Nerds in the Philippines are not much different than nerds anywhere. Many of our interests are the same, as well as our experiences growing up. However, there are of course differences and even some nerdoms unique to the Philippines.
Language Barrier Zero
The first, and biggest point to note in the Philippines is the prevalence of the English language. We were told that today’s generations often have English as their first language. This means that ‘nerd’ is the word of choice. Even though Filipino is spoken, there isn’t really a proper equivalent term. As a nerd traveling it was refreshing not to have to translate board games at a cafe, to be able to talk to people freely without a language barrier, and to sit down and play a game of Dungeons and Dragons with locals.
Same Same Different
In the Philippines we came across all of the same geek stuff that we are familiar with at home. There were books, computers, video games, TTRPG’s, TCG’s, cosplay and all sorts of collectables from shows. What was different was the increase in anime culture and the presence of pop icon paraphernalia in nerd shops. I saw familiar big names of K-pop and J-pop, as well as those unknown to me, including the Filipino’s own P-Pop (Pinoy Pop).
<3 Anime
Asian culture is known for cartoons. In the Philippines, the love for anime (or donghua etc.) is high. Just watching anime though, does not make one a nerd. In the Philippines, it comes down to how high your mania is. Do you read the manga? Collect the merchandise? Go to cosplay shows? And because anime is commonplace, merchandise for popular anime’s can be found just about anywhere. What was most exciting was stumbling across shops or entire conventions without even looking. We had a particularly nerdy day when we went to play D&D and found ourselves in the middle of a cosplay show at the mall. Having events like this where anyone can walk by and witness people’s creativity, is absolutely amazing. It is a great way to introduce people to the culture and remove prejudice.
Growing Up Nerd
Like North America, the Filipinos also struggled with bullying as kids. Behaviours have improved though. Hopefully kids today will not receive the ridicule that many geeks are subject to growing up. The Philippines has a high Catholic population (they were a Spanish nation for many years and still show this in many ways). This means that many nerdy pastimes, especially D&D, were persecuted. Our DM went to a Catholic school, and admitted that if he had been caught with D&D books he would have been expelled from his school. It’s hard to imagine having that much importance on hiding your hobby.
Rise of the Nerds
After playing D&D at The Office Roll Play Lounge, we chatted about how things for nerds have improved. We noted how many countries saw a rise in nerd visibility after COVID, and while it hadn’t occurred to our DM and the other players before, they nodded and agreed. There were also the inevitable jokes about how nerds will slowly take over (very true). What I took away from the game, and from my whole experience in the Philippines, is that ‘Nerds will be Nerds’, and we are everywhere.