THE usual answers to this question are because allegedly we Filipinos are indolent, thieves, corrupt, undisciplined, crab-minded, divided, and more. Let us have the real answers.

Nation’s Debts. The main reason is because a large portion of our national budget goes to paying our foreign and domestic debts, instead of using it to build more roads, highways, bridges, schools, hospitals, housing units, railroads, irrigation, cable lines, and other public works; to raise the salaries and benefits of our public school teachers, policemen, soldiers, and government employees; and to fund more development and poverty-alleviation programs.

For every peso that the Filipino taxpayer pays to the government, a big part of it (about a third) only goes to our creditors.

An example is our national budget in 1986. It was P250 billion, and 70 per cent of that went to our creditors, while the more than 50 million Filipinos then had to fight for the remaining 30 per cent.

More and more Filipinos are deprived of social services because a large portion of our national budget is just enjoyed by our few creditors. This is only very unjust and unthinkable.

Even if the alleged US$2.4 billion annual public corruption in the country is not stolen, this money will not still be enough to fight poverty. But if we suspend paying our debts for at least two years, we will have a huge amount to solve more than half of our country’s problems.

The saddening fact with our debts is that our government has to borrow more to be able to pay old debts, and thus the more we pay, the more we get indebted.

Former President Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies—the people who plunged us all into these massive debts—must be held accountable for this appalling crime.

When Marcos took over the presidency in late 1965, the country’s foreign debts stood at only US$465 million. When he was swept from power in early 1986, those debts had reached US$26 billion—a 26,000 per cent increase! Today, the debts amount to more than US$50 billion already.

Marcos’ successors had to and will borrow vast amounts to pay those debts that he accumulated. It has now become a never-ending cycle, and only a miraculous turn of events can help and save us from being buried forever in it.

Population mismanagement. This is the next major cause. Many people keep building families and producing children even if they are unprepared and have no money.

Through massive population management programs, the people should be informed that before building families, they first must have stable livelihoods, and savings for health care, children’s education, and emergencies, and that they should produce children only according to their financial means.

Fewer industries. Another reason is that there are not enough industries to provide employment to the people, and so the government cannot collect more corporate, business, customs, personal income, and other taxes.

It is not the government that makes business, but the private sector, since the duty of the government with regards to the economic life of a nation is to create an environment where business and the entire economy can thrive and be healthy. It should never compete with the private sector and the people in profit-making.

Our entrepreneurs, instead of bringing their wealth to other lands, should invest them in our country to give those needed employment opportunities.

Low wages. Another reason is even if the people have jobs, they receive low wages, and thus cannot afford the essential food, clothing, shelter, education, leisure, savings, and secure future for themselves and their families. Despite all their hard work, they remain poor.

Negative minds? Anti-Filipinos say that Filipinos remain poor because they don’t think positive: They always consider themselves poor.

Even if we were the most positive thinkers in the world, with those petite wages that we get, our miserable lives will never improve.

Double time. They also argue that we Filipinos should work double-time to double our incomes, meaning we should become entrepreneurs.

This is impracticable, for there is no nation on earth whose citizens or majority of its citizens are entrepreneurs. Most are wage earners.

Many people are asking too much from the Filipinos. Can they not realize that we Filipinos are already doing all we can, and sometime more than what we can?

We work hard, we receive low wages, we earn little, we pay taxes, and we honor our debts. What else can the Filipino do? Should we work eight or more hours a day and pull miracles out of the little that we earn?

We are a poor country not because we Filipinos are corrupt, indolent, undisciplined, etc. There are reasons more sensible than that.

NATIONS become great because their peoples aspire to be so. Greatness makes them wealthy, powerful, respected, and feared. But seeking and winning greatness is difficult, for it requires the resolute character, outlook, and will of the people to triumph against all odds.

More than 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians built one of the world’s greatest civilizations, which gave humanity important contributions like plain arithmetic, algebra, geometry, a 365-day calendar, the hieroglyphics (picture writing), the papyrus (a paper-like writing material), and the pyramids, their most spectacular achievements. They were able to build that kind of civilization because they were ruled by a strong national government and they possessed national liberty or freedom from foreign subjugation.

The ancient Chinese isolated themselves from foreign powers for centuries. That isolation enabled them to build their own great civilization. Proud of their land and culture, they never bowed to other peoples. They even called other peoples “barbarians.” Their civilization gave the world the compass, paper, porcelain, silk cloth, and civil service examination.

The ancient Greeks, with less than half-a-million population, laid down the foundations of Western civilization more than 2,500 years ago. They built city-states, governments ruled by the people, and elegant buildings. They had brilliant schools, artworks, and philosophy. Their will to magnificence become so fruitful that they gave the world the concepts of democracy, reason, and beauty.

The ancient Romans improved their own society by adopting that of the Greeks. It resulted in more progress and glories for their land. They excelled in government, architecture, fine arts, language, and law by having democratic ways of life, impressive public works, splendid churches and palaces, imposing monuments, and resilient statutes.

Not satisfied with all that, they expanded their empire by conquering vast territories. For almost 700 years (500 B.C.-200 A.D.), they ruled most of Europe and the Middle East and the entire Mediterranean coast of Africa. One of their strong characters was to conquer.

The United States was a huge wilderness until the 1700’s. But its people had formed a belief toward greatness, which they called “manifest destiny.” It meant expanding their territory to as far as they could, so that they would gain more mineral and other resources. At first, the purposes of their territorial expansion were economic and to control North America only. But the desire had changed in the succeeding years. They already wanted to control the affairs of this world, directly or indirectly. They made wars with Mexico (1846-48), Spain (1898), the Philippines (1899-1903), and Vietnam (1957-75), in which after each war, they gained more territories, natural resources, and glories.

Americans have a domineering attitude. They produce nuclear bombs, but force other nations to sign treaties against developing such weapons. They accuse other nations with nuclear weapons of possibly using those weapons, when they were the first to use them (in 1945). They aim nuclear-tipped missiles against countries they perceive to be their enemies, but denounce countries which do the same to them.

Enduring ancient and modern civilizations give us these lessons for greatness: Do not be ashamed to other countries. Do not always bow to other citizens. Possess the character, outlook, and will to dominate and to be great.

The will to be great is one thing that we Filipinos must possess and develop.

Defend the Filipino. Filipino is our blood, color, race, and identity. Our ancestors, patriots, parents, children, relatives, and friends are Filipinos. It is our fellow Filipinos who give us education, help us when we are in need, and bring successes to our lives. We should not slap the Filipino just because of some people’s mistakes. We should rather defend the Filipino.

Defending the Filipino begins with one’s self. First, let us bear in mind that mistakes, crimes, and other flaws are nature in the human being and that every race commits them, not only the Filipinos.

Second, let us avoid associating the word Filipino with the human mistakes and flaws when we see some people committing them. Substitute for it the word people or human—because people commit mistakes because they are humans, and not because the Filipino commits mistakes because he is a Filipino. Using people or human is the one appropriate so that Filipinos will no longer be immersed in the anti-Filipino remarks.

When Filipino is used, many people think that it is only the Filipinos who commit mistakes, and because of that, they believe that Filipinos are already the jokes of foreigners, the laughingstock of the world, the worst people on earth, and the most unique species in the planet.

When Filipino is used, many people think that the Philippines is already Asia’s or the world’s capital of laziness, of thefts, of graft and corruption, of the undisciplined, of crab mentality, of short memories, of always late, of colonial mentality, of copycats, of gossips, of gambling, of cheatings, etc.

When Filipino is used, many people think that the Philippines is already a nation of lazy people, of thieves, of corrupt citizens, of undisciplined, of crab mentality, of short memories, of always late, of colonial mentality, of copycats, of gossips, of gamblers, of cheats, etc.

When Filipino is used, many people think that 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 will already hate the Filipino so much that they will always ridicule him.

When Filipino is used, many people think that Filipinos are a bad people, and thus many lose the heart to honor, respect, love, and be proud of their race and country. They cannot give an all-out service to it and rather focuses that service on others, thinking that doing good here is useless.

When Filipino is used, many people are always ashamed to other citizens because they are misled by the belief that other citizens are perfect—they cannot commit mistakes, crimes, and other flaws, while Filipinos are the only ones bad—the only ones who make mistakes. They always believe and even defend what other citizens say against them.

If Filipino will be still used, it is a very depressing disservice to ourselves. Thus, if you see some people violating traffic rules, stealing, etc., think or say:

“Humans, really!”

“There are people who are indeed like that.”

“That’s the problem with some people.”

“That’s an illness of some people.”

“That’s the character of some people.”

Don’t think or say:

“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.”

“Some Filipinos, really!”

“There are Filipinos who are indeed like that.”

“That’s the problem with some Filipinos.”

“That’s an illness of some Filipinos.”

“That’s the character of some Filipinos.”

Just because there are lazy, thieves, etc., is it already correct to say that we Filipinos are lazy, thieves, etc.? If you say yes, consider this premise again: Because there are homosexuals and prostitutes, then Filipinos are already homosexuals and prostitutes? If you agree, what about your parents or children? Because others are, then they are already the same?

Anti-Filipinos will not agree on this premise because it was not instilled into the Filipino thinking. Our foreign colonizers did not create sexually oriented negative remarks against the Filipino.

Third, let us think that flaws and mistakes can be corrected, that crimes must be punished, and that we may offer corrections to whatever defects we see—without deriding the Filipino.

Fourth, we must accept the fact that there will always be individuals who will do wrong because there is no perfect person, race, or nation in this world.

Fifth, we must stop being always ashamed to other peoples or citizens when some of us commit mistakes, crimes, and other flaws because it is a very stupid thing. Why very stupid? Because other peoples are not ashamed to us Filipinos when they are the ones who do wrong.

Sixth, if other citizens ridicule us, defend ourselves. Don’t be like some people who are bombastic only when they face their fellow Filipinos, but very meek when ranged against a mocking foreigner, even if that foreigner is an illegal drug trafficker, a murderer, a thief, or a pedophile. Tell and show the foreigner that his race is also imperfect or even worse.

Seventh, there is no need to prove to the world that we Filipinos are good because there is no need to do so and because other countries won’t mind it—because they don’t do it. Besides, if we keep saying that we are good and then some do wrong, the effort will only be futile.

Eight, worshipping other peoples as if they do not err must stop because that is another stupid act. Why stupid? Because it is only the anti-Filipinos who worship other peoples, but those other peoples don’t worship them.

Once we get used to thinking that mistakes are part of the human nature and are committed by all, and thus succeed in avoiding anti-Filipino remarks, we are no longer narrow-minded, ingrate, senseless, illogical, irresponsible, and colonized.

We already have a broadened outlook on the human person. We are already decolonized, proud of our race and heritage, and willing to offer ourselves to the good, progress, and greatness of our beloved country.

ANTI-FILIPINOS love to imagine, fabricate, and propagate stories that would make the United States of America a flawless paradise on earth, and the Americans flawless (and almost angelic) beings.

When they see traffic violations, gossips, graft and corruption, back fighting, cursing, urinating on the streets, spitting anywhere, uncollected garbage, thefts, burglary, and other wrongdoing in the Philippines, they right away say:

“Alam mo, walang ganyan sa States!” (You know, there’s nothing like that in the States!)

They heartily believe that Americans do not, for they cannot, commit crimes, mistakes, flaws, etc., and that in America, there are no grievances committed against anyone, people don’t envy each other, there are no gossips, there are no cheatings, there are no fighting, people are honest, they always take care of their families and children, there are no sexual abusers of children, animals and the environment are always protected, and everything is always clean, in order, and progressive. If there are crimes there, they are few, just mild, and always solved by the police. Moreover, it is not the Americans who commit them but Filipinos.

Really?

The United States is a nation of immense wealth and military power. Americans are among the most affluent peoples and are world leader in politics, economy, education, movies, music, literature, medicine, sciences, technology, engineering, robotics, agriculture, and other fields of modern civilization.

America’s greatness cannot be doubted. It is a land of liberty and opportunities. Millions of peoples from around the world try to enter it and settle there permanently. Americans and their native land are really great. But the wrong beliefs about them must be corrected. The following are some of those wrong perceptions that anti-Filipinos always tell.

Error no. 1: Americans are so industrious that they don’t even have time for themselves. All they do everyday is work, work, and work.

Correction: Television, movies, music, sports, circus, theme parks, software games, the Internet, and publishing are multi-billion dollar industries in the U.S.

Americans have abundant time to watch television programs, go to the movies, listen to songs, watch spectator games in coliseums and other venues, enjoy parks and circuses, play computer games, surf the Internet, and read books, newspapers, magazines, and journals. On weekends, they go to the beach, shop in malls, go for strolls through the cities and towns, or have backyard barbecue.

How come they could still do all these if they don’t even have time for themselves and all they do is work and work? Why do they spend more than US$100 billion each year on all those amusements if they don’t even have time for themselves?

Anti-Filipinos say this because when they are in America, they notice that most American families do the cooking, dish washing, housecleaning, laundry, and other chores.

Domestic helpers are not common in the U.S. because they are expensive and few would like to be one, since there are other more productive employments. Such rarity makes domestic jobs expensive, and most American families cannot afford them.

In the Philippines, domestic helpers are not expensive and are common. Thus, even the average-income families can employ them. Because they have household helps, anti-Filipinos do not need to perform the chores. They have plenty of time to relax.

When they land in America, they cannot afford domestic helpers, forcing them to do what they do not do in the Philippines. They become very busy there. That leads them into thinking that in America, everybody is busy and does not have time for himself because all he does is work, work, and work.

Error no. 2: There are no gossips in America; Americans don’t care about their neighbors’ and other people’s lives.

Correction: In the U.S., publishers have been convinced long ago by the age-old belief that people are interested to know about people, whatever their race, sex, social position, or education is. They have interpreted it as a profit-generating industry.

Today, dozens of daily, weekly, and monthly publications in the U.S. capitalize on talking about the backgrounds, lifestyles, romances, and secrets of the rich and famous in politics, entertainment, royalty, business, sports, religion, and other arenas. Those publications have elevated gossip to dignified status through stylish writing and top-quality printing.

Anti-Filipinos claim that Americans don’t gossip because when they are in the U.S., they notice that Americans don’t mind them, and that when they mingle with their fellow Filipinos in their gatherings in the Filipino communities there, they exchange gossips.

Americans don’t gossip with them because they don’t belong to the same crowd. Americans would prefer to mingle and gossip with their fellow Americans. Many American Christian churches proclaim in the doors: “Whites only.” It means that non-whites cannot enter those congregations, and mingle and gossip with whites.

In the U.S., which is home to millions of immigrants, it is only natural for people there to be at ease, to feel relaxed, and to gossip with those belonging to their kind: whites and whites, blacks and blacks, Arabs and Arabs, Chinese and Chinese, Filipinos and Filipinos, etc. Anti-Filipinos cannot understand this.

A number of local celebrities say that Americans really don’t gossip because when they are in the U.S., Americans don’t have time to mind them, unlike here where the moves they make are noticed.

Americans don’t mind them because they are totally unknown or nobodies there. They are famous only within the Filipino communities there. Americans mind the celebrities in their country, who are mostly their fellow Americans. Why would they mind someone they are not even aware of?

To know the extent of gossips in the U.S., WordsCanHeal.org commissioned Luntz/Lazlo to survey 800 adult Americans on August 17-21, 2001. The numbers of Americans were calculated based on U.S. Census figures.

The survey found out that 117 million Americans listened to or shared gossip about other people at least once or twice a week, 51 million admitted that people said something hurtful behind their backs at least once or twice a week, and 63 million admitted that people said something untrue about them at least once or twice a week.

Only 13 per cent said that no one ever said anything hurtful about them behind their back, and only 7 per cent said that no one ever said something untrue about them behind their back. 31 million said something about someone behind their back that they regretted later at least once or twice a week, while only 25 per cent said they never said anything about someone behind their back that they regretted later.

As to how much of a problem was gossip, 69 per cent of adults said that it was a somewhat or significant problem in schools, 79 per cent said it was a problem in the workplace, 80 per cent said it was a problem in politics, 84 per cent said it was a problem in reports given by the news media, and 88 per cent agreed that it was important to reduce gossip and verbal abuse in schools, places of work, and within families.

These statistics tell the real truth: Americans do gossip. Now, whom should we believe? People who, because of their wrong perceptions of Americans, blindly believe that Americans never gossip, or the Americans themselves who admit that there are gossips among themselves?

Error no. 3: Americans are very matured when it comes to love, marriage, and sex.

Correction: Thousands of American husbands beat their wives. If they were matured enough when it comes to love, why do they slap, punch, and kick their wives?

More than two million divorce cases are filed each year in the U.S. If they were matured when it comes to marriage, they should be able to handle their relationships very well.

More than one million babies are aborted each year in the U.S. Why resort to murdering innocents if they were already that matured in sex? They should have known that they would get pregnant, and thus there would have been no unwanted fetuses.

Error no. 4: Americans are not thieves.

Correction: In the U.S. in 2003, there were one larceny/theft every 4½ seconds, one burglary every 15 seconds, one motor vehicle theft every 25 seconds, and one robbery every 1¼ minutes, or more than ten million cases of stealing.

There were 413,402 robbery offenses estimated at US$514 million, or an average dollar loss of US$1,244 per offense; 2,153,464 burglaries estimated at US$3.5 billion, or an average dollar loss of US$1,626 per incident; 7 million cases of larceny-thefts worth US$4.9 billion, or an average value of US$698 per offense; and 1.3 million motor vehicle thefts estimated at US$8.6 billion, or an average dollar loss of US$6,797 per offense.

Of the robbery cases, 41.8 per cent were committed with the use of firearms; 39.9 per cent with hands, fists, and feet; 8.9 per cent with knives or cutting instruments; and 9.4 per cent with other weapons.

Of the burglary incidents, 62.4 per cent were forcible entry, 31.2 per cent were unlawful entry, and 6.3 per cent were attempted forcible entry. 65.8 per cent took place at residences, and 62 per cent of residential burglaries happened at day.

Larceny-thefts accounted for 67.3 per cent of the estimated 10.4 million property crimes. The largest portion of these cases (26.4 per cent) involved motor vehicle thefts.

Law enforcement agencies made an estimated 13.6 million arrests in the entire country. These did not include traffic violations. Of those arrested, 70.6 per cent were white (Crime in the United States, 2003).

In 2004, 27 of the major U.S. retailers apprehended 689,340 shoplifters, up 4.86 per cent from the 657,414 apprehended shoplifters in 2003 (17th Annual Retail Theft Survey, conducted in 2004 by Jack L. Hayes International). Of those shoplifters, 64 per cent were white (Crime in the United States, 2003.).

Error no. 5: Americans don’t cheat.

Correction: In the U.S., white-collar crimes amount to US$300 billion each year (ibid.). These crimes include bribery, extortion, blackmail, embezzlements, counterfeiting, money laundering, forgery, and frauds in banking, bankruptcy claims, insurance claims, mail, tax payments, and credit card transactions.

In 2002, looting company funds, which caused losses of more than US$60 billion to investors, led to the arrest of the chief executives of Adelphia Communications, the sixth biggest cable company in the U.S. (AP, July 26, 2002).

Two former executives of WorldCom Inc. were also arrested for hiding US$3.8 billion in company expenses from investors and for helping push the telecommunications giant into bankruptcy (AP, August 3, 2002).

Throughout 2002, massive accounting fraud costing more than US$50 billion were discovered among corporate giants like Enron Corporation, Merck, Reliant Resources, Xerox, Rite Aid, Tyco International, Waste Management, Global Crossing, CMS Energy Corporation, Dynegy, Qwest Communications International, and ImClone Systems.

In April 2007, schools across the U.S. decided to ban using iPods and Zunes, since they could be hidden by the students under clothing and used to cheat during examinations. Schools had already banned baseball caps (since students could inscribe the answers under the brim) and cell phones (since students could exchange the answers to each one).

“It doesn’t take long to get out of the loop with teenagers,” said Mountain View High School Principal Aaron Maybon. “They come up with new and creative ways to cheat very fast” (AP, April 29, 2007).

Error no. 6: Americans are not corrupt.

Correction: On November 29, 2005, Randy Cunningham tearfully resigned as member of the U.S. House of Representatives after admitting that he had received US$2.4 million in bribes from military contractors to influence the award of defense contracts (AFP, December 4, 2005).

This was just from one congressman. If other lawmakers would also admit it, bribery and corruption in the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, and city and town councils may run into billions of dollars yearly.

Error no. 7: Americans cannot kill their fellow human beings. If there are murders in America, it is not they who commit them.

Correction: In 2003, there were 16,503 murders in the U.S.

In the murders concerning a single victim and a single offender, 92.4 per cent of black victims were killed by black offenders, and 84.7 per cent of white victims were killed by white offenders.

In the murders with victim-offender relationship data, 32.3 per cent of females were killed by their husbands or boyfriends, and 2.5 per cent of males were killed by their wives or girlfriends (Crime in the United States, 2003).

Many of those murderers are led to the death penalty. Since it revived the death penalty in 1976 until 2005, the U.S. government has already executed 1,002 convicts. Of these, 578 were whites, 338 were blacks, 63 were Hispanics, and 23 were of various ethnic origins (AFP, December 18, 2005).

Error no. 8: Americans are very disciplined.

Correction: When the Chicago Bulls won the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship title in June 1991, residents of their home city, Chicago, celebrated their victory with melees. 100 people were arrested, and dozens of stores were looted.

In June 1992, when the Bulls won their second straight NBA title, riots sparked again in Chicago City. Residents went wild—throwing bottles and rocks, vandalizing, and looting. 107  police officers were injured, more than a thousand people were arrested, 340 business establishments were looted, and US$10 million was the estimated damage.

In 1993, when the Bulls won their third straight NBA title, 533 were arrested for disorderly conduct and minor vandalism, while five policemen suffered minor injuries when rocks and bottles were thrown in crowds (AP, June 21, 1993).

During those riots, advantage-seeking residents looted stores like Levi’s, Sara Lee, and Wal-Marts, taking with them anything, from apples to wines, pants, jewelry, etc.

Similar incidences also occur when collegiate teams win championship titles, driving bright and good-looking students to riot, steal, and defy the authorities.

On August 29, 2005, hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and other southern U.S. states. Trapped residents looted the stores and laughed about it down the streets, as they pulled bags and carts that they had filled with grocery items, jewelry, laptop computers, and other goods.

Casinos were raided, and guns and knives were emptied from weapon stores. Those who formed themselves into armed groups committed rape, murder, and arson. They proved that even in times of disasters, indeed there were people who still took advantage of others. Seeing such scenarios, many police deserted their duties, with some joining the looting.

Error no. 9: Shopping malls in the U.S. are constructed not in the cities but on the outside of the urban areas—in the mountains.

Correction: In New York City alone, there are more than a thousand shopping malls. Anti-Filipinos must have seen a mall constructed in the mountains, and they already want to imitate such insanity.

Why would malls be constructed in the mountains? They would destroy the environment, and nobody would go there because they are far from where people live and work. If we would imitate things done by other peoples, let’s imitate the good ones and not their insane acts.

Error no. 10: July 4th is the most popular holiday in the U.S.

Correction: Anti-Filipinos say this because they project that Americans have a good sense of history and give much importance to their country’s historical events and figures.

Most Americans prefer Christmas as the most popular holiday in their country. They spend much on food, gifts, greeting cards, parties, carols, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and other things associated with it.

July 4 is celebrated with games, picnics, bands, and fireworks. But Americans may find it childish to give as gifts or display in their homes American flags, pictures of American patriots and presidents, and other nationalistic paraphernalia, unlike during Christmas where they can display Santa Claus and Christmas trees without any trepidation of being laughed at.

Error no. 11: Americans are not gamblers. They work so hard that they never pin their welfare, improvement, and future on gambling and other get-rich-quick schemes.

Correction: In 2002, gamblers in the U.S. lost US$68.7 billion at casinos, tracks, lottery outlets, legal sports books, bingo halls, charity gaming halls, and card rooms (Gross Annual Wager, compiled by Christiansen Capital Advisors, International Gaming & Wagering Business Magazine, August 2003, p. 1).

In 2004, according to official figures from the Federal Trade Commission, 950,000 people lost US$100 million to bogus get-rich-quick schemes like instant-cash investments, pyramiding, high pay, big commissions, and mail sweepstakes.

Worshippers. Why is it that anti-Filipinos have heavenly conceptions about Americans that even if they clearly see that Americans also commit cheating, stealing, gossiping, and such other acts, they still would not believe that Americans do them?

One answer is that they already have the premise that Americans are perfect. Thus, it would be impossible for them if they see that there are also Americans who commit flaws. Another answer is that they already worship the Americans. We just wish that the Americans would also worship them.

These facts are presented here not to insult the Americans. They have been made by the Americans themselves or are official releases from the American authorities.

They are presented here so that those people who believe that Americans are flawless would no longer think that Americans are that perfect, and thus would stop from always making America and Americans the bases for the rightness of everything: “In America. …” “Americans are. …”

And so that they would also stop thinking that because Americans are the way they are, and because we Filipinos are not the way Americans are, then we are already at fault.

We Filipinos have our own character, values, culture, life styles, and outlook on life. The Americans have their own. Ours are different from theirs. We can never be like them. We should be proud of and develop our own.

Just what can you say to a Japanese who hates his being a Japanese and tries desperately to become like a Chinese? One who hates himself and is dying to be like someone else is a person who throws away his dignity.

THERE was a local entertainer who said on television that she and her family would already immigrate to the United States—after making much money in the Philippines.

Why did she choose the U.S. as her place of retirement? She claimed that the U.S. had no gossips and that it was far from Filipinos, who she claimed were unmatched in the world as gossip makers. She was unbearable. After accumulating money (Filipino money) here, she was already spitting on her native land and her fellow Filipinos.

Gossips are everywhere. They work in humans very naturally because humans have eyes and ears. What is seen or heard travels into the mind. The mind accommodates it. The hoarded thought is brought down the tongue. The tongue will get itchy if what the mind has deposited is not spewed out of the mouth. When the mouth does, everything spreads. Human nature causes it all.

Gossips may be true or false. If true, then “if there’s a smoke, there must be a fire.” If false, it is saddening because the character of the involved person or persons is assassinated.

Tabloids make up most of Britain’s newspapers. Their favorite topic is the royal family, for the British love to know things about their monarchs.

United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II described 1992 as an annus horribilis (horrible year) for her country because the British press feasted on the royal marriages’ embarrassing secrets.

Paparazzi (social photographers) secretly took pictures of the wife of Prince Andrew (the queen’s second son) while relaxing topless in a beach with her two young daughters and with her new lover. The photos got headlined in many parts of the world. The media also dug up the marriage of the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, and his wife Princess Diana. Their exposed extra-marital affairs led to eventual divorces of these marriages.

Anti-Filipinos argue that while there are gossips in other countries, such are always accompanied by photographs to authenticate them, unlike here where gossips are just gossips.

In 1996, Princess Diana got negative publicity again when she was caught in a video having an illicit affair with another man in an apartment. They were seen through a transparent glass window. She was embarrassed once more, and so were her sons and family. But months later, it was found out that the woman in the videotape was a fake Diana, just a look-alike hired with that man by paparazzi eyeing for big money (by selling the tape to the tabloids).

Because of the cravings for royal gossips, the tabloids and paparazzi always follow almost every move of the royal people. When in need of privacy, the royals sometimes flee from them.

On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana, already divorced from Prince Charles, perished in a car accident together with her new lover and their driver. Those primarily blamed were the paparazzi who, when Princess Diana’s group left the hotel, zoomed after them and even photographed her while she was bleeding inside the wrecked car.

The British mourned her death and also blamed Prince Charles and the queen. They did not realize that they were also liable for it: Had they not been so fascinated with royal gossips.

In the United States, publishers have been convinced long ago by the age-old belief that people are interested to know about people, whatever their race, sex, social position, or education is. They have interpreted it as a profit-generating industry.

Today, dozens of daily, weekly, and monthly publications in the United States capitalize on talking about the backgrounds, lifestyles, romances, and secrets of the rich and famous in politics, entertainment, royalty, business, sports, religion, and other arenas. Those publications have elevated gossip to dignified status through stylish writing and top-quality printing.

To know the extent of gossips in the U.S., WordsCanHeal.org commissioned Luntz/Lazlo to survey 800 adult Americans on August 17-21, 2001. The numbers of Americans were calculated based on U.S. Census figures.

The survey found out that 117 million Americans listened to or shared gossip about other people at least once or twice a week, 51 million admitted that people said something hurtful behind their backs at least once or twice a week, and 63 million admitted that people said something untrue about them at least once or twice a week.

Only 13 per cent said that no one ever said anything hurtful about them behind their back, and only 7 per cent said that no one ever said something untrue about them behind their back. 31 million said something about someone behind their back that they regretted later at least once or twice a week, while only 25 per cent said they never said anything about someone behind their back that they regretted later.

As to how much of a problem was gossip, 69 per cent of adults said that it was a somewhat or significant problem in schools, 79 per cent said it was a problem in the workplace, 80 per cent said it was a problem in politics, 84 per cent said it was a problem in reports given by the news media, and 88 per cent agreed that it was important to reduce gossip and verbal abuse in schools, places of work, and within families.

If such things happen here in the Philippines, anti-Filipinos would cheer that gossip is the national pastime, that Filipinos are good only as gossipers, and that the Philippines is the world’s and Asia’s capital of gossips. They are shocked if they hear that even in affluent countries—despite all the wealth and sophistication there—gossips are also common.

There are times when we should be careful with people who claim that they are being pulled down because of gossips.

Example: A new movie star secretly pays a reporter a huge sum to write about her, quite scandalous but not harmful to her aspiring career. They also agree that they would fight in public to gain more attention. In that way she thinks she can move up the popularity ladder. Off they go. They fight, exchange accusations, and get what they want. Then she claims, “Ah, you know Filipinos, they love gossips. And when they see someone going up, they’d pull him down.”

Another example. A public official is stealing public funds, he is charged in court, and he tries to save his face by saying:  “Ah, this country is a country of gossips. It’s a Filipino culture to pull down one who is achieving successes.”

We should be suspicious with people making such statements. They are using a shield—insulting the Filipinos—to hide their anomalies.

Some gossips are really true. Example: One resident knows his city mayor and the mayor’s wife; then, one day, he sees the mayor flirting with another woman. His eyes see, his mind processes what is seen, his mouth gets itchy, and the news spreads. The gossip will remain a rumor only, if the sole witness has no solid evidence for it (like a photograph or footage).

Gossips, true or not, will always be part of our lives. If not true, they should be refuted, and the ones concocting them should be charged in court and compelled to pay those they harm. If true, then people concerned should no longer deny and just reform if they have to.

WHEN one resident opens a sari-sari (variety) store and then days later a neighbor also puts up a similar enterprise, anti-Filipinos claim that Filipinos are copycats—gaya-gaya, puto-maya—and that they are good only when they imitate their neighbors. These are another wrong charges against Filipinos.

In the past, the Philippines had decades-old monopolies in a number of industries, like telecommunications and airline. Filipinos suffered from those monopolies. They would wait for up to ten years before they could have telephone lines, and ten more years of waiting for dial tones, because the telephone sector was controlled by only one firm, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company. Since there were no imitators, PLDT was dry in meeting the public’s wants and satisfaction.

The Philippine Airlines (PAL) Inc. was then the only airline company in the country; thus, were its Planes Always Late, If not cancelled, aside from having high fares.

Ten years of waiting for a telephone line and ten years more for a dial tone, or late planes, cancelled flights, and expensive air tickets—they were cruelties, weren’t they?

In 1994, President Fidel Ramos continued the dismantling of those monopolies in his efforts to push the economic reform programs that began during the term of his predecessor, President Corazon Aquino (1986-1992).

One of those deregulated sectors was the telecommunications industry. It resulted in the surfacing of new telephone entities. The worthy effect was that PLDT, fearing that its current and potential subscribers would shift to others, was forced to improve its services and to launch massive advertisements. And with the invention of mobile phones, it is now very easy to have communication with anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Today, telephone firms give both telephone lines and dial tones right after they are asked. If PLDT can do that now in just a few days, why could it not do such in the past? The answer is very simple: There were no competitors then.

As telephone companies compete and try to outdo each other through better services and effective campaigns, the customers finally have various options, after decades of being punished. They have now the luxury to choose the one that will immediately give them what they want.

New firms have also entered the airline industry since it was deregulated. Passengers also have more options now for airfares and flight schedules.

What if both PAL and PLDT still control the country today, and then stage a nationwide strike at the same time? One can easily surmise the colossal devastations that will be inflicted on the country’s transportation and telecommunications systems. Almost everything will be shut down—from the transporting of people, goods, and services to the transactions, trade, industries, investments, Internet, tourism—the entire nation. But if we have other airline and telephone companies, the damage will not reach injurious proportions.

If there is only one doctor in one place, anytime he could charge more for his services, raise prices of medicines, and be arrogant to his patients. But if another physician also sets up a clinic at the same place, he will then be cautious, for the patients might go to the one giving them due respect, better services, lower service charges, and lower prices of medicines.

If one or more persons imitate the enterprise of others, it is competition, and the people are the ones who benefit from it, for they have more choices for products, markets, and services.

If there is no competition, it will result in monopolies, and the people will surely suffer, like the sad experience with PLDT and PAL in the past.

American competitors have been invading for decades our minds, stomachs, bodies, homes, streets, and institutions: Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, Paramount Films, Warner Brothers (films and television programs); Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Popeye (cartoon superheroes); Pepsi, Coca Cola (soft drinks); McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, KFC (restaurants); CFC, Kraft (processed foods); Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble (soaps, shampoo, hair conditioners, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, napkin, cleansers, etc.); Levi’s, Jockey, Calvin Klein, Sara Lee (outer and innerwear); Panasonic, General Electric (household appliances); Kodak, Canon (camera and photo-film); Ford, General Motors (cars and trucks); Goodyear, Goodrich (tires and rubber); IBM, Microsoft, Macintosh, Compact (computer products); and more.

In Japan, if there is Mitsubishi in the automobile industry, there are also Toyota and Nissan. If there is Sony in the consumer and industrial products, there come also Sanyo, Hitachi, Toshiba, Hanabishi, and JVC. In photo-film, there is Fuji, as well as Fiji.

The rivalry of goods, stores, industries, professions, and services is not gaya-gaya, puto-maya, but competition. Only the capitalists who don’t like competitors will say it is copycat because of greed (they want only themselves to profit), and the narrow-minded, for their narrow minds cannot think of the productive benefits all of us get from competitions.

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.

It is not colonial mentality when we Filipinos listen to American songs, dance to Cuban music, eat on Chinese plates, wear French clothes, or ride in Japanese cars. It is because we admire quality talents and products, whatever their countries of origins are.

Colonial mentality will only be colonial mentality when one person believes that the good, better, and best talents and products are found only in other countries; when he always prefers foreign talents and products to the local ones even if the latter are better; and when he believes that nothing good comes out of his own country.

Such persons should be informed that Filipinos also produce quality talents and products that are admired and patronized here or in other countries.

Anti-Filipinos compare foreign products with those made in local cheap factories. Naturally, the foreign ones will fare better, since those cheap factories churn out non-quality items. Such mode of comparison is unfair. Quality products should be compared with the same quality products.

If the consumer finds the foreign and local products both of good quality, and he buys the local one, he is helping his country’s economy. If he buys the foreign (just because it is foreign-made), he has colonial mentality.

If the foreign product is superior to the local, and he buys it, he is a wise consumer. If the foreign one is inferior to the local, and he buys it (just because it is foreign-made), it is stupidity.

Product of Colonization. During American rule and the years following it, preference for anything foreign (mostly American) was prevalent. Only in the 1960’s did many people begin to think that they also have their own soul, identity, and heritage to mind and nourish.

Filipinos could not be blamed. They were brainwashed during Spanish and American rule: They were good for nothing; the colonial masters were perfect. Since such brainwashing had been implanted into their thinking about themselves for centuries, it would be extremely difficult to just shrug it off. It would take decades for them to pull themselves out of the colonial quagmire that they had been in for centuries.

Thanks to the nationalism movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Since then, little by little, Filipinos have been trying to obliterate the many negative effects of foreign colonization.

FOR anti-Filipinos, the meaning of Filipino time is “always late.” It is said that the Filipino is and will always be late in his appointments. He does not value time. He is never punctual. He wants to be late in gatherings because he likes to get the attention of everyone. He is the one who arrives last; thus, everybody notices him because of his untimely arrival. Are all these negative remarks against us Filipinos true?

Early discipline. Classes in public and private elementary, secondary, and tertiary schools begin at 6:15 a.m. For those in the afternoon shifts, their classes begin at noon.

Morning-shift students wake up before dawn. From the time they get off the bed, they hurry in taking baths or showers, having breakfast, brushing their teeth, and putting on their school attire. It is heartwarming that there are six-year-old Grade One pupils who wake up and take baths or showers that early so that they would not be late in school.

The children do all that to arrive in school before the flag ceremonies, which regularly commence at 6:00 a.m. Those who live in far places wake up earlier to avoid being caught in entangled traffic flows during the morning rush hour.

Most of the teachers and students arrive in schools before 6:00 a.m. For those in the afternoon shifts, they arrive before noon. This is discipline. More than 20 million Filipino students and half a million Filipino teachers practice it.

Work schedule. Work in offices, factories, stores, and other similar establishments begins at eight in the morning. Thus, professionals, employees, and workers also hurry in taking baths or showers, having breakfast, brushing their teeth, and getting dressed to arrive in their places of work early or on time. Such rush is already a regular ritual for the hardworking Filipinos.

Again, it is discipline. Now that they are already in their respective bread-winning fields, they still do what they had practiced when they were still studying.

Market vendors are all ready before dawn so that they can buy the freshest vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, and other wet market items at the delivery centers or slaughterhouses. They have to get the best goods, and they can only do that if they arrive early at the delivery centers or slaughterhouses.

We Filipinos arrive early or on time in our destinations. This is the real or genuine time of the Filipino.

Spanish defect. Why is it that the Filipino is slapped with the accusation that he is always late, even when he arrives in his engagements early or on time?

This has something to do with the Spanish colonization of our race. Being the colonizers, the Spaniards wanted to be superior to the Filipinos and in everything. They wanted to be served, adored, and given all the attention.

On occasions, they wanted everyone to notice their arrival and the importance of their presence. That did that by arriving late.

Jose Rizal told in his first novel, Noli Me Tangere, of Spaniards who did not come on time: “Linares had not yet arrived, for being an important person, he must come much later than the others. There are people who are flattered that for each hour of delay because they have not yet arrived, they become more significant” (p. 329).

In his second novel, El Filibusterismo, Rizal also narrated how the Spaniards loved to be the laggards in gatherings. The play The Bells of Cornville was set to begin at 8:30 p.m., but by 8:45, the show could not yet start because the Spanish governor general had not yet arrived. He came many more minutes later, getting all the attention. But he failed to be the last, for a lady followed him. This lady was also frustrated because there was still an unoccupied seat. Rizal observed:

“Indeed, there are persons who come to the theaters like asses in a race: he who arrives last is the winner. Sane men we know would rather mount the scaffold first than turn up at the theater before the start of the first act” (pp. 165-166).

Rizal castigated his countrymen who were trying to be like Spaniards: “What will you be in the future? A people without character; a nation without liberty; everything that you will posses shall be borrowed, including even your own defects” (p. 171).

Being late is a Spanish defect that some of our ancestors imitated and passed down through succeeding generations. Most of those imitators were the wealthy elite and those working in the government. They loved being special, like the Spaniards. In gatherings, they arrived late to make them more dignified. They would feel elated if there were people who had been waiting for them.

When Spanish rule ended in 1898, the Americans became the new colonizers. Hungry for imperial glory, the Americans tended to criticize and degrade everything Filipino.

The United States president then, William McKinley, said that the Americans would colonize the Philippines because they had to “educate the Filipinos, and uplift, and civilize, and Christianize them.” For them, Filipinos were uneducated, uncivilized, and unchristian. This had become the American thinking of the Filipinos.

When they summoned people to help run the country, the ones who approached them were those wealthy elite and those working in the government who had all borrowed the Spanish defect of being always late. Those people—who were only a fraction of the entire population—did not give importance to schedules; they did not come on time.

Thus, the Americans found another opportunity to criticize and insult the Filipino race. They created the idea that American time was always on time and that Filipino time was always late. This is just one of the negative things that they inculcated into the Filipino consciousness during their half-a-century rule of our country.

How it was invented. When communicating with their superiors in the United States, the American colonial authorities needed to regularly check the time zones because of the time difference between the United States and the Philippines.

The International Date Line dictates that the eastern zone, where Philippine time belongs, is 24 hours or a day ahead of the western zone, where U.S. time belongs. Nature has it that Philippine time is ahead and that American time is behind.

It became uncomfortable for the American colonizers because anything American must always be the superior. That had to be reversed by inventing the Filipino time theory. They found the right time to invent it when they met with those few elite who were always latecomers.

Had the Spanish colonizers invented it, Filipino time would have been called hora de Filipino. Or it would have been oras ng Pilipino, since the Spaniards did not teach us their language but studied and used ours. Its English name itself is the groaning proof that it is an American invention.

Intellectual decolonization. The Spanish colonizers practiced their own time here in the Philippines—always late. Some of our elite ancestors borrowed it. And the American colonizers gave it a name (Filipino time), and wove it into the Filipino consciousness.

Because of the negative remarks that the Americans instilled into the Filipino thinking, like the Filipino time, it is now common to find people who do nothing but praise anything associated with Americans and belittle anything associated with Filipinos.

That is a fruit of “what was eaten is what will be belched.”

Let us now free ourselves from the wrong thinking implanted in us by our colonizers. We should no longer swallow—so that we would no longer belch—what had been wrongfully fed to us. It’s intellectual decolonization.

The real or genuine Filipino time is being early or on time. We Filipinos prove this ourselves when we arrive early or on time in our respective destinations. If there are people who come late, they are not the majority. Which fact weighs heavier: The few who are late, or the majority who are early or on time?

To decolonize our minds, let us stop being narrow-minded: Always bashing the Filipinos as if we were totally hopeless and useless, and insulting the entire Filipino race for the faults of some people. If there are latecomers, think or say: “There are people who are really like that.” Use people, instead of Filipino.

Having latecomers on occasions cannot be avoided because there is no perfect person, race, or country. There will really be individuals who will be late, whatever their races are.

ANOTHER upsetting negative charge against us Filipinos is that we have short memories, that we have no sense of history, and that because of it, we disregard our patriots and the crucial events that had happened in our country. These are misleading accusations.

The human mind does not have the ability to fully know, recall, or understand every historic episode that had happened before, why and how it happened, and what its worth is in the present and future lives.

Thus, because of this natural human frailty, almost all countries have set aside certain dates as their respective holidays. The objective behind it is to inform, remind, or make people understand that on those particular dates, something remarkable took place.

There are national and local holidays, anniversaries, foundation days, and other similar festivities to mark the births of nations, regions, provinces, states, cities, towns, villages, schools, institutions, associations, etc.

There are holidays reserved for patriots, leaders, veterans, and other special individuals to remind everyone of the importance of those people.

Proofs. Surveys, studies, and tests in many countries all prove it: That human beings do not have a sound mental faculty for the full awareness, recollection, and understanding of the past.

In 2001, the National Assessment of Educational Progress examination conducted by the U.S. Department of Education showed that about six of every ten American high school seniors had an extremely weak grasp of their country’s history. Of the eight graders, only 39 per cent knew that the First Continental Congress was largely formed because of dissatisfaction with the British Parliament. Only 57 per cent of the fourth graders were aware that one of the primary causes of the American Civil War was the slavery issue. 29,000 students in grades 4, 8, and 12 from public and private schools took the test. History scores were lower than those of mathematics, reading, and any other subject evaluated by the examination.

A survey in 2002 made by NFO-Trends for the Ateneo de Manila University showed that many Filipino youth did not know their country’s heroes: 93 per cent were aware of Jose Rizal; 63 per cent, of Andres Bonifacio; 38 per cent, of Apolinario Mabini; 25 per cent, of Emilio Aguinaldo, and most could not recognize Juan Luna. Then only 37 per cent could sing the National Anthem correctly, and only 28 per cent were able to recite the Patriotic Pledge.

A survey in March 2003 revealed that most Canadians were not that aware of their nation’s history: Most did not know the French explorer who discovered their country, the founding father who established the first European settlement in Canada, and who opened the fur trade in North America (http://hnn.us/comments/13182.html).

In the U.S. in 2008, a civic-literacy survey conducted by Intercollegiate Studies Institute found out that of the 2,508 randomly-selected respondents, 1,791 failed the historical, political, and economic basics tests. Only 49 per cent of the Americans could identify the three brances of their government; 40 per cent of college graduates had no idea that corporate profits equalled revenues minus expenses; only 24 per cent of college graduates felt that the First Ammendment to the U.S. Constitution forbade the establishment of an official U.S. religion; 30 per cent of office workers had no idea that the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” could be found in the U.S. Declaration of Independence; and only 21 per cent correctly pointed Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Adress as the source of the words “government of the people, by the people, for the people” ttp://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Americans+are+dangerously+ignorant+of+U.S.+history&articleId=032498f2-3aca-4af3-b66b-63c912cdfddf).

Preservation. Some say that other countries have a sense of history, for they preserve their historical sites, while we Filipinos don’t because some of our historical sites are neglected.

Just because other countries keep their historical sites and relics, they are fully aware and have a sense of their history already? The surveys don’t tell so.

It’s not an issue of having or having no history sense. Other countries, especially the wealthy, have sufficient funds to maintain their historical sites; while in ours, a poor nation, even if we want to preserve such sites, there is not enough money for them.

It is not true that other countries really preserve all of their historical sites. Many of those sites are being torn down to give way to progress, urbanization, and expanding populations, be they in affluent or impoverished lands.

Arguments. In February 1986, the people power revolution drove President Ferdinand Marcos out of office, forced him to flee to Hawaii together with his family and close friends, and installed Corazon Aquino as the country’s first woman president.

In 1987 and 1989, some of those who helped Aquino gain power mounted unsuccessful bloody rebellions against her. In 1992, Marcos’ wife, Imelda, ran for president, and was defeated but received more than two million votes. In 1995 and 1998, Gregorio Honasan, a coup d’état leader against Aquino, aspired for a Senate seat and was elected.

These events made anti-Filipinos comment that Filipinos had short memories. They argued that Filipinos easily forgot the people who had done them wrong: They elected Imelda, a thief and the wife of a dictator who was the principal thief. They elected Honasan, a coup leader.

“Filipinos easily forget the very near past. They really have no sense of history!” anti-Filipinos decried.

This is not a matter of history sense, but a matter of arguments.

More than two million Filipinos voted for Imelda as president because they easily forgot? Let’s have the arguments.

First, the Marcoses were accused as thieves when they had fled the country, were prosecuted in courts, but were acquitted. The accusers failed to prove their guilt.

Second, not all Filipinos joined the people power revolution, which happened in Quezon City. The Marcoses still had a strong following in many parts of the country.

Those who voted for Imelda were not forgetful or unaware of history. They were the Marcos loyalists who did not believe that their idols were thieves and murderers.

Honasan was elected because of Filipinos’ poor memory? Not all Filipinos voted for him. Those who went for him must have been disenchanted with Aquino’s presidency. They wanted someone who could ease that frustration, and saw Honasan, one who challenged Aquino through coups.

Again, such events are not a matter of history sense, but a matter of arguments.

Conscious. We Filipinos do have a sense of our nation’s history.

The 1998 Philippine Centennial was the country’s biggest and most colorful festivity in the 20th century. It recalled the occasion when General Emilio Aguinaldo, our nation’s first president, proclaimed Philippine independence from Spanish rule (1565-1898) before a huge crowd on the afternoon of June 12, 1898, at his residence in Kawit, Cavite.

Filipinos celebrated it through flags, parades, books, songs, plays, paintings, contests, reenactments, renovations of historical sites, balloons, parties, dances, and concerts.

2.2 million Filipinos voluntarily applied as members of the Philippine Centennial Movement—a project launched by the government to help observe the centenary. For a modest application fee, members received centennial ID cards, shirts, literary items, and souvenirs.

Filipinos bought Filipino flags and displayed them in parks, homes, schools, offices, factories, stores, malls, and markets. They bought commemorative mementos like publications, shirts, caps, bags, stamps, pins, wines, gold and silver coins, and paper bills.

On June 12, 1998, the centennial day, Filipinos watched on their television sets the programs from early morning, where President Fidel Ramos reenacted what happened on June 12, 1898, at Aguinaldo’s residence in Kawit, Cavite, until late night, where the celebrations were capped through a massive fireworks display.

The Grand Centennial Parade in the afternoon in Manila was done through floats, songs, dances, and reenactments. Five million Filipinos witnessed it.

The centennial year ended with the showing in December of Jose Rizal, a film about our national hero. Four million viewers trooped to theaters, where it was played for several weeks. It was a records-breaking movie, and it garnered numerous awards.

Not conscious of history? The Philippine Centennial celebrations disproved it.

IT IS said that we Filipinos have crab mentality and so we do not attain the progress and prosperity we have long been aspiring for, that it is practiced only by us Filipinos, and that we will remain a poor nation if it is not plucked from our selves.

Allegedly, we pull those on top of us so that we can be the ones in the better position; or when it seems that we cannot all go out of our bad conditions, we pull everyone down so that all of us will share the misery; then, we relish it when we have pulled somebody down.

Neighbors defaming neighbors, reporters inventing stories about celebrities, businessmen performing unfair competitions, and professionals dislodging fellow professionals are among the crab mentality practices. Of course, there is the timeless neighborhood rivalry: If a resident buys something, his neighbor will try to outdo him by purchasing a similar but more expensive item. And when politicians fail to deliver their electoral promises of better lives, they chastise the people for not cooperating and rather pulling down others, hence the general failure.

There was that actress who became “world-famous in the Philippines” when she made striking feats in London’s West End and New York’s Broadway theaters.

Her countrymen, who were very proud of her, prayed for her to win the most prestigious stage-acting award in New York. Her victory overwhelmed them. But years later, she pointed out in a television interview that she achieved all those glories because she came out of the Filipino attitude of pulling each other down.

What about the millions of Filipinos who were very proud of her and prayed for her?

Universal attitude. Crab mentality is a human habit similar to what crabs do when put in a basket. If the basket is left with no heavy cover, the crabs inside it will all have gotten out fast in less than an hour. If the basket is weak, they go to one side and cause it to fall toward it, thus freeing them all. If the basket is designed against their escape, they cannot all go out.

They all try to get out of where they are, and in that process pull each other down, whether they succeed in getting out or not. For them, pulling down or stepping on others is a fact of their existence. It is natural for them in the quest for success or when confronting failure.

Crab mentality is also part of humanity. It simply is envy. (Crabs do not envy one another; they just want to be free.)

Humans envy and try to outdo each other because of selfishness and greed, but not all the time. When one envies somebody, one of his natural reactions is to knock him down, but this does not always happen. Each one of us may envy, yet we do not always pull others down. We usually just keep to ourselves those envious feelings and then let them go away.

Crab mentality is a universal attitude happening in every corner of the world. Localizing this attitude in only one country proves the narrow-mindedness of people doing it. Their minds are that narrow because they can conclude only from what they see around them, and they can no longer think beyond that.

British crab mentality. In its issue on November 20, 1960, London’s The Observer reported a survey made in Woodford, a middle-class London suburb, which revealed the timeless neighborhood competition.

Woodford residents were leading ideal, happy, and prosperous lives. Many were members of civic, cultural, and sports organizations. Yet, the survey said, one husband complained that as soon as their next-door neighbor knew that they got a washing machine, that neighbor got one, too. Then a few months later, he bought a fridge, and their neighbor also purchased the same appliance.

One housewife got irritated because her neighbor bought a refrigerator after she did. She added that her neighbor always worried if they had anything new. “When she got a fridge, she made a great fuss of showing that she could make ice-bricks too,” she wailed.

One woman said that because their neighbor had recently bought a new car, she and her husband were also thinking of buying a better one. “That’ll be a knock in the eye for them!” she thundered. The said survey found out that cars were the constant barometers of neighborhood rivalry.

Those were crab mentality practices—imitating or outstripping neighbors. They happened in Great Britain, one of the richest and most celebrated countries in the world.

American crab mentality. The story between figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding is a classic example of American crab mentality. The two Americans were scheduled to compete in one same event at the 19th Winter Olympic Games in February 1994 in Norway.

Weeks before the Games, Harding commissioned her former husband, Jeff Gillooly, to attack Kerrigan’s feet with a pipe so that Kerrigan would not be able to compete and it would be easier for Harding to win the gold medal in the women’s individual figure skating event.

On January 6, 1994, Kerrigan was clubbed above the right knee. Although Gillooly and his hired attackers were already charged in court, Kerrigan and Harding still managed to practice in their training venue but under tight security.

The incident affected both of them. Instead of making a 1-2 finish for their country, a Ukrainian won the gold medal. Kerrigan bagged the silver; Harding finished eighth.

Gillooly later confessed in court that his former wife was behind the attack. In a plea bargain, Harding admitted guilt to avoid imprisonment. She was fined, ordered to do community service, and was banned for life from any sports competitions.

Tonya hired her former husband to hit her fellow American competitor’s feet so that she could be the best—that was a terrible crab mentality act.

Before competing for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, American sprinter Gail Devers underwent treatments for her feet, which were then suffering from Graves’ disease. Her feet could have been amputated had they not been cured earlier.

At the Barcelona Games, she won the gold medal in the women’s 100-meter run; but right after the race, a fellow American athlete, Gwen Torrence, who also competed and finished fourth in the same event, charged that two of the three medal winners had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs (AP, August 2, 1992).

The three medal winners denied the accusation. An American making a serious accusation against her fellow American who got what she did not was an act of putting down the one on top. This crab mentality practice was done while they were abroad.

During the Barcelona Games also, the high-profile U.S. basketball “Dream Team” was criticized by the most prestigious daily newspaper in the United States, The New York Times.

Instead of praising the impressive performances of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and other players, the newspaper in its editorial on August 1, 1992, rather scored them for elbowing, ganging up, and giving pierce looks to their opponents. It called them “a boorish pack of prima donnas” and also criticized them for staying in expensive hotels and not at the Olympic Village, saying that it was a sign of overblown self-esteem (UPI, August 5, 1992).

Bill Clinton was already on top—reelected for one more term (1996-2000) as president of the United States, yet his enemies still kept searching for things that could demolish him.

On December 18, 1998, his enemies in Congress impeached him for lying in a special court which investigated him of sexual misconduct. His illicit sexual practices inside the White House, the presidential residence, with many women were unearthed.

One of those women was Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, who testified that she and Clinton got involved in intimate acts. This scandal made headlines around the world and put America in funny conversations; however, Clinton’s adversaries still kept pulling him down. Clinton prevailed in the end by winning in the Senate the impeachment case slapped against him.

Racism is the worst form of American crab mentality. Since white is the dominant race in the U.S., if one is not white there, he is an outcast, relegated as a lower-class citizen.

Prejudices in U.S. communities, schools, careers, opportunities, and places of work are common and centuries-old. Many blacks and other non-whites are picked on or bullied in white-dominated schools.

A number of non-white professionals, even if they have excellent qualifications, do not get the same treatment, breaks, and benefits the whites do. There are many Christian churches where non-whites cannot enter and worship God. Those churches’ doors warn:  “Excuse me! Whites only!”

Irish crab mentality. When the all-male Irish singing group Boyzone first interpreted in the mid-1990’s their revived versions of the songs “Words” and “Father,” many of their countrymen threw bottles at them, hating and calling them copycats. But they did not mind them and just went on singing until their popularity surged worldwide.

Japanese crab mentality. Mitsuko Yamada, a 35-year-old housewife, strangled to death her two-year-old neighbor Haruna Wakayama in a public toilet and traveled 200 kilometers from Tokyo by train to bury the body in her (Yamada’s) mother’s backyard. Yamada later surrendered to the police after having been convinced by her husband to do so.

The reason: Haruna passed the entrance test to an exclusive kindergarten school, while Yamada’s two-year-old daughter did not. The Yamadas and Wakayamas were rival neighbors, and too much envy forced Yamada to kill the poor little child (AFP, November 27, 1999).

This tragedy, which gossip television shows in Japan made a feast of, would seem incredible to anti-Filipinos who sincerely believe that the Japanese are so honest, gentle, and kind that they would never harm even an ant.

Chinese crab mentality. Two Chinese-born medical practitioners were supposed to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1999, but the Chinese national government appealed to the Nobel Prize Committee, charging that the two U.S.-based doctors were subversives and traitors to the Chinese nation. The prize was rather given to a German-American, Günter Blobel.

The Nobel is the world’s most coveted prize in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, economics, and the promotion of peace. Dozens of nations, especially those in the Far East, have been dreaming to win at least one. It was already China’s golden chance to win this prize for the very first time then, yet its very own government pulled down two of its citizens.

Indian crab mentality. In a letter to U.S.-based international newsmagazine Time, M. Chandra Shekar, an Indian citizen, said:

“India is endowed with many resources, has some of the best brains, and one of the most tolerant cultures. But it is the Indian attitude that has prevented the nation from achieving the progress attained by other developing nations. The state of India is similar to a group of crabs. None can get out because each one pulls the other down. We spend more time fighting among ourselves than working for the progress of the nation” (quoted in Teodoro M. Locsin, “We Are Not Alone,” Philippines Fress Press, November 28, 1992, p. 23).

Crab mentality is not the cause of poverty. If it were, then the rich nations that also have it must also be poor by now.

Singaporean crab mentality. In 1997, when Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong unveiled his plan of making the National University of Singapore the Harvard of the Far East, it was criticized by a number of Singaporeans for allegedly being too arrogant and ambitious—the university was not even Asia’s most outstanding college institution (China’s and Japan’s universities were). Instead of supporting that Singaporean plan, Singaporean eyebrows were rather raised.

For lack of space and resources, it cannot be proven here the crab mentality acts in the more than 200 nations, but the presented facts are enough evidence that they happen anywhere.

Ant-Filipinos claim that crab mentality acts in other countries are isolated cases only, unlike here in the Philippines where they are very common. The problem with these narrow-minded is that if other peoples commit mistakes, those mistakes are just isolated, and if it is the Filipinos who do wrong, then the Filipinos are already the worst citizens and the world’s laughingstock.

Crab mentality is a fact of life and a universal attitude. It happens in every country, but not as a coordinated national activity. Only the few envious ones commit it.

TnT. Anti-Filipinos claim that because of crab mentality, Filipinos allegedly report to the immigration authorities their fellow Filipinos who are staying illegally in the countries where they are. Those illegally staying are fondly called TnT or Tago nang Tago (always hiding from the authorities). This has led many Filipinos abroad to rather be afraid of their fellow Filipinos than the authorities there.

Is it only the Filipinos who are caught staying illegally in other countries? Don’t other countries spend huge amounts of money to initiate programs and espionage, and employ personnel against illegal immigration?

For anti-Filipinos, if it is illegal Filipino immigrants who are caught by the authorities, it is because of crab mentality. But if other nationals are caught, it is because the authorities spend considerable funds and many hours of surveillance, and deputized enough number of personnel to identify, arrest, prosecute, and deport illegal immigrants.

There are people who love going the wrong channels when they can get through the right ones, and when they are caught, they blame not themselves but their fellow Filipinos. An advice to those who want to go to, work, or live in other countries: Do it the legal way.

Bayanihan. We Filipinos have a time-honored trait called bayanihan or unity. It takes place during activities like fiestas, foundation days, fund-raising projects, religious processions, seminars, conventions, beauty pageants, stage plays, and concerts in which everyone involved lends his time, effort, and resources to ensure success.

This dedication for success is also evident during work on farms, in factories, in offices, in schools, etc. The people involved unify for the good outcome of their works, establishments, and endeavors.

Bayanihan is also proven during times of personal agonies, incidents, or natural and man-made disasters. When such misfortunes occur, there will always be people eager to help according to their means.

The government and private sector provide information, seminars, funding, and other assistance on how to start, run, and become successful with small-, medium-, and large-scale industries. Filipinos are helped—not pulled down—by their fellow Filipinos.

Recognition. We also honor good deeds and brilliance.

In schools, the best students are recognized through honor roll, medals, certificates, ribbons, or scholarships. There are contests in languages, literature, science, mathematics, social studies, music, art, health, physical education, home economics, values education, and technical and industrial courses to discover and exploit youthful talents.

The annual awards for the most outstanding young men and women, teachers, school principals, lawyers, judges, accountants, engineers, doctors, dentists, nurses, policemen, soldiers, employees, workers, farmers, and others are meant to honor such people who have meritorious intellect, efficiency, honesty, creativity, and dedication to their respective professions, occupations, and vocations.

There are awards that hail the most globally competitive products Filipinos manufacture and export. Winning them means recognition of excellence and strong endorsements of products.

Yearly, there are prizes for the best companies, most efficient agencies, and the cleanest and greenest barangays, municipalities, cities, and provinces.

In the motion picture and television industry, there are the awards for the most outstanding films, programs, performers, personalities, stories, scripts, cinematography, editing, musical scoring, sound effects, setting, custom, production design, and make-up.

The sports sector has regular tournaments to discover, select, and train the best athletes that can give our country glories here and abroad.

Many competitions acclaim our writers, painters, sculptors, musicians, dancers, architects, scientists, engineers, technologists, inventors, technicians, mathematicians, and researchers.

The highest and most prestigious art and science prizes in the Philippines are the National Artist and National Scientist Awards, respectively, in which the recipients are given state honors, benefits, and lifetime pensions, and are elevated to the national pantheon of greatness where our national heroes and great men and women are forever immortalized.

We Filipinos do not pull our countrymen down. We admire, help, or extol them. If there are envious ones pulling down others, they are just few, and they will always be around because crab mentality is part of human existence. If an envious person pulls you down, confront and fight him.

Crabs In Our Midst. There are people who love pulling down others—people who always knock down, ridicule, bash, and belittle the Filipinos. They always think negative of them. They always have something bad to say against them.

There is no need to guess who they are. They are none other than the anti-Filipinos. They are the real crabs in our midst.

URINATING on the street or against the wall, spitting in public, jaywalking, disposing of garbage anywhere, and other bad habits make anti-Filipinos conclude that we Filipinos are undisciplined and the worst citizens on earth.

For anti-Filipinos, other countries are progressive because their peoples are disciplined, neat, and courteous. When Filipinos are abroad or in Subic (the former site of a U.S. military installation), they notice that the people there are disciplined, and hence they also become disciplined. They do not urinate on the street or against the wall, spit in public, disobey traffic rules, dispose of garbage anywhere, and do other bad habits. But when they are here in the Philippines or not in Subic, they do all those bad habits.

These are very unfair accusations.

It is not because we Filipinos are undisciplined. It is because of the wrong systems imposed on us by the authorities.

Traffic education. Nobody is teaching the public about comprehensive traffic education. People of all sorts—professionals, workers, peasants, students, etc.—should be informed about traffic lights, pedestrian lanes, and walk and don’t walk signs.

The students, from the earliest grade until high school, should be brought to the streets so that they would know where, when, and how to properly cross the streets. If taught early, they would carry those rules with them all their lives.

The education department, local government units, and traffic enforcement agencies have never given the public a sufficient traffic education. It is no wonder why even professionals, corporate people, and other highly educated commit jaywalking.

Public toilets. Some men urinate on the street because there are no public toilets in many places with high concentration of people, like commercial districts. The poor man will be forced to urinate against the wall or on the street because his urinary bladder is in pains. If he does not urinate, his bladder will explode, and he will be hospitalized. Those who charge that Filipinos are undisciplined will not shoulder his medical expenses.

Everyone is aware that there are toilets in malls and movie houses, where all can go for their needs. Hence, men do not urinate on or against theater seats, theater walls, or walls of malls.

This is a very simple problem that needs a very simple solution: public toilets. But it seems that the authorities will not act on it.

Wrong systems. Residents do not dispose of their garbage properly because there are no efficient garbage collection systems. They are forced to throw their wastes anywhere, when their surroundings are already stinking.

Many individuals burn forests, butcher endangered animals, and do not know how to take care of their pets, because they do not have enough information about such things.

The media are supposed to perform their duty of informing and educating people about those matters. But they rather keep saying that Filipinos are undisciplined. Even if they curse the Filipinos non-stop and then do not inform them on what should be done properly, they are doing non-sense. The government, media, and other sectors should perform their duties so that the people will be informed, educated, and taught about discipline.

It is not because we Filipinos are undisciplined. It is because of the wrong systems of enforcing traffic rules and arresting violators yet not letting people know those rules; of arresting people who urinate on the streets and not giving them public toilets; of not implementing proper garbage collection systems; of not helping us get informed about taking care of animals, nature, and environment; and of many other wrong systems.

Anti-Filipinos say that it is only Filipinos who spit, urinate, and commit other similar bad habits in public. The following news reports prove that it is untrue.

Urinating and spitting in China. In the summer of 2003, the Chinese government launched campaigns to fight bad habits like spitting and urinating on the streets.

The Chinese state media exposed that people seemed to spit anywhere and everywhere—outside supermarkets, in designated smoking areas of public buildings, in dimly lit pedestrian tunnels, in wide-open squares and plazas, under trees on commercial streets, on sewer manholes, in or near rubbish bins in subway and railway stations, at bus-stops, and while driving. The local governments imposed fines of 50-200 yuan (US$10-$42) for spitting (David Hsieh, “China to wipe out poor hygiene habits,” The Straight Times Interactive, May 25, 2003).

In November 2004, the national government instigated a toilet revolution in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, the nation’s capital. Most of China’s public toilets were squat-style pits with no running water, toilet paper, or basins to wash hands.

“Changing people’s way of thinking and teaching people the proper way to keep toilets clean will develop along with the development of toilet construction here,” said Beijing tourism official Peng Linhua. “We hope that during our toilet revolution, people will pay more attention on how to use the toilet properly, and how to protect toilet facilities” (Reuters, November 20, 2004).

Urinating in Great Britain. Because British men urinate on the streets, their government has taken actions to discipline them. Here are excerpts of a news report:

“Authorities in London are now taking desperate measures to stop British men from urinating on the streets.

“For the first time, London is seeing open-air urinals where men can take a leak in full public view—with their backs to passers-by, of course.

“The Westminster City Council figured that’s better than seeing the men doing it on the streets. The new urinals, the council says, are ‘a practical solution to the anti-social behaviour of urinating against walls and doorways.’

“So bad had the problem become that offices and restaurants made repeated complaints to the council complaining of stink at London’s most fashionable centres. One of the favourite spots chosen—termed ‘wet spots’ by the council—happened to be the offices of London First, the agency that promotes London as a business and tourist centre.

“‘Unpleasant smells from the pavement outside our offices, particularly in the summer heat, have been a serious problem for our employees,’ John Paine, executive director of London First, said.

“It’s now getting better, he says. ‘With the introduction of street urinals around Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, the situation is definitely improving.’

“But while Trafalgar Square is beginning to stink a little less, the problem of urinating on the streets remains high right across London. Some of the most stinking spots are in the fashionable West End area that has all the theatres” (Sanjay Suri, “Pissed off, London builds open-air urinals,” Indo-Asian News Service, rediff.com, U.S. edition, September 4, 2001).

Aside from putting up those urinals, the council had increased the fines for urinating on the streets to £500. It was also distributing free cards in pubs, clubs, restaurants, and theaters across West End and the Trafalgar Square area that told men where to go when they needed to.

Urinating and Defecating in the United States. The United States, the country perceived to be perfect by many, also has people urinating and defecating in public. Here are excerpts of another news report:

“In a city rife with bar hoppers and street people relieving themselves on sidewalks, alleys, and busy streets, the stench of urine has joined fresh sourdough and coffee as among the city’s famous aromas” (Renee Koury, “S. F. bans urinating in public: NEW ORDINANCE PROVIDES FOR FINES UP TO $500,” The Mercury News, Mercury News.com, July 2, 2002).

Because of that, finally, the city board of advisers unanimously had enacted a measure to outlaw urinating or defecating on city properties, imposing fines of up to US$500. The report continued:

“‘All you have to do to see that this is a problem is to walk down the streets of San Francisco and smell,’ said Supervisor Tony Hall, who has been pushing since January for the ban. His colleagues agreed, though they were divided on whether to require more public toilets before implementing the ban. They narrowly defeated an amendment that would have delayed the new law until the health commission decided there were enough toilets.

“The problem of public urination has become more pronounced in recent years, business owners say, driving away tourists and visitors whose impression of the city is decidedly sullied by the odoriferous streets.

“In approving the law, San Francisco joins a growing list of cities passing ordinances specifically outlawing public urination. Walnut Creek adopted a ban last month making it a crime punishable by up to six months in jail. Sacramento, San Diego, and Santa Cruz also cite people for urinating in public.

“Up until now, San Francisco and other cities have ticketed offenders using a state law banning ‘dumping of waste’ on city streets, or indecent exposure. But it can be tougher to prosecute under those laws; courts have said urine and feces don’t count as ‘dumped waste.’ And indecent exposure is a sexual offense.

“In San Francisco, the waste seems heaviest in the center of town: Union Square, the Civic Center, Market Street, Sixth and Mission streets, and South of Market. Supervisors said the culprits are not just the homeless, but also drunken bar hoppers and others who just can’t wait to get to a toilet. …

“Hall insisted the new law isn’t aimed at street people, but at human decency.

“‘This is not a homeless issue; it’s an issue of basic civility,’ he said. ‘It’s not a toilet issue. It’s common decency. If you have to go, handle it.’”

The United States also has such problems, usually committed by homeless people and bar hoppers. And they are not just isolated cases. They happen in many cities and towns.

As to garbage, the Westminster City Council in London had adopted additional measures for its efficient management and collection. Here is a report:

“Westminster City Council is getting ready to clear up the streets of London by launching Clean Streets, the largest clean up contract ever undertaken in the UK. The Council begins a new contract with Onyx, worth over £32 million a year, over 7 years, on September 15.

“Westminster’s clean-up team faces a 24-hour a day challenge in the fight against grime in our Capital, collecting over 200,000 tonnes of waste a year, from over a million people a day who visit Westminster, over 14,000 businesses and over 200,000 residents.

“Councillor Judith Warner, Cabinet Member for Street Environment said, ‘Clean Streets is the cornerstone of our whole Civic Renewal programme and hugely important to Westminster City Council. It is key to improving the quality of life of Londoners, as a clean city is a safer city.

“‘The contract is Westminster City Council’s investment in the future of our Capital as we work to maintain London as the world-class City that it is. We’re asking people to think about the City that they live in and how anti-social behaviour, such as dumping rubbish, graffiti, and urinating on our streets can affect the environment that we all share.

“‘Our teams will be working tirelessly, extending recycling collections, implementing no waste policies in our shopping zones, increasing refuse collections as well as the numbers of street cleaners all working hard to continue to clean up the streets of London’” (Westminster News, Media Release; Date: Thursday 04 September 2003; Ref: PR 1479).

Instead of calling their citizens undisciplined, the worst peoples on earth, and the world’s laughingstock, the Chinese, British, and U.S. governments had initiated programs to stop spitting, urinating, defecating, and dumping wastes in public.

It is hoped that the authorities, media, and other intelligent people in our country will also do the same, rather than thinking and proclaiming that we Filipinos are undisciplined and the worst citizens on earth.

Violators. Rules and fines for violating rules go together to create civility in society. But there will always be violators—in all countries, however rules and fines are imposed.

Look at Malaysia. In the 1990’s, its government had been campaigning against littering, but since there was little progress, it was forced to shame those convicted of littering by ordering them to sweep the streets while wearing a tee shirt bearing the words “I am a litterbug.”

Housing and Local Government Minister Ting Chew Peh said, “We have come to a point where we have tried everything, from stiff penalties to nationwide education campaigns, but the situation remains the same.” He hoped that public shaming would deter others (AP, August 9, 1997).

There will always be people who would spit, urinate, and defecate in public; dispose of garbage wrongly; disobey traffic rules; and violate other regulations enacted by the authorities. It’s because to violate is human. We cannot expect everyone to be perfect. The proper action against violators is to arrest, prosecute, and penalize them.

Anti-Filipinos argue that the ones who spit, urinate, defecate, and dump waste in public in other countries are Filipinos—even if they clearly see that those violators are Chinese nationals, British men, homeless and barhopping Americans, or Malaysian litterbugs. These anti-Filipinos are really hopeless; the damages in their brains are beyond repair.