Alison Nguyen

IP 389 /FALL 2017

Module Number 1

Title: The Philippines History and Ilokano invisibility

Date: 9/29/17

One of the problems immediately addressed in this course is the use of the world

Filipino. To anyone who is not familiar with the culture of the Philippines and even to unaware

people of this group, this term presents no problems. In general, we see this simply as a term to

describe the people who are from or have origins in the Philippines. However, the history of the

word itself contributes to a problem that involves a people with a confused and misrepresented

identity. In using the term Filipino we group together a large variety of people under one term

and remove individualities and defining characteristics. One of the groups that suffer the

disadvantages of this generalization is the Ilokanos. The failure to recognize the Ilokanos as a

group has been the root of their social and economic problems. Blurring the lines between all

these groups of people under the name Filipino only serves to further invisibility of the

Ilokanos, but also contributes to the marginalization of other groups as well.

The word Filipino is the most general and widely used term to classify the people of

the Philippines, however, this was not a self-given name. The Philippines was named after King

Philip II of Spain. In the years 1521-1898, the Philippines was under Spanish occupation. From

1898- 1942, the country was handed over to the United States under the Treaty of Paris. In 1942-

1945, the Japanese occupied the Philippines. In 1946, the Philippines was somewhat set off to be

its own republic. Listing all of the previous colonizers of the Philippines may seem cumbersome,

however, it brings attention to a problem with the Philippines history. The history of this
country is primarily characterized by colonization. Rather than being able to build a history for

themselves, the people of the Philippines have their story told through the tales of colonization.

The Philippines was essentially passed off from one superpower to the next, each time having

their lifestyles modified and influenced by the culture of their colonizers.

Throughout history, the Philippines has been proven to be an object of interest to

countries that were relatively more powerful countries. In antiquity, the main reason that

colonization occurred was due to the desire to attain valuable resources and to spread religious

beliefs. The colonization of the Philippines was due to the goal of King Phillip II to control and

Christianize the country. In April of 1564, Miguel Lopez Legaspi arrived in the island of Cebu

and was able to subdue the people with the group of Spaniards who accompanied him on his

expedition. From there, he was able to conquer several more islands in this region with ease.

After declaring Manila the capital of the newfound colony, Legaspi became the first governor of

the Philippines. He played an integral part in making a group of islands into a colony that would

later become its own nation. Under Spanish influence, Manila became the center of religion and

government.

In 1898, the treaty of Paris was signed handing over the Philippines to the United States

for $20,000,000. Thereby ushering in a new era of colonization for the Philippines. During this

time, the American colonizers strongly influenced educational institutions with The Education

Act of 1901. This allowed the people of the Philippines to become educated in subjects such as

agriculture, mathematics, reading, etc., however, it served the even stronger purpose of spreading

and almost force-feeding the English language into the people. The U.S. colonization of the

Philippines further strengthened Manila as the center of power for the Philippines, due to its

control by elites that were in strong relations with America. This would not only become a
problem for the other parts of the Philippines that were essentially left by the wayside, but it also

would later weaken Filipino culture.

When we look at Filipino history, we see the people portrayed in different manners. From

one perspective, we see Filipino people portrayed as a primitive people but we also learn about

Filipino intellectuals. In the film, Bontoc Eulogy, one of the phenomena that the narrator

brings attention to is the World Fair. In this World Fair, a native tribe of the Philippines called

the Igorots is made a living exhibit. Although the goal of this exhibit was probably to

educate and make attendees aware of other ways of living, the way it was presented

dehumanized the Igorots. This appeared to be more like a human zoo under the guise of an

educational exhibit. More likely than not, the people attending this World Fair did not view the

Igorots as equals. They were likely viewed as uneducated savages that lived in a non-modern

society. On the other end of the spectrum, we see the presence of people called Filipino

intellectuals. This was primarily in the time of Spanish occupation. Due to the creation the

Suez Canal and the development of steamships, Filipinos were able to send their children to

Europe for an education. Some examples of these intellectuals are Jose Rizal, Pedro Paterno

and Isabelo de los Reyes. Although these people each have their own individual agendas with

their intellectualism and education, a common thread between them is that they were European

educated. They came back with ideas that they viewed as different and modern

The history of the American and Spanish colonization of the Philippines have left long-

lasting effects on the country and its dynamic. Due to the influences of these super powers,

Manila remains the most recognized part of the Philippines and the main languages of the

Philippines are Tagalog and English. Although the United States is not occupying the Philippines

anymore, the English language is still an integral part in Filipino education today. Western
culture is still glorified in the Philippines. Even after withdrawing from the Philippines, America

still has an iron grip of the Philippines. Due to the 1965 Immigration Act, large numbers of

Filipino workers were able to come to the United States for labor. The nature of the agricultural

work was comfortable for the Filipinos, especially the ones that came to Hawaii to work. Back

home in the Philippines these people were used to farming their land as their livelihood,

therefore they were skilled and willing to work on the sugar cane and pineapple fields here. It is

curious as to why the Filipinos would leave their farms and homes back at home to work in a

different country for relatively low wages, however, Ilokanos had already been slowly displaced

from the homes by that time. Due to the tobacco monopoly in the Philippines, many of the

Ilokanos in the Ilocos region were moved from their coastal homes so that tobacco could be

grown there. In The Philippines Under Spanish and American Rules Charles Forbes-Lindsay

says, For one hundred years from 1781 tobacco was a government monopoly in the Philippines.

Every means was employed to stimulate production without consideration for the producer.

(270) Tobacco, unlike other plants, makes the land barren and infertile after being planted. This

damage to the land forced the Ilokanos to move and one of their options was to come to America

and perform paid labor.

Although the Ilokanos moved to America, they continued to live the only way they know

how to live. For example in Julius Bajet Sorias dissertation Paka(sarita)an: On Ilokano

Language, Identity, and Heritage Education, he says In listening to the flower ladies, Rimat

heard the humble life they came from: the use of a rubber slipper in place of an eraser and the

use of sugar cane as toothpaste. For someone who grew up in the Philippines, this is a reality of

life: One must make do on the availability of limited resources. (124) The Ilokanos are smart

and resourceful in using what is available in many different ways, however, living in a capitalist
America, their actions can be seen as frugal and useless. It is easy for us to go to the store and

simply buy an eraser or a tube of toothpaste for a relatively low price, so it is difficult to

understand why someone would go use something they already own for another purpose. These

simple cultural differences between the Ilokanos and Americans are what make it difficult for

Ilokanos to be recognized and viewed as equals.

Although we see progression and hear success stories of many immigrants today, it is

rare to hear of Filipino immigrants coming to America and making it. In fact, many of our

wage workers today are older Filipino men and women who have immigrated here. It is not

common to see a doctor in America that is directly from the Philippines, but rather a skilled

Filipino nurse. It unquestionable that Filipinos have the skill, capability and work ethic to attain

higher positions, however, it is still observed that they are pursuing occupations that are

generally viewed as undesirable work. This is due to the fact that there little to no resources for

these people to take advantage of to further themselves and their careers. This lends itself to the

fact that a large majority of this population of Filipinos is the existing majority and still

remains unrecognized.

One of the largest problems we studied is the failure to distinguish the terms Filipino,

Tagalog, and Ilokano. I had found myself to be quite ignorant for someone who has many

Filipino friends and is constantly surrounded by Filipino culture. My previous knowledge of the

Filipino people was that many of them spoke Tagalog and a small set of other groups spoke

other Filipino languages. Only after becoming aware of a larger group of Ilokanos did I realize

that I was mistaken and that there is a large population of these people in my home state. The

even larger realization that I made was that if I could not distinguish or recognize these people,

how would larger institutions and people of even greater power recognize the Ilokanos. A
majority of Filipinos I meet only identify themselves only identify themselves as Filipinos which

further generalizes many diverse groups of people under this title. This invisibility of the

Ilokano people limits the amount of resources due to language barriers and lack of translators. If

a people are unable to fully comprehend their rights and benefits that are available to them, it is

very difficult for them to thrive.

Word Count: 1720

References

Forbes-Lindsay, Charles Harcourt Ainslie. Philippines under Spanish and American Rules. The
J.C. Winston Co, 1906.

Soria, Julius Bajet. Paka(Sarita)an: On Ilokano Language, Identity, and Heritage Education.
University of Hawaii at Manoa , 2012.