7 Identification with one’s group is regarded as strong and remains strong even when the groups go over seas. Tagalogs are regarded as proud, boastful and talkative. Pampangans are considered independent, self-centered and materialistic. Ilocanos are seen as hardworking, aggressive and worried about the future. And Visayans are seen as fun-loving, musical and courageous. Batangueños are known as the "salesmen of the Philippines."
Filipinos have a strong sense of regionalism. Strong ties bind those who come from the same province or those who speak the same dialect. They support each other because they consider themselves as "brothers or sisters". Sometimes, it is whom you know that counts when facilitating papers or when trying to get quick and positive results. [Source: Canadian Center for Intercultural Learning+++]
There are strong ties between Filipinos of the same area of origin and ethnic group and language. In Metro Manila, businesses and settlements may be organized in such groups. Although most Filipinos can converse in Tagalog (the basis of the national Filipino language), the majority of Filipinos grow up speaking other Malay based languages. It is only at the high school level that Filipino (Tagalog) becomes the common language of instruction and at the tertiary level English is the normal language of instruction. While most major Malay based ethnic groups do accept each other well, people prefer to interact socially and live close to workers from their own ethnic group. +++
Although many Chinese Filipinos do not speak any Chinese dialects or are not aware of their Chinese genealogical origins, there is some resentment of the success of Chinese-Filipino business and commercial enterprises and, in particular, of the Chinese community’s support for financing its own businesses and the high rates of interest some frequently charge on informal loans and loans for consumption purposes. +++
There are many diverse pockets of indigenous tribal groups in the remote hilly and mountainous areas of the Philippines. These peoples speak languages unrelated to Malay and have different ethnic origins than mainstream Malay culture Filipinos. In the Cordillera mountain provinces of Northern Luzon they are collectively known as Igorots; elsewhere in Luzon there are Aeta communities; in Mindoro Mangyan communities live in much of the uplands; in the Visayan islands of the central Philippines these indigenous minorities are referred in somewhat derogatory fashion as "Negritos" +++
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