On September 24, 1762, a British fleet carrying a force of 6,839 men, largely composed of Indian sepoys but with some regular British sailors and marines, sailed into Manila Bay from Madras. The expedition, led by Brigadier-General William Draper and Rear-Admiral Samuel Cornish, and carrying the flag of the East India company, captured Manila with little opposition.

The British then fortified themselves in Fort Santiago in Manila and Fort San Felipe in Cavite. They also set up a third fort along the Pasig River, and a detachment in the town of Pasig. These gave them untrammeled access to Laguna, Tayabas (Quezon, today), possibly Batangas and Bicol.

This was in the midst of the so-called Seven Years’ War in Europe with Spain allying with France against Great Britain. On cue, the British seized possessions of the Spanish Empire wherever they could find them, adding to their many colonies so that it could be said the sun never set on the British Empire. India was the “crown jewel.”

For almost two years 1762-64, the British occupied Manila. Alas, they didn’t stay too long. They had to give back Manila to the Spanish when the Seven Years’ War finally ended.

Just for the sake of discussion, what if the British had decided to stay and colonize the rest of the Philippines?

Most probably our islands would have been under the administrative power of the East India Company, with a system they had imposed on their overseas possessions, whether in India, Malaya, Hongkong or Africa.

Overseen by a Viceroy directly appointed by the British king, this remarkable colonial service system enabled the British to rule millions with just a few administrators and soldiers.  In India alone, the British were able to control that nation of 250 million people with 6,000 British officials.

This colonial administrative system has been hailed by many historians as one of the best during its time. It was an elite of generalists, people mostly with university or other higher education qualifications, selected for their personality, character and motivation. 

For one thing, we would have had a taste of British civility. The late Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author who grew up in England once remarked: “The English are the result of too much proper breeding.”  

We would have become a nation of tea drinkers, with tea breaks instead of coffee breaks. And served with biscuits of course.

We would have adopted British customs. That means no manana or siesta habit which we got from the Spaniards.

We would have an extensive railway system as in India and other British occupied colonies which was primarily meant to help open up the vast and hitherto untapped market for the finished goods of British manufacturers. Manila and other commercial centers and areas rich in raw materials would have been connected by a network of roads and canals.

They would have allowed freedom of worship here as they did in India. Meaning, the Muslims would be left alone to practice their religion. Filipino Catholics would most probably have converted to the High Anglican religion.

The British class system would have permeated Filipino society. We would have seen the emergence of a class which would be “native in blood and color, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals, in intellect.” In other words, colonial mentality would still be an issue.

Universities would have been established in our major cities. UST for instance would have been a Royal University like Oxford or Cambridge, not a Pontifical university as it is now.

The wealthy Filipinos would have sent their children to London for their studies. They would be speaking English with a British accent.

We would not be pining for America but for England. Filipinos would be harboring dreams or ambitions to migrate to England or taking a vacation in London.

Today, the lines applying for visas today would be in front of the British embassy, not American embassy. A British visa would be a bragging right, a badge of one-upmanship. Or an immigrant status would be better. Filipinos would be competing with immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kenya and other former colonies of the old British empire.

Most probably, America would not have laid their imperialist eyes on our islands as an offshoot of the Spanish-American war. After all the British were tight with the Americans at the time the U.S. declared war against Spain in 1898.

But we would still have been invaded by Imperial Japan during World War II just like Singapore, Malaya and Hongkong.

Nonetheless, we would eventually have declared independence from the British because what caused us to rise against Spain would have been present also under the British. For one thing, the British saw themselves as a superior race and, seeking to impose colonial rule for commercial gain. Filipino natives would have been excluded and discriminated against.

That being so, it would have been inevitable that British colonial rule would have sparked a widespread clamor for self-rule as what happened in India.

As in India, notions as freedom, liberty, equality and democracy as well as theories of English and Continental philosophers would have been instilled in the minds of our ilustrados educated in England. This means that Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena and the rest of the La Solidaridad gang of reformists would still have done their propaganda work, of course not in Barcelona but in London.

Upon gaining independence, we would most probably have adopted the British parliamentary system as in India, Malaysia and Singapore.

We would probably now be enjoying strong economic links with Singapore, Hongkong and even Australia and New Zealand.

And Borneo would now be part of the Philippines and we would be enjoying the oil deposits of Brunei Darussalam because the British would have recognized the claims of the Sultan of Sulu.

But all these are in the realm of idle speculation. If the British had stayed on, would we have become a better nation? Would the British influence on our social and cultural life been beneficial? Looking at the character of the Filipino, it’s very iffy.

However, there is something from that short-lived British occupation that stayed: the Sepoys, Hindu soldiers who took part in overseas conflicts fought by Great Britain. Some of them chose to be left behind in a village called Cainta. Their grandchildren are thriving there. But that is a story for another day.

Just a closing thought. What if an inventive Pinoy filmmaker did an alternate reality film about the Philippines as a British colony? A bloody interesting idea, don’t you agree?

Featured image: Painting by Dominic Serres – Capture of Manila 6th October 1762 in the Seven Years War