Know your history, know yourself.

    Knowing the history of the Philippines prompts me to know more about my own history and it makes me realize how much people across the world have in common. One of the most important things I learned through this program is that knowing your history is an important part of understanding who you are. And even though I am not Filipino, I learned a lot about myself on this trip. Maybe I am a little Filipino, maybe all of us who carry the burden of colonization have some Filipino in them. One of the things that I have always asked myself and which was relevant this last week was the following: why do people leave their countries to look for a better future elsewhere? Why did my mother choose to risk her life to give me a better education in the United States? Why do Filipinos leave the country, risking their lives for their family’s well-being? 

     This is not as simple as saying that the reason why people leave is because the situation back home is very bad. It is so much more than that; as we learned during our visit to Migrante International. Countries like the United States promise a better future for people and governments back home take advantage of them. In the Philippines, for example, a Filipino who wants to leave has to pay a fee to leave the country and a percentage of their paycheck thereafter. The atrocities which Filipinos endure abroad are unspeakable. What struck me the most was when Mr. Martinez told us that some Filipinos prefer to work abroad in slaved conditions then to return home to the starvation that many people are faced with. I was shocked to hear this and wondered about all the horrible things my mother had to go through so that I could be where I am today. Filipinos and Mexicans have a lot in common; both groups are thought of as the servant population. They take the jobs that people don’t want, the jobs that pay the least and require the most work. 

     The struggles and history of each group is unique, of course, but the similarities cannot be denied. Do Filipinos discriminate other Filipinos who are less “civilized” or less American than they are? I cannot speak for Filipinos but I can say that this happens among Mexicans. I grew up working in the orchards with my parents picking apples, pears, and cherries. I saw hundreds of workers interact with each other every summer and could see the discrimination of our people. At the Mexican consulate people are treated like garbage as well. The colonizer has done a fine job in pitting those they consider to be “minorities” against each other. A lasting effect that I believe has its roots in the development of a new nation. For example, according to Albinales, Muslims in the Mindanao Province were seen as backward children that needed protection from the Filipinos in Manila who discriminated against this group. Albinales (2002) claims, “American colonial racism functioned as a shield for non-Christian groups like the Muslims against a Filipino racism believed to be more powerful and sophisticated” (p. 92). Coming in as the savior gave Americans the chance to take control of the government. The U.S. army did not believe Filipino governance competent enough to successfully integrate the Muslim community in civilization and using the history between the Moro people of the south and the Spaniards against Filipinos made it easier for the U.S. army to take control of the Mindanao region. Not trusting the people with their own governance, using misconstrued historical events to their advantage, and planting the seed of incompetence in Filipinos added a layer to the Colonial Mentality spectrum which Filipinos are still struggling with today. The reinterpretation of historical events and degradation Filipinos have suffered at the hands of the colonizer are not enough, there are still physical reminders of American colonialism such as University of the Philippines emblem and the Filipino flag itself. Engraved in stone the words of Aguinaldo as he declared independence from the Spaniards reads as follows:

And the eagle on the UP emblem represents the American bald eagle, of course. 

What is done cannot be undone, but this does not mean that history should be forgotten or ignored. Filipinos should know about those who fought for the people—for the idea of independence. Even those who were not Filipino joined the cause. Not all Americans went into the Philippines to shoot on command. Through historical figures, such as Fagen, an African-American soldier, we learn that some men fought against American imperialistic ideals (Ontal, 2002). It is a hard choice to fight for one's nation or to fight for one's freedom when they are both constructs created by the oppressor. Yes, I believe freedom is a social construct. The desire to be free is not born of nothing; something has to be doing the oppression for the desire to arise. In my mind, freedom implies captivity. Once the need to fight for freedom arises, what does one do? Filipinos have been resisting by keeping native traditions and revolting against the colonizer, but is American Exceptionalism winning or are people still fighting? And if so, is what they are fighting for today that which they were fighting for decades ago? I would like to further explore these questions in my final blog.

Abinales, P. (2002) An American colonial state: Authority and structure in Southern Mindanao. In A.V. 

       Shaw & L.H Francia, Vestiges of war. (pp. 89-117). New York: New York Press.

Ontal, R.G., (2002). Fagen and other ghosts: African-Americans and the Philippine-American war.

       In A.V. Shaw & L.H Francia, Vestiges of war. (pp. 118-133). New York: New York Press.