What is the true essence of being a Filipino? This is the question that you may ask when you see yourself or your children (grandchildren?) growing up in the digital age. There are values that transcend time and those values are displayed in this new book from OMF Literature authored by true-blooded Pinoys, Rei Lemuel Crizaldo and Ronald Molmisa.
I am a Gen-Xer born in 1970, two-and-a-half years before martial law. This means I grew up during those times when the dictatorship was in full swing. This was also the age before the internet invaded our neighbourhood, we were the only ones with a telephone and young people met more frequently face-to-face rather than virtually.
Our’s and today’s generation are worlds apart but as you will read in Rei and Ronald’s book, our definition of being Pinoy remains the same but expressed in absolutely different ways.
Pinoy Big Values is a well researched book. It shows in the footnotes displaying the sources of quoted texts. And those references were not placed there just to add credibility to the book, there are appropriate and hits the point.
I also like the way the book was written in conversational TagLish. It helps that the book does not read like a textbook. It sounds like friends talking to you. Although I would admit that Rei does show a more humurous side than Ronald, who I have to say is also a Pastor. His chapters are much more, how do I say it, ministerial? Which does not make his chapters sound like a preaching.
This book is an easy read. One can probably finish reading it in three hours or less. I read it during my commute to the office and made my trip much more bearable. I learned a lot from the eight chapters of the book and came to a better understanding of why we are Pinoys. Of course, there are negative and positive Pinoy values but when you learn why it’s like that allows you to appreciate yourself and fellow Pinoys better.
For a suggested retail price of 75 pesos I would recommend that parents read this and have their children or rather oblige their children to read it too. We need to keep our young people grounded on Pinoy Big Values because those things really makes us Pinoys.
