| The Philippines: an American colony? By Antonio C. Abaya July 9, 2002 Is the Philippines an American colony, as the pro-communist columnist Conrado de Quiros often laments, just because the Arroyo Government has allowed some 1,300 American soldiers to be stationed here, most of whom are leaving by end of this month? Of course not. Are South Korea and Japan American colonies just because the US has stationed there, since the end of World War II, semi-permanent garrisons that presently number 36,565 and 40,159 servicemen, respectively? Of course not. Are Germany and Italy American colonies just because the US has also stationed in those two former enemy states, also since the end of World War II, large contingents that presently number 69,203 and 11,190, respectively? Of course not. Are Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia American colonies just because the US has stationed, respectively, 2,006, 4,602 and 7,053 troops, sailors and airmen in their territories (plus thousands of tanks, APCs and combat aircraft, in the case of Saudi Arabia) to prevent Saddam Hussein from trying again to corner the oil wealth of the Persian Gulf, and possibly to actually try to overthrow him, in the near future? Of course not. Are Spain and Iceland American colonies just because they have allowed 2,007 and 1,636 American airmen and sailors, respectively, to be posted in their territories to facilitate the movement of US forces to actual or potential theatres of operations in the Middle East? Of course not. Are Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina American colonies just because there are 5,427 and 5,708 American troops there, respectively, as part of multinational peace-keeping forces to prevent the further massacres of minority Muslims? Of course not. (The data above come from the US Department of Defense as published in the 2002 World Almanac and Book of Facts.) So why do Filipino communists and pro-communist �nationalists� get hot under the collar over the presence of a mere 1,300 Americans, most of whom will be gone by the end of the month, as previously programmed? It has to do with their anger and frustration over the central role played by the Americans � in Europe, in Asia, in Africa and in Latin America, but most specifically in the Philippines � in blocking their socialist revolution and the allegedly inevitable triumph of Communism, which is an unshakeable article of faith of all good Marxists and Marxist-Leninists. Nothing hurts like having one�s religion shown up to be a sham. ***** The Philippines, of course, did become an America colony following the US victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898 (and the collapse of organized Filipino resistance in the subsequent Philippine-American War). Guam and Puerto Rico were also ceded by a defeated Spain to the US in 1898 and have remained American territories (or colonies) since, while the Philippines regained its independence in 1946. If, as alleged, the Philippines has again become an American colony in all but name, then our per capita income should be close to those of Guam ($10,834) and Puerto Rico ($9,882), instead of hovering in the cellar around the $1,300 level. Even if calculated on a purchasing power parity basis, our per capita income is still only about $3,300. If, as alleged, the Philippines is nothing but an American colony, then our population growth rate should show some moderation as in predominantly Roman Catholic Guam (1.7%) and in predominantly Roman Catholic Puerto Rico (0.56%), instead of galloping away to perdition at 2.32%. If, as alleged, the Philippines is only an American colony, then the students-to-teacher ratio in our public schools should be close to Guam�s (18.3 to 1) and Puerto Rico�s (16.0 to 1). I do not know what the present ratio in the Philippines is, but when our driver�s son Tom entered First Grade in a public school in Cainta two years ago, he had 99 classmates. And all of them had to sit on the floor because the classroom was not big enough to hold 100 non-existent desks. (I told our driver to pull Tom out of the public school and to look for a small private school instead, which his wife fortunately found, with only 25 students to a teacher. I advance the tuition for the whole year and the driver pays me back half of the amount in 38 weekly deductions from his pay, with no interest charged. For two years now, Tom has been no. 3 in his class.) If, as alleged, the Philippines is an American colony, then the traffic would be better managed, the garbage would be better collected, the mail would be better delivered, the farms would be more productive, taxes would be better collected, the roads would be better paved, justice would be better served, crime would be better suppressed, the military and police would be better trained and motivated, the public schools would be better staffed and equipped, the teachers would be better trained, education would be better attuned to the needs of the citizens, cheating in elections would be substantially reduced, the urban landscape would be more aesthetic, pollution would be better controlled, population growth would be better managed, etc���.than they are at present. Of course, there would still be crime, there would still be corruption, there would still be slums, there would still be dirty politics, there would still be injustice, there would still be bureaucratic inefficiencies, there would still be the usual stupidities�..but not on the gargantuan scale that they have grown to since July 4, 1946. ***** My colleague Ross Tipon says there is only one solution, and that is to re-colonize the Philippines and the Filipinos. But, Ross, which imperial power would be demented enough to take responsibility for the feeding of, and, more challenging, the enforcement of laws among, 80 million quarrelsome anarchists, with their 50,000 contentious lawyers and their 600 impossible-to-please columnists and radio commentators? Genghis Khan? ***** This article appeared in the July 29, 2002 issue of the Philippine Weekly Graphic magazine. |
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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �The Philippines: an American Colony?� August 12, 2002 IN FACT, you are right. When the Philippines was being annexed by Manifest Destiny McKinley, a great number of Americans were bothered by this fact. It was different herding off Geronimo and his sunset tribes or the Hawaiians. But do take a look at Puerto Rico. They even have Jennifer Lopez to send to the mainland. We have only Joyce Jimenez who will soon be just an aged plaything for some fat comprador. Ross Tipon, Baguio City. [email protected]. MY REPLY: You never heard of Lea Salonga? ***** YOUR ARTICLE was quite complete. There�s only one thing I can add. You�ve probably thought of it but just forgot to mention it. You wrote: �Which imperial power would be demented enough to take responsibility for the feeding of, and, more challenging, the enforcement of laws among, 80 million quarrelsome anarchists, with their 50,000 contentious lawyers and their 600 impossible-to-please columnists and radio commentators? Genghis Khan?� I note: Colonies have this nasty habit of becoming states. And that means their population will get to vote. Can you imagine what would happen to the political futures of all those US politicians in office? The US would probably have a Pinoy (or Pinay) in the White House within 10 years! Can you imagine an imperial power being that stupid? Peter Capotosto. No email address given. MY REPLY. Advocates of US statehood for the Philippines are out of their minds dreaming of the Philippines being the 51st state in the American union. The racial imbalance that would result in the US demographics makes that proposition totally unacceptable to anyone in Washington except Filipino TNTs there. No hopes should be entertained from the example of Hawaii, the 50th state. While Hawaii�s population is 41.6% Asian, 24.3% white and 21.4% of mixed blood, its small total population of 1.2m does not upset the racial balance of the whole USA. The Philippines� 80 million little brown brothers, on the other hand, would definitely dump an elephant into the swimming pool; all the other bathers would simply not hear of it. Even commonwealth status, like the one enjoyed by Puerto Rico, would not be acceptable as that would give Pinoys and Pinays unlimited immigration rights into the mainland. The elephant would still wind up in the swimming pool even if he/she does not get to vote in federal elections. Sorry, little brown brothers and sisters. We will have to sort out and solve our problems ourselves and in our own bayang magiliw. ***** A SHARP article that pins down the problems of the Philippines with a flood of data. You must have done a lot of research to accumulate all those numbers. You are skilled at using numbers as sharp weapons. Robert Hanan, Australia. No email address given. MY REPLY: All those numbers came from only one source: the 2002 World Almanac and Book of Facts. ***** THANK YOU for sending me this essay. It�s always a pleasure reading you. I do read your Kompil postings. If mordant wit could exterminate with extreme prejudice, Joma and comrades would long have been wiped out. And that may be a consummation devoutly to be wished. Hope you can write again for a major daily. Should improve the quality of our national discourse. Most sincerely, Vic de Jesus. No email address given. ***** TONY, I liked your article of July 9 in the Graphic. (Just got to see it). How do we instill commonsense? I�ve been trying � like you � for years, and sometimes wonder if it is all worth it. Anyway, keep it up. All the best. Peter Wallace. [email protected]. ***** GREAT ARTICLE! I didn�t get to see it in the Graphic. But, thanks to the Internet, I didn�t miss it. Hahahaha! You really put one on that de Quiros fella! Have a great day and God bless! Keep on fighting! Bobit Avila. [email protected]. ***** YES SIR, we seem to be a US colony in the worst possible way. For instance, �knowledgeable� communication is effected through English, even among us who consider ourselves as nationalistic. Even our so-called Filipino news broadcast is nothing more than a Filipino translation of a report thought out in English. Yes, it seems many of us think in English, and it seems for this reason we can easily distinguish ourselves from our countrymen who don�t. These past few months we had a Central Bank foolishly pegging our peso to the value of the dollar by using up our dollar reserves to pay-up some debts. We saw our money go lower in value with respect to every currency except the dollar, and now that the dollar has recovered, we see that our peso is in a record low with respect to the dollar. Even our dreams and ambitions are closely related to the American one-car, one-house suburban dream. When we can�t have that � never mind that it is not feasible in our poor country � we either stray into corruption, go away, or forever mutter that we don�t get what we deserve. Of course, this is what we�ll get, us Filipinos dreaming of an American dream. What did the Americans ever do for us? Of course, many; some wonderful, many despicable. For all the faults that the present generation of communists have � especially the armed ones � have we forgotten where they started from? Have we forgotten the real heroes of the World War II, who would�ve possibly won the war with or without the Americans� Johnny-come-lately assistance? Have we forgotten the communist leader Jose Abad Santos who chose to die rather than cooperate with the Japanese? Have we forgotten after the war who our people chose to be their leaders because they knew exactly who their true saviors were? Yes, the communists. Even if how many the perceived gifts the Americans gaves us, I still don�t particularly relish that I think in their foreign tongue and that I am only able to use my native language in all but the most basic of communications. I don�t particularly relish it. But I relish every well-documented, sufficiently backed, victory by our countrymen that I come upon in our history. Particularly in that war where a certain well-loved General came late but helped a different Asian country. That war who we have countless of acknowledged veterans who can�t really ascertain their participation in it. But the actual heroes of which many have died with broken hearts, and whos current incarnations foolishly or otherwise are waging their wars. Nur Malonzo. [email protected]. MY REPLY. Since you do not relish thinking and writing in English, I suggest you go back to our sariling wika. You may have better luck with its grammar and syntax. You ask �Have we forgotten the communist leader Jose Abad Santos who chose to die rather than cooperate with the Japanese?� I think it is you who has forgotten that Jose Abad Santos was executed by the Japanese for publicly refusing to revoke his sworn allegiance to the AMERICAN flag. If he was ever a member of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, that act of pro-American defiance would have been enough to invalidate his membership card. ***** |