Sunday, September 11, 2011

Buhay Na Buhay Ang Mga Palarong Pilipino Sa Iba't Ibang Lugar

"Nawaawala na ba ang mga larong Pinoy sa Pilipinas?"  ("Are the traditional Filipino Games vanishing in Philippine society?")

This is a question often asked by students, media, and other PR practitioners during interviews with Magna Kultura.  My straight answer is "No".  

It is actually an intergroup perception --- of social classes, of social world, of distance among  economic sectors.  

Whenever they ask me about the perception, I asked back: Where do you live? Where are the places you frequently go to?  

The Traditional Filipino Street Games are actually very much alive.  If you visit places like Tondo (Manila), Tatalon or Payatas (Quezon City), or even C.A.A. (Las Pinas) --- there they’ll  see lots of children in the streets (like a “factory of kids”), and what are they doing?  They are all playing in the streets.  What are they playing?  Street games.

One of the perceived reason why some think that Larong Pinoy has vanished is because of they say that is has been replaced with computers and high tech games.  Again, the perception is “socio-economic”.   How many people in the country has computers, or have access to the internet?  I believe that roughly 30% of the population has access to modern technology --- people from the AB & C socio-economic classes.  But a big majority from the lower C, D & E classes --- which is about 60% of the population still don’t have regular access (or even budgets) for computers and internet.

I repeat: it’s an intergroup perception.  Distance between social classes,  social world, and among  economic sectors.

Without prejudice, I believe that the two group’s rarely interface.  Those who are exposed to computers rarely go out to interact with people in the neighborhood; instead of having “kababata’s” --- and friendships are vitual, having “ka-chat’s”, “ka-Facebook”, or “ka-Text”.  (In fact, they rarely visit the nearby sari-sari stores; visiting more of the malls, supermarkets and 7/11’s.)

In the advent of high tech gadgets and computer games, larong Pinoy is very much alive.  Children in the provinces still play the Filipino games.  Public school students regularly meet with neighborhood kids after school and still play Piko, rubberbands games, tansans, trumpo, and even invent new ways of playing the games.  Citizens in many Metro-Manila Barangays celebrate fiesta’s still organizes the traditional “Fiesta Games”.  

Ang Larong Pinoy ay di mawawala sa Pilipinas.  Ito ay yaman ng ating lahi. Patuloy itong nilalaro ng maraming kabataan sa mga barangay.  

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