What is bayanihan? 2024 Vegfest Pilipinas panel on community spirit
I had the pleasure of being a panelist during an onstage discussion at the Vegfest Pilipinas 2024 held in Metro Manila, where we discussed the important role of communities in the animal justice movement. The title of the discussion had the word “bayanihan” in it.
Together with fellow panelists Edison Yu, Jay Yumul, Peachie Dioquino (facilitator), & A Raymundo Despi, I had the opportunity to discuss the importance of communities in the animal justice movement. (Photos by Cacai Buenviaje)
I learned the word “bayanihan” when I was still in school, and I always thought it stood for something wonderful. Its literal translation is “being a community,” but in our culture, it means something more specific. It’s what we call this act of solidarity among neighbors where they literally carry a house from one location to another.
Provincial houses used to be made of local and lightweight materials, such as nipa grass and bamboo. If a house needed to be relocated, people would come together and carry it on their shoulders to the desired location.
Community, not heroics
I do have a confession: I always thought that the root word of bayanihan is “bayani”, which means hero. I assumed as a child that bayanihan was an act of individual heroism. It was only recently that I took a closer look at this word and realized that its root word is bayan, which is a unit of community.
In other words, bayanihan was never about being a hero; it was about moving together as a community!
I can imagine how this also led to a shared sense of responsibility for each other’s property: We would feel a deeper loss if something happened to a house that we invested time and energy carrying on our backs, wouldn’t we? We would feel closer to our neighbors, care about them more, and be more willing to assist instead of just become bystanders whenever they needed help.
Going back to our roots
Bayan, not bayani. The message was there all along, buried in the roots — pun intended — of our culture. It was never about standing out and being heroes in our neighborhoods; it was always about realizing that the people in our communities are rooted in a shared power that is best unleashed when they agree to carry their burdens together.
I know that the lightweight nipa huts are no longer the preferred type of residence in the Philippines, especially with climate change bringing in stronger typhoons and extreme heat. But even as traditional nipa huts start to fade into obscurity, I hope that future Filipino generations don’t forget about the spirit of bayanihan.
If anything, they will need it more as they think of how they can make this world a better place together, for both humans and non-human animals.
