Religions Of The Philippines
The Philippines is the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. Ninety-five percent of the population are Catholic, with the rest either Protestant or animist. Indigenous tribes have beliefs that combine elements from a number of religions with the worship of their own gods such as the Bulul, or rice god. In recent years, a number of charismatic sub-religions have been born, the largest of which is El Shaddai , headed by lay preacher Mike Velarde, a real estate developer who found God when his business failed. Velarde is known to his followers as Brother Mike and has captured the imagination of the country's poor Catholics, many of whom feel isolated from the mainstream church, apart from at life's three critical moments: baptism, marriage and death. To make the polarization worse, priests preach in English, a language most barrio folk only have a rudimentary knowledge of. Velarde has bridged this gap by preaching in colloquial and heavily-accented Tagalog at huge open-air gatherings every weekend near the Manila Hotel, Manila Bay. He wears screamingly loud made-to-measure suits and outrageous bow ties, but his message is straightforward: give to the Lord and He will return it to you tenfold. He now has eight million followers, most of whom suffer from sakit sa bulsa, or "ailment of the pocket", but are nevertheless happy to pay ten percent of their income to become card-carrying members of Brother Mike's flock. Brother Mike's relationship with the mainstream Catholic Church, headed by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, is uneasy. His relationship with politicians is not. With eight million followers hanging on his every word, Brother Mike is a potent political ally and few candidates for high office are willing to upset him. In the last election, Brother Mike backed Joseph Estrada, a significant factor in the former movie actor's ultimate success.
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