Filipinos are 7th most patriotic in the world

"Pinoy" pride is still in the air despite the political bickering constantly shifting headline attention away from Filipino successes and triumphs here and abroad.

A recent survey of 34 democracies ranked the Philippines as the seventh most patriotic country.

Americans are No. 1 when it comes to national pride followed closely by Venezuelans, according to a report on the survey conducted by the International Social Survey Program released Tuesday.

People rated in the survey how proud they were of their countries in 10 areas such as political influence, economic success, sports and history, said the report from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

The report did not indicate how the Philippines was ranked by respondents in the individual categories.

The survey ranked 34 countries, mostly in Europe and the Americas, with several Asian countries represented. Only Israel was included from among the Middle Eastern countries.

"The two things (Americans) rank high on are what we think of as the political or power dimension," said Tom W. Smith, who wrote the report and directs the General Social Survey at the university’s research center. "Given that we’re the one world superpower, it’s not that surprising."

Patriotism is mostly a "New World" concept, the survey found.

Ex-colonies, like the Philippines, and newer nations were more likely to rank high on the list, while Western European, East Asian and former Socialist countries usually ranked near the middle or bottom.

Other areas in which countries were ranked included social security, the way their democracy works, science and technology, arts and literature, military, and fair treatment of all groups in society.

Last month, the entire nation celebrated the first successful climb of Mount Everest by Filipinos Leo Oracion, Erwin Mata and Dale Abenojar.

Not too long before that, the sports-crazed country whooped it up after boxer Manny Pacquiao knocked out Erik Morales in the ring last January.

Both events, for a time, shifted public attention away from the political woes of the Arroyo administration, rising fuel costs and other economic concerns.

In the survey, the United States ranked highest overall in five categories: pride in its democracy, political influence, economy, science and military.

Venezuela came in second by ranking highest in four categories: sports, arts and literature, history and fair treatment of all groups in society.

Eric Wingerter, a Washington, DC-based spokesman for the Venezuelan government, said the country previously imported much of its television programming, movies and pop music from the US, but that has changed under President Hugo Chavez’s leadership.

Many Venezuelans say Chavez has helped create a new sense of national pride, he said.

"There’s been a real emphasis on rediscovering what it means to be Venezuelan," he said.

The debate in Venezuela over Chavez, who makes headlines for nationalistic, anti-US rhetoric, might account for the country’s No. 2 ranking, Smith said.

"We looked at, ‘Well, is it just the Chavez support, or is it the image of the country?’ and they’re actually both high," Smith said.

Cultural differences might explain lower rankings for the three Asian countries on the list — Japan (18th), Taiwan (29th), and Korea (31), Smith said.

"It is both bad luck and poor manners to be boastful about things there," Smith said.

The Eastern Bloc ranked lower because they are still struggling to find new national identities, Smith said. Hungary was the highest Eastern European country on the list at 21.

Completing the Top 10 are (from third place) Ireland, South Africa,. Australia and Canada with Austria in eighth place followed by New Zealand and Chile.

From 11th place: Great Britain, Israel, Uruguay, Finland, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Japan, France, Portugal, Hungary, Bulgaria, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Slovenia, Germany (West), Czech Republic, Taiwan, Latvia, Korea, Slovakia, Poland and Germany (East). — AP