The following essay was emailed to me . The author is Ed Lapiz. The original title was “Why the Filipino is special” which I found somewhat too self-absorbing.
Filipinos are Brown. Their color is in the center of human racial strains.
This point is not an attempt at racism, but just for many Filipinos to
realize that our color should not be a source of or reason for inferiority
complex. While we pine for a fair complexion, the white people are
religiously tanning themselves, whenever they could, under the sun or some
artificial light, just to approximate the Filipino complexion.Filipinos are a touching people. We have lots of love and are not afraid to
show it. We almost inevitably create human chains with our perennial akbay
(putting an arm around another shoulder), hawak (hold), yakap (embrace), himas
(caressing stroke), kalabit (touch with the tip of the finger), kalong (sitting on
someone else’s lap)…We are always reaching out, always seeking interconnection.
Filipinos are linguists. Put a Filipino in any city, any town around the
world. Give him a few months or even weeks and he will speak the local
language there. Filipinos are adept at learning and speaking languages.In fact, it is not uncommon for Filipinos to speak at least three: his
dialect, Filipino, and English. Of course, a lot speak an added language, be
it Chinese, Spanish or, if he works abroad, the language of his host country.In addition, Tagalog is not sexist. While many conscious and
enlightened people of today are just by now striving to be politically
correct with their language and, in the process, bend to absurd depths in
coining gender sensitive words, Tagalog has, since time immemorial, evolved
gender-neutral words like asawa (husband or wife), anak (son or daughter),
magulang (father or mother), kapatid (brother or sister), biyenan
(father-in-law or mother-in-law), manugang (son or daughter-in-law), bayani
(hero or heroine)…Our languages and dialects are advanced and, indeed, sophisticated! It is no
small wonder that Jose Rizal, the quintessential Filipino, spoke some
twenty-two languages!Filipinos are groupies. We love human interaction and company. We always
surround ourselves with people and we hover over them, too.According to Dr. Patricia Licuanan, a psychologist from Ateneo and Miriam
College, an average Filipino would have and know at least 300 relatives.At work, we live bayanihan (mutual help); at play, we want a kalaro
(playmate) more than a laruan (toy). At socials, our invitations are open
and it is more common even for guests to invite and bring in other guests.In transit, we do not want to be separated from our group. So what do we do
when there is no more space in a vehicle? Kalung-kalong! (Sit on one
another). No one would ever suggest splitting a group and waiting for
another vehicle with more space!Filipinos are weavers. One look at our baskets, mats, clothes, and other
crafts will reveal the skill of the Filipino weaver and his inclination to
weaving.This art is a metaphor of the Filipino trait. We are social weavers. We
weave theirs into ours that we all become parts of one another. We place a
lot of premium on pakikisama (getting along) and pakikipagkapwa (relating).
Two of the worst labels, walang pakikipagkapwa (inability to relate), will
be avoided by the Filipino at almost any cost.We love to blend and harmonize with people, we like to include them in our
tribe,in our family and we like to be included in other people’s families,
too.Therefore we call our friend mother nanay or mommy; we call a friend
sister ate (eldest sister), and so on. We even call strangers tita (aunt) or
tito (uncle), tatang (grandfather)…So extensive is our social openness and interrelations that we have specific
title for extended relations like hipag (sister-in-law), bayaw (brother-in-law), bilas (spouse-in-law), balae (child-in-law’s parents), inaanak (godchild), ninong/ ninang (godparents) kinakapatid (godparent’s
child)…In addition, we have the profound ‘ka’ institution, loosely translated as
equal to the same kind as in kasama (of the same company), kaisa (of the
same cause), kapanalig (of the same belief)… In our social fiber, we treat
other people as co-equals.Filipinos, because of their social weaving traditions, make for excellent
team workers.Filipinos are adventurers. We have a tradition of separation. Our myths and
legends speak of heroes and heroines who almost always get separated from
their families and loved ones and are taken by circumstances to far-away
lands where they find wealth or power.Our Spanish colonial history is filled with separations caused by the
reduction (hamleting), and the forced migration to build towns, churches,
fortresses or galleons.American occupation enlarged the space of Filipino wandering, including
America, and there are documented evidences of Filipino presence in America
as far back as 1587.Now, Filipinos compose the world’s largest population of overseas workers,
populating and sometimes threshing major capitals, minor towns and even
remote villages around the world. Filipino adventurism has made us today’s
citizens of the world, bringing the bagoong (salty shrimp paste), pansit
(saut嶪d noodles), siopao (meat-filled dough), kare-kare (peanut-flavored
dish), dinuguan (innards cooked in pork blood), balut (unhatched duck egg),
and adobo (meat vinaigrette), including the tabo (ladle) and tsinelas
(slippers) all over the world.Filipinos are excellent at adjustments and improvisation, managing to
recreate their home, or to feel at home anywhere.Filipinos have pakiramdam (deep feeling/ discernment). We know how to feel
what others feel, sometimes even anticipate what they will feel. Being
manhid (dense) is one of the worst labels anyone could get and will
therefore, avoid at all cost.We know when a guest is hungry though the insistence on being full is
assured.We can tell if people are lovers even if they are miles apart.
We know if a person is offended though he may purposely smile.
We know because we feel. In our pakikipagkapwa (relating), we get not only
to wear another man’s shoe but also his heart.We have a superbly developed and honored gift of discernment, making us
excellent leaders, counselors, and go-betweens.Filipinos are very spiritual. We are transcendent. We transcend the physical
world, see the unseen and hear the unheard. We have a deep sense of kaba
(premonition) and kutob (hunch). A Filipino wife will instinctively feel her
husband or child is going astray, whether or not telltale signs present
themselves.Filipino spirituality makes him invoke divine presence or intervention at
nearly every bend of his journey.Rightly or wrongly, Filipinos are almost always acknowledging, invoking or
driving away spirits into and from their lives. Seemingly trivial or even
incoherent events can take on spiritual significance and will be given such
space or consideration.The Filipino has a sophisticated, developed pakiramdam. The Filipino, though
becoming more and more modern (hence, materialistic) is still very spiritual
in essence. This inherent and deep spirituality makes the Filipino, once
correctly Christianized, a major exponent of the faith.Filipinos are timeless. Despite the nearly half-a-millennium encroachment of
the western clock into our lives, Filipinos–unless on very formal or
official functions–still measure time not with hours and minutes but with feeling.
This style is ingrained deep in our psyche. Our time is diffused, not framed. Our appointments are defined by umaga (morning), tanghali (noon), hapon (afternoon), or gabi (evening).Our most exact time reference is probably katanghaliang-tapat (high noon),
which still allows many minutes of leeway. That is how Filipino trysts and
occasions are timed: there is really no definite time.A Filipino event has no clear-cut beginning or ending. We have a fiesta, but
there is bisperas (eve), a day after the fiesta is still considered a good
time to visit.The Filipino Christmas is not confined to December 25th; it somehow begins
months before December and extends up to the first days of January.Filipinos say good-bye to guests first at the head of the stairs, then down
to the descamo (landing), to the entresuelo (mezzanine), to the pintuan
(doorway), to the tarangkahan (gate), and if the departing persons are to
take public transportation, up to the bus stop or bus station.In a way, other people’s tardiness and extended stays can really be annoying,
but this peculiarity is the same charm of Flipinos who, being governed by
timelessness, can show how to find more time to be nice, kind and
accommodating than his prompt and exact brothers elsewhere.Filipinos are Spaceless. As in the concept of time, the Filipino concept of
space is not numerical. We will not usually express expanse of space with
miles or kilometers but with feelings in how we say malayo (far) or malapit
(near).Alongside with numberlessness, Filipino space is also boundless.
Indigenous culture did not divide land into private lots but kept it open
for all to partake of its abundance.The Filipino has avidly remained spaceless in many ways. The interior of the
bahay-kubo (hut) can easily become receiving room, sleeping room, kitchen,
dining room, chapel, wake parlor…. depending on the time of the day or the
needs of the moment. The same is true with the bahay na bato (stone house).
Space just flows into the next space that the divisions between the sala,
caida, comedor, or vilada may only be faintly suggested by overhead arches
of filigree.In much the same way, Filipino concept of space can be so diffused that one’s
party may creep into and actually expropriate the street! A family business
like a sari-sari store or talyer may extend to the sidewalk and street.Provincial folks dry palayan (rice grain) on the highways! Religious groups
of various persuasions habitually and matter-of-factly commandeer the
streets for processions and parades.It is not uncommon to close a street to accommodate private functions.
Filipinos eat, sleep, chat, socialize, quarrel, even urinate, nearly
everywhere or just anywhere!Spacelessness, in the face of modern, especially urban life, can be unlawful
and may really be counter-productive. On the other hand, Filipino
spacelessness, when viewed from his context, is just another manifestation
of his spiritually and communal values. Adapted well to today’s context,
which may mean unstoppable urbanization, Filipino spacelessness may even be
the answer and counter balance to humanity’s greed, selfishness and
isolation.So what makes the Filipino special? We are brown, spiritual, timeless,
spaceless, linguists, groupies, weavers, adventurers.Seldom do all these profound qualities find personification in a people.
Filipinos should allow, and should be allowed to contribute their special
traits to the world-wide community of men- but first, we should know and
like ourselves.
per this link:
http://personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/filfaqs.htm
it’s said that filipinos or were called manila men landed in Moro bay, CA on 1587.
Wow!! what a great description of Filipinos’ being special than other people. A boquet of flowers for Ed Lapiz!!!. It is said from history that California was discovered by six men, mexicans, and a Filipino. I am proud to be called a Filipina.
Ed Lapiz says: “The Filipino has a sophisticated, developed pakiramdam.” Does this mean that GMA is not Filipino? Nagatanong lang po.
Atong
Ha! Ha! Ha!
I think gloria Arroyo is not true Filipino? Why? Simply because under the Abueva ConCom’s propasal our national patrimony is open to foreigners to own both commercial, residential and agricultural lands. Filipinos will become squatters in their own country. Arroyo even made a deal with an American lobby firm to be consultant to amen the Philippine Constitution.
Aside, she has no love for our country. She’s an agent of American interest.
sa aking sariling opinyon tayong mga pilipino ay wala ng tiwala sa isa’t isa… alamin natin kung bakit?
First, hats off to Mr. Ed Lapiz. Such a grand and also true description of a Filipino as a race. However, in his words, this comment may also be “diffused”, as the number of Filipinos, nowadays, who are able to relate to the once formidable trait that makes a Filipino Filipino, is starting to decline.
I was in Manila late last year, and i could feel the indifference of the people. The lack of social consciousness, the feeling of depression and listlessness. This is not the Filipino that i used to know. Asking around, i’m surprised how consumed they were by the frustrations that beset them year in and year out. And they are not the lazy, good-for-nothing mahirap that Mr. Eddie Gil singled out. These are enterpreneurs, businessmen, and professionals.
I am just afraid that, further along the line, we maybe faced with the reality that the Filipino is no more.
“i’m fraud to be a filipino/filipina.”
“we’re fraud to be a filipina/filipina”.
in our present situation, itanong mo kung may unity or pagkakaisa tayo tungo sa kaunlaran… WALA! kasi nga wala ng tiwala ang bawat isa, sa bawat filipino kapwa filipino. ano ang causes o dahilan nito? ewan ko lang kung mag agree kayo sa akin… lumalala ang dayaan, nakawan, at pagsisinungaling! d ba pag ganito ang nararamdaman mo sa kapwa mo kababayan sa palagay mo kaya magtitiwala ka pa sa kanya na makipagtulungan? hindi na… d ba? kung ang mga leaders ng ating gobyerno ay ganito… sa palagay mo kaya tayo ay makikipag tulungan sa ating gobyerno? hindi na kasi wala na tayong tiwala na sumunod at maikipag tulungan sa kanila. ang nasa isip na agad natin ay lolokohin lang nila tayo.
ngayon, kung may “delikadeza” at magpakatotoo lang ang mga namumuno sa atin ang bansang pilipinas ay magsisimulang umangat… sa totoo lang pasadsad na ang values natin… government should be the role model of our society to change for the better… ibalik natin ang tunay at magandang traits na matagal ng nawawala sa atin…
Minsan, naisip ko, mas maganda siguro na kung sa ating paghahanap ng kasarinlan sa hawla ng kasinungalingan at pagkukunwari, dumanak ang dugong tuwirang lilinis sa lupang tigib ng dalamhati. Kagaya ng mga pangyayaring naganap sa Pransya at Estados Unidos, matapos ang labanan, naging mas mapusok ang kanilang pambansang saloobin. Dito nabuo ang kani-kanilang pagkakakilanlan, pagkakaisa at pag-ibig sa bayan.
Nakakatakot subali’t tutuo.
totoo yan kasamang tiago… kahit sa bible buhay ang kapalit upang linisin ng ating Panginoong Diyos ang sanlibutan laban sa kasamaan. Lord kayo na po ang bahala sa mga namumuno sa amin… alisin po ninyo ang mga taong madadaya, sinungaling at magnanakaw sa aming gobyerno.
Bakit po kasi hinihintay pa natin ang Diyos upang linisin ang katiwalian sa ating bayan? Diba ang kasabihan ay “nasa Diyos ang awa, pero nasa tao ang gawa?” Nagatanong lang po.
Atong
Ellen,
Tamang tama lang ang topic mo “Knowing Ourself”. Yong top story ngayon sa Abante ay “SOLONS BUSOG ULIT ANG BULSA” sinabi raw ni Pimentel. Alam talaga nila kung anong klase ano meron sila.Para sila talagang mga “BUWAYA” na naghihintay lang ng masasagpang. Pare-parehas sila. Di ba sila nahihiya niyan, sila sila ay nag-aaway dahil lang sa pera. Ang tatanda na nila, dapat sila ang huwaran pero hindi. Dapat talaga alisin na sila lahat, ikulong at isalang isa-isa sa Lethal Injection na katabi ng mga perang kinurakot nila para may pansuhol sila kay Satanas. Sana mapalitan na lang sila ng mas bata kagaya nila Recto at Pangilinan.
An Epistle to the “Nationalists”
ON BEING TOO WESTERNIZED
One of the common complaints of the Filipino
“nationalist”, one of whom I just spammed out of
existence a short while ago, is that we are “too
westernized”.
Are we?
We are westernized perhaps in the way that the cargo
cultists are “Westernized”.
If we were truly westernized we would have gotten rid
of the Gallilean man-god a long time ago (except at
Christmas time where he is replaced by semi-pagan
Santa Claus). Our mother country once removed, Spain,
harbors more atheists per capita than our immediate
mother country, America. Of course, if you look at the
better America (roughly the seaboards) that has no use
for the god of hinterland-bred William Jennings Bryan,
Bush pere and fils, Reagan, indicted-for-crookedness
Tom Delay or foot-on-his-mouth Pat Robertson we have
an America no different in religiosity from Western
Europe.
If we were truly westernized then our ship of state
would be sailing majestically on the robust winds of
the rule of law instead of being marooned among the
rotting riggings of the soft states.. We would have no
use for the Office of the Ombudsman (rotten as it is)
because ordinary prosecutors could prosecute the high
and mighty. Thomas Dewey, attorney-general for the
state of New York, sent crooks to jail. He did not
have a high fallutin title. The present attorney
general for this state makes the high and mighty
tremble.
If we were westernized the SEC would be sending the
stock manipulators to jail instead of attending
cocktail parties with them. If we were westernized why
is it that we have ten thousand constituional
tinkerers, twenty thousand ideology spouters, five
million maka-Diyos pietyists and not one Bill Gates?
If we were Westernized sales of books would be the
multiple of hundred thousand or a million annually
instead of a few thousands. What do Filipinos read?
What the “nationalists” are trying in their various
contortions is to pose as anti-Western like some
Latin-American dictators, African thugs like Mugabe
and the assortment of Arab power-holders. During the
time of Marcos Conrado Quiroz under the direction of
his maestro, Adrian Cristobal, wrote a book putatively
authored by Marcos “An ideology for Filipinos” where
the message drummed with numbing monotony was that
Filipinos were too westernized and what was needed a
Malakas and a Maganda.
As in the corpulent heyday of Mexico’s Partído
Revolúcionario Institúcional the “nationalists” want
to be a parasitic state-supported group which spews
out anti-Western rhetoric for their places in the
feeding trough.
There is visual awkwardness in seeing a number of
what the late historian William Henry Scott called
“Fil-Ams”, Filipinos (mostly little educated) who act
superficially like Americans, meaning the worst of
them. So what? The world of full of nuts. That is not
a social or economic problem like the
balance-of-payment or the problem that results if we
were to turn the economy closed which is the
nationalists’ dream of their Middle Kingdom set amidst
a twenty-first century theme-park..
Ideology, including nationalist ideology, which is
what is left of secular ideology and found mostly in
the Balkans and in the Andean poor lands, is the
exoskeleton of the unformed humanoid.
“Under the impact ideology culture retreats”, observed
Schiller. Sciller would have been my Nobel Laureate
but there were no such laureates then. Nobel was not
even an embryo, so lacking in soul, according to
clericofascist Bernas.
Quiroz, Buencamino, et. al., quit your ideology
project and leave that to brainless creatures like
too-late-the-caudillo Fortunato Abat or the not much
more endowed perennial opportunist Jose Tan Almonte.
Even Honasan knew when to quit and quietly comme il
faut.
You do not want to be “Westernized”, eh, Mister
Nationalist? Try the Taliban. And send all your
offsprings to the madrassas.
“This point is not an attempt at racism, but just for many Filipinos to
realize that our color should not be a source of or reason for inferiority
complex” MALI PO ITO.
ako’y matanda na, maraming bansa na
napuntahan, wala pong inferiority complex
ang Filipino, kahit domestic o ano pa man
ngayon po baka meron na, tungo ang ulo
dahil sa kahihiyan idinulot ng ating
mga pinuno sa pamahalaan. Akala ng
ibang tao lahat ng Filipino liars,
cheaters and thieves. Nakakahiya po
na pag may dayuhan nakausap ay titignan
kang parang magnanakaw. Masakit nito
sa mga immigrant kahit palitan nila
and kanilang citizenship mukhang Filipino
pa rin sila.
“While we pine for a fair complexion, the white people are
religiously tanning themselves, whenever they could, under the sun or some
artificial light, just to approximate the Filipino complexion.”
Hindi po totoo ito, hindi dahil sa Pinoy
ang nagsasalita. Ang mga puti, Kano at
British nagpapa tan dahil magandang tignan
laban sa puting putlain, hindi dahil gustong
kopyahin ang brown color ng Pinoy, kundi dahil
clemang winter. Ang tan po ng puti ay mamula-
mula, hindi brown. Sa Australia po maingat
na sila tan ng skin. nakakan-cancer sila.
titignan ko pa po ang mga ibang bola dito
sanaysay na ito tunkol sa mga Pinoy na
binaluktot ng media, pinaniwalaan ng mga
hangal.
“Filipinos are a touching people. We have lots of love and are not afraid to
show it.”
Puede pong ganito tayo pero sa mga
piling tao lang. ito po ang nakikkita
ko sa ABS-CBN, at GMA TV. Nagiging
mababaw na po ang kompetisyon nila
sa pagtawag ng KAPUSO at KAPAMILYA.
insincere na ang dating. gumala na rin
po sa atin mga probinsiya.
di po nila ginagawa yan bukod sa nahihiyang
pakikipagkamay.
yung pong yakapan touching-touching
bago lang luto ng media at nangunguna
po diyan sa besobeso ay ating pekeng
pangulo at iba pang alipores niya.
maging oposisyon, pa-touching touching
na rin. bahagi po na magandang nedosyo
nila yan.
“We are always reaching out, always seeking interconnection”
TOTOONG-TOTOO PO ITO. Malaking tulong
po ito pag may problema ang Pinoy
sa Pilipinas. Ang resulta po nito
ay AREGLO. wala pong hindi na aareglo
sa Pilipinas, maski na pumatay ng tao.
Sa ibang bansa po may interconnection
din pero, makatao, makabatas at maingat
ang mga Pinoy dahil baka makulong sila
sa inter connection.
KNOWING OURSELVES PO AY BAKA
MAS MABUTING SABIHING CLUELESS
ABOUT OURSELVES. Oops, mukhang
mabigat yatang yun salitang clueless.
good day…two thumbs up to Mr. Ed Lapiz…
i was always listening to your program Day by Day over the radio…im so blessed by you peculiar ideas and opinions…really touching and down to earth…
i wish to see you one of these days if GOd permits…
you really are a great person…
i salute you…
let’s be true to ourselves first.