Contrasting Onsets of Nationalist Rebellion in the Philippine Colony

• In Event: Citizenship in the Peripheries: Identities in SE Asia (Mini-Conference 1/3)

Abstract

Why do some groups turn to nationalist rebellion sooner than others? Anti-colonial movements often coincide with nationalist rebellion. Yet in the case of Muslims in the Southern Philippines, some leaders chose to shun inclusion in a newly independent Philippine state in favor of remaining an American territory. An armed, separatist rebellion would not emerge until 26 years later. Philippine nationalists, on the other hand, engaged in nationalist rebellion soon after the territory switched hands from the Spanish to the Americans. In this paper, I utilize primary documents and secondary histories to compare and contrast the experiences of exclusion between Philippine nationalists and their Muslim counterparts. I demonstrate the importance perceptions of threat, specifically about the future, in a group’s decision-making. Lastly, I demonstrate the importance of institutions related to constitutions and education as structuring these perceptions.

Author

• Mary Anne Mendoza, University of California, Irvine