Bought and paid for

Filipino revolutionaries declared our independence from Spain in 1898 only to lose it in less than a year. With the ratification in 1899 of the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the Philippine Islands to the United States of America for $20 million. Simply put, the Americans practically “bought” us from the Spaniards, and we never had a say in the entire affair.

At the time, with the Paris deal officially ending the four-month Spanish- American War ( AprilAugust 1898), Spain also ceded to the United States control over Guam and Puerto Rico. Moreover, it forced Spain to relinquish its claim over Cuba. It was during this period that the United States also annexed Hawaii.

That $ 20 million in 1898 is roughly $550 million today. It was payment reportedly for Spanish infrastructure on the islands. It was a bargain, in my opinion. After all, for its money — and war effort of four months — the US gained over 7,000 islands in the Pacific, already developed and with an existing bureaucracy, and populated by about eight million Filipinos (1898 census).

The Americans, through a colonial government, had possession and control over the islands until they surrendered it to Japanese invading forces during the Fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942. But, the US regained control after the Japanese surrender in September 1945. And on July 4, 1946, the wardevastated country was given its “independence” by the Americans.

It is with the end of the SpanishAmerican War in 1898, according to the Office of the Historian of the US State Department, that the US started to “establish its predominance in the Caribbean region and to pursue its strategic and economic interests in Asia.”

It all started in 1823 when US President James Monroe declared that the United States would no longer allow Europeans to colonize more territories in the Americas, or to interfere with the newly independent states in the West.

Meantime, US businesses began cornering a bigger chunk of the trade (sugar and tobacco) with Spanish- controlled Cuba, which at the time was dealing with various revolts. Anti- Spanish sentiments were also reportedly being highlighted in the US by New York newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.

Fearing the impact of a prolonged conflict in Cuba on their businesses, US firms had reportedly pressed the US Congress and US President William McKinley to seek an end to the revolt. But US pressure on Spain to reform and pacify Cuba did not yield significant results. Fighting on the colony continued.

Fearing for the safety of US citizens, McKinley in February 1898 sent the USS Maine to Havana, where it sank after it was bombed by unknown assailants. US newspaper publishers Pulitzer and Hearst reportedly blamed the sinking on Spain. And with 266 US sailors killed in the incident, the American public called for action.

As noted by the Office of the Historian of the US State Department, “by early 1898, tensions between the United States and Spain had been mounting for months. After the US battleship

Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor under mysterious circumstances on Feb. 15, 1898, US military intervention in Cuba became likely.”

By April 1898, while a revolt was also occurring in Spanish-controlled Philippines, “McKinley asked Congress for authorization to end the fighting in Cuba between the rebels and Spanish forces, and to establish a stable government that would maintain order and ensure the peace and tranquility and the security of Cuban and US citizens on the island.”

The US Congress later passed a resolution “that acknowledged Cuban Independence, demanded that the Spanish government give up control of the island, forswore any intention on the part of the United States to annex Cuba, and authorized McKinley to use whatever military measures he deemed necessary to guarantee Cuba’s independence.”

This eventually resulted in Spain’s declaration of war against the US. And the rest, as they say, is history. Then US Secretary of State John Hay, after whom a US military camp in Baguio City was later named, had reportedly referred to the conflict as a “splendid little war.” Of course it was splendid. After all, from Cuba, the US went on to gain control of other Spanish territories like Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. On May 1, 1898, the fleet of US Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet led by Admiral Patricio Montojo in Manila Bay. Dewey also brought back Emilio Aguinaldo, who was in exile in Hong Kong.

By June of 1898, Filipinos were reportedly in control of most the islands except for the Intramuros. By June 12, Aguinaldo already declared independence in Cavite. By Aug. 13, US forces captured Intramuros but reportedly refused to turn it over to the Filipinos. Soon after, the Filipinos started battling the Americans themselves, but eventually losing.

Over in Puerto Rico, fighting between US and Spanish forces started in May 1898 and ended in August with the Treaty of Paris. In Guam, in June 1898 a US fleet that included the USS Charleston quickly captured the island and took prisoners of Spanish infantrymen posted there.

And in Cuba, where everything started, a naval blockade was put up in April 1898. Naval and land battles ensued. Hostilities were halted only in August with the signing in Washington of a Protocol of

Peace between the United States and Spain. The Treaty of Paris was then negotiated and signed, and then ratified by the United States Senate on Feb. 6, 1899.

One war, lasting four months, allowed the US to gain all of Spain’s colonies outside of Africa, including the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico with the exception of Cuba, which became a US protectorate. Cuba formed its own civil government and gained independence in May 1902. The Philippines gained independence only in 1946. Guam and Puerto Rico stayed with the US.

Incidentally, the Office of the Historian of the US State Department also said the “McKinley Administration also used the [Spanish-American] war as a pretext to annex the independent state of Hawaii.”

It noted that in 1893, a group of Hawaii-based planters and businessmen led a coup against Queen Liliuokalani and established a new government. They promptly sought annexation by the United States, but President Grover Cleveland rejected their requests. In 1898, however, President McKinley and the American public were more favorably disposed toward acquiring the islands.

“Supporters of annexation argued that Hawaii was vital to the US economy, that it would serve as a strategic base that could help protect US interests in Asia, and that other nations were intent on taking over the islands if the United States did not. At McKinley’s request, a joint resolution of Congress made Hawaii a US territory on Aug. 12, 1898,” it said.

From what started as a clear intent to protect mainly US business interest in Cuba in 1898, the long reach of US forces — in the name of democracy and freedom — eventually resulted in US control over former Spanish colonies and eventual inclusion of Puerto Rico, Guam, and Hawaii as US states. It was a different story for Cuba and the Philippines, however.

After about three years, Cuba gained its independence. The Philippines had to wait for 48 years. One can only speculate as to what could have happened to Cuba and the Philippines had we both remained under US control. Could we have both been another Puerto Rico, Guam, or Hawaii?

Although, some may argue that while Cuba may have escaped the clutches of the US, the same cannot be truly said of the Philippines. I believe that it is in this historical context dating back to 1898 that US-Philippines relations — as well as the President Duterte’s sentiments and actions towards the United States — should be examined and reviewed.

His positioning seemingly against the US resonates among the groups with whom he seeks to negotiate peace, including the Left, the Muslims, and China. It is perhaps his only other “common ground” with these groups, other than the aim to seek peaceful alternatives to armed conflict.

His effort to settle things within can adversely impact on Philippine relations with the outside world. But, I am certain he has his priorities, and he appears to be the type of leader who stubbornly pursues an intent and an approach that is comfortable to him, regardless of the unintended consequences. But this is where his Cabinet plays a larger role. It should support but at the same time temper the President, and offer him context, perspectives, options, and alternatives. MARVIN TORT is a former managing editor of BusinessWorld, and a former chairman of the Philippines Press Council matort@yahoo.com

The President’s positioning seemingly against the US resonates among the groups with whom he seeks to negotiate peace, including the Left, the Muslims, and China.