POLITICAL

CARICATURES
OF ALFRED
MCCOY
 ALFRED W. MCCOY
ALFRED MCCOY WAS BORN ON JUNE 8, 1945 AT
CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES. HE IS AN
AMERICAN AND EDUCATOR AT UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
AT MADISON WHERE HE IS THE DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR
SOUTH-EAST ASIAN STUDIES. HE AUTHORED THE BOOK
“PHILIPPINE CARTOONS: POLITICAL CARICATURE OF THE
AMERICAN ERA, 1900 – 1941” TOGETHER WITH ALFREDO
ROCES WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1985.
 POLITICAL CARICATURE OF THE AMERICAN ERA
PHILIPPINE POLITICAL CARTOONS GAINED FULL EXPRESSION
DURING THE AMERICAN ERA. FILIPINO ARTISTS RECORDED NATIONAL
ATTITUDES TOWARD THE COMING OF THE AMERICANS AS WELL AS THE
CHANGING MORES AND TIMES. WHILE THE 377 CARTOONS COMPILED
IN THIS BOOK SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, HISTORIAN ALFRED MCCOY’S
EXTENSIVE RESEARCH IN PHILIPPINE AND AMERICAN ARCHIVES
PROVIDES A COMPREHENSIVE BACKGROUND NOT ONLY TO THE
CARTOONS BUT TO THE TURBULENT PERIOD AS WELL.
WHY THE “APARCERO” REBELS?
IT SHOWS THE FORM OF LANDLORD USURY USED TO STRIP TENANT FARMERS FROM
THEIR RIGHTFUL SHARE OF HARVEST.
“A NEW WRINKLE IN THE ART OF THIEVING”
A NEW WRINKLE IN THE ART OF THIEVING
THIS SHOWS CITY CAPITALISTS USING THE TORRENS TITLE
PROCESS, WHICH REQUIRED RELINQUISHMENT OF CUSTOMARY
CLAIMS TO ISSUE TITLES, TO GRAB LANDS IN NUEVA ECIJA AND
OTHER CENTRAL LUZON PROVINCES.
“ANG MGA MAPAPALAD”
 “ ANG MGA MAPAPALAD”
AS DEMOBILIZED AMERICAN SOLDIERS FILLED THE INSULAR CIVIL SERVICE AND
AMERICAN CORPORATIONS WON THE MAJOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, FILIPINO NATIONALISTS
SAW THEMSELVES BECOMING ALIENS IN THEIR OWN LAND.
THIS SHOWS THAT SOME PROJECTS OR INFRASTRUCTURES ARE ALWAYS NOT
IMMEDIATELY DONE AT THAT TIME DUE TO THOSE WHO ARE WORKING UNDER THE MUNICIPAL OF
EVERY PROVINCE. THUS, INSTEAD OF USING THE BUDGET INTENDED FOR A PROPOSED PROJECT,
SOME TEND TO USE THESE ON OTHER UNIMPORTANT THINGS AND EXPLOIT THE MONEY WHICH
CAME FROM THE FILIPINO TAXPAYERS.
THE CARTOON’S IMAGE OF MERALCO DRAGGING JUAN DE LA CRUZ ALONG THE NECK AS HE
VOMITS PESOS FROM HIS EMANCIPATED FRAME IS NO OVERSTATEMENT.
“EQUAL WORK, UNEQUAL SALARY, WHY?”
 EQUAL WORK, UNEQUAL SALARY, WHY?
WHEN FILIPINOS BEGAN WINNING CIVIL SERVICE APPOINTMENTS AFTER 1913 THEY
FOUND THEMSELVES FACING SERIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN BOTH WAGES AND POSITIONS.
INEQUALITY COMES IN DIFFERENT FORMS, AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE LOW SALARY OF
THE FILIPINO TEACHERS HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES. THERE WERE TEACHERS WHO HAVE
COMPLAINED ABOUT HAVING LOW SALARIES DESPITE HAVING GRADUATED FROM INTERNATIONAL
UNIVERSITIES AND BEING QUALIFIED IN A HIGH CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION.
ALSO, ANOTHER FORM OF DISCRIMINATION THAT WAS MENTIONED IS ABOUT THE
AMERICANS WHO WERE GIVEN A CHANCE TO TEACH IN AN ELITE SECONDARY SCHOOL WHEREAS
FILIPINO TEACHERS WERE ASSIGNED TO CROWDED PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN REMOTE AREAS.
DOES THIS SEEM FAMILIAR TO YOU?
 RELEVANCE
IN THE PHILIPPINES, THE PRESENCE OF POLITICAL CARTOONS HAS BEEN SEEN AS EARLY
AS THE PUBLICATION OF KALAYAAN AND ANG LA SOLIDARIDAD. SINCE PEOPLE’S SENSITIVITIES
ARE CAPTURED IMMEDIATELY THROUGH IMAGES, THE POPULARITY OF CARTOONS HAS RISEN
THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. ONE POSITIVE EFFECT OF THE CARTOONS IS THAT IT BECOMES THE
REPRESENTATION OF ALL THE CURRENT CONDITIONS OF OUR COUNTRY – IT LETS US SEE THE
PROBLEM. THROUGH THE USE OF POLITICAL CARTOONS, PEOPLE GET TO VISUALIZE POLITICS AND
APPRECIATE THE REPRESENTATIONS WHICH ARE WITHIN THEIR WORLD VIEW. THE BOOK
“PHILIPPINE CARTOONS: POLITICAL CARICATURE OF THE AMERICAN ERA, 1900-1941 WAS THE
FIRST ONE TO LEGITIMIZE CARTOONS AS SOURCES OF FILIPINO THOUGHTS AND VIEWS.
 CONTENT ANALYSIS
THE CARICATURES ARE A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF THE EVENTS THAT WENT ON UNDER
THE AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD: ALL THE CHALLENGES, SCANDALS AND INFLUENCE BROUGHT
TO FILIPINOS BY THE AMERICANS. NOT ONLY DID THE POLITICAL CARICATURES MIRROR THE
IMAGES OF THE STATE THE PHILIPPINES WAS IN, BUT THEY ALSO SERVED AS A MEDIUM FOR
REFORM CHANGE. THE POLITICAL CARICATURES DEPICTED VARIOUS SCENES THAT ARE VERY
INDICATIVE OF THE SOCIAL THAT THE FILIPINOS SUFFERED UNDER THE AMERICAN RULE. EVEN
THOUGH THE BOOK OF MCCOY ONLY COVERED THE PERIOD OF EARLY AMERICAN THROUGH THE
COMMONWEALTH, IT REFLECTED ON TWO CARTOON THEMES: ANTI-AMERICAN SENTIMENTS AND
THE CONDEMNATION OF THE RULING CLASS.
 CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
THE POLITICAL CARICATURES WERE MEANT TO BE THE MEANS BY WHICH THE
SOCIAL INJUSTICE THAT IS BEING EXPERIENCED BY THE FILIPINOS COULD BE EXPRESSED
AND BE BROUGHT INTO AWARENESS. THE POLITICAL CARICATURES ARE UNIQUE IN THEIR
MANNER OF EXPRESSION AND OF CONVEYING A MESSAGE DUE TO ITS RELIANCE ON
HUMOR AND EXAGGERATION, TWO CHATERISTICS THAT ARE NOT OFTEN UTILIZED IN
OTHER FORMS OF EXPRESSION THAT DEALS WITH SERIOUS ISSUES. IN ITS WAY, IT
BECAME AN EFFECTIVE TOOL OF EXPRESSION AGAINST THE DISCRIMINATION AND OTHER
SOCIAL INJUSTICES THAT WERE IMPOSED UPON THE FILIPINOS.
 AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE
ALFRED MCCOY BELIEVES THAT THE SCANDALS