Old Ways and New Fears: Bayanihan and Covid-19

In times of trouble, Filipinos traditionally turn to one another for help. This form of community assistance is popularly known as bayanihan. Historically, Filipinos have met the challenges of life in their perilous homeland, whether it be from natural or human causation, by working together. Except, apparently, it no longer does, and Filipinos are now told that the same properties that made their communities so resilient in the past have been transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic into their greatest vulnerability. Even the term bayanihan has been overtly redefined through legislation and government programs to reflect entirely different purposes.