Exciting Philippines. Elizabeth V. Reyes

      Exotic Davao beckons with a pretty face.

      Rice harvest in Bicol, under the gaze of Mt Mayon.

      fILIPINOS are dancingest folks with smiles, easygoing characters and personal kinship systems that keep their world going. Thespian Rolando Tinio said it best: “Like islanders everywhere in the tropics, Filipinos do tend to be quite blissful.” There are two sources of the inner strength and friendliness of the typical Filipino: a fervent belief in the goodness of God, Life and Nature, and a sense of security in and reliance on family ties and neighborhood associations. The typical Filipino is long on religiosity, family, hometown loyalty and cockeyed optimism.

      The jaunty jeepney driver in his psychedelic chimera of public transport is the macho man of Metro Manila.

      sTUDIES ON FILIPINO BEHAVIOR have pointed out distinct values and patterns in Filipino society: pakikisama or getting on well with associates; utang na loob, which means a deep sense of gratitude for favors received; hiya or a strong fear of losing face; and a bahala na attitude—things will take care of themselves. Filipinos live in a modern world without being thoroughly modern. The majority are people still in the bosom of Mother Nature—noble savages, both charming and exasperating.

      Smiling Davao girl with Mindanao dove.

      Proud Maranao women before a highborn household of Marawi City.

      Flamenco dance in front of the old Philippine Senate building.

      Selling fresh buko juice at the Carbon Market in Cebu.

      a bastion of christianity

      Baguio’s pink cathedral has risen again from the ashes of the 1990 Luzon earthquake.

      A lone padre walks the halls of ancient San Augustin Church in Intramuros.

      Centuries of Spanish colonization and a native love of harvest rituals have left the country with “earthquake baroque” stone churches and a bounty of colorful fiestas.

      tHE PHILIPPINES is the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia. Eighty percent Roman Catholic and traditionally pious, Filipinos live in a world of parish priests, nuns, cardinals and patron saints who are revered in households through painted wooden santos. The Virgin Mary (called Mama Mary) is the standard bearer of Filipino Catholicism around Luzon, while the Santo Niño (the Child Jesus), in ermine cloak and golden crown, is everyone’s favorite holy babe in the Visayas.

      The Moriones Festival portrays Christ’s crucifixion by the Romans.

      Mother Mary prays for us near the Bantay belltower of Vigan.

      tHE LEGACY of three centuries of Spanish colonization manifests itself among the oldest Catholic churches of the country. From ancient San Agustin Church with its carved doors and Chinese fu lions to fine painted ceilings in medieval Intramuros to Ilocandia up north, where the heavyset “earthquake baroque” churches of Paoay, Santa Maria and Santa Lucia stand.

      While the family kinship system binds together the country’s 81 provinces, it is Catholicism, the common religion and social glue, that underlines the lifestyle—especially at fiesta time. Secular harvest feasts merge with Christian worship as in the Feast of the Santo Nino, and the Visayans celebrate dancing fiestas such as the Ati-Atihan of Kalibo, Sinulog of Cebu and Dinagyang of Iloilo. During Eastertime or Holy Week, the island of Marinduque presents the dramatic spectacle of the Moriones Festival, reenacting the miraculous conversion of the Biblical legionnaire Longinus. Quezon’s Pahiyas or “Harvest Offering” honors San Isidro de Labrador, patron saint of farmers; homes are decorated with fruits of the harvest and colored rice wafers called kiping.

      Magellan’s Cross planted Catholicism in the center of Cebu in 1517.

      Blessed is the sleeping babe among the Mama Marys and Santo Niños.

      Lighting votive candles in a Baclaran church on Wednesdays.

      Candlelit procession of “La Naval” from Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City.

      Stark and spare San Joaquin Church in isolated Batanes, northernmost islands of the Philippines.

      manila by the bay

      Manila began along the banks of the Pasig River, within Intramuros, the medieval Walled City. Today some twelve million urbanites jostle through Metro Manila, a chaotic, modern Asian metropolis.

      The chimera of public transportation, the colorful jeepney, can be found everywhere.

      A complete view of Makati City at night from The Fort, Taguig, just across EDSA.