Centino, Annie Mae S.

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 My Community Map
Iloilo City- the city of love, my humble abode for the past 20 years. As you can see in my

illustration, I am born and raised in the City of Love and through which I have adapted

the culture of true Ilonggos. Many of the traits of Ilongos are hardly unique from others.

You can see that Ilonggos are very devoted with the Lord and a proof would be the

number of old churches here in Iloilo City like the National Shrine of Nuestra Señora De

Candelaria in Jaro. Growing up in Iloilo, my parents have opened my eyes to the true

essence of worship since we do Sunday Masse and do the rosary every night. They also

send me to a Catholic school to be imbued with good values. Ilonggos are known to be

the friendliest people in the country. They are warm, welcoming and very hospitable thus

growing up here made me a very hospitable person when my friends from Cebu are

coming here. When we have guest coming over, they are really amazed by how my Mom

and Dad cooks well and in my opinion Ilonggos have a very good taste when it comes to

cooking since a lot of international chefs are from Iloilo. Cooking is a bonding for us

Ilonggos especially for me and my family because we own a simple restaurant that has

been a staple in every Ilonggo. The love of coffee may not be from an Ilonggo Culture,

but I got it from my mom because she studied in La Salle in Negros and often the

Negrense’s hacienderos would always go out and have coffee so I have adapted it as well.

Ilonggos have a sense of passion when it comes to learning. I am awed when my Achi

tells me that she aced a test because all she did was listen to her teacher in school. I am

convinced that Ilonggos are highly educated and teachers have passion in teaching and

that explains why top universities are situated here in Iloilo for the whole Western

Visayas. As time goes by, Iloilo has been influenced by Chinese People, as a matter of

fact, you ought of find a lot of Chinese stores in downtown Iloilo. In Chinese belief, we

children should be responsible in handling a business. So when I was at a young age, I

would be working part time at our store or work on papers needed for our business and up

until now, I still help my parents in our family businesses. Culture is diverse, it creates an

identity for a society .From the Ilonggo,Negrense and Chinese culture that I have

embodied, it has shaped me to have my own identity as a person in which I can

distinguish myself from other people. This set of beliefs and culture has molded and

formed a strong and independent women that I am today. Just always remember this quote

from Bobby Jindal, “Our culture, language, and values are vital to uniting us as a nation.”