Our sense of history

Media

Part of Panorama

Title: Our sense of history
Creator: Alzona, Encarnacion
Language: English
Source: Panorama Volume XII (No. 2) February 1960
Year: 1960
Rights
Fulltext: GOOD HEARING FEBRUARY 1960 VOL. XII MANILA, PHILIPPINES No. 2 By Encarnacion Alzona Ou off JHutO'Uf efore the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1935 Philippine education was entirely dominated by for eigners—first by the Spaniards and afterward by the Americans. Thus, for more than four centuries since the coming of Spain the Filipinos had no direct voice in the deter mination of the type of education that they should have on account of their status as a subject people. However, leading Filipinos, the thinking and patriotic Filipinos, had not been altogether inarti culate during that long colonial period. Even under Spain, when they did not enjoy freedom of speech, they voiced their senti ments in respectful petitions in which they pointed out to the authorities the great need in this country for primary schools as well as schools of agriculture, trades, and fine arts. Such schools, though they left much to be desired, were eventually established and re mained in existence until the end of Spanish rule in 1898. Under the American regime the Filipino nationalists manifested great concern about popular edu cation. , Their most eloquent and brilliant spokesman, Manuel L. Quezon, later to become the first president of the Commonwealth, on the occasion of the installation in 1915 of Ignacio Villamor as the first Filipino president of the Uni versity of tne Philippines, the highest institution of learning sup ported by the State, said: ". . . We are spending every available cent of the public con fers (for education) not only be cause we want our children to learn what they need to know in order to face successfully the national problems of life and to satisfy tneir intellectual wants, but also in order that they may become patriotic Filipino citizens. “Note please, ladies and gentle men, that I said ‘Filipino citizens’, and I mean it. "We want our boys and girls to be taught that they are Fili pinos, that the Philippines is their country and the only country that God has given them; that they must keep it for themselves ana for their children; and that they must live for it, and die for it, if necessary. This is the thought that I want strongly to impress upon the President of the Uni * versrty of the Philippines . . HIS STATEMENT has not lost v its aptness and timeliness to this day. In fact it might as well be repeated and pondered in this thirteenth year of our Republic when we are striving to maintain the institutions of a free society and to build a nation sufficiently strong and vigorous to resist the assaults of a new and formidable imperialism that is threatening to destroy throughout the world numan freedom and dignity—the freedom and dignity that free men have won at the cost of so many painful sacrifices, so much blood and sorrow, and which are still denied to millions of men in the benighted regions of the globe. The adherence of the Filipinos to the free institutions of the West can easily be appreciated by glanc 4 Panorama ing at their past. The establish ment of a Spanish rule here in the 16th century inevitably ex posed the inhabitants of these Is lands to Western culture. Among other things Spain introduced the Roman alphabet. By the 18th cen tury it had replaced the indige nous ones, its use having become general throughout the Archipel ago. The adoption of this West ern form of writing had far-reach ing cultural implications. For one thing it brought the Filipinos in tellectually closer to the Western nations than to their Eastern neighbors and for another, it faci litated and hastened their recep tion of Western ideas. It is note worthy that one of the cultural trends of our times is the move ment in the Oriental nations which had adhered to their indi genous alphabets to adopt the Ro man alphabet realizing its useful ness and convenience in a world that is fast extracting, figuratively speaking, due to scientific advance ment and the resulting revolution in the means of communication and transportation as well as in the methods of warfare. In this respect the Filipinos enjoy a cul tural advantage for having adopt ed it centuries ago. NwrrriNGLY Spanish rule in tensified the innate passion for education of the Filipinos. The Spaniards found the inhabitants of these Islands in possession of written languages and according to the first Spanish chroniclers themselves, every man and wo man here could read and write in their own characters, adding that they were so fond of read ing their writings that the mis sionaries had to destroy them, be lieving them to be the cause of their slow conversion into Christ ianity. This highly commendable lit eracy, however, was to decline markedly during the Spanish re gime due to the change in the system of writing and the govern ment’s neglect of public education, which was one of the principal grievances of the Filipinos against Spain. When finally Spain, need ing the clamor for popular educa tion, promulgated’the Educational Decrees of 1863 that provided for the establishment of primary schools for boys and girls in the towns, the people still complained that she did not establish as many and as good public schools as were needed. It was significant that as soon as the Filipinos were able to establish a government of their own—the short-lived. Philippine Republic (1899-1901) ^they forth with provided for free compulsory education and even created a uni versity at Malolos—La Universidad Literaria—while war was still going on and they were fighting for survival against great odds. Although Spain neglected the education of the masses, on the other hand she provided for high er education, establishing colleges and universities, not of course for February 1960 5 the benefit of the Filipino origin ally, but of the Spanish children who could not be sent for one rea son or another to the mother coun try for their education. In the course of time and through per sistence, driven by their passion for learning, select Filipinos gain ed admission to these educational institutions and even under the most adverse circumstances ac quired an education equal to that possessed by the educated Span iards. Thus arose an elite of edu cated Filipino intellectuals,- im bued with Western ideas, cultur ally the equal of the educated Spaniards and in truth of educat ed men of all countries at that time. *yHE rise of an intellectual elite among the Filipinos had tremendous implications for the future of the country. For it was this elite that became the ardent champion of their oppressed coun try that clamored for better edu cational opportunities for their people, that provided the essential leadership in the popular move ment not only for social but also economic and political reforms, that denounced in vigorous ac cents the excesses and abuses of the Spanish officials in the Islands, that inspired the masses to rise finally in armed revolt against Spain. An articulate and patriotic elite, it became the object of per secution quite understandably by the Spanish colonial authorities. These Spaniards were not stupid. They knew that the educated Fili pinos—the ilustrados as they called them—were a real menace to Span ish sovereignty over this colony, or La provincia espanola de ultramar, as Spaniards preferred to call it. Rizal’s mother, Teodora Alon so, clear-sighted and highly intel ligent woman, with an accent of sadness said to her husband when the two were discussing the edu cation of their gifted son who at 16 already held a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila: “Don’t send him any more to Manila; he already knows enough; if he gets to know more, he’ll be beheaded.” Her prophecy was tragically fulfilled. Ana not only her son but many other Fili 6 Panorama pino intellectuals in the flower of manhood met the same tragic end, sacrificed on the altar of Spain’s imperialist design. Indeed, during the Spanish period in the Philip pines higher education was inti mately associated with unhappi ness, with tears and sorrow. Soon after the Americans had succeeded to destroy the ill-fated Philippine Republic, they organ ized a civil government for our country, filling some responsible positions in it with Filipinos drawn from our intellectual elite. They named Cayetano Arellano, legal luminary, chief justice of the Supreme Court and five other not ed Filipino lawyers were made as sociate Justices—Victorino Mapa, Manuel Araullo, Raymundo Melliza, Ambrosio Rianzares, Julio Llorente, and Gregorio Araneta. Florentino Torres was appointed attorney general. To the second Philippine Commission, the high est legislative body then, were ap pointed Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Jose Luzurriaga, and Benito Legarda. Many other educated Filipinos—lawyers, physicians, en gineers, surveyors, accountants, pharmacists, teachers, skilled pen men—all trained during the Span ish era, were drafted into the gov ernment service. Q iher Filipino intellectuals, such as Rafael Palma, Jose Palma, Fernando Ma. Guerrero, Cecilio Apostol, Epifanio de los Santos, Rosa Sevilla, Fiorentina February 1960 Arellano, and Jose Abreu, were active in journalism, writing for the organ of the Filipino nation alists—£7 Renacimiento. These Filipino intellectuals spoke and wrote in Spanish, so that for the first three decades at least of the 20th century, Span ish was the most used official and journalistic language in the Phil ippines. This being so, the official documents in our archives—the records of the legislative, execu tive, and judicial branches of the government—pertaining to that pe riod as well as the writings of many of the thinkers who then flourished were in the Spanish language. Hence, when the learned Senator Claro M. Recto was asked at a public forum held under the auspices of the Order of the Knights of Rizal on May 15, 1959 by a university professor as to whether he was in favor of the teaching of Spanish, without the least hesitation he replied in' the affirmative, citing the reason iust stated. In truth the Spanish language has become part and parcel of our culture and a com mand of it is rightly regarded by the intellectuals as an essential part of the equipment of the edu cated Filipino. It is fortunate there are still Filipinos possessing a mas tery of this Western language, for enlightened governments in the world today are encouraging the study of modern languages in res ponse to the demands of world politics and international trade. They realize that the possession of as many modern languages as one can acquire gives many ad vantages not only to their posses sor but alsp to the country to which he belongs. Filipinos in general have an aptitude for learn ing languages and two or three modem languages will certainly not be an intellectual burden to them. The Spanish-educated Fili pinos at the arrival of the Ameri cans in a short time acquired an admirable command of English. ^hat forthwith endeared the first Americans in the Philippines to our people was their zeal in opening public schools and in teaching the Filipinos the Eng lish language even before the pa cification of the country. For this reason Filipinos lavish praises on those pioneer American teachers. As a result of the introduction of the principle of freedom of edu cation by the Americans, private schools have multiplied and flour ished in this country. Today, as an evidence of their prosperity, they are housed in imposing edi fices and they are constantly en larging their plants despite the fact that they rely solely on tui tion fees for their maintenance, a phenomenon thaj arouses the won der of many a foreign observer. Their large number and prospe rous condition clearly demonstrate the continuing passion for educa tion of the Filipinos upon whom they depend for their support. Higher education received an impetus in 1908 with the crea tion of the University of the Phil ippines, which is patterned after the American state university. The private educational institu tions officially recognized as uni versities are now twenty, thirteen of them being established in Ma nila and its environs and seven are found in the Visayas, and this in a country with a population of only 23,000,000 or so. And more astounding is their enrollment. One private university at Manila boasts of a student body of 38,000 including its primary and second ary schools. In addition to these universities there are a number of institutions of collegiate rank. 8 Panorama M'hese private educational establishments have a peculiar ity that has perturbed many a thinking Filipino. Some of them are controlled by foreign nation als. And the question is asked: Should we allow foreigners to edu cate future Filipino citizens? Did not Plato long ago sound the dan ger to the State of such a prac tice when he said: "Youth is the time when the character is being molded and easily takes any impress one may wish to stamp on it. Shall we then simply allow our children to listen to any stories that anyone happens to make up and so receive into their minds ideas often the very opposite to those we shall think they ought to have when they are grown up?” Concern about this singular educational condition was voiced recently in the very hall of our Senate by a brilliant member of that body who advocated that the heads of all educational institu tions controlled by foreigners should be Filipinos to insure that the youth they were educating would turn out to be patriotic Filipinos. Several years ago the govern ment prescribed that such school subjects as the History of the Phil ippines and the social sciences were to be taught only by Fili pinos. Apparently this is not a sufficient safeguard. It is not enough to require of the classroom teacher a sympathetic understand ing of the history of the Filipino people and a sincere respect for February 1960 9 their aspirations. Most important of all in any educational organ ization are the capitalists who con trol its financing. It is their atti tude that in the final analysis de termines the quality of education in the school. J further reason for concern s' about these private schools is that they are patronized by a large number of leading Filipino families, for there is a prevailing notion that they provide a higher standard of instruction than those under Filipino control and the public schools. Presumably their graduates will be the social and political leaders in our communi ties. Yearly our higher schools gra duate thousands of young people. These holders of college and uni versity degrees today constitute our treasure and our problem. Al ready some observers are express ing alarm at, the increasing num ber of unemployed intellectuals and the possible consequences of this social phenomenon on peace and order in the country. It seems timely therefore that our educators pause and reexamine our educa tional concepts and practices. Are these degree-holders unemployed because the education they were given did not stress individual selfreliance, dignity, and industry, or are these virtues unfashionable? Are our educational institutions more concerned with quantity rather than quality? They might as well ponder these and similar questions. With regard to self-reliance, some instances come to our mind that seem to indicate that this vir tue is on the decline. Noticeable is the widespread habit of many citizens of seeking the assistance of public officials, even of Malacanang, in the solution of their personal problems, cluttering up the government offices daily. There is the common impression that everything, even if it is con trary to law, can be obtained through proper connections, or perhaps through bribery. In Ta galog parlance the word for it is pakiusap, a failing that can be traced to the Spanish colonial ad ministration when bribery was rampant in official transactions, perhaps the best explanation for the weakness and inefficiency of 10 Panorama that government. How many up right persons and honest govern ment officials have lost cherished friends because of their refusal to go against the law, to honor the pakiusap system of administration? *Yhe practice of pakiusap has v dire implications for our edu cational endeavors. Because of it and the popular belief in its effi cacy, doubt is growing in certain quarters that training, ability, and intellectual excellence are neces sary in securing jobs or attaining public distinction. The awareness that jobs and other things as well are obtainable through influence or proper connections certainly does not encourage the youth to cultivate their talents or to apply themselves seriously to their stu dies. Neither does it help create a favorable environment for edu cation or the pursuit of excellence. Armed with a diploma, even if it were a mere scrap of paper, a young man can get what he wants provided he cultivates the right persons. Moreover, do not they see around them men and women possessing no academic training, no intellectual ability, no virtue whatever, in high and distin guished public positions? Still fresh in the memory of many of us was the case of a man notorious for his uncultivated and undisci plined mind who attained poli tical eminence and intoxicating popularity. After his remarkable achievement, he became the fa vorite topic of conversation and one often heard smart students saying that they would not study hard inasmuch as intellectual at tainments were unnecessary in rising to the political summit. In deed the task of the educator is rendered arduous in a society that chooses to bestow its favors on its undeserving and incompetent members. Even some parents of students resort to pakiusap whenever their children receive due punishment from school officials for some mis demeanor or failure to meet the scholastic standard of the institu tion. There are mothers who shed tears in pleading for leniency for their erring children and if they fail to get the desired result, they withdraw them from that school. Thus, sometimes parents can be held responsible for the lowering February 1960 11 of academic standards and the un dermining of school discipline. he baneful practice leads also to the loss of personal dig nity. Forgetting their dignity men ana women holders of college and university degrees stoop to beg ging for positions and favors from those in power. Have our people lost their traditional sense of dig nity? In our history we read that dignity was one of the outstanding virtues of our ancestors. To pre serve their dignity they were will ing to suffer poverty and woe to anyone who dared to hurt it. The revival and popularizing of this virtue would be a desirable edu cational aim for it is highly essen tial in winning the respect of our fellowmen here and abroad. Our government would be better res pected if the men and women in it are imbued with a deep sense of dignity. Have our schools failed to im press upon our youth the value of industry? In the history of our people industrious men and wo men were very much admired by their contemporaries. Even today in our communities the indus trious man is extolled while his opposite is derided or taunted. In our folklore we have the story of luan Tamad (Juan the Lazy),’ holding up in ridicule a lazy man. J gnacio Villamor has left us a little volume entitled Indus trious Filipinos based upon a series of lectures he delivered early in this century under the auspices of the Sociedad de Conferenciantes Filipinos headed by the cul tured Judge Estanislao Yusay. De dicated to the Filipino youth it consisted of short biographies in English of 40 Filipinos among whom were Rizal, Benedicto Lu na, Pedro Cui, Mateo Carino, Jose Ma. Basa, Luis R. Yangco, Ro man Ongpin, Clemente Jose Zulueta, Isidro de la Rama, Enrique Mendiola, Gregorio Araneta, Datu Undaya Amai Kurut, Esteban Jalandoni, Valerio Malabanan, Aleja de la Cruz, Lorenzo Guer rero, Gregorio Crisostomo, and Manuel Artigas. They were men who, working in diverse fields of human endeavor under very try ing conditions, contributed in large measure towards the build ing of our nation. After reading that book one cannot help but feel proud to belong to a nation that has produced such exemplary citizens who would be an asset and an honor to any people. 12 A young independent nation like ours undoubtedly has a press ing need for industrious men and women, if our Republic is to sur vive. As Ignacio Villamor and other Filipino thinkers had said, no people could progress unless they were industrious. It would dishearten them to behold so many idle men and women walk ing aimlessly or just standing at street comer frittering away val uable time, or the long queues of men and women before the ticket windows of the cinemas in the City of Manila mofninq and after noon, during normal working hours. Among other agencies our schools perhaps can help remedy this deplorable situation by intro ducing into the school program activities that are calculated to de velop habits of industry among the students. And our educators might consider these questions: Is there too much play and too little work in the school? Are the stu dents devoting too much time to joining or holding elaborate pa rades, costly floats, queen or beau ty contests, dances and the like? -^ow and then a bold com mencement speaker does not hesitate to say that many college graduates are unfit for their chos en callings. In plain language the aualitv of their training is so poor tnat tney could not be employed. To what could this be attributed? To the indiscriminate promotion of students regardless of their grades, as in the public schools? To academic laxity? To huge clas ses, so huge that teachers nave to use a microphone to be heard by those in the back seats? To in competent teachers? To lack of proper guidance or counselling? Or to family pride and conceit which he has no aptitude whatso ever? Criticisms of our public and pri vate education made in good faith should stimulate our educators to scrutinize our educational system rather than to cast aspersions on the critics. Being a human insti tution there is always room for improvement in it. Our school curricula can cer tainly profit from a’ periodic scru tiny. It is possible that there may have accumulated in our educa tional cupboard considerable tri via that ought to be thrown away. For example, is it advisable to spend the time of the senior high school students who are between 13 fourteen and fifteen years old in the discussion of “dating, steady date, blind date, when to date, courtship, engagement, honey moon, etc.?”* Obviously lifted from some foreign source, the terms alone being peculiarly Am erican colloquialism; are they suit able for fourteen- and fifteen-yearold boys and girls whether from the psychological or pedagogical point of view? These customs are alien to us Filipinos and are frowned upon by our elders. Such matters are decided within the family. By dignifying them as class material for discussion, they as sume an undue importance in the minds of young boys and girls and turn their attention away from their academic work. • Revised Teachi.•« Guides for Second ary Schools Health Education, Division Bul letin No. 6, s. 1959, Division of City Schools, Manila, Bureau of Public Schools. Ji lso in the materials for study s' there may have crept in mis leading if not altogether erroneous subject-matter. Take, for instance, the outline entitled Philippine Problems for secondary schools. Item No. VII in this outline is “Religious Problem”. We have no religious problem in the Philip pines. Our Constitution guaran tees freedom of religion and here adherents of diverse religious sects live in peace, unmolested, free to worship according to their beliefs and to carry on their church acti vities without hindrance. They re ceive the equal protection of the law. This is one of the freedoms of which our Republic can boast. In addition there seems to be in the secondary schools an undue proliferation of courses in Philip pine subjects; such as, Philippine History, Philippine Problems, and Communitv Problems. Some prac ticing teachers believe that there is much overlapping and repeti tion in the teaching of these sub jects which, being so closely re lated, can very well be combined into a single course, leaving their detailed study to the higher schools. In the zeal of filling the minds of students with Philippine information, education runs the danger of becoming parochial. And at this time of rapidly ex panding knowledge, the civilized man will soon cease to be civil ized if he is left behind. The early introduction of students to the world of science has become imperative in order to stimulate as early as possible. their interest in the undoubtedly important study of science which it is hoped will furnish the remedy for hu man ills. The catalogues of our higher schools likewise contain numerous academic offerings which prompt us to ask these questions from tne pedagogical standpoint: Do these institutions have a sufficient num ber of qualified professors to han dle these courses? Do they have adequate library facilities and lab oratories that such courses require? Unless they do, these courses will 14 Panorama be treated very superficially and students will derive little benefit from them. jf lthough at the start we implied that with the establish ment of the Commonwealth edu cation passed on to the control of Filipinos, nonetheless it has re mained under American influence. This is inevitable in view’ of the following factors: (1) Our edu cational system is patterned after the American; (2) The language of instruction is American; (3) All the books used until lately are by American authors and even those by Filipinos are in the ma jority adaptations of the Ameri can-educated. It is also no secret that America has continued her active interest in Philippine edu cation to this day, as it is clearly demonstrated by the existence here of such agencies as the U.S. Educational Foundation, ICA, aqd Philippine Center for Lan guage Study, the presence of Am erican consultants and exchange professors in our educational es tablishments, and the continuous award of scholarship, travel, and leadership grants to Filipino citi zens not only bv the American government but also by private American foundations. Of course America’s cultural activities are not confined to the Philippines alone. Being a w’orld power she maintains cultural es tablishments in many other coun tries as well. Because of her farflung cultural interests her rival Soviet Russia accuses her of "cul tural imperialism.” America has also many w’ellequipped and famous colleges and universities whose doors are open to the nations of foreign countries, including the Philip pines. In general the Filipinos who had studied at these institu tions are great admirers of Am erica. It is not therefore strange that the Philippines, though inde pendent, should remain in the cul tural orbit of America. No other power has done as much as she in preserving and promoting cul tural ties with her former de pendency. Here then are a few implica tions for education of certain forces in our distant and recent past. Manifestly Philippine educa tion of the present day is the pro duct of historical circumstances. * * * “Hear about the elephant who got his trunk caught in his mouth and swallowed himself?" February 1960 15
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