What religion do most of the Filipino population profess. The role of religion in the Philippines

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Protestantism

The number of Protestants in the country is growing steadily. The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, which united Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, united brothers, supporters of the Christian and Missionary Alliance and part of the Baptists in 1929. At the moment it includes 1.5 million believers. Baptism was introduced to the Philippines by American missionaries in 1898 and now has 350,000 believers. The Pentecostal movement is represented by the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, the Church of the Four-Sided Gospel, the Church of All Nations, the Jesus Lord Church, the United Pentecostal Church, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, etc.

Jehovah's Witnesses are active in missionary work.

Philippine Catholic Church

The Independent Philippine Church was founded by Gregorio Aglipai, a Catholic priest and fighter for the independence of the Philippines, in 1902 as the Catholic National Philippine Church. Its appearance was caused by the pro-Hispanic position of the Catholic church leadership during the war of the Philippines for independence from Spain. In turn, the Catholic Church deprived G. Aglipay of the priesthood in 1899.

The independent Philippine Church does not recognize the supreme authority of the Vatican over itself; it is headed by the Metropolitan. She also denies celibacy and for some time questioned the holiness of the Trinity, but in 1947 the Aglipayans (the church is named after its founder) officially proclaimed that they recognized the dogma of the Trinity. Many fighters and martyrs of the war of liberation who died in battles with the Spaniards and Americans were admitted to the ranks of the saints of the Independent Church of the Philippines.

Currently, the church has about 4 million believers in its ranks. In addition to the Philippines, there are also Aglipayan communities in the United States and Canada. The Independent Church of the Philippines maintains close ties with the Anglican Church and the Old Catholic Churches.

Orthodox Church

Islam

The Muslim minority (5% of the population) lives predominantly in the south of the country. Relations between the Christian and Muslim communities are tense, there is competition for the minds of believers, and among Muslims there is a growing number of people who want to regain their once-lost statehood. (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao). Islam was introduced to the Philippines as early as 1210 by Arab merchants and spread mainly on the island of Mindanao, where two sultanates appeared by the 15th century.

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Dependent territories Unrecognized and partially recognized states ¹ Partially in Europe or completely in Asia, depending on the drawn border. ² Also in Africa. ³ Also in Oceania. 4 Also in Europe.

Excerpt Characterizing Religion in the Philippines

“Yes, I’m sick,” she answered.
When the count was worried about why she was so murdered and whether something had happened to the groom, she assured him that it was nothing, and asked him not to worry. Marya Dmitrievna confirmed to the count Natasha's assurances that nothing had happened. The count, judging by the alleged illness, by the upset of his daughter, by the confused faces of Sonya and Marya Dmitrievna, clearly saw that in his absence something was bound to happen: but he was so afraid to think that something shameful had happened to his beloved daughter, he He loved his cheerful calmness so much that he avoided questioning and kept trying to assure himself that there was nothing special and only grieved that, due to her ill health, their departure to the village was postponed.

From the day of his wife's arrival in Moscow, Pierre was planning to leave somewhere, just so as not to be with her. Soon after the Rostovs arrived in Moscow, the impression Natasha made on him made him hurry to fulfill his intention. He went to Tver to the widow of Joseph Alekseevich, who promised long ago to give him the papers of the deceased.
When Pierre returned to Moscow, he received a letter from Marya Dmitrievna, who called him to her on a very important matter concerning Andrei Bolkonsky and his bride. Pierre avoided Natasha. It seemed to him that he had a stronger feeling for her than a married man should have for his friend's bride. And some kind of fate constantly brought him to her.
"What happened? And what do they care about me? he thought as he dressed to go to Marya Dmitrievna's. Prince Andrey would have come as soon as possible and married her! " thought Pierre on the way to Akhrosimova.
On Tverskoy Boulevard, someone called out to him.
- Pierre! Have you arrived long ago? A familiar voice shouted at him. Pierre raised his head. In a pair of sleighs, on two gray trotters, throwing snow at the heads of the sleigh, Anatole flashed by with his everlasting comrade Makarin. Anatole was sitting upright, in the classic pose of military dandies, wrapping the bottom of his face in a beaver collar and bowing his head a little. His face was rosy and fresh, his hat with a white plume was worn on his side, revealing his curled hair, pomaded and strewn with fine snow.
“And really, here is a real sage! thought Pierre, he sees nothing beyond a real moment of pleasure, nothing disturbs him, and that is why he is always cheerful, contented and calm. What would I give to be like him! " thought Pierre with envy.
In Akhrosimova's hall, the footman, taking off Pierre's fur coat, said that Marya Dmitrievna was being asked to go to her bedroom.
Opening the door to the hall, Pierre saw Natasha sitting by the window with a thin, pale and angry face. She looked back at him, frowned, and left the room with an expression of cold dignity.
- What's happened? - asked Pierre, entering Marya Dmitrievna.
“Good deeds,” answered Marya Dmitrievna: “I've lived for fifty-eight years, I've never seen such shame. - And having taken Pierre's word of honor to be silent about everything that he learns, Marya Dmitrievna told him that Natasha had refused her fiancé without the knowledge of her parents, that the reason for this refusal was Anatol Kuragin, with whom her wife Pierre had brought her, and with whom she wanted to run away in the absence of his father, in order to secretly get married.
Pierre, raising his shoulders and opening his mouth, listened to what Marya Dmitrievna was saying to him, not believing her ears. The bride of Prince Andrei, so much beloved, this formerly dear Natasha Rostova, exchange Bolkonsky for the fool Anatole, already married (Pierre knew the secret of his marriage), and fall in love with him so much to agree to run away with him! - This Pierre could not understand and could not imagine.
The sweet impression of Natasha, whom he had known since childhood, could not unite in his soul with a new idea of ​​her baseness, stupidity and cruelty. He remembered his wife. "They are all the same," he said to himself, thinking that he was not alone in the sad fate of being associated with an ugly woman. But he still felt sorry for Prince Andrew to tears, he felt sorry for his pride. And the more he felt sorry for his friend, the more contempt and even disgust he thought of this Natasha, with such an expression of cold dignity now passing by him through the hall. He did not know that Natasha's soul was filled with despair, shame, humiliation, and that it was not her fault that her face inadvertently expressed calm dignity and severity.

The Philippines is a beautiful country with wonderful people. For me, she was especially interesting because it is the only country South-East Asia who converted to Christianity. The overwhelming majority of the population is Catholic, but in last years more and more Protestants appear. Orthodoxy is also present here. In the 1930s-1940s, there was a parish of the Russian Church Abroad, and lived here for about six months; in 1990 a parish appeared, and in 2008 a mission. Several days of my private visit have passed just in fellowship with Orthodox Filipinos. I brought with me icons with a copy of the Vladimir image Mother of God and inscriptions in the two main languages ​​of the Philippines - Tagalog and Cebuano. These modest editions of the Orthodox Missionary Society named after the Monk Serapion of Kozheezersky were in great demand, as well as pectoral crosses, incense and other Orthodox church items that are not so easy to get here.

Manila

It's amazing how many places in the capital of the Philippines are somehow connected with Orthodoxy. As we drove through the streets of Manila, Professor Philip Balingit kept showing me: “This is the place where the Russian Orthodox church was, destroyed by a Japanese bomb in 1945 ... But this huge temple and university were formerly Orthodox, they were built and maintained by a rich Greek family. When it became impoverished, everything had to be sold to the Catholics ... And here is the non-canonical "One Holy Orthodox Catholic Church", which, according to its leader, was allegedly founded by St. John (Maksimovich), which, however, is not true. " In general, 190 organizations are officially registered in the Philippines that use the word "Orthodox" in their names, while only two or three of them are related to genuine Orthodoxy. For some, the creation of such structures is just a business: for example, a former Catholic priest registers another "Orthodox Church" in order to provide a special service - to marry couples on the beach, which is prohibited by the local Roman Catholic Church. All Orthodoxy comes down to a name, the rest is Latin.

But the most unexpected thing was that the main shrine of the Philippines is ... an Orthodox icon! When they told me about this, I did not believe it, so they took me to the church, where it is kept, so that I could be convinced with my own eyes: this is an exact copy of the "All-Helping" icon, including Greek titles and an eight-pointed cross held by one of the angels. They say that this icon was not quite honestly taken out of an Orthodox country in the past. In the Philippines, she became famous for a huge number of miracles, which is why the people worship her. In the Baklaran temple, there are always crowds of worshipers near it, and mass is served every hour, but few of those who come know that the icon is Orthodox, just as few know about Orthodoxy in the Philippines in general.

Masbate Island

Early in the morning from Manila, Philip and I flew to Masbate Island - one of the beautiful places in Asia, which I have only seen. Coconut palms are incredibly high here, their thickets densely cover the hills, on one side of the road stretches the sea coast, and on the other side of the road flicker rivers, giving way to rice fields. The whole hour, while we drove to the monastery, I enjoyed the views. We made it to the beginning of the liturgy. The only Orthodox monastery in the Philippines turned out to be a rather impressive building. In the church and in the service everything is in the Greek manner, but many of the icons are Russian. The services are in English, only some parts of the service are in Cebuano. Everyone who is in the temple is singing. The chants are simple, but performed so sincerely and harmoniously that it almost shivers. Almost all those praying come to the sacrament. The local priest, Father George, serves with great reverence.

After the liturgy, there was a general refreshment and a congratulatory program, which was arranged for the guests - Professor Philip Balingit and me. Filipinos are quite emotional and spontaneous - the headman of the parish, starting his welcoming speech with jokes, towards the end was so emotional that he shed tears. Then the parishioners, both old and young, sang songs. The smallest performer was the headman's daughter. The girl did not want to sing, despite the persuasion and coercion of adults. I was about to say that if she doesn’t want to, then there is no need to force, but then the abbess found a way out: she called an older boy - apparently, her brother. He took the girl by the hand, whispered something in her ear, and then sang the first line of the song. The little one picked up and alone sang everything to the end with great enthusiasm. Philip brought a hefty bag of various things useful in the household, and the abbess immediately distributed this to the parishioners, showing the thing and asking who needed it. Everything is simple and family-like. Philip puts aside part of his salary for several months in order to then buy and bring all this to Masbat, since the people here are very poor. It is gratifying to see such mutual assistance among Orthodox Filipinos.

During the festive dinner, Professor Balingit told me the sad story of Father Vincent (Escarcha), who stood at the origins of Orthodoxy in the Philippines. He was a Benedictine priest and was famous on the island for his strictness in prayer and worship; founded convent Benedictine order and became its confessor. Once in the USA, Father Vincent saw an Orthodox church; interested in its architecture, he entered - and was captivated by the Orthodox divine service. He tried to learn as much as possible about Orthodoxy, and his studies culminated in his entry into the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1990 along with the entire monastery - 12 nuns. Father Vincent became the first Filipino Orthodox priest. With the joint efforts of him and the abbess of Mother Theodotia, a wonderful Orthodox monastery was built (they were expelled from the former Catholic as soon as it became known about their acceptance of Orthodoxy); a community of new converts appeared local residents... In 2004, due to ill health, Father Vincent asked for retirement, and his wish was granted. But later, he began to accumulate grievances against the Greek metropolitan, and also some jealousy arose for other Filipino priests ordained after him. As a result, he created his own "church", into which he attracted some of the parishioners. In his practice, he mixed Orthodox traditions with Catholic (for example, served on unleavened bread), and over time brought in some occult elements. Some time ago, he had an accident, injured his leg and ended up in a village hospital. Here he got gangrene. I was told that the leg could no longer be saved. During the story, the idea arose to visit Father Vincent, and we went to the hospital.

Poor Father Vincent was sitting in the ward of St. Jude Thaddeus under an IV. Both legs were open, and we saw that the gangrene had spread to the second (the case was complicated by diabetes). The sight of his suffering was so terrible that for the first moments I could not even utter a word. Matushka Theodotia doubted whether he would want to receive us, but Father Vincent received us kindly.

Smiling, he asked forgiveness that he could not accept us with dignity, because he was very sick. We had a little talk, I thanked Father Vincent for all the good that he had done for Orthodoxy in the Philippines, and conveyed a little help. Father Vincent kissed my hand, as well as Father George, and thanked us for visiting him. Father George will continue to visit the patient. Sadly, but seeing Father Vincent, one cannot get rid of the impression that his illness is for death. Since he had previously expressed his desire to be buried in the monastery, Matushka Theodotia asked him for instructions on this matter, and he said that he wanted to be buried in a simple coffin, without any pomp. Philip hopes that he will nevertheless be reconciled with the Church before leaving for another world. Readers of these lines, please pray for the seriously ill, lost hieromonk Vincent.

After the hospital we went to visit Father George. All the time when there is no service, he is an ordinary peasant and feeds his large family (six children) with the labor of his hands. Walking between the huts, standing among the palm forest, looking at the simple life of these smiling people, I was involuntarily surprised that Orthodox Christians live in such an incredible wilderness. During our conversation over a mug of coconut juice, we discussed various theological and canonical issues.

Father George was worried that he had not yet received permission from the Metropolitan to confess (in the Greek Churches such permission is not given immediately), although he has been serving on Masbat for four years. And all this time the parishioners remain without confession. He explained the situation to the Metropolitan and asked him either to give him permission to confess, or to send another priest who was allowed this sacrament, but did not receive any answer. I said that although in the Russian Church a priest begins to confess immediately after ordination, Father George must follow the tradition of the Church to which he belongs and patiently wait for the Metropolitan to give him permission, politely reminding him of the situation from time to time. And if now he himself sets an example of patience and obedience, then in the future he will be able to expect the same from his spiritual children.

Other perplexities were addressed in a similar spirit. Later, Philip told me that he was afraid that I would start speaking against the Metropolitan, since he speaks against the Russian Church and, in particular, forbade Philip to visit the Russian church during his stay in Thailand. But it turned out that I, on the contrary, defended their metropolitan and strengthened the connection of Father George with him.

After dark we returned to the monastery and, after talking with Mother Theodotia, went to bed. I remember my mother's story about the reaction of local residents to their conversion to Orthodoxy: "Ah-ah, so you became communists." Orthodoxy they associated with Russia, and Russia - with communism, as a result, something incredible was formed from the two associations.

Pasig

Early in the morning, Father George took us to the airport, and we returned by plane to Manila. Here I had a lecture at Philippine Normal University organized by Professor Balingit. For me it was the first lecture in English, the topic was "The Spiritual Life of an Orthodox Christian." Since the faculty is pedagogical, it turned out that most of the students are girls. After the introductory part, I showed a selection of photographs about Orthodox life, accompanying them with comments, and at the very end I handed out icons with the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Some moments of the lectures of the students interested, and they listened with great attention, but it is difficult to say how well my speech went as a whole. It seemed to me that in a Catholic country it would be strange and even offensive to talk about the need for faith as such, but from the subsequent questions I realized that I was mistaken: among Filipino students and young people there is now a strong disappointment in Catholicism and in religion in general, so for some there is no religiosity in principle is quite understandable.

In general, Catholicism is losing ground in the country. Over the past 20 years, the number of Catholics has dropped from 90% to 70% of the population. Various Protestant movements have become very popular - their churches can be found literally on every corner of Manila; homemade Filipino new religions also emerged; preaching of Muslims is active; finally, the number of non-religious people in general has grown.

We warmly said goodbye to the students, and many wished to be photographed as a keepsake - Filipinos are generally very fond of taking pictures and being photographed.

Having received the stamp on left hand"VISITOR", we entered the room where there were almost a hundred prisoners, dressed in yellow T-shirts, and there were also representatives of the prison leadership. The program began, which included many points. After the official greetings, the floor was given to me. I briefly spoke about the Orthodox Church as the only one that kept the faith of Christ intact, then about the Jesus Prayer; recalled that Christ is close to them and will help if they want to live according to His will. In the end, he explained the Orthodox veneration of the Mother of God (I was warned in advance that there were many Protestants among the prisoners), told about Her image of Vladimir and gave each of them an icon. The prisoners accepted with gratitude, many pressed their foreheads to my hand - as they explained to me later, this is a sign of great respect for the clergy among the Filipinos. Then the entertainment part began. One of the students came out and began a dialogue with the public. At the same time, an incredibly powerful wave of positive was coming from him. He was not just happy - he spewed a fountain of delight: it seemed as if all his life he had dreamed of performing in front of these prisoners, and finally his dream came true. After the guy, one of the girls performed - and with the same enthusiasm. The students sang songs, arranged group games (none of which I had seen before), danced, and it was all bright, cheerful, natural and, moreover, surprisingly chaste - there was not even a shadow of anything indecent. The prisoners also performed, sang Christmas songs. It turned out to be a real holiday. I was shocked. In my entire life, I have not seen so much joy in people as in those two hours in a Philippine prison. And it's not just the quantity, but also the quality of this joy. I looked and understood that this is impossible with us - we are just different. I will not even venture to describe what I saw, since any description is unlikely to be understood correctly - you just need to see it. But what shocked me most was that it was the girls' first visit to the prison. With such naturalness, sincerity and so right to please hundreds of tattooed convicts - and all this the first time ... Incredible! When the entertainment was over, everyone was asked to stand up. We stood up and one of Ms. Balingit's assistants began to recite a prayer. As an Orthodox Christian, I did not participate in it. Out of my lack of participation, I did not make any demonstration and did not think that someone would pay attention to it, but they did. One of the students later asked Professor Balingit: "Why did the Orthodox priest not pray with us?" - to which he replied: - "It is very sad, but Orthodox Christians cannot pray with Catholics until the fundamental issues that divide us are resolved." She immediately asked: "What needs to be done to solve them?" Oddly enough, it was my lack of participation in joint prayer that aroused in her a greater interest in the study of Orthodoxy than my entire morning lecture. The program also included a festive dinner, during which everyone - the prisoners, the jailers and we, the guests - ate the same thing. Then there was an entertainment program again, and at the end several performances. Professor Balingit recalled that the most important thing is to get freedom from sin. And this can be done even while in prison, while many who live outside the prison walls do not have such freedom. The prisoners greeted these words with applause. At the end, when the prisoners left, the guests lined up in a chain gave each one a present (several things necessary in everyday life). Representatives of the prison administration were also invited to this chain - to their surprise - and then we were with Father Rodion, deacon of the mission of the Antioch Church, who was with us all day. After returning from prison, we had a long conversation with Father Rodion. The mission of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in the country began with the transition of one non-canonical denomination, which was accepted by Metropolitan Paul (Saliba). The leaders of this denomination announced to the Metropolitan about tens of thousands of believers, but in reality their number does not exceed several hundred. Later, part of the parishioners from Constantinople also moved into the fold of the Antiochian Church due to the existing disorder in parish life in the main parish.

It is worth noting that Metropolitan Nektarios took a sharply negative attitude towards the Antioch mission, declaring it a non-canonical structure. He excommunicated all laity who had moved from the Constantinople parish to the Antiochian parish and forbade his clergy and parishioners to associate with the Antiochian ones. All this is a manifestation of that non-Orthodox ideology that received in Lately a noticeable spread in the Patriarchate of Constantinople, according to which the entire non-Orthodox world is the canonical territory and the property of their Church. Disagreement with these ideas was expressed at the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2008, and these trends are not supported in the Church of Antioch. In particular, Metropolitan Paul (Saliba), who heads the Australian and New Zealand Diocese of the Patriarchate of Antioch, stated in one of his public speeches: Catholic Church. The Patriarch of Constantinople is not the Pope of Rome in the East. Even in educated Orthodox circles, it is well known that in the past there were cases when the Patriarchs of Constantinople were recognized as heretics at Ecumenical and other Local Councils ... The Patriarch of Constantinople is not the voice of Orthodoxy and cannot set standards in Orthodoxy. An archbishop or metropolitan, subordinate to the Holy Synod of Constantinople, can even less claim to be the head of the bishops and archbishops of other Local Churches. Over the past hundred years, everyone is well aware that the Antioch Patriarchate and its dioceses around the world receive instructions from the Holy Synod of the Antioch Patriarchate and from no one else. We do not interfere in the internal affairs of other jurisdictions. At the same time, we do not allow any advice from any other jurisdiction on what to do. ”

Unfortunately, due to the negative attitude of the modern metropolitans of the Patriarchate of Constantinople towards parishes and missions of other Orthodox jurisdictions - and this attitude is often worse than towards non-Orthodox ones - there is no opportunity for an agreed testimony of Orthodoxy in the Philippines and in other non-Orthodox countries. The unsettled position of the Orthodox communities is especially sad to see among the Filipino people, who are very disposed towards Orthodoxy.

Lagoon

On the last day of my stay, we went to the town of Laguna to visit Father Philemon (Castro). He was previously a "bishop" of one of the Filipino non-canonical denominations that abused the name "Orthodox", but in 1994, with the help of Hieromonk Vincent, he came to Orthodox Church... He built a temple in Paranyaka, a suburb of Manila; it is now the largest parish in the Philippines. However, several years ago a new priest was ordained for the temple, and Hieromonk Philemon was sent to the province. He is very active as a missionary and has established three wards in the region. Today, in his home church of St. Sava the Sanctified, there are not many people, since it is a weekday. During the service, Father Philemon gives some exclamations on the tagalog. He translated the entire liturgy into this language, but it seems that only he now has books with this translation. I remembered that Hieromonk Vincent told us about his translation of the main services into Cebuano, which, however, remained in the manuscript.

Frankly speaking, it was a big surprise for me that the Greeks from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, during their 22 years in the Philippines, did not publish even a short prayer book in local languages, not to mention other Orthodox literature - it simply does not exist in Tagalog or Cebuano. It is believed that Filipinos know English well, but in reality this only applies to people with higher education, and ordinary people are not so close to English that they can freely read books in it. The lack of literature is especially unfortunate given the genuine interest in matters of faith on the part of Filipinos. I have visited many Asian countries and I can say that there are few places where people are so open to hearing about the Orthodox faith and accepting it. As confirmation, I will give two examples that happened already in Manila. Professor Balingit brought me to a meeting with his acquaintance - a wealthy woman, a Protestant. We settled in a small restaurant. I said a few general greetings, but our interlocutor immediately moved on to questions of spiritual life. I began to answer and suddenly noticed that the restaurant workers (three or four people), postponing their business, stood in front of us and listened to what I was saying. Likewise, everyone at the table did not touch the food until I had finished answering. Nowhere else have I seen such attention to the words of a man in a cassock. Another time, Philip and I went to the same office on business. The employee we turned to for a solution to our question asked about me: "What congregation is your father from?" - to which Philip replied: “He is not from any Catholic congregation. This is an Orthodox Christian. " "And what is 'Orthodox'?" - followed by a question, and began a conversation for more than an hour about Orthodoxy. The woman listened with genuine interest about the true Christian faith and concluded by saying: "I need to know more about the Orthodox Church." May God grant that all Filipinos, whose hearts are open to the truth, can learn about the Orthodox Church!

Where is the Philippines located, how and when was it discovered, why was it given such a name, what language is spoken there and what religion do they profess? What influenced the development of the Philippines? There are many questions and knowing the answers to them will broaden your horizons and help you navigate geography and beyond.

Where is the Philippines located?

The Republic of the Philippines is located in the Philippine Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. From north to south from Taiwan to the island of Borneo, they stretch for 1170 kilometers, from west to east for 1100 kilometers.

The Philippine archipelago consists of more than 7,107 islands with a total area of ​​311.6 thousand square kilometers. Moreover, most of the islands are small, and the 11 largest of them occupy 96% total area land surface.

How did Europeans discover the Philippines?

The Philippine archipelago was discovered for Europeans in 1521 by the Spanish navigator Fernand Magellan during his trip around the world. From that moment, the Spaniards began to try to seize the islands and turn them into their own colony.

How did the Philippines get its name?

In 1565, the conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi landed on the island of Cebu. He managed to gain a foothold there and proclaimed the islands to be the possession of the Spanish king Philip II. In his honor, the archipelago was named the Philippines.

What language is spoken in the Philippines?

More than a hundred nationalities live in the Philippines, among which are Tagals (a quarter of the population of the islands), Cebuano, Iloki (Ilocans), Haligainons (Ilongos), Bicolas, Bisaya (Visaya), Pampangans, Pangasinans ... They are all Christians. Some ethnic groups profess Islam: Magindanao, Sulu (Tausog), Maranao and Samal. There are several dozen small mountain peoples in the Philippines, approximately 1.5% of the Chinese.

The population of the Philippines speaks more than 80 local languages ​​and dialects, with 85 percent of Filipinos using the most spoken eight languages, including the main role plays Tagalog (Tagolog), Cebuano and Ilokan languages. Since 1939, at the state level, the use of a single state language - pilipino, based on tagalog has been encouraged. Now more than half of Filipinos speak it.

Widespread is English language... It is used for teaching in universities, it is used by the media and authorities. Half of the citizens of the Philippines speak English. Surprisingly, Spanish is not spoken in the Philippines, although these islands were once a Spanish colony.

What religion do they practice in the Philippines?

The Philippines is the only state in Asia where Christianity predominates. It is practiced by 94 percent of the country's population. Of these, 84 percent are Catholics, 6 percent are Protestants, and 4 percent belong to the Philippine Independent Church, also called the Aglipayan Church, and the Philippine Church of Christ (Iglesia ni Cristo). About 5 percent are Muslim, less than 2 percent adhere to local traditional beliefs.

What influenced the development of the Philippines?

The Philippines is different from other countries in Southeast Asia. The culture and customs of the country were strongly influenced by the long-term domination of the Spaniards. It is reflected in music, architecture, culinary traditions, fashion. Even the names in the Philippines are also Spanish.

Population of the Philippines

"... smart, brave and cheerful disposition ..."
Peter Debel, Russian Consul in the Philippines on the Filipinos, 19th century

Population

The Philippines is the 12th most populous state in the world. In 2009, more than 92 million people live in the republic. About 11 million more Filipinos are located outside their historical homeland.

The expected population growth is 1.957% per year.

The average life expectancy for Filipinos is 71.23 years (73.6 for women and 69.8 for men).

Age composition:

• 0-14 years: 35.2% (male 17,606,352 / female 16,911,376)
• 15-64 years: 60.6% (males 29,679,327 / females 29,737,919)
• 65 and over: 4.1% (male 1,744,248 / female 2,297,381) ( forecast for 2009)

Average age: 22.5 years (males: 22, females: 23) ( forecast for 2009)

Ethnic composition

The majority of the population (95%) are Austronesian peoples, Malays, in some places with an admixture of Chinese blood. Ethnically, the Filipinos' closest relatives seem to be the indigenous people of Taiwan. 3-4% of Filipinos have European or American ancestors in the family.

The main ethnic groups are: Ilokans (Ilok), Pangasinan, Pampangans, Tagals, Bikols (Bicol), Visaya. The southern regions of the Philippines are inhabited by peoples professing Islam, called Moro in Spanish (that is, "Moors").

A very small part of the population (about 30 thousand people) is made up of the first indigenous population of the archipelago - the Negritos.

Of the large non-indigenous and mixed groups of the population, one can note a very large Chinese diaspora, mestizos (a consequence of 300 years of Spanish domination in the Philippines), Mexicans, Americans, Arabs, Indians, Japanese, Jews, Koreans, etc.

Languages

Most of the local languages ​​in the Philippines belong to the Malay-Polynesian group of Austronesian languages. The most common are Tagalog, Cebuansky, Ilokansky, Khiligainon, Bikolsky, Kapampangansky, Varai-Varai. According to modern concepts, the Filipino languages ​​do not represent some kind of genetic unity, but are combined with some Indonesian languages ​​into the Borneo-Filipino language group.

The official languages ​​are Filipino (Filipino or Pilipino) - in fact, a variant of Tagalog and English.

Until 1973 the state language There was also Spanish, several Creole languages ​​are based on it, but Spanish speakers in the Philippines are not very many today.

Also, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, etc. are in circulation.

Religion

The Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia. About 80% of the population are Catholics, 10% are Protestants of various denominations. About 5% of the population (mainly in the south of the country) are Muslims. Buddhists are about 3%.

Filipino values

Throughout their rich history, Filipinos have developed a set of values ​​that unite them as a national and cultural unity. The formation of ideals was influenced by many things: Asian origin, geographical isolation, and the influence of foreigners (and especially Christianity). Maybe in today's cynical world some Filipino values ​​will seem like weaknesses, but they continue to be a unifying link.

• Family... The family is the most important thing for the Filipino, it is truly the “social unit” that forms the basis of the Filipino nation. Filipinos try to live in their clans and work with the whole family in one place. Filipinos have a special attitude towards the elderly.
• Politeness... Filipinos are always courteous.
• Hospitality... Filipinos always try to offer the best to the guest, even to the detriment of themselves.
• Gratitude... The Filipino does not forget about good deeds in relation to himself and tries to "pay off" with good for good.
• Shame... A Filipino's own reputation or family honor is of great importance and he can do anything to avoid feeling ashamed.
• Flexibility, adaptability, resourcefulness... An optimistic outlook on life and the ability to find a way out of predicaments are important mechanisms that allowed Filipinos to survive in a variety of conditions. Filipinos are tolerant, take uncertainty calmly, and can adapt to new things.
• Loyalty... Filipinos are faithful in their relationships.
• Work... It is generally accepted that Filipinos are good workers, including those in hard physical work. The Filipino is capable of great personal sacrifices.
• Humility... The Filipino is submissive to fate and believes in God.

The informal name for Filipinos both in the Philippines and abroad is pinoy

In the Philippines, most of the population is Christian: 83% are Catholics and 9% are Protestants. It is the only Asian country in which the Christian religion is more widespread than others. Muslims also live here - mainly on the island of Mindanao (7-10% of the country's population, 70% of the population of Mindanao).

The official language is Filipino (Tagalog, Tagalog). There are over 600 of its dialects. Most of the population speaks English. This is due not only to the tourism business, but also to local characteristics - residents who speak different dialects of Tagalog find it easier to understand each other, speaking English, than to study the features of each dialect separately. Also, English is used in office work along with Filipino.

During the domination of Spain official language The Philippine Islands became Spanish. In 1863, they began to teach in this language in all educational institutions, in addition to this, free public education in Spanish was introduced. After the proclamation of the First Philippine Republic, Spanish was declared the language of the Philippine Revolution. Many works of local writers were written on it (for example, the books of Jose Rizal).

By the early twentieth century, about 60% of Filipinos spoke Spanish to varying degrees of fluency. With the onset of the American occupation and the spread of the English language, Spanish became less popular. The Americans introduced English starting in schools.

In 1901, English became the main language of instruction in public educational institutions of all levels, and in 1935 it received constitutional status (like Spanish). At the same time, it was decided to develop a national language based on one of the native languages ​​of the local population. This initiative was implemented, and on December 30, 1937, Tagalog was chosen as this language.

In 1939, by decree of President Manuel L. Quezon, Tagalog was named the National Language (Wikang Pambansa). In 1959 it was renamed pilipino. This was done by the secretary of education, Jose Romero. And according to the 1973 constitution, it became known as the Filipino and was recognized as the official language along with English.

Currently, the Filipino language almost completely copies Tagalog, which is spoken in the capital of the Philippine state, Manila. However, the University of the Philippines released a Dictionary of the Philippine Language, which added words from other languages ​​used in the country to Tagalog.