2. Reflect and share with your classmates your personal experiences of Filipino Culture.

Collaborate with
your group mates and compose an answer for the following questions. What are your personal
experiences of Filipino Culture? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Cite at least 2 problems rooted
in Filipino qualities you’ve encountered, and recommend how you would address the problem. What are
your insight on the so called “generation gap”? What reflections or realizations may be derived from
these experiences?

The cultures of the Filipino are evident of influences. As a past colony of more than two countries, we
have adopted some of their cultures and traditions. My personal experiences of Filipino culture is that I
realized how Filipinos take pride in their families, based on my observation in my own family and other
family friends, family first is the golden rule. So whether you are part of the immediate family or you
belong to the third or fourth generation, you are treated as a family member. Sometimes, even the
closest of friends are considered family, too. Respectful, this is another Filipino culture that I experience
and do. From the moment I was born into this world and as I grow up, they already taught me how to
be respectful by using these simple catchphrases—po and opo, words that end sentences when
addressing elders. We also have a culture of pagmamano, which is we raise the backs of the hands of
our elders to our foreheads as a sign of respect. I’d like to focus on two Filipino Values or Culture that
are apparent, and experienced by Filipinos, we have a strong ability to survive and we are family
oriented. Both can serve as our strengths and our weaknesses. Sometimes, we focus too much on these
two values that moral boundaries blur. When desperation kicks in, we can even set aside morality for
survival, or for family. Though Filipino culture has its values, there are also some problems encountered
in Filipino qualities and I myself have come across with the same problems, Filipinos tend to have
a “Bahala na” Attitude or translated as “come what may”, this is the Filipinos’ own version of fatalism,
the belief of trusting in Divine providence or leaving everything to the hands of fate. It is a Filipino’s way
of avoiding rationalization or good reason,
While this trait can sometimes be helpful in time of adversity, the mentality of “ what goes around,
comes around,” can also keep us from finding ways out of tough situations. Crab Mentality, this is also a
Filipino quality that I have encountered and consider as an immense problem. Filipinos tend to possess
this mentality especially when they feel insecure. In a way, crab mentality also promotes an unhealthy
competition. Instead of doing things that could help one to develop and become better than the
competitors, Filipinos devote so much of their time gossiping and back-biting. It is their way of deviating
people’s attention on their inadequacy by focusing on other people’s faults. For me, to address this
problems we have to start with ourselves, as a Filipino these qualities are the barriers that hinders us
from being united and if we are able to fix and eliminate these bad qualities we can be a developed
country with a united people. Generation gap is difference in attitude and behavior between people of
different generations. Generation gap is the change in thoughts, words and actions between people of
different age groups. It is based on their cultural mental programming and successive perception of
worldly things that decides their choices. The reflections or realizations may be derived from these
experiences is that Filipino Culture is an evident of the values of Filipinos, that though these values are
practiced over a thousand years, there are still weaknesses or problems encountered by doing it. Also,
though Filipinos have a lot of good qualities, there are also some bad and can be consider as a barrier
that hinders us all to be united and have peace.