The above excerpt is a Latin-American tradition which is also common in the Philippine society. In the Philippines, godparents are also expected to perform religious education for their godchild. They become second parents to the child. At least for some. But most of the time, godparents are chosen as those who can provide for the economic necessities of the ritual or the relationship.
Being a godparent before, as I have observed, was a careful consideration. That is why most of the time, those who are taken into account are aunts, uncles or close friends. Generally before, one male godparent and one female godparent are enough for the baptism ritual. Today, however, I have noticed that godparents aside from being many (as much as 20), are not even close friends or relatives. But collectively, these godparents maybe politicians (including barangay captains), businessmen, actors/actresses (including starlets), individuals with key positions in a company (including supervisors), or those who have the capability to share financially.
I have a friend who narrates his experience in the church, during the baptism ceremony, wherein the godparents are to place their hands on the baby's or the child's forehead. They were 8 pairs, that means 16 in all, and the others weren't able to participate because there was no space to touch the child's forehead. My friend end up joking that when the ceremony was over, the poor child's forehead had a dent left by the many fingers and hands that touched it.
Relatively, parents had these intentions to generate income out of their child's baptism. The old representation of godparents is obliterated by the fact that such ritual is considered as means to collect money, and also with the intention of being popular because a well-known or recognized person is in the list of their child's godparents. Talk about hypocrisy, too.
This does not happen to the well-off only, which some have intentions of business opportunities or the strengthening of ties for economic motives, but mostly among the lesser than the affluent. It may not be true to everybody but with the situation in the Philippines, it is likely that this happens to the greater part of the population that follows the Christian baptism.
So true bing, so so true. I've seen so many individual boasting to people that his kumpare is this and that politician or taipan. I wonder, do thse politicians and taipans even remember these people?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it sad that the real reason for having a godparent had been corrupted through the years? Jsut goes to show that between religion and culture, religion bows down to the other.
ReplyDeletehi, rudy. very true indeed. they dont even remember them. how sad, ano?
ReplyDeleteyes, mr rolly. as time passes by, one after another form of corruption evolves making the tradition worser than the previous ones.
this is a filipino practice that is 'nakakahiya'
ReplyDeletethis is a practice that originated in the province, but has quickly caught on almost everywhere, like a trend.
it is so embarassing at church when they have the baptisms during regular mass. the caucasians will only have a pair of godparents for their child. but when they call the filipino families, you have this big glob of godparents, all trying to squeeze in around the baptismal font. it's a very funny sight, and one that i cannot explain to our caucasian friends at church.
grabe, talaga, milkphish. it resembles the story about Filipinos in America when they buy apples.
ReplyDeleteI used to have the same questioning sentiments of this practice. I wonder if this goes on because the church allows it. How many does the church allow? Something worth asking.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if this is also true of other cultures, but even if it is only ours, it would be rash to say that it is shamefull. Shamefull to whom?
I wouldn't pay much attention to foreigners. In fact, some of them understand this practice more easily than we do, while others have much weirder customs than us.
Perhaps, it is not how many, but the motivation behind it, but no matter the motivation, so what?
For so long as it is to promote the child's or family's standing, percieved or real, it is alright.
ah, nony, it was like saying 'ano ba ang paki nila', di ba? ano nga ba ang paki ng marami kung gusto nila ng maraming ninong? but the thing is, the practice as practiced before did not involve that many godparents and void of such motive of greed and overwhelming desire to let others feel that they are connected with the very well known. the baptism ritual necessitates witnesses which is in the person of the godparents who will also be guiding the child. and i would like to beg the question - is baptism a ceremony to "promote the standing" of the child and the family, or to welcome him to the Christian world or to some, a form of purification?
ReplyDeleteThe church's objective is satisfied so long as the child is brought up as a good christian. The church doesn't much care if there are 1, 10 or 100, regardless of how many signatures are allowed.
ReplyDeleteThe questions to answer is more about ourselves: Are our values better? Are their values less than ours? Do we go to church and celebrate with these people with critical thoughts in mind? What does that say about ourselves? Does that make us a better people?
personally, i am not being critical. it was an observation of the ritual done before and today. of course, the church won't mind, and sometimes it is the problem, when the churches fail to instill the value about baptism. this does not say that they fail, although some do fail.
ReplyDeletei do agree that we examine or re-examine ourselves about our own values first. but the post tells of the many experiences me and some friends had. this is not meant to attack people but as i have always said, to remind. suffice it to say that there real people with that intentions, being very vocal about them, too.
Talagang totoo ito Bing...Even in our wedding, I chose to have ninongs and ninangs those we know and even though they were not popular or well-off. I guess, godparents should be close enough so that hypocisy won't be suspected. Kasi marami para lang for show and not for real...
ReplyDeletefor show.. hmmm, malamang nga, major tom.
ReplyDeleteLike milkphish, I've also witnessed baptisms with Filipinos and whites happen at the same time at church. The whites usually just have one pair of sponsors and the Filipino families would carry a "whole village" with them. :)
ReplyDeletethis is really true. but you can't put the blame on the parents only. minsan kasi gusto lang nilang pagbigyan ang lahat ng mga close friends nila. baka kasi magtampo ang iba kapag hindi ginawang ninong/ninang. the blame can also be put on the church. hindi na dapat pinapayagan ng simbahan ang ganitong praktis at dapat sila mismo ang nag-eeducate sa mga magulang, ninong at ninang ang importansiya ng godparents. ang nangyayari kasi ginagawa din itong pagkakakitaan ng simbahan. bawat ninong/ninang may bayad. kaya the more godparents there are, mas malaki din ang kita ng simbahan.
ReplyDeletepara sa akin madali lang ang solusyon. dapat ilimit ng simbahan ang bilang ng godparents. dapat hanggang isa o dalawang pares lang.
nice heart, what a description, a - the whole village he he
ReplyDeleteKU, i forgot to consider that - when friends insist that they'll be included in the list of ninongs or ninangs but it happens only when they are friends.
hmm, i doubt if the church will consider limiting the number.
Wasn't it ex-Pres. Elpidio Quirino who wanted to constitutionally abolish the compadre system he considered the bane of the Filipino society? In restrospect, he should have pursued his plan.
ReplyDeletenony: here in the states, there are only two separate lines under which you can put only two sponsor names for the christening and marriage.
ReplyDeletei don't think this practice is unique to filipinos because i have seen this happen to some hispanic families as well. but, although it may span other cultures, there is one common factor . . . it is the 'masa' that mostly practice this. this is not a 'filipino' custom per se. it had only evolved that way because it has become common practice --- there is a big difference between a cultural custom and common practice by the 'masa'
i live here in the states, and i go to church where the caucasians are predominant. there is a separate spanish mass for the hispanic people. that said, the caucasians that i refer to are not foreigners. baptism is not a cultural thing --- it is being catholic.
why do most (common) filipinos choose to have an absurd amount of godparents? the amount of gifts from godparents, the prestige brought on by an affluent godparent, and for pure 'yabang'
yes, the catholic church here in the states do care about the amount of godparents, and there are only two people who can sign on the certificate. during baptismal classes (it is a requirement here in the states that both parents attend these classes prior to having their children baptized), the filipinos are not discouraged from choosing numerous gordparents, rather, they are encouraged to think hard and choose only a pair of the most qualified people they can think of.
no, their values are not better, because these are the same people that you will only see in church when they need to have their children baptized. it is incredibly rare to see these people again in church on a regular basis . . . if even at all. these filipinos with the numerous godparents will never even think of having their child baptized unless they have the money (or utang) to throw a large party replete with the ubiquitous lechon.
also, the priests end up having a difficult time going through the ceremony because of too much hands putting a cross on the baby's forehead, etc... bing has already addressed this in her post.
the devout catholic filipinos do not exhibit this odd behavior of having numerous godparents or sponsors --- they are the ones with the deep faith and understanding of the catholic church. humble people who understand the deep meaning of the catholic christening tradition will never succumb to the shallowness of having 16-20 godparents.
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ka uro: dito ho sa amerika, hindi nagbabayad ang godparents. mayroon lang hong minimum fee or contribution na ibinibigay ang mga magulang sa church --- about $100-$150 --- 'yun lang --- walang tip 'di katulad sa maynila. tapos, dalawa lang ang puwedeng mag-sign sa baptismal certificate. kung marami ang sponsors, kailangan pumili lang ng dalawa ang mga magulang ng bata --- oh, hindi ba kahiya-hiya iyon?
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thanks bing for allowing me to have my say. i don't want people to think that some of us are being critical just because of some silly reason. this post of yours touches many points regarding this unsavory practice.