Filipina Time, A New World Image!

Philippine Time

Officially it is +08:00 from UTC, Zulu or GMT (most humans think those are the same!)

Filipino Time

If you have never been to the Philippines, you may not know what "Filipino Time" is! Here is a quick review...

Filipino time is basically arriving at the worst possible moment! If that is an hour late, or three and a half hours late, or 5 minutes early when you are expected to be late, it is all the same. It is still the worst possible time to arrive.

Some would try to compare Filipino Time to Paris Time - One Hour Later! However it’s not the same thing... The Parisians are aware an activity starts at a given time, so they must be invited one hour earlier. In Paris it is considered rude to show up on time!

Here is a place you can read more about Filipino Time!

I learned about "Filipino Time" while staying more than a decade in Dumaguete City (Negros Oriental, Philippines). During my time there my morning exercise would take me past a store called "Cang's" to my favorite breakfast spot behind a department store called Lee Plaza. To my astonishment, at both of these stores, there were lines of Filipinas lined up in nearly identical blue dresses. What was astonishing to me was that these sales ladies were waiting 15-30 minutes prior to their scheduled arrive time in order to be on time for work!

Although I realize that both of these stores are owned and run by Chinese men, what was astonishing was that the females of the Filipino race were more than able to, day after day, be at work on time!

It was then when a number of Filipino friends (male and female) began referring to being on time or slightly early as...

Filipina Time - A New World Image!

As I wrote above, Filipina Time is the opposite of Filipino Time. It is the concept of being always on time, even if it means being a few minutes early!