Harold S.

Mape Political Science 180

BASS Political Science 4 Prof. Ladylyn L. Mangada
An Applaud to a Great Nationalist: A Book Review on Prof. Roland
Simbulans Forging A Nationalist Foreign Policy
Two years ago I was researching on the concept of colonial mentality in the Philippines
and what are its digressing complications amongst the Filipino people. The concept may have
been used so many times in articles, debates and even in books, however many barely know the
wide scope of the concept and more importantly its degrading features in the Filipino mind.
Through that research I came to know that being just named as a Filipino projects the concept of
colonial mentality for it was named after a King of Spain. I have had read so many accounts of
nationalists trying to reverse such mentality in order to fight the idea of inferiority complex
amongst us Filipinos through promoting nationalistic symbols of our culture such us our color,
language, literature and the likes. However, we cannot deny the fact that foreign ideologies and
influences have already been imbedded in our culture. The wrong thing therein is that we are
more of being acculturated rather than assimilated. Most of our Filipino compatriots especially
the ones abroad, have already or are trying to lose their real identity. In an account I have read
during my research, some Filipinos abroad associate themselves more of being Asians rather
than being a Filipino in schools in order for them to gain friends and not be bullied around by the
white ones. Even Filipinos living in the Philippines has also portrayed the adverse effects of
colonial mentality. The aspiration towards white-skinned individuals which result to the
relentless use of whitening products is a mere portrayal of it. The patronization of foreign
products by our fellow Filipinos such as Nike rather than the local products made in Marikina is
another representation of it. These has only been few accounts of what has transpired in the
Filipino mind as a result of the decades of being a colony of both Spain and the long standing
ally which is the United States. This colonial Filipino mind-set that have lured the Filipino
culture may have been in a way or two be the bigger picture of the problem faced by Filipino
nationalist such as Professor Roland Simbulan.
Forging A Nationalist Foreign Policy is a mere portrayal of the backward effects of
colonial mentality. It shows how the Filipinos have long been wrong with regards to its
relationship with the United States taking them more as a friend rather than a colonizer and
worse to it, an exploiter. In his articles and speeches, the author had a common ground in which
the United States has violated us much and it is through the Visiting Forces Agreement and its
exploitative purposes towards the Philippine soil. The book can be seen as a huge web of
knowledge, at the centre of it is the Visiting Forces Agreement and towards its corners are the
adverse effects of the agreement towards the environment, sovereignty, security and integrity of
the Filipino people. However, the author did not leave us with problems alone, as the title
suggests it, he forged ways in order for the readers to rethink our foreign policy and think in
terms of the nationalistic view rather than bow down to foreign pressure. He made use the
Visiting Forces Agreement to enlighten the people of how the Philippines have long lagged
behind and how long it has been a puppet of the United States. He revealed declassified
information such as the CIAs activities in the Philippines and how they made use of fronts in
order to comply their covert operations of gathering information and to a certain extent
influencing and intervening to the decisions of the executive. Also, he also revealed names of
CIA agents who have done relentless activities covertly such as gathering information and
eliminating threats to the United States and not towards the Philippines. The book had a very
unique and logical part towards the end especially pertaining to a single chapter dedicated to
Andres Bonifacio entitled Why Andres Bonifacio is cool. The said chapter was a great highlight
for the book and interestingly would try to reignite the Filipino pride in oneself as you go along
the whole chapter. The entire book was indeed a piece of art because like an art it tried to collate
an enormous number of information towards a single book and it would have taken the author an
ample time to do so.
Every book has its own character. As they say, dont judge a book by its cover.
Interestingly, it applied to me. With all honesty, I could say that I have learned a lot of things
with this book. However, another saying says nothing in life is perfect. What I meant by this is
that like people, it has its strengths and weaknesses. As I go along the book, I had noticed some
positive and negative aspects of Prof. Simbulans book. Let me just reiterate that commendations
and comments are of self-opinion alone and basing it on my own perspective and personal
preferences. Let me start by stating my personal negative comments towards the book.
First of all, the book was too redundant. If youll be able to read the entire book, youll
know what I mean. I have my own reasons why I found it redundant. The concept of the Visiting
Forces Agreement alone was like the center of the issue of the entire book. I could say at least 9-
10 chapter merely talked about how the VFA had been a big predicament of the Philippines
Foreign Policy. As stated earlier, the book was like a web wherein at the middle of it you could
find the VFA and its corners are the problems that emanates from it. It was like taking different
roads in which at the end of each chapter you will find yourself going back to the issue of the
Visiting Forces Agreement. Moreover, one chapter was dedicated to assess the Visiting Forces
Agreement where in fact in almost first 10 chapters I think, it already have been assessing the
said agreement through different factors such as the environment, sovereignty and like matters.
Another redundant thing is the September 16, 1991, the day, as the author claimed the
Philippines freed itself from imperial America. It was not as much redundant as to the VFA
however, the author tried to portray it as an exemplification of how people should act
nationalistically. It is like saying, if the problem was VFA then does what the 12 senators did
during Sept. 16, 1991. One can say that he or she already got the point, why repeat it over and
over again? I do respect what the 12 senators did on that historic day for it gave pride towards
the Filipino nation; however, to blatantly go back to the same matter over and over again was a
bit irritating to read. It was like you were reading the same chapters over and over again. To cut
the long story short, the main subject of the book revolved around two concepts, the Visiting
Forces Agreement and the Sept. 16, 1991 event, the former as the means and the latter as the end.
Second that I would like to ponder upon was the direct portrayal of hatred towards the
United States. It portrays the sickening attitude of the Filipino that if you want to look good,
make others look bad. Just like what is currently happening to the Aquino administration, it
because the president cannot do anything good, does not mean he should always put the blame to
the previous administration. To make things clear, I mean by citing the above that it is not just
the Americans fault that we are exploited by their fellow men. It is but then a reality that most of
us Filipinos would just allow the U.S. to exploit us for some personal gains. Although the author
recognized that there really are Filipino politicians that are leaning towards the Americans
especially to the VFA case, yet it is quite unfair to leave all the faults to them. As the saying
goes, before you look into the imperfections of other people, take a look at yourself first in the
mirror. I am not degrading my fellow men, however, I am honestly speaking that the problems
that may have arose with regards to the Visiting Forces Agreement was also our fault because we
agreed to be exploited. The problem with the mentality of the Filipinos is that oftentimes we are
easily fooled by sugar-coated lies especially with regards to our foreign relations. It is when we
transact that we think that we won the deal, however, we do not look forward on what may
happen in the near future. I may portray it on how us Filipinos vote, most of us are easily blinded
by the money support we receive from the politicians, however, we fail to look at what would
these politicians do after they get voted into their respective seats? Would most of the people
think this way? No. Our relationship with the United States is only a larger picture of the Patron-
Client relationship, wherein the Philippines gets to receive military assistance such vehicles
(which is often junk in the U.S.), aid, etc. and the United States being the Patron, in reality gets
the most from us through exploiting our land, resources and even our women and children. In my
own opinion, the United States can inevitably be hated for what they did to our nation, however,
the risks or the consequences of what they have done could have been mitigated or to a certain
extent have been avoided if not for our sloppy politicians and if they could have strongly applied
the restrictions in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Sad to say, we were violated because of the
selfishness of some of our Filipino brothers on top of the system. Not that I dont hate the United
States, I hate them to a certain extent, but my position in this matter is that balance things, after
all, we also received a lot from them, only that they received from us, more than what we got.
Third that I am quite uncertain about is towards the chapter that talks about the CIA
agents and its covert operations that were revealed in some parts of it. With all due respect to the
capabilities and the skills of the author, I could barely ask on how did he able to get hold of such
classified information. The point there is that CIA is indeed a very top secret military initiative of
the United States yet how this was openly revealed to him or how did he get hold of such
documents or knowledge after all. The CIA for me has known to be really secretive towards their
activities and even agents. Actually this opinion of mine is a double-edged in a sense that at one
point one may question the credibility of stated facts and how was it acquired, however, one the
other side of the note, one may applaud the author for his risky effort in getting to hold of such
classified information. For me, getting to know these things about the CIA in the Philippines
enables me to stay into two grounds, that as said earlier which is either to question him or
applaud him for what he did.
Lastly, the last part of the book entitled, a call to action was a bit weak. It was like you
created a flame inside the hearts of the readers and at the end you just blew it. Like you left
someone hanging while they were too interested in reading each article expecting that you would
end it with a blow. The author never failed to jumpstart the discussion with its enlightening
introductory article and it was able to sustain its momentum towards the end, bombarding its
readers with facts that one would never get to know in his daily existence. However, the author
falls short in giving means and ways on how to specifically combat the effects of the VFA
towards our country. The author did not end the book with a sense of something to look forward
into his following books.
Life is so complicated to look into the negative side of things. It is but therefore an
honour to give my positive commendations towards Prof. Simbulans book. First and foremost,
as stated earlier, indeed the book was very informative. It has opened my eyes into a deeper and
greater picture of the U.S. presence in the Philippine soil. As a kid, I have also in a way glorified
the United States for reasons that people around me talk positively about the said country as a
place for greener pasture. I grew up with the said mind set wherein one would love to live at for
in order to live a good life. I am not saying that I already hated the United States after getting to
read the book, what I am saying is that it made me realize how helpless the Filipinos have been. I
have nothing to whine about the United States because for me, they only did their job in foreign
relations. As political science student, I came to realize that when a country deal with one
another, one should not just goof around and receive what the other country would give but
rather be aggressive in a way that all transactions that should be dealt with should be for the
benefit of your nation and not of the other nation. I also realized by these how long been
sickening the attitude of some Filipino politicians then, it is maybe because of their tricks that
will benefit them that the Philippines suffer until as of the moment. It only shows how staggering
and lagging the political system of the Philippines as compared to the might of then superpower,
the U.S. To cut the story short, after reading the book, I feel like Im a bit smarter.
Second is the strong sense of nationalism. The author of the book, although coming from
an elite background of being an Atenista still prided the attitude of being an Isko in the way
he writes. The author never lacked the enthusiasm to promote nationalism towards its readers
especially in the field of foreign policy-making. As one reads through the articles, one would
learn how the Filipinos have been enslaved by the exploitative Americans thus creating a heat
towards the hearts of its readers that then will enable them to take it as a challenge to change
things and not become a puppet of your own country. The way the author wrote his speeches and
articles never fails to put into mind that things needed to be changed between the relationship of
the United States and the Philippines. Moreover, his claims towards a nationalistic ways of doing
foreign relations especially with the United States, is indeed substantial because it is really
grounded on facts and research thus making him a very credible nationalist.
Third, the highlight on the problems really faced by the Philippines towards its foreign
relations with the United States was very substantial and logical. First, the environmental
degradation which has cost us a lot especially now that environment has been the biggest issue in
the international arena has been given priority. Moreover, the issue of U.S. intervention towards
Philippine sovereignty is really a very big issue that has to be delved upon. It provides a big blow
to the Filipino integrity of self-rule and a blatant show of disrespect to the Filipino people. The
exploitation of our women and children is like an icing to the cake of disrespect towards the
Filipino culture treating us indirectly as slaves in our own nation. These are only few ideas that
the author shared in this books which opens the mind of a Filipino reader to change the system
that was used to be. For a political science student like me, it does not take me to a path towards
hatred and contempt towards the United States but rather it takes you to the path of challenging
yourself to change the said system.
Lastly that I would commend is that the articles were novel although the topics were
covering issues both old and contemporary. It provides the reader a fresh intuition of topics like
U.S. intervention, global security and the Visiting Forces Agreement. The articles were like a
summary of the foreign relations of the Philippines and the United States all throughout the
Marcos era up to the moment. Thus, the book makes it a reliable and an updated resource for
research and thesis purposes.
The entire book of Prof. Roland Simbulan is one great piece of art that not only helps the
academicians but also helps other readers to develop their sense of nationalism. One may find the
book as focusing only on specific topics yet for a knowledgeable person; one could get to
analyze a lot of things that may be drawn from it. It does not alone help one to be politically
active but it also helps one develop ones cultural admiration. I know the author has more to say,
however, things cannot just be wrapped up in just one book. However, I applaud him for the
relentless efforts of writing such informative and substantial material. Kudos to Prof. Roland
Simbulan and may the future leaders of our country forge a nationalistic foreign policy.