By RAFFY GUTIERREZ
Every June 12, we are told to celebrate our “freedom”—to wave the flag, sing the anthem, and post feel-good quotes about independence. But what exactly are we celebrating? Our forefathers fought and died for liberation from foreign rule, dreaming of a proud, prosperous, and self-reliant nation. More than a century later—is this really it? Is this what true “Independence” looks like?
Let’s stop pretending. We may have political sovereignty on paper, but we are still enslaved by poverty, outdated laws, institutionalized corruption and incompetence, and a cultural mindset that keeps us docile and distracted. While our Asian neighbors—Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, even Indonesia—blazed ahead with bullet trains, world-class infrastructure, manufacturing, and strong governance, the Philippines remains trapped in mind-numbing mediocrity. We’re still fighting over basic necessities. Still importing rice from countries that once asked us how to grow it. Still begging for foreign investment like a desperate nation with no identity.
Let’s talk about transportation—because this alone reveals how backward we’ve become. In 2025, we still don’t have a nationwide railway system. We’re stuck with buses, jeepneys, and a dysfunctional MRT-3 line that should have been retired years ago. And while we wallow in breakdowns, Jakarta—yes, Jakarta—went from chaos to competence. They built a modern, clean, efficient MRT system from scratch, fully integrated with a real urban plan. They’re already planning over 200 kilometers of new railway in the next five years. What have we done in the same span? Poured billions into a 25-year-old zombie train line limping through EDSA, held hostage by red tape, corruption, and the same tired excuses.
Technologically, we’re even worse. Our laws scare off foreign tech investors. Our internet is slow, overpriced, and unreliable—one of the worst in Asia. You pay premium prices for connections that wouldn’t pass in rural Vietnam or Thailand. And in many parts of the country, there’s still no internet at all. Hell, some barangays don’t even have consistent electricity. In 2025. While our neighbors move toward smart cities and AI-driven economies, we’re here arguing over SIM registration and fighting online scams with press releases. The so-called DICT? A dumping ground of political appointees with zero background in real tech leadership. They brag about half-working government apps and “free WiFi” that nobody can actually connect to. The rest of the world is building the future—we can’t even establish a true National ID.
Even in our most personal choices, we are not free. The Philippines and the Vatican are the only two places left on Earth without divorce. (And let’s be honest—the Vatican isn’t even a real country, it’s a global religious institution. Of course it doesn’t have divorce.) Meanwhile, we force millions of Filipinos to stay trapped in failed, loveless, even abusive marriages, while hypocritically judging those who choose to live together out of love, survival, or dignity. We look down on “live-in” couples, but we deny legal divorce. We preach “family values,” yet deny people the right to start a real family with someone they truly love. That’s not morality. That’s both religion and state-enforced misery.
Anti-divorce advocates love to scream that divorce will destroy the sanctity of marriage—as if legal divorce magically causes people to stop loving each other. By that logic, every country on Earth that legalized divorce should already be full of broken homes and zero married couples. But they’re not. The truth? These people just don’t want to admit their outdated beliefs no longer serve the realities of modern life. It’s time they stopped forcing everyone else to live by their delusions. This isn’t about preserving families. It’s about controlling people. And it’s long past time to call it what it is: hypocrisy wrapped in moral arrogance, weaponized to keep others from moving on and living free.
And let’s be real—our leaders are a disgrace. We are consistently ranked among the most corrupt nations in the world. Corruption here isn’t just about stealing funds—it’s about stealing the future. It’s about normalizing dysfunction, rewarding stupidity, and letting criminals run the show while the rest of us clean up the mess. Why should Filipinos feel patriotic when their government treats them like garbage? Why should anyone love a country that refuses to love them back? This is why the average Filipino no longer looks up to their leaders—they mock them, avoid them, or migrate to escape them. There’s no inspiration, no vision, no discipline at the top—so there’s apathy, frustration, and chaos at the bottom. People don’t care anymore. They just try to get through the day. Because that’s what you do when you live in a country that’s built not to help you, but to drain you.
And behind the scenes, pulling all the strings? The same handful of elite families who own 80–90% of everything: the malls, the banks, the utilities, the media. This oligarchy doesn’t care if the country moves forward. Their wealth grows whether we sink or swim. They’ve perfected the formula: keep the system just functional enough to avoid collapse, keep the masses entertained, and keep the profits flowing. Why invest in innovation or quality when mediocrity is already profitable and is the best way to keep the masses chained to their leash?
Economically dependent, technologically behind, legally antiquated, and morally confused—these are the hard truths we face behind the fireworks of Independence Day. We chant “Mabuhay ang Kalayaan!” while millions leave the country each year in search of a better life abroad. OFWs are hailed as heroes, but they are also the clearest symbol of our national failure: that we cannot provide for our own citizens at home. So go ahead—wave your little flags, repost your hollow quotes, and drown in parades and fireworks if it helps you sleep at night. But don’t dare call this freedom. Not when the nation is rotting from the inside out. Not when the laws are broken, the institutions are rotten, and the majority of Filipinos are scraping by under a system designed to keep them tired, confused, and dependent. This isn’t independence—it’s a national delusion trapped in an illusion.
And until we wake the hell up—until we tear down this diseased and disgraceful cycle of cowardice, greed, hypocrisy, and performative patriotism—and finally rebuild a country with leaders who care, laws that empower, systems that work, and people who matter—we are not free. We are just slaves in denial, clinging to symbols of a freedom we never truly earned.
We must ask ourselves today with the most brutal honesty, “are we truly free?”
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Rafael “Raffy” Gutierrez is a veteran Technology Trainer with over 25 years of experience in networking, systems design, and diverse computer technologies. He is also a popular social media blogger well-known for his real-talk, no-holds-barred outlook on religion, politics, philosophy.
