Philippine Culture

Culture plays a vital role in molding members of a country or society who are dependent
in the norms and mores they have. Sometimes, these patterns of behaviors govern people as
their standard basis of what are considered acceptable or taboo. Moreover, in culture, visible
and invisible aspects are also found that are essential guide on how people handles their
everyday lives. However, these social patterns are not necessarily a driving force to control the
lives of the members; rather they serve as a point of reference.

In the setting of Philippine culture, visible aspects can be found on the way people dress,
talk, the motifs found in their houses, also the way people behave in public places. These
actions are influenced by the type of orientations they have which are distinct to each other. It
should also be considered that through these beliefs, ideologies of people are also affected.
Filipinos are generally considered as conservative, especially on the way they present
themselves in the public. Originally, women are assumed to be cautious on the how they dress,
and men are less expected. However, nowadays, there are certain changes in the fashion
statements of Filipinos. People are now influenced by foreign technique in dressing up. In
addition, Filipinos are also known as religious, that is why people base how they dress in
accordance to what is acceptable in their religion or church. For example, Muslims wear distinct
outfit that are required to them, like the hijab for females. Furthermore, features in the structures
in Philippines are mostly Spanish architecture, especially ancient houses and buildings. Modern
day architectures are mixed kind of styles where designs are also in accordance with the
climate in the Philippines.

For the invisible characteristics of Philippine culture, it is highly viewed that people are
dependent on the traditions and customs that their religion has. There are number of different
religions found in Philippines, examples are the Christians (which have different sub-religions),
Muslims for Islam and tribal groups who follows another religion. For instance, Catholics mainly
base their actions on the moral traditions of the church which includes respecting the parents
and the elderly. This is also the reason why Filipinos are widely known as family oriented
because of people are reliant to what their religions says, and that is to value family and love
one another. Also, Filipinos are fun of fiestas (celebrating patron saints). There are distinct ways
on how families celebrate their fiesta, but what is universally present in any fiesta celebration is
the mass offered to the patron saint of a community. During festival, people tend to be friendly
and hospitable to visitors, both familiar people and strangers. It is already practiced that a lot of
guests will visit the houses with or without an invitation from the owner. However, not all do this
tradition because of some practical reasons and for security purposes.

Philippines is rich in cultural diversity because of the geographical structure of the

country that makes some communities isolated to another group thus allowing them to make
their own custom. In line with this, Filipinos are distinct to each other which is why generalizing
is hard and will not suffice other cultural patterns. Lastly, the presence of globalization makes a
great impact to some traditions that make alterations to what was already practiced by the older
generation. What is important is that we should not take these changes as a hinder to the
preservation of our beliefs and customs, instead make these as an agent to development and
as a bridge of the past and present state of the Cultural Revolution.