DAYONG AS A FILIPINO MODEL OF COLLABORATIVE STEWARDSHIP

IN THE LIGHT OF ROMANS 12:4-8

A Final Paper Submitted to Rev. Fr. Reu Jose Galoy, OFM,

professor of the Inter-Congregational Theological Center
in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements
of the Course Theology of Collaboration

Submitted by:

RITCHE T. SALGADO, O.CARM

JOHY REBOSQUILLO, O.CARM
JOIEZL FERN S. PIÑON, O.CARM

Quezon City, Philippines

May 2019
I. Introduction

One of the significant characteristics of the Philippine culture is its unique

and strong communal (or filial) nature. Barely one can observe a Filipino doing
his or her own stuff alone. That is why Barkadahan or peer groups are very
eminent in Filipino societies especially among the younger generations. Even
among elders, they also have their own groups to spend time with in moments of
joy or in sadness. More so in the structure of Filipino families, the communal
character is significantly strong that it is very normal in the Filipino setting,
particularly in the provinces, to see members of one family (although the children
or grandchildren have respective families of their own) remain to live in one
location, or commonly called in the Philippines as “family compounds.”
Unlike the western culture which do not encourage children to live with their
parents when they reach legal age, in the Philippines, members of the family have
strong intimate ties with one another that it rather becomes a taboo if children will
leave their parents when they reach legal age. Because of strong family ties, a
family compound that is growing larger and larger as years come and go can
actually become a village itself. That is why there are villages in the provinces of
the Philippines that are named after a “family name.”
Using this context, it is easy for Filipinos to achieve a certain communal goal
because the culture itself provides an opportunity for collaboration to exist.
Especially in villages, since the residents know each other very well, if not family
related themselves, people can easily provide the needs of each one, can assist
each other in times of crises, and can work together as one community with
different roles and functions to sustain the welfare not only of each families but of
the whole community itself.
Moreover, part of promoting and preserving the well-being of the community
is the nourishment of each member’s spiritual life as well. Faith is another very
important aspect in the life and culture of Filipinos because Filipinos are very
spiritual people. And apparently today, it is the seed of the Christian faith that has
shaped Filipino spirituality since the gospel was first proclaimed in Philippine soil
almost 500 years ago.
The Christian faith continues to live in the hearts and souls of many Filipinos
because it is being nurtured primarily by the grace of God and with the communal
effort of each one. For centuries, the Christian faith is handed down from
generations to generations within families and communities that is why the family
and community play a significant role in the formation of Filipino Christian
spirituality. Furthermore, the moral values practiced by Filipinos within their
families and communities are actually based on the Christian values, thus the core
teaching of the Christian faith which is “to love God and to love others” help
enhance the communal character of the Filipino culture.
On the one hand, one of the concrete examples of the integration of the
Christian faith and the communal character of the Filipino culture is found in
parishes all over the Philippines. The local parish itself is the symbol of the
community’s faith. Older women, who seem to have dedicated all their lives in
the liturgical services of the church, oftentimes form themselves into several
parish groups or organizations, such as confargias (confraternities),
mananabtan/magdadasal (prayer leaders), Catholic Women’s League, etc., The
young people also form charismatic youth groups to find belongingness and
comfort from each other’s company. Other parishoners wanted to contribute their
time, talents, and resources for the ministries of the church not only as individuals
but more so as groups of friends or same-minded people. Each person and group
have unique charisms but with one vision --that is to make the church alive and
dynamic based on their different spiritualities and inspired by the communal
character of the Filipino culture inherent in each one.
On the other hand, Since the Philippines is an archipelagic country, there are
varying ways of how Filipinos express the integration of their faith and the filial
character of the Filipino culture. Another concrete example is found in the the
lifestyle itself of communities in the provincial villages. Filipino communities
help one another to have a harmonious relationship. They support each other’s
livelihood, they celebrate feasts and other special days together, they worship and
offer prayers together, and most especially they assist one another in times of
economic crises, sickness, and death. The lived values of these people, grounded
in their faith and their inherent filial culture, are nourished through their constant
collaborative efforts; and one model of collaborative stewardship famous in the
Visayas and Mindanao regions will be the focus of this paper.
This visayan model of collaborative stewardship is called Dayong. According
to those who practice this form of collaboration, Dayong is a concrete expression
of their integrating faith and culture and at the same time a way to realize their
desire to sustain a unified and harmonious community. Thus, in this study,
Dayong will be explained further in detail with some corresponding experiential
accounts from one community who practiced it for readers to have a clearer
background of what this model of collaboration is all about. Then it will be
analyzed in the light of the sacred scripture in order to explain the theological
aspect of this cultural practice. And finally, the principles and praxis of this model
will be exhausted in order to affirm that this local model of collaborative
stewardship is indeed a fruit of the dynamics between the faith and the unique
filial culture of the Filipino people.

II. Dayong as a Filipino Model of Collaborative Stewardship

Based on the research of Shinichi Shigemoto and Ikuko Okamoto on local

societies and rural development, Dayong, a cebuano term which means carrying
on the shoulders of two or more persons, is the common name for a mutual fund
organization for funeral services1 currently existing in some remote villages in
the provinces of Visayas and Mindanao. Its origin is not very clear, but some
would say that it started in some baranggays in the province of Bohol. According
to them, Dayong is the oldest endogenous functional organization operating in
Baranggay El Salvador, Misamis Oriental since the early 1960s, when pioneer
migrants from Bohol introduced it as their practice their. Technically, this

1
Shinichi Shigemoto and Ikuko Okamoto, Local Societies and Rural Development:
Self-Organization and Participatory Developmeny in Asia (Massachusetts: Edward Elgar
Publishing, Inc, 2014), 138.
organization is an alternative means for communities in the remote forestlands to
provide decent burial assistance to members of the community who have died and
to provide economic aid to their grieving families, unlike people in the lowlands
and urban areas who depend on funeral parlors to care for their dead.
Death is part of the life cycle of all living beings, including humans. Its
mysterious character is feared by many but freely embraced by some. In the
context of Christian Filipino spirituality, death is the doorway towards eternal life
promised by God, the Father, to His children which He has freely given through
the passion, death and resurrection of His anointed Son, Jesus. The belief in
eternal life and the faith in Jesus, the savior and the resurrection of the dead,
enhance the long standing Filipino culture of giving proper respect to the dead
and comfort to the bereaved families.
Regarding the process of Dayong, a household as a unit joins the organization.
When joining Dayong, a member has to pay 100 pesos. This amount, according to
the study of Shigemoto and Okamoto, is carefully decided so that farmers and
other agricultural workers whose average daily wage is 150 pesos can pay for the
membership. Consequently, the treasurer stores all the money collected from the
members. When a family member of Dayong member household dies, the
treasurer collects 100 pesos in kind e.g. rice, canned goods, firewood, other food,
etc. from the rest of the household members. All the money stored from the
collection and the collected goods from all household members are then given as
assistance to the bereaved family. This way, the Dayong members are anticipating
for a major economic crisis that will possibly challenge the grieving family
members later on. And their contributions are viewed to help and support the
bereaved family go through their hardest times.
Moreover, all the member households are assigned to different roles such as
to inform the rest of the Baranggay members about the death, to purchase the
food for the people who will come to the wake, to cook, to cut firewood, to make
the coffin, and to dig a grave. An absence of one household is fined. At this point,
all the members of Dayong will not only contribute money or goods but also the
collaboration of each one is expected to make the burial rite successful.
Immediately after the funeral, all the member households are called to an
assembly to pay another 100 pesos, which are again collected and stored by the
treasurer until the next funeral. Two consecutive absences in the assembly are
fined or will lead to the removal of Dayong membership.2
There are no restrictions when it comes to joining, withdrawal, or rejoining to
Dayong. However, joining Dayong is like joining any other established
organizations. There are rules and regulations to be followed and corresponding
sanctions will be placed to members who will not abide by the rules. For example,
A household who has a member at death’s door is not allowed to join Dayong, or
when a family member dies when the household had not yet paid 100 pesos, or
has withdrawn from dayong, no service is provided to the household.3
Until now, dayong remains to flourish in the remote villages in Visayas and
Mindanao. One particular community that continue to practice it is in Sitio
Binatunan, Brgy. Culi, San Luis, Agusan del Sur. The residents are Lumad
Indigenous People and their major livelihood are farming and raising livestock.
For them, Dayong plays a significant role in their community especially when
they need to bury a deceased member and assist the bereaved family. Dayong
provides an opportunity for the members to share in the sorrow of the bereaved
family, to gather together as one community to express help and support to the
grieving members, and to contribute their skills and resources through
collaboration to give the dead a proper passing on to eternal rest with God and to
assure aid for the bereaved family so they can start anew.
Dayong is only one of the many ways which members of the community
conceptualized and practiced to keep secure the balance and unity of the
community. It is a way of showing care for each other not only in the
socio-economic context, but ultimately it is a way of being human. In the
following section, Dayong will be viewed in the light of St. Paul’s letter to the
Romans 12:4-8 to discover its theological and spiritual dimensions as a Filipino
model of collaborative stewardship. The analysis might provide later on an

2
Shigemoto and Okamoto, Local Societies and Rural Development, 138.
3
Ibid.
answer to the question of whether Dayong is indeed not only an organization to
support socio-economic balance in the community but more so a fruitful
expression of the dynamic integration of the faith and culture of the Filipino
people.

III. Dayong in the light of Romans 12: 4-8

Romans 12: 4-8 sets the ground on how Christians supposed to perceive the
nature of a Christian community. And St. Paul provided a pattern on how to
nurture the unity, balance and vibrance of the community. The apostle highlights
the importance of diversity, which means each member of the community is
unique and useful in many ways. Such diversity should not be a hindrance in
keeping the community united, rather it should be the cause of collaboration so
that the community will continue to flourish in harmony.
Romans 12:4-8 states: For as in one body we have many parts, and all the
parts do not have the same function, so we, though many are one body in Christ
and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to
the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith;
if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in
exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence;
if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.4
In 12:4-5 St. Paul briefly sets forth his ecclesiology, the concept of the church
as the body of Christ, which is one of several New Testament analogies used to
describe the church.5 Then in 12:6-8, he mentions, by way of example, seven
spiritual gifts that function in the body, making the point that those who possess
these gifts must exercise them faithfully in order for the body to function properly.
No one member possesses all the gifts, and thus we’re all interdependent.
However, if the members of a local church do not recognize the concept of the
body yet function according to their gifts in their own ways, that church will sadly

4
Romans 12:4-8, The New American Bible, (Philippines: St. Pauls, 2004).
5
St. Paul develops this in much more detail in 1 Cor. 12:12-27; also, Eph. 1:22-23;
4:15-16; Col. 2:19.
become dysfunctional. Competition may arise, and different interpretations
regarding the use of gifts will ultimately cause confusion and chaos. But when the
members of a church faithfully exercise their gifts with humility while putting
into mind that they work only as parts of one body that church will be healthy.
St. Paul explains further that being part of one body of Christ, each should
recognize in humility that all are members of one body. Just as the human body
does not function well when only a few parts work, so neither does the body of
Christ. All the members must work together in humility. So, St. Paul’s message in
12:4-5 clearly points out that humility is a requirement in recognizing the
different functions of each one as parts of one body.
On the one hand, one essential practical application of walking in newness of
life (a new life in Christ6) is to recognize how much we all depend on one
another’s work. “For as in the body we have many parts, and not all of the parts
have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and
individually we are members one of another” (12:4–5). This interdependence is
not a weakness, but a gift from God. As we are being saved by God, we become
more integrated with one another.
Everyone has gifts that differ from each other. Paul applies this to the work
that each one does in his or her particular role in keeping the church whole and
alive. Paul mentions: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, generosity,
leadership, and compassion as examples of work each members has to perform
according to their unique capabilities. Each of these work is a “grace” given to
each person that enables one to work for the good of the community. In addition
to that, Paul develops this process in the context of a specific community, the
church. However, all of the gifts mentioned are equally applicable to different
works outside the church.
For example, prophecy, which means “proclaiming a divinely imparted
message” or “to bring light to something that is hidden,” is likewise the ability to
apply God’s word to dark situations, something desperately needed in every
workplace. Ministry is the ability to organize work so that it does in fact serve

6
See Romans 6:5-7.
those it’s supposed to serve e.g. customers, citizens, or students. Another secular
term for ministry could be “management.” Teaching, exhortation (or
“encouragement”), and leadership are obviously as applicable to secular settings
as to church. So is generosity, one has to consider that giving one’s time, skills,
patience, or expertise to assist others at work are all forms of generosity. With all
these gifts, the life-giving power of God is experienced in particular acts and ways
of doing things. In other words, the power of God that enriches people’s lives
comes through concrete actions taken by the followers of Jesus. God’s grace
produces action in God’s people for the good of others.
On the other hand, this Pauline theological principle could also be found in
the principle behind Dayong. Albeit the practice is primarily intended to produce
an alternative economic means to bury the dead and assist the bereaved, such
pursuit may have a deeper intention than simply socio-economic. But first, it is
important to note that to be concerned with the death of a member in the
community, for example, or to share in the struggle of others springs from
different levels of human consciousness: (a) it could be a response coming from
the inherent communal dimension of a human being. Since humans live as
individuals yet in relation with others, there are both personal and communal
dimensions in human nature; (b) it could also be motivated by the lived values of
the human consciousness that seek to achieve a balanced and harmonious
communal life; and (c) it could be motivated and enriched by the grace of God as
a concrete action one has to perform for the sake of loving others.
Moreover, death of a member in the community is one among many crises a
community may experience. With this particular crisis, the harmony and unity of
the community is actually affected. The normal flow of life is disturbed by the
loss of one or more family members and by the sorrow of those who are left
behind. Using the theology of St. Paul in Romans 12:4-8 in the context of Dayong,
a community is considered as one body. Consequently, all members of the
community have different talents and skills that when put together can keep
everyone in harmony and balance. There will be economy and governance present
within the community if everyone will share their knowledge, skills and resources.
 Just like the church, everyone is gifted by the grace of God with different
talents that could be used in the service of others for the sake of the unity and
harmony of the church, the one body of Christ. So is a simple village community.
families living together do not live in isolation but in relation to one another. Each
is also gifted by God with different skills, talents and resources so that when they
share what they have with others they can build and sustain their community as
one whole unit, as one body.
While living as one community, there could be many forms of management
which the members themselves may agree upon and implement for the benefit of
all members of the community. The tasks and functions each member has to
perform in relation to community management are properly divided. Moreover,
a task or role is carefully discerned so that it will be in proportion to the unique
gift of the one being entrusted with it. It is because not everybody possesses the
same gift. However, despite the diversity of every member in the community, all
can sustain the unity and harmony of the community through collaborative effort.
Because everyone is entrusted by God with unique talents and skills, each one, as
well as, every family are now stewards of God’s grace. It is when God’s stewards
share with one another their unique gifts through collaborative efforts especially
in times of crises, only then a community of God’s stewards will truly be united
and strong, and only then the body of Christ will truly become one.
In the light of Romans 12:4-6, the practice of Dayong is a good model of
collaborative stewardship that will somehow describe St. Paul’s principle of
keeping the body of Christ as an organic unity, made up of different gifted
members. Dayong is a collaboration entered into by a composite of individuals
and families. They work together, although for a specific need. However, the need
to bury the dead and to comfort the bereaved families is part of keeping the unity
of the whole community in-tact. Therefore, Dayong can now be viewed not only
as a means for collaboration to provide deceased members with decent burial but
also as a collaboration to keep the balance, harmony and unity of the community
in the time of crisis.
 God does not want his children to be aloof, but to be working bodies in
collaboration with one another in view of keeping the body of Christ whole. St.
Paul in Romans 12:4-6 is proposing an intermingling of talents and capabilities
for the sake of the greater common good. Christians should not work in isolation
but in collaboration with others. One cannot build the whole church (as one body
of Christ) alone, but if all the members with their diverse cultures and practices
collaborate with one another to bring peace, joy and harmony for everyone, the
church, the body of Christ, the reign of God will be complete.
Dayong is a human effort which promotes collaboration. It is a communal
work that requires the diverse giftedness of all members of the community. On the
one side, Dayong operates when there is death in the community, which means
that as a model of collaborative stewardship it functions particularly to address a
certain crisis in the community. In this sense, the practice of Dayong is also a
healing response to a wounded body --the community.
On the other side, deep within its “fundraising” facade, is a solid evidence
that when death arrives in the family or in the community, immediately the faith
and the filial culture of the Filipinos dynamically produce a collaborative action
that will first, entrust the dead into the loving hands of God through a proper
burial, and second, provide hope to the broken hearts of bereaved families through
economic and moral assistance. Such evidence would likewise prove that Dayong
itself is grace of God given to humanity as means for unity amidst diversity.

IV. Principles and Praxis of Dayong as a Filipino model of Collaborative

Stewardship

Putting together our understanding of the practice of dayong and Paul’s

exhortation to the Romans in Romans 12:4-6, the dayong model of collaboration
would have the following principles inherent to it:

1. A sense of selflessness in community.

Dayong is not just about getting help in the time of need, it is also about
being part of a community by being able to provide assistance and help to a
grieving family who may not be able to carry the burden of a funeral wake and
service on their own. The sacrifice that one has to make in order to serve the
neighbor requires a sense of concern for the community, putting the welfare of the
community and its members above one’s own need. The time one dedicates to
help the neighbor in need and the resources that one has to sacrifice comes with
the understanding that a member of the community has a need. It is grounded on a
realization that when one has a need, carrying the burden alone can be very
difficult. Knowing this and even having experienced this, they are able to share
themselves to others knowing the relief that they can provide to an already
burdened family.
Paul wrote to the Romans saying that “we, though many, are one body in
Christ and individually parts of one another.”7 This sense of oneness, of cohesion
in Christ can be likened to the community that is created by the dayong – a
community that promotes among its members a sense of concern for their
co-members and their family as exemplified by their ability to share themselves
through the sacrifice of time, resources, and companionship.

2. A sense of responsibility towards others.

Dayong members do not just give material contribution or manual labour to
the member families who are in need, but they eventually develop a sense of
responsibility towards these families, that is why they are able to give more than
what is required of them by the group.
In Mate, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, a palm oil plantation community,
dayong is very alive among the residents and although they are just required to
attend one or two wakes, or to bring a bundle or two of firewood, most of the
members would go beyond that, even helping the family in entertaining visitors or
in allowing them to use their personal resources like motorbikes when needed.
The members do not just perform their obligation to the group, rather they go
beyond it because they are a community and they feel that as a community they
are responsible for each other’s welfare, most especially towards those who just
lost a family member.

Romans 12: 5
7
 This sense of community is brought about by the realization that each one is
dependent on the other. As we have previously quoted Paul, “though many, are
one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.”8
This sense of responsibility towards each and every member of the
community is a very important value of dayong because it allows the members to
understand the need of the family who has become the object of the collaboration
of the members, and out of this understanding of the need, is the doing of what
needs to be done without the family members expressing their need. As parts of
one body, one would know what needs to be done.

3. A sense of recognition of one’s ability to contribute.

Dayong requires the participant to contribute a certain amount at the time of
enrolment and another amount whenever a member of a member family dies. This
is over and above the material resources or the labour that one has to contribute
during the wake and the funeral or of one’s presence during one of the nights of
the wake and during the funeral. Such requires a sense of knowing what one can
actually share, otherwise they may be incompatible with the task required of
them.
In Romans 12:1, we hear Paul exhorting the believers in Rome to “offer your
bodies as a living sacrifice.”9 By that, confident that God has appropriated
different gifts or abilities to the believers, he means that they should use the gifts
given to them by God to complement each other, working towards one goal, that
is the proclamation of the Kingdom.
In recognizing one’s abilities, one becomes more effective in contributing to
the needs of the bereaved member family, and one’s contribution becomes more
meaningful and more fulfilling even on the part of the one who is giving.

4. A sense of offering one’s skills, talents, and gifts for the other.
Members of the dayong perform certain tasks based on their skills, their
talents and abilities, thus a carpenter is expected to help in the making of the

8
Romans 12: 5
coffin or the cross, a farmer on the digging of the grave, and a homemaker who is
adept at cooking can help prepare the food that will be served to the visitors
during the wake.
Choosing a task to perform is not just a matter of whim and availability, but it
is about using one’s ability and skill for the service of those in need, particularly
the family of the deceased member. This is also what Paul was trying to tell the
Romans when he used the image of the body, saying: “For as in one body we
have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function.”10
In practice therefore, dayong as an image of collaboration requires that
members recognize what they are capable of and use that to help the family of the
deceased member in ensuring a dignified burial for him or her.

5. A sense of gratitude towards God and others.

To participate in dayong is not just about getting something in return when
the need arises, rather, it is also a means of expressing and showing one’s
gratitude for the help that the community has provided during the time when one
has a need, or the knowledge on what the community can provide when the need
arises.
In the first part of Chapter 12, Paul told the Romans that one’s body must be
offered to God as a spiritual worship. The Greek word used is latreian which
means service or service of worship. One worships God because one is grateful to
God for his wonderful mercy, for his good works in our life.
The act of helping and in giving one’s self through dayong gives the members
an opportunity to worship God, to give him thanks for his mercy towards them,
for the life given to them that allows them the opportunity to share themselves to
others, for as they would say, it is better that they are the one serving in the wake
rather than the one being served.
The fact that when the time comes the other members would also be serving
when a member is in need also makes dayong an expression of their gratitude to

10
Romans 12:4
each member who are able to share themselves and their resources when the need
arises.
Somehow this is grounded on the reality that death is universal and one day
they too, or a family member, would pass on and whoever is left would be
provided with some form of relief from the dayong, for this it could not be helped
for them to feel grateful and to offer what they are doing as a way of saying,
“Thank you.”

Conclusion
Dayong as a contextualized (Filipino) model of collaboration is characterized
by certain values needed for it to be effective. These values are developed by
members as they participate in the activities of the group, doing their share first as
compliance to the requirement of the group, but eventually as they develop a
sense of belongingness and community, as a way of life, a spirituality of sorts.
These values strengthen the collaborative spirit of the members and the
community, allowing them to achieve a goal, which is to bring relief to their
member families during the time when the inevitable problem of death in the
family arises.
The principles identified here are anchored on the values of selflessness,
responsibility, the recognition of one’s ability to give, the ability to give oneself to
others, and the attitude of gratitude. The selflessness that goes with dayong, the
sense of otherness and the feeling of responsibility to bring comfort and relief to
those in need, marked by the acceptance that they can only do what they can
based on their skills and abilities but knowing that such limitation is
complemented by the skills and abilities of other members of the dayong, is a
very Christian image of building a community that lives the mission of bringing
the peace of Christ, the pamamayani ng kagandahang loob ng Diyos, into the
lives of others.
These values are inherent in dayong and dayong could not exist without them,
as such dayong becomes a very effective image of collaboration in a very
Catholic and Christian perspective. The tradition and practice of Dayong is indeed
a product of the dynamic integration of faith and culture of the Filipino people.

References:

The New American Bible. Philippines: St. Pauls, 2004.

Shigemoto Shinichi and Ikuko Okamoto. Local Societies and Rural Development:
Self-Organization and Participatory Developmeny in Asia. Massachusetts:
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc, 2014.