It's important to have an identity for it will be the one to represent you or it will be people's guide on you as a person, as your ethnicity, or as your race as a whole. However,  what will happen if you don't have an identity or you are confused with your identity?

Simple, YOU WILL BE LOST.

Got this from Facebook.

Just like the one that I have argued a little on Facebook this morning. I'm not a debater or a scandalous troll on Facebook. Please, don't confuse me as one of them. It's just that it caught my interest. It was something that needs to be corrected. Well, it started on a post of a Bisaya Vlogger on Facebook which just appeared on my newsfeed. I don't know if I followed him in the past. I can't remember it. Anyway, I don't focus on the content of the video that much but he is rebutting a woman who is degrading Bisaya people. I don't want to mention her words anymore, since those are discriminating. I proceed to the comment section instead because the really good show is always at the comments, you know. LOL

Well, there it is. I'm not disappointed. There is a bunch of debates going on and the top comments caught my eye. I haven't take a screenshot of the comments before the content is taken down, so I'll just narrate what I can remember here.

She said something like this,

"I live in a part of the Visayan Islands and I speak Hiligaynon but I'm not Bisaya. The Bisaya people are those who speak Cebuano, Waray, and Boholano."

I was fast to reply,

"You're wrong. Bisaya are the people who live in the Visayas Region and it's not a dialect. I also speak Hiligaynon but since I live in the Visayas, I'm also a Bisaya". 

The one who commented doesn't reply to me, but other people replied to my reply and they all agree except for that one particular person. Yes, he disagreed! He favored the one who commented and call me stupid. Whoah, imagine that.

He even posts other replies like, "So people in Boracay is Bisaya, too? Hahaha!"

Like, duh. OBVIOUSLY. I don't want to step down on his level, so I corrected him with evidence.

And I replied with this link from Wikipedia,

After posting that, the one who argued with me never replied again until the post had been taken down.

As clear as the sun, it was explained there that the Bisaya are the inhabitants of any islands in the Visayas region. While there's a common misconception about it until now that if they hear the word "Bisaya", they always refer to people who speaks Cebuano. Yes, Cebuanos are Bisaya but not all Bisaya are Cebuanos. The Cebuanos are the people living in Cebu, an island of Visayas, and Cebuano is their dialect. Also, not all people who can speak Cebuano can be called Bisaya. Hence, Bisaya can't be referred to as a language or dialect.

Just like our President Duterte. He lives in Davao but they speak Cebuano and people mistaken him for a Bisaya. It's not right. Though they speak Cebuano, they can't be still recognized as Bisaya because, as I have said earlier, Bisaya can't be a language. Since they live in Davao, they are called Davaoeños.

It is the same thing with the Ilonggo people. They live in Iloilo, also an island in the Visayas. Their people are called Ilonggo and their dialect is called Hiligaynon. However, the dialect isn't just exclusive in Iloilo, some places in Panay Region and Negros Region also speak this kind of dialect, so misconceptions again are happening. People who speak the same language as people who live in Iloilo are mistaken as Ilonggos and if they are asked what their dialect is called, they would reply Ilonggo. This is wrong, people. The dialect is still Hiligaynon and the identity of people differ by the place they live, so don't get confused anymore.

We have to know our identities, so we can't get confused and people wouldn't also mistake us as another ethnicity. We, people who live in that particular ethnicity, need to learn all the facts about us. Isn't it embarrassing not to know your ethnicity? Just like the one who argued with me, He is LOST. He lost in our argument and he is lost in his identity. Also, don't be afraid to correct this kind of misconception. Let's spread facts and not fake news. Don't even tolerate lies to be facts, even though how trending it is.

Hey, Got'ya!

Thanks for being here again in my another article that's full of babbles. I hope you have learned something from that. May it be that you're a Filipino or not. At least, you had learned something about the Philippines.

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