The Filipinos first encountered the English language when British ships arrive at Manila, the capital of

the Philippines, during the Battle of Manila although the language flourished during the American
occupation. The Philippines became an insular area of the United States when the Philippines was ceded
by Spain to the United States for US$20 million dollars in the 1898 Treaty of Paris after the defeat of
Spain in the Spanish-American War after being a colony of Spain for more than three centuries. The
Philippines then remain an insular area of the United States until 1946 when the Philippines gained
independence from the Americans. [2]

In 1901, a group of around five 500 American educators called “Thomasites” (derived from the USS
Thomas, the transport ship that brought them to the Philippines) replaced the American soldiers who
also functioned as teachers. They were sent to the Philippines to establish a new highly centralized
public school system, to teach basic education and to train Filipino teachers using English as the medium
of instruction. In 1902, more American teachers followed the Thomasites bringing the total count of
American teachers to about 1,074 [3] .

In 1935, English was officially added as an official language alongside Spanish in the 1935 Constitution of
the Republic of the Philippines. [4] 38 years later, during the promulgation of the 1973 Constitution,
English remained as an official language adding Filipino and dropping Spanish during the process. [5] The
stature of English as an official language remains until today as stated by the 1987 Constitution. [6]

Get Help With Your Essay

If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!

At present, based on the census released by the Philippine government in 2005, the Philippines has
27,000 people who considers English as their first language and 42,500,000 who regard it as a second
language which brings the total of English speakers in the Philippines to 45,900,000 making it the 5th
largest English-speaking nation behind the United States, India, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom. [7]

English and its Economic Importance

The Americans, during their 48-year occupation, influenced the Filipinos in a lot of ways: the American
education system, the American form of government, the American Dream and the Western culture to
name a few. But the most important gift that the Americans have imparted the Filipinos may have been
the English language.

English is used in the Philippines by media and various educated Filipinos. English is widely used in the
education field. It is considered as a major subject and is taught in the Philippines from grade one to
college and is the medium of instructions in many schools. Most school textbooks for subjects such as
Biology, Physics, Mathematics and others are printed in English and are rarely has Filipino versions. Also,
for highly technical subjects such as nursing, medicine, computing, and calculus, English is the preferred
medium for textbooks, communication, etc. Aside from education, it is also used religious affairs, print
and broadcast media, and business. Movies and TV programs in English are not subtitled and are
expected to be directly understood. [8]

The most significant contribution of the English language to the Philippines though might be on the
socio-economic field. Due to the Filipinos strong command of the English language, several
opportunities opened for their country. These opportunities are mainly: overseas employment, the
outsourcing industry, tourism, and enrollment of international students in the Philippines.