Sympathy is a much older word in the English language than empathy, and people especially in the Philippines where almost all of us dabble in English not as a native tongue but a secondary language, are prone to use these two words interchangeably.
The science of psychology pushed empathy to everyday usage, originally to mean the concept that persons could project their own feelings onto a viewed object.
A couple of centuries later, empathy’s meaning has become broader. The term is now most often used to refer to the capacity or ability to imagine oneself in the situation of another, experiencing the emotions, ideas or opinions of that person.
The word sympathy, meanwhile, is largely used to convey commiseration, pity or feelings of sorrow for someone else who is experiencing misfortune.
The words coming from the Greek “pathos” both proclaim that the one feeling them is sad; empathetic when you can put yourself in his/her shoes and feel what it’s like, and sympathetic when you are sorry for what misfortune your fellow human being is going through. Both feelings need not move one into action.
Not so with compassion, where feelings of empathy and sympathy, kindness and humanity, cooperation and goodwill all converge to prod a person to act and render assistance to a fellow human being, whether or not he/she is a family member, a friend, or a stranger.
In Barangay 173 in Caloocan City last May 1, many witnessed the limits of sympathy and compassion.
Professional nurse Mark John Blanco, 39 years old, was walking home after alighting from a jeepney when he saw a motorcycle rider moving in a zigzag fashion.
The rider then fell from his motorcycle and Blanco, ever helpful, rushed to assist the rider, later identified as Joel Vecino, 54, a security guard. Vecino was obviously intoxicated at that time.
Blanco assisted Vecino to his feet and also helped in picking up the motorcycle.
When the motorcycle failed to start several times, Vecino was so vexed that he poured his frustration on the male nurse. He shot Mark John Blanco twice in the head and once on the arm, killing him instantly.
Willy Manarom, 39, another witness to the incident, tried to stop the suspect but he, too, was gunned down at close range by the rider.
Vecino finally succeeded in starting his vehicle and even tried to escape. But he bumped into an electric post and was finally subdued and arrested by the Caloocan Police.
The police recovered three 9mm shell casings at the crime scene which matched the firearm confiscated from the gunman, according to Police Major Segundino Bulan Jr., chief of the Caloocan Police Sub-station 9.
Vecino is facing charges for double murder while the victim, Blanco, left five children with his wife.
It was reported that the gunman apologized to the families of his victims but did not categorically admit to killing them.
Motorcycle rider Vecino–by his lonesome, we believe–has redefined the parameters of sympathy and compassion. Many who have heard or read about this accident and twin murders will think twice if they should help or not their fellow men who are in need.
Many will opt to look the other way.
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