Colonial Mentality

(Part 10 of the “In Defense of the Filipino” series)

ANTI-FILIPINOS say that Filipinos, because of their colonial mentality, always prefer foreign talents and products to local ones. This mentality does exist, but it is wrong to accuse us Filipinos as always practicing it.

Colonial mentality is the thinking that foreign talents and products are always the good, the better, and the best, and that the local ones are of poor or no quality at all. Colonial because our Spanish and American colonizers, during their four-century rule of the Philippines, instilled into the Filipino mentality the belief that foreigners and anything associated with them were the superior, and that Filipinos and anything associated with them were worthless.

Preferring an imported talent or product to the local one is not always colonial mentality. There are reasons why such preference occurs.

Swiss watches, French perfumes, Japanese cars, German gadgets, and Dutch dairy products are admired and sold throughout the world. Peoples of the world patronize them—even if they have their locally made watches, perfumes, cars, gadgets, and dairy products. Is it because they have colonial mentality? Is it because they always prefer foreign products to local ones?

Philippine-made microchips, garments, textiles, shoes, canned foods, farm products, and other goods worth more than US$50 billion a year are exported to many countries. The Swiss, French, Japanese, German, Dutch, Americans, British, Spaniards, Arabs, Chinese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Indonesians, Malaysians, Thais, and Singaporeans are among the patrons of our locally made products. They buy our products because they have colonial mentality? Is it because they prefer foreign products (made in the Philippines) to local ones?

No. It is because of the natural human tendency to appreciate and embrace good talents and products, be they local or foreign.

It is also because of universality. If a talent or product is good, it will really be admired, patronized, and imitated. It has no boundaries; it affects humans—because it is good. This has been proven by the wheel, paper, ink, William Shakespeare, the British government, the United States Constitution, Thomas Alva Edison, the telephone, Albert Einstein, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the World Wide Web, and countless others.

If imported products are preferred, it’s because of good and better quality. The consumers should not be blamed, for they are only being wise, and wise consumers purchase goods with high standards of quality.

But it is not true that we Filipinos admire and patronize nothing but foreign talents and products only. We watch local movies and television shows. We adore our movie stars, singers, television personalities, artists, scientists, athletes, professionals, magnates, leaders, and other talented countrymen. We use Calabarzon-manufactured household appliances, read Manila-printed books, wear Marikina-made shoes, drink Batangas coffee, own Laguna carvings, and display Ilocos pottery.

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
• 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
• All Nations Have Graft and Corruption - January 19, 2010

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