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UNDERSTANDING THE FILIPINO CONCEPT OF NATIONALISM

A Research Proposal
Presented to the
Faculty of the Department of Political Science
School of Law and Governance
University of San Carlos
Cebu City, Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the course
POSC 142CC: Data Gathering and Analysis

By
DELIMA, CHAD MICHAELL G.
POWAO, JAYFORD O.

October 2014

University of San Carlos


Department of Political Science
Center for Governance, Leadership, and Development
PoSc 142CC: Data Gathering and Analysis

PLAGIARISM FORM
(this must be filled appropriately and submitted along with the Thesis Proposal)

University of San Carlos Student Manual 2006 Edition


Art. IV Service Support Units
2.5.7 Major Offenses: Plagiarism, forgery, falsification, tampering,
alteration or misuse of official school records, documents or credentials
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Course

Chad Michaell G. Delima


AB POSC PTS 4
POSC142CC: Data Gathering and Analysis

Title of Thesis

Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism

Name
Program

I, the undersigned, confirm that I understood the University policy about plagiarism
and the importance of intellectual honesty.
I testify that the work I submitted is wholly my own, and that any quotations or
section of text taken from the published or unpublished work of any other person is
duly and fully acknowledged therein.
Signature of
Student
Date of
Submission

Oct. 21, 2014

Student Receipt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name of Student
Title of Course

Chad Michaell G. Delima


POSC142CC: Data Gathering and Analysis

Date Received
Received by
(N&S)
2

University of San Carlos


Department of Political Science
Center for Governance, Leadership, and Development
PoSc 142CC: Data Gathering and Analysis

PLAGIARISM FORM
(this must be filled appropriately and submitted along with the Thesis Proposal)

University of San Carlos Student Manual 2006 Edition


Art. IV Service Support Units
2.5.7 Major Offenses: Plagiarism, forgery, falsification, tampering,
alteration or misuse of official school records, documents or credentials
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name
Program
Course
Title of Thesis

Jayford O. Powao
AB POSC PTS 4
POSC142CC: Data Gathering and Analysis
Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism

I, the undersigned, confirm that I understood the University policy about plagiarism
and the importance of intellectual honesty.
I testify that the work I submitted is wholly my own, and that any quotations or
section of text taken from the published or unpublished work of any other person is
duly and fully acknowledged therein.
Signature of
Student
Date of
Submission

Oct. 21, 2014

Student Receipt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name of Student
Title of Course

Jayford O. Powao
POSC142CC: Data Gathering and Analysis

Date Received
Received by
(N&S)
3

APPROVAL SHEET

This research paper entitled Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism


and as submitted by Chad Michaell G. Delima and Jayford O. Powao in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for POSC 142CC: Data Gathering and Analysis, has been examined
and accepted for Oral Defense.

Research Committee

Dr. Ryan C. Urbano


___________________________
Chairman

Fr. Joseph B. Anore, MAPM


____________________
Member

Arra Katrina C. Villaruel, MAAL


________________________
Member

Rejene T. Lakibul, MPMD


________________________________
Faculty Adviser

University of San Carlos


Department of Political Science
Center for Governance, Leadership, and Development
PoSc142CC Data Gathering and Analysis

COMPLIANCE FORM
(this must be filled appropriately and submitted as scheduled; a copy must also be attached as annex to the final technical report)

Name of Researcher

Chad Michaell G. Delima and Jayford O. Powao

Title of Thesis

Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism

Date of Submission

Oct. 22, 2014

Direction: Be sure to comply with the recommendations/suggestions of the defense panel. Write
your action to each of the recommendations and indicate the specific page for inclusions and
changes.
Actions Taken about
Comments/Recommendations

Comments/Recommendations

Incorporated
Completely

Title Page and Preliminaries


1. Provide results in the Abstract
2. Provide Executive Summary
The Problem and Its Setting

Incorporated
but Refined

Not
Incorporated

Page No.

7-8

20-38

42-49

53-85

OK
Theoretical Background
1. Improve the discussion on Hechters framework of
nationalism
2. Provide the details and characteristics of each type
3. Transfer in TB the exhaustive discussion of Philippine
history found in Chapter 4
Research Methodology
1. Improve the methodology to match the data required
2. Check comments given during the proposal defense
on the ff: respondents, environment, treatment of
data
Results and Discussions
NEEDS REVISION
1. Improve the data presentation, provide only the
highlights
2. Where is your data analysis and presentation
3. Key points of certain facts of history
4. How are you going to do with each of the data
(treatment) (interpret)
5. More validation of the themes

6. In every timeline, build your case (base on the matrix)


7. Distinguish reference from data source
8. Characteristics of specific era
9. Should present the findings and interpretation
10. Present the data and explain each era
11. Characteristics that make state-building, etc.
12. Provide prper transition statements to ensure
coherence
13. Title of Matrix (end ofChap 4)
14. Proper treatment of data
15. Relate communitarianism to nationalism
Conclusion and Recommendation
1. Establish claims in your conclusion
2. Provide doable recommendations
3. Be careful with the language of your
recommendations
Citation and Bibliography
1. Source of history
2. Proper citation of presented data
Language, Grammar and Choice of Words

86-90

91-94

1. Pls. consult an editor


Appendices
OK
Noted By:

Students Name and Signature:


Chad Michaell G. Delima
Jayford Powao

Rejene T. Lakibul, MPMD


Adviser

Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to understand the Filipino concept of nationalism. As stated by


some Filipino thinkers, Filipino nationalism is more in the mind than in reality (Mercado,
1988). President Ferdinand Marcos also said that Filipinos do not really possess a clear
concept of nationalism because of its colonial experiences. Hence, the student-researchers
traced back the historical background of Filipino nationalism in order to achieve a clearer
picture of the contemporary sense of nationalism among Filipinos.
Guided by the general objective of understanding the Filipino concept of
nationalism, a qualitative style of research methodology was pursued. Key informant
interviews were conducted among the members of the academe and resource persons
from National Commission for Culture and the Arts and other institutions. Also, the
student-researchers conducted documents review of related literatures by extracting
relevant data from the previous literatures written by authoritative writers.
Communitarianism was used in the study as its theoretical background because of
its concept that fits to the description on the existence of diverse local cultures in the
Philippine society. Moreover, this study utilized four classifications of nationalism (Statebuilding, Irredentist, Unification, Peripheral) according to Michael Hechter in his book
Containing Nationalism (2000).
Based on the research conducted by the student-researchers, the Filipino concept
of nationalism had faced different challenges before its conception. Cultural diversity and
language barriers were among the recognized challenges of nationalism. But despite that,
Filipinos were able to sustain and further develop their quest to identify their own identity
as Filipinos. The recognized recent challenges of nationalism were globalization and
regional integrations. These concepts were considered by scholars as developers of
external influences that could hamper the development of nationalism of the younger
generations.
Despite of all those mentioned challenges, Filipino nationalism had its own
breakthroughs in Philippine society. The most popular was the eradication of the foreign
colonizers that reigned supreme in a span for several centuries. Filipinos were able to
overthrow regimes and tyrannical colonizers because of their unity and solidarity to
achieve freedom. Former President Ferdinand Marcos fell victim to Filipino nationalism
that despite his rule with an iron fist, it did not stop the Filipinos to re-claim their freedom
and regain their democractic way of life.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The general objective of this study was to understand the Filipino concept of
nationalism and was guided by the specific objectives. Firstly, it would find out the
historical background of Filipino nationalism by studying its historical influences.
Secondly, the study would identify the kind of nationalism that Filipinos possess by
utilizing Michael Hechters classifications of nationalism based on his book Containing
Nationalism (2000) namely State-building, Peripheral, Irredentist and Unification.
Thirdly, it would examine the current condition of the identified kind of nationalism that
Filipinos possess. Fourthly, the study would determine the challenges encountered by the
development of Filipino nationalism and its breakthroughs in society. Lastly, the study
would theorize on the future potentials of Filipino nationalism in Philippine society.
The study assumed that the Filipino sense of nationalism is not yet clear. It also
conformed to the hypotheses that: Filipino nationalism was shaped by colonial
experiences of the past; that Filipino nationalism is affected by present circumstances
such as cultural diversity and communitarianism; that the kind of Filipino nationalism is
dependent on the interface of both past and present circumstances; and that breakthroughs
and challenges being encountered by Filipino nationalism significantly contribute to the
theorizing of its future potentials.
The significance of the study included the attempt to contribute to the enrichment
on limited literatures about Filipino nationalism. The study could also be used as a future
reference for further study on Filipino political philosophy. As a whole, the study hoped
to contribute to the Political Theory and Systems Track of the Department of Political
Science through the giving of emphasis on the study of nationalism.
The scope and limitation of the study included the look into the evolution of
Filipino concept of nationalism and the significant factors that shaped its identity. The
problems and challenges that concern Filipino nationalism were also taken into account.
The treatment of data and discursive analysis thereof pursued Michael Hechters
classifications of nationalism which are State-building, Peripheral, Irredentist,
Unification. Such classifications were analyzed in order to describe Filipino nationalism.
The theory of communitarianism was used as the theoretical framework because
based on the cultural accounts of the Philippine society, it is being composed of diverse
cultures. Also, communitarianism is a localized concept of nationalism according Dr.
Resil Mojares. Despite its diverse culture, Filipinos are perceived to have achieved unity
with one another in countering external influences, which best fits Will Kymlickas
pronouncement about communitarianism: Citizens identify each other without sharing a
common religion and disagree about the good life but still identify each other because
they share a sense of belonging to an intergenerational society which has some historical
reference points and a common future (Kymlicka, 2002).
8

Based on historical accounts, Filipino nationalism was influenced by colonial


effects. Romeo Cruz (1975) in his book Ang Pagkabuo ng Nasyonalismong Filipino said
that Filipino nationalism is a borrowed concept implanted upon us from our past
colonizers. This statement was affirmed by former Philippine President Ferdinand
Marcos (1980) in his book An Ideology for Filipinos. He argued that colonial influences
made us confused on who we really are as Filipinos and what future we must pursue.
By utilizing Michael Hechters classifications of nationalism which were statebuilding, irredentist, peripheral, unification, the closest description of Filipino
nationalism was State-building nationalism. The description of a state-building
nationalism was the recognition of the presence of a multicultural population that
intended to create a united homogenous society. Homogeneous in a sense that despite of
the cultural differences people tend to unite themselves against a recognized common
enemy that threatened their culture, heritage and traditions. Based on the description,
State-building nationalism is indeed the kind of nationalism that Filipinos possess.

The student-researchers had a few recommendations in order to further develop


Filipino nationalism that the Filipinos possessed. Firstly, the student-researchers
recommend the enrichment of the limited existing literatures that expounds Filipino
nationalism. There must be a government-academe cooperation that would encourage
historians to study and re-write Philippine history in a manner that is based on a Filipino
historians perspective that could further develop the conception of nationalism among
Filipinos. Secondly, there must be a reform on the Philippine educational system that
would look into the Filipino subjects by not just a mere study of the language but
performs rigid instructions that would instill the importance of Filipino nationalism to the
young students.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter

Page

TITLE PAGE

PLAGIARISM FORM

APPROVAL SHEET

COMPLIANCE FORM

ABSTRACT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

10

INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the Study

12

THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

13

Statement of Assumptions

14

Statement of Hypothesis

14

Significance of the Study

15

Scope and Limitations of the Study

15

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

15

ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

16

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Review of Related Literature

18

Theoretical Framework

39

Conceptual Framework

41

10

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Environment

43

Research Respondents

44

Research Instruments

47

Research Procedures

48

Gathering of Data

48

Treatment of Data

49

PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

53

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

86

BIBLIOGRAPHY

91

APPENDICES

95

Transmittal Letters for Key Informant Interviews

96

Questionnaires for Key Informant Interviews

103

Answers from the Key Informant Interviews

111

Monitoring Sheet

117

Informants Profile

119

Transcriptions of the Key Informant Interview

121

Prior Informed Consent Form

137

Curriculum Vitae

140

11

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Rationale of the Study


In the course of human history, states evolved because society had a practical
need for it. Societies transformed from simple pastoral communities to complex societies
which needed a government to administer the societys affairs and to maintain peace and
order in the society. With the emergence of the state, an ideology was developed which
became a principal form of self-identification and a sense of consciousness and
belongingness to the nation, together with sentiments and aspiration for the promotion of
security and prosperity of that particular nation. This ideology is called Nationalism
(Baradat, 2009). It can be inferred that through nationalism, people were provided with a
sense of importance, identity and belongingness to the state. Many states which used to
be politically divided were unified because of Nationalism. Such a concept was also
classified into four according to Michael Hechter (2000), to wit: State-building
Nationalism,

Peripheral

Nationalism,

Irredentist

Nationalism

and

Unification

Nationalism.
In addition, Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762 shocked the ruling elite of Europe by
his postulation that countries do not belong to the monarchs but to the people themselves
which eventually resulted to French Revolution in between 1789 and 1799. Nationalism
has become one of the most important powerful political ideas of the past 200 years. It
has had a great impact on every person in every modern society (Hechter, 2000).
In addition, the Philippines, a developing country having historical experiences
with colonialism and with culturally diverse population, was said to have not really
12

possessed a clear concept of nationalism. According to Leonardo Mercado (1988:9), the


concept of what is a Filipino is tied up with the concept of nationalism which is more in
the mind than in reality. However, enrichments are yet to be made on what kind of
nationalism characterizes that of the Filipinos and the several significantly defining
factors that contributed to it. To quote former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos
(1980), as an effect to our colonial experiences, we have no clear conception on who we
really are, what do we stand for, what we are dreaming for and what our world as
Filipinos is leading to. Thus, the guiding aim of this research is to come up with a
theoretical understanding of Filipino nationalism that has practical implications therein.

THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem


The general objective of this study was to understand the Filipino concept of
nationalism. In line with this, it would be supported by the following specific objectives:

To find out the historical background of Filipino nationalism

To identify the type or kind of nationalism that the Filipinos possess by utilizing
the classification made by Michael Hechter (2000). The following types of
nationalism according to Hechter are:
a) State-building, b) Irredentist, c) Peripheral and d) Unification

To examine the current condition of the identified type or kind of Filipino


nationalism

13

To determine the breakthroughs, limitations, and challenges of Filipino


nationalism

To theorize on the future potentials of Filipino nationalism

Statement of Assumptions
The student-researchers conformed to the assumption that the Filipino sense of
nationalism is not yet clear and that because of significant colonial interventions, our
sense of nationalism as Filipinos is more in the mind than in reality.

Statement of Hypothesis
The student-researchers were guided by the following hypotheses:

That Filipino nationalism is shaped by colonial experiences of the past

That Filipino nationalism is affected by present circumstances such as


cultural diversity, communitarianism, and individualism

That the type or kind of Filipino nationalism is dependent on the interface


of both past and present circumstances

That the breakthroughs, limitations, and challenges being encountered by


Filipino nationalism significantly contribute to the theorizing of its future
potentials

14

Significance of the Study


This study would be beneficial to the enrichment of existing literatures written
about the interface of nationalism. Considering the current trend of structuring better the
identity of Filipino political philosophy, this research would serve as a guiding reference.
Mapping out both historical and contemporary encounters of the Philippines is crucial to
any proposed systemic interventions. In addition, this research hoped to contribute to the
Political Theory and Systems track of the Department of Political Science through the
giving of emphasis on the study of nationalism. The end goal of which is to influence the
operation of the system (i.e. system on transformational leadership).

Scope and Limitations


This paper was delimited to the study of the Filipino concept of nationalism. It
would also look into the evolution of the Filipino concept of nationalism, as well as the
significantly defining factors that help shape its identity. This paper would also tackle the
challenges and problems concerning Filipino nationalism. In the discursive analysis
thereof, emphasis was accorded to the classifications of the type of nationalism put
forward by Michael Hechter (2000).

Definition of Terms
Nationalism - an awareness of ones membership in a nation in which ones highest
loyalty is to the nation; a state of mind in which it unites different people belonging to
different cultures to a single national identity; together with a desire to achieve, maintain

15

and perpetuate the identity, as well as safeguard and promote the prosperity of that
nation.
Filipino a person belonging to the Republic of the Philippines
Concept an idea, notion or perception; can be synonymous to sense
Understanding the ability to perceive and comprehend the nature and significance of a
given item

Organization of the Study


This paper was composed of three (3) chapters. The first part of chapter one
discussed the rationale of the study. It included the statement of the problem as well as
the statement of assumptions and hypothesis. The end part of chapter one focused on the
significance of the study and how it could be related as a relevant discussion to the
discourse in Political Science. It attempted to answer the question, what makes the
subject matter a problem that is worthy to be researched. This end part of chapter one
also deliberately discussed the studys scope and limitations as well as operational
definition of terms.
The second chapter provided the theoretical background. It elaborated on the
important and relevant variables that the researchers have found to be significant in the
study. This chapter also showcased important literatures and case studies which may
serve as relevant references for analysis and interpretations. A conceptual framework was
created in order to simplify the presentation on how the researchers would go about
understanding Filipino concept of nationalism.

16

The third chapter discussed the methodology of the study. It provided the tools
that were used in order to gather relevant supplementary data. It included explanations on
the choice of environment, respondents, instruments, and procedures in the treatment of
data.

17

CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Review of Related Literature


Nationalism has its roots which can be traced back to ancient societies.
(Roshwald, 2006). Nationalism has emerged as one of the most important political idea
of the past 200 years according to Baradat (2009) and it has had a great impact on every
person in every modern society. Many divided countries have been united together for the
love of the nation-state. With the emergence of the nation-state, nationalism was
developed as its ideological justification. Nationalism is used as a frame of reference as
well as a yardstick by which to measure and assess people and policy. It is a principal
form of self-identification; thus, it has the power to unite the people. Nationalism is so
powerful that it has dominated almost every other idea system. Almost all of the
ideologies, the state was given a role and a dominant place.
The organization of this papers literature review would present first the
discussions on Nationalism. It would be followed by arguments building on the Filipino
concept of nationalism, its history and its conception. Finally, it would present the
synthesis of the processed literature as well as the gaps and limitations of the related
studies thereto.
There is no single definition of Nationalism. Kohn (1944) posits that nationalism
is first and foremost a state of mind and an act of consciousness. The collective or group
consciousness will strive towards creating homogeneity within the group, a conformity
and like-mindedness which lead to and facilitate concerted and common action.

18

Furthermore, McLean (1996) and Anbarani (2013), argue that nationalism is a means of
mobility of feelings and national sensation for homeland and catching political or
national economic goals.
According to Leon Baradat (2009) in his book Political Ideologies: Their Origins
and Impact, the theory of Nationalism is an abstraction. Rather than giving loyalty to a
person such as noble or a king, people were asked to commit to an idea, to a tradition, to
a history, to a notion of fraternity. Nationalism represents the union of a political
phenomenon with the identity of the human being. Nationalism focuses on the national
group as the principal political unit, and it demands that the national group be served by a
state a nation-state. Nationalism can be a unifying factor in that it demands the
subordination of all identities, values, and interests to those of the national group.
Nationalism is also exclusivist because it demands that each individual gives loyalty to
one-nation state. Emotional attachment to nationalism is so strong because nationalism
gives the individual an identity and extends that identity to something greater than the
self. Nationalism does more than simply describe a political entity. It creates a mirror in
which individuals see and define themselves. It is also a prism through which individuals
observe, assess, and react to events and to other people.
To explain why nationalism has taken such different forms in different societies,
it is better to seek a typology that is derived from analytical considerations and to help
account the normative differences between types of nationalism. Michael Hechter (2000)
in his book Containing Nationalism says that there are four types of Nationalism which
are: State-building Nationalism, Peripheral Nationalism, Irredentist Nationalism and
Unification Nationalism

19

State-building nationalism is a type of nationalism that is embodied in the attempt


to assimilate or incorporate culturally distinctive territories in a given state. It is the result
of the conscious efforts of central rulers to make a multicultural population culturally
homogeneous. This type of nationalism tries to unite cultural distinctive territories to a
one and cultural homogenous state. Since the rationale for state-building nationalism is
often geopoliticalto secure borders from real or potential rivalsthis kind of
nationalism tends to be culturally inclusive. Central rulers of a given culture can unify
their country by expelling culturally alien populations (as in the Spanish Reconquista), or
by exterminating them (often the fate of the indigenous people of North America)
(Hechter, 2000). The characteristics of this particular type of nationalism is that there
were presence of a multicultural population and that the central rulers try to maximize on
such characteristic in order to solidify the particular society despite of its diversity so that
people themselves would act against external influences and foreign excursions. With this
type of nationalism, the central government is safe from outside intervensions because its
multicultural population is supportive to the government.
Peripheral Nationalism occurs when a culturally distinctive territory resists
incorporation into an expanding state, or attempts to secede and set up its own
government. It seeks to bring about national determination by separating the nation from
its host state. The Balkan regions were first to develop peripheral nationalism. Among
them were Serbia and Greece who declared their autonomy and independence from the
Ottoman Empire which was the host state. There is a withdrawal from a central political
authority by a member unit on the basis of a claim to independent sovereign status as in
Quebec and Scotland (Hechter, 2000).

20

Irredentist Nationalism occurs with the attempt to extend the existing boundaries
of a state by incorporating territories of an adjacent state occupied principally by conationals. Irredentism refers to any effort to unite national segments of a population in
adjacent countries within a common polity. Irredentist Nationalism is the least prevalent
form of nationalism. If Peripheral Nationalism or secession involves substracting a
national territory from a state, irredentist movements involve substracting the territory
from one state and adding it to another. Hitlers annexation of Sudetenland is perhaps the
most transparent recent example of Irredentist Nationalism (Hechter, 2000). The most
recent example of this nationalism was the Sabah siege. More than 200 fighter-supporters
of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of the Sultanate of Sulu raided the island of Sabah in
Malaysia (Inquirer.net, 2013). The aim of the raid was to re-claim Sabah as part of the
Sultanate of Sulu and re-unite the particular territory under the territorial sovereignty of
the Philippine government. Most of the residents in Sabah are Muslims coming from Sulu
but decided to migrate to Sabah for greener pastures. This particular nationalism was
quiet extreme because it used armed force in order to achieve political and territorial
claims.
Finally, Unification Nationalism involves the merger of a politically divided but
culturally homogeneous territory into one state, as famously occurred in nineteenthcentury Germany and Italy that brought King Wilhem I as the king of all unified states
under his rule with the aim to solidify German and Italian populations against external
threats especially Austria. The effect of the unification made Germany to produce the
most powerful army in Europe in the 19th century. (Hechter, 2000).

21

To sum up Michael Hechters classifications of nationalism, statebuilding


nationalism involved a multicultural population aiming to be culturally homogeneous.
Peripheral nationalism on the other hand, is a political determination by separating a part
of a nation from its host state. Irredentist nationalism is a movement that involves
subtracting the territory from one state and adding it to another and Unification
nationalism aims to unify a culturally homogeneous territory into a single state.
Moreover, Filipino nationalism is a borrowed concept and was implanted to us
from our past colonizers and that we do not have our own genuine nationalism (Cruz,
1975). The development of nationalism in the Philippines is different from Europe where
the idea germinated and its definition is contextual because nationalism has connotations
that shift according to time, place and circumstances (Agoncillo, 1974). The colonial era
of the Spanish brought misconceptions about who we really are and as time went on, the
Americans reinforced those influences which made us more confused on who we really
are (Marcos, 1980).
The problem on how we were able to develop our Filipino sense of nationalism is
expounded by Agoncillo (1974:40). He elaborated that our previous higher education
molded the evolution of Filipino nationalism despite the Jesuits style of education as
mentioned by Jose Rizal - that they were not taught love of country but only what is
beautiful and what is best.
Another instance pertained to the peoples majority support to the Philippine
governments legal actions against the intrusion of Chinese military personnel in our
territories in the Kalayaan Group of Islands. Most Filipinos backed the governments
efforts to contest Chinas actions before the International Tribunal for the resolution of

22

the dispute (Suarez, 2014:1). This mass approval is a gesture of the presence of Filipino
nationalism.
In contrasting the western and eastern concepts of nationalism, Plamenatz (1973)
said in distinction that Western nationalism is civic and the non-Western nationalism or
eastern is illiberal and oppressive. Several thinkers have made the same pronouncement
that Western nationalism is essentially rational and liberal towards the appreciation of
human rights and seeking cooperation while the eastern nationalism is focused on
ethnocentrism and grounded in tribal feelings which is motivated by feelings of
inferiority. In other words, the western nationalism is civic based while the eastern is
ethnic based (Beiner, 1999).
Another concept that can help understand nationalism is the concept of
Ubuntuism. This concept does not promote surrendering individuals rights,which means
to say that there is no sacrifice of freedom. It actually increases with the size of the group.
People are after all only fully human when recognized by others (Zandberg, 2014).
Moreover, Ubuntuism promotes that an ideal individual member of society or leader must
possess kindness, generosity, modesty, helpfulness and humility (Broodryk, 2006:21). If
only individuals possess those traits and that they treat other individuals in the society as
same as they treat themselves, there is no need to surrender the rights of people to the
state. Respect must be shown not only to other human beings, but also to the communal
environment, animals, nature and the supernatural. It is therefore possible to live in a
community where there is no external power to impose freedom (Broodryk, 2006:21).

23

Timeline of the Development of Filipino Nationalism

To be able to give a brief presentation of data, the student-researchers provided a


flowchart of events that presented the development of Filipino nationalism throughout the
time and the factors that contributed to its conception.
Opening of the Philippines to World
Commerce (1834-1873)
In 1834, Manila was opened
From 1834-1873 several ports were opened:
Sual, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Cebu, Legaspi ports

The Secularization Movement


In 1862, Fr. Pedro Pelaez exposed the discrimination of Filipino
clergies
The execution of: Zamora, Burgos, Gomez the three most
outspoken leaders of the movement awakened the people to push
for reforms and representation.
The return of the Jesuits and Dominicans known for their
scholarship and maintained a relatively high standard of instruction
and hence stimulated the progress of Philippine educational system.

The liberal regime of De la Torre (1869-1871)

The Spanish civil war in 1868 overthrew Queen Isabela II

In 1869, Governor Carlos Maria De la Torre arrived in the


Philippines and applied democratic and liberal ideas

He encouraged freedom of speech and formation of associations

24

The Propaganda Movement (1872)


Systematic efforts to spread opinion and beliefs by means of pen
and tongue
The aims of the movement:
1. Integration of the colony as a regular province of Spain
2. Secularization of the parishes
3. The restoration of the representation of the Philippines to the
Spanish Cortez
4. Restoration of freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion

The 1896 Philippine Revolution


During the 19th century, colonial and feudal system of
exploitation reached its fullest development and ripened.
Under the strain of increasing exploitation, the national
democratic aspirations of the broad masses of the people rose.
The revolution was started by Katipunan led by Andres
Bonifacio which asserted sovereignty of the Filipino people, the
protection and promotion of civil liberties, the confiscation of
friar estates and the elimination of theocratic rule.

The American Era (1899-1946)


American aggression weakened the Filipino resistance but did
not die out
Laws were enacted by the Americans to counter the influence of
revolution (Ex. Flag Law)
Filipino liberators were labeled by the Americans as bandits to
degrade their credibility and discourage other Filipinos from
joining
On Nov. 30, 1930, Crisanto Evangelista founded the Communist
Party of the Philippines with an orientation against US
imperialism
HUKBALAHAP after fighting against the Japanese in Woeld War
Two changed its name to Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan or
HMB to fight with an anti-imperialist orientation against the
Americans
July 4, 1946, US gave the Philippines its independence

25

The Japanese Era (1942-1945)


At the height of the World War Two, Gen. McArthur left the
Philippines after losing the battles against the Imperial Army
HUKBALAHAP was formed to fight the Japanese invaders
In 1944, McArthur returned and liberated the Philippine islands
against the Japanese

Post-Japanese Era

In the 1960s, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas merged with


HMB to fight in an anti-US imperialism campaign along with the
growing student movements
They did not recognize July 4, 1946 as a genuine
independence bestowed by the US because political machinery
in the Philippines were submissive to the US because it was
patterned the same as the US political system
In Dec. 26, 1968, PKP was divided because of internal politics
and clashing opinions. CPP-MLM was born with the drive
against US imperialism and local forms of oppression and
exploitation claiming that the fight of Andres Bonifacio for
independence was unfinished and it is their moral obligation to
continue the cause

26

The polarization of nationalism in 1970s


With the rise of the leftist movement and the occurrences of the
Vietnam War, Filipinos became sensitive to their nationalist
beliefs
As described by Dr. Mojares, nationalism at that time became an
either-or situation
A mere speaking of foreign language can raise eyebrows and
can be called as anti-nationalistic or pro-colonialism
The arm struggle was rising because of the leftist belief that
Spanish and American independence were just a sham

1986 People Power Revolution


Nationalism shifted towards political transformations
National identity is characterized towards the commitment to
freedom and democracy
Important corollary notions were struggle against tyranny and
injustice

Pre-Spanish Period
Before the Spaniards came, the people of the Philippine archipelago had a semicommunal and semi-slave social system in many parts and feudal system in some parts
especially in Mindanao and Sulu where Islam has already been established. The basic
political and economic unit in the whole archipelago was the barangay. It was headed by
the chieftain called the rajah or datu. During the pre-colonial era the people were
confined to the barangay which was the basic political and economic unit all over the
archipelago. People belonged to more than 100 ethnolinguistic communities, but the

27

overwhelming majority of them belonged to the biggest ethnolinguistic communities:


Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bisaya, Ilonggo, Waray and Maguindanao.
It was possible for the Spanish colonialists to conquer by armed force and convert some
communities to Christianity and then conscript from one locality in order to further carry
out the conquest and conversion of another locality from the late 16th century onwards
because the native people were divided into so many independent small societies and
scores of ethnolinguistic communities (Guerrero, 2005).
According to Mastura (1984), Muslim Filipinos were the only people who had
successes in forming what could be called states prior to the Spanish arrival in the
Archipelago. The greatest achievement along this line was the Sultunate created by
Kudarat who at the height of his power presided over the most extensive political entity
governed by a native rule in the Philippines until the formation of the present republic.
There was already an existing unity in the tribe or locality headed by Sultan Kudarat.
Moreover, Mastura (1984) continued to explain that by holding the ideal espoused by
Sultan Kudarat, that all Filipinos are one whatever be their faith, origin, or station in life
acting as a symbol and agent of that unity. This contention was supported by our Key
Informant, a historian, Professor Imbong of UP Cebu he said that:
During the pre-colonial period, the people were very regionalistic. The
only region that achieved unity was Mindanao.

28

Spanish Era
Throughout the long period of Spanish colonial regime, many revolts broke out
which was sporadic all over the archipelago against the tribute, corvee labor, commercial
monopolies, excessive land rent, land grabbing, imposition of Catholic faith, arbitrary
rules and other cruel practices of the colonial rulers. There were at least 200 revolts of
uneven scope and duration. These grew with cumulative strength to create a great
revolutionary tradition among the Filipino people. One of the most successful revolts in
the first century were those led by Sulayman in 1564 and Magat Salamat in 1587-88 in
Manila and by Malagat in 1596 in Cagayan. Almost simultaneously, Tamblot in Bohol
and Bankaw in Leyte raised the flag of revolt. Revolts also broke out in Nueva Vizcaya
and Cagayan respectively. The most widespread revolts that occured in the 17th century
were those inspired by Sumuroy in the southern provinces and Maniago, Malong and
Almazan in the north provinces of the archipelago. The Sumuroy revolt started in 1649
and spread northward to Albay and Camarines Sur and southward to Masbate, Cebu,
Camiguin, Zamboanga and Northern Mindanao (Guerrero, 2005).
As Professor Imbong added,
There were many packet of revolts around the country but it was sporadic
not yet really nationally united. One popular example of this was the
revolution which was led by Dagohoy at Bohol.
Jose Maria Sison on his book For Democracy and Socialism against Imperialist
Globalization wrote that:
National consciousness arose in the response to the intensification of
colonial, feudal and racial oppression. The people started to realize that
they must rise up as a new nation in armed revolution in order to liberate
themselves from the foreign oppressors. National sentiment and
aspirations became defined in terms of achieving national independence
from Spanish colonialism and establishing a modern nation-state..
29

According to Prof. Churchill in his article for the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts which is entitled History of the Philippine Revolution, there was an
impact to Filipino awareness towards nationalism when the Spanish opened the
Philippines for world commerce. She wrote that,
The seeds of revolution were, in fact, sown earlier in the nineteenth
century when Spain's enforced isolation of the Philippines was shattered
with the opening of the country to foreign commerce and the resulting
development of an export economy by non-Spanish foreign enterprises
(British, American, Chinese). Consequently, revolutionary and liberal
movements in Europe and elsewhere, in addition to the persistence of friar
autocratic rule, brought winds of change in the political climate in the
Philippines.
Upon the opening of world commerce in the Philippines, the influx of liberal
ideas of John Locke and Jean Jacques Rosseau were very influential to the sprout of early
awareness of Filipino nationalism (Morano, 2014).

Secularization Movement and Gomburza


The secularization movement during the Spanish period which was headed by
Filipino priests Gomez, Burgos and Zamora who were the most outspoken leaders of the
movement who were accused of conspiring to overthrow the Spanish colonialism and
were garroted. They headed the movement which alleviated the plight of the Filipino
priests by insisting on the prior right of the native secular clergy to assignment in parishes
over that the friars newly arrived from Spain (Agoncillo, 2002). This also contributed to
the awareness among the people said Prof. Imbong of UP Cebu. The secularization of the
parishes which the Filipino clergymen had fought for was one of the factors that gave
color to the struggle of the Filipinos for recognition. According to Professor Churchill,

30

The public garroting of the three secular priests who were the leaders of the
secular movement (in effect, nationalization) of Philippine parishes on February 17,
1872 for their supposed complicity in a military mutiny in Cavity made the Revolution
inevitable.
The return of Jesuits in 1859 followed by the Educational Decree of 1863
improved somehow the educational system of the Philippines. Teodoro Agoncillo on his
book The Revolt of the Masses further argued that,
The Jesuits, long famous for their scholarship and foresight far ahead of
any other religious order, maintained a high standard of instruction and
hence stimulated the progress of the Philippines in education. Thus those
who could afford to study for a career were admitted into the Jesuit and
Dominican colleges in Manila and elsewhere, and it was these Filipino
intellegentsia that agitated reforms, calculated to improve the social and
cultural status of the people. Father Feodor Jagor adds that the old
situation is no longer feasible with the social changes that time has
wrought. Every facility of communication opens a breach in the old system
and motivates reforms of a liberal nature. The more capital and foreign
ideas penetrate, the more they augment the well-being, intelligence and
self-esteem, thus making the existing evils more intolerable.

The Liberal Regime of De la Torre


Another contributing factor of the early realization of Filipino nationalism was the
liberal regime of Governor General De la Torre. Following the Spanish revolution of
September 1868, in which the unpopular Queen Isabella II was deposed, the new
government appointed General Carlos Mara de la Torre governor of the Philippines. An
outspoken liberal, de la Torre extended to Filipinos the promise of reform. In a break
with established practice, he fraternized with Filipinos, invited them to the governor's
palace, and rode with them in official processions. Filipinos in turn welcomed de la Torre
warmly, held a "liberty parade" to celebrate the adoption of the liberal 1869 Spanish
constitution, and established a reform committee to lay the foundations of a new order.

31

Prominent among de la Torre's supporters in Manila were professional and business


leaders of the ilustrado community and, perhaps more significantly, Filipino secular
priests. These included the learned Father Jos Burgos, a Spanish mestizo, who had
published a pamphlet, Manifesto to the Noble Spanish Nation, criticizing those racially
prejudiced Spanish who barred Filipinos from the priesthood and government service
(Dolan, 1991).
As an effect to the liberalization program of De la Torre, Dolan (1991) explained
that De la Torre abolished censorship of newspapers and legalized the holding of public
demonstrations, free speech, and assembly--rights guaranteed in the 1869 Spanish
constitution. Students at the University of Santo Toms formed an association, the
Liberal Young Students (Juventud Escolar Liberal), and in October 1869 held
demonstrations protesting the abuses of the university's Dominican friar administrators
and teachers.

The Propaganda Movement


One of the seeds of nationalism was the Propaganda Movement led by Filipino
intellectuals like Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. Del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena in which
Jose Rizal first used the term Filipinos in reference to the Indios or the natives of the
Philippines used by the Spanish colonizers which made Filipinos to become aware of
their national identity and not anymore as Tagalogs, Malays or Cebuanos said Prof.
Imbong. The Propaganda Movement also became an effective medium for the free
expression of the propagandists. They demanded the removal of the friars and the
secularization of the parishes, representation of the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes,

32

participation in the conduct of the government, equality before the law, freedom of
assembly, press and of speech and a wider social and individual freedom. The Ilustrados
who were the young, educated Filipino are the ones who are credited to have thought of a
Filipino community free from colonial rule (Ileto, 2008).
This claim is also supported by Teodoro Agoncillo on his book The Revolt of the
Masses that,
The Ilustrados learned that they as Filipinos were not inferior to other
people, certainly not to Spaniards. This heightend consciousness led to the
dissolution of the aura of authority and the halo of grace that had bound
Filipinos to the colonial order. Realizing such injustices done to them, as
forced labor, taxes and inequality before the law, the ilustrados began to
wage a propaganda campaign aimed to make Filipinos and Spaniards
equal within the existing colonial framework: they wanted reforms not
independence. In spite of their limited aims, however, the Ilustrados are
credited with having first conceived of a Filipino national community.
As Resil B. Mojares writes in his book Brains of the Nation:
The production of modern knowledge by Filipinos was determinative in
the rise of Philippine nationalism. In the late nineteenth century, Filipinos,
increasingly self-aware in their nationality, started to lay the local
foundations of such disciplines as history, anthropology, linguistics,
political science and sociology. Filipinos were engaged in cultural selfdefinition in the context of anti-colonial nation-formation. Disciplines
were cultivated not as specialized, abstract systems but as instruments and
ways towards understanding and organizing society. Varied in their
creative and critical practices, Filipino intellectuals worried about their
relation to the country from, of and for which they spoke and traced the
possibilities of an autonomous, critical voice in dialogue of the West.

The 1896 Philippine Revolution


Under the strain of increasing exploitation, the national and democratic
aspirations of the masses rose. As oppression heightened, the spirit of resistance among
the ruled, especially the peasant masses, increased until the Philippine Revolution of
1996 broke out. The clear revolutionary call for separation from Spain was made by the
33

Kataastaasang Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan which was


secretly founded by leader Andres Bonifacio immediately after Rizals arrest in 1892.
The guiding ideology of the revolution was that of the liberal bourgeoisie which was
modeled upon the French Revolution. The revolution asserted the sovereignty of the
Filipino people, the protection and promotion of civil liberties, the confiscation of the
friar estates and the elimination of theocratic rule (Guerrero, 2005).
As a concept and historical force, Filipino nationality was originally a product of
the revolutionary movement of the people led by the revolutionary organization which is
Katipunan. Previously, the Spanish colonialists referred to their colonial native subjects
as indios or indigenes and to the Philippine-born Spaniards as Filipinos. The
revolutionaries categorically appropriated the term Filipino in a manifesto to refer to the
entire colonized people of various ethnolinguistic communities in the struggle for
national liberation. Previously, the Katipunan leaders and common people often referred
to themselves as Tagalog, Malay or lahing kayumanggi and the reformists in the
propaganda movement in Spain as indios bravos or noble indios. Filipino nationality was
first of all a political-revolutionary term and at the same time carried political,
socioeconomic and cultural significance and content. It denoted revolutionary will and
movement of the people to establish the first nation-state encompassing the entire
archipelago (Sison, 2006).

American Era
Amado Guerrero writes in his book Philippine Society and Revolution:
The people of Bicol continued to wage armed struggle until 1903 when
their leader Simeon Ola betrayed them by surrendering. In Visayas,
34

particularly Cebu, Samar, Leyte and Panay, the Pulahanes fought fierce
against US aggressor troops and the puppet constabulary. So did the
masses of Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Quezon even after general
amnesty was issued. In Central Luzon, a religious organization, the Santa
Iglesia, also waged armed resistance. In the Ilocos, associations that
proclaimed themselves as the New Katipunan conducte a guerilla war for
national independence against US imperialism. The most prominent of the
final efforts to continue the revolutionary struggle in Luzon was led by
Macario Sakay, from 1902 to 1906 in Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna,
Neuva Ecija and Rizal. However, the fiercest armed resistance after 1902
was waged by the people of Mindanao until as late as 1916.
The status of the Philippines as a colony continued under the US colonial rule.
The evils of the Spanish colonial regime were also carried over to the US colonial
regime. The exploitation of the people became more intensified as Philippines became a
source of raw materials and a market for its surplus products. US imperialism drew from
the country commercial crops such as sugar, coconut and hem and also raw materials
such as logs and mineral ores. The peasantry became more impoverished and the colonial
exchange of raw materials and finished products hastened which crushed local
manufacturers and which compelled the people to buy these finished goods and to
produce mainly raw materials (Guerrero, 2005).
Filipino nationalism was extremely challenged during the American era, but did
not completely vanish but instead became stronger. Our Key Informant Professor Imbong
argued that,
Due to the aggression of the Americans the resistance by the Filipinos
was suppressed but the people still had a strong sense of nationalism. In
fact, despite the American aggression, there were several laws enacted by
the Americans which aims to assail the strong sense of nationhood among
the Filipinos. Among this is the Anti-Flag Law which prohibits the
Filipinos to display in public the Philippine Flag because it is a subversive
act that does not recognize the Supreme authority of the imperialist, which
was a crime punishable by death.

35

Moreover, Prof. Imbong expounded that this is one bold example of the American
Governments efforts to cut stop the nationalist feelings of the Filipinos that time. The
evils of the Spanish colonial regime were carried over the US colonial regime. The
establishment of the public school system and the adoption of English as the medium of
instruction enhanced the political and cultural indoctrination of the Filipinos which
weakened national consciousness and facilitated colonial mentality .As a response to the
growing demand for national and social liberation, the Communist Party of the
Philippines was established by Crisanto Evangelista which aimed to apply the universal
theory of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete conditions of Philippine society. Prof.
Imbong explained that in this point of history, Filipino nationalism became stronger by
supplementing the ideas of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin and relating it to the condition
of Philippine society which is characterized by foreign exploitation which necessitates for
us to wage a national-liberation movement.

The Japanese Era


When the Japanese invaded the Philippines on the Second World War,
nationalism as anti-colonialism was raised to new heights of necessity by the brutal
Japanese occupation. Ironically enough, this hatred for one colonizer only increased the
longing for the return of the other colonizer and our blind faith in his promises
(Constantino, 1984). Prof. Imbong explained that this means to say that despite our
resistance against American imperialism, Filipinos longed for a liberation aided by the
Americans against the Japanese. On March 1942, the (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon)
Hukbalahap was formed which fought against the fascist invaders and asserted the

36

sovereignty of the Filipino people. The patriotic Communists and Red fighters
demonstrated heroic feats of combat against the Japanese. These patriots awakened the
people and led them to gain a large measure of democratic power, particularly in Central
Luzon and certain areas in Southern Luzon. The Communist Party and the Hukbahalap
fought and stood out as the strongest guerilla force fiercely fighting the Japanese fascists
and their puppets. It was their total effort which successfully drove out the Japanese
forces in the country.

Marcos-Era
President Ferdinand Marcos on An Ideology for Filipinos expounded on the needs
to reform the moral consciousness of the people because he recognized that Filipinos
were disoriented and confused and were not united on what is the right future that they
must pursue. He declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972 in line with his vision to
create a new society. A society with unity and citizens that are cooperative to the
government. In this light, Marcoss true intent was not to prolong his stay in power, but
to change and discipline Philippine society. Ultimately, despite his blatant desire for
power, Marcos did too wish to instill a discipline that he believed Philippine society
lacked (Unjieng, 2009).
Growing nationalism in the Philippines was again repressed when martial law was
declared in September 21, 1972, by Marcos. Many Philippine nationalists, among them
student activists, who could not afford to flee into exile, took up arms and were arrested
by the Philippine Constabulary. They were summarily branded as communists and
executed. Many others were "silenced" by wholesale violation of their constitutional

37

rights, such as the freedom of press, of speech and of assembly as Marcos begun to rule
by decrees until the evening hours of February 25, 1986, when Marcos, his wife Imelda,
and their 60-member entourage fled the grounds of the presidential palace in Manila for
exile in Hawaii (Liu, 2003).
Thus, after declaring martial law in 1972, in order to quell the Communist
threat, which was effectively eliminated by 1976, Marcos then justified martial law as the
only means to create the revolutionary, socially just, and economically equitable New
Society he claimed to seek (Wurfel, 1977).
On Marcos Era, the character of Filipino nationalism was not anymore anticolonial because there was no more foreign exploitation but it was a nationalism that is
geared towards the formation of a just nation that upholds the human rights and freedoms
and a nation that champions democracy. This goal was achieved through peaceful
revolution by the people that removed the Marcos regime and restored democracy in our
country. Our Key Informant from NCCA Mr. Salazar conforms to this idea; he said that
the Martial Law had a great impact on our idea of nationalism.

Post-Marcos Era-The 1986 People Power Revolution


The 1986 Philippine People Power Movement was contributory to the expanded
moral consciousness of the Filipinos and viewed moral education as essential to social
and political transformation (Bonoan, 1994). As described by Bankoff and Weekley
(2002), the attitude that Filipino national identity is characterized by commitment to
freedom and democracy. This commitment usually includes important corollary notions
such as an ongoing struggle against tyranny and injustice.

38

Theoretical Framework
The theory used in understanding Filipino nationalism was communitarianism.
Communitarians believed that the sense of community exists in the form of social
practices, cultural practices and social understandings. Communitarianism could help
develop a sense of common national identity. Communitarians argued that states try to
develop solidarity by appealing to ideals of nationhood. Each tried to convince its
citizens that they form a nation and hence belong together to a single political
community and owe each other special obligations. Since the people who share a state are
not only co-citizens but also co-nationals, there is a natural bond of solidarity and a
natural desire to exercise self-government. The rise of nationalism valorized the people
and that nations are defined in terms of the people i.e. mass population on a territory,
regardless of class or occupation--- who become the bearer of sovereignty, the central
object of loyalty and the basis of collective solidarity (Greenfield 1992:14). Nationalism
has created the idea of single national community which encompasses all classes on the
territory. The basis of national identity need not to be a shared conception of the good but
a rather thinner and more diffuse sense of belongingness to an intergenerational society,
sharing a common territory, having a common post and sharing a common future. This
indeed is how national identities function in the western democracies. Citizens think of
themselves as American for example and identify each other Americans without sharing
a common religion or conception of the good. Americans disagree with each other about
the good life but they still recognize and identify each other as Americans, because they
share a sense of belonging to an intergenerational society which has some historical
reference points and a common future (Kymlicka, 2002). In addition, communitarianism

39

can be used in two types: first, Philosophical Communitarianism is primarily concerned


with metaphysical and epistemological issues

as

distinct

from

policy

issues.

It

specifically opposes classical Liberalism, that which construes communities as


originating from the voluntary acts

of pre-community or atomistic individuals.

It

emphasizes the role of the community in defining and shaping individuals. It believes that
the value of community is not sufficiently recognized in liberal theories of justice.
Second, Ideological Communitarianism can be seen as a radical centrist ideology (a third
way philosophy which includes the belief that, in affirming the core principles involved
on both sides of a political argument, the disagreement can be resolved or rendered
moot). It is sometimes marked by leftism on economic issues and conservatism on social
issues. Communitarians seek to bolster social capital (the value to democracy of social
networks and groups) and the institutions of civil society. It also affirms positive
rights such as state subsidized education, state subsidized housing, a safe and clean
environment, universal health care, extensive public works programs, and often even the
right to a job, and laws limiting pollution, gun ownership, etc (Mastin, 2008:1).
Communitarianism as explained by Dr. Resil Mojares author of the book, Brains
of the Nation is a localized form of nationalism. Nationalism is national in perspective
because it tries to understand the feels and clamours of society based on its national
interests. Unlike communitarianism, the theory is focused on a local perspective which
tries to understand how local communities work and influence each other in terms of
culture and political aspirations. And since the Philippines has an archipelagic setup with
more than 7,000 islands and diverse native cultures, it is challenging and effective to use
communitarianism in understanding Filipino concept of nationalism. This study put into

40

consideration the involvement of communities and how they reacted and interacted with
each other when circumstances arose that their beliefs and traditions were being
threatened thus, giving the rise of Filipino nationalism. The challenges and breakthroughs
of Filipino nationalism could also be examined through the use of communitarianism as a
theoretical framework.

Conceptual Framework

Nationalism
What is Nationalism
Types of Nationalism
Achievements
Filipino Nationalism
Historical Background
Types of Nationalism
Breakthroughs,
Limitations, and
Challenges
Communitarianism
What is
Communitarianism
Connection with
Nationalism

41

CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this research methodology was to understand the Filipino concept
of nationalism on whether it is existent or in the process of becoming or whatever its
current status is. Literatures had varying takes on the status of nationalism in this country.
In order to understand deeper, the student-researchers would be doing a review of related
literatures pertaining to Filipino nationalism and scholarly interviews with key informants
who were individuals knowledgeable in the aforementioned concept. Considerations were
made to those who came from the academe especially in the departments of History and
Philosophy and government agency such as National Commission for Culture and the
Arts in order to relate whether the pronouncements in the literatures are still relevant up
to this day and to be able to contribute something to the understanding and the discourse
of Filipino nationalism.
This chapter would present the research environment of the study and the research
respondents used in gathering important information. Also the research instruments and
the research procedures would be discussed in order to know how to handle the data
retrieved.

42

Research Environment
The locale of this study was focused on the Philippines at large. Despite the wide
range of geographical area, the student-researchers found it compelling to research about
Filipino concept of nationalism in two divisions and/or timeframes: pre-Marcos and postMarcos. Due to varying pronouncements of Filipino scholars about Filipino nationalism,
the student-researchers made use of the era of Ferdinand Marcos administration (19651986) as the point of reference considering the late Philippine presidents vocal
contributions to the discussion on nationalism. The former President Ferdinand Marcos
(1980) once said that as an effect to our colonial experiences, we have no clear
conception on who we really are, what do we stand for, what we are dreaming for and
what our world as Filipinos is leading to.
The study focused on two timeframes in Philippine history in order to explain
Filipino nationalism. The study highlighted the Marcos-era (pre and post) because this
was the particular stage of the Philippine history that nationalism took the spotlight and
elevated itself to be admired by the world. The first timeframe was the pre-Marcos era. It
consisted the eras of early pre-Spanish, Spanish, American, Japanese and post-Japanese.
The post-Marcos era explained the concept of nationalism among Filipinos when the
former dictator was forced to leave his office after a successful bloodless mass revolution
which was commonly called the EDSA People Power Revolution. The Marcos-era of
nationalism which covers almost 20 years of leadership by President Marcos would also
be discussed in the paper.

43

Research Respondents
Respondents of this study were involved in a Key Informant Interview
(K.I.I.).These key informants were known to be knowledgeable and had specialized
training-exposures in Political Philosophy, Philippine History, Philippine Culture and
Politics. They were requested to explain the early concept and historical facts that helped
develop Filipino nationalism, to enumerate important breakthroughs and challenges being
faced by Filipino nationalism, and to further contribute to the theoretical discourse and
future potentials of Filipino nationalism.
The first type of respondents was composed of history professors whose area of
specialization was on the Filipino Culture. The selection was intended as such to be able
for the student-researchers to understand the behaviors and conducts of Filipinos which
could be attributed to nationalism. The second type of respondents consisted of
Philosophy professors who were very much oriented on the influences, dynamics, and
theoretical connotations in the parlance of Political Philosophy with regards to the
formation of Filipino nationalism. The last type of respondents composed of resource
persons from identified government agencies in charge of the preservation and promotion
of the Philippine culture. The set- up is as such for the researchers to be able to
understand the relationship between the past culture to that of the present culture of
Filipinos as well as on whether they exhibit a sense of nationalism or not. Additional key
informant interviewees were included for the same purpose of providing more
information about the subject matter. All responses were processed and cross-referenced
to the framework established by Michael Hechter (2000) so that substantial theorizing on
the possible future of Filipino nationalism would be pursued.

44

The respondents were aware of the classifications of nationalism characterized by


Michael Hechter. Their answer-contributions to the questions posed by the studentresearchers would be used to create a matrix of the characteristics that explain the type of
Filipino nationalism. In order to handle carefully the biases that might spoil the
objectivity and the prospective output of the study, the student-researchers invited
intellectuals to be the respondents for key informant interviews that are accomplished
authors and coming from different perspectives of the political spectrum which were at
the same time knowledgeable about nationalism and Hechters types of nationalism. The
student-researchers asked a key informant from the left political spectrum who considers
himself as having a Marxist political orientation. The next respondent was coming from a
liberal democratic perspective and a book author and university lecturer. Another one is
from the center of the political spectrum and knowledgeable about party politics and
communitarianism and one of the draftors of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. Also, one of
the respondents was coming from the national government agency which is the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts, which is the governments main agency in
promoting Philippine heritage, arts, development of pluralistic culture and preservation of
traditional cultures. His answers were contributory to this study in order to learn what are
the prospects and projects of the government towards promoting, preserving and
developing our nationalism.
The first respondent for the key informant interview was Dr. Resil Mojares, a
renowned book author in the fields of Philippine history and Filipino culture. One of his
published books was the Brains of the Nation which was used in this study for references.
Dr. Mojares expounded the historical facts about Filipino nationalism especially during

45

the 1970s and 1980s. He elaborated the types of nationalism existing in the Philippines
by eras. He is also knowledgeable about the possible future impacts of regional
integrations or globalization towards Filipino nationalism.
The next respondent was Prof. Regletto Aldrich Imbong, a History, Philosophy
and Political Science professor from the University of the Philippines - Cebu. He is
observed to possess the knowledge about Philippine history and Filipino culture, and the
development of Filipino nationalism. He was able to point out certain eventualities in
history that were contributorty to the development and realization of Filipino nationalism
as contextualized by the student-researchers.
Ms. Cristita Marie Giangan was our next respondent. Coming from the centrist
perspective, she was one of the founding members of the Centrist Democracy Party of the
Philippines and author of a paper entitled Institutions in the Future Bangsamoro New
Political Entity Options and Considerations which aimed to detail the options on how the
institutions of the future Bangsamoro may look like. Having obtained her Masters
degree in Public Management and Development, she possesses the knowledge about
public management and political institutions and its effects amongst many others. She
was one of the contributors of the book Kapulongan: Conversations with Cebuano
Writers which was published in 2008.
The last but not the least informant was Mr. Lawrence Salazar. Having a masters
degree in History, Mr. Salazar is currently a member of the Technical Committees on
Historical Research and National Observances of the National Commission for Culture
and the Arts. His fields of expertise are Social Sciences and History. His contributions to
the study were helpful in learning how the government recognizes Filipino nationalism

46

and what are its potential challenges and breakthroughs. He was aware of Michael
Hechters classifications of nationalism and provided useful answers as to what
classification best describes Filipino nationalism.

Research Instruments
The research instruments that were used in the conduct of this study consisted of
documents review and key informant interviews (K.I.I.). The first instrument was
intended to go over available data sources such as: books, journals and articles that
contain relevant information that could be helpful to the study. Through this method, it
would help the researchers gather and process useful information in order to answer the
specific objectives of the study.
The Key Informant Interview (KII) would be able to supplement and provide
relevant information that would support the outputs of the documents review. Interviews
were

done

through

personal

meet-ups

47

and

electronic

mails.

In addition, the researchers will follow the template provided below in their Documents
Review.

Author
Year
Title
Publishing
Company
Main
Arguments
Page
Number
Critique
SOP being
addressed

Research Procedures
Gathering of Data
The researchers used a qualitative strategy in gathering and analyzing relevant
data. The researchers reviewed related literatures such as: books, journals and articles
which were relevant to the topic that could validate and support the information gathered
from the key informant interview. The researchers formulated guide questions that would
facilitate the flow of discussion in the Key Informant Interview. These questions were
subjected to pre-testing procedures for validation. The gathering of data for key
informant interview was through personal interview and electronic mail.

48

Treatment of Data
The data gathered from the Documents Review and Key Informant Interviews
were used to analyze what is Nationalism as cross-referenced with the framework
advanced by Michael Hechter (2000). The data gathered were used in identifying the
breakthroughs and challenges of Filipino Nationalism and also to develop future
discussions on Filipino Nationalism. Descriptive and qualitative research methodology
would be employed thereto.
This study was guided with specific objectives. The specific objective number one
which was to find out the historical background of Filipino nationalism was dealt with by
focusing first on documents review. After the documents review, the student-researchers
performed a key informant interview. The answers by the respondents of the key
informant interviews and the data gathered through documents review were crossreferenced in order to get the obvious and concluding answers. Then, the studentresearchers consolidated all dominant answers in order to explain the exact historical
background of Filipino nationalism. To present the concluding data or answers, the
student-researchers created a timeline in order to highlight important facts on Philippine
history that were influential to the development of Filipino nationalism.
The second objective was to identify the kind of nationalism that the Filipinos
possess by utilizing the classifications made by Michael Hechter (2000). In order to
achieve the correct description of the kind of Filipino nationalism, the student-researchers
created a matrix that comprised the characteristics of each types of nationalism along
with the findings of the key informant interviews and documents reviewed that described
Philippine society in terms of its trending actions from the past up to the present,

49

converging points that resulted to common actions and the kind of society existing in the
Philippines. The findings of the KII and documents review were cross-referenced with
the characteristics of each considered types of nationalism according to Michael Hechter.
The most obvious type of nationalism would be the one which compliments unanimously
and convincingly the findings based on KII and documents review.
The third specific objective was dependent on the outcome of the second specific
objective. After establishing on what is the type or kind of nationalism that Filipinos
possess, the student-researchers tried to extract useful informations based on the
documents reviews such as journals that document the contemporary issues and
challenges that are being faced by Filipino nationalism. The student-researchers made use
of the information that was provided by the resource person coming from the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts. The commission is in-charge on the promotion and
preservation of national cultures and traditions or the nationalism as a whole. The data
that were extracted from the key informants would be beneficial in explaining the current
condition of Filipino nationalism in the contemporary times. Moreover, the informations
gathered as a response to the third specific objective would also be useful in theorizing
the future potentials of Filipino nationalism.
For the fourth specific objective which was to determine the breakthroughs and
challenges of Filipino nationalism, the student-researchers thematized the breakthorughs
and challenges based on the timelines as specified in the research environment. The
student-researchers applied documents review on the past challenges and breakthroughs
during the pre-Marcos era (pre-Spanish, American, Japanese, post-Japanese) and the

50

post-Marcos era. The relevant informations gathered were cross-referenced with the key
informants in order to verify the accurateness of the gathered data.
For the fifth objective which was to theorize on the future potentials of Filipino
nationalism, the student-researchers would carefully examine the major issues that were
encountered by Filipino nationalism during the colonial eras and the recent era. Then, put
into consideration the reasons behind how nationalism countered such issues. Also, the
recent issues faced during the Marcos era and the post-Marcos eras of nationalism were
taken into consideration especially the effects of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
The student-researchers analyzed the trend on what were the major challenges faced by
Filipino nationalism and how to pre-empt such challenges so that it could not resurface in
the future.

51

Research Design or Schematic Diagram

Understanding
Filipino concept of
nationalism

Historical
Background

Type or
Kind of
Nationalism

Breakthroughs,
Limitations and
Challenges

Characteristics or
Elements of
Communitarianism

Books, Journals, Articles,


National Commission for Culture and the Arts,
Professors from History and Philosophy
Departments of Institutions of Higher Learning

Key Informant Interview

Documents Review

Elements or Characteristics
of Communitarianism

interplay
Nationalism

Filipino sense of
nationalism

52

CHAPTER 4
PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

This chapter involved the presentation, analysis and interpretation of data that
were gathered using the Key Informant Interview and Documents Review. The data
presentation was arranged according to the identified specific objectives. The next part
was the presentation of the analysis of the findings and its relevance to the specific
objectives of the study. Lastly, the student-researchers presented their interpretation of
the data gathered.

Timeline of the Development of Filipino Nationalism


To be able to give a brief presentation of data, the student-researchers provided a
flowchart highlighting only the important events which helped develop the Filipino
concept of nationalism. The student-researchers explained the concept of Filipino
nationalism in every era through thematic presentation.

53

Flowchart and Description of the Development of Filipino Nationalism


Pre-Spanish Era: Regionalistic
The native people were divided into so many independent small
societies
Ethnic communities were just concerned on their own local interests

Spanish-Era: Anti-Colonial

Opening of the Philippines to World Commerce (1834-1873)


In 1834, Manila was opened
From 1834-1873 several ports were opened:
Sual, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Cebu, Legaspi ports

The Secularization Movement


The execution of: Zamora, Burgos, Gomez the
three most outspoken leaders of the movement
awakened the people to push for reforms and
representation.
Liberal ideas came to the Philippines (1863)
Liberal magazines and books written by liberal writers
were brought to the country such as the works of Rousseau and
Locke,
the ideas from the American and French revolution also came in.
The liberal regime of De la Torre (1869-1871)
In 1869, Governor Carlos Maria De la Torre arrived in the
Philippines and applied democratic and liberal ideas and encouraged
freedom of speech and formation of associations

The Propaganda Movement (1872)


Aims to:
1. Integration of the colony as a regular province of Spain
2. Restoration of freedom of speech, press, assembly and
religion
The 1896 Philippine Revolution
The revolution was started by Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio
which asserted sovereignty of the Filipino people, the protection
and promotion of civil liberties, the confiscation of friar estates
and the elimination of theocratic rule.

54

The American Era (1899-1946): Anti-Imperial


Laws were enacted by the Americans to counter the influence of revolution (Ex. Flag
Law)
On Nov. 30, 1930, Crisanto Evangelista founded the Communist Party of the Philippines
with an orientation against US imperialism
HUKBALAHAP after fighting against the Japanese in World War Two changed its name to
Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan or HMB to fight with an anti-imperialist orientation
against the Americans
July 4, 1946, US gave the Philippines its independence

The Japanese Era (1942-1945): Anti-Imperial


HUKBALAHAP was formed to fight the Japanese invaders
In 1944, McArthur returned and liberated the Philippine islands against the
Japanese

Post-Japanese Era: Anti-Colonial(Continuation of the Spanish Era)


In the 1960s, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas merged with HMB to fight in an anti-US
imperialism campaign along with the growing student movements
In Dec. 26, 1968, PKP was divided because of internal politics and clashing opinions. CPPMLM was born with the drive against US imperialism and local forms of oppression and
exploitation claiming that the fight of Andres Bonifacio for independence was unfinished
and it is their moral obligation to continue the cause

Marcos Era: Polarized


As described by Dr. Mojares, nationalism at that time became an either-or situation
A mere speaking of foreign language can raise eyebrows and can be called as antinationalistic or pro-colonialism

Post-Marcos Era: Towards Freedom and Democracy


Nationalism shifted towards political transformations
National identity is characterized towards the commitment to freedom and democracy
Important corollary notions were struggle against tyranny and injustice

55

In its origins and development, Philippine or Filipino nationality is first


of all a political concept that has arisen and developed from the necessity
of uniting and activating the entire people of various social conditions and
cultural traits in the anti-colonial and then the anti-imperialist struggles
for national independence and democracy (Sison, 2009).

Pre-Spanish Period: Regionalistic Yet Undeveloped Nationalism


The theme of Filipino nationalism during this era could be described as
Regionalistic. Professor Churchill of the NCCA wrote that during the pre-colonial era
the people were confined to the barangay which was the basic political and economic
unit all over the archipelago. The native people were divided into so many independent
small societies and scores of ethnolinguistic communities. Even before the arrival of the
Spaniards in the Philippines, the Islamic Sultanates in Mindanao already had an early
sense of nationhood only on a local or tribal level, which could be considered as an early
and raw form of nationalism. Moreover, Mastura (1984) continued to explain that by
holding the ideal espoused by Sultan Kudarat, all Filipinos are one in whatever faith,
origin, or station in life they may be acting as a symbol and agent of that unity. This
contention was supported by our historian Key Informant, Professor Imbong of UP Cebu.
He said that, During the pre-colonial period, the people were very regionalistic. The
only region that achieved unity was Mindanao.
Based on the documents reviewed and the pronouncements of the key informant,
the native people were characteristically divided into so many independent small
societies and ethnolinguistic communities in which their sense of nationalism could be
described as regionalistic or community based. The people in this era were still not able
to conceive a sense of nationhood among them because they were confined to their
56

communities to which they identify themselves as having communal pracritices, common


tradition, common experiences and dialect, and not yet as people possessing homogenous
identity under one nation. Their loyalty is given to the community and their idea of
sovereignty is reduced to the community level. They are inferred to be having the natural
desire to self-government headed by the datu and not yet as people having a collective
identity wanting to exercise national sovereignty. It is apparent that the idea that the
whole archipelago constitutes together as one whole nation was not yet known among the
people.
Based on the characteristics of state-building nationalism as expounded by
Michael Hechter, as early as this era, the Pre-Spanish time was composed of only
multicultural population because of its diverse local cultures and packets of reactions
against external influences which was sporadic all over the archipelago. The localities
reacted independently depending on how their traditions and culture were being disturbed
and threatened to be replaced by the foreign colonizers.

Spanish Era: The Struggle Against Colonialism


The theme of Filipino nationalism during the Spanish Era was anti-colonial.
Throughout the long period of Spanish colonial regime, many revolts broke out which
was sporadic all over the archipelago against the tribute, corvee labor, commercial
monopolies, excessive land rent, land grabbing, imposition of Catholic faith, arbitrary
rules and other cruel practices of the colonial rulers. There were at least 200 revolts of
uneven scope and duration. The most widespread revolts that occured in the 17th century
were those inspired by Sumuroy in the southern provinces and Maniago, Malong and
Almazan in the north provinces of the archipelago. The Sumuroy revolt started in 1649
57

and spread northward to Albay and Camarines Sur and southward to Masbate, Cebu,
Camiguin, Zamboanga and Northern Mindanao (Guerrero, 2005). As Professor Imbong
added: There were many packets of revolts around the country but it was sporadic, not
yet really nationally united. One popular example of this was the revolution which was
led by Dagohoy at Bohol.
Jose Maria Sison, in his book For Democracy and Socialism Against Imperialist
Globalization, wrote that: National consciousness arose in the response to the
intensification of colonial, feudal and racial oppression. The people started to realize
that they must rise up as a new nation in armed revolution in order to liberate themselves
from the foreign oppressors. National sentiment and aspirations became defined in terms
of achieving national independence from Spanish colonialism and establishing a modern
nation-state.
According to Prof. Churchill in her article for the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts which is entitled History of the Philippine Revolution, there was an
impact to Filipino awareness towards nationalism when the Spanish opened the
Philippines for world commerce. She wrote that,
The seeds of revolution were, in fact, sown earlier in the nineteenth
century when Spain's enforced isolation of the Philippines was shattered
with the opening of the country to foreign commerce and the resulting
development of an export economy by non-Spanish foreign enterprises
(British, American, Chinese). Consequently, revolutionary and liberal
movements in Europe and elsewhere, in addition to the persistence of friar
autocratic rule, brought winds of change in the political climate in the
Philippines.

The succeeding sub-topics that would be discussed were the important


eventualities that happened during the Spanish era that were influential in the formation

58

of Filipino nationalism. The student-researchers would expound on what happened


during such events and how it contributed to the development of Filipino nationalism.

A) Secularization Movement and Gomburza


The secularization of the parishes which the Filipino clergymen had fought for
was one of the factors that gave color to the struggle of the Filipinos for recognition.
According to Professor Churchill, the public garroting of the three secular priests who
were the leaders of the secular movement (in effect, nationalization) of Philippine
parishes on February 17, 1872 for their supposed complicity in a military mutiny in
Cavity, made the Revolution inevitable. Teodoro Agoncillo in his book The Revolt of the
Masses further argued that,
The Jesuits, long famous for their scholarship and foresight far ahead of
any other religious order, maintained a high standard of instruction and
hence stimulated the progress of the Philippines in education. Thus those
who could afford to study for a career were admitted into the Jesuit and
Dominican colleges in Manila and elsewhere, and it was these Filipino
intellegentsia that agitated reforms, calculated to improve the social and
cultural status of the people.

The next discussion would focus on how the Governor General became influential
in developing and igniting national consciousness of Filipino nationalism.

B) The Liberal Regime of De la Torre


Another contributing factor of the early realization of Filipino nationalism was the
liberal regime of Governor General De la Torre. As an effect to the liberalization
program of De la Torre, Dolan (1991) explained that De la Torre abolished censorship of
newspapers and legalized the holding of public demonstrations, free speech, and
59

assembly - rights guaranteed in the 1869 Spanish constitution. Students at the University
of Santo Toms formed an association, the Liberal Young Students (Juventud Escolar
Liberal), and in October 1869 held demonstrations protesting the abuses of the
university's Dominican friar administrators and teachers.
The preceeding topic would expound on the influences of the illustrados during
the Spanish era on how they were able to conceive nationalism and what were their aims
of the Propaganda movement.

C) The Propaganda Movement


One of the seeds of nationalism was the Propaganda Movement led by Filipino
intellectuals like Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. Del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena in which
Jose Rizal first used the term Filipinos in reference to the Indios or the natives of the
Philippines used by the Spanish colonizers which made Filipinos to become aware of
their national identity and not anymore as Tagalogs, Malays or Cebuanos said Prof.
Imbong. This claim is also supported by Teodoro Agoncillo in his book The Revolt of the
Masses that,
The Ilustrados learned that they as Filipinos were not inferior to other
people, certainly not to Spaniards. This heightend consciousness led to the
dissolution of the aura of authority and the halo of grace that had bound
Filipinos to the colonial order. Realizing such injustices done to them, as
forced labor, taxes and inequality before the law, the ilustrados began to
wage a propaganda campaign aimed to make Filipinos and Spaniards
equal within the existing colonial framework: they wanted reforms not
independence. In spite of their limited aims, however, the Ilustrados are
credited with having first conceived of a Filipino national community.
As Resil B. Mojares wrote in his book Brains of the Nation,
The production of modern knowledge by Filipinos was determinative in
the rise of Philippine nationalism. In the late nineteenth century, Filipinos,
increasingly self-aware in their nationality, started to lay the local
60

foundations of such disciplines as history, anthropology, linguistics,


political science and sociology. Filipinos were engaged in cultural selfdefinition in the context of anti-colonial nation-formation. Disciplines
were cultivated not as specialized, abstract systems but as instruments and
ways towards understanding and organizing society. Varied in their
creative and critical practices, Filipino intellectuals worried about their
relation to the country from, of and for which they spoke and traced the
possibilities of an autonomous, critical voice in dialogue of the West.
After the demise of the famous illustrado named Dr. Jose Rizal, Filipinos were
looking for another option on how to topple the Spanish regime in the country. The next
discussion would focus on how the Philippine Revolution emerged and what were its
successes and challenges.

D) The 1896 Philippine Revolution


The clear revolutionary call for separation from Spain was made by the
Kataastaasang Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan which was
secretly founded by leader Andres Bonifacio immediately after Rizals arrest in 1892.
The guiding ideology of the revolution was that of the liberal bourgeoisie which was
modeled upon the French Revolution. The revolution asserted the sovereignty of the
Filipino people, the protection and promotion of civil liberties, the confiscation of the
friar estates, and the elimination of theocratic rule.
Based on the mentioned facts from the KII and documents review, the Spanish era
of colonization helped in developing the awareness and consciousness of Filipinos on
who they really are and what actions they must take in order to put an end to the slavery
and injustices imposed by the Spaniards. As an effect, hatred and anger sprouted within
the hearts and minds of the early Filipinos that made them believe that their colonizers
must be evicted out of their homeland, thus, theming their struggle as anti-colonial.
61

Based on the mentioned facts from the KII and documents review, national
consciousness among the people began to arise because of the oppression made by the
Spanish colonizers which in effect made the people aware of the certain need to organize
mass movements that are necessary to liberate themselves from the exploitation of the
Spaniards. Throughout the 333 years of Spanish rule, there were many nationalist
movements and armed struggles throughout the country as a way to counter the
oppression made by the colonizers. Education also played an important role in the
sprouting of nationalistic feelings of the people because through the increasing quality of
education in the Philippines and also with the efforts of the young Filipinos who were
educated abroad, they exposed the injustices of the colonizers and they learned that they
need to form a nation free from Spanish control. The researchers infer that the idea of
Filipino nationalism began in this period under the theme of anti-colonialism, which was
primarily because of the material conditions that existed in this era as associated by the
heavy oppression made by the colonizers. Such condition helped the Filipinos who were
formerly called indios to unite under the Filipino identity amidst local diversities and for
a national liberation against the Spanish oppressors.
As nationalistic sentiments began among the people, they started to identify
themselves as individuals belonging to one nation having a common history and
experience, and a common goal which is to eliminate foreign oppression and establish a
sovereign nation. As a consequence of Filipino nationalism, the 1896 Philippine
Revolution erupted which ultimately lead to the defeat of the colonizers.
State-Building nationalism was already evident in this era. Filipinos became
united amidst the diversities present. Before the Spanish Period, the people were
identified according to the ethnolinguistic communities to which they belong such as: the
62

Tagalogs, Bisaya or Warays. At the time of the Spanish Period, the people who were
formerly labelled Indios by the Spaniards already identified themselves as having a
national and single identity as Filipinos belonging to one nation. They are observed to
have already possessed a homogenous identity. Based on Hechters description of statebuilding nationalism, the visible characteristics that were present during the Spanish era
were the struggles against colonialism - that despite the Filipinos cultural differences,
they were able to unite themselves against a common enemy.

American Era: Anti-Imperial Approach of Nationalism


The theme of Filipino nationalism during the American era was anti-imperial.
As Amado Guerrero writes in his book Philippine Society and Revolution:
The people of Bicol continued to wage armed struggle until 1903 when
their leader Simeon Ola betrayed them by surrendering. In Visayas,
particularly Cebu, Samar, Leyte and Panay, the Pulahanes fought fierce
against US aggressor troops and the puppet constabulary. So did the
masses of Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Quezon even after general
amnesty was issued. In Central Luzon, a religious organization, the Santa
Iglesia, also waged armed resistance. In the Ilocos, associations that
proclaimed themselves as the New Katipunan conducte a guerilla war for
national independence against US imperialism. The most prominent of the
final efforts to continue the revolutionary struggle in Luzon was led by
Macario Sakay, from 1902 to 1906 in Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna,
Neuva Ecija and Rizal. However, the fiercest armed resistance after 1902
was waged by the people of Mindanao until as late as 1916.
Key Informant Professor Imbong added that,
Due to the aggression of the Americans the resistance by the Filipinos
was suppressed but the people still had a strong sense of nationalism. In
fact, despite the American aggression, there were several laws enacted by
the Americans whi
[ch aims to assail the strong sense of nationhood among the Filipinos.
Among this is the Anti-Flag Law which prohibits the Filipinos to display
in public the Philippine Flag because it is a subversive act that does not
recognize the Supreme authority of the imperialist, which was a crime
punishable by death.
63

As a response to the growing demand for national and social liberation, according
to Prof. Imbong, the Communist Party of the Philippines was established by Crisanto
Evangelista which aimed to apply the universal theory of Marxism-Leninism with the
concrete conditions of Philippine society. Prof. Imbong explained that in this point of
history, Filipino nationalism became stronger by supplementing the ideas of Karl Marx
and Vladimir Lenin and relating it to the condition of Philippine society. Such is
characterized by foreign exploitation and necessitated a wage for national-liberation
movement.
As what can be analysed based on the pronouncements of the book authors and
key informants, Filipinos during the American era were still hungry for real freedom. The
removal of one colonizer and being replaced by another one only fuelled their thirst for
political reforms. Filipinos during the American era were refused to acknowledge
Philippine sovereignty as what has been described above. Even the waving of the
Philippine flag was criminalized. Because of their longing for freedom and reforms, the
Filipino nationalism during the American era can be considered as anti-imperial because
of its quests for political reforms and the discouragements of the Americans to the
Filipinos to independently organize themselves politically without American influences.
In this era, Filipino nationalism developed into a different approach which was
described as anti-imperial aimed against the American colonizers. Filipino nationalism
during this era was against American imperialism that allegedly exploited and oppressed
the people. This particular challenge strengthened the solidarity of the Filipino nationalist
movements to fight against the motives of imperialism, which imposed political
influences in the Philippines.
64

The characteristics of state-building nationalism that were existent during this era
were the development of the Filipinos realization of their own identity, their united fight
against their common enemy who tried to exert their influences on Filipinos and the
homogeneity of the Filipino society despite its cultural diversity.

The Japanese Era: The Continuing Anti-Colonial Approach


The theme during the Japanese era was anti-colonial. When the Japanese
invaded the Philippines on the Second World War, nationalism as anti-colonialism was
raised to new heights of necessity by the brutal Japanese occupation. Ironically enough,
this hatred for one colonizer only increased the longing for the return of the other
colonizer and our blind faith in his promises (Constantino, 1984).
Constantino themed the Filipino nationalism during the Japanese era as anticolonial because of the fact that the situation during the Spanish Era was carried on to the
Japanese era in which Filipinos suffered abuses and were deprived of their political
independence. Nationalism aimed for independence and self-determination. Filipino
nationalism in this era pushed the people to fight against the Japanese colonizers for it to
regain its sovereignty and remove Japanese influence in the country. The nationalist
revolutionary movements in this era were led by the Red Fighters: the Hukbalahap and
the members of the Communist Party, which successfully thwarted the Japanese forces
and regained our political sovereignty. The characteristics of state-building that were
present during the Japanese-era were the aim towards common identity and the fight for
the eradication of external influences.
There were evident characteristics of state-building nationalism that were obvious
during the Japanese era. The first one was the unity among Filipinos to battle against the
65

aggressions of the Japanese colonizers to resist the Japanese impositions of their political
influences. As a result, a culturally diverse nation became homogeneously united in
achieving a common goal.

Marcos-Era: The Polarized Concept of Nationalism


Filipino nationalism during the Marcos era was polarized. President Ferdinand
Marcos in his An Ideology for Filipinos expounded on the needs to reform the moral
consciousness of the people. He recognized that Filipinos were disoriented and confused
and were not united on what is the right future that they must pursue. He declared Martial
Law on September 21, 1972 in line with his vision to create a new society a society
with unity and citizens that are supposed to be cooperative to the government. In this
light, Marcoss true intent was not to prolong his stay in power, but to change and
discipline Philippine society. Ultimately, despite his blatant desire for power, Marcos did
wish to instill a discipline that he believed the Philippine society lacked (Unjieng, 2009).
Thus, after declaring Martial Law in 1972 and in order to quell the Communist
threat that was effectively to be eliminated by 1976, Marcos then justified Martial Law as
the only means to create the revolutionary, socially just, and economically equitable
New Society he claimed to seek (Wurfel, 1977).
During the Marcos Era, the character of Filipino nationalism was not anymore
anti-colonial because there was no more foreign exploitation. It was nationalism that was
geared towards the formation of a just nation that upholds human rights, freedoms and a
nation that champions democracy. This goal was achieved through peaceful revolution by
the people that removed the Marcos regime and restored democracy in our country. Our

66

Key Informant from NCCA named Mr. Salazar conformed to this idea. He said that the
Martial Law had a great impact on our idea of nationalism.
As what Dr. Mojares said, the Marcos era was also the era of the rise of the left
which promotes extreme nationalism. He said, because of the success in the Vietnam War
by the communists, communism in the Philippines became influential that even speaking
Tagalog in official functions could mean that a person is not a nationalist and is a procolonialism.
Based on the ideas by the authors and key informants, Filipino nationalism during
the Marcos era was polarized which means it is either you are a nationalist or not.
There was no third option because an individual can only choose between the two and if
one is not a nationalist, Dr. Mojares said, you can be labelled by the extreme nationalists
or communists as Marcos loyalist or pro-Americanism or pro-dictator that condones
abuses and corruption in the government.
The characteristics of state-building nationalism that were present during the
Marcos-era were the presence of a homogeneous society, multicultural population, and
the Filipinos aim towards achieving their own identity amidst the rising external
influences. In fact, the former president recognized such call in forming a real Filipino
identity based on his books and public pronouncements which were described as gearing
towards achieving a New Society.

Post-Marcos Era and the 1986 People Power Revolution: The New Approach
The theme of Filipino nationalism during the post-Marcos era was aimed
towards freedom and democracy. The 1986 Philippine People Power Movement was
contributory to the expanded moral consciousness of the Filipinos and viewed moral
67

education as essential to social and political transformation (Bonoan, 1994). As described


by Bankoff and Weekley (2002), the attitude that Filipino national identity is
characterized by commitment to freedom and democracy. This commitment usually
includes important corollary notions such as an ongoing struggle against tyranny and
injustice. The Filipino nationalism during this era could be described as the new approach
towards freedom and restoration of democracy.
During the post-Marcos era, the realization of state-building nationalism became
evident. The presence of the characteristic of state-building nationalism present during
the post-Marcos era was the acknowledgment of a multicultural population in a
homogeneous society that unites when being faced by a common enemy. The fight
against external influences still continued. Filipinos were united in re-claiming their
freedom from the dark ages of authocratic rule and the restoration of democracy in their
political life.

Type of Nationalism vis--vis Hechters Classification


As mentioned in one of the specific objectives, this study would classify what
kind or type of nationalism that the Filipinos possess based on the typologies made by
Michael Hechter (2000). Michael Hechter was one of the few scholars who provided a
clear and satisfactory explanation on the study of nationalism. In his book Containing
Nationalism, he discussed nationalism and provided classifications that would enable us
to fully understand the discourse on nationalism. Hechter provided four types of
nationalism namely: State-Building nationalism, Peripheral nationalism, Unification
nationalism and Irredentist nationalism.

68

First, the student-researchers would provide a brief description of each


classification based on the stipulations provided by Michael Hechter. These will form
part in the considerations for the determination of what type of nationalism that best
describes Filipino nationalism. The first type of nationalism is State-building nationalism.
According to Hechter, there was a presence of a multicultural population in this particular
type of nationalism. It is intended to unite multiple cultures in order to create a
homogeneous society with similar aims and motivations for the future despite its cultural
and traditional differences. Cultural diversity was not a hindrance towards unity and this
type of nationalism promotes the cultivation and development of every native culture.
The second type of nationalism is Peripheral nationalism. This particular type of
nationalism was based on a national determination that aimed to separate a portion of a
national territory from its host state in order to become an independent state. The
presumptions include the presence of societal disunity or cultural conflict and political
unrest that drive and promote peripheral nationalism to people in a particular society.
The third type of nationalism was Irredentist nationalism. Unlike the peripheral
nationalism, irredentist nationalism aimed to separate a portion of a national territory but
not to become independent. It is to be added to another territory of a nation-state. One of
the factors of such nationalism was its cultural considerations. The probability of having
a minority culture in a national territory would cause to become neglected and left out
from basic services coming from the central government. The temptation of merging to a
different state was high especially when the desired new host state is culturally
homogeneous with the separating territory.
The last type of nationalism according to Hechter is Unification nationalism. It
aimed to unify culturally homogenous territories into a single state. When two separate
69

cultural minorities with the same cultures and traditions decided to unite with each, it
would be easy for the people to create a homogeneous society. The urge to obtain a state
that has no cultural differences and a government that would cater all the needs of the
people and adequately supply the basic services were very tempting to develop
unification nationalism.
The student-researchers provided their findings based on consolidated dominant
answers and pronouncements of authors based on the conducted key informant interviews
and documents review.
According to Dr. Resil Mojares, the Philippines has a diverse culture all over the
archipelago. This, however, must not be considered as a problem but rather as a jewel
that must be polished and valued. Despite our small territory compared to other nationstates around the world, the Philippines is rich in culture that no other nation-states can
compete. And because of such multicultural aspect of Philippine society, it posed as a
hindrance against colonialism in the previous eras.
According to Mastura (1984), prior to the arrival of the Spanish colonizers to the
Philippines, Muslim Filipinos were successful in forming what we could call states
which displayed unity against foreign incursions. Despite of being regionalistic in nature,
early Filipinos could be united if there was a presence of a common enemy that threatens
their culture, traditions and way of life.
As an effect of colonial opposition, packets of revolts all over the country erupted
in response to the oppressions perpetuated by the previous colonizers. Prof. Imbong, a
historian from UP Cebu, elaborated that during the Spanish era, revolts where not only
concentrated in Luzon. Revolutions also erupted in Bohol, Cebu and major parts in
Mindanao.
70

Filipino revolutions against colonizations were based on achieving genuine


identity. This claim was pronounced by several authors. The foreign colonization of the
Philippines had molded the Filipino sense of nationalism by making Filipinos realize
what kind of independence they really need. Policies which were against the American
influences were realized (Constantino, 1984). However, during the post-Marcos era,
nationalism shifted or elevated itself towards new political aspirations and those are
freedom and restoration of democracy. The 1986 Philippine People Power Movement
was contributory to the expanded moral consciousness of the Filipinos and viewed moral
education as essential to social and political transformation (Bonoan, 1994). Filipino
national identity was characterized by commitment to freedom and democracy. This
commitment usually includes important corollary notions such as an ongoing struggle
against tyranny and injustice (Bankoff and Weekley, 2002).
Based on our findings, the emerging identity of Filipino nationalism could be
considered as a State-building nationalism because our concept of nationalism gives us a
single, common and unified identity in which we can identify ourselves as Filipinos
having the same history and experience. The student-researchers provided a matrix
containing brief description of State-building nationalism and what were the
characteristics of Filipino nationalism that made it identified as a state-building
nationalism.

71

Characteristics of Statebuilding Nationalism

Findings Based on
Documents Review

Findings Based on Key Informant


Interviews
Dr. Resil Mojares:
Pagka 1930s when the national language was
adopted and Tagalog was the national
language. Again, there was a recognition nga
naay daghang language. It does not mean nga
bisan multilingual ang society it cannot act as
one.

Homogenous society

Philippines has diverse Prof. Imbong:


local cultures
Makita man nato sa kasaysayan ug sa
kasamatangang kahimtang naa man gihapon
nasyonalismo bisan nagkalahilahi atong
lingwahe and because we are coming from
diverse cultures, exploitation is also coming
from diverse forms

Dr. Resil Mojares:

Multicultural population

Multiculturalism pose
as a hindrance against
colonialism

Mao bitaw to nga there was a controversy


during the time of Governor Lito Osmena nga
they tried to adopt nga ang national anthem
must be sung in Cebuano. Suko kaayo ang taga
Manila. On the other hand, ang taga Manila
sad kay oversensitive kay overparochial daw
ang mga Cebuano which was not very helpful
sad.

Professor Imbong:

There is unity when


being faced by a common
adversity

Can be united if there


is an existing common
problem that affects
communities

So, nakita nga tungod sa nationalism naay


panaghiusa sa katawhan kKay ma-foresee niya
ang threats sa unity nila or ma pinpoint nila
kinsa ang enemy nga maoy endangering the
unity or the nationalism that they had
established.
Gani, si Renato Constantino ni mention man
siya nga ang national revolutions sa atong
nasud mao ang instance sa kasaysayan diin
strongly united ang katawhan.

Professor Imbong:
There is an aim towards
common identity

Revolutions were
based on achieving
genuine identity

72

ang nationalism usa ni siya ka consciousness


diin nay consciousness of the people nga they
are one in identity. Pinaagi sa nationalism
matino or ma define ang identity sa usa ka
grupo sa taw. Tungod kay consciousness ni
siya, naa ni siyay mga gibasehan nga mga
material conditions. Mao to siya ang point nga

consciousness siya isip usa ka nasud nga ato


kinahanglan nga paga depensaan.

Professor Imbong:

Eradication of external
influences

Packets of revolts can


be initiated based on
the cultures responses
towards foreign
influences

Nasyonalismo tungod sa mga konkretong


panagbangi nga mga struggles nga ni exist
niadtong colonial period diin nakamugna ni
siya ug usa ka consciousness or ideology sa
mga taw nga kinahanglan nila palagputon nga
kinahanglan nila pahawaon ang mga Espanyol
kini pinaagi lamang sa usa ka nationalist
revolution.

Current Condition of State-Building Filipino Nationalism


As Hechter defined it, State-building nationalism was a type of nationalism that was
embodied in the attempt to assimilate or incorporate culturally distinctive territories in a given
state. It made a multicultural population that is culturally homogeneous. This type of nationalism
tried to unite cultural distinctive territories into a one and cultural homogeneous state. Because of
our geographical setting which was archipelagic, we belong to different diverse culture having
different language and traditions. Despite of our multicultural population and belongingness to
different ethnolinguistic communities such as: Tagalog, Bisaya, Ilonggo etc., we were given a
single, homogeneous identity as Filipinos that united us amidst our differences and gave us
attachment to the Filipino nation and belongingness to other Filipinos all over the country. It was
this State-building nationalism that gave us a responsibility to protect and defend the country and
contribute to its well-being. As Dr. Resil Mojares said, It is nationalism that drives Filipinos

to react against the Chinese incursion in our islands in South China Sea

It is this State-Building nationalism that united the Filipinos despite the preexisting cultural diversity in order to achieve a common goal. The discourse on Filipino
nationalism was so broad that it had different ways of expression and different types that
73

could be traced in our history until today. Dr. Mojares said that nationalism could be
passive, active or moderate. He also argued that there were existing leftist, rightist and
centrist preferences for nationalism. These variations of nationalism were inclined to the
political points of view of the individuals who were aligned to such kinds of nationalism.
According to Prof. Imbongs explanation, leftist sense of nationalism could be traced
back to the national-democratic revolution led by Andres Bonifacio which was a more
revolutionary type of nationalism that seeks liberate the Filipino people from foreign and
feudal exploitation. The rightist kind of nationalism was a more conservative and
moderate kind of nationalism according to Professor Imbong which was labelled as
liberal nationalists. These individuals were the ones who were guided by the liberal
ideology. Liberal nationalism recognized that the Philippines had a genuine
independence, and that the politics, economics, culture were very much its own therefore
we were independent.
Cultural minorities were still in existence in the Philippines. Laws were enacted
by the government in order to preserve and promote respect for these minorities such as
The Indigenous PeoplesRights Act of 1997 and the Bangsamoro Basic Law which was
still pending before the House of Representatives in support for autonomy of Muslims in
Mindanao. Despite of the presence of cultural differences, Filipinos were still in unison in
their opposition towards foreign excursions just like the South China Sea dispute (Suarez,
2014).
With the minimal presence of the New Peoples Army struggling for real
independence and battling oppression and exploitation, the student-researchers believed
that there is still a continuing struggle against imperialism. There is still a minority call of

74

achieving our uninfluenced national identity as Filipinos and obtain the rightful path for
our own future.
Another example that would display the current condition of Filipino nationalism
is to examine on how it reacted to internal problems. On August 26, 2013, a nationwide
march against the Priority Development Assistance Fund Scam was realized. Rallies were
simultaneously gathered all over the Philippines. It was dubbed as The Million People
March calling for reforms in the Philippine budgetary system that was exposed as being
manipulated by corrupt politicians to embezzle billions of pesos from the governments
coffers. Thousands of people were gathered all over the parts of the Philippines calling
for the prosecution of the alleged corrupt officials and resignation of the current president
(Mangosing, 2013).
This particular protest could be a manifestation of the presence of a state-building
nationalism in the consciousness of the Filipinos based on the descriptions stipulated by
Michael Hechter. The rally was participated by all Filipinos all over the country. In fact,
it was witnessed by the student-researchers on the television reports that indigents
coming from the Northern parts of Luzon went to Luneta Park on that day to participate
and show solidarity to the call of the people. It was evident that during that political
activity, people were united despite their cultural differences. People gathered togetheron
that day in order to solidify their call for reforms. The peoples common enemy was
corruption in the government that depletes the finances of the government which were
supposed to be intended for the development of the Philippine infrastructures and
delivery of basic services.

75

Communitarianism and Nationalism


Greenfield (1992) explained that communitarians believe that the sense of
community exists in the form of social practices, cultural practices and social
understandings. Communitarianism can help develop a sense of common national
identity. Communitarians argue that states try to develop solidarity by appealing to ideals
of nationhood. Each tries to convince its citizens that they form a nation and hence
belong together to a single political community and owe each other special obligations.
Since the people who share a state are not only co-citizens but also co-nationals, there is a
natural bond of solidarity and a natural desire to exercise self-government. The rise of
nationalism valorized the people and that nations are defined in terms of the people
i.e. mass population on a territory, regardless of class or occupation--- who become the
bearer of sovereignty, the central object of loyalty and the basis of collective solidarity
(Greenfield 1992:14). Nationalism has created the idea of single national community
which encompasses all classes on the territory (Kymlicka, 2002).
As Benedict Anderson stated in his book Imagined Communities, nationalism and
nation is an imagined political community-- which is imagined as inherently limited and
sovereign. It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never
know most of their fellow-members, met them, or even heared of them, yet in the minds
of each other lives the image of their communion. The nation is imagined as limited
because even the largest of them, encompassing perhaps a billion living human beings,
has finite, if elastic boundaries, beyond which lie other nations. No nation imagines itself
as coterminous with mankind. It is imagined as sovereign because the concept was born
in an age in which Enlightenment and Revolution were destroying the legitimacy of the
divinely-ordained, hierarchical dynastic realm. Coming to maturity at a stage of human
76

history when even the most devout adherents of any universal religion were inescapably
confronted with living pluralism of such religions and the allomorphism between each
faiths ontological claims and territorial stretch, nations dream of being free. The gauge
and emblem of this freedom is this sovereign state. Finally it is imagined as a community,
because regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the
nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately it is this
fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of
people, not so much to kill, as willingly die for such limited imaginings (Anderson,
2006).
Communitarianism can be complementary to nationalism in the sense that it
produces an image of people belonging to one community living in communion and
comradeship despite of the fact that they will never see or hear their fellow members of
the Imagined Community or nation. They imagine themselves constituting a nation and
a single national community that is bound by comradeship, solidarity and natural desire
for independence. Communitarianism makes it possible to achieve unity amidst our
diversity because we subscribe to a higher abstraction that we have a single national
identity and form a single political community beyond our local communities.

Challenges of Nationalism
Filipino nationalism had faced many challenges on its formation. It was a given
fact that there were existing geographic and language barriers. The Philippines was
composed of more than 7,000 islands and its people were speaking several dialects.
Based on the established facts previously stated, Filipino nationalism during Spanish,
American, Japanese and Marcos era was suppressed because of the reactionary policies
77

that these governments employed in order to weaken the national consciousness among
the people and prevent them to wage a resistance that would eventually liberate the
people from exploitation and oppression. These eras made it hard for nationalism and
nationalist movements to thrive but these events had been influential to the formation of
Filipino nationalism.
There is a growing consensus among the scholars that Globalization threatens
nationalism but does not hinder or hamper its formation. According to Ms. Giangan of
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung,
Globalization can be a challenge to nationalism because the instant
effect of globalization is the merging of identities which makes it difficult
to define what Filipino nationalism is.
According to Dr. Resil Mojares, globalization is driven by economic
circumstances and as an effect, globalization unintentionally merges cultures..
Unintentional because the notion of globalization is mainly economic integration that
would ease territorial boundaries and make the economies of all participating states
prosper. The flow of capital and labor were eased and that people could easily work to
other countries. It becomes a threat to Filipino nationalism because foreign culture would
become readily accessible to Filipinos for appreciation. According to Mr. Salazar of the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the existence of cultural disparities among
Filipinos could be manipulated by any foreign cultures brought by globalization and it
may pose as a great threat by weaking our nationalism. According to Prof. Imbong, the
most visible effect of the challenges posed by globalization was the restructuring of
Philippine educational system. It was restructured in order to address the rising need of
labor by the other countries. Because of such economic challenges, the government was
forced to redesign the educational system that would immediately cater such needs for
78

labor by giving less emphasis on the instructions of Filipino subjects that were supposed
to cultivate nationalism and motivate young individuals to improve their nationalism.
As a result, Filipino identity might slowly fade and be influenced by foreign
cultures and there is a possibility that we might fully forget our own culture. On the other
hand, scholars agree that Globalization and ASEAN integration can also help build a
stronger sense of nationalism among the Filipino people but it depends on their personal
actuations.

Breakthroughs of Nationalism
Based on the articles reviewed and the commentaries of the key informants, the
major breakthroughs of nationalism that are evident in Philippine history are the
elimination of the different colonial regimes which imposed their rule and exploited the
people. First, the removal of the Spanish regime was the product of a long series of armed
uprising of the people in various localities through more than 300 years of Spanish
colonial rule. There were sporadic and packets of revolutions that happened all over the
archipelago. The Spanish colonialists could continue their colonial rule for as long as
there was no national consciousness and no nationwide revolutionary mass movement to
wage anti-colonial resistance. This was a strong manifestation of nationalism among the
people who wanted to liberate themselves from foreign exploitation and form an
independent nation. The toppling of the American and Japanese regimes were also major
breakthroughs of nationalism which was a result of the armed resistance established by
the people led by the Communist Party of the Philippine and the Hukbalahap. As Amado
Guerrero said,

79

It was the total effort of the Communist Party of the Philippines,


the Hukabalahap and other patriotic guerilla forces all over the country
which broke the back of the Japanese invasionary and puppet forces. They
were the ones who forced out the Japanese from garrisons in cities and
towns and annihilate them in the flames of guerilla warfare in the
countryside. It was not US imperliasm which liberated the Philippines. US
imperialism merely returned to reimpose its colonial rule.
Another breakthrough of Filipino nationalism was the eviction of a dictator from
power. Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the Philippines for 21 years with an iron fist was
toppled down through a bloodless revolution which was renowned internationally as the
People Power Revolution. In that particular era, people were hungry for their freedom
and full of all the corruptions and abuses by those people in power aligned with Marcos.
In 1986, the people rose up and went to the streets fueled by anger against the
dictatorship for the massive corruptions perpetrated by his government. As Juan Ponce
Enrile narrated in an interview with Nicole Unjieng on August 6, 2008,
But, there are many imponderables in the life of men; he got sick and
he wasnt able to accomplish his purpose. In the meantime, absolute
power corrupts absolutely, [his] relatives started to enjoy power and they
thought that it would be infinite and endless and so corruption set in and
that eroded the popularity of Marcos, eroded the popularity of his regime,
and it ended up in the EDSA Revolution of 1986.

Today, nationalism is manifested in many ways. Singing the national anthem can
also be considered as an expression of nationalism. The Philippine continuous fight in its
claim towards the controversial West Philippine Sea or the Spartlys islands can also be
considered a form of nationalism because we are not allowing our foreign neighbor to
disrespect our sovereignty and claim territories that are part of our domain.

80

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS PER ERA


Era

Pre-Spanish

General
Context

Prevailing
Mode of
Thought

People were
Regionalis
regionalistic
m
were
characteristica
lly divided
into different
ethnolinguisti
c
communities.
Absence of
political
unity.
No
nationalism
was formed.

Contributing
scholar

Mastura

81

Type of
nationalism
manifested

StateBuilding
nationalism

Theorizing
point

People at this
point of
history was
still not able
to develop
national
consciousness
because of
lack of
communicatio
n and their
confinements
to barangay
and
communities.

Era

Spanish

General
Context

People were
exploited
many revolts
broke out
which was
sporadic all
over the
archipelago
against the
tribute,
corvee labor,
commercial
monopolies,
excessive
land rent,
land
grabbing,
imposition of
Catholic faith,
arbitrary rules
and other
cruel
practices of
the colonial
rulers.

Prevailing
Mode of
Thought

Contributing
scholar

AntiColonial
AntiImperialist
NationalDemocratic

Amado
Gurerro,
Reynaldo Ileto

82

Type of
nationalism
manifested

StateBuilding
nationalism

Theorizing
point

National
consciousness
began when
the people felt
the need to
revolt against
the foreign
and colonial
oppressors.
People
realized that
they should
wage a
revolution
against the
Spanish
colonialists in
order to
liberate
themselves
and form a
first Filipino
nation.

Era

American

General
Context

Prevailing
Mode of
Thought

The
exploitation
intensified
Imperialism
heightened
and made the
people
suffered
more.

AntiColonial
AntiImperialist
NationalDemocratic

Contributing
scholar

Amado
Gurerro,
Teodoro
Agoncillo

83

Type of
nationalism
manifested

StateBuilding
nationalism

Theorizing
point

Nationalism
was weakened
because of the
aggression
and the antinational
policies made
by Imperialist
USA. Filipino
nationalism
was
suppressed
but it was not
completely
gone.

Era

Marcos

General
Context

A movement
towards a new
society was
established by
Marcos
because of his
belief that
Filipinos have
no clear
concept of
Filipino
nationalism

Prevailing
Mode of
Thought
AntiImperialist
Formation
of a New
Society

Contributing
scholar

Ferdinand
Marcos

84

Type of
nationalism
manifested

Theorizing
point

State-Building
nationalism
towards a new
society

Because of
the influences
of
colonization,
Filipinos have
no clear
concept of
their own
identity on
what they
really are as a
nation

Era

Post-Marcos

General
Context

Prevailing
Mode of
Thought

Contributing
scholar

A new
concept of
nationalism
was formed
which is to
combat future
tyrannical
government

Anti-Colonial
AntiAmerican
Prodemocracy,
freedom
Anti-Tyranny

85

Type of
nationalism
manifested

StateBuilding
nationalism

Theorizing
point

After the
sufferings of
the martial
rule, Filipinos
were very
aware on their
rights and
nationalism
was
flourished to
combat antityranny in the
governemnt

CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter provides a summary of all the discussions and the relevant findings
of the study. This chapter also presents the conclusion and recommendations.

Summary of Findings
The findings of the study are summarized as follows:
The Filipino concept of nationalism has been influenced largely by colonialism
because of our long colonial experience of the past. National consciousness began as a
response to the foreign exploitation and oppression by the colonizers which called the
need for the Filipinos to organize armed resistance and revolutions in order to liberate the
Filipino people and establish a Filipino nation.
The prevailing Filipino concept of nationalism is a State-building type of
nationalism because the Filipino concept of nationalism gave Filipinos a single, common
and unified identity in which they can identify themselves as Filipinos having the same
history and experience. Because the Philippines has a geographical setting which is
archipelagic, Filipinos belong to different cultures having different language and
traditions. Despite of the Filipinos multicultural population with different ethnolinguistic
communities such as: Tagalog, Bisaya, Ilonggo etc., a single, homogeneous identity as
Filipinos unites them amidst their differences and gives them attachment to the Filipino
nation and belongingness to other Filipinos all over the country. It is this State-building
nationalism that gives them a responsibility to protect and defend the country and
contribute to its well-being.
86

Meanwhile, communitarianism can be complementary to nationalism in the sense


that it produces an image of people belonging to one community living in communion
and comradeship despite of the fact that they will never see or hear their fellow members
of the imagined community or nation. They imagine themselves constituting a nation
and a single national community that is bound by comradeship, solidarity and natural
desire for independence. Communitarianism makes it possible to achieve unity amidst the
Filipino cultural diversity because they subscribe to a higher abstraction that they have a
single national identity and form a single political community beyond their local
communities.
Filipino nationalism has faced many challenges on its formation. First is the
geographic and language barrier. Globalization is also said to be a challenge to
nationalism.
The major breakthroughs of nationalism are the successful overthrow of the
colonizers that imposed its will upon the Filipino people which was a product of long
armed resistance by the masses and was driven by national consciousness among the
people to liberate themselves from foreign exploitation and oppression. Also, the
overthrow of a president who tainted himself as a dictator who ruled with an iron fist with
an administration that was speculated with heavy human rights abuses, nepotism and
corruption in the government.

Conclusion
Based on the findings stated above, the Filipino concept of nationalism was
heavily influenced by its colonial experiences of the past. Filipino nationalism has faced
and is facing many challenges that threaten its conception but does not hinder its
87

actualization. Filipino nationalism had brought significant historical contributions in the


nations history and will continue to bring major achievements if it will be strengthened.
The Filipino concept of nationalism is a State-building type of nationalism
because people aim to achieve a collective goal for their future despite their cultural and
moral differences. It may be noted that politically and morally, Filipinos may have
varying opinions and convictions but there are certain issues that unanimously unite the
majority of Filipinos especially when it comes to sovereignty, freedom and democracy
issues. Based on the stated examples in the study, the eras of colonization was heavily
resisted by the Filipinos. Same as what happened during the Marcos-era of tyranny. The
recent example would be the South China Sea row which violates the Philippine
territorial sovereignty. By looking closer to the given examples, all three eventualities
have their own similarities which are oppressive and colonial in nature. The colonial and
Marcos eras are oppressive for its own obvious reasons while the South China Sea
dispute is colonial in nature because it violates the Filipinos right to live freely on their
own territory and threat of colonization is very high and present.

Recommendation
There are a lot of Filipino scholars who have significant contributions on the
fields of Filipino Nationalism, Filipino Philosophy and Philippine History but have been
forgotten and undermined. These works should be popularized today since scholars today
are mostly western oriented. A deeper studies on the connections of communitarianism to
the Filipino concept of nationalism must be promoted in order to understand deeper our
roots as Filipinos and maximize on its uses towards the promotion of Filipino
nationalism.
88

One of the most important recommendation by the student-researchers is the


deeper study of Philippine history based on Filipino historians accounts. According to
author Teodoro Agoncillo, most of our written history is based on the accounts of the
foreign colonizers who ruled and imposed their influences on early Filipinos.
The student-researchers conform to such claim that historical scholars and also
the government agencies such as the: National Comission for Culture and the Arts and
the National Historical Commission of the Philippines that are mandated to preserve and
maintain our cultural cultural heritage should revisit and review the historical texts that
are made available to the schools and Filipino readers. This should be done taking into
consideration the regional integration and the increasing globalization that threatens our
national culture.
The second recommendation of the student-researchers is to refine the Filipino
subjects of the Philippine educational system. Not just a mere study of the Filipino
language but a deeper indoctrination of Filipino nationalism to the students by studying
accurate historical accounts that might help encourage the youth to love their own
culture, heritage and country. It can also work as a counter to the heavy influences of
foreign cultures towards Filipinos with the aid of foreign television shows, movies and
music which are made easy with the rise of technology.
The next recommendation is the implementation of a strict screening of Philippine
history writers. The Philippine government must enact laws which would only allow
authors that are really knowledgeable about Philippine history. As what the studentresearchers have observed, writing books has been a source of livelihood by some
academians. Some would author a book about Logic, Basic English, Political Science and
History at the same time. No matter how expert a person is, he could not be an expert in
89

all fields of social sciences. Writing books must not be out of financial gains but to the
promotion of the field that an author is trying to enrich. There must be a law that would
deliberately define the word expert in order for an individual to write Philippine history
in order to enrich the limited literatures about Filipino nationalism and Filipino
Philosophy.
The last recommendation of the student-researchers is that there should be further
studies made about the identified type of Filipino nationalism which is State-building
nationalism that is not only general but studies the deeper characteristics of StateBuilding nationalism in relation to Filipino nationalism.

90

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Baradat, L (2009). Political Ideologies: Their Origins and Impact 10th edition. New
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94

APPENDICES

95

APPENDIX A
Transmittal Letters

96

97

98

University of San Carlos


School of Law and Governance
Department of Political Science
P. del Rosario St., Cebu City 6000

National Commission for the Culture and the Arts


NCCA Building, 633 General Luna Street, Intramuros, Manila

Greetings of peace and solidarity!


We are student-researchers from the Department of Political Science of the University of
San Carlos. We are on the data gathering phase of our research entitled Understanding
the Filipino Concept of Nationalism.
We humbly request your good office to refer us to any of your resource persons who is
knowledgable to the subject matter and that if he/she could allot a few minutes of his/her
time and be our respondent for our key informant interview on one of the following
dates: September 5, September 6 or September 7 thru electronic communication or any
means of communication efficient for her/him.
We recognize that your office is knowledgeable about the subject matter and your
resource persons inputs from the interview would be very helpful in our study.
Rest assured that we the student researchers would comply with the ethical standards in
doing research and use the information for academic purposes only. For questions and/or
concerns, kindly call-text at 09336828232/09153884215 or e-mail us at
powao.jayford@yahoo.com
We are looking forward for your response.

Respectfully yours,

Jayford O. Powao
AB PoSc PTS 4

Chad Michaell G. Delima


AB PoSc PTS-4

99

Noted by:

Mr. Rejene T. Lakibul, MPMD


Thesis Adviser

Ms. Brenette L. Abrenica, MPS, MAPA


Research Instructor

Endorsed by:

Ms. Grace C. Magalzo, MPS, LlB


Chair, Department of Political Science

100

University of San Carlos


School of Law and Governance
Department of Political Science
P. del Rosario St., Cebu City 6000

Cristita Maria Giangan


Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines
Dear Mam:
Greetings of peace and solidarity!
We are student-researchers from the Department of Political Science of the University of
San Carlos. We are on the data gathering phase of our research entitled Understanding
the Filipino Concept of Nationalism.
We humbly request your good office to refer us to any of your resource persons who is
knowledgable to the subject matter and that if he/she could allot a few minutes of his/her
time and be our respondent for our key informant interview on one of the following
dates: September 5, September 6 or September 7 thru electronic communication or any
means of communication efficient for her/him.
We recognize that your office is knowledgeable about the subject matter and your
resource persons inputs from the interview would be very helpful in our study.
Rest assured that we the student researchers would comply with the ethical standards in
doing research and use the information for academic purposes only. For questions and/or
concerns, kindly call-text at 09336828232/09153884215 or e-mail us at
powao.jayford@yahoo.com
We are looking forward for your response.

Respectfully yours,

Jayford O. Powao
AB PoSc PTS 4

Chad Michaell G. Delima


AB PoSc PTS-4

101

Noted by:

Mr. Rejene T. Lakibul, MPMD


Thesis Adviser

Ms. Brenette L. Abrenica, MPS, MAPA


Research Instructor

Endorsed by:

Ms. Grace C. Magalzo, MPS, LlB


Chair, Department of Political Science

102

APPENDIX B
Key Informant Interview Questionnaires

103

Key Informant Interview Questions for Dr. Mojares


Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism
1. Based on your past experiences, learning and exposure, what is nationalism?
2. Do you think nationalism is an ideology? If Yes, Why? If No, Why?
3. If No, how can nationalism be an ideology?
If Yes, how important is nationalism as an ideology?
4. Is there really an existing Filipino nationalism?
If Yes, why do you say so?
If No, is there a prospect for Filipino nationalism to have conceptualized or
realized?
5. If Yes to question #4, how would you describe Filipino nationalism today?
6. What is your reaction to Leonardo Mercados pronouncement on his book
Applied Filipino Philosophy (1988, pp. 9) that the concept of what is a Filipino
is tied up with the concept of nationalism which is more in the mind than in
reality?
7. Are there any attempts by scholars to realize Filipino nationalism?
8. How do you differentiate nationalism from patriotism? Is the appreciation of
Filipinos is leaning towards Nationalism or Patriotism?
9. Are there any strands, variations or classifications of nationalism? What are they?
How do they differ from each other?
10. Are there such thing as Leftist, Centrist, Rightist kinds of Filipino nationalism? If
there are. Where can they be traced in our history?
11. In Amado Guerreros book on Philippine Society and Revolution, he argues that
the Philippine society is semi-colonial and semi-feudal. Do you think that this
hinders the development of Filipino nationalism or this a starting point for us to
conceive nationalism?
12. What eventualities in our history that became sources or helped develop the
Filipino concept of nationalism?
13. What are the possible challenges encountered by Filipino nationalism today?
14. What are the breakthroughs or achievements brought by nationalism to our nation?
15. Is there any limitation/s to the full realization of Filipino nationalism?
104

16. How can a sense of nationalism shared by the Filipinos affect our state as a nation
today?
17. Is Filipino nationalism affected by language barrier, cultural diversity and our
physical situation as an archipelago?
If Yes, how can we overcome this?
18. How is nationalism affected by international phenomenon such as: globalization
and the upcoming 2015 ASEAN integration?
19. Is the lack of nationalism among our politicians today a contributory factor behind
the issues like: graft and corruption?
20. In what ways is nationalism should be manifested today?
21. How can we further develop or cultivate our sense of nationalism?
22. What is the importance of nationalism to our country?
23. How can you relate nationalism to communitarianism? In what way Filipino
nationalism is complementing and contradicting with communitarianism?
24. What would be the future potentials of Filipino nationalism?
25. Any comments or recommendations for more materials to be studied or resource
persons to be interviewed about Filipino nationalism.

105

Key Informant Interview Questions for Prof. Imbong


Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism
1. Based on your past experiences, learning and exposure, what is nationalism?
2. Do you think nationalism is an ideology? If Yes, Why? If No, Why?
3. If No, how can nationalism be an ideology?
If Yes, how important is nationalism as an ideology?
4. Is there really an existing Filipino nationalism?
If Yes, why do you say so?
If No, is there a prospect for Filipino nationalism to have conceptualized or realized?
5. If Yes to question #4, how would you describe Filipino nationalism today?
6. What is your reaction to Leonardo Mercados pronouncement on his book Applied
Filipino Philosophy (1988, pp. 9) that the concept of what is a Filipino is tied up with
the concept of nationalism which is more in the mind than in reality?
7. Are there any attempts by scholars to realize Filipino nationalism?
8. How do you differentiate nationalism from patriotism? Is the appreciation of Filipinos is
leaning towards Nationalism or Patriotism?
9. Are there any strands, variations or classifications of nationalism? What are they? How
do they differ from each other?
10. Are there such thing as Leftist, Centrist, Rightist kinds of Filipino nationalism? If there
are. Where can they be traced in our history?
11. In Amado Guerreros book on Philippine Society and Revolution, he argues that the
Philippine society is semi-colonial and semi-feudal. Do you think that this hinders the
development of Filipino nationalism or this a starting point for us to conceive nationalism?
12. What eventualities in our history that became sources or helped develop the Filipino
concept of nationalism?
13. What are the possible challenges encountered by Filipino nationalism today?
14. What are the breakthroughs or achievements brought by nationalism to our nation?
15. Is there any limitation/s to the full realization of Filipino nationalism?
16. How can a sense of nationalism shared by the Filipinos affect our state as a nation today?
17. Is Filipino nationalism affected by language barrier, cultural diversity and our physical
situation as an archipelago?
If Yes, how can we overcome this?

106

18. How is nationalism affected by international phenomenon such as: globalization and the
upcoming 2015 ASEAN integration?
19. Is the lack of nationalism among our politicians today a contributory factor behind the
issues like: graft and corruption?
20. In what ways is nationalism should be manifested today?
21. How can we further develop or cultivate our sense of nationalism?
22. What is the importance of nationalism to our country?
23. How can you relate nationalism to communitarianism? In what way Filipino nationalism
is complementing and contradicting with communitarianism?
24. What would be the future potentials of Filipino nationalism?
25. Any comments or recommendations for more materials to be studied or resource persons
to be interviewed about Filipino nationalism.

107

Key Informant Interview Questions for NCCA


Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism
1. Based on your past experiences, learnings and exposure, what is nationalism?
2. Do you think nationalism is an ideology? Why Yes? Why No?
3. If NO, how can nationalism be an ideology?
If YES, how important is nationalism as an ideology?
4. Is there really an existing Filipino nationalism? Why or why not?
5. If NO, is there a prospect for Filipino nationalism to have/conceptualize or
realize?
If YES, what are the significant events of Philippine history that had contributed
to the formation of the Filipino concept of nationalism?
6. Are there any attempts by scholars to realize Filipino nationalism?
7. How do you differentiate patriotism from nationalism? Is the appreciation of
Filipinos is leaning towards Nationalism or Patriotism?
8. Are there any strands, variations or classifications of nationalism? What are they?
How do they differ from each other?
9. What are the possible challenges encountered by Filipino nationalism today?
10. How can a strong sense of nationalism shared by the Filipinos affect our state as a
nation today?
11. Is Filipino nationalism affected by language barrier, cultural diversity and our
physical situation as an archipelago?
12. What are the sources of nationalism?
13. Can nationalistic feelings arise from the existence of a common language and
customs, hatred against colonialism and a sense of consciousness and
belongingness to the nation?
14. How is nationalism affected by international phenomenon such as: globalization
and the upcoming ASEAN Integration?
15. How can a strong conception of nationalism among the Filipinos have an impact
in our situation as a nation today?
16. Is the lack of nationalism among our politicians today a contributory factor behind
the issues like: graft and corruption?
17. In what ways is nationalism manifested today?
18. How can we further develop or cultivate our sense of nationalism?
19. What are the significant moves undertaken by NCAA in order to promote and
develop Nationalism among the Filipinos.

108

Key Informant Interview Questions for CDP


Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism
1. Based on your past experiences, learning and exposures, what is nationalism?
2. Do you think nationalism is an ideology? If Yes, Why? If No, Why?
3. If No, how can nationalism be an ideology?
If Yes, how important is nationalism as an ideology?
4. Is there really an existing Filipino nationalism?
If Yes, why do you say so?
If No, is there a prospect for Filipino nationalism to have conceptualized or realized?
5. If Yes to question #4, how would you describe Filipino nationalism today?
6. Do you think nationalism helped developed your personal political preference as a
centrist?
If Yes, how?
If No, what other factors that developed your political preference as a centrist?
7. What are your partys pronouncements and beliefs about nationalism? What is the role of
nationalism with regards to its early formation and its thrust for the future?
8. Are there such thing as Leftist, Centrist, Rightist kinds of Filipino nationalism? If there
are, where can they be traced in our history?
9. What is the importance of nationalism to our country coming from a centrists
perspective?
10. What is your reaction to Leonardo Mercados pronouncement on his book Applied
Filipino Philosophy (1988, pp. 9) that the concept of what is a Filipino is tied up with
the concept of nationalism which is more in the mind than in reality?
11. Are there any attempts by scholars to realize Filipino nationalism?
12. How do you differentiate nationalism from patriotism? Is the appreciation of Filipinos is
leaning towards Nationalism or Patriotism?
13. In which concept is CDP more aligned with? Nationalism or patriotism? Why?
14. Are there any strands, variations or classifications of nationalism? What are they? How
do they differ from each other?
15. In Amado Guerreros book on Philippine Society and Revolution, he argues that the
Philippine society is semi-colonial and semi-feudal. Do you think that this hinders the
development of Filipino nationalism or this a starting point for us to conceive nationalism?

109

16. What eventualities in our history that became sources or helped develop the Filipino
concept of nationalism?
17. What are the possible challenges encountered by Filipino nationalism today?
18. What are the breakthroughs or achievements brought by nationalism to our nation?
19. Is there any limitation/s to the full realization of Filipino nationalism?
20. How can a sense of nationalism shared by the Filipinos affect our state as a nation today?
21. Is Filipino nationalism affected by language barrier, cultural diversity and our physical
situation as an archipelago?
If Yes, how can we overcome this?
22. How is nationalism affected by international phenomenon such as: globalization and the
upcoming 2015 ASEAN integration?
23. Is the lack of nationalism among our politicians today a contributory factor behind the
issues like: graft and corruption?
24. In what ways is nationalism should be manifested today?
25. How can we further develop or cultivate our sense of nationalism?
26. How can you relate nationalism to communitarianism? In what way Filipino nationalism
is complementing and contradicting with communitarianism?
27. What would be the future potentials of Filipino nationalism?
28. Any comments or recommendations for more materials to be studied or resource persons
to be interviewed about Filipino nationalism.

110

APPENDIX C
Answers from Online Key Informant Interviews

111

Key Informant Interview Answers


Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism
Answered by National Commission for Culture and the Arts
1. Based on your past experiences, learnings and exposure, what is nationalism?
Nationalism pertains to an individuals attachment to a concept of a nation which
gives him/her a parcel of identification and a sense of belongingness.
2. Do you think nationalism is an ideology? Why Yes? Why No?
Nationalism is not an ideology, it is a value. Meanwhile, an ideology is a set of
values under a single theme that defines courses of action. You can be liberal,
conservative etc. without being nationalistic.
3. If NO, how can nationalism be an ideology? I dont think it needs to be an
ideology.
If YES, how important is nationalism as an ideology?
4. Is there really an existing Filipino nationalism? Why or why not? Filipino
nationalism is construed by Filipinos who identify themselves with the concept of
a Filipino nation.
5. If NO, is there a prospect for Filipino nationalism to have/conceptualize or
realize?
If YES, what are the significant events of Philippine history that had contributed
to the formation of the Filipino concept of nationalism?
Our common experience under colonial rule and martial law helped us formulate
our concept of a Filipino nation and how to advance and protect such concept.
6. Are there any attempts by scholars to realize Filipino nationalism? Yes, Jose
Abueva and Dodong Nemenzo are known political scientists who have studied on
this.
7. How do you differentiate patriotism from nationalism? Is the appreciation of
Filipinos is leaning towards Nationalism or Patriotism? Patriotism pertains to acts
resulting from the fervor belief or attachment to nationalism
8. Are there any strands, variations or classifications of nationalism? What are they?
How do they differ from each other? No, nationalism is a concept expressed by
various means.
9. What are the possible challenges encountered by Filipino nationalism today?
Globalization, disparities in social conditions, etc.
10. How can a strong sense of nationalism shared by the Filipinos affect our state as a
nation today? A stronger sense of nationalism may help in addressing social
issues.
112

11. Is Filipino nationalism affected by language barrier, cultural diversity and our
physical situation as an archipelago? Our differences in language, diversity in
culture, and geographical variations are factors in shaping Filipino nationalism. It
does not necessarily hinder us.
12. What are the sources of nationalism? Folk traditions, core Filipino values such as
being highly relational, etc.
13. Can nationalistic feelings arise from the existence of a common language and
customs, hatred against colonialism and a sense of consciousness and
belongingness to the nation? It may but it cannot. There are nations where
diversity in customs and languages bind them and marks their identity as a nation.
14. How is nationalism affected by international phenomenon such as: globalization
and the upcoming ASEAN Integration? These are challenges but this does not
necessarily mean that these denigrate nationalism. In turn, it might even elicit a
stronger sense of nationalism depending on how our people would respond to
these challenges.
15. How can a strong conception of nationalism among the Filipinos have an impact
in our situation as a nation today? We can do better now if we have a stronger
conception of nationalism
16. Is the lack of nationalism among our politicians today a contributory factor behind
the issues like: graft and corruption? It could be.
17. In what ways is nationalism manifested today? Sports and pop culture are
contemporary means of expressing nationalism
18. How can we further develop or cultivate our sense of nationalism? Returning to
our roots
19. What are the significant moves undertaken by NCCA in order to promote and
develop Nationalism among the Filipinos. By highlighting our heritage and
traditions, we cultivate a sense of identity, a sense of belongingness to a group, a
nation.
Answered by:
Charles Lawrence Salazar, MA in History
Member, Technical Working Committee on Historical Research
NCCA

113

Key Informant Interview Answers


Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism
Answered by Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines
1. Based on your past experiences, learning and exposures, what is nationalism?
Nationalism is a deep attachment to ones nation.
2. Do you think nationalism is an ideology? If Yes, Why? If No, Why?
Yes. It drives peoples consciousness to develop goals and act upon them.
3. If No, how can nationalism be an ideology?
If Yes, how important is nationalism as an ideology?
It can influence the way an individual sees his role in the development of his
country.
4. Is there really an existing Filipino nationalism?
If Yes, why do you say so?
If No, is there a prospect for Filipino nationalism to have conceptualized or
realized?
No. Filipinos are not nationalists. We have a divided consciousness when it comes
to seeing our country. We are more attached to our regions rather than to one
country. Yes, there can be but everybody has to have a stake at its formation.
5. If Yes to question #4, how would you describe Filipino nationalism today?
6. Do you think nationalism helped developed your personal political preference as a
centrist?
If Yes, how?
If No, what other factors that developed your political preference as a centrist?
I cannot gauge how nationalism influenced my preference. All I know is that I
have seen how patronage and personality politics have damaged the country and I
wanted to do something about it without resorting to mindless criticism of
government and mounting a bloody revolution.
7. What are your partys pronouncements and beliefs about nationalism? What is the
role of nationalism with regards to its early formation and its thrust for the future?
We do not have express statements that could easily be classified as nationalist.
Our party was formed on the belief that we are responsible for one another. This
responsibility is translated into the political field through our concepts of political
party reform, subsidiarity and autonomy.
8. Are there such thing as Leftist, Centrist, Rightist kinds of Filipino nationalism? If
there are, where can they be traced in our history?
No. I am not familiar with attaching another ideology to nationalism.
9. What is the importance of nationalism to our country coming from a centrists
perspective?
114

I do not know. For me, nationalism is abstract and I do not see it yet being
translated into a pragmatic political action.
10. What is your reaction to Leonardo Mercados pronouncement on his book
Applied Filipino Philosophy (1988, pp. 9) that the concept of what is a Filipino
is tied up with the concept of nationalism which is more in the mind than in
reality?
I think this is true. This relates to me answer to question 9.
11. Are there any attempts by scholars to realize Filipino nationalism?
If there are, I am not familiar. If there is one thing that I know about Filipino
scholars is that they live inside their heads most of the time. They are thinkers, not
really doers.
12. How do you differentiate nationalism from patriotism? Is the appreciation of
Filipinos is leaning towards Nationalism or Patriotism?
I cannot exactly differentiate one from the other, although from my opinion,
nationalism is more of the formal ideology and patriotism more of a feeling rather
than a set of conscious ideas. I think Filipinos are more patriotic rather than
nationalistic.
13. In which concept is CDP more aligned with? Nationalism or patriotism? Why?
I think we are more patriots rather than nationalists.
14. Are there any strands, variations or classifications of nationalism? What are they?
How do they differ from each other?
I am not familiar with these variations.
15. In Amado Guerreros book on Philippine Society and Revolution, he argues that
the Philippine society is semi-colonial and semi-feudal. Do you think that this
hinders the development of Filipino nationalism or this a starting point for us to
conceive nationalism?
I see this as a starting point.
16. What eventualities in our history that became sources or helped develop the
Filipino concept of nationalism?
If there is a time in our history that catalyzed the development of an identity, it
would be during the colonial period.
17. What are the possible challenges encountered by Filipino nationalism today?
Globalization and merging of identities.

18. Is there any limitation/s to the full realization of Filipino nationalism?


See answer to question number 17.

115

19. Is Filipino nationalism affected by language barrier, cultural diversity and our
physical situation as an archipelago?
If Yes, how can we overcome this?
Yes. Perhaps if we change the system from a highly centralized one to one that is
more accommodating of our differences, then maybe there is less need to cling so
strongly to them.
20. How is nationalism affected by international phenomenon such as: globalization
and the upcoming 2015 ASEAN integration?
These concepts make it harder to define what Filipino nationalism is.
21. Is the lack of nationalism among our politicians today a contributory factor behind
the issues like: graft and corruption?
No. I am an institutionalist. I believe that the wrong kinds of incentives are
embedded in our political system. It encourages plunder and does not reward
good behavior. Rational individuals respond to the right kind of incentives, hence,
a change in the system is in order.
22. Michael Hechter in his book Containing Nationalism (2000) pronounced that
there are 4 types of nationalism which are:
a. State building - to make a multicultural population culturally homogeneous
b. Peripheral a national determination by separating the nation from its host
state
c. Irredentist - a movement that involves subtracting the territory from one state
and adding it to another
d. Unification - a unification of a culturally homogeneous territory into a single
state
What type of nationalism based on Hechters typologies best describes Filipino
nationalism?
It does not. From the evasive definition of what Filipino nationalism is, Hechters
definition do not adequately describe it.
23. What would be the future potentials of Filipino nationalism?
I cannot determine what it cannot become if nobody has not even adequately
described what it is and what it once was.
24. Any comments or recommendations for more materials to be studied or resource
persons to be interviewed about Filipino nationalism.
Dr. Jose Abueva, perhaps?
Answered by:
Cristita Marie Giangan
National Chairperson
Centrist Democratic Youth Association of the Philippines

116

APPENDIX D
Monitoring Sheet

117

University of San Carlos


Department of Political Science
Center for Governance, Leadership, and Development
PoSc142CC Data Gathering and Analysis

MONITORING SHEET for DATA GATHERING


(this must be filled appropriately and submitted as scheduled along with Progress the Report; a copy must also be attached as annex to the final
technical report)

Name of Researcher

: Chad Michaell G Delima

Title of Thesis

: Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism

Date and Time

Location

Task/s or Activity

Sept 5, 2014

UP Lahug Campus,
Cebu City

Contacted Prof. Regletto


Imbong

Sept 11, 2014

Emailed a CDP leader


referred by Mr. Gilbert
Emano of CDP

Sept 11, 2014

Contacted Dr. Mojares


thru CSC-LRC officerin-charge

Sept 12, 2014

Contacted NCCA via


email

Jayford O. Powao

Remarks

Name and
Signature of
Office-in-Charge

Sept 15, 2014

UP Lahug Campus,
Cebu City

Interviewed Prof.
Regletto Imbong

See Prior
Informed
Consent Form

Sept 20, 2014

Cebuano Studies
Center, LRC
USC-TC

Interviewed Dr. Mojares

See Prior
Informed
Consent Form

Sept 25, 2014

Received the answers of


online KII from NCCA

Oct 2, 2014

Received answers of
online KII from CDP

Noted By:

Students Name and Signature:


Chad Michaell G. Delima

Instructor, POSC142CC

118

Jayford O. Powao

APPENDIX E
Informants Profile

119

Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism


Key Informants
Dr. Resil Mojares
Cebuano Studies Center, Learning Resource Center
University of San Carlos Talamban Campus
Professor Emeritus, USC
Founding Director of Cebuano Studies Center
Historian, Book Author, Lecturer

Prof. Regletto Imbong, MA in Philosophy


University of the Philippines
Lahug, Cebu City
Faculty Member, History Department, Philosophy Department and Political
Science Department
Former student leader and organizer
Specializes on History, Philosophy and Political Theory

Lawrence Charles Salazar, MA in History


National Commission on Culture and the Arts
Intramuros, Manila
Member, Technical Working Committee on Historical Research
Culture and Arts Officer, Secretariat to the National Committee on Southern
Cultural Communities
Specializes on Social Sciences, Asian Studies, History, Cultural Diplomacy

Cristita Marie Giangan, MPMD


Author, Contributor
Project Manager, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
Founding Member, Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines
National Chairperson, Centrist Democratic Youth Association of the Philippines
Founding Secretary General, Centrist Democratic Youth Association of the
Philippines
Specializes on Political Parties, Development Management, Institutional Politics

120

APPENDIX F
Transcriptions of the Key Informant Interviews

121

Transcript of the key informant interview with


Dr. Resil Mojares
September 20, 2014
Cebuano Studies Center, Learning Resource Center
University of San Carlos Talamban Campus
Chad: Sir, good morning! We are polsci students of USC. I am Chad Michaell Delima
and he is my partner Jayford Powao. We would like to have an interview with you about
our thesis entitled, Understanding the Filipino Concept of Nationalism.
Dr. Mojares: Sige pero ayaw lang dugaya kay naa pa pud koy tiwason kay mularga pa ko
balik sa Manila.
Chad: Mao lage sir lisud kaayo ka pangitaon.
Dr. Mojares: Mao lage.
Chad: So sir, our first question is based on your past experiences and exposure, what is
nationalism?
Dr. Mojares: Love of country. Common and general concept is usually the only way to
respond to it is muhatag ka ug statement such as love of country. It could relate to a
problem that is more specific that is if useful ba (nationalism). Kay unsa may nationalism
di ba love of country.
Chad: For you sir, is nationalism an ideology or is it just a plain belief lang?
Dr. Mojares: Yes I supposed you can call it an ideology.
Chad: So, if it is an ideology sir what do you think is its importance?
Dr. Mojares: You just take current events like Russia and the issues in Ukraine. Unsa
may driving force ana diba Communism or nationalism in fact in recent years nationalism
has become an important driving force. Like sa South China Sea, taking the case of
communist countries where their ideology is very prominent. The best examples are
communist and socialist countries kay their ideology is a driving force. Even today
nationalism appears to be a much important motivating force, di ba? In the case of China
and Russia di ba it appears much more nationalism is involved than socialism. There was
a time that nationalism was considered to be an achronistic. Ang the best book to read
ana in relation to the question is the book by Benedict Anderson Imagine Communities.
Some of the strongest arguments for nationalism kay naa man guy time especially
Western countries nga murag almost old fashioned nanang nationalism tungod sa
globalization, post-nationalism. Almost like nationalism is a thing of the past that has not
proved to be still an important force.
Chad: Sir, do you think Filipinos have existing sense of nationalism and how would you
describe it?
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Dr. Mojares: Yeah. Nationalism is an important factor in Philippine society. Of course it


is not peculiar to the Philippines kay wala paman gud ang nationalism in terms of being
reactive or gyera pananglitan kay strong kaayo ang nationalism but people do not feel
that there is a threat to our national identity.
Chad: Sir what is your reaction to Fr. Leonardo Mercados book that being a Filipino is
just like Filipino nationalism which is more in the mind than in reality? Do you confirm
ani sir?
Dr. Mojares: Yeah. Of course nationalism is a kind of idea it is simply not just an
abstraction it is something that permeates Philippine reality. Nganong mag barong
tagalog man ta or mu insist man ta of the use of local language. In many ways it can be
routinized but its everywhere. Ngano mukanta man kag Philippine national anthem? It is
like you dont even think about it but its like permeates local realities. Its just part of
day to day reality. An idea about whats going on in the governement, paying ones taxes.
If you are living outside the country you are somewhat detached to it but if you are living
inside the country its a matter of life and death. For example, magbaha sa inyo balay, or
theres a rise of criminlaity. You cant get away from the idea of nation. I dont think you
can get out of it. Its a part of day to day reality. Its not just like anything abstract. Can
you be detached by the state of education, the state of family that affects you personally?
Jayford: So sir, how do you differentiate nationalism from patriotism?
Dr. Mojares: Kanang patriotism is much more closer to the idea of love of country. Ang
nationalism in contrast to patriotism, as you suggested earlier mura siyag ideological
unlike patriotism pure emotion. The two are closely related to each other.
Chad: Sir, do you think there are classifications of nationalism? If there are what are
they?
Dr. Mojares: Of course we can always distinguish. Naay passive, naay active, naay
moderate, naay extreme. Daghang distinctions nga mahimo like dili magsuot kag barong
tagalog, does it make you nationalistic? Its a sign of nationalism which is external. Or
nationalistic ka nga committed to the nation. Naay uban sad nga dili gyud musulti ug
english. Those are kind of narrow nationalism. You make distinctions through forms of
expressing it external or by substance.
Chad: Sir, do you think there are such thing as centrist, rightist and leftist kinds of
nationalism?
Dr. Mojares: Yeah. For instance, in post 1970s katong the rise of the left, Vietnam War.
Mao man to ang situation nga polarized kaayo ang nationalism. Imbitahon gani ka mu
lecture nya musulti kag in-english murag mu apologize paka. Ideas like Bonifacio was
more of a hero than Rizal, in-ana ba murag polarized kaayo. I think today in many ways
we have gone beyond that position nga murag kind of either or or exclusivistic type of
nationalism. Karon much more on plural man. So there are politics behind how people
interpret nationalism.
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Jayford: Sir, what eventualities in history that helped develop the Filipino concepts of
nationalism?
Dr. Mojares: Basic ana is the understanding of basic history.
Chad: Sir what are the possible challenges encountered by Filipino nationalism today?
Dr. Mojares: I think economic factors will be important. For instance, what I said earlier,
the polarized situation in 1970s nga English versus Tagalog. The time when people will
frown to people who migrate abroad. In many ways, these are driven by economic
factors. There are resurgence of English for instance like mutrabaho ka sa call center ang
proficiency sa English is at the premium. That could be a problem but on the other hand,
I think we should not underestimate that becasue in-eninglish nya mutrabaho abroad it
makes a person less nationalistic. Ang economic factors will have an effect. The way you
deal with questions like that is one, you resist the idea nga naay answer to one question.
If naa kay answer, you have to think unsay counter ana.
Chad: Sir, do you think nationalism can be affected by our language barrier, cultural
diversity and our physical geography as an archipelago?
Dr. Mojares: It is an unavoidable situation that we have to work with. The question on
national language is still an unsettled subject being debated until now. We have to deal
with it as part of reality. Like Malolos Constitution, unsa may provision ato in terms of
national language? Gi avoid mana niadto and the Malolos Constitution retained the use of
Spanish language kay the reality was there was no one unifying language for the whole
country so for practicality and expediency, of course gi retain nila ang Spanish as the
official language. Pagka 1930s when the national language was adopted and Tagalog was
the national language. Again, there was a recognition nga naay daghang language. It does
not mean nga bisan multilingual ang society it cannot act as one. It can pose a certain
challenge and difficulty. Mao bitaw to nga there was a controversy during the time of
Governor Lito Osmena nga they tried to adopt nga ang national anthem must be sung in
Cebuano. Suko kaayo ang taga Manila. Naa man toy convention sa provincial governors
sa Cebu Plaza nya giimbitar ko nila nga musulti ko to explain in singing the national
anthem in Cebuano. Ingon ko sige. Although in the case of Lito Osmena pamulitika man
to kay he was about to run for president kay local autonomy is always the way local
politicians build their local bailiwicks by playing on the themes of local pride. You
cannot divorce that kind of politics. On the other hand, ang taga Manila sad kay
oversensitive kay overparochial daw ang mga Cebuano which was not very helpful sad.
Mao to nga ang katong pagsulti nako sa Cebu Plaza nga history sa Philippine national
anthem dili man siya gi limit lang sa pagkanta lang in Tagalog. It is something that is not
fixed. I said, there is nothing wrong in singing the Philippine national anthem in the
languages from Ilo-ilo, Maranao, Cebu. It would be subversive if maghimo kag imong
laing national anthem. Ingon ko di ba nindot paminawon people will sing a same song in
different languages? There could be unity in diversity. Pareho ang kanta tanan pero lahi
lang ang language nga gigamit. What would be unacceptable which is almost like
cessation nga magbuhat kag imong national anthem. The Institute of National Language
before was exclusivist in propagating Tagalog but karon much open sila. Karon they are
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also propagating Cebuano and other Philippine languages. The basic fact about language
is that if you have more languages you are culturally richer. Di man nimo dapat i
homogenize nga everything would be speaking in the same language. Its part of what
makes a society culturally rich. Its like you empoverish the national culture. The danger
sad is the extreme positions. Like sa UP naay mga scholars nga extreme sad ilaha nga
advocates sa pantayog pananaw ug musuwat sila ug article, as a rule dili jud na sila mu
cite ug source nga in english words. Sayunon ka ana? Dili siya mu cite ug works by a
Filipino nga mugamit ug English. So ang ilang bibliography, dili jud sila mu cite ug
works nga written in English. Extreme and narrow sad na nga kind of nationalism.
Kanang mga forms of being intolerant, exclusivistic and tribal nationalism taht is why the
dark people feel nga nationalism is an unhealthy and destructive force kay makita man sa
examples like the former Yugoslavia like the kind of intolerants like ISIS kanang either
or ba. That is when nationalism becomes an evil force when it insisits black and white
distinctions or either or. That what gives nationalism a bad name. People feel that
nationalism is like fundamentalism. Sa Philippines, when you go back to the time of
Rizal, ilang ideology was in order to build a national culture, you have to do 2 things: one
is you have appropriate foreign influences murag you enrich your cultural capital by
drawing from various parts of the world and at the same time you build from within local
traditions. So if naa kay imbalance, it is kind of a problem. If foreign imo tanan dili nimo
i build ang local resources then that becomes a problem. If isolation sad ka local-local
lang ka di ka mu kuha ug foreign that becomes a problem also.
Chad: Sir, how can nationalism be affected by globalization or the upcoming 2015
ASEAN integration?
Dr. Mojares: Kana that is interesting prospect. I doubt the idea of post-nationalism. The
idea in a sense that a nation is no longer important. I do not see that happening I cannot
imagine that happening. Migration for instance, naa man say forces nga ang mga taw
muadto sa laing countries. Ang nature sa atong migration is oversees contract workers
almost like ang ties nila sa Philippines are still very strong. It only represents a small
percentage nga ang mga dato mu migrate. Most Filipino migrants in many ways are
almost like they are still living in the Philippines but they are just working outside.
Kinahanglan nila mag remit ug kwarta, tan-aw ug The Filipino Channel, sige silag chat.
So, they are working somewhere else but for other intents and purposes, they have never
left the country. Filipino movie stars adto mag show didto, boxing adto i-held sa Dubai,
hapit tanan audience mga Filipino. So, on one hand the new media technology which is
supposed to be a factor for globalization but you have to look at the use of that media.
There may be national barriers but it could be a tool in maintaining national attachments.
To say that mu deminish ang national attachments becuase of that, I dont see that
happening. Sa scholarship wa kaayo ma research is one: the diaspora of overseas
migration as though nations are not that kind of important but tanawn nimo unsay type of
migration as to what extent that it has erased national boundaries. I dont think it will
happen. Or even the fact that naa kay internet, tanawn nimo giunsa paggamit ang internet
on the part of the users. Naay times nga dili kaayo ka conscious nga Filipino ka, naay
times nga conscious pud ka. Probably trabaho kag abroad and you can stand on your
own then your ties with your family would not be so strong kay dili naman ka padala ug
kwarta kay maayo pagkabutang imong family dili man ka mag worry kung naa bay
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pambayad sa eskuylahan, naa bay pambayad sa abang sa balay which you will not think
about home that much because wala naman kay obligations or ties. I dont see
nationalism diminishing in fact as Ive shared earlier nikusog nuon siya. Tanawn nimo
the past during Cold War communism versus democracy apparently its no longer things
are as before. Nations are thinking as nations.
Chad: Sir, how can you relate communitarianism with nationalism? How do they
contradict and complement with each other?
Dr. Mojares: I do not know how people define communitarianism but it is much more
localized and parochial than nationalism. It is usually used in reference to a more local
communities and inward looking than nationalism.
Chad: Lastly sir, what would be your recommendations for more materials to be studied
about Filipino nationalism? Like studies.
Dr. Mojares: Ben Andersons book is the best book to read. Because it is not all about
nationalism as general, in fact the Philippines is also an important part of that book. He
used the Philippines as an example although nationalism as a global phenomenon. That is
the most useful book because it is specific about nationalism itself as an ideology.
Chad: Sir thank you kaayo sa imong time and magpa sign nalang mi ug form for
documentation namo sir.
Jayford: Thank you kaayo sir ha?
Dr. Mojares: Yes. Kana kang Ben Anderson nga book nindot na basahon ninyo.
Chad: Thank you, sir.
END
Interviewers:
Chad Michaell G. Delima
AB POSC PTS 4

Jayford O. Powao
AB POSC PTS 4

Respondent:
Dr. Resil Mojares
Cebuano Studies Center, LRC
USC

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Transcript of the key informant interview with


Prof. Regletto Imbong
September 15, 2014
UP Lahug, Cebu City
Jayford: Sir, allow us to introduce our names. Ako si Jayford Powao sir and ako partner si
Chad Michaell Delima, we are 4th year students of the University of San Carlos taking up
Political Science Major In Political Theory and Systems.
Chad: So, shall we start na, sir?
Prof. Imbong: Ato jud i-elaborate tanang questions?
Chad: Yes, sir. So sa first question, sir based on your past experiences how will you
define nationalism?
Prof. Imbong: English ta or bisan unsa ra?
Jayford : Ok ra bisaya sir itranscribe raman gihapon namo.
Prof. Imbong: So, sa pag tan-aw nako sa set of questions ninyo, ang pinakalisud nga
question kay kining unsa ang nationalism. Karon pako kapangutana sa ako kaugalingon
kung unsa mn jd diay ning nationalism. So, base sa ako nahibaw-an ug nasinatian ug
experiences, ang maingon nako is ang nationalism usa ni siya ka consciousness diin nay
consciousness of the people nga they are one in identity. Pinaagi sa nationalism matino or
ma define ang identity sa usa ka grupo sa taw. Tungod kay consciousness ni siya, naa ni
siyay mga gibasehan nga mga material conditions. Mao to siya ang point nga
consciousness siya isip usa ka nasud nga ato kinahanglan nga paga depensaan.
Chad: Next sir. Do you think nationalism is an ideology?
Prof. Imbong: Since nationalism is a consciousness, yes it is an ideology if gamiton nato
ang Marxist historical materialism. Consciousness is influenced by matter not matter by
consciousness. So why nationalism emerged because also of material differences in
society. For example, struggle. Ato paundan unsa ni ang struggle based on historical
perspective nagsugod ni cya against foreign domination against Spaniards. Naay
nasyonalismo tungod sa mga konkretong panagbangi nga mga struggles nga ni exist
niadtong colonial period diin nakamugna ni siya ug usa ka consciousness or ideology sa
mga taw nga kinahanglan nila palagputon nga kinahanglan nila pahawaon ang mga
Espanyol kini pinaagi lamang sa usa ka nationalist revolution.
Chad: So next sir, how important is nationalism as an ideology?
Prof. Imbong: Una, kinahanglan siya kay pinaagi sa nationalism madefine nato ang
identity sa group of people dili siya ingon bitaw nga uncertain siya nga unsa siya.
Ikaduha, aside from definition nga mu define siya, ang nationalism usab mu create siya
ug strong unity. Gani si Renato Constantino ni mention man siya nga ang national
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revolution sa mga nasud mao ang instance sa kasaysayan diin strongly united ang mga
katawhan. Kung diin asa nay national liberation movement naa say nationalism ang mga
katawhan. So, nakita nga tungod sa nationalism nay panaghiusa sa katawhan. Ikatulo, kay
naa man siyay panaghiusa, naa siyayy Makita or ma foresee niya ang threats sa unity
nila or ma pinpoint nila kinsa ang enemy nga maoy endangering the unity or the
nationalism that they had established. So mao to ang tulo ka punto seguro. Muhatag siya
ug definition, muhatag siya ug unity ug ikatulo mu set siya sa parameter kung kinsa ang
threat or kinsa ang enemy at a particular point in time.
Jayford: Next question sir. Naa man juy debate sir ba whether naa ba juy ni exist nga
nationalism or not what is your take on this sir?
Prof. Imbong: Sa akoa, muingon ko naa nga nay nag exist nga Filipino nationalism which
is basically nag teach pud kog history, ma trace nato ang development of nationalism sa
Philippines. Prior to 1898 revolution, ang konsepto sa nationalism medyo gikan sa wala
or hilaw or lapsaw pa kayo or wala pa naluto. Si Rizal man ang unang nigamit sa term
nga Filipinos nga mu mean na siya sa mga natives gyud sa mga karaang indios nga
gitawag sa mga Espanyol. Pinaagi sa revolution, didto nagsugod ang nationalism nga ako
gipasabot. Nagpadayun ug wala naputol although naay time nga ang revolution ni hinay
or ni wane tungod sa bourgeoise opportunism, pero eventually gipadayun siya based pa ni
Constantino nga anonymous masses nga maoy ni push forward sa history ug sa karon kini
nga nationalism which I will call the nationalism nga gilunsad sa grupo sa National
Democratic Movement kay nihisgut man mo diri sa libro ni Amado Guerrero nga PSR.
Kini nga nationalism gi trace pud ni ni Amado Guerrero nga gikan sa rebolusyon ni
Bonafacio hangtud sa nagpadayun nga rebolusyon karon. Kani nga nationalism ang
akong gi mean. Although naa puy nationalism nga gi introduce ang mga liberals dili ang
liberal party ha kundi katong mga guided by liberal ideology. Ilang nationalism is
nasyonalismo nga nagrecognize siya nga naa tay identity pero wala magrecognize nga gi
threaten ta sa usa ka foreign power. So, mao seguro ni ang duha ka klaseng nationalism
nga ma pinpoint nato nga existing diri sa atong nasud. Nationalism nga gi define ni
Amado Guerrero ug liberal nationalism nga - wala lang I am a Filipino pero unsa man?
Unsa man ato angay buhaton as Filipino? Kana mao na siya ang dili pa nila matino nga
tubag.
Jayford: Next sir is what are the significant events in Philippine history that helped
develop the Filipino concept of nationalism?
Prof. Imbong: Kung magsugod ta sa precolonial period, wala gyud toy nationalism grabe
ka regionalistic ang Filipinos nga ang only region nga naka attain ug unity was the
Mindanao paman. Then na under ta sa Spanish colonial period nga nakamugna ug dili
strong nga nationalism. Gani naa pa gani packets of revolts no sama nila ni Dagohoy ug
mga panghitabo sa Bohol ug sa Cebu pero kini sila sporadic pa dili pa siya ingon
nationally united. Until naay movements nga gilunsad. First, ang secularization
movement nga gilunsad sa mga seculars. Gani ang mga ilado kayo nato ani sila si
Gomez, Burgos ug Zamora and then gisundan sa reform movement nila ni del Pilar,
Rizal. Kini sila mao ang binhi or seeds of nationalism diri sa Philippines diri gigamit ni
Rizal ang term nga Filipinos para sa mga dating indios nga tawag sa ato sa mga
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Espanyol. Ang Filipinos hinayhinay nga na aware sa ilang national identity. Ang mga
seeds or binhi nahinug ni siya or na full ang iyang pagkahimugso panahon sa 1898 nga
revolution sa mga Katipuneros. Gihinganlan man nato ug national democratic revolution
unya old type lang because influenced by liberal bourgeois ideology and French
Revolution ilaha pa gusto kay himuong kapitalista ang Pilipinas. Mao ni ang mga
naunang historical events nga eventually nag push sa formation sa Filipino concept of
nationalism. Mu-further pako?
Chad: Cge sir.
Prof. Imbong: Human sa 1898 revolution, formally nahuman to siya after the pact of Biak
na Bato diin gibaligya ni Aguinaldo ang rebolusyon ngadto sa mga Espanyol diin na exile
sila didto sa Hong Kong uban sa iyang mga generals. Bisan pa man mipadayun ang pipila
ka mga rebolusyonaryo sa pagbatok sa mga Espanyol. Eventually naay pag intervene ang
US, nibalik ang grupo ni Aginuinaldo and to make the long story short, nibalik diri ang
US. Dunay mga pipila ka mga grupo nga ang resistance nila nibag-o ang nature imbis nga
anti Spanish karon anti American na which resulted to the Filipino American war from
1899-1902, tungod sa aggression sa US napahinay ni niya nga resistance pero naa
gihapoy nagpabilin nga nationalism. Unsay proof nato nga naay kusug nga sense of
nationalism diri sa Pilipinas panahon sa Amerikano? Naay daghang mga balaod nga gi
implement ang mga Americans para pagsugpo sa nationalism. For example, ang Flag
Law nga dili ka angay mag wagayway sa bandera sa Pilipinas panahon sa Amerikano kay
punishable by death na. Pwede kang patyon kay subersibo ka w aka mu recognize sa
supreme authority sa America. Naa pay mga dili pagsuporta sa mga grupo nga naglunsad
ug national liberation movements ug gi branded ni sila sa mga Amerikano as tulisan nga
mga grupo para pagpahinay or pagdegrade rather aning mga grupoha apan bisan paman,
ang mga masang Pilipino nisalmot aning mga grupoha. So, nagpadayun until mga 19201930s naay kusug nga labor movement ug niresulta ni siya sa pagka establish sa Partido
Komunista ng Pilipinas niadtong Nov. 30, 1930 nga gi found ni Crisanto Evangelista.
Kini nagpamatuod nga ang labor movement nisukod ug naa pud ni siya anti-imperialist
nga orientation kay Marxist-Leninist mani siya nga grupo. Mas nakita nato nga niining
yugto sa kasaysayan mas naundan ang konsepto nato sa nationalism pinaagi sa pag
supplement sa mga ideya nila ni Marx ug Lenin. Diri gihinayhinay na ug interpret ang
atong katilingban nga gi exploit by the foreign powers to be specific by US imperialism.
Mao na kinahanglan nga mag wage ug national liberation movement until such time nga
na priso si Crisanto Evangelista, nikusog ang labor movement batok sa gobernong US.
Nisud ang mga Hapon, kabalo man ta nga way interes ang US nga mudepensa sa
Pilipinas mao to nga si McArthur niari siya nibiya pud so pinaagi sa PKP namugna sad
ang grupong HUKBALAHAP nga nibatok laban sa mga Hapon. Usa pud ni siya ka
nationalist movement. Nakita nato diri nga usa pud ni siya ka anti-fascist grupo kay grabe
man ang fasismo sa panahon sa mga Hapon. So, naglunsad pud ni siya ug guerrilla nga
pakig-gubat ug naka angkon nga dagko nga mga kadaugan ug nakamugna siya mga mga
pang goberno sa ubang lalawigan nga na liberated from Japanese government. Pagbalik
sa mga Amerikano dinhi sa Pilipinas nausab na pud ang orientation sa pakig gubat sa
mga HUKBALAHAP. So, giusab pud nila ang ilang pangalan, HMB o Hukbong
Mapagpalaya ng Bayan. Nilunsad ug mga anti imperialista nga pakig gubat against sa
mga Amerikano. We know sa pag July 4, 1946 gi grant ang bogus independence base pa
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ni Amado Guerrero kay dili man kuno kadto tiunay nga independence kay kadto siya
gipangandaman na nga ang political machinery sa Pilipinas patterned and submissive sa
US dictates. After that, ang PKP-HMB nipadayun until mga 1960s nikusug pud ang
student movements ug adunay say mga student leaders nga nakaapil sa PKP ug didto
gipangutana sila sa mga senior leaders and members sa PKP unsa para nila and dagan sa
PKP ug didto daghan ang pagsaway ang gihimo ang mga junior members nga wa ganahi
ang senior leaders ug niresulta sa pagka siak ug ang mga junior leaders eventually
nipadagan ug usa ka rectification movement sa PKP. Ug formally by December 26, 1968,
ang PKP mailhan na siya as CPP-MLM gidugang si Mao Tse-Tung. Mao nani siya ang
re-established Communist Party of the Philippines diin gisaway na ang mga kasaypayan
ni Taruc ug uban pa. So, nagpadayun na siya ug ang CPP-MLM sa pagkakaron nga
yugto, ni wage gihapon ug liberation against US imperialism and the local forms of
oppression and exploitation. So mao to siya ang dagan sa kasaysayan sa dagway sa
nasyonalismo. Mao nga gi claim sa left movement nga ang rebolusyon karon is basically
a resumption of the unfinished revolution of Bonifacio. Mao na ang ilahang ginakuptan
nga pride.
Jayford: Sige sir and next question sir is, are there any attempts by scholars to realize
Filipino nationalism?
Prof. Imbong: Para nako, naa. Duh aka ngalan ang akoang mahatag. Para nako, sila ang
unang ni clarify sa concepts of nationalism. Mga historians ni sila, una si Renato
Constantino diin gi recognize niya nga prior to 1950s, ang historiography sa Pilipinas kay
colonial ang orientation. Naa siyay term nga gigamit colonial scholars. Si Renato
Constantino niawhag siya sa pag rewrite sa history from the point of view of the masses
para ma underline diha ang nationalist movement of the masses dili kasaysayan nga nga
glorify lang sa mga individual heroes and individual events in history nga wala man gani
pagtahi sa relasyon sa individual events of history sa nahitabo gyud nga kasaysayan. Ang
iyang introduction sa iyang book kay towards the Filipino history gitino niya nationalistic
ang dapat nga pagtudlo sa kasaysayan sa Pilipinas. Unya gi supplementan pud kini ni
Teodoro Agoncillo, nga ang kalihukan sa mga Pilipino maoy primary nga gitan-aw dili
kasaysayan nga naka base sa mga sinulat sa mga dating nag kolonisa sa Pilipinas sama sa
Espanyol ug Amerikano. Pero dapat sad nato iapil diay si Rizal as a scholar. Dghan
siyang sinulat nga nag emphasize sa nationalism sama sa Amoro Patrio diin nag awhag
siya sa paghigugma sa kaugalingong nasud. Maapil pud nato diha si Amado Guerrero.
Jayford: Difference between nationalism and patriotism, sir.
Prof. Imbong: Ako mu-consider ko sa akong kaugalingon nationalist ug sukad pa nga
estudyante ko, wala ko mag emphasize sa ako social involvement as patriotism but rather
nationalism. Para nako, if muhisgot kag nationalism gud, mas forceful siya nga termino
tungod kay embodiment siya sa pakigbisug sa mga Pilipino against foreign oppression
and local exploitation. Ang patriotism is simplistic ra kaayo siya nga term paghigugma
lang sa nasud nga igo ra murespeto sa bandila ug balaod. Apan ang nationalism mu
question siya sa balaod tungod kay nakita niya nga ang maong mga balaora maoy
hinungdan diin ang mga sovereignty for example ginatamakan na or gina trample na.
Patriotic ang tawo ang muhigugma sa balaod like EDCA kay sakop kini sa balaod sa
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Pilipinas apan ang nationalista mu question siya kay aware siya nga kini usa ka
mekanismo sa imperyalismong US nga makasud gawas napud diri ang ilang mga tropa
diri ug mas madungagan ilang presence dinhi sa Pilipinas. So, kana ang differentiation
nato sa duha.
Jayford: Next sir katong strands of nationalism.
Prof. Imbong: Nakamention naman ko ani although wala kaayo koy research about
strands of nationalism in the Philippines pero ma boil down nako sa duha sa kadtong
national democratic nationalism ug liberal side. Ang national democratic movement
gitino nila nga ang Philippines biktima sa US imperialism, local feudalism ug bureaucrat
capitalism. Ang sa liberal nationalism they recognize the Philippines and they even
recognize that we have genuine independence and in fact they also recognize that politics,
economics and culture in the Philippines are very much of its own therefore independent
ta. Ang sa national democratic nga side, no we do not have genuine independence so we
have to wage national liberation movement. So, mao to siya ang duha ka strands of
nationalism. So the question is, as aka sa duha na belong? Ang mu-celebrate sa June 12
or ang mu-martsa sa kadalanan kay ang June 12 dili pa gyud hingpit nga expression sa
independence.
Jayford: Is there such a leftist kind of nationalism?
Prof. Imbong: I already clarified it earlier nga naay leftist jud nga kind of nationalism.
Kadtong nag follow sa national democratic line of thought kay daghan man karon ang
lines sama sa social democratic, liberal democratic. So, ang gi mean nako ani nga left is
katong national democratic nga line identified nga grupo nga nag rekognisa nga ang tulo
ka batakang problema sa Pilipinas are: US imperialism, feudalism, bureaucrat capitalism
ug gi analisa nila ang katilingban as semi colonial and semi feudal. So ma trace nato ni
sila sa history and they pride themselves as the ones who continued the unfinished
revolution of Bonifacio. Earlier, ako gi tino ngano makaingon sila nga sila ang nag
resume tungod kay naa may linya although naay panahon nga pino na kayo ang linya
pero nagpadayun pa gihapon ang resistance sa liberation movement until eventually
nilapad napud ni ug balik ug naay mga kasaypanan ug pagtul-id nga gimugna pero wala
gyud maputol ang linya nila ni Bonifacio hangtud sa kining gitawag nato nga leftist
Filipino nationalism.
Jayford: In Amado Guerreros book, does the statement that the Philippines is a semifeudal and semi colonial society helped conceive the Filipino concept of nationalism?
Prof. Imbong: Yes and No. Yes because in a semi colonial and semi feudal setup,
nimugna siya ug us aka kultura nga imperialist ug usa ka kultura nga colonial. Kita man
sa atong culture kung giunsa ta pag raise nga mu worship ta and we glorify US because
of the culture nga gimugna sa semi-feudal and semi-colonial setup, mas gipalabnaw niya
sa mga taw ang konsepto sa nationalism gi recognize man nuon niya nga ang US is an
ally pero tungod sa semi feudal and semi colonial setup, dunay pipila nga hinayhinay nga
ni recognize nga ang US dili diay ally kundi maoy unang kaaway sa katawhang Pilipino.
Muingon pud ko ug No, kay tungod mu motivate siya ug anti-colonial nga movement
131

which a movement that has already started a long ago. A movement that will assert
Filipino sovereignty against US imperialism.
Jayford: The possible challenges sir encountered by Filipino nationalism today.
Prof. Imbong: Daghan gyud ni siya. Una, ang problema sa kultura tungod kay ang kultura
nato maka-US or colonial culture. Kini nga kultura maoy ginapreserve pinaagi sa colonial
education, colonial media, colonial scholarship. So, tungod niini lisud apan challenging
ang national liberation movement mao gani si Jose. Ma. Sision nanawagan sa kabatanunan nga mulusad ug second propaganda movement. Silang Rizal nakalusad sila ug
propaganda movement so ang mga kabatan-unan karon angay sab mulusad ug
propaganda movement diin sama sa ilang Rizal ipakita nila ang kulturang bulok, ang
kulturang maka-US ug iintroduce ang bag-ong klase nga kultura nga can be summarized
into three concepts: A culture that is scientific. A culture that is nationalist. And a culture
that is mass oriented makamasa nga kultura.
Jayford: How can a strong sense of nationalism shared by Filipinos affect our society
today?
Prof. Imbong: Ang atong estado karon grabe ka divided. Daghan kaayong conflict
nahitabo. Dili ta magkahiusa sama sa hisgutanan sa pagtratar sa China nga nag angkon ug
daghang teritoryo nga parte sa atoa. Pinaagi sa usa ka nationalism nga ma share sa mga
Pilipino, ang atong mga aspirations mausa dili mag bulag-bulag kay lisud man kayo kung
amanglahi atong desisyon nga dili nato matino nga kinsa ang primary nga kaaway ug
kinsay secondary sama kang Mao nga concept. Balik sa akong example, kining maong
conflict (against China) dili pani mao ang nanguna nga conflict kay pwede mani siya
maresolba sa diplomatic nga means. Si Sison ni mention nga pwede nato ni isang-at sa
international nga korte ato sangpiton ang UNCLOS. Then, dili paman gyud necessary nga
hostile ang atong approach sa China. Ug maklaro pud nato ngari kung unsay role sa US
sa pag intervene niya sa conflict nato sa China kay mismo si Obama ni recognize nga naa
silay economic alliance with China so lisud kayo sa kind nga culture karon, gihatagan ta
ug pagtuo nga ang America andam mu depensa sa Pilipinas kung naay antagonistic nga
panagbangi tali sa China ug Pilipinas. Balik ko sa point nako, importante kaayo ang
shared nga nationalist orientation para ang atong interpretation and analysis and decisions
and strategies magkahiusa sad dili managlahi.
Jayford: Is Filipino nationalism affected by language barrier and cultural diversity and
our physical situation as an archipelago?
Prof. Imbong: Yes maapektohan siya pero it is not a hindrance. To the point nga through
barriers (language and geographic) seemingly unity is difficult. However, if tun-an pagayo ang kini nga kahimtang we could think of better strategies on how to overcome these
weaknesses. For example, kung atoang I focus ang national democratic movement, they
have been waging revolution for 45 years. Ngano dugay? Tungod ba na sa geographic
conditions? Mutubag sila ana nga dili kay walay kalisdanan kana. Although gi specify na
ni Amado Guerrero nga specific character na ang pagka archipelagic nato ug mahimo
kini nga palambuon ug himuong kusug or strength nato. Tungod sa archipelagic situation
132

nato, the enemy dispersed kaayo siya to different island. Despite that, ang national
democratic movement nilungtad siya despite sa barriers. The point is we must learn to
overcome these barriers or weaknesses and study for better strategies nga dili ta
malimitahan sa challenges sa language ug geographic barriers.
Chad: Next question, sir. What are the sources of nationalism?
Prof. Imbong: Base on conditions on how we came up to our nationalism, balik ko sa
historical materialism ni Marx, consciousness is influenced by matter and not matter by
consciousness. Granting that nationalism is an ideology which is a part of the
superstructure, ang source niya is the material. So if we talk about material conditions,
economic jud na siya. The ownership and the relationship of the means of production,
kinsa raman ang nabulahan sa kasamtangang nga relasyon sa produksyon ug kaning mga
objective nga exploitation nga inherent sa kasamtangan nga means of production. Tungod
niini, mumugna na siya ug us aka nationalist consciousness nga kung I-contextualize nato
sa atong current situation nakamugna siya ug anti-imperialist consciousness which is
really nationalist. Apan dili siya ultra-nationalist kay man jud siya nationalism ang
endpoint niya kundili internationalism, which is aboilition of exploitation in a worldwide
scale.
Jayford: Does nationalist feelings arise from the existing of common language, customs?
Prof. Imbong: Seguro kining common language ug customs dili kaayo ni siya essential
para maka generate tag nationalistic feelings. Makita man nato sa kasaysayan ug sa
kasamatangang kahimtang naa man gihapon nasyonalismo bisan nagkalahilahi atong
lingwahe. Gani tungod sa pagka lahilahi sa atong customs, nagamit nato ni siya tungod
kay matahi man nato ang nagkalahi-lahing dagway sa US imperialism sa Pilipinas.
Because we are coming from diverse cultures, exploitation is also coming from diverse
forms. Sa nationalism, gitahi siya kay gi analyze ang different forms of exploitation ug
naay unifying thread ug na raise ni siya sa topic nga anti-imperialism. Ang kining anticolonial consciousness muingon ko nga essential ni siya nga maka generate siya ug
nationalistic feelings.
Jayford: Next sir is how nationalism can be affected by globalization and ASEAN
integration in 2015?
Prof. Imbong: Specific lang ko sa education. Part sa usa ka article nga ako nabasa nga
gisuwat ni Isagani Cruz, gitino niya pag argue nga ang Pilipinas nag-apas sa duha ka
dagko nga integrations. First is karong 2015 ASEAN integration ug inig 2020 naa pud tay
lain nga giapas nga integration but nalimot lang ko sa name kung unsa to siya. Part ani
nga integration is ang pagstandardize sa education. So, dapat nga ang basic education naa
siyay 11 years nga cycle. Ang pagdugang ug 1 year or 2 years nga ni first arouse ni siya
niadtong 2008 nga ari sa college nalang idungag. Apan nakita nila nga if sa college
idungag, me delayed nasad sila kay 2008 gud to. So if sa college pa nila idungag so gikan
sa mga nag first atong mga panahona 2008 so 4 years plus 4 years pud nga college so 8
years na tanan one year delayed na siya. So, nakita nila nga dapat idungag nila dili sa
college kay kung sa college nato idungag late na atoang estudyante. Dili na makaabot sa
133

ASEAN integration so nakita nila nga anha ibutang sa basic education ang pagdungag ug
2 years. So, unsay epekto ani? Dako kaayo. Una sa tanan kung hisgotan ang curriculum
dapat standardized siya, tungod sa reform sa basic education naka apekto pud ni sa amo
sa higher education. Sama niini ang pagwagtang sa Filipino language. Ang Filipino
language nga atong gikonsidera nga national language usa siya ka aspect nga maka unify
sa katawhan. Gahatag pud ni siya ug identity sa katawhan. Sa pagwagtang niini, sa us aka
aspeto sa atong identity, murag giwagtang sad sa curriculum ang pag-gamit sa Filipino
language sa pagtudlo sa Filipino. Usa pud although sa UP rani siya, ang pag relegate sa
Rizal course as a general education course. Ubang schools is general education man jud
na ang Rizal pero sa UP major jud na siya PI 100 or PI 101 gihatagan ni siya ug
importance kay diri man nato matun-an ang mga teachings ni Rizal. Tungod sa ASEAN
integration himuon nalang siyang general education course. Dili an siya major nga tun-an
gyud sa estudyante. So, mao na siya sa side sa education. Maka ask pud ta unsang klase
nga estudyante ang mamugna sa K+12 nga sistema sa edukasyon? Pulong pa ni Armin
Luistro, let us make highschool as the terminal point of education. Meaning, terminal last
na siya. Dili na necessary nga mag college pa. By declaring that gi establish nila nga ang
highschool is already enough for someone to be employed mao na ilang argument. Ang
question niini unsa man diay nga klaseng estudyante ang ato iproduce sa atong
educational system? Dili pag degrade sa technical vocational courses, but kini nga
courses prone to exploitation gyud ni sila kay wala gud ni degree ug walay gihatag nga
assurance nato ang gobyerno ngaa if senior graduate ka considered as college graduate
naka pero wala man siya mu consider ana ug wala siya mu consider nga degree holder ka
which means to say ang atong products (from educational system) are just a reservoir of
cheap labor kay barato nga mabayaran ni sila kay wala man silay degree. So ma exploit
sila ug maayo ug kung ato ni siya I connect sa ASEAN integration, movement of labor
mas madali kuno makapadala ta sa laing nasud, mao gihapon ang orientation sa k+12 is
labor export policy. Padayun nga pag export sa atong labor sa pagtubag sa
panginahanglanon sa mga langyaw nga nasud. Dili pud ni siya edukasyon nga magtubag
sa objective needs sa Pilipinas. Dako siya ug epekto ang ASEAN integration or
globalization in general sa Pilipinas. Dugay naman ni ang globalization nahitabo kining
gitawag nato nga liberalization or neo-liberalism diin open borders, wala nay barriers and
restrictions sa flow sa capital or sa flow sa goods and services sa laing countries. So,
kining ASEAN integration magdungag pa gyud ni siya sa dugay na nga pagtamak sa
atong nationalism diri sa Pilipinas.
Jayford: Is a lack of nationalism among our politicians are behind the issues of graft and
corruption, etc.
Prof. Imbong: oo muingon ko nga naay pagkulang sa atong mga burokrata or mga
politico kay taphaw ang ilang pagsabot sa nationalism para lang maka himog balaod,
projects. Ang pangutana para kang kinsang balaoda or projects? So, wala ma consider if
kining mga butanga long term ba ang mahatag niini para sa Pilipinas. Or kining balaoda
gamiton lang sad mismo nila para maka further enrich themselves. Gihinganlan ni ni
Guerrero bureaucrat capitalism kanang using the bureaucracy as a form of business.
Jayford: Sir, how is nationalism must be manifested today?
134

Prof. Imbong: Daghan nga nagkalain lain nga manifestasyon. Sama niana ang mga
simplistic nga mga pamaagi sama sa mga bata sa elementary nga gitudloan ug Lupang
Hinirang nga mu stand straight, mubutang sa ilang kamot sa dughan a form of
nationalism naman na matud pa sa liberal burgeosie orientation. Apan mas naa pay mga
tag-as nga porma nga manipestasyon sa nationalism. Kasagaran niini expressed
militantly. Ang mu express ani mao ang mga militante nga mga indibidwal diin ang ilang
orientation sa nationalism is national democratic. Example, ang pagsulong sa mga league
of Filipino students sa US embassy ug didto gi deface nila ang seal sa US embassy. Sa
tawo nga gikan sa liberal nga orientation miingon sila nga barbaric or vandalism,
samoksamok ug daghan pa siya ug description ani apan kung ato tanawn gyud ang
substance ini nga demonstration, nagpakita kini sa pagrehistro sa kalagot ug kapungot sa
mga kabatanonan sa dugay na nga pagtamak sa imperyalismong US sa atong soberanya
pero tungod sa iyang kagamhanan, iya lang gipaagi ang iyang pagsupak pinaagi sa
pagdaot sa selyo niya sa embahada sa Manila. Duh aka examples ako gihatag pero
essentially ang punto niya naay nationalism nga soft ug naa poy hardline sama adtong
militant way of expressing nationalism.
Chad: Last sir, how can we further develop our sense of nationalism?
Prof. Imbong: From a teachers perspective, dapat nga naa gyuy changes sa curriculum
no. For example, pag dugang sa courses sa social sciences nga dugang mupasabot sa
nationalism. Ikaduha, ang pagreview sa mga libro nga nikuyanap karon sa academe.
History nga libro sa akoa lang opinion, gisulat lang para maka ginansya ang author. Ato
tanawn, author siya history book author pud siya sa logic nga book, author pud siya sa
polsci nga book, dapat ato questionon nga if magsuwat siyag history, specialization ba
gyud na niya or unsa iyang orientation. Dapat tinuon kini sa mga hingtundan nga agency
sama sa CHED kay daghan man mga teachers nga naggamit aning mga libroha kay sayun
sabton dili pud makadala ug hasol sa ilaha. Kay kung adto pud ka sa mga hardcore nga
libro sama nila ni Constantino, lisud sad kaayo sabton apan essential kaayo ang ila mga
arguments. Mao na usahay taphaw pud ang estudyante tungod kay ang mga libro nga
gigamit taphaw pd kaayo sa tanan. Mga libro nga wala ta kahibalo unsay rason nila ngano
gasuwat sila atong mga libroha. Lastly, mapakusug nato atong nationalism pinaagi sa
pag-gamit nato sa termino sa mga aktibista, nga pag arouse, organize ug mobilize. Pag
arouse kay pukawon ang masa, kaestudyantihan. Sa pagpukaw nila ipasabot ang
sitwasyon sa atong katilingban sa atong Pilipinas ug soberanya. Ato sila nga organisahon
aron dili kita mabiktima sa stratehiya sa kaaway nga mu divide and conquer. Labaw sa
tanan atong i-mobilize ang masses for an anti-imperialist mass movement. Dinhi lamang
nato mapaseguro nga ang atong nasyonalismo genuine ug tinuod nga nagdepensa ug nagalagas sa interes sa Pilipinas.
Jayford: Pwede ka mu give namo ug suggested readings sir ba for the study of
nationalism? Works of scholars nga magamit namo sir.
Prof. Imbong: Naa naman moy PSR diri inyo naman gi mention diri diba?
Jayford: Yes sir.
135

Prof. Imbong: Kuan, Struggle for Nationalism and Democracy by Jose Ma. Sison. 175
pesos rana siya nag order pud ko ana sa Institute for Nationalist Studies. I-email ninyo
sila kay naa pud sila mga suggestions about ana. Pwede pud ninyo tunan ang argument ni
Sonny Africa ang executive director sa IBON Foundation ang iyang concepts sa
nationalist economics.
Jayford: Ang work ni Constantino sir?
Prof. Imbong: Ang work ni Constantino kanang The Philippines: A past revisited. History
gyud ni siya hinuon dili nationalism ang iya gina tackle apan klaro unsang klase nga
nationalism iyaha dili exquisite nga nationalism ang iyang punto but implicit sa usa ka
work nga mass oriented nga nationalism. Also, Epifanio San Juan, Jr. daghan kaayo na
siyag libro ug sources for nationalism. Pwede via Rizal, naa siyay Rixal in our time ug
nindot ang iyang concept ni Rizal. Didto nausab pud ang akong orientation kay kung
hardcore left ka, awayon si Rizal pero didto gi argue niya nga dili gyud dapat buy-an si
Rizal kay kung gigamit siya sa US, pwede pud nato siya gamiton. Daghan pud gyud ug
progressive works si Rizal nga wala gyud ma publish or if na publish man gani wala gyud
mahatagi ug interpretasyon nga makatabang sa kalihukan sa nationalism. Ang iyang point
didto, gamiton nato both si Rizal and Bonifacio para ma strengthen nato ang atong
nationalist movement. Daghan pa na siya, naa pud na siyay Only By Struggle nakapalit
ko sa Filipiniana section sa Book Sale 40 pesos. Ang nindot sa Filipiniana kay usa ra ila
section dili naka matagbaw ug ukay.
Jayford: Booksale sa SM sir?
Prof Imbong: Sa Parkmall nga booksale ko. Kana si San Juan daghan na siyag inputs.
Jayford: Buhi pa na siya, sir?
Prof Imbong: Oo buhi pana gikan siya sa UP Diliman nya nag nag-Harvard. Literature
jud na siya literally ang iya approach. Kana sila.
Jayford: Thank you kaayo sa imo time sir ha sa pag accommodate namo.
Prof Imbong: Thank you sad. So, una nalang ko ninyo ha?
Chad: Sige sir thank you kaayo sir.
END
Interviewers:
Chad Michaell G. Delima
AB POSC PTS 4

Jayford O. Powao
AB POSC PTS 4

Respondent:
Prof. Regletto Imbong
UP Cebu, History and Political Science Department

136

APPENDIX G
Prior Informed Consent Form

137

138

139

APPENDIX H
Curriculum Vitae

140

CHAD MICHAELL G. DELIMA


079 Osmea St., Toledo City, Cebu 6038
boylighot@gmail.com
09153884215 / 2394818

PERSONAL DATA
Date of Birth: June 14, 1988
Place of Birth: Toledo City
Civil Status: Single
Height:
53
Weight:
135 lbs.
Religion:
Seventh-day Adventist
Languages: English, Filipino, Cebuano
Skills:
Computer Literate, Driving, Practical and Defensive Shooting

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Tertiary:

University of San Carlos


P. Del Rosario St., Cebu City
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science Major in Political Theory and

Systems
2011-present
Vocational:

Interface Computer College


Jones Avenue, Cebu City
2-year Computer Technician Course
2006-2008

High School: East Visayan Academy


Bulacao, Talisay City, Cebu
2000-2004
Elementary:

South City Central School


Luray 1, Toledo City
1993-2000

ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITIONS


Career Service Sub-professional Eligibility
Civil Service Commission
Cebu City
141

November 15, 2009


Gold Medal Recipient on Academics
1st Year, Interface Computer College
Cebu City
April 4, 2007
Commendation as Anti-Crime Volunteer
Toledo City Police Station
Toledo City
June 14, 2010
Certified Computer Aided Designs and Drafting Level 1 and 2 Operator
Microcadd Technologies Co., Inc.
Dec. 14, 2008
Champion - .45 Standard Category
Mayors Cup Shooting Competition
April 2012, Toledo City

AFFILIATIONS
Member, Carolinian Political Science Society
University of San Carlos
Cebu City
Member, Toledo Pistol Shooters Association, Inc.
Sam-ang, Toledo City
Board Member and Co-Founder, King Arths Shooting Range
Talavera, Toledo City

142

JAYFORD O. POWAO
Bacsije, Ocana, Carcar City, Cebu
andtheirnamewastreason5@yahoo.com
09438335543/487-7115

PERSONAL DATA
Date of Birth: May 25, 1995
Place of Birth: Carcar City
Civil Status: Single
Height:
56
Weight:
120 lbs.
Religion:
Roman Catholic
Languages: English, Filipino, Cebuano
Skills:
Computer Literate, Cooking,

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Tertiary:

University of San Carlos


P. Del Rosario St., Cebu City
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science Major in Political Theory and

Systems
2011-present
High School: Saint Catherines College
Carcar City, Cebu
2007-2011
Elementary:

Saint Catherines College


Carcar City, Cebu
2001-2007

AFFILIATIONS
Member, Carolinian Political Science Society
University of San Carlos
Cebu City
Member, Coalition of Democrats
University of San Carlos
Cebu City

143

144

145

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