The origins of Filipino Nationalism and the Revolution

The Filipino history is known for its long struggle for freedom from Spain during the 18th century. Revolutions are apparent and the people pushed reforms for changes. There are several factors that gave them the discourses. One major factor that sparked nationalism was the Economic growth of the Philippines. The said economic advancement, particularly during 1830’s, brought prosperity to Filipinos. The exportation was sufficient to support the Filipinos in middle and upper classes who has businesses as well as the Chinese and western merchants. The opening of the Philippines to the world trading brought machineries that improved the production. The Philippines mainly exports agricultural products. As the figures of total trades increase, the population also increases. Due to the issue, the Filipinos needed more rice. The demand for rice gave prosperity to those who run the farms of rice as well as sugar and abaca on Central Luzon. They profited much because of the demand. The said agricultural lands are located on friar haciendas. When the profit grew larger, so was the value and rent on lands. This event led to disputes and discrepancies among the inquilinos or the land owning hacienderos and friars of about who will harvest the fruits of labors of the farmers. It further questioned the rights of the friars on these issues. From this point, it is clear that prosperity and economic development was from Filipinos’ initiatives.
Although the Philippines developed economically, it faced a gradual decline mainly because of political instability. The Spain prioritized Cuba that Philippines on managing its colonies. It resulted to inconsistent policies. The lack of good infrastructure that would support the economic progress, also contributed to the economic decline. By the same time, a movement was born to suffice the issue, they are the Modernist movement. This movement was composed and initiated by criollos, Spanish borned in the Philippines, lawyers and merchants. These modernizers only seek economic progress and modern legal system. They never want to separate from the government of Spain. They just want equal rights and enjoy liberties the pain is also enjoying. But this movement was not enough to advocate economic change, due ti this, another movement was created. The Political Reformists. This movement was seeking political changes. This is because of the following reasons; The failure of the government to satisfy the needs and desires of the Filipino people, inefficient and corrupt leadership, antiquated and contradictory laws, exploitation of the Philippine treasury and the failure to maintain peace and order. These problems rooted to the greedy bureaucracy of the Spanish clergy on their interplay with the government. It was Gov. Carlos Maria Dela Torre who articulated the discourse of this movement. He opened the freedom of expression and introduced reforms for the colony. He even joined these people on demonstrations.
Catholicism or the Church was the foundation of Spanish tyranny on the Philippines. These churches run the first catholic universities and schools such as college de San Juan de Letran, University of Santo Tomas and the Ateneo. The spread of education throughout the country made the aspiring Filipinos who can afford the tuition fees, to study in these institutions. In these schools, The Dominicans and the Jesuits taught the subjects like literature, natural science and philosophy. They inculcated them humanistic education and the principles of equality, dignity and justice. They didn’t intended to teach these Filipinos the nationalistic thought but with the subjects that they impart was an eye-opener to the students such as Rizal, Mabini, Del Pilar all other nationalist proponents. They taught each of them how to become a critical thinker and propagated liberal and progressive ideas without knowing that they are already invoking the self-awareness of these Filipinos. With what Schumacher suggested about “the creation of an institutions that caters for higher education for a colonial state is impractical” is because ,in spite of being a colony of Spain, Philippines was given the education by the Jesuits by the order of mother Spain without knowing its consequences after all. The impracticality of Spain is visible because of what they gave the Filipinos was an enlightenment and would be considered as a failure of controlling the colony from emancipation.
There were conflicts among the Filipino priests and the Spanish clergy. Considering themselves as the “elites”, Spanish priests render Filipino priests as an “inferior” basically because they were indios or not a son of Spain. Because of the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines, the church had a shortage of priests. It eventually led to the option of appointing of secular priests and gives them their own parishes. If given the position, these Filipino priests will be exempted from the bishop’s authority and can be easily promoted as parish priests without diocesan authorization. Recommending these Filipino priests would mean the loss of opportunity to position and power of greedy Spanish priests. The Filipino priests and the Spanish priests are given the same training, so there was no reason to deprive these secular priests from the same privileges that the Spanish priests are enjoying. The gradual increase in priests again in 1825, produced a new generation of priests and with the leadership of Fr. Pedro Pelaez, they attempted to disapprove the accusations against them. But the Spanish clergy was determined to justify that Filipino priests do not deserve the privilege. They started presenting issues and events justifying their reluctance. One issue is the unpreparedness of the Filipino priests in governing the parishes. Another issue is about the education. These priests might teach values from the content of the bible that is contradictory of what the Spanish clergy teaches. They also might, unknowingly uncover the political wrong-doings, abuses and anomalies of Spanish government and might aw well contribute to enlightenment of the people. And main event that put the secularist movement into a failure. The Cavite Mutiny. Some insurgents on Cavite revolted and the Spanish clergy blamed the GomBurZa as the masterminds of the revolt. The execution of the 3 Filipino priests marked the end of the secularist movement.
The Liberal Propaganda movement is the heir of what the Filipino clergy was fighting for. They are the carriers of the ideas of national identity that is initiated before by Fr.Burgos and other secularist proponents.
There is no clear shift from Secularist-Modernist-Political reformist chiefly because these movements are overlapping in time and all of them continued the preceding goals of each movement. However, it is clear that when the leaders of the secularist movement died, the modernists are long before, starting their movement. But with the failure of its campaign there came the political reformists. The ideas of the secularists were not for the general welfare of the whole country but only for the equal rights among priests. In short, it’s personality. As the new movements emerge, the urge for different reforms and changes for the whole country was becoming a trend. It resulted to the assemblage of mixed objectives and eventually led to a common national ideologue.
The Nationalist-Separatist movement was the final stage of these movements because its goals seeks the separation from Spain, opposition to the friars and believed that the freedom will not be attained if the Spaniards are still residing in the country. This movement was the generalization of all the movements. Rizal, although approved the means of a revolution, was a nationalist-separatist by his objectives and aspirations. Rizal compared to the early proponents, separation from Spain was realized already,and long before the different movements was established.

The First SONA of P-noy

The first SONA of President Aquino was about the economical status of the Philippines after the Arroyo administration. On his 3rd week on position, he discovered some inconsistencies on different sectors of the government that led to the discovery of the big deficit on the annual budget for the coming year. He explained the cause of this controversial loss was the Calamity Fund. The inappropriate allocation of the calamity fund to certain provinces particularly on Pampangga was further investigated and later found out to be true. Another that contributed to the decline was the excessive payrolls and benefits of the MWSS. The employees of the company benefited much because its managers themselves are involved on these operations. While we are facing a water shortage, these people just enjoy their life wit the money of the Filipino people. It was no difference with what was happening to the NAPOCOR. The government ordered the company to sell their power to the lowest possible price. Many people thought that they have already saved, but in the end, the adjustment will be carried by the same consumers because the loss of the company will be included in their monthly bills. There are projects handled by the DPWH that gained profit even the budget allocated was fixed. Another issue was the excessive buying of rice by the NFA. He pinpointed the wrong doings of this sector. He then delivered and revealed the rotting of the rice in warehouses. Because of this incident, we can remember that during 2008, our country faced a rice shortage. Many people can’t afford the high price of rice. This is considered by President Aquino, as a crime for letting these rice sacks to rot in spite of many Filipinos who can’t eat sufficiently on everyday living.
Given all the problems, these are just a glimpse of what was truly happening in our government. Due to this,President Aquino began to solve and take responsibility on taking steps on solving these issues. He later comes up with the idea of creating a Truth Commission. The said commission will investigate for the anomalies of the past government and seek to punish those who are guilty and responsible for the exploitation of the money of the people. I am very impressed about what he said about the concept of Zero-Based approach budgeting. We will start the budgeting for the year on “0” onwards unlike the past system that is overlapping of budgets that usually results to incorrect allocation and divisions of budget for the people. Another proposal of the president was the Private-Public partnership system with regards to investments. It will help the economy to recover its economical equilibrium by the said investors particularly the renting of the headquarters of the navy on Roxas Boulevard and Fort Bonifacio. We will not spend a single peso on these but then we will profit by it. President Aquino will be trying o settle the issue regarding the peace talks on Mindanao and on the NPA’s
I am hoping that with all of what he said and delivered, it will be soon done and fulfilled. This may be the start of a new and real change for the lives of the Filipino people.

Anibersaryo

Maagang sumilip si haring araw sa kalangitan, tila baga'y bumabati ng isang masayang umaga.Banayad na gumagala ang mga ulap ngunit kaunti lamang. Maririnig ang huni ng mga ibong kanina pa umaawit ng kanilang mga kantang iisa lang naman ang tono.Nagising si Marc dahil sa lakas ng kanyang alarm clock na de baterya.
Ito ang tanging natanggap niya mula sa yumaong ama 5 taon na nakalilipas.Dahan-dahan niyang iniunat ang mga kamay na noo'y namamanhid pa. Dali-dali siyang nagpunta sa lababo upang maghilamos ng mukha. At pagkatapos nito ay dumako na siya sa kanyang maliit na mesa upang magtimpla ng paborito niyang kape. Sa bawat higop ay patuloy niyang natatanaw ang sinag ng araw na bahagya nang nakarating sa kanyang higaan.

Sa kabilang dako ng kuwarto ay nakabalandra at nakakalat ang kanyang mga gamit,maruruming damit at mga librong halatang hindi pa natatapos basahin. Sa liit ng kuwarto ay hindi man lang siya magkaroon ng panahon para maglinis. Isang mabigat na dahilan- ito ay ang pagiging abala miya sa paghahanap ng trabaho sa gabi at kung mayroon mang libreng oras ay napupunta lamang ito sa pagtulog. Malapit ng maubos ang iniinom na kape noong makaramdam siya ng kaunting hiya sa sarili at naisip na iligpit ang mga sari-saring lapis at bolpen sa ibabaw ng kanyang tokador.Sa hindi sinasadyang galaw ay nasiko niya ang isang maliit at parihabang bagay na napaploob sa isang maiit na frame.

Ito ay ang larawan nila ng kanyang mga kakalase noong pagtatapos nila ng high school.
Tila kumulo ang tiyan niya kaya't siya ay naupo sa kutson at pinagmasdang mabuti ang larawan.Matagal na katahimikan ang bumalot sa buong silid at tanging ang kaniyang paghinga lamang ang maririning.
10 taon na pala ang naklilipas,mula ng mahulog ang mga patak ng luha nila sa sementadong lupa ng paaralan.Kung tutukuying mabuti,hindi maikukubli ang pamumugto ng kanilang mga mata sa larawan.Ngunit kahit malungkot ay halatang sinikap nilang maiayos ang mga ngiti.Magkahalong galak at kalungkutan ang naramdaman ni marc.
Parang kahapon lang nangyari ang lahat. Ang mga tawa't halakhak,hikbi't iyak,mga markang pasado't bagsak,mga ligawan at suyuan at mga masasayang araw na walang klase.Ang mga pangarap at ambisyon sa buhay ng bawat isa.

Natigilan si marc sa huling sambit ng kanyang utak. Mga pangarap at ambisyon sa buhay. At saka niya naalala ang dating mga kaklase. Totoong nagtagumpay sila, ang iba nasa ibang bansa na,may negosyante,may doktor,inhinyero,doktor,nars,teacher at lahat ng uri ng propesyon. Totoo ding hindi pinalad sa buhay ang iba, may mga pamilyado na at mayroon ding iba na nawala na lang basta.
oo, nalimot na yata ng panahon ang dating samahan ng magkakaklase.Kung ano man ang kinahinatnan ng bawat isa sa kanila ngayon, isa na lamang itong matamis na katuparan ng kahapon. Isang masayang yugto ng buhay nila noon.
Huminga ng malalim si marc at dahan-dahang inayos ang larawan sa kinalalagyan nito.
Naisip niya, marami pang dapat gawin at unahin. Kahit na anong mangyari,dapat na magpatuloy ang buhay.Kahit sa sandaling panahon lang ay buong kaligayahan at karangalan niyang makapaglakbay sa nakaraan at alam niyang sa bawat anibersaryo hindi mawawala ang mga ala alang ito.

Intellectual Piracy

Bukod sa piracy o pag gawa ng mga murang kopya ng palabas at musika, umuusbong din ang tinatawag na ‘’Intellectual piracy’’. Dahil sa mga napakaraming labas ng napakamurang CD’s ay hindi na kumikita ang mga recording artist at studios dahil hindi naman nabibili ang kanilang mga gawa at nakatambak lamang sa mga music stores. Dahil dito ay naging matamlay at biglang nagiba ang pananaw ng mga record producers. Katwiran nila ang industriya ng local na musika ay hindi na sisikat ang mga local artist natin ngayon. Kaya hindi na nagproduce ng iba pang records. Isa na rin sa mga dahilan ay ang mga bagong libangan ngayon tulad ng Internet, computer games, T.V. shows at Pagsusugal. Bukod pa riyan ang mabigat na impluwensya ay ang Grammy Awards. Ito ang bumubuhat sa mga musika ng ibang bansa at nagbibigay ng kinang sa mga performers na nagwawagi taon-taon. Tila lambat na humahakot ang mga foreign performers ng mga takatangkilik sa buong mundo at isa ang pilipinas sa mga pangunahing tumatangkilik. Lalo itong padagdag sa lumalalang kondisyon ng Local music.

Pagsagip sa OPM

Isang kadahilanan din ang mga Local Artists at mga Produsyer nito.
Kung walang Local Artists, walang Produsyer at kung walang Produsyer walang ring Local Artists. Ang dalawa ay mga napakahalagang salik sa Industriya ng musika. Upang mapangalagaan ang industriya ng musika sa Pilipinas. Itinatag ang Organisasyon ng Pipinong Mang-aawit(OPM) at Performers Rights’ Society of the Philippines(PRSP). Nilalayon ng mga grupong ito na palaguin at pangalagaan ang karaptan ng mga Filipino Artists sa bansa. Alinsunod sa ipinalabas na Excutive Order no. 225 na nag-oobliga sa pagbo-brodkast ng hindi bababa sa apat(4) na Filipino Music kada oras sa mga istasyon ng radyo at sa gayong batas ay maiiwasan ang patuloy na pagbagsak ng produksyon ng Musikang Pilipino.

Ang OPM ay may mga pangunahing layunin:
1. Pagtatatag ng mga tuntunin para sa paglago ng industriya ng OPM
2. Paninigurado na ang mga tuntunin ay naiisakatuparan
3. Paninigurado na ang mga miyembro ay sapat na nasusuportahan sa pamamagitan ng legal na mga usapin at sapat na pagsasanay sa mga propesyonal.
4. Ang pagtuloy na promosyon ng mga local na mang-aawit at orihinal na Pilipinong komposisyon at,
5. Patuloy na promosyon sa pagkakakilanlan ng mga Pilipinong mang await at kanta sa Pandaigdigang larangan.
Isang malaking tulong ang mga batas at pakikisangkot ng Gobyerno sa pangangalaga ng Industriya ng Pilipinong Musika.

Ang Kalagayan ng Pilipinong musika
Pebrero 24,2010
Ralph Joshua Rivera
Jean Louise Garen
Isaiah Ruallo





Likas ang pagmamahal ng bawat tao sa kultura at gayon din sa musika. Ito ay pangkalahatang katangian ng bawat nasyon sa buong mundo. Ang musika ay isang tanda ng ebolusyon ng tao simla pa noong matuto itong mamuhay. Isa itong salamin ng buhay,karanasan at kultura ng isang indibidwal. Sa paglipas ng panahon ang musika ay nabago at nahati sa ibat ibang kategorya at uri na tinatawag na “Genre” at naging bahagi na ng pang araw-araw na buhay. Bilang isang nilalang, tunay na malayo na ang narating ng tao lalo na sa larangan ng musika.

Musika at Kasysayan
Pinaniniwalaang bago pa man narating ng mga Espanyol ang pilipinas ay mayroon na tayong sariling kultura ng musika. Ito ang “Indigenous Music” na nagmula sa ating mga katutubong Pilipino partikular sa Luzon at ilang bahagi ng Mindanao. Ginagamit nila ang musika sa maraming paraan; sa mga Kasalan, Pagaalay at Ritwal. Paggamit ng Gitara,Gong,Kudyapi, ilan lamang iyan sa mga katutubong instrumentong ginagamit nila. Nang sumapit ang ika-15 siglo ay dumating ang mga dayuhan na nagbigay daan sa malawakang pakikisangkot ng bansa sa pandaigdigang komersyo. Ito ay nagresulta sa paglapag ng ibat ibang kultura sa bansa partikular ang mga kanluraning kultura. Isa ang musika sa mga nadagdagan at naimpluwensyahan sa pagdating nila. Mula sa mga simpleng tunog ay nahaluan ito ng ibat ibang tunog. Natuto rin silang gumamit ng mga makabagong instrumento.
Lalong napalawig ang kakayahan ng Pilipino sa larangan ng musika at lalong nadagdagan ang uri ng mga kanta at tunog sa bansa.
Bunga ng mahabang transisyon ng musika sa bansa, nagsimulang lumabas ang classical,rock and roll,hiphop at pop music. Doon nagsimula ang OPM o Original Pilipino Music. Ang OPM ay mga kantang Pilipino na isinulat at kinanta ng mga pilipinong mang awit. Itoy naglalaman ng mga damdamin,kaisipan at diwang makapilipino na may lirikong puno ng kabuluhan. Ito’y kadalasang may tema ng pag-ibig, karanasan , kapaligiran o rebolusyon. Pumatok sa mga tagapakinig ang OPM noong 1970’s hanggang kalagitnaan ng 1990’s. Lumabas ang Pinoy Rock na lalong nagpataas sa kasikatan ng OPM. Pinangunahan ito ng “Juan Dela Cruz band” at Maria Cafra”. Isa sila sa mga sinaunang Rock bands sa pilipinas. Nasundan ito ng pagyabong ng iba pang Genre sa bansa. Sumikat ang Apo hiking society,Eraserheads,VST at sumikat ng husto sina Fredie Aguilar,Rey Valera,Jose Mari Chan,Nora Aunor, at Pilita Corales. Sa kaslukuyang panahon, sina Ogie Alcasid,Ryan Cayabyab,Regine Velasquez at Noel Cabangon ay iilan lamang sa mga tagapagtaguyod ng OPM ngayon sa bansa.Nagkamit sila ng ilang parangal at umani ng karangalan hindi lang sa loob ng bansa kundi sa ibang bansa din.


Ang Modernong Musika

Para sa modernong Pilipino, hindi na maiiaalis ang musika sa pang araw-araw niyang pamumuhay. Ano na nga ba ang kalagayan ng musika natin ngayon? Dahil sa mabilis at kapansin-pansing pagbabago nito, lalong naging progresibo at produktibo ito. Mula sa mga panahon ng plaka at cassette tapes ay naglabasan ang mga modernong gamitang katas ng teknolohiya. Mga mp3, ipod ,internet at mga makabagong instrumento. Mga
Ilang kadahilanan kung bakit maraming nakakapag produce ng OPM. Hindi maikukubli ang epekto nito sa industriya ng musikang Pilipino.
Sa kabila ng pag unlad ng OPM sa bansa, nagdulot din ito ng tunggalian sa mga tagapakinig nang sumapit ang taong 2000’s.Biglang pumatok at sumikat ang mga dayuhang kanta at artista tulad ng mga boybands na Back street boys, Westlife at A1. Nagsimula ang pagbaba ng porsyento ng mga nakikining ng OPM at tumaas ng husto ang pamamayagpag ng mga dayuhang kanta. Isang dahilan maituturing ang komersyalismo sa musika. Ayon dito,nakakapasok ang mga dayuhang produkto dahil sa mataas na demand ng mga Pilipino sa dayuhang musika. Dahil doon ay patuloy na natatabunan ang OPM. Sa kasagsagan ng problema ay biglang nagsulputan naman ang mga Revival na kanta. Dumami ang nag eere ng mga Asian-Novela at Mexican-Novela na lalong nagpalubha sa kolonyal na mentalidad ng mga Pilipino. Ang iba pa nga ay lantarang tinatagalog ang ibang sikat na foreign songs. Mahihinuha ang mga dahilang ito noong mga panahon ng pananakop. Bakas pa rin sa atin ang iniwang mentalidad ng mga kolonyalistang mananakop. Ang negatibong pagpapatuloy ng “Colonial Mentality” sa bansa.