I’ve been in the Philippines for a week now and I’ve seen new things ranging from extreme poverty all the way to some of the most incredible natural beauty in the world. Between the vast metropolis of Manila and removed world of Batad, one thing I have seen in common is Western influence. Here in Manila it is the billboards, the McDonalds and the Starbucks. In Banaue and Batad it was American country music, which I was really surprised to here. I’d like begin my piece with some information I gathered from our professor here at the University of Philippines as an opener into our classes’ readings and experiences.

I had an interesting conversation with Professor Jose after class on Thursday and he told me some interesting things about the time period inwhich the Philippines was under martial law from 1972 - 1986. He explained to me that one of the buildings we are studying next to was one of the only places in the country during that era in which freedom of speech was allowed and it was essentially within those very halls that the whispers which would turn into the noise and riots of the People Power Revolution began. (I intended to upload a picture of the building but wasn’t able to get the chance to take the picture but I’ll upload one when I get the opportunity.) In this instance the institution of education was seen to uphold intellectual ideals in the midst of oppression and it is now to an article about education that I turn to because a major commonalty I have found is the necessity of education in order to uncover and understand more properly the allowance for the Filipino-American relationship and the implications that such an allowance has held.

The Suarez article explained the modern day crisis that is the lack of equal education throughout the world. I found myself alarmed that schools in developing and modernized countries alike need to increase the competence that students have in terms of media and information literacy. This is alarming because in the developing world a rather staggering number of children are not even literate at the most basic level. Basic literacy is the necessary foundation for people to become literate with technology as well as with the media. Globalization; which is at the nexus of the concepts of colonialism, imperialism and exceptionalism that we are studying in the Philippines, demands an increase in the rate in which people are able to acquire the necessary skills to provide technical and media based services.

Its conceivable that the people who are illiterate will be left behind as globalization accelerates the gap between those who can prosper in the modern world and those who cannot; sequentially widening the international disparity between the rich and poor. A paradox is derived as our readings are interwoven with the costs of globalization: Who is going to provide developing nations with the necessary educational tools to keep their people from being left in the dark side of globalization? If it is the United States, China or European countries that are asked to do so, then to an extent, the same countries that are contributing to this eminent educational discrepancy by blatantly benefiting from it via capitalism are being called upon to end it. This reading and educational challenge has made me interested in learning about what efforts there are at the grassroots level and even at the corporate level to address this issue. I would also like to get a chance to witness or at least check out the schooling system here as well learn about the level of competitiveness of young Filipinos on the global and domestic scale in regards to the value of their education not only in terms of its quality but to its potential as well. Since we are dealing with issues of literacy this is a good transition into discussing an article that we read by Mark Twain.

I was appreciative of the Mark Twain article, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness” because I was more naturally able to identify with what he was saying about America’s impact on the Philippines than in other articles. For obvious reasons this is because Mark Twain is neither Filipino and neither am I. With this being said, I find myself on common ground with Twain when he explains that the there are essentially two sides of the American Dream as well Christian ideals. At heart, the American Dream and Christian ideals call for the betterment and advancement of people, but Twain explains that when these concepts are filtered through a spectrum of capitalism and imperialism you will get situations such as the Filipino experience. The particular experience Twain addresses is the Filipino-American war in which we (America) essentially befriend the Philippines and encouraged their revolution against Spain and then turned on them and decided that we had a right to claim Filipino resources and land as our own. While Twain makes attacks on U.S. foreign policy, with a satirical and practically cynical sense of humor, he also gives off the tone of being betrayed or let down by a big brother. This is how I feel when I learn about the way that America treated the Filipinos during the war. I love my country and what it stands for but when I read these articles and as I sit here and witness the reality of it all I feel disappointed and let down by my country’s hypocritical past.

“The Philippine-American War, Friendship and Forgetting” by Ileto took Twain’s abstract and allegorical criticism of the war and explained it in a more specific and literal sense via accounts of actual events and actions that occurred during the war. It is disheartening to know that the same government who fought valiantly for their own independence allowed for the murder and raping of innocent Filipinos who were standing for the independence of their own country. Ileto exposes the fact that American soldiers treated the Filipinos practically the same way the Japanese did. During our conversation, Professor Jose explained to me that when he was studying/living in Japan the people there would literally apologize to you if you are a Filipino. Although they are apologizing about the way their country treated Filipinos during World War II it is pretty significant to consider the degree of shame they feel in comparison with America’s lack there of – I didn’t even know there was a Filipino-American war until last Spring and most American’s probably don’t either. It seems that Americans and Filipino officials benefiting from allegiance to the United States throughout history, especially after World War II, have encouraged the forgetting of America’s wrongs and the remembrance of anything that can be construed to be “right”. I see it in the culture here as I see emulations of America – huge malls, beauty advertisements, bill boards for clothes, make up, non essential commodities etc. – many of which are owned by American corporations. One can imagine how the Baby Ruth bars that accompanied General MacArthur as he returned to the Philippines after Japanese interment in World War II would evolve and magnify to this current state in which the country has markings of the Western world physically and in literal sense that is seen in the way the people go through their daily lives. Even the schools here were designed in part by Western influence. We saw the Mall of Asia today and I thought about how a building of that size could house many of the people here living in slums. So ultimately what is economic progression? Is it symbolic malls and skyscrapers or is it improving the homes and lives of the poor? This question can be applied anywhere throughout the world but as we we drive by slums and children begging on the street it becomes all the more real.

When we were in Batad I was reminded of my hometown as well as my family. Growing up in a small town we were separated from a lot of consumerist culture that I now see regularly in Seattle. Its interesting to me because I have now seen a weird dichotomy in the Philippines that I’ve also seen back home although within very different circumstances. The people in Batad take up a non-modernized life style. Kalama (my home town) is similar although not parallel because we live a much more modernized way of life. What really struck me however was that the residents of Batad were untouched by globalization and I guess ultimately what it made me think of is how mass marketing/capitalism affects everyone and wherever you go it is most noticeable in metro/urban areas. However, due to economic discrepancies that are in a large part created by the United States the affect of capitalism here is much different at home than it is here.

My experience overall has been that of a country with rich natural beauty that is in physical contrast with modernization, industrialization and globalization. I’m regularly being taken out of my comfort zone and constantly adjusting to different feelings in relation to where I’m at. It’s a good time so far, our group is a great and relaxed crew and I feel lucky to be here.

- Travis White