Calendar of Events

These traditional holidays of the Philippines have much value to the country’s citizens. As can be seen, all of these holidays commemorate those who fought and died for Philippine independence thus creating greater value for the Philippines.

Traditional Holidays

9/4 - Bataan Day or Day of Valour

The country commemorates the Philippine and American soldiers who lost their lives defending the peninsula of Bataan in the Philippines against the Japanese.


30/8 - National Heroes Day

This commemorates the efforts of the Katipunan. This revolutionary group of rebels’ main goal was to gain independence from Spain.

1/11 - All Saint’s Day

Catholic Filipinos remember their loved ones by decorating graves with flowers, favourite foods of their loved ones and candles.

30/11 - Bonifacios Day

Bonifacio Day honours the birth of Santiago Bonifacio who started the Philippine Revolution against Spain.

30/12 - Rizal Day

Rizal Day remembers the death of Jose Rizal, who was essentially the founder of the Katipunan rebellion group.

Religious Holidays

This includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday and Easter Sunday, in short, known as Holy Week.

Easter Sunday is a normal day in Philippines, while Thursday, Friday and Saturday are virtual ghost towns. Holy Week is a solemn event of reflectiveness because this is the week that Christ died. In the past, the Cable TV went off of the air for the entire week.

Festivals

For the Filipinos themselves, every year the festivals and processions are days of great joy and happiness. Fiestas or any community celebration usually feature music, dancing, and food feasts.

1. Ati-Atihan

The festival is a Catholic festival in honour of Santo Niño. It is a colourful happening with celebrants who paint their faces in many different ways and are dressed in the most exceptional costumes. The dancing on the rhythm of drums makes this festival comparable with carnival Rio in Brazil!

2. Sinulog

Celebrated in Cebu City, it is a long parade with many dressed in colourful costumes while dancing the Sinulog, a traditional and ritual dance. The dance is accompanied by the sound of the drums: all the time moving two steps forward.

3. Black Nazarene

The largest procession in the country through the streets of Quiapo in metro Manila where barefooted men carry a black wooden statue of Jesus (of Nazarene) through the streets of Quiapo in Metro Manila.

Tourism Impacts

Authenticity of culture

There is a growing concern that tourism development is leading to destinations losing their cultural identity by catering for the perceived needs of tourists.

For example, commercialisation of traditional cultural events and customs is leading to ‘fake folklore’ for the tourists. The issue is the potential conflict between the economic and cultural interests, leading to culture being sacrificed for reasons of promoting tourism, at the expense of losing a cultural value.

Hence, the culture does not seem so authentic anymore because it seems that it is now staged for the purpose of commercialising and economic gains from the tourists rather than the understanding and meaning behind it.

According to Department of Tourism Cultural director, de los Reyes, because of commercialism, provinces all over the Philippines have created performances that have no historical basis. For instance, some municipalities have even copied well-known Filipino festivals and merged them with contemporary dances and pop music to appeal to visitors.

The effect of massive tourism development has affected the livelihood of people and on the environment. This has caused people a loss in livelihood as a result of displacements and disposal of lands in favour of tourism purposes.

Another concern is the sexual trafficking of children. Studies have shown that Philippines ranks fourth among nine nations with most children in prostitution—estimated to be between 60,000 to 100,000.

Authenticity of the culture of the Indigenous group – Aetas

Letty Gomez, chairman of the School of the Aetas in Zambales and leader of “Women of the Aetas”. She is all for preserving their culture and heritage.

She told The Times that they conduct theater plays not just for tourists but also for their fellow Aetas, particularly the younger ones, so that they will not forget their roots and way of life.

She said that younger Aetas would appreciate those programs more, because rather than seeing the acts on stage, they would actually be living in that environment.

Tourists can benefit because they can learn why their culture is such and hence, understand the behaviour of the Aetas.

In my opinion, negative tourism impacts such as commodification and loss of authenticity/staged authenticity are inevitable. As long as tourists just want a glimpse of the local atmosphere, a quick glance at local life, without any knowledge or even interest, staging will be inevitable.

Authenticity of the Aeta Culture

The video below will showcase the authenticity of the Aeta’s culture through music and dance where visitors were invited to participate.

This interaction between the Aetas and tourists are evident that there is an understanding between people and culture. One positive impact is to encourage civic involvement and pride which is no doubt evident and very apt in this video. The Aetas are still embracing and preserving their culture. Even in the presence of tourists, it remains unchanged and cultural exchange is taking place during the interaction while dancing.

In addition, here is an extract of what a tourist said of an Aeta man:

“Despite their small size, however, they are very skilled people. The traditional Aetas impress me more than many of the most well-learned doctorate-holding scholars bred by modern civilization today, simply because Aetas live naturally off the land. They are able to live off and live together with this tropical land. They have no sense or need for money and have subsistence down to an art.”

The tourist was thoroughly impressed by the Aetas’ coexistence with nature.

It is said that their land is their life. The continuity of their way of life are rooted in the land where they were born and have defined their humanity. Their land of origin in the mountains and forests of Mount Pinatubo is not only the source of their sustenance, it is also home to their identity and culture.

The Indigenous Group - Aetas

Aetas are dark skinned, short, small framed, kinky haired, snub nosed, with big black eyes that occupies the forests of Mt Pinatubo. They are believed to be the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippineswho arrived through land bridges that linked the country with the Asian mainland about 30,000 years ago. They are an important widespread ethnic group and to have retained their cultural identity through the centuries, they are the biggest in number.

Can you spot Mt Pinatubo?

Clothing  
Young women wear wrap around skirts. Elder women wear bark cloth strip that passes between the legs and attached with a string around their waist while elder men wear loin cloths.



Practices

The Aetas are skilful in weaving and plaiting.  Women weave winnows and mats. Men make armlets. They also produce raincoats made of palm leaves.

Art

A traditional form of visual art is body scarification. The Aetas intentionally wound the skin and then irritate the wounds with fire, lime and other means to form scars. The most common form is the etching found in their daily tools and implements. One example is the bamboo comb.

Music

Music is an integral part of Aeta cultural life. Rituals and ceremonies are incomplete without this. These instruments include a two string bamboo zither, bamboo flute, a gong, bamboo violin and a five-string guitar carved from solid wood.

Traditions

The Aeta religious practices include prayers and dances at certain occasions. The night before the pig hunt, Aeta women collect shellfish and perform a dance. This dance is meant to give thanks and apologize for the killing of fish, as well as pray for a successful hunt. Aeta men participate in a bee dance the night before and after journeys to collect honey. Overall, the Aeta religion involves prayer and dance surrounding large food-gathering events.

Dance
Some of the traditional Aeta folk dance include the Pandanggo sa Ilaw, Maglalatik and Sakuting.

Pandanggo sa Ilaw: Pandanggo requires
excellent balancing skill to maintain
 the stability of three oil lamps

Maglalatik: It has a four-part performance such as the palipasan
 and the baligtaran showing the  intense battle, the paseo and the
 escaramusa - the reconciliation 

The sakuting is a mock duel dance that interprets a mock fight between Ilokano Christians and non- Christians with training sticks as props.

Here's a video for your appreciation!

What makes up their Culture?

Core value 

The core value of the Philippine society is “hiya”, which controls the social and individual behavior of Filipinos. Hiya is a feeling of failure and triggers from deep inside shame and disgrace when Filipinos realise that they have violated the code of conduct and expectations of society.

Education

Adult literacy is over 95% in the country as education is highly valued.

Filipinos consider education the ticket to a more prosperous life. Most parents are convinced that education is their economic salvation that they are willing to sell land and properties to afford tuition and school expenses.

Religion

Catholicism is the predominant religion in Philippines. It adheres to the ancient worship rites and practices of the early, animistic Filipinos.

The government permits religious instructions to public schools with the written consent of parents. Local public schools also allow church groups to teach moral values in school.

Hospitality

The hospitality of the Filipino culture is one of the reasons why tourism in the Philippines is steadily growing. This is a common trait that Filipinos are known for to most foreigners.

In Filipino culture, serving other people with the best gives them honour and a promise of true friendship. A typical Filipino house is not complete without any facilities for guests. It is filled with new and nice-looking items reserved only for them while ordinary ones are for everyday use.

Family

Family relationships are the basic building block of Philippine culture and society. The family is the centre of the social structure. Social support provided by these close-knit communities is reflected in the absence of retirement homes.

Sports & Games

Sipa is considered the national sport of Philippines and is played by two to four people passing a small rattan ball back and forth using the feet. Every part of the body except the hands and arms may be used.

The national unofficial sport in the Philippines is basketball. It is so popular among Filipinos that virtually every government unit, similar to a village or town in the country has at least one basketball court.

Arts & Music

The Philippines is rich in historical plays, handicrafts, handbags, basketry and woodcarving.

Folk dances are popular. One example is tinikling, the use of bamboo poles and rhythmic jumping). The dances are usually done in groups.

Did You Know?

Upon embarking on my rsearch, here are some facts about Philippines:

• Tagalog is the National language.

• Philippines is the 12th most populous country in the world.

• The Philippines flag is the only flag in the world that is hoisted upside down when the country is in war.

• Philippines was the first Southeast Asian country to gain independence in 1946, following WWII.

• With more than 11 million Filipinos overseas, Philippines has the largest diaspora network in the world.

• Philippines is the world’s 3rd largest English-speaking nation, next to the USA and the UK.

• Asia’s oldest commercial airline still operating under its original name in the Philippine Airline.

Hope this builds up your understanding of the place!

My perception of Philippines

These are the few things that flash in my mind when I think about Philippines: 

1. A rather popular tourist destination because of its attractions such as Boracay, the reefs which serves as a diving destination and the Banaue rice terraces.
2. Its friendly people and that majority of its people are Roman Catholics.
3. Relatively unsafe country because of the dangers and natural disasters.
   

Honestly speaking, my knowledge of this country is little. Hence, by the end of this research, I hope to enrich my readers as well as enhance my own learning.

Welcome!

To start off, here’s a video on some culture and traditions of Philippines!

Enjoy!