Journal of Critical Reviews ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 11, 2020 THE WILL TO SELF-DETERMINATION: UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE OF ATI PEOPLE IN AKLAN, PHILIPPINES John Paul Petrola1, Jake Ledesma1, Christian Paul Venturillo1, Kim Eric Del Rosario1, Dr. Rowena Isidro2 1University of San Agustin, Iloilo City, Philippines 2Iloilo Science and Technology University, Iloilo City, Philippines Received: 12.03.2020 Revised: 19.04.2020 Accepted: 13.05.2020 Abstract This paper discusses Schopenhauer's concepts on suffering and the human will and appropriate them to the struggles of the Ati of Malay, Aklan. The current and protracted efforts of the Ati for their ancestral domain and their pleas for cultural recognition in the midst of pressing ethnic oppression prompted this study. First, to descriptively present the concepts, this paper utilized document analysis to present specific tenets from Schopenhauer and employed content analysis on publications and online contents in indigenous studies. Second, to extract primary perception, the study gathered first-hand responses from the Ati under warrant from both the government and the tribal leaders' approval. To triangulate the appropriation of Schopenhauer's concept to the lives of the Ati, critical analysis and parallelism were used; from these, the study found that the Ati's suffering from ethnic bigotry and oppressions motivating their struggle for their rights, cultural recognition and emancipation concurrently aligns with Schopenhauer's tenets that the person's pursuit for happiness is triggered by inevitable sufferings that are inseparable from existence. Lastly, to concretize the paradigm, the paper recommends that the government reevaluates and ascertains full and scrupulous implementation of RA 8371 as well as provide equity in providing social, educational and health services to the Ati community. Keywords: Arthur Schopenhauer, Pessimism, Sufferings of the World, Pain, Boredom, Despair, Ati people, Aklan © 2019 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.11.35 INTRODUCTION This study aimed to account the experiences of suffering, struggle much recognition by the society unlike those national and for self-determination, challenge, aspirations and motivation of the international dignitaries who were given special seats on stage to Ati in the Panay Island in the lens of Arthur Schopenhauer. It enjoy the participants’ vibrant costumes and street dances. This attempts to offer a new way of philosophizing in the country and clearly exhibits that the local government officials are somehow provides an alternative approach to Indigenous People’s (IPs) disregarding the significant role of the Ati people in promoting studies. This is premised on the idea that the Ati people, being one tourism and preserving the rich cultural heritage of Panay. of the members of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the country have suffered from inescapable forms of sufferings such as oppression, Despite the enactment of Republic Act 8371, also known as the killings, victims of land grabbing, discrimination and various Indigenous Peoples Act in 1997, the unending problems on land human rights abuses from the local elites, companies engaged in grabbing and government indifferences were some of the factors mining and logging, restaurant and hotel businesses, and non-Ati that plagued the Ati people. For more than three decades, the Ati people surrounding their cultural communities that had resulted in communities were displaced from their inhabited land because of their feelings of pain, boredom and despair. the urbanization and economic globalization in Panay particularly that of Malay, Aklan. The strong forces of lowlanders or the Bisaya It is an undeniable fact that the Ati too, like other IPs in the and the political maneuvering of multinational companies who country, have experienced oppression that have led to the brutal have business interests on the ancestral domain of the Ati people killing of Dexter Condez, an Ati youth, leader and spokesperson of have caused delays in the processing of the Ati communities’ the Ati community in Boracay Island in 2013. Condez was shot ancestral land titles. These delays have resulted in the Ati people’s dead eight times on his way to the Ati community in Boracay after feelings of hopelessness because they felt that the government attending a meeting with Ati community leaders and nuns [1]. leaders whom they have expected to protect their rights were also Allegedly, the lone gunman was identified as one of the security committing injustice to them. guards of an owner of a multi-national company who was one of the claimants of the 2.1 hectare of land that was lawfully awarded These discussions simply showed that the Ati people’s sufferings, to the Ati community in Boracay as part of their ancestral domain struggles and disappointments were characterized by the social [2]. This unfortunate incident had brought not just a culture of fear conditions that are present in their environment. Given these but also the feeling of pain among the Ati people and their cultural experiences of pain, emptiness and hopelessness among the Ati, it community. is convincing that Arthur Schopenhauer’s “Concept of Will” would then be very appropriate in understanding the life, struggles, The society’s denial of recognition of the Ati people’s expectations challenges, motivation and aspiration of the Ati people. Arthur had created the feelings of emptiness among them since their value Schopenhauer, a German pessimist who argued that human life is in the society was neglected. Perceivably, despite the success of the characterized by unending experiences of sufferings such as pain, globally acclaimed Ati-atihan festival in Kalibo and Dinagyang in disappointments and being shorthanded. For Schopenhauer, life is Iloilo City in terms of income generation and tourist attraction a continuous process and a task to be done. Because of these which is frequently themed on the life, culture, devotion, and good negative experiences, the human person is always driven by harvest of the Ati people, the Ati community, still, were not given motivated action or the will to live. For the Ati people, it is their Journal of critical reviews 218 THE WILL TO SELF-DETERMINATION: UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE OF ATI PEOPLE IN AKLAN, PHILIPPINES desire to attain good life and self-determination. It has been their determination and life’s aspirations were used. Finally, the will-to-life; thus, they struggle to overcome every challenge that gathered data were presented to the community leaders and the comes their way. participants prior the presentation of final the report and Schopenhauer argued that the experiences of pain and suffering of publication. the human person is subjective and thus, it is necessary to know and understand them in order for the subject to identify the ways RESULTS AND DISCUSSION on how one is able to conquer pain and suffering [3]. For The Concept of the Human Will Schopenhauer however, suffering is inevitable and is not a product Prior to his work on the concepts of the world’s suffering, of illusion but are actual expressions of pain, boredom, and despair Schopenhauer was convinced that humans will have played a that every human person has to bear in his every day existence. major role in the desires, decisions, and actions of every human Thus, as Schopenhauer argued, overcoming human sufferings person, and so, it has attributed to one’s happiness and sufferings. enable the subject to understand the real meaning of happiness For Schopenhauer, as long as the person has the ‘will,’ they will and appreciate the meaning of life [3]. experience the inescapable miseries of life: pain, boredom, and despair; moreover, for Schopenhauer, ‘will’ enables every Rozemarijn Schalkx and Ad Bergsma in their paper entitled individual to manipulate and control the objects that surround “Arthur’s advice: Comparing Arthur Schopenhauer’s advice on him, including other persons [5]. In other words, human will, as for happiness with contemporary research” they argue that suffering Schopenhauer, provides the individual a ‘sense of choice’ of what and pain are unavoidable. This means, according to Schalkx and he desires in life. Yet, in his desires for happiness, the experience of Bergsma, in this world, we could not fully realize true happiness life’s sufferings is inevitable. since it could only be attained in death. However, for Schalkx and Bergsma, the best that the person could possibly achieve is to On the Sufferings of the World reduce the miseries of his life [4]. In his work entitled “On the Suffering of the World,” found in his famous book entitled in Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and The researcher believes that analyzing the Ati people’s struggles Paralipomena, Vol. II, translated by E. F. J. Payne. Schopenhauer for self-determination using Schopenhauer’s lens is a relevant argues that life is full suffering. According to Schopenhauer, approach in understanding the life of Ati people in the modern suffering is part and parcel of human existence and thus, individual times. By understanding their suffering, pain, struggle and life is in constant failure in attaining one’s desires. For aspirations, it is somehow a way of reducing the miseries that the Schopenhauer, pain resulted in one’s ‘will’ for pleasure, choices, Ati people are experiencing. wants and responsibilities which are always attached from our life. Schopenhauer noted that in this world, pleasures outweigh pain, Evidently, the Ati people have suffered from various forms of vice versa, or they are at any rate balanced. Nevertheless, as for human rights abuses, killings, discrimination and public Schopenhauer, that fact remains that in this world, man’s desires humiliation in a significant time; yet up to this moment, they still for pleasure are always accompanied with pain and sorrow [6]. continue to live and endure the various sufferings confronting them.