ABSTRACT
While the Philippines shares with its neighbours a common colonial background, it exhibits certain historical particularities absent from the reality of its sister nations. The existence of a Filipino nation is a fact, but the existence of a national consciousness is only a presupposition, if by national consciousness one means that sense of oneness which comes from a community of aspiration, response and action. Each local revolt was a contribution to national consciousness and national identity. The inhabitants of the Philippines did not possess a high degree of civilization and social structure during pre-conquest times as did their Southeast Asian brothers. The Spaniards forcibly resettled the small, scattered kinship groups into larger communities for easy administration and proselytization. In the Philippine experience, counter-consciousness became consciousness for a brief period during the Revolution and reverted to its former role when confronted by a new colonialism.
