Ang Bahay na Baybayin: Adjustments to the Online Setting

Maria Sophia Andrea E. Rosello Baybayin Ateneo

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baybayin ateneo has always been known for its advocacy of enriching Ateneans’ knowledge of Filipino Arts and Culture. The organization is well known for its projects that focus on immersing oneself in what Filipinos from all over the country practice and observe in their respective regions and provinces.

While Ateneo de Manila University is situated in the heart of Quezon City, many students come from all walks of life. Hailing from not only Luzon, but also Visayas, Mindanao, and even abroad, many students of the Ateneo have grown to use English as their main language for communication. This, of course, started a drift and instilled this push back for those speaking in native tongues, and many have forgotten about Filipino culture in general because of the lack of practice and observation of it. With this, Ateneans are stereotyped as “conyo.” Some have shared that Baybayin, though a respected organization, deviated from what the regular Atenean is thought to be.

Former non-members have shared their varying views on Baybayin, with some saying the organization wouldn’t have been as appealing as it is now if the pandemic did not take over its newer set-up. The sudden shift to the online setting challenged Baybayin Ateneo’s strength to adjust both their external and internal affairs, which yielded promising success.

Meanwhile, active members who have been a part of Baybayin prior to the pandemic have felt this slight disheartenment in not being able to continue most of Baybayin’s initiatives, such as Liwaliw, Baybayin’s cultural immersion trip, with the online setting becoming a limiting constraint on their opportunities. Alas, as the COVID-19 pandemic grew to become this unexpected hurdle for the organization’s growth, Baybayin Ateneo has thought of innovative ways to remain relevant and active amid the unconventional setup.

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Considering the shift, members of Baybayin have stated that they see the organization opening a new door to more opportunities that were unforeseeable in the past. The Creatives Department of the organization became the unit that noticeably kept Baybayin alive while completely online. Not only did their artists widen their imagination, but members of the unit shared that they also practiced a more research-based output approach when creating collaterals that made the organization more well-known.

Members today, both new and old, have expressed great gratitude for the organization’s welcoming community. Some have even gone on to call it home, with its great sense of familial ties when interacting with one another.

One of the other members shares, “[Though] Baybayin is definitely task-oriented, the other most important thing is how it’s also family. It’s easier to get more loyal members now and even though we had a lot of tasks last year it was a nice environment and by doing so we get more loyal and collaborative members.”

Though the internal adjustments went smoothly, the projects that needed to be done externally hit a roadblock. Baybayin’s President of 2021-2022, Gael Magno, shares that projects like Liwaliw were harder to execute online. However, this gave way for the organization to reach farther places they couldn’t have gone to before when it was onsite.

The incumbent Director for Cultural Immersions, Randell John Pallesco, further elaborates on Liwaliw’s online transition. “It’s sad that you have to be able to truly be there to immerse yourself in the culture but adjustments were needed to be made to Liwaliw, and with that, we made sure that there would be a personal experience in the project,” he says.

Instead of an internal trip to a specific location, Liwaliw has become a strenuous social media campaign that educates not only Baybayin members, but also anyone who follows their pages. With infographics presented in a neat and comprehensive way, along

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with more unique modes of education like their online cooking shows, podcasts, and small-scale magazines or primers, what used to be a trip only to be enjoyed by the organization’s members has evolved into an informative experience for all those willing to learn

(see various works).

While Liwaliw is only one out of the many projects and initiatives that Baybayin has been long producing, there is still a hefty amount of other prominent programs that they still continued despite the pandemic. As true upholders of the appreciation of Filipino Arts and Culture, Baybayin Ateneo has constructed projects like BWKK: Buwan ng Wika, Kultura, at Kasaysayan, Sigla: Ateneo Cultural Convention, and their very own virtual museum tour where they partnered with The Center for Art, New Ventures, & Sustainable Development (CANVAS).

Despite their struggles, Baybayin still proceeded with the aforementioned online projects, with a few modifications. The pandemic showed the country’s true colors and it became the organization’s mission to show the good and bad sides of the Philippines to their audience through their social media pages.

Now considering the fact that while everyone may be practicing safety measures against COVID-19 during the heat of the 2022 elections, Baybayin Ateneo has exercised great efforts in educating and keeping its members engaged and active in terms of politics. Members have shared their thanks to their Administrative Board and other co-members who often shared links to wattch the live debates and even resources that helped them stay informed about the possible electoral candidates.

One of Baybayin’s members shares their grave appreciation for the organization’s active discourse. “It was really nice since we have projects focused on topics such as the Filipino language and our culture then and now, and how it’s connected to the socio-political climate of what’s happening right now such as the elections and empower members to strike change,” they say.

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Baybayin officers emphasized the importance of knowing their identity as Filipinos as part of their political awareness. Amid a community that is riddled with stereotypes of ignorance against their Filipino heritage, Baybayin aims to make sure that its members are well-informed about the various facets of Filipino life, and wants each and every member to be proud that they are Filipino.

In an essay by Niels Mulder that discusses the ugly truth about the state of Filipino identity, he states:

This Filipino problem of identity is homegrown and its locus is the underdevelopment of the idea, the feeling and the practice of national citizenship…Filipinos, though, merely have to make do with the overarching politics of Manila’s maladministered internal colonialism, which does not manage to evoke the feeling of belonging or wholeheartedly identifying with the whole. As a result, national identity remains spurious at best. (Mulder 2013)

This is the upsetting reality of today’s Filipino culture. Even with the vast rich resources we have materially and culturally, it is all still overlooked because others choose to not inform themselves of it or see it as not worth their time.

Baybayin’s adjustments to the online setting opened their doors to not only informing their members of the significance of the Filipino heritage but also to the wide audience of their various social media platforms. At present, Baybayin Ateneo has grown to become this great online community for Ateneans and other audiences, who appreciate and would like to learn more about Filipino arts and culture. The online setting did not leave a dent in their inner workings, and has even built their bonds stronger than before.

Moving forward, the organization is now looking forward to bringing the growth they have garnered online to the newer

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shift back to campus as the COVID-19 situation in the Philippines improves.

As Gael notes, “Baybayin has become more and more ambitious as the years go by, with the organization becoming more involved and representative of the multicultural aspect of the Philippines. Hopefully, it will be able to continue on-site what it learned online.”

References

Bernad, Miguel A. “Philippine culture and the Filipino identity.” Philippine Studies 19.4 (1971): 573-592. Mulder, Niels. “Filipino identity: The haunting question.” Journal of Current Southeast Asian

Affairs 32.1 (2013): 55-80.

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Nikki Apostol (Translator) and Joan Lee (Illustrator). Nanu ya ing COVID-19? (1). Infographic. From Baybayin Ateneo’s Facebook Page.

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Nanu ya ing COVID-19? (2). Infographic.

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Eliane Santos and Adrian Tagudiña (Hosts). Liwaliw Episode 2: Zamboanga. Podcast Episode. From https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qh9VcMeN FRWfTbu3UBNyE?si=GU5BUwNYSvuWsKjDjsLIFA.

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Miko Faren (Host). Lutong Quarantine: KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, Langka ng Bacolod). Video. From https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKYstaUjLHi.

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