From being a 'curious' foreigner to a naturalized Pinoy: A Canadian vlogger's journey to ‘Becoming Filipino’
Canadian vlogger Kyle Jennerman spent a huge chunk of his life exploring different corners of the world, including Europe and Southeast Asia. Twenty-nine countries later, in 2013, he finally set foot in the Philippines—and it changed his life forever.
From being a “curious” foreigner, he has become a travel vlogger dedicated to learning and sharing the beauty of the country—from the northernmost part of Luzon to the far-flung areas in Mindanao. He posts his videos on his YouTube channel BecomingFilipino, which he described as “an adventure, the journey of a 26-year-old Canadian trying to Become Filipino.”
“I don’t have a Filipino passport and it would be almost impossible for me to get one. Truth is, I will never be able to say ‘I am Filipino,’” he, who goes by his Filipino nickname Kulas, wrote in his bio. “But there are so many simple beautiful things that I have experienced and witnessed that make up Filipino culture, things that I would be honored to learn from, and be honored to share with the world around me.”
Little did he know that a decade later, he’d be able to turn his YouTube name into a reality. The Philippine Senate unanimously approved the bill (House Bill 7185) intended to grant Kulas his Filipino citizenship in late May, taking him another step closer to officially becoming a Filipino. He’s just one signature away—from President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.—for it to finally take effect.
Curiosity piqued Kulas
Kulas used to work as an outdoor educator in Hong Kong in 2012, where he had 15 Filipino colleagues-turned-friends who kept boasting about the beauty of their homeland and ended up convincing him to see it for himself.
“I started to notice then that these guys [Filipinos] are super cool. They were always so positive and good vibes. On a weekend, we started hanging out so I started becoming friends with them, “patak-patak” or chip in, eat together, drink together, have fun,” he told PhilSTAR L!fe.
“They just started talking about the Philippines, and kind of convinced me to come on a trip. So, on Jan. 17, 2013, I flew to Cebu, and I spent a week there, also in Northern Mindanao, like Cayagan De Oro, a little bit in Davao and Manila, [while] visiting my work colleagues,” he added.
Kulas recalled how his first PH trip made him feel overwhelmed in a good way—how Filipinos “are so positive—like [they] find ways to just be happy and have fun and share happiness no matter what they’re doing. No matter if it was a tough day or a really good day, they really find ways to share happiness.”
While he had to go back to Hong Kong for work, he still kept thinking about the Philippines and found himself wanting to know more about the country. “Later that year, I came back again,” he said, sharing that he lived in Cebu for a month and a half, and then in Cagayan De Oro for the same period. “I kind of got really immersed because I was living in a compound with families—like you have titas and titos, manangs, and manongs—these colleagues and families kind of took me in.”
Kulas returned to Hong Kong again to continue with his duties and responsibilities at work, but it didn’t take long for him to find another reason to come back to the Philippines: the super typhoon Yolanda, which claimed thousands of lives and affected millions of people in Central Visayas in November 2013. “I was in Hong Kong working, and one of our friends who I worked with was from Tacloban. So, it hit me really hard because I’m becoming quite inspired by the country that year.”
Without having second thoughts, he left his job in HK. “I ended up leaving my job at that time, and I went to Cagayan de Oro to meet some of my friends from the outdoor community and then I went to Tacloban and ended up staying a month there, [from] November [to] December.”
The entire experience, which included some interaction with the locals, served as an eye-opener for him. “I was driving a motor with my friend, and we saw a family. They were hanging out in the big boat. I remember interacting with them for at least 15 minutes, apir, giving them my sunglasses, the kids were playing,” he recalled.
“Right before leaving, I asked them: ‘Hey what you guys are doing?’ ‘Well, we’re digging our dead lola under the boat.’ Again, I can talk for hours about the month I spent there at that time, but it was really a big eye-opener, the resiliency of people here—the ability to find ways to be happy and to share that with people even in that most horrendous situation,” mused Kulas.
From building ‘BecomingFilipino’ to becoming Filipino
Taking off from that eye-opener, Kulas started his journey as a vlogger for BecomingFilipino—a YouTube channel where he shares his thrilling adventures in the rural parts of the country as he actively immerses himself in Filipino culture.
“That's when I decided, ‘Hey, I think I'm gonna start something called BecomingFilipino.’ But the interesting thing is that it wasn’t me trying to become a Filipino, like the goal was never to get citizenship, or something like that—it was having so many beautiful experiences, inspiring experiences that become a part of my life from Filipinos,” he explained.
For over a decade and counting, Kulas has anchored on these four purposes of his content for his channel: to introduce Filipinos and their culture to the world, to create a platform for all things positively Pinoy, to educate international tourists on how they can make the most of their visit and develop “better intentions that could benefit both Filipinos and foreigners," and to fight the stigma on Mindanao as some tend to react negatively upon finding out he has been there, citing concerns about the “dangers of terrorism.”
“I'm just gonna wake up, take things one day at a time, I'll just try my best to share positive education and pursue these four purposes,” the vlogger said.
Although becoming a naturalized Filipino wasn’t a part of his plans at first, Kulas recalled how Biñan City Rep representative Marlyn Alonte opened the idea to him one day and changed his mind.
“First few weeks, I actually just stopped and thought. I didn’t tell anyone, [including] my parents, my girlfriend, my barkada. 'Okay, this is a very deep and very intense and personal thing,’ so I need to think: ‘Do I deserve this?’”
While he realized it was not for him to answer, he was sure about two things: the solid relationship he has built with Filipinos and his immense love for the Philippines as a whole. “I spent basically my entire young adult life here, immersed with Filipinos, growing as a human. The Philippines has become who I am, so I said ‘Okay, maybe I could get a little bit comfortable with this, maybe this is something I feel comfortable pursuing.’”
After all, his Filipinoness by choice has become evident in him through the years. Aside from his warm smiles and pure enthusiasm, the ability of Pinoys to power through even in the worst of situations has also been deeply ingrained in him.
“The innate ability of Filipinos to find ways to be happy and share it, I think it’s incredibly powerful and something that the rest of the world can really learn from,” he said. “That’s the major kicker that got me my life here.”
While being positive has significantly helped him feel good and move forward in life, it doesn’t mean that he isn't aware of the negative things that are happening in the country. “It just means I'm choosing to take these things on and try to find a little positive among them and focus on that,” he said.
Now that Kulas is just a step away from officially becoming a naturalized Pinoy, he will continue to do one thing and one thing only, no matter the outcome of it all: “to be the best Filipino I can be.”