People of the Philippines

How best to describe some of the warmest, friendly and informal people in the world? As with most predominantly Roman Catholic cultures religious traditions and customs help define the daily lives of the people, family values and their view of the world. Since arriving in the Philippines in 1980 I have felt more comfortable and at "home" than any of the more than 20 countries I have visited. My warm feeling is a direct result of the happy go lucky, easy going Filipino people all over the islands. Though over 70 language dialects, three major island regions and many of the 77 provinces lacking infrastructure help to divide Filipinos in many ways one thing they share is their love of life shown by their smiles and sense of humor. Three million Filipinos have emmigrated or work a large part of their lives outside the country but their great talent with learning and speaking different languages help make them disappear and be absorbed into every country they have gone. The many overseas Chinese worldwide also the Koreans and Japanese in North America are easiliy recognized living together in areas referred to as Chinatown, Koreatown or Japantown and introducing their cuisine wherever they go. The Philippines is the "melting pot" of Asia so Filipinos, often, are not identified as Asians but as Hispanics or Pacific Islanders and even Caucasians because of so many mixed marriages. Living in the Philippines through the years I have experienced many emotions regarding the Filipino people, concerning both their strengths and their weaknesses. It took moving back to my own country before my view of Filipinos seasoned and matured with age and distance. I love and appreciate the Filipino people more than my own and will always consider it "home".

They live for TODAY, work to live, NEVER live to work as in many developed countries, take care of their elderly personally and as they struggle with incredible poverty remain good natured finding the simple joys of life enough to smile. So when visiting the Philippines, do as they they do SMILE, it's a beautiful life. DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY! Below are some statistics for those of you interested.

Population: 77 725 862 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 38% (male 14 867 972; female 14 379 722)
15-64 years: 59% (male 22 582 178; female 23 136 055)
65 years and over: 3% (male 1 232 813; female 1 527 122) (July 1998 est.)

Almost half of the Philippine population is under 25 years old.

Population growth rate: 2.09% (1998 est.)

Population statistics gathered in the Philippines and other undeveloped countries could be disputed for several reasons. One reason is the lack of computer recorded births and deaths with many still giving birth outside hospitals. I have read about incredible population growth predicted to reach 100 million by 2020! I know that among most of the Filipino men in the provinces that I have encountered they refer to the term "family planning" by saying "family planting" followed by laughter.

Birth rate: 28.43 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 6.52 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.04 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 34.56 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.35 years
male: 63.57 years
female: 69.28 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.54 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Filipino(s)
adjective: Philippine

Ethnic groups: Christian Malay 91.5% Muslim Malay 4% Chinese 1.5% other 3%

Religions: Roman Catholic 83% Protestant 9% Muslim 5% Buddhist and other 3%

Languages: Pilipino (official based on Tagalog) English (official)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 94.6%
male: 95%
female: 94.3% (1995 est.)