Bea Allison B.

Legaspi
Anthro 10 THU-2
15 January 2021

The Filipino Calendar

The Filipino, or by the shortened name “Pinoy”, are a social tribe with a diverse set of cultures, mixing
Eastern influences from the Chinese to Western influences from Spain. The melting pot that the islands of
the Philippines have is uniquely diverse, with not only 7,107 islands (depending on if it’s high tide) but
also its own time zone.

Placed in PHP-2, the Filipino time zone is the only time zone where every event is set 2 hours ahead to
ensure attendees do not arrive late. Local tribes call this “Filipino time”, and owe its tradition to the gods
of procrastination, sleeping in, and laziness. They express their devotion to the Filipino gods through
praying that the traffic is not too bad when they arrive at the place where they were expected to be at 2
hours ago, and messaging their friends to say that they are in the shower even though they actually just
woke up. Nevertheless, there is a cultural backdrop to this norm; Pinoys owe it to the Spanish colonial
time where individuals had a break in the middle of the day, owing to a break in the productive cycle.
This tradition seeped into post-colonial Filipino history as they prioritize their own personal time, rather
than the productivity required of arriving before or at least on time.

The Filipino’s murky relationship with time is even more fraught as Filipinos have their own 3 seasons -
Christmas, Lenten, Typhoon. The Filipino calendar starts in August, where Filipinos play the songs of
singer and deity Jose Mari Chan to drive out the bad spirits and greet the Christmas season. When it starts
to get colder ever so slightly, Filipinos will set up their Christmas trees to celebrate the holidays while
marking down the days to Simbang Gabi.

The Christmas season is half-religious, which is celebrated due to being the only majority Catholic
country in Southeast Asia and as a colonial remnant, as well as half an examination of appetites. Filipinos
love their food, but love meat the most - traditions like Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) and Media Noche
(New Year’s Eve) are incomplete without the threat of high blood pressure post-holiday. Christmas is also
marked by a significant increase in family reunions, which is anchored by a deep closeness Filipinos have
for their families. This manifests with how most college graduates still live with their family members,
and even married couples keep living in the same house as their extended families. In spite of being
colonized by a freedom-satiated America, Filipinos stick to their basic familial units similar to their Asian
neighbors. This may be explained by the fact that the Spanish stayed in the Philippines for longer, and
therefore Filipinos absorbed more of their family-centrism. Nevertheless, this is most exacerbated by
Christmas with the traditions of bringing together families both to dinner tables and to church.

The second season is Lenten season, which is also underpinned by Catholicism as a colonial remnant with
the core of this season being the Holy Week. Most schools give holidays for students during this time, and
offices give holidays over the week. Lenten season, while not as celebrated as Easter in other countries, is
core to Filipino culture when people also go back home to their families. See the trend here? Filipinos use
long weekends to go home, and define the calendar based on long weekends. The reason why Lent is a
season itself is because there truly is nothing much happening after Christmas season (often marked by
the Feast of the Black Nazarene) so Filipinos are back to work trying to fulfill their New Year’s
resolutions. In the absence of anything interesting happening, Lent becomes the defining month - aside
from March as the fire prevention month, which is correct given the risks undertaken in a tropical country
with so many risks for electrical and accidental fires. Basically, Lent is the boring season for Filipinos
after the Noche Buena is done and fat is all they have left. Of course, it is not all boring - there are Holy
Week specific activities like nailing yourself to a cross to be closer to the passion of Christ as well as
acting out his life, death, and resurrection. These, again, are inherited from the devout Christians of Spain.
Often, Lent can also be substituted for summer and is often where students try to find activities outside of
school.

Lastly, the typhoon season is the climax of the Philippine year. As a tropical country, the Philippines are
often hit by typhoons in the third quarter of a normal year. Typhoons such as Yolanda and Ondoy have
ravaged cities and claimed lives; however, these typhoons have been mainstays of the country for the
longest time. Filipinos have learned to bring umbrellas and await class/work suspensions during this time,
especially as a developing country affected by climate change. Flash floods become the norm, and the
reason why this is a climax is because often the most struggles exist here where Filipinos not only suffer
under a terrible government which is year-round, but they also suffer from media and officials glorifying
Filipino resilience without doing much to help in typhoon relief. These have also been the times of the
year where the wealthiest Filipinos become richest - through kickbacks they get for relief programs!

Eventually, the Christmas season allows calls for accountability to dissipate - save for a few who do
continue the fight. Yet again, the cycle continues. The Filipino calendar - and the concept of time - are
underpinned by colonial structures indeed, yet also are observantly interesting in how much it reveals of
the Filipino culture.