The Catholic Church is a huge influence in the Philippines. One of them (with the ironic name Jaime Cardinal Sin) helped galvanize the Filipinos into peacefully overthrowing the US- backed dictator Ferdinand Marcos - after a blatantly fraudulent elections.

So are traditional values. Despite widespread poverty people still value family and relationships, with large extended families.

Perhaps I should say BECAUSE of widespread poverty- most ordinary Filipinos don't put career and wealth above all else, thinking that babies are only a hindrance to one's future . People depend on each other for survival. It is a frequent occurrence to have parents have children stay with relatives who are better off.

Considering how dependent the Philippines is on the International Monetary Fund / World Bank, this is a huge middle finger /FU to the Deep State.