On Filipino Postcolonial Theories

The trauma that colonialism has caused is still felt to this day. The centuries’ worth of
oppression and debasement from Spanish and American colonizers have had profoundly negative
impacts in the way we view ourselves as individuals and as Filipinos. The derogation of the
Filipino identity by past colonial masters to limit our capacity and lower our self-esteem has been
fully internalized and has been passed down from generation to generation—like a twisted
psychological inheritance (David & Okazaki, 2006). But the thing is, this self-deprecating view of
the Filipino self is primarily perpetuated through our continuous use of Western analytical
frameworks or perspectives to observe ourselves (Mendoza, 2006).
Western perspective is inherently narrow and inflexible; it analyzes and judge indigenous
identities and cultures based on their own paradigm (i.e., Western values, beliefs, theories) since
it assumes universality (Mendoza, 2006). Thus, Western perspective can be seen as arrogant in the
way it imposes meaning and judgment while failing to understand the depth and nuances of
indigenous identity and culture. Ultimately, this leads to grave misconceptions and
misinterpretations that have negative implications on those being analyzed—like how gross
misconstruction of Filipino culture has led to the internalization of our inferiority (David &
Okazaki, 2006). This then questions the qualification of Western frameworks and perspective in
understanding non-Western, indigenous identities and its authority in imposing meaning unto it.
The tyranny of the Western perspective that has been enforced by colonial masters centuries ago
has continued to strip former colonial subjects of their faculty to impose their own meaning unto
themselves based on their own indigenous paradigm. The need to decolonize is then recognized.
This is where postcolonial theory and criticism is introduced.
Postcolonialism is, fundamentally, an emancipatory and empowering theory that emerged
to challenge the existing colonial structures in former colonial states. It is emancipatory since it
seeks to liberate former colonies of oppressive colonial ideology and it becomes empowering
because it encourages them to reclaim their past as a way to discover their identity and voice as a
people (Fanon, 1961 as cited in Barry, 2009). Similar to postmodernism, postcolonialism also
recognizes the existence of subjective narratives, and so rejects the notion of universalism and
objectivity of Western narrative—meaning there is no one way of looking at culture and identity.
Thus, postcolonial theory branches out and varies from culture to culture; from context to context;
from one former colonial state to another, because not one culture nor colonial experience is ever
the same. And so, the movement of focus from the Western-outsider perspective to the indigenous-
personal perspective makes the quest for the nation’s identity an intimate and self-gratifying
process.
In the context of the Philippines, postcolonial theory manifests itself predominantly
through the process of indigenization that Filipino intellectuals have started, specifically in the
efforts to reorient the study of Filipino history and identity in the Filipino themselves. One of the
most popular movements that has sprung forth from the efforts of indigenization and
decolonization in the Philippines is Virgilio Enriquez’s brainchild, Sikolohiyang Pilipino or
Filipino Psychology. The primary goal of Sikolohiyang Pilipino is to essentially uproot the
negative colonial interpretations that have been imposed on the Filipino identity. And this is done
not only through reinterpretation of some aspects of our identity, but through the radical upheaval
of the monolithic Western perspective and its subsequent substitution with a Filipino-oriented
framework (Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino, 2000).
The quest for the discovery of the Filipino identity that is pushed by the objectives of
Enriquez through Sikolohiyang Pilipino is also inherently a nationalistic endeavor. More than the
quest to gain deeper understanding of the Filipino self, is the goal to instill in each one of us our
love for our own country, our own culture, and our own people. That is perhaps the most important
outcome of achieving self-understanding and self-appreciation.
In my experience however, I actually still feel deep within me the inferiority of being a
Filipino, especially one that lives in the Philippines. When I was younger, I was admittedly envious
of my relatives living abroad, specifically in the US. I believed that they were living their best lives
there. When I was older, I started to grow envious of my cousins who were studying abroad
because of the better education and opportunities they would be receiving. And when I finally met
them a couple years ago, I felt inferior to them despite the fact that they were also technically
Filipinos. However, to me they were not Filipinos like me, they were more like Americans in the
way they spoke, acted, and behaved. But the source of my inferiority is not entirely due to socio-
cultural reasons. An important factor to consider as well are the economic and material factors.
Since the Philippines is considered a developing country, we are, on average, less wealthy than
those who live in developed countries. As a developing country, we then are considered
impoverished, and that is something that can be objectively measured. And being in a generally
poor country is not exactly something that is a source of pride for any citizen.
Essentially, postcolonial theory and other related indigenous concepts (i.e., Sikolohiyang
Pilipino) is an assurance of the fact that there really is nothing intrinsically wrong with our
indigenous identity. It is not who or what we are that is at fault when past colonizers ascribe those
narrow attributes unto us; it is their myopic perspective and frameworks that fail to see and
consider the whole picture.
References:

Barry, P. (2009). Postcolonial Criticism . In Beginning theory: an introduction to literary and

cultural theory (pp. 185–195). Manchester University Press.

David, E. J. R., & Okazaki, S. (2006). Colonial Mentality Scale for Filipino Americans.
PsycTESTS Dataset. https://doi.org/10.1037/t00077-000

Mendoza, S. L. L. (2006). Re-Narrating the Filipino Nation . In Between the homeland and the
diaspora (pp. 43–122). UST Pub. House.

Pe-Pua, R., & Protacio-Marcelino, E. A. (2000). Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino psychology): A

legacy of Virgilio G. Enriquez. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 3(1), 49–71.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-839x.00054
 POLITHE
Activity 6 Critical Commentary

Name: Ruiz Lorenzo B. Chavez Section: A51

CRITERIA BEGINNING DEVELOPING SATISFACTORY EXEMPLARY RATING

1 2 3 4
Organization The submitted The submitted The submitted The submitted 3
work is work is partially work is organized work is well-
unorganized organized organized and
goes beyond
the required
qualities
Critical The submitted The submitted The submitted The submitted 3
content work does not work partially work exhibits work exhibits a
exhibit any exhibits evidence of high level of
evidence of evidence of critically engaging evidence of
critically critically the subject matter critically
engaging the engaging the engaging the
subject matter subject matter subject matter
Citation of The submitted The submitted The submitted The submitted 4
literature on work does not work partially work exhibits work exhibits a
the subject exhibit any exhibits evidence of citing high level of
matter evidence of evidence of relevant literature evidence of
citing relevant citing relevant on the subject citing relevant
literature on literature on the matter literature on
the subject subject matter the subject
matter matter
Reflexivity The submitted The submitted The submitted The submitted 2
work does not work partially work exhibits work exhibits a
exhibit any exhibits evidence of high level of
evidence of evidence of personal evidence of
personal personal reflection on the personal
reflection on reflection on the subject matter reflection on
the subject subject matter the subject
matter matter