THE PHILIPPINES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 665, 18 October 1933, Page 2

THE PHILIPPINES

X WILD COUNTRY UNITED STATES CONGRESS PASS BILL GRANTING INDEPENDENCE YEARS' PRELIMp:NARIES. Thirty-five years ago Comjmodore George Dewey's fleet destroyed the 'Spanish Admiral Mbntojo's gunboats in , Manila Bay. Three months later Major-General Wesley Merritt's soldiers, assisted by sailots from "the fleet, took the city of Manila. Ever sinee those historic exploits the American flag has waved officially over the Philippipe Islands. For thirty-five years the little hrown men of the Philippines have been the' adopfced brothers of the white men of Ameriea. But now the period of brotherhood seems destined to pass. Both Houses of the United States Congress passed the Bill granting independence to the 'Philippines, and repassed it over Pre.sident Hoover's veto, says a London paper In substance, the measure provides for a Constitution, drawn by a Philippine convention and ratified hy the people of the islands, the ratification to serve as a plehiscite on the question of freedom. Preliminaries are expected to require two years and in the event of a favourable popular vote a ten-year period of probation then is to follow. On the July 4 following the end of the probation period the islands are to be proelaimed free and American soVereignty is t0 be withdrawn, except over military and naval stations agreed upon. The native politicians of the Philippines do not like the independence plan'. They think the period of probation too long. The American Prasident wh0 vetoed the measure th'ought the period of probation too hrief. It is diflicult to please everybody, even 'in the matter of liberty. 'Those who have favoured independence in the Philippines see the islands under their own rule continuing the progress set in motion there by the United States. Those who have opposed independence predict that the Philippines will be in the throes of tribal wars as soon as the Americans withdraw. Anyone at all familiar with the recent history of the islands knows that it was only yesterday that the head-hunting was stamped out among the wild tribes of the/ mountains in northern Luzon. The native population has been a problem for the Americans ever since they .took command in the Philippines. On the 7083 islands that make up the Philippine group there are scattered nearly 13,000,000 inhabi■tants, all but a few thousand of whom are'' natives. The main part of the population dwells on the eleven largest islands. There are more than forty different ethnographic groups in the Philippines. The Filipinos proper, descendants of Malays Christianised hy the Spaniards, are divided into eight groups — the Bisaya, Tagalog', Iloko, Bikol, Pangasianan, Pampangan, Ibanag, and Samhal They remain Christians to-day. The classified pagan peoples of the islands are divided into. eighteen groups and the unclassified pagans into twelve groups. The Moros, who are largely Mohammedan, are divided into seven groups. Non-Christian inhabitants of the Philippines consist of .the pigmies, Indoesians, and Malays. The pigmies are Negritos, thus called by the Spaniards because they are black and small. Indoesians were imigrants who appear to have mixed with the pigmies and others. Non-Christian MJalays are pa'gan or Mohammsdan. The pagan Mialays, including the Ifugao, or Igorot, the Bontok Igorot, and the Tingian, with a number of lesser tribes, such as the Ilongat and the Ealing a, dwell in the mountainous interior of northern Luzon. They •are believed to have settled in these mountains at least 1500 years ago. The Ifugao, by far the most numerous, practice irrigation on a large scale, the mountain sldes of .their territory forming the most extensive terrace system in the world. These terraces are huilt upon walls of solid rock construction. All of the wild tribes of the mountains, including the Negritos, practised head-hunting u'ntil American officials,* backed by soldiers, finally stamped out that evil. Men who campaigned in the Philipp'ines in the early days of ■ American occupation had a ,song one line of which ran, "We'll civilise 'em with the Krag." Perhaps their methods of ciVilising were a bit heroic, but the fact remains .that wh'en America took possession of the islands a large proportion of their population was steeped in savagery. There were only a few missionary schools along the coast and none in the highlands, wh'ile to-day there are 8000 puhlic schools and more than 700 privatef schools in the Philippines, with. nearly 2,000^000 children atttending classes In addition there now are thirty-four Government hospitajs and 943 Government dispensaries there. It is contended by some that a withdrawal of American control will he a signal for the wild tribes to return to head-hunting. The - Bontok Igorots, ,the moust courageous warriors of the mountains, still cherish the preserved skulls of their foes, the'ir head-axes, and lances, and not one of the older members of that trih has forgotten the "canao," the drinking, feasting, 'and dancing festival' which always followed the taking of ahead. A good i "canao" insured the people against '.ihe vengeance of •- the 'a'nito," or spirit, of the person who had lost his 'headi