You Know You’re A Filipino When…

We’ve just celebrated our 118th Independence Day and we are reminded of everything Filipino (or Filo to our Aussie friends 🙂 ) As much as I love this ridiculously-traffic-ridden country, I am also very self-aware of how we generally are. So here are some signs to confirm your Filo roots. 😉

1. You love karaoke.

We love it so much that it has to be regulated. Give Pinoys the chance and we will karaoke until the wee hours of the morning and on full blast too. And (some) are freaking out of tune!

When the new president assumes office, loud karaoke in the neighborhood will be until 10PM only. Thank goodness!

2. You love rice.

You eat rice at least thrice a day and it’s not considered as ‘real’ meal without it and ulam (viand). The first time I started cutting out on rice, my mom thought I will drop dead anytime soon because I was just eating salad and fruits or just the meat or fish she prepared.

3. You are notoriously late.

There won’t be a ‘Filipino time’ if we can manage to be on time. We all get late at some point but it should never be a norm to get used to. I was brought up that it is better to do the waiting than let others wait on me.

Be time-conscious because showing up on time is respecting the other person’s time.

4. Escalator etiquette is foreign to you.

Why do we care about those rushing off to somewhere, right? We love hogging the escalator to ourselves especially when we’re with our friends and boyfriend/girlfriend. We just NEED to stand beside each other.

5. And what lift etiquette are you talking about?

We just won’t let people out first. We have to squeeze our way in amidst people trying to get out. We are one of the nicest people in this planet but we can honestly be etiquette-challenged sometimes. 😉

6. You hate seatbelts.

Car manufacturers can actually ditch the seatbelts for cars sold in the Philippines because seatbelt use is an option. It was only back in 2000 that Republic Act 8750  was signed and seatbelt use has become mandatory.

We just hate being safe that we do #7.

7. Cross the street whenever you like it

Seriously, what stoplight? If the vehicle is still few meters away, feel free to cross the street or you can try when it’s just that right distance and cross the street for that exhilarating moment.

But you should see us when we’re in other countries, we are the most behaved lot.

8. We even alight at proper bus stops when we’re in other countries. But here, passengers get seriously annoyed when drivers will drop them off at the proper stop because it’s just soooo far from where they want to alight. And by far, I mean, like 10 steps.

9. You think that your relatives living outside the country are rich.

Mind you, those living abroad struggle too. They earn dollars, spend dollars and cost of living is just expensive.

In the same manner that relatives living in the provinces think you’re rich because you’re living in Manila. Not true. There is such a thing as urban poor and some are even working in offices.

10. You think being in fluent in English is much better than being fluent in Filipino.

I know English fluency can give you a really good advantage and confidence but it doesn’t make you smarter than someone who is less fluent.

We are such grammar Nazis that we ridicule those English-challenged individuals but surprisingly, we are lenient if they mess up in Filipino.

We are all about perception. As nice as we are, there’s a good chunk of Filo brags out there. People will think we’re shashall if we cannot speak Filipino properly. Eh saan ba kayo nakatira? Sa Pilipinas di ba? I find it ridiculous that people equate intelligence with fluency in English.

That a person who speaks good Filipino is inferior to someone who speaks English is just beyond me. As Heneral Luna says, “Punyeta”.