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Gospel-Culture Relationship of Traditional Filipino Religion and

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Research · January 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3208.2002

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 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

The International Journal of

Religion and Spirituality

in Society
__________________________________________________________________________

Gospel-Culture Relationship of Traditional

Filipino Religion and Catholicism

FIDES DEL CASTILLO

religioninsociety.com
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN SOCIETY
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 Gospel-Culture Relationship of Traditional
Filipino Religion and Catholicism
Fides del Castillo, De La Salle University Manila, Philippines

Abstract: The early Filipinos had a traditional religion before the Spanish expedition reached the Philippines in the
fifteenth century. They have their own set of cultural traditions, beliefs, and practiced a religious system. But the question
on why and how did the majority of Filipinos have come to accept the Catholic religion as an alternative to their
indigenous religious beliefs is a question asked by many historians and anthropologists. This paper contributes to the
discussion on how Christianity developed in the Philippines by drawing out similar constructs between the indigenous
religion of the early Filipinos and Christianity. The paper concludes that the lack of tension between the traditional
religion of the early Filipinos and Catholicism allowed Christianity to prosper and dominate in the Philippines.

Keywords: Religious Constructs, Traditional Filipino Religion, Catholicism, Gospel-Culture Relationship

Early Beginnings of the Early Filipinos

T he early Filipinos1 had a traditional religion before the Christian missionaries came in the
Philippines in the fifteenth century. They have their own traditional indigenous religion,
unique customs and beliefs. In the purpose of this study, the term early Filipino people
will be limited to the traditional indigenous groups in Luzon such as the “Negritoes”2 and
“Mangyans.”3 The Negritoes known as Aytas from Zambales, Dumagats from Nueva Ecija,
Agtas from Quezon, and Mangyans of Mindoro are just some of the many indigenous Filipinos.
According to Mercado, the indigenous Filipinos are closely connected with nature.4 The
environment is their home and the center of their life. The Aytas, for example, name the months
according to its relation to nature.5 For the Aytas, January is named Hiwalayan because it
mediates the rainy season and the dry season. February is Malok because they believe that a
typhoon lasting a day and a night will come. March is the month of Yani, a time when the song
of birds can be heard in the forests. April is Lamitak because it is a time when the Aytas feel the
heat. May is Kalawan, a time to prepare for planting rice. June and July are called Dal-ara
because it is the time when the birds come out of the forest and land on the ground. August and
September are Kalowan which refers to the time when rain and sunshine alternate and October is
Baieh because the white fruits of the cogon grass fall down. November is called Kulikit which
means post-harvest time and December is Pamegay because it is the time when the wind is cold.
Mother Nature also provides food, medicine, clothing and everything that the indigenous people
need. The Aytas see the forests as having wild plants that need no cultivation. This is the reason
why they respect and take care of the environment. They do not cut trees because a denuded
forest will mean the death of their tribe. If someone cuts trees, they must plant a new one to
restore the forest’s pristine status.

1
Early Filipinos refer to the first inhabitants of the Philippines. They are the indigenous inhabitants of the region before
the Spanish colonial period.
2
Negritoes have dark curly hair and shorter than ordinary lowland Filipinos. They originally live in the mountains and
live by hunting, fishing and food-gathering.
3
Mangyans are the early people who originally came from the southern regions of the Philippines and have settled in
Mindoro. They first settled by the shore but eventually were droved inlands.
4
Leonardo Mercado, Spirituality on Creation (Manila: Logos Publication, Inc., 1998), 7-10.
5
The names of the months are connected with nature signs. This was narrated by Palab Cabalic, an Ayta from Zabales.
He explained this during the Philippine Inter-religious Dialogue Series in 1998.

The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society

Volume 6, Issue 2, 2015, www.religioninsociety.com, ISSN 2154-8633
© Common Ground, Fides del Castillo, All Rights Reserved
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THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

Belief in Gods and Spirits

The early Filipinos of Luzon believed in a Supreme Being. Sitoy describes “the Supreme Being
as one who stands at the apex of a scale of powerful spirits; or as a categorical description of an
all-pervading divine characteristic or function.”6 The Supreme Being is called by different names
among the different ethno-linguistic groups in Luzon: Kadak’lan (Ifugaos of northern Luzon),
Miglalang (natives of Pampanga province), Malayari (natives of Zambales province), and
Bathala (native Tagalog people of Luzon). Also, the names Bathalang Maykapal (Bathala the
Creator) or Panginoong Bathala (The Lord Bathala) is used by the Tagalog people even after
they have been converted to Christianity. The name Bathala was so embedded in the traditional
religion of the pre-Hispanic natives of Luzon that they do not know any other name in their
language to give to the Lord God except Bathala. 7
Sitoy also detailed the relationship between the great Lord Bathala and the anito. For the
Tagalog people, the anito are lesser divinities who act as ministers of Bathala. All anito have
specific functions or offices. The natives believe that there are anito for the rice fields, for the
sea, for battles, and for curing diseases. 8 Francisco speaks of an anito called Dian Masalanta who
was the patron of lovers and generations. Another anito called Lacanbaco was believed to be the
god of the fruits of the earth while the anito Lacanpati is believed to water the fields and provide
fish from the sea. The Tagalog people also believed that Bathala was such a great Lord that no
one may speak to him. However, the anito can effectually intercede before him for and on behalf
of mankind. It is to the anito that the 16th century Filipinos called upon and offered sacrifices
when they desired anything. 9
The importance of anito as ministers and intercessors is narrated in an Ifugao myth shared by
Mercado. According to the myth, the god Hinumbiyan was displeased with an Ifugao farmer who
always planted at the rice terraces and harvested but never thanked the gods. Hinumbiyan then
made the farmer suffer from a stomach ache. The farmer, in search of a cure for his affliction,
consulted a religious functionary who is knowledgeable on the invisible world. The religious
functionary performed a ritual before an anito who functions as a god-messenger. The anito told
the religious functionary that Hinumbiyan is unhappy with the farmer because he did not offer
thanksgiving rituals to the gods for his harvests. In the end, the farmer was instructed by the
religious functionary to roast animals as a thanksgiving sacrifice after each harvest season.10
The early Filipinos also had the anito represented in tangible forms as idols called likha or
larawan. However, Francisco argues that it cannot be determined if a likha is an actual
representation of an anito.11 None the less, the native Filipinos believed that a likha carry an
efficacy called bisa or potensiya. Even at the present times, the traditional belief in the power of
a likha is customary among Filipino devotees. Mercado speaks of a popular Filipino devotion
called “punas-punas” or the wiping or touching of a sacred image with a piece of cloth. 12 The
devotees believe that the handkerchief that touched the sacred image obtained a bisa or efficacy
to cure sicknesses and ward of evil spirits.
Among the religious functionaries of the early Filipinos are priests and priestesses who came
by various names, according to the ethno-linguistic area.13 For the Tagalog people, the catalona
serves as the priest or priestess who leads the community in rituals and sacrifices especially in
feasts celebrated by the chiefs. However, the native Filipinos do not have churches as places of

6
Valentino Sitoy, A History of Christianity in the Philippines (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1985), 12.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
Jose Francisco, “Tagalogs at the Spanish Contact,” in The Beginnings of Christianity in the Philippines, ed. Chrisitan
Quirino (Quezon City: Vertex Press, Inc, 1965), 176-200.
10
Leonardo Mercado, Filipino Popular Devotions (Manila: Logos Publications, Inc, 2000).
11
Francisco, “Tagalogs at the Spanish Contact,” 176-200.
12
This is usually a handkerchief printed with Catholic formula prayers.
13
Sitoy, A History of Christianity in the Philippines, 18.

42
 DEL CASTILLO: GOSPEL-CULTURE RELATIONSHIP OF TRADITIONAL FILIPINO RELIGION

worship or sacrifice. Instead, sacrifices are made at the chief’s house where a shelter for the
“nagaanito” or worshippers is erected. Domingo mentions “Reuel Almocera’s assertion that the
indigenous Filipinos honored the spirits with rituals and feast days because these supernatural
beings were considered able to preside over the whole gamut of life, including birth, sickness,
courtship, marriage, planting, harvesting, and death. Some of these spirits were considered
friendly; others were viewed as tyrannical enemies.” 14 The rites and rituals of the early Filipinos
reflect Tylor’s animistic theory of the origin of religion. The autochthonous religion of the early
Filipinos has sufficiently guided their temporal and spiritual needs before the Spanish
missionaries came.15

Beginnings of Colonization and Christianization in the Philippines

On 10 August 1519, Fernão de Magalhães led a five-boat fleet called Armada de Molucca from
the port of Seville, Spain to search for a new trade route to the Mollucas (Maluku, Indonesia).
Andaya narrated that “the Portuguese Fernão de Magalhães assumed the Visayan archipelago in
the Philippines to be the Spice Islands. He offered his services to King Carlos of Spain and
promised to attain Catholic goals and help Spain achieve hegemony over the known world.” 16
Fernão de Magalhães’ Armada de Molucca sailed westward and after two grueling and
perilous years at sea reached the “Islas de Los Ladrones.”17 Surviving one shipwreck and a
mutiny, the reduced Armada de Molucca reached “Homonhon Island”18 on 17 March 1521.
Ferdinand Magellan and his crew sailed on to an island-port in the Philippines called Mazzaua
where they celebrated the first Mass. On 7 April 1521, the three-boat fleet and remaining crew of
Magellan entered the port of “Zzubu.”19 Through the urging of Ferdinand Magellan, the kinglet
of Zzubu named Raja Humabon, his wife, and around 800 natives received the sacrament of
baptism of the Catholic Church. As a gift from the Spaniards, the wife of Raja Humabon
received a wooden carving of the Christ Child or Santo Niño.20 Ilustre adds that Antonio
Pigafetta, the Italian chronicler of Ferdinand Magellan, also gave the wife of Raja Humabon a
statue of the Virgin with the Christ Child. The wife of Raja Humabon was given the Christian
name Juana and Rajah Humabon received the Christian name Carlos.
Catindig said that the example of the rulers of Cebu was immediately followed by their
subjects. Soon, throngs of early Filipinos of Cebu were baptized including those from
neighboring islands, a record made by Maximilianus Transylavanus placed the number of newly
baptized Christians at 2,200.21 Nobody can ever know the inner workings of God’s grace but one
cannot help but wonder why the early Filipinos of Cebu accepted the Christian religion of
Spaniards. Catindig believes that fear and greed moved the early Filipinos to accept the Catholic
faith. He says that the Filipino natives were afraid that they would all be destroyed should they
refuse the faith of the visitors. In addition, the description of Pigafetta about the Spanish Armada:
as handkerchiefs wipe off the sweat, so did our arms overthrow and destroy all our adversaries
and those who hate our faith. As for greed, Catindig explains that Magellan told the kinglet
Humabon that upon being a Christian, he would be able to conquer his enemies and the natives
will have a suit of armor that will make them invulnerable. 22

14
Eduardo Domingo, “Re-reading the Contexts of Historical Records,” Philippiniana Sacra, (2007): 417-432.
15
Lewis Hofpe, Religions of the World (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1983), 8-9.
16
Barbara Andaya, “Between Empires and Emporia,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (2010)
357-392.
17
Today this place is known as Mariana Islands, Micronesia.
18
It is now called Eastern Samar, Philippines.
19
Now known as Cebu, Philippines
20
R. Skeleton, Magellan's Voyage (New York: Dover Publications, 1969), 15-18.
21
Marina Ilustre, “The Virgin and the Santo Niño of Cebu,” in The Beginnings Christianity in the Philippines, ed.
Christian Quirino (Quezon City: Vertex Press, Inc, 1963), 128-133.
22
Teodoro Catindig, “Magellan: the Journey across the Philippines,” in The Beginnings of Christianity in the Philippines,
ed. Chrisitan Quirino (Quezon City: Vertex Press, Inc, 1965), 12 -30.

43
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

While Catindig’s argument on fear, greed, and Christianization is plausible, an event

narrated by Ilustre about the re-discovery of Queen Juana’s Santo Niño points to other possible
reasons for the Christianization of early Filipinos. On 28 April 1565, long after the survivors of
Ferdinand Magellan's expedition have left Philippine waters forever, the wooden carving of the
Santo Nino owned by Queen Juana was discovered by one of the soldiers in the expeditionary
force headed by Miguel Lopez De Legazpi. Legazpi highlighted:

On the day when we entered this village one of the soldiers went to a large and well-
built house of an Indian woman where he found an image of the child Jesus. This was
kept in its cradle, all gilded, just as it was brought from España, and only the little cross
which is generally placed upon the globe in its hand is missing. This image was well-
kept in that house, and many flowers were found before it, no one knows for what object
or purpose.23

If the early Filipinos were moved by fear and greed to accept the Christian religion why then
did the image of the Santo Nino remain intact long after Magellan was killed and the survivors of
his Spanish expedition had left the country? In fact, after almost five centuries, the very same
image of the Santo Nino is extant, which makes it as the oldest among Philippine santo (religious
image). Thus, this paper explores other possible reasons for the Christianization of the early
Filipinos.

The Gospel-Culture Relationship of Traditional Filipino Religion and Catholicism

Religion is usually associated with the world religions such as Christianity, Hinduism,
Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. These religions have definite creeds, codes and cults. But unlike
the great religion, early people of the Philippines had a worldview and religion of their own
before the Catholic missionaries came to the Philippines. 24 They have no scripture nor hierarchy
and founder. Instead they have myths, proverbs, custom and codes of conduct in lieu of the
sacred scripture.25 But despite these realities, the Catholic religion took root in the Philippines
and prospered. Theology arose from the mutual interaction between the Gospel proclaimed by
the early missionaries and the culture of the early people in the Philippines. Redemptoris Missio
explains this interaction between faith and culture as inculturation.26
The Catholic history is a witness of the different forms of dialogue between faith and
culture. De Mesa describes one of the many forms of Gospel-culture relationship according to a
typology outlined by H. Richard Niehbur. 27 He explains that the typology allows us to observe
and situate the accent of particular theologies of inculturation within a spectrum of interactions
between Christianity and culture. De Mesa mentions “the folk Catholicism in the Philippines as
an example for the second type of relationship between Gospel and culture. He says that in the
second type of relationship between Gospel and culture, one finds a fundamental but not total
agreement between them.”28 There is no great tension between being Christian and being
member of a cultural group. People who subscribe to this outlook seem to equally feel more or
less at home in the community of believers and in the community of culture. The Gospel is
understood with the resources of the culture and the culture is interpreted through the Gospel. De
Mesa further explains:

23
Ibid., 131.
24
Pablo Fernandez, History of the Church of the Philippines (Metro Manila: Navotas Press, 1979).
25
Mercado, Spirituality on Creation, 10-16.
26
John Paul II, “Redemptoris Missio,” http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-
ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris-missio.html, 52.
27
Jose De Mesa, Why Theology is Never Far from Home (Manila: De La Salle University Press, 2003) 35-40.
28
Ibid.

44
 DEL CASTILLO: GOSPEL-CULTURE RELATIONSHIP OF TRADITIONAL FILIPINO RELIGION

The striking similarity between the roles of the indigenous spirits and the Catholic saints
as understood by the native population illustrates this. Though officially presented by
the Church as particular models of holiness, the saints are regarded like the spirits who
are asked to grant favors, to refrain from inflicting harm or remove the harm they had
inflicted. Interest in the powers of the spirits spill over to what the saints are capable of
doing. If there are spirits of particular places, or definite life phases or specific needs,
there are also singular saints with their respective specialties. 29

The traditional religion of the early Filipinos and Catholicism has similar religious
constructs. They both have a Supreme Being, intermediaries to the Supreme Being, priests, acts
of worship, places of worship, and religious images. Looking back at the initial encounter of the
early Filipinos of Cebu with Fernão de Magalhães and the baptism of the subjects of Raja
Humabon, it can be seen that there was no great tension between being Christian and being
member of a cultural group. Tupayupanqui explains that God manifests Himself and is present in
indigenous culture:

First, faith is a free gift of God given to men and women from all eras in histories and
cultures. Theology is not developed with the purpose of believing in God because belief
in God exists prior to an understanding of our faith. Secondly, theology is a critical
intellectual aspect of our faith; therefore it is a human and cultural product. It is a way to
understand ourselves and the world around us from the perspective of faith. Third, the
uniqueness of the Christian faith is the historic revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus of
Nazareth by his death and resurrection became the Christ of our faith. He was
incarnated, born raised, and lived and died in a particular historical time and under the
parameters of Jewish culture. Therefore, the departure point of our theology is the faith
in Jesus Christ and the manifestations of God present as ‘the seeds of the word’ in the
indigenous traditions of our cultures. 30

Tupayupangi's assertion is in consonance with “Fanning’s view on the translatability of the

universal Christian faith into the forms and symbols of an indigenous culture.” 31 This
translatability is our departure point for the assertion that the similar religious constructs between
the Christian faith and the native culture of the Filipinos contributed to the acceptance,
development, and dominance of the Catholic faith in the Philippines.

Conclusion

The religious constructs between the Filipino native religion and the Catholic faith has shown
that there are similarities between the two. The congruent religious constructs and entrenchment
of Catholic faith into the Filipino culture have contributed to the Christianization of the early
Filipinos.
However, in order to authentically establish the faith, it is necessary that the people
appropriate the doctrine to their local cultural context. The propagation of Christianity from the
fifteenth century onwards through the Spanish medium and culture gave way to the
misappropriation of the faith and led to popular religiosity of the early Filipinos. In the process of
Christianization, the natives, who already embodied a traditional belief and were confronted by a
religious tradition taught in a foreign way, have modified and interpreted the elements of the
Christian faith and practiced folk Catholicism.

29
De Mesa, “Christianity and Culture in Asia,” 53-69.
30
Nicanor Tupayupanqui, “Native Theologies in Latin America,” Concilium (2010): 89-101.
31
Don Fanning, “Contextualization,” Trends and Issues in Missions (2009),
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgm_missions/5.

45
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

To truly communicate the Gospel one must establish the Church in such a way that it makes
sense to the people’s local cultural context. It is necessary for Christianity to meet the people’s
deepest needs and penetrate their worldview. In doing so, the recipients of the Gospel will be
able to authentically follow Christ while remaining faithful to their culture.

REFERENCES
Andaya, Barbara. “Between Empires and Emporia: The Economics of Christianization in Early
Modern Southeast Asia.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
(2010): 53, 357-392.
Catindig, Teodoro. “Magellan: the Journey across the Philippines.” In The Beginnings of
Christianity in the Philippines, edited by Chrisitan Quirino, 12-30. Quezon City: Vertex
Press, Inc, 1965.
Coseteng, Alicia. Spanish Churches in the Philippines. Quezon City: Mercury Printing, 1972.
De Mesa, Jose. “Christianity and Culture in Asia.” In Studies in Religion and Theology: Issues
and Perspectives, edited by Rito Baring, 53-69. Quezon City: Central Book Supply, Inc,
2007.
_____. Why Theology is Never far from Home. Manila: De La Salle University Press, 2003.
Domingo, Eduardo. “Re-reading the Contexts of Historical Records: Towards a Mature and
Objective Appraisal of the Early History of the Church in the Philippines.”
Philippiniana Sacra, (2007): 125, 417-432.
Fanning, Don. “Contextualization.” Trends and Issues in Missions, (2009),
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgm_missions/5.
Francisco, Jose. “Tagalogs at the Spanish Contact.” In The Beginnings of Christianity in the
Philippines, edited by Chrisitan Quirino, 176-200. Quezon City: Vertex Press, Inc,
1965.
Fernandez, Pablo. History of the Church of the Philippines (1521-1898). Metro Manila: Navotas
Press, 1979.
Hopfe, Lewis. Religions of the World. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1983.
Ilustre, Marina. “The Virgin and the Santo Niño of Cebu.” The Beginnings Christianity in the
Philippines, edited by Christian Quirino, 128-133. Quezon City: Vertex Press, Inc,
1963.
John Paul II. “Redemptoris Missio.” http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-
ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris-missio.html.
Mercado, Leonardo. Filipino Popular Devotions: The Interior Dialogue between Traditional
Religion and Christianity. Manila: Logos Publications, Inc, 2000.
_____. Spirituality on Creation: According to Selected Philippine Indigenous Peoples. Manila:
Logos Publication, Inc., 1998.
Sitoy, Valentino. A History of Christianity in the Philippines. Quezon City: New Day Publishers,
1985.
Skeleton, R. Magellan's Voyage—A Narrative Account of the First Circumnavigation Antonio
Pigafetta. New York: Dover Publications, 1969.
Tupayupanqui, Nicanor. “Native Theologies in Latin America.” Concilium (2010): 5, 89-101.

46
 DEL CASTILLO: GOSPEL-CULTURE RELATIONSHIP OF TRADITIONAL FILIPINO RELIGION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fides del Castillo: Assistant Professor, Theology and Religious Education Department, De La
Salle University Manila, Manila, Philippines

47
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