“For those of us who still call the Philippines home, but whose hearts now straddle two time zones, Thanksgiving is a reminder that love and gratitude ignore geography”
FOR Filipino migrants, Thanksgiving carries an added layer of meaning.
It is not just gratitude for the harvest or the comforts of life, but gratitude for the journey itself.
Many of our kababayans in America work in hospitals, care homes, hotels, restaurants, and offices.
They endure long hours, homesickness, winter cold, and the loneliness that comes when “Pasko sa Pinas” is celebrated only through a video call and a weak internet connection.
Yet on Thanksgiving, they pause and look around: at their children now speaking with an American accent but still kissing their hands in “mano po”; at their parents watching via video call from Pangasinan or Bicol; at the house they are paying for, the car they drive, the opportunities that would have been harder to find back home.
They realize that while the journey has been hard, it has also been full of grace. And for that, they give thanks.
In our case, as migrants with deep roots in the Philippines and branches now spreading in the US, Thanksgiving has become a day of silent inventory: of blessings received, sacrifices made, and hopes still unfolding.
Interestingly, for many Fil-Ams, Thanksgiving feels like the opening act of Christmas.
Right after the turkey and pumpkin pie, Christmas trees go up, lights are switched on, and Jose Mari Chan’s songs sneak into the playlist, competing with Bing Crosby and Mariah Carey.
It’s as if Filipino and American traditions shake hands at the doorway of November: Thanksgiving warmly ushering in Christmas.
On one side is the American table, on the other, the Filipino parol. Together they light up the dual identity of the Fil-Am family.
For those of us who still call the Philippines home, but whose hearts now straddle two time zones, Thanksgiving is a reminder that love and gratitude ignore geography.
While being in the Philippines might summon images of being stuck in traffic or busy with year-end obligations, we know that, across the Pacific, our loved ones are gathering around a table, saying a prayer, and remembering us.
Sometimes, that knowledge is enough to fill up the empty spaces left by distance. Sometimes, it also makes the longing sharper.
But in both joy and ache, gratitude is the common ground.
If you think about it, we Filipinos have our own version of Thanksgiving every day.
We say “salamat” for the smallest things—a good meal, a safe commute, a kind gesture.
We celebrate fiestas in every town, offer pamisafor answered prayers, and gather around the table even when times are hard, stretching food so everyone gets a share.
Perhaps that is why Thanksgiving feels so natural to Filipinos in America. At its core, the holiday aligns perfectly with who we are as a people.
So as our kababayans in the US gather this Thanksgiving with turkey and lechon, pumpkin pie and leche flan, American football and Filipino karaoke, may they remember that gratitude is a bridge—connecting past and present, the old homeland and the new.
And for those of us in the Philippines who may not have a turkey in the oven, we can still join in spirit.
We can say a quiet prayer of thanks—for family near and far, for resilience tested and renewed, for blessings big and small, and for the enduring hope that one day, oceans will be crossed not only by planes and ships, but by reunited families sharing the same table again.
In the end, whether it is called Thanksgiving or Pasko, whether it is celebrated in the Orange County or in Quezon City, gratitude is universal.
It is the language of the heart—a language Filipinos speak fluently, wherever in the world we may be.
On this Thanksgiving Day, I bow my head in gratitude.
For family, good health, quiet blessings, friends and the chance to serve through our Million Trees mission.
(The writer, president/chief executive officer of Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. and president/executive director of the Million Trees Foundation Inc., a non-government outfit advocating tree-planting and environmental protection, is the official biographer of President Fidel V. Ramos.)
