Philippine Society and Culture

  One’s true character is tested and measured when he is faced with difficulties in life. Though, everyone responds to challenges in different ways, depending on his coping mechanism and personality.  Some people would face the adversities head-on, while others back down and resort to distractions to forget the problems at hand, and many would completely veer away from challenges in life.  In this blog post, we'll discuss the five (5) important values of the Filipinos and how these values have helped them get through and overcome challenges in life.  Since time immemorial, Filipinos have gone through adversities in life: strong typhoons and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, and other human-induced and natural disasters.  Likewise, Filipinos are dealing with daily problems such as illegal drugs, hunger, and health problems, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic that has already claimed more than sixty thousand lives of Filipinos.  But despite all of th...

Patriot, brave, genius are just some of the known values of the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal.  But apart from the aforementioned, there are other several values of Dr. Jose Rizal that until today many people still don’t know.  The virtues of Dr. Jose Rizal have made him famous not only in the Philippines but also all over the world. In fact, his statues had been erected in public in many countries around the world.  The life and works of Dr. Jose Rizal have been of interest not only to the Filipinos but also to other nationalities. His name has been a word of mouth among different people around the world.  Listed below are the other virtues of Dr. Jose Rizal that are worth appreciating and emulating:  Bravery . No doubt Dr. Jose Rizal was a brave man. Faced with an imminent threat to his life, he never manifested any traces of cowardly acts. Instead, he rallied and inspired his countrymen to fight. He led other Filipino revolutionists in fighting aga...

  Regardless of its origin, one's culture is meant to be embraced and treasured. And knowing one’s culture is important as it represents and associates the people in a country.  Philippine culture, for example, is assimilation from different cultures introduced by its different colonizers. For centuries, the Filipinos adapted and embraced these cultures.  Filipinos preserve and observe these acquired cultures as they have been handed down from generation to generation.  Although, there are cultures and traditions that should not have been embraced and practiced by the Filipinos because of their perceived negative connotation reflective of some Filipinos traits.  Today, there are colonial cultures and influencers of the colonizers’ influences that are still evident in several aspects of the lives of the Filipinos.  Listed below are just some of the colonial influences and the colonizers:  The Spaniards  Among the three colonizers, the Spaniards wer...

  The Filipinos are not only known for their long-embraced values, but also for their talents in different fields be it in music, arts, dance, or sports.  The likes of Sen. Manny Pacquiao, Lea Salonga, Regine Velasquez, Hidilyn Diaz, Efren Reyes, Robert Jaworski, and Paeng Nepomucenu are proof of Filipinos' world-class talent.  Their talent has taken them to different countries around the world participating in prestigious international dance competitions for which they have made names for themselves.  Filipinos also love to dance. Dancing has always been a part of their social life. Their talent in dance is shown in any social celebration like feasts, school activities, dance competitions, and any social celebrations.  Today, some Filipino dances are of foreign origin. They came from the countries of Mexico and Spain. These foreign dances had been introduced to the Filipinos by Spaniards and Mexicans. Filipinos adapted and embraced these dances.  To suit t...