DIVINE WORD MISSION SEMINARY

Maverick Jann Mendoza Esteban

Cultural Anthropology

29 January 2014
Rev. Dr. Edgar Javier, SVD, PhD, SThL, DMiss

USO PA BA ANG HARANA

Harana: A Fleeting Tradition of the Filipinos
No man is an island, as the saying goes. Man, by nature, long for companion. People
need one another in order for them to grow and develop. There is that need to be loved and to be
appreciated for his personal emotional satisfaction. Thus, human beings will try to secure a good
and personal relationship with others. They seek for objects of commitment. To be uncommitted
to anyone or to anything is one of the saddest things that can happen to a person.1
Normally, humans are directed to have a more personal relationship with the opposite sex. It is
the others who give me my identity and shape the meaning of my life. 2 Man desires to have a
personal attachment to the woman he loves, and vice versa. It is through this desire that he will
get moving in order to win the hand of his beloved. This initial action of a man to win his loved
ones heart is called courtship or courting. Courtship is the action done by the man in order to
woo someone so dear to him. It is the process of getting to know each other.
Diversity of cultures gives us a wide variety of different ways on how to court a woman. In the
Philippines, one of the best highlights of a traditional Filipino courtship is by serenading the girl,
which is called harana in the local language. Courtship gets more fascinating with music.
Harana is serenading a woman at night lit by the moon in order to attract her. Haran is not
like the notion of people today it is about a mans announcement of love but, it is more about
the simple desire to introduce himself to a woman in a gentlemanly fashion. 3 On a special
evening, the suitor gathers a few of his friends, and perhaps a haranista, someone who has a
1 Vitaliano Gorospe, Filipino Search for Meaning (Manila: Ateneo De Manila University Press, ----),
191.
2 Ibid., 88.

3 Florante Aguilar, Different Stages of Harana (Serenading), http://florante.org/blog/2010/10/28/thedifferent-stages-of-harana-serenading/ (accessed January 27, 2014).

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good grasp on the art of traditional Filipino courtship, and goes to the house where the woman
lives. He and his companions offer a few songs to the woman. The woman, on the other hand,
shows her positive reaction by opening the lights and glancing by the window. But, if the woman
does did not appreciate the harana, the suitor and his companions were greeted by the parents
frown, or even at certain time by the arinola (portable urinal) and its content. If the suitor is
acceptable, he and his companions were let inside the house or just stay outside and wait for the
response of the girl through, of course, a song. All of these things were done under the watchful
eyes of the girls parents.
It is such a puzzling thought when you realize that a lot of people talk about harana but no one
seems to know much about it. We know it is serenading a woman, but do we really know how it
works? When we think of harana, naturally, the first picture that comes to our mind is a young
man holding a guitar and playing for his beloved just like a beautiful picturesque in a movie. But
contrary to our notion, harana is something social. The suitor goes to the maidens house under
the moonlight accompanied by his friends serving as his back up. Before the enchanting of
serenading, these men gather together and practice. Indeed, it is a social event.

Through the liberalism of modern-day Filipinos, there have been great modifications of
courtship that are, however milder than that in the West. Modern technology has become a part
of present-day courting practices. Romantic conversations between both parties are now through
cellphones, particularly through texting messages, and the internet (facebook). Parents, however,
still prefer that their daughters be formally courted within the confines of the home, done out of
respect to the father and mother of the single woman.

With the emergence of these technologies, young Filipinos are gradually losing the sense
of giving large efforts in courting. Men no longer regard harana as important in courting a girl.
Men have become timid or shy in showing their love and desire for the woman in such way that
some even dont express their love personally. They resort to the means of Facebooks, Friendster,
and others with an emphasis on texting. This texting custom of courtship in the modern age
opened more doors to the possibility of younger age groups to participate without hindrance from
parents and more experience for romance.4

4 Courtship in the Philippines, http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/style14.html

(accesed January 26, 2014).

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Ladies are also affected with this current tide of globalization. They give their sweet
yes to their suitor through text. With this, they neglect the importance and responsibility of
having an intimate relationship with someone. The sense of commitment is slowly losing is
meaning for this generations of today. The youths of today think that loving is as easy as
changing ones clothes.

Young Filipinos should be educated properly on the values of loving. Elders should pass
on their values and perception during their time. They should make the younger generations
realize the value of being in a commitment, like respecting the family of the lady by courting her
not in the streets but with the premises of their house and the avoidance of premarital sex. Of
course, with the losing of commitment, there will be the danger of having a sexual affair with no
strings attached.

Conclusion
People changes. With these changes that people undergo comes also the changes in culture. The
people and culture must go together in order to have a meaningful and satisfactory life. But, in
changing, we must not neglect the importance of our inherent values those values which we
inherited from our forefathers. As the song says, Uso pa ba ang harana? (Harana, Parokya ni
Edgar), it is evident that harana had been a part of this changes in our time. Gone where the
days of men gathering together to sings for a maiden so dear. The cool evenings, the sweet rays
of the moonlight, the soft voice, the gentle strumming of the guitar and a heart warming song
offered to a lady. For sure, all of these can cause more than just a smile from her. Old men still
hold and long for this nostalgic experiences of the past in their heart.