The culture of the Philippines reflects the complexity of the history of the Philippines through the blending of cultures of diverse indigenous civilizations with characteristics introduced via foreign influences.
Spanish colonization of the Philippines from Mexico, governed from Spain, lasted for over three centuries (1565-1898); thus, there is a significant amount of Spanish-Mexican influence in many facets of Filipino custom and tradition. Hispanic influences are most visible in Philippine folk music, folk dance, language, food, art, and religion.
Pre-Hispanic indigenous Filipino culture had many cultural influences from India (see Greater India), through the Indianized kingdoms of Southeast Asia, particularly the Srivijaya Empire and the Majapahit Empire, in what is now Malaysia and Indonesia. Many customs and the Filipino psyche reflect these cultural influences. Philippine Mythology, like many Southeast Asian mythologies, has been influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism.
The Philippines was a U.S. colony from 1898 until the Second World War. American influences are evident in the use of the English language and in contemporary pop culture such as fast-food, music, movies, and basketball.
The Chinese have been settling in the Philippines since pre-colonial times and their influence is evident in the popularity of noodles (locally known as Mami) and the gambling games of mahjong and jueteng.
The people of Mindanao, the southern island of the country where most of the followers of Islam are located, celebrate their own customs and traditions. The martial art of Kali emerged from Muslim Mindanao.
Philippine society
The Philippines is a mixed society. The nation is divided between Christians, Muslims, and other religio-ethno-linguistic groups; between urban and rural people; between upland and lowland people; and between the rich and the poor. Although different in many ways, Filipinos in general are very hospitable and will give appropriate respect to anyone regardless of race, culture, or belief.
These traits are generally positive but these practices also have the tendency to be applied in the wrong context. Close familial ties can foster nepotism.
Pakikisama
Pakikisama is a non confrontational way of doing life, business, and interpersonal group relationships. In the Philippines Pakikisama is the ability of a person to get along with others to maintain good and harmonious relationships. It implies camaraderie and togetherness in a group and the cause of one’s being socially accepted. Pakikisama requires someone yielding to group opinion, pressuring him to do what he can for the advancement of his group, sacrificing individual welfare for the general welfare. Consensus takes precedent over individual needs or opinion.
Pakikisama implies smooth social interaction. Relationships no matter with whom and on what level should be without open conflict. To keep pakikisama, Filipinos in general will avoid verbal confrontations, rude words or gestures, the direct decline of a request, and will try to act politely and calmly although perhaps they are not inside. You will seldom hear no to a request or question. To an Expat this will be confusing and sometimes lead one to think Filipinos are insincere or otherwise misleading with their answers. It is not so. Maybe is a standard reply which often means no, or sometimes yes, and other times maybe. If you are now totally confused, it is understandable. It takes exposure and time to understand the difference.
Often critical matters are negotiated through third parties to avoid direct conflict. Sometimes a quarrel between two individuals escalates to an unsolvable row between two clans or families. The only way to resolve the conflict peaceably (very desirable), is to go to the local Barangay captain and use him as a mediator. The skillful Barangay chief will explain to both parties in private why he is doing them a favor by entertaining their side of the argument. In the end all go home satisfied that they have been heard and perhaps nothing was gained or lost in the process. Everyone maintained Amor Propio, or saves face.
Pakikisama is most important at work places and is considered as the key factor getting a job best done. The Western way of arguing, disagreeing and being very straightforward or frank, is considered by many Filipinos as a breach of etiquette.
Pakikisama has many manifestations in Philippine society, one of which is extending support or offering help to neighbors who are in need. This comes from the still relevant necessity to bind together to survive as a group. When food is scarce and rice is expensive, all eat, for the good of the group. Pakikisama reflects the bayanihan spirit, which involves cooperation among fellow men to come up with a certain idea or accomplish a certain task. While bayanihan refers to a community-support action, pakikisama has a more individualized sense.
Nonetheless, fueds,vendettas, and violence are not unknown in Philippine society.
Utang na loob
A debt of gratitude (utang na loob) is sometimes repaid by giving special favors to the other person regardless of the moral outcome.
Philippine personal alliance systems are anchored by kinship, beginning with the nuclear family. A Filipino's loyalty goes first to the immediate family and personal identity is deeply embedded in the matrix of kinship. It is normal that one owes support, loyalty, and trust to one's close kin and, because kinship is structured bilaterally among relatives, one's kin can include quite a large number of people. With respect to kin beyond this nuclear family, closeness in relationship depends very much on physical proximity.
A bond between two individuals may be formed based on the concept of utang na loob. Another way of saying obligation to repay a loan or debt. Although it is expected that the debtor will attempt repayment, it is widely recognized that the debt, as in one's obligation to a parent, can never be fully repaid and the obligation can last for generations.
Saving someones life, providing employment, or making it possible for another to become educated are "gifts" that incur utang na loob. Moreover, such gifts initiate a long-term reciprocal interdependency in which the grantor of the favor can expect help from the debtor whenever the need arises and the debtor can, in turn, ask other favors. Such reciprocal personal alliances have had obvious implications for the society in general and the political system in particular.
There is also a tying between Asian, European and Latin American etiquettes from previous external travelers and explorers who have influenced the Filipino culture as these behaviors and social norms and beliefs are found in the Filipino mainstream culture. Some of these behaviors continue over with Overseas Filipinos.
Family
It should be emphasized that close familial ties are upheld to the highest extent. The primary social welfare system for the Filipino is the family. Many Filipinos live near their family for most of their lives, even as independent adults. A nuclear family is very common among Filipinos. Divorce does not exist in the Philippines. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has stated that divorce is "un-Filipino, immoral, unconstitutional and a danger to the Filipino family."[citation needed] Others point out that in the past ancestral tribes did practice divorce and that the "reign of the Pope via the Spanish crown" is the source of current law.[citation needed]
Courtship among the Filipino people is heavily influenced by Spanish and Roman Catholic traditions. Many parents disapprove of girls visiting boys' homes. Usually, the boy comes to the girl's house to formally introduce himself to her parents and family. The Filipino must win the Filipina's parents' approval. At home, painful corporal punishment is almost always practiced among the Filipino family as children are often hit as a form of discipline. Filipinos use their belts, hands and canes to hit their children.
Among great distances of the family, balikbayan boxes are transferred through vast distances as some are compelled to move to international territories. These overseas Filipinos send huge boxes called the balikbayan box to their families back in the motherland containing goods, gadgets and/ or popular trendy items. They also bring balikbayan boxes when they return to their motherland on vacation to visit their family. Sometimes their families in the Philippines return the favor and send exotic food items only found in the Philippines or indigenous property expressing Filipino workmanship. It is another way to express cultural exchange and a way of helping out their families at home.
Community
The creation of alliances with neighbors and a helping attitude whenever one is in dire need is what Filipinos call bayanihan. This bayanihan spirit can be seen in action when a bus gets a flat tire. Bystanding or surrounding Filipinos will assist the bus driver in whatever is needed to get the bus back on its way. This can be contrasted with the individualistic attitude more prevalent in some other societies.
Filipinos get around by riding in jeepneys, buses, and cars. In urban areas, there are trains such as the LRT and MRT as well as boats, taxis, and ferries. In rural areas carabaos are often used for transport.[4] Bus transportation is used to get from one major city to another. Taxis or tricycles are used to get from place to place within a city.[5] The driving style in the country follows that one honks the horn to warn of an oncoming vehicle.[6]
Religion and Superstition
Main article: Philippine mythology
Before the arrival of the Spaniards and the introduction of Roman Catholicism in the 1500's, the indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines were adherents of a mixture of animism, Hinduism, and Vajrayana Buddhism. Bathala was the supreme God of the Filipinos, represented by the langit, or sky, but not all Filipinos believed in it. The Ninuno, or the ancient ancestors, were the people who taught Filipinos/Tagalogs who will be in the future; they believed in the supreme God. For the Bikolanos, the supreme God was Gugurang. Other Filipino gods and goddesses include araw (sun), buwan (the moon), tala (the stars), and natural objects (such as trees, shrubs, mountains, or rocks). However, they were not the Western kinds of gods and goddesses; they were representations for some Filipinos/Tagalogs; or they were representations as gifts. As the Abrahamic religions began to sweep the islands, most Filipinos became Christians, consequently believing in only one God. Other Filipinos became Muslims, especially in the southern islands of the country such as Mindanao. Spirits such as the aswang (ghoul), the tikbalang (a creature with the head of a horse and the physique of a man), the kapre (a giant that is seen smoking tobacco), the tiyanak (monster-like, vampire-esque child), the santelmo (fireball), duwende (dwarves and elves), the manananggal (witches that can split their bodies at their torsos and feed on baby's blood), engkanto (minor spirits), and diwata (fairies/nymphs), are believed to pervade the Philippines. Aside from that, voodoo practices (such as pangkukulam) and witchcraft were practiced by pre-colonial inhabitants. Beliefs such as usog (a child greeted by a stranger will get sick) and lihi (unusual craving for something during pregnancy) are also present. These beliefs have been carried up to the present generation of Filipinos, which has led some foreign authors to (incorrectly) describe them as 'Pagano-Christians.'{mosgoogle left}
Voodoo, psychic surgery, and the rituals of medicine men and women are commonly practiced in most indigenous Filipino societies. These spiritual-ritual practices are found mostly in rural areas throughout the islands. In Tagalog, people who cast spells and lay curses are called mangkukulam; people who curse their enemies by putting insects inside their bodies are called mambabarang; and, in contrast to these two, the healers of these curses are called albularyo.
Psychic surgeons are people who appear to remove tumors and diseased tissue by sticking their hands into a patient's body and extracting bloody human flesh, but leaving the patient scar free. Some see this practice as just sleight of hand fakery, others accept it as true, still others accept it as an alternative healing method and a way to take advantage of the placebo effect. See YouTube video on "Psychic Surgery".
