It's time for our cultural observations from the Philippines. As a reminder, these are not meant to be critical or meanspirited, but just a light hearted (usually) take on some things we noticed while traveling through a certain country. Any offense taken is not intended. And with that caveat, here we go.....
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1) FILIPPINOS ARE SUPER NICE AND FRIENDLY! (DAN)
It is said that the Bhutanese are the happiest people on earth, but if that is true I have to believe that the Filipinos are a close second. In stark contrast to some of the other places we’ve been on this trip (I won’t name names, but you know who you are (Romania! ) pretty much everyone we met during our month-long stay greeted us with a big smile and treated us with a kindness that was often well beyond what would be considered a modicum of human decency. And this included random strangers as well as service professionals. For example, during our check in at Manila airport the staff took it upon themselves to shrink wrap our backpack that we decided to check just to be sure nothing would happen to it. And it wasn’t one of those machines, but they literally busted out a huge carton of Saran Wrap and one person turned the bag while the other parceled out the cellophane. It was remarkable. In addition, everyone in the service business, without exception, calls customers “Ma’am” or “Sir” when addressing them. And if you make eye contact when passing someone on the street, odds are they will flash you a big smile.
NOTE: I will mention the one exception I observed to this uber polite kindness culture. It was when pausing to allow a vehicle or pedestrian to cut in front of my vehicle to let them in on a busy street where they would not otherwise likely get to turn any time soon. They would just turn in front of me without as much as a nod of appreciation or the vaguest of smiles to acknowledge the gesture. This happened 100% of the several times I made this gesture so it was enough for me to speculate that this was standard operating procedure. Now in fairness, I only drove in Cebu so maybe it’s something about the Cebuians, but I theorized that maybe Filipinos look on a gesture like that as common human decency that does not warrant genuflection and maybe it says more about US culture/personalities that we would expect that acknowledgment.
Anyway, the bottom line is that Filipinos are, on balance, in our experience, shiny happy (and polite) people.
2) SARI-SARI STORE CULTURE (FRAN)
The Sari Sari stores are a quintessential part of Filippino culture and community life, serving as small neighborhood convenience stores that cater to the daily needs of the local residents. They began during the Spanish Colonial era and the name “Sari-Sari” means “Variety” or “assortment” in Tagalog is fitting in that they offer a wide array of daily use products in small quantities. Traditionally women were (and are?) the primary operators of Sari-Sari stores making them pioneers of micro-entrepreneurship in the Philippines. Indeed many of these stores are named for their proprietors (ie. “Linda’s Sari-Sari Store”). While we did patronize the Sari-Sari from time to time, we usually sought out the larger stores or the ubiquitous 7-11 franchises which made me wonder how these small mom & pop shops generated enough business to stay open, but I suspect that each community loyally patronizes their local sari-sari to keep them in business.
3) JEEPNEY CULTURE (RYAN)
I think we were all fascinated by these iconic Filippino human transport machines. The Jeepney is a modified miliary jeep (initially left behind by the US forces after WWII) with an extended chassis to accommodate more passengers. This is a shared transportation model where passengers hop on and hop off usually paying an accomplice to the driver who sits or hangs off the back collecting fares. The jeepneys are often highly decorated, adorned with vibrant colors, intricate designs and cultural symbols. So much so that they are often seen as moving works of art. While the jeepney has become the backbone of public transportation in urban areas due to their low cost and widespread availability, they are being gradually phased out as part of the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), which was introduced in 2017. The goal is to replace older jeepneys with safer, more environmentally friendly, and efficient vehicles. However, this transition appears to be controversial and is still ongoing.
4) MALL CULTURE (AUSTEN)
If you have been reading any of our posts or blogs, you’ll know by now that Austen is our big shopper and she has never met a mall she didn’t like. I have posted before about the amazing ultra-modern malls in Thailand, but I think the Philippines, or more specifically, Manila, is the Mall King. I haven’t researched this, but anecdotally there appears to be more malls in Manila per square meter than in any other southeast Asia nation – or beyond for that matter. What’s nice is that there is pretty much a mall for every socio-economic buyer, but the high end glitzy one’s are truly impressive. They are all clean and modern and full of fun and interesting stores. My personal favorite in Manila was the Megaworld Uptown Mall in the Bonifacio Global City (BGC), but I think Austen was partial to the equally impressive SM Aura Mall a stone’s throw away.
5) EXPOSED BELLY CULTURE (FINLEY)
This one is totally random, but on one level I totally get it. You’re hot so you pull up your shirt. But what I don’t get is why I haven’t seen it - with such consistency at least – in any other tropical country like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia or Hong Kong? And if they are that hot, why not just take the shirt off altogether or pull it over their heads like many in the States so the torso is bare, but the shirt stays around the neck and shoulders. Instead they just pull it up a little so that it exposes - and rests on - their belly paunch. As I said, random, but Finley noticed initially noticed this and I became fascinated by it.
BONUS TRIVIA:
For as many times as I have been to the Philippines (about 5 or 6) I was not aware until this trip how the country got its name. We always assign our kids to do a country profile for any of the places we stay for a month or more and in that process we learned that the Philippines was named after the Spanish King Philip II - then Prince Philip - who ruled from 1556-1598. Given that fact, I was suprised that once the Philippines threw off the yoke of imperial oppression (actually the US owned it after the Spanish - we won it as a concession for winning the Spanish-American War) they wouldn't change the name to something more local.
I know that many of Francesca's Filipino relatives will read this so they may have some comments, rebuttals, or additional context for these. I await their replies.
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