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Santo Niño as Conqueror
WHEN the Iberians came to control the Philippines , it was not really the Spanish soldiers who conquered the islands but the friars or missionaries who belonged to the religious orders. Control of the archipelago was only fully effected not through arms but through the use of the Catholic faith and its various ceremonies that displayed pomp and pageantry.
Due to the use of religious ceremonies and sacramentals, the early Filipinos easily abandoned their anitos in favor of the Christian deity and saints who were also portrayed in human form. The foreign deity then became a Filipino deity. Thus, in one of the churches in Manila , one would see an image of the Christ Child dressed in the conqueror's garb being venerated by Filipinos. This is the Santo Nino Conquistador.
The Pista Senor 2007, we are reminded of an event that came down into history where the Santo Nino de Cebu, the divine Child, was invoked to conquer a rebellious people.
Tamblot's Rebellion The story is about the rebellion led by Tamblot in the province of Bohol in 1620, a few years after the reestablishment of Spanish rule in the country. Tamblot, a native priest, supposedly encouraged the Boholanos to throw off Spanish yoke and convinced the people that they were "assured of the aid of their ancestors and diwatas, or gods." To prove this, "the priest went with some of the more trusty among them, cut a bamboo with a small knife and wine gushed forth.
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