Back in college and law school, I was amazed by the unity and level of participation among students belonging to other regional organizations. For students from Southern Leyte (well, also from Samar and Leyte) at UP-Cebu, we tried to increase their participation through the U.P. Katilingbang Leyteno-Samareno (UP-KALESA). At U.P. Diliman, we (with Joji Abot and her contemporaries) organized and registered the U.P. Sinugdan (obviously referring to the “First Mass” celebrated at Limawasa Island, Southern Leyte – incidentally, this is being disputed by Butuan). We tried to increase the participation of our provincemates from Southern Leyte, but either we were too few or there was too little interest.
The way I see it, there are those who don’t want to be identified with Southern Leyte. This is the reason why they don’t want to become members of the organization and this is an issue that has bothered me since college. Why would someone refuse to be identified with his/her province? (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this to fan the negative aspects of regionalism. A strong tie among members of a particular province/region, by itself, is not negative.)
One of the plausible reasons is this – there may be little, or nothing, to be proud of about one’s province. Southern Leyte is the usual path of typhoons and lies along a fault line. It’s the site of some of the most horrible disasters – both natural and man-made. Southern Leyte is among the poorer provinces, and I really hope someone could step up and tell me this is no longer true.
I believe, however, that one’s love for his/her province (or country, in general), should have nothing to do with the things that make us proud of it. A parent loves a child because of that fact, and not because the child does something that makes the parent proud.
In my case, I love my province. I finished college in Cebu and law school in Diliman, but the principles and aspirations that collectively served as my anchor, wherever I go, were nurtured in Southern Leyte. We used to play and run in its muddy ricefields, and we used to fish in its inland waters and surrounding seas. We played hide-and-seek in its rolling hills, where we learned the simple things that they now call “Jungle Survival”. Indeed, among my fondest memories are from Southern Leyte. I’m a son of Southern Leyte, and I can never be prouder of that fact.
