Carlos and the Flag

ang mga impormasyong iyong mababasa ay walang kasiguraduhang may kinalaman at kabilang sa ating hinahanap.

P.S Maaaring magbawas kung sa tingin ninyo’y  ito’y masyadong mahaba.

Foreign Studies

The scene between the mother and son in the short story “Carlos and the Flag” consequently indexes a clandestine technique to explain the socio-cultural and political dynamics of the period. It functions as a subversive tactic by Filipinos to express revolutionary ideas and yearnings that they could not openly discuss and act upon. The fictionalized conversation does not call for outright opposition and direct resistance, but it offers a mechanism to speak the unspeakable and instill a pro-independence nationalist aspiration within the younger generation living under colonialism.  (ROLAND SINTOS COLOMA, 2013) Ontario institute for studies in education, University of Toronto, Canada

I construe covert nationalism as a furtive yet subversive mode by the colonized to instill and ignite passion and pride for the nation while living under the governing control of a foreign power. It does not operate as an over tactic of resistance that openly declares revolutionary struggle against colonial rule. As an alternative, its subtle yet powerful oppositional force is concealed within subdued messages of patriotism, duty, love for the nation. (ROLAND SINTOS COLOMA, 2013) Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada

While the readers promotes covert nationalism as a furtive yet subversive technique to cultivate civic duty and patriotic sacrifice, its universal appeal to inspire all Filipinos is constrained by its mostly male-centered orientation. The gender imbalance in the readers is not undercover when one looks cursorily at the books’ table of contents, and is much less so in closer inspection. With fewer story selections and a limited range of representations and role models, girls and young women unfortunately confront more mediated textual pathways not only to transgress normative gender roles and expectations, but also to serve the nation and resist colonial subjugation. (ROLAND SINTOS COLOMA, 2013) Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada

To cite: Coloma, R. S. (2013), Care of the Postcolonial Self: Cultivating Nationalism in the Philippine Readers. Qualitative Research in Education, 2(3), 302-327. doi: 10.4471/qre.2013.30

To link: http://dx.doi.org/10.447/qre.2013.30

Gloria Macapagal, in her speech during National Heroes Day, November 30, 2002. The leading catalyst for the Philippine Revolution of 1896. Andres Bonifacio has been renamed as the “Father of the Philippine Revolution”. Unlike the other heroic figures of this time who were mostly Filipino priests, writers, and propagandists who spoke out against Spain’s injustices, Bonifacio’s rallying cries for a bloody revolution distinguishes him from their decidedly pacifist attempts. (Margaret Louise Costello, 2009) Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Admired for his active participation in the Philippine revolution – literally going out on the streets to fight Spanish soldiers in contrast to merely writing about these injustices, the symbol of Bonifacio’s heroism becomes ultimately more salient and powerful as it involved what a physical offering of one’s self. This corporeal element to his sacrifice is not lost on Filipinos. (Margaret Louise Costello, 2009) Graduate School of Arts and S0ciences of Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Ninoy’s heroism is linked, primarily to his tragic execution, but he was always known as an unwavering detractor of what he deemed as the corruption of the Marcos government and the injustices of Martial Law. With the government’s stronghold over its citizenry (by the seventies, the Writ of Habeas Corpus had been suspended and many critics of the government had been arrested), Aquino’s vocal criticism of the formidable Marcos regime was considered as a noble act of patriotism in a nation living in representation and fear. (Margaret Louise Costello, 2009) Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Good citizenship requires patriotism, so in the morning your teacher leads your class in singing “My Native Land,” a new anthem written by an American teacher. “To thee I give my heart and hand, Philippines, my Philippines” you sing fervently. Even as you swear to give your heart and hand to the Philippines, it is the American flag that hangs in your town; the Philippine flag was banned three years ago. (Adrianne Marie Francisco, 2015) Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley

Officials responsible for educational policy spoke of how Filipinos were to be “welded into one nation” with a “common sense of patriotism for their land.” In schools students received textbooks that featured idyllic scenes of Philippine life and learned to sing a Philippine national anthem, albeit with English lyrics. American colonial education was not simply about Americanizing Filipinos; it was also about Filipinizing them and strengthening bonds across the communities that students learned made up their own national homeland. (Adrianne Marie Francisco, 2015) Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley