The Filipino’s Toxic Concept of Success

Ethics refers to standards of behavior regarding proper and improper actions within a society or
group, usually from a human or cultural perspective rather than a legal one. This
consequentialism is a moral practice that determines whether something is right by the results. In
regards to personality traits, Filipinos are renowned for having a lot to offer we're kind, strong,
and supportive of one another in difficult situations. The world can learn so much from the
intricate and multifaceted culture of the Philippines. But it's not flawless. We are susceptible, like
many other civilizations, to some poisonous patterns that, despite appearing to be quite harmless
on the surface, can have long-lasting negative effects. Filipinos should truly reflect on why they
submit to the desire to conform to society's standards. For the fact that graduation season is now
in full swing, why not talk about the obsession of Filipino parents on putting their children in
good school and having a college degree. To find a decent career with a stable salary, it is often
believed among Filipino families/parents that their children should attend college. We are
familiar with several people who took second jobs or struggled financially only to pay for their
children's college tuition fee. To ensure that one "gifted" child completed college in the hopes
that he or she would help the family escape poverty, some families have even gone as far as to
sacrifice the education of their other children. Being raised in a home where there is clearly
favoritism is not simple. One of the children is preferred for the reason of she/he is intelligent,
attractive, athletic, charming, etc., while the other, who lacks all those qualities, sits silently in a
corner. The undesirable sibling suffers emotional harm because of this toxic feature and the
parents' unequal love demonstration. They'll develop the belief that they're not good enough, that
they must do better, and that they must please more people. The “Bakit hindi mo gayahin si”
(why don't you be like) when you are being criticized for something and they want you to imitate
someone who demonstrates a quality they are seeking, they are showing this feature. In the end,
someone compares you to them. Example of manifestation: A parent telling their child to be like
his/her brother, who consistently makes the honor roll after the second son fails a subject. Why is
it toxic? When someone is compared to you in that way, there is a presupposition that you are
inferior to them, which ignores the truth that everyone is unique in their way. "Belittling of
arts/music and careers related to it" When someone we know expresses little interest in attending
art or music classes or pursuing a job, this tendency is frequently expressed as a kind of
discouragement by saying that there is little potential for success. Example of manifestation: A
parent encouraging their child to attend a business course rather than enrolling him or her in
music school. Why is it harmful? It frequently destroys dreams and severely limits what a child
can do. However, judging someone only based on their course or profession choices has a
negative effect because it throws a negative light on their abilities and intelligence.

According to LaRoque (2004), Filipino parents also put importance on education that they would
be willing to make sacrifice everything just for their children to be sent to school to lift them up
out of poverty. That’s the reason it is common for us to hear that if you don’t get to finish your
school and get a degree, you won’t be successful in life. In the perspective of the ethical theory
of consequentialism, that says the best action that we should take is that those produce “good
outcomes” (Smart and Williams, 1973), for the poor people this has bad outcomes to them. Since
they have limited resources, they mostly focus on having food at the table rather than other basic
needs like education. That’s why having the Filipino ideology of “not finishing a college degree
will not make you successful” will be leading them bad consequences since according to ADB
(2010) having low educational attainment prevent a person of finding a job and unavailable
secured employment. This will only give unfair treatment of those people with no college degree
and will just make the poor become poorer. As cited by Lustig et al. (2001) if the country
constantly fails to reduce poverty and inequality it may result to “lower economic growth
trajectory” as seen by Latin America’s persistent poverty (Perry et al. 2006). On one of the
variants of consequentialism, which is the rule consequentialism who not only focuses on the
good outcomes but has set of rules on every action, this unfair treatment is against to the social
conduct of the society. And sometimes, this unable for the people who have no college-degree
who are more fitted to have better opportunities.

As we live in a developing country like the Philippines, we have understood at an early age that
we must work hard to achieve a comfortable life and to do that the best thing that our parents can
recommend is to receive a college degree. While this might be true that a degree can open doors
to better opportunities it doesn’t guarantee that success. The first solution that might be able to
consider is to make our parents realize that not all college graduate graduates would have
successful careers. There are some great careers in business and in arts wherein they worked
their way up to the top and a bit of luck. According to Bouchrika (2022) Microsoft, Facebook,
Dell, Twitter, and Apple’s founders are college dropouts. These men are now multi-millionaires
and billionaires that have created their own empire with thousands of employees and is still
growing. Granted these men might have lucked out on life and are geniuses in terms of
technology but they are the greatest examples of people who didn’t need a college degree to
succeed. Other than the fact that you can succeed without a college degree according to Shapiro
(2019) it is said that suicide has been the second most common cause of death among U.S
college students. And since better jobs requires skills and knowledge, the government can give
free seminars and trainings to people that don’t have college degree. This will give those people
who can’t afford to go to school to search for better opportunities in life and jobs. The
government could also create better jobs for those who don’t have a college-degree by

References:
Asian Development Bank (2010). Country strategy progress report
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LaRocque, N. (2004). Public Private Partnerships in Education: A Case Study of the
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