Why do Filipinos use Honorifics?

Filipino culture is not egalitarian like contemporary European culture but is more like the stratified culture of Spain when it was a colonial master. However, it has been modified with some egalitarian American values that allow people to move up and down the socio-economic and power-authority levels at various stages in their life.

Filipino children are taught to be respectful of their elders so they have to speak certain words that reflect their subordinate status compared to other people. They call older children or cousins as “Kuya” (Big Brother) or “Ate” [Ah-teh] (Big Sister). They are also taught to call any substantially older person as either “Tito/Tiyo” (Uncle) or “Tita/Tiya” (Auntie) even if they are not kin-related. Much older people who are above forty or fifty years old can be respectfully called “Tatay” (Daddy) or “Nanay” (Mommy) if they feel close to them. They call people in their sixties or older as “Lolo” (Grandfather) or “Lola” (Grandmother).

As they grow up and the teenagers become young adults in their early twenties, they can already take their place as maturing members of society but there are still others who are older and more experienced than them. They call these people “Sir” or “Ma’am” even when they are not directly the superiors or supervisors.Customers or guests are also called “Sir” or “Ma’am” by the Filipino staff of various establishments. Other alternatives for this practice is for them to call a more senior person as “Boss,” “Chief,” or “Manager.”

Filipino society puts a value on people knowing the relative status of other people around them. There is stratification in terms of relative age as well as according to relative socio-economic status (superior versus subordinate, elder versus younger, richer versus poorer). It is not as rigid as the caste system in Indian culture but is an unconscious way of life among Filipinos who grow up in the Philippines. Filipinos who grow up in Westernized countries may or may not acquire it, depending on how strong the parents imposed their Filipino values at home on their children.

This form of stratification and categorization of people according to rank, age, status, power, or wealth is not discriminatory but designed to avoid conflicts and smoothen the interaction between people who don’t know each other well and may never become very close friends with each other. It is also designed to speed up or make more efficient the transfer of goods and services between people of all walks of life.

For example, a street vendor who is not well educated and lives a hand-to-mouth existence can approach a high-status, well-educated, or wealthy individual by acting a bit subservient and calling him “Sir,” “Boss,” or “Chief.” If known, he may also use other titles of prestige and power: “Heneral,” “Koronel,” “Komandante/Major,” “Kapitan,” “Tenyente,” “Sarhento,” “Cabo/Corporal,” “Hepe/Chief,” “Pinuno,” “Mayor,” “Don,” “Attorney,” “Doctor,” “Director,” “Manager,” “Supervisor/Bisor,” etc. If the actual rank is not known, this may be embellished further by “applying more grease” and tentatively raising the social rank of the other person being addressed in the hopes that it will (1) fend of any possible irritation or offense, and (2) encourage him to pay for the goods or services being offered. It is now natural and socially expected for younger or low-status Filipinos to be slightly or obviously subservient to the more elderly and high-status members of society.

So you may ask what is the reason to go to all these lengths to identify and amplify the rank of the person being addressed? It is a survival technique developed by the powerless and lowly sectors of society to avoid being punished or scolded severely by the obviously higher-ranked and more authoritative individuals they may encounter. If a local was so rash as to publicly disrespect another person of higher status or authority, he could be subjected to severe punishments or reprisal that he could hardly avoid.

It used to happen during the Spanish period that the Spanish colonial masters would act domineeringly against the local natives whom they disparagingly called “Indios” (a term that the locals resented but could not do much about). Indios could be flogged or beaten by soldiers ordered around by their officers or even the Catholic priests and the wealthy aristocrats. Imagine centuries of such one-sided domination against the locals that is only now becoming ameliorated or steadily diminished as the Philippines enters the 21st Century.

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As part of their cultural, social, and linguistic interactions, nearly all Filipinos will use honorifics like “po” or “ho” in their native speech. The direct translation of “po” or “ho” in English is usually “Sir” or “Ma’am.” One can hardly have a two-way conversation in Tagalog or other Philippine languages without such honorifics.

In addition, Filipinos would prefer to call people by their official title instead of just plain Ginoo(“Mister”), Binibini (“Miss”), or Ginang (“Missus”), if they don’t know the name of the person they are addressing, or even if they do know it. It seems to give more prestige to the person addressed if his academic, collegiate, bureaucratic, military, police, and/or professional titles are used instead of the just plain everyday “Mister.” However, many females (not all) who don’t have professional titles are quite happy to be called “Miss” or “Missus,” as appropriate.

Generally, only Filipinos who belong to a similar age group and/or social stratum will call each other by their first names and/or nicknames. If one of the Filipinos is younger or less educated or lower-positioned than the other, they will be the first to use “po” or any other honorific title, while the person so addressed may also use “po” and bask in the prestige accorded him.

People who have different position titles or social rank who are not acquainted with each other well, will usually call each other by their titles, such as “Honorable Mayor,” “Doctor,” “Engineer,” “Attorney,” “Judge,” etc., as this implies mutual respect of each other’s accomplishments.

This may all seem confusing to foreigners but it allows Filipinos to deal directly and smoothly with strangers (who are also other Filipinos) without causing any type of inadvertent offense.

A high-ranked foreigner from an egalitarian Western culture who tries saying , “I’m pleased to meet you. Call me Bob.” will probably be answered by most Filipinos with “Anything you say, Sir Bob.