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•PBEEDOJPI,,
and literally built their island economy
from nothing.
But the Filipino was not happy. He
was generally treated as an ignorant sav–
agc and oppressed with high tribute and
religious, social, and economic abuses.
As the centuries went by, the Filipinos
began to show a common desire for po–
litical jndependencc. They were captive
in their own land, seeing aH their
islands' wealth being shipped away, yet
unarmed and helplcss to stop it.
On May
1,
1898,
during the short
Spanish-American War, Commodore
George Dewey destroyed the Spanish
Fleet stationed in Manila Bay and en–
couraged the Filipinos to intensify their
war with the Spanish colonial govern–
ment. On June
12, 1898
Emilio Agui–
naldo proclaimed Philippine indepcn–
dence under his dictatorial presidency.
But after Spain ceded the Philippines to
the United States for $20,000,000 a
tragic and unfortunate series of evcnts
by Americans forced the revolutionaries
to continuc their fight for freedom -
this time against thc Yankce!
In
1902
the Filipino-American war
ended in a crushing defeat for the
frcedom-hungry Filipinos.
In
1934
the U. S. allowed the Philip–
pines a Commonwealth governmcnt,
and promiscd total indcpcndence in
1946.
But then carne World War II,
and the Filipinos once again became
subjugated
to
tyrannical rule - this
time by the miJitary government of
Japan.
Finally, in
1944,
General MacArthur
"returned" to thc Philippines. Two
ycars Jater, on July
4, 1946,
an indepen–
dent Republic of the Philippines became
a reality. Independence at last, after
over 400 years of foreign rule !
Independence
What is the state of the nation today?
Unfortunately, after twenty-three
years of independence the nation is still
not "independent." This painfuJ reality
is recognized by most Filipinos. Their
depcndence on American and other
forcign aid becamc a festering política!
T he
PLAIN TRUTH
issue in tl1e recent presidential cam–
paign. Sorne Filipinos wish the Ameri–
cans still ruled them; sorne wish the
Americans had never rul ed them. Sorne
wish all foreigoers would leave. Sorne
wish for ao
A sían
"Big Brother" to
help shoulder the domestic aod eco–
nomic problems.
The governmcnt realistically rcalizes
help must come from somewhere. After
400 years of subjection to foreign
powers and only
23
years of indepeo–
dence, they just do not yet have what it
takes to keep themselves standing on
their own economic feet.
What is holding back this nation of
dynamic peoplcs, this victor in World
War
11,
this ooly Christian nation of
the Far East? The Philippines seemiogly
has everything going for it, yet progress
is painfully slow.
Wby?
The rcasons are manifold.
A House Divided
Fi lipinos are still in many ways di–
vided groups of fiercely proud pcoples.
There are over eighty differeot dialects
spoken and the population is of mixed
ethnic background. The Cebuaoos are
suspicious of Ilocaoo; the Moros (Mus–
lims namcd after the Moors of Spain)
are suspicious of the Christiaos, and vice
versa.
People living on the plaios treat
mountain tribesmen with disdain. Re–
gional and ethoic pr ide prevents any
serious compromise of religious, tribal
or cthnic values.
Tbis lack of cohesive force has much
to do witb the instability of the natioo.
Not as serious as it once was perhaps,
but still a vcry real factor that needs cor–
rection before the nation can forge
ahead.
The DEPENDENT Economy
In spite of millions of dollars' foreign
aid and investments, the economy is
slow moving. Wealth is controlled by 5
percent of the people. These powerful
old families also often iofluence the
economy and the governmeot. As in
most poor countries there is great con–
trast between the standard of living of
the wealthy and "peasaot" classes.
Ten percent of the country's families
enjoy
40
perceot of the wealth, leaving
January,
1970
only sixty percent to
be
distributed to
the hungry
90
percent.
A rccent Senatc study of the Philip–
pine economy showed the standard of
living had changed little for the average
citizen. "The typical homc (of the
L960
census) was made of light materials,
without electric power, ligbted with
kerosene lamps, using wood as cooking
fue!, drawiog water from open wcUs
and force pumps, and without toilet fa–
ci lities. The
1967
survey of bouseholds
shows very ltttle change"
(Ma11iia
Chronide,
May
17, 1969).
The same report showed that while
wage rates for skilled labor had in–
creased
25
percent from
1955
to
1967,
prices had soared by
57.6
perccnt in
the same period of time. As a result, real
wages were only about
79
perccot of
what they had beco twelve years pre–
viously, leaving most worse off thao
ever before. A rapidly inflated economy
is not a hcalthy economy. The average
Filipino caonot afford basic needs, let
alone such "luxuries" as refrigerators,
autos, toilets. Today, more people than
ever before do enjoy these things. Gen–
eraUy, thc professional is able to live
better; but for the average person, the
farmer, laboree, teacher, white collar
worker, these thiogs are still an "impos–
sible dream."
Obviously, theo, domcsttc capital is
scarce! A large share of all Philippines
10dustry is foreign owned. The mortal–
ity cate of Filipino businesses is very
high, while foreign concerns thrive.
Filipinos do not like to watch their na–
tive resources leave the islands to serve
another nation. They don't like it, but
they lack the business acumen to fight it.
In the last ten years, the Filipinos
have had only two years with a favor–
able balance of trade. The Philippine
peso is dwindling in value on the wodd
market, as the balance of payments
deficit climbs toward one
bil/ion
dollars!
It's a vicious cycle. As the Filipinos
go further in debt and their own busi–
nesses fail, they call
in
foretgn capitaL
The more foreign capital grows, the
more dependent the Filipinos become.
Economically, independence is still not
a reality.
Education
Another major problem ts the lack of
techoical know-how in many areas. Fili-