During the entire plane ride from Seoul, South Korea to Manila, Philippines I talked to a Filipina woman about the Philippine culture and my Salvadorian- Mexican culture. We talked about the language, food, we talked about everything. She even shared her story of how she met her first boyfriend who ended up being the man she married. One thing that I will always remember was when the plane landed. It might be funny but yes, I will remember that! She grabbed me by the hand and said “Welcome to the Philippines; I know you will enjoy your time here”. Before the landing she told me she was very happy that I chose to study in the Philippines; she hoped that I had a wonderful stay and that I would see the country’s beauty. She did not want to scare me but she wanted to warn me about the country’s poverty and about the things I should not do while I was there, like go out by myself especially at night. She advised me to be careful with my belongings and to always be aware of my surroundings.

Now that I am back in Seattle, I can say that she was correct; I had a great time in the Philippines. I learned so much about the Philippines, the United States and Spain. I learned about the culture, the people and I learned about myself, something that I did not expect. While I was in the Philippines I was able to connect many things about myself to the things that I learned there. I learned from the readings, lectures and more importantly from being there. J In this blog I would like to inform you about my experience and the information that was unknown to me which has led me to argue that that the United States has benefited and continues to benefit from the Philippines. I will first inform you about the history of the country and the colonization of the Spanish and their influence in the Philippines. Secondly, I will provide information of the arrival of the United States and their goals. Thirdly, I will tell you about some benefits that the U.S had and continues to have.  I will then conclude by sharing my experience and closing my argument.

When I arrived to the Philippines I knew very little about the country, I was familiar with  information that I gathered from talking to my Filipino friends, from two news articles that I read before leaving the United States and information presented in the pre- departure seminar. As I learned more I felt a bond being created with the country and its people. When I read the articles from the first week about the history of the Philippines I quickly noticed the similarities the country had to my mother’s and father’s home country. The similarities are reflected in the way the country was affected after the arrival of the Spanish.

The Philippines was colonized by the Spanish in the sixteenth century and named after King Philip II. The Spanish colonized the Philippines for three hundred years and its influences can still be seen today. The goal of the Spanish missionaries was explicitly to Christianize the Filipinos (Viola, pg. 7) which is evident in the number of Catholic churches and cathedrals throughout the country. The missionaries converted a large portion of the Filipinos to Catholicism (Zinn), there was an overwhelming influence of the colonial church, it was estimated that 90% of Filipinos were Catholic (Raferty). Just as the Spanish converted the Filipinos to Catholicism they did in Mexico and El Salvador.  The religious influences are still present today; many people embrace the values brought by the Spanish.

The language was also influenced by the Spanish, I must admit, I loved hearing Spanish words when I heard people speak Tagalog.  I liked hearing, “derecho, po” or something that had a Spanish word, I somewhat understood what was being said. I was surprised when I read that Spain colonized the Philippines for three hundred years but there were very few Filipinos who spoke Spanish. It is reasonable to think that by then the majority of people would have known Spanish.  But Spanish was primarily spoken by the elite, it made sense that the goal of the Spanish was to convert the people to Catholicism. Their main concern was to spread Catholicism, perhaps the language was not amongst their priorities.

               Just as the Filipino people were influenced by the Spanish, Americans brought their influences to the islands. From the readings, it seemed that the Americans were more organized than the Spanish and had a vision of what they wanted the Philippines to be. Americans influenced the Filipino education, language and even their culture. “For Americans, Filipino culture had to change for two main reasons-first, because only Filipinos who truly understood Americans and American values would be able to recognize and appreciate the nature of the intentions of the United States in the Philippines and second, because Filipino culture was backward and limiting” (Paulet,192).  Americans took the responsibility to educate and civilize the Filipino people and when the Americans started arriving to the Philippines they wanted the Filipino people to believe that “Spain was the villain, America was the savior” (Constantino, pg. 181).  Americans wanted the Filipino people to see them as their savior because they were bringing civilization to the islands, they called it civilization but it was Americanization. Paulet further explains this; the goal of Americanization was accomplished by constructing education in the archipelago. The United States benefited from the Philippines and the “little Americans”. The movement of Americanization allowed the United States to benefit through hard power such as politics, military and economics (Professor Jose), the benefits of soft power consisted of culture and education. The United States established an education system where English was spoken and shadowed the education in the United States. The United States benefited from a free trade and now benefits from cheap labor. 

               From my stay in the Philippines I quickly learned about the United States and how they have benefited and continue to benefit from the Philippines. On our first day of class with Professor Jose we learned that the United States had military bases in the Philippines, which also shows how the United States benefited from the country. It was interesting to know that the place where we stayed, the University of Philippines, Diliman used to be a military base.

               The United States has benefited economically from the Philippines by having free trade between the Philippines. In Anakabayan’s presentation we learned that the Philippines is a rich country in natural resources and has become to be an export oriented country. When there was free trade 80% of the exports from the Philippines went to the U.S. Filipinos grew products that were mainly consumed in the U.S such as asparagus. The Philippines also exported workers; Filipinos went to California, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii to do tough work like fruit picketing and fishing.

               The United States has benefited from Filipino workers and they continue to do so today.  Many Filipinos decide to leave their country and look for work overseas which is often to the United States.  From our readings and visiting the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) we learned a lot of Filipina women who leave their families and home to become overseas workers. Filipina women obtain jobs as domestic servants, nurses and healthcare workers, “In the US, healthcare workers are the fastest growing service workers as some of the most exploited” (Chang, pg. 8).  Other Filipina workers experience oppression when working as housekeepers and are forced to become sex workers. Parenas adds that “even with a high level of educational attainment, Filipina women migrate and enter domestic work because they still earn higher wages as domestic workers in postindustrial nations than as professional workers in the Philippines” (page, 8).  A lot of these women are college educated and instead of working professional jobs they become workers of cheap labor.

            The lady I met on the plane is a college educated woman; she worked at bank for years which is where she met her husband. They went through financial difficulties even though they were both educated and worked at a bank. They thought about the future and realized that they would not be able to afford for their daughter’s education. She made the decision to come to the U.S and work. She works in a hotel and sends money back home to help support her husband and daughter. When she told me her story I admired her, she took the courage to leave her husband and daughter to come to find work in the U.S. She visits them twice a year and talks to them via telephone or email. She told me it was very difficult being away from her husband and daughter but she knew she was doing the best for her family.  

            Filipina women arrive in the U.S for better opportunities but they become to be workers of cheap labor in the U.S. The United States benefit from these women because they do the reproductive labor as Parenas refers to be the labor that is needed to sustain a productive labor force such as household chores, care of elderly, adults and the youth, the socialization of children and the maintenance of social ties in the family (pg. 561).  The United States benefits from Filipina workers because they are a source of cheap labor. The U.S has benefited from bodies of cheap labor from the Philippines since there was free trade. Filipinos would go to the U.S to work as fishermen and fruit picketers, now the women work doing reproductive labor. In the Chang article a manager of the adult services branch of California Department of Social Services comments on having IHSS workers, he said “it’s a good deal for the government” (pg. 6).  Having oversees workers is a good deal for the U.S because they receive bodies of cheap labor that do not demand benefits.  

               The military of the U.S has also benefited from the Philippines. We had the opportunity to visit Baugio, Subic and Clark which were military bases. I will focus on Baugio, a city created by the Americans when they were in the Philippines. The city was built for the convenience of the United States; Baguio was, literally, a breath of fresh air: like a balm, the cool, pine-scented breezes soothed weary Americans unaccustomed to Manila’s tropical heat (Alcantra, 210).  Americans were not used to the weather and a place in the highlands would allow them to get away from Manila and go to a place that would have the weather like home. The creation of the city allowed the American government to save money because within twelve hours soldiers were in a place that would take away the necessity for long vacations spent in America; reduce the number who go invalided home, and lengthen the period of the American soldiers that were stationed. It reduced the number of soldiers returning home therefore decreasing the expense of transportation of troops between the island and the United States (Alcantra, 210). The creation of Baguio City benefited the U.S, it saved them money, it was the soldiers “home away from home” and had bases in an island close. In Professor Jose’s class we learned that the U.S benefited from having the bases in the Philippines it was an easy access for trade with China and Japan.  

My stay in the Philippines was something I did not expect, I truly learned so much. I remember hearing about Americanization in sociology and LSJ classes but I was able to see Americanization in a different country. Every time we visited a different part of the country we heard about American influences and it made me realize how much the United States benefits from the Philippines and other countries. The military, the cheap labor, natural resources and the list continues. The fact that the Philippines has a similar history as El Salvador and Mexico made me want to learn about the each country and the involvement the U.S has with them. 

I just want to say that this was honestly a wonderful opportunity, the purpose of me going was to learn and I definitely did. I opened my eyes to new information that I would have not learned from studying in the U.S. I wanted the opportunity to be able to connect with the people and the culture and I did. In my previous exploration seminar I did not have the opportunity to do so but I am very grateful for all the things we did, it was a beautiful experience.  

        

                    And because I heard this song every day in the Philippines …