Commentary: Philippine culture and politics

OK so I’m looking through the titles and trying to see if there was anything worth writing about….Then I stumbled on to this little gem written by someone who is so clearly out of touch with her own heritage and people that she has chosen stereotypes to define our once proud culture.

Let me start by clarifying something. If you are Filipino and you refer to yourself as a pacific Islander you might want to first find out are your ancestors Ilicano or are they colonist.

The Philippine island has played unwanted host to many. The first being the Malaysians making most of her people not of ilicano decent Asian. She next played host to Spain which explains the similarities in Tagalog and Spanish. Throw in America, France, Japan, and a host of others and you have quite a blending and adding to the culture itself.

So now that we have that Little confusion out of the way lets look at some other aspects of Filipino culture you don’t hear about in jokes and stereo types.

The Philippine islands is a matriarchal society giving obedience and respect to the eldest woman at home. It is a family based culture retirement homes are not an issue in many Filipino families it is very much common place for an elderly relation to move in with a younger relation to be taken care of that relation is then as the oldest member of the house given the dominion over the home. They are seated at the head of the table and all family decisions are discussed with this senior most relation. Many Filipinos still allow their mothers to choose their spouse for them as arranged marriage is still legal in the Philippines.

The article I read when choosing this title mentioned food. Yes we offer food because sharing food with someone that has made it a point to visit your home is the ultimate respect you can pay them. You are saying come sit with us be apart of our family even if just for one night.

Also faith is a huge part of our culture we are raised that all things are made possible through God and that he deserves our respect because of it.

We are a culture rich in spirit and love we hold our families close and count our friends as part of that extended family.

I recommend that if you are going to look at our culture you need to look at our real culture.

1. Japanese invented Karaoke and I know just as many Caucasians as I do Asians that enjoy karaoke.

2. We have a history of over 100 years of resistance to many invaders.

3. we have our own Holidays, beliefs and culture and that makes us our own people.

Having said that I will let you be the judge I just couldn’t let our people be represented by someone that obviously has no clue about their own culture.

I have a hard time with someone who starts an article of with a title like the truth about the Filipino culture and doesn’t mention anything real or substantial to represent our culture. There is no truth in that.

There was no mention to real Filipino culture what so ever. There was no mention as to why we spell Filipino with an F instead of a PH.

* The name Philippine Island came from Spanish invaders. People not wanting to show allegiance to Spain started referring to them selves as Filipinos with an F instead a Ph to show Spain that they did not support nor would they ever the occupation and colonization of the indigenous people of the Islands as they were simply called.

We have a great culture here in the states as well in places like Delano Ca. where we helped Cesar Chavez to get better conditions and more rights for farm laborers.

The list goes on and on. So hold your head high because you come from more than over indulgence and Karaoke.

Commentary: Philippine culture and politics – Part 2

The truth about “Filipino Culture, Filipino Identity and Philippine History” is most often lost in translation, sad to say, even amongst Filipinos themselves. Most Filipinos do not have a clear grasp of their history, most especially their pre-colonial history. Thus, those who try to explore and explain “who a Filipino is” fall in the pitfalls of false knowledge or maybe insufficient knowledge of Philippine history. In addition, those who may know something about Philippine history sometimes fails to understand its implications and relationship to the current condition of Philippine society.

In trying to learn the truth about “Filipino Culture”, it is a must to explore history, for societies are influenced by the events around them much so is culture. Events, either natural or man-made, then can affect the progress of culture.

However, before exploring this any further, it is imperative to first and foremost settle the issue regarding the Filipino identity.

A common but understandable mistake when discussing Filipinos and their culture is the questions of identity. The mistake being made in understanding Filipino identity is understandable primarily because if you trace history or may be even DNA would show that Filipinos come from a people of different races.

Are they Asians? Maybe Pacific Islanders, as one of the writers here claims? Are they Filipinos?

Are they Asians? An Asian is someone who comes from Asia, not necessarily form mainland Asia, since Japanese and Koreans are regarded as Asians primarily because their country is found within the territory of Asia, which is East Asia. The Filipinos are Asians since the Philippines is located in southeast Asia.

Maybe Pacific Islanders? Being a Pacific Islander is far from thought by most people because when people hear this Polynesians, Hawaiians, Tahitians, Samoans come into mind but never Filipinos. Although, geographically, Pacific Islander is used to refer to people living in any of the sub-regions of Oceania. Oceania is consists of lands, most of them are islands in the Pacific Ocean. Having this in mind, then we can safely say Filipinos as likewise Pacific Islanders for the main reason that the Philippines is located on the western side of the Pacific Ocean and right next to South China Sea.

Are they Filipinos? Definitely, without batting an eyelash, the answer is a resounding YES! Since Filipino is the term used to refer to individuals born in the Philippines, or those who are of Filipino descent – meaning down their family tree there is at least a Filipino connection.

Nonetheless, the explorations on Filipino identity should not rest here. As mentioned previously, a deeper understanding of Philippine history, most especially pre-colonial history would yield to a better understanding of the FILIPINO IDENTITY.