The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898; Volume 46, 1721-1739: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century — John Shaqi
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898; Volume 46, 1721-1739: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898; Volume 46, 1721-1739: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
The friar side of the educational question of the Philippines is well
set forth in two selections. The first is a chapter by Eduardo Navarro,
O.S.A., who spent many years in the islands, and who is, perhaps,
one of the best representative men of his order, and moreover, of
scholarly tastes. He introduces his subject in a somewhat philosophical
manner. Education and religion he declares to be synonymous terms when
taken in their real signification. It is the duty of the government
to choose the best educational method. The earliest laws passed by
the Spanish government in regard to the education of the American
Indians are extended later to the Philippines, but they prove most
unsatisfactory and unsuited to the conditions of those islands. They
provide for the teaching of Spanish to the aborigines, but in an
inadequate manner. The theme of the present chapter is to prove that
the friars are not responsible for the backward state of education
in the islands. On the other hand they early pass laws that are more
advanced than those passed by the government. Their laws have always
been consistent and have had but one aim. They have not endeavored
to retard the learning of Spanish, but they rather favored it. They
have done their best with the useless laws of the government. They
have founded and taught schools, paid the teachers, and have made
the textbooks, notwithstanding their immense toil. They have also
introduced many of the arts and crafts. The friars have gone farther
than the laws for they provided for girls' schools before the famous
decree of 1863. The passage of those regulations has robbed the parish
priest unjustly of much of his supervisory power, which has been
conferred except in so far as morality and religion are concerned,
on the civil authorities. It belongs by right to the friars, who
only use that power as it should be used. The parish priest knows
the people thoroughly, and as no laymen do. The Filipino cannot be
identified with the Spaniards notwithstanding all efforts of the
Spanish government. Navarro enforces his arguments by quotations
from Escosura, whom he criticises harshly for his expressions. While
modern ideas from abroad have made better sea communication, internal
communication has become worse. Good roads are especially needed and
the small barrios ought to be merged together whenever possible. That
the friars do not oppose education is shown by the many schools that
they maintain in Manila and the provinces. They should be allowed to
establish normal schools under their own direction. The parish priest
can best overcome the evil introduced by the free masons. The studies
chosen for the Filipinos must be fitted to their capacity. Our author
suggests the personnel of the Superior Board of Public Instruction,
in which he places a majority of ecclesiastics, and this Board should
revise the school laws. The majority of the Filipino students return
to their homes with plenty of vices but little learning, although
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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