Auditing: (Re)Looking at the Philippines-American War

Keep an Open and Critical Mind, Readers!

According to Prof. C, Philippines shouldn't be marginalized ( in terms of history coverage etc. ) because they were present in the beginning of the United States' Empire.  Philippines was considered located in the "farthest west" of the United States. 

United States as an Empire is easy to be overlooked because most of its colonies are islands (Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines), hence it was known as an Island Empire.  Plus, the method used by the United States to build an Empire ( to colonize ) didn't directly follow the definition/standards set by early Empires, such as Rome, France, Britain, et. al..

If you're 100% American and "patriotic," you're probably appalled to hear that the United States, known usually as defender of democracy and freedom, actually COLONIZED/imposed their ways/ took away another country's freedom in order to benefit at the expense of others' suffering. 

If you're Filipino ( Fil-Am et. al. ), or Other , you can do a little test to prove the hypothesis above.  Go to the nearest Americans you know and ask them about the United States' imperial and colonial history subjugating others instead of spreading democracy and freedom.  Most likely, those Americans will be aghast; they'll be so defensive that they'll think you're being either an unpatriotic citizen, a heretic, or a communist/socialist ( or all of the above ).

Prof. C brought up a good point: no country would want to be called "Imperialist" especially a country, such as the United States, which has a reputation for being the harbinger of democracy and freedom.  After all, the United States is also considered the 1st ex-colony ( that fought for freedom against British Tyranny ).

Because of this impression management, Prof. C believed that downplaying/ignoring the Philippines' narrative was better than tarnishing/destroying the United States' narrative/self-image as liberators and harbingers of democracy and freedom.  In squashing the burgeoning Philippines Republic under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, the Imperial U.S. wanted to destroy the Philippines before this country set an example for other colonized countries to emulate.

To be fair, there were TRUE Americans, who sympathized with the Philippines' plight, and who were against U.S. expansionism, imperialism, and colonialism ( realizing the hypocracy of it all especially in terms of "American" ideals such as democracy and freedom ).  I guess they didn't speak up loud enough, and now they HAVE to deal with the mess they made.  ( hopefully, history doesn't repeat itself especially with the current situation now in 2011 with Middle Eastern et. al. countries ).

In short, the Philippines-American War is often belittled; nonetheless, this "little" war has BIG consequences:

The U.S. ignored the pleas of Emilio Aguinaldo's government in defending democracy and freedom from Spain and its tyranny.  The U.S. was finally prompted to get involved after one of its Naval ships was sunked by a Spanish fleet; the casualties of sailors made National News and caused outrage.  The U.S. was hesitant to get involved because of concomittant war expenses.  Nonetheless, they were finally convinced when they recognized that its resources wouldn't get wasted as much since there were already "insurgents" or Revolutionaries? providing man power ( all they had to do was step in, and claim the glory ).

After the Spanish-American War, the U.S. bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million dollars.  Then President McKinley? received a vision from God telling him to christianize and educate the barbaric Filipinos.  In spite of the expenses, the Philippines was an investment and a stepping stone towards the bigger market CHINA ( any connections to current U.S.-China relations? ). 

Next to happen was the Philippines-American War, which was never declared because in doing so, the U.S. would be acknowledging Philippines' sovereignty.  President Theodore Roosevelt declared that the Philippines-American War was over in 100 days, when in fact, it stretched for 10 more years thanks to guerilla warfare ( any parallels today? Iraq et. al.? ).  The Philippines-American War was considered the 1st Vietnam War.  Because of this war, the U.S. never formally and publicly declared another colony ( because to do so would be hypocritical and "bad press" ). 

Part of the anxiety and fear pervasive in the U.S. and its culture TODAY is that it is in denial of its imperial/colonial history/present/identity? ( sounds like a dissertation topic to me ;)

Random: Foreign Exhanged Student's Woes

Namaste Readers,

Taiwanese Roomie C is having the Foreign Exchanged Student's woes.  During the 1st week, he got diarrhea.  Then one day, I encountered him walking towards the Seven-Eleven (7/11), he was looking for disposable underwear to wear until his freshly washed boxers dried up.  In Taiwan, it was common for 7/11 and other supermarkets to sell both genders' [disposable] underwears not just females'.  Another day, he told me how a taxi driver charged him and his Taiwanese friends more than the counter.  The Taiwanese "Dollar" is almost equivalent to the Philippine Peso ( 1 peso is around 0.70 Taiwan "Dollar" ) thus every peso counts.  I tried to pacify his frustration by pointing out that arguments about money also happened to the locals.

Lecture: let's face it...

Guess What Readers?

One day Lit class was cancelled because of miscommunication, so Prof. C invited the class to attend his colleague's lecture called "The Face in Pain: Suffering, Witnessing, Sympathy" by Charlie Veric ( who has/is completing a Ph.D. in [Asian] American Studies in one of the Ivy Leagues in the U.S., maybe Yale ).

It caught my attention kasi in the Philippines ( and perhaps other Asian countries ), the concept of "Face" (hiya?) is pervasive ( beyond the biological/physiological, can also be the literal focus of aesthetics etc. ).  I think in a way (subconscious or not) his inspiration may have stemmed from this.  We came in late but in general he talked about the discourse of "Face."

He analyzed a facial twitching of a character in a literary text ( maybe dealing with genocide in Cambodia ), gave a biological explanation, a sociologist's insight, and a French Philosopher's input revealing that the face exceeded biological functions.  In a face, ethics ( Aristotle's character ) are made visible; thus face is performative preventing assumption of biological determinism.

He then explored perception, where face had nothing to do with what we see, but rather, it dealt with the politics of sympathy ( Aristotle's pathos ).  He continued with a parallel of Picasso's cubist painting of "Guernica" and connected it to the ceremonial/contractual act that bound viewers into the suffering of others.  He concluded with camera as a realist mode, Darwin's other book about Face, expression, and emotion ( that differentiated humans from animals ), and how face is both a matter of impression management and a medium of expression. (wow!)

Manila Internship: more than what one bargained for (w11)

Kamusta Readers,

Even though the swing of things was going, I was distracted by the fact that it'd be over soon.  I thought I would just complete my internship, BUT Life has other plans.

In the office, I did Conference preparation errands for Secretary V: deposited Teachers' Club fees at Regitrar's; picked up brochure/flyers, folded brochure/flyers with inserts, recommended creating Gmail ( instead of Yahoo ) email account for the center, and emailed members et. al. about the conference on Teacher Empowerment ( to take place on Sept. 10th )

During ESL Practicum, I observed Director N's organic lesson plan.  On Quick Speak Monday, she observed the predictability of the summary activity so she turned it into a critiquing/evaluating activity instead.  On Wednesday was the mid-term.  I took the test for fun ( to practice tactics for GRE Lit Test ), and also to study the validity of the test in relation to the curriculum ( so far the application is coherent ).  On Friday, we watched an awesome independent film called "Ded Na Si Lolo" ( Grandfather's dead ); it made me cry and laugh.  This film was also the prompt for students' upcoming Quick Speak and essay.

Freelance Tutoring is going well.  Runner J told me about 3 opportunities he could investigate.  We started dreaming and "counting the chicks before the eggs hatched."  So I had to be the daydreaming party pooper, and remind him to finalize his thesis first ( keep on track ).  Tutee B and I finished closed reading "Shinjuki Rush Hour" while discussing allusions, story arc, word nuances, Personal Response genre, etc.  At the end of our session, he told me that he enjoyed the story because he laughed and understood it.

Eat, eat, eat: a poor artist's diet

Mange Readers,

Why were poor artists romanticized? Naysayers would think them foolish believing that only worthwhile endeavors could put food in the table ( derived from a Cebuano idiom: "Can you eat it?" or "Can it feed you?" ), while some artists were content to make Art [ in spite of grumbling stomachs ] because Art fed their souls. 

Perhaps, starving for Art can be fulfilling.  In his memoir The Movable Feast, Ernest Hemmingway reflected on hunger's positive effects.  When looking at a painting, hunger sharpened the viewer's perception.  When writing stories, nuances of hunger could  be manifested in the characters.  According to Hungry Hemmingway, his characters were hungry for Life/love/fame/money/etc. ( conveying an urgency appealing to readers ).

As for me, I'm not making Art at the moment ( doing research instead ); I'm not starving; I'm not looking at paintings, but I am doing some writing [ not necessarily "stories" ].  My food budget is dwindling, and I'm just trying to find ways to stretch it until I get my refund ( Safety Deposit ) in 12 days.  So one of the options I'm exploring is the poor artist's diet consisting of Bread and Butter. 

Bread and Butter may be typical in Europe, But I'm in the Philippines so I have to make lots of adjustments.  I would either buy sugar-free Wheat loaf Bread or Pandisal, and use spreads, such as Peanut Butter, Salad and Sandwich Mate, and Liver Spread.  I'd drink Cereal To-Go, Instant 3in1 Coffee, juice, or Iced Tea ( all approximately  $5, see below for actual pricing per serving[s] ).

1 serving each:
Oatmeal (PhP 7)
Cereal To-Go (PhP 4-5)
Instant 3-in-1 Coffee (PhP 5)
Instant Orange/Mango Juice w/ Pulp or Iced Tea (PhP 5)
Total: approximately $0.50

Several servings:
Peanut Butter (PhP 40)
Salad and Sandwich Mate (PhP 40)
Liver Spread (PhP 30)
Wheat Bread or Pandisal (PhP 50-70)
C2 Green Tea Drink (PhP 25) [ for GNC's SuperFoods Supreme ]
Total: approximately $5 ( excluding GNC's SuperFoods Supreme )

Sometimes the poor artist's diet is not appetizing, nonetheless it's enough until the major meal of the day OR just to get through the day ( Carpe Diem, how romantic! :).  Never fret Readers, I'll always love food.  The taste might not be present, but the nutrients are still there thanks to GNC's suppliments ( see below for cheat-cheat list )

Cheat-cheat ( 3 months supply ):
GNC's SuperFoods Supreme ( All Natural Fruit & Vegetable Blends providing 5 Grams of Dietary Fiber )
GNC's Ultra Mega Green Men's ( Omega Complex, Green Tea complex, Staminol, Multivitamin )
GNC's Omega-3 Soft Chews (Citrus Flavor)
Total: approximately $150

Oh memories, memories of food raining down, how satiating and fulfilling!