Embrace the Culture
People who have experienced being with Filipinos find them very hospitable. A common trait Filipinos are known to most foreigners who have traveled around the country. Although they are not the only people in the world who can be friendly and welcoming, their attitude towards other people is said to be exceptional. Even the humblest home along the road can serve as a shelter for a stranger who has lost his way. For Filipinos, serving other people the best of what they have leave them an honor and a promise of true friendship. A typical Filipino house is not completely called a home without any facility ready for unexpected visitors. It is filled with new and lovely items reserved only for them while ordinary ones are for everyday use. They welcome guests with the phrase “feel at home” to make them comfortably at ease. Arriving at your host’ house during mealtime may be awkward but if its in a Filipino house, you will be asked to sit down and share with what they have on the table. Because eating alone without asking others according to Filipino customs is considered rude. These manners picture how Filipinos accept and properly respect the presence of their visitors. A form of hospitality that comes truly from the heart like how the country made its image as the land of true smiling people. considering the struggling economy, political confusions and the rising poverty in the country, anyone will be surprised seeing how Filipinos handle such situations. It is like taking everything from them but not their love of joking. Joking and laughing at everything perhaps give them relief and make them see things more positively.
Traveling in this country means more of building rapport with its people and understanding their customs. Filipinos love entertaining foreign visitors; as to help, or for whatever reasons, interacting with them is unavoidable. Hence, aside from the country’s stunning natural assets, meeting the Filipinos gives a promise of a true friendship and memories to keep.
Filipinos are very sensitive to other people’s feelings. Strong words are avoided and directed to 3rd party to avoid awkward conversations. Women are expected to be modest for them to be treated with proper respect. This is observed mostly during courtship. Parents would rather propose the boys to have their young ladies visited at home than being followed or courted in the street.
Traditionally, wherever they are and regardless of their foreign liberal influences, most Filipinos still observe the "no touch" policy, which means no sexual interaction before marriage, a trait that emphasizes conservatism and strong religious seal between a young couple. Even nowadays, some Filipino parents avoid their daughters to have close contact with their suitors until they get married. This is commonly observed in the province and most tribal communities in the country.
Filipinos highly value the presence of their families more than anything. Despite the liberal influence they have gotten from the west, the family remained the basic unit of their society. This trait clearly shows among Filipinos abroad who endure homesickness and tough work just to support their families back home.
In a traditional Filipino family, the father is considered the head and the provider of the family while the mother takes responsibility of the domestic needs and in charge of the emotional growth and values formation of the children. They both perform different tasks and being remarked separately by the children. Children see their mothers soft and calm, while they regard their fathers as strong and the most eminent figure in the family.
The Philippines in general has the strongest Christian influence in Asia. Majority of Filipinos are Catholics and most are fanatically involved. Lives of Filipinos evolve on their religious beliefs. They believe that God and its saints are the ones responsible for what they are and how they live. This is evident in their celebrations of town fiestas and festivals every year.
Pahiyas is one example that brings out the fanatic practices of the Filipinos wherein a particular saint is believed to nourish a town’s harvest by offering it a colorful festival related to the town’s main source of living. Fruits, rice, vegetables or any product related to their livelihood are lavishly decorated on to their houses. Bizarre, but the festivity transforms the whole town into an explicit sight of creativity from the colors and textures of natural ornaments.
The most popular custom that regards the strong influence of Christianism to the Filipinos is the yearly commemoration of holy week, which features the sufferings and death of Christ. Several activities within the month of celebration are performed including the recital of passion, reenactment of Jesus sufferings and death (practiced on a real cross, with real nails pounded on their hands and even the make up that resembles the looks of the Christ), processions and more prayings. This unusual practice made people around the globe wonder and smile, but the significance it brings to the lives of every Filipino in reuniting their families and comemorating their traditions is enough for the world to understand. Such cultural traits they inherited from the west that Filipinos brought it to its own uniqueness.
