Before the Philippines was colonized by the Spanish and the
Americans, they were able to live a life uninfluenced by anyone but themselves.
The visit to Ayala Museum painted a picture for me to better understand what
the history of the Philippines was in the past, what the people were like and
what kind of lifestyle they had. It was history in contrast to the miseducation;
as I went through each display, I was able to see the gradual change the Philippines
went through from being an indigenous and independent country to slowly being
conquered and influenced by the power of other countries. Ayala Museum showed
the influence of America in the Philippines towards the end of the exhibition,
providing the beginnings of colonization. Through this week’s activities and
readings, it is depicted that colonial mentality and language is assumed to be
the means of survival for the Philippines in becoming attractive to the “global
market.”
One of the most important ways of becoming visible to the
global market is first becoming educated in what seems to be the best way
possible. The United States has developed the Filipino education in a way so
that they have power and influence over the people being educated. This is
their way of discreetly changing the mindset of the people. “Young minds had to
be shaped to conform to American ideas” (Constantino, 1982, pg. 179). It was
interesting to see the different college campuses present in the Philippines on
Monday, starting with the University of Santo Tomas because it was the first
Western university in the Philippines. Because it is a Western university shows
the beginning of miseducation in the country since it was controlled by the
Spanish and then the United States.
Going to Ateneo de Manila University after continued in giving me a
perspective as to how America has influence over the education in the
Philippines.
Meeting with the English department of the university for a
lecture made me curious as to what they were going to talk about, only to find
myself getting irritated. The professors mentioned how Ateneo de Manila plan on
getting rid of the Filipino classes in effect of globalization and wanting to
only have English speaking classes. They mentioned that Tagalog is a privileged
language, not a national language because of the fact that it is the Tagalog
spoken places that took part in the revolution to gain freedom. It is because
of this that Tagalog is the leading language. Even though Tagalog is the
privileged language, the professors of Ateneo de Manila said that English is
better fitted for the educational system in providing a better future for Filipino
students.
But why is American influence, culture and language needed for the Philippines to survive?
Although the United States is providing the Philippines a
chance to flourish with the influence of American culture and assimilation, this
same influence is giving the Filipinos miseducation, creating invisibility of
not knowing their own history and native languages. Instead, they are forced to
learn what it is like to become American through its culture and traditions, as
well as learning how to speak English. The United States didn’t believe that
the Philippines would not be able to self-govern their own country or give
their people the best education possible. But by what means is the best way to
educate someone? To America, the Philippines would be better off if the Filipinos
were educated to become Americanized. “There was no longer any need for
American overseers in this field because a captive generation had already come
of age, thinking and acting like little Americans” (Constantino, 1982, pg.
180). Using the same tactics they did in educating the Indians, the United
States went in and educated the Filipinos in their American culture and
traditions.
“‘The American scheme out here is to educate the Filipino for all he is worth, so that he may, in the course of time, be fit to govern himself according to American methods’” (Paulet, 2007, pg. 178).
The United States believed that the Filipinos were less than
civilized that wanted to transform the culture so that they would closely
resemble “what Americans were used to” (Paulet, 2007, pg. 179). They took over
and controlled everything, from education, to the government system, to the
culture of the people. Americans assumed that the Philippines was incapable of
making correct decisions. But our trip to Kawit, Cavite proved that their opinion
was incorrect.
Going to the Aguinaldo Shrine represented a reminder to me
personally of the freedom Emilio Aguinaldo helped gain from the Spanish. The Filipinos
were able to work together towards one goal, to gain freedom from the
Spaniards. Together, they created a plan and fought side by side until the Philippines
was able to proclaim independence on June 12, 1898. But there were times when
the Philippines did not prove their worth of self-government to the United States;
an example of this is when Ferdinand Marcos was president. We learned about him
while being in Tagaytay and how he was a solider for World War II; although he
had done many things for the development of the Philippines, people have said
that he could be depicted as a dictator and did not always see the best for the
country and its people.
How does American power in Filipino culture, education, and government have influence on Filipinos all over the world?
Having the influence of American assimilation in the Filipino
culture is difficult for one’s identity because they are unable to see and
understand the difference between true Filipino culture from the Filipino culture
that has been influenced by America. Filipinos alike share the problem of not
knowing how to be truly recognized and fight everyday with colonial mentality.
Kawayan de Guia presented his personal difficulties of proving to others that
he is Filipino, even if he is only half. Through his artwork, he expressed his resistance
and provided imagery to the Filipino people that he is one of them. It is hard
to be recognized as Filipino for him and he believed that his artwork was the
best way to show his Filipino side to people. His struggle to prove his
cultural identity of being Filipino relates back to Okazaki’s article The Colonial Mentality Scale (CMS) For Filipino
Americans: Scale Construction And Psychological Implications: A Review And
Recommendation because it talks about the problems Filipinos go through
because of colonial mentality. Okazaki talks about Filipino Americans invisibility
to society and psychology and studies why that is so. “Filipinos continue to be
regarded as the ‘forgotten Asian Americans’ or the ‘invisible minorities’ by
society and the psychological community” (Okazaki, 2006, pg. 241). If the Philippines
was to be able to change the system by getting rid of all American culture influence
and assimilation within the country, maybe it would not be as hard for Filipinos
all around the world to retain a better grasp of their cultural identity while
still finding a way to become present in the “global market.”
How do you assimilate to colonial mentality?
References:
Constantino, Renato. “Miseducation of Filipinos.” Vestiges
of War. Ed. A. Shaw and L.H. Francia.
New York Press: New York, 1982. 177-192. Print.
David E.J.R. & Okazaki. “The Colonial Mentality Scale
(CMS) for Filipino Americans: Scale
construction and psychological implications: A review and recommendation.”
Journal of Counseling Psychology. 2006. 53 (1), pp. 1–16.
Paulet, Ann. “To change the world: The use of American
Indian education in the Philippines.” History of Educational Quarterly, 2007, 47 (2), 173-202.
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