Why are Filipinos so Poor?

Why are Filipinos so Poor?
[An Excerpt] By F. Sionil José

In the Fifties and Sixties [the Philippines] was the most envied country in Southeast Asia. Remember 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.

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 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.

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….

We are poor because our nationalism is inward looking.

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.

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.

http://www.thebrownraise.org/?p=256

first of all gilbs, i am not saying im against the article that you have posted, alam ko yung site na yan ay dedicated talaga to uplift filipino spirit. pero siguro i change natin yung title into why filipinos are not yet rich enough? biro lang ha... eto yung kaunting insight ko...

actually a lot of filipinos are not poor. sometimes we define poorness with the big word lacking money.

are filipinos really poor? i have been in vietnam and many country and i have seen filipinos everywhere. on one side what you have share in that article is true but it does not really reflect the whole situation.

i dont see the filipinos like that. i still beleive that this race is a special race. there is always a reason why a lot of filipinos , that includes me are outside the nation.. what happen? look ang daming mga filipino na pumunta sa ibang bansa (was it an accident?). one of the main goal is to give good life to our family, sa pamamagitan ng pagpapadala ng pera sa mga mahal sa buhay.... but i started to see more that goal. i now beleive that the GOD above has different plan.

Filipinos are a race which i Know God will use to influence other nations.

Look I was surprise with this oservations by my other co- teachers

1. Do you know in England, they prepare Filipino Nurses.. Because they Are RICH in compassion in taking care of their patients

2. Here in vietnam most of the Foreigners will only go to the places were Filipinos are singing

3. Maraming filipinos and nagpapahayag ng magnadang balita sa mga taga ibang bansa lalong lalo na dito sa Asya, dahil sa mga dahilan... yung kulay, madaling makasama, madaling magadopt ng lenguahe ng ibang bansa.

4. Alam mo ba na ang tanging nakakapaginfluensya ng mga anak ng mga matataas na pinuno ng Arabo at ibnatibang bansa ay Pilipino.. sa mata ng Iba maid, pero sa mata ng mga bata ay pangalawang nanay, na may mas higit na oras pa kaysa sa talagang nanay.

I know that one day Filipinos will be bless, but at the moment God is using this situation for his purpose.

Indeed marami parning mga nagwawaldas ng pera, maraming mga tamad at marami paring na naghihirap.. pero kung i fufunnel mo ay dahil may dalawang BIG words na nawawala.. at ito ay ang DREAM and HOPE..

ewan ko paguwi ko sa Pinas..maririnig mo sa mga driver, sa mga kapitbahay ay ganito "la talagang wala ng pagasa yung bansa, ganito na ang talga" then they will blame this and they will blame the leaders...

nasaan na yung hope, nasaan na yung dreams, nasaan na yung fervor na one day ang Pilipinas ay babangon at tatayo..

common guys, change your perspective, change what has been molded to us by others. maybe we have to begin in this community.... I Love what bokkins put in one of those banner "Sining para sa Bayan"

Filipinos are rich.. they are rich in love especially for their families, in compassion, in caring. and one thing i know they Fear God.

Sir i have nothing but respect in you, especially sa mga Teachers na kagaya mo, I also respect your views, I also believe sa mga observations nyo. But sir what this article is trying to point out is that "We Filipinos are not really poor because of lacking of material & financial aspect. Remember that in the 50's & 60's as stated that we are the most envied country in asia. If you read history we are 2nd in Asia. The only Asian country that beat us is Japan. Look at where we are now?. "Why then we became poor? We are poor because we have poor in spirit". The spirit of "Nationalism" that is why we are poor.We have damaged culture that until now we cant soar. I know that a lot of Filipinos are raising our flag in their own fields. But there are also a lot of Filipinos are creating negative perception to our nation. I agree with you when you stated we are rich in love for our families and we fear God. We are the only Christian nation in south east Asia, we have a lot of religion, we fear God. But we dont love our country. That is why Filipinos are poor or should we say not yet rich.
Thanks you sir for dropping by. Thanks for sharing your insight. Mabuhay po kayo mga Guro/Maestro.

nomeradona wrote:Filipinos are rich.. they are rich in love especially for their families, in compassion, in caring. and one thing i know they Fear God.

I agree with you sir Nomer, we should to be optimistic sa mga bagay na nakukuha natin sa ngayon. Me I dont look the dark side of the past instead learned from it and focus on what you have got. kung may maitutulong ako sa kapwa ko pinoy gagawin ko na lang kahit walang kasiguruhan basta tumulong at nagbigay ka ng effort OK na yun. Hindi man mayaman ang pinoy sa karangyaan o pera pero mayaman naman tayo sa talino, talento, sipag, tyaga, pakikisama at higit sa lahat may takot sa DIYOS. salamat sa thread na ito kahit papaano mawala yung mga takot natin sa nangyayari sa mundo ngayon dahil kailangan itong mangyari. Salamat din po sir gilbs

another inbox spammer mail, suck to this crappy chain letter..

no need to argue about this.. to generalize all filipino are lazy poor ass is senseless and stupid... this F. Sionil José guy needs to go out in his bunker, see the sky, smell the flowers and have a good life..

para saken,,poor talaga tayo,,,spiritually,morally,financially,,,and the only way to reduce that poorness is to help each other,,,imbes na mag siraan at mag paepalan para lang mabango sa muka ng ibang lahi,,,

dpyxl wrote:another inbox spammer mail, suck to this crappy chain letter..

no need to argue about this.. to generalize all filipino are lazy poor ass is senseless and stupid... this F. Sionil José guy needs to go out in his bunker, see the sky, smell the flowers and have a good life..

Im sorry but this article do not intend to make a chain letter or something, or to make it appear pretty good to other nation or para siraan ang ating lahi. I aplogize to you all kung ganun ang dating sa inyo ng article but it is not. WIth due respect to you all sir, F sionil jose kung hindi siya ang pinakmahusay he is one of the best writer & novelist na Filipino. And I do not intend to criticise the Filipinos. Anyway, thank you guys for sharing your views.

we are poor because of maling sistema sa gobyerno.. dahil sa ugali nating mga pilipino..mkasarili.. kung sino ung mahirap, inaapakan p dahil sa mga lider ng bansa na walang ng inisip kundi ang sarili.. khit gaano p tayo maging optimistic or kahit gaano pa nating pgbubutihin ang gnagawa natin, walang mangyayari dito sa bansa natin. nasasayang lng yung kaalaman ng magagaling na pilipino kung hndi naman mabigyan ng sapat na kapalit upang maiahon ang kanyang pamilya, di sapat ang sweldo.. kaya masmabuti p ang mgtrabaho sa labas para hndi sayang ang kaalaman at abilidad... mahirap kc kme..

corpsegrinder wrote:we are poor because of maling sistema sa gobyerno.. dahil sa ugali nating mga pilipino..mkasarili.. kung sino ung mahirap, inaapakan p dahil sa mga lider ng bansa na walang ng inisip kundi ang sarili.. khit gaano p tayo maging optimistic or kahit gaano pa nating pgbubutihin ang gnagawa natin, walang mangyayari dito sa bansa natin. nasasayang lng yung kaalaman ng magagaling na pilipino kung hndi naman mabigyan ng sapat na kapalit upang maiahon ang kanyang pamilya, di sapat ang sweldo.. kaya masmabuti p ang mgtrabaho sa labas para hndi sayang ang kaalaman at abilidad... mahirap kc kme..

sir sang ayon ako sa sinasabi mo, yan din po ang ibig ipakahulugan ng article. mahirap ang ating mga puso sa pagmamahal sa bansa hindi ano pa mang kahirapan. thanks for sharing your views.

dpyxl wrote:another inbox spammer mail, suck to this crappy chain letter..

no need to argue about this.. to generalize all filipino are lazy poor ass is senseless and stupid... this F. Sionil José guy needs to go out in his bunker, see the sky, smell the flowers and have a good life..

mmm galit tuloy tung si dpyxl.. actually it was a valid stuff bro. and actually i love the site were gilbs has extracted the article. Its a site dedicated for Nationalism... and i even knew that there was a time when even Koreans wanted to be in the Philippines. I just dont like the title of the article and this thread, because its disheartening for me "why filipinos are poor?" Parang nilahat na. Hindi naman diba.

on the other hand the above situation was also my question. What happen to the nation which was no 2 before in Asia?

here is my "just personal opinion"

1. the marcos era, who introduced cronysm and extravagance.. i even watch the weddin of irene, were kilometers of tulips from Holland were displayed in the streets ... wow grabe.... what happen then.. YUn yung power ay nasa isang pamily, yung yaman nga ay nanduon pero distributed sa mga kaalyado... yung roxas boulevard wow, grabe yung mga bagong buildings in Locsin ang daming bumilib, kaya pati yung Sultan ng Brunie kinhuha si ALejandro Locsin ( na friend ng Marcoses) na arkitekto ng Palasyo ng hari sa brunei. My first boss in arkitekture pa nga ay hands on sa porject na yun (alam ni Ka Cloud at Ka Glensky yan, kasi nagmula kami sa isang eskuela na kung saan ay ang dean naman ay isa sa mga arkitekto ni Locsin). .. Mayaman ngang masasabi ang bansa non, pero sa kabilang banda nasa bulsa lang ng mga malalapit sa mga marcos.. Kung pupunta ka naman sa mga ibang bayan at barrio "Ill be Honest MAHIRAP PARIN financially, at eto yung time na nauso yung pumunta yung mga filipinos na Magabroad sa SAUDI at iba pang lugar sa Middle East... Sa panahong ito nakita ko yung kasipagan ng tatay upang maisalba sa kahirapan ang kanyang mga anak, nakapagradweyt ako sa Unibersidad dahil sa kasipagang ganito.

2. Nagising ang sambayanan, marcos was toppled by the Peoples' Power edsa 1. nagbunyi ang bayan.. nasaan ang yaman ng bayan... sunod sunod na coup de etat ang inabot ni Gng Aquino, na sana ay isang pagkakataon na magsimula ang bayan. so during this time, yung growth ng bayan ay nagstalemate.

3. Here comes the RAMOS, i remember this time well, kasi i was working na with different Urban planners, and i even participated in the strategic plans of Subic, Davao and iba pa. At that time the infrastructure began to be deteriorated lalong lalo na ang electrical supply. during that time ang daming mga komapanya ang may sariling generator para maging kompetitive sila. Duon pumasok yung ibat ibang mga Kompanyang Naglalako daw ng Electrisidad... Ramos bit the bait, jsut to solve the power problem, yun pala ang daming babayaran ng mga mamamayan.. no one could blame because at that time grabe talaga ang kakulangan sa elektrisidad... this time hirap paring bumangon ang mga mamamayan. But one thing there was a bit of growth seen during this time yung GDP from 0 growth rate biglang tumataas paunti unti.

4. Estrada and MAcapagal admin.. well everyone knows what happen right... yung Edsa dito Edsa duon.. napaka masalimuot.. parang roller coaster. .. dahil sa mga nangyayari parang ang pagaaborad nalang ang taning paraan, yun pati mga doctor naging nurse sa ibang bansa...

Many crisis has been faced by the Filipinos. yung iba yun dinala nalang sa tawa, yung mga sinasabi sa article nanduon na.. marami ang nawalan ng pagasa, marami ang nawala sa tiwala sa pamahalaan...

And my question? why there were so many filipinos abroad? I think in the grand plan of God, there is a much better answer. He has a plan... and this is the very thing why I said Filipinos are so Special in Gods eye... sabi ng government yung mga OFW ay mga bagong bayani... but i could say a lot of God feering Filipinos became the Ambassadors of Christ to reach out those area which could not be reached out by other nationalities... God has turned whats happening in the nation for "His purpose" alam mo bro dito sa Vietnam kung sino ang nagpapray para sa mga Vietnamese, yung mga tumutulong sa mga may AIDS.. I will tell you God is using Filipinos... And i heard now not only here, may sa Cambodia, sa China, Myanmar, Laos at iba pa..

Time will come God will bless back Philippines, Philippines will rise again... I know why because Filipinos are planting good seed and they will reap this in the future.

ON the other hand alam ko marami parin ang mga makabayan... kung hindi we wont watch Manny Pacquiao kapag may laban sya para sa bayan.. marami parin.. and let us start in our own homes, our own place and even in this forum... Look what Bokkins cry... Sining para sa Bayan and here in CGP, Nationalism is alive...

corpsegrinder wrote:we are poor because of maling sistema sa gobyerno.. dahil sa ugali nating mga pilipino..mkasarili.. kung sino ung mahirap, inaapakan p dahil sa mga lider ng bansa na walang ng inisip kundi ang sarili.. khit gaano p tayo maging optimistic or kahit gaano pa nating pgbubutihin ang gnagawa natin, walang mangyayari dito sa bansa natin. nasasayang lng yung kaalaman ng magagaling na pilipino kung hndi naman mabigyan ng sapat na kapalit upang maiahon ang kanyang pamilya, di sapat ang sweldo.. kaya masmabuti p ang mgtrabaho sa labas para hndi sayang ang kaalaman at abilidad... mahirap kc kme..

see this is an exact example on what im saying... this is the common cry nowadays..

nomeradona wrote:

corpsegrinder wrote:we are poor because of maling sistema sa gobyerno.. dahil sa ugali nating mga pilipino..mkasarili.. kung sino ung mahirap, inaapakan p dahil sa mga lider ng bansa na walang ng inisip kundi ang sarili.. khit gaano p tayo maging optimistic or kahit gaano pa nating pgbubutihin ang gnagawa natin, walang mangyayari dito sa bansa natin. nasasayang lng yung kaalaman ng magagaling na pilipino kung hndi naman mabigyan ng sapat na kapalit upang maiahon ang kanyang pamilya, di sapat ang sweldo.. kaya masmabuti p ang mgtrabaho sa labas para hndi sayang ang kaalaman at abilidad... mahirap kc kme..

see this is an exact example on what im saying... this is the common cry nowadays..

indeed sir

im so glad to know it from you guys, we have diff views though, but our nationalism are still in our hearts. i think maybe its a good start, thanks to all of you guys for dropping by.

But this physical poverty is really not as serious as the greater poverty that afflicts us and this is the poverty of the spirit

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.

i disagree with some of his word, everyone is doing its part, that's why its not fair for my side, calling filipinos as "poor" is subjective as a whole, or whatever that means.. those people he call "lazy, slum, bum" wont even bother to read this article, hehe.. this is what this article for, isn't it?

if we generalize a race as filipinos, the topic will be a subject for endless debate.. as well the system in the philippines will ever or never will change.. corruption, greed will always be there.. hope will be there too somewhere , change maybe still light years away because change is not instant.. and yes, we still suffer that after effect of being a second class citizen on our own backyard wayback then.. compare ourselves with other race is not fair too.. we have our fall and strengths, so they are too...

using "poor" to connect to filipinos is a very poor choice of word to the author, as all filipino will share the same bloodline.. everyone taking its pride and nationalism always in the redline, but do we really do our part..??

though the question is as good as how many filipino pay they taxes fair?

I respect your opinion sir, thanks, i understand your views, thanks for sharing it.

are we really poor? when i went i home most of what i see is crappy infrastructure, slums, etc but the ones who live there have the latest cellphone models, a digicam, and enough money to spend for gimmicks.

poor is relative. monetarily yes we may be poor or not as well off as our asian neighbors - but that doesn't mean we are less happy.

i remember this survey once - of the top countries in different categories - top 10 countries to study, top 10 rich countries, etc.

guess what - the philippines is in the top 10 happiest countries. no. 1 was an african country, can't remember if it was zimbabwe or nigeria.

what does it say? money can't buy happiness. we may be "poor" but heck we can afford to laugh about it. ika nga ni gabriel garcia marquez:

"no, not rich. I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing."

mushroom wrote:are we really poor? when i went i home most of what i see is crappy infrastructure, slums, etc but the ones who live there have the latest cellphone models, a digicam, and enough money to spend for gimmicks.

poor is relative. monetarily yes we may be poor or not as well off as our asian neighbors - but that doesn't mean we are less happy.

i remember this survey once - of the top countries in different categories - top 10 countries to study, top 10 rich countries, etc.

guess what - the philippines is in the top 10 happiest countries. no. 1 was an african country, can't remember if it was zimbabwe or nigeria.

what does it say? money can't buy happiness. we may be "poor" but heck we can afford to laugh about it. ika nga ni gabriel garcia marquez:

"no, not rich. I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing."

good point mushroom...

mushroom wrote:are we really poor? when i went i home most of what i see is crappy infrastructure, slums, etc but the ones who live there have the latest cellphone models, a digicam, and enough money to spend for gimmicks.

poor is relative. monetarily yes we may be poor or not as well off as our asian neighbors - but that doesn't mean we are less happy.

i remember this survey once - of the top countries in different categories - top 10 countries to study, top 10 rich countries, etc.

guess what - the philippines is in the top 10 happiest countries. no. 1 was an african country, can't remember if it was zimbabwe or nigeria.

what does it say? money can't buy happiness. we may be "poor" but heck we can afford to laugh about it. ika nga ni gabriel garcia marquez:

"no, not rich. I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing."

Kasi nga yun nalang ang magagawa mo kung talaga wala kanang magawa,,,Ang Tumawa,,At Hayaan nalang ang lahat hanggang mama imune kanalang hanggang di mo na alam,,
Nagtira din ako sa slum area somewhere in metro manila,,,and most of the people that i met and i gain as friends there have the same answer everytime we talk about poverty,,,"mahirap maging mahirap",,,"buti nga buhay parin kami kesa iba jan tumatalon nalang sa tulay pag hindi na kaya",,,i remember when a friend told me about his son is asking him,,,""Tay kakain paba tayo"???komo wala naman daw siya magawa para makalabas para maghanap ng makakain kain umuulan,,,ayaw man niya pinalo nalang niya anak niya para makatulog sa kakaiyak...tsk kaya itawa na ng lang daw sa problema sabi nga ni Ka Fredie,,o kaya itulog mo nalang baka sumakit pa ang tiyan,,,
maaring nasasabi rin natin na kahit magpipisbol o even a payatas boy can afford cellphone,mp3,o any hi-tech gadgets too..its because pinoy tayo at hindi rin maalis sa mga balat natin ang 5-6,pahulugan,at listahan ng pautang,,,sabi nga nila nasa diskarte lang yan,,pinoy kasi kahit san makarating,,, mabubuhay,,,yun lang mas marami parin ang nasa maling paggamit ng diskarte,,,kadalasan nagagamit ito sa panggulang ,,panloloko,,para lang makarating sa tutuk ng kanilang pansariling kapakanan,,,kaya me umangat mang isa,,me babaksak na sampu,,at marami parin ang mga nasa ilalim,,,and thats the poor part,,,marami parin ang gutom na Flipino

maybe we must define first the meaning of poor...poor in terms of what?papasok dyan ung politika...kung pagaaralan naten ang history ng bansa naten eh masasabi naten mayaman tayo...sa likas na yaman at galing...kaya nga tayo gusto masakop ng ibang bansa...saken opinyon eh ang prob saten eh masyadong maraming marunong...maraming magaling,kung babalikan mo ang pamamahala ni marcos eh ang bansa naten eh nangunguna tayo sa asya...agriculture,technology...tayo ang isa sa mga unang may magandang transportation,ngayon nasaan na un?noong araw ung karatig bansa naten eh saten kumukuha ng bigas...ngyon ano na?kung maaalaala naten ang history of architecture,may period sa rome na ngkaroon sila ng dark age...dumumi ang kanilang mga paliguan...nasateng katangian ang likas na magaling,kaso lang di naten ito nagagamit ng maayos,pagkakaisa at aportunidad ang nawawala saten...ang systema ng politikal saten eh di na mababa...kung titignan naten mabuti baket napakaraming partido?dahil maraming saten eh magaling at matalino,kaso lang di nagkakaisa...may mahirap na mahusay ngunit walang aportunida...ang pilipino ay likas na mayaman,ang pilipino ay likas na magaling,POOR tayo sa aportunidad...nanghihinayang nga ako sa pagkakataon na binigay saten nung edsa 1...un ang panahon na kung saan lahat ng pilipino ay ngkakaisa at may oportunidad pero di ito naten nagamit ng wasto....tama si sir muggz...mahirap maging mahirap...pero di masama ang ipanganak na mahirap pero ang masama eh ung mamatay na mahirap...dahil may oportunidad ka na mabuhay at di mo ginamit ito ng maayos...diskarte sa buhay eh likas na saten,pero ung oportunidad dumadating un sa buhay naten, minsan eh napapalipas naten o di napapasin...

this is going to make me really unpopular, or worse, hated here;

we are the only catholic/christian country in this region; as someone has previously mentioned... and we're a poor country...

the rest is up to you guys...

Don't know about you guys but the vertex is rich. Filthy rich..

Joking aside, the philippines and the majority of its people remain poor because the culture back home does not encourage thriftiness and saving for the future.

All the riches that we see around us are superficial. The culture is primarily based on flaunting riches that we did not even earn ourselves. Andyan si heathrob making yabang with dad's car. Andyan si ate with her goldies na inutang na five-six.

If that culture of display comes to end - couple that wth the urge to save for the rainy days, I am sure that each and every filipino will have the monies when he need it most.

Wag nyo na padala sa tsina yong mga projects nyo - sa amin na lang sa pinas para yumaman tayo! :-))

My ninja master once told me, "Live within your means and you'll never worry"

v_wrangler wrote:Don't know about you guys but the vertex is rich. Filthy rich..

Joking aside, the philippines and the majority of its people remain poor because the culture back home does not encourage thriftiness and saving for the future.

All the riches that we see around us are superficial. The culture is primarily based on flaunting riches that we did not even earn ourselves. Andyan si heathrob making yabang with dad's car. Andyan si ate with her goldies na inutang na five-six.

If that culture of display comes to end - couple that wth the urge to save for the rainy days, I am sure that each and every filipino will have the monies when he need it most.

Wag nyo na padala sa tsina yong mga projects nyo - sa amin na lang sa pinas para yumaman tayo! :-))

My ninja master once told me, "Live within your means and you'll never worry"

tama kayo sir!kung kumikita tyo ng 10 mabuhay tyo lang sa 10 o mas mababa pa...iba kasi saten kumita ng 10 gastos eh 20...

hmmm....i'm poor....
cuz of women....dammit

On a different note... Have you guys heard about the chinese columnist who said " THE PHILIPPINES IS A NATION OF SERVANTS" who went on and racially discriminated the whole Filipino and our country? I think we hould be more concerned about that for now than on how poor we are, because that guys needs to go down!