describe philippine society today essay

History & Society
Science & Tech
Biographies
Animals & Nature
Geography & Travel
Arts & Culture
Games & Quizzes
On This Day
One Good Fact
New Articles
Lifestyles & Social Issues
Philosophy & Religion
Politics, Law & Government
World History
Health & Medicine
Browse Biographies
Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
Environment
Fossils & Geologic Time
Entertainment & Pop Culture
Sports & Recreation
Visual Arts
Demystified
Image Galleries
Infographics
Top Questions
Britannica Kids
Saving Earth
Space Next 50
Student Center
Introduction & Quick Facts
Plant and animal life
Ethnic groups
Settlement patterns
Demographic trends
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Resources and power
Manufacturing
Labour and taxation
Transportation and telecommunications
Constitutional framework
Local government
Political process
Health and welfare

Cultural milieu

Daily life and social customs, cultural institutions.

Sports and recreation
Media and publishing
Pre-Spanish history
The Spanish period
The 19th century
The Philippine Revolution
The period of U.S. influence
World War II
The early republic
Martial law
The downfall of Marcos and return of democratic government
The Philippines since c. 1990

Cultural life

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Jewish Virtual Library - Philippines
Official Site of the Department of Tourism , Philippines
Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Philippines
Philippines - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
Philippines - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
Table Of Contents

Philippine society is a unique blend of diversity and homogeneity . Although geographically part of Southeast Asia , the country is culturally strongly Euro-American. Forces of assimilation have constantly worked to overcome cultural differences between the various ethnic groups that are scattered—sometimes in relative isolation—throughout the archipelago. Nearly four centuries of Western rule, however, have left an indelible imprint on the Philippines, serving as a conduit for the introduction of Western culture and as the catalyst for the emergence of a sense of Philippine political and cultural unity. While the Christian churches built by the Spanish and the mosques built by the Muslims provided a spiritual anchor, the educational system established by the United States and expanded by the Filipinos has become emblematic of cultural unity and socioeconomic progress. Nonetheless, through the persistence of strong family ties, the revival of the barangay as the smallest unit of government, increased attention to Asian history and literature, and subsequent revival of dormant traditions, the Philippines has strengthened its Asian heritage without abandoning its Western cultural acquisitions.

Recent News

Life in the Philippines generally revolves around the extended family , including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins (up to several times removed), and other relatives. For Catholic families, godparents—those to whom care of children is entrusted should the parents die or otherwise be incapacitated—also figure prominently in the kinship network. Members of extended families typically gather for major life events such as baptisms and confirmations (for Catholic Filipinos), circumcisions (for Muslim Filipinos), and marriages, as well as for major religious and other national holidays. Among the religious holidays officially observed in the Philippines are Christmas and Easter, as well as Eid al-Fitr , which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan . Other major holidays include New Year’s Day, Labor Day (May 1), and Independence Day (June 12).

Whether festival fare or everyday food, major meals in most Filipino societies are built around boiled or steamed rice or rice noodles. Small amounts of meat, including chicken, pork (in non-Muslim communities), goat, or fish complement the rice or noodle core, along with an assortment of fruits and cooked vegetables. Assorted alcoholic drinks are made from coconut sap, sugarcane, and rice. Balut , a parboiled embryonic duck still in the egg, is a popular street food in the Manila area.

Although slacks, shirts, skirts, and dresses based on European designs are common throughout the Philippines, some garments are unique to particular groups or regions. The malong , a colourful woven tube of cloth that can be worn in a variety of ways by both men and women, is characteristic of Muslim communities in Mindanao . In the urban areas, many men wear an intricately embroidered shirt, the barong , for casual and formal events. On special occasions, urban women may wear the terno , a long dress characterized by broad “butterfly” sleeves that rise slightly at the shoulders and extend about to the elbow. Many of the smaller ethnic groups have characteristic attire for events of special cultural significance.

Early Spanish chroniclers testified that the Filipinos carved the images of their anitos (gods and goddesses) and ancestors in wood. They also played a variety of musical instruments, including end-blown flutes, nose flutes, jew’s harps, gongs, drums, and lutes, among others. Various seasonal celebrations (e.g., harvest) and life rituals (e.g., courtship and marriage) called for certain instrumental music, songs, and dances. For instance, in some of the Muslim communities of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago , the kulintang ensemble, consisting of a set of gongs suspended horizontally and vertically and a single-headed drum, can still be heard at festive events.

Although the community of practitioners of rural performing arts has been diminishing, efforts have been under way to revive as well as recontextualize some of the indigenous traditions so that they resonate with an increasingly cosmopolitan Philippine society. Some of the local dance traditions have been preserved or reinterpreted by contemporary performing groups such as Bayanihan (the national folk dance company of the Philippines), established in the mid-20th century, as well as by the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group and Ballet Philippines. A growing number of world music artists, such as Joey Ayala, have been creating innovative syntheses of indigenous Philippine traditions—such as kulintang —and popular music form.

Many Filipino musicians have risen to prominence in the Western classical music tradition, including the composer and conductor Antonio J. Molina, the composer Felipe P. de Leon (known for his nationalistic themes), and the opera singer Jovita Fuentes. The Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Folk Arts Theater, and the restored Manila Metropolitan Theatre (all in Manila) provide homes for the performing arts, featuring local and foreign opera and ballet. To encourage the development of arts, the government gives awards of recognition and maintains a National Arts Center (established 1976), which includes the Philippine High School for the Arts in Los Baños , south of Manila.

Filipino painters have included Juan Luna, whose agitated works helped inspire a sense of Filipino nationalism in the late 19th century; Fernando Amorsolo, who is known for his traditional rural scenes; the muralists Carlos V. Francisco and Vicente Manansala; and the modernists Victorio Edades and Arturo Rogerio Luz. Among sculptors, Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva are prominent. Rural artists from mountainous regions in northern Luzon and craftsmen living northwest of Manila and in Paete on the eastern shore of Laguna de Bay are known for wood carvings. Romblon and other nearby islands are noted for their marble sculptures. Notable Filipino architects include Juan F. Nakpil, Otilio Arellano, Fernando Ocampo, Leandro Locsin, Juan Arellano, Carlos Arguelles, and Tomas Mapua.

The outspoken political novels of nationalist leader José Rizal were Philippine literary landmarks of the late 19th century, and the work of Nick Joaquin has been among the most highly acclaimed Philippine literature since the mid-20th century. The diverse cultural heritage of the country not only animates most of Joaquin’s fiction writing, but it is also central to his nonfiction work. Among the most celebrated of Joaquin’s works are his play A Portrait of an Artist as a Filipino (1966) and his biography of assassinated presidential candidate Benigno Aquino , The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History as Three Generations (1983). Spanish was the prinicipal literary medium until the end of the 19th century, before yielding to English after U.S. occupation. Since independence an increasing number of writers have been composing their works in Filipino or Tagalog .

Filipinos have a tradition rich in local and regional lore. Myths and legends deal with such subjects as the origin of the world, the first man and woman on earth, why the sky is high, why the sea is salty, and why there are different races. Other tales are associated with the Spanish conquest. On the island of Mindanao an epic known as the Darangen (“To Narrate in Song”) depicts the historical and mythological world of the Maranao community, while in northern Luzon the Ilocano epic Biag ni Lam-ang (“Life of Lam-ang”) recounts the exploits of a traditional folk hero.

The Philippines has produced a handful of internationally acclaimed films, including Himala (1982), which recounts the adventures of a young miracle worker; Oro, Plata, Mata (1982), the story of two noble families on the island of Negros during World War II; and Small Voices (2002), the tale of a teacher in an impoverished rural community who, through music, inspires her students to shed their cynicism . Despite its successes, the film industry in the Philippines has remained small, its growth hindered by escalating production costs, high taxes, uncontrolled piracy of videotapes and CDs, and the popularity of foreign films over local productions.

The National Museum in Manila, which houses a substantial ethnographic collection, is the principal government vehicle for preservation and conservation of the country’s tangible and intangible cultural property. Many of the provinces have established their own museums dedicated to local history and tradition. A few institutions of higher education—such as the University of Santo Tomas, Silliman University in eastern Negros, Mindanao State University in Lanao del Sur, and the University of the Philippines at Diliman—likewise have added museums to their campuses. The National Library serves as a repository for Philippine literary materials and supervises public libraries throughout the country.

A number of locations in the Philippines have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites . These include four 16th-century churches built by the Spanish in Manila, Santa Maria, Paoay, and Miag-ao (collectively designated in 1993), the 16th-century trading town of Vigan (1999) in northwestern Luzon, and the ancient rice terraces of the northern Luzon cordilleras (1995). Local nongovernmental organizations such as the Heritage Conservation Society and some historical groups have also sought to preserve the local heritage.

AsianStudies.org
Annual Conference
EAA Articles
2025 Annual Conference March 13-16, 2025
AAS Community Forum Log In and Participate

Education About Asia: Online Archives

A brief essay on my key issues book: the philippines: from earliest times to the present.

My AAS Key Issues in Asian Studies book— The Philippines: From Earliest Times to the Present —is intended to introduce readers to a nation originally named after a European prince. The people of the archipelago that now constitutes the Philippines had a long history before any European contact occurred. Since the latter part of the nineteenth century, Filipinos have experienced a wide range of encounters with the US. The Philippines was Asia’s first republic and then became a US colony after an American war of conquest and pacification, which some argue resulted in the deaths of 10 percent of the population. Almost a million Filipino soldiers and civilians, and approximately 23,000 American military, died in the war against Imperial Japanese forces.

There are at least two ideas that drive this book. The first is that the Philippines was not some isolated archipelago that was accidentally “discovered” by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Some residents of the Philippines had contact with “the outside world” long before European contact through trade with other Southeast Asian polities and Imperial China.

Photograph of a middle aged Damon Wood. He has a bald head and a grey short beard, and he is wearing a black business suit.

The second and more important theme is that vibrant cultures existed before outsiders arrived, and they have continued throughout the history of the Philippines, though perhaps not seen or simply ignored by historians and other scholars. The intrusion by the Spaniards might be seen to have changed almost everything, as did the American incursion, and to a lesser extent the Japanese occupation. This is not the case. But if one does not know what was there before, the focus may be upon the intruders—their religion, culture, economies, and the impact they had on the local population—rather than on Filipinos, the local inhabitants. While acknowledging the impact and influence of foreign occupations, I sought in the book to focus on Filipinos and to see them as not merely, or even primarily, reactive.

Beginning with the pre-Hispanic period, The Philippines: From Earliest Times to the Present seeks to present, briefly, the reality of an advanced indigenous culture certainly influenced but not erased by more than three centuries of Spanish occupation. The second half of the nineteenth century saw the emergence on two levels—peasants and elite—of organized resistance to that presence, culminating in what some call a revolution and finally a republic. But this development was cut short by the Americans. When a commonwealth was put in place during the fourth decade of American rule, this was interrupted by World War II and the Japanese occupation. After World War II, the Philippines once again became an independent republic with the growing pains of a newly evolving democracy and its share of ups and down, including the Marcos dictatorship.

The Philippines has emerged in the twenty-first century with a robust and expanding economy, and as an important member of ASEAN. And it has its issues. On November 7, 2013, the most powerful Philippine typhoon on record hit the central part of the archipelago, resulting in more than 6,000 deaths. President Rodrigo Duterte, elected in 2016, has caught the eye of human rights advocates as he has dealt harshly with a drug problem that is far more significant than most realized. Then there is the ongoing conflict with China over islands in the South China Sea. The Philippines has been and will continue to be in the news.

The Philippines: From Earliest Times to the Present depicts Filipinos as not passive or merely the recipients of foreign influences. Contrary to the title of Stanley Karnow’s 1989 book, In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines, the Philippines is not made in anyone’s, including America’s, image. Teachers and students should find this book helpful, not only in dealing with the history of the Philippines but also in recognizing that often the histories of developing countries fail to seriously take into account the local population—their culture, their actions, their vision of the world. The Philippines is perhaps best known today in the West as a place with beautiful beaches and as a wonderful place to vacation. This book will show it to be much more than that.

The Philippines

Idyllic beaches and lush rice fields, filipino cultures.

The Philippines is the third largest English-speaking country in the world and is comprised of more than 7,600 islands. Most of the population lives on 11 main islands, of which Luzon and Mindanao are the largest. About 28 percent of the country’s land is covered with forests.

The Philippines has a rich history combining Asian, European, and American influences. The Philippines is a collectivist society, in which the needs of the family are prioritized over the needs of the individual. Filipinos value social harmony and maintaining smooth relationships, which means they may often avoid expressing their true opinions or delivering unwanted news. Many Filipinos celebrate traditional festivities known as barrio fiestas (district festivals) to commemorate the feast days of patron saints.

Host a Filipino student in the U.S.

Filipino People and Community

Family Dynamic

In the Philippines, family life is highly treasured, and households often include extended family. The average rural family has about three children, while urban families tend to be smaller. The main responsibility of most children is to complete their education, but some children are also expected to work for their family.

After children marry, many decide to continue living with their parents. Children are usually disciplined by both their mother and father, but a mother’s advice is especially taken seriously. As parents age, it is the responsibility of their adult children to care for them. Many women work outside the home, sometimes even overseas.

Teenage Life in the Philippines

Teenagers in the Philippines attend dance schools, participate in sports like basketball, tennis, badminton, volleyball, and biking. Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines. Many teenagers belong to youth groups at churches and community organizations. Joining in and actively participating is expected. Singing karaoke is another popular activity in the Philippines. In urban areas, teens shop at malls, watch movies, or hang out at coffee shops.

Holidays in the Philippines

Public holidays in the Philippines include New Year’s Day (January 1), Easter Sunday, Day of Valor (also known as Bataan Day, April 9), Labor Day (May 1), Independence Day (June 12), National Heroes Day (last Monday in August), All Saints’ Day (November 1), Bonifacio Day (November 30), Christmas (December 25), and Rizal Day (December 30).

Language and Communication Styles

Official Language

English and Filipino are the official languages of the Philippines. However, depending on the classification, 120 to 175 languages are used.

Communication Styles

Filipinos generally favor an indirect communication style to avoid confrontation and “losing face.” Tone of voice and gestures are often used to convey a speaker’s true meaning, rather than their words. Filipinos may speak more vaguely and allude to what they wish to express. Diplomacy and social harmony are important parts of Filipino culture. Rather than saying “no” directly, Filipinos may say “maybe,” instead and speak in a more passive voice.

Food in the Philippines

Filipino Diet

Filipino cuisine is one of the richest cuisines in the world influenced throughout its long and colorful history by the Malays, Spanish, Mexican, Arab, Chinese, American, Indian and Japanese. Different regions and islands of the country also have their own unique flavors and produce. The staple food is rice, and it is usually served at every meal. Dishes range from the very simple, like fried salted fish and rice, to the more elaborate ones, such as the paellas, which include rice, beans, meat, snails, and seasoning. Filipino taste buds tend to favor robust flavors, but the cuisine is not as spicy as those of its neighbors.

Democracy and social change in the Philippines in a time of COVID-19

Interview with maria ressa, journalist and ceo of rappler.

By Jackie Enzmann, Chief Editor

Latest news, conversation with enamel artist toshiko tanaka on her experience as an atomic bomb survivor and the stories behind her artwork.

In December last year, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s Asia and Middle East Program hosted an event in Bangkok titled "Echoed Tranquility.” Among the three featured artists was Toshiko Tanaka, a Hiroshima A-bomb survivor and renowned enamel muralist. We spoke with Tanaka about her harrowing experiences and the heartfelt message of peace in her artwork, her journey to artistic recognition, and the transformative power of art.

Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Surin Pitsuwan Foundation hold art exhibition in Thailand to reflect on the tragedies of war in efforts to promote a peaceful society

The Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) partnered with the Surin Pitsuwan Foundation in Thailand to organize “Echoed Tranquility,” an exhibition bringing together several artists, including a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, to display works evoking images of past conflict and exploring the impact of war and the recovery that comes after.

“WHOLE” film screening at Sasakawa Peace Foundation Director Bilal Kawazoe brings to light the struggles multiracial people face in Japan

On October 17, 2023, the Asia and Middle East Program of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) organized a screening at the foundation for the Japanese film “WHOLE” in collaboration with the Kobe Foreigners Friendship Center (KFC). The film was directed by award-winning filmmaker Bilal Kawazoe, and starred Mr. Kawazoe’s younger brother, Usman Kawazoe, and actor Kai Sandy as Makoto and Haruki, two biracial men who were born and raised in Japan, sharing similar yet different viewpoints towards their identity and the struggles they face in Japanese society.

Video Title

The Philippine economy under the pandemic: From Asian tiger to sick man again?

Subscribe to the center for asia policy studies bulletin, ronald u. mendoza ronald u. mendoza dean and professor, ateneo school of government - ateneo de manila university.

August 2, 2021

In 2019, the Philippines was one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It finally shed its “sick man of Asia” reputation obtained during the economic collapse towards the end of the Ferdinand Marcos regime in the mid-1980s. After decades of painstaking reform — not to mention paying back debts incurred under the dictatorship — the country’s economic renaissance took root in the decade prior to the pandemic. Posting over 6 percent average annual growth between 2010 and 2019 (computed from the Philippine Statistics Authority data on GDP growth rates at constant 2018 prices), the Philippines was touted as the next Asian tiger economy .

That was prior to COVID-19.

The rude awakening from the pandemic was that a services- and remittances-led growth model doesn’t do too well in a global disease outbreak. The Philippines’ economic growth faltered in 2020 — entering negative territory for the first time since 1999 — and the country experienced one of the deepest contractions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that year (Figure 1).

Figure 1: GDP growth for selected ASEAN countries

And while the government forecasts a slight rebound in 2021, some analysts are concerned over an uncertain and weak recovery, due to the country’s protracted lockdown and inability to shift to a more efficient containment strategy. The Philippines has relied instead on draconian mobility restrictions across large sections of the country’s key cities and growth hubs every time a COVID-19 surge threatens to overwhelm the country’s health system.

What went wrong?

How does one of the fastest growing economies in Asia falter? It would be too simplistic to blame this all on the pandemic.

First, the Philippines’ economic model itself appears more vulnerable to disease outbreak. It is built around the mobility of people, yet tourism, services, and remittances-fed growth are all vulnerable to pandemic-induced lockdowns and consumer confidence decline. International travel plunged, tourism came to a grinding halt, and domestic lockdowns and mobility restrictions crippled the retail sector, restaurants, and hospitality industry. Fortunately, the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is demonstrating some resilience — yet its main markets have been hit heavily by the pandemic, forcing the sector to rapidly upskill and adjust to emerging opportunities under the new normal.

Related Books

Thomas Wright, Colin Kahl

August 24, 2021

Jonathan Stromseth

February 16, 2021

Tarun Chhabra, Rush Doshi, Ryan Hass, Emilie Kimball

June 22, 2021

Second, pandemic handling was also problematic. Lockdown is useful if it buys a country time to strengthen health systems and test-trace-treat systems. These are the building blocks of more efficient containment of the disease. However, if a country fails to strengthen these systems, then it squanders the time that lockdown affords it. This seems to be the case for the Philippines, which made global headlines for implementing one of the world’s longest lockdowns during the pandemic, yet failed to flatten its COVID-19 curve.

At the time of writing, the Philippines is again headed for another hard lockdown and it is still trying to graduate to a more efficient containment strategy amidst rising concerns over the delta variant which has spread across Southeast Asia . It seems stuck with on-again, off-again lockdowns, which are severely damaging to the economy, and will likely create negative expectations for future COVID-19 surges (Figure 2).

Figure 2 clarifies how the Philippine government resorted to stricter lockdowns to temper each surge in COVID-19 in the country so far.

Figure 2: Community quarantine regimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, Philippine National Capital Region (NCR ), March 2020 to June 2021

If the delta variant and other possible variants are near-term threats, then the lack of efficient containment can be expected to force the country back to draconian mobility restrictions as a last resort. Meanwhile, only two months of social transfers ( ayuda ) were provided by the central government during 16 months of lockdown by mid-2021. All this puts more pressure on an already weary population reeling from deep recession, job displacement, and long-term risks on human development . Low social transfers support in the midst of joblessness and rising hunger is also likely to weaken compliance with mobility restriction policies.

Third, the Philippines suffered from delays in its vaccination rollout which was initially hobbled by implementation and supply issues, and later affected by lingering vaccine hesitancy . These are all likely to delay recovery in the Philippines.

By now there are many clear lessons both from the Philippine experience and from emerging international best practices. In order to mount a more successful economic recovery, the Philippines must address the following key policy issues:

Build a more efficient containment strategy particularly against the threat of possible new variants principally by strengthening the test-trace-treat system. Based on lessons from other countries, test-trace-treat systems usually also involve comprehensive mass-testing strategies to better inform both the public and private sectors on the true state of infections among the population. In addition, integrated mobility databases (not fragmented city-based ones) also capacitate more effective and timely tracing. This kind of detailed and timely data allows for government and the private sector to better coordinate on nuanced containment strategies that target areas and communities that need help due to outbreak risk. And unlike a generalized lockdown, this targeted and data-informed strategy could allow other parts of the economy to remain more open than otherwise.
Strengthen the sufficiency and transparency of direct social protection in order to give immediate relief to poor and low-income households already severely impacted by the mishandling of the pandemic. This requires a rebalancing of the budget in favor of education, health, and social protection spending, in lieu of an over-emphasis on build-build-build infrastructure projects. This is also an opportunity to enhance the social protection system to create a safety net and concurrent database that covers not just the poor but also the vulnerable low- and lower-middle- income population. The chief concern here would be to introduce social protection innovations that prevent middle income Filipinos from sliding into poverty during a pandemic or other crisis.
Ramp-up vaccination to cover at least 70 percent of the population as soon as possible, and enlist the further support of the private sector and civil society in order to keep improving vaccine rollout. An effective communications campaign needs to be launched to counteract vaccine hesitancy, building on trustworthy institutions (like academia, the Catholic Church, civil society and certain private sector partners) in order to better protect the population against the threat of delta or another variant affecting the Philippines. It will also help if parts of government could stop the politically-motivated fearmongering on vaccines, as had occurred with the dengue fever vaccine, Dengvaxia, which continues to sow doubts and fears among parts of the population .
Create a build-back-better strategy anchored on universal and inclusive healthcare. Among other things, such a strategy should a) acknowledge the critically important role of the private sector and civil society in pandemic response and healthcare sector cooperation, and b) underpin pandemic response around lasting investments in institutions and technology that enhance contact tracing (e-platforms), testing (labs), and universal healthcare with lower out-of-pocket costs and higher inclusivity. The latter requires a more inclusive, well-funded, and better-governed health insurance system.

As much of ASEAN reels from the spread of the delta variant, it is critical that the Philippines takes these steps to help allay concerns over the country’s preparedness to handle new variants emerging, while also recalibrating expectations in favor of resuscitating its economy. Only then can the Philippines avoid becoming the sick man of Asia again, and return to the rapid and steady growth of the pre-pandemic decade.

Essay on Philippines Culture

Students are often asked to write an essay on Philippines Culture in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

100 Words Essay on Philippines Culture

The land and people.

The Philippines is a Southeast Asian country made up of over 7,000 islands. It’s home to more than 100 million people. Filipinos are known for their friendly nature and warm hospitality. They have a mix of different ethnic groups, each with their own unique customs and traditions.

Language and Communication

Filipinos speak Filipino and English as their official languages. Filipino is mainly based on Tagalog, a local language. They also use many other regional languages. Filipinos are known for their ‘bayanihan’ spirit, which means helping each other in times of need.

Food and Cuisine

Arts and music.

The Philippines has a rich history of arts and music. Traditional dances like ‘Tinikling’ and ‘Singkil’ tell stories of everyday life and folklore. Filipinos love to sing and are known for their karaoke sessions.

Festivals and Celebrations

Religion and beliefs.

Most Filipinos are Christians, with a majority being Catholic. They celebrate religious holidays like Christmas and Easter with great enthusiasm. Filipinos also believe in spirits and mythical creatures, which are part of their folk tales.

250 Words Essay on Philippines Culture

Introduction to philippines culture.

The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia known for its rich and diverse culture. This culture is a mix of native and foreign influences from its history, including Spanish, American, and Asian cultures.

Language and Literature

Filipinos are known for their love of arts and music. Traditional arts include weaving, pottery, and carving. Music is often used in festivals and celebrations. The “Kundiman” is a popular type of love song.

Festivals, or “fiestas,” are important in Filipino culture. These events celebrate history, religion, and local customs. The “Sinulog Festival” in Cebu and the “Ati-Atihan Festival” in Aklan are famous examples.

In conclusion, the culture of the Philippines is a colorful mix of various influences. It reflects the country’s history, diversity, and the warm spirit of its people. It is a culture that values community, creativity, and a love for life.

500 Words Essay on Philippines Culture

The Philippines is a Southeast Asian country known for its rich culture and traditions. Its culture is a blend of indigenous customs and foreign influences from Spain, China, America, and other Asian countries. This makes it a unique and vibrant place.

Food in the Philippines

Filipino food is a mix of flavors from different cultures. It includes rice, noodles, meat, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. One popular dish is ‘Adobo’, made from vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and meat. ‘Lechon’, a whole roasted pig, is often served at big celebrations. Filipinos also love sweet treats like ‘Halo-Halo’, a dessert made with crushed ice, sweet fruits, and beans.

Arts and Crafts

Filipinos are known for their creativity. They make beautiful handicrafts like woven baskets, mats, and furniture from bamboo and rattan. Filipinos also have a rich tradition of dance and music. Folk dances like ‘Tinikling’ and ‘Singkil’ tell stories about daily life and history.

Family and Social Structure

Family is very important in Filipino culture. Families often live together in large groups, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Respect for elders is a key value. Filipinos also have a strong sense of community. They often help each other in times of need, a practice known as ‘Bayanihan’.

Most Filipinos are Christian, with a large number being Catholic. They have a deep faith and often attend church. Many celebrations and festivals are based on religious events. Filipinos also believe in spirits and supernatural beings, which are part of folk beliefs.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Life in the Philippines: Contextual Essays on Filipino Being

This collection of essays comprises the ideas that fueled the author’s work on Philippine society and Filipino worlds of thought. The ideas concerned have been conceived in a comparative context that, on the one hand, draws on general social science and the humanities, and, on the other, on the analogies with the praxis of life in both Thailand and on Java (Indonesia). Whereas the focus of the essays is on life in the Philippines, Jose Rizal’s demonio de las comparaciones firmly situates Filipino being in Southeast Asia, or at least among the commonalities of life along the littoral of the South China cum Java Sea. Because of this, and after this position has been clarified in essay 2, Javanese and Thai data will steadily be juxtaposed to similar observations on Filipino being. After this, and similar to the analysis of the Filipino condition in essay 1, the spotlight will be on the mentality informing the public world in the Philippines.

Upon these analytical essays, we step down to earth with sketches of everyday happenings and observations that should convey the flavor of life in the islands such as experienced and interpreted by the non-native denizen.

Niels Mulder has the rare ability to be both scholarly and entertaining – Ian Buruma in God’s Dust

In Inside Philippine Society, Mulder is particularly good at showing the contradictions in Philippine society and culture. The chapter on Filipino self-images is extremely revealing – Raul Pertierra in Review of the Asian Studies Association of Australia

For some fifty years, cultural anthropologist Niels Mulder (1935; Dutch) has been actively engaged with the mental world of members of the urban middle classes, first in Jogjakarta on Java (Indonesia), then in Chiang Mai in Thailand, and, since 1983, also in Lucena City in the Southern Tagalog Region of the Philippines.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Niels Mulder, 1935, Dutch, obtained his MA in Human Geography cum Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam in 1964, and has since been actively engaged with the world of thought of urban middle classes in Jogjakarta and Jakarta, Indonesia; in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand; in Lucena City and Metro Manila, Philippines. His fifteen years of field work among the Javanese, Thai, and Filipinos, and his fifteen years of writing and intermittent academic engagements at Northern Illinois University, the University of Amsterdam, several universities in Germany (Bielefeld; Passau; Berlin; Bonn) and virtually all the main centers of academic learning in the Scandinavian countries (among others, Copenhagen; Lund; Uppsala; Bergen; Turku) resulted in some fifteen academic titles on his work in Southeast Asia, two of which attained the status of classics, viz., Mysticism in Java//Ideology in Indonesia (Kanisius, 2005), originally defended as Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Amsterdam in 1975. With revisions and additions, this work has been in print ever since its earliest Singapore University Press edition of 1978 and has, to date, sold 28,000 copies; Inside Thai Society: Religion, Everyday Life, Change (Silkworm Books, 2006), originally published as Everyday Life in Thailand: An Interpretation with Editions Duang Kamol in 1979. Through six revised editions, this work has been in print ever since and has, to date, sold 22,000 copies. Among his books, the following are relevant to the Philippines: Inside Southeast Asia: Culture, Everyday Life, Social Change (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2000); Inside Philippine Society: Interpretations of Everyday Life (Quezon City: New Day, 1997); Filipino Images: Culture of the Public World (Quezon City: New Day, 2000); Southeast Asian Images: Towards Civil Society? (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2003); Sanaysay sa Kabihasnang Pilipino (Mamala 1, Sariaya: Dr. Niels Mulder Scholarships Foundation, 2009); Life in the Philippines: Contextual Essays on Filipino Being. (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2016). During his retirement on the slope of Mt. Banahaw (since 2003), he has been reflecting on his field research and evolution from human geographer to full-fledged cultural analyst, such as recorded in Doing Java: An Anthropological Detective Story. Yogyakarta: Kanisius, 2006; Doing Thailand: The Anthropologist as a Young Dog in Bangkok in the 1960s. Bangkok: White Lotus, 2008; Professional Stranger: Doing Thailand during Its Most Violent Decade. Bangkok: White Lotus, 2009; Beroepsvreemdeling: Antropoloog in het Veld (Professional Stranger: The Anthropologist in the Field). Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press, forthcoming.

Unsupported Browser Detected. It seems the web browser you're using doesn't support some of the features of this site. For the best experience, we recommend using a modern browser that supports the features of this website. We recommend Google Chrome , Mozilla Firefox , or Microsoft Edge

About Asia Society
Career Opportunities
Internships
Upcoming Events
Past Events
Event Recaps
Become a Member
Asia 21 Philippines
Our Locations

Philippines

The filipino identity: a shared story.

[From upper left to lower right] Atty. Raymond Baguilat; Dr. Fernando Zialcita; Dr. Jorge Mojarro; Prof. Leo Nery; Bambina Olivares

Last January 25, 2023, Asia Society Philippines and the Manila House Private Members' Club held an exclusive virtual program revolving around the Filipino Identity. Joined by various experts with different interests in Philippine history ⏤ Dr. Fernando Zialcita from Ateneo de Manila University, Dr. Jorge Mojarro from the University of Santo Tomas, Atty. Raymond Baguilat from UP Diliman, and Professor Leo Nery from Far Eastern University ⏤ traversed in a discussion about about the difference between cultural hybridity and indigenousness. Ranging from conversations about food, language, and indigenous peoples' rights, the virtual program was full of rich insights and knowledge from renowned experts.

With the Philippines' long and rich history, and its diverse landscapes, it is home to various groups of different identities. Now that we find ourselves in the postcolonial Philippines, we are left to ask ourselves about the 'Filipino Identity'.

The emphasis on the diversity of Filipinos was the first point of discussion, underlining that a single Filipino Identity does not exist. Given the archipelagic structure of the Philippines, a homogenous identity of the country would cause a misrepresentation of the rich and different cultures in the Philippines; if not addressed, alienation of other identities would be intensified in the discussion of the Filipino identity. Dr. Fernando Zialcita better encapsulated this point by saying, “I sang bansa, isang diwa is dangerous [because] we have various languages [in the Philippines] .”

The panel then discussed that the first step is the prioritization of rethinking assimilationist policies, which are designed to force and impose a monolithic identity on these communities of what is the “ideal” community instead of embracing their own. This has resulted in a more divided culture and identity, especially for the Indigenous People of the Philippines who have experienced injustices in their plight to reclaim their land, identity, and culture.

Atty. Raymond Baguilat shared that “ Representation actually matters .” which was followed by an insight by Professor Leo Nery, “ We need recognition. We cannot begin a search or an attempt of creating a Filipino Identity without talking about justice. A lot has been alienated in this discussion ⏤ in the unification. [It’s] not just about legal matters, it’s about historicizing ⏤ providing alternative narratives into the primary narrative. We must recognize these injustices, and then we can move to a process of unification and healing. ”

The program concluded with an emphasis on the importance of a shared story in the Philippines, wherein the formation of the primary narrative should not be fixated on the formation of just one community, rather, a recognition of the different communities in the Philippines. The experts posited that recognition is what unites all these narratives that the differences from each narrative of the Filipino identity have a common thread. This is what unites us, Filipinos ⏤ may it be food or language. Identity should not be imposed; it should be shared.

Subscribe Now

[OPINION] What society is today is a reflection of its education

Already have Rappler+? Sign in to listen to groundbreaking journalism.

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

[OPINION] What society is today is a reflection of its education

The Philippine educational system, by looking at its roots, came from our colonial past. It was when the Americans used education as a tool for us to act, speak, and even think in line with our colonizers, separate from the Spanish who only made some reforms when the Educational Decree of 1863 was enacted, enabling mestizos to study in Europe and gain liberal ideas, which sparked the Philippine nationalism and thus, revolution. We cannot deny the fact that our educational system is one big determiner of how well we perceive quality in many aspects of our lives.

One will agree that the educational system is a product of our distorted identity as a nation. It is true, however, that the other side of the coin is also the case. How we shape our society can be seen through the lens of education. This includes the way we view individual responsibilities, mental health, inclusion, providing critiques, and questioning the current and pressing issues that we face, among other things.

Unfortunately, there is a need for us to check our current value system, not just the value system that we got from the Spaniards which were repeatedly taught in basic education, such as the maniana habit, ningas kugon, palabra de honor, and inter alia . What I am referring to is our problematic behaviors such as gullibility, the low viewpoint of research, how we view mental health, how we choose the next president of the country, and others as well.

[OPINION] On the lack of public historians and intellectual spaces

On education and advancing social change

John Dewey presented the idea that the school system must be an important vessel to nurture learners into becoming valuable and performing members of society. This means that the traditional school system must be rehashed for it to become progressive, allowing learners to become enablers of cataclysmic socio-politico-economic change.

As an example, when the Basic Education Act of 1982 was still in effect, it was lacking in terms of instilling the “social’”part of education, which Dewey refers to as “Education for Democracy,” wherein true discourse and the engaging of different ideas based on evidence and meaningful engagements could not be observed well. This was because the focus of the Marcos administration, aside from institutional reforms, was only on strengthening the human capital production of the Philippines in terms of supporting the import-substitution-industrialization (ISI) companies – which also failed due to mismanagement and corruption.

Currently, even with the institutional changes such as the implementation of the K-12 program, free college education, and technical-vocational training courses, things are still lacking. Here, I am talking about our value system and how we take things on a larger scale as Filipinos. The national and local elections (NLE) is fast approaching, and with that, aside from instilling voter’s education, I argue that it is also important that we put our value system under scrutiny in order for us to hopefully come up with a consensus on progress and development.

In school, we learn different things such as solving for the area of any shape, writing poems, how to properly do an exercise, understanding how the human body works, among other things. But despite the rigorous undertaking for any individual to learn, it seems that these concepts are not in touch with reality, particularly with how each individual is taught and anticipated to participate as a full member of society.

It is always expected that the highest form of citizenship, for the most part, is through voting. Renato Constantino, in his essay entitled, “The Anti-Social Filipino” has pointed out that the educational system has failed to fulfill its role to transform the nation and instead has only equipped learners to become valuable workers and employees, not emancipated citizens who can see both the small and large scales of things in society. This essay was written more than 50 years ago, and I still ponder on the relevance of Constantino’s words, as it is also true today. The ills of the system must be addressed in order for its stakeholders to focus on sustaining this system.

I also lament teachers who have been alienated by the status quo. It is quite problematic that some of them, being renowned in their fields, have decided to not come to their senses and decide to become partisans, thus, supporting unqualified and even questionable candidates such as Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It is quite ironic that many teachers prohibit cheating, lying, and any form of academic, behavioral, and disciplinary misconduct, but fail to see that these misconducts are also happening in political spheres and even in government.

In line with this, it is frightening that it seems that many have forgotten that entitlement to one’s opinion is not equal to entitlement to facts. It is easy to manipulate and provide altercations without really addressing the most pressing issues at hand. It is like a modern-day divide-and-conquer strategy, but instead of foreign invaders, we are now influenced by our fellow Filipinos and it is now usually done via the internet and social media platforms.

[OPINION] On the Filipino obsession with patriotism and heroism

On realigning our values

The effects of academic neutrality and rather, lack of academic freedom even in basic education, is massive. In fact, this neutrality has led to tolerance. The core values of maka-Diyos, maka-kalikasan, makatao, and makabansa are not evident anymore. I agree that it is open to different interpretations and practices, but we must not forget that these core values are place each one of us on the common ground. For example, how can we exhibit maka-Diyos as a core value if we support extrajudicial killings, human rights violations, and people who practice and/or have records of graft and corruption?

One of our problems is that we tend to tolerate any problematic issues because they are outside our personal boundaries. As a nation, many of us do not believe in collective efforts and actions towards social justice, emancipation, and progress. This is a reminderof Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance, wherein the more we tolerate anyone who does the slightest thing that can be considered as a red flag, the more they become powerful, which can result in intolerance.

We keep on focusing on our individuality that we have overlooked the real issues that we must address: structural inequality and poverty, the prevalence of political dynasties and warlords, lack of access to quality social services, work-related exploitation, human rights violations, fanaticism, among other things. As citizens, we must realize that we have become alienated by these structures that we keep on running in circles. I believe that this overhaul must start between the interaction of the teacher and students. As John Dewey has pointed out, education must be social. It must be in touch with reality and what solutions can be done in order for us to become proactive and engaging citizens. Once realized and implemented, there is still hope for a better Philippines – a country with progress in mind rooted in its core values. – Rappler.com

Juniesy Estanislao earned his Bachelor’s in Secondary Education, Major in Social Studies at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina in 2018. He currently teaches Araling Panlipunan subjects at the Junior High School of Ingenium School Inc., Marikina City. He is also currently taking up a Master of Arts in Philippine Studies, Major in Development Studies at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman.

Add a comment

Please abide by Rappler's commenting guidelines .

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

How does this make you feel?

Philippine Social Realities Affecting the Curriculum

Save to my list

Remove from my list

Introduction

Education in Philippines

Philippine Social Realities Affecting the Curriculum. (2016, Aug 20). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/philippine-social-realities-affecting-the-curriculum-essay

"Philippine Social Realities Affecting the Curriculum." StudyMoose , 20 Aug 2016, https://studymoose.com/philippine-social-realities-affecting-the-curriculum-essay

StudyMoose. (2016). Philippine Social Realities Affecting the Curriculum . [Online]. Available at: https://studymoose.com/philippine-social-realities-affecting-the-curriculum-essay [Accessed: 18 Sep. 2024]

"Philippine Social Realities Affecting the Curriculum." StudyMoose, Aug 20, 2016. Accessed September 18, 2024. https://studymoose.com/philippine-social-realities-affecting-the-curriculum-essay

"Philippine Social Realities Affecting the Curriculum," StudyMoose , 20-Aug-2016. [Online]. Available: https://studymoose.com/philippine-social-realities-affecting-the-curriculum-essay. [Accessed: 18-Sep-2024]

Factors Affecting Hidden Curriculum Pages: 4 (1174 words)
A Raisin in the Sun: Exploring Social Realities and Dreams on the Silver Screen Pages: 3 (705 words)
Rio's Favelas: Cinematic Exploration and Social Realities Pages: 11 (3196 words)
All American Boys: Voices Unveiled Exploring Social Realities Pages: 7 (2022 words)
Connections to Social Media Realities to the Cave Pages: 4 (1144 words)
Social Classes in America: Myths, Realities, and Perspectives Pages: 3 (740 words)
"Les Misérables" on Film: Love, Redemption, and Social Realities Pages: 3 (675 words)
IQ Testing Realities: Challenges and Social Implications Pages: 3 (733 words)
The difference between realities and dreaming in Midsummer Night’s Dream Pages: 5 (1416 words)
The Shifting Realities in Margaret Atwood's "Cat's Eye" Pages: 5 (1298 words)

Philippine Social Realities Affecting the Curriculum essay

👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!

Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

We're Hiring!
Help Center

Reimagining the Identity and Role of the Church in the Philippine Society Today

2019, SES JOURNAL

Since the election of the current Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in June 2016, the political sphere in the country has been a tumultuous site of struggle between the church and the state. Under this atmosphere, many Filipinos ask why the church has to interfere in the political affairs of the state. Underlying to this question is the problem on the nature of the church-state relations in the Philippines. The Catholic Church is clear about its socio-political task to safeguard and to promote social justice in the light of its moral and theological vision for society. Since the inception of the Catholic Social Teachings, the church never fails to assert its socio-political responsibility in society. To further the political vision of the church for society, Paul Ricoeur's idea of 'charity', where the church and the state are both seen as institutional bodies that share the same foundation in the pursuit of the common good, and Edward Schillebeeckx's emphasis on the eschatological foundation of the political task of the church, are considered and explored. Moreover, in situations where the church finds cooperation with the state

Related Papers

Ranilo B. Hermida

Whether religion has a place in the public sphere is a complex issue. Many thinkers believed that the rationalization process of modernity would result in secularization and banish religion into the private sphere. Religion has not only survived; it has even taken an active role in the political affairs of the state. This has been the case in countries like the Philippines where the publicity and activism of the Catholic hierarchy in the political public sphere of the country have been sustained and to some extent dominant. Said publicity and activism are carried out in the name of religion and the pursuit of a religious mandate accordingly. Although the reactions to such public involvement have not always been the same, these varying reactions still make sense in light of some theoretical understanding about the specifically political role of religion in the modern society. The aim of this paper is to make a modest contribution to such understanding by reflecting on the place and function of religion in the public sphere. It trains a special focus on the Philippine experience and employs mainly the view of Jürgen Habermas, an " agnostic and secular thinker " but one who has written extensively on the public sphere and recently revised his stance from thinking that religion will be overtaken by the rationalization of society to admitting that religion has something important to contribute in the public sphere.

Philippiniana Sacra

Aloysius Cartagenas

Steven Shirley

GUIDED BY GOD: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND POLITICAL LEGITIMACY IN THE PHILIPPINES Steven B. Shirley Old Dominion University, 2003 Director: Dr. Qiu Jin The developing world is witnessing a growing (some may say disturbing) trend towards "de-secularization" of national governments. This trend has been understudied and misunderstood over the past decade. Government experts and scholars alike too often view this trend through the lens of "threat" analysis and in so doing miss key cultural, historical, and political factors at work. This study attempts to redress this problem. By looking at political legitimacy and the role religious organizations such as the Catholic Church may play, a new understanding of how religious institutions can shape and mold governments and policies emerges. This study focuses specifically on the Republic o f the Philippines and the Catholic Church. The rationale is that Philippines is one o f the most interesting and intriguing nation-states...

Rene R Raneses

This paper explores how Catholic social action workers characterize and conduct social and charitable services in the context of partnerships with state institutions. The aim here is to complicate the rather simplistic but popular dichotomizations of religious actors as either reactionaries/perpetuators of political patronage on the one hand or as progressives/agents of democratic citizenship on the other hand. Although it is true that religious actors and organizations have historically expressed and withdrawn support from various political regimes – the Catholic church for instance has backed many dictatorships in the past especially in Latin America and in the Iberian peninsula but has also been widely recognized as instrumental to most “third wave” democratization processes (Philpott 2004; Berger 2004; Casanova 1994) – the impulse to cast them in such dichotomous terms and to uncritically deploy these labels conceals investitures of power that discursively reinforce dominant but also simultaneously enable possibly resistant forms of social practices. These dichotomies as will be argued here, first, fail to situate the analysis of the effects of church-state engagement within a broader socio-historical frame; and second, neglect a deeper, more intimate encounter and serious understanding of the subjectivity of religious actors and of the character of religious organizations. The first reflects a persistent yet heuristically inadequate (and possibly, ideological) separation of the spheres of church and state/secular and sacred/state and society, while the second indicates the desirability of a paradigm that privileges the analysis of political/religious action on the level of concrete practices and their unintended effects.

Politics and Religion Volume 13 No. 2: 381-384

Social Ethics Society Journal

Rhoderick John Abellanosa

As he moves closer to half of his term as president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Roa Duterte has continually been in friction with the Catholic Church, specifically with certain members of its hierarchy. Mainly identifiable as the dividing line between Duterte's administration and the Church is the issue on human rights particularly the extrajudicial killings (EJK) of suspected users and pushers of illegal drugs. This paper argues that Duterte's attitude and positioning towards the Catholic Church neither strengthen nor advance the Philippine state towards a greater degree of secularization. On the contrary, the Church has become more politically and publicly involved. Consequently, it has remained a key actor or interest group providing an alternative moral discourse to that of the government.

Jose Mario Francisco

As a country where more than 80% of the citizens belong to one religious group, the Philippines provides an interesting case study for the topic of our conference, Religions and Civil Society/State. This paper offers an analysis of the dynamics between Catholicism and Philippine society with special reference to two recent pastoral letters of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). These letters came from the entire body composed of all active and retired bishops, and were written for dissemination among Catholics throughout the country. The two letters issued in 1998 and 1999 focus on politics and culture respectively; hence their relevance to our conference theme.

Jinky Barbie

Studies in Language and Culture 49: 225-243

SATOSHI MIYAWAKI

This research note analyzes the pastoral statements of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for the past 10 years. It also checks the validity of Rivera (2011) that statements in 2010 are fruits of the vision of CBCP’s statement in 1986 democratization about lay initiative in partisan politics, as a result of successful normalization of the democracy in the Philippines, by reframing the election discourse with two concepts as the key: “circles of discernment” of political situation and candidates, and “principled partisan politics” led by the lay faithful. It concludes that in spite of the continued acceptance of these concepts in 10 years, clergies may have been tempted to be involved deeper in politics, because the church-state relations are far from normalized.

Jonathan T Chow

This chapter reviews Catholic teachings regarding human dignity and how the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)-the official representative of the Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines-has interpreted and attempted to implement them in several issue areas, including capital punishment, contraception, poverty, and electoral fraud. Catholic doctrine teaches that all people possess intrinsic dignity because they have been created in the image of God (the imago Dei), thereby imposing certain moral principles regarding the treatment of oneself and others, including solidarity, the preferential option for the poor, and the sanctity of human life. The Church's application of these teachings in the Philippines has taken on distinct local characteristics shaped by high levels of societal poverty, economic inequality, and corruption, as well as the Church's historically strong political influence. The Catholic bishops have harnessed the concept of human dignity to point out dehumanizing practices in Philippine society and call for greater respect for the sanctity of human life. In recent decades, though, the Church's moral authority in the Philippines has been severely challenged by changing political dynamics, revealing the limits of its ability to promote Catholic teachings on human dignity.

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.