Weekly Brief
Lack of honour and a deficit of trust in Philippine society hinders the nation's progress.
In review and in prospect
You don’t need to look far. The current political tele-dramas that have riveted Filipinos lately point to it. Thievery on such an unprecedented vast scale perpetrated by the elected officials of a society are proof in itself. Many of them were not elected once but twice — and their offspring and kin elected despite all that. When a mistake is made once, we can let it slide. Twice mistaken, stupidity becomes a possibility. More than that constitutes a criminal abuse of the Vote.
Champions of Philippine democracy have long asserted that the Vote constitutes the “voice of the people”. Consider then that Philippine Congress is now widely considered to be the country’s biggest criminal syndicate we can conclude from there that this is a reflection of the character of the society that elected its members.
You can’t blame Filipinos if they suffer from collective trust issues. Jaime Licauco in an Inquirer article dated 22 May 2001 went as far as saying that: “A nation whose policies and rules are based on the assumption that everybody is a cheat and liar unless proven otherwise cannot long endure. Take a close look at our bureaucracy and its rules. It is burdened by elaborate and often unnecessary checks and balances so that nothing ever gets done in the process.”
Why can’t things be simplified in the Philippines? Because Filipinos cannot be trusted to be honourable enough to do the right thing on their own volition. And so whereas a standard process will require, say, one approval and one validation, those Filipinos are subject to in their country require double or even triple that. It is easy to see this dynamic at work in one’s routine commute to and from work. There are steel and concrete barriers littered all over Manila’s roads that are meant to physically control traffic flow. Compare this to other cities in the world where mere concepts painted on the road largely suffice.
In such societies, people trust one another to follow the rules. Indeed, the whole system works on the basis of each individual adhering to these rules. There is mutual trust on a vast scale and, as such, prosperity is at a scale that matches the extent and depth of this social trust. In short, there is honour amongst the participants of the well-oiled systems of interaction in prosperous societies, and that honour is well-rewarded at a macro level.
Compare this to the Philippines where everything is snarled by Filipinos’ blanket mistrust of one another. Nowhere is this profound mutual distrust Filipinos feel for one another more evident than in the way Filipinos build their homes. Where such perks could be afforded, Filipino residential communities are walled fortresses patrolled by armed guards. And within these fortified enclaves, individual homes are walled up as well.
Suffice to say, the Philippines remains a feudal society in more ways than one, even in the 21st Century. It is true, however, that the northern societies that dominate the planet today were all forged in the horrors of medieval feudalism that lasted for centuries. The evolution from that state of affairs into the prosperous, cohesive, and largely egalitarian societies that these great countries are today was long and bloody. One would argue that it is unfair to compare a young country such as the Philippines to these comparatively ancient societies. But history only matters when lessons can be learnt from it. Singapore, for example, did exactly that; pulling itself together against the odds and prospering mightily against the pressures presented by its fragmented ethnic striven social fabric, its small size and military weakness, and its being abandoned by its former colonial masters. It achieved in a few decades what many societies took centuries to achieve.
The story of how Singapore went from Third World to First World within less than half a century debunks any excuse that the Philippines remains a chronic failure because it lacks Europe’s and northeastern Asia’s history and the strong social harmony that took centuries to establish in those parts. For that matter, there is no point in making excuses for failure. Twenty First Century technology offers unprecedented access to humanity’s vast knowledgebase. Filipinos simply need to use the Net to learn how to build stuff instead of using it to take selfies and download porn.
Thus the bigger challenge we face is in finding evidence of honour that transcends family and religious ties — as what we can see in truly modern societies where all ethnic and religious groups and minorities are treated fairly and respected unconditionally. And if we cannot find any beyond quaint examples of “honour” at small community and clan levels that comes easy due to family, religious, or ethnic ties, then we need to reflect on what needs to be done to build that social honour to a scale that befits a 21st Century nation. The alternative will be to remain a poor sorry excuse for a country forever lamenting the poor hand history has dealt it.
Last week's blog posts
Dismantling of the EDSA busway would have been an astounding injustice
February 9, 2025 by benign0
"...a blanket preferential treatment is given to private motorists and passengers who represent less than 20 percent of daily commuters. That statistic alone describes the institutionalised injustice baked into the Philippines’ infrastructure development priorities."
Sara Duterte fills the gap in the old Yellowtard-Communist Axis’s campaign rhetoric
February 8, 2025 by benign0
"Then as now, the Axis of Wokedom offered no vision to Filipino voters beyond a lame attempt to emotionally-blackmail them into voting for the 'decent' choice. Talk about insulting the intelligence of an entire people!"
Sara Duterte holds steady as crooked impeachment circus looms
February 8, 2025 by Ramon Ortoll
"It’s up to the public to judge the administration at the polls in May. Should the Duterte candidates be elected this makes Marcos a lameduck going into 2028 and political alliances will shift again."
Sui Generis: Impeachment as more a political judgement exercise
February 7, 2025 by Ramon Ortoll
"Traditionally, midterms are seen as a referendum on the sitting administration’s performance. An impeachment trial against Vice President Duterte would undoubtedly become a central campaign issue..."
Is Rappler a beneficiary of USAID?
February 7, 2025 by benign0
"Trying to solve a problem created by foreign capital or, worse, 'aid', using more foreign capital (rather than inherent capability) is like trying to pay off debt by borrowing more money. It’s a fool’s way of life."
Sara Duterte IMPEACHED! Her father saw it coming back in 2019…
February 6, 2025 by Ramon Ortoll
"The Yellowidiots, the Reds and the loyalists are all gloating now that Inday has been impeached. Inday was used as the stepping stone to the presidency and now she’s the doormat for the Marcos presidency."