Download

Makaammo’n ti Apo: Exploring a Facet of Ilokano Spirituality 106

Makaammo’n ti Apo: Exploring a Facet of Ilokano Spirituality

Religion and Social Communication Vol. 24, No. 1 (2026)

Authors

Brandon Billan Cadingpal
Saint Louis University – Baguio City, Philippines
Email: bbcadingpal@slu.edu.ph
ORCID: 0009-0000-1166-1654

Moreen Jebert Marzan Lazaga
Saint Louis College – San Fernando City, La Union, Philippines
Email: lazagamj@slc-sflu.edu.ph
ORCID: 0009-0007-7086-8111

Trixie Anne Arcillas Sampayan
Saint Louis University – Baguio City, Philippines
Email: taasampayan@slu.edu.ph
ORCID: 0009-0001-5110-1245

Abstract

Makaammo’n ti Apo is best defined as the Ilokano equivalent of the Filipino-Tagalog saying “bahala na.” While this is seen in a similar lens, makaammo’n ti Apo provides a glimpse of how Ilokanos, another major ethno-linguistic group in the Philippines, have faith in God and also in how they manifest their spirituality. This study looks into the experiences of Ilokanos in relation to the divine through their knowledge and usage of the said statement and the results would open to a discourse on Ilokano culture and spirituality. This study aims to explicate how Ilokanos manifest makaammo’n ti Apo as a facet of their spirituality. It utilizes a qualitative method with a hermeneutical phenomenological design, which is targeted at the data collected through interviews among Ilokano educators in the secondary and tertiary levels. The results of the study provide the circumstances in which Ilokanos use the statement. It is often used during checkmate situations, decision-making uncertainties, and pacifist conflict settlements. The reasons/source of their usage are the following: family and cultural upbringing, faith expression, and automatic response mechanism. Key themes also surfaced as to how makaammo’n ti Apo manifests as a pertinent part of the participants’ spirituality. Makaammo’n ti Apo manifests as spirituality among the Ilokanos with their acknowledgement of human limitations, amplified confidence in living, and recognition of the divine.

Keywords

Amianan, Ilokano identity, Filipino theology, ordinary theology, religiosity

References

Agcaoili, Aurelio S., Melania L. Abad, and Patnubay B. Tiamson, eds. Salaysay: Pananaliksik sa Wika at Panitikan. Quezon City: Miriam College, 2001.

Almazan, Joefrey M. “Naindayawan-A-Rambak-Ti-Gimong: An Inculturation of the Eucharist in Ilokano.” Religion and Social Communication 22, no. 1 (2023): 7–33.

Alterado, Danilo S. “Nakem ken Ulimek: A Hermeneutics of Silence in the Ilokano Cosmic Self.” Philosophia: International Journal of Philosophy 16, no. 2 (2015): 127–139.

Alterado, Danilo S., and Tanya Sue D. Barayuga. “The Ilokano Mind in the Life and Works of Isabelo Delos Reyes: Don Belong’s Intellectual Legacy through the Lens of Nakem Philosophy.” Kaabigan 2, no. 1 (2024): 25-46.

Alterado, Danilo S., and Aldrin S. Jaramilla. “Maiyannatup a Panagripirip: Towards an Ilokano Indigenous Doing of Philosophy.” Philosophia: International Journal of Philosophy 20, no. 1, (2019): 101–102.

Alterado, Danilo S., Godofredo P.G. Nebrija, and Raul Leandro D. Villanueva. “Nakem and Virtue Ethics: Framing the Ilokano and Amianan Sense of Good Life.” Humanities Diliman 20, no. 1 (2023).

Alterado, Danilo S. “Introduction.” In Wisdom and Silence: Essays in Philippine Nakem Philosophy, edited by Danilo S. Alterado, xi-xxi. Amsterdam: Academy Press of Amsterdam, 2021.

Cadingpal, Brandon B. “‘Tengaw’ Observance: The Kankanaeys Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Religion and Social Communication 19, no. 2 (2021): 283–310.

Cadingpal, Brandon. “Kasiyana as Religious Communication among the Kankanaeys in the Philippines.” Religion and Social Communication 22, no. 2, (2024): 444–469. DOI: 10.62461/bcp041124.

Ciarrocchi, Joseph W., and Erin Deneke. “Hope, Optimism, Pessimism, and Spirituality as Predictors of Well-being Controlling for Personality.” Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion 16 (2005): 161–183. DOI: 10.1163/9789047417675_013.

Corpuz, Jeff Clyde G. “Death and Food Offering: The Ilokano ‘Atang’ Ritual from a Contextual Theology.” Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal 8, no. 1 (2020): 113–126.

Cresswell, John. “Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches.” California: Sage Publications, 2013.

Davids, Nuraan, and Yusef Waghid. “On Faith and Deliberative Encounters.” In Teaching and Learning as a Pedagogic Pilgrimage: Cultivating Faith, Hope and Imagination, edited by Nuraan Davids and Yusef Waghid, 23-30. London: Routledge, 2018.

Dean, Liza Z. “Why Letting go and God take control is difficult (and how to start today).” Liza Z. Dean, February 2, 2023. https://lisazdean.com/letting-go-and-letting-god-take-control.

Farinas, Gerald. “Ilocano 101: Atang—Honoring the dead.” Ger Farinas (blog), Oct 31, 2024. https://www.geraldfarinas.com/home/ilocano-101-atang-honoring-the-dead#:~:text=Ilocano%20is%20part%20of%20the,French%20Spiritist%20ideas%20and%20Christianity.

Garcia, Patrick Meryll J. “The Nuances and Dynamics of the Filipino Expression Bahala na as an Experience of Culture and Faith.” EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research 10, no. 5 (2024):167–173. DOI: 10.36713/epra16788.

Gordon, James. “Is a Sense of Self Essential to Spirituality?” Journal of Religion, Disability & Health 13, no. 1 (2009): 51–63. DOI:10.1080/15228960802581438.

Gripaldo, Ronaldo M. “Bahala na: A Philosophical Analysis.” In Filipino Cultural Traits: Claro R. Ceniza Lectures, edited by Rolando M. Gripaldo, 203-220. Washington, D.C.: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2005.

Hoffman, Mary F. “Ora et Labora (Prayer and Work): Spirituality, Communication and Organizing in Religious Communities.” Journal of Communication & Religion 30, no. 2 (2007): 187–212. DOI: 10.5840/jcr20073026.

Hong, Yohan. “Powerlessness and a Social Imaginary in the Philippines: A Case Study on Bahala Na.” The Asbury Journal 75, no. 1 (2020): 127–150. DOI: 10.7252/Journal.01.2020S.08.

Jastrzębski, Andrzej K. “The Challenging Task of Defining Spirituality.” Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 24, no. 2 (2022): 113-131. DOI: 10.1080/19349637.2020.1858734.

Kumari Sharma, Sadhna, and O. P. Sharma. “Spirituality leads to Happiness: A Correlative Study.” International Journal of Indian Psychology 3, no. 2 (2016): 2-6.

Lagmay, Alfredo V. “Bahala na.” Philippine Journal of Psychology 26, no. 1 (1993): 31–36.

Landau, Mark J., Jeff Greenberg, and Spee Kosloff. “Coping with Life’s One Certainty: A Terror Management Perspective on the Existentially Uncertain Self.” In Handbook of the Uncertain Self, edited by Robert M. Arkin, Kathryn C. Oleson, and Patrick J. Carroll, 195–215. New York: Psychology Press, 2010.

Lerner, Richard M., Amye Alberts, Pamela M. Anderson, and Elizabeth M. Dowling. “On Making Humans Human: Spirituality and The Promotion of Positive.” In The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence, edited by Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Pamela Ebstyne King, Linda Wagener, and Peter Benson, 60–72. California: Sage Publications, 2005.

Lindseth, Anders, and Astrid Norberg. “A Phenomenological Hermeneutical Method for Researching Lived Experience.” Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 18, no. 2 (2004): 145–153. DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2004.00258.x.

“Logos”, PBS.org. n.d. accessed October 17, 2025. https://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/theogloss/logos-body.html#:~:text=A%20principle%20originating%20in%20classical,every%20individual%20who%20seeks%20it.

Mashal, Heather. “God, Prayer, and Randomness.” All Things are Yours, May 15, 2019. https://allthingsareyours.wordpress.com/2019/05/15/god-prayer-and-randomness.

Matienzo, Rhochie Avelino E. “Revisiting the Philosophy of Bahala Na Folk Spirituality.” Filogracia 2, no. 2 (2015): 86–105.

Overstreet, Dawn V. “Spiritual vs. Religious: Perspectives from Today’s Undergraduate Catholics.” Journal of Catholic Education 14, no. 2 (2010): 238–263. DOI:10.15365/joce.1402062013.

Özgenel, Mustafa, and Özden Yılmaz. “The Relationship between Spiritual Well-being and Happiness: An Investigation on Teachers.” Spiritual Psychology and Counseling 5, no. 3 (2020): 287-300.

Pacris, Ben. “Ilokano Lowland Cultural Community.” National Commission of the Culture and The Arts. Accessed October 3, 2024. https://ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca-3/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-communities-and-traditional-arts-sccta/northern-cultural-communities/ilokano-lowland-cultural-community/.

Panov, Slobodan I. “Upbringing: Models and Dilemmas.” Iustinianus Primus Law Review 4, no. 1 (2013): 1-16.

Pratt, Michael G., and Kurt T. Dirks. “Rebuilding Trust and Restoring Positive Relationships: A Commitment-based View of Trust.” In Exploring Positive Relationships at Work: Building a Theoretical and research Foundation, edited by Jane Dutton and Belle Rose Ragins, 117–136. New York: Psychology Press, 2017. DOI:10.4324/9781315094199-8.

Pe‐Pua, Rogelia, and Elizabeth A. Protacio‐Marcelino. “Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino Psychology): A Legacy of Virgilio G. Enriquez.” Asian Journal of Social Psychology 3, no. 1 (2000): 49–71. DOI: 10.1111/1467-839X.00054o.

Platovnjak, Ivan. “The Relationship between Spirituality, Religion, and Culture.” Studia Gdańskie 41 (2017): 117-125.

Queddeng, Mercita Q., Constantino F. Queypo, and Caesar Ziggy Q. Perlas. “Preservation of Ilokano Historical and Cultural Value in the Holy Week Procession: A Design Development of the Carroza.” The Vector: International Journal of Emerging Science, Technology and Management (IJESTM) 30, no. 1 (2021).

Saunders, Benjamin, Julius Sim, Tom Kingstone, Shula Baker, Jackie Waterfield, Bernadette Bartlam, Heather Burroughs, and Clare Jinks. “Saturation in Qualitative Research: Exploring its Conceptualization and Operationalization.” Quality & Quantity 52 (2018): 1893-1907. DOI: 10.1007/s11135-017-0574-8.

Sloan, Art, and Brian Bowe. “Phenomenology and Hermeneutic Phenomenology: The Philosophy, the Methodologies, and Using Hermeneutic Phenomenology to Investigate Lecturers’ Experiences of Curriculum Design.” Quality & Quantity 48 (2014): 1291–1303. DOI: 10.1007/s11135-013-9835-3.

Tagay, Angelina, and Leah Ballesteros. “Ilokano Familism in the Chichacorn Industry in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, Philippines.” Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews 4, no. 1 (2016): 27–40.

Tsitsigkou, Evangelia. “Spirituality as a Predictive Factor of Feeling Helplessness.” Theophany 6 (2024). DOI: 10.26247/theophany.2630.

Ubale, Adamu Zakiyu, and Abdul Hakim Abdullah. “The Effects of Spirituality in Shaping the Human Behaviour: (An Islamic Perspective).” International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 5, no. 9 (2015): 1–13. DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v5-i9/1793.

van den Bos, Kees. “Making Sense of Life: The Existential Self Trying to Deal with Personal Uncertainty.” Psychological Inquiry 20, no. 4 (2009): 197-217. DOI: 10.1080/10478400903333411.

Victor, Paul, Chitra G., and Judith V. Treschuk. “Critical Literature Review on the Definition Clarity of the Concept of Faith, Religion, and Spirituality.” Journal of Holistic Nursing 38, no. 1 (2020): 107–113. DOI: 10.1177/0898010119895368.

“What are the Traits of the Ilokano?” August 4, 2015. https://www.reference.com/world-view/traits-ilokano-76d492be90c28a1f.

Zinnbauer, Brian J., Kenneth I. Pargament, Brenda Cole, Mark S. Rye, Eric M. Butfer, Timothy G. Belavich, Kathleen Hipp, Allie B. Scott, and Jill L. Kadar. “Religion and Spirituality: Unfuzzying the Fuzzy.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 36, no. 4 (1997): 549–564. DOI: 10.2307/1387689.

Pages: 185–204

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62461/CLS113026

Submitted, Accepted & Published Dates

Submitted: August 15, 2025
Accepted: November 30, 2025
Published: January 1, 2026

Cite this article

Cadingpal, Brandon Billan, Moreen Jebert Marzan Lazaga, and Trixie Anne Arcillas Sampayan. “Makaammo’n ti Apo: Exploring a Facet of Ilokano Spirituality.” Religion and Social Communication 24, no. 1 (2026): 185–204. https://doi.org/10.62461/CLS113026.

Makaammo’n ti Apo: Exploring a Facet of Ilokano Spirituality

Download