Filipino values

The Filipino value system or Filipino values refers to the set of values or the value system that a majority of the Filipino have historically held important in their lives. This Philippine value system includes their own unique assemblage of consistent ideologies, moral codes, ethical practices, etiquette and cultural and personal values that are promoted by their society. As with any society though, the values that an individual holds sacred can differ on the basis of religion, upbringing and other factors.

As a general description, the distinct value system of Filipinos is rooted primarily in personal alliance systems, especially those based in kinship, obligation, friendship, religion (particularly Christianity) and commercial relationships.

Filipino values are, for the most part, centered at maintaining social harmony, motivated primarily by the desire to be accepted within a group. The main section against diverging from these values are the concepts of "Hiya", roughly translated as 'a sense of shame', and "Amor propio" or 'self-esteem'. Social approval, acceptance by a group, and belonging to a group are major concerns. Caring about what others will think, say or do, are strong influences on social behavior among Filipinos.

According to the anthropologist Leonardo Mercado, the Filipino worldview is basically 'nondualistic'. Based on his linguistic analyses of Filipino value terms like loob (Cebuano buot), he concludes that Filipinos desire harmony, not only in interpersonal relationships, but also with nature and religion, while still remaining nondichotomous.

"The Filipino wants to harmonize the object and the subject, while at the same time holding both as distinct."

Florentino Timbreza, a cultural philosopher, concludes in his book Pilosopiyang Pilipino (1982) that Filipino values are based on the significance of the world to man. Life experiences dictate the philosophy of the Filipino, augmented by other sources like proverbs, folk sayings, folk tales, and the like.

F. Landa Jocano identified two models of the Filipino value system. The first is the exogenous model or the foreign model, while the second is the indigenous model or the traditional model. The foreign model is described to be a "legal and formal" model. The indigenous model is described as a "traditional and non-formal" model or guide but is deeply embedded in the subconscious of the Filipinos.

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