Brian Laurence A.

Barro CpE 1-A

Physical Education in the Philippines

Throughout the years, the meanings of ‘physical and active’ have differed as time progressed.
During the ‘hunter-gatherer’ stages of the Filipino people, being active meant hunting or protecting
yourself as well as your tribe from any danger that nature would bring. During the Spanish era, the
culture of the Spanish have thoroughly mixed into the Filipino Culture, bringing light upon traditions like
clothing, dances, food and music to the Filipinos. What was once a ritualistic and ceremonial dance,
transformed into recreational dances, with only a little trace of what the original ritual was. The words
‘active, fitness, and Physical Education’ were given meaning during the Spanish Colonization Period,
when sports and the like were introduced to young boys. Later on, the Americans would establish P.E as
mandatory in schools and introduced sports like Volleyball, where originally, Filipinos created their own
rules, then eventually create the ‘spike’ as we know it today. A lot of time has passed by and the Filipino
have contributed to the history of sports worldwide, with well-known people like Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes and
Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, better known as Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao.

Physical Education in the Philippine is of course based on the surrounding terrain, with
curriculums consisting of activities that would be native to the Philippines, especially a wide range
dances like tinikling and itik-itik. But now, a lot of preconceptions are made, where ‘exercise’ is
automatically equated to going outside, to the gym, jogging, and sports. Well, in reality, there are a
multitude of exercises that can be done at home, with only the body and its weight. Now during the
‘new normal’, people are stuck at home, and those without ample time and facilities are just sitting and
getting less and less active. Especially now that online classes have started, a lot of time is spent looking
at the screen, doing activities, worksheets and modules, giving less time to take care of themselves. An
easy solution would be to spare a few minutes, 10-15, to keep fit.

Of course, I think that Physical Education in the Philippines is beneficial, but its potential to
make people fit and more active is being limited by the people itself. The information received does not
retain in the student’s memories, gifted or ungifted. The way students are taught, cramming information
into their heads for 8-12 hours a day, starting at the time of the day when the brain is most inactive,
forces the students to ‘forget’ about information that they think is less important, which coincidentally
comes from what other would call ‘minor’ subjects. Physical Education included.
I just think that the best solution would be to change the school system. Instead of ‘teaching’
children, what the Philippine Education System does is force feed information to students. Those with
‘talented’ or are ‘gifted’ are then nurtured, while those that couldn’t handle the force feeding are only
ridiculed by those that are meant to encourage them. A temporary solution like adjusting the
curriculum, adjusting the learning material, fixing the time of classes would only nip the bud instead of
actually contributing to removing the root of the problem. Then education, economy and society would
improve. Then again, it would take time, but better than having children grow up to become a bane of
society.