One of my theses about the Filipino Condition is that bad practices have been ingrained as part of Filipino culture, and thus have been identified with our nationality. For example, many Filipino became shoplifters in Hong Kong many years before that caused a store to ban Filipinos from entering. Because there were many enough cases to make such an impression, the store owner believed that the risk too high to let any Filipino in. This may be true in the U.S. too, were beside a “Shoplifting is a crime” sign reportedly is the Tagalog version: “Krimen ang Pagnanakaw.” No other language. Filipinos are also observed to be noisy during occasions, especially during videoke singing, because they don’t care about their neighbors’ comfort. There is also our being onion-skinned when we are criticized by other countries, and our arrogant form of the Pinoy Pride habit. Some observe that we may be the only nation that brings home big “Balikbayan” boxes full of consumer goods, which hints to a harmful level of consumerism in our country.
I feel that the association of such habits with our countrymen’s “ugali” or routine behavior and culture has reached a point that, tragically, trying to dissociate being Filipino from them is difficult, no matter how few the cases actually are compared to the majority. And another tragedy is that some Filipinos choose to embrace these flaws without thinking of the harm they cause. Thus, it has led me to consider that solutions to Filipino dysfunctions involve applying and practicing values that might be considered “UnFilipino.”
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Other examples: drinking (and getting drunk) every weekend at the kanto is considered very Filipino. If you are more of a teetotaler, or someone who avoid alcohol, you’ll be seen as a “killjoy” or walang pakisama. Which is actually far from the truth, but Filipino attitudes often state it this way.
One of the more common practices is to bring in friends and relatives at work, the classic nepotism problem. We citizens complain of politicians bringing in their friends and relatives at work. Yet these politicians may safely say, isn’t that what you ordinary people do too? If we do want to remove or control this practice of referring relatives and friends to work, wouldn’t we be affecting a very “Filipino” practice?
The entrenchment of some practices may have reached a point wherein, if you don’t practice these, even if you are doing wrong, you are considered “not Filipino.” Of course, this would be erroneous, not everything that is flawed about us should be considered Filipino. Unfortunately, the association of such habits with our nationality is strongly held by many people, especially those in other countries, because of the many incidents involving them, and perhaps because of misrepresentation by the mass media.
We certainly have positive Filipino values too, such as caring for family to a point, and we have a tendency to befriend and extend ourselves to other people in a personal manner. For example, we try to befriend people in our workplaces, rather than just have them as workmates. The value of humility as opposed to pride is the right application of the principle of “hiya.” It is also a core Filipino value to treat others to treat ourselves, according to a slide show I found on the Net.
But there is another study that says Filipino values are not really indigenous. There are a lot of influences even from other countries from older times. Like any country’s culture, there are always foreign influences that we must be conscious of. So it makes more sense to consciously take control of these influences and use them to improve our behavior and societal conduct rather than excise them. I believe we need to look at influences outside of our normal concept of “the Filipino zone” because our own traditional values seem inadequate and somewhat flawed.
Today, there are a lot of helpful sources we can derive from. One example is Stephen Covey’s Habits of Highly Effective People, which has a basis on values. Another is the Protestant work ethic, wherein hard work as a duty and not as a means to an end or reward is highlighted. There is a manual called Ethical Reasoning, by Richard Paul and Linda Elder which contains an excellent discussion of ethics, which argues for a universal acceptance of ethical principles. I believe it is important for Filipinos to study this. A lot of Filipinos repeat the principles contained in these and other sources, among them Francis Kong.
My focus on foreign examples is because of my impression that most modern ideas and ideas about ethics and philosophy that would benefit us will come from other shores. Perhaps that is why fate brought many OFWs around the world; to learn the values of other countries. I also believe our own traditional local values need reform. Thus, not only do we review our values, but we also pick from other cultures to accept principles that will help us improve our views and behavior as a people.
I do agree that some foreign influences can be bad. For example, my idea about the arrogant brand of Pinoy Pride is that it imitates the way Americans have their nationalism. In America, you could find examples of people who believe “my country, right or wrong,” wherein they are willing to support even unethical acts of their country. That would be the wrong kind of pride and can lead to immoral acts. Thus, we need to have the right kind of pride that does not border on this type of state fanaticism.
But at times, even if the solutions we look for are not anti-Filipino or exclusively foreign, they seem to oppose beliefs many Filipinos today hold, to the point that exploring these solutions certainly carries the risk of being branded “unFilipino” or “anti-Filipino.” For example, when Stephen Covey thought of “win-win,” Filipinos would immediately say that it is stupid. They would say, you can’t be “everybody happy,” if you win, someone has to lose! For example, in gambling, if you win, then the other betters lose money. “That’s how it has to be!” the Filipino may say. Thus, Filipinos insist on the zero-sum game and would rather have someone lose so he may gain.
We need to combat these attitudes among Filipinos. We need to remove from our people these values that encourage false pride, disregard for ethics and apathy towards society, and replace them with better beliefs. There is a need to inculcate renewed values among Filipino so they may conduct their lives properly and remove the bad habits associated with their nationality.
I did say these solutions are not exclusively “unFilipino.” There are merely principles that exist in universal values and ethics. Yet some of them go against the grain of Filipino behavior in society. Even humility is often rejected because Filipinos believe they should project their pride. Criticizing a fellow Filipinio for his wrongs has been slammed as “UnFilipino.” But in spite of this branding, the risk is still worth taking. Challenging popular views is one of the keys to meaningful social change.
How to inculcate these values is admittedly a Herculean task. There are a lot of factors affecting Filipino beliefs and behavior, among them mass media and education. Perhaps going into these media to challenge the prevalent and traditional beliefs could be done (but this is the scope of another article).
By applying the above solution, we can redefine what one means by being Filipino. The key is to dissociate the Filipino identity from the bad practices mentioned above. The more values, principles and behaviors that are more beneficial, like Stephen Covey’s “Win-win” and other Seven Habits, are associated with being Filipino, the more our behavior as a people will improve and so will our situation.
And why look to other shores for ideas in values? It is a given that the Philippines cannot exist in a vacuum. We are only one nation among many. Even if we have our own values, they have to be in sync with those of the rest of the world. Thus, let us make a careful study of such values and pick the right ones.
[Photo courtesy: Dannuel Delizo and Faye Nicole Juania at Slideshare]
I believe, as my cohorts here do, that what Filipinos embrace as their culture is what actually pulls the country down. And those who seem to be anti-dictators, who may also believe themselves to be “heroes,” are the real dictators.
Filipinos are also a mixed people since 400 years old; we were mixed along with Asia and some of Europe.
BTW, the Spaniards instilled a class system and education. They also brought the Catholic religion but Filipinos still find ways to screw it up.
The Americans came to streamline everything in their vision, especially a flawed government the Filipinos took and copied the wrong way. That’s why there is a big difference if we compare American and Filipino politics.
I believe that’s a good assessment. How to undo all these influences and replacing them with the good ones is the challenge for us.
Kill off anyone above 2 and start all over again?
Nah. Reeducate anyone above 2. You’re gonna kill off the people who have to take care of the 2-year-olds. The toddlers can’t take care of themselves.
Now that’s not how Singaporeans think. 😉
Wouldn’t the parents then interfere with re-education ?
You know… on social issues. At least for adults, most take offense with “re – education “… it’s like you’re implying something’s wrong in the first place.
Another problem in a (hopefully ) Free society it seems wrong to deny another of their views no matter how wrong they are.
It May seem uppity
We’re currently struggling very very badly with elitism
You have a group of people whom by the basis of being born into a better family had better upbringing, decided they can run your lives for you.
So having been through that I don’t feel anyone else should experience it.
Haha. Adults can be reeducated, but you’re right, they can get stubborn. Not all, though.
I think Singapore succeeded with this: people can have their views, even the wrong ones, but they choose to carry out the plans the right views, and not those with wrong one. Well, maybe.
I always believe irresponsible media has the most influence on pinoys. So why not used media to unfcuked the pinoys. And I believe its the only cost effective way in re-educating pinoys – its really a loooooong term solution.
In the USA there are no signs in Tagalog there that say “Krimen ang Pagnanakaw”. Filipino Americans are one of the most affluent ethnic groups in the USA, better off than whites.
See:
http://www.asian-nation.org/demographics.shtml
Filipino Americans:
Least amount in poverty
Second highest median family income
Third hightest percentage of homeowners
Third lowest in public assistance
etc…
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/357017/in-us-asian-immigrants-better-off-than-whites
“Indians had the highest median household income among Asians, at $89,600 in 2010 compared to non-Hispanic whites at $54,000. Filipinos were second highest, followed by Chinese and Japanese”
Please verify your facts first before blurting out “information” based merely on the stereotypes you want to propagate about Filipinos.
About being “unfilipino”, yes, maybe but it is too extreme to lump all “filipino-ness” as dysfunction. For example, Filipino family values made Filipino Americans succeed as there is more discipline and respect within the family compared to other non-Asian ethnicities.
Ahem, a commenter shared to me that bit about the sign in the US, and even though it may be only for one store, it tells a lot. Or perhaps that sign was in another country.
About being “unFilipino…” you failed to read my article. Read before you comment, please.
Also, it pays to be skeptical about media articles before believing them, such as that thing about Asians.
LOL! “A Commenter said so”. You know what Miriam Defensor Santiago would say when you tell her that’s where you got your “facts” from eh? Even if there “is a sign in San Francisco” it it very remote and miniscule and does not represent or misrepresent Pinoys in the USA who are well respected.
You say we rather beleive you who never lived in the USA and bases your conclusion on a “comment by a commenter about one store” rather than research by Brown University, the PEW Research Center and the US Census Bureau who bases the data they present (Filipinos being in the upper rungs of US Society more than whites and sometimes even more than Chinese, Japanese and Korean) on hard research and hard facts? How laughable.
So you prefer the sign be listed in a study rather than told you by an eyewitness? Well, you’re entitled to that. Your choice in believing it or not. If others choose to believe it, let them.
You can believe there is a sign, and I can do too if I see one. But to CONCLUDE that it represents the majority of Filipino Americans is ridiculous. To also CONCLUDE that Filipino Family or values are the root of Pinoy dysfunction is erroneous as those same family values propel Filipinos to greater heights than their white and even some East Asian contemporaries in First World countries. In fact, the LACK OF FAMILY due to OFW’ism causes more dysfunction than “Filipino Family Values”. It’s the economy. Creat jobs locally, see the culture improve when the quality of life and education improves.
I did not say “it represents the majority of Filipino Americans.” I said in effect “someone could believe it represents the majority of Filipino Americans.” That is my message. Any other reading is someone else’s words forced into my mouth.
believe NOTHING about statistical data concerning ethnicities in the USA. the manipulation of alpha levels can make any ‘null’ hypothesis void/accurate due to the desire of the manipulator/statistician.
to act ‘as if’ is kinda funny especially in this titled essay on pride.
Still, statistics are better than anecdotal or cherry picked “evidence”. Multiple sources get cited and for what its worth, the amount of remittances OFWs send are indicators too.
The dysfunctions of Pinoy culture in The Philippines are actually not Filipino at all. The Wowowee dancers do not dance Filipino dances nor wear Filipino attire. You think Revillame and how he treats people would hold well with Lapu Lapu? I bet he would have beheaded him immediately upon sight.
I agree that OFW remittances and MAYBE more importantly…where those remittances are coming from are good indications of wealth outside the country.
I just have no faith in statistics, ever since I took stats as a ‘required to graduate’ class and realized that just about the only stat(s) that can not be manipulated to the desired result is a ‘homicide-per-capita’ rate (and then, only if all the bodies are recovered/autopsy correctly conducted), and sports stats.
I want to add this late, even statistics are dependent on anecdotal information. For example, a survey asking a respondent whether they are poor or not poor would actually be dependent on an anecdotal answer. The respondent’s saying their not poor or not is anecdotal. But the survey taker can’t just stop and say, hey where’s the proof that you’re poor or not? They have to take the participant’s work for it. So thus, anecdotal information can’t be removed from research on this topic.
“No signs” daw… check your facts indeed.
Wow, what a great source. I can also make a comment that “I saw a unicorn on mars when I flew there using a cape I found in Bundok ng Arayat given to me by Mariang Sinukuan and she said superman accidentally left it when they had wild butt slapping sex”. You can then believe it. Hard facts, research, quality data. Not misrepresntations or INSUFFICIENT data to justify a conclusion.
Reject it as you wish. But if it turns out as true, you’ll have to eat your words.
As I said, even if it were true, it is INSUFFICIENT data to arrive at your conclusion. It is like a girl seeing one cockroach in a palace and shrieking that the palace is a roach infested one (even if her house has even more roaches).
Looks like my example was taken out of context. Deliberately, I guess.
Your example is out of context. Lol. One Tagalog Sign = Pinoys in the USA are below all other ethnicities because the sign is only in Tagalog in a Tagalog speaking US city.
Where did I say “One Tagalog Sign = Pinoys in the USA are below all other ethnicities.” Words were again put in my mouth.
You make it appear so with the hysteria-themed tone of your article.
Hysteria? That’s another interpretation, but you’re welcome to it, then.
@C.F. you did not say it. I looked, you did not.
I am not making this up:it is a habit of Filipino’s to make in-correct conclusions/assumptions and then arrive at another conclusion based on the in-correct one. it is as AMAZING to see first-hand, as it is in-comprehensible to understand how this is done. Makes me wonder:’Where in the fuck did that come from?”, when it occurs. and the Filipino doin it will be absolutely serious in his/her belief of the correctness of this in-correct thinking.
More often than not. Filipinos in the states had proper upbringing.
If some Filipino kid were to grow up in the US, it’s very likely the parents are there too
A dysfunctional Filipino society seems to have deep roots in broken families
So are broken families part of Filipino family values and cultural aspects ?
Why do Filipinos (self identified as Filipinos, mouth the superiority of their family values ) returning from the US often expressed cultural shock and horror at what they saw? Especially for those who’ve never been home Since young ?
And then LoL proceed to label it dumb and crazy like in Philippines fail blog.
Why are Filipinos so successful outside but the motherland so abysmal?
Everyone talks about family, moral values, Roman Catholicism
But with vastly different results
It is true about Family. Most white, Hispanic and Black families do not have the same level of respect, obedience and expectations as Asians (incuding Pinoy) families. Most of my relatives have at least upper management positions and businesses. The kids have straight A’s (or else) and go to Ivy League universities without exception.
In The Philippines there are no jobs so a lot of families are broken because parents become OFWs or they are underemployed so they end up getting 2 or more jobs. Others are even unemployed and set a bad example to their children. The solution the The Philippines is for jobs to be generated. Even foreign owned company jobs.
Give the people jobs (where they can take care of their families like Fil-Ams, Fil-Canadians, Fil Aussies etc… not OFWs where families are separated) and social/cultural change will follow. This entire Wowowee and Pactardism culture is brought about by poverty and insecurity. Economic prosperity will change those.
Giving people jobs is a solution. Certainly, we need that. But to believe social and cultural change will not happen without it is closed-minded. It is not ceteris paribus. I’ve always believed we can go on cultural change with or without the economic solution. And I don’t want my beliefs or writings about it to be hijacked anymore by someone trying to play my thought-police boss.
No one is trying to play your thought-police boss. You write and publish, then take the heat.
That Asian nation article also has an “Oranges to Apples” section which in essence warns against generalizing into an “Asians are better than whites” attitude. Click on the “model minority” link for the explanation.
Consider: “Several Asian groups are doing very well and in fact, consistently outperform Whites on many measures of socioeconomic achievement. On the other hand, a few Asian groups may exhibit a few very positive achievements but on the whole, do not possess the same attainment levels of other Asian groups and Whites.
All of this just goes to show that we need to be especially mindful of the specific histories, experiences, and characteristics of unique racial/ethnic groups and that we cannot automatically assume that just because they share some general similarities that they are all alike or that there are no differences among them.”
I read the disclaimer and I am aware of it. The data is still there though. ““Several Asian groups are doing very well and in fact, consistently outperform Whites on many measures of socioeconomic achievement.” include Pinoys. The “a few Asian groups may exhibit a few very positive achievements but on the whole, do not possess the same attainment levels of other Asian groups and Whites” include Cambodians, Laos and Vietnamese. Just look at the data.
Yes, and there are factors discussed that go beyond the data. We can learn something from it indeed, but we can never say, “Asians are better,” or that would be racist. That is my point about this.
Oh, and I’m not trying to propagate stereotypes as you claim. I’m only sharing my views. If you say I am lumping all Filipino-ness as dysfunction, you did not read nor properly understand my article.
I am just pointing out facts that belie your “conclusions”. I agree Pinoys have dysfunctions but your conclusions about where they are coming from are erroneous. “Asians are better” or “Filipino Americans are better” as the NUMBERS say. You also say “Filipinos are inferior” but not based on numbers but your own bias (or HYSTERIA you want to foment). Who is the racist now?
One Filipino dysfunction I am sure of that a lot possess is BLAMING and POTIFICATING. Let’s say they fail in life, they blame everything like let’s say… their Filipino-Ness (the way they define it) and then pontificate against the very same dysfunctions they want to feel that they do not have.
Where did I say Filipinos are inferior? That’s the reader’s interpretation. Numbers are one thing, but I prefer not to rely on them only, which the Asian-Nation site also warns against.
If there is a warning against relying on numbers, there is an even bigger warning against relying on anecdotal evidence and unbalanced “facts”.
Its funny how you invoke all the standard caveats and disclaimers on statistics (in fact those need not be invoked as they apply to all statistics) but EMBRACE wholeheartedly and without any reservation anecdotes that may or may not be true but do not represent what is prevalent for a certain subset of people. Parang “Research by 3 different AMERICAN (not SWS Lopez owned) organizations show Pinoys have achieved a lot in the USA along with other Asian groups”… then you say “wala yan” then a random commenter says he saw one sign in one shop and you go scream EUREKAAAAAA!!! Filipinos are soooo baaad and it is innate in them to be baaaad and laaaazy and palamuniiiiin while pointing with one finger. But when one points with one finger, more point back.
There’s really nothing to show that “Asians are better” in the said page, all in all.
My article was never meant to be an academically accurate article. It’s an opinion that I base on anecdotal stuff, which a simple blog post can use anyway. Many people depend on anecdotal accounts in real life, too, no proof it always caused harm. But just because it is anecdotal doesn’t make it entirely harmful. And I didn’t misrepresent anything, what I write is to the best of my knowledge. So any accusation that I’m lying through my teeth, that goes too far, in my view.
The numbers speak that Asians are economically better and even family as there are a lot of marriages intact. Perhaps “better” does not sound good but it is better than “superior”. I just posted the statistics to drive a point that Filipinos are not innately inferior as a race. If you feel inferior and find that your Filipino-ness is an easy thing to blame (because of the bandwagon) then go ahead. Just because you want to do that though does not mean we have to. If the Philippine economy gets more liberal then the level of education (quality, not merely quantity) increases and slowly things like pactardism and jejemonism will fade.
Again, you’re putting words in my mouth about this “inferior” thing. See below for what I mean, the reply to yours about “superior race.”
I didn’t say you are lying. I am just saying you are misinformed or do not use the right information. There you go, you admit that your blog posts use anecdotal information or opinions that are not necessarily based on facts. Anecdotal evidence does not cause harm? How about things like the holocaust? The victories of idiots like Noynoy Aquino? Mobs lynching of people of other races because of an untrue rumor of “a black man raped a white girl?” Those are due to people relying on anecdotal evidences to justify their decisions instead of statistical facts which may never be 100% accurate but approximate the truth as close as possible. It can do harm too.
it is a fact that in intelligence tests conducted scientifically in major U.S. institutions, Asians are the superior intelligence world-wide. A VERY, very close 2nd is Whites. There is a considerable drop-off to third place and the Hispanics and an even bigger drop to 4th place where Africans land.
Your mileage may vary, of course.
Ah, perhaps this is what I should have pointed out. We see a correlation in the data given between being Asian in origin to having a relatively better life. But does the data show a causal relationship between the two factors? It does not. It’s like the study between parliamentary government and level of corruption. You see a correlation, but is it a causal relationship? That’s not proven either.
Thus, there is still no reason to conclude that Asian values, or being Asian itself, is a necessary factor in having a “better” life. Perhaps it is something else. Is it even the values? If it’s values, perhaps values that are universal, and we should drop notions of ethnic values. But that’s an assumption. It is unsafe to conclude that Asian values necessarily leads to a better life in the US.
The Brown University study stated that the common Asian values are factors in Asian success in the US. Besides, why of all ethnicities, the Asians (with Filipino Americans being one of the “leaders of the pack” by the way) are the ones piling up on top while the whites and others trail downward. Based on the information at hand, the conclusion about Asians is closer to the truth than the opposite… which is what? A contrary view that is empty except a huff of “perhaps it isn’t so”?
If you really want anecdotal evidence, I have personally seen my cousin scream and shout at their son and wave his report card to his face saying they worked hard and if they deserve the results he has given them. When she said to me look at how bad this is. I said, well, all grades are A and he just got one B which is Chemistry. She said, exactly, a B! He can’t go with us to the outlet mall today.
I have yet to see an American family ground their kid for even D and C grades.
Checked the Brown University study and it doesn’t say anything about Asian values. It rather looks at whether the immigrants are better off if assimilated into or segregated from American society. That may provide a clue to values, but that isn’t stated in the study.
Your anecdote sounds like an “Asian tiger parent” stereotype. Not a parenting style I prefer. Perhaps someone will provide a different anecdote.
The PEW Research has more about Asian values in Chapter 5. For your reading pleasure.
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/06/19/the-rise-of-asian-americans/6/#chapter-5-family-and-personal-values
Yes, I came upon it last night, and am about to read. I am also about to debunk that they can be owned as “Asian values,” because they are actually practiced by any culture. More Asians just choose to practice these values, but that doesn’t make them “Asian.”
Is your anecdote supposed to show why Filipino family traditions are better? Because it doesn’t demonstrate a single concept of unity and love and respect that Filipino families here in the Philippines have for each other (sometimes to the point of forming political/leadership “dynasties” in the gov’t/workplace.)
As a Filipino living in the Philippines, not all parents are as grade-conscious as your cousin. There are a lot of more tolerant parents out there, and although there are some (rare) cases of uber-strict grade-conscious perfectionist parents (like mine), it actually causes their children to be distant from them emotionally, and such mean language is psychologically proven (easy Google search) to cause trauma to that child’s emotional health as he/she grows up.
The “normal” situation in middle-class families in urban areas (based from my observations) is that they will scold, or at least show some disappointment, with their children if they get grades less than 75% (C or lower), but after some time, they learn to accept it and move on with their lives. In rural areas, I have heard of parents letting their children stop schooling in high school and work in the field/farm or somewhere else.
If you want anecdotal evidence, I can personally tell you that although I am a top-performing science high school student, most of my classmates/schoolmates that I know of do not have the same kind of strict parents like mine. Having strict parenting forced me to be a perfectionist with regard to my academics, but I feel lost and distant from them emotionally and psychologically because I constantly feel some kind of “wall” separating me from them. Which, by the way, is something that is inconsistent with Filipino over-togetherness. My classmates, on the other hand, mostly live fun, normal lives, and their parents don’t scold them to death when they get low grades.
I found that living in the US was very lonely for me (I’m a US citizen) so many rules and touchy neighbors, I could never play my music loud and yet they smoked day and night, I could smell their choking smoking drift into my bedroom from another apartment, I never complained.
I do feel Tagalog as a language is doing more harm than good, maybe it’s time to drop it and go to English and then teach Chinese as the second language, sure would open allot more doors, what good is the Tagalog language if it only is spoken by the Philippine citizen, nobody wants to learn it the country is so small.
Over here we hate loud music past 9 pm
But it’s not stopping my neighbors. Nor their smoke from coming over
They’re Filipinos in case you’re curious
Philippines is a nation with 100 million population
And in this world, population size means power, and a strong economy.
Look at all the other countries with 100 million population and above and the threat they pose to their neighbors ( other than Bangladesh )
Asean itself was create to rein in Indonesia
The problem is with mismanagement not ( the country is so smal)
You don’t see hordes of fan girls saying that about Korean and japanese languages do you?
And their culture spread to the west
Honkies had less than 7 million (current population ) spoke Cantonese dialect instead of the mandarin
Yet cantopop dominate Chinese music scene
“And in this world, population size means power, and a strong economy.”
Flawed logic is flawed like when pnoy said that heavy traffic in imperial Manila means a strong economy. Then why does India, with the population of more than a billion, are one of the poorest countries in the world? Why does your country and even New Zeaaland have a strong economy despite their less than 5 million population size?
India actually has a pretty strong economy
And a powerful base for domestic consumption
Singapore is one of the largest investors in India. Top three in fact.
But India has her own domestic problems regarding rampant corruption.
The size of India’s economy dwarfs ours
just like Indonesian economy is bigger than Singapore and Malaysia’s combined
With no resources, a war fought for Singapore might be won with current war materials but would bankrupt and wipe out the value of sgd. Toliet paper would be worth more
Same goes for new Zealand
For larger countries they can sustain themselves.
Can new Zealand and Singapore afford to close their doors?
One of the most astonishing things in countries with large populations is Philippines, and Filipinos in general love rice. Eat large amounts of it.
Can’t eat anything else
The country is poor and yet money is spent every year for subsidies to import rice instead of planting in one of the most fertile volcanic and wet regions
And exporting rice outwards instead
ur right, no one wants to speak tagalog/Cebuano. its about as much fun to speak as Portuguese.
ChinoF,
based on my own personal experiences of being in the Philippines and based on what I read in Phili newspapers and based on what I read on other websites, I just wonder how the “perfect” Filipino society should or must look like?
I can compare the Filipino society (as far as I know that society) to the Dutch society and then make lots of comments and how to improve, progress, evolve the Filipino society. But I dont know if the PS (Philippine society) wants to become a copy (cat) of the Dutch society.
There are a lot of things that I experienced while being in the Philippines that lead and leads to frustration in me.
I guess, no current society is the perfect society. And I am not proud to be a Dutchman but in all honesty I am glad I was born and raised in the Netherlands (and not in the Philippines).
Last but not least (and this may sound like a knockdown argument/clincher) the Netherlands is a rich first world country whereas the Philippines is still regarded as a poor 3rd world country. This must have a cause and or a reason.
There is no need to imagine a “perfect society” indeed. Because that can only be described as Utopia: no crime, everyone follows the law, no one’s a smart aleck, everyone has enough, no one’s rich or poor, etc. The kind of society I target is something that has LESS of certain things. Among them, misled and smart-aleck attitudes, overloaded families (too many children), vice-laden behaviors, lack of common sense, racism, strict traditionalism, etc. Perhaps MORE of common sense, economic and cultural freedom, intellectuality, etc. It would seem the Netherlands (and other countries) has the better mix of these than the Philippines.
Why don’t just pen the article like: “Pinoy Bashing As An Art.”
You consider shoplifting as if it is a heinous crimes that infected only the Filipinos. Petty as well as high crimes cross racial barriers.
In like manner, you will consider bank holduppers as reprehensible creatures, but not the bank owners who use the banks as their private piggy banks, run with the money and let the government bails it out.
You consider petty thefts to address dire hunger/needs of those who probably have no money as signs of Filipino dysfunction but you won’t see that million other Filipinos are living the honest way here and abroad.
Ahbut not all Filipinos live honestly abroad
Make a guess where on earth just had the first pinoy burger king robbery ever
And just to make sure you know. No one ever robbed a burger king here before
And it was an inside job too.
If you want to hear throw nice stuff there’s the church, the priest there would tell you every Sunday without fail, repent and the pearly Gates open for thee
Followed by singing and dancing
Why come here and disagree then ask for a positive article to praise yourselves
It’s like buying a dog then complaining it looks like a dog.
Theres always abs cbn or even gma for all the defenders of the realm
What kind of delusional reasoning is that?! You are actually encouraging bank robbery because you don’t agree with your government’s economic policy?
Seriously is that abogado de patola really an attorney? Or did he just cheated the BAR exam only to pass for the sake of money from his clients?
If only I could write as well as Chino, I would pen an article like “The Failure of Pinoy Logic as exemplified by Jose Camano”.
Cite the specific part of the article, attorney with a small “a”, where Chino says that Filipinos are the only shoplifters that exist.
And exactly what the hell do bank hold-uppers and bank owners have to do with the main point in the article?
Guess what, jcc, true to the typical Pinoy mindset, you consider ” that million other Filipinos are living the honest here and abroad” as something to be lauded as an accomplishment, and possibly another source of that goddamn Pinoy Pride, whereas in advanced societies it would be the acceptable minimum.
And Pinoys wonder why their society continuously fails to pull itself up from its current pathetic state? It’s because they set abominably low standards of decency and quality of thought for themselves.
Revised from other article:
Critics of GRP say, “Filipinos aren’t the only ones with false pride and those bad habits. Other countries have it too.”
That should also be true of the good habits.
When someone says most Filipinos are kind, caring, professional, ethical, law-abiding and all that, I agree. But the same thing should apply to Americans, Russians, Mexicans, Chinese and Singaporeans, and other nationalities. No one can say “No, Filipinos only are good and kind as caregivers!” Perhaps that was the comment because only or dominantly Filipinos filled that role. Let’s see what happens if other nationalities fill the role. But no Filipino should claim “we’re special in being good in the world.” If no other nationality in the world can claim that, neither could we.
But there’s the question: Do Filipino nationals shoplift more often than others in that neighborhood, or that store at least? Hence the sign.
That was probably Daly City in San Francisco where practically Pinoys are the most visible minority there. Most are new migrants who are used to being “palamunin” because their parents or relatives keep sending them money to Da Pinas while they wait for their “petisyon” for years. Bilingual signs appear in neighborhoods where almost ONLY a particular minority are disproportionately dominant. In Spanish Speaking cities, the signs are in Spanish, Chinese speaking are Chinese, Arab speaking in Arabic and so on. Why would they put a Spanish sign in Daly City San Francisco if only Pinoys live there? Your conclusion that the sign
(if it were true at all) represents the general stature and status of Filipinos in the USA is laughable and erroneous.
Yes, Get Real Philippines WAS quite credible and enjoyable to read before. With articles like this though, it sadly seems like some people want to use it as a platform for a HYSTERIA that grasps at every little bit of trivial “data” and magnifies it to justify the HYSTERIA. Such HYSTERIA must be created so satisfy the writers’ “Soap Box Syndrome” and probably divert their own minds (and attempt to diver the other people’s minds) to their own shortcomings in life. How sad.
Thank you for that tidbit on Daly City, but I say you err in saying GRP was credible. We still are.
I LIKE GRP to be credible, hence the critiques. If you want it to remain so then make your articles more well researched and based on facts.
We are based on facts. You like to select what you believe as fact and not fact. Though you are entitled to that.
Erroneous conclusions based on insufficient facts. Opinions substituted for facts. Hearsay.
At least no one dictates what I write.
When cornered you keep saying “We” as if I am against the entire GRP. In fact I enjoy some authors here. Your article in particular and your credibility as an author is the one being put under the light here. Then you go saying “we” to borrow the credibility or perceived credibility of some of the authors here. If someone needs a “credibility umbrella” then cry we we we all the way home.
No one dictates what anyone can write but be prepared to back it up with facts, intelligent analysis and credibility. You can write that pigs can fly or George Bush rode a UFO and no one is stopping you. The content though can affect your credibility and that of your publisher.
Perhaps the existence of the store sign reported may be moot to you. However, that the story exists itself is a sign of something.
Yes, Chinof, because it is only the Filipino they can bully… perhaps if you put a sign, No Blacks allowed, you can expect Sharpton and his civil libertarian mouthpieces violent reactions (literally and metaphorically)…
The way we allowed the Chinese to bully us, and few Pinoys like you to bully/bash the Pinoys under your self-righteous pretensions that you were better off than most Pinoys.
hahaha… Winona Ryder is a shoplifter.. Clinton and Obama admitted being Marijuana users. Clinton is a womanizer just like Erap and Ferdinand Marcos. Enron is an American company that ran off with the retirement benefits of the ordinary workers just like Dewey Dee, (Marcos crony) ran off with banks money causing financial crisis during Marcos time. The same way American banks/financial instutions in America had been bled by their owners/directors yet and bailed out their government.
The biggest con-artist is an American, Madoff.
Scoundrels permeate every race. Good sense is not the private domain of people other than the Filipinos.
The “palamunin pinoys” are being supported by earnings of their relatives. The “palamunin” Americans are supported by “food stamps” exacted from every hardworking Americans and other minorities.
Asian values are better this way because we take care of our own relatives, while the Americans let the government put up the money collected from every working Americans (including
American minorities to support those who find reasons not to work…
That “Asian values are better” argument is still moot to me. It sounds like trying to propagate a racist belief that Asians are a superior race. Quite dangerous. If you tell me that I’m the one in danger of generalizing and lumping people, the Asian-Nation article actually implies that the statistics can do that more. It has the warning that you should look at individual cases more, because statistics has its limitations. Yes, Asians seem to be doing better in the US, but that may not be due to their values as a whole. As others have warned me here, don’t take it as a whole.
Your argument about Filipinos being the “only one they can bully” reflects the victim mentality of Filipinos that keeps them from improving their state in life. So when shoplifting Filipinos are punished, they are being bullied? No, that’s not bullying, they’re being punished and warned accordingly.
Yes, I did say even other countries have their bad habits. But like I said in my other article, my target is the Filipino, which is the target of this blog site after all. If you want me to stop criticizing Filipinos and criticize Americans or other countries instead, that would be dishonest. Because my thesis is that the Filipino faults are the ones that keep the nation from moving forward, and they seem embraced by the culture. That’s why I disagree that “oppression” from America, the corporations and external factors is keeping the Philippines down. It’s also our wrong values in practice. For example, that “we take care of our relatives” seems to be a condoning of nepotism.
You consider the sign: “No Filipinos Allowed” punishment? You were punishing the entire Filipino people for the crime of few scoundrel Filipinos? Blacks and Whites also committed “shoplifting”, but did you see an establishment with the same sign: “No Blacks and Whites Allowed?”
So the sign is “oppression” because it may imply more Filipinos than other ethnic groups were actually shoplifting? But hey, the other guy here says my evidence is anecdotal, so it may not be true. No need to get on a fit over it then. But if there’s a story like that, told by Filipinos, it still tells something.
Right, jcc. It’s all about being bullied. The victim card.
Guess what? If the store owner saw primarily Filipinos robbing his store, then you really can’t blame him for being apprehensive towards all Filipinos now, can you? It’s not right, but it is what it is.
Guess what? Instead of working on analyzing and correcting undesirable behavior, Filipinos instead find excuses to justify it. That is such a hindrance to progress. But then again, not surprising in a land of pwede-na-yan, bahala na, and impunity.
As usual, attorney with a small “a”, you frame whatever “argumentation” you have around the “everybody else does it too, so why bash Pinoys” bullcrap. And as usual sablay ka nanaman eh; what the hell does comparing Asian values with American values have to do with the point of the article?
Apparently, all that “lawyering” only taught you to confuse people with conspiracy theories, but you apparently have learned nothing about keeping to the main point, eh?
From where I sit, it is not about my missing the point of argument entirely, it is your inability to process an idea when it is not about bad-mouthing the Pinoys.
What makes you think that this article is about badmouthing Pinoys then, attorney with a small “a”?
See, just as you’ve exhibited, when Pinoy behaviors or traditions that obviously don’t work are pointed out to them, they see it as “bashing” or “badmouthing”. They’re so hypersensitive that they react like emos first (or only) instead of doing validation, analysis, and correction.
The only one who refuses to see another point of view here is you, jcc. Well, maybe you do see it, but as a quintessential Pinoy lawyer, your first impulse is to judge and argue instead of understand and appreciate.
There is no superior race. No inferior one either (like what you think Filipinos are). Filipinos in the USA (and probably Canada and Australia) have proven that in a level playing field we can excel too even to a point of exceeding those who were advantaged of being born there and have generations upon generations of support.
And thus, those values they practiced are effective. Then it would be better to teach them to others. What they are exactly, they should be identified. And my point is, they are likely not exclusively Filipino, or even Asian values, but could be the right mix from any relevant cultures.
IDK about the ‘special in being good in the world’, but seems that there are quite a few ‘ethnicities’ that think they are ‘special’ or even ‘chosen’.
the ‘chosen’ ones (maybe because of the arrogance of the statement?) were ‘chosen’ not too long ago for extinction.
declaring urself as such seems a dicy propostion, yes?
You make a big deal about how you’ve come to embrace the American dream and yet you have spared no opportunity to attack the United States. And now you’ve taken it further with your sympathetic treatment of terrorist acts as revenge against government policy you take issue with.
Listening to your tangential rants gives me a clearer understanding of why US intelligence services find it necessary to target American nationals on the basis of political association. On the whole, I wouldn’t be surprised — or displeased — if you might one day find yourself under intimate scrutiny by some very large gentlemen.
—
Worse, you conflate this completely irrelevant agenda with a discussion of Filipino character. Ludicrous.
hehehe…. one’s patriot is another man’s terrorist. snowden is a traitor/patriot depending on one’s outlook..
attack the U.S.? — i am just giving you lectures on American history, but because your pea brain cannot process them, you see phantoms in those lectures.
read patrick henry, tom paine and thomas jefferson — american spirit is not about blind subservience but enligthened engagement over public issues and vigilance to government’s tyranny.
Or savor Snowden’s curt reply: “To be called by Cheney a traitor, is the most honorable thing conferred on me.”
Or savor’s T. Jefferson’s ideals of free speech:
“If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.” —
Please combat my free speech with your better speech, not by threatening me possible “surveilance” of huge American gentlemen. As if being physically big will improve your speech.
The diminutive Foreign Secretary Carlos P. Romulo when asked by one of his two big American escorts in Washington how he feels in between two big Americans, said:
“I feel like a dime between two cents.”
So enough of your being a big American!
What? An opinion on GRP now has to be vetted by jcc to be considered worthy?
—
“…phantoms in those lectures?” What ghosts? I described your comments here and in previous articles as “attacks” against the United States. Which they are — a verbal barrage excoriating the US for what you feel is a pattern of betrayal by its leaders of America’s ideals and the citizens to whom they are supposed to be responsible. You have said as much yourself. I, on the other hand, find them overly simplistic, peevish, utterly without context. And — in the case of this article — irrelevant to the issues being discussed.
—
And what’s with the reference to physical size? What has that got to do with what I wrote? You’ve taken the reference too literally. And missed the point completely. I’m “a big American?” How the devil did you ever come to the conclusion that I am somehow trying to inflate myself to be a “big American?” Do you actually think I AM an American? You have embarrassingly poor comprehension for a lawyer.
—
Again with Snowden. (And again completely irrelevant.) Whichever way your (political) sympathies lie, under US law, he is a criminal and a traitor. Crying about it will not change that fact.
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And, by the way, you haven’t lectured anyone here about ANY thing. All you did was parrot anti-establishment screeds from popular media and websites documenting protest movements like “Occupy Wall Street.” Nothing more. A twelve year old watching Soledad O’brien on CNN or MSNBC’s Chris Matthews could accomplish the same thing.
Then sue me! 🙂
Soledad O’brien on CNN or MSNBC’s Chris Matthews are Americans. It is all right for them to critize American leaders/policies, but not all right for Fil-Ams to do the same. Now whose thinking exhibits canine ‘servility?”
So Americans are allowed to criticize fellow Americans and their government, but Filipinos are not? Is there a double standard here?
You can critize Pinoys the way you critize Americans… But you already admitted that your criticism against them was just anecdotal, no much substance, datawise/research wise.
Americans are allowed to criticize their government and society, but Filipinos are not allowed to criticize their own. Is this what you’ve been trying to get across, jcc?
Why are you so concerned about America’s affairs, anyway? They are irrelevant to this discussion about FILIPINO society, to begin with.
Wow, giving lectures, looks like someone has resorted to credentials to attempt to get across how valid their argument is.
Apparently, the only thing you’ve learned in law school is talk people to death with irrelevant facts and long-winded and utterly nonsense “argumentation”.
“Sue” you? For what? For being a pretentious pseudo intellectual lacking original thought? Or for being a flaming asshole? I know America is a litigious society and that is certainly within your right. But the only thing a suit will prove is that there are better ways to waste the court’s time.
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Only Americans can criticize America? So — frank dissent is no longer allowed? You are implying the US has arrogated to itself the right to decide who may or may not speak in the world and everyone else must tow the line? That no other nation may have their own point of view unless the US president issues an executive order?
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The only lapdog inhabiting this thread is jcc. He performed an act of osculation with Uncle Sam’s gluteus maximus and now that he has his American citizenship he feels the need to flex the arrogance he seems to think he is entitled to. That’s really pathetic.
hoohum… try analyzing your own posts to see who is a actually trying hard to be a pseduo-intellectual…
BTW, I am critizing principally American policies not Americans as a race. You critize Pinoys as abominable creature/race unworthy of the great strides of other great culture such as America…
Servile!
i did not consider Americans as “shoplifters” only Winona Ryder, but your consider Pinoys shoflifters because one or two-Filipino were caught shoplifting, and you gloat on the sign in establishment: “No Filipinos Allowed,” while I consider it a racial slur.
“He performed an act of osculation with Uncle Sam’s gluteus maximus and now that he has his American citizenship he feels the need to flex the arrogance he seems to think he is entitled to.”
So who is trying hard to sound a “pseudo intellectual here” trying hard to impress with his overtaxed idioms and syntax.?
In America, there is no such thing as “free lunch,” unless you belong to some race with “entitlement” mentality. Most Filipinos here have to work in order to eat.
I would like to inform you that Michigan Pinoys do not avail themselves of ‘public transport.’ If you come here, you would notice that every Filipino here ride their own cars. It is some other unfortunate people who refused to have decent work that avail of those public transport, and line themselves up for food stamps and SSS checks. 🙂
Everyone on GRP has analyzed your posts, jcc. It’s been reiterated several times. Irrelevant nonsense.
funny, did you make a headcount, or just your imagination?
Stop putting words into other people’s mouths, jcc. But then again, maybe you can’t help it, being a “lawyer” and all.
Again, stop putting words into other people’s mouths.
Get this through your thick skull, attorney with a small “a”: singling out Filipinos like that sign did may not be necessarily correct, but it is what it is, given that Filipinos made up a significant part of those caught shoplifting. It can’t be helped. Filipinos want to stop being singled out? Then why don’t they prove that they can curb such undesirable behavior instead of feeling persecuted and viewing it as a racial slur?
hohohummm .. you simply refuse to see that Pinoys abroad, specially in America are successful and they were doing honest jobs to live. Some screwed-up, but all nationalities have their own screw-ups, but they are being addressed as human frailties, not “race-frailties.”
i mean these screw-ups must be addressed as ‘human frailties’ not race-based frailties…
Complete survey. With charts and analysis by the guy who worked in the cubicle next to Edward Snowden.
Hohum talaga. Sablay arguments all the way.
What makes you think any of us explicitly said that, jcc? If they are, well and good for them. But like I said earlier, what you like to extol as a virtue, is in fact an acceptable minimum in advanced societies. Then again, in a country like the Philippines with abominably low standards of decency and quality of thought perhaps that is such a big thing.
In other words, it is not unique to Filipinos, so there’s no need to correct it. Is that what you’re saying, attorney with a small “a”?
Typical Pinoy mindset talaga o. Tsk tsk tsk.
hayyy…. i thought english is such a pretty straightforward language… “must be addressed as human frailties not race-based frailties.”
i said they should be addressed as opposed as to not being addressed at all…
conclusion: i did not say that we must not addressed those problems… you did by misquoting me…
unless of course you can consider your input the epitome of your self-deluding wisdom, i would say, you have to shut up!
Make me, jcc.
But don’t “lecture” me to death on the “equally dastardly evils of America and the West”, which is what you’ve been doing not just in this blog, but on that other one about the FilAm judge, mmmkay?
Now who between us has been exhibiting self-deluding wisdom? Who’s the one who’s been “trying” to “lecture” other people about America’s “evils” even if it is absolutely irrelevant to the topic of the article at hand?
Looks to me that the only “self-deluded wise man” is you, attorney with a small “a”.
just want to say that evil-doing is not the exclusive terrain of the pinoys, and the americans whom you have shown quite a tremendous servility, could have edged us out on the issue. just go back to your world history, wait until they are translated in other languages because english comprehension was your weakness.
btw gerry, in michigan, unlike california, you can count pinoys in your fingers. this is a very small community… they party every weekend and share their joys… and you seem not to relish the idea that no pinoys here are on welfare checks.. as if such fate cannot be achieved by your compatriots..
‘every filipino in Michigan rides in their own vehicle’, REALLY? can YOU PROVE THAT?
and NOT ONE Filipino in Michigan rides public transport? not even the environmentally conscious ones?
and EVEN, TADA, not a single Filipino in Michigan receives S.S. cheques or is on public assistance?
UN-PROVABLE, HENCE IDIOTIC.
Before you shoot your foot further, please consider that Michigan’s Detroit is considered the Motor City of the U.S. because the Big Three Car Manufacturers are there, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. Public transport was not highly-developed because it was their idea to provide car for everyone, hence no need for a public transport. Unlike California and New York, where subways and rail transit are efficient and cost-effective, Detroit neglected their public transport. Thus, while it is elegant to ride public transport in California, New York and other highly urbanized metropolis, it is not so in Michigan. The city grew without efficient public transport and quite frankly, the rounds came long in between bus stops. It is only the less privileged who avail of Detroit’s public transport. I hope I can see Pinoys in that bus, but the Pinoys I know in our place have their private cars, hence I conclude that they do not avail of it.
Who said it was? I don’t recall ChinoF, or Johnny Saint, or I saying such a thing. Where in the article does it say that it is?
So What? if the Americans “edge us out on the issue”? And what makes you think anyone is showing “servility” to the Americans here, hmm?
My English comprehension is just fine, attorney with a small “a”. In fact, you’ve been providing us here a fine example of “knowledge of deep and high-faluting words” not necessarily translating to meaningful insight.
Uy, iiyak na si jcc…
@jcc: Pinoys are like this in the US and Pinoys are like that in the US. The simple message emerging from all that drivel is that Pinoys excel overseas but not within the islands, ergo: Pinoys are better off scattered across the world in little quaint pockets of Pinoyness rather than concentrated in a bunch of volcanic islands to the tune of 100 million waving a big red-white-and-blue flag highlighting the really big point that there really is NO point to the whole concept of “the Philippines”.
ha ha! 😀
I mean feat, not fate… Pinoys are capable of doing such a feat!
Other nationalities are all over the world too, not only the Pinoys. They could be successful abroad because they were away from their native lands. Just like the Chinese when they came to the Philippines, they strived hard to become successful. Besides those who migrated to other lands, just like you going to Australia, are finest among us and the most talented, hence there are more success story than sob-stories. So it is not surprising that they succeed in foreign lands.
The unfortunate ones who remain in the Philippines, are poor and uneducated. The successful Pinoys that remain are those who finished their education, put up their own business or become employees of big corporations in the Philippines. Or for some nationalist fervor, some chose to stay in the country, be counted among the poor, but rich in spirit for not abandoning his native land.
IT is not entirely true that in America the Pinoys are known as shoplifters because one establishment or two banned the Pinoys from Malls.
Pinoy nurses are in demand in U.S. hospitals because they love to work without complaining and have no communication barriers.
It is like this: If you embark on a crusade to pillory and bash Pinoys, you would pick one or two incidents where Pinoys made bad and highlight them in your write-up, but you were totally oblivious of their success stories because they would not support your bias/agenda.
@jcc: Lol! Goes to show you remain true to form in the way you consistently miss the key points in the brilliant messages posted in this fine blog as evident in what you write here:
Being true to my form will not reinvent the wheel just for you and your “attorney” with a small “a” credential and instead re-hash content from an old article of mine, Proud to be Filipino? Prove it, which I wrote a while back:
Easy as pie. All you get is a re-hashed but classic message from me, simply because your “insights” (if they can even be called that) deserve only the best regurgitated content from those of us who enjoy our comfy lofts at The Top of the Ideas Food Chain.
ha ha! 😀
it is like this benign0: you look at the flaws of the Filipino people as a glass half-empty while I look at the as half-full. you and your contributors are look at the pollution in the river while i look at the lush prarie caressed by the sunlight in all its bright splendor. i see hope in us, while you see gloom….
@jcc:
refusal to see/acknowledge the problem prevents you from solving the problem. if you can’t grasp the problem, maybe it’s because you don’t want to acknowledge that there’s a problem, and at the risk of sounding repetitive, THAT has always been YOUR problem, so every insight on tackling these cultural dysfunctions is wasted on you. you will never get past the first step of the process of solving a problem (which is identifying it) with that mindset.
Solving the problems lie in the hands of policy-makers… We are all just kibitzers here.
How many of you here have validated the position that because of your blog, policy makers have adjusted their agenda to suit your perception.
The last time I look, when the govt. took the bold steps of putting to task people who have betrayed the interest of the people, your blog saw it as simple persecution. Duh!
You really don’t get it fo you, jcc? People who contribute opinions on GRP recognise and value Filipino potential. You prefer to look at things through rose colored glasses. You can frolic under the sun all you want. But that garbage with the razor sharp glass under all the pretty flowers will still shred your soles. And that odor isn’t morning dew. It’s the stench of the sewage spilling out from the open canal just behind the trees.
Better to look reality in the face and deal with it than to live in self delusion. No wonder you keep missing the point.
@jcc:
solving the problems of filipino society lies in the hands of everyone in it, not just policymakers. who do you think put the policymakers there? sneaky shoe-making elves? duh.
maybe you just want most filipinos to stay proud while being complete idiots in choosing their leaders. pinoy pride, pinoy pride – look how far in REAL, TANGIBLE progress that has gotten THE NATION.
but hey, stay as dense as you wish, buddy. (and thanks for unwittingly admitting that there ARE problems that should be someone’s problems to address. too bad you only highlighted the dimwitted pinoy preference of passing the buck.)
Idon’t think I’ve ever heard of any Filipino spoke about a perfect society.
They either talk about what they’re great at ( Manny and those American idol kids) or what’s wrong or what’s going wrong
As for what they want done right… they sometimes talk about stuff. But when I question them on those stuff they don’t understand why they’re asking for them.
Some common stuff I heard
Death penalty (perfect society??? )
Less protests (peace demostration might be better? )
Less corruption
strong economy
clean streets
Want to be like Singapore and have Lamborghinis on the streets ( never realized Singapore has Lamborghinis all over the place)
No one asked for education ,healthcare, equality surprisingly
Did a little edit to the 2nd paragraph a while ago: added “reached the point” and “no matter how few the cases actually are compared to the majority.”
“No man is an island”
john donne
There is something unique in island cultures which can readily breed insularity, ignorance, and paranoia, resulting in a defensive and protectionist approach to the world outside.
Within the philippines this is manifest in numerous ways, which adversely affect the culture and the opportunity to develop economically.
The intransigent stance against economic constitutional change is one, allied with the prohibition of foreign professionals working in the country, which is a double whammy since it restricts knowledge transfer/standards improvement, and makes it difficult for foreign companies/investors to gain access to skills/services/personnel they need.
The philippines is multi-cultural in its history, but not multi-national in its thinking.
Good job other countries who allow pinoys to work and prosper are not so archaic in their policies and practices.
“Another is the Protestant work ethic, wherein hard work as a duty and not as a means to an end or reward is highlighted.”
That is the mindset of slavery. Why in the name of sanity would we ever deify work? In the very book itself that promotes that, work (or hard labor) is the CURSE of humanity beginning from its exile from “paradise.” Even in its earlier Persian and Zoroastrian cultural roots, “work with matter” was inherently evil. The entire miseries of earthly human existence is believed to be the byproduct of a defective angel/designer.
Jesus himself is aghast to consider this world as his kingdom considering its inherent flaws.
From the same book we find, “If you then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take you thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say to you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?”
and
“Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.
With the rise of technology, it was hoped that we could make human life much bearable and to some extent epicurean, and if possible, unburdensome to human beings.
Real skill comes with very little effort. That is what “gods” are made of. The lower you are in the hierarchy of existence and knowledge, the more you would labor and find life very difficult.
“and makes it difficult for foreign companies/investors to gain access to skills/services/personnel they need.”
PRECISELY!
Because we desire to prevent the rape and abuse of local labor for the ENSLAVEMENT of foreign interests. If they desire slaves, why don’t they seek it back home? Or if they really are after local development, then they SHOULD convert into Filipinos. Naturalization is a must.
We are NOT as stupid as you think we are. We could see where things are headed. And no amount of propaganda could sugarcoat it.
it sure is refreshing to see someone stand up and criticize the BPO industry in the Filippines. why on earth does anyone want one of those shit jobs that are exported to the country to save a corporate scumbag mind-set and avoid paying a westerner what he/she should be paid. as if E10/hr. is an un-sustainable amount, when these corporations are making billions ( and pay Filipino’s peanuts).
GOOD FOR YOU!
Propaganda? Wow, so what do you want instead… no work and all dole-outs? That’s even more stupid.
TROLL.
You’re brainwashed by Yellow Propaganda. 😛
Deal with it.
Proud pinoys should watch this brilliant vid from Vsauce, especially the last part. As i was watching this, I feel a relation between KSPs and grandstanding pinoys and the kind of “honor” one should have in their life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P85Fj8m6v84
This is a good video to watch. The Zimbardo thing is worth looking into. Thanks.
You provide way more insight and depth than fishball/ Vicente/ sendonggirl etc.
In the USA, opportunity, world class universities, rule of law, good climate and clean environment are magnets that draw the best and brightest — enhancing our competitiveness productivity and our GENE POOL. The Philippines should better utilize a magnet or two! TWO obvious magnets: 1. Liberalize foreign ownership of land, and other industry classes, and 2. Encourage more well educated western/foreign men with high IQs to marry and reproduce with some of the most attractive 18 to 20 year old girls the planet has to offer…
they are a race of liars cheats & thieves. No matter what you say it wont change. They see money & just cant help themselves. They always put themselves 1st & i find them so stupid in the way they think. Ask a pinoy can you do this & he will say yes. Well yes he probably can do it, not correctly but he can do it, for instance my wife had a pinoy fit our electric shower & i went to use it & it wobbled. I disconnected it & took it off the wall. When he drilled the wall & wrall plugged it he didnt drill the hole deep enough & instead of drilling a little deeper or cutting the end off the wrall plug he just fitted it, i fixed it. But when i complain to my wife she always defends the filipino worker as they hate it when a foreigner tells them they cant do something right. I wish i had never sold my house & moved to this horrible country.