FILIPINO VALUE SYSTEM
 Filial Piety
The family is the basic unit for Filipinos. Weekly, family
lunches, large Christmas celebrations, going to Mass as
a family – these are just some examples that illustrate
how close Filipino family ties are. Filipinos do not move
out of their homes until they are married, and even
then, they make sure to include their parents in their
new homes.
Filial piety is a prime virtue that requires reverence and
respect for parents and elders. In a Filipino household,
parents exercise absolute power over the children who
grow up respecting parents (and elders) as they have
been taught how.
 Paggalang (Respect)
Use of po, opo, ho when conversing with elders or
people of high positions.
Even as adults, Filipino parents seek advice from their
elders for important matters and the grandparents’
opinions are put into consideration.
Respect and filial piety trains Filipinos to be obedient
and to follow orders and rules set by elders. They also
learn from them as they share their wisdom. However,
filial piety also discourages Filipinos from deciding on
their own.
 Pagpapahalaga sa Pamilya (Prioritizing family
or family orientation)
This implies that Filipinos have a high regard for their
families and prioritize them before anything else. You
can see this value being practiced in life – elderly people
are rarely sent to homes for the aged. Filipinos prefer to
take care of their elders in their own homes.
This value is good in itself. But in business setting, it
poses some difficulties. Nepotism, a practice favoring
relatives or friends, is a negative effect of
pagpapahalaga sa pamilya.
 Hiya (Shame)
Filipinos experience hiya when one goes against social
expectations. It is a pronounced sense of
embarrassment.
Filipinos believe strongly in saving face. They go out of
their way to participate in a barrio fiesta, or organize a
luxurious party even if their economic circumstances
cannot allow them to. Public reprimands or criticisms
cause Filipinos to feel shame and lose self esteem.
 Amor Propio (Self-respect)
Amor propio is best translated as self-worth or self-
respect and each transgression of self-worth can
contribute to hiya. When Filipinos have issues, they
resort to an intermediary to mediate the dispute. To
protect one’s amor propio, people feel discouraged
from apologizing even when one is wrong, or they
blame others for the offense to protect their pride.
Sometimes, because of amor propio, one lies, too, or
even answer in the affirmative even if one does not
understand or just cannot say no. Instead of admitting
fault, they deny all culpability to avoid shame of
admission.
 Pakikisama (Being with others)
Pakikisama is the ability to get along in a group. It
fosters camaraderie. This trait leads people to be
cooperative and perform good deeds for others. Thus,
others view the person in a favorable light. Filipinos
yearn to be accepted and well-liked by society and this
applies to all people in their lives – family, friends,
colleagues, bosses, and relatives. One usually yields to
the groups opinion and sacrifice self-welfare for the
group’s welfare.
Similar to other virtues, pakikisama can be easily
abused. Knowing that one wants to maintain good
relations, opportunists would take advantage and get
the person to do his bidding. An example of a gambler
or a person who wins in a lottery is expected to spend
his winnings by treating his family, friends, and
neighbors. If he refuses, he is called stingy or a bad
person.
 Suki (Patronage)
Filipinos will regularly buy from certain suppliers who
can give them in return, reduced prices, better quality,
credit, or give them preferential services. They receive
special treatment in return for their regular patronage.
 Utang na Loob (Debt of Goodwill) The problem is, unlike the physical part, utang na loob is
almost impossible to repay because it is informal and
Filipinos find themselves grateful for good tidings even intangible.
in the face of difficulties. It is more than a debt of
gratitude as this suggest that repayment is just a matter  Manana Habit (Procrastination)
of having gratitude. But more than gratitude is called
Filipino trait relegating tasks for another time and only
for when the recipient of the assistance or favor puts a
working on them close to the deadline. It may be due to
premium on the goodwill that is being conveyed. A
non-interest in the task or the mood of the person
Filipino’s gratitude “runs deep, true, noble, and pure.” It
involved.
is a strong sense of gratefulness taken with seriousness
– a debt incurred which endures even after the original  Bahala na (Come what may)
debt has been paid.
To leave one’s life or event in the care of God. Primarily,
The debt has two parts: 1. The physical, observable part it is uttered to convey the feeling of whatever will be
and 2. The non-observable part. The physical part is the will be.
loaned money or giving of a job to someone. The non-
observable part is the benevolence, willingness, or
goodwill of the act.

Choose one value among the those enumerated. Give me your thoughts, knowledge or opinion on what can make that
virtue good or bad first for personal grounds and second for business conditions.

“One day you will ask me which life is more important, yours or mine. I will answer mine and then you will walk away
without knowing that you are my life.”

-Kahlil Gibran-