‘Give us the tools and we will finish the job’

During World War II, President Roosevelt offered the following words of encouragement to British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill prior to the German invasion of Great Britain: “Sail on O Ship of State, Sail on O Union strong and great. Humanity with all its fear, with all the hopes of future years, is hanging breathlessly on thy fate.”

To which the Prime Minster replied: “What answer shall I give to this great man, thrice chosen as head of a nation of 130 million people?” Churchill continued: “Put your confidence in us. Give us your faith and your blessing and under Providence, all will be well. We shall not fail or falter. We shall not weaken or tire. Neither the long sudden shock of battle, nor the long drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.”

The brotherhood of nations bearing the sword of justice

At the time, German planes were constantly bombarding Great Britain. Sir Winston Churchill decried the fact that “many proud and happy countries of Europe are held by brute force and violence. Learning to hate the Prussian yoke and Nazi name as nothing has been hated, so fiercely and so widely among men before … and all the time, masters of the sea and air, the British Empire, nay in certain sense, the whole English-speaking world, will be on his tracks, bearing with them the sword of JUSTICE.” And so the brotherhood of nations, on the Normandy coast, fought together against Hitler to restore freedom and justice to the world.

How America gave us the tools of independence

Even today in our own seemingly peaceful country, we fight a daily battle. It is a battle to make things work out, and get the job done! Filipinos are still in the dark. The government does not make it easy for people to get things done. Their needs are not met. In these desperate times, we look to our past, in order to know ourselves better.

Just before the 1900s, the age of imperialism gave way to a period characterized by idealism. America cut short Spanish colonization of the Philippines. During 70 years of American colonization she eventually provided us “the tools” of independence necessary to govern ourselves.

Our national educational system originally began with 3,000 Thomasite American teachers who helped introduce the public school system. To augment the need for teachers Filipino Grade VI graduates were allowed to teach until the country would be ready to complete the ladder of education.

The country then began to absorb American culture over and above the Spanish culture. Hundreds of pensionados (travel grantees) in various fields were sent to America to prepare us for independence. Unfortunately, the war overtook these developments.

Tayo na sa Luneta

The famous American architect Daniel Burnham who drew up the plans of the San Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exposition 1915 designed Ionic, Doric and Corinthian architecture for the elegant massive buildings in the heart of Manila. It is hard to imagine Manila without a walk along (Admiral) Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas) leading to Luneta where whole families would walk every July 4 to watch the exquisite firework display. The walk included Rizal Park, Manila Hotel and the huge heritage site of Intramuros encircled by the greens of Mini Golf Links and Fort Santiago.

Toward Taft Avenue are the Assembly House (the old Senate), the Finance Department, now the National Museum.

On the parallel street of Padre Faura stood several government buildings of the Supreme Court, Department of Justice and UP Manila College of Arts and Sciences.

Along Taft Avenue, named after the first at Governor General of the Philippines and US President William Howard Taft stood the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), the Nurses’ Building, and the Jai Alai pelota courts and towards the southern end, La Salle near St. Scholastica’s College, then the Rizal Memorial Sports complex at the southern end.

On northern side, after the City Hall is Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) fronting the grand Manila Central Post Office. Across this is the Metropolitan Theater and the Ice House.

Three bridges (Jones, McArthur, Quezon) fan out towards the downtown commercial areas of Chinatown and Escolta, Avenida Rizal and Carriedo, Quiapo. We lived by Ayala Bridge close to the Philippine Normal College and also leads toward Malacañang Palace, the residence of the American Governor Generals.

I was four when my father, Atty. Calixto C. Silverio, former Justice of Peace of Paombong, Bulacan, would take me for a walk pointing to his office at the Justice building. The shining white building filled me with pride. Today, long after Papa’s death, I still feel a surge of pride whenever I drive from PGH to Plaza Lawton. The memory of Papa holding my hand and pointing to the beautiful buildings that then housed the Philippine government offices remains vivid even today.

Baguio, the mecca of holiday seekers then

Simultaneously, the Americans established the summer capital of Baguio. American and Filipino engineers “carved” around the rocky mountain, the zigzag-shaped Kennon Road, named after its chief American engineer.

Horticulturists covered the cool mountain climate and soil with pine trees that dominate the landscape. They were rooted well to the clusters of the Cordillera mountains to prevent landslides and erosion.

In Burnham Park, a lagoon and cemented walks were bordered with a wide assortment of flowers such as Snap Dragons, Hollyhocks, Asters, Columbines, purple Bellflowers and Clematis. In fact, the Sweet Williams, Everlasting, Delphiniums, Foxgloves, white Easter Lilies and Calla Lilies made Baguio one of the most romantic places in the country, and a special favorite for lovers and honeymooners.

The Governor General’s Mansion and the summerhouses of other government executives close to Mines View Park are today used as the Philippine President’s Mansion and the spacious sprawling houses of the Vice President and Speaker of the House.

Because education held equal importance with government, the Teachers’ Camp was designed on a very large tract of land along Leonard Wood Road.

Close to Wright Park is the rustic Baguio Country Club built with pine logs, established by the first American residents. It was a joy to visit Camp John Hay, built as a recreational center for American families and soldiers, with its golf course that was considered one of the best in Asia.

Baguio has gradually deteriorated in the fifties for lack of maintenance from the national and local governments. Gone are the piney scent of the conifer trees which have thinned out along Kennon Road and all over Baguio.

As a child, I used to think the yearly harvest of fresh Christmas trees, not the maintenance problem that caused the denudation of the Baguio conifers.

Then, Burnham Park’s flowerbeds thinned out and were filled with litter. Even before the devastating earthquake, it has been said that former Mayor Jun Labo granted 200,000 lowlanders the illegal privilege of squatting on any exposed land, in exchange for their votes.

The need for a relentless crusade against ignorance

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, wrote to his beloved mentor George Wythe, “Preach my dear sir, a crusade against ignorance, establish and improve the law for educating the common people.”

UN Country Reports indicate that some governments were still denying their illiteracy rates. Our high rates of functional illiteracy still persist and remains the main cause of all our problems from unemployment, breaking up of families, crimes and diseases.

The NSO - Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) covered around 36 million population aged six to 24 years old and showed that about four million Filipino children and youth were out of school.

Based on the latest Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) survey of 2013, there were 330,977 ALS enrollment, with 246,596 who took the AandE test, and only 78,225 passed.

(For feedback email to [email protected])