The Filipino working class and their faith in God

There are only two reasons why Communism and any other foreign ideology can never win in the Philippines: the strong faith of the Filipinos in God and their uncompromising loyalty to their respective families. This year's celebration of the SINULOG and the fiesta of Senyor Santo Niño highlights once again the Filipinos' deep faith in the Almighty and their never-failing reverence to the Holy Child. And more than any other socio-economic class, it is the working class, the middle class, if you will, that give life and passion to this celebration. Foreigners are always amazed at the religiosity of the Filipinos despite all the natural calamities and man-made disasters.

With due respect to other religious festivals, the SINULOG is now the most popular and best-attended religious celebration, outshining even the ATI-ATIHAN of Kalibo in Aklan, the DINAGYANG of Iloilo, the KADAYAWAN of Davao, the MASKARA of Bacolod, the PINTADOS of Leyte, the LA NAVAL of Penafrancia, the MORIONES of Marinduque and hundreds of other similar festivities all over the land. And SINULOG is even celebrated by OFWs wherever they are, whether in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, in the heart of Islamic countries, in the US and Canada, all over Europe, Africa, and Antarctica. I should know. When I worked as diplomat for eight years, I saw with my own eyes how Filipinos abroad remain faithful to the Santo Niño and SINULOG.

Even from the times of the Spanish domination, the ''masa'' were always actively involved in these religious celebrations. From the time the wife and lowly subjects of Rajah Humabon were baptized, up to turbulent days of the Revolution, when Katipuneros were caught in the middle of two conflicting pressures, between religion and nationalism, the working class in Tondo and Cavite figured prominently in the Filipinos' struggle for freedom. It was the working class who built the stone churches since the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Each piece of stone was carried at the shoulders of the Filipino serfs and slaves who were forced by the Spanish friars to work against their will.

Nonetheless, the Filipino peasants continued to worship God and celebrate the SINULOG in their own unique and indigenous ways. Francisco Dagohoy's deep religiousity drove him to lead the history's longest running rebellion because the Bohol parish priest refused to give his deceased brother a Catholic blessing before his burial. The family of Dr. Jose Rizal was a tenant of the Dominican friars and was being subjected to all forms of harassment due to Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" which denounced the arrogance, atrocities and inhuman treatment by the friars of the Filipino masses. Diego Silang and Gabriela Silang's revolt in the Ilocos was also triggered by the Spanish cruelty against the Filipino working class. And yet, they never abandoned the faith. Even Rizal was said to renounce masonry before he was executed.

The SINULOG is both a religious and a socio-economic phenomenon. It is religious because it is an annual veneration of the Holy Child who grew up to become the savior of mankind from sin. But it is also socio-economic in the sense that such a celebration puts the poor and the rich on equal footing before the mighty and powerful God. The Santo Niño gives hopes to the working class, blesses their crops and gives them a bountiful harvest, heals them from diseases, protects them from earthquake and floods and prospers their businesses and livelihoods, even makes their children pass their Board exams and obtains visas to work abroad. Volumes can be written about the miracles that the Holy Child has caused to happen as expressions of His love for His people.

Indeed, in times like these, when politicians have lost their credibility and institutions have crumbled like houses of cards, the poor working people, they who survive only by the sweats of their brow, could only look up to the Lord, who is always faithful to His suffering people. There is no one else to turn to. The SINULOG is an oasis in a desert of pains and poverty, a refuge in a wilderness of greed, cruelty and fear. The poor may be down and hardly standing, amidst life's many storms and surges, and yet, wounded and scarred by all forms of social neglect and injustice, they still can shout to high heavens: "PIT SENYOR!"