The ties that bind the Philippines and the United States

After three days of silent contemplation, enjoying the serenity of the islands off Honda Bay in Palawan, I realized that there really exists an historical umbilical cord between the United States and the Philippines. I am not saying that the United States is our "mom" and us, the son, oh no, far from it. I just recognized that both our countries' fate are intertwined.

For one, the governments of both countries were established based on the traditions and principles of a small group of idealists whose avowed mission was create a New World Order. This New World Order triumphs the victory of man against all forms of slavery and bondage and promotes the free flow of trade.

Our country and the United States share similar stories. Prior to Western colonization, our countries were occupied by an intelligent race whose cosmological and religious beliefs validate those which we only discover through science now.

We were occupied by Spain and adapted ourselves to its ways, while the British occupied North America. Those British nationals with strong independent streaks and with a vision of creating a "New World Order" from what they perceived to be the "old world", as represented by the imperialist powers of Spain and Great Britain, struggled for their independence and created their states. This New World Order promoted capitalism as the main engine for growth.

The 1777 revolution was led by a small group of intellectuals who believed that North America afforded them the opportunity of carving out a New World. This group populated the ideals of the French Revolution and even pushed it to the extreme. The French Revolution, if you recall, promoted the ideals of liberte, egalite and fraternite (liberty, equality and fraternity), which, in essence, pushed for the liberation of humanity from all forms of bondage and inequality.

The establishment of the United States government was supposed to be the anti-thesis of feudalism. Where feudalism champions a slavish relationship, capitalism promoted individualism, a break from the relationship of the master with his slave. In capitalism, every individual has the right, an intransferable one, to trade freely with his fellow men. Such a relationship existed in antiquity in nascent form, but, in the 18th century, transformed into a better form than what man perceived in the old world.

Such a belief broke tradition and eradicated the concept of "divine right"---the belief that a Higher Power chose a group of a few individuals with "royal blood" to govern the many.

Now, it is the People themselves, and not this Divine Power, that chose its leaders and its elites, such as the concept of royal blood is frowned upon and intellectualism transposed it.

It is erroneous to believe that this Idea does not recognize the existence of God, as the Divine Power, no. Fact is, the core belief rests on a Biblical belief that the "voice of the People is the voice of God" or "vox populi vox Dei".

Starting from the 18th century up to the present day, America became the center of a revolution---a revolution which aspires to create a New World Order. From the Americas, this revolution spread in different parts of the world, particularly in Asia, here in our country.

The 1896 Revolution of our forefathers was not just an anti-colonial war---it was a revolution to carve out a New World out of the old. It was a resistance against the symbol of the old world--Spain--and a necessary stage towards the establishment of a capitalist inspired government.

In both countries--the United States and the Philippines--a small group of People, the Masons, were instrumental in pushing for a revolution out of the old, and the firm establishment of a government that promotes freedom, democracy, individualism, and enterprise. Ironically, however, the Masons of Spain were the ones responsible for the lost of the crown's precious Asian possession. It seems that the belief in the creation of a world order was more precious than following monarchical influence.