Why I Think Filipinos (in the Philippines) Should Stay Out Of Thanksgiving Day

So here in the Philippines, November 26 has passed. And yesterday I saw some posts on my Facebook page by people greeting Thanksgiving blahblahblah.

(Notice the title? I explicitly stated -in the Philippines- I respect Filipino expats who celebrate this day with their friends and families in the US. After all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, right?)

For the rest of us here in the Philippines, we have nothing to do with Thanksgiving Day.


For the life of you, please read this article and watch this video before you start posting Facebook statuses and photos about Thanksgiving:

If I may add to what the writer wrote, us celebrating Thanksgiving is like thanking the Spaniards for killing a number of our countrymen and treating us like crap for three centuries.

Thanksgiving is a US thing. They get together with their families, saying what they're grateful for, and having a feast (with the star of the show- turkey).

I have 3 points I want to raise:
1. People starting Thanksgiving Day here in the Philippines is just a marketing ploy.
2. When you dig deeper, Thanksgiving is actually an appalling event.
3. There are a lot of Filipino events WE SHOULD BE CELEBRATING

Point 1: There might be Thanksgiving sales popping out in restaurants and malls. Obviously they are brewing a reason for you to spend money. I remember how Halloween slowly crept in the Filipino culture. I still remember in the early 90's that Halloween in the Philippines isn't that popular. But now it's a full-blown day. Fine, it's fun to dress up and party. Whatever rocks your boat. But making Thanksgiving happen here? That's crossing the line.

Point 2: If I may quote Franklin D. Roosevelt, this day will live in infamy for the Native Americans. A lot of their kinsfolk were killed and raped (sounds familiar?). A mass genocide was executed for ethnic cleansing (again, please read the article and watch the video).

Point 3: How dare you even start talking about Thanksgiving when you don't even know what happens/ed on June 12, every last Monday of August, and December 30? How do you celebrate those days, huh? Are you like the rest who just wait for these days to get a paid holiday?

My point is, shouldn't we observe the events and holidays that truly matter to us as Filipinos?

I don't want to be cynical about Thanksgiving. I just want to respect it as a US holiday. To what it has evolved into over the years, it is a beautiful day for (some) people. A day to rekindle their spirit of gratitude.

We Filipinos don't need Thanksgiving. For crying out loud, we have Christmas for that (although Christmas is not a native Filipino event, but it is has become cemented in our culture). We're known for being awesome at Christmas! Us rocking Christmas is unrivaled anywhere in the world!

You don't need Thanksgiving Day to be grateful. You can should be grateful every day.

So if you're even planning to celebrate Thanksgiving, how about saving that money for a lechon baboy on Noche Buena?

Stop making Thanksgiving happen in the Philippines.