Scribd
Upload
218 views2 pages

Causes of Filipino Indolence Explained

The document discusses the causes of perceived indolence among Filipinos as analyzed by Jose Rizal. It attributes indolence not to the Filipinos themselves, but to the backward conditions in the country resulting from the Spanish colonial government's policies. These include lack of encouragement for trade and labor, abusive exploitation of farmers, monopolization of business, lack of education for natives, and the doctrine taught by the Catholic Church. Rizal argues the two main factors causing indolence are the limited training and education received by natives, and the lack of a national sentiment of unity among them due to being taught they are inferior.

Uploaded by

Maria Ozao
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
218 views2 pages

Causes of Filipino Indolence Explained

The document discusses the causes of perceived indolence among Filipinos as analyzed by Jose Rizal. It attributes indolence not to the Filipinos themselves, but to the backward conditions in the country resulting from the Spanish colonial government's policies. These include lack of encouragement for trade and labor, abusive exploitation of farmers, monopolization of business, lack of education for natives, and the doctrine taught by the Catholic Church. Rizal argues the two main factors causing indolence are the limited training and education received by natives, and the lack of a national sentiment of unity among them due to being taught they are inferior.

Uploaded by

Maria Ozao
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Indolence does exist among the Filipinos, but it cannot be attributed to the troubles and

backwardness of the country; rather it is the effect of the backwardness and troubles
experienced by the country. 

The hot climate, he points out, is a reasonable predisposition for indolence. Filipinos cannot
be compared to Europeans, who live in cold countries and who must exert much more effort
at work. An hour's work under the Philippine sun, he says, is equivalent to a day's work in
temperate regions.

The Spanish government has not encouraged labor and trade, which ceased after the government
treated the country's neighboring trade partners with great suspicion. Trade has declined,
furthermore, because of pirate attacks and the many restrictions imposed by the government, which
gives no aid for crops and farmers. This and the abuse suffered under encomienderos have caused
many to abandon the fields. Businesses are monopolized by many government officials, red tape
and bribery operate on a wide scale, rampant gambling is tolerated by the government. This
situation is compounded by the Church's wrong doctrine which holds that the rich will not go to
heaven, thus engendering a wrong attitude toward work. There has also been discrimination in
education against natives. These are some of the main reasons that Rizal cites as causing the
deterioration of values among the Filipinos.

According to Rizal, all the causes of indolence can be reduced to two factors. The first factor
is the limited training and education Filipino natives receive. Segregated from Spaniards,
Filipinos do not receive the same opportunities that are available to the foreigners. They are
taught to be inferior. The second factor is the lack of a national sentiment of unity among
them. Because Filipinos think they are inferior, they submit to the foreign culture and do
everything to imitate it. The solution, according to Rizal, would be education and liberty.

It can clearly be deduced from the writing that the cause of the indolence attributed to our race is
Spain: When the Filipinos wanted to study and learn, there were no schools, and if there were
any, they lacked sufficient resources and did not present more useful knowledge; when the
Filipinos wanted to establish their businesses, there wasn’t enough capital nor protection from the
government; when the Filipinos tried to cultivate their lands and establish various industries, they
were made to pay enormous taxes and were exploited by the foreign rulers. 

People were conscripted to work in the shipyards, forced to build roads and
buildings with little or no pay, decimating the population and killing their
natural love for work. Their goods and services were taken by force, such that
they simply refused to work more only to have their products taken for free,
paid cheaply, or so heavily taxed that these ended up not worth the trouble.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/120136/the-indolence-of-the-
filipino#ixzz75VKVLWlB
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Gambling was another factor, because it bred “dislike for steady and difficult
toil by its promise of sudden wealth and its appeal to the emotions, with the
lotteries,” said Rizal. Finally, he pointed out the failure of education, which
was more focused on religion than on the secular and useful, with the
exception of the Jesuits and the Dominican Benavides.

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/120136/the-indolence-of-the-
filipino#ixzz75VLGmd00
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

You might also like