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It may be said that the Filipinos are intelligent, with retentive memory, quick perception, and talents for art and science. They also are gentle, friend]y, and cheerful people, noted for their courtesy and hospitality.
Filipinos are famous not only for their warm hospitality, but also for their close family ties. The parents work hard and sacrifice much for their children; in return, the children love and respect them and take good care of them in their old age.
Filipinos owing to their beautiful country, are passionately romantic. They are ardent in love as they are fierce in battle. They are born poets, musicians and artists.
Filipinos are a liberty-loving and brave people. They valiantly resisted the Spanish, American and Japanese invaders of their native land. They rank among the bravest people of the world. Filipino courage has been proven in the Battle of Mactan (1521), in the Battle of Tirad Pass (1899), in the battle of Bataan, Corregidor, Bessang Pass during World War II, and in many other battlefields.
Gratitude is another sterling trait of the Filipinos. They are grateful to those who have granted them favors or who are good to them. Their high sense of gratitude is expressed in the phrase Utang na loob (debt of honor).
Filipinos are cooperative. They value the virtue of helping each other and other people. They cherish the ancestral trait of bayanihan, which means cooperation. In rural areas, when a man is building, repairing or transferring a house to another place, the neighbors come to help him.
Foreign writers assert that the Filipinos are indolent. In reality they work hard in the face of very adverse conditions. They work on the farms from sunrise to sunset, though not from noon to 3 p.m. due to the scorching heat. They work hard in the sugarcane and pineapple plantations in Hawaii, the fruit orchards of California, the fish canneries of Alaska, and in the oil wells of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Arab countries of the Middle East.
Finally, the Filipinos are noted for their durability and resiliency. Through the ages they have met all kinds of calamities--revolts, revolutions, wars, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and epidemics. Unlike the Polynesians of Oceania and the Indians of North Central and South Americas, they did not vanish by contact with the white race. They can assimilate any civilization and thrive in any climate. Against the adversities of life or nature, they merely bend, but never break. They possess the formidable durability of the narra tree and the resiliency of the bamboo.
As of 1994 the Philippine population is 68 million people. Government has a family planning and control program but because the Filipinos love children and large families, there is a problem of convincing the people to limit the size of their families.
Philippine education is patterned after the American system, with English as the medium of instruction. Schools are classified into public (government) or private (non-government).
Classes in Philippine schools start in June and end in March. Colleges and Universities follow the semester calendar from June-October and November-March.
The oldest university in the Philippines is the University of San Carlos in Cebu City founded in 1559. It is forty-one years older than Harvard University, the oldest university in the U.S. The second oldest university is the Dominican owned University of Santo Tomas, founded in 1611 by Fray Miguel de Benavides.
Due to these educational institutions and the people's love for education, the literacy rate in the Philippines is now 89.9%, the highest among Southeast Asian countries. Metro Manila has an even higher literacy rate of 96% with a student population of 2.5 million.
The Philippines is a nation of many languages and dialects. A survey by Richard Pitman, an American linguist, showed that there are 55 native languages and 142 dialects in the country, apart from English and Spanish. All the native languages and dialects belong to the Malayo-Polynesian family of languages.
Of the eight principal native languages, Cebuano ranks first. It is spoken by nearly first (24.39%) of the people. Tagalog which used to be first, now ranks a close second (23.82%); followed by Ilocano (11.14%); Hiligaynon or Ilongo (9.99%); Bicolano (6.96%); Waray-waray (4.62%); Kapampangan (3.43%) and Pangasinan (2.26%).
English is the language of instruction in schools, but Filipino is the national language. Much of Filipino is derived from the language (Tagalog) spoken in Manila and nearby provinces. These major languages are spoken is different areas in the country: Ilocano and Pangasinan - Northern Luzon; Waray in Samar and Leyte; Cebuano - in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and of Christian Mindanao; Hiligaynon - in Panay and Negros Occidental; and the Muslim languages, Maranao- in the Lanao area, Maguindallao in Cotabato, and Tausug- in the Sulu and Tawi-Tawi group.
English is the most widely used language in the country, especially for education, commerce and the professions. In fact, the Philippines is the third largest English speaking country in the world. Spanish has declined in use and popularly, and is spoken by a very small minority. Fukien and Cantonese Chinese are spoken and used by the large Chinese communities in urban areas. Significantly, the country has three official languages - Filipino, English and Spanish.
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