Filipinos today are far from the "True Filipino" books and scholars would describe. Filipino culture is so mixed-up that make late Filipinos forget their origins. Philippines as to be described today is a damaged culture.
Looking back from the country's history, numerous countries had colonized the Philippines and demanded their culture to be the dominant one. Ever since the colonization of the country from different colonizers, the Philippines had lost many of its originality, however some Filipino traits and characters are passed on until today's generation.
Although most of the Filipinos today are practicing western culture and they're even studying their culture more than their historical origins, some "True Filipino" unique character are still noticeable.
What I mean by "True Filipino" character? Well basing it from my observations, Filipinos have distinct characters and mannerisms. For example, even though dressed in american fashion, Filipinos have this distinct type of communication that only another Filipino can understand. For example, when in strange place, calling for an attention would be a simple "psst" and that intended person would stop and would speak to you if necessary. Also the concept of "kwan" is like part of every Filipinos unique conversation.
Other example is being family-oriented people. In some foreign culture, families were not as connected as Filipino families. Young people when they reached 18 are free from the responsibility of parents. They can do whatever they like independently. Also the most common practice is when their parents are now very old and that children cannot take care of them because they also have their own family to take care of, old people are confined in a home for the aged. Such practice may be seen as an abomination in the Philippines.
Another is the trait of being melodramatic. Filipino people really do love soap operas that would evoke overwhelming emotions, either anger or sadness. Looking at the Filipino soap operas from the time that I remember, from Mula Sa Puso until Mara Clara today, those films always have a protagonist that is always a victim of pain and humiliation from the antagonist, mostly females. This type of story is what attracts Filipino and thus become addictive to the show. They love the sense of anger they would feel for the antagonists and sadness/pain for the protagonist.
There are many unique character and traits that can be named on Filipinos today. Despite living in a hybrid culture, that affected the Filipino self identity, real Filipinos do exist. At this time, I would say that hybridity is what defines Filipino. They may have learned different kind of cultures or loves different type of arts, the real filipino uniqueness remain on them. The sense of hardworking, the trait of being family-oriented, and the way of communicating with fellow Filipino are still in tact.
Indeed it is hard to trace the orginality of Filipinos however what we can see in todays Filipinos are what defines todays Filipino. A multicultural race that can fit any part of the world. I think this is one advantage for Filipinos to adapt more easily to other parts of the country. From this perspective, I would say that being a damaged culture is not something to be looked at as negative but as something positive. Hybridity is what defines Filipinos today.
I AGREE!
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