Philippine Cartoons:

Political Caricatures of
the American Era
The
 ALFRED McCOY
• “Historian of the Southeast Asia”
• Born June 8, 1945 in Massachusetts, USA
• McCoy graduated from the Kent School in 1964.
• He earned his BA in European Studies from Columbia
College in 1968.
• He earned his M.A. Asian Studies in University of California
at Berkeley in 1969.
• He earned his PhD in Southeast Asian History from Yale
University in 1977.
• McCoy served on the faculty of the University of New South
Wales for eleven years. 
• In 1989, he joined University of Wisconsin-Madison.
 THE MAN BEHIND THE PHILIPPINE
CARTOONS
• Used the Philippine political caricatures to understand the
social and political context of the Philippines during the
American period.
• Worked with Alfredo Roces, his co-Author of Philippine
Cartoons: Political Caricatures of the American Era
• In 2001, the Association for Asian Studies awarded McCoy the
Grant Goodman Prize for his career contributions to the
study of the Philippines. 
• In October 2012, Yale University's Graduate School Alumni
Association awarded McCoy the Wilbur Lucius Cross
Medal.
 THE MAN BEHIND THE PHILIPPINE
CARTOONS

• Alfredo Reyes Roces (29 Apr 1923)

• He is a painter, an essayist, and versatile artist.
• He holds a prominent place in the history of Philippine
art.
• He is a painter who started with a figurative style but
soon began to amalgamate Expressionism, Fauvism and
Impressionism in his paintings.
 THE NEWSPAPERS IN THE PHILIPPINE
CARTOONS
• Founded in 1915 by the • Discussed questions
Father of Cebuano of tenancy, urban
letters Vicente Sotto, poverty, and poltical
one of the militant and issues.
aggressive advocates of • Where Fernando
immediate independence. Amorsolo began his
• A weekly newspaper career as the
and published in English “angriest of Manila’s
and Spanish. political
• A forum for its publishers cartoonists”.
for political crusades.
THE NEWSPAPERS IN THE PHILIPPINE
CARTOONS
• Founded in 1906 by • Appeared more
Judge W.A. Kincaid but personal than national
was taken over by and not tied to a
McCullough Dick due to particular political
bankruptcy party.
• Published in both • Advocated integrity,
Spanish and English democracy and
• Featured investigative Philippine national
reporting about the progress.
country’s development
THE PHILIPPINES
FREE PRESS
THE NEWSPAPERS IN THE PHILIPPINE
CARTOONS
• Translated as "New • It depicted the
Force", this was the most breaking down of
popular Cebuano pre-war hallowed customs and
periodical. social practices due
• It draws a picture of pre- to American Influence.
war social life in Cebu. • It criticized co-
• It featured the clash education introduced
between the traditional by the Americans
Spanish-influenced culture which endangered the
and the new American virtue of women. BAG-ONG
orientation. KUSOG
 HISTORICAL CONDITION
• Transition from Spanish colonial rule to American
colonial period.
• Filipino resistance on the American Policy over the
Philippines

• American colonial rule:

• Filipino representation in the Assembly
• Filipinization in the government
• Campaign for Philippine Independence
• The Commonwealth period

• American initiatives on economic, educational

system, public health, transportation and
communication
 HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• The freedom was more recognized such as speech and
press exercised unlike during the Spanish period.
• The American colonial government sued the press through
libel charges.
• The Chinese were still discriminated
• The friars were attacked by the press.
• Filipino politicians were the new illustrados.
• Police were corrupt and there was the rise of rural poverty.
• Prostitutions and gambling were rampant.
• Sanitation were poor, less hospitals for the population
• Cartoons were used to seek reforms
Philipine Cartoons: Caricatures in the
American Era
 Philipine Cartoons: Caricatures in the American Era
Historical Information

• The problem of homesteading

and US-style tenancy during the
American colonial government

ANALYSIS
• It presents the oppressed
condition of the farmers
during the American colonial
period.
Historical Information
• America failed to transform Manila to “Pearl of
the Orient” as promised. Social and health
services were not met as to the growing
population. Manila City's administation was
crippled by constant national interference,
warfarte between council and mayor, endemic
corruption, and the political imperatives of an
election every three years.

ANALYSIS

• Filipinpos this time was dependent on the

provision of the American administration.
There was no form of local government to
situate solutions for its own problem.
 Historical Information

• Gambling is rampant and

even seen outside the
provincial hall.
CONVENIENT
BLINDNESS ANALYSIS

• It displays the satirical

comment on the
provincial's preoccupation
with gambling.
 Historical Information

• American soldiers and sailors

strutted about Manila's streets.
This sudden American presence
bacame disruptive.
 ANALYSIS
• The sailors' spending expresses the growing Filipino
objection to the jarring economic and social consequences
of the American military presence.

• It also reacts to the Filipino complaints about the

American veterans who remained in the provinces ,
usually living off a Filipina wife and engaging in drunken
brawls.

• The picture also reflects American colonialism. If US rule

were like the sailors' visit, would the Filipinos not end their
decades of submission with little more than dirt from
America's “shoes”?
 Historical Information

• Philippine health care was in

parlous state. Some recorded
deaths were the 119,000
victims of cholera, malaria,
tuberculosis, smallpox and
other epidemics.

ANALYSIS

• The picture both mocks

the superstition of the
Filipinos and the influence
of the spanish friars.
 Historical Information

• Philippine health care was in

parlous state. Some recorded
deaths were the 119,000
victims of cholera, malaria,
tuberculosis, smallpox and
other epidemics.

ANALYSIS

• The picture shows the haughty

and unsympathetic manner of
Filipino doctors who felt that
their medical degrees were
license to command respect,
not to render service.
Philipine Cartoons: Caricatures in the American Era

Historical Information

• The political practice in the

country especially during
election.

ANALYSIS

• It features the political irony of the

election process in the Philippines
wherein initially the candidates
bow and beg favor from the
Filipino masses but at the end the
Filipinos masses begging.
 Philipine Cartoons: Caricatures in the American Era
Historical Information
• The Americans used the
educational system to
control/manipulate the
Filipinos.

ANALYSIS

1. The introduction of the English language.

2. As a result of American education, they
were able to develop an image worthy of
Filipino love and respect.
CONTRIBUTION and
RELEVANCE
 CONTRIBUTION AND RELEVANCE OF THE
DOCUMENT TO THE GRAND NARRATIVE OF
PHILIPPINE HISTORY

• These historical caricatures are relevant visual and contextual

realities that can fill-in the gap in understanding the grand
narrative of Philippine history.

• Using historical caricature is a dynamic avenue of deciphering

Philippine history providing relevant visual representations of
the past and a contextual approach of understanding historical
meanings and implications.
 CONTRIBUTION AND RELEVANCE OF THE
DOCUMENT TO THE GRAND NARRATIVE OF
PHILIPPINE HISTORY

• The featured caricatures are powerful tools in the political,

economic and social advocacies which can inspire and
remind us also of our advocacies at the present time.

• The caricatures depict the realities happening during the

American period which express the sentiments of the
Filipinos.
 CONTRIBUTION AND RELEVANCE OF THE
DOCUMENT TO THE GRAND NARRATIVE OF
PHILIPPINE HISTORY
• We may not be in a specific period of the past but
we are not devoid in understanding history because
historical caricatures bring us to the past and
provide us a rich, dynamic and contextual source
of depicting events and realities.

• In contemporary times, the use of editorial

caricatures are still powerful tools that depict the
temper of the present time and express the
problems and sentiments of the present context.

• It is likewise a means of the present time to trigger

the awareness of the people concerning different
issues
THANK
YOU!
 Ligan, et.al. (2018) Readings in Philippine
history.Mutya Publishing House,Inc.Malabon
City,Philippines
McCoy, A. and Roces, A. (1985).Philippine
References Cartoons:Political Caricature of the American
Era 1900-1941.Quezon City,Philippines