There are plenty of similarities between Mexico and the Philippines, largely due to a shared colonial past, especially since the Philippines was indirectly ruled from Mexico during a vast majority of its time under the Spanish empire and much of the contact and exchange of goods between the Philippines and the rest of the Spanish Empire happened through the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.
The single biggest similarity between the two countries in their cultures is the proliferation of the Catholic Church, arguably the biggest legacy of Spain in the Philippines. This shows in many ways, including, but not limited to:
- Veneration of holy Catholic icons. The Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City is the most revered icon in Mexico while the Santo Nino of Cebu and the Black Nazarene in Manila are highly revered in Filipino Catholicism.
- Celebration of feast days in the form of fiestas and Catholic holidays, namely Semana Santa (which includes Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter), All Saints Day, and Christmas.
- The use of street altars for saints in both Mexico and the Philippines.
- The presence of centuries-old Catholic churches in the squares of cities and towns. Some of the church architecture may differ, for instance, churches around Mexico City use volcanic stone while churches in the Philippines may use more coral stone.
The Spanish language has varying degrees of presence between Mexico and the Philippines, with Spanish being an official language of Mexico and the first language of many Mexicans whereas Spanish is a more historical language in the Philippines.
- Spanish place names are still common in many towns and provinces throughout the Philippines.
- Many surnames in both Mexico and the Philippines are Spanish, though native and local languages have some influence on some surnames in both countries.
- Although Spanish is not widely spoken in the Philippines, Spanish loanwords exist in the many local languages such as Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Bikol, and Kapampangan. A Spanish-creole language called Chavacano is spoken in Zamboanga.
- Some Nahuatl loan words even made their way into the Philippines.
Older towns that were established during colonial rule also followed the Spanish-style colonial plan. This is seen more in Mexico but the Philippines has a few examples of these old plans as well.
- The Law of the Indies dictated how towns were to be laid out, from Mexico City to Manila, including all of Spain’s possessions.
- This planning led to the formation of stone residences, though this style was heavily adapted to suit the local geography of the Philippines and created a hybrid stone-wood-tile home called the bahay-na-bato, a fusion of Eastern and Western architectural styles.
The cuisine of both Mexico and the Philippines share quite a bit of similarities to, partially due to Spanish colonial rule but also centuries of direct trade on the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade route. Examples of similar food include, but are not limited to:
- Empanadas
- Menudo
- Tamales
- Polvoron
- Longaniza
- Leche flan
Because of the direct trade routes with Mexico, both the Philippines and Mexico have incorporated crops that now exist in the cuisines of both countries.
- From the Philippines, Mexico got mangoes, coconuts, and bananas.
- From Mexico, the Philippines got tomatoes, chilis, cacao, corn, avocadoes, pineapples, and guava.
As far as other cultural habits go, there are a couple more both have in common.
- Collectivism and strong ties to family.
- Time-fluidity: punctuality is not a huge part of either culture (Note: This is not a result of Spanish colonialism! This is in fact, a very common feature in the Global South and in their respective regions.)
- Machismo culture and the expectations of masculinity in both countries.
- The idea of taking a siesta.
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