Early Filipinos had attained and developed an elaborate civilization, long before Europeans and Americans

colonized the Philippines in 1565 and 1898, respectively; whereas in the rest of Asia, Africa and the Americas,
early civilizations were systematically credited, destroyed or derogated by the invading colonizers both from
the Old and the New World (Jocano, 1982).

Albeit the foregoing, Jocano (1982) held that Filipinos tend to deny themselves with the mandate to
greatness every time when they accept a historical allegation that their culture is a borrowed one; handed to
them initially by the immigrating pre-historic people, and later by the colonial masters.

However, as time would show, no civilization could totally suppress another as Philippines’ early
civilization had continued to exist although perhaps coated with foreign or alien veneers.
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Asal is deeply ingrained in the native culture that is difficult to eradicate from the Filipino value
orientation; even the impact of colonization and modernization has not affected it as it remained constant and
true by serving as the prevailing standard that specifies local needs and goals especially those governing
behavior, even those supposed westernized or sophisticated to Filipinos reaction in the traditional gut level of
asal sent imbibed in their tender years (Jocano, 1988).

Jocano (1988) accentuated that to have asal is to be Filipino - one who is behaving according to the
Filipino ways; observing the proper niceties of language, etiquette of gestures, and ritual for speech and manner
consistent with cultural conversions and institutions - otherwise, one may be dismissed as an alien, vulgar or
boorish.
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Filipinos come from a culture based on collectivism, where there is a group effort to help one another and
maintain harmony. On the other hand, the Western culture is the opposite because it is more individualistic and
independent.

Hiya, utang na loob, and pakikisama are values that are deep within the Filipino culture. Kapwa is the core
of Filipino value system. David (2013) argued that Filipinos or Filipino Americans whose sense of kapwa is
lost is the result of the colonial mentality. When Filipino or Filipino Americans have negative feelings about
their culture and ethnicity, it affects their kapwa.

Personal identity is an individual’s belief about his or her traits and attributes. Tajfell (1981) defined social
identity also known as collective identity as the aspect of the individual’s self-concept which derives from their
knowledge of their membership in social group together with value and emotional significance attached to that
membership. In other words, individuals are more likely to identify themselves with the group that they are
associated with based on their similar characteristics.
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Ethnic identity is framed by the way in which individuals identify consciously or unconsciously with those
whom they feel connection through similar traditions, behaviors, values, and beliefs (Ott, 1989).

Filipinos are different from Asians because of skin color, physical characteristics, colonization, language,
and religion (Nadal, 2004). Filipinos are darker and identify themselves as “brown” (Nadal, 2004).

Alongside with the aforementioned characteristics would be their background as a fusion of aboriginal
Filipino roots with Spanish and American cultures; and traces of Malay, Muslim, East Asian, Pacific Islander,
and Indonesian (Nadal, 20014).
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A group of Filipino students, called pensionados, were also sent by the United States to study in American
universities during the early 1900s, with the intention that these scholars would take what they learned from
American institutions and apply them in governing and leading the Philippines when they returned home
(Espiritu, 2003).
 The American colonial period was also when American teachers and school administrators were sent to the
Philippines to inculcate Filipinos with ideas of American superiority, civilization, and worldviews that
contributed to the large- scale migration of Filipinos to the United States in the early 1900s (Espiritu, 2003;
Ignacio et al., 2004; Strobel, 2001).

Indeed, according to noted sociologist Pido (1997), what is perhaps the most insidious psychological
legacy of colonialism is Colonial Mentality (CM). CM among Filipino Americans has been defined as a
specific form of internalized oppression that is characterized by a perception of ethnic or cultural inferiority that
involves an automatic and uncritical rejection of anything Filipino and an automatic and uncritical preference
for anything American (David & Okazaki, 2006).

Internalized oppression is a salient experience among many members of various historically and
contemporarily oppressed groups e.g. African Americans, American Indians, Latinos/as, Jewish Holocaust
survivors (David, 2009), and is a phenomenon that has been briefly defined as a form of self-hate in which the
oppressed individuals and groups come to believe that they are inferior to those in power (David & Okazaki,
2006).

Although the term “internalized oppression” is what is often used in the scientific and scholarly literature,
“colonial mentality,” or CM will be used in the study because internalized oppression among this population is
believed to have begun during colonial times, and it is the term often used in the Filipino and Filipino American
community, and thus the term many Filipinos, and Filipino Americans may be more familiar with (David &
Okazaki, 2006).

Among Filipinos and Filipino Americans, CM may be manifested by (a) feeling inferior for being Filipino,
(b) feeling ashamed or embarrassed of the Filipino ethnicity and culture, (c) regarding Filipino physical traits as
less attractive than European physical traits, (d) discriminating against non- or less-Westernized Filipinos, and
(e) tolerance and acceptance of of contemporary oppression (David & Okazaki, 2006).

In terms of its psychological impact, CM seems to be related to ethnic identity, personal and collective self-
esteem, inculturation, and assimilation among Filipino Americans (David, 2008; David & Okazaki, 2006)
suggesting that the psychological experiences of this ethnic group are influenced by colonialism and its
legacies.
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Although many Filipinos and Filipino Americans are argued to have internalized the historical and
contemporary oppression they have faced, not all Filipinos and Filipino Americans may hold CM. This may be
especially true for many of the Muslim Filipinos in the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao, who
have been resisting colonization and westernization ever since the beginning of Spanish occupation.

The same can be said about the numerous existing indigenous tribes in modern day Philippines, such as the
Igorot, Ifugao, Negrito, Bagobo, Kalinga, and Tboli tribes, among many others, who continue to survive and
thrive by living their lives in accordance to indigenous ways. Indeed, internalizing one’s experiences of
oppression is only one way in which one can respond to oppression.

Historian Fred Cordova (1983) argued that colonialism and the accompanying cultural disintegration have
contributed to the ever-present Filipino ethnic/cultural identity crisis—confusion as to what constitutes an
authentic Filipino culture and identity.

Such an identity crisis is believed to lead Filipino Americans toward the conclusion that there is no
authentic Filipino culture and identity that one can be proud of, and thus may lead to the perception of
inferiority toward anything Filipino, or CM (David, 2011; David & Okazaki, 2006).

Indeed, ethnic identity, self-esteem, and acculturation are all influenced by larger sociopolitical factors
(Berry, 2003; Phinney, 2003), and one such sociopolitical factor is colonialism or oppression.
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“Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man’s superiority to all that befalls him.” – Romain
Gary

Disparagement humor refers to remarks that are intended to elicit amusement through the denigration,
derogation, or belittlement of a given target e.g. individuals, social groups, political ideologies, and material
possessions. It is distinctive among forms of humor in that it both “diminishes” and “reinterprets” its subject
(Fine, 1983; Greenwood & Isbell, 2002; Wyer & Collins, 1992).

The foregoing is owing to the fact that humor communicates that its message is to be interpreted in a non-
serious manner wherein it can uniquely denigrate its target while stifling challenge or criticism (Bill & Naus,
1992; Ford & Ferguson, 2004; Johnson, 1990).

According to psychoanalytic theory, disparagement or hostile humor is a form of tendentious humor —

humor that has a purpose (Freud, 1960). The veiled purpose of hostile humor is to attack an adversary.

In describing the aggressive purpose of hostile humor, Freud (1960) stated that, by making our enemy
small, inferior, despicable, or comic, we achieve in a roundabout way the enjoyment of overcoming him. The
innocuous quality of humor masks one’s destructive instincts or impulses and thus bypasses socially-implanted
inhibitions (Singer, 1968). Indeed, Freud (1960) stated that hostile humor facilitates the satisfaction of a hostile
instinct in the face of an obstacle that stands in its way.

As a result, disparagement humor serves a positive psychological function. It provides the humorist with a
relatively benign means of expressing and satisfying unconscious, socially unacceptable impulses. Abating this
impulse facilitates positive social relations, as destructive means of expression are rendered unnecessary
(Berger, 1993; Gollob & Levine, 1967; Sev’er & Ungar, 1997).

Disparagement humor is pervasive in contemporary society. It has appeared repeatedly in all forms of mass
media, from newspapers to the Internet. Researchers have long recognized the insidious effects of
disparagement humor.

Whether through communicating cultural knowledge of stereotypes (Devine, 1989), contributing to an

outlet for subtle expressions of prejudice (Crandall & Eshleman, 2003) or facilitating hostile and discriminatory
environments for others (Ford, 2000; Fitzgerald et al., 2005), disparagement humor can have important social
consequences.

With the growing awareness that disparagement humor can function as a potential tool of prejudice,
stereotyping, and discrimination, there is a need for social scientists to continue developing, testing, and
refining theories of disparagement humor.
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A tangible picture of our past would depict how our colonizers have revolutionized our way of life, and how
our paladins fought for and kvelled on our independence as we have been freed from the shackles of captivity.

Albeit with the burgeoning of globalization, Filipinos were once again enmeshed into the vortex of the past –
but this time, on their own accord - with their own perceptions having been the catalyst.

The persistent culture diversion among Filipinos proved to be prevalent and is still considerably spreading
like wildfire (David and Okazaki, 2006). This would entail how nationalism and culture cognizance have been
overshadowed by several salient influences of anything foreign or non-Filipino for that context.
Such identity crisis may pave the way to a Filipino culture far from being called certifiable or authentic. This
could also amount to Filipinos losing their sense of nationality as internal and external influences start to ensue,
thus the severity of the impact of other cultures have now been embedded in their minds.

This, however, is just one side of the coin, for this paper will identify the factors that contribute to the foregoing
in order to come up with mechanisms on how Filipinos could uphold the unparalleled identity of theirs amidst
the ineludible demands of the global village.

In the same light, this paper will accentuate that for an independent nation to preserve its sovereignty, national
consciousness is imperative - deeming that the best way of domineering people is through the capture of their
minds.
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THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY
By Athena Gabriella E. Julabar

Our concept of identity as Filipinos gets muddled as
we are driven closer to other cultures.
Almond-like eyes, nut-brown skin, round-tipped
nose. Pedro is a Filipino, but unlike Juan, he has
fascination to having chinky eyes, light pale skin, and
small-tipped nose.
Consequently, he went under the knife and
decided to study abroad where he had the chance to
evince his exemplary academic performance.
Dazzled by his comeliness and intellectual acuity, his
classmates had thought of him as a Chinese though
he insisted that he is a Filipino. No matter how hard
he tries, he was still seen as a Chinese and not as a
Filipino.
Sadly, he is not alone in this.
Tracks of The Past
About 500 years ago, we have a tangible
picture of our past under the colonizers who
eventually altered our way of life.
According to Project Gutenberg's A History of
the Philippines, by David P. Barrow, it has been
noted that before the first colonizers came, there
seem to have been two kinds of natives in the
country: namely, the hill dwellers who built their
houses on trees, and the sea dwellers who built their
villages over the sea or on the shore and lived much
in boats.
These pre-colonial cultural details of Filipinos
had been documented owing to the scholars and
historians who have been brought by Spain in the
country only to find out that it was meant to be
altered by them.
Subsequent colonizers came thereafter; but on
June 12, 1898, the country gained its independence
from external influence. Albeit, patterns of activities
that turn out to be vestiges of colonization had
merged with ours. Some of these would include:
setting up altars adorned with Catholic images,
candles, and flowers (Spanish); the idea of free
education (American); and the system of extended
family (Japanese).
Brown Skin, White Minds
With globalization, mass media and the
internet, Filipinos are driven closer to other cultures
over metaphysical distances. Hence, they tend to
consume more of what is Korean, Japanese, and
American.
In a study by the market research firm TNS
Global, it was found out that Korean culture was
among the top three cultures Filipinos were attracted
to, along with that of the United States and Japan.
Furthermore, imported products, plastic
surgery, and whitening soaps are just a few of what
piques Filipinos, deeming that they have not met
their own ideal beau.
Filipinos, unlike the Japanese who would
patronize their products even if those are inferior to
foreign-made ones, and unlike the Indians who
would stick to Indian ways and ideas, are import-
oriented consumers and tend to set the standard to
that of what is foreign, that is, even in terms of job
opportunities.
According to Philippine Statistics Authority
(PSA), the number of Overseas Filipino Workers
(OFWs) who worked abroad at any time during the
period April to September 2016 was estimated at 2.2
million.
Although OFWs contribute to the country’s
economy with their remittances, they tend to lose
their sense of identity as Filipinos at the expense of
having a larger income, and greater opportunities.
Becoming Filipino
Is being kayumanggi the only thing that
makes a Filipino?
In an interview by Rappler, Erin Sinogba had
put the Filipino identity in question. “There is a
dominant construction of what it means to be
Filipino…the problem, however, is that it does not
accommodate the ‘cultural panorama’ of Filipino
experiences.”
“Each person who identifies his or herself as
Filipino contributes his or her diverse background
and experience to what it means to be Filipino,” she
added.
As a matter of fact, Filipinos are reputed all
over the world for remarkable qualities, which,
unfortunately, are often devalued or overlooked by
Filipinos themselves.
The adaptability to people of different
cultures, the inherent hospitality in poverty-stricken
homes, and the collective ingenuity to rally behind a
common cause for the benefit of the country - there
exists the essence of a true Filipino.
Moreover, having barongs and Filipinianas as
the classic Filipino fashion, sinigang and adobo
usually present at the tables, spaghetti as the main
course on birthdays, and rice as the staple food,
would entail the fact that there are still things that are
distinctively Filipino.

The Final Tally

Pedro has the freedom to choose how he
would define himself. Although he might not
completely be free from the ties - such as his
appearance and his upbringing - that bind him and his
country, it does not mean that he cannot build his
own identity.
Somewhere along the ridged lines, dots can
be connected just like Jose Rizal who traveled to
Europe in order to adopt things from various cultures
in hopes of bringing them back to the Philippines.
In fact, the chance to experience other
cultures would help us realize that things don't have
to be the way they have always been.
As of now, all we have to do is to believe that
we are Filipinos in our own distinct way, and by
respecting others on how they identify themselves,
we can never be wrong.