FILIPINO CULTURE

WHAT IS CULTURE?
Culture is the characteristics and
knowledge of a particular group of
people, encompassing language, religion,
cuisine, social habits, music and arts. In
short, culture is everything that makes up
a person’s entire way of life. And the
Philippines is rich in culture.
FILIPINO CULTURE
Filipino Culture is the summation of
indigenous forces and foreign influences
that had come to bear upon the people in
varying degrees during the last centuries.
The complexity of Filipino Culture is
compounded as this has been exposed to
continuous and various streams of culture
from without.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS TO
FILIPINO CULTURE
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS TO
FILIPINO CULTURE
The Malays
The basic component of Filipino culture is
the Malay temperament which could best
be described by “niceness and
pleasantness” to others rather than by
virtue of law abiding features.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS TO
FILIPINO CULTURE
The Chinese
Filial piety between parents and children;
the flexibility to go along with other
people and the “sageliness within and the
kingliness without” of the Filipino is
believed to be due to Chinese influence.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS TO
FILIPINO CULTURE
The Indian
Indian influence is found in the languages,
mode of dressing, architectural art, folk,
beliefs, brass and copperware.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS TO
FILIPINO CULTURE
The Hindu
Is the most pervasive in the Filipino belief
system. For instance, the prediction of
Filipino newspaper readers for horoscope
and fortune-telling sections.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS TO
FILIPINO CULTURE
The Spanish
It is reflective of more developed societies at
their point of contact, broadened the
outlook of the Filipino. Spain introduced a
community oriented rather than a family-
oriented religion in the form of Christianity.
It contributed to an elite class. A social and
political organization, according to western
institutions, was brought into the Philippines.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS TO
FILIPINO CULTURE
The Americans
The United States further broadened this
heritage by introducing a democracy that
called for individual liberty and equality as
well as a national political community to
which everybody was supposed to
participate through national suffrage.
CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS TO
FILIPINO CULTURE
The Filipino has thereby a foothold in many
cultural spheres: the Malay, the Anglo-
Saxon, the Hispanic, the Hindu-Islamic and
even the Chinese.
THE FILIPINO CULTURAL
PERSPECTIVE
The Filipino culture’s existence and
development is viewed and interpreted in
many ways.These are some of them:
1. The Traditional Concept
2. The Nationalistic View
3. Cultural Dualism
THE FILIPINO CULTURAL
PERSPECTIVE
1. The Traditional Concept
The Traditionalist holds that Filipino Culture
was developed due to the conglomeration of
the physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual
aspects. It assumes that underneath the
independent and widely divergent culture as
shown in their way of life, there is an underlying
basic root of unity that holds the cultural tree
together and infuses one clear, distinct
substance through its veins. This includes their
art of living, philosophy in life, attitudes toward
God, nature and fellowmen.
THE FILIPINO CULTURAL
PERSPECTIVE
1. The Nationalistic View
This concept regards culture as the
summation of the needs of the people,
the description of their past and present
condition, an expression of their values,
thoughts and emotions, and the
depiction of their historic struggles to
liberate themselves. True national culture
is inextricably linked to the people’s
needs, ideas, emotions, and practices.
THE FILIPINO CULTURAL
PERSPECTIVE
1. The Cultural Dualism
This theory maintains that the Philippines is a
transitional society dominated on one side by
the traditional culture and on the other side by
the modern culture. The norms and values of
these two forces inevitably oppose each other
leading to conflicts in the life of individual.
Because of the conflict brought by the various
foreign influences into the Philippines, the
Filipinos have to engage into a selective
integration and modification of foreign
influences into a distinct Filipino culture.
The Filipino Culture
Social Organization
Filipino Family
Filipino Families exhibit cultures, customs,
traits, and values, of which the most
important value is family closeness.

The typical Filipino family consists of

husband, wife and children (nuclear family),
extending to include grandparents, aunts,
uncles and cousin (extended family). This
circle is often enlarged with the selection of
a child’s godparents.
Social Organization
Filipino Marriage
The Filipinos practice endogamy, the
custom of marrying only within the limits
of a local, community, clan, or tribe.
In marriage, monogamy is the norm.
Although polygamy is allowed among the
Muslims.
Customs and Traditions
The Filipino Culture is actually a little bit of
all the cultures put together. These are
some of customs and traditions of
Filipinos.
Customs and Traditions
The bayanihan or spirit of kinship and
caramaderie that Filipinos are famous for
is said to be taken from Malay forefathers.

The close family relations are said to have

been inherited from the Chinese.

The piousness comes from the Spaniards

who introduces Christianity in the
Philippines.
Customs and Traditions
Hospitality is a common denominator in the
Filipino character and this is what distinguish
the Filipino.

Most Filipinos are observant, displaying an

intuitive feeling about the other person and
contextual environment during interactions.

The Filipino is naturally fatalistic. This fatalism

is best symbolized in the phrase of “Bahala
na”.
Language
Philippines is the third largest English
speaking country in the world. Filipinos
are known for their talent in languages. It
is the only Asia who speak English and
Spanish and a literature written in these
two foreign languages.
The Philippines has more than 111 dialects
spoken, owing to the subdivisions of these
basic regional and cultural groups.
Language
Baybayin or Alibata is the alphabet system
of the Philippines during the pre-hispanic
period. Baybayin in tagalog means “to
spell” while the term Alibata was derived
from the first two letters of the
Maguindanaon alphabet “alif” and “bet”. It
is composed of 17 basic symbols, 3
vowels and 14 consonant.
Arts and Literature
The earliest form of art is traced back to
5000 BC through pottery discovered in
the Sanga-Sanga Cave. Ancient Filipinos
were also gifted tattoo artists who
decorated their bodies in multi-colored
pigmentation with environment-inspired
designs. The tattoo work on these ancient
Filipinos was done so well that
Portuguese explorers called them the
“Painted People” or the “Pintados.”
Arts and Literature
Ancient Filipino literature was primarily made
up of legends and folklore which were the
main forms of literature before the Spanish
colonization of the country. These folktales
were based on specific themes and aimed to
pass down traditions and cultural beliefs
through generations. While most of these
folktales existed as oral literature, written
publications did exist particularly during the
Spanish colonial era.
Music and Dance
The music composed in the Philippines is
influenced by all the cultures in the country.
The traditional folk songs are primarily
inspired by the indigenous customs and
beliefs.

Dance in the Philippines ranges from

traditional indigenous-inspired dances to
modern “western-inspired” dances. Tinikling
is an example of a traditional dance with
nationwide appeal.
Performance Arts
Drama before Spanish colonization was of a
religious nature and was intended to
persuade the deities to provide the
necessities of life. The Spanish used drama
to introduce the Catholic religion. Filipino
themes in drama developed in the late
nineteenth century as the independence
movement evolved. Current themes are
nationalistic and reflect daily life.
Clothing
The Barong Tagalog is the official national
costume of Filipino men, originated from the
northern part of the Philippines, and is
originally made of jusi or pineapple cloth
called “pina” (woven from pineapple leaves).
It is worn over a Chinese collarless shirt
called camisa de Chino. It exhibits the loose,
long lines of its Chinese sources, the airy
tropical appearance of Indo-Malay costume,
the elongated effect of Hindu dressing, and
the ornamental restraint of European men
clothing.
Clothing
The Maria Clara dress was named after a
mestiza heroine of one of the novels of the
Philippine National hero Dr. Jose Rizal. Its
origin was the national costume of Filipino
women which is barot (shirt) saya (skirt).
The Maria Clara gown features a floor-length
paneled skirt of silk or satin and it consists
of four separate pieces: the collarless waist-
length, bell sleeved camisa; the bubble-
shaped, floor-length saya; the stiff, neck-
covering pañuelo; and the hip-hugging, knee
length tapis, or overskirt.
Cuisine
An excellent way that the cultural diversity in the
Philippines is portrayed is through the local cuisine.
The cuisine in the Philippines is influenced by local
and foreign cultures. Rice is the staple meal in the
country and is usually prepared through steaming and
is served together with other foods. The abundance
of fish in the country makes seafood another
common food item in most households with tilapia,
clams, mussels, cod, squid, and catfish being salted,
fried, and served with rice and vegetables. Other
popular food items in the Philippines include lechon
(roasting of a whole pig common during festivals),
mechado (larded beef with tomato sauce), and
afritada (pork or chicken prepared with vegetables
and tomato sauce) among others.
Religion
During pre-colonial times, a form of animism was
widely practiced in the Philippines. Today, the
Philippines is mostly Muslims and Christian, and
only a handful of the indigenous tribes continue
to practice the old traditions. These are a
collection of beliefs and cultural mores anchored
more or less in the idea that the world is
inhabited by spirits and supernatural entities, both
good and bad, and that respect be accorded to
them through nature worship. These spirits all
around nature are known as "diwatas", showing
cultural relationship with Hinduism (Devatas).
Religion
Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion and the
largest Christian denomination, with estimates of
approximately 80% of the population belonging to
this faith in the Philippines. The country has a
significant Spanish Catholic tradition, and Spanish style
Catholicism is embedded in the culture, which was
acquired from priests or friars. This is shown in
traditions such as Misa de Gallo, Black Nazarene
procession, Santo Niño Festivals (Santo Niño de
Cebu, Ati-Atihan and others) and Aguinaldo
procession, where large crowds gather, honouring
their patron saint or saints. Processions and fiestas
are conducted during feast days of the patron saints
of various barrios or barangays.
Religion
The Islam Religion began in the Philippines
when the interaction between the
Filipinos and the Arabs happened while
trading in Asia. It was brought to the
Southern Philippines slightly ahead of the
Roman Catholic. The religion was
established when the Sultanate
government was organized. Today, the
Muslims are dominant in Lanao del Sur,
Tawi-tawi and Sulu.
Government
The government of the Philippines is
organized as a Presidential-unitary
Republic, where the president functions
as head of state, the head of government,
and the commander-in-chief of the armed
forces. It contains three braches:
executive branch, legislative and judicial.
Government
The President, the Vice-President and the
Cabinet officials are under the Executive
branch while the Legislative branch are
the Senate and the House of
Representative and the Judicial is the
Supreme Court.
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