English and the future of the Philippines

I have been following the auction results of Christie’s and Sotheby’s Hong Kong for some time, and noticed that many excellent prewar works of National Artist Fernando Amorsolo have come under the hammer and sold within the estimates. Prices are in the 6-figure range, out of reach for most of us mortals, but quite reasonable for seasoned collectors because the big money seems to be chasing younger Filipino artists like Ronald Ventura, whose painting sold in Hong Kong last weekend at HK$4 million, or US$515,000. While I am happy for the living artists who can enjoy the windfall, we must realize that the prices of Philippine art are peanuts compared to the astronomical prices fetched by flavor-of-the-month artists from Indonesia and China. Everyone should also remember that auctions are not the true measure of value in terms of art.

Prewar Amorsolo paintings from the United States (and sometimes from Europe) arrive at auction in better shape than paintings that have remained in the Philippines, where these deteriorated due to humidity and pests like insects and humans. I am happy that many of Amorsolo’s paintings are returning home from a vacation abroad. I am happy that they were preserved abroad because if they had been in Manila, these would probably have been part of the cultural casualties of World War II. These Amorsolo paintings make me wonder what other Filipiniana lie in attics and garage sales abroad. Who knows? One day even tourist art like the Baguio man-in-the-barrel, the giant wooden spoons and forks, or even the small shield with different types of Mindanao swords called “Weapons of Moroland” might fetch tidy sums at auction.

Years ago I bought prewar books on the Philippines cheaply from bargain bins in the United States. Collecting Filipiniana is simpler now because almost anything can be sourced from Amazon and e-Bay. One day I hope to complete, if available and affordable, the annual reports of the US Governors-General, which are a mine of seemingly useless information that can be organized to teach us something about the past and why we are the way we are. Stray volumes I found in Tokyo, at the Sophia University Library where I am currently doing research. Over the weekend I read Secretary of Education Charles E. Yeater’s report in the volume for 1918 that reads:

“English the language of the Future in the Philippines

“The teaching of English in the public schools has now covered a period of almost 20 years. As a result of this many thousands of young men and women now entering the activities of life possess a fair knowledge of the English language and use it in their daily contact with each other and with many others who have acquired the language. Some of these young men are already holding prominent positions in the public schools, in commerce, Government service, and every other walk of life, and their numbers run into hundreds of thousands. The language most spoken today and most widely disseminated and best understood in the Philippines is the English language.

“Furthermore, there is connected with the University of the Philippines, with other higher educational institutions of the islands and in all the important activities of insular life a large number of young Filipinos who have been educated in American colleges and universities. These and many of the young men and women who were educated in the public schools, in the high schools, and the normal schools are beginning to take their logical places in leadership and influence in every activity in the Philippines.

“As a result of the legislative appropriation of more than $30,000,000 heretofore adverted to, and which provides universal free education for all the children of the islands, this country is destined to be one of the several nations of the world scattered in every portion of the globe where the English language will be spoken. At this time the political leaders and heads of the departments and of many of the bureaus and divisions of the Government largely speak Spanish more fluently than English, but this condition is fast changing, and in the course of approximately 15 years the English language will not only be the common medium of exchange among people generally but will be the language which will practically be exclusively used in the Government and legislative service.

“As indicative of this situation, it is reported that the majority of subscribers to the newspapers and periodicals published in English in the islands are Filipinos. The native dialects will continue to be used for home purposes for many years, possibly for one or two generations. They cannot afford a medium of intellectual exchange because of the poverty of their vocabularies and because those speaking the various dialects are unable to understand each other. But at present already one-half of the people of the islands under the age of 30 to 25 years are daily communicating with each other in business and social intercourse through the medium of the English language.”

The Spanish left our languages to flourish; thus, after 400 years Filipinos don’t speak Spanish as they do in Mexico and Latin America. The Americans replaced our languages with English, and in 50 years almost every Pinoy speaks or understands it. People still argue over the value of our languages, English, and Spanish when we should be happy to be fluent in as many languages as we can.

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