| Due to its diverse colonial history, Filipino customs and traditions are equally as diverse. Some traditions have been eroded by modernization but a lot of them are still noticeable and can be traced back to colonial ancestry. For example, the "fiesta" or the celebration of a town's patron saint's feast day is a direct carry over from Spanish times. Once a year, Philippine towns hold huge feasts to celebrate this event which is next only to Christmas and New Year's Day in order of importance.
The Philippines proudly boasts to be the only Christian nation in Asia. More than 86 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various nationalized Christian cults, and another 2 percent belong to well over 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 been culturally influential in coloring Filipino Catholicism with many of the beliefs and practices of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
Some of the major holidays in the Philippines is Moriones Festival, Masskara Festival, Pahiyas Festival, amd Higantes Festival. The Moriones Festival is a Passion Play staged during the Holy Week, the Masskara Festival is held every October 19. This festival is being celebrated in Bacolod in Negros Occidental. The "Masskara" reflects the people's love for "the sweet life." As for the Pahiyas Festival is In honour of the patron saint of the farmers, San Isidro Labrador, the four towns of Quezon province hold a Harvest festival, where natives create various colourful trimmings and hang them outside or around the facade of their houses, and the Higantes Festival is being celebrated every November 22-23 in Angono town of Rizal province.
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