In this month of January when Cebu celebrates the feast of the Santo Niño, I intend to write, on this Sunday and in the coming Sundays, about lessons we can learn from this devotion. I can include the popular explanation of the origin of this image of the Holy Child. This explanation has in fact achieved the status of an “official” explanation since it is often repeated in homilies. But I will also present a post-colonial reading that tries to debunk this semi-official narrative. Elsewhere, I have given a theological critique of the text of the weekly prayer and I do not want to be repetitious.
For this Sunday, I start not with history but with a legend based on real historical persons. I read this in one essay written by national artist Nick Joaquin.
Lapulapu, the chieftain of Mactan, and Humabon, the chieftain of Banawa, have always been rivals. However, the antagonism between the two did not result into open tribal warfare. Things may have changed when Magellan proclaimed Humabon as the representative of the King of Spain. This proclamation happened upon Humabon’s acceptance of Christianity. Resistance to Humabon was deemed resistance to the King of Spain. Needless to say, Lapulapu pooh-poohed the proclamation and refused to submit himself to Humabon.
Magellan wanted to impress Humabon of the might of his army and decided to attack Lapulapu. Humabon and his soldiers did not join the fight but came to Mactan to witness what could be a slaughter. But as every Filipino knows, the cannons of the Spanish empire were no match to the obstinate resistance of the natives of Mactan. The rest is history.
The legend now comes in. A typhoon of unprecedented strength hit Mactan and Cebu. The winds blew away houses and animals. Trees were uprooted. Waters from what was then pristine beaches of Mactan flooded the island which eventually submerged. Luckily for Lapulapu and his constituents, they were able to escape to the neighboring island of Cebu which, though severely damaged, did not suffer the same fate as Mactan. These ecological migrants narrated their harrowing experience to the people of the mainland. Humabon and Juana came to know about what happened to Mactan and to Lapulapu and his people.
Now baptized Christians, Humabon and Juana boarded their boats to see what was left of Mactan. Queen Juana, now a convinced believer in the miraculous powers of the small statue from Magellan, brought with her this image of the Santo Niño. Humabon and Juana prayed before the image as their boat circled around the submerged island. And miracle of miracles, it was when they completed the round when the island of Mactan emerged from under the waters.
Lapulapu witnessed everything from the mainland. Profuse with gratitude, he went to Humabon and Juana. “Do not thank us. Thank the Holy Child,” the couple refused to take credit. Lapulapu became a believer. The tribes of Mactan and of Banawa became good friends.
Even as I am wary of any interpretation that says Humabon and Juana would not have been capable of compassion were it not for Christianity, devotees to the Santo Niño feel good about the story. The truth is that they already possessed the God-given capacity to altruism even before they received the Christian faith. We can instead say that it was Christianity that inspired them to do good although they already received from God right at their births the capacity to do it.
The qualification I made above is not an unnecessary theological nuancing. Instead, I want to relate it to further questions. For instance, why is it that the Philippines, a Christian country surrounded by non-Christian neighbors, is one of the most corrupt countries in Southeast Asia? In the Corruption Perception Index done by the Transparency International, we occupied the 114th place among 180 countries, with number 1 as the most honest (which happens to be Denmark) and 180 as the most corrupt (South Sudan). Other Southeast Asian countries fared much better: Singapore is third, Malaysia is 57th, Vietnam is 88th, Thailand is 107th. The Philippines is tied with Laos. The only Southeast Asian country which ranked lower is Cambodia (158th).
The Duterte supporters should not be quick in blaming solely the current administration. Indeed, in the 2021 survey (I cite 2021 since it is the last full year of the Duterte administration), we were 117th! And this was when we were still suffering from the ravages of Covid-19! The highest recent rating that the Philippines received was in 2014, when we occupied the 85th place.
We also are proud that our churches are always filled to the brim while the European cathedrals are empty. But it was the European Union which called our attention that extra-judicial killing is immoral.
We need to pray most sincerely, “Santo Niño, mag-hari ka!”