Social Norms of Visayan

1. Courtship

● Requesting an important person ( Barangay Chairman ) in Marriage matters

- as soon as he engaged, the man's parents request an important person in the
community, preferably the barangay chairman, to ask for the girl's hand in
marriage
● Mediator on courting
- the man asks a third person to act as his go-between to help him win the favor of
the girl he loves.
- when the man finally propose a marriage, the mediator has to go back several
times before the girls parents give their consent to the marriage of their daughter
● Dowry
- It is normal for the parents of the girl to ask for dowry which usually consist of a
certain amount of money of some valuable pieces of jewelry
● In Visayas they have what they call:

○ Mamae - the one who will represent the parents of the woman in discussion
(kinatawan ng magulang ng babae)
○ Sagang - the one who will represent the parents of the man in discussion
(kinatawan ng magulang ng lalaki)
○ Pangangasawa - the parents of the guy will be the one to present and discuss
the intention of their son
○ Mangluhod - asking the hand of a woman

2. Dining

● Meals are served at the same time.

● Alcohol is not served during the meal

● Dried fish is the best for breakfast

● Spoon and fork are the main utensils

● Eating food with a hand or hands is common

3. Biting of finger and spitting

- It is normal to see a bisaya biting his/her finger and then spitting after it. They do
it when they think they pointed their finger on something they shouldn't point to
such as strange things like a strange rock or tree.
4. Bisaya in the kitchen

● They find singing while cooking a bad thing to do.

● You should not sing at the dining table especially when the food is already served.