A Guide To The Filipino Family Reunion

There is no family quite as big as the Filipino Family, and to fully immerse in its dynamics, let me walk you through a Filipino Family reunion.

The typical Filipino Family reunion gets planned at least a year before, and it will fall either on Christmas break or around March to April during the Holy Week. It will entail such long planning because the typical Filipino Family reunion is so BIG, it will demand all relatives up to the 4th degree to be there.

Usually, your titos and titas still based in the Philippines will initiate the reunion. They will inform all the other aunts, uncles, lolo, lola, pinsans and pamangkins, either through a phone call, or, with the advent of technology, an FB, Viber or whatever messaging platform have you – group message. Take note that the relatives they will be coordinating, is spread all over the world; US, Middle East, Europe, Australia and other nearby Asian countries. This no easy feat, as we're talking about at least 30 people scattered around the globe, working in different time zones, living their own lives; so getting everyone to agree on a date is a miracle of sorts. You will find yourself reorganizing your school or work calendar to make sure that all your commitments and permits for vacation time is in place to pave way to this exciting event.

Once agreed on a date or a week that is amenable to everyone, the venue is then debated on. It can be a private resort, a restaurant (depending on the number of people, closing up a restaurant is an option), tito/tita's house (the one who just recently built a megastructure fortress), or the family's ancestral house with the large tree-filled yard perfect for gatherings.

Everyone within the family is invited. From the core family: lolo and lola's children - now tito and tita; tito and tita's kids; the pinsans and if they're married, their partners and children. So at the average rate of 3 children per generation, we're looking at roughly 50 people. You'll even be personally meeting some of them for the first time in the reunion.

From here, the question of 'what food to serve on the reunion?' arises. The Filipino Family may have different values, religion and traditions brought about by decades of migration – but there's one thing that binds them universally, and that is food.

With the family members living all across the world, food may seem like a touchy topic, as some members might be used to the cuisine of their current homes, but it is a fact that Filipinos, no matter where they end up in, will always have a space in their hearts and the tummies for Filipino cooking. For the meat-loving men of the family, one can never go wrong with Pinoy barbecue, grilled liempo, crispy pata and lechon. For the more health conscious, vegetable based kare-kare, pakbet or poqui-poqui will do the trick. For you who is just craving a hearty meal, sinigang – whether it is pork, shrimp or beef; adobo – chicken or pork; and sisig – fish or pork, might just be the treat needed.

Come the reunion date, you'll find yourself giving hugs and besos to relatives and mano to your elders. If you're still below 18, there's a great probability that by the time the reunion ends, you'll be carrying bags upon bags of treats not so good for your body or your teeth, or wads of cash. But once past the age of 18, your loving but not as sensitive tita might nag you about your weight, your boyfriend (or lack thereof), your plans of settling down and getting married, your child rearing plans, or the next child rearing plans. Don't be offended though, as they only ask these as they want to make sure you're happy with how your life turned out, or just really curious because you haven't caught up for so long. It's totally ok to humblebrag about your amazing career if you just can't answer head-on tita's personal queries.

A feast of all the food you missed in case you've stayed out of the Philippines for too long will follow, in all its saucy, oily and soupy glory. Always remember to leave some space for dessert because your Tita Baby definitely whipped up a kickass leche flan and buko pandan and she'll get hurt if you don't eat it because you're on an all-protein or low-calorie diet.

Drinking is also a tradition with the men of the family, and depending on the level of conservatism and drinking age, women can join in the fun too. Get ready as old tales retold so many times and jokes that can either be too corny or profane, will be staple so long as liquor is flowing, be it beer, brandy or the local lambanog or basi.

As the merrymaking ensues, you'll find out that Tito Boy also arranged for karaoke, but you'll be breaking no sweat because Filipinos are so musical and born ready should a microphone be handed to them. You even have the karaoke song code of your piece.

But no matter how talented you are, always know that the stars of the reunion are the babies. Their kind-of-dancing, maybe-singing and counting one-to-ten performances will definitely stump even the wildest notes you've hit singing. But you will never feel bad knowing it is these munchkins stealing your thunder, because you're just as in love and awed with their cuteness.

Plus, at the back of your head, you're emotionally thinking, when will this happen again? Probably the babies will be teenagers when another massive reunion happens. And you? You might be the tito/tita that time.