11th Thought: Filipino Time is Always Late?

Many people say that Filipinos are always late. Even we Filipinos admit that Filipino time is always late until it became a famous line in the Philippines. I also admit it. Filipinos are always late, but not everyone comes late: only most. Why? Because I always come at most an hour early than the scheduled time and I tend to panic whenever I think that I might be late. But why did this concept sprout up in the first place?


I believe that the usual things and concepts we know are usual because they occur often or are proven to be true. In this topic, Filipino time has been said to be always late because most of the Filipinos arrive late in their appointments whether it is a formal or an informal gathering. Due to this fact, whenever someone sets a meeting time with Filipinos (can be a foreigner or a Filipino too), he/she sets the time an hour or two earlier than the real meeting time. For example, the party will start at 10:00 AM. The one who held the party will tell the Filipino attendees that the party will start at 8:00 or 9:00 AM. The reason might be: (a) The organizer of the event wants to have most of  the audience present before the event starts; or (b) It is necessary to avoid latecomers.


Filipino time is always late. Maybe that is true. However, I discovered that (I do not mean to offend) it was the Spaniards who introduced the concept of tardiness to us Filipinos dating way back in Jose Rizal's time. That was the time of the Spaniards' rule in the country. In the chapter Mga Ayos ng Maynila of El Filibusterismo, one of Rizal's noted works, the French play held in the theater started when the Captain General (Kapitan Heneral) of Spain arrived. Guess what? It was beyond the set time of presentation! In contrast to that, Filipinos before are actually early-birds! Before, they start doing their respective jobs early in the morning. However, due to the influence of the colonizers, that promptness gradually changed until it turned into today's state. Bitter truth.


Despite that, our race's tardiness has a reason. Most of the time, tardiness (especially in school) of Filipinos is caused by the everyday heavy traffic in their area. I have encountered many people who arrive late in class due to the traffic. Even I have experienced coming late to class due to the traffic (my Philippine literature professor can prove that), but that occurred only once in my college life. I forgot how many times I arrived late in my entire life, but I assure you that I rarely arrive late in my appointments. The reason for my tardiness is always the heavy traffic. For those who arrive late due to traffic flow, I feel you, people. Even if others suggest to us that we should leave home earlier than usual, it just won't do sometimes.


As a person who is always concerned of time, I feel this way whenever I think that I'll be late.

To end this topic, I would like to tell everyone of you to please avoid dictating us Filipinos that we are always late. Filipinos who are mindful of time (like me) also exist in the world. We may be arguing about forever's existence, but I'm sure we won't be forever late. This is because people change :)