by Raffy Gutierrez
In Filipino culture, the question of who we are and what we truly live for runs deeper than most people realize. Are we pursuing our own dreams and purpose, or have we simply learned to live out someone else’s version of what our life should be?
For generations, we’ve been taught to follow — to respect authority, to stay quiet, to do as we’re told. We were told that obedience is a virtue, that conformity keeps the peace, that questioning makes us “pasaway.” But what if this mindset, which we’ve mistaken for good manners and right conduct, is actually what’s holding us back as a nation?
When you ask most Filipinos what their goals are in life, very few can give a clear and definite answer. Many will say, “Gusto ko lang maging maayos ang buhay,” or “Basta makaraos.” These are honest answers, but they reveal something painful: most of us have stopped dreaming beyond survival.
It’s not because we’re lazy or incapable. On the contrary — Filipinos are some of the most hardworking, resilient, and creative people in the world. But we have been conditioned since childhood to believe that our role is to serve, to please, to follow. That we are not meant to lead, to question, or to disrupt.
This conditioning begins early. At home, a child who asks too many questions is told to “just obey.” In school, students are rewarded for memorization, not for thinking critically. At work, employees are praised for loyalty, not for innovation. And in politics, voters are trained to accept broken promises instead of demanding real accountability.
We have mistaken silence for peace, and submission for discipline. The result is a society that tolerates mediocrity because it fears change. A people who have learned to endure instead of evolve.
When a nation stops questioning, it loses its edge. When people stop caring, apathy takes root. And when apathy becomes the culture, greatness becomes impossible. The greatest tragedy of our time is not that Filipinos lack potential — it’s that we’ve been taught not to believe in it.
Look around and you’ll see it everywhere. Brilliant minds settle for less because they’re afraid to challenge their bosses. Young innovators leaving the country because their ideas are ignored. Communities depend on aid instead of demanding reform. It’s a quiet kind of surrender — the slow death of ambition.
But this isn’t irreversible. The Filipino spirit is not dead; it’s only asleep. It wakes up every time a young person dares to start something new, every time someone speaks up against corruption, every time a Filipino refuses to give up even when everything seems hopeless.
To dream for oneself — and for one’s country — is an act of rebellion in a culture that glorifies obedience. It’s the kind of rebellion we desperately need today. Because real progress begins when people stop waiting for permission to improve their lives.
If there is one thing we must unlearn as a people, it’s the idea that our worth is defined by how well we follow. The truth is, our worth lies in how bravely we think, how fiercely we care, and how relentlessly we strive to make things better.
The Philippines will never rise through obedience alone. It will rise through courage — the courage to dream bigger, to speak louder, and to refuse to live the dreams of others when we can finally begin living our own.
