The Filipino: Religious Practices

The Philippines proudly boasts to be the only Christian nation in Asia. More than 86
percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various nationalized
Christian cults, and another 2 percent belong to well over 100 Protestant denominations. In
addition to the Christian majority, there is a vigorous 4 percent Muslim minority,
concentrated on the southern islands of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan. Scattered in isolated
mountainous regions, the remaining 2 percent follow non-Western, indigenous beliefs and
practices. The Chinese minority, although statistically insignificant, has been culturally
influential in coloring Filipino Catholicism with many of the beliefs and practices of
Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

The pre-Hispanic belief system of Filipinos consisted of a pantheon of gods, spirits,

creatures, and men that guarded the streams, fields, trees, mountains, forests, and houses.
Bathala, who created earth and man, was superior to these other gods and spirits. Regular
sacrifices and prayers were offered to placate these deities and spirits--some of which were
benevolent, some malevolent. Wood and metal images represented ancestral spirits, and no
distinction was made between the spirits and their physical symbol. Reward or punishment
after death was dependent upon behavior in this life.

The current challenge to the supremacy of the Catholic church comes from a variety
of small sects -- from the fundamentalist Christian groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and
Seventh Day Adventists, to the lglesia ni Kristo and Rizalists. The Roman Catholics suffer
from a lack of personnel (the priest to people ratio is exceedingly low), putting them at a
disadvantage in gaining and maintaining popular support. The Catholic church is seeking
to meet this challenge by establishing an increasingly native clergy and by engaging in
programs geared to social action and human rights among the rural and urban poor. In
many cases this activity has led to friction between the church and the Marcos government,
resulting in arrests of priests, nuns, and lay people on charges of subversion. In the "war for
souls" this may be a necessary sacrifice. At present the largest growing religious sector falls
within the province of these smaller, grass roots sects; but only time will tell where the
percentages will finally rest.
 The Filipino: Beliefs

As I read the early tabloid this morning, the front page read, “This is the punishment
of God to us. “According to a survey, many believe that disasters are the wrath of God and
a form of punishment to man.
Many Filipinos believed about the wrath of God as punishment for the sins of man in the
form of natural disasters (typhoons, floods, landslides, earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions).

According to the survey of Pulse Asia;

• 21% of people at the right age believed about natural disasters are ways of God’s
punishment
• 14% states that these are part of a natural process while,
• 2% do not know the reasons of these calamities

But a deceased of 23% of people are blaming God on these mayhems during the past two
years.
One “sizeable majority” (63% as of last month, increased from 54% of July, 2008) who
believed that the reasons of these disasters are due to man’s abuse and exploitative attitudes
towards nature. A result from July 1 to July 11 interviews of 1,200 people showed an
increase on numbers who are concerned and troubled by climate change. 66% agreed of
climate change in their place for the past three years. In the survey last year, only 11% tells
that there was minimum change on the climate, 23% has no answer and 58% recounted that
there was a great change in the climate.

Philippine beliefs and superstition have grown in number throughout the various
regions and provinces in the country. These beliefs have come from the different saying and
superstitions of our ancestors that aim to prevent danger from happening or to make a
person refrain from doing something in particular. These beliefs are part of our culture, for
one derives their beliefs from the influences of what their customs, traditions and culture
have dictated to explain certain phenomena or to put a scare in people. Some are practiced
primarily because Filipinos believe that there is nothing to lose if they will comply with
these beliefs.
Christian Mark E. Quaimbao
12 - Einstein
12- Einstein
The Filipino: Traditions

Filipinos are very fond of music. They use various materials to create sound. They
love performing dances (Tiniking and Carinosa) and group singing during festive
celebrations. Settlers from Spain introduced to them a variety of musical instruments like the
ukulele, trumpet, drums and violin. Most of their music is contemporary and they have also
learned to write their own songs based on real life events. People are also fond of folklore,
which was influenced by the early church and Spanish literature. Jose Rizal, the country’s
national hero, is famous for his literature and novels inspired from the independence story of
the country.

Christmas is one of the most loved celebration by Filipinos. Families and relatives
gather on the 24th of December, to celebrate food prepared for “Noche Buena,” a Spanish
term which means “midnight meal” to greet Christmas Day. New Year is another celebration
that gathers the Filipino families. Wearing dotted clothes and preparing round fruits on the
table, which symbolize prosperity, is one of the many customs of the Filipinos.

Filipinos are big eaters, even though it is not obviously seen in their petite bodies. The
Philippines is known as Asia’s melting pot because of the uniqueness and variety of their
food. Filipinos can’t go a day without including rice in their meals. They love plain rice
matched with salted fish, chicken and meat. They serve rice first followed by the various
viands they have grown to eat and cook. Filipinos have a very regular eating schedule:
morning, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon (merienda) and dinner.

They enjoy a variety of sweet foods adopted from other countries which encouraged
them to make their own desserts like “mahablanca” a dessert made of coconut milk, corn,
sugar, or “puto” and “palitaw” which are also made of coconut milk. They also enjoy eating
“halo-halo” for their afternoon snack which means “mixture,” a popular dessert that consists
of layers of cornflakes, ice cream, small pieces of gelatin, milk and shaved ice.

During special occasions like a town’s big event in celebration of their saint’s feast, a
favorite food called “lechon,” a suckling pig that has been roasted until the skin turns crusty
is served. Some street foods are also common in the country like the famous “balut,” a boiled
duck egg with an embryo, and fish and squid balls on a stick that are dipped on spicy and
sweet sauces

The Philippines has a very unique culture due to the influences of colonization and
the surrounding countries. Filipino people are very hardworking and strive to make life