‘Civilize them with the Krag!’

AFTER the Treaty of Paris (1898) and during the Philippine-American War (18991906) that ensued, the battle cry of the infamous General Jacob Smith — “Civilize them with the Krag!” — resounded through the islands. In Balangiga, Samar, troops of the Philippine Revolutionary Army took American soldiers by surprise, killed all except one who survived to tell the tale. Enraged, Gen. Smith declared he wanted no prisoners, all Samareños above nine years old were to be shot with the Krag, and Samar converted into a “howling wilderness.”

As an adjunct to tremendous fire power, there was a “pacification” strategy which consisted of education and infrastructure. The flashpoint came when reinforced concrete, the ahead-of-the-curve construction material then, was literally poured all over this archipelago. Having shown their military superiority, the new colonial masters, the Americans, could not resist flaunting their technological supremacy by constructing hundreds of emblematic edifices.

As early as 1904, the American secretary of war advised Commissioner W. Cameron Forbes to hire the foremost city planner, Architect Daniel Burnham, of “White City” fame (the 1893 Chicago World Fair) to re-do Manila. Earlier, Burnham had successfully transformed Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC into “cities beautiful,” so why not Manila, the new colonial possession?

Burnham came to the Philippines, stayed for six weeks during which he drafted blueprints for the east and southern margins of Intramuros, including a boulevard along Manila Bay and a civic center in Bagumbayan. In addition, he made a master plan for Baguio so American officials who abhorred the heat and humidity of the lowland coastal areas could have a superb hill station. As it turned out, Burnham was more respectful than his Krag-bearing compatriots; he was so enchanted with Filipino colonial architecture, he preserved significant structures that survived America’s “dirty little war.” In fact, he incorporated many tropical architectural features and used local materials like capiz.

Daniel Burnham introduced the American Neo-Classical style, monumental buildings with pediments, domes, vaults, and imposing columns, totally non-sectarian but reminiscent of the golden ages of Greece and Rome. In provinces, where anti-American resistance was particularly fierce, slogans about democracy and equality for all were etched, for posterity, on the elegantly imposing facades of municipal palaces. Lush gardens and parks, dramatic tree-lined avenues, reflecting pools and landscaped lagoons were trademarks of Burnham’s “City Beautiful.” He wanted to create “enduring witnesses to the efficient services of America to the Philippine Islands…”

However, the fulfillment of this enterprise of great pith was destined for Architect William E. Parsons of the Bureau of Public Works and other Americans like Ralph Harrington Doane. Eventually, they all handed the reins to the first generation of Filipino architect pensionados – Antonio Toledo, Andres Luna de San Pedro (Juan Luna’s son), Tomas Mapua, and the Arellano brothers Juan and Arcadio. The elegant architectural designs of these pensionados dominated the landscape during the days of the Philippine Commission and the Commonwealth up until World War II. From the Neo-Classical revivalist style that came with Burnham, Parsons, and Doane, Filipino architects brought in new forms from Europe, like Art Nouveau and Art Deco, which they transformed into a native style with charmingly eclectic refinements.

After the Philippine Assembly (1907) was inaugurated the construction frenzy began in earnest and continued unabated until the eve of the Second World War. Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon appropriated 1 million for the construction of schoolhouses all over the country. It must have been mesmerizing for our great-grandparents to see those splendid government edifices rising majestically, enhancing the landscape. Constant reminders of the power and glory of the American colonial regime, these emblematic structures were funded by Filipino taxpayers.

Everything built during the American colonial period – town halls, public schools, hospitals, fire stations, bridges, highways, prisons, courthouses even the Executive House of Malacanang – was the apotheosis of the new political ideology called Democracy. Though ushered by the merciless Krag, Democracy was immortalized in splendid architectural monuments of steel and concrete.

Both Spain and the United States claimed they came to “civilize and Christianize”; one did it by brandishing “the cross and the sword”; the other rammed its way through with “Krag and concrete.” (gemma601@ yahoo.com)