POPULAR CULTURE IN THE

PHILIPPINES
BSHM 1B
 Popular culture can be traced back to the Spanish period of the
Philippines. It was employed and brought by the Spanish to the native
Filipinos through literature and plays to capture their hearts; thus
emphasizing the colonial origins of popular culture in the Philippines.

When the Americans came to colonize the Philippines, the

appropriately-called popular culture was introduced to the Philippines. The
printing press, radio, television, and film paved the way for the speedy
circulation of popular culture forms. Hollywood films reigned over the
Philippine market.

According to Bienvenido Lumbera, popular literature is considered a

commodity and it is intended for a mass market. As a commodity, it was seen
as a threat to “serious artistic work” because the writers favored the desires of
publishers and editors who were more concerned with sales rather than
aesthetics. Additionally, popular culture is not caused by the populace but
instead, it is caused either by the ruling elite or members of a chose few who
are under the employ of those elite for the consumption of the populace.
Popular culture in the Philippines is a concern. Popular culture is in question because of the
following reasons.

1. The Philippines is a third world country.

2. The Philippines has many indigenous ethnic groups that are still not urbanized.
3. The Philippines has a long history of two major cultural influences: Spanish
and American.
4. The Philippines is still predominantly agricultural in its present socio-economic
status.
5. The Philippines is still dependent on foreign economies.
The definition of popular culture in the Philippines is not just “of the people” but “of
the mass”, which is basically construed to be urban and industrialized.

Popular culture in the Philippines is a culture generated by mass media that

consists of film, radio, television, and press. They were introduced in the twentieth century
but are still exclusively urban. It is concerned with content analyses and effects on the
audience. Their main concern was the cultural values and the way the transmission of
these values are being done.
 Let us go through some of the
major areas of Philippine popular
culture.
 “Kenkoy” was the first Filipino comic strip. Its first

Komiks appearance was in 1929. Its main character was created by

Antonio Velasquez. It was only made with four frames and
was used as a filler for a weekly popular magazine Liwayway.
In 1931, Kenkoy was joined with other characters and they
are:
1. Kulafu. He roamed the mountains of Luzon similar with
Tarzan who did Africa.
2. Huapelo. He is a Chinese store owner.
3. Saryong Albularyo. He is a barrio doctor with a last
name that actually meant “quack”.
4. Goyo and Kikay. They are the local counterparts of Jiggs
and Maggie. Jiggs and Maggie are the main
characters in an American comic strip named
Bringing Up Father.
5. Dyesebel. She is a mermaid created by Mars Ravelo,
the same legendary cartoonist who created Darna.
6. Darna. She is a Filipino super heroine created by the
legendary cartoonist Mars Ravelo.
7. Valentina. She is the arch enemy of Darna, also created
by Mars Ravelo.
8. Petra. He is a horse-bodied character.
9. Karina. A magical agent of good with a flying
kariton (pushcart).
10.Phantomanok. A character who is a combination
of a phantom and a rooster.

During the Martial Law, the komiks have

been used by government agencies to deliver
message of development like the Green
Revolution, family planning, and housing
programs. The content of the komiks reflects
dreams, hopes, values, vision of life, escape from
reality, and problems and solutions. All these
make komiks definitely a popular culture. Komiks
is created by artists who favor the public voice and
dreams. Komiks has an extensive reach and grasp
which makes them entirely “of the people”.
Film
Cinematrografo are short-featured films that
were first shown in the Philippines. The first feature
films that were produced locally were in 1909,
featuring the life of Jose Rizal. Jose Nepomuceno’s
“Dalagang Bukid” was the first full-length feature
film shown in 1919. “Ang Aswang” was the first
talking picture made in 1932 by Musser.

The movie houses were filled especially with

stars like Dolphy, Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos, Sharon
Cuneta, Fernando Poe, Jr., and a lot more.
Radio Radio stations in the 20s were owned and
operated by an electrical supply company and organized
by an American named Henry Hermann. In the 30s, radio
stations were owned by department stores for advertisement
of their commodities. In 1932, radio advertising was began
by companies other than the radio station owners. In the
Second World War, during the Japanese occupation, all
radio stations were closed except for KZRH, which was
then renamed to PIAM. Short-wave reception was
prohibited but many have risked their lives to listen to the
broadcasts of “The Voice of Juan de la Cruz” and the “Voice
of Freedom” from Corregidor and the Voice of America.
In those early times, a recipe for Philippine radio
was developed based on satires, comedies, and variety
shows. It consisted as well of soap operas, popular music
program, public service, “advice-to-thelovelorn” programs,
and news.
Popular
Magazine The Philippine Magazine was the first
magazine circulated in the Philippines in 1905.
However, it was not popular yet because it was in
English, since the teaching of English has just
begun in 1901, so it has not reached the majority
just yet. On the other hand, perhaps it was the
Philippines Free Press which should be named the
first magazine.
A real popular magazine would have been
printed in the vernacular and the one “true” popular
magazine was Liwayway. Its publication began in
1923. It had sister publications in different
vernaculars, namely Bisaya for Cebuano Visayan,
Hiligaynon for Ilonggo, Bannawag for Ilocano, and
Bicolnon for Bicolano. Liwayway short stories,
poems, and novels are part of literary studies, not
popular culture studies.
Popular Music
At the beginning of the 70s, Philippine
pop music was certainly American. However,
Philippine popular music was also present in the
form of kundimans, love songs, zarzuelas, street
songs, and children’s nonsense songs but these
were not sung on stages or even played in the
airwaves.
Pinoy rock emerged in 1973 through Joey
Smith. It has a Western rock sound but in Pilipino
lyrics. Hot Dog came, which is another group, with a
slow and melodious beat in Taglish lyrics. The
Pinoy trend emerged when Rolando Tinio, a
poet, translated an album of American songs into
Pilipino for Celeste Legaspi.
Literature of Popular culture literature consists primarily of the
following:
Popular Culture
1. Reportage and feature stories in daily
newspapers and weekly magazines;
2. Reviews of films, TV shows, pop concerts or
performances, radio programs;
3. Studies done by mass communication
undergraduates, thesis writers, and scholars;
4. Studies done by literature students and scholars;
5. Studies done by scholars who are interested in
popular culture as a field of research.

There are challenges presented by the

given literature above. They are done in isolation.
They do not have a clear perspective. They are
unlocated in a definite context. There is no
collective effort of defining Filipino through his
popular culture and consolidating findings to
determine the effects of such culture on him.