I am Filipino “ Can they smell that aroma in me?”

Every race around the world has different culture and beliefs and in that difference sometimes they even fight because of that contrast. One of the races known around the world is the Filipino. The Filipino people (Filipino: Mamamayang Pilipino) or Filipinos are an ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. According to the 2010 Census, there were 92,337,852 in the Philippines and about 10-12 million living outside the Philippines. There are around 180 languages spoken in the Philippines, most of them belonging to the Austronesian language family, with Tagalog and Cebuano having the greatest number of native speakers. The official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and English and most Filipinos are bilingual or trilingual.

The Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 300 years, leaving what can now be called Filipino culture and people semi-Hispanicized. Under Spanish rule, most of the Filipino populace embraced Roman Catholicism, yet revolted many times to its hierarchy. Due to a colonial program, almost all inhabitants adopted Spanish surnames from the Catálogo alfabético de apellidos published in 1849 by the Spanish colonial government. As neither past governments nor the modern National Statistics Office account for the racial background of an individual, the exact percentage of Filipinos with Spanish ancestry is unknown. What is being a Pinoy all about–aside from pointing with our lips and having an action star for our President? It’s our character. Filipinos are carry many qualities which set them apart as people. One of that characteristic is the strong belief of the Supreme Being or also known as Faith of God.

Filipino may have different religions in different sectors of our country, but what is consistent is that we have one strong form of faith in the Supreme Being. Supreme being also known as God/Diyos for Christians or in Islamic as Allah, sometimes called as Bathala, Kabunian, Ginoo, and others. We Filipino are also known as respectful because of the great respect for our elders. Other countries call their elders by their name but here in Philippnes we used Kuya, Ate, Lola, Lolo, Tito, Tita, Mama, Papa and more. From the “mano” to saying “po” and “opo” to our elders, these words that are part of our language show how we respect people. In our culture we always respect and follow what our parents and adults advise us to do. Not talking back, and trusting the adults around us has always been a part of who we are.

One of the examples of the respect is following the beliefs by our elderly. Traditional Pilipino values have clearly influenced beliefs and practices pertaining to child rearing, medical care, disability, and death and dying. Each of these areas is detailed in the following sections with respect to more traditional views. Formal studies of Pilipino child-rearing beliefs and practices have shown considerable consistency in their findings (Church, 1986). Moreover, the specific socialization patterns and training for desirable childhood traits and behaviors (particularly during infancy/toddlerhood and early childhood) are highly consistent with other Asian cultural groups. However, Pilipino child-rearing beliefs and practices are reinforced within a traditional family structure and extended family system with characteristic similarities and differences relative to other Asian cultures.

Filipinos are also having close family ties. We enjoy having and knowing family members are around us. From cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, some family’s share their homes celebrate holidays and lends a hand to a relative in times of need. The complete centrality of family life and the importance of family loyalty, obligation, and interdependence are previously described. These values are supported by a family structure and kinship ties that reflect the multicultural Pilipino heritage. Having withstood Hispanic Catholic influence, the ancient Malay tradition of equality between men and women translates into a bilateral extended kinship system. Both the mother’s and father’s lineages are of equal importance. Thus, for example, names may be inherited through the male line or both the father’s and mother’s family name; it is not unusual for the mother’s maiden name to be given as a child’s middle name. Inheritance patterns further call for equal division between daughters and sons (Aquino, 1981; UPAC, 1980).

The Filipinos are a helpful people. They live the members of their family, their relatives, neighbors, friends and even strangers. If the family is poor, the members help one another and the elders sacrifice for the education of the younger ones. The bayanihan spirit makes it possible for the people to build houses, move houses, plant crops, harvest crops, build roads and other things with little expense. The people of the community help one another in doing this. Bayanihan is also an occasion for fun because it brings the people of the community together. It means getting together or helping one another in a common project or work. Many hands make light work is the idea behind the bayanihan. When we have people visit our homes, we always welcome them with smiles, conversations, and foods. This is one of the most popular qualities of Filipinos.

Foreigners who have gone to the Philippines find themselves falling in love for their hospitality. It’s a different kind of values which already existed thousands of years ago. Examples of hospitality that they show not only to foreign but also to their fellow citizens. This is observed when one person has nothing and they tend to share what they have to them. When one visits a friend’s house, they greet them with a very warm welcome. They let their visitor sit down and prepare them a meal or a snack plus drinks for them. They may not want you leave the house with an empty stomach. They make sure you had a great time visiting them. They offer their guest room to their visitors if they’re going to spend the night with them.Meals offered are very special, if not, they make a way to prepare great tasting food that their visitor wanted to eat. Majority of our livelihood in the Philippines is based on agriculture. It takes a lot of back-breaking work to plant the fields.

Them it takes patience to care, water and to harvest. We Filipinos are hardworking people to the fact that they are willing to work several time to almost whole day just to feed their families. That’s how Filipinos are. One example of a hardworking person is a farmer, they earn so little but still they tend to work very hard for few bucks. Filipinos always find ways to earn for a living like putting up a small business from their home wherein they sell foods or other items for the convenient of their neighbors as well. . During the times we don’t have means to accomplish something, we find ingenious ways f using what we have to solve our problems that’s why we are also known as resourceful and creative. And because we’ve been through a lot of trials in our history, Filipinos have learned not to be depress. Rather, we find jokes and have fun even during our difficulty.

An Asiawide (minus Japan) consumer survey has found that Filipinos and Thais are the happiest in the region while people of Hongkong worry about their jobs, the economy and their waistlines. The survey was conducted before the outbreak of SARS in China and elsewhere. The survey report, made by the advertising group TBWA Hongkong, was based on focus groups and five major surveys over three years in seven Asian locations. There were more that 15,000 respondents with a bias towards those aged 25 to 35 who were thought to lead the culture in Asia. The report, titled “marketing Premium Brands in Asia”, said Hong Kong people scored minus 27 on the researchers’ happiness index, compared to minus six in Taiwan, minus two on the mainland, plus six in Singapore, 10 in Malaysia , 11 in Thailand and 12 in the Philippines.

The index compared the number of people who classified themselves as “very happy or “happy” against those who said they were “unhappy” or “very unhappy”. Those who said they were “okay” were excluded. Filipinos were not only the happiest among those surveyed, but were also the least body-conscious. Only 18 percent regarded themselves as overweight compared with 47 percent of Hongkongers saying they were “too fat” or “a bit fat”. We also don’t like to waste anything since we don’t have a lot. We are careful of what we have, knowing that it will serve as for a long period time which also make us Filipinos thrifty and frugal. The Filipinos held their womenfolk in high regard. The women where highly respected. When walking together, men walked behind them. They were accorded equal rights to men by their customary laws, like they could own and inherit properties.

They could also engage in trade and industry.The alone enjoyed the privilege of giving names to their children. When there was no male successor to become chief of barangay, a woman could become one. Filipinos are the sweetest and loving people in the world. I don’t know why, I’m not saying this because Im a Filipino but dude, you’ve got to know them well. Men are so sweet and romantic when it comes to love, they will send you flowers, bring you to a very romantic place, they text you sweet quotes and often tell you how special you are to them. Filipino women are also romantic and very caring, that makes foreigners want to marry a kind like them. Women tend to prepare dinner before their husband comes home. They are so loving that they value the relationship which make them so faithful to their husband. And they will love you for the fullest.