Essay About Filipino Identity

What really makes a person a Filipino? Are there standards one must meet in order to be called a Filipino? Does one needs to live the Philippines to be able to be called a Filipino? What is the true identity of the Filipino people? These are only few of the many questions asked when one is talking about the Filipino identity. According to a journal article, Filipinos tend to be confused of their true roots because of the Spanish colonization and US imperialism. (Mulder, 2013) However, one must know that Filipinos already have a culture even before the Spaniards came.

The early Filipinos lived near bodies of water because it was near their resources and their means of transportation. They build houses above the water and in trees to be able to protect themselves from wild animals. In their community, there are usually 10 to 20 families; they are governed by “datus” or “rajahs”. Their livelihoods are usually more on the agriculture side, such as, fishing, planting, and hunting. Early Filipinos

First, fatalism, Filipinos have the tendency to just accept the circumstances without having the urge to make a change. (Jujanester, 2016) Filipinos always tend relay fate so they just accept everything that is being thrown to them without having the idea of twisting the situation. Second, crab mentality, this is one of the negative traits of the Filipino that cannot be broken until now. (FilipiKnow, 2014) They try to bring other people down when they get the chance to. Third, the “mañana habit”, this is where they always say “mamaya na lang” to different works or tasks instead of doing it right away. (FilipiKnow, 2014) A lot of Filipinos students can relate to this and have this kind of habit wherein they procrastinate their school works. The negative traits listed above are only few of the man negative traits Filipinos have that have been brought here through colonization or have been developed over