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A Report on the Philippines ...
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Although an ancient people, as a young democratic nation
the Filipinos are in trouble . This is the story of just one of the
many new nations that have been established since W orld
War 11, and the manifold problems it has encountered as it
strives to be free of dependence on others.
Manila, Philippines
I
N THE
past year and a half the Fili·
pinos have been shaken by earth–
quakes, blasted by volcanoes, tossed
by typhoons, scorched by drought, ema–
ciated by famine, washed out by floods,
robbed by pirate raids, terrorized by
guerilla war with Communists, and
thrilled by a charming Filipina who
won the Miss Universe contest. But all
of these events have been overshadowed
by the most traumatic experience of
them all - a Filipino Presidential
election!
Elections are always attended by vio–
Jence here. Jealousies, hurt regional
pride, and strong personal emotions
erupt in ambuscades on dark highways
or submachine gun assassinations in
full view of the astonished, if not to–
tally surprised, populace. So expected is
this violence, jokes and cartoons often
make the whole thing sound like some–
thing out of a musical comedy. In gen–
eral the Filipinos accept this situation
with something dese to good humor
and patience. But even the most easy·
going citizen is beginning to be
alarmed.
Sorne felt this election was not as
bloody as past elections ( the number
dead was probably in the "dozens"),
lugtong-
Philíppine
Free
Preu
by
Arthur W.
Docken
but what was lacking in physical vio–
lence was amply counterbalanced by the
vitriolic charges and counter-charges by
the candidates. Finally the polls were
dosed and the choice made. The harsh
verbal exchanges, the almost libelous ac–
cusations will hopefully be forgotten
and things will return to normal.
Normal?
But what is normal for this small
island nation of 37 miIlion population?
Unfortunately there are no criteria by
which to gauge normalcy. By most
Western standards the Filipinos have
never known "normalcy." What Occi–
dentals consider necessity, the average
Asían looks upon in wonderment as
pure luxury. A continuing quiet, peace–
ful existence is unknown by the
majority.
The President of the Philippines now
hopes to bring a higher standard of liv–
ing to this stepchild of the Pacific. But
the problems are greater tban ever be–
fore, and idealistic goals tend to tarnish
in the light of analysis. However, cvents
taking place in this obscure comer of
the world may possibly influence think–
ing of world Jeaders for years to come.
The reasons are becoming increasingly
more apparent.
From Magellan to MacArthur
Before 1521, anonymity and 400
miles of the South China Sea allowed
for relative peace among the Malays,
Indonesians, Negritos, and other Asians
who had migrated to the islands.
Except for an occasional aggressive
intruder, and the introduction of Mo–
hammedanism into Mindinao in the
1300's, the scattcred farming tribes were
free to live and work as they pleased.
On March 16, 1521, Ferdinand Ma–
gellan reached the Philippines, and was
subsequently attacked and killed by the
natives - just as tbey had killed many
other invaders of their peaceful oasis.
But this time it was different. Magel–
lan's men completed their round-the–
world trip and informed their king of
these beautiful islands in tbe Pacific.
The wave of Westerners began.
In 1564, Spain arrived with armies of
"the cross and the sword," conquered
and colonized the islands, and named
them Philippines in honor of Phílip II,
the Hapsburg king of Spain.
For 334 years, the Spanish governed
the divided tribes, enforced Roman
Catholicism, established trade, culti–
vated plantations, established schools,