FOREIGN OCCUPATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School University of Missouri In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by MATTHEW DAVID SHOUSE Dr. Robert Smale, Thesis Supervisor DECEMBER 2010 The undersigned, appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School, have examined the thesis entitled FOREIGN OCCUPATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM Presented by Matthew Shouse A candidate for the degree of Master of History And hereby certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance Assistant Professor Robert Smale Assistant Professor Michael Bednar Professor Doh Shin ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following organizations for their support in the completion of this research project. I would first like to thank the University of Missouri for providing much of the resources necessary to complete this thesis and attain my degree. I wish to thank the Department of History for its financial support, namely by offering me a teaching assistant position. I wish to also thank the Missouri State Historical Society and the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection of Columbia, MO. Their dedicated faculty provided me with many primary documents pertaining to the U.S. anti-imperialist debates in the Senate and House of Representatives. I wish to also thank those individuals who made this project possible. I want to thank my academic adviser, Dr. Robert Smale, for all his guidance and instruction. I wish to personally thank the following professors for their various contributions to this thesis and my development as a graduate student: Dr. Michael Bednar, Dr. Carol Anderson, Dr. Soon Ong, Dr. Doh Shin, Dr. Lois Huneycutt, Dr. Catherine Rymph, Dr. John Bullion, Dr. Jeffrey Pasley, and Dr. Ilyana Karthas. Finally, I wish to thank my parents, David and Gail Shouse, for their years of support and encouragement. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments...............................................................................................................ii Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Early Philippines and the Foundations of National Identity.......................6 Pre-Spanish Filipino Values.....................................................................................7 Early Spanish Colonialism.....................................................................................11 Chapter 2: The Philippine Revolution and the End of Spanish Colonialism.....................19 The Propaganda Movement...................................................................................20 Noli Me Tangere—The World as Seen by the Propagandists.................................27 The Philippine Revolution.....................................................................................31 Chapter 3: Americans and Filipinos...................................................................................37 The Spanish-American War—Early Attitudes of American Imperialism..............38 The American Change of Heart—Expansionist Politics and Annexation.............43 The Philippine-American War...............................................................................53 The End of the Philippine-American War..............................................................56 Chapter 4: American Colonialism and Philippine Autonomy 1901-1935.........................61 Puerto Rican and Filipino Reactions to America...................................................64 Democratization Under the Americans..................................................................69 Chapter 5: The Japanese Occupation.................................................................................74 Luis Taruc and Agrarian Discontent......................................................................76 The Fall of Corregidor and American Supremacy in the Philippines....................81 Filipino Popular Resistance...................................................................................83 The Hukbalahap.....................................................................................................86 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................93 Bibliography.....................................................................................................................100 iii Introduction The history of the Philippines is one defined by its regional, ethnic and geographical division. Early Malay immigrants spread throughout the archipelago, settling among its over seven thousand islands. The mountainous geography and jungle wilderness further isolated early communities, and even the largest islands of Luzon, Mindanao and the Visayas developed a variety of indigenous ethnic groups. Today, the Philippines is home to nine major languages and over a hundred minor dialects, all stemming from the multitude of tribal societies that arose in this period.1 In the centuries after the first humans settled the islands, significant populations of foreign ancestry joined this indigenous mix—merchant sojourners from China and Persia, as well as the agents of colonial governments from Europe, America and Japan. Today, its official languages reflect the ongoing sense of division between Eastern and Western cultural traditions: Filipino (a modified version of Tagalog native to the island of Luzon) and English (the legacy of American colonialism).2 In addition to this ethnic and linguistic diversity, there is the added dimension of religion. Though 80 percent of the nation is Catholic, numerous protestant and animistic religions also retain sizable shares of the total population. Though a national minority, a significant Muslim population dominates the southern island of Mindanao, and ongoing disputes over the matters of government representation and discrimination have developed into a number of nationalistic separatist organizations like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayaff. Lastly, Chinese 1 David Joel Steinberg, The Philippines: A Singular and Plural Place, 4th ed. (Boulder: Westview Press, 2000), 39. 2 CIA World Factbook, “The Philippines,” under “Languages,” https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html (accessed March 14, 2010). 1 ideas and culture as well as the imprint of Spanish, American and Japanese colonialism have deeply affected the fabric of Filipino society. Despite this immense ethnic and cultural diversity, a strong sense of national identity emerged in the late nineteenth century. A new sense of “Filipinoness” supplanted ethnic and regional bonds as the principle identity of the average Filipino.3 Though in the context of this paper the term “Filipino” refers to the people of the Philippines collectively—regardless of race, religion, language or social class—it is crucial to understand that Filipino as a national categorization did not carry its present day meaning until the late nineteenth century. When strictly addressing the term itself, in relation to its changing meanings and cultural association throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an italicized “Filipino” shall be used instead. This study seeks to understand how a region so historically divided could come to adopt a single national identity. Examination of the Philippines' three major occupations suggests that the crucial factor that enabled nationalism to take root was colonialism. Over the course of four hundred years, Spain, the United States, and Japan incorporated these isolated cultures under one rule. As a result, the disparate groups developed a common history from the shared experience of colonial exploitation. This redefinition of what it meant to be a Filipino began as a rhetorical tool of the elite, but eventually its use expanded to all corners of Filipino society as a response to colonialism, establishing itself as a popular identity and a necessary component of national resistance. As such, the Philippines provides an interesting perspective on the relationship between a society's national identity and its development as a nation. 3 Benedict Anderson, The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia and the World (New York: Verso, 2002), 65. 2 Beginning in the 1870s, a strong drive for the colony's full assimilation into Spain emerged. The educated members of the Philippine-born upper class known as the ilustrados, or “enlightened ones,” initiated a massive public writing campaign aimed not only at the policy makers in Spain, but to the international community as a whole. The ilustrados' “Propaganda Movement” initially pushed for social reform and the equal representation of the Philippines as an official province of Spain, not merely as a colony to be exploited and neglected. In the course of their struggle to win philosophical and political support to their cause, the ilustrados introduced a new interpretation of the term Filipino, expanding its meaning from only creole residents (Spanish subjects born in the islands) to encompass all natives of the Philippines, including the Chinese mestizo elite and the indios (indigenous people of Malay ancestry).4 However, because of Spain's inability to implement the desired reforms, the message of the propagandists evolved into a struggle for political sovereignty. The ilustrados' new national identity as Filipino took on a greater