The Mythos of Filipino Resiliency

Resiliency is often seen as an important quality to have because it shows how adaptive individuals and communities can be during times of uncertainty. For Filipinos, being resilient is an even more valuable quality to have considering that we live in communities that are very vulnerable to natural disasters (e.g. typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.). Furthermore, our society is in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic — an unprecedented event that has been really taking a toll on our physical and mental well-being. Although being resilient definitely helps our people in keeping a positive mindset during these trying times, one might ask: is my resiliency being reciprocated with proper and effective action from the government? One might also think that the government has learned from decades of destruction brought upon by natural disasters. Unfortunately, as shown by the government’s response (or lack thereof) to these recent disasters, that is not the case.

Romanticizing the Filipino resiliency is a problem because it overshadows the need for a proper and effective response from the government during times that call for it. Furthermore, it can be argued that the government perpetuates the notion of Filipino resiliency as a means to cover up their negligence and incompetence. Paired with the news media using it as one of their favorite angles during typhoon disasters, this notion becomes normalized and therefore, is accepted by the middle class. The perpetuation of the narrative does not help because it teaches people to be more individualistic in terms of survival, blaming the actions of the poor for not preparing enough, and carrying the mindset that we are on our own during these terrible times. In his statement not too long ago, President Duterte employs this rhetoric during a speech in Malacañang. In the speech, he says “Kaya natin ito, ilang pahirap na ng panahon… Babangon din tayo, mahirap pero alam mo naman ang Pilipino, alam niyang tumindig uli…”. This statement was done under the pretext of him creating a task force which focuses on rehabilitation and relief operations on areas that are usually visited by typhoons.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, although it is true that we are going through unprecedented times, it is not justifiable to claim that no one really knows how to respond to it. The pandemic-induced disaster that we are currently facing is the culmination point of the government’s negligence and incompetence. Instead of providing more funding for public health initiatives, what are they prioritizing? IBON Foundation noted that during the Duterte Administration, the NDRRMC funds, along with the budget on Education and Health were cut down by four billion pesos. While this is happening, they are also focusing on their own war with its people. The government chose to spend its time engaging the opposition and their main critics. In 2017, its budget for Intel ops and other ‘sensitive’ matters rose by 2.5 billion pesos, 400% more than the previous Aquino Administration . As per the current posting, the allocation for the said programs are up by 4.5 billion and might continue to rise due to their continuous campaign against the Left. These funds were not reallocated, considering that the Philippines were experiencing catastrophic disasters like the recent eruption of Taal Volcano in January, the rising COVID-19 cases in March, and the typhoons Rolly and Ulysses which ravaged both urban and rural communities. The Aquino Administration had its fair share of this same problem. Back in 2013, Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) devastated Southern Luzon and Visayas. As a result, more than 6,000 died and another 1,800 were missing due to the government’s unpreparedness. An audit done by the Commision on Audit found that the past administration poorly managed the rehabilitation of Tacloban. Many donations were either mismanaged or not distributed, and were left sitting idle in warehouses, citing “thousands of food packs, canned goods, bottled water, body bags and rice spoiled or missing or unused; millions of pesos worth of goods and funds unaccounted for, and close to a billion pesos in funds still unused."

Reference:

The Mythos of Filipino Resiliency.

         (2020, December 14). Institute for Nationalist Studies Medium. Retrieved from

          ins-ph.medium.com

          

Agcaoili, JP. RESILIENCE? You say that like it’s a good thing. Retrieved from

            https://www.greenpeace.org/philippines/story/11888/climate-resilience-you-say-that-like-its-a-good-thing/

Cabuenas, Jon Viktor D. GMA News Philippines slips to second-to-the-last spot in latest COVID-19 Resilience Ranking. Retrieved from

            https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/793352/philippines-slips-to-second-to-the-last-spot-in-latest-covid-19-resilience-ranking/story/

SMART Public Affairs, Resiliency of Filipinos highlighted in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda. Retrieved from       

              https://smart.com.ph/About/newsroom/full-news/2013/11/21/resiliency-of-filipinos-highlighted-in-the-aftermath-of-typhoon-yolanda