Philippine Political
Cartoon
Philippine Political Cartoon
- a political cartoon is a cartoon that makes a point about a
political issue or event.
Their main purpose, though, is not to amuse you
but to persuade you.
A good political cartoon makes you think about
current events, but it also tries to sway your opinion
toward the cartoonist’s point of view.
A Glance of Selected Philippine Political Caricature in Alfred McCoy's
Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature of the American Era (1900 - 1941)
- Political Cartoons and caricature are a rather recent art form,
which veered away from the classical art by exaggerating
human features and poking fun at its subjects.
- Cartoons became an effective tool of publicizing opinions
through heavy use of symbolism, which is different from a
verbose written editorial and opinion pieces.
Author's Background
- Alejandro Reyes Roces (13 July 1924 – 23 May 2011) was
a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a National Artist of
the Philippines for literature.
- Dr Alfred W. McCoy is professor of SE Asian History at the
U. of Wisconsin at Madison where he also serves as director
of the Center for SE Asian Studies, a federally-funded
National Resource Center.
Philippine Cartoons:
Political Caricature of the American Era ( 1900 - 1941)
Alfred Mccoy and Alejandro Roces
wrote this book, compiled political
cartoons published in news paper
dailies and periodicals in the
aforementioned time period.
The first example shown above was published in the in-
dependent on May 20, 1916. The cartoon shows a politi-
cian from tondo, named Dr. Santos, passing his crown to
his brother in- law.
The second cartoon was also published by the independent on 16 June
1917, this was drawn by Fernando Amorsolo and was aimed as a commen-
tary to the workings of manila police at the period. Here we see a Filipino child
who stole a skinny chicken because he had nothing to eat The police officer
was relentlessly pursuing the said child. A man wearing a salakot, labeled
Juan De la Cruz was grabbing the officer, telling him to leave the small-
time pickpockets and thieve and to turn at the great thieves instead. He was
pointing to huge warehouse containing bulks of rice, milk and grocery
products.
The third cartoon was a commentary on the unprecedented
cases of colorum automabiles in the city streets. The Philippine
Free Press published this commentary when fatal accidents
involving colorum vehicles and taxis occurred too often already.
This fourth cartoon depicts a cinema. A blown-up police officer
was at the screen saying that couples are not allowed to neck
and make love in the theater. Two youngsters looked horrified
while an older couple seemed amused.
The fifth cartoon was published by The Independent on 27 November 1915.
Here, we see the caricature of Uncle Sam riding a chariot pulled by Filipinos
wearing school uniforms. The Filipino boys were carrying American objects like
baseball bats, whiskey, and boxing gloves, McCoy, in his caption to the said car-
toon, says that this cartoon was based on an event in 1907 when William
Howard Taft was brought to the Manila pier riding a chariot pulled by the students
of Liceo de Manila. Such was condemned by the nationalists at that time.
The last cartoon was published by Lipang Kalabaw on 24 August 1907.
In the picture, we can see Uncle Sam rationing porridge to the politicians and
members of the Progresista Party (sometimes known as the Federelista Party)
while members of the Nationalista Party look on and wait for their turn.
This cartoon depicts the patronage of the United States being coveted by
politicians from either of the party.
Analysis of the Political Caricatures during
American Period
The transition from the Spanish Colonial period to the American Occupation period
demonstrated different strand of changes and shifts in culture, society, and politics.
The Americans drastically introduced democracy to the nascent nation and the
consequences were far from ideal.
Aside from this, it was also during the American period that Filipinos were intro-
duced to different manifestations of modernity like health care, modern transporta-
tion, and media.
