Sampath Kumar Arumugam

BSCHM -2nd year.

SUMMARY ON THE INDOLENCE OF FILIPINO PEOPLE

Rizal did make a critical study of the causes why his countrymen became
indolent after the establishment of the Spanish regime and he wanted to
end the insults to the Filipinos about their instilled culture and he wanted to
awaken his countrymen to their own faults .Indolence really does exist in our
society that we are living today, we cannot deny the fact that indolence is
indolence even in the simplest form like disobeying traffic rules, not falling in
line when there’s supposed to be one, etc.

I strongly agree with him that before proposing remedy for this negative
behavior, the root causes should be identified first. Here he pointed out that
the Filipinos were Industrious and hardworking and active in agriculture,
before the coming of the Spaniards to the country and brought about the
decline in economic activities.

Filipino workers and farmers are early riser that they are prepared at dawn
to start their planting, cultivating and harvesting for the day. And the
Spaniards who first set foot on the Land had noticed that people have
enough supply of food and that they are generous and industrious.

When the Spaniards came in the Philippines full-forced, burned houses,

eradicated some goods and resources, killed many Filipinos and take over
and control the economy even the lands, farms and villages. Polo y servicios
was required for many Filipino male and farms were left uncultivated.
Frailocracy is at its dominancy, and Filipinos were being denied of economic
rights and thus resulted for any Filipinos to give up their work, lands and
even their life. They become hopeless and inferiority complex was
developed even more. Twisted Friars controlled the minds of innocent
Filipinos and instilled them false beliefs on Catholicism. Education was not
granted for all and it instantly, the Spaniards became the long nightmare for
the Filipinos.

Rizal, in this article mentioned about the weather can be one of the reason,
comparing tropical and non-tropical countries, saying that in tropical
countries like the Philippines, when the sun is so high and when it’s so hot,
workers who work under the sun tend to rest and for non-tropical countries
with four seasons and should work hard during spring and fall because they
cannot easily work in excessive heat during summer and on extreme cold
during winter seasons. Thus, despite of that, the total work is almost the
same. As human beings, it is by nature to adopt to our environment in
different conditions and therefore, being indolent during hot conditions is
reasonable.

He also said something about irresponsibility of the Filipinos towards work,

virtues, and credibility that perhaps resulted to mental stagnation among
Filipinos to sought for social and political justice.
He also emphasize the lack of cooperation and awareness of the Filipinos to
the current situation of the country and how the government took away the
attention of the Filipinos through their deceiving schemes and empty
promises that resulted to the masses remorse and destruction. Today, I can
say that this mentality probably became one of the legacy of the Spaniards,
and already became a manifestation of the deeply rooted structural defects
in both the systems of economy and education in the country.

Poverty as one of the top problems in our country, corrupt officials,

unsettled reforms, illiteracy, slow progress, injustice and unequal
opportunity, they are still there as they were during the Spanish regime. Sad
to say but it seems that we did not learn from our mistakes in the past and
we are allowing ourselves to live in yet another nightmare again.

Dr. Jose Rizal wanted to progress the country and to attain that, we have to
start from small steps and small things within ourselves before focusing on
the bigger picture that is more complicated. Making sure that those actions
will not harm anybody and instead benefit ourselves and country as well.

I also believe that Rizal wanted us to reflect on ourselves, To make us realize

that we deserved to be treated equally, that we should not let foreigners to
insult us and our culture as well, to be aware of our rights as a citizen and of
course to be a responsible citizen who thinks of the welfare of the country
and someone who loves his country as he loves himself.