Agent of Pacification: Prelude of the American Public Education in Capiz, Philippines, 1900-1905

The Bureau of Education created by the 2nd Philippine Commission in 1901 was unquestionably viewed as a valuable public institution which strategically advanced American colonial interests in the Philippines. Its formation was based on the fundamental belief held by the McKinley-led U.S. government that a colonial public school system for the Filipino children could gradually dampen anti-occupation resistance. Thus, the American-sponsored Bureau of Education played its vital role as agent of Pacification obviously aimed at earning trust and support from the inhabitants of the province of Capiz beginning its establishment in 1901. This paper explored the role of the American public school system, directly carried out by the Bureau of Education, as an integral part of the pacification campaign specifically in the Visayan province of Capiz during the early years of American occupation between 1900 and 1905. This paper examined the two basic functions the Bureau of Education assumed as an agent of pacification; and underscored how it contributed to the capitulation of the entire province.