Kapwa, Pakikipagkapwa, at Pakikipagkapwa-tao

Western Views:
! Kapwa: both, fellow being, others
! others is used in opposition to the self
! implies the recognition of the self
! self as a separate identity

"ka" the magic syllable

- transforms the root word to something else
- formation of ugnayan or relasyon
- e.g., kapuso, kapamilya, ka-ibigan, katabi, kakusa

"gawi": pagpapakilala
westerns: hello, what do you do?
- achievement
Filipinos: kumusta? Saan ka nanggaling?
- connection (knew of the same person)
Asians put premium to relationship

Filipinos comfortability with ambiguity (e.g.,

Kapwa
Teorya ng Kapwa (Enriquez)

Weaknesses
(1) halu-halong gamit ng mga termino
• Kapwa as value and shared identity
(2) Paiba-iba ng definition

- not other in English

- closes was fellow but not psychological
- overlap of sairili and iba (unity of the self and others)
- shared identity of self and others (similarities- e.g., gender, school; shared experiences;
kapwa)
- the recognition of shared identity
- an inner self shared with others, unity of the self and others
- Treating the other person as kapwa or fellow human being (Enriquez, 1978, 1994)
- being-with-others (Enriquez, 1977)
- no dissolution of individuality
- not much on the recognition of a status given by others
- opposites:
ako (ego)

iba-sa-akin (others)

self, others, and shared identity

SELF OTHERS

▪ egoistic
▪ not irreducible as in the case of river and
ocean

▪ similarity: universal experiences (e.g., love, suffering, death, sacrifices, etc.)

▪ difference: their respective encounters
▪ moral imagination or empathetic imagination from the relatedness of the self and
others

Two (2) categories of kapwa

1. Ibang-tao (outsider)

:Pakikitungo (transaction/civility with)

:pakikisalamuha (interaction with)
:pakikilahok (joining/participating)
:pakikibagay (in-conformity with/in accord with)
:pakikisama (being along with)
2. Hindi Ibang-tao (one-of-us)

:pakikipalagayang-loob (being in rapport/understanding/acceptance with)

:pakikisangkot (getting involved)
:pakikiisa (being one with)

Ibang tao and hindi ibang tao definition is based on lapit ng loob,
Matagal na magkasama

PAKIKIPAGKAPWA

- “Pakikipagkapwa…means accepting and dealing with the other person as an equal….”

- “the dignity and being of others.”
Antas ng Pakikipagkapwa
1. Pakikisangkot (highest)
2. Pakikiisa
3. Pakikipagpalagayang-loob - optimum level of relationship
4. Pakikilahok
5. Pakikisama
6. Pakikibagay
7. Pakikitungo
8. Pakikisalamuha (lowest)

- increasing levels of risks in the relationship

Assumptions
(1) ibang tao at hindi ibang tao considered as kapwa
• ikaw at ako ay magkapantay
(2) Pagkilos na maari lamang sa isang partikular na kategorya ng kapwa
• biro
• lambing (nuissances even in gender dynamics)
• tampo
• lambing and tampo are instrumental behaviors as we use them to get something
(3) dumadaan sa mga nabanggit na antas ang lahat ng mga pagtutunguhan (Margallo, 1981)
(4) kailangang nasa parehong antas ang pag-uugnayan
• off shot of FC concept or feeling close
• e.g., panghihimasok, pananakop
(5) mga galaw ang pag-uugnayan
• direksyon: atras-abante ang ugnayan
• bilis ng daloy: mabagal o mabilis
• paglalim
. . . and Pakikisama

(Enriquez, 1977)

PAKIKIPAGKAPWA PAKIKISAMA
▪ Failure: unacceptable to Philippine
Society ▪ Failure: unacceptable to a certain
group like barkada (walang pakikisama)
(walang kapwa tao)
▪ a form of pakikipagkapwa but not the
other way around. (Enriquez 1977)
▪ accepting and dealing with the other
person as an equal (Enriquez, 1977)
▪ regard for the “dignity and being of
others”
▪ the form expressed out of the drive
▪ driver of Filipinos in their interaction from pakikipagkapwa
▪ respect for, and the recognition of, the
other as being different from the pack, ▪ Collectivism shuns individuality
from oneself ▪ tolerates no one who attempts at being
▪ we are the same by the virtue of being different from the pack
different

Pakikipagkapwa-tao
- core value (Yacat)
Core value criteria
(1) stable
(2) base rates (frequent and widespread)
(3) highly endorsed

Enriquez claims that kapwa is a core value dahil it is the foundation of all other values
-it is core also because it gets the most negative feeling
- Clemente et. al., 2008, appeared as not a core value where other values sprang from

Values
• either personal or cultural
• either for self identity or group identity
• are always positive, desirable end goals, aspirations, mithiin
• beliefs of what we want to happen in our life
• are transituational: cut across situations
• Thus, are better predictor of pagkatao than attitudes
• pamantayan sa pagpili sa kilos, tao, o pangyayari
Manifestations of the value
1. Pakikiramdam (interpersonal)
• Accomodative surface value
• Confrontative surface value
2. Kagandahang-loob (social)
3. Social values (social)

Yacat
Pakikipagkapwa-tao at Katutubong Worldview
- uncertainty (bilog ang mundo, swerte, malas)
- uncontrollable forces
- tHUs, the world is more bearable if you have someone and pakikagkapwa has an adaptive
value