Institutions like schools and the media play a great role in legitimizing what are “proper” (and thus more prestigious) uses of language, but often simply echoing previously drawn lines of asymmetrical power relations between haves and have-nots.
Ever heard of that song by Dionne Warwick and later revived by Luther Vandros - A House is not a Home? That is how I can describe what the Meranaw people feel about the rehabilitation efforts of President Rodrigo Duterte and the Task Force Bangon Marawi to Marawi City.
When they killed Ate Beng, it was not only her body that they were trying to destroy; they were after her ideals. By thinking that a bullet could pierce through an established principle, a member of the CAFGU shot Benjaline Hernadez near the head when her hands were clearly raised.
If our religious practices now really revolve around a genuine sense of community and equal love to all our sisters and brothers, then there should be less and less room for flashy manifestations of grandeur and affluence.
