BOX POPULI : A SOCIO-CULTURAL STUDY OF THE FILIPINO AMERICAN BALlKBAYAN BOX
by CAliceJadeA. Alburo
A thesissubmitted to the Schoolof Graduate Studies
inpartial fulfilmentofrhc requirementslorthe degreeof
Master ofArts
Departmentof Folklore MemorialUniversityofNewfoundland
May2002
51.John's Newfoundland
Abstract
Inthisthesis. the halikbuyun boxes that Filipino Americans bringwiththemwhen they visitthePhilippines areviewed primarilythroughthelensesofmaterialculture and customarystudies, Itprovides thehistorical.political.andeconomicco ntexts which have ledtotheimmigration of Filipinosto Americaand theemergence ofhaliAbaycms·- the returning natives-s-andthei rboxes.II also co ntains descri ptionsofbalikha}'cl/! boxes.
theircontent s.andthe practice sinvolved .This study indicatesthatbalikhayanboxes are indices ofhulikhClYurISthemselves.These pac kages are metaphorsfor thedislocationof Filipinosresultingfrom their immigration tothe UnitedStates.Theseboxesarc also sites .in which balikhayansarepositionedas nco-co lonizers and perpetuate American cultura lhegemo ny.Thisexaminationsuggeststhatbalikbavanboxesareconnectedto a host of complexissues.incl udingkinship tics and obligations. politics and economics.
colon ialismand postcoloniclism.immigration and diaspora. globalization and co mmodification. exchang e and reciprocity.travel and tourism.
Acknowledgments
This thesiswouldnot have been possiblewithoutthe helpand supportof numerous individuals.First.Iextendmyheartfelt gratitudeto Dr.Dianelye. my thesis supervisor and overall mentor.forhertime.energy.enthusiasm.andwisdom.My interactionswithher have made myexperience at MUN veryrewarding: she istruly a
"kindred spirit."Iespeciallythank herfor herexcitement-oftensurpassing mine- aboutmytopic. which has beencontagious.andforher insightsand encouragement.
which have been invaluable.
Iam deeplyindebted 10myintervieweesforsharing theirdewsandexperiences withme.Theyare the soulof thisthesis.Thankyou to Alicia.Allan.Annie. Arlene.
Dulce.Gayle. Gil.Harlika.Isabel. Jay.Joseph.Juanita. Judy.Lambert.Michael.Monty.
Nene.Ofelia.Onofre.Rex.Rhea. RJ. andthe womenatLAX.SpecialthankstoMadrona for her expressivenessand foralwaysbeingso accommodating.
Ithank myfamilyfor theirlove andsupportand fornotpressuringmetofinish thisthesismore quickly.I particularlythank my motherforhousingand feedingme duringthe writing of thethesis.I alsothankherfor notaskingquestions.while always beingready10 answermine.Iam verygratefultomysister.as well.forcoming up with theidea in thefirstplace andforkeepingme saneduring this long process.Ithank her for theconversations.advice.shopping excursions. and forprovidingme withaplaceto
iii
unwind. My thanks also to Gil for the rides and the computer help and toIrma for the work and thc postage.
My
wholehearted appreciation to Rhea Oporto for her help and motivation.companionship and laughter. waves and power.She has notonly shared her views and insights. but her world and friends as well.She has been very instrumental in reacquaintingme withtheFilipinopeopleand culture.Ialsothank FranciscaGuzman andKevin Cartwr ightforbeing wonderfu lfriendsandfor beingjustaphone callor a plane hop away. As well, I thankPaul Gruchy,the time vampire, for makingmy timeat MUNfun and"funny."
Iam grateful to thefacultyand staff oftheDepartment of Folklo reandMUNFLA for making my MUN years comfortable and enlightening.
My
thanks also to the School of Graduate Studiesand MUNFLA for their monetary aid. Additional thanks to the following people and organizations for their assistance.encouragement. and/or friendship whileatMUN and during the thesis process: JaneBums.Clara Byrne, thePhilippine Departmentof Tourism,Daisy Espina.Holly Everett. Patti Fulton. Jane Gadsby,Cannel Geverola . RichardGluck, FernieGomo, Pauline Greenhill,NeachelKeeping,Julia Kelso.LiTian-Shu ,BrianMartin .RosePalma,Bebot Sanchez.WendyWelch, and theFilipino community inSt.John ' s.
Abstract .
Acknowledgments ..
Tableof Contents ListofFigures .
Table of Co nte nts
... ii
. iii
... ...•.v ..vii
List of Appendices .
Listof Abbreviations
. x
... xi
Chapt erI Introduction . I
1.1 Relationship10Literatureon FilipinolFilipin oAmericanHisto ry and
Culture . 3
1.2 Significanceto Material Culture Studies 7
1.3 BalikbayanBoxesasCustomaryPractice. . 9
1.4 LinkstoTouri smLiterature II
1.5 Fieldworkand Methodolo gy. . 14
1.6 Overview. . 18
Chapter 2Box-stage:An Introduction to Philippine History.FilipinoMigrationto the
United States.and the BaJikbayanProgram 21
2.1 ABriefHistoryofthe Philippines 24
2.2 ColonialandNee-Co lonialEconomy ... . 37
2.3 FilipinoMigration totheUnited States 51
2.4 The BaJikhayan Program .. 64
2.5 Conclusion. .. 72
Chapter3 A Bo xfulof Goodies :BatikbayansandBalikbayanBoxes 76
3.1 ReturnoftheNatives :The Balikbayans . 77
3.2 Packaged Culture:BalikbayanBoxe s .94
3.3 What'sin the Box? 110
3.4 Conclusion. . 125
Chapter 4 Box Seats:ThePerformance of theBatikbayanBox Custom 128 4.1 Behind the Scenes:PreparingtheBalikbayanBoxes 129
4.2 Sbowtime:The Homecoming.. . 149
4.3 The Curtain Falls:TheEnd of theBalikbayonJourney 172 4.4 The Cast:VariousRolesin the BalikbayanBoxProcess 179
4.5 Conclusion .. . 186
Chapter5 BoxedInor Out?:BalikbayanBoxes as Metaphorsfor FilipinoAmerican
Dislocation.. . 188
5.1 Allin the Family.. . 189
5.2 Coming to America.. . 192
5.3 TheTwilight Zone.. . 214
5.4 The Gift .. .. 221
5.5 Temporary Connection.. . 233
5.6 Conclusion . 241
Chapter6 The BoxSlOPSHere:BalikbayanBoxes as Sitesof NcocolonialismandUS
Cultural Hegemony . . 245
6.1 Landof MilkandHoney.. . 246
6.2 MadeintheUSA. . 253
6.3 TheMagic of America.. . 270
6.4 Conclusion. .. 281
Chapter7 Conclusion..
WorksCited..
AppendixA:Guideto Field Resources ..
Appendix B:Interview Data..
AppendixC:PersonalData on Respondents..
AppendixD:Glossary of Selected ForeignTerms..
. 284
. 292
.. 314
. 316
.. 317
. 319
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Woman withha/ikhaycmboxes 2
Figure 2.1 MapofSoutheastAsia ..
Figure2.2 Mapofthe Philippines..
Figure 2.3 "Bring Home a Friend"rafflecoupon..
. 22
. 23
. 67
LBC box 102
FlatboxfromFilipino market 10~
Cover page of-RediscoveryPhilippines"toursbrochure 69
Coverpageof"Ba/ikhayan('brochure 70
Figure2.4 Figure2.5 Figure 3.1 Figurc3 .2 Figure3.3
Aunts withappliancebox.. . 99
Figure 3.4 Anotherflatboxfrom Filipino market..
Figure3.5 Boxofco med beef..
Figure3.6 Basket ofcanned goods..
Figure3.7 Chocolates forpasaiubong.
. 104
. 110
. 111
. 112
Figure3.8 Chocolatesandcandiesinbalikbayanbox 113
Figure 3.9 Chickennuggets.bacon.and ham liS
Figure 3.10 T-shinslorpasalubong 116
Figure 3.[ 1 Shoes 116
Figure3.12 Used clothing 118
Figure3.13 Toys and bags 120
vii
Figure3.14 Dolls..
Figure 3.15 VCRandNintendo..
Figure3.16 Cosmetics and toiletries...
Figure4.1 Pileof boxes at lBClocation..
. 120
.. 121
.. 123
.. 138
Assembledbalikbayanbox 143
Tapedbalikbayanbox.. . 143
Fullbox ; .. 144
Scored box.. . 144
Anotherauntdistributingwhileunclelooks atchocolate 159
Dusters boughtin thePhilippines.. . 173
Dried mangoesand local cookies ... .. 174
Driedfish. . 176
Box forreturntrip.. .. 178
Madronapreparing boxes; . 196
Monty withbalikbayanbox andother luggage 223
Figure5.4 Nativecarving..
Figure5.5 Remindersof home ..
Figure 5.6 Filipinodelicacies ...
Figure6.1 Box from the USA..
Figure4.2 Figure4.3 Figure4.4 Figure4.5 Figure4.6 Figure4.7 Figure 4.8 Figure4.9 Figure4.10 Figure4.11 Figure4.12 Figure 5.1 Figure5.2 Figure 5.3
Balikbayanboxes readyto go..
Aunt distributing herpasalubong ..
Thelies that bind..
...145
.. 159
. 230
.. 237
. 239
. 240
.. 254
viii
Figure 6.2 Barbiedolls..
Figure6.3 Guess bags ..
Figure6.4 Josephafter hisvacation inthe US ..
Figure 6.5 Spam..
ix
. 256
.. 256
.. 259
. 279
ListofAppe ndices
AppendixA GuidetoFieldResources..
Appendix B InterviewData..
Appendix C Personal Data on Respondent s..
Append ixD Glossary of SelectedForeign Terms..
. 314
. 316
. ..317
. 319
CIA DOT DSS
DTD EVP
FMG FNG
FOB
GNPHPEAA IISPA Huk
IIRIRA
IMF IMFA INA
IRCA LA X
List of Abbrevia tions
CentralIntell igence Agency(USA) Department of Tourism (Philippines) Departmentof SocialServices (USA) doortodoor(shippers)
Exchange Visit orProgram(fornurses) foreign medicalgraduate foreignnursing graduate fresh ofTtheboat,orrecent immigrant Gross NationalProduct
HealthProfessions Educationa l Assistance Act (J 976. USA)
Hawaiian Sugar PlantersAssociation
HUKBALAHAP.orlIukb6 ngBoyan Laban sa HapOn (t'Movementof the Country/People Against theJapanese") Illegal ImmigrationReform andImmigrantResponsibilityAct (1996, USA)
International MonetaryFund
Immigration MarriageFraud Amendmen ts(1986. USA) Immigration andNationalityAct (1965.USA) Immigration Reform and ControlAct (1986.USA) Los AngelesInternationalAirport
MCIA Mactan-CebuInternationalAirport MNC multinationalcorporation (alsoTNC) Jl.fNlF MoroNational liberation Front NAIA Nino}'AquinoIntemationalAirport (Manila) NPA National People'sAnny
OCW overseas contract worker(also OFW) OF\\' overseasFilipino worker(alsoQCW) PAL Philippine Airlines
551 SocialSecurity Income TNC transnationalcorporation(also MNC) TNT lago ngtogo(vhideand hide"),orillegalimmigrants USAFFE UnitedStatesArmyForces in theFarEast
WB WorldBank
WRA WelfareReformAct(1996.USA)
xii
CHAPTERONE Introduction
InMay of 1998. my family and I wentbacktothe Philippines toattendmy brother' swedding.It wasthefirsttimeIreturnedtomy nativelandsince we immigrated tothe UnitedStatesthirteenyears before(in(985).Ienjoyedthe whirlwindof activities:
Ihad fun with myrela tives. travelledwithin thecountry. and gottogether withold friends.Whilethe rest ofmyfamilycouldonlystay fortwo orthree weeks.Iwasinthe Philippinesfor aboutthe weeks.Once back inLosAnge les.I was supposed to do some preliminary work onmythesis. butIwasno longerexcited by myinitia l.broad to pic on the experiencesofFilipina immigrants.Invigo ratedby mytrip.Iwasinterestedindoing somethingthat had more todowiththe Philippines.One day.I was talkingtomy sister about it. andsheoffereda fewideas foranewto pic.One suggestioninparticular stood out:balikhayanboxes.
Whatare balikbayu nboxes?Theyarelarge.bro....n orwhite boxes. whichalmost all Filipino Americansbringwiththemwhen they visitthePhilippinesIsee FigureI.I}.
Named afterthe balikbayans.orreturning natives. whocaITYthem. thesecanons mostly containpasuhdiongorgiftsfor relativesand friends.Whenmyfamilywent home.we had elevenbalikbayunboxes. in additionto ninesuitcasesandassorted carry-on luggage.
Whilethe suitcases containedourclothesand suppliesforthetrip. ourboxes were.
indeed.ladenwithpasalubung.This seeminglargesseis by no means outofthe ordinary:
infact. thesepackages are staplesinthetransglobal existenceof many Filipinos.
Figure1.1Woman atLAX withbalikbayanboxes
My sister'sideawas inspired. Though the transportationofbalikbayanboxes to thePhilippinesis a prevalentpractice amongFilipinosin America, notmuchthought or analysis has been givento it.Ithoughtthatthe topic was fullof possibilities.anda few questionsimmediately cameto mind. Whyarethese boxes soubiquitous? What isthe
story behind them?Why do balikbayanskeep bringingthemeven whenthey can be so inconvenient ?I alsohadsomevague thoughtsaboutcolonialism. transnationali sm, and commodificatio n. The subjectmatterseemed ideal becauseofits spec ificity.Itinvolved Filipinoimmigrantsto the United States. ashadmy originaltopic, yet it tied themmore closelyto thePhilippines.Italso promised to be fascinating sinceit raises the connections between the Filipinos who reside in both places.In addition.the nature of
the topicwould requiremyreturntothe Philippines todosomeofthe fieldwork. and that was a bonusforrne.Thuswas thegenesis of thisinvestigation.
Rdation~h ip10 literatureon filipino/FilipinoAmericanHislo~·andCultu re Thephrase"balikbayunbox"evokes certain ideas to mostFilipinosand Filipino American s.Forexample. when theyhearthose words.bothAlicia and Rex immediately thinkof"cornedbeef' (T7:VI).Dulce. on theother hand. feels..that I'mreallygoing home.thai l'rnnowreadyto meet myrelativesback homeagain. andIfeel happy to be with them again" (Tl O).For Isabel."thatmeans there' sa lot of surpriseforthemin the Philippines"(TS).Inthisthesis. Istudy the objectsthatelicitsuch respon ses andwhich obviouslyco nnote a variety of thingstodifferentpeople.Thesepackagesand the surroundingcustom occupycenter stage. asI explorethebalikbayanbox phenomenon andanalyzeitssocio-culturalsigni ficance.
Atitscore.my thesisisprimarilyconc ernedwithFilipinos andFilipino Americans.theirhistory.their culture. and their beliefs astheyare manifestedinthe baiikbayan box practice.ltaugme ntstheexistingliterature on Filipino historyand culture.IItbuilds on thenationalisthistorio grap hies byTeodoro A. Agonci llo.Renate Constantino. E.San Juan.Jr.•andSam uelK.Tan andconti nues the deconstruction ofthe distortedversion of history authoredby the Philippines'colonialmastersand whichis
lMany of thebooks onthe Philippine sand Philippinehistory thatIcame upon tend10be outdated.writtenbyforeig ners. and/orprovide a generalandconventional overview(seeCorpuz. Krieger.Nelson.Ostelius .Peters).Exception sare Scottand Steinberg.Philippines.Informat iveworkson aspects of Filipinoculture.include thoseby Enriquez.Jocano.Lyn ch.and Mulder.
stilltaught toits people.By exposingtheinaccuraciesinand theenduring effectsofsuch traditional accounts.Ihope thisstudy will contribu tein some wayto the looseningof the manaclesof colo nialismand to theintellectual developmen tofFilipinosin a more independentand favorable direction. Thisapproach correspondswiththe current movein Africa.SouthAsia.and SoutheastAsiatowards liberationhistory.postcolonialis rn.and decolonization.as evidenced intheworksofsuchscho larsas ArjunAppadurai. Ilo mi Bhabha.Partha Chatterjee,Lily Rose Roxes-Tcpe.and Trinh Minh-Ha(also sec Ashcroft.
et aJ. and Hida lgoandPatajo-Legasto]. Becausenatio nswith colonialpaststend to internalizetheteachingsof theircolonizers.these authorsquestionand dismantle historicalandcultu ralconstructs. withan eye toward sthe retrievaland/orrevisionof historyon the road to the creation of authenticnationalandculturalidentities.While manyof them achieve theiraimsbystudyingsubalternsubjectivities and examiningthe languageand contentor theirliterature.rdo sobyde monstrating that thepersona lviews aboutand activ ities surrounding a particulartraditionare tenaciousand oppressive consequencesof colonialism.Myhope is thatsuc h an examinationmightcreategreater awarenessandeventuallylead tothe rectification oreliminationofsuch colonialvestiges.
My research also suppleme nts alacuna inthe areaof Fillpino-Americanhistory and culture and assistsin promotingthevisibility ora largely"forgotten"population.!In
!In comparisonto othergroupsintheUS. there arenot toomanypublications dedicatedtothehistoryof Filipinoimmigrationtothe UnitedStatesorthe Filipino American experienc e.FredCo rdova's Filipinos:Forgotten AsianAmericans and Antonio1.A.Pidos ThePilipinosin America:MacrolMicroDimensionsof Immigration andIntegration are consideredtobestandards.Inrecent years.therehas been a spunof titlesin thisarea.the bestof whichinclude worksbyPosadas.Root.andSan Juan.Also.
the same vein as the worksof Almircland Espiritu.this study combines the chronological details of mostof the availableworkson Filipino immigration to theUnited States {e.g..
Bautista. Mayberry. Takaki)withethnographic materialthat isoftenonly foundin literary. fictionalized renderings.However.thepersonalnarrativesand oral historiesin this thesis not onlygiveinsight into the experiences ofFilipinoimmigrants but also narrow down the focustoa heretofore-neglectedsubject -balikbayans.While publicationsabout Filipino migrant workersto other countriesare gradually being released{e.g..Go.asteria. Perne rrajin thePhilippines.Iknowor nopublicationsole ly dedicated to balikbayansfromNorthAme rica ortheirculture.'Though thebeginningof Rafael'sessay.'rYour Griefls OurGossip':OverseasFilipinosand OtherSpectral Presences:'carries theseeds fora meaningfuldiscussion .it quickly shifts its lensesto overseas contractworker s (Oe ws).Otherwise.references tobalikhavanboxes and their
Almirol andEspirit uprovidedata on andnarratives fromFilipino communitiesin Ca lifo rnia. SalinasandSanDiego respectively.In addition.personalaccounts of immigrant lifecanbefoundin biographicalworksaboutCarlos Bulosan and Philip Vera Cruz (secBulosan.San Juan. and Scharlin).Theycan alsobegleanedfrom the predominantl yexilic prose and poetry of suchFilipinoAmericanauthorsas:Cecil ia Manguerra Brainard. Manuel Buaken. M.EvelinaGalang.JessicaHagedorn. Bienvenido N. Santos. LindaTv-Casper. and JoseGarcia Villa. as well as inlite rarycollections(see Brainard.Eng andHo m. Francia and Gamalinda.Hagedorn. lim-Hing). Finally.
communitynewspapers aregood sourcesfor Filipino Americancurrent eventsandstories (seeBonus).
JVel')"littleliterature deals with theBulikbayanprogram.balikbayans(and DCWs). andlor balikbayan boxes. Though I obtainedsome materialsfromthe Departmentof Touri smandPhilippine Airlines.thereis moreuseful info rmationin CasteloandCruz.as wellasthemagazine artic les"Specia lDelivery"and "Rico Nunga."
Evenmoreins ightfularethe works byOkamura.Ostcria. Pertierra.Rafael. and Richter .
significance are generally relegated to footnotes. Therefore. my study is unique in its emphasis.
Thisworkis timelygil-en the increasing globalization in trade and technology and the obscuring of national and culturalboundaries as people and commoditiesbecome freer to move across borders.Atthe forefront of these trends are the oJ·7million Filipinos living and/or workingoverseas (Okamura 387: San Juan.PhilippineTemptation 911.who fill the need ofdevelopednations and multinational corporations forcheap.skilled and se mi-skilledlabor (Fajardo 192. 341-345:Rafael.'vY our Grief": 5).As Karl Schoenbergerdepicts in hisIAugust19Q4LosAngelesTimesankle:
, ..women with college degrees serveas maidsin Tokyo and Hongkong ., .Semi-skilled laborers toilinKuwait while Filipino seamenplythe oceans on the world'sships,Filipinobusiness graduatesdominate the mid-levelmanagementranksof many multinationalcorporationsin Southeast Asia.earning wages they couldn'tdreamof at home.tqtd.in Rafael.-YourGrtefv'f
However. while overseas Filipinos.ingeneral. representthe globaleconomy.immigrants.
inpart icular.embody the transnationalismemerging from thistre nd.Thisisbecause OCW's rarelyeverexpect toremain permanentlyin theirhost country.
Foreverconsigned to positions of relativesubse rvienceand marginali tyby the terms oftheircontract and bv virtue of theirexclusion fro m the linguistic andreligiouscoremurunes oftheir employers.
ocws
could onlyexistas sheer laborpower, suppleme ntary formationstothe imagined communit iesof their bosses.(Rafae l. -Your Grief" 5)Filipinoimmigrantsto theUS. ontheothe rhand. are considered permanent residentswho eventuallyobtainthe rightto become citizens.Thus.unlikeDeWs. theyare ableto participatemore fully in theiradopted society. Becauseof the increasingprevalenceof bordercrossings .diaspore studies are becomingmore relevant.In his essay. "The
FilipinoAmericanDiaspore:Sites of Space.Time.and Ethnicity,' JonathanY.Okamura employsthe diaspcraperspective.which
can be contrastedwith othersociologicalapproachesthat focuson Filipino Americans as a boundedsocialgrouping.defined either locally or nationally. inso farasitplacesthe FilipinoAmerican community in a globaltransnationalcontext thatincludes thePhilippinesandother overseasFilipino co mmunities. A diaspore approachisconsistent with recent emphasesin studiesof international migrationon'transnationalism' orthe social'processesbywhichimmigrantsbuildsocialfieldsthatlink together their countryof originand theircountryof settle ment'(Schiller et al.1992;1).(387)
I.too.utilizethismethod.butmy particularfocus onbaiikbaya nsandtheir boxes highlights theimmediacyof'thesetrans national connections.
Si ~n i6ca ncetoMaferial CultureStud ies
While theemphasis in this thesison Filipino American balik bayun salready distinguishesitfromother works on Philippine historyand culture.immigrantgroupsin theUS. globalism. or diaspore.itisevenmorespecificinthatitexaminesoneaspectof this populatio n's culture:balikbayunboxes.Byitself.a balikbayanbo x isan artifact.
which"literally means'something made byartorcraft'andmayrefer to anyartificial product.In commonusage. artifactdenotesan object manufactured or modifiedby human hands"(Babcock204). The underlying factor in thisdefinitionisthe artifact's connectionto itsmakersbecause,according tofolkloristHenry Glassie."II)'as wemight toconstructusersoutof anifacts.artifactsareabouttheir creators"(262 ).Therefore.a balikbay anboxaloneis just acarton that reflects its manufacturer.Glassiecontinues:
Butsupposethe consumerinusingthe objectinacreativeact recreatesit
..Use becomescreation as objects are altered radically.And use become s creationwhenobjects become parts ofobj ects.whenthe co ntext becomesacomposition.. ..Itisno t the shirtbought off the rackthatis you. butthe shinas acomponen tof a compositionofattirethat informs on you.Sets of clothing, the environments that go near us,andsetsof commod ities built into domesticenvironments-theseare thecreated objects .thematerial folk culture ofindustrialcivilization.Theyareour mirro rs: wesee ourselves in them.Theyare our lenses:othersreadus through the m. (264)
Thus,onlywhen a Filipinoimmigrant takesa carton,fillsit withgoods. seals il. and conveysit tothePhilippines docsit.in fact.becomea halikbayanbox, which can then be readas atextthat communicatessomethi ngaboutthebcdikbayans.Inthis instance. the attendantactivitiescannotbedissociatedfromthe:obje ct.as the aggregate:is what differentiatesaplaincartonfrom a balikhayan box.Henc e. inthisstudy.thetwo folklorist icgenres of mate rial culture andcustomcometogether.
Thematerialobjectcommunicatesamyriad of messages:it isavesselofmeaning andinformation forits makers,its users. and other interpreters.AsGlassie elucidates.
"Theartifact is asdirect an expression.as true tothe mind,as deartothe soul.as lang uage.andwhatis more.it bodies forth feelings, tho ughts, andexperienceselusiveto langu age"(255).The studyofmaterialcultureisan attempt toverbalize thiscomp lex language of the artifact. In orderto beginto understandits intricatesystem of signification.the objec tfirst has tobedeconstruc ted.and itssimplercompo nents exam ined andread.Thus, drawing on the theoriesandmethodsof materialculture studies, I provide, in thisthesis,detailed descriptio nsofthe actualcartons andthe processes thattransform theminto balikhayan boxes.Iconsiderthe culturalmeanings of
these boxes through the perspectives of thetwomajorcharactersin theperformance: halikhuF IIISand recipients.
BalilibayallBeaes as CUJitoma l')'Practice
Like the wo men in Bella' sThe Christmas[mperati\"e. Filipin asinparticular feel the needto perform and perpetuatethebalikbay anbox practice .Becauseofthis imperative.balikb ayunboxes have become a traditionwithritua listic properties.
AccordingtoRoyA.Rappaport. "Ritualis understoodtobe a form orstructure,thatis. a numberorfeaturesor characteristicsina more orlessfixed relations hip to oneanother"
12.J9).Whilethe preparation andpresentation of these boxes arenotactsthat are specificallyprescr ibed. asinthereligious type of rituals. certa in procedu res haveevolved andarefollowed withonly slightvariances. Asisthe ease withotherrituals. the balikbayanbox customconveysce rtain messages. themost obviousbeingthatthese packages arewhat Pe irce terms"indexical."in thattheyrepresent thehalikha.\"(IIIJ·wealth andsuccess.aswell as theirrelationships with thoseinthePhilippines. Atthesametime.
theperformanceofthe customcan beinterpreted as a rite of passage(see vanGennep).
which tempo rarilyliftsbolikbayansoutof their liminality or their"betwixt and between"
status(seeTurner). The magic c- religicusaspectisalso present.in the sense thai. to manyof the recipients.the material goods inthebalikbayanboxes representtheir
"American dream"and maybeconsidered somewhat sacre dand "contagious."
Sincebalikb ayanboxesareprimarilyused tocontain andconveythebalikbayans:
pasal ubongtothe Philippi nes.theirinvestigation necessari lyinclude s a discussionof
10 girts.gift-giving. andreciprocity.The fundamentalassertionsby suchschola rsas Marcel Mauss.Bron islaw Malinowski.andClaudeLevi-Strausscontinueto holdtrue:there is no suchthingas a"pure"or"disinterested" gift.for giftsarepart ora systemof exchange. in whichmaterialgoods are presentedin returnfor othergoods.services.orrewards.Also.
accordingto Mauss. "total prestation nOIonlycarrieswithitthe obligationtorepaygifts received.butit impliestwoothersequallyimportant: the obligation to givepresents and the obligation to receivethem" (10-11).Morerecent works in thisareaemphasizethe
"reproduction"thatisinherent in gift-giving.claimingthat each transaction not only regeneratestheobligationto repay butalsoreaffirms the relationshipsthatestablishedthe obligation in the first place (sec Carrier.Cheal.Hendry,Weiner.Van).AsJamesCarrier pointsout. "Failure to give.receive orreciprocate threatensthe relationship:repeated failurewilltransform orterminateit.Gregorysummarizesthispoint when he saysthat gift exchangeis 'an exchangeof inalienableobjects betweenpeoplein a state of reciprocaldependence" ("'Gifts in World" 16).Thisconceptof reproductionis evident inthebalilcbayan boxtradition.Through these packages.Filipinoswho havebeen separatedfrom theirfamilies.friends.andcommunitiesrenewtheirconnectionsand reprise their rolesintheserelationships.
One ofthe issuesthatsurfacesin thestudyofgift-giving is the possibilitythat lo....e is commodifiedin such practices.Forinstance,Anna Jarvis,thefounder of Mother'sDay. lamentedthefactthatflorists and othertradespeopletransformedwhatshe conceivedofas a"holy day" into a "holiday: 'Accordingto LeighEricSchmidt.
11
Mattersofsincerity and genuinenessabsorbedher,andmuchof her alienat ion centered on thewaycommercially prod ucedtrin kets.gifis.and cards were surrogates forrealexpressionsofaffectionand closeness .To Jarvis.lette rsandvisitswere better way's!Obolsterand affirmone 's relationshipwith Motherthansuch mass-producedginsofthe marke tplace....[Sjuchcommoditieswereinadeq uateforthe taskof self- expression:rather thanbeingvehiclesofintimacy.theywere unauthentic andevenself-serving.(270 )
In this thesis.Idonotdirectly addressthetopic of commodification.butI do demons trate thaiba/ikbayanboxes arenor-s urrogates."Whileitis truethai they areexpressing their love for relatives and friends inthe Philippines throughtheirboxesandpasalubong.itis notthe onlywaythatbalikbayansdoso.They alsovisit.communicatethroughtelephone calls. letters. or emails.and sendmonetaryandmaterial remittances.Thus. while economicsdisunitesimmigrantsfromtheirfamilyandfriends. consumerismprovidesa way lor themto showthatthey careand helpstobringthem closer totheir lovedones.
Asinstrumentsforthe maintenanceoflong.distancerelationships.balikhcyan boxes fallwithinthe categoryofwhatMicaeladiLeonardo terms"thework of kinship"
or whatLeslie Bellacalls"reproductivelabour,"ThoughIdo not havesuflicient quantitative data tounequivocallymakethe assertion,my research alsosuggeststhat balikbayanboxesare predominantlythe work ofwomen.The possibilitycalls for further genderedanalysesoftheseboxes,
Links to TourismLnerature
This thesis isalsorelatedto studieson travel and tourism.not only becauseof the wayFilipinosviewtheUS asapilgrimage site.butalsobecausebahkbayanshave been moldedinto touristsbythe PhilippineDepartmentofTourism.However.whereas
"
tourism research oftencenterson travelto strange and newplaces (secKnsbenblau- GimbJcttand Bruner. Graburn.MacCannell.Urry).thebaiikbayans'situation is complicated,asthey areinsteadreturning to a placethatisbothfamiliarand alien.
Balikbayansare consideredtobetouristsintwo ways. Inoneway.theyaretravellers whohave comefrom theAmerican"dreamland"andhavebrought presentsfrom that place.At the same time.they are alsotourists intheir nativeland.10«bern destinations andsouvenirsare marketed.Because halikhdycmboxes convey objectsthatarctaken as
"representative" ofthe US and bcdlkbayanspurchase"tourist an" whichremindthem of home,the issueof authenticityarises in thisstud}'.So docs the issueof"longing" or nostalgia,AccordingtoSusan Stewart.
The souvenirspeaksto a contextof originthrougha languageoflonging.
for it is not an object arisingoutof need orusevalue;it isan objectarising out of thenecessarily insatiabledemandsof nostalgia.Thesouvenir generatesanarrativewhich reachesonly'behind:spiraling in a continually inward movementrather ahanoutwardtoward thefuture.
(135)
Clearly.bulikbayansbuysouvenirsbecausethey missthe Philippinesandtheirpast intimacieswith those who remain,Forthe recipients. who most likelyhaveneverbeen to theUS. it couldbethat theyare"looking back"onthe travel thatthebalikbayanshave made ontheir behalforthattheyare nostalgicfortheAmericathat has beenimplantedin their psychesand that once ruled them"in thegood. olddays:'Balikhayanboxes and their contents.thereforc.bridge thepast and presentforbothlocals andhalikbayans.At thesame time.theyprovide alink betweensacredandsecular.NelsonGrabum explains:
Thetourist travels backand forth.not just as an individualforhis own purpose.but as a contact.a carrierbetweenthe two spheresoflife.
13 carryingsignificant "loads' intheformof symbols and materialobjects betweentheseseparatemoralspheres.Thus thetourist isin a mediating positionexactlyparalleltothe sacrifice between thebeneficiaryandthe sacredas positedinthe originalanalysisof sacrificeandritual ingeneral ...(21)
For locals.theUnited States is"sacred" andh"fikhcryunsbringAmericatothe m.while forimmigrants whoare missing their homeland.balikbayansprovidea bridge to the Philippines.The commoditiesthat are contained in theirboxesan:the tangible connectionsbetweenthe two places.
Therefore.myinvestigation demonstratesthat materialartifacts. "howeversimple andmundane.are essential clementsintheproductionand reproductionofcultural personsand socialrelations" (Babcock205).ltrevealsthat the seeminglyordinary halikhayunboxes are.in fact. indicesofaspecificsegmentofthe Filipinopopulation.i.c..
thebalikbayu ns,andthat theyrepresentamuchmorecomplexsetof relationships. based on familialtiesand obligations.economics.spaceandplace.colonialism.andhegemony.
Thisthesis willadd to existingstudiesinFilipino and FilipinoAmericanhistoryand culture.immigration and immigrantgroups.colonialism.neocolonialism.and postcolonialism.globalization anddiaspora.materialculture. custom.exchangeand reciprocity.commodification.kinship work andgenderroles.ritual.andtravel and tourism. More importantly,itintroducesbahkbayansand theirboxestotheacademic world.
Fie!d"'orkand Mt th odolol)'
This thesisis primarilybasedon myintermittent fieldworkO\ Wan approximate ly two-yearperiod.InJuly and August of I<)Q8.lconducredtape-recordedintervie wswith Filipino immigrantsinLos Angeles.[also videotaped andphotographedsome boxes and their contents.On Novemberl.1998.on my way back fromtheannualrneeting of the AmericanFolkloreSocietyandduring alayo verinLos Angeles.Itook notesand photographsduringthree quick.impromptusessions.InJune \<)<)9.towards the end of my secondtrip to the Philippines.[ interviewed threelocals on tape.I alsogatheredsome informationfrom an official oftheDepartmentofT ourism(DOT) in Cebu. Finally.[did twointerviews with balikbayunbox shippers: onthe phoneinSeptemberandontapein October [<)99:[tookpicturesat thelatter meeting. In all. I conducted eighteeninterviews with a totaloftwenty-sixpeople. Of thisnumber. seventeenare femalesandninemales.
Also.sixteen areimmigrantswhohave been balikbuyans.twoarcnon-hCllikba.n m immigrants.one is a tourist.three arc locals/recip ients.three arc shippers.and one isa DOT administrator(seeAppendix B).Asawhole.I was able tota p into a prettybroad spectrumin age.education.occupation.lengthof residencein thePhilippines. lengthof residence in the United States.number of baiikbayanvisits.andlengthof halikbayan visits(see AppendicesBandC).
Sinceresearchersnecessarily bring the irOW11perspectivesandideas intotheir research.it is importantto acknowledgethis.insteadof claiming to offer absolute objectivity(see Ellis and Bochner :Goodall:Reinharz:Stanley).Therefore. Iadm ittomy
"situatedknowledge'.,. as Donna Haraway callsit. and pointoutthatthis wo rkisalso
grounded in my roleasaparticipant-observer. As achild. I experiencedthebalikbayan boxpracticewhenevermygrandmotheror auntvisited the Philippines.thusgivingme an ideaof what it islike to be on thereceivingend. Thebulkofmyempirical contribution.
however.comesfrommore recent occurrences. WhenIwent back10the Philippinesin 1998.Ibecameaballk bayunforthe firsttime and partookin.as wellas witnessed.the gift-giving process.I have since returned twomore times. fromJanuary-July 1999 and October1999-May:WOO. and wasagainboth anactor inand aspectatorto thecustom.
Onmy secondtrip.when l travelledwithmythreeaunts.Irecordedthebalikb(~l'anbox processthroughphotographs- fromthepackingofboxesin theL:Sto the distribution of gilisin the Philippines.Whenmy aunts departed.Ialsolookpictures ofwhat they broughtbacktothe United States.Duringthat same visit.mycousinand her familyalso returnedto the Philippines(in May1999). and I snappedphotos oftheirpackages.as well.WhenIleftin July.Itook picturesof my ownboxofpas(1/lIb(mgfor my family in Los Angeles.On thisj oumey andthe onethat followed.I wasable 10 watch more closely theworkings of thebalikbayu nbox tradition.Inmyresearchmode.Ibecame more consciousof thevarious activities involved and was abletodistinguishthedifferent stagesofthecustom.Asa participant-observer. Iwas also more attentive10 the minutiae ofthe procedure. insteadof merelygoingthrough the motions.
Whilea brief visit cothe Philippineswould have given me sufficientopportunity 10 observe thestepsof thebalikbuyanboxprocessand wouldhave correspondedwiththe typicaltimelineof most returnees. my lengthyslays in thePhilippineswereinvaluable in providingmewiththe backdropfor my research.Asan immigrantandballkbayan.Ican
16
easily provide theperspect iveofthehulikhayall.since[hawpersonal knowledg eof the migran t experien ceandthe preparat io ns in....olved inthebalikbayan boxpractice.Ialso ha ve access10otherswhocan give me add itional inform ationon these areas.However.
thou gh return eesare necessary charactersin theperformanceofthe custom.one cannot talkaboutbalikbayu nboxeswithoutsitua tin gthecustomwithin thePhilippineco ntext.
Having beenaway from the Philippines forthirteen years. [couldnotpretend toknow what is inthe minds of Filipinoswholivethere.Whilemyearlyyears there (untilIwas fourteen) giveme someidea.the passageofthe yearshas surelychangedthe milieu.as wellas myways of thinkingand understanding.Myprotracted journeys.therefore.
allowedmeto getreacquainted withthePhilippines. itspeople. and its culture.Withmy ability to speak thelanguage (Ccbuancand someTagalog). I\~:ISoften able to assimilate and associatewith different kinds andclasses of people.Ialso hadmoreintimate interactionswnhsomeofthelocals. asIrekindledoldfriendships andforgednew ones.
At the sametime.from what thelocals have saidtome and the mannerinwhichthey treated me. Iunderstood morefullyhowthey perceivebalikbayans,Thus. through prolongedcontact.Igaineddeeperinsight intothe thoughtsand livesof thesepeopleand am betterabletolocate myanalysis.
Most of the people Iinterviewed areconnected to me in someway. Six are directly relatedeither by blood or marriage:they include:my mother(Alicia). mybrother (Allan).two sisters-in-law(Gayle andJudy). a brother-in-law(Gil).and a niece(Annie).
Six areindirectlyrelated:Gil'sparents (MadronaandOnofrej.threeofhis aunts/mother's sisters (Dulce.Harlika, andLambert],and oneofhisfriends (Rex).Also.three are close
17 friend ormine(Isabel.Rhea,andRJ).while twoused tobeemployedbymy siblingsor friends(Juanitaand Nene j.Therest are notaffiliated withme atall. Atfirst glance.the factthattam familiar with so manyar myrespondentsmight makeit seem thatIam only drawingona narrowsamplegroup.butthisdoescontaindiversity.Certainly.myblood relativesand [ have sim ilar exper ienc eswhenitcomes to migrationandbaiikbayon boxes.Myin-laws.however.havedifferentmigratory backgrounds andotherhcdikbayan boxhabits.Working primarilywiththese families-mineand mybrother-in-law's-c-was alsobeneficialbecauseitallowedme tocompareand contrast.For instance.agreements in answers providedcorroboration.whiledissension highlighted pointsthatmight have otherwisegone unnoticed.When I interviewedthemingroups.respondentswereableto question and build oneach other'sreplies.makingfor more nuanceddiscussions.Upon reflection.Ifoundworking with people[know advantageous,since Ihad easier access to themand wasabletosocializewith them outsidetheinterview seuing. which meantI became familiarwiththeir historiesandpractices. Thus,inmore waysthanone.I have an insiderstandpoint.
MypersonalhomebasesofLos Angeles(LA)and Cebu arereflectedin my choiceofinterviewees.That said. these citiesare particularlyappropriatelocales for such a study.since Los Angeleshas oneof the largestpopulationsof Filipinos outside the Philippinesand Cebuis the secondmajorcity in thePhilippines.Additionally.it is imponantt oemphasizethat myLA respondentsdonotallreturn to Cebu (seeAppendix C).and thoseinCebu havehad encounterswithbalikbayansfromotherplaces.
Furthermore. FrankH,Dentonand Victoriavitlena-Denton'sbook. FilioinoViewsof
18 America: Wann MemoriesCold Realities.hasprovidedme witha supplementarysource of primaryinterviewsfromotherlocations.
Oveevtew
Thisthesisisnotmeant tobean exhaustivereview of Filipinoand Filipino American opinionsabout andexperienceswiththebulikhayul/box custom.As previouslymentioned.[hadaselectgroupof respondentsand.while I obtainedan assortmentofviewpoints from them which[believe are quite representativeof theoverall population.thisis farfroma statisticalsurvey.Rather. inkeepingwithfolkloristic principles.particularlyas theyapplyto materialcultureandcustom. itis designed 10 presenta morepersonal andhumanperspective.Also.this thesis is intendedas a general introduction. sinceone study cannotpossiblyincorporate allthesubtletiesand interpretations of the topic.
Inorder[0provide a morefocusedinquiry.Ilimitedthe breadthofmy research in two ways. First.sinceFilipinos todayconsiderabaiikbayantobeany Filipino who returnsto thePhilippinesafter an extendedstayabroad.theterm encompassesboth immigrants andoe w s. as wellasforeign-born Filipinos. However. sincethelabel originallyreferred tothose who permanentlyreside in other countries.particularlythe UnitedStates.Ihave restrictedmydiscussion10balikbayonsfromtheUS. though Ido mention(X'Wsoccasionally.Second.thoughFilipino migrationto the US is generally dividedintothree "waves:'my emphasisismostly on the last.orposl-1965. groupof immigrants. since this includesthe mostrecentand most numerousarrivals. Inaddition.
'9
ilisthesurge ofimrnigra tionatthebeginning ofth isperiod which inspired the coiningof thewordin thefirst place .
Byitsverynature.thisresearchistransnationalandtransculturalinSCO~.since balikbavansinhe rent lylie at theintersectionoftwonat ions and cultures.Bydefinition.
theyhaveonefooton either sideofthe Pacific.and theytraverse boundaries as theylive andembracetheirbinational existence. Correspondingly.halikbayanboxesarealso transnational.denoting apassagefrom one place toanother. specifically fromtheUnited States\0thePhilippines (and.sometimes. back\0theUS ). The subjectmatter.then.
necessitates thecrossingof bordersandthe studyand inclusionof'bothFilipinoand FilipinoAmericanculture. history.and perceptions.
Ihave structuredthisthesisin such awayasto enablethereader to understand the prevalence orthebalikbavunboxpracticeandtorealizethatthesepackageshave cometo signify thebcdikbuyans.orthereturning persons.t hemselves.Partofmy goalisto demonstratehow thiscommonanifactcanberead as a materialandcustomarytext with variegatedmeaningsandas an exemplificationof socio-economicaspectsof a particular culture.Thus.inChaptersThreeand Four.Iintroduceb"likh".mnl·andtheirboxesand furnish a detailed ethnographicdescriptionofthe performance orthebalikhayanbox tradition.ChaptersFiveandSix focuson the functionsofandthesymbolismin these packages. whileChapterSeven contains myconclusions.(contendthattheseboxesare not only indicesof the dislocation- primarilydictated by economic necessity andfamilial obligation-or Filipinos.but also sitesof colonialismand culturalhegemony.
Specifically.Isituate my arguments...vi thinthe contextoftheUnited States'historical
imperia lism towardthePhilippines.the continuing legacies ofthat occupation. andthe current andever-expandingUS dominanceof glo balecono mics and popularculture. But first. since balikbayanboxe swouldnot existif there were no ballkbayan sand there wouldbenohalikhayans if Filipinoshad notbeenimmigrating indroves to the United States.Ibegin this studyinChapterTwowith areviewof the historicaland econom ic conditio ns that gave birth tothe balikbayanpopulation. Ilook atboth thepoliticaland economichistoryof thePhilippines.aswell asthe historyof Filip ino immigration tothe UnitedStates.I alsointroducetheBalisbayanprogram. fromwhic hthe designationsfor returningnativesandtheirboxe s werederived.
CHA PTER TWO
BOlo-stag e: An Introducti onto thePhilippines, Filipino Migr ati ontothe UnitedStates,and theBalikbayan Prog ram
ThePhilippine sisanarchipelago.situatedsoutheast of the Asian mainlan d.
between the China Sea andthe Pacific Ocean (seeFigures1.1and 2.1).Thoughlocated in theEast.its colo nizatio n byWestern powers foralmost fource nturieshasprofoundl y affectedits politica l.economic. andcultural(undcrjdevelop ment.and. today. itis an overpopulated and economi callydepressednation.Co nsequently. itspopulation has often looked10othershores for bcneropportunities.whileits governm ent can donothing but encourage this inclinatio n(see Rafael."YourGrief' ").In fact.sincethe 1960s.the Philippines'biggest commo dityhasbeenits peopleor.in cultural criticE.SanJuan Jr.·s words.the "warmbody expo rt'ofFilipinolabor"(PhiliooineTem ptation 15).For decades.thelocusofthis exodushas beenthe UnitedStales of America. tho ughFilipinos arenowmigrating tovario uspans oftheworld. Bythe1970s.therewasasignificant overseasFilipinopopulation. particularlyinthe US.and theMarcosadministrationtook advantageofthisgrou p'spoliticalinfluenceand financial capabi litywhenitintroduced theBalikbayunprogram.Thispromotion. whichofferedtravelincentivesfor Filipinos Jiving abroad to visitthePhilippines.wasdesignednot somuchto bolstertourism but to serveaspropa gandaforthe benefits ofmartiallaw(Rafael. -YourGrief"1·3:Richter 59).Indoing so.itgave a name.aswell as prominence. tothefigure ofthe returni ng native.
. : :
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--
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=
phdlrrln ..
5>1' .1
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22
Figure2.1 Map of Southeast Asia
(CIA. Southeast Asia.The WorldFactbook 2000.Online.Internet. 20 June 2001.
Availablehttp://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbookldocs/rcf.html)
South Chma Sea CHINA
TaiNIn
Luzon
"BaguiO..;
"Panqasinan
San Fe;:~~ ..,Ouuon
Bataogil~"
Mindoro
o 100 2OO1lIIl
'00
PhllrppUltJ Sea
23
5 SH Palawan
'''-t.
"moe..
Panay V;sayas
Guima,,::. .
Ba~-teyte" , . . .
N: yandeOro. "BuU.8n
lllgan"Minda nao Davao.
Joo' MAtAVSIA
INOONE.SIA
Celebes Se.
lNDOt<l[SIA
Figure2.2Map of thePhilippines
(CIA."Philippines:' TheWorld Factbook2000.Online.Internet. 20 June 2001.
AvailablehttpJ I"" \1.\'.odci.gov/ciaJpublicalionslfactbooklgeo slrp .html )
In this chapter.Iprovidea briefhistoryof the Philippinesandof Filipino migrationto the UnitedStates.I also describe theBalikbayanprogram as it was originallyinstitutedin the1970sandtraceits evolution.In doingso. I contend that econom icsand politicscombined and gavebirth to the figure of thehalikhayan.My aim here is to demonstrate that the lack of prospectsin the Philippinespropelled- and continue topropel-asubstantialportionofits population outward and that the government.to serveitsO\\TIpurposes.capitalized on this reality when it created the Balikhayunprogram.Itis the inceptio nof this program whichintroduced aninvented term into popular vocabulary and gave a name to a new and temporal categoryof the populace.
A BridHistol')' of the Philippi nes
The Philippinesis an aggregation of numerousislands and islets.whose inhabitantsare linguisticallyand culturallydiverse.Filipinos originally came from Malay and Polynesianstock. which was laterinfused with migrationfromChina andIndochinaI and modified by cultural contacts and intermarriages with Arabs.Hinduized Malays.
Chinese.andIndochinese.~Theseancient populations lived in widely dispersed kinship
IEncarta placesthe migrationsbetween 7000 to:WOOBCE ("Philippines" ).
Peters5a)'Sthattheycame between1500 and 500BCE.According toAgoncillo.Chinese colonies were establishedfrom theIOlh_17lhcenturies CEo
2AccordingtoPeters. peoplein the Philippi neshad tradingrelationships with Hinduized Malaysfrom the 91/1_ ISlhcenturiesCE(12). Peters (11) and Agoncillo (24) agreethat Chinese traderscame from 101/1 century onwards.Accord ingto Fajardo. trade withthe Arabs started as earl)'as the101/1 century(218).Agoncillo states thata small populatio nof Indochinese established tradingposts in southern Philippines from900-
groupscalledbarangavs.mostlyalongthe coastandrivers(Corpuz.Philippines:!1-22:
Panopio and Rolda18 ).According to historianTeodoroA.Agoncillo.'Theharcmgu.\
was the unit of governmen tandconsistedoffrom 30to100fam ilies,,.EachharangU}' was independentandwasruledbyachieftain"(40).Theyhad limited contact witheach other:they carriedon commercialactivities.arrangedtreaties of friendsh ipand alliances. and sometimesconductedseasonalwarfare (Agoncillc 41:Panopio andRolda28-30:
Scott 5).However. "inspite of theseinter-barangayrelationships.there arenoevidences of a supra-barangayorganization prior to 1571and.therefore.itis erroneous tospeak of ancient barnnganic confederat ions"(Pancpioand Rolda 30).
In1511.Ferdinand~vlagdlan;"discovered"and claimedthePhilippine islandsfor Spain, and. in 1565.Miguel LopezdeLegazp i and his menestablishedthe firstSpanish settleme ntin Cebu (Agoncil1o71-74).Bythemid-l 570s.most of the countrywas under Spanishrule(Agoncillo74-75:Peters13).The Spaniardscreateda politicalbureaucracy.
resettled the indios t-nanves")into pueblos(..towns"],withthechurch andplaza as their nucle i. anddecreed thai they adoptsurnamesfrom alist provided (Agoncillo75-79, 80.
94:Tan63-66). The colonistsbroughtabout changesinwriting. speech.housing.food.
dress.transportation.andotherareas (Agoncillo91·101). Theirmostsignificant
1200CEobut that heightened activity from morecountriescame inthe mid_141hcentury (23-15).
JPortuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan. in the serviceof Spain.reachedthe Philippines onMarc h 17.1521.while tryingto finda westward route to the Spice Islands.
Hewas killedin battlein April1521on theisland ofMactan . The lastof hisflve ships was the firstto circumnavigate the earth successf ully(Agond llo 71-72;Encarta.
"Philippines"; Peters 12·13).
,.
contribution.though. wasthe introduction of Roman Catholicism.whichquickly loo k root. was localized.and becamethe basis for thelowlandChristianculture thateventually
Thoughtheindiosremained relativelyisolatedfrom each otherduringthe Spanish era.they eventuallyfoundcertaincommonalities.which centeredontheinj ustices perpetratedby the Spaniards.especiallythe friars.The impositionofsuch decrees as directand indirect taxes,monopolies.draftlabor. and others led toregionalinsurrections (Ag oncillo81·91.102-126). The awarenessthatthese grievanceswere shared fostereda senseofsolidarity,andlocalskirmishes led to moreorganizedoppositionagainstthe Spaniards. Asnationalist RenataConstantinoexplains.thenati ves
...initial responses to foreignconquestwere...fragmented andranged frominstinctive resistanceto foreignersassuch to awed accommodation within the new polity.but with resentmentsbuilding upaseconomic exploitationandsocial control produced materialhardshipand cultural modification.Theirstrugglesbecame successivequantitativeinputs of experiencewhich finallyunderwentaqualuarivetransformation-from localized revolts againstinequitieswithin the colonialorderto a national politicalawarenessof the need for doingawaywiththe colonialorder itself:thatis.fromrebellionto revolution.(~j86)
Whilethe local elite clamoredfor reforms (Agoncillo129·148.Tan68-70).theproletariat demanded completeindependencefromSpain.In 1891. AndresBonifacio andafew
• As previouslymentioned.thePhilippinesisinhabitedbylinguisticallyand culturallydiversepeoples.Eightyor more.generally mutuallyunintelligible.languages arespokeninthe Philippines.Aboutninetypercentof the populationbelongstothe
"eight major lowland ethnolinguisticgroups"(Carroll.etal. 3). andthemajority of these are Christianized.The Muslimsarethe largest minority;they mostlylivein the Southern islandsof Mindanao.Otherminoritieshavesoughtrefugeinthe mountainsand other isolatedareas.
27
othermenfounded asecretorganiz atio n in Manilacalled theKatipunanr-Society").for shan. which soonexpanded10 thesurrounding provinces of Central Luzo n(Agoncillo 1~9· 166).The gentryeventually joinedtheca llto arms and.inthe process .tookove r the leadership . The revoltculminatedin June 1898.withthe declaration ofindependenceby EmilioAguinaldo.and wasfo llowed bytheina ugura tion
or
thePhi lipp ineRepublicin January1899(Agoncillo201·211 ;Anderson. "Cacique" 9).However.this newfound independencewas pre-emptedbythe arrivalofthe Americans. Assured thaithe United Stateshadno impe rialist des igns onthe Philippines.
therevolutionaryleaders acceptedAmerican aide.and thecombinedFilipinoand American forcesreadily defeatedthe Spanish(Agonc illo187- 198:Anderson. "Cacique "
10). TheAmericans turned outtobe deceitfulas.unbeknownst to the Filipinos. the}
madesecret agreementswith the Spaniards.which werefo rma lized withthesigning of the Treatyof Parisin December1898and which ceded thePhilippinestothe United States (Agonci llo 211-212).Filipinosresumedtheir fight forindepende nce.this time againsttheUS. but were overpoweredbythe ove r110.000Americantroops(Gochenour 19):"anyovherefrom200.000to600,000Filipinoswerekilled"(SanJuan, Philippine Tempta tio n 4)."By objectivestandards:'acco rdingto historian Ne lson Klose,"the insurrectio n was a war of considerablylarger proportion sthan the Span ish-American War.The warcost morein lives.money.andtime" (121). Withits militarymight.the USsubdued theinsurgency andachievedits imperialistobjectivefor,accordingtofanner Secretaryof Foreign Affairs SalvadorP.lopez.
28
The conquest or the Philippines was thesecond actintheAmericandrama of thePacific.of which thefirst was theopeningof Japan byCommodore Perry.and thethird. thePolicy ofOpen Doorin China.Theacquisitionof the Philippinesresulted fromthe sameimpulse that broughtaboutthe purchaseof Alaska and the annexationof Hawaii-a desireto sharein the openingupof tradeopportunitiesinthe\3SIand populous continentof Asia.(9)
For the Americans.the Filipino-AmericanWar endedin1901withthesurrender of Aguinaldoandother leaders. though.peasantscontinued theirresistance untilabout1913 (Agondllo 213-231.2~7 -297;Constantino.!:::!.ill2n:79·83:Roxas-Tope-18--19; Tan73- 75.80 -82).While continuing to squash theopposition.theAmericans proceededto pacifythenativesand establishedanew order.They established hospitals.prisons.roads.
telephonelines.andothersuch infrastructure(Agoncillo373-37-1.376-377;see also\'11.
Anderson.lleto.andSalman).They alsointroducedthedemocratic systemof government. free trade.and universaleducation (Agoncillo 298-313.371-379;Anderson.
"Cacique"11-13; Elcvazo and Elevazo26-32;Tan78-79).
In 193-1.theUnitedSlatesCongress passed the Tydings-Mcp uffieACI.which
"provided forthe establishment of aten-year Commonwealthto serve as a transition governmentbefore theprcctamcuonof independence. ."and wasapprovedby the PhilippineLegislature (Agoncillo346-347:Tan83-84).In1935.a Constitutionwas ratified andwas followedbyanelection. ManuelQuezonandSergio Osmenawere sworn inasPresidentand vice-President ofthe Commonwealth (Agoncillo352). The Commonwealthperiodwas interrupted byWorldWar II.Shortly after thebombing of Pearl Harbor.Japaninvaded thePhilippinesandoccupieditfor threeyears.from December1941through february 1945(Agondllo390;Anderson."Cacique" Jj.14).As
29
earlyas January19~::!.theJapanesePremierpromisedindependencefor thePhilip pines
",;0long asitcoo perate sandrecognizes Japan'sprogramofestab lish inga GreaterEast
AsiaCo-Pros peri tySphere"(qtd. inAgoncill o39 8).In 19-13.a new Cons titut ionwas draftedand aRep ublic establishe d.withJoseLaurel as its president.' Duri ng the occupa t ion.harsh wartime conditions prevailed . with many ofthe atrocit iesinflicted by theJapanese military(Agoncillo395-409 ).This period alsosaw ..therise of a new bourgeo isie:"-thedemocra tiza tio noftheold. stiff upper-c lasssociety:" rampa nt poverty.
and -meintensification of graftand corruption"(Agoncil lo~07).
Filipino andAmericansoldiers.as wellas Filipinocivilians.condu ctedguerrilla warfare against the Japanese(A go ncillo410··H 5). The most prominentof thesegroups was calledIf/lkhdngBavun Labansa Hapan("Movementof the Country/Peop leAgainst the Japanese")orHUKBALA HAP.basedin CentralLuzonand headedby Luis Turuc (Agoncillo441 -160:USDept. ofState . "Hukbalaha ps"71·77).Bythe timethe Americantroops.ledbyGeneralDouglasMacArthur.6came to "liberate " thePhilippines
~Anderson accuse sLaurel and other mem bers of the oligarchy of collabo rating withtheJapanese t-Cacique"lj·14).Agoncill o . ontheotherhand.cla im s that..the Filipi no leaderswere...not fooledby theseemptypromises"(398)andcompliedwith Japanesewishes so thatthey could bringthe peop letoge therand "softenthe impact of the Japaneseoccupationon the moraland physical nerves oftheFilipinos "(399 -404 ). Tan agreeswithAgonclllo.statingthat Laureland others were"instructed andencouragedby [Co mmon wea lthPresident ]Quezo n to cooperatewith the enemyin order to pro tect the people"(86).
6Retired ChiefofStaff of the US Army.whowas named Field Mars ha l of the PhilippineAnnyin 1935by President Quezon .On July26.1941.whenthe Japanese threat tothePhilipp inesbecame clear . hebecame commanderofthe United StatesArmy Forcesinthe Far East(USAFFE). a combination ofPhilippine and American forces. In March 194:!.he wasrelie ved as comman de rofUSA FFE byPresidentRo os evelt and
)0
in late1944-early19-15.'theHuhandotherresistance movementshadalreadydefeated many ofihe Japanese- forc es IAl,!OI\cillo-I16-f:!3;Tan8&.88 1.1Osmcaa,who became Commonwealth PresidentwhenQuezondiedin 194-I.qhadthe taskofrebuilding3war- damagedcountry andeconomy.He alsohad10contend....ithinterfere ncefrom '-'acArthurandother American authorities.InInApril19-16.the Commonwealthheldits finalelection.ManuelRO:l(3s. one ofthe"collaborators"andwiththe backing of MacArthur. wonthe election(Agoncillo-I3-1-B 6:Steinberg."Philippine Collaboration"
orderedto go to Australia.where heplanned hisreturn10thePhilippines.MacArthurand hisforcesreturned inOctober 19+4.He tookoverthePhilippine government asMililal~;
Administrator unuttheend of February19015(Agoncillo354-355.388. 393.·.nO.418- 4:!3).
1AccordingtoAgoncillo. theUnited Stalestook years to sendreinforcements because of its agreementwithGreatBritainto adhere10a"Europe-FirstPolicy" 1393).
•Agoncilloreportsthat.-wten.. _the Americansentered Manila inforce they promptly disarmed the Jluk squadronsaheadofthem-(.;49).Theyfollowed thiswiththe mass arrests andfurtherdisarming oflhe Huks(..1..19-45 1).
•whiletheJapanese wereinvadinglhePhilippinesinDecember19..1 1.
MacArthurorderedQuezon and otherofficials10 moveto Corregidor.Thepart)' proceeded10Australia in March19·U and.then.10Washington.DCin ApriI19..1:!.
Because ofthewar. Quezon wasallowedtoextend hispresidencypastthe eight-year limit.but.due 10failinghealth.he diedon AugustI.19..\.4.
10According toAgoncillo.aftcrt he war. "mostof the important affairsofthe governmentshould have been handledby the Filipino officials.bUI MacArthur. actuallymade the importantdecisions for PresidentOsmesa"(430).MacArthur pressured Osmeaa tocallCongressto session(430...;3I).Osmcsawasalso forced[0
complywith PresidentRoosevelt's standontheseverepunishment ofcollaborators or risk losingAmerican aid(..13 1-432).Interference from theUS Congress willbediscussed in the nextsectionofthis chapter, "ColonialandNeo-Colonial Economy."
II
77.8]).liOnJuly4.1946. the US grantedthe Ph ilipp inesitsindependence(Tan 88·89).
Roxas became the first Presidentof theRepublic:(Agcncillo436).
Upon Roxas'sdeath in 1948. ElpidioQuirinoassumed thepresidency :he won the electionin[949(Agoncillo ·H9-440; Tan 97).His administration saw the arrest of the Hukpolitburo and a five-year$250 millionfinancialaid package fromtheUS(Ago nci llo 454 -4 58. 505-50 7:Shalom111· 120;Tan 97).Ramon Magsaysaywas thefirst to campaign[0thefauorthe common man and. with the help of the US. was elected in 1953(seeSmith).During his term.the Hukswere suppressed:settlement projects were undertaken: roads andirrigat ion wereim proved:and artesian wellswereconstructed (Agoncillo458.461-466: Tan 97).According to Agcncillo.however. Magsaysay spoiled themasses and.withouta clearplan.hisefforts toimprove theirlo t failed(4664 69).
When Magsaysay dicdin a plane crash in1957,CarlosGarciafinishedhis term:hewon the election la te r thatyear.Garcia. anatio nalist. calledforausterit yand a "Filipino First' policy.but his presidencywas beset by the same graftand corruptionas his predecessors' (Agoncillo469-4 71.510-513; Tan 97·98).In1961.Diosdado Macapaga lfoiledGarcia's bid forreelec tio n(Agonc illo 472-473:Tan 98).He movedPhilippineIndependence Day fro m July 410 June 1211and proposed theAgricult ura l Lan dRe form Code.which replaced tenancywithleaseltolding(Agoncillo477-479).
IISoon after his election. Roxasgrantedamnesty to all collaborators (Agoncillo 432 ).
11The US grantedthe Philippin esitsindependence on July4,1946.June12 was theda te whenrevolutionariesproclaimedtheirindependencefromSpainin1898.
In 1965. thepeopleagainshowedtheir dissatisfactionwith the government in power and voted decisivelyfor FerdinandMarcos (Agoncilio 480-482:Tan 98-99).In the violent and fraudulent election of 1969. he became the first presidentto be re-elected (Richter53:Schirmer and Shalom163:Tan 100).While Marcos had specific plans for a freereconomyand the FirstLadywasworking on culturalretrievalprograms. they faced difficulties in execution.especially since dishonest}'and profiteeringin government remained a problem tAgcncillo 563·564:Tan 99). During this administration.there was an increasein student rallies and demonstrationsagainst the "US-Marcosdictatorship"
(Agonci llo 495-501.570-571:Shabecoff157- 16 1:Tan 99-100).Also.theHuks resurfacedand the secessionist Moro Nationalliberation Front (MNLF)and the communistNational People's Ann}"(NPAj were formed (Agoncillo 487-489: Anderson.
"Cacique" 19: Sbabecoff 158-161:Tan 100-101).Citing a "stateof'rebcllion,"
particularlydue to the activitiesofMNLFand NPAguerrilla forces.Marcos declared rnaniallawthrough Presidential Decree1081onSeptember21.19T!.and beganover a decade of authoritarian rule (Agoncillo572-573:US StaffReport 165-169;Tan 100-101).
An additional. if not the overriding. reason forthis action was the imminent approachin 1973 of hispresidential two-term limit (Anderson,'Cacique" 20-21;Richter53:
Schirmer andShalom 163-164).
In order to give legitimacyto martial law. Marcoshastened.and even feigned. the ratificationofa newConstitutionby referendumin 1973(Agoncillo 575-576:Mijares 19 1-193: Tan 103).Congresswas discharged and presidentialdecreesreplacedthelaw- making process (Agoncillo576:Schirmer and Shalom164:Tan(03). The writofhabeas
33
corpuswasalso suspended.whichled tothe immediatemass arrestof oppositionleaders.
rebels.and suspectedsubversives(Agoncillo51j;Tan101. 103).1} Freedomof the press washeavily curtailed(Tan 103).During this authoritarianera. freedom.ingeneral.was limited.while militarypowerwasflagra nt(Ago nc illo 575:Anderson"Cacique" 23).At thesame time. though.Marcos beganto instituteeconomicand politicalprograms designedto create a "New Society"withimprovedsocialconditionsandfreefrom nco- colonialcontrol(Agoncillo 574·583:Rand Corp.178- 18 1:Tan 103·[04).Initially. the President'splanswerequitesuccessful. As Tan pointsout.
Politicalinitiatives opened morediplomaticrelationsandnew marketsand gotconcessions ontheAmerican military bases and other agreements..
Economicprospectswere improvedwiththeopeningof new marketsfor exportsoutsideofthe UnitedStates andthe developmentofdomestic exportpotentialsotherthan thetraditional exports to theUnited Slates, Self-sufficiencywereIsic]encouragedthroughthe KKK[Kill/sWIK KabuhayanatKaunlaranor"Action forLivelihoodandProsperity"]
Program.agro-mdustrialprojects. arm andammunitionfactories.
manpowertrainingand infrastructureprojects,(105)
However. due to increased ccrrupnon."reportedexcesses.andcontinuedrepressionof rights and freedom. thecitizens'dissatisfaction ballooned,Opposition came from all sides, including the MNLF. the NPA.tribal Filipinos.and the CatholicChurch (see Guerrero.Nail. Democratic Front.Noble.Swenson.and Youngblood).Peoplealso criticizedthe UnitedStatesbecause.while welcoming Filipinopoliticalrefugees.it
uFormoredetailsabouthumanrightsviolationsduringmartiallaw.see Amnesty International."1975Missionvand"1981Mission,"
14An anonymousarticle.'vSomeare SmarterThan Others.:"lists how someof Marcos'scronies advancedfinanciallyand/or politicallyduringhis regime.
"amplifieditsmilitary and economic aid10the nationalsecurityslate-(SanJuan.
PhilippineTempt.1tion 126;seealsoBelloand Rh·eral.
In 1981_Marcos"lifted"martial law.butnothingchangedashestillhadpower overthemilitary. jhe Assembly,thepress.and othermechanismsfor control[Civil LibertieslI8·:!.:!I;Schirmer and Shalom 165).Itwas the assassinationofpolitical opponentBenignoAquino,Jr.in1983.uponhisreturnfromexile.which eventuallyled tothedemise oftheMarcosdictatorship(Schirmer and Shalom215;TanI~). I~This atrociousincidentignitedthe opposition.rousedpopularindignation. and generated changesinUS pcltctcs."Underpressure.particularlyfrom theLIS.Marcosheldasnap electionin1986.lJAllegingmassive fraud. therival consortiumheaded by the widowed CorazonAquinorefusedto accept aMarcoswin and declared its ownvictory (Agoncillo 58-1;SchirmerandShalom 333·33:5:Tan105).11Ensuingprotestsculminated in the three-day"People Power-revoluuco onFebruary22-201.1986 and concludedintheflight
l~The AgravaCommission's-Majority Report-ind icatesthatthe assassination was amilitaryconspiracy and implicatesonecivilianand twenty-fivemilit.1t~iofficers.
including Chid of StaffFabian ver.SeeSussman.O'Conner.andlindsey for the effects ofthestayingon theeconomy.
16For mort information aboutincreasedopposition.see:Aguilar-San Juan.
Denguilan-vitug,McAfee, Stoltzfus,and theUS SenateIntelligence Committee.For additional data onUSpolicies. especially itsintervention. inthePhilippines.see:Chanda.
NationalSecurityStudyDirective.andtheUS AirForce.
lJTo learnmoreaboutAquino'splatform.see"Program of SodaI Reform:'For thenationalistdebate about theelections.seeBAYAN' s "CallforBoycott"and KAAKBAY's"SupportforAquino."
IIForviewpoints about electoral fraud. seeReagan andtheCatholic Bishops' Conference of thePhilippines.
35
ofMarcosand his croniestoHawaii and the inauguration ofAquino (Agoncillo584-585:
SchirmerandShalomJj5·338:Tan 105:alsosee Berlow andBurgess).
Aquinoset up a "revolutionarygovernment" and proceededtodismantle or reorganizeexisting governmentalorganizations. while alsoremovingMarcosloyalists fromoffice.A"Freedom Constitution"provided temporarylegalstructureforthe administration untilthe NewConstitution was ratifiedin February1987 (Agoncillo585·
586:Tan 105-106).The1987 Congressionalelections and the 1988 localelections brought back to power many ofthepre-martialla wpoliticaldynasties. as well as some Marcos supporters(Anderson."Cacique"26·32).Thehoneymoon periodofthe"People Power Revolution" soon cametoanend.as the various panicsof thecoalitionthat backedAquinowent their separateways{Anderson."Cacique'23-2:7:Tan 107-108).
Theadministrationenduredseveralcoupattempts.especiallybymilitary personnel.
between1987and1989 (Anderson."Cacique"24:SchirmerandShalom401-402;Tan 110-112). ln1992,FidelRamoswonthepresidential election. Through"people empowerment"andhis"Philippine2000"program.the countryshowed marked improvementon concernssuch as unification.poverty.foreigninvestments.and infrastructure.Accordingto Tan."by mid 1995. .visiblesignsofeconomicrecovery.
politicalstability.andrenewed faithin theFilipino begantobepositivelyportrayed in domestic and foreignmedia"(116).Whenthe Asian economiccrisishitin 1997.the Philippines was not as deeplyaffected as itsneighbors.Because onetermofsixyears was not sufficient to accomplishhisgoals. Ramos attemptedto amend the Constitution.
36 sothatthe preside ntial limit couldbe extended 10IWOterms.but to no avail("Uisloryl Background").Thus.hispromising efforts cameto an end.
InMay 1998. Joseph Estrada. a Marcos loyalistandformer actor.narrowly won the election.due to hispopularitywiththe masses.!"Economic conditio nsquickly deteriorat ed.while corru pt ion increase d.ByOcto ber2000. allegationssurfacedthai Estrada hadbeenreceiving payoffsfromillegal gamblingoperators. TheSenate impeachmenttrial commencedinDecember.but was suspendedindefinitelywhen the prosecutionresigned onJanuary17.2001I'<Fimclinc").On thesame day.Filipinos began their four-day demonstrationandcalled for the President'sresignauon."Estrada ned fromMalacaiiangPalace!1on January 20.and GloriaMacapagal Arroyo.Vice President anddaughterofuformerPresident. was sworn in by the PhilippineChief Justicet-Confuslon":"Timeline"].Estrada'sarrestonApril25 led toprotests byhis supporters.which culminated onthe night ofApril30 outside Malacanang.Arroyo declareda "stateofrebellion' onMayI, whichwas subsequentlylifted onMay 7
lqHis campaignsloganwas"£T(lpparasa mahirap."which means"Erapforthe poor."Erapis Estrada'snickname.datingfrom his showbusinessdays.Itisthe reverse ofpore. whichisa derivative of theSpanish.compadreandis a termused informallyto referto ritualkinor,sometimes. friends.
~ofn herinauguralspeech.Arroyo referstothese protestsas EDSA2001(or11),as opposedto EDSA1986 (orI) or the "People PowerRevolution" (vlnaugurationSpeech") (n.p.). EDSA IEpifaniodelos Santos Avenue) is thename of a streetin Manila. where demonstratorsconvenedbothin 1986and 2001.After EDSAI.a monumentto "people power"was erected at the sue.
~IThe residenceof thePresidentoflhe Philippines
