Ethnicity, also called as ethnic identity, in the Philippines used to be determined basically just by the language a person speaks. Go to any province in the Northern Luzon and you will hear the Ilocano dialect. Go a little lower to the Central Luzon and the Kapampangan dialect is used by the Kapampangans. Go down a little bit more and the national language, the Tagalog, is spoken. Go to the Visayas and in some Mindanao areas and the Visayan dialect is spoken. Filipinos were set to identify themselves as one from a certain ethnic group with their “mother tounge” as their basis. Currently, our country has over 80 ethnolinguistic groups.
Others determine their ethnic identity through their ancestry. Someone who was born in Cebu but spent her or his entire life in Baguio will still call himself or herself a Cebuano or Cebuana.
Another way of determining someone’s ethnicity is through his or her religion which is a very minor basis in our country. Usually, Filipinos are divided into two major ethnic religion—Christian and Islam.
However, ethnic identity is sometimes determined through one’s traditions, culture, and beliefs. That is why we have those we call tribes or indigenous and non-indigenous ethnic groups. Some of these ethnic groups are the Ibanags of the Cagayan Valley Region, the Igorots of the Cordillera, the Mangyans of Mindoro in Region IV, and the Tagbanwas of the Palawan Islands.
These bases of ethnic identification are becoming less noticeable as migration and inter-marriage comes to the scene. Filipinos, the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) for instance, have been having affairs or intimate relationship with the natives of the countries where they are working. Due to this, the Filipino and the foreign half produce a child who will then have dual ethnic identities.
The discussion above is a proof that the Filipino race is a very diverse one. Most of the time, diversity results to misunderstandings and lack of unity which is a bad thing.
The Filipino race is already one big ethnic group with one big identity—being a Filipino. Ethnicity, as defined, is “a term which represents social groups with a shared history, sense of identity, geography and cultural roots which may occur despite racial difference.”
The Filipino race is indeed a single “tribe” in itself. Filipinos represent a social group and has a shared rich and colorful history. Filipinos, just by being Filipinos, have a single unified identity. They may vary in some geographical roots, but they share almost the same cultural roots for sure.
However, almost all ethnic tribes have this tendency to have superiority complex within their group. They think that their identity and culture entails dominance and that they outstand the other groups while on the outsider’s point of view, their group is actually just a minority. This happens because of some disparity in their beliefs and practices due to different orientations and traditions.
The existence of superiority complex may sometimes result to feud among different ethnicities within one ethnicity which is not a good thing.
The concept of ethnicity, as mentioned earlier, should be a bridge to patch the gaps between quarrelling groups. Each ethnic group should realize that we are one ethnic entity—that we are all Filipinos.
Others determine their ethnic identity through their ancestry. Someone who was born in Cebu but spent her or his entire life in Baguio will still call himself or herself a Cebuano or Cebuana.
Another way of determining someone’s ethnicity is through his or her religion which is a very minor basis in our country. Usually, Filipinos are divided into two major ethnic religion—Christian and Islam.
However, ethnic identity is sometimes determined through one’s traditions, culture, and beliefs. That is why we have those we call tribes or indigenous and non-indigenous ethnic groups. Some of these ethnic groups are the Ibanags of the Cagayan Valley Region, the Igorots of the Cordillera, the Mangyans of Mindoro in Region IV, and the Tagbanwas of the Palawan Islands.
These bases of ethnic identification are becoming less noticeable as migration and inter-marriage comes to the scene. Filipinos, the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) for instance, have been having affairs or intimate relationship with the natives of the countries where they are working. Due to this, the Filipino and the foreign half produce a child who will then have dual ethnic identities.
The discussion above is a proof that the Filipino race is a very diverse one. Most of the time, diversity results to misunderstandings and lack of unity which is a bad thing.
The Filipino race is already one big ethnic group with one big identity—being a Filipino. Ethnicity, as defined, is “a term which represents social groups with a shared history, sense of identity, geography and cultural roots which may occur despite racial difference.”
The Filipino race is indeed a single “tribe” in itself. Filipinos represent a social group and has a shared rich and colorful history. Filipinos, just by being Filipinos, have a single unified identity. They may vary in some geographical roots, but they share almost the same cultural roots for sure.
However, almost all ethnic tribes have this tendency to have superiority complex within their group. They think that their identity and culture entails dominance and that they outstand the other groups while on the outsider’s point of view, their group is actually just a minority. This happens because of some disparity in their beliefs and practices due to different orientations and traditions.
The existence of superiority complex may sometimes result to feud among different ethnicities within one ethnicity which is not a good thing.
The concept of ethnicity, as mentioned earlier, should be a bridge to patch the gaps between quarrelling groups. Each ethnic group should realize that we are one ethnic entity—that we are all Filipinos.
-kacie-
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