Philippines forum < Philippine culture - Why?

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    Re Can someone explain me WHY those people still think so different compared to

    posted by  Robert Haighton in Philippines forum 

    Hi Work Abroad,

    I know the Philippines is a mixture of different backgrounds and I know the Philippines is generally a traditional, conservative country but that are no reasons to not move forward, to not evolve, to not progress and to not improve.

    The Philippines IS living today, like we Europeans lived 50, 60, 70 years ago. To give you an example: IN those days the "only" household we knew of was a dad (the provider), a mother (the house wife) and a bunch of kids. And sex was only done within the constraint of marriage/wedding.

    But now since the sexual revolution (1960s), the invention of the contraceptive pill (the 1960s) everything changed overnight. Then there was also the reduction in working days from 6 to 5 days per week, the increase of salary. It was also the start of secularism. People started to think "outside the box" and started to use their brains. Resulting in churches masses/services and church-goers becoming less and less. In other words: people started to question their own belief system. They became critical consumers/individuals. Hence, atheism was on the rise.

    I really think, the major differences between the Philippines and the West (e.g. my country) is that the Philippines is overwhelmingly family focused while the West is overwhelmingly individual-focused. We dont have to worry about all our other family members. They can and will look after themselves. We also do not live in a society with lots of "social control". People dont interfere in our lives (thank god).

    We dont make kids, so that our kids have to take care of us when we are old (and senile). We dont have such things as the Mano Po. We only respect people who earn and deserve it based on personal achievement. Being a dad or mom is not such an achievement.

    Whats intrigueing me most is, that even a lot of Philippinos have access to the internet , they dont use it to do any research (Google, Wikipedia) and that they dont start to doubt their way of living and thinking when they interact with foreigners.

    When ever I visit Cebu and who ever I chat with (coming from the Philippines) I never met (so far) any intelligent person who is able to have a conversation about their religion, their educational system, politics etc.

    Regards, Robert

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