How does the Philippine society and culture view discrimination at the workplace?

Do you agree with how it is perceived by such?

10 advantages

10 is advantages 2 columns

Discrimination is not new to the society and culture of the Philippines. Even in sophisticated
countries it has not totally been eliminated, but other nations have come a long way in changing
such mindsets. For example, in the United States, the attitude towards blacks has changed
considerably from the time Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white. The Germans
have tried hard to shed their Nazi image.

1. There are different types of discrimination at the workplace. One of it is the Age Discrimination
which means forbids against people who are age 40 or older. Also, it is the practice of letting a
person's age unfairly become a factor when deciding who receives a new job, promotion, or other
job benefits. The Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act indicates that this Promote
employment of individuals on the basis of their abilities, knowledge, skills and qualifications
rather than their age, however, some companies are not in favor of it because they think that
younger employees are more productive than the old ones. On the other side, hiring an age 40 or
older employees are more efficient and time saves companies money. Their years of experience
in the workplace make them as lead role in the company.
2. I am not agree and in-favor of any discrimination at the workplace here in the Philippines
because productivity of an employee is not based on his/her gender.

ADVANTAGES
A lot of experience
Punctuality
Detail-oriented, focused and attentive,
unlike pag bata bara bara ang gawa (some
lang)
Olders are ore confident that younger
employees
Olders workers can save money
Olders are loyal
They provide reliable service
more practical knowledge
For older workers, job security is more
important than money, thus they cost
much lesser than the younger employees,
thereby saving on the manpower
budgeting.
As they are more concerned about job
security, they are more likely to stay with
your company in long run and so you can
trust them more.
DISADVATAGES
Retire immediately
Will no longer productive
Resistance to adopt a new workplace
Discomfort due to others attitude or
brhavior
Lack of proper communication
Lack of productivity
Older workers sometimes find it difficult to
cope with the change in the technology
and takes time to get used to new
software and skills.
Generally, there is no sense of competition
in older workers as they are usually
satisfied with their job. This absence of
spirit and competition leads to lower
productivity in employees.
CIVICS / CULTURE / SOCIETY

In 21st century Philippines, discrimination is still an

inescapable way of life
April 4, 2013 - by FallenAngel - 48 Comments.
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Tall, blond, fair-skinned and sharp-nosed. This is the image a

lot of Filipinos carry in their heads of the ideal physical appearance that they dream of achieving. This is
in no small part due to the excessive admiration that Filipinos have for things Western, particularly
American. The stuff that mass media broadcasts only propagates this stereotype. But let’s be honest
with ourselves: whether it’s due to an inborn inferiority complex or the inculcation of “foreign is better”•
mindset into millions of Filipinos ever since time immemorial, a lot of us have secretly wished to be at
least one of the traits I mentioned.

[Photo courtesy Gurl.com]

Why bring up such a topic? If you’ve been reading recent events in the Philippines, president Benigno
Simeon Aquino III (BS Aquino) has just vetoed a bill removing the height requirements for those who
want to become policemen.

“If you need to rescue someone from a burning house … or secure detainees, then you
would need certain physical attributes. That is the nature of these jobs and it is not
discrimination,” she told reporters.

Mr. Aquino’s minimum height of 1.63 metres for men and 1.57 metres for women applying for
these jobs, would still apply, Valte said.
Unfortunately, this is the Philippines, where credentials such as brand/family name, height, skin color,
age, civil status, and accent, just to name a few, determine your chances of getting a job as much as or
perhaps even more than your ability to actually do the job. In other more civilized countries, this would
be called discrimination.

You can see it in job advertisements here in the Philippines: many employers still look for certain
physical requirements such as gender, height, weight, and age, for example. I remember an example
used in one of my former companies, an American one. In the orientation, it was mentioned that a
distinct difference between a Filipino company and an American company looking for the same heavy
lifter would be that the former would specify the gender, male. The American company would instead
leave out any mention of gender, and indicate instead on the job advertisement “must be able to lift
heavy things.”•

There is nothing wrong with narrowing the potential applicants to a job down by listing specifics of what
is required. What is iffy, if not downright wrong, is including certain credentials or physical characteristics
in the requirements where they are not needed or not directly connected with the ability to do the
job. This is something that will fly over most Filipino’s heads.
Even the inevitable and seemingly innocuous interview question “Are you married?”• is already
considered a discriminatory question in other parts of the world. Here, it is still asked by many
interviewers even when it is glaringly clear that:

a) The civil status usually has little to no correlation with the skill set needed for the job, and
b) There are other ways and questions to ask to determine the candidate’s willingness to go the extra
mile, or be relocated for work purposes.

That’s the reality of the business world, but discrimination is still a way of life in the Philippines. Going
back to the stereotype ideal I mentioned at the start, Filipinos have nothing but awe for people who
possess at least one of those physical traits. This is why the mestizos/as and half-breeds are virtually
worshiped by Filipinos for their physical appearance alone!

Now, let’s take ourselves back to reality. The typical Filipino’s physical characteristics are: of average
height, dark-haired, dark-skinned (kayumanggi), and snub-nosed (pango). If a Filipino happens to have
any or a combination of these physical traits, particularly the average height and the dark-skin, chances
are he has been ridiculed for it.

Bansot (shorty), dwende (dwarf), intsik (Chinese), negro (dark-skinned), and bumbay (referring to
Indians) – these constitute but a small sample of the discriminatory language Filipinos are capable of.
And yet their actions speak louder than those words. If you stand out physically in the Philippines you
may have gotten the stare from the locals. They stare at people that stand out, and some of them even
regard you with a bit of suspicion.

Unfortunately, the discrimination one can potentially face in Filipino society isn’t just limited to physical
characteristics. Depending on the region of the Philippines your lineage comes from, certain stereotypes
will be attached to you by other ethnic groups within the Philippines. The frugality of Ilocanos is
interpreted by other Filipinos as stinginess. There are Filipinos who poke fun at the “ala’eh”• of the
Batangueños, P-F deficiency of the Ilocanos, and the breathy consonant sounds of the Kapampangans.
When it comes to speaking Filipino, for example, many Filipinos make fun of how Visayans and
Mindanaoans speak it, never mind that it is not their first language and that they are forced to learn it in
school, pretty much the same way Luzon inhabitants are. On the other hand, Visayans and
Mindanaoans throw a lot of scorn onto people from the place they call “Imperial Manila”• whom they
perceive as arrogant and high-browed.

Even religion isn’t safe from discrimination from Filipinos. In a country that’s overwhelmingly Catholic, a
person who is neither Catholic nor Christian will surely elicit stares and premature judgments from
Filipinos. And it’s a safe guess that even among the various sects of Catholicism and Christianity here,
they don’t necessarily all get along well with each other. And the Filipino atheist movement? If their idea
of atheist is persecuting people for having a religion, instead of helping them to see beyond religion, then
why bother with another idea which Filipinos turn into utter crap?

Filipino society can be best described as clannish. As I said in one of my previous articles, it seems that
the tendency of Filipinos is to refer to themselves as being first from a certain ethnic group, instead of
being from the Philippines. The idea that “Filipinos are Filipinos regardless of region or ethnic group”• is
one that is not yet very strongly ingrained into the national psyche. Each ethnic group still insists on its
own superiority above the others and doesn’t see itself as part of a collective Filipino identity.

Perhaps the most distressing discrimination that one can face in Filipino society is not due to ethnicity or
physical characteristics, but due to his/her desire to go against the grain of conventional
and populist thinking. People who prefer scholarly pursuits over having a good time and partying are
regarded as corny, mga killjoy and walang pakisama. People who follow the rules get frowned upon and
ostracized.

No one faces such ostracism more than the people who dare criticize and point out the flaws and
dysfunction of Filipino culture and society, and since 2009, those who dare criticize BS Aquino for all his
errors in judgment, his general incompetence, and his utter lack of qualification for the top government
post.
 [Photo courtesy Coloribus.com]

Filipinos are notorious as an ethnic group who are too attached to their archaic traditions. They are
hypersensitive about receiving feedback. Their “pwede-na-yan“ and “bahala na“• mindsets keep them
from being receptive to new and different ideas. Innovation and out-of-the-box thinking take a backseat
to conformism, pakikisama, and absolute deference to one’s elders. Worst of all, Filipinos are among the
world’s most judgmental people. Instead of trying to understand and learn from people who do not
necessarily look and think the way they do, they immediately put them in a box, and pass judgment
instead of trying to listen and pick up lessons that may be useful to them.

It is this high perch that Filipinos undeservedly like to put themselves on, that keeps them from shedding
their old skin.

Discrimination is not unique to the Philippines. Even in civilized countries it has not totally been
eliminated, but other nations have come a long way in changing such mindsets. For example, in
the United States, the attitude towards blacks has changed considerably from the time Rosa
Parks refused to give up her seat for a white. The Germans have tried hard to shed their Nazi
image.

The underlying question is, why can’t we do similar reforms in our own society?

Education is one of the best weapons against discrimination. The challenge is teaching people how to
think and not what to think. That way they can make up their own minds and move beyond religious
belief, skin color, and even unnecessary conformist thinking.

In the Philippines, however, ignorance is bliss.

Until Filipinos learn to celebrate their diversity, and while they continue to divide themselves over it, they
will continue to struggle as a nation.