Mark your calendars now and pledge to eat dinner with the family!
For generations, the family meal has been an essential human ritual. This is the time when members of the family sit around the same table, eat the same food and listen to one another. It is a sad fact that many Filipino families are now taking mealtimes for granted. All kinds of social, economic, and technological factors contributed to the decline in the frequency of family dining. With both parents working, longer commutes, and the children shuttling between school and after-school activities like sports or choir practices or attached to their screens or phones at home, family members have to eat at
their own time, with no routine, with no rules.
What parents do not realize is the importance of their presence at the dinner table, that spending time with their children during mealtimes can affect the rest of their lives.
What do you do to make family meals a regular occasion?
Kainang Pamilya Mahalaga Day proclaimed
The importance of the Filipino family meal has not escaped the notice of President
Benigno Aquino III, “One of the meaningful traditions of Filipinos is the common family meal where all members of the family are present to signify their unity and thanksgiving for God’s abundant blessings.” He noted, “Having a common family meal encourages parents to stay connected with their children and understand the challenges they face.”
In timely fashion, he further underlined its significance with Presidential Proclamation 326 dated January 26, 2012, which declared the 4th Monday of September of every year as “Kainang Pamilya Mahalaga” day in conjunction with the annual celebration of Family Week.
The President issued the declaration “to highlight and celebrate the value of families sharing meals together as a national tradition that should be observed annually and sustained by all Filipino families.”
