Copyright Quisumbing Family 2007. All rights reserved.
remarkable work of Dr.
Brumburgh at the Department of Education in Puerto Rico and he recommended that
younger children be sent at an early age to mature much earlier than the boys
and girls of his own country. In view of these revelations, Col. Edwards in
early 1903 at St. Louis, Missouri had many opportunities to talk to
representatives of many foreign governments, especially the Chinese Minister,
who talked about sixty Chinese children in various minor institutions and the
government proposal to set aside a considerable amount of money for this purpose
every year.
Dr. Young’s role in the movement to educate Filipino students in the United
States is not intended to be unduly emphasized but rather motivate among
American educators who at the start were interested in the movement. One of the feasible
proposals to educate Filipinos in the United States was submitted by Lt. Col.
R.H. Pratt, superintendent of the Indian Training School at Carlisle,
Pennsylvania. Pratt accepted Puerto Ricans at this school in 1889. In his letter
to Prof. Young, Col. Edwards commented that it is not wise to send Filipinos to
this school for Indians or to Booker Washington School for Negroes. On the other
hand, Col. Edwards through the cooperation of the Civil Service Commission was
able to secure free scholarships for Filipinos from colleges and schools,
excluding the expenses for transportation and
maintenance.11
On August 26, 1903, the Taft Commission passed an act authorizing the spending of government funds in dollars for 100 Filipino students selected and appointed on their aptitudes for certain fields of knowledge to pursue college degrees in the United States. This law empowered the Civil Governor (William H. Taft) in his official capacity to select and appoint this number of students with or without competitive examinations to obtain education in that country at government expenses. These students must be Philippine natives of good moral character and sound physical health between sixteen and twenty-five years old.12 Each selected student was subjected to a thorough physical examination by a designated physician of the Civil Governor whose favorable report of this examination was the final basis for his appointment. This appointed student had to obey the rules and regulations as adopted, take an oath of allegiance to the American government and sign a contract with the approval of his parents or guardian if he is below twenty one years old. After the completion of his studies within the prescribed time allotment in conformity with this Act and agreement, he must return to the Philippines and in two months take a non-competitive or competitive civil service examination to qualify for such grade or position during which he had one year to assume such position.13
Each appointed student received a yearly amount of five hundred dollars for his school expenses and maintenance (board and lodging) and for his traveling expenses to his assigned institution in the United States. He was also given the same travel expenses from his assigned institution to Manila, Philippines upon the completion of his four-year studies.14
Starting from 1904 onward, the division superintendents of the entire country conducted competitive examinations to secure a number of students best qualified to study in the United States and who possessed the qualifications enumerated earlier on or before March 31st of each year. All superintendents had to submit a full report of such examinations to the General Superintendent of Education who had to certify to the Civil Governor through the Secretary of Public Instruction the candidates who obtained not less than 75% in each subject for appointment. The said Governor accordingly appointed a number of students so certified in accordance with the resolution of the Commission.15 Out of the hundred students appointed by the Civil Governor, thirteen of them were selected and appointed for agriculture and mechanical arts and sciences and twelve for any course of special instruction as approved by the said Governor.16 Emilio and other members of the 1903 first batch did not take the first competitive examinations which were yet to be scheduled in March 1904 as provided by law. They were to be selected and appointed even without such examinations immediately at the discretion of the Civil Governor.17 This batch was possibly the only batch exempted from competitive examinations for the selection and appointment of pensionados as noted above. Emilio who had graduated his Bachelor of Arts from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in 190018 (not Liceo de Manila as stated in the recommendation for his appointment) was recommended for appointment solely on the basis of his previous academic record being unsurpassed among 100 students and his inclination to civil engineering as shown by his analytical aptitude. Prior to his appointment he had showed remarkable progress in the study of the English language for the last six months.19
The same Act also provided for the appointment of an agent by the Civil Governor under the supervision of the Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs. He took charge of receiving the students in the United States, of providing their transportation to their respective assigned institutions, of making all arrangements for their admissions to those assigned institutions, and of looking into the care, welfare and progress of each student.20 Thus, the Civil Governor on August 28, 1903 appointed William Alex Sutherland who assumed his duties as a pensionado agent officially known as the superintendent of Filipino students on September 1. He remained in office until December 1, 1906 when he was granted a year’s leave of absence to take charge of the Philippine exhibition at the Jamestown Exposition.21
In choosing the first 100 pensionados, Sutherland helped in determining seventy five of them from the public schools distributed throughout the country on the basis of population and importance of the provinces. The remaining twenty five selected at large were appointed by a committee consisting of a member of the Philippine Commission, the Executive Secretary and Mr. Sutherland. The candidates who took a test in English proficiency and showed considerable fluency in that language were appointed. From the time of their arrival in Manila to the day of their departure, the pensionados attended Sutherland’s lectures regarding clothing, behavior and manners as well as to the customs and characteristics of Americans.22
These appointed students were popularly known as the pensionados. This special educational program which started in 1903 ended in 1914 when only one student was qualified to study under this program. On their return, they were immediately hired by the government for various positions, an asset in the Filipinization of the government during the Harrison administration (1913-1921).23 The decreased number of one or two pensionados from 1909 to 1914 except 1913 could be explained in to ways: (1) the establishment of the University of the Philippines led many government officials to think that Filipinos could serve the people better by studying in this institution rather than in American universities for their training and (2) due to insufficient training in the Philippines many of the original appointees
