Pinoy Values: Virtue or Vice During Election?

By Gel Santos Relos

 

 

We learn so many things about ourselves in the way we vote. Pinoy values and belief systems are so very much reflected by the initial results of the election, for the better or for the worse! Values refer to the things that are important to us as a people---many of us look at them on a positive light and say they are the virtues that make Filipinos a great people. However, a growing number of our kababayans have argued otherwise, saying they have indeed become a vice--- our roadblock to change!

 

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The value of forgiveness: madaling magpatawad ang Pinoy! ---Case in point: deposed President Joseph Estrada, convicted of plunder and should have served time in prison all his life, only set free by outgoing President Gloria Arroyo. He is now ranking second in the Presidential race.  Another case: Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. ---son of  Ferdinand Marcos, the President we ousted through People Power in 1986! Bongbong is now on the  7^th spot of the Senatorial race at the time this column is written.

 

Now, Erap and Bongbong  have vindicated themselves! They have proven to the world that they still enjoy the support of many Filipinos, as evidenced by their impressive performance in the national polls despite their past! I hear this all the time in many discussion threads in support of Erap: “Kung ang Diyos ay nagpapatawad, tayo pa kayang tao lamang na nagkakasala rin! Bigyan natin siya ng isa pang pagkakataon!” .  We love stories of redemption!

 

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Another Pinoy value  is “utang na loob”. If you have been good to the Pinoys, especially during the most difficult trying time of their life, many of them will feel indebted to you forever.

 

In the context of elections, “delivery of action” and “fulfillment of promise” are both defined by many Pinoys based on  how the candidate helped them in their immediate personal needs, or the needs of their town. Tangible “here and now” delivery of goods matter to them more than lofty ideals. After all, man’s need for survival, safety, love and belongingness are more basic than self -respect, esteem and contribution to mankind.

 

I  hear this a lot from those who supported and voted for Erap. People from San Juan or those who were blessed by his programs when he was Senator just adore him, in the same way that many of our kababayans from Ilocos Norte will seem forever to give the Marcoses their loyalty. How about President Arroyo’s victory in Pampanga as congresswoman after all the blessings for Pampanga? Sa maraming Pilipino, parang kasalanan sa Diyos kung hindi ka marunong tumanaw ng utang na loob---ano man ang kapalit,  dahil naroroon ang taong tumulong sa kanila nang sila ang nagigipit!

 

 

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Strong faith in God has helped the Filipinos survive and rise above each and every crisis and challenge that has come our way. We have so much faith that at times, some of our kababayans choose to lift up to God everything---even election results, transgressions, solutions to problems.

 

“Bahala na”…from “Bathala na” mindset reflects the fatalistic attitude of the Filipinos. This has been apparent in comments I get from our kababayans. “ Ipagpasa-Diyos na lang natin ang eleksyon!”.”Ipagpasa-Diyos na lamang natin ang kasalanan nila!”.  “ Nasa guhit ng palad ng tao kung magiging Presidente siya. Kaya sorry na lang yung iba, huwag nang magpilit pa!”

 

 On the proactive call for Comelec to be transparent and to explain issues and procedures regarding automated polls and other election related concerns so they can be addressed prior to voting time, some said, “Bakit ba tayong mga Pinoy, reklamo tayo ng reklamo? Hintayin na lang nating matapos ang eleksyon saka tayo magsalita!”

 

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Another Filipino value: mapagkumbaba or humility. For some Filipinos, this is another key to winning their trust and vote of confidence. Being perceived as “hambog” or “mayabang”  and “mapanglait” is a big turn off for many Pinoys.

This is one of the reasons why Dick Gordon did not fare well nationwide. It seems many Filipinos cannot distinguish between confidence and haughtiness, or straightforwardness and combatant, or discussion and confrontation.

Filipinos love a humble person. Maybe it is because we desire to feel accepted, dread to feel rejected or judged. A person of high stature humbly approaching impoverished Filipinos to their level helps them feel a certain “connection”--- supporting our relationship-oriented and personalistic way of assessing people and  situations. It is almost always more about people and how we feel about them, rather than ideas and cerebral concepts that matter more to many of our kababayans.

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Relentless. Hindi basta nagpapatalo. Sounds good, right? Kaya nalalampasan natin ang lahat ng pagsubok sa ating buhay. Could this also be the reason behind Erap and some other candidates not conceding despite glaring proofs of defeat? Could this also explain why Filipinos would rather create or build a new organization instead of conceding defeat in an election for officers in aorganizations? Kaya sa Pinoy, dalawa lang ang uri ng kandidato makaraan ng eleksyon—yung nanalo at yung nadaya?

The good news in this 2010 Election—we have been inspired by Presidential candidates who conceded early in the game after Sen. Aquino pulled off a wide margin. Could the examples of Sen. Villar, Sen. Gordon, Sen. Teodoro be followed by the rest of the electorate, in this election and in many more to come?

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Filipinos’ belief system shines in the partial  poll results: "Kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga!"---Aquino, Revilla, Estrada, Cayetano, Marcos, Recto, Sotto, Osmena, Guingona--- all second or even third generation politicians! And we are just talking about 9 out of the top 14 posts in this year's national election--expect more in the local posts!

Could it be the  family-oriented nature of the Filipino that makes it easier for us to give our vote of confidence to the descendants of people we already know and have won our trust before? Don’t we hear this a lot from Filipinos even outside political discourse? “Sino ba iyang nanliligaw sa iyo? Galing ba iyan sa mabuting pamilya? Pinalaki ba iyan ng matitinong mga magulang?”

I am not saying this is bad at all. There are also generations of people who have all been good public servants. It is true that children learn what they live. However, not all kids  turn out to be exactly like their over achiever parents. Some  turn out to be the exact opposite, while others  prove to be mediocre in performance because of complacency and security in their perceived “entitled” position in society. But the truth is, in our Filipino society, having a trusted or loved family member is definitely a passport to the express lane toward people’s trust!

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Interviews done by ABS-CBN during the election featured many Pinoys proudly saying they voted for ‘artista”. Even the election results in the Senatorial race prove how enamored Pinoys are with showbiz personalities. Another proof that Filipinos give so much weight on personalities and relationships. Many of them need to feel a ‘connection” with you before they can trust you. That is the advantage of media personalities---other than name recall, Pinoys see them on TV and feel a certain affinity with them like they are part of the family.

Does this give credence to Pilosopo Tasyo’s classic line in our national hero Jose Rizal’s classic novel “El Filibusterismo”---“Mabuti na ang masamang kilala na, kaysa mabuting kikilalanin pa”?  With limited access to  information regarding the high brow intellects running for office whom the ordinaryong masang Pinoy cannot relate to, it seems many of these kababayans of ours would rather give their vote to somebody familiar—whether showbiz people or old timer in politics---than  take a risk in voting for  a new name they do not know or have not had a relationship with.

Of course this election has also proven that name recall or being artista alone will not guarantee victory as there are those celebrities who did not quite make it this time around. Good sign…and we should see more of this situation as we become better informed, as the well meaning highly deserving candidate truly reach out to the broader base—the masang Pinoy?

How do we approach our peoples' value system and make each value a virtue and not a vice? How do we help ourselves and our kababayans make such value system work for our good instead of against us?