To criticize the culture of this peoples again, and they wonder why they are called “monkeys”?
In light of recent events for what is supposed to be a festive news of Filipino athlete, Carlos Yulo[1][2], it is saddening that this is normalize and by far accepted in Filipino society. Some would even go as far as to defend the mother and add bullshit reasons like “family is family” yada yada yada.
To summarize the drama between the athlete and the mother: the mother took the athlete’s money, bought a property registered in her name (which was supposed to be the athlete’s) and she allegedly did all of these without the athlete knowing. And then, she got in the way of the athlete’s relationship with his girlfriend, an Australian of Filipino descent. Do this people even know the boundary stealing? If I were the athlete I would understandably be pissed, however we should leave this to their matters (ngl, it’s like watching a real life soap opera, and I am guilty of enjoying the tea).
Let’s dig deeper in Filipino family culture. When Filipinos make children, most are already in poverty, and they will give the bare minimum such as clothing, education and food. When their children grow up capable, they expect — nay, demand— their children to “repay” them by asking twice or more than what they have given their child. This is under the guise of “debt by will” or “the will’s debt” culture[3]. This cycle repeats for generations, and the child who could have had the chance to become a successful entrepreneur and billionaire will be swallowed in poverty because they [the relatives] keep on asking for money else the child will be disowned (like in the case of the athlete's mother here). This was the case of Carlos Yulo’s mother, and apparently in the last three years, similar acts have been observed by this peoples such as the mother of singer and actress, Sarah Geronimo[4] and e-sports player, H2WO[5]. What culture did this remind of? That’s right, beggars and slums. Filipinos do not feel shame in asking for something because to them, it’s normal, even if most of the times it is becoming rude and annoying. And what do I mean by slum culture?
- Constantly begging. If you beg rarely, that's tolerable, but if begging becomes a habit and culture, that's disgusting.
- Disregard of formalities. From what I have observed, pure Filipinos — even the rich—do not observe formalities and their children are, I'm afraid, at many times rude, impolite, and uncultured. I remember when I took a stroll in one of the slum areas, there was a birthday party. The uninvited came and asked for food, and they even had the balls to shout that the food was diagusting.
- No values. Yes, no values. These people do as they please. They know nothing of important values such as honor, filial piety, wealth, diligence, and rationality. In fact, what they have is the opposite of these.
- Disregard of spaces. Build a 2 meter wide side walk, and in a few days, these slums will take 3/4 of it.
- Ignorance of morality. To these people, the divine will not punish you if you're ignorant of what is right or wrong. Hence why many of them unknowingly do things that makes foreigners mad, angry, irritated, annoyed, and frustrated. This makes this people insufferable and the worst part is, they don't seem to care to better themselves.
This is contrasting to the Chinese, the ethnic group which these people universally hate and envy, who would throw the “I will continue working until I die so that my children and grandchildren will not end up in poverty”. Of course, no ethnic group is spared from poverty depending on one’s work ethic, environment, culture, industriousness, and education, but poverty happens and catches on Filipinos quicker than the foreign residents in the country.
It is hopeful and good news, that the new generation of parents from the late 1980s, are aware of this, and are doing anything to change this “debt by will” culture, but it still gets on my nerves that thousands of people would rather defend the mother even though clearly she is in the wrong. It’s still a long way to go.
Footnotes
[5] In series of screenshots, H2wo alleges financial, personal issues within his family
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