Rekindling the Filipino spirit; raising the nation to higher ground (Sabong News)
Author
Sonny Coloma
Date
MAY 05 2022
On Monday, May 9, Filipinos will elect a new President and other national and local leaders. The election of a new President is a watershed event in the life of a nation. In 1986, the snap election called by Ferdinand Marcos – widely perceived as a gambit to fortify his grip on power after extending his tenure for more than a decade – led to the EDSA People Power Revolution.
People Power, as observed by our esteemed colleague Conrado de Quiros, has assumed a meaning other than depicting the overthrow of an incumbent leader. The citizenry can manifest People Power while exercising their right to vote. Since the start of the official campaign period for national officials last March 7, we have witnessed the blossoming of People Power in many forms, the most evident of which is their gathering in massive numbers to manifest support for their preferred candidate.
People Power manifests the essence of the Filipino spirit in behavior patterns that are anchored upon values. Dr. Virgilio Enriquez of the Samahang Sikolohiya ng Pilipinas constructed a theory in which the core value is kapwa or shared identity.
The façade is made up of accommodative surface values, such as hiya – a sense of propriety or shame; utang na loob or gratitude; and pakikisama or companionship. Going deeper, we encounter the confrontative surface values, namely: bahala na or sheer determination; lakas ng loob or inner courage; and pakikibaka or resistance against injustice. The pivotal interpersonal value is pakikiramdam or shared inner perception. Imagine these three layers of values as motive forces acting upon kapwa from the top.
From the base, there are associated societal values such as karangalan or dignity; katarungan or justice; and kalayaan or freedom. These values then fuse with the socio-cultural value of kagandahang-loob or shared inner humanity – and these values are acting upon kapwa from below.
Felipe Landa Jocano, an anthropologist, presents a similar theoretical construct of the Filipino value system that has an evaluative core (halaga), an expressive core (asal), and a spiritual core (diwa). He emphasizes the cultural and structural similarities among all Filipinos. In my view, diwa, the spiritual core of the value system encapsulates the essence of the Filipino spirit.
It was the confluence of these surface values and societal values that melded with the Filipinos’ core value of kapwa and produced the phenomenon of EDSA People Power. From a few hundreds blocking the advance of armed personnel carriers and tanks with their bodies – while carrying Marian images and clutching rosaries – their numbers swelled to tens of thousands that filled the long stretch of EDSA between Ortigas avenue and Bonny Serrano avenue.
The phenomenal expression of the Filipino spirit in EDSA People Power has resurfaced in the last two months of the current political campaign that will culminate in Monday’s elections. As the level of novel coronavirus infections receded, people began joining mass rallies in large, open-air areas. Wearing face masks but no longer required to observe physical distancing, their numbers grew steadily – as if there was a competition for the biggest crowd that could be assembled. The closest resemblance to the EDSA phenomenon was the April 30 rally on Diosdado Macapagal avenue in the reclaimed zone off Roxas boulevard. The crowd filled the spaces spanning the distance between Gil J. Puyat and ESDA.
After two years of alternating episodes of quarantine and lockdown – in which levels of unemployment and involuntary hunger rose while a steep recession halted the national economy’s steady advance – Filipinos re-emerged from their homes in record numbers to demonstrate their determination to express through the ballot their desire for change. First witnessed in Cavite, this was replicated in Bulacan, Pasig, Basilan, Bacolod, Borongan, Zamboanga, Mindoro island, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Quezon, Laguna and Batangas.
These are the reflections I am sharing today with a group of Australia Awards scholars who are preparing to leave for Australia to pursue graduate studies. Coincidentally, the venue of my meeting with them is in a building near the shrine of Our Lady of EDSA on the corner of Ortigas avenue.
Rekindling the Filipino spirit means reawakening our civic consciousness. Although slowed by the pandemic, the country’s march toward the status of a developing market economy goes on – and could proceed at a faster tempo under a new national leadership that would take office on June 30.
In Global Literacies, a comparative study by Robert Rosen involving companies and executives from 28 countries, the distinctive contribution of Filipinos to management excellence in well-performing companies is highlighted: “‘Influenced by several cultures and mindsets, Filipinos model values of togetherness and affability for the rest of the world. Their ability to adapt teaches the world about building alliances with reciprocity and gratitude.”
Our scholars are expected to return after one-and-a-half years and share their new knowledge and skills in their workplaces and communities through a re-entry action plan that would focus on be how to improve service delivery to the disadvantaged and marginalized sectors of Philippine society. As most of them are working with the government, they are poised to make important contributions to the country’s development.
They are our new breed of Filipino servant-scholars who would dedicate their talents and abilities to elevating our nation to higher ground.
