INTRODUCTION

The Filipino Revolutionists won against the Spaniards who

colonized us for more than 300 years. Our flag was hoisted on

June 12, 1898 as a symbol of our independence. Gen. Emilio

Aguinaldo was elected the first President of the Philippine

Republic but this was short-lived. The Fil.-American was resulted

in the defeat of Gen. Miguel Malvar in 1903. The peace

movements started as early as 1900. Many Filipinos started

writing again and the nationalism of the people remained

undaunted.
A division of the Filipinos into the upper and lower social class

or taga-bayan-taga bukid polarization took on a decidedly

political color during the Revolution of 1896 . Education was put

up as a requirement for leadership and since that time wealth

was a requirement for education this meant that the Filipino

native elite had succeeded in reserving for itself the role of

determining Filipino response and nation building.

During this time of colonization Filipino ilustrados,owing

emotional and and intellectual allegianceto the colonizers had

gone over to the side of the colonial government and abandoned

the taga-bukid.American colonial authorities capitalized on the

capitulation of the ilustrados in urging Filipinos to bring the

Philippine-American war to an early end through surrender.

On July 4, 1902, the US president proclaimed that the

insurrection was officially ended.

 However, Filipino guerrillas continued to inflict losses on

American troops and their local mercenary army. To counteract

the guerrilla activity , the colonial administration applied the full

force of the law.

Beginning in 1907 ,pacification by the military campaign had

begun to slacken.

The colonial administration started setting up political

institutions that would pre-empt or co-opt nationalist

leadership.In time, Filipino leaders had begun to take it for

granted that the independence of the Philippines would have to

be secured within the limits of the colonial system put up by the

United States.

Philippine literature burst forth with vitality and variety indicative

of creative energy unleashed by the revolution and propelled by

the Philippine-American war.

Philippine literary production during the American Period in the

Philippines was spurred by two significant developments in

education and culture. One is the introduction of free public

instruction for all children of school age and two, the use of

English as medium of instruction in all levels of education in

public schools.

Free public education made knowledge and information

accessible to a greater number of Filipinos. Those who availed of

this education through college were able to improve their social

 status and joined a good number of educated masses who

became part of the countrys middle class.

The use of English as medium of instruction introduced Filipinos

to Anglo-American modes of thought, culture and life ways that

would be embedded not only in the literature produced but also

in the psyche of the countrys educated class. It was this

educated class that would be the wellspring of a vibrant

Philippine Literature in English.

Philippine literature in English, as a direct result of American

colonization of the country, could not escape being imitative of

American models of writing especially during its period of

apprenticeship.

The abundance in output and the quality of the passion that went

into it testified to the welling out of creativity where writers and

audience shared common concerns brought to the fore by a

common historical experience.Previous accounts of the growth

of Philippine literature tended, through sheer lack of

consolidated data on writing outside the capital, to focus solely

on the achievement of authors writing in Spanish, English and

Tagalog.

Poetry in all languages continued to flourish in all regions of the

country during the American period. The Tagalogs, hailing

Francisco F. Balagtas as the nations foremost poet invented

 the balagtasan in his honor. Thebalagtasan is a debate in verse,

a poetical joust done almost spontaneously between

protagonists who debate over the pros and cons of an issue.

A change in literary historiography has been underway since the

late 1960s.And after thirty years, it has become possible to view

literary development as a nationwide phenomenon.The downfall

of the Spanish colonialism freed the printing industry from

religious censorship.

Newspapers in our different dialects flourished all over the

archipelago.Some of these newspapers were Muling Pagsilang

(1903, Tagalog), Ang Kaluwasan (1902, Cebuano),

Makinaugalingon (1913, Ilonggo), and Nueva Era (1908, Ilokano).

The best known magazines that capitalized on short stories and

poems were Liwayway (1922, Tagalog), Bisaya (1930, Cebuano),

Hiligaynon (1934, Ilonggo), and Bannawag (1934, Ilokano).

Among the Iloko writers, noted novelists were Leon Pichay, who

was also the regions poet laureate then, Hermogenes Belen, and

Mena Pecson Crisologo whose Mining wenno Ayat ti Kararwa is

considered to be the Iloko version of a Noli me Tangere.

In the Visayas, Magdalena Jalandoni and Ramon Muzones would

lead most writers in writing the novels that dwelt on the themes

of love, courtship, life in the farmlands, and other social

 upheavals of the period. Marcel Navarra wrote stories and novels

in Sugbuhanon.

There have been authors writing in the years of US colonial rule

who inevitably figure in research outputs and studies.Among

them , Magdalena Jalandoni,Angel Magahum and Ramon

Muzones in Hiligaynon writing. Among the Cebuano writers are

Sulpicio Ossorio, Tomas Hermosisima , Vicente Ranudo, Marcel

Navarra and Piux Kabahar. Iloko literature have contributed the

names Mena Pecson Crisologo and Leon Pichay.

The separate, yet parallel developments of Philippine literature in

English and those in Tagalog and other languages of the

archipelago during the American period only prove that literature

and writing in whatever language and in whatever climate are

able to survive mainly through the active imagination of writers.

Apparently, what was lacking during the period was for the

writers in the various languages to come together, share

experiences and come to a conclusion on the elements that

constitute good writing in the Philippines.