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CHAPTER FIVE

THE PHILIPPINES: BUDDHISM IN A VERY CATHOLICLAND

The other SGI chapters in Southeast Asia discussed in the previous chapter are dominated by ethnic Chinese who live in countries with a tradition of Buddhism. The 15,500 (2009 figure) Filipino SGI (SGIRP) members differ not only in the fact that ethnic Chinese members are a distinct minority, but also because seventy to eighty percent of those members surveyed by this writer in 1999 had grown up as Catholics in a very Catholic country.

The Philippines is a very different country than the three other Southeast Asian nations surveyed here. Economically, it is light years behind Singapore, Hong Kong and Much of Malaysia. Even at the end of the first decade of the new century, it remains an economic oligarchy where a wealthy class of entrepreneurs controls much of the wealth and power and most others fall into the lower classes. The Philippines remains a distinctly Catholic and Christian culture although there is growing evidence that younger Filipinos are much less interested in and dominated by the Church than their parents and grandparents were. While older Filipinos I met seem to lack a sense of identity and nationalism, younger Filipinos appear to have a much greater sense of nationhood than their parents.

The Philippines has always experienced considerable poverty, but much of the current crisis stems from the latter years of the Marcos era, especially during the late 1970s and early 1980s. During this period the stagnation of the economy led both the nation and its people to the verge of total devastation. Morale was at its lowest and the future looked bleak. Since that time millions of Filipinos have left their country for work elsewhere and their remittances back home have become one of the nation’s key sources of income.

The 1990s and early 2000s have witnessed an ever-growing gap between rich and poor and there remains no sign of an evolving middle class. Newspapers continue even in 2009 to report rampant corruption at all levels of government though there are signs that government today provides better services than under Marcos. Nevertheless, the essential problems of the past remain. There is a small and quite wealthy upper class, a vibrant but small professional middle class, and a huge world of sorrowful poverty. Filipinos have always had a remarkably good educational system and enjoy a literacy rate near 90 percent, but most have not been able to take advantage of this benefit in economic terms.

One of the biggest problems has been the lack of land reform. Agriculture (sugar, rice, etc) remains the backbone of the economy although since the late 1990s there has been rapid growth in manufacturing, services and outsourcing. Rich landowners keep the wealth mainly for themselves and government does little to redistribute the wealth. Politicians often talk about the necessity of meaningful land reform, but do very little to implement it. Land prices are high, so the average laborer finds it quite impossible to purchase a meaningful piece of real estate.

There is evidence of growing industry in some of the suburbs surrounding Manila, but many of the plants are Japanese or American-owned. They employ a fair number of workers, but at low wages. Wealthier Filipinos have begun to invest in industry in greater numbers and their high profits have led to a rapidly growing GNP (4.6 percent in 2008), but they are able to pay low wages to a very plentiful labor supply.

Government corruption has also hurt. A truly nationalistic government must invest heavilyin its people by building more schools, public housing, infrastructure, and must encourage investment in modern growth industries to provide many new jobs. The horribly corrupt Marcos administration stole massive amounts of public money and foreign aid and left both the government and the nation deeply in debt. Government administrations since Marcos have been stuck with these debts and have failed to extricate the nation from the excesses of the past.

The Catholic Church must share the blame for this ugly state of affairs. To be sure, the Church has many excellent schools and provides a meaningful education for millions of Filipinos. Church leaders maintain an important moral structure for the people. But conservative and often wealthy church leaders refuse to support such necessary measures as birth control, abortion, or even divorce. When I last visited the Philippines a few years ago, I read many newspaper articles about the government’s futile attempts to institute some forms of birth control against the heated objections of leading clergy in Manila.

Today the Philippines has one of the fastest growing birth rates in Asia. Poor Filipinos continue to raise large families. The population in 1950 was around 22 million, but 60 years later it is approaching 100 million. A Filipino professor writing recently in a newspaper suggested that every time the government builds a new school, there is a need for two more. Today economic growth exceeds population growth, but a slowing in the surging population would be a good thing.

Buddhism in a Catholic Country

The Philippines is famous for its strong adherence to Catholicism. Until recently nearly eighty percent of the population professed strong faith in the Catholic Church, one of the dominant institutions of Philippine society. The Church plays a critical role in education—nearly half of the adult SGI members I interviewed in Manila in 1999 had attended Catholic high schools or colleges. Three-quarters of the SGI members I met there grew up in staunchly Catholic families. Members were typically practicing Catholics as children and young adolescents, but quit the Church during their high school or college years, finding no other religious “home” before adopting Nichiren Buddhism. Most former Catholic members indicated that they found little satisfaction or benefit from Catholicism and had been searching for a new source of spirituality in their lives.

Most SGI members stated that Buddhism allows one to cope with problems of war, poverty, pollution, drugs, crime and a lack of hope. They are attracted to the possibility of true happiness and spiritual comfort in the here and now rather than in some ill-defined paradise after death. Interviews with Filipino SGI members brought back dark memories from their past, how they had suffered through unhappiness, lack of self-confidence, and bad relationships with other people. Adopting Buddhism never provided an instant cure, but it was a catalyst for change. Chanting alone as well with others, combined with the strong social support received from other members gave them reason for hope and the determination to succeed in life.

They regard the key Buddhist teaching to be that everybody, no matter how successful, always has room and potential for improvement. This is true whether it is in relationships or elsewhere in life. Misery and failures are neither situational nor the fault of others. Change for the better will only come through one’s own endeavors. Self-respect must always come before the respect of others will develop.

SGI has drawn a respectable number of followers in this deeply Catholic country.Because it manages to demystify Buddhism and to demonstrate that it has universalistic value. Members are provided with a clear spiritual package that is easy to understand, but complex enough to require further study. SGI’s well-coordinated organizational structure and socialization process bring the same people together on a frequent basis, thus creating a sense of belonging. It also instills a sense of confidence in many members through group affirmation and support. These positive feelings in turn ensure their loyalty to the group and to the organization that “helped to liberate them from their prior misery. SGI’s methodology of group-oriented structure, close-knit relationships within the group, and a highly structured system of guidelines and discussion-settings are a few of the reasons for its success here.

Demographics of Philippine Membership

The demographics of Filipino SGI members in some respects parallel that of the other Southeast Asian states studied here. Its earliest members were middle-aged women, but in the early 2000s there is a fairly even split among older and younger members. Most of the members are ethnic Filipino in origin, although the multi-ethnic make-up of many Filipinos makes it hard to define exactly who is a Filipino and who is not. There is also a sizable Chinese-Filipino membership, though a distinct minority. The members I met were largely middle-class and well-educated, but I was informed that there were many poor members, especially in the more rural areas outside of the city that I toured on several occasions.

SGIRP is a largely family-based movement. Virtually every member comes from families that boast as many as four or five members. Proselytization is common among family members and among friends and peers. Usually when one family member joins, it is not uncommon for other family members to join as well. A number of younger members told me that they first heard of SGI from SGI member friends in high school or college.

Filipino members are usually well-educated. One of the anomalies of Filipino society has always been its high literacy rate. Most children, even those from very poor families, go to school for at least a few years. Many SGI members, however, go to college and graduate school—with the result that many younger members in their late 20s and early 30s, like their counterparts in Singapore and Malaysia, are upwardly mobile professionals or businessmen. Many younger members I interviewed insisted that their faith in Buddhism and their sense of self-confidence that followed was a very important factor in their decision to go to school and pursue a higher education.

When asked if SGI had had a positive effect on their lives, many members, but not all responded with great enthusiasm. The following are a few typical responses from a written survey that members did in private:

  1. I have made a total change from bad to good. I was an angry person with an empty life, but there has been a total change in my worldview. I have gained much more self-confidence and a much greater sense of compassion. When work to help others, my own problems decline in importance.
  2. I am now a very happy person. I married a beautiful and capable wife, got a dream house, own considerable property, and have a good job. I have overcome poverty and a lack of self-confidence. I am very happy because everything becomes a source of joy for me.
  3. I have been a member for a few years now. They say that membership in SGI is supposed to bring greater happiness and prosperity, but I was already fairly happy when my sister persuaded me to join. Nothing bad has happened to me since I joined, but then again, nothing that is extraordinarily good has happened as well. I keep waiting for my life to become better, but thus far it has not.
  4. I have gained so much from this religion including an education. To my surprise, I recently received an offer to work in a good job in the United States, but I turned it down. I want to stay here in Manila with my own people to serve my own country.

More Detailed Experiences

While doing in depth research on SGIPR I conducted a series of in-depth interviews with a small number of members. The following three “experiences” give one a more in-depth glimpse at the lives of Filipino followers of SGI:

A former priest: One of the most interesting people I met while in the Philippines a decade ago was a late-middle-aged gentleman and native Filipino, Paterno Casino. He had been an active member of SGI for many years, but before that he had spent twenty years as an ordained Catholic priest. He proudly brought an album of pictures that showed him working as a very young priest. After leaving the priesthood he became a highly successful and motivated businessman.

Mr. Casino stated that he became gradually dissatisfied with the Church because it appeared to be ineffective in its efforts to help people. He and his congregation would pray to a deity that existed beyond the purview of the faithful. People would devote their lives to prayer, but their lives changed not at all. They remained poor, hungry, ignorant and miserable and their prayers were not answered. The Christian God was doing nothing to help them, even though Mr. Casino as their priest, told them that God had heard their prayers and would “save” them. He mentioned a case where two devout nuns were run over and killed by a taxi. “This God did nothing to save even his most dedicated servants.” Mr. Casino was also distressed at the wealth and power of the Church and its perceived unwillingness and to help the poor. It took volumes of their money, made many promises, swore damnation on those who swayed from its teachings, yet gave them absolutely nothing substantive in return.

Mr. Casino’s attraction to Nichiren Buddhism was its teaching that each person is in control of and responsible for his own destiny. Our faults and problems derive from our own actions, but “through the power of the Gohonzon and our own hard work and determination, we can turn our lives around. We must create our own happiness and we do so by showing true love and compassion for other people. …” “The heart of Buddhism is that we can create our own value in life. You become your own master and master of your own mind.” Mr. Casino cited his own success in business, which came through very hard work, a desire to succeed, and a sense of kindness to other people, as an example of what “this Buddhism” has taught him.

Mr. Casino concluded the interview by noting: “In Christianity all is promise, but all is in vain. But the results of Buddhism are almost immediate and can be very positive. Christianity is much too fatalistic.”

A Once-Cynical Artist: Cynthia Guerlan, who joined SGI in 1985, was an established Filipino artist in her late thirties when I interviewed her in 1999. She grew up in a staunchly Catholic household, but by the time she went to college, she had determined to renounce all forms of religion because of its perceived irrelevance to her life. “Religion did nothing for me and it produced no answers or positive results about the basic problems of life. …I was taught to pray on a constant basis, but my prayers were never answered. What is the value of something like prayer when you realize that you have been totally wasting your time?” But her view of life hardly improved when she entered college. “I was drifting with no sense of direction.”

When another student told her about Buddhism, she retorted with sarcasm: “So what do you do? Meditate under a tree?” Later she learned about the principle of karma and the law of cause and effect. “I learned that it is I—only me—who can change my life, that if I want to become rich, happy and famous, that I must do so through my own actions. Also, I learned that success comes in interacting with others and having everyone show compassion for others. People are often poor because they are ignorant of the law of cause and effect. They don’t realize that their current state can be changed by themselves—miracles do not happen unless you create them yourself. But to succeed you must be motivated to help yourself as well as others. You must not ever rely on external powers to change your destiny.”

A Company Employee: Jordon Ong is a college-educated ethnic Chinese employee of a large Japanese company that has offices in the outskirts of Manila. He became a member of SGI as a child when his father joined the movement in 1985. Prior to his father’s conversion, he and his family had followed the Catholic Church. “I was immediately fascinated with the practicality and pragmatism of Buddhist teachings. Buddhism taught me the nature of reality and impressed on me the need to empower myself.”

Even though Ong has worked hard with the Japanese, he is deeply in love with his own country. He wants his countrymen to deepen their sense of being Filipino. He believes that the salvation of the nation could come through Buddhism. The people are afflicted with the stranglehold of karma which, he says, keeps them in an aimless stupor. They have no sense of hope or destiny, failing to realize that their salvation rests in their own hands. He looks at the successes and happiness he and other members have found through Buddhism and dreams of a time when many others will share this revelation and escape from poverty.

This pessimistic form of national identity was common among SGIRP members. Like the Singaporean members interviewed in an earlier chapter, those in the Philippines are looking for a sense of identity. Flora Mauleon, a flourishing artist in her mid-forties in 1999, notes the ethnic complexity of her own people: “What is a true Filipino? We have our own native heritage that is mixed in with Spanish, American, Japanese, Dutch and Portuguese elements.”