Anti-Filipino Remarks

(Part 1 of the “In Defense of the Filipino” series)

“Filipinos are lazy!”

“Filipinos are thieves!”

“Filipinos are corrupt!”

“Filipinos are undisciplined!”

“Filipinos have crab mentality!”

“Filipinos have short memories!”

“Filipinos are always late!”

“Filipinos have colonial mentality!”

“Filipinos are copycats!”

“Filipinos are gossip-makers!”

“Filipinos are gamblers!”

“Filipinos are cheaters!”

These are the remarks many people say against Filipinos when some of us commit mistakes, crimes, scandals, wrongdoing, embarrassments, and other flaws. These remarks are on television, radio, in newspapers, magazines, literature, advertising, show business, and on the Internet, as well as in government, politics, commerce, and even in the educational and religious sectors.

Since these remarks are anti-Filipino, they shall henceforth be called anti-Filipino remarks; and the people saying them: anti-Filipinos, be they Filipinos themselves or not.

Anti-Filipinos believe with all their thoughts and hearts that Filipinos are really such, and because of those negative traits, they claim that Filipinos have become:

“The jokes of foreigners!”

“The laughingstock of the world!”

“The worst people on earth!”

“The most unique species in the planet!”

They also heartily believe that because of those mistakes, crimes, and other flaws, the Philippines is already:

“Asia’s/world’s capital of laziness!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of thefts!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of corruption!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of the undisciplined!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of crab mentality!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of short memories!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of always late!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of colonial mentality!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of copycats!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of gossips!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of gambling!”

“Asia’s/world’s capital of cheatings!”

Or, the Philippines is already:

“A nation of lazy people!”

“A nation of thieves!”

“A nation of corrupt citizens!”

“A nation of undisciplined!”

“A nation of crab mentality!”

“A nation of short memories!”

“A nation of always late!”

“A nation of colonial mentality!”

“A nation of copycats!”

“A nation of gossips!”

“A nation of gamblers!”

“A nation of cheats!”

For them, the definition of Filipino is a person who will always laze, steal, spit anywhere, urinate on the street, disobey traffic rules, gossip, knock down others, gamble, and do other horrible things. They already hate the Filipino so much that they will always ridicule him.

These remarks have long been imbedded in the consciousness of many people; hence, they are already very common verbal expressions. They are present in all forms of media, teaching generations of Filipinos how bad we Filipinos are. The following are the reasons why.

Generalization. When some people do wrong, anti-Filipinos blame the entire Filipino race because for them, the mistake of one person is the mistake of the Filipinos. If someone commits mistakes, they will right away say:

“The Filipino, really!”

“The Filipino is indeed like that.”

“That’s the problem with the Filipino.”

“That’s an illness of the Filipino.”

“That’s the character of the Filipino.”

“Filipinos, really!”

“Filipinos are indeed like that.”

“That’s the problem with the Filipinos.”

“That’s an illness of the Filipinos.”

“That’s the character of the Filipinos.”

Whether it is a singular or plural use of the Filipino, anti-Filipinos mean the entire Filipino race, people, and nation.

Then they say that they are not generalizing that all Filipinos are like that (after saying that Filipinos are like that). They add that their comments are only the truth and that the truth really hurts.

But if confronted with this reasoning: You say Filipinos are thieves; you are a Filipino; therefore, you are a thief—they will not agree. They will wash their hands very fast.

The problem with these people is that after scratching their hands on a dirty kettle and mashing them on the face of the Filipino, they immediately claim that their hands are clean.

They also don’t agree with this reasoning: Because there are homosexuals, it is already correct to say that Filipino men are homosexuals; or because there are prostitutes, it is already correct to say that Filipino women are prostitutes.

If somebody will say that yes, he is terrible because he is a Filipino and because the Filipino is really like that, all right, he is like that, but he should not drag the others and the entire race into the mud with him.

Narrow-mindedness. There are more than 200 small and great nations in the world, and each has mistakes, crimes, and other flaws. But anti-Filipinos don’t understand this very elementary knowledge, even if they are educated.

Their narrow minds make them think that only Filipinos do wrong, and keep them from having the broad thinking that mistakes are part of the human nature and that there is no perfect person, race, or country on earth.

Their narrow minds make them ignorant of the historical, artistic, literary, musical, agricultural, scientific, technological, medical, and other riches of the Filipino race. Their narrow minds prevent them from discovering, appreciating, and valuing those treasures.

Ingratitude. Filipinos till the fields; Filipinos plant, protect, and harvest rice, corn, sugarcane, coconut, fruits, and vegetables; Filipinos sail the rivers, seas, and oceans for fish and sea foods; and hence, Filipinos work for the food they eat—under the heat of the sun, in the cold rain, or in the deep of the night—yet anti-Filipinos say that Filipinos are lazy when they see some people just dozing the hours away.

Filipinos buy their products and services; Filipinos patronize their books, newspapers, magazines, music, movies, and radio and television programs; and so Filipinos put food on their table, yet anti-Filipinos say that Filipinos are terrible when they see some people committing crimes.

Filipinos educate them in school, cure them when they are ill, and help them in disasters (some even risk their own lives to save them), yet anti-Filipinos say that Filipinos are crab-minded when they see some people pulling down others.

Filipinos build the country’s roads, highways, bridges, water and irrigation systems, communication lines, and electric power plants, yet anti-Filipinos say that Filipinos are useless when they see some people committing flaws.

Filipinos manufacture microchips, semiconductors, appliances, textiles, clothes, shoes, jewelry, furniture, woodcarvings, handicrafts, food, beverages, medicines, automotive, and ships; create computer software and hardware; write books; and gain advances in agriculture, science, medicine, engineering, and technology; yet when some people do wrong, anti-Filipinos say: “Filipinos don’t use their talents for good!”

Dogs are fed by their masters, but these animals still have the tendency to bite their masters. This is the level where anti-Filipinos are: They are beings having the blood of dogs. They already benefit from the Filipino, but they still love degrading him and his entire race just because of the mistakes committed by some persons.

Wrong assumptions. Anti-Filipinos claim that we Filipinos are notorious all over the world as thieves, undisciplined, cheaters, etc.; that other nations do not have flaws; and therefore other nations already have the right to ridicule us.

This is completely wrong. There are famines in Africa, poverty in India, corruption in Korea, software piracy in Taiwan, electoral fraud in Thailand, suicide bombings in Israel, and hooliganisms in Britain. There are Chinese drug traffickers, Italian mafia, Japanese yakuza, and Australian pedophiles. There are more than ten million cases of stealing in the United States yearly.

By whom are we known as thieves, undisciplined, etc.? By the other peoples who also have thieves, undisciplined, etc.? We Filipinos are already considered as thieves by the race (Americans) that has one of the biggest numbers of thieves in the world?

Since many of our crimes, scandals, and other flaws are reported around the world, anti-Filipinos insist that other countries already take notice of us.

Bad news in the Philippines are reported in other countries because that is the natural course. The scandals, embarrassments, and wrongdoing of other peoples are reported not only in their respective territories but also here in the Philippines and other countries.

It is only a wrong assumption that we are already notorious worldwide. This is only a very wrong belief about the Filipino. For how can other countries mind and laugh at us when they also have (and worse) mistakes, crimes, and other flaws?

If other citizens laugh at our faults and embarrassments, they should be reminded that they better stare at themselves first before insulting others.

Illogical. Anti-Filipinos say they make those statements to awaken Filipinos to change for the better.

Is it the logical and appropriate way of correcting our mistakes? Should we Filipinos already be insulted and called names for us to change for the better?

If your aging mother becomes a little lazy in going to work because of an illness, you will not say on television or radio, “Ah, Filipinos don’t get progressive because they’re lazy! They better change for the better!” Will you?

If your son arrives late in school, you will not say on television, “Ah, Filipinos are always late!” Will you?

If your fiancée is weak in history, you will not say to others, “Filipinos have no sense of history!” Definitely not.

If your friend faces financial difficulties or is being beaten by her husband and therefore has no time to mind issues affecting the country, you will not say before her, “Filipinos don’t really care about national issues!” Will you?

If your wife steals, to correct her you will not say, “Filipinos are thieves!” Right?

And if you yourself are arrested for jaywalking (when nobody has thought you what jaywalking is), you won’t tell everyone in the police station, “Filipinos are really undisciplined!” Will you?

You will not, of course. If you say you will, there must be something wrong with you, because no one in his right senses will deride his own self, loved ones, or friends in public.

If anti-Filipinos themselves or their family, other relatives, and friends have done wrong, they will not say that Filipinos are such and such. But if they see others not related or relevant to them committing flaws, they immediately spit: “Filipinos, really!”

Irresponsible. When they see potholes, garbage in the middle of the street, a stolen ambulance, and the likes, anti-Filipinos right away say, “Only in the Philippines!” And because it is allegedly so, they add: “Filipinos are the most unique species on earth!”

They make such remarks without conducting the necessary research. Each country has thousands of streets; hence, it is impossible that it’s only us who have garbage dumped in the middle of the street. Potholes are found after a typhoon, and there are many typhoon-stricken countries. Thefts—only Filipinos do them? What about the more than ten million arrested American thieves each year?

Those making this “only in the Philippines” statement are people in the media, who claim truthful journalism as a public service. They don’t realize that this statement is irresponsible and is in direct contrast to their claim of truthful journalism.

Even if they see that stealing, corruption, gambling, prostitution, cruelty to animals, child labor, gossips, and other bad things happen also in other countries, anti-Filipinos still say that such things happen only in the Philippines.

One local journalist was chided for saying that only in the Philippines were whales butchered. After that reprimand, he stated in his follow-up report that “it is probably only in the Philippines.” He said so after he was shown that whaling was a multi-billion dollar industry in China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other countries and that it had been practiced there for thousands of years already.

There was also that comical television personality who ignorantly claimed that herbal medicine was used only in the Philippines—after a physician said right on his program that it had been a practice in many countries since time immemorial. It is a very common knowledge that herbs are part of medical science, yet that personality had the nerve to say that they were used “only in the Philippines.”

In the 1980’s, the political rivals of President Ferdinand Marcos disseminated the false propaganda that because of his 20-year regime (1965-1986), the Philippines had lagged behind, from being next only to Japan in terms of economic development in the 1950’s and 1960’s to becoming the “sick man of Asia” and “better only than Bangladesh.”

But according to actual statistics and the United Nations Human Development Index reports, the Philippines was ahead not only of Bangladesh but of such other Asian countries as Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and even India in terms of life expectancy rate, literacy rate, college enrolment, number of teachers and doctors per thousand population, export revenues, housing programs, and other economic indicators.

Greed for power led many politicians to tell lies against their very own country. Until now, this lie is still believed in, especially by people who love believing in the worst of people (even if that worst thing is a complete lie).

Bad advertisements. Advertisements are meant to lure people into patronizing what is being sold or offered. People buy products and services because advertisements convince them.

Anti-Filipino remarks are like advertisements. They are very effective in making Filipinos think negative about themselves. Once ingrained in the Filipino mind, it would be very difficult to remove those derogatory comments.

Anti-Filipinos should realize that, with their anti-Filipino remarks, they are doing an awful harm: They help in making Filipinos degrade and hate their being Filipinos.

Degrading and hating oneself is one of the worst things that a person can do, for how can others trust him and how can he help or love others if he degrades and hates himself?

All of these anti-Filipino remarks have one root: the Spanish and American colonization of the Filipinos. For almost four centuries, those foreign colonizers made Filipinos believe that Filipinos were a terrible people.

Other articles by Jon E. Royeca

• Why Is the Philippines A Poor Country? - January 19, 2010
• Defend the Filipino - January 19, 2010
• Wrong Perceptions of Americans - January 19, 2010
• Gossips are everywhere - January 19, 2010
• Copycats? - January 19, 2010
• Colonial Mentality - January 19, 2010
• The Real ‘Filipino Time’ - January 19, 2010
• On Our Sense of History - January 19, 2010
• Crab Mentality Is Universal - January 19, 2010
• It’s Not Lack of Discipline - January 19, 2010