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The article cites an academic book, Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State, (https://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780299234133) by professor Alfred W. McCoy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_W._McCoy) Taft was governor of the Philippines, and later Secretary of War, during the Philippine-American War. According to Alfred McCoy (http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175724/): "Starting in 1901, the first U.S. governor-general (and future president) William Howard Taft drafted draconian sedition legislation for the islands and established a 5,000-man strong Philippines Constabulary. In the process, he created a colonial surveillance state that ruled, in part, thanks to the agile control of information, releasing damning data about enemies while suppressing scandals about allies. When the Associated Press’s Manila bureau chief reported critically on these policies, Taft’s allies dug up dirt on this would-be critic and dished it out to the New York press. On the other hand, the Division of Military Information compiled a scandalous report about the rising Filipino politician Manuel Quezon, alleging a premarital abortion by his future first lady. Quezon, however, served the Constabulary as a spy, so this document remained buried in U.S. files, assuring his unchecked ascent to become the first president of the Philippines in 1935." |