Environmental ‘bayanihan,’ Bicol-style
In the past, when a family decided to settle in another area, they didn’t need to hire movers. All the family had to do was gather the townsmen, who would move the entire house.
In the past, when a family decided to settle in another area, they didn’t need to hire movers. All the family had to do was gather the townsmen, who would move the entire house.
Last week’s floods, which left over 60 dead and some 384,000 people in evacuation centers, became our collective trauma.
In old Filipino society, bayanihan is displayed in the tradition of neighbors helping a relocating family by getting enough volunteers to carry the whole house, and literally moving it to its new location. They do this by placing long bamboo poles lengthwise and crosswise under the house (traditional Filipino houses were built on stilts), and then carrying the house on this bamboo frame. It takes a fairly large number of people—often 20 or more—working together to carry the entire house. All this is done in a happy and festive mood. At the end of the day, the moving family expresses its gratitude by hosting a small feast for everyone.
The Bayanihan research team toured Butuan and Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte.
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