July 4 marks the day when finally we were really free from any Spanish, American, or Japanese rule. The Americans "set us free" on this day (presumably from the Japanese) more than 60 years ago. They did leave their military bases which we did not kick out until close to 50 years later. Unfortunately, we cannot look at July 4 as our real independence day. Of course we celebrate our independence on June 12 - when we were "free" from the Spanish (but actually just sold to the US). But if we were celebrating it on July 4, we would be celebrating also the American's independence day (and most likely in an American way). So while we were set free on this day, I don't know if we can say we are truly free. That's just smart of them. So is it better to celebrate our independence on June 12 - free from Spain, but not from the US - or on July 4 - free from the US except that it's a US day. Unless we ignore them - Americans are our biggest export market because like them, we think they are the world. They call the NBA champion the World Champions - but they cannot really win all the time in FIBA championships, and so on. But they're not even 1/6 of the world's population. For us to be free, we should be looking not just beyond the Pacific but also north of the South China Sea, or to the southeast Pacific, or beyond the South China Sea towards the Indian Ocean and to the "real world" that comprises most of the world's population and land area - Europe, Asia, and South Asia.
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