The Filipino Mind

HOLY CROSS COLLEGE OF DAVAO
STA. ANA AVENUE, DAVAO CITY
S.Y. 2013-2014

Filipino Practices that Vanished through Time

HISTORY 1
TTH 12:30pm - 2:00pm
GYM 205

RESEARCHER
JASON ESPINOSA AMISOLA
AB-MC1
INTRODUCTION

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything (G. Shaw, 1944). Change is inevitable. Life is a matter of adaptation, a series of development. We must embrace change and adopt to the changes in order for us to survive. We often regard change as an upright concept; but what if it imposes a bad consequence?
In the Philippines, Filipinos are more hooked to foreign practices. They often neglect their own and tend to enjoy imported customs more that are dubbed as intercontinentally trendy. They see their own customs as inferior from others. Foreign practices became the norm and Filipino practices turned out to be the unusual. Living abroad became the dream of many Filipinos. "If it were only possible, I would migrate to another country and live there" (Asis, 2006).
Filipinos are known to be hospitable. And due to great hospitality, Filipinos tend to always accept different culture. Thus forgetting what culture they used to. Filipinos are also known for their nationalistic campaign which was strengthened by the Department of Tourism (DOT). The main idea of the campaign revolves in the statement: “Tangkilin ang sariling atin.”
Cliché as it may sound but Filipinos do not live by it. Skechers, havaianas, converse and crocs’ sales reach hundred millions a year while Marikina Shoes industry is still struggling to prove its quality to the Filipino consumers. A kid prefers to eat Hershey’s kisses rather than enjoy Goya chocolate. The Hunger Games and other Hollywood films get more audiences than Ang Babae sa Septic Tank and other Filipino movies. The current trend in the Philippines is very far from what former President Carlos P. Garcia had envisioned when he initiated the Filipino First Policy during his administration. The program’s main objective was to free the Philippine economy from foreign control and supervision. Although there are Filipinos who try to follow the path of nationalism that Jose Rizal and other heroes had taken, there are more who are driven by colonial mentality.
This study gyrates about the different practices that ceased to exist nowadays. It presents the cause on why those Filipino cultures are being stepped down by the foreign traditions and practices. It also presents the effects of these changes the Filipinos are experiencing right now, effects that are graver than what Filipinos realize and imagine.

CONTENT

A. The Filipinos are known for expressing their love in terms of courtship through the so-called “Harana” where the boy serenades the girl he is courting with love songs. The young man also serves the girl’s family by performing daily chore such as chopping wood, mending the fence, etc. These actions originated in the past when boys were too shy to court the girls directly and parents arranged the marriages of their children. Engagement and marriage are two events where the provinces in the Philippines differ in their rituals and practices. A bride is not supposed to try her wedding gown before the wedding as this could bring bad luck. But in this modern era, courtship are happening through text or other social mediums and sometimes, a girl is the one who courts the boy, forgetting the being “Maria Clara” of the past culture.