This book entitled Reciprocity in the Lowland Philippines can be better

understood in a form of give-and-take in everything we do. For example, in a

relationship, either romantic or just a casual one, each person involved in it. you

5 cannot expect to receive something if you dont offer on your own turn. Have you

ever been in a relationship where the other person did nothing but give and the

other only received everything that was given to him or her? Once the balance

between give and take is gone, difficulties come along with it.

According to this book, reciprocity is mutual exchange of commercial between

10 two people involved. We can easily observe these in our everyday lives. A common

example, you ran out of paper in the middle of a pop quiz but your seatmate just so

happens to have an extra sheet with him. He will then give the extra sheet to you

and in return, you will pass his paper right after the quiz. Its doing something in

exchange for something you received to be fair with the person. I personally thing it

15 is because of the utang na loob trait of the Filipinos they grew up with. In

reciprocity requires that one person involved try to repay what another person has

provided by obligating the receiver to do an act of repayment in the future.

We think that what the author would like us to learn by reading this is about how

to keep the mutuality we have with others. She might not have indicated in the

20 book how to totally keep the reciprocity we have or what well get by keeping it, but

it sure can give the Filipino people the Sense of Future Obligation which can lead

to better relationship building and is beneficial to the society in the future. But

when the benefits received by one of the person involved outweigh the benefits of

the other is a sign of disadvantage. Everything done which exceeds what should be
 is harmful. To avoid this, one must acknowledge that balance doesnt mean being

identical and never give more than what you can only afford. More importantly, its

about realizing how to give and take more meaningfully and looking forward to the

future. A balanced give and take relationship. Balance not only means that you

5 need to give enough, but also looking around to see how youre also receiving.