PA R A M E T E R

S OF
FILIPINO
IDENTITY
Ms. Rhealyn B. Lopez
 This lesson will discuss the
formation of one’s Filipino
identity based on one’s ethnic
background and colonial
experience, which includes one’s
post-colonial emergence in the arts.
 Identity parameters are
always anchored on the
dignity of the individual.
 This lesson presents summative
discussion of parameters of
identity that may influence
artistic productions.
 The constituent elements of
Filipino identity is seen along
several dynamics- ethnicity, race,
gender, and socioeconomic
relations.
 All these are being transferred
with the involvement of the state,
institutions, the colonial
experience, political history,
tradition, and environment.
 ETHNICIT
Y
The Filipino concept of diwa is situated at the
intersection of mind and feeling, intellectual,
affective, and spiritual thought. The notion of base
ethnicity is hinged on diwa. Ethnicity is shaped by
the people’s history and contemporary emergence
from a sum of social, economic, and psycho-
spiritual factors.
 E T H N I C I T Y
The story of origins is often represented and
privileged in museums. On the other hand,
museums are also pedagogically useful because
they house artifacts that are indicative of base
Filipino identities.
 E T H N I C I T Y

The Manunggul Jar from

Manunggul Cave, Palawan is
indicative of belief in the
afterlife.
 E T H N I C I T Y

The presence of burial

jars from Maitum,
Saranggani also confirm
this belief.
 E T H N I C I T Y
The burial masks made
entirely in gold that were
unearthed from Masao, Butuan,
Agusan del Norte, and Oton,
Iloilo, indicate the importance
of gold in native spirituality.
Ancient Funerary Mask from Masao, The Oton Gold Death Mask
Butuan of San Antonio, Oton, Iloilo
 E T H N I C I T Y

The Banton Island burial cloth is

only the earliest example indicative
of how the dead were wrapped in
woven textiles –a continuing
practice to this day.
 E T H N I C I T Y
Other cultural Flake tools in
properties at the CALATAGAN Cabalwan, Cagayan,
Province
National Museum are POTS/JARS
indicative of rituals Jars/pots from
among pre-colonial Leta-Leta,
inhabitant of the Palawan
archipelago. Shell adze in Tawi-Tawi
Shell scoops in mataas,
caragay island in Albay
 E T H N I C I T Y

The Lingling-O – discovered in

Duyong Cave, Palawan – shows not
only evidence of ornamentation
but how the divine is invoked by
keeping symbols close to one’s
body.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
Socioeconomic relations or ugnayang panlipunan at
pangkasarian are always rooted in historical. William
Henry Scott has already identified unequal power
relations based on wealth and status, no evidence of
power relations of a violent nature exists in the
relational dynamics seen in report by colonizers.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
The Laguna Copper Plate
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S

The Laguna Copper Plate is a document

concerning one’s acquittal from debt. But this
also sheds light on the existence of servants
and rulers. (Abinales and Amoroso, 2005)
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
THE BOXER CODEX of 1950
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
• The Boxer Codex of 1590 illustrates a Tagalog couple in fine
clothes.
• Blood-related rulers Lakandula, Sulayman and Matanda – their
rule was described as a complex community similar to
maritime political individuals in Southeast Asia. Settlements
were situated on Pasig River and society was delineated into
hierarchies of people.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
Historians trace the acquisition of power in the 20th century and
maintain that this was partly attributed to the spoils system that has
been prevalent since the Spanish colonial period.

 Wealth and private property were amassed as a result of land-

grabbing.
 Ancestral lands were appropriated and ancestral domains were
controlled
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
 Leaders who acted as conduits ensured the steady supply of raw
materials and agricultural products to the colonial enterprise.
 Wealthy elites in agricultural plantations became complicit with
the colonizers and took part in plunder.
 Those who wield power were drawn from privileged families, the
sector designated as the modern principalia.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
 Leadership was acquired often due to connections among the elite
instead of merit.
 Power, prestige, and wealth tend to circulate and merge in the
same families.
 The establishment of centers or pueblo opened up positions for the
native elite like gobernadorcillo, teniente, etc., as they became
conduits of political privilege.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S

 The inquilinos played a major role in why property always

remained with the wealthy elite.

 Sentiments of labourers are articulated in small resistance

movements.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S

This continued on to the American colonial period. The

landed gentry connived with the American colonizers over
disputes on who should emerge as the new ruling class once
the Spanish forces are defeated. For example, the wealthy
families quickly connived with the Americans when powers
shifted.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S

Philippine history is therefore a record of

political leaders being complicit with the colonial
powers and wealthy elites conniving to protect
their vested economic interests.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S

These factors, among others, heightened social

stratification. In spite of these divisions, there
have been several events that brought about a
collective political will in asserting the interests of
Inang Bayan.
SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
The diwa of resistance continues and often finds its way as the content of paintings,
sculptures, and installation art in mainstream and national exhibition platforms. It is ever
pervasive in cinema and drama for television as well as the theater stage. Notable are the
plays:

 Walang Sugat, penned by Severino Reyes in 1898 and for which he was accused of
sedition.
 Noli Me Tangere, Jose Rizal’s seditious novel has been staged for plays several times. In
television, Eddie Romero staged a 13-part series of Noli Me Tangere that featured
respected Filipino actors and actresses.
 Bisperas ng Kasaysayan was directed by Lupita Kashiwahara in 1994 also featured great
actors.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
The ruling elite continues to be influential. They
collected wealth through taking advantage of and by staking
legal claims on natural resources, land areas, and bodies
of water. The Philippine elite continues to hold power
because of the practice of dividing spoils so that a loyal
handful is complicit in maintaining unequal economic and
political relations in the country.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S

In relation to these issues, haciendas have become a

favoured narrative setting in plays, films, and dramas for
television. Contrasts between the luxurious mansion and the
humble shack thrive in Philippine primetime. The struggle of the
sakada, maid, or labourer would often be framed within romantic
entanglements fraught with scheming antagonists and suffering
lovers.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
Examples include dramas for television (or soap operas) such as:
• Ikaw Lamang (2014)
• Walang Hanggan (2012)
• Pangako Sa ‘Yo (2000-2002)

Thus, Philippine cinema was filled with examples of continuing

anxieties that resulted from uneven socioeconomic relations way after
the American colonial period.
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S

Ikaw Lamang
Official Trailer (2014)
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S

Walang Hanggan
Official Trailer (2012)
 SOCIOECONOMIC
R E L AT I O N S
Uneven social relations are also articulated by a group of artists who
chose the working class as the subject of their works. This group of
artists were hailed as social realists. Artists who identify themselves
with social realism approach art -making as social interventions. Social
realism will always be current because of the unending process of
questioning, as the dynamics of oppression have been reconfigured in a
seemingly free and liberal society.
 R A C E
Race is only eligible when groups related to
outsiders, or when the apparent physiological
differences of people are privileged over
similarities. Anthropologists who have extended
the colonial discourse have identified these
physical attributes as racial markers.
 R A C E
The peopling of the Philippines,
according to Henry Otley Beyer,
came from outside in waves of
migration that first arrived
traversing land bridges that
emerged during low tide, and later
arrived by sea on prehistoric craft
like the balanghai.
 R A C E
Waves of Migration Theory
 250,000 years ago - “Dawn Man”, a cave-man type human who was related to Java Man,
Peking Man and other Asian Homo erectus specimens, was present in the Philippines.
 30,000 years ago - The Negritos, an aboriginal group of hunters and gatherers, arrived in
the archipelago via land bridges.
 6,000 years ago - A group from Indonesia capable of travelling across the sea and using
tools became the first immigrants to reach the Philippines using the ocean.
 3,000 years ago - The Civilized and seafaring Malays brought Iron Age culture to the
Philippines and became the dominant group ahead of the arrival of the Spanish in the pre-
colonial period.
 G E N D E
Gender Ris also an identity
maker. It is the identification to an
individual. Either male or female,
and it also depend to the culture
they belong.
 G E N D E R
Kababaihan sa Sining at Bagong Sibol na
Kamalayan (Kasibulan) is a group of women artists
who create artistic interventions to advocate for the
welfare of women artists in the arts scene and
women in society as a whole.
 G E N D E R

Their works represent the participation

of women in the struggle for nation and
emancipation as well as celebrate
womanhood.
THE 5 IDENTITY
MARKERS
ACTIVITIES
1. Just by Looking at Me
Instructions: Have the participants sit in a circle. One
at a time, ask them to share their answers to the
prompt:
“My name is ______ and I am from ________. One
thing you cannot tell just by looking at me is
________. This is important for me to tell you because
________.”
2. I Believe
Instructions: Hang up three sheets around the room — labeled
“ALWAYS TRUE”, “SOMETIMES TRUE” and “RARELY
TRUE” — with space for students to move near. Then, ask
students to respond to statements (which you’ll read one at a time)
by moving closest to the sheet that represents their opinion. The
statements can address a variety of inclusion topics or be
narrowed to fit your goals or the students involved.
3 . W h a t ’s i n a N a m e ?
Instructions:
• Have participants write their full names on a slip of paper.
• Then, ask them to share the meaning behind their names.
• What is its origin?
• What does it mean to them?
• How has it impacted their life experiences?
4. Forced Identities
Instructions: Prior to participants’ arrival, hang
up signs around the room with space for
students to move near. Each sign should list one
of the following words: race, ethnicity, gender,
religion, and socioeconomic status.
4. Forced Identities
To play, ask students to move closest to
the identity that resonates the most with
them, as you read a series of statements
one-by-one.
5. Move into the Circle
Instructions: Ask the students to draw a circle.
Tell them that you’ll read a series of statements,
one-by-one. After each statement, participants
should draw another circle inside the circle they
draw first if the statement is true for them.
 CHURCH IN OUR PLACE
Directions:
1. Draw the church in your municipality. (Front view and
the view inside)
2. Describe it based on your own opinion.
3. Write information about the church in your municipality.
4. What are the establishments around the church? Do you
think they still show respect to the church?