(The Wide Shot) Join the Aglipay Revolution

“Errol, it’s me (Errol, that’s it),” I whispered to our videographer, Errol Almario, as we covered a religious ceremony a week ago.

A few minutes before that, I had told Errol that we needed to capture a unique practice of this local church in the Philippines. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), which separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1902, sings the Philippine national anthem during its Masses. I expected this, but I didn’t know at what point in the Mass to expect the singing to be heard.

So when I heard the first notes of the Lupang HinirangI quickly signaled to Errol, who then rushed closer to the altar so we could get a better view.

At that point in the Mass, Bishop Maximo of the IFI, the equivalent of a Catholic pope, raised the bread and wine to eye level for the entire congregation of more than 1,000 people to see. The IFI leader closed his eyes while the other bishops in the church opened their hands and gestured toward the bread and wine, considered the Body and Blood of Christ.

(Watch the exact scene in the YouTube video below.)

Ah, when I heard it, my heart leapt and I couldn’t explain the feeling. I was as moved as when I first heard the IFI, also known as the Aglipayan Church, sing the Lupang Hinirang Palm Sunday, March 24.

The song had an even greater significance last Saturday, August 3, as it was the IFI’s 122nd anniversary.

The Filipinos’ most exalted song and the IFI’s most sacred act of worship (which mirrors the highest form of worship for Catholics like me) have proven to be a potent, soul-stirring blend. The invisible forces of religion and nationalism, as scholars would tell us, can be powerful (and sometimes explosive) motivators for good or evil.

It was like a call to join a different kind of revolution.

We Filipinos can learn a lot from the IFI, a local church known for its nationalist roots.

The creation of the IFI was proclaimed by labor leader Isabelo delos Reyes of Vigan, Ilocos Sur, on August 3, 1902. It was part of a freedom struggle that began when Filipinos revolted against their Spanish colonizers—including the oppressive Roman Catholic friars—in the late 1800s.

Gregorio Aglipay of Batac, Ilocos Norte, a former Roman Catholic priest excommunicated in 1899 for his revolutionary activities, became the first Obispo Maximo or supreme bishop of the IFI.

Early IFI members rejected the second-class treatment of Filipino priests that arose from a context in which Spanish friars controlled Catholic parishes. As Aglipay stated in a November 16, 1902, manifesto: “The time has come for a Philippine National Church for the Filipino people, led by the Filipino clergy. Years of oppression by the friars have made this imperative.”

The IFI was also born out of a desire to defend workers’ rights, in the context of the inequalities of the time.

It was in fact during a meeting of the Union Obrera Democratica (Democratic Workers’ Union) that Delos Reyes proclaimed the creation of the IFI.

Bishop Godofredo David, formerly Bishop Maximo, noted to Rappler in a March 2024 interview that the reason for their separation from the Roman Catholic Church “was not doctrinal.” The IFI, for its part, maintains the sacraments and keeps statues of saints. The reason for their separation “was the excesses of the colonizers represented by the (Catholic) Church.”

Those who first heard the IFI proclamation, he stressed, were workers, mainly in the printing sector, who “knew about unfair labor practices.”

The IFI, which has more than 640,000 members, continues its strong tradition of human rights to this day.

David said that is why the IFI motto is for God and for the countrywhich means “for God and for the country.” He said in Filipino: “We cannot just pray and pray while the Filipino masses continue to be poor and oppressed. For us, worship and activism go hand in hand.”

The current Obispo Maximo of IFI, Joel Porlares, told us more about their church during an interview on the occasion of their 122nd anniversary last August 3. Honestly, I thought it would be a brief surprise interview, but Porlares, the most requested person at IFI that day, graciously welcomed us into his Manila office and sat down for a 17-minute interview about the Aglipayan Church.

Recalling the founding of the IFI in 1902, Porlares said in Filipino: “The IFI was the voice of the voiceless at that time. And even today, we would like to be in that place.”

Porlares said that the motto of the IFI is for God and for the country because “first and foremost, we offer this ourselves to God” and secondly, “we would like to serve our people.”

He continued: “For, as Christ said, how can one serve God if one does not even respect his people? To respect God is therefore to make him present in one’s compatriots, one’s human brothers.”

I asked Porlares what he thought of people who say priests should stay away from politics and activism because the church is their place of privilege.

“These people don’t understand the mandate of Christ. What did Christ say? ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’” Porlares said, adding that this includes loving people of other faiths. “When it comes to loving your neighbor, do you choose them? Do you choose to love only people of the same church?”

“You can’t choose your neighbor,” he said. “So love can’t be selective.”

(Watch our interview with Bishop Maximo Joel Porlares below.)

It is because of this militant stance that many IFI bishops and priests have been targeted by the government for their alleged ties to communists. This practice, called “red-tagging,” was particularly widespread during the bloody regime of Rodrigo Duterte, but it continues today under Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Porlares disputed the accusations of red-tagging supporters, but said he was proud that his church stands up for the oppressed.

“I would take it as a crown – to represent, as supreme bishop, a church where bishops, priests and members are red-tagged. It’s an honor, to tell you the truth. Because we would like to be the voice of the voiceless, in the same way that Gregorio Aglipay did back then,” he said.

His statement reminds me of the words of Father Pedro Arrupe, former superior general of the Jesuits, the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church. He is best remembered for promoting “a faith that does justice.”

In a 1973 speech to alumni of a Jesuit high school, Arrupe said that Jesuits should be forming “men for others” (now phrased as “men and women for others”) in Jesuit schools. These are men and women “who cannot even conceive of the love of God that does not include love for the least of their neighbors.”

They are “men and women who are totally convinced that God’s love that does not translate into justice for others is a farce.”

I believe this is also the heart of the Aglipayan Church. for God and for the country.

Although I am a Roman Catholic and have no intention of converting to another faith, I deeply admire the Iglesia Filipina Independiente for expressing the love of God through love of country.

The Aglipay revolution, more than a century of defending the poor and the oppressed, challenges us all. – Rappler.com