Kaninang umaga, pagkapasok sa opis, natyempuhan ko tong article na to by Manuel L. Quezon III sa PDI, mga tidbits about our history na pag nalaman mo... parang ang masasabi mo "ay ganun?" kaya naisipan kong i share sa inyo...

Another thing that afflicts our Independence Day celebration is the color blue in the national flag. It has the wrong hue. In 1998, it was decided that the dark blue feature of our flag for generations had to be changed. Since 1919, the year our flag was again allowed to be displayed, it has carried a dark blue hue. This was the flag raised at the proclamation of the Commonwealth, and for which the veterans fought in Bataan and Corregidor. This was the flag that was raised in independent splendor in 1946, the flag Marcos tried to change in 1981, a move that was roundly rejected. This was the flag that covered Ninoy Aquino's coffin and flew proudly at Edsa in 1986.

The same people who had sought to change the flag during the time of Marcos used the centennial anniversary in 1998 to change the color of the flag. Since the change was mandated by a law, the change is legal. But what happened? It has turned out that the color that the Marcos-era historians insisted was the "true" or at least, the original blue of our flag. But it is in a shade that the manufacturers cannot produce (they claim that the shade of blue in the original flag cannot be made in nylon, which is what most of our flags are made of these days). So the result is we have flags that flout the law; we pledge allegiance to a flag that is manufactured in shades that do not conform with the law; and no one is doing a damned thing about it.

The symbols of a country are more than mere decorations. They are the physical representations of our sovereignty. When, for reasons of bureaucratic pride or stupidity, or manufacturing incompetence or inconvenience, these symbols are violated, then it cannot be said that we have a country authentically under the rule of law. We have, since the Marcos years, viewed the flag as decoration: Malacañang, for one, which only had one flag for generations, has since 1998 dozens of flags (a case of overkill), lined along streets leading to it. The law states we must respect our flag; when the flag is torn and tattered, it must be burned with dignity. This is obviously impossible in a country in which the government spends millions to buy flags in varying shades of blue, which are then allowed to fly until they are in tatters--an act which at every instance constitutes a crime punishable under the law. But it is the government that leads in the criminal abuse of the Filipino flag.

Hmm... mag-isip isip tayo... Pilipino ka ba?