Five bad habits Filipinos often do in public spaces

Avoid these at all times—because public spaces belong to everyone.

You’re inside the MRT after a long day when somebody starts watching TikTok videos at full volume. At the escalator, two people stand side by side and block everyone trying to pass. Outside, someone finishes a drink and casually leaves the cup on a ledge.

Individually, these might seem like small annoyances. Put them together and they reveal a bigger problem: some of us forget that being in public means sharing space with other people.

Good manners aren’t just for formal dinners or meeting someone’s parents. They matter on trains, sidewalks, escalators, restaurants, malls and practically everywhere strangers have to coexist.

Here are five habits we seriously need to unlearn.

1. Playing videos or taking calls on loudspeaker

Nobody else needs to hear your TikTok feed, Mobile Legends game, video call or entire conversation with your mother.

Yet phones blasting at full volume have become familiar background noise aboard buses and trains, in restaurants and even in waiting rooms.

Headphones exist for a reason. And if you need to take a call, keep your voice down. A public place is shared space, not an extension of your living room.

2. Sumisingit sa pila

Few things can instantly irritate Filipinos like someone casually inserting themselves into a queue.

There are different versions: the person who slowly inches forward until they’re suddenly ahead of you, the barkada member who “saves” a place before five friends arrive, or the classic “may kasama lang ako sa harap.”

The principle should be ridiculously simple: kung sino ang nauna, siya ang mauna.

Your time isn’t automatically more valuable than everyone else’s.

3. Blocking doorways and walkways

The elevator opens—and someone stops directly in front of it.

A person reaches the top of an escalator—and suddenly decides that’s the perfect place to check their phone.

A group of friends walks shoulder-to-shoulder across the entire sidewalk while everyone behind them desperately looks for a way around.

This is spatial unawareness, and in crowded cities it can go beyond being annoying. Blocking train doors, stairs, escalators and narrow passageways can disrupt pedestrian flow and potentially create safety problems.

Keep moving before stopping. Step aside before checking your phone. And please let passengers get off the train or elevator before getting in.

4. Leaving your trash anywhere

Candy wrappers tucked into plant boxes. Plastic cups abandoned on benches. Cigarette butts thrown into gutters. Food packaging left inside jeepneys.

The Philippines has laws and local ordinances against littering, but enforcement alone cannot solve something that ultimately comes down to personal responsibility.

If there isn’t a trash bin nearby, keep your garbage until you find one.

The sidewalk isn’t your trash can, and somebody else shouldn’t have to clean up after you.

5. Blocking the escalator

You’re rushing to catch the train when you encounter the ultimate commuter roadblock: two people standing comfortably beside each other on the escalator.

Where signs instruct commuters to stand on one side and keep the other side clear, follow them. Don’t block the designated passing lane with yourself, your shopping bags or your luggage.

And pay attention to the rules posted at each location, since escalator policies can differ.

None of these behaviors requires a new law, expensive infrastructure or a government campaign to fix.

They require something much simpler: awareness that other people exist.

Public etiquette is ultimately about consideration. Keep your noise to yourself. Wait your turn. Don’t block people. Take care of your trash. Follow posted rules.

They’re small acts, but imagine how much more pleasant our cities would be if everyone actually did them.

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