Leave a comment Posted on History of Madness

Of Insane and Feeble-Minded Persons: American Colonial Limitations on the Right to Suffrage According to General Order No. 40

Soon after the arrival of the Philippine Commission to Manila in 1900, the President of the United States directed the establishment of municipal governments throughout the archipelago. Several communities had already applied for organization before the arrival of the Commission and the military governor assisted in the preliminary steps toward this goal.

The Commission adhered to the framework of organizing municipal governments as contained in a certain General Order, No. 40. Aside from the organization of pueblos into municipalities, the General Order also contained the provisions for the right of suffrage of the citizens of the organized communities.

Among these provisions were the limitations of the right to suffrage. Under the General Order, only citizens 23 years and above, “who held municipal office under Spanish sovereignty,” or who paid an annual tax of 30 pesos or more, and or who could converse and write in Spanish or English, are entitled to participate in elections.

Furthermore, the General Order delineated the disqualifications for the right of suffrage. According to the 1901 Report of the Philippine Commission:

“General Order No. 40 further restricted the suffrage by providing for the disqualification of defendants in criminal cases pending trial; of those who had been gubernatively corrected three or more times for misconduct or who have been subjected to corporal punishment or disqualification; of those who were subject to civil interdiction or the vigilance of the authorities through the sentence of a court of justice; of debtors to any treasury or municipal fund; of those who had contracts with the municipal council to be finished within the municipal term; and of those who had a suit with the municipality to which they belonged, as well as of insane or feeble-minded persons.”

It was clear from the very beginning of American colonial rule that disability justified government enacted limitations to the rights of people with disabilities.

-From Reports of the Philippine Commission, the Civil Governor and the Heads of the Executive Departments of the Civil Government of the Philippine Islands (1900-1903), p. 53-55.

Related articles