Philippine Caricature

PHILIPPINE CARICATURE (POLITICAL CARICATURES OF THE AMERICAN ERA)

THE AUTHOR ALFRED W. MCCOY Born in 1945, Massachussets, USA Dr. Alfred W. McCoy is a professor of the South East Asian History at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he also serves as director of the SE Asian Studies. He has spent the past thirty years writing about the Southeast Asian History and Politics. After earning his Ph.D. In SE Asian History at Yale, his Writings has focused on two topics: Philippine Political History and Global Opium Trafficking with the Philippines remaining to be his major focus of research.

The document 1900-41 Philippine political cartoons gained full expression during the American era. Filipino artists recorded national attitudes toward the coming of the Americans as well as the changing mored and times While the 377 cartoons compiled in this book speak for themselves, historian Alfred McCoy’s extensive research in Philippine and American archives provides a comprehensive background not only to the cartoons but to the turbulent period as well. Alfredo Roces, who designed the book, contributes an essay on Philippine graphic satire of the period.

The document ACHIEVEMENTS  PHILIPPINE CATHOLIC MASS MEDIA AWARD.  BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR 1985.  PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR HISTORY, 1986.

 GINTONG AKLAT AWARD (MANILA).  SPECIAL CITATION FOR HISTORY, 1987.

DEFINITION OF TERMS Caricatures

Aparcero

A picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking charateristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect

“sharecropping” A type of farming in which families rent small plots of land from a landowner in return for a portion of their crop, to be given to the landowner at the end of each year.

Homesteaders Someone who settles lawfully on government land with the intent to acquire title to it.

Imperialism The policy of extending the rule or authrority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. Advocacy of imperial or sovereign interests over the interests of the dependent states.

While the Priest lives alone in a big building... Like many nationalist of his day, Vicente Sotto, the publisher of INDEPENDENT, never missed the chance to attack the catholic church.

In 1906, the Philippine Supreme Court had ruled that the Roman Catholic Church was the legal owner of all disputed properties, thus stripping the nationalistic Aglipayan Church of the properties it had occupied right after the revolution.

Is the Police Force Bribed?... Depicts the first of Manila’s periodic polic scandals. The author, Fernando Amorsolo, gives the the illustration a usual racist edge. While the corrupt police force is shown as a normal filipino policemen, the chinese are caricaturated as emaciated, leering creatures more rodent than human.

New bird of prey... The cartoon’s caption “New Bird of Prey” is an allusion to the most famous libel case in the history of Philippine Journalism

Where the Mosquito is King... Manila at the time, was a natural breeding ground for malarial mosquitos, as it is built on a swamp and ringed with streams and ponds. The board of health distributed millions of doses of quinine and eliminated mosquito breeding grounds by filling up the stagnant water holes or by spraying them with petroleum.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity... The Philippine Assembly passed a law authorizing all legislators, active or retired, to bear firearms. The Manila press was outraged, but the legislators ignored the opposition and promulgated the laws over the screams of protest.

Why the “Aparcero” Rebels... It shows the form of landlord usury used to strip tenant farmers from their rightful share of harvest.

A new wrinkle in the art of thieving... This show city capitalist using the Torrens title process, which required relinquishment of customary claims to issue titles, to grab lands in Nueva Ecija and other Central Luzon provinces.

Whats going to be done about it?... A sudden and unexpected credit crisis threatens the Negros Sugar crop and planters responded by lobbying Governor-General Francis B. Harrison for relief. Fueled by free access to the american sugar market and liberal credit from the newly established Philippine National Bank, the Negros sugar industry grew rapidly during World War 1.

Brothers under the skin This work urges Filipinos to end social conflict and deal with each other fairly.

Equal work, Unequal salary, why?... When filipinos began winning civil service appointments after 1913, they found themselves facing serious discrimination in both wages and positions.

The liberal Governor General Francis B. Harrison began the “Filipinization” of civil service.

American Worker – Filipino Worker This illustration obviously refers to the fundamental inequality of the difference in wages and working conditions between the two countries.

The Elections Before and After After only 15 years of party politics, the corruption of the political process had become apparent by the early 1920’s.

Taxation This cartoon published in 1928 illustrates the burden of a person bearing crushing loads of taxes and jobholders.

The loyalty of the Filipinos... The loyalty of the Filipinos was published on april 14, 1917 only ten days after the US Congress declared war on Germany and America entered the conflict. The artist, Fernando Amorsolo draws a wise, handsome, Uncle Sam leading little Juan, loyal and smiling on the road to war.

RELEVANCE In the Philippines, the presence of political cartoons has been seen as early as the publication of Kalayaan and La Solidaridad. Accounts pointed that the Philippine press has had a love-hate relationship with the political cartoons as the only published book on Philippine cartoons was in 1985. The book of McCoy and Roces (1986) was the first one to legitimize cartoons as a source of Filipino thoughts and views. Although only covering the early american period through the commonwealth, it reflected on two cartoon themes; anti-American sentiments and the condemnation of the ruling class. Political cartoons serve as triggers for engaging in prevailing opinions during that time. It also becomes a current representation of the current condition of our country as it lets us see the problem. Furthermore, the current generation could have a vivid glimpse of the past Philippine society through these cartoons as the issues that arose during that time is clearly represented in each illustration. Finally, through the use of political cartoons, people get to visualize politics and appreciate the representations which are within their worldview.