Searching for Filipino Patriotism

A study of Filipinos´ character, commissioned by the Senate (1988) finds that Filipinos are sensitive to others´ needs, good humored and love their families, but they lack a sense of patriotism and the common good.

The 41-page report by the office of Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani, also states: "Filipinos have a deep faith in God ... and live very intimately with religion -- it is part of everyday life."

The report, based on existing sociological studies and a poll of 2,000 individuals, says that Filipinos have personal ambitions and drives for power and status that are "completely insensitive to the common good. Personal and in-group interests reign supreme."

There is little cooperation and community spirit among Filipinos, it says, and they also lack discipline and tend to be superficial.

On the other hand, Filipinos are flexible, optimistic and creative. They are survivors capable of "eking out a living from a garbage dump," according to the report, prepared by Doctor Patricia Licuanan, academic vice-president of the Jesuit Ateneo de Manila University.

The study points out: "Our family orientation is both a strength and a weakness, giving us a sense of rootedness and security, both very essential to any form of reaching out to others. At the same time, it develops in us an in-group orientation that prevents us from reaching out beyond the family to the larger community and the nation."

Excerpt from Study shows Filipinos lack sense of patriotism, common good

Additional articles I found helpful:
Is patriotism passe?
Filipinos' misguided sense of patriotism is tearing the nation apart
The Insufficiency of Filipino Nationhood
Why Filipinos are not a patriotic people?
Be proud of being a Filipino (even if it's not easy)
Philippine Patriotism: The Absence of Humility
The Foundations of Patriotism
A Damaged Culture

Ano nga ba talaga ang problema sa Pilipinas at sa ating mga Pilipino?*

Inilarawan ni Mr. Lee Kuan Yew sa kanyang memoir na  “From Third World To First” tayong mga Pilipino bilang masyadong malambot at mapagpatawad. Parte ito ng ating kultura. Sabi nya pa tanging sa Pilipinas mo lang makikita na ang isang pinuno na tulad ni Ferdinand Marcos pagkatapos ng lahat ng ginawa nito ay nailibing pa sa Libingan ng mga Bayani. At ang kanyang asawa at mga anak na ay nakabalik pa nga at patuloy na namamayagpag sa politika.

It is a soft, forgiving culture. Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over 20 years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics.

"Some Filipinos write and speak with passion. If they could get their elite to share their sentiments and act, what could they not have achieved?

Masakit tanggapin ngunit marami sa ating mga Pilipino ang hindi alam ang ating tunay at buong kasaysayan. Kung alam man ay kinakalimutan ito. Ang ating mga kabataan naman, kung sana ay ginagamit ang Google o internet para magbasa ng mga impormasyon galing sa mapagkakatiwalaang mga  manunulat at historyador.

Ito pa ang kanyang dagdag na obserbasyon kung bakit hindi umuunlad ang Pilipinas sa kabila ng mga maraming mahuhusay na Pilipino:

This was a pity because they had so many able people, educated in the Philippines and the United States. Their workers were English-speaking, at least in Manila. There was no reason why the Philippines should not have been one of the more successful of the ASEAN countries.

In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the most developed, because America had been generous in rehabilitating the country after the war. Something was missing, a gel to hold society together.

The people at the top, the elite mestizos, had the same detached attitude to the native peasants as the mestizos in their haciendas in Latin America had toward their peons.

They were two different societies: Those at the top lived a life of extreme luxury and comfort while the peasants scraped a living, and in the Philippines it was a hard living. They had no land but worked on sugar and coconut plantations.

Ano ang kulang?Ano ang wala? May sagot dyan si Miriam Defensor Santiago:

"We don't have a sense of community. We don't have a sense of shared destiny, that what happens to one of us will be experienced by others."

In short, kanya kanya. Walang pagkakaisa.

Minsan o madalas pa nga ang ating pagiging family oriented ay nasosobrahan, na nagiging sanhi ng pagiging makasarili na ang tanging inaalala lamang at pinahahalagahan ay yung mga taong itinuturing nating myembro ng ating pamilya.

Kung sana, mababago natin ang ating pag iisip patungo sa pagiging community oriented, nation building oriented.

Dagdag pa ni Miriam: "Unfortunately, our voter education is so feeble that it tends to produce feeble-minded voters. Binoboto nila dahil kursunada nila, gusto nila hitsura nito. They don't even try to imagine how that person will act as a legislator. Para bang popularity contest."

Nakakalungkot pero totoo. Tulad ng ibang trabaho, ang pagiging politiko lalo na ang mga mambabatas (congressmen and senators) ay kaylangang may sapat na kaalaman at kakayahan upang gumawa ng mga epektibong batas. Para naman sa mga politikong parte ng executive branch tulad ng presidente, governor at mayor makakabuti kung sila ay may sapat na leadership skills upang ipatupad ang mga batas na nilikha ng mga mambabatas at gamitin ang mga batas na iyon upang paunlarin ang kanilang nasasakupan. Ang mga myembro ng judiciary kung saan kabilang ang ating mga mahistrado ay may trabahong suriin ang batas kung kaya naman hindi natin gugustuhin maglagay ng mga tao sa posisyon na ito na alam natin na hindi kayang gampanan o mahihirapang gampanan ang kanilang mga tungkulin.

Kahit noong unang panahon na wala pang pormal na edukasyon o mga paaralan, ang mga pinuno ay inihahanda at sumasailalim sa wastong pagsasanay para sa kanilang gagampanang tungkulin. Sa panahon ngayon na higit na kumplikado ang mga bagay bagay, higit nating kaylangan ng mga pinuno na may sapat na qualification at kahit papaano ay napatunayan na kaya nilang gawin (kung maaari pa nga ng mahusay) ang tungkulin ng posisyon na kanilang gustong makuha.

Tulad ng kung paanong tayong lahat ay nag aaral o nagsasanay upang maging handa at karapat dapat para makuha natin ang ating gustong trabaho.

Ano pa ang wala sa Pilipinas? Ano ang wala tayo na meron at ipinagmamalaki ng ibang bansa?

Wala tayong "global Filipino brand" na matatawag, sabi ni John Gokongwei Jr., may ari ng JG Summit at Cebu Pacific Airlines.

Sabi ni Mr. Gokongwei "To be a truly great nation, we must also excel as entrepreneurs before the world. We must create Filipino brands for the global marketplace."

Sabi nya pa, "If we want to be philosophical, we can say that, with a world-class brand, we create pride for our nation. If we want to be practical, we can say that, with brands that succeed in the world, we create more jobs for our people, right here."

May Samsung at LG ang South Korea.
May Lenovo at Huawei ang China.
May Sony ang Japan.
May Banyan Tree ang Singapore.
May Nestle ang Switzerland.
May Ericsson ang Sweden.
May Nokia ang Finland.
May Toyota ang Japan.

Oo nga daw at kilala ang Pilipinas bilang call center and BPO Hub of Asia pero wala tayong sariling  big industrial base.

Sa kabilang banda, sa obserbasyon naman ng batang historyador na si Ose Martija, ang mga postcolonial Pinoys ay nasa ilalim pa rin ng "alipin mentality". Pinipigilan daw ng ganitong pag iisip ang ilang mga Pilipino para mapaunlad ang kanilang sarili.

Martija, 24, said the alipin (slave) mentality was thriving among Filipinos when plunder convict and former President Joseph E. Estrada was elected into office as mayor of Manila in 2013.

Martija said he again witnessed the existence of the alipin mentality among Filipinos when Arroyo was reelected to Congress in a landslide vote against three contenders in 2013.

For Martija, a society with a sense for self-respect, decency and justice would in no way risk to elect or appoint politicians whose reputation is tainted with corruption back to any public office.

THE alipin mentality is being encouraged and reared to live forever on social media, where disinformation campaigns are storming the gullible people today, Martija said.

“Many are well-informed, but only a few are taking actions to help others understand issues,” he told the BusinessMirror.

And some of the well-informed who try to help enlighten others, he added, are doing it the wrong way.

“You cannot liberate others from ignorance by telling them ‘bobo ka!’ [You are stupid],” Martija said.

For him, “educating others requires passion, hard work, patience and the ability to make them understand at the level of [what] their [minds can] grasp.”

He is saddened at the unfortunate reality that some people make a firm stand based on conviction shaped by false information.

“It’s ironic that we call our time the ‘Information Age,’ yet many are misinformed,” he said.

Mas madaling ipag walang bahala at pagtawanan na lamang ang ating mga kababayan na nabubulagan at pinagpipilitan ang kanilang paniniwala na base sa maling impormasyon pero walang ibang paraan kundi subukan silang paliwanagan at ipaalam ang mga bagay na dapat nilang malaman.

At kahit mahirap, instead na maging proud lang kung saang lugar tayo galing sa Pilipinas, sana maging proud din tayo bilang Pilipino, proud sa Pilipinas bilang kabuuan nito, gumawa ng mga bagay para higit pa nating maipagmalaki ang sarili nating bansa.

Walang ibang magmamahal sa Pilipinas at makikipaglaban para dito kundi tayo.

Walang ibang maghahanap at gagawa ng solusyon kundi tayo din mismo.

Sana ang sunod naman nating tanong ay "Ano ang tama at dapat kong gawin para sa bansa ko?"

Maging nasaan man ako.

*Mga kasagutang aking napulot mula sa pagbabasa at pagtatanong kay Google sa tanong na ito at iba bang mga tanong na patungkol sa problema ng Pilipinas at mga Pilipino.

Galing ang mga impormasyon sa taas sa mga artikulo na naniniwala ako na dapat mabasa, basahin, pagnilayan at wag kalimutan (Batch 1) ng lahat ng Pilipino! Shinare ko din ang iba dito sa FB wall ko, may ilang mga nag like at dasal ko sana binasa rin nila ang mga ito:

Filipino Values
15 Things Lee Kuan Yew said about the Philippines
What if Miriam had become President?
How the Philippines can become a great nation according to Big John
Among postcolonial Pinoys, 'alipin mentality' thrives---young historian
Why are we shallow
I thought democracy had failed Filipinos but it is we who have failed it
Be proud of being a Filipino even if its not easy
Filipinos misguided sense of patriotism is tearing the nation apart


Batch 2
Ways every Filipino can help the Philippines become a better place to live in
Recipe for economic growth in the Philippines: invest in infrastructure, education, and job creation
Is there hope for the Philippines?
Yes, there is hope!
The Philippines can overcome Poverty
5 Key Capabilities the Philippines needs to develop to become a great nation

My country and me

            During my first semester in graduate school at UP Los Banos, I applied for a part time job as an Administrative Assistant/Tutor in a tutorial center. It’s a small tutorial center that teaches English as second language to their Filipino, Chinese and Korean students. There is no age limit and similar to other centers they give an evaluation test before anything else. After the exam, they will tell the parents, guardian or the student himself the result of the exam, explaining where should they start the lesson and why.  Basically, there are three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advance. I realized that even though you are an adult, your communication skills may still be in the beginner level and it’s not something to be ashamed of as long as you are determined to learn and improve yourself. I encounter different kinds of students. In terms of age, they range from 5-60 years old.  

One of the students I encountered was a Korean man with a doctorate degree in Animal Science and is currently doing a research paper in Los Banos. He is a professor in a university in Busan, South Korea. He said that he would like to maximize his stay here in the Philippines and widen his English vocabulary. He is a good and disciplined man but short-tempered. The Head Tutor was the one assigned to teach him. I was told to record their conversation and create test and activities suited for him. He is also very meticulous and patriotic. Every time he got a chance, he will tell stories about how proud he is of his country. At first, I am very glad listening to his stories but I can’t help to be sad every time he compares his country to ours. I can’t help but to agree in his observations because they are all true. He said that South Korea is a very small country with few resources but each citizen gave their best to be the country they are right now.

            It was one of those few moments that I reflect on my patriotism. Why am I proud to be a Filipino but I’m not proud of my country? Why am I still thinking to work overseas? Why don’t I have the same level of love that he have to his country? Why is it that I have a higher perception in terms of product, tourism, and even the people in other country than in my own?

            I justified the reasons I found within me. I told myself all the faults I observed in our country.  I read our history again.  I checked the things that will make me proud. I researched all the good qualities we have and the wonderful places we were blessed.  I came with a conclusion that my country is just like myself. I only have one me that I should cherish. I should love my country as I love myself. As I work in achieving my full potential so does my country.