Blog #2: Claudette

The second week focuses on resistance. Resistance can take on many forms and played a big role during the struggle to gain freedom from the third colonizers of the Philippines: America. With the readings from Ileto, Zinn and Twain plus the visit to Intramuros and classes from PWU, I was able to conclude that resistance during the war wasn’t enough to free ourselves from America. Resistance by Filipinos should be continuous even now.

 This week we went to PWU to attend a lecture by Dr. Oscar Campomanes. He focused on the gap between Filipinos and Filipino American literature/history and the topic of why Filipinos from foreign countries come back to work here in the Philippines (such as celebrities) and why no one has questioned them. One of the readings gave me an idea of why that might be. Reynaldo Ileto wrote about the Philippine-American war, which shows that if all the Filipino Americans know about the war and the history of the Philippines as a whole, they might start questioning this occurrence. He wrote, “Remembering of a gruesome war of occupation and resistance would only undermine the myths of the special Philippine-American relationship that prevailed throughout the twentieth century” (Ileto 3). I believe that those who reside in the Philippines accept them is because of this “special relationship”. As a nation, it can be seen as a natural thing to happen since Philippines basically sees the United States as a role model. To remind a nation that their role model was their oppressor might not settle in their minds peacefully, but in order to gain true freedom, it must be addressed. Resistance shouldn’t stop after we were given an independence day.

We also went to Intramuros and visited the museum of Jose Rizal: the national hero of the Philippines. It had things such as a timeline of his final days, artifacts of the different occupations he had like doctor, scientist and sculptor, and other bits and pieces of his life. He was wrongly accused and was executed by Filipinos with Spaniards holding guns behind them. This is resistance as well because even if his trial was unfair and unjust, he remained honorable until the end. Mark Twain wrote in the point of view of the Americans during the war and pointed out the fact that no matter what the colonizers were doing, the resistances from Filipinos remain. He wrote “Bad, because it would not, and could not, and will not now or ever, deceive the Person Sitting in Darkness.” (Twain 6) The person sitting in the darkness is the Filipinos who are not on the favored side or are the victims. Though they are at a disadvantage by being in the “dark”, Filipinos like Rizal never succumbed to the oppression and served their people and their nation in their own ways. Filipinos now should learn from this and continue to resist the oppressors from not only from foreign countries but locally as well.

Art can be a form of resistance because it is a means of communication that is discreet, yet powerful. We went to PWU again this week but this time to see the arts of the students of Angel Shaw. One of our readings as well, had art in it, in a form of a comic or cartoons. Howard Zinn made a cartoon about the Philippine-American War. This art gave Americans faces that made them look really evil. I believe that itself makes this art powerful because it may seem as if it might just be informative, but if you look at the details it has, it might be sending a different message. Zinn didn’t try to sugar-coat what the Americans did. For example he says “ American troops used the water cure to interrogate Filipino prisoners, forcing water down their throats until they nearly drowned. Torturers then ponded the victims stomachs to make them talk,” (Zinn 17). He even put a picture of this, which proves that it is indeed true. Though he might not be of Filipino descent, he is able to prove the resistance of Filipinos through his art. This art gives us all a message that the struggle against freedom for Filipinos was a horrendous and tough battle, which a lot of people might not be aware about because of the superficial relationship the two countries have now.

Throughout this whole week, I was continuously surprised by what the gruesome things I was learning about the Philippine-American war. I never learned about the casualties and the unjust “game” they were playing against people who were defenseless. Learning about the different forms of resistance that Filipinos did against the colonizers is something I feel very proud about. It made me inspired to spread awareness of what really happened because the educational system in America might have left out this history from Filipino Americans to glorify the United States or to cover their dirty work. Though I am currently frustrated about this fact, I look forward to learning more in this upcoming week.

Discussion Question: What do you think of the celebrity population being predominantly Filipinos from foreign countries?

Works Cited

Ileto, Reynaldo. "The Philippine-American War, Friendship and Forgetting." Vestiges of        war. New York: New York Press, 1998. 3-21. Print.

Twain, Mark. “To the Person Sitting in the Darkness.” Vestiges of war. New York: New York Press, 1998. 57-68. Print.

Zinn, Howard. “Invasion of the Philippines.” A people’s history of American empire”. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2008. 53-72. Print.