Imperial Manila

The skyline of Manila, resented by a number of Filipinos as "imperial".

Imperial Manila is a pejorative epithet used by certain sectors of Filipino society such as Visayans and/or any other non-Tagalog Filipino ethnolinguistic groups to express the idea that all the affairs of the Philippines—whether in politics, business, economy, or culture—are decided by what is happening in the capital region Metro Manila without considering the rest of the country, largely because of its centralized government. This sentiment is sometimes expressed in the following proverb in the Cebuano language: "Wa'y dahong mahulog sa atung nasud nga di mananghid sa Malacañang" (Not a leaf can fall in our country without Malacañang's permission).^{[lower-alpha 1]}

History

It is unknown when the term was first used, but there are political writers, particularly those living outside Metro Manila, who associate this term with the People Power Revolution because it was believed that the country's former president, Ferdinand Marcos, was toppled from his position without the participation of Filipinos living in areas outside of the capital region. In an article published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, Amando Doronila wrote that:

Uses

Politics

The term was used by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her 2006 State of the Nation Address, which she said has "slowed down progress, has become open to over-competition, and oppressed the provinces and its people".^[3] It was because of the country's centralized government that provincial governments favor constitutional amendments for a shift to federal government, as well as supporting Arroyo and rejecting calls from Manila-based activist groups demanding for her resignation due to corruption charges particularly the Philippine National Broadband Network controversy.^[4][5]

Local opinion polls were also lambasted for solely sampling "Imperial Manila-based residents" when it comes to surveys that deal with nationwide issues.^[6] Meanwhile, the term also appears in government websites such as those of League of Provinces and Bohol Province.^[7][8]

Economy

Officials of Mindanao-based rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front have blamed "Imperial Manila" for making the Muslim Mindanao region the poorest in the country, stating that "the consequence of neo-colonialism has deprived our people to run themselves unfettered and unhampered". Government figures show that the region's poverty incidence in 2006 is at 55.3%, with three of its six provinces (namely Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur) listed among the country's ten poorest provinces.^[9]

"Imperial Manila" is also used by a small but vocal minority in the Philippines' business sector in reference to the notion that advertising or marketing a product only requires a single campaign that would work in Mega Manila (a term used most frequently by the media), thinking that it would also attract customers in the provinces. Advertising agencies in Metro Manila are also faulted for publishing print advertisements in Manila-based newspapers that would reach other cities by mid-morning (when the residents have already read their own local daily) or running a television commercial at a primetime slot of 9:00 in the evening in Manila while the rest of the country is already asleep.^[10]

In 2009, economists from the University of the Philippines and the World Bank made statements encouraging the Philippine government to further concentrate national economic activity within Metro Manila rather than disperse it around the country.^[11] Meanwhile, in some parts of Luzon, the Visayas and in Mindanao, rolling blackouts are happening almost everyday.

Use of Tagalog in traditionally non-Tagalog Philippine provinces

"Imperial Manila" is also referred to the use of Tagalog—which is spoken in Metro Manila and in certain areas of Luzon—as the basis for Filipino, the Philippines' national language. In Cebu Province, the local government enforces all of its schools to sing the national anthem in Cebuano as a form of linguistic protest,^[12] in patriotic defiance of a law that punishes the singing of the national anthem in languages other than Tagalog with fine or imprisonment.^[13]

A small number of Cebuanos, ignoring the fact that Filipinos of other ethnolinguistic groups may not speak Cebuano, display intolerant behavior towards Tagalog-speakers, whom they view as arrogant.^[10] Filipinos of Visayan origin also use "Imperial Manila mentality" when referring to discrimination by their counterparts in Manila and in other parts of the world against them.^[14]

In connection with the use of Tagalog, or specifically the promotion of the national language, the related term Tagalista is frequently used. While the word Tagalista literally means "one who specializes in Tagalog language or culture" or a "Tagalog specialist", in the context of the debates on the national language and "Imperial Manila", the word Tagalista is used as a reference to "people who promote or would promote the primacy of Tagalog at the expense of [the] other [Philippine] indigenous tongues".^[15]

See also

• Ethnocide
• Federalism in the Philippines
• Internal colonialism

Notes

Citations