THE IMPORTANCE OF PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING | book review 002

 "My tan faded. My tongue forgot the taste of tocino and Tagalog. I stepped out of tsinelas and back into my suburban life as if I had never left." 

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay is a story about Jay Reguero who comes back to the Philippines in order to fathom how his cousin, Jun, was killed in President Duterte's war on drugs. This book is heavy on the current events in the Philippines and how Filipinos in the motherland and Filipino diasporas are responding. 

I read this book in honor of wikathon and it resonated with me for awhile after finishing it. In this blog post I will be addressing A LOT about this book because I truly feel that everyone should read it. I will not speak on what Filipinos are experiencing currently in the Philippines as I feel that I do not have the right to speak on that, although I will acknowledge it and hope people will actively be aware of it. 

1. Filipino-American ignorance 

As a Filipino-American, I FELT THIS. Jay Reguero is someone I know, and is a lot of my friends. Jay didn't know about the war on drugs that was happening in the Philippines nor did he even know who was the president. I appreciate that Jay was an ignorant character because it truly does address the ignorance of a lot of Filipino-Americans. Many Fil-Ams wear the Philippine flag and take pride in eating Jollibee simply for being Filipino, the problem with this is that when it comes to the real problems happening in the motherland, many have been silent. These are the same people who claim to be "woke" for knowing what baybayin is or standing for BLM (which I am all for) but the selective activism is so prominent in the Filipino-American community. 

To this day, I have yet to see a Filipino-American in my local community to truly address the terror law happening in the Philippines. The only ones I've seen are people who are in Filipino clubs especially in college. It's truly disappointing to see someone be proud to be Filipino, and yet lack awareness of what is happening in the Philippines. If you are unaware, please go to

https://parasapinas.carrd.co

to educate yourself on how Filipino activists currently have their lives on the line. 

2. Toxic Filipino families

RANDY RIBAY DOES NOT MISS. A huge toxic quality in Filipino families is the lack of communication. Jun's father who is Tito Maning to Jay, does not give room for his children to express themselves nor own phones. Without phones, Jay was only able to stay in touch with Jun through sending letters. This of course came to a halt because it became a hassle to Jay and he got a girlfriend. Since Jay was 15 at the time, I can't completely blame him for that and I wouldn't expect someone to make such a mature decision at that age. The real fault at hand and cause of the conflicts were Tito Maning and Jay's father. Both parties refused to communicate with each other which caused a huge riff with their families. Jay's father avoided heavy talks with his son such as the cause of Jun's death (although eventually he tells Jay this). We could also conclude that Jay's father didn't bother with updating Jay or his siblings with what was happening in the Philippines since Jay was unaware of his Tita Chato's organization or the real reason why Jun left home. Often times Filipino diasporas evade the idea of even having problems. I understand that a lot of Filipino families try not to worry their children with family problems, but Jay had the right to know. If Jay would've known about Jun running away and what really happened, what's to say he wouldn't have reached out to Jun? They are often too indulged with the American life that they have forgotten the land they came from. This indulgent with the American life causes A LOT of Filipino diasporas to forget about the Philippines and try to ignore the issues happening there. 

3. Filipino beliefs

There are many old Filipino beliefs that still live on such as the belief that being gay meant that God will not accept you into heaven or that education should be our number one priority. This is addressed when we find out that Tita Chato is in a relationship with a woman, Tita Ines, and they cannot marry due to same-sex marriage being illegal. This was heartbreaking to read about considering how beautiful and healthy Chato and Ines' relationship is. With how corrupt and conservative the Philippine government is, it's hard to say when same-sex marriage will ever be legal despite being known as one of the most gay-friendly countries. 

Education being a priority has been a belief I'm sure everyone is familiar with. Not just any education, but also education from a big well known school. From Chapter 1, we are already introduced with this belief when we find out that Jay got rejected at many Ivy Leagues and how he knows his dad truly wanted him to go to Harvard. Getting into an Ivy League is a big deal, and for Jay it seemed like its all his parents wanted for him. While in the Philippines, this is even more apparent as it is one of the reasons Tito Maning is so strict on his children as he wants him to prioritize their education. He boasts about Grace scoring the highest in every test she's taken and being top of her class. There is also the belief that the creative arts is a waste of money and isn't a real career as Tito Maning claims that Jay's sister, Emily, is wasting their money by studying graphic design. I agree that education should be ONE of our prioritIES but it shouldn't be our only. The belief that the creative arts isn't a real career is absolute BS.  This is one of the most toxic Filipino belief that causes many in our generation to feel pressured into pursuing a career they do not want. Again, Randy Ribay does. not. miss. 

This entire book has hit almost everything about being Filipino and what Filipino-Americans are ignorant to. Honestly I'm sure this whole blog post was just a messy rant but I hope my thoughts were relatable LOL. 

I highly recommend this book not only for the story, but for the many issues this book addresses. The story itself despite being fiction, does happen in reality. Many do not know the case of Kian Delos Santos and when you read Patron Saints of Nothing, know that this is real. The fact that Randy Ribay slips it in as Jay does research on the drug war in the Philippines, shows how grounded this story is to reality. 

Please, read Patron Saints of Nothing.