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Religion and Spiritual Beliefs in the Philippines Catholicism The form that Catholicism takes in the Philippines is in many
ways unique to the region in which it is practiced. Across Christian areas of
the Philippines indigenous religions or spiritual practices have entered into
and influenced the practice of Catholicism. It is also possible to see the pre-colonial indigenous spirituality influenced by Catholic notions. Fenella
Cannell did an extensive ethnography of Catholicism in a village in the region
of Bicol Philippines. In her book Power and Intimacy she provides an in depth
look at some of the ways women attend to the Christ Ama effigy. Across Southeast
Asia, especially insular South East Asia on islands such as Sulawesi and Bali,
people traditionally carved likenesses of their dead loved ones as a way to
remember and worship their ancestors. They would keep the effigies, and/or
bones of their ancestors in the family home or a house designated for that
purpose so that people could visit the effigy. This indigenous Southeast Asian
tradition has influenced the way Filipinos worship Jesus. The carved Ama (Jesu Pre-colonial Spiritual Beliefs
Despite being Catholic, belief in spirits is pervasive (especially in rural
areas) in the Filipino notions about the spiritual world. Many Filipinos in
rural communities make use of healers to cure illnesses and these healers are
bound up with the indigenous/pre-colonial spiritual beliefs of Filipinos.
Filipino healers serve to fill an important place in the community. Healers are
not medical practitioners in the Western sense but instead are more like shamans
that one would find in a loosely organized society. The healers Cannell
discusses in her book work to cure illnesses that are caused by invisible small
spirit beings called tawo. These beings are the cause of a wide range of
Women and Religion Many of the spirit mediums or healers in the Philippines are women. Cannell looks at three spirit healers who are women. Women play a central role then in healing. This contrasts with Western healing and medicine which has traditionally had men as the primary healers. In fact when the Spanish came to the Philippines they referred to the healers as witches, signifying a negative Western view of women as healers. The fact that women are allowed to and supported in becoming healers may play a factor in why many Filipino immigrant women work in the health field. Playing a central role in healing illnesses is not a foreign or unique role for women in their culture. The Muslims of the Philippines also have a unique place in the Filipino culture that is also carried over to Filipino life in America. Islam Although many people assume the Philippines is comprised only of Catholics, it does have a Muslim minority. This Muslim minority mainly remains in the Southern Islands of the Philippines and Mindanao. The term designated to refer to this group is "Moro". Today Moros make up about 5% of the population of the Philippines and have a complex history. South East Asia itself has a history of Islamic influence and conversion. For example, much of Malaysia and Indonesia are Muslim. The Moro were also subject to the same Islamic influences that these countries were, although clearly only the Southern part of the Philippines was effected and influenced to the degree that they became Muslim and have maintained a distinctly Islamicized culture for centuries. Yeger suggests that Muslim influence from the Middle East came into the Philippines around the 10th century A.D. with the increase of trade (191). Islamic missionaries also played a part in bringing Islam to Mindanao. Inevitably locals began to convert and a sultanate was established. Over the centuries different ethnic groups converted and as a result the Islamic communities of the Southern Philippines saw themselves as distinct, autonomous Islamic groups that at times fought. Nevertheless the sultanate of the Moro community has had a great deal of power and authority in the Southern Philippines and is the leader of the Moro population. The fact that the Moros have a religious and national identity has naturally been a cause of conflict with the colonial, Spanish, and American powers that have tried to create a unified Philippines that includes the Moro community. The Moro Community
Today the Moro community sees itself as a distinct and separate group that is
different from the rest of the mainly Catholic Philippines. In recent years they
have taken action to establish themselves as a separate nation and secede from
the Philippines while still maintaining economic ties with the Philippines. This
causes a conflicting desire to be somehow a part of the Philippines and not. One
of the main ways that the Moro community has attempted to create more autonomy
for themselves is through the establishment of the Moro National Liberation
Front. The MNLF was established in 1972 for the purpose of working toward
gaining national autonomy for the Moro society. One of the key factors that
played a role in its establishment was the assistance from other Muslim nations,
especially Malaysia, who trained Moro men in military combat. Shortly after its
establishment MNLF rebels came into conflict with the the Philippine government
and for the next year and a half violence and Muslim control of certain areas in
the South were a threat to the Philippines control of the Mindanao, Sulu, and
Palawan. During the dictatorial regime of Marcos this organization was one of
the major opponents of the Marcos dictatorship. However, when Marcos offered to
make special concessions for those who surrendered during the 1973 uprisings he
did get a response, a number of Muslim leaders surrendered. From then on Marcos
and the Philippine government attempted to maintain the Muslim areas of the
Philippines in their control by offering benefits for staying in the Nation of
the Philippines. For example, the Filipino government poured funds into the
Muslim areas to build roads and establish more electric power throughout the
area. There were also some reforms in the Filipino laws. There was a special
section inserted into the national laws pertaining to Muslim religious practices
that intermingle with state affairs such as marriage, and inheritance. However
these actions never succeeded in subduing many rebels. In the years leading up
to now there have been many more attempts to gain autonomy and establishments of
more groups like the MNLF who may have more or less radical views about how to
gain independence. Members of these movements have used a number of ways to get
this done, including everything from diplomatic appeals to terrorist tactics. As
of yet however the Muslims of the Philippines are indeed that; "Muslims of the
Philippines". Unfortunately because these Muslims are still a minority and
maintain a very separate lifestyle from the Catholic majority they do not tend
to prosper as much as other Filipinos. It has now come to pass that the aid that
was promised to them years ago was never completely given and as a result their
economy is not as successful. Therefore, Muslims in the Philippines maintain a
unique situation as a minority in a Catholic majority. It is also important to
understand what the "civilian" Moros think about their situation and how they
have played a part in the politics of separatism. In looking at the religions of the Philippines it is clear that the west has played a major role. Both Islam and Christianity were brought to the indigenous people of the Philippines by westerners who helped convert the Filipinos. Yet, in taking a closer look at how Filipinos practice and understand their spiritual world it is clear that they have created a unique combination of both western religions and indigenous spiritual beliefs. It is important and valuable to understand that underneath the notion of the Philippines as being decidedly Catholic there rests unique local elements that shape Filipino religious life. Moreover it is also important to not overlook the fact that there is a small minority Muslim population in the Philippines who have struggled for separation from the state. References Cannell, Fenella. 1999. Power and Intimacy in The Christian Philippines.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press |
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of the village in Bicol, Cannell discusses, can be seen as a carry over of this
South east Asian practice. Like other effigies that are carved today in
Indonesia, the Christ Ama is carved from wood, painted, and formed to resemble
the person (in this case a westernized image of Jesus). The effigy is kept in a
sacred place and is accessible to the public. In Bicol the Ama is kept in a
designated home. One of the most interesting ways that Catholicism is
amalgamated with the Ama effigy can be seen during the procession that
celebrates the Passion. Each year the women of the village clean the body of the
Ama very carefully as they do with a real dead body before burial. After this
the Ama is carried through the streets in a funeral like procession while women
mourn the passing on of the Ama. The Easter holiday is in fact a more important
holiday for Filipinos than Christmas, which is not as "passionately" celebrated.
In the Filipino celebration of Easter and the Passion it is possible to see how
Filipino Catholicism diverges very much from Western forms of Catholicism. For
the Filipinos different aspects and notions of Christianity are more important
than for Westerners. 
ailments and must be dealt with by a trained healer who is able to talk with the
tawo to mediate and work on behalf of the sick to induce the being take pity on
the sick and end its infliction upon the individual. For example, in Bicol
séances are held at certain times when they are needed to heal a person. A
séance calls one or more tawo into a room in order to communicate with them. The
tawo may come into the room in its own invisible form or enter the body of the
healer. The Filipinos have undoubtedly seen the world as being inhabited by
these beings before Christianity came. So how did they deal with the idea of a
world where there is both Jesus and tawo? The Filipinos Cannell studied
suggested that these beings are aware of Jesus and do have a place in the
Christian world (118). Some tawo, they argue, are in fact Christians. Yet
ironically the spirits cannot enter into the church and be blessed while
residing in a persons body lest the body forever be inhabited by the spirit.
This , the Bicolanos say is because in the beginning of the world when god
blessed all animals and humans the tawo hid among the trees and were not blessed
which is why they are invisible (118). So if a tawo is blessed it will enter
into the human world. Philippine Catholicism thus includes a unique spiritual
world that does not exist in other areas of the world that practice Catholicism.
In combination with saint worship and going to church, there are other forms of
ritual and religious practice that has survived the efforts of colonialism to
trample these practices. 
saint is inherited and passed down in the
family. A given saint will circulate within the sibling group, going from one
grown up child to another throughout time. Cannell suggests that because of
these circumstances and others the family's saint is like a patron and this can
be seen in the devotion. (186) She states that "meals given as part of a
devotion are remarkable for the way the saint seems to preside over the
occasion. This is all the more visually striking when processions form part of
the devotion" (186). In Cannell's discussion of saints it seems that the Bicaloanos have a distinctly Southeast Asian way of worshipping the saints that
almost resembles the way for example Balinese worship a Hindu god/goddess. In
Bali there are also processions and giving meals involved in worshipping a god/goddess. So despite the differences in religion and colonial history here is
another example of the way the Philippines way of being Christian has been
influence by their Southeast Asian heritage. In looking at Filipinos
spirituality it is important to understand the unique place women have in
healing and thus spirituality.