The political aspect of the early Filipinos are not centralized into one nation-state before, and only

have
an organized system of communities which we call barangays that back then only composed of 30 to 100
families; in addition, there are no kinds or rulers before but a datu served as a chieftain of a community.
Whereas, Filipinos today does have national and central government and take place in an organized
framework of a presidential, house representatives, and a democratic country whereby the president is
the head of the state and the government. The political aspect of Filipinos today helps to unite them to
established a shared identity and economic progress. The similarity between them is that, the goal of the
political system then and now is to enact laws that can promote social welfare and to protect nature, the
spirits, and the people. In the economic aspect of Filipinos before, it encompasses within barter trade in
which they sought goods from neighboring communities by bartering in exchange for the goods that
they need. Filipinos before also started to have trade relations between China and other South-East
Asian neighboring countries. On the other hand, Filipinos today are no longer using barter trade but with
exchange of money to valuable goods. Filipinos today are also able to export and imports products in
and out of the countries made possible by globalization. Their similarity can be recognized to being
dependent on exchanging goods and services up until now. In the days of ancient Filipinos, people were
mostly engaged in activities like fishing and farming. There was also a social hierarchy structure observed
and followed among the early Filipinos, which composed of Alipin (the lowest), Timawa (Free-
Commoners), Maharlika, and the Maginoo (the Datu and the Panginoons). Based on what they did and
which family they were born into, they will be classifies in the mentioned social stratification. It is also
notable that we enjoyed equality before most especially between men and women, as men regards
women as their equal. Whereas, the Filipinos today are free from the social stratification but is divided
between rich and poor; and it also worth mentioning that even though we are divided by what I've
mentioned, we still have a lot of opportunities that can lift ourselves from poverty. Filipinos today also
doesn't have equality today unlike before as we have been influence by different countries during
colonial period. The similarity between the past and the present today is that we are still bound to have
social stratification though it's much more lesser now compared before, and we're also have the
freedom to progress and to make decisions on our own. And lastly, the cultural aspect of Filipinos before
are mainly comprised of marriage customs - in which a man that belongs to one class can marry either a
woman in their same class or from other class; their clothing - in which men wore cangan (short sleeved
jacket) and bahag (strip of cloth) and on the other hand women wore baro (blouse with big sleeves),
saya (loose skirts), and tapis (cloth that wrapped around their waist), and tattoos are also popular among
them; literacy in which they have different forms of literature such as epics, legends, sayings, and songs,
and also have their own system of writing called the "baybayin"; and religion, in which they believed in
anitos and worshipped many gods and goddesses. On the other hand, it can be said that Filipinos today
are now lacking in identity and culture as we have been colonized and influenced by other culture in the
colonial period. The modern Filipino culture were developed through the influence from Chinese traders
(their food and norms), Spaniards (Catholicism), and American rulers (democracy and system of
education). However, it is noteworthy that the similarity between past and the present Filipinos can still
be seen through the characteristic of Filipinos as being hospitable and family-oriented, and has high
regard on nature and on others.