Despite multiple corrections over the years, there are still some individuals who insist on using the incorrect spelling of “Maynilad” with a “d.” Both Maynilad and certain individuals in Manila City Hall contribute to promoting this mistake. Just like Quiapo, which derived its name from the water plant called “kiapo,” Manila also got its name from a water plant known as “nila” (without a “d”). In Manuel Blanco’s “Flora de Filipinas” (1837), there is an image of “Ixora Manila Blanco,” also known by its scientific name, Scyphiphora hydrophylacea.
While going through pictures of “Old Manila” on my social media feed, I was reminded that long before Manila was encompassed by the sprawling metropolis of Metro Manila or the National Capital Region, the capital of Spanish Manila was limited to the area within the walls of Intramuros. Districts such as Quiapo, Binondo, Santa Cruz, Ermita, Malate, and others that are considered part of Manila today were actually suburbs outside the walls, known as Extra-muros de Manila. We rely on a wealth of archival photographs, documents, maps, and other traces to reconstruct an image of the land and the people in this city, bestowed with a coat of arms and the title “distinguished and ever loyal” by a Spanish king in the 16th century.
For this column, I wanted to focus on the more recent history of Manila and discovered the 1922 report on the conditions of the Philippines. This report was addressed to the United States secretary of war and conducted by a special 11-man mission led by Leonard Wood and William Cameron Forbes. While some of the data may be outdated by today’s standards, it still makes for fascinating reading. For example, their count of the number of islands in the archipelago was approximately 3,000, which contrasts with the official count today of 7,640. The report also examined the population based on the 1903 Census (7,635,426) and the 1921 headcount (10,956,000), breaking it down by religion and nationality.
The report estimated the total wealth of the islands at $5,500,000,000, which seems relatively small compared to the current national budget debates involving questionable confidential and intelligence funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which were not entitled to them before. In 1922, there were 45 daily newspapers with a total circulation of 131,400 copies, while 69 weeklies and other publications had a larger circulation of 195,700. Nowadays, people consume information online through smartphones, tablets, laptops, and computers, reading way more than before, albeit not in physical copies.
In the general elections of 1919, 672,122 votes were cast by men, as women did not have suffrage at the time. In December 1920, US President Woodrow Wilson sent a message to Congress stating that the people of the Philippine Islands had successfully maintained a stable government. However, Congress did not act on Wilson’s recommendation, perhaps dismissing it as incongruous with the information available at that time regarding Philippine conditions. This casual dismissal is akin to the modern term “deadma,” meaning ignoring or disregarding something.
To gain a deeper understanding of the Philippines, Leonard Wood and William Cameron Forbes embarked on a four-month mission, covering 48 out of the 49 provinces and conducting public assemblies in 448 cities and towns. They prefaced their review of Philippine history by emphasizing that the islands had always been dependent on foreign powers. In their description of Filipinos in 1921, one can still find relevance today, not only in the positive qualities such as dignity, self-respect, personal neatness, and cleanliness but also in the negatives that sometimes accompany these traits, such as excessive courtesy and hospitality, which can prevent individuals from saying “no” to a friend. The report also noted that Filipinos were generally happy and carefree, but this characteristic has a negative aspect in that it can lead to a complacent population, reluctant to demand what they deserve. The report further highlighted the Filipino thirst for education and preference for learned professions, often overlooking the importance of agriculture and manual labor.
Reading this report is painful because it underscores the fact that not much has changed over the past century, culminating in the current dysfunctional state of affairs. Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at [email protected].
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