Today being Father’s Day, I want to talk about Filipino families. Due to the importance of the family in Filipino culture, it is impressed upon every individual from childhood to adulthood that parents are owed a debt of gratitude for bringing one into this world. This is balanced by the belief and tradition that parents … More Filipino Families in the Philippine Culture
Kabayan is one of the oldest towns in Benguet, situated in a wide valley surrounded by mountains in Northern Luzon. It was recognized as the center of Ibaloi culture. Out of several tribes in this area, the Ibaloi tribe was the only people to practice mummification as a way of preserving their dead … More Kabayan and its Centuries-old Mummies
The balangay was the first wooden watercraft excavated in Southeast Asia and is evidence of early Filipino craftsmanship and their seamanship skills during the pre-colonial times. The oldest known balangay was carbon dated to 320 AD by the Gakushuin University of Tokyo, Japan. The Balangay is a plank boat constructed on a keel and … More Balangay, a 4th Century Boat Discovered in the Philippines.
Barangay originated from the word “balangay”, a kind of sailboat that originally brought settlers of Malay stock from Borneo to the Philippines. It is known as the oldest watercraft found in the Philippines, carbon dated to 320 AD. In the early Filipino settlements, the real social unit in the Philippine society is the barangay. … More What is a Barangay?
About 87 different languages and dialects are spoken in the Philippines. The ten main ones are: Tagalog, spoken in Batangas, Manila, Mindoro, and most of Luzon; Sugbuhanon, in Cebu, and parts of Mindanao; Hiligaynon, in Negros Occidental and Iloilo; Samarnon, in Samar and Leyte; Bikol, in Camarines North and South; Pampangan, in Pampanga and Tarlac; … More Languages of the Philippines
While everyone is thinking about the Super Bowl today, let me introduce you to a traditional, native Philippine sport. It’s not basketball which most Filipinos consider the national sport since it is played every day across the country, on the streets, in gyms, at schools and everywhere else in the Philippines. The sport “Sipa” which … More Sipa – A Traditional, Native Philippine Sport
In 1212, as legend has it, 10 Bornean datu (chiefs), fleeing the collapse of the once-mighty Srivijayan empire, sailed northwards with their followers and landed on the island of Panay. At that time, Panay was widely populated by Negritos. The Bornean Malays, although superior fighters and better armed than the Negritos, chose not to … More Ati-Atihan Festival – The Philippines’ Mardi Gras
