READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY STUDENTS’ LEARNING GUIDE

MODULE 2 LESSON 7:

PHILIPPINE CARTOONS POLITICAL CARICATURES OF THE AMERICAN ERA

Through the Philippines was in a better condition under the Americans compared to the Americans
compared to the Spaniards, freedom, was not immediately accorded to the Filipinos. Some Americans and
Filipinos used Political cartoons to illustrate the changing mores and times under the American rule. The
use of these cartoons was a subtle way of expressing discontent with the American rule.

Historical Background of the Political Cartoons

The Spanish colonial period in the Philippines was characterized by strict censorship resulting in a
lack of political liberty and minimal avenues for expressing political views. Spanish censorship banned non-
religious publications thus compelling newspaper publications to be distributed underground. However . the
transition to the American colonial period provided leeway in the publication of in dependent newspapers.
Initially, newspapers were scrutinized by the government to ensure that they did not contain anti-American
sentiment which were branded as subversive and were confiscate. As such. The four decades of the
American colonial rule became a formative period in the Philippine history.

Censorship was loosened when a civil government was established in 1901. This gave Filipinos
the right to publish without prior cenasorship of the government. Two months after strict censorship was
removed, Rafael Palma launched. El Renacimento (Rebirth) which became the most influential of the early
nationslist newspapers campaigning for the right to a free press. Whenever the Americans felt offended
with any publication, they used libel and sedition laws to obstruct the developing hostilities. After facing two
libel suites, El Renacimiento had to discontinue. Nevertheless, Martin Ocampo and Ma. Guerrero
stabilised a new publication, La Vanguardia, in the same office and survived until World War II as one
Manila’s leading news papers.

Several newspapers in Manila like The independent and The Philippines Free Press and Bag-ong Kusog,
a leading periodical in Cebu, included political cartoons in their editorials.

The Philippines Free Press was founded in 1906 by Judge W.A Kincaid but and was taken over by
McCullough Dick due to bankruptcy. The newpapers was published in both Spanish and English. It featured
investigative articles regarding the country’s development. It had a personal tone since it was not tied to a
particular political party. It also advocated integrity, democracy, and Philippine national progress.

Lipag-kalabaw was launched in the same year as Philippines Free Press. It was published in
tagalog and Spanish containing satiric cartoons . All Throughout its publication, it maintained anonymity by
not having a masthead and by having the artist and writers use pen names. This gave artists and writers
agency on how they wanted to express themselves.

The Independent was founded in 1915 by the Father of Cebuano Letter, Vicente Sotto, one of the
militant and aggressive afvocates of immediate independence. It was a weekly newspapers published in

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English and Spanish which served as a forum for the discussion of political issues. It was also where
Fernando Amorsolo began his career as the “angriest of Manila’s political cartoonist.”

In Cebu, one popular newspapers was the Bag-Ong Kusogwhich literally means” New Force” Bag-Ong
Kusog was known for highlighting the conditions in Cebu prior to the war. It often talked about
thedifferences between the Spanish and American colonial government. This newspapers depicted the
breakdown of hallowed customs and social practices due to American influence.it focused on criticism of
co-education introduced by the American, which endangered the virtue of women

Background of the Authors

During the America era, political cartoons gained popularity as a form of expression. Many artists
made use of cartoons as political commentaries to expose the ills of the American colonial government.
Alfred McCoy provided an analysis of the pressing problems and issues of American colonialism
manifested in political cartoons. Together with Alfredo Reyes Roces, an artists depicting the Philippines
during American rule.

Alfred McCoy was born on June8, 1945 in Massachusetts, USA. He earned his BA in European
Studies from Columbia University of California in Berkely in 1969 andB his PhD in Southeast Asian History
at Yale University 1977. He studied Philippines potical caricatures to understand the social and political
contexts of the Philippines during the American period and later worked with Alfredo Roces, his co-author
of Philippine cartoon; Political Caricatures of the American Era. Though Mccoy did not create any political
caricatures, his interest in them urged him to compile such caricatures from various sources to produce a
single collection.

Alfredo Reyes Roces was born on April 29, 1923. He was a painter, an essayist, and a versatile
artist who is considered to be a prominent figure in Philippine art. His paintings started with a figurative
style but soon began to amalgamate expressionism, Fauvism, and impressionism.

Anniversary of Philippines independence heightened the demand for such documents in the black
market. The document was finally returned to the National Library in 1994 after a professor from the
university of the Philippines, Milagros Guerrero, negotiated for its return.

THE PAULINIAN ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

CUTTING-EDGE, RESILIENT VISIONARIES & INNOVATORS

1.1 Stay abreast of emerging social and technological trends and proactively Pursue fruitful ways of capitalizing
on them;
1.2 Clarify and explain emerging and potential social, economic, political, and technological trends affecting
their field and propose feasible ways to incorporate them in their work;
1.3 Develop and propose ideas for innovations in their field, meticulously testing their feasibility and utility;
1.4 Design creative ways to address challenges in their field that transcend conventional approaches to dealing
with them and;

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1.5 Explain significant setbacks they have experienced in life and how they have summoned the inner
resources and used ‘out of the box’ thinking and actions to address and overcome them.

AFFIRMATION

“As a Christ-centered Paulinian, I am a Cutting-Edge, Resilient VISIONARY and INNOVATOR, demonstrating my

creativity and charism.

LESSON 7: PHILIPPINE CARTOONS:POLITICAL CARICATURES OF THE AMERICAN ERA

LEARNING OUTCOMES: During the learning session, you should be able to:

1. Identify the significance of Political cartoons during the American period;

2. Use of political cartoons as a form of political expressions;
3. Explain the importance of political cartoons to the grand narrative of Philippine history; and
4. Evaluate the relevance of Philippine cartoons to the present time.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

TASK 1: DIGNOSTICS. Instructions: Analyze the political caricature below, what message is it trying to
convey? Write your answers below.

\TASK 2. WHAT COULD IT BE? Instructions: The Philippines remained a colony even after the Spaniards
left because they were simply replaced by Americans. During the American colonial rule, many artists
made use of cartoons as political commentaries. Identify atleast five (5) conditions or events that influenced
Filipinosin making Political Cartoons. Write your answer below.

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1. Lipag-Kalabaw- was launched in the same year as Philippines Free Press. It

was maintained anonymity by not having a masthead and by having the
artist and writers use their pen names. With the anonymity people can voice
out their concerns without actually facing bad consequences. It influenced
Filipinos in having a freedom to voice their concerns and express themselves
through political cartoons.

2. The Philippines Free press – was founded in 1906 by Judge W.A Kincaid
but was taken over by McCullough Dick due to bankruptcy. This contains a
investigate articles regarding the country’s development. It also advocated
integrity, democracy and the Philippine national progress.

3. The Independent- was founded in 1915 by the Father of Cebuano Letters,

Vicente Sotto, one of the militant and aggressive advocates of immediate
independence. It served as a forum of discussion of political issues, it is also
where Fernando Amorsolo began his career as the angriest of Manila’s
political cartoonist.

4. Bag-ong Kusog- it means new force, this newspaper was known to voice out
some concerns about the condition in Cebu prior to the war. With a little bit
of oppression political cartoons is the best way to express and voice out their
concerns without actually being straight forward or sarcastic.

5. Art- they use art as a medium to portray messages to the people. Political
Cartoons are a work of art as it portrays some messages it was used back
then by artist to portray their concerns or opinions with everything they see
or touch like Alfredo Reyes Roces and Fernando Amorsolo.

TASK 3. ON THE USE OF CARICATURES.

Instructions: Cartoons made during the time of the American Colonization were classified according to their
purpose: economic, political, and socio-cultural. From the compilation of caricatures made by Alfred McCoy
and Alfredo Roces, provide an example for each of the following clarifications of caricatures and explain the
message being conveyed to the readers.

Source:

 McCoy, A. & Roces, A. R. (1985). Philippine Cartoons. Political Caricature of the American Era
1900-1941. Quezon City, Philippines: Vera Reyes.
1. Economic

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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.
2. Political
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________.

3. Socio-cultural
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.

PROCESSING:

Instruction. Answer the question: What have you learned from different communicative tasks?. Fill in your
answers in the box provided below.

Activity 1

Activity 2

Activity 3

FORMATION: Instruction: Write down the specific lesson you learn from the readings and activities. How
this lesson help you internalize and reflect to understand the relevance of the topic to your personal life?

SYNTHESIS: Instruction: Summarize your understanding of the topic by using a concept map. Draw your
concept map below.

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ASSESSMENT: FUNNY KOMIKS.

Instructions: Aside from caricatures, comic strips are widely used to serve as political commentaries. In
2014, the website Dead Balagtas became popular because of its online comic strip series called Komiks,
Kasaysayan at Katatawanan which humorously presented the different valuable points Philippines History.
Create your own comic strip with at least four scenes depicting any present political, economical,
social, and cultural issue in the Philippines. Make sure that it is humorous. You can access the website on
https:// deadbalagtas.wordpress.com for more examples.

_____________________________________________
Title

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ASSIGNMENT. ASSESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIMARY SOURCESIN UNDERSTANDING THE

GRAND NARRATIVE OF PHILIPPINE HISTORY.

Instructions: Give three (3) reasons why political cartoons made by Filipinos during the American Era are
important to the grand narrative of Philippine History.

1. ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________.

2. ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________.

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3. ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________.

REFLECTION GUIDE

 What I have LEARNED this week that has helped me do all aspect of this better?
 What I have DONE this week that has made me better at doing all aspects of this?
 How can I IMPROVE at doing all aspects of this is?

EXPANDED OPPORTUNITIES.
CARICATURE MAKING. Instructions: Make your own caricature depicting any present political, economic,
or socio-cultural situations in the Philippines. Provide a short explanation for the symbolism that you used.
Caricature

Explanation:

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________.

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REFERENCES

Asuncion N. & Cruz G. (2019). Readings in the Philippine History. C & E Publishing Inc. 839 Edsa South
Triangle Quezon City.

McCoy, A. & Roces, A. R. (1985) Philippine. Cartoons: Political Caricature of the American era 1900-
1941. Quezon City, Philippines: Vera Reyes.

Created by:

MR. ALVIN J. SUMAMPONG, MAENG

CECA Faculty

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