The great Filipino dream

Walk inside the home of the quintessential Filipino working-class family – perhaps like the blue-collar workers or the minimum wage earners – and in these homes, it’s very likely that you will find vignettes of the great Filipino dream. 

Whether the home is a makeshift living quarter built from a hodgepodge of materials in maze-like shantytowns or a small concrete house in a government resettlement site or a one-room apartment in a dingy walk-up mid-rise building, there’s a space reserved for the fulfillment of this dream.

You won’t miss it of course, because it’s displayed there for every visitor to see and for every family member to be proud of – either hanging on a wall or displayed on a corner table.

These are the diplomas and graduation photos of the children in the family – from the eldest to the youngest – a product of the parents’ blood, sweat and tears. 

Whether the graduate just finished pre-school or has now completed tertiary education, that photograph or piece of paper certifying the son or the daughter’s great achievement is there on the wall or somewhere in the house. Such fixtures in the typical Filipino households have been immortalized in movies and teleseryes, too. Look closer and you’ll see these diplomas and grad photos splattered on walls in those scenes depicting Filipino homes.

In some homes, some of the diplomas have faded through time; while some show water marks, perhaps due to leaks on the roof or molds; some are in cheap and chipped wooden frames while some are bordered by intricate and stylish designs of brown, dark blue or what-have-you. 

The photographs – of young and old graduates, sometimes in overdone make-up – are portraits that show the children’s deep sense of accomplishment and their parents’ great Filipino dream.

That Filipino dream is actually a simple one – a good education. For one believes that with it, one can leave something behind for one’s children to build on; with it, one can find a better job; with it, one can reach one’s full potential; with it, one will not only survive but thrive. In short, with it, one can dream and live those dreams. 

It’s not a lot to ask for. In fact, in some countries, they would even