Re: the tomasites , english and the filipino
- From: Paulo <Lapulapufalls@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 01 May 2006 10:30:16 +1000
Rightly or wrongly, these people may have thought that due to the fact
that there was so much technological and other changes taking place in
the world that the Filipinos may be disadvantaged by the fact much of
this change was documented in books written in English or other
European languages not Tagalog or any other of the Filipino dialects.
Due to the fact that the Phillippines was greatly advantaged by the
fact that we were the only Asian country that spoke English as a
second language, unfortunately it seems that we did not use these
skills to our greater benefit. Sadly we allowed the rest of Asia who
saw the need for English in commerce to catch up.
Why blame the Thomasites for our own lack of vision?
Paulo.
And they came to teach English as part of the "policy of attraction"
after the 1898 República de Filipinas was blown up to smithereens by a
superior invading military force.
It was obvious that the main content of the so-called policy of
attraction was to compulsorily impose English as the only medium of
instruction. Benevolent assimilation was to be advanced by "education
in English". If no working knowledge of English was acquired by the
native Filipinos, education was unilaterally deemed not to have taken
place among them. Without English, a Filipino is deemed illiterate even
if he can correctly write and speak in Tagalog or any of his major
native languages.
Indeed, before the benevolent Thomasites did come, native children had
for their English teachers the McKinley soldiers that claimed to
educate "them Injuns with the crank and the kragg". This claim
dovetailed the Mckinleyan motto "to christianize, to educate and to
uplift" the Filipino.
But were the Filipinos of the 1900s who were already drinking real
potable water; who knew what cheap electricity and silk was; who called
friends by note, postcard, phone and telegram, and who grandly
celebrated Christmas and Lent, really asking the Thomasites to
"educate" them in the English language?
An American linguist of the time, Mary I. Bresnahan, answered that
question in the following manner:
"In any case, it continues to be speculative if the Filipino's
purported desire to learn English was genuine or not. Documents tell us
about Filipinos trembling with fear inside their huts built on stilts
as they expected the intrusion of the cruel Americans reputed to be
blood thirsty giants bent on killing even the most trusting among them.
Unsure about the real motives of the invaders, the Filipinos did what
they thought would please the Americans the most. And that was to learn
their language, ---English." (See "The Americanization of the
Philippines, The Imposition of English during the 1898-1901 Period" by
Alfonso L García Martínez, Law College of Puerto Rico, Vol. 43, pages
237 to 270, May 1982).
To change this general perception, the so-called Thomasites came and
were accepted.
Even a secondary Spanish school like Colegio de San Juan de Letrán
wrote a textbook to teach the English language as early as 1902. This
was a help to the beleaguered Thomasites. The book was entitled Mañga
Onang Turô sa Uicang Inglés written by Tagalog Professor P. Ulpiano
Herrero and Spanish Dominican P.Francisco García. (Imprenta UST,
Manila, 1902). In this book of 482 pages English language lessons were
effectively explained in both the Tagalog and Spanish languages.
But the pro-English language efforts of the Thomasites appeared nil.
Too much was expected of them by the American authorities themselves.
By 1916, their hard work was criticized in a report prepared by Henry
Ford to President Woodrow Wilson. Wrote Mr. Ford:
"There is, however, another aspect in this case which should be
considered. This aspect became evident to me as I traveled through the
islands, using ordinary transportation and mixing with all classes of
people under all conditions. Although, as based on the school
statistics, it is said that more Filipinos speak English than any other
language, no one can be in agreement with this declaration if they base
their assessment on what they hear on the testimony of their
hearing......Spanish is everywhere the language of business and social
intercourse...In order for anyone to obtain prompt service from anyone,
Spanish turns out to be more useful than English...And outside of
Manila it is almost indispensable. The Americans who travel around all
the islands customarily use it." (The Ford Report of 1916. Chapter 3.
The Use of English, pp. 365-366.)
What had appeared to be a big deception was the earlier report of
Director of Instruction David P. Barrows which said:
"It is to be noted that with the increased study and use of English,
there has been an increased study of Spanish. I think it is a fact that
many more people in these islands have a knowledge of Spanish now than
they did when the American Occupation occurred" (The 1908 School
Report, p. 96)."
"Spanish continues to be the most prominent and important language
spoken in political, journalistic and commercial circles. English has,
therefore, active rivals as the language of trade and instruction. It
is equally probable that the adult population has lost interest in
learning English. I believe it
is a fact that many more people now know the Spanish language than when
the Americans sailed for these islands and their occupation took
place...The customary prerequisite for dispatchers is for them to know
English and Spanish. Through the great upsurge in numbers and
circulation of newspapers and publications, there is much more reading
matter in Spanish than before... (Op. Sit. p.9)
But the Thomasites plodded onward. Upon their shoulders was thrown what
was thought of as the great task to make Filipinos speak English. This
thought was, however, not shared by Filipino educators born out of the
Katipunan and the Primera República's Universidad Literaria like Dr.
Leon María Guerrero and Don Enrique Mendiola, co-founders of the Liceo
de Manila, Librada Avelino, founder of the Centro Escolar de
Señoritas, Mariano Jócson, founder of the Colegio de Manila, Las
Maestras Avanceña and Don Manuel Locsin, founders of the Instituto de
Molo, Iloilo, Doña Florentina Tan Villanueva, foundress of the Escuela
de Cebú, and Gran Maestra Rosa Sevilla de Alvero founder of the
Instituto de Mujeres.
These native educators were for the use of Spanish and Tagalog, with
Visayan and Ilocano, as media of national education. They viewed
English as "a language of economic conquest". (See: The Life of Librada
Avelino, Bilingual edition in Spanish and English, by Francisco Varona
and Pedro de la Llana, Vera & Sons, Publishing Co., 1935, Manila,
p.241).
The Thomasites were not only hampered in their task by native
resistance, albeit passive. They were also made to know, outright, that
English would never become the language of the Filipino masses because
it is not written as it is spoken in the same manner that the native
languages are done. The century-old Tagalog phrase "mahirap
ispiliñgin" (difficult to spell) attests to this reality. Mr. Henry
Ford himself refers to this fact when he wrote in his mentioned report
the following:
"The use of Spanish as an official language has been extended to
January 1, 1920. Its general use seems to be spreading. Natives
acquiring it learn it as a living speech. Everywhere they hear it
spoken by leading people of the community and their ears are trained to
its pronunciation. On the other hand, they (the natives) are
practically without phonic standards in acquiring English and the
result is that they learn it as a book language rather than as a living
speech. "(P.368, Historical Bulletin. Ford Report on the Philippine
Situation).
The italicized part is true up to the present time. More so when many
children, out of economic hardship brought about by a balooning foreign
debt and the increased price of gasoline, electricity and potable
water, can not attend primary and secondary schooling. That must be why
English is fast becoming a minority language in these islands today.
The government and the private schools do not have enough money to pay
teachers a truly living wage. And the English speaking elite, as well
as the politicians, find themselves forced to campaign in Tagalog, or
Filipino, for votes. In other words, the Filipino language ecology has
started to self-destruct with the de-emphasis of Spanish, the link
between English and Tagalog, Bisaya and Ilocano.
But the Thomasites could not then go on with their task to teach
English. The Philippines was not a Tabula Rasa with regard to language.
There already was an existing Philippine language ecology with Spanish
as its nucleus. The aim to therefore replace Spanish with English as
the first step to also replace Tagalog (the actual basis of Filipino or
Pilipino) along with Ilocano, Cebuano and Hiligaynon, could not take
off with success. And this was the case because the imposition of
English was actually going against an existing language ecology that
would later get back at even the English language, as it is now
starting to happen.
But the early legislative Commissions that ruled the Islands were there
to really impose English no matter the cost. And to do so, some
draconian measures were inevitably, albeit tyrannically, implemented to
help the Thomasites go about their linguistic task. The same Ford
Report gives us a glimpse of these measures that came in the form of
hard laws.
"Act No. 190 of the Commission (then the legislature) provided that
English must become the official language of all courts and their
records after January 1, 1906... Act No. 1427 extended the time to
January 1, 1911... Act No. 1946 again extended the time to January 1,
1913." (Op. cit. p. 368).
In short, it was the American WASP regime that started the idea about a
language, whether English, Spanish or Tagalog, that must be taught by
force of law in order to sink it in upon the psyche of the Filipino.
This precedent glaringly belies the much later argument that "the
compulsory teaching of Spanish by legislation would not succeed because
of its obligatory nature".
But before January 1, 1913 came, Executive Order No. 44, issued on
August 8, 1912, had to allow Spanish to continue as an official
language out of sheer necessity. In view of this situation Henry Ford,
sounding almost exasperated, concluded that:
"The practical impossibility of substituting Spanish for English in
court proceedings and in municipal government was such that even if
English was imposed as the Official Language on January 1, 1913,
Spanish would still continue in use." (Op. Cit. p. 369)
Another law was enacted by the Filipino dominated National Assembly on
February 11, 1913 further extending the use of Spanish up to 1920. Of
this law, Henry Ford reported:
"There is no present prospect that Spanish can be superseded any more
readily in 1920 than heretofore. And from all appearances, its place as
an official language is securely established." (Op. Cit. pp. 368-369).
By 1925 a so-called "Monroe Commission" came to the islands to assess
the educational system started in English by the Thomasites. With
regard the advance of English, this commission concluded:
"Upon leaving school, more than 99% of Filipinos will not speak English
in their homes. Possibly, only 10% to 15% of the next generation will
be able to use this language in their occupations. In fact, it will
only be the government employees, and the professionals, who might make
use of English."
Upon the publication of this result, Modesto Reyes, a Filipino writer
in Spanish, publisher and editor of the Rizalist newspaper-magazine
ISAGANI, commented that "with the same funding and efforts spent, with
the same system and other modern means of instruction now employed in
the obligatory instruction of English, if Spanish were instead taught
to Filipinos, the proportion of modernly educated Filipinos would have
been greater than the number produced with English as the medium of
education. Now, because of this failure with English, we have no other
just and natural alternative but to adopt Tagalog as the national and
the official language."
And Modesto Reyes bravely added: "In our humble opinion, the
Philippines already had a national and official language in Spanish
when it formed part of Spain. And we adopted Spanish as our own
language because we were in fact Spanish citizens. But came the
Americans and without first turning us into American citizens, they
just went on forcing us to adopt their language through an educational
system paid for by our own tax money." ISAGANI, P.24, Year 1, No. 5,
June 1925.)
The shelling and bombing of Manila in World War Two, as provoked by the
landing of the American liberation forces, killed many Filipinos. Among
them was a big number of Spanish speakers and writers. And the entry of
the liberating American forces suddenly made English a necessary tool
of communication for grateful Filipinos who came to adore the G.I. Joe
with his chocolates and his pampams.
But right after the grant of the July 4, 1946 independence from the
U.S.A. the Soto, Magalona and Cuenco laws were unanimously approved by
a still largely Spanish-speaking legislature. Spanish was made a
regular subject of the collegiate curricula. Because the older
Spanish-speaking generations of Filipinos were still alive, this
language continued, in the words of Henry Ford, "as a living language".
It is because of this that the old U.S, WASP view of Spanish as a
threat to English in the Philippines was resurrected. A black
propaganda about Spanish being "a dead and irrelevant language" was
launched. Parents and students were brainwashed to believe that having
Spanish as a 12 unit course was an economic burden. (It was previously
with 24 units because the other 12 were for the study of Filipino
writings in this language).
With the 1987 Cory Constitution in place, the supposed Spanish threat
to the advance of English was at last eliminated from both the official
and the educational spheres. Article XIV, Section 7, Paragraph 7 of the
Cory 1987 constitution provides that "Spanish and Arabic shall be
taught on an optional and voluntary basis". But while CHED refuses to
organize a 12-unit foreign language course for the college curricula,
neither Spanish nor Arabic, nor any other foreign language can become a
regular subject in the tertiary curricula of this country. But the
President of the Republic can remedy the deliberate violation of this
constitutional provision by executively ordering CHED and DECS to
organize unit accredited foreign language courses.
But, will she?
After one hundred years since the Thomasites landed all that was
achieved is the replacement of Spanish as the country's official
language. Aside from this we have the almost secret policy to force
into phonetic Tagalog the unphonetic base of English, as pointed out by
Henry Ford. This is now being done by ramming the entire English
alphabet into Tagalog and into almost all the other major native
languages by a DECS circular without any clear objection from the
Commission on Filipino.
What could be tragic and funny is that this deliberate alphabetical
cross-breeding is resulting into a pidgin called Taglish that may just
further deteriorate the common use of English as it definitely and
officially damages what used to be standard Tagalog or Filipino.
But the Filipino is said to be profitably entering the global village,
albeit as a derided DH and as an entertainer, with English, or Taglish.
This slave-like situation of Filipino migrant workers demeans all the
previous efforts of the Thomasites. Filipinos today are being
"educated" with compulsory English by the tyranny of the Jones law of
1916, the country's foreign debt and the present Philippine
Constitution, just to end up as virtual slaves and prostitutes in other
countries that neither have English as their language.
Is this why the teaching of another international languages like
Spanish is deliberately being withheld by the U.S. WASP dominated
Philippine government of today?.
Is this why a foreign language course, with credits in units in the
college curricula, can not be included by the now controversial
Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) so that either
Mandarin, Spanish and Arabic may be placed within the reach of today's
Filipino student?
Is language tyranny a part of the legacy of the Thomasites?
RELATED:
The evolution of the native Tagalog alphabet
The evolution of the native Tagalog alphabet: Genocide
The importantce of the Tagalog 32-letter alphabet to the modern education of the Filipino youth
5 August 2001
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