Philippines in the media
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 12:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
afunaBy coincidence, I saw two videos today that mentioned the Philippines. I feel a strange jolt of recognition every time I hear my country's name mentioned. It doesn't happen often -- it is very strange that it happened twice today! -- and most of the time it's unflattering, but every time I hear someone on a show say the words "the Philippines", my focus shifts entirely to the next few words.
(It's like being in a crowded room, not really paying attention to your surroundings, and suddenly someone says your name -- that feeling).
Anyway, second instance was in a youtube video, a throwaway line about sending money. And first instance was in Dexter, a throwaway line about the Philippines not having an extradition treaty with the US, which, oops.
For context, the Philippines was under US rule for a bit less than fifty years, (after being under Spanish rule for a bit more than three hundred years). We gained our independence shortly after WWII, but have retained close international ties since... sorta, kinda. It's not quite an equal relationship given the status of both countries involved.
If you want to be charitable, the Philippines is the annoying younger brother tagging along with the cool teenage older brother who wants nothing to do with him. If you want to be slightly less so, the Philippines is an annoying puppy yipping at the heels of its master who ignores it most of the time.
It's pretty much a given that our government will bend over backwards for the US. That wasn't as true with our previous president who liked to play the part of a tough guy maverick, but our current president is quite happy to go along.
So anyway, extradition treaties? Totally within the scope of bending over backwards.
I all but yelled and pointed to my monitor when I heard that line. It was a huge moment of dissonance, and it spoiled the rest of the scene (like a fart in the middle of church service), which is sad, because it had been a pretty dramatic scene until then.
It is disorienting to be reminded that this country I live in, which is very real to me, is only an exotic place tosome TV producers many people. Maybe worse: it's just a convenient name.
(It's like being in a crowded room, not really paying attention to your surroundings, and suddenly someone says your name -- that feeling).
Anyway, second instance was in a youtube video, a throwaway line about sending money. And first instance was in Dexter, a throwaway line about the Philippines not having an extradition treaty with the US, which, oops.
For context, the Philippines was under US rule for a bit less than fifty years, (after being under Spanish rule for a bit more than three hundred years). We gained our independence shortly after WWII, but have retained close international ties since... sorta, kinda. It's not quite an equal relationship given the status of both countries involved.
If you want to be charitable, the Philippines is the annoying younger brother tagging along with the cool teenage older brother who wants nothing to do with him. If you want to be slightly less so, the Philippines is an annoying puppy yipping at the heels of its master who ignores it most of the time.
It's pretty much a given that our government will bend over backwards for the US. That wasn't as true with our previous president who liked to play the part of a tough guy maverick, but our current president is quite happy to go along.
So anyway, extradition treaties? Totally within the scope of bending over backwards.
I all but yelled and pointed to my monitor when I heard that line. It was a huge moment of dissonance, and it spoiled the rest of the scene (like a fart in the middle of church service), which is sad, because it had been a pretty dramatic scene until then.
It is disorienting to be reminded that this country I live in, which is very real to me, is only an exotic place to
no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 06:17 am (UTC)* We had a military base there for a while. We might still? I'm not sure, really.
Yup, the US had several military bases here, but they left in 1995? 1997? after a volcanic explosion devastated the province they were located in. And as a side note, I had to look that up, because I forgot that they'd left :-) There is an outstanding treaty (VFA = Visiting Forces Agreement), which basically means that we tend to have US troops in military exercises with Filipino troops, so I still see stories about US troops in the news, and I had conflated troop presence with military bases! Whoops.
* There was something about WWII and I think Japan attacked the US forces over there... and we drafted Filipinos into the army or something? I'm not sure on that.
* Speaking of, yes, I seem to believe that the US has messed with you guys a bunch. I dunno if that's good or bad (how you see it)...
Oooh history. I think for these two I'll want to go briefly into the history of colonization of the Philippines, which is long, but I'll be brief:
- the Philippines was a colony of Spain for over 300 years. Things were horrible
- late 1800s, revolutionary movement started gaining ground; we had some US help in the fight against the Spanish
(insert politics and war)
- 1898, US buys the Philippines from Spain and takes over governance of the Philippines; the revolutionary government is now rebelling against the US rather than Spain. That lasts, hmmm, a few years?
(insert more politics and war)
- things eventually settle down, and life goes on under US governance (which was better than under Spanish rule, btw)
- years later, WWII, Japan conquers the Philippines, US and Filipino troops join together and fight against Japan -- which is probably what you were thinking of! Ummm I wonder if you're familiar with the term Death March? -- US troops withdraw for a time, come back near the end of the war and help liberate us from the Japanese. (Life under Japanese rule was...bad, especially since these were under wartime conditions)
- after WWII the political landscape has changed and we are on the fast track to sovereignty (there were, IIRC, attempts before the war, but things didn't really take off until after).
So, you asked if it was good or bad, and I would have to say that it is both. The US treated us more honestly and more fairly than any other country that had occupied us.
Which isn't to say that the US didn't exploit the Philippines in some matters to further its own interests! And I really don't mean that as a dig at the US. The way I see it is that of course the US has to prioritize its own interests first -- to do otherwise would be a betrayal of the American people. But within those parameters, the US did treat us, well, fairly and humanely after a point.
The negatives are that there was a distinct condescension towards Filipinos especially in politics, along the lines of "we know what's good for you, little brown brothers".
But on the plus side, infrastructure vastly improved, education became widespread instead of being locked up for the rich and/or people from Spain, and without Spain being in power and supporting the friars, some of the worst abuses of the Church went away.
US-Philippine relations after the Philippines gained independence are complicated, and I can't say I'm very familiar with events from then; lots of politicking, conspiracy theories, etc, muddling up my understanding of events!
* I'm not sure at all what kind of government you have. I think it's probably close to "one of those places the US has meddled with so it's probably democratic of some form" if I had to put my money on something, though.
Democratic, threaded through with sensationalism, nepotism, and corruption ;-)
* I know there are cities, but whenever I think "Philippines" the strongest mental image I get is pretty close to "monsoon rains, people walking around with rice baskets, agriculture is the heavy industry, not very developed, high speed Internet doesn't exist". That sort of thing.
Oh yeah. Well it depends on where you are. I live in Metro Manila, a sprawl of interconnected cities, where that mental image definitely doesn't apply. Some of the provinces are modernized, too. But a lot of the provinces are pretty much as you described. Some don't have electricity or running water even up until now! Others only got those fairly recently.
Do remember that I am a city girl, born and bred. I've only been to the provinces as part of vacations, so my firsthand knowledge of rural areas can only be trusted about as much as your average tourist *g* I do have some secondhand knowledge, from people I know from university/work who came from the provinces, and also from our um, domestic helpers. That comes out wrong in English, I think? Sounds more like a big deal than it actually is.
Anyway, Metro Manila is very commercial/industrialized/modern. Lots of office buildings, malls, cars, internet, whatnot. Rest of the country, it depends.
* I've started to hear about you in the same grouping as most of the computer manufacturers (Taiwan, Korea, China) so I also believe there is a developing high-tech industrial base.
Oh, that's kinda cool. I worry sometimes that we're just known for outsourcing (along with China and India), so I'm happy to hear that we have some kind of positive reputation in the industrial world :-)
I hear you on history books. I used to hate history and history textbooks which tend to be dry and full of figures and dates. But in university, I got a great history teacher, who got me to thinking about things. She got me to reading primary and secondary sources, which were a lot more interesting (also contain a lot more bias, but picking out the bias is interesting in its own way)
PS. I daresay I do know a few of your historical figures, but I strongly suspect my knowledge is warped since I only have bits and pieces. However, I would not be able to tell you even one historical figure from most random countries.