25/07/2025
Filipino resiliency has different overtones depending on which generation you are born in or the social awareness you are birthed to.
The baby boomers who created MassKara in 1980 embodied a specific type of resilience—that of Filipinos born before Martial Law— uplift the spirit of the Bacolodnons from the economic downfall of the sugar industry and the MV Don Juan tragedy.
MassKara then became a cultural sea change — a celebration of resilience; a festival of smiling masks embraced by all generations.
I, a millennial born in 1982, grew up enjoying the MassKara dance parade. I remember the privilege of living downtown, never needing to wake up early just to elbow my way through crowds. The throbbing bass of Lambada loops was my cue that the festivities at Bangga Awing were about to begin.
These core memories guided me when I started designing my first MassKara logo in 2023. But I felt paralyzed by the challenge: how could I, as a design activist, deviate from the familiar MassKara logo and still beautifully solve Bacolod Yuhum Foundation's creative brief of embedding elements of Negros into the mask? So I circled back to my truth: between the political differences and that we should never forget that sugar crisis was spawned from the Marcos dictatorship, I found a gap that could carry a new message across about tragedy and disaster— with socio-political undertones masked creatively.
I questioned myself: what if I reinterpreted Filipino resilience in my design as a protest art, focusing on climate change and the urgent call for environmental conservation? Would it engage in historical revisionism? I wanted the message to be both progressive and relatable across all generations, compelling people to act now rather than waiting for another catastrophe to celebrate Filipino resilience.
When I designed the Masskara logos for 2023 and 2024, I had my lola’s wisdom with me: “kung ano ga kinatabo sa babaw, ga sabat sa dalom” (whatever is happening above, is answered below). Initially, I interpreted this through an environmental lens, spotlighting kingfishers in the 2023 logo and in 2024 when BYF Secretary and Festival Director for Cultural Kuster Cadagat made a challenge of using the unique, vulnerable, and critically endangered flora and fauna of Negros. But a powerful epiphany hit me yesterday when the president made a remark about tropical cyclones "inevitable"—the new normal.
He was banking on Filipino resiliency amidst climate change sans accountability. And suddenly, my lola’s words echoed with a new, sharper meaning; it wasn't just about the environment responding to human action — it was also about the government's actions (or inactions) at the top directly impacting the lives of ordinary Filipinos. The inevitable cyclones were indeed a response from nature, but the lack of preparedness, the downplaying of risks, and the absence of clear, proactive solutions from those in power were the human "happening above" that would demand a tragic "answer below" from communities left vulnerable.
As MassKara 2025 approaches, my greatest hope is that my logos have helped redefine resilience in the public eye not just for the Bacolodnons, but for all Filipinos — as they serve as a reminder that while we celebrate our incredible capacity to overcome adversity, we must also relentlessly demand accountability and proactive solutions from our leaders.
And I also hope The MassKara Festival isn't just about a temporary uplift of spirits; it's about fostering a continuous, multi-generational conversation on what true resilience demands, both from ourselves and from those in power, as we dance forward into an uncertain future.
