Compared with the Spanish occupation of the Philippine islands, the American Colonial Regime was brief, yet, the Americans left a lasting architectural legacy that is considered equally significant
This feature story was originally titled as Architects of an Empire, and was published in the June 2003 issue of Tatler Philippines.
Just before the turn of the last century, the Americans arrived in the Philippines in the wake of Commodore Dewey's victory over the Spanish Fleet on their mock battle on Manila Bay. Within a few short hours on the morning of 1 May 1898, the more advanced ships of the American Navy effectively disarmed the centuries-old Spanish colonial government. Despite fierce resistance from Filipino nationalists who had established an independent republic outside Manila, an American administration was installed.
The American occupation of the Philippines created a rather embarrassing political contradiction. The world's most highly proclaimed democracy suddenly found itself in the role of an imperial power subjugating an unwilling people. Filipino nationalists were quick to throw America's patriotic platitudes such as "All men are created equal," "One man, one vote," "Give me liberty or give me death" back in Uncle Sam's face. To counter this the Americans formulated new terminology to try to promote their colonial policy in a favourable light. Patronising jargon extolling colonial "tutelage" and "benevolent assimilation" of "little brown brothers" was coined by spin doctors of an earlier day.
...the Americans set up a master plan for Philippine national development and initiated an ambitious series of public works projects aimed at legitimising their colonial administration