Are We Truly Free?

Are we truly free? Our land, long scarred by occupation Three hundred years beneath the Spanish crown, Then came the Americans, then the Japanese. We were drilled in their culture, their faith, Their inventions, their beliefs. Are we truly free? In the hands of our compatriots Our own countrymen? Or are we still chained By the ghosts of our past, Still slaves to greed, To the lust for their ambition, wealth, and glory? If we are truly free, Why are we still blind, Still deaf and mute To our nation’s suffering? To its stagnation? To its slowly decaying culture? Is the youth still the hope of the country Even if they are now caged in their phones? Was the dream of our heroes a prophecy Or was it just a cruel joke? Let us pray for this country, riddled with holes That its suffering will not be prolonged.