Small Talk
Former Chilean Ambassador Roberto Mayorga shares his love for the Filipinos and talks about his new movement, the calidad humana
What is this movement of yours that has caught the attention of the United Nations?
I call it Filipino Calidad Humana-Kapwa Movement. Its aim is the preservation and spread of everything good that is Filipino—cheerfulness, resiliency, compassion, industry, and family life, to mention a few—summed up in the phrase, calidad humana, which is all about kabutihang loob sa kapwa.
How did you experience these qualities in the Filipino?
When I arrived in the Philippines in 2010, my wife and I visited an indigent area in Caloocan run by a parish priest from Chile. I was most impressed by how cheerful, respectful, resilient, and friendly everyone [senior citizens, parents, teenagers, very young children] was amid poverty. The whole scenario, repeated in other places we visited in our first months, which prompted thoughts of people in other countries—including mine—losing their grip on humanity and nobility of character, in their effort to fatten their pockets and attain economic development.
I thought to myself, Filipinos should never lose the qualities they had shown us with great consistency and naturalness.
What happened then?
It started as a small personal endeavour; and it will remain small but assiduous—no foundations, formal organisations, corporations. It started by telling Filipinos how admirable they are as a people [of course with exceptions, we are not in paradise] and that they should preserve and strengthen their calidad humana. It also encouraged the academics to study the roots of this concept.
The means are many. The movement launched two competitions that yielded hundreds of delightful narrative essays about Filipinos, and photos of them smiling. We organised colloquiums and conferences on calidad humana as seen in sports, the arts, schools, homes, and in everyday situations.
When my post as ambassador ended in 2014, Don Oscar Lopez invited me to stay and write a book about this endeavour. Calidad Humana: Sharing the Filipino Spirit, composed of eight essays from distinguished scholars and 25 messages from important personalities, was launched in December 2015.
How did your movement come to the attention of the UN?
We met the Philippine leaders of the US-based Global Peace Foundation and were invited to its 10th International Young Leaders Assembly last 8-17 August in the US. We set up an exhibition visually depicting the ideals and nature of calidad humana through a well-selected collection of photos with appropriate captions, like: “Without calidad humana, no peace, harmony or civilisation is possible;” “Calidad humana is everything that is truly human... It is everything that is truly Filipino... it is everything that strengthens culture and civilisation.”
Our partners for this UN conference were the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Airlines, Lopez Group Foundation Inc, University of Santo Tomas, and University of Asia and the Pacific.
How are you collaborating with the UN?
We would like to see how the movement can help the GPF and the UN in their quest for peace. We are in the process of ensuring the stability and sustainability of the Calidad Humana Movement beyond the active lifetime of the present movers via the most appropriate structure to ensure continuity. We are also exploring possibilities for support— perhaps the top priority in any human enterprise.