Category Archives: Philippines
How Colonialism Shaped the Filipino Character
Ask a hundred Filipinos what makes a Filipino a Filipino, and you will likely get a hundred different answers — hospitality, resilience, family, faith, humor, an uncanny gift for finding joy in hardship. Ask a hundred more, and darker answers will surface too: a fatalism that shrugs at misfortune, a habit of measuring themselves against foreigners and coming up short in their own eyes, a suspicion of the next province that borders on hostility. Both sets of answers are true. Neither tells the whole story on its own.
This four-part essay is an attempt to tell that fuller story — not by cataloging Filipino traits as though they simply exist, the way eye color or height exists, but by asking where they came from. A people’s character is not accidental. It is built, layer upon layer, from the specific things that happen to them over specific centuries, under specific rulers. For the Filipino, those centuries were largely colonial ones: 333 years under Spain, nearly half a century more under the United States. To understand the Filipino today without reckoning with those years is to admire a house’s furniture while ignoring the foundation on which it was built.
This essay draws on historical record as much as personal reflection — the documented mechanisms of colonial administration alongside the lived, inherited patterns still visible in Filipino life today. Where the two meet is where this essay lives.
Part One lays that foundation, tracing the Filipino from a people already possessed of their own culture and governance before any galleon arrived, through the long violence of Spanish rule, to the betrayal that followed when a nation Filipinos had mistaken for an ally simply became their next colonizer.
Part Two turns to what survived — and what may have even been strengthened — through all of it: the hospitality, the resilience, the family loyalty and communal spirit that colonization tested but did not break.
Part Three turns to the cost — the fatalism, the regionalism, the colonial mentality that took root during those same centuries, planted deliberately by rulers who profited from a people divided against themselves and unsure of their own worth.
Part Four brings both halves together, arguing that the strength and the wound were never separate stories. They came from the same three hundred years, visited on the same people, and they live on, side by side, in the same national character today.
The writer does not pretend to have the final word on Filipino identity — no single essay could. But for a people whose history has too often been written by outsiders, and too rarely examined by themselves, even an incomplete reckoning is worth attempting. As you read what follows, you might find it useful to ask the same questions of your own family, your own province, your own habits of thought — because the history in these four parts is not abstract. It is, in some quiet way, still writing itself through each of us.
Understanding the wound is the first task. What a Filipino chooses to do with that understanding — for himself, his family, his country — is a separate reckoning, for another time. But understanding why we are the way we are remains the first step toward deliberately deciding who we choose to become next.
The More Painful Injustice
ICC’s decision denying former President Rodrigo Duterte’s request for interim release elicited different reactions. As expected, his supporters grieved; his critics rejoiced. Social media erupted. Commentaries burst like fireworks. Lawyers, influencers, and armchair experts all rushed forward with their own interpretations and opinions.
But buried beneath this noise is a truth many refuse to acknowledge: the corruption allegations against the sitting political powers remain unresolved, uninvestigated, and—most damning—protected.
And yes, we should not disregard the corruption committed by previous administrations as well.
At this juncture, we must confront the question everyone keeps tiptoeing around:
If extrajudicial killings can be considered a crime against humanity, what then do we call the corruption allegedly committed by officials of the incumbent government—corruption so massive it starved hospitals, crippled schools, and robbed the poorest Filipinos of the help they desperately needed?
What do we call leaders who tolerated the theft, shielded the thieves, and—worst of all—turned out to be thieves themselves?
Which is the greater sin: the murder of a few thousand, or the plunder of billions?
Who committed the graver crime: the fingers that pulled the trigger, or the hands that emptied the nation’s coffers?
The corruption committed by those in power—whether yesterday or today—is not petty, not the old excuse of “traditional politics,” and not the sanitized label of a “budget anomaly.”
This is plunder disguised as governance.
Billions meant for healthcare vanished while patients slept on floors, dying without medicine.
Billions meant for classrooms disappeared while children learned beneath leaking roofs.
Billions meant for poverty alleviation were used by the corrupt officials to fatten their bank accounts.
Every peso stolen by those in power translates to: a child who goes hungry, a mother who dies untreated, a worker whose future evaporates, a community trapped in poverty, a family whose hope is extinguished.
We must stop pretending corruption is merely a financial crime.
It is a human rights violation with casualties, as real and as tragic as any body found in an alley.
The painful irony?
One man faces the hostile ICC for killings.
But the many government officials accused of stealing the nation’s lifeblood face the friendly ICI who might possibly give them a simple slap on the wrist.
The ICC cannot touch them — and that is their shield under the Rome Statute, the ICC only prosecutes:
genocide
crimes against humanity
war crimes
aggression
Corruption—no matter how destructive—does not qualify.
The ICC can examine killings linked to a past administration.
But the alleged plunder committed under the current administration is untouchable.
They are shielded not by innocence, but by the ICC’s jurisdiction.
They know it.
Their lawyers know it.
Their political allies know it.
This is why they look unbothered.
This is why they speak as if justice is optional.
Because for corruption, under international law,
The Hague has no handcuffs.
But viewed through the lens of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the crime committed by corrupt members of the Executive and Legislative branches of the Philippine government remains evident.
The Philippines is bound by the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
Under UNCAC, corruption is not merely illegal. It is seen as a violation of human dignity.
Corruption becomes a human rights offense when it deprives citizens of healthcare, destroys education systems, blocks justice through political interference, deepens poverty, and kills through neglect and substandard infrastructure.
Every bridge that collapses because of corruption, every medicine that never reaches a dying patient, every student robbed of a proper education—these are casualties of today’s corruption.
UN bodies cannot jail individual senators, cabinet members, or presidents. But they can expose a government’s failures. They can embarrass a nation on the global stage. They can pressure for reforms and sanctions. They can help freeze stolen assets hidden abroad. And they can force the world to see what our own institutions refuse to confront.
And in the quiet between outrage and applause, a single question remains: Whose crime weighs heavier on the nation’s soul?
Let us stop pretending this is a simple comparison.
Duterte is being investigated for the bodies we saw. But incumbent officials are being accused of crimes whose victims we don’t always see— because the victims are the millions who are slowly suffocating from poverty, hunger, broken hospitals, broken schools, and broken futures.
A bullet kills instantly.
Corruption kills invisibly.
But the graves are real.
Sometimes, corruption is the quieter executioner.
The true tragedy is not that the ICC is pursuing Duterte.
The tragedy is that the officials accused of bleeding the nation dry will never stand before The Hague, never sit behind glass in an international courtroom, never be held criminally accountable in the same way.
They will sleep soundly knowing that international law cannot touch them—not because they are innocent, but because their crimes fall outside the narrow definition of “crimes against humanity.”
They are safe. Not because they are righteous.
But because corruption is not in the ICC’s vocabulary.
And that is the Philippines’ most painful injustice.
What Now, Philippines?
Yesterday, I spoke with a friend here in South Korea, and we discussed the situation in our country. She was as gravely disappointed and angry as I was (just like the millions of our countrymen back home) by the blatant plunder of our national coffers. The story of the flood control program, a tragi-comedy, has taken many twists and turns, and the plot continues to thicken.
We agreed that it was right for the South Korean government to halt its P28-billion loan to the Philippines amid corruption concerns. I added that no financial institution anywhere in the world should lend to the Philippine government until those who stole from the nation’s coffers are brought to justice—and a transparent, foolproof system of government spending is implemented. Mga kapalmuks kayo, mangungutang tapos paghahati-hatian lang ninyo.
We disagreed as to who should be blamed for the flood control project scam. According to her, by virtue of command responsibility, the President is most guilty. She considers it improbable that the Chief Executive did not know about the wrongdoings of his alter egos from the very beginning. Why did it take him three years to expose the corruption happening right under his nose? His duty is supposedly to prevent such corruption practices from happening under his watch. Did he only discover the substandard and ghost flood control projects this year? And why did he exclude himself from blame when he said, “Mahiya naman kayo” during his SONA a couple of months ago? That should have been “Mahiya naman tayo.”
And if these demonic acts of plunder also occurred during the times of Presidents Duterte, Aquino (Noynoy), Arroyo, Estrada, Ramos, and Aquino (Cory), then all of them should be held accountable as well. “Mahiya naman kayong lahat.”
I told her that blaming the President is correct. Still, half of the blame should be borne by the Filipino electorate who voted for those greedy politicians, fattening themselves like pigs in the supposedly august halls of Congress, now nothing more than a stinking sty of corruption.
We deserve the leaders we elect. There are many Filipinos who are very angry with what the politicians are doing, not realizing that they should be partly to blame for what is happening because they voted for those corrupt leaders. The truth is “Nakakahiya tayong lahat.”
Suppose we are genuinely seeking accountability and transparency. Why is nobody suggesting that the yearly National Budget from the time of Cory Aquino (1986) to Marcos (2025) be scrutinized and checked to see how the budget of DPWH (and other government agencies) was allocated each year? It is not only the records of the budget of the DPWH that should be scrutinized but all the departments of the Executive branch. The records will definitely show who, among the Senators and Congressmen (past and present), made “insertions.” A thorough investigation and accounting should be made to determine who among the members of the Executive and Legislative branches of government, past and present, colluded to plunder the nation’s coffers. The truth is written in all those documents.
We also agreed that the Philippine government, as presently constituted, has lost its credibility to govern. Which branch of government is trustworthy now? The Executive or the Legislative branch?
That is for you (the readers) to answer. But as far as I and the friend I talked to yesterday are concerned, it’s scary to entrust the future of our nation to anybody from Malacañang, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.
What about the Judiciary? Can the Filipino people trust our Justices? Did they perform their solemn duty to intervene and restore constitutional order when they were flooded with petitions challenging the constitutionality of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA)? What happened to their hearings? Did they do something to prevent the kleptomaniacs from dipping their hands into jars of people’s money? None that I could recall (and please correct me if I am wrong).
If none of the three branches of government could be unequivocally trustworthy, what about the fourth estate, the media? Do they genuinely care about the Filipino people? My answer is simple: they are too busy building their business empires.
But if neither government nor media can be trusted, then the responsibility ultimately falls on us, the Filipino people.
The last question we addressed in our conversation was, ‘What should be done?’
What should the Filipinos do now?
I was surprised that she was thinking the same thing I was… REVOLUTION.
We agreed that all the investigations being done by both the lower and upper chambers of Congress on the flood control project anomalies will amount to nothing. Even the planned independent commission cannot be expected to be genuinely independent. The loyalty of the members belongs to the authorities that appointed them.
Politicians have their way of sweeping under the rug the messes of their colleagues. They have mastered the art of compromise to such an extent that, in the end, only the lowly contractors will serve prison time.
Meanwhile, the equally guilty, high-ranking individuals in the government—who belong to wealthy and powerful families—will only receive a slap on the wrist.
Honestly, I have entirely lost my faith in our government. I don’t know who among them can be trusted. Even the international community has doubts about the moral ascendancy of our leaders to hold the reins of government. The South Korean government is the first to cast doubt on the trustworthiness of our government. And soon, other countries may. For the first time in my life, I find myself hesitating to say I’m from the Philippines.
Somehow, the only credible government institution now is the Military. They are our “second-to-last” hope. They need to take control of the government, either peacefully or by force. Everybody in the government must resign. The Military must investigate the widespread corruption and send to jail all those who are found guilty. They must do a comprehensive audit and accounting of all government expenditures. They must start with the yearly National Budget from the time the Marcos dictatorship ended up to this year. They should not leave any stone unturned.
The crooks must be prevented from running for any public office. When finally justice is served, the military shall order new elections to elect a new government.
If the military will not take over, we could be heading in the direction that the Indonesians and the Nepalese went. We must not allow the present government officials to continue running the affairs of government.
As I said before, the Military is our “second-to-last” hope. But our final hope—the true hope—rests with us, the Filipino people.
It’s time to breach party lines and set aside ideological differences. Let’s stop supporting any politician and stand together in love for our country. The slogan should be clear: “Save Our Nation,” not “Save a Politician.” We have been exploited and betrayed by greedy politicians for too long—it’s time to take back our country.
And when the time comes to exercise our freedom of suffrage again, we must vote for the most qualified leaders. It’s time to weed out the politicians and choose leaders who are true statesmen, not career (greedy) politicians.
It’s time to reclaim our nation. The time is now. When we march to the streets, bring no party banners, only our nation’s flag.
The Floodgates of Command Responsibility
The Secretary of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) appears to be taking all the blame as the scandal surrounding the flood control projects unfolds. The question is this: Whose conscience will get inundated with guilt if we open the floodgates of command responsibility?
Suppose we adhere to every aspect of the command responsibility framework. Shouldn’t someone be uttering the well-known phrase, popularized by U.S. President Harry Truman, “The buck stops here”?
Who should be saying, “The final responsibility rests with me”?
Who is conscientious enough to say, “I take full responsibility”?
Nobody is doing so. Instead of doing a Harry Truman, the mayors, governors, congressmen, and senators are all doing a “Pontius Pilate.” I will not be surprised if, in the days to come, these Honorable Gentlemen and Ladies will also do a “Judas Iscariot.”
I don’t know if President Bongbong Marcos was correct in using the pronoun “kayo” when he said “Mahiya naman kayo” in his latest State of the Nation address. I think it should have been “Mahiya naman tayo.” He would have gained more admiration had he used “tayo” instead of “kayo.” While the DPWH is directly responsible for implementing flood control projects, the President, as the head of the executive branch, bears ultimate accountability for ensuring proper oversight. At least, His Excellency is now correcting the acts of omission and commission (and yes, the “commission,” if you get what I mean). He should be given credit for that, although “prevention” would have been preferable to “correction.”
Did you see how some local executives, congressmen, and senators crucified the DPWH officials and contractors? Did they not know about the substandard and ghost flood control projects in their respective localities? Did they not really know about the corrupt practices happening right under their noses? Come on, we were not born yesterday.
Nobody will believe you, even if you deny to death that you know nothing about the substandard and ghost flood control projects. It is improbable that nobody informed you that these mega projects are being undertaken in your jurisdiction. As a VIP (being an elected official), nobody in their right mind would construct anything in your backyard without notifying you. Furthermore, it is impossible that nobody whispered to you about “for the boys.” Whether you accepted or rejected it, only you and God know.
Don’t be a “Pontius Pilate.” You may not be guilty of accepting anything passed under the table, but why are you not brave enough to say that you actually turned a blind eye? Don’t act now as if you are the champions of your constituents and during TV interviews hurl all those invectives against those who are now tagged as suspects in the “flood control project scams.” Your act of washing your hands on national television didn’t go unnoticed. It’s not funny at all. If only we had an intelligent electorate, I doubt you would get reelected because of it.
We need to answer the following two questions:
“Is it proper for the House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry into the flood control project scam?”
“Is it proper for the 12 remaining senators from the 19th Congress to join the ongoing investigation of the Senate’s Blue Ribbon committee on the same issue?”
Just asking!
There is another web whose strands we need to trace aside from command responsibility. It’s the web of corruption. The webs of command responsibility and corruption are connected.
Who is responsible for the Congressional appropriations for the 2025 National Budget’s subpar and ghost flood control projects?
Who is brave enough to say, “I bear ultimate responsibility”?
Who, after a deep reflection, would say, “The final decision and its consequences are mine to bear”?
And please don’t mind me asking a last question:
Whose bank accounts fattened through the scam involving the flood control project?
Puwede po bang makabalato?
“Only In The Philippines” Nga Lang Ba?
Ang “Only In The Philippines” ay isang expression na maaring mangahulugan ng dalawang bagay.
Ang una ay maganda. Ginagamit ito upang tukuyin ang mga bagay na tanging sa Pilipinas lamang matatagpuan o mga katangian o kaugalian na tanging ang Pilipino lamang ang may angkin. Maaring sabihin ang expression na iyan kapalit ng “uniquely Filipino.”
Ang pangalawa ay hindi kaiga-igaya. “Only In The Philippine” ang madalas natin sabihin kapag may isang bagay na negatibo tayong nakikita sa paligid o may nangyayari sa ating isang hindi magandang karanasan. Kapag buhol-buhol ang traffic… kapag may insidente ng “road rage”… kapag nasisingitan tayo sa pila… kapag may mga taong gobyerno na humihingi ng lagay… kapag may pulitikong nangunglimbat… kapag may insidente ng pagnanakaw at patayan… at kung ano-ano pa. Sasabihin nating kagyat – “Only in the Philippines.”
Bakit? Bakit lagi nating ibubulas ang “Only in the Philippines” kung may mga ganyang pangyayari? Totoo ba na sa Pilipinas lang nangyayari ang mga ganyang bagay? Bakit parang bale-wala lang na ikinakabit natin ang pangalang ng ating bansa sa mga negatibong bagay. Bakit tayo mismong mga isinilang sa bayang ito ang nagbibigay dungis sa pangalan ng bansa natin… ang nagpapaba sa uri ng ating pagka-Pilipino?
Ang “overloading” ng mga pampasaherong sasakyan (katulad ng makikita sa larawan), sa Pilipinas lang ba nangyayari. Mali ka kung “yes” ang sagot mo.
Totoong matindi ang traffic sa Metro Manila. Pero para sabihing “Only in the Philippines” ay masyadong “exaggerated.” Kahit saang parte ng mundo… sa mga siyudad na malalaki… ay may traffic. Ang “road rage” ay isang “worldwide phenomenon.” May mga driver na masyadong mainitin ang ulo kahit saang parte ng mundo. Ang singitan sa pila ay hindi rin “endemic” sa Pilipinas. Sa ibang bansa man ay may mga makakapal din ang mukha na kahit may pila ay pilit silang sisingit. Kaya’t pakiusap… tigilan na natin ang pagsasabi ng “Only in the Philippines.”
Tandaan nating ang lagayan at kotongan ay hindi lamang sa Pilipinas nangyayari. Hindi lamang sa Pilipinas na may mga pulitikong pulpol at ganid na nagnanakaw sa kaban ng bayan. Katulad lang din dito sa atin na ang iba’y nahuhuli, at ang iba naman nakakalusot. Maging sa ibang bansa man ay may mga buwaya sa gobyerno… may mga pulis rin na halang ang kaluluwa – mga bantay-salakay.
Ang bilihan ng boto ay uso din sa ibang bansa. It’s not only in the Philippines! At hindi lang mga Pinoy ang hindi marunong bumoto ng tamang kandidato. Aakalain mo bang si Donald Trump ay nanalo bilang presidente ng America. At heto pa… may pag-asang muli siyang manirahan sa White House. Pero hindi nila sinasabi ang “Only in America.”
Isang malaking kabobohan kung iisipin nating walang nakawan at patayan sa ibang bansa. “It’s not only in the Philippines” na may mga ganyang nangyayari. Hindi lamang sa ilang parte ng Mindanao na may mga “terrorists” at “extremists.” Kung tutuusin ay ang mga bansa na ang “extremism” at “terrorism” ay higit pa sa doble na mas malala kung ikukumpara sa atin.
Ang kahirapan ay isang bagay na hindi lamang sa Pilipinas nakikita. Sa totoo lang ay mga bansang mas labis ang paghihikahos na nararanasan ng kanilang mga mamayan. Hindi lang sa Pilipinas na may mga taong kumakain ng “pagpag.” Kahit sa mga mayayamang bansa ay may mga “scavengers” na para mabuhay ay namumulot ng kung ano ang puwede nilang mapapakinabangan sa mga basurahan… kasama na ang pagkain. Kung tutuusin nga maswerte pa ang may napupulot o nahihinging “leftover foods.” Sa ibang bansa ay mga taong sa sobrang kahirapan ay wala talagang makain.
Minsan may kaybigan akong sinabi ang “Only in the Philippines” ng madaan kami sa isang “squatters’ area.” Sa totoo lang ay mas maswerte pa nga ang mga “slumdwellers” dito sa Pilipinas dahil may mga bahay silang tinitirahan. May mga bansa, kahit pa gaano kayaman, na may mga taong natutulog sa sidewalk o ilalim ng mga tulay gamit ay karton lang bilang banig.
Naala-ala ko tuloy ang enkwentro namin ng isang kasamahan kong guro na Canadian na nagtuturo rin sa South Korea. Hindi ko pinalampas ang ginawa niyang pambabatikos sa mga Pinoy na nakilala niya sa Canada. Muntik nang nauwi sa pisikalan ang diskusyon naming iyon. Bitbit ko ang bandilang Pinoy at hindi ko hahayaang yurakan ng isang dayuhan ang pagkatao ng mga kababayan ko. Hindi perpekto ang lahi nating kayumanggi. Marami tayong mga kapintasan. Ang tanong – may lahi ba na makakapagsabi na sila ay perpekto’t walang kapintasan?
At minsan ay may nabasa akong isang blog tungkol sa “crab mentality among Filipinos” na sinulat ng isang Italyano. Nagkomento ako sa blog na iyon at nilinaw ko na ang “crab mentality” ay laganap hindi lamang sa Pilipinas kundi maging sa kanyang bansa at sa ibang bahagi pa ng mundo. May mga taong “utak talangka” kahit saan mang bahagi ng mundo.
Kaya mali na sabihin ang expression na “Only in the Philippines” kapag may mga negatibong bagay tayong nakikita o may hindi kanais-nais na experience tayong nararanasan. Ang mga negatibong bagay at karanasan ay makikita mo’t mararanasan kahit saang bahagi ng mundo. Baka nga mas malala pa ang mga ito sa ibang bansa kung ikukumpara sa Pilipinas.
At kapag nale-late ang isang kausap natin o may programang hindi nasisimulan sa oras bakit natin ginagamit ang expression na “Filipino Time.” Ang punctuality ay isang personal virtue at mali na sabihing lahat ng Pilipino ay wala nito. Ang pag-gamit ng expression na “Filipino Time” ay pagsasabi na lahat ng Pilipino ay laging late sa usapan at hindi sinisimulan ang dapat gawin sa takdang oras ay maituturing ng “hasty generalization.” Iyan ay isang “fallacy.” FYI, hindi lamang mga Pinoy ang nale-late sa mga appointment paminsan-minsan. It’s not only in the Philippines na may mga nale-late sa usapan. It’s not only in the Philppines na paminsan-minsan ay hindi nasisimulang ang mga programa sa takdang oras.
Sana lang eh matutuhan nating gamitin nang tama ang expression na “Only In The Philippines.” Gamitin sana natin ito upang ipagmalaki ang ating pagka-Pilipino at hindi upang ito’y yurakan. Hindi ko sinasabi na perpekto tayo bilang isang lahi. Pero teka, meron bang lahi ang makakapagsabing sila’y walang bahid-dungis? Bawat lahi, saan mang panig ng mundo, eh mayroong taglay na magaganda at pangit na mga katangian.
K-DREAM (Part 3)
(Last of 3 Parts)
For me, it is amazing how this country has gone this far, leaving my native land behind in the race to prosperity and stability. I want to know in what areas we Filipinos should improve if we intend to catch up with the South Koreans, and the rest of the world, in that race.
My desire to figure that out led me to read more about the history of this country. In the process, I discovered certain uncanny similarities between our historical experiences. South Korea and my native land are colonized nations and earned independence after the Second World War, and both countries embraced the democratic form of government. Additionally, just like in my country, the development of democracy in South Korea was also interrupted by military takeovers. And what a coincidence that martial law in this country and mine was declared in 1972. Was it also a coincidence that influential military leaders in both countries were removed via popular revolt in the mid-1980s?
Unfortunately, the similarities in the historical development of South Korea and my country stop there. We took different paths in building our nations from the ashes of colonization, the Second World War, and military juntas. However, the results differed even when the two countries were under totalitarian regimes with identical circumstances. Historians assert that it brought rapid industrialization to South Korea but, unfortunately, economic stagnation in the Philippines.
I really tried hard to figure out what happened. What went wrong for my country, and conversely, what did the South Koreans do correctly? To think that in the 1950s, while my country was soaking in the glory of being Asia’s second most robust economy, the Korean peninsula plunged into a devastating war.
I tried to probe deeper into this nation’s history to find the answers to the following questions I have in mind.
How did the South Koreans slay the ghosts of a bitter colonial past?
How did they survive the devastation wrought by the Korean War?
How did they triumph over internal political turmoil while trying to ward off a belligerent neighbor in North Korea?
How did the South Koreans accomplish all of those mentioned above and eventually catapult themselves to their current lofty position in the global community?
In my probe, I learned what the South Koreans did in 1998 at the height of the Asian financial crisis. They willingly donated their gold – jewelry (including their wedding rings), medals and trophies, good luck keys, and what have you. This they did to help save their economy during that crisis. As reported, the collective weight of the gold they donated may not be much. But more significant than the corresponding monetary value of their donation was the willingness of the South Koreans to make personal sacrifices for their country. Will the Filipinos do the same? I am not sure.
I call what the South Koreans did then an act of nationalism. If it’s not, then I don’t know what is. It is the same sense of nationalism that emboldened them to resist one military junta after another… to sacrifice their lives and limbs to lay the democratic foundations of their country, which eventually became a fertile ground that nurtured the economic prosperity they are currently enjoying.
Yes, my fellow Filipinos also sacrificed and resisted a dictatorship and, in the process, have even created the blueprint for a bloodless revolution – the EDSA revolution. But why were the Korean people able to ride the momentum of their victory after toppling a dictator to collectively bring their nation to prosperity, but we Filipinos could not? After both countries were ruled by dictators in 1972 and eventually returned to democracy approximately in 1987, where are they now economically and socio-politically speaking? ANSWER – South Korea is among the top 15 economies in the world, and the Philippines is far below the ranking. How did this happen?
My search for answers to questions that kept piling up prompted me to further my probe. After turning pages in the history of South Korea and my country, I decided to factor in variables that affect a country’s socio-political and economic development.
We know that nation-building is affected by geographical location, the pervading climate, political stability, natural resources, and human resources. Arguably, there are other factors, and those that I identified are obviously important. But the most vital in a country’s quest for development on all fronts is human resources. How far a country goes in terms of overall growth is contingent upon the quality or nature of its people.
National character is the construct used to embody the quality or nature of a group of people living in a country. Using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension Theory (Hofstede’s 6-D Model) and the results of the extensive research done by its proponents on the cultures of 118 countries, I decided to make a simple comparative analysis of the national characters of South Koreans and Filipinos, hoping to find reasons why the latter is eating the dust of the former in the race to global significance.
I discovered that the Philippines is a highly hierarchical society, while South Korea is only slightly hierarchical. People in hierarchical organizations are said to embrace the notion that power is naturally unequally distributed and believe there is nothing they can do about it. They defer too much to their leaders, thinking that they are infallible.
That’s how we Filipinos are. We embrace the politicians we decided to follow to the point of fanatism, and we support them to a fault. The South Koreans also respect their leaders, but they strongly demand accountability.
Filipinos and South Koreans are collectivist societies, but the latter do not embrace individualism like the former. We Filipinos may have somehow absorbed the individualistic tendencies of our colonizers.
Filipinos are not so collectivistic. As a matter of fact, we are afflicted with a trait that we need to overcome if we wish to make our nation great. That trait is “kanya-kanya” – the tendency to think of personal, family, and group interests over and above general welfare. The South Koreans are quite the opposite. They consider the welfare of the many as necessary, if not more important than their personal interests. No wonder, as I previously mentioned, they donated their gold during the financial crisis in 1998. I also witnessed first-hand how the South Koreans willingly obeyed the restrictions set by their government during the early onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their leaders did not need to implement a “hard lockdown” like other countries did, including mine. The citizens strictly wore their masks, observed social distancing, and avoided leaving their homes unless necessary. They have shown their willingness to sacrifice for the greater good.
What is the reason behind the success of the political upheavals in my country in the 1980s not translating to meaningful socio-political and economic gains? Was it because they were driven not by the collective will of the Filipino people but by partisan politics?
What was clearly articulated in the findings of the extensive research done by the proponents of Hofstede’s 6-D Model is that the cultural dimensions of power distance (hierarchy) and collectivism/individualism are significantly positively correlated with wealth or prosperity. The Korean experience had me inferring that the less hierarchical and more collectivistic a society is, the more progressive it could become. And this has all the more expanded my K-dream. I wish Filipinos, like the South Koreans, would be less hierarchical and more collectivistic. Like them, we should demand accountability from our leaders. Like them, let’s think of the general welfare over and above our personal, group, and party interests. An important component of thinking for the common good is remembering our civic responsibilities, including contributing whatever we can to nation-building. But while we hold our leaders accountable, we should not forget that we, as citizens, have accountability too. Nation-building is a shared responsibility between leaders and citizens.
We must ask if Filipinos knowingly copied hook, line, and sinker the socio-political and economic models of our colonizers, or were we unknowingly indoctrinated or coerced to adopt them? Either way, what is clear is that we have yet to get desirable results. After decades of applying their economic and socio-political systems, our country is where it is now. Our needle of success as a nation needs to be moving. But we have been trying to fit the square peg of the countries that colonized us into our round hole. And to no avail. It’s not working. It’s time for us to rethink our strategies for nation-building. And this brings me to the culmination of my K-dream. I wish that we Filipinos give the South Korean economic, social, and political models a try. Let’s see what will happen if we embrace not only the popular culture of the South Koreans but also the standards and values that brought them to where they are now.
What We Filipinos Ought To Realize (1)
(1st of 4 parts)
If we, Filipinos, think that our leaders by themselves could deliver us to the proverbial “promised land”, then we are gravely mistaken. If we think that among them is a messiah who could bring about the socio-political and economic reforms needed to make our country progressive and peaceful, then we are hallucinating.
It is not because nobody among them is qualified and capable to lead the Philippines to greatness. It’s just that nation-building doesn’t work the way we think it does – that it can be done single-handedly by whoever we elect as President.
That actually is one (probably the worst) of our major problems as people – the mindset that the leaders we elect have magic wands they can wave to solve all of society’s ills and all of our nation’s problems. This is the prevailing belief among Filipinos. We pin our hopes for a brighter future on our leaders. We expect them – the governors of our provinces, the mayors of our towns and cities, and the captains of our barangays to solve all of our problems. We expect them to weave their magic and cast their spell then when the smoke dissipates we suddenly live a better life. We, think of our congressmen and senators as witches and wizards who through their out-of-this-world powers could make our country a better place to live in. We think that our President is Ironman and the members of the cabinet as the rest of the Avengers who could slay all of our nation’s Thanoses. Well – they are not.
It’s time to wake up. We need to realize that those elected (and appointed) politicians and leaders manning the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of our government are not superheroes. They don’t have superpowers. They cannot solve all of the nation’s problems by themselves. They need our support as citizens. Each citizen – rich or poor, professional or not – has a role to play. Each of us should contribute to nation-building.
What can ordinary citizens do to help make the Philippines a better nation?
Let us begin by not selling our votes during elections.
We expect too much from our government yet we are not voting for the best and most qualified among those seeking public office during elections. Instead, most of us write in the ballot the names of the candidates who are willing to buy our votes.
Vote-buying is an open secret in our country. It is freaking rampant. It has seemingly become the norm. It’s making the electoral process lost its essence. Leaders are elected not on the strength of their qualifications, abilities, and platform of government but on the power of the money they are capable of paying each voter who would promise to cast their votes for them.
On the eve of an election day, bidding wars begin. Once candidates get the information that their political rivals offer a certain amount for each voter, they will likely double that. Starting price is usually P500. Then candidates will try to maneuver until the price becomes P1000 per vote. The desperate among the politicians would sometimes cough up P2000 (or even more) for each voter.
Would elected officials admit that they are guilty of vote-buying?Of course not. So, we could only wonder how many percent of our elected officials literally bought the positions they are currently occupying.
Stopping this culture of vote-buying and selling is difficult but it has to be done. One thing that we need to realize is that the leaders we put into office should have the moral ascendancy to lead. It is difficult, if not impossible, to look up to leaders whom we know cheated their way to their offices. They are not credible as leaders. We could not apply the principle of “public office is a public trust” when we know that the persons occupying public offices “bought” their mandate. These scheming politicians feel that the office they are occupying is their “private property” because they paid for it. They can do therefore as they please and their constituents cannot and (shouldn’t) complain because they have been paid.
Those who thought that they duped the politicians by taking the money they offered to them are wrong. They were so happy with that P500 (or P1000… make it P2000) which they received. Such amount is nothing as compared to the millions of pesos they will get when the politicians dip their dirty hands into the coffers of government. The money those politicians use to buy votes are considered an investment. Once they get elected, they would make sure that they will get the return of their investment… with the corresponding interest.
Then we complain about how our government is performing. What kind of performance would we expect from politicians to whom we awarded the mandate to lead not because they are qualified and capable but because they have the money to buy votes?
As Thomas Jefferson puts it, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.”
This is what every Filipino needs to realize. Suffrage is not just a right but a moral obligation as well. It’s not for sale. Don’t reason out that you’re selling your votes because someone’s buying. “It takes two to tango.” Both vote-buyers and vote-sellers are guilty of this wrongdoing.
Don’t expect the politicians to stop buying votes. They would never do that. Politicians will do everything to ensure they would get elected and have the power they crave so much to have. It is not public service they are thinking of when they ran for elective positions. Power, as they say, is addicting. They want it so badly and on top of that, they salivate so much for the accruing benefits and the opportunities that they would get once they are in position. And only those who were born yesterday don’t know what benefits and opportunities are those.
M.A.D. LIGAYA
M.A.D. L I G A Y A 