Human Values in a Filipino Setting

Values are so basic to human existence. They define what is important, desirable, or meaningful to man. Every day of our lives, we practice innumerable values and make a great number of judgments based on these values. This, and more, is what we can find in the study of human values from a Filipino setting.

On the nature of human values, under the philosophy of human action, there are two things to consider, namely, praxis and poesis. Values are also differentiated into two perspectives. That values can either be subjective or objective, secular or religious, and utilitarian or moral, in the sense that, humans as we are, we tend to put value on things that could satisfy our needs or that might be useful to us. Yet, in this era of technology and the vastness of information, a gap exists in man's genuine definition of values, or human values in particular. Thus, the need for a mediation of human values and critical reflection and analysis of social reality, wherein the Christian values are pointed out, is crucial to man. This is where a Filipino Christian philosopher comes into play. The function of Filipino Christian philosophers is to mediate the gap between man with regard to philosophy or religion and science or technology.

Nowadays, Filipino values are somehow taken for granted in the sense that technology is overpowering the realm of human values. The vastness of technology and the temptation to devalue others may be overwhelming, yet we may only be deceived by our senses. As Filipinos, there is still instilled in our hearts the basic value system & ethical philosophy that is rooted in our ancestors. A concrete example of this is our "pakikisama", "bayanihan," and familialism. Filipinos can easily get along with others just to make our relationship in harmony with them, as well as to make our relationship with the family bilaterally extended to the extent that we are making others part of our family, even those our close friends.

NB: This post was copied from an article I wrote for the Filipino Values subject during my fourth year in college in 2002.

Photo: choosephilippines.tumblr.com