THE FILIPINO CHARACTER

Identify at least (3) strengths of

the Filipino character.
 The weaknesses of the Filipino character as cited in the
Report are as follows:

1. Extreme family centeredness

- Excessive concern for family means using one's
office and power to promote family interests and thus
factionalism patronage, political dynasties and the
protection of erring family members. It results in lack of
concern for the common good and acts as a block to
national consciousness.
2. Extreme personalism

- "Takes things personally, cannot separate objective task

from emotional involvement. Because of this the Filipino is
uncomfortable with bureaucracy, with rules and regulations and
with standard procedures. He uses personal contacts and gives
preference to family and friends in hiring, services and even voting.
Extreme personalism leads to the graft and corruption evident in
Philippine
society.
3. Lack of discipline

- A casual attitude toward time and space, manifested in

lack of precision and compulsiveness, in poor time management and
procrastination. Aversion to following procedures strictly results in
lack of standardization and quality control. Impatience results in
short cuts, palusot, ningas cogon. Lack of discipline often results in
inefficient work systems, the violation of rules and a casual work
ethic lacking follow through.
4. Passivity and lack of initiative

- Waiting to be told what to do, reliance on others

(leaders and government), complacence, lack of a sense
of urgency. There is high tolerance for inefficiency, poor
service, and even violations of one's basic rights. Too
patient and matisin, too easily resigned to his fate, the
Filipino is easily oppressed and exploited.
5. Colonial mentality

- Lack of patriotism, or of an active awareness,

appreciation and love of the Philippines and an actual
preference for things foreign
6. Kanya-kanya syndrome, talangka mentality

- Done by tsismis, intriga, unconstructive criticism ...

It is evident in the personal ambition that is completely
insensitive to the common good, e.g., the lack of a sense of
service among people in the government bureaucracy. This
results in the dampening of cooperative and community
spirit and in the trampling upon other's rights.
7. Lack of self-analysis and self-reflection

- The tendency to be superficial and somewhat

flighty. In the face of serious personal and social problems,
there is lack of analysis or reflection and instead
satisfaction with superficial explanations and solutions.
8. Emphasis on porma rather than substance

... This lack of analysis and emphasis on form is

reinforced by an educational system that is more form than
substance…
 The stregths of the Filipino character are:

1. pakikipagkapwa-tao
2. Family orientation
3. Joy and humor
4. Flexibility, adaptability, and creativity
5. Hard work and industry
6. Faith and religiosity
7. Ability to survive
Application:
According to report, one weakness of the Filipino
character is lack of analysis and emphasis on form
(porma). The report states that this lack of analysis and
emphasis on form is reinforced by an educational system
that is more form than substance....

Do you agree that the Philippine educational system is

more form than substance? If yes, why? if not, why not?
§ The Filipino has a number of strengths. His/her
strengths help him/her become ethical and moral,
but his/her weaknesses obstruct his/her moral and
ethical growth. His/her strengths when they
become extreme, however, also become
his/her weaknesses.

§ Capitalize strengths and eliminate weakness

 CULTURE
A person tends to think and behave
according to what his or her group holds as
true, good and beautiful.
 The Development of Moral Behavior

FACTORS AFFECTING BEHAVIOR (page 17)

The behavior or character is developed and not innate is now a

widely accepted truth. In such development, there are factors that play
substantial roles.

NATURE
NURTURE The Case of Oxana Malaya as reported in the Tellegraph (Grice, 2006)
CULTURE
RELIGION
CULTURE

comes from the Latin cultus which means “having been

tilled or cultivated” (perfect passive participle of colo = till,
cultivate, worship). Thus, being “cultured” means being refined
and prepared so that the best could come out.

“caused and motivated by man’s natural desire for

perfection and happiness” and that culture is “the continuous
inexorable product of man’s social nature, human association
and interaction.” –Montemayor (1995, pp. 144-145).
 This means that culture, on the level of individual is all
about refinement and preparation. But this refinement and
preparation happens within the context and according to the
values of man’s immediate social group. In other words, when
on sees a certain act as the way to perfection, it is because the
same act is pictured by the social group as the way to perfection.

It is a system of codes that gives the world meaning and

shapes the behavior of people. It is our code that shapes how we
understand, what life is worth living, and what it means to be
human.
 “the integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors.
This consists of language, ideas, customs, morals, laws, taboos, institutions, tools,
techniques, and works of art, rituals, and other capacities and habits acquired by
a person as a member of society.” – Taylor as quoted by Palispis, 1997.

“the set of means used by mankind to become more virtuous and

reasonable in order to become fully human.” – The Magisterium of the Church

Culture is passed on to the next generation by learning not through the

genes or heredity. “Culture” includes all human phenomena which are not purely
results of human genetics. - Kroeber et al, 1952
Sociologists categorize culture into:

◈ Material
culture
physical object that a society
produces – tools, streets,
homes, toys, to name a few
◈ Non-material
culture
language, values, rules,
knowledge, and meanings
shared by members of society.

Brinkerhoff, 1989
◈ CULTURE HAS A SIGNIFICANT
IMPACT ON MORALITY

◈ CULTURE IS THE INTEGRATED

PATTERN OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE,
BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS. IT IS
PEOPLE’S WAY OF LIFE.
 There are various ways by which
cultures change – by enculturation,
and acculturation.
Enculturation
◈ Enculturation, an anthropological term, was coined by J.M.
Herskovits Margaret Mead has, however, was the one who
defined the term as “the process of learning a culture in all
its uniqueness and particularity”.
◈ …Enculturation is a process of learning from infancy till
death, the components of life in one’s culture.
◈ In the said process of learning, a person grows into a culture,
acquires competence in that culture and that culture takes
root in that person and becomes the cognitive map, the term
of reference for acting.
Enculturation
Example:

African girls (South of the Sahara) grow up learning that as a woman

she has less rights and privileges as the African man.

Levirate marriage is the marriage between the widow and the brother of
her deceased husband. Therefore, at the husband’s death the woman is
generally expected to stay on (as property of the family) without any
choice in the matter. She raises children to immortalize the deceased
husband’s name. Umoren, U.E 1992
 The African girl grows up and becomes a woman
through the said process of enculturation. This
enculturation process has both cognitive and emotional
elements. The girl child who later becomes a woman
learns and internalizes the idea that she, because she is
a woman, has less privileges than the African man.
This learning takes place through example, direct teaching
and in patterns of behavior. What is learned becomes her
cognitive map, her term of reference that directs her
behavior.
Acculturation
◈ Is the “cultural modification of an individual group, or people
by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture.”
◈ first known use of the term, in a report for the U.S. Bureau of
Ethnology in 1880
◈ John Wesley Powell, “while they exchange cultural elements,
each retains its own unique culture”
◈ Acculturation, a process through which a person or group
from one culture comes to adopt the practices and values of
another culture > still retaining their own distinct culture
◈ Example: OFW or people who migrate to other country and
adapt to other country’s culture
Assimilation
◈ Robert E. Park & Ernest W. Burgess,
research and theories focused on the
process known as assimilation
◈ it is changed by this process: when the
process is at its most extreme
assimilation occurs wherein the original
culture is wholly abandoned and the new
culture adopted in its place.
Culture affects the way we evaluate and judge things.

Culture affects human behavior. Not all cultural practices are morally
acceptable. Examples are the culture of vengeance and low regard for
the African women in comparison to the African men.
Reflection:

Reflect on one cultural practice of yours.

Is it moral in the sense that it makes you more
human?
Cultural relativism

◈ relativism says “what is true for you is true

for you, and what is true for me.” Analogously,
cultural relativism would say, “what you believe,
value or practice depends on your culture while
what I believe, value and practice, depends on my
culture.” In other words, cultural relativism is
“the idea that a person’s beliefs, values, and
practices should be understood based on that
person’s own culture, rather than be judged
against the criteria of another.