Suban∂n and Subanen's Spirituality: The Present Beliefs, Rituals, and Churches in Philippine Zamboanga Peninsula

Abstract

The Zamboanga Peninsula in Southern Philippines is a time-immemorial abode of the Suban∂n in the east and Subanon in the west. The groups retain their identity, but not those converted to Islam, which creates another sub-group, Kolibugan. This study tackles their spirituality in the whole Peninsula. Six towns and one city were covered, representing the Peninsula's entirety from east to west. This study secured Certificate Precondition, a clearance provided by the Philippines' National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to conduct ethnography, allowing the visits and stay of the researcher in the areas periodically and doing observations, key informant interviews, and FGD. The six areas were found to have shared commonalities of beliefs in one Supreme Being and other supernatural entities. These Supreme Being and entities are central to their rituals of which they are appeased for reward-seeking purposes, especially protection from all harm. However, the rituals have created parallelism with the Christian doctrine. The reward-giving spirits being appeased are parallel to the Christian teachings on God's grace. This major parallelism was a significant factor in assimilating them to Christianity when the Spanish missionaries introduced the latter in the sixteenth century. Syncretism characterizes this phenomenon, and they were affiliated with many Christian Churches. The IPRA of 1997 is significant to syncretism in contemporary times. It enhanced the indigenization of Christianity, and it paved the way to express their social and psychological needs fully. The social and economic realities make their present spirituality in the Zamboanga Peninsula. Keywords : Christian Churches, entities, IPRA, Roman Catholic, Protestant Churches