This is not a new development in the Philippines. In the 1990s, my colleague, Dr Ricardo Abad, documented a notable shift in the attitude of Filipinos toward the Bible. In 1991, a national survey showed that 55% of Filipinos agreed that "the Bible is the actual word of God, and it has to be taken literally word for word." The figure went up to 72% in 1998. The most recent data shows that it was 75% in 2008.