Today still Yesterday

“The Filipino of today is soft, easy-group. His tendency is towards parasitism,” as

stated by Former President Manuel L. Quezon in his presidential address on August 19,
1938. He wants to convey that modern Filipinos are weaker than their ancestors, so
they need to regain their past pride. However, modernization has become an integral
part of society because it is necessary for the people's economic development, and
Filipinos have certainly retained their values and attitudes despite modernization.
Modern Filipinos may not be the same as their forefathers, but they retain the
characteristics and values that can be seen in today's world.

Manuel L. Quezon expressed that the Filipinos of today have lost much of their
ancestors' moral strength and power for growth and become more parasitic to others.
Rather than losing perseverance for growth and being dependent on others, Filipinos of
today would take sacrifices to provide for their families. According to the Philippine
Statistics Authority, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) or Filipino workers who worked
abroad between April and September 2021 were estimated to number 1.83 million.
Overseas Contract Workers (OCWs), or those with existing work contracts, made up
96.4 percent of all OFWs during the same period, or 1.76 million people. This makes
modern Filipinos value the courage to be successful.

Filipino values such as “Bayanihan” and “Pagmamalasakit” are still currently

applied in the minds of modern Filipinos, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The
people united as one to tackling against the virus outbreak through donations and being
volunteers in health centers. On June 5, 2020, 1,081 current and former science
scholars volunteered in relief operations; data encoding and validation; 3D printing of
frames for face shields and other personal protective equipment (PPE) for front liners;
and alcohol production. Some even assisted in their community safety assistance
program by watching who entered and exited their barangay stated by the Department
of Science and Technology.

Modern Filipinos may have become soft, easygoing, lacking earnestness, fearing
being caught doing the wrong thing, patriotism lacking, and frivolous in their view of life.
However, some of them, not all, are becoming like that. They have proven that even
with modernization, they still have the inner Filipino within them by showing the grit and
the values that their ancestors had in the past.

Hence, the Filipinos of today do not need spiritual and moral regeneration but instead
improve and retain the characteristics, values, morals, and attitude of a real Filipino.
Implementing the values in the schools and the communities of the Philippines will
greatly help in molding the next generation just like the pride of ancestors. The world
may have advanced but it does not forget the past, it develops alongside the culture that
the people lived within their minds and hearts.
References used:

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2022, December 2). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from
https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-and-employment/survey-overseas-filipinos

u1. (n.d.). Dost in awe of scholars' volunteerism amid covid-19. DOST in awe of
Scholars' volunteerism amid COVID-19. Retrieved March 16, 2023, from
https://www.sei.dost.gov.ph/index.php/news-archive/307-dost-in-awe-of-scholars-
volunteerism-amid-covid-19