ESPUERTA,Erica Marie L.

Cedap-IAA

Mrs,Aleli Garcia

Mall culture and consumerism in the Philippines

- Jore-Annie Rico and Kim Robert C. de Leon

Just a few years ago, the Philippines was dubbed as “the sick man of Asia.” Today, it is
a regional star, with its stellar economic performance at 6.6% in 2012, coming second
only to China’s 7.8%. Standard & Poor’s (S&P) elevated the country’s credit rating from
“stable” to “positive,” and may, according to the Philippine Finance Minister, soon get an
investment grade that will enable it to attract even more foreign direct investment
(FDI). Likewise, the World Bank has for the third time upgraded the country’s growth
forecast. Its stock market is one of the best performers in the region. In the Philippines,
the impact of shopping malls is even greater as it contributes to the changing social and
political landscapes of the country. Malls have a way of urbanizing rural areas. The
class-conscious, Manila-centric, elite mentality is now being challenged by talents and
resources in the provinces. The narrowing of the urban-rural divide has a way of
narrowing income gaps, increasing the purchasing power of the poor, decreasing
inefficiencies, and incentivizing the education and skilling of the workforce. The modest
shopping mall is an indicator of future economic growth, and the Philippines is building
them at a very rapid rate. Private investments, especially in the retail industry, are
creating major contributions to the country’s economic success, including the modest
shopping mall. Shopping malls are proliferating in towns and cities far beyond Metro
Manila. According to data provided by the Philippine Retailers Association, shopping
malls account for about 15% of the country’s GNP and 33% of the entire services
sector. They employ about 18% of the Philippine labor force, translating into about 5.25
million employed Filipinos. While shopping malls have an effect on people's lives, not all
of their effects have been positive. Most of the shops and services found in malls are
parts of large corporations. These businesses take away customers from smaller shops
in near towns, forcing many of them to close. That has led to fewer individually owned
businesses and less local control over jobs. In addition, malls are harmful to the
environment. They are often built on land that is important to the survival of birds and
wild animals .Wherever they are built, they cover large areas with buildings and parking
places-instead of trees or grass. Thus they contribute to the loss of nature. And finally,
malls are usually built far away from the city or town center. This means that people
must go to those malls by their own cars, resulting in increased air pollution and heavy
traffic on nearby roads.
 Philippine Christian University
College of Arts,Sciences and Social Work
Department of English and Mass Communication

PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURE

An Article Critique” The Mediatization of Filipino Youth Culture”

Espuerta.Erica Marie L. T-F 9AM-10:30AM

Cedap-AII
Mrs,Aleli Garcia

“The Mediatization of Filipino Youth Culture”

Written by Gerry Lanuza

In 1995 youth population constitutes eighteen percent of world population. In the same
year it is estimated that there are 1.03 billion youth in the world. Eighty-four percent of
these youths are found in developing countries (National Youth Commission, 1998:4). In
1990 Asian region contained 64.3% of world’s youth population. It also represents 70%
of global increase in the number of youth in the middle of the century (Xenos and
Raymundo, 1999:99). Interestingly, according to 1995 national census, the age structure
of Philippine population continues to be young (1995 Census of Population, Report No.
2:xxiii).1The age group between 15 and 24 constitutes twenty percent of the total
population (14,857,326 of 75,037,00). These younger members of the population are
considered as youth by the United Nations.
Now, there are three general reasons for studying this younger age group (Fornas, 1995).
First, is social and political reason. The youth are the bearers of traditions, customs, and
cultural heritage (Kanjanapan, 1986:1). Members of this age group would eventually
assume the responsibilities of the future generations. They represent the wave of the
future (Otto and Otto, 1969). Six years from now and onwards this group of young people
will assume the full adult roles and responsibilities. Furthermore these young people will
be the pacesetters of the younger generation. As the reference group for the succeeding
generations, studying the current culture of this generation could provide significant
insights about the future beliefs, values, behaviors, attitudes, and practices of the next
generation (Otto and Otto, 1969). Moreover standing as potential reservoir of human
capital knowledge of young people could help the nation invest in the present and reap
inestimable profits in the future. Undoubtedly, youth studies would contribute considerably
to overall development planning of the country. Knowledge about youth would also
contribute towards better rapport between adult and the younger generation. 2Hence
there is a general tendency today for multidisciplinary collaboration among various
professions concerned with youth (Lageman, 1993). This has been the major thrust of
government and other specialists on youth. It is for this reason that youth studies are
experiencing renaissance today in the social sciences (Tanakishi, 1993). But this thrust
often leads to an extreme slogan: what is wrong with the nation is what is wrong with the
youth. As a policy orientation, this approach could easily slip into a form of benevolent
paternalism. Youth are targeted as passive recipients of social charity and pre-packaged
programs.3Or,alternatively, it could lead to a moral panic that often depicts the youth as
“anti-social” and “threat” to the moral order (Lupton, 1999; Bothius, 1985).
The second reason for studying the yout h is the seriousness of some scholars to really
engage in and address the life crisis of the youth. Such approach aims at helping the
youth go through the difficult processes they are undergoing. Most studies done in this
direction are in educational psyc hology. Still, other scholars pursue youth studies
because they want to find out what creative experiments youth have done that could
possibly be use to improve the country. Herbert A. Otto and Sara T. Otto (1969), aptly
express this point when they point out, “The adolescent brings to the social scene an
idealism, integrity and commitment to values which penetrate to the very heart of
dysfunctional institutions and social structuresNot less important however is the
significance of studying youth and their culture in the Information Age. As noted by
Michael Tan (1988; also Tan, Batangan, and Espanola, 2001:3), an anthropologist, many
studies on youth, especially those dealing with sexuality, tend to be moralistic and
emotional. Often these studies subordinate empirical findings for policy analysis –either
for political or religious ends.6 Nonetheless the study of youth as an interesting field per
se should also be valued. For the present paper the focus is on mass media and its impact
on the formation of youth culture. As in other areas of social scientific studies, the study
of youth and mass media has a great deal to contribute in advancing multidisciplinary
cooperation among social scientists in general.
recommendations for the future direction of youth studies vis-à-vis mass media. It is
also thehope of the present paper that by providing interested individuals and parties
with generalknowledge about Filipino youth and media study, they will gain better
understanding, not onlyof theoretical significance, but also more importantly, of the
current and future generations ofyoung people.

References:
http://www.globalmediajournal.com/open-access/the-mediatization-of-filipino-youth-
culturea-review-of-literature.php?aid=35138