Kapwa
Earlier today, we were talking about how there is a problem in Filipino culture about silence. We are often silent about abusive behavior, and I was wondering out loud whether this is tied to patriarchy and colonialism. And one of my students said that it is absolutely tied to patriarchy and colonialism, because it is a tool used to threaten people into silence, such oppression has been used against us for centuries and have been used internally by families, and other institutions, as well.
I was talking about how we need to talk about things first, to name them, to recognize, them, to let our words hit the air and talk about the difficult things first, before we can ever try to fix them. An acknowledgement of pain. A remembrance of shame. A discussion of trauma. And ultimately, a very Filipino recognition of kapwa. Pakikipagkapwa. A native understanding of each other as whole and valid and beautiful human beings.
There is an indigenous hope in that word. Kapwa-tao. Pakikipagkapwa. These are Filipino words that recognize the sacredness of each person, a kagandahang loob that ignites what could be seen as a hunk of meat into a spiritual vessel. A seeing of each other than transcends all the divisions others would want to create. I read somewhere that because of a colonial re-categorization of Filipinos, as mestizos and whatnot, we do not recognize the indigenous gifts that we have, that are all around us, and that are found in our language.
While there are many things wrong in the Philippines, there are also many things right. One of the things wrong is the silencing of oppression, which creates more oppression, which, is, in the end, a shadow of our own colonial past. If we can unshackle ourselves, and speak about what has been silenced for so long, then there might be a change.
Of course, there is also the chance that one will be condemned, as our Spanish colonizers would, using Catholic guilt and norms.
But, yet, again, I believe that there is something uniquely open and beautiful and sacred about being Filipino, as seen in our language, that could possibly, listen without judgement, and find a commonality that would create strength.
