Tira Bakal, a documentary situated in Pampanga, gives a glimpse of the Panata that the Santos family has greatly carried and offered. This documentary gives us an idea of the faith the Filipinos have for Christ.

Aside from the surveys, we think this video also helps us see how Filipinos view Jesus Christ.

4K Group Reaction Paper

It all started like any other day, when our group met up in Ateneo to ride Tiffany’s van to Divisoria. The original meeting time was 9:00 am at the covered courts, but some people had arrived late so the original plan was discarded. Eventually, after minutes of waiting, almost the whole group got to meet. And at 10:00 am, we headed our way from Ateneo to Manila.

The trip was rather quick; in half an hour we got into Divisoria as we experienced very minimal traffic. However, we noticed that as we made our way into our destination, the roads began to get more and more cramped, and the density of the people on the streets was rising as well. Unlike in Quezon City, were the cars were plenty and the roads were wide, most of Manila had plenty of cars but the roads were narrower. Traffic also increased exponentially as we got deeper into the city because of all the people that were all roaming around the streets, including pedestrians, tambays and even vendors. This got us thinking that we were about to see things and events not a part of the things we see everyday.

When our van couldn’t go forward any longer because of the intense traffic we faced, we entered an alley. From there, we discussed what we were about to do next. When Arielle texted that she wanted to join us, we decided we were first going to wait for her. It was around 10:30 am at the time, so we had to go someplace to stay while we were waiting for her. Tiffany suggested we stay the foodcourt of 168 mall, so we started walking. It was quite a trek going there, walking through the crowded and polluted streets, but lucky for us Tiffany and Kristofer knew several detours through Divisoria. Still, even though we were able to find detours, it still wasn’t a walk in a park. Inside the many Pasilio of Divisoria mall were ukay-ukays of all sorts, from clothes to toys to high tech gadgets. Every mall we went into had them, and despite this, people were still everywhere. It was as busy as a typical marketplace, except maybe for the air conditioners and lack of produce. After what was like centuries of walking and bumping through countless people and breathing in tons of polluted air, we finally made it to the food court.

At that point, it was already 11:00 am, so we contacted Airelle again to ask where she was. She said she was on her way, so we had no choice but to sit still and wait for her. Tiffany was then texted by her driver, and told her that we could interview his neighbors, as they fit the description of informal settlers. This gave us a sigh of relief, since we were arguing on where we should interview, and who. We patiently waited for Arielle by discussing amongst ourselves the questions that we were going to ask the interviewees. After half an hour of discussion, we received a text message from Arielle saying that she was already at the same mall as we were, so we went down to meet up with her.

Now that we were complete, the next thing we had to do was go back to the van so that Tiffany’s driver can bring us to the area where his friends were. Again we went through the ordeal of walking what seemed to be kilometers of nonstop walking. We passed through the same chaos, full of people and hardly moving vehicles. We thought to ourselves how horrible it was walking around the city surrounded by all the commotion and chaos. And then, we also realized that lots of people go through this everyday, some just to make a living.

We eventually arrived at the alley again, and waiting there was Tiffany’s driver, and then we were off to Delpan, his hometown and a place not far off from the meeting place of Divisoria. It only took us a few minutes to get there but it was a moment filled with anticipation and apprehension. We were speculating if the area could be likened to those settlers previously residing near the train tracks. Only a few of us have ever been fully immersed in such a situation. We decided to strategize and split ourselves into groups of three so that we would be able to backup each other. This also creates a sense of bonding for our group and helps us keep track of our progress.

Upon our arrival, a different view shockingly greeted us. Despite its desolated look with houses made of wood and cardboard that were nailed together, and a couple of tarpaulins here and there to serve as coverings or shade, the faces of the mothers, fathers and children all had a smile on their faces. They greeted us with laughter and excitement. Utterances and shouts of “hello po!” and “kamusta po kayo!” were abundant. This reminded us of the crowded marketplaces of Divisoria and 168 Mall where sidewalk vendors and customers were bustling about. The place in Delpan was as lively as a beehive.

After vacating the van, we huddled and formed ourselves into the following groups: Tiffany, Angie and Vince in group one, Izza, Neil, and Kristofer in group two, and TC, Ariel and Nico in the third group. We went to separate locations in the place, and with Tiffany’s driver as our guide, we looked for possible interviewees for the survey. Some of us found it a challenge to ask people because some of them were shy and didn’t wish to be interviewed. Thankfully with the help of Tiffany’s driver, we managed to find people who allowed us to ask them our questions. Using the questionnaire we have, along with some other questions we added for our reference, each of us interviewed a single person.

Being that we were interviewing informal settlers, we asked them questions like how long they have been in Delpan. Apparently, most of them have lived there almost all their life, and most came from the nearby provinces. They were open to share their experiences with us, and this, in a way, allowed us to be more comfortable in interviewing them.

As we proceeded to the actual questions of the subject, we found that our interviewees were quite open to the topic. Although some were not versed with some of the terms or names given in the choices during the interview, they expounded in their own way how they understood Christ in their lives. We found ourselves writing down much of what they said, and somehow we were able to understand better their situation as informal settlers in the place. We thanked our interviewees right after the interview, and they too in turn thanked us and wished us the best in the project. All of us then gathered near the van to collate all of what data we got, and before we left, we had a group picture along with the people in the place. We bade farewell to all of them as we left, and just as they were when we arrived, they saw us off with smiles and waves.

When we were in the car, some of us shared our experiences with the group. Apparently we found out later that most, if not all, of our interviewees were female, and they more or less have the same views as those of our own interviewees. Some of us were even surprised with the results we had after the interview. A couple of us shared along the way some of the things that happened along the way, most of them quite funny, and some were quite disturbing. One of these stories was that of a child who we saw was handling a knife – a real knife. When an adult took the knife from the child, the child really cried a lot, as if the child’s favorite toy was taken away from him. Other stories came up during the sharing in the van, each of them we listened to intently.

We went around town afterwards, and had a simple lunch to end the day at Chinatown. Afterwards we went around town to drop some of our group mates along the way as they made our way home, while the rest of us continued to talk about the things to come until we finally reached Ateneo.

As we reflect on what has passed, all of us each had his or her own realizations. Some of us felt despair as what is usually felt when undergoing immersions. Yet we do feel the hope because of the fact that they know God, and that God in turn knows them. Some of us realized that God revealed Himself to these people in a different way, much like how He reveals Himself to each and every one of us today. Some of us, who were new to these kinds of immersions, were opened to a new reality that such people do exist, and they share as much in our faith and in our God as our fellow brothers and sisters. It was a relatively new environment for some of us to be in, and though the apprehension was there, we were able to realize the benefit of immersing ourselves with the people we spent our few yet precious minutes with.

Overall, the experience made us rediscover too how we knew God in our lives, and it showed us how each and every person throughout the course of one’s life grows to see this God more clearly, to know this God more clearly, and to follow this God more closely.

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Part of the pie-graph statistics is shown here. Questions 10-16 can be viewed with the slideshow.

We have also added the question that this whole immersion signifies, “Who is Jesus really for them?” We have gathered some basic information from them and they have answered freely and independently. This will serve as Question number 17.

The members of Group 4K:

Neil Abendan

Thor Andallaza

Kristofer Chua

Nico Garcia

Tiffany Kang

Arielle Macatulad

Izzabella Perez

Angeline Po

Vincent Syling

Going to Delpan was an adventure itself! We were able to travel from Divisoria, 168 Mall and Chinatown.

Group Analysis of Findings

Theology 121 Section K Group 4K Group Analysis

The first four questions of the survey seem to probe into the interviewee’s personal interpretation of Christ. A majority, 6 out of 10, chose King and Lord as the answer for the first question. This may be rooted in the Sermons they hear. The more preferred answer for the second question was Christ Crucified, with 3 out of 10, and Jesus of Nazareth, also with 3 out of 10. This is probably because these images make Christ more human. For the third question, 6 out of 10 chose Lamb of God. This is probably the symbol that is closest to them because it shows Christ’s gentleness. 5 out of 10 chose Good Teacher for question four, probably because Christ is depicted as someone of authority.

The next four questions ask for a definition of terms or names. 4 out of 10 answered that the term Savior describes Jesus, possibly because this term is most associated with him in Sermons. 4 out of 10 also said that the term Christ means Savior. This may stem from the name Jesus Christ. So if Jesus is Savior, then Christ is also Savior. The word God refers to God the Father for 4 out of 10, and Lord refers to God the Holy Spirit for 5 out of 10 interviewees. This may be a representation of the Trinity.

Most of those we’ve interviewed have answered either the Sermons as the primary source of their knowledge of Christ or the Bible, coming in close at second most. In the ninth question It is not surprising to know that only one had Catechism as her primary source. This is because these informal settlers lack the resources to have access to Catechism. Unlik us, they’ve yet to even know, for example, what “Christ” is in technical terms. But it would also be satisfying to know that they at least have enough resources to Bibles and sermons during Mass. This would help them in their practical application of their knowledge of Christ.

Questions ten and nine are similar and because of this, we got similar answers. Our interviewees have been consistent with their answers. The primary source may have been the parents this time, compared to the Bible and the Priests like in the last question. The point is, though, is that Catechism had been their least available source to them when it comes to knowing Christ.

Question eleven is too similar but they differ only because the Bible and the parents weren’t technically in the choices. They get their knowledge about Christ from what they have access to. With that in mind, it wasn’t a surprise for us to know that majority answered “The Church” as their source for their knowledge. That’s their Christology, and consequently, their Theological bounds. They may not know much about the history but at least they involve themeselves with him, despite their lack of resources.

Now, here’s a surprise. The Stations of the Cross is the most evident and unique of all local practices in Christology but none have chosen this as their source of knowledge. Rosaries and the nobena still keep their knowledge of Christ alive, with the mass, the most prominent one, being able to do more than just help.

Based on the next questions, most filipino christians’ penitential activity lean more toward fasting and abstinence as opposed to self-sacrifice and self-induced pain. Filipinos are very religious people who love to pray and this can be seen in the recent Typhoon Ondoy when people would ask each other to pray for the victims. Question 14 is similar to 13 in that they both talk about religious practices - the act of penance, the practices of faith and worship

The most often practice is the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist since this is the most fundamental among the choices. On the other hand, Questions 15 and 16 speak more about the Triune God, specifically the relationship of God the Son and God the Father.

Who is the Son of God, Jesus Christ? Based on our theological studies, the answer is that Jesus is the Word of God. And surprisingly, 40% have answered that He is indeed the Word of God. Question 15 proposes a bit differently though when 72% answered that Jesus was create by God the Father. Maybe this is connected in the sense that the Word is created too by God. He is also believed that He is indeed the Son of God thus created in the image of God.

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A critical understanding of their current belief in Christianity was evaluated with the use of the survey.

These pie graphs show the statistics of the percentage of the answers of the 10 correspondents. The first nine are shown in this slide.

We set out to interview them in groups of three namely:

1. Thor Andallaza, Arielle Macatulad, Nico Garcia

2. Neil Abendan, Izzabella Perez, Kristofer Chua

3. Tiffany Kang, Vincent Syling, Angeline Po

Thanks so much to the following ten female correspondents!

Anna

Rosemarie Sogovia

Marlene

Marina Pador

Meralita

Liza Rosario

Michelle Caballo

Janeta

Corazon Diego

Jade Mariel “Jing”