Why Are Filipinos So Poor?
This article is posted under General Information, Mindsetting.
Just the other day, I was organizing my book shelf when I saw a novel which my Humanities teacher assigned for us to review back in college.
It was Viajero by F. Sionil José.
This novel is about the Filipino diaspora as seen through the eyes of an orphan who is brought to the United States by an American captain. The plot is closely similar to the cathartic experiences of David Poarch, if you know him.
Anyway, browsing through the pages of the book, I’m saddened by the fact that much of the details of the story is now lost in my memory. Nevertheless, I do distinctly remember being close to tears back then upon reading one of the climactic chapters of the novel. I definitely needed some Transcendental Meditation mantras and heavy breathing to compose myself.
As I went on and finished my chore, I am reminded of another work by F. Sionil José. It’s an essay which I read as a forwarded email years ago. And so I went to my computer and logged in to search for that archived message.
Thankfully, it was still there and I’d like to share that composition here. It’s quite long but please take some time to read it and hopefully, it will inspire you to become an agent of change for other Filipinos.
Why Are Filipinos So Poor?
By F. Sionil JoséWhat did South Korea look like after the Korean War in 1953? Battered, poor – but look at Korea now. In the Fifties, the traffic in Taipei was composed of bicycles and army trucks, the streets flanked by tile-roofed low buildings. Jakarta was a giant village and Kuala Lumpur a small village surrounded by jungle and rubber plantations. Bangkok was criss-crossed with canals, the tallest structure was the Wat Arun, the Temple of the Sun, and it dominated the city’s skyline. Rice fields all the way from Don Muang airport – then a huddle of galvanized iron-roofed bodegas, to the Victory monument. Visit these cities today and weep – for they are more beautiful, cleaner and prosperous than Manila. In the Fifties and Sixties we were the most envied country in Southeast Asia. Remember further that when Indonesia got its independence in 1949, it had only 114 university graduates compared with the hundreds of Ph.D.’s that were already in our universities. Why then were we left behind? The economic explanation is simple. We did not produce cheaper and better products.
The basic question really is why we did not modernize fast enough and thereby doomed our people to poverty. This is the harsh truth about us today. Just consider these: some 15 years ago a survey showed that half of all grade school pupils dropped out after grade 5 because they had no money to continue schooling. Thousands of young adults today are therefore unable to find jobs. Our natural resources have been ravaged and they are not renewable. Our tremendous population increase eats up all of our economic gains. There is hunger in this country now; our poorest eat only once a day. But this physical poverty is really not as serious as the greater poverty that afflicts us and this is the poverty of the spirit.
Why then are we poor? More than ten years ago, James Fallows, editor of the Atlantic Monthly, came to the Philippines and wrote about our damaged culture which, he asserted, impeded our development. Many disagreed with him but I do find a great deal of truth in his analysis.This is not to say that I blame our social and moral malaise on colonialism alone. But we did inherit from Spain a social system and an elite that, on purpose, exploited the masses. Then, too, in the Iberian peninsula, to work with one’s hands is frowned upon and we inherited that vice as well. Colonialism by foreigners may no longer be what it was, but we are now a colony of our own elite.
We are poor because we are poor – this is not a tautology. The culture of poverty is self-perpetuating. We are poor because our people are lazy. I pass by a slum area every morning – dozens of adults do nothing but idle, gossip and drink. We do not save. Look at the Japanese and how they save in spite of the fact that the interest given them by their banks is so little. They work very hard too.
We are great show-offs. Look at our women, how overdressed, over-coiffed they are, and Imelda epitomizes that extravagance. Look at our men, their manicured nails, their personal jewelry, their diamond rings. Yabang – that is what we are, and all that money expended on status symbols, on yabang. How much better if it were channeled into production.
We are poor because our nationalism is inward looking. Under its guise we protect inefficient industries and monopolies. We did not pursue agrarian reform like Japan and Taiwan. It is not so much the development of the rural sector, making it productive and a good market as well. Agrarian reform releases the energies of the landlords who, before the reform, merely waited for the harvest. They become entrepreneurs, the harbingers of change.
Our nationalist icons like Claro M. Recto and Lorenzo Tanada opposed agrarian reform, the single most important factor that would have altered the rural areas and lifted the peasant from poverty. Both of them were merely anti-American.
And finally, we are poor because we have lost our ethical moorings. We condone cronyism and corruption and we don’t ostracize or punish the crooks in our midst. Both cronyism and corruption are wasteful but we allow their practice because our loyalty is to family or friend, not to the larger good.
We can tackle our poverty in two very distinct ways. The first choice: a nationalist revolution, a continuation of the revolution in 1896. But even before we can use violence to change inequities in our society, we must first have a profound change in our way of thinking, in our culture. My regret about EDSA is that change would have been possible then with a minimum of bloodshed. In fact, a revolution may not be bloody at all if something like EDSA would present itself again. Or a dictator unlike Marcos.
The second is through education, perhaps a longer and more complex process. The only problem is that it may take so long and by the time conditions have changed, we may be back where we were, caught up with this tremendous population explosion which the Catholic Church exacerbates in its conformity with doctrinal purity. We are faced with a growing compulsion to violence, but even if the communists won, they will rule as badly because they will be hostage to the same obstructions in our culture, the barkada, the vaulting egos that sundered the revolution in 1896, the Huk revolt in 1949-53.
To repeat, neither education nor revolution can succeed if we do not internalize new attitudes, new ways of thinking. Let us go back to basics and remember those American slogans: A Ford in every garage. A chicken in every pot. Money is like fertilizer: to do any good it must be spread around. Some Filipinos, taunted wherever they are, are shamed to admit they are Filipinos. I have, myself, been embarrassed to explain, for instance, why Imelda, her children and the Marcos cronies are back, and in positions of power. Are there redeeming features in our country that we can be proud of? Of course, lots of them. When people say, for instance, that our corruption will never be banished, just remember that Arsenio Lacson as mayor of Manila and Ramon Magsaysay as president brought a clean government. We do not have the classical arts that brought Hinduism and Buddhism to continental and archipelagic Southeast Asia, but our artists have now ranged the world, showing what we have done with Western art forms, enriched with our own ethnic traditions. Our professionals, not just our domestics, are all over, showing how accomplished a people we are!
Look at our history. We are the first in Asia to rise against Western colonialism, the first to establish a republic. Recall the Battle of Tirad Pass and glory in the heroism of Gregorio del Pilar and the 48 Filipinos who died but stopped the Texas Rangers from capturing the president of that First Republic. Its equivalent in ancient history is the Battle of Thermopylae where the Spartans and their king Leonidas, died to a man, defending the pass against the invading Persians. Rizal – what nation on earth has produced a man like him? At 35, he was a novelist, a poet, an anthropologist, a sculptor, a medical doctor, a teacher and martyr. We are now 80 million and in another two decades we will pass the 100 million mark.
Eighty million – that is a mass market in any language, a mass market that should absorb our increased production in goods and services – a mass market which any entrepreneur can hope to exploit, like the proverbial oil for the lamps of China.
Japan was only 70 million when it had confidence enough and the wherewithal to challenge the United States and almost won. It is the same confidence that enabled Japan to flourish from the rubble of defeat in World War II.
I am not looking for a foreign power for us to challenge. But we have a real and insidious enemy that we must vanquish, and this enemy is worse than the intransigence of any foreign power. We are our own enemy. And we must have the courage, the will, to change ourselves.
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Hi, my name is Fitz and this is my blog entitled, Ready To Be Rich.
aray ko, totoo lahat ng sinabi ni lolo jose. yan tawag namin sa kanya dati nung naging prof namin si f. sionil
masyado kasi tayong lastikman – kung asan tayong lugar, yun na agad tayo. nawawala yung pagiging pinoy ba. pero alam mo, ngayong asa ibang bansa ako, ngayon ko feel na feel ang pagiging proud pinoy ko. itong asawa ko nga pinoy din daw sya at sempre pa, balak naming umuwi ng pinas at dyan manirahan sa lalong madaling panahon.
We don’t love our country enough. One of my professors before said that those who are not in the country anymore like kengkay tend to love the country better than the ones who live here.
Yes, all of what The author is saying or said have a valid reason to link poverty with it. But it is not really what ALL Pilipino is! Remember that what he is talking about is in general terms. I have still big hope of this Country to prosper…
We are great show-offs. Look at our women, how overdressed, over-coiffed they are, and Imelda epitomizes that extravagance. Look at our men, their manicured nails, their personal jewelry, their diamond rings. Yabang – that is what we are, and all that money expended on status symbols, on yabang. How much better if it were channeled into production.
I dismissed my maid last week because she stole a number of my groceries. When I asked why she stole, she said she pitied her kids. but when I look at the groceries, it was Lipton Milk Tea, yoghurt milk which is not even basic necessity. WHen I checked her things before she left, I saw her wardrobe. Oh gosh, she had a collection of flashy tops. I guess all her money was spent on clothing.
Priorities are just so messed up.
@kengkay
Ako naman, I have an Australian friend who calls the Philippines his home. He’s been living here for just a year and is almost fluent in Tagalog already. I wish more Pinoys would feel proud and love their country more.
@Mi
I think the group is somehow divided into polar extremes. I’ve met Pinoy US immigrants who had totally lost their Filipino soul. However, I believe there are a lot more of those who sincerely misses the country and hopes that in time, they could go back and retire in the Philippines (just like kengkay).
@juler
Yes, we should not despair on what F. Sionil Jose said in the essay but rather take it as a challenge to promote change in ourselves and in others. I hope that Pinoys who are losing faith in their country could have your optimism. Thanks for sharing.
@noemi
Yup, I read your plurk about that, such disappointing news really. Spending priorities are indeed messed up for some Pinoys.
Well, speaking as a Filipino we are:
1.) Short sighted in our goals. We need to change that attitude.
2.) We are great planner (especially in corporate world) but we lack implementation and actions.
3.) Population of 88.0 Million can make our country worst if we do not control. We need a birth control policy. Been seeing news reports on babies being thrown out on buildings, rivers, moving vehicles. What a pity for this children!
4.) Too much politicking.
5.) There are too many things to discuss I am already saturated at this moment.
In truth, I love Philippines. I wish to live here longer. I did have the opportunity of immigrating to another country with my profession in the healthcare industry but somehow something is bringing me back to the old Philippines especially in the province where I grew up. I hope we prosper within the next 159 years (see Phil. Star article) after we become a first world country then as our next generation would reap the fruits of our labor.
It hit the mark. Nationalism is what inspires great men of our country to strive. I also believe having an entrepreneurial spirit helps big time. Its a win – win for all.
There is still hope I believe in this country. Let us start by having a heart for the less fortunate among us.
I think the issue is an old story. We will not attain any progress. We will just wait that someday the integration of all Asian economies into one powerhouse like Euro will bring us to kingdom come.
Welcome the new Asian money the Aseano.
thanks sir fitz. i am your avid reader:) i am 24 years old and i’ve been working here in dubai for more than a year already. ang bilis po talaga ng panahon.
nakakalungkot po dahil hanggang dito po ay dala-dala pa rin ng ibang pinoy yung mga hindi kanais-nais na ugali. yung ibang pinoy po dito, dahil matagal na sila, pakiramdam po nila ay nakatataas sila sa mga baguhan. batiin mo na “kabayan”, hindi ka papansinin. sila-sila rin po ang nagsisiraan, nagchichismisin. maraming pinoy din po ang kumuha ng loan sa bangko dito saka tatakbo ng pinas kaya hirap na po kumuha ang ibang kabayan natin ngayon. black-listed ika nga.. mga illegal agents, hindi po mawawala. meron din po kaming nakasama sa bahay, isinangla nya yung laptop ng iba, ipapa-upgrade nya daw pero hindi na ibinalik.. saka dito po, kung sino pa po ang mga mababa ang mga sweldo, sila pa po ang mahihilig na gumimik, magpunta sa mall, makipagparty sa kaibigan.. inuman, kahit po bawal dito ay hindi po mawawala..
thanks for posting enriching & enlightening essays like this. you can check my site, you wiil see that my thoughts were inspired by your blogs.
thanks again sir fitz. i’ll keep on visiting your site.
A ‘must to read’ article for all Filipinos….a big point ‘change within’
I was asking the same question too??
My teacher once told me that before Philippines is like the most envied country here in Asia. Tourists from around the world would visit Philippines just to see our place. We were once the richest, I mean What happened?? Well, corruption is one thing and of course our resources here were not used properly. Let’s take for example the country Japan, they belong to the first world and they are famous because of their technology. Robots, new gadgets, all the latest technology we could find it there (or at least i thought so), but have it crossed your mind that the Raw materials used in making those robots is from a third world country like ours in which a lot of natural resources could be found. If we were just a little resourceful I think we will not become like this today.
I agree with what the author had said about us, we want to show off our materials things. Nevertheless, I am proud to be a Filipino. I am married to a foreigner and we are hoping that one day, when our children are educated and be able to contribute in our society we will retire to our beloved country.
i am a filipino and i am very ashamed to be a filipino. we are a nation of idiots who live to exploit each other. parents exploiting kids. authorities exploiting civilians. kids exploiting adults. it’s a dog eat dog world where people don’t even know the concept of falling in line. they think cutting ahead of you is the norm. the drivers can’t drive properly, the pedestrians can’t cross the street properly. there is no hope for this nation. sadly my children will have to live in this god-forsaken country. the police force is unable to protect its people and the government lives to leech money from the national budget. i can’t even believe that some people actually think that ther is still hope for us. open your eyes. there is no hope. i would rather this country got nuked. i used to be proud of my country, and i’ve been so blinded by that pride that i didn’t see that it was all a lie. this country is one big lie. it feels so good to let the truth out. i hate the philippines. i hate filipinos. there, i’ve said it.
Wow! The article was spot-on! Now I can’t wait to share this on Facebook.
F. Jose blamed the culture rather than corruption behind the reason why this country is so poor. I mean look at South Korea. They, too, had many corrupt politicians during its developing years but since it was in Korean culture to value hard work, they rose to become the 13th largest economy in the world.
Baliktad naman sa Pilipinas. Filipinos are such pleasantry addicts. Come payday, first words are bound to be, “Tara! Gimik tayo!” Pag may birthday, mag-party at magwaldas! Binyag ng anak, waldas. Fiesta, waldas. Despedida, waldas. First word ni baby, waldas. Yes, some Filipinos may be hardworking but look at how the culture of consumerism has plagued them into saving only little or none at all. The Balikbayan Box sent home by OFW’s should symbolize this very well.
I also blame our poorness to the Filipino “Bahala na,” and “Pwede na yan,” attitudes. They don’t plan ahead for the future. They plan only for the day, not years from now.
“Eighty million – that is a mass market in any language, a mass market that should absorb our increased production in goods and services – a mass market which any entrepreneur can hope to exploit”. I believe in this point because population is power, but the problem is 80% of the wealth only belongs to 20% of the people and 80% of the people shares the 20% of our wealth. This is due to massive corruption in our govt. coffers and it’s only the majority of the people who can solve this through their power of suffrage.
”We are poor because our people are lazy. I pass by a slum area every morning – dozens of adults do nothing but idle, gossip and drink. We do not save.” This is true in Manila and other big cities where people from different provinces converge looking for jobs. Had our govt. budget from the national govt. really trickled to the barangays and sitios, and helped people generate income, I believe these urban centers will not be having overpopulation problems.
I happened to experienced living 7 years in the mountains of Cabanglasan, Bukidnon (in Mindanao). You can seldom see lazy people there. During daytime, the roads are empty because you can see them in their farms tending their plants. But in the afternoon and night, a lot of people singing with tuba wine and just having a good time with peace and happiness.
Those who are victimized with high debt and corruption in financing, leave the place and went to the cities to find job. If govt. only solve their problems in their local levels, I believe peace and happiness in the mountains will be maintained. By the way, I observed that a lot of vacant lots and spaces were still good for even a million populations, but as of that time only a couple of thousands and decreasing happened to till the lands.
If Sionil Jose just happened to visit and stayed in those places in the rural areas, maybe he will have a second thoughts on this article. Maybe he can focus more on govt. corruption which really caused poverty which also caused the problems of overpopulation in the cities, probably he will be able to recommend specific ways to solve our specific problem which is graft and corruption. And if this is solved, we dont need the RH Bill the politicians have recommended as palliatives to our social problem.
I hope and pray that P-Noy would be able to clean our govt. with these corrupt people, just like Lacson and Magsaysay did as mentioned in the article. I also disagree on Jose’s conclusion that people are generally lazy based on his observations in the slum areas. It’s because there are no vacant areas there, no farms, no jobs, nothing to do. But as I’ve said, in the rural areas where I was assigned before, you can seldom see lazy people because everybody is busy.
And yes, these yabang people are mostly seen on the cities and urban centers where graft and corruption and wastage of resources are the order of the day. In fact those who went there got the contagious disease of payabangan. Its in these places where you can see the very people who believe that problems in our country has to be maintained through their buying power of people’s votes and helped these politicians in power and the very politicians who recommend RH Bill. And those people who support the RH Bill are also found in these very places where that contagious disease of payabangan will never be cured. We’ll hope and pray it will. God bless us and God bless the Philippines.
KUNG ALAM LANG NG MGA FILIPINO KUNG GANO KAYAMAN ANG BANSANG PILIPINAS, SA GOLD MINERAL DEPOSIT LANG NATIN NUNG 1994 SURVEY PA NG BUREAU OF MINES AY MAY VALUE NA SA 9.72 TRILLION DOLLARS NA IN CURRENT PRICE OF GOLD @ US$1,500.00 per troy onz. HAY NAKU KUNG BAKIT KASI LUMA ANG STYLE NG INDUSTRIYA NATIN, BULOK NA PROGRAMA SA DEVELOPMENT, TAPOS UMUASA NG UMAASA SA MGA FOREIGN INVESTOR NA MAGMINA DITO SA ATIN. CHANGE YOUR MIND SET… YES, CHANGE… CHANGE… CHANGE.. YES WE CAN….
ASK PHILIPPINE METALLIC MINERAL RESERVE KAHIT SABIHIN MO LANG NA SA KALAHATI AY EXPENSES, MALAKI PA RIN YAN SA PAGPAPAUNLAD NG BUHAY NG BAWAT JUAN DE LA CRUZ. KUNG MAY POWER LANG AKO I WILL START MINING FOR REAL FILIPINO BENEFITS LIKE SAUDI IS GIVING TO HIS CONSITUENTS, TAPOS ANG EXCESS SA PERA PRODUCE FACTORY OR PLANTS TO MANUFACTURE MILITARY WEAPONS, MILITARY ARMAMENTS, MILITARY VEHICLES, AIRCRAFT, WAR VESSELS, SUBMARINE, ETC. IMPROVE MILITARY PERSONNEL, WHILE IMPROVING ECONOMY, LOWER DOWN THE COST OF ENERGY FOR MORE INDUSTRIES TO COME. IMPROVE SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
HAY NAKU KAHIT SI TOTOY ALAM ANG GAGAWIN PARA UMUNLAD, EWAN KAYA YUNG MGA NASA CONGRESS AT SENATE ALAM KAYA NILA.
BAKA PROGRAM NI CONGRESSMAN PERA SA BASURA NA NAMAN. DI NA NAKAALIS SA GOLDEN PRINCIPLE NA YAN. CHANGE YOUR LEVEL UPGRADE, UPGRADE, UPGRADE…. PRODUCE HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED PRODUCTS, SENSOR, EQUIPMENTS, AIRCRAFTS, ETC. ETC. ETC., HANGGANG DUN NA LANG BA TAYO TALAGA, NAIL CUTTER LANG MADE IN JAPAN SAKA KOREA PA. ATIN BAKYA MAID IN THE PHILIPPINES. SANA BAKYA NA MAY HEASRT BEAT PULSE MONITOR… HE HE HE.
BAKYA NA PWEDENG GAMITIN SA IPOD AT IPHONE.
google: worldwide math/science scors
google: IQ and wealth of Nations
google: professor richard lynn of UK
google: IQ map of the world.
philiippines/filipinos are cursed by low IQ.. an IQ of 85 (eighty-five)
yes. yes yes… internet/web/google Now has all this data in public. public data. public knowledge of the IQ of the philippinbes. stuck at 85 compared to standard of 100 (one hundred)
maganda ang mga niisip ng bawat isa tungo sa pag unlad ng isang bansa,subalit ako ay labis na nagtataka bakit wala ni isa na nag sasabi na dapat ay ayusin muna natin ang ating pang bansang wika (ako nga mismo ay di maayos mag tagalog) oo marami tayong dialekto sa Pilipinas, subalit dapat ay may isa tayong gagamiting pang bansang wika, sabi ng iba Taglish . . .subalit isa isahin nyo ang mga bahay lalo na sa mga mahihirap na pamilya, ang mga bata ay hindi nakak intindi ng “english” ,
nag trabaho ako at nag “TNT” sa Japan ng Labing Limang taon, at marami akong natutunan doon, napakaraming dapat baguhin sa Bansa natin , at UNA na rito ang pag gamit sa wikang pang Bansa . . .kung mahal natin ang ating bansa dapat ay mahalin muna natin ang ating wikang pang bansa
Napakalaking bagay ang ginaganap ng Wika sa isang Bansa, dapat lahat ay nag kakaintindihan o nag kakaunawaan, dapat ang mga Libro ay naiintindihan ng mga bata ang ibig sabihin hindi yung alam lang nilang basahin. .
ito muna ang unahin natin ang Pag mamahal sa ating Pang Bansang Wika , ako po ay may isang anak na “Junior Highscool” at isang Kolehiyala sa Japan . . at sila ang nagpapatunay kung gaano kamahal ng mga Hapones ang kanilang Pang Bansang Wika at Sariling Bansa . . . .
I agree with the author. He’s 100% correct. I’m a Filipino who was born in the Philippines but migrated to a western country at the age of 10. Having experienced two different cultures, I think the problem with Filipinos is their upbringing.
Parents in the Philippines raise their children in a very spoiled manner (from middle class parents and up). Everything is given and never earned. As a result, children do not learn the value of hard work. To make matters worse, parents do not allow their children to be independent.
I think family values of Filipinos are misguided. I guess when the country lacks resources, people are forced to behave this way. But this is no excuse.
Another problem I see is that the majority of assets in the Philippines are owned by people who do not even see themselves as Filipinos. These elite see themselves as Chinese, Spanish or Americans even though they have lived in the Philippines all their lives. The reason why the Federal Government does not have any money is because these billionares understate their income tax returns. And the IRS turn a blind eye because of corruption.
I’ve been back to the Philippines a few times on holidays as an adult now and I realise that people do want change but they don’t want to do anything about it. I think this country needs a strong leader. A leader with an iron fist to resurrect order. For example, like a Margaret Thatcher or a Vladimir Putin.
Honestly, with all due respect, leaders like Arroyo or Aquino III are not the answer. Leaders like these do not have the courage nor the intention for change. There’s only one solution to this. REVOLUTION!!!