Sir Liwanag's Powerpoint Presentations

1. CHAPTER 16: RURAL COMMUNITIES

2. WHAT IS A COMMUNITY?
To the ordinary person, a community is a place
where one lives, works, and plays. Loosely,
“community” may refer to some subgroups, as in “a
community of priests,” “..of nuns, scholars or artists.”
There are various definitions of community. For
one, a community maybe a social organization that is
“territorially localized and through which its members
satisfy most of their daily needs and deal with most of
their problems” (Olsen 1968:91). The community may
also be viewed as a process or a movement toward unity
in the system of social life, an ongoing movement which
is never completed or finished (Martindale 1984:11).

3. THE RURAL COMMUNITY- URBAN
COMMUNITY DICHTOMY
Communities may be classified according to
function and specialization. A common way is to
classify them as rural or urban.
In some Western societies like the United States,
the distinction between rural or urban communities is
becoming blurred, with the growth of suburbia and the
increasing urbanization of rural life.

4. RURAL CULTURE AND SOCIAL
STRUCTURE
Rural communities are usually small and the
occupations of the people are usually agriculture, fishing
and food gathering, supplemented by cottage industries.
Some rural residents are called peasants by
anthropologists. Peasants are rural people who produce
their own food for their subsistence and sell their
surpluses to those living in the towns and cities who do
not produce their own food. The low density of
population also affects rural institutions. The social
institutions are generally small in membership, are not
highly specialized and are less distinct.

5. SPATIAL PATTERNS OF RURAL
COMMUNITIES
From the close connection between the conditions of
the physical government and spatial distribution, some
distinct patterns emerge. Geographical factors, such as
the fertility of the soil, rainfall, climate, topography
and natural resources, limit certain aspects of human
life and offer a range of choices as to how the
environment can be utilized.
Farm houses are not arranged according to any
single pattern. In some regions the families are
clustered together in villages in others, they are widely
disposed.

6. RURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE
PHILIPPINES
According to the National Statistics Office, as of 1989,
there were 14 administrative regions, including Metro
Manila (known as National Capital Region), 73
provinces, 60 cities, 152 municipalities, and 40,904
barangays. Recently added to the regions was the
Cordillera Administrative Region. As of 1990, the rural
population was estimated to be 51.4 percent of the total
population, and the urban population constituted 48.6
percent. The Philippines is thus still predominantly
rural. As Gelia Castillo(1979) puts it, the Philippines is
a “land of barrios”. These barrios are considered the
“backbone of the nation”. Rightfully, it may be so called
as it is the rural communities which provide the rural
areas with food and other raw materials needed for
industry.

7. SPATIAL PATTERNS OF PHILIPPINES
RURAL COMMUNITIES
In the Philippines, the general settlement pattern may
be subdivided into two:
The Nucleated type and The Dispersed type.
(University of Chicago Philippines Studies Program
1956:376-382)

8. Nucleated type settlement exhibits the following
patterns:
The poblacion, with the agglomerated barrios, is
usually a compact community. This type of settlement is
common in Central Luzon where the people are engaged
in a wet-rice agricultural complex.
Dispersed type of settlement is shown in the following
communities:
The cluster of sitios is one where settlement is
dispersed throughout the field and residences are found
along rivers or in the middle of the field.
Scattered sitios are even more dispersed
settlement patterns found in an area where dry upland
farming is dominant.

9. THE RURAL FAMILY
In the rural areas, there are more nuclear than
extended families. A newly married couple may stay
with either family of orientation for a while and then
build their own house. The family of orientation
continually relates to the couple by offering guidance
and advice. The family is held together by strong blo
Serenading, as a practice to court a girl is
gradually disappearing. Calling on the girl is a more
accepted practice. Chaperoning is still observed, as
chastity is a trait highly cherished among unmarried
woman. od ties.

10. RURAL ECONOMY
Of the 24,525,000 in the labor force in 1990,
15,785,000 or 61.9 percent were in the rural areas, and
9,339 or 38.1 percent in the urban areas.
A dire characteristic of the rural community
compared to its urban counterpart is highly incidence
of poverty. As a category, the farmers are the poorest in
the country and there is large economic gap between
the farmers and non-farmers, particularly white-collar
workers such as professionals and executives.

11. AGRARIAN REFORM
Land reform in the Philippines has a long and
painful history. The system of land tenure during Spanish
regime was feudalistic in nature and became a breeding
ground for injustice and abuse. This was the cause of
agrarian unrest and a factor that led to the Philippine
Revolution of 1896.
When Corazon Aquino became president in
February 1986, there were expectations that she would
issue a decree establishing a comprehensive land reform
program (CARP), but she did not do so and relegated the
task to Congress.

12. RURAL GOVERNMENT
The barangay or balangay, as it was originally called, had
its roots in pre-Spanish times. The barangay, whose name
was later changed to barrio, was made the basic political
unit by the Spaniards when the government was
centralized.

13. In a study of Azanza, entitled Dynamics of
Choices among Voters in the Lakeshore Barangays of
Laguna (1990), the following were observed:
1. Except for members of Iglesia ni Kristo, voters will
not be swayed by the sect or church to which they
belong in the choice of their candidates.
2. The financial economics status of a candidate is a
factor considered by voters.
3. About one-third of the respondents answered that
they would accept money from a candidate. And
majority of those respondents who would accept money
would vote for that candidate.

14. RURAL EDUCATION
The ambition or dream of most people in the rural
areas is for their children to achieve a college
education, as they feel that a college degree is the
channel for a better social status and life.
Barangay high schools have been instituted
since 1969 to provide high school education for all,
regardless of socio-economic status.

15. RURAL RELIGION
A majority of the people in the rural areas are
Roman Catholics, although they are not practicing
Catholics . Not a few in the North adhere to the
Aglipayan religion in the South, to the Islam faith.
There are also members of the Iglesia ni Kristo and a
sprinkling of Jehova’s Witnesses, Seventh Day
Adventists, Mormons, and those of other sects and cults.
The Fundamentalists and “Born-Again” Christians are
also penetrating the rural areas and are gaining
adherents as they stress sociability and make efforts to
explain the Bible.

16. RURAL RECREATION AND THE FIESTA
An urbanite who goes to live in the rural areas
often complains of its monotony, drabness, and boring
life. This is because the facilities for cultural growth and
recreation, as well as the amenities of modern living, are
limited, if not lacking. Among the ways of spending
one’s leisure time are visiting and chatting with friends
as well as gossiping with them.

17. RURAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION
Rural Health Units (RHU), composed of one
doctor, a nurse, a midwife, and a sanitary inspector,
constitute the principal arm of the Department of
Health. There is one RHU for every 30,000 rural
inhabitants. PUSH, the Panay Unified Service for
Health, was one of the rural health projects. Its goal
was to improve the health status of the residents of
600 depressed barangays in Panay, and to reduce the
incidence of gastro-intestinal diseases, infant
morality, and malnutrition.

18. RURAL CHANGE AND RURAL
DEVELOPMENT
Rural development has been an area of concern of
both government and non-government organizations
(NGO’s) for the past four decades, but the results
have been disappointing.
NGO’s also help in rural development. There
are private, non-profit non-governmental groups
which endeavor to bring socio-economic
development and service to the rural areas.