The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 1 of 2)

by Dean C. Worcester

We were extremely fortunate in the men whose services we secured in the early days, and the volume of research work turned out was unexpectedly large. The question of how best to arrange for the prompt publication of our results became urgent, and in the end we answered it by publishing the Philippine Journal of Science, now in its eighth year and with an assured and enviable position among the scientific journals of the world.

In the early days before we knew what we now know about the preservation of health in tropical countries there was a deal of sickness among government officers and employees. While the army was more than liberal in helping us meet the conditions which arose, it was of course very necessary that we should establish our own hospital as soon as possible.

On October 12, 1901, the so-called “Civil Hospital” was opened in a large private dwelling, obtained, as we then fondly imagined, merely as a temporary expedient. Together with two adjoining and even smaller buildings it continued to be our only place for the treatment of ordinary medical and surgical cases until September 1, 1910! I can here only very briefly outline the causes of this long delay.

At the outset the building was large enough to meet immediate needs. At the time when it began to grow inadequate there was a plan on foot for a large private institution, in which the government was to secure accommodations for its patients, and a hospital building was actually erected, but interest in this project waned, the private backing which was believed to have been assured for it failed, and the whole scheme went by the board. Then plans for a great general hospital were called for. A very large amount of time was consumed in their preparation and when they were finished the expense involved in carrying them out was found to be far beyond the means of the government. Ultimately I was charged with the duty of securing other plans involving a more moderate expenditure. Again long delay necessarily ensued. When semi-final plans were submitted, the consulting architect insisted on a series of arches along the sides of the several ward pavilions which were doubtless most satisfying from an artistic point of view, but would have shut off light and fresh air to an extent which I could not tolerate. A three months’ deadlock was finally broken by his acceding to my wishes, but in October, 1906, just as the completed plans were finally ready to submit to the commission, I was compelled by severe illness to return to the United States. There remained three American and three Filipino members of the commission. One of the former was Mr. W. Morgan Shuster, then secretary of public instruction. Prior to the time when he became a candidate for a secretaryship he had been bitter in his criticism of the Filipinos. Coincidently with the development of this ambition he became almost more pro-Filipino than some of the Filipino politicians themselves. For a time he seemed to control the Filipino vote on the commission and largely as a result of his activities every important matter which I left pending, including that of the establishment of the great general hospital so vitally needed by the people of the islands, was laid on the table. I was informed that Mr. Shuster had announced that we could have $125,000 for the hospital and no more! We needed $400,000.

Beginning on the day after my return the following April these several projects, including that for the Baguio Hospital and that for the Philippine General Hospital. were taken from the table and passed.

Construction work goes slowly in the tropics. One ward pavilion of the Philippine General Hospital was occupied on September 1, 1910. Soon afterward the four others came into use.

On June 10, 1907, a medical college was opened. It was called “The Philippine Medical School.” Its creation at this time was made possible by the existence of the Bureaus of Science and Health. Its staff was at the outset recruited very largely from these two bureaus. The director of the Bureau of Science was made its dean and continued to hold this position until his death. To his unselfish efforts and to those of the director of health is due the well-organized modern college which we have to-day. In lieu of better quarters the first classes were held in an old Spanish government building which was altered and added to until it answered the purpose reasonably well.

The preparation of the act which provided for the establishment of this college was intrusted to me. I called for the assistance of a committee of technical experts and asked that they submit a draft for my consideration, which they did. It contained a provision to the effect that the college should be under the administrative control of the secretary of the interior. I struck out the words “secretary of the interior” and inserted in lieu thereof the words “secretary of public instruction” for two reasons. First, the school theoretically belongs under that official, in spite of its necessarily close relationship with the Bureau of Science and the Bureau of Health. Second, I wanted the support of the secretary of public instruction for the measure, as it involved considerable expenditure and I was not sure how the bill might fare in the commission. It happened that the incumbent of that position was very much inclined to take a liberal view of bills which extended his jurisdiction. Mr. Taft, when he visited the Philippines in 1909, reached the conclusion that I was guilty of an error of judgment in doing this, and a little later expressed the view that the Medical College ought to be under the control of the secretary of the interior, because of its intimate relationship with the bureaus above mentioned. I might perhaps even then have had this change made, but refrained from attempting to do so, believing that all would go well under the existing arrangement. So long as Dr. Freer lived this was the case.

He was a man of absolute honesty and sincerity of purpose, and was far-seeing enough fully to realize that the interests of the government, and of individuals as well, would best be served by carrying out the broad and liberal policy which was then in effect.

The next event of importance was the establishment of the University of the Philippines, which was provided for by an Act passed on June 18, 1908.