Culture in the Philippines

Pakikisama and Utang na Loob. Pakikisama roughly means "getting along" and requires individuals overlook slight improprieties or indiscretions for the sake of preserving peace within the family, personal, or business relationship. Utang na Loob refers to the custom of paying back one favor with another (2). These traits emphasize the importance that Filipino people place on maintaining pleasant interpersonal relationships and puting the needs of the group ahead of the individual.

More than 80% of the population of the Philippines is Roman Catholic. Fiestas in honor of the patron saint of a town are quite common. Criticism of the Catholic church is not taken lightly - and should be avoided (2).

In the Philippines, people greet each other with a handshake. A smile or raised eyebrows can mean "Hello" or "Yes". Someone can be summoned with a downward wave of the hand (3).

Tourism

Anyone with a valid passport (from a country in which the Philippines has diplomatic relations) may enter the Philippines for up to 21 days without a visa. All travelers should keep in mind, however, that is costs P500 to leave the country.

The Philippines has much to offer tourists and sight-seerers: mountains, beaches, caves, and markets filled with exotic goods. Hotels range in price from about $50.00 per night to several hundred dollars per night. A tax of 15% is added to the cost of each room.

Philippine Culture

Philippine history is a very rich and interesting topic. The Philippines can really have many ways to be proud, from the colorful variety of the local cultures to its natural geography. It boasts different cultures and traditions that came from different places all over the areas of the Philippines. Upon reading the article given, I have put in mind new knowledge that I have never encountered before. I have learned some of the variations of Filipinos like those who like to wear four-inch shoes and those who prefers barefoot. Varieties on Filipino culture fascinate me because that is the reason why travellers from all over the world are interested to visit our country. Although I also pity some Filipino groups who are seldom visited by tourists because they get choosy on what they will visit. They should have just tried to visit or see every Filipino culture. Dividing the Filipino people into two groups seems inappropriate for me because we should all be treated with equality and without a speck of discrimination in the minds of the tourists. A quote that goes “Don’t judge a book by its cover” may be the best way to compare and contrast the people that thinks that the cultural groups of the Philippines are only bases on biological and racial characteristics. I agree with the passage that it is not true. The people who try to think that way may not know that the groups of Filipinos are varied by the language they speak, the religion they practice and the beliefs they bear. The Filipino groups also do not practice calling themselves the majority or minority of the country and that is something to be proud of because it does not show prejudice. In contrast to my preliminary reaction, I think that if Filipinos are already united and not divided into many groups when the Spaniards arrived, we should have repelled them and have fought for our freedom right from the start. The unconquered group may have been the majority and only a few conquered may have just risen at that time. Bearing many cultures and traditions carry positive and negative things to the Philippines. I don’t think that the Americans are right in saying that the imbalances are caused by natural scientific order because we carry our own future and they usurped us so it just right that we react. I think it is right for me not to support the statement that our Filipino inequalities are NOT the result of greed and oppression. I rightly think that we are what we are because of what the earlier colonizers did to us and so we adapted and carried the trait that rose in time of the oppression period. Overall, I still think that Philippine history has so many things to teach me for me to understand the reasons that we are what we are today. Philippine cultural groups are also good for the tourism of the country and we should help hand in hand to eliminate the threat of discrimination against each race that we do not belong to. By doing this, we are slowly rebuilding a united Philippine with the same cause to improve our country and ourselves.