On the “Laziness” of the

Filipinos
By
Augusto de Viana, Ph.D.
Are the Filipinos really Lazy?
• Rizal discussed the causes of the laziness of the Filipinos (natives of
the Philippines) in his essay Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos
• Indolence means laziness
Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos appeared in the issues
of La Solidardiad, the newspaper of the Filipino reformists
• According to the Spaniards the Filipinos
were lazy despite having all the riches
that God has given them
Rizal said that the causes of Filipino laziness
are the following
• 1) Encomienda system- the colonized
areas were apportioned off to people
loyal to Spain
• These people exploited the people
collecting taxes and goods
• Why would people work more if their
products will be taken away from them?
Monopolies- like the Galleon Trade
• Natives were made to work building
the galleons at very low wages
• Construction of galleons through
forced labor diverted natives from
their farms
• Natives sailed on the galleons
under very appalling conditions
• Many of them jumped ship
Forced labor – polos y servicios (Prestacion
personal)
• Male natives from the age of 16 to
60 were annually made to work for
the Spaniards, building roads, churches,
government buildings for 60 days, in
many cases even more
• Some natives were sent beyond their home province
• Forced labor caused neglect of the farms
• Forced labor caused some natives to flee the towns
Church teachings that glorify poverty
• Rizal said that it was better for a poor man to enter the Kingdom of
God than a rich man
Spain’s wars
• Natives were sent abroad to fight Spain’s wars in the Moluccas,
Cambodia and other areas in Asia
• Also natives were being used to fight other natives i.e. the Moros and
the Ygorrotes
Spain’s heavy taxes sapped the Filipino
enthusiasm for work
• Why should one work hard, if the earnings will be heavily taxed?
Raids by pirates
• Raids by pirates including Moro, Dutch and English pirates
• Frequent Moro raids forced natives to move further inland
Rizal also blamed the climate of the
Philippines for the indolence of the Filipinos
• Rizal said that in temperate
climates, the people work three
times more than those in the tropics
• They have to work more because
during winter they are confined
at their homes
Were Rizal’s reasons valid?
• Encomienda
• Monopolies
• Spain’s Wars
• Forced labor for the natives
• Religious teachings
• The climate of the country
Encomiendas? Did they exist in Rizal’s
time?
• Encomiendas were all abolished in the Spanish empire in 1791
• Right to encomiendas were good only for up to three generations of
the encomenderos
Monopolies? Most monopolies were
abolished by 1882
• Tobacco monopoly was abolished that year
• Though the opium monopoly still persisted until the end of Spanish
rule
Forced labor? Many people were exempt
from polos y servicios
• Though forced labor continued to be implemented during Rizal’s time
it was reduced to only 15 days a year from the original 60 days
• Many may exempt themselves from forced labor by paying a fine
called falla
Heavy taxes? Probably true
• There were other things aside from taxes
• This includes rising rent
 Filipinos sent to foreign wars?
• The last time natives of the Philippines were sent to foreign wars was
in 1861
• When Filipinos helped France, an ally of Spain to conquer Indochina
• The Filipinos sent there were actually mercenaries (soldiers for hire)
• Macabebes
Rizal was blaming conditions that happened
long before his time
• The effects of these conditions were long gone
• He was suffering from historical hindsight
Religious teachings?
• The teachings including words from the Bible were taken out of
context by Rizal
Tropical climate?
• Countries like Singapore which was almost at the equator were more
progressive than the Philippines
• In more recent times more contries near the equator are actually very
progressive examples are Malaysia, Brazil, Indonesia
Rizal did not blame another factor- The
Filipinos themselves
• Many are prone to do unproductive
activities such as gambling, gossiping,
petty fights, intrigues, stealing
• The Filipinos do not produce conditions
for good economy
• They expect high returns for little work
• They complain a lot
• Their officials place a lot of obstacles
for economic growth
Given the conducive factors Filipinos can be
highly productive
• As working as OFWs many Filipinos
had two or three jobs because they
were industrious
• They were industrious because they
knew they can earn a lot