Synthesis

This part of the research provides different facts and studies that will help the research be more informative and truthful. This part was laid by different people who had undergone a related study.

Filipinos are very much aware of the negative traits that were passed on by our folks. It is the students who are the affected and influenced on their studies. It is so hard for us to take away the traits we have since birth because it is already running through our blood.

Mañana Habit
First let us define what Mañana Habit is..Mañana is a Spanish word meaning “Tomorrow” or “At an specified future time”. In short, it is exactly described as “Procrastination”.
In Filipino terms, Mañana Habit means “Mamayana” or “Do it Later”. Which results in a very unorganized way of doing things, specifically for office tasks because it affects the overall performance of an employee. Skipping deadlines, stress and anxiety are just some effects of that habit.
Why am I sharing this? Simply because I couldn’t get rid of that problem. I’ve realized that this malpractice is hard to remove. Based from my experience, this really affects my overall performance in work.
Many of my colleagues says “magalingkakwing, tamadkalang”, meaning I’ve got a talent but it’s just I’m too lazy to do things. Why? Simply because I am easily distracted by my surroundings, events, ideas that pops out of my mind. Leaving the work pending and my mind is wandering all over.
The sad part is, you can prolong the task, but you cannot hold your deadline. Which is very disastrous. I’ve been to a lot of non-beneficial feelings because of procrastination. What I can do now is to “change” the way I am right now and to have “discipline”. It may be too late for projects that didn’t meet the deadline but definitely it isn’t too late for a change. I know I can get better than this.
Ningas Cogon
We often hear the term “ningas cogon” in Filipino culture. At times, it is often used when describing news headlines, current scandals, or Filipino traits. But what does the term really mean? And where did it come from? How does it actually occur in Filipino culture, and why?

The term “ningas cogon” is actually derived from the word cogon, which refers to cogon grass, a tall, green, thin type of grass that grows through large fields and easily catches fire. Because cogon grass is thin in texture, any amount of flame brought close to it can cause a quick and wild fire. The next thing you know, you are left with an empty field of dead and burned grass. The reason people use the term ningas cogon is because it refers to the fact that people show fervent interest in a new topic (like the wild fire), but also lose interest just as quickly (like the cogon grass that burns out rapidly). Oftentimes, people describe ningas cogon as procrastination, as it refers to the fact that people tend to show immense interest in new topics, and then procrastinate by failing to follow through with the necessary means of solving the incident at hand.

Perhaps you can blame it on the hardworking and busy lifestyles of the Filipino people. Or maybe, quite simply, on the Filipino people love for excitement and entertainment. Whichever the cast, one can often find the ningas cogon mentality in Filipino culture, especially in matters of politics, media, news scandals, and entertainment. One such example of this would be when there is a news scandal involving a crime committed by a prominent person. When such event occurs, you find the headlines on every single newspaper, talk show and news channel available. People all over the country discuss, debate, and argue over the matter. Some people even spread rumors and gossip to further worsen the news scandal. Politicians usually step in to remind people of the power they possess to fix the matter, and to find justice. Unfortunately, it does not take long before everyone loses interest, and the next big scandal is simply a day away. Before you know it, the politicians have moved on to other projects, and what was once a great big scandal is left forgotten and unsolved.
Some say that the reason Filipino people are so quick to forget about important incidents (and that promises made to fix them) is because they are simply too busy with their individual lives. Others say that it is because the Filipino people are subservient, patient, and forgiving. But regardless of which case it may be, ningas cogon is often (if not always) viewed as a negative trait and a weakness of the Filipino people.

Hiya (Shame)
Hiya is the term Filipinos use to describe the concept of shame. Shame is the emotion experienced when we feel exposed as inadequate, weak, and powerless. For Filipino“hiya” is reduced to a feeling, an emotion, or a behavioral response to various social situations. It is the value that regulates the Filipinos social behavior.
Hiya is a controlling element in the Filipino society. A person’s behavior is restricted by his sense of “hiya” while public behavior is censured, or approved of, by hiya.Filipinos are very sensitive when it comes to their personal feelings. That’s why they are very careful not to be subjected to embarrassment or “mapahiya”and make it a point not to cause another person’s embarrassment. This is applied in the current society; controlling and motivating a person’s social behavior; the reason why Filipinos still remain conservative in their actions in this era.Everyone is expected to have hiya in the way they behave in order to win respect from the community. By dressing and living up to your word are good ways to avoid“hiya”.
One’s self-esteem goes up and down, depending on the value you place on your own hiya in public.A Filipino can lose their self-esteem if they were to be publicly embarrassed, criticized, or does not live up to their expectations.This conceptwould be meaningless to a westerner who values individualism and non-conformism because his behavior is controlled more by individual sense of guilt and less by group censure. To a Filipino, to lose the support of his fellowmen is to become a social outcast. And showing a lack ofhiya in front of others is similar to ‘losing face’. Filipino believes they must live up to the accepted standards of behavior and if they fail to do so they bring shame not only upon themselves, but also upon their family. Building and having a family is one of the things that Filipinos value the most. All members are afforded to have loyalty and have a great respect for the elders.But family loyalty, like hiya, has an unfortunate flipside. Filipinos tend to burn all of their loyalty in protecting their family, the public good be damned.

Bahala Na
Bahalana is a common expression among Filipinos which rests on the fatalistic outlook and strong dependence on spirits. It can be viewed in two ways. First, it is a kind of fatalistic resignation which represents withdrawal from engagement from personal responsibility. Second, it involves dependence and deep abiding faith in the supernatural spirits which will take care of everything and will provide good fortune for one’s struggle against difficulties.
Literally, Bahalana means "Leave it to God." It promotes lack of initiative among Filipinos. Instead of relying on one's own effort and industry to solve problems, one leaves his fate to God. It is tied, indeed, with Filipino culture.
This negative Filipino trait tends to be the cause of laziness by so many people. A lot of poor people resign themselves to the kind of life they have thinking that it is what God meant for them to have and He will take care of their needs. Their belief is that life finds a solution for itself. But if we look to the positive side of this trait, it lead us to the realization that this is not an expression of laziness and hesitation, it is not a disposition of hopelessness and unresponsiveness, rather, it is a positive and down-to-earth attitude that signifies determination and strength, even in the most trying of times.

Leveling
This term maybe once echoed on your mind especially because it has been discussed throughout when we were high school or college. You may also read in those news paper article or maybe had been discussed by your professor. What exactly is Filipino crab mentality? Where did it come from? What does it apply to? What does it say about Filipinos as a people, as a culture and where does it point us in terms of future direction? Common usage of the term crab mentality is really to deal with seemingly and perceived negative opinions, assessments or criticisms. It is almost as used as frequently as “inggit” or “inggitkalang,” which is a phrase meaning you are just envious. Basically it turns the argument from the focus of the criticism and assessment back to the person who was supposedly criticized or gave a negative opinion.

It is really an appealing to personal considerations because it puts the critic’s motives into a bad light. More common than not, it is used to just silence otherwise valid critics.

Submissiveness
Submissiveness shows the characteristic of the Filipino which shows his non-willingness to challenge those in authority and accepting commands and criticisms from others without even questioning them. It shows the trait of the Filipino of relying on a leader for support. This trait allows him to make others decide for him.

Filipino is very respectful and is always a good listener. If he is asked to participate actively in a decision-making process, he hardly speaks out his mind. He hardly find himself participating actively in deliberation process. Generally, he is not going to participate unless he is directly called upon to say something.

The submissive person is someone who is unable to say no. Submissiveness is when one’s “no” becomes “no problem”. He just no hardly accepts the decision of others. The submissive fellow is constantly unsure of himself, from body language, words, and voice. The submissive person is someone who is easily taken for granted. Many times, he even gains the ire of many colleagues, some of which may not be even part of his job to begin with.

Unfortunately, the submissive individual is a doormat, and does not gain the respect.

But aside from submissiveness, there is one more evil, said to be even unique in Filipino organizations. This is the submissive-aggressive behavior, where one accepts everything from Person A, but complains about it to the whole world, except Person A. This is particularly quite much reflecting in organization wherever people succeed on rumor, hearsay and unkind remarks. More often than not, many communication breakdowns occur because there is no more room for trust. And people are generally distracted from the work that needs to be done.
There is a large need to communicate assertively in this day and age, as we now have more opportunities to work and interact with foreigners, who have come from cultures, which assertiveness is the norm. But more than just considering foreigners, injecting assertiveness in people has proven to be quite helpful in terms of promoting team work and increasing productivity, especially in places where conflicts abound. The practice of assertiveness in behavior and communication promotes a better working relationship with clients and counterparts. With assertiveness, people are able to focus more on what could be done to complete the work, rather than inefficiently blaming people for delays.

Subsistence
Have you ever heard the word subsistence? Do you have the knowledge what this word meant? Most Filipinos were not familiar with this trait. People aren’t aware that they already have this kind of trait that tends to be lived by as for their daily routines. We, Filipinos are much too known for being contented to meet each other day’s needs as they arise and no more than that. . They usually live according to the following expressions: “remedionalang” and “delihensya”. These expressions definitely indicate for the Filipino neither hopeless apprehension nor pride in his past achievement. Moreover they also express an attitude of satisfaction one’s basic needs are met. This shows that people wanted quick solutions to problems arising. Closely related to this observation is that Filipinos were present-oriented. Filipinos do not plan ahead and were used to having quick solutions to problems once these were already there and is already needed to be solved. It can also be referred as for our government actions for our country’s uprising economic problems nowadays, which was known as “band-aid’, a temporary solution, a solution for the mean time.