DEVELOPMENT OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

In the Beginning

The first exposure of the Filipinos to the English language was in 1762-1764 when the British invaded Manila. English was assimilated when the United States took over the Philippines. In 1898, Spain ceded control of the Philippines to the United States under the Treaty of Paris, and thereafter the Americans controlled the Philippines until it gained its independence in 1946. The Americans established a system of public education wherein English was used as the primary language of instruction. After independence, the Philippine government continued public education in English, while simultaneously establishing Filipino as its national language. A parallel system of private schools, many of which were established by the Catholic and the Protestant churches, follows the dual-language system, although private schools tend to use English more than Filipino in their instruction.

The Roots

Philippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the United States, which had been engaged in a war with Filipino nationalist forces at the end of the 19th century, to establish in the country a government based on the ideals of "universality, practicality, and democracy." By 1901, public education had been institutionalized in the Philippines, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That year saw the arrival of around 600 educators in the S.S. Thomas (the "Thomasites") to replace the soldiers who had been serving as the first teachers. Outside the academe, the wide availability of reading materials, such as books and newspapers in English, helped Filipinos learn the language quickly. Today, around 75% of the population can understand English language, and  46% can speak in English.

Overview of the History

The study of Filipino American literature offers a place for the frames of postcolonial discourse and the literary efforts of the "hyphenated" or "ethnic" American to converge-- an intersection which challenges the putative need to separate these endeavors on the basis of the United States seemingly shaky status as a colonial power. (Prior to the American occupation, the Philippines spent three centuries under Spanish rule.) American annexation of the Philippines occurred after two separate wars: The Spanish-American War (1898) followed by The Filipino-American War (1899-1902). U.S colonial rule of the archipelago was mitigated during the Commonwealth Period of 1935-1946, a period after which the Philippines gained its independence. The issues of colonization become complicated in light of the fact that the Philippines experienced decades of enforced "free trade" with the United States up to and even after this independence. Such a fact helps to raise all sorts of useful questions on the effects of neocolonialism and also the latent "colonialism" of alienation and discrimination experienced by some immigrants. Under the American Colonization

The early Filipino writers who used Tagalog often evoked nationalistic sentiments through their poetry and plays. Some of their works were banned as subversive by American administrators. During the period 1910–25, often called the “golden age of Philippine drama,” the foremost dramatists who wrote in Tagalog were Severino Reyes and Patricio Mariano. With the introduction of English in the schools, it quickly became the principal language of literature.

Before, During, and After the War

The Commonwealth Period

The founding of Silliman University by Presbyterian missionaries and the Philippine Normal School (PNS) in 1901 and the University of the Philippines (U.P.) in 1908, as well as of English newspapers like the Daily Bulletin (1900), The Cablenews (1902), and the Philippines Free Press (1905), helped boost the spread of English. The first ten years of the century witnessed the first verse and prose efforts of Filipinos in student publications such as The Filipino Students’ Magazine (first issue, 1905), a short-lived quarterly published in Berkeley, California, by Filipino pensionados (or government scholars); the U.P. College Folio (first issue, 1910); The Coconut of the Manila High School (first issue, 1912); and The Torch of the PNS (first issue, 1913).

However, the beginnings of anything resembling a professional market for writing in English would not be realized until the 1920's with the founding of other newspapers and magazines like the Philippines Herald in 1920, the Philippine Education Magazine in 1924 (renamed Philippine Magazine in 1928), and later the Manila Tribune, the Graphic, Woman’s Outlook, and Woman’s Home Journal. The publications helped introduce the reading public to the works of Paz Marquez Benitez, Jose Garcia Villa, Loreto Paras, and Casiano Calalang, among others. Cash incentives were given to writers in 1921 when the Free Press started to pay for published contributions and awarded P1,000 for the best stories. The organization in 1925 of the Philippine Writers Association and in 1927 of the U.P. Writers Club, which put out the Literary Apprentice, also helped encourage literary production. In 1939, the Philippine Writers League was put up by politically conscious writers, intensifying their debate with those in the "art for art’s sake" school of Villa.

Among the significant publications of this fertile period were: Filipino Poetry (1924) by Rodolfo Dato; English-German Anthology of Filipino Poets (1934) by Pablo Laslo; Jose Garcia Villa’s Many Voices (1939) and Poems of Doveglion (1941); Poems (1940) by Angela Manalang Gloria; Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets (1942) by Carlos Bulosan; Zoilo Galang’s "A Child of Sorrow" (1921), the first Filipino novel in English, and "Box of Ashes and Other Stories" (1925), the first collection of stories in book form; Villa’s Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others (1933); "The Wound and the Scar" (1937) by Arturo Rotor, a collection of stories; "Winds of April" (1940) by NVM (Nestor Vicente Madali)) Gonzalez; "His Native Soil" (1941) by Juan C. Laya; Manuel Arguilla’s "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Stories" (1941); Galangs’s "Life and Success" (1921), the first volume of essays in English; and the influential "Literature and Society" (1940) by Salvador P. Lopez. Dramatic writing took a backseat due to the popularity of vaudeville and Tagalog movies, although it was kept alive by the playwright Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero.

The Post-War Period

During the Japanese Occupation, when Tagalog was favored by the Japanese military authority, writing in English was consigned to limbo. It picked up after the war, however, with a fervor and drive for excellence that continues to this day. Stevan Javellana’s "Without Seeing the Dawn" (1947), the first postwar novel in English, was published in the United States. In 1946, the Barangay Writers Project was founded to help publish books in English.

Against a background marked by political unrest and government battles with Hukbalahap guerrillas, writers in English in the postwar period honed their sense of craft and techniques. Among the writers who came into their own during this time were: Nick Joaquin, NVM Gonzalez, Francisco Arcellana, Carlos Bulosan, F. Sionil Jose, Ricaredo Demetillo, Kerima Polotan Tuvera, Carlos Angeles, Edilberto K. Tiempo, Amador Daguio, Estrella Alfon, Alejandrino Hufana, Gregorio Brillantes, Bienvenido Santos, Dominador Ilio, T.D. Agcaoili, Alejandro R. Roces, Sinai C. Hamada, Linda Ty-Casper, Virginia Moreno, Luis Dato, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, Abelardo and Tarrosa Subido, Manuel A. Viray, Vicente Rivera Jr., and Oscar de Zuñiga, among many others. Fresh from studies in American universities, usually as Fulbright or Rockefeller scholars, a number of these writers introduced New Criticism to the country and applied its tenets in literature classes and writing workshops. In this way were born the Silliman Writers Summer Workshop (started in 1962 by Edilberto K. Tiempo and Edith L. Tiempo) and the U.P. Writers Summer Workshop (started in 1965 by the Department of English at the U.P.). To this day, these workshops help discover writing talents and develop them in their craft.

Contemporary Philippine literature in English

Despite the lack of a professional writer's market, poetry and fiction in English continue to thrive and be written with sophistication, and insight. Among the notable fictionists of recent years are: F. Sionil Jose, Erwin Castillo, Ninotchka Rosca, Antonio Enriquez, Resil Mojares, Renato Madrid, Wilfredo Nolledo, Alfred A. Yuson, Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Jose Dalisay Jr., Susan Lara, Jaime An Lim, Eric Gamalinda, Charlson Ong, Rosario Cruz Lucero, Lakambini Sitoy, Timothy Montes, Jessica Zafra, Katrina Tuvera, Angelo Rodriguez Lacuesta, Luis Joaquin Katigbak, Dean Francis Alfar, Ian Casocot, Menchu Aquino Sarmiento, Vicente Garcia Groyon, and Ma. Francezca Kwe. Notable poets include: Emmanuel Torres, Cirilo Bautista, Gemino Abad, Federico Licsi Espino Jr, Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, Emmanuel Lacaba, Marjorie Evasco, Simeon Dumdum Jr., Ma. Luisa Igloria, Merlie Alunan, Anthony Tan, Elsa Coscoluella, Ramon Sunico, Ricardo de Ungria, Marne Kilates, J. Neil C. Garcia, Danton Remoto, Paolo Manalo, Joel Toledo, Mookie Katigbak, Naya Valdellon and Angelo Suarez.

Literary awards and competitions

In 1940, the first Commonwealth Literary Awards were given by President Manuel L. Quezon to Salvador P. Lopez for "Literature and Society" (essay), Manuel Arguilla for "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Stories" (short story), R. Zulueta da Costa for "Like the Molave" (poetry), and Juan C. Laya for "His Native Soil" (novel). Instituted in 1950, the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in Literature quickly became known as a synonym for quality literature and as a rite of passage for the aspiring writer. Originally awards were given in several genres in English and Filipino (Tagalog). The range later expanded to include categories for writing in other Philippine languages such as Iloko, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon. Government recognition of literary merit came in the form of the Republic Cultural Heritage Awards (1960), the Pro Patria Awards for Literature (1961), and the National Artist Awards (1973). Only the last of these three awards survives today. Writers in Englsih who have received the National Artist award include: Jose Garcia Villa (1973), Nick Joaquin (1976), Carlos P. Romulo (1982), Francisco Arcellana (1990), NVM Gonzalez, Rolando Tinio (1997), Edith L. Tiempo, (2000), F. Sionil Jose (2003), and Bienvenido Lumbera (2006). A select group of local writers have also received the international Magsaysay Award, namely, F. Sionil Jose, Nick Joaquin and Bienvenido Lumbera. Another source of recognition for writers are the cash awards given by some weekly news magazines for works published in their literary sections. Both the Philippines Free Press and Philippine Graphic hand out awards for the best stories published during the year. Moreover, the Free Press hands out awards in poetry, unlike the Graphic, which publishes poetry but doesn't have an award for the best poems.

SINNERS AND AVENGERS

Truly, seldom it is for a person, without any formal training in theater, to produce a drama. A drama that is exceptional in cleverness and fervent in emotion, while using a language which is definitely foreign to his native land and to himself.

            Philippine Literature, in the early part of the 20^th century, had unraveled a bonanza within a bonanza. He is the unparallel Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero. He came from a very gifted family, raging from the first painting teacher of Juan Luna to the founder of El Renacimiento and La Vanguardia, name it and their family had have it.

            “Three Rats” is one of the most anthological play of Guerero. It is about the typical love-triangle-revenge between a couple and the husband’s best friend. But what made this play matchless among the other plays that I had watched and read is its very keen plot.

            This one act realistic drama is set in a glamorous living room, decorated with objects and designs that manifest the membership of its tenants to the upper class of society. Such items are magazines, telephone, lamp, tables, and a balcony which are all arranged in a manner that they portray the refined taste of the owners.

            Let it be known to the readers that this writer wants to put an emphasis to the existence of the magazines in the set because such item, based on his interpretation, has a meaning and importance to the play. During those days, in the early part of 20^th century, having and reading magazines was a privilege given only to those who could afford to buy with their surplus money and of course to those who had the luxury of time and were able to read. An ordinary preoccupied person, instead of buying and reading useless articles, would spend their money and effort for their personal progress. They would probably buy foods and devote their many for their children’s education rather than collecting magazines. This emphasis on the magazines is highlighted because the writer focuses on the social status of the characters in the drama. Such status may, and hopefully, would explain the characters’ specific behaviors and beliefs towards the things, issues, and relationships that surround and involve them with one another, which would be expounded on later as this analysis progress en route to the theme of the drama.  

            More than just being letters put into a perfect arrangement; “Three Rats” exposes the realities of life: sin, anger, and death set in a social conflict. Euripides, a great Athenian tragedian, once said that “Death is the debt we must all pay.” From that statement it has not been clear what made the cause of man’s debt is. After some reflections, this writer realized that the reason for man’s debt is also the reason for his death. Hours of reflection would entangle a word floating in one’s mind, and the word is “immorality.” Sacred scripture would speaks about the cause of death which is the original sin rooted to the disobedience of Adam and Eve to God’s command. Death is the punishment for sins. Though the Old Testament interprets this as death by execution, it refers more to spiritual death or suffering.

            Morality is the rightness and wrongness of a thing. It is based on the eternal laws, which are the laws of God, the commandments of God. People add the prefix “im” to negate such word, morality into immorality. Therefore, immorality is the disobedience to the commandments of God. From the title itself, “RAT” means the person who is guilty of breaking the law, “I’d call them a couple of rats,”  the character Adrian said, pertaining to his wife and his best friend, with whom she had an intimate relationship. 

            The Athenian tragedian’s saying and this simple analysis about the cause of man’s death are quite true in the theme of Guerrero’s “Three Rats.” Even though some authors of literary books said that this drama was a love triangle. This analysis prepares to describe it as a drama of revenge, through murder. This drama evolved in the revenge of Gonzalo to the immorality of his wife and best friend, Nita and Adrian respectively. By putting a small amount of cyanide in a cup of coffee, a cup ironically given by Adrian as a wedding gift to the couple, and deceiving Adrian into drinking it, Gonzalo had succeeded in staging his revenge against the lovers. For his wife, Gonzalo far more enjoy to let Nita live in her cursed life. “I’ll let you live,” as Gonzalo said, “but I’ll let you breathe, eat, and sleep every second of your cursed life.” And he concluded his conversation with Nita: “Dying is so easy…”      

 

“Three Rats” shows the anger of a person, towards the disloyalty of persons close to him. Here the playwright suggested that “rats,” disobeyers of laws, must die by all means, to the extent of murdering persons closed to him either by physical death or emotional torture. Going back to the saying “Death is the debt we must all pay,” it could be said that Adrian had really paid his debt, debt caused by his and Nita’s, treachery to Gonzalo. 

This revenge of Gonzalo was perhaps not only anchored on the betrayal of his wife and his best friend to him, but also in his belief that “One should be attached to nobody and to nothing.” This belief of Gonzalo was a clear manifestation of the influence of material things, namely money and worldly allurements in his outlook in life. As his own words affirms it: “Sorry Nita, business worries and all that sort of things,” as he consoled Nita. His other words were also influence by his belief, as Nita corrected him in one of his lexis, “Gonzalo, you can’t confuse love with the material.”

Guerrero had made use of only three characters in this drama. Each of these characters were well constructed by the playwright to make it one of the most outstanding one-act plays in his time. 

 Gonzalo, the leading character in this drama, was the husband of Nita and the best friend of Adrian. He was skillfully made by the playwright to create a realistic drama with the character as its dominating element. Gonzalo, as described by the playwright, was a tall person with compelling personality. About twenty-seven years old, he possessed a warm and attractive charm, except for his piercing eyes which could flash with contempt when the occasion called for it. In the drama, he wore a white suit and a flashing red tie. He spoke with a low caressing voice. He was a businessman by profession as he: “I made that big deal in Baguio.” 

It seems that as the drama progressed the persona of Gonzalo also progressed. In the beginning he was, as his actions and words showed, a businessman doing his usual business, making things sure and clear. As the drama reached its climax, Gonzalo became a moralist, an instant moralist. By affirming the opinion of his cousin Chita in the issue of morality, “Perhaps she’s right Nita. Perhaps we’re becoming decadent (immoral).” Gonzalo, by judging such moral issue, manifested his critical mind in the field of morality. Other words of Gonzalo showed this moralist ego of him. One of these instances was when he reacted to the opinion of Adrian and Nita to the issue of murder: “To kill the wife because she is unfaithful is for the husband to admit that he has lost her…” As the pinnacle of the drama drew nearer and nearer the persona of Gonzalo also changed. This time he turned to be a linguist. He carefully analyzed the word adultery by means of a descriptive and structural point of view: “The word adultery. The moderns have such a revolving dread of such an ugly, repulsive, old-fashioned word that they had substituted it for.  ‘So-and-so is having an affair with- is in love with somebody else,’ and such similar, charming, harmless phrases. But the word adultery itself they avoid and abhor. To the moderns adultery doesn’t exist any more.” When the drama reached its turning point, Gonzalo revealed his real persona in the drama, an avenger: “Destroy him (Adrian),” as Nita asked him what he would do with Adrian.        

 

 Until the end of the drama, Gonzalo kept on changing his persona of avenger that is being a murderer and an unforgiving person, while maintaining his friendly persona in the face of his dying best friend. 

The antagonist is the source of the problem of the protagonist and this kind of character defines Nita, the wife of Gonzalo. She was an attractive woman of nineteen petite, with laughing eyes, and a gentle voice. Her expression was innocent, and there was a subtle aim of adolescence about her. In the beginning of the drama, Nita enters the set, wearing a striking black evening gown, as noted by the playwright, with a large tray, pot of coffee, and two cups.

Nita projected the typical woman in the modern world where she once a part of, a woman of no fear, an inquisitive but still a tactful lady. Throughout the drama, Nita would always ask Gonzalo with questions and even sometimes favors: “How much can you afford?” (pertaining to Gonzalo’s granted gift by her own choice), and sometimes she would also tell stories: “You know what your cousin Chita said in the party?” (her introduction to her act of telling story to Gonzalo). 

But more than just being an ordinary upper class woman, she tried to mask her adulteress persona with the wax of loveliness, caress, and unforgetfulness. In front of Gonzalo, she was a loving wife, concern with the health of his husband, and mindful of informing her husband to celebrate their wedding mensiversary. But none of these deceitful acts of Nita had escaped the critical and observing eyes of Gonzalo. In the end Nita’s heart was broken by her husband’s revenge, for he knew the treachery of his wife from the beginning of the drama. The last part of the drama revealed to us the true identity of Nita, as the words of her husband were uttered in his mouth with diction and conviction: “A pretending, deceiving, lying behind my (Gonzalo) back. You will live with that ugly word adulteress in your heart.”  

Adrian, the foil in the drama, played a major role for the success of the plot of the drama. He was the childhood friend of Gonzalo and eventually his best friend. In fact, they were classmates throughout their grade school: “Adrian and I (Gonzalo) went to grade school together.” A bar examinee passer yet unsettled in life, Adrian has a restless nature, as Gonzalo described him. In the drama, he was also a pretending, deceiving, lying person just like Nita, his partner in the crime of adultery. Though the best friend of Gonzalo, he managed to be the secret lover of his best friend’s wife. This offense had put his life into a tragic end, being poisoned by his own best friend. But in the end, it seemed that Adrian wanted to confess his and Nita’s secret to Gonzalo, but the poison that he had drunk prevented him, leaving Gonzalo a satisfied sinner, while Nita was turned into a hysterically sobbing lover, sinner, and repentant.  

            The sequence of actions and events had contributed a lot to the effectiveness of the drama. This drama’s plot is only one of its kinds and a perfect one. Unique, because it doesn’t follow traditional chronological sequence of events, wherein the denouement comes after the climax; instead, the playwright placed the denouement in line with the ascending events that lead to the peak of the drama. Perfect, simply because it had served its purpose. 

            The reason behind this unique arrangement is the awareness and consciousness of the protagonist to the conflict of the drama. From the beginning of the drama, Gonzalo had already known the betrayal of his wife, Nita, with his best friend, Adrian. There is already a pre-set problem in the drama, which involves the characters. The protagonist does not encounter his problem in the particular scene when the drama takes place. So he is able to plan his revenge during the ascending events of the drama. This hint on the pre-set can be observed in the words and actions of Gonzalo, as noted by the playwright: “I had my suspicions- that’s why I went up to Baguio. I could have come back in a day or two- but I wanted to give you (Nita) and Adrian the satisfaction of a last, romantic, evil fling!”

            The drama began as Nita entered the set carrying a tray with a pot of coffee and two cups while Gonzalo was seated and reading the paper. Since the problem is already known to the protagonist, the absence of the conflict, the moment when the protagonist encountered the problem, is implied. The pretensions, deceptions, and lies of Nita and Adrian about the truth in their relationship to Gonzalo had increased Gonzalo’s fury towards them. These actions had buttressed Gonzalo’s plan of revenge. The denouement, the trickiest part of the drama, occurred during the ascending events of the drama. It is when Gonzalo put the cyanide on the coffee in the cup with the intension and plan at the back of his mind, of letting Adrian drink the coffee, because as has been started earlier, Gonzalo already knew their treachery to him. The pinnacle of the drama happened when Gonzalo revealed his knowledge of the betrayal to Nita and Adrian, and his plan of revenge against them. This is the best moment of the drama for it had cleared all the cloud of doubt and curiosity in the reader’s mind. As Nita pleaded for Adrian’s life in exchange for her, the descend of energy could be observed but the excitement on what will happen next still remained. The cyanide coffee drunk by Adrian had satisfied and fulfilled Gonzalo’s plan of revenge.

References:

Agapay, Ramon B. (1991). Ethics and the Filipino.

Philippines: Capitol Publishing House, Inc.

Del Castillo and Medina. (1974). Philippine Literature:

From Ancient Times to the Present.

Philippines: Philippine Graphic Arts, Inc.

Recillo, Maria Luisa B. (2002). A Manual in Literature.

            Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba.