The Filipino nation is a great one. We have so many things to be proud of. However, we are not a perfect country. In fact, we are quite far from it. There is still so much we have to change and grow. This is why if we are to become anything more than we really are, change must not only come from the promises of our President. One man cannot radicalize an entire country by himself. Change has to come from each and every individual who is a Filipino and we can begin by doing something as small as changing those nasty habits that have been in existence for too long.
- The "Bahala na" attitude
"Bahala na si Batman" is something most of us probably grew up with. We hear it from almost everyone, sometimes even from ourselves. While it's perfectly alright to take risks here and there, we must not forget that we can't just let fate solve our problems. "Bahala na" should only be reserved for situations that we have absolutely no control of. Otherwise, using this phrase makes you lazy.
- How we never answer the question
If you ask a question, Filipinos will almost always not answer with a simple yes or no. Instead, they will tell you what they think you want to know, while failing to answer the very simple question that is asked. For example, if you ask a Filipino "Nasaan ka na?" they'll most probably say "Mga 5 minutes na, nand'yan na ako" instead of answering you where they specifically are. This is not to say that Filipinos are stupid. No, we are far from it. However, we do have a tendency to assume a lot before assessing a situation properly and addressing the primary problem. Ironic really, since we ourselves have our own saying pertaining to this downfall of ours. "'Wag ka masyadong assuming, masasaktan ka lang."
- Always arriving late
Filipino time is famous globally and that's something that no one living in this country should be proud of. Seriously. It's not cool to arrive at a party an hour after the time stated. There are two parties who are at fault with this problem: the visitors and the host. In doing so, both parties have mutual respect for each other. The host should not only strictly implement the time that was originally stated but also reprimand people who are late. The visitors should follow the time that was given. Oftentimes, we even make fun of people who are early or arrive on time. It's a sad reality we live in but it's not one that we are unable to change.
- How we don't always follow the rules
For some reason, Filipinos seem to love breaking the rules. If there is a Filipino in the room, where there is a big sign that says "DO NOT PUSH THE RED BUTTON," it's likely that someone will push it, anyway. We're big risk takers. We love living on the edge and that's great but this adventurous side of ours is misplaced. In fact, it stagnates the progress of our country. It's not cool to jaywalk or touch things that clearly have signs telling you not to touch them. There's never a good excuse for anyone to break the rules. They exist for a reason. They help bring organization to the chaos we call society and we have to learn how to respect that.
- The crab mentality and the almighty pride
This is one of the things about Filipinos that seriously needs to be changed. Our country hungrily feeds on crab mentality. If we're going down, we never want to be alone. We'd rather die than be the only person who'll fail and that's just wrong. We, as a nation, have to learn how to accept defeat gracefully. We cannot win every battle we fight. Not to mention, that we also need to learn how to say sorry when we're at fault. We are quick to back Filipinos who succeed in life but cannot admit to our own mistakes as a country. Filipinos have a habit of letting their pride take over. If we could only remove those layers of pride and let the kind Filipino heart take over, we'd be better off as a country.
- Taking credit for every Filipino who succeeds internationally
It can get really annoying for someone who has worked hard all their life to be where they are today only to have a nation take credit for that hard work. While we should be proud of our nation, we have no right to say that he or she is great only because of their Filipino blood. We cannot just simplify their talents to the genetics of their Filipino heritage. What made these people great is the sweat and tears they gave to succeed. Again, this is not to say that we shouldn't continue to support our fellow Filipinos because we should do that wholeheartedly. Rather, we should just learn to take things a notch down and only be a cheerleader and a source of inspiration for these people.
Disclaimer: We do not claim that every single Filipino has all the habits mentioned above. This is a list of habits that are seen often but cannot be associated to each individual of the Filipino nation.
From The Candy Bulletin Community
