UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

TOPIC

10
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. know who a Filipino citizen under the 1987

Constitution is;

2. deepen understanding of the values, traits, and

characteristics that make up the Filipino national
identity; and

3. reflect on how a national identity influences one’s

political concept.
COMPLETE THE STATEMENT:
 POLITICS
From the Greek work Politika, which is etymologically
defined as ‘affairs of the cities.

• It is the process of making decisions that applies to all

members of the group.
• The ability to govern and control over a group of people in a
community, state or nation
(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/politics)

• It can be inferred from this that a person’s ability to

influence others by making a decision for them is one of the
essential qualities in one’s political self.
The Political Self
Human nature is social in character as almost all
philosophers adhere to this absolute truth. St. Thomas and
Aristotle both agreed to this political nature of man, that the
state is a natural institution founded like a man (Bernardo’s
2016). A person does not just desire to relate to others but
wants to form a society of which he is a part.
Hence a society serves as a person’s sanctuary for the
fulfillment of his political needs. Without society a person is
denied of his yearning for unity, a yearning that motivates
him for social relationship with others. In entering into a
social group for the satisfaction of his needs, a person in a
sense shows a political character of his life.
The Political Self
Political life is a necessary consequence
of his social existence. So that a person
can secure a place in his society he must
experience peace and order and this can
only be through in a political atmosphere.
According to St. Thomas Aquinas political
life must adhere to the idea that “the
ruler and the ruled” should be able to
uphold the common good. It is understood
that in political life, the ruler is the
government and the ruled are the
people or the citizenship.
Origin of Political System
The political organization of a complex society is called the
nation-state. States are organized sets of institutions that
govern and defend a given territory. Today, however the
historical evidence suggests a more complicated picture in
which the state operates as a relatively autonomous (self-
directing) institutional sphere, with its own history and logic.
 LEADERSHIP
• An important aspect of politics is the capacity to
influence and lead a group of people. Leadership
is the process by which certain group members
motivate and guide the group (Myers, 2015)
• Leadership can be exercised in a small group like
in the family, in the classroom, in school as
leaders of any school organization.
• Leadership may also observed in a larger scale
such as in government (politicians) and leaders of
international affairs. In organizations, leaders are
always at the frontline and are responsible for the
functions and operations of the organization.
Studies revealed that effective leaders consistently stick to
their goals, have the self-confident charisma that influences
their followers, they also have the ability to communicate in
clear and simple language and have enough optimism and
faith in their group to inspire them to follow (Myers, 2015)
The human psyche is a political psyche. In everyday life,
people need to adjust not only to themselves but to their
world, the forces in the environment that create pressures,
ideas and interests. This leads to an independent and
interactive nature of one’s psyche.
The political behaviour in general is not something separate
from other forms of human relationship.
Theories of Leadership
Psychological Needs
David McClelland believed that we have three
psychological needs:

1. Need for power – want others to follow him/her.

2. Need for affiliation – need to please others or
you want others to like you.
3. Need for achievement – need for you to reach
your goals and to be competitive
Theories of Leadership
Leadership Motivation Patterns
(Chan and Drasgow, 2001)
1. Affective identity motivation – the motivation to
lead as a result of a desire to be in charge and lead
others.
2. Noncalculative motivation– those who seek
leadership positions because they will result in
personal gain.
3. Social-normative motivation – the desire to lead
out of a sense of duty or responsibility.
Theories of Leadership
Types of Leaders According to Path-Goal Theory
1. Instrumental– leaders who plan and organizes
for their subordinates.
2. Supportive – leaders who show concern to
their subordinates.
3. Participative – leaders who allow
subordinates to participate in decision making.
4. Achievement-oriented – sets challenges
and rewards achievement.
Leadership style is a pattern of leadership behaviour
which is repeatedly shown as evident across a
variety of situations. It can be classified as follows:

1.Autocratic leadership – directive, non-

participative and domineering
2.Democratic leadership – participative,
communicative and egalitarian
3.Laissez-faire leadership – ‘hands-off’,
with few attempt made to influence others.
With regard to what leaders and followers offer to one
another, the following are the leaders’ descriptions:

1. Transactional leaders – focus on the proper exchange of

resources, who give followers something in exchange for
something the leaders want.
2. Transformational leaders (charismatic leaders) – focus
on aligning the group or organizational goals with the
followers’ need and aspirations by developing an appealing
vision (whereby organizational needs are placed above self-
interest).
3. Laissez-faire leaders – engage in ‘non-leadership,’ that is
they avoid making decisions, hesitate in taking action and
are often absent when needed (Hewstone, et.al., 2015)
 OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGY
• An Episcopal priest whose academic
background and training centered on
the nature and function of myth, ritual
and culture.

• In the middle ’60s, he left academe to

work with a variety of organizations
including small West African villages,
large corporations and NGOs, urban
(American and African) community
organizations, Peace Corps, Regional
Harrison Owen Medical Programs, National Institutes
of Health, and Veterans
Administration.
• Owen set about to create a process that captured a freedom,
spontaneity and the high energy of the coffee breaks and
their effective outcomes.
• An effective approach to purpose-driven leadership which
initially has no formal agenda but eventually leads to a
specific or important purpose or task.
• It is applied in hosting meetings, conflict minded peace
building conferences, corporate- style retreats, symposiums
and community summit events.
• It works best when different people with different views must
deal with complex and potentially conflicting material.
• It offers the best results in a relative short time, within an
innovative and productive context.
OST runs on passion and responsibility.
The law of two feet creates “bumble bees”
who cross-pollinate ideas from one
discussion group to another discussion
group and “butterflies” usually do nothing
but be beautiful. They sometimes attract
others to start new ideas and discussion.
Who is a Filipino?
In political terms, a Filipino is regarded as a citizen or an
inhabitant of a given territory, such as the Republic of the
Philippines, who by virtue of this citizenship exercises civil and
political rights within the said territory. More particularly, Section
1, Article IV of the 1987 Constitution provides:
Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
[1] Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of
this Constitution;
[2] Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;
[3] Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect
Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and
[4] Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.
Filipino Citizens by Birth
Filipinos are either natural-born or naturalized citizens of
the Philippines (De Leon 2011). This citizenship may be
acquired either by birth (involuntary method) or by
naturalization (voluntary method). The former is further
governed by the principles of:
1. jus sanguinis – states that children should follow the
citizenship of their parents by virtue of their blood
relationship.
2. jus soli – states that the person shall acquire the citizenship
of the place wherever he or she was born. The place of birth
shall determine one’s nationality and the citizenship of his or
her parents are immaterial.
Filipino Citizens by Birth
Here in the Philippines, we adhere by the jus sanguinis
principle, in accordance with Section 1 (2) of the
aforementioned Constitutional provision.

Natural-born citizens need not perform any

act to acquire such citizenship. If their
parents are both Filipinos, then from the
moment of their birth, they will
automatically
acquire Filipino citizenship.
Filipino Citizens by Naturalization
The process of naturalization pertains to a “judicial act of
adopting a foreigner and clothing him with the privileges of a
native-born citizen. It implies the renunciation of a former
nationality and the fact of entrance into a similar relation
towards a new body politic.

This means that a foreigner may acquire Filipino citizenship if

he wants to, provided that he renounces his former nationality
in favor of the new citizenship. This act of renunciation,
however, will not automatically grant the foreigner the desired
citizenship, because it is still subject to certain judicial or
administrative proceedings as prescribed by our Philippine
laws.
Filipino Citizens by Naturalization

Therefore in a sense, not only can the Filipino identity be

formed and influenced by culture and society, but also by the
nation and its government itself, to which the Filipino citizen
owes loyalty and allegiance to. The existence of a common
citizenship may also be a factor in forming a national identity.
How much one identifies with its nation or government, affects
one’s political self-concept, and would further promote or
discourage one’s engagement in the country’s civic and
political affairs.
 The Concept of Nationalism and
the Filipino Identity
The existence of a common citizenship is a mere piece in the
puzzle depicting the picture of the Filipino identity. Citizens of
a particular territory should ideally share a common sense of
identity hinged on a common language, historical experience,
and distinct cultural background. A national identity may also
be forged through nationalistic sentiments, shared among
inhabitants of a particular territory.
However, the same case cannot be applied to the Philippines.
Kaufman (2013) argued that Filipinos have a relatively weak
sense of nationalism thereby resulting to a fragmented
national identity.
 The Concept of Nationalism and
the Filipino Identity
He explained certain factors that may contribute to this rather
fragmented identity by applying three known nationalism
theories to the Philippine context:
1. the modernist approach of Gellner (1983) – suggests that
the existence of a shared language as a unifying part of a
culture strengthens a national identity.
2. the ethno-symbolist approach of Anthony Smith
(1998,2009) – views nation as “a named and self-defined
human community whose members cultivate shared myths,
memories, symbols, values, and traditions, reside in and
identify with a historic homeland, create and disseminate a
 The Concept of Nationalism and
the Filipino Identity
a distinctive public culture, and observe shared customs and
common laws” (Smith as cited in Kaufman 2013), and thus, the
creation of certain historical stories through these myths and
symbols which people can attribute meaning to, can give rise
to a national identity.
3. The sociological approach of Charles Tilly (2005) and
Andreas Wimmer (2002) who posit that national identity
emerges from social interactions between governing elites
and citizens, where the former affords protection and
security to the latter in exchange of government benefits.
 The Concept of Nationalism and
the Filipino Identity
Among other factors, Kaufman (2013) highlighted that:
1. the diversity of language (dialects) in the Philippines, or
possibly the lack of dominant primary language, is creating
a divide among Filipinos, thus, making it more difficult for
them to create a unified identity.
2. the absence of a consistently powerful historical narrative
also tends to blur a common national history due to
conflicting accounts of revolution and independence of our
country from its colonizers. It then becomes difficult to
attach meanings and symbols to any such historical
experience or milestone without a coherent and unified
 The Concept of Nationalism and
the Filipino Identity
narrative, since these elements are what people must identify
with for a sense of national identity to emerge (Kaufman
2013). The nationalism theories,
as briefly discussed and
So, “what do applied by Kaufman
these elements (20130 in the Philippine
have to do with context, suggest that a
my identity or unified sense of national
political self- identity also affects how a
concept?” person perceives and
creates his own identity.
 The Concept of Nationalism and
the Filipino Identity
The relatively shaky sense of
nationalism among Filipinos might be
the reason why it is difficult to
picture what really makes up a
Filipino identity. Nevertheless, we
continue to identify ourselves as
Filipinos based on a shared language
(no matter how diverse), religion,
culture, and history; however, they
might have come to evolve in the
passing of time.
 Values and Traits

hospitality self-sacrifice
respect for Colonial
elders mentality
“bahala na”
close family attitude
ties
bayanihan
Crab mentality
 Promoting Sense of Nationalism

1. Be an active Filipino Citizen

2. Study the Philippine History
3. Support Local Products
4. Speak the Filipino Language
5. Do not spread fake news and be
democratic in engaging with dissent.
End of Lesson 10