I appreciate the narrative style opted to describe the relations between the two countries, which makes it interesting and engaging. The report tracks the relations historically and highlights the issues that determine relations between the two countries.
Perhaps the best way to capture the complexities of U.S. and Philippine relations is not through the foreign policy posturing of either country but through their shared history of political, economic, and cultural ties: Filipino migration to the United States. This relationship has become a news frame and starting point of analysis of Philippine media by demonstrating the intricate, intercultural ties and tropic representations of Filipino migrants fulfilling the so-called American Dream. The phenomenon was initiated via colonial ties but was cemented by imbibing the American ethos of freedom, upward mobility, and modern opportunity. The US Immigration Act of 1924 allowed Filipinos, then colonial subjects, to bypass quota numbers set by the US to limit “undesirables” settling in their country. Such ethos extends the U.S. colonial narratives of benevolent assimilation and the generosity to teach Filipinos to become modern and democratic after 300 years of Spanish colonial rule (San Juan, 2024, p. xii). American values took hold when Filipinos studied in the U.S. or were admitted as migrants who could tell stories about how they made it in America. For nearly a century, migration to the U.S. brought Filipinos to work in sugar plantations in Hawaii, farmlands in California, salmon canneries in Alaska, and hospitals all over the U.S. as nurses and medical workers.
Their success stories are inseparable from the narrative of the fate and destiny of the country that had progressed under the American tutelage. Moreover, even after independence in 1945, Filipinos continue to benefit from such colonial ties. However, absent from the success narratives are references to racism, exploitation, exclusion, and discrimination that many of the nearly four million migrants in the U.S. have experienced. From the media mapping and news frames about Filipino-American migrants, stories are more likely about their economic power and social capital by their education, command of the English language, and steadfast grit.
Two issues are important for Filipino migrants in the U.S. and their families in the Philippines: immigration and the U.S. and Philippine defense alliance to deal with the South China Sea issue. In their stories, Filipino journalists covering the U.S. elections compared the stand of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on migration and military response to China’s position at the South China Sea (CMFR Staff, 2024). In terms of military defense, the Philippines will continue to be the ally of the U.S., no matter who the president is, but a Trump presidency is predicted to have a more combative stance on China’s military presence in the South China Sea. Many Filipino migrants in the U.S. send dollars to support their families in the Philippines. The Biden administration was seen as friendlier, while Trump was portrayed as strict during his first term as president, even pushing for mass deportation of migrants. Thus, changes in the migration policies will affect the dollar remittances, displace Filipinos in the U.S. with shaky migration status, and prevent the unification of families in the U.S. In other words, news reporting on the U.S. elections reflects the personal, family, community, and geopolitical concerns of Filipino Americans and their families in the Philippines (CMFR Staff, 2024).
The U.S. election stories are framed from the Filipino diaspora’s assessment of U.S.-Philippine relations. The assessments were based on ethnic, family, and kinship ties dispersed across the states in the U.S. rather than on ideology-based evaluation. These cognitive frames are evident in the coverage of the 2024 U.S. elections. While there are newspapers owned by Filipinos in the U.S., it is better to analyze the newspapers based in Manila that covered the November 2024 U.S. elections by sending their reporters or using the reports sent by their U.S.-based correspondents and contributors.
An examination of the reporting on the 2024 U.S. elections by the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) and Manila Bulletin (MB) intends to capture the complexities of U.S. and Philippine relations through the lens of Filipino migration to the U.S. The reportage demonstrates a high cooperative relationship between the Philippines and the United States in news coverage of the U.S. presidential election. Above and beyond the political alliances, shared foreign policy goals, trade relations, and international voting alignments, the soft power of the U.S. occupation and its cultural embeddedness has nurtured a level of dependency in the Philippines and its media which shapes journalists’ and media organizations’ ontological position towards important political events in the U.S. Despite PDI’s and MB’s positions on opposite ends of the spectrum of political discourse, PDI’s critiques and MB’s support of current administrative decisions will always confront one another within the boundaries of US-Philippine political collaboration. This creates an arena where debate may be practiced, and the skepticism of investigative journalism may continue to hold both countries’ administrations responsible for the fate of its people in the Philippines and the growing Filipino-American diaspora, while maintaining conditions of political, military, and security alliance.
In all, the reports on the 2024 U.S. elections in the two newspapers will be examined for cooperation on their portrayal of the relations between the U.S. and the Philippines.
References
CMFR Staff. (2024). PH Media’s lens on US Elections: Geopolitics, Populism, and Economic Impact. Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.
San Juan, E. Jr. (2024). Recognizing Apolinario Mabini: Inquiries into the Struggle for Justice and Sovereignty. The University of the Philippines Press.
Subingsubing, K. (2024, November 6). 2.14M Fil-Am voters crucial in battleground states. Philippine Daily Inquirer. https://globalnation.inquirer.net/254505/2-14m-fil-am-voters-crucial-in-battleground-states