Filipino Nationalism Research Articles

The Economic Nationalism of Alejandro Lichauco

Alejandro Lichauco, a nationalist economist and lawyer educated at Harvard, relentlessly waged a nationalist crusade in the 1950s. Lichauco attributed the so-called "Philippine crisis" to the inexorably continued encroachment of the United States on the country's post-war economic affairs. Thus, the study examines Lichauco's economic nationalism from a historical standpoint and explains how he articulated its core principles in his writings. The researchers utilize Karl-Otto Apel's critical hermeneutics and historical method. By positing the concepts of nationalism as "power" and a "philosophy of power," Lichauco emphasized the paramount importance of economic sovereignty during a time of reinvigorated Filipino nationalism. He asserted that the power to formulate economic policies and determine the nation’s economic direction rests on the Filipino people. They should exercise complete control over the means of production and harness the country’s resources in their best interest. He advocated decolonization, heavy industrialization, nationalist industrialization, economic democratization, and economic planning.

SATUAN PEMELIHARAAN 220th AIRLIFT WING DAN MODERNISASI ANGKATAN BERSENJATA FILIPINA

In the ever-changing global security landscape, the Philippines is dedicated to modernizing its Armed Forces (AFP). The 220th Airlift Wing, a crucial component of the Philippine Air Force, plays a vital role in air mobility operations. However, the Wing faces challenges in maintaining optimal operational readiness, particularly in intermediate level maintenance capabilities. This research aims to develop strategies to strengthen intermediate level maintenance within the Wing, enhancing operational readiness to support the AFP effectively. A comprehensive approach based on the DOTMPLF framework is proposed to address the issues. The study's findings will provide valuable insights to improve aircraft maintenance, bolster operational readiness, and support the Philippines' defense and socio-economic endeavors. Furthermore, the study uses a qualitative method with descriptive analysis as its methodology. Collecting data will be through field research, enabling direct information gathering from the source. Additionally, formal interviews and desk research utilizing internet resources will be conducted and employed. In conclusion, the further development of the intermediate level maintenance is needed to improve operational readiness of the 220th Airlift Wing. This will result in benefits not only for the PAF but to the whole Filipino nation as well.

Resilience and Survival in the Twentieth Century of a Chinese School in Iligan City, Philippines

Abstract This study explores the causal elements of resiliency and continuity in a Chinese school located on the southern island of the Philippines, Mindanao. Established by the Huaren community in Iligan City in the 1930s, the changing political, economic, and socio-cultural landscape of the country over the years since 1948 has brought about challenges and changes to the school. The presence of an “alien” minority whose: (1) commercial endeavors were perceived to be gaining control of the country’s economy, (2) strong cultural ties from their country of origin creates a degree of social separateness from the native population, and (3) political loyalty was questioned (as exemplified during the “Red Scare” Syndrome) were among the concerns that coincided with the resurgence of Filipino nationalism, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. The passage of “nationalization” laws placed restrictions and curtailments on foreign control in the country, and the Chinese school in Iligan was not exempted from the measures instituted by the Philippine government. But despite such measures, the school has continued to serve its purpose as an academic institution that not only educates young minds with basic educational training but also contributes to the preservation of the Chinese language and culture in the community. It remains and continues to serve the community as the only foreign-language school in the city.

Homesickness and the Filipino Nation: The Emotional Experience of Propagandists, 1889–1895

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints is an internationally refereed journal that publishes scholarly articles and other materials on the history of the Philippines and its peoples, both in the homeland and overseas. It believes the past is illuminated by historians as well as scholars from other disciplines; at the same time, it prefers ethnographic approaches to the history of the present. It welcomes works that are theoretically informed but not encumbered by jargon. It promotes a comparative and transnational sensibility, and seeks to engage scholars who may not be specialists on the Philippines. Founded in 1953 as Philippine Studies, the journal is published quarterly by the Ateneo de Manila University.

Homesickness and the Filipino Nation: The Emotional Experience of Propagandists, 1889–1895

Homesickness and the Filipino Nation: The Emotional Experience of Propagandists, 1889–1895

Message - Francisco T. Duque III

The outbreak of COVID-19 has placed extraordinary burdens upon the Philippines, especially in our healthcare system. In response to the crisis, the country implemented a whole-of-government, whole-of-society, and whole-of-system approach, with emphasis on quick response, resource management, and strategic communications through Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, and Re-integrate (PDITR) Strategies. The Department of Health (DOH) remains committed to providing science- and evidence-based responses to ensure the resiliency of our healthcare system, optimize the use of resources, and balance the health and economic needs of the country. The theme of this year’s scientific meeting is very timely, as it reminds us that we should continue to build upon the learnings, experiences, and strategies from pandemics past and present, in order to prepare our systems and augment our capacity for the next. We know that demand for quality health service will only grow; hence, we are called to relentlessly advance the state of medicine and science in the country. This year, we welcomed the development of COVID-19 vaccines as our latest weapon to combat this pandemic. While the DOH continues to assure the public that science guarantees the safety and effectiveness of our COVID-19 vaccines, we are still tackling the realities of vaccine hesitancy in the country head on. We invite everyone to take part in addressing vaccine hesitancy and communicating the value of vaccines in cutting transmission, protecting our health system, and saving lives. Most of all, allow me to extend my sincerest gratitude to all the health professionals and healthcare workers, researchers, scientists, and individuals who continue to respond selflessly and whole-heartedly to the call of service even during the trying times. The DOH underscores that everyone has a role during the public health crisis. By dutifully and honestly fulfilling these roles, I am confident that we will endure, overcome, and heal as one. Let us all continue moving in one accord for the future of the Philippine public health, for an improved tomorrow of the Filipino nation. Thank you very much.

Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912, written by Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz

Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912, written by Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz

20th Century Western Visayan Millenarian Representations: The Case of “Emperor” Flor Intrencherado in the Local Press, 1925-1929

20th Century Western Visayan Millenarian Representations: The Case of “Emperor” Flor Intrencherado in the Local Press, 1925-1929

Review: Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887-1912 -- by Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz

Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887-1912 – by Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz, New York: Columbia University Press, 2020. Hardcover: $140.00, Pp. 264, ISBN 9780231192149.

The Road to 1898: On American Empire and the Philippine Revolution

ABSTRACT ‘1898’ marks the birth of both the American empire and the Filipino nation when the U.S. Navy joined forces with Filipino revolutionists in ending Spain’s rule. The alliance ended when the Americans refused to recognise the Filipino republic and forcibly occupied the islands. Hopkins situates both the ‘coming of age’ of America and the rise of a Filipino nationalist elite against a wider backdrop of imperial rivalries, economic transformations, and stages of globalisation in which the British Empire looms large. The essay builds on Hopkins’s account of Spanish rule leading to the Revolution. In contrast to Cuba, the Philippine interior was left relatively untouched, controlled mainly through the friar-curates who lorded it over the town centres but not their peripheries. Following upon Hopkins’s discussion of the three foundational nationalists – Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, and Emilio Aguinaldo – their differences can be explained by the peculiarities of the Spanish colonial system and how each of them related to their society.

BOOK REVIEW: Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912, by Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz

BOOK REVIEW: Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912, by Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz

A Tribute to Leonardo N. Mercado, SVD: His Legacy to the Filipino Nation

This essay highlights Leonardo N Mercado’s legacy to the Filipino nation by reading his text, Elements of Filipino Philosophy, through the lens of critical theory The article begins with a description of critical theory as a methodological framework in reading a text, followed by a discussion of Mercado’s political interest behind his text The essay ends by examining the relevance of his text’s meaning in addressing a social crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic © 2020 Emmanuel D Batoon All Rights Reserved

Abstract of crisis in Philippine-U.S. security relations: from an alliance to a security partnership?

This article explores the prospect of transforming the Philippine-U.S. alliance into a security partnership. In the past, the Philippines doubted the U.S.’s often-repeated commitment to assist its ally because the 1951 Philippine-U.S. Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) merely stipulated consultation rather than an automatic armed response in case of an armed conflict. In mid-2011, the Aquino Administration asked for an unequivocal U.S. guarantee to defend the Philippines and its naval/air units deployed in the Spratlys. The Duterte Administration, however, has expressed its uncertainty over America’s willingness to back the Philippines militarily in any confrontation with China over the disputed maritime territory. Early this year, President Rodrigo Duterte commented that an armed clash in the South China Sea would crush the Philippines because the involvement of American forces would make the conflict spiral out of control. This development, along with his decision to abrogate the 1997 Philippine-U.S. Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), has generated a crisis in the alliance. To avert any break-down in their overall security relations, the two allies can explore the possibility of downgrading their alliance to a security partnership. In conclusion, the article argues that should the Philippines consider this option, it must take into account the following: the consequence of losing the deterrence effect of a defence treaty with the world’s most powerful nation; the impact on Philippine defence spending; on the ongoing Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP’s) modernisation program; and whether or not the Filipino nation will support this move.

Locating the Filipino as Malay: A Reassertion of Historical Identity from the Regional Periphery

AbstractIn Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, and Indonesia, being Malay usually means being a practitioner of Islam and a speaker of standard Bahasa. However, such understandings no longer comprehend other members of the so-called brown-skinned race who were once united with the Malay aggrupation: numerous Filipinos (and East Timorese), who inhabit the same broad geopolitical region. Challenging the recent narrowly defined conceptions of who is, or was Malay, this study recalls an inclusive borderless understanding acquired in antiquity by the Filipino nation, whose peoples were considered by Spanish and American colonisers and educated by their government to consider themselves as part of a pre-modern “Malay” world. Geohistorical evidence shows how such auto-consciousness evolved and preceded the entry of the term into the nearby British colonisers’ lexicon, before its social-reconstruction for the perpetuation of post-colonial polities as well. The author interweaves his textual survey with the problematisation of the location of ethnicity, and points out the seemingly neglected corpus of Iberian works that demonstrate how the knowledge of Malayness could only have been approached by Europeans from a geographic periphery, of which the Philippine archipelago was very much a part, especially the Mindanao area. The author builds on and constructively critiques work by one scholar who had initiated the claims of the Filipino to Malayness. It is shown how sociocultural and geopolitical priorities can help or hinder the relaxation of definitions of who is Malay and where Malays are properly situated, if only because these counter perceptual rigidities, and allow the creation of hybrid third spaces that admit new possibilities of coexistence.

Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912 by Nicole Cuunjieng Aboitiz

Reviewed by: Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912 by Nicole Cuunjieng Aboitiz Sven Matthiessen NICOLE CUUNJIENG ABOITIZ Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912 New York: Columbia University Press, 2020. 272 pages. Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz contextualizes the Filipinos' struggle for independence in the Philippine Revolution, initially against the Spanish and subsequently the American colonial rulers, in relation to the independence movements throughout Southeast Asia. In doing so, her book, Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887–1912, connects this decisive moment in Philippine history with the history of the entire region and thus closes a gap in the historical perspective of the Philippines and Southeast Asia. The author is research fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, as well as executive director of the Toynbee Prize Foundation. Her main research interest lies in the intellectual and transnational history of Southeast Asia, having earned a PhD in Southeast Asian and international history at Yale University. Overall, Aboitiz succeeds in embedding Filipino nationalism in a superordinate Pan-Asian context, thereby refuting to a certain extent the thesis, which is widespread in research, that Filipino nationalism should be viewed largely in isolation from Asia. Aboitiz argues that Philippine Pan-Asianism has to be distinguished from that in Japan due to the colonial perspective of the former. Furthermore, she offers a new perspective on [End Page 505] the Philippine Revolution, taking into account the Pan-Asianist motifs that played a role in its instigation. The book is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with the genesis of the conceptualization of Southeast Asia as a region. Chapter 2 then provides a history of the origins of the concepts of Asia and the Malay race, as well as the influence of early Pan-Asianism on the development of a Filipino nation. The third chapter focuses on the Philippine Revolution and its interaction with other Asian independence movements such as the Vietnamese Dông Du movement. In chapter 4, Mariano Ponce is introduced as a representative of the Philippine Revolution, who, in addition to the goal of independence for his country, also pursued Pan-Asianist ideals. Finally, the last chapter examines the consequences and aftermath of the Philippine Revolution for the Philippines and Asia as a whole. Pio Duran and Benigno Ramos are presented as staunch Pan-Asianists who saw Japan as the hegemonic power for the liberation of Asia. Despite Aboitiz's overall convincing argumentation, I have two points of criticism. A central argument in her book is "that one must distinguish the Pan-Asianism flowing from within the uncolonized world, centered on Japan, from that flowing from the still-colonized world, such as the Philippines under Spanish rule and the Vietnamese in French Indochina" (98). In this respect, the Filipino Pan-Asianists have to be viewed differently from their Japanese counterparts due to their colonial perspective, since their priority was the achievement of independence. This assertion seems doubtful to me insofar as the Japanese Pan-Asianists also developed their ideology from the perspective of the oppressed, or at least those treated unfairly. Japan was not a colony when Pan-Asianism developed there. However, the unequal treaties imposed on Japan first by the US and then also by Russia, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands at the end of the feudal period in the middle of the nineteenth century and the unequal treatment the Japanese received in relation to the other victorious Western powers after the First World War were still, I would argue, in the collective memory of the Japanese. In this respect, I would not make this clear distinction between the Pan-Asianism that developed in the Philippines and in Japan. In both cases there was an interaction between Pan-Asianism and nationalism in the period from the Philippine Revolution to the Second World War. Likewise, there were nationalists in both Japan and the Philippines who used Pan-Asianism as a vehicle for their nationalism. Aboitiz further explains that "during this [End Page 506] colonial era in Southeast Asia essentially no activist political thinker was untouched by priorities of self-determination...

Citizenship and Civic Education: A Critical Elaboration on the Pedagogy of Rizal’s La Liga Filipina

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s role in shaping Jose Rizal’s political ideas is a blurred spot in existing scholarship on the latter’s life and works. There seems to be an endemic lack of interest in this matter, with scholars preferring to explore Rizal through the optics of nationalism and/or liberalism, often in their attempt to construct the “unity” of his ideas. Aiming to fill this lacuna and unsettle established readings, this article explores Rizal’s decisive shift from Voltairean liberalism in favor of Rousseau’s vision of a cohesive civic body constituted through the social contract. It contends that the social contract theory and its associated concept of the “general will” could serve as bases for resolving the problem of fractiousness and excessive individualism Rizal observed among young expatriate Filipinos, a problem he became increasingly concerned with and nuanced his commitment to the campaign for liberal reforms. Putting on hold the obsession with a unified Rizal, this article asserts that invoking Rousseau’s vision crystallizes the meaning of La Liga Filipina—its place in the trajectory of Rizal’s thoughts and the educative role it was meant to play in relation to the Filipino nation as an ethical project. Finally, the article elaborates on this role, critically exploring its significance and implications for civic education using key sociological concepts and insights from the anthropology and sociology of education, as well as studies on the effectiveness of service-learning programs in promoting civic engagement and participation among young people. A critical elaboration on the pedagogy suggested by La Liga calls attention to how citizenship education might be situated in quotidian processes and spaces, how it is implicated in systems of inequality, and how it could open up new possibilities.

Race, Performance, and Colonial Governance: The Philippine Constabulary Band Plays the St. Louis World’s Fair

This article explores intersections of race, performance, and colonial governance by historically analyzing the experiences of African American conductor Walter Loving and the Philippine Constabulary (PC) Band at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Amid an enormous Philippine exhibit and minimal African American representation at the fair, Loving and the Filipino musicians not only helped justify U.S. colonization of the Philippines through patriotic and “civilized” music, but also used their music as leverage to expose the inadequacies of American colonial governance. Their music expressed Filipino nationalism, contested colonial scripts toward Philippine self-governance, and challenged whites’ exclusive claims to colonial leadership.

‘The salvational currents of emigration’: Racial theories and social disputes in the Philippines at the end of the nineteenth century

This article analyses the changing significance of racial theories in the writings of Spanish emigrants in the late nineteenth century Philippines. Works by Antonio Cañamaque, Pablo Feced (Quioquiap), and Antonio Barrantes show how racialised understandings of colonial society in the Philippines evolved, from an initial dismissal of hybridism and rejection of mestizos to assertions of the innate superiority of the ‘white race’ and advocation of a rigid separation between local communities. These developments are considered in the context of the rising popularity of biological determinism alongside an influx of Spanish emigrants into the Philippines. The Spanish settlers used biological determinism to proclaim their role as the sole purveyors of both ‘progress’ and of a kind of egalitarianism. This article describes these debates and arguments, analyses their inconsistencies, and addresses the Filipino elite's responses to the settlers’ racial theories. These responses are read not simply as part of the development of Filipino nationalism, but as reflective of rivalries within the Spanish colonial community in the Philippines, where the locally born found additional reasons to support anticolonialism.

Rizal’s Marxist Critique of Spanish Colonization and Religion

This paper analyzed the themes of Jose Rizal’s critique of the Spanish colonization and religion. It works on the propositions that Rizal’s writings were intended to emancipate the Filipinos from the fetters of the Spanish colonization; as such, he provides an analysis on the effects of the Spanish colonial strategies and policies to the Filipino psyche, and exposes the illnesses that these caused the Filipino nation. His analysis of the nineteen century Philippine society and its social, economic and political situations under the Spanish colonial rule is similar to the ideas of Karl Marx on religion and the human person. Though it was never acknowledge in his writings that he read Marx’s works, Rizal’s criticisms of religion, education, and government showed resemblances with Marx’s ideas.
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Apat na Taong Pagsikat ng Nakapapasong Araw: Musika sa Filipinas sa Panahon ng Hapon, 1942–1945

World War II in the Philippines was as much a treacherous mind game as it was physical. While it brought almost total devastation to the cultural heritage bequeathed by the country’s colonial past, it sought to create, albeit in the spiritual-emotional realm, a template of Asian-ism that the Filipinos were to live by as a supposed member of the Imperial Japan-colonized Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Songs, organizations, programs, speeches, religion and many other activities and things that could be used to sway the Americanized Filipino psyche were employed in this devastating “game of thrones”. This study questions how music and related propaganda materials were used to pacify and control the conquered Filipino nation. Music, to a degree, was symptomatic of the progress of the occupation, from the initial settling down of the Japanese soldiers to the seemingly quiet acceptance of many locals in occupied areas. In these stages of the war, imposed music crept into the consciousness of the conquered—from Japanese children’s songs at the basic education level to the concert platforms with music composed by Filipino musicians heralding the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity theme.