“Our elite inherited the colonial government structure while the mass of the inhabitants remained in economic, cultural and political subordination.”
by Ducky Paredes
The fact that an African-American has been chosen as the presidential candidate of a major political party is already a great achievement for the United States of America that gave its colored minority much of their freedoms only some forty years ago.
The idea that Barack Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother, has a real chance of becoming the American President makes the idea of America even more palatable to the rest of the world.
Our own experience with America in the Philippines started badly. After having been contacted by the American consul in Singapore, General Emilio Aguinaldo who was the president of a nascent Philippine Republic (in exile in Singapore and Hongkong), returned to the Philippines to lead his troops in support of the American forces that was due to invade the country. (The US was at war with Spain, our then colonial master.)
The American forces, with some help from the Pinoy troops won and Spain had to give up the country to the victorious American Republic. Almost immediately, war (the Americans called it an “insurgency” exactly what they now call the resistance in Iraq) broke out between the Americans and our troops.
As in Iraq, the Americans foolishly thought that they would defeat the Pinoys in from two weeks to a month. It did not happen that way. The fighting continued for several years. In the meantime, the Americans who started their Philippine adventure with the noble thought of spreading democracy to this part of the world, possibly in frustration over the unending hostilities, began to resort to torture and outright slaughter.
What saved the situation was the appointment of William Howard Taft to the Philippines. Taft persuaded Washington to return to its original purpose in coming to this country – that of spreading democracy. Taft moved for General Arthur MacArthur’s removal. Taft argued that, instead of treating Filipinos harshly as America’s enemy, the Pinoy should be regarded as America’s “little brown brother.”
That was also when America’s secret weapon for pacifying the Philippines was unveiled. The US brought over 500 pioneering American teachers. The third group of these teachers were on the transport ship, USS Thomas; thus, they were known as the Thomasites, which was the name the Filipinos used for even subsequent batches of American teachers.
(If you wonder why the Filipinos fought so fiercely on the side of America during the Second World War, it was the Thomasite teachers who inculcated in our fathers a love for America. The Spanish never really went for universal education in the Philippines. This is why Spanish was always a language of only the Pinoy elite, while English is understood — no matter how badly spoken — universally.)
Taft had already won the Pinoys over to the American side but Washington failed to notice this; instead, official America continued to harbor the attitudes that were brought about by their war with the Pinoys.
In 1912 Woodrow Wilson would win the Presidency. This was welcomed in the Philippines because the Democrats had always voiced anti-imperialist slogans. Those who were for immediate independence – most of the Philippine elite – were ecstatic over a President Wilson. It was Wison that set us on the road to eventual independence.
Wilson’s views on the Philippine had undergone changes over the years since 1898. First opposing annexation of the Islands, he later advocated a policy of American tutelage to prepare us for Democratic rule. The 1912 Baltimore platform, under which Wilson ran, called for “an immediate declaration to recognize the independence of the Islands as soon as a stable government can be established.”
The long term effect of Wilson’s presidency on us was to belatedly give Aguinaldo what he fought for. Wilson’s decision was to “cut and run” in a phased transition that would eventually deposit the Philippines in the hands of the illustrado elite. Our elite inherited the colonial government structure while the mass of the inhabitants remained in economic, cultural and political subordination. And so we remain today.
What underlines the failure of our American-style democracy is the Pinoy diaspora. There are twelve million overseas Filipinos. If we were a success, we would have had jobs for everyone in the Philippines. By comparison there are only 35 million overseas Chinese. Our overseas Filipinos are literally keeping the country afloat, providing 13.5% of total GDP, chiefly in sums sent to relatives. The subordinated keep the country afloat while the elite continue to rule!
How will an Obama (or, even along shot McCain) victory affect the Philippines? The reality of this present world is that whatever happens in America affects the rest of the world.
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We have a letter from someone who wishes to remain anonymous: “On subject cable project of Globe, which you featured in your Oct 24 column, Sorsogon and Samar should welcome this positively:
“First, it will accelerate their assimilation to the ICE age of the 21st century. Meaning, people will be exposed to Information (broadband internet, distance learning), Communication (broadband telephony), and Entertainment (up-to-date TV broadcasts and shows).
“Second, Singapore Tel has a sizable interest in Globe, and they have been laying out cables ever since. I am pretty sure that this work will be handled by their Cable Laying Ship, which is specifically built for this sole purpose. The submarine cable does not lie on the sea bed. It is buried beneath and properly anchored, to protect it from cable-gnawing sharks, prevent it from swaying with the strong undercurrents, and pose no danger to stupid ships with dragging anchors. Before physical work is done, cable plotters have already determined the exact route avoiding undersea hills, caves, and other similar obstructions.
“The idea is to lay out the cable in a more or less stable horizontal ground. As such, the route is never a straight line, in almost all instances. At a conservative rate of 10 lineal kilometers per day, cable laying is done in 17 days.
“Third, once in service, this cable can be utilized as a service-restoration alternative in case other cables going south to Visayas and Mindanao conks out, preventing communication blackout in times of emergency.
“And lastly, if the government finally computerizes elections, this is one route that is already solved.
“I read Malaya everyday and I’m glad you’re into everything.”
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hvp 11.04.08)
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