Asian Literature

Southeast Asia once boasted of a prosperous and thriving culture prior to the arrival of the western colonizers.  Accounts written by travelers from China like Chau Jukua and the Muslim traveler Ibn Batuta would attest to that. When the western colonizers came, they had a common strategy of colonizing the native population. This was mainly done through divide and conquer. What they would do was to divide people according to ethnic or cultural background by grouping them into a geographic unit or region which they would define for them. This was a lot easier in the culturally diverse regions of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines particularly the last two which are archipelagos, and their insular make up made divide and conquer a lot easy to employ.

    The divide and conquer rule was also made possible by the collusion of the local elites with the colonizers. What they would do was to enlist or curry the favor the powerful native elites and promise them concessions if they were to aid them in colonization. This was the case when the Spanish, and later the Americans, colonized the Philippines. The local elites, who were the chieftains of village-level communities called barangays, were highly revered and respected by their constituents. This was due to a patron-client relationship existing among them. These chieftains, called datus, were the people their constituents turned to for whatever need, whether it may be material aid or justice. The datu was essentially the father of the community, and it was his duty to see to the welfare of the village. In exchange, the loyalty of the village was assured owing to a Filipino trait of debt of gratitude where kindness is reciprocated with kindness and it would not sit well if this was not honored. Since they were the influential people of the community, getting their trust was the key, and when they did, they were rewarded with economic and political concessions. They were given new titles like mayors and governors and they also received economic privileges that their constituents could not have, yet their prestige was respected to ensure they would remain loyal (Owen, 2005, p. 152). This was the same strategy employed by the Americans when they replaced the Spaniards as the new colonial masters of the Philippines. This enabled them to prevail during the Philippine Insurrection where a nationalist was trying to defend the countrys fledgling independence.

    These concessions and privileges helped the local elites gain more power both politically and economically. They would become the wealthiest natives in colonial society, and they were so wealthy that they could afford to send their children to the best schools locally or abroad. In the Philippines, they were called the principalia class and their sons, owing to their western education, would become ilustrados or enlightened ones. It would be this new generation of local elites who would lead the struggle for independence against Spain (Owen, 2005, pp. 155-156).  It was also a somewhat cruel twist of fate that some of these elites would collaborate with the Americans and help the latter make the Philippines their colony.

    In conclusion, the local elites were the ones who benefited greatly from western colonial rule. Their collusion with the colonizers enabled them to gain political and economic privileges and at the same time acquire a degree of empowerment over the lower strata of society owing again to cultural traits. The case of the Philippines underscored that notion.  Long after the colonizers had left, the local elites continued to dominate local politics and the economy. With regard to the latter, they simply imitated or made use of the institutions left behind but combined it with local traits to give it a distinct local character which was what the former colonizers did not even expect nor approve.