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Filipinos are big on smiles. They smile when they praise, they smile when they criticize; they smile when they are embarrassed and have caused some minor offense; they smile when they need something from you; they smile when they are happy; and for any reason. A waiter who spills soup on your shirt apologizes with an embarrassed smile; a jeepney driver cutting in front of your moving vehicle smiles in lieu of asking your leave- or is it in triumph at putting one over you? It doesn’t matter, the best response in Manila’s hopeless traffic tangle, in the broiling noonday heat, is to smile back. |
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Filipino Supersitious Beliefs on Good Luck 1. Throwing rice at newlyweds will bring prosperity throughout their life and they will have good children. 2. If one catches the bride’s bouquet after a wedding ceremony, she will also get married soon. 3. One should open his window early in the morning so that grace will come in. |
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Filipino Superstitious Beliefs Related to Death 1. If a black butterfly lingers around a person, it means that one of his relatives has just died. 2. No one should go out before the utensils used in eating have been washed and put away; otherwise a member of the family will die. 3. One must not organize teams of 3 or 13, otherwise one member will die. 4. Eating sour fruits at night will cause the early death of one’s parents. |
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You are driving along the motorway when suddenly a boy dashes in front of you and you hit him. What would you do? Foreigners would say, you get out and find help and apologize the boys parents. WRONG! Not in the Philippines! In instances like this it is better to pick the boy up immediately and take him to the nearest hospital. It would be very risky to linger in the site because as more village folk gather at the scene the emotional atmosphere builds up; a mob of the injured boy’s relatives could get physical. Should one find himself involved in a road accident, where a mob has started to grumble, it may be better to drive off quickly and report to the nearest police station. Village and town folks in the Philippines are of one or two kin groups’, they will definitely sympathize with the victim, who is a kin, and resent the outsider. The Filipino family displays great solidarity. Emphasizing loyalty and support of the blood group, frequently to the neglect of social organization of broader dimensions such as town or nation or even law… |
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Filipino Funeral Practices Difference Between Filipino Mourning and Western Mourning Western funerals requires silence and stiff decorum; they require that the privacy of the bereaved be respected since they are supposed to want to be alone and includes a suspension of all references to the material facts of every day for example food and money. The Filipinos “paglalamay ” or “vigil”, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of this. In the Philippines, the body of the deceased is laid out in a coffin, placed in the funeral parlor or in the family’s house, the relatives gather, people come and go, express condolences and contribute money for the funeral expenses. There is hustle and bustle of activities, people standing by and gossiping; young boys and girls play word games and flirt at the door; there’s gambling tables set up and food served, with general merriment, singing and guitar-playing going on throughout the night. |
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Arms akimbo is considered arrogant, challenging and angry, a posture that will not win you friends or make you popular in a good way. It is often used to intimidate or as a sign of imposing authority by such people as a policeman about to issue a traffic ticket. A respectful greeting, particularly for elders or for a godson to his godfather, is to place the elder person’s hand or knuckles on one’s forehead called “pagmamano”. This is the traditional Filipino acknowledgment of respect for elders. Sad to say this practice is starting to disappear in families living in the cities and is now being replaced by the western kiss. |
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Filipino Words One Needs To Learn II Pasalubong “Pasalubong” is a Tagalog word meaning “souvenir”. In the Philippines it has acquired the meaning of a small gift or souvenir from someone travelling either whilst visiting or upon returning home. The literal meaning of pasalubong is to “greet”, “surprise” or “meet with”. Travellers or holiday-makers bring back gifts for kin and friends, even if the trip is just to a nearby town: some special food the place is noted for-strawberries from Baguio, pineapple from Tagaytay, Ojaldres biscuits from the Visayas, pastilles from Bulacan, turron from Pampanga. Travelling abroad is often a shopping chore when you are required to buy relatives’ and friends’ “pasalubong”-(a greeting gift). Pasalubong is very popular among Filipinos if good relations are to be maintained. The gesture of handing out “pasalubong” conveys that loved ones or friends are being remembered. Pasalubong can range from food items such as fruits, imported confectionery goods and other sweets. Pasalubong can also be other items such as shirts, novelty items, knives and toys etc. If it is something that can be bought or wrapped, it’s a pasalubong. Pasalubong is also used in daily or frequent interactions or greetings with family members commonly when coming home from work. Fastfood, toys, snacks or fruits are given to family members as a sign of thoughtfulness and care. |
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Other Filipino Supersitious Beliefs 1. If a person bites his tongue, it means somebody is thinking of him. 2. A girl with white spots on her fingernails is inconstant in love. 3. It is bad to sweep the floor at six o’clock in the evening for it means driving away good fortune and graces. 4. It is bad to sweep the floor when there are people playing cards or gambling because luck is being swept away. 5. One should not open an umbrella while inside a house; a centipede is likely to fall from the ceiling and he will be bitten by it. |
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Filipinos mark the celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day on the 1st and 2nd day of November every year. But how do we celebrate these days? There isn’t much difference in the celebration of these 2 days in our culture. The government declares these days as national holidays. October 31st is usually a non-working holiday. |
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Learning the following words is important as they reflect a lot about the Filipinos’ personality: Food to Filipinos Food is very very very important to Filipinos. It’s like they always fear of running short of food, and everywhere he goes the Filipino must have, as a security blanket, abundant provisions to reassure him that he will not starve to death. There is no gathering of Filipinos without food. The usual greeting, ”Kumain ka na ba?” (“Have you eaten?”) is very normal and acceptable. It is standard hospitality to offer visitors not just a drink but food, be it only biscuits or rice cakes. Eating in front of others and not offering to share is rude. The most constant and visible growth in everywhere in the Philippines has been in restaurants. A sojourn to the beach which consists of a safari of food bundles will not seem sufficient unless there are stops at fruit shops for more supplies. Even a trip to see a film will require provisions. Office workers would eat on their desks at lunch and take constant coffee breaks. In some schools “recess time” is included in a student’s daily schedules. Youngsters bring food to school for their recess time (this is different from lunch). Most Filipinos feel bad not eat somewhere when they go out. A meeting or even just window shopping always entails eating. |
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