Education in the Philippines

One of Philippine history’s major myths is that only the Americans brought education to the Philippines. Taking it at face value, it would seem so. Spanish policy emphasized on educating indios with only the most basic education. If Spaniards permitted teaching higher ideals in the curriculum, it will awaken nationalist beliefs detrimental to them. Sure enough, nationalist ideals that ilustrados gleaned from their European education eventually sparked the 1898 revolution.
Truth is, even before the Yankees came, the Philippines had a comparably good public education system. Further improvements came after Gov. Gen. Solano approved the Education Law of 1863. The law mandated pueblos to have gender-segregated schools – at least a pair consisting of an all-boys schools and an all-girls school. Before that, parishes served as the first public schools for the masses – as it was in Spanish colonies like Mexico. But, where in Mexico Spanish was the medium of instruction, in the Philippines it was different. Keeping line with the divide and conquer policy, only the tribal languages served that purpose. The arrival of the Americans reversed that approach – using their language, English, as the new medium of instruction.
What gave rise to the American myth was the way education was extensively used as a propaganda tool. The use of military means to subjugate the rebels was limited. Hence, the Americans were compelled to show Filipinos the benefits of American rule. As a part of the pacification campaign, a massive education drive was undertaken. American teachers brought to the islands – first, on board the USS Sheridan then the USS Thomas – helped in the effort. Teaching in English not only made life easier for the American teachers. It also made it easier for Filipinos to accept Americanized versions of Philippine history to quell nationalist fervor. Education also made it easier for Filipinos to readily accept American thinking and the superiority of the American way of life, further completing the subjugation process. Where the Spaniards deliberately omitted some school subjects to maintain the status quo, the Americans only altered their content to suit their ends (without removing any subjects). The new colonizers refined the tactic of selective education as a colonization tool. In the final days of the revolution, the Americans were successful in subtlety impressing upon Filipinos the futility of the resistance effort – using education. They used it to alienate the masses from the revolutionaries. Once isolated, the revolutionaries surrendered one by one then later tried and executed or exiled. Without the support of the masses from the countryside, the revolution suffered an untimely death.
     Rizal exactly predicted the subjugation and weakening of the Filipino identity in his work, El Filibusterismo. Through its character, Simoun, he foretold the subservience resulting from Filipinos blindly adopting too much of foreign ways through education. Unless Filipinos maintained a healthy and mature attachment to their past, they will unthinkingly perpetuate foreign domination of themselves even after being granted political freedom. When the Americans expanded on the existing school system on their terms that is what happened. But, that isn’t saying American contributions must be entirely shunned because of what was mentioned.
     The question now isn’t whether the Americans forcibly imposed their brand of education or if Filipinos wholly embraced it. A mature wariness on embracing anything foreign must be exercised. History has shown that the Americans (as with any colonizer) will give away anything of value only on their own terms. Filipinos ought to look towards the Japanese on their approach to learning and adopting foreign ways. 16th century Westerners saw Japan as a nation that seemingly embraced foreign cultures wholeheartedly. First, with China (in the 7th century A.D.), then the Portuguese (15th and 16th century A.D.) and later, the Americans (1845 A.D.), they showed how quick they were to yield to alien ways. In reality, their fancy for those rarely extended beyond acquisition of anything useful. In their frequent diplomatic contacts with T’ang China in 618 A.D., Japan borrowed heavily from China – an example being Chinese writing. But that was done to facilitate its adaptation to the Japanese language. The Japanese maintained to keep their culture robustly thriving underneath. Furthermore, whatever they gain is meant to be used against their creators (more so with technology). Their displays of adopting foreign ways were meant to be a screen. It was a way to keep foreigners from imposing their ways through military invasions, maintaining Japan’s centuries of independence. This was in sharp contrast to China at the turn of the century. Her xenophobia and indoctrinated delusion of being the center of the world made her resist modernity. That fatal oversight made her fall prey to the foreign powers, carving zones of influence from her territory in the process. On the other hand, turn-of-the-century Japan made that quick, seamless transition from feudal kingdom into one of the modern world powers. As with then and now, Japan continued to exercise the motto, “foreign knowledge, Japanese spirit”: letting foreign things serve Japan, but never letting it dominate them.

– Cebuano Word Trivia –
Balai – “House” (English); “Bahay” (Filipino); Derived from the proto-Tagala/Visayan word, “balanghai”. It originally referred to the sea-faring vessels of early Filipinos. Since a whole family or clan traveled in a single balanghai, it eventually came to be used as the word for “family” or “clan”. It then came to mean for the word for “village” (from which the derivative word, “baranggay”, is coined).Ultimately, it came to its present usage denoting “house”. In a cultural sense, a family or clan lives under one roof, so it wouldn’t be surprising that in the early Filipino language, the words “house”, “family” and “clan” are synonymous or wholly interchanged. Incidentally, the Tagalog “bahay” is derived from this word – via the Cebuano habit of pronouncing it sans the letter “l” (ba’ai). The Ilocano term for “house” is also “balai”.