Filipinos celebrated their independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, and declared Emilio Aguinaldo as president. However, the people of the Philippines were not truly free. In fact, they never were. America was its new ruler and had cheated the Filipinos in believing that they were free. Thus, the Filipino American War began shortly after U.S. colonization. Known in U.S. history books as the "Philippine Insurrection", it was a bloody precurser to Vietnam. The Filipino American War was America's first true overseas war. The War lasted from 1898 to 1902, and in those 3 years as many as 70,000 Americans died and close to 2 million Filipinos were killed. American soldiers were ordered to shoot and kill every one over age 10. Filipinos over ten were considered "Criminals because they were born ten years before [America] we took the Philippines."
There was even a special gun designed to kill Filipinos, the Colt.45 1902 "Philippine Model", where only 4,600 were made. This is the real American history that historians, academicians, and scholars forgot to tell us. Soon after the War, William Howard Taft, who later became President of the United States, became governor of the Philippines. American school teachers, called 'Thomasites', came to the Philippines to establish a public school system similar to American public schools.
American educators taught Filipinos that "Aguinaldo and friends" were the enemy. They were taught American songs, and world history through American eyes. This is why so many of us speak such good English. The elite class of rich Filipinos also known as "pensionados" were allowed to come to America to learn in American universities. In November 1903, 103 pensionados became the first Filipino students in American Universities and campuses.
It was here in San Diego at State Normal School, now known as San Diego State University (SDSU), where the School Registrar's records show that there were a few Filipino students, ages 16- 25, who had attended SDSU, proof that we have been here in San Diego since 1903.
In the early 1900's, other Filipinos came to Hawaii to work on sugar cane plantations and to seek a better life in America. Filipinos came to the West Coast of the U.S. They worked many long hours on farms and in the agricultural fields picking grapes, asparagus, lettuce and other fruits and vegetables in places like Hayward, Salinas, Stockton, El Centro, and even in Escondido. In Alaska they worked in the fish canneries.
If they were not working in the fields, then they were working as dishwashers, waiters, and bus boys at the Hotel Del Coronado, some at the "Casa de Manana" in La Jolla, or at the Rome Hotel on Market Street.
These Filipino pioneers were known as the "manong generation" since most of them came from Ilokos Sur, Iloilo, and Cavite in the Philippines. "Many of them [Filipinos] did not plan to reside permanently in the United States. All they wanted was to accumulate as much wealth as possible within a short time and return to the islands as rich men. "But due to the low-paying jobs the migrants obtained, a trip home became more and more remote as the years went by" (excerpt from Adelaida Castillo-Tsuchida's "Filipino Migrants in San Diego: 1900-1946" p.56). Back in the 1920's and '30's, the ratio of men to women was 20 to 1. In some places it was 40 to 1. Because they were Filipino, they were not allowed to marry white women. In the state of California, the local authorities imposed anti-miscegenation laws on Filipinos. Filipinos had to drive out of state in order to marry white women.
And during this time, particularly during the Great Depression, white Americans claimed that Filipinos "brought down the standard of living because they worked for low wages."
Filipinos had to compete against other ethnic groups to earn a living. Tensions grew between white Americans and Filipinos. White Americans blamed Filipinos for taking their women and their jobs. For this reason, many hotels, restaurants, and even swimming pools had signs that read "POSITIVELY NO FILIPINOS ALLOWED!" Sometimes they read, "NO DOGS ALLOWED!"
This eventually lead to the passing of the Tydings-Mcduffie Act of 1934, which limited Filipino immigration to the U.S. to 50 per year. Its main purpose was to exclude Filipinos because they were perceived as a social problem, disease carriers, and an economical threat. American attitude toward Filipinos changed with the onset of World War II. This began the 3rd wave of Filipino immigration (1945-1965). Filipinos from the Philippines joined the U.S. Navy to fight against the Japanese. Filipinos were allowed to join the navy because they were so-called "Nationals". They were not U.S. citizens, nor were they illegal aliens. In the navy, many Filipinos were given the label of "Designated TN", which many of you know stood for "Stewardsman".
As stewards, Filipinos in the U.S. Navy cooked, cleaned, shined, washed, and swabbed the decks of naval ships and naval bases across America and the entire world. Despite their status, Filipinos fought side-by-side with American soldiers for freedom against the Japanese.
The 4th wave of Filipino Immigration began after the passing of the Immigration Act of 1965 and continues to the present day. This allowed the entry of as many as 20,000 immigrants annually.
This wave of Filipinos was also called the "brain drain". It consisted mainly of professionals: doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, as well as the military, Filipinos who continued to join the navy off Sangeley Point in Cavite City, Philippines. From the first to the fourth wave of Filipino Immigration, evidently Filipinos have been in America for quite some time, yet one must persistently ask who are the Filipino Americans? Who are they and what they have done? Perhaps it would be better to ask: What is it about Filipino-Americans that make them appear different, yet one and the same? The answer may lie with the younger generation, our youth, young 2nd or 3rd-generation Filipino Americans, for some of you, your sons and daughters. Many of them do not see themselves in the American mainstream or in the community, and because of this "invisibility" they lack a certain voice that would remind them that they too are Filipino. Perhaps, this might be one of the reasons why they act more American than Filipino. Today Filipino lives and identities are determined not only by the social, economic, and political forces in the United States, but also by U. S. (neo)colonialism in the Philippines and capital investment in Asia. American encroachment in the Philippines affected our culture, government, and financial system and forced the citizens to emigrate to the United States.
It is because of the american government that we Filipinos only seem to have a partial understanding of our own past. This is due to how we as a colonized people were educated and were made to believe. Especially since after the Philippine-american war thousands of all the original records of the Philippines (so-called insurgent documents) were crated and shipped to washington d.c. It was not until 1957 that the us congress voted to return them to us and who knows what may have been lost or maybe even altered. In fact you would probably find more books on the Philippine-american war in the new york Public Library research building rather than in the Philippines. The Library of congress an institution in the us has superior collections in Filipiniana. Another example, the liberation of Manila that MacArthur let the japanese invade without even truly defending it with his 70,000 troops only to come back 3 years later because your ee.uu. government would rather defend australia instead of their colony Las Filipinas. In that series the americans found it necessary to blast the japanese out of Manila with air raids and artillery rather than to risk its own military personnel in urban warfare. Mac Arthur completely decimated Intramuros and the rest of Manila. In the process murdered hundreds of thousands of Innocent Filipino civilians and we lost irreplaceable volumes of books. In that so-called liberation at least 80% of Manila was torn to shreds and laid to waste, the rebuilding of homes, schools, hospitals, institutions, factories, bridges, and roads became paramount. Its industry was completely ravaged, the only large scale activity of that time in 1946 was centered around 1 brewery, 2 soft drink bottling plants, some cigarette factories, few sawmills, and soap factories. So this was very convenient for the usa to finally give us our independence rather than revive our once thriving economy.
Although the usa did help with the rehabilitation and finally give us our independence, but not without a price tag. In return for war damages totaling some $620 million (signed into law by President Truman on April 30, 1946), Las Filipinas was forced to accept an onerous economic agreement, The Bell Trade Relations Act (look it up eddie). This provided for an eight year period of free trade relations followed by a twenty-year period of gradually rising tariffs. "Free trade" in the act, however, levied quotas on Philippine sugar, lumber, tobacco, and coconut oil, with other products subject to american protectionism; CURRENCY EXCHANGE WOULD BE SET SOLELY BY WASHINGTON. Moreover, americans were granted equal rights to exploit and develop Philippine industries, which in effect crippled any development and kept our new nation an economic colony for the usa (your beloved country). This caused an inflation rate of nearly 200%. Now our puppet master, the usa, is hiding behind the curtains rather than showing himself.
The usa paved the way for poverty in my beloved Filipinas now in this 21st century we are still a 3rd world country, the middle class is not growing, there is a huge brain drain occurring due to our economy, and now we are the 2nd most corrupt country in the pacific/ asia.
Wala naman sigurong masamang magustuhan natin ang mga kultura ng ibang bansa, in this case the US. Ipinakikita lang nitong mayroon tayong kaalaman sa mga kultura nila at tayo ay isang mamamayang may kalinangan para malaman iyon.
Yung tungkol sa pagsasalita ng English, natural lang naman sa mga Pilipino ang marunong ng maraming wika. Ang isang karaniwang Pilipino, tatlo ang alam, di ba? At kung nakatira ka pa sa kung saang bahagi ng Pilipinas, malamang, apat pa ang gamit mo sa isang araw. So, dahil pumasok ang English sa main stream, naturalesa na lang nating matutuhan ang mga iyon.
Ang masama lang naman sa pagkagusto sa US, ganon na rin sa kanilang wika ay kung mawawalan na tayo ng pagpapahalaga sa sarili nating kalinangan, kabihasnan at wika.
At sa palagay ko naman, tayo ay 'fascinated' lamang sa mga ito. Walang masama roon. Senyales iyan na maliit na lamang ang mundo para sa mga Pilipino.
Mabuhay ang mga anak ng KUMINTANG!
Sagot: tay, kayo na lang ho hindi ko ho kayang magtali ng kalabaw masyado hong mataba kalabaw natin at isa pa ho baka ho makalag.
Dalawa, anak punasan mo nga ng sipon ang kapatid mo.
Sagot: Nay, si ate na lang ho, wala po akong sipon.
Tatlo, Anak, maungis ka na, maghugas ka ng tubig!
Sagot: Inay,papaano ho ba maghugas ng tubig? Wala ho akong napag-aral sa science na maaaring hugasan ang tubig.
Apat, Accidente! Imbestigator tanong sa testigo.
IKaw ang testigo sa pagkagasa ng bata? Opo, sir.
Nakuha mo ba ang plate Number ng sasakyan? Hindi po.
Bakit akala ko kitang-kita mo buong pangyayari? opo,
Bakit hindi mo nakuha? nakaturnilyo po kasi at masyadong mabilis yong sasakyan.
Lima, anak, dapat sundin mo mga pangaral ko sayo?
Bakit po, itay. kasi anak papunta ka palang,pabalik na ako.
Bakit po hindi tayo nakasalubong?
Anim, Mamay, makapagtanong na nga po, saan po patungo ang kalsada ito?
Sagot: Naku, amang, nakagisnan ko na yan,hindi naman umaalis yan diyan eh.
Pito, nangugumpisal. father, anak ngayon nasabi mo ang iyong mga kasalanan, magdasal. Magdasal sa ating santo. [naguguluhan]father, pati po yong maliit?
walo, nangugumpisal. father, marami na po akong kasalanan. Marami na po akong pinatay.father, pare nalang po ang hindi ko napapatay.
Pare [nangangatal]anak, sacristan ako dito.
Sasusunod na muli ha,
English (US) 