The Philippines : A Southeast Asian Nation

Sometimes the question about spirituality, and why people believe in it swarms around the minds of today’s society. It never occurred to me about the importance of why people believed in religion or superstition until I entered high school. Growing up Catholic, it felt like a routine to attend mass every Friday and Sunday because that was what everyone I knew did. I was never that interested in any belief of God, let alone any interest in superstition. I always thought that my religious beliefs tied to my cultural background. Growing up as a second generation of Filipino heritage, life without Christ was looked upon as unbearable, and less motivating to do things in life. It is as if Filipinos needed to breathe with the motivation of God, and become heavily influenced by applying Catholicism to its culture. However, the question about why people believe in religion and superstition is still a mystery to this day.

I belong to a Filipino community where there are mixed feelings about religious beliefs. I grew up in a family that believes in Catholic religion but, when I got married, I became a Christian. Catholic, Christian, Jehovah's witness, Baptist, and many more are some of the religious practices. I think that in my community, everyone believes in celebrating special holidays and traditions such as Mexican Independence day and Philippines Independence day.

As of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted 87–90% of the world's Muslim population.[6] Sunni Islam is the world's largest religious denomination, followed by Catholicism.[7]

Philippines is an archipelago located in Southeast Asia near the equator. The Philippine archipelago consists of 7,107 islands divided into three major groups of islands which is Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. As of 2016 the Philippine population is estimated to about 102,624,209 (World Fact Book). The Philippine nationality is termed Filipino and its population is made up of various ethnic groups. The national language is called Tagalog, it also the name of the major ethnic group of the country. According to Philippine Statistic Authority the population of urban area accounts for 45.3% of the country’s total population (Urban-Rural Classification). In contrast, the population in rural area is comprised of 54.7% and considered to be the majority population of the entire country. The Philippine climate is predominantly tropical marine where wet season occurs from November to April and is caused by the northeast monsoon. Similarly, the second set of rainy season, is caused by the southwest monsoon during May to October (World Fact Book). Additionally, the Philippine economy has been relatively resilient to global economic struggles because the country is less exposed to troubled international securities. The lower dependence on exports is what makes the country relatively resilient, relying only domestic products, as well as large remittances from millions of migrant and overseas Filipino workers (World Fact Book). The existing account balance has

In the religion of Guam, Roman Catholic is the predominant religion and is followed by 85% of Guamanians. 15% is other.

“57% of adult Hispanics, in the US, self-identify as Catholics... The ‘retention rate’ for Hispanic youth is 71% ... By comparison, only 61% of non-Hispanics raised Catholic remain in the faith as adults.” (Georgetown page 1 paragraph 2 and 3) This means that nearly the entire Hispanic population in America is Catholic. Sure enough, my family fell in that statistic. I went to a Catholic private middle school with theology class every day, I went to church every Sunday for about fifteen years, and I even served as an altar boy (the teens that help priest enter mass and hold the instruments) for three years. The priest at my local church had even hand selected me to go on a priesthood

 299.735 km²  Capital: Manila  92.337.852 inhabitants  45,2% living below US$2 a day (2006)

However, apathy is common among people, especially teenagers, in the 21st century. Though discouraged, religious apathy has become a dominant worldview among Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims. The term “apatheism,” a portmanteau of “apathy” and “theism,” describes those who act with disregard or lack of interest towards a deity. In the last two decades, millennials are beginning to distance themselves from traditional church values in order to avoid indoctrination (Manley, 2014). However, by creating this new sense of spirituality in an effort to avoid complacency, apathy has exponentially grown. In a survey of “Christians,” 65 percent of those who identified themselves as “Christians” were “Christians in name only…most are just indifferent” (Conner, 2010). In a 2003 survey, weekly Catholic Mass attendance dropped from 75 percent in 1958 to 40 percent in 2003 (Gallup, 2003). Furthermore, recent statistics also show reasons for a drop in Church attendance; 25 percent of Catholics said other activities occupied their time, 25 percent of Catholics stated that moving prevented them from attending Mass, and 24 percent said they had problems with the church, which prompted them not to return (“Inactive Catholics,” n.d.). This apathetic attitude toward religion is detrimental to the future of our religions and government. Our government senses a direct proportion between its increase in power and

When thinking of the continent Asia, most people wouldn’t think of the Philippines immediately. The reason for this may be because of its small size and location because it doesn't connect with the other Asian countries. Regardless of these small minor details, the Philippines are very well rounded and have many English influences. In fact, English is one of their official languages next to Filipino. This was due to the United States colonizing the Philippines, in the late 1800’s, which helped to spread education and the idea of democracy. Although there was bloodshed, the Americans helped guide the Filipinos in the right direction to a successful government.

The Philippines is located in Southeast Asia in the Western Pacific as shown in the picture to the right (Map of Philippines). The philippines is made up of many different islands, the capital being Manila. There was an important historical battle that took place there on May 1, 1898. To begin to learn about this

The Philippines is a vibrant nation full of life and color but what makes the Philippines stand out above the rest is the culture that defines it. In Kim Zimmerman’s article “What is Culture,” she defines culture as “characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts.” (Zimmerman, 2017) Although the Philippines has a large variety of cultural norms and values, the most prominent aspects of their culture are the country’s spoken language, religious beliefs, foods, social habits, and the arts. The multiple languages and dialects spoken in the country is the clear form of communication and the best way to be involved into a country’s culture. Religion is a strong characteristic to be a part of in any country. Religious views use faith and beliefs to create a spiritually, strong bond within people. The type of cuisine made and eaten in a country is significant because it represents the traditions of the culture by maintaining the authenticity of the foods they eat. Social habits create a standard for the way norms and issues are taken care of in everyday life. The arts bring out the creativity and imagination a country’s culture has to offer. A country’s culture is much more the distinctions between other nations. It is a gateway to the heart and soul of the people and the Philippines demonstrates just how powerful culture can be for their nation as well as the rest of the world.

Social Conditions: The Philippines has a population of approximately 107,668,231 is predominantly Catholic. There are eight major Dialects of Tagolog, but the two official languages are Filipino and English. (CIA WFB, 2012) It is estimated that about 4.5 million people have been displaced by the terrorist activities of NPA as well as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf Group, and the New People's Army as well as clan feuds, and natural disasters such as typhoon Bopha in December 2012, the Bohol earthquake in October 2013, and typhoon Haiyan in November 2013 (CIA WFB, 2012)

The Philippines is a small archipelago located in Southeast Asia, which has been conquered and controlled by many different and more powerful countries such as Spain, Japan, and the United States. It was under Spanish colonial rule for more than three centuries. Spanish colonization began when, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, a Spanish voyager, disembarked in the Philippines in 1565 (Schumacher 1). This was the beginning of centuries of unethical treatments and inferiority of Filipinos. At first, the natives of the Philippines accepted the conquest and lived by the Spaniards’ rules. During the first few decades of Spanish colonialism, the Philippines was not their main priority so the natives

A) The Philippines was under the rule of Spanish colony during the 16th century but soon became a self governing island during 1935 after they gained independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. This island located in Southeastern Asia; mainly have mountains with extensive coastal lowlands. The climate is a tropical marine type, with frequent northeast monsoon around the time of November and April. Due to the tropical weather, typhoons, landslides, active volcanoes and storms are often a natural threat. This island’s capital is located in Manila, which contains about 107,668,231 people as a whole country, and is currently ranked 13 worldwide as pertaining to one of the most populated country. The language is mainly based off of Tagalog, with 28% of the people being this ethnic group, followed by other dialects that are spoken. Catholicism is the leading religion with about 82% of the citizens who practice this religion.

What may have begun in the Philippines as a genuine effort to enact revolution and cosmopolitan change within a corrupt nation ended up being, in reality, only a slightly better presidency in a system which perpetuated a system of inequality and ill treatment of women rather than challenge the systemic and imbedded inequalities within. There was no moral revolution, and where the attempts were made through the government and other legal systems—as in the case of introducing jobs for former prostitutes to lift themselves from the lower classes—it did not succeed in changing the moral reality within the honor world of the Philippines. Perhaps, given the formula for Appiah’s revolutions, it genuinely could not have succeeded anyway; the lowest classes do not possess honor for their own sake—they are not ends in themselves—but rather for the sake of the honor of the upper classes, or indeed anyone in a class above them. In all three of the examples Appiah provides, behaviors and social customs which were previously considered honorable experience a process by which they become perceived as dishonorable, and each revolution comes at least partially in result of a negative association to a lower class. In the case of dueling, it ended in large parts when lower classes began to duel; foot binding in China began to stop when the lowest rural classes imitated wealthy aristocrats and made the practice ridiculous; the working class outcry resulted because the defining characteristic of