ONCE UPON A ROSE PARADE
• The year 1917 will go down in the Tournament of Roses history as the first time it became international in scope with Yokohama and Manila entering massive floral floats
By DAVID CASUCO & LARRY PELAYO
LOS ANGELES — Time was when the Philippines and Japan were the most interesting places in the Pacific Rim, at least to colonial America. The Tournament of Roses history (which started in 1890) validated this truism when, in 1917, it recorded a most significant feature of the Rose Parade — “Hotels from Yokohama and Manila enter massive floral floats for the first time.”
In a historical entry by Joe Hendrickson (Tournament of Roses, a Pictorial History), he stated that, “The year 1917 will go down in the Tournament of Roses history for two reasons: The Parade became international in scope, with hotels from Yokohama and Manila, as well as American cities, entering massive floral floats...” The other reason was about football becoming a national sporting event for the first time. Hendrickson completed his entry with the highlights of the Oregon -Pennsylvania game. Also mentioned was the Hawaiian participation, with an impersonator of the legendary King Kamehameha escorting the float on an outrigger canoe formed of marigolds, smilax, and white carnations.
Archived float photo
A copy of the 1917 archived photo of the Philippine float, obtained by these writers from the Tournament of Roses Historical Committee, depicted the Manila float as an ensemble of flowers and palm leaves put atop a trailer with spoke wheels. A “bahay kubo” made of palm, surrounded by bamboo fence was visible on one end of the trailer. Four young mestiza women, clad in resplendent and elaborate Filipina dresses, were shown riding the float, one holding a banner marked “ CITY OF MANILLA.” Manila was misspelled, but the floral decorations on the side of the float showed “Manila” correctly spelled.
It was not until 1997, exactly sixty years later, when the Philippines came back to join the Rose Parade again. The country fielded a two-tier float depicting two famous Philippines landmarks — the Rizal Monument and the Ifugao Rice Terraces. Also highlighted on the float were the exotic Pampanga parols and the colorful Zamboanga vintas. The following year, in 1998, another two-tier Philippine float participated, this time depicting the ubiquitous Pinoy jeepney and the mystical Filipino icon sarimanok. Both entries won “Most Beautiful Float from Outside the USA” honors.
Historical backdrop
At the turn of the 20th century, the Philippines was under the American souvereignty, which started when Gen. Wesley Merritt assumed the duties of Military Governor of the Philippines on August 26, 1898. With the subsequent election of Woodrow Wilson as president of the United States, he appointed Francis Burton Harrison the next governor of the new island territory. Harrison served form 1913 to 1921.
It was during the time of Harrison when “American policy took a turn toward Filipinization.” The President appointed majority of Filipinos to the Philippine Commission and thus to Filipinize the Philippine legislature. Thereafter, the Jones Law of August 29, 1916 was enacted with a preamble in Wilson’s own hand (quoted in part) ... “to withdraw their sovereignty over the Philippine Islands and to recognize their independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein.”
Mirage of an independent Philippines
Seeing a float from the Philippines at that time, the crowd may had likely been seeing a representation of an independent country about to be born. Independence did not come, however, until July 4, 1946. (In collaboration with a research from the late newsman JB Briones)
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