The Filipina Attributes–The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly

What is it exactly about a Filipino woman that attracts men to them, particularly foreigners? I have a number of male non-Filipino friends, and with the inclusion of my own husband, I must acknowledge that they have been unanimous in saying that the Filipina’s innate desire to serve and care for the one she loves is at the top of their list. It’s not that they are more in need of a maid than a girlfriend, but that it is one quality they hardly see anymore among the women in their own country. Many of them also stressed the undeniable ability of a Filipina to look way younger than her actual age…which is, to them, a good thing, I suppose ’cause then the Filipina always looks prettier and more fresh than most women of other nationality. As best as I possibly can, I’ll list down the most outstanding qualities of a Filipino woman, those that will naturally remind you about why you fell in love with her in the first place, along with the not-so-good, and all the way to those annoying qualities that perhaps you have already discovered or noticed by now, and has been living with or enduring for quite some time (LOL). Now, let me just remind you all that these qualities may or may not be evident in your Filipina girl–it all depends on her upbringing and other influences in her life. Furthermore, you may view these qualities as either good or bad, it really all depends then on whether the quality compliments yours and what your specific needs are. The qualities listed below are those most commonly seen among Filipinas:

1. Finds joy in serving – Most Filipina girls (especially those whose families still observe and practice Filipino values and traditions) have been raised by their mothers to embrace and accept servitude as part of their calling in life as women. It begins with their training on basic household chores such as cooking, doing the laundry, cleaning, and even babysitting their younger siblings. It is believed by traditional Filipino families that women who have not mastered these household chores—cooking being the most important of all–have no business getting married.
2. Values education highly – The typical Filipino family views education as one’s ticket to a better and more stable future, so parents raise their children with this value deeply etched in their core being.
3. Family-oriented – The Filipinos most likely have gotten this from the Chinese and Spanish who both greatly influenced our culture.
4. Speaks better English than most other non-English speaking women around the world (especially true for the Manila-born and raised)
5. Puts a huge importance on grooming and hygiene
6. Charming
7. Respectful to her elders – Again, this comes from the Chinese and Spanish influences
8. Thrifty (influenced mostly by a poverty-stricken background)
9. Ambitious
10. Hard-working
11. Multi-talented
12. Capable of multi-tasking
13. Resourceful
14. Feisty – Oh yes! The Filipina can be soft spoken and humble…but don’t underestimate her! Behind the angelic charm is a true fighter! Yes, the true Filipina seldom starts a fight but doesn’t back out from one either, if challenged or threatened!
15. Intuitive
16. Highly sociable – The Filipina is extremely friendly and approachable by nature
17. Creative
18. Highly opinionated – Some Filipinas will have no difficulty speaking out their minds, but others will choose to keep silent in order to avoid conflict. However, even if your Filipina girl is more of the latter, she will still find someone with whom she is comfortable enough around, and she will express her own opinions with as much passion as the outspoken Filipina girl.
19. Argumentative – This is true for many Filipinas and once again, this is dependent on her background and how she was raised.
20. A loyal friend – This is true for all Filipinas, whether she has many friends or she just has one or two.
21. Over protective – This can be good, but misguided, this quality can be very destructive to your relationship.
22. Adventurous
23. Outgoing
24. Passionate
25. Religious – Whatever the religion is, it is extremely important that you get to know and understand what her (and her family’s) beliefs are, because religion (or faith) is one thing that most Filipinas will never be willing to compromise on. So better if you agree on your religious beliefs to begin with to avoid future conflict and also to avoid confusing your children.
26. Affectionate
27. Romantic
28. Emotional – Filipinos are a sucker for love stories, happy endings, love songs and anything that can make you cry!
29. Over-reacts at times – This also has something to do with how she has been raised.
30. Ultra-sensitive at times – The Filipinos (in general) wear their hearts on their sleeves! (We will talk about this further later)
31. Possessive – see #21
32. Generous – The Filipina will give and give until it hurts (so to speak)
33. Conservative – Again, this depends on how she was brought up and what traditional values were instilled in her.
34. Traditional
35. Competitive
36. Avoids confrontations (most of the time)
37. Tends to worry so much about the future
38. Persistent
39. Sentimental – which is why she finds it hard to throw away the box and the paper you wrapped her birthday gift with…and the table napkins from your first date in that upscale resto…and the rocks she collected from your first trip to Boracay (and to Palawan, and so on and so forth).
40. Authoritative – If the Filipina girl grew up in a home where her mother “wore the pants”, she will most likely have the tendency to adapt the same behavior and mentality. If the man she ends up marrying turns out to be lacking in initiative, intellectual, moral and financial capabilities, she will take control. The Filipina girl is competitive by nature and is a born leader so this “authoritative” quality is just an accident waiting for a place to happen.
41. Puts a great importance on gratitude – So much so that it is often taken advantage of by others (we will also talk about this further later on)
42. Crab-mentality – This is one of the ugly Filipino attributes, which is rooted on jealousy and envy (which are both sins according to the Bible). This simply means that she can’t stand seeing somebody else reaping all the good things in life, so she finds ways to destroy that person. Amongst women, gossiping and spreading malicious rumors are the most common ways to accomplish this. If your Filipina girl had been raised right, then the only thing you will need to worry about is other people attacking her and trying to bring her down just because she is dating a white man like you–which, to some, means a shining, shimmering ticket to the Land of Milk and Honey!
43. Camarederie (Pakikisama) – Misguided, this can also be destructive to your relationship since the tendency here is for your Filipina girl to cover up her friends’ flaws or wrongdoings (and vice versa) to prove how much the friendship means to either of them.
44. Procrastination (Mañana Habit)
45. Tardiness – Your Filipina girl (unless she was raised by her parents differently) will always be late to meetings, dates and appointments. The things she will blame her tardiness on will vary but no matter what you do, even if you move your appointment an hour later, she will still be late. This is a “nationwide” character flaw which is made even worse by those who do not even bother to inform you ahead of time that they are going to be late.
46. Flirtatious
47. “Historical” – The Filipina has a tendency to dig up past issues in order to stress a point in an argument.
48. Tends to be obsessed about impressing other people – This has something to do with a pressing need for acceptance. This may either be modified or amplified, depending on how she felt loved and accepted by her own family.
49. Tolerant – This is often confused with “patience”. Though patience is another common Filipina attribute, tolerance is a more outstanding quality. The Filipina has an exceptional ability to tolerate lying, cheating and oftentimes verbally/physically abusive partners, so much so that no matter how often the couple splits up, they manage to get back together time and time again, it blows the mind! Again, I blame the upbringing here. The Filipina who was taught by her parents never to “tolerate” such behavior or treatment from anyone will not possess this rather detrimental quality.
50. Thoughtful – The Filipina will always remember birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions you can possibly mark on your calendar, and will always go out of her way to get you a gift, no matter how small. “It’s the thought that counts” is one of the Filipina girl’s favorite motto in life, and she really does make it count!


http://understandingthefilipina.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/the-filipina-attributes-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Here in the UK we have a lot of Filipino nurses.

My son has spent a large part of his life in and out of hospital. He suffered kidney failure at the age of 15, spent 7 years on dialysis and was successfully transplanted just over 3 years ago. He is in good health now

One nurse stood out among them all. A Filipino lady. She treated my son as if he were her own son. Mothered him when I couldn't be there (the hospital is 50 miles away).

Any time we went up there, if this nurse was on duty she greeted us all like long, lost family. She was kind and very, very gentle. A true nurse in every sense of the word.

Although my son hasn't had to go into hospital as an inpatient since his transplant (check-ups are done at the renal clinic at our local hospital) he still regards Rose as his favourite nurse and also looks on her as a friend.

I think the attraction for foreign men is the true kindness and compassion that Filipino women possess plus the love for humanity they seem to exude.

My sister met and dated a cool fillipino fellow back over 20 years ago...he and his sisters are still cool too this day.... (the Margiatas are true friends of my family)

Why?...cause Fillipenos are really nice and laid back people with awesome food and thier women are smoking hot. Life sucks...deal with your intrinsic Fillepeno hottytude...must suck to be wanted.

No offence....but, if you don't want nasty Americans to hit on you....just act like you hate Americans. (it has worked on me)

Ha! I like American men having worked with them some years ago in the UK oil industry. Unfortunately, the town I live in now doesn't have many American men in my age group

Us Americans put out....don't hate us for wanting to be your sluts.

thanks

Filipinos are nice to be with. They are true friends and really treasures every single nice things you do for them. This is the "utang na loob"factor or the feeling of being indebted to someone who did good things for them.

or you may say ...debt of gratitude ma dear, God bless!