A Second Look at Quezon City
Seeing the
Unfamiliar in the Familiar
by Patricia Gaw, SA21 Section G
Strategy: I did all the tasks in a span of two days – 1 on the Tuesday of the
4-day weekend and the other on Wednesday. I already had places to be on Tuesday
so I made use of the morning and late afternoon of Tuesday for fieldwork. I
chose to visit the market in the morning since that’s the usual time people go
there to shop. I went to the churches and the cemetery in the afternoon since I
had to be in Katipunan right after and the churches were the closest to my
destination. On Wednesday, I made use of my 4-hour break to visit the rest of
the places – first the Vargas Museum in UP Diliman and then to Tomas Morato and
Balete Drive. Basically, my strategy was taking into consideration the free
time I had for the day and trying to see which tasks would be doable with the
given time. I considered proximity and peak/lean hours for each destination.
Mapping it Out
Key Informant/s of Person/s Interviewed: Florence Gaw (mom, Quezon City resident), Peter Gaw (dad, Quezon city
resident)
I did not use a map because my parents knew Quezon City quite well already and I just asked them where the places I wanted to go were. This is a more accurate map of Quezon City with some of the economic (orange), political (green), religious (purple) and tourist spots/landmarks (blue) areas marked.
Sociological reflections: Based on the social
map, I observed that the economic areas in Quezon City are the ones with the
most foot and street traffic around. It is from this that we can deem Quezon
City as one of the economic hubs in Metro Manila. There are a lot of tourist
spots here. Based on the research methods taught to us, I picked a topic by identifying
where I want to go and did the succeeding steps such as reviewing related
literature or checking existing sources in the internet about the places in
order to extract the best and most accurate information about them. I also made
sure to practice the correct research ethics when interviewing or simply
talking to the people I met and asked information from.
Personal reflections: Personally, I found
it quite easy to go around Quezon City mainly because I had the help of my
parents who’ve been living here for quite some time now. I didn’t have such a
hard time locating the places mainly because most of them were places I’ve
actually been to in the past and are therefore quite familiar to me already.
Tags: #mapping #researchmethods #ethics
Church Hopping
Key Informant/s or Person/s Interviewed: Staff member in charge of Baptisms (Christ the King Church),
maintenance and security guard (St. Pio of Pietrelcina Chapel), Elder Dupaix
and Sister Dupaix (Manila Philippines Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints)
St. Pio of Pietrelcina Chapel
Christ the King Church
Manila Philippines Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Sociological reflections: By visiting not
just Catholic churches but a Mormon church as well, I think I was able to
witness a good example of differences in culture, values and beliefs. Although
both Churches affirm the existence and providence of a Trinitarian God, there
were still some notable differences between the two Christian religions. Catholic
churches are open to everyone, even those of different religions. Mormon
churches on the other hand are only open to Mormons. What surprised me was that
even Mormons had limited entrance to their temples. A Mormon could enter only
if he/she had what they call a ‘Temple Recommend’, a piece of paper indicating
that you’ve been a faithful Christian and that you are worthy of entry into the
temple. This ‘Temple Recommend’ is given to you if their local bishop deems you
worthy and it is renewed every 2 years to ensure that all those who enter the
temple religiously perform the sacraments and are living honorable lives. I was
also surprised upon finding out that Mormon masses last around 3 hours, having
1 hour for the actual ceremony and the rest of the time for communal sharing.
Some Catholics can barely even offer a third of that time to the Lord.
Given that I come from a different religion
and a different culture from the Mormons, I was not allowed to enter their
temple. I thought that because of this, I wouldn’t be able to get much
information during my visit; however, what happened was far from what I
expected. I left their office premises with what was practically a bird’s eye
view of their faith. Unlike the people I talked to from Catholic church
offices, the Mormons were very much knowledgeable about their religion and were
actually very enthusiastic telling me about it. I guess this is mainly because
of their culture. For a person to enter a Catholic church, you need not be a
“good” Christian. In fact, you need not even be Christian to enter. There are
minimal limitations for people to be able to receive the Sacraments – even
criminals are allowed to receive Communion! In the Mormon religion however,
only those deemed worthy are allowed to enter the Temple are receive the
Sacraments, hence putting more pressure on the Mormons to be “good” Christians.
Mormons follow church teachings more seriously and generally pray more
fervently, probably because they grow in an environment where what you do
really matters and you have a bishop evaluating you every 2 years. Mormons have
around 2 hours of sharing every week and so they don’t only learn from what is
taught during their mass but also from fellow churchgoers’ experience, honing
in them a more personal kind of faith and not just one of blind obedience. Because
of Mormon culture, beliefs and norms, Mormons grow up to be more fervent with
regards to their faith as compared to Catholics who grow up in a more lenient
religious environment.
Personal reflections: The 3 churches I visited,
although of very close proximity, were very different from each other. The
churchgoers of all three come from more or less the same surrounding
subdivisions; however, the appearance and reputation of each play a part in
segregating these people into the different parishes. The Christ the King
Church, with its grand interior and exteriors attracts the more elite class to
go to mass there. The profile of churchgoers in Christ the King ranges
primarily from the middle class all the way up. The St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Chapel with Padre Pio as its patron saint attracts people with sicknesses and
disabilities and other devotees hoping to receive miracles. Because of this,
churchgoers span from the lowest to highest classes in society. It’s impossible
to miss the Manila Philippines Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints along Temple Drive mainly because of its size and unique
exteriors. Based on the exteriors alone, it is quite obvious that this is a
Mormon church and so their churchgoers are obviously Mormons.
After my visits, I found my local parish
(Christ the King) to be quite mediocre in terms of communal faith as compared
to those in St. Pio and the Manila Philippines Temple. I expected to get the
most information from my local parish but ended up gathering the least because
the security guards, maintenance and even the people from the office were not
knowledgeable about even the most basic facts about the church. After not being
able to answer most of my questions, the seemingly annoyed staff member dug up
a book from one of the cabinets and handed it to me, telling me to refer to it
instead of asking her questions because she didn’t know the answers anyway.
This experience left me frustrated and equally disappointed. It prompted me to
question the kind of people we have in my local parish, people whom I expected
to be the epitome of good Christians but did not seem to be so during our brief
encounter.
Jesus Christ clothed in fine robes
Grand interiors of the Christ the King Church
When I visited the St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Chapel, the people there were a little bit more knowledgeable about the origins
of their church and their devotion to Padre Pio. They were able to answer some
of my questions only and suggested that I visit their website since most of the
basic information about their church is already stated there. Although Christ
the King had grander interiors and more polished exteriors, I really admired the
ambience in St. Pio’s Chapel mainly because of the incorporation of personal
bits of their churchgoers into the chapel premises, giving off a more genuine
kind of communal faith and not one of blind obedience. Faith was very much
evident in the physical appearance of the church alone. You could see hundreds
of testimonials on the chapel walls from people who’ve become witness of Padre
Pio’s miracles and thousands of different rosaries offered by devotees in the
patio. Aside from these, the church also had other amenities such as the
audio-visual area and a gift shop where churchgoers could learn more about St.
Pio. You could see that they were very much open to spreading his miracles to
even more people.
Testimonials of devotees along the walls of the chapel
There is actually a hole where you can put your hands in to touch the Padre Pio statue's hands
Life-size images of Padre Pio and Jesus Christ at the patio with thousands of rosaries offered by devotees and churchgoers
The Manila Philippines Temple of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was the total opposite of Christ the King.
I expected to gather the least information from this Church, mainly because I
am not a Mormon. Although I was not allowed to enter the Temple grounds, I can
say that I was able to acquire a deep enough knowledge of the Mormon faith
because of Elder and Sister Dupaix, a couple that entertained me when I went to
the office right in front of the temple. Unlike the staff from the 2 Catholic
churches, this Mormon couple entertained me with so much enthusiasm. They
actually expressed to me how thrilled they were that I came over for an
interview. They were very much willing to lend me almost an hour of their time
where they answered not just the questions I had listed but also the questions
I came up with on the spot out of my curiosity, allowing me to leave with more
or less a sufficient understanding of what used to be an unfamiliar religion to
me. They even gave me pamphlets, their church’s monthly newsletter, a Mormon
Bible and other material for me to read at home and even gave me their numbers
if I had any more questions. Because of my visit to this Mormon church, I began
to question the kind of believers we have in the Catholic Church, even to the
point of questioning my own faith. I was shamed of how passionate and well
informed the Mormons were as compared to Catholics.
This was the farthest I could go in the Temple premises
Freebies I got from my visit to the Mormon office
Tags: #religion #church
#culture #norms #beliefs #values #Catholic #Mormon
Dead Man’s Chest
Key Informant/s or Person/s Interviewed: Crypt cleaner
The oldest tomb I could find (1906)
The newest tomb I could find (2012)
Sociological reflections: One sociological
idea I can connect with this task is George Herbert Mead’s idea that humans are
actively shaping social environment and being shaped by it. The culture and
norms from every generation are purely manmade ideas that are constantly changing
alongside the change in how humans think and perceive things. It is for this
reason that I think cremating the deceased came into wider acceptance through
the years. In the past, people used to burry those who passed away in the
traditional way in actual cemeteries. Burning the bodies of dead relatives did
not seem right to other people. However, by virtue of globalization and the
exchange of ideas from culture to culture, cremation was slowly imbibed by
Filipinos and is now widely accepted as a way of burying the dead. Here, we see
humans as shapers of society. However, we see that humans are also being shaped
by society since with these new ideas, more and more crematoriums and
mortuaries were put up in order to accommodate those that have accepted the
idea of cremation. The development and acceptance of such idea played a role in
the actions of people.
The older area of the mortuary, still with many tombs unoccupied
The newer area of the mortuary with many also unoccupied
Personal reflections: The
decade with the highest mortality was in the years 1991-2010, probably because
this mortuary is relatively new and so most of the cremated bodies placed here
are from those who’ve died in the past decade. The idea of cremation was not
widely accepted in the past so most people before the 90’s probably had their
deceased relatives buried in actual cemeteries. According to the staff, the few
tombs from those who died in the early 1900’s were merely transferred to the
mortuary from other cemeteries.
The names of the deceased in
this mortuary are a mix of Filipino and some Chinese. This is probably because
the surrounding subdivisions (White Plains, Green Meadows, Acropolis, St.
Ignatius, Corinthian Gardens, Corinthian Hills) have both Filipino and Chinese
residents and it is they who go to Christ the King for Mass. To them, it’s more
convenient to burry the deceased in their local parish for purposes of
proximity rather than having them buried in farther cemeteries. Others have
opted to transfer deceased relatives from other cemeteries to the Christ the
King Mortuary for this purpose as well.
Tags: #GeorgeHerbertMead
#culture #norms #cremation
Art of War
Key Informant/s or Person/s Interviewed: Man at the front desk of Vargas Museum
Outside the Vargas Museum in UP Diliman
Sociological reflections: When I visited Vargas
Museum, the current exhibit was entitled LUPA: Struggle for Land. This exhibit
was a very clear and obvious depiction of social conflict. Marx’s idea of
social conflict is very much evident in the artworks. The paintings clearly
depicted conflicting interests between those with rural work and the indigenous
people as compared to those from the government and those who’re highly
urbanized. Injustice, competition, inequality, and reform were evident themes
in almost all the displays. Because of such conflict, what the artists are
working towards is social change for these rural people.
Changing Rice Fields (2009) by Pablo Baens Santos
No Trespassing (2012) Ted Camahalan
Annuit Coeptis (2011) by Iggy Rodriguez
Personal reflections: There
were no artists around when I visited Vargas Museum so the man at the front
desk was the one who gave me the basic information about the exhibit. According
to him, the exhibit pieces change every 1-2 months and so the contributors are
not always local artists who live in Quezon City. When I visited, the current
exhibit was entitled LUPA: Struggle for Land. There were many artists that
contributed their works in this exhibit and according to the man at the front
desk, these artists feel strongly about land reform, acting as the voice of the
silenced peasants, indigenous people, workers, fisher folk and urban poor. Some
of the artists like Mel Vera Cruz and Renato Habulan did not have any first
hand experience with regards to land reform but were able to depict it
perfectly with mere observation. The paintings and artworks in the exhibit were
distinctly Filipino because of the physical features of the people painted, the
use of images such as the carabao, the jeep, and indigenous clothing.
Glass art outside Vargas Musuem
Tags: #KarlMarx #Marxist
#socialconflict #socialchange #inequality #landreform #VargasMuseum #art
Market Match
Key Informant/s or Person/s Interviewed: Lanie Miranda (vegetable vendor)
Lanie and I outside her stall
Lanie's vegetable stall. She also sells consumer goods like the other vendors.
Fruits section
Meat section
Seafood section
Personal reflections: Personally, I found it quite
awkward going to the market because a lot of people were staring at me as I was
walking. I think it was quite obvious to them that I wasn’t a frequent visitor
there at Farmer’s Market and so I received a lot of stares from the vendors and
even fellow shoppers. I think this was partly because I had a pen, paper and a
camera with me and I went around taking pictures of what they were selling,
something that was probably unordinary and out of the market norms. I think in
a way, what I was doing was some sort of deviant action for them.
Before leaving Farmer's Market
Tags: #socialconflict
#competition #norms #deviance #folkways #participantobservation
Q.C. Cuisine
Key Informant/s or Person/s Interviewed: Peter Gaw (frequent visitor)
Sociological reflections: There
is no native/local dish in Quezon City. Quezon City is a highly urbanized
locality with a mix of different local and foreign cultures that have
influenced the type of food and restaurants we have here. We’ve adapted the
ways of those around us, creating a global culture here in Q.C. I opted to
visit Tomas Morato to research on local food since this busy strip has a lot of
different restaurants, suitably representing the cultural mix in terms of food
in Quezon City. Some of the restaurants in Tomas Morato are Chowking (Chinese),
RYU Ramen & Curry (Japanese), Finio (Filipino), Yellow Cab (American), Pho
Hoa (Thai), Don Henrico’s (Italian). This strip is one of the clear images of
Quezon City as a melting pot of urban cultures.
By the Tomas Morato street sign
Personal reflections: Personally, I had a really
hard time trying to think of what exactly the local/native food for Quezon City
was since it is such an urban place. I asked a lot of people and the common
answer I usually got was “May ganun ba?”
In the end, my mom was the one who suggested that I head over to Tomas Morato
since it is the perfect example of how Quezon City food is just really a mix of
everything. The people who moved here from other cities, provinces and even
other countries brought their own flavor to Q.C. and so we now have a
gastronomic mix of different cultures here.
Just some of the restaurants along Tomas Morato
Tags: #food #culture
#globalculture #diffusion
Spooky Streets
Key Informant/s or Person/s Interviewed: Peter Gaw (frequent visitor)
By the Balete Drive sign
Sociological reflections: The
most popular scary place in Quezon City is probably Balete Drive where a veiled
lady in white, otherwise known as the White Lady, often makes an appearance at
night. This White Lady is said to have appeared between 12:00am – 3:00am, most
commonly to taxi drivers, either on the road (as if asking to hitch a ride) or
inside the actual vehicles. Other people say that Balete Drive is also haunted
or guarded by its former dead Spanish owners. The Balete Tree or “puno ng balete” which Balete Drive is
named after is also believed to be home or refuge to not just the White Lady
but also to the “kapre”, “aswang” and “dwende”, all of which are integral characters of Philippine horror
culture.
With the presence of these
horror stories, one might think of culture as constraint. Because of Philippine
horror culture, our choices become limited out of fear. Although we are still
unsure as to whether or not these creatures truly exist, there are some people
who really believe in their existence and such belief affects their actions.
Some people avoid driving alone at night or coming home too late out of fear of
seeing or being attacked by these scary creatures. Here, we see how cultures
shapes and affects human action.
Personal reflections: Honestly, I’m a scaredy-cat.
I really dislike horror movies and ghosts and so it was a good thing that I
went to Balete Drive during the day. The place didn’t look scary to me at all
but I remember passing there at night when my family and I would eat in Tomas
Morato for dinner and getting creeped out, not so much because of how the place
looks but because of the stories my friends used to tell me about the place.
Although the place doesn’t look scary to me at all, I can’t help but imagine
seeing things and fearing for my life because of the stories at the back of my
head. Even when I got home and was reading about Balete Drive, I got so scared
that I opted to go to bed already and just read again the next day when I
wasn’t alone anymore. Haha! As I was taking pictures by the street sign of
Balete Drive, I noticed cars slowing down, perhaps getting weirded out that my
picture was being taken there, more so by someone on the other side of the
road. Even the guard left his post to check out what I was doing there. I guess
in a way, what I was doing was a deviant action to them.
Awkwardly posing by the sign, trying not to get much attention
Tags: #culture
#Philippinehorrorculture #norms #deviance
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