Knowledge is the Liberation from the Abyss of Ignorance. The guiding light to escape the pitch-black dungeon of miseries and oppression. It is the emblem of truth. The seed where national leaders will sprout. The set of persons that will mitigate the exploitations and injustice, the vanguard of integrity and common good. It was clearly stated from Plato’s The Republic that a leader should be a Philosopher-King. A leader that is intelligent as an owl and brave as a lion. Knowledge is actually a prerequisite to become an able statesman. Leadership should emanate from the Power of Reason not from the Reason of Power. That is how the Philippine Education System shapes the Philippine Politics during the American Period. Education which leads to the birth of national leaders. During the American Period, there was a group of scholars that was sponsored by the American Government called the Pensionados. These are the new groups of Illustrados during the Spanish Period. The only difference is that Illustrados were made for Reforms Movement while Pensionados were made to actually prepare the Philippines for Independent Authority to operate politically and economically.
The Philippine Commission approved Act No. 854 on August 26, 1903, which established the Pensionado Act (Francisco, 2015). The bill, which was passed by the US Congress, established a scholarship program for Filipinos to attend school in the US. The initiative has its origins in post-war pacification efforts in the Philippines. It intended to help the Philippines prepare for self-government and project a favorable image of Filipinos to the rest of the US. The program educated about 500 pupils in the United States after starting with 100 students. They would go on to become powerful members of Philippine society, with many of the program's graduates going on to work for the Philippine government. David Prescott Barrows, the Philippines' director of education at the time, was in charge of the initiative at first (Reyes, 2011). Twenty thousand people applied in the first year, 1903, and only around a hundred were chosen. Those chosen were the first pensionados, pupils approved into the scholarship scheme (Bevis, 2007).
These early pensionados were picked from among the Philippines' affluent and privileged. Pensionados studied in the United States from 1903 to 1938, with the majority returning to the Philippines (Austin & Williard, 1998). The program came to an end in 1943. Pensionados would then go on to serve in the US-established government on the islands; this was a scholarship requirement, and at least 18 months of government service was required (Sobredo et al., 2018). Before returning to the Philippines, pensionados started student-run journals, which were among the first forms of media aimed particularly at the Filipino diaspora in America (Ember et al., 2004)
Schools are the factory of the heroes in the future. It is a place where minds and consciousness are being fashioned to craft positive end for the welfare of the general will. Education promotes a country's economy and society, making it a turning point in its growth. Education imparts information and skills to the people while also molding the personalities of a nation's young. Without the influence of the American Period in the Philippine Education System, we will never have the political geniuses of Manuel Quezon, Claro M. Recto, Sergio Osmena, Cayetano Arellano and the like. Education should be used to enable both children and adults to become active participants in societal change. Individuals should learn to live together in a world marked by variety and pluralism by focusing on the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that enable them to do so. As a result, education has a critical long-term role in cultivating knowledge and awareness of human rights, the values they symbolize, and the skills needed to sustain a democratic society. Education brings Good Leaders, someone who has big lever of wisdom to move the world.