This write up was first posted on NowPublic.com, dated April 16, 2008
If tardiness spelled death, then the Philippines would be a barren paradise–lands of varying terrain totally free of human influence.
Everyone in this country is guilty of this, what I deem, a cancer in society. Even I, who abide by the adage that “time is gold”, have been suspect to this what I consider a subtle crime against thy neighbor.
In the Philippines, there is a prevailing time-related concept aptly named “Filipino time”, which fundamentally is the “appearance in an engagement an hour or more late than the set time”. To the more time-conscious, Filipino time applies after 30 minutes of the agreed appointment.
