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{{Short description|Idea that all the affairs of the Philippines are decided in the capital region Metro Manila}}Imperial Manila () is a pejorative epithet used by sectors of Filipino society and non-Manileños to express the idea that all the affairs of the Philippines, whether in politics, economy and business or culture, are decided by what goes on in the capital region, Metro Manila, without considering the needs of the rest of the country, largely because of centralized government and urbanite snobbery.BOOK, Martínez, David, A Country of Our Own: Partitioning the Philippines, 202, Bisaya Books, 2004, Los Angeles, California, 978-0-9760613-0-4, Empirical research finds that Imperial Manila and its persistence over time has led to prolonged underdevelopment in Philippine provinces.JOURNAL, Tusalem, R. F., 2019, Imperial Manila: How institutions and political geography disadvantage Philippine provinces, Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 5, 3, 235–269, 10.1177/2057891119841441, 159099808,weblink This sentiment is sometimes expressed by the proverb "Not a leaf can fall in our country without Malacañang's permission."{{efn|An example of this proverb's use can be found the following quote from David C. Martínez: [W]e've left sacred and untouched, spotless and unsullied, the same centralist authority where near-absolute political power continues to reside: Imperial Manila. My father spoke the truth when he used to lament in Cebuano, "Wa y dahong mahulog sa atong nasud nga di mananghid sa Malacañang" (Not a leaf can fall in our country without Malacañang's permission)BOOK, Martínez, David, A Country of Our Own: Partitioning the Philippines, 447, Bisaya Books, 2004, Los Angeles, California, 978-0-9760613-0-4, }} Another expression of Manila's powerful influence was voiced by National Artist of the Philippines Nick Joaquin, who said, "When Manila sneezes, the Philippines catches cold."BOOK, Joaquin, Nick, Nick Joaquin, Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young, Anvil Publishing, Inc., 1990, City of Manila, 978-9715693134,

History

It is unknown when the term was first used, but there are political writers, particularly those living outside Metro Manila, who associate this term with the People Power Revolution because it was believed that the country's former president, Ferdinand Marcos, was toppled from his position without the participation of Filipinos living in areas outside of the capital region. In the 1970s, Marcos borrowed US$2.5 billion from the World Bank in order to establish Manila as a globally-competitive city. The funding facilitated government-backed expenditures on infrastructure and urban developments that displaced and relocated the urban poor while benefitting elites, who were able to profit.JOURNAL, Ortega, Arnisson Andre C., 2016-03-01, Manila's metropolitan landscape of gentrification: Global urban development, accumulation by dispossession & neoliberal warfare against informality, Geoforum, 70, 35–50, 10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.02.002, In an article published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, Amando Doronila wrote that:{{cquote|People power movements have been an Imperial Manila phenomenon. Their playing field is EDSA. They have excluded the provincianos from their movement with their insufferable arrogance and snobbery...ignoring the existence of the toiling masses and peasants in agrarian Philippines.NEWS, Amando, Doronila, Time for paradigm shift, August 28, 2006, A1, Philippine Daily Inquirer, }}

Uses

Politics

The term was used by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her 2006 State of the Nation Address, which she said has "slowed down progress, has become open to over-competition and oppressed the provinces and its people".WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060828213220weblink">weblink dead, August 28, 2006, 2006 State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, July 24, 2006, tl, 2008-02-14, It was because of the country's centralized government that provincial governments favor constitutional amendments for a shift to federal government, as well as supporting Arroyo and rejecting calls from Manila-based activist groups demanding for her resignation due to corruption charges particularly the Philippine National Broadband Network controversy.NEWS, Arroyo pushing for federal government, August 2, 2004, Taipei Times,weblink 2008-02-14, NEWS, Cynthia, Balanan, Ramos still for Arroyo; governors go all out, February 14, 2008, Philippine Daily Inquirer,weblink et al, February 14, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080215015551weblink">weblink February 15, 2008, dead, Local opinion polls have also been lambasted for solely sampling "Imperial Manila-based residents" when it comes to surveys that deal with nationwide issues.WEB, Cruz, Rafael A.,weblink Lucrative Industry, Philippine Broadcasting Service, March 22, 2006, tl, 2008-02-14,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080325214649weblink">weblink March 25, 2008, dead, Meanwhile, the term also appears in government websites such as those of the League of Provinces and the Province of Bohol.WEB,weblink Govs give PGMA ovation for her SONA and social payback programs, League of Provinces of the Philippines official website, August 14, 2007, 2008-02-14, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070904144018weblink">weblink 2007-09-04, NEWS, June S., Blanco, Guv calls for sobriety, February 16, 2007, Bohol.gov.ph,weblink 2008-02-14, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080326205021weblink">weblink 2008-03-26, Sara Duterte-Carpio, Vice President of the Philippines, former mayor of Davao City and daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, questions the use of 1976 song Manila by Hotdog during the parade of Team Philippines at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games opening ceremony. She claims the title is capital-centric and does not represent the whole country, even suggesting to use budots instead since her fellow Davaoeños "invented" it.WEB, Sy Cua, Aric John, Sara hits song choice in SEA Games opening,weblink ManilaTimes.net, 2 December 2019, The Manila Times, 30 November 2020,

Economy

{{See also|Internal colonialism}}Officials of the Mindanao-based group Moro Islamic Liberation Front have blamed "Imperial Manila" for making the Muslim Mindanao region the poorest in the country, stating that "the consequence of neocolonialism has deprived our people to run themselves unfettered and unhampered." Government figures show that the region's poverty incidence in 2006 is at 55.3%, with three of its six provinces (namely Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur) listed among the country's ten poorest provinces.NEWS, 'Imperial Manila' blamed for poverty in ARMM, GMANews.tv, March 10, 2008,weblink "Imperial Manila" is also used by many in the business sector in reference to the notion that advertising or marketing a product only requires a single campaign that would work in Mega Manila (another Manila-centric term used most frequently by the media), thinking that it would also attract customers in the provinces. Advertising agencies in Metro Manila are also faulted for publishing print advertisements in Manila-based newspapers that would reach other cities by mid-morning (when the residents have already read their own local daily) or running a television commercial at a primetime slot of 21:00 in Manila while the rest of the country is already asleep.WEB,weblink The Myopia of Manila Marketers, Adformatix.com, February 14, 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110707083322weblink">weblink July 7, 2011, dead, In 2009, economists from the University of the Philippines and the World Bank made statements encouraging the Philippine government to further concentrate national economic activity within Metro Manila rather than disperse it around the country.NEWS, Economists say Manila should become more dense,weblink 24 November 2015, ABS-CBNNews.com, Agence France-Presse, January 12, 2009, Meanwhile, in some parts of Luzon, in some scattered areas in the Visayas and in Mindanao, rolling blackouts happen almost daily.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} Metro Manila commuters, too, many of whom have had to leave their families in other parts of the country in order to look for work, suffer from the effects of traffic congestion.WEB,weblink Agenda of the next president: Traffic | Inquirer News, 16 February 2016, NEWS, Magkilat, B., September 6, 2015, How do you solve a problem like Manila traffic?, Manila Bulletin,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150910032340weblink">weblink September 10, 2015,

Culture

{{see also|Cultural hegemony}}The term is also used, particularly in Cebu, in conjunction with the perceived imposition of the Tagalog language,WEB,weblink Quimco, Ver, Insulto, Insulto, Insulto, Call for Justice, Inc. official website, ceb, 2008-02-14,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080325200017weblink">weblink 2008-03-25, Almario, V. S. (2009, February 26). Mga unang bayani ng wikang pambansa. Retrieved fromweblink which is the language not just of Manila but also of many of the country's other provinces, as a national language.WEB,weblink Filipino, the language that is not one, 21 August 2015, The provincial government of Cebu has even mandated that the national anthem be sung in Cebuano as a form of linguistic protest,WEB, The Clamor for recognition of Cebuano,weblink Bisaya.info, 2008-02-14, in spite of a law that punishes the singing of the national anthem in languages other than Tagalog with fine or imprisonment.WEB,weblink Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines, 12 February 1998, RP Government, 2015-11-24, (the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines) regulates the usage of the national anthem. It also contains the complete lyrics of Lupang Hinirang.The legal imposition of Tagalog as a national symbol also has social implications, such as pressure to use the words po and opo (a contraction of oo po, honorifics used for elders and persons of authority),WEB,weblink Reconnecting to our inner anting-anting, 4 November 2012, Daly P. (2015, January 30). "Philippine every-day phrases that acknowledge the beauty within others". Bagong Pinay. honorifics which have no equivalent in most other indigenous languages in the country.Dado, N. L. (2015, June 7). "There is no po + opo in Cebuano". Touched by an Angel. Attempts have also been made to bring the orthographic conventions of other languages closer to those of Tagalog.WEB,weblink Archived copy, 2016-02-17, 2015-05-12,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150512110734weblink">weblink dead, WEB,weblink Writers hit 'unauthorized' amendment to Ilocano spelling, 2016-02-17, 2016-02-24,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160224123052weblink">weblink dead, Notably, Tagalog-speakers themselves who are not from the capital region (e.g. Calabarzon or Mimaropa) are often derided as unsophisticated promdi (Tagalized form of "from the"; hicks or country bumpkins) because of their accent, grammar, vocabulary or rural customs.Ranada, P. (2016, April 21). Duterte: I shot a bully San Beda law student. Rappler. Retrieved fromweblink

See also

• Balik-probinsiya, a program by the Philippine government to reverse the migration of people to Metro Manila and other urban areas

Notes

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References

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