Exercise 6

Activity:
Follow the instructions and write your answers in the space provided.

1. List down five values that you learned/caught from your family/parents, your
neighbors/schoolmates/fellow Filipinos. Examine critically the positive and negative implications/acts
of the abovementioned values that you have learned/caught from your family, community, and
Philippine society.

 Pakikipagkapwa-tao: Opening yourself to others and feel one with others with dignity and -
Respect life as fellow human beings
Positive implications:

a. Sense of fairness and justiceConcern for others

b. Ability to empathize with others
c. Helpfulness and generosity
d. Practice of hospitality
e. Sensitive to other feelings and trust

Negative implications: Extreme Personalism - always trying to give personal interpretation to

actions (Cow fave or Mahilig sa "baka' ") always thinking about what other people will say.

 Family Orientation: A genuine and deep love for family.

Positive implications:

a. Commitment and responsibility

b. Honor and Respect
c. Generosity and Sacrifice
d. Sense of trust and Security

Negative implication: Extreme Family Centeredness - Very strong family protection whether it
is in good or bad condition and situation (consentidor) (overprotected)

 Joy and Humor: Filipinos have a cheerful and fun-loving approach to life and its up and down,
Pleasant Disposition, a Sense of Humor and Propensity for happiness that contribute not only to
the Filipino charm but also to the Filipino Spirit.
Positive implications:

a. Laughing or smiling at those we love and hate.

b. Tend to make joke about our good and even bad fortune
c. Smiling and heads up even in the most trying of times
d. Emotional balance and optimism
e. Healthy disrespect for power and office.
Negative implications: Lack of Discipline

a. Very relaxed attitude but Poor Time Management (the famous Filipino Time)
b. Impatient and unable to delay gratification or reward
c. Love to take short-cuts or 'palusot' system
d. Carelessness

 Flexibility, Adaptability and Creativity

 Positive Implications:

a. Easy to adapt, blend to other culture

b. Practice other tradition
c. Speak and study other languages
d. Even diff. environment or climate
Negative implication: Colonial Mentality
a. Patriotism vs Active awareness - (mas maganda and magaling kasi ang ibang bansa, mas
masarap)
b. To much appreciation to other nationality and foreign products than native one (local vs
imported)
c. Lack of LOVE and Appreciation on what they have
d. Open outside but Side-open or Close inside (it's OK and Best to RECEIVED more than to
Share)
 Hard Work and Industry
Positive implications: Capacity for hard work given to raise one's standard living of a decent life
for one's family.
Negative implications: Passivity and Lack of Initiative

a. Strong reliance to others fate (Mayaman-Mapera-Abroad naman si Mommy and

Daddy/Lola and Lolo or Tito or Tita or Pinsan or Ninong etc.)
b. Yeah the famous PINOY PRIDE. It is all because of the race (nationality/blood) not by
person's attitude, hard-work, dream and perseverance etc.

2. How were these values transmitted to you?

Value transmission is the process whereby a value is passed on from one generation to the next in
a community. Cultural transmission is generally regarded as one of the key characteristics
distinguishing human from animal.
Three primary forms of value transmission:

a. Horizontal transmission, communications among individuals of the same generation;

b. Vertical transmission, in which a member of one generation talks to a biologically-related
member of a later generation;
c. Oblique transmission, in which any member of one generation talks to any non-
biologically-related member of a later generation.

3. List down at least 10 Rizalian values which you have to learn in order to increase your chances
of becoming a good Filipino citizen. Explain your answers fully.
a. BE PROGRESSIVE. As I was searching about the values of Rizal, someone argued that what
Rizal and the propagandists did against the Spaniard was, in a sense, trolling. Trolling is used
by the weak to irritate the powerful. In fact they were so trolled by Rizal's Padre Damaso,
Salvi and Doña Victorina that they eventually killed him. Others can call this activism, or just
being plain progressive. Tell people the ills of society so progress can be achieved. But take
note that Rizal exposed the ills of society and attacked those that make it worse, but did not
antagonize fellow Filipinos, even if he was also telling them where they’d gone wrong.

b. THINK CRITICALLY. Rizal and the Propagandists were called Ilustrados not just for being
educated but because they are believers of the Enlightenment Philosophy. They did not just
accept things as they are, they began questioning the inequality in the status quo. They did not
wait for miracles to happen but advocated scientific and reasonable approaches in solving
 problems. In short: use your coconut. Fanaticism and blind faith can be the unbecoming of a
Nation.

c. EDUCATE YOURSELF. To be honest, Rizal was not democratic in his politics although he
is a liberal by philosophy. To become a worthy citizen of the Nation, he believed, one should
be educated. But what was Rizal's kind of education? Rizal's progressive education when he
taught in Dapitan, a non-traditional approach which is not based on a canned standard
curriculum but is anchored on developing the strengths of each student.

d. DEVELOP YOUR TALENTS. Why were the propagandists multi-talented? Rizal was
considered a "renaissance man" just like Leonardo da Vinci because he was able to do things
both in the sciences and the humanities, but he was not the only one. General Antonio Luna
was a pharmacist and a chemist, Juan Luna was a sailor and a painter, and so on. One must
understand that during the time of our ancestors, many Spaniards thought lowly of Filipinos.
The propagandists, by being multi-talented, were actually proving a point about Filipinos being
their own people, their own Nation. By the product of their talents, they were able to make the
people feel united in their achievements and their progressive and educated thoughts. Juan
Luna showed the colonizers that we are outstanding through the Spoliarium. Rizal
demonstrated in his writings, especially the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, our
common misfortune under colonialism. There was no such town as San Diego, but being
nowhere, it was everywhere. Padre Salvi, Sisa, Doña Victorina and others are reflections of
realities of Philippine life under colonialism. These novels and portrayals of Philippine society
showed us that realizing our common problems should unite us as a Nation.

e. MAKE A DIFFERENCE. It is not enough to be educated ourselves and to develop our

talents. Rizal proved in Dapitan that if one decides to, an individual can change the lives of
other people. Rizal's other legacy for the 21st century should be "social entrepreneurship."
When the Spaniards exiled Rizal to Dapitan, the goal was to discourage him in doing his thing
by bringing him to the "edge of the earth". But even if he was only one person, a "one man
NGO," he tried to change the lives of the people by instilling to the people of that sleepy town
a sense of industry and pride in work. He taught them the latest technologies in agriculture,
fishing, and even collected them into a cooperative. When he won the lottery, he bought land
so he could be productive. Rizal had money in the process, but he did not forget to make a
difference as well to people's lives that when he left after four years, people were actually
crying because Rizal significantly changed the way they looked at their world.

f. RESPECT WOMEN. Some consider Rizal a misogynist, because he portrayed almost all his
women characters in his novels as weak, including the main female protagonist, Maria Clara.
But we should look at the novels not just as a rebuke to the colonial system, but also as a wake-
up call to Filipinos. It was his way of showing Filipino women their situation at that time and
that they should act. One should read his congratulatory letter to the women of Malolos who
agitated to be taught the Spanish language. He basically pointed out the role of women,
especially mothers, in raising patriotic kids who will eventually work for their country. Crucial
to these is the education of women, because the blind cannot lead the blind. Historian Luis
Dery summarized in his own words the message of Rizal's letter: "If you want to kill a Nation,
you have to make the women stupid." He knew this for a fact—he himself was first educated
by his mother, and he was brought up in a home with nine surviving female siblings, some of
them eventually joined Andres Bonifacio's Katipunan.

g. KNOW YOUR HISTORY. With his novels, he showed us that we have a common
misfortune, but in writing the history of the Filipinos in our own perspective, he was trying to
show us that we can be one in our identity. Zeus Salazar said that the contribution of Rizal
and the propagandists to our being a nation was the tripartite narrative of history. Before that,
the Spaniards used to tell us the bipartite view of history which were: (1) before Spain came,
 there was darkness and (2) the Spaniards brought the marvelous Christian civilization to us.
This kind of narrative taught the people that all good things can only come from foreigners and
that they were our only hope. In his annotations to a historical work by Dr. Antonio de Morga,
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the Philippine Islands), and through his historical
essays such as "On the indolence of the Filipinos" and "The Philippines Within a Century"
Rizal was able to show us the tripartite view: (1) before the Spaniards came, we were free,
prosperous and were trading with our neighbors, (2) Spain enslaved us, brought darkness, and
we lost our freedom and identity, (3) the society can change and we can bring back our liberties
if we work for them. Rizal was able to show us that we have our own identity and culture. He
wrote about our maritime culture or our extensive trading with our past. Rizal once wrote,
"…perhaps the people will revive their maritime and commercial activities. … And free once
more, like the bird that leaves his cage, like the flower that returns to the open air, they will
discover their good old qualities which they are losing little by little and again become lovers
of peace, gay, lively, smiling, hospitable, and fearless.” You cannot love someone you don't
know. If we want to love our country, we have to learn about its past to better understand it.

h. THINK AHEAD. Rizal wrote in one of his early plays, "I enter the future bringing with me
my past." Rizal tells us that history is not the only thing that is important to know, rather, its
lessons should guide us in giving us foresight, to help us think ahead. He demonstrated this in
his essay "The Philippines within a century." He opened it with these lines, "To foretell the
destiny of a Nation, it is necessary to open the book that tells of its past." Rizal was able to
predict that if Spain will not give us reforms, there would be a violent revolution. But knowing
international studies, he also built the case that if we gain our own freedom, America will be
interested in occupying us. Which happened in a matter of years. Pablo Trillana, an ardent
Rizalist, always reminded us that prescience is also important. Trying to think ahead, makes
us proactive in creating a better future.

i. BE A NATION-BUILDER. There will never be a perfect kind of unity for Filipinos. All of
us will have different political persuasions, creeds and even cultural identities. But
highlighting only these differences and using these to further divide us through a rhetoric of
hate and disinformation can only lead to the failure of Nationhood. Rizal and our heroes
showed us to fight the ills of society, but not fight with each other, Filipinos against Filipinos.
Rizal demonstrated to us that that we can use our talents, our thoughts and our simple efforts
to foster a healthy unity and to make us understand each other more. In the time of social
media, we actually need to heed this lesson more than ever.

Rizal was not perfect and did not have all the answers to all our problems. That is not the
reason why he is great. He is great because he used his humanity and gifts to develop himself
and united us to imagine a Nation. There can only be one Rizal, but he and our other heroes
already showed us who we are as Filipinos and what we can be.

4. Do Values influence personality formation? Explain your answer and relate these with the
formation of an ideal Filipino citizen.
Your values form the foundation of your life, a lot of what you value tells you what kind
of personality you developed, they dictate the choices you make and determine the direction that
your life takes. Your values will influence your decisions related to your relationships, career, and
other activities you engage in. If you value your country and its aims, your action will correspond
to your desire of becoming an ideal Filipino citizen. The ultimate function of human values is to
provide man with set of standards to guide him in all his efforts to satisfy his needs. And at the
same time, maintain and, as much as possible, enhance self-esteem which also a determinant of
personality formation. If we carried out these values, it can serve as a vehicle and reinforcement
towards our goal of realizing social change and progress, being an ideal Filipino Citizen.
5. Case Analysis: Base your analysis on the parental/cultural and Rizalian values that you have
listed down and examined in numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4. Comment on the following situations:

a. Maria sees nothing wrong with cheating during examinations.

If a student believes that there’s nothing wrong with cheating during examinations, she definitely
values good grades over honesty. This situation also portrays over reliance to others, this value will
create negative implications in our life as a student. We should learn how to stand on our own, because
this is the only way for us to grow, learn, and explore who we are as a person, our purpose, our ability
and our limitations. And also, cheating may give you high grades, but will never give you high moral,
honesty does.

b. Senator Luz thinks that senators and congressmen should not be given “Pork Barrel Funds”.
More than 100 congressmen think that they should be given their full 570-million “Pork Barrel
Funds” which they say they will use for the development of their district/province/city.
Pork Barrel Funds strike the most controversial issue about the corruption of the government
officials here in the Philippines. Corruption may arise from an individual who value his own interest
over the interest of the many, some reasons are for family’s wealth, power that came from money, and
the likes. If a politician values the wealth of his family over the wealth of the nation, he will definitely
commit dishonesty that will lead to corruption. As a politician, you should be a nation builder, not a
divider.

c. John believes that finishing a college degree is not important.

I don’t judge people who believe that finishing a college degree is not important, maybe they have
personal reasons, and maybe they have business on their own. But for me, who raised in a poor family,
this the most efficient way to help my family, not just my family but for my country as well. I always
value the importance of education, and Rizal clearly said that we, the youth is the backbone and the
future of our country.

d. Felipe believes that Filipinos are inferior to Americans.

This value signifies “colonial mentality”, wherein you adore other country than your own. This is
so embarrassing to our heroes who died just for us to have a nation so called our own. Loving the
culture or products of other country and criticizing our own is a negative implication of us, Filipinos,
being flexible and fast to adapt culture of other country. Learn to be proud of your own, by loving it,
supporting, and uplifting the culture of our country, the Philippines.

e. Don Placido’s yardstick for success is the size and number of bank accounts that one keeps and
the beauty and number of lovers that one has in his “harem”.
Every individual has its own definition of success, who you are is what you think. If a person
believes that success is the size and number of bank accounts that one keeps and the beauty and number
of lovers that one has in his “harem”, then definitely, this person value money, power, and sex. I can
only say that believing or having these values is the worst thing an individual could have.

Exercise 6
Integration:
In the space provided, write your answers after doing the activity.
In two or three statements, complete the following:

I realized that:
Value is an important ingredient towards becoming an ideal Filipino citizen. And these positive value
could be used in the solution of day-to-day situations and problems of contemporary life.

I resolve that:
Family impacts very much in society and society impacts very much in the country. So an ideal country
not only builds by the government but also each and every family member. So each family is the principal
key to the society. This is why the family is important in our life.