Week 2: Invisibility

Louie Vital

Philippines Study Abroad

July 8, 2014

Week 2- Theorizing American Occupation

Invisibility

            In this second blog post, I will discuss the invisibility of the Filipino-American struggle, the invisibility of colonial rhetoric, the subconscious invisibility of assimilation, and the less visible dependent relationship between the United States and the Philippines.

Unfairly Exalted

Why do people question my repatriation? It’s the country I was supposed to grow up in. It’s my home too.

At The Philippine Women’s University, we attended a lecture by Dr. Oscar Campomanes. He discussed the Celebrity Cohort Phenomenon. (Campomanes, 2014) He describes the “extreme visibility” of Filipino-Americans as they self-repatriate to the Philippines. I’m glad Campomanes recognizes the separate entity that is the Filipino-American because we truly have our culture separate from Filipino-Filipinos. However, our own struggle is glossed over because of our tendency to be unfairly exalted.

Listening to Campomanes, I felt as if his narrative ignores the struggle of my intersecting identities. During the discussion section of the lecture, a PWU student commented on Fil-Ams ability to use English to their advantage in order to get jobs in the Philippines. I decided to speak up. Why are we exalted anyways? We did not earn the credentials to become exalted. I just happened to be born and raised in America but that does not mean I am anymore or less deserving of visibility than a Philippines-born Filipino. This is the essence of privilege. Without asking for such visibility or privilege, I receive them. Living in the United States with Filipino ancestry suspends me between the two countries. Neither the U.S nor the Philippines can fully be my home.

Sometimes, as a result of this exaltation, we are unfairly discriminated against. Some folks may be understandably jealous or threatened by our privileged origins, and the extreme visibility and attention we receive as a result. Perhaps they associate Fil-Ams with monetary privilege and a life free of struggle. This encourages the invisibility of Fil-Ams’ struggles. I really appreciated Cristian’s response to Campomanes’ lecture. She mentioned how she does not want Filipinos to be threatened by Fil-Ams. She suggested both parties have empathy to enable a relationship or dialogue. Dialogue is essential for a relationship; how can Fil-Fils empathize with Fil-Ams without recognizing the invisibility of our struggle?

Perhaps I envy “Filipino-Filipinos” because they don’t have to worry about conflicting ethnicities and nationalities. They are aware they are Filipino and that they are from the Philippines. They grew up in a place where others looked similar to them.

Engineering Consent

Earlier this week, we visited Intramuros, the center of Spanish colonial occupation in Manila. There, we visited a shrine dedicated to Josè Rizal, the Filipino national hero that inspired the revolution against the Spanish empire.

From my professor, Dr. Andresen, I learned that Americans named Rizal the national hero, not the Filipinos. The shrine itself did not readily have this information. The government wanted the people to emulate the pacifism of the hero, not to mimic a militant spirit that could threaten the government’s power. It is crucial information that is often overlooked or never discovered. The absence of this information is testimony to the devious yet subtle manipulation of the colonizers. They control the people with celebration; appointing a national hero is a joyous event. In that moment, it would be difficult to see the true intent of controlling the masses.

This careful orchestration to quell uprisings before they happen reminded me of the concept of engineering consent. According to Ewen (1996), engineering consent is the orchestrated but subtle manipulation of the publics’ beliefs and habits in order to support the goals of the government. This is done through public relations campaigns involving images or messages with emotional appeal.

            The act of selecting a pacifist leader as opposed to a revolutionized militant is a conscious decision to sway the public’s inclination towards accepting the current form of government and the accompanying colonialism.        

Engineering consent is also achieved through the conscious manipulation of rhetoric. Zinn (2008) and Andresen (2012) reveal how certain rhetoric was implemented into the colonial narrative to ease assimilation of the colonized. For example: war vs. insurrection, concentration camps vs. protected zones, and amigo warfare vs. colonialism. The omission of heavy negatively connoted rhetoric was intended to disguise the magnitude of colonial power.

Assimilation & Acculturation

At the Philippine Women’s University, Dr. Angel Shaw showed us the artwork of her students. During the art gallery, we participated in a discussion of assimilation and acculturation. I was aware of the concept of assimilation but acculturation was new to me. I learned acculturation is the opposite assimilation. Assimilation is a subconscious change in behavior or appearance in order to fit in with the dominant culture whereas acculturation is the conscious resistance of assimilation. (Shaw, 2014) It is immersing yourself in your own culture while resisting the overpowering dominant culture.

Acculturation is the point of this trip. By choosing to participate in this study abroad program, I am consciously acculturating myself. Learning Arnis for two days and competing in an Arnis tournament was a conscious act of acculturation. I envisioned my people fighting courageously against fire and muskets. They must have been very courageous and persistent to get rid of the “the little Spanish garrison” (Twain, 2002, p. 65)

I am only now discovering what kind of person I am when I am not assimilating.

Colonialism, Religion and Dependency

On July 7^th, I attended church with my father. He came all the way from Seattle to surprise me. He was born and raised in the Philippines but had not returned since before my birth. I was the reason he was forced to stay in America, but now as an international student, I am the reason he has returned home.

            Attending mass in Tagalog with him was a great experience. Throughout mass I wondered if the Spanish empire had not colonized us, would we be practicing an indigenous religion? Religion is a strong testament to the effects of colonialism. Thousands of miles away, the mass in Tagalog was basically identical to mass in English in my hometown. I am excited to attend mass in Spain when I visit next month.

The colonizers were aware of religion’s powerful permeating effect. Ileto describes how formal speeches given by colonials were “preceded by the pealing of church bells.” (Ileto, 1998, p. 13) Colonials exploited the respect and sanctimony that accompanies church bells. Associating themselves with a holy entity worked to legitimize their actions as “saviors”. It worked to establish a relationship of dependency. (Ileto, 1998) The exploitation of religion for the sake of credentials was performed in the name of sanitation, Christianity, and progress: the scapegoats of colonialism. (Zinn, 2008)

I find this interesting since America was dependent on Filipino forces to destroy the Spanish fleet (Twain, 2002, p. 65). We, as a people, were completely manipulated. Unknowingly, we helped our colonizers conquer our own countrymen. Our labor was exploited so we could be colonized. The Americans were dependent on Filipinos then succeeded to force a relationship in which the Filipinos were dependent on them. (Ileto, 1998)

            It is interesting to watch my father return home to the country he left 20 years ago. He told me that everything is so different. Many buildings have become developed; there is more urbanization, more progress. The rapid growth is reminiscent of colonial “interest of Progress and Civilization.”  (Twain, 2002 p. 66) I wonder how much the Philippines would have “progressed” had our colonizers not intervened in our natural narrative.

Works Cited:

Andresen, T. (2012). Knowledge construction, transformative academic knowledge, and Filipino American identity and experience, In E. Bonus, E. & D. Maramba, (Eds.) The “other“ students: Filipino Americans, education, and power. Charlotte, NC: IAP.

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

 

Ewen, S. (1996). PR!: a social history of spin. New York: Basic Books.

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.