5 Factors of Rizal that lead Filipino Indolence

The word indolence has been greatly misused in the sense of little love for work and
lack of energy, while ridicule has concealed the misuse this much discussed question has met
with the same fate as certain panaceas and specifics of the quacks who by ascribing to them
impossible virtues have discredited them (Capino,1977). In the Middle Ages, and even in
some Catholic countries now, the devil is blamed for everything that superstitious folk cannot
understand or the perversity of mankind is loath to confess. In the Philippines one’s and
another’s faults, the shortcomings of one, the misdeeds of another, are attributed to
indolence. And just as in the Middle Ages he who sought the explanation of phenomena
outside of infernal influences was persecuted, so in the Philippines worse happens to him
who seeks the origin of the trouble outside of accepted beliefs.

But why do we study the indolence among the Filipinos? it is for the reason that it is
still being discussed, not only by the government employees who hold it responsible for their
own stupidities, not only by the friars who consider it necessary to make themselves
irreplaceable, but also by serious and disinterested persons; and as against the evidence cited
by Dr. Sancianco, others of greater or less weight can be presented, it seems to us desirable
to study thoroughly this question without contempt or sensitiveness, without bias, without
pessimism (Capino, 1977). And as we can only serve our country by telling her the truth,
however bitter it be, as a categorical and artificial denial cannot destroy a real and positive
fact, despite the brilliance of the arguments, as a mere assertion is not enough to create an
impossible thing, we are going to examine the question calmly with all the impartiality of
which a man is capable who is convinced that there is no redemption unless based solidly on
virtue.

First factor that lead Filipino indolence according to Rizal is the gambling. The
passion for gambling is innate in adventurous and excitable races and the Malayan race is
one of them. Pigaffeta tells us of cockfights and betting on Paragua Island that cockfighting
mus also have existed in Luzaon and all the islands, for in the terminology of the game are
found two Tagalog wors which are “sabong” and “tari”. But there is not the least doubt that
the Government is responsible for its promotion and perfection.

Though Pigafetta tells us about it, he mentions only Paragua and not Cebu or any
other island in the south where he stayed a long time. Morga does not mention it, depite the
fact that he spent seven years in Manila, and he describes various kinds of fowl, wild hens,
and roosters. Neither does Morga speak of gambling when he talks about vices and other
defects more or less hidden, more or less insignificant. Moreover, with the exception of the
two Tagalog words “sabong” and “tari” the others are of Spanish origin, like “soltada” which
means as the act of setting free the cocks for the fight and the fight itself and the word pusta,
logro, pago, senstenciador, case and other more came from the Spanish origin. The “sugal”
which means to gamble came from Spanish like “kumpisal” which is to confess to a priest in
here it indicates that gambling was unknown in the Philippines before the Spaniards, the
Tagalog word “laro” is not being equivalent to “sugal”. The word “balasa” came from the
Spanish barajar it proves that the introduction of playing cards was not due to the Chinese,
who also have a kind of playing cards, because if it were so, it would have taken the Chinese
name. In short, it was the culture of Spanish who influence Filipinos on how to be indolent
by gambling.

Second, is due to the attitude of the friars. Due to that fact that a man works for a
purpose; remove that purpose and you reduce him to inaction. The most industrious man in
the world will fold his arms the moment he learns that it is folly to be so, that his work will
be that cause of his trouble, that because of it he will be the object of vexations at home and
the greed of the pirates from outside. It seems that these thoughts never crossed the minds
of those who cry out against the indolence of the Filipinos.

Even if the Filipino were not a man like the rest; even if we suppose that his zeal for
work is as essential as the movement of a wheel fitted in the gear of other wheels in motion;
even if we regard him as lacking in foresight and understanding of the past and the present;
we still have to explain the existence of the evil. The neglect of the farms by their tillers were
many of whom were dragged out of their homes by wars and piracy and was sufficient to
nullify the hard labor of so many generations. In the Philippines, abandon for a year the best
cultivated land and you will have to begin all over again. The rain will wipe out the furrows,
the floods will drown the planting, weeds and shrubs will grow everywhere, and on seeing so
much futile labor, the farmer drop his hoe and abandons his plow.

It seems that these causes are sufficient to breed indolence even in the bosom of a
beehive. Thus, is explained why after thirty-two years of Spanish rule, the circumspect and
prudent Morga said that the Indio “have forgotten much about farming, poultry and stock
raising, cotton growing, and weaving of blankets as they did when they were Pagans and long
after the country had been conquered.” Still they struggled on for a long time against
indolence, indeed, but their enemies were so many that at last they gave up.

Third, is due to wars. A fatal combination of circumstance, some independent of the

will despite the efforts of men, others the offspring of stupidity and ignorance, others the
inevitable corollaries of false principles, and still others the result of more or less base
passions, has induced the decline of work, an evil which instead of being remedied by
prudence, mature reflection, and recognition of the errors committed by a deplorable policy
though regrettable blindness and obstinacy, has gone from bad to worse until reaching the
condition in which we see it now.

First came the wars, internal disturbances which the new order naturally brought
about. It was necessary to subject the people either by cajolery or by force; there were fights,
where were deaths; those who have submitted peacefully seemed to repent of it; insurrections
were suspected and some occurred; naturally there were executions and many skilled
workers perished. To these disorders add the invasion of Limahong, add the continuous wars
to which the inhabitants of the Philippines were dragged to maintain the honor of Spain, to
extend the sway of her flag in Borneo, in the Moluccas, and Indo-china. To repel the Dutch
foe, costly wars; futile expeditions in each which it was known that thousand and thousands
of Filipinos archers and rowers were sent but nothing was said if they ever returned to their
homes. Like the tribute that at one time Greece sent to the Minotaur of Crete, the Filipino
youth who joined that expedition bade their country farewell forever. Before them, in the
horizon, was the stormy sea, the endless wars, the hazardous expeditions. We would never
get through if we had quoted all the evidence presented by authors on the frightful
diminution of the inhabitants of the Philippines in the first years following the discovery. In
the time of their first bishop, that is, ten years after Legazpi, Philip II said that they had
been reduced to less than two-thirds.

Fourth, is due to the lessening encouragement to labor. The constantly lessening

encouragement to labor in the Philippines. The Government, fearing the frequent contact
between the Filipinos and other men of the same race who are independent and free like the
Borneans, Siamese, Cambodians, and Japanese they are people whose customs and feelings
differ very much from those of the Chinese who had looked upon them with great mistrust
and treated them harshly, as Morga attests in the latter part of his book, until they have
finally stopped coming to the country.

In fact, the Government at one time thought that Borneans were planning an
uprising; we say thought, because there was not even an attempt, though there were many
executions indeed. And as these nations were precisely the only ones that absorbed Philippine
products, relations with them being cut off, their consumption of our products also ceased.
The only two countries whose relations with the Philippines continued were China and
Mexico or New Spain, and this trade benefited only China and some private individuals of
Manila.

In fact, the Celestial Empire used to send Philippines its junks laden with
merchandise, which led to the closing down of the factories in Seville and ruined Spanish
industry, and returned laden with the silver that every year was sent to the Philippines from
Mexico. Nothing from the Philippines then went to China, not even gold for in those years
the Chinese traders would accept no payment except silver coin. To Mexico went something
more and some blankets and textiles which the encomienderos obtained by force or bought at
an absurd price from the Filipinos. Also went small quantities of was, amber, gold civet, etc.,
but no more, as Admiral Jeronima de Bañuelos y Carillo attested, when he petitioned the
King to allow the people of Manila to load as many ships they could with the products of the
country, such as wax, gold, perfumes, ivory and cotton cloth which they should buy from the
natives. Thus, would they win the friendship of these peoples, furnish New Spain with their
products and the money brought to Manila would not leave this place.
 The coastwide trade, so flourishing formerly, disappeared on account of the piracy of
the Malayans of the South; and trade in the interior of the islands almost disappeared
completely owing to restrictions, passports, and other administrative requirements.

Fifth, due to the lack of national sentiment. The lack of national sentiment breeds
another evil which is the scarcity of any opposition to the measures that are prejudicial to
the people and the absence of any initiative that will redound to their welfare. A man in the
Philippines is only and individual; he is not a member of a nation. He is deprived of the right
of association and therefore he is weak and inert.

The Philippines is an organism whose cells must have no arterial system to water
them, nor a nervous system to register their impressions; nonetheless these cells must yield
their products, get it where they can; if the perish, let them perish. In the opinion of some
persons, this is desirable so that a colony may remain a colony. Perhaps they are right, but
not that a colony may flourish. The result of this is that if a harmful measure is promulgated,
no one protests; everything goes well apparently until after the evils are felt. Another blood-
letting and as the organism neither has nerves nor voice, the physician proceeds, believing
that the treatment is not injurious. He needs a reform but as he must not speak, he keeps
silent and gets no reform. The patient wants to eat, wants to breathe fresh air; but as such
desire may offend the susceptibility of the physician who thinks that he has already provided
everything necessary, he suffers and languishes for fear of receiving a bawling, enduring a
plaster, and a new blood-letting. And so, on indefinitely.

Discussing policies if they promote Indolence in the Philippines

First is the 4Ps (Pantawid Filipino Program) that is defined as a human development
measure of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of
the poor, to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18. It is
patterned after the conditional cash transfer (CCT) schemes in Latin American and African
countries, which have lifted millions of people around the world from poverty.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is the lead government
agency of the 4Ps. Which their objectives are to give social assistance, giving monetary
support to extremely poor families to respond to their immediate needs; and giving social
development, breaking the intergenerational poverty cycle by investing in the health and
education of poor children through programs such as; health check-ups for pregnant women
and children aged 0 to 5; deworming of schoolchildren aged 6 to 14; enrollment of children in
daycare, elementary, and secondary schools; and family development sessions.

The 4Ps also helps the Philippine government fulfill its commitment to the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—specifically in eradicating extreme poverty and
hunger, in achieving universal primary education, in promoting gender equality, in reducing
child mortality, and in improving maternal health care.

In my opinion, the 4Ps have negativity and positivity regarding the behavior and
attitude of Filipinos towards Indolence. The positive side is that it helps the poor Filipinos in
their basic needs such as food, clothing and home. However, no matter how the government
help the poor ones it is still not an excuse for them not to look for a job wherein they can earn
money for their own expenses. Others also have 4Ps program but you can see how they can
afford their basic needs due to their own earnings yet they are still covered by the 4Ps
program. How is that so?

Second is the E-governance wherein it is defined by the use of new information and
communication technologies by governments as applied to government functions. The end
goal of the EGMP is to achieve transformative e-Governance. Transformative e-Governance
is essential to meeting the nation’s development objectives, by enabling the achievement of
good governance goals—including operational efficiency, transparency and accountability,
enhanced citizen’s engagement, and effective delivery of public services. In here all I can see
is modernization wherein it does not make Filipinos indolent but they make Filipinos
compete with the age of technology. It is merely an improvement in the system of the
government that deals with the help of technology for them to make their work easier.

Third is the Distant Learning Scheme wherein E-learning or electronic learning is the
use of ICT to mediate asynchronous as well as synchronous learning and teaching activities.
Filipino culture places a high value on education. For the majority of the Filipinos, the only
best thing for a child to acquire and secure a better future is through education. So, they
want more effective education system. E-Learning is still an emerging market in the
Philippines. Its use is still sporadic and most users represent only a small segment of the
Philippines education and business communities. In here I can see that E-Learning depends
on the learner or student whether he/she will take his/her study seriously with/without the
use of technology. It is merely a matter of how interested a learner is to learn.

Fourth is the Compressed Work Scheme which is a bill no. 5068 is passed by Hon.
Mark Go that in the Explanatory note the concept of compressed work arrangement refers to
alternative arrangements or schedules other than the traditional or standard work hours and
work week. Through this method, the normal work week is reduced to less than six days but
the total number of normal work hours per week shall remain at 48 hours. This concept can
be adjusted accordingly in cases where the normal work week of the company is five days. In
here I cannot see any indolence involve it is for the reason that the number of work hours
still remained the same however it depends on how the schedule will be organized or changed
depending on the company or workplace.

References:

https://dict.gov.ph/introduction-and-overview-of-e-government-in-the-philippines/

http://www.congress.gov.ph/legisdocs/basic_17/HB05068.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229052306_A_Study_on_e-Learning_for_Philippines

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/programs/conditional-cash-transfer/