St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

Page 14 text:

Arr the Eililipinnz ilihurateh? By VINCENTE SALUMBIDES EK vi: HIS is the question which most Americans ZX' Z ask themselves when they discuss the ad- , ., ,, visability of giving to the Filipinos in the V 8 near' future their political independence. They seem, however, either to have misun- EK C El-K derstood or to be unfamiliar with the educa- tional status of their brown subjects. For the convenience of those interested, the writer has presented in the following paragraphs some reliable facts together with the opinions of some noted and well-informed Americans bearing upon this question. The Filipinos occupy a unique position among the peoples of the Orient. The centuries of western training they have had under the Spanish regime have made them a Christian people, the only Christian people in the Far Eastg and, have informed them upon western civilization and culture in all its branches. Mr. Taft, speaking of the Filipinos in his special report to the President of the United States in 1908, said: The friars left the people a Christian people--that is, a people with western ideals. They looked toward Rome, and Europe, and America ...... It is the only Malay or oriental race that is Christian. They were not like the Mohammedan or Buddhist, who despise western civilization as inferior ..... They learn easily. and the most striking fact in our whole experience in the Philippines is the eagerness with which the common Filipino agricultural laborer sends his children to school to learn English. There is no real difference be- tween the educated and ignorant Filipino that cannot be overcome by the education of one generation. They are a capable people in the sense that they can be given a normal

Page 13 text:

A Single Bag By JOSEPH MCINERNEY The morn sings sweetly while the sunbeams light The free abandon of our boyhood's dream, And watch ambition soar on wings of white- That Hash a message as they pass each beam. The noon is bright,-oppressive more than morn- And youth with firmer voice more gravely singsg Ambition still is there-her wings are shorn- She shapes a course that leads to weighty thing A song youth sings of things in time to be- Of deeds illumined by an evening star- The sun sinks lower-youth has lied:-but see! The dreamed-of things that were to be now are! The star of evening at its zenith stands. The fuller manhood now begins to waneg The star has fled,-no light upon the sands Of age-dim eyes look back to morn again. ,f. FD . Finals?-xul'25l E all S

Page 15 text:

ARE THE FILIPINOS EDUCATED? 13 intellectual development by the same kind of education that is given in our common school system. The readers will be surprised to'learn that Santo Tomas University-the oldest university under the American flag- was founded in Manila by the friars in 1610, that besides it, there were different colleges and seminaries which were established later, such as the Municipal Ruthenaeum, San Juan de Letran, College of San jose, the Nautical School, the School of Commercial Accounting, the Academy of Paint- ing and Drawing, and many other private institutions, that the Hrst steps towards popular education were taken in 1634 when Philip IV of Spain ordered the education of the Fili- pinos in the Spanish language and in Christian doctrine 5 that in 1886 there were 2,153 public schools distributed among the 900 towns that then constituted the Archipelago, and, that during the Spanish sovereignty many Filipino young men who could afford to study abroad, went to Europe and to other parts of the globe to broaden their knowledge of what should be the best reforms that would bring prosperity and happiness to their people. ' But, in spite of the good intention of the home govern- ment in Spain to uplift the Filipinos, the authorities in the Philippines, for some selfish motives which are not here to be discussed, did not faithfully carry out the decrees and legis- lations intrusted to them for execution. Consequently, the school facilities and attendance contemplated were but half realized. There were few good school houses, good fur- nishings, and modern text-books. There was little school discipline or order. Judging from modern school standards, the curriculum left much to be desired. In the second- ary schools and colleges, which were mostly private in- stitutions, there were better conditions. However, only those who could afford it or who worked their way through could obtain a university education. Such was the situation, and when Dr. jose Rizal, the greatest Filipino