the care to read his works. He is unrepresented no matter how hard he tries to be heard, even to his fellow intellectuals he is unheard, his views are treated as trash and his beliefs laughed at. Is this a public? Wherever the existence of Habermas public sphere may be, it surely isnt in San Beda it isnt in I-APH, in the Philippines it may only be found amongst the professors of Philosophy, or amongst the common provincianos or

even in the government owned schools like UP. Therefore, the Filipino Intellectual does exist but he is unrepresented because the elites of this country choose to have it that way. Even in the pseudo public of I-APH, these elites have successfully brainwashed a portion of the class. It is not bad to be rich, but I believe it is bad to advocate for their beliefs. The public of I-APH may be fragmented and there may just be one or two publics that exist within the categories of Habermas, even in these publics the views of this intellectual is not respected or given a chance to be expressed and understood. This leads Abraham to almost no where, to no acknowledgement of his work, and to almost no philosophizing. Though the class may be philosophical, and generally a public during PHILO classes due to fear of being reprimanded for irresponsible acts, outside PHILO classes there is minimal discourse happening. One can barely see PHILO students arguing amongst one another over a topic that was discussed in class. This was one of the main reasons I chose Abraham as my intellectual because he is among handful who actually have discourse before and after class and time of the day. He is the only one who has found the passion of emotion to write down his thoughts and to read and reflect on the works of different Philosophers. Though he may at times get grades lower than the people who dont philosophize at all, for me he is one of the only true existent philosophers within the class, within the school, and within Philippine Society as a whole. To conclude my essay, I would just like to say that Abrahams position in the fragmented public sphere of I-APH is simple; he is one of the few contributing and making it possible. He is the opposition; he is the anti-thesis of the common and accepted beliefs that render him an exile, a god that fails, an independent believer of his own faith, and most of all an amateur at work. His formation was not due to his reason entirely, but due to his passion to understand the deepest sections of his emotions. His enlightenment was due to his acceptance and reflection on his emotions, a process that is gravely needed in todays society. His intellectualism may never be given much attention to, he seeks neither attention nor fame, and he seeks only to know the truth, to speak it and to share it with others in whatever way he can. Truly then I conclude that he is an intellectual, A Filipino intellectual because he has the seal of emotions within him, something that is unique to the Filipino Psyche and cant be found in the West that easily. http://jorgeofxiamen.blogspot.com/2005/03/formation-of-identity-in-filipino.html