To Filipinos, “pakikisama” is a very important trait. “Pakikisama” is the ability of a person to get along with others to maintain good and harmonious relationships. It implies camaraderie and togetherness in a group and the cause of one’s being socially accepted. “Pakikisama” requires someone yielding to group opinion, pressuring him to do what he can for the advancement of his group, sacrificing individual welfare for the general welfare.

A person who has become successful in his field has to be very careful not to neglect his friends lest they accuse him of becoming very proud and considering them no longer worthy of his friendship. This is why there is so much warmth, backslapping and handshaking when Filipinos meet. The best compliment that a Filipino can say to another is that he hasn’t changed ( “hindi nagbabago”), meaning he still remains the person that he was socially accepted as. Conversely, one of the worst things that can be said of a person is that he has changed a lot which means has forgotten how to get along well with others/them thus making him socially unacceptable.

If given a choice between an employee who is very good in his job but had no “pakikisama” and therefore could not get along with the others and another who did not know his job but understood “pakikisama”, employers and co-workers alike would prefer the unskilled employee. Without “pakikisama” a worker, even if skilled, was considered worthless and might even in the future cause more harm than good to a business or a group.

Another reflection would be a politician who does not know how to get along with his constituents would very much likely lose in the next election. A personality of a Filipino is greatly measured by the way they get along with others.