Sunday, November 12, 2017

"Sangre Roja" - association of San Narciso public school teachers in the 1900's

There was no Gabaldon school building yet in San Narciso in 1910. The first one would be built in 1913 although the Gabaldon law (Act 1801), which appropriated Pesos 1-Million for constructing schools based on the designs of architect William Parsons all over the country, was enacted in 1907.


Male teachers, provincial representatives in a PTA event, 1909. Two of them are from Zambales.
Source: Cover of The Filipino Teacher, June, 1909..

The public school teachers of San Narciso though organized a society they called "Sangre Roja." There could have been a strong reason for them to adopt that name, which means "red blood" but which we can not seem to deduce from what "The Filipino Teacher" reported as "the tendency of this society [of being] (1) Recreative, and (2) Instructive."

"The Filipino Teacher" was the monthly magazine of the Philippine Teachers' Association (PTA) edited in English, Spanish and Tagalog. The San Narciso teachers belonged to the Zambales Teachers' Association, which became the provincial committee of the PTA in 1908. 

In their organizational meeting held in the hall of the Presidencia, the "Sange Roja" elected the following officers:  President - Mr. Victor Amos Altardino, Secretary - Mr. Marcos Fuerte,       Treasurer - Miss Maria Guidilla, and Vocales [Board members]: Mr. Gervacio Fedalizo, Miss Marcelina Academia, Miss Perfecta Amos, Miss Francisca Firme, Mr. Alejandro Dumlao, Mr. Esteban Guidilla.

That meeting was followed by an "interesting program", according to the magazine report which featured the following: 


1.  Preliminary talk by the President of the association “Sangre Roja” Mr. Victor Amos Altardino.

2.  Recitation, the Book of the Year, by Miss Maria Villanueva

3.  Flores Orientales, Waltz by the band of the Municipality

4.  Conference about the important [sic] of Poultry Raising by Mr. Victorio Posadas

5.  Morena Carmen, Waltz by the Band of the Municipality.

6.  Debate. Resolved that it is more beneficial for a girl to stay at home than to go to school

Affirmative – Miss Perfecta Amos, Mr. Benito Ebuen, and Mr. Apolonio Academia
Negative – Miss Marcelina Academia, Mr. Donato Amon and Mr. Pablo Cawagas

7.   Star Spangle[d] Banner and Marcha Nacional Filipina

We read several school programs in the early 1900/s in other places that featured a debate. This could have been an exercise for mastering the English language, an oral test for both the teachers and their students.

Our Narcisenian teachers of 1910 could have been on the job ever since the Americans introduced the new educational system in 1901. Some were qualified to teach after going through the crash course in the English language; others, after passing the Intermediate school (Grade 7), and later, completion of the high school course.. The Zambales High School in Iba was established in 1908, and if there were any Narcisenians there, they graduated in 1912. Eventually, graduates of the Normal School became the leading figures in the school system.

In those early years, there were more male teachers than female. Pensionados to the U.S. were mostly men. 'Gender-fair' was not yet in the vocabulary, and the salary was not equal between the two sexes..

Salaries were either insular (from the national government) or municipal (from the town coffers). The American teachers were paid more than their Filipino counterparts. Every time the Americans were given a raise, the Filipino teachers complained through "The Filipino Teacher" of the "unfair" treatment, and wondered when they would also enjoy the "limpak limpak" salary the Americans got. The Tagalog phrase was from an article in the Tagalog section of the magazine.

Although "the service is open to both sexes, however, on identical terms, and in many provinces, the women teachers receive an average larger salary than the men."  In 1904, for example, "the average salary for a native teacher [was] highest in the city of Manila ... P 72.67 per month for men teachers and P70.16 for women teachers; and it is lowest in Paragua [Palawan] .. P7.50 for the men and P 7.75 for the women. ... [In] Zambales, P9.92 for men and P11.37 for women." 

Thus in 1904, the maestros of San Narciso received an annual salary of  P119.04, while the maestras were paid  P136.44, The Americanos received more than a thousand pesos each.


Note: The teachers in the picture as numbered: 1.Mr. Anastacio Quijano (Gen. Secretary of The Filipino Teacher); 2. Mr. Bernardo Elayda (Zambales); 3.Mr. Francisco de Mesa (Pampanga); 4. Mr. Ciriaco de Leon (Bulacan); 5. Mr. Guillermo Santos (Pres., Executive Board); 6. Mr. Leoncio R. Gonzales (Advisor and Gen. Secretary Protempore); 7. Mr. Militon Cruz (Bulacan); 8. Mr. Emilio PestaƱo (Manila); 9. Mr. Hugo de la Torre (Batangas); 10. Mr. Pablo de Guia (Cavite); 11. Mr. Miguel Nicdao (Pampanga); 12. Mr. Pedro Manalo (Rizal);13. Mr. Teodorico Bauson (Pangasinan);14.  Mr. Brigido Santos (Rizal); 15. Mr. Quirino Perez (Pangasinan); 16.  Mr. Zosimo Topacio (Cavite); and 17.  Mr. Marciano Peralta (Zambales).

References:

1. Report on "Sangre Roja" in The Filipino Teacher, 4:3(4), August, 1910.


2. Report on the approval of  Zambales Teachers' Association as provincial committee of PTA in The Filipino Teacher, 2:6(6), December 1908.


3. Annual Report of the General Superintendent of Education. September, 1904. Manila: Bureau of Public Printing. pp 17-25.


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