Alfred A. Yuson - Philippines: Islands of Enchantment

I SLANDS OF P ROMISE ,
I SLANDS OF H OPE

A Boracay outrigger sports a painted sail.

We have been under tutelage for four hundred years; almost from the beginning of our recorded history. Now we are free. We have been free for sometime. And we have come to realize that to be free is more than merely to be rid of external constraint. It is, above all, to be self-possessed, as a person is self-possessed. And that is what we are up to. We are trying to acquire a personality. We are trying to possess ourselves."

Horacio de la Costa , S.J., Selected Essays on the Filipino and His Problems Today

Cloud-capped Mayon Volcano looms in the far background as country lasses negotiate a rice paddy.

Cebu Citys Centennial Monument, the work of sculptor Eduardo Castrillo, depicts the historic confrontation between the natives and the Christianizing Spanish in 1521.

A much-quoted capsule history of the Philippines describes the country as having spent three centuries in a convent and fifty years in Hollywood. This is not so much a putdown as a clever explanation of why the Philippines still struggles to find its bearings following three centuries of Spanish rule and half a century of American domination not to mention several tumultuous decades of independence!

No ornate temple friezes proffer Asian motifs in the Philippines. In their place, the ubiquitous Catholic church stands as a reminder that the archipelago may well be oddly placed. Indeed, the Philippines the plural country that needs an article to precede its collective identity has gained the tag of being the odd-man-out in Southeast Asia. No spicy curry dishes, no indecipherable calligraphy, and no symbols of Asian inscrutability. But these islands lay claim to countless pockets of paradise indeed for beach-lovers, some of the finest sand, surf and sun around.

Much as the Philippines may, from time to time, make the global headlines as a troubled arena the scene of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and armed rebellions or kidnappings that regularly make the front pages a visit to the archipelago that serves as the Pacific gateway to Asia is rewarded with more than a glimpse into an often befuddling, invariably fascinating culture, one full of joy, humor, courage and song in the face of all apparent adversity.

A wading pool memorial of General Douglas MacArthurs return to Leyte in 1944 to liberate the islands from the Japanese.

At the courtyard of Pilar Church near Ozamis City in northern Mindanao, ladies in their finery hark back to a distant Castilian past.

Alternately charmed and exasperated, the visitor comes away with the sense of having quickly bonded with, if not entirely understood, these people for whom grace under pressure and continual warm-heartedness amidst all kinds of chaos, are constant. It is here, after all, that People Power unseated macho presidents and installed women in their place. In these 7,000-plus islands, regional and tribal differences find common ground in the incomparable quality of hospitality.

Oh, dont mind those noisy urban demonstrators burning effigies and waving placards of ridicule and hate. When they take a break, theyd just as soon escort any foreigner for a snack, or ask him to sing along with them over beers in a videoke bar.

On one end of this perplexing psychological spectrum you may witness mass hysteria occasioned by nattily-dressed evangelists or shamans, or the cities feisty tri-media, and on another the blas reaction to a tabloid headline screaming Woman gives birth to fish!

These are people who, when theyre island-bound, cant do without myths, fables and legends but when trapped in the cities become so concerned with arriving at a collective identity that they hastily conclude there may be none, at least as of the hour.

Fabulously dressed participants at Cebu Citys Sinulog Festival.

An ancestral house remains a repository for family treasures and heirlooms. Colonial-era furniture includes hand-carved armchairs with woven rattan strips for cool comfort.

The Philippines is a toddler of a nation, given to much gnashing of teeth and thumping of chest. But the natives laugh at themselves so easily that every crisis or tragedy spawns a fresh round of jokes that are then texted from one cellphone to another, down to the remotest barrio.

The rewards are just as profligate and indiscriminate. One becomes intimate with the high incidence of feminine pulchritude. One hears often of well-placed padrinos in high places because of family connections. The Roman Catholic Church meddles with the official population control program while the birth rate remains the highest in Asia. But in the face of this cultural schizophrenia is that disarming smile that bespeaks warmth, faith, and a confidence in an environment where one can thrive in the comfort of the best massage under a swaying palm.

Baguio City, the capital of Mountain Province, is the nations Summer Capital. From March to May, its population quadruples as lowlanders flock to the highland resort city established in the early 1900s by the Americans who wanted a respite from the lowland heat.

Lying to the south is the coastal province of Pangasinan where a steady stream of foreigners seek out the world-famed psychic healers who are reputed to be able to perform bloodless surgery with their hands and who, to this day, command a cult following.

The delicately fragrant sampaguita , a jasmine variant, is the national flower. Its buds are usually strung up as a garland. Here it pays homage to a wooden saint and a cherubim.

Manila fashion shows are a staple of the culture and entertainment scene, where top-class designers compete in creating a unique form of Filipino fusion design by incorporating indigenous fabrics, motifs and embellishments.

Farther south still is the dense spread of Metro Manila, made up of several contiguous cities and municipalities. Its feverish daily activity centers on the financial districts, glitzy shopping malls, privately guarded villages, administrative and educational institutions as much as on the other extreme: those congested shanties of the so-called informal dwellers (read squatters).