‘Too many cults, witches driving away tourists’

A tourism official said yesterday the government should address the proliferation of cults and the culture of witchcraft which she claimed discourages tourists from coming to the country.

Evelyn Pantig, chairman of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts and concurrent undersecretary of the Department of Tourism, mentioned in particular the recent killing of 16 members of a cult in Surigao del Norte that cast the Philippines in a negative light.

"We should learn from the lessons of the PBMA," Pantig told reporters at the weekly Ciudad Fernandina in Greenhills, San Juan, referring to the Dinagat island massacre last June 19 where members of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association died in a shootout with police and military that were out to arrest their leader.

She said the government should exercise strong political will in dealing with the problem of cultism to prevent a repeat of such violent incidents in the future.

Pantig added the problem of cults in the country is similar to the proliferation of the black and white witchcraft in the island of Siquijor which has caught international attention to the alleged detriment of the local tourist industry.

Proposals have been made in the past to make the yearly gathering of witches in Siquijor a major tourist attraction but these were summarily turned down, she said.

"We do not promote cultism and witchcraft in the country," she said.

Pantig pointed out that since the cults and the Siquijor activities are accepted realities, the government should plot out a program that will address the concern.

"There should be one agency that will deal with this problem so the government can have a unified stand," she said.

She blamed the Filipino culture of blind obedience to authority as the major factor that has contributed greatly to the proliferation of cults and other pseudo-religious groups, particularly in the hinterlands.

Pantig said since cultism is already part of Filipino culture the government should divert the energies of citizens to activities that would make them better citizens rather than hard-core followers of certain cults.

Poverty and the belief that leaders of the cult could provide members with material and spiritual needs have been the main reasons why the PBMA and similar organizations continue to attract adherents.

"It is their strong belief that their leader could provide them the needs that strongly bind these people," she added.

On the other hand, Siquijor, considered the center of witchcraft in the country, has long had a near-zero crime rate.