Philippine Culture

So far, we have discussed about Philippine Culture, with Ms. Monica Ramos as our lecturer.

The objective of today's lesson is to familiarize us to the Philippine Culture, to understand more about it and to enlarge our vision and have a better idea on how to deal with people and their local culture.

People have different perspectives and even if we do belong in the same country, we do differ in values, beliefs and views in life, and that comprises the culture collectively.

With this lesson, I have opened my mind into understanding the people more than before, that I as someone new to their community (willing to help and serve) shall be sensitive enough to deal with people in order to have a better feel on what I can contribute or what is needed to the community.

It is important to take in consideration that some people do things because of a certain reason; may it be lack of knowledge or what. It is better to ask yourself first why they are acting as such and not conforming to the norms of the society, not judging eventually just because it is different on the society you grew up with.

For example, if a certain locality is under-developed or lacks technological advancement, it is better to know first the reason behind it. It is understanding the people more and putting yourself in that situation, and from there, work on how to improve the conditions and aspects affecting that locality for them to live a better life.

The common mistake is to relate the said "Philippine Culture" to what is "natural" or "original". Thus, we tend to think that Philippines' culture is more of an extinct or damaged one, when in fact it is continuously growing, just not the "natural", we seem to have learnt from our History textbooks back when we are in elementary or highschool.

Every Filipino is a citizen of the Philippines, thus, everyone contributes in the culture of the country. Thus, means that each can bring a different kind of culture and not stick to the ideology of wearing Baro't Saya / Barong Tagalog (because it is the Pambansang Kasuotan) or whatever Pambansang-ano we have, just to “represent” the “Filipino culture”. It is therefore wrong to imply that the Filipino culture resorts with these symbolisms/known values which were imposed only to conform to the “culturally-competitive country” ideology they want for the Philippines to be seen as.

Therefore, each of us should learn to be open with local culture. It is important to respect each other’s point-of-views, to create a win-win relationship with each other, and create a better output, which would improve life conditions and resolve problems within a society or locality.

Each small step shall be for the benefit of everybody.

In giving service, this means that we should not feel that we are of the same condition as of to those who we will be serving. More so, we should understand deeply their actions and beliefs before we can continually and worthily serve them, and serve them best.