The Filipino People
Now let us see what kind of people the Filipinos were. It is essential to know the psychology of the community. No opinion is so valuable for the present case than that of the missionary above cited, who says the following about the psychology of the Filipino.
As a people who are ignorant and with but little culture, the Indios are bound to have considerable superstitious beliefs which they practice, unconsciously deceived by medicine men, who are the ones who keep alive these ridiculous traditions of their ancestors, without knowing the reasons for what they do (p. 261).
They (the Indios) are deeply superstitious, a thing which is revealed in all their acts.
Citing the words of Dr. Lacalle, Father Ruiz says:
To pretend that a people taking the first steps on the road of civilization, and that in their religious acts manifest themselves in their acts as religious, severe, cultured and real thinkers, is absurd in the extreme (p. 348).
And he adds what follows:
We should not lose sight of the fact that the Indio is a child badly educated, but a big child completely developed in his passions. He acts not from conscience but from fear; he is moved not by reasons but by impressions; a friend of novelties and spectacles, he acts to the tune of the various impressions which he receives. Naturally he is inconstant and flighty, desiring one thing and another, now liking what he formerly disliked, without firmness nor stability in anything, without knowing many times what to like, nor what befits him. Such is the Indio briefly sketched.