Is the Philippines a low-trust society in some ways? Is it really the case that habitual lying, zero sense of responsibility, fraud, and the dishonest ways of many Filipinos have led to the situation we see now?
We can't put all the blame on the government. I feel like Filipinos' pride, a harsh culture that takes other people's money for granted, a strong culture of gossip, and a belief that if you haven't deceived the other party in any deal or promise, you've lost (even when you're being treated fairly), have made people forget what it means to work honestly.
When the friendliness on the surface is stripped away, it feels like something rotten is underneath. This country has stayed stuck in the 1950s because of the harsh ways of its citizens. If you're a foreigner, you shouldn't trust anyone here. Am I overgeneralizing? I've seen a lot of very dishonest things firsthand.
All the fruit stalls have no price tags, and all the Facebook ads have no prices either. Everyone is trying their hardest to overcharge, and whenever corruption comes up they just make a sad face 😊
I've been here for three years as a dual citizen and I hate this culture. The corruption goes from top to bottom. The elites commit massive corruption, while the middle class is being picked apart alive by the lower class, a mix of minimum-wage workers and scammers. People smile in front of you and smile behind your back while they stab you. The president is a laughingstock here. He's completely illiterate, yet he just arrested a cousin who embezzled billions of pesos.
This doesn't only happen to foreigners. For example, my neighbor hired a few workers to build a laundry area attached to their house. It's just a bit of cement, blocks, and hardware, nothing complicated. It's already the third day and the progress is slow. This morning the neighbor went out to run errands and didn't come back until evening, leaving only the workers there. From about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. they took an extremely long break. As far as I know, the lunch break here is 30 to 60 minutes, but because the owner was away for a while, they rested for four hours. I've seen other crews finish the same laundry area extension in three days. I have a feeling these workers will keep coming for several more days. The owner feeds them and pays them, yet they drag things out as much as possible to squeeze out more money.
Honestly, my experience in the Philippines has been quite different. I've never had a bad experience because of a typical Filipino. All my bad experiences were with landlords. For example, when I went to Jamba Juice in Bonifacio Global City with my girlfriend, I dropped about 8,000 pesos from my wallet. I'm a bit clumsy. A Filipino behind me tapped my shoulder and returned every single peso. Another time I dropped a 100-peso bill and a 50-peso coin, and an older Filipino gentleman ran over and gave them back. I wasn't really paying attention and wasn't even planning to pick them up. My experiences of Filipinos being trustworthy and of high character outnumber the opposite. I think we tend to attract what's inside us and experience things that reflect ourselves. I don't think this post is racist; I just think it's very, very short-sighted and the experience hasn't been refined. This is coming from someone who has lived here for four years.
The comments are full of Filipinos who are upset. Speaking from experience and some light research: \- This isn't seen as lying but as saving face. In social interaction, things like harmony and honor take priority over objective truth and shared reality. Only something truly serious and blatant would be called out. Still, it is clearly a lie and dishonest. \- It's a bit hard to understand this issue by watching Filipinos speak candidly, rather than from an outside critic's perspective. The people who understand face-saving behavior best are the ones who practice it. \- It isn't only the Philippines, but because English is widely spoken there, it may stand out more. An average Westerner who doesn't understand face culture has more chances to be deceived in the name of harmony than in other Asian countries where English isn't common. \- There are social concepts like hiya and diskarte, which are shorthand for deep-rooted social customs. They're not unique to Asia; Brazil and India have similar ideas (India is in Asia, but not in the sense I mean). It's a concept close to maintaining pride or self-dignity when dealing with an unfair system. \- It isn't universal. Even in face-culture countries there are honest and direct people, but they are the exception. \- It can't be changed.
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