Sad face abound as our beloved country has clinched yet another record—this time as the 4th laziest nation in the world. According to a recent study by Stanford University researchers using step-counters installed in most smartphones, Philippines ranked 4th on the lowest number of daily steps, with an average of 4,008 steps.
Before you get your gears grinding, let’s face the idea that we are, in fact, lazy in general. And that is not mostly our fault. Even Jose Rizal admitted our laziness, yet he defended the Filipinos by enumerating the external circumstances that actually molded us to be lazy or seem like one. In his 1890 essay Sobre la indolencia de los Filipinos, Rizal detailed…
Ok, nevermind. Got lazy there. Instead, here are 8 reasons that can presumably explain why we don’t walk that much.
Warm climate
Ito talaga yun eh. Who in their right mind would want to go sunbathing every time you have to walk under the scorching heat? Not to mention the humidity. Kung ang mundo ay isang malaking Quiapo, ang Pilipinas ay isang malaking sauna.
Pollution
You got smog, cigarette smoke, bubble gums, and urine stench. Add to that the badgering noise pollution coming from vehicle horns, rattling motors, and people who believe that “respect gets begets.”
Traffic
Not probably the main factor but horrendous traffic exacerbates our laziness. You’d think Manila being tagged as having the worst traffic on Earth, people would be motivated to walk. Instead, we just “plan” our schedule ahead to allot more time on the road. We’d rather leave earlier, stay on the road longer, and have shorter time for actual work than walk along the giant parking lot that used to be EDSA.
Lack of pedestrian lanes
For all the talk about turning the metropolis into a walkable city, we see that they are building more footbridges than improving and expanding pedestrian lanes.
Pedicabs, Tricycles, et al
Of course, it’s the chicken and egg argument. The presence of these makeshift transports enable our laziness for walking. But it’s almost head-scratching ridiculous how we’d rather risk our lives riding these death-traps than walking a few meters to our destination. And especially with pedicabs, they’re not even that comfortable, and it does not even get you faster towards your destination.
Road accidents
Why would you want to walk in a city that has rising road accident-related deaths?
Lack of Recreational Spaces
Build, build, build has long been the mantra in our country; even before this administration made it theirs. Unfortunately, this does not include building public parks and recreational spaces.
Smartphones and Social Media
How many hours do we spend looking at our phones and checking our feeds? We’d rather see others do the hard work and become successful in their ventures and live vicariously through them.
We’re pretty sure there’s a study out there.
We’re just too lazy to look it up.
Why do you think we’re lazy? Share with us your thoughts below!
