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The Colonial Experiment

The American Occupation of the
Philippines
(1899-1935)

Within the year after the Battle of There was some opposition from
Manila Bay, the Americans began some Americans on the colonial
to have interests in possessing ambitions of their country.
the Philippines as a gateway to
The editorial cartoon shows Uncle
an economic market to China.
Sam being entangled on the Tree of
It wasn’t long before the US Imperialism by the Philippine
began sending troops to the donkey as the Spanish merchant
islands to begin the military walks away with the $20M the US
occupation while, at the same paid to purchase the islands.
time, help the Filipinos in But the opposition was only from a
securing their independence. small majority. Soon, the decision
to get the Philippines gained
The end of the Spanish-American
popularity among the American
War and the Treaty of Paris in
people.
December, 1899 led to the
purchase of the Philippines by
the US from Spain.

 The military government was the start of American rule

in the Philippines. The governor was the extension of
The Military Government the presidential powers to rule over a country it was at
war with.
 Military rule began on August 14, 1898 when Gen.
Merritt issued a proclamation announcing the beginning
of American rule.
 During this period, the military served the executive,
legislative, and judiciary functions in administering the
islands.
 To ensure a smooth transition of government, the
The American military governors of the Philippines. (l to r) Americans retained the civil and criminal laws of the
Gen. Wesley Meritt (1898); Gen. Elwell Otis (1898-1900); and Spanish government except those contrary to their
Gen. Arthur MacArthur (1900-1901)
ideals of democracy

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 The military government was in place when the Filipino-American
War began. As each province fell to Americans, they were
considered as “pacified areas” where local municipal elections can
be held. In 1900, a reorganization of the municipal governments was
enforced.
 In May 1899, the Supreme Court was reestablished. It was
composed of nine justices, six of whom were Filipinos, led by
Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano. After this, the other courts
were reorganized to begin functioning.

An interpreter Arellano and fellow

explains to Filipinos (from left:
Filipino local Manuel Araullo,
officials in Las Florentino Torres and
Pinas the new Gregorio Araneta)
policies of local are sworn in as
government as Supreme Court
American military justices by American
officers look on military officials.
and listen.

 Through other General Orders issued by the The Schurman Commission

governor, other laws were enforced that replaced
the old legal codes of the Spanish government in
(First Philippine Commission)
the Philippines. Many of these laws had to be Members of the
enforced with the help of soldiers and other military commission.
personnel. Government offices, especially those From left: Dean
Worcester,
involving trade and communications were taken Charles Denby,
over by the military. Jacob Schurman,
 The military governor reportedly directly to the John MacArthur
(secretary); Adm.
President through the Secretary of War. George Dewey,
 Though lasting only for three years, the military Gen. Elwell Otis.
government prepared for the colonial government of
the Americans in the years to come.

 Because of the war, however, the commission remained in

 It was the task of the commission to
Manila where they held public hearings and met with Filipino
investigate the matters conditions in
ilustrados many of whom expressed the desire that America
the Philippines and advice the
President on what to do about the take over the islands.
islands. The group arrived on  The commission ended its mission and returned to the U.S.
March 4, a month after the start of where they issued a report to President McKinley on January
the Philippine-American War. 31, 1900 with the following recommendations:
 Schurman later announced in a 1) the withdrawal of military rule in the Philippines
proclamation that the aim of the US
government was to “secure the well- 2) the establishment of a civil government with a
being, the prosperity and the bicameral legislature
happiness of the Philippine people 3) the establishment of a system of free public education
and their elevation and
advancement to a position among
 This recommendations would form the basis for the formation
the civilized people of the world.”
of the civil government a year later.

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The Schurman Commission meeting with Aguinaldo emissaries consisting of
(from left) Capt. Lorenzo Zialcita, Alberto Baretto, Gen. Gregorio del Pilar, and
Gracio Gonzaga
The Philippine Commission became
the colonial civil government of the US
in the Philippines. Taft became the first
civil governor-general of the islands
after the establishment of the civil
government on 4 July 1901.
In 1902, the US Congress passed the
Army Appropriations Act with the
Spooner Amendment that gave the US
President the power to govern the
islands with the authority of the
Congress and not as Commander-in-
Chief of the US Armed Forces.
This ended the military rule of the
islands and established the civil
government under the control of the US
Congress.
The Church and The Americans
The Situation
Jesuit historian John Schumacher described
the Philippine Catholic Church during the
early years of the American period as “a
Church in disarray”. The Aglipayan Schism
was ongoing and the friars were leaving the
islands. The head of the Church in the
Philippines, Manila Archbishop Nozaleda left
for Spain and Bishop Martin Garcia Alcocer of
Cebu was left to face the new American
government who was carefully treading its
way to a solution with the Church without
compromising its principles of the separation
of Church and State.
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The Taft Commission
(Second Philippine Commission)
Members of the Taft
Commission. (From
left) Dean
Worcester, Henry
Ide, William Howard
Taft, Bernard
Moses, and Luke
Wright.
In his Instructions to the Second Philippine Commission
on April 7 1900, President McKinley conferred on them
the authority to exercise the legislative power of
government which includes appointing officials, the
making of orders to raise revenue, appropriation and
expenditure of public funds, and establish an
educational system, an efficient civil service, organize
courts of justice, municipal as well as departmental
governments.
It was on the basis of these instructions that the First
Philippine Commission began its work in administering
the Philippine Islands.
Taft with Wright and Ide
According to Taft: “The union of
Church and State under the
Spanish regime was so close
that the decision whether a
particular foundation was civil or
religious involves a
consideration of some of the
nicest and puzzling points of
law “
By 1902, there was a decrease
in the number of religious Top:
personnel of all the orders in the Franciscan
friars. Left:
Philippines. Majority of the
Archbishop of
friars had abandoned their
Manila
parishes. In that year, there
were only 380 friars in the Bernardino
Nozaleda
Philippines.
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As early as 1901, the United States began negotiations

The problem of the American colonial government was the properties
left behind by the Church. These included churches, convents,
schools, hospitals, orphanages, and, most of all, thousands of
hectares of agricultural land in the provinces, known as the “friar
lands.” This was coupled with the fact that the America was in
possession of a colony that was predominantly Catholic – a fact that
did not go unnoticed by the predominantly Protestant American
government.
What added to the dilemma was that the American government did
not have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. So any meetings
between the government and the Church was not, technically,
“official.”
But the Philippine problem – as the colonial government termed it –
has to be solved and the only way that this could be done is to
involve the head of the Catholic Church – the Pope.
with the Vatican on the Philippines Church problems. It
was the only solution to solve the dilemma in their new
colony. Pope Leo XIII himself had expressed concern
on the state of religious affairs in the Philippines. The
main issues were:
a) the ownership of the friar lands;
b) the retention of the religious orders in the
islands;
c) the possession of the educational and
charitable foundations of the Church.
In July, 1902, a panel of American government and
religious officials headed by Taft traveled to Rome to
meet with Leo XIII. There were two audiences
conducted with the Pope and additional meetings with a
committee appointed by the Holy Father. Proposals
were discussed, negotiated, and agreed on.

The Vatican accepted the proposals of the Taft On September 17, 1902, the papal bull
Mission except the condition of the removal of Quae Mari Sinico was promulgated by
the friars from the Philippines stating “that their the Pope. It consisted of 12 sections
demand was illegal.” that addressed the different reforms for
The negotiations were then moved to Manila the creation of the new dioceses; the
where Taft dealt with Archbishop Jeremias Harty. formation of the clergy; the
It would take three years of talks before a
management of religious missions and
compromise was reached on the Church issues.
On 8 June 1907, an agreement was hammered parishes; ecclesiastical discipline and
out between the Church and the American authority, and, finally, the role of
colonial government where the two entities Catholic education.
“entered into for the purpose of amicably
It was the framework for the new
disposing of certain properties claimed by the
Government of the Philippines Islands and the foundation of the Philippine Church.
Roman Catholic Church.” The papal document not only
Arch. Jeremiah Harty
The friar lands were eventually purchased for addressed the concerns of the
$7.2M while the other institutions were brought religious, it also recognized the
under the colonial administration through special changes in the country’s politics
arrangements and laws.

A Colonial Education The Thomasites (named after the

ship that brought them to the
islands) were a group of American
Public education was one of the lasting legacies that was given to us
teachers sent by the United States
by the Americans. Unlike the Spanish system of education, the
to the Philippines in August 1901.
Americans made sure that the public education provided to the
The Thomasites helped expand the
Filipinos was free and extended even to the middle and lower class.
public school system by introducing
The purpose of the education, of course, was to “train” the Filipinos the English as the medium of
into the principles of democracy. The assumption was that in order to instruction. They also trained
attain self-government, a well-educated people would be able to Filipino teachers as an incentive to
manage its own affairs. make the Philippines self-
sustainable.
The education program of the Americans began with primary
The law, however, forbade the
education then gradually extended to high school and, eventually, a
teaching of religion in public
university education.
schools. Thus, public education
Public education was welcomed by Filipino leaders because it was under the Americans was basically
provided freely and provided opportunities to jobs. secularized.

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The Case of the Catholic Schools

But there was one problem that the American colonial government faced
with regards to education – the existence of the Catholic private
schools.
It is an undeniable fact that the educational institutions left behind by the
Spaniards were still operating and led to the development of the minds
The start of primary schools soon led to the establishment of public
of its students who were now many of the leaders of the country. It is
high schools all over the country. After the completion of a four-year
also undeniable that many Filipinos still preferred the education
high school education, the student can proceed to their college
provided by the friars that also included the Catholic teachings.
courses.
But the principle of the separation of Church and State plus the fact that
In June 1908, through Act No. 1870, the University of the Philippines
Act No. 74 (the law creating the public school system) emphasized the
was created. This was the state university put up the colonial
prohibition of teaching religion in public schools, placed a dilemma on
government to provide higher education to Filipinos.
how to deal with the Catholic private schools.

On March 1, 1906, Philippine Commission Act No. 1459 was

enacted. The main purpose of the law was to revise several
provisions of the Spanish Code of Commerce (Codigo de
Comercio) that conflicted with the American ones.

The same law also provided the authorization for private schools to
grant degrees and issue diplomas under the supervision of the
American colonial government.

To solve the religious problem, the Americans legally created the

Some of the private Catholic
schools during the Spanish
period: (from bottom left
clockwise) Ateneo de Manila,
University of Santo Tomas,
Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
simple expedient of requiring the religious orders to declare
themselves as “corporations.” Thus, the orders (and, therefore,
their schools), legally, came under the jurisdiction of civil laws
as created by the colonial government.
This settled the matter on the recognition of the Catholic schools
as educational institutions to be managed by the government.

Science and Health

 Another part of Philippine life that was changed by the Americans
was the introduction of a public health care system that was
managed by the government and given freely to the public.
 The concern about health was not for the Filipinos but more for
the Americans in their new colonies. The United States began a
health and sanitation program that not only “purified” the
environment for the new colonists but also improved the health of
the inhabitants. In this case, the program was given to the
Filipinos.
 Health and hygiene became part of the “civilization” process
Anti-imperialist magazine illustration showing an image of Uncle Sam Americans imagined for the Filipinos but the application of their
giving Filipinos the choice of American education or American force. programs showed a naiveness in the handling of new colonies.

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A study of the colonial health and

sanitation programs of the Americans for
the Filipinos can be exemplified with the
words of British writer Rudyard Kipling to
Gov. Gen. William Cameron Forbes in
1913:
“The only things that matters in this fallen world
are transportation and sanitation.”

These words seemed to have been the

guide for Forbes during his term of office
in the Philippines. He would eventually
begin a health as well as a road-building
and transportation program for the colony.

As the American colonial period began, the new colonials These diseases were found
discovered what was to them an “unsanitary” and “dirty” to be so rampant that the
country, forgetting the fact that the country had just finished initial attempts for health and
fighting a revolution against the Spaniards. sanitation involved battling
As the colonization began, the Americans found they were the eruption of epidemics and
battling a variety of diseases, of which some had caused treatment of affected civilians.
epidemics in the islands, like: The Americans also
considered as “primitive”
a) Cholera many of the health facilities
San Lazaro Hospital during the early
American period was the leprosarium used that were put up by the
b) Smallpox by the Spaniards during the colonial period Spaniards. The authorities
c) Leprosy also ascribed the unhealthy
practices of the Filipinos as
d) Typhoid the cause of the start and
e) Malnutrition spread of epidemics.

The Americans also

had to fight against
traditional medicine,
unhealthy lifestyles
and religious practices
as cures that were
being practiced by the
Filipinos Bureau of Health building, Intramuros

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The health and sanitation program
began with the military government
when they began to clean up the
city with the establishment of a
Commission on Health. Manila was
separated into 10 military districts
each with an American military
medical officer assisted by a
combination of American and
Filipino sanitation officers. Their jobs
included the medical care of
indigents, the reporting of unsanitary
conditions and dangerous
communicable diseases, the
investigation of causes of deaths,
and the furnishing of certificates of
death in all cases where death
occurred without medical attention.
But many of the policies
enforced were drastic
and sometimes earned
the ire of the Filipinos.
During a cholera
epidemic in Manila in
1902, the health
authorities discovered
the source to have come
from the Farola District in
Tondo. The authorities
immediately quarantined
the area, relocated the
inhabitants to “cholera
barracks” then burned
down the district to
contain the epidemic.
After the establishment of the civil government and the systematizing
of the educational system, vaccination as well as health and hygiene
lessons became part of the colonial education.
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With the arrival of the civil government, the health commission became
a permanent Bureau of Health that was first managed by the US
Military health officer before it was turned over to a civilian
doctor/administrator. Soon, the new office began monitoring and
enforcing rules on health and sanitation especially with regards to
public health that entailed inspecting residences, schools, markets,
sewage systems and water systems. The board began to enforce
health laws to ensure the safety of the public.
In 1907, a sanitary code for
the City of Manila was
enforced to stop the spread of
diseases in the city with
measures on public hygiene
Another area that the
Board of Health was
concerned was the spread
of diseases. They begun a
forced vaccination program
that was provided to all
Filipinos throughout the
islands.
However, the mediquillos,
as the vaccinators were
called, were unwelcome in
the barrios that they had to
be accompanied by
soldiers. To avoid being
vaccinated, many of the
Filipinos fled to the hills
and waited for the medical
men to leave.
A radical but successful health program made
by the Americans was the isolation and
treatment of lepers. It was estimated by 1898,
there was an estimated 3,500 to 4,000
leprosy cases in the country. Since there was
no known method to control the disease, it
soon became clear that segregation would
have to be implemented in the Philippines.
On August 22, 1904, Culion Island in
Palawan was established as a “leper” colony.
Two years later, the Jesuits began their
mission to take care of the lepers.
In 1907, the Director of Health, led by Dr.
Victor Heiser, and his authorized agents were
empowered to apprehend, detain, isolate,
segregate, or confine all leprous persons in
the Philippines.
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In 1912, Dr. Eliodoro Mercado, a physician of the

San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, discovered a cure
for leprosy with the use of chaulmoogra oil that
was injected. It proved to be an effective
treatment that it was recognized worldwide and
became the standard treatment for leprosy for
decades.
In 1922, treatment of the leprosy became an
interest of many scientists that Culion eventually
became the laboratory and its inmates the test
patients for the cure of the disease. A special
treatment fund was ordered set aside by Gov.
Gen. Leonard Wood for Culion.
By the middle of the American colonial period,
In the 1920s, a total of 16,138 patients had been brought to Culion,
the treatment and containment of leprosy was
making it the world’s largest “leper colony.”
successfully made.

Another health concern was the spread
of tuberculosis or TB. To ensure
prevention of the spread of these
disease, the colonial government
enforced sanitary measures throughout
the city that included health bulletins
that educated the masses on the
disease.
In 1910, the colonial government began
a systematic campaign to eradicate
tuberculosis The Philippine
Tuberculosis Society was founded in by
a small group of civic minded citizens.
Initially it operated two clinics in the
slum districts of Manila, but gradually
its activities expanded until it was able
to open a sanatorium in the outskirts of
Manila in 1918.
The set-up of the Philippine
Tuberculosis Society eventually
became a relationship between the
colonial government and society on
the care and prevention of TB. It
eventually relieved the government
of the TB concern for with the
continued migration and
overcrowding into Manila, it was
foreseen that it was going to be a
continued problem in the years to
come.
Bureau of Health illustration on how tuberculosis
could be spread

Another view of the Bureau of Science Building

Health care and sanitation became a large concern by the Americans
that soon laboratories were put up like the Bureau of Science building
(along Padre Faura St.) which began as the Bureau of Government
Laboratories in 1901 which had health studies as part of its program.

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In 1910, the American

government opened the
Philippine General Hospital
near the grounds of the
Bureau of Science building
and the government College Another
of Medicine. The opening of view of the
the government hospital PGH
centralized health care in the
Manila area including
education in sanitation and
hygiene.
In 1911, the College of
Medicine graduated its first
nurses.

The colonial experiment of the United States in the Philippines

would eventually prove to be a successful venture in transforming
the islands into an American colony. It gave the Filipinos a form of
democracy that also favored the Americans and gave the latter
leeway into making its empire in the Pacific.
America’s entry into the Pacific came at a time when the world was
modernizing with the turn of the 20th century. This period of
modernization of which the United States helped build would
establish its future as a world power today.
The Philippines in the early 1900s began the century as another
colony of another nation. But this time, the first tastes of
independence by the Filipinos would eventually continue the fight
for nationalism from the battlefield to the field of politics.
Politics in that era would determine the face of independence.