It’s the Filipino character?

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

AMID the pain and misery in the aftermath of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, images of victims waist-deep in water or huddled in makeshift shelters but still managing to smile have warmed many hearts all over the world.

An American asked: “What’s in the Filipinos that makes them smile even while wading through a terrible crisis?” I can understand that question very well. In similar situations, many people in other places would hardly smile. A smile would be as rare and as precious as a diamond still to be found.

I have often asked that question myself, and through these years I have tried to find answers.

My take is that in the first place we are blessed with a wonderful natural environment of tropical weather, responsible for all the green around us and the flowing water, all rudimentary ingredients for having a sunny disposition.

No matter how poor and uneducated one is, he will not die of hunger nor of utter neglect here. Our support system, even without any governmental intervention, is quite ingrained in our culture. It’s aboriginal in us.

Of course, this could be abused, as when we become lazy and complacent since we are not exposed anyway to extreme situations of heat or cold. But those who take the right turn will most likely develop a bright outlook in life.

Then it would seem that our biological endowments, being Asians, predispose us to be more restrained and gentle in our reactions, and more eager to please others even if it’s only by giving a smile.

Other people, especially Caucasians, have many good traits and qualities that we may not be good at. But in this department, they cannot beat us. Thus, many Americans and Europeans prefer Filipino nurses and care-givers, for example.

With strangers, we tend to be friendly and greet them at least with some movement in our eyes. We can hardly afford to ignore anyone. This is especially so in the provinces.

Plus the fact that through the years, and of course in varying degrees, we have been drilled into the Christian way of life that highlights joy and victory in and through the Cross.

Our concept of pain and death is organically connected to a future resurrection. So we cry in grief only for a while. A smile replaces it quickly. Hope springs in us easily. We are as resilient as our famed bamboos. We know how to make do with anything.

This, to me, is the rough, general sketch of the Filipino character. Obviously, many exceptions can be found, both in the sides of defect and excess. In fact, I’m afraid this Filipino character appears to be vanishing especially in the big cities and to be pushed further to the provinces.

But I feel it’s worthwhile acknowledging these elements that seem to be basic to our character as a people. They will serve to guide us as to how to keep and strengthen it as we go along in time, facing all sorts of challenges and difficulties.

With the quickening pace of development and the changing patterns of people’s values and lifestyles due, for one, to an increasingly globalized world, we greatly need to know how to navigate to enrich our character. Otherwise, we will get lost in the whoosh of confusing ideologies and cultures around.

For this purpose, what holds key importance is education and formation, the type that gives due cognizance to our natural endowments, to our natural assets and liabilities, as well as to an objective and universal standard.

Of course, for Christian believers this standard is given to us by our Christian faith. This faith impacts on every aspect of our life, thus it can give us light in our journey of life.

For this, it’s important that as much as possible, the Christian believers realize the crucial role of the Church in this regard, especially her teachings. One problem we have is that we have Christians or Catholics who are so only in name but not in practice. They are not consistent.

Besides, many have a very subjective approach to Christianity, declaring themselves Christians or Catholics but not wanting to submit to Church authority, especially regarding certain doctrine.

I think it’s in how we play the game in this particular requirement of our Filipino culture that will determine whether we manage to forge a strong character or lose it.

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