Every year, millions of Filipinos would flock cemeteries throughout the country to clean and visit the tombs of their loved ones. After that, families would hold a picnic above the grave. It has also been a tradition for some to hold a family reunion and general merry-making on what is supposed to be a solemn day. Drinking and gambling has also been a tradition for some families, especially in provincial cemeteries where the bantays (guards) are more lenient.

Aside from visiting their kin, Filipinos would also visit the graves of their movie idols in the hopes that they would catch a glimpe of other famous actors and actresses who are also paying their respects.

When visiting the cemetery, one should always bring a first aid kit and lots of patience. Expect heavy traffic and candle and flower peddlers who sell their goods for five times the original price. Food won’t be much of a problem as some cemeteries even have fast food stalls that offer cold drinks, burgers and pizza.

No matter how much the government pleads for a solemn celebration, it always falls on deaf ears year after year.

Some descriptions of aswangs, however, are universal among Filipinos. A mangkukulam is a witch who practices all types of hexes and voo-doos. A tikbalang is a half-man half horse. It is said that if it rains while the sun is shining brightly, a tikbalang is getting married at that moment. A kapre is a giant that is perched on a (usually Balete) tree and smokes tabaco.

A manananggal is a type of aswang who is usually female. She grows wings during midnight and separates her upper body from her lower body. Her upper body will hunt for victims while her lower body will stay hidden in her home of any place she deems safe. Some say that to kill a manananggal, one has to put salt on her exposed organs on the lower part of her body. When she attaches her upper body to her lower body, she will melt and die. Sunlight will also kill her if she fails to transform back to her human form by dawn.

The popular trait of the aswangs that differentiate them from other supernatural or mythological beings include eating small children, sucking a fetus from a mother’s womb through their needle-like tongue, have a taste for livers and hearts, have bloodshot eyes, and come out only at night.

Anything or anyone with monster-like qualities or abilities will (falsely) be accused of being an aswang: man with red eyes that one met just before dawn (who is probably just another drug-addict neighbor); a cat that has been following you from the bukid to your house is probably a shape-shifter; an old lady who lives all alone in the forest is definitely a mangkukulam; or a young (and often pretty) lady with a taste for blood is likely a manananggal.

Filipinos are a very superstitious lot. Anything that might hint of aswang will send them scampering away while making the sign of the cross, mentally locating where they stored their garlic necklace or buntot ng pagi (Stingray’s tail). Other anti-aswang talismans include a cross, holy water, and a special oil made from coconut.

Aswangs are not to be confused with halimaws and other mythological creatures. These types of creatures do not eat people’s organs or children. Stories about them revolve around abductions or possessions. Examples include shokoys (merman), dwendes (dwarves), diwatas (fairies) or diablos (devils).

At some point in your life, however, you DID know that the national motto exist. The national motto was probably taught to you during the 1st or 2nd grade, the same time all the other national symbols were being taught. But over the years, you’ve already forgotten about it from lack of use. The former national motto is “Isang bansa, isang diwa” which translates to “One nation, one spirit.”

On February 12, 1998, President Fidel V. Ramos passed Republic Act 8491 which prescribed the code of the national flag, anthem, motto, coat-of-arms and other heraldic items and devices of the Philippines. On the section 40 of RA 8491, the old motto was changed into “Maka-Diyos, maka-tao, makakalikasan, at makabansa” which translates to “[biased towards] God, People, Nature and Country.”

The sport sipa has been in the Philippines since the Pre-Hispanic period. The international name for it is Sepak Takraw. It is a cross between volleyball and soccer. A ball is kicked back and forth over a net placed in the middle of a court. The court is about about the size of a doubles badminton court. A team may consist of 1, 2 or 4 players.

The ball used in this sport is a (traditionally) hand-woven ball made of rattan stems or very hard plastic and weighs approximately 250 grams. The rules for the game is the same as that of international volleyball, except that (1) players are not allowed to use their hands, (2) a player or a team can touch the ball three consecutive times, and (3) the players position of the defensive team is not rotated.

To be extremely good in this game, flexibility, along with acrobatic skills, is definitely a must.

There are over 170 languages in the Philippines and almost all of which belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. According to Ethnologue, a total of 171 native languages are spoken in the country. Other non-austronesian languages include English, Spanish, Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Chabacano.

There are twelve main native languages spoken in the Philippines: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Bikol, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Maranao, Maguindanao, Kinaray-a, and Tausug. Each of these languages have over one million native speakers.

There are three major classifications of the Philippine language: the Northern Philippine languages (ex. Ilokano, Kapampangan, and Pangasinan), the Meso Philippine languages (ex. Tagalog, Bikol and Visayang languages–Cebuano, HIligaynon, Waray), and the Southern Philippine languages (ex. Maranao, Maguindanao and Manobo). Other classifications include the Southern Mindanao languages (ex. Tboli and Balaan), the Sama-Bajaw (ex. Abaknon, Yakan and Sama), and the Sulawesi languages (Sangil and Sangir).

* Philippine Language Tree by Carl Rubino

The Katipunan was founded on July 7, 1892 by Andres Bonifacio, Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata. After the news of Rizal’s exile, they gathered other members of La Liga Filipina, a progressive organization created by Rizal, at a house on Calle Azcarraga (now Claro M. Recto Ave.) in Tondo, Manila. The Katipunan was forged by blood, using the ancient blood compact (Sanduguan) to sign their names using their own blood.

The Katipunan has three objectives: political, moral and civic. The political objective is to separate the Philippines from Spain. The moral objectives revolved around the teaching of good manners, hygiene, good morals, and attacking obscurantism, religious fanaticism, and weakness of character. Finaly the civic duty includes mutual assistance and the defense of the poor and the oppressed.

The Katipunan recruits its members by means of a triangular method in which an original member would take in two new members who did not know each other. Thus, original member A, for instance, would take in new members B and C. Both B and C knew A, but B and C did not know each other. This method ensures the secrecy of the Katipunan where if one of them gets caught, he or she will not be able to say who the other members are. New recruits underwent the initiation rite three at a time so that no member knew more than two other members of the society.

On early August 1896, Teodoro Patiño, a worker at a printing press got into a feud with the press foreman, Apolinio dela Cruz, who is a Katipunero. Patiño supposedly used his sister to contact a priest, who was also her confessor, to expose the secret society. This became the standard story of how the revolution broke out in 1896. However, in the 1920’s, Jose Turiano Santiago, Bonifacio’s close friend, claimed that Bonifacio himself ordered Patiño to divulge the society’s existence to hasten the Philippine revolution.

On August 24, 1896 a meeting was held where the Katipuneros present decided to start the armed and open rebellion again Spain. They tore their cedulas (residence certificates and identity papers) as proof of their defiance. This event is now known as the “Cry of Balintawak,” which actually took place not in Balintawak, but in Pugadlawin.

Of course everyone knows that Epifanio de los Santos is probably an important historical figure, why else would Metro Manila’s main highway be named after him? Few, however, knows why he became part of Philippines’ history.

Epifanio de los Santos is a Filipino historian. He was born on April 7, 1871, in Malabon, Rizal, the only son of Escolastico de los Santos and Antonia Cristobal. He was the first Filipino member of the Spanish Royal Academy in Madrid.

During the Philippine revolution, he and Jose Clemente Zulueta published the news paper libertad in Malabon. He then later became an associate editor of La Independencia, the first revolutionary periodical.

On May 16, 1925, he was appointed as a director of Philippine Library and Museum by Governor Leonard Wood. He also published several books (Tagalog Literature, Confidencial letter of Dr. Jose Rizal, The Tagalog Theater, Musical folklores of the Philippines, Criminality in the Philippines (1903-1908), Fraudes Electrorales Y Sus Remedios) and wrote the biographies of Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Andress bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, and Ignacio Villamor.

In 1994, The Miss Universe Pageant was held in the Philippines and it was during one of the interviews that the words “High tide or low tide?” was immortalized by Miss Philippines Charlene Gonzales. She then answered that there are 7,107 islands during high tide and made a rough guess of 7,108 during low tide. Although not necessarily correct, a lot of Pinoys use this as a witty remark to foreigners who ask about the islands.

The official count is 7,107 and of these, 2,773 have names and only a few hundred are inhabited. Some of the islands are so small that they disappear during high tides. The largest island is the island of Luzon. Together with Mindanao, the second largest island, they cover more than 60% of the contry’s total land area.

The Philippines is commonly divided into three island groups: Luzon, where the country’s capital (Manila) can be found, is the largest and the most politically important island in the Philippines; Visayas, where the Philippines’ oldest city (Cebu) can be found; and Mindanao, where the nation’s highest peak and the world’s largest city can be found.

The although the official count is 7,107, the actual number of islands is still unclear as there have been dispute over the ownership of Spratly Islands. Geographically, the Philippines have a strong claim over the islands, yet other countries try to prove their claim through historical bases.

If you listened to your Grade 2 teacher, you’d know the the Philippines is an archipelago located at the South East Asia between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer, lying along the northwestern fringes of the Pacific Ring of Fire. He or she would also probaby tell you that it is located between 4°23′ and 21°25′ N latitude and 116°00′ and 127°00′ E longitude, which would mean nothing to your simple 8-year-old mind. The Philippines is bounded by the Philippine Sea on the east, the Bashi Channel on the north, the South China Sea on the west, and the Celebes Sea (Sulawesi Sea) on the south. The northernmost island is the Y’ami Island in the Batanes group in the north and the southernmost island is the Saluag Island in the Sibutu group.

Other information will also be taught throughout your student life such as the shape of the Philippine Islands, which is broken and fragmented, is that of a sitting dog or a rosary, depending on the religious beliefs of your teachers or professors. You will also be taught that at roughly 300,000 sq. km., the Philippines fall under the category of a large state. It’s coastline stretches up to 10,850 miles, twice the length of the US coastline.

Most drawing of the globe or the world map would fail to include the Philippines in the picture. Japan, being one of the world Superpowers, is always included of course. Sometimes the Korean Peninsula would also make it into the sketch. The South East Asian islands on the other hand, would be drawn as “the tiny dots above Australia” with Indonesia being the most prominent of the bunch.