Want to know just how Filipino you are? Take this quiz to rate your Filipinoness. You might just be surprised at the results!
Scoring: Give yourself 3 points if you can relate to the following characteristics yourself, 2 points if it relates to an immediate family member (mom or dad) and 1 point if you know of someone who has the characteristic.
Post your score in the comment section.
Continue reading Are you really a Filipino?What is a Tabo? Pronounced tah-bow, a close translation to English would be a water dipper. They tend to vary from the standard plastic dish with a long handle to a small cup or other water holding container.
In a Filipino household a Tabo is often used in place of toilet paper, and for many non-Filipino visitors this may be an item of mystification. While toilet paper is usually available, you will typically find a Tabo next to large bucket or Timba (tim-bah) sitting within reach of the toilet. Don’t let this frighten you because now you will know what it is and shortly you will know how to use it! The Tabo is essentially a manual bidet.
To start off, go about and get your business taken care of. “Drop the kids off at the pool”, “Take the Browns to the Superbowl”, “Back the big brown motorhome out of the garage, “Free your chocolate hostages” or what ever term you use. Once you are done pumping a clump of dump out of your rump you are ready to use the Tabo.
Continue reading What is a Tabo?Originally a 2 part article which I have condensed into one article. This article is about my grandpa, Eulalio Arzaga Sr, who currently lives in Killeen Texas.
FILIPINO SCOUTS MET JAPANESE INVASION
By MARK BROADAWAY Killeen Daily Herald
We’re the battling bastards of Bataan;
No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam;
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces;
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces.
… And nobody gives a damn.
Those grim words became the battle cry of former Filipino Scout Eulalio “Eli” Arzaga of Killeen, who helped defend the mountainous peninsula of Bataan for 14 weeks during the Japanese invasion of the Philippine island of Luzon.
With an empty stomach and sick body, his mind tortured by the strain of fighting with the knowledge that all hope of aid from the outside was gone, Arzaga fought until overwhelmed by hunger and disease.
“Beriberi swelled my face until I could hardly see,” recalled Arzaga, who joined the elite 26th Cavalry Regiment in March 1938.” By the time (Maj. Gen. Jonathan) Wainwright surrendered, I had the chills and my entire body was numb.”
Here is a list or signs that will help you identify if you are at a Filipino Party. Feel free to comment and add any observances you may have to help others identify if they are indeed kickin’ it at a Pinoy Party.
~You’re an hour late and there’s still nobody there!
~There’s enough food to feed the Philippines.
~You can’t even get through the door because there’s a pile of 50 shoes blocking the way.
~You see a huge fork and spoon on the wall, a framed picture of the Last Supper, a huge Santo Nino, and a barrel man.
~Someone is singing “Peelings” on karaoke.
~There’s a piano in the living room for decoration.
~You are greeted by a Tita Baby and/or a Tito Boy.
~The older men are in the garage playing posoy-dos, poker or 31, the women are in the kitchen gossiping, or are playing mahjong, the other people are in the entertainment room singing karaoke, and the kids are outside the streets running around unsupervised.
~There’s a crazy woman with a camera going around the room snapping away and yelling, “Uy peeeek-chuuur!”
~You enter the party and you “Mano” to half the old crowd and when you leave you have to say goodbye to EVERYONE that’s related to you as a sign of respect. You end up saying hello and goodbye for a total of 30-40 minutes.
~You hear a male’s voice on the karaoke trying to emulate Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”.
~Women are still doing the line dance to “todo todo “..
~When there’s at least one or more with the name : JP,JJ, JT,TJ,DJ,AJ, RJ,LJ, Jun Jun, Bing bing, Ting ting, Ding ding, Weng weng, Bong bong, Dong dong etc.
~All the old aunties and guests are already wrapping up food to take home.
~You have the Pacquiao fight on the illegal cable boxes on the 70″ LCD in the movie room,
~The 10 yr old 50″ CRT in the living room,
~The 15 yr old 30″ tube in the breakfast nook,
~The 20 yr old 15″ tube in the kitchen,
~The 30 yr old 13” tube in the garage
~And the Little portable by the BBQ grill,
Because TVs are NEVER retired in a Filipino household, they merely get demoted to whichever room doesn’t have a TV yet(hahaha),then it ends up in the balikbayan box to be sent to a relative back home, and it ends up being the main TV at the house again.
~The women are showing off their “designer” Louis Vuitton and Coach bags that they secretly bought at a swap-meet.
~Someone is always in the kitchen constantly cleaning up, and you’re not sure if she’s the maid or a relative, so you greet and kiss them on the cheek anyway.
~Relatives/friends will ask you where you work and if it’s a retail job or if you work at an amusement park, they’ll ask if you can get them a discount.
~The lumpia is gone in 5 minutes and they are frying up another batch..
~I like how the religious gatherings at the house turn into an illegal gambling set up by the end of the night!!
~If you wrap a paper towel around any of the food, it becomes translucent.
~There needs to be at least one rice cooker. If there is no rice cooker, expect someone to go out and get a rice cooker themselves.
~If some stranger shows up at the party that you don’t recognize yet looks Filipino, everyone assumes that he or she is a relative.
~If you are thirty or over, conversation will always be about what high-paying jobs your kids have. And if your kid does not have a high paying job, it’s about what high paying job their spouse has. That’s because, among Filipinos, “conversation” is really a thinly-disguised game of clannish oneupmanship.
~There will always be tiny children running around the room, or crying. That is because Filipinos do not believe in baby-sitters.
~Everyone will be pretty much sitting down on chairs, the floor, or standing with a plate of food in front of them … unless karaoke is involved.
~There are 12 different dishes claiming to all be called the same thing
~Every car outside is a Toyota or BMW…or if it another type, it has stuffed toys in the rear window.
~The stereo is turned on, really loud, so is the tv and the kids are playing Nintendo.
~You put twice as much food on your plate that you normally do and the hostess asks you if you are on a diet.
~When a soda can is opened and hisses, everyone looks around.
~Every time your mom introduces you to someone, there is a “tita, tito, lolo, or lola” attached to the beginning of their name.
~More that half the people are either a Nurse and/or a letter carrier.
~When you use the “comfort room” there is no toilet paper but only a large cup.
~You caution non-filipino friends to avoid dishes jokingly referred to as “Chocolate Soup”
~When you yell out “Kuya Boy” and twelve jokers stand up.
Last week I received word of an award winning author from the Philippines coming to National City to give a talk. I was intrigued not some much that a Filipino author was coming to town as I was in knowing more about his book, now in its 9th printing, entitled 12 Little Things Ever Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country. The same author also wrote the passionate award winning poem I am Filipino.
In breaking with Filipino tradition, I showed up early at Kalusugan Community Services in order to get some candid photos and catch up with folks I’ve not seen in a while. As I was watching people come and fill the room, I found myself standing next to a quiet gentleman, similar in size and age who looked oddly familiar. I started making small talk, mainly in hopes I could remember where I’ve met him. Well, about 2 minutes into our conversation, it hits me where I’ve seen him. His name is Alex Lacson, the author that everyone was coming to see that evening. By the way, his photo on the promotional flyer is exactly what he looks like in person.
Having personally organized dozens of these types of events, Alex came across as one of the most down to earth speaker I’ve had the honor of meeting. His words were soft yet heartfelt and he didn’t talk about himself or try to impress me with his accomplishments. His demeanor reminded me of another countryman, the former Philippines Ambassador, Albert de Rosario whom I had the pleasure of bringing to San Diego just before he retired.
Moments later, after the customary singing our national anthems, a prayer by Dr. Cudal and introduction by Tony Olaes, Mr. Lacson took hold of the mike and began a most captivating of speeches aimed at explaining our need to take care of Filipinos; not only here in America but Filipinos worldwide. He laid the groundwork by giving a brief history lesson about how the Philippines, in just under 40 years, went from being the number one country in Asia to being number seven. He went on to further discuss the current outlook of the Philippines and how we are now seen as having one of the most corrupt governments in Asia. Additionally its people are seen and portrayed as servants, objects of sexual ridicule or uneducated people – as seen in last year’s controversial show “Desperate Housewives” and on BBC’s show Paul and Harry Show.
Alex then went on to talk about the current state of affairs in the Philippines, referring to the November 24th, 2008 Time Magazine article entitled “The Motherless Generation” which showed that in the Philippines almost 10 million kids, 1 one 4, are growing up without a mother or father. Because the government cannot provide job for the parents, one or both parents are forced to seek work abroad. With so many Filipinos abroad, the lack of parental supervision and income has resulted in over 11 million school age children who are not able to attend school to get an education. It is this lack of education, Mr. Lacson purports, which prevents many Filipinos from being able to become good leaders and stewards, a basic component of any progressive society.
To overcome this disparity, it was suggested that Filipinos abroad, not only in America, but in other places such as Canada and Australia consider adopting a child and sponsoring their education. If 100,000 families sponsored just one child, imagine the potential of 100,000 more Filipinos being educated and going on to provide for their families and their country. With more people being educated comes the potential that a better selection of leaders can emerge to rise above the corruption and, by providing good stewardship, return the Philippines back to its former glory. No matter where we live, we are still One People, One Nation and mustn’t forget that what happens in the Philippines, either for the good or for the bad, affects us all. Each and every one of us is born a part of the whole, as part of the answer to the question, as part of the hope to our people. We are part of the SOLUTION, wherever we may be in the world.
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that “There is no right time to do the right thing. Now, today, is the right time”. As a community, now is the time for all Filipinos to come together and be united for our motherland. We must come together as one Voice and demand our leaders here and in the Philippines be accountable. We need to vote for honest leaders who, given the power, can prove their worth. In doing so we will also benefit by become stronger since we will be voting out the corrupt leaders who feed their selfish needs at the expense of our people. As Jose Rizal is often quoted as saying “It only takes for good men to do nothing, for evil people to succeed”.
So how can each and every one of do our part to make the solution work? According to Alex, there are 12 simple things one can do, they are as follows:
1)Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.
2) Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.
3) Don’t buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino.
4) When you talk to others, especially foreigners speak positively about us and our country.
5) Respect your traffic officer, policeman and soldier.
6) Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.
7) Support your church.
8) During elections, do your solemn duty.
9) Pay your employees well.
10)Pay your taxes.
11)Adopt a scholar or a poor child.
12)Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and love our country.
Alex Lacson is a lawyer by profession. He finished law at the U.P. College of Law in Diliman. At present, he is a partner at the Malcolm Law Office in Makati. He was a former legal counsel of the United Nations Development Programme (or UNDP) in the Philippines for 7 years. He is a champion debater and a sharpshooter. He is an awardee of the Galing Pilipino Award for 2005. He is also an awardee of the Young Filipino Achiever’s Award for 2006 given by Global Pinoy. Mr. Lacson is married with 4 children.
Special thanks goes out to Gawad Kalinga – San Diego for bringing Alex Lacson to National City, to Goldilocks and Maharlika for providing food for the guests, to Tony Olaes & ODM and Eric Elagado & Associates for their sponsorship as well as Kalusugan Community Services for hosting the venue.
Tisoy. For many of you this probably the first time you hear of the word Tisoy. You are probably thinking to yourself, WTF is a Tisoy? Tisoy is a Tagalog (Filipino) word describing someone who is of mixed race. In my case, Filipino and Scottish.
For many bi-racial and multi-racial people the identity of race always poses a unique situation. Often times they are view by society as being “Half” or placed in a situations where they are viewed as not quite being up to the standards of being “Full”. When someone asks me what my race is, I reply “I’m Filipino” invariably the next words out of their mouth are “You don’t look Filipino, you must be half?”
I’m sure it isn’t said in malice, but I often feel like I have to justify who I am because I am not as dark, I’m not as short, I don’t have a button nose, or for some reason I just don’t fit into the mold of what they view as what a Filipino is.
So lately when people ask me what I am, I tell them I’m 100% Tisoy which seems to make those who understand Tagalog content. They understand that I’m mixed race, but at the same time I understand, at least in part, Tagalog so I must be Filipino enough for them. I guess many of the older generation the reply of being 100% Tisoy isn’t what then expect and my response more than not, is a great ice breaker and I enjoy watching their faces as they digest my response.
For those who insist on me being Half Filipino, can you please let me know what part of me is Filipino? Is my left hand Filipino. How about my ears, which one is Filipino and which one is not. Both of my eyes are brown, so perhaps those are Filipino. I am fluent in one of the two official languages of the Philippines, so perhaps if I learn the other official language, that would make me full.
Perhaps I would be seen as more Filipino if I pronounce my “F’s” as “P;s” and my “V’s” and “B’s” or added stuffed animals in my back windows of all of our cars.
So, what is a Tisoy? Well it is, as the philosopher José Vasconcelos Calderón states in his essay, La Raza Cósmica, it is the fifth race, the next step up in the evolutionary chain. Or in today’s politically correct terminology, A tisoy is simply a Hybrid.
When was the last time you enjoyed the thrill of an original hybrid? And no, I”m not talking about the Toyota Prius.