Are there tension between people from Manila and people from old country, or what we in the Philippines call "the province"?

Conrad Strife

 

Works at The College and University Experience

Are there tension between people from Manila and people from old country, or what we in the Philippines call "the province"? What is the source of that tension?

In ethnical and humanitarian rights as well as in political aspect, there’s none. Filipinos around the country whether in urban or rural are treated fairly by the law.

However, there are some aspects that sometimes lead to stereotypical tensions but so far, nothing extremely serious but some of them must be taken into consideration.

Common negative stereotypes of Manilenos (native born or long-term middle classed migrants) against Provincianos that are “often not true” or not true at all are:

1. They are less trendy
2. They are less interesting both in environment and culture (can be the opposite for Manila born Filipinos or long term immigrants who grew up or later on hate the urbanity of Manila or those who prefer nature and exploration)
3. They have less or older technologies, and less modern surroundings
4. Less commerce and retails
5. Provincianos are less classy and less fashionable
6. Less interesting (or less pleasing to hear) languages or dialects (does not matter if it is Non-Manileno Tagalog or Non-Tagalog languages)
7. Weirder culture and traditions
8. Provincianos are innocent to modern things and less aware of global trends and events.
9. Provincianos are less knowledgeable in science due to their tendency to believe in factless conspiracies and superstitions more than scientific knowledge.
10. Most of them do hard labour or blue collar jobs
11. Less sophisticated lifestyle
12. Cheap people
13. Provincianos are easier to trick to believe or do something or easier to manipulate
14. Many provincianos dream of living in Metro Manila and later be an inconvenience to Manilenos.
15. They know less things about everything
16. The Manila slums and street beggars are all poor provinciano migrants (or children of these provinciano migrants) who tried their luck in the capital but failed and either cannot go back or do not want to go back to their provinces.

Please don’t get offended as I already stated that these are commonly the negative “often not true” or “not true at all” stereotypes which are also often baseless.

Common positive stereotypes of Manilenos (native born or long-term middle classed migrants) for Provincianos that can be true or false:

1. More spacious and cleaner environment
2. Nature, nature, nature!
3. Cleaner
4. Less chaotic
5. Quieter and more peaceful
6. People are friendlier and more hospitable
7. Everything is fresh
8. Cheaper costs for the same expenditures
9. More activities to do with the nature
10. Reality escape
11. Slow paced and laid back lifestyle
12. Less stress and pressure

Common negative stereotypes of Provincianos against Manilenos (Native born and middle classed long-term migrants) that are “often not true” or not true at all are:

1. Arrogant, boastful, and bragful
2. Bossy and demanding
3. Snobbish, less friendly, and less accommodating
4. Superiority complex
5. Cannot survive without technology and convenient services
6. Abusive and not grateful
7. Often feeling right and knowledgeable about many things
8. Look down on rural dwellers
9. Impractical spenders and consumers
10. Lurer, manipulative, materialistic, and selfish
11. Less family oriented and often individualistic
12. Complains a lot even on petty things
13. Dirty and polluted environment
14. Unbearably fast paced, chaotic, and full of bureaucracies
15. Inconsiderate and difficult to please and impress
16. They get everything first
17. Metro Manila, the place, is expensive (being the third most expensive city/metro in the ASEAN region).
18. Everything has a cost. Everything must be paid. Nothing is absolutely free.

Common positive stereotypes of Provincianos against Manilenos (Native born and long-term middle classed migrants) that can be true or false are:

1. Always on trend and first to be updated
2. Interesting fashion and city leisure (malls, hotels, museums, arenas, concerts, themed activities, casinos, etc.)
3. Presence of skylines, modernity, higher technology, most developed in the country, and first-world looking CBDs
4. Commerce and retails on every doorstep
5. Classier and more sophisticated
6. Cosmopolitan people, culture, and traditions
7. More scientifically inclined
8. Many people are white collar workers that earn more money with less physical labour.
9. More opportunities for professional studies, jobs and businesses
10. Convenience in terms of accessibility in government agencies, commerce, and services
11. More individualistic freedom for singles and young adults
12. Various choices for expenditures and lifestyle
13. Most governmental and business transactions are well documented and recorded.

The tensions, most of the time, are against the place not the people. It is often against Manila City (the de jure capital) and Metro Manila (de facto capital) where the seat of financial and national power resides rather than the common Manileno or Manila inhabitants where almost 60% are non-natives.

Top complaints of provincianos against the National Government that is situated in Manila, which are publicly requested by provincianos and sometimes, formally petitioned are:

1. Very Manila centric government
2. Lower wages in the provinces
3. Less modernization in the provinces
4. Less job opportunities and less business potentials in the provinces both in provincial cities and rural towns.
5. The central power has always encouraged migration to Metro Manila or overseas rather than developing provincial cities and rural areas
6. When Manila is affected, the whole Philippines is affected too.
7. The Philippines cannot exist without Manila
8. Nothing moves without Manila
9. Metro Manila is often seen as the representation of the whole Philippines abroad.
10. The decision/implementation for the benefit of Manila is often also the decision/implementation for the entire Philippines.

I, myself, was not Manila born. But living in this City for almost 10 years with a sustainable, comfortable lifestyle and opportunity, I already consider myself as a Manileno as I do not see myself in the near future going back to my home province or migrating to any province at all, urban, rural, or otherwise. My regional loyalty is already here in Manila.

Not because I didn’t like my home province, but I just find this metro as my place of personal growth. This is where I faced life challenges and successfully defeated them. This is where I got my self independence, freedom, and development.

Thankfully, I’m capable to live like this in this city because I was prepared and had the means and support before I settled here. Not that my life here started perfectly, but I was aware of the reality and educated enough to find sustainable solutions to keep a decent living regardless of the difficult challenges I had after settling here.

I’m aware of the imperfections of the capital metro and I hated them most of the time and still cannot accept why officials can’t produce systematic solutions for such. But I have personal reasons why I preferred to stay here long term (while in the Philippines as I have plans to settle abroad), and some of those reasons are due to some positive stereotypes I had for this city when I was still living in my home provincial city of Olongapo/Subic where I was born.

I, myself, even dreamt living in the capital metro when I was a kid.

However, the most serious factors that non-Manileno people must consider before moving to the capital is:

1. Self market
2. Competencies
3. Personal sustainability
4. Financial literacy
5. and other preparatory considerations in order to successfully get opportunities in Metro Manila.

While Manila is often marketed as the land of opportunities and promising lifestyle (due to higher wages), this often turns out to be the opposite due to:

1. False expectations of migrants
2. Poor financial management and literacy
3. Less or inapplicable competencies
4. Extremely high supply of potential workers not only from Manila but also throughout the Philippines and lesser demand for them.
5. Too many dependents to support either living with them in the capital or left in the province

This makes Metro Manila not suitable for all Filipinos or rather not enough to suffice employment for these potential workers. If there was something I realized upon moving here almost a decade ago, it is “Manila is not for everyone.”

Many people from the province move to the capital believing it is rainbows and colours. But many of them fail to realize that without preparations, living in the capital will be worse than in the province.

Trying your luck in the capital must not be taken superficially. A potential migrant must assess carefully if he has a sustainable market in the capital as living here is very different than living in the province (both provincial cities and rural towns).

Due to these misconceptions, tensions between Manila and provincial inhabitants arise. They are often caused by:

1. Migrants from provinces are often lured to believing that they would have a better life in the capital and when they fail, a tension arises.
2. Manila people often complain that migrants from the provinces are destroying their city’s reputation.
3. Some provincianos who do not intend to move to Manila are often forced to consider doing it due to the lack of investments, opportunities, and developments in their provinces.
4. Provincianos who chose to stay in their provinces are often left unheard by the central government, in which they will blame Manila since it is where the seat of power resides and they think it is controlled by Manila people - which is not true btw. Many national politicians originated from the different provinces in Luzviminda.

These are often the sources of tensions between Manila people and provincianos.