Some Thoughts on Filipino Nationalism and REligion

Nationalism (Thought Fragment no.34)

Constantino sees Philippine History as the struggle of the Filipino People against the Forces of Colonialism. In the drama of Philippine History, there are three principal characters: the colonialist foreigner, the collaborator, and the one who resisted domination and fought. The Catholic Religion is seen as a tool employed by the foreigner to conquer the Filipinos. It was only seen in a much more positive light when it contributed to the goal of freedom from colonialism. Thus, the histories of the various religious revolts and uprisings following the arrival of the Spaniards in 1565 are given prominence in COnstantino's narrative.

Zaide, on the other hand, is sympathetic to the goals of the Church. He sees the Philippines as a special nation because of the arrival of the Christian faith upon its shores. As stduents, we often are made to be proud of the fact that we are 'the only Christian nation' in Asia. This idea is propagated not only in the private religious schools but in the supposedly secular public schools as well. Zaide states that because of this special attribute of our nation, we carry a special task: that of spreading the light of Christianity into our nonChristian neighbors. The differences in these points of view is made much clearer with their treatment of the event in Philippine History known as the 'First Mass".

Given Zaide's view, the question of the exact place where the mass was held holds much importance. When we consider Constantino however, the question of the first mass does not bear any significance at all, for even if the mass was held in Limasawa or in Mazaua, the fact still remains that Christianity was a tool used by the colonialists to convert and conquer the Filipinos. Thus, we see here the importance of considering points of view when discussing the History of the Filipino People. Following after Constantino's theme, the importance of an individual and or a group varies with their relation to the question of whether they contributed to Filipino nationalism or not.

Thus, within the scale of this theme, Andres Bonifacio sits on a higher pedestal than Jose Rizal, in the same way that the revolutionists take a much higher stage than those who compromised or collaborated. It is in this scale then that we could judge the actions of those under Agunaldo's command and Aguinaldo himself. We subject them to the scrutiny of whether they contributed to the freedom of the Filipino People against Colonial domination or not.

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ginesdemafra on

Magellan's lost port, Mazaua, seen from a global perspective

One can view the issue of Mazaua from global perspective that transcends the insular framework "Where is the site of the first mass, Limasawa or Butuan?"

In fact that question is not only parochial, it is a logical fallacy called the fallacy of the false dichotomous question. Magellan's island-port, Mazaua, was neither Butuan which is nnot an islad nor Limasawa which has no anchorage--to be precise, it has not one aspect that coincides with all the features and possessions of Mazaua.

A global view, which locates the issue in the context of the history of navigation, travel, exploration, cartography, geography, linguistics, nuclear science, geomorphology, makes the conondrum amenable to solution.

Here are URLs of my Wikipedia articles, which are mutually interlinked, that seek to solve the Mazaua puzzle using those scientific disciplines:

1. Gines de Mafra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gines_de_Mafra

2. Dimasaua http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimasaua

3. Carlo Amoretti http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Amoretti

4. Gatighan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatighan

5.Jacques N. Bellin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_N._Bellin

6. First mass in the Philippines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_mass_in_the_Philippines

7. Ruy Lopez de Villalobos http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruy_Lopez_de_Villalobos

8. Andres de San Martin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_de_San_Mart%C3%ADn

9. Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Herrera_y_Tordesillas

10. Martin de Ayamonte http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mart%C3%ADn_de_Ayamonte