The Philippines is an island nation with nearly 70 million people speaking over 70 dialects. At UB, the Filipino American Student Association has drawn a membership of almost 100 students, 10 of whom were born in the Philippines.
The Culture
The Filipino culture is based strongly on familial ties and tradition. Customarily, the father is the head of the family while the mother serves as the educator and housekeeper. Above both father and mother are the grandparents, who have absolute power over their children and family decisions.
Filipinos traditionally believe in fatalism, a conviction that cannot be easily dislodged by science. The Filipino phrase "Bahala na," loosely translated as "come what may," summarizes the Filipino attitude that one's destiny will be determined by fate.
Although the staple of Filipino food, like other Asian cultures, is rice, the cuisine of the Philippines also has many foreign influences. The strongest of these influences is from Spain, which ruled the Philippines for almost 400 years. Common foods include adobe and pancit (noodles), and lumpia (egg rolls).
The flag of the Philippines is made of two equal sized blue and red vertical stripes and a white equilateral triangle with a sun with eight rays and a five-pointed star in each of the three corners. The blue strip represents peace, truth, and justice and the red stripe represents patriotism and valor. The triangle stands for equality while the sun stands for the eight provinces that took up arms against Spain. The stars represent the three geographic areas of the country: Luzau, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Cockfighting, which takes place in several cities, is a national pastime in the Philippine culture. In Manila, the country's capitol, cockfighting occurs nearly every day. Elsewhere, cockfights are held on Sundays and public holidays.
The Club
The goal of the Filipino American Student Association, according to the club's Web site, is to "promote knowing a heritage that has been slipping from our consciousness. . [And to] cultivate a club of knowing our past and present, we also push our members to exemplify themselves through community service and participation of university events."
The club holds two cultural shows each year, the Barrio Fiesta in the fall and a variety show in the spring. This year's Barrio Fiesta will be held in the Student Union lobby on Nov. 17. According to Treasurer Fatima Jazier, this year's party will vary from its traditional format and will resemble a block party.
"We plan on having vendors come in and sell Filipino stuff to promote Filipino culture," said Jazier. She said there will be eight dances performed by members illustrating the traditional Filipino floral dance and Tinikling, a dance using bamboo sticks. The dances will add to the theme of traditional Philippine culture.
"The spring semester show is going to be more focused on Filipino-American culture. It is going to show how the cultures have become integrated," said Jazier.
