FILIPINO FIESTA ETIQUTE SIGNIFICANCE TO THE FILIPINO CULTURE

What is the importance of Fiesta in the Philippine?

Philippine Culture Fiesta.

Fiestas in the Philippines originated with the celebration of Catholic feast days. Fiestas might also mark the end of the harvest season or other special events. Fiestas are  usually festive occasions with lots of food and drink. This is a time when the whole  community throws its doors open to visitors. 

 

Whether they are locals or foreigners, everyone is invited to join in the celebration. There is no real ceremony; you simply go from house to house and partake of the feasts that willing residents have prepared. 

The best way for visiting foreigners to enjoy a fiesta is to go with a trusted local who can bring them around. If you really must go by yourself, always be cautious  and don’t be too trusting of strangers. 

Make sure that you arrange your transportation to and from the town that you will visit prior to reaching your destination. 

You may also wish to stay at a local hotel or inn, or perhaps at the home of a good friend who lives nearby. Always have a contingency plan in case things don’t go as you hoped. In the Philippines, bringing a cell phone is a natural thing to do, because changes in plans caused by traffic or car trouble are common occurrences. 

During fiestas, you might enter several private homes of locals who have prepared feasts for their visitors. When you plan to attend a fiesta, it is wise to avoid eating and drinking before going. Some hosts will feel offended if you do not eat or drink with them when you enter their homes. 

Eat and drink sparingly in each house—unless you want to end up stuffed like a turkey. If you see a group of people drinking, you may be offered a tagay (“shot”) of either beer or hard liquor. 

Unless you are a teetotaler, go ahead and take the shot but then excuse yourself immediately if you don’t want to end up in a lengthy drinking session that you might regret later. Another option is to politely decline the drink, citing health or other reasons. 

It is also worthy of note that in certain unsafe neighborhoods foreigners have been scammed into gulping a drink laced with a drug or other controlled sub-stance. The drugged foreigner is then robbed of his or her credit card and belongings. 

These incidents can happen at any time of the year, not just during fiestas, so  it is always best to be cautious when accepting food and drink. Traveling with a reliable companion and guide is highly recommended. 

For many people—particularly those who come from the provinces—the celebration of a fiesta in their hometown is a very big event. Vacation leave is often planned around fiestas to allow people who have moved away from their hometowns to return. Do not be surprised if Filipino employees request time off to go home to the provinces during fiesta season. 

FILIPINO HOME VISITING ETIQUETTE GUIDE FOR FOREIGN GUESTS

How to behave when invited to a Filipino home.

Filipinos are less hesitant than Americans to invite people into their homes and are usually  willing to entertain visitors even on short notice. However, it is always best to give  advance notice when you are visiting.

Filipino homes are like American homes in that they usually have a living room  to entertain visitors, a dining room, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and probably a  laundry area. Condominiums compress some of these areas and the living room will sometimes also act as the dining area.

You may be asked to remove your shoes  at the main door of any homes you visit, but this is not common. Meals are typically eaten at Western-style tables.

Most Filipinos have a knack for making people feel welcome in their homes.  They do not expect you to bring anything along when you visit, but food or beverages are welcome additions at any gathering.

Food that goes well with the meal is  especially appreciated, so feel free to check in with your host about what might be best to bring. Many people choose to bring a dessert. You may also bring a bottle  of wine, but only if you think that your hosts actually drink the beverage. For  potluck parties, of course, the host may assign you a dish to bring.

When visiting secluded or out-of-the-way areas, it may be wise to arrange in advance for the return trip to your hotel to avoid imposing on your host for transportation. Hosts may volunteer to bring you back to wherever you are staying,  especially if they have their own car, but don’t count on it.

Feel free to accept a ride  home with other guests if you are comfortable with the idea. Otherwise, you may  want to hire a car service for the day so you can leave at the appropriate moment.

There are some areas in the Philippines that do not have good roads. Check a  map when planning a home visit and ask around for suggestions or ideas about  the location.

Facilities in the provinces are not always as modern as they are in the cities and  being prepared for any eventuality is smart. If you are not sure about your  accommodations, you may wish to bring your own towel, slippers, soap, shampoo,  toothbrush, toothpaste, and bottled water for drinking and brushing your teeth.

Sometimes, especially if visiting far-flung or remote provinces, you may also need  to bring your own bed sheets, pillow-cases, and even pillows, as well as snacks  that can get you by in case the food served is too exotic for your taste.

HIDDEN SECRETS OF THE PHILIPPINES

Do you love to explore up-and-coming places and secret spots?  Get off the beaten track and uncover a new side of the  Philippines, from endless cave systems to endless shoe  collections.

CAVING IN SAMAR
Catbalogan in Samar offers amazing caving opportunities – including the second largest system in Asia. Navigate river passageways lit by kerosene torches, combined with glistening stalactites and bats whizzing overhead.

NORTHERN SIERRA MADRE NATURAL PARK
OK. You wanted to prove that you can get off the beaten track. Trekking this vast expanse of mountainous, critter-infested rainforest that dominates North  Luzon’s east coast is just the place to do it.

FIREFLY KAYAK TRIPS
Departing near Cortes on Bohol at sunset, these are memorable kayak trips to see the fireflies, which pulsate in the trees like Christmas lights; an immensely tranquil experience.

RIZAL, PALAWAN
Using the extremely remote town of Rizal on the western side of South Palawan as a base, strap up your boots to explore the surrounding mountains, and meet the Tao’t Bato people.

LEYTE LANDING MEMORIAL, RED BEACH
One for WWII buffs, this is the site where General MacArthur fulfilled his vow to liberate the Philippines from Japanese rule. The famous scene is immortalised with a bronze statue of MacArthur and co wading into shore.

IMELDA MARCOS’ SHOE COLLECTION
The real reason tourists come to the Marikina Shoe Museum in Manila is to see Imelda’s shoes – about 800 pairs. And that’s only about 25% of the collection of this eccentric former First Lady.

SUBA SAND DUNES
In North Luzon, the seemingly endless dunes sprawl south all the way to Paoay. Scenes from Mad Max were filmed here, and it’s good for sand boarding, zipping about in an ATV or soaring overhead in a hot air balloon.

THRILLER PRISON PERFORMANCE, CEBU CITY
Catch the YouTube sensation of prison inmates performing Michael Jackson’s Thriller at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center on the last Saturday of each month.

MANGYAN VILLAGES
In Mindoro’s rugged interior many Mangyan tribespeople still wear traditional costumes, such as loincloths, and have an animist belief system. Calapan or Roxas are both good bases to start treks here.

LINO BROCKA - A FILIPINO MATTERS TRIBUTE

The call for more realistic themes in Philippine films was answered by stage and movie director Lino Brocka. His fresh ideas featured contemporary scenes and brought the film closer to its audience.

This enabled him to capture the Filipino viewing public making him one of the greatest directors ever in Philippine cinema.

Born in Sorsogon, Lino became an avid fan of Hollywood movies and became fascinated in American lifestyle and movie plots. Graduated with honors, he gained a scholarship at the University of the Philippines and took a pre-law course.

He became part of the UP Dramatic Club not as an actor, because of his provincial accent, but as a stagehand pulling curtains. However, his actual directing career started when a friend introduced him to the founder of the Philippines Educational Theater Association (PETA).

He proved his skills in his first movie direction, Wanted: Perfect Mother, a plot based from The Sound of Music. An entry to the Manila Film Festival, the movie gained awards and made a name for him in the industry.

Most of his movies soon won awards for Best Screenplay and Best Director. Aware and sensitive of the times, Brocka made movies that tackled sensitive socio-cultural issues, the struggles of the urban poor and the people’s perspectives of government, among many others.

His movies were acclaimed in the country and abroad. Among his noteworthy classics are Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, a story of a poor man who went to the city to look for his lost love only to find her tragic fate and Insiang, a film about the life of a slum girl in Manila who was raped by her mother’s lover.

This was the first Philippine film ever shown at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. And in the following years, his movies Jaguar (1979), “Bona” (1981) and Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984) were all nominated in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival held in France.

Lino Brocka was not just an artist. He was a social activist who portrayed the life and times of the poor, the social ills and the struggles of ordinary Filipinos. He translated his nationalist passions onto film.

BAYANIHAN - FILIPINO SPIRIT OF COOPERATION

Mutual assistance, group liability, or social group work are some terms used to signify a sense of belongingness, teamwork, social responsibility and unity of purpose among the people in a community. The Filipino word for it is bayanihan, from the root word bayani which means hero.

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Thus, bayanihan would translate to doing a selfless heroic act of helping others without expecting something in return. From this heroic concept of support, the idea of communal action and cooperation in pursuit of a common task sprang up.

Bayanihan is commonly manifested in a neighborhood effort in helping a family move their nipa hut to a new location. Imagine a throng of people carrying a ‘straw and wooden’ house on their shoulders and transporting it in a closely synchronized undertaking with cheers and singing along the way.

Bayanihan is manifested in various communal actions. Farmers ask their fellow farmers to help in planting and harvesting, and reciprocate the favor when asked in turn.

This Filipino trait is likewise observed during emergencies, such as earthquakes, typhoons, fire and other calamities, as well as in times of sickness and deaths of community members where helping others becomes a given.

The concept of bayanihan has come a long way. The internationally-acclaimed national folk dance group Bayanihan Dance Company showcases the best of the Filipino traditional culture through dance.

In the field of information technology, a group of Filipinos developed the Bayanihan Linux, a volunteer effort at developing a local version of the Linux operating system and was coined by Luis Sarmenta.

The Harvard Business Review has featured the term as referring to an appeal for global efforts in corporate social responsibility. In local banking, a savings window has been named the Bayanihan Savings Program to underscore the Filipino value of pooling common resources to help one another. Truly, the bayanihan spirit remains very much alive in every Filipino.

The Western concept of individualism is very difficult for Filipinos to understand. For us, kinship goes beyond our immediate families and extends to distant relatives, neighbors and our communities.

The bayanihan spirit has weathered us through centuries of natural disasters, economic woes and conflicts. Hence, the impulse to help a brother or a sister in distress is a natural Filipino reflex.

GILAS PILIPINAS PHOTOS DURING FIBA WORLD CUP 2014

THE IGOROT RESISTANCE DURING THE SPANISH OCCUPATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Igorot Resistance

Attempts to Christianize the Igorots were led by the Spanish friars--the Augustinians from the Ilocos, and the Dominicans from Cagayan--and a few secular priests from Abra. While Christianization was the major concern of the religious orders, the conquistadores and crown officials mainly concentrated on occupying the Igorot gold mines. 

During the first fifty years of Spanish rule the crown sent numerous and costly expeditions to the Cordillera but all were failures. While the Cordillera terrain worked lasted for ten years. 

For instance, in the Trinidad Valley north of Baguio, the Spaniards successfully deflected every Igorot defense including rocks thrown from above, bamboo "ground-spears," and sharpened stakes hidden in the grass and camouflage pits. When the Spaniards finally reached the valley, they burned 180 Igorot houses. 

In fact, Spanish raids left a pattern ofdestruction and desertion. Starting in the mid-nineteenth century, the Cordillera was constituted into a series of comandancias politico-militares or political-military districts. 

Spanish military expeditions crisscrossed the Cordillera to establish Spanish authority, curtail the tobacco smuggling, and collect tribute. The Spanish military control of the Cordillera allowed Spanish missionaries and even foreign travelers to roam the region. 

New agricultural crops were introduced like coffee, cacao, and citrus fruits as well as new technologies such as wheelbarrows, the potter's wheel, and coffee-husking machines. Hundreds of Igorots became literate and about 8,000 became Christians. 

Yet, the occupation also resulted in untold devastation: houses were burned down, crops destroyed, and livestock seized or slaughtered. The military raids also left a trail ofdead Igorots while many other Igorots succumbed to smallpox, which the Spaniards had introduced. 

The Igorots who survived for the first time lived under a colonial order symbolized by tributes and forced labor. The Spanish domination of the Cordillera was short-lived because the Philippine Revolution of 1896 ended its colonial rule.

JOLLIBEE - A FILIPINO MATTERS PROFILE

Langhap sarap! The Philippines No. 1 fast-food chain is a phenomenal success story. What began as a two branch ice cream parlor in 1975, offering hot meals and sandwiches, was incorporated in 1978 with seven outlets to test the possibilities of starting a fast-food hamburger restaurant.

Thus, Jollibee was born - a company that revolutionized the country’s fast food sector.

Jollibee has grown exponentially since its first operation. From seven outlets 32 years ago, Jollibee now boasts of 600 local and over 30 international stores. Jollibee’s leadership is reflected both by its market share of more than half of the entire domestic fast food industry, as well as strings of local and international recognitions.

To achieve its long-term goal to be the country’s food service leader, Jollibee acquired Greenwich Pizza in 1994. A year later, the company obtained the franchise of Delifrance, an international food company.

These moves expanded Jollibee’s penetration of the pizza-pasta and French café-bakery segments. In 2000, the strategic acquisition of Chowking solidified the company’s position as the dominant leader fast-food company. The move gave it leadership in the Oriental quick-service restaurant segment.

Jollibee’s rapid growth is due to its superior menu line-up, creative marketing programs, efficient manufacturing and sound logistics facilities. It is made possible by well-trained teams that work in a culture of integrity and humility, fun and a family-like atmosphere.

As a corporate citizen, Jollibee is also committed to give back to its host communities through meaningful and lasting socio-civic projects.

Jollibee is a proud Filipino company. Dedicated to serving the Filipinos, the Jollibee brand typifies the Filipino spirit from the crew, menu, advertisements, and promos. Jollibee is so well-loved that its mascot is the most well-known character during a Filipino child’s early stage of development.

Every time a new store opens, Filipinos always flock into long lines to the store to taste their best sellers - pancit palabok, Chicken Joy, and Pinoy Burger. Unlike McDonalds’ which is the global hamburger joint, Jollibee is exclusively Filipino. Jollibee branches abroad is a home away from home for many overseas Filipinos.

It is a treasured place for families, friends, colleagues, and relatives to eat and bond together.

JOLLIBEE AROUND THE WORLD

Asia
 Brunei (launched 1987)
 Hong Kong (launched September 1996)
 Indonesia (to be launched 2015)[25]
 Kuwait (launched 1995)
 Malaysia (to be launched 2015)[25]
 Philippines (main hub)
 Qatar
 Saudi Arabia (launched 1995)
 Singapore (launched 2013)
 Vietnam (launched October 1996)

North America
 United States (launched 1998)
 Canada (to be launched 2015)

ASWANG - PINOY SUPERNATURAL CREATURE BASIC INFORMATION

What is an ASWANG?

Aswangs are the most feared mythical creature by the Filipinos. They are Filipino ghouls and shapeshifters. They are human-like by day but transform into monsters at night.

They can change from human to an animal form like bat, bird, pig, cat, or black dog. The transformation can happen through their own will or through the use of foul concocted oil.

They also have the ability to steal cadavers secretly and replace them with the trunk of a banana tree carved in the cadaver’s likeness.

Aswangs wait by the roadsides, preying upon unsuspecting travelers. Some attacks houses to feed on sleeping people. It is said that human liver and heart are their favorite parts.

Aswangs prefer pregnant women who are about to give birth. They love human fetus that they have developed the ability to track down pregnant women by the scent of their unborn child.

Upon finding the house of a pregnant mother, the aswang positions itself on the roof and digs a hole through which it drops its long thin tongue to enter the woman’s womb and feast on the fetus.

Aswang in popular culture and movies





Perhaps the best movie about aswang is not a movie entirely about it, but the third episode of a single movie trilogy, Shake Rattle and Roll 2. The episode was aptly titled; ASWANG, starring Manilyn Reynes.

IGLESIA NI CRISTO (INC) - HOW FELIX MANALO FOUNDED THE CHURCH IGLESIA NI CRISTO

Felix Manalo is not a founder of the Iglesia ni Cristo. He is God's prophet.

Before he was found, he was once lost, or more appropriately was searching for the truth. In his search, he once have the following stop overs.

Baptized into the Catholic Church (c.1886)

Converted to the Methodist Episcopal Church (1904)

Switched to the Presbyterian Ellinwood Bible Training  School in 1906

Migrated to the Christian Missionary Alliance Church 

Moved to the Disciples of Christ’s Manila College of the  Bible in 1908

Crossed-over to the Seventh-Day Adventists (SDA)

Turned to Florencia Entrencherado’s Colorum Movement

Shifted to the Anglican Church’s “Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts” (SPG)

Unable to find the truth, his search led him to do these:

“One day in November, 1913, Felix Manalo gathered all  the religious literature he had accumulated and arranged  them, with a pile of unused notebooks, sharpened pencils  and the Bible, on a table inside a dimly-lit room in  Eusebio Sungas house in Pasay. He instructed everyone in  the household that he should not be disturbed, then kept  himself in seclusion.” 

“So intense was his concentration that he became  oblivious of time, food and the world outside. He emerged from that seclusion after three days and three nights of  intensive study and reflection, his notebooks filled with  notes, certain that God had commissioned him to perform a mission.”

Though founded and established in  1913, Manalo’s “Iglesia Ni Kristo” was  incorporated on the 27th of July 1914. Much later, their church’s name got changed: The “K” got replaced with a  “C". Hence: The “Iglesia Ni Cristo” (INC)

ASWANG - FILIPINO MYTH SUPERNATURAL CREATURES SERIES

What is the origin of ASWANG!!!

Aswangs are the most feared mythical creature by the Filipinos. They are Filipino ghouls and shapeshifters. They are human-like by day but transform into monsters at night.

They can change from human to an animal form like bat, bird, pig, cat, or black dog. The transformation can happen through their own will or through the use of foul concocted oil.

They also have the ability to steal cadavers secretly and replace them with the trunk of a banana tree carved in the cadaver’s likeness.

Aswangs wait by the roadsides, preying upon unsuspecting travelers. Some attacks houses to feed on sleeping people. It is said that human liver and heart are their favorite parts.

Aswangs prefer pregnant women who are about to give birth. They love human fetus that they have developed the ability to track down pregnant women by the scent of their unborn child.

Upon finding the house of a pregnant mother, the aswang positions itself on the roof and digs a hole through which it drops its long thin tongue to enter the woman’s womb and feast on the fetus.

Since aswangs can take on a human image, it is hard to detect them in a crowd. However, there are many superstitions on how to deal with them.

Firstly, it is said that you can determine if another human being is an aswang if you see your own reflection in their eyes as upside down. Also, the presence of an aswang can be revealed by a using a bottle of special oil extracted from boiled and decanted coconut meat mixed with certain plant stems.

When an aswang comes around, the oil will boil and will continue until the aswang has departed. Further, aswangs are afraid of salt, ginger, garlic, rosary, stingray’s tails (buntot pagi) and shiny, sterling silver sword, and so these items can be used as defense weapons against them.

These creatures cannot heal themselves, so an injury acquired as an aswang will remain when they revert back to human form.

The myth of Aswang is popular in the Visayas, particularly in the provinces of Capiz, Antique and Iloilo. The aswang is also known as wakwak, tiktik, bal-bal, soc-soc, and yanggaw.

POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE PHILIPPINES BASIC INFORMATION AND TUTORIALS

Filipino Culture Regarding Politics

Political Culture
The Filipino cultural and value system is often applied in political life. Relations in Philippine society are perceived to be hierarchical, where one is superior and serves as a patron, while the other is subordinate and is a client.

The ultimate example of this is the politicians and their followers or the landlords and their tenants. The politician and the landlord are the ultimate patrons who bestow assistance and favors to their followers and
tenants,respectively, who act as the clients.

A client is expected to have utang na loob (debt of gratitude) to the patron and repayment can be done by supporting (i.e., voting for).

Its culture is akin to its Southeast Asian neighbors and not to the Western culture. Thus, Filipino culture, like the rest of Southeast Asia, must be viewed solely within its own parameters. In the eyes of Filipinos, pakikisama, hiya, and utang na loob should be viewed and explained within the larger Filipino culture and value system.

It can also be argued that patron-client linkages assure that everyone is included and taken cared ofin a redistributive kind of society.

Patrons are not the only determinants ofthe relations, nor are the clients mere victims. As Resil Mojares argues in his essay on the Osmenas, a political family in Cebu, patrons are not in total, absolute control.

They adjust to "altered conditions" and they act and react based on "pressures from below."s The patron does not exist in a void.

He takes into consideration the inputs and sentiments ofthe community. In a sense, even if power originates from him, the top, it nonetheless circulates and he continuously derives his power by responding to the needs of the community who in turn bestow on him their undying utang na loob.

TANDANG SORA - WHO IS TANDANG SORA BASIC INFORMATION

Tandang Sora - The Grandmother of the Philippine Revolution


Tandang Sora is popularly known as the “Mother of the Katipunan,” the underground organization that laid down the foundation for the Philippine Revolution. She is known as the “Grandwoman of the Revolution” and the “Mother of Balintawak”, where the Cry of Pugadlawin that signaled the first manifest resistance against Spanish rule took place. Melchora Aquino de Ramos was a Filipina revolutionary who became known as "Tandang Sora

Born in turbulent times, she disproved that age, gender, and lack of formal education were hindrances in joining the fight for Philippine independence. A mother to six children, she was widowed when the youngest was about seven and since then took the helm of the family as a single parent.

When the Katipunan rose in arms against the Spaniards, Tandang Sora was already in her eighties. But her delicate age and gender never prevented her from feeding and sheltering the Katipuneros, hosting their secret meetings in her humble home, and tending to the sick and wounded.

Whatever her small store can contribute to the revolutionary cause, Tandang Sora was more than willing to offer, prompting her fragile life to be placed in peril.

Learning about her activities, the Spanish colonial authorities ordered her arrest. Even at the point of imminent death, Tandang Sora never sold the Katipunan. She was exiled in faraway Guam in the Marianas.

With the defeat of the Spaniards in the Spanish-American War, Tandang Sora, along with other exiles, was able to return to the country where she rested in peace in her own backyard in 1919 at the age of 107 year old.

Tandang Sora broke away from the gender and age stereotypes when she raised her family on her own while actively participating in the noble cause of the revolution. Unlike many Filipinos who chose to remain in the sidelines, she risked her life and limb, notwithstanding her difficulties, to help liberate her homeland from foreign rule.

And in her quest to do so, she was banished from her country. Her success proved the strength and patriotism of women in the revolution, which history has not given much recognition.

In responding to the call for national sacrifice, Tandang Sora’s heroism knew no boundaries and actually set the standard for future generation of Filipino women and men to follow.

MARIKINA SHOES - A FILIPINO MATTERS TRIBUTE

Marikina Shoes - World class Filipino footwear


Although, the Marikina shoe industry is facing hard times, the Marikeños are still holding on to their shoemaking tradition. The resiliency of the city’s shoe industry is known despite the inroads of cheaperimports from China, Korea and the US.


The government’s aggressive embrace of trade liberalization and unchecked smuggling, not to mention the Filipino’s preference for foreign brands, are serious blows to the local manufacturers, but not strong enough to sap their strength. Marikina-made shoes are still in demand in the country and abroad.

Big department stores have bought Marikina supplies in an effort to promote local made products and to help Philippine shoe enterprises too.

Nevertheless, the Marikina shoe industry is the story of a people’s century-old showcase of never-say-die attitude. Despite stiff competition from cheaper and stateside rivals, homegrown shoemakers remain alive and profitable in Marikina.

And with superior quality, superb designs, affordable rates, local patronage, continuous investment, better marketing channels, assistance from the private sector and support from the government, this native industry will continue to flourish in the generations to come.

The Marikina shoe craftsmanship started in 1887 with the pioneering venture of Don Laureano Guevara, or Kapitan Moy, who bought a pair of shoes only to disassemble, dissect and study its make for duplication. By trial and error, Kapitan Moy and his friends learned how to put them back together, thus laying the foundation for the country’s shoe capital.

After introducing the experiment to interested parties, neighbors and friends joined the shoe-making bandwagon and soon the town (now a city) had a livelihood aside from farming and fishing. Since then, Marikina shoemakers had become icons of a people’s inventiveness, as well as models of unwavering determination that would not sway or bow down despite tremendous economic pressures and socio-political woes.

FERNANDO AMORSOLO - PROUD PINOY TRIBUTE

Who is Fernando Amorsolo?

Fernando Amorsolo - When simplicity is beauty

Fernando Amorsolo’s paintings immortalize the simple beauty of the Philippine countryside, give the world a glimpse of the country’s breathtaking rural landscapes and introduce viewers to Philippine culture and traditions.

His masterful rendition of life in the provinces is portrayed in paintings of women and families in idyllic pristine settings with Filipino customs and traditions as the background. Indeed, the painter’s adept use of color and lighting effects are his trademark and most important legacy to Philippine art.

Amorsolo is the Philippines’ first National Artist in Painting, a title he gained by devoting his life to capture the beauty of his beloved country. His passion for painting began at 13, when he was an apprentice of Fabian dela Rosa, a painter and a cousin of his mother.

He studied at the Art School of Liceo de Manila and the University of the Philippines, before receiving a grant to further hone his craft at the Academia San Pedro in Spain.

His natural talent and his endless quest to excel in his craft allowed him to build an impressive and massive body of artworks. His most important works such as Planting Rice, Dalagang Bukid, Maiden in a Stream and the Mestiza revolved around his favorite themes of women in the countryside.

Planting Rice - Fernando Amorsolo

His paintings during World War II, which included Defense of a Filipina Woman’s Honor, The Rape of Manila and The Bombing of Intendencia revealed a deep sense of remorseful nationalism as he struggled to portray, through his paintbrush, the plight, torment and courage of Filipinos.

Amorsolo’s work is greatly appreciated in the Philippines and around the world. His exhibits in Paris, Belgium and New York at the turn of century served as lenses through which the world saw the beauty of the country and its people. Today, his paintings form part of important art collections, a testament to the artist’s mastery of the brush.

Amorsolo has raised the level of Filipino talent by receiving international recognition for his artworks. His masterpieces grew larger than life as the country craved for her distant past, a time when life was simple and everything was pristine, which are themes that Amorsolo immortalized in his canvas.