The basic structure of Philippine society is found in the Filipino family (banay,
ceb.; mag-anak,
tag.). Within this structure, parents (ginikanan,
ceb.;magulang,
tag.) generally rule all aspects of the family. In the wider context, we have the community. In the past this is called the
balangay, a political unit composed of families largely related by blood headed by a
datu. The
datu heads the
balangay like parents to their children. This old social structure still operates today, only that its identity and expression may have taken modern forms.
In the past, the
balangays, using indigenous technology, survive and prosper by utilizing the resources in their local environment. In this earlier stage of social development, there is not much considerable economic gap between the
datu and his or her members. This situation changed, however, when the
datus come in contact with foreign traders enabling the local
datus to secure resources and technologies not available locally. In this new situation, the datus managed to control not only greater political power but also greater economic power over the rest of their
kabalangays. As the
datus continue to exploit local and global resources and relevant technologies, a new class came into existence—the ruling class composed of the
datu families that tend to perpetuate and expand their power by force and intermarriage. Before the excesses of this new social order was self-corrected locally, the western colonial powers came and made use of this existing social order to pursue their goal. Until now, this situation remains largely the same. Political and economic powers still remain in the hands of the ruling families, they still perpetuate and expand their power by force and intermarriage exploiting local and global resources and related technologies for their own benefit, and global powers still manipulate the local situation to pursue global domination. The suffering of the victims of this social order, however, has continued to deepen dramatically.
Many attempts have been made to solve national problems many Filipino communities face, but these consistently fail. Why? Borrowed or introduced solutions no matter how profound simply don’t work in the long term. Borrowed or introduced solutions are never sustainable. These solutions are not left to be discovered by the victims of the social order themselves, rather these are introduced by so called experts. When introduced by these expert and accepted by the inarticulate without a challenge, these solutions effectively deny the people concerned the basic freedom to have time-space to freely discover, understand, and articulate in their language what is happening to them and their world in order that they may find and act upon their ideas that reflect their deepest desires. More deeply, these solutions fail because these are thought out using foreign language and articulated in foreign conceptual frameworks that, on one level, lack appeal to the indigenous mind and, on another level, kills its initiative to freely ponder and think. These foreign ideas force the indigenous mind to focus and respond only in the passive reactive mode. The mind that always loses the initiative will eventually become captured, and once captured it replaces native knowledge systems with borrowed concepts as the basis for appreciating and understanding reality. Since the use of borrowed solutions only result to furthering the enslavement of the native mind, it is just natural for the indigenous sensitivity deeply embedded in our hearts to dissent and effectively fail our captured conscious process. I believe that if solutions are explored using indigenous knowledge systems, sustainable solutions to national problems will cease to become a big concern.
The basic structure of Philippine society is found in the Filipino family (banay, ceb.; mag-anak,tag.). Within this structure, parents (ginikanan, ceb.;magulang,tag.) generally rule all aspects of the family. In the wider context, we have the community. In the past this is called the balangay, a political unit composed of families largely related by blood headed by a datu. The datu heads the balangay like parents to their children. This old social structure still operates today, only that its identity and expression may have taken modern forms.
In the past, the balangays, using indigenous technology, survive and prosper by utilizing the resources in their local environment. In this earlier stage of social development, there is not much considerable economic gap between the datu and his or her members. This situation changed, however, when the datus come in contact with foreign traders enabling the local datus to secure resources and technologies not available locally. In this new situation, the datus managed to control not only greater political power but also greater economic power over the rest of their kabalangays. As the datus continue to exploit local and global resources and relevant technologies, a new class came into existence—the ruling class composed of the datu families that tend to perpetuate and expand their power by force and intermarriage. Before the excesses of this new social order was self-corrected locally, the western colonial powers came and made use of this existing social order to pursue their goal. Until now, this situation remains largely the same. Political and economic powers still remain in the hands of the ruling families, they still perpetuate and expand their power by force and intermarriage exploiting local and global resources and related technologies for their own benefit, and global powers still manipulate the local situation to pursue global domination. The suffering of the victims of this social order, however, has continued to deepen dramatically.
Many attempts have been made to solve national problems many Filipino communities face, but these consistently fail. Why? Borrowed or introduced solutions no matter how profound simply don’t work in the long term. Borrowed or introduced solutions are never sustainable. These solutions are not left to be discovered by the victims of the social order themselves, rather these are introduced by so called experts. When introduced by these expert and accepted by the inarticulate without a challenge, these solutions effectively deny the people concerned the basic freedom to have time-space to freely discover, understand, and articulate in their language what is happening to them and their world in order that they may find and act upon their ideas that reflect their deepest desires. More deeply, these solutions fail because these are thought out using foreign language and articulated in foreign conceptual frameworks that, on one level, lack appeal to the indigenous mind and, on another level, kills its initiative to freely ponder and think. These foreign ideas force the indigenous mind to focus and respond only in the passive reactive mode. The mind that always loses the initiative will eventually become captured, and once captured it replaces native knowledge systems with borrowed concepts as the basis for appreciating and understanding reality. Since the use of borrowed solutions only result to furthering the enslavement of the native mind, it is just natural for the indigenous sensitivity deeply embedded in our hearts to dissent and effectively fail our captured conscious process. I believe that if solutions are explored using indigenous knowledge systems, sustainable solutions to national problems will cease to become a big concern.
