“Pasalubong Ko Ha”: The Real Meaning of Filipino Homecoming Gifts

Filipinos are fond of joking around to ease the tension. When someone is leaving to travel or migrate, their loved ones often chide at them and say, “Sulat ka ha (Be sure to write, okay)” or “Pasalubong ko ha (Don’t forget my homecoming gift).”

Some even go out of their way and give the departee their shoe size and casually say, “Alam mo na ha (You already know).” To all these, the departee can just smile and hint at giving gifts once they get back.

Giving “Pasalubong,” souvenirs from one’s travels for loved ones back home, is a strong tradition imprinted in the Filipino culture. Following this entails a certain sense of camaraderie or pakikisama among families and friends. As such, locals and balikbayans deem it necessary to really bring something back, almost as an effort towards maintaining social graces.

More than just promoting tradition, living up to this act of giving is also a display of one’s affluence or the journey towards affluence. It is typical for relatives and friends to expect quality products, many even request for imported or out-of-the-box ones, from a balikbayan, a local, or a foreign visitor. For most, it seems that someone who has the capacity to give quality pasalubong is enjoying prosperity.

The implication of prosperity on gift-giving for Filipinos digs deep into another strong local expectation—that those who hail from abroad or have come from afar have made something out of themselves, thanks to opportunities of travel or migration. As such, many locals applaud this vision of industry and personal struggle that follows one’s successes abroad.

Sometimes, giving pasalubong transcends the physical into the sentimental. When someone remembers to take regional specialties or local delicacies home, for instance, that person is not only sharing the local cuisine but the experience of having been there. Giving pasalubong, in fact, is often enriched by the stories that go with the gifts, the experience that one went through during the travel.

On another note, giving pasalubong may also denote an effort to please. Giving gifts is indeed one way to make someone like you, and since giving pasalubong is already ingrained in the local tradition, it somehow becomes a ready mechanism either for gaining someone’s favors, courting someone, or generally just trying to strengthen relationships.

Combining all the feelings and thoughts that one experiences when choosing a gift to give back home forms the real meaning of giving pasalubong. The act embodies a local or foreign individual’s fruits of labor and travel perfectly captured in a generous manner to extend grace and prosperity to those left at home. It encapsulates an ideal to giving towards which many Filipinos aspire: That someday, it will be them who will give the perfect pasalubong and share the fruits of what they have earned.

source: paslaubong.com