Book Review: My Country's Godly Heritage

March 16, 2021 marks the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Spanish and Christianity in the Philippines. This auspicious event was the result of many historical factors which were all providentially directed by the hand of God. In "My Country's Godly Heritage" author and Pastor Ferdinand Melendres offers an insightful history of the Philippines as seen from a "Biblical perspective" which analyses these factors and shows God's hand in the shaping of this nation.  

In discussing the Philippines before the conquest of the Spanish Melendres begins by charting the missionary work of both the Nestorian church and Manichaeans. Both of these sects reached China and both of them were eventually banished from China. During their stay in China missionaries from both groups had spread out to the Philippines by the tenth century.

Indeed, the religious factor cannot be separated from the history of this land. Five centuries before the Spaniards arrived, Nestorians and Manichaeans came to this land, to pursue religious expansion and to avoid Christian persecution in the tenth century. Consequently, this land became the epicenter of syncretized heretic and Gnostic Christianity for the next 500 years.

pg. 249

This is proved by pottery which was found in Manila.

Archaeological finds in Manila, such as Chinese porcelain dating tenth to fifteenth centuries, and religious documents testify to the early influx of Chinese heretics and Gnostic Christians in this land.

pg. 77 

This influx of syncretic and heretical Nestorianism and Gnosticism primed the pump, so to speak, and prepared Filipinos to accept Catholicism when the Spanish arrived. The Spanish arrived due to seven favors God bestowed on this nation. These favors are summed up on pages 93-95.

1.The fall of Byzantium. 

The Ottoman Turks conquered Byzantium in 1458. This led to:

2. The closing of the silk road

This meant there was no more land route to the East which forced Europeans to seek alternate routes through the ocean.

3. The abundance of spices in the Maluku Islands which are abundant in spices. This opened the door to the Philippines. Melendres says the Philippines did not have these spices.

The third favor was the location of the best quality spice merchandise. Finding the islands of the Moluccas opened the door for Portuguese and Spanish monarchs to consider the Philippines as one of its colonies. The Moluccan Islands was the focal point, the center stage; and Indonesian historians claims that in history, 'the Philippines and New Guinea was the eastern archipelago integrated into Indonesian history.' The Philippines lacked the spices abundant in the Moluccas and did not have silk products similar to those found in China, so Spain's interest in the Philippines was diverted into a godly enterprise, Christian missionary enterprise.

p. 94

The Moluccan Islands were the only source of significant spices, including clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace.

p. 84

This claim might seem shocking to those who claim the Philippines is a land of spices. But it is the Moluccas and not the Philippines which are known as the Spice Islands.

4. The quest for Prester John

For hundreds of years there had been legends of a Christian king and empire in the East. Marco Polo's travels only fueled this speculation and Europeans were eager to seek him out in China.

5. The hunt for the gold of Ophir.

During the 15th and 16th centuries many European ships sailed East looking for Ophir. Melendres does not claim that the Philippines is Ophir but only says that some thought it might be and that the search put it on the map. He notes that even after Magellan arrived in the Philippines the Spanish continued to search for Ophir. Specifically they thought Masaua was Ophir.

The emperor was also interested in the supposed 'treasure of King Solomon in the land of Ophir' because when Elcano and the survivors of the first expedition returned to Spain in 1522, they remembered and reported the gold, the golden daggers, pieces of jewelry worn by Rajah Culambo and his men, including the golden vessels, and the display of gold in his palace. They concluded that Masaua was the land of Ophir.

p. 122

The Spanish were never able to relocate this place and it's exact location remains lost to history. Many think it is Limasawa in Southern Leyte. That is the officially recognized location though Butuan has also lodged a claim as being Masaua.

 6. Religious reform in Europe

According to Melendres the Reformation in Europe caused the Spanish to be more humane towards their subjects.

By the time after Columbus's exploits in 1492, the people of the Caribbean , including the Aztecs, Mayas, and Indians in Mexico and Peru, were already under the Spanish crown. But the Spanish conquerors treated the natives like slaves. And because of religious reformation in Europe that began in 1517, slavery and inhuman treatment of newly conquered territories resulted in a new emphasis on man rights. The Spaniards started thinking that using violence against the natives is contrary to the "sweetness of the name of Jesus Christ" thus making the God of the Catholics the "most cruel, unjust, pitiless God of all."One outstanding advocate of human rights in the Mexican and Caribbean conquest was Father Bartolome de Casa. His strong influence to reform the kingdom of Spain ignited the hearts of the Spanish people to think appropriately and spiritually, By the time Legaspi conquered Filipinos in 1565, the Spaniards who came with him were somehow tame and revived.

p.89

As many scholars declared,  The Spanish way of handling their colonies, particularly the Philippines, was still the most humane and fair in comparison with how other European powers in Asia ruled over their conquests during the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

p. 130

7. Christian royal monarchs.

This is most important regarding Philip II whom Melendres depicts as a very pious king whose heart's desire was to spread the Gospel and convert the world to the Catholic faith. 

At the beginning of his reign in 1558 King Philip prompted Legaspi, a man of humble birth. In 1564 his very important reminder to Legaspi before sailing to Filipinas was, "If possible, not to harm the natives but treat them with kindness and convert them to the Christian faith." He believed that his authority derived from his commission to preach the Gospel to the natives.

p. 128

On page 125 Melendres relates the significance of the King of Spain being named Philip. There are two Philips in the Bible. One in the Gospels and another in Acts. Both men were zealous to spread the Gospel. Likewise so was King Philip II.

One thousand five hundred years later, another famous person with the name Philip, whose passion was to propagate the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ, rose to power to be the greatest king of Spain in its entire history! This Philip became the Lord's instrument to reinforce the Christianization of the natives of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao which began from he time of Legaspi in 1565.

p. 125

Melendres paints a very different portrait of the Spanish conquerers than usual. Rather then being bloodthirsty, demonic, evil men bent on enslaving the people and raping the land for resources we are presented with a Magellan who had been dubbed the "preaching captain." A man who kept a tight ship and checked the immorality of the sailors. A man whose only purpose was to spread the Gospel. Likewise we are treated to a King Philip II who is likened to David or Solomon and whose greatest desire was to spread the Gospel.

According to Melendres Filipinos accepted the Gospel very readily and not by force. This was because they recognized the God of the Spaniards due to remnants of heretic Nestorian Christians.

Nestorian Mongols believed that the 'Heavenly Father' existed beyond the sky and looked down from the heavens. Nestorian missionaries, on the other hand, carried the name of God Abba or Heavenly Father wherever they proclaimed their doctrines and faith. And as the people of Masaua called their God Abba, it was unlikely that Abba was just an idol or a pagan god. We can therefore draw the conclusion that Rajah Culambo, his brother Rajah Siagu, and Rajah Humabon and their respective kingdoms were remnants of the heretic Nestorian Christians. This was why the Culambo brothers paid full attention and with reverence to the Cross during the First Mass in Masaua. And in Cebu, Rajah Human did not resist Magellan's preaching, and even his people showed their hunger for the Word as the listed to Magellan teach the basic doctrines of Christianity. Then, without hesitation, the Cebuano king immediately submitted to Magellan's baptism.

p. 161

It was Magellan and not the priests who converted Rajah Humabon in Cebu. After he and his retinue were baptized Magellan gave them the Sto. Niño. Years later when the Spanish attacked Cebu they found this Sto. Niño in a house hidden in a chest. The Spanish rejoiced at what they considered to be a sign from God blessing their endeavors. When asked about this statue the natives said it had worked miracles for them. Melendres' source for this story is Antonio Morga and this is what he says about the discovery of the Sto. Niño.

The first of our Spanish settlements was made in that port, which they named the city of the most holy name of Jesus, because they found there, in one of the houses of the natives when they conquered them, a carved image of Jesus; and it was believed that it had remained there from the fleet of Magellan, and the natives held it in great reverence, and it worked for them in their needs miraculous effects. This image they put in the monastery of St. Augustine, which was built in that city. 

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7001/pg7001.html

Though Melendres paints a glowing portrait of the Spaniards as missionaries sent from God he does not gloss over abuses under Spanish rule. At first Filipinos willingly submitted to Spanish rule and became their vassals and adopted their religion. But as time went on abuses grew and a nationalist fervor arose in the middle 19th century. This led to the revolution led by Aguinaldo. Eventually the Spanish were defeated by the Americans who took over. This brought about the blessing of Protestantism. 

Even though there was a lot of infighting between Protestant groups Protestant Biblical Christianty spread. Protestants brought the Bible and for the first time Filipinos heard the true Gospel message of faith in Christ. 

When the Americans came, the introduced another type of Christian faith to the Filipinos, called Protestant Christianity. For the first time, the Filipinos saw and read the Word of God, the Bible. From the Protestant missionaries, the natives heard and learned that salvation is a gift from God through faith in Christ Jesus, and whosoever believed in His name shall not perish but have everlasting life. The arrival of the Americans was not only a liberation from Spain's three-and-a-half centuries rules but also the liberation of Filipino souls from slavery and bondage to sins.

p. 223

Now Filipinos are spread all over the world. The OFW's are not only workers but also missionaries who herald the end of the world as they spread the Gospel abroad. They do this passively through their works.

God told Abraham that someday "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). Jesus fulfilled this prophecy when He built His Church. In these last days, He continued to fulfill it by sending Filipino Christians to "all the families of the earth" as servants, nannies, caregivers, and nurses God's plan for them is to become living witnesses of HIs love and salvation to Jews and Gentiles alike. hey were not 'active' missionaries in the traditional way that missions are done, but they are 'passive' witnesses of God's love and compassion. They have been sent forth that they world may 'actively' search the truth about the Gospel through their lives.

p. 261

As St. Francis so famously, or not, said:

Preach the Gospel always and if necessary use words. 

Overall this is a very compelling and thought provoking book that offers, not a totally radical, but a very different take on the history of the Philippines. What we learn is that God has a definite plan for this nation and her people which has gradually unfolded over time through historical events. We also learn interesting facts like Filipinos would take their fighting cocks to church to drink holy water!

One missionary condemned the Catholic Church's approval of gambling, and it seemed to encourage it. Each game had its patron saint to which the gambler prayed for success. On some occasions, the gambler took their fighting cocks to the church to ear wafers and drink holy water assuming that the rooster would become strong and win the fight miraculously.

p. 226-227

The real strength of this book is the author's viewpoint that God is in control of all things and has brought the Philippines through her trials and to her current place for a reason. Nothing happens outside of God's will. Each chapter ends with a prayer for the Philippines. I highly recommend this book as it will give the reader a new perspective on this nation and an appreciation of all that has happened here both good and bad. The book is a refreshing break from the modern tirades against colonialism as being fundamentally evil. I found my copy at National Bookstore but it can be ordered from New Day Publishers or at Shopee. Reading this book is a great way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christianity arriving in the Philippines.

Book Review: "The Battle of Marawi" Reveals the AFP is an Inept and Ill-prepared Military Force

The Battle of Marawi by journalist Criselda Yabes is an exciting look into the operations of the Marawi siege and the men who led them. We all know the story. ISIS militants laid siege to the city of Marawi and the AFP took it back five months later. Criselda's book fills in the gaps and gives us a fuller picture of just how the battle was fought and won. There is a lot of information here. Certainly too much to cover in a review. As she writes, "Marawi was not a one-dimensional war."

To purchase visit: https://www.facebook.com/thebattleofmarawi

While the book is largely composed of personal stories from the perspective of those on the ground Yabes also paints a deeply disturbing portrait of the AFP as an inept and ill-prepared military force which could have prevented the siege yet chose to ignore or downplay vital intelligence. Individually there is much bravery and courage among the soldiers but collectively there is much that is wanting. This book underscores the necessity of a Senate investigation into the lead up and events of the Marawi siege.

In my previous blog post and video titled "Intelligence Failures and Prior Knowledge of the Marawi Siege" I included an interview with DND Secretary Lacson where he claimed that they had a man inside the Maute Group. Yabes shines a light on this man whose code name was Jericho. He was very close to discovering what the Maute Group was planning but he was found out and rubbed out. She writes:

Jericho was going to put all the links together. He was going to how far into the terrorist cell the Maute brothers were, beyond their family relations with the leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The intelligence headquarters in Manila didn't give much credence to the threat of the brothers, thinking that the guys in the field might be drawing conclusions from their imagination. Jericho had it so close and he told his classmates about it, that there's another one on the way to creating havoc. His death should have alerted the ground commanders: a warning bell of things to come.

p. 40

If the AFP ignored what intel this man had to offer then why did Lacson even mention him as if he had provided any information that the AFP actually used to prepare for the imminent siege?

Reading this book one is left wondering why the AFP announced that the siege would be over quickly by June 12th, Independence Day. When Zamboanga was under siege in 2013 it took 20 days to recapture the city from the MNLF. Marawi is much larger than Zamboanga and the number of terrorists as well as the city itself was a complete unknown to commanders on the ground. They literally were in the dark as to the reality of the situation yet Duterte was told on May 26th that it could all be over in 3-4 days!

The President arrived on May 26, first landing at the mechanized brigade camp in Ditucalan. The briefing was "generic," in the sense that nothing was clear. How long will this last? Previous experience will tell us that it could be over in three or four days, Com1 told the commander-in-chief. Everyone thought so too and they were all wrong. Whatever you need, just let me know, said the President.

p. 120

Exactly what previous experience was that assessment based on? Zamboanga should have been both a a wake up call to the AFP and an event to learn from but according to Yabes reports from Zamboanga collected dust on the shelves and any lessons that could be learned were missed.

The aftermath of the Zamboanga experience went into a compilation of reports given to general headquarters to digest and learn lessons from, especially when it came to improving capability. But like most things, the reports gathered dust on the shelves, and here they were again. The LRR (Light Reaction Regiment) was trained in precise urban combat, namely those that involved raids, hostage taking incidents, or putting down a lone wolf. Zamboanga taught them the need for extra manpower, recommending the use of infantry, for example, when the situation would get out of hand in a larger urban center that had civilian lives at risk. None of the infantry units was trained for such an eventuality.

p. 40-41

Yabes does not tell us exactly why the infantry was not trained properly but this paragraph is in line with what DND Secretary Lorenzana said about the AFP stopping training for urban warfare because they did not use the skill.

"It's a skill we used to have but we lost along the way because we didn't use it. We keep training our people in what we call the military operations in urban terrain, MOUT.  But we seldom use it, we never use it, so we stopped teaching our people at the Marawi camp. So now we have to reacquire that skill plus the necessary equipment that goes with it.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2018/06/martial-law-no-ready-reserve-ammunition.html

She also documents petty infighting between the various branches of the AFP. Instead of working together toward a common goal the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force were sometimes more concerned about their pride. Take the instance of one Air Force commander who ignored the requests of an Army commander to drop bombs until he was issued an apology for being shouted at.

Butler carried on with the immense duty of being the liaison, dispatching flights, choosing options, sometimes second guessing commanders. And sometimes, it felt as though he was the commanding general of the Air Force. Charlie got used to having him around, sige, alam mo na 'yan.  You know what to do.  

One of the battalion commanders gave him hell for delaying a flight when his troops were waiting for the bomb drop. Butler had to pull his phone away from his ears as the barrage of invectives came through; in retaliation he ignored the commander's bomb run requests in his sector for about a week until an apology was offered in a long and winding text message.

p 108

Could it be that petty actions like this are what prolonged the war? Was Butler ever reprimanded for his actions? There should be cooperation between each branch of the military but Yabes says this is not the norm and Marawi was a first where such cooperation was necessary.

Marawi was the first of many things. Here. the military learned the hard way that they had to come together for a "joint-ness" in their operation, an exercise they should have done previously and rarely did so for a number of reasons: lack of planning, lack of will that was bent on politics. As in the past, the battle was again an example of reacting to a visible threat that caught them by surprise, rather then preventing and nipping it in the bud. 

p. 216

With such a lack of coordination and cooperation among the branches of the AFP is it any wonder that the Islamic and communist insurgencies have been ongoing for 50 years with no end in sight?

But truly the most damning thing of all that Yabes writes is that the AFP lied in their reports about what happened in Marawi.

When I began writing the first draft of this book in July 2019, I knew I had more than enough to go by and yet, I could have also carried on searching for other lower-ranking officers down to the corporals and the privates who were at the frontlines. Every target, every objective, every major incident in the battle area was worth a book in itself. I wish the Armed Forces wold invest in such an undertaking without self-censorship, to have a better understanding of what went right or wrong. Each unit has an After-Review Report, as officially required, but in some cases it didn’t always match with the truth (how boldly they could defy their seniors!) For the first time in covering a major military event, I had to take detours at length and dig elsewhere for more accuracy. One officer joked that it would take me ten years to get to the bottom of everything. 

Notes From the Author

Such an accusation is a bombshell and only underscores the absolute need for a Senate-formed Marawi Commission to investigate what happened in the lead up to and during the siege. Yabes does not tell the reader what exactly the AFP lied about in those reports but a reasonable guess can be made that they lied about what happened while clearing building 1010.

This incident happened at the very end of the siege and was in fact the last operation of the entire battle. What happened? Yabes is not clear and that is no fault of her own because the men she interviewed were very reluctant to talk about it. Basically hostages and terrorists who had surrendered were being prepared to be taken out of the building when all of a sudden a rebel on the rooftop started spraying machine gun fire. In the resulting chaos all of the surrendering terrorists were slaughtered in an act of vengeance.

Tell me what happened in Ten-Ten, I ask him. 

He muttered the worthlessness of the human security act, a toothless law that the military says made it difficult for them to keep terrorists behind bars. The rebels who fought them will be the same rebels they will have to fight again in the future - that was how they judged their dilemma. The law might take too many long turns before justice was meted out.

p. 202

No you don't understand, I was told when I made the rounds asking some officers about this particular incident. If you had been there for five months, you would have done the same, you would have wanted them dead if you had seen what they did to our men. You don't know what it's like to see bodies of soldiers burnt and mutilated, to watch comrades die, to feel the loss and pain of wounds. 

p. 203

And how did senior commanders respond to this incident? By covering it up and asking television reporters who had video of the incident to not report it!

When senior commanders radioed to inquire what went on, the response was, tapos na. It's over. The deed was done. What did that mean, exactly? There was no sanction from the seniors; apparently it had spiraled out of control. There was a breakdown in discipline. WestMinCom privately asked a couple of television reporters, who managed to obtain snippets of other footage showing the gang-style thrashing, to withhold airing them. These were the videos, one text message said from one senior commander to another, "dat wud destroy the gud image we had worked so hard in Liberating Marawi." 

p. 202

AFP soldiers callously massacred surrendering rebels and the top brass covered it up. Which television reporters acquiesced to their requests to participate in that cover-up? Those reporters are also complicit.

There must be a Senate investigation into the Marawi Siege. People have to be held accountable.    Three years is far too long already. Does no one in the Senate care about the security of the nation that they continue to let this devastating terrorist act go unexamined?  Maybe Yabes' book will finally bring about such an investigation into reality. As for now this is the closest we can get to a definitive account of what happened in Marawi.

Did Manolo Pedrosa Really Read 41 Books During the Quarantine?

Did Manolo Pedrosa, a former contestant on Pinoy Big Brother and now a TV star, really read 41 books during the quarantine? He certainly claims to have done so. The media even did a write up about this feat which he posted on all his social media pages.

 https://www.instagram.com/p/CBFkGAzlnPL/?igshid=wzclc46asy5q

CRAZY! I was able to read 41 books since the start of this quarantine!⠀ 

This quarantine too has been crazy; I know this has been tough on all of us—so I just want to share my journey in a wholesome way—Let's begin.⠀ 

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." -Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning⠀ 

1. Mindset: I didn't want to get bogged down in this quarantine but alas, I can't do anything about it, I'm stuck at home! What I can do is change my perception; create purpose—this is an opportunity to work on myself and my goals—so how did I?⠀ 

2. Systems: A process of organizing your day by instilling desired habits at specific time blocks—this can help make it automatic to do—with the quarantine, we are virtually living in repetitive days; such environment's conducive for systems.⠀ 

3. Contentment: With the restrictions of quarantine—for example, I couldn't go to the gym which is my #1 passion—I accepted that and learned to be creative on how I can still train effectively; I realized you could get away without requiring much—I was even able to build muscle! (Only thing I can't be content with is a lack of a haircut.)⠀ 

4. Solitude: As an introvert, solitude is familiar territory but it is still a challenge especially in the quarantine; self-communication is an underrated skill—You got to master yourself first before anything else; I daresay solitude is meta for personal growth.⠀ 

5. Deep work: Distraction-free bouts of intense focus; being fully committed to the task at hand—to do this, I had my phone off majority of the time which means not much social media. (I know but it has just been bad news.) With enough practice, you can enter the flow state, and then you'll be wondering where all the time went actually enjoying your newfound habits.⠀ 

Okay, there's definitely more to be said here but then the post would go on forever lmao. I'll definitely continue doing these as we transition to our new normal.⠀ 

What have you gained this quarantine? ⠀Stay safe everyone, never stop learning!

Indeed that is rather CRAZY. I sent him a tweet asking for a list of the books he read but he did not respond.

https://twitter.com/FilipinoFollies/status/1270901311031164928

So did he really do it? Did he read 41 books in 2.5 months which is 11 weeks? That would be 3-4 books per week. Is that even possible? More importantly is it likely? Let's do the math.

First because he did not provide a list of books we will have to make some educated guesses about how long it will take to read an average book. In his picture Manolo is holding The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. The particular version he is holding has a page count of 209. Audible.com has several copies of this book and reading times vary from 4 hours 32 minutes to 7 hours and 39 minutes.

https://www.audible.com/author/Marcus-Aurelius/B000AR7YUW?ref=a_search_c3_lAuthor_1_1_1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=7G3W3E3880VR75EJVFJQ

Two other books he claims that he read are “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl and “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber.

Man's Search for Meaning has a page count of 192 and a reading time of 4 hours and 44 minutes.

https://www.audible.com/search?keywords=“Man’s+Search+for+Meaning”&ref=a_author_Ma_t1_header_search

The next book, "The E-Myth," is not on audible but the updated version is. The reading time for that book, which is 288 pages, is 8 hours and 5 minutes.

https://www.audible.com/search?keywords=“Man’s+Search+for+Meaning”&ref=a_author_Ma_t1_header_search

Without question all 41 books he claims to have read will be of varying lengths. An average book is anywhere from 200-300 pages. That means a reading time of anywhere between 4.5 to 8 hours. If we take the median time we get roughly 6 hours to read a book. That data set is as follows:

4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8

Now let's do the math.

41 books.

6 hours per book.

That is 246 hours or 10 days.

The period of the quarantine was from March 16th to May 31. That is 77 days or 1,848 hours.

Now let's attempt to break down his days. 8 hours each day for sleep is 616 hours. That leaves 1,232 hours.

He says he was able to train and even build muscle during the quarantine. Let's allow 90 minutes for each workout period which includes getting ready, the workout, and a shower. If he works out 6 days a week that is 66 days over a period of 11 weeks. That comes to 99 hours. Now we have 1,133 hours left.

But he also has to eat. I am not aware of his living conditions. Does he live with his parents? Does someone else do all the cooking and cleaning and washing? If yes then eating will hardly take up any time. But if he has to prepare his own meals and clean up afterwards then that must factor in to his eating time. To prepare, eat, and clean up I will allot an hour per meal. That is 3 hours a day or 225 hours. Now we have 908 hours left.

908 hours is plenty of time to have read 41 books in 77 days. In fact if all Manolo did was read for 6 hours a day he could have potentially read 77 books during the quarantine. Manolo claims that he basically turned off his social media accounts during that time and focused on reading. He also says he was in solitude which made the task easier. It must be noted that all these calculation are based on optimal conditions. That means no oversleeping.

So is it possible that Manolo Pedrosa sat down all day and read 41 books in 2.5 months? Yes. Is it likely? What do you think?