ROOTS OF THE

FILIPINO CHARACTER

NSTP-CWTS
INTRODUCTION
Despite our great display of people's power, now we are passive
once more, expecting our leaders to take all responsibility for
solving our many problems. The task of building our nation is
an awesome one. There is need for economic recovery. There
is need to re-establish democratic institutions and to achieve
the goals of peace and genuine social justice. Along with these
goals, there is a need as well to build ourselves as a people.
There is a need to change structures and to change people.
Building a people means eliminating our weaknesses and
developing our strengths; this starts with the analysis,
understanding, and appreciation of these strengths and
weaknesses.
 Contents of our report
Here’s what you’ll learn in our report:

1. The home environment of Filipinos

2. The social environment of Filipinos
3. Culture and language of Filipinos
4. History of the Filipinos
5. The educational system of Filipinos
6. Religion of the Filipinos
7. The economic environment of Filipinos
8. The political environment of Filipinos
9. Mass media
10. Leadership and role models
 01
The home environment
The family & home environment

The main components of the home

environment:

● Child rearing practices

Child rearing can be both difficult and
rewarding at the same time. The goal of
every parent is to have your child grow
up to be a respectable and resourceful
adult in the society.
Child rearing in the Filipino
family is characterized by:

● High nurturance

The Filipino child grows up in

an atmosphere of love and
affection.

Providing the children with

the opportunity, means and
support to pursue their goals.
● Over protection
● Low independence training

-Some parents act on

their own needs for power
and use control and coercion
to ensure that they remain
the dominant forces in their
children’s lives.
Low discipline
• Attempts to maintain
discipline come in the form
of many “no’s” and “don’ts”
and a system of criticism to
keep children in line.
• Subtle comparisons among
siblings also are used by
mothers to control their
children.
Family Relations
• In a large family where we are
encouraged to get along with our
siblings and other relatives, we
learn pakikipagkapwa-tao
• In an authoritarian setting we
learn respect for age and
authority; at the same time we
become passive and dependent
on authority.
• Children are taught to value
family and to give it primary
importance.
 02
The social environment
2. The social environment
● The social environment of the Filipino is
characterized by a feudal structure with great gaps
between the rich minority and the poor majority.

The main components of the social environment are:

• Social structures
• Social systems
such as:
• Interpersonal religious
• Community interaction
2. The social environment
● The social environment of the Filipino is
characterized by a feudal structure with great gaps
between the rich minority and the poor majority.

The main components of the social environment are:

• Social structures
• Social systems
such as:
• Interpersonal religious
• Community interaction
 03
Culture and language
 “Language and culture cannot be separated.
Language is vital to understanding our unique
cultural perspectives. Language is a tool that is
used to explore and experience our cultures and
the perspectives that are embedded in our
cultures.”
 Filipino culture rewards such:
• traits and corresponding behavioral patterns develop
because they make one more likeable and enable life
to proceed more easily.
• an openness to the outside which easily incorporates
foreign elements without a basic consciousness of our
cultural core
04
History
We are the product of our colonial history, which is
regarded by many as the culprit behind our lack of
nationalism and our colonial mentality.
Colonialism developed a mind-set in the Filipino
which encourage us to think of the colonial power as
superior and more powerful.
 05
The educational system
• Aside from the problems inherent in the
use of a foreign language in our
educational system, the educational
system leads to other for us as a people.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a
fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live
its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

- ALBERT EINSTEIN
Filipino develop a mind-set that
things are learned in schools
are not related to real life.
 The lack of suitable local textbooks and
dependence on foreign textbooks,
particularly in the higher school levels.
Aside from the influences of the formal
curriculum, there are the influences of the
“hidden curriculum” i.e., the values taught
informally by the Philippine school system.
• Schools are highly authoritarian, with
the teacher as the central focus.

• The Filipino student learns passivity

and conformity.
 • The Filipino student is taught to be
dependent on the teacher.

- force Filipino students as well as their

teachers to use school materials that are
irrelevant to the Philippine setting
06
Religion
• Religion is the root of Filipino optimism
and its capacity to accept life’s hardships.
However, religion also instills in the
Filipino attitudes of resignation and a pre-
occupation with the afterlife. We become
vulnerable also being victimized by
opportunism, oppression, exploitation,
and superstition.
 07
The economic environment
• Many Filipino traits are rooted in the
poverty and hard life that is the lot of most
Filipinos. Our difficulties drive us to take
risks, impel us to work very hard, and
develop in us the ability to survive.
• Poverty, however, has also become an
excuse for graft and corruption, particularly
among the lower rungs of bureaucracy.
 08
The political environment
• The Philippine political environment
is characterized by a centralization of
power. Political power and authority is
concentrated in the hands of the elite
and the participation of most Filipinos
often is limited to voting in elections.
• basic services from the government
are concentrated in Manila and its
outlying towns and provinces.

• political power is still very much

concentrated in the hands of a few may
lead to passivity.
 09
Mass media
 It means technology that is intended to
reach mass audience.
It is the primary means of communication
used to reach the vast majority of the
general public.

The most common flatforms for media are

newspapers, magazines, radio, television
and the latest is the internet.
The tendency of media to produce escapist
movies, soap operas, comics, etc., feed the
Filipino’s passivity. Rather than confront
our poverty and oppression, we fantasize
instead. The propensity to use flashy sets,
designer clothes, superstars, and other
bongga features reinforce porma.
 10
Leadership and role models
• Filipinos look up to their leaders as role models. Political
leaders are the main models, but all other leaders serve as
role models as well. Thus, when our leaders violate the
law or show themselves to be self-serving and driven by
personal interest—when there is lack of public
accountability—there is a negative impact on the Filipino.
 GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

01 02 03
a sense of patriotism and a sense of the common good a sense of integrity and
national pride accountability

04 05
the value and habits of the value and habits of self-
discipline and hard work reflection and analysis
 GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR
CHANGE

01 02
a sense of patriotism and national pride a sense of the common good
a genuine love, appreciation, and the ability to look beyond selfish
commitment to the Philippines and interests, a sense of justice and a
things; sense of outrage at its violation;
 THEIR TRADITIONS

03 04
a sense of integrity the value and habits of
and accountability discipline and hard
work
an aversion toward graft and
corruption in societies and an
avoidance of the practice in one’s the internalization of spiritual values,
daily life. and an emphasis upon essence rather
than on form.

05
the value and habits of discipline
and hard work
 General Strategic Principles. In identifying goals for change and
developing our capabilities for their achievement, it is necessary to
consider certain general principles

Multi-Layered, Multi-Sectoral Strategies

1. The government;
2. Non-governmenal organization
3. People or the masa;
4. The family;
5. Education institutions;
6. Religious institutions; and
7. Media
 Roles of Power-Holders and the Masa
• To ensure that meaningful
change will take place, proposed
strategies must emphasize
change among power-holders or
decision-makers as much as
among the masa.
Holistic, Individual and Systematic/Structural
Change
• Our approach to change should be
holistic in that our strategies should
facilitate individual as well as
systematic or structural change.
Individual conversion or renewal, as
manifested in changed values,
attitudes, habits and behaviors, is a
prerequisite to social change.
Critical Mass or Network of Change Initiators.

• The initiators of change should not be a

few individuals, but a critical mass or
network of people highly committed to the
goals of change.

•Strategies for change must be worked on

one goal at a time, with everyone’s effort
concentrated on the goal chosen for that
designated time period
 Goals Related to People’s Lives

• Changes strategies must be

connected to our daily lives,
particularly to our economic
activities, businesses,
professions, occupations and
jobs.
 Act of the Will and Self-Sacrifice

The implementation of these

strategies must be an acts of the
will. If we want change, kailangan
kakayin natin. We must be ready
for tremendous sacrifice—starting
with ourselves.
 Specific strategies

A. For developing patriotism, and

national pride:
1. Ideology
We need a national ideology that can
summon all out resources for the task
of lifting national morale, pride and
productivity.
 Specific strategies

2. History
a. we have to write and teach our true
history; history books must be rewritten
from our perspective.
b. we should include in our education
those aspects of the past that are still
preserved by cultural communities..
c. we can start instilling national pride
by nurturing community pride first.
 Specific strategies

3. Languages
We ought to use Filipino in our cultural
and intellectual life. Some of our
universities and other institutions have
started doing this; the practice should
be continued and expanded.
 Specific strategies

4. Education
a. we must push for the Filipinization of
the entire educational system.
b. we must have value formation in the
school curriculum and teach pride in
being a Filipino.
c. literature should be used to instill
national pride.
 Specific strategies
5. Trade and Industry
a. Identifying and making known the
centers of product excellence in the
Philippines; and dispersing economic
activities based on local product expertise
and indigenous materials.
b. Having a big brother-small brother
relationship between companies, where
big companies improve the quality of their
products.
 Specific strategies
5. Trade and Industry
c. Having an “order-regalo” or “order-
pasalubong” (gift) project which targets
Filipinos abroad.

b. Promoting a “Sariling Atin” day when

everybody would wear and use Filipino
clothes and products only.
 Specific strategies
6. Media/Advertising
a. We can coordinate with KBP, PANA and
other media agencies in such projects as
the following:
- Giving awards or other incentives to
advertisements that promote national
pride and patriotism. Conversely, giving
“kalabasa” awards or denying incentives
to advertisements that promote colonial
mentality.
 Specific strategies
6. Media/Advertising
b. We can organize contests(i.e.,
oratorical, story, drama, essay, etc.) about
love for country and about what Filipinos
like about their country or their
countrymen.
c. We need to use media programs that
will reach a great majority of people (such
as comics and programs in the various
dialects)
 Specific strategies
7. Government
a. The leadership in the executive,
legislative and judicial branches of the
government should be models of positive
Filipino traits.
b. In order to promote national unity and
national integration, the government must
attempt a long-range strategy for
democratic transformation in Philippine
politics.
 Specific strategies
7. Government
c. The government must continue and
even increase its present efforts to have a
more independent economic strategy: it
must diversify its sources of assistance
and not merely rely on the U.S or on any
other foreign nation.
Developing a sense of the common good:
a. The government needs to decentralize
its power and give more voice and greater
participation to people at the grassroots

b. Must widen democratic space, establish

political pluralism, and protect and support
the forces working for change instead of
repressing them.
Developing a sense of the common good:
c. The government should bring
basic services to the depressed
areas in a participatory manner,
giving the local people a more
active role in administering and
enhancing such services.
2. Non-governmental organizations.
a. The role of our cause-oriented
groups or non-governmental
organizations should be both crusading
or consciousness-raising and problem
solving.
b. Our social institutions need to be
mobilized towards a common purpose
and shared priorities with the
government and the Philippine society
as a whole.
2. Non-governmental organizations.
c. Our community groups, people’s
organizations and non-governmental
organizations could promote public forums
and discussions wherein pressing national
concerns like land reform, graft and
corruption, unemployment, etc., can be
discussed.

d. We can form small study groups in our

schools, work places or communities.
 3. Religious Organizations/Movements.
a. Religious family movements, like
marriage encounter or the Christian
Family Movement, can be encourage
to reach out to the poor who are the
least prepared for family life.
b. The charismatic, cursillo, and born-
again movements should be
encourage to concretize spiritual
doctrines by reaching out to the poor
and contributing to nation-building.
 4. Education
a. Communization of our schools should
be developed to give a common
experience to students and to foster
greater equality in the society.

b. Social orientation courses in our

schools should be not only for
socialization activities, but also for
socially-oriented and socially-relevant
activities.
C. For Developing Integrity and Accountability
1. Government Leadership
Structure/Systems
a. our top government officials should
serve as models for other workers in
the lower echelons of the bureaucracy.

b. since our leaders are too insulated

from what is happening at the bottom,
they need to be exposed to the realities
of social life.
C. For Developing Integrity and Accountability
c. the government needs to implement
comprehensive, concrete and
operational measure to minimise graft
and corruption.
d. there is a need for a more efficient
bureaucracy, with a minimum of red
tape.
e. a system of reinforcing desirable
behaviour must be formulated by the
government bureaucracy.
 2. Education/Training
a. The career executive program given
to government officials should be
extended, that is, a similar program
should be drawn up for all government
employees. The program can be a
training package called “Public
Service.”

b. Our government employees should

be given value clarification seminars.
 3. Media
a. Our advertising agencies should be
held accountable for the values that
their advertisement projects.

b. our media. i.e., movies, cartoon

strips, TV shows, should show good
role model of policemen, soldiers,
metro aides and other public servants
instead of caricaturing or ridiculing
them.
D. For Developing Discipline and Hard Work
1. In both government and private
institutions, we need to:

a. provide positive controls; keep

performance records; maintain reward
and recognition systems; and
b. get rid of useless, meaningless
rules.
 2. We ought to reward excellence
in whatever Filipinos do by:
a. identifying and making known
centers of excellence in the
Philippines;

b. looking for, documenting and

publicizing success or excellence
stories (e.g., local entrepreneurs who
have succeeded) using various media;
 2. We ought to reward excellence
in whatever Filipinos do by:
c. recognizing and encouraging
advertisements that convey the value of
excellence and depict positive Filipino values
and

d. using media (such as comics, radio

programs in the various dialects), that will
communicate with the masa in order to depict
positive Filipino Values, and giving awards to
these media platforms
 E. For developing Self-reflection and Analysis

1. Religion/Religious Movements.

The teaching of religion or catechism should be

concrete, integrated to daily life, and socially
relevant. Our religious movements should not
only engage in “spiritual” activities but should
specifically reach out to the poor and needy.
 E. For developing Self-reflection and Analysis
2. Small Groups/NGO’s

a. We can start a movement of small groups

(e.g., community groups, work groups, and
parish groups) where people can begin to
reflect on their situation and that of the
country.
b. Some big companies are already inculcating
the habit of observation-action-reflecting
through training programs that use
experimental methods. These efforts should
be expanded
 E. For developing Self-reflection and Analysis
2. Government Leadership

a. We should encourage “conversion” at the top

level, as manifested in public “repentance” or
confession.
b. The Department of Education, Culture and
Sports (DCES) and private learning
institutions should inculcate the value and
habit of self-reflection starting from childhood.
 E. For developing Self-reflection and Analysis
2. Government Leadership

c. We can conduct a “national reflection

weekend” for officials and employees in all
levels and branches of the government.

d. We can strengthen the research arms of

government agencies by linking them with
universities and non-governmental
organizations
Thank you! Quiz
nata!