European Philippines: Thoughts upon ‘Westernity’ of the Philippines

                                                       Source: Manila Bulletin 

I. The most westernized among the Asians—that’s the phrase the book Story of Nations used to described the Filipino people. Our country has been colonialized by Western powers for almost 400 years, so it is not surprising that half of the Filipino culture is westernized. Our virtually Asian culture has changed dramatically when the Spaniards conquered the Philippines for over 300 years and another dramatic change was taken when the Americans succeeded the Spaniards in handling us for almost half a century (and probably, they are still politically influencing the Philippines up to today.)

II. The Filipino culture has undergone 2 major types of Westernization—Hispanization and Americanization. The Hispanization was started, of course, when the Spaniards came in the Philippine Archipelago, while the Americanization interrupted the Hispanization when the Americans came in the islands. Actually the Hispanization was still strong even when the Americans started handling us, but weakened when the Walled City of Intramuros, the center of Hispanic culture in the country, was destroyed by the Americans in World War II. These two strong westernizations created such a large impact in our culture that anthropologists described our culture as a combination of Asian and Western culture. In other words, paraphrasing the words of the philosopher Ronaldo Gripaldo, the Filipino culture is a Western tradition in an Eastern setting.    

III. By just exploring Manila, you could see that the country is pretty much fucked up. You’ll see so many slums, homeless people sleeping just in front of the City Hall, the heritage site Intramuros inhabited by illegal settlers, the beautiful Manila Bay sunset being destroyed by floating trash and crap, the Metropolitan Theater that is supposed to be a cultural property slowly being destroyed by vandalism and illegal settling and so many diseases that the government of Manila did nothing to cure. But optimist thinkers said that we should not worry too much because, as their favorite phrase said, “The Philippines is not in a state of being, but in a state of development.”

With this phrase I realized that the Philippines should pattern its development with the pattern of the development of Europe. First, we should undergone in an Antiquity; secondly, to a Middle Age; thirdly, to a Renaissance, then to an Age of Enlightenment, then a Modern Age. After this, we should aim for a Utopia—a stage that the West still haven’t achieved (and I guess the West in going to the opposite of it, a Dystopia.) But by looking at the history of the Philippines, it seems to jump and miss and go back from one stage to another. We could look at the pre-colonial and the early part of Hispanic Philippines as the Antiquity; the Middle part of Hispanic Philippines as the Medieval times; the later part of Hispanic Philippines as both the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment where Rizal and the so called Illustrados made so many cultural achievements; the American Period as a Renaissance where the Golden Age of Filipino literature in the Spanish language was taken place; the early post-World War II era to the Marcos reign as an Age of Enlightenment where many buildings in Manila were restored after the war and Filipinos overthrow the Marcos tyranny (similar to the French Revolution) and a large body of great subversive writings were produced. And our day is another Medieval Age.