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RELIGIONS OF THE
PHILIPPINES |
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The Philippines is the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia.
Ninety-five percent of the population are Catholic, with the rest either
Protestant or animist. Indigenous tribes have beliefs that combine
elements from a number of religions with the worship of their own gods
such as the Bulul, or rice god.
In recent years, a number of charismatic sub-religions have been born,
the largest of which is El Shaddai , headed by lay preacher Mike
Velarde, a real estate developer who found God when his business failed.
Velarde is known to his followers as Brother Mike and has captured the
imagination of the country's poor Catholics, many of whom feel isolated
from the mainstream church, apart from at life's three critical moments:
baptism, marriage and death. To make the polarization worse, priests
preach in English, a language most barrio folk only have a rudimentary
knowledge of. Velarde has bridged this gap by preaching in colloquial
and heavily-accented Tagalog at huge open-air gatherings every weekend
near the Manila Hotel, Manila Bay. He wears screamingly loud
made-to-measure suits and outrageous bow ties, but his message is
straightforward: give to the Lord and He will return it to you tenfold.
He now has eight million followers, most of whom suffer from sakit sa
bulsa, or "ailment of the pocket", but are nevertheless happy to pay ten
percent of their income to become card-carrying members of Brother
Mike's flock. Brother Mike's relationship with the mainstream Catholic
Church, headed by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, is uneasy. His
relationship with politicians is not. With eight million followers
hanging on his every word, Brother Mike is a potent political ally and
few candidates for high office are willing to upset him. In the last
election, Brother Mike backed Joseph Estrada, a significant factor in
the former movie actor's ultimate success.
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