The true filipino culture what is it? Is it imbedded in our genes ? in the way we dress?

In the way
we speak? Or is it in our love for our country and countrymen? No matter what you think the
true filipino culture is, I think it is safe to say that in todays society and where modernation and
adaptation thrive . the true filipino culture is starting disintegrate and collapsed. Being a true
filipino and such I think it is a must that we try to preserve our heritage and our values that
makes us a true filipino.
I was raise in a religious and conservative family. Every Sunday we go to church being a
catholic , we respect the elderly afterward by pagmamano after finishing the mass , and
praying after a meal and washing hands afterwards, and most of the time I feel blessed yet at
the same time I feel the urge of questioning about god and although I am curious about gods
and why we go to church , I was forbidden to ask since it would make me go against the norm
and just like that I really start to go with the flow. Also it makes me think that it is a must and an
obligation of abiding gods rule. Although I was raise like that, I realize others differentreligion
such as the christian one and comparing it to the catholic where I belong, well honestly I feel
that the christian is a fun place to belong yet it would make go against my family and the dogma
that they imbedded me with.
In school things was just like that, I was obligated to do what my parents told me to do , and I
really get to enjoy it and feel that it is right, I must finish my homework on time , I must
participate more in class, I must get high grades to prove to them that I was really following all
their orders. Things start to get a turn when I get in PUP , the different cultures and ideals that
flood the university , makes me question the very essence of the filipino way of life my parents
taught me. The university itself and the people with whom I became friends there are people
with different ideals and traits and somehow not aligned to what I believed(what my parents
taught me to be) about being a filipino.
What is being a filipino? what makes a filipino citizen a filipino? Thats what been lingering in
my mind as I go live together with the people who are expanding to the modernization of things,
to be honest I was starting to abandon the way I was. I was being exposed to all the different
cultures by being part of a society that makes its way globally without even moving in such a
small area, this new environment that I was talking about is the social media and the
workplace.
The social media, is a safe place to communicate with everybody and the more I indulge in this
leisures I realize that I was starting to adopt to their way of life, the clothes I wear are starting
from being simple dress and stuff to wearing jackets and jeans in broad daylight. Also in the
workplace , the part-time job I get while working in Mcdonalds was a really nice experience, I
start to earn money and we all know that money change people, the simple food ( the
homecooking that I used to love) became somewhat extravagant( I start to eat outside , the fast
food that makes people fat).
All in all , the filipino today are starting to become different. The simple lifestyle we had when we
are starting as a country are far away from how we are today as. So to end this here a question
I would like to post, to adopt and live a lifestyle different from yours to belong , or to just stay
and preserve what we been taught and minimize change for the survival of our pride. I think that
is a question worth asking.