The problem with Filipino resilience

The problem with our resilience is the speed by which we transform trauma into acceptance. Instead of
solving problems, we simply cope or wait for the problem to pass.
Shakira Sison
30 October 2014
https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/ispeak/73433-problem-filipino-resilience

1 - Google “Filipino smile” and you will find stories of tourists, disaster volunteers, missionaries, non-
profit workers, and army personnel saying that through the most devastating events, the Filipino people
will always smile.

2 - Our people have repeatedly been touted as resilient, ever-happy, and even bulletproof. It isn’t
unusual to see smiling people wading through waist-deep flood waters as if it were a day at the beach.
Even in the poorest typhoon-hit areas, it only takes a day or two for people to start rebuilding their
homes from scrap pieces of wood. We don’t wait for help. We help ourselves.

3 - I’m proud that we’re a happy people. I’m proud that we are self-sufficient. But I don’t like that we’re
immune to disasters. I am bothered that we’re used to the worst conditions. I am disturbed that the
reason we help ourselves is that we know nobody is coming to help us.

The only ones laughing

4 - I’m not glad that the only option in terrible situations is to laugh it off, as if pretending it’s a joke
would make it less real. Eventually, we’re the only ones laughing. That must mean the joke’s on us.

5 - We rush past discomfort and onto acceptance as quickly as possible. We want to turn the negative
into a positive all at once without much thought. This is an admirable trait to have, to be culturally
independent and self-reliant, to focus on positive, productive actions. Pinoys do not dwell. We simply
move on.

6 - Except that we only do that because we know there are no solutions, and because the tasks needed
for concrete change are either impossible or too much trouble to implement. We know that we cannot
rely on anyone’s promises, so instead we get by on our own. We’re so used to it that we’ve even
stopped asking.

7 - We don’t ask why there’s a flood, or why this happens every single year, or how come there haven’t
been any structural changes to prevent it from happening again. We don’t ask what happened to our
politicians’ promises, but simply shrug when they start giving out goodie bags after a storm. It’s a great
photo-op to be “helping.”

8 - When there is a flood, we simply build a raft our legs in plastic bags, or go to elevated areas. We
stock up on food and wait for the water to subside. To us, a city that is underwater is merely something
to be tolerated, like the hassle of carrying an umbrella when there is rain. It’s almost a given.

9 - We’ve learned as a people to stop seeking solutions. In short, we have given up. Instead of solving
problems, we simply cope. Or we wait for the problem to pass.

Just the way it is

10 - “Ganyan talaga, e (It’s just the way it is),” we hear all the time. “Anong magagawa natin? “What can
we really do?)” is a common expression we say when our hands are tied. We’ve resigned ourselves to
powerlessness and to being completely on our own when it comes to help.

11 - Independence and self-reliance are all fine and good, except that we all know how much we pay in
taxes. And we all know where that money really goes.

12 - The good part is we make our way and even earn a living despite the government that’s given to us.
We pay our dues regardless of the fact that this money only lines the pockets of our politicians and
funds their spouses’ and children’s flashy Instagram posts.

13 - We shrug when the same ten surnames do their rounds of being elected, getting arrested, and
being elected again. We can only laugh when we realize that corruption charges seem to be a
requirement to seek public office nowadays. We are content with sharing memes when the accused
fake health issues to avoid prison – something that is now as predictable as their eventual pardon,
release, and reelection.

The futility of hoping

14 - How do we really survive? The state the country is in requires that we turn a blind eye to the
enormity of our problems. When it takes a few minutes of rain to flood a metropolis and a forty-minute
commute turns into 5 hours, it is both pointless to whine and point fingers when the more immediate
task si to get home. We know better than to complain when nothing good comes out of it.

15 - Maba-badtrip ka lang. Pasensya na lang. Ganyan talaga, e. (It will just ruin your mood. Just be
patient. It’s the way it is)

16 - But you know that without a solution it’s going to get worse, right? With nothing in place to protect
flood areas and the sea levels rising annually, climate change is expected to first devastate archipelagos
like ours. You know it’s almost expected that large-scale destruction (and not just a traffic jam) is going
to be the new normal, right?

17 - Oh, but I guess that’s okay. To our leaders and to the outside world, we’re a resilient people and
we’ll take it all with a smile. Give us more rain, more storms, more corruption, and more massacres. We
are a nation of martyr wives and forgiving mothers. Faced with severe corruption on a daily basis, we
merely turn the other cheek, lick our wounds, and forget.

18 - We stay and hope for a better day, waiting for public officials to do their jobs the way we wait for
shameless husbands to come home and suddenly love us.

19 - But day after day, those who are support us steal our wallets instead. So we flash them our Filipino
smile and say to ourselves, “Ganyan talaga, e. Anong magagawa natin?”

20 - We are a nation of resilience. Maybe we smile because that’s all we have.

Why resilience is actually bad for us as a nation
Tyne Villan
13 August 2018
https://pop.inquirer.net/56136/resilience-actually-bad-us-nation

1 - If there’s one thing to be proud of as a Filipino, it is our immense capacity to remain hopeful and
positive amidst adversities. In fact, this sunny disposition has garnered us a net score of +84 in a survey
done by US-based firm Gallup International, putting us in the 3rd spot of happiest places on earth.

2 - Other countries may find this level of resilience admirable. It may be a source of pride to be
recognized as one of the happiest people in the world. Our ingenuity and positive spirits are considered
to be our weaponry in dealing with negative events-from natural disasters, crimes, to even something as
mundane as excruciating traffic.

3 - In situations like this, we always remind ourselves of “kayang-kaya, basta sama-sama,” an

expression which basically means our capacity to stand strong as long as we’re together.

4 - When faced with a crisis, most of us seem to be able to just laugh to just laugh it off.

5 - There’s nothing wrong with being positive sometimes, some would even say, “Ano pa ba ang
magagawa natin? Umiyak?,” but this attitude, unfortunately, only leads us to escapism. And that is
exactly what’s exhibited in the following in following photos from social media-people making light of
things, because there’s no really other way to cope with this crisis than to have a laugh and shake it off.

Filipinos are “waterproof,” yes, we already

know that, and some of us are some of us
are so proud of that.

For some, disasters have become

opportunity for photography.

As long as you’re equipped with “baha starter-

pack,” you’ll never have a problem braving the
Of course, memes.
storm.
6 - Resilience trumps finding solutions to solvable problems.

7 - As a nation, we are always faced

I guess we all have mastered the art of being “imortal.”
with problems, disasters, and crisis-
all of which have measures and
solutions for prevention, but we
seem to turn a blind eye to the
problems and just weather every
storm, so to speak.
8 - What’s worse, we no longer hold
officials and institutions accountable
for finding solutions to these
problems. Our resilience has allowed
us to settle for less of what we
actually deserve.
9 - Prevention is always better than
cure – without solutions, the
situations that we are in right now
will only get worse. Our resilience
should never be an excuse to not be
able to solve our own crises. Yes, we
are nation of happy, resilient and
self-sufficient people- that’s already
given. But we need to put an end to
this cycle already.

10 - It’s high time that, as a nation, we no longer put up with the crap. It’s time to change the mindset
that for every disaster or crisis, we can always recover, that we are expected to act on them ourselves
because we all know no one’s coming for help. It’s time that we demand from entities who have
promised us solutions to problems. It’s time we help create solutions.

11 - “Maikli lang ang buhay para

mag-reklamo.” Yes, this may hold
water, but this is exactly the kind of
thinking that gets us in a vicious cycle
of facing problems, then becoming
helpless, then just being resilient
because there’s no other way to go
about it than to be one.

Bagyo ka lang, mandirigma kami!