1

2 WHY ARE
3
FILIPINOS SO
4

5
POOR? Kaye Angelique Baeza
Precious Xena Boliche
Patricia Mae Hall
Angelica Matias
BY FRANCISCO SIONIL
Dexter Umali JOSE
Scholarly Inquiry – Section 1
 IDENTIFY TWO CLAIMS OF THE AUTHOR
1
2 CLAIM
1:
We are poor because our people are lazy.
3
CLAIM
4 2:
We are great show-offs. Yabang.
5
 ROLE OF THE CLAIMANT
1
FRANCISCO SIONIL 2
JOSE
• Filipino novelist and journalist.
3 • He is also a publisher, lecturer on cultural
issues, and the founder of the Philippine
chapter of the international organization
The Philippine Center of International
4 (PEN).
• He is known in Philippine literature for
consistently using the themes of national

5
sovereignty and social justice.
• His novels, short stories and non-fiction
works highlight the social underpinnings,
class struggles and colonial history of
Filipino society.
 ROLE OF THE CLAIMANT
AWARDS AND WORKS
• Ramon Magsaysay Award for
Journalism, Literature, and Creative
Communication Arts in 1980
• The Outstanding Fulbrighters
3
Award for Literature in 1988
• Bestowed the CCP Centennial
Honors for the Arts in 1999.
4 • National Artist for Literature (2001)
• Award of Distinction for
strengthening cultural links
5 between the Philippines and the
European Union (EU) in 2018
European Year of Cultural Heritage.
1
• He is best known for his epic
work, The Rosales Saga – five
2
novels encompassing a hundred
years of Philippine history,
painting a vivid documentary of
Filipino life.
• In 1966, he established Solidarity,
a monthly magazine of “current
affairs, ideas and the arts,” whose
contributors included Southeast
Asia’s leading writers, poets,
statesmen, scholars and political
activists. 
 ROLE OF THE CLAIMANT
1
Based on your examination, do you think 2
the claimant has the tendency to be
biased? Explain.
3 Yes. An article made by Boying Pimentel (2019) claimed that Francisco
Sionil Jose is gradually making Filipinos accept a racist culture which can

4 be seen in his (Sionil) column titled “Can we still trust America”. He found
Sionil’s work inappropriate to be read by many Filipinos because it only
promotes conflicts between different countries.

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 SUPPORT THE CLAIMS
1
Claim 1:
2
“I pass by a slum area every morning – dozens of adults do nothing but idle, gossip
and drink. We do not save.”

Claim 2:
3
“Look at our women, how overdressed, over-coiffed they are, and Imelda epitomizes
4 that extravagance. Look at our men, their manicured nails, their personal jewelry,
their diamond rings. Yabang – that is what we are, and all that money expended on
status symbols, on yabang.”

5
 CROSS-REFERENCE THE SOURCE WITH OTHER SOURCES

1
Claim 1: We are poor because our people are lazy.
According to the book entitled “The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial and Ethnic
Disparities Persist” by Lin, A., & Harris, D. R. (2008), it explains how our beliefs affects
2
one’s understanding of poverty. One of the beliefs that were discussed by the authors
is how individualism tends to view wealth and poverty as a reflection of a person’s
merit and his/her own personal efforts. 3
According to a book written by Lamont, M., Harding , D., & Small, M. (2010), poor
individuals who are living in the same community with high poverty make different
decisions such as their studying, lifestyle, family planning, ability to get a job, and
4
many others. Thus, it is not due to being lazy that people are poor because people
5 can get jobs through using their social connections which stems from the belief of
individualism wherein people must succeed based on their own individual efforts.
 CROSS-REFERENCE THE SOURCE WITH OTHER SOURCES

1
Claim 2: We are great show-offs – Yabang..
Based on an article by Ilda (2011), the main preoccupation of almost every individual
in the Philippines is centered on the Filipino ego. The reason why our country is
2
composed of people who are show-offs because of how a simple issue turns into a
massive controversial.
3

Based on a blog by Allen (2014), one of his observations of some people living in
4
Manila is that most of the individuals go to the shopping malls and it is evident

5 among poor communities in order to belong in the society by wearing latest trends
and spending money on unnecessary things.
 CONCLUSION

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• F. Sionil Jose’s multiple recognitions including a National Artist for Literature and 2
his renowned novels and short stories makes him a respected and credible
writer of the social issues in the Philippines.

• Although there were various criticisms and negative feedback on some of Jose’s
3
works from the readers and his fellow writers, his works are still used in the
academe and are still widely read by many of the Filipinos
4