Our country belongs to the Asia continent and enjoy the company of our neighbors. It is such a glorious feeling that we are politically and culturally attuned with them. We share values despite the diversity of our religious beliefs. And though we are the sole Christian in this continent and get battered now and then, still we are the proud Filipino people.
We don't mind the way we are maligned as Christians because we know that Christ suffered more than us. It seems it is the way of life of Christians to suffer; yet our neighbors continue to respect our country, our people.
I think it is important for a country to enjoy continental friendship -- it makes us feel that one with each other, and though some are more affluent than us, still there is respect for each one.
Now what is happening to the United Kingdom? The Prime Minister is pushing for the separation of UK from the European continent, or in brief, Brexit, the exiting of Britain from Europe. Why? On the 23rd of June, 2016 a referendum was held and the Leave Europe won by 51.9% to 48.1%. The referendum turnout was 71.8%, with more than 30 million people voting.
From the news I can gather that it is mostly economic reasons, no longer political or cultural. And that is very sad. My friends in UK surely are having an emotionally hard time now as they have been very close to their European friends. It has been so easy for them to travel to Europe -- just ride the train, or bus and you can get to France via Calais, and proceed to whichever country you want -- Germany, Italy, Austria, wherever. All that will be difficult to do once the UK separation becomes permanent.
Why is it viable to join the European Union - often known as the EU? It is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries "to foster economic co-operation, with the idea that countries which trade together were more likely to avoid going to war with each other.
It has since grown to become a "single market" allowing goods and people to move around, basically as if the member states were one country. It has its own currency, the euro, which is used by 19 of the member countries, its own parliament and it now sets rules in a wide range of areas - including on the environment, transport, consumer rights and even things such as mobile phone charges."
Some of my friends also enjoyed scholarships in other European countries but now I doubt if the present generation could.
I think that there should be a rethinking of the Brexit approach to development or progress whichever you may call it. Our own Overseas Filipino Workers will surely suffer more from this Brexit. Some of them have opted to acquire British citizenship -- and now instead of enjoying the same benefits of free movement as the locals they could lose them. I wonder what the views are of our people over there.
"The 2011 census recorded 117,457 people born in the Philippines resident in England, 5,168 in Wales,[2] 4,264 in Scotland[3] and 2,947 in Northern Ireland,[4] making a total of 129,836. The Office for National Statistics estimates that, in 2015, the equivalent figure was 132,000.[5]
According to The Manila Times, there were approximately 200,000 Filipinos living in the United Kingdom in 2007.[6] In 2007, 10,840 Filipinos gained British citizenship, the second largest number of any nation after India,[7] compared to only 1,385 in 2001.[8] " (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipinos_in_the_United_Kingdom)
A country cannot exist alone, nor should it cut off ties that have been borne of sharing the ups and downs of existence in this world. The whole purpose of a union is to look after the needs of each one, to care for whatever happens to the other. And since the 28 countries are run democratically, I don't see any snags in terms of maintaining the union or the need for any country to secede from it.
Maybe this is a simple way of looking at the Brexit problem. But as I gather from the news, those who oppose Brexit want a new referendum to assess it.
Europe is now the setting that migrants fleeing from violence-ridden countries. Its elections are now also being targeted by cyberwar-freaks from the other continents. So the need for stronger ties among the countries becomes most imperative at this time.
If you want a deeper understanding of the Brexit problem, try surfing these:
Latest Brexit news, comment and analysis from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal ... Winning asecond Brexit referendum is possible – with Europe's help;
Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU - BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
Graphic art from:
http://theshakespeareblog.com/2018/06/shakespeare-and-the-peoples-vote
http://theshakespeareblog.com/2018/06/shakespeare-and-the-peoples-vote
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