Amado V. Hernandez on America

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Even before the war, the Filipino had the highest standard of living in Asia. The basis is that the Philippines buys from the United States the greatest number of cars, cigarettes, preserved food, magazines, women’s clothes, electric appliances, radios, movies, and other things not used by other countries in this part of the world. But such comforts are not enjoyed by the whole country but only by some. And is this the right measure to determine the so-called high standard of living?

I think many Filipinos have a wrong concept of standard of living and cost of living. We pay dearly for our desire to have things that are not necessary; our tastes have become expensive. Our standard of living does not rise, but we become poorer in the long run.

Look at the cars. For every imported car, the Philippines continues to spend for gasoline and oil, tires and motor parts. Not one of these is made in the Philippines. Thus, so much money is thrown away every year just to maintain these flashy cars. A car is a sign of progress, but the Philippines should not remain an importer. Like Japan, Australia, and other neighboring countries, she should make her own cars.

In Manila, students, employees and laborers smoke only American cigarettes. Do you know how much our country spends just on cigarettes? We are the world’s biggest buyers of cigarettes. This is the saddest part. While the Manila cigar is said to be the best in the world, we don’t buy any of it. This is why the distributors of American cigarettes get rich, our own factories close down, and our tobacco growers starve.

Let me go back to the standard of living. Here in the United States, if a laborer works for 10 hours, he earns enough for a week’s expenses. On the other hand, in the Philippines, one has to work a month to earn a week’s expenses. Here, goods are cheap because they are produced locally, while there, goods are expensive because they are imported. Aside from that, the buyer pays for the cost of transportation, taxes, ads, and the profit of the businessman.

An American worker who earns ten dollars a day spends thirty cents for a pack of cigarettes. A Filipino who earns four pesos a day or less spends a peso for American cigarettes. Think of the difference and see if you don’t grit your teeth, or shed tears.

I don’t say that the Filipino worker should earn as much as his American cousin. Of course, this would be only right, at some future time, for how is a white man superior to a brown one? It is only right that the worker should afford his daily needs. Why should a man work if the fruits of his labor are not enough for the basic needs of his family — food, clothes and a home?

But how can this be expected of a country that imports its needs and whose businessmen are foreigners greedy for profit? They have become used to squeezing blood from a turnip. The leaders think only of their own welfare. So, they allow the foreign exploiters to abuse the country, leading it to the poorhouse. The country grows thin and pale from hardship, yet the leaders and their kin are bloated like leeches bursting, from sucking their victims’ blood.

And this they do whenever they have the chance. I have seen the first rule of nepotism in our diplomatic offices. The diplomats’ wives, children, in-laws, nephews and relatives are appointed, although they are here just to have fun, to study, or to take a vacation. I know the wife of an important diplomat who does nothing but visit well-known dress shops and beauty parlors, and places of amusement and relaxation. But she would never deign to visit the slums, hospitals, orphanages, schools, factories, libraries, or the independent theaters.

Many of our emissaries live like the maharajahs wherever they go. One American official in Washington said that we keep sending missions to get loans or aid, but our delegates vie with the sheikhs from the oil-producing countries of the Middle East. They stay in expensive hotels, their feet don’t touch the ground, and they don’t attend to their duties here, but instead waste public funds on private matters.

We have one diplomat who only cares for self-publicity. While he is known in many places, especially in private schools for his lectures, giving interviews and issuing statements together with his pictures, many Americans have no idea about the Philippines, whether it is in South Africa, or whether its people have tails like that of monkeys or still live in trees, or whether it is an island of Guam.

He promotes American interests, especially in the way the white people carry out their aims in the Philippines. If Philippine elections were to be directly influenced by Wall Street, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, the CIA, and the American Legion, you could bet that he would be the next president of the Philippines. And where would he bring the country? But don’t they meddle not only in elections — and even afterwards?

I have observed that here and in Europe, many of our diplomats should be sent home for good, or if possible, we should have them live in the poor villages from time to time. Their indefinite stay in other lands is not good for them or for the country. One bad effect is that they care less about the welfare of the Philippines than of the country where they have been assigned. They forget that the life, welfare, policy, and conditions of their own country are different from the country where they have been sent. I met a Filipino ambassador who seemed like a hired agent of the country where he had been staying for years.

Besides, it’s a mistake to follow the example of rich countries like the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and others that send to other countries their ambassadors, consuls, and their respective employees, aides, chauffeurs, and families. In our country, the appointments of ambassadors is mostly decided by the whims of our politicians, who are quick to give such positions to their kin and followers …

Don’t think that there is no graft and corruption here. There is, my friend, and I’m inclined to think that this is one of our imports from the United States. There is theft in government and outside of it. I’m quite sure that these diseases cannot be absent from a society that measures everything in terms of money. As in our country, the big thieves are seldom caught. It should be the reverse, for stealing is a habit to the mighty, while it is a necessity to the poor. What will you do to a person who steals because he has to, and one who has already more than enough but steals just the same?

Be that as it may, I have not lost hope for the future of the Philippines. Our struggles during the Japanese times and the gradual awakening after the war show that our failures and mistakes are merely lessons in growth and progress.

A mouse won’t grow without falling on the ground. Every child learning to walk stumbles and hurts himself. The country makes mistakes because of its leaders, but the leader can be easily replaced, while the country moves on in its journey. Surely, she can be betrayed, but not sold completely by traitors. In the long run, she will meet her destiny. Did we not experience this during the darkest days of the Japanese Occupation?

On the whole, in the face of what I have seen, I am sad that I am a Filipino. My heart bleeds because after we have been freed from one foreign power, many of our leaders began to act like slaves. The only way they can exploit the nation and remain in power is through the help of the former master.

***

This novel was published in 1969 and is required reading in many high schools and colleges. Have things changed since this novel was published?