We have experienced another dose of this formula with the big celebration during Edu's 5th birthday. The party way joyous, not only for Edu but for our family as well, despite the absence of luxury, with just hot-dogs, spaghetti, and candies for the 3 PM snack, plus the balloons. What was fulfilling, for him, to celebrate the day was the presence of his best friend Andrie and the rest of his playmates and neighbors, and the birthday cake he had wished long ago.
For us Filipinos, we cherish every moments we share with our love ones. Because of this, we have very strong family ties. The pessimists even consider this family bonding as the root cause of political patronage, nepotism, and other political problems our society is facing today. Optimist, meanwhile, consider this culture a means to propagate good values and a way to recover the crumbling moral dignity of families. Filipino family culture could be a good model to reviving respect, hospitality, and generosity, Christian love, and other positive values which started to fade in the developed countries.
There is a need to strengthen the Christian family to teach and adopt Christian values in order to build a society that is Christ centered, a community that loves God and one another.