“The education of the Filipino must be a Filipino education”, the article about the

Miseducation of the Filipino by Renato Constantino clearly displays the many aspects of

education that deceived rather than lead the Filipino citizenry up until now. As we all know,

Education is a vital factor for one’s development and that we are all aware that through

education, one mind is molded because of the teachings, ideas and values that is thought to him

or her. As the beginning of the article says, Education is a vital weapon of a people striving for

economic emancipation, political independence and cultural renaissance but I must condemn that

this notion contradicts how Filipinos were educated. The existence of nationalism, educational

system, uprooted race, adoptation of western values, language problems, barriers to democracy,

impediment of thoughts, issues of private sectors, reflected superiority of social status were some

of the issues that the article revolved with. This article, “The Miseducation of the Filipino”

contains the coming about the miseducation and the consequences of such action in the lives of

the Filipinos, then, now and perhaps, the future.

Philippine education must breed Filipinos who are aware of our beloved land’s core

struggles, who understand the fundamental set of answers to solve problems, and who have the

heart to fight for the county’s survival from any factors of colonialism. As nationalism in

education reprimands , educators must not only strategize certain expertise in using new

techniques and tools in teaching for an improved instuction. Pedagogical experts should make a

comprehensive educational programme that is sufficient for political and economic emancipation

rather than just presenting out-of-the-context solution that does not apply in our country’s

situation. Our educational leaders gained a new perception that mislead them in giving the most

appropriate education that Filipinos need. Oblivion showered their thoughts as they are more

proud that they inhereted the concept of Education of the American colonialism which is far
more different from the educational system that the Philippines should have. The most effective

means of subjugating people is to capture their minds, through education. As the Americans

made their way in pacifying people who were defending their newly-won freedom from an

invader who had posed as an ally. The education of the Filipino under American sovereignty was

an instrument of colonial policy and that is when the miseducation of the Filipino people began.

The importance of education as a colonial tool was never underestimated by the Americans as

they have been so wise that they did not entrusted the Department of Education to any Filipino

evidently constituted by Article 23 of the Jones Act. Up to 1935, the head of this department was

an American, when a Filipino took over under the commonwealth, a new generation of "Filipino-

American" had already been produced. A new set of captive generation had already come of age,

thinking and acting like little Americans, gone the Filipino blood over their minds and hearts.

Evidently, the first and perhaps the master stroke in the plan to use education as an instrument of

colonial policy was the decision to use English as the medium of instruction. This medium of

intruction introduced Filipinos to a new strange world. This was the beginning of their

education, at the same time, it was the beginning of their mis-education, for they learned no

longer as Filipinos but as colonials of the American people. Using a unique approach, the United

States offered a free trade as a generous gift of American altruism. Concomitantly, the

educational policy that have been imposed was for the countrymen to not have a suspicious view

and to soften the effects of the slowly tightening noose around the necks of the Filipinos. With

American education, the Filipinos were not only learning a new language; they were not only

forgetting their own language; they were starting to become a new type of American. Another

way of miseducation that was emphasized on the article is the adoptation of western values with

which the Philippine culture is neglected rather than appreciated, Americans were forging the
Filipinos to be foreigners from their own cultural heritage. The American education gives a great

emphasis on their own power as an internationalized sovereign state, it stresses internationalism

and underplays nationalism, chiefly, among these is the transformation of our national virtue of

hospitality into a stupid vice which hurts us and makes us the willing dupes of predatory

foreigners. More importantly, the education of the Filipino must be a Filipino education, the

most essential objective is to produce a citizenry that appreciates and is conscious of its

nationhood and has national goals for the betterment and progress of the community, and not a

facade of people who only knows how to take care their own shadows rather than the dignity and

salvation of the whole Filipino- the Philippines.

The article actually made me wake up from my deep slumber, shaking my head to open

my eyes from the reality. From the reality that the Filipinos were completely subjugated both in

minds and in hearts. Upon reading the article I realized and learned so many things about the

history between the Filipinos and the Americans. For me, it is very intriguing what the real

reasons were for the Americans in taking power over the Philippines, capturing the Filipino

innocence. I actually asked myself, “Was it really for the good of the Filipinos or the other way

around?”, being colonized by the Americans was not a joke at all. Thinking an answer for my

own question only annoyed me, because evidently, the Americans succeeded in almost all aspect

in conquering our beloved land. I must admit, they have used a wise tactic in subjugating the

Filipinos and that is through the use of education, miseducation in particular. They have imposed

and promoted the ‘unFilipino’ identity in Filipinos, posing like a benevolent ally to our country.

What saddened me the most is that the Filipino countrymen become aliens on their own

language, they become the caricatures of their own indigenous way of life, ending the simple yet

fulfilling life of a real Filipino. The Americans insisted in creating a “carbon-copy” of

themselves in Filipinos through the imposition of their own language to education. This, I think,

resulted to positive and negative impact to Filipinos. Positively, the emergence of the English

language as a medium in teaching instruction greatly helped us to be globally competitive

individuals. However, there is an impediment of thought as Filipinos experiences confusion on

using their native language. With all of these, we must break the avalanche that was built by the

colonialist wherefore jailed us from the peaceful life that we have. We should look on the very

core issues that our nation have been through and reflect from it. “We must now think of

ourselves, of our salvation, of our future. And unless we prepare the minds of the young for this

endeavor, we shall always be a pathetic people with no definite goals and no assurance of

preservation.” This line really upheaved the nationalism that lives within me. As a future

educator, I want to break the walls, the avalanche, the misconception and above all the

miseducation of my fellow countrymen. This may sound impossible but I know everything could

be possible as long as there is a mind, a heart and a solid hand that is ready to fight for a real

education.