Filipino characteristics
In spite of their differences the Filipinos recognise that they have a number of features in common - generousity, an overwhelming hospitality, a highly developed feeling for the family, a profound respect for older people, a fatalism which finds expression in the Tagalog "bahala na" (it's all right), an admirable loyalty to their friends, an extreme sensibility and an ever-present sentimentality, as well as the lack of initiative, an acute sense of curiosity and a self-centred individualism. A visitor will be struck at once by their liveliness and gaiety in sharp contrast with the inscrutable affability of Asiatic; and their friendliness and simplicity have a beguiling charisma.

It should be emphasized that the family is the primary social welfare system of the Filipinos and so family feeling is so strong, almost clannish. Usually the whole family live together. A newly married couple will set up their own house, though not uncommonly a brother or sister will go with them to reduce the burden on the parents or provide domestic help. Any activity when someone goes away or is admitted to hospital involves several members of the family. Family life also implies respect for the older members of the family: mano is a gesture of respect by placing the back of elder's hand (at the fingers) against one's forehead; younger siblings are expected to respect their elders by addressing them with proper honorifics.

In these large families there is always room for one more person and hospitality to strangers and other members of the family is an obligation in which all share. The guest must be fed abundantly, or indeed super-abundantly, and each member of the family must help to entertain him. The family enlarged by the addition of friends. The bayanihan is a source of strength which finds an application on appropriate occasions. Its help is enlisted, for example, for the planting out of the rice shoots, for the harvest and, more rarely, for moving house. In this last case additional help may be required not only for transporting furniture and household goods but sometimes also for moving the house itself.

Although girls must obtain their father's permission to go out with a young man, they may sometimes be greeted by a serenade. A young man brings a group of friends, and one of them plays a guitar while the rest sing under the fair one's window in the hope of being admitted into the house. The young man may also spend a month or more working in his fiancee's house, though he is not permitted to speak to her during this period (the panilbihan).

The Filipinos are divided geographically and culturally into regions, and each regional group is recognizable by distinct traits: The Ilocanos who must struggle to make the arid lands of the north produce crops tend to be austere, patient and enterprising; the Tagalogs are gay and pleasure-loving; the Visayans are fond of music and easily contented; while the Bicolanos are noted for their strong religious feeling and their equable temperament.

Customs
Marriage and birth. All over the Philippines it seems to have been the custom for the prospective bridegroom to present dowries to the bride's relatives, but before this stage was reached he was required to spend a period in her family, during which the two young people were not allowed to speak to one another. This practice which is still followed in certain provinces (e.g. on Panay) enabled the girl's parents to see whether the young man was a good worker. All discussions between the two fathers on the terms of the contract were conducted through a go-between. After the marriage the young couple went to live with the groom's parents. Pregnancy and birth were accompanied by various rituals and precautions designed to secure the favour of the spirits, which had also been concerned in the conception. When a girl menstruated for the first time a ceremony lasting several days was performed to ensure that she would become a good wife.

Death and burial. The dead man was surrounded by valuable objects jewellery, china, etc. to ensure a favourable reception in the other world. Sometimes a slave might be killed and buried along with his master under the house. The body was at once washed, perfumed if the family were wealthy enough, wrapped in a shroud and placed in a coffin or a large jar. The coffin and the entrances to the village were guarded to ward off the influence of evil spirits, and the services of women weepers might be enlisted. Silence was maintained throughout the village a custom still practised by some mountain tribes. During the period of mourning the immediate family usually fasted, abstaining from any form of alcohol or meat; they might also wear a piece of woven cane on their arms, legs or neck. Among the Tagalogs the mourning colour was black; among the Visayans it was white. The Visayans also shaved their hair and eyebrows in token of mourning. The period of mourning depended on the social status of the dead man; where death was the result of murder it lasted until the crime had been avenged.

Succession; legitimate children shared equally in the inheritance from their parents. Illegitimate children were not entitled to anything more than the rightful heirs were prepared to give them.

Society
Barangay (from the word balangay which means boat) was the typical community in the whole archipelago. It was the basic political and economic unit independent of similar others. Each consisted of thirty to a hundred houses and recognized the authority of its chief. The chief also received tribute from those under his control and dispensed justice without any written law.

During the pre-colonial period the laws were promulgated by a council of elders along with the chieftain of the barangay. A variety of penalties were imposed on offenders, ranging from a mere fine to sentence of death as well as removal of finger, exposure to ants or a requirement to swim for a given number of hours. The judgment of God ordeal by water or fire was sometimes used to establish guilt.

The social system of the Philippines in pre-colonial times had three distinct levels:

1) The maharlikas (noblemen) headed by the datu or rajah. They are the traditional governing class, the local aristocracy which had started to accumulate land that is owned privately or administered in the name of the clan or the community.

2) The timawas (freeman) had enough land for livelihood. They were required to join the datu in his various enterprises in return they were relieved from the payment of taxes.

3) Finally, there was the class of dependants. They were servants who had gotten into debts and who could at any time buy out their freedom from their masters. In Tagalog areas there were two degrees; the aliping namamahay, who were in effect serfs working in the master’s house or in the fields but had their own dwelling. Then the aliping saguiguilid who lived in their master’s house and were not allowed to possess any property. In the Visayas there were three categories, according to the amount of labour they were required to provide as much as their master asked for, one day in field or occasionally.

The status of a serf or a slave could arise from birth if both parents were slaves or from capture. It could also be a punishment for a crime, failure to pay debts and tribute.

Dress
The traditional garb of men during the pre-colonial period was a short-sleeved jacket, either black or blue; chiefs were distinguished by wearing red. Their nether garment (bahag) was a strip of cloth wound round the waist and hanging low between the legs. On their heads they wore a kind of turban called putong, served as head gear. Women wore a sleeved blouse (baro) and a loose skirt (saya or patadyong) wrapped with a length of cloth called tapis. Both men and women wore jewellery such as bracelets, pendants, gold rings, ear-rings and anklets. For extra elegance the teeth were plated with gold. The most interesting type of ornament, however, was tattooing. Women's faces were tattooed to enhance their beauty, but men used tattooing on their face and body as a record of the great feats they had performed. The people of the Visayas are particularly noted for their tattooing, so much so that the Spaniards called this part of the archipelago the islands of the Pintados, the painted men. The delicately executed patterns clothed their wearers no less effectively than an embroidered garment.

Traditional Filipino dress, showing strong Spanish influence, is still worn as a national costume and as formal wear at official receptions. The terno, a garment with a flared skirt and striking sleeves of lighter material starched which balloon out from the arms. Men wear the barong tagalog, a shirt of fine material (jusi, sinamay, abaca or ramie fibre) with either long or short sleeves.

Nowadays, the all-conquering garment is the cotton T-shirt, and most young people wear jeans or Western-style trousers in a variety of colours. Women mostly use make-up, and are highly clothes-conscious, following Western fashions closely.

Games
Cock-fighting is the great Filipino pastime for Sundays and holidays, and every little township has its tupada or cockpit, which attracts crowds of spectators. In these combatants the local peasants bring the precious cocks that are given the best care until near age of two years old. The arena, 2 metres square, is surrounded by banks from which the spectators make their bets in sign language to the bookmakers (kristos); nothing is written down, the practised eye of the kristos recording the name of the punter and the amount of the bet without further ado. The fights are arranged by agreement between two owners in an annexe (ulutan) where the cocks are weighed and their spurs are fitted. The result of the fight, which seldom lasts more than three minutes, depends on the angle and height at which the spurs are fixed. The cocks are classified into carefully defined categories on the basis of their plumage and height.

Another gambling game which is very popular with the middle classes in the Philippines is mahjongg. Mahjongg is a game for four players. It involves skill, strategy, calculation as well as luck. The object of the game is to collect sets of tiles according to the number and type shown on the face of each tile. The game can go on for several hours at a time, and large sums are staked on the result.

Also popular are lotteries and sungka, a traditional Filipino game played by two protagonists. The object of the game is to amass stones or shells in the home base (bahay) by moving the small shells around the 14 holes. Another game which visitors will often see being played at street corners is dama, a simplified form of draughts board in which the uncrowned pieces (men) are usually bottle caps. Then, for more skilled players there is jai-alai, a game like the Basque pelota, played with a short-handled racquet in a court with two walls; the rules are closer to squash than tennis.

Children play a kind of hopscotch (piko) in the street, and are also fond of basketball, usually played in the square in front of the church. Another popular children's game is sipa, this is a version of Sepak Takraw in which metal washer covered with cloth, gets kicked. Points are scored based on the number of kicks without the ball touching the ground.

Finally the Filipinos have their own martial arts known as arnis, the art incorporate empty handed fighting as well as techniques with a variety of weapons specializing in short sticks and knife techniques.