In this two part chapter, through the guidance of Jane J. Alfonso, we explore the breakdown of historical colonialism in the Philippines. She highlights how Colonial Theory’s (Fanon, 1995) four phrases of colonization were catastrophically implied in the Philippines:

1) forced entry of a foreign group into geographic territory with the intention of exploiting the native people’s natural resources,

2) the establishment of a colonial society that is characterized by cultural imposition, cultural disintegration, and cultural re-creation of the native’s indigenous culture (all of which are intended to further create a contrast between the purportedly superior colonizers and the inferior colonized),

3) the portrayal of the colonized as wild and savage peoples that the colonizer has to police and tame, ‘in essence putting oppression and domination into practice’, and

4) the establishment of a race-based societal system in which the political, social, and economic institutions in a colony are designed to benefit the colonizer and subjugate the colonized.

From 1521, when the infamous Ferdinand Magellan claimed the islands for King Philip II, to the first Spanish settlements in 1565, and up to the infamous 1898 Treaty of Paris where the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain for 20 million dollars, ruled over for 50 years until “granted” independence in 1946 – it can be safe to say the Philippines and Filipinos across the diaspora have been through quite a lot! From fascinating terminologies that include but not limited to, Golden Legend (p. 134) to referencing the Thomasites (p. 136), Ate Jane, Ate Leny, and so many other researchers have paved the way with allowing us to think about how all of this colonization has affected the “diaspora consciousness” - framework to understand the Filipino/a/x American experience.

Ate Jane ends the chapter  vulnerably sharing her relative Filipina-American story and how it ties into this interesting concept of the babaylan representing the healing counterpart to Maria Clara – an often referenced archetype of the catholic church’s Virgin Mary. With Mary supposedly representing purity, chastity, and the tragic disembodiment of what it means to be an authentically self-embodied Filipina. Through her psycho-somatic therapeutic insights, we are able to consider how generations of colonization have manifested in our own bodies, and how decolonizing is the way to healing. Her research, reflection, and recommendation serves as inspiration for us to continue the conversation around what it could mean to connect back with our mothers, the great mother, and the babaylan.

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(approximate timings):

1.  INTRO @ 0.00

2.  OPEN PRAYER @ 1:13 (intro is 1:13 )

3.  90sec DECOLONIZE CHECK @ 3:39

4.  BG CLIFF NOTES @ 10:01

5.  VOCAB @ 16:42

6.  QUOTES @ 29:08

7.  END PRAYER @ 49:19

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Music by Dayana Capulong. (C) Dayana Capulong, 2022