BLOG WEEK #2: Never Forget

This week was a reality check to the privileges of being American as well as a history lesson to the contributions of Filipinos. In Ileto’s (1998) The Philippines-American War: Friendship and Forgetting, he discusses the Philippine-American War in a different perspective from the mainstream American History. He argues, “The linear history of either the revolutionary struggle or colonial progress is interrupted by the “duality” of much of Filipino behavior during this particular war. Thus the ease of its forgetting.” (Ileto, 1998, p. 17). The deceitful as well as kind behavior of America has created the idea of the Philippine-American War as a non-event in history and created mixed feelings for Filipinos towards their relationship with America.

Twain’s (2002) essay titled, To the Person Sitting in the Darkness, is referencing the way Western countries colonized third world countries who are considered to be in “darkness” or uncivilized. Often in American historical literature, the Filipinos were written to be savages unable to handle the responsibility of being an independent nation. Twain’s piece helps to further reinforce America’s two-faced relationship with the Philippines, as they acted as both friends and colonizers (Zinn, 2008, p. 58). Twain says, “There must be two Americas: one that sets the captive free, and one that takes a once-captive’s new freedom away from him, and picks a quarrel with him with nothing to found it on; then kills him to get his land” (Twain, 2002, p. 64). Ileto (1998) and Zinn(2008), both explain the way America planned a mock war (The Spanish-American War) as a way to help the Filipinos believe that they we’re helping them in their fight for their freedom from Spain. But instead, America had other intentions of using the Philippines for their profit and as a stepping stone to China’s market (Ileto, 1998, p. 6). This resulted in the many Filipino fatalities from those that resisted the American troops. To call the Philippine-American War, “the splendid little war” fails to acknowledge the many deaths and the torture the Americans put upon the Filipinos, such as the Balangiga massacre or even the abuse/harassment faced by women during this particular war period (Ileto, 1998, p. 16)

It frustrates me because the Filipinos were blamed and degraded for not submitting themselves to the power of America. Their behavior of resistance was framed to be a “misguided, even stupid, rejection of a gift of further enlightenment instead of a suppression of their revolutionary and nationalist dreams” (Ileto, 1998 p. 14). This is an example of how often American history favors the western perspective and frames it as the colored person’s problem. It is never the fault of white society because they are deemed to be righteous and true (Twain, 2002, p. 67). The kindness of America is remembered because even after America had destroyed the Filipino land and killed many Filipino people, the Philippines had no choice but to rely on the resources of America in order to survive the epidemic of cholera, breakdown of agriculture, and lack of food (Ileto, 1998, p. 13) This reliance on America is what has contributed to the forgetting of all the negative actions of America as well as all the positive/resistant contributions of Filipinos during the Philippine-American War.

The way that the Filipino leaders had no choice but to surrender to America in the Philippine-American War in order to stop their people from being tortured, harassed, and dying relates to our class lecture with Ms. Shaw. During lecture at PWU, we talked about US films taking over the Philippine film industry and how film producers have to sacrifice their interests in film production in order to meet certain standards/survive in the mainstream industry of film in order to make a living (Shaw, 2014). Additionally, this idea of surrendering connects to the pressures of minorities, such as Filipino Americans, assimilating to the American ways of life that is constructed to be superior and giving up their own culture in order to fit in with the rest of the dominant society.

Ileto (1998) says, the “ultimate surrender took the form of a rather quick forgetting” (Ileto, 1998, p. 17). I believe it is very important to make an effort to not forget our history and bring light to the hidden contributions of Filipinos in any way we can. One way we can do this is continuing to give students access to readings that acknowledge a perspective not commonly given within American mainstream history lessons. In Campomanes’ (2014) lecture, he also talks about the lack of access to Filipino American literature for Filipinos in the Philippines and the importance of having this type of Filipino American literature for them to read. Ileto’s (1998) reading includes many historical events and major contributions of Filipinos in their fight for independence from Spain as well as in the Philippine-American War that is not commonly addressed. For example, he talks about Filipino heroes in the war, such as the colonels of Tiaong like Norbento Mayo and Ladislao Masangcay (Ileto, 1998, p. 9). These are people I have never heard about before, which was nice to read about other Filipino heroes being acknowledged instead of just hearing about the deemed national hero, Jose Rizal. The more Filipino historical information taught allows Filipinos and Filipino Americans to have more pride in themselves. Another way to not surrender to the dominant society is practicing of Filipino arts and culture, such as Arnis.

Arnis is the Filipino martial arts as well as the national sport of the Philippines. It is practiced throughout the world and in our second week, we were fortunate enough to experience it in full force (literally). Through the guidance of Master Rey, we were taught the basics of Arnis and after only 2 days of training, we then competed in an Arnis tournament with Taiuig City University. Even though I lost my Arnis battle, I still felt really honored to be a part of the tournament and being able to participate in an art that the Filipino people take a lot of pride in. Coincidently, the tournament was the same day as the independence day of America, July 4^th (eventhough it was actually July 5^th in the Philippines due to being 15 hours ahead of America). So as my Facebook friends were posting “Fourth of July” related statuses/pictures, I found myself being immersed into the Filipino arts and gaining a respect for my Filipino identity. My American identity was for a moment pushed to the back of my brain, but it would not be too long until I was reminded again about the privileges of being American.

After reflecting on the readings by Zinn, Ileto, and Twain, I still have very conflicting feelings towards America and my identity as a Filipino American. I am a citizen of a country that hurt the Filipinos, who are my people. But at the same time, I have been given many opportunities through my life in America. I am straddling between being a proud American and a proud Filipino. I will continue to be aware of my privilege as an American and never forget the history of the Filipino people. 

Discussion Question: How do you define homeland? Is it the place of your ethnic decent or the place you were born? 

Works Cited

Campomanes, O. (2014). Celebrity Cohort Phenomenon. 
[PowerPoint Slideshow]. Retrieved from the Philippine Women’s University.

Ileto, R.C. (1998). The Philippine-American War, Friendship and Forgetting. 
In Shaw. A.V. & Francia, L.H. Vestiges of war. (pp. 3-21). New York: New 
York Press.

Shaw, A. (2014). Art Gallery Presentation. [PowerPoint Slideshow].  
Retrieved from the Philippine Women’s University.

Twain, M. (2002). To the person sitting in darkness. In Shaw, A.V. & Francia, 
L.H. Vestiges of war. (pp. 57-68). New York: New York Press.

Zinn, H. (2008). Invasion of the Philippines. In A people’s history of American 
empire. (pp.53 -72) NY: Metropolitan Books.