Espejo,

Merylle

Jane

J.

July 15, 2016

2012-50139
Ms. Audrey Mirasol

Utang na loob: The Revelations

Since I started to enter school, my parents also started to introduce good Filipino
values which I should know and later on to practice. According to them, these
values are come from our own ancestors and it is our responsibility to disseminate it
up to the next generations. One of these values is Utang na Loob which all of us are
very familiar with, its essentiality is noticeable in television shows, radio programs,
music themes, etc. But are we all aware about its limitation and social implications?
Or it is a debt which fuses arise of having a superior and inferior mentality? Okay,
let us analyze the factual implications of Utang na Loob in an extensive and smart
way of thinking.
There are a lot of translations and interpretations for this Utang na Loob, according
to Virgilio Enriquez, the Father of Filipino Psychology and the founder of the National
Association for Sikolohiyang Pilipino, Inc. on 1975 made a speculation that this value
is somehow related to the promotion of reciprocity (Pua and Marcelino 55).
Reciprocity is a situation or relation in which two people or groups agree to do
something similar for each other, to allow each other to have the same rights
(Reciprocity). In other words, there is an automatic perception of mutual
relationship wherein both parties are benefitted today or maybe in the future. On
the other hand, Charles Kaut a former Emeritus professor at the Department of
Anthropology in University of Chicago translates Utang na Loob as debt of prime
obligation (Kaut 256). These different translations and interpretations contribute to
the meanings of this value.
This popular value merely pertains to a voluntarily paying back to somebody who
helped you in times of poverty in the past; it may be through different ways,
aspects and may happen sometime in the future. Although it has the word debt, it

is really different from loans and other financial debts where both client and
provider have this what you called a formal contract where the exact amount lent,
mode of payment and the payment deadline is clearly written. There is no specific
situation where someone could say that he/she owes an utang na loob to
somebody, it seems like it is an automatic approach especially in the part of
someone who accepted the favour or let us say the client. These clients have
appreciated this good act and for them it can be considered as priceless and there
is no equivalent amount of money to pay for it sufficiently. Are we all aware that it
may possibly control and limit the way we think, decide and act? This scenario really
happens and manifests in different fields in our society like politics, family issues
and the most obvious is our relationship with foreign countries.
Political patronage is about the offering of favour or rewards of a patron to a client
(Political patronage). A patron can be regarded as the provider, one who has
resources which can be offered to someone who is needy; on the other hand the
client is the beneficiary and is responsible to gives credits and payback to the
patron. This system is very chronic especially during campaign and election period.
One of my neighbours is a fresh college graduate; let us conceal her in the name
Anna. She finds it difficult to find a new job since she has no working experience
yet, by then her mother decided to visit her friends in Barangay Hall and ask them
to recommend her daughter in different companies and government offices because
in reality these connections and recommendations can ease any job applications
and

even

various

transactions.

Fortunately,

her

daughter

received

recommendation letter and then later had his first ever job. And since that barangay
official is the reason of this success, Annas mother feels very grateful and somehow
has an utang na loob to that official. The mothers actions manifested how she is
very open to pay or reciprocate the good deeds of this official; she is always
available to serve even the officials relatives and the most important is she always
praises the officials name and credibility more often during campaign period. It is
clearly how utang na loob turns Annas mother into a puppet of this helpful and
merciful official.
This patronage does not only happen in barangay levels but also within the higher
government agencies in the country. Because of utang na loob many people tend to

be dominated by their superiors or patrons to do things even it is contrary to their

conscience, what matters to them is their payback and to return the favour they
have had in the past, this point of view may be correlated to the prevalent issue of
corruption and anomalies in our government.
Lets go now to another perspective which is the family. Offspring are ought to obey
their parents and to comply with their orders and favours since it is a way of giving
gratitude to them for all the things they have done and sacrificed for us in giving
birth, raising and supporting our primary necessities. Failure to do such things may
result to someone to be called as walang utang na loob or who does not know how
to appreciate and reciprocate the gifts they had which is badly and hurtful to hear
especially for us Filipinos. But the problem there is even the personal decisions of
offspring may be manipulated and controlled by their parents, like by simply
choosing a college course up to a serious matter of choosing whom to marry in the
future. Based on the stories I have heard from my friends, some of them are not
really inclined with their chosen course and according to them their parents chose
and insisted to get these courses. And being an offspring they have no rights to
disobey their parents since they are the one who provides and capable in sending
them to school. This authority also extends up to marriage, there are instances
wherein parents stipulate who should be chosen by their offspring to marry. Some
parents would choose a guy to whom they have an utang na loob or whose family
have done good things to them. For them, offering or rather recommending their
offspring is a way of repaying or giving back the favour to the family and maybe the
precious type of reward a person could have. Isnt it obvious there how much and
large the compensation for utang na loob? And how it really promotes the practice
of having a superior who always benefits and an inferior who acts like a follower and
servants of these superiors?
These depressing implications of utang na loob is quite evident in terms of our
relationship with other countries, specifically America. Based on our history,
Americans offered us a good quality of education, taught us to rule and to form our
own government, and one that is considered the most essential was they introduced
and applied to us the concept of democracy. This goodness of America was
continued up to the present, they always show support and alliance to the
Philippines whenever needed and offers a helping hand in times of tragedies and

disasters. These are some of the reasons why Filipinos owe a great utang na loob to
the Americans and why do Filipinos are coward in fighting for what is right and
pursuing our patriotic interests. We constantly tend to be conscious on our actions
to prevent hurting and somewhat neglecting the assistance that were given by
these countries. This way of thinking gradually paralyzes us and transforms us into
puppets that are owned by these influential countries.
These situations generally show that patron are mostly consists of fortunate, welloff and powerful individuals, while client, the one who owes an utang na loob, is
frequently within the unprivileged class. Superior will continuously benefit and
progress while inferiors are stuck in their poor state and possibly may be demoted
afterwards.
Some would argue that utang na loob is our nations identity but I insist that it is
just a part of the feudalism practice in the past. Feudalism which emerged during
Spanish period is about the loyal service of peasants to their landlords (Guerrero
53). Farmers have an utang na loob to their landlords and are obliged to work and to
serve them in order to return the favour of using the lords land. Only lately Virgilio
Enriquez defines utang na loob as a positive and innate traits of Filipinos in his work
Sikolohiyang Pilipino. But our social behaviours manifest that the understanding of
this value is still somewhat of a Westerner since people are not yet aware of
Sikolohiyang Pilipino.
Utang na loob seems to be an automatic or shall I say natural manner of us Filipinos
and its unfavourable social and personal implications are likewise evident to our
eyes. But the truth is we still do it like we are not aware of those consequences,
maybe this is our nature, human nature that cannot be eliminated but probably may
be prevented.

Works Cited
Feudalism. Merriam Webster Dictionary. n.d. Web. 14 July 2016.
Guerrero, Amado. Philippine Society and Revolution. Revolutionary School of Mao
Tsetung Thought, 1970. Web. 12 July 2016.
Kaut, Charles. Utang na loob: A System of Contractual Obligation among Tagalogs.
The University of Chicago (1961): 256. Web. 05 July 2016.
Lemieux, Vincent, and S.J.R. Noel. Political patronage. Canadian Encyclopedia. 07
Feb. 2006. Web. 14 July 2016.
Pua, Rogelia P., and Elizabeth Protavio-Marcelino. Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino
psychology): A legacy of Virgilio G. Enriquez. Blackwell (2000): 55. Web. 05 July
2016.
Reciprocity. Merriam Webster Dictionary. n.d. Web. 13 July 2016.