A Review of Fray Botod by Graciano Lopez Jaena

Fray Botod, meaning Big-Bellied Friar, is a character sketch written by Graciano Lopez Jaena's epithet of 1874 about a Spanish priest who used a religion to punish and abuse others and to satisfy himself with food, money, and women. He caricatured the typical friar of the day as lazy, indifferent, greedy, and lustful. The name of the fraile is derived from the word "Hilagaynon" which means "high" or bigger stomach due to excessive food. 

This is a fascinating description of the person performed through the dialogue of a Filipino and a liberal Spanish friend. The bad habits of the fraile were discussed in different situations, such as gambling, mass and feast, politics, lying and bribery, grave food intolerance, late afternoon sleep, and punishing. Some of the traits were the precense of immoral relations with women, intimidations and punishment of  students, neglecting her priestly responsibility for gambling, and cruel punishment for an Indio worker who ha not worked with him for three days because of his sick wife