The Hispanic influence

Dr. Benito Legarda Jr. in his column in the Free Press mentions an interesting remark by a delegate from Poland who, upon coming to Manila to attend a conference, said, "It feels like Latin America". Even though Spanish was not widely spoken, the country itself "felt" Hispanic. Dr. Legarda’s comment on that incident is interesting:

This underlines the point that language is only one element in culture, and not necessarily the defining one. Even without a widespread knowledge of the language, the Spanish influence is pervasive in Philippine culture – in customs, cooking, in religious observance, in ways of thinking, in legal usages.

That is an important fact that should be clearly recognized: namely, that much of Philippine life has been deeply influenced by Spanish culture. For better or for worse we are what we are, an Asian people deeply influenced by Western culture.

Dr. Legarda mentions cooking. I am sometimes amused to hear remarks like, "The most genuinely Filipino dish is the adobo." Both the word and the process are derived from the Spanish verb adobar, which is to stew something in vinegar and spices. Which means that "the most genuinely Filipino dish" is really Spanish in origin.

The same with words familiar in Philippine cuisine: relleno, estofado, rebosado.

The word lechon (transmogrified as letson) is a Spanish word, though its use has been distorted. Lechon originally referred to the sucking pig – that is, a piglet still fed with mother’s milk (leche). In Philippine usage, the word lechon has been transferred from the pig (often a much grown-up pig) to the process of roasting, so that it has even been applied to roasting chickens. (One shudders when one hears the term letson manok).

Arroz caldo is a corruption of what should have been caldo de arroz.

And so on. The cooks and vendors who use such words know no Spanish. But they have been affected by Spanish influence.

In that same column, Dr. Legarda quotes a political writer, George Matthew Dutcher, who noted a marked contrast between Filipinos and other Asians. Dutcher said that during the 300 years of Spanish rule, "progress was slow, but the total advance attained was considerable."

So considerable, indeed, that in 1898 a group of Filipinos, many of them fairly young, could meet as a Congress in Malolos and declare themselves ready to govern the country under a Constitution.

Dutcher also pointed out that the remarkable advance achieved by the country during the 40 years of American rule was made possible because the people had been made ready by the great advance during the Spanish regime.

The Spanish regime was marred by great injustices. So was the American. So is the present Filipino regime. But we must recognize the advances made under those regimes.