Filipinos, Present and Future

Tweet

Filipinos are known as hospitable, friendly, flexible and hardworking people. You will see Filipinos everywhere; in Middle East, Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, Canada, US and Australia. They always leave a mark on every country they go to. One good example was Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. He traveled in Spain, most of Europe and the US. He was a great novelist, educator, doctor and poet. He was acknowledged in some parts of Europe and US. Landmarks and other places are even named after him. In Singapore, there is a tribute to Rizal at Cavenagh Bridge. You can also see a statue of Rizal at the Rizal Park in Wilhelmsfeld, Germany, Jose Rizal Bridge and another Jose Rizal Park named after him in Seattle, Washington. Same with other six places like Jose Rizal Park in Campbelltown City and street names in New South Wales. Why have foreigners acknowledged Jose Rizal? What qualities did he possess? He was very intelligent. He mastered 22 languages in total. These include not only English and Spanish, others are Chinese, Russian and Japanese. Foreigners who knew him, described him as “stupendous” and “versatile genius”. What is it about Filipinos that makes them welcomed in so many countries just like Jose Rizal? Back home, Filipinos who travel overseas are treated like a hero. Every time they go to other countries, they take with them the qualities of being a Filipino. Hospitable, warm, friendly, patient, forbearing and versatile. They sacrifice themselves by going to another country to make a living for their family. They want to give their children a better education and a better future. Wherever they may be, whatever job they have, they are very tolerant when it comes to surviving the storms of life. Filipino Education Today and in the Future According to statistics, only one in six Filipinos can afford to complete school because of poverty. It’s sad to hear but there are many factors such as corruption, poor programme implementations especially on education, health and indigent families who needs most of the support. Middle class up to Elite people can go to school, eat three to six times a day, and can buy luxuries while those who are poor are excluded. When Philippines were under Spanish rule, while overall literacy levels were very low by modern standards, their enthusiasm for learning meant that literacy in Manila was higher than Madrid. However, despite this Filipinos were unable to shine and pursue their own way in life, being basically slaves. Today, industries like the Business Process Outsourcing industry are delivering new opportunities and opening doors for Filipinos to not only step up and join the middle class… but also to chart their own course in life and succeed based on their dreams and ability not just on their luck or otherwise at birth. One great asset, left behind by the earlier American administration, is a universal education system. This system is influenced by both the Spanish and the Americans. As said earlier, many very poor children pull out before completing, but none the less, the system is there. A recent innovation is the extension of the system. Before, a student required to only finish 6 years of primary education or elementary years. (Grade one to Grade six) plus four years of secondary or high school education, and four years of undergraduate degree. Now, they introduced a K-12 programme wherein each student should finish 12 years. (Grade one to Grade 12). This is equivalent to 6 years of primary education, 4 years of secondary education (junior high school) and an additional of 2 years (senior high school) and undergraduate degree after that. What is the correlation between these two programmes and how does it affect the performance of Filipinos at work? The old system was lacking on some parts when it came to meeting the international standards while the new K-12 system is more aligned with the education overseas such as US and other Western countries. This should help in terms of getting more Filipinos ready for work as well as developing the overall pool of talent. Knowledge increasing, people are getting smarter, finding new ways to make life easier and to make ends meet. In the future, will Philippines become one of the countries to stand out in Asia? Quality of Life Today In the busy streets of Manila, people are always hustling and bustling trying to reach the finish line every day. Everyday life is reasonably difficult. Meeting deadlines, reaching targets, delivering good performance at work are just one of the pressures they are facing to keep employment. Other pressures include just getting to work. Commuting in Manila is very difficult and many employees commute up to two hours each way. Also, of course, there is not much of a social safety net. If you don’t work then you have only your family to rely on and this can be difficult if you are someone who has moved to Manila from the province to make a go of it. Most of Filipinos are employees. Only few are running a small business. Lack of support from the government is one of the main reason why Filipinos cannot make their dreams come to life. They want to build a business to help their fellows and the country but this is impossible if you have limited financial resources. Red tape here is extreme. You need a lot of skill, patience and money to successfully navigate the maze of permits required. The World Bank has a report that names the Philippines as the 138th most difficult country to run a business. If you are an older Filipino and only have a Year 6 education then it is almost impossible to be compliant. This is one of the reasons why it is mainly the super rich and foreigners who can afford to navigate the systems and set up companies and businesses in the Philippines with Filipinos ending up as the workforce. This is not to say Filipinos are not highly capable. They can start as the lowest paying employee on the job and rise as a reputable employee in any company. Some Filipinos who went outside the country have become world renowned actors, actresses, singers, politicians, etc. They are good in everything they do like Lea Salonga, Manny Pacquiao, Allan Pineda also known as Apple de App of Black Eyed Peas, David Michael Batista, Arnel Pineda “The Journey” lead singer, Caterina Fake, the founder of Flickr, Ben Cayetano, governor of Hawaii and other famous Filipinos all around the world. They left the country, became successful and then often come back to help their homeland. In the Future The Philippine Government does face significant challenges when it comes to managing governance, poverty, disasters and calamities and other arising issues. Also, there are issues around the tax base. Resources are limited and don’t stretch far into a nation with 100 million people. Each individual can’t only depend on the government; they have to rely on themselves. Knowing that the government cannot solve their problems all the time, they have to find ways to keep up. In the future, Filipinos will continue to be great employees not just abroad and at home for foreign firms, but increasingly for their own businesses as well. A long term goal is to have companies send work here not only because of the cost savings… but more because we are recognized at being the best at what we do. Beyond that for each Filipino, it is not just about finishing first but also about enjoyment, about learning lessons, making a difference, about bringing out the best in people and always being a survivor.