'Honesty is the best policy,' a universal maxim referring to an act of honesty manifested by some people in many ways and situations. But does this saying still hold true these days? If so, how do they value and manifest this popular value, particularly among Filipinos?
In this blog post, we will discuss if Filipinos still value honesty these days. If so, how do they manifest this virtue of honesty?
Lost items. Losing one's pertinent documents, money, pieces of jewelry, and other important belongings is emotionally painful and distressing. But what makes it more painful is the thought of losing them permanently.
Fortunately, there are still people, particularly Filipinos, who are willing and ready to do good things for others wholeheartedly and unconditionally, like returning lost and found items.
The Philippines is just one of the countries in the world whose people have been suffering from poverty for a very long time.
The Marcos administration is implementing measures to revitalize the economy and help lift more Filipinos out of poverty amid a recent survey that said about 49 percent of Filipino families see themselves as poor.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, also director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said Saturday there was a rise in inflation at the time the Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveyed 1, 500 respondents on September 29-October, thus the rise by 1 percent from the previous poll.
https://www.pna.gov.ph
But in spite of their hard economic situation, the Filipinos still manage to be honest with themselves and others. Honesty is just one of the many virtues of Filipinos that they can be proud of.
The following are the situations and places where Filipinos test their honesty:
Public transportation. Public transport vehicles are a common place where passengers often leave their belongings unintentionally. In their haste to their destinations, passengers accidentally left their personal belongings in public transport such as taxis, public buses, trains, and other public transportation.
In most cases, passengers would lose hope of recovering their lost belongings, especially if they were not able to take note of the plate numbers or other identifying marks of the public transport they were riding in.
Seaports. Another place where passengers accidentally left their belongings is on seaports, particularly in passenger lounges and terminals.
Fortunately, cleaners in these areas are honest and will turn over lost and found luggage and other belongings to the authorities that would later be claimed by the owners.
Airports. These are also the common places where items are left by departing and arriving passengers unknowingly. Despite their massive luggage, the incidence of accidental leaving of belongings is common in these areas.
Airport cleaners and personnel are usually the ones who would find this luggage. Fortunately, Filipinos are generally honest that they will return lost and found items unconditionally.
On the streets. Wallets with money and identification, credit, and other cards, currency bills, and pieces of jewelry are common items found on the streets by pedestrians. Finding and keeping these lost items are tempting, particularly if the finder is cash-strapped.
Unfortunately, there have been incidences in which owners could no longer recover their lost items due to several reasons.
Cashiers. Filipinos' honesty is also manifested in sari-sari stores (micro-stores selling basic daily necessities), grocery cashiers, and other stores where sometimes cashiers mistakenly give change more than what is actually the right amount.
Once discovered the excess change, many Filipino customers would return the excess change to the cashiers.
In some cases, if the excess change is not returned, it would be the erring cashier who will shoulder the burden and is obliged to pay the excess amount given to the customer.
Movie houses. Another place where lost items are found is inside a movie house. Movie-goers, while enjoying a movie, unknowingly lose their items. Cinema cleaners are usually the ones who will find the lost items while they are cleaning.
Pieces of jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets, watches, wallets, paper bills, and other personal items are usually found inside movie houses.
These lost and found items will then be turned over to the management by the finders.
Honesty in a relationship. To Filipinos, honesty is not only about returning lost and found items or excess change to the rightful owners. It also has its emotional aspect like being honest in a romantic relationship with his/her partner.
In the country, many Filipino couples are honest with their romantic partners. Some will tell their partners about others who would ask for their mobile phone numbers, their names, or their workplaces.
Some Filipinas are very honest with their partners they would inform their partners that someone is courting them or has shown interest in them.
In the Philippines, dishonesty is one of the causes of a couple's breakup. Many relationships have gone sour because of the discovery of dishonesty by either of the couple.
Honesty in revealing age. Funny but true that many Filipinos value honesty so much that they even reveal their real age to their friends, relatives, and even their romantic partners.
In contrast, out of embarrassment, some Filipinos would never reveal their real age to their friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Believe it or not, revealing one's real age is a big deal to Filipinos.
Honesty towards work or business dealings. Last but not least is the Filipinos' honesty towards work. Generally, Filipinos' manifestations of honesty extend beyond returning lost and found items to their rightful owners.
Filipinos do their work satisfactorily without being told or with or without their superiors supervising them.
This distinct virtue of honesty among Filipinos has endeared them not just to Filipino employers but also to foreign employers.
One's miserable economic condition has not been a reason to commit wrongful acts in society such as dishonesty towards others be it to fellow Filipinos or foreign nationals.
Honesty is the foundation of trust. It's manifested in different ways and situations. In contrast, dishonesty would breed disloyalty and distrust among friends or even loved ones.
No doubt, Filipinos are generally honest people on earth. Financial bereft has never been a reason for them not to do good things for other people.
There we have it, the countless incidents of lost and found items ended up back in the hands of the rightful owners because of the Filipinos’ value of honesty.