Top 10 Annoying Habits of Filipinos

Filipinos are known to be the most flexible people in the world.  With that, it is not surprising that many Filipinos can tolerate each other especially if they are long term neighbors.  However, there are just some annoying habits that many Filipinos cannot endure and as a result, often lead petty quarrel and even to killings in some situations.  In this list of annoying habits, the parameters are based on personal observations and experiences by this writer and validated by careful reflection and analysis. 

from iamenteng.wordpress.com

Karaoke time till the end of time. 
This is probably most annoying if you live in a not so exclusive subdivision.  Filipinos are fond of celebrating every occasion imaginable and the celebration is not complete without Karaoke or videoke.  This is an annoying habit with lots of annoyance such as singing off key, allowing drunkards to sing, singing until the wee hours of the morning, and many others.  It is so disturbing that the neighborhood will be praying that no one will sing “My Way” as lots of killings happen just because someone is singing this Frank Sinatra ditty. 

Throwing one’s garbage at vacant lots. Most Filipinos are fond of cleanliness, some take a bath twice a day, has plenty of money to spare to buy scents, hire maids to clean their house and yards. But the sad thing is that cleanliness is only limited to their perimeters and they throw garbage in vacant lots.  It is alright for some Filipinos to do since it is not their yard.  The annoying part is that it is very inconsiderate when you think of health hazards their garbage can cause other people.

Not following traffic signs and symbols and even traffic infrastructures. You see people crossing the street when there is an overhead bridge to keep them safe from accidents, drivers beating the red light, pedestrians crossing the street as if they are walking in their own yard, and public utility vehicles loading and unloading passengers anywhere.  These are just some traffic violations Filipinos often commit and the annoying part is that it seems that Filipinos are proud doing it because they do not care about their safety.

from dingo.care2.com

Fond of wasting food during parties. You see this very often, guests loading their plate with plenty of food.  There is nothing wrong with it but you will find it exasperating when you clean afterwards and find fried chickens partially consumed, spaghetti with icing, and cake already moist with soup, rice plenty enough to feed two hungry person, and other food waste.  It is indeed annoying when you think of the money you spent on food preparation and ended up as waste. 

No sense of urgency. It is cliché to say that Filipinos are always late when this is just one manifestation of the root of the problem.  Filipinos have no sense of urgency, that is why they are frequently late (hence, Filipino time) and procrastinate very often (Mañana habit).  Even the most educated ones are guilty of this habit, think of doctors reporting to their clinics in the afternoon but their medical secretaries have made morning appointments with patients.

Giving seemingly wrong answers to questions such as “I am not yet hungry” when asked “have you eaten already?” when you the answer is either yes or no. Answering “I am going to church” when asked “have you ironed the clothes already?” This is annoying as giving wrong answers can be seen as avoidance or ignorance. 

Prefer to ride than walk. This is one of the reasons why urban cities are having traffic problems.  Many Filipinos prefer to ride even if it is walking distance; thus, you have “trisikads” or pedikab slash tricycle even in highways.  They treat public utility vehicles as their own personal cars and insist on alighting or taking a ride in “no loading and unloading” areas.  How many of you have experienced riding a bus and one passenger disembarked and another passenger called out the driver after 5 seconds because he or she has to disembark? It is so annoying when the passenger could have disembarked with the other passenger since it only took five seconds to reach the desired destination. 

Natural racism and prejudice. Despite earning college degrees at prestigious schools, many Filipinos are fond of labeling a person due to skin color and physical defects.  Thus, you hear names like “Pedrong Pandakan” as an allusion to height flaw, “Nognog” to emphasize skin color, or “Bungi” instead of calling Marco.  You still hear “negro” frequently when they see Afro-American tourists for example.  And the most annoying prejudice of all is that tourists are treated well in some establishments around the country instead of Filipinos; thus, they can get away with dress codes.

Spanking children in public places. And the annoying part is that onlookers will not do anything and just merely observe or take videos and pictures and post it on Facebook.  Another annoying part is that parents doing this are fully aware of laws about protecting the rights of children.  This is quite sad when many Filipinos are fond of talking about other people’s lives but cannot intervene when this thing happens in malls, parks, and even in churches. 

from newsinfo.inquirer.net

Fond of name dropping especially if they need favors like working on business or other legal permits and clearances, arranging traffic violations, avoiding apprehensions, gaining impressions from other people, getting a job through connections, or just plainly making things very easy for them.  The annoying part is that many Filipinos will claim affinity by just owning the same surname, by just being neighbors, or accidentally meeting at a party just once and yet claiming that he or she is a good friend already. 

There are many annoying habits worth mentioning but these are habits that affect us every day.  It is quite difficult to say if these habits can be modified for good or if there is a chance that these will be eliminated. But definitely, spanking children in public places has to go, traffic violations has to be stopped,  wasting of food should be discouraged, having sense of urgency should be promoted, name dropping should be minimized at the least, throwing your garbage in the right places should be encouraged,  and being a racist should be avoided.