All we need to be is who we are — Filipino
Teach kids about compassion, and they will grow up to change the world, to empower the youth to power their nation.”
This is a summary of the greatest lesson we learned subconsciously from having a family that valued who we were over what we were. Never about the grades in school, but the good you do. It’s always the inside that counts, they say, and this remains true whether you are talking about a person or a nation.
Our grandfather, architect Bobby Mañosa, National Artist for Architecture, made this very clear to his kids and his grandkids — that the Filipino is worth living for. Maybe in his time not many saw this, but soon many would, too.
Our mom would remind us how he seemed like the lone voice in the wilderness back then preaching about Filipino identity. This identity he reflected in his craft. As the father of Filipino vernacular architecture and beyond, he defined the future of who we are as Filipinos: hopeful, compassionate, and persevering. And luckily, our mom felt exactly the same way.
She believed in learning beyond the four walls of a classroom and, rather, making the most of the corner-less earth we have. She brought us to outreach activities with indigent children at an early age; we both were always used to the fact that giving back was a duty we must all do; it was never an option but rather a goal to continue doing throughout our everyday life.
Our dad was the same; he showed us that no one has ever become poor because of giving, and that everyone has a story; all we must do is listen. His father was an amazing writer who exemplified how far handwork can get you — “sipag at tiyaga” was personified through them both.
And so when we look back at what brings us here, it comes from a family that taught us that everything we are to become stems from knowing who we are. And what is great is that there is no big journey to discover who we are, but to us, it was simply being Filipino.
A nation is never defined by its leader, but by its people; it’s the people that have the capacity to better themselves and no one else. It’s the people that create this culture, one that is present in all five senses.
This is why when we talk about Filipino culture, we are not looking at the “what,” like an item of clothing, or a flower, or a tree. We are looking at the “who” — at the things that make us uniquely Filipino, not defined by a law, or a leader, or a singularity — because at the heart of a Filipino is the community, a spirit like no other, and the good we can give and share with the rest of the world.
The best trait about being Filipino is that giving is in our blood. Some may say, looking back at our history, that we give too much. But if we take this ability and hone it in young people to continue giving enough, we raise a generation of compassionate individuals that would do anything to see their people flourish.
This is why a nation is never defined by its leader, but by its people; it’s the people that have the capacity to better themselves and no one else. It’s the people that create this culture, one that is present in all five senses.
We see it in the way we give — effortlessly selfless.
We hear it in the way we speak — humbled with humor.
We taste it in the food we eat — freshly made, wrapped in banana leaves.
We can smell it from our trees — a strong yet peaceful fragrance.
And we can feel through our bones that we were made by this country, the one we call home.
But why do we doubt ourselves too often before we even have the chance to realize all we need to be is who we are: Filipino?
Even if our country was named after a colonizer, and many today will doubt the existence of Filipino identity, we challenge that. In 2015 we co-founded Kids for Kids Philippines, an organization that aims to empower the youth, to power the nation, with the spirit of bayanihan as our foundation. It was a platform we built for young people to have the opportunity to shape the future they wanted by working with people from all generations to look towards systematic change.
Since we were empowered to start young, we had the ability to see life from a different perspective — to see who we were beyond what was taught in class, and to know subconsciously that we are connected for something greater.
Why systematic change? It’s because when we were younger, we were always asked what we wanted to change, and we simply said, “Everything.” Little did we know that everything meant that young people should understand the concept of intersectionality. People often take children for granted, but they tend to be the most observant. And this was our strength.
Since we were empowered to start young, we had the ability to see life from a different perspective — to see who we were beyond what was taught in class, and to know subconsciously that we are connected for something greater — that the world did not have to be this hard, and it should not be getting tougher on the next generations.
And so we expanded our work and now run a Change Agency/ Multi-disciplinary Design Studio called TAYO, where we trust in our culture so much that we are integrating it with sustainable design solutions for companies and organizations to go beyond profit, for the planet and our people — most importantly, the Filipino.
Because the Filipino sees innovation in the soil
Filipinos lived with the land because this is what they saw. They saw the good the earth provided and the abundance the tide brought in. They saw the good of the natural world and realized this is what we must protect. Our indigenous people are our heroes for they never forgot this.
And in our company’s work, we continue to champion this. We take inspiration from our history before being colonized, learn from past mistakes, and move forward by seeing the beauty of the community we have, the spirit of bayanihan that we see every day.
We saw this strength in our partners For the Future, when people all over the world trusted young people to provide relief for typhoon victims; we see this conviction when working with organizations like Masungi, who protect a watershed at all costs.
Our first partners, Marine Wildlife Watch and Reef Check, believed that five kids from high school deserved a seat at a government-level meeting, and if you look hard enough you may see it in every Filipino you meet, too, because there are some that will surprise you, like hidden landscapes untouched by fear, just like the beauty of the mangroves in Del Carmen, Siargao, a natural maze that follows the note patterns of a kundiman.
Because the Filipino hears every note, every emotion
This is what makes us the best fans. Yes, fans. Every song of an artist we love, we will memorize like the back of our hand. We will sing karaoke until the dead of night, we will laugh and cry. We don’t see art; we hear it.
This is what makes us such amazing craftsmen and designers. We never see anything in a straight line. We curve and bend, and dance to the beat of the bayanihan — of a community that will sing in unison if we had the chance to do so.
This is why, througn the work we do, we channel the creativity of the Filipino beyond visuals but as an aura. We work by collaborating through a holistic approach; we tackle both social and environmental issues, and provide creative solutions, because then success always tastes sweeter when you are working with a purpose.
Because the Filipino tastes success better when he is with others
We have terms like barkada or tropa, we treat everyone like a “kapatid” and literally, everyone is our cousin, kamag-anak, tito or tita — our kababayan. We see Filipinos abroad and we feel as if we have known them before, we must see the value of how diverse we are and use it as a tool to unite us even more strongly by filling in for the strengths of one another.
This is why in the work we do it’s all about thinking globally but acting locally. We must remember to have the strength to look and see the great things the world has to offer, yet come back home and make our country better.
You must learn to work with your people from all walks of life. At the ages of three and four we were introduced already to this reality. We knew that not everyone was born the same, but what we were taught by our parents was the value of touching the lives of others with what you were given.
Because the Filipino will touch your heart
Despite the reality of crab mentality, we need not romanticize the reality of our people; from our experience we have found purpose because of the Filipino.
Because of Sir Don, our amazing coordinator for typhoon relief in Bicol who has spent his time distributing on our behalf hundreds of solar lights and water pumps.
Because of Ms. Gina, who fought to protect the Siargao environment.
Because of Maria Todi, who continues to teach the traditions of the T’boli people to the next generation.
Because of Ryan, who believed in us kids throughout every crazy project.
Because of our barangay — every single volunteer turned family — we are motivated every day to get up in the morning and know we are working for the Filipino because we see how close we are to a better tomorrow. We see the success of our work in the people we meet who feel lost, and find themselves in the work we do because we believed in them — we believe in the Filipino.
Because the essence of the Filipino is rooted in who you are
You may come from a family that doubts our nation, focusing on its corruption; you may come from another country and not know how to speak any local dialect; you may come from a school that puts down the way our society runs; you may come from a place that made you hate being Filipino, but the only way to truly answer life’s biggest question of who we are in this universe is to realize you are Filipino and you can be better for your nation, and for the rest of the world.
Always in the spirit of the bayanihan, as in culture, we thrive.