User:Milouise/sandbox

'Is It Still Possible? The Revival of Filipinos’ Lost and Forgotten Traditions.'
The Filipinos today have been more colonized over the past years. Changes have been evident and continuous. The rich traditions we were once known for is starting to deteriorate from us. Especially in this generation where technology is taking place in everyone’s daily lives. People started to focus more in technological improvement and advancement, that it is so common now for children under the age of two to explore many things about gadgets, and as a result, we’ve cater our way to the modern era, that has some negative impact: Filipinos have stopped engaging to traditions that they hold to, to keep up with the modern advancement of our country’s economy. Filipinos have been greatly influenced by nations around us, molding our cultures to new ones, which led to them developing colonial mentality, which is thinking that foreign products have better quality than the local ones. Working overseas have been one of the major goals of most Filipino youths because they think that working abroad will give them more opportunities and a better life rather than here in their own country. These traditions that are being wiped out has been our identity, our heritage, and what made the Filipinos unique from the others, so what will happen when it's completely gone?

1. Harana
Harana is the traditional courtship where a man sings outside where the woman looks from her window during the night. Most men who used to perform this brought acoustic guitars and also their friends to cheer them on.

Surely, this tradition has not been long gone, but suitors today will mostly rather not do this because in today's generation, it seem corny, awkward or even embarrassing to do so. They may do this, but not outside the house during the night, instead when they are together or during phone calls, and in the most informal way when they can both feel comfortable.

2. Paninilbihan
Paninilbihan is when a man or suitor does chores for the girl's family during courtship to prove his worth and love for her. This is usually done by manual labor such us cutting of wood for cooking and fetching water from rivers or wells. This traditional courtship is to win the affection of the family so he could get married to the girl.

Of course, these days, not just things, but also relationships come in handy, someone can be in a relationship with another person via internet: chat, call, and texts, and you can also easily end a relationship with the same way. And also these days, most youths doesn't need the approval of their parents to be committed with someone. And men would usually choose the girl they will get easily without doing hard manual labor for her family.

3. Bayanihan
''Bayanihan is the Filipinos' traditional way of helping others. This was in earlier years, where people build huts as houses to lands they claim their own and when they want or need to move to another place, they take their whole house by the help of the whole neighborhood. They will lift the house since it is only made from bamboo and palm and move it to the designated place.

This tradition is now known as helping other in times of needs like giving out relief goods after disasters. And the traditional way is also not applicable in today's generation because houses are now made of stones and bricks which is surely hard to lift, and people cannot move their whole houses to another place easily because today, land titles are things to be considered.

4. Traditional Games
Traditional games like the tumbang-preso, piko, patintero, luksong-baka, luksong-tinik, tagu-taguan, and taya-tayaan are some of the traditional Filipino games that are played now only by a few. Earlier generations who experienced playing these game said that they felt great deal of joy and that youths in this generation who had the chance to play these are very lucky. These traditional games uses the body for running, jumping, and catching opponents, so it requires lots of energy and that is why children are so excited that they get very exhausted after playing.

Sadly, these games are being forgotten thanks to technology, which is what most children prefer to play these days. Games that require only the eyes and fingers to perform the games, without using much energy, and they don't even need to leave their house and go outside, they just need to find a comfortable spot and stay seated there for hours.

'Revival can be possible. Filipinos should not let their traditions be found only in history books and the memories of the past generations. They should try to preserve and revive those traditions that are lost and forgotten and nearly buried in time. The Filipinos should rise up and cultivate it, show the world how unique Filipinos are by demonstrating their native traditions that were passed on by their ancestors in several generations up to the current one. Do not waste it by letting it be overcome by modern technology. Of course, technological advancement is not bad, but they should not forget who they once were, their identity and what they were in the first place before their culture and traditions were molded by foreign lands. Let them influence others with their native traditions and not the other way around.'