Family gatherings do not have to include everyone in your extended family. In fact, a family gathering may consist of only a few family members such as the mother, father, and their children. A family gathering is less formal than a family reunion, which is more formal and usually involves the entire extended family on one or more sides. It is quite common in Filipino family gatherings for even just eating together at one table to be considered a family gathering because it is the time when you and your family are seated at one place where you can talk about a lot of things and have more time with each other. Family gatherings promote quality time with each family member because it is the only time that all of you are together because you all have other important things to attend to on a daily basis such as school, work, and other important matters. Filipinos enjoy getting together for special events and occasions because they are primarily family-oriented, with a strong emphasis on building honesty, trust, connection, and better communication with one another. Filipinos also have a habit known as "Sunday is Family Day," in which families go out to eat or go to different places to bond every Sunday. And with the help of this tradition, family ties tend to become stronger and healthier because of the values that could develop because of this.
The Filipino values that can be seen in this tradition is close family ties, unity, and respect. Since, family reunion is a way on how the families unite and to be closed with each other. Showing respect to the elders in the family is not forgotten because that is one of the top Filipino values that exist to this day. Every Filipino parents starts by teaching their children to have respect for the elders especially in their family. The family gathering is one of the ways to start training their children how they can show respect to their elder relatives start saying "po" and "opo" while they are communicating and by simply bowing their head and bringing their forehead to the elder's hand or it is also called "pagmamano" in tha Philippines. Also, Filipinos offers help for the preparation of the event or cleaning up after the joy to show their respect and gratitude. And after the gathering, one of the behavior of the Filipinos are saying goodbye or thank you to their family members to show their appreciation and gratitude for the invitation.
Because of the time spent together, I believe family gatherings contribute in the development of strong and healthy communication between family members. Family members in the Philippines usually ask about each other's days, whether they went to school, work, or somewhere else. Family members usually talk about random things that happened to them that day, as well as family issues, which helps to build a healthy and good communication flow in the family. I believe that you must be open to build a good communication and not step on each other's thoughts and opinions in order to prevent them from slipping out with the feeling of discomfort. Communication is essential in a family or community; everyone must be aware of each other's thoughts and opinions on certain topics, and everyone must be sensitive to each other's feelings in order to avoid misinformation, which can also lead to feelings of discomfort when expressing one's feelings and emotions to others. Building good communication begins within the family and can have an impact on your relationships with others in the future, which is why it is important to understand its benefits and drawbacks. As a parent, you must be open to your children's thoughts, opinions, and feelings and must be supportive of them and vice versa, as your family is the only thing you have, which is why you must cherish each other.
