Reaction Paper--Anthro 185

Ms. Quito’s article has a point, but it was not clearly explained. In fact, she has raised many questions, which her article was not able to answer.
She has a point that a lot of our Filipino values are ambivalent. In fact she has given a lot of them in her article. Most of us use these Filipino values to describe both negative and positive. What really caused this dual meaning?
I do not know, however, how I will start with my reasons on whether I agree or disagree with her because somehow her article is quite vague.
I remember a discussion in one of my subjects this semester-- in an elective. Our professor mentioned that a lot of our Filipino values do not have a direct translation in English. Most of the time, when a Filipino value is translated in English, it suddenly becomes either very negative or very positive when in reality the word is not that deep. One example he gave was the translation of the emotion bitter in Tagalog. He said it can’t be just the word mapait because it is more appropriate for food. The class could not answer because we really can’t think of a suitable translation. Another point he said was, a single Tagalog word can have different translations in English and with different intensity. Look at her example of kasi (which for me is not even a trait); in English it can be a because and then it can also be a scapegoat. Kasi is a word used for reasoning, but I think it is too farfetched to say that it means scapegoat. I also do not agree that it is just seen in Filipinos. Another example of this can be our Filipino word of masakit. In English, masakit or mahapdi can be called in agony; it hurts; excruciating; unbearable; painful; and most of these already exaggerate.
I also think there is nothing wrong in a Tagalog word having dual meaning. We all know how to use them regardless of whether it describes something positive or something negative. It became the identity of our language. We use the same word to mean different things. I guess the reason for this is because we Filipinos do not want further conflict or discussion because of too many meanings for a word. Misinterpretations are always the cause of conflict. Also, I do not think that Filipinos consider that being small equates to being weak or being low. In fact, I think we Filipinos have a certain pride that the more we are belittled, the more we try to fight for ourselves. That is the plain reason why we have surpassed the historical invasions that happened in our country. We might still be embracing some of their influence because it is really inevitable. It des not mean, however, that we have totally incorporated them.