Buhay Pinoy

On the part of the perpetrator, to escape accountability, the
colonizers did everything to promote forgetting (Herman, 1992). “The
more powerful the perpetrator, the greater is his prerogative to name
and define reality, and the more completely his arguments prevail
(Herman, 1992).” Figure 5 will also describe the possible aspects by
which the Filipinos seemed to be suffering from dementia.

Finally, Philippines had a prolonged repeated experience of
trauma. Herman (1992) categorically said that prolonged trauma will
naturally find an outlet by which it could be expressed. The expression
could be directed to self or others. Very often the expression is
unconscious. It is also stressed that children who suffered prolonged
traumatization may experience personality and interrelationship
problems. Children may also reenact the abuse. At the end, they may
turn out to be a perpetrator also. Note, that there were thousands of
children who suffered, witnessed, experienced, and survived the abuse
of colonization. Considering its effects, how many of the children had
relived and passed on the trauma?

51

COLONIZATION TRAUMA

NO HEALING AND
RECOVERY PROCESS

PSYCHOLOGICAL RE-TRAUMATIZATION PSYCHOLOGICAL
TRAUMATIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES EFFECTS

NEW FORMS OF
TRAUMATIZATION

MASS MEDIA GLOBALIZATION ECOLOGY
POLITICS POVERTY DEBTS
HEALTH
EDUCATION RELIGION

Figure 5. Post-Colonization Retraumatization Structure.
52

Figure 5 would explain that even after the colonization,
Philippines is still suffering from the effect of colonization.
Unfortunately, the traumatization had taken different forms in the
varied institution of the Philippines such as media, education, politics,
globalization, climate change, poverty, international debts, health, and
religion. I will try to elaborate one by one on how traumatization
continues to linger and how it had taken a new face. Philippines, as a
nation, never had the opportunity to reflect on its events. Unconscious
of the effect of the colonization, again as a nation, the people relived
the abusive activities of the colonizers. On the other hand, the
colonizers consciously or unconsciously had severed the wounds they
had left uncured.

Education Traumatization. The elements of formal

education of the Filipinos was imposed and structured by the colonizers.

The motivation of course, more than producing more informed Filipinos,

was to serve the interest of the colonizers. The problem is that such

motivation for education of the Filipinos seemed to be carried out in the

entire current Philippine educational system.

The present educational system seemed to be reenacting the
abuses of the colonizers. After the colonization what had education
contributed to reconnect the nation? Unfortunately, Philippines had
become more fragmented.

How is the educational system reliving the abuses? Education is
teaching the illusion of excellence. But what do we exactly mean by
excellence? Is it excellence for power, honor, or money? By being
educated the students are introduced to inequality. Education provides
a distinction between intelligent and moron. Students also had to vie for
recognition which is again another illusion of excellence. Those who are
labeled excellent are given more opportunities for exposure or learning.
Hence, education could be a source of one’s pride or confidence and
humiliation and insecurity. In short, education has become a status
symbol. It dictates a person’s locus in the society. Education also helps
provide the monetary value for what a person has achieved in the

53

learning arena. Therefore, education is only but an evolution of
colonization.

This educational entrapment would only mean that Philippine
educational system had failed to redefine the educational process that is
needed by a recovering nation. The basic question is what kind of
education does the Filipino need to help redeem their dignity? What
kind of education is needed to help the shattered communities pick up
its pieces? The problem is that the Philippines continued to absorb an
imposed educational system which unfortunately had continued also to
alienate the Filipinos from recovering its natural internal and external
resources.

The Philippine educational program and system is designed for
survival. It is not for recovery. Again, recovery is about connecting to the
natural and external resource of the Filipinos. Unconscious of the
traumatization, education has become a ground for survival.

Schools had provided another traumatizing tool for the survival
of students and other education players. For instance, students had to
please their teachers and maintain high grades. They had to go through
a grueling process of memorization and passing a difficult exam. But for
what purpose is this kind of education? How much of this kind of
process had contributed to the healing of the nation? It seems that no
study has been done yet to assess the effect of the Philippine
educational process not only to the cognitive development of the
Filipinos but also to the development of Filipino consciousness.

It appears that Philippine educational system is suffering from a
disillusion. For instance, at present, nursing course continues to surge as
a number one course being taken by students. In fact, professionals
including medical doctors are taking nursing as a second course. They
intend to work and migrate to the first world countries to earn a living
and have a better future. Sadly, this kind of phenomenon is being
supported by the school and the government. But another fact is that
there are thousands of communities in the Philippines which do not
have nurses and medical doctors. This is an example of education that
disconnects the students from the pressing needs of the poor Filipinos.

54

But aside from the nurses and doctors, Philippines had to let go of
professional and skilled Filipinos to serve other countries. Again, it is for
the same reason, survival. Unfortunately, unconscious again, the
Filipinos had relived a relentless colonization legacy--slavery. In order to
survive one has to be a slave of powerful countries, corporations, or
capitalists. Through the migration of Filipinos to work for the first world
who destroyed the Philippines and the capitalist who controlled Filipinos
economic resource, Filipino leaders unconsciously formalized slavery.

I have been involved in education processes for the last 20 years
as a teacher, student, and researcher. For those years, I am beginning to
be more convinced that Philippine educational processes are making the
nation more divided and fragile. If educational institutions are aware of
Philippine history and its continuing struggles, the basic question which
could be asked is, “What kind of educational process is needed to heal
the nation?” “What kind of education is needed to improve the life of
the people especially the disadvantaged?” “How can education facilitate
the recovery of the nation?” “What kind of education will awaken the
sense of solidarity and nationalism?” It seems to me that Philippine
educational system is patterned so well with the first world country that
it is not responding to the pressing concerns of a developing recovering
nation.

Since Philippine education is intended for survival, it has
overlooked that education has become a breeding system for slaves
instead of free Filipinos. After the graduation, young Filipino graduates,
left with limited choice, had to serve the interests of the capitalists, the
elite, and first world countries. When young people had lost the sense of
history, survival becomes more pressing, and disillusion about power,
prestige, and wealth become more inviting, what meaningful stance
could be unleashed in the process of education?

Currently, there is a plan from the government to add two more
years to secondary education. But again, there seems to be no queries
on the deep purpose of education. There are also plans to add more
classrooms to accommodate increasing students. The question is “Will
these plans change Filipino consciousness?” What is the purpose of
education when at the end of the day many of the Filipinos will just

55

become housemaid of the middle and the upper class, unprotected
construction workers, contractual saleslady in the mall, low-paid
unskilled worker, and overseas domestic helpers? Should education
create awareness that we are created equal?

In the Philippines, schools for the poor, the middle class, and the
elite exist. It is easy to recognize whether a student studies in a school
for the poor, middle class, and elite. Again this is another example of
social injustice. This also exemplifies that education could be a breeding
ground for discrimination, inequality, and oligarchy. It is an irony that
education is supposed to liberate the consciousness from anything that
oppress the Filipinos when the whole educational system is already
oppressive in itself.

Another fact is that in the Philippines there are international
schools which are run by foreigners. These schools have the state of the
art facilities which serve students who are sons and daughters of the
expats, dignitaries, and elites. What exactly is the category that makes
these foreign students more privileged than the most ordinary students
who are citizens of this country? Is it a fact that until now the elites and
these powerful visitors consciously or consciously looks down on poor
Filipinos as “Indios”?

I had encountered indigenous communities in the Philippines.
Many of them do not know how to read and write. But much of these
communities had continued to preserve their lives, culture, and
community relationship without the help of any institution. And that
includes the education institutes. Indigenous people do not know much
about sophisticated and complicated education. And the irony of it all,
they had exemplified what educational system had missed --
interconnection. Or it goes without saying that the price of ungrounded
education is to be disconnected to what is practical and meaningful. The
challenge is, if the Indigenous people continue to thrive and maintain a
meaningful connection with their respective communities and nature
without going through the process of present educational system, what
then is the relevance of this mainstream educational process?

56

Those who are obsessed for power, greedy of land and wealth,
and destroyer of Filipinos’ lives and culture are educated. They were
molded in prestigious schools. But they had placed millions of lives of
the Filipinos in peril. If schools could produce such kind of leaders there
must really be something wrong with the educational system.

Media Traumatization. The people in the media seemed to be
unaware of the colonization process. The media seems unconscious that
it is creating an illusion of the real situation of the Philippines –the
majority of the Filipinos are suffering from complex injustices. But the
media is not representing the majority. Uninformed of the trauma of
colonization, the media is likewise passing on another trauma to the
majority- the poor.

The media, as it is utilized today, is a replica of the images,
values, perspective, and culture of the colonizers. For instance, the
Philippine actors and actresses are basically the look-alike of the
colonizers. They have pointed nose and mostly white skin. They are
following the lifestyle of the Hollywood stars. The problem is that their
lifestyles are projected as a model of living for the Filipinos. But what
kind of effect that this projections leave to the consciousness of the
Filipinos who could hardly provide food on the table of their families?

Most of the TV and radio programs are copied from the first
world or the colonizers. The media is presenting a lifestyle and
perspectives of the powerful, middle class and elite. There seems to be a
deep unawareness of the media of the psycho-social struggles among
the majority (the poor). The problem is that this poor majority finds it
difficult to catch up with the culture which the media is representing.
Moreover, the media is speeding up the total destruction of the little
that is remained in the Filipino culture, specifically, the sense of
community.

For instance, in the television, when the nation is still struggling
to find its identity, more foreign programs are being shown. Or more
foreign programs are being copied. Hence, the print and air media
seemed no to represent the struggle of the majority of the Filipinos.
These observable events describe Philippine media’s inconsistent sense

57

of history. It is again a cycle of disconnected process that indemnifies
and builds up the fragmentation of the country.

The media also relives the story of humiliation, manipulation,
and abuse of power. The media seemed to be highlighting also the huge
inequality between the rich and the poor. More often than not, the
media favors the life of the powerful and the elite. Hence, the media
seems to be quite insensitive that its processes contribute to the
breaking and unbreaking, destruction and building, and connection and
disconnection of Filipino consciousness.

An example of manipulation is when television programs would
ask the viewers to express their opinions through mobile phone texting.
It is difficult to understand how they could manage to involve the people
for an irrelevant issue. By texting, the TV programs and communication
network earn money. Unfortunately, the poor people are unaware that
they are being used by the TV programs for simple profitability. With
inconsistent social concern, TV networks might not be conscious that
one peso for a text is a huge value for a poor low-earner Filipino.

In the Philippines, television networks are competing for the
attention of the viewers to the extent that they had to outdo, pull down,
and overpower each other just to claim that one is mightier than the
rest. But the sad part is that they are unaware of the lessons they are
giving to the audience or subscribers. They are equally unaware that
they are reliving how the colonizers had overthrown each other to take
the sole control of the nation for personal interest.

Media is a powerful tool in the aspect of disseminating
information. Information coming from the mass media, in one way or
another, affects the consciousness of the Filipinos. In this case, media
would have been an important tool in the healing and recovery process
of the nation in view of sending appropriate or well thought
information. But unfortunately, coming from observations, media’s role
to heal the nation seemed not to be utilized more productively to the
advantage of community development.

The media had to be aware also of the possible exploitation of
the powerless by passing on information that might be contributing

58

more negatively to the vulnerability, disconnection, insecurity,
confusion, and delusions of the still hurting Filipino people. It also has
to take note that religion is not only the opium of the Filipino to
dissociate from the reality of injustices. The media has that power also
to be the opium that detaches the Filipinos from a consciousness that
will be the gateway for a real liberation.

The media had to take note of its responsibility in the building
and the breaking of Filipino consciousness. In every local television there
is a subscript that reads, “Parental guidance”. This is to emphasize that
parents have to supervise the children as they watch TV programs. But
there seems to be a lack of awareness of the kind of capacity which the
parents have in processing the information coming from the TV
programs. There seems to be an assumption in the part of the media
practitioners that parents would know how to handle the information.

The “telenovela” is also a very alarming tool to dissipate the
energy of the Filipinos. “Telenovelas” contain highly emotional stories of
betrayal, killing, humiliation, power struggles, greed, disillusion,
fantasies, and insecurities. They are also stories that describe Filipinos
incapacity to handle life positively. But how much of these stories are
embedded in the consciousness of the Filipinos? How do Filipinos
understand the stories? Can’t media create programs that are highly
conscious of Filipino integral development. Besides the questionable
value-process which telenovelas impart, the tired Filipinos who had
arrived from a tiring work would also need time to rest so that he/she
would have enough energy for the next day. But TV programs also take
this away from the Filipinos. Telenovelas had to run for 7 to 8 hours a
day. Of course profit is of greater value than the wellbeing of the poor
Filipinos.

On the above observable practice of the mass media in the
Philippines, the trauma of colonization seems to be creeping in a more
modern tool. Although, this needs validation and exploration,
institutions and people behind this field has to retrace its roots so that
they could clarify how this powerful tool could be utilized well to heal
the nation and help the poor reconnect to its resources.

59

If the media is serious about contributing to the positive
transformation of the Philippines, media institutions have to reevaluate
their programs in view of its effects on the consciousness of the
Filipinos.

Political Traumatization. Colonization is grounded on political
maneuvering and betrayal. And this has become the life-force of
Philippine politics. Unfortunately the lessons imparted to the Filipinos in
view of leadership and governance was focused on power, prestige, and
accumulation of wealth to the detriment of the poor. Hence, through
political activities, the Filipinos had continued to reinforce the
manipulation and betrayal process left by the colonization. In effect,
traumatization continues.

Corruption also describes the Philippine politics. This is salient in
all government organizations and institutions. Again, what has the
system of education done to impart the lessons on leadership and
governance? Corruption is a result of a person’s incapacity to connect to
his/her internal and external resource. This is also an unhealed
consciousness on the disillusionments about the concept of power,
prestige, and wealth.

Philippine politics is a revival of the whole orchestra of
colonization which includes killing, manipulation, betrayal, corruption,
massacre, rivalry, backstabbing, humiliation, discrimination, inequality,
sexual abuse, and slavery.

Lastly, since the Philippine politics is a colonizer’s model, the
Filipino leaders are entrapped and controlled in an endless manipulation
of the author of this model. At the end, Philippine politics has not at all
contributed to the recovery of the nation. But more so, it has made the
nation more divided. Unfortunately, Philippines tries to maintain a
political system that plays insignificant role in the recovery of the nation.

Globalization Traumatization. Globalization is a highly

complex international political and economic affair. In the stage of

vulnerability, Philippines has entered the world of globalization

unprepared. But the Philippine government had created a picture that

all Filipinos are ready for the challenges of globalization. As a result,

60

globalization has created more divisions and uncertainties among the
Filipinos. Above all, it has made the poor poorer. The leaders are
unaware that globalization has become another traumatization for the
already suffering poor Filipinos. This has added to the setbacks of the
nation in recovering Philippine identity and solidarity.

When Philippines has not even found its ground, it has allowed
international agreements to dictate on how the remaining natural
resources should be utilized. On the other hand, globalization has also
given another illusion of economic progress. But again, it has missed the
point. Philippines does not only need economic progress. Primordially,
Philippines has to regain its dignity and respect which were taken away
by the colonization. Besides, who will be the primary beneficiaries of
globalization? Not the poor but the capitalist and the powerful elite.
Hence, globalization is only but an expansion of the unhealed wound of
the already fragile nation.

Globalization will destroy communities if this is not defined well
in the context of Filipino consciousness. On the other hand, the values
could take a stand in influencing the direction of globalization. This is to
say that the globalization has to serve the interest of the communities
and not of the capitalist and the “powerful” nation.

Ecological Traumatization. History recorded how the

colonizers took interest on the natural resources of the Philippines. This

event is actually the beginning of the climate change in the Philippines.

The colonizers had introduced how to utilize the natural resource to

serve a personal interest at the detriment of the welfare of the poor.

From then on, the Filipinos’ concept of nature had deteriorated. And

this new consciousness was made real in a day to day relationship of the

Filipinos with nature. Filipinos had started to disregard its deep

connection to the earth. In exchange, the Filipinos took advantage of the

use of nature for personal survival. More devastatingly, the same

colonizing countries continued to use the Filipinos to exploit the nature.

For instance, some First world countries with its connivance with some

Filipino capitalists had slowly ravaged the forests through logging and

mining. Now, the irony of it all, these colonizers are clamoring for the

care of the earth.

61

There is another salient reality. Filipinos are drawn to survive.
How can the poor Filipinos deeply think about the issues of climate
change when the basic needs such as food and shelter are extremely
difficult to meet?

International Debt Traumatization. For decades, Philippines
has been tied up with huge monetary loans not only to World Bank but
also to international organizations. However, the huge amount of
loaned money had gone with the wind. The purpose for that money was
never realized. Hence, the crime which the corrupt leaders committed is
now a burden for all the poor Filipinos. The Filipinos will take the
responsibility of paying the debts which had been enjoyed by the few.

International debts are also traumatizing to the Filipino
consciousness. For the ordinary Filipinos, it is difficult to understand why
he/she had to pay for borrowed money which was used to serve the
personal interest of the few greedy Filipino leaders. Unfortunately, the
poor Filipino also has to suffer the consequences of the misused of
funds.

Come to think of it, the debt of the Philippines to World Bank
and other international institutions is incomparable to the loss of life
and dignity which the Philippines endured from the colonization. But the
colonizers had not paid yet for the internal and external damages
inflicted to the country.

Poverty Traumatization. The poor can be found in all the
corners of the Philippines. Many poor Filipinos are deprived of shelter,
food, health provision, and land. For a poor Filipino, to get a food for a
day is already difficult. But the poor remain to be exploited in many
ways. They are also at risk to different kinds of abuses and manipulation.
For instance, in Kalamansig, the poor coffee farmers had remained poor.
Meanwhile, the capitalists who control the price of coffee and buy the
product from the poor farmers had become richer. In the
advertisement, the capitalists pay the popular models millions of money
to promote the processed coffee to attract consumers. Sadly, the
consumers are unaware that the coffee that they drink came from the

62

hard labor of the exploited farmers. In the coffee industry alone, the
cycle of traumatization continues.

It is alarming that Filipinos are becoming unperturbed of the
immense inequality between the rich and the poor. Unfortunately, the
poor is often at the losing end. Philippines started to have skyscrapers,
modern technologies, globalized jargons, internet, and sophisticated
information devices. But unfortunately, thousands of communities
remain poor. This only means that the perspective currently used by the
different Philippine institutions is likewise insignificant to the plight of
the poor. But this could also mean that it is more comfortable to remain
passive about the concern of the poor.

In this modern time, poverty has been institutionalized. Many
leaders had invested on the miseries of the poor to gain attention for
funds, self-emulation, and power. But at the end of the day, the people
still remain poor and a victim. Unfortunately, the cycle of victimization
continues. History validates that the powerless poor are the usual
victims of the abuser.

Should the poor be liberated from the stigma of “poor”? Should
the “poor” create another consciousness about their existence? Is this
stigma also a byproduct of the colonization? Could it be that the “poor”
consciousness is the one that holds the struggling Filipinos to be captives
of injustices?

Health Traumatization. If food security is already a burden,
how can the poor Filipinos afford to take care of their health? On the
other hand, the subsidy of the government on health concerns is also
insufficient. If the poor Filipinos are already confounded with the basic
concerns in order to survive, care for the physical health would be the
least to be given appropriate attention. Many Filipino leaders are so
concerned about power, wealth, and prestige that the health welfare of
poor Filipinos are taken for granted.

Religion Traumatization. Karl Marx said that religion is the
opium of the people. Spirituality could also be used to abuse the already
powerless Filipino. Philippines is the melting pot not only of Christian
denominations but of other religions as well. But, I believe that different

63

spiritual or religious organization also has the responsibility to
reevaluate their processes specifically on how they help the Filipinos to
recover from the fragmentation. I observe that there are religious
leaders who enjoy power, prestige, and excessive wealth. Their lifestyles
seem not to represent the majority of their constituents who are poor.
How does a religion help the Filipino to recover the sense of dignity
shattered by the colonization? Are the religious leaders contaminated
also by the colonization values such as the manipulation, power control,
and exploitation of the poor’s resources?

The above evolution of traumatizations (Figure 5) only shows
that Philippines is still controlled by its past. Hence, the traumatized
consciousness has been passed on from generation to another. And the
sad part is that such consciousness has become systemic. However, I
would like to emphasize that these observations needed further
exploration and study.

Survival Syndrome

Decades after the colonization, the Filipinos failed to find its
home, roots, and ground. The Filipinos remained like a vagabond,
wandering where to settle from the long journey of traumatization.
They stayed uncertain about the future; as if they still run for their lives
and unsure of the right direction.

The impact of trauma from colonization took the Filipinos to
struggle for survival, a self - preservation syndrome (Figure 6). Coming
from the lessons left by the colonization, people had to run to save their
lives, hide, save food for the next day, and secure members of the
family. They were made to focus on personal survival. This event has
displaced the people from their community. Eventually, this
phenomenon made the Filipinos become more disconnected and
detached from their community. To save one’s life became more salient.
Personal needs became a priority over the preservation of the
community. This syndrome slowly overshadowed an important inherent
value --connection with the community.

64

This syndrome was made salient with the colonizers’ emphasis
on the abuse of power, excessive accumulation of wealth, racial
discrimination, human right violation, and betrayal of trust.

COLONIZATION

TRAUMATIZATION COMMUNITY
DISCONNECTION

SURVIVAL
SYNDROME

Figure. 6. Survival Syndrome.
65

The Survival Syndrome is assumed to be the system that is now
operating in the different Philippine institutions such as education,
politics, religion, health, and alike. Although this needs further
exploration and validation, the assumption gives a concrete standpoint
by which institutional conflicts and discrepancies could be evaluated.

For instance, literature explains Filipino personality with
following traits: lazy, crab mentality, “ningas kugon” (inability to finish a
work) and alike. But again, coming from the claim of Survival Syndrome,
are those traits a development from the trauma of colonization?
Perhaps the claims about Filipino traits, personality, and well-being had
to be reassessed thru colonization trauma concepts.

Another clear example is the Philippine education system. As far
as my experiences in the academe are concerned, education seems to
be shaped also by the Survival Syndrome. This means that Philippines is
unconscious that it is running the educational program which is tainted
by the trauma of colonization. I had asked hundreds of students about
the reasons why they had to study. They said that they wanted to study
so that they could work, earn money, and help the family.

The use of psychology for example in the Philippines is centered
on personal survival rather than a direction towards the preservation of
the community. The Filipinos leaving the country is also an example of
this.

To sum it all, the evolution of trauma from the colonization
would mean that the Filipinos are trapped in an endless process of
survival. Hence, this self-preservation syndrome is pushing away the
Filipinos more and more from its supposed connection -- the
community.

66

chapter 4

Psychosocial Resource

To be healed from my own trauma, I had to seek support. My
family, the community that I serve, and my decision to pick up my
shattered pieces were my route towards rebuilding my life and
rekindling my spirit. For the pained victims of the armed conflict of
Kalamansig, working side by side with them and creating possibility of
social supports is propelling the spirit of communities to continue
hoping.

The previous chapters of this book uphold that Philippines was
traumatized from the colonization. In effect, the colonization had
conditioned the entire lives of the Filipinos until the current time. Thus,
for centuries, until now, Filipinos were caught up in trying to survive a
difficult life. Unfortunately, this “Survival Syndrome” had made the
Filipinos more divided and disconnected with each other. Colonization
basically destroyed an important resource, the community. Given this,
the goal now is to break the cycle of traumatization.

To break the cycle of trauma from colonization and the survival
perspective, there is a need to go back to an important resource, the
community. Using also the perspective of Herman (1992), Filipinos have
to retrace its history, specifically, the history of trauma. By going back to
these two important resources, the community will be able come up
with a perspective that will help the Filipinos restore its valuable
resources and will help face the future.

Hopefully, this conceptualization will be able to open up a fresh
perspective in dealing with the peace building and community
development issues in the Philippines. Figure 7 will describe the process
of disconnection and reconnection.

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COLONIZATION DISCONNECTION COMMUNITY

TRAUMA RECONNECTION AWARENESS

SURVIVAL COMMUNITY
SYNDROME DEVELOPMENT

RE-
TRAUMATIZATION

REDISCOVER
COMMUNITY

RESOURCE

RECONNECTION
TO TRAUMA
HISTORY

Figure 1. Building Psychosocial Resource Framework.
68

To face the future, it is necessary to connect to the past (Senge,
2008). Past experience is part of consciousness (Weiss, 1992). This
consciousness influences our lives with or without awareness. Past life
is inevitably part of the healing process. One has to be freed from dark
memories and deep shame (Allender, 1990). Those who were abused
needed to be nurtured back and find a safe way home (Allender, 1990).
Those who remember the past will do all they can to prevent its
recurrence; (Olliner, 1986).

Part of the recovery is to preserve the still existing civilization
such as the bagobo clata, manuvu, matigsalog, isama, kalagan, and
mandaya (Mercedes, 2001). There is also a need to rediscover the
richness of the culture which was subjugated by the colonization (Scott,
1994). Hence, there are many patterns that could be used to reconnect
the Filipino people (Myers, 2007).

There is a particular approach in the community psychology,
specifically that which deals with the life of the poor community. This
approach has been known as “liberation psychology” (Baro, 1994)
(Please note that this is radically different from the “liberation
psychology” of Enriquez, 1994), “liberation theology” (Freire, 1984 and
Hardy, 1986) and “critical psychology” (Prilleltensky, 2005). I find this
approach most relevant to my work as a psychologist in Kalamansig. It
forms the context of connecting to community resource.

In this section I will also discuss the role of the psychologist who
believes in the perspective of “liberation psychology.” I will then discuss
studies which have attempted to extract concepts or frameworks
appropriate to working in a Filipino community. Finally, I will discuss my
own research on pintakasi which I conducted among the residents of
Kalamansig. Pintakasi is the concept that I have extracted that I wish to
use to help the residents of Kalamansig and other communities to help
themselves.

Utilizing the Community’s Resources for Liberation. Baro (1994)
advocates the community’s liberation from social injustices. But he
advocates an empowering method where the community’s own
resources are utilized. Thus, he says that there is a need to rediscover

69

elements in the community’s past which may be applied to their present
struggles (Berry, 1992 & Baro, 1994). A community, he says, must
recover its identity, its pride; it must rely on elements in its tradition and
culture. “It must rescue those aspects of identity which served
yesterday, and will serve today, for liberation (Baro, 1994).”

There are practices in the community which are relevant and
important for the people (Baro, 1994). The psychologist has to discover
and be aware of these and be able to pick up these practices and utilize
them for transformation. Learning from the people is the most basic
(Freire, 1984) and utilizing the people’s virtues is the most concrete. This
involves getting into values that inform participatory decision-making
(Prilleltensky, 2005; Davies 2001 & Nishimura et al., 1998) and working
in solidarity with oppressed and disadvantaged groups (Prilleltensky,
2005 & Freire, 1984).

Filipino Perspectives

The task of liberating communities from social injustices must be
preceded by attempts to re-discover cultural elements that may be used
in that struggle for liberation. There have been a few attempts to extract
concepts from Filipino culture that will yield a perspective that is more
beneficial to the Filipino.

Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino Psychology) has long asserted that
Filipino realities are best explained from the Filipino perspective, taking
into account peculiarities and distinct values and characteristic of the
Filipino (Enriquez, 1994). The encompassing foundation value for the
Filipino psychosocial character is known as Kapwa. This concept
stresses shared identity and strong equivalence with one's fellow
Filipinos as the basic Filipino core value (Enriquez, 1994).

Bayanihan is a familiar Filipino community concept (Antonio,
1992). In many regions of the country, especially in the rural areas, there
is a widespread practice of bayanihan which is the practice of rural
families of helping each other on various necessary tasks with no
monetary exchange involved at all (Baldazo, 1991). This means that
those families who helped another family in accomplishing a certain
activity can expect a similar or another form of response from that other

70

family. Note that bayanihan is not popularly known as a farmers’
activity. The popular imagery of bayanihan portrays a community
carrying a nipa hut to be transferred to another location.

In his paper, Antonio (1992) asserts that bayanihan as part of our
cultural heritage is a personal interaction among Filipinos. This connotes
affinity, friendship, and close family ties Antonio associates bayanihan
with the culture of "volunteerism" among Filipinos. He further claims
that there are socio-economic and religious aspects to bayanihan. But
Antonio emphasizes that bayanihan is said to be an interaction among
families and affinities; it is not a community endeavor. Baldazo (1991),
however, asserts that bayanihan, as an activity that generally does not
involve community aspirations, cannot be equated to volunteerism.
Volunteerism involves conscientization, civic mindedness, community
visions, and development (Compton, 2005). Bayanihan does not have
these aspects.

In volunteerism, on the other hand, people donate their time,
efforts, and emotional support to the welfare of other people who are
more often complete strangers (Compton, 2005). Studies showed that
the reasons for volunteering are altruism, to gain knowledge and
understanding, a result of social pressures, and to enhance self-esteem
(Baron & Byrne, 1997).

Volunteerism (Ledesma, 2005 & Baron & Byrne, 1997) is also a
response to a concrete need and social problems. Harves (2001) in
exploring volunteerism among counselors said that persons’ experiences
with difficulties, sets of beliefs, patterns of behavior, and self-awareness
will influence one to become a volunteer. It was emphasized that even
without material exchange one can become a volunteer.

From his work with victims of human rights violations,
Decenteceo (1997) developed the Pagdadala model which reflects the
manner by which poor Filipinos tell the stories of their lives. The
Pagdadala model depicts the lives of Filipinos as acts or stories of
burden bearing. Having developed the Pagdadala model from his work
with the poor, Decenteceo then “returns” the model to the poor
Filipinos. He uses the model to train para-professional counselors to

71

work with other poor Filipinos. He has found that Filipinos who have no
more than a grade-school level education can understand the process of
counseling when it is cast as the story of burden bearing. By using the
Pagdadala model, it is not necessary to use Western theories of
counseling for the training of these counselors. The Pagdadala model
has been used as a framework for team-building, training, project
planning and management, also among poor Filipinos.

My preliminary observations have led me to feel that pintakasi,
as an element of the culture of Kalamansig (and of the province of
Cotabato) holds promise as an empowering community approach to
solving the problems of Kalamansig. I do not intend to study pintakasi
only for my dissertation. I also intend to “return” to Kalamansig what I
have learned by utilizing pintakasi as a way of empowering them so that
they themselves may attempt to solve their problems. I will discuss my
findings on pintakasi later in this section.

Indigenous Community Resource

There are a limited number of studies that explore community
phenomenon such as pintakasi and apply the findings to create change
in the lives of the poor people. There are, however, many studies that
evaluate the efficacy of a community program handled by a volunteer
community organizer and it had been found out that it has helped the
community (Harves, 2001; Cabio, 2001; Dolare, 1999; Harashima, 1994;
& Hannan, 1983). But, it is initiated by a volunteer (who is basically an
outsider) and not by the community itself (Regmi, 2006). In these
studies, resources and capacities are not defined by the people. In these
instances, empowerment as explained above is not the underlying
process.

There are of course studies that cite unique community practices
like pintakasi but these practices are not given much attention. For
example, Oribe (2006), in his study done in Pangasinan, found out the
relevance of an indigenous community activity called Gamal. This is a
voluntary farming activity which involves planting and harvesting. Gamal
is characterized by three conditions: (a) a free meal, (b) funds provided

72

by an external agent, (c) decisions made by the initiator of gamal. The
study briefly mentioned the usefulness of gamal in an NGO activity.

Bubod (2007),in her attempt to find out counseling concepts
among Ifugaos, also mentioned ub-bu, which refers to the community
effort of helping each other clean, plant, and harvest in the rice fields.
Immediate relatives are expected to join; villagers are welcome as well.
When one joins the ub-bu she will also be helped. It was not explored
how the concept will be used for the people.

Studies were also conducted about seven ethnic communities in
Mindanao (Mercedes et al., 2001). However, these studies did not
mention about how the people work together using their indigenous
practices. The studies, on the other hand, emphasized that the patterns
of growth and changes were brought about by the influence of the
outsiders. Sycip et al. (2000) in their study about the Filipino well-being
found out that social relationships especially with immediate family and
the desire to do good to others are at the core of the participants’ sense
of well-being.

Paule (1993), in a brave attempt to study the MILF organization
found out that the organization’s continual existence is based on the
following: (a) survival, (b) leadership, (c) financial and moral support,
and (d) ideology. Cabio (2001) in a livelihood program evaluation
mentioned that people’s sustainable action is based on a modification in
their outlook, economic condition, and behavior. Again in this
undertaking, it was not explored how this study will benefit the people.

Jocano (2002) stayed in an urban community for a period of
three years to understand the way of life in a slum by observing the
different dynamics in a community. He brought insights on lifestyles,
coping mechanisms, aspirations, and social structures. He explains how
the people adapt to a poor environment and this affects behavior,
thoughts, and feelings. Life in the slum is also characterized by shared
burdens, shared togetherness, belongingness, emotional attachment to
one another.

To determine the ways by which culture influences an
individual’s behavior community, workers need to understand the

73

shared process of meaning. Community workers also need to
understand how the community makes sense of their own experience
(Sta. Maria, 1999). Membership and continued participation can be
maintained when the individual learns to understand and communicate
experiences in the terms used by the group in making sense of people’s
actions. Research in the field of communication has shown that cultural
differences in individualism-collectivism play an important role in
persuasion both at societal and individual level (Berry et al., 1992).
Individualistic culture prefers independent relationship with others and
to subordinate ingroup goals. Collectivistic individuals are more likely to
have interdependent relationship to their groups and subordinate on
health promotion.

Research on philanthropic endeavors gives consideration to the
basic needs of community (Craig, 2003). This includes education, health
and medicine and social welfare. This also contains looking into
historical and cultural background. In a research assessing the NGO’s
role community development in a lahar infested place in Tarlac, it was
asserted that the dole-out activity will not help a community survive.
Skills training, although a longer procedure, will help a community carry
on with its life (Aganon, 1996).

Berry et al. (1992), underscores the importance of clarifying
one’s values, preroragatives, and trainings in doing a research with the
poor as participants. He said, “One important role, however, is that
psychologist are called upon to explain or interpret the behavior of
people to themselves. If the training and values of psychologist are
rooted in Western psychological science and are minimally informed by
local cultural and psychological, knowledge what likelihood his/her
interpretation of behavior appropriate?”

Reconnection from Traumatization

The experiences of trauma from the colonization have lessons to
give not only for the Filipinos but also for the colonizers and other
countries who were victims as well. Truly then, there is no way by which
the events of the past colonization could be brought back. The damage
had been done. However, the damage that the colonization had brought

74

had also left progressing negative effects in the lives and consciousness
of the Filipino people. This could not just be resolved by simply
forgetting the colonization events. Again, by not addressing the trauma
from the colonization, the trauma will persist into a new form or
another (Herman, 1992 & Levine, 2000). Disturbingly, the trauma may
repeat or severe the harm and damage it had produced in the past. For
these reasons, something has to be done to address the national
trauma.

If trauma is defined as a process of disconnection from internal
and external resources (Herman, 1992 & Levine, 2000), there is no other
way by which the negative impacts of colonization could be resolved but
through reconnection. Herman (1992) defined reconnection as a process
by which a person tries to recover his/her internal and external
resource. Hence, the person has to go through the following phase of
healing: (a) first, safety has to be established by reviving the sense of
power and control; (b) second, the victim has to remember and mourn
on the trauma by being able to retell its stories; and (c) third, the victim
has to reconnect with life by concretely planning for the future.

This healing process (Herman, 1992) has been used for
individuals and groups who had experienced trauma. But how could this
be applied to a traumatized nation? How can the sense of safety be
established when the virus of colonization had spread over the entire
land? How could the entire nation go through the process of
remembering and mourning on trauma? The process may sound
idealistic for a traumatized nation to undergo the healing and
reconnection process. But at any rate, the national trauma had to be
addressed. And true enough, the healing process which Herman (1992)
presents would describe that the Philippines had not gone through a
healing process yet. Hence, this book declares that this nation is under
trauma.

Reconnection could not be realized by simply ritualizing and
romanticizing the events of the colonization. Reconnection has to be
concrete for a nation waiting to be recovered. On this premise, I will try
to present a process by which reconnection could be concretized. I
learned about this when I lived and immersed in Kalamansig community

75

(Mindanao) for three years. The community had thought me about the
process of reconnection. The process of reconnection has three
components: (a) community reconnection; (b) community resource
reconnection; and (c) histo-traumatization reconnection. These
components are the results of my three years of collaboration with
Kalamansig communities.

Again, what I will present is a process that has worked for
centuries and continues to work positively for a particular population
such as Kalamansig. However, I do not claim a generalized application of
this discovery. As Decenteceo (1997) said with his “Pagdadala Model”,
the Filipinos have different ways of “pagdadala”, carrying a burden. My
discovery, most probably, is only one among the many important
community burden bearing processes that continue to exist to favor the
welfare of the community. Since this is a process, this is subject for
replication, evaluation, or revision. On the other hand, I am hoping that
this process will be able to rediscover, reawaken, and revitalize more
concepts that are inherent to the Filipinos. With the existing 7, 100
geographically disconnected islands of the Philippines, who knows if
there are also 7,100 indigenous positive concepts that will help the
Philippines recover from the negative impacts of colonization which had
conditioned the lives and consciousness of Filipinos for centuries.

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chapter 5

Community Reconnection

Note that the colonization destroyed one of the primary internal
and external resources of the Filipinos-- the sense of community. But no
matter how this resource was displaced or depleted during the
colonization, it has a natural force to surface and serve the interest of
the people. An example of this is the EDSA I and EDSA II bloodless
revolution where two abusive presidents were dethroned from their
power. The Filipinos call it the “People Power”. Aside from this event,
the sense of community is also visible during natural disasters. People
would spontaneously come out of their homes and help the victims. But
there is a problem: to sustain the phenomenon.

EDSA bloodless revolution, the “People Power”, could have been
the jumpstart for the nation to recover from its losses. But to make “the
People Power” as a catalyst for change and trail blazer for social
transformation failed to transpire. The reason is that “People Power” is
a threat to different Philippine institutions that are corrupt and centered
on bureaucracy (PCIJ, 2009). On the other hand, individuals have to face
the basic life’s meaning which is survival. The sense of community could
not connect with a powerful demand of status quo, collapsed system
and traumatized values. In effect, “People Power” had replaced the
leaders but not the system of governance and the disenfranchised
consciousness of the Filipino people. Figure 7 describes why the
“People Power” failed to inspire change.

77

UNHEALED NO SENSE
TRAUMA OF

HISTORY

EDSA
PEOPLE
POWER

SURVIVAL
SYNDROME

FRAGMENTED
AND CORRUPT
INSTITUTIONS

Figure 7. “People Power”, Trauma, Bureaucracy, and Survival.
78

If the sense of community is an essential internal and external
resource of the Filipinos, something has to be done to sustain and utilize
it. But how can this important resource be sustained and utilized to
benefit the nation? More importantly, how can this be used to help the
nation reconnect from the impact of colonization? There are definitely
answers to these queries. Hence, in the following section I will explain
how the community of Kalamansig helped me to discover a process by
which the Filipino’s important resource could be sustained, the
community. I call this, “Community Reconnection” or in people’s term
“pintakasi”.

If the community is the internal and external resource of the
Filipinos, there is no other way by which this resource could be
understood but to return to the community and lived with them. In this
case, I stayed and lived in Kalamansig, an armed conflict area in Sultan
Kudarat, Mindanao for at least three years. This is the beginning of my
reconnection. With this process, I only tried to observe, live, and
integrate in the day to day activities of the people.

To live with the people is important in establishing rapport and
connection with them. To integrate in the lives of the people is the only
way to gain their trust. Trust deepens interpersonal communication
(Bienvenu, 1970). Having those experiences, I observed that I had
spontaneous discussion with the people. People showed interest in
being able to discuss about their problems. But they were most
interested in looking for solutions. I experienced this kind of reaction in
the 15 communities of Kalamasnig. However, I would like to point out,
as far as my experiences were concerned, to engage with poor
communities, what I did could be considered as a necessary aspect of
community psychology in the Philippines.

I did not only observe behaviors, thought process, emotions, and
other elements that could contribute to the understanding of a
community relationship. I chose to be involved in the struggles of
communities by helping them to find solutions to their problems. Thus, I
do not intend to leave them even after after finishing this research.
Freire, (1984), Baro (1994) and Prilleltensky (2005) emphasized
psychologist’s commitment to reflect and act with the poor people in

79

creating change in their lives. The positive psychologists also uphold
discovering positive relationship in the community (Compton, 2005). It is
by this relationship that the community is empowered.

Living in the community would include immersing and
integrating into the community. I see two important aspects here.
Becoming immersed in the culture of the people was one way of
integrating into the lives of the community. The second way was to learn
from their lives. It was not so much on how I perceived their world. It
was more about listening to their realities in the way that they
understood them.

My decision to be a “nobody” was a viable tool to know the
people better. It was about setting aside my being an “expert” among
adults who had not even completed their elementary education. This
was also a way by which they could enter my space and vice versa,
pakiglambigit (being one with us), as they would say.

Thus, pakiglambigit was to be inato. This means doing away with
complexities-- welcoming life as is. They added, “Hilasan ‘me sa daw
inarte kaayo”. They felt turned off when one would act out his/her
complexities. Kalamansig is a poor rural community. The people
expected that an outsider would blend to their lifestyles.

I was aware that to be part of the pakiglambigit was not like a
costume that I would wear for the simple reason that I was dealing with
the poor farmers and fishermen. I was simply comfortable with such
lifestyle. For the last twenty years, I had experiences of living in poor
communities both in rural and urban settings. Baro (1994) and
Prilleltensky (2005) said that to learn from the disadvantaged people
was to struggle and to be in solidarity with them. The only way to
understand the plight of the poor was to be with the poor (Berry, 1992).
This includes living with them so that one would know the actual
situation of the poor. But it was not only about knowing their situation.
It was also about helping them to respond to their situation.

Being a community psychologist and having clear intentions were
not the only factors that brought in rich information. To become
immersed in the lives of the people would be one way to understand the

80

natural flow of their lives. Empowerment is about learning, discovering,
and growing with the poor people (Oribe, 2006; Prilleltensky, 2005;
Horton, 2003; Baro, 1994; & Freire, 1984).

Opting to take part in the people’s ordeals, very often involved
taking risks and going to critical places such as Sangay (one of the
communities of Kalamansig). MILF, a Muslim rebel group, maintained
activities in Sangay. The only way to know the real situation of the
people was by seeing and experiencing it for myself. The people, on the
other hand, assured me of their protection. The amount of risks that I
took was dependent on the information which the people gave.

I also took a risk in exposing myself to the MILF by establishing
contact with them. I realized that I had to know them better in terms of
their ideology, organization, movement, and plans. This attempt to
connect with the MILF served me well in being informed about their
movement in Kalamansig. The MILF officer assured me that they will not
harm me. This officer told me that it was safer for me to travel alone
with no military escort. To establish connection with them lessened my
anxiety to travel in critical places. Somehow, I felt a little safe.

To penetrate into a Muslim area was another breakthrough.
With all the stereotypical stories I had heard about them, to enter into
this unfamiliar space was not easy. The risk that I took started my
positive connection with the Muslims. The Muslims who knew me were
aware about the consultation that I was facilitating in Kalamansig
communities and they were happy about this activity.

To travel across the open sea was another risk. I relied on the
expertise of the fishermen. They knew the sea-world better than anyone
else. Sometimes, I had to take the land route and the road conditions
were terrible. Motorcycle was my only means of transportation. I
survived minor crashes.

An important aspect of wanting to unravel a community resource
is to catch stories. I had to take part in the discussion of bystanders and
drink with them. Social drinking played an important activity in my
interaction with the people. In this place where I worked, drinking was
one way to get into a group and become part of the community. I

81

observed that during such gatherings people were more spontaneous
and less formal. They could easily talk about their lives. This included
talking about their problems in the community and families. They would
also talk about how they survive difficulties in life such as having no
money, getting indebted to traders who lend money, and fearing the
MILF. Men would often indulge in such activity after fishing or after
farming. Women would also join the group, not for drinking but to take
part in story-telling. A few women would drink though.

Hanging around by the seashore was another way of getting
stories. Usually in the morning or late afternoon people would gather
there while awaiting the return of the fishermen with their catch. Last
August, during the season of bolinao, (a small fish known as dilis in
Tagalog), the fishermen would catch fish in the evening until dawn.
Through their stories, I understood why the people would wait for the
fishermen. They would help the fishermen unload the fish from the
boat. The fishermen responding to the favor rendered them would in
turn give the people a share from their catch. They called this kulabit. I
asked the children “Ngano kinahanglan nga mangulabit pa ‘mo?” (Why
do you need to do such?). They responded, “Motabang sa
pamilya…adunay bayranan sa skul” (To help the family, for the school
fees).

Aside from joining tuba (coconut extract) drinking sprees, I also
played billiards where men usually gathered for a break. There were no
inhibitions when they would talk.

In the expert model, client would go to the office of the
psychologist. In the pakiglambigit (being one with the community), the
psychologist immerse in the community and unite with the people in
their struggles. The psychologist is not paid for the services. Besides, the
“client” has no money to pay for “psychological” services.

In the expert model, the client tells stories and the therapist
simply listens and responds objectively to the stories told by the client.
Whereas, in pakiglambigit, the psychologist and the people mutually tell
their stories about their lives. People are not clients but partners.

82

Psychologist is not an expert but learner (Noguera, 2009; Baro, 1994 &
Prilleltensky, 2005).

83

chapter 6

Community Resource Reconnection

Immersion in the community had provided a natural opportunity
to observe significant activities for the people. After three years of
living, listening, and working with the Indigenous people (the Manobos,
Tausugs, and Maguindanaons), I discovered a community resource. The
people call this pintakasi. Pintakasi is a community process by which the
people help each other to address a community need without money
involved and personal interest to benefit all. For three years, I had
witnessed how the community utilized pintakasi to respond to
community needs. Later on, with the community, we tried to
experiment in utilizing this resource to address other concerns such as
the armed conflict and community development. And it positively
worked. From then on, community became the center of my reflection,
research, and struggles. After discovering pintakasi, I thought that there
is still so much to be unraveled in the community and by living with and
listening to the community, the people helped me to discover more.

Pintakasi must be one the resources fossilized by the
colonization. Hence pintakasi and among others are resources waiting to
be reawakened to serve the best interest of the community.

My intention to live and learn with the community is not only an
academic exercise. The attempt to discover the resources of the
community is also a part of the consciousness that I am a Filipino and I
could not withstand that I will just stand and see the people suffer and
die from a difficult situation such as the struggle of the people in the
hands of the MILF and the burden of poverty. In my case, I did not only
study pintakasi in a vacuum. I also paid attention to the struggles of the
people.

84

Hence, this attempt to recover a community resource is a story
of my collaboration, partnership, and struggle with the people. As a
researcher who observed the burdens of the people, I could not just
simply ignore the difficulties of the people. It was a personal decision, to
struggle with the community of Kalamansig.

I was dependent on the partnership which I entered with the
communities of Kalamansig. This included getting in touch with the kind
of situation they were experiencing. I became sensitive also to the kind
of response they were capable of, given the situation. Consequently, the
exploration opened up a wider range of possibilities for the potential of
pintakasi in responding to community needs.

The unearthing of pintakasi was an important aspect of my
discovery. But in similar manner, the way this research affected the
awareness of those involved in the activity was also important.

The goal of the research was drawn to understand pintakasi.
However, along the way, the participants (the researcher and the
communities), realized that they were already responding to the
problems of Kalamansig community. Thus, the research did not only pay
attention to the pintakasi phenomenon. The research itself also
embodied the pintakasi experience. The research became part of the
“pagtinabangay para sa kaayohan sa tanan na wala’y bayad ug
kaugalingon nga interes” (helping each other for the benefit of the
community without money involved and personal interest). The
research did not focus on data gathering alone. More importantly, I used
this research as a tool to understand a way to help the poor in
Kalamansig.

Jocano (2002) stayed in an urban poor community for three
years to describe the lifestyle of the people. I also did this by staying in
the community for three years. But I did not stop at describing the life of
the people and their resources. I joined the poor people in trying to find
solutions to their problems. And I returned to the people the result of
the research for their use. The literature asserts that a research that
looks into the concern of the poor needs to be done in partnership with
them (Craig, 2003; Prilleltensky, 2005; Baro, 1994; Berry, 1992; & Freire,

85

1984). The poor people may raise questions and object to issues that
affect them.

Decenteceo (1997) took at least ten years in the
conceptualization of the “Pagdadala Model”. He developed the concept
from his work with poor clientele and communities. He then returned
his discovery to the poor by using the Pagdadala model in training
community workers who also work with the poor. This is an example of
a concept that is drawn from the people and brought back to the same
people for their use. Pintakasi, in a similar way, is a concept drawn from
a community experience and utilized to benefit the same community.

Fine (2007) also suggests that more researches should be done
about the ideals of care such as empathy, connection, concern, and
altruism to give alternative to the hegemonic values of the market.
Findings should not also alienate the people from their own culture and
psychology (Berry, 1992).

As a psychologist, I get in touched with the dreams of the
people. They basically had two main dreams: end of war and poverty. I
was propelled to discover and explore the potentials of pintakasi
because of these dreams. As a psychologist who is supposed to take
care of community’s well-being, I could not isolate myself from the
aspiration of the poor struggling people. This research sought data for
the kaayohan sa tanan (benefiting all).

I tried to gather information about pintakasi piece by piece. Each
of the pieces made significant contributions to a kinatibuk-an, an all-
around understanding of pintakasi. As a result, the phenomenon
pintakasi made more sense to me. As my understanding of pintakasi
deepened, so also did my role in the community as a leader and as a
psychologist.

For three years, above the data that I could gather, my concern
for the life of the community had deepened. It became my priority. To
serve the interest of the community became my top concern. Part of
this, I had taken few risks by entering the war zones.

86

Reawaken A Community Resource

It took me at least two years to understand pintakasi and at least
a year for the people to become consciously aware that they have
pintakasi. This is a process of learning that need not to be enforced.
Unlike the colonization process, the colonizer had to use force and
rigidity to impose learning. The colonizers allow the people to relate
with the culture in a rigid way.

As a researcher, I attempted to study pintakasi to look deeper on
its the nature. And I did the study in collaboration with the people who
own pintakasi. The intention also of the study was also to extend the
benefits of pintakasi beyond traditional activities while still benefitting
the community. Originally, pintakasi was used on farm activities. It was
later used for non-farming activities like building bridges. Later it was
used for church activities.

Traditional pintakasi does not include planning and evaluation.
This is understandable. Traditional farming activities, learned from
parents over several generations, do not need to be planned. At best,
what the farmer needs to know are the signs as to when an activity
should be started, for example, the start of the planting season or the
harvest season. Nor does the farmer need to evaluate an activity except
perhaps to know that all the seedlings are planted in the fields or that all
the rice stalks have been cut down and gathered.

The researcher felt that to bring pintakasi up-to-date, that is, for
the farmer or fisherman to use pintakasi on other than traditional
activities, the two components of planning and evaluation should be
included in pintakasi. Planning allows the farmer to anticipate what is
needed to conduct an activity that is somewhat new, that is, non-
traditional. The evaluation activity allows the farmer to learn from
having conducted an activity. The farmer no longer needs to depend
entirely on the experience of an older generation. The farmer can learn
from his own experiences.

In this study, revised pintakasi was applied to activities proposed
by members of the community, which were planned and implemented
in the community. In fact, pintakasi was utilized to help the community

87

to deal with a totally unexpected event: the disruption of peace and
order and the resulting evacuation of residents because of attacks by
the MILF (Muslim rebels). The researcher tried to have the community
evaluate the planning and the activity also using pintakasi. This was the
first time the community evaluated an activity involving pintakasi (while
at the same time using pintakasi on the evaluation itself).

The goal of the research was not only to understand the nature
of pintakasi. It was also an attempt to find out how pintakasi could
respond to the concerns of Kalamansig communities. In addition, I also
wanted to inquire into how these exploratory attempts could shape my
role a psychologist in the communities.

The exploration of pintakasi led the accomplishing of something
important for the people of Kalamansig and for the researcher. In my
attempt to unravel the essentials of pintakasi, the following aspects
were brought out:

 I was able to describe pintakasi with the community.
 I was able to revise pintakasi with the community.
 The new revised pintakasi was utilized with the community.
 The community applied pintakasi in non-traditional activities

(Community reorganization, conflict management, community
consultation for peace, community disaster planning, community
prayer gathering for peace, and community evacuation center
activities).
 The perception of the participants (the researcher, and the
communities) about pintakasi changed.

Further validation of my findings was obtained as the community
planned, implemented, and evaluated the project. That is, I tried to
observe how the community “lived out” pintakasi as they carried out
the project.

A brief comment before I proceed further. Recall that my interest
in pintakasi arose from a researcher’s standpoint. At the same time, I
was responding to a need of the community. In effect, the researcher
part of me wanted to use pintakasi to help the community deal with an

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immediate need. I had made revisions in pintakasi. I had added
“planning” and “evaluation” to the features of pintakasi.

Now, I saw how the community used pintakasi as revised. As
they used the revise pintakasi, they confirmed my earlier findings on the
nature of pintakasi and they had accepted the revisions I made. Later, I
observed that they continued to use pintakasi in subsequent activities
thereby demonstrating that their awareness of pintakasi had shifted:
from pintakasi as useful only for traditional farming activities to
pintakasi revised and useful for contemporary activities.

As I joined the struggling people in the practice of pintakasi, I
also learned about an empowering role of a psychologist in the
community. To capture the elements of pintakasi will explain what I
meant by the empowering roles of a psychologist.

Very importantly, the study did not only present the nature and
use of pintakasi, its implication for the practice of clinical and
community psychology in the field. The study had also presented how
Sangay community positively dealt with the peace and order concern:
mainly, the attack of the MILF. This study gives a glimpse on how a
psychologist, and community workers could collaborate with a
community (victims of armed conflict) in terms of responding its
problems.

I believe that establishing safety is about starting to listen and
trust the community. Definitely a resource will unfold. And for a leader
like me is to create a consciousness that I am part of the community. But
again, by listening to the community, I discovered my relationship and
role in the community. Hence, to create a safe space for reconnection
had to be seen in the context of the community. And it is up to the
community to define this.

The reawakening of pintakasi had to be sustained. For the last
three years of utilizing pintakasi with the community, pintakasi was
sustained by constant dialogue, reflection, experimentation,
rediscovery, and reutilizing again. The centrality of the whole process is
to recognize the elements that will help the community grow (Figure 8).

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Framework of Pintakasi Community Psychosocial
Empowerment

PINTAKASI
FEATURES

Community Psychologist/
Leader

Research Planning Intervention Community
Relationship Implementation Concerns

Evaluation Roles Connection
Responsibility Networking
Resources
Strengths

Awareness Empowerment

Figure 8. Framework of Pintakasi Community Psychosocial Empowerment.
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chapter 5

Historical Resource Reconnection

It appears that Philippines was not able to correct the
inappropriate practice of Spain, Britain, U.S.A. and Japan. Philippines
eventually relived the traumatic legacy of the colonizers.

I had initially presented this paper to group of individuals such as
students, professionals, and poor communities. At the end of the group
discussion, the participants said that it was an awakening. They also said
that they had never realized how severe the damage of the colonization
to the Philippines. Specifically, the students said that here they are and
wanting to get out of the Philippines and serve the colonizers who
inflicted harm in the country. They started to ask what could probably
be done to recover the losses from the colonization.

This is but an initial attempt to inform the group of people about
the trauma of colonization. These initial findings could still be explored
more with a rigid scientific planning so as to determine the significance
of learning or consciousness which the participants could generate. This
also includes looking into other effects of the information.

Reconnection of the Community to the History of Trauma

In a personal note, when I started to look into the psychological
aspect of the history of colonization, something in my awareness
changed. I was able to go back to my roots and sense the value it offers
in the understanding of my identity as a Filipino. I was pained by the
elements of brutality and abuse which my ancestors had to endure in
the hands of the colonizers. But on the other hand, when I reconnected
to my history, I felt the sense of pride that I am Filipino. For the last 40
years of my existence, I always felt that there is something wrong with

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the way I understood myself as a Filipino. I grew up with the perspective
that my country is poor, problematic, corrupt, incorrigible, and chaotic.
The Hongkong writer even said indiscriminately that the Philippines is a
country of slaves. In the process, I became envious of the first world
countries. Thus, the desire to migrate to first world countries had
become an option also. But despite the seeming liabilities of this
country, I also felt and experienced a gift that I continued to hold on, the
Filipino’s sense of community. This makes the Philippines unique. And
by going back to history, I now understand better and deeper what this
gift means.

To retrace the Philippine history of trauma and its negative
impact to the Filipinos is also liberating. It has unleashed my biases,
uncertainties, shame, regrets and fear for being a Filipino. Yes it is true
that Philippines is a poor, problematic, incorrigible, corrupt, and chaotic
nation. This country is also a factory of slaves. But I am redeemed by the
fact that Philippines is in a situation which it did not choose for itself.
Philippines is caught up in a situation not by choice but by force. The 385
years of colonization has led the Philippines to its current ordeal. And I
take on the pride that the country was abused and not the abuser; the
exploited and not the perpetrator.

The awareness of course of the traumatic impact of the
colonization does not justify that the Philippines had to remain on a
fragmented situation. It has to redeem itself. But how is this possible?
This is the significance of relearning the history. It is by going back to the
history of Kalamansig that I discovered its redemption, pintakasi. The
history will show where the Philippines had to start in picking up its
pieces, shattered by the colonization.

With the attempt to understand the situation of the Filipinos, I
also started to ponder on the questions, “Why did I have to reach the
age of 40 to discover about the trauma from colonization?” “Why is this
aspect of history hardly talked about by the Filipinos and much by the
colonizers?” The irony of it all, Kalamansig, a poor community in
Mindanao, triggered me to unveil the traumatic impact of colonization.
But, I am putting aside this issue for a while for a deeper contemplation.
Meanwhile, I will explain further what I did with my discovery.

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Re-echoing the Histo-traumatization. To be informed of the
history of traumatization has a positive impact on me. For this result, I
decided to share my findings to the community of Kalamansig, my
students, and some professionals. Consequently, with the forum and
group discussion that I organized, I was able to gather the following
feedbacks:

 This is the first time that they heard about the history
with an emphasis on traumatization. The participants
said that the history was a boring subject in school
because the history teacher would ask students to
memorize names, events, and dates.

 The participants said that it is interesting to understand
the impact of colonization in the lives and consciousness
of the Filipinos.

 They mentioned that Filipinos are not informed well
about the history of the nation.

 They felt devastated to learn the extent to which the
Spain, Britain, U.S.A., and Japan had abused and
continued to abuse the Philippines.

 The participants expressed concern about how the
Philippines could recover from its painful past.

 Few raised the point on how they could personally be of
help to raise more awareness about the concern of the
Philippines.

 Few also emphasized that Filipinos suffered from
injustices.

 The participants said that many Filipinos are working as
domestic helpers, utility personnel, and second class
citizens in Spain, Britain, U.S.A. and Japan; as if nothing
happened in the past. They also said that Filipinos are
still slaves of the capitalists and the elites.

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 The participants felt that they are in dilemma whether
they would leave the country or not. They are caught up
in the thought they had to serve the country or serve
other country to meet the basic needs.

I have been doing the “reechoing” aspect of history for the last
five months. And I have not started any formal exploration on this
activity yet. But still, it has already gained positive response and created
positive awareness from at least 500 persons that participated in my
lecture, fora, small group discussion, and interviews. Somehow, the
aspect that the Filipinos had to be informed about this piece of history
has gained validation as far as I am concerned. But for any part of this
activity that has taken shape through the participation of the
community, I also see that this activity will be relevant in the future as
the community takes part in exploring its significance in creating change
in the community. At any rate, when this concept has its solid basis and
had not come from a void, reechoing of history is part of my concept of
reconnection.

Herman (1992) said that by reconnecting to the story of the past,
we also reconnect to the lesson it imparts. Reconnection is an important
process of picking up the pieces left by the colonization. Hopefully, by
understanding and embracing history, the Filipino communities will be
able to put together its broken pieces.

Change of awareness. I saw an important aspect in my
attempt to share to the individuals, groups, and communities the history
of traumatization. In effect, to be informed on the trauma of
colonization, could generate new positive awareness. For instance, in
the community where I work, the people had become more propelled to
strengthen community relationship. However, this new development in
the community awareness needed more exploration and systematic
planning in the future. At any cause, the following thoughts surfaced
during the reechoing process:

 Awareness about the history of colonization and its
trauma.

 Awareness about the identity of the Filipino.

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 Awareness about the psychological impact of
colonization.

 Awareness about the relationship of Filipinos to the
colonizing countries.

 Awareness about the impact of trauma.

 Awareness about the role of the community in social
transformation such as the use of “pintakasi”.

RECONNECT TO
COMMUNITY

REAWAKEN RECONNECT TO
COMMUNITY COMMUNITY

RESOURCE HISTORY

REVITALIZE
COMMUNITY

RESOURCE

AWARENESS

Figure 9. Reconnection Process.

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Figure 9 summarizes the concept for reconnection process. But
let me give a warning that this is a process which I discovered in time
and through my relationship with the community of Kalamansig. Hence,
this is not a formula that has to be strictly followed in getting involved in
the reconnection process. Let me review the interconnected process
one by one.

Reconnection with the Community

The concept emphasizes that the community is the resource for
healing the nation. Hence there is no other way by which one could
understand this process but to live, immerse, and integrate in the life of
the community.

Reawaken Community Resource

The premise is that the community holds the history. And an
important part which it holds is the internal and external resources
which keep the community intact. This is a work of reflection,
collaboration and partnership with the community. Nobody plays an
expert role. Regardless of learning, ethnicity, and beliefs, the community
helps each other and work together to rediscover a process that will
help benefit the community.

Community keeps community processes which have been useful
to them. However, the people are not aware that they have the
resource. The role of community facilitator is to work with the
community unravel and describe their inherent community strengths.

Revitalize Community Resource

The community facilitator helps the community to revitalize the
community resources which they have. Revitalization would mean
utilizing the community to address a community need.

The community decides on how the rediscovered process could
be revitalized to empower the community. Again, the community
decides on how a resource could be revitalized to serve the needs of the
community and eventually benefit all.

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Reconnect to Community History
The community has to be grounded to the lessons of its history.

The community is basically aware of the past. They only needed a tool
by which they could understand the past better. And hopefully this past
could help them rediscover resources which were fossilized during the
colonization. By reconnecting to the history, the community creates
awareness on how the past contributed to the current situation of the
community. The people are led to the awareness that they had to put an
end to that part of history that continues to oppress the people and
block the positive development of the community. On the other hand
the people have to continue part of the history that empowers the
community. The people are also led to the awareness that they have to
create a history that pursues recognition and respect for human dignity.
Community Awareness

Provided with the process of reconnection that is centered on
the community, the people continues to generate and develop
awareness that will help the community grow. The more people
reconnect by valuing the growth of the community more than the
personal survival, the people will continue to dialogue to rediscover and
revitalize itself. In such, it is expected that this process will also evolve to
the advantage of the community.

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chapter 6

Peacebuilding

Peacebulding is commonly defined as a process of mercy and
justice (Lederach 1995). Meanwhile, conflict prevention is the central
goal of peacebuilding, which aims at removing, transcending sources of
armed conflict within a society through social, political, and structural
change (Lederach, 1995 & Atack, 1997). But the concern about this
perspective is the aspect of “how?” How is this definition
operationalized?

Peacebuilding in the Philippines
Generally, the idea of peace building in the Philippines is the

absence or prevention of armed conflict (Atack, 1997; Lobrigo &
Imperial, 2005; Dionisio, 2005; & Ferrer, 2005). This includes the
absence of conflict, hostilities, disagreements, and physical violence.
This also connotes harmonious relationship within the family and
communities.

Peacebuilders in the Philippines use different strategy to address
peace building concerns such as peace advocacy, organizing, and
engagement strategies (Lobrigo & Imperial, 2005). This may take the
form of peace rallies, forum, seminars, capacity building, dialogue,
negotiation, and mediation.

Peacebuilding is mainly funded by international grant provider
(Noguera, 2009; Lobrigo & Imperial, 2005). Very often, these
international organizations provide the agenda and perspective for
handling, facilitating, and implementing peace activities.

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Peacebuilding in the Philippines is like a piecemeal where it only
focuses on hostility and armed conflict. It had forgotten to assess the
other dimension of peace process (Noguera, 2009).

There is also peace building process that responds to the social
injustices specifically brought by the Martial Law during the time of the
dictatorial government of former President Marcos (Dionisio, 2005).

Peace education program was also launched to inform citizens
specifically the students about peace issues and managing conflicts
(Castro, Lesaca, & Galace, 2005). But this is not a nationwide program.
Generally, this program is given to places where armed and cultural
conflicts are more salient such as Mindanao. But there are not many
schools that had taken this seriously. Peace Education themes would
include peace frameworks, mediation, conflict management, human
rights, and paths to peace. But again, in peace education the impact of
colonization to peace building is never talked about. I believe that Peace
education had to be explored in the context of the trauma from the
colonization. And part of the process is for the education to reconnect
to the organic positive community process. But I think, peace education
is not the problem. The whole educational system is the problem and
seems not be promoting peace. I will discuss this aspect in the latter
part. The basic question is how can peace education be thought when
the basic goal of the Filipino students is survival?

Part of the peace building effort is responding to the victims of
the trauma of war. More often psychologists or social worker use
debriefing to address the concerns of the victims. Sometimes art or play
therapy is used for children. There was never an attempt to utilize an
indigenous process to look after the needs of the victims.

There are also instances where peacebuilders had to overpower
each other. Some peacebuilders had to prove that his/her perspective is
better that anyone else. Conflict of interest or conflict within processes
and perspectives disunites peacebuilders (Noguera, 2009). There are
also instances by which the peacebuilders had to compete for funds.
Consciously or unconsciously, power issue becomes a stumbling block
among peace builders (Dionisio, 2005). Or the peace builders are

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unaware that they are also the byproduct of the effect of colonization?
The crucial part is- what effect would this reality have on the
stakeholders- the poor communities?

The peace building seemed to be lacking in the continuity of
process (Noguera, 2009). The peacebuilders lack the tool to evaluate
their program in view of process, effectivity, and efficiency. Again what
effect it would have when peacebuilders use the western tool to assess
peace programs – a tool formulated by the colonizers?

Again, even within the peacebuilding initiatives, the issue of
trauma from the colonization is not all discussed. Much less is the
discussion of recovery by utilizing organic community resources which
were buried by the colonization trauma.

Traumatization and Peacebuilding

For the last ten years I had the chance to work in Mindanao as a
community organizer. In this work, I had learned about the issues and
varied initiatives on peace process. More often, the issues are related to
ancestral domain and peace negotiation between the Muslim leaders
and the government. Thus, there was never a discussion about the
relationship of the trauma of colonization to the peace building process.
On the other hand, there is also a scarcity of literatures that connect
peace building to the impact of colonization. There are however more
materials on peace building that are centered on the issues of armed
conflict in Mindanao and the struggle of New People’s Army (NPA)
against the national government. This only portrays that peace building
is centered on addressing the concerns of the Muslims and the NPA.

But peace building is not only about the Muslim-Christian
conflict, ancestral domain, Filipino communist struggle and the
government’s attempt to contain the armed conflicts. Trauma history
affirms that those issues are only but few of the negative impacts
created by the colonization. Hence, peace building is not only about the
arm struggle issues. There are other deep issues to be looked at to
create an integral understanding of peace building.

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