“Puhon, puhon;” Language and Resilience of the Filipino | Von Ryan Abrantes | TEDxAvenuesWorldSchool
Summary
TLDRThe speaker, Von Ryan de Brances, discusses the resilience of Filipinos in the face of natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlighting the importance of spirituality, purpose, and community support, he uses the Bisayan language to explore the cultural aspects of resilience, as exemplified by the words 'pujon' (faith and hope), 'padayon' (perseverance), and 'magtinabangan' (helping others). The talk emphasizes the need for an environment that fosters resilience, rather than expecting it as a given, and calls for collective support in overcoming challenges.
Takeaways
- 😋 Lumpia and ube are iconic Filipino foods, representing the rich culinary culture of the Philippines.
- 🏖 The Philippines is known for its beautiful beaches like Boracay, Cebu, and Palawan, making it a popular tourist destination.
- 🌍 The Philippines is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, which results in frequent typhoons and volcanic activity.
- 😷 The country has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many lives lost and people hospitalized.
- 🔥 In January 2020, Batangas province faced the eruption of Ta'al Volcano and the destruction of Typhoon Ulysses, amidst the pandemic.
- 😊 Despite adversities, Filipinos are often depicted as happy and smiling, showcasing their resilience.
- 📊 The Philippines ranks 61st in the World Happiness Report, being happier than many of its neighbors.
- 🙏 The Filipino concept of 'pujon' or 'pohon' reflects a hopeful and prayerful attitude, contributing to resilience.
- 🚀 The term 'padayon' embodies the idea of perseverance and moving forward, even in the face of setbacks.
- 👫 'Magtinabangan' highlights the importance of community support in building resilience, akin to the Filipino tradition of 'bayanihan'.
- ⚠️ The narrative of Filipino resilience should not be used as an excuse to neglect creating supportive environments for overcoming challenges.
Q & A
What is Lumpia and why is it significant in Filipino culture?
-Lumpia is a crunchy, moorish Filipino spring roll filled with pork and vegetables. It is significant in Filipino culture as it is considered the life of every Filipino party, symbolizing the country's love for food and community gatherings.
What is Ube and how is it used in Filipino cuisine?
-Ube is a cartoonishly purple yam that is used in various Filipino desserts such as sugar biscuits, cakes, pastries, and ice cream. It has gained popularity and is taking the upper division of avenues by storm.
What are the geographical features of the Philippines that make it prone to natural disasters?
-The Philippines is an archipelago located west of the Pacific Ocean in the region known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. This location means it experiences an average of 20 tropical cyclones annually, with 8 to 9 making landfall, and has hundreds of volcanoes, 24 of which are classified as active.
How has the Philippines been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?
-The Philippines has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with thousands of lives lost and many more hospitalized. The country has also faced additional challenges such as the eruption of Ta'al volcano and the destruction of Typhoon Ulysses during the pandemic.
What is the estimated population of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the United States as of 2018?
-As of 2018, there are an estimated 4 million Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the United States.
What does the speaker mean by 'resilience' in the context of the Filipino people?
-In the context of the Filipino people, 'resilience' refers to their ability to cope and thrive in difficult situations and sufferings, to bounce back after a setback, and to maintain social order in the middle of a crisis.
What is the significance of the word 'pujon' or 'pohon' in the speaker's personal experience?
-The word 'pujon' or 'pohon', which means 'god willing' or 'let's pray', is used by the speaker's mother as a form of hopeful encouragement and a way to build resilience. It represents a sense of spirituality and destiny that helps in coping with stress and maintaining hope for the future.
How does the speaker relate the concept of 'resilience' to the Filipino people's religiosity?
-The speaker relates the concept of 'resilience' to the Filipino people's religiosity by highlighting how they turn to their faith during crises, praying and waiting for God's help, which is a factor that builds resilience.
What is the meaning of 'padayon' and how does it contribute to resilience?
-'Padayon' roughly translates to 'onward', 'keep going', or 'carry on'. It is a sense of mission and purpose that encourages individuals to keep moving forward, whether they have succeeded or faced setbacks, thus contributing to resilience.
What is the concept of 'magtinabangan' and how does it relate to community resilience?
-'Magtinabangan' means 'to help others' and relates to the concept of 'bayanihan', which signifies community support and cooperation. It highlights the importance of neighbors and community in building personal and national resilience during difficult times.
How does the speaker address the potential misuse of the narrative of Filipino resilience?
-The speaker addresses the potential misuse of the narrative of Filipino resilience by cautioning that it should not be used as an excuse to expect Filipinos to endure oppression, calamities, or racism without support. Resilience should be a byproduct of overcoming challenges, not a requirement.
What is the speaker's hope for the Filipino people and the concept of resilience?
-The speaker hopes that the Filipino people, with their resilient spirit, continue to thrive and live safe and prosperous lives. They also hope that everyone can develop resilience in ways that are supported and that people support those around them to develop it themselves.
Outlines
🌴 Introduction to Filipino Culture and Resilience
The speaker begins by engaging the audience with familiar Filipino elements such as lumpia and ube, highlighting the country's vibrant culture. They introduce the Philippines as an archipelago in the Pacific Ring of Fire, prone to natural disasters like typhoons and volcanic activity. Despite recent challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic and natural calamities, Filipinos are depicted as a happy and resilient people. The speaker, Von Ryan de Brances, a teacher with personal ties to the country, aims to explore the concept of resilience through the Bisayan language and share insights into the Filipino spirit.
🙏 Resilience Through Spirituality and Hope
This paragraph delves into the role of spirituality and hope in building resilience among Filipinos. The speaker shares the use of the term 'pujon' or 'pohon', which reflects a hopeful outlook and a form of prayer for a better future. This is linked to the religiosity of the Filipino people, who often turn to faith during crises. The speaker also discusses the importance of having a sense of purpose, as represented by the word 'padayon', which encourages continuous progress despite setbacks. These cultural elements contribute to the nation's collective resilience.
👫 Community and Support as Pillars of Resilience
The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of community and helping others in fostering resilience. The concept of 'magtinabangan' is introduced, which is about assisting one another, akin to the Filipino tradition of 'bayanihan'. The speaker recounts a personal experience during a typhoon, where neighbors came together to support each other despite the disaster. However, the paragraph also addresses the complexity of resilience, noting that it should not be expected as a default response to every calamity. The speaker advocates for creating environments that support the development of resilience and cautions against using resilience as an excuse to ignore the need for societal support and change.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Lumpia
💡Ube
💡Resilience
💡Pujon/Pohon
💡Padayon
💡Magtinabangan
💡Boracay, Cebu, and Palawan
💡Pacific Ring of Fire
💡Taal Volcano
💡Typhoon Ulysses
💡Bayanihan
Highlights
Introduction of Lumpia, a popular Filipino spring roll, as a symbol of Filipino culture.
Ube, the purple yam, as a versatile ingredient in Filipino cuisine and its growing popularity.
The Philippines' stunning beaches as a tourist attraction and their significance in the country's identity.
The large Filipino and Filipino-American population in the United States.
Geographical challenges of the Philippines being in the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The impact of natural disasters, such as typhoons and volcanic eruptions, on the Philippines.
The Philippines' struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the population.
The perception of Filipinos as a happy and resilient people despite hardships.
Philippines' ranking in the World Happiness Report and its comparison with neighboring countries.
The concept of 'pujon' or 'pohon' as a form of hope and resilience in Filipino culture.
The role of spirituality and religiosity in building resilience among Filipinos.
The significance of 'padayon' as a driving force for resilience and purpose in Filipino culture.
The importance of a sense of purpose in building resilience, as supported by the American Psychological Association.
The concept of 'magtinabangan' as a form of community support and its role in resilience.
The historical practice of 'bayanihan' as an example of community resilience in the Philippines.
The complexity of resilience and the social and political factors that influence its development.
The potential misuse of the resilience narrative as an excuse for inaction in the face of adversity.
The call for a supportive environment to develop resilience rather than expecting it as a default trait.
The speaker's personal story of resilience during a typhoon and the importance of community support.
The conclusion emphasizing the need for support in developing resilience and the hope for a prosperous future.
Transcripts
raise a hand if you're familiar with
lumpia
crunchy moorish filipino spring roll
filled with pork and vegetable
the life of every filipino party
raise a hand if you're familiar with ube
the cartoonishly purple yam that can be
turned into sugar biscuits cakes
pastries or even ice cream and is taking
the upper division of avenues by storm
come by eight floors south to try some
raise a hand if you're familiar with the
beautiful beaches of boracay cebu and
palawan
stunning white beaches crystal clear
waters perfect summer getaway
or maybe you're in my ninth grade
integrated science class i see some
students here
one way or another you probably had a
connection or an interaction with the
philippines or filipino people
after all there's an estimated 4 million
filipinos and filipino americans in the
united states of america in 2018
but our country is more than its good
food
and to a spot
there's more to the story
of our beautiful nation
the philippines is an archipelago west
of the pacific ocean and in the region
called the pacific ring of fire
being in this location means that
there's an average of 20 tropical
cyclone that will enter the philippine
area of responsibility with eight to
nine of them making landfall annually
being in the pacific ring of fire means
that there are hundreds of volcanoes in
the country with 24 of them classified
as active
recently our country has been one of the
most affected by the kovit 19 pandemic
with thousands of lives lost and many
more hospitalized
in fact in january 2020
the province of batangas had to deal
with the eruption of ta'al volcano
the destruction of typhoon ulysses
all while dealing with the global
pandemic
tough luck
i guess to a more common standard you
might think that we are not the luckiest
nation
you might even assume that the filipinos
would be a miserable bunch
yet for some strange reasons
filipinos are always depicted on media
as happy
and smiling
i don't know how you could smile while
half of your body submerged in flood
water
time and again one word has been used to
describe the filipino people
resilient quick to recover from
sufferings
happy in the middle of their hardships
in fact in the recent world happiness
report the philippines ranks 61st among
149 nations and ranked happier
compared to most of our east and
southeast asian neighbors
surfing flood waters
having a drink with friends in the
middle of the flood
smiling in the middle of all these
devastations
i think i could call that resilient
my name is von ryan de brances and i'm a
teacher at upper division at avenues and
i was born and raised in valenzuela city
philippines but my parents are both from
hindu southern leyte
why am i telling you this
there are actually more than 120
languages in the philippines my siblings
and myself grew up
speaking filipino
but both my parents speak a different
regional language visaya
in this talk i will use the bisayan
language as a lens
to discuss and reflect about the
resilience of the filipino people
i hope that at the end of this talk
we will understand
how the filipinos are this resilient
and develop the resilience that lies
within us
i guess let's start by defining
resilience
resilience is the ability to cope and
thrive in difficult situations and
sufferings
it's the ability to bounce back
after a setback in life
for a whole nation it could be the
ability of a country to maintain social
order in the middle of a crisis
growing up
my mother will always say the word pujon
or pohon
which roughly means god willing we can
wish or let's pray
she will tell me this when i'm stressed
out because i have exams coming up
or when i'm
doing some wishful thinking going i hope
that we can have a bigger house or more
food in our table my mom would say
which translates to when you finish your
studies and find a good job it will
happen
even now in the middle of a global
pandemic when traveling has been very
difficult my mom would say
someday you will be able to come home
for holiday and visit us we will pray
for it
adding puhon to a statement almost
converts it to a form of prayer
this hopeful encouragement
it's almost a form of prayer is an act
of resilience building by my mother
it gives me a hope that someday i'll be
able to buy that house
or someday i'll be able to go home for a
holiday and see them
someday we'll be able to achieve our
dreams
relates to the religiosity of the
filipino people
it correlates to the
studies that relates
a sense of spirituality
destiny or religiosity as a factor that
builds resilience
being a predominantly christian country
filipinos are known to turn to their
faith in the middle of crisis
pray
wait on god's help
it will arrive
personally i've seen more filipinos go
to church
after a storm
or even during a storm
so the first word is
or resilience through a sense of
spirituality
destiny or religiosity
the second word is
which
could roughly translate as onward keep
going or carry on
you would not only hear this from
visayan parents but also if you're a
student or a faculty of the university
of the philippines
padayon
is what you'll hear when you
got good marks on that test and you're
happy and excited to show it to your
parents and this iron parent would go oh
angalinga
which means that's good
onward
or when you're trembling
probably some of my students would
relate
because you didn't do that well on that
test and you're scared to show it to
your parents after a lecture about um
being prepared being proactive a beside
parent would go
i know you can do this
keep going
you've succeeded and achieve your goals
keep moving forward
you struggled and stumbled
pick yourself up
and keep moving forward
padayon
is a sense of mission
the american psychological association
relates
or attributed a sense of purpose as a
strong builder of resilience
adayon is a conceptualization of what is
beyond
what is ahead
a purpose to keep on going because
there's a bigger dream there's a bigger
goal to achieve
last but not the least
is the word magtinabangan
which
roughly translates to to help others
it could be related to the concept or
idea of bayanihan
which is literally the house movers of
philippines in the olden days you
literally had to carry the house
together and transfer it to a different
place
can't do it with by yourself
relates to the sense of community which
not only
is attributed to personal resilience but
also to natural national resilience
when i was in fourth grade
typhoon ising international named olga
devastated the country with huge amounts
of floods and rain
i remember having to stay at the roof of
our studio apartment while water
literally engulfs the whole neighborhood
i remembered praying hard that the books
i placed in designated sealed buckets
are still dry so that i can still use
them the following week when classes
resume i was praying that the bucket
would just float around in the house and
be safe
if you think about it it would been a
traumatic experience for me but i found
some light in it
seeing the situation
our landlord who lives in a bigger house
with the second floor invited all the
kids in the neighborhood in the compound
to stay in the second floor of their
house while the rest of the family
salvage what they can
from the house
thinking about it i i felt a sense of
security as
my neighbors band together so that we
can have some food to eat someone's
potatoes managed to stay dry someone's
rice miraculously remained dry someone's
soy sauce bottle survived someone's cans
of sardines are still available
putting this together
we cooked lunch for everyone and ate it
while still on top of the roof waiting
for the water to subside
magna bangan is a reminder that it's
difficult to build resilience by
yourself
you need to have neighbors to cook that
lunch and eat that lunch with
on top of the roof
on the other hand
it's important to remember
that resilience is not a simple concept
or a simple trait that you develop by
just praying
having a mission having neighbors
like all aspect of human behavior there
are lots of social political elements to
be considered in one's development of
resilience
sadly
the narrative
that filipinos are resilient
oftentimes can be used against them as
an excuse to just put it on the
filipinos to be resilient in the middle
of oppression calamities or even racism
because after all they will survive it
anyway they are a resilient race
it is easy to praise resilience
on people
who are on top of the roof when you are
on your fifth floor of your apartment
we need to remember that talks about
resilience
must come with discussions about
creating a situation or an environment
which helped build resilience in people
we need to remember
that pohon must come with padayon and
magdena bangan
resilience
should be a byproduct of overcoming
challenges not the requirement
people should be expected to be
resilient after
surviving catastrophes
not be expected to be resilient every
time there is a catastrophe
so the three words
are pohon
which is resilience through a sense of
spirituality destiny or religiosity
padayon resilience through a sense of
purpose or mission in magdena bangan
resilience through a sense of community
i hope that we can all develop
resilience in ways
that we are supported
i hope that the filipino people with a
resilient spirit continue to thrive and
live safe and prosperous lives
i hope that we can all develop
resilience and support those around us
to develop it themselves
in the meantime let's continue with our
own personal goals
keep going with our mission
and have faith that we will get there
we will get there
oh
thank you
you
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