Indigenous Social Sciences : A Driving Force for Development

Indigenous Social Sciences : A Driving Force for Development

By Zac Dizon

When you think of the Filipino social sciences, do you think of the Filipino core values? Do you believe that they can be used to further improve the state of the country? These social sciences take a deeper look at what exactly are the Filipino values. This paper will take a look into what are “utang na loob”, “bahala na”, “pagtitiis” and other well-known values of the Filipino people, and if these values are significant to the development of the Philippines into a better country. 

The Philippine values are very distinct from other countries, especially in the area of interpersonal relationships. Filipinos are phenomenal when it comes to connecting with others and bringing people together. Being of service to people is one trait that many people can associate the Filipino with. The reason these values are very distinct to the Filipino people is because there is just no other country that has Filipino hospitality and kindness. Although one could argue that this country or that one may have similar values, you could ask someone about the Filipino culture and welcomeness, and they would normally say one of the best, if not the best. 

There are many positives and negatives when it comes to fusing the Filipino values to the development of the country. One positive aspect is the “Pakikisama”. “Pakikisama” means to ‘get along with others’, and with this value if Filipinos can join together and make a combined concrete effort into making the country a better place. Political leaders can possibly organize movements where it makes an effort into shifting the state of the Philippines, and delegate these commands to the lower branches of government to help it spread the message. One negative aspect, on the other hand, can be the abuse of the Filipino resiliency. Filipinos are very resilient, they continue to give effort, to go through difficult times with strength and fortitude. But the thing is, this value can easily be abused, whether by people they know, or government officials who abuse their power to gain selfish goals instead of developing the country and working towards an improved state of the country. 

Using the Filipino language, and its many dialects, and combining these with Filipino social sciences in studying the Filipino society seems self-explanatory. Our society uses the language, and therefore the social sciences originate from the society. But we can also use the language and the social sciences to look into the dynamics of Filipino society. These perspectives, like Sikolohiyang Pilipino, Pilipinolohiya, and Pantayong Pananaw, give us a starting point in understanding Filipino society. 

The main strength of these indigenous social science perspectives are that it focuses heavily on the Filipino values, the Filipino language, and what the Filipino actually is. They give us an insight towards what habits, values, and common tendencies do FIlipinos have. These perspectives focus on our ethnicity, culture, and draws ideas from it to apply in research regarding understanding why Filipinos are the way they are. A weakness of these perspectives is that some of them have a heavy focus on one dialect of the Filipino language. A foreign researcher may struggle with using Pantayong Pananaw, as they may have no idea what some words mean, and may need to ask the help of a local scientist in the same research field for help. That is to say that it is not a bad thing, just a sort of barrier to those who want to research Philippine society, but are hindered by the language barrier. 

I believe that there is a significance of these social science perspectives. We just need to apply them in a proper way when considering the development of the Philippines. There needs to be research done, meetings held, conversations and discussions between researchers, officials, and the common people. I agree that they can be used to help develop the country, but we need the right people to use them in the goal of achieving a better Philippines. There are many people in power now that can push goals and plans to develop the country, but they aren’t. I believe that the state of the Philippines has been stagnant, and needs to change soon because the world is changing as well. With the help of these perspectives, we can use them as a guide to understand Philippine society and the psychology of a regular Filipino.

In conclusion, points have been suggested on how the indigenous social science perspectives can guide people into developing the country. The strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino values, and also the perspectives, have been expressed in a way that hopefully can be understood and be seen as a relatable feeling to those who read this essay. We can make a change, we can improve the state of our country, but I just believe that even if people make small efforts to change, it needs to be a large-scale movement for improvement for the county’s state to change into a better and more developed one.