(Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of backgrounders on Philippine-United States relations that the Presidential News Desk, in coordination with the Philippines News Agency, is issuing on the run-up to the state visit here of US President George W. Bush on October 18)

Their story, however, transcends adventure. It is also about idealism, commitment, and call of duty.

And the rebirth of a ravaged nation.

On July 23, 1901, some 500 teachers from the United States boarded a former cattle ship docked at San Francisco's Pier 12 and braved the perils of the Pacific Ocean to educate inhabitants of a land they barely knew.

They became known as the 'Thomasites,' after the US transport ship "Thomas" which brought them to a Southeast Asian archipelago then named the Philippine Islands.

Although this group was the biggest ever formed for the purpose, it was not the first to be deployed by Washington.

A few weeks earlier, 48 teachers arrived on board the 'Sheridan' to also teach Filipinos basic education.

However, it was the US Army that laid the foundation for a public school system in the Philippines.

Despite being largely unschooled in pedagogy, these soldiers began teaching English to the natives barely three weeks after being stationed in the country.

They opened the country's first public school in Corregidor Island, shortly after Admiral George Dewey defeated the Spanish armada in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898.

The Thomasites successfully built upon this foundation and firmly established education as one of America's major contributions to the 'Pearl of the Orient.'

It was a legacy destined to drastically alter the fabric of Philippine life forever.

President William McKinley appointed William Howard Taft to head a commission tasked with continuing the educational work started by the US Army.

The Taft Commission passed Act No. 34 on January 21, 1901, establishing the Department of Public Instruction charged with establishing a public school system throughout the country.

It also authorized deployment to the Philippines of 1,000 educators from the US mainland to teach Filipinos.

The US government spent an estimated $105,000 for the expedition that brought 365 male and 165 female teachers from San Francisco to Manila.

The Thomasites reached Manila Bay on August 21, 1901 but were quarantined inside the ship for two days before they were allowed to disembark two days later.

The Thomasites travelled from the Anda Circle to their quarters in Intramuros where they stayed before being deployed to the provinces.

Among the assignments given were teaching posts for 20 Thomasites in Albay and Catanduanes, 32 others in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur as well as 13 in Sorsogon and Masbate.

These Thomasites endeared themselves to the masses who longed to be educated, having been denied access to learning opportunities by the Spanish colonizers.

So consequently, American teachers who arrived later were also referred to as 'Thomasites.'

Twenty-seven of the original Thomasites either died of tropical diseases or were murdered by outlaws during their first 20 months of residence.

The teachers also had to correct certain Filipino habits that became obstacles to effective education.

Among these was the tendency of pupils to attend classes and leave whenever they pleased and this was particularly noticeable during town fiestas and other festivities.

Despite the hardships, the Thomasites persisted.

Aside from the elementary schools, the American teachers also built learning institutions that prepared students for their chosen professions or trades.

They opened the Philippine Normal School and the Philippine School of Arts and Trades (PSAT) in 1901 while the Philippine Nautical School, established in 1839 by the Board of Commerce of Manila under Spain, was reopened soon after American forces occupied the country.

Towards the end of 1904, primary courses were already mostly taught by Filipinos who were under American supervision.

After their initial teaching stint, about half of the Thomasites quietly returned to the U.S., while others were left buried in modest graves in the country they zealously served.

Many remained to complete several more terms before leaving although more than a hundred chose to permanently live in the Philippines and engage in other ventures.

For example, A.V.H. Hartendorp, a Thomasite assigned in Samar and Zambales, went into print media as the publisher of the 'Philippine Magazine.'

All the original Thomasites have already passed away but the fruits of their labor continue to be evident.

"The United States government decided to send out an army, not of conquest, but of education: hence this great movement, which is inevitably destined to be greater, in its final effect, more far-reaching, than the wisest of us can now estimate," Thomasite Adeline Knapp stressed in her memoirs.

She was correct as the public school system, which they successfully built, continues to provide countless Filipinos the opportunity to study and make a better life for themselves.

The creation of the Task Force for the Security of Critical Infrastructures (TFSCI) has no connection with the visit of US President George W. Bush, Malacaņang said today.

"This is an ongoing concern and it was only by chance that the announcement came with the coming of President Bush," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye clarified this morning over radio.

The Task Force will go on with its job even after Bush has left, Bunye added.

The creation of the Task Force took effect Sept. 16 in line with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s 16-point Counter-Terrorism Program. It will report to the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COCIS).

Its primary responsibility is to implement a comprehensive and integrated security measure for the country’s critical infrastructures against terrorist attacks and enlist the active coordination and collaboration of concerned government agencies and the private sector and the dynamic participation of the Filipino people.

These critical structures include power plants, power transmission and distribution facilities, oil and gas depots, key public works infrastructures, public and private buildings and facilities in the nerve center of commerce and industry.

Named to head the TFSCI was Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns Undersecretary Abraham Purugganan.

Bunye also denied reports that Malacaņang is spending P55 million for the eight-hour visit of Bush on Oct. 18.

In line with the theme – "New Partnership for Peace and Development" -- of the state visit to the Philippines by United States President George W. Bush this week the Philippines now enjoys an unprecedented level of relationship with the United States.

President Bush, who is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Saturday (October 18, 2003), has designated the Philippines as a Major non-NATO ally of the world’s most powerful country.

As a major U.S. ally outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Philippines is now in the same privileged league as Australia, Japan, Israel and Egypt.

The designation of Major non-NATO ally does not just bestow on the Philippines an honorific title. In President Bush’s own words, the Philippines, by being a Major non-NATO ally, will be allowed to work together with the United States on military research and development. Equally important, it will give the Philippines greater access to American defense equipment and supplies and, thus, broaden the foundations of strategic partnership between the two countries.

Further strengthening and enhancement of the Philippines-US. relations is considered as one of the major achievements in the diplomatic field under President Macapagal-Arroyo’s watch.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the first world leader to declare full support for President Bush’s call for a global coalition against terrorism after the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

When President Macapagal-Arroyo made a state visit to Washington on May 16-19, 2002, she was not only received warmly by President Bush and the American people, but also brought home a big package of military aid for the Philippines.

In the joint statement on the state visit, President Bush pledged to President Macapagal-Arroyo the following:

• $30 million in new grant aid for equipment and training of Armed Forces of the Philippines targeted at capabilities for countering terrorist groups within the Philippines;

• $30 million in new bilateral development assistance for Mindanao and support for the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as appropriate; and

• $25 million in new grant assistance to train and euip a combat engineering unit and provide other military needs in the war on terror. The engineering unit will be able to do civic action and humanitarian projects in conflict zones.

In addition, the U.S. government has also pledged to make available to the Philippine Air Force 20 UH-lH helicopters, along with funding for their refurbishment and for transporting them to Manila, and Ci30 cargo planes. An additional 10 UH-H helicopters are also to be provided to ensure sufficient spare parts.

The Philippine has received $30 million in additional trade benefits under an expanded list of products approved for duty-free importation into the United States.

U.S. President George W. Bush, who will arrive in Manila on Saturday (October 18) for a state visit, signed the proclamation expanding the product coverage of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) on July 1, 2003, but was announced just recently.

In another development, the Philippines and the United States also signed a $40 million commodity loan that will not only provide food but also training of Filipinos into world-class agriculturists.

Under the agreement signed by Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo and Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho for the Philippines and Ambassador Francis Ricciardone for the U.S., $40 million worth of high-quality American rice will be sold to the Philippines government on concessional loan terms.

The Department of Agricultural will sell the rice locally and use the proceeds to support agricultural development projects and programs, particularly for Mindanao.

Secretary Lorenzo said that proceeds from the loan will mostly benefit "our poor brothers and sisters in Mindanao.

Ricciardone said that the funds raised through the commodity loan will help finance the training in the United States of Filipino agriculturists under the Fulbright-Department of Agriculture exchange program. "This is not just the transfer of money, not just the transfer of food, but the transfer of knowledge," the envoy added.

The proclamation extends benefits to approximately $900 million in imports from more than 140 developing countries, including the Philippines, that are beneficiaries of the U.S. GSP program.

The Philippines has sought approval of petitions for tuna, pineapple juice and fatty acids, along with some of the country’s fruit products, under the 2003 GSP annual review. The three products are considered important in the regional economy of Mindanao, particularly in terms of employment and exports.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick said that the Philippines, Argentina and Turkey receive especially large increases in benefits as a result of product requests approved by President Bush.

He said that GSP benefits should encourage developing countries to open their markets over time.

"Trade preference programs like GSP are an important part of America’s global economic leadership, but such unilateral one-way programs should lead us over time to more open, extensive markets for all countries, developed and developing," he added.