Introduction
Buhay Pinoy
Revisiting Colonization and Reawakening Community Spirit:
A Path to Sustainable Peace and Community Transformation
A Psychological Perspective
Rhodius T. N1oguera, Ph.D.
Dedication
This is for all the Pinoys
who are struggling from the remnants of the colonization.
For the human rights of the Indigenous Pinoys.
For the dignity of the Bangsamoro Pinoys.
For the Pinoys of Kalamansig.
For the reawakening of all Pinoy communities.
For the reawakening of the young Pinoy.
For my family and friends who are part of my personal transformation as
Pinoy.
2
Foreword
Buhay Pinoy is my way retelling the story of every Filipinos in
a struggle to concretize the dream and aspiration for national and
community recovery and positive transformations.
I would also like to emphasize the point that Filipinos have so
much to give in terms of indigenous values and relationship. They only
need to be rediscovered and be reutilized to benefit the welfare of the
Filipinos.
Filipino history holds that the Filipinos had stood the test of
humiliation, unimaginable human destruction, manipulation, calamities,
and social injustices. It is time now for the Filipinos to resurrect from the
centuries of uncertainties. The Filipinos should start defusing the beliefs
that we are indolent and “poor”. There is a way out of these imposed
stereotyped categories. I could sense that the inherent resources for
change are unearthing and it is unstoppable.
Buhay Piinoy is not a new consciousness. It is actually an
indigenous construct that has been fossilized by the colonization period.
There is only a need to reawaken the awareness that we do not need
the values of the colonizers to be Pinoy . It is time now to influence the
world withPinoy values; rather than the Filipinos to be captured again
by individualistic perspective of the so called globalization instigated by
the first world countries.
Buhay Pinoy is about community. Community is the saving
grace and the missing link to the Filipinos integral development. Filipinos
have to start rethinking of life, social, human, and economic
development, education, politics, ecology, international relationship and
spirituality in terms of community. This is the resource that we could
share in the fading and uncertain individualistic world. But the Filipinos
have to start to re-own the community and relearn its worth for social
rehabilitation.
3
Buhay Pinoy, after all, is worth dying for. Filipinos had to be
aware that it was not our destiny to be poor. The pains from the
colonization had helped us not see that Filipinos have a choice to create
a better life. Filipinos became victims of the situation. Sadly, the
vulnerability of the Filipinos had been used to advance the welfare of
the powerful individuals.
It is time now to heal the nation. Healing has to be in the context
of history and social justice. Healing has to be concrete. Hopefully, this
piece of work could help realize the embracing, honing, exploring, and
concretizing of Buhay Pinoy to serve the best interest of the
Filipinos especially those who are deprived the most.
4
Contents 1
Dedication 6
Foreword
7
Introduction
9
Trauma 10
10
Internal and External Displacement 11
Psychological Dynamic of 12
Internal and External Displacement 11
Painful Meaning 13
Cycle of Trauma 13
Developmental Trauma
Trauma and Power Issue 15
Healing and Recovery from Trauma
Community, A Resource for Healing and Recovery 15
Social Justice and Healing Process 17
17
History of Philippine Trauma 20
21
Spain Conquest 22
British Invasion 23
Forty Five Years with U.S.A. 23
Japanese Occupation 23
Four Centuries of Inhumanity 24
Post-Colonial Impact 24
Filipino Struggle Continues
Greed for Power and Resources
Armed Conflict
Graft and Corruption
Martial Law
5
Maguindanao Massacre 24
Struggle of Indigenous People 25
Kalamansig Situation 25
Impact of National Trauma 32
Individual Traumatization 35
Family Traumatization 36
Community Traumatization 36
Ecological Traumatization 37
Psychological Traumatization 37
Emotional Traumatization 38
Cognitive Traumatization 38
Physical Traumatization 38
Cultural Traumatization 38
Economic Traumatization 39
Spiritual Traumatization 40
Post-Colonial Re-Traumatization 42
Education Traumatization 46
Media Traumatization 50
Political Traumatization 53
Globalization Traumatization 53
Ecology Traumatization 54
International Debt Traumatization 55
Poverty Traumatization 55
Health Traumatization 56
Religion Traumatization 56
Survival Syndrome 57
Psychosocial Resource 60
Community Reconnection 70
Community Resource Reconnection 76
Historical Resource Reconnection 83
Peacebuilding 90
6
Empowering Psychologist/Leader 104
Conclusion 110
Bibliography 114
7
Introduction
I have been working with poor communities for the last 20 years
as a community organizer. But I am still puzzled on how I could facilitate
positive change in the lives of the poor Filipinos. As a psychologist and as
a researcher it is my role to discover what could be helpful in the social
transformation of poor communities in the Philippines.
Buhay ni P-noy is inspired by my research entitled, “PINTAKASI:
Empowering A Poor Threatened Community to Deal with Problems of
Survival – Implications for the Practice of Clinical and Community
Psychology in the Field”. In this research, I discovered the complex
problems of the communities of Kalamansig (a small municipality of
Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao). I also discovered an organic community
practice which the Kalamansig people call pintakasi and its application in
responding to a pressing community concerns such as armed conflict
and poverty. By immersing in the lives of the people during this
research, I learned how I should work as a psychologist and as a
researcher in a poor community such as Kalamansig.
When my search for social transformation process led me to an
important community resource --pintakasi, this did not stop me from
asking more questions. I still wanted to explore the use of pintakasi and
the reasons for the problems of poverty, corruptions, ecology, and
peace and order in the Philippines. As a Filipino, I believe that I have the
responsibility to contribute to the welfare of the poor Filipinos.
During the time that I was writing my research on pintakasi, I
witnessed three series of armed conflicts. I saw and felt the fear,
anxiety, anger of the people, and deaths. I also feared for my life. Amidst
the risks, I opted to stay with the people in their confusion and
hopelessness. I was present when the victims were arriving from a long
walk in the mountains to seek temporary shelter in the evacuation
center. I tried to listen to their stories on how they fled to save their
lives from the crossfire. They also shared about their frustrations not
only for the loss of their properties and livelihood but also for the death
of community members and loved ones. Aside from responding to the
psycho-emotional and physical needs of the evacuees, I also took time
8
to deal with the needs of the children. In their age, to face war is
unimaginable. After the war, I visited the wrecked place. For one who
does not live in the place, I felt devastated. I sense that it was more
horrifying and frustrating for the communities who own the place
especially for the children.
To respond to the immediate subsistence needs of the evacuees,
I organized the unaffected communities to help the evacuees. Because I
had immersed in the communities of Kalamansig for at least two years,
it was easier for me to collaborate with the communities. I tried to
describe to the unaffected communities the needs of the victims and the
process of helping. In a difficult situation, I discovered how the members
of different communities, with diverse religious beliefs and ethnic
background, could be connected and work together to help the victims
of war.
I felt that what I did was not enough. With the thought that there
is much to be done, I chose to continue my journey with the
communities of Kalamansig even when I had finished my research
already. In a deep concern about the difficulty of the victims of armed
conflict, I also began to ask, “How does a community cope from armed
conflict with the unavailability of psychosocial support?” The fact is that
aside from Mindanao communities, there are other communities in the
Philippines that suffer from similar circumstances. “Where are the
conflicts coming from?” “In the entire Philippines, why is the concern of
the poor almost similar and unresolved?”
Being able to witness war and respond to war victims, I started
to ponder and connect my experience of war to the nation’s story of war
since the time of the colonization. I started to be bothered on how the
Filipino communities dealt, survived and coped with the conflicts
brought by the colonization. Philippines had a long history of abuse and
humiliation. This developing country in Asia had suffered tremendously
and inhumanely from the tyranny of the colonizing countries, the Spain
Britain, USA, and Japan (Constantino, 1977 & Zaide, 1986). I only
thought that the colonization must have created a negative impact in
lives of the Filipinos; as much as the current Mindanao conflict has
continued to bring hopelessness in the lives of the innocent victims. The
9
question is, “What would have been the psychosocial effects of more
than 385 years of abusive and violent activities of the colonization?”
When the people during the time of the colonization were not
aware of the psychosocial effects of war and humiliation and the
psychosocial services were not available, what would have been the
result of centuries of tyranny in the consciousness of the Filipino people
from the past and its effects in the current generation? If an abuse,
whether physical, sexual, or emotional, could create a lasting negative
impact in the life of a child (Herman, 1997), what impact would it have
for the Philippines which witnessed, experienced, and suffered
colonization’s inhumane abuses for 385 years? What had the colonizers
and Filipinos consciously done to repair the abuses and damages of this
harrowing event of the past?
Coming from those questions, I would describe the nature and
dynamics of trauma in the context of a nation that is abused by the
colonization. I will also present the implication of trauma to peace
building process in the Philippines. But I am not only concerned about
describing a traumatized nation. I am also concerned about presenting
concrete ways to reconnect, heal, and revitalize a nation shattered by
the colonization. Hence, this book is an attempt to rediscover the impact
of colonization in the current consciousness and difficulties of the
Filipinos. Hopefully, in this attempt, I will be able to discover a process
that will help liberate the Filipinos from varied forms of social injustices.
I also want to establish a connection between the colonization and the
peace building initiatives.
I will also present a community process that could be
empowering for the Filipinos, especially the poor, so that they
themselves can respond to their problems. The poor have been
surviving and fighting their own battles. They know what will work and
what will not, as well as what they are willing to do. Hence, there is a
need to trust these people to define what would benefit the community.
Therefore, this tale of my journey is an attempt to share how I
and the communities of Kalamansig unraveled a fossilized resource that
hopefully will raise an awareness of the dignity of the Filipinos. With our
10
discovery, the Filipinos could begin a journey of healing and redemption
from the inhumane abuses of the colonization.
I also knew that I had to find a way to understand my role as a
psychologist in a poor community. Living and working with the people, I
had a strong feeling that what I learned about psychological intervention
and the role of the psychologist was at best inadequate and at worst
wrong. I knew that what I had learned of psychology had been mostly
derived from another culture.
I also knew that my role was not merely to help the people
survive or cope with their difficulties. I had to help them change their
miserable conditions in ways that they wanted, toward goals that were
meaningful to them.
At its most basic level, this book will provide a psychological
perspective on the history of Philippine colonization. Specifically, it will
present the psychosocial impact of colonization on the entire nation. It
is hoped that this book will be able to generate more solutions that will
improve the situation in the Philippines.
At another level, this work is an attempt to create conditions
that will be “empowering” to a community. Hopefully, this attempt can
also create an awareness that Filipino communities can work together
to see their own needs and problems, look for possible responses, and
discover their own resources to design their own program. They can
then work together to implement their plan. They can also work
together to see how well they have done and how they can improve on
what they have done in the future.
Necessarily, this book is also an exploration of a new role of the
psychologist in the community and in peace building. Traditionally, the
psychologists bring his/her expertise to the community, to identity
problems and generate solutions to problems that he/she sees in the
community. In contrast, I also explored the role of the “empowering
psychologist,” who, by living and working in the community, helps the
community to see their traditional ways in a new light as defined by the
community. This new version of the psychologist helps the community
to recognize their resources, strengths, and solidarity in traditional
11
practices (in this case, pintakasi) and utilize these to address and
confront their present situation.
12
chapter 1
Trauma
I often hear the Filipinos use the word trauma whenever they
describe tragic events. They most probably had picked up this term from
the radio or television news. But I guess that the majority of the Filipinos
do not understand what the term “trauma” actually means.
I had worked as a pastoral counselor for the last ten years. In this
work, I had encountered persons struggling with their painful
experiences such as sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, terminal
illness, relationship burdens, and death of a beloved relative. The painful
events had negative effects in the way my counselees perceive
themselves and in the way they relate to their world. To positively
move on with life was difficult. For many of them, it took time to put
aside the past and face a new beginning.
One of the important experiences of burden bearing was to
witness the victims of armed conflict in Kalamansig, Mindanao. I saw
people running for their lives. I witnessed deaths. I heard the people cry
from fear and losses. I listened to their helplessness. Very importantly, I
stayed with them, when hope seemed not to shine.
In a personal note, I also experienced traumatic circumstances.
My painful stories had brought me to a seeming endless maze. I passed
thru the darkest night of my soul. I was sexually abused when I was 8
and 11 years old. It took me time to see my history. I had full of shame,
fear, anger, and resentments. But I was thankful that as I moved on in
my journey, I encountered persons, occasions, and processes by which I
could recover and heal myself. What would my life be if I did not choose
to be healed? What would the life of my counselees be if they did not
also opt to help them pick up their shattered self? For myself, I took
13
time to rediscover myself. For my counselees, I took time to be present
so as to listen.
My journey had led me to discover more pains that needed
healing. I guess that my brokenness and vulnerability is a gift to my role
in unleashing the spirits of those who were captive of pains and fear.
With my stories and the stories of my co-journeyer I will try to explain
further the nature and dynamics of trauma –in the context of Filipino
struggles.
Internal and External Displacement
Trauma is a technical term used to describe a psychological
process of painful experience. Psychological process would include
emotional, social, cognitive, behavioral, and physical elements that are
affected by the painful experience. Hence, trauma is a process of
disconnection from the sense of self (Herman 1992 & Levine, 2000).
In a Filipino layman’s term, trauma is about taking away
relationship, respect, security, dignity, and space against one’s will. In
war, people are displaced from their homes, livelihood, and
communities. The people also experience the mixed intense feelings of
hunger, fear, pain, anger, and helplessness. Trauma is an experience by
which a person is displaced and disconnected from internal and external
resource.
Internal resource is a about the positive relationship which one
has with the family and community. Majority of the Filipinos living in a
community would often talk about relationship in the context of family
and community. With this relationship, a Filipino feels a sense of
security, confidence, and belongingness. Hence, when a person
encounters a traumatic event, the internal resource is taken away for a
short or prolonged period of time.
Internal resource displacement could create loads of negative
emotions and thoughts such as fear, passivity, helplessness,
surrendering, numbness, hopelessness, anger, frustration, and pain. This
14
had been the experience of those who became victims of armed conflict
in Mindanao.
External resource on the other hand refers to the material
possession, livelihood, work, home, and the presence of family and
community. During the war in Kalamansig, the people were basically
stripped of what they have. Many homes were destroyed; agrarian
products were stolen or burned to ash; family and community members
were disconnected from each other. The children had loss the space to
play freely.
Added to the trauma of the Filipino caught up in a man-made or
natural calamity is the very limited external and internal support which
the public and private institutions could provide to the victims. Very
often, the assistance provided is sporadic in nature. Unfamiliar with the
nature and dynamics of trauma, services are not only limited. They are
also insignificant to the psycho-social, psycho-emotional, and psycho-
economic needs of the poor victims.
Psycho-social need is the desire of the people to be back in the
community and family. The people are caught up in a situation that they
had to attend first to the most basic needs such as food, water, and
shelter. The fact is that, in the evacuation center, even the most basic
needs are also scarce.
Psycho-emotional support is very important for those who went
through a traumatic event. In the Philippines, very often, psychologists
would visit the victims to facilitate trauma counseling or debriefing . But
this activity is only about the ventilation of negative thoughts and
emotions. Eventually, the psychologists will leave the place and the
people are left on their own to face their ordeal. In the evacuation
center in Kalamansig, the community of evacuees was organized well so
that the community became the stronghold of the victims. The members
of the community were already used in supporting each other. The
community only had to be aware that even when they were displaced
from their land, the armed conflict did not displace the positive
relationship of the community.
15
In my work in Kalamansig, people feel more helpless if they
become the object of relief goods. The victims do not want to be a
burden for other people. That is why in the evacuation center in
Kalamansig, the victims tried to find ways to be productive. Even it was
perilous, some men had to go back to their farms to scavenge from the
remnants of armed conflict. The foods that they got were shared by all
the evacuees. Psycho-economic response to the victims of war is about
people choosing to be productive so as to respond to their basic needs.
The people need not to be helpless even in the most difficult situation.
At the end, the communities are eventually left on their own to
recover their losses. Unfortunately individuals and communities become
more vulnerable and wounded. Wounds are kept unhealed. Pains are
set aside to attend to the most pressing need-- to survive.
Thus, trauma in the context of Filipino experience is about being
displaced from its internal and external resources. When Filipinos are
displaced from their resources, they are disconnected from the sense of
direction, sense of self, and sense of community. This makes the
Filipinos highly vulnerable and highly at risks from factors that could
exacerbate their burdens.
Psychological Dynamic of Internal and External Displacement
To start a life is difficult for those who experience trauma. The
victims of war had to start all over again in terms of trying to retrieve
the remnants from their resource. In Kalamansig, when the victims of
war went back to their ravaged homes the people had to eat root crops
for at least two months. Even root crops became inadequate. But aside
from this difficulty, the people had to deal also with their fear. They fear
that the same tragic event may recur.
The people had to go to the process of helplessness and
humiliation where they had to wait from the irregular sporadic support
from the local and national government. Very often, even the process of
helping does not provide the people the sense of dignity. There seems
to be an absence of awareness that the victims are persons who do not
only have a body but also a heart, mind, and spirit. This is the reality of
16
the poor. They do not have much choice. They simply had to accept
without complaining the morsels that fall to their empty hands.
War also constantly recreates the problems to the already
tarnished relationship between Muslims, Christians, and Indigenous
People. Trauma basically destroys human relationship. The community
when they are left on their own does not actually have a problem in
terms of relationship and responsibilities for the community. Different
ethnic groups could co-exist peacefully to advance the welfare of the
community. The problem lies on those who hold the power. They
initiate and create conflicts at the expense of the poor.
Painful Meaning
Internal and external displacements lead the people towards
accumulating more painful meaning of life. When there is no avenue by
which the people could look back and understand their situation, people
reconstruct their own meaning. More often, the meaning that is
recreated does not help the people to respond more positively and
productively.
The people do not have the opportunity to express what they
feel and eventually understand their circumstances. They do not also
have the chance to plan so that they could see the challenges with
vibrancy and hopes. But unfortunately, the people are left with the
choice which is to accept their ordeal—to suffer from the author of
armed conflict and social injustices.
Eventually, individuals are caught up again in a survival mode
where they had to attend to personal needs in order to survive. In
effect, the care for the community is set aside. In a war-trauma, the
natural commitment of the people to care for community is also
displaced.
Cycle of Trauma
The social conflict in Mindanao is a long standing story of pain
that has been transferred from one generation to the other.
Unfortunately, the story of pain has passed on a legacy of multi-faceted
conflicts.
17
Note that a traumatized person could also be a victimizer if the
trauma is not addressed appropriately (Brahm, 2004 & Herman, 1992).
When a powerless is abused, there is a possibility that the victim could
use similar power to inflict the self, or the person who inflicted him or
her, or transfer the pain by inflicting other person.
The negative feelings from trauma can generate feelings of
frustration and revenge that can produce a cycle of violence (Herman,
1992; Levine, 2000; & Brahm, 2004). For example, the political process
in the Philippines would always ignite conflict and division among the
people. The current Maguindanao massacre for instance is a result of
political rivalry that killed 57 innocent civilians. The Martial Law which is
another political unrest during the time of the late President Ferdinand
Marcos had also claimed thousands of lives (Constantino, 1972 & Zaide,
1999). This scenario of betrayal, humiliation, greed for power and
wealth, and use of power to destroy life has been happening since the
time of the colonization.
Developmental Trauma
The effect of trauma on people varies across developmental
phase. However, experts would say that children suffer the most of the
negative impact of trauma (Marcelino et al., 2000; Herman, 1992;
Carandang, 1996; Puzon et al.,2005; & Levine, 2000). In childhood,
repeated trauma forms and deforms personality (Herman, 1992). The
children tend to internalize their fear and pain when unprocessed
(Middleton-Moz, 1989). Hence, internalization of trauma could create a
negative impact on cognitive, emotional, physical, psychological, and
social life of children. But this is not only true for children. Trauma could
also negatively affect the human development of adults.
In Mindanao alone, there were already millions of children and
adolescents who witnessed and experienced the actual cruelty of war.
There have been different studies that attested to the negative impact
of armed conflict. However, minimal attention has been given to
address concretely the trauma experienced by the young people. Now,
how have the painful and fearful events contribute to their development
18
as a human being? Note that the young people of Mindanao do not only
encounter armed conflict. They also had to deal with other social
injustices such as poverty, discrimination, inequality, and corruptions.
Trauma and Power Issue
In order to escape accountability, the perpetrator does
everything in his power to promote forgetting (Herman 1992; Levine
2000; Puzon, 2005; Brahm, 2004; & Carandang, 1996). The more
powerful the perpetrator, the greater is his prerogative to name and
define reality, and the more completely his arguments prevail. The poor-
-the powerless is always at risk of becoming victims of manipulation and
betrayal of those who hold power. In Mindanao, the people, the
majority of whom are poor, are left with no choice but to be misled,
used, and victimized by leaders who have unsatisfied greed for power,
wealth, and prestige.
When communities are caught up in a survival situation where
the people had to meet the basic needs such as food, clothes, and
shelter, the poor do not have the opportunity to think and plan for more
humane sustainable empowering options; but to cling to the
disempowering tactics of self-centered leaders. Unfortunately, the poor
helplessly had to face the cycle of victimization where they had to
remain disempowered so as to serve the personal interest of relentless
leaders.
Healing and Recovery from Trauma
Very often, those who are involved in helping people to recover
from trauma such as the havoc of armed conflict assume that the most
important things to do are to rebuild homes, provide food, repair
school, and assist financially through livelihood programs (Noguera,
2009). But there seems to be less priority in addressing the fact that
more than the damaged physical structures are the psycho-social,
psycho-emotional, and psycho-economic impacts of war (Brahm, 2004;
19
Levine, 2000, Baro, 2000, Noguera, 2009; Herman, 1992; & Carandang,
2000).
More often than not, the internal aspect of healing process is
overlooked and taken for granted. Trauma does not only make the
people bleed externally but also internally. Hence, healing and recovery
has to be taken seriously by not only attending to the physical needs of
the victims but also to the need of their battered minds, hearts, and
spirits.
Healing and recovery is a process and journey of the victims
towards recovering his/her losses--internal and external (Herman 1992;
Levine 2000; Puzon, 2005; Brahm, 2004; & Carandang, 1996). Part of the
healing process is the recognition of the truth that an abuse,
humiliation, and violation of human dignity and rights transpired. It also
includes the decision in the part of the victim to recover and be healed
from trauma so that he/she could revive his/her sense of dignity, sense
of connection and sense of respect (Levine, 2000, Baro, 2000, Noguera,
2009; Lederach, 1995; Herman, 1992; Carandang, 2000; & Brahm, 2004).
Community, A Resource for Healing and Recovery. In my work
with the community, I also discovered that part of the healing process of
the people is to revive community connection (Noguera, 2009).
Community relationship is an inherent resource for the Filipinos. Healing
and recovering the community relationship could also help the people
recover from the trauma of a disaster much easier.
Community has a role to play in the healing and recovery of the
Philippines. Philippine communities have indigenous rich practices. They
had been existing prior to the colonization. These community practices
had also served not only the needs of the communities. The indigenous
process also positively strengthens community relationships and
connections. Unfortunately the natural practices of the communities
had not been fully explored, maximized, and utilized progressively to the
advantage of the community who owns the community process. With
the pressing need to attend to personal survival at the start of the
colonization, the Filipinos overlooked the power of community.
20
Social Justice and Healing Process. The victims of violence,
abuse, and humiliation have to clamor for justice for the violation of
human rights and disrespect for human dignity. Justice is a process of
reclaiming dignity and respect. It is also a process of recognizing that
human rights have been violated. Healing takes place when the victims
start to fight for their rights and claim justice from the perpetrator.
Hence the perpetrator has to pay retribution for the external and
internal damages that was incurred to the victims. Retribution may take
place in the form of public apology, monetary justice, ritualization of the
recognition and resentment in the part of the perpetrator for the harm
that was done, and a public declaration that human rights have been
violated.
21
chapter 2
History of Philippine Trauma
Much could be read about the history of the Philippines
specifically that of the colonization. But there is little attention given to
the psychological impact which the history has created in the
consciousness of the Filipino people.
There is a dearth of study that focuses on the trauma of
colonization. This topic is rarely explored. Perhaps, this is a delicate topic
that could spark important issues that shaped not only the lives of the
Filipinos but the world. My attempt to take a step in this unfamiliar
territory is part of my quest to understand my identity and spirit as a
Filipino.
The events by which Spain, Britain, U.S.A., and Japan occupied
the Philippines mark the period of suppression of Filipino’s nationalism
and sovereignty (Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003). In this
section, I will try to present events of the history that will describe that
Philippines underwent centuries of abuses, violence, betrayal,
humiliation and oppression.
Spain Conquest (1521-1898)
The conquest of Philippines by Spain left a lasting mark in the
consciousness of the Filipinos (Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil,
2003). Spain labeled Filipinos as “indolent”, “savage”, and
“superstitious”. For instance, the writings of Jose Rizal describe the
repressive Spanish regime (Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Medina,
1972). Rizal said that the indolence of the Filipinos is the by-product of
Spanish colonial history because of the manipulation and abuse of
power.
22
Spain did not only damage the identity and consciousness of the
Filipinos, it has also destroyed the Philippines’ vigorous internal industry
and commerce (Kramer, 2006). Spanish colonial system had basically
collapsed and drained the productive power of communities. On the
other hand, the Filipinos were made slaves and puppets to serve the
interest of the Spaniards (Kramer, 2006). The Spaniards had enriched
themselves of the Filipino’s natural and human resources at the expense
of life and dignity of the Filipinos.
For more than 300 years, the Filipinos endured the Spaniards’
indignation. The land that was once made sacred by the indigenous
people had witnessed the shed of blood, disrespect for culture, and
discrimination.
Centuries with the Spanish regime marks the age of oppression,
forced labor, slavery, religious persecution, betrayal, corruption, abuse,
disrespect, and killings (Kramer, 2006, Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999;
Joaquin, 2004 & Medina, 1972). Note also that Spaniards, aside from
destroying the natives’ sense of self had bribed the Filipinos to stage war
against the Filipinos who were fighting for liberation. History also
recorded abuses of Spaniards against women and children. In this dark
night of the nation, individuals, families, and communities witnessed,
struggled, and learned to live by the manipulation and exploitation of
Spaniards for more than 300 years.
Spain had started the armed conflict in the Philippines. The
Spanish occupation had intensified the use of arms to overpower the
nation (Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003). This is also the
beginning by which the nation as a whole experienced atrocities by the
attacks of Spain. History holds the story of carnage and all forms of
abuses in a massive level. And above all, which left a deep wound in the
relationship among the Filipinos, was the Spanish who had manipulated
the Christianized Filipinos to fight against the Muslims.
23
British Invasion (1762-1764)
Britain had also taken interest on occupying the Philippines to
establish another empire (Constantino, 1972 & Zaide, 1999). But similar
to Spain, this powerful nation only knew one thing, to use force and
violence in order to get what they wanted. To gain more jurisdiction,
power, and wealth through territorial invasion, Britain attacked the
Spain and inevitably, the innocent Filipinos too.
Again, the British soldiers had also used the Filipinos to be the
human-shield for such a dirty relentless game to war for power. In
return, many Filipinos died. British soldiers also showcased not only
their hunger for land and power. They were also voracious for wealth.
The soldiers looted churches, homes, and desecrated graves to hunt for
buried treasures (Zaide, 1999). Unfortunately, because of selfish
interest, more innocent lives were lost. Without mercy, the British
soldiers killed thousands of “indios” with their guns (Zaide, 1999).
The Britain’s inhumane treatment on Filipinos is not only about
the loss of lives and properties. Britain had added up to the Filipinos’
already shattered sense of self which Spain had pioneered. Philippine
history does not describe much of the psychosocial impact of this event.
It has not shown how the relatives of those who died in the carnal attack
of Britain struggled and coped with the war itself and the loss of loved
ones. Alarmingly, how did such situation affect the consciousness of the
Filipinos? But more disturbingly, how had this consciousness wrought by
Britain’s occupation been passed on from one generation to the next
generation?
Forty Five Years with U.S.A. (1898-1946)
U.S.A. also took advantage of the vulnerability and helplessness
of the Filipinos from the tyranny of Spain (Constantino, 1972; Zaide,
1999; & Rodil, 2003). For this, another powerful country had declared
war against the Spaniards. With no choice, the Filipinos had to witness
the Spanish-American war in 1898. Warring over the control of a
24
wealthy land, they destroyed homes, properties, and lives of children
and adults, men and women.
But the story of U.S.A.’s occupation was not about liberating the
Filipinos. It was also another story of betrayal (Kramer, 2006). All the
while, the Filipinos were thinking that the U.S.A.’s intention to liberate
the nation from Spain was noble and humane. Unfortunately, the
Filipinos had to face another decades of painful and uncertain journey as
a nation with another powerful colonizer. U.S.A. intended to make the
Philippines as part of their colonial state (Kramer, 2006). The powerless
Filipinos had to face another form of indignation. Through the Treaty of
Paris, U.S.A. bought Philippines from Spain like a piece of cake
(Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003).
On the other hand, the Filipinos continued to fight for liberation
and sovereignty (Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003). But the
Americans were too powerful for Filipinos’ quest for freedom. In the
end, the Americans ruled the country. Similar with Spain, they also
imposed their culture, values, structure, systems, perspectives,
governance, language, and lifestyles. Thus, the colonizer controlled the
life of the entire nation to serve the interest of U.S.A.
The occupation of U.S.A. was also remarkable for the immense
violation of the human rights of the Filipinos (Constantino, 1972; Zaide,
1999; Rodil, 2003; & Kramer, 2006). For instance many Filipinos had
suffered the most notorious form of torture such as the “water cure”.
The captured Filipino suspected as subservient to American authority
was interrogated while drowned with buckets of filthy water poured
into his mouth. This was witnessed by children and communities. U.S.A.
records also present that Filipino prisoners were mercilessly killed by
American soldiers. Sometimes in the early 1900s, American soldiers
killed the whole village of children in Bud Bagsak leaving more than 2000
dead boys of adolescent age. Another popular event on the abuse was
the Bud Dajo Massacre in 1906. This event had left an estimated one
thousand men, women, and children dead. But again, there was no
record on how this brutal practice of American had affected the families
of their victims and had created a psychological impact in the
consciousness of the communities which witnessed that vexing event.
25
In the different attacks made by the Americans against the
Filipinos fighting for freedom, the records also showed how they killed
helpless innocent women and children. An example of this is the most
notorious orders of indiscriminate killing by General Jacob H. Smith in
October 1901 at Balangiga, Samar (Kramer, 2006 & Rodil, 2003). He
ordered the killing of all persons over the age of ten who are capable of
bearing arms. He categorically said, “The interior of Samar must be
made a howling wilderness.” This is a systematic destruction and killing
in a large scale. This was said to be the highest mortality rate not only in
the Philippines but also in the world; leaving at least 250,000 Filipinos
dead (Kramer, 2004). There were kept photographs which held the
memory of savage mass killing, tortures and executions witnessed by
the community, and the display of power by the American soldiers.
The Filipino-American war had ruined the Philippine economy. It
destroyed the farmland and had led to the abandonment of agriculture
(Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; Joaquin, 2004; & Rodil, 2003). The
collapse of agriculture meant the malnutrition and disease among
Filipinos on a mass scale. Despite of the immense difficulty of the
Filipinos, the resistance against the Americans had continued to thrive.
Records also show that Americans had committed sexual assaults
and acts of violence against the Filipino women. Maxwell (2010)
reported that in Candelaria, Philippines during the Philippine-American
War in 1901, four Filipinas testified of rape and molestation by American
soldiers. In total, seventy women of Candelaria complained of abuses,
yet the commanding officer Captain Boughton discounted their
testimonies.
The 45 years of stay of the Americans in the Philippines also
offered a lasting legacy in the consciousness of the Filipinos. They left
the memory of war, violence, manipulation, abuse of power, and abuse
of culture. Unfortunately, these memories had continued to create a
nightmare in the lives of the Filipinos. So far, no study has been done yet
to measure the negative psychological impact of these traumatic
memories in the lives of Filipino individuals, families, and communities.
26
Japanese Occupation (1941-1945)
Japan also saw the significance of the Philippines to expand its
power. On this desire, Japan had won over the Americans during the
World War II. Overthrowing the Americans, the Japanese took at least
four years to create terror in the lives of the Filipinos (Garcia, 2009;
Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003). The
Japanese occupation had destroyed basically the entire nation.
A vivid and popular human hostility slated by the Japanese
soldiers was the Bataan death-march where the captivated Filipino
(66,000) and American soldiers (76,000) had to do the 60 miles trek
(Garcia, 2009; Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; & Zaide, 1999). Along
the road, many soldiers had died of dehydration and had been killed by
the Japanese soldiers. This journey to death was witnessed by Filipino
communities -- children and adults. In fact, the Filipinos were the ones
to pick up and bury the dead soldiers who had died or who were killed
along the harrowing journey.
The Japanese rule was another stage of abuse, humiliation, and
manipulation. For about four years, Japan had spread fear over the land
(Garcia, 2009; Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; & Zaide, 1999). The
random dropping of bombs had killed thousands of helpless innocent
Filipinos. Japanese had also displayed the use of excessive force to
terrify not only men but also women and children. All over the
Philippines, the elderly would talk about the children being thrown in
the air and bayoneted them before they fall to the ground.
About a decade ago, hundreds of elderly women had come out
to decry how they were made sex slaves by the Japanese soldiers
(Henson, 1999 & Garcia, 2009). Japanese raped systematically as young
as six. They were also tortured. Many of them had already died without
hearing Japan’s public apology and justice served.
The Japanese had also seized food from the people, confiscated
animals, vehicles, and properties. Many were brought to forced labor.
People were deprived of food and starved. Many had disappeared.
History also speaks about an aspect where the Japanese soldiers used
27
the Filipinos to spy and go against the Filipinos who were suspected
subversive to Japanese authority.
Without exemption, the entire Filipino nation had witnessed and
experienced the dehumanizing cruelty of the Japanese occupation.
Garcia (2009) said that Japan had consciously damaged the already
battered Filipinos.
On the other hand, history said that the Japanese after World
War II had paid about $ 300,000,000 to the Filipinos for the reparation
on the damage which the war had caused (Garcia, 2009). But history
never described who took the money and how the blood money was
used. At any cause, money is not sufficient to bring back the more than
a million lives of the Filipinos that were lost during the war. On the other
hand, Japanese had not only killed lives, Japanese also exacerbated the
already shattered nation. To be raped for the fourth time with
specifically damaging and dehumanizing process is unimaginable.
But again, the Japanese and the Filipinos had only considered the
physical damage which the Japanese ruthless invasion had caused. The
victimizer, the Japanese and the victims, the Filipinos had undermined
the psychological impact of the abuse. For instance, thousands of
children who witnessed the atrocities of the Japanese still exist. The
question is, how had the violent invasion of the Japanese, impacted the
lives of the children? What is the psychological impact of war in the
consciousness of the survivors? Related to this, how is this
consciousness related to the current consciousness of the Filipinos?
Four Centuries of Inhumanity
To sum it all, the occupation of Spain, Britain, U.S.A. and Japan
was the saga of uncertainty and savagery for all the Filipinos. However,
there are only but few literatures that explain and describe the
traumatic impact of colonization and its psychological effect in the lives
of the victims –the entire nation. This also means that no empirical
study has been conducted so as to measure the psychological impact of
more than three centuries of abuses by the colonizing countries. This
28
fact goes with other colonized countries such as India, Peru, Haiti,
Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa.
Given the scarcity of scientific resource that elaborates on the
impact of colonization on a disempowered nation, this book is an
attempt to put together bits and pieces of facts from the history-
specifically of the Philippines. Hopefully, from the recorded facts, I will
be able to present a framework on how the psychological impact of the
colonization could be viewed in a more scientific manner.
The experience of armed conflict and displacement affects not
only individuals and families but also the entire communities who
endure “collective suffering”. Armed conflict may trigger mistrust, social
tension, and discord, which, if left unchecked, may ultimately led to
community distress (Puzon, De Castro, & Camacho, 2005).
Historical records affirm that for more than a century there are
enumerable proofs of abuses and violence committed by countries such
as Spain, Britain, U.S.A. and Japan against the Philippines (Garcia, 2009;
Rodil, 2000; Zaide, 1990; Quezon, 2009). Hence, history affirms that this
nation had endured repeated collective traumas.
Post- Colonization Impact
When the Philippines had gained its independence, the existing
leaders were left on its own to rebuild a shattered nation. But the
leaders had no other choice but to use the morsels of perspectives and
processes left by the colonizers. The Filipinos had to reuse a
consciousness which they were forced to embrace for the last 400 years.
But what perspectives and consciousness had the colonizers left? During
the colonization, the colonizers introduced the abuse of power,
feudalism, violation of human life to serve personal interest, betrayal of
trust, humiliation, hoarding and land-obsession (for security) mentality
and exploitation of human and natural resources (Garcia, 2009; Rodil,
2000; Zaide, 1990; & Quezon, 2009).
The abuses had a negative impact in the entire lives of the
Filipinos namely, governance, leadership, culture, identity, and
29
economics (Garcia, 2009; Joaquin, 2000, Rodil, 2000; Zaide, 1990). The
existing conflict in Mindanao and the existence of the subversive groups
against the Philippine government could be traced in the history of more
than 400 years of dehumanization by the colonizing countries. Quezon
(2009) emphasized that it might be important to explore how the
Filipinos coped and struggle during the wartime generation. This could
be an essential avenue by which the current behavior and perspective of
the Filipinos about life could be traced. Besides, the 400 years of
dehumanization had conditioned the formative stage of this nation.
Filipino Struggle Continues. Even after the Philippines had
declared its independence in 1945, the nation was still under the control
of U.S.A. and Japan. Many of the systems which the Philippines used
were designed by the Americans (Garcia, 2009; Joaquin, 2000, Rodil,
2000; & Zaide, 1990). On the other hand, the values, attitudes, practices
of the colonizing countries also lingered.
U.S.A. specifically continues to control the leaders of the
Philippines (Garcia, 2009; Joaquin, 2000, Rodil, 2000; & Zaide, 1990).It
were able to build their military base. This country had also influenced
the internal affairs of the Philippine government. Japan on the other
hand continued to exploit the natural resources of the Philippines. For
instance, Japan had a logging business in an isolated place in Mindanao
(Noguera, 2009). This business had ravaged the Philippine forests.
Greed for Power and Resources. There is already an existing
greed for power and resources among the Filipino leaders (Coronel,
2000; & Azurin, 1996). The greed for power would also include being
unresponsive, inefficient, and corrupt leader. The nation basically had
been conditioned by great national traumas to keep the goals limited,
and options unrestricted. Thus, the corruption continues. To be greedy
is the only reinforced conditioned options which the colonizers left. But
unconsciously, such conditioning had brought the basic problems to the
governance of the country such as the massive unemployment,
underemployment, mass poverty, inequality in wealth and power which
breeds social conflict, and dependence on foreign economy (Luna,
1998).
30
Armed Conflict. For more than 40 years the conflict between the
Muslim rebel group and the government had been continuing. This also
goes with the National People’s Army (a communist armed group) which
progressively continue to battle for different social issues against the
government. But again, the aspect of the effect of colonization seemed
to have never been a part of the agenda. The Filipinos had forgotten
that Spain, Britain, U.S.A., and Japan had started all the conflicts (Garcia,
2009; Rodil, 2000; Zaide, 1990; & Quezon, 2009).
The ongoing conflict has been creating a negative impact
especially with the children (Marcelino et al, 2000). For instance,
disaster response center reported that from year 1986-1992, there was
a total of 345, 163 displaced families because of armed conflict.
Approximately, there are more than a million of children affected.
Pangalangan & Roque, (2006) said that there has been an active
recruitment of children by armed rebels. Indigenous peoples,
particularly the children had become the target of recruitment by the
rebel group.
Graft and Corruption. The centuries of colonization are stories
of graft and corruption. These stories continue to unfold until the
present time. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ)
(Coronel, 2000) has published a compendium of reports on corruption.
The reports show that the entire Philippine system is corrupt. It has said
well that corruption could be found in government projects intended for
health, community development, education, agriculture, and alike. It
could also be found from the lower and higher rank officials, whether
public or private.
Martial Law. The period of martial law during the time of 13th
president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, is a vivid example of the
abuse of power by using the military (Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972;
Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003). This was the period when freedom was
curtailed and many lives were lost. This is a clear example on how
history could repeat itself in another form (Herman, 1992).
31
Maguindanao Massacre. The recent massacre which
happened in the Philippines last November 23, 2009 was another
example of political leaders’ rivalry for power. There were 57 innocent
civilians killed to show one’s turf for political power. But then, this
devastating event is only but an exemplar of the many Muslim and
Christian political leaders who cuddle goons to show off their power.
The use of the poor people to take arms to serve the interest of the
powerful is a classic example of colonization’s legacy.
Struggle of Indigenous People. The Philippine Constitution is
patterned to U.S.A. (Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; & Zaide, 1999) In
effect, most of these laws favor those who are powerful. In the
Philippines, those in power could easily put a vacant lot under his or her
name. Thus, those who are already rich could accumulate as much land
as they wish at the expense of the poor (Noguera, 2009). The
government seems powerless to take control. At the end, the ownership
of the land is concentrated to those who already have more, the rich
and the powerful. While the Indigenous People who are supposed to be
the pioneer of this land were still helplessly claiming to no avail their
ancestral domain.
Kalamansig Situation. I would like to include my
consultation with Kalamansig communities which I conducted three
years ago (Noguera, 2009). I want to describe how one municipality is
repeating the story of colonization. On the other hand, I also want to
make Kalamansig as a mirror for all the municipalities in the Philippines
which suffer the same condition.
To get in touch with their life conditions, I consulted with
members of each of the 15 communities of Kalamansig composed of
Indigenous People, Muslims, and Christian farmers and fishermen
(Noguera, 2009). So I asked members of each of 30 communities,
“Kumusta ang inyong kahimtang (How is your situation?)?” The goal
was to understand the concerns of the communities.
After the consultation, I realized that underneath the physical
splendor of Kalamansig simmered enormous human problems. Violence,
32
security, socio-economic conditions, health, politics, education, ecology,
and socio-cultural conflicts were the main concerns of the people.
Violence. When I started to write this paper, two Catholic
leaders (a husband and his wife) and a young man who worked as a
company guard were ambushed and killed. There were other killings.
They remain unsolved and the perpetrators at large. Seven barangays
(Obial, Limulan, Sta. Clara, Hinalaan, Cadiz, Paril, and Sangay) were the
main killing fields. The violence was related to politics, banditry, and
MILF activities.
I talked to the families of the victims. They were still grieving.
They had not received counseling or financial aid. In fact no institution in
Kalamansig attended to their needs. Some of the victim’s families left
Kalamansig fearing for their own lives. Others chose to be quiet.
And there are pirates, the ambak-pare. These sea-bandits ask the
fisherman to jump off (ambak) the fishing boat. The fisherman is then
shot as he swims in the water. And the pirates take his boat. That is
probably why, with great irony, the people call this Ambak pare (“Jump
friend”). Some bodies are found and others are lost to the sea. Most
recently, a 70 year old fisherman was hacked to death and the body was
found two days after.
Adding to the anguish of the families of the victims is the stealing
of the boat’s engine, which is very important for their livelihood. Life
and source of living are taken away from them. A few have left
Kalamansig with their families. Some now work as unskilled laborers at
construction sites.
I was alarmed by the seeming complacency of the people on the
issue of violence. They have remained silent. There has been no public
outcry. Nobody has dared to stand up and campaign against the
violation of human life.
The alarming part of this concern about violence is that children
are exposed to different kinds: war, ambush, massacres, and banditry.
Many homes owners keep a gun to defend their lives. Nobody has
looked into the effects of violence in the consciousness and the daily life
of the children of Kalamansig. When I was in Kalamansig there were
33
fraternities, both for boys and girls, who were involved in riots and the
use of illegal drugs. Again, there is no group in Kalamansig that focuses
on this particular concern of children and adolescents.
Peace and Order. Farmers, fishermen, and businessmen had
been harassed. Unidentified armed bandits would extort money from
them. The farmers told me that they feel helpless. They would rather
give up their produce than risk their lives.
Recently, about 200 families were displaced from Barangay
Sangay. Their quiet life was disturbed when more than 300 armed men
invaded the place to claim land to be their own. Helpless and terrified,
they decided to leave the place, again. Sangay is the rice granary of
Kalamansig and the people are dependent on this sole source of living. It
was devastating to witness an exodus of people carrying their loads
while dragging their animals. The animals were then sold at a cheap
price. After a month of being displaced they went back to their place.
The people felt that they were not safe. No program from an
institution or organization is available to protect the life of the poor
people. The fact is that bandits outnumber the peace and order officers.
Poverty. The majority of the people of Kalamansig are poor.
They struggle for basic needs like food, clothes, shelter, and health
services. Though they are surrounded by fertile land, the people do not
have enough food. Farmers and fishermen are perennially indebted to
the traders. The farmers borrow money from the businessmen to buy
the seedlings and fertilizers. As they wait for the harvest they again
borrow money for their daily basic consumption. Come the harvest, the
amount that they get from the harvest is not enough to pay for their
debts. The worst part is when the harvest fails. They say, “Umiikot ang
buhay namin sa utang (Our life revolve around debts.).”
Kalamansig is 6-8 hours away from the main city via a horrible
thoroughly rough road. My course and dissertation adviser who took
that road when he visited me said that it was the worst trip he had ever
taken. Unable to take their produce to the city markets, the poor
farmers had no choice but to keep their products within Kalamansig and
accept the prices set by the traders. During the harvest season,
34
particularly of fruits, the produce is too huge. Imagine the whole
population bringing their yield to the town. They have to sell at very
cheap prices or the products are spoiled.
The fishermen also borrow money from the traders for all their
needs such as gasoline for pump boats, food, and other supplies for 15-
20 fishing days. This means that they do not have any control on the
little that they earn. The capitalists do. They sink deeper into debt when
they fail to catch enough fish. There is no organization for the farmers
and fishermen. According to the farmers and fishermen, there were
cooperatives before but those organizations died a natural death
because they were mismanaged.
Many residents are unemployed. A few of them are tenants and
most of them are farm-laborers such as farm-tillers and coffee and
coconut harvesters. Young men and women who do not finish college or
high school end up as farm-laborers, fishermen, or domestic helpers.
There are squatters (informal settlers) in 10 communities of
Kalamansig. More than 50 % do not own land. Many people come as
migrants from different places in the Philippines particularly the Visayas
and other parts of Mindanao. These people have stayed on their land for
about 70 years not knowing what their legal rights are. This means that
they do not hold any paper that can attest to the ownership of the land.
Nobody educates them on land ownership. More than 200 hundred
families were in fear of being evicted from their homes. Kalamansig
does not have a resident lawyer who can educate the people on their
legal claims or rights and who can fight for them against abuses.
The unorganized lumads or indigenous people are the most
unfortunate. They remain vagabond, unaware that they can claim land,
shelter, education, and food. Very often they become victims of
manipulation and discriminatory and unfair treatment. In my recent
consultation with them they named 11 concerns: ancestral domain,
education, health services, respect, technical support for farming,
calamity fund, tribal hall, tribal recognition, tribal barangay (they
wanted to be registered as one legitimate community of Manobos),
product marketing, and roads.
35
In my recent meetings with the leaders and people from Muslim
communities, they expressed difficulties in getting through their lives on
a day-to-day basis. Many of their children do not go to school. They are
malnourished and they are exposed to work and they risk their lives at
sea.
Health. There are many malnourished children and their
health is at risk. There are health centers in the barangays but services
are inadequate. Those living in the mountains and coastal area are the
most unfortunate. They are not reached by any health services.
There is no resident doctor. The sole doctor comes from the
adjacent town, Lebak, which is 10 kilometers away from Kalamansig.
The worst cases are brought to Lebak not by ambulance but by tricycle;
sometimes even by motorcycle. Some patients die on the way, unable to
survive the painful journey.
I observed that people do not know how to respond to
emergency situations. I witnessed many deaths caused by tetanus,
rabies, and snakebites. These deaths could have been prevented if
people only knew how to give first aid. But there are no paramedics.
Many homes do not have toilets. The people relieve themselves
in the sea or vacant lands. Many places are starting to get polluted. The
people seem not to be affected and unaware of these health hazards.
Socio-cultural. Christian-Muslim-Manobo socio-cultural
conflicts are salient. From my interviews with Muslims, Manobos and
Christians, there are many cultural biases.
Kalamansig has had a history of wars. Christians would accuse
the Muslims of all the unpleasant incidents. Muslims on the other hand
would accuse Christians as land grabbers. Manobos, as the minority, get
hurt from discrimination from the majority of the population.
However, I also observed better relationship among members of
different tribes among students during the theater workshops I had
facilitated. To date, coming from my encounters with Muslim leaders
(imam, teachers and community elders) and Manobo leaders, I had
observed they can listen and they are willing to become part of peaceful
36
community endeavors for Kalamansig. Currently, I already had about
twenty meetings with the leaders of three existing groups (Muslim,
Manobo, and Christian).
Socio-political. Just like anywhere else in the Philippines,
Kalamansig has people who are hungry for power. The electoral
processes are pathetic. People are easily manipulated to submit to the
demands of the politicians. Vote-buying is evident. Squatters are
threatened with eviction from their space if they do not vote for a
particular candidate. Ballot counting is manipulated. But basic services
promised by the politicians are not given.
Education. Education resources are scarce and problematic.
Education is harder too for the children in the rural areas. Children have
to walk four to ten kilometers to reach the school through winding,
rough, rocky, muddy, and hilly roads. They wear slippers or are
sometimes barefoot. There are communities where kids have to cross
rivers daily without adults to accompany them. Books, classrooms, and
teachers are few. The worst part is when these children go to school
without food.
Many of these poor children would have to skip classes to help in
the farm or in the sea. Many children, as early as three years, are
exposed to work on the farm or in the sea ports. For the Manobos, come
the harvest time, children had to give priority to work than to attending
classes. More than half of the populations are high school graduates.
Despite the minimal fee that is paid in public school many poor children
do not go to school.
There is also child labor in Kalamansig. Those children who could
not go to school are hired or forced to work as coffee pickers, farmers,
and house helpers.
Ecology. There are environmental problems. Illegal logging is
rampant. The people have started to experience floods in some
barangays. When it rains, the uncemented roads, particularly in the
mountains, are destroyed by the huge volume of water surging from the
mountains. There are no drainages.
37
At sea, some fishermen use explosives to catch fish. Many corals
are destroyed. The people are aware that this activity decreases the
catch of the fishermen. Ten years ago, the people said, the fishermen
would not need to go far to catch the fish. The fishermen also added
that some fishermen would also use other illegal form of fishing aside
from explosives.
I also observed that communities, from the mountain to the sea,
are starting to have problems about waste management.
In Kalamansig alone, the story of the abuse of power,
manipulation of people, discrimination, killing of people, saturation of
wealth among the rich and powerful, war, power-conflict, indiscriminate
use of resources and slavery continue. It is almost like retelling the
stories of colonization. The colonizers are no longer here but their
legacies stay.
I had been to different communities (Urban and Rural) in the
Philippines, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao as a community organizer. The
struggles of these communities are similar to the struggles of
Kalamansig communities. It only goes without saying that all the
communities in the Philippines are reliving the negative impact of the
colonization. Unfortunately, little attention is given to this sad reality.
Many institutions (private and government) are so focused in external
development of the Philippines. They had overlooked an essential
concern in the development of this country--to recover and heal the
abused and adulterated consciousness of the Filipinos.
38
chapter 3
Impact of National Trauma
Trying to connect the concepts on trauma to the events of
colonization, it is with no doubt that the Philippines was severely
traumatized by the occupation of Spain, Britain, U.S.A., and Japan.
Herman (1992) and Levine (2000) stressed that traumatization is a
painful process of disconnection from the internal and external
resources. From this definition alone, history will not deny that Spain,
Britain, U.S.A., and Japan had contributed so well in the disconnection of
the Philippines from its internal and external resources.
The colonizers had taken a common ground in staging traumatic
activities in the Philippines such as war, killing, enforced separation,
physical infliction, sexual abuse, abduction, cultural abuse, slavery, loss
of important person and destruction of properties, homes, and
livelihood (Herman, 1992; Levine, 2000; Garcia, 2009; Zaide, 2008;
Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003). Figure 1 illustrates the
aspect of internal and external traumatization.
Figure 2, on the other hand, describes that colonization is not
just an ordinary event that could be forgotten and put aside.
Colonization is a story of inhumane treatment of the powerless that left
an indelible imprint in the spirit of the Filipinos. Regrettably, this trace of
history has controlled the future of the nation. Furthermore, Figure 2
will also describe the extent of national destruction brought by the
colonization.
39
History of
Philippine Trauma
Spain Britain U.S.A. Japan
Internal Trauma Activities External Trauma
Shamed War Loss of home
Sexual abused Torture Loss of properties
Killing and loss of Public Execution Deprivation of
significant persons Display of force basic needs
Fear of death Public Shame Witness the lavish
Uncertain future Slavery lifestyle of the
Separation from Curtail freedom powerful
family and Abuse of power
community Massacre
Betrayal Manipulation
Physical Abuse Corruption
Witness hostility Brainwashing
Discrimination
Corruption
Figure 1. Internal and External Traumatization of the Philippines.
40
Philippine
Traumatization
Individual Family Community Ecological
Traumatization Traumatization Traumatization Traumatization
Psychological
Traumatization
Emotional Cognitive Physical Social
Traumatization Traumatization Traumatization Traumatization
Cultural Economic Spiritual
Traumatization Traumatization Traumatization
Figure 2. Framework of the Effect of Traumatization from Colonization.
41
The colonization of the Philippines is a national traumatization.
National traumatization would mean that colonization has left a
traumatizing impact on individuals, families, and communities (Figure 2).
This of course will not discount its impact on the entire Philippine
ecological system. Colonization is the beginning of ecological imbalance
in the Philippines. This is about the colonizers introducing to the
Filipinos how the natural resources could be abused to serve a personal
interest. The colonizers had also spilled so much blood and hostility on
the sacred ground.
Viewing the impact of trauma on these elements alone (Figures 1
& 2) is already too huge to handle. However, it is only by presenting the
specifics of traumatization that humanity could be given a warning on
becoming more cautious in handling life more carefully. But on the
other hand, Figure 2 will serve as a reminder for the colonizers of the
damages they had left in the Philippines – which until now they had not
repaired. This is also an eye-opener for the Filipinos that there is so
much to be recovered – which until now we are unaware.
Individual Traumatization
The trauma in the Philippines could be evaluated on the basis of
its impact on individual dynamics. Figure 2 describes the length of
psychological devastation which the trauma of colonization had created.
Imagine alone the impact of this with the children and how they had
coped with the cruelty of colonization. How has colonization affected
the awareness and perspective of the Filipinos about life, his/her
personhood, future, and relationship with self, others, and nature?
Definitely, many of these children who witnessed and survived
the trauma, specifically from the Americans and Japanese, still exist. In
fact, I had initially interviewed few elderly and they could vividly recall
their fear about the occupation of the Japanese and the Americans.
Actually, a study on this aspect could be pursued to determine the
impact of colonization to the still existing individual survivors.
42
Family Traumatization
Families also had to struggle with colonization. Obviously, many
families had suffered the loss of family members from war, massacre,
abduction, and tortures (Garcia, 2009; Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999;
& Rodil, 2003). How did those devastating events affect the perception
about roles and relationship in the family? How much of the trauma of
the families from the colonization period had been passed on to the
current generation? Herman (1994) and Levine (2000) stressed that a
trauma could be passed on from one generation to the next. Trauma
could also be inherited when unaddressed.
Community Traumatization
In the Philippines, community is described as closely knitted in
terms of relationship (Jocano, 2000, Enrique, 2000; Noguera, 2009; &
Antonio, 1992) with individuals and families. Unfortunately, this
important aspect of the society was also affected by the colonization. All
the communities in the Philippines had to encounter, deal, and endure
the different forms of traumatization brought by the colonization.
There are communities which witnessed mass executions,
massacres, and tortures. Some communities were totally destroyed by
bombings and arsons. Other communities endured the constant threat
and humiliation; while others were turned into slaves. Few individuals
were forced to betray communities to serve the interest of the
colonizers (Rodil, 1992; Totentino, 1972; & Zaide, 1993). Trauma,
concepts, likewise emphasized that communities which experienced
armed conflict may trigger mistrust, social tension, and discord, which, if
left unchecked, may ultimately led to community distress. Furthermore
community trauma can generate feelings of frustration and revenge that
can produce a cycle of violence and also perpetuate feelings of
victimhood on all sides of the conflict.
I have encountered diverse communities all over the Philippines
for the last 20 years. Most of these communities are poor and struggling
to survive a difficult life. No study has been done yet if colonization has
carried on its effect on the current struggles of the communities. It will
be interesting to explore further the impact of colonization on
43
communities specifically on communities where massacres and
destruction toll were immense.
Ecological Traumatization
Prior to the colonization, the people had a sense of community in
view of utilizing the land (Garcia, 2009; Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972;
Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003). Filipinos would even invoke the natural
spirits for using elements of nature. But when Spain, Britain, U.S.A., and
Japan had occupied the land, they introduced the power-centered
bureaucracy. As part of this system, they exploited the natural
resources, imposed ownership, hoarded properties, and made the fertile
land the killing field and huge burial ground for the Filipinos that they
killed.
The colonizers had exploited the natural resources to benefit
them. Previously, Filipinos had treated nature as an essential part of
existence. But the colonizers had introduced a new perspective. Nature
could be a source of power. History will definitely teach us that the
colonization had started the climate change. Colonization had created a
landmark in the abuse of the land. Now, the question is, “What is the
impact of the ecological traumatization in the Filipinos’ current
perspective of ecology?”
Philippines is now considered to be one of the countries in world
that is suffering from ecological deterioration. Aside from this, the
protector of Philippines natural resource, DENR, is described to be one
of the most corrupt Philippine institutions (Coronel, 2000). Is this a
continuation of the ecological trauma inflicted by the colonizers? Again,
this remains to be explored.
Psychological Traumatization
Indeed, history presents that colonization had victimized
individuals, families, communities, and Philippine ecology (Garcia, 2009;
Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003). This only
proves that colonization had created a collective traumatization. But
apart from this collective impact, colonization also left a psychological
trauma. Again, coming from the events of the history of colonization,
psychological traumatization could be understood with the following
44
elements: emotional, cognitive, physical, social, cultural, economic, and
spiritual. This means that individuals, families, communities, and ecology
had suffered the psychological trauma of colonization.
Emotional Traumatization. The activities of colonization
definitely had left a load of negative emotions such as anger, fear,
frustration, depression, confusion, and devastation. I had encountered
war myself (Noguera, 2009). I saw how the people suffered. I knew how
terrifying it was to receive death threats. But as a psychologist, I knew
where to seek refuge. I would like to wonder how the victims of the
colonization sought refuge. How did they emotionally cope with the
uncertainties brought by the inhumane activities of the colonization?
Cognitive Traumatization. The coming of Spain, Britain, U.S.A.
and Japan had brought and imposed different beliefs, perspectives, and
experiences (Garcia, 2009; Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999;
& Rodil, 2003). The Filipinos, who were captive of tyranny, had no other
choice but to accept its unfortunate ordeal. The witnessing of hostility
and humiliation definitely had left an effect in the consciousness of the
Filipinos, the children and adult. How was this colonization
consciousness brought down to the awareness of the current
generation? Has the colonization ordeal had its influence in the current
thought processing of the Filipinos?
Physical Traumatization. The Filipinos had suffered physical
infliction, torture, killing, and massacre (Garcia, 2009; Zaide, 2008;
Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999& Rodil, 2003). Many Filipinos had to
work as slaves. Racial discrimination was also made salient. The
colonizers had emphasized well the difference between white and the
brown skin color. To make this emphatic, the colonizers had used
different labels to put down the Filipinos such as “indios”, “gugu”,
“illiterate”, and “savage”. Hence, the colonization experience had
proved a point that whites gained more favors, power, glory, and
wealth. Will this experience explain, why up to now Filipinos have less
appreciation of brown color? Has colonization created an impact on the
way Filipinos’ view the physical self?
45
Cultural Traumatization. The colonizers imposed their
culture –the language, food, practices, and even attitudes within
centuries (Garcia, 2009; Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; &
Rodil, 2003). It is said that Filipinos could easily adjust to different
cultures. No doubt. Philippines had to embrace the Spanish culture for
333 years. Then the Americans introduced their lifestyles, systems,
perspectives, and sophistications. British also had its pocket of influence
with the use of violence.
After 45 years with the Americans, the Japanese came and for
four years, the Filipinos had to survive their brutality. Filipinos
underwent at least 385 years of adjustment and survival to force itself to
fit into the shoes of the colonizers. The helpless and enslaved Filipinos
tried to sulk into the diverse perspectives of the colonizers. The question
now is, “How much of those perspectives were internalized by the
Filipinos?” “What happened to the Filipino culture that was practiced for
centuries before the colonization?” How do the Filipinos describe its
current culture or identity? Is there such a thing as shattered or pained
identity or culture?
Economic Traumatization. The colonizers exploited Filipinos
natural resources (Garcia, 2009; Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; Zaide,
1999; & Rodil, 2003). They controlled the industries to benefit their
countries but not the Philippines. They had dictated on the value of
resources at the expense of the devaluation of Filipinos’ dignity.
Before the colonization, the Filipinos used to invoke the guidance
of the nature spirits in the use of the natural resources. Hoarding of
resources was not a value. Filipinos would only use or trade-in what was
enough for consumption. Besides, there were sufficient resources to
sustain the community.
But the colonizers introduced another perspective in treating
resources -to accumulate beyond what was needed. As a result, land,
money, and natural wealth were enjoyed by the few –the powerful elite.
Inequality had begun and survival to live a life emerged. More so, the
perspective of becoming powerful to accumulate more unnecessary
needs had surfaced. Had anybody predicted that colonization could be
46
the beginning of global crisis? The assumption now is that the current
economic system is controlled by colonial mentality for power,
manipulation, corruption, and self-serving values. But again this needed
to be evaluated. However, prior to the colonization, economy used to be
defined by Filipinos as a relationship and exchange of goods to favor the
community.
Spiritual Traumatization. Spain had imposed Christianity to
Filipinos (Zaide, 2008; Constantino, 1972; Zaide, 1999; & Rodil, 2003)
with the use force, violence, and humiliation. This is done side by side
with manipulation and different kind of abuses. The downside of this
imposition is the displacement of indigenous spiritual practices of the
Filipinos. Recognition of nature spirits were displaced in exchange of
Christian rituals.
It is also said that natural healers were burned to death to give
way to the power of priests and bishops. History also gives witness to
church priests and bishops to have abused the Filipinos in many ways.
Hence, given the mixture of intention, motivation, and humiliating
experiences in the imposition of Christianity, what kind of spirituality
must had been inculcated to the Filipino Christian converts? In effect,
what kind of spirituality must have been carried to the present
generation of Christianity? What is the relationship between spirituality
and colonization in the context of trauma? Philippines is said to be a
Christian nation. What is the relationship of this statement to the
current struggles of the Filipinos such as poverty, corruption, and
ecological degradation? The fact is that the majority of Philippine
leaders are Christians, to be specific, Catholics.
Provided with the different psychological impacts (emotional,
cognitive, physical, cultural, economic, and spiritual), as to what extent
and direction had these influenced the life of individuals, families, and
communities during the time of colonization (Figure 3)? What thoughts,
feelings, culture, values, and relationship had the psychological traumas
put forward to the present Philippine consciousness?
47
Philippine
Traumatization
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS
Emotional Cognitive Physical Social
Cultural Economics Spiritual Ecology
Individual Family Community
Figure 3. Framework of National Pycho-social Traumatization.
48
The Post-Colonial Re-traumatization
In the Philippines, in the present time, whenever there are
natural or man-made disasters, there are already existing groups and
institutions that respond to a disaster. Psychological services such as
psycho-social debriefing or trauma counseling are also available to
address the psychological concerns of the victims. Social services
Institutions and psychologists are already aware about the post-
traumatic effect of a disaster. But this is non-existent at the aftermath of
the colonization.
Amazingly, with the grand negative impact of the colonization
(Figures 2, 3, & 4), occupation, and attacks of Spain, Britain, U.S.A., and
Japan, history does not talk about the effect of colonization in the lives
of the victims. No colonizing countries had publicly apologized for the
abuse. This includes a categorical declaration of socio-economic or
disaster assistance to help the country recover from the losses. On the
other hand, it is more astonishing to think that there seems to be no
clamoring for justice or reparation on the side of the victims- the
Filipinos.
Hence, there are no existing literatures that describe any
attempt to address the post-traumatization effect of the colonization.
This means that there was no movement in the part of the Filipinos or
colonizers to take the psychological rehabilitation or recovery as part of
the starting point for Philippine Independence. Given this fact, it means
only one obvious thing. Philippines has not been healed from the
trauma of colonization. Or to be precise, the healing and recovery
process had not started yet. “Trauma will not be healed away unless it is
actively confronted (Herman, 1992; Brahm, 1994; & Levine, 2000).
Philippines has not confronted the colonizers yet.
If the Philippines, as a nation, has not begun its psychological
recovery yet, what is the current psychological condition of the nation?
Figures 2 & 3 present the most possible aspect of the nation that was
severely damaged by the colonization. When there was no conscious
effort to address the psychological damages which the colonizing
49
countries had brought to the nation, then Philippines is still suffering
from the pos-traumatic effect of the colonization since 1945 (The end of
Japanese occupation). This also means that sixty five years, after the
World War II, the Philippines is still unaware of the post-traumatic effect
of the colonization. But the alarming part is, Philippines has definitely
accumulated psychological disorientations for at least 400 years. Given
this assumption, the post-colonization traumatization is unconsciously
building up and shaping the life of the Filipino people up to the current
time.
The negative impact of the colonization had become extremely
deep-seated in the consciousness of the Filipinos. The question now is,
“How has the post-traumatic effect of the colonization had taken shape
in the current consciousness of the Filipinos?” Figure 4 will describe my
assumption about the post-retraumatization.
Herman (1992) also said that traumatization destroys the
victim’s fundamental assumptions about the safety of the world, the
positive value of the self, and the meaningful order of creation. In this
case, without the effort to reconnect a fragmented nation, the
Philippines continues to relive the pains of its past. When Philippines
continues to suffer from the range of disempowering different cognitive,
emotional, physical, behavioral, spiritual, and cultural, setbacks, (Figures
2 & 3) how did the leaders and the rest of the Filipinos make decisions
to move on with life and find its meaning? But it is also stressed that it
will be difficult for a traumatized person to plan for the future if
unhealed (Herman, 1992).
Traumatization process also has an aspect of dissociation
(Herman, 1992 & Levine, 2000). The victims of trauma would tend to
unconsciously avoid the issue of victimization. There is a tendency to
cover-up or bury the pains by refocusing the attention to other
activities. But the problem is that traumatization remains and it
underwent reconstruction. Figure 5 will describe the reconstruction of
trauma to hide the past. But unfortunately, it has only exacerbated the
condition of the already fragmented nation.
50
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