Filipino is a language under the Austronesian language family. It is the national language of the Philippines, and one of the two official languages of the country, with English. It is a standardized variety of Tagalog based on the native dialect, spoken and written, in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region, and in other urban centers of the archipelago. The 1987 Constitution mandates that Filipino be further enriched and developed by the other languages of the Philippines.
The culture of the Philippines is characterized by cultural and ethnic diversity. Although the multiple ethnic groups of the Philippine archipelago have only recently established a shared Filipino national identity, their cultures were all shaped by the geography and history of the region, and by centuries of interaction with neighboring cultures, and colonial powers. In more recent times, Filipino culture has also been influenced through its participation in the global community.
Philippine literature is literature associated with the Philippines from prehistory, through its colonial legacies, and on to the present.
Pinoy is a common informal self-reference used by Filipinos to refer to citizens of the Philippines and their culture as well as to overseas Filipinos in the Filipino diaspora. A Pinoy who has any non-Filipino foreign ancestry is often informally called Tisoy.
Filipino psychology, or Sikolohiyang Pilipino, in Filipino, is defined as the philosophical school and psychology rooted on the experience, ideas, and cultural orientation of the Filipinos. It was formalized in 1975 by the Pambansang Samahan sa Sikolohiyang Pilipino under the leadership of Virgilio Enriquez, who is regarded by many as the father of Filipino Psychology. Sikolohiyang Pilipino movement is a movement that created to address the colonial background in psychology in the country. It focuses on various themes such as identity and national consciousness, social awareness, and involvement, and it uses indigenous psychology to apply to various fields such as religion, mass media, and health.
Felipe Landa Jocano was a Filipino anthropologist, educator, and author known for his significant body of work within the field of Philippine Anthropology, and in particular for documenting and translating the Hinilawod, a Western Visayan folk epic. His eminence within the field of Philippine anthropology was widely recognized during his lifetime, with National Artist F. Sionil Jose dubbing him "the country's first and foremost cultural anthropologist"
In early Philippine history, the Tagalog settlement at Tondo sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Tondo, was a major trade hub located on the northern part of the Pasig River delta, on Luzon island. Together with Maynila, the polity (bayan) that was also situated on the southern part of the Pasig River delta, had established a shared monopoly on the trade of Chinese goods throughout the rest of the Philippine archipelago, making it an established force in trade throughout Southeast Asia and East Asia.
Filipino proverbs or Philippine proverbs are traditional sayings or maxims used by Filipinos based on local culture, wisdom, and philosophies from Filipino life. The word proverb corresponds to the Tagalog words salawikain, kasabihan (saying) and sawikain, and to the Ilocano word sarsarita. Proverbs originating from the Philippines are described as forceful and poetic expressions and basic forms of euphemisms. If used in everyday conversations, proverbs are utilized to emphasize a point or a thought of reasoning: the Filipino philosophy. One notable and locally popular example of a Filipino proverb is this: A person who does not remember where he (she) came from will never reach his (her) destination. Of Tagalog origin, it conveys and urges one person to give "importance in looking back at one’s roots and origins." The maxim also exemplifies a Filipino value known as the "utang na loob", one’s "debt of gratitude" to the persons who have contributed to an individual’s success. Damiana L. Eugenio, a professor from the University of the Philippines, author of Philippine Proverb Lore (1975), and who is also referred to as the "Mother of Philippine Folklore" grouped Filipino proverbs into six categories based on the topic expressed, namely: ethical proverbs, proverbs that recommend virtues and condemn vices, proverbs that express a system of values, proverbs that express general truths and observations about life and human nature, humorous proverbs, and miscellaneous proverbs.
In Philippine culture, loob or kalooban refers to one's inner self, or, more specifically, to the internal dimension of a person's identity. Its external counterpart is labas - the physical, outward appearance. Loob is a core concept in Filipino Psychology, a field which is unthinkable without both the internal and external dimensions, "loob"/"labas".
Utang na loob is a Filipino cultural trait which, when translated literally, means "a debt of one's inner self (loob)."
Since H. Otley Beyer first proposed his wave migration theory, numerous scholars have approached the question of how, when and why humans first came to the Philippines. The current scientific consensus favors the "Out of Taiwan" model, which broadly match linguistic, genetic, archaeological, and cultural evidence.
In early Philippine history, barangay is the term historically used by scholars to describe the complex sociopolitical units that were the dominant organizational pattern among the various peoples of the Philippine archipelago in the period immediately before the arrival of European colonizers. Academics refer to these settlements using the technical term "polity", but they are usually simply called "barangays".
Mano is an "honouring-gesture" used in Filipino culture performed as a sign of respect to elders and as a way of requesting a blessing from the elder. Similar to hand-kissing, the person giving the greeting bows towards the hand of the elder and presses their forehead on the elder's hand. Usually performed with the right hand, the person showing respect may ask "Mano po" or "[Pa-]bless po" to the elder in order to ask permission to initiate the gesture. Typically someone may mano to their older relatives upon entry into their home or upon seeing them.
Sulod, also known as Ligbok, is a Central Philippine language of the Suludnon indigenous people who reside in the mountain area of central Panay in the Philippines. It is closely related to the Karay-a language.
Filipinos all over the world may be far from their country, the Philippines, but that does not change the rules of sports or the impact of sports on the Filipino diaspora. The idea of sportsmanship and the values of an athlete transfer on Filipino Americans as well as values originating from the Philippines itself. Watching sports also make a huge impact on the Filipino American community in coherence with playing the sports. Sports brings Filipinos together no matter what distance from the Philippines they are and for many Filipino Americans it brings that sense of community and a sense of home. All sports, especially basketball, has a culture aspect among Filipino Americans and other Filipinos around the world.
The Indian influences in early Philippine polities, particularly the influence of the Srivijaya and Majapahit thalassocracies on cultural development, is a significant area of research for scholars of Philippine, Indonesian, and Southeast Asian history, and is believed to be the source of Hindu and Buddhist elements in early Philippine culture, religion, and language. Because the Indonesian thalassocracies of Srivijaya and Majapahit acquired many of these Hindu and Buddhist elements through Indianization, the introduction of such elements to early Philippine cultures has sometimes been referred to as indianization. In more recent scholarship, it is termed localization, as in, e.g., localization of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. Some scholars also place the Philippine archipelago within the outermost reaches of the Indosphere, along with Northern Vietnam, where the Hindu and Buddhist elements were not directly introduced by Indian travellers.
Virgilio G. Enriquez, also known as Doc E, was a social psychologist and the Father of Filipino psychology "Ama ng Sikolohiyang Pilipino". He was born on November 24, 1942, at Santol, Balagtas formally Bigaa, Bulacan. He was the youngest of 5 children to Arsenio Libiran Enriquez and Rosario Galvez Gaspar. He is the founder of the Pambansang Samahan sa Sikolohiyang Pilipino,.
"Walang utang na loob" is a Filipino expression used to describe ungratefulness or the act of disregarding a "debt of gratitude". It is related to the Filipino cultural trait utang na loob, which literally means "debt of one's inner self (loob)" and is often translated to "debt of gratitude".
Pakikisama is an abstract psychological concept in Filipino culture that is considered a key value of Filipino society. Pakikisama is translated literally to “get along with,” or to “to go along with” other people. Additionally, the concept of pakikisama is often interpreted as having an interpersonal relationship where people are friendly with each other. It has also been described as "making the other feel welcome, safe, and nurtured". The word itself connotes a willingness to yield to the decision of the majority so as to have a unanimous decision amongst the members of the group.
Albert "Paring Bert" Eduave Alejo is a Filipino Jesuit, anthropologist, activist, and Tagalog poet. His areas of interest include: corruption and violence and the formation of social conscience; intercultural and interreligious dialogue; social research; and creative writing.
