NINGAS COGON is a Spanish word for cogon grass that quickly burns out when put on fire. In the Philippines, ningas cogon is one of the many bad habits that people have become desensitized towards. It is the act of performing a task excellently at the start, but slowly becoming too lazy to finish it. This takes the form of procrastination, half-baked work, or empty promises, the last of which the government is known for and may often be the only thing many Filipinos cling onto as they hope for a better life.
These empty promises from the government have forced many Filipinos to become “resilient.” You would find many stories about Filipinos that remain happy despite challenges. Whether it’s after a typhoon or an earthquake, we Filipinos would be found rebuilding our lives in a snap because we do not wait for help. Instead, we help ourselves. There is nothing wrong with self-sufficiency, but it begs the question of why we don’t seek help. Filipino resiliency is deeply rooted in the idea that no one will help us, so we might as well help ourselves.
Recently, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo accepted the challenge of taking a commute from Marikina to the Malacañang Palace because he believed there was “no transport crisis.” A four-hour commute wasn’t such a big deal for Panelo as he said he was okay even after the travel. He even encouraged Filipinos to be “more creative and resilient” when it comes to commuting.
The problem was not that he accepted the challenge but that he missed the whole point of it. The government continues to inject the idea of Filipino resiliency because these officials are placed in pedestals that make them ignorant to the realities of Filipinos. They create unfulfilled promises of new infrastructures, safety, and progress, yet turn a blind eye when we ask for a better daily life or a better transportation system. Resiliency has become less of a trait and more of an excuse for the government to continue giving the bare minimum. Problems are covered with band-aid solutions because Filipinos have normalized the idea that “this too shall pass.”
Being resilient is not entirely a bad concept. I am very proud to see Filipinos as creative and self-sufficient, but there is more to it. We need to ask why Filipinos have to be resilient and where the administration fails. Street children studying under street lamps or a man submerged in water during typhoons is not an embodiment of resiliency. We must hold people accountable for failures, especially the government.
I cannot say I have lived a life of an average Filipino. I have yet to experience what it’s like, but these realities have only made me question the government more. It is only when we stop romanticizing resiliency can we recognize ourselves as victims of this failed system. One of my professors once said in class, “The Philippines is not poor. It is only poorly managed.” It took me a while to understand that, but since then, I have never seen Filipino resiliency the same way.
