POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES AND SARTRE’S NOTION OF BAD FAITH

Carl O. Cabasag

Introduction

“It is more fun in Philippines”. This is one of the best-advertised lines of the Philippines all over
the world. The beauty that it holds mesmerizes people from different countries to come and see for
themselves the beauty it really possess. There is one saying that “everyone has secrets”, it is in fact true,
and so it is in the Philippines. Philippines do not only hold different tourist spots or wonders but it also
holds a dark reality. It is not “more fun”, well it would be for tourists since they would only come and go,
although some would stay here and reside together with their family but for other Filipinos it is a big NO.
Why would Philippines be “more fun” when it has already flooded by its own chronic poverty? It has
already been a persistent problem for many years and primarily affects many other Filipinos. 1 It is been
observed for a long period and many researches have been done but this poverty in the Philippines is
continuing to exist up to the present and eat up other Filipinos. There are already programs or actions
from the government in regard to lessening or truthfully eradicate the ongoing crisis of the phenomena -
chronic poverty but it is still too “active”.2 Why is this so?

Poverty is the state of being inadequate or having a lack of. 3In the Philippines, there are people
who are born with silver spoon/s in their mouths but on the dark side, contrary to this, there would be
those who are born with wooden spoons on their mouthsor even worst,none and eventually eats up dirt for
their life. This is too visible in the Philippines. By the existing phenomenon, many of different age are
suffering of this. There are children wandering around selling sampaguita flowers as necklaces. Some are
going in groups collecting trashes. Others collect recyclable materials for money. In addition, some are
just squandering around. Some stay on parking lots helping those who are looking for a space to park
their ride and then ask for some money even just a penny in exchange for their efforts. Some also offer a
short wipe on some else’ car. Others are going around approaching strangers or knocking on the windows
of a stranger’s car for one purpose, “pahingopo ng pera/limos”, in English, “can I ask for some money”.
In worst cases if someone will refuse or insist to give something, even a small amount of kindness they

1
Piquero-Ballescas, Maria Rosario. "Tungod sa Kawad-on". International Journal of Mental
Health 38, no. 3 (2009): 66-87.
2
Piquero-Ballescas, Maria Rosario. "Tungod sa Kawad-on". International Journal of Mental
HealtH, 66-87.
3
Parker, Canice. Mental Poverty and Factors of Poverty, Reasons for Famine. n.d.
http://www.positivepointofview.com/mental-poverty-reasons-for-famine.php .
are the ones who will go berserk or get mad at that person. They might even spit or even beat someone
else up.4

On the other side, there are those who sell some of their body parts like livers, eyes, and others
just for more or less a thousand peso. Some even use their whole body as a way of earning money. They
go around choosing their customers. There are also those who would rather choose to be with a foreigner
and get married even if love did not bind them together but rather money. There would even be those who
are, stealing or robbing from another person just to supply some needs or even wants. Others are already
going to the easy way of life such as illegal businesses. There are those who are just sadly waiting for
their death. All of this is because of poverty.

All of these are just of a due reason why often time poor people do not get out themselves out of
their misery; that is their mentality. They think that they have some sort of destiny in front of themselves
that they must accept without any complaining about it. Invoking the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul
Sartre, he have this phenomena or attitude of self-deception in which people limit themselves of their
capacity to freely choose, he called this as mauvaise foi or bad faith. He said that:

“In irony a man annihilates what he posits within one

and the same act; he leads us to believe in order not to be
believed; he affirms to deny and denies to affirm; he creates a
positive object but it has no being other than its nothingness…
This attitude, it seems to me, is bad faith (mauvaisefoi).” 5

The mentality of being destined or having an ill fate towards a misery and then doing nothing is a
sign of bad faith. This mentality should rather have some factors why it developed into such. With this
mentality of some poor people, it would be passed on to their next set or generation of family that will be
continuous if not prevented. One article, “The Poor in the Philippines: some insight from Psychological
Research”, gave some factors of such mental deficiency or the lack of positive mental foresight. A 48-
year-old woman named Laura said:

“That is why we are poor, my Mom, she did not know

nothing, she just stayed in the house, and my father just did buy
and sell. My mother, every year, had a baby. That is the hard

4
Piquero-Ballescas, Maria Rosario. "Tungod sa Kawad-on”. 66-87
5
Sartre, Jean-Paul. 1956. Being and Nothingness. Translated by Hazel E. Barnes. New York,NY10020:
Washington Square Press. 86-87
 part… I told my father that I wondered why he does not think of
the future of his kids, he just makes babies and babies.” 6

Such negativity or lack of positive mental foresight must have, in some ways, a responsible
“someone” or something. The given mentality should have been influenced or created either by the one
himself or by the others. This could be around the one who is affected or the just the one who is affected
is continuously affecting himself with it. Then eventually in the Philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre, he
reminds the human person that he is the creator of his life. He creates what he wants his life would look
like. He chooses what he truly wants.7

In this research, the researcher aims to argue that poor people in the Philippines should in anyway
be convinced that they are free human persons not just any part of the human existence that has its own
destiny. In this way, it could be a touch of the one of the major problem in the Philippines; that is poverty.
The researcher will not give an absolute solution. It will just be a simple hint or just a simple way of
discovering some little facts on the possibilities of finding a solution in lessening the prevailing poverty.
The researcher then will firstly discuss on Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of Bad Faith and a little glimpse on
his other philosophies. The need of discussing his other philosophies is that they are in connection with
one anotherthus it supports one another. Then the next would be a discussion on how Bad Faith
contributes to the poverty in the Philippines and the presence of mental poverty. Lastly, the researcher
would give some insights on how and what are the effects of realizing the full potentiality of freedom and
choice neglecting the attitude of the Sartrean concept of bad faith towards poverty.

6
Tuason, Ma. Teresa. "The Poor in the Philippines: Some Insights from Psychological Research
7
Ramos, Christine Carmela R. Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human
Person. 1st Edition .n.d.