What makes you NOT proud to be a Filipino?

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Daisuke

Well... there are 5 things...

... false pride. Most Filipinos abroad (i am abroad) think that the world cannot survive without Filipinos (which is so racist as there is NO one race above another).

... crab mentality. When you are abroad, the only people who do drag you down are your fellow Filipinos not the foreigners. This happens in about 90% of cases.

... gossip. Not only is this deeply ingrained in our culture, it is also encouraged. Open the TV or newspaper and you will see so many gossips in the form of "news", "blind items", "talk shows", etc.

... simple-mindedness. People believe ANYTHING that comes out of the TV or newspapers. The government made us believe that exporting people is a noble thing by calling them "NEW HEROES"??? Yes, we are exporting PEOPLE not goods! If your country is exporting people to work like slaves and cannot provide employment within the country, that is a BIG problem.

... corruption. Take a good look at our government, economy, public services (roads, lamposts, etc). Do I need to say more? This does not include the Garci Scandal, Broadband Issue, Erap's Trial and Pardon (so we just wasted millions for what?), etc.

battgirl

Pinoys spitting on the streets and taking a leak at every damn wall. =D

Ian C

well im not proud of the filipino time...lol

always late.. but i must admit that the neo-pinoy are already making the move of changing this habit....

but in totality im proud to be a filipino. coz despite all our imperfections i still believe that filipinos are unique people...

you cant find people who laughs at almost everything....

and the way we treasure FAMILY is really extra ordinary...

MAuReEn G

first i can say that corruption on the philippines make me feel shameful for this country.i guess poverty would make the best answer

Gary

dr. Evil just had me on the edge of my seat when he launched his bitter diatribe against the faults (make that shortcomings) of the Filipino, in particular, and the country, in general. Call me unpatriotic but his tirade hit the mark, for a spectator sees most of the ball game. I'm a concerned child of my Mother Philippines whose course in the open seas is cast adrift.

tom1941

John B - I came to the Philippines full of excitement and thought I could contribute to make things better. I want to leave and will be leaving feeling defeated and wondering if anything or anybody could help the Philippines.

You say Filipino's are "ALL" nice that is simply not true. Today I left our residence to go to Mass. As I was walking to the gate of the sub-division I saw a taxi that had just dropped off someone that lives in the sub-division. I flagged the taxi down and got in. As we were sitting at the Security Gate for the driver to get his identification back from the guard a vehicle came quickly in front of us blocking us in.

My first thought was I am about to be kidnapped. The windows of the vehicle had dark tint and I could not see in. The man got out of his vehicle and came to the taxi and began trying to open the drivers door screaming and yelling. He began to beat on the top of the taxi with his fist denting the top of the taxi all in. He claimed the taxi driver did not bring his daughter to their door, but let her out on the street outside the sub-division. That was not true because I saw the taxi let the child out in front of their house prior to my getting in.

The man was ranting, raving at everyone in sight and kicking and beating everything he could gets his hands and feet on. I exited the taxi fearing if he shot at the driver I would also be hit. I ask him if he had a problem with the driver why he did not do the right thing and report him to the proper authority instead of taking the law in to his own hands. I ask him what right did he have to block me in since I had nothing to do with his problem. He told me to go F--- myself. I told him I needed to leave because I had a Mass at six. He said F--- your Mass, F--- all priest and was pointing his finger in my face signing the only sign language he probably knew.

What disturbs me the most is the fact that this man is a business owner, well educated and would be considered very upper middle class. In most societies a man in this position would have too much respect for himself and others to act like this.

The man killed in Manila City Hall today was one of six that has been killed over the past few years because of a feud between two families. Three in each family have now been killed. This is a common way to resolve conflict in the Philippines but is not common in most civilized socieites.

What is really distrubing in this particular instance is the fact this is not a lower class family, a poor family, an uneducated family. They are just the opposite. The one killed today is an ex-mayor. In most socieites people in this position would have too much respect for themselves and others to act like this. They would be the ones setting the example for how soceity should act.

Corruption is rampant in every aspect of society. Teachers force students to purchase food, supplies, etc from them to supplement their incomes. Traffic Enforcers stop you in order to collect a bribe. When applying for a building permit you need to grease the right hands. Regional Government Inspectors over Institutions of higher learning take bribes and do not close certain institutions down that have not had one single student ever pass the Nursing Board Exams. This is only the tip of the iceberg and corruption that I have personally experienced while in the Philippines.

What is really disturbing about this is that these people are people of authority and people that hold these positions of leadership and authority in most socieities would not act like this because they would have too much respect for themselves and others. These are the people who in most societies would be setting examples for others.

Who do you turn to for help when trying to teach the young people how to live together and get along in a society when those that should be setting good examples or not.

President Estrada is treated like a hero by the same people that took to the streets and removed him from office. This past week they discovered another one billion peso account of money he took illegally from the people. You would think that the man would be disgraced but he is not. I would not be shocked for him to find some way to be the next President in 2010.

I am sorry, but I am perplexed.

I have lived all over the world and worked all over the world and as hard as I try to understand the Philippines I simply cannot. Every country has it problems and there is no country where "ALL" the people are nice, but to bury you head in the sand and pretend there are no problems in the Philippines will not lead to solutions.

Bones

i'm not filipino, but I think you should be proud of whoever you are and whatever you choose to become.

bottom contributor

It makes no sense to be proud of simply happening to be born into a certain culture or race. Nobody has any control over such things. Pride over things you don't influence or control only leads to a false sense of superiority. I've quickly learned this growing up in the present western culture (by far the most needlessly proud of all cultures.) I've learned that we easily confuse pride for thankfulness and this is something I want to remain conscious of as long as I live.

freeverse

Is when we complain left and right yet we are not helping in our own little way.For example
1.Garbage-we blame the local official for not collecting it regularly but where did those garbage came from?..ours.

2.We make ''kantyaw''[bullying] our fellowmen[mga artista,baduy,corny,OA] but when we heard criticism from other country we all rise and revolt.[It's so confusing]

3.Maniana habit--solving today's problem...tomorrow.

4.Government official that supposedly public servant yet they act like the employer of tax payer.

A lot to mention but that makes us the real pinoy.And eventhough we're like that..at the end of the day..yes I'm still proud of being pinoy.

Bitter Guy

For me, that would be our third world country status. A close second would be the debts our country has now.

kimmy

the only thing i hate about filipinos(btw. i'm a filipino )is that they are very streotyped people who notices every little flaw you've got..as for the country, it is very polluted in some areas.

braidwhip

When I hear fellow Filipinos speak badly of our own country.

Juan C

being a 3rd world country...

and also, I'm not happy with our government...

Cinnamon

First I want to say, ( tom 1941)
Thank you for reminding some of us of our realities.

We filipino's need a hard line confrontation of our internal condition and global status.
I have stated in a previous question that our country need a strong,bold and intelligent leader who is not afraid of assasination and coup attempts. A leader who has vision with the ability to inspire and teach everyone how to live straight and clean for the next generations to follow.
I am afraid that the "spirit of satan" that lurks within our government and society may cause this kind of leader to get assasinated just like "Ninoy"

If the Philippines remain the way it is with no sign of progession toward change for a stable life for our locals 50 years from now, we should just become an isolated country like North Korea.

Our locals lack knowledge on how important it is for us to integrate with other powerful nations. But no, we filipino's don't want to be "colonized" by other nations. Not very smart at all. It makes the world think we love to live poor, uneducated, unprepared and unstable at every level.

I think our government officials don't have diplomacy skills because if they did, we would have a better stance on where we are today.

Go to the U.S. Embassy in Manila and see the number of foriegner/Pinay marriages taking place each day.
It does'nt matter if their marriage is real or not, it seem as if that is the key to ending poverty, corruption and finding true love for some of them.
It seem as if the "system" is designed to use foreigners money to their advantage but are people really getting ahead in life by cheating, lying,stealing and pretending.
You see what our government has done to our people.

This is what makes me NOT proud to be a filipino.

John B

No one should be ashamed of their country so much as not to be proud of being one of its people.
Being a Filipino is special .....
You may want to ask a question which seeks to justify or not the problems seen in the Philippines and the way culture is disappearing.
Issues such as we see today, an ex Mayor murdered in a court! unbelievable that anyone can get in to a court with a gun!!
Politicians murdered because they want to be elected.
Corruption is rife
Employment is only for below 35 so experience does not count!

Sorry .. just seen an answer from Doggy li ... who thinks its an insult be mistaken for a Filipino ... Well Doggy Li the Filipino people are very tolerant of other nationalities and very supportive. They are ALL very nice, you would probably never here a Filipino saying anything bad against a Chinese first .... only as a retort! if you cannot say anything nice then dont say it!

ReignyFaye

to be honest i'm proud of being filipino because we are unique people who fight to keep their culture alive and traditions going..

the only thing i hate about being filipino is our past and how its driven us to corruption at times.. thats not everyone just saying how government has been like.. .

~ne~

when ppl start talkin about how "its a good place to get girls" or how ppl talk about the whores.. its really shameful especially about the vanessa ann hudgens thing

also when people ask if im chinese, japanese etc. and i say filipino and then they get all not interested

its just really offensive

???V??? vandalhartz ?????

Extreme sarcasm.
Added:
To the guy above me:
Really? BRAVO! He deserved it, though i would actually want to make his sufferings more painful that he began to beg by ending his life with an RPG (rocket propelled grenade). Too violent? What about those hungry children roaming around the dangerous streets? What about those poor families who always get their houses torn down by the gov't? What about education that is perpetually being neglected? What about those stupid laws that protect and hide their business interests? Now, who's next?

Ace Gonzales

Nothing.

PG_13

whatever they say, i'm proud to be a filipino. not only a filipino had made a mistake but of course all over the world. the only important is how you help your countrymen.

jerjer

I love being a Filipino because i come from a good family with good rep and i have been raised well, with discipline and concern for others.

However, not all of us are this way. And this lack of good family background is the beginning of our downfall. I mean, look at the people who are causing us shame, and usually, they do not have enough education, because their families do not value it.

We could take all day just trying to think what causes this lack of education.

Another shameful thing about us is our lack of quality. Look at our movies, music, products.

And lastly, i am very ashamed of the fact that we do not have originality. Look at our singers. All they ever do is revive foreign songs, and sing them like it was their own, and that's like, yuck.

Roji

I used to be overjoyed at the thought of a trip to the PI, or getting a little Philippine flag to decorate my room. That was when I was 12.

I hate thinking of myself as someone who doesn't have pride in his nation or his people, but there is so much not to be proud of that it's just impossible for me to think of something to smile about. I mean, over the years, I've just gotten sick of it.

I remember going to the Philippines when I was 13. I have relatives in both the poorer areas and the somewhat more modern areas. It surprised me how impolite people are. I mean, all of my filipino friends here in the states were raised to do common things like say "excuse me," or to try not to interrupt people, or all sorts of things you do out of common etiquette. It's as if it's nonexistant there. I don't know how many people bumped into me and didn't even bother with a look of "oh, my bad."

hmm... i went a little off topic, sorry

For what reason am I not proud to be filipino?
1. How about the arrogance of our people?
a) Filipino Time- Why is it a filipino trait to be late? I'm sure we're not the only culture to have people who are late. This brings me to the next letter.
b) How we attribute everything to being filipino- What does valuing your family and culture have to do with being filipino? We are not the only ones who can laugh at anything, or be really hospitable. Actually, I'm sure it's not hard to find many counter-examples to whatever people attribute "filipinoness" to.
c) It's even in our institutions- I have a friend who attends an internationally accredited school university in or near Manila (I forgot), UST whatever that stands for, and one of the questions he had to answer was "How is the Filipino Man compared to Joseph, the human father of Jesus?" I mean, I know it's a religious school, but why is it "the Filipino Man" as opposed to "the common man." What makes the Filipino man so special that he can be compared to a religious figure?

2. TFC
Ok, now I know I'm not getting the major picture of Filipino entertainment just from TFC. I've seen a few shows on GMA that I can't complain about. But it seems to me that the most popular shows aside from the ones of pretty light skinned folks singing and dancing, are dramas. What happened to Sineskwela? But yea, what's up with all that unnecessary dancing and stuff on the game shows? long rows of girls, half naked, just drawing out the game show. Thank you Wowowee for giving me eye candy. I'm not here to see people play a game, I'm here to see women dance and yell. Oh and I love how they encourage people to cry about whatever reason on a game show. Us filipinos just love our drama, don't we?

Gosh, I'm just full of angst right now, sorry, but that's just been on my mind.

I didn't even mention politics or anything really important. But yea, can someone tell me why the exchange rate of the piso to the dollar ($1 to around 50 pisos?) is "better" than the Japanese yen ($1 to around 140 Yen). I'm not good with economics.

Fire Princess

...just one thing - the CORRUPTION that seems to plague us for decades now

I live in Philadelphia.I think the whole problem is the PH. Start being a PHilipino,and maybe it'll be all cool.Just messing with you,Amigo,enjoy.

Clarisse

I think a poverty because it's feels a hopeless and it should be to survived it in our lives and even having a graft and corruption it's very poor of our performances in our country

CHOCO CRUNCHIES

As a Filipino, I am proud being one!

dwells the sea:)

nothing.

I am proud to be a Filipino, Filipinos are unique people no one could be really like us:)

we are highly admired because some Filipinos how to speak Vietnamese, German, English, Korean, Latin, Spanish, French, Chinese.. any language that they learned.

lnce

Who says I'm not?

introvert_amplifier

there are vices in every race. there may be something in us, Filipinos that we think are not good, but to be regretful and not proud of our race can do us no good.
i hate some. the 'stupid values' that the spaniards inherit to us through their stay in our country for 333 years. but what else can i do to that, but by step by step, in my own change some of this attitudes.
being not proud is too much. if i happened to be one of those who hate the race they belong. i think that is one thing that i will regret my whole life.

and to the guy who said that filipino thinks they are special, that is a common trait to every race. the spanish, they say they need to colonize the world to save the world from evi 9i forgot the origina text from legenda negra). durr! the americans think they are superior!

Pepper88

Other than the horrible grammar found in the Philippine answer section- nothing! It's great being Filipino especially with our many talents such as singing and the arts. A lot of Filipinos are achievers, mostly college graduates, and are successful both in and out of the country. We're survivors!!!!

Eusebio

When I hear news of Filipinos abroad committing crimes i.e. fraud, murder, rape, etc....

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