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NASAYAAT NGA PANAGBIAG: UNDERSTANDING THE QUEST FOR THE “GOOD LIFE”AND THE CULTURE OF MIGRATION IN STA. CATALINA, ILOCOS SUR

2012-11-23T07:46:10Z

Pdjacar: New page: JOY RAQUEL R. TADEO M.A. Anthropology (June 2012) Department of Anthropology Abstract This study is an inquiry into the lives and experiences of an Ilocano com...

JOY RAQUEL R. TADEO 
M.A. Anthropology (June 2012) 
Department of Anthropology 

Abstract 

This study is an inquiry into the lives and experiences of an Ilocano community with a long migration history. The research attempts to explore how local conditions shape a people's understanding of the concept of the “good life” and “hard life.” It deals with change in the people's lives and their varying definitions of life. For this, I have explored how the Ilocano culture of migration persisted through time by examining their concept of the “good life” in relation to their changing landscapes amidst the long and continuing experience of migration. The study employed a qualitative research method with in depth interviews as the main data gathering method. 

The study has analyzed the concept of the “good life” as to the following aspects: 

1. Seasonality: the experience of the “good life” as dictated by agricultural experiences and ecological observations; 2. Cross-generational perception; 3. As a reflection of changed socio-economic status; 4. Establishing community ties through socio-economic support; 5. Difficulty of pursuing the “good life”; and 6. Exceptions to experiencing the “good life” through migration. The concept of nasayaat nga panagbiag, “good life,” seems to be associated with having financial surplus. 

The “good life” is also nuanced and evolving. “good life” has changed across generations. For the first generation, “good life” means providing for the basic needs of children as well as being able to send them to school in spite of the difficulties attributed to the poor socio-economic conditions during their time. To those who belong in the second generation, the “good life” means finishing their studies, getting employed, providing the needs of their family, especially their children, and being able to give back to their parents or share something to other people. To many of them, overseas work is the main answer for its achievement because of the observed change in economic status of those who went first to work abroad. For the third generation, “good life” is equated with having and providing for more than just the basic needs, which may mean, enjoyment of recreational activities and being able to have success to whatever wants they have. 

Being labelled as a “migrant worker,” the person is put under different layers of subjectivities. As balikbayans, they are scrutinized according to: financial capability, start or have finished “projects” such as renovating their houses, buying new furniture, latest appliances and gadgets; and ability to hold grand feasts and celebrations. They are also expected to act in a particular manner, and wear particular clothes and or jewelries. The culture of migration in Ilocos has brought a lot of changes to families and households. The primary visible change is the possession of latest and imported “material” (things) and “immaterial” (ideas) culture. 

The “good life” in general is also seen as something in flux that is mediated by various situations such as the following: educational attainment, generation, season, environmental changes, economic activities of people, location of their farm lots, material possessions, market price of produce upon harvest, and health condition. In spite of the general conception that it can be achieved through overseas work, there are also some exceptional cases wherein the “good life” can be achieved locally.

The Meaning of Grandmothering and the Role of Grandparents in the Lives of Their Grandchildren in Different Living Arrangements

2012-11-23T07:37:29Z

Pdjacar: New page: PORTIA QUIAMBAO CRUZ M.A. Psychology (June 2012) Department of Psychology Abstract This study was done to explore the meaning of grand parenting and the role i...

PORTIA QUIAMBAO CRUZ 
M.A. Psychology (June 2012) 
Department of Psychology 

Abstract 

This study was done to explore the meaning of grand parenting and the role in the lives if their grandchildren in different living arrangements. Eighteen (18) grandmothers, twelve (12) parents, and eighteen (18) grandchildren participated in the study. Three (3) sets of interview guide were used to gather the data. The researcher tried to know how living arrangements specifically co-residence, custodial, and visiting grandparents affect the meaning of grand parenting and the role of grandparents in raising their grandchildren, and be able ti characterize how these living arrangements yielded different roles of grandparents. The researcher also tried to know the meaning of grand parenting and grandparents' roles in the lives of their grandchildren from the two (2) stages of life, i.e. middle childhood and adolescence. 

The result of the study shows that grandmothers take on domestic role in co-residence, custodial, and visiting grandparent arrangements. In a custodial living arrangement, grandparents take on the full responsibility of taking care of the grandchildren, fulfilling the role of parents, and being a friend. While in both co-residence and visiting arrangements, grandparents are seen as cronies, allies, and resource persons. 

Furthermore result shows that the description of the relationship between the grandparents and grandchildren does not vary greatly from one living arrangement to another. It is only in visiting grandparents that one relationship was described as “not close” or even “distant”. 

The result would indicate that grand parenting style which ranges from not strict to strict and indulgent does not differ significantly between two (2) age groups and among three (3) living arrangements. An implication of this study is the importance of grandparents in providing assistance regardless of the age of the grandchild or their living arrangement. Moreover just like grandparents, grandchildren in both age groups also prefer and value closeness with their grandparents.

The Barthesian Myth in the Language About the Sartrean Other

2012-11-23T02:07:09Z

Pdjacar: New page: The Barthesian Myth in the Language About the Sartrean Other M.A. Philosophy (October 2012) Marie Abelyn C. Kwe Abstract This work elucidates on the notion of the ...

The Barthesian Myth in the Language About the Sartrean Other 
M.A. Philosophy (October 2012) 
Marie Abelyn C. Kwe 

Abstract 

This work elucidates on the notion of the Barthesian myth, which aside from a being credible vantage point in the discussion of the problem of meaning, also is relevant in terms of how it is applicable to a variety of phenomena. 

This research examines the occurrence of Barthesian mythical speech in the relationship of the 1 and the Other. Such a mythological language is further given philosophical grounding, with the inclusion of an ontological perspective that provides the playground or setting for it. The author uses Jean Paul Satre's ontology contained in his work Being and Nothingness, because it is in the Sartrean notion of Other that one finds the Self at a distance from the Other. This distance is not only a physical distance, but a distance of their respective consciousnesses that cannot be surpassed. This ontological setting (of the Self and Other) is one that admits or enables the mythical speech of the Other, as a product of a Self-centred language. It is in this sense that the author claims that the Barthesian myth is indeed located in the speech of the Sartrean Other. As such, it furthers the Sartrean discussion of the ontological relationship of the Self and Other, towards its implications in language. Consequently, it also examines the notion of text as a linguistic remedy, for this inclination towards the mythical speech about the Other.

AIR TRANSPORTATION IN THE PHILIPPINES: INSTITUTIONS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS, 1909-1965

2012-11-23T02:00:15Z

Pdjacar: New page: AIR TRANSPORTATION IN THE PHILIPPINES: INSTITUTIONS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS, 1909-1965 M.A. History (September 2012) Karl Friedrick K. Poblador ABSTRACT This paper desc...

AIR TRANSPORTATION IN THE PHILIPPINES:
INSTITUTIONS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS, 1909-1965 
M.A. History (September 2012) 
Karl Friedrick K. Poblador 

ABSTRACT 

This paper describes the role of institutions in the development of air transportation in the Philippines during the first half of the twentieth century. At the beginning, the government remained on the sidelines as the “aeroplane” was merely a novelty meant for public entertainment, and a technology that was perceived to have limited military applications. This attitude left the development of commercial aviation to the airline companies, and propagated an enduring dependency on the Americans, who were always relied upon for the country's national defence. Nonetheless, it was during the era of the Commonwealth and Roxas Administrations that the government became more involve in aviation policy, and this paper would show how the impact of these institutions are felt up to this day. 

Today, the Philippines is included on a group of 25 countries which are now unable to increase their scheduled flights to the United States and Europe because it does not meet the minimum safety oversight standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Moreover, recent disputes regarding the country’s territorial boundaries have highlighted the absence of even a minimal air defence capability, and have left the country practically begging for assistance from its former colonizer. Given the various factors which led to this sorry state of aviation in the country, an understanding of institutions from the past could offer an explanation to the complexities which led to these circumstances.

SAKIT: ILLNESS AS SOCIAL CONTROL AMONG THE ADGAWAN-MANOBO OF TAGBAYANGBAYANG

2012-11-23T01:52:19Z

Pdjacar: New page: SAKIT: ILLNESS AS SOCIAL CONTROL AMONG THE ADGAWAN-MANOBO OF TAGBAYANGBAYANG M.A. Anthropology (October 2012) Jimmy D. Sales ABSTRACT This study is an anthropologica...

SAKIT: ILLNESS AS SOCIAL CONTROL AMONG THE ADGAWAN-MANOBO OF TAGBAYANGBAYANG 
M.A. Anthropology (October 2012) 
Jimmy D. Sales 

ABSTRACT 

This study is an anthropological inquiry on the Adgawan-Manobo concept of sakit as a cause of illness in relation to social control. It is a qualitative study focused on the folk medical sector of the Adgawan-Manobo community of Tagbayangbayang in the municipality of Bunawan Agusan del Sur. 

Tan (2008) and Helman (2007) quoted Kleinman (1980) in his proposition of the explanatory model of illness. This study follows Kleinmanm's explanatory model of health care. It probes the circumstances surrounding the illness of the person: its signs and symptoms, the gravity of the illness, the medical intervention which the caregivers administer to the ill, and the cause of the illness. It is consistent with the interpretive anthropologists whose concept of culture posits that “Man is suspended in the webs of significance he himself has spun” (Geertz, 1973: 5). This concept of culture puts all the social discourses into an interconnected world of meanings that continuously shape and reshape each other. I present here the aspects of the medical discourse which overlap with the political discourse particularly in the context of social control. The general objective of this research is to establish the connection between the concept of sakit as a cause of illness and the concept of social control. 

To achieve this general objective, I define the concept of sakit in the particular context of the Adgawan-Manobo society by delineating the other concepts which are closely related to but are different from it. These are the concepts of pilit, haboy, ba 'yu, yabha and lay-gay. In diagnosing illness related to sakit, the diwatahans, who are folk medical experts in this sector of health care, rely on the two ways of diagnosing the illness: one is called gud-gud and the other one is the examination of the physical manifestation of the illness such as: changes in the skin tone, changes the body shape, and body sensation. 

The general attitude of the family members of the ill person and the community in general, shows how illness becomes a mechanism of social control. Their words of exhortations and their act of isolating the ill show that illness is made to tool for making the members of the society adhere to the established moral standard. The key words and the symbolic actions and objects in the healing rituals were picked out and analyzed using the semantic and symbolic analysis. The said connections between these two concepts were then established. 

Because the punitive nature of sakit, the healing rituals focus on the ill person's remorse and supplication for forgiveness. The words spoken during the ritual of the healing and the symbols used point to towards forgiveness of the person’s transgressions whatever these transgressions may be. These rituals are directed towards the spirits who may have been offended by the offended person. These spirits are the powers behind the control of society. The Adgawan-Manobos of Bunawan believe that these spirits are the ones who inflict sakit on those who are disrespectful and disobedient. Since they are the ones who inflict sakit in the first place they are the same ones who are capable of taking the sakit away by their act of forgiving the offender.