It is difficult, if not impossible, to define what a Filipino is. All that can be done is to pick out some traits common to the average Filipinos and to separate those that are obviously Spanish or American. The common traits are probably Malay characterize the Filipinos as a people.
One patent Filipino trait that immediately commends itself to the foreigner is his hospitality. All peoples the world over are hospitable in their own way, but Filipino hospitality is something that is almost a fault. Are you a stranger who has lost your way? Knock at the door of even the humblest rustic and he offers you his home. In other climes you might be suspected of being a hoodlum or a poseur. Consequently, you might be looked upon with suspicion. Call it naiveté but the Filipinos open his heart to you, a complete stranger, and offer you the best in his kitchen and bed chamber. He makes the bed for you and asks you, usually with a profusion of apologies, to make yourself “at home”, while he, the host, sleeps on the cold floor. He prepares water for your morning ablution, waits upon you at the table, and makes life worth living for you.