Lifestyle and Education

INTRODUCTIONS

In 40 years of American occupation in our country, many Filipinos learned about the American
culture and lifestyle. American settlement in the Philippines began during the Spanish colonial
period. The period American colonialization of the Philippines was 48 years. It began with the
cession of the Philippines to the U.S. by Spain in 1898 and lasted until the U.S. recognition of
the Philippines Independence in 1946. After Independence I 946, many Americans chose to
remain in the Philippines while maintaining relations with relatives in the U.S. Most of them
were professional, missionaries continued to settle the country. In 2015, the U.S. state
department estimated that there were more than 220,000 U.S citizens living in the Philippines,
with a significant mixed population of Amerasians and descendants from the colonial era as well.

In the community

The Americans organized the community in the country by dividing partitions or collective
community inclusion. There are areas intended to be the center of development.
 In
the city

The town was made a prosperous city. It became the main center of government, trade, and
education. Some of the city established by Americans is the Baguio, Bacolod, Davao, and
Zamboanga.
In transportation

The American introduced the different kinds of terrestrial vehicles, aircraft, and marine in the
country. Their attention also focuses on the configuration of bridges, roads, ports, and
breakwater.

Government
 Government-Democracy was the greatest legacy the Americans gave us. The government has
three branches: Executive (president), Legislative (senate and congress), and the Judiciary
(department of justice).

Religion

The American implemented the policy on separation of the church and state. They also
introduced Protestantism religion more or less than 300,000 Filipinos became Protestant.
Freedom of religion was practiced.
Infrastructure

American built roads, streets, and bridges. The new infrastructure helped make the movement
of products and services more efficient. The new infrastructure helped make the movement of

products and services more efficient. Boulevards, zone districts, and centers of leisure were also
established. American architectures are still present today. PNU, Manila Hotel, and PGH are
some examples.
Entertainment

Hollywood movies became popular in the country. New kinds of music and dance were
introduced like rock n roll, boogie, jazz, tango, Chacha, polka, and rhumba. Filipinos learned to
watch and play games like table tennis, basketball, volleyball, boxing, and football.
Clothing Modes of Dressings was changed. Men: Suits, Polo shirts, ties, and jeans. Women:
Dresses, High-heeled shoes, and handbags.

Foods

Many foods are introduced by Americans to us. Food like ice cream, cakes, beefsteak, hotdogs,
hamburgers, sandwiches, cookies, and donuts was introduced. Until now it’s still in our country
and many of these are famous today.

Negative Impact of the American Colonization

 Americanization of Filipinos
 Colonial Mentality
 Respectful Filipino ways of greeting were replaced by merely saying “hi” or “hello”.
 Filipinos started to prefer white-collar jobs
 Traditional Filipino food like bibingka and suman was replaced by American food like
a hotdog and French fries.
 Lost our sense of “Bayanihan”

.
Education

Education became a very important issue for the United States colonial government since it
allowed it to spread their cultural values, particularly the English language, to the Filipino
people. Instruction in English language, and American history, lead to forming of national
identity and Filipino nationalism.

Every child from age 7 was required to register in schools located in their own town or province.
The students were given free school materials. There were three levels of education during the
American period. The "elementary" level consisted of four primary years and 3 intermediate
years. The "secondary" or high school level consisted of four years, and the third was the
"college" or tertiary level. Religion was not part of the curriculum of the schools as it had been
during the Spanish period.
In some cases, those students who excelled academically were sent to the U.S. to continue their
studies and to become experts in their desired fields or professions. They were called "scholars"
and "pensionados" because the government covered all their expenses. In return, they were to
teach or work in government offices after they finished their studies. Some examples of these
successful Filipino scholars were Judge José Abad Santos, Francisco Benitez, Dr. Honoria
Acosta-Sison, and Francisco Delgado.

Many elementary and secondary schools from the Spanish era were recycled and new ones were
opened in cities and provinces, among which there were normal, vocational, agricultural, and
business schools. Among the most important colleges during American rule were: Philippine
Normal School in 1901 (now Philippine Normal University) and other normal schools
throughout the country such as Colegio Filipino (1900, now National University), Silliman
Institute (1901, now Silliman University, Iloilo Normal School (1902, now West Visayas State
University), Cebu Normal School (1902, now Cebu Normal University, Negros Oriental High
School (1902), Capiz Home School (1904, now Filamer Christian University, the Echague Farm
School (1918, now the Isabela State University) St. Paul College of Dumaguete (1904, now St.
Paul University Dumaguete), Zamboanga Normal School in 1904 (now Western Mindanao State
University), Jaro Industrial School (1905, now Central Philippine University), Instituto de
Manila (1913, now University of Manila), Philippine Women's College (1919, now Philippine
Women's University), and Institute of Accountancy (1928, now Far Eastern University.
Examples of vocational schools are the Philippine Nautical School, Manila Trade School (1901,
now Technological University of the Philippines), and the Central Luzon Agriculture School.
The University of the Philippines was also founded in 1908.