Filipino traditions: how to show respect
Every country has its own traditions and ways to express feelings and gratitude and it is really interesting to see how some feelings that we consider universal like love, happiness, respect are shown in different ways. In this article we will talk about Filipino traditions.
Watch this fun episode of ‘Craig of the Creek’
It is an American TV series with different characters and one of them is a little girl: Eileen. She comes from a Filipino family that speaks Bisaya – a dialect in the Philippines – and presents some Filipino traditions.
What are the most important ones? Let’s have a look!
In the clip, we saw the little girl saying to her friend to do the mano to greet her lola (grandmother).
In the Philippines there is a fascinating way to show respect to someone: have you ever heard about Mano po or Pa-bless po?
This gesture is one of the most important gestures in the Philippines and this is a sign used to show respect to elders and to request blessings from them.
It consists of taking the hand of a senior or someone older than you towards your forehead while saying ‘mano po’ or ‘pa-bless po’ and usually the elder responds ‘God Bless you’ or ‘May the Lord have mercy on you’.
Therefore, Filipinos do the mano upon entry into the house of their grandparents or upon seeing an elder to greet them.
This honoring-gesture is really important in Filipino culture. This is because they always want to make sure to give the right honor and show respect to others.
Especially the elders because people see these ones as someone with profound knowledge and experiences. With this gesture, we are allowing ourselves to be subservient to them and receive blessings and wisdom.
The mano is something that young kids are taught to do since an early age to their parents, grandparents, ninang (godmother), ninong (godfather)… and this gesture is not necessarily done just to a family member but also to people not related by blood.
By doing this gesture we are acknowledging their age and consequently, we show them respect because they are older. In addition, it is important to bring out the fact that the Filipino culture considers calling an elder just by their name something disrespectful and so when someone is addressing an elder, he or she refers to them using a title as “tita/tito or lola/lolo etc” – that means aunt/uncle or grandmother/grandfather.
But, where does the word mano come from?
It is interesting to highlight and see the origin of this tradition.
The use of the word mano, and so as many other Filipino words, is due to the Spanish colony that the Philippines had from 1565 to 1898 and as a matter of fact, we can see Spanish influence into the Filipino vocabulary and this explains the use of this word that means hand.
Mano is almost always followed by the word po and if you have Filipino friends or if you hear Filipinos talking to their parents or fellow citizens, you surely hear this word.
But what does ‘po’ really mean? Does it have a meaning?
‘Po’ doesn’t have a literal meaning but, in the Filipino culture, this term is a pointer of respect when addressing someone.
However, in Filipino culture respecting others is a fundamental aspect of the relationship with somebody. So they always want to make sure to hand these traditions down from generation to generation.
This way of showing respect is still deeply alive in the Philippines even in the younger generation. However, if we are going to see OFW’s life (overseas Filipino workers) with children born out of the Philippines is another matter.
Nowadays many Filipinos leave and move to other countries due to different reasons. But no matter in which country they are. Parents try to assure the younger generation to not lose this traditional way to show respect to people because it is one of the main core values for them.
In the case in which children are abroad and they have to talk to their relatives way back in the Philippines by video-call or via phone, using the word po is fundamental in the conversation with them, because even if they are not doing the traditional pagmamano – because they may be apart – using, at the end of the sentence, the word po or opo have a crucial and important function.
How do Filipinos in Italy deal with this tradition of pagmamano? Do they still use the word po in their sentences?
Let’s discover it!
In Italy, there are many Filipino families. According to ISTAT data in the year 2016 there were more than 160.000 Filipino citizens.
Firstly, we have to make a distinction. Between the first generation of Filipinos who arrived in Italy during the 90s and the generation who were born and raised in Italy.
There are kids who, born and raised in Italy, don’t know how to speak properly in Tagalog and sometimes they know just a few words or simple sentences but it is interesting the fact that even if they don’t know how to speak fluently Filipino and they express themselves in Italian or a mix of these two languages, the first thing we can notice is that the use of the word po is not missing and so this can highlight the importance of this pointer of respect.
We can also find kids that still practicing the pagmamano, especially to their godparents, and even if their way of living is different from the one in the Philippines when they are approaching a Filipino elder, they also make sure to not call them just by their first name but they give them the right title.
Despite the differences in the way of living of Filipinos in the Philippines or abroad, in both cases, these traditions have a profound value.
It is something that they will try to keep as long as they can. This is because showing respect and being thoughtful to others plays a huge role in the life of the people from the Philippines.
Now, you know: when you encounter a Filipino elder don’t forget to use the word po/ opo and when it is possible to mano them! 🙂
Do you know some other Filipino traditions?
Let us know!
