The Philippine national interest

There really isn’t a clear definition of the Philippine national interest; at least, it is not very clear to many Filipinos.

- PIA ROCES MORATO

Perhaps the explanation for this could be because we were colonized for over 300 years by Spain and for 48 years by the United States, not to mention we were conquered by Japan for over three years. The Philippines has therefore been exposed to much external influences that add to the fact that our national identity still needs building.

Internally, the Philippines has undergone martial law, two People Power revolts and four Constitutions that somewhat shaped our national interests a little bit more clearly. However, pursuing this in a more unified way as a nation has been rather contentious because the people are unaware of the basic foundational concepts that truly shape our national character.

In a nutshell, our national interest is simply about giving every Filipino a decent standard of living and abolishing poverty, which has been the burden of every Filipino family from time immemorial. Freedom from poverty is understood as sufficient livelihood and good education for every Filipino and the national interest must be able to provide this not only for the present generation, but for the generations that are yet to come.