INTRODUCTION
The Filipino Revolutionists won against the Spaniards who
colonized us for more than 300 years. Our flag was hoisted on
June 12, 1898 as a symbol of our independence. Gen. Emilio
Aguinaldo was elected the first President of the Philippine
Republic but this was short-lived. The Fil.-American was resulted
in the defeat of Gen. Miguel Malvar in 1903. The peace
movements started as early as 1900. Many Filipinos started
writing again and the nationalism of the people remained
undaunted.
A division of the Filipinos into the upper and lower social class
or taga-bayan-taga bukid polarization took on a decidedly
political color during the Revolution of 1896 . Education was put
up as a requirement for leadership and since that time wealth
was a requirement for education this meant that the Filipino
native elite had succeeded in reserving for itself the role of
determining Filipino response and nation building.
During this time of colonization Filipino ilustrados,owing
emotional and and intellectual allegianceto the colonizers had
gone over to the side of the colonial government and abandoned
the taga-bukid.American colonial authorities capitalized on the
capitulation of the ilustrados in urging Filipinos to bring the
Philippine-American war to an early end through surrender.
On July 4, 1902, the US president proclaimed that the
insurrection was officially ended.
However, Filipino guerrillas continued to inflict losses on
American troops and their local mercenary army. To counteract
the guerrilla activity , the colonial administration applied the full
force of the law.
Beginning in 1907 ,pacification by the military campaign had
begun to slacken.
The colonial administration started setting up political
institutions that would pre-empt or co-opt nationalist
leadership.In time, Filipino leaders had begun to take it for
granted that the independence of the Philippines would have to
be secured within the limits of the colonial system put up by the
United States.
Philippine literature burst forth with vitality and variety indicative
of creative energy unleashed by the revolution and propelled by
the Philippine-American war.
Philippine literary production during the American Period in the
Philippines was spurred by two significant developments in
education and culture. One is the introduction of free public
instruction for all children of school age and two, the use of
English as medium of instruction in all levels of education in
public schools.
Free public education made knowledge and information
accessible to a greater number of Filipinos. Those who availed of
this education through college were able to improve their social
status and joined a good number of educated masses who
became part of the countrys middle class.
The use of English as medium of instruction introduced Filipinos
to Anglo-American modes of thought, culture and life ways that
would be embedded not only in the literature produced but also
in the psyche of the countrys educated class. It was this
educated class that would be the wellspring of a vibrant
Philippine Literature in English.
Philippine literature in English, as a direct result of American
colonization of the country, could not escape being imitative of
American models of writing especially during its period of
apprenticeship.
The abundance in output and the quality of the passion that went
into it testified to the welling out of creativity where writers and
audience shared common concerns brought to the fore by a
common historical experience.Previous accounts of the growth
of Philippine literature tended, through sheer lack of
consolidated data on writing outside the capital, to focus solely
on the achievement of authors writing in Spanish, English and
Tagalog.
Poetry in all languages continued to flourish in all regions of the
country during the American period. The Tagalogs, hailing
Francisco F. Balagtas as the nations foremost poet invented
the balagtasan in his honor. Thebalagtasan is a debate in verse,
a poetical joust done almost spontaneously between
protagonists who debate over the pros and cons of an issue.
A change in literary historiography has been underway since the
late 1960s.And after thirty years, it has become possible to view
literary development as a nationwide phenomenon.The downfall
of the Spanish colonialism freed the printing industry from
religious censorship.
Newspapers in our different dialects flourished all over the
archipelago.Some of these newspapers were Muling Pagsilang
(1903, Tagalog), Ang Kaluwasan (1902, Cebuano),
Makinaugalingon (1913, Ilonggo), and Nueva Era (1908, Ilokano).
The best known magazines that capitalized on short stories and
poems were Liwayway (1922, Tagalog), Bisaya (1930, Cebuano),
Hiligaynon (1934, Ilonggo), and Bannawag (1934, Ilokano).
Among the Iloko writers, noted novelists were Leon Pichay, who
was also the regions poet laureate then, Hermogenes Belen, and
Mena Pecson Crisologo whose Mining wenno Ayat ti Kararwa is
considered to be the Iloko version of a Noli me Tangere.
In the Visayas, Magdalena Jalandoni and Ramon Muzones would
lead most writers in writing the novels that dwelt on the themes
of love, courtship, life in the farmlands, and other social
upheavals of the period. Marcel Navarra wrote stories and novels
in Sugbuhanon.
There have been authors writing in the years of US colonial rule
who inevitably figure in research outputs and studies.Among
them , Magdalena Jalandoni,Angel Magahum and Ramon
Muzones in Hiligaynon writing. Among the Cebuano writers are
Sulpicio Ossorio, Tomas Hermosisima , Vicente Ranudo, Marcel
Navarra and Piux Kabahar. Iloko literature have contributed the
names Mena Pecson Crisologo and Leon Pichay.
The separate, yet parallel developments of Philippine literature in
English and those in Tagalog and other languages of the
archipelago during the American period only prove that literature
and writing in whatever language and in whatever climate are
able to survive mainly through the active imagination of writers.
Apparently, what was lacking during the period was for the
writers in the various languages to come together, share
experiences and come to a conclusion on the elements that
constitute good writing in the Philippines.
