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How Conservative and Liberal Cultures Have Been Fostered in The Philippine Context

Do you know just how powerful and influential the Catholic Church is? Ever since we have been colonized by Spain in the 16th century, Catholicism has been widespread in the Philippines and has reached a tremendous amount of followers. According to the most recent census of the National Statistics Office (NSO) in 2010 about 80% of the Philippine population is Roman Catholic. Catholicism has indeed been integral in shaping the culture, politics and micro and macro decision making of people all over the Philippines. Catholicism has been passed down from one generation to another and this shows how parents, who are arguably the most influential actor to their children, are able to impose their own set of morals and beliefs down to their children to believe in majority of their life.

           It is important to consider that the Catholic Church and its beliefs are inherently conservative. This manifests in how they are against the RH Bill because it is against the conservative beliefs of the Catholic Church that sex is a sacred act and must only be done to reproduce and also only when the person is married. In light of the most recent issue, the legalization of Same-Sex Marriage, it is another conflict of beliefs that the Catholic Church believes that man is only man for woman and vice-versa and anything besides that would be contrary to God’s law. The Catholic Church has also been incredibly successful in the past in having a solid foundation of influence especially during the times of Martial Law where they used Catholic Church officials and numerous nuns to the rule of Marcos in the Philippines.

 On the other hand however, there is still a great number of people in support of Same-Sex Marriage in the Philippines. According to a poll conducted by Rappler in 2015, it suggests that around 70% of the Philippine population opposes Same-Sex Marriage. This shows how there is 30% in support of Same-Sex Marriage and that is already a great number especially in politics where that is almost half your population. The reason why there has been a rising number of people in support of Same-Sex Marriage is because of the rise of liberal values that are being fostered in the Philippines. The LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual) community has looked up to celebrities and idols who have come out of the closet such as Boy Abunda, Vice Ganda, and Bretman Rock who all stand up for gay rights and gave hope to people in the LGBT community.

           Given that both the liberal and conservative contexts have been established in the Philippines, it is now important to look at how it has played a role in the political contestation has looked like. The Catholic Church has made numerous statements against Same-Sex Marriage and now Duterte himself has said that “There is the civil code, which states you can only marry a woman for me, and for a woman to marry a man. That’s the law in the Philippines… Walanang he or she — 'yanangkulturanila. Kayo lang. Hindi pwedesaamin. Katoliko kami”. It shows how the president himself, who is in the highest position of authority and political power, has been influenced and convinced that the Philippines is inherently conservative because of its Catholic beliefs and must stay that way. Although the counter-narrative that exists is that there are many politicians such as Leni Robredo and Geraldine Roman who are fighting for the legalization of Same-Sex Marriage. In conclusion, the political contestation exists between both conservative and liberal politicians, and moreover redefining what truly is the new culture of the Philippines. Are we now close to a more liberal society? Or are we still conservative and want to preserve our very own historical Roman Catholic image? That is for the politics of the Philippines to decide and we have done that with passing the bill of the RH Bill.

References

Duterte opposes same-sex marriage for 'Catholic' Philippines. (2017, March 20). Retrieved December 13, 2017, from http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/03/20/Duterte-same-sex-marriage-LGBT-gays-Catholic.html

Bueza, M. (2015, January 18). MAP: Catholicism in the Philippines. Retrieved December 13, 2017, from https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/81162-map-catholicism-philippines

Jesus, J. L. (2016, February 19). Robredo on gay marriage: Choosing whom to love a 'basic right'. Retrieved December 13, 2017, from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/766280/robredo-on-gay-marriage-choosing-whom-to-love-a-basic-right

 Ethan J. Floro

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Influence of the Catholic Church on the State in the Formulation of Marriage Policies

Philippine society has always been known to be religious in nature.  Ever since the start of the first recorded historical advances of our community, religion was always part of the picture.  Just like how it’s seen as a major factor especially in the presence of our government.  In today’s society of liberal breakthrough and contemporary change within Filipino norms and culture, one thing that has stayed in tradition is the union of the church and the state.  This has become an issue sparking up countless debates and arguments that contribute to the political contestation on the current state of our Government.

With this, we also have to consider that the Church does not only bear presence within our Government but it also holds a certain degree of influence enough to give it some power in the political decisions that the Government would eventually choose.  One aspect in which we can see the Church’s strong hold within the Government is on the topic of Gay Marriage.  One of the biggest reasons why Gay Marriage still can’t become a normal legal thing within our country is the dominant advocacy of the Church against such. It is too inaccurate to assume that the Church dislikes Gay Marriage solely on the reason that it is taboo and weird rather it’s better to say that the Church simply dislikes it because the act of marrying within a gay spectrum is against the whole belief of the Church on the union of a single man and single woman only.

One interesting concept in the Teachings of the Church is Political Catholicism which is the idea that promotes social teachings of the Catholic Church in public life and government action.  Such concept is one factor to point out on why there is difficulty in the strict separation of the State and Church.  We also have to take into consideration that since the Philippines is a predominantly catholic country; majority of the people living in the community would compose of Christians and Catholics. Despite having a large margin of the population as Christians and Catholics alike, there is still the presence of individuals who have different or no religious stance at all.  On the topic of Gay Marriage, we can also see the vivid demeanor of the LGBT local community; those who are for and against. Each and every one of the people mentioned are part of the domain in which a political decision about Gay Marriage can affect at least most of the population with or without their consent.

According to the matrimonial court ruling of the Church, Two homosexual men cannot marry but a gay man and a lesbian can have the opportunity for such.  Archbishop Oscar Cruz, long retired and has been out of service argues that marriage should only be approved in the condition that the marriage can be consummated.  That is why the Church accepts gay men and lesbians getting married while two gay men can’t.  The Church sees no valid reason to accept the petition of the LGBT community to approve the marriage on the case of legal and national affairs.

Eduard Angelo C. Hordejan

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People that will Benefit and People that will be Harmed on the Issue of Gay Marriage

There are two sides to every issue, one that will benefit and one that will harm. In the issue of gay-marriage It is obvious that homosexual individuals will be able to benefit from this for as they will be able to fight for rights and equality for homosexuals. They also will not be afraid any longer of discrimination if they plan to get into a relationship.Homosexual Couples will also benefit from this because they will be able to be recognized by society as a legal married couple with couple rights. Youth gay people will also be inspired to fight for gender equality and their rights despite being gay. Orphans can also benefit from this because it increases their chances of being adopted by same sex couples.

People who will be harmed by this issue will be the church. The Philippine catholic church’s reason as to why they are not for same sex marriage is because it against God’s will and is not cultural. The church’s view is that God said that man and woman should join together to procreate and not man and man. They say that it is not cultural because same sex marriage was absent in the course of the bible and in Jesus’ time. The youth and children will be affected by this because they can follow the example of involving themselves in same sex relationships thus making normal man and woman relationship numbers lessen in the coming future.This can also lessen the statistics of child birth and resulting to adoption instead. Gay marriage weakens society in general because it simply goes against morals and norms which will result to an unhealthy and an abnormal society. People will feel uncomfortable with seeing two of the same sex doing what normal couples would do here in the Philippine setting because it has not been legalized.

The contestation of this issue in the Philippines is that There are different politicians who are for same sex marriage and there are those who are not in favor of it. These perspectives of people are both viewed in an “equal society” point of view and the “Catholic society” point of view. The equal society point of view are for the politicians who are in favor of gay marriage issue because they see that the Philippine society should be equal and have equal rights and some of them are homosexual and that is why they can benefit from it also while the catholic society point of view are for the politicians who are not favor for gay marriage because they want the Philippine society to follow the norms and morals of Christianity and the normal way of life and that is a man to a woman relationship.

Enrique Lorenzo H Mapa

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Interaction of different groups on the issue of Gay Marriage.

The issue of legalizing or not legalizing gay marriage in the Philippines has been a controversial debate and it is an issue that is being talked about for quite some time. There are two main sides to the issue and those sides are simply the ones who are against same-sex marriage and those that support the idea of it. Many points have been raised by both sides and their difference of perspectives regarding same-sex marriage spark a political contestation between them. The contestation between pro-gay marriage and anti-gay marriage is basically demanding whether or not same-sex marriage should be legalized or not.

Contestation between pro-gay marriage and anti-gay marriage is mainly about the fighting for the benefits or preventing harm that it would give to the different actors of the issue. The people that are for the legalization of gay marriage in the Philippines supports the issue because they know that their interest and beliefs would be met and they would benefit greatly from it. The anti-same sex marriage is preventing the legalization of gay marriage in the Philippine society because these people know that they would not benefit anything from it. It shows that the difference of political interests about same-sex marriage would spark conflict and debate to Philippine society.

The people that supports or that are against this modern issue clearly reflects the ideologies of the people on both sides. The supporting side of the same-sex marriage mainly consists of liberal thinking people. Those that are against the idea of same-sex marriage are the people that are conservative and those that uphold the values and principles of the Church. The liberalist stand on the issue of same-sex marriage focuses on the implementation of promoting individual rights and freedom which makes the people supporting this issue act out. The people are acting out on this issue because they want their beliefs to influence government policies that will support the LGBT rights. Some people prevent those influences to be implemented because they preserve traditions of Philippine society and they believe that preventing same-sex marriage would secure stability.

Organizations like GALANG and UP Babaylan fight for the rights of the LGBT community and they push the legalization of same-sex marriage because their interests are about having equal rights as a regular citizen of the Philippine society. They act out on this issue by organizing rallies or petitions in order for the Philippine government to recognize this issue and act on it as well. These actors that support the idea of same-sex marriage have not yet achieved their preference of legalization of same-sex marriage in Philippine society which their actions still reflect on rallies and petitions. Same-sex marriage in Philippines is still not legalized because there are numerous people in the government that are conservatives and does not vote to support the issue. Also, the influence of the Church is strong on the citizens of the Philippines which prevents the behaviour of the liberals that support the issue to be implemented in the Philippines.

Melvin John L. Cuevas