He enumerated five characteristics of a Filipino traits which is hospitality, politeness, modesty, devotion of family ties and love of home. I have written earlier about my own perspective on Filipino values and most of them is also included in his account.
I believe that those characteristics of a Filipino given by Camilo Osias can exist on us in a different manner because in our generation today, our culture is slowly evolving and adapting with the changing world but that does not mean that we completely lose all of those key traits, we still contain them but in a different way rather than what is defined as the traditional one. Like in hospitality, Filipinos are known to be hospitable in a very unique way. Traditionally, Filipinos give the highest importance to people they considered as visitors. They put all their attention to you, treat you like a VIP. It is shown even in my family, they show the same hospitality discussed in the topic like when a guest arrives they serve the best food. They keep attending to the needs of the guest with no hesitations, but in my part hospitality is not that exaggerated. When a guest arrives I don't bring put all my beautiful kitchen wares just for a good impression. I do just the usual, talk to them, entertain them but not to the point that I buy a hundred buck food for them to eat. I usually wait for the guest to say that they are hungry then give whatever I have on the fridge. My mom always scold me for that. I don't know. It's not my thing to be over-attending to the guest needs especially if I am not that close with the person. It's not even my thing to say ingat whenever a guest leaves. I will just yell a loud bye and get back to business because I usually forgot to say ingat. I'm used to just saying goodbye. It's not that I'm being rude or what. Maybe I can be a little maladaptive with that one cause I hate it when people exaggerate things but still I never neglect the guest or act rudely. I still show the same level of courteousness as most Filipinos show, the thing is I don't exaggerate. This is an instance of change in our culture. We may practice hospitality but not in a manner of our national tradition but still is socially acceptable and still can be defined as being hospitable.
Politeness in us Filipinos has a special theme which is the po and opo and the pagmamano. As said during the discussions I have attended, Filipinos show a different way of being polite in a sense that we use both the po and opo and the pagmamano to give respect to people older than us and also using the titles, ate and kuya, as a respect for our older brothers and sisters is really an exceptional thing to do. We pay attention to titles unlike in the US where you could just simple call someone by their name even when it comes to their parents. Although in the culture of my family, po and opo depends on closeness. If you're close enough to a relative you can drop it. Like me to my mom and dad, it's fine skipping the po and opo thing because the level of our closeness is high but still we give respect to each other.
Modesty has something to do with our humbleness. This is the really weird thing I observed in us Filipinos. I always here these phrases in my fellow countrymen, "Nakakahiya naman", especially when eating at someone else's house, or when given a token of appreciation. Even me who used to skip traditions and live in the modern culture exercise this term. Sometimes I hate it because it just serves for me as an expression so I will not appear boastful in the public. It's like a term for plastics because sometimes we just use it to keep ourselves on the ground when the word "Thanks" is more appropriate to say. Why are we so pa-humble? Well, according to what I've learned we don't want our reputation to be stained by intrigues. We always want a clean slate but I think it is not right. I think Filipinos must change their views about modesty and understand that we have to express what we feel in a situation cause I have observed that we have the fear of rejection so we hold back and just stick with that hiya. I think we have to understand self-expression more because if we always hide our feelings in hiya, we will not be able to move forward.
Another characteristic given by Camilo Osias is Devotion to Family Ties which for me is the undying Filipino quality because all of us, traditional or not, we give the highest priority to our family. Blood is thicker than water for us Filipinos. We will never neglect our family. We will do anything for our family and that is one trait I really like about us. Although when exaggeration gets in the way, because in my opinion Filipinos tend to exaggerate things, the word dependence seeps in. I don't really like the idea of a parent who still doesn't give enough independence when their children turns 18. That is what I observe in most Filipino families. They still treat their 18 year old children as if they were in highschool which is wrong in some cases because they need to grow up. They need independence. I know it is because they love their kids and they are only concerned about them but they forbid them to gain experience. Somehow, in conclusion to that, I adore how Filipinos value their family.
Lastly, the trait that I could never ever separate from me is love of home. No matter what happens I will always be proud that I am a Filipino. No matter how ugly is our reputation to other countries I will never deny my roots. This trait circulates around the globe, Filipinos will always be proud for their nationality that is why Ninoy Aquino said that Filipinos are worth dying for. We are always patriotic. It is just disappointing that I have read a post by Ms. Angie Ligot from Facebook cussing about her own nationality. She is a freak. She must die. It was sad to find out that some of us managed to reject our own homeland.
Oh well Mr. Osias, you give a really good impression to our values. As for me, even if i miss some traits you have given in my personality I will always carry those values with me and so to all of us.
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