Philippine Games: On the Contemporary Awareness and Involvement of University Students

Abstract

Philippine games have been popular outlets for leisure in the country over the past decades. Studies have also shown that Philippine games have a significant positive effect on the cultural and holistic growth of participants. At present, a majority of popular games and sports for leisure require money, and in consequence, physical activities. Consequently, Philippine games, slowly lessen while video games and other less strenuous activities become the more prevalent forms of leisure played by the Filipino youth. This study aims to (a) investigate which Philippine games are familiar to university students, (b) identify which Philippine games are close to being outmoded, (c) establish which games are still being played, (d) determine where the participants learned the games, and (e) recognize the factors affecting the sustainable participation and engagement in Philippine games. An online questionnaire was administered in a university. After which, descriptive statistics was used to compute for the demographic and Philippine games data. Evidently, Patintero and Tumbang-preso were the most familiar games to the respondents, while a significant percentage of Philippine games were marginally unfamiliar to the respondents. The investigation suggests that Philippine games are of paramount importance to cultural preservation and education, yet they appear to be of considerable unfamiliarity to today’s youth. Accordingly, the study recommends increased attention and action from institutions to ensure the preservation of endemic Filipino culture.