Readings in Philippine History Midterm Exam Reviewer

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, historical actors, legislation, and policies from the Readings in Philippine History reviewer.

Benevolent Assimilation Policy

The colonial policy officially declaring that the United States came to the Philippines not as conquerors, but as friends seeking to educate and prepare Filipinos for self-governance.

Filipinization Policy

The colonial policy, particularly emphasized under Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison, aimed at gradually transferring administrative positions and government control to Filipinos.

Public Land Act of 1903 (Act No. 926)

Legislation that introduced the Homesteading System in the Philippines, encouraging landless Filipino families to settle and cultivate unappropriated public lands.

KALIBAPI (Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas)

The sole political party and state-sponsored movement established during the Japanese Occupation, designed to rally Filipino support for Japan.

Petition Letter (1923)

A formal protest addressed to the President of the United States by Filipino leaders Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña, arguing that Governor-General Leonard Wood violated the spirit of the Jones Law of 1916 and local autonomy.

Cabinet Crisis of 1923

A political standoff triggered under Governor-General Leonard Wood following the reinstatement of Ray Conley, an American detective accused of misconduct, over the objections of local Philippine authorities.

Friar Lands Act (Act No. 1120)

An act passed by the Philippine Commission intended to purchase vast religious estates, which ultimately resulted in much of the land being acquired by wealthy elite families and American corporations due to high purchase costs.

Lipang Kalabaw

An early 20th-century editorial publication known for satirical political caricatures critiquing Filipino politicians' opportunism, American imperialism, and contemporary social issues.

Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature of the American Era

A compilation by Alfred McCoy and Alfredo Roces analyzing political cartoons as primary sources reflecting popular public sentiment, social anxieties, and political corruption during American rule.

Juan dela Cruz (in Lipang Kalabaw)

A recurring caricatured figure representing the Filipino working class or common citizen, depicted as a barefoot man wearing a salakot hat and simple native attire.

1935 Commonwealth Government

A 10-year transitional government established to prepare the Philippines for full national independence.

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

A wartime Japanese ideological concept promoted in publications like The Tribune, advocating for the cultural and economic integration of Asian nations under Japanese leadership, free from Western domination.

Neocolonialism

The indirect practice where a former colonial power or powerful nation uses economic, political, or cultural pressures to influence and control a formally sovereign state.

Hukbalahap (Huk) Movement

An organization that initially fought the Japanese occupation and later waged an armed rebellion against the post-war Philippine government due to agrarian inequality, landlord oppression, and the political exclusion of elected leftist leaders.

Bell Trade Act of 1946 (Parity Rights Amendment)

A post-war U.S. legislative act granting equal rights to American citizens to exploit Philippine natural resources as a mandatory condition for receiving war damage rehabilitation payments.

CIA Intelligence Memorandum No. 296 (June 1950)

An intelligence report concluding that the Philippine political and economic situation was rapidly deteriorating toward state collapse because of the Huk rebellion, rampant official corruption, administrative inefficiency, and military repression.

Magsaysay Myth

The carefully orchestrated public relations image depicting Ramon Magsaysay as an independent populist and 'man of the masses,' which masked significant covert U.S., political, financial, and CIA involvement in his campaign.

Edward Lansdale

The CIA operative who played a pivotal covert role in shaping Ramon Magsaysay's political persona, speeches, and counter-insurgency operations during the 1950s.

Military Bases Agreement of 1947

A post-war pact exemplifying neocolonial ties by granting the United States 99-year tax-free leases over strategic military facilities and extraterritorial legal jurisdiction over military personnel in the Philippines.

Economic Development Corps (EDCOR)

A socio-military rehabilitation program introduced by Ramon Magsaysay as Secretary of National Defense, combining psychological warfare and social assistance for surrendering Huk insurgents.

Corazon Aquino's 1986 Address to the U.S. Congress

A historic speech delivered on September 18, 1986, to appeal for economic assistance, honor both legitimate and fraudulent foreign debt, and secure American backing for newly restored Philippine democracy.

Philippines Free Press

An influential post-war media publication that shaped middle-class opinion, exposed government corruption, and functioned as a political kingmaker in national elections.

Oversimplification (Historiography)

The historiographical error of reducing complex historical events or developments into a single, overly simplified cause.

Tentativeness (Historiography)

The principle that historical conclusions are never entirely absolute and remain subject to revision as new evidence or methodologies become available.

Inadequacy (Historiography)

A limitation in historical interpretation that arises when available primary sources are incomplete, selective, or biased.

Battle of Mactan

A conflict fought on April 27, 1521, primarily triggered by inter-tribal rivalries between Rajah Humabon and Lapulapu, resulting in Ferdinand Magellan's death after Spanish forces were impeded by shallow waters.

Fr. Miguel A. Bernard, S.J.

A Jesuit scholar who published a 1981 study analyzing navigational logs (Pigafetta, Albo, Genoa Codex) to conclude that the First Mass took place in Limasawa, Southern Leyte, rather than Butuan.

Mazaua

The island location recorded by Antonio Pigafetta at latitude $9^{\circ}40'\text{N}$, where Ferdinand Magellan anchored on March 28, 1521, and participated in a blood compact (sanduguan) with Rajah Colambu.

First Catholic Mass in the Philippines

A religious event recorded by Pigafetta that took place on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521, on the island of Mazaua, marked by the planting of a wooden cross.

Rizal's Retraction Document

A contentious handwritten document allegedly signed by Jose Rizal on December 29, 1896, renouncing Freemasonry and reconciling with the Catholic Church, discovered in 1935 by Fr. Manuel Garcia.

Fr. Vicente Balaguer

The Spanish Jesuit priest who asserted that he was an eyewitness to Jose Rizal's signing of the retraction document on the eve of his execution.

Cuerpo de Vigilancia Report

An official surveillance account compiled by Federico Moreno detailing Jose Rizal's visitors and conduct during his final hours of detention at Fort Santiago.

Multiperspectivity

The analytical practice of examining, evaluating, and interpreting historical events through multiple perspectives and diverse viewpoints.

Polo y servicios

A Spanish colonial institution requiring mandatory forced labor from adult Filipino males.

Cavite Mutiny of 1872

An uprising provoked by the elimination of tax and forced labor exemptions for Cavite arsenal workers, which was used by Spanish authorities to justify the execution of Gomburza.

Cry of Rebellion

The symbolic start of the Philippine Revolution marked by the Katipuneros' tearing of their cédulas (tax certificates), the precise date and location of which remain debated among historians.

Philippine Insurrection

The official term used by the United States government to characterize the Philippine-American War to deny the conflict's status as a war between two sovereign nations.

Historical Negationism

The intentional distortion, fabrication, or suppression of historical facts to deceive the public, distinct from legitimate evidence-based historical revisionism.

Cronyism

The practice of appointing friends, family, and personal associates to positions of authority and economic privilege without regard to their qualifications.

Sa Aking Mga Kabatà

A poem long attributed to an 8-year-old Jose Rizal, first published in 1906 by Hermenegildo Cruz, whose authenticity is contested due to the inclusion of the word 'kalayaan.'

Operation Merdeka

A clandestine military operation intended to train Moro recruits to infiltrate and annex Sabah from Malaysia, which ended in the Jabidah Massacre.

Jabidah Massacre

The extrajudicial killing of young Muslim military recruits on Corregidor Island on March 18, 1968, which sparked the creation of contemporary Moro liberation movements such as the MNLF.

Jibin Arula

The lone survivor of the 1968 Jabidah Massacre whose public testimony exposed the clandestine operation to the nation.

Republic Act No. 3844

The Agricultural Land Reform Code of 1963 signed by President Diosdado Macapagal to abolish share tenancy and replace it with an agricultural leasehold system.

Filipino First Policy

An economic policy launched under President Carlos P. Garcia to advance economic nationalism by giving local Filipino entrepreneurs priority over foreign investors.

Presidential Complaints and Action Commission (PCAC)

A citizen-assistance body created by President Ramon Magsaysay to directly address public grievances and combat administrative corruption.

Manuel Roxas

The last President of the Commonwealth and the first President of the Third Republic of the Philippines, under whose term independence was formally recognized on July 4, 1946.

Proclamation No. 28 (1962)

A presidential decree signed by Diosdado Macapagal moving the celebration of Philippine Independence Day from July 4 to June 12 to commemorate Emilio Aguinaldo's 1898 declaration.

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (RA 6657)

A landmark agrarian reform policy enacted under President Corazon Aquino to institute agrarian redistribution across agricultural lands in the Philippines.

Philippines 2000

A comprehensive socio-economic development vision introduced under President Fidel V. Ramos to elevate the Philippines to newly industrialized country status by the year 2000.

Republic Act No. 9337

The Expanded Value-Added Tax (EVAT) reform law signed under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to widen the tax base and increase state revenues.

Republic Act No. 10533

The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 enacted under President Benigno Aquino III, implementing the K to 12 program across basic education.

Republic Act No. 10931

The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017, providing tuition-free education in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

Republic Act No. 11032

The Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte to streamline bureaucratic processes.

Republic Act No. 11469

The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, enacted in 2020 under President Rodrigo Duterte to grant emergency powers for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Executive Order No. 1 (1986)

The first official executive order issued by President Corazon Aquino, creating the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to recover ill-gotten wealth.

Republic Act No. 11954

Legislation signed in July 2023 by President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. establishing the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), the country's first sovereign wealth fund.