A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE

BY RICHARD DL RODRIGUEZ

Master in Philippine Studies, Asian Center, University of the Philippines – Diliman

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BEFORE I became a student of Philippine Studies in the Asian Center of the University of the
Philippines, I have a different perspective about the country and about the Filipinos. I thought that the
Philippines is alright and that the country is doing well. I used to think that what I learned from my
undergraduate course that is Political Science from the University of Santo Tomas was enough to
understand our society and the Filipino. But I was wrong, and I realized that I was just looking from one
perspective, actually being biased from that specific point of view of the Philippines and of the Filipinos.
Most importantly, I was not able to realize then that there are a lot to understand and to change in our
society.

After a semester of reading different papers about the Philippines in Asia and the Pacific, I feel
very humble that my understanding about the Philippines is very little and might be questionable at
some point. Together with the insights and questions of our professor, I felt the excitement to learn and
rediscover more about the Philippines. By having the specialization about the Philippine society and
culture, my understanding about it has become wider and more complex and I believe, as I continue to
study the course, it would be more than that. I have now the confidence to assert myself to become
socially relevant by contributing to change our society for the better and making every Filipino whom I
know proud to be Filipino.

It is true, as what others say, that the key for future progress is to have a clear national identity.
We can have a better national identity if we would see the Philippines as a Southeast Asian country that
belongs to its maritime region. Progress also requires revisiting our social and political system. We
always need reforms and new perspectives that sometimes should be radical.

I always enjoy studying Philippine history ever since. Actually, it has been my favorite subject
since elementary until high school. That is the reason why I decided to study Political Science. I used to
feel amazed every time that the topic is all about the colonial Philippines under Spain, the Philippines
under Marcos and the post-Marcos Philippines. Actually, when I went into college, one of my favorite
subjects is the Dynamics of Philippine Politics. It is a subject that deals about the contemporary social
and political issues of the country and how it should be relevant in the development of the Filipino
nation. The excitement comes from its being active and being relevant to the present issues. This subject
appeals highly to the cognitive, and in my own opinion less of the appreciation of becoming a Filipino.

I do not have so much interest about the studies on pre-colonial Philippines before. Actually,
when I was in second year high school, we have this subject that was Asian History and I was not able to
relate in to it very well. I was not so interested about pre-colonial Philippines and the Asia, especially
Southeast Asia. Maybe, it was because of my Catholic orientation as a student. I finished elementary and
high school in two different parochial schools and eventually taking up college in the Catholic University
of the Philippines that is of course, the University of Santo Tomas. My interest about Philippine history

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was just all about Spanish influence in the Philippines and all about Ferdinand Marcos, Ninoy Aquino and
the People Power. That was all and I thought these were just all about the Philippines.

Together with my interest and enthusiasm about Philippine society and culture, I was mold just
to see the Philippines not on an Asian perspective or not just even on our own Filipino perspective. But I
use to see it on a Western perspective that is always seeing the Philippines with them and always
dividing our own history into a very brief Pre-Hispanic Philippines which received influences from
Chinese, Arabs and Hindus, a very long Hispanic Philippines, a very significant American Philippines, and
an independent Philippines under the lenses of previous presidential administrations to the present
President.

Consequently, Asian culture became so alienated to me specifically its spirituality and society.
But everything has changed after I finished my first semester in the Asian Center of the University of the
Philippines. I realized that becoming a Filipino is becoming an Asian, specifically becoming a Southeast
Asian. And I am very positive that after we officially appreciate that we really belong to this part of the
world as people and as nation, we will be able to have at last the meaningful and more concrete
understanding of the Filipino national identity which is the key for national pride that would lead us to
stand up in the world and claim to have equal or even greater dignity, just like any other culture across
the globe.

A sense of eagerness to learn more about the Philippines as an archipelagic nation in the
Southeast Asia becomes now my interest. I would like to learn more about it because I realized that for
us to better understand the Philippines, we need to understand that the country is really part of the
archipelagic Southeast Asia and that the Filipinos are Southeast Asian island people. Ignorance of the
maritime Southeast Asia would result to a problematic Filipino national identity, consequently would
hinder the consolidation and development our nation.

Unravelling the invisible but unbroken ties

It seems that most Filipinos today, especially those students and educators from the schools
where I came from have forgotten their Malayan and Archipelagic identity. They would like to speak and
eat like Americans. Some would like to pray and think like the Spaniards. They always tend to act and
imitate the westerners – all because their study about the Philippines is not being given proper context.
Even though we are Catholics, we share many native cultural beliefs among Southeast Asian countries. I
believe that naturally in our subconscious we are truly Southeast Asian and archipelagic people.

As a teacher of Philippine history in college, I know that I have a significant responsibility in the
development of national pride and identity among the students. I learned that to understand the
Philippines and its history, we must situate the Philippines as a Southeast Asian archipelago. We need to
realize that we are naturally maritime oriented people.

I really felt amazed when I first heard from one of my classes in the Asian Center that bodies of
water connect communities rather than separate it and that mountains most probably divide cultures.
And that we are an archipelagic nation that is totally different among continental nations.

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 This made me realized that there would really be a maritime Southeast Asia and the
interconnection of its people should truly be acknowledged. And that the Philippines being an
archipelago should never be a problem in making our nation stronger, rather, we must see its
advantages and look at it on a genuinely Asian or at least truly Filipino in perspective

There must be a regional point of view about the Philippines. Philippine Studies should be broad
that is interdisciplinary. One would not be able to understand the Philippines if he or she would have a
parochial perspective because that could be very detrimental to the country. The Philippines should be
studied from an inside perspective going out through regional perspective and vice-versa.

Ever since, even before we were colonized by the Spaniards, we already have a long history of
economic, political and cultural ties among our neighboring countries in Asia. In fact, until now we still
have it and the influence of these invisible but unbroken ties remains significant among the Filipinos.
Evidently, it has become difficult to unravel these ties among the Christian Filipinos, maybe because of
the highly superficial but deeply rooted western influence to our people. In my own opinion, for us to
see these ties clearer, we must give significance to the Filipino Mindanao especially to the Filipino
Muslims. I believe that their culture is more actively connected to the Southeast Asian way of living.
Through this, I am positive that we will be able to revive the Asian ties that we have among our
neighboring countries. Mindanao, especially the Muslim people of that island would be the Philippines
link today in the Southeast Asian world.

This says that the Filipinos are not merely recipient of culture, but also and most importantly,
we should realize that the relationship is mutual, that means we have also influenced other Southeast
Asian cultures because we belong to one region and we also belong to an almost one and the same
group of people. Unfortunately, many of us disregard it or don’t see these meaningful ties at all.

We need Change

With all of these ironies about the Filipinos who have forgotten our Southeast Asian connection
and identity, some say that we have a damaged culture today. Probably we have been damaged
because of the long years of foreign occupation in the Philippines. But as the saying goes, change is the
only constant thing in the world. Therefore, changes are possible. We can still act to change the country
for the better.

We have been so engrossed by politics and that the government has become so week that it
almost bends to the pressure of the private sector that is unfortunately highly profit oriented. Politics
must be revived. Society must be revisited and education must be renewed. A dynamic approach to
change the Philippines is needed and most probably should be radical to make it possible. A better
society will be achieved if the wrong things will be corrected and public policies serving the people
would be properly instituted.

From the pre-colonial datus, rajas and sultans our political and social systems evolved. We
experienced the Spanish colonial style of government with the union of the Church and state for almost
three centuries. After it and until now, we have been followers of the American type of democracy with

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the separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers. Both foreign political influences deeply
rooted in the Philippine society that can be manifested until today. If the Spaniards were able to
penetrate the Filipinos through religion, the Americans were able to root their influence through
education. Both spheres of the society, that would be religion and education, are among the most
fundamentals of all. But essentially, these two great western cultures disconnected the Philippines from
the whole of the Southeast Asian world.

Today, patronage politics has dominated Philippine government. The Spaniards and the
Americans when they occupied the Philippines, rather than levelling the distribution of power and
influence in the society, instead perpetuated elite rule in the country. Landed elites may already have
diversified their economic interests, but still, the same problem exists in the Philippines. The poor
becomes poorer and rich becomes richer. We don’t have an equal access to opportunities to make our
lives better.

Competition in the society has become unfair. One of the most evident manifestations is
through government representations. Most of the elected officials don’t represent the economic
interests of the people. The situation becomes worst because of the culture of corruption prevailing in
the government. People don’t think of the country anymore, they just think only of themselves. There is
no long-term vision for the country. We only have temporary solutions to the problem which others call
it a band aid solution. Environment was neglected. Everything is either selfishly politically motivated or
selfishly profit oriented. The country has been forgotten and that the collective benefit of the people
has been ignored.

As what I see, I would support a genuine land reform where the resources of the country would
be reasonably distributed among the people. Power and influence in government policies should equally
be distributed among all interest groups and not just among the few political and economic elites who
have been dominating the Philippine society and government today.

I believe that changing the system would be the answer to solve the culture of corruption in the
Philippine bureaucracy and politics. Culture cannot solve culture. But to control culture is to control the
system. To study and to understand the system has become necessary today in order for us to assess
the effectiveness of the current rules of our game in the society. At the end, I support the
professionalization of the government services rather than just making it just a pure public service at all.

As compared to what we have right now, the government should be stronger than the private
sector. The government should have the will to serve the interests of the nation rather than just serving
the interests of the few who have access and influence in the society. We now have a very weak state
because the government has become so afraid of the private sectors like the business sectors and the
media. I don’t say that there must be government control of all the sectors of the society. I only say that
the government should have the will and power to serve its goals that would be to serve the interests of
the nation and not just the interests of some corporations and private sectors.

Another problem that I believe the Philippines should address is the rising need of the working
class. I have my own family, and it has been very difficult for us to own a house. It is difficult to rent and

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very expensive to live in a descent house. Housing is a primary need of the people and that the
government should realize it as one among its immediate responsibilities. Again, housing was given to
the private sector. It is the reason why there are so many rising condominiums across Metro Manila
today. This is really expensive and housing should be affordable and it should not be for profit purposes.
Descent housing is like food and water that everyone should easily have. You cannot have a strong
nation if your people do not have a decent place to go home.

Filipino education should be for the Filipinos – all for the benefit of the Filipinos as a nation. We
should understand the Philippines in our own perspective with proper contextualization.

In terms of Philippine history, I believe that it is really promising that we should discover a lot
more about the Philippines and its Asian identity rather than seeing the Philippines only as an Asian
colony of the west.

Undeniably, reforms should start from below. That is through the education. Young generations
and students today should develop a sense of national pride as Filipinos and as Asians with complex
experiences as people. The perspective to Filipino history and society should be whole rather than
segmented among different cultural influences specifically of the west.

Teachers should be extensively taught and oriented about pre-colonial Philippines because we
still have a lot to discover about it. I believe that there should be a separate subject in elementary and
high school or even in college dealing about the Philippines as an Asian nation with maritime orientation
focusing on its precolonial experiences. This should be ingrained among the young people so that we
could develop a better national identity in the future. Moreover, we must have another subject about
Philippine society and culture that understands who we are and not just who we become due to
colonization.

Problems continue. That is why we need to develop and rethink of ourselves as a nation. The
solution might be complex and difficult and sometimes might be painful to others. Relatively, the
Philippines is a young independent nation. Actually, we are just only totally independent for around two
decades after the American military bases left the Philippines. Maturity of Philippine democracy is
ongoing. There is still a lot of hope for the Philippines.

And as I end this essay, I suggest that we should start to think like Filipinos. We should start to
speak like Filipinos and act like a Filipinos. There must be a change of perspective to change the nation.

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