‘LABAN LANG’: On Filipinos’ “hustle” culture
It was a warm 10 a.m. on some busy day of the year 2010; The weather could have easily dried off any plant, sucked out its life, and left withering flowers on its stem. The heavy traffic on the roads and even the widest highways already signals another mark of tardiness in your workplace.
I was barely reaching ten years of age, studying at the elementary school where my mom teaches Livelihood Education. While it seemed convenient to most of having a mother behind your side, the situation was not that fancy. The downside is that we live in Bulacan and the school was located in Manila. It amounted to an exhausting four-hour ride every single day. Any sane person would have opted to transfer to a nearby school, but mom insisted she would lose a stable career and good pay if she heeded the call of a comfortable life.
And so we struggled and went against the current. We would leave our home premises at 10 in the morning, hours before the 1 p.m. schedule so that we can get ahead of any hindrances that may happen.
To many Filipinos, this “hustle” culture is the common point amongst our differences. Now and then we get to hear stories from Filipinos of their “rags to riches” moment, of which they conclude with messages of courage to fellow countrymen to always persevere and never give up on reaching impossible heights.
I used to wonder, “Why? Why does my dream have to undergo constant hardship? Other kids don’t have it this way.” It was later that I realized: I’m a Filipino. The coconuts do not crack open and shred themselves; we do.
In July 2021, a powerhouse name in sports, particularly weightlifting, has reached a momentous milestone in history. Hidilyn Diaz acquired a gold medal in the recently concluded Olympics — the first Filipino and female athlete in Philippine history to do so. Her win symbolizes an achievement for the nation and her tireless dedication to her sport and the perseverance amidst the pandemic.
In another perspective, Diaz’s win also spared a spotlight on the work of Filipino farmers, the backbone of the country’s growing economy. Despite being the most hardworking people in society, their job is often neglected and underestimated. The majority of the farmers do not receive the benefits and financial assistance they were promised with. In fact, a huge population of countryside farmers does not even own the soil on which they till and harvest their produce.
The harsh reality of being a hardworking Filipino is that it is sometimes cursed with failures and pitfalls. Behind the biggest and brightest winners are the constant losses, too. Most times, courage isn’t enough to bag the prizes. It cannot be denied that these difficulties are to be blamed on the unjust system in the society — where the privileged get every golden goose, while the underprivileged are left beneath the skies searching for scraps fallen out the sky.
Nonetheless, Filipinos will bravely resist any battles that will come across their paths. There is a popular Tagalog phrase that goes, “Laban lang.” Usually, it can be uttered by our friends after dealing with a breakup, by classmates when we failed our final exams, and by families in times of anxiety. Perhaps the ultimate hardworking Filipino is someone who sees a light outside the tunnel when everyone else only sees darkness.
The perseverance of a Filipino is unmatched in any domain. May it be on a stage, field, or farm; Filipinos will always find a way to turn the tides in favor of their desire. Yet, at times, defeats are bound to happen and change the course of history but this does not convey an ending; but signals a massive plot twist. Nonetheless, this glorified quality of Filipinos should also be discussed and analyzed. We should look through a wider lens into the system that makes us so attached to the “hustle culture” and reflect on ourselves with the question: Do we really need to face a war to reach nirvana?
This piece is edited and originally published on Kaanib Committee’s internal newsletter for its August 2021 issue.
