Philippines

Kinship Ties and Friendship

At the center of most Filipinos' social networks is the nuclear family. These relations form a constitutive part of their identity and social status. Dangal (honor) and hiya (shame) are intertwined with the fortunes of their immediate kin. Because of this, parents are expected to provide as much economic, social, and moral support to their children as possible. This can even extend far into children's adult years, if need be. In return, children are reciprocally bound to their parents through utang na loob (a debt of gratitude) that can never be repaid. Those who disregard these ties are called walang hiya (shameless). In a society that values sensitivity to other people's feelings, this label can be very socially damning.

Although the importance of the immediate kin seems deeply entrenched in Philippine society, it is a concept that differs from the precolonial conception of family. At the time, polygamy was viewed with openness, and kinship was identified through sibling ties rather than progeny. During the Spanish colonial period, however, the Roman Catholic Church institutionalized and idealized monogamous marriage and the nuclear family as part of the Spaniards' efforts to control the indigenous lifestyle. This was so thoroughly naturalized that in the postcolonial era, the Filipinos themselves enshrined the sanctity of the nuclear family in their constitution.

Beyond the nuclear family, Filipinos also carefully cultivate ties with extended family networks, which are traced bilaterally. They also further widen their personal alliances, most especially with those who have power and influence in society, through the ritual kinship of compadrazgo (God-parenthood) in the Roman Catholic rites of baptism, confirmation, and marriage. Together with this, long-standing friendships also serve as equally compelling ties of reciprocal obligation.

The utang na loob that Filipinos feel toward their relations tends to decrease the farther this is from the nuclear family. Because pakikisama (smooth interpersonal relationships) are paramount in kinship and friendship ties, though, Filipinos are still obliged to provide a social safety net to children of their kin and friends in case anything untoward happens to the parents or even to present them with means to achieve upward social mobility. This parallels the precolonial practice of the sandugu (blood compact), which was used to seal alliances among the datus (chiefs) of different barangays (villages) in view of securing stability in a society that saw much infighting.

Patron-Client Ties

Personalistic social networks in the Philippines also operate at the institutional level. Despite the American legacy of Western-style democratic and capitalist institutions, many political and economic relationships in the country are still influenced by the patron-client system. This is characterized as a relationship wherein the social elite perpetuate their status generation after generation through ties of utang na loob with supporters who are politically and economically disadvantaged. While the former promise social and economic favors—from something as small as paying for the baptismal ceremony of a follower's child to something as significant as placing an ally into a desired political post—the latter offer enduring loyalty and service.

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