FILIPINO LIFE-STYLES

Fernando N. Zialcita
 An exploration of:
1. Clothing
2. Architecture
3. Painting and sculpture
4. Cookery
 In 3 cultures:
1. The Cordillera uplands
2. The Moslem South
3. The Lowland Christians
3000 years ago, communities in these islands shared similar
life-styles. One of them was the secondary burial of the dead.
Because of various reasons, life-styles became increasingly
different from each other.

Manunggul jar,
Palawan ca. 890-710
BC.
An oarsman bringing
the dead to the world
beyond the sea.
The Cordillera Uplands
Themes: Strength and simplicity
Kalinga wear ca. 1920s
Ifugao wear: 1920s and 1990s
Bale, a wealthy Ifugao ’s house
The beauty of a simple
Ifugao weave
The bulul: The
granary god.
The manner in which the
human form is interpreted
recurs in other isolated, upland
Austronesian peoples: e.g.
Dyak of Borneo and Jarai of
Vietnam
Sculpture from the
Ibans, Borneo
Traditional staples: root
crops and vegetables.
Rice a prestige food
along with meat.
Cooking style: Boiling and
broiling. Before: both
salt and spices very
expensive. Today both
have become
commonplace in
urbanized areas.
Tap-uy: wine made from fermented rice.
(Variations found in Indonesia too)
The Moslem South
Themes: Rich ornamentation, though in
abstract arabesques
The chief’s wife and her retinue, Maguindanao 1920s
Traditional men’s wear,
Yakan, Basilan

A nobleman in gala:
Note the rich fabric,
the headgear, and the
shirt-over-pants
The Maranao torogan or the chief’s house. Carvings
represent mythical snakes.
Two types of mosques: The Southeast Asian vs. the Arabic
A variety of arts and crafts
(Note the arabesques used)
 Characteristics of Maranao food:
 Rice colored yellow
 Flavoring given by chili and
sakurab (chives)
 Dried grated coconut for accent
The Lowland Christians
 The Lowland Christians
Periods:
 Coastal Luzon and Visayas at Spanish
contact
 The Spanish & American Periods
 1940s-2006: The Contemporary Period
 Coastal Tagalogs at Spanish contact

1st man in baro/

cangan and bahag
Woman in baro and
tapis (tapis then
meant skirt)
2nd man in barong
mahaba for galas
Both men wear a
putong on head.
Note lavish use of
gold
Coastal Visayans at Spanish contact
Butuan gold (10th-13th
centuries AD)
Clothing materials at Spanish contact

Pounded bark
Woven cotton
Sinamay from abaca
From Tondo: the unique HUSI woven
from silk (imported from China)
A Visayan longhouse in 1668

The
longhouse:
residence
of the chief
and his
several
families.
Common
throughout
Southeast
Asia before
entry of
Chinese,In
dian,
Islamic and
Western
influences
 From our indigenous heritage:
dulang, almario, baul, paminggalan
The diet of coastal Filipinos during the16th century

Tubers, rice,
vegetables
and salt
Kinilaw,
boiling,
broiling,
roasting,
steaming
Salt for
flavoring
Themes:
 Fusion of indigenous, Chinese, Spanish and Mexican
Indian (Three continents!) –Manila was Asia’s Entrepot
during the Galleon Trade
 Interplay between dense volumes and lightness -- in
clothing, architecture, painting, and cookery
Iniiwasan: ang mga bagay na mabibigat at nakakasuya.
 • Adaptation to tropical
Clothing
environment
• Fondness for
ornamentation, though
discreet
 Manila wear: 1780s

Baro and loose knee-

length pants, both of
cotton. Do the pants
recall the 16th century?
Don’t they also recall
the long shorts of
TODAY?
Note head scarf.
A Chinese trader: Note similarities to native
costume

by Juan de Ravenet, 1790s

 A Filipino innovation: Piña/ Nipis

 The pineapple came from South America and entered

through the Galleon Trade.
 Native artisans extracted fibers from the leaves to invent
a new cloth: PIñA
 Were the Spanish looking for hidden weapons ?
 Or were the Filipinos in fact innovating on the native
husi tradition?
 7

Baro and pañuelo of see-

through piña.
Saya and tapis of cotton.

How modest is this

matron? French
visitors in 1780s-1840s
were delighted that
there was no corset
and that the baro was
filmy
Baro ‘t saya, 1880s
European dress, 1890s
1920s Filipina dress
Natori (21st century)
• A Manileño, 1840s
Were Filipinos asked to wear
their shirts out as a sign of
inferiority?
• No such decree has been found.
• Also, don’t we have a long
tradition, predating the Spanish,
of wearing shirts out?
We live in the TROPICS!
Silver-trimmed salakots and diamond-studded
silver slippers
Philippine jewelry,
Spanish period
 Themes
Architecture  Adaptation to
earthquakes, tropical
heat and heavy
downpours
 Response to Filipino’s
quest for togetherness
 The Filipino urban house
1690s-1930s:
 Wooden frame that sways
during quakes
 Wooden upper story
 Anti-fire stone walls only in
ground floor
Balay Negrense, Silay
 Large windows
 Extra window:
Ventanilla
 Windows of either
capiz or frosted
glass
 Wooden floors that
can be slept on
The Mariposa (butterfly): Furniture for the tropics
 More floating sculptures –
Impy Pilapil, Ocean Sparkle, 1991 and
Honrado Fernandez, Found and Special Patterns Series, Southeast
Asia.
Kenneth Cobonpue
Kenneth Cobonpue
A contrast: Palacio de los Azulejos, Mexico DF
Filipino-style churches

Example: Morong
 Built by a native
maestro, Palatino,
1850s
 Baroque style
 But native variation:
 Tower façade
 Octagonal shape –
Feng shui (bagua)?
Vigan Cathedral, 1790s
Paoay , Ilocos Norte
A CONTRAST:
Ocotlan, Tlaxcala,
Mexico
Continuing theme: response to earthquakes
San Sebastian, Quiapo, Manila
Architecture contra earthquakes: All-steel. Very
vertical because it is of steel!
University of Sto. Tomas, Manila
Architecture contra earthquakes: A concrete
building that sways
 • Religious themes
Painting, sculpture,
furniture • Nationalism
• Individual, abstract
themes
Filipino painting and sculpture – At the start
religious in theme

Engraving, 1711
Ivory crucifix, 17th century
• Appearance of
secular themes:
Nature studies for Juan
de Cuellar’s Flora, 1786-
1806
 A Filipino invention: Letras y figuras.
José Honorato Lozano Francisco de Yriarte, 1867
Chiaroscuro paintings in the Academic mode:
Tampuhan by Juan Luna, 1895
La Bulaqueña
Juan Luna, 1895
 Filipinos explore historical themes:
Virgenes cristianas expuestas al populacho, Felix R. Hidlago, 1884
Nationalism during the early 20th century encourages genre paintings.
Sunday Morning by Fernando Amorsolo, 1958
A masterpiece of nationalism: the monument to Bonifacio by
Guillermo Tolentino, 1933
 Painting: 1940s-2006

Non-representational
painting triumphs but
with a Filipino flavor.
Hernando Ocampo
53-Q (Sari Manok),
1953
Marciano
Galang, World
without Walls, no
date
Experiments with local
materials result in works
that seem to float
Francisco Verano,
Bamboo Fugure 2, 1980
 The emergence of a cosmopolitan
cuisine
New ingredients: e.g. Kamatis, kalabasa, sayote, papaya,
pechay, sili

New cooking procedures:

 Ginisa (sauteeing) sa bawang, kamatis, sibuyas
(Spanish)
 Wrapping in peanuts (Mexican Indian)
 Flavoring with ginger (Chinese)
 Patis and bagoong (Indigenous / Southeast Asian)
 Example: Tinolang manok

 Sayote and green

papaya (originally from
Mexico)
 Chili pepper leaves
(also from Mexico)
 Ginger (from China)
 Patis (S E Asian)
 Guisa (Mediterranean)
 And chicken
 A running Tagalog/ Pampango theme: Kaasiman

A slight sourness
removes the “suya.”
Our taste for sourness
indigenizes our foreign
imports.
 Puchero was inspired
by Cocido Madrileño.
But its sauce is:
Sarsang talong na
nakababad sa suka
 The sauce of fried
lumpia is vinegar with
pepper and garlic
Summary
 Clothing: 1940s-2006
 For everyday wear: Western garb
 For ceremonial occasions: The native costume.
However, increasingly it is only the men who do so
 Moreover, the native costume becomes divorced from
tropics. Heavy, uncomfortable synthetics are
substituted.
The post WWII
terno: single
piece with no
pañuelo.
Modelled by Mrs.
Annie Gordon
Barong Tagalog: post
1960s
 Architecture: 1940s-2006

 Island architecture becomes too dependent upon air-

conditioning: Low ceilings, small windows, large glass
walls. Often flat roofs
 Urge to abandon local tradition for the sake of “New
York”
 However, there are also examples that respect the
climate and connect with tradition.
The Leandro Locsin House, Makati
The Baylosis house:
Respects the
tropics and
treasures traditional
arts
Meanwhile… the humble bahay kubo continues to flourish
in places like Panay
 Summary
(The best) Filipino architecture:
1)Developed in response to earthquakes
2)Is sensitive to the tropical heat
3)Protects against heavy rain
4)Induces a sense of togetherness
(pagkakaisa)
5)Is MAALIWALAS
 Summary
(The best) Filipino style of dressing
1)Protects against cold
2)Is sensitive to the tropical heat
3)Promotes GINHAWA

This can also be said of home décor.

 Summary
(The best) Filipino painting and sculpture
1)Interprets what Filipinos experience at a
point in history either in a realistic, stylized
or abstract mode
2)MAGAANG ang dating.
The Halo-Halo
Float
Sums up the 20th
century. Product of cold
storage techniques and
native skill in blending
different cultural
traditions.
Filipino life-styles continue to
evolve: What can you and I
contribute?