A Glance at Selected

Philippine Political Caricature

in Alfred McCoy’s Philippine
Cartoons: Political Caricature
of the American Era
(1900-1941)
Political cartoons and caricature are a rather recent
art form, which veered away from the classical art by
exaggerating human features and poking fun at its
subjects. Such art genre and technique became a part
of the print media as a form of social and political
commentary, which usually targets persons of power
and authority. Cartoons became an effective tool of
publicizing opinions through heavy use of symbolism,
which is different from a verbose written editorial
and opinion pieces.
The unique way that a caricature represents
opinion and captures the audience’s
imagination is reason enough for historians
to examine these political cartoons.
Commentaries in mass media inevitably
shape public opinion and such kind of
opinion is worthy of historical examination.
This ushered in a more open and freer press.
The post-independence and the post-Filipino-
American period in the Philippines were
experienced differently by Filipinos coming from
different classes. The upper principalia class
experienced economic prosperity with the opening
up of the Philippine economy to the United States
but the majority of the poor Filipino remained
poor, desperate, and victims of state repression.
The selected cartoons illustrate
not only the opinion of certain
media outfits about the
Philippine society during the
American period but also paint a
broad image of society and
politics under the United States.
In his book Philippine Cartoons: Political
Caricature of the American Era (1900-
1941), Alfred McCoy, together with Alfredo
Roces, compiled political cartoons
published in newspaper dailies and
periodicals in the aforementioned time
period.
The first example shown was published in The
Independent on May 20, 1916. The cartoon shows a
politician from Tondo, named Dr. Santos, passing his
crown to his brother-in-law, Dr. Barcelona. A Filipino
guy (as depicted wearing a salakot and barong
tagalog) was trying to stop Santos, telling the latter to
stop giving Barcelona the crown because it is not his
to begin with.
In the arena of politics, for example, we see the
price that Filipinos paid for the democracy
modeled after the Americans. First, it seemed that
the Filipino politicians at that time did not
understand well enough the essence of democracy
and the accompanying democratic institutions
and processes. This can be seen in the rising
dynastic politics in Tondo as depicted in the
cartoon published by The Independent.
The second cartoon was also published by The Independent
on 16 June 1917. This was drawn by Fernando Amorsolo
and was aimed as a commentary to the workings of Manila
Police at that period. Here, we see a Filipino child who
stole a skinny chicken because he had nothing to eat. The
police officer was recently pursuing the said child. A man
wearing a salakot, labelled Juan de la Cruz was grabbing
the officer, telling him to leave the small-time pickpockets
and thieves and to turn at the great thieves instead. He was
pointing to huge warehouses containing bulks of rice, milk,
and grocery products.
The cartoons also illustrated the conditions of
poor Filipinos in the Philippines now governed
by the United States. From the looks of it,
nothing much has changed. For example, a
cartoon depicted how police authorities oppress
Filipino criminals while turning a blind eye on
hoarders who monopolize goods in their huge
warehouses (presumably Chinese merchants).
The transition from a Catholic-centered,
Spanish-Filipino society to an imperial
American-assimilated one, and its complications,
were also depicted in the cartoons. One example
is the unprecedented increase of motorized
vehicles in the city. Automobiles became a
popular mode of transportation in the city and
led to the emergence of taxis. However, the laws
and policy implementation was mediocre.
This resulted in the increasing colorum
and unlicensed vehicles transporting people
around the city. The rules governing the
issuance of driver’s license was loose and
traffic police could not be bothered by
rampant violations of traffic rules. This is a
direct consequence of the drastic
urbanization of the Philippine society.
This fourth cartoon depicts a cinema. A
blown-up police officer was at the screen
saying that couples are not allowed to neck
and make love in the theater. Two youngsters
looked horrified while an older couple
seemed amused.
Another example is what McCoy called the
“sexual revolution” that occurred in 1930s.
Young people, as early as that period, disturbed
the conservative Filipino mindset by engaging
in daring sexual activities in public spaces like
cinemas. Here, we can see how that period was
the meeting point between the conservative past
and the liberated future of the Philippines.
The next cartoon was published by The Independent on 27
November 1915. Here, we see the caricature of Uncle Sam
riding a chariot pulled by Filipinos wearing school uniforms.
The Filipino boys were carrying American objects like
baseball bats, whiskey, and boxing gloves. McCoy, in his
caption to the said cartoon, says that this cartoon was based
on an event in 1907 when William Howard Taft was brought
to the Manila pier riding a chariot pulled by students of
Liceo de Manila. Such was condemned by the nationalists at
that time.
Uncle Sam
The cartoon depicts how Americans
controlled Filipinos through seemingly
harmless American objects. By controlling
their consciousness and mentality,
Americans got to control and subjugate
Filipinos.
The last cartoon was published by Lipang Kalabaw
on 24 August 1907. In the picture, we can see Uncle
Sam rationing porridge to the politicians and
members of the Progresista Party (sometimes
known as the Federalista Party) while members of
the Nacionalista Party look on and wait for their
turn. This cartoon depicts the patronage of the
United States being coveted by politicians from
either of the party.
Patronage also became influential and
powerful, not only between clients and patrons
but also between the newly formed political
parties composed of the elite and the United
States. This was depicted in the cartoon where
the United States, represented by Uncle Sam,
provided dole outs for members of the Federalista
while the Nacionalista politicians looked on and
waited for their turn.
Thus, the essence of competing political
parties to enforce choices among the
voters was cancelled out. The problem
continues up to the present where
politicians transfer from one party to
another depending on which party was
powerful in specific periods of time.
Revisiting Cory
Aquino’s Historic 1986
Speech Before The US
Congress
When former President Corazon
Aquino spoke before a joint session
of the United States Congress in
September of 1986, the dust was only
beginning to settle. 
Corazon Aquino functioned as the
symbol of the restoration of
democracy and the overthrow of
the Marcos Dictatorship in 1986
The EDSA PEOPLE POWER, which
installed Cory Aquino in the presidency,
put the Philippines in the international
spotlight for overthrowing a dictator
through peaceful means. Cory was easily
a figure of the said Revolution, as the
widow of the slain Marcos oppositionist.
Cory was hoisted as the antithesis of the
dictator.
Nevertheless, Cory was able to capture
the imagination of the people whose
rights and freedom had long been
compromised throughout the Marcos
regime. This is despite the fact that Cory
came from a rich haciendero in Tarlac
and owned vast estate of sugar plantation
and whose relatives occupy local and
national government positions.
The People Power Revolution
of 1986 was widely recognized
around the world for it’s
peaceful character.
The People Power Revolution of 1986 was
widely recognized around the world for it's
peaceful character. When former senator
Ninoy Aquino was shot at the tarmac of the
Manila International Airport on 21 August
1983, the Marcos regime greatly suffered a
crisis of legitimacy. Protests from different
sectors frequented different areas in the
country. Marcos's credibility in the
international community also suffered.
Paired with the looming economic crisis,
Marcos had to do something to prove to his
allies in the United States that he remained to
be the democratically anointed leader of the
country. He called for a snap election in
February in 1986 where Corazon Cojuangco
Aquino, the widow of the slain senator was
convinced to run against Marcos. The
canvassing was rigged to Marcos's favor but the
people expressed their protests against the
corrupt and authoritarian government.
Leading military officials of the regime and
Martial Law orchestrators themselves, Juan
Ponce Enrile and Fidel V. Ramos, plotted to take
over the presidency, until civilians heeded the call
of then Manila Archbishop Cardinal Sin and
other civilian leaders gathered in EDSA. The
overwhelming presence of civilians In EDSA
successfully turned a coup into a civilian
demonstration. The thousands of people who
gathered overthrew Ferdinand Marcos from the
presidency after 21 years.
On 18 September 1986, seven months
since Cory became president, she went to
the United States and spoke before the
joint session of the U.S. Congress. Cory
was welcomed with a long applause and
she began her speech with the story of her
leaving the United States three years
prior as a newly widowed wife of Ninoy
Aquino.
A joint session of the United
States Congress is a gathering of
members of the two chambers of
the bicameral legislature of the
federal government of the
United States: the Senate and
the House of Representatives.
Three years ago, I left America in
grief to bury my husband, Ninoy
Aquino. I thought I had left it also to
lay to rest his restless dream of
Philippine freedom. Today, I have
returned as the president of a free
people.
NINOY
AQUINO JR.
I held fast to Ninoy’s conviction that it
must be by the ways of democracy. I held
out for participation in the 1984 election
the dictatorship called, even if I knew it
would be rigged.
“I was witness to an extraordinary
manifestation of democracy on the
part of the Filipino people. The
ultimate result was the election of
Mrs. Corazon C. Aquino as
President and Mr. Salvador Laurel
as Vice-President of the
Philippines.”
As President, I will not betray the cause
of peace by which I came to power. Yet
equally, and again no friend of Filipino
democracy will challenge this, I will not
stand by and allow an insurgent
leadership to spurn our offer of peace
and kill our young soldiers, and threaten
our new freedom.
She then told of Ninoy's character,
conviction and resolve in opposing the
authoritarianism of Marcos. She talked
of the three times that they lost Ninoy
including his demise on August 23, 1983.
The first time when the dictatorship
detained Ninoy with other dissenters.
Cory related:
Cory continued that when Ninoy survived
that first detention, he was then charged of
subversion, murder and crimes. He was
tried by a military court, whose legitimacy
Ninoy abdamantly question to solidify his
protest Ninoy decided to do a hunger strike
and fasted for 40 days. Cory trusted this
event as the second time that their family
lost Ninoy. She said:
Ninoy's death was the third and
last time that Cory and their
children lost Ninoy. She continued:
Cory attributed the peaceful EDSA
Revolution to the martyrdom of Ninoy.
She stated that the death of Ninoy
sparked the revolution and the
responsibility of "offering the dramatic
alternative" had "fallen on (her)
shoulders". Cory's address introduced us
to her democratic philosophy which she
claimed she also acquired from Ninoy.
Cory talked about her miraculous victory through the
people's struggle and continued talking about her
earliest initiatives as a president of a restored
democracy. She stated that she intended to forge and
draw reconciliation after a bloody and polarizing
dictatorship. Cory emphasized the importance of EDSA
Revolution in term of being a "limited revolution that
respected the life and freedom of every Filipino". She
also boasted of the restoration of a fully constitutional
government whose constitution gave utmost respect to
the Bill of Rights. She reported to the U. S. Congress:
Cory then proceeded on her peace
agenda with the existing communist
insurgency, aggravated by the
dictatorial and authoritarian measure
of Ferdinand Marcos. She asserted:
Cory then turned to the controversial topic of the
Philippine foreign debt amounting to $26 billion
at the time of her speech. This debt has ballooned
during the Marcos regime. Cory expressed her
intention to honor those debts despite mentioning
that the people did not benefit from such debts.
Thus, she mentioned her protestations about the
way the Philippines was deprived of choices to
pay those debts within the capacity of the Filipino
people. She lamented:
She continued that while the country had
experienced the calamities brought about by the
corrupt dictatorship of Marcos, no commensurate
assistance was yet to be extended to the
Philippines. She even remarked that given the
peaceful character of EDSA People Power
Revolution, "ours must have been the cheapest
revolution ever." She demonstrated that Filipino
people fulfilled the "most difficult condition of the
debt negotiation," which was the "restoration of
democracy and responsible government."
Cory related to the U.S. legislators
that wherever she went, she met
poor and unemployed Filipino's
willing to offer their lives for
democracy. She proceeded in
enumerating the challenges of the
Filipino people.
Cory ended her speech by thanking
America for serving as home to her
family for what she referred to as the
"three happiest years of our lives
together". She enjoined America in
building the Philippines as a new home
for democracy and in turning the country
as a "shinning testament of our two
nations' commitment to freedom".
ANALYSIS ON
CORYAQUINO'S
SPEECH
CORAZON
“CORY”
COJUANGCO
AQUINO
Cory Aquino's speech was an
important event in the political and
diplomatical history of the country
because it has arguably cemented
the legitimacy of the EDSA
government in the International
arena.
The speech talks about her family
background, especially her relationship with
her late husband, Ninoy Aquino. It is well-
known that it was Ninoy who served as the
real leading figure of the opposition at that
time. Indeed, Ninoy's eloquence and charisma
could very well compete with that of Marcos.
In her speech, Cory talked at length about
Ninoy's toil and suffering at the hands of the
dictatorship he resisted.
Even when she proceeded talking about her
new government, she still went back to
Ninoy's legacies and lessons. Moreover her
attribution of the revolution to Ninoy's
death demonstrates not only Cory's
personal perception on the Revolution, but
since she was the president, it also
represents what’s the dominant discourse
was at the point in the history.
The ideology or the principle of the new
democratic government can also be seen
in the same speech. Aquino was able to
draw the sharp contrast between her
government and of her predecessor by
expressing her commitment to the
democratic constitution drafted by an
independent commission.
She claimed that such constitution
upholds and adheres to the rights and
liberty of the Filipino people. Corry also
hoisted herself as the reconciliatory agent
after more than two decades of a
polarizing authoritarian politics. For
example, Cory saw the blow up
communist insurgency as the product of a
repressive and corrupt government.
Her response to this insurgency rooted
from her diametric opposition of the
dictator (i.e., initiating reintegration of
communist rebels to the mainstream
Philippine society). Cory claimed that
her main approach to this problem was
through peace and not through the sword
of war.
Despite Cory's effort to hoist herself as
the exact opposite of Marcos, her speech
still reveals certain parallelism between
her and the Marcos's government. This
is seen in terms of continuing the
alliance between the Philippines and the
United States despite known affinity
between the said world super power and
Marcos.
The Aquino regime, as seen in Cory's acceptance
of the invitation to address the U.S. Congress and
to the content of the speech, decided to build and
continue with the alliance between the
Philippines and the United States and effectively
implemented an essentially similar foreign policy
to that of the dictatorship. For example, Cory
recognized that the large sun of foreign debts
incurred by the Marcos regime never benefitted
the people.
Nevertheless, Cory expressed her intention
to pay off those debts. Unknown to many
Filipinos was the fact that there was a choice
of waiving the said debt because those were
the debt of the dictator and not of the
country. Cory's decision is an indicator of
her government's intention to carry on debt-
driven economy.
Reading through the Aquino's
speech, we can already take
cues, not just on Cory's
individual ideas and
aspirations, but also the guiding
principles and framework of
the government that she