Liza Soberano was asked about Filipino culture
Actress Liza Soberano said that Filipinos should unlearn the “utang na loob” social trait.
Liza is currently her new animated film Forgotten Island, under Dreamworks, with Grammy-award winning artist H.E.R. There had been several media conference and press junket that were held for this.
In one of the interviews with BuzzFeed Australia, Liza was asked what one social rule that exists within Filipino culture that needs to be unlearned. The media company shared a clip of this on Instagram.
Liza Soberano answered “utang na loob.” In the caption of the post, Buzzfeed Australia had this description of the said social rule: “a social construct that exists in filipino culture, usually between parent/s and child, that refers to lifelong internal debt. it’s a strong sense of obligation to return a favour and can often be used to hold the person receiving the favour emotionally, spiritually and mentally hostage.”
The actress said that it is nice to be grateful of the things that other people do to you, but she stressed that it should not be considered as a lifetime debt that you have to repay.
She also emphasized that people should help others out the kindness in their hearts, and not for anything else. Even though it is nice to have something in return, Liza stressed that one should not expect anything.
In the comment section of the post, Filipino netizens have different reactions. Many netizens agreed with this, as they also found the “utang na loob” trait as something “toxic.”
However, there were netizens who pointed out that there is nothing wrong with “utang na loob” and that it was just because people like Liza were not able to set the boundary or limitation, early on.
On the other hand, some netizens defended Liza from the negative reactions, as the stressed that “utang na loob” has been used by other people, especially the older ones to keep on getting the favor back from someone who received kindness from them. Here are some comments from this.
