LECTURE 1.

3
THE HUMANITIES AND THE FILIPINO PERSONHOOD (PAGKATAO)

Covar, Prospero. 1998. Larangan: Seminal Essays on Philippine Culture, Manila:

Sampaguita Press.

Pilipinolohiya (Chapter 4) is the systematic study of the Filipino psyche, and of

Philippine culture and society. The Filipino, Covar writes, is like a banga (vessel), and
s/he has: labas (exteriority), loob (interiority), and lalim (depth). Using structural
functionalism and concepts from indigenous scholarship, he questions the applicability
of Western theories in studying the Filipino. For instance, these fail to adequately
explain the “Great and Little Traditions.” For Covar, the Philippines as a nation-state did
not follow a unilinear evolution. Instead, it consists of social units which operate
according to their own internal mechanisms (77). For the author, the Philippines is
composed of various batis (streams) of cultures (32), and there is still a need to
research the cultural equivalents of concepts found in the various provinces (e.g. the
concept of loob (interiority) in the Tagalog areas versus the concept of nakem of the
Ilokanos) (63). Similar concepts appear to be the sambahayan (family/household),
samahan (interests), pamayanan (community), and sambayanan (nation). In the study
of Filipino social organization, there are distinct terms for each family member, thereby
arguing that the linguistic idiosyncrasies reveals the distinctness of a certain culture.
Also in the Filipino family, individuals are lumped together according to generation (68),
revealing the importance of age and seniority. The sambahayan (family) is the “strength
of the nation”, and “to undermine the Filipino family is to undermine the nation” (22).
These levels of socio-political organization carry out the following functions: recruitment
of members; enculturation; allocation of goods and services, and; allocation of power
and authority (23). Culture, Covar writes, has two parts: likas (natural, inherent,
biological), and likha (created, man-made). There are also three kinds of knowledge in
the Philippines: the knowledge relating to God (incontestable); the knowledge
possessed by humans (natural, achieved by studying the environment and nature), and;
forced knowledge (not according to the will of God, such as that used to create “miracle
rice” or nuclear energy)1.

COVAR’S FILIPINO ANTHROPOLOGY

KATAUHAN PAGKATAO
Biological: Cultural:
Born as a human being Becoming a human being
Act of being human Process of becoming human
“personality” “personhood”

“Madaling maging tao; mahirap magpakatao.”

1
Covar, Prospero. 1998. Larangan – Dada's Bookmarksdadadocot.com
Ang “Pagpapakatao” is the process by which one becomes a human being.
In Elementary class it is being taught as values education. Pupils learn “Kagandahang
Asal or Pag-uugali as preached by their teachers, yet it is observed from the behavior and
actions of a person which originally taught by their parents in their childhood development.
Meaning, the human personality is being nurtured according to family values and orientation,
peers or even exposure of the child to social media.

What is the relation of Manunggul Jar to Filipino Personhood?

The Manunggul Jar is a secondary burial jar excavated from a Neolithic burial
site in the Manunggul cave of the Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point in Palawan, Philippines.
It dates from 890–710 B.C.[2] and the two prominent figures at the top handle of its
cover represent the journey of the soul to the afterlife.

Manunggul Jar displayed at Philippine National Museum of Anthropology

The Manunggul Jar is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest Philippine pre-
colonial artworks ever produced and is considered a masterpiece of Philippine
ceramics. It is listed as a national treasure and designated as item 64-MO-74[3] by the
National Museum of the Philippines. It is now housed at the National Museum of
Anthropology and is one of the most popular exhibits there. It is made from clay with
some sand soil.
The Manunggul Jar shows that the Filipinos' maritime culture is paramount that it
reflected its ancestors' religious beliefs. Many epics around the Philippines would tell
how souls go to the next life, aboard boats, pass through the rivers and seas. This belief
is connected with the Austronesian belief of the anito. The fine lines and intricate
designs of the Manunggul Jar reflect the artistry of early Filipinos. These designs are
proof of the Filipinos' common heritage from the Austronesian-speaking ancestors
despite the diversity of the cultures of the Filipinos.[10] The upper part of the Manunggul
jar, as well as the cover, is carved with curvilinear scroll designs (reminiscent of waves
on the sea) which are painted with hematite 2.

The Manunggul jar is largely

made from clay and it
measures 51.5 cm wide and
66.5 cm high. Its embossed,
curved designs especially those
at the upper portion of the jar
were painted in pure hematite
and iron (National Museum
Information).

There are two human images riding a boat located on top of the jar’s cover. The
first human image, holding an oar with a missing blade, is situated at the back area. He
seems to be steering the oar rather than paddling the boat. The second human image,
with arms folded across the chest, is situated at the front. Both human images seem to
have a band tied over their heads down to their jaws. The image of a head complete
with carved eyes, nose and mouth is also seen at the front area of the boat.

The two human images were said to symbolize two souls on a voyage toward the
afterlife. The arms folded across the chest of the second human image and the band
being tied from the top of the head down to the jaw, on the other hand, represented the
Philippine tradition of arranging a dead body (Chua 1-2). The three main features of the
Manunggul jar is composed of the boat itself, the boat driver and the soul. This was
based on the Austronesian belief wherein the soul of a human separates from the body
after death and returns to the Earth in another form for the purpose of looking after his
or her descendants. The souls were believed to travel through boats just like the one
depicted on the jar’s cover (Chua 2-3).

2
Manunggul Jar - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
 The “ship-of-the-dead” image in the Manunggul jar was found to have close
similarities with the ship motifs of woodcarvings found in Taiwan, East Timor and other
places in South East Asia. Such ship motifs were seen during ancient funerals using
boat-shaped coffins3.

3
The Manunggul Jar: A Relic of Philippine History | Open Road Reviewopenroadreview.in
 NON-DUALISTIC RELATION IN FILIPINO PSYCHOLOGY
Labas Loob
Hipo Dama
Pigil Timpi
Dinig Ulinig
Tawa Tuwa
Saya Ligaya
Sarap Ginhawa
“The first objective of a colonizing power is to erase the cultural memory of the
conquered people, to induce a collective amnesia about their past and supplant it
with the culture of the colonizers. In this lie the roots of Filipino derivativeness
and inferiority complex vis-a-vis the West.”
Pre-Colonial Period Had our own cultural identity
(Before 1500’s)

Colonial Period Our identity destroyed by colonizers: Westernization

(1500-1950) of Filipino Culture making us alienated from our own

Post-Colonial Period Reclamation, affirmation and definition of our identify

(1950 onwards) in our own terms

FILIPINO CULTURE WESTERN CULTURE

(Subordinated) (Standard)

FORMS OF ALIENATION CAUSED BY WESTERNIZATION OF FILIPINO CULTURE

 1. Alienation from Community
2. Alienation from Our Sources of Cultural Energy: Thinking in Borrowed
Forms and the Economics of Dependency
3. Alienation from Our Race: The Doña Victorina Syndrome:
4. Alienation from the Indigenous: Denigrating the Local
5. Alienation from the Land
6. Alienation from Being Filipino
7. Alienation from Sustainable Living

FILIPINO CULTURE
(Standard) OTHER CULTURES

Some Recommendations for Developing a Filipino and Humanistic Perspective

1. Heightening social consciousness and sense of responsibility to the
nation.
2. Promoting people participation, local genius, and cultural diversity.
3. Promoting the local but thinking national or global: human communities,
not the state, are the ultimate actors in the development process
4. Integrating the arts to social and cultural phenomena as lucid mirrors of
social consciousness.

THE COMMUNAL CHARACTER OF PHILIPPINE TRADITIONAL CULTURES AS

REFLECTED IN THE ARTS
1. Integration of the arts with other values and functions
 2. Unity of the arts
3. Art is integrated with everyday life and not regarded as a separate activity.
4. Equality of opportunity for participation in the artistic and creative process.
5. Flexibility of material, technical, and formal requirements
6. Use of available resources for artistic creation
7. Emphasis on the creative process rather than the finished product
8. Simultaneity of conception and realization

EXERCISE 1.1
Write ten (10) Non-Dualistic relation of terms in Tagalog that you are familiar with
(except from the given examples stated in the module).
LABAS LOOB

1. ___________________ ___________________

2. ___________________ ___________________

3. ___________________ ___________________

4. ___________________ ___________________
5. _________________ ___________________

6. ___________________ ___________________

7. ___________________ ___________________

8. ___________________ ___________________

9. ___________________ ___________________

10. ___________________ ___________________