Filipinos can be disciplined

Yesterday I saw that Pinoys can be disciplined from their tendency to scramble to be ahead of the others in a crowd. Usually, what happens in most mass movements are scores of persons are maimed, crushed or killed.

In short, I was wondering for quite a while on why this is a common phenomenon of Pinoys in large gatherings.

But it was only when the Ateneo de Manila University undertook a research into the phenomenon of Filipinos crossing the streets of Manila without due respect of the pedestrian lanes that I sort of gleaned what was the root cause of these rebellious tendencies.

Usually, it seems that the average Filipino sees it as a reason to assert his identity and personal self-worth.

In short, it is a rebellion against a stern paternalistic or maternalistic discipline which rules every Filipino family.

Since we do not want to hurt or antagonize our elders, we tend to assert ourselves through these seemingly innocuous gestures of independence.

That’s the reason why – when there is no cop around, we take that as a sign that we are not threatened by external discipline.

True, when our authorities truly show signs of being very hard with discipline, the Filipino normally behaves like lambs.

Thus, the way to change that attitude is to actually spiritualize the approach. And the church leaders, to a certain extent, must have already crossed the Rubicon, so to speak.

During the Martial Law years (at least during the first few years) we saw the Filipino well-behaved. They followed traffic rules while trying not to violate any of the rules then imposed.

They knew that sooner or later the whip was going to fall on them and their companions.

And that’s the reason why there are those who still call for the return of what some call as the benevolent dictatorship. There is no such thing as the threat of the use of the whip when one commits an indiscretion.

The Church this time really used the spiritual approach with complete confidence that it was going to work. In short, it recognized that one can not dismantle the cultural traits of people overnight. It requires a prolonged process to dismantle ideas what have become almost automatic and redundant.

I studied how the Church eventually managed to extricate itself from the clutches of a theological revolution that threatened to draw it into the fold of communism or Marxism. It was a long hard struggle. But eventually the Church managed to put things right, distancing itself from a theology that was masqueraded itself innocuous and intended only to undercut communism as a clarion call for the young generation of the time.

I would like to find out whether we have succeeded in our present generation from that tempting summon to militancy. We can remain militant without setting aside the message of God to remain kind and merciful to others.

The present visit of Pope Francis will once and for all prove to us whether the lessons of yesterday had been sufficiently imbibed and the changes desired attained.*

back to top