Ever heard of traveling? Traveling is what gave Filipinos from abroad the perspective to arrive at such conclusions about the negative cultural values that dominate the 7,107 islands of the Philippines. When you get exposed in a foreign land, say the U.S., you begin to make comparisons. Comparing countries, after all, reveals the strengths and weaknesses of their respective states. It is only in this way that they come to know where they should be focusing their efforts towards making their nations better. In all honesty, can we blame them for saying things like “Filipinos are lazy. In the U.S., if you are lazy you will surely die a hungry death”, or “Filipinos invest too much time watching those damn telenovelas and wowowee even when they don’t learn anything from it.”? Indeed, the Philippines is unique for having those kinds of shows and silly novelty songs. However, uniqueness isn’t necessarily a brilliant thing — for the Philippines is unique in a deeply disturbing manner. That’s what you will observe — unless, of course, you’re one of those Filipinos who, after migrating in a foreign country and all, still fixate on crappy Filipino TV shows because they feel homesick.
Some prefer to keep mum about the implications of having, as James Fallows calls it, a “damaged culture” by invoking the sorry excuse that it is being unpatriotic to speak out about it. This belief is not surprising at all considering the fact that if you go against Filipinos’ ways of thinking, you will be branded as someone who is cynical and can expect to be subject to grave threats. Filipinos are so barbaric don’t you think?
This whole “brain drain” notion is also just a blame game where you can see the typical response Filipinos have when faced with that topic. Let’s think of it this way: Why blame people for leaving the Philippines for greener pastures? Even if millions are migrating abroad, there are still many people who opt to stay in the country for whatever reason they have. We have a population of 90 million and we see these a force that can’t make a difference? Truth is, despite the pats on backs Filipinos generously give themselves, they are still dependent on other people.
There is a thin line that separates patriotrism from realism.
Iya Justimbaste believes that positive reinforcement is not applicable to Filipinos.
You got it right, Iya.
In addition. many Filipinos are somewhat against adopting anything from other shores. It’s traitorism daw. A true Filipino should only look at their own principles and standards without accepting other countries’ stuff daw. It is colonial mentality daw. Fortunately, I disagree with this.
That colonial mentality is the cause of our country’s problems is a myth. But Rafterman corrected it by saying that Filipino laziness and stupidity are the real reasons. We can blame the Spaniards and prayles for introducing mind-numbing social mores and “family vaues.” But 100 years after they left, why are we still holding on to them? Then Filipinos have themselves to blame for holding on to something that is obsolete and idiotic.
As I said in another article:
OFWs have the most right to talk about the country since we depend on their money. Treating them like aliens or outsiders marginalizes them.
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ChinoF Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Onga pala, criticizing OFWs like this shows that Filipinos can have no respect for the hand that feeds them.
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OMG you’re so kapal Ms. Iya! How dare you refer to our culture like that? You make no sense! Magtanim ka na lang ng kamote!
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FreeSInce09 Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 11:17 am
I do hope you were being ironic.
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Pro-Pinoy is in denial or he/she is clueless or plain oblivious or don’t have eyes to observe or JUST PLAIN FILIPINO. You have to forgive Pro-Pinoy because he is here in the Philippines all his life thinking that Filipino culture is da bes!
One of the main issues of pro-pinoys are they have not gone abroad to differentiate and make educated comparisons.
One New York Times article says to this effect that IMMIGRANTS LEARN PLENTY IN SIX MONTHS …
Travel to first world countries is highly educational. Travel to third world country like Philippines is retrogressive.
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Natamaan siya.
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I heard reality hurts
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Kaya umaalis ng Pilipinas ang mga tao kasi hindi naman nila mababago ang Pilipinas eh. Sobra na talaga ang bobo ng mga tao doon na kung matino kang tao talagang hindi mo magugustuhan sayangin ang buhay mo doon.
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
To quote Renato Pacifico: “IT IS EASIER TO TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS THAN FILIPINO OLD TRICKS”. How true. Very true! According to him, Filipinos would rather go abroad and have their lives run by Americans than run by Filipinos in the Philippines. Right on the American Visa!
Filipinos decry Renato Pacifico’s supposition to outsource the government to show patriotism and yet, on the side, are applying for American Visa.
Further, he said, Filipinos behave like Americans in white american communities then vacillate back to Filipinoness in Filipino communities, establishments, strip malls. These are the places where they show their severe put-down on each other.
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Spot on Miss Iya!
The Philippines is a half formed brute, ika nga ni Rizal.
We are so balat-sibuyas that when someone points out the obvious hurt we don’t want to hear it.
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To Ma Xianding,
yeah hirap tanggapin pero kahit ang mga may pinag aralan or mga professionals- kabisado nga ang libro pero kulang na kulang naman sa sensitivity, selflessness, at common sense.
Kung bubungkalin natin ang ugat ng kung bakit nagkaganito ang bansa natin, ewan… baka mamaga lang utak natin sa kakaisip at iikot lang ng iikot ang usapan. Maraming sisihan, maraming turuan.
Pero ang sana naman, dumating ang panahon na burahin muna sa isipan ng lahat ang maruming nakaraan, isaisip ang mga natutunan para makapagsimulang muli… Hay, kay daling sabihin.
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Ma Xianding Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Ang problema ay sisisihin agad ng Pinoy ang ibang bagay kung bakit siya nagkakaganun.
May karapatan ang mga Pinoy abroad na magsalita tungkol sa Pilipinas maging mabuti man o masama ang masasabi nila tungkol dito. Yun lang naman ang punto ni Iya.
BTW, mali ang nasabi ni Iya (or hindi siya ang nagsabi but she quotes people who say it) na kapag tamad ka sa US ay mamamatay ka ng gutom. Hindi totoo yun dahil ang daming tamad na gumagamit ng food stamps. Aside from that, most of the views in her article are correct.
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ChinoF Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 3:23 am
Pag nagka food stamps dito, siguro talo ang US sa dami ng gagamit nito.
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May mga comments akong nabasa sa mga ibang site about Iya’s article pero dito ko nalang sasagutin sa aking “bahay” . Mas at home ako dito eh
Tama naman ang mga sinulat ni Iya and she is just defending those OFWs’ rights to speak about The Philippines. I think this piece is a reaction to an article or comment saying OFWs do not have the rights to write or speak about their country of birth.
Yung sinabi ni Iya na “Filipinos are lazy. In the U.S., if you are lazy you will surely die a hungry death” did not come from her specifically but she quotes what she generally hears from OFWs. It is a wrong generalization but she is merely saying you cannot blame OFWs for speaking like that dahil marami naman sa mga OFWs ang padala ng padala ng pera sa mga Pilipino na hindi nagtatrabaho. Lalo na mga kamag-anak na panay asa sa mga OFW and made them a milking cow. Madalas nga sabihin ng OFW “HOY HINDI PINIPITAS ANG PERA DITO SA AMERIKA/SAUDI/CANADA etc” and I think she was just trying to illustrate that point.
As for Pinoys being “barbaric” eh medyo marami naman talagang kabarbarohan sa Pilipinas that is worth noting so they can be changed.
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Isa pa a lot of people say Iya is just young so she does not have the right to speak out like this. Dito sa Antipinoy, libre lahat magsalita. Sa impression ko, dito sa Antipinoy libre magsalita LAHAT. Bata, matanda, babae, lalake, bakla, tomboy, mahirap, mayaman, matalino, bobo, maayos, bastos (wag lang masyado), experienced or inexperienced. It is part of a growing process. Kaya nga gusto ko dito eh.
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
So true, Hsing. AntiPinoy is the real voices of Filipinos. “Bata, matanda, babae, lalake, bakla, tomboy, mahirap, mayaman, matalino, bobo, maayos, bastos (wag lang masyado), experienced or experienced” can speak their mind-off in AntiPinoy.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all AntiPinoys.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
“Iya is just young so she does not have the right to speak out like this” is very common retort of Filipinos. If this were true Filipinos would have been run by old, demented politicians.
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Hsing Tao Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
That is the fallacy called argumentum ad antiquatem. Iya has the right to speak hear. Antipinoy ata ito hindi http://www.moderated-ka-dahil-iba-paniniwala-mo.com …
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Iya Bustamante is very courageous to post her thoughts and observation considering she is a woman.
Dear Iya,
Department of Foreign Affairs has placed you in No-Fly-List. You are now Persona-Non-Grata. You will be arrested on site and deported back to America. You will be stripped of your Philippine citizenship.
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NEWS FLASH direct from Las Vegas.
Manny Pacquiao run out from the ring when a doctor showed up with syringe!
NEWS FLASH!
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Hey there!
Is this article made for me? Just kidding!
Well, I recently made a thread in PEX (pinoyexchange.com) to remind Pinoys of their backward culture and hope they vote wisely re their upcoming election.
I’m a 101% Chinese, partly grew up in the Philippines. Being a Chinese, our culture and teachings have taught us: 良藥苦口利於病，忠言逆耳利於行. (Translation: it takes bitter medicine to cure a disease properly, and it takes blunt painful advice to put us on the right track.)
This said my thread title goes like this – Pinoys aka Proto Humans are not worthy to be called “Asian”….you can read the rest of the thread here: http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php?t=433228
There are also other threads recently made like Pinoy Balat Sibuyas before my thread was created. Sadly, the majority of the people who have responded to my threads are a bunch of “balat sibuyas”…
I do wish Pinoy can get on the right track someday….It’s like the whole Asia is moving forward, Pinas is moving backwards…kung baga sa isang puting damit, meron mantsa na kelangan ng matinding zonrox para tangalin…The mantsa are the ogag goverment, the balat sibuyas and the garbage throwing squatters ng Pinas….:(
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ChinoF Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 4:43 am
On Pinoys not worthy being called Asians, I recall the opinion that the Philippines is just a Latin American country in Asia. While we have some Asian characteristics (looks and pre-Hispanic traditions), most of our culture and societal machinery has western influence.
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Anonylol Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Or to put it as the rest of the Internet calls us, Island Mexicans.
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ChinoF Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Arriba, arriba, andale, andale!
Dr. José Rizal II Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 10:41 am
For those interested in the pronunciation of the Chinese proverb “良藥苦口利於病，忠言逆耳利於行” here’s the pinyin pronunciation:
“Liang2 yao4 ku3 kou3 li4 yu2 bing4, Zhong yan2 ni4 er3 li4 yu2 xing2″ (numbers are for the tones)
Here’s the Wade-Giles version
“Liang2 Yao4 K’u3 K’ou3 Li4 yu2 ping4, Chong yan2 ni4 erh3 li4 yu2 hsing2″
It is indeed an extremely applicable saying for Filipinos. Many ordinary Filipinos, unfortunately don’t like to hear the bitter Truth. They don’t even like even if you say it nicely. Sometimes, even sugar-coating it is not enough. As long as there is a hint of bitterness to whatever you say, Pinoys will get angry.
So there’s no use trying to make it “sound nice.” It wastes time trying to sugar-coat or twist the bitter Truth to make it palatable. Better to be blunt about it and brutally frank and honest about it. Kung magalit ang Pinoy, so be it. When Pinoys get angry, it’s actually because they’re trying to deflect the pain they feel upon hearing the Truth about themselves. It doesn’t mean they don’t acknowledge it. They’re angry because they know, deep down, that it is true.
Better that they feel pain, because if they feel pain because of it over and over again, they will be forced to do something about it.
Pinoys need to snap out of the falsely deluded state of happiness they fantasize for themselves through Wowowee which is nothing put a “painkiller.” Parang nagla-laughing gas ang mga Pinoy (and that’s used as a painkiller too) para makalimutan ang problema, INSTEAD OF FIXING IT.
Happiest people in Asia nga ba talaga ang mga Pinoy? Sounds more like one of the most “positively” deluded people in Asia, actually.
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Jett Rink Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 11:00 am
It depends on what you do in a third world country you travel to. I’ve been to Cambodia and Sri Lanka and was deeply “educated” by their cultures and heritage. I’ve gone to fantastic beaches in our own Phils. and enjoyed a wonderful time. The fact that one can afford to travel makes one less likely to be “retrogressed”.
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Jett Rink Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 11:04 am
Oops posted on the wrong chain. Apologies to Gat Rizal II.
What if you could bring those ideas here? Whatever you learned overseas CAN be taught here too. Imagine how much improvement we can get if we put all college graduates through a civics bootcamp.
(yung hindi pwede bayaran para hindi na pasukan)
You don’t have to be overseas to learn about new ideas, the only problem being in the Philippines is if you behave differently here you are criticized : conyo daw, di marunong makisama, di marunong tumingin sa pinangalingan. Only the rich can get away with not acting like the herd.
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
IT IS EASIER TO TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS THAN FILIPINO OLD TRICKS
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Magaling ang pagkakasulat ni Iya. Valid observations she made. Hayaan mo ang mga nagci-criticize sa iyo. One day you will overtake them. Gaya na lang ng pag overtake ng Antipinoy.com sa mga ibang website. You got the looks, you got the brains, you got the charm and when you add experience to that, wala na silang ibubuga sa iyo. Mahihigitan mo pa sila and you will be listened to by much much much more people than them. Mark my word.
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I am for removing the requirement that presidential candidates should be residents of the country for years and similar. An OFW president might be a good idea, since he is more likely to be unbiased by local interests and has more foreign ideas to bring home that can help us. Of course, achievement requirements are a must.
Xenophobia, the idea that foreign influences are suspect and must be excised from our local culture, is ridiculous and only serves to push out the things that can help our country.
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Ole’! We have had “patriotic” Filipinos running Philippines to the ground. Citizenship requirements should not bar anyone from running the Philippines from Malacanang. ChinoF’s suggestion is as close as Renato Pacifico’s push for outsourcing.
There is this management firm in the U.S. that Filipinos can tap to run the Philippines.
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“. . . considering the fact that if you go against Filipinos’ ways of thinking, you will be branded as someone who is cynical and can expect to be subject to grave threats. Filipinos are so barbaric don’t you think?”
That right there is why some of us just keep quiet when we see our neighbors doing something stupid.
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
I was threatened with bodily harm, too!
Here, in the Philippines, or in the cyberspace, if they lost the debate they settle it with boxing. That is why Filipinos love boxing. Because Pacquiao is an epitome and reflection of Filipinos way of thinking. A brain-less Filipino wins the heart of the 50,000 who squeezed into a Texas stadium to prove to the world that brain-less can win, too, if debate is settled in the ring.
If all else things fail, there are still plenty of ammunitions: they’d drag your Lolo and Lola and Tatay and Nanay then call them names, call you bakla, bading, ing-git, envious, jealous. Very common when they lost the debate.
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“Why blame people for leaving the Philippines for greener pastures? Even if millions are migrating abroad, there are still many people who opt to stay in the country for whatever reason they have. We have a population of 90 million…”
if 2 out of 10 Pinoys are able to migrate, 7 of the remaining 8 are simply waiting for their opportunity to migrate
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 14th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
It is not their option to stay. They wanted to their skills and brain hindered them of going abroad. I stay here, so I can have the Philippines all by myself.
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Traveling is certainly one of those things that any human being who has the capacity to go outside one’s country owes to oneself. You are right on the observation that if you travel, you learn a lot about the differences between countries and thus make comparisons of what makes things work or not.
I had the fortune to travel to the US for a few weeks, and my, did it open my eyes. The realization was not so much about how rich the US was (I knew that already), but how a little bit of discipline and courtesy could go a long way. Sabi natin, masaya at mababait ang mga Pilipino. But then again, look at ourselves–hardly do we properly fall in line;,the only time we notice others is when we look for crap to gossip about the other person, hardly anybody ever says “thank you” or “salamat” to anyone.
When a driver stops his car right on a pedestrian lane, that is not only illegal, it is rude. When you throw your rubbish just about anywhere, it does not only proves you are filthy, but that you are also uncivilized. And while gossip is prevalent in most cultures, it does not have to be so pervasive that the only reason we would notice others is to go on a muckraking spree, particularly at work.
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 1:44 am
Filipinos are only “mabait” to the whites and non-Filipino minorities. The Filipinos thought of themselves as “mabait”. Filipinos need to define what is “mabait” to them. Because I do not find them “mabait”. Filipinos claimed that Americans prefer Filipinos’ skin-color when actually they are not. Brown color is different from sun-browned color because it has a golden glow to it on a white skin. Filipinos say things with less observation. Imagine, I was forced to eat their adobo with fats as thick as my fingers. Who do they think they are? Why do they think that I would love their artery-clogging adobo?
I was also forced to eat their oily pansit. I have to eat it because they are staring at me. It is rude if I do not eat their pansit while looking at me then they asked me “Good isn’t it?” These are the Filipinos who I visited in the U.S. who stayed there for eons who has not learned anything from the U.S.
Why is it so Filipinos ask me how long I have stayed in the U.S.? I just do not get it? Why? What is the point? I respect them because they stayed longer than I do? Are the Filipinos crazy? Or, just plain stupid?
A Filipino who force me to eat their lousy food and ask me how long I have stayed in the U.S. didn’t deserve my respect. I insulted them. I tell them the truth that pansit and adobo is good but I am vegetarian. How long I have stayed? I asked them back, “What is the point?”
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Persona Non Grata Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 1:49 am
These self-proclaimed “successful” “wealthy” Filipinos has traveled abroad from the U.S. Yes, only to the Philippines and back. Never been to Europe. And there are Filipinos who traveled to Europe for 3-days-2-nights zipping in and out of city hubs in Eurotrail then they become expert of European culture when the people they met are generic culturally-bland hotel slaves who are hired to smile.
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My travels to several parts of the world made me come to realization that Filipinos are genetically inferior that breeds factory-defective babies.
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it is true that Philippines is corrupt and barbaric, but what else can we do, they’re still human beings, they’re not perfect, they make mistakes. They’re not racist, they’re just misguided. They only hate black people cuz they really don’t know much about them. At least they’re not as bad as those people who only care about you when you have something that they need or want.. i was born in the philppines and i grew up in the streets. People would be shootin and killing in my neighborhood. Filipinos are caring and loyal, if you think about it, evveryone in the world has faults and weaknesses but if we focus on the bad things about them rather than the good things it’s really to resent them, before we should take out a spec in someone’s eye we have to remove the specs in our own eye. I haven’t walked in their shoes, i really shouldn’t judge them.
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Jay Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 3:35 am
A pretty naive statement.
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ChinoF Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 3:44 am
Thing is, you can’t leave alone the bad things. We have to do something about them. Let the boil continue to fester, it’ll kill you. So we must focus on the bad things as well as the good things… so we can remove mistakes and improve our quality as a people.
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Nice article… I can relate to this based on my personal experience… before I left the Philippines, I learned from our school system and from Filipino-authored books that our heroes are this and our leaders are that (glorifying them).. some are shamefully omitting what those bloody elites depriving the people of..
Then when my family left the country, having been educated in Western institution.. it opened my eyes that we are not what those elites are trying to portrayed.. I read about the Philippines, the economy, history and politics.. all authored by foreigners.. all not tainted by bias Filipino authors and it fascinate me… when I was young, I read benign0′s Get Real Philippines and I agree with him but I did not really understand it.. until I started studying political science and now, everything from his website and here at AP makes a lot of sense…… everything I learned from my studies, I apply it to the Philippines and it sad to see that even the simple term such as “democracy” is not compatible to our country… a political science lecturer even use the Philippines as an example of a democracy failed to be a democracy…
May I add that not all overseas Filipinos cares about the Philippines.. I remember in a Filipino Sports Festival, the ambassador beg everyone to enrol/register for the Overseas Absentee Vote and then the people just look in him in the eyes as if they don’t get it (only around 200 of about 1000 Filipinos that day registered).. a lot of overseas Pinoys are doing what most Filipinos do in the Philippines.. I notice many of them brought along with them the typical Filipino bad habits (drunks, adultery, backstabbing/tsismis, attention-seeking).. some are even proud of the term the “Filipino Time”… so I keep asking, are they the kind of people that the Philippine media trying to portray as “bagong bayani”?… of course, there’s a lot of Filipinos that really work hard for there family but I don’t see those kind of overseas Filipinos anymore..
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Jay Reply:
May 17th, 2010 at 3:42 am
well pinoys raised in America are exposed to a different culture than those in the Philippines. So they may not exactly agree to what Pinoy Culture revels in. Of course changing pinoys environment as well doesn’t change them either.
Pinoys are just as different as any individual I guess. Some like my mother who were really competitive in a positive way HAD to leave the country because they don’t respect how she thinks and what she wants to get out in her life. She found the USA a better environment for her way of life.
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Yea lol ur right but i just leave it all to god because he won’t let things happen without a purpose.
You don’t have toworry about it man, worrying about it is not gonna change the fact that philippines is the way it is. If we focus on the bad things in life we’ll get all depressed thinking about it. Life is too short and we shouldn’t spend it being unhappy and angry for something not worth being unhappy sad about. I didn’t come here to argue btw lol. I may be naive but let me tell u something, being naive is a good way to live.
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
—Luke 6:27-35
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I found this site by accident
me and the autor of the article have the same last name and i was just googling my last name and landed on this site =)
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