Assessment Paper on the "Philippine Society and Revolution"

The book Philippine Society and Revolution (also known as "Lipunan at Rebolusyong Pilipino) was a serialized chapters that were compiled into a single volume. It was first published in 1971 by a Filipino Maoist revolutionary and the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Jose Ma. Sison, under his pseudonym Amado Guerrero. Philippine Society and Revolution made a huge impact on Philippine politics and on the Filipino mass movement since its first publication. It serves as a starting point for activists, educators, and people who are interested in understanding the veracious history of the Philippine Society. In his introduction, he stated that the Philippine Society and Revolution uses Marxist-Leninist interpretation of the Philippine society and its basis in the past. The book was also divided into three parts: A Review of the Philippine History, Basic Problems of the Filipino People, and The People's Democratic Revolution. But in this paper, we will only focus on Chapter 8-The Present Puppet Republic of the Philippines. Throughout the Philippine history, Filipinos have undergone different colonial experiences that caused changes in our systems, beliefs, and society. The U.S. imperialism started after the Spanish-American War in 1898 when the Spain conceded its perennial colony of the Philippines to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. Within the year, the U.S. government declared a military rule in the country. Different forms of enormity such as massacres, assassinations, and torture were executed which led to the occupation of the United States in the Philippines and the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth. During this era, the U.S. imperialism made a fake promise to the Filipinos about granting them the "independence" they desired while hiding their true agenda towards the Philippines.

Readings in Philippines History The Author and his Book For us to learn more about his writings in this book, first we must know the author of the book to understand his advocates, ideologies, and arguments that were presented in the book. According to Williams (2010, as cited in Gorman, 1986), Jose Maria Sison was born on 8 th of February 1939 in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. He studied in Manila during his high school and finish his studies from the University of the Philippines in 1959. He became the founder and chairman of Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (Marxist-Leninist) from 1969. He was also the responsible of the establishment of New People's Army (NPA) as the Party's military wing. Amado Guerrero (1970), his pseudonym, write the book "Philippine Society and Revolution" to present in his political ideology Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought the history of the Philippines and the struggles of its people. The book also explains why the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) were established for them to fight against the imperialism, feudalism, and capitalism prevailing in our unjust society, wherein the marginalized sector is often abused and exploited. He regarded the book as an instrument for its readers to know the truth in our history and encourage the mass to analyze and investigate our current societal disputes (p. 1). Succumb to U.S. Imperialism After the U.S bought the Philippines from Spain through the Treaty of Paris, there was a shift of colonial ruler in the archipelago (Guerrero, 1970, p. 31). The Filipinos were deceived and were again deprived of true independence. The failed resistance of the Filipino people against the white imperialist has resulted to the colonial rule of the U.S., and the dissolution of the First Republic of the Philippines in 1901 (OVP, n.d.). America, as a capitalist country, aspires for the rich natural resources of the archipelago, its geographic location that is suitable as an outpost for their desire in expansion, and as well as a market of their surplus production (Guerrero, 1970, pp. 30-31). The Payne-Aldrich Act of 1909 enabled the Americans to bypass the tariffs that should be placed on their imported goods that resulted the Philippine economy to remain backwater in agriculture due to the intensity of the needs of Americans in the production of raw materials, and consequently made the Philippines less industrialized (Guerrero, 1970, p. 31). Furthermore, to tighten their control of the people and intensify the political indoctrination, they

The Philippines, as a country, is known for its stunning landscapes, festivals, tropical temperature, and people's hospitality and resilience. To be sure, behind her physical appeal is a sad reality that will only be revealed to everyone who meets her, whether it be a Filipino or a non-Filipino, through personal conversation, reading articles, or watching movies about the plight of the poor and our mother country. In the western Pacific Ocean, the Philippines is a Southeast Asian Island republic. About 500 miles (800 kilometers) off the Vietnam coast, it is an archipelago of about 7,000 islands and islets. The country's most populated city is Quezon City, which is located near Manila. Both are located on the largest island in the Philippines, Luzon, and are part of the National Capital Region (Metro Manila). Mindanao, in the Philippines' southeast, is the country's second largest island. Philip II, monarch of Spain during the Spanish colonization of the islands in the 16th century, is the patron saint of the Philippines. The Philippines has numerous cultural affinities with the West because it was under Spanish rule for 333 years and under US tutelage for another 48 years. It is, for example, Asia's second most populous country (after India) with English as its official language and Asia's only country with a majority of Roman Catholics (the other being East Timor). Aside from such Anglo-European cultural features, the Filipino people are Asian in their outlook and aspirations. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, the country was tormented by political unrest. After more than a decade of authoritarian governance under President George W. Bush, in 1986, Ferdinand Marcos, the leader of the popular People's Power movement, launched a peaceful rebellion against the dictatorship. Not only did the clash end in Marcos' downfall and exile, but it also resulted in the Philippines' return to democracy. Filipinos today are still grappling with a culture that is filled with contradictions, arguably the most evident of which is the contrast of immense wealth and extreme Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management (OUS) poverty. The Philippines is a resource-rich country with the potential to develop a strong industrial economy, but it is still mostly dependent on agriculture. A high level of domestic and foreign investment fueled fast industrial expansion, particularly toward the end of the twentieth century. The environment, on the other hand, was severely degraded as a result of this increase. With a well-established public school and university system in the late twentieth century, the Philippines also became a regional leader in education, and by the early twenty-first century, the country had one of Asia's highest literacy rates. We need to go back and analyze the history of how those problems still exist now in order to respond and better comprehend the problems that the Philippines is facing today. It is essential for us to have a deeper insight and knowledge of the past in order to completely examine and grasp why the country's problems persist. Knowing the origins of these issues will make it easier for us to grasp why and how they are still present today. Knowing about the past is crucial since it reflects the current state of affairs in the country. It lays the foundation for us to be extremely critical of what we read or hear in our environment. You will gain a new perspective and a greater understanding of the past if you learn these historical truths. POLITICAL DYNASTIES PERSIST The term "political dynasty" refers to a group of politically active families. The political dynasty was already established in the Philippines prior to the Spanish conquest. Keep in mind that the Philippines' previous political unit was the barrio, which was administered by the datu. His oldest son, or any of his relatives with as much influence as he does, was given this post. This is one of the previous attempts by these political dynasties to monopolize political power and public elective posts, and as a result, I am aware of how government is currently run. In other cases, a president will run for President after gaining such a large amount of popular support, then after his rule, he will urge his sons or daughters to compete for the highest office, and they, too, will earn a large amount of popular support in a given region or city. When a given person holds a high position in a Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management (OUS)

In my perspective, the difference between the masses and elites' degree of desire for freedom is affected by their experiences. Although the elites did suffer from the denial of certain opportunities that will advance their position in the societal hierarchy, I believe that they did not truly understand the struggle of the former. For the masses, freedom is to be free, separated, and independent from foreign occupation as their grievances were related to exploitation and abuse. Now freedom was desired by both, but the leaders did not desire to face the struggle that came along in obtaining it; they were also convinced that forging dependency on the United States is the only possible approach for the Philippines' survival. This was proven to be one of the main causes of the revolution and national integrity's demise. The Philippines retained its status as a colony now under U.S. imperialism. But what set them apart from their precedent was they were able to proclaim their selves as liberators in history, when events revealed that they were just another conqueror who continued the evil of the Spaniards. Agrarian issues were not resolved but rather became worse as the hacienda system reached its full development. The development of a class of small to middle farmers was the principal objective of land policies but eventually transformed as an advantageous policy to large landowners (Constantino, 1993). Just like any other colonialists, the Americans took advantage of the Philippines for profit. The Payne-Aldrich Act of 1909 was established to import U.S. products to the Philippines without being subjected to regular tariffs and to also export local products to the U.S. for free. Then in 1913, the Underwood Tariff Act removed quota limitations of local products being exported to the U.S. These acts of trade perpetuated the dependency of the Philippines on American markets. Between 1914 and 1920, the percentage of Philippine exports to the US increased from 50% to 70%. By 1939, that had risen to 85 percent, with the United States accounting for 65 percent of all imports (Dolan, 1991). A new type of colonialism has also been adopted the U.S. imperialists. As stated by Little and McGivern (2014), education engages us into society and let us absorb cultural expectations and conventions from our teachers, literary texts, and peers, all of whom reinforce them. It is also responsible for the transmission of knowledge, beliefs, and skills to different generations. They

The Philippine History discusses the various events that happened which paved way through the nationhood of the Filipinos. These struggles were a key factor in fully developing the minds of the people and have the drive to seek independence from the different colonizers throughout the years. However, another part of the history which is the Puppet Regimes looks in how the Japanese wanted to prevent the Philippines in becoming an advanced military base. Furthermore, the present puppet republic in the Philippines from Quezon to Marcos will be discussed specifically how they were established and how they used the people for their own interests. Spanish colonial control of the Philippines was maintained by the U.S. Imperialism that led to the prevention of the aspirations of the Filipino people. In the Imperialism of the Americans, they were interested in the source of raw materials using at as a source of funds. Just right after the Filipino revolution failed, the imperialism extracted a large amount of crops such as sugar, coconut as well as minerals for the built factories by the Americans. These raw materials were exported in the United States without any limitation since they lifted the rule. Moreover, peasantry was the dominating class in the society in which the proletariat gradually increased in number for raw material production, trading, and for transportation communications. On the other hand, the petty bourgeoisie remained its place in the society by owning a successful property that made it look forward in formal education by helping some receive college education and any salaried service. This educational system was a core for the control of the U.S. Imperialism where the American troops played a roles as teachers to spread their propaganda and alert the Philippines for self-government. After some time, the Thomasites supported the first teachers from the military to further

BSIT 1-1 Critical Paper on The Philippines: A past revisited by Renato Constantino From the past decades, there were several books about the Philippines history written by historians who are leaned on the Spanish and American aspects of history. These resulted in highlighting colonizer's influences and successes on the positive side, and the defamation and abuses they have done to Filipinos on the negative side. Other historians exhibit the patriotism and works of their chosen national leaders and not including their lapses. These records and

The Philippines, known for holding the beauty of its calm, peaceful, and absolutely breathtaking natural landscapes with great pride and joy, actually hides such a calamitous past. The history of the Philippines is basically a tragic story. A story where the country goes through such a rough time. A cruel yet still hopeful timeline where Filipinos craved to be liberated. They had to be liberated countless times. From being an enslaved country, and from the struggle each time they had to. To the history written by others. Filipinos prevailed and were able to free themselves, refusing to surrender to colonization yet still having to fall into the hands of various colonizers throughout history

After the Filipinos endured and fought wars to attain sovereignty, the independence of the country was still hanging by a thread as the American imperialism continue to push the people to take control of it. Their influence on the country stayed etched in the Filipino minds and engraved in their history, especially in the Filipino education where the Americans had shaped young Filipino minds to conform to American Ideas (Constantino, 1966, p. 3). Even before the Japanese Imperialism, they presented the Philippines a pseudo independence whilst remaining at the archipelago's side as their 'ally' to benefit from the country's riches. Unfortunately, when US General Douglas MacArthur had declared Manila as an open city, the Imperial Japanese Army had ignored its declaration and bombed the city. The United States were backed and retreated with the promise to the country to return and return they did but at a cost. It was not

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In 1971, an author named Jose Maria Sison often known as Amado Guerrero who is the founding Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines published a book named Philippine Society and Revolution that tackles about how the Filipinos struggled and fought for their freedom in the hands of their colonialist. This books talks about the revolutionary war of our fellow Filipinos and the Puppet Regimes of the Philippines. The Philippines, according to the information provided by Amado Guerrero in the book, is made up of 7,100 islands and islets that cover 115,000 square miles of land. Luzon and Mindanao are the two largest islands and major regions in the Philippines. The former covers 54,000 square miles of land, whereas the latter covers 37,000 square miles. The Visayas, a series of islands and islets in the archipelago's center half, is the archipelago's third major area. The whole length of the country's uneven coastline is just about 11,000 miles. River systems pouring from mountains inundate all of the islands at different times of the year. Plains and valleys are densely populated areas.

The resilience of Filipino men is admirable. After all, the struggle against oppressors and your fellow countrymen is not something a person could take for several years. However, despite the deep history of the Philippines, its countrymen if not misinformed, are miseducated. This led