More than 86 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various nationalized Christian sects, and 2 percent belong to more than 100 Protestant denominations. In addition to the Christian majority, there is a vigorous 4 percent Muslim minority, concentrated on the southern islands of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan. Scattered in isolated mountainous regions, the remaining 2 percent follow non-Western indigenous beliefs and practices. The Chinese minority, although statistically insignificant, has had a cultural influence in coloring Filipino Catholicism with many beliefs and practices of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The pre-Hispanic belief system of the Filipinos consisted of a pantheon of gods, spirits, creatures and men who guarded streams, fields, trees, mountains, forests and houses. Bathala, who created the earth and man, was superior to these other gods and spirits. Regular sacrifices and prayers were offered to appease these deities and spirits, some of whom were benevolent and others malevolent. The wooden and metal images represented ancestral spirits, and no distinction was made between the spirits or their physical symbol. Reward or punishment after death depended on behavior in this life. http://asiasociety.org ©2016 Asia