We Filipinos have our own share of quirks and weird practices. Some of these have stemmed from folk superstitions and are really funny. But no one is laughing. It’s all part of the colorful thingamajig we call Philippine culture.
Mr. Ripley, believe it or not, these things we do:
• We season our food with salt, pepper, patis, etc., without tasting it first.
• To call people’s attention, we say, "Psssst!" or purse our lips and quickly suck in air to make a hissing/kissing sound. Beats yelling "Fire!" anytime.
• When we don’t know the answer to something or are found out (nabuko), we scratch our heads.
• We sell cigarettes by the stick. It’s a Filipino invention called micro-selling.
• Buses en route to the provinces make those bladder relief stopovers. People still relieve themselves unabashedly in open fields.
• When we urinate in open areas, we say, "Tabi-tabi po!" to ward off spirits who might dwell there. (I gotta admit to this, too. Better safe than sorry.)
• Many Filipinos, even those living in the urban areas, still spit. Spitting must be discouraged as it is socially improper.
• Most male Pinoys have the habit of spitting before urinating. This practice has something to do again with spirits or maligno. I would understand the need to do this in open areas but they still spit in urinals and water closets inside modern buildings. Can someone explain the logic, please? (I wonder if Pinays spit before urinating, too.)
• In the provinces, they play happy tunes (like upbeat marches) during the funeral procession for a child but play slow, solemn music for old people.
• Another ridiculous Pinoy practice is the habit of leaving food on the plate. Most Filipinos still believe that it is improper to eat everything on a plate; they must leave something to show that they are not starving or patay-gutom. Whoever formulated this practice and taught it surely swayed a lot of devotees. What is really improper is to leave food on a plate especially during these hard times!
• Then, the habit of leaving the last piece of food on the serving plate! Again, it’s supposed to be impolite to fight over the last morsel. Actually, nagkakahiyaan lang (they are overcome with embarrassment over the last piece)!
• A lot of Pinoys still venerate images of saints and holy personages. They kiss the feet of statues, and rub their hankies on them hoping to acquire some of the power the images are supposed to possess. But thanks to SARS, this practice (the kissing but maybe not the veneration) might soon end.
• Some people still believe that one cannot take a bath on Good Friday. That is a real sacrifice, the height of penitencia!
• Cutting your fingernails on Fridays will cause those painful skin peelings near the base of the nails. Friday must be a bad day for manicurists!
• You are not supposed to put a mirror directly facing a door. That would deflect blessings coming into the room or house. Pinoy feng shui?
• It is bad luck to keep a broken mirror hanging on your wall. It will bring worse things. Yeah, like cut fingers.
• Within a family, you cannot have two successive weddings in a year. Bad luck or a wise financial move?
• Females having their monthly period should not touch bottles of vinegar. The vinegar will spoil. (Talk about feminine power!)
• You should not gift anyone with shoes for you’ll surely fight. To counter this, the recipient should "pay" a minimal amount, say P1 or 25 centavos.
• We crush and crinkle new paper bills before spending them. The reason? Beats me. In Korea, they value their currency and take special care not to soil it.
• Now this is something else: When someone leaves a house while people are eating, they turn the plates 360 degrees to prevent the one leaving from figuring in an accident. Go figure, Mr. Ripley!
LEO VALDEZ, international stage actor: The best thing about us is our hospitality that can’t be beat – our desire to please. The worst thing is our crab mentality. One should be happy for another person’s success. Another thing we must eradicate is being resigned to the notion that life can’t get any better. I dream that one day, the Filipinos could look up to a role model who can inspire them because once properly motivated, the Filipino can excel!
LEAH NAVARRO, entertainer and events specialist: The best thing about being Filipino is that we have the richness of varied cultural influences and innate musicality. The worst is that we resist progress and change. My dream is that we will learn what true leadership means and elect the right folks to government.
MANUEL AJ TEEHANKEE, Undersecretary of Justice: The best in us is our warmth and patience; the worst is our compromised values or principles. My dream is for us to become a country faithful to God, equal to all, prospering under a regime of law, liberty and justice.
PEACHY VENERACION, beauty pageant organizer: The best thing about being Filipino is family; the worst, our government is so corrupt! I dream that we will have citizens who are disciplined and who really care.
KIM ATIENZA, Manila councilor: The best is that we are a very spiritual people even if we are not aware of it. The bahala na attitude is actually faith. It gives us resilience against insurmountable odds. What’s worst is that Bathala na sometimes goes overboard and morphs into the Juan Tamad syndrome, waiting for the perennial guava to fall for us to eat without doing anything. Our best trait becomes our worst – it’s a double-edged sword. My dream is for us Filipinos to have a leader elected or otherwise to inspire us to realize our greatness as a people.
BOB ZOZOBRADO, PR and events specialist: The best thing is having access to and can enjoy choc-nut ice cream from Uva, and lechon from Talisay, Cebu. The worst is having to deal with deeply-rooted corruption. I dream that someday the Philippines would be a nation of people with self-discipline, and greater financial abundance.
CHIQUI VENERACION, entrepreneur/exporter: The best thing about being Filipino is that we know how to laugh...at anything. Our coping mechanism is amazing. The worst in us is our scarcity complex – kung makakaisa, mang-iisa. I stand for the possibility of transformation in the Philippines. What we need is a paradigm shift.
The worst thing about us is that we don’t have true national pride. We have very low national self-esteem. Sometimes I feel that the Filipino actually enjoys despising and underselling himself. (Although it is healthy to be able to laugh at one’s self, but only after learning the lesson!)
My dream is that someday real soon, we would find something or someone we can truly be proud of and bring about genuine Philippine national pride. Might it be the globalization of the boneless bangus? Hmm.
Enjoy Freedom Day! Lucky are we, children of the dream our forefathers envisioned. And say one for those who valiantly fought but never saw the dawn.