PHILIPPINE

POP
CULTURE
A Brief History of PH Popular Culture ( according to Lumbera, 1984)

“Popular Culture was brought by the Spaniards

—plays and literature to get the heart of the

natives and win it.

Colonial origins of Popular Culture can be

traced by salient developments in PH literature.

Replacing native culture with

Christian/European tradition

Children of native elite was targeted by

missionaries to become a core group

“intelligentsia” or ladinos, acting as vehicles

for “pacification of the natives”
A Brief History of PH Popular Culture ( according to Lumbera, 1984)

Popular theatre—the pasyon, senakulo,

korido, komedya and awit

Popular culture by the Spanish was a

“watering-down of the Spanish-

Eurpoean culture” for the purpose of

winning the general populace over to

the ideology of the colonial regime

To promote the interests of the Church

and the state

A Brief History of PH Popular Culture ( according to Lumbera, 1984)

Once the native intelligentsia saw the

effects of popular culture, they used it as

a weapon against the Spaniards.

They used the same forms of popular

culture to “undermine the power of

abusive friars and rally the populace to

put an end to colonial rule”

Example:

Marcelo H. del Pilar’s Aba ginoong maria,

and ama naming parody

A Brief History of PH Popular Culture ( according to Lumbera, 1984)

American colonialism meanwhile, brought

the ealier defined “popular culture”.

Through printing press, soon radio, tv and

film. Circulation of these popular culture

forms became rampant.

 A Brief History of PH Popular Culture ( according to Lumbera, 1984)
Even so, local intelligentsia apprehended mass

media as “commercialization, or vulgarization

of art.

Popular literature was intended for mass

market was seen as a threat to serious artistic

work; writers accommodated his art to the

demands of publishers who were more

interested in sales than aesthetics.

Popular culture was created by the ruling elite,

members of the intelligentsia, intended for the

profit of rulers  (colonial admin, native

bureaucrats and businessmen) for consumption

of the populace
A Brief History of PH Popular Culture ( according to Lumbera, 1984)

In Lumbera’s lens, PH "Popular culture is power, and whoever wields it to manipulate

minds is likely to find its literary and technological machinery turned against him when

the minds it has manipulated discover its potency as a political weapon."

PH Popular Culture  according to Fernandez, 1981
-a concern of recent awareness, recent

exploration, and even more recent definition

(Fernandez, 1981)

This is because the Philippines: 

is a Third world developing nation,

has many indigenous ethnic groups

unurbanized

has a long history of colonization resulting in

many layers of cultural influence (particularly

Spanish and American, and even Chinese)

-socio-economic state is predominantly

agricultural

is dependent on foreign companies

PH Popular Culture  according to Fernandez, 1981

Therefore, it is difficult to precisely define

what popular in the Philippine context is.

A generally agreed definition of popular

culture is that it is consumed by the “MASS”,

whom are understood to be urban and

industrialized.

However the Philippines and its peoples have

different levels of urbanization-only a small

percentage being urban and industrialized

as in the Western mode.

MAJOR AREAS IN
PHILIPPINE

POP
CULTURE
KOMIKS
Kenkoy- the first Filipino
comic strip, created by

Antonio Velasquez, appeared

in 1929

Kenkoy is a city slicker who

represents the Filipinos

grappling with the new

manners and mores brought

about by urbanization

It is used as a filler in the

popular weekly, Liwayway

KOMIKS
Other comic strip characters,

almost all of them modelled on

American comics:

Kulafu (Tarzan);

Huapelo

Sayong Albularyo,

Goyo and Kikay

Dyesebel,

Darna,

Phantomanok

Petra

Karina and her flying kariton

KOMIKS
Darna

Dyesebel
KOMIKS
Petrang Kabayo at ang Puting

Kuting
KOMIKS
In Martial Law era (1972), komiks have

also been used by government

agencies to carry such developmental

messages such as Green Revolution,

housing programs, and family planning

Content- the dreams, hopes, values,

vision of life, escape from reality, the

problems and their solutions, total

world view—makes the komiks popular

culture
KOMIKS
although not created by consumers, these are created for a

popular and not an elite audience, but by artists who are

motivated by profit, and tuned to the public pulse , voice and

dream.
KOMIKS
however it is not mainly the content

that makes komiks “popular”, this is

also because they have a wide

reach.

In the 1980s alone, there were fifty

komik-magazines published weekly

with a combined circulation of more

than two million copies.

For countless Filipinos, komiks is the

perhaps the only reading fare—

cheap, accessible substitute for

more serious literature.

KOMIKS
Komiks takes on different roles: purveyor of

entertainment and moral lessons,

disseminator of values and attitudes, source

of practical knowledge on farming, govt

policies, medicine and science

distribution method is popular, sensibility is

largely folk
Film
The first films were short features called

“cinematografo”, usually interspersed with

zarzuela or vaudeville numbers

1909 Yearsly and Gross produced the first two

locally made feature films—on the life of Jose

Rizal

Dalagang Bukid- the first full-length feature film

was by Jose Nepomuceno

Ang Aswang- the first talking picture, made by

Musser in 1932

in 1924,there were 214 movie houses all over the

PH
Film
By 1939, PH movie industry was 5th in the world in

the number of talkies (silent film) produced.

345 Sound Theatres

An average of 120 each year are Filipino films

that fill movie houses

These are generally the ones that has Dolphy,

Vilma Santos, Nora aunor—whom have become

folk heroes or “superstars”

Film
1967 Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino was

formed, film critic circle ,

“Bakya”-  wooden shoe worn by lower classes,

was used to symbolize the unelevated taste

reflected in the movies, with their melodrama,

weeping, fighting, formula romances and

stereotype characters.

Arguments have flown back and forth on

whether bakya was the producers/directors or

the audience; bakya became a mark of class

distinction rather than taste

Radio
June 1922- Henry Hermann, opened up three 50-watt
radio stations in Manila and Pasay, later they were

replaced by a 100-watt station, KZKZ

1930s- radio has gained almost as much glamour as

the movies since newspaper attention was lavished on

radio personalities and shows such as Sunrise Club

and Listerine Amateur Hour became popular radio

shows

1939- four stations owned by Department stores used

them to mainly advertise their merchandise
Radio

During the Japanese Occupation, all radio stations

were closed except KZRH, renamed PIAM.

Although strictly forbidden, many receiving set owners

risked their lives just to listen to radio broadcasts such

as “The Voice of Juan dela Cruz, the Voice of

Freedom.

Underground newspapers highly depended on these

sets for information on the war.

Radio
1945 at the end of the Japanese Occupation, was

considered the birth of the real radio, and five years

later, there were 30 operating stations.

1961  Bolinao Electronics Corporation was formed

(largest broadcasting chain), after Martial Law, it

became the Kanlaon Broadcasting System

programs post war were heavily American, consisting

of canned US serials.

DZRH was the first to produce local shows: Philippine

Manufacturing Company’s “Purico Show, Kwentong

Kapitbahay (the first soap opera in Pilipino) and

Kapitan Kidlat (PH super hero)

Radio
1950- DZBB became famous for on-the-spot news

coverage and for “ Newscoop”, a program on which

controversial individuals discussed “hot” topics

Other famous radio landmarks that emerged

“Kuwentong Kutsero”, a satire on Filipino manners,

mores, politics and govt,  “Kami Naman, a situation

comedy, “Vicks’ Variety Show”, from which the formula

of Philippine radio developed:

Soap opera + emceed popular music programs  (w/

commentary, jokes, dedications) + public service and

advice-to-lovelorn programs + news (developmental,

balagtasan, composo, religious programs, classical

music)
Radio
1959- “Transistor Revolution” President Carlos P. Garcia
asked CARE (American organization) to donate transistor

radios to the barrios 

It would “combat subversive elements in the rural areas”,

transistor radios became a towering presence and brought

news of the government and its problems, infusing pop

music—and in effect spreading popular culture from urban

to rural folk realm

1969- 62% of  6, 347 households had radio sets.  In Manila

alone, 87% of the households had radio sets. Radios were

massed in urban centers

Popular Magazine
The Philippine Magazine-  the first magazine of
general circulation, published in 1905; however it

cannot be called “popular” since it was in English,

and was not available to the majority since English

was just being taught at that time

Philippines Free Press- should be called the first,

because though it was in English, it was printed on

cheap newsprint and by the time it stopped

publication in 1972, it was read by majority of the

English-speaking PH public.
Popular Magazine
Liwayway- the popular magazine which started in

1923 and by 1941 had 89,000 in circulation.

It had sister publications in many dialects such as

Bisaya, Hiligaynon, Bannawag.

It became the cornerstone of popular publishing in

the Philippines.

Liwayway is often tag as a both a popular and

serious magazine at the same time, since it

published Tagalog poetry and fiction by serious

writers, and at the same time, had a concrete

audience to reach.
Popular Magazine
Other popular culturist magazines are women’s

magazines such as Women’s Home Companion,

Women’s Journal, Mr & Ms Mod, and even Jingle

Extra Hot; these magazines were seen as an

escape literature for “bored housewives”, office

girls, overworked teachers, old maids, and other

kinds of women
Popular Music
Pop music in the Philippines in the late 80s was

definitely American., although there are

kundimans, zarzuelas, love songs, street songs that

found their way to records, they were not sung on

stages or played in radios

1973- Joey Smith and his Juan de la Cruz band

experimented with what came to be as Pinoy rock.

It had an influence of Western Rock, but the lyrics

are in Filipino
Popular Music
Soon came the group Hot Dog, with a slowed

down, melodious beat, with their hit “Pers Lab”

Popular Music
Poet Rolano Tinio translated an album of

American songs into Filipino for singer

Celeste Legaspi, which turned out so

beautiful that they seemed newly

composed, hinted the start of the Pinoy

trend.
Popular Music
radio stations were required to play at least

3 Filipino songs every hour, some even

created all-Filipino programs in response.

Then suddenly, Pinoy Pop had arrived, aided

by prizes and contests for performers,

lyricists, etc.,-- especially with the opening

of the Metro Manila Pop Song Festival

Popular Music

Freddie Aguilar then became phenomenal,

with the song “Anak” with a hint of folk

beat, and strains of indigenous pre-

Hispanic music
Popular Music

At the present, the only thing truly

Filipino about Pinoy rock is its lyric,

music is still heavily American pop, folk

and rock, but words have become

eloquent about Filipino life and

concerns, critical about society, people

and mores, some even prophetic

Jingle magazine- has been publishing

news and commentary on PH pop music

since 1973
PHILIPPINE

POP
CULTURE