Philippines has rich history with the US

You’d think that I would always be ready to talk warmly about Filipinos since my wife, Glenny, is Filipino-American. And it’s true that I’m proud of her as well as my half-Filipino children.

But in reality, it’s for that reason that I hesitate sometimes to express my opinions about Filipinos. I worry that the thought will be, “Well of course you feel so positive about them, your wife is a Filipina.” (Men are Filipino while the women are Filipina and yes, it’s spelled with an “F” instead of a “Ph,” don’t ask me why.)

Truth is, since I spent the majority of my life in western Washington I have been around Filipinos as long as I can remember. There is a substantial population of Filipinos in that part of the country. Since I grew up with such a large population of Filipinos, I just assumed that was normal. It wasn’t until I grew older and began traveling and living in other parts of the world that I developed a different perspective.

My initial impression of what it meant to be a recent immigrant to the U.S. was due to my interaction with Filipinos. They are extremely proud to be here. Being an American is a sign of status, and status is very important to them. They are eager to learn English. They fly U.S. flags in their yards. They learn our customs and practice them alongside their own. To their children, growing up American is a matter of pride and it is common for Filipino immigrants to be very involved in what their children are learning in school. In that way, they also learn many aspects of American culture. They seem to epitomize what we were told in school about the waves of immigrants that came to the U.S. because of what we represent in opportunity and freedom.

I thought of that often as I lived in areas where that was not always the case. As I encountered people who had obviously come here merely for the dollar or social programs, who didn’t care about our language, country, culture or history, I made a point of thinking about those Filipinos I knew growing up. It was good to know that there were still some people who came here for more than just that.

Our history with the Philippines hasn’t always been that great. During the Spanish-American War, we had help from the Filipinos who viewed us as their liberators from the cruel and oppressive Spanish. But we didn’t leave. Before too long we were shooting at Filipinos who just wanted their freedom and therefore wanted us to leave. But our relationship improved quickly and drastically within a few decades as we invested in roads, schools, hospitals, etc. By the 1930s, Manila was called the “Pearl of the Orient” and was the most modern city in the South Pacific. Indeed, the Philippines had the first democratically elected government in Asia.

When the Japanese invaded and quickly conquered the Philippines, they assumed that the Filipinos would welcome them with open arms; “Asia for the Asiatics” and all that. So, predictably, they were perplexed and angry when the Filipinos remained loyal to the Americans. Even after their victory, the Japanese were still harassed by guerilla attacks from the locals. While it would have been far easier to cooperate with the Japanese (assisting Americans was a guarantee of torture and death), the Filipinos instead continued to hide, feed and otherwise help us. When our soldiers ran out of food and were starving, they were fed by Filipinos. There are accounts of Filipinos tossing food to Americans during the Bataan Death March. Many of them were bayoneted for doing so. Filipinos risked their lives to sneak food to the barbed-wire fences around POW camps. By the time MacArthur arrived to re-take the Philippines, far more Filipinos had died than Americans.

Last month a poll was concluded that looked for those countries that had a favorable view of the United States. No. 1? Yep, the Philippines, where it is still considered a sign of education to learn and know English. Indeed, the language spoken there is commonly called “Tagalish,” because the predominant Tagalog language has been mixed with English so much that most now speak a mix of the two. When they come here on a work visa or seeking citizenship, they work extremely hard to learn our language and customs as quickly as possible. I have witnessed countless examples of Filipinos working hard to teach “fresh off the boat” (their term, not mine) arrivals from the Philippines learn English and disapproving if they feel they aren’t learning it quickly enough. No expectations to have everything provided to them in their own language like we so often see elsewhere. This is remarkable considering that Asian people are now the largest group immigrating to the U.S., and of that group, Filipinos represent the largest portion.

When you read the news or see those commercials about the devastation in the Philippines and the help these people need, it’s just something to think about.

Ben Compton is a Palmer resident and publishes his column as “Compton’s Corner,” the same title used by his grandmother, Phyllis Compton, a longtime Frontiersman columnist. Contact him at bcompton1971@yahoo.com.