Hey — It’s Toffer.
Sorry for posting late. I’m not your typical Filipino.
Most Filipinos are not just on time, we're ahead.
Estimated read time: 5 minutes
We have to be ahead.
If you walk out at 5 AM on a typical street in Metro Manila, you'll see Filipinos, fully dressed, on their way to work. If they look like they’re about to have a heart attack, it means they’re on their way to their 8 AM job — a two-hour commute for a supposedly 15-minute drive. They’re early, yet they think they’re late.
So why Filipino Time?
We are, in fact, ahead.
Philippine Standard Time is ahead by +8.
If you were our colonizer back then, you (western zone) wouldn’t want the country your colonizing (eastern zone) to be ahead, would you? The Philippines is 24 hours ahead of America. Hence, their racist notion that we’re always late.
To be fair, the Filipino elite was an embarrassment, acting like their previous colonizer who, for centuries, made being late a kind of sport.
Indeed, there are persons who come to the theaters like asses in a race: he who arrives last is the winner. Sane men we know would rather mount the scaffold first than turn up at the theater before the start of the first act. — El Filibusterismo, Jose Rizal
When it comes to being late, it’s mostly our elite and our politicians to blame.
Filipino Time is an American invention, and the basis is just the 1% of us.
We want to be ahead.
I implore us to just accept, but in our terms.
Filipinos are known for their fluid and adaptable cultural identity, often approaching life's challenges with a graceful, dance-like fluidity rather than a rigid, march-like mentality. This dynamic and expressive spirit is beautifully captured in Joey Ayala's riff on the national anthem, which resonates with the swaying, rhythmic essence of the Filipino:
Filipino Time may mean we’re late for most things, unnecessary things, but definitely not in things that matter. Maybe it means we don’t have work-life balance, but instead work-life harmony.
Maybe we’re the epitome of festina lente — an old Latin expression that means make haste slowly. It means a sense of urgency with a purpose, energy plus moderation, measured exertion, eagerness, with control. It is getting things done, properly and consistently.
Filipino time is not as quick, but not late either. Maybe even better.
🇵🇭
Your Friend In Time,
Toffer