Reflection 1: Philippine Society and Culture

Culture is what distinguishes a group of people from another. It is a collection of different beliefs, morals, customs, laws, etc., acquired through living together in a particular space. A culture is the basis for the reality a certain group of people subscribes to.

The Philippines is composed of many different groups of people with many different cultures. Because of this, it is difficult to find a single word that is all encompassing to describe the Filipino culture as a whole. Instead, different practices, beliefs, customs, etc., lend themselves as foundations in the building of the Philippine society.

As it is shaped by the conditions, situations and needs encountered in a certain environment, a culture is difficult to change. People who subscribes to a particular culture cannot be forced to believe in the things they do not see as “correct” by their standards. Outsiders should be open-minded, and should learn to accept people’s differences.

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Respect. This is one of the many things I’ve learned in UP. Not that I don’t respect my parents or people older than me before I came to the university. What I mean by respect is acceptance (or at least tolerance in some extreme cases) of other people’s beliefs, actions, etc., that are different from mine. I realized (or was made to realize) that there is an explanation for their deviant behaviour: I’m simply not the center of the universe.

There are no such things as barbaric, uncivilized and primitive. They are just derogatory terms coined by those conceited white males who wanted to rationalize their attempt to exploit other people. For all we know we look like aliens to some people from Papua New Guinea.

The discovery of the sun and the other planets not revolving around me led to my acceptance that what I do or what I believe in will not always be right. There are multiple realities, according to one sociologist. I came to accept that there are people like our neighbour who thinks it’s the norm to talk to her sons while they are out on the street and she is on the second floor of their multiple-storey house. There are others like my groupmates in an elective class, who think it’s fashionable to arrive two hours late when we’re already running out of time to do an assigned project. There are also those who think wearing a cap or hat inside the classroom is part of academic freedom and not at all disrespectful to the professor.

Respect is important. The world could’ve saved some lives from being wasted in wars if it only fully hugged respect. Unfortunately, there are people who label others “barbaric” without consulting first the mirror on the wall. What can be more “barbaric” and “uncivilized” than to start a war without thinking about the possible consequences? Or not stop a war when the realized consequences leave dead bodies of innocent children and women as evidence?

The word should be taught to children as soon as they can read and write. The concept should be introduced before they can walk or talk. Maybe this way, when their turn to run their country comes, they wouldn’t have a hard time looking up its meaning in the dictionary.