Why do Pinoys support Jessica Sanchez on American Idol?

First of all, I have bluntly stated in one of my blog entries that I am a P2 Fan. I am rooting for Phillip Phillips but I don’t want him to win. See my reasons from this entry. Next to P2 is Jessica Sanchez. I rarely watch, more so follow, American Idol. This season, I did. Primarily because of P2 and Jessica, and next is because they got a pool of really good talents this year.

Borrowed image.

As I watch episode after episode, I find myself being protective of Jessica Sanchez’ good standing. At first I wasn’t that expressive of this feeling but, I guess, I can no longer hide it.

According to Checkfacebook, there are 27, 088, 320 Filipino Facebook users as of May 12, 2012 making us the 8^th largest country FB users. Just imagine the number of people logging in everyday and talking about the latest trends or the juiciest news on their walls.

The name Jessica Sanchez made it fast to the Filipino facebook page trends. One, because American Idol is televised in the Philippines; and two, because we found out that Jessica’s mom is originally from Bataan, Philippines. In fact, we didn’t even have to search the net. The first time she got noticed, everyone was already asking, “Is she Filipina?”

At some point in the past, we hollered against Mexican boxers and Mexican beauty contestants who fought against our Filipino contenders but now we feel like we are in a harmonious relationship with Mexico because of Jessica.

You see, Filipinos will always own you once we find out there’s something Filipino in you – no matter how small or irrelevant.

If you are the Pinay nanny of Prince Harry, we will support you and eventually do the same for Prince Harry. If you are the Pinay nanny of Robin Williams’ son, we will talk about you. If you are the friend of a friend of a cousin of a famous name and you are Filipino, you will be mentioned in one or two conversations. If you are Lea Salonga, we will take pride as much as we take pride when we talk about Manny Pacquiao.

Even if you are 50% Irish and 50% Filipino like Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, we will say you are Filipino. Even if you are 98 % Vietnamese and 2% Filipino, we will treat you as our own. Even if you are not Filipino but your last name sounds like one, we will look at you like we look at our own forgetting that most of our last names are actually from the Spanish influence. Say a tagalog phrase and we will hold you dear. Sing ‘Buloy’ even in your American accent, we will shower you with smiles, applause and honor. Play football for our national team even if your last name and looks do not come across as Filipino to us, we will call you Philippine Azkals. 

Jessica Sanchez is an American with a Mexican-Filipino descent. In as much as I am proud of how Filipinos love her, I also sincerely hope that we support her mainly because of her talent. I read one tweet about her that says “I won’t vote for you because you are not proud to be Filipina’, which she immediately reacted to. We should understand that she won her slot in AI not because of her nationality but her talent. We should not withhold our appreciation of her talent in a singing contest such as AI just because we felt like she didn’t talk about her Filipino heritage as much as we would have wanted her to. She was born and raised in the US so she is American. America, a melting pot of various cultures, voted for her and brought her this far because they saw something beyond her descent and looks. We should do the same.

And for those who are still wondering why we own anything that has at least .01% Filipino in it? Here’s your answer:

This is who we are. Sometimes it does not work to our advantage but most of the time, it does. When we see that .01% in you, we will love you, welcome you, be proud of you and treat you like one of our own. This is why no matter where we go; we always want to come back home. This is also why even if you are not Filipino by blood, you will feel like one when you come visit.

Am a proud Pinay and I thank God He made me Filipina.