Loob ng Bahay: The Rediscovery of Our Humanity Online and in a Pandemic through Fr. Albert Alejo’s “Loob ng Tao”

Abstract

The years 2020–2022, the very height of the COVID-19 pandemic, forced much of the world into isolation. While many studies and pursuits of knowledge have and continue to meaningfully discuss and discover what it means to be human, the following research explores what kind of humanity can persist in such times of physical seclusion from one another. This paper investigates if it would be possible for meaningful connections and relationships with one another to develop even in an online setting or digital space through the philosophical framework and inner structure of Fr. Albert Alejo’s loob ng tao. Through a discussion of loob’s abot-dama (reach/ambit of feeling) and abot-kaya (reach/ambit of strength) within the context of the Binhi Program’s Online Kwentuhan and the real experiences of those involved (university students and mothers from Cardona, Rizal), this research discusses how humanity’s depth of feeling and ongoing human connection persists despite such isolation.

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Keywords

Binhi Program, Filipino Philosophy, Fr. Alejo, Loob, Phenomenology, Pandemic