Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Thu, 8 Oct 1992 17:14:38 +1000
From:         lulu@COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU
Subject:      PH: CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS/(final)

THE 4TH INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINE STUDIES CONFERENCE:
ABSTRACTS
[final]

PANEL: FOREIGN POLICY AND REGIONAL SECURITY

(90)	The Philippines in regional security
Queenie David-Balaba, Griffith University

The history of Philippine involvement with outside powers since the early
years of European colonialism appears as long periods of close relations
with one large power, interrupted by large power competition which
invariably brought conflict and destruction to the smaller party. In the
eighteenth century, the Seven-Year War in Europe resulted in the British
occupation of Manila (1762 1764); the Spanish-American war of 1898 provided
the setting for the American conquest of the islands from Spain; and during
World War II the Japanese replaced the American rulers of the Philippines.
As a colony the Philippines had no control over the conflicting interests
of stronger powers which sought to retain or include the archipelago in
their respective spheres of influences. The geographic position of the
Philippines partly accounted for its involvement in these conflicts.
Within the last two decades, the power equation of the Philippines'
regional environment was radically altered. This changing environment,
coupled with the dramatic and changing events within the Philippines, had
serious implications for the relationship with countries of the
Asia-Pacific region, particularly on the question of security.
In this paper, changes in Philippine regional security perceptions will be
examined. The main issues believed to be pertinent to the security of the
Philippines and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region from the period
1969 to the present will be identified. The Philippines' relations with the
countries of the Asia-Pacific region, but more specifically with the USA
and with other ASEAN states will be discussed.
It will be argued that the Philippines developed a more independent foreign
policy stance in terms of security and made serious attempts to move away
from its close and what has been termed as 'dependent' with the USA.
Philippine foreign policy has been a continuing quest for
independence/self-reliance in national development and security. Continuous
reassessment of the American connection has been derived not only from
ideas about the country's strategic defence, but also from more spontaneous
notions about the Philippines as an Asian state with a local identity that
ought to be officially confirmed.
The Philippines' capacity, in the context of its aspired goals, to respond
to the challenges generated by a changing internal and external environment
will also be discussed and an analysis made of the country's performance in
the face of the internal and external problems it had to grapple with
during the time of Marcos and under the Aquino government as it struggled
to establish the foundations for an independent foreign policy in its
search for its place in Asia.

(91)	Philippine perspectives on the South China Sea
Aileen S.P. Baviera, Program Coordinator, China-Philippines Resource
Center, Quezon City, Philippines

The South China Sea represents a complex of interrelated problems and
issues that cannot be addressed singularly nor in isolation from the
countries concerned. In a sense, the contest for the Sea can be understood
as a battle of major issues in international relations: national
sovereignty versus regional integration; military defence of the
nation-state versus commitment to peace and development as cornerstones of
genuine democracy; exclusive jurisdiction over economic resources versus
approaches that stress sharing and joint use; exploitation versus
conservation; short-term growth objectives versus long-term development
goals.
While the possibility of regional conflict increases, regional actors begin
to explore ways of deterrence, with functional cooperation emerging as a
key theme. Philippine policy, on the other hand, has been limited to the
reassertion of claims to the Kalayaan Islands (Spratleys or Nansha), and
half-hearted compliance with UN Convention on Law of the Sea provisions.
Philippine official policy seems to treat the issues of territorial claims,
maritime boundaries, disputes over living and non-living resources as
disjointed and unrelated. There is as yet no comprehensive policy framework
that would direct Philippine participation in bilateral and multilateral
courses of action over the South China Sea issues. It is feared that, as in
many past instances in our foreign relations, the Philippines will await
the crisis rather than act to prevent it.

(92)	International relations in marine affairs and the Law of the Sea
Peter Payoyo, Institute of Internationall Legal Studies,UP Diliman

The paper explores the significance of Philippine foreign policy
developments in marine affairs and the law of the sea since the 1982 UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea. The making of this Convention has
inaugurated the so-called marine revolution in the present century, and is
not without crucial implications to the Philippines - as a coastal state, a
national-archipelago and a developing country. Being a signatory and a
state which has ratified the Convention, which is still to enter into
force, the Philippines does have a far-reaching stake involved in the
international law or the sea - that area of international law which is most
advanced and in which the most dynamic developments are fast taking place.
What has been the extent to which the Philippines has responded to the
challenges of the evolving law of the sea since 1982? In international
relations fields like maritime boundary definition, trans-boundary marine
resources management, regional areas cooperation, environmental protection
movements, scientific research and technology development, and solidarity
in and with international organization the record has not at all been
impressive. There was, in fact, the minimum of initiatives pursued within
the international relations framework for the 1982 Convention. As a
consequence the potential for national amerlioration and/or development,
through realization of the appropriate opportunities under the 1982
Convention, so evidently taken advantage of by other nations, is still to
be realized.
The paper concludes with a projection of a national agenda in marine
affairs and the law of the sea that is suitable to the evolving state of
international law and politics of the oceans. A tentative vision presented
is the further development of national capacities and institutions that
will enable the Philippines to cope with the needs and requirements of
global and ocean governance in the 21st century.

PANEL: UNDERSTANDING THE COLONIAL STATE

(93)	State formation in the Philippines
Emmanuel C. Lallana,Center for Integrative and Development Research/Dept of
Polltics, UP Diliman

This paper examines state formation in three areas that would become part
of the Philippine nation-state: the Christianized las islas Filipinas, the
Sulu Archipelago, and what is now known as the Cordillera.

(94)	Nationalism, hegemony and the politics of decolonization  Rizal and
the unfinished revolution
Floro Quibuyen, University  of Hawaii/University of the Philippines

This paper's starting premise is two-fold: first, that the 19th century
nationalist project became hegemonic, albeit briefly, in that it developed,
in the Gramscian sense, into a national-popular will, and second, that a
key figure in the construction of this nationalist project was Jose Rizal,
who attained the singular distinction of both articulating, through his
literary and political works, the nationalist ideology and becoming,
through his martyrdom, the national symbol that embodied the
national-popular will. Indeed Rizal's project became   largely through the
efforts of Bonifacio and the Katipunan   the hegemonic nationalist project
that culminated in the revolution of 1896.
Rizal's project consisted of two separate but related endeavors: on the one
hand, it was an indictment of the colonial system in which the colonized
Filipino was depicted (eg. in the Noli and Fili) as complicitous with the
colonizer  (and therefore, a part of the problem), and on the other hand,
in response to the colonial problem, it was an attempt to construct a
national identity based on vernacular canons (ie., indigenous/pre-colonial
traditions). In Rizal's perspective, the precondition for national
liberation was decolonization. And for the Filipino to be decolonized, it
is imperative that he recovers his indigenous roots   indeed, for Rizal,
this cultural revolution is more fundamental than the seizure of state
power.
The second half this essay traces the trajectory of the nationalist project
  from its emasculation, through the execution of Bonifacio in the hands of
Aguinaldo's men and the consequent disbandment/incorporation of the
Katipunan into Aguinaldo's revolutionary government (which was dominated by
the landed bourgeoisie) to its outright supression and marginalization by
the American colonial regime which supplanted it with a new colonial
hegemony and, ironically, to the continuation of this marginalization by
the left today. One of my major theses is that the left has been
unwittingly complicitous with American designs for cultural hegemony over
the Philippine nation (otherwise labelled by mainstream social science as
'social engineering'). Why and how this happened is a major question
explored in this essay.


[the paper below is a late entry for the panel DECIPHERING IMAGES AND TEXT]

(95) Philippine History as a Sacred Covenant with the Great Mother
Consoloacion Alaras, Dept of English and Comp. Lierature, UP

There is a sacred text among the contemporary spiritual brotherhoods that
yields a reading of Philippine history and prophecy. This interpretation is
based on three written fragments I discovered and decoded in the course of
my 12-year field among the spiritual brotherhoods known to be descendants
of Katipunan, the force behind the Philippine Revolution of 1896. Without
the fieldwork, the fragments will easily be categorized as a mere creation
story. But with immersion and participation in the rituals and activities
of the brotherhoods, the fragments constitute and render a vision of
Philippine history and prophecy.
As indicated, there are three fragments to be decoded. The first fragment
deals with the myth of Impinito Dios, or the Power, Godhood that comes
earlier. The second fragment referes to the narrative on the creation of
the world entitled "Tronco del Mundo". The third fragment relates to a 1915
account of a certain Tandang Juan or "Old Juan" from Pagbilao about the
creation of the world.
These three fragments taken together unlock the key to the mentality of the
brotherhoods or descendants of the Katipunan. What unfolds is a mentality
that appropriates the biblical Genesis to articulate native categories for
an understanding of Philippine history and culture.

-----------------
[end of list]

-----------------
These papers are available from the Dept of Political and Social Change
(see address below) for a small fee.

*******************************************
Lulu Turner
Dept of Political & Social Change
Research School of Pacific Studies
Australian National University
GPO Box 4, Canberra  ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA

tel: (06) 249 0173
fax: (06) 257 1893
e-mail (Internet): lulu@coombs.anu.edu.au
*******************************************
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU