[Published in Rolando M. Gripaldo. 2000, 2004. Filipino philosophy: Traditional approach, Part I, Section 1. Manila: De La Salle University Press.

Renato Constantinos Philosophy of Nationalism: A Critiq ue 1

Rolando M. Gripa ldo
INTRODUCTION Acknowledged as the foremost Filipino nationalist, Renato Constantino saw the light of day in 1919; he died on 15 September 1999 at the age of eighty. His parents were middle-class. The nationalism he developed, however, was not elitist but mass-based. For Constantino, nationalism must be people-oriented. The authentic ilustrado nationalist must articulate the nationalism of the people by combining theory and practice. As an intellectual, one must be well-versed in social theory but as a social reformer or a believer in social change, one must engage oneself in activism, and thus be in constant contact with the people. Constantino argued that to be highly intelligent need not necessarily redound to becoming an intellectual. Intelligence is basically analytic while intellect is basically synthetic. Constantino (1978b: 279) quoted Hofstadter (1964: 25): Whereas intelligence seeks to grasp, manipulate, reorder, adjust [data and facts], intellect examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes, imagines. Intelligence will seize the immediate meaning of a situation and evaluate it. Intellect evaluates evaluations, and looks for the meanings of situations as a whole. Though left-leaning, Constantino is not by conviction a communist. In attitude he was much closer to the socialist Robert Owen (Merrill 1970:11-15) who identified his bourgeois interests with the interest of the workers. According to Owen, if one takes care of the needs of the workers by giving them good wages and adequate fringe benefits such as sound living conditions, schools, nursery, houses, sports facilities, and the like, then they can work harder. Consequently, production increases and profits rise. Like Owen but unlike Marx, Constantino (see 1970:1-191) was fundamentally a reformist through education and dissent. The basic differences between Owen and Constantino are at least two: first, Owen has a limited domain, the industrial workers, while Constantinos encompasses the great majority of the countrys population; and second, Owen retained his bourgeois position and was interested only in uplifting the social and economic conditions of his workers, while Constantino was willing to sacrifice his petty bourgeois origins by identifying his nationalist consciousness with that of the people, thus was more like Karl Marx in this regard. For Constantino, the interests and welfare of the people are the interests and welfare of the nation. Constantinos nationalist philosophy was developed against a colonial backdrop. It argues that the effects of colonialism took root among the people in a post-colonial setting where neocolonialism and imperialism were at work. It advocates the study of the past to learn lessons, to understand the present, and to help shape the future with nationalist underpinnings. To understand Constantino, one needs to study two dimensions in his works psychological and economic.

PSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSION: CAPTIVE AND COUNTER CONSCIOUSNESS The consciousness that developed among the people, according to Constantino, during the Spanish and American colonial eras was captive, in the sense that it was shaped and tailored to the needs of the colonizers. The Spanish friars saw to it that the natives, through religious conversion, became docile and illiterate, obedient and fanatical. The Americans, on the other hand, by using education with English as the medium of instruction, saw to it that the natives developed Western preferences, thereby imbibing a Western consumerist orientation. Captive consciousness is therefore colonial consciousness. There is a need for a counter consciousness to it, and that is the nationalist consciousness. Colonial Consciousness The friars, or the various religious ordersAugustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Recollects, and Jesuitswere responsible for shaping the colonial consciousness of the natives during the Spanish era through the use of religion. With religion as the instrument of domination, the friars were able to control the consciousness of the masses. The Spanish colonial government had them as staunch allies in what Karl Marx suspected all along: that religion was the opium of the masses. Prior to the educational reform of 1863, the friars never taught the Spanish language to the natives. The net result was a colonial consciousness that was basically ignorant, illiterate, subservient, servile. To quote Constantino (1978b: 30): Psychological control was as easily established. The fact that the people became Catholics made God the powerful ally of their rulers. The friars enlisted God on the side of colonialism. To the fear of physical punishment was added the infinitely more potent fear of supernatural retribution. Thus one priest was usually enough to control a village, for rebellion against the priest was equated with rebellion against God and therefore with eternal damnation. The priest was their accepted ruler, the representative of their God on earth and the intermediary for their souls after death. The friars became the dominant factors in the colonial contingents and the church became the centre of the peoples life. It was then the clerical boast at that time that in each friar in the Philippines the king [of Spain] had a captain general and a whole army (Constantino 1978b: 31). During the American era, said Constantino, the manipulation of consciousness took the form of a miseducation: historical facts were distorted as to make it appear that the American conquerors themselves were the protectors and heroes of the natives; American atrocities during the Filipino resistance against the U.S. army were suppressed; resistance leaders after the capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo were branded as bandits or tulisanes; the Americans sponsored Jose Rizal as a national hero since he was a reformist who valued education; they made English as the medium of instruction to facilitate the American type of Westernization in order to develop consumerism; they consistently remained in control of the educational system until 1935, the beginning of the Commonwealth period. The net effect of this type of cultural situation is the development of a colonial consciousness that was not rooted in a nationalistic foundation: it bred what is known today as a colonial mentality. Colonial mentality is a type of consciousness which is foreign-oriented: for example, one studies in order to find work abroad, or one prefers to study abroad and develops the attitude that a foreign degree is always better than a local degree; or one prefers a foreign brand of anything even when it is inferior in quality for as long as it is foreign; or one neglects to develop a competitive local product for export abroad and would rather continue to struggle for tariff protection over a long period of time. Constantino (1978b: 277) said that

colonial mentality is a distorted consciousness which encompasses [Filipino] subservient attitudes towards the colonial ruler as well as [their] predisposition towards aping Western ways. Nationalist Consciousness 2 A nationalist consciousness is necessary as an antidote to colonial consciousness. Constantino (1978b: 293-94) distinguished four types of people who claim themselves to be nationalists. First, those who only pay lip service to nationalism: they are the faddists or poseurs or fair-weather nationalists who are quite dangerous since they are unreliable and can even betray or misrepresent nationalism; second, the emotional nationalists who are most often loyal to the cause but who hardly understand it and so sometimes they misrepresent nationalism; third, the purely intellectual nationalists who understand the cause but are not willing to sacrifice their comfort or position and so they accommodate the status quo; and lastly, the genuine nationalists who comprehend the cause and whose dedication is unswerving. The last group attempts to transform a pluralistic grouping of activist movements, including rightists and leftists, into a united and active front of protest and dissent. Economic Dimension Neocolonial Philippine Economy American Post-War Economic Goal. The United States economic goal after the Second World War (Constantino 1979: 3-4) was to integrate the capitalist world into a cohesive, cooperative system under its leadership. It rehabilitated the economies of its European allies, and later those of Japan and Germany, and integrated their economies to the world capitalist system. The next phase of this goal was to control the Third World economies to insure the steady supply of raw materials. In the guise of helping the economies of newly independent states develop, the First World countries sought to transform them into neocolonies, that is, to continue as appendages of the former colonizers. Economic domination by Western and Japanese transnationals was facilitated by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and in Asia by the Asian Development Bank. Cheap labor and raw materials from Third World countries would be utilized to sustain the high profits of transnational corporations (TNCs), thereby perpetuating poverty and underdevelopment. In the New International Division of Labor the TNCs transfer their low-technology, labor intensive industries to Third World countries while retaining the high-technology, capital-intensive industries in their home countries. In this regard, (1) they save on labor costs; (2) they exploit the local raw materials, utilize local credit, and sell to the local market some of their products; (3) they pass on obsolete equipment to developing nations while applying new advances in science and technology in the home front; (4) they meet the desire of less developed countries to achieve a modicum of industrialization thereby transcending extreme backwardness; and (5) they produce cheaper products that are more competitive in the international market. The continuation of poverty and underdevelopment despite so-called development programs led Third World countries to demand for a New International Economic Order where economic sovereignty would be emphasized: that is to say, the full control of natural resources and all economic activities, including the right to nationalize. The Trilateral Commission was established by the First World in 1972 to alleviate the growing dissatisfaction of the developing countries. It tried to accommodate the following: improved access to First World markets, higher prices of raw materials, and limited transfer of obsolete technology. In a sense the Third World is the battlefield of nationalism and transnationalism. Constantino contended that government policies on any development program must satisfy two conditions: they must be attuned to the weakening of imperialist control and they must benefit primarily the majority of the population.

Philippine Economic Situation. In the Philippines in 1971, 69 percent of Filipinos did not meet the basic requirements of life in terms of food, housing, clothing, fuel, and medical care. There were more Filipino families below the poverty line. The 1979 figures cited by Constantino indicated the worsening of poverty: the number of those belonging to the poverty level increased from 43.78 per cent in 1971 to 84 per cent (34 million Filipinos) in 1979. Constantino (1979: 15-16) explained this as the result of foreign control of the Philippine economy, that is, mass poverty and underdevelopment are the by-products of the countrys neocolonial status. Many foreign companies controlled the Philippine economy from banking and finance to the simplest consumer goods for everyday use. Transnationals control processed food, soap, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, cooking oil, drugs, beverages, chemical products, electrical appliances, electrical lamps, industrial and farm machinery, transport vehicles, rubber tires, auto fuels, bathroom fixtures, and many others. Transnationals can fully own firms in pioneer industries, in Export Processing Zones, in firms exporting 70 per cent of their products, and in industries not considered overcrowded. They can repatriate their profits, estimated in 1979 as approximately two to three dollars for every dollar invested in the country. Pioneer firms are tax exempt while exporting industries can enjoy tax credits, tax deductions, and tax exemptions. The Philippines borrowed from international financing institutions to finance infrastructure projects required to attract foreign investments. The International Monetary Fund dictated the conditions of borrowing. It is controlled by capitalist states which contributed three-fourths of its capital and which controlled two-thirds of the votes. It finances infrastructure and agricultural projects but never allows substantial credit for setting up basic industries of creditor countries. It dictates when to devalue the currency and consequently the purchasing power of that currency continues to decrease over the years. The Brazilian and South Korean economic miracles, according to Constantino (1979: 22), benefited only a few while many had not been touched by such miracles. At least half of the Brazilian and South Korean populations were poor. To earn the necessary foreign exchange, South Korea exported labor and promoted tourism, even prostitution. All the South Korean wealth or profits went to Japanese and American transnationals in key and export industries and to the ruling political and technocratic elite. Likewise Philippine surplus capital all went to the TNCs and the wealthy Filipino partners. TNCs and the Imperialist Argument. Constantino (1979: 25-64) maintained that the basic imperialist argument is that the TNCs are the principal accelerator of development because they speed up industrialization, create employment, transfer technology, bring in capital, and generate foreign exchange earnings. The realities, however, are different. First, the industrialization which takes place is one that is controlled by and serves the interests of international capital. This type of development denies that country any possibility of establishing its own industrial complex. Its economy becomes a mere appendage of the global giants, the whole country a sweatshop with an unlimited supply of cheap labor. Secondly, foreign corporations do not appreciably contribute to employment. In 1970 some 120,400 workers were directly employed by foreign investors which was only one percent of the employment figure. In 1973, for example, Del Monte saved more for its pineapple plantations in the Philippines than in Hawaii in that it paid the Filipino worker only 15 cents rather than $2.64 an hour for a Hawaiian worker. Thirdly, the technology transferred to the Philippines is made only in the geographic sense, for it remains in the hands of transnational corporations. Filipinos have minimal access to such technology and therefore are denied the opportunity to add to their stock of industrial knowledge and skills. Fourthly, 90% of patent holders in the Philippines are foreigners, many of whom are drug transnationals which do not do any basic manufacturing in the country but only seek to prevent Filipino firms from producing and selling at lower costs the drugs which global firms now sell at exorbitant prices. In 1972, 87% or 1,500 drug patents filed

were purely imitative. Moreover, some chemicals or drugs banned in the United States found their way to the Philippines like Folidol, Gustathion, and DDT. Lastly, there seems to be mendicant policies that are based on mistaken priorities such as reliance (1) on export-oriented industries that primarily import their raw materials, (2) on the tourism industry which develops resorts and hotels that are mostly affordable only to foreign tourists and a few Filipinos, (3) on the export of manpower, (4) on export-oriented agricultural crops that eat up 55% of arable lands. Philippine economic development, according to Constantino, benefits only the transnationals and the Filipino middle and upper classes, but the peoples welfare and economic status remain untouched. What then should be done? Constantino believed in a nationalist economic alternative and in an ethics for nationalists. Nationalist Economic Alternative Historical Background. Philippine nationalism is historically associated with its long struggle for political independence. It was mistakenly believed that nationalism was accomplished after1946 when the Philippines became independent. In the neocolonialism of the 1950s, nationalism became a subversive word associated with Senator Claro M. Recto, who advocated complete independence from the United States both politically and economically. While President Carlos P. Garcias Filipino First policy began the setting up of a modest industrial base under the protection of exchange and import controls, Diosdado Macapagal, Garcias successor, dismantled economic controls in the early 1960s thereby demolishing the initail gains of economic nationalism. The economy took the firm path of development chartered by the IMF and World Bank. The nationalism that emerged during this time was the nationalism projected by the middle and upper classes of society to serve their own interests (see Constantino 1978a: 269-301). Genuine Nationalism. Constantino (1979: 71) believes that genuine nationalism as an ideology of liberation must have two basic characteristics: (1) it must be mass nationalism and (2) it must be anti-imperialist. Nationalism must attain the twin goals of national and social liberation. As a consequence of these twin goals, Constantino recommended (a) the dismantling of the American bases and (b) the struggle for the national surplusan effort to ensure that the fruits of the labor of the citizens go to the national fund to be accumulated for public investments and to provide the necessary services for the people instead of being siphoned off to other countries, and (c) the unification of the various nationalist social strata for a common cause. The middle class must realize that there is a connection between imperialism and their economic woes in that they are both beneficiaries and victims of imperial control. Their economic position is steadily deteriorating due to inflation. Philippine labor should forge itself for economic unionism at the national level and not just in the fragmented individual firms. The peasantry lacks homogeneity and should be brought to the mainstream of economic nationalism. Part therefore of the leadership will have to be drawn from progressive petty bourgeois elements during the initial educational campaign for nationalism. Once united, the principal focus of the national phase will be on anti-imperialism. The labor-peasant sector by then would have grown in strength and experience. They should establish cooperatives. According to Constantino, the masses and the leaders from their ranks will then be in the front lines and will serve as the main force of the nationalist movement. This happens when mass nationalism becomes the order of the day, and unity among the various strata is essential. Constantino (1979: 76) goes on: Unity in diversity can only be achieved through constant dialogue among the various social strata having different experiences and ideological positions. In this sense, the struggle against imperialism becomes a struggle

for a new type of democracy wherein the masses have effective participation in directing the economic social and political life of a nation. Initial Phase of the Nationalist Movement. In the initial phase therefore the nationalist movement need not concern itself with radical demands (Constantino 1979: 71, 77) implicit in the advocacy of alternative systems. A broad nationalist movement is just the beginning of the process of real liberation. This nationalist movement in the initial phase may just concentrate on the minimum demand such as to restrain foreign capital and strengthen Filipino capital, both state and private, with appropriate mechanism for the activation and participation of the people (Constantino 1979: 77). Participation is a kind of education which leads to the elevation of consciousness. Only a militant population can sustain the process of national renewal. Without the element of mass participation, establishment nationalism will take over, hindering social transformation instead of ushering it. Challenge to Government. It is a challenge to the government to adopt the nationalist alternative and recognize that the general objective is that the economy must be controlled by Filipinos. The starting point should be the people. Constantino (1979: 79) maintained: Instead of a trickle-down effect, nationalists propose a bottom-up approach which will organically connect the peoples growing productivity and freedom from economic deprivation to the utilization of accumulated surpluses for investment in industrial growth that will serve the growing needs of the population. In other words, it must be recognized that basic to any decision to complete national liberation is the adoption of policies that will ensure a socially just distribution of the national product and the mobilization of the national surplus to increase productive capacity primarily for the satisfaction of the basic needs of the population. Exports should play a subordinate role to production for local basic needs. Income from exports must be devoted to capital build-up. Increased exportation should not be a goal in itself but only a consequence of accumulated surplus which will be judiciously allocated to serve the producers of wealth. The sector that now monopolizes the consumption cake will be adversely affected by the sacrifices to be made and it is expected that opposition to a nationalist leadership will come from this sector. Nationalist Austerity. There is honor in austerity and therefore national austerity should become the status symbol. The evidence of surplus is all around: (1) the various luxury and non-essential items that are consumed by a minority, and (2) the foreign exchange which transnationals siphon out in the form of profit remittancesthat come from surplus production and comprise the product of Filipino labor. Artificial and distorted private consumption must be shifted to social consumption, that is, productive factors in agriculture and industry must be harnessed for the needs of the majority. National capital must be protected against the inroads of foreign capitalists. Nationalist capitalism must be encouraged instead of driving most of Filipino capitalists into partnership with transnationals. Indigenous technology should be fully encouraged and employed in agriculture and industry. The countrys natural resources must be protected from imperialist plunder. The need for the development of heavy industry which serves as the foundation of any real industrialization must explore the possibility of availing itself of the assistance of socialist and Third World countries which are willing to transfer technology with soft-term loans, without strings attached, and which can provide stable markets for its products. It is necessary that the government should adequately respond to pressure especially coming from foreign monopoly capital by

utilizing the only force that can effectively counter such pressure, particularly the people who are united and aware of the dire consequences of foreign economic domination. The prerequisite is a counterconsciousness through a process of mass education and mass mobilization (Constantino 1979: 80-81). Nationalist Ethics Observing the nationalist ethics is essential to economic development. In Ethics for nationalists, Constantino (1970: 160-73, 1978a: 292-307) discussed the various ethical guidelines for a genuine nationalist to follow: (1) the true nationalist must be an advocate of social change; (2) s/he must adhere to the norm of commitment to a definite historical purpose; (3) s/he must unify theory and practice by self-analysis and reflection; (4) as one who rejects the status quo, s/he must offer a better alternative to the existing unwanted reality; (5) s/he must not become a bigot by constantly employing self-criticism; (6) s/he must consider the peoples interests as primary and over and above his/her own self-interests; (7) s/he must aim for the collective welfare and not for self-gratification since sincere dedication to a cause needs no publicity for the individual; (8) s/he must articulate the nationalistic spirit of the people; (9) s/he must assume the attitude of friendly understanding of diverse issues and discuss them constructively rather than assume the attitude of looking down on one who does not share his/her views (avoid crab mentality); (10) s/he must seek the roots of the present problems from the past and study the present to determine what to change in the future and how best this can be done; (11) s/he must confront the ethical and cultural realities of the present not necessarily to idealize rural living but to depict the actual state so that the necessary future changes can be delineated; (12) s/he must consciously tame his consumption habits, avoid an overattachment to things, guard against transforming luxuries as necessities for personal consumption, practice the virtue of austere living, and redirect consumption patterns to things Philippine; (13) s/he must specialize in a field that one could use in the nationalist struggle, and which s/he could make use of in a changed society: s/he must therefore be cautious in applying for or accepting foreign scholarships; (14) lastly, s/he must be selfless for what s/he advocates or chooses s/he advocates or chooses for all and not for oneself. THE CRITIQUE Colonial Setting It is understandable that colonial consciousness will develop among the natives in a colonial setting. What is not understandable is that it will continue as a dominant force during the post-colonial era. In other places, as in communist countries, decolonization is rapid and nationalism seems to be the motivation. The case of Vietnam is a clear example. The communists always call their political system as a peoples democracy because they believe the peoplethe proletariat and later the total populationhave been democratically empowered: they have a peoples rule. But unlike Vietnam, colonialism in the Philippines has not been dismantled but has been transformed into neocolonialism. There are many reasons for this transformation. Among them is the perpetuation of the use of the English language as the medium of instruction in education where, according to Constantino (1966: 54-55), the continuance of the Westernizing influence, the development of Western tastes and cultural consumerism, is assured. Second is the evident luxurious lifestyle of the ruling class who simply could not sacrifice their tastes for an austere life. Third is the development of crab mentality where one condescendingly considers the opposing views as inferior and tries to pull down the opponents through lies and other means.

Filipino as Medium of Instruction Filipino, or the Tagalog that developed in Metro Manila, can be used as a medium of instruction as a matter of national policy but it will have to confront a stiff opposition. Had the Americans left the Filipino revolutionary leaders alone and did not colonize the country, Tagalog would have been the national language since it was the language of the revolution. Today we have witnessed the rise of Ilokano nationalism and Cebuano nationalism such that these natives would rather have English instead of Tagalog as the lingua franca of the country. They object to what they call Tagalog colonialism or Tagalog imperialism. Moreover, there are claims that Filipinos have colonized the English language and it is now a Filipino language since it has developed its own vocabulary and Filipino English is now distinct from American English, British English, Canadian English, and Australian English. There are also claims that Filipino English nationalism has arrived (see Cruz 1996; Editor 1996a and 1996b; Reuters 1996a and 1996b). The issue now iscan a Filipino English nationalist adhere to Constantinos mass nationalism such that his nationalism will redound to the benefit of all and not just of the privileged few? If the answer is affirmative, then Constantino ought to welcome this kind of development. Consumerism Both industrialization and superindustrialization require consumerism. Cuban economic development is mass-based and austere but it is not democratic, so it could not embark into a global economy. China started with mass nationalism, the setting up of cooperatives, thereby involving the people in the economic development of the country with the assurance of an equitable distribution of the nations wealth (it was not a trickle-down but a bottom-up economic development). However, it was not enough: it had to open up its economy to the world by converting its centralized economy into a market economy and by joining the World Trade Organization. Constantino advocated internationalismcultural and economicon the basis of a firm nationalism. Japan and America are practising these. What is dangerous is the preaching of internationalism without a firm nationalistic foundation. In this case the country opens up itself to all sorts of cultural invasion, many of which could be deleterious to Filipino development as a global economic power. Without nationalism as a foothold, the people cannot properly select what to consume from the outside that will be good for them as a nation because it is possible that the people select only for themselves as individualsfor their own personal interestand not for all as a nationthat is, for the national interest. Constantino said that a nationalist choice is not a personal choice since a nationalist must be selfless: it is a choice for the people or the nation. Superindustrialization Constantino lived in a world which is characterized as industrial or what Alvin Toffler (1980: 1-445) called the Second Wave civilization. Constantino seemed to follow the educational theory that is currently espoused by George S. Counts and Theodore Brameld: reconstructionism as a philosophy of education (see Ozmon and Craver 1997: 171-205). In outline it argues that something is wrong with society, that education is the best agent of social change, and if the people want to reconstruct society they must first reconstruct the school by converting allthe administration, faculty, and studentry into social activistsand then use it to reconstruct society. Subjects must have social contents and about half the learning must be through the realities of life outside the classroom. Constantino advocated education as mass decolonization and mass mobilization, the study of the past to understand the present in order to shape the future. The reconstruction of society need not only involve formal education but should also be supplemented by informal education. Toffler, on the other hand, cut off the umbilical

cord of the future from the past and constructed an image of the future based on present cultural, economic, and technological trends. This image of the future will serve as the guide for educational curricular offerings. This theory is called educational futurism (see Gripaldo 2000: 113-46). How may one situate Constantinos mass nationalism in superindustrialism? Superindustrialism or Third Wave civilization will replace industrialism which is the dying Second Wave civilization. There will still be heavy industries but they will be highly computerized. A national steel mill employing some 2,400 workers will have to be replaced with a computerized steel mill of onlyas Peter Drucker (1993: 72-73) said about one-sixth highly skilled electronic workers. Superindustrialism (Toffler 1970, 1980, 1990) is characterized with rapid change; transitory attachments to things, people, places, organization, and ideas; novelty and diversity; customized rather than standardized production; the rise of adhocratic working groups which are project-oriented and temporary and which will replace most large organizations; the emergence of a supersymbolic economy where the means of exchange is through plastic cards rather than paper money; the wiping out of hunger and disease through the application of new food and drug technologies; the exploration of oceans and outer space; the return of work from the factory to the cottageor what is called the electronic cottage; the rise of prosumers or people who consume what they produce without necessarily going to the exchange market; the existence of knowledge workers who are multi-specialists and the decline of monospecialists whoaccording to Tofflerare narrowminded and fanatical; the decline of the political significance of the nation-state because of (i) tribalism or the desire for ethnic independence of cultural communities, (ii) the replacement of the nation-state by regional technopoles or regional economic organizations, and (iii) the economic activities of transnationals which bypass the national state and directly make agreements with local governments. Toffler believed superindustrialism would be fully organized by the year 2025. It began in 1956 when service or white collar workers outnumbered industrial or blue collar workers. For Third World countries, he recommended the shift from a highly agricultural economy (First Wave) to the Third Wave economy by bypassing the Second Wave civilization which is dying anyway. Former President Fidel Ramos called this shift as pole vaulting. Toffler enumerated four clusters of industries in a superindustrial society: electronics and computers, space industries, oceanic industries, and biological industries. The first cluster is very basic as it will be used in the other clusters. The Philippines right now is advancing in the first cluster: electronics and computers are its number one export products, but this cluster still has to be fully integrated and more knowledge input should be made to diversify its electronic products. The Philippines as a Third World country lags behind in superindustrialism, but if it wants to catch up, it must start making nationalistic choiceschoices not for oneself alone but for the interest of the nation as well. There is, to my mind, something that can be retained from Constantino even if one disregards the colonial past. The peoples nationalist challenge now is: do Filipinos want to become a superindustrial society on or before the year 2025? If the answer is affirmative, then by all means they must do the necessary nationalist measures of austerity, educational reorientation, and mass-based establishment of nationalist economic cooperatives. CONCLUSION The nationalist challenge is still very relevant today. There are four important items to consider: first, the replacement of colonial consciousness with a nationalist consciousness thereby doing away with colonial and crab mentality; second, the setting up of superindustrial nationalist cooperatives that will support the thrust towards creating a superindustrial society; third, the utilization of education as the means of realizing the image of the future as a superindustrial society; and fourth, the retention of the Sartrean perspective in the nationalist ethics. For Jean-Paul Sartre (1964: 291), when one makes a choice s/he does it not for himself/herself but for all humanity. For

Constantino, on the other hand, when a nationalist makes a choice, s/he does it not for himself/herself but for the nation as a whole. When one buys a shampoo, for example, one ought to ask oneself: is this a product made by a Filipino company? If the quality and price are not much different from imported brands and/or brands produced by foreign firms in the country, then the nationalist buyer must choose what is to the interest not only of oneself but of the nation as well, that is to say, one ought to buy a shampoo made by a Filipino company or by a Filipino-foreign joint venture or by a transnational company based in the country, in that order. Otherwise, in the absence of any of the aforecited, the nationalistall things being equalmay buy the imported one or may attempt to use an appropriate herbal substitute. Eventually, of course, a Third World country, once economically strong, will graduate from nationalism to internationalism, that is, the regionalism of the regional technopole. This action is one step towards globalism where economic choices to be made are choices not for oneself but for humanity as a whole.

NOTES 1. This paper was delivered on 1 December 1999 as a professorial chair lecture at the Ariston Estrada Seminar Room, De La Salle University, in fulfillment of the Ariston Estrada Sr. II Professorial Chair in Liberal Arts. 2. For Constantino (1966: 96), nationalism is an expression of the reality that we have a country of our own, which must be kept our own. Its political expression is independence, which means the freedom to plan and work out our national goals without outside interference and with our national interest as the principal criterion. Its economic expression is industrialization with the desire to consciously control the management of our resources. While accepting the aid and cooperation of its technologically more advanced sister nations. . . , it insists on full control of its economic destiny. Its cultural expression is the development of a culture that is rooted in our own heritage, admits of foreign influences, but retains its distinct and separate identity. REFERENCES Constantino, Renato. 1966. The Filipinos in the Philippines and other essays. Quezon City: Malaya Books, Inc. _______________. 1970. Dissent and counter-consciousness. Manila: Erehwon. _______________.1978a. The Philippines: The continuing past. Quezon City: Foundation for nationalist studies. _______________.1978b. Neocolonial identity and counter-consciousness. Edited by Istvan Meszaros. London: Merlin Press. _______________.1979. The nationalist alternative. Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist Studies. Cruz, Isagani R. 1996. English is a Filipino language. Starweek, 11 August. Drucker, Peter. 1993. Postcapitalist society. New York: Harper Business. Editor. 1996a. Is this English? Philippine Daily Inquirer, 20 August. ______________. 1996b. Drawing the line. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 20 August. Gripaldo, Rolando. 2000. La Sallian education in the future tense. : International Journal of Philosophy 29. Hofstadter, Richard. 1964. Anti-intellectualism in American life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Merrill, Harwood F., ed. 1970. Classics of management. Manila: National Book Store, Inc. Owen, Robert. 1970. An address to the superintendent of manufactories. In Classics of management. Edited by Harwood F. Merrill. USA: American Management Association, Inc.; reprint ed. Manila: National Book Store, Inc. Ozmon, Howard A. and Samuel A. Craver. 1997. Philosophical foundations of education. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

10

Reuters. 1996a. English is now ours, we have colonized it. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12 August. ______________. 1996b. Asia now claims English as its own. The Straits Times, 12 August. Toffler, Alvin. 1970. Future shock. New York: Bantam Books. _______________.1980. The third wave. New York: Bantam Books. Sartre, Jean-Paul. 1964. Existentialism is a humanism. In Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Edited by Walter Kaufmann. Cleveland: World Publishing Company

11