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Culture of the Philippines

Encyclopedia : C : CU : CUL : Culture of the Philippines

The Customs and Traditions of the Philippines are strongly influenced by its colonized past. The Spanish colonization of the Philippines, actually governed from Mexico, lasted for more than 350 years, thus there is a significant presence of Spanish influence in many facets of the Filipino culture. The Filipino language, more commonly known as Tagalog, contains many borrowed Spanish words. Filipinos are religious in nature, most of the present celebrated traditions are a mix of both Christian, Pagan and other local religious rites. As an example, each year, towns from around the country hold major festivities known as Fiesta which commemorate the patron saints of each town, villages or regional districts. The festival season is celebrated with church ceremonies, street parades in honor of the patron saints, fireworks, beauty and dance contests for generations of old and new, and in some areas there are even cockfighting tournaments. These Fiestas are also observed in countries that had a Spanish occupational past. The Southern island of the country where the majority of the Islam faith resides also celebrate their own unique customs and traditions.

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The Philippines is a mixed society, both Singular and Plural in form. Singular as one nation, but it is plural in that it is fragmented geographically and culturally. 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 diverse in a lot ways, the Filipinos are very hospitable and give due respect to anybody regardless of race, culture and belief.

Other minorities

Certain indigenous groups such as the Negritos, Mangyans, and Manobos who are living in remote areas of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao have largely retained the pre-Hispanic beliefs of their ancestors. Having been somewhat isolated from mainstream society, their cultures differ greatly than that of the majority of Filipinos.

The Filipino Culture Psyche

Although these traits are generally positive, these practices also have the tendency to be applied in the wrong context. A debt of gratitute is sometimes repaid by giving special favors to the other person regardless of the moral outcome. Close familial ties can also lead to nepotism.

Celebrations

Major festivals

Flores de Mayo - Summer-ending festivities when the rain starts pouring back, after a blistering hot summer that begins around mid March, these festivities may have been rooted to the celebrations of the farmers as they welcome back the fertile season. Celebrations around towns showcase crops, food and delicacies. One famous festivity is the "Pahiyas", a colorful celebration in Lucban, Quezon where houses are decorated mainly with dried rice papers in different shapes and colors. Crops also accentuate these houses in artful shapes and styles.   

Other festivals

Religious (Catholic)   
The Fiesta del Santo Niño de Cebu (Festival of the Child Jesus of Cebu)   
The Ati-Atihan Festival, also in Visayas region.   
During the festivities people attend church services, followed by parade on the streets, fireworks, and feasting in honor of the Roman Catholic faith and native culture, and are attended by hundreds of thousands of Filipinos each year. The Peñafrancia Festival is also highlighted by a fluvial procession in the Bicol River.   


National Holidays



Arts

Main article: Arts of the Philippines



Cuisine


Main article: Filipino cuisine


Filipinos cook a variety of national food influenced by both Castilian-Mexican and Asian cuisines  such as: 




Filipinos are fond of liquor.  The most popular are San Miguel Beer tuba'' and Ginebra San Miguel.


A typical Filipino meal consists of at least one viand (ulam in Tagalog) served with boiled or fried rice (kanin), which is eaten much like Westerners eat potatoes. Filipinos may be the only people in the world who regularly use spoons together with forks, as opposed to knives and forks in Western culture. They also eat with their hands, especially in informal settings and when eating seafood.



Heritage

Several sites in the country have been recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites and these are: 





Music

Main article: Music of the Philippines Original Pilipino Music



Literature

Main article: Literature of the Philippines



Sports

Sipa and cockfighting are the national sports in the Philippines. Other popular recreational sports include boxing, billiard, basketball, chess, ten-pin bowling and soccer. Boxing, billiard, basketball and soccer are popular among Filipinos, with virtually every barangay or barrio in the country having at least one boxing ring , billiard table, basketball court and soccer field. The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was founded in 1975.


The sports where the Filipinos have gained enormous international success are boxing, billiards (notably nine ball), ten-pin bowling and chess. The people's champions include heroes such as Francisco Pancho Villa, Manny Pacquiao, Mansueto Velasco, Flash Elorde, Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Rafael Nepomuceno and Eugene Torre are among the top 3 to 10 best athletes, players in the world and all time.


The Palarong Pambansa, a national sports festival, has its roots in an annual sporting meet of public schools that started in 1948.  Private schools and universities eventually joined the national event, which became known as the Palarong Pambansa in 1976.  It serves as a national Olympics for students, with victors from competitions at the school, province, and regional level emerging to participate.  A recent (2002) event included the following sports: soccer, golf archery, badminton, baseball, chess, gymnastics,  tennis, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, track and field, and volleyball are starting to gain great public interest in the country. 


There is also a traditional type of Filipino Martial Arts called kali, which was first developed and used by tribes in Mindanao and later spread to the northern regions of the Philippines long before the Spanish colonization. A much more simpler form was developed in response to Spanish limitations on the possession of weapons called eskrima (from Spanish escrima) and arnis de mano. These simplified styles were also developed so that they could be taught to many at once which is why they are referred to as a soldiers art like karate and not a warriors art like judo or its derivative, kali.



Folk Traditions and Beliefs

Main Article: Superstitions of the Philippines and Philippine Mythology


Before the coming of the Spaniards and the introducing of Roman Catholicism, the indigenous inhabitants were adherents of animism, or the worship of nature. As in Roman Catholicism, their pre-Hispanic beliefs consisted of a hierarchy of gods, goddesses, and spirits which bear resemblance to that of Roman Catholicism, which is why the latter has been accepted easily by the inhabitants. Bathala was the supreme God of the Tagalogs, represented by the araw, or sun. The supreme God of the Bikolanos was Gugurang.  Other Tagalog Gods and Goddesses include the buwan or moon, tala or stars, and even objects, such as trees, shrubs, mountains, or rocks. The spirits consist of aswang (ghoul), tikbalang (a man having the head of a horse), kapre (a giant that is smoking tobacco), tiyanak ( vampire feeding on children's blood), santelmo (fireball), dwende (dwarves and elves), ik-ik (witches), and a lot of engkanto (minor spirits) and diwata (fairies/nymphs). Aside from that, voodoo practices were practiced by the pre-colonial inhabitants, such as ''pangkukulam, or witchcraft. Beliefs such as usog (a child greeted by a stranger will get sick) and lihi (unusual craving for something during preganancy) are also present. These beliefs were carried on up to the present generation of Filipinos, which has led some foreign authors to describe them as 'Pagano-Christians'.



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