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RELIGIOUS IMPERIALISM IN THE

PHILIPPINES: SOME CRITICAL
REFLECTIONS
Salvador D. Eduarte*
Christianity in the Philippines, in its Roman Catholic form, is now more than
four hundred years old, while the Protestant variety is now more than four score
years. about as the only Christian country in Asia if ootin the Far East, the
Philippines can rightfully claim to be crucial point where East meets West, and
where Western pragmatism meets and blends with Oriental mysticism. The more
irreverent observers say that we spent four hundred years in a convent and about fifty
years in Hollywood.
an Importation
Before 1521, Christianity is practically unknown in the islands, although Muslims
antedated the religion of the Nazarene by at least three centuries. With the coming of
Spain into world supremacy, and with the growing need for the expansion of
commerce and navigation, not to exclude the motivation for spreading the Catholic
faith, the Westeinnavigators' set their sights into the then undiscovered lands. The
PhilIppines, by a quirk of history, belongs to Portugal by virtue of the Treaty of
Zaragoza, signed with Spain in 1529 since the former, under the terms and stipulation
of the accord, . claims all hinds " 297 -1/2 leagues ' east of the I , But then
Magellanclaimed the islands forSpam and as a concession to the Royal Crown who
was his employer. .
Thet Christianity was an importation is an historical fact that seems
incontrovertible. And herein lies the paradoxical situation which puzzles and baffles
many seriousminded Christians. For as an observer of Philippine life has said, .
Two fundamental problems plagued the churches ... First, (it appears) that
Christiaruty is a potted plant in Southeast Asia.. It has been transported without
. being transplanted. It is still viewed by Asian as a foreign importation. Secondly,
Christianity in both Catholic and Protestant forms, eventually became imperialistic
in nature and policy and failed to help substantially the native Filipinos in
attaining sovereignty and independence,
2

This charge is quite serious. For if; asthe dictionary defines it, imperialism is
"the policy and practice of forming '" and maintaining an empire by ' conquest,
colonisation, POlitical or economic doniination"3then Christianity in both Catholic
and Protestant forrru., has hindered more than helped in driving the spirit 6f nationalism
into the psyche oftlle Filipinos. . .
01< Salva:dor D Eduarte is assistant professor of ecclesiastical history and Christian dogmatics at Saint
Andrew's Theological Seminary, Quezon City. He is also an ordained minister of the United Church
of Christ in the Philippines.
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Causes of Imperialistic Power
. The root causes of imperialism can be seen in power and position of the friar
in Spanish times. As an extension of Spanish Catholicism in the village and municipal
ievel, the friar is often more powerful than the civil officials. The Archbishop of
Manila is ex oficio head of the Philippine GoverIlment,and the moment the Governor
General becomes incapacitated or dies, he ipso facto becomes the head of Government
until a replacement is made by the Crown. .
Sinibaldo de Mas describes the power of the Spanish priest during the Spanish
times. in these memorable words:
- The governadorcillo; on receiving an order from the alCalde,goesfIrst to the
(friar) to get his permission; and it is the latter, who, in strict terms, tacitly sees
to its fulfilment, or prevents its course. The Father concludes or directs the suits
of the village, makes the writs, goes ' up to plead for his Indians, ' opposes his
petitions;, and at times their threats, to the violence committed by the alcaldes
mayor; and manages everything by the standard of his desire.
3
Since the friars were beneficiaries of wealth and power, it stands to reason that
they would promote colonialism and imperialism.
It was not strange, therefore, that the friars became the willing tools of suppression
of the natives by the brutal arms of the Spanish military. Fa.ther Pedro V. ' Salgado,
O.P., trenchantly observes that
the missionaries importuned the Spanish government for soldiers to go in hot
pursuit of the natives in the hills. Many times, missionaries paid for the soldiers'
. wages and food, and supplied them with guns and blIllets to caPture or kill the
recalcitrant natives. Many times, it was t9 the heads that the militarY
heads reported the success or failure of their operations. Missionaries accompanied
the soldiers to see to it'that everything was done accordingtoobjectives.
4
Fr. Jose Herrera, Provincial pf the Dominican Order, fmanced military expeditions
for four years in a row, namely: in 1751, 7152, 1753, and 1754.
5
In a document in
which the provincial putshis imprimatur to the operation,dated April 12, 1755, ht;. .
said: . . '. ,
. I certify that ... the said troops were,made possible at: my expense ... with my
the food, gun-powder,and bullets, as well as the salary of
one peso monthly for each soldier.
6
. . .
Not to be outdone, Fr. Francisco Rocamora, O.P., parish priest of Dupax, in
Nueva Viscaya, masterminded military expeditions against the Ilonggots, of the
Sierra Madre mountains. This Dominican priest, who is supposed to be a servant of
God, designed as . head for this Qlission a Don Tomas Manuel, who headed a
contingent of soldiers and for 15 days burned the villages of Bin tang an, Casaguiman,
Butac and Guiyan.
7
Certainly, these atrocities were carried out in the name of Christ
who said, "fle who lives by the sword shall perish by the sword."8 . . .
But the bravery of the indios, the Novo Viscayanos, amazed the. white conquerors,
and sUPP0l1ed by the military forces, they fInally overwhelmed organized resistance.
But , not without cost to the Christian murderers. " Fr. Diego Aduarte (not ' to be
confused with this writer's surname!) spoke thus of the natives:
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These natives were so warlike that not even a religious went out of town except
in the company of soldiers and with arms; nor did the encomendero go to collect
"their tributes without an escort of many soldiers, coming back immediately with
" anything that the Indians were pleased to give them.
9
"
Religion of Domestication
,' " What seems even more disturbing was the method employed by the missionaries
to cushion the warlike traits of the natives. This was' done by emphasizing the
meekness of Jesus Christ, who meekly suffered the death on the Cross, and who
offered " prayer for His tormentors. It was pointed out that as followers of the
Nazaiene; the natives must likewise be meek arid submissive, and im;tead of
complaining against the oppression inflicted upon them, should be patient, obedient,
and meek.
Fr. Diego Aduarta, already mentioned above, tells us about a certain Siribian, a
chief of Cagayan' s northwestern town, who was formerly a ferocious warrior, but
who became meek as a result of Christian indoctrination. I wonder whether this friar
Aduarte does not have his tongue in cheek as he chronicles this example of
domesticating religion:
The Spaniards" grew angry at the answer and threatemed to " cane the Indian
(Chief Siribian) unless he did what he was told (to bring a prostitUte). the Indian
" turned his back and bending his head said, "Give me as much of a caning as your
plelise, for I am not going to do what you ask." The Spaniard was so intemperate
and discourteous that he vented his anger upon him and caned him. " ~ .. If be had
shouted to his followers, they would have cut the Spaniards to p i e ~ e s . But as he"
was a Spaniard, nor would he avenge himself, nor would he eVen" make use of
a just defense .... He said nothing more and uttered not a word of indignation. ID
Great , indeed was the developed and organized campaign toinddctrinate the
native indios in the virtue of meekness and obedience that in sermons, prayers,
novenas, and literature distributed by the Spanish colonial government the same
refrain is found. Jose Rizal, 'fu his attack against the friars faulted them for teaching
the natives to look up to heaven and pray, while the greedy conquistadores prey on
the natives' ignorance, andgnibbed their land.
11
While religion pointed upward to
heaven, Spmngot what she wanted by appropriating hectares of land through the
encomienda. ' " ,
-.l , "
Agriculture in the Service of Imperialism
Still another method employed by the friars and missionaries was to gather the
Filipinos into one compact community within the sound of a bell, the reducciones for
purposes of indoctrination and manageability. Such a community, composed of
Spanish soldiers, missionaries, and natives needs.ta huge supply of rice and lowland
agriculture. The colonialists knew that if they didn't maintain the Filipinos in a
community, the latter might go back to kaingin farming in the hills, far from their
influence, and thus revert to paganism. Thus, the missionaries introduced farm
implements, and even cashcrops,for the natives. Under the guise of charity and
improvement of agriculture lurks the sinister desire to indoctrinate the natives so that
they will be uncomplaining victims of imperialism. '
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There is, therefore, more than meets the eye in the account given by historian
Antonio
For this reason, and because it is to provide means by
who are converted may obtain a suitable support, so that for lack of they
may not go around wandering, as soon as we begin to confer baptism we ,
endeavour to find animals and other necessaries for the cultivation of land the
religious being often the first one to commence it in order that the people may
imitate them ... 12
Evidently, the Spanish friars and bishops were a great ally with the policies of
the colonial government, andthe institutional Church, wealthy from thepillageof
the faith, reciprocated the power and privileges granted to itbythe
State by aiding and abetting the abuses committed against the victims of Spanish
tyranny.
it took another r()und of martyrs before Filipinos finall ygathered enough courage
to xebel against the foreign tyranny. It took the death of the priests Fathers Burgos,
Gomez, and Zamora to shock the nation into a realization that they had been led by
self-styled propagators of the Gospel of Christ who were actually ' willing tools of
Spain's colonial rapacity.
" , Filipinos today seldom hear of the courage of Filipino clergy who withstood
against the institutional Church's imperialistic designs. But history has given us
names of individuals hitherto unknown Filipino.priests who were tortured for resisting
abuses. Among these was Fr. Maraiano Dacanay, of Ilocos Sur, one of the 9 detained
priestsaccuse;d of rebellion in 1897, who gives us an account of the beastly torture
he endured ul'the hands of the friars: ' '
Present during this heartrending and horrendous spectacle were the Provisor and
the seven superior of the Seminary who, instead of sympathizing with my
suffermgs and cruel torture, much to thecontrary, watched my martyrdom with
visible signs , of pleasure, for they even went to the extent of encouraging the
guards to treat me even more cruelly - Fr. Gavino Olas9, ' for one. During my
. _ torment, that Father said that if I died on account ofthose lashes, they would put
my corpse in a ,box and just throw it in some corner; and when they saw me
mlirrnur a prayer between clenched teeth - because during my prayer I kept
murmuring the M emorare of Saint Bernard to the Virgin t6 implore her protection
in those most cruel moments - they laughed at me and said, 'What can this
hypocrite be praying?' And when I fell over due to the blows andthe fatigue
caused by such a contorted posture, rolling over on the floor, they added to my
sufferings by kicking me roughly as if I were a football, and when I fell, I struck
my head against a post, causing a wound, and another time I rolled over near
F&therCavino, who was pacing quietly around the room, and he gave me
another tremendous kick in the head which completely stunned me.13
Comes Now American Religious ,Imperialism
When, in the course of time, revolution finally broke,out between 'the Spanish
governnieni and some patriotic Filipinos, the latter thought that with the defeat of
Spain, they would finally rid themselves of the hated religious iIllperialism. But this
was not to be. For it was mereiy a case of changing from one inasterto another, with
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American imperialism coming to theislands in more refined, albeit more dangerous,
ways.
Emilio Aguinaldo, as head of the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines,
had already raised the flag of rebellion against Spain when he declared independence
at his home in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898. Before that, Andres Bonifacio and his
Katipuneros had already tom their cedulas arid declared war with Spain.
It was at this time that the Spanish-American War had already broken out in
Cuba, .when the USS Maine was blown to pieces while it was berthed at Havana,
Cuba. Promptly, Admiral George Dewey, then.a commodore, received a cablegram
from President William MacKinley to proceed from Hong . Kong and commence
hostilities with_ the Spanish flotilla anchored at the Manila Bay. This "mock battle"
brought the Americans to our shores. With the defeat of Spain's naval fleet, and the
imminent collapse of the Spanish colonial government, it was only a matter of time
before Aguinaldo and his revolutionary forces would claim victory over Spain. But
then, the United States in the person of Dewey struck a deal, or so Aguinaldo later
claimed, that if the . latter would help in defeating. Spain, the Americans would allow
Aguinaldo to enter Intramuros and accept the surrender of Spain in the name of the
newly proclaimed Republic of the Philippines.; But Dewey denied this. And so. it was
that the American. forces entered Intramuros and' accepted the .surrender of the
Spanish forces, leaving AguinaldoandJhis men out in the cold.
14
Once again, the
Philippines was had.
This strange maybe undbrstood if we remember that back home in the
UnIted States, league was pressuring MacKinley to respect the
independence of the Philippines. of this movement include Jane
Adams, Mark Twain, and William James. William iennings Bryanbecame the
Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, running on an anti-imperialist platform.
The Anti-Imperialist League was first organized in Boston in November 1898
by a group of individuals who ' had been active in " the anti-slavery movement
Spreading-rapidly throughout the country, the League held a conference in Chicago
. in October 1899 and adopted thisplatform: . .
_ We hold that the policy known as imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends
. towards militariSm, an evil from. which it is our glory to be free .... We demand
the immediate cessation of the war against liberty, begun by Spain and continued
by us. We urge that Congress be promptly convened to announce to the Filipinos
our purpose to concede to them the independence fOr-which they have so long
_ fought and which of right is theirs. IS
ButMacKinley and the Republican Party batted for American sovereignty over
the islands. This was motivated by two ignoble';purposes-one religious and the
other cOmrilercial.
The religious motivation, which actually is but a cover up Or front for the second
(business), took place during the visit to the White House of a delegation of Methodist
church leaders, November 21; 1899. The Methodist official organ Christian
gives us a detailed account of the ipcidentthus: -
Hold a moment longer! (Said the President tothe delegation) Not quite yet,
gentlemen! Before you go I would like to say just a word about the Philippine
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.' business. 1 have been criticised a good deal about the Philippines, but don't
deserve it. The truth is, I don't want the Philippines, and when they came to us,
as a gift from. the gods, I did not know whatto do with them. When the Spanish
War broke out, Dewey was in Hong Kong, and I ordereq him to go to Manila and
to capture and destroy the Spanish fleet, and he had to, because, if defeated, he
had no place to refit on that side of the globe '" When I next realized that the
Philippines had dropped into our lap I confess I did not know what to do with
them. 1 sought counsel from all sides- Democrats as well . as Republicans -
but got no help. I thought first we would only take Manila, then Luzon, then
other islands perhaps also. I walked the floor of the White House night after
night; until midnight; and I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went
down onmy knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance more than
one night. And one night late it Came to me this way I don 't know how it was,
but it came: (1) That we could not -give them back to Spain '-'-, that would be
cowardly and dishonorable; (2) that we could not turn them over to France and
Germany---' our commercial rivals in the Orient '- that would be bad business
and dishonorable; (3) that we could not leave them to themselves - they were
unfit for self';govemment -'- and they would soon have anarchy andrnisrule
worse than Spain's was,and (4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to
take them all, and to educate the Filipinos; and uplift and civilize and Christianize
" them, and by' God's grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow men
for whom Christ also died. And then I went to bed, and wentto sleep, and slept
soundly, and the next morning I sent for the chief engineer ofthe War Department
(our map maker), and l told him toputthe Philippines in the map of the United
. States (pointing to a IWge, map on the wall of his office) and'there they are, and,
there they will stay while lam President. 16 . . .
With his undisguised clothed in the religious ' language of
nineteenth century Protestant jargon, MacKinley succeeded in armexing .the Philippines
to, the United States. While not a professionrutheologian, an!i therefore may not be
fauhed for his apparent belief in polytheism ("a gift from the gods"), henonetheless
must be held accountable for his couching his ' imperialistic motives in the! guise' of
concern for people "for whom Christ also died." This use of religious categories to
mask his global design for American business gives Protestantism its respectability
which, alas; is also its weakness. For in MacKinley hypocritical stance, which is
condescending' in the extreme, we find the height of Anglo"Saxon prejudice against
the . brown race, and the ' attitude ' that Filipinos are uncivilized, unchristian, and
perhaps as monkeys without tails. "
The second motivation is the real one: Amencais interested to extend her
hegemony to the Philippines, not out .of benevolence or because of ' altruism; but
because of the profits in trade and commerce that she will derive from the rich natural
resources.
Such motivation was clearly spelled out by Senator Alfred I. Beverage, a
Republican and one of the leading lights of the MacKinley administration. In a
speech before the US Senate on January 9, 1900, he said: .
Mr. President; the times call for candar. The Philippines are ours forever, ,'a
territory belonging to the United States,' as the Constitution calls them. ' And just
beyond the Philippines are China's illimitable markets. We will riot retreat from
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either. We will not repudiate our duty in the archipalago. We will not renounce
our part in the mission of our race, trustee under God, of the.civilizations of the
world. And. we will move forward to our work,not howling our regrets like
slaves whipped to their burdens, but with gratitude for a task worthy of our
strength, and thanksgiving to God Almighty, that He has marked us as His
chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration of the world,l?
Imperialism in Philippine Scene
Finally, given this behind the scene of the United States government
and its foreign policy, it does not seem strange that the first missionaries who ,came
to the Philippines came with the Thomasites. Education is said the legacy that
the Americans have bequeathed to us, aside from the democratic form of government.
But whatkindof edllcationwas training us benighted Filipinos? Theuse of
English as a medium of instr,uction has been decreed by thethen Bureau of
Language is the soul of the nation; and when a nation's language is not it,s own, there
is every likelihood that whoever owns that language willhave an undue advantage
over the other. This is cultural imperialism. Textbooks were printed in the United
States. Examples and stories are tailored in the USA. In Kindergarten, the Filipino is
taught hisA-B-C by saying, "A is for Apple. " when there are no apples in the
Philippines. '
The author ' remembers vividly ,in the late forties, when we are . supposed to be
independent already, he was taught to sing in Grade One:
God bless America! Land thatTlove;
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with light from above.
Throughthe prairies, through the mountains
Through the ocean, white w,ith foam
God bless America, my horne sweet home!
We did not even realize then that we are brown people,singing the song of the
white Anglo-Saxon, and that there are no prairies in the Philippines. Such cultural
imperialism persisted to this very day when commercials with States-wide bias, as in
Marlboro commercials, reveal our penchant for everything made in U.S.A, One
listens to songs in the radio or TV and one discovers to one's horror ,that in. the, space
ofoqe hour, there are stations both in the AM and FM bands which never played
original ,Filipin,o Music! has happened to our much vaunted nationalism?
Religious Symbolism
Much that is sacred in religion is often also borrowed from the West. Thus, we
'see Catholic saints with Caucasian features, blue eyes, and wearing a CastilIan
moustache. The Virgin Mary, inspite of the fact that she is Asian, is sometimes
pictured as having. blonde hair and blue eyes: Jesus Christ is more often thiul not
pictured as a sad-eyed Caucasian, reflecting a meek Christ, who seemed to beina
trance that He could not seewhat's going on in the stockinarket or in the sanctum
offices of the powers th,at be. No wonder we have an .anaemic Christ, meek and mild,
rather than an angry Christ - as we read often in the Gospels - driving the money
changers out of the temple.
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Until only recently, not more than 25 years ago, Latin was the language used in
the Mass. All documents in the areas of canon law, theology, and even in prayer
books are often written in a foreign tongue. Filipinos have a hard time pronouncing
Latin suffixes or Spanish subjunctives because the Filipino is an Asian, whose palate
and larynx are not made for dipthongs of the Western. world. Yet, like RizaI' s
charaCter Dona Victprina, in his Noli, many of us ape anything foreign as though it
is a sign of being modem or even How tragic indeed!
Among Protestants, religious imperialism is evident in the use of hymns and
church rituals that date back to the revivalistic movement of the 1920s. Such hymns
seldom, if ever, reflect the Filipino problems and aspirations, but are written within
the framework of a Puritanical Calvinistic theology. In the United Church of Christ
in, the Philippines, where this writer is art ordained minister, there is an attempt to
Filipinize the hymns and the liturgical songs, including a Statement of Faith that
reflect the context of the Philippines in the event.
l8
But
stilL there are a lot of vestiges of coloniaJismwhich ought to be exercised if not
excised" since amol1gthe Protestant denominations, the UCCP, along with the
UNIDAandthe IEMILIF, is the most na'tionalistic.
This is also evident in the textbooks in the theological seminaries. Written by
such famous European and American theologians as Karl Barth; Reinhold Niebuhr,
Paul Tillich and others, the Filipino seminarians are exposed to the theological '
method of the West, nottlj.e Asian wayofdoing theology. Fortunately, there is now
a growing theologicalcoI,lsciousness among Asian churchmen and theologians to
develop textbooks written by Asians and Filipinos which would eventually do away
with textbooks that are We,stemcoriented, and be able to do an Asian view of reality
with thought fonns and concepts that are rooted in Asian realities.
This nationalistic rennaisance in the field of religion in the Philippines is a
healthy sign of the growing assertiveness ' of the Filipino as he looks at his past and
endeavours to trace his roots and histpricalheritage. The so called identity crisis is
beginning to disappear. Now we know' we are and where we came from. We
also share in the vision expressed by that foremost Filipino nationalist Claro Mayo
Recto and his kababayail the late Jose W. Diokno that nationalism is not just a
. sentiment but it is
the ,detennination to uphold the sovereignty of the Filipino people, the right of
all ' Filipinos - not just of a few and ' definitely not of foreigners - to freely
decide the destiny of the nation, what kind ofgovemment we should have" and
who should run ' it, what is the common good and how to attain it, how' our
society should be structured, the wealth of our land and seas used, developed
and shared, and how our culture should be preserved and enhailced.
19
.
. ' . . . .
Nationalism, iri the right context, could be the antidote if not the antithesis to
religious imperialism. But just as atrue nationalist is also an intermitionalist, ' so the
remedy against the onslaught of religious imperialism is not to shun the literature, the
music and the, culture of other nations, butto develop one's own approach to God, to
Christ, . and to , the Church using the models of other nations" but always within the
framework of What is useful and practical and appropriate for the Filipino Christian.
For thebeliever of Christ in the Philippines today, the challenge is not to ape the
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West, nor to shun the West, but to see what's good and creative in other cultures and
adopt one's own version of what it means to be a Filipino Christian in this decade.
Filipino Contextualization
Asian theologians have a word for it: They call it 'contextualiZation." This
simply means the Wlderstanding, interpretation, and application of the truths of the
Christian faith and how it fits into the time and age and situation of the Filipino
Christian. As a hermeneutical principle, therefore, it seeksunderstimdthe Faith in the
light of existing Asian realities, aware of the vast Asian complex that this part of the
world poses to. the Christian religion from the world's oldest religions.
2o
This contextualisation will take into account Filipino expression of religiosity
and spirituality in terms of events that are taking place in our country with the
Gospel, however, as something that does not change inspite of human aberrations.
Contex.tual theology will interpret the message of the Gospel, not incategOIlesthat
Western theology has imprisoned it, but in the living realities that areobtaiIlihg in
Asia and the Philippines.
Church people can express their deep religiosity by using Filipino materials and
Filipino thought forms that reflect our roots as Asians .and. at the same time the
heritage of the Christian Church that transcends geographical or regional locations.
Oneexa.mple of this is FatherBenVillote's bamboo chapel in Tipas, Taguig, Rizal
where basic Filipino materials and architecture express the meaning of the faith for
the Tipas parishioners. Sernions and homilies shoUld not use Amencan or European
examples where an equivalent illustration. can be obtained in the Philippine setting.
Hymns that are found in 'American hymnbooksshould :be revised to include only
those hymns that have relevance to Filipino life.
What is envisioned in this transformation of our religious values is not an. a n t i ~
American bias, but a pro-Filipino stance which seeks to recover the ancient heritage
of the Faith without sacrificing our national ethos. Thereis now a need to re-examine
whether much of our practices in worship, in the liturgy of the hours, and similar
exercises are influenced to a large degree by the Western form of Christianity --' be
it Catholic or Protestant - which are'alien to the native aspirations of Filipino
Christians. ... . .. '.' ." , .
0 _ 0 i
Increasingly, there is a need to develop a core ofFilipinotheologiap.s who will,
without regard to religious denominations, evolve a common approach tonatiohalistic
Christianity which will remain, ' in the words of Pope Paul VI, be "both fully
Christian as well as fully Asian:"21, Unfortunately, this is not carried out in practice.
It is still evident that much of the rituals, practices, and symbolisms in. Roman
Catholicism remain vestiges of imperial Rome. Inspite of the winds of change
introduced and made possible by the Second VaticimCoimcil .:.:.... which changes
occasioned the split from. Rome led by . a traditionalist churchman named Cardinal
Lefbvre - this Christian tradition is still. heavily saddled by Western polity,ritual,
and canon law. '
Philippine Protestantism is not much different from Catholicism; Still a .virtual
duplication of Methodist and Presbyterian and Baptist churches in the Bible belt
South,Filipino Baptists, Methodist, and Presbyterians (even withiii 'my own
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communion in the United Church of Christ in'the Philippines) sing the sarrierevivalistic
hymns made popular by the Negros and honky tonk Americans in the years of the
Depression in the late 20s. Sermons from most Protestant churches are a digest of
Bible commentaries written by American churchmen. Rural Protestantism's piety as
manifested in prayer meetings, testimonies, and emotionally laden hymns about "the
old time religion" and the "hallelujahs" heard in Pentecostal meetings (now adopted
by, charismatic groups) are ' an imp()rted American practice of bush preachers ,and
illustrious but illiterate evangelists. '
Unless we recover a sense of nationhood, as long as we remain under the
shadow of Mother America, or under the care of Holy Mother Church based in the
Vatican, Christianity in the ,Philippines cannot hope to be ,truly of, by, and for the
Filipinos. Maybe a reform similar to the Aglipayan movement at the tumof ,the
centui-y is needed today, Hopefully, eveIl Indepenpents can , also evolve a truly
nationalistic chQrch, free from foreign influep.c'e and domination; and truly reflective
'of the inmate spirituality of the Filipino, race.
Footnotes
1. Peter G. Gowing, Islands Un4er the Cross, QuezonCity: National Council of
Churches in the Philippines, 1967, p. 25.
2. GeraldH. Anderson,ed., Christ and Crisis in Southeast Asia. New: York:
, Friendship Press, 1968,p. 11. ,
3. Quoted by Pedro V: Salgado, O.P.,"Imperialism in the Church" in Kalinangan,
Vol. 5, No. 4 (December 1985), 4.,
4. Loc.cit.
5., Ibid.' Cf. also Gowing', pp. 61-62. " "
6. JUlian Malumbres'; O.P., Historia de la babela, Imprenta de la Uni-versidad de
Santo Tomas, Manila; 1918, p. 67.
. - _. , '. , .
7. Juliam Historia de Cagavan y sus Montanas desde el Principio
de su Pacificaacion Conguista hasta Nuastros Dias. Imprenta de la Universidad
de Santo R Tomas, Manila, 1910, pp. 141-142. '
8. SaintMattbew26:52.
9. Diego Aduarte, O.P., Historia de la Provincia de SantoRosario de la Ordende
Predicadores; Manila (1640), in Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islanos;
. Cincinnati:Ginnand Company, 1925, Vol. XXX. p.237 . .
-, . . , , . .
10. Ibid., in Elair and Robertson, Vol. XXXI, p.
11. Jose P. Bizalin Lettersto the Young Women of Malolos", Epistelario Rizalino,
Manila: La Solidaridad Publishing House,1965, p. 34. '
12. Antonio Mozo. Noticia Historico-Natural. Madrid, 1763 in Elair and Roberstone,
, , Vo1.48, p. 77.
13. WilliamHenry Scott. Cracks in the Parchment9urtain and Other Essays in
Philippine Historyl. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1982, pp. 186-187.
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AJT/3:2/89
14. Read the interesting account of this infancy and treachery on the part of the
Americans inTo Agoncilloand M.Guerrero, History of the Filipino People, 6th
rev. ed., Quezon City: R.P. GarciaPublishing, 1977; pp. 1 9 1 ~ 1 9 5 .
15. Quoted in Daniel S. Shirrnif and Stephen R. Shalom, eds., The Philippines
Reader, Quezon City: KEN Incorported, 1987, p. 30.
16. Ibid., p. 22-23. The Christian Advocate is the official organ of the Methodist
Church in the USA. This writer prefers to quote Schinnir, et al for obvious
reasoris.
, .. .
v
17. Bfeveridge's speech is Jound in Congressional Record of the US Senate dated
January 9, 1900, pp. 704-711. See also Schirrnir, et al, in Readers, p. 23
18. See FelicianoV.Carino, ed., Like A Mustard Seed: A Commentary on the
StatementoJF aith. Quezon City: Faith arid Order Committee, United Church of
Christ in the Philippines, 1988. Read the introduction by Bishop Erme Camba,
UCCP General Secretary.
19. Jose W. Diokrio, A Nationfor Our Children. Selected Writings and Papers of the
late lW. Diokno. Quezon City: Jose Wright DiokrioFoundation, Inc., 1977, p.
n .
. 20. Douglas d. Elwood & Emerito, Nacpil, eds., What Asian Christians Are Thinking:
A Sourcebook. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1978, p. 12.
21. From the Pope's sPfeech delivered at the Malacanang Palace, on the occasion of
his visit to the Philippines, Bulletin Today, Jan. 23,1980. The apparent disparity
between pronouncement and practice in Catholicism as regards.nationalism and
Filipinism may be appreciated by reading the critique of Vatican imperialism in
world affairs, and its politico-religious interference in State affairs, for which
seePaulBlanshard, American Freedom and Catholic Power, New York: Beacon
Press, 1961, pp. 181 ... 185, andAvro Manhattan,The Vatican in World Politics.
Chicago: Holt, Rhinehart and Faber, 1949, pp. 233-35.
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