On Rizalistas and religion

To mock someone else’s religion is a dangerous thing. In the past few weeks, we have read about riots and violence caused by Newsweek reports that Guantanamo interrogators threw the Koran into a toilet to rattle Muslim prisoners.

When I found out that we were going to visit a group of people who worshipped Rizal as the second Christ, my initial reaction was to laugh and scoff at the preposterous practice. However, keeping in mind the recent world events that transpired because of a lack of respect for other peoples’ beliefs, I stifled the urge to deride the practice. I resolved to keep an open mind. Setting out on a Sunday morning, our group of social anthropology students and professors went to Calamba, Laguna to visit the Rizalistas.

Barangay Ronggot is a bit out of the way. From Calamba proper, you have to take a bangka to get to the barangay, or the alternative is to walk about three or four kilometers on an unfinished, unpaved road. The barangay does not have a hospital or a public market, and the residents of the village have to go all the way to Calamba proper for the consumer items that they need. I wouldn’t say that the inhabitants of Barangay Ronggot are totally isolated though. They have television and radio, so they are still updated on the news from all over the country.

Without knowledge of their unusual beliefs, one could dismiss the Rizalista village as just another of the generic, underdeveloped barangays found all over the country. There were no monks garbed in robes. There was no chanting. Everyone was busy with the daily chores necessary for survival . The parents worked as farmers and fishermen. And, it being summer vacation, the children stayed at home. There were various town characters, including the town drunkard.

The reason for worshipping Rizal was quite simple: "Dahil siya ang Pambansang Bayani." A shrine for Rizal with pictures and statues of the national hero, with the Ten Commandments believed to be penned by Rizal himself was built. Harder to believe, the worshippers contend that Rizal’s spirit goes into chosen mediums so that he can continue teaching those who follow his ways. The medium nowadays is an old lady named Manang Gloria. There were others before her, but the story is the same for all of them. Rizal’s spirit supposedly possesses them during the time of worship, and through the medium, teaches his followers the lessons of living life the correct and righteous way. They say it is Rizal talking when the medium takes on the voice of a man.

For us who believe in scientific explanations, the part about spirit possession is a bit hard to swallow. Could it simply be a case of good acting and manipulation skills on the part of the medium? If so, then this is a potentially dangerous thing, as an unscrupulous medium may lead the flock to believe in and perform irrational, possibly harmful things. On the other hand, this manipulation could work positively as the medium who advocates positive, progressive and socially beneficial beliefs could do much to convince the people to work and strive for lofty causes.

In our country where folk belief and practices are closely conjoined with more modern religious beliefs, the phenomenon of possession is a common occurence. Thus, we have reports about entities (such as the Santo Niño or the spirit of dead relatives) "entering" the bodies of the mediums and speaking through them. In the northern region where I grew up, possession is known as naluganan in the Ilocano dialect. Surely, the various regions in the country have a term for possesion in their local dialects. However, despite the prevalence in the belief, I still feel that religion should be a personal thing, without need for mediums.

Barangay Ronggot does not offer much as a tourist destination. However, the field trip there served to emphasize what, I feel, is given utmost importance at my Jesuit school: That religion is a personal thing; and thus, the importance of educating one’s self to attain a wider, more tolerant perspective. The musician Ben Harper says it best, "...so before you knock it, you better try it first."

I will end this piece with an anecdote about religious tolerance and about how we don’t have to have the same religious beliefs to be able to genuinely care about each other: When my dad was lying in a coma, various friends came to pray over him. The daily visits of our Catholic priest, the Protestant and Anglican Minister might not have been too unusual. However, the intensive care unit nurses must have thought it was weird that my family allowed, in addition, a British mystic friend and an Igorot mumbaki. See, our friends needed to say their goodbyes to my dad too; and our Bontoc farm manager Manong Edward, whom my dad helped through school, felt that his mumbaki might help. My dad eventually went on to the next life, but through these various people, it was made known to us that God does exist. We each try to know him in the best way we can, and dissing another’ beliefs and forcing him to accept our own puts us in danger of becoming religious boors.

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Thanks to Mr. Leviste, the coolest SA21 teacher and "What’s up" to SA21 Section D, Summer, 05-06. Please e-mail me anything at enricomiguelsubido@yahoo.com. Peace out, everyone!