Learning Outcomes:

1. Establish a sense of belongingness to one Filipino identity

2. Identify the factors that influenced the formation of political self
3. Examine some key constitutional provisions regarding Filipino citizenship
4. Know the duties and responsibilities of a Filipino citizen

Seeking the Filipino Identity

• The archipelagic nature (a country divided into islands) of
the Philippines, made it a little difficult to identify a single
cultural heritage that can be concluded as common to all
individuals alike. The nation is clearly diversified and
answering the question ‘Who is a Filipino’ is nearly impossible
considering the fact that each individual adheres to different
cultural background. Various distinctive cultural practices,
while establishing the uniqueness of a particular group of
people in a particular region, have the tendency to rather create
barriers which make the establishment of a single Filipino
identity rather futile.
• What may be the factors that widened the gap of diversity among Filipinos?
o One of the factors that led to a highly diversified nation is on how a group of
Filipinos response and adapt to current trends. Even a historical recap would
suggest that the manner by which people of Luzon cope with the colonial era differs
from the way people from Visayas adapted and even the people from Mindanao. A
greater difference lies when you pinpoint a particular group say Ilocanos, to
Tagalog, to Igorots. The rubbles of war gone, the colonizers have influenced the
way Filipinos behave, and ultimately shaped the way Filipinos view the world.
While some adapted Spanish influences, others adapted the American influences.
Still others adapted the Japanese influences, and with the proliferation of worldwide
interconnectivity through the internet, people have started to align their lifestyle
with different cultural heritages of other countries.
o The migration of Filipinos to different countries to seek better employment had the
inevitable consequence of them adapting the culture of the country they migrated
to and bring those culture with them when they come home.

The ‘Filipino’ in the Constitution

• The 1987 Philippine Constitution, specifically Sec. 1 of Art.
4 thereof, lays down the qualifications before a person is
considered a ‘citizen of the Philippines, a Filipino, to wit:
▪ Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the
Philippines;
▪ Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers,
who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of
majority; and
▪ Those who are naturalized in accordance of law.
Deficiency with the Constitutional Provision
• While the constitution presents qualifications for the recognition of a person’s nationality,
it did not intend to do more than that. What is left is the existential and sociological question
as what truly identifies a person aside from his biological framework.

ACTIVITY:
Reflective Question: What do we truly mean when we say, I am a Filipino?

Historical Background
• Spanish Era
o During the Spanish period, Filipinos were
labelled as Indios, a term used to refer to
people who are stupid, barbaric and idiotic.
Thus, the lowly treatment as well as the idea
of being clothed with an identity that is not
only insulting but dehumanizing, prompted
Rizal to re-claim the image of the Filipino
people from derogatory presentations of
Spanish historians.
o History shows that the term ‘Filipino’ used
to refer only to some elites. Rizal took upon
himself to use the term to refer also to all
citizens of the Philippines by proving that
Filipinos and not Indios.
o The Spanish colonial period resulted to
practices and lifestyles that were imprinted in the lives of every Filipinos.

ACTIVITY:
Reflective Question: In what ways can we prove that Filipinos are not Indios?

• American Era
o After the Spanish colonial period, the
Americans landed on the nation and
greatly influenced the lifestyle of the
Filipinos and eventually re-shaped their
perspectives.
o One can readily identify the American
influence upon acknowledging the
democratic form of government and the
use of the English language as a medium
for almost all official communications
and business transaction.
o Their stay in the Philippines continued under the guise of ‘humanizing’ the people.
They justified their presence by claiming it as a missionary venture of civilizing the
people.
ACTIVITY:
Reflective Question: What do you think are the present traits of the Filipinos that are evidently
of American origin?

Democratic Form of the Government

• Dictionary defines democracy as a government in
which the supreme power is vested in the people and
exercised by them directly or indirectly through a
system of representation usually involving periodically
held free elections. It is a government of the people, by
the people and for the people.
• While such form of government has tenets that are
promising, a poor understanding of the concept would
result to damaging consequences.
o Filipino in a Democratic Setting
▪ A key element of a democratic form of government
is the emphasis on the freedom of people which should
be safeguarded at all times and shall not be curtailed
arbitrarily. This is shown in the enshrined Bill of Rights
in the Constitution which ensures the protection of the rights of the citizens
against possible abuses.
▪ Another element is the promotion of the general welfare of the people,
including everyone’s entitlement to due process and equal protection of the
laws.
▪ These security and promotion of the rights of the citizens has the ultimate
goal of allowing the people to perform properly in the society. As the
government ensures their stability and safety, they are expected to exercise
their duties and responsibilities properly.
• An example of this duty is the exercise of the right of suffrage (right
to choose in an election). Alongside with the right of suffrage is the
right to be heard through representatives. Each one, provided he has
reached the age of majority, has the right to choose a representative.
Inhered in this duty is the role of every citizen to scrutinize political
aspirants and choose who among them, could run the government to
the interest of the nation as a whole.
• What plagues this ideology is the attitude of prioritizing personal
interest over the interest of the majority. A good number of people
would tend to think about personal gains and decide only in
consideration of themselves. Such attitude defeats the spirit of
democracy. The common good is often sacrificed for the promotion
of individual rights.
• A consequence of the poor implementation of democracy is the
uneven distribution of resources resulting to a widening gap of the
rich and the poor. A gap would bring about conflicting interest
between the rich and the poor.
ACTIVITY
Reflective Question: How content are you in the performance of the government in relation
to the ideals of democracy?

o Filipino Citizenship, the Self and different Social Institutions

▪ Citizenship is characterized by one’s belongingness to a state with rights
and duties enforced and directed by a government. It is a particular
membership to a large community bound by a collective identity.
▪ Typically, a good citizen is one who abides by the rules and vows complete
allegiance to authorities while upholding individual rights. Equally
important characteristics comprise of one’s involvement in environmental
protection and promotion of equal rights.
▪ So, when speaking about citizenship, what comes to fore is the promotion
of the national interest as well as the empowerment of every individual. The
promotion of the other cannot be invoked as a justification for the violation
of the other.

o Diversity in the Philippine Political Culture

▪ A key factor in the analysis of Philippine politics is the consideration of
one’s prioritizing of his immediate community.
▪ Two cultural categories of communities:
• Minority – they are a culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct
group that coexists with but is subordinate to a more dominant
group. These are groups of individuals who live in the margins of
the society.
• Majority – as the name suggests, comprise of the larger group of
people in the community.

Movement towards the Common Good: A Path to a Defined Political Self

• Empathy Towards Others

o Empathy is the capacity to understand and
share the feelings of others. Empathy refers to the
ability to feel with others, to put oneself in others
shoes so as to clearly understand the situation of
others and subsequently respond to what others
might need.
o What often prevent the promotion of
common good is the excessive promotion of
personal gain. This pursuit is often justified in the
guise of not hurting others, meaning one is justified
in pursuing his own happiness as long as such
pursuit does not cause unhappiness to others,
regardless if it causes happiness to others as well.
o Empathy is the key towards the establishment of a national identity to which
everybody could associate with. The factor which could unify Filipino in such a
 way that each one would attend to the needs of others is the ability to journey with
others.
o Empathy ignites a person’s sense of responsibility towards the community. The
ability to think of the consequences of one’s actions to the lives of others enkindles
a sense of responsibility to a person.
o Through empathy, the person’s role shifts from passivity to proactivity, to mere
existence to co-existence. The person becomes an agent of nation building.

• The Role of Social Institutions in the Pursuit of a National Identity

o A venture towards the establishment of a
national identity cannot come into completion
without determining the effects of social
institutions.
o Each citizen is a member of a group, student
of a school or a teacher, a member of a religious
sect, a member of a specific organization.
o The family is the basic unit of the society, the
primordial institution that caters to the needs of
every individual and eventually aligns his ideals
and principles in life.
o The family should go hand in hand with every
social institution in enkindling in every individual, especially the young, the sense
of national identity in order for the youth to be aware of their duties and
responsibilities as Filipino people.

Summary:
• An examination of history would reveal that the Filipinos quest for national identity was
never a walk in the park. The Filipinos had its fair share of challenges to overcome in the
pursuit of a national identity.
• However, the Filipinos have proved their resiliency and adaptability in their survival as a
nation.
• While a great deal of alienation have come along the way in the pretext of colonization,
the Filipino spirit continue to prevail and persist.
• What is needed is the continual pursuit to the establishment of a unified nation embracing
a common identity – Filipinos.