In his December 1901 State of the Union Address President Theodore Roosevelt had plenty of things to say about the Philippines. The Philippine-American war was still raging and questions lingered about the fate of the Philippines. What did the United States intend to do with this newly acquired territory? Roosevelt answered those questions.
In the Philippines our problem is larger. They are very rich tropical islands, inhabited by many varying tribes, representing widely different stages of progress toward civilization. Our earnest effort is to help these people upward along the stony and difficult path that leads to self-government. We hope to make our administration of the islands honorable to our Nation by making it of the highest benefit to the Filipinos themselves; and as an earnest of what we intend to do, we point to what we have done. Already a greater measure of material prosperity and of governmental honesty and efficiency has been attained in the Philippines than ever before in their history.
It is no light task for a nation to achieve the temperamental qualities without which the institutions of free government are but an empty mockery. Our people are now successfully governing themselves, because for more than a thousand years they have been slowly fitting themselves, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, toward this end. What has taken us thirty generations to achieve, we cannot expect to have another race accomplish out of hand, especially when large portions of that race start very far behind the point which our ancestors had reached even thirty generations ago. In dealing with the Philippine people we must show both patience and strength, forbearance and steadfast resolution. Our aim is high. We do not desire to do for the islanders merely what has elsewhere been done for tropic peoples by even the best foreign governments. We hope to do for them what has never before been done for any people of the tropics—to make them fit for self-government after the fashion of the really free nations.
History may safely be challenged to show a single instance in which a masterful race such as ours, having been forced by the exigencies of war to take possession of an alien land, has behaved to its inhabitants with the disinterested zeal for their progress that our people have shown in the Philippines. To leave the islands at this time would mean that they would fall into a welter of murderous anarchy. Such desertion of duty on our part would be a crime against humanity. The character of Governor Taft and of his associates and subordinates is a proof, if such be needed, of the sincerity of our effort to give the islanders a constantly increasing measure of self-government, exactly as fast as they show themselves fit to exercise it. Since the civil government was established not an appointment has been made in the islands with any reference to considerations of political influence, or to aught else Save the fitness of the man and the needs of the service.
In our anxiety for the welfare and progress of the Philippines, may be that here and there we have gone too rapidly in giving them local self-government. It is on this side that our error, if any, has been committed. No competent observer, sincerely desirous of finding out the facts and influenced only by a desire for the welfare of the natives, can assert that we have not gone far enough. We have gone to the very verge of safety in hastening the process. To have taken a single step farther or faster in advance would have been folly and weakness, and might well have been crime. We are extremely anxious that the natives shall show the power of governing themselves. We are anxious, first for their sakes, and next, because it relieves us of a great burden. There need not be the slightest fear of our not continuing to give them all the liberty for which they are fit.
The only fear is lest in our over anxiety we give them a degree of independence for which they are unfit, thereby inviting reaction and disaster. As fast as there is any reasonable hope that in a given district the people can govern themselves, self-government has been given in that district. There is not a locality fitted for self-government which has not received it. But it may well be that in certain cases it will have to be withdrawn because the inhabitants show themselves unfit to exercise it; such instances have already occurred. In other words, there is not the slightest chance of our failing to show a sufficiently humanitarian spirit. The danger comes in the opposite direction.
https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/us-documents/state-union-address-theodore-roosevelt-december-3-1901
A close reading of this text by any modern liberal would immediately have them crying foul. Here the President of the US refers to the Americans as a master race and the Philippines as a nation of people in various stages on the path to civilisation. He is literally calling Filipinos savages who are unfit to govern themselves and need the tutelage of the superior Americans!
What about the revolutionaries led by Aguinaldo? He declared independence on June 12th, 1898, organised an entire government with a functioning cabinet, and sent representatives around the world to gain recognition of the new Philippine Republic. Surely he is no savage? What Roosevelt is affirming here is that not even Aguinaldo and his government were fit to govern. How awful! What an evil, racist white man! All men are created equal you bigot!
Fast forward 118 years later to 2019 and we can understand just how prophetic and true Roosevelt's words are. The US was quick to relinquish sovereignty over the Philippines as it relived them of an expensive financial and humanitarian burden. But Roosevelt was concerned that Filipinos might be given an independence for which they were not ready. In the second paragraph he mentions "the temperamental qualities without which the institutions of free government are but an empty mockery."
Do Filipinos possess the temperamental qualities necessary for free government? What do we see today in the Philippines?
- Political dynasties strangleholding the nation thinking they are owed by the people just by virtue of their name.
- Unqualified film actors and comedians occupying the highest offices of the land.
- Politicians shifting from House to Senate and back again to hold on to power.
- A government at every level populated with thieves, plunderers, and even murderers.
- Rampant nepotism and cronyism.
- A nation and a political class (what a loathsome thing that is!) which does not understand the function of government or its obligations to the people.
- A people who are actively calling for a new dictatorship and who paint the old one under Marcos with rosy hues.
- Constant political assassinations and violence.
- The need to deploy the military during every election.
- Politicians putting their faces and names in all kinds of places in a never ending self-promotion and election campaign.
Do Filipinos have "the temperamental qualities without which the institutions of free government are but an empty mockery?" Ask yourself that honestly. Think about it. Look at the reality around you. The answer is not yes. Some have those qualities more than others but the overwhelming answer is, "No!"
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