ABSTRACT
The Philippines is considered the 12th most populous country in the world, with the population estimate for 2007 at 89 million (National Statistics Office, Republic of the Philippines, n.d.). The Filipino is basically of Malay heritage, but many are partly of Spanish, Chinese, American, or Arab ancestry and are sometimes called mestizo for their mixed heritage (Abigan, 1998). Eighty percent of the population is Roman Catholic, the Spanish colonization’s lasting legacy (Republic of the Philippines Official Web Site, n.d.).
