A Glance of Selected Philippine

Political Caricature in Alfred

McCoy’s Philippine Cartoons:
Political Caricafure of the
American Era ( 1900-1941)
Political cartoons and caricature
Veered away from the classical art by
exaggerating human features and poking fun
at its subject.

Cartoons became an effective tool of

publicizing opinions through heavy use of
symbolism, which is different from a verbose
written editorial and opinion pieces.
Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature of the
American Era (1900-1941)
Alfred McCoy together with Alfredo Roces
 A politician from Tondo, named Dr. Santos, passing his
crown to his brother-in-law, Dr. Barcelona. A filipino
guy (as depicted wearing salakot and barong tagalog)
was trying to stop Santos, telling the latter to stop giving
Barcelona the crown because it is not his to begin with.
(The Independent on May 20, 1916.)
We see a Filipino child who stole a skinny chicken
because he had nothing to eat. The police officer was
relentlessly pursuing the said child. A man wearing a
salakot, labeled Juan de la Cruz was grabbing the
officer, telling him to leave the small-time pickpockets
and thieves and to turn at the great thieves instead. He
was pointing to huge warehouses containing bulks of
rice, milk, and grocery products.
A commentary on the unprecedented cases of colorum
automobiles in the city streets. The Philippine Free
Press published this commentary when fatal accidents
involving colorum vehicles and taxis occurred too
often already.

Depicts a cinema. A blown-up police officer was at the

screen saying that couples are not allowed to neck and
make love in theater. Two youngsters looked horrified
while an older couple seemed amused.
We see the caricature of Uncle Sam riding a chariot
pulled by Filipinos wearing school uniforms. The Filipino
boys were carrying American objects like baseball bats,
Whiskey, and boxing gloves. McCoy, in his caption to the
said cartoon, says that this cartoon was based on an event
in 1907 when William Howard Taft was brought to the
Manila pier riding a chariot pulled by students of Liceo
de Manila. Such was condemned by the nationalists at
that time.
We can see Uncle Sam rationing porridge to the
politicians and members of the Progresista Party
(sometimes known as the Federalista Party) while
members of the Nacionalista Party look on and wait
for their turn. This cartoon depicts the patronage of the
United States being coveted by politicians from either
of the party.