MODULE 9

MY POLITICAL SELF

 DEVELOPING A FILIPINO IDENTITY

According to Yacat (2005), the question of who the Filipino is

can be best explained by looking at the three facets that form
the identity of the Filipino.

1. The Socio-political dimension

 A Filipino is a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines.
By citizen, it pertains to a member of the political
community who has the right and privilege to participate
in political activities and political affairs. Article IV,
section 1 of the 1987 constitution defines Filipino as:
 Born in the Philippines
 Having parents who are citizens of the Philippines
 Born before January 17, 1973 of Filipina mothers
 Naturalized in accordance to the law.
 As citizen of the Republic of the Philippines, a Filipino
may enjoy full political and civil rights, and is obliged to
pledge allegiance to the state, and the state in return provides protection and public
goods and services to him.

2. Cultural Roots
Culture is defined as all socially learned behaviors, beliefs, feelings and values the members of
society experience. Culture in general affects almost every aspect of an individual socially,
economically, and politically. Culture shapes the way we think, do things, how we feel, behave
and relate. Our values are likewise, the products of culture. As a social being, a Filipino is
influenced by his cultural milieu, which can be seen through the manifestation of values.

Two types of political involvements:

1. Political engagement as proactive engagement in the public arena. This can be seen
when one campaigns for an electoral position, joins political rallies or street
demonstrations.
2. Political participation in any organization to address social problems, such as
community organizing.

3. Consciousness

It is the psychological dimension or awareness of oneself as a Filipino, which leads to a pride of

being a Filipino. Unfortunately, captive consciousness is still prevalent in the Filipinos primarily
because of their long period of colonization. The Filipino consciousness was shaped and
developed to fit the needs of the colonizers. There is a need to counter this consciousness by
instilling a kind of nationalist consciousness, especially among the youth.

FILIPINO VALUES AND TRAITS

Positive
 Hospitability. It’s one of the most popular traits of Filipinos. We are usually friendly and
welcoming to our guests. This Filipino attribute makes the Philippines one of the most
favorite destinations by tourists who want to enjoy the beauty of our nature and the
friendliness of our people, not to mention we can also understand and speak English.
 Adaptability and resilience. Despite of all the calamities that struck our country, like
the strong earthquake and Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) that devastated the central
part of Visayas in 2013, Filipinos are persistent enough to get back on their feet, even
without the solid help from the government. Filipinos can also adapt to any type of
environment and mingle with any kind of people all over the world.
 Resourcefulness and creativity. Filipinos are known for ingenuity. We are creative in
many ways, whether it’s in art, music, science, technology and business. Some of our
smartest countrymen can come up with a brilliant idea despite of poverty or lack of
financial resources. Filipinos are also good in recycling trash and turn them into
ingenious products.
 Faithfulness. The Filipinos are one of the most faithful people in the world. Whatever
our religion is, we remain faithful and we don’t lose hope for a better tomorrow. Our
faithfulness and hopefulness keep us kind, positive, peaceful and determined to achieve
our goals no matter how impossible they may seem.
 Unity in bayanihan spirit. We are in close relationship with our neighbors. In barangays
and most subdivisions, the people in the neighborhood know each other, talk each other,
help each other, and protect each other. Our communities are organized. We help each
other to make our fiestas, festivals and other events lively and colorful to make sure that
our visitors will have a great experience.
 Thriftiness. There may be Filipinos who are living beyond their means. But on the
brighter side, there are also many Filipinos who are frugal. We shop wisely to save our
money for future important uses. We are conscious on the price tag, discounts and
quality of the products we buy to get the most out of our money. Filipino parents also do
sacrifices like skipping the stuff they want to buy for themselves just to save their money
to buy things that can make their children happy.
 Politeness. Filipinos are courteous people. The children and young Filipinos will always
use the words “po” and “opo” to show respect to someone who’s older or who’s in the
higher position than them. We also do the “mano po” gesture (bringing the back of the
hand of an elder to one’s forehead) as a sign of respect to our elders. Moreover, Filipino
workers will always address their customers with “sir” or “ma’am” to show humility and
honor to serve them.
 Jolliness and sense of humor. The Philippines is a country of smiles. Nothing can take
away the humor and jolliness of many Filipinos… not even super typhoon Yolanda – the
strongest recorded typhoon that made a landfall. Despite of the tragedy, Yolanda
survivors can still be seen smiling, positive and hopeful to rebuild their lives even better.
The Filipino humor is evident everywhere, from comedy films, TV shows, to every
Filipino you will meet.
 Discretion and dignity. Perhaps many of our politicians don’t have a delicadeza. But
our people, especially the Filipinas, still observe delicadeza. Despite of the growing
number of Filipinos who are giving up their delicadeza, there are still many Filipinos who
always think twice before they make a decision that can affect their dignity and honor. 
 Gratefulness. Aside from being hospitable, Filipinos are also thankful. We don’t forget
anyone who helped us, whether he (she) is a Filipino or not. We even build monuments
to show our utmost respect and gratitude to our heroes and other foreign personalities
who helped the Filipino people. We show our warmest gratitude to the international
communities who helped us rebuild our lives after Haiyan and other disasters struck us.
 Honesty and commitment. Perhaps “palabra de honor” is not evident among our
politicians, but it’s still evident among the common Filipinos. When we make a promise,
we try our best to fulfill that promise even if it will undermine ourselves. For us, to fulfill a
promise to others is a great self-fulfillment. We are also candor. What we see in you, we
will tell you frankly.
 Family-oriented. Filipinos are willing to make big sacrifices just to make sure that their
loved ones will have a good life. Our parents will do anything just to give us a brighter
future. They are even willing to work in a foreign soil just to achieve such goal.

Negative

 Crab Mentality. Simply put, this refers to the behavior of preventing someone from
achieving something due to jealousy or envy. Instead of praising or rendering
assistance, someone with crab mentality would think “if I can’t have it, then you can’t as
well” and will purposely try to bring his/her victim down. And just like the crabs who
could have escaped from the bucket if they only stopped pulling each other down,
nothing ever gets accomplished.
 Ningas Kugon. One reason why we sometimes exert half-hearted effort in our
undertakings is due to this attitude. Translated to “burning cogon grass” in English, this
idiom is meant to illustrate how Filipinos initially exhibit great enthusiasm at the
beginning of a project. Our eagerness however, fades away just as quickly as the fire is
extinguished, leaving our work either half-baked or unfinished.
 Mañana Habit. It is ironic that the Spanish would accuse Filipinos of being lazy when
they themselves taught us the mañana habit in the first place. Known as “tomorrow” in
English, the habit encourages procrastination, an “ability” we Filipinos have since turned
into an art form. Even the most urgent of projects and tasks can be relegated for some
other time; we are only forced to work on them when the deadline is near. It’s a miracle
we get things done in this country.
 Filipino Time. Related to the mañana habit, Filipino time refers to the Filipinos’ own
unique brand of time, which is known to be minutes or hours behind the standard time. 
In other words, we tend not to observe punctuality at all. This behavior usually drives
time-observant foreigners crazy. While we Filipinos with our easy-going ways have
somewhat become used to Filipino time, it still is a bad habit that needs to be dropped.
 Being Onion Skinned or Balat-sibuyas. We Filipinos are famous for being onion-
skinned or easily slighted at perceived insults. While it’s perfectly normal for us to taunt
and criticize others, we can’t handle the same when it’s being hurled back at us.
Incidents showcasing our extra-sensitivity to insults usually involve a foreigner making
either a bonafide racist remark or a humorous jab at us Filipinos. True to form, our
reactions would range from righteous indignation to excessive grandstanding. While it is
alright to feel incensed, throwing a fit in front of the world would inevitably do us no good
at all.
 Disregard for Rules. Why is it so hard for Filipinos to obey the rules? This social
phenomenon is not exclusive to hardened criminals either—a look at everyday life in the
country shows Filipinos from the entire social strata nonchalantly breaking the rules,
whether it is something as benign as jaywalking or as dangerous as beating the red light.
An interesting theory goes that the Filipinos’ penchant for law-breaking goes beyond
mere lack of discipline or failure to implement the rules. It is something that is ingrained
in our very culture.  Being oppressed under the yoke of colonization for such a long time
made our ancestors defiant of the rules they believed to be discriminatory. Although
such “self-righteous disobedience” may have been alright during their time, the behavior
would continue to manifest itself among the later Filipinos, resulting in an utter lack of
respect for the rules.
 Colonial Mentality. Probably one of the biggest flaws we have as a nation is our
colonial mentality, defined as a preference for all things foreign over our own, a negative
trait we acquired from our days under the Spanish and the Americans. As a result, we
Filipinos have been indoctrinated with the misconception that our culture is inferior to
that of our past colonizers. Glaring examples of colonial mentality include patronizing
foreign instead of local brands, favoring foreign values over our own, and even desiring
to look more “Western” (think whitening products). If we can’t even have pride in our own
country, then unfortunately we will always be stuck with this self-defeating mentality.
 Balikbayan Box Mentality. While there is nothing wrong with giving gifts to one’s family
and friends (we Filipinos do highly value them after all), it becomes a different matter
when said family and friends either misconstrue or abuse the OFW’s generosity.
 In local parlance, this has become known as the “Balikbayan box mentality.” People
ingrained with this mentality either become exploitative or jealous of the success of the
OFW, not knowing that he/she is working hard away from his loved ones in a foreign
country. Some also believe that the practice undoubtedly contributes to the Filipinos’
colonial mentality.
 Bahala na Attitude. Roughly translated as “come what may”, this is the Filipinos’ own
version of fatalism, the belief of leaving everything to the hands of fate. This attitude,
while not inherently detrimental in itself, is still a double-edged sword. On one hand,
positive aspects of this behavior include belief in Divine Providence and national social
responsibility. On the other hand, the attitude can also promote a sense of helplessness
and resignation of one’s fate at the local level, and a countrywide lack of empathy and
collective action on the national level. This is also the reason why we tend to have
amnesia over past wrongdoings committed by our leaders.
 Corruption. One of the biggest social ills our country has continued to face since time
immemorial is the issue of corruption.  Let’s face it, our “culture of corruption” is
embedded deep within our system and reinforced by a complex web of economic and
social factors which include personal ambitions and a twisted sense of loyalty to friends
and kin. The Philippines is in for a long haul if our officials and we ourselves do not get
rid of this very negative habit.
 Maintaining Double Standards. This behavior can be observed in just about every
sector of Philippine society, with the most common example being the condemnation of
an adulterous woman while applauding a polygamous man. On the national scale, we
see politicians spouting promises of reform and good governance only to break them in
the end. Long story short, some Filipinos are hypocrites to the core.
 Excessive Partying. Now there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a fiesta and party
every now and then, it’s just that we Filipinos tend to overdo it.  Birthdays, anniversaries,
graduations, and even somber funerals are celebrated by Filipinos like there is no
tomorrow. Sometimes we even make up the slightest of reasons just so we could have
an excuse to party. What’s more, a host would sometimes even strain his own
finances just to impress his guests.

POLITICS AND POLITICAL CULTURE

 According to Aristotle, Man is a “political animal” Other people might easily interpret this
as something that refers to the intrinsic desire of every human being to lead or govern.
This is far from what is meant by the Philosopher. Similar to being a social animal,
humans come together and form a political body. The creation of a political body is
intended for the attainment of a good life. For instance, the city-state which originates
from the Greek word Polis, is understood as the highest and the most desirable form of
organized society. Aristotle believed that humans, like animals, intrinsically work
together to achieve a common goal. Like the saying “No man is an island,” humans are
interconnected and must work together.
 Kendall (1998) defines politics as a social institution through which power is acquired
and exercised by people and groups. In Aristotle’s work, Politics, he describes the role
that politics and the political community must play in bringing about the virtuous life in
citizenry. Politics is an important part of human development because it promotes
ideologies about democracy, citizenship, human rights, freedom, family, health and other
social issues. Politics exists in all human power and understand proper functioning of a
democratic society as a citizen.
 Stevens, Anglin and Jussim (2015) cite that in some people, politics is a central
component of their identity. For others, politics may be a more peripheral concern but
temporarily becomes a central one in certain situations. The political community where
one belong offers an important opportunity for them to define themselves and provide
opportunities to satisfy their needs for affiliation. The political self organizes one’s
beliefs, attitudes and affiliation. People use their political values and belief systems to
themselves as unique individuals in society.
 Political Culture is the pattern of individual attitudes and orientation towards politics
among members of a political system. (Almond and Verba, 1965)

Characteristics of Political Culture in the Philippines:

1. Dominance of family ties or kinship system . In local government units such as

municipality or barangay, big clans dominate the political arena. Political dynasties
usually control the government. In the Philippines where consanguinity is given utmost
importance, it does not matter if the political candidate is inefficient, immoral or corrupt.
As long as he or she is part of a political dynasty found trustworthy by the community, he
or she would also be considered trustworthy.

2. Euphemism. Officials and employees in lower positions are not frank or straightforward
in criticizing officials of higher rank instead, the parinig or patutsada are used in
confronting to address the problems or issues. They put more premium on the
relationship as criticisms might offend them. Thus in the end, problems and issues are
not resolved.
3. Utang na Loob. Filipinos feel obliged to pay immediately or in the future any favor they
receive from another person. They always look for opportunity to return any favor given
to them. In politics, utang na loob is instrumental in becoming a popular politician. Some
politicians give everything to their constituents especially during elections to instill in
them the sense of utang na loob as a guarantee to win their votes.

4. Sense of overdependency. Some constituents rely on elected official or a “patron”

politician for their personal and economic needs. This culture results in the re-election of
incompetent officials whose means to stay in power is to provide temporary relief to
impoverished Filipino families.

5. Belief that majority of politicians are corrupt. The term buwaya has been used to
describe corrupt politicians in the Philippines signifying their greed for money and power.
Many Filipinos believe that politicians are corrupt and are in government service only to
promote their vested interest and not the public interest.

6. Lack of political maturity. People elect officials based on popularity and personality
and not on performance and platform. Politics is no longer limited to individuals with
backgrounds in political science and law as even celebrities are now able to hold
positions in office by sheer popularity.