Good and Bad About Philippine Society

Society is formed when individuals having similar interests and sharing similar conditions (i.e. gender, age, etc...) come together. Within the society is a constant interaction that creates a chain of “give and take” and evolving shared behaviors, values and beliefs.

In the Philippines, Society has been shaped by the influx of varied cultures throughout history. There is the Chinese that came looking to trade, the Spanish that came to conquer, the American who aimed to make their mark in the world, and of course, the Malays who are our primary ancestors.

The diverse foundation what shaped the Philippine Society has its advantages and disadvantages. For one, there is an unparalleled cheerfulness among Filipinos that’s respected all over the world. This cheerfulness paves the way to a happy-go-lucky attitude that makes the regular Filipino take things as is without overly concerning himself over the future. This can be seen throughout history having the Philippines colonized several times over and natives not having the need to conquer other lands. This sense of complacency and comfort trickled down to today’s masses and as a result, Filipinos nowadays lack the initiative to act on his own and just sit around waiting for instructions as what needs to be done. Most Filipinos prefer working for others (employment) rather than running their own business, the reason why business in the Philippines are mostly run and owned by Chinese immigrants. To some extent, the willingness of the Filipinos to be “ordered around” has made workers and professionals one of the biggest exports of the county.

Another aspect of the Philippine Society is the belief of a higher power, the power of the Supreme Being called God and superiority of the other nations. This strong religious belief enabled Filipinos to acknowledge their fate as planned by God and accept misfortunes whole-heartedly; thus, “bahala na” and “may bukas pa” are uttered by most Filipinos in times of uncertainty. The belief in karma also controlled the actions of Filipinos in the likings of their so-called God. Thus, the Filipino value of being respectful and obedient is imbued within society. In addition, Filipinos appreciation over the other nations resulted to lack of patriotism and preference of foreign products and culture over Its own. Education in the Philippines by itself is being taught in a foreign language as opposed to the native. This resulted to the belief that education is only for the rich; hence, not everyone is given equal opportunity. Most Filipino parents then believes that education is unnecessary as their children will eventually have the same life and fate as they do; hence, allowing and/or forcing their children to work at a younger age to support them and not the other way around.

One of the core values in the Philippine Society is the importance of family. For Filipinos, family is a source of their