Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand 
why the old poets of China went so far
and high 
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Mr. Janus Isaac V. Nolasco of the UP Asian Center wrote an essay, "Pakiusap, Palusot, Pasaway" that was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last 12 May 2016. The essay explores and explains the ambivalent and complex relationship of Filipinos to law and authority, arguing that Filipinos' alleged lack of discipline betrays "a deep distrust of rules, a symptom of an indifference to and a lack of confidence in some forms of authority." 

"Filipinos have an infuriating habit of (1) breaking the rules (“bawal pumarada o umihi rito,” “pumila po tayo,” or “submit requirements by 5 p.m.”) and (2) justifying their actions before or after the fact. And they do so in at least three ways: pakiusap, palusot and pasaway.

Filipinos plead in pakiusap mode. After violating a rule, they humbly ask for clemency (“Sorry, boss, hindi ko naman po sinasadya at ngayon lang naman po”). Pakiusap also involves breaking protocol altogether and appeals to connections... 

The palusot resorts to excuses. But she is also a clever hunter of gaps and creative exploiter of loopholes (“Kung makakalusot, bakit hindi?”). Pasaway describes someone who stubbornly does not follow the rules. Put up a barrier, and the pasaway finds a way over, through or around it..."

Mr. Nolasco then argues that these attitudes erode Filipinos' relationship to law, rules, and the authorities that enforce them. 

"...Filipinos’ cavalier attitude to the rules and the erosion of confidence in law and authority actually form a vicious circle. They distrust and defy the rules, and thus engage in pakiusap, palusot and pasaway, which undermine the integrity of the law and authority further, which then encourage even more rule-breaking or -bending. And naturally, distrust and disrespect for law and procedure precipitate an adversarial relationship between Filipinos and the authorities." 

The essay concludes by positing a link between Filipino attitudes to the law and their "deep-seated preference for informal and personalistic ways of doing things," one which is both "a symptom of and solution to weak, less effective institutions."

Janus Isaac V. Nolasco is University Researcher at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. An alumnus of the UP Asian Center, he also serves as the Managing Editor of Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia.  


The UP Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Get an overview of these programs. The Asian Center also houses a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia. It has published several books and monographs, and hosts or organizes various lectures and conferences.