SDSSU

Education Department
GE-Ethics

MODULE 2 – THE MORAL AGENT

Lesson 2 – Filipino Values

Lesson Introduction:
Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or
actions. They help us to determine what is important to us. Values describe the
personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we
want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction
with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct.

Values in a narrow sense is that which is good, desirable, or worthwhile.

Values are the motive behind purposeful action. They are the ends to which we act
and come in many forms. Personal values are personal beliefs about right and wrong
and may or may not be considered moral. Cultural values are values accepted by
religions or societies and reflect what is important in each context.

Value specifies a relationship between a person and a goal. It is relational in

the sense that what one person values may not be what another person values even
in the same situation. For example, a person who values honesty might blow the
whistle on financial wrongdoing by a superior whereas another person who values
loyalty may remain silent. This is an example of values conflict. The honest person
may believe there are limits to loyalty and keeping quiet about a wrongful act out of
loyalty might harm others. The loyal person may believe in the importance of keeping
one’s confidence even if it might harm others because of the trusting relationship.  

Some values stand up well over the test of time; they are always good or
rightful behavior. Honesty and kindness are two such examples. It is difficult to
imagine having a satisfying relationship without them because they build trust in
relationships. There are always exceptions but they are rare. For example, if a
criminal out to do harm to your friend knocks on the door and asks whether you have
seen the friend, you’re probably not going to say yes and rationalize it out of a sense
of honesty. Here, the greater good, so to speak, is to protect your friend from harm.

Specific Learning Outcomes:

After mastering this module, the students will be able to:
1. Define values;
2. Expound positive Filipino values; and
3. Bring out positive aspects from negative Filipino values.

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 SDSSU
Education Department
GE-Ethics

A. ACQUISITION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE

The Ambivalence of Filipino Traits and Values

EMERITA S. QUITO

Much has been said about so-called negative Filipino traits. They have been
blamed for the weak character of the Filipino; they are the culprits, the scapegoat of
our failures, or at least, the explanation for lagging behind more successful Asian
neighbors.

I propose to take a second look at these so-called negatives in the Filipino

psyche to determine whether there might be a positive aspect, a saving face, a silver
lining behind the dark clouds. In attempting to see an ambivalence in our traits, I will
use oriental yardsticks to measure success or failure for it would be unfair to use
Western standards to evaluate our Filipino traits. For example, is a materially
comfortable life with physiological ailments more successful than a materially
deprived life without physical ailments? Is the image of Juan Tamad waiting for a
guava to fall such a reprehensible, if not scandalous, picture? Is the similar image of
Sir Isaac Newton, also resting under a tree, more refreshing?

It is very Filipino to stress our minus points, to find fault in our behavior, to
compare us unfavorably with Westerners by using Western standards. It is common
to hear such names as Bertong Bukol, or Ipeng Pilay or Huseng Ngongo. It seems
that we take pleasure in underscoring our weaknesses, faults, defects, etc. Our
standards are smallness, averageness, mediocrity; grandeur or grandness is not in
the Filipino vocabulary. The West, in contrast, evokes: Alexander the Great, Julius
Caesar, Der Führer, Il Duce, El Caudillo, Elizabeth Regina. We seem to enjoy being
humble and meek, or what Friedrich Nietzsche called " the morality of slaves."

There is something strange in the very way we look upon success. A person
is not supposed to exert effort at the expense of sanity. We ridicule a person who
teaches himself how to think and label him Tasio, the philosopher. We warn persons
not to learn too much lest they be like Jose Rizal who was executed at the Luneta in
1896. Assertiveness is frowned upon because it smacks of pride and ruthlessness.
Success to the Filipino, must come naturally; it should not be induced or artificially
contrived. One should not be successful at an early age because that would mean
exertion and hard work. Success must come very late in life, if it is to come at all.

Filipino traits must be understood in the above context. Hence, they are
considered negative only according to other yardsticks.

The following Filipino traits show an ambivalence of positive and negative

aspects.

Hiya (shame)

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Education Department
GE-Ethics

Negative, because it arrests or inhibits one's action. This trait reduces one to
smallness or to what Nietzsche calls the " morality of slaves" , thus congealing the
soul of the Filipino and emasculating him, making him timid, meek and weak.

Positive, because, it contributes to peace of mind and lack of stress by not

even trying to achieve.

Ningas-cogon (procrastination)

Negative, by all standards, because it begins ardently and dies down as soon
as it begins. This trait renders one inactive and unable to initiate things or to
persevere.

Positive, in a way, because it makes a person non-chalant, detached,

indifferent, nonplussed should anything go wrong, and hence conducive to peace
and tranquillity.

Pakikisama (group loyalty)

Negative, because one closes one's eyes to evils like graft and corruption in
order to conserve peace and harmony in a group at the expense of one's comfort.

Positive, because one lives for others; peace or lack of dissension is a

constant goal.

Patigasan (test of strength)

Negative, because it is stubborn and resists all efforts at reconciliation. The

trait makes us childish, vindictive, irresponsible, irrational. Actions resulting from this
trait are leaving the phone off the hook to get even with one's party line; stopping the
engine of the car to prove that one has the right of way; standing one's ground until
the opposite party loses its patience.

Positive, because it is assign that we know our rights and are not easily
cowed into submission. It is occidental in spirit, hence in keeping with Nietzsche's "
will to power."

Bahala na (resignation)

Negative, because one leaves everything to chance under the pretext of

trusting in Divine providence. This trait is really laziness disguised in religious garb.

Positive, because one relies on a superior power rather than on one's own. It
is conducive to humility, modesty, and lack of arrogance.

Kasi (because, i. e., scapegoat)

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GE-Ethics

Negative, because one disowns responsibility and makes a scapegoat out of

someone or something. One is never to blame; one remains lily white and has a
ready alibi for failure.

Positive, because one can see both sides of the picture and know exactly
where a project failed. One will never suffer from guilt or self-recrimination.

Saving Face

Negative, because, being closely related to hiya and kasi, it enables a person
to shirk responsibility. One is never accountable for anything.

Positive, because one's psyche is saved from undue embarrassment,

sleepless nights, remorse of conscience. It saves one from accountability or
responsibility. This trait enables one to make a graceful exit from guilt instead of
facing the music and owning responsibility for an offense.

Sakop (inclusion)

Negative, because one never learns to be on one's own but relies on one's
family and relatives. This trait stunts growth and prevents a person from growing on
one's own. Generating a life of parasitism, this trait is very non-existential. Blaring
music, loud tones are a result of this mentality. We wrongly think that all people like
the music we play or the stories we tell. This mentality also makes us consider the
world as one vast comfort room.

Positive, because one cares for the family and clan; one stands or falls with
them. This trait makes a person show concern for the family to which he belongs.

Mañana or " Bukas na" (procrastination)

Negative, because one constantly postpones action and accomplishes

nothing. This aggravates a situation, a problem grows beyond correction, a leak or a
small break becomes a gaping hole. This arises from an indolent mentality that a
problem will go away by itself.

Positive, because one is without stress and tension; one learns to take what
comes naturally. Like the Chinese wu-wei, this trait makes one live naturally and
without undue artificiality.

Utang na loob (indebtedness)

Negative, because one overlooks moral principles when one is indebted to a

person. One who is beholden to another person will do anything to please him,
thinking that by doing so he is able to repay a debt. One condones what the other
person does and will never censure him for wrongdoing.

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GE-Ethics

Positive, because it is a recognition of one's indebtedness. This trait portrays

the spirit behind the Filipino saying, " He who does not know how to look to the past
will never reach his destination."

Kanya-kanya (self-centeredness)

Negative, because self-centered; one has no regard for others. So long as my

family and I are not in need, I do not care about he world. Positive, because one
takes care of oneself and one's family: " Blood is thicker than water."

At the end of our exposé of the positive and negative aspects of the Filipino
psyche, one asks the question: What after all, is its ideal of personality, activity and
achievement?

Regarding personality, if the ideal is a personality without stress and tension,

then Filipino traits contribute to this. The contention is that success necessarily
means hypertension, ulcers and sleepless nights. Could there exist a state of
success without these physical aberrations?

Regarding activity, if the idea is that one should engage in a whirlpool of

activity or if the work ethic is workaholism, then the Filipino indeed is in very poor
estate. But is this not more of the Occidental or Western concept of activity? In
contrast, the Oriental emphasizes conformity with nature; hence, one should never
exaggerate or overact.

Regarding achievement, if the ideal is that one must achieve an earthly goal,
then the Filipino, as a race, will occupy a low rank. But again, is this ideal not more
Occidental or Western, according to which one must always set a goal and
accomplish it? Setting a goal is not wrong in any culture, but the manner of achieving
it which can be questionable. Does one have to expend one's total energy in the
pursuit of an ideal which, after all, is a personal, earthly goal?

If for the Filipino smallness, meekness, and humility are ideals, could it not be
that he is not this-worldly? Could he not perhaps be aiming, consciously or
otherwise, at the life in the hereafter where the last will be the first, the weak will be
strong, and the small will be great?