BAYANIHAN - FILIPINO SPIRIT OF COOPERATION

Mutual assistance, group liability, or social group work are some terms used to signify a sense of belongingness, teamwork, social responsibility and unity of purpose among the people in a community. The Filipino word for it is bayanihan, from the root word bayani which means hero.

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Thus, bayanihan would translate to doing a selfless heroic act of helping others without expecting something in return. From this heroic concept of support, the idea of communal action and cooperation in pursuit of a common task sprang up.

Bayanihan is commonly manifested in a neighborhood effort in helping a family move their nipa hut to a new location. Imagine a throng of people carrying a ‘straw and wooden’ house on their shoulders and transporting it in a closely synchronized undertaking with cheers and singing along the way.

Bayanihan is manifested in various communal actions. Farmers ask their fellow farmers to help in planting and harvesting, and reciprocate the favor when asked in turn.

This Filipino trait is likewise observed during emergencies, such as earthquakes, typhoons, fire and other calamities, as well as in times of sickness and deaths of community members where helping others becomes a given.

The concept of bayanihan has come a long way. The internationally-acclaimed national folk dance group Bayanihan Dance Company showcases the best of the Filipino traditional culture through dance.

In the field of information technology, a group of Filipinos developed the Bayanihan Linux, a volunteer effort at developing a local version of the Linux operating system and was coined by Luis Sarmenta.

The Harvard Business Review has featured the term as referring to an appeal for global efforts in corporate social responsibility. In local banking, a savings window has been named the Bayanihan Savings Program to underscore the Filipino value of pooling common resources to help one another. Truly, the bayanihan spirit remains very much alive in every Filipino.

The Western concept of individualism is very difficult for Filipinos to understand. For us, kinship goes beyond our immediate families and extends to distant relatives, neighbors and our communities.

The bayanihan spirit has weathered us through centuries of natural disasters, economic woes and conflicts. Hence, the impulse to help a brother or a sister in distress is a natural Filipino reflex.