A report on the Islands that the Pope will visit this month

uence, beauty and squalor by JOHN LUFF
THERE. is much specula tion in South-East Asia concerning the visit later this month of Pope Paul to the Philippines. One gathers from conversation that when the Pope sets foot in Manila. a great transformation will take place and that many ancient evils will be banished.
Although the Philippine Islands form the only Christian country in South-East Asia, Pope Paul will find much that is lacking in the Christian ethical sense. In the first place. the unequal distribution of wealth. You need go no further than a few blocks from the centre of Manila to find contrasts that are appalling. You will find people literally living in dustbins and in hovels built from odds and ends of refuse gathered at the dock wharves. Nearer the city centre you will find luxurious residences and hotels. In the old city. grubby children can be seen picking at refuse bins for their daily meal, while just beyond the grand central city highways, there is a mile of fabulous restaurants and gaudy gambling houses where millions of pesos change hands nightly.
A drive into the country takes you past vast haciendas where living is affluent and luxurious, while the workers are in shacks once removed from poverty. It is this economic contrast which lies at the heart of Philippine instability, with the wealth in the hands of the few and hardship for the many.
Then there are the twin evils of corruption and violence. Corruption seems to percolate right through the nation until it has become a way of life. The Filipino expects to pay for political patronage. and when things go wrong. there is violence. None is shocked to pick up an afternoon newspaper and read that gunmen have broken into the house of a politician and murdered him for supporting or opposing some bill.
There is much to admire and praise in the Philippines. The fertile soil where palm trees arc laden with fruit, the high volcanic mountains, the beautiful inland lakes, and the paddy fields where the buffalo pulls the plough while in the next field a modern American tractor turns the soil.
There is also much to delight. The old Spanish churches built by the missionaries. typical of which is the Las Pinas church in the Rizal Province. Fcir there. not only the church, but the 150 years old bamboo organ were built by a dedicated missionary priest.
Back in Manila. there is further evidence of the faith brought to Manila during the early days of Spanish occupation. For in the old city is the ancient church of San Augustin, close by the old fort of Santiago. There is a plaque placed on the wall of the church which tells how the church survived earthquakes and typhoons. but failed to survive an attack made upon Manila by the British in 1762 when Britain was at war with Spain.
The population of the Philippines is estimated at 23 millions: of that number it is claimed that 17 millions are of the Catholic faith. There is a breakaway Catholic type sect numbering about one million, which was founded by ( irceorio Aglipay in 1902. There are some non-Catholic Christians of about one million. and the same numbers of Buddhists, while the remainder are Muslims and pagans.
The population is scat'tered over a group of islands. the most advanced being Luzon, the most northerly island. other large islands being Samar. Mindano, Negros, Palawan and Panay. In all, there are over 7.000 islands, some of them very small.
The Filipinos are mainly a Malayan race, speaking many dialects. There are also remainders of a primitive race known to the Spaniards as Negritos. and an ethnic group designated Moros by the Spaniards. and various smaller groups. In I .tizon arc pure Spanish types. and people of mixed Spanish and Filipino blood. the women of this group being very beautiful. Then there are the native Malayan type and also a pure Chinese group. the latter keeping themselves to themselves.
It might be asked. then. how such a people living in a tropical paradise. nourish crime. violence. vice and corruption. in their Occidental form. For the notice "Park (or check) your guns here" is a reminder of Chicago of the 1920s, while the rackets are reminders of the heydays of the American gangsters.
If there is any one answer to this, we have to know something of Spanish and American colonialism, for 450 years of foreign occupation accounts for all that is best and worst within the Philippines.
It was the Portuguese Magellan, in the service of Spain, who first arrived in the Philippines, and in 1571 Spain took final possession of the archipelago. The islands, of course. take their name from Philip of Spain.
In spite of what modern historians write, Spain's colonial policy for those days was most enlightened. especially in its educational system. Before the end of the 16th century, schools were established in the Philippines. and during the following century, universities, colleges and even schools for girls. were opened. Charitable institutions were organised by the religious, while the Asian woman, despised everywhere. was given a promi nent place in Spanish colonial society.
Gradually, the Spanish way of life took over. In towns and villages, Spanish buildings appeared, Spanish music was heard. and the Catholic religion spread among the natives who adopted Christian names of the Saints. Every town had its patron saint in whose honour a colourful fiesta was held.
So Spanish influence spread until in the mid-19th century, we have a delightful picture of Manila at the sounding of the Angelus. "The bell was heard. and immediately, carriages, horsemen and pedestrians stood motionless in the street, absorbed in prayer." Thus said Sir John Bowring, the Governor of Hong Kong, on one of his many visits to Manila, but unfortunately. Sir John did not investigate what was happening below the surface which was giving rise to the unrest among the Filipinos.
It is painful. but true, that the administration of the Church in the Philippines, under Spain, was the main downfall of Spanish colonialism. The priest was paid from colonial funds, and while most priests were devoted missionaries. dedicated teachers, and men who worked entirely in the interest of the natives. there came about an increasing class of priests who regarded themselves as civil servants whose main interest was in uphold ing the prestige of secular Spain.
Two novels of the Filipino nationalist, Jose Rizal. "El Filibusterismo" and "Noli Me Tangere," tell in detail of life under the influence of worldly and haughty priests. A further cause of religious strife was the secularising of parishes when they became vacant through the death or resignation of the incumbents. In 1768. the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines, and the situation in the parishes became serious. for the religious had acted as parish priests. few seculars being available.
So at that time. Archbishop Santa Justa recruited ordinands from the Filipinos to fill the vacancies in the parishes. A Filipino historian writes of this, "The Filipino priests were recruited from among the boat-rowers of the Pastig river. They had scanty education, were of disreputable character. and the condition of the parishes became worse."
But by the mid-19th century, a different kind of Filipino was offering himself for the priesthood. Brilliant graduates from the colleges and seminaries came forward in Manila. They were men of virtue, of good families, men often superior in character to the Spanish friars. This led to racial jealousy.
The situation in the Philippines of the mid-19th century was deplorable. Spain was in deep decline as an imperial power, and as the decline became more marked, so there was a rise in Spanish chauvinism. and as is always the case. the farther away from the homeland, the greater the demonstration of chauvinism. Priest and bellicose patriot became, in many cases, co-exten§ional terms.
Concerning the Filipino priests. a friar apologist slandered the Filipino clergy in both the Madrid and Manila newspapers. stating that the Indios (a term used to describe the native. and one givgiving great offence) were inferior to the Castilians, who were of poor intelligence, incompetent and incapable of aspiring to the high demands of priesthood.
Father Pedro Pelaz took up the challenge. He was an honours graduate of the Santa Tomas University of Manila. He stated that a man's colour does not decide his superiority, and asked what was the use of a Filipino youth struggling to obtain an education if he was to be deprived of advancement on racial grounds.
Space does not allow me to follow the bitterness which preceded this verbal battle. Gradually a nationalist movement was built up. The native priests, by emphasising that God is neither a respecter of colour nor race, were held to be among the subservient party. Three Filipino priests were taken and garrotted.
There arose the patriot. Rizal, who dedicated one of his novels to the three Filipino priests. Rizal was taken and was shot by a firing squad in December. 1896. The volley of the executioners rang the death knell of Spain. Two years later, the Americans at war with Spain, invaded the Philippines. Many Filipinos fought with the United States forces. and in turn, fought against them when they discovered America intended occupying the Philippines.
The Americans did not want the Philippines, for colonialism was a dirty word in Washington. Yet President McKinley considered that the, Filipinos were unfit for self-government. Before they could rule themselves, they must learn what democracy was. So began the American way of life. t [rider the Americans. the Filipinos learned the English language. Under Spain, the Filipino was made to feel his inferiority. Uncle Sam taught him that Jack was as good as his master.
Finally, following World War H, the Philippines became an independent state after 450 years of colonialism. And there lies the problem. Who is the modern Filipino? He has inherited a Spanish culture, yet lacks the poised intellectual deportment of the Spaniard.
Furthermore. with hundreds of years of the Catholic faith behind him, his religion is unable to combat corruption in public life, violence, gambling and vice. The Filipino is aware of this. That is why his face is turned towards the West whence will come the plane with Pope Paul as a visitor. There is no doubt that many Filipinos believe that the Pope's presence will banish all that is evil, and the faith will be purified.