THE birth of the University of the Philippines in 1908 was the culmination of the nation’s thirst for (higher) education dating back from the days of the Reform Movement in the late 19th century.
During the “long 19th century” the Philippines experienced a rapid economic expansion fueled by the opening of the country to international commerce. Consequently, as the late Benito Legarda Jr. showed, economic conditions in the country improved to outpace our Southeast Asian neighbors. The most illustrative example probably is of Jose Rizal sojourning to Spain to pursue advanced studies, pitying the youth of Singapore during a stopover in that port for diving into the murky sea waters to retrieve the coins tossed by the ship’s European passengers for amusement.
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