Space Squandered, Time Squandered:
Why Philippine Infrastructure Builds Persistently but Struggles to Deliver Systemic Gains
By Karl Garcia
The Philippines has consistently pursued infrastructure expansion. Successive administrations have launched major programs focused on roads, railways, ports, flood control, and urban redevelopment. Public investment in infrastructure has increased over time, and the country has no shortage of plans, feasibility studies, or project pipelines.
Despite this sustained effort, long-standing problems remain. Traffic congestion persists across metropolitan areas. Flooding continues to affect both urban and peri-urban communities. Urban expansion proceeds faster than the consolidation of city cores. Mobility remains unreliable across multiple transport modes. Public confidence in infrastructure delivery is uneven.
The recurrence of these outcomes suggests that the challenge is not simply the quantity of infrastructure built, but the conditions under which it is planned, delivered, and governed. Two structural issues are consistently present: weak spatial discipline and limited institutional continuity over time.
Mobility Constraints Extend Across All Transport Modes
Public discussion often frames congestion as a problem associated primarily with private vehicles. While private car ownership has increased, congestion in Philippine cities affects all forms of movement.
Jeepneys, buses, tricycles, motorcycles, freight vehicles, emergency services, and pedestrians operate within the same constrained road network. Rail systems, while distinct, depend on surrounding road space for stations, depots, access roads, and last-mile connections. When surface road networks are congested or poorly managed, the performance of all modes deteriorates.
The persistence of multiple informal and semi-formal transport modes reflects gaps in coverage, reliability, and accessibility rather than simple preference. Each mode tends to compensate for weaknesses in others. Over time, this produces overlapping use of limited corridors rather than a coordinated system.
From a planning perspective, this indicates a systemic mobility issue rather than a mode-specific failure.
Spatial Constraints Are a Core Planning Variable
Urban land is finite. Road width, river corridors, floodplains, and easements cannot be expanded indefinitely. Once space is allocated to fixed infrastructure—particularly elevated or single-purpose structures—it becomes costly and technically difficult to repurpose.
This condition applies regardless of national size.
Countries with large land areas still face localized spatial scarcity in urban and flood-prone regions. Japan, for example, operates under significant spatial constraints due to topography and seismic risk. Its transport and land-use systems emphasize corridor protection, hierarchical road assignment, and long-term reservation of rail alignments.
The Netherlands, a densely populated and flood-prone country, prioritizes water management and spatial zoning. Transport infrastructure is planned within strict land-use controls that protect floodplains and ecological systems.
Jakarta’s experience illustrates the consequences of limited spatial discipline. Extensive road expansion over decades coincided with worsening congestion and flooding, prompting later policy shifts toward mass transit and river rehabilitation.
Hong Kong manages extreme density through rigid land allocation, long-term transport planning, and institutional continuity across political cycles.
These cases differ in governance structure and income level, but they share a consistent principle: spatial constraints are treated as binding conditions rather than secondary considerations.
Singapore as a Reference Case, Not a Template
Singapore is frequently cited in transport and land-use discussions and just as frequently dismissed as non-comparable due to its size, wealth, and governance model. These distinctions are valid.
However, Singapore’s relevance lies not in its replicability but in its treatment of land as a fixed resource. Transport, housing, drainage, and utilities are planned as an integrated spatial system. Road capacity is managed through pricing and ownership controls because physical expansion options are limited. Institutional continuity ensures that long-term plans are protected from short-term political shifts.
Singapore should not be treated as a universal model, but neither should it be excluded from comparative analysis. Its experience reinforces a broader point evident in other countries: mobility outcomes depend heavily on how space is allocated and protected over time.
Infrastructure Delivery and Institutional Continuity
Beyond spatial issues, Philippine infrastructure delivery has been affected by discontinuities over time. Several major projects have experienced delays, redesigns, legal disputes, or prolonged periods of underutilization.
NAIA Terminal 3 faced years of operational delay following completion due to contractual and legal disputes. The Northrail project proceeded through multiple phases of planning and financing without producing an operational railway. Rail extensions and urban road projects in various regions have encountered similar interruptions.
These cases do not indicate that infrastructure is technically infeasible. Rather, they point to limitations in institutional mechanisms for managing projects across administrative transitions, contractor disputes, and changing priorities.
When projects stall, physical structures remain while their intended functions are deferred. Over time, this creates sunk costs, spatial constraints, and public frustration.
Project Approval and System Capacity
Philippine infrastructure planning places significant emphasis on feasibility and approval stages. These processes establish technical and financial viability but are less effective at ensuring long-term delivery resilience.
Infrastructure systems operate over decades. They require mechanisms for contract transition, dispute resolution, re-procurement, and adaptive management. Where these mechanisms are weak or slow, projects become vulnerable to interruption.
Institutional capacity, in this sense, is as critical as engineering capacity. Without it, infrastructure risks becoming static rather than adaptive.
Space Recovery and Long-Term Flexibility
International experience shows that managing mobility is not limited to building new infrastructure. In some cases, recovering degraded or poorly allocated space improves system flexibility.
Examples include river rehabilitation, floodplain restoration, and reductions in landfill footprints through improved waste management. Japan and the Netherlands have restored urban waterways and flood zones to regain hydraulic and spatial capacity. Singapore has reduced reliance on landfills through advanced waste treatment, preserving land for other uses.
These measures are governance-dependent rather than technology-dependent. Their relevance lies in preserving future options rather than delivering immediate capacity.
Conclusion
Mobility challenges in the Philippines cannot be attributed to a single transport mode, policy choice, or administrative failure. They reflect structural issues in how space is allocated and how infrastructure is governed over time.
Cars, jeepneys, buses, tricycles, and rail systems all operate within the same finite spatial framework. Without clear hierarchy, protected corridors, and institutional continuity, adding infrastructure does not necessarily improve outcomes.
A sustainable infrastructure strategy does not require moral judgments about transport modes. It requires disciplined spatial planning and durable institutions capable of managing projects across decades.
The central question is not whether the Philippines will continue to build infrastructure. It is whether future infrastructure decisions will preserve enough space and institutional capacity to correct past choices as conditions evolve.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
“The recurrence of these outcomes suggests that the challenge is not simply the quantity of infrastructure built, but the conditions under which it is planned, delivered, and governed.” – Karl
Or, whether the infrastructure is ever built at all!
An acquaintance of mine here just got back from a vacation in Sorsogon where she is originally from. She said the roads there are terrible. Now as I understand it, Sorsogon is allotted money through Pork Barrel to take care of things like roads. So wha’ happened? Is this a case of faulty planning, delivery, and governance….or did the funds just get stolen to reimburse politicians for their election expenses?
We heard of the Flood Scandal where it is estimated as much as a trillion pesos are unaccounted for…or accounted for flood control projects THAT DON’T EXIST! Again is that planning, delivery, or governance…or simple plunder? (rhetorical question)
My suspicion is that planning, delivery, and governance of infrastructure simply get in the way of the plundering missions of our politicians. Simple as that.
At least something will hapoen which very long overdue.
In early 2026, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary
Vince Dizon announced a massive, nationwide rehabilitation of the
Maharlika Highway (Pan-Philippine Highway), marking its first major overhaul since the late 1970s.
Project Scope & Timeline
Key Strategies & Updates
“At least something will happen which very long overdue.
In early 2026, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary
Vince Dizon announced a massive, nationwide rehabilitation of the
Maharlika Highway (Pan-Philippine Highway), marking its first major overhaul since the late 1970s. “ – Karl G.
Thanks, Karl….but I am sure the Flood Control projects were inaugurated with similar hoopla. I learned of the term “Performance Government” from you. This announcement from Dizon may be “same o, same o”
Hopefully not.
The DPWH is part of the “all agencies” that must integrate with the eGov program being implemented by the DICT. Progress for this specific department has been slow and despite the Flood Control Scandal, there does not appear to be any sense of urgency, which is not surprising. A lot of “Gatekeepers” loot the DPWH to the tune of billions of pesos annually, so the financial incentive is there to block the eGov project because it aims to make agencies more transparent and more difficult for graft and corruption.
But the Batman has arrived and is making progress with other agencies in the Philippine government. He is coming after DPWH. A Memorandum of Agreement is there (with the DPWH), signed in 2023…but in the Philippine context we know that doesn’t mean much. We have to see how determined the Batman is. We shall see if “something will happen.”
Just my 2 cents Fingers crossed.
More on “the Batman has arrived.” I found an article in the on-line news publication Malaya Business Insight (dated Sept. 17, 2025). Corollary to building suitable roads to handle the volume of traffic is taking steps to reduce the need to get on the road to accomplish a task.
My son finally convinced me to stop going to the ATM machine to deposit checks because he said it is unsafe. There have been incidents of robbery of people using ATMs in our neighborhood. Instead, I have the Bank of America App and I make deposits in the comfort and safety of my dining room. One less car on the road going to the bank.
Undersecretary Almirol and his DICT are pushing Filipinos to download the government’s Super App to be able to do something similar with a lot of government services. Let me try and paste some information from the news article:
>>Over 18 million users are now using the eGov Super App, a platform that integrates key government services into a single digital platform, making it easier for Filipinos to access essential services. This marks a 28.6 percent increase compared to 14 million users in July this year, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) reported yesterday.
Following the grand launch of the eGov app last July, DICT Undersecretary for e-Government David Almirol Jr. said in an interview on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon, that the platform averages 80,000 to 100,000 downloads per day. With this trend, he predicted that eGov app users could reach 30 to 40 million by 2026.
Among the eGov Super App’s most widely used features are the digital national ID, which can be used for PhilHealth transactions, online banking applications, and various national government services such as securing a driver’s license, permits, and other official documents.
Almirol said that currently, more than 200 million transactions have been carried out using digital IDs. The DICT emphasized that the system does not store personal data but instead connects users directly to government agencies. This was modeled after Singapore’s unified government transaction system.
The agency is also working with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to link the app with the No Contact Apprehension Program, allowing motorists to check and settle traffic violations through the platform.
Other new features include TESDA e-Certificate; CHED Transcript Verification; ARTA e-Complaint System; and the BIR ePIN Number.
Users can now view their ePIN numbers directly in the app; integrated e-Wallet and OFW Card, which enables users to access their e-wallet, national ID, and OFW card in one place, and eLGU Services
Almirol said that 935 local government units are now onboard, allowing citizens to apply for documents such as marriage certificates and fire safety clearances through the app.<<
I can see this government program of digitizing access by ordinary citizens to their government touching many of the areas we bring up in our discussions in TSOH. I can see more and more we will find ourselves going from “We should do this…” to “We are doing this more and more as the days go by…”
I keep an eye on the program’s momentum, something pointed out by members here as critical to execution of solutions to help Inang Bayan. I’m excited because instead of a motherhood statement like “We must maintain momentum” I find myself watching the momentum that has been created by the work of Almirol and Aguda of DICT.
Again I invite members of the Society to join me in this watch. I encourage those members in the Philippines to download the Super App as even the President has called for. You may not need it now, but you can play around with it…maybe even order some coffee for it!
When reading all this news about Estonia’s X-Road and the multiple uses of their national ID system, I jokingly asked if one could use it at the library instead of a library card. The answer was “yes!” You just have to register with the library, I guess (which is done on-line of course) and voila! Toss your old library card.
As use of the Super App grows, the need for “fixers” at government agencies starts to wane. Is that encouraging news on Inang Bayan or is it??! Less squandering of space and time.
Thanks for the recommendation. The agencies my wife and I interface with are Immigration and LTO, plus LGUs for RE taxes. These are annual events. Both Immigration and LTO have web sites that emphasize on-line services and they do indeed take cars off the road. Except LTO that requires unneeded trips for annual registration. I think business owners might find the service valuable. What a rats nest of permitting they have.
Here’s a clean, tight summary of the piece:
“Space Squandered, Time Squandered” argues that the Philippines’ persistent traffic congestion, flooding, and unreliable mobility are not caused by a lack of infrastructure spending, but by weak spatial planning and poor institutional continuity. All transport modes—cars, jeepneys, buses, rail, and pedestrians—compete within the same finite urban space, making congestion a systemic problem, not a mode-specific one.
The article emphasizes that urban land is limited and that poorly allocated, inflexible infrastructure is difficult to correct once built. Comparative cases (Japan, the Netherlands, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Singapore) show that successful systems treat spatial constraints as binding realities, protect corridors, integrate land use with transport, and plan over decades.
It also highlights how project disruptions and legal disputes—such as NAIA Terminal 3 and Northrail—undermine long-term gains, leaving behind sunk costs and underused assets. The core failure is not engineering capacity but institutional weakness in managing projects across political transitions.
Conclusion: Sustainable infrastructure outcomes depend less on building more and more on disciplined spatial allocation, protected flexibility, and durable institutions capable of correcting past decisions over time.
Japan heavily taxes private vehicles but gives a major discount for kei cars, which are about the size of a Piaggio. But even then most Japanese do not need to own a private vehicle because Japan also built out an extensive light rail, then high speed rail network. Expressways (highways) in Japan are connective, especially to rural areas for agricultural and goods transport, but are fairly small at 2-lane or 4-lane. I think there are only a handful of 6-lane expressways in Japan, which is amazing for a Californian used to huge 10-, 14-, even 26-lane highways. But even in rural areas of Japan the light rail network connects back to the metro areas. Plenty of rural Japanese kids take the train to the city for school everyday.
Public transportation requires more planning and has a higher upfront cost but makes much more sense in the long-term within dense cities and connecting distant cities. Over the years from time to time I’ve read in Philippine newspapers that there would be this or that infrastructure plan, contingent on PPP, then the plan never materializes. Infrastructure is a public good that the government needs to provide. Infrastructure for the most part aside from toll bridges in certain areas just are not profitable enough for private companies to take on.
There is a confluence of contributing factors at the root of Philippines planning and execution failure:
• Shiny Object Syndrome (Look over there! Look over there!)
• Perfectionism (connected to unrealistic idealism)
• Loss of Motivation (when the actual work is harder than expected)
• Over-commitment (to too many simultaneous projects, causing overwhelming and loss of focus)
• Fear of Finality (Anxiety towards the finished product being judged, so it is “never finished”)
Strategies to get to the finish line:
• Set realistic, small goals (break up larger goals into manageable sub-goals)
• “Perfection is the enemy of good,” likewise “Done is better than perfect.”
• Limit number of active projects (Focus on successful completion before moving onto new projects)
• Create structure and discipline rather than depending on motivation and sloganeering
• Ask “why?” (Does the project have a clearly defined purpose, or is it “just because?”)
• Reframe unfinished projects (a failure is not a failure as long as lessons are learned, not the typical Pinoy “lesson learned po!”)
These two things are VERY related. The ultra-perfectionism of some leads to fear of finality among others. Something like kaizen is probably hard to do in the Philippines as nobody wants to admit errors, people are shamed and blamed for errors (unless they are higher ups) so how can one continuously improve?
Aren’t Filipinos often accused of “puwede na” mindset? Actually what often happens when the perfect solution isn’t done at all is going back to “any old way”. Instead of continuing to fix the justice system (Leila de Lima’s 2014 Criminal Code reform) and police (Mar Roxas’s PNP modernization program), Filipinos got impatient and voted for a President who went for tokhang – just one example.
I would say that it seems the appearance of “perfection” that is emphasized rather than perfection itself. That appearance of perfection might be understood as another expression of “gahum,” power, magic, what have you. This seems to me to be a base Austronesian feature as similarity can be found in old Taiwanese Aboriginal culture all the way to the furthest extent of Polynesia. As Outer Polynesia strained under lack of resources, those cultures focused more onto magic like exhibited in the Rapa Nui Tangata Manu (Birdman) cult immortalized in the maoi monoliths of Easter Island. A leader who lacks gahum is one who risks delegitimization so the expression of such is quite important. In the modern world where things just don’t work the ways things did in ancient times, this probably ends up being an impediment. A culture that evolves cannot throw away its past, but at the same time needs to figure out a way to positively express cultural habits in a different way that suits the present challenges.
All this talk about “pwede na” piqued my linguistics interest, which is admittedly quite rusty, but I did dive a bit into the etymological origins…
I have often heard “pwede na” being accused of being a colonial mindset where the Spanish imposed a sense of inferiority onto the native cultures. I believe this is yet another “blame the foreigner” situation by Filipino historians as introspection is not a strong point there when focus is to develop an artificial narrative. Undoubtedly this Spanish imposition of class has some truth in it and added another layer, but it does seem to me that pre-Spanish Philippine natives already had *some* class stratification along lines remarkably similar to the Brahmic Varna, though not to the extent of Jati sub-classes. The Tagalog and Visayan castes were well documented by the Spanish and illustrated by English historian Charles Boxer in his work “Boxer Codex.”
In any case I couldn’t find where the native concept of “pwede na” transitioned into using the Spanish loan word “puede.” Of course those who know Spanish and other Romance languages would point out that “puede” means something completely different in Spanish and other Romance cognates…
Looking over at Malaysia and Indonesia, there are the words “cukup” and “udah” that have similar meaning — the former is of Malay origin while the latter is of Hindi origin.
“Sudah,” the Classical Malay ancestor of “udah,” can be translated literally as “it is done,” but does not mean finished in the perfective aspect unless explicitly said so. In linguistics the perfective aspect = finality. So even in the Classical Malay “sudah” already meant more or less “the EFFORT is finished,” rather than “IT is finished.” In common usage “udahlah” can be loosely translated as “let it go” or “good enough,” such as in the expression “yah, udahlah” (“It’s okay, let it go,” “It’s okay, it’s good enough”). “Udah” is also a versatile word and is the equivalent of the Tagalog “basta” — “udah!” is used the same way as “basta!”
As for the etymological root of “sudah,” that root lies in Classical Sanskrit and ultimately Vedic: “suddha” (शु॒द्ध). Suddha means “pure,” “faultless,” “accurate,” all which imply a perfective state of satisfactory completion or wholeness. It has been well documented by historians, anthropologists and sociologists that Vedic culture had and Brahmic culture has an obsession with achieving a state of perfection. See also the descendent philosophy and religion of Buddhism where this state of perfection is expressed in the concept of Nirvana. So we can see here that even at the introduction to Classical Malay the original meaning of the Hindu concept of “suddha” was adopted into the native context under a completely different and native meaning…
Now as for the Classical Malay synonym “cukup,” “cukup” means enough, sufficient, adequate and/or ample, plenty. Here the meaning of “cukup” can imply effort is only expended until one had enough for now rather than applying effort until completion. My Tausug friend replied earlier that “jukup” in Tausug has the same meaning, and the Tausug word seems to be an etymological descendent of the Classical Malay ancestor word.
So it seems while the term “pwede na” may only reach back to Spanish times, the mindset already existed long before the Philippines experienced Indianization, long before Indianization even reached the Majapahit and Srivijaya. Likewise on “senyorito attitude,” while obviously it was colored by the Spanish, had already existed long before in Austronesian culture as the very same attitude exists in Malaysia and Indonesia too, and into Polynesian culture. The difference is Malaysia has largely fixed their version of senyorito attitude, while Indonesia is still struggling a bit with theirs though are far ahead of the Philippines in dealing with classism, elitism and colorism.
I find it hard to be able to move forward without some introspection into cultural habits that hold one, and a nation, back. Blaming others for one’s condition is convenient when one cannot accept that condition and what may have caused it. Honestly I find this negative habit to be more of an issue for the elites rather than the masa. After all, it is the elite and would-be elite who are competing for “power” and “prestige.”
**In any case I couldn’t find where the native concept of “pwede na” transitioned into using the Spanish loan word “puede.” Of course those who know Spanish and other Romance languages would point out that “puede” means something completely different in Spanish and other Romance cognates…** – Joey
It probably came from the use of the Spanish verb “poder” meaning to be able to.
Puede usted hablar en español?
In pidgin Spanish used by Indios in the colony they would likely reply “no puede” or “no, I cannot.”
That wiill do, it is not the best but it will suffice. Pwede na yan.
my question to Joey was in the context of his statement “done is better than perfect” though “Perfection is the enemy of good” makes it clear that the statement does not mean what “puwede na” is usually seen as meaning: accepting low quality, slipshod results.
going for “good enough” as Joey suggests is NOT that, so do some Filipinos make their lives hard due to fear of being accused of a “puwede na” mindset?
Irineo you might be familiar with projects our work context (but really applicable to any large organization) where the “perfectionists” are usually those who do not know anything and are bullshitting their way through things. On the other hand I have found many coders and engineers to be *perfectionists.*
I can tell countless stories of hardheaded coders and engineers who insisted on writing the perfect code block or designing the most exquisite subsystem, but those types are also open to *reason* and can be persuaded to helping create something good enough that *fits the requirements.* A good enough solution that fits the requirements is just another way of saying a satisfactory completed product.
On the other hand the former type (i.e. the “bullshitters”) cannot be reasoned with because they already think they know best, or pretend to, without bothering to learn any of the underlying principles. When in danger they “go harder” on “the solution.” Which goes back to building things without a foundation would lead to…
I also allude to (gingerly) that this condition of pwede na (among other things) that ails the Philippines is part of the basic cultural habit. Sociologists and linguists have pointed to that concepts which are important to a culture are often expressed through having many descriptors and words for that idea. In Philippine cultures there are many words for conflict, fighting, power, as well as many words that connect to pwede na.
I found another word that traces back to Proto-Austronesian roots that convey the same idea as “pwede na:” “sapat.”
“Sapat” in Tagalog and some other Philippine languages means “enough,” “sufficient,” “adequate.”
Then there is the synonym “sukat” meaning “measurement” but which also implies “sufficient,” “enough,” “fitting” or “immediately.”
Both are cognates of Proto-Malay “cepat” which in during the Spanish period was Castilianized into “sucat.” “Cepat” means to “move with great speed” or being capable of doing so, “swift,” “fast,” “immediate.”
As can be seen here these concepts of doing something fast above all else seemed to be an important cultural emphasis of the Proto-Austronesians. There is a connection to magic and power too, of course. We all know of the prominent tendency of demanding others do things quickly (and well), while expecting patience towards oneself. This leads to YOLO’ing then when one fucks up cue the excuses, unless one is overcome by collective shaming that overwhelms the self-indignation. Guessing from what I know of other Austronesian cultures such as the Cham who are intimately familiar to, and were absorbed by, the Vietnamese, ancient power plays probably worked this way too. Malaysian and Indonesian culture also seem to have echoes of this habit from the times I traveled through provincial villages and towns there.
The problem is that the study of linguistics and etymology in the Philippines seems quite weak. A lot of the etymological study of Philippine languages was done by foreigners dating back to the ancient Chinese explorers, while what is generated by Philippines academia is somewhat suspect as I constantly identify errors and exaggerations.
It’s quite hard for a culture to progress if the culture doesn’t know itself. Even worse if the culture constantly blames outsiders or outside forces for its own bad habits.
There needs to be a recognition somewhere in the Philippines that a bad habit derives from a cultural tendency and belief. But habits have two sides to them, and there is also a positive habit that can come from the same cultural tendency. I wonder why the Philippines often holds itself aloof and “superior” (though that feeling might be less nowadays due to reality) to others. The Malaysians and Indonesians are the “closest cousins” to Filipinos, and clearly they have figured out how to move forward honoring their culture, reduce negative aspects, while adopting more positive aspects of that culture.
thanks. One reason why I was “makulit” about this is that GRP folks harp a lot about puwede na.
One of benign0s favorite quotes is the line James Mason played by Sean Connery says in “The Rock”: “your best? Losers whine about doing their best. Winners go home and f*ck the prom queen”. Of course that is pushing stuff too far to show “own superiority”. That would be perfectionism toward others you mentioned.
There was an obsession with speed reading in the 1970s Philippines. I think it might have messed up reading comprehension among many.
Lightning fast rhetoric not necessarily with a lot of thought has been seen as magaling in Philippine courts and legislative bodies for way too long – of course quick minds (and aggressive characters) like Marcos Sr. (or MLQ) had an advantage in such a culture.
A feature of the “jeprox” 70s middle class subculture I was at the tail end of (still slightly proud that the first concert I attended without my parents was Mike Hanopol HIMSELF at the back of the UP Admin building, with the security guards calling us kids pasaway as we kept sneaking towards the stage) was seeing cramming for exams as cool. It worked in high school, even up to German Senior High for me but ran into limits at German University, especially oral exams.
there is a book about five centuries of that – by a foreigner:
Click to access salazar-hu-book-presentation.pdf
the UP Department of Linguistics (unlike some other, overly nationalistic UP Departments) paid respects to its German founder some years ago:
https://upd.edu.ph/dlinggs-otto-scheerer-honored/
I did hear that they have done a lot recently to check out regional languages, something also unusual for classically Tagalog-centric UP.
or sees its own bad habits as good.
Of course, for example, ensembles like Gigi Vibes who were able to play practically anything on request during their pandemic livestreams (with Gigi herself singing the lyrics reading them from her tablet in front of her) are impressive.
It does take a lot of hidden practice to reach that level though.
they of course have some muscle memory from having had to be more organized than the barangays of “Luzviminda” way earlier. Indonesia has the legacy of Majapahit and Sri-Vijaya, while Malaysia has the legacy of both via the ancient Sultanate of Malacca. But of course it is NEVER to late for a country as younger generations can adapt to face the challenges of the present and learn new attitudes as part of the “flow”.
There is the Tagalog idea of “nandito ang laban” – the fight is right here, right now, adjust to it and make sure you win. I think that kind of attitude focused on present challenges (internal and external) and realities can be part of the learning curve.
If Joe and the late Edgar Lores wrote a lot about Filipino attitudes in the 2013-2019 period, Karl and myself systematized things in 2020 with the Going Home series (we just had too much time on our hands, hehe, pandemic boredom but we did something productive in the end), Karl is now “tutok” (facing things squarely) in terms of not looking back, just looking at the present and how solutions can be found for TODAY and implicitly for tomorrow.
What benign0 failed to understand as he is not an American is that in the US we also understand that the type who became a prom king or strutted around in his letterman jacket probably peaked in high school, ending up being a loser in later life. Not exactly a crowning achievement. benign0 is an example of someone who wrapped himself in intellectually-sounding words but ultimately is an empty shell. Maybe that superficiality would fool the ignorant but it does not fool those who actually know the subjects at hand.
I’m a speed reader, mostly because I was poor and didn’t have much else to do but read after dark when I was a child. I wouldn’t categorize getting to the last page quickly as the same as speedreading though. Maybe that 1970s fad was more “speed skimming?” Not that skim reading inherently bad. Not all information is useful to deeply comprehend or even retain, but yeah that also requires one to be able to discern and prioritize what information is important to begin with. Filipinos need to recognize their own strengths and understand their own faults. In this case of comprehension, Filipinos comprehend one-on-one interaction just fine and are able to evaluate the minute nonverbal cues in great detail, probably better than most cultures can. Perhaps the reading comprehension problem has to do more with trying to apply wholesale without modification known Skill A that normally applies to Situation B to Situation Y that actually requires yet to be learned Skill X. Then attempting the thing over and over again despite the thing failing.
There is also the obsession with being proximate to something viewed as above others. Case in point: quoting Bible verses or … (God save me) touting Marcus Aurelius (whose Meditations certain Filipinos seem to have an unnatural obsession of, but not an understanding).
Likewise getting into debates one has no business discussing then trying to overpower the opponent with a stream of words and raised voices. Sometimes it is annoying to receive unsolicited, very self-assured, opinion from an ignorant person, which happens a lot in the Philippines (to me at least). Maybe for more “civilized” debate, to throw in random vaguely impressive historical figures just to sound fancy. There is no understanding that the last word does not automatically mean victory. All this goes back to the culture under datu-ism. Champa devolved into the same and it destroyed their empire which was on par with, and lasted far longer (a millennium plus) than the, Majapahit and Srivijaya.
One thing I never understood about UP is why a university system that was based upon the University of California became so nationalistic rather than being an open-minded institution. It did seem to me that when UP department heads were not yet majority Filipino, the institutional culture was still more open-minded and pursued study with rigor. I recall reading something somewhere (which I have forgotten) that certain Filipino professors would constantly badger William Henry Scott back in the day. Ironically “foreigners” like Scott contributed so much to understanding Filipino history and culture. It’s great that maybe a newer generation of UP is trying to move a bit away from blind nationalism.
I think it might be a bit uncharitable to say most Filipinos see bad habits as good. Maybe in some instances such as the tambay sons asking their mother for money when the child is in his 40s, 50s, and the mother is in an indigent senior in her 60s+. But even in this example I personally think that had habits are perpetuated when the bad habit is covered up by those sympathetic supporters, or the person who screwed up gets saved by someone else. I suspect Filipinos, like any other human, will figure things out pretty quick if no one is there to bail them out. Put it another way, laziness, lazy thinking, lack of motivation can only exist when one knows that someone else is going to do the work and/or help. It is healthy to talk about such things, and sometimes the reaction of extreme offense to honor is not helpful.
Well to circle back to the lack of foundation that the Filipino cousins in Malaysia and Indonesia have, as you pointed out in another comment sometimes being able to build from scratch with no legacy baggage is actually a huge positive. South Korea and Romania have superfast fiber networks because there were no legacy copper-based networks to upgrade unlike in your Germany example, or here in the US which was an early adopter of the telephone and cable television. By the way, Thailand and Vietnam both have *faster* average networks than South Korea. But to take advantage of building from scratch, one has to recognize that as a plus points that not many countries have to shape itself in any direction it wants rather as “we suck because we can’t prove we are great.” For the life of me I just cannot understand why the Philippines constantly creates baggage for itself, a problem that mostly infects the affluent and the elites, by creating narratives of greatness rather than building greatness.
Definitely, even as that sixth sense fails when they don’t actually know the person but think they do, thanks to what they see on social media.
OMG, how they misjudged Mar Roxas and PNoy due to the snapshots and snippets of reality fed to them. Tragic actually.
Joe wrote this article in late 2015:
It was an important distinction to make. A lot of Filipinos think critically but don’t have proper critical thinking.
I think there were some young Filipinos who reacted to the occasional patronizing foreign professor with hurt “Filipino pride”, similar to the anecdote CV brought about the Irish Jesuit who did act in a way some Filipinos might consider “patronizing”, though depending on context it might have been humorous.
A nurtured sense of grievance sometimes grows into a lifetime grudge among a lot of Filipinos.
There were among the ilustrados for instance the likes of Rizal who knew how to differentiate between foreigners who were friends of Filipinos (I think he saw Padre Faura as a friend to the end, even if they disagreed on certain matters) and the likes of Antonio Luna who liked to challenge Spaniards to duels – and outdo them in terms of moustache, hell Luna even challenged Rizal to a duel once and Rizal told him to sleep off his drink and think about it afterwards.
That is possible. I do think my father was not among those. He does I think respect outsiders who apply themselves.
There were of course those who tried to utilize their foreigner status to be big fish in a small pond. Maybe the Irish Jesuit CV mentioned was like that.
Even today there is a whole spectrum of foreigners ranging from passport bro vloggers to of course JoeAm, generalizing is stupid.
often one isn’t even the one meant, which goes back to the Pinoy main character syndrome you correctly diagnosed.
isn’t there a Biblical saying that the last will be first? Maybe I should found a cult in the Philippines based on that saying. Joke lang!
I think it would be important to point out that critical thinking does require a degree of emotional regulation. Those who are so self-assured in their own correctness in the face of contradicting evidence are often emotionally immature and are susceptible to cognitive bias. On the extreme end of cognitive bias there’s the Dunning-Kruger effect.
There is a major difference between one who is ignorant of one’s lack of skill/knowledge and one who overestimates their competence in a subject. The former can be corrected with knowledge; the latter cannot be corrected. Emotional maturity, like the connected maturity of knowledge and maturity of experience is not a given with advancement in age or position. Often I find the Filipino debating style relies on appeals to authority (or false authority). Hence, pilosopo even if the line of question is formulated in a pseudo-Socratic way. The Philippine low competence in critical thinking can divided as such: a vast majority of people who do not yet know (and did not have an opportunity to learn), and quite detrimentally, a small minority of societally more powerful Filipinos who have a high degree of self-assuredness. Rather than focusing on the latter who cannot be changed, helping the former upgrade their thinking may be an easier task.
I chose not to reply to CV’s Jesuit anecdote, but my thoughts was that this is a case of “Filipino pride” getting hurt rather then the Jesuit insulting CV’s friend who was a student at the time. Of course we have all been young at some point. Young boys and young men are especially susceptible to Superman-thinking. Yes, it’s true that some friars were documented to ill treat Filipinos back in the Spanish era, but the Jesuits were more concerned about evangelization and teaching; they did not have a nationalistic agenda unlike a faction of Ilustrados and most Katipunan. It’s also probably unlikely a university student would “know better” than a Jesuit who likely had a doctorate and years of experience. This kind of “Filipino pride” not pride but rather pridefulNESS, and drives much of the detrimental impulse to fabricate fake histories, fake greatness. Loading up the collective Philippines with manufactured baggage of a false past instead of looking to the future. Again this in my experience affects the elites A LOT more than it affects the common Filipino. Notice also how this “Filipino pride(fulness)” attacks people with knowledge as “arrogant,” as CV constantly did to me. True pride is based on achievement and experience. The best way to defeat feelings of insecurity is to through experience and knowledge.
I’ll be quite honest that until the last few years, my thoughts were that the Philippines would be stuck in the 2050s where it has always been as a nation that sends her best away because there is nothing at home. I felt particularly pessimistic during the Duterte years, which were shocking to say the least, as the Philippines does not have the institutional knowledge and diversity that the US has that may allow the US to weather Trumpism and reform afterward. I’ve since adjusted my view when I see young Filipinos figuring out new ways to advance despite a system that holds the Filipino back. Maybe until GenX and some older Millennials the oligarchal system was able to cover eyes with wool, but that is increasingly difficult with access to outside information. The Philippines might have not had an extensive history of trade contact and information exchange in the past, but the Internet provides that now. In 2050 maybe the Philippines won’t be a cookie-cutter version of the Manhattan skyline or the suburbs of Los Angeles, but I now think the Philippines might get to where South Korea was in 1990 and where Vietnam is now. As we know from South Korea, it’s only upward from there.
My view of jesuits is framed by my engagements with my Masters Thesis adviser at USC. Tall, lanky, pragmatic, brilliant journalism professor, scholar, and priest. Had a german shepard dog in his office on campus every time I visited. Stayed at Loyola Marymount. Knew all the bigwigs at CBS News and got me my thesis project there. Fine fine human.
One of my closest friends is a half-pinoy Jesuit who is usually based in Rome. Most Catholic priests, friars, monks, nuns and brothers are quite educated and open-minded (within Canon Law, which only restricts certain religious tenets but does not restrict learning and science). I have had some of the most profound discussions with the ordained religious on the level of professors (many are teachers and professors themselves). The hold up with certain Filipinos with priests and friars seems isolated to a small subset of those who think they know better, usually coming from an entitled background, than those who have spent years learning, then use the excuse of historical instances of Church abuse by individual long-dead clergy to justify their positions. The vast majority of Filipinos respect the educated and the ordained religious.
That’s good to know.
Ah ok, O.I.C.
So little time so many promises
Yeah—the Philippines absolutely shows signs of “shiny object syndrome.” ✨
If by “ph gpv” you mean PH government / governance (I’m assuming a typo for gov), then yes, this pattern shows up a lot.
Here’s how it usually looks in the PH context: What “shiny object syndrome” looks like in PH governance
New programs, task forces, roadmaps, slogans—then quiet decay once media attention fades.
AI, e-gov, digital IDs, smart cities, satellites—often adopted before fixing institutions, data quality, or accountability.
Endless “pilot studies” that never scale nationwide or survive a change in administration.
Visible projects (roads, bridges, airports) favored over boring but crucial reforms: maintenance, regulation, human capital, governance.
Each new president rebrands priorities instead of finishing what already works.
Why this happens (structural, not just cultural)
Important nuance
This isn’t uniquely Filipino.
But in the PH, it’s amplified by:
So the issue isn’t innovation—it’s sequencing and discipline. The real problem
The country doesn’t lack ideas.
It lacks:
Or put bluntly:
👉 We chase the next solution before finishing the last one.
If you want, I can:
“There is a confluence of contributing factors at the root of Philippines planning and execution failure:…” – Joey
One major element not in this “confluence of contributing factors” – THE FACT THAT BILLIONS OF PESOS WERE PLUNDERED FROM THE PROJECTS.
I submit: The Philippines does not fail to stop flooding because it lacks plans or execution failure; it fails because too many people profit from floods never being solved.
Strategies to get to the finish line?
You guys know where my vote goes. Continue to put in the eGovernance system until it works so well that corruption can no longer flourish because of the nature of the system (minimal face to face contact).
How many computer hardware and software experts do you think are needed to build this?
In theory – just a few. That is the good news. Of course the Philippines has a bigger problem and so will have more “experts” on this….but technically it really needs only a few technically sound computer geeks. The rest can be “alalays” or whatever. That is what I like about technology. It is not labor intensive.
Compare that with repairing the Maharlika Highway, or bringing manufacturing from China to the Philippines (i.e. getting our infrastructure up to speed). That would take thousands of people.
The eGovernance project is the simpler project, and yet it is foundational. Other goals – traffic congestion, flood control, infrastructure, finance, maritime, etc. etc. can all build on a good eGovernance system.