Fil-Am friendship?

It’s Philippine-American Friendship Day today. It used to be a working holiday during the first Marcos era. But Cory Aquino removed it from the list of national holidays in 1987.

Up until I was 12 years old, we celebrated Independence Day on July 4th, same as the United States. We were, after all, their little brown brother.

July 4th was the day in 1946 when the American flag was hauled down a flagpole and the Philippine flag was raised in ceremonies at the Luneta. July 4th was the day we ceased, at least on paper, being a colony of the United States.

Sixteen years later, president Diosdado Macapagal signed Proclamation 28 changing the date of our Independence Day to June 12, honoring the original declaration of independence at Kawit, Cavite on June 12,1898. RA 4166, passed in 1964, officially made June 12 the permanent Independence Day.

That’s really neither here nor there. We were not independent between 1898 and 1946. We didn’t seem more independent from the US after June 12 replaced July 4th. The American control of the country’s politics and economy remained strong.

The Americans continued to have 23 military bases in the country until the Philippine Senate rejected an extension treaty. The last US military elements left Subic Bay in November 1992.

We still have the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, a defense alliance pledging that America will come to our assistance in case of external aggression. US presidents have routinely reiterated that the agreement is “iron-clad.”

US State Secretary Marco Rubio reassured the Philippines that the US would stand by the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under armed attack — amid rising tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea.

In his January?22, 2025 phone call with then Foreign Secretary Enrique?Manalo, Rubio explicitly reaffirmed the US’ “ironclad commitment” to defend the Philippines under the MDT.

Our economy remained tied up with the US even after the 1946 independence ceremony. The Laurel-Langley Agreement gave Americans equal economic rights. The US also allowed Philippine sugar producers to sell large volumes to the US at prices above world market rates, enriching the sugar barons in Negros, Pampanga and Tarlac.

Despite so-called special relations, the Philippines only drew a moderate level of US investment, accounting for 13 percent of foreign investment inflows in 2023. It is, however, the largest single-country investor in the Philippines, with total US investment stock valued at around $63?billion.

Philippine-American relations today are largely beefed up by Filipinos still looking up to the US as the place to realize their dreams for a better life. Never mind that the US has high inequality — comparable or worse than some developing nations.

The US Gini coefficient for household income was about 0.418 in 2023. The Philippines Gini stood around 0.39 in 2023. This shows the US has higher income inequality than the Philippines.

Living conditions for ordinary Americans haven’t been good lately. Universal health care is almost absent with?millions of Americans uninsured while those insured are screwed by insurance companies. The US spends more on health but gets worse outcomes relative to peers.

Freedoms: The US ranks high in civil liberties globally, though debates continue regarding trends being set by the Trump administration going the other direction.

Public transport: Generally underdeveloped, particularly outside major metro areas.

Infrastructure: Rated average to below-average among developed countries. Quality of railways and airports are way below China’s.

Still, the US remains a high-income, developed nation with reputed strengths in technology, GDP and per?capita income. For many Filipinos used to lousy health care and inadequate infrastructure anyway, the US is the better bet for raising a family.

Pew Research estimates that around 4.24 million people identified as Filipino (alone or in combination) in 2023. The US-based Filipino diaspora remains the largest single contributor to remittances — funding family living expenses, education and the national reserves in the motherland.

For 2024, remittances hit a record $38.34?billion, with 40.6 percent of that ($15.6?billion) coming from the US.

But the national mood in the MAGA United States has become less hospitable to migrants, even those from a former colony like the Philippines.

Long time Filipino residents who thought they were as good as whites, and even voted for Trump, seem to be in shock as they are race-profiled off the streets and forced by ICE to prove their citizenship. Their blue passports didn’t change their brown skins.

Officially, the US Department of Homeland Security Office of Immigration Statistics estimates there are about 350,000 undocumented Filipinos.

Filipino migrant organizations and advocates suggest the real number of undocumented Filipino migrants might be 500,000 to one million. According to FreeAdvice.com, there are approximately 314,229 Filipino applicants on the US immigrant visa waiting list.

To the credit of the Filipino-Americans, they have assimilated themselves well in the US, because American influence has permeated the country’s cultural environment since the American occupation. The 48 years of Hollywood overwhelmed the 333 years of Spanish convent rule in the minds of Filipinos.

Many in our younger generations still dream of migrating to America. Close to 15,000 Filipino nurses depart for the US yearly with their families.

According to the American Immigration Council, Filipino immigrants made up almost one out of 20 registered nurses in the US.

With the current pause in visa processing, these nurses are still optimistic they will be able to live their American dream sooner or later. The shortage of nurses in the US is acute and they are not graduating nearly as many domestic nurses as the American health care system needs.

Philippine-American friendship in recent years has evolved and grown out of necessity on the part of both countries. Strong cultural ties should help the transition from the MAGA-inspired immigration outlook to pragmatic realization and mutual satisfaction of social and economic needs.

For now, friends in need should be friends indeed?

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco