"Filipino Resiliency" (Yes, It's Quote-Unquoted)

By: Alianor Lyzza D. Mautante

Published: July 2, 2023

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Filipinos are known for a lot of things, and on top of that list come the words optimistic, resilient, and hopeful. If smile and happiness were words personified, Filipinos would definitely be those individuals. Through the thinnest of needles and thickest of threads, these people have long showcased their capability to rise up and embody the values that define them. They are, after all, living in the Pearl of the Orient Seas, filled with majestic waters and fertile lands. They are people descending from a series of colonization for more than a hundred years, with horrendous yet vivid memories of slavery, bloodbaths, and being subjected to inferiority in their own home. Truthfully, the Filipino people have overcome and endured the worst in the many times they faced unimaginable struggles; thus, earning their identity as an optimistic nation. It has become a lifestyle, and perhaps a norm, in the community to live out this definition in whatever worst-case scenario life throws at them. Spoiler: it could get worse than better.

Being located at the Pacific Ring of Fire as well as surrounded by several bodies of water, the Philippines is prone to natural disasters. An average of 20 typhoons can hit the country a year. Volcanic eruptions are also dangerously frequent, with the recent Mayon Volcano eruption at Alert Level Three as of writing. Super Typhoon Yolanda last 2013, one of the country’s worst-ever natural disasters, also took numerous lives and destroyed the homes of many Filipinos. In the midst of what could be named “worst” for most, one can still bump into photos of Filipino people all smiles while getting rained on by the sky or as they receive relief goods. The perception of this image of positivity is depicted as a solution to the pain, when it should be consumed in a rather different manner. Though resilience and optimism are values that will always be rooted in the hearts of every Filipino, it becomes an excuse to stray away from demanding accountability through chaos and to also disvalue help. It is perceived in a sense that an individual does not need help from elsewhere because they are resilient and independent enough to get by their problem. This established mindset of simply moving past pain comes at the cost of trauma. Moreover, instead of seeking the solution, the false perception brings them to just simply cope and move on. It is what it is, really? There should be an end in romanticizing the resiliency in every pain and in glorifying toxic positivity as means of encouragement or empowerment.  

As much as it is valued by the Filipino community, the damages brought by flash floods or any natural disaster and the extremities of reality is not ultimately alleviated by a smile. Filipinos are strong and yes, resilient, but there are disasters that could have been avoided, as said by Senator Grace Poe. The Filipino people cannot continue living expectedly to this kind of coping mechanism or to be immune to life’s hurdles simply because they are independent, optimistic, and again, resilient. Given the problem, the mindset of getting over it because there is nothing that can be possibly done undermines the need to look for a solution and demand responsibility from officials. The nation experiences more than just natural disasters, with poverty, unemployment, and corruption among them. But it’s okay, Filipinos can smile through that, right?

Time and again has changed how people can choose to endure things, may it be through the hard or easy way. In the grand scheme of things, Filipino resiliency must bear a greater meaning to the people. It must not be something that Filipinos should feel responsible for or something that they should continuously live up to. All these characteristics are found in the culture of the Filipino people, but it should not be taken for granted. There is no way one could be immune to pain, to natural disasters, to social injustices through principles that are now shaped as a collective ideal just to cope. Redefining the normalized yet falsely taken term “Filipino resiliency” should happen in the media and in the community as it can defeat the purpose of its definition. It should be in the people’s identity and culture as something that fuels them to ask more from the government, to look for the solution instead of the laugh or the smile, and to be a community that strives to bring together better lives. Filipinos are happy people, living in a happy nation, who are strong enough to stand up from the rocks thrown at them. Strong together.