Sources and consequences of happiness among Alangan Mangyan women in the municipality of Baco, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

ABSTRACT

This article describes the meanings and experiences of happiness among a few select married Alangan Mangyan indigenous women in the Municipality of Baco, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. A total of 10 informants were interviewed for the study. Narrative analysis through coding was employed to be able to explore themes and patterns. Overall, there are four ideas that point to the character of happiness in the context of indigenous women. First, while it is an emotional state that is experienced by the individual, happiness emanates from a social field be it the family or community and expression of it requires the existence of that social field. Thus, the Filipino notion of “pakikipagkapwa-tao” (relating to others) works well in understanding the concept of happiness. Second, being able to access basic rights such as food, employment, and education has become a source of happiness amongst this indigenous populations, thus making happiness a human development issue. Third, happiness is an emotional state that is ever ubiquitous if one argues that family and community are sources of happiness. However, such an emotional state is also highly capricious. Even if one chooses to be happy, there are negative external situations that affect the maintenance of one’s happiness. Fourth, happiness, while it is dependent on social space by and large, is also affected by the physical environment. The impact of physical environment on the Alangan Mangyan provides us insights regarding the nature of happiness that goes beyond one’s agency. Thus, happiness indeed is a relative emotional yet a social experience.

KEYWORDS:

• Happiness
• Alangan Mangyan
• Mindoro
• indigenous
• sociology of happiness
• culture and society