STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This study seeks to determine the changes in the Filipino family
1. Can Filipinos can adapt these changes?
2. How will the law become protective of all forms of families?
3. How will government protect the rights and address the needs of the “new” and
emerging family configurations?
Contemporary Household
Setting and Relationship
Submitted by:
Jonathan Rian G. Fiel
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The realities of Filipino families are changing cannot be denied. What is
interesting now is how our society will adapt to these changes. How will the law become
protective of all forms of families? How will government protect the rights and address
the needs of the “new” and emerging family configurations?
INTRODUCTION
The family is the center of the social structure and includes the nuclear family,
aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and honorary relations such as godparents,
sponsors, and close family friends. The common notion that the nuclear Filipino family
consisting of a married couple, man and woman, with children, living together under one
roof, is being challenged. From where I sit, I see a growing change in the better
appreciation of the quality of relationship in the family more than its composition.
“The Filipino family is in transition,” said Dr. Grace T. Cruz of the University of
the Philippines Population Institute as she introduced her talk during the recently
concluded Partners’ Conference of the Philippine Center for Population and
Development (PCPD), Inc., a foundation that supports initiatives on reproductive health
and POPDEV.
According to Dr. Grace Cruz, self-identification as a family is getting to be more
common among groups of people who love, respect, and care for each other no matter
if they do not fit the traditional definition of what a family is. If people feel and identify as
a family, so be it.
The existence of the not-so-usual family configurations cannot be denied.
A friend, a well-known academic, is finding the joys and struggles of parenthood.
He is raising his three children single-handedly. His kids, two boys and a girl, are all
adopted. This friend of mine is gay.
I know a lesbian couple, both lawyers, who decided they wanted kids. Both of
them got pregnant and gave birth. The two beautiful children, a girl and a boy, are being
reared by two loving mommies.
We know many people who got married, had kids, and eventually got separated. Some
are in new relationships, others decided to raise their children alone.
There are heterosexual couples who have been happily together under one roof
for many years though they remain unmarried. Some couples have kids but others do
not. On the other hand, I also know of married couples who decided not to have kids.
Some gay and lesbian couples go to great lengths to get “married” despite knowledge
that their ceremonies are not binding in the country.
A transgender woman is in a relationship with someone who identifies as a
lesbian who has a child from a previous marriage to a man. The couple considers
themselves as a family. More importantly, they are a happy family, no matter what other
people think and say.
Children of the millions of overseas Filipino workers are being raised not by their
parents but by other family members. Couples are geographically separated for years
and are only able to be together for a short period in a year.
Dr. Cruz, in her presentation, established trends on families based on
comparative results of studies. Some of these are:
The number of women in live-in relationships has doubled. This gives the
impression that this arrangement is already culturally acceptable. Since there is no
divorce law in the country, I am guessing that such an arrangement also involves
separated women.
Delayed marriages are getting to be the practice. There are many who decide to
get married after some time of living together. Others, choose to marry later in life when
they are already more stable.
Live-in arrangements and delayed marriages may have been brought about by
the changing values and perceptions in relation with sexuality and reproductive health.
Even among the young people, Dr. Cruz mentioned that pre-marital sex is getting to be
more acceptable, and virginity is slowly but increasingly seen as less important.
The emergence of solo parent families is also notable. Some are solo parents
only temporarily because of migration for work of the partners but others are widowed or
separated, and thus, being solo parent is more permanent.
Related with this is the emergence of female-headed households which make up of
18% of all Philippine households. 9% of these are headed by single women, 7% are
separated/divorced, and 24% are married but the husband is away.
There is also emergence of “transnational family” defined as family members
living in different countries. This transnational family is a direct offshoot of labor
migration which is estimated to be about 10% of the country’s population. There is an
entire generation of children who grew up with surrogate parents or with only one
parent. (Cruz, G., 2014)
CONCLUSION
The Filipino family is in transition. This is evident in the changing nature of union
formation marked by increasing proportion in a live‐in arrangement and emergence
transnational families, and solo parenting. It is not about the composition, what matters
is the quality of relationship. There are other factors that contribute to these changing
view of the composition of the Filipino family such as their concept of marriage, divorce,
sex education etc.
There are a lot of challenges confronting the Filipino family today such as more
women are becoming breadwinners and head of households, gadgets become the
substitute parent of a child, socialization in the family is neglected and many more.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that sex education should be normalize in the Philippines as
we adapt changes in the notion of family.
REFERENCES
Cruz, Grace T. “The Filipino Family and Youth in Transition: Policy and Program
Directions”. PCPD Partner’s Conference, October 23, 2014.
https://www.pcpd.ph/uploads/Filipino_Families_and_Youth_in_Transition.pdf
Retrieved: April 1, 2021
https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/filipino-culture/filipino-culture-family
David, Randy S. Public Lives: Faith and Family in the Modern World.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/79041/faith-and-family-in-the-modern-world
Retrieved: April 1, 2021
https://family.jrank.org/pages/1277/Philippines.html
National Demographics and Health Survey, 2014
https://psa.gov.ph/national-demographic-health-survey
Retrieved: April 1, 2021
Pasion, Patty “Modern Filipino Families: How does the state protect them, 2017
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/modern-filipino-families-state-protection-
welfare
Retrieved: April 1, 2021
Villareal, Mark Godwin B. “The Filipino Family Today: A Sociological Perspective”
http://www.acup.org.ph/downloads/speech/2018/14%20Mr.%20Mark%20Godwin%20B.
%20Villareal.pdf
Retrieved: April 1, 2021
