Jaime C. Bulatao
Born(1922-09-22)September 22, 1922
Paco, Manila
DiedFebruary 10, 2015(2015-02-10) (aged 92)
Occupation(s)Jesuit Priest, Psychologist, Professor
Parent(s)Dr. Emilio Bulatao and Encarnacion Ungson
Fr. Jaime Bulatao's room in 2018

Jaime C. Bulatao (September 22, 1922 - February 10, 2015), called "Father Bu" by his students and coworkers, is a Filipino Jesuit priest and psychologist.[1] He is one of the co-founders of the Ateneo de Manila University's Department of Psychology and the Psychological Association of the Philippines.[1]

Biography

Early life

Jaime “Jimmy” Carlos Bulatao was born in Paco, Manila on September 22, 1922. His father, Emilio Bulatao, headed the Physiology Department of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. When his family fled their home due to the carpet-bombing of the Philippines in the Second World War, Butatao's father allegedly brought with him nothing but his research papers. His mother, Encarnacion Ungson, was a public-school teacher before she married.[1] Bulatao had three older siblings: Josefine “Jo” Ungson Jayme, Rodolfo “Dodoy” Bulatao, and Elisa “Ely” Ungson Quizon.[2] They grew up in Lingayen in the province of Pangasinan, where Bulatao was first taught by Belgian nuns.[3]

Education

Bulatao attended St. Theresa's College in Manila for kindergarten.[1] His parents wanted him to go to La Salle for grade school; however, he insisted on going to Ateneo Grade School against his parents' wishes. After further learning about the school, and meeting Fr. John Hurley, Bulatao's parents allowed him to attend.[4] He graduated high school in 1939 as a valedictorian.

Hurley inspired him to become a Jesuit.[5] He entered the Jesuit novitiate in Novaliches at the age of 16,[6] leaving behind his 'childhood sweetheart,' Faley Honzales.[7] He was ordained in 1952.[1] Bulatao then attended Woodstock College in New York, where he obtained a theology degree.[1] For his post-graduate studies, he attended Fordham College in New York and received an MA in experimental psychology, and later a PhD in clinical psychology, with a focus on Comparative Physiological Psychology.

Languages

Bulatao taught himself the basics of several languages, including French, Japanese, and conversational Chinese. During the 1980s, when the Philippines was under martial law, Bulatao used his knowledge of French to prevent the arrest of Psychology Department secretary Susan Cellano by Marcosian intelligence agents.[1]

Teaching

Bulatao began teaching in 1946 at Ateneo before leaving to pursue his postgraduate studies at Fordham. He returned to the Philippines in 1960 and helped establish the Ateneo de Manila's Department of Psychology, where he taught for more than four decades.[7] He also helped found the Psychological Association of the Philippines. In 1964, he co-founded the Philippine Guidance and Personnel Association along with colleagues from various local universities.[1]

He was known for his hypnosis classes, in which he would tell his students to “fly” through astral travel. Ateneo School of Government dean Antonio La Viña, recalled: “Following that hypnotic voice, I once traveled to a friend's balcony and asked for forgiveness from that friend for having hurt her. And sure enough, a week or two later, a letter from that friend came, telling me I was forgiven.”[8]

Research and interest in the supernatural

Bulatao introduced the concept of group dynamics to the Philippines, and wrote The Technique of Group Discussion in 1965. He stressed the importance of understanding the Filipino psyche, undertaking studies on the psychology of Filipino culture and the phenomena surrounding spirituality and consciousness. As a clinical psychologist, he aimed to find the type of therapy that worked best in the cultural context of the Philippines, experimenting with different alternatives that combined both his knowledge of Western methods and his understanding of the local culture.[9]

Despite being a Catholic priest, Bulatao was known for his fascination with the mystical and supernatural. He was most interested in mediumship, hypnosis, and extra-sensory perception (ESP). His interest began when he visited Thailand during the early 1970's where he was introduced to Buddhist monks and their meditation techniques. He began to search for a clinical explanation and to research the effects of this method on one's psyche with a focus on the Philippines. He was in contact with spiritistas (exorcists), faith-healers, and youths who were thought to be possessed. His focus on studying these phenomena was not readily accepted, but his work paved the way for the "Bulatao Method", which combined supernatural and theological questions.[10] He regularly carried a pair of L-shaped dowsing rods he referred to as the “Rods of Moses," which he used to answer questions from students, as well as allegedly find concentration energy fields, and locate missing objects.[11]

Later life and death

In 2010, it was alleged that then-senator and presidential candidate, Benigno Aquino III, underwent a psychiatric evaluation by Bulatao in 1979 that showed he suffered from depression, which some claimed made him psychologically unfit to seek the presidency.[12] This so-called "Bulatao Report" was released and spread through chain mail.[13] Bulatao, however, denied that he wrote and signed the report, claiming it to be false.[12]

By 2008, Bulatao had been diagnosed with both dementia and emphysema.

Bulatao died at Ateneo's Jesuit Residence on February 10, 2015, at 8:25PM after a four-day hospital stay. The University did not detail the cause of death.[8] After a funeral Mass at Ateneo de Manila University's Church of Gesu that began on February 11, he was laid in the Sacred Heart Novitiate cemetery in Novaliches, Quezon City on February 14, 2015.[6]

In a memo after Bulatao's death, the Psychology Department stated that although Bulatao received many awards for his contribution to psychology, he believed that his greatest achievement was teaching.[6]

Awards and honors

Bulatao received several awards for his work.

  • Achievement Awardee of the Philippine National Science Society (formerly NRCP) for 1987.
  • National Social Scientist Awardee of the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC) for 1990.
  • Gawad ng Pagkilala by the Pambansang Samahan ng Sikolohiyang Pilipino for 1990.
  • National Book Awardee for the Social Sciences by the Manila Critics Circle for 1992-1993.
  • One of Quezon City's Most Outstanding Citizens for 2008
  • President Emeritus Award from PGCA (Philippine Guidance and Counseling Association) in 2006

Published works

  • Hiya (1964)[14]
  • The technique of group discussion (1965): Eighth reprint, March 1999.[15]
  • Split level Christianity (1966): In 1966, Bulatao defined it as “the coexistence within the same person of two or more thought-and-behavior systems which are inconsistent with each other. [16]
  • The finger abacus (1966)
  • The self and the group; theory and techniques of self-discovery groups (1967)[17]
  • The Manileno's mainsprings (1970)
  • Inculturation, faith, and Christian life (1976-1978)
  • Phenomena and their interpretation: Landmark essays, 1957-1989 (1992): Using observation, this book shares descriptions of various phenomena of religion, consciousness, and culture, to show the inner and outer lives of Filipinos.[15]
  • Hypnosis and hypnotherapy (2000)
  • Therapeutic Tales: healing, hypnotherapy, and Father Bu (2010): A compilation of articles written by therapists, counselors, teachers and students of psychology. All the contributors are ex- students of Bulatao .[15]
  • Consciousness mapping: exploring your relationships through the star matrix (2010): Consciousness maps, according to Bulatao, are "maps of human relationships, especially of relationships that come from the distant past and are deeply etched in our heart and mind. It begins to take form at birth as a baby reaches for his mother's breast".[15]

Legacy

Mira Ofreneo, one of Bulatao's former students and the current dean of the Psychology Department, wrote a poem for him in 2013 entitled “GURU”.[18]

The Psychological Association of the Philippines named a teaching award in his honor.[19]

Ateneo de Manila University named their Psychological Services center after Bulatao.[20]

In 2019 Jesus Enrique G Saplala published Learning to Learn: psychological musings with Fr Jaime C. Bulatao, SJ., a biography of, and conversations with, Dr Bulatao.[21]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Montiel, Cristina Jayme (2015). "Rev. Fr. Jaime C. Bulatao, SJ: 1922–2015". Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints. 63 (2): 295–300. doi:10.1353/phs.2015.0009. S2CID 181885606. Project MUSE 580859.
  2. ↑ "Jaime". geni_family_tree. 22 September 1922. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  3. ↑ Desiree (2012-04-19). "Demystifying Father Bu". Fearless Princess. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  4. ↑ Chinoys. p. 2.
  5. ↑ Pau (12 June 2017). "Jaime Carlos Bulatao, SJ: "It was a big fire and the Ateneo was still burning when my parents and I arrived."". Elements Magazine. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  6. 1 2 3 "Fr Jaime C Bulatao SJ, 92". Ateneo de Manila University. 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  7. 1 2 Desiree (2012-04-19). "Demystifying Father Bu". Fearless Princess. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  8. 1 2 II, Paterno Esmaquel (14 February 2015). "Jesuit psychologist Jaime Bulatao: 'Seer of hearts'". Rappler. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  9. ↑ "Fr Jaime C Bulatao SJ, 92". Ateneo de Manila University. 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  10. ↑ de Leon, Jose. "Father Bulatao: Sage or Scientist?". The Guidon: 5.
  11. ↑ "'Father Bu,' parapsychologist, signs off". Inquirer Lifestyle. 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  12. 1 2 "Ateneo priest denies conducting psych evaluation on Noynoy". GMA News Online. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  13. ↑ "The Bulatao report". The Manila Times Online. 2018-03-10. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  14. ↑ Bulatao, Jaime (June 30, 2008). "Philippine Studies".
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Bulatao, Jaime". WorldCat Identities. January 1, 1965. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Split Level Christianity". Rappler. 15 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "Bulatao, Jaime". January 1, 1965.
  18. ↑ "Psychological Association of the Philippines". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  19. ↑ "Bulatao Teaching Award | Psychological Association of the Philippines". www.pap.org.ph. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  20. ↑ Ateneno Bulatao Center for Psychological Services
  21. ↑ Library and Archives Canada website
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