‘Pinoys too forgiving, loyal’

Filipinos are forgiving, loyal and resilient. And this might be what’s preventing them from moving forward, United States Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Joseph Mussomeli indicated yesterday.

"Filipinos are a very happy and content people. But there should be some rational basis for it. People are too tolerant, too long-suffering sometimes. And so I think these three virtues have impeded the progress of the Philippines," he told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at the Manila Hotel.

Mussomeli called on Filipinos to rethink these "virtues" in the next 20 years for the country to fulfill its potential. "Such a great potential, such great people," he said of the Philippines. "There is no reason to be falling behind the rest of Asia."

The outspoken Mussomeli, who was appointed to be the next US ambassador to Cambodia, said during his "farewell forum" that the government should seriously implement reforms to bring about progress.

He said that because Filipinos are too forgiving, erring government leaders and officials never learn their lessons because nobody is ever really punished or put in jail for a long time.

"I think that the Filipino culture and society is a victim of its own virtue, that its strong sense of forgiveness — which is obviously a virtue — can sometimes prevent accountability and responsibility that any civil and modern society needs," Mussomeli said.

He pointed out that "people were never held to account, (going) back to (the late dictator Ferdinand) Marcos. No one with any power or money seems to ever be put in jail for long. I think it is a good thing to be forgiving and certainly the alternative is far worse. But there needs to be accountability. Nobody ever learned a lesson because nobody is really punished in the long run."

Mussomeli stopped short of saying that erring Philippine government officials can get away with the crimes they commit.

Most of the plunder charges filed against Marcos, his family and cronies have failed to result in convictions, a fact that could encourage the further commission of crimes by those in government.

The top US official in the country stressed that loyalty to family and friends is another virtue that prevents Filipinos from upholding justice and the rule of law.

"Loyalty needs to be more than just for family and friends. But it is a strong impulse in many cultures, including the Philippines. Loyalty to family comes first before anything, including country," he said.

Mussomeli cited a personal experience involving his neighbor’s son, who threw stones at his official residence in Makati City and threatened to kill him.

"The neighbors were very nice people and they were very embarrassed by what their son did. But their first impulse was to protect their child and they never thought that (taking) him to account in a court of law was really an acceptable possibility," he said.

Mussomeli observed that most Filipinos would first seek to protect members of their families rather than concerning themselves with the rule of law or justice "because you always take care of the people you love and that is a real detriment to modern society."

He also said the Filipino virtue of "resilience," wherein individuals quickly recover from setbacks, makes people easily forget the cause of their suffering instead of rectifying past mistakes. — Pia Lee-Brago