Empathy

An emerging word today in terms of popularity is the concept, empathy. In Tagalog, it means “pagmamalasakit” or “pakikiramay,” or the capacity to sense the feelings of others even if unexpressed in words.

- FLORANGEL ROSARIO BRAID

The sight of homeless people during heavy floods, typhoons and fires, which happened too frequently in the recent years, should deepen this feeling that we describe as a prevailing social malaise. It is the sight of wealth against the backdrop of poverty. I tried to capture this is my painting of a “kariton,” a pushcart carrying discarded pots and pans pushed by a squatter against the background of a skyrise in the city.

It is the persistence of dishonest practices in some government agencies like the ghost projects in the flood control projects at the Department of Public Works and Highways with the connivance of contractors, legislators, and executives of the agency. This had underscored the disparities between the rich and powerful and the majority, the poor and powerless. It had shown the absence of compassion, sensitivity and sympathy towards the majority who live on a hand-to-mouth existence.