I was astounded to see connections between media and class status and identity in this article regarding the history of Filipino immigration. Although, I do think this web of connections is quite ironic since its purpose is to minimize the immigration from the Philippines to America, but it mostly favors the middle-class Filipinos on whether they immigrate or remain at home. Therefore, I understand why the author describes “silent heroes” as a middle-class concept.
Additionally, I cannot believe that one’s class status determines how much “Filipino” one is. This view reminds me of the relationship between power and truth: The elites, middle-class Filipinos in this context, have the power to decide that they are the “real” Filipinos or “heroes” regardless if they remain in the Philippine or immigrate to America; whereas, the lower class does not have a justification for their immigration and thus internalize their actions as a betrayal to their country.
As an immigrant myself, I do not think the concept of transnationalism is a bad thing since this serves as “bridge” to help Filipino immigrants cope with cultural shock and other issues. I can relate to this because I feel nostalgic when thinking about the Vietnamese cultures from my long-gone childhood in Viet Nam. Moreover, the author describes the cultural transaction as materialism despite that some materials are not related much to the Philippine cultures (e.g. media gossips). This statement relates to the concept of power and truth again, specifically the power is operated on the media and the media does have its own power (through repetition of “truth”) to convey the people what is needed in their lives. It is quite interesting how the relation between power and truth can expand to further to other concepts such as class, identity, patriotism, and media.
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