Sangandaan
2003 conference examines Fil-Am relations
Distinguished
scholars, critics, and professionals tackled issues spawned by the
American colonization of the Philippines and the complexities of
Fil-Am relations at the Sangandaan 2003 international academic conference.
The
conference, held from July 7-11 at the Philippine Social Science
Center on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, was one of the highlights
of Sangandaan 2003, a cultural exposition running for the whole
month of July.
Sangandaan
2003 commemorates the centennial of the end of the Philippine-American
war and the beginning of the American occupation of the Philippines.
It gives Filipinos and Filipino-Americans “an opportunity
to assess how the momentous events of the past century have changed
their lives.”
UP
and the Filipino American National Historical Association—in
collaboration with the Ateneo de Manila University, the De La Salle
University, the San Franciso State University, the New York University,
and the Philippine Social Science Council—organized the conference.
Nicanor
Tiongson, Sangandaan director for the Philippines and dean of the
College of Mass Communication, wrote, “Sangandaan 2003 seeks
to focus on Philippine–American relations not only during
the early American period but throughout the five decades of American
rule, the period of the Republic, and the Filipino diaspora to the
US.”
The
conference presentations focused on arts and media that reflected
Fil-Am relations from 1899-2002. The lecturers analyzed the impact
of American colonization on architecture, photo-graphs, literature,
music, films, theater, dance, and even food.
During the welcome dinner, host UP President Francisco Nemenzo addressed
the delegates from different universities in the United States and
the Philippines. Nemenzo mentioned factors that contributed to the
shaping of Filipino-American relations such as globalization, migration,
and ethnicity.
John
Blanco, professor at the University of California in San Diego,
represented Helen Toribio, Sangandaan director for the US. Blanco
talked about the situation of Filipino-Americans in the US. He noted
that the intersecting histories of the Philippines and the US shaped
the immigrants’ concept of identity and culture.
The
Sangandaan 2003 conference featured plenary speakers, such as renowned
historian Reynaldo Ileto from the National University of Singapore,
leading scholar in Cebuano studies Resil B. Mojares from San Carlos
University, popular culture specialist Soledad Reyes of Ateneo de
Manila University, and Filipino-American National Historical Society-East
Bay Chapter President Evangeline Buell.
Ileto
presented his analysis of an awit that was circulated during the
Philippine-American war in the conference’s first plenary
session. Mojares, meanwhile, talked about the Filipino national
identity during the American occupation of the Philippines and Buell
spoke about the struggles and rise of Filipino-Americans in the
US during the last plenary session. Reyes, also a speaker on the
last day of the conference, stressed that Philippine popular culture
cannot be dismissed as shallow, unoriginal, and merely an imitation
of American pop culture.
Sangandaan
2003 festivities are still ongoing at other venues. Different theater
productions, dance performances, film screenings, and exhibits are
also being held at the Metropolitan Museum, Cultural Center of the
Philippines (CCP), Philippine National Museum, National Historical
Institute, National Library, and Museo Pambata until the end of
the month, with some holding the exhibits until August and September.
A
schedule of Sangandaan 2003 Festival activities can be accessed
at http://www.sangandaan2003.upd.edu.ph
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Ileto
examines Fil-Am war literature
Renowned
historian Reynaldo Ileto urged Filipino scholars to unearth more
literary texts that would shed light on the Philippine-American
war—a phenomenon often overshadowed by the 1896 and 1898 uprisings
against Spain.
Ileto—author
of internationally-circulated books like Pasyon and Revolution;
Popular Movements in the Philippines and Filipinos and Their Revolution:
Event, Discourse, and Historiography and currently a Southeast Asian
history professor of the National University of Singapore—discussed
the overlooked historical event at the 3rd Sangandaan Conference
plenary at the Philippine Social Sciences Center last July 11.
“In
the war that went on from February 1899 to July 1902, the interests
of the national political elite had generally been in harmony with
the American economic and military aims. Thus, the reign of profit
proceeded and intensified almost unhindered decades after,”
he said.
Ileto
believes that neglecting texts that dissect the effects of American
capitalism during the Philippine-American war would make nation
building more difficult for Filipinos. This assertion is fleshed
out in his analysis of an awit circulated during the Philippine-American
war.
In
Philippine literature, the awit or metrical romance is a popular
type of secular poetry. It is set in dodecasyllabic quatrains made
for singing and chanting. Aside from Florante at Laura and Ibong
Adarna, there are numerous other metrical romances in Tagalog, Bicolano,
Ilonggo, Pampango, Ilocano, and Pangasinense.
Ileto
translated and analyzed the Awit na Pinagdaanang buhay ng Islas
Filipinas, a Tagalog metrical romance written by a certain Dimatigtig
on July 15, 1900. Dimatigtig’s awit, according to Ileto, has
107 stanzas that depict the war against the United States as a continuation
of the 1986 Philippine revolt against Spain. But it was a war waged
on two fronts—one against the American army, and the other
against Filipinos who had been swayed into serving the Americans’
interests.
Ileto
said that texts like Dimatigtig’s are are testimonies to the
fact that some educated Filipinos strongly espoused resistance during
the Philippine-American war by writing poems and manifestos. They
succeeded in inscribing their nationalist goals into the popular
works of their time and their intellectual discourses were made
more accessible to the other sectors of the population.
Dimatigtig’s
work and others like it have also influenced the popular literature
of latter eras. Ileto cited the examples in Teresita Maceda’s
book, Mga Tinig Mula sa Ibaba. Maceda was able to gather evidences
that showed how the manifestos of the peasant movements of the 1940s
and 1950s were inspired by the awits and other popular texts produced
during Philippine-American war. (Charmine R. Gultiano)
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Filipino
nationality under US rule
Filipino
nationality was established in the first half of the 20th century.
So stated Dr. Resil B. Mojares, leading scholar in Cebuano studies,
at the second plenary session of the Sangandaan 2003 conference
last July 8 at the Philippine Social Science Center, Commonwealth
Ave., Quezon City.
According
to Mojares, Filipinos had begun to assert themselves in society
since the 19th century. But, for the most part, the dictates of
American colonial state formation defined Filipino nationality.
However,
the Americans’ state formation programs included the propagation
of education and communications. Mojares explained that this mandate
paved the way for the creation of institutions that would serve
as custodians of national identity such as the National Library,
National Archives, National Museum, historical and language institutes,
and the state university. These “gave rise to the arts as
proponents of the creation of a Filipino identity.”
During
the Filipino-American war, and even in its aftermath, Filipinos
made use of artistic resources in fighting foreign invasion. The
era’s patriotic kundimans, political novels, and plays are
testimonies to the protest against yet another colonial rule. Filipino
intellectuals were particularly alarmed by the rapid Americanization
of the Philippines, as artists were repulsed by American pop culture
and, at the same time, seduced by it.
Filipinism,
Mojares added, was the dominant discourse at the start of the 20th
century. The Americans tolerated it. The bureaucracy, for instance,
was Filipinized. During the Commonwealth period, Filipinos took
over the leadership of the Department of Public Instruction. In
the 1940s, there were only 77 Americans compared to 43,682 Filipino
teachers. Moreover, state cultural agencies “were in the hands
of Filipinos almost from their inception.”
Cultural
formation was undertaken to preserve Filipino traditions. In the
fields of dance, music, visual arts, performing arts, and literature,
there were many opportunities for formal training, sponsorship,
and employment for Filipinos in various venues. This encouraged
artists to pursue the preservation and renewal of Filipino culture
and arts.
“Filipinism
was actively crafted by Filipinos themselves, in ways and for purposes
that did not always coincide with US colonial aims. This movement
was more extensive in the early 20th century than at any other time,”
Mojares stressed. He also noted that the struggle to assert Filipino
identity continues up to the present. (Arlyn VCD Palisoc
Romualdo)
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Soledad
Reyes defends Philippine pop culture
It’s
easy to chalk it all up to colonial mentality.
Subjects
of the American colonization since the 1900s, Filipinos have imitated
their colonizers in various popular media such as comics, soap operas,
films, and songs. Thus, most academicians are quick to dismiss Philippine
pop culture as a shallow product of mimicry.
But
Ateneo de Manila professor Soledad Reyes defends Philippine pop
culture in her paper, “Narratives of Culture: Managing the
Past, Engaging the Present,” which she presented at the Sangandaan
2003’s International Conference on Arts and Media in Philippine-American
Relations, 1899-2002 last July.
Reyes
asserted that in the 1950s, “with the institutionalization
of academic criticism” in the universities and its valorizing
of Formalist and Marxist approaches, “popular texts were denigrated
if not totally rejected.”
Reyes
further argued that “the nation’s cultural scene would
be badly impoverished and would lose much of its heterogeneity and
buoyancy with the forced exclusion of figures and icons from the
forms that the public has patronized over the years.”
Moreover,
Reyes explained that the dismissal of popular works only propagates
the elitist impression that the masses are an uncritical and passive
lot.
Citing
popular images that are mostly “mimicked” or patterned
after American counterparts as examples, Reyes claimed that they
serve as extensions of the nation’s varied images of itself.
Reyes also said that they reveal “complex contestations and
prolonged negotiations.”
For
instance, Reyes viewed the carabao English of Mickey Mouse look-alike
Kenkoy, a Filipino comic strip hero, as “a reflection of the
Filipinos’ struggle for ascendancy in the 1930s.” Readers,
Reyes theorized, probably viewed Kenkoy’s bastardization of
English as a triumph of the native.
In
the stories of the heroes and heroines in the “komiks universe,”
with characters patterned after American superheroes, Reyes identified
representations of elite domination, government impotence, the plight
of the oppressed, and the rise of people from the slums (as opposed
to Superman’s Planet Krypton or Batman’s Gotham mansion).
The
successful incorporation of these elements into komiks narratives
facilitated the mass acceptance of grim realities. In a way, komiks
served as the cathartic venue for the people who were bereft of
economic or political power.
The same mechanism that makes komiks so appetizing to the masses
fuels other popular art forms.
In
dealing with popular texts, therefore, Reyes explained that readers’
responses have to be considered. This way the masses will not be
relegated by critics as “incapable of seeing beyond the surface
of things.” (Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc)
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Buell
chronicles tale of Fil-Ams
“The
heritage and the cultural values brought by the pioneering Filipino
immigrants sustained and nurtured our community.”
So
stated Evangeline Canonizado Buell, president of the US-based Filipino-American
National Historical Society-East Bay, in her paper, “Palate,
Placards, Poetry, and Rhythm: Filipino American Rising, 1920s to
the Present.”
Buell’s
paper served as the centerpiece in the third plenary talk of the
Sangandaan 2003 conference on arts and media last July.
In
the beginning
In the 1920s, Buell narrated, America’s predominantly white
population did not welcome Filipinos.
“Filipinos
were not allowed to marry whites. They were not allowed to rent
or buy homes in white neighborhoods. They were barred from white-owned
establishments like restaurants, hotels, and barbershops. And they
were hired primarily as farm workers, house boys, cooks or dishwashers,”
Buell explained.
Fil-Ams
persisted in defining America in their own terms in the face of
laws that prohibited them from being full-fledged members of American
society. They continued to hold on to their own idealized concept
of America, which was taught to them way back when they were in
the Philippines. To them, America was “a place where everyone
had equal rights, where one could get an education and get ahead,
where one could succeed in any enterprise that he or she desired.”
The
breakthrough
Fil-Ams gained a measure of acceptance when they signed up to fight
in the Second World War. Although America did not distinguish them
from other Asian Americans like the Japanese Americans, who also
fought for the US, Fil-Ams established their identity by donning
GI uniforms with military insignias that featured the sword and
the shield from Mindanao, as well as an erupting Mount Mayon. Embroidered
on the insignia were the slogans “Laging Una” and “Sulong.”
Empowering
arts
With the liberalization of the American immigration policy, the
initial 30,000 Fil-Ams would grow to 345,000 by 1970.
The
children of the pioneering Filipino immigrants tackled complex issues
about racial identity as they grew up speaking a different language.
Moreover, they were already children of a culture markedly different
from that of their parents. The children would have Hollywood figures
as idols.
In
the 1960s, Fil-Ams branched into arts and media of the mainstream.
As the pioneering generation began to diminish, latter generation
Fil-Ams began to rediscover traditional Philippine music and dance.
For
a time, elaborate presentations featuring songs and dances native
to the Philippines were regular fare in the institutionalized Filipino
cultural nights in campuses with Fil-Am college students.
Apart
from the celebration of their identity, the latter generation Fil-Ams
also used their artistic endeavors to address weighty issues such
as civil rights and the Marcos dictatorship.
Unlike
their parents, whose main concern had been to survive in a foreign
country, latter generation Fil-Ams were already more at ease in
American culture.
The
present
There are now over two million Fil-Ams in the US.
Buell
reveals that Fil-Ams are now producing “a dizzying array”
of arts and media that are being showcased in mainstream America.
Buell took note of thriving theater groups; magazine and website
publications; stand-up comics such as Alan Manalo and Rex Navarette;
musicians; entertainers such as Tia Carrere; and the art of the
likes of Manuel Ocampo in visual arts and Eileen Tabios in poetry.
Buell
underscored the importance of arts and media in making the Fil-Am
community visible to the rest of America. (Jo. Florendo
B. Lontoc)
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UAAP SECOND ROUND VICTORIES:
Women’s basketball and men’s volleyball
teams on winning streak, Long-awaited second win for UP men’s
basketball team
They
are on their second wind.
The
UP women’s basketball and men’s volleyball teams started
the second round of the 66th University Athletics Association of
the Philippines (UAAP) with winning streaks.
Last
August 24, the Lady Maroons went up against University of the East
(UE) at the Adamson University Gym while the men’s volleyball
team played against University of Santo Tomas (UST) at the College
of Human Kinetics Gym, UP Diliman.
Women’s
basketball
The UP women’s basketball team defeated UE with a score of
67-55.
Their
second game was against Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) last
August 28. They also crushed their opponents at 62-47.
However,
their most challenging game was last August 31, when they went head
to head with UST.
At
that encounter, Lady Maroon Marison Mendoza gave the team a one-point
lead when she sank a basket near the end of the fourth quarter.
UST was grasping at straws and fouled another Lady Maroon, Camille
Dowling—who went on to shoot two out of two on the free throw
line, ending the game at 56-53.
Men’s
volleyball
The men’s volleyball team also had their share of victories
on the home court. Though they had a hard time against UST, drawing
out the match to five sets. They eventually won in the last and
deciding set, where the two teams raced to 15. The scores: 22-25,
25-20, 25-16, 17-25, and 15-12.
In
their second match, held last August 31, they faced UE on the court.
UP slammed UE in three straight sets, 25-15, 25-20, 25-22.
Victory
for the Fighting Maroons
Finally, after a series of losses, the UP men’s basketball
team scored a big win against UAAP final four hopeful, DLSU, at
the Araneta Coliseum last August 28.
With
Marc Cardona at the helm, DLSU had a 6-0 run at the beginning of
the first quarter. Fighting Maroons team captain Toti Almeda retaliated
with a three-pointer. Josant Cervantes quickly followed up with
a shot. With help from teammates Jireh Ibañes, JayR Reyes,
and Nestor David, UP ended the first period with a one-point lead
against DLSU.
The
Fighting Maroons scored 26 big points during the second quarter
versus the Green Archers’ 18, ending the first half at 37-28.
DLSU did not take this huge gap lightly as they fought hard during
the third period. Four back to back three-point shots from Green
Archers Tyrone Tang and Tim Gatchalian ended that quarter with only
a five-point lead by UP.
Leading
by seven points with less than five seconds remaining, UP point
guard Marvin Cruz battered DLSU’s bruised ego some more when
he threw the ball a long way from half-court and sank three. The
Fighting Maroons shot down the Green Archers, 80-70. (Arlyn
VCD Palisoc Romualdo)
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Pep
Squad gears up for UAAP cheering tilt
It’s
their turn to fight.
The
UP Pep Squad, a crowd favorite in the 66th season of the University
Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP), is now gearing
up for the UAAP Cheering Competition on September 6.
 |
| The
UP Pep Squad in action. |
Headed
by coach Lalaine Juarez-Perena and assistant coach Jonathan Cagas,
who are assisted by team captains Melissa Garcia and NJ Antonio,
the Pep Squad practices for almost five hours every weekday at the
College of Human Kinetics Gym in UP Diliman.
The
Squad, which has a total of 60 members, has been working doubly
hard for this year’s event. They hope to once again cop the
much-coveted first prize in the UAAP cheering tilt. The last time
UP bagged the top spot in the UAAP cheering competition was in 2001.
|
 |
| The
UP Pep Squad. |
Aside
from practicing for more than 22 hours every week, the Pep Squad
members have also participated in team building activities.
While
the UP Pep Squad has always been innovative in their dance routines
and exhibition techniques, Cagas and Antonio readily admitted that
they are facing tough competition this year. But they said that
whether they win or lose, their main goal is to perform for the
UP community. Asked if they had any particular motto for this season,
Cagas chanted, “UP! UP! Stand above the rest! UP! UP! Show
them we’re the best!” (Arlyn VCD Palisoc
Romualdo)
