Scientia (Sep 2022)
A Cold War Narrative of Dependency: Revisiting Philippine Collaboration with America and Diosdado Macapagal’s Neo-Realist Response
Abstract
Diosdado Macapagal, Philippine President from 1961-1965, whose career was made rich by working in the foreign service, belonged to a tradition of championing a Foreign Policy shaped under America’s tutelage, adhering to democratic ideals, dismissive of Communism, and indifferent to neutralism and non-alignment. While various groups branded this policy as one of mendicancy that jeopardized Philippine Independence itself, President Manuel Roxas, who instituted it in 1946, was given little to no option but to side with America. The Second World War’s apocalyptic results required prompt and massive reconstruction and industrialization, necessitating foreign aid. This study reveals a chapter in the Philippines’ Cold War History, which show instances of balancing the state of dependence on America with neo-realist postures. Macapagal worked for Land Reform to peacefully address Communism within and collaborated with America in the name of national security to counter possible foreign communist infiltration. In an anarchic world forged by Cold War developments, Macapagal secured US financial and military assistance and defended national interest in a neorealist posture to the point of championing views more orthodox and even contrary to that of America. Filipino’s preference for collaboration with America made the neo-colonial situation manageable at that time, to still reap whatever the superpower is willing to give while it promoted its own global agenda. Macapagal worked within this neo-colonial setting by balancing dependency and neorealism. References Abaya, Hernando. Our Vaunted Press: A Critique. Philippine Graphic 35, no. 16 (1968). Buszybnski, Leszek. “Realism, Institutionalism, and Philippine Security.” Asian Survey 42, no. 3 (2002). Carr, Edward. What is History? New York: Pelican Books, 1961. Constantino, Renato. Identity and Consciousness: The Philippine Experience. Quezon City: Malaya Books, 1974. _________________. The Nationalist Alternative. Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist Studies, 1984. David, Randolph. “Philippine Underdevelopment and Dependency Theory.” Philippine Sociological Review 28, no. 1/4 (1980). De Castro, Rene. “Historical Review of the Concept, Issues, and Proposals for an Independent Foreign Policy for the Philippines: 1855-1988, 1989.” https://www.asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-27-1989/decastro.pdf Accessed May 13, 2022. Fifield, Russel. “Philippine Foreign Policy.” Far Eastern Survey 20, 4 (1951). Forbes, William. The Philippine Islands. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1945. Gribble, Richard. Anti-Communism, Patrick Peyton, CSC and the C.I.A. Journal of Church and State 45, no. 3 (2003). Guinto, Josias. A Study of Philippine Foreign Policy. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Santo Tomas, 1955. Higginson, P. (1980). The Vatican and Communism from ′Divini Redemptoris′ to Pope Paul VI. New Blackfriars. 61 (719) pp. 158-171 From: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43247119 John XXIII. Pacem in Terris, Encyclical Letter. April 11, 1963. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j xxiii_enc_11041963_pacem.html Accessed: 19 March 2022. Lent, J. (1966). “The Press of the Philippines: Its History and Problems.” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly (1966). Macapagal, Diosdado. A Stone for the Edifice: Memoirs of a President. Quezon City: MAC Publishing House, 1968. __________________. Constitutional Democracy in the World. Manila: Santo Tomas University Press, 1991. __________________. From Nipa Hut to Presidential Palace: Autobiography of President Diosdado Macapagal. Quezon City: Philippine Academy for Continuing Education and Research, 2002. __________________. Imperatives of Economic Development in the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, 1957. __________________. New Hope for the Common Man: Speeches and Statements of President Diosdado Macapagal. Volume 1. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1962. __________________. New Hope for the Common Man: Speeches and Statements of President Diosdado Macapagal. Volume 2. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1963. __________________. 1963 State of the Nation Address. Delivered at the Old Legislative Building in Manila. Retrieved: March 19, 2022 From: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/01/28/diosdado-macapagal-second-state- of-the-nation-address-january-28-1963/Accessed: 19 March 2022. __________________. 1964 State of the Nation Address. Delivered at the Old Legislative Building in Manila. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1964/01/27/diosdado-macapagal-third-state-of-thenation-address-january-27-1964/Accessed March 19, 2022. __________________. 1965 State of the Nation Address. Delivered at the Old Legislative Building in Manila. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1965/01/25/diosdado-macapagal-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-january-25-1965/Accessed March 19, 2022. Magsaysay, Ramon. Roots of Philippine Policy. Foreign Affairs 35, no. 1 (1956). Manglapus, Raul. (1960). The State of Philippine Democracy. Foreign Affairs 38, no. 4. Official Gazette. Official Week in Review (May 27-June 2, 1962). Official Gazette. Official Week in Review (January 17, 1965). Perez, Louis. Dependency. The Journal of American History 77, no. 1 (1990). Pineda-Ofreneo, Rosalinda. A History of Philippine Journalism Since 1945. Mandaluyong: Cacho Hermanos, 1984. Pius IX. Qui Pluribus, Encyclical Letter. Issued November 9, 1846. https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-ix/it/documents/enciclica-qui-pluribus-9-novembre-1846.html Accessed: 19 March 2022. Pius XI. Divini Redemptoris, Encyclical Letter. Issued March 19, 1937. https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19370319_divini-redemptoris.html Accessed March 19, 2022. Russell, Bertrand. Portraits of Memory and Other Essays, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1956. Van der Kroef, Justus. “Communism and Reform in the Philippines.” Pacific Affairs 46, no. 1 (1973). Velasco, Andres. “Dependency Theory.” Foreign Policy, 33 (2002).
Keywords
