Hospitality: Common Denominator in the Filipino Character

People who have experienced being with Filipinos find them very hospitable. A common trait Filipinos are known to most foreigners who have traveled around the country. Although they are not the only people in the world who can be friendly and welcoming, their attitude towards other people is said to be exceptional. Even the humblest home along the road can serve as a shelter for a stranger who has lost his way. For Filipinos, serving other people the best of what they have leave them an honor and a promise of true friendship. A typical Filipino house is not completely called a home without any facility ready for unexpected visitors. 

They welcome guests with the phrase “feel at home” to make them comfortably at ease. Arriving at your host’ house during mealtime may be awkward but if it’s in a Filipino house, you will be asked to sit down and share with what they have on the table. Because eating alone without asking others according to Filipino customs is considered rude. These manners picture how Filipinos accept and properly respect the presence of their visitors.

A form of hospitality that comes truly from the heart like how the country made its image as the land of true smiling people. considering the struggling economy, political confusions and the rising poverty in the country, anyone will be surprised seeing how Filipinos handle such situations. It is like taking everything from them but not their love of joking. Joking and laughing at everything perhaps give them relief and make them see things more positively.

Traveling in this country means more of building rapport with its people and understanding their customs. Filipinos love entertaining foreign visitors ; as to help, or for whatever reasons, interacting with them is unavoidable. Hence, aside from the country’s stunning natural assets, meeting the Filipinos gives a promise of a true friendship and memories to keep

The People

            The Filipino is basically of Malay stock with a sprinkling of Chinese, American, Spanish and Arab blood. The Philippines has a population of 90 million, and it is hard to distinguish accurately the lines between stocks. From a long history of Western colonial rule, interspersed with the visits of merchants and traders, evolved a people of a unique blend of east and west, both in appearance and culture.

The Filipino character is actually a little bit of all the cultures put together. The “bayanihan” or spirit of kinship and camaraderie that Filipinos are famous for is said to be taken from Malay forefathers. The close family relations are said to have been inherited from the Chinese. The piousness comes from the Spaniards who introduced Christianity in the 16th century. Hospitality is a common denominator in the Filipino character and this is what distinguishes the Filipino. Filipinos are probably one of the few, if not the only, English-proficient Oriental people today. Pilipino is the official national language, with English considered as the country's unofficial one.

        The Filipinos are divided geographically and culturally into regions, and each regional group is recognizable by distinct traits and dialects - the sturdy and frugal llocanos of the north, the industrious Tagalogs of the central plains, the carefree Visayans from the central islands and the colorful tribesmen and religious Moslems of Mindanao. Tribal communities can be found scattered across the archipelago. The Philippines has more than 111 dialects spoken, owing to the subdivisions of these basic regional and cultural groups.

           Some 80 percent of the population is Catholic, Spain's lasting legacy. About 15 percent is Moslem and these people can be found basically in Mindanao. The rest of the population is made up mostly of smaller Christian denominations and Buddhist.

The country is marked by a true blend of cultures; truly in the Philippines, East meets West. The background of the people is Indonesian and Malay. There are Chinese and Spanish elements as well. The history of American rule and contact with merchants and traders culminated in a unique blend of East and West, both in the appearance and culture of the people of the Filipinos, or people of the Philippines.