CHAPTER V THE AMBIVALENCE OF FILIPINO TRAITS AND VALUES EMERITA S. QUITO Much has been said about so-called negative Filipino traits. They have been blamed for the weak character of the Filipino; they are the culprits, the scapegoat of our failures, or at least, the explanation for lagging behind more successful Asian neighbors. I propose to take a second look at these so-called negatives in the Filipino psyche to determine whether there might be a positive aspect, a saving face, a silver lining behind the dark clouds. In attempting to see an ambivalence in our traits, I will use oriental yardsticks to measure success or failure for it would be unfair to use Western standards to evaluate our Filipino traits. For example, is a materially comfortable life with physiological ailments more successful than a materially deprived life without physical ailments? Is the image of Juan Tamad waiting for a guava to fall such a reprehensible, if not scandalous, picture? Is the similar image of Sir Isaac Newton, also resting under a tree, more refreshing? It is very Filipino to stress our minus points, to find fault in our behavior, to compare us unfavorably with Westerners by using Western standards. It is common to hear such names as Bertong Bukol, or Ipeng Pilay or Huseng Ngongo. It seems that we take pleasure in underscoring our weaknesses, faults, defects, etc. Our standards are smallness, averageness, mediocrity; grandeur or grandness is not in the Filipino vocabulary. The West, in contrast, evokes: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Der Führer, Il Duce, El Caudillo, Elizabeth Regina. We seem to enjoy being humble and meek, or what Friedrich Nietzsche called "the morality of slaves." There is something strange in the very way we look upon success. A person is not supposed to exert effort at the expense of sanity. We ridicule a person who teaches himself how to think and label him Tasio, the philosopher. We warn persons not to learn too much lest they be like Jose Rizal who was executed at the Luneta in 1896.