history and cultural identity 2010 2015

7/25/2019 History and Cultural Identity 2010 2015

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/history-and-cultural-identity-2010-2015 1/22

1

[Slightly revised paper (2015) originally presented during the seminar, “History andCultural Identity” at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 9 November2006. Published in my book, History, Philosophy, and Culture (Quezon City: C & EPublishing, Inc., 2010. Forewords by William Sweet and Bernardita R. Churchill. Thecontext is 2006 and the ideas are retained. Only the Notes and References are slightly

revised.]

HISTORY AND CULTURAL IDENTITY: THE PHILIPPINE CASE1

Rolando M. Gripaldo, Ph.D.2

De La Salle University, Manila

Cultural identity evolves with historical development. Sometimes

the evolution is so slow that the cultural identity of a community is

identified as virtually the same as that of centuries ago. This is usually the

case for primitive ethnic or tribal identities. In another case, the evolutionis fast compared with the first case such that the cultural identity of a

community contains many foreign cultural elements although it is still

identified with many important ethnic cultural traits. In the third scenario,

the evolution is much faster than the second case such that the cultural

identity of the group assumes most of the foreign cultural traits, usually

those brought about by Westernization. In the last scenario, the evolution

is fastest such that the cultural identity of the community is very similar to

the Western cultural identity although slight vestiges of its ethnic or racial

origin may still be noticeable. The Philippine case belongs to the fourth

scenario and the purpose of the paper is to philosophically explain how

such a scenario comes about.

Certainly, the current usage of the term “cultural identity” is

contextual and will have different meanings in different contexts. This is

especially true when one migrates to another country and, depending

upon the context, he or she will be culturally identified as of ethnic, racial,

national, etc., identity.

This paper will argue that Filipino cultural identity is still

something in the making within the greater purview of the Western

culture—a positive cultural identity which Filipinos can be proud of and

which foreigners can affirm in a favorable light.

INTRODUCTION

History, on the one hand, is defined as the study of the records of the past. Thisincludes written records, archeological artifacts, ruins, and even traditions and literatureorally transmitted from generation to generation. Cultural identity, on the other hand, isthat aspect or aspects of a culture that a people are proud to identify themselves with andwhich foreigners usually mention with awe or admiration. “Cultural identity” connotes



2

something positive, admirable, and enduring. It also connotes an ethnic or a racialunderpinning. The Ibanag culture is ethnic while the Ibanag as a Filipino (Malay race) isracial. In ordinary everyday speech, however, “ethnic” and “racial” are sometimes usedinterchangeably.

A nation generally consists of different tribes, and so there is a tribal cultural

identity and a national cultural identity. It is possible in a war-torn country, as in a civilwar, or in a postcolonial nation that there are only tribal cultural identities without anational cultural identity. And each tribe may want secession or complete independence. 3

They would not want to avail themselves of a national citizenship.4 Cultural traits areaspects of culture and, at least, one or a group of these may serve as a benchmark forcultural identity for as long as the people can positively identify themselves with thatbenchmark and generally foreigners recognize it. The Japanese sumo wrestling is oneexample. A negative cultural trait or tradition, as in a tradition of corruption, 5 could notserve as the identifying mark for cultural identity acceptable by the people concernedeven if foreigners would keep on mentioning it.

This paper will examine the role that history plays in the molding of a people’s

cultural identity. In particular, it will sketchily trace the evolution of the Filipino nationalculture and identify aspects of culture that would explain the present state of the Filipinoculture.

HISTORY AND CULTURE

The term culture may be defined broadly as the sum total of what a tribe or groupof people produced (material or nonmaterial), is producing, and will probably beproducing in the future. What they produce—consciously or unconsciously—could betools, clothing, cooking utensils, weaponry, technologies, unexpected outcomes, mores orcodes as in religion, and the like. And they will continue producing these things, probablywith more improved efficiency, design or style, and finisse. The “make” can be distinctlyidentified—generally speaking—with their tribe or their period in history. If theydiscontinue producing, e.g., a particular tool, it is probably because it is replaced withtools of much improved efficiency. The criterion of utility is one consideration here. Theformer tool has outlived its usefulness.

Edward Tylor (1974) looks at culture as “that complex whole which includesknowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any capabilities and habits acquired byman as a member of society” (italics supplied). My emphasis is on the human production or creation of culture. Production connotes an interiority, i.e., coming from within thesubject himself or herself, that reflects a lived experience. Albert Dondeyne (1964) talksof historicity as emanating from humans, and—to my mind—so is culturicity. Aspects ofculture can be acquired , but once acquired they are adapted, reconstituted to fit theexisting cultural terrain (either of the individual or the group), or reproduced. Culturaloutcomes as in habits, norms plus sanctions, and customs are sometimes unexpectedly,unintentionally, or unconsciously produced. They are noticed as patterns or ways ofthinking or behaving much later in life. From time to time they are evaluated,reevaluated, reproduced, reinforced, discarded, modified, or replaced. In other cases,when these outcomes are determined by some goals or purposes, they are consciouslyproduced. Charles Taylor thinks of culture as a “public place” (1985, 270) or a “common



3

[social] space” (2000, 35)6 by which an individual is situated or born into, and by whichhe or she grows in political association with others through a shared communicationvocabulary. While the person grows with culture, culture likewise grows with him or her.A national culture is one that towers over and above the minority cultures(multiculturalism) that aspire to become a part of the national culture by first availing

their members of “cultural citizenship”

7

by gradually assimilating their individualcultures to the culture-at-large.If we reflect on the life of our ancient ancestors, it is unimaginable to think that

their collective memory is not essentially or virtually the same as their cultural history,although much of these may have been forgotten or buried deep in the unconscious. Theirculture is distinctively the collective repository of all things: political, social, artistic,linguistic, educational, economic, religious, mythical, legal, moral, and so on. UNESCO(2002) stresses this collectivity of culture as a “set of distinctive spiritual, material,intellectual, and emotional features of society.” It includes “art and literature, lifestyles,ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.” It is only very much laterthat these divisions of culture are given individual emphasis by social scientists and by

humanists. And more often we forget that they are parts or features of a people’s culture.Nothing goes beyond culture, as culture over time is history.8

CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION

We all know that civilization grows out of culture. That is why we can say thatwhile we can have culture without civilization, we cannot have civilization withoutculture. The word culture etymologically means “to cultivate” while civilization originally means “citizen” (from civitas), which suggests urbanization or city life with astrong political organization and bureaucracy. The former reflects the process ofrefinement while the latter reflects the partial or completed process of organized

refinement. The refined person is a civilized person. He or she is usually referred to as a“cultured person.” Culture in this regard, that is, “high culture” is usually taken asequivalent to civilization. Below the civilized culture is mass culture, or what issometimes referred to as “primitive culture,” “barbaric culture,” “low culture,”“uncultured,” “without culture,” or the like.

No doubt social scientists think in terms of their specializations. Even amonganthropologists they tend to focus on their respective fields. Leslie White (1949) inventedthe word “symbolate” to refer to a cultural object that comes about from the act ofsymbolization, such as a work of art, a tool, a moral code, etc. It is argued that culturecomes about simultaneously with symbols, for humans have the capacity to use symbols(a type of sign), the capacity to invent or acquire a type of language (see “The origin ofculture,” Wikipedia, N.d.). Noam Chomsky (1975) argues that every human being has aninnate “language acquisition device.” Julian Huxley (1957) classified the social worldinto “mentifacts” (ideological or belief subsystem), “socifacts” (social relationships andpractices, or the sociological subsystem), and “artifacts” (material objects and their use,or the technological subsystem). Archaeologists are diggers of past cultures and can onlygenerally uncover the material remains of a culture while cultural anthropologists focuson the nonmaterial or symbolic aspect of culture.



4

Quite recently, an attempt is made in postmodernism to level off high and lowcultures. The pragmatist John Dewey (1960) started it all by arguing that we should notlimit art and its appreciation to art museums and art galleries. We can find art in everydaylife, in the quality of experience we enjoy. There is art when we see a person with abeautiful face walking by, or one who is exquisitely dressed up, or the elegant clothes in

tribal festivals. We find art in a basketball player who gracefully shoots a ball at the ring,or in a nicely decorated cooked food, or in a superb workmanship by a car technician.Mike Featherstone (1991) describes the leveling off process—the elevation of mass,tribal, and popular (“pop”) culture to an equal footing with high culture—as apostmodernist feature of our present civilization.

CULTURAL IDENTITY

There is a political or an ideological underpinning in the notion of “culturalidentity.” An ideology is a set of values and beliefs that propels an individual or a groupof people into action. An identity, ideologically speaking, connotes a feeling of oneness,

an emotional acceptance of a totality or, at least, of features within a given totality thatone is proud of, an internal or psychological desire to project this totality or its features toothers with exuberance, and the anticipation that others will recognize and accept it(totality) or them (features) with respect.

Cultural identity is an evolving thing—sometimes slow, sometimes fast. Usuallythe dominant tribe of a nation will assume the national cultural identity. In other cases, ifthere are two or more tribes whose cultures are congruous, then they assume an identityusing a national name other than the names of their individual tribes, a name that ishistorically influenced or determined.

It is possible that a civilized nation will evolve into a postnation. Postcolonialnations of Asia are toying with the idea of a regional identity while the nations of Europeare gradually being transformed into postnations, or they are evolving into a newlyemerging regional identity called the European Union (EU). The European Union has acommon monetary exchange and has generally transcended national boundaries in termsof commercial and labor concerns. Its corporations are transnational: they do businesseverywhere. An EU citizen can travel, purchase items, and work anywhere in the Unionwithout a passport or a working permit (see Gripaldo 2005a, 57). Eventually, the EU willassume a regional cultural identity.

Unfortunately, some nations—usually postcolonial ones or those nation-states thatwere once colonies—are still struggling to evolve a cultural identity which they can beproud of, an identity that is not just racial or ethnic but one that lies above ethnicity.

THE PHILIPPINE SITUATION

Four Groups of Filipinos

In the Philippine situation, there are many tribes and in the hinterlands we can stillfind tribal identities—small groups of people wearing their tribal clothes and doing theirtribal ways. They are Filipinos in the “cultural citizenship” sense, that is, their nationalidentity is defined in terms of the provisions of the constitution: namely, they are native



5

inhabitants (born here with indigenous parents) of the country. For many of them, theircultural citizenship does not mean anything at all (the Aetas, for example). They knowthat their ancestors have been living in this country several centuries ago.

We can also find a second group of tribes in the Philippines whose culturalidentities have been touched by modernization (which in this context is the same as

Westernization) in a minimal way. Some of them sent their children to school and theyare generally aware of their cultural citizenship. They go to urban areas in either tribal ormodern clothes but when they go home, they wear their tribal attire. They identifythemselves more as a tribe rather than as a Filipino.

A third group of tribes are those that are more modernized compared to thesecond group. They send their children to school and when they visit the urban areas,especially the big cities, they wear modern clothes and adapt to the ways of modernity.Their identity is defined in terms of their religious persuasion. Some of the educatedattend parties and dance in disco houses. They generally identify themselves as Filipinos.But when they go home to their native places they adjust themselves again to their nativeor religious ways. There are sectors in this group that spurn being called Filipinos and

prefer a different label such as “Moro” or something else.The last group of tribes is the highly modernized (Westernized). They are thelargest group consisting of various tribes such as the Tagalog, Bisayan, Ilokano,Kapampangan, and others.9 Their common perspective is outward or global rather thaninward or national. The nationalists or the inward-looking Filipinos in this group are aminority. Renato Constantino (1966) identified them in the article, “The Filipinos in thePhilippines,” as the genuine Filipinos. The nationalists are proud of their culturalcitizenship and their cultural heritage. They want the country to become a first world inthe coming centuries. They want the country to be industrialized and latersuperindustrialized. They want to see light and heavy industries churning out cars,tractors, airplanes, ships, rockets, and the like. They want political parties with broadprograms of government on how to make the country industrialized or superindustrializedand not a crop of political parties and leaders whose main concern is to be in power or tograb power to serve their own selfish interests or pretend to work for the nationalinterests where their idea of “national interests” is vague or misdirected. They reject anygroup whose economic perspective is provincial despite the advent of the Third Wavecivilization (see Toffler 1980),10 whose outlook is limited to only agricultural and small-and-medium-scale industrial development and modernization, and whose labor scenariois to train the workforce into global “hewers of wood and water,” into a “nation ofnannies,”11 or into a nation of second- or third-class workers.12 They want to buildinstitutions that run into decades but whose fruits are of great significance to nationbuilding. But they are a minority.

The Filipino Majority

Globalization and Transworkers

The majority look at globalization in a wider perspective. They are a practicalgroup. It takes decades to build institutions; they have to survive now. Philippinehistorical development did not provide them with economic security, with industrial



6

progress, with socio-cultural pride, with sufficient physical security and the consequentmental peace, and with the necessary human dignity. Deep within them is national prideand patriotism. They love their country, but they love adventure more, despite risks, inorder to survive economically. These probable risks are relegated to the traditionalfatalistic (bahala na) attitude of the Filipinos (see Gripaldo 2005b). Those who have

successfully immigrated still long for their native land and continue to send financialassistance to their families and loved ones back home. Only very few felt frustrations sodeep that they would not want to take a second look at their country of origin.

The majority of the Filipinos right now view globalization as not onlytransnational corporations, which establish food chains through franchises, and constructfactories and industries in other countries,13 but also transnational workers or, in short,transworkers—especially transient, not immigrant, ones—doing work in foreign lands.The Philippine overseas workers are one example. These are only temporary measureswhile the nationalists would still be building economic, political, social, and scientificinstitutions in the country. No doubt there are transworkers of other countries, includingthe United States. The only difference is that the transworkers of other countries

generally work in foreign lands on their own initiative while in the Philippines theOverseas Filipino Workers (OFW) program is a government policy.

Political Scene: Misdirection

These majority sympathize with the aspirations of the nationalists, but thefulfillment of those aspirations will take time. They view their current political leaders asmisdirected. They believe that for as long as their political leaders continue to bemisdirected, there will almost be nothing in the Philippines to be proud of as forming anational identity, and the Philippines will forever be a Third World country. After thedefeat of the Federalista Party of Pardo de Tavera during the American colonial period(whose platform of government was to make the Philippines a state of the United States)by the Nacionalista Party (whose platform was to work for the “immediate, complete, andabsolute independence” of the Philippines), the platforms of political parties that sproutedlater became less distinct with one another. In the course of the political development ofthe country, only one man—Manuel L. Quezon—correctly diagnosed the unhealthypolitical drift of the nation: all political parties had one common platform—the“immediate, complete, and absolute independence” of the Philippines—and the main taskof the political opposition was to fiscalize or critique the political actions of the party inpower, not constructively (that is, by offering better alternative courses of action) butdestructively so as to debilitate it before the electorate and so that the opposition partywould itself become the future party in power. Quezon (1940) argued that the existenceof political parties is justified only when they have distinct alternative programs ofgovernment, which would serve as the standard by which to critique the political actionsof the party in power. Quezon opposed political parties whose existence is premised onsimply opposing the party in power in order to grab power but could not offer any betteralternative program of government to the people. In a situation like this, Quezonsuggested that the Philippines should better adopt a partyless democracy where the bestand popular leaders will be elected by the people since there will only be one implicitpolitical party, the party of the people—the people’s party.14



7

Economic Scene: Superindustrialization

Superindustrialization is the ideal that a country should achieve in the economicscene. Alvin Toffler (1970) and Peter Drucker (1993) describe the ongoing globalpostindustrial or postcapitalist society as characterized by transience in terms of

disposable products, disposable persons, disposable knowledge, rise of new nomads, andrise of adhocratic organizations; novelty in terms of exploration of nontraditional sourcessuch as the mining of oceans, the culturing of microorganisms for animal feeds andhuman food, genetic engineering to control diseases, new birth technology, and so on;and diversity in terms of overchoice (many varieties of the same kind to choose from)and demassification of culture (mini audiences, mini movies, highly specialized radiostations, etc.). It does not have to be a posthuman society, as Francis Fukuyama (2002)feared,15 but a highly computerized society that will guarantee the rapid advance oftechnology and the demassification of products. When Toffler visited the Philippinesduring the time of President Fidel Ramos, he agreed with Ramos that the Philippines can“pole vault” to postindustrialization (third wave) from an agricultural economy (first

wave) since the industrial society (second wave) is fast becoming obsolete.

16

Forexample, a traditional integrated steel mill, which employs several thousands of workers,will need only a minimal number of workers in a postindustrial steel mill since theprocesses will be highly computerized, and the workers are all computer literate. Later inApril 2006 Toffler (Gardels 2006) said of China: “The Chinese are moving ahead bysimultaneously developing both an industrial and information society...but they are notgoing to wait to become an industrial society before they move into the third wave.”

Educational Scene: Futurism

If postindustrialization is the economic goal, then the economic component of theeducational system should be tailored along this line. The human person and his naturalenvironment are complex such that the educational system caters to all these multifariousaspects: we have the political, social, cultural, technological, communication,educational, psychological, scientific, etc., components. All these, of course, will have tobe addressed by the educational system. Every college and university in the Philippineshave various divisions such as the colleges of social sciences, arts and letters,engineering, education, computer science, natural sciences, and so on. No doubt in everysuch division there are also subdivisions. For example, the college of natural sciences hasthe individual departments of biology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc., which hasfurther subsubdivisions. While the educational system addresses itself to the goals ofeach of these human and nature components, the economic goal of industrialization willhave to be futuristic, as probably all the other goals should be. In the futuristiceducational outlook on economic development, we project on the basis of existingtechnological developments an achievable image of the future of what we want ournation or society to become, and on that image—which we wish to achieve—we tailorthe present educational curricular offerings. If an existential human being is a humanproject of what he or she wants himself or herself to become in the future, an existential

nation is a national project of what it wants itself to become in the future. If we want, forinstance, to explore the oceans in a massive scale in the future, then we must offer a



8

curriculum on oceanography that will include construction of ocean tunnels, ocean cities,ocean mining (see Stablum 2006), ocean factories, and so on.

Communications Scene: New Media Ideology

In the communications scene (see Gripaldo 2006a)—in the new media—it isimportant that the media should assume an ideology of nationalist development. Rightnow, the Philippine media—like its political counterpart—is misdirected. By “ideologyof nationalist development” I mean to say that the media should have an image of anational identity to mould, which will serve as their journalistic standard for critiquingsociety and its leaders. For instance, in the Philippine setting, commentators against theArroyo administration do not offer constructive criticisms but merely destructive ones,and they demand for the resignation of the president without assuring the people that therightful successor would have a better government program. Journalists interviewmembers of the political opposition who enumerate a litany of what they perceive as theevils of the administration—such as the alleged cheating during the past elections—but

generally the journalists do not ask the question what the opposition can offer as a viablealternative program of government if they would be in power.

Cultural Scene: Rationalization

In the cultural scene, there appears to be the same malady: there is no unifyingtheme in cultural development, no grand vision on how to develop a cultural agenda thatwould redound to national pride and national identity. In the reportage of Philippinecultural activities, there are in various provincial cities occasional holding of traditionalcultural festivals with tribal costumes and dances; singers from abroad performing oldmelodies and current tunes in various Philippine cultural venues; local singers performingconcerts abroad; Filipino-sponsored choral and dance groups performing locally andabroad, with some winning contest medals; and so on.17 While all these performances arewelcome, they should be streamlined within the purview of a nationalist ideologicalagenda.

THE MAKING OF A CULTURAL IDENTITY

“Damaged Culture”

The present cultural situation has been described as the result of a “damagedculture” (Fallows 1987) where there is lack of nationalism18 and where what is public isviewed in low esteem, without much national pride. The argument is that the indigenouscultures of the mainstream tribes have been supplanted with Christian and Western valuesbrought about by Spanish and American colonialism. Spain fostered docility andinferiority among the natives while America introduced consumerism and the globaleducational outlook. Both Spain and America supplanted the native cultures with thecombined cultures of Christianity, capitalism, and liberal democracy.

Christianity was imposed among the natives and accepted with reluctance, that is,it was blended with native religious and superstitious beliefs such that the resulting



9

Catholic religious version is theandric ontonomy (Mercado 2004), a blend of the sacredand the profane, a compromise between acculturation and inculturation (see Gripaldo2005c).19

The Chinese and Spanish mestizos (together with foreign transnationalcorporations) whose Philippine nationalistic sentiment is generally suspect, basically

control capitalism in the Philippines. It is said, for example, that the brochures one read atthe planes of the Philippine Airlines (controlled by the Chinese Filipino Lucio Tan) donot promote the many Philippine tourist spots and products while other Asian airlinespromote theirs. A Philippine Airlines brochure, for example, had the Malaysian PetronasTwin Towers at its cover.20

The native political system, the barangay, was of different ideologicalpersuasions, two of which were fully documented (see Scott 1994): the autocratic and thedemocratic. The autocratic, of course, was authoritarian or despotic while the democratichad a jury judicial system and a consultative legislative system. The datu or chieftainalways consulted the elders. Spanish colonialism practiced the autocratic system whileAmerican colonialism trained the Filipinos in the democratic system. However, the

liberal democracy that developed was the presidential—not the parliamentary—system,and the Filipino version of it became always a clash, instead of a partnership, between theexecutive and legislative branches of government. The consequences were inefficiency inthe passage of vital laws,21 delays in the approval of the annual budget that likewise delaythe needed financial increases in the delivery of basic services, nontransparentaccountability of executive officials through the legislative system in terms of financialexpenditures on certain projects (thereby fostering accusations of alleged corruption22),and the apparent political opposition’s penchant attitude for legislative inquiries not in aidof legislation but in aid of government destabilization (during the time of the Arroyoadministration). The net result of all these is the slow pace of national development.

Right now, a number of people appear to favor the shift from the presidential tothe parliamentary system.23 In fact, many of them believe that the main culprit why thePhilippines lag behind its Asian neighbors in economic development is the slow-responsive presidential political system.24 They want distinct political programs such as alabor party that fights for labor rights as against a party that favors the rich or othersectors of society.25

Identifying cultural goals

If culture is coextensive with history, then there should be one grand historicalvision for the country—one grand goal—that is, the holistic and complete developmentof the nation in all areas: economic, cultural, political, scientific, etc. This overalldevelopment should be approached from all sectors, that is, sectoral goals, even ofassociations or societies with national orientation, should have their respective visionsfocused along this one grand vision. A rationalization of goals should be undertaken so asto avoid crisscrossing and conflicting goals that may impede or negate the realization ofthe grand vision. When South Korea, for example, decided to industrialize despite allodds, all national institutions focus themselves in the realization of this goal. It took themmany years to fulfill this dream, but now South Korea is far more progressive than anycountry of Southeast Asia. Much earlier, the Philippines in fact sent a military contingent



10

to help South Korea in its war against North Korea. And now South Korea has overtakenthe Philippines in national progress. Congressman Jose de Venecia Jr. (2006)optimistically believes that the Philippines can become a second world in a decade and afirst world in the second decade if the proper breaks are in place, one of which he thinksis the shift to a unicameral parliamentary system.26 Here political decisions on economic

and other sectoral developments will be decided fast. Moreover, bills of nationalsignificance can be attended to immediately in a responsible manner instead of taking somany years to pass the bicameral congress. Senator Angara (ANC Television InterviewProgram, 2006a),27 for instance, says that bills dealing with sinking ships and oil spills,such as in the Solar I tanker disaster near Guimaras Island, have been pending in thePhilippine Congress for eight years now. Even the United Nations internationalconvention on oil spill calamities, that is, on environmental protection where thePhilippines is a signatory, took so long for the Philippine Congress to ratify.

Economic development normally carries with it cultural development. Economicand scientific advancement transforms the culture of the nation. The First Wavecivilization has the agricultural feudal culture; the Second Wave civilization has the

industrial modern culture, while the Third Wave civilization has the postindustrialpostmodern culture. The Philippines right now is basically a First Wave (agricultural)country that experiences elements of a Third Wave civilization. That is why it appearslogical for this country to shift or “pole-vault” from the First Wave to the Third Wavecivilization.

Changing the cultural attitude of Filipinos

My impression of the Filipinos is that basically they love their country but theyhate how their political leaders and public officials generally manage it. They particularlycall those leaders they despise as trapos, which literally means “dirty rags.” Except for afew genuinely disgruntled Filipinos, many OFWs only work abroad to earn a living,which in their country they have none or if they have work, it generally pays less. Theywould like to try a “greener pasture.”

Although Filipinos take pride in having worked abroad, except a few who had badexperiences, they generally consider the foreign job as temporary. Many still hope theirleaders can make a turnaround and transform their country into the “greener pasture.”Many political leaders are aware of these distress and dissatisfaction among the populace,and the culprit—they argue—is the political system. The Filipino temperament isdynamic, volatile, and active, but the political system—the presidential system—is slowin delivering the needed shot to the economy and the basic services. In particular, theyblame the opposition as obstructionists, that is, the opposition employs any means toobstruct good measures in order to limit the achievements of the party in power.Moreover, the opposition exploits unsubstantiated petty accusations against theadministration.

If many Filipinos live in poverty, that is, are essentially hungry and do not see anyfuture in the Philippines for them and their children, then they lose hope. Theconsequences of losing hope redound to the development of the attitude of self-pity, aloss of human dignity, a self-abandonment, a refuge to drugs, and the commission ofcrimes.



11

Those who are above the poverty line28—the upper poor and the middle class—those who still have hope for their country and themselves, generally try to findtemporary relief in working abroad.

Colonial and Crab Mentalities

Filipinos are said to have these twin evils in their collective personality andculture which they individually ought to overcome.

On the one hand, there is the colonial mentality. It is an attitude, which treatswhatever comes from the local situation, be it by nature or by human production, asgenerally inferior to those which come from abroad. This may be in terms of the naturalcolor or physiological makeup of the native. He or she would like to be white or to havethe facial features of the Caucasian if he or she is dark-skinned or if his or her nose is flat,or the like. Reactions to this mentality is to claim that the nonwhite color is beautiful as inthe expression “Black is beautiful” or “Brown is beautiful since from God’s point of viewit is fully cooked while white is half-cooked and black is overcooked.” But colonial

mentality may also take the form of products of human effort (foreign academic degreesare better than local degrees, imported products are better than locally-produced goods,etc.). This attitude results in the general denigration of what is local, thereby not takingpride in what is locally made (even if in truth and in fact—at least many of them at thepresent time—are better than the imported ones).

On the other hand, a crab mentality is essentially an attitude of envy (not wantingothers to be so much ahead of oneself in many respects and, especially, in materialsuccesses) or of one-up-manship (I am better than you and should be ahead). Crabs in abasket appear to manifest this type of behavior. Those below the basket try to pull downthose above while those on top try to push down those below. The net effect of thisbehavior is slow progress to get out from the basket for all of them. Crab mentality partlyexplains why politically, socially, and economically there is slow progress for theFilipino nation. Individuals excel but their successes are hampered by the enviousbehavior of others around them. True friends would help one excel, but nonfriends,including those who belong to the opposition, will do their best to push one down or pulldown one who is up. If you have wronged someone, he or she will do everything for youto fail in your endeavor and it does not matter if the entire community or both of you willsuffer. In the national political scene, if the political opposition sees the party in power ismaking achievements, or is having good projects for the nation, then the opposition willput obstacles to those projects for these to fail or be delayed, and it does not matter if thecollective, the nation, will have slow progress or will be left behind by other nations.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

No doubt something can be done, and this will attempt to restore pride and hopein the minds of the Filipinos. Conversion to nationalism should not only be in terms of lipservice but in terms of deeds, in terms of behavioral manifestations. To convertcommunities and eventually the nation to nationalism is to convert the individuals thatpopulate the communities.



12

The nationalist consciousness, says Renato Constantino and James Fallows, is theantidote to colonial consciousness. And, I think, this also applies to crab consciousness.The nationalist attitude—the broad type of nationalism—is a rational type, that is, it takesinto consideration sacrifices from individuals or organizations to achieve nationalist goalsof restoring nationalist pride and dignity in the individual, that there is hope for

himself/herself and the nation to a rapid progress. It is a concomitant expectation that thisrestoration will generate the kind of attitude in the person to take pride in what isproduced or found in the local or national situation.

Nationalists argue that the attitude of internationalism should first be grounded onthe proper attitude of nationalism. Internationalism without nationalism is colonialconsciousness, an open attitude towards what is foreign at the expense of what is local. Ifone’s internationalism is rooted in one’s nationalism, then he or she can select from theoutside cultural and economic influences which he or she believes will strengthen his orher own national culture. Nationalists think this is the proper attitude at the present time.A nationalist can later become an internationalist—at least, in the regional sense as inbecoming an ASEAN citizen—but that is a possibility very much later.

Reliance on civil societies

In the meantime, while waiting for the national economy to develop andprovide—through sufficient job opportunities to the poor—the basic needs and servicesof the poor and the other underprivileged, civil societies may do certain wonders forcertain groups of people. A civil society is one that lies between the family and the nation(McLean 2001). It is a grouping of men and women who believe that if nothing much canbe obtained as aid from the local and national government, then the group (association,society, or nongovernmental organization) must rely upon itself for raising funds and forsatisfying the basic needs and services of the people or community and the uplift ofpersonal, moral, and social values therein. The civil society must harness solidarity(unity) and subsidiarity (working together for the common good of the group orcommunity) (see McLean 2005: 89-107).

I will discuss two examples of what I consider as civil societies. The first is theGawad Kalinga movement (GK for short), which is the offshoot of the immersionexperience of a Couple of Christ member in a poor community. This member (AntonioMeloto) has observed that the poor loses hope for oneself and one’s family to rise abovehis poverty. Meloto tries to focus his observations on the male because in the Philippinesthe male generally carries the fortune of the family. As a consequence of losing hope, theperson loses his human dignity and his personal values degenerate. He tries to find refugein drinking spirits, in joining a barkada or gang, in taking drugs, and in committingcrimes. His is a sunken spirit, a patapon (one whose life is useless). He does not love hiswork (like collecting newspapers, bottles, cans, and plastic from garbage dumps) but doesit so that he can earn a small amount just so he and his family can eat something for theday. Meloto lived and talked with them, and on the basis of this phenomenologicalexperience he came out with the plan to restore their sense of dignity and their capacityto hope. He thought of Gawad Kalinga (literally, “to take care of those in need”) to helpthe poor. The first step is to give each poor family a decent house, which it owns bycontract but which it cannot sell; provide the family with a decent self-help livelihood,



13

and for several sessions regenerate the personal, moral, and social values of the membersof each family. In other words, each community—which will consist of 50 to 100houses—will have a livelihood center, a multi-purpose hall, a health center, a school, acaretaker team that stays with the community for two to three years, and a set of 27sessions of value formation that includes love of country, love of neighbor, bayanihan

spirit (helping each other), no drinking, and the like. He envisioned to eradicate slums inthe Philippines, and in 2003 identified 700,000 houses in 7,000 poor communities in 7 years (to be accomplished by the year 2010), or the “777” project. It costs 50,000 pesosto build a decent concrete house (roughly 1000 dollars). By 2006, Gawad Kalinga—started in 2001—was able to establish over 850 decent communities throughout thePhilippines, and donations from individuals, schools, organizations, and cities locally andabroad kept on pouring. Trust can be earned and right now the Filipino rich and somelocal governments both in the Philippines and abroad (Australia, US, and Canada) aregiving donations. The Gawad Kalinga communities are usually named after the donor(individual, school, city, etc.). There are, for example, GKs named after San Bernardino(California), Ontario (Canada), Alberta (Canada), De La Salle University, Ateneo de

Manila University, University of the Philippines, San Beda College, University of SantoTomas, and so on. To diffuse any misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims,there are also right now seventeen Muslim GKs in Mindanao (see Meloto 2006). What isinteresting is that the GK vision has been exported to other countries as in Indonesia,Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, and India (Logarta 2006). In 2006, both Antonio Melotoand the Gawad Kalinga organization each receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award,30 together with other recipients from India, Cambodia, South Korea, and Nepal. (See someGK pictures on the last pages.)

The other group is an academic community that aspires to unite and their voice asa group to be recognized. Essentially marginalized, this community of professionalphilosophers and teachers of philosophy, which established the Philippine NationalPhilosophical Research Society (PNPRS), decided to spearhead the vision to unite thevarious philosophical organizations of the country. It supports the PhilosophicalAssociation of the Philippines (PAP) as the banner association because it is the oldest(founded in 1973). PNPRS recognizes the right of philosophy professionals to establishspecialized philosophy organizations as healthy for it means that many people areinterested in philosophical activities. Like in Great Britain, which has about 15philosophy organizations united in one umbrella (the British Philosophical Association),PNPRS encourages other Philippine philosophy associations to become institutional

members of PAP. Its journal, Φιλοσοφια : International Journal of Philosophy, rightnow has become the journal of three associations—PAP, PNPRS, and PANL(Philosophical Association of Northern Luzon).29 The PAP membership has increased inlight of the affiliation of PNPRS and PANL. Soon PAP will apply for membership to theInternational Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP, Fédération Internationale des

Sociétés de Philosophie), which sponsors the World Congress of Philosophy every fiveyears. The Philippine philosophy community acknowledges its sluggish thrust. The PAPwas ahead of the Korean Philosophical Association (KPA) in founding and yet it wasovertaken by KPA. In 2008 KPA will sponsor the 22nd World Congress of Philosophy inSeoul, South Korea.



14

It is hoped that other Philippine associations of each academic discipline willunite for active international participation on their own initiative, even without the help oflocal or national governments. It is important that every Filipino academic associationshould be able to link itself to the idea of nation building.31

CONCLUSION

While culture develops in history and history feeds on culture for its development,some individuals and groups move faster in cultural and historical development whileothers lag behind in various stages of growth. This is not only true among persons andtribes but also among nations or states.

Filipino nationalists and patriots describe the Philippines as a nation without asoul, a cultural shipwreck that does not know where it is going. It is said to be a“damaged culture,” with nothing much to be proud of historically as a nation. ItsChristianity is sacrilegiously adulterated (see Gripaldo 2005c), its declaration ofindependence shortlived, its political leaders apparently directionless (their goals are at

cross-purposes with each other such that the net effect was to cancel out), and its culturelargely draped with colonial and crab mentalities. At this point in time, the Filipinopeople should not think of what the Filipino nation or its political leaders can do forthem, but of what they as ordinary citizens can do for their nation. Some ordinarycitizens are better situated than others, and while their political leaders may still bewondering what is wrong with them, these better-situated citizens can take the lead inpursuing a grand vision for their country through civil societies. The task of thesesocieties should be to restore hope among the hopeless, provide the means for them todevelop a sense of human dignity, and to take pride in their own produce, on their owneffort toward cultural development and nation-building.

NOTES

1. Paper read during the seminar “History and cultural identity” (20 September to20 November 2006) on 9 November 2006 at the Catholic University of America,Washington, D.C.

2. For the brief curriculum vitae of the author, please visithttps://independent.academia.edu/RolandoGripaldo/CurriculumVitae.

3. See the case of Yugoslavia in 1991.4. National citizenship is that type determined and enshrined in the constitution; it

defines one’s nationality or national identity. Cultural communities belonging to differentraces or ethnicities that desire to be identified with the nation as a totality aspire forcultural citizenship that will enable them to enjoy national citizenship (see Delgado-Moreira 1997).

5. Edgardo Angara ((2006) says that the Global Corruption Index of TransparencyInternational (Berlin) “ranked the Philippines 117th in a survey of corruption in 159countries.” In Southeast Asia, the Philippines ranked third in corruption, next toCambodia and Indonesia. A national culture will generally have an underlyingmacrotradition with many microtraditions some of which may be undesirable such as the



15

tradition of corruption which can be eliminated or drastically minimized over a period oftime. See in this connection, Coronel and Kalaw-Tirol (2002).

6. Wilhelm Dilthey (1991, 31) also calls culture as the “common sphere” whichserves as the individual’s ground of becoming—that is, what one wants himself or herselfto be—the ground by which he or she develops his or her identity as a person.

7. The difference between national citizenship and cultural citizenship is that thenational citizen is a citizen of a nation-state. The term “cultural citizenship” indicates thecultural side of a migrant who aspires to become a national citizen in order to enjoy itsfull benefits, or of the cultural aspect of a member of a cultural community who is notaware of, or is not interested in the benefits, of his national citizenship. In the case of aregional national identity, the postnational citizens enjoy the benefits of regionalcitizenship as in the European Union.

8. Key components of culture are identified as values, norms, institutions, andartifacts (see “Culture,” Wikipedia, N.d.).

9. See the major languages of the Philippines to get a glimpse of the varioustribes; there are actually more than 170 Philippine languages (see “Languages of the

Philippines,” Wikipedia, N.d.).10. For a summary of Toffler’s description of the postindustrial society, seeGripaldo (2000, 113-146).

11. This expression was part of the question asked of Ms Precious Lara Quigamanduring the interview portion of the Miss International contest held in Japan in 2005. Thequestion was: “What do you say to the people of the world who have typecast Filipinos asnannies?" Her reply was: "I take no offence on being typecast as a nanny. But I do takeoffence that the educated people of the world have somehow denigrated the true senseand meaning of what a nanny is. She is someone who gives more than what she takes.She is someone you trust to look after the very people most precious to you—your child,the elderly, yourself. She is the one who has made a living out of caring and loving otherpeople. So to those who have typecast us as nannies, thank you. It is a testament to theloving and caring culture of the Filipino people. And for that, I am forever proud andgrateful of my roots and culture.” Although this reply succeeded in getting the nod of the judges and the audience (she became the 2005 Miss International), the phrase is veryrevealing of the cultural migrant and labor situation of the Philippines (see “Ms. PreciousLara Quigaman New International…” 2005).

There are about twelve million Filipinos (see “Overseas Filipino,” Wikipedia,N.d.) working worldwide, mostly nurses, doctors, seamen, engineers, teachers, otherprofessionals, and construction workers. Only a small percentage are nannies, and theyare more visible in such areas as Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Middle East.

12. Many Filipino professionals are first class workers but their pay is generally

lower than the native workers of the foreign country. They are generally hired because ofcheap labor, and this fact, that is in terms of pay, not in expertise, makes them second- orthird- class workers. However, the pay they receive in foreign countries are higher thanthe pay they received in the country of origin.

13. For a better appreciation of the concept globalization, see The globalization

reader (Lechner and Boni 2004).14. Senator Edgardo Angara (2006a) argues that in the Philippines “political

parties are mere paper parties, with no restricting rules binding members.” In every



16

Philippine election “we always see the effects of turncoatism [changing parties].”Moreover, “Political parties without strong ideological commitments, or unable to offer aconcrete plan of action to address a nation’s ills are more prone to corruption.” SenatorNene Pimentel (see “RP political parties weak…,” 2006) also maintains that Philippinepolitical parties “are weak and many of them do not have solid ideological moorings.”

Moreover, “political platforms are mainly motherhood statements that have no bearing onthe real needs of the people.”15. Fukuyama argues that the ideology of liberal democracy and capitalism is

rooted in the traditional conception of human nature. Once man becomes posthumanthrough genetic modification as in cloning, then human nature would correspondinglychange and the end of history would be overhauled (see Kettmann 2002).

16. Fidel Ramos optimistically said that the government's “pole-vaulting” strategy“is based on the vision of transforming the Philippines within the next 25 years into aknowledge center in the Asia-Pacific, Food Basket in Asia, Maritime Power in East Asia,Commercial Hub in the Asia-Pacific, Energy Exporter in East Asia, Financial Center inEast Asia, Shoppers’ Paradise in the Asia-Pacific, Medical Center in East Asia, Center of

Culture and Arts in Asia, and Educational Center for the Asia-Pacific—a total of at leastten strategic targets for the Philippines to pole-vault into” (Philippine News Agency, 27April 1997).

17. There are just so many of this news coverage from January to September 2006alone. One may view the issues of Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer , andPhilippine Star of 2006.

18. Fallows (1987: 56-57) says that though nationalism, when taken to theextreme, can lead to the Hobbesian state of nature, it can be broadly moderated as topropel a nation to a progressive development at par with the rest of the developed stateslike Japan. To quote him: “Nationalism is valuable when it gives people the reason not tolive in the world of Hobbes—when it allows them to look beyond themselves rather thanputting their own interests to the ruination of everyone else…Japan is strong in large partbecause its nationalist-racial ethics teaches each Japanese that all other Japanese deservesdecent treatment…Individual Filipinos are at least brave, kind, and noble spirited asindividual Japanese, but their culture draws the boundaries of decent treatment muchmore narrowly…”

19. Acculturation is the process by which a culture assimilates parts of a foreignculture while inculturation is the process by which a foreign culture assimilates parts ofthe native culture. In Catholic theology, inculturation takes the form of a symbiotic give-and-take. John Paul II (1990) defined it in the encyclical Redemptoris missio as “Theintimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration inChristianity and the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures.”

20. I saw this brochure in my trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2004. SomeFilipinos I talked with argued that they did not patronize the Philippines Airlines becauseit did not appear to promote Philippine tourism (aside from its relatively high rates).

21. The Philippine Senate is accused of sitting down on vital measures thatCongress has passed as in the case of the terror bill. According to Bataan GovernorEnrique Garcia, “The Senate is taking its own sweet time in acting of a proposedlegislation that would beep up our country’s capabilities to face international terrorism”(Aben 2006a).



17

22. One current case is that of former agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolantewho went abroad apparently to escape from shedding light in senate hearings on theP728-million fertilizer scandal. In a parliamentary system executive officials are dutybound in parliament to make an accounting of their office activities. Under the check andbalance concept of the presidential system, executive officials are coequals with

legislative and judicial officials and are therefore not bound to make an accounting inCongress (see Luci 2006 and Ng 2006).23. The senators accuse the congressmen, many of whom will finish their third

term in office in 2007 and are not qualified anymore—under the law—to run for a fourthterm, to have the ulterior motive in supporting the unicameral parliamentary system toextend their term of office until 2010 since the president thought it wise to experiment onthe system with the present set of legislators until the end of her term as president in2010. The congressmen in turn accuse the senators of having the ulterior motive ofpreserving the presidential system because their house will be abolished. This debate onshifting to the parliamentary system should be decided on the basis of its merits and noton ulterior motives.

24. The other reason cited in connection with slow economic development is thatthe present Philippine constitution has economic provisions that in effect block themassive inflow of foreign investments in industrialization (see Aben 2006b and 2006c).Even assuming the parliamentary system will not be pushed through, the best that can bedone is to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Charter.

25. Senator Angara (2006a) mentions, for example, the strong ideological causesof the Labor and Tories parties of the United Kingdom.

26. Whether or not the parliamentary system will ultimately be pushed through, Ipersonally believe that it is more cost-effective and more efficient than the presidentialsystem (see “Law dean cites cost-effectivity…,” 2006). But the parliamentary system willwork only on the basis of principled parties and honesty (see Defensor-Santiago 2006).When a minister, or even the prime minister, becomes unpopular or is linked tocorruption scandals, he should automatically give up his office. Otherwise, somethinglike a coup d’etat, as in the recent case of Thailand, may take place (see Faiola 2006).

27. ANC, a cable television station, stands for ABS-CBN News Channel. ABSstands for Alto Broadcasting System while CBN stands for Chronicle BroadcastingNetwork. There are more than fifty cable stations aired in Philippine televisions today,and ANC is one of them.

28. According to Marivic Raquiza, the Global Call to Action against Povertynational coordinator, about “3.7 million families live on a measly P35.93 per day.” Thepoverty line per person per day is P41.10 in urban areas and P34.06 in rural areas.Translating the family to an average of four members, then approximately 16 millionFilipinos live very much below the poverty threshold. The United Nations povertythreshold is $1.00 per day per person or about P51.00 per day (see “4-M Filipino[families]…,” 2006). Some quarters blame the economic provisions of the presentconstitution which block foreign investments in industrialization as the cause of povertyand lack of jobs (see “Cha-cha advocates…,” 2006).

The 1987 Philippine Constitution adopted the “Countryside Development”philosophy which is “agriculture-based, labour-intensive, export-oriented economicdevelopment,” as against the “Nationalist Industrialization” school (see “The search for



18

models…,” N. d.). I was against the former school as I believed we could simultaneously develop in the 1980s both agriculture and industry (see Gripaldo 1985a, 1985b, and1986). We can convert the past natural vertical-time economic development of history, ofwhich we had no control, into the present horizontal simultaneous economic development(of agriculture, industry/superindustry, and services), of which we can now have a

mediating control.29. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is considered the Asian counterpart of theNobel Prize Award (see “The 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award for CommunityLeadership,” 2006).

30. To view the journal, visithttps://independent.academia.edu/RolandoGripaldo/CurriculumVitae.

31. See Gripaldo on philosophy and nation building (2006a).

NOTES

Aben, Elena L. 2006a. TUCP criticizes Charter as blocking industrialization. Manila

Bulletin, 7 September.__________. 2006b. Local officials cite need for an anti-terror law. Manila Bulletin, 12September.

__________. 2006c. RP mayors cite best way to attract foreign investors. Manila

Bulletin, 14 September.Angara, Edgardo. 2006a. ANC Television Interview Program. August 29.__________. 2006b. Parliamentarians and good governance. Manila Bulletin, 14

September.Cha-cha advocates say 1987 Charter is ‘root cause of poverty.’ Manila Bulletin, 15

September.Chomsky, Noam. 1975. Reflections of language. New York: Pantheon Books.Constantino, Renato. 1966. The Filipinos in the Philippines and other essays. Quezon

City: Filipino Signatures.Coronel, Sheila S. and Lorna Kalaw-Tirol, eds. 2002. Investigating corruption. Quezon

City: Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.Culture. N.d. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture. Accessed: 4 September

2006.Defensor-Santiago, Miriam. 2006. On Charter change. Manila Bulletin, 20 January.Delgado-Moreira, Juan M. 1997. Cultural citizenship and the creation of European

identity. Electronic Journal of Sociology. Available at http://www.sociology.org/content/vol002.003/delgado.html. Accessed: 4 September 2006.

De Venecia Jr., Jose. 2006. Cha-cha last chance to end deadlock. Bulletin Today, 27August.

Dewey, John. 1960. Having an experience. In Esthetics. Edited by Melvin Rader. NewYork: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Dilthey, Wilhelm. 1991. The human studies. In Culture and society: Contemporary

debates. Edited by Jeffrey C. Alexander and Steven Seidman. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Dondeyne, Albert. 1964. Historicity. Truth and the world. Dublin: Gill and Son.Drucker, Peter. 1993. Postcapitalist society. New York: Harper Business.



19

Faiola, Anthony. 2006. Thai coup highlights struggles over democracy. The Washington

Post , 24 September.Fallows, James. 1987. A damaged culture. Atlantic Monthly 260.Featherstone, Mike. 1991. Postmodernism and the aestheticization of everyday life. In

Modernity and identity. Edited by Scott Lash and Jonathan Friedman. Oxford:

Blackwell.Φιλοσοφια : International Journal of Philosophy. Available fromhttp://mysite.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty/gripaldor/filosofia_journal.asp.

4-M Filipino [families] live on P35.93 a day. Manila Bulletin, 10 August.Fukuyama, Francis. 2002. Our posthuman future: Consequences of the biotechnology

revolution. New York: Picador.Gardels, Nathan. 2006. Revolutionary wealth, a tour d’horizon of the future with Alvin

Toffler. Interview, 17 April 2006. Available fromhttp://www.digitalnpq.org/articles/global/72/04-17-2006/alvin_toffler. Accessed:10 October.

Gripaldo, Rolando M. 1985a. Is industrialization an elusive goal? Diliman Review 33

(March-April).__________. 1985b. Hitting the central issue. Diliman Review 33 (July-October).__________. 1986. Clarifying the issues: A final rejoinder. Diliman Review 34 (January-

February).

__________. 2000. Lasallian education in the future tense. Φιλοσοφια : International

Journal of Philosophy 29 (2). Available athttps://www.academia.edu/9758197/Lasallian_Education_in_the_Future_Tense_2000_.

__________. 2005a. Tourism and heritage in a global society: The Philippine experience

(some philosophical considerations). Φιλοσοφια: International Journal of

Philosophy 34 (1). Available at

https://www.academia.edu/4162035/Tourism_and_Heritage_in_a_Global_Society_The_Philippine_Experience_2005_.__________. 2005b. Bahala na [Come what may]. In Filipino cultural traits. Edited by

Rolando M. Gripaldo. Washington, D.C.: Council for Research in Values andPhilosophy. Available at https://www.academia.edu/4313417/Bahala_Na_A_Philosophical_Analysis_2005_.

__________. 2005c. Roman Catholicism and the Filipino culture. Delivered during theInternational Conference on the “Relation between Religions and Cultures inSoutheast Asia,” held at the University of Jakarta, Depok, Indonesia on 27-28June 2005. Available athttps://www.academia.edu/4487938/Roman_Catholicism_and_the_Filipino_Cultu

re_2009_.__________. 2006a. Media powerhouse: Challenges to contemporary philosophers.

Φιλοσοφια : International Journal of Philosophy 35 (2).__________. 2006b. Filipino philosophy, Western tradition, and nation-building. Paper

read at Tereso Lara Seminar Room, De La Salle University, on 24 March 2006 incompliance with the Emerita S. Quito Distinguished Professorial Chair in theHistory of Thought. Available at



20

https://www.academia.edu/4135427/Filipino_Philosophy_A_Western_Tradition_in_an_Eastern_Setting_2013_.

Huxley, Julian. 1957. Evolution, cultural and biological. Knowledge, morality and

destiny. New York: New American Library.Kettmann, Steve. 2002. Fukuyama rethinks End of history. Available at

http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,51629,00.html. Accessed: 10October 2006. Languages of the Philippines. N.d. Available at http://www.answers.com/topic/

languages-of-the-philippines. Accessed: 4 September 2006.Law dean cites cost-effectivity of parliamentary system. 2006. Manila Bulletin, 12

September.Logarta, Lita T. 2006. Antonio P. Meloto: Crusader for the homeless. The Magsaysay

Award e-Newsletter 1 (3). July-September. Available athttp://www.rmaf.org.ph/enewsletter/index.php?_arrNewsid=2&currid+3.Accessed: 1 November 2006.

Luci, Charissa M. 2006. Senate firm on arrest order for Bolante. Manila Bulletin, 19

January.McLean, George F. 2001. Philosophy and civil society: Its nature, its past, and its future

(Parts I-IV). Φιλοσοφια : International Journal of Philosophy 30 (1-2).Originally printed in Civil society and social reconstruction. 1997. Edited byGeorge F. McLean. Washington, D. C.: Council for Research in Values andPhilosophy.

__________. 2005. Solidarity and subsidiarity as the social exercise of human freedom.In Civil society as democratic practice. Edited by Antonio F. Perez, Semou PatheGueyue, and Fenggang Yang. Washington, D.C.: Council for Research in Valuesand Philosophy.

Meloto, Tony. 2006. The Filipino can dream again. Speech for the Ateneo Graduate

School of Business. July 27. Available athttp://www.gsb.ateneo.edu/40years/Talk%20-%20Mr.%20Meloto.pdf. Accessed:3 November 2006.

Mercado, Leonardo N. 2004. Church-state relation and Filipino philosophy. Φιλοσοφια : International Journal of Philosophy 33 (2).

Ms. Precious Lara Quigaman, the new International, pride of Laguna—Gov. Lazaro.2005. Available at http://www.laguna.gov.ph/news/2005/October05/ms_international.htm. Accessed: 10 October 2006.

Ng, Willie. 2006. Check & balance getting archaic. Manila Bulletin, 11 September.Overseas Filipino. N.d. Wikipedia. Available athttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Filipino. Accessed: 1 November 2006.

Paul, Pope John II. 1990. Redemptoris missio. Available athttp://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_ 07121990_redemptoris-missio_en.html. Accessed: 1 November 2006.

Philippine News Agency.1997. Available at http://www.hamline.edu/apakabar/basisdata/1997/04/28/0159.html. Accessed: 10 October 2006.

Quezon, Manuel L. 1952. A partyless government in a democracy (7 August 1940). InPartyless democracy. Edited by Ricardo R. Pascual. Quezon City: University ofthe Philippines.



21

RP political parties weak—Nene Pimentel. 2006. Manila Bulletin, 11 September.Scott, William Henry. 1994. Barangay. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University

Press.Stablum, Anna. 2006. Is marine mining wave of the future? Manila Bulletin, 27 August.Taylor, Charles. 1985. Human agency and language: Philosophical papers 1.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.__________. 2000. Sources of the self: The making of the modern identity. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

The origin of culture. N.d. Available at http://www.serpentfd.org/ humanevolution.html.Accessed: 4 September 2006.

The search for models: Learning from Asia. N.d. Available athttp://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu04te/uu04te0s.htm. Accessed: 10October 2006.

The 2006 Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership. 2006. Available athttp://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationMelotoAnt.htm. Accessed: 11October 2006.

Toffler, Alvin. 1970. Future shock . New York: Bantam Books.__________. 1980. Third Wave. New York: Bantam Books.Tylor, E.B. 1974. Primitive culture: Researches into the development of mythology,

philosophy, religion, art, and custom. New York: Gordon Press. First published in1871.

UNESCO. 2002. Universal declaration on cultural diversity. Issued on InternationalMother Language Day, 21 February 2002.

White, Leslie. 1949. The science of culture: A study of man and civilization. New York:Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

GAWAD KALINGA PICTURES

[These pictures are taken from the Internet]

history and cultural identity 2010 2015

Documents