FILIPINO VALUES

Source: PATRICIA LICUANAN, A MORAL RECOVERY PROGRAM: BUILDING A

PEOPLE-- BUILDING A NATION.
THE MANY FACES OF THE FILIPINO
From this discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino, it is clear that
there is much that is good here, but there is also much that needs to be changed. Many of
our strong points are also the sources of our weakness.
As a people, we are person-oriented, and relationships with others are a very
important part of our lives. Thus, we are capable of much caring and concern for others.
On the other hand, in the extreme our person orientation leads to lack of objectivity and a
disregard for universal rules and procedures so that everyone, regardless of our
relationship with them, is treated equally. Our person orientation leads us to be concerned
for people, and yet unfair to some.
Our family orientation is both a strength and a weakness, giving us a sense of
rootedness and security, both very essential to any form of reaching out to others. At the
same time, it develops in us an in-group orientation that prevents us from reaching out
beyond the family to the larger community and the nation.
Our flexibility, adaptability and creativity is a strength that allows us to adjust to any
set of circumstances and to make the best of the situation. But this ability to "play things
by ear" leads us to compromise on the precision and discipline necessary to accomplish
many work-oriented goals.
Our sense of joy and humor serves us well in difficult times. it makes life more
pleasant, but serious problems do need serious analysis, and humor can also be
destructive. Our faith in God and our religiosity are sources of strength and courage, but
they also lead to an external orientation that keeps us passive and dependent on forces
outside ourselves.
There are other contradictions in the many faces of the Filipino. We find
pakikipagkapwa-tao and the kanya-kanya mentality living comfortably together in us. We
are other-oriented and capable of great empathy; and yet we are self-serving, envious of
others, and unconstructively critical of one another.
We also find the Filipino described alternately as hardworking and lazy. Indeed we
see that we are capable of working long and hard at any job. However, our casual work
ethic as well as our basic passivity in the work setting also is apparent as we wait for
orders and instructions rather than taking the initiative.