If you are a foreigner living in the Philippines, you will notice that Filipinos have bad habits that should be ditched. But these negative traits do not diminish the fact that Filipinos have good habits too, they are good-natured, hospitable, resilient, awesome, creative and many more.
The Philippines is considered a developing country for so many years which means less developed compared to neighboring countries that include Japan, Brunei, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. There are still many Filipinos who live in poverty, without a home, lacks education, and are starving.
You may agree or disagree with my opinion, but in order to make this country great, the bad habits of Filipinos should be discarded and the good ones should be maintained.
Granted that annoying attitudes are removed, I believe that progress is inevitable.
Crab mentality
There are Filipinos who feel that they are the only one who should succeed, they have a crab mentality. They feel insecure, envy, angry, threatened and self-pity when someone reaches the top of the ladder. Get ready for false stories and even the kitchen sink just to bring the person ahead down from his lofty perch. Just like crabs in a bucket they will drag the successful person and destroy him. This is one of the reasons why the country is not progressing. Filipinos should realize that the success of one is a baby-step towards the success of everybody.
Procrastination
Or ningas kugon or mañana habit keeps the progress of our country moving at a snail’s pace. Instead of finishing the work ahead of schedule, Filipinos will dilly-dally since there is a lot of time to complete the project. Haste makes waste when the deadline is near the work will be rushed. In the process, there were short-cuts taken and the standard specifications were not followed resulting in a substandard work. Check out the delayed government projects which were left undone and could have benefited the country if only they were completed immediately.
Come what may habit
Bahala na in Tagalog is a phrase coined by Filipinos who don’t have any idea of what will happen next. All they want is to go with the flow and does not bother to think what the outcome will be.
Bahal na has two meanings, in some situations, it can be good. Many Filipinos who think this way have tried all means to solve a problem and leave the result to fate which means hoping for the best. These are hardworking Filipinos who do not worry much about the result because of their faith in God and a realization that life is not perfect.
It is frowned upon when used as a lame excuse to do nothing. For irresponsible Filipinos, it is abusing the people around them because they are certain that they will help in solving the problem. At the workplace, these people do not plan ahead, lack foresight, and leave everything to chance.
Tardiness
Referred to as Filipino time which means a knack for coming late, the opposite of American time which is coming early. Whether it be a meeting, party, or church service it’ll be a few minutes or hours late, rarely do Filipinos come on time. And the blame will be passed to the heavy traffic, the site is hard to locate, car trouble, slow driver, and the list of alibis and excuses goes on. This bad habit drives time-sensitive foreigner to go bonkers, imagine the amount of work that could have been accomplished if only he arrived on time.
Onion-skinned
Also called balat-sibuyas in Tagalog or oversensitive, Filipinos criticize with impunity but when they are at the receiving end they get easily offended. Adverse reactions would range from a righteous indignation to an excessive grandstanding. Giving in to the negative feelings will release the stress but throwing a fit in front of a global audience will do more harm than good. Learn to accept constructive critcism, it will be best if Filipinos put this into practice which will unify the country.
Disobedience to rules
Credit to i.imgur.com
Filipinos has the propensity for not following rules. We’re talking of Filipinos in general, a look at everyday life shows that even the simplest laws are easily broken. A vehicle should stop when they see people crossing the pedestrian lane but they don’t. A footbridge and an underpass were constructed for pedestrians but they still cross the streets keeping them and drivers in harm’s way. When they are in a foreign country they follow rules but back home they take laws for granted. Filipinos demand changes but the government cannot do it all, the change should start with them and a good start is by following simple rules.
Perhaps you have your own views about the Filipinos’ bad babits we would like to hear from you. Let us engage in a friendly conversation that will be mutually beneficial to both our interests.
Sources and citations:
https://faq.ph/14-bad-habits-that-filipinos-should-break-to-achieve-progress
https://filipiknow.net/negative-traits-of-filipinos
https://www.pinoy-ofw.com/news/10228-negative-values-of-filipinos.html
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