Filipino Press between Two Empires: El Renacimiento, a Newspaper with Too Much Alma Filipina

Abstract

This article illustrates how important the Spanish press was in the Philippines during the last 30 years of Spanish colonial rule and the early period of American colonial administration. Using archival material from the period, it reveals how the American colonial administration complained that the newspapers in the Philippines were mainly political, a Spanish inheritance in the archipelago as many newspapers were founded in the Philippines in the 1890s of the nineteenth century after the law of press was passed in 1883. This article also emphasizes the political clout papers possessed and the threats that they posed to the new American administration. In particular, this article shows how newspapers such as El Resumen avoided censorship and dared to say what other parties did not. El Resumen was a voice for Philippine national hero Jose Rizal and what they published in “Our Wishes” were Rizal's wishes for his country. An analysis of articles in El Resumen demonstrates that the censorship of the press was attenuated and depended on the governor-general. Therefore, this article questions the influential argument in Philippine historiography about Spanish censorship of the press. El Resumen served as an example for other newspapers that were founded during the beginning of the American colonial administration such as La Independencia and above all El Renacimiento. As an organ of the Nationalist party, El Renacimiento came to exert real power in Manila that influenced the government. The journal waged brilliant battles, the most important from 1904 onwards in the form of public reports of abuses committed by the constabulary. In addition, in September 1906, the journal El Renacimiento criticized, through several articles, James A. LeRoy's statement about William H. Taft being “the best and most influential friend of the Filipinos.” El Renacimiento, which had become a potent political force, had stated that Taft showed himself in public to be a friend of the Filipinos, while in private he considered them to be “childish.” LeRoy felt annoyed with the journal and decided to write a long letter to El Renacimiento which was published in several supplements in January of 1907. As this article makes clear, LeRoy used his defense of Taft as an excuse to attack the enemies of American rule. In sum, El Renacimiento suffered real press censorship and was forced to close in 1908, leading to the demise of publications in the Spanish language.