Father Figures Abound

Where paternalism and patriotism meet

by Emil Guillermo

An interesting confluence of holidays this weekend: Saturday, June 14, is Flag Day, when we pay homage to the ideal image of the rippling Stars and Stripes--and maybe, if we get around to it, even Betsy Ross, the garment worker to Old Glory who sewed in the ripples. Then of course, Sunday, June 15, is Father's Day, when we honor testosterone, sperm, and all things male.

So Saturday, it's flags. Sunday, flagpoles.

Oddly enough, on the previous Thursday, there is a holiday, all but forgotten, that very neatly incorporates the "realistic" sentiments of both days. June 12 is the day we celebrate, or ignore, Philippine Independence Day.

Philippine Independence Day?

Yes. That's the day the Philippines won independence from Spain and Americans began seeing itself as an imperial power. It's a day that neatly wraps the flag around our natural inclination to dominate. It's truly patriotism meets paternalism all in one day, encapsulating a shameful period of American history. So, of course it's a forgotten holiday.

Let me refresh your memory.

Go back to 1896. That's when Filipinos began battling Spain for independence from centuries of colonial rule. Two years into that fight, the U.S. became involved in a three-month-long skirmish known as the Spanish American War of 1898. This is also known to newspaper publisher's everywhere-- especially those with a particular fondness for Citizen Kane--as the ultimate in circulation battles.

This excursion in destiny took place in every nook and cranny of the Spanish Empire: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and that necklace of islands in Asia, the Philippines. What an empire! Great food, dancing, culture. But lousy politics. Americans hear about Cuba mostly--it's closer to us and featured patrician warriors like Teddy Roosevelt. In the media center of New York City, they know of Puerto Rico. Guam? Is that like an Asian Delaware? And the Philippines? Few know of the details of the Philippines.

Many people forget that Admiral Dewey's fleet was at the helm in Manila harbor. In fact, the Filipinos actually helped the U.S. Navy drive the last remaining Spanish troops from the island. Comfortably in control, the Filipinos felt that destiny was their own.

On June 12, 1898, the brave Philippine General Emilio Aguinaldo, essentially the George Washington of his country, proclaimed independence from the balcony of his home in Kawit, Cavite. And all was good with the world, right?

Nope. The Spanish American War officially came to a close with the Treaty of Paris of 1898. Spain, doing what any good colonial landlord would do, refused to recognize the Filipinos, and dealt exclusively with its equal, the U.S. As it turned out, Cuba was the only country promised independence. The other countries were ceded to the U.S. in a land deal that cost our taxpayers $20 million. In other words, for a lot less than the Giants are paying Barry Bonds. And no player to be named later.

It was, however, more than a bad deal for freedom. Mark Twain referred to it as the U.S. "entrance fee into society--the Society of Sceptered Thieves." America had begun to see itself as an imperial power.

What about Aguinaldo's proclamation? Totally ignored. On Feb. 4, 1899, the U.S. Army shot at a group of Filipinos and began a long, protracted American war that historians cite as our first Vietnam.

As the journal Anti-imperialism in the United States, edited by Jim Zwick of Syracuse University, points out, the war against the Filipinos was marked by racism and military atrocities.

To fan the popular sentiment in the U.S. for war and domination, political cartoons showed Filipinos as savages with feathers in their hair or as grass-skirted natives. The Filipinos were obviously wild people in need of colonial taming. They needed a strong hand. By god, they needed a white father figure. Or at least a foster parent.

In the halls of Congress, Sen. Albert Beveridge would provide it for them. He whipped up support by claiming the colonization of the Philippines as "the mission of our race, trustee under God, of the civilization of the world." And even then, free marketers were savvy about the benefits of war on capitalism, as Beveridge helped sell the imperial policy by saying that "China's illimitable markets" were "just beyond the Philippines."

That was enough to whitewash the racist bloodletting that was going on in the Philippines. A U.S. soldier at the time writes: "Our fighting blood was up and we all wanted to kill 'niggers.' This shooting human beings is a 'hot game,' and beats rabbit hunting all to pieces."

Racism fueled the atrocities that occurred. The Philippine American War was the first to use the policy of rounding up civilians into garrisoned towns that some claimed were "concentration camps." The intent was to cut off the Philippine Army from the locals. But the effect was to create the potential for civilian massacres. Mark Twain talked of one such occurrence when 900 Muslim Filipinos--men, women, and children--were fired upon by U.S. troops for four days until all were killed.

The death toll from America's Filipino foray is still uncertain; 16,000 to 20,000 Filipino soldiers were killed during the official war, which lasted until 1902. But, skirmishes and battles continued for at least 10 years on the archipelago of 7,200 islands. Adding all the civilians who died from famine, disease, and causes related to war, the numbers top off at around 600,000 dead.

On the other side of the ledger, 5,000 American soldiers died. The remaining members of the American force of 200,000 returned home to the States as heroes, and as the first protectors of Imperial America. By golly, the British knew a thing or two, didn't they? The tiara fit for nearly 50 years, until someone figured out what democracy was all about. A crown looked silly on that guy Taft anyway.

So if you forgot to celebrate Philippine Independence Day on June 12, that's all right. Everyone tries to. Or they give it that American spin. Historians have long referred to the Philippine-American war as the "Philippine Insurrection." Damn, Filipino troublemakers looking for democracy. Thank goodness we have this weekend's "positive celebrations." There's no hard feelings with Saturday's and Sunday's happy confluence of patriotism and paternalism. So Happy Flag Day, Happy Father's Day.

But don't forget Philippine Independence Day next year. Send me your cards and ties. And it's the centennial year to boot. A hundred years should be long enough to fully acknowledge where America went wrong.

Emil Guillermo is a former host of NPR's All Things Considered and a regular contributor to AsianWeek. E-mail him at emil@amok.com.

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