Philippines: Tourism- Culprit in commodifying cultures and traditions?

I do believe that Tourism has been a culprit in commodifying cultures and traditions in a specific destination.

While researching for the information on Philippines, I came across this website that is talking about one of the biggest festivals in Philippines – The Sinulog Festival. This festival is held annually on the third Sunday of January in Cebu city to honor the Santo Nino (or child Jesus). It is a dance ritual which remembers the Filipinos’ pagan past and acceptance of Christianity.
This festival should be a cultural festival. However due to the growth of tourism, it has slowly loses it purposes. There is actually a SME trade fair where Sinulog features Cebu export quality products and people around the world came for the Cebu’s “treasures”. They even included street dancing contest that is held in the Cebu City Sports Complex that have contestants all over the world. (About the Sinulog Festival)

This actually shows that in order to attract tourists (for the attracting items in Cebu city) and SME (for the trade fairs), government had been over commercialized the event. This is supposed to be a holy event that everyone can enjoy without paying. However, the entire festival had lost its true meaning and more focused on profitability.

Philippines: Analysis on Changes brought by the Growth of Tourism

In the aspect of growth of tourism in a country, it can be either brings in positive or negative changes to a specific country. Philippines had been hit with both good and bad regardless of how well they are or they are not doing well in tourism. Hence, let’s take a look what are the negative and positive changes that had been made to the country due to tourism.

The growth of Philippines’ tourism will help to improve the country’s currency income for the location. This not only benefits the country and that they can earn more due to the rise of their currencies whenever they trade with other countries.

Due to the growth of tourism, the government has to make sure that all the facilities are able to cater to the tourists’ needs due to their hosting position. Hence, tourism had actually helped the country to have improvement in infrastructures or even create new infrastructures to cater to the tourists. According to the President of Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, she mentioned that tourism is very important to their country as they actually have many attractions that are the best in the world. Hence, they have to spend more on vital infrastructures like roads, bridges, airports and ports in the different provinces of eastern Visayas. (Gov't steps up development of tourism infrastructure, 2009)This can directly affected the tourists because better environment had been provided to them whereas indirectly affected the locals which can also enjoy this small piece of luxury that improve their standard of living.

Another positive change that growth of tourism made to Philippines is that they can create awareness of Philippines’ foreign cultures and traditions. We can see from the Philippines’ History that it had many cultures that mix with one another to create the current new culture. Hence, growth of tourism allows tourists to have better understanding of the indigenous groups, the historical sites etc. This can be applied to the increasing trend of Cultural tourism.

Now, let’s look into the negative changes that growth of tourism to Philippines. One of the major problems that Philippines had to face now is the deep rooted special interest tourism in the country – Sex Tourism. Philippines is one of the most popular destinations for Sex tourism and that the image of it was so strong that it cannot be erased in a short period of time. This actually allows other tourists to be reluctant when selecting it as a destination for holiday.

Another point is the environmental damages. In order to build new infrastructures, the government had to clear some of the land for the construction. However, this means that it might disturb some flora and fauna in Philippines and also might damages some historical sites. There might be air or noise pollutions if many contractions are progressing at the same time.

Last point will be the conflict of resources between the tourists and the locals. They might be competing for water supplies and food supplies. Especially for resorts that is built in the rural places, the beaches or forests will tend to be used for the tourists or guests. The locals might be unhappy if you took away their beach or forest and that might cause a very big problem that the locals unhappiness towards to tourists or guests.

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In conclusion, I think that is actually neutral about the positive and negative changes in the country. It might because of the link between them. We can see about the building infrastructure that meets the tourists’ needs and improve the standard of living of the locals, but environmental issues are also happening at the same time. That is the reason why I think that it is neutral about the changes in the country due to growth of tourism.

Philippines: Disneyization?

To talk about Disneyization in Philippines, I will zoom into this attraction that is called “Nayong Pilipino” which means the Philippines Village. This will serve as an example of Disneyization in Philippines.

It is also known as the Filipino Historic and Cultural Amusement Park. In this park, you can actually find anything that is related to Philippines. It is a mini version of the diverse Philippines and its cultures and that this park is divided into numerous display areas for exploration. The mission of the owner is that to provide foreign nationals a unique way to understand and experience Philippines culture and history. Not only providing this, there are monthly theme showcases of festivals, music, dances, food and arts and crafts of Philippines. The park also host functions and events such as seminars or wedding, they also provide accommodation in the form of cottages to allow the guests to enjoy the charm.

To spot Disneyization in this, we have applied the dimensions of Disneyization into the example.
In the case of Theming, the park actually hosts seminars and meeting events in the park. Philippines Village is a place for mini theme park for one to experience culture. However, there is no link for them to actually host seminars and meeting events at that location. Both of them (park and the event) have different objectives.

Merchandising is promotion of goods. The monthly showcases will be fitted into this category whereby arts are crafts are sold there. There are also cuisines that will be sold as commercialization items.

Walking into the Philippines Village, you can actually being served by the staffs there to talk to you about the villages. You will also be brought to the showcases of music and dances to allow you to know more about them and even learning them. They actually also wore their traditional costume and always entertaining you. I can say that they do have very good service at the village.

Philippines: Cultures & Traditions

I will be looking into cultures in Philippines which include Lifestyle, Music and Dance and Art.

As Philippines consist of different religions and people in different places, this literally means that there are also a mix of different cultures that will be overlapping each other throughout the future years. The Filipinos still held family as their first priority and high regards to the family ties and Filipinos kids are educated the importance of discipline since they were young. The families there are also quite conservative in their outlook. An example will be they felt inappropriate when a female visits a male’s house.

The music style seen in Philippines has a blend of both Europe and American influence. This means like the Lady Gaga’s generation is also trending there. The Spanish invasion had also left an impact of the development of music. Philippines are influenced by the usage of guitars and zarzuela in their music. Filipino rock and reggae also have major fan base. The dances of the Filipinos are seen in different forms also due to the change in culture. They have certain distinct forms of folk dance like Bamboo sticks are used in some dances. The dances are usually done in groups.

Art is one of the important and major aspects in the culture of Philippines. Painting style in the 17th century is continuing even until day. Other forms of art are weaving and pottery is still common amongst certain group of people. If you ever get a chance to visit the Filipinos homes, you will be able to realize most of their displays are wooden art. History reveals the relationship between the creative poetry with the people of Philippines. The Tanagas are the short poems that is wrote without titles and it is written in tagalog in the past. However, many aspiring ports are using the basics of this form to write creative verses. (Lad)

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Now, I will be covering the basic traditions of Philippines. Seniors (which is mostly the elderly) are high respected by the younger ones. Hence, when replying or greeting the elders, the Filipinos will use the word “Po” or “Opo” which means ‘Yes’ in a polite way.

There is also two other ways for the younger ones to greet the elders. The first one will be kissing the hand of an elder; this actually shows respect to the elders. Another is that a younger person may take the elder’s hand, bring it to the forehead then release it.

When having verbal communication with someone, speaking politely is very important. Criticism and arguing is a big No-no.

It is also a tradition that every family had to hold a family reunion when there is a birthday, Christmas or New Year’s Celebration. Removal of shoes is customary when entering one’s home. This is to show respect for the family and their home, as well as basic courtesy. (Social Customs and Traditions in Philippines)

On every November 1st, the Filipinos honor they deceased family members by visiting the cemeteries. However, those who are unable to make it can choose to light up candles and pray for the souls of their deceased family members. (Traditions)

Philippines: The Indigenous Groups

With the population for about 99900177, there are approximately 10 to 15 percent are the indigenous groups in Philippines. They are retained their ways of living that reflect age old environment adaptation, emphasizing sustainability, coexistence, community consensus and collective effort.

I will be talking about one of the indigenous group which is named the Negrito group that their economies is depended on their agriculture, hunting and gathering, fishing wage labor and trade. In this Negrito, there is 25 major groups that have been identified and are mostly distinguished by their Australoid physical features. The Negritos comprised of estimated 15000 people. These people are located on several major islands in the country which is the Luzon, Palawan, Panay, Negros, Cebu and Mindanao. Their languages are all Austronesian. Their adults are mostly bilingual. And they are about to understand and interact with their non-Negrito neighbors with minimum difficulty.

These Negroid people are quite different in appearance from the Mongoloid people in Philippines. Negroid Appearance had caused all scholars to reject the theory that their ancestors came from Africa. They accepted the theory that the Philippine Negritos are the descendants of groups of homo aspiens who migrated into the Philippines.
All Negrito groups are or were hunter- gatherers. They are found in various stages of deculturation. Most of them practice some marginal cultivation themselves and all group carry on intense symbiotic relationships with the non-negoritos , trading forest products for cash or starch food (rice or corn), serving as forest guides and especially working as casual laborers at their nearby farms. (Philippine Negritos)

Exploring~ Philippines!

During the 16^th century, Philippines had come under the colony of Spain. This actually brought about the construction of Intramuros in 1571 which consisted of European style’s infrastructures (buildings and churches) and it is replicated in different parts of the archipelago. However they are surrendered by Spain to United State due to the Spanish –American War in 1898, and it had become the first and only colony in United States. (History)

· Location

The Philippines is part of Southeast Asia, an archipelago between the Philippine Sea and South China Sea. The Philippines archipelago is made up of 7107 islands. (East & Southeast Asia : Philippines, 2010)

· People

According to Central Intelligence Agency, the total population in Philippines is 99900177 people. This statistic is estimated in July 2010. It is ranked number 12 for its population when compared to the rest of the world. (East & Southeast Asia : Philippines, 2010)

The Philippines people are the Filipinos and their ethnic groups consist of Tagalog , Cebuano, Ilocano, Bisaya (or Binisaya), Hiligaynon Ilonggo, Bikol, Waray and others. Philippines also consist of different religion and most of Filipinos are Roman Catholic.

· Mode of Education

Education in Philippines is managed by the government organizations which are the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The academic years are actually scheduled seasonally. This means the academic years will start after coldest and hottest seasons. In Philippines, the months between March to May are usually the hottest seasons of the year and thus making them as the “summer break” for the students. They will be back to school in June (which is the start of the wet season). As the Philippines is a Catholic country, they have a 2 to 3 weeks break in December (Christmas) and a few days in November (Day of the Saints and Day of the Dead).

Education System in Philippines had improved during the last four decades of the twentieth century. There is public school which is like the normal nursery to kindergarten in Singapore. Later, they will enter elementary school (which is like the primary schools in Singapore). Then they will be entering secondary schools and then tertiary institutions after taking the College Entrance Examination (CEE). There are also different other schools like International Schools and Laboratory High Schools.

Primary and Secondary schools’ school week starts on every Monday to Friday at 0730AM. Like Singapore, the schools start flag rising, singing national Anthem and pledge. They will have their recess in their cafeteria or packed lunch by their parents.

Majority in the public sector in Philippines are higher educated which it actually consist of up to 80% of the student population. In the aspect of gender, the distribution in elementary schools of male and female students is equally represented while in the secondary and college area, there are more female students. (Philippines - Educational System - An Overview)

· Languages

The Philippines have over a hundred of languages in the country which inclusive of the dialects and some other languages. Filipino is declared as the official language along with English in 1987. The reason of why English is used as the official language is that it is very important during the British invasion and also when they are under the US rule. It is used in the government and education institutions. Filipino is used all over Philippines and that is the preferred language by the civil servants and the arm forces.

Spanish is also one of the languages spoke in Philippines due to the history of Philippines. It was heavily used in 1956 in education, religion, trade and politics. In 1986, free education in Spanish was promoted to promote the further use of Spanish. However, it was no long considered as official language in 1973 and that its uses is now restricted to only a few parts of Philippines and Spanish Family.

Mandarin is also spoken in Philippines. It was brought in by the immigrants from China and one of the dialects – Lan-nang-oe dialect is spoken by the country’s Chinese residents and other groups. Some Filipinos can also speak Cantonese (another dialect from China).

There are other Major languages in Philippines that is spoken in their respective religions (official language of their religion). The followings that I will be elaborating about is the 6 major dialects that is spoken around Philippines

The first is Tagalog. It actually means Native River and it is an Austronesian language that forms the basis of national and official language Filipino. Secondly is Iilokano. It is the third most spoken secondary language and used by millions natives. Thirdly is the Cebuano which is the most spoken language in Central Philippines. Its name came from the island of Cebu.

Fourth will be Tausug that derived from the word irayathat is mostly spoken in Sulu, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia by the Tausug People. The Fifth language will be Kapampangan which means the river bank and also one of the major languages of the Philippines. The last one will be Knaray0a which rerived from the word iraya, referring to a group of people staying in the mountain areas. It is spoken mainly in Antique province in the Philippines. (Rajeev)

· Leisure Programs

I will be talking about a few festivals in Philippines. May is called as the “month of colourful festivals” (Amperspoint) has a few major festivals happening. On May 15^th, there is a Pahiyas Festival which means the celebration of thanksgiving. It is actually the most extravagant festival that is celebrated in Philippines. This is a way for the locals to give their thanks for the fruitful harvest of the year. This event has been going on since the 16^th century. During the festival, people will display their harvest outside their homes for the priest to bless. Competition is held for families to compete for the title of the best decorated house and this is also the main highlight of the event. (Pahiyas Festivals: A Celebration of Thanksgiving )

In January, there is an Ati-Atihan festival that held in Panay. It is considered as the wildest among the Philippines fiestas. People will start to paint their faces with black soot and wear bright and outlandish costume as they dance. (Domingo, 1996) Ati-Atihan means “make believe atis” and it is name after the Ati who is the indigenous native of the natives of the island before the Malays (in 10^th Century) and Spanish (in 16^th Century). This festival is to celebrate the arrival of gift of Santo Nino by Magellan to the native queen of Cebu in 1521. (Ati-Atihan Festival)

Water sports are very normally seen in Philippines. There are actually diving, surfing, kayaking, rafting. According to Ted Lerner, one of the best things about surfing in Philippines is that the less crowded waves offered everyone a chance to enjoy the sports without the problems of crowds. It has endless miles of reefs and many will be tempted to assume that Philippines are the world class destination for surfing. (Lerner, 1995)

· Philippines’ is known of...

Philippines is famous for their forests and natural beauty. Philippines is one of the most biologically diverse nations in the world. It is listed as one of the top five by the conservation community. (Forests: Philippines)

Next will be the attractions and beautiful areas in Philippines. One of them is the Chocolate hills. They are located at Bohol in Philippines and there are actually more than 1268 cone-shaped hills there! They are unique not only because they are covered in grass and also that the cone shape is more or less common t all although there are difference in size. The hills will looks chocolaty only during the dry season as the grass wither and turn into brown color. That will looks like giant Hershey chocolate kisses! (Chocolate Hills of Bohol)