Do you remember the story of the Three Little Pigs? Sometimes, there are stories that we know aren't real but we end up getting a lesson from them. In fact, some stories were meant to impart hard lessons in an entertaining way. One of those stories you might remember is the Three Little Pigs. The story involved three pig brothers who had to move out of their mother's house. The first pig built a house of straw. The second pig built a house of sticks. The third pig built a house of bricks. The wolf with his super power breath came in and only the brick house stood. Depending on the version you read you may end up with the plot where the first two pigs were eaten by the wolf.
How relevant is the story of the Three Little Pigs to Filipino society? You may find that one out of three Filipinos think like the third little pig. Two out of three Filipinos think like the first two pigs. In a culture where Pwede Na Yan has become the normal way for a lot of Filipinos. The first two pigs didn't really care about the quality of work as long as they built a house that they could easily have for a shelter. They never thought about the long-term consequences of building such weak houses. The straw house and the stick house were symbols of "Basta may bahay pwede na yan." while the brick house was a symbol of long-term planning.
How can we compare the pigs who built the straw house and the stick house to many Filipinos? Many of them just have their really misguided notion of happiness. The first two pigs didn't care much as long as they finished their work and have their time to play around. They don't care about making sacrifices as long as they can have fun. They don't have money so they borrow money (and they usually don't pay back) to do their nonsense activities like going to their province for a town fiesta. Others earn their salary but they spend it all on payday. They don't really care about planning for the future as long as they can have fun. This in turn gets them unprepared when the big bad wolves of life attack them. They don't have any money or resources to meet both ends meet. This is also common among OFW families that remain poor because of their lifestyles. Worse, they want to get shortcuts which is why so many bad incidents happen like marrying the wrong man or worse by getting involved with criminal activities to earn "biglang yaman". What's even worse is that they say that the problem isn't exclusive in the Philippines so that's why they do it.
The brick house of the enlightened Filipino represents long-term planning. Although not all Filipinos are talented businessmen but they know how to plan ahead with their money. Some may be OFWs but they are OFWs with a plan and they want to make sure their brick houses are well-maintained. Some of them may not be business-minded but they still make sure that they save for a rainy day. They would even make sacrifices like not spending their hard-earned money on expensive concert tickets when they can't afford it. They focus on long-term plans that while it may not make them rich but they manage to have resources when the big bad wolves of life come to try and devour them. They don't care about the stupidity of being proud of the negative stereotypes attached to Filipinos but they seek not to be associated with it at all costs.
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