The core value of Filipino personhood is Kapwa.
It bridges the deepest individual recess of a person with anyone outside him or
herself, even total strangers. Here, it is not important if you are rich or
poor or what your status in society is. It is shared identity, an inner self
shared with others. It implies a moral and normative aspect that obliges a
person to treat another as fellow human being and therefore as equal. People
are just people in spite of their age, clothes, diplomas, color or affiliations.
Kapwa is the unity of the one of us and the other, the concept as a Filipino
core value. Most people who hear the word Kapwa think of their neighbors also
as fellow being.
For me Kapwa means to help someone that needs a
helping hand. Even though he or she is outside my race, it does not matter what
color he or she is, because deep inside we are one. Sometimes Kapwa really gets me into trouble
because people will just take advantage of my kind heart. For a while, I
thought Kapwa is the meaning of Kapwang Pinoy, and it is to help my own race.
As I grew up, I got to see and experience different types of races and they are
not different than I am.
Chris, this is a very strong post and I harmonize with your every word. Your assertion is resilient and you have used pathos in order to reflect on your own interpretation of KAPWA from the past then showing its evolution. That's exactly how I perceive this term myself. It starts with a foundation within our self, but then structures into something greater beyond our individual character. As you said, being trusting in a world that we live in can cause heart break along with an ability to lose faith. As long as we are doing the right thing (most of the time), we will have our own inner peace and feeling of righteousness. Just because people don't show their gratitude doesn't mean that they were not actually thankful. My past was also full of abuse and misuse but I was able to grow from those experiences enhancing my own character to lead for a better society.
ReplyDeleteI like how you defined kapwa then describe what kapwa is in your own words. Kapwa is a very important topic and i like how you chose this concept to talk about. Nice post!
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