Tiêu đề Lesson 7 - Religion, Church, and Politics in the Philippines.pdf ✅

R E L I G I O N , C H U R C H A N D P O L I T I C S I N T H E P H I L I P P I N E S Introduction Religion and church are formidable sociocultural and political forces in Philippine society and politics with a history of influence and participation in the processes of state formation, democracy, and development in the country. As belief systems, the religions of Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism have shaped Philippine culture and the personal lives of their believers. Their respective churches, religious groups and religious movements, into which the believers have been organized, assumed political significance as their numbers, leadership, resources, and political orientations affected political processes in different ways and at certain points in Philippine history. Dominant Religions in the Philippines Islam, known to be the religion in the Philippines even before the Spanish and American colonization, remains dominant in the southern part of the Philippines among Muslim Filipinos. The Catholic religion and the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines (RCCP) trace their roots to Spanish colonization of the Philippines in 1521 and consistently claim the largest membership of Philippine population then and now. The various streams of the Protestant religion and respective churches came into the Philippines at the onset of American colonization in the 1900s. Other religions and respective churches are not as large in the number of adherents but some of these had become politically significant, particularly those founded by Filipinos. The Philippine Independent Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente) is remembered for its historic role in the latter part of the Philippine Revolution and in the upsurge of nationalism at the time. Religion and Church: The Political Force of Beliefs and Organizational Resources Religion and church are interrelated concepts since both are viewed as elements of culture and institutions of society as explained in sociology, anthropology, philosophy and psychology. Religion is generally viewed as the system of beliefs and practices; it is commonly called faith. In the literature across the decades, religion has consistently been referred to as a system of beliefs, principles, doctrines, symbols, including rituals, and practices, norms, values, and moral prescriptions, and pertaining to man's relationship with a supernatural being, a creator, or some power beyond. On the other hand, the concept "church" has many meanings. Essentially, it is the community of persons, the believers and adherents of a specific religion, and the organization they have formed among themselves, which includes the leaders and members, their structure, and system of operations. Hence, it has the character of a human institution or organization; and the spiritual mystery of relationships between man and God and among believers. The term church also denotes the physical edifice or place where the believers hold their religious activities." At the societal level, church is considered a social structure and a social institution, as patterns of interaction occur persistently, becoming part of the way people live and organize themselves. Related terms denote the religious character of the group-hence, religious group, religious community, religious organization, church-based group, religious movements. Johnstone asserts that religion, besides being an individual matter, is a group phenomena such that six characteristics can be applied when identifying a religious group: 1) at least two or more people who have established certain patterns of interaction; 2) with common goals; 3) shared norms; 4) a role for every member, or set of functions, a division of labor; 5) a status system or hierarchy with different levels of power, authority, prestige and its corresponding roles and engagements; and 6) the members' sense of identification with the group.'
Political salience in the Philippines: The Impact of Religion in Politics The impact of religion and the political behavior of religious groups can be observed in the political socialization and the political culture of Philippine society, in the occurrence of revolution and regime change, in democratic processes- particularly in elections and policy formulation, in various aspects of development, and recently, in civil society's interaction with the state. The politically relevant religions in the Philippines are Islam, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism. Since the 1950s, the religious beliefs of the Iglesia ni Cristo and of many religious movements have also exerted their political influence. Of the churches, the Catholic Church has figured prominently in the Spanish colonization of the Philippines and was the subject of the Philippine Revolution against Spain in the 1890s. Since the Philippines' self-rule in 1946 and under the constitutional provision of separation of church and state, the Catholic Church and other churches found new arenas for political involvement, such as in elections, policy making, and interest articulation." The Catholic Church and Protestant member-churches of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines (NCCP) have been institutionally engaged in social, political, and economic development.22 The Catholic Church has been known for its influence over its large membership during elections. During the Marcos regime (1965-1986), the Catholic Church and some Protestant churches were immersed in the politics of church and state conflict, ideology, and regime change. In the processes that culminated in the so-called 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, the Catholic Church and various Protestant churches took activist positions that helped topple President Ferdinand Marcos. At the 2001 EDSA 2 event that caused President Joseph Ejercito Estrada to step down from office, the Catholic Church and, in a less visible but significant way the Protestant churches, took a politically vital role in political mobilization and regime change. The Muslim or Islamic groups are crucial in the issues of constitutionalism, political and national integration, considering their years of resistance and separatist struggles against the Philippine state. The state and Muslim groups are currently engaged in peace processes, decentralization and regional autonomy in Mindanao. In elections, the Iglesia ni Cristo has long been associated with bloc voting. In recent years, other religious organizations and movements, particularly the El Shaddai and Jesus Is Lord Fellowship, gained political value with their resources and capacities for political socialization, political mobilization, and electoral participation. The Secular State and Church-State Separation The Philippines is a secular state that is friendly to religions. The secular state, according to Kuru (2009, p. 7), is defifined by two main characteristics, namely: (1) the absence of institutional religious control of legislative and judicial processes, and (2) constitutionally mandated neutrality toward religions, and non- establishment of an offificial religion or atheism. Although a majority of the population is Catholic, the country is host to a variety of faiths (Baring 2011) with constitutional guarantees on the freedom of religion and the non-adoption of a State religion. This dispensation differs from other Southeast Asian countries like Burma, Malaysia and Thailand where religion is given a central role in national development (Von der Mehden 1986, p. 145). The Philippines as a secular state is distinct from the one that prevailed during the Spanish colonial era (1570–1898). During Spanish rule, church and state in the Philippines enjoyed an unparalleled union. “Church inflfluence was so strong, thinking became uniform, unorthodox ideas were condemned, and original scholarship was non-existent” (Aprieto 1981, p. 23). Church-state relations changed with the American occupation of the Philippines (1901–1946). The Americans established secular rule that strictly adhered to religious neutrality and toleration.
The 1987 Constitution reinforces this tradition to direct Church-State relations in the Philippines. Article III (The Bill of Rights), Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution provides that “no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.” (The Republic of the Philippines 1987). Religious neutrality is further provided by the constitutional provision that bars the use of public money or property to benefifit or support any religious group (Article VI, Section 29). The Philippine Constitution is more explicit than the American Constitution in its declaration of Church- State separation. In Article II (Declaration of Principles), Section 6, the Constitution states: “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.” The application of this principle could be readily seen in the Omnibus Election Code, which disallows religious groups from registering as political parties, intervening in village-level elections, raising campaign funds, as well as coercing subordinates to vote for or against any candidate (Pangalangan 2015, p. 566). The constitution nevertheless specififies religious accommodation in certain State affairs. First, the State allows the assignment of priests, preachers, ministers or dignitaries to “the armed forces, or to any penal institution, or government orphanage or leprosarium” (Article VI, Section 29.2). Second, it provides for tax exemption of religious institutions and their property “used for religious, charitable, or educational purposes” (Article VI, Section 28.3). Third, the State allows without additional cost to the government, optional religious instruction in public elementary and high schools, subject to the expressed written consent of parents and guardians and to the designation of instructors approved by religious authorities of the religion to which the children belonged (Article XIV, Section 3.3). Jurisprudence further guides governmental actions with respect to the Church. In the Philippines, a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 2003/2006 established that jurisprudence on Church-State relations is guided by benevolent neutrality (Estrada vs. Escritor 2003, 2006). In fact, the Supreme Court affifirms that the Constitution is inspired and guided by this doctrine: “It is indubitable that benevolent neutrality-accommodation, whether mandatory or permissive, is the spirit, intent and framework underlying the Philippine Constitution” (Estrada vs. Escritor 2006). By benevolent neutrality, “the government must pursue its secular goals and interests but at the same time strives to uphold religious liberty to the greatest extent possible within flflexible constitutional limits. Thus, although the morality contemplated by laws is secular, benevolent neutrality could allow for accommodation of morality based on religion, provided it does not offend compelling state interests.” (Estrada vs. Escritor 2003). In view of the above-cited constitutional provisions and jurisprudence, it could be said that the principle of Church- State separation in the Philippines does not strictly prevent the Church from engaging the State, and vice-versa. Theoretical Persectives on Church-State Relation A few theories have attempted to analyze changing patterns of church-state relations, or in general the relationship of religion, politics, and democracy. Modernization or secularization theory (Berger 1969; Inkeles and Smith 1976; Norris and Inglehart 2004; Pollack 2015) contends that religion’s political role and importance declines through the process of modernization and economic development. Extreme variants of the theory even predict religion’s demise. However, religious politics of the late 20th century and the persistence of religiosity and spirituality in many countries disprove the demise of religion argument. As Baring (2018, p. 1) argues, “Instead of losing its place in social life, religion resurfaces in unique articulations each time.” Based on case studies in the Philippines, Canceran (2016) observes the transformation of religion as secularism induced the decline of the authority and tradition of the institutional church represented by the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Kuru (2009) proposes that two ideologies—assertive and passive secularism—explained variations in secular state policies toward religion. Accordingly, assertive secularism attempts to exclude religion from the public sphere and confifine it to the private domain (Kuru 2009, p. 11). He cites the case of France as