Reinterpreting pagtitimpi as a Filipino value in mitigating the COVID-19 transmission

Abstract

Aside from the Christmas season, another cultural period that stimulates abundant tourism and travel in the Philippines is the Lenten season. Hence, this season is a major setback in the containment of the coronavirus disease 2019. Fasting and abstinence, acts which mark the Lenten season, are closely tied up with the Filipino cultural value of pagtitimpi in that both promote restraint and self-denial. Ultimately, this article suggests that reinterpreting pagtitimpi can be crucial in controlling the virus.

A recent correspondence published in this journal highlighted the Christmas season as a major challenge for health care workers in trying to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines¹. Cultural celebrations such as this, when numerous people travel to meet and reunite with family members and friends, are hotbeds for the transmission of the virus. Given this, as culture becomes a culprit in the contagion, the significant role of culture can also be braced in the government’s attempt to flatten the curve and triumph over this public health crisis². Acknowledging this, some lawmakers have also resorted to promoting contactless greetings and gestures as alternatives to the handshake and the cultural pagmamano, or kissing of hands, in order to mitigate transmission³.

Aside from Christmas, another cultural period that stimulates abundant community movement in the Philippines is the 40-day Lenten season, specifically its final stages, the Holy Week commemoration. What are considered to be the holiest days in a majorly Catholic country are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. These days are always declared as national holidays, creating longer weekends, and spurring travels from urban centers to the provinces either to visit family members or enjoy a beach vacation. Unquestionably, the Holy Week promotes travel and tourism, and is, therefore, a major setback in the containment of the virus.

Despite this, Filipinos are greatly influenced by Catholic values. During the Lenten season, fasting and abstinence are acts that are emphasized. To fast means to reduce one’s intake of food; to abstain is to refrain, on specific days, from consuming some types of food, specifically meat. Both are forms of personal and corporeal sacrifice⁴. The Filipino trait of pagkamapagtimpi⁵, or self-control, is closely related to fasting and abstinence. To be able to fast and abstain during the Lenten season requires a certain level of pagtitimpi. In its noun form, pagtitimpi as a value is about restraint and self-denial, about holding back one’s desires for the common good.

When reinterpreted, the cultural value of pagtitimpi can be a vital tool in suppressing the transmission of the COVID-19 without greatly compromising Filipino religious practice. Fasting and abstinence today means to religiously follow health protocols. When believers are allowed to physically attend religious celebrations, they are encouraged to patiently line up and maintain proper distance. Otherwise, everyone is encouraged to participate through online livestreaming on social media platforms. These, in one way or another, are also expressions of pagtitimpi, of giving up one’s desires for the common good.

This article suggests that reinterpreting pagtitimpi can be crucial in controlling the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic has offered another way of interpreting fasting and abstinence, and of being Filipino Catholic. Restraint and self-denial are key values which can be braced if the virus is to be put under control. Every Filipino must revisit this cultural value of pagtitimpi and recognize that one must deny one’s self to contain the virus. After all, self-denial is one characteristic of a true Christian, patterned after the person of Jesus.

Acknowledgement

No funding was received from this paper.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest in this paper.

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