Introduction

The Philippines is the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia, with over 92 million adherents in 2010 or over 86% of the population (Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA], 2015; Miller, 2017). Evangelicals, Protestants and nationalist Christian churches form another variant to make Christianity the dominant religion in the archipelago. Since the introduction of Catholicism in the 16th century under the colonial rule of Spain, the Philippines have offered a unique perspective of gender roles and equality with the intersections of indigenous, colonial and modern overtures that remains visible today. In the 21st century, these intersections are significant aspects to examine the role of religion in the lives of women, and how it is negotiated under present social and economic conditions where Filipino women are said to be living in the most gender-equal country in Asia.

The Philippines has lain at the crux of imperialism and globalization of American influence in Asia since the beginning of the 20th century, and the introduction of popular education and the labour market economy facilitated a certain push towards gender equality. By 2015, the Philippines ranked seventh in the world based on the gender gap index measured in terms of economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment by the World Economic Forum (2015); the only Asian country on the top list and even beating the United States (ranked 28), Canada (ranked 30), Australia (ranked 36), and Japan (ranked 101) of 145 countries. This top ranking of gender equality in an economically poor country in the South East Asia region offers a ‘puzzle’ (Quimbo, 2014), and rightly so relative to the index ranking of economically richer countries. It would seem that the Philippines is a paradox, having both high religiosity and gender equality at the same time. Consistent with the theme of this book, the situated realities of women in the Philippines provide a lens to examine the ways in which Catholicism retains its hold in society yet those who embrace it find new ways to negotiate their subjective identities. Its global ranking of closing the gender gap, or leaning towards gender equality, is a compelling factor to understand the intersections of gender and religion in the Philippines.