LESSON 5.

3: COMPROMISE
WITH COLONIALISM
THE SUCCESSFUL SUPPRESSION OF THE VARIOUS REVOLUTIONARY
OUTBREAKS OR DISTURBANCES FOLLOWING THE FORMAL END OF
THE FILIPINO-AMERICAN WAR WAS ENOUGH REASON FOR THE
FILIPINOS ELITE TO PURSUE THE ALTERNATIVE OF PEACEFUL
STRUGGLE.
• THIS PROSPECT BECAME QUITE CLEAR WHEN THE AMERICAN
COLONIAL AUTHORITIES REPEATEDLY OFFERED OPPORTUNITIES FOR
FILIPINO ELITE, ESPECIALLY THE ILLUSTRADOS, WHOSE ROLE IN THE
19 CENTURY REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT THROUGHOUT THE
ARCHIPELAGO HAD BEEN MARKED BY READINESS TO COMPROMISE
WITH COLONIALISM.
 ACCOMODATIONS
THE AMERICAN COLONIAL POLICY WAS DESIGNED TO WIN THE
SUPPORT OF THE FILIPINOS, ESPECIALLY THE ELITE AND THE
AMERICAN ANTI- IMPERIALISTS WHO WERE AGAINST
ANNEXATION OF THE PHILIPPINES.
THE ELITE WERE REWARDED WITH IMPORTANT POSITIONS IN
THE GOVERNMENT.
• WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, THE FIRST AMERICAN CIVIL
GOVERNOR OF THE PHILIPPINES, ADOPTED A “POLICY OF
ATTRACTION” DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE THE ELITE TO
COOPERATE WITH THE AMERICANS.
• THE PHILIPPINE BILL OF 1902(COOPER ACT) ESTABLISHED THE
PHILIPPINES ASSEMBLY IN 1907 WHICH SATISFIED THE ILLUSTRADO
DESIRE FOR POLITICAL PARTICIPATION.
• THE AMERICANS ALLOWED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL
PARTY WHOSE PLATFORM WAS ANNEXATION.
• THE AMERICANS ALSO IMPLEMENTED FILIPINIZATION OF THE
GRADUAL SUBSTITUTION OF AMERICANS WITH FILIPINO
PERSONNEL IN THE GOVERNMENT.
• THE SUPREME COURT, CREATED IN 1899, WAS COMPOSED OF NINE
JUSTICE, SIX WHOM WERE FILIPINOS.
• PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS WERE UNDER FILIPINO
CONTROL.
• BY 1913, THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION WAS FILIPINIZED.
• DURING THE TERM OF GOVERNOR-GENERAL FRANCIS B. HARRISON,
THERE WAS RAPID FILIPINIZATION.
• THE JONES LAW (1916) CREATED AN ALL-FILIPINO LEGISLATURE.
• THE MUNICIPAL CODE ENACTED IN 1901 BY THE SECOND PHILIPPINE
COMMISSION PLACED THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT UNDER THREE
FILIPINO OFFICIALS.
• THE AMERICANS WERE ALSO SUCCESSFUL IN CO-OPTING THE RULING
ELITE IN THE CULTURAL COMMUNITIES.
• IN MINDANAO, AMERICAN TEACHERS AND MISSIONARIES PROVIDED
SOCIAL SERVICES AND EDUCATION TO THE NATIVES WITH THE
ASSISTANCE OF LOCAL LEADERS.
IN THE CORDILLERAS, THE AMERICANS USED THEIR MILITARY
FIREPOWER (WHICH IMPRESSED THE IFUGAOS) AND
GOODWILL( AMERICANS PAID FOR FOOD ITEMS INSTEAD OF
CONFISCATING THEM) TO ESTABLISH POLITICAL STRUCTURES IN THE
REGION.

THE BATES TREATY ALLOWED AMERICAN PRESENCE IN SULI.

• THE CARPENTER-KIRAM AGREEMENT IN 1915 STRESSED THE TOTAL
“TOTAL SOVEREIGNTY OF THE U.S OVER ALL THE TERRITORY OF THE
SULTANATE IN ALL ASPECTS, EXCEPT IN MATTERS OF RELIGION IN
WHICH THE SULTAN AS TITULAR SPIRITUAL HEAD OF HIS PEOPLE
WAS ALLOWED TO EXERCISE ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY.