It is often said that the Philippines is the most Western of all Asian countries. Having adopted many outwardly visible aspects of Spain and the United States which had profound affects on the Philippines during centuries of imperialist hegemony this is not too surprising. Having visited the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, and Japan in rapid succession I would say that such a designation of the Philippines is superficial and inaccurate. Having said this there is no denying that English and Christianity are heard (indeed the radio station D.J.'s sound as if they are American) and seen here more than any place else in Asia with the exception of Australia.
Western culture has deeply permeated the Philippines, but in a way not too unlike many other countries. There is the ubiquitous fast-food chain store, the American clothes (not surprisingly since they are often made in Asian countries like the Philippines), American music, and American television shows. T-shirts with American brand-names or sports teams are found everywhere as well. This "popular culture" influence and the consumer-oriented development can be seen in any "developing" Asian country. The influence of the West through the United States has decreased since the fall of Ferdinand Marcos, but remains significant principally because so many Filipino ex-patriots live in the United States and maintain ties with their families in the Philippines. These ties are what sets the Philippines apart from other Asian countries, but the impact of these influences are easily overstated for a country that has a population of 66.89 million (1994 projected) and 1.5 million workers and naturalized citizens in the United States. By comparison there are 1.3 million Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia.
In the Philippines there is one thing that stands out more than most, Catholicism. Census figures for Los Baņos in 1990 showed that nearly 91% of the people claim Catholicism as their religion. Catholic religious symbolism is everywhere. Shrines with the Santo Niņo can be seen on busses, in bowling alleys, restaurants, boats, and homes. Everywhere where there isn't room for a shrine, like a tricycle, as well as the places where there is such room you can also see small stickers asking for God's protection.
Every Friday of the year a table with numerous candles is setup outside a simple, two story home in Bay, a town next to Los Baņos, where people can be seen going to and fro. On the second floor of this house there is an effigy of the reclining, crucified Jesus Christ in a glass case set out before several rows of chairs where local worshippers sit and pray. This effigy is also paraded through Bay on Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May) during the religious celebration known as Santa Cruzan.
We attended a special wedding anniversary ceremony and had the privilege of listening to a sermon delivered by a bishop. He applauded the couple who the celebration was in honor of and specified the fact that they had several children. He proclaimed his disagreement with family planning explaining that marriage was for making children. This sort of moral rational might be taken too lightly by a foreigner who considers birth control the norm rather than an exception. In the Philippines, birth control is practiced through the "pull out just in time" method. Which often means that young couples are often getting married to save face because the girl got pregnant. In at least one case, a young man was challenged by his girlfriend not show his love for her by not pulling out, "I bet you wouldn't marry me if I got pregnant." He took the challenge, "bahala na" She got pregnant and they got married, perhaps they remain so unhappily, but they remain married.
To the Westerner, the Philippines is a land of superstitions sometimes these superstitions incorporate Catholicism in some way. The first time a friend meets someone's baby, either the friend or the mother of the child should say "pwera usog" (meaning literally "barring fart," but here it's an entreaty for the visitor not to give the baby flatulence) or "pwera balis" (here "balis" is probably derived from "balisa" meaning "restless, uneasy, anxious or worried") before the stranger comments on the baby. If the "stranger" comments about the baby without this invocation, the mother might say "baka ma balis mo!" meaning: "you might have placed a balis on the baby." It is believed that once a "balis" or "usog" is placed on a baby, whether or not such is revealed in tantrums or some such other affliction, it can only be removed with the "stranger" applying spittle with their finger in a sign of the cross on either the baby's stomach, feet, or forehead.
Maria Makiling is a diwata (fairy) that lives on Mount Makiling. She is the spirit of Mount Makiling, an inactive volcano in Los Baņos, and represents pre-Spanish Filipino animist belief. Jose Rizal has written down some of the folk tales that were handed down orally through the ages (translated below by Karen). One representation of Maria Makiling is that of an ideal filipina: a charming, tall maiden with small and thin hands and feet; long, thick black hair; black eyes; and a fierce, yet quiet, facial expression.
One day there was a hunter who while running through high, thorny grasses after a wild boar, thought he had trapped the animal in a small hut. Before he entered the hut, a beautiful young woman came out of the hut saying, "The boar is mine, and you have done wrong by chasing it, but I can see that you are tired and your feet are bleeding. So why don't you come in and eat, then leave." The man was suspicious, but he accepted her offer and ate silently. Before he left the woman gave him some ginger which she told him to give to his wife for cooking. He put the ginger in his hat and placed the hat on his head before giving her thanks and leaving the hut feeling satisfied. On his way home he felt the hat where he kept the ginger began to feel heavy so he took much of the ginger out and threw it away. The next day, he was surprised and saddened when he and his wife found out that the ginger turned into gold that shined like the rays of the sun.
Maria Makiling is not always kind and giving to the hunters as revealed in the next story:
One afternoon two famous hunters, on their way down from the mountain with a few boars and dears that they had killed that day, happened across a woman. She asked them if they would giver her half of their game. They declined thinking that she wanted too much. Threatening to tell the owner of the animals, the old woman went on her way empty-handed while the hunters looked on laughing.
That night, when the foot of the mountain was not far off, they heard a far off scream that sounded as though it was coming from the top of the mountain "There they are. They're leaving. They're leaving." Then they heard a second scream as if responding, but with the same words "There they are. They're leaving. They're leaving." The screams startled the hunters and for some unknown reasons their dogs covered their ears, howled a short while, and then approached their masters in fright. A few seconds afterwards, they heard the screams again, but this time the screams were closer, coming from the side of the mountain. After this the dogs looked at each other, and walked up to their masters' feet with their tails between their legs. Later, when they had almost reached the bottom of the mountain, they heard the screams again. This time the screams were so near they turned to look. When they looked they saw two large, unusual figures running down the mountain very fast. The braver of the two attempted to load his gun to stop whatever it was that was pursuing them, but the other hunter grabbed him so he was forced instead to run for his life. The pursuit continued until the hunters could hear the creatures' footsteps. When the hunters reached a spring they dropped everything, but the guns which they took with them as they climb a tree to confront their pursuers.
When the dogs realized that they were left behind, they quickly went to town without looking back or barking. The monsters arrived and their visages made the blood in the hunters' veins turned cold. These monsters ate the game the hunters had at the foot of the trees within a matter of seconds and then turned to return up the mountain. One of the hunters shot at the monsters but missed.
When young kambal were growing up in Maahas, their backyard had many coconut trees broken up by high grassy areas. The girls were told not to venture into the forest for there were snakes, kapre, tikbalang, manananggal, and nuno (or duwende) there. A tikbalang is a half-man and half-horse creature. A manananggal is a female monster that sucks your blood, eats your heart out, and eats unborn n children. During a full moon her body splits in half at the midsection, and the top half flies off in search of victims. It is said that you can protect yourself against this creature by hanging garlic up around your house, particularly on the window sill. Nunos, dwarfs, are said to live in dirt mounds. They pinch and bruise you when you accidentally step on their mound. Whenever you step on their mound, it is important to ask for their forgiveness by saying "tabi-tabi po nuno" ("excuse me, excuse me Mr. Dwarf) so he will leave you alone.
When Kathy was fourteen-years old, and her mother had already left the Philippines for America, she suffered from a fever for several days. A neighbor, whose profession was that of a nurse, tried different conventional Western remedies to break Kathy's fever but to no avail. Finally, this nurse sought a traditional Pilipino remedy and asked for Aling Babing (aling is a respectful term for females who are much older than you), a local albulario, to perform a loop. Seashells were burned in a coconut shell during the loop (pronounced "loe-ope") and the albulario waved her hands through the smoke to dispel whatever was causing the fever. After the shells were all burned, the albulario then interpreted the charred remnants as an exorcised object that had caused the illness. In Kathy's case it was found to be a nuno. Kathy's fever was gone shortly afterwards. Karen had a similar experience sometime later.
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