Leyte Normal University

Tacloban City

HOW RELIGION HINDERS/PROMOTES NATION BUILDING

Submitted by:
Arcena, Marco Jemsboy E.
Balais, Jairon Ric
Cabidog, Golda Meir C.
Cajipo, Ma. Jobelle D.
Calvo, Trixie Anne Nicole C.

Tuesdays & Fridays 1:00-2:30 PM

BA Communication AC11

Submitted to:

Maureen N. Bernardo
FacultySocial Science Unit
I. Background of the Issue or Theme Relevant to Nation Building

Nation building is a mission that every striving country wants to surpass. A country is
called a nation if it is culturally centered, thus considering every ethnic denominations in the
vicinity. According to Renan (1995), compared to a state, a nation is intangible, an imagined
thought, a soul, and a spiritual quality. Kanu (2004) stated that, nation building is a dialectal
phenomenon in which the individual and society interact with their physical, biological and inter-
human environments, transforming them for their own good and that of humanity at large and
being transformed in the proces. Moreover, in the Philippines the concept of nation building is
already a complicated problem due to several compounds that hinders it. It includes
globalization, urbanization, and marginalization of ethnic groups, socioeconomic issues, and
religion diversity to name a few.
Religion in particular, in relevance to nation building, is a hindrance due to incongruent
or unparallel belief systems, giving a hard time for national development to take place. Durkheim
(1948) defined religion as a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that
is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral
community called a Church, all those who adhere to them.. In the Philippines, the separation of
the state and church is written in the constitution as Article II, Section 6, but at some instance is
not followed accordingly. The state, as stated in the provision should not interfere with the
church and should not declare a state religion. The Philippines is a country that is dominated
with Roman Catholic faithfuls, accounting to more than half of the population, and followed by
Islam. Recently, the Islamic state in the southern Philippines, is claiming for them to be a Bangsa
Moro or Moro Nation, thus requesting for an independence from the whole governing sovereign
state. In connection, religion, if not understood and considered though its shared beliefs, can
somehow affect progress in nation building. This five page research paper, will briefly discuss
about religion and how it hinders nation building, anchored through historical understanding
from three periods of the historical narrative of the Philippines, namely: pre-colonialism,
colonialism, and post-colonialism until contemporary times. Set of recommendations will also be
provided in order to transform the issue as an instrument for building a nation rather than being a
hindrance.

II. Evolution of the Issue/ Theme in Three Periods of Philippine History

Pre-Colonial
Religion of the ancient Filipinos was known as animism. Animism is the belief that all
plants, animals, and objects have spirits. The Filipinos believed in deities, one of the highest rank
was whom they called Bathalang Maykapal who was the host of other deities, in the
environmental spirits, and in soul-spirits. The Bathala is supposed to be the creator of the earth
and man, hence, most superior to all other deities. These deities have functions in relation to the
believers daily life such as; the god of agriculture Idiyanale; god of death Sidapa; a rainbow god,
Balangaw; a god of war Mandarangan; a fire god, Agni; a god of the other world, Magwayen;
goddess of harvest, Lalahon; a god of hell, Siginarugan, a god of love, Diyan Masalanta. They
consider the objects of nature as something to be respected.
The Filipinos adored saints which they called anito in Tagalog and diwata in Visayan.
They offered prayers and sacrifices to the anitos, may they be deemed good or bad. They have
priest and priestesses called baylana or katalona. In the pre-colonial period, the Filipinos are very
respectful of the dead since they believe in life after death. The Filipinos believed in divination
and magic charms. These charms they called the anting-anting are believed to insure one from
danger. They also believe in soothsayers, black magic and sorcerers.
These religion they believed in back then is no longer practiced by the majority,
especially of people in the city areas. Most of the people who still practices such are those in
tribes. However, even with the existence of Christianity and Catholicism people still brought
with them the beliefs and practices from the pre-colonial periods such as the charms or the
anting-antings, the mangkukulam, and the different beliefs with regards to good or bad omens.

Colonial Period
There are two foreign religions introduced in the Philippines - the Islam and Christianity.
Before the Spanish Period, Year 1350, Islam had been spreading northward from Indonesia to
the Philippines Archipelago, and so by the time the Spanish have arrive to introduce Christianity
in the year 1565, Islam in the 16th century had already established on Mindanao and Sulu and so
had outposts in Cebu and Luzon. However, as a tradition of eliminating non-Christians such as
Jews and Moros from Spain, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the person who brought Christian
Religion in the Philippines had also dispersed the Muslim from Luzon and the Visayan Islands to
begin the process of Christianization. Until Independence, the Muslim population did not spread
while on the other hand, Christianity had spread rapidly as the Filipinos had embraced and
placed at heart nationalism, social justice and other movements while at the same time has been
associated with power, elitism and exploitation of various points in the history. After, the United
States took over the Philippines, wherein they had introduced education and so at the same time,
for most of the professors are protestant they had greatly influenced the majority to Christianity.

Post-Colonial Period until the Contemporary Times

While the People Power movement led to the fall of President Marcos, the Catholic
Church has remained an influential opposing force on issues such as the Reproductive Health
Bill and divorce. President Aquino signed the Reproductive Health Bill in December 2012, but it
wasn’t until 2014 that the Supreme Court declared it constitutional. The Divorce Bill is still
caught up in a contentious battle (the Philippines is the only country in the world, aside from
Vatican City, that lacks divorce laws, so the Philippines is at its purity)
Historically, organized churches have been involved in electoral politics in the
Philippines, including in the selection of candidates and church members who have run in
elections themselves. For instance, the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), with a tradition of
bloc voting required from its 1 million voting members, has allegedly supported presidential
candidates throughout history: President Marcos in 1986, Eduardo Cojuangco in 1992, Joseph
Estrada in 1998, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004, and Manny Villar in 2010. The Jesus is Lord
movement ran campaigns themselves (Bro. Eddie Villanueva in the 2004 Presidential elections,
where he won 3% of the votes), and most recently, the Pilipino Movement for Transformational
Leadership (PMTL), a community composed of Catholics, Protestants, and Born Again groups,
bonded together to elect “God-centered servants.” For the May 2016 elections, the PMTL claims
it can muster up to 10 million voters out of the 54.6 million Filipinos registered to vote.
The Catholic Church, though not endorsing political candidates, exhorts the voters to vote
“according to one’s conscience.” In the launch of the “One Good Vote” campaign against
bribery and vote buying, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle recalled the casting of ballots during the
papal conclave, and exhorted voters to pray and have a formulation based on one’s religion.

III. Synthesis about the Role of the Issue in Promoting/ Hindering Nation Building

In general, religion plays a crucial role in nation-building for further progress and a firm
foundation of harmonious relationships between every members of the society. These religion
may become a bridge or a hindrance to nation building. In order to make religion an asset for
building a nation, all followers of a specific belief system should practice acceptance and respect
to the uniqueness and diversity of each sect. It should then be used as mechanisms in generating
a holistic idea that could help nation building in general. In addition, the aspect of reality
principle are the basis of promoting the significance of nation building. It is highly suggested that
the nation puts emphasis to equality, justice, and orderliness for an effective nation-building
where the state and its people listens and takes into consideration the well-being of every citizen.
Religion is vital to a nation in the aspect of keeping things and decisions morally at bay where in
building the nation the people takes into consideration what is seen as right or wrong no matter
how diverse it is.

IV. Appropriate Recommendations Rooted in the Historical Understanding of the Issue

Since the day the Philippines became Asia's first democratic republic in 1899, religious
freedom has been a key facet of its various constitutions. However, the immediate religious
context of the Philippines renders these provisions difficult to uphold consistently like the RH
Law and the imminent revival of death penalty. Thus, as a recommendation, the religious groups
should adhere to the truth in their beliefs and principles in helping the nation to be enlighten in a
moderate way. They must take into consideration what the majority needs before coming up a
decision in opposing a law. In that way, the whole nation would be more harmonious.
 At times, religion may affect the decision-making of the government for nation-building
particularly in implementing laws for development, yet it does not always mean that the religion
entirely hinders how a nation reaches its progressive state. Thus, making a consensus between
the state and the religious groups should transpire for better relations and overcome conflicts.
Hence, holding meetings or private talks between the legislative or executive body between the
religious leaders would be ideal to take into consideration. In that way, better decision-making
will foster and influence more positive feedback or outcomes for nation-building.

V. References

Agoncillo, T.A. (n.d.). History of the Filipino People. Eighth Edition. GP Publishing Co.
Buenaobra, M.I. (n.d.). The Politics and Religion in the Philippines. Retrieved from
https://asiafoundation.org/2016/02/24/the-politics-of-religion-in-the-philippines/
Durkheim, E. (1948). The Elementary forms of Religious Life. New York; Free Press.
Kanu, R.C. (2004). African Traditional Morality and Nation Building. In Okwueze, M.I. (ed)
Religion and Social Development: Contemporary Nigerian Perspectives. Lagos: Merit
International Publishers
Miller, J. (1982). Asian Studies. Religion in the Philippines. Retrieved from
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Modules/Modules/PhilippineReligions/article_miller.
htm
Religious Literacy Project (2004). Catholisicm in the Philippines. Retrieved from
https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/faq/catholisicm-philippines

V. Task of Members of the Group

Arcena, Marco Jemsboy E. – Reporter

Balais, Jairon Ric – Powerpoint
Cabidog, Golda Meir C. – Written Report
Cajipo, Ma. Jobelle D. – Genius
Calvo, Trixie Anne Nicole C. – Researcher