And in the middle is the tool that both sides introduced and used to justify conquest and conversion – the idea of a one true and universal God. He says he depicted the Christ image as a mask, about to be placed on top of the indio, seen by both protagonists as uncivilized, largely agrarian and mired in muck.

And while the artwork appears to express a view of a particular point in our history, Manny shares that the general picture he wishes to convey is the continuing attitude of the West towards the rest of the world, which remains unchanged. It is one of arrogance and belief in the West’s destiny to lead the less fortunate peoples of the world to the right path and ideology.

It is this idea – and the symbols that help convey it - that makes the West as a conqueror so effective and strong. The better defined the idea, the stronger it is, and the more able it is to overwhelm.

Compare that to our endless question: What is a Filipino, particularly in a global context? Who is the collective Filipino? We are helpless to resist the Western narrative, precisely because we have no ready answer to wield in defense.

So, yes, the West is arrogant and presumptuous. But what of us? What are we?

In a battle of ideas, narrative and storytelling will win the day. In this arena, it helps to be self-serving, arrogant, unapologetically self-aware.

China is beginning to understand this truth. Thousands of years of culture and history combined with its growing economic and military strength and a far different though no less strong ideology and style of governance, have given it the Narrative that its people identify with and strongly support, even as it is diametrically opposed to everything the West stands for.

It now has a superiority complex to rival the United States. It has its own Narrative, enabling it to rediscover its confidence, project its influence, and alarm the West.

Christ was an idea that the Spaniards effectively used to subjugate and form the Philippines. It was not until we found our own story – that of nationhood as defined by the likes of Rizal, Bonifacio, and Mabini – that we were able to resist and gain independence. Unfortunately, that narrative was short-lived, naïve and incomplete, and ill-equipped to resist our next conqueror.

The failings persist today. You could replace the figures of the artwork with an American soldier, a businessman and an eagle as a symbol of the American dream, and the message for us will be the same.

The legacy of colonization is to render us enslaved by keeping our eyes focused only on other peoples’ stories. We are told to look back and learn from the lessons of the past, but it is only their stories that are being taught. It is only the world that they themselves created that is being shown.

Our challenge is to find, and see history through the lens of our own true Narrative. Only then will we be able to truly move forward.