Religion and Spiritual Beliefs in the PhilippinesAlisa Pierson

    Most Americans are aware that the Philippines is comprised of Catholics, but Catholicism and spirituality in the Philippines extends beyond just being Catholic. In fact the way religion is practiced in the Philippines is very unique in comparison to the form Christianity takes in the west or other areas of the globe. Filipino Catholicism is practiced alongside and influenced by precolonial indigenous religions and indigenous Filipino concepts that are found in other areas of Southeast Asia. To understand how Christianity is practiced in the Philippines it is important to look at the unique ways Filipinos manifest their spirituality, how gender plays a role, and less common religious nuances that characterize Christianity in the Philippines. A discussion of religion in the Philippines would not be complete without paying attention to the unique place of Muslims in the Philippines. Through this discussion it will become clear that religion in the Philippines is indeed very influenced by western religions but still maintains a distinct Southeast Asian flavor in their spiritual beliefs and practices.

Catholicism

    The form that Catholicism takes in the Philippines is in many ways unique to the

region in which it is practiced. Across Christian areas of the Philippines indigenous

religions or spiritual practices have entered into and influenced the practice of

Catholicism. It is also possible to see the pre-colonial indigenous spirituality

influenced by Catholic notions. Fenella Cannell did an extensive ethnography of

Catholicism in a village in the region of Bicol Philippines. In her book Power and

Intimacy she provides an in depth look at some of the ways women attend to the

Christ Ama effigy. Across Southeast Asia, especially insular South East Asia on

islands such as Sulawesi and Bali, people traditionally carved likenesses of their dead

loved ones as a way to remember and worship their ancestors. They would keep the

effigies, and/or bones of their ancestors in the family home or a house designated for

that purpose so that people could visit the effigy. This indigenous Southeast Asian

tradition has influenced the way Filipinos

worship Jesus. The carved Ama (Jesus) of

the village in Bicol, Cannell discusses, can

be seen as a carry over of this South east

Asian practice. Like other effigies that are

carved today in Indonesia, the Christ Ama

is carved from wood, painted, and formed

to resemble the person (in this case a

westernized image of Jesus). The effigy is

kept in a sacred place and is accessible to

the public. In Bicol the Ama is kept in a

designated home. One of the most

interesting ways that Catholicism is

amalgamated with the Ama effigy can be

seen during the procession that celebrates

the Passion. Each year the women of the

village clean the body of the Ama very carefully as they do with a real dead body

before burial. After this the Ama is carried through the streets in a funeral like

procession while women mourn the passing on of the Ama. The Easter holiday is in

fact a more important holiday for Filipinos than Christmas, which is not as

"passionately" celebrated. In the Filipino celebration of Easter and the Passion it is

possible to see how Filipino Catholicism diverges very much from Western forms of

Catholicism. For the Filipinos different aspects and notions of Christianity are more

important than for Westerners.

    The way Filipinos view their relationship with Jesus is also infused by distinctly

Filipino and Southeast Asian cultural notions. In the Philippines debt and dependency

are the foundations of most social relationships. Any given person may be in a

position of debt or dependency with any number of individuals with whom they

associate, including (but not limited to) family, friends, politicians, etc. The

relationship Filipinos have with Jesus is also characterized by the idea of debt and

dependency. For Filipinos Jesus sacrificed his life for them to be saved, and so they

are indebted to him. But Cannell suggests that it is somewhat more complex than that.

Cannell notes that the Bicolanos of the Philippines view the holy father and Jesus as

"a God who always credits his own debtors" by which God has made a promise of

help to the Filipinos to bring them to Heaven (195). Therefore, because what God has

done lies somewhere between help and creating an indebtedness for Filipinos, the

indebtedness one might have in owing back a loan is not the same as the indebtedness

they have to Jesus. Rather, the indebtedness to Jesus is similar to the kind one may

have with a family member who "helps" their relative because of their relatedness and

so the action is classified as assistance or help that doesn't necessarily need to to be

paid back in full or equally.

Pre-colonial Spiritual Beliefs

    Despite being Catholic, belief in spirits is pervasive (especially in rural areas) in the

Filipino notions about the spiritual world. Many Filipinos in rural communities make

use of healers to cure illnesses and these healers are bound up with the

indigenous/pre-colonial spiritual beliefs of Filipinos. Filipino healers serve to fill an

important place in the community. Healers are not medical practitioners in the

Western sense but instead are more like shamans that one would find in a loosely

organized society. The healers Cannell discusses in her book work to cure illnesses

that are caused by invisible small spirit beings called tawo. These beings are the cause

of a wide range of ailments and must be

dealt with by a trained healer who is able

to talk with the tawo to mediate and work

on behalf of the sick to induce the being

take pity on the sick and end its infliction

upon the individual. For example, in Bicol

séances are held at certain times when

they are needed to heal a person. A séance

calls one or more tawo into a room in

order to communicate with them. The

tawo may come into the room in its own

invisible form or enter the body of the

healer. The Filipinos have undoubtedly

seen the world as being inhabited by these

beings before Christianity came. So how

did they deal with the idea of a world

where there is both Jesus and tawo? The

Filipinos Cannell studied suggested that these beings are aware of Jesus and do have a

place in the Christian world (118). Some tawo, they argue, are in fact Christians. Yet

ironically the spirits cannot enter into the church and be blessed while residing in a

persons body lest the body forever be inhabited by the spirit. This , the Bicolanos say

is because in the beginning of the world when god blessed all animals and humans the

tawo hid among the trees and were not blessed which is why they are invisible (118).

So if a tawo is blessed it will enter into the human world. Philippine Catholicism thus

includes a unique spiritual world that does not exist in other areas of the world that

practice Catholicism. In combination with saint worship and going to church, there are

other forms of ritual and religious practice that has survived the efforts of colonialism

to trample these practices.

    It is important to acknowledge that many of the aforementioned notions about

spirits were something Spanish priests tried to eradicate. The Spanish told the

indigenous Filipinos that the tawo were demons and that healers were witches in order

to persuade them to give up this religion the Spanish viewed as unacceptable (118). In

the end, however, it was the Filipinos who decided what their religion would be like.

Saint worship in the Philippines is also unique. Each family may hold a particular

saint who resides on their land or with them. The saint is inherited and

passed down in the family. A given saint will circulate within the

sibling group, going from one grown up child to another throughout

time. Cannell suggests that because of these circumstances and others

the family's saint is like a patron and this can be seen in the devotion.

(186) She states that "meals given as part of a devotion are remarkable

for the way the saint seems to preside over the occasion. This is all the more visually

striking when processions form part of the devotion" (186). In Cannell's discussion of

saints it seems that the Bicaloanos have a distinctly Southeast Asian way of

worshipping the saints that almost resembles the way for example Balinese worship a

Hindu god/goddess. In Bali there are also processions and giving meals involved in

worshipping a god/goddess. So despite the differences in religion and colonial history

here is another example of the way the Philippines way of being Christian has been

influence by their Southeast Asian heritage. In looking at Filipinos spirituality it is

important to understand the unique place women have in healing and thus spirituality.

Women and Religion

    Many of the spirit mediums or healers in the Philippines are women. Cannell looks

at three spirit healers who are women. Women play a central role then in healing. This

contrasts with Western healing and medicine which has traditionally had men as the

primary healers. In fact when the Spanish came to the Philippines they referred to the

healers as witches, signifying a negative Western view of women as healers. The fact

that women are allowed to and supported in becoming healers may play a factor in

why many Filipino immigrant women work in the health field. Playing a central role

in healing illnesses is not a foreign or unique role for women in their culture. The

Muslims of the Philippines also have a unique place in the Filipino culture that is also

carried over to Filipino life in America.

Islam

    Although many people assume the Philippines is comprised only of Catholics, it

does have a Muslim minority. This Muslim minority mainly remains in the Southern

Islands of the Philippines and Mindanao. The term designated to refer to this group is

"Moro". Today Moros make up about 5% of the population of the Philippines and

have a complex history. South East Asia itself has a history of Islamic influence and

conversion. For example, much of Malaysia and Indonesia are Muslim. The Moro

were also subject to the same Islamic influences that these countries were, although

clearly only the Southern part of the Philippines was effected and influenced to the

degree that they became Muslim and have maintained a distinctly Islamicized culture

for centuries. Yeger suggests that Muslim influence from the Middle East came into

the Philippines around the 10th century A.D. with the increase of trade (191). Islamic

missionaries also played a part in bringing Islam to Mindanao. Inevitably locals began

to convert and a sultanate was established. Over the centuries different ethnic groups

converted and as a result the Islamic communities of the Southern Philippines saw

themselves as distinct, autonomous Islamic groups that at times fought. Nevertheless

the sultanate of the Moro community has had a great deal of power and authority in

the Southern Philippines and is the leader of the Moro population. The fact that the

Moros have a religious and national identity has naturally been a cause of conflict

with the colonial, Spanish, and American powers that have tried to create a unified

Philippines that includes the Moro community.

The Moro Community

    Today the Moro community sees itself as a distinct and separate group that is

different from the rest of the mainly Catholic Philippines. In recent years they have

taken action to establish themselves as a separate nation and secede from the

Philippines while still maintaining economic ties with the Philippines. This causes a

conflicting desire to be somehow a part of the Philippines and not. One of the main

ways that the Moro community has attempted to create more autonomy for themselves

is through the establishment of the Moro National Liberation Front. The MNLF was

established in 1972 for the purpose of working toward gaining national autonomy for

the Moro society. One of the key factors that played a role in its establishment was the

assistance from other Muslim nations, especially Malaysia, who trained Moro men in

military combat. Shortly after its establishment MNLF rebels came into conflict with

the the Philippine government and for the next year and a half violence and Muslim

control of certain areas in the South were a threat to the Philippines control of the

Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan. During the dictatorial regime of Marcos this

organization was one of the major opponents of the Marcos dictatorship. However,

when Marcos offered to make special concessions for those who surrendered during

the 1973 uprisings he did get a response, a number of Muslim leaders surrendered.

From then on Marcos and the Philippine government attempted to maintain the

Muslim areas of the Philippines in their control by offering benefits for staying in the

Nation of the Philippines. For example, the Filipino government poured funds into the

Muslim areas to build roads and establish more electric power throughout the area.

There were also some reforms in the Filipino laws. There was a special section

inserted into the national laws pertaining to Muslim religious practices that

intermingle with state affairs such as marriage, and inheritance. However these

actions never succeeded in subduing many rebels. In the years leading up to now there

have been many more attempts to gain autonomy and establishments of more groups

like the MNLF who may have more or less radical views about how to gain

independence. Members of these movements have used a number of ways to get this

done, including everything from diplomatic appeals to terrorist tactics. As of yet

however the Muslims of the Philippines are indeed that; "Muslims of the Philippines".

Unfortunately because these Muslims are still a minority and maintain a very separate

lifestyle from the Catholic majority they do not tend to prosper as much as other

Filipinos. It has now come to pass that the aid that was promised to them years ago

was never completely given and as a result their economy is not as successful.

Therefore, Muslims in the Philippines maintain a unique situation as a minority in a

Catholic majority. It is also important to understand what the "civilian" Moros think

about their situation and how they have played a part in the politics of separatism.

    Those Moros who do not take an active role in fighting for separation form the

Philippine state have a unique position and, as will be seen, an influence from an

indigenous past. Just as the Christian Filipinos still hold views that are carried over

from their indigenous spiritual beliefs, so too do the Moros. In McKenna's discussion

of how Muslim Filipinos justify their fight as holy and see divine action, he describes

the following statement from a woman of the Campo Muslims: "The Pagali are large

crocodiles...In times past people would place food on the riverbanks as offerings to

petition them for favors. These stories are hundreds of years old but we have that

these spirit crocodiles still exist because they assisted the fighters during the

rebellion." (192) . The crocodile spirits (pagali) that the woman speaks of are

reflective of the indigenous elements of indigenous Filipinos spirituality that is still

present in their religious beliefs despite their being Muslim. This can be likened to the

similar situation of the Christian Filipinos who hold similar notions of spirits.

McKenna also mentions another popular kind of spirits that the local Muslim

population calls tunngu a inged. Theses spirits are described as only being visible

occasionally and often being invisible like the Bicolanos' tawo. These tunngu are said

to have assisted the armed rebels as well, and are thus viewed as divine assistance.

Yet again spirit who are not a part of the established Western religions (Islam or

Christianity) interfere in the lives of humans. The Moros are decidedly Muslim, Islam

is a major part of their identity and the politics of their lives, yet they still have

another part of their identity that is connected with their being Filipino and Southeast

Asian.

    In looking at the religions of the Philippines it is clear that the west has played a

major role. Both Islam and Christianity were brought to the indigenous people of the

Philippines by westerners who helped convert the Filipinos. Yet, in taking a closer

look at how Filipinos practice and understand their spiritual world it is clear that they

have created a unique combination of both western religions and indigenous spiritual

beliefs. It is important and valuable to understand that underneath the notion of the

Philippines as being decidedly Catholic there rests unique local elements that shape

Filipino religious life. Moreover it is also important to not overlook the fact that there

is a small minority Muslim population in the Philippines who have struggled for

separation from the state.

The Filipino’s religious devotions

By Randy DavidPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 05:21:00 01/13/2011

Filed Under: Religion & Belief, Belief (Faith), Churches (organisations), Culture (general), Social Issues

IT IS one of those enchanting events that vividly encapsulate the Filipino’s idea of what it means to live in this world. I refer to the annual procession of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo. But we may point to other equally popular religious devotions, like the fluvial procession of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, that have produced echoes in many nations, wherever Filipino migrants have found a home.

The view of the world and the philosophy of life that these devotions reenact may perhaps be summed up as follows: Life is hardship; we can only live by God’s grace. The more we suffer, the more we are blessed. The Creator decides our fate; we can only wish for it to be bearable. With him, everything is possible; we only need to make our wishes known. If they are granted, we must remember to show our gratitude by prayer and by mortification, at least once a year, but for the rest of our life. If God seems not to respond, we must not despair. He is listening, but he has reasons we cannot always fathom. At the right time he may speak to us through the voice in our hearts. God’s ways are mysterious; it is not for us to question him. We can only aspire to purify ourselves by learning how to suffer with him.

As Marx more or less put it, this is the sigh of the oppressed and the vulnerable in a highly unequal society. What it amounts to basically is a relentless rehearsal of dying and the cultivation of acceptance in a heartless world. What it demands is deep faith, more than good deeds; supplication and humility, more than personal striving. These devotions rest on a “metaphysics of presence”—the God we can touch, who is here and now, rather than the omnipresent Being we cannot see. Belief in the healing power of objects that can be held and kissed—religious images, garments, rosaries, scapulars—rather than in the liberating power of the Word.

The Spanish friars who brought Christianity to our shores in the 16th century, and grafted it onto the animistic faith they found in these islands, introduced a God that naturalized suffering, and rewarded passivity and submission. The same faith, however, gave our ancestors, throughout the long period of colonial rule, a chance to discover for themselves the redemptive power of solidarity, compassion and love. Today, it is difficult to imagine the unity of the Filipino family and that of our nation without this faith.

But though it fills our churches and sustains Christianity’s vibrant presence in our society, this folk religiosity is a cause for worry among the clergy. This may be gleaned from what Bishop Deogracias Yñiguez Jr. said on radio the other day: “The devotion we give to this statue (the Black Nazarene) should be properly understood. This does not have special powers, it’s just a representation of our Lord. When you believe it has special powers per se, that is when it becomes superstition.” To those who persist in getting as close to the statue as they can, only to get hurt in the process, the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, offers a timely reminder: “Distance is nothing to God…. It is the people who distance themselves, but if you call

on God, he will listen to you no matter how far away you are.” Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, the rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, goes into the heart of the matter: “There are elements of fanaticism that we have to correct and to control.”

Such admonitions have invariably fallen on deaf ears. The number of people who get crushed and maimed during the Nazarene’s procession rises every year. There has been a surge in the number of women and children who recklessly plunge into the frenzied and swirling crowds. A deadly stampede can happen anytime. The Catholic hierarchy is deeply aware of this, and wishes to avert such a tragedy.

But, more than the big accidents that are waiting to happen, it is the quality of the religious experience that distresses the Church. Many believe it is time that Filipino Catholicism moved away from the motifs of fatalism and helplessness, dependence on miracles, and the transactional religiosity that have characterized the practice of faith among our people.

This kind of religion, a vestige of feudal culture, will have diminishing relevance in a society that is becoming more complex, where the fulfillment of immediate needs is more possible than ever. Today, against the tide of materialism, the modern Church seeks a total spiritualization of everyday life. It speaks against the shallow compartmentalization of faith into which the naïve understanding of one’s religion so often leads. It calls on the faithful to search for the Gospel behind the rituals, the processions and the icons.

If the Church succeeds in the rationalization of religious belief and practice, it will radically transform the Filipino psyche. It will likely undermine the authoritarian foundations of our culture—the dependence on the benevolence of powerful individuals rather than on the importance of personal effort, collective struggle and social solidarity.

But, on the other hand, one can only wonder what a rational theology might do to a religious culture that has sustained our people’s religious devotions through 450 years of Filipino Christianity. It is precisely this religiosity, simple and deep, that has served as our people’s defense and necessity in an uncertain world. It is this same naïve faith that has permitted them to conquer their fears, and to say, whenever they feel most vulnerable, “Bahala na!”

Feast of the Black Nazarene: A Religious Devotion

On January 9 a huge procession would take place every year during the Feast of the Black Nazarene. It is by far the single biggest festival in the whole Philippines. It’s a fun event to watch, as a tremendously huge crowd of people, usually on bear foot to show their humility, would struggle to pull the carriage carrying the Black Nazarene.

Every year, when the Black Nazarene procession occurs, we can expect several dozens of people faint or pass out and are rushed to the nearby hospitals of the Quiapo District in Manila. If you plan to take part in the procession be forewarned that the crowd may at any time turn into a mob in a frenzy to get close and touch the Black Nazarene.

The Black Nazarene is a life-size statue of Jesus Christ. An Aztec carpenter carved it and it is now enshrined in the minor basilica of Quiapo in Manila, Philippines. Devotees to the Black Nazarene usually flock to church on Friday to pay their devotions. Today the statue has become dark-skinned thus the name Black Nazarene.

Augustinian Recollect friars brought the Black Nazarene to the Philippines on May 31, 1606 from Mexico. It was first placed and enshrined at what is now known as Rizal Park. The Black Nazarene was inaugurated on September 10, 1606.

A bigger recollect church was later completed and dedicated. By order of then Manila Archbishop Basilio Rufina the Black Nazarene was transferred to that church in Intramuros in 1608.

The Black Nazarene was able to miraculously survive the great fires of 1791 and 1929. It was also able to escape the 1645 and 1863 great earthquakes. During World War II, Manila was bombed but the Black Nazarene remained quite intact though it was damaged in 1945.

Today, during the Feast of the Black Nazarene, only a replica is brought out for the procession. You will also see smaller replicas of the original Black Nazarene in Quiapo Church.

For more than 200 years the Black Nazarene has been a figure of devotion for Filipinos of the Roman Catholic faith. People, especially the devotees, would crowd around the Black Nazarene and hope to touch the image believing it would heal them of various diseases.

Believers would even throw towels at the guards in the procession for them to wipe it on the Black Nazarene and toss it back. Devotees take the towels home believing it also has caught some miraculous power.

The Black Nazarene, with devotees dressed in maroon, is a spectacular sight. The sea of people joining in the procession is a mark of religious devotion for the majority of Filipinos.

Twenty Ways to Save Mother EarthHumankind is capable of saving the Earth if we stand by the principles of solidarity and harmony with nature - guaranteeing the fundamental participation of all citizens as active stakeholders at a national, regional and global level, writes Evo Morales.

16th December 08 - Evo Morales, Alternet

Sisters and brothers, today our Mother Earth is ill. From the beginning of the 21st century we

have lived the hottest years of the last thousand years.

Global warming is generating abrupt changes in the weather: the retreat of glaciers and the decrease of the polar ice caps; the increase of the sea level and the flooding of coastal areas, where approximately 60% of the world population live; the increase in the processes of desertification and the decrease of fresh water sources; a higher frequency in natural disasters that the communities of the earth suffer[1]; the extinction of animal and plant species; and the spread of diseases in areas that before were free from those diseases.

One of the most tragic consequences of the climate change is that some nations and territories are the condemned to disappear by the increase of the sea level.

Everything began with the industrial revolution in 1750, which gave birth to the capitalist system. In two and a half centuries, the so called “developed” countries have consumed a large part of the fossil fuels created over five million centuries.

Capitalism

Competition and the thirst for profit without limits of the capitalist system are destroying the planet. Under Capitalism we are not human beings but consumers. Under Capitalism Mother Earth does not exist, instead there are raw materials. Capitalism is the source of the asymmetries and imbalances in the world. It generates luxury, ostentation and waste for a few, while millions in the world die from hunger in the world. In the hands of capitalism everything becomes a commodity: the water, the soil, the human genome, the ancestral cultures, justice, ethics, death … and life itself. Everything, absolutely everything, can be bought and sold and under capitalism. And even “climate change” itself has become a business.

“Climate change” has placed all humankind before a great choice: to continue in the ways of capitalism and death, or to start down the path of harmony with nature and respect for life.

In the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the developed countries and economies in transition committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5% below the 1990 levels, through the implementation of different mechanisms among which market mechanisms predominate.

Until 2006, greenhouse effect gases, far from being reduced, have increased by 9.1% in relation to the 1990 levels, demonstrating also in this way the breach of commitments by the developed countries.

The market mechanisms applied in the developing countries[2] have not accomplished a significant reduction of greenhouse effect gas emissions.

Just as well as the market is incapable of regulating global financial and productive system, the market is unable to regulate greenhouse effect gas emissions and will only generate a big business for financial agents and major corporations.

The Earth is much more important than the stock exchanges of Wall Street and the world

While the United States and the European Union allocate $4100 billion to save the bankers from a financial crisis that they themselves have caused, programs on climate change get 313 times less, that is to say, only $13 billion.

The resources for climate change are unfairly distributed. More resources are directed to reduce emissions (mitigation) and less to reduce the effects of climate change that all the countries suffer (adaptation)[3]. The vast majority of resources flow to those countries that have contaminated the most, and not to the countries where we have preserved the environment most. Around 80% of the Clean Development Mechanism projects are concentrated in four emerging countries.

Capitalist logic promotes a paradox in which the sectors that have contributed the most to deterioration of the environment are those that benefit the most from climate change programs.

At the same time, technology transfer and the financing for clean and sustainable development of the countries of the South have remained just speeches.

The next summit on climate change in Copenhagen must allow us to make a leap forward if we want to save Mother Earth and humanity. For that purpose the following proposals for the process from Poznan to Copenhagen:

Attack the structural causes of climate change

1) Debate the structural causes of climate change. As long as we do not change the capitalist system for a system based in complementarity, solidarity and harmony between the people and nature, the measures that we adopt will be palliatives that will limited and precarious in character. For us, what has failed is the model of “living better”, of unlimited development, industrialisation without frontiers, of modernity that deprecates history, of increasing accumulation of goods at the expense of others and nature. For that reason we promote the idea of Living Well, in harmony with other human beings and with our Mother Earth.

2) Developed countries need to control their patterns of consumption -- of luxury and waste -- especially the excessive consumption of fossil fuels. Subsidies of fossil fuel, that reach $150-250 billion[4], must be progressively eliminated. It is fundamental to develop alternative forms of power, such as solar, geothermal, wind and hydroelectric both at small and medium scales.

3) Agrofuels are not an alternative, because they put the production of foodstuffs for transport before the production of food for human beings. Agrofuels expand the agricultural frontier destroying forests and biodiversity, generate monocropping, promote land concentration, deteriorate soils, exhaust water sources, contribute to rises in food prices and, in many cases, result in more consumption of more energy than is produced.

Substantial commitments to emissions reduction that are met

4) Strict fulfilment by 2012 of the commitments[5] of the developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least by 5% below the 1990 levels. It is unacceptable that the countries that polluted the planet throughout the course of history make statements about larger reductions in the future while not complying with their present commitments.

5) Establish new minimum commitments for the developed countries of greenhouse gas emission reduction of 40% by 2020 and 90% by for 2050, taking as a starting point 1990 emission levels. These minimum commitments must be met internally in developed countries and not through flexible market mechanisms that allow for the purchase of certified emissions reduction certificates to continue polluting in their own country. Likewise, monitoring mechanisms must be established for the measuring, reporting and verifying that are transparent and accessible to the public, to guarantee the compliance of commitments.

6) Developing countries not responsible for the historical pollution must preserve the necessary space to implement an alternative and sustainable form of development that does not repeat the mistakes of savage industrialisation that has brought us to the current situation. To ensure this process, developing countries need, as a prerequisite, finance and technology transfer.

Address ecological debt

7) Acknowledging the historical ecological debt that they owe to the planet, developed countries must create an Integral Financial Mechanism to support developing countries in: implementation of their plans and programs for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change; the innovation, development and transfer of technology; in the preservation and improvement of the sinks and reservoirs; response actions to the serious natural disasters caused by climate change; and the carrying out of sustainable and eco-friendly development plans.

8) This Integral Financial Mechanism, in order to be effective, must count on a contribution of at least 1% of the GDP in developed countries[6] and other contributions from taxes on oil and gas, financial transactions, sea and air transport, and the profits of transnational companies.

9) Contributions from developed countries must be additional to Official Development Assistance (ODA), bilateral aid or aid channelled through organisms not part of the United Nations. Any finance outside the UNFCCC cannot be considered as the fulfilment of developed country’s commitments under the convention.

10) Finance has to be directed to the plans or national programs of the different states and not to projects that follow market logic.

11) Financing must not be concentrated just in some developed countries but has to give priority to the countries that have contributed less to greenhouse gas emissions, those that preserve nature and are suffering the impact of climate change.

12) The Integral Financial Mechanism must be under the coverage of the United Nations, not under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other intermediaries such as the World Bank

and regional development banks; its management must be collective, transparent and non-bureaucratic. Its decisions must be made by all member countries, especially by developing countries, and not by the donors or bureaucratic administrators.

Technology transfer to developing countries

13) Innovation and technology related to climate changes must be within the public domain, not under any private monopolistic patent regime that obstructs and makes technology transfer more expensive to developing countries.

14) Products that are the fruit of public financing for technology innovation and development of have to be placed within the public domain and not under a private regime of patents[7], so that they can be freely accessed by developing countries.

15) Encourage and improve the system of voluntary and compulsory licenses so that all countries can access products already patented quickly and free of cost. Developed countries cannot treat patents and intellectual property rights as something “sacred” that has to be preserved at any cost. The regime of flexibilities available for the intellectual property rights in the cases of serious problems for public health has to be adapted and substantially enlarged to heal Mother Earth.

16) Recover and promote indigenous peoples' practices in harmony with nature which have proven to be sustainable through centuries.

Adaptation and mitigation with the participation of all the people

17) Promote mitigation actions, programs and plans with the participation of local communities and indigenous people in the framework of full respect for and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The best mechanism to confront the challenge of climate change are not market mechanisms, but conscious, motivated and well organised human beings endowed with an identity of their own.

18) The reduction of the emissions from deforestation and forest degradation must be based on a mechanism of direct compensation from developed to developing countries, through a sovereign implementation that ensures broad participation of local communities, and a mechanism for monitoring, reporting and verifying that is transparent and public.

A UN for the environment and climate change

19) We need a World Environment and Climate Change Organisation to which multilateral trade and financial organisations are subordinated, so as to promote a different model of development that environmentally friendly and resolves the profound problems of impoverishment.  This organisation must have effective follow-up, verification and sanctioning mechanisms to ensure that the present and future agreements are complied with.

20) It is fundamental to structurally transform the World Trade Organiation, the World Bank, the

International Monetary Fund and the international economic system as a whole, in order to guarantee fair and complementary trade, as well as financing without conditions for sustainable development that avoids the waste of natural resources and fossil fuels in the production processes, trade and product transport.

In this negotiation process towards Copenhagen, it is fundamental to guarantee the participation of our people as active stakeholders at a national, regional and worldwide level, especially taking into account those sectors most affected, such as indigenous peoples who have always promoted the defense of Mother Earth.

Humankind is capable of saving the Earth if we recover the principles of solidarity, complementarity and harmony with nature in contraposition to the reign of competition, profits and rampant consumption of natural resources.

Evo Morales is the President of Bolivia.