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• In the Philippines, age, relationship and gender determine how people greet one another.
• When greeting strangers, a soft handshake accompanied by a smile is common among men. Among women, a smile and a hand wave are the usual greeting.
• It is common for men to wait for the woman to extend her hand for a handshake.
• Among close male friends and family members, men typically greet with a handshake and an affectionate pat on the back. Females may hug and kiss to greet each other.
• A common greeting among close female friends and family members is the ‘�������-�������’ (a cheek-to-cheek kiss).
• Among some Filipinos, it is common to ‘sniff’ (a deep and audible inhalation) when giving a hug or during ‘�������-�������’. The gesture is typically done by a parent to a child or grandchild. While usually done among immediate family, some may do a ‘sniff’ to the children of family friends.
• Typically, people greet each other by asking ‘how are you?’ in their local language (e.g., the common greeting in Tagalog is “kumusta kayo”).
• Demonstrating respect is an important part of Filipino greetings and communication. This is typically done through the use of various titles. For instance, rarely will people address elders without a title such as �Ѳ�’a��, Sir, Lola (grandmother) or Lolo (grandfather).
• If the person you are greeting is older than you but within the same generation, it is expected that you will refer to that person as “��ܲⲹ” for males and “���ٱ�” for females. These terms do not have direct translations into English, but are rough approximations of ‘brother’ and ‘sister’.

See Addressing Others in Naming for more information about the use of titles.

Mano

The common gesture used to greet is known as ‘�����Դ�’, often referred to as ‘bless’ in English. Mano is performed as a sign of respect towards elders and as a way of accepting a blessing from elders. It is usually done towards those who are older by one generation or more. For example, a niece will perform the mano gesture to her aunt, or a child will perform the gesture to their grandmother and any elders beyond their grandmother. Similar to kissing a hand, the person offering a mano will bow towards the offered hand and press their forehead on the hand. Sometimes they will ask ‘mano po’ to the elder to ask permission to perform the gesture. It is usually performed when visiting an elder or upon entering a house or gathering. Although the mano gesture is still widely used, some Filipinos have replaced the gesture with the ‘�������-�������’ (a cheek-to-cheek kiss).