CTFN Affiliates Facilitate Pinoy Games for ASEAN Youth Delegates in Siquijor, Philippines

Pinoy games, what are these? These are games commonly played by Filipino children, usually using native materials or instruments. In the Philippines, due to limited resources of toys for Filipino children, they usually come up on inventing games without the need of anything but the players themselves. With the flexibility of a real human to think and act makes the game more interesting and challenging. Because it is a tradition for Filipinos to play in a bigger and spacious area, most games are usually played outside the house.

Last June, the Philippines played host to the ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Youth Summit. Coco Grove in Siquijor was the venue for the team building activities for this major event. Organized by the Philippine Department of Tourism Region 7 and facilitated by the Cebu Team Building Facilitators Network the delegates from the ASEAN countries were able to experience what and how it is to be a kid in the Philippines, playing the local games that we used to play under the heat of the sun or even under the light of the moon.

The delegates were divided into 4 teams with a team assigned one specific color. And once they were grouped, each team had to make a chant and a group name. These simple instructions showed a lot of wonderful realizations for the delegates as well as the organizers because it showed them the delegates who were natural leaders, the delegates who were competitive and the supportive delegates. In my point of view, a quote came to my mind which proved true when each team came forward and the delegates as a whole came up to share their experience, the saying goes “Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean”. This proved true based on the competitiveness of each team and the camaraderie they showed as a whole.

The first Pinoy game was “Agawan Base”.

Agawan base at the ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Youth Summit

There are two teams with two bases. How many players on each team depends on the players. There are two bases which each team claims as their own. The goal is to tag the other team's base without getting tagged. If you're tagged, you're transferred to the other team and must be rescued. There are several variations in which the rules are changed, in some, you can connect other items on the base so you can easily touch the base.There are usually set points, such as first team to tag the other team 5 times wins. You can tag other people who has touched their base before you and are on the opposite team. If they've touched their base after you've touched your base, they can tag you, and you can't tag them.

The second game that they were able to experience was what we Filipinos call the “Slipper Shock Flip Flop” game or the “Slipper Game”. It's just like baseball but using your slippers. Instead of hitting it with a bat, the person up on base has to kick the slipper being pitched toward him/her. Sounds fun right? It was!

Slipper game at the ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Youth Summit

The third game which was done in the afternoon was a classic Filipino game called “Patintero”.

Patintero at the ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Youth Summit

On the street, start by drawing a grid of 2-4 lines on the ground divided by a long line in the middle. Divide the players into two teams. Pick a representative to determine sides. Flip a coin or use scissors, paper, rock to determine who’s “It” or “Taya.” The “It” team takes their positions in the grid. As line guards, they are only allowed to run within the horizontal lines. Player 1, or the “Baboy,” can traverse the vertical line as well. All players from other team will run through the “It team” without being tagged. If anyone gets tagged by the It team, the runners lose the round. The team who successfully crosses the grid without being tagged wins.

At the end of these activities it all boils down to one of the most important things in life. To have fun. Through having fun, each individual will learn something about themselves, learn a strength for the improvement of the team and also learn something within themselves that they need to improve on for the betterment of the team.

Note: Photos courtesy of Chada Photography, a photo and video documentation service based in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines.

This article is written by Lorenzo Jose Cahig, an affiliate team building facilitator of the Cebu Teambuilding Facilitators Network. He was one of 2 facilitators who conducted team building activities for the delegates of the ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Youth Summit 2016 held in Siquijor and Negros Oriental provinces in the Visayas region of the Philippines.