ABOUT
US
“The American
Association of the Philippines…was bred of an idea and born of
a specific necessity…”
The American Association of the Philippines constitution
states: “…founded on the concept of community interest,
welfare, and responsibility.
It is non-commercial.
It is non-political. Its purpose is the general welfare
of United States citizens.
…the American Association invites the membership,
cooperation and mutual assistance of United States citizens
residing in the Philippines….”
The key words are “community interest’, a concept
deeply ingrained in American life since the frontier days when
neighbors “raised a barn” in mutual aid.
The Americans in the Philippines in 1900s and into the
1930s were a close-knit community, drawn together by the shared
uncertainties in a new environment. This was most true of the
business community. Most
Americans then owned their companies or had a free hand in
directing them and often met for discussions on how to deal with
unfamiliar problems. There was an unspoken agreement that no
fellow-American could be allowed to be abandoned in a situation
of need. Serious cases would be brought to the Governor-General and
his staff.
However,
most hardship cases were handled by the American business
community itself, informally and promptly.
A sick child was afforded treatment; a bright student was
provided funds for his education. Over the years, it became a
habit to rely on ones fellow Americans in the community in cases
of need of all kinds.
All changed after World War II.
After liberation, the community had to deal with far
different problems widespread loss of businesses, total
destruction of property, post-internment deaths in a community
already depleted by causalities of the war, and the displacement
of peoples who had lost entire families – husbands to battle,
wives and children to war-time diseases.
Above
all, the adjustment to Philippine Independence (in 1946) brought
Americans into a new relationship with each other, as well as
with the Filipinos. These factors destroyed the prewar informality of the
business community.
Cases of need that were neither diplomatic, commercial,
nor military became the special
concern of a new organization, the newly formed American
Association of the Philippines. The Association preserved the early spirit of working
together in community endeavor.
Four
hundred Americans attended the first general meeting, held on
January 27, 1949. In the membership drive, led by John L. Manning, a total of
2,015 members were enrolled. A committee was formed to set up
welfare programs and coordinate civic efforts with other local
American organizations.
A patriotic events committee designated George
Washington’s birthday as an annual American Association
celebration. The
first public ceremony of the Association was held on
Washington’s Birthday in 1949, at Fort Santiago and evolved
into an annual formal ball. An annual Fourth of July “Hometown
Picnic” became another fund-raiser in later years.
The American Association also holds “ownership in
trust” of the American Historical Collection Library.
The Library, located at the Ateneo de Manila University,
Quezon City, is comprised of thousands of rare or out-of-print
volumes, items of personal memorabilia, and a large collection
of historical photos, concentrated mainly on the American period
in Philippine history – from 1898 to 1946. Though not a circulating library, the Library is open daily
for the use of researchers and general readers.
Another program of particular importance is the AAP’s
Rh Negative Blood Donor List, initiated in 1958, in
response to the extreme rarity of this blood type in Asia. This
remains a most important service of the AAP and may be called
upon by members and non-members, anyone in need. Anyone with Rh
– blood type is strongly urged to submit their name and
contact details to AAP. The life saved might just be that
person's.
However, the main purpose of American Association is
social welfare. Times have changed and the Association's
clients are no longer “old-timers”; many are their
offspring, or other Americans
- or may be of American lineage, and have no access to
Philippine welfare organizations and none that cater to
Americans in the U.S.
Thus the AAP assists in cases of proven need, to assure
they have adequate food, medicine, shelter, and educational or
legal assistance – whatever is needed.
Other
beneficiaries include travelers in genuine need; those seeking
repatriation, and Americans held in Philippine prisons.
The Association also provides for burial of indigent
Americans, maintaining the Association's burial plot at the
North Cemetery and The American Teacher’s plot, the final
resting place of the Thomasites, the first American
teachers who came in to the Philippines in 1901.
Former American Ambassador Henry A. Byroade once remarked
that the AAP was the only post he has served in, or indeed knew
of abroad, where such a group as the American Association
exists. “…to
look after the welfare of United States citizens”…and,
more lately, those of American lineage.
Compiled
from articles by Frank Tenny (first Vice-President of AAP –
1948-49); ACCP Journal, April 1951, and Anne Miller (script
writer for Voice of America); The Bulletin, American Historical
Collection – Vol.I, June 1972
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