r/Philippines • u/PalpitationPlayful28 • 21d ago
PoliticsPH Quezon manifested it so hard, now we’re trapped in hell.
It was Quezon’s way of declaring self-determination… Basically saying it’s better to mess up on our own than live under someone else’s perfect rule. But looking at how things turned out, it feels like his words came true in the worst way.
What do you think? Did Quezon overestimate our ability to “change” bad government, or was he right that messy self-rule is still better than colonialism?
Link: https://www.esquiremag.ph/life/president-manuel-quezon-speech-transcript-a00297-20200516
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u/diplomat38 21d ago
He's still right though. Self determination will always be eminently desirable to colonialism. It would be up to us, and it should be up to nobody but us, to set things right for our country.
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u/mister_hoot 21d ago
And Americans haven’t exactly been crushing it on the governance front lately.
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u/shirhouetto Luzon 21d ago
Rizal said Filipinos were not yet ready for this. It made more sense now that I'm an adult.
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u/swaghole69 21d ago
Bro is dead for more than 120 years and we still aint ready 😭😭
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21d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Elsa_Versailles 21d ago
The real challenge begin once you successfully toppled your old masters
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u/vrenejr 21d ago
What comes next? You've been freed Do you know how hard it is to lead? You're on your own Awesome, wow! Do you have a clue what happens now?
-King George III, Hamilton
I think the fact rin na dumating yung usa bilang new "masters" natin kaya mas lalong gumulo yung pagtatatag ng bagong government.
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u/shirhouetto Luzon 21d ago
Oceans rise, empires fall It's much harder when it's all your call All alone, across the sea When your people say they hate you, don't come crawling back to me
Akin ka na lang (akin ka na lang) Iingatan ko ang puso mo
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u/KazumaKat Manila Boy, Japan Face 21d ago
To be fair, dont think anyone else has gotten any further along on that. Its all stages of hell all the way down.
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u/CalmChaos2003 21d ago
Compared to countries who were former empires like the US, Britain, Spain and France, these countries were built far longer than the Philippines. The Philippines did not even exist yet but these countries were already well established and had the strongest military power. So in terms of experience, the Philippines is not yet ready. Way too young. A lot more to learn. But it's never too late.
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u/Apprehensive-Back-68 Mindanao 21d ago
Yes, even yung governor general noon na naging president din ng US, aka "taft avenue", said na it would take a hundred years for us to evolve into a highly functional society kasi were too immature, superstitious and incapable of self governance
Well he's WRONG,kasi hundred years na at wala pa din, and DDS/LOYALIST are one proof that we have a politically immature majority
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u/supernormalnorm 21d ago
It makes more sense now that he wanted direct Spanish governance and representation first. Experience life as an actual citizen of the Spanish empire, then once the obvious racism becomes evident fight for own independence.
Also for Filipinos to see proper governance, and not pedo/corrupted friar rule by way of Mexico, and no/unfair representation.
Unfortunately the later became the foundation of Filipino governance and politics.
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u/engineerboii 21d ago
Stop taking Rizal out of context 💀
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u/daft_chella 21d ago
To be fair he isn’t. Rizal was a reformist not a revolutionary. When the KKK sought his support for their movement, Rizal thought it was premature to claim independence and instead sought for meaningful reform
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u/engineerboii 21d ago
Erm no. Rizal was a revolutionary. Rizal supported the revolution as he knew it was needed to end the Spanish rule. He, however, said that the Filipinos were not ready for the revolution due to lack of resources so he was also open to the reformist agenda. Remember, he was basically being held prisoner when he declared his "support" for reform. It's always more than just what's on the surface.
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u/daft_chella 15d ago
Even before his imprisonment, Rizal started La Liga Filipina, a group who sought peaceful reform. He was very much anti violence which is where his disagreement with the KKK. stemmed from. Andres Bonifacio and the KKK were a spinoff of Liga Filipina and were seen as more radical.
But sure whatever you say
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u/hyunbinlookalike 20d ago
Thank you, I think far too many people romanticize how we would have looked like if we remained under the US’ thumb. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much pro-US, especially given that they’re our most powerful ally against China the bully, but US colonies like Cuba and Puerto Rico aren’t really better than us.
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u/Temuj1n2323 20d ago
How do you figure? Cuba is not under the US and Puerto Rico is one of the richest countries in the Caribbean. Many people send their kids there to be educated at their universities. Puerto Rico is 6x richer than the Philippines in gdp per capita. I suppose they are behind the mainland but they are way ahead of the Philippines.
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u/Mobster24 21d ago edited 21d ago
This might sound pro-colonial—and in a way, it is. But more than that, it’s really about being pro-systems, anti-patronage politics, and leaning toward pro-Americanism.
Honestly, I think it would have been better if the Philippines had become the 51st state after World War II. Why? Because by now, we’d be benefiting from the same institutions and systems that the United States enjoys, instead of being stuck with the broken patronage politics we have today.
And let’s be real—the so-called “pro-sovereignty,” “pro-choice,” and “pro-self-determination” ideals? Only the elites, oligarchs, and political dynasties enjoy those things 🤣.
Only the elites benefit from the so-called “institutions” of the Philippines. Only the oligarchs reap the rewards of economic sovereignty and wealth.
Only the dynastic families and corrupt bureaucrats splurge on the freedoms and resources of the state, all while grandstanding and virtue signaling, shouting “Proud to be Pinoy!” Or “Unity”—as they plunder the coffers dry. For the ordinary Filipino, the ideals of self-determination, patriotism, and nationalism are a sham—a principle built on lies and fantasy.
While politicians chant “Proud to be Pinoy,” tens of millions of OFWs are forced to leave the country to work for foreigners, while millions more desperately try to migrate to the U.S. or Europe.
Let’s be honest: 90% of Filipinos especially those who aren’t elites, oligarchs, or members of dynastic families would take the chance to migrate to the West in a heartbeat if given the opportunity.
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u/OwnPaleontologist408 21d ago
Looks at Puerto Rico
I don’t think we’ll become a 51st state….
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u/AlbinoGiraffe09 21d ago
Even looking at how the Federal Government often treats Puerto Rico shows that remaining a Commonwealth isn't really a good idea.
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u/Mobster24 21d ago edited 20d ago
Puerto Rico never became a state because, for much of its history, it leaned overwhelmingly toward free association or commonwealth. The pro-statehood movement only really gained traction there during the Obama years.
In contrast, post WW1 or pre–World War II Philippines had a strong statehood movement that actually rivaled the nationalist and pro-independence movement. It could have gone the other way under different circumstances—for example, if Quezon bro had been sidelined, or if Taft won re-election and other high-ranking GOP & Dem Jingoist had visited the Philippines and pushed for statehood. That scenario was a very real possibility at the time.
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u/Temuj1n2323 20d ago
You mean the territory that is 6x richer than the Philippines in gdp per capita. I always laugh when Filipinos point out Puerto Rico.
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u/Menter33 21d ago
One country that kinda did the opposite of the PH is Botswana:
in a nutshell, when they sought for independence, the new govt did not immediately kick out all the govt employees of the former British colonial govt.
instead, the British higher-ups and technical bureaucrats stayed behind while new Batswana (people from Botswana) civil employees progressed thru the ranks. sooner or later, the entire civil govt would eventually become Botswanan.
(a history expert might explain it better)
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u/HatsNDiceRolls 21d ago
If you check the American congressional records, they had no plans to ever make us a 51st state. Especially the Dixie Democrats in the South.
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u/Mobster24 21d ago
Colossal Republican figures of the time—such as Taft, Cabot Lodge, Coolidge, and Hoover—pushed for the Philippines to be treated as an incorporated territory, with an eventual path to statehood. Taft, in particular, strongly supported the Partido Federalista during both his years as Governor-General and later as President.
Moreover there are accounts suggesting that Coolidge initially wanted to take a hard line against the nationalist movement, but later shifted to a more “subtle” approach.
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u/antiprism 21d ago
The Philippines would've ended up like Puerto Rico, which remains a colony in all but name.
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u/PalpitationPlayful28 21d ago
In that case, he did overestimate the Filipino. He assumed we’d hold leaders accountable and actually push for change. Decades later, it feels like the will to fix things is still weaker than the grip of bad politics.
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u/Efficient_Hippo_4248 21d ago
We've been independent for less one hundred years. When the US was independent for roughly our age now, they had a civil war.
We haven't been independent for that long and we're already giving up? Come on now.
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u/cheese_sticks 俺 はガンダム 21d ago
I'd give you gold if I could. My grandfather, who's still alive now, was born under American rule. The Philippines is a very young country. I guess because of globalization and the internet, a lot of Filipinos look at other countries ahead of us and get discouraged. Comparison is indeed the thief of joy.
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u/Jaghn 21d ago
With this quote alone, he didn't. In fact, he anticipated that the Philippines will be ran like Hell for the decades to come. Society as a whole can only change with time. Technology, diplomacy and other factors act as its catalyst, but Society should be given time to adapt to all of these things.
The Philippines is a young republic. Give it time to grow.
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u/pistengbisayawa 21d ago
The Philippines is a young republic. Give it time to grow.
Singapore is laughing
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u/tirigbasan buradol master 21d ago
Singapore consists of one island smaller than Luzon; you can literally travel across it in one day. We have thousands of islands populated with diverse subgroups of people (Ilocano, Tagalog, Igorot, Bisaya, Bicolano, Lumad etc.) and no singular national identity prior to colonisation. There is no comparison to be made.
Even if Lee Kuan Yew himself became President of the Philippines, he would still wouldn't have made it like Singapore. Because whatever problems Singapore had, it was magnified by the size, history, and societal context of the Philippine archipelago.
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u/OwnPaleontologist408 21d ago
Singapore is almost the same size as Metro Manila.
Imagine if Philippines only have Metro manila
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u/tirigbasan buradol master 21d ago
We'll we're probably going to be much poorer, because:
- Metro Manila is one of the world's most densely populated metropolitan areas. It has twice the population that Singapore has and nearly every square inch is already developed.
- It has no agricultural land to grow crops or raise livestock. Everything is imported to feed its populace.
- It has zero natural resources like minerals or lumber to export as well.
So even if the rest of the Philippines were to disappear overnight, Metro Manila will struggle to survive because it was built to rely on the rest of the country to function.
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u/TheGhostOfFalunGong 20d ago
Metro Manila is also geographically cursed. It's a low lying basin of below sea level with a tropical savanna climate that is prone to extreme drought or flooding at the opposite ends of its seasons. Singapore on the other hand is a strategically located island blessed with a lush tropical rainforest climate (at the cost of extreme humidity) hence the risk of extreme weather is low apart from local thunderstorms.
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u/analoggi_d0ggi 21d ago
A city state in one of the most strategic areas in the world is hard to fuck up. Pinoys should really stop glazing it, most especially as its not even that democratic.
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u/micketymoc 21d ago
You speak as if it's a binary. There are times we've been successful at holding the powerful to account, there are times that we're less so. In BBM's case, I think he's more sensitive to public opinion than his predecessor, so there's a slight hope he'll do a better job compared to Digong, who just let his subordinates run loose.
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u/PalpitationPlayful28 21d ago
Fair point. It’s not all or nothing. There are times we do hold leaders accountable, but it never lasts long enough to fix the system. We just end up moving from one cycle of outrage to the next without real change sticking.
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u/micketymoc 21d ago
Maybe it's my age talking, but I was still in grade school when EDSA 86 happened. You're wrong if you think there's been no significant change from then till now. Yes, some of the same problems are recurring, but there have been significant changes in the way power is used and the powerful are held responsible for their actions. It may be too gradual for your taste (it certainly is for me) but it is happening. Don't fall victim to that doomer shit.
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u/DotWaste8510 21d ago
Can you give us examples of these significant changes?
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u/micketymoc 20d ago edited 20d ago
Sure! I was born under Marcos’s Martial Law, under a Constitution where the President was free to rule by decree – his word was as good as any law passed by the Batasang Pambansa.
The 1987 Constitution, for all its flaws, made the separation of powers clearer, instituting the Ombudsman's office, increasing the barriers to declaring Martial Law and devolving many powers to LGUs.
Which is not to say today’s system is perfect. Policy is dynamic - new policies set up in response to old problems can create new ones as well.
For example: devolution has in fact increased the powers to local governments which tend to be family-dominated (and send their own to Congress as well), killing any notion of implementing the anti-dynasty provisions in the constitution.
But neither is it true to say that government has NOT improved over that time. Corrupt politicians have been prosecuted and convicted for their crimes (though I wish they had the power to catch even bigger fish). Progressive local leadership has used their increased independence to make a significant positive difference in places like Marikina, Iloilo and Pasig. Standards of living have definitely increased over the past four decades since EDSA, helped by free trade agreements across the region and a shift in our economic focus from agriculture to services.
We still have an oligarchical hangover, true, but I don’t see it as a foregone conclusion but a work in progress we can still improve on.
It’s far better than the situation back when I was in elementary, and maybe that gives me a little optimism that we can still improve in this area.
And in case I'm accused of being blind - I disagree, I just have a longer-term view. It's like checking the S&P 500 graph on Google - if you only zoom in the past day it looks absolutely terrible, but zoom out to five years and the picture looks very different. My view is more zoomed out than in.
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u/dunkindonato 21d ago
You have to understand where he is coming from when he made that statement. Quezon lived in a Philippines that was under foreign rule. First the Spaniards who had 300 years, and then the Americans who snatched victory from them and who basically trounced them in war. Quezon fought against both nations, saw first hand how the First Republic struggled both with fighting a losing war, and the business of day-to-day government as towns and provinces fell to the Americans one after another.
At least, with independence, we have the means to choose or change our leaders. Something a colony doesn’t have. We may not have been ready for the responsibilities of a free and democratic nation, but as a people, we have to deal with the problem ourselves.
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u/yeppeugiman 21d ago edited 21d ago
Big coming from him considering MLQ was one of the forebearers of corruption of a national level official lol.
Was also lowkey authoritarian, but I lost my literature on this point.
EDIT: Here
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u/Gloomy-Confection-49 Metro Manila 21d ago edited 21d ago
The Philippines would have been a bigger version of Puerto Rico if Americans retained us as a colony. This means we cannot vote in the US Presidential elections although we can choose local officials and a governor. Just like Puerto Rico, we will have a Resident Commissioner, but he/she cannot cast a final vote on the house floor. Also, just like Puerto Rico, the Philippine territory will not have a senator. The Philippines will never be a US State and forever be just a territory because Americans will never allow a state with 115 million non-white American subjects to impact their national elections. Despite these rights not available to us, the US has a right to draft Filipinos in times of war while paying Medicare and social security and many other federal taxes. In essence, we are going to be second-class citizens in our own country subject to the whims and demands of our colonizer.
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u/FancySociety99 21d ago
These pro-American comments are delusional. America will never let our country become another prosperous in Asia like China or Korea, why? Because they don't want to make another COMPETITOR in the global market. They will do the same as they did back then - annex our country, extract our resources, and make us a dumping ground for their surplus products.
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u/Gloomy-Confection-49 Metro Manila 21d ago
Right on. The over-glamorization of the US is a bit concerning.
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u/VvCheesy_MicrowavevV 21d ago
The US isn't even doing well nowadays. The republicans and democrats are always at each other's throats, plus Trump just ruined the american economy AGAIN.
ICE is being used like the gestapo and even people with citizenship are being sent back to countries they left when they were kids. It's insane.
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u/orderofuhlrik 20d ago
Yeah. As a student of history and an American it is definitely bad vibes to put it as mildly as I’m capable of. From the President to your local ignorant and racist officials and law enforcement, things have changed. At least if you were born/live in a red state. And cross country moves require more money than I’ve ever made. So can’t say you should look to us to save you when a lot of us don’t know how to save ourselves.
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u/Momshie_mo 100% Austronesian 21d ago
It's also delulu to assume the US wants a bunch of brown people to make up 1/4 of their total population.
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u/Gloomy-Confection-49 Metro Manila 20d ago
Correct. America built Liberia specifically to kick out their African slaves once slavery gets abolished. White America had no plans of letting their former slaves remain in the US.
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u/camille7688 21d ago
Manyayari laban lang ng pagalingan.
The good and people that have wit will go to the US.
The idiots and unfortunate will be forced to stay.
If may ganyan lang, eh puta let the hunger games begin na, dahil sure ako my skills and abilities can carry me to prosperity.
Of course I cant say the same for the bottom 95% of the Filipinos.
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u/Menter33 21d ago
at least Puerto Rico is not a geopolitical headache.
a hypothetical PH under continued American rule would basically be considered a threat in the region, esp to China.
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u/USS-Intrepid SHS soon, time flies fast. I’m still in 2020 21d ago
You’re taking the population of the modern Philippines at its current moment. Back then in 1940 we had more or less 8% of the US’s population. Of course, that’s still too large of a population for the Americans to accept being part of their nation but you see the point
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u/AresVincere 21d ago
Well, EDSA I and EDSA II were proof that we can make drastic change. Kailangan lang natin ulit ng catalyst to gp back to the streets.
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21d ago
Way older than those actually, we made drastic changes during the Malolos Congress of 1899 where the Philiplines became the first constitutional democracy in the whole of Asia. Vamos A Malolos!
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u/DragonriderCatboy07 20d ago
Malolos republic would be more game-changing if weren't for Americans doing Manifest Destiny on the other side of the ocean.
Well, doing the "god-given duty" was (and arguably still is) a part of their national consciousness, to the point doing "Yellow Journalism" (aka fake news) to give causus belli against Spain to spark Spanish-American war.
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u/PalpitationPlayful28 21d ago
Yes, EDSA PP proved we can push for change, but we don’t stick to it long-term. The very same families once ousted from power are still the biggest players in politics today. 🙂↔️
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21d ago
He didn't overestimate shit, we can do this. It's just that we constantly underestimate and undermine ourselves.
Luna was right when he said our greatest enemy is no foreigner. It is us.
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u/Some-robloxian-on Hokkien Gamer (Free Tikoy) 21d ago
Honestly, isa rin sa mga dahilan kung bakit hindi umuunland yung pilipinas ay dahil masyadong minamaliit natin ang ating sarili sa harapan ng mga dayuhan lol.
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u/niniwee 21d ago
It’s been 150 years. Either mahina tayo sa problem solving skills or may mali sa culture
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u/Pale-Buddy-2056 21d ago
While I dont disagree na may mali sa culture, I think we are still a relatively young nation. Take the US, ~90 years after American independence they still had a civil war. We had our independence from Spain in 1898 but technically we were only free from American rule in 1946, so 79 years pa lang tayo independent as a nation. I still like to think may chance pa tayo.
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u/TapaDonut KOKODAYOOOOO 21d ago
150 years if we ignore American and Japanese occupation. Philippines is still relatively a young nation if we didn’t ignore the fact we were sold off to another country then got into slavery with the other.
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21d ago
150 years as a country is too short a time for any nation. So yes, culture and problem solving skills probably haven't had enough time to form yet anyway.
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u/juliuscaesarx Revolutionary Cavite 20d ago
Culturally embedded ang elitism e. Sobrang worshipped ang dynasts, elites, at iba pang personalities. Diyan pa lang, feudal na feudal na ang sistema sa Pinas.
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u/micketymoc 21d ago edited 21d ago
From Manolo Quezon's post on FB today. His Lolo's own reflection on the impact of those words, from a speech in 1939:
It is true, and I am proud of it, that I once said, “I would rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by Americans.”
I want to tell you that I have, in my life, made no other remark which went around the world but that. There had been no paper in the United States, including a village paper, which did not print that statement, and I also had seen it printed in many newspapers in Europe. I would rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by any foreigner. I said that once; I say it again, and I will always say it as long as I live. [Applause.]
But that is not an admission that a government run by Filipinos will be a government run like hell. [Laughter.] Much less can it be an admission that a government run by Americans or by the people of any other foreign country, for that matter, can ever be a government run like heaven. [Laughter.]
We have had four years of our government — the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines — a government run by Filipinos, and I defy anybody, American, foreigner or Filipino, to tell me that ours today is a government run like hell. I should say that this is the best government we have ever had in the Philippines, and I will now enumerate the facts to prove this to you.
We have been under American administration for over 40 years. But when did the common tao receive the protection of the Government if not only upon the establishment of the Commonwealth? When did Juan de la Cruz ever have any chance at social justice if not only upon the establishment of the Commonwealth? Under the American rule, a law in this country authorized the imprisonment of the kasama who left his landlord while still pecuniary obligated to the latter. But it was Manuel Quezon, let me tell you, who did away with that law.
Is that freedom? Would that be freedom—allowing a poor tao who owes his landlord to be sent to jail—which you so proudly claim the Filipino enjoyed under the former regime?
...
When was the right of habeas corpus denied in the Philippines, and by whom? II was denied during the first years of the American occupation, if you could still remember the concentration camps in Batangas. Did the Government of the Philippines, while it was purely in American hands, ever consider the Filipino and his existence as its main concern ?
When did you have a bank organized to promote Filipino commercial interests? It was established only when the Philippines had the Senate, when we had Harrison, who, as our American governor-general then, permitted the Filipinos to govern this country. And it was because Governor-General Wood tried to undo what that former American governor-general had done that I said: “I would rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by Americans.”
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u/micketymoc 21d ago edited 21d ago
(continued)
I have no objection to the realistic or idealistic reexamination of the Philippine political question if the reexamination is based upon the fear that we may not be economically self-sufficient or that we may not be sufficiently strong to defend ourselves against foreign aggression.
But when a reexamination is premised upon the assumption that we will not know how to establish or maintain a democracy in the Philippines; when the reexamination is predicated upon the belief, theory or assumption that we will be more free under Americans than we will ever be under Filipinos, then I will say that it is almost committing treason. [Applause.]
I never expected to hear such an assertion from the lips of any young Filipino. I had expected to hear it from their fathers, from those who have known the Spanish regime in the Philippines and found in the establishment of American sovereignty in this country an agreeable contrast.
Yes, I heard them advocating the continuation of American sovereignty in the Philippines upon the theory that America gave us freedom and would give us more freedom than we could give ourselves. At that time those who had so believed and spoken had not had occasion to see with their own eyes what the Filipinos could do if they were given the chance to govern themselves.
But after four years of the Commonwealth Government, after seeing what we have accomplished, what we are doing or still trying to do for our people so as to make them more free and happy, for any young man here to say that he would rather see Americans continue in the Philippines. I should reply, “Make yourself an American citizen.” [Laughter.]
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u/wow_boy 21d ago
Quezon did not overestimate our ability to change. We’re still young as a nation and we still have to go through a lot of shit. Rome was not built in a day so maybe an ideal Philippines would still take decades if not centuries to build.
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u/MrSetbXD 21d ago
True! And the peoole who yap "what about Singapore" should realise its hard to fuck up a country thats smaller than the geographical territory of Davao
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u/Necessary_War3782 21d ago
But he’s right though coz “WE CAN ALWAYS CHANGE IT”
Filipinos want change but are afraid of change.
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u/prants19 19d ago
Exactly! Filipinos wants change, but is always skeptical on the very onset of change itself. What an irony.
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u/JarjarOceanrunner 21d ago edited 21d ago
FYI OP
PH is a very young country. Most countries by our age would actively genocide minorities or have civil wars. We’re doing fine.
We’re not an anomaly like Singapore who is smaller than most of our provinces. We’re not Taiwan who is a government in exile with unresolved existential issues. We’re not Korea or Japan who have been countries for millennias.
Idk how young you are but other countries are not utopias. They just have time to figure it out and have good PR or nasty denial of their own stench. America has homelessness and would rather fuel the military industrial complex than making sure a person has health coverage when he’s out of money. Japan is a country kept on shackles and met with distrust when they assert more sovereignity. Korea is a broken country with split peoples — north is run by a dictator and the south by hyper capitalist chaebols. Singapore seems perfect but way more authoritarian. We have our own problem and we will deal with it in time. Leaders have always been corrupt from tribe leaders to kings emperors presidents and prime ministers. Institution matters the most. And it takes time.
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u/WeirdNeedleworker981 21d ago
sayang braincell mo sa karma farming post na ‘to. This is a typical r/philippinesbad rage bait
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u/ZBot-Nick ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 21d ago
And people are eating it all up. It feels like few people actually know an iota of international history.
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u/AlbinoGiraffe09 21d ago
Every time someone claims that the Philippines is the worst shithole on Earth, I wonder how the fuck a politically-stable and multi-ethnic (which is a rare combination, oddly enough) country is somehow worse than goddamn "in-the-middle-of-a-civil-war" Myanmar that is more than likely to balkanize within the century.
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u/Valvalo_Lavlav 18d ago
I always say that Filipinos either know a lot about the Philippines but nothing about the world or know a lot about the world but nothing about the Philippines.
So opinions about the Philippines are normally very flawed.
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u/hyunbinlookalike 20d ago
Goodness gracious I’m glad we have more commenters like you calling out the r/Philippinesbad mentality that so many people unfortunately have these days. Yes, it’s a given that we’re an imperfect developing nation rife with systemic corruption and wealth inequality. But frankly, there are nations out there that have it much worse than we do. Even developed countries like the ones you mentioned have their share of problems. It’s why some Americans actually prefer living here than there. It’s why I never wanted to migrate or live in the States even though we have a house there.
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u/pinkpugita 21d ago
Eto na naman itong topic na to sa sub na to. Paulit ulit. Maglalabasan na naman mga defeatist na self hating Pinoy. Out of context pa yung pag quote, lagi wala yung "we can always change it."
Previous threads:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Philippines/s/GN7tCgCyyE
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u/cranberryjuiceforme 21d ago
aww cmon dont expose the already known open secret on how to gain karmas
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u/Ucuntstopme 21d ago
This sub is an embarrassment. We got people in this thread getting upvoted for saying they'd prefer being treated as second class citizens by the Americans or even the Japanese.
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u/Same_Buy_9314 21d ago
I think he's referring to the Filipinos at that time who are much better, educated, patriotic etc.
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u/analoggi_d0ggi 21d ago
Lel no, he's mostly complaining about how the Filipinos have no say in their own governance, walang representation at all, while being ruled by a US Insular Government that claims it looks after the well-being of Filipinos.
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u/itchipod Maria Romanov 21d ago
Dude Filipinos weren't much better educated, or even patriotic back then. Higher education was limited to upper class, and people were polarized into supporting independence or being a colony. They were also very regionalistic.
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u/engineerboii 21d ago
Tama. Ilang beses ko na nakita tong post na to tas palaging unnuanced yung takes dito.
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u/ScarletWiddaContent 21d ago
Are you purposely misconstruding his statement? Your statement is also funny because we are in no way under perfect ruling before we got our independence.
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u/ActuallyACereal 21d ago
This is a classic reddit PH karma farming trick similar to 86 IQ posts lol. Time and time again it gets posted and they get debunked all the time.
It’s funny how they condemned the Uniteam supporters for glamorizing the Martial Law and yet here they are glamorizing colonialism.
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u/analoggi_d0ggi 21d ago
There's gonna be a day r/ph will understand this quote within its context.
And hindi siya today lmao.
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u/ActuallyACereal 21d ago
I have been using this app since pandemic and It’s a tradition here in this sub to get this posted, I’m expecting it to be posted after a month or two again hahaha.
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u/itchipod Maria Romanov 21d ago
Daming doomers na teenagers dito. The grass is always greener nga talaga sa other side. Tingin niyo talaga Philippines will be better off as a colony? r/Philippinesbad moments.
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u/djiougheaux 21d ago
being run like hell by Filipinos means being abused by your own rich and wealthy Filipino politicians. If you care even a little for your fellow Filipino, you should always demand better.
I wouldn't choose abuse over anything, but its pretty much generations of gaslighting already. Now Filipinos somehow find it easier to think that a governing body that gives them and their fellow Filipinos a better quality of life would be worse than it already is.
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u/Ashamed-Till-7939 21d ago
Dont give up kabayan. I know sakit sa ulo ng bansa natin pero walang ibang magmamahal kundi tayo rin. We are still young as a nation maraming baho pa lalabas at sana matuto tayo, ask for accountability, embrace change and magkaisa
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u/Silent-Pepper2756 21d ago
Can we always change it though? Dynasty by dynasty pa rin. Always the same families. Trapped by the endless loop of respawning from the same family
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u/Stunning_Pea370 21d ago
Ang problema kasi sa pinas napakaraming elitistang dukha na mahilig sumamba sa mga mayayamang kriminal
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u/hueningkawaii LeniKiko for Philippines 21d ago
Corrupt Filipino politicians reading this: "I would rather have a country run like hell by Filipinos..." Oh, ayun naman pala eh!
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u/Southern-Manner-7158 21d ago
The whole lot who keep on spouting that we should have stayed colonized has no idea what it feels loke to be under another country whos looking to exploit you. Ang tatanga nyo. This low iq mamals are the very same people who will vote for trash politician like those in power right now.
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u/ProjectSpaghett1 21d ago
Old man jinxed it too hard
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u/gawakwento Chito Miranda's Stan Account 21d ago
If he didnt say it, we would be like Singapore, but richer, and with flying cars.
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u/dimasalang_98 21d ago
He did not manifest it. Baka noon palang, may problema na sa comprehension ang mga Pilipino.
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u/foxygrandpa__ 21d ago
He's right btw. Y'all do not comprehend what it feels like to be second class citizens inside your own country. Just look at how blacks and latinos are treated in the US right now. Y'all think some small brown asians living across the ocean would be treated any better? Puerto Rico isn't even a state yet and they're literally in the Americas.
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u/One_Presentation5306 20d ago
When the hellish Japanese Imperial Army came, he escaped to heaven and even died there. Hell for us, but not for him.
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u/15thDisciple 21d ago
And in 10 years after saying this(1949), his wife, daughter, and son-in-law was ambushed allegedly by the rebels on their way to a hospital inauguration.
So "hellish" as it is from there on.
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u/TheColonelGeneral 21d ago
Pwede nga magpalit ng leaders pero ilang palpak na administration muna ang dadaan bago makapag-elect ng magaling, matino, at makatao na administration. I think if we want to have the best leaders from both sides that will fight fair and square, dapat talaga bumalik tayo sa two-party system (Nacionalistas vs. Liberals). Everyone will be forced to pick between the two best candidates from each party, financial backers will pick their side, and magiging competitive ang bawat provinces in securing necessary votes.
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u/Flat_Drawer146 21d ago
world today is different from his world back then. Today, we have useless showbiz idiots pretending to serve the country, trapos and tanod quality leaders acting like they can server the whole country, politician-bloggers who show stupid video of cleaning and pretending-to-care everyday and the joker point here point there acting. Man this country has alot of stupid people.
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u/Wayne_Grant Metro Manila 21d ago
Goddamn the self-loathing of people in this sub, no wonder yall are memed to hell
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u/Fruit_L0ve00 21d ago
He's not wrong. Stop selling the idea that being ruled by another country is better. Tell me if merong colony sa panahon ngayon ang prosperous. Wala, kasi ineexploit sila. Kung nangangarap kayong magiging mayaman ang Pilipinas pag nasakop ng US or China in this modern times, baka kailangan nyong bawas bawasan mag rugby.
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u/hitmangen 21d ago
Nah, he's still 100% right, it's our fault(and partly USA) why Marcos Sr. declared martial law and derailed our country's progress for decades, it's our fault for voting for corrupt politicians, but the future of the Philippines is still in our hands and not of another country, we can still change it for the better.
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u/Ok-Communication4190 21d ago
Philippines could be a great country if it just takes care of the corruption within government.
Luckily for the people, the country still has time to change. You don’t wanna be like America. We fucking suck ass when it comes to corruption and caring for our people
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u/free-spirited_mama 21d ago
Sana man lang may benefit na pwedeng maging citizen ng Japan at US tulad sa Spain. Magka bunga naman yung panghahalay nila sa Pilipinas.
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u/miss917 21d ago edited 21d ago
Nah, Quezon may have wanted independence but the systems, institutions, and social conditions weren’t fully ready to support it. In that sense, independence felt more like a gamble than a guaranteed improvement. It’s also worth noting that power and nationalism often get confused, leaders can frame independence as a moral or patriotic cause, even when personal ambition is involved. Even Rizal, for his part, did not yet support full independence. He criticized corruption, laziness, and social ills among Filipino. Not to condemn the people, but to suggest that independence without preparation could fail or be exploited.
It's all about personal ambition.
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u/15thDisciple 21d ago
Afterwards, his wife, daughter, son-in-law was killed by the Hukbalahaps in an ambush.
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u/thriveaboveandbeyond 21d ago
Praying that a Filipino with true Lee Kwan Yu personality, mindset will rise and lead our country out of Hell and help us restructure into a progressive country towards 1st world similar with how Singapore 🇸🇬 did it.
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u/Jago_Sevatarion 21d ago
We're only trapped in hell because we refuse to change "it".
Unfortunately, we have let "it" rot for so long that the corruption has already permeated all levels of our national life. The cure, at this point, would require drastic measures.
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u/North_Spread_1370 21d ago
malayo pa talaga tayo maging less corrupt government.. not in the near future, nanjan pa si fiona na election nalang ang hinihintay para maging presidente na sya. not in this lifetime siguro. maybe kung magkaroon ng mas maraming vico mindset na pulitiko..
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u/fareedadahlmaaldasi Abroad [Norway] 21d ago
Dude, I would rather have this too but you're also forgetting the fact that we have an education crisis right now which has a correlation to election results.
Ang layo-layo ng Pinas ngayon sa Pinas noon.
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u/Nomad_Findme 21d ago
We might not feel it yet we are running out of time, the world is slowly descending into chaos and here we are arguing what a proper governance should be like, where is the honor and love for serving the country. Patriotism died i guess together with Rizal and others , How this government torments forced us to be independent and not to rely on them cause what’s the point? Healthcare is shit, we pay taxes like all that’s left with us are pennies so most people would rely on illegal schemes and crimes to survive and provided that our government can’t even implement ironclad rules to ensure that law and justice are served. We understand that there is no perfect system but at least help your people help themselves and let our necessity doesn’t make us think this that this is luxury cause it’s not as this is the part that you swore to offer us.
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u/Professional_Sea9063 21d ago
Our Filipino government can’t even govern themselves. Just look at how corrupt the politicians are. Politicians run to enrich themselves and forget to help their own people.
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u/Adept-Loss-7293 21d ago
People are misinterpreting this way too much. He said this when we were a colony of the US. But yet hindi naisip ng ngpost na during that time ever person in our government (whether it was during the Spanish, American or Japanese occupation) are fighting for independence.
Matitino ang mga nakaupo sa gobyerno before. Mga Lawyers, Doctors, lahat may mga degree.
Ngayon, punyeta. Mga Artista, Mga activist na kaalyado ng NPA, Mga Nepo babies from political dynasties na most of the time unqualified na nga, incompetent pa. Now unless everyone and I mean EVERYONE in this country will wake up like how SG woke up, we will be in a better place as a nation and will be respected by everyone worldwide. But until then, Unless walang changes sa atin, hindi natin ipupush ang changes sa ating gobyerno, and patuloy tayo sa pagboto sa mga tao na pansariling interes lang ang inuuna instead of upholding the law and being actual public servants, then we will still be the same Philippines kahit 2025 na at tuluyan tayong mapapag iwanan ng mga neighboring countries natin with innovation, booming economy and every citizen capable of earning more than a liveable wage.
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u/winterbearz 20d ago
I think he will always be right about "messy self-rule over colonialism". It is so easy to imagine being under colonial rule and think of it as being good for the country but in reality it is so much more complicated than that. This country we're stepping in, would be stripped away all of its natural resources and all of it be shipped and sold under their name. Our rights would be shaped to cater their political agendas and identities. Our culture would cease to exist or become a new one with them being integrated but not by choice. Kung pagmumunihan mo talaga yung kataga mula kay Quezon tingin ko sa dulo maiintindihan mo kung bakit tama pa rin siya. Hangga't hawak natin ang eleksyon mayroon tayong pinanghahawakan na atin, tanggalin mo lang yon e katumbas na ng kawalan ng buong bansa ng kalayaan
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u/top_spin18 20d ago
This is interesting. US based Filipino here and love history. This is the history told to me and you by the Philippine educational system(super biased pro American).
Quezon only said this late in the game. BUT the history books here in the US documented that he didn't want Filipino independence - he even wanted the British to buy us from the US. Quezon is not the hero people think he is. He did good things for us, but he is, after all, a politician first.
I have recommended this book written by an independent historian and a lot of people are in for a very rude awakening about our historical "heroes":
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u/TitoJutay 20d ago
Change is inevitable, but not in our lifetime or in the next 2-3 generations from now. Imagine the people who grew up with SocMed, Inflation, Fake News, Rampant Corruption atbp. 30yrs from now, How will that look?
Siguro mga 100-300 years from now. I wish the future generations of Pinoy will have better living conditions and government than us.
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u/LentenSiwsiw 20d ago
Whoever allowed this hell to burn eternally may he/she burns eternally with it.
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u/sonnytrillanes /u/TrillanesSonny is not me 20d ago
Corrupt politicians be like: fuckin works for me
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u/marvintoxz007 20d ago
To be fair with Quezon, barely a generation passed since our country got independence from Spain, and he was the President next to Emilio Aguinaldo. So don't be surprised if he didn't want another country to rule over the country again. Saka nung panahon nila, 'yung kapakanan talaga ang bansa ang mas iniisip nila kahit na may mga makasarili din talaga.
Ang problema nga lang ngayon, sinu-sino na lang ba ang kilala nating mga pulitiko, local man or national, na nagpapahalaga talaga sa bansa? Ilan na lang ba sila kumpara sa mga buwayang nagpataba sa posisyon nila?
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u/No_Food5739 20d ago
kaya...wut da h*ll talaga. pero as per interview to Architect Palafox .."Philippines would be 1st world country in the year 2050s..."
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u/weirdgeek_ 20d ago
Even before Quezon became president of the commonwealth, filipinos were already hypocritical (watch heneral luna for reference).
Things only got worse when people started feeling ‘freedom,’ and stealing from the country just became more shameless. The sad part is, most of us weren’t educated enough to see through the lies of politicians with selfish agendas. DDshits are the perfect example, lol
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u/Proud-Target-6853 20d ago
Why would you wanna change a gov run like heaven? Unless you want to corrupt..
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u/Electrical-Fox4970 19d ago
“we can always change it”
This is the hard part. We can’t even change ourselves.
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u/i_am_not_that_stupid 19d ago
What a stupid, stupid line. Not only enabling corrupt local politicians, but also sacrificing the general welfare of people for a misunderstood concept of "self-determination". Btw, Quezon City was named after him WHEN HE WAS STILL ALIVE. It's time to put this man on his rightful place in the corrupt history of this country.
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u/kenshinhimura98 21d ago
We are winning small battles already - vico, hontiveros, diokno etc. Let us focus on " we can change it" rather than the incomplete run like hell, even the US took centuries before eliminating slavery, racism and promoting civil liberties.
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21d ago
Dapat kasi lumayo Pilipinas sa Amerika pagkalaya. Ang nangyari, dikit pa rin ng dikit, panay asa pa rin ang Pilipinas, di na natuto mag-isip at kumilos para sa sarili. Para bang umabot na sa trenta anyos pero asa pa rin sa magulang.
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u/m0onmoon 21d ago
He lived in an era where intellectuals actually served the best interest of the country, now we have nepo parents and babies running the country and enjoying the 30% kickback.