Our incurable optimism
Published Jan 4, 2023 12:05 am
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL
DR. JUN YNARES
Last December 2022, research organizations published the results of a survey that it conducted in late October.
The major finding of that survey was both elating and puzzling. According to OCTA Research, some 51 percent of Filipinos believe that life would turn for the better in the next six months (from the time the survey was done). That means they are entertaining high hopes for better times until the end of the first quarter of this year, at least.
Pulse Asia survey results show higher levels of enthusiasm about prospects in 2023. The organizations' polls bared that 92 percent of our countrymen are full of hope for a better, more prosperous year.
Those figures are up from 46 percent based on a survey done by the Social Weather Station (SWS) in September of last year. The survey asked respondents whether or not they felt life would be better for them in the next 12 months. The surveys reconfirmed one aspect of the Filipino character - that we are mostly incurable optimists.
If the results of the OCTA research survey are to be believed, we are forced to ask, where does the Filipino draw the basis for the sense that life is about to turn for the better in the next two quarters?
The fact is that, at the time of the survey and the publication of its results, pundits are predicting a mostly bleak scenario for 2023.
Economist and columnist Alex Magno wrote, “2023 will not be an easy year.”
“Across the globe, growth forecasts have been revised downwards,” he continued. “Some of the major economies are expected to slide into recession,” Magno added, pointing out that higher energy costs, due in large part to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, diverted purchasing power from consumer goods.”
The prospect of an end to that war is an unlikely basis for the optimism displayed by most Filipinos. After all, such prospect does not exist, at least not in the near future. According to the Washington Post, American and European officials do not believe that peace talks between the two warring countries could take place soon. “They concede that it is difficult to envision terms of settlement that Ukraine and Russia would accept,” the Post said.
Given that, the cost of energy and fuel in the country will remain high. The prices of consumer goods and services automatically follow. Magno is correct: 2023 will not be an easy year.
Natural calamities which regularly occur in our country should also work against that sense of incurable optimism.
Just recently, on Christmas Day, some 47,000 of our countrymen had to be evacuated from their homes due to massive flooding in several areas in Visayas and Mindanao. About eight persons perished and 19 went missing in the calamity which Filipinos consider one of the most important celebrations of the year.
So, why do optimistic Filipinos outnumber the pessimists among us?
There is a view that our upbeat mood is the result of our spirituality. We are a people of faith who leave their fate to a Being larger than all of us and who we believe has control over events and even the future.
Our ancestors called that Being “Bathala.” It is also believed that this is the very root word of “bahala na,” originally, “Bathala na” or “God will take care of it.”
This psychology of the Filipino has often come under fire. Some have referred to this as some kind of “fatalism” – a word that describes the attitude that one cannot change circumstances and must therefore just accept what comes about. Our “sunny disposition” has been dismissed as a form of self-delusion, a “capricious attitude that can irritate those who look at different scenarios that require contingency planning” as one columnist puts it.
Our view is that the Filipino – in addition to his unfailing trust in the Almighty – has also learned to believe in himself. We are a resilient people and we have a solid track record to prove that. We cannot blame ourselves for believing that there are no events or circumstances so bad as to prevent us from getting back on our feet, starting all over again, and transforming our lives for the better.
The sense of optimism is not without solid bases. There are concrete reasons to believe that our lives in 2023 will be even better than they were in 2022.
Despite the continuing conflict in Ukraine which keeps the prices of energy and food high, there are bright spots.
The local tourism industry is opening up, as it is with many countries around the world. The national government will continue to pursue its aggressive infrastructure development program, which will expectedly create and sustain jobs. The Covid-19 virus is still around and there are occasional spikes in the number of cases that our hospitals are able to handle without overburdening the healthcare system.
Local business leaders share the optimism that we will achieve the project's seven-plus points growth in the national gross domestic product despite what they call “economic headwinds.”
So, to our readers, we say: hold on tight, it will be a great year.
*For feedback, please email it to [email protected] or send it to Block 6 Lot 10 Sta. Barbara 1 cor. Bradley St., Mission Hills Subd., Brgy. San Roque, Antipolo City, Rizal.
DR. JUN YNARES
Last December 2022, research organizations published the results of a survey that it conducted in late October.
The major finding of that survey was both elating and puzzling. According to OCTA Research, some 51 percent of Filipinos believe that life would turn for the better in the next six months (from the time the survey was done). That means they are entertaining high hopes for better times until the end of the first quarter of this year, at least.
Pulse Asia survey results show higher levels of enthusiasm about prospects in 2023. The organizations' polls bared that 92 percent of our countrymen are full of hope for a better, more prosperous year.
Those figures are up from 46 percent based on a survey done by the Social Weather Station (SWS) in September of last year. The survey asked respondents whether or not they felt life would be better for them in the next 12 months. The surveys reconfirmed one aspect of the Filipino character - that we are mostly incurable optimists.
If the results of the OCTA research survey are to be believed, we are forced to ask, where does the Filipino draw the basis for the sense that life is about to turn for the better in the next two quarters?
The fact is that, at the time of the survey and the publication of its results, pundits are predicting a mostly bleak scenario for 2023.
Economist and columnist Alex Magno wrote, “2023 will not be an easy year.”
“Across the globe, growth forecasts have been revised downwards,” he continued. “Some of the major economies are expected to slide into recession,” Magno added, pointing out that higher energy costs, due in large part to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, diverted purchasing power from consumer goods.”
The prospect of an end to that war is an unlikely basis for the optimism displayed by most Filipinos. After all, such prospect does not exist, at least not in the near future. According to the Washington Post, American and European officials do not believe that peace talks between the two warring countries could take place soon. “They concede that it is difficult to envision terms of settlement that Ukraine and Russia would accept,” the Post said.
Given that, the cost of energy and fuel in the country will remain high. The prices of consumer goods and services automatically follow. Magno is correct: 2023 will not be an easy year.
Natural calamities which regularly occur in our country should also work against that sense of incurable optimism.
Just recently, on Christmas Day, some 47,000 of our countrymen had to be evacuated from their homes due to massive flooding in several areas in Visayas and Mindanao. About eight persons perished and 19 went missing in the calamity which Filipinos consider one of the most important celebrations of the year.
So, why do optimistic Filipinos outnumber the pessimists among us?
There is a view that our upbeat mood is the result of our spirituality. We are a people of faith who leave their fate to a Being larger than all of us and who we believe has control over events and even the future.
Our ancestors called that Being “Bathala.” It is also believed that this is the very root word of “bahala na,” originally, “Bathala na” or “God will take care of it.”
This psychology of the Filipino has often come under fire. Some have referred to this as some kind of “fatalism” – a word that describes the attitude that one cannot change circumstances and must therefore just accept what comes about. Our “sunny disposition” has been dismissed as a form of self-delusion, a “capricious attitude that can irritate those who look at different scenarios that require contingency planning” as one columnist puts it.
Our view is that the Filipino – in addition to his unfailing trust in the Almighty – has also learned to believe in himself. We are a resilient people and we have a solid track record to prove that. We cannot blame ourselves for believing that there are no events or circumstances so bad as to prevent us from getting back on our feet, starting all over again, and transforming our lives for the better.
The sense of optimism is not without solid bases. There are concrete reasons to believe that our lives in 2023 will be even better than they were in 2022.
Despite the continuing conflict in Ukraine which keeps the prices of energy and food high, there are bright spots.
The local tourism industry is opening up, as it is with many countries around the world. The national government will continue to pursue its aggressive infrastructure development program, which will expectedly create and sustain jobs. The Covid-19 virus is still around and there are occasional spikes in the number of cases that our hospitals are able to handle without overburdening the healthcare system.
Local business leaders share the optimism that we will achieve the project's seven-plus points growth in the national gross domestic product despite what they call “economic headwinds.”
So, to our readers, we say: hold on tight, it will be a great year.
*For feedback, please email it to [email protected] or send it to Block 6 Lot 10 Sta. Barbara 1 cor. Bradley St., Mission Hills Subd., Brgy. San Roque, Antipolo City, Rizal.