Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Religious beliefs
Religious belief - among Muslims as well as Christians - is genuine and
deeply held all over the Philippines. Though the nation remains
predominantly Roman Catholic, parts of Mindanao are one hundred percent
Islamic, and even traditional Catholic communities have been shaken up by
new Catholic movements such as El Shaddai. Perhaps most surprising has
been the success of Protestant churches such as Iglesia ni Cristo, which has
branches all over the archipelago.
Catholicism
The Philippines is one of only two
predominantly Catholic
nations in Asia (the other
being East Timor) - more than eighty percent of the population is Roman Catholic,
with around ten percent Protestant. In addition to the Christian majority, there is a
Muslim minority of between five and ten percent, concentrated on the southern islands
of Mindanao and Sulu.
Yet to describe the Philippines as a Roman Catholic country is an over-simplification.
Elements of tribal belief absorbed into Catholicism have resulted in a form of “
folk
Catholicism
” that manifests itself in various homespun observances - a folk healer
might use Catholic liturgy mixed with native rituals, or suited entrepreneurs might be
seen scattering rice around their premises to ensure their ventures are profitable. And
the infamous
re-enactments of the Crucifixion
held near San Fernando, Pampanga,
every year (see box, p.121) are frowned upon by the o
cial church. Even the
Chinese
minority has been influential in colouring Filipino Catholicism with the beliefs and
practices of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism; many Catholic Filipinos believe in
the balance of
yin
and
yang
, and that time is cyclical in nature.
The new Catholic movements
Today, the supremacy of the Catholic Church in the Philippines is being challenged
by a variety of Christian sects. The largest of these is
El Shaddai
, established by lay
preacher Mike Velarde on his weekly Bible-quoting radio show in the 1980s.
Known to his followers as Brother Mike, Velarde has captured the imagination of
poor Catholics, many of whom feel isolated from the mainstream Church. Velarde
started preaching in colloquial and heavily accented Tagalog at huge open-air
gatherings every weekend on Roxas Boulevard - the movement moved into a
purpose-built P1 billion “House of Prayer” in Paranaque, Metro Manila, in 2009.
Velarde tends to wear screamingly loud, made-to-measure suits and outrageous bow
ties, but his message is straightforward: give to the Lord and He will return it to you
tenfold. He now has over eight million followers, most of whom suffer from
sakit sa
bulsa
, or “ailment of the pocket”, but are nevertheless happy to pay ten percent of
their income to become card-carrying members of the flock. Brother Mike's
relationship with the mainstream Catholic Church is uneasy. His relationship with
politicians is not. With so many followers hanging on his every word, Brother Mike
is a potent political ally and few candidates for high o
ce are willing to upset him.
In the 1998 elections, Brother Mike backed Joseph Estrada, which was a significant
factor in the former movie actor's initial success. The
Neocatechumenal Way
, a
Catholic movement that started in Spain in the 1960s, also has a very large and
expanding presence in the Philippines.
