Introduction
As Claro M. Recto, nationalism is the ‘battle-cry that animates and sets in motion millions of hearts and minds’. The given description summarizes the role that nationalism has to play in history- as the ‘battle-cry’ of a people who loses confidence on the status-quo and, therefore, seeks for change; who is suppressed and, therefore, aiming for liberty.1
But our understanding of Filipino nationalism has been anchored on its political and economic dimensions, and leaving the cultural almost untouched. It is to that reason that the researcher has chosen identity formation as a theme.
History does not move in vacuum. Every event must have been caused by something else. The objective of the study is to analyze what identity formation has to do with the birth of Filipino nationalism. However, the researcher confines the discussion on the concept of Filipino as proposed by the Ilustrados. Also, it intends to answer the following questions:
1. By what means would homogenous identity be achieved?
2. To what culture was this identity patterned?
So, it is expected that the research would contribute to the attempt of some historians to reveal the cultural dimension of our nationalism, and, therefore, suggest a new understanding of it.
Towards a New Order
While Spain’s colonies in the Americas one by one rose in arms and won their liberty and independence- Paraguay in 1811; Argentina in 1816; Chile in 1817; Colombia and Ecuador in 1819; Mexico, Dominican Republic, and the Central American republics (Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) in 1821; Venezuela in 1822; Peru in 1824; and Bolivia and Uruguay in 1825, Las Islas Filipinas was still on the hands of colonial power.
The Cross and the Sword, symbolized by the church and government, went hand in hand in keeping the Philippines in their control. The very social, religious, and economic institutions imposed or implemented by the Spaniards were reasons why the natives had hard times regaining the privileges that they once enjoyed. Here, the researcher would give emphases on two early colonial policies- the reduccion and divide et impera.
The decentralization of the settlements (barangay) was an obstacle for the friars and encomenderos to make the natives submit to new faith and order. That was why the natives were brought to resettlements patterned in plaza, where the church and governmental houses (e.g. houses of Ayuntamiento andAudiencia) were to be found. The church with its adjacent plaza served as the nucleus of each poblacion.3
This forced resettlement, according to Renato Constantino, ‘had a rapid and deep effect on native consciousness for it subjected every aspect of the natives’ lives to the close scrutiny and direction of their rulers. The reduccion, too, shows the amalgamation of the church and colonial government**.
The reduccion and divide et impera (divide and rule) policy weakened, or more proper to say, postponed the development of liberal consciousness. There were uprisings that threatened the Crown of Spain in the Philippines, but there was no attempt to set the entire archipelago free. In the attacks of the Portuguese, Dutch, and Chinese in the archipelago, the natives were at the back of the Spaniards to defend the colony. The early revolts of the natives were repelled by the natives also4. A chapter in Teodoro A. Agoncillo’s book History of the Filipino People talks about it. The chapter has a title From Indio to Filipino. Here, Agoncillo discusses the motives of early revolts by Indios or natives. The reasons, according to the author, were either personal, led by the political and religious leaders; resistance to oppressive Spanish introduced economic as well as religious institutions; and land problems. Also, the author gives an analysis on the revolts’ failure. Due to the archipelagic setting of the Philippines, ‘the natives were conditioned to live and feel apart from each other for almost three hundred and thirty-three years’. The linguistic barrier was another problem. There was no lengua franca that would represent the unity of consciousness.5
Agoncillo also explains factors that gave rise to Filipino liberal consciousness, aside from what are stated above – the Philippines in World Commerce, Rise of the Clase Media, European Liberalism and Carlos Maria de la Torre, Racial Discrimination, Regular-Secular Conflicts, and La Algarada Caviteña. But in the present paper, the researcher concentrates on the first two factors given by the said author.
The English occupation, the end of the Galleon Trade, and the Latin American Revolution were factors which led to an economic re-thinking by the Spanish liberal officials. One of them was Governor Jose Basco (1777-1787). Of the many economic policies and institutions taken during his term, two economic institutions were most known- the Real Sociedad Economica de Amigos del Pais(1780-1895) which was oriented toward education ans encouragment and Real Compania de Filipinas (1785-1814) on trading operation and development. Heavily influenced by the enlightenment in Europe, Basco’s plan was to make the Philippines entirely self-sufficient from its dependence on externally generated income from such as that of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade***. Another measure of Basco was to make Intramuros the center of economic activity instead of Extramuros, the district outside Intramuros. The Extramuros was dominated by the Parian where the Chinese had set up shops selling various goods such as food, condiments, clothing, and other manufactures. Because of that, Extramuros became the Market of Manila. However, Basco’s plans faced a strong impediment, this was the stipulation in the Laws of Indies that in the plaza mayor shall be found only the church and the houses of the ayuntamiento (city council) and the audiencia (Supreme Court), and no provision was made for the location of a market within the perimeter.7
But ‘true’ economic transformation that eventually gave rise to a ‘class’ in Philippine society then was yet to come. The opening of the Philippines to world commerce (1834-1898) set the stage for the enlightenment and evolution of consciousness among Indios.
Notwithstanding economic restrictions by the Spanish government, foreign consulate and firms were already established before and after 1834. The opening of the ports in other parts of the archipelago, like those of Cebu, Zamboanga, Legazpi, and Tacloban, enabled non-Hispanic interest to establish branches beyond the capital, and therefore increasing cosmopolitan penetration.8
As a result of the economic boom, a clase media of Asian and European mestizos emerged in the hierarchy of Philippine society. They formed the town principalia, an elite circle composed of former gobernadorcillos and minor native bureaucrats owning at least P50.00 in land taxes, decorated personnel, and school master.
From the beginning up to, approximately, the year 1872, there was no such concept as Filipino nation. The term Filipino itself was used to refer the creoles or the Spaniards born in the Philippines, and not the brown-skinned and flat-nosed natives. As Constantino, the term ‘started as an elitist concept with racial connotation’. Nick Joaquin, on the other hand, discusses in his book A Question of Heroes the problem that the creoles and principalia faced despite the glory they received from the Gilded Era. As economic status of an individual grows, so is his desire to hold a higher governmental position. This is even truer in said period. The influx of Spaniards hoping to marry heiresses of elite families in the Philippines caused the jealousy by the creoles, mestizos, and principalia for they occupied positions in the bureaucracy.
An indicator of being a member of the clase media was education. Families belonging to this stratum were able to send their children to colleges and universities in the country and abroad. In years to come, these educated Filipinos would sow the liberalism they had learned from the universities abroad, especially in Spain, and call for reforms.
Teodoro A.Agoncillo, in a chapter from the Revolt of the Masses, recognizes the role of the ilustrado in attaining change. He says,
In all countries where society is dominated by an economically superior group, the movement for reforms toward the improvement of the political, social, and economical status of the people is always initiated by the middle class, more particularly by the intellectual segment.
From his statement we may say that Mr. Agoncillo shares with the thesis that the ilustrados or intellectuals were the ‘precursors’ of change, or the work-horses of history as Maxim Gorky calls them.
But in the chapter also, the said author often dichotomizes the ilustrado and the masses, by saying that the middle class has always rejected or opposed the position taken by the mass of people. This dichotomy he shares with Renato Constantino who calls the ilustrado as limited Filipinos. Constantino says further that the contrast of the ilustrados approach was the Katipunan of Bonifacio. He describes the early revolts as movement without consciousness, the campaign of the Ilustrados as consciousness without movement, while Bonifacio and his Katipunan as the synthesis of the two, movement with consciousness.9
We cannot deny the fact that education has affected the course of any nation’s history. Social change is attainable through the evolution of consciousness which is, in turn, possible through education. Through education, a social stratum had been formed and whose influence was indisputable and so enormous that it penetrated almost all aspects of the society – the ilustrados.
Fr. John M. Schumacher tells us of education being medium to fulfill the ‘project’ of the Rizal to establish a Filipino nation. Laon-Laan considers education as the precedent of having liberty. His December 15 Manifesto reflects this view of Dimasalang.
Interesting to note that in his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, he makes/regards the alternatives taken by his contemporaries to gain freedom, or equality to the Spaniards at least, by means of characters, fail/ineffective. Crisostomo Ibarra realized that seeking for reforms from Madre España was not enough. The planned revolution of Simoun failed. The desired hispanization was upbraided by Simoun; as he,
You ask for equal rights, the hispanization of your customs, and you don’t see that what you are begging for is suicide, the destruction of your nationality, the annihilation of your fatherland, the consecration of tyranny! What will you be in the future? A people without character, a nation without liberty – everything you will have will be borrowed, even your very defects!
His campaign for education, in analysis, was a part in his attempt to form an identity which was then ruined by regionalism. Remember that ‘to unite the whole archipelago into one compact and homogenous body’ was an aim of La Liga Filipina. Here, he also encourages education. Are they not connected? He explicitly stated in his manifesto the importance of education in attaining liberty. He said,
But I place as a premise the education of the people so that by means of education and of labor they might have a personality of their own and make themselves worthy of liberties.
Education would be an instrument to form a homogenous identity. However, the identity to be formed would be European! How would this be possible? By means of acculturation. The education then was basically European inspired, and the proponents of the project themselves were acculturated, who embraced by other culture.
The sense of unity among the people is vital force that breaks any kind of suppression. Identity must be affirmed, and must not be negated (e.g. We are not Spaniards). There must exist a feeling that people have commonality and attributeor features that can be claimed as theirs. It is, to me, precedes nationalism. Not all nationalism, however, is based on preexisting ethnic ties. Like our own, some ilustrados like Rizal, endeavored to create identity, but identity not rooted in our own culture.
Through education, the people would be enlightened, have a personality of their own, and eventually be deserving of liberty.
1Constantino, Renato, The Recto Reader (Manila: Regal Printing Co., Inc., 1965) p.4
Excerpts from Claro M. Recto’s speeches on nationalism, economic independence, foreign affairs, democracy and civil liberties, the Constitution and Philippine Politics are compiled in this book.
2Bailey, Helen M. and Abraham P Nasatin, Latin America: Development of its Civilization (New Jersey: Englewood Cliff, 1960) pp.232-288
3Reed, Robert R., Hispanic Urbanism in the Philippines: A Study of the Impact of the Church and State (Manila: The University of Manila, 1967)
**Interesting to know that the church and the colonial government, sometimes, had disagreement. The topic of the paper presented by Dr. Marta Ma Manchado Lopez in the University of Asia and the Pacific entitled Conflictos Jurisdiccionales en torno a la carcel eclesiastica de Manila en tiempos del Gobernador Arandia (1757-1758), was an instance.
The work was devoted to study the jurisdictional conflict that arose in the Philippines as a consequence of the decree signed by Governor Pedro Manuel de Arandia y Santisteban on September 2, 1757. The decree ordered the release of the prisoners of the ecclesiastical prison of Manila and also the women kapt in the casa de recogidas, whose imprisonment had been affected without the intervention of secular justice.
4Constantino, Renato, Identity and Consciousness the Philippines Experience (Quezon City: Malaya Books Inc., 1974) p.4
5Agoncillo, Teodoro A., History of the Filipino People (Quezon City: Garotech Publishing, 1990) pp.102-126
6ibid.
***According to Gregorio Zaide, the Philippines was a financial burden to the Spanish Crown for the country did not yield much silver and gold, unlike Mexico. The annual income of colonial government was not enough to pay its expenditure. Among the cargoes brought on the homeward trip of the Galleonfrom Acapulco was the Royal subsidy, a sum of money which the Viceroy of Mexico sent annually to Manila.
Zaide, Gregorio F., The Pageant of Philippine history: political, economic, and socio-cultural (Manila: Philippine Education Company, 1979)
7The topic on the economic policies of Governor Jose Basco was discussed in a conference held in the University of Asia and the Pacific entitled Lourdes Diaz-Trechuelo, In Memoriam: A Conference on Spanish Colonial Philippines. Dr. Celectina Boncan lectured about the proposed market in Intramuros. She called Basco’s plan an impossible dream.
8Reed, Robert R., Hispanic Urbanism in the Philippines: a Study of the Impact of Church and State (Manila: University of Manila, 1967) Chapter VIII
9see Agoncillo, Teodoro A., Revolt of the Masses: the Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: UP Press, 1956)
10Cornell, Stephen and Douglas Hartmann, Ethnicity and Race Making Identities in a Changing World (California: Pine Forge Press, 1998)
11ibid.
Works Cited
Agoncillo, Teodoro A., History of the Filipino People (Quezon City: Garotech Publishing, 1990).
------------------------------ Revolt of the Masses: the Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: UP Press, 1956).
Bailey, Helen M. and Abraham P Nasatin, Latin America: Development of its Civilization (New Jersey: Englewood Cliff, 1960).
Constantino, Renato, Identity and Consciousness the Philippines Experience (Quezon City: Malaya Books Inc., 1974).
Constantino, Renato, The Recto Reader (Manila: Regal Printing Co., Inc., 1965).
---------------------------- Dissent and Counter-Conscoiousness (Quezon City: Malaya Books Inc., 1970).
Cornell, Stephen and Douglas Hartmann, Ethnicity and Race Making Identities in a Changing World (California: Pine Forge Press, 1998).
Reed, Robert R., Hispanic Urbanism in the Philippines: a Study of the Impact of Church and State (Manila: University of Manila, 1967).
Toh Goda, Urbanization and Formation of Identity in Southeast Asia (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 2009).
Zaide, Gregorio F., The Pageant of Philippine history: political, economic, and socio- cultural (Manila: Philippine Education Company, 1979).
