Cultural practices to be aware of when living in the Philippines

The Philippines, with its world-class natural landscapes, attracts a large number of tourists every year.

Now, thanks to the Philippines' massive construction and special construction plans, it focuses on the attention of global investors. As a foreigner, if you want to live a better life and develop in the Philippines, you should take the initiative to understand the cultural customs of the Philippines.

The Philippines is an island nation and the majority of the population is Catholic, Protestant and Islamic. In addition to sectarian customs taboos, there are many other custom taboos in life.

Salutation aspect

Filipinos' names are mostly in Spanish, in order of teaching names – the first word of the mother's surname – the father's surname. When communicating with professional and technical personnel, the title should be called engineer, architect, lawyer, professor, etc.

Communication aspects

When meeting, peers shake hands and say hello;

When you meet an elder, you should kiss the back of their hand, or pick up their right hand and touch their forehead to show respect. When young girls see an elder, they should kiss the elder's cheek.

When acquaintances or relatives and friends meet, they are generally very casual, and some men and women often pat their shoulders to show greetings when they meet.

In some remote rural areas, the way to shake hands for gifts is also very unique. Immediately after shaking hands, they turned around and took a few steps back. The main purpose is to show the other party that there is no hidden knife behind him. They see it as a sincere handshake gift.

When visiting Filipinos, take off your shoes before entering the door and do not peek into the owner's bedroom and kitchen.

Do not accept or give gifts publicly in the Philippines or guests will feel humiliated.

Some Filipinos pay special attention to the cleanliness and cleanliness of the house. They are often accustomed to taking off their shoes before entering the house and avoid stepping on the threshold when entering the door. The locals believe that there is a god under the threshold and cannot be offended;

Aspects of life

When riding, when encountering the elderly, you must give up your seat and do not smoke in front of the elderly;

Many Filipinos are accustomed to eating together with forks and spoons, knives and forks are popular in high society, and the vast rural areas are still accustomed to grabbing food with their right hands;

The inviting party must invite multiple times in the banquet to show sincerity;

When the host makes the first toast or serves a meal to the guest, be sure to be humble and do not take a seat before the host sits down.

Like other Southeast Asian countries, Filipinos are forbidden to pass or catch food with their left hand. They think that the left hand is dirty and disrespectful to others with the left hand.

Philippines time

The Philippines is known for being late for love. They have their own time, known as Philippine time. Philippine time refers to the postponement of the agreed time by 15 minutes to an hour. Therefore, if you are invited to visit someone else's home, it is not recommended that you arrive on time. If you go too early, you will be considered anxious to eat. This is shameful.

Don't be too surprised if you agree to meet filipinos who are half an hour to an hour late.

Public scolding

Filipinos are generally friendlier and more welcoming, and many friends who travel in the Philippines can make friends in a matter of days.

But Filipinos are friendly, but they are sensitive at heart and have a strong sense of self-esteem.

In China, we often see leaders criticizing or even loudly accusing subordinates in front of everyone. It is also common for teachers to criticize and scold students in front of the whole class.

But this rarely happens in the Philippines.

Because Filipinos take pride in being kind to others and treating themselves well, scolding Filipinos in public places will deeply hurt their self-esteem.

Once they are humiliated, they are likely to harbor a grudge.

Some Filipinos with extreme personalities may even slash people who scold him in public with knives.

Even if you're the boss, it's very unwise to openly scold your subordinates at work.

If you have to scold each other, find a place where no one is!

Ask for income.

Many newcomers to the Philippines will be interested in the income of Filipinos, but it is also very impolite to know that it is also very impolite to ask about income in the Philippines.

The gap between rich and poor in the Philippines is huge, 80% of the people do not have high incomes, and it is mentioned above that Filipinos have strong self-esteem. If the other person is poor, it will be humiliating to be asked about income.

Touch the head

Before touching someone's head in the Philippines, be sure to ask in advance if you can.

In fact, it has to do with religion. Most Filipinos believe in Catholicism, and Catholics believe that God is on their heads. Therefore, even if the other party is a child, do not easily touch the head of others!

The back can't be touched either, because they think touching the back will bring bad luck.

Ask for height

It is impolite to ask about male height in the Philippines.

This is especially true for tall Filipino men, and it's nothing wrong to ask about tall men.

The idea that we are short is deeply ingrained in the minds of Filipinos, so we are particularly concerned about height.

Never make gestures.

Extending a curved index finger in China means coming over, but it must not be done to Filipinos.

According to the locals, this gesture is made by dogs, and it would be a great insult to make such a gesture to a person.

Similarly, the gesture of pointing your index finger at someone can be annoying.

Although Chinese don't like this gesture, it is taboo in the Philippines and it is best not to do it.

Ladies preferred

Influenced by the West, the Philippine upper class prevails in an atmosphere of female priority. No matter what they do, they usually take special care of women and children.

But in rural areas, women are of a relatively low status because they far outnumber men.

The Philippines belongs to a matriarchal society, women are highly independent, both parties divorce, family property must be divided in half, and children will be indisputably awarded to women.

For unmarried mothers, men are willing to subsidize better living expenses, unwilling to subsidize, women will also fully support children, never use children to bind men, ask for marriage, etc.

Abortion is not allowed in the Philippines. In the Philippines, we often see many unmarried mothers, even very young girls, who will have several children. Maybe the father of the child is not the same person, but this does not affect the happy life of the unmarried mother.

Talk about tragic events.

In the Philippines, people don't like to talk about the tragic news of women and children.

Because they will naturally bring in, what if the same thing happens to my family?

Xiaobian believes that this is also a manifestation of the filipinos' great emphasis on family.

Don't criticize their families.

Filipinos attach great importance to family and have a strong sense of family, so don't make negative comments about Filipinos' families. Otherwise, you might see them turn over on the spot.

For example, when you receive an invitation from a Filipino to come home for dinner, you can't make unnecessary negative comments about the food his mother has prepared for you. No matter how familiar your relationship is, don't do it, or the ship of friendship might turn over.

Digital taboos

Filipinos are contraindicated on 13 and Fridays. They think that 13 is a fierce god, a symbol of doom and calamity, so it is an extremely disgusting number.

Color taboos

Avoid red, considering red to be an ominous color;

Forbidden cranes and turtles, printed with these two animal shapes of things.

National flower

Filipinos love jasmine flowers the most, believing that jasmine flowers are fragrant and give people a happy and beautiful impression. People respect it as the national flower.

Hospitality filipinos often string jasmine flowers into beautiful garlands and hang them around their necks to express their pure friendship with their guests.

language

The Philippines has more than 70 languages, but Mandarin is Filipino, based on his Garo language. The official language is English, and English has a high penetration rate, equivalent to our Mandarin Chinese.

However, the pronunciation of Native Filipino is very similar to that of Chinese. Interested friends can try to learn. It is really much better than English.

Although the Philippines is only two hours away from China, it is already abroad after all, and the national living habits of the Philippines have integrated the cultures of the East and the West, and the customs must be very different from China.

In order to integrate into local life as soon as possible and achieve rapid development, small partners still have to go with the customs!