National Service Training Program

Program

NOTE ON COMMUNITY

1. Context on Community:
- Human beings are by nature social
- People strongly manifest ones personhood or being by how they relate with others in
their respective community
2. Community
- “is an aggregation of families and individuals settled in fairly compact and contagious
geographical area with significant elements of common life”
- It also refers to people and the pattern of social relationships
a. People – underscoring the family as the basic unit of the community
b. Patterns of Social Relationship:
i. Common system of values
ii. Normative defined relations
iii. Interdependence
iv. Recognition of belonging
v. System of stratification
vi. Locality
c. Characteristics of the Filipino Community
i. Predominantly Rural
ii. Transitional
iii. Multilingual
iv. Segmented
v. Particularistic
vi. Pluralistic
vii. Developing
- Community is a combination is a combination of social units and systems that perform
its Social Functions
a. Economic (production, distribution, consumption) – to produce various
commodities and distribute for consumption
b. Socialization – people behave according to the norms of our culture
c. Social Control – set of rules and understanding that control the behaviors of
group and individuals
d. Social Participation – involves exchange which creates mutual obligation
among individuals
e. Moral Support – a way of giving support to a person or cause, or to one side
in a conflict, without making contribution beyond emotional or psychological
value of the encouragement
 - Barriers to a Good Community
a. Difficult relationships
b. Selfishness and individualism
c. Jealousy, gossip, slander
d. Lack of involvement
e. Lack of concern, cooperation
f. Grudges and hatred
g. Pride and lack of respect
h. Miscommunication
- Community Values
a. Pakikitungo – diminishing oneself in difference to other people, gain the
other person’s trust at the first encounter
b. Pakikisalamuha – relating with others in a more confident and intuitive way
while gradually acclimatizing oneself to the emerging ways of their group
c. Pakikibagay – adopting to a particular lifestyle, being sensitive to the ways of
others and to move with much consideration for them
d. Pakikilahok – contributing as much as they can into group’s effort becoming
more conscious of what they share in the community
e. Pakikisama – becoming conscious of being part of the community
f. Pakiki-isang loob – bonding between the members of the group, affirming
and enhancing it with the expression of a shared future
3. Typology of Filipino Value Orientation
- Positive Traits
a. Faith in God - We may have different religions in different sectors of our
country, but what is consistent is that we all have one strong form of faith.
b. Close Family Ties - We enjoy the feeling of having and knowing family
members are around us. From cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, some
families share their homes, celebrate holidays and lend a hand to relatives
when it is needed
c. Welcoming to visitors - When we have people visit our homes, we always
welcome them with smiles, conversation and food
d. Obedient and dutiful - In our culture, we always respect and follow what our
parents and adults advise us to do. Not talking back, and trusting the adults
around us has always been a part of who we are
e. Respectful - From the “mano”, to saying “po” and “opo” to our elders, these
words that are a part of our language show how we respect people
f. Helpful - It is expected that we help out in the house and offer help to siblings,
friends and relatives when we can. We have the “bayanihan” spirit in us and it
is why in times of calamities or disaster, Filipinos are mostly helpful to one
another
 g. Diligent and patient - Majority of our livelihood in the Philippines is based on
agriculture. It takes a lot of back-breaking work to plant the fields. Then it
takes patience to care, water and harvest it
h. Resourceful and creative - During the times when we don’t have the means to
accomplish something, we find ingenious ways of using what we have to
solve our problems
i. Cheerful - Because we’ve been through a lot of trials in our history, Filipinos
have learned not to be depressed. Rather, we find a joke and try to have fun
even during times of difficulty
j. Thrifty and frugal - We don’t like to waste anything since we don’t have a lot.
We are careful of what we have, knowing that it will serve us well for a long
time
- Negative Traits
a. Ningas-kugon - We start something eagerly but lose momentum and don’t
tend to finish or reach long-term goals
b. Mañana Habit - Sometimes, Filipinos would like to put off doing things until it
is too late. Examples are: fixing what needs to be fixed, or saving money for
future expenditures
c. Crab Mentality - Filipinos sometimes get jealous of other people’s successes
that they find a way to pull the other person down, rather than striving to be
better
d. Colonial Mentality - If something is made in America or of a foreign brand, we
think it is of greater quality. So we buy foreign products more than we would
buy locally made products
e. “Bahala Na” - When helpless, we tend not to act to solve our problems. We
usually don’t plan ahead, or plan for contingencies. Instead of covering all our
bases, we simply let the fates dictate what will happen
f. Lack discipline - Pollution, traffic rules and following the law are things
Filipinos tend to ignore. We like to sell our wares on the streets, beat the red
light and throw our garbage in the wrong places