De Guzman, Leonora Patricia L.

September 26, 2012

SN: 2010-34091 Anthropology 123

The Five W’s and an H Questions on Being a Pinoy

After reading seven short articles in a part of the book “Pinoy Pop Culture,” I found
myself asking these questions: who defines what is Pinoy; when does a Pinoy become a
“certified” Pinoy; where in the map can Pinoys be located; why is it too hard to trace our own
national identity; and how are the Pinoys perceived by the eyes of other nations? I found it
problematic in asking all these questions because I myself can hardly explain my own views
about being a certified Pinoy.

Who defines what is Pinoy and when does an individual become a certified Pinoy? We
often associate our identity to how the state recognizes what truly is of Filipino custom based on
their own forged standards. These standards are dictated by the dominating culture of the status
quo. In most of Sibika at Kultura books and Good Manners and Right Conduct (G.M.R.C.)
books for primary grade school students, they tackle Filipino identity by identifying customs
which, according to them, define true Filipino culture. For example, saying “po” and “opo,” and
the custom of “pagmamano” as a sign of respect for the elderly. They also associate national
symbolisms to define Filipino identity such as the “pambansang kasuotan: Baro’t Saya and
Barong Tagalog,” and the “pambansang sayaw: Cariñosa.” These associations to such national
symbolisms and dominant customs are very discriminatory. How about the Cebuanos and other
minoritites who do not say “po and opo” or the other minorities who do not practice
“pagmamano” as a sign of respect to the elderly? Aren’t they Filipinos too? How about the
indigenous peoples who do not wear “baro’t saya and batong Tagalog” and do not dance
“Cariñosa,” aren’t they Filipinos too? The standards that the state dictates about identifying
being Pinoy or being Filipino is very much centralized to the Tagalogs, placing the other IP’s at
the periphery of the society.

Where in the map can Pinoys be located? If I’m referring to Filipinos all over the world,
the answer will definitely be EVERYWHERE. Filipinos easily adapt to different kinds of living
conditions. OFWs are in different countries to earn a living for their families. Here, culture
change is veritably observed since they adapt to the state rules and policies of the country where
they work and even adapt to the culture of the foreign land where they are. Culture change is a
factor to consider in identifying one’s self. If Filipinos are everywhere in the map, the next
question here is that, what do they get from identifying themselves as Filipinos or as Pinoys? In
the same way, what does the different IPs in the country get from identifying themselves as a
part of larger whole, the Filipino nation, if they are left marginalized by the society? Retired UP
Professor, Sociologist and columnist Randy David says that there is a “need to ground our
national identity in universal values that are shared by the rest of the human community. This is
what a voyage to the past should teach, and what a centennial celebration should express.
Otherwise, nationalism is empty, nothing more than ethnocentrism (David, 1997)1.”

Why is it too hard to trace our own national identity? The article “Sino Ka Nga Ba?” in
the book “Pinoy Pop Culture” has answered this question. It is because “we have no
consciousness of the preciousness of our past.2” Aside from we do not have complete written
documents or narratives regarding our pre-colonial times, Philippines got established only when
the Spaniards discovered our Archipelago and named it after King Philip II. We do not even
have a compilation of our rich Pinoy pop heritage. According to the article, we do not even have
a photo file of Dolphy’s “Fasifica Falayfay” which was borrowed and, unfortunately, got lost.
We also don’t have a library of Pinoy pop songs and visual documentations of dance forms, and
we have poor storage facilities for the remaining Filipino classic films that we still have.

How are the Pinoys perceived by the eyes of other nations? Pinoys are tagged as
“Oreos,” black on the outside, but white on the inside. We are a feminized nation and are
orientalized by the west. According to the article Datu Puti, we often associate ourselves with
the west to appreciate our competence and to recognize that Pinoys are as good as the puti or the
whites. The question here is, why do we need the approval of other nations? Why do have to
associate our collective identity with Nichole Scherzinger, Apple de Ap, Charice Pempengco and
Jessica Sanchez? Why do we always have to submit our standards to the dominating culture of
the west and depend on how they perceive us as a nation?

Pop culture has saturated us a lot that it blurs our folk (national) culture and even our
ethnic culture. The way we perceive the Pinoy culture or the Pinoy identity is the product of the

1
Randolf S. David. “Globalization and National Identity. Nation, Self and Citizenship: an Innovation to
Philippine Sociology. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing Inc., 2004. p79.
2
Gilda C. Fernando. “Sino Ka Nga Ba?” Pinoy Pop Culture. Bench/Suyen Corp., 2001.
state’s failure to recognize the diversity of cultures in this country. We tend to lean on the
arrogance of ethnocentrism as we marginalize the identity of the different indigenous peoples in
our country. There are no more colonizers in our country but their way of discriminating cultures
are very much alive in our consciousness.

We fail to construct a collective identity as Filipinos because we have a narrow view of

nationhood…a nationhood which is centralized and ethnocentric—not collective. According to
Sociology Professor Josephine Dionisio, “Nationhood should be able to recognize, tolerate,
respect, and protect affinities and identities that may be based on race and ethnicity, gender, and
class.3” The very first thing that needs to be changed is our perspective of what defines PINOY.
The state has failed to forge a unifying identity for it has a narrow view of nationhood which is
centralized on the dominating culture of the status quo leaving the minorities behind. In
redefining what truly is Pinoy, we “need to recognize the right of the ethnic groups to choose,
assert and enrich their own culture and identity thus enabling them to chart their own
development as a people.4” Rediscovering our identity is a continuing process which needs to be
grounded by “universal values that are shared by the rest of the human community (David,
2004:79).” We will never succeed on difining true Pinoy identity unless we widen our minds and
consider the different cultures that comprise our diverse multicultural society. Remember that if
we forsake others, we forsake our own.

Bibliography
David, R. S. (2004). Globalization and National Identity. In R. S. David, Nation, Self and Citizenship: An
Innovation to Philippine Sociology (pp. 77-79). Pasig CIty: Anvil Publishing Inc.

Dionisio, J. (2004). Introduction: The Project of Nationhood. In R. S. David, Nation, Self and Citizenship:
An Innovation to Philippine Sociology (pp. 3-20). Pasig City: Anvil Publishing Inc.

Fernando, G. C. (2001). Pinoy Pop Culture. Bench/Suyen Corp.

3
Josephine Dionisio (2004). “Introduction: The Project of Nationhood” in R. David’s Nation, Self and
Citizenship, p.12.
4
Ibid. p.13.