author

Frederic H. Sawyer

An English engineer and traveler, he wrote from long firsthand experience in the Philippines and tried to challenge the harsher colonial stereotypes common in his time. His best-known book offers a detailed, often sympathetic portrait of Filipino communities at the turn of the 20th century.

1 Audiobook

The Inhabitants of the Philippines

The Inhabitants of the Philippines

by Frederic H. Sawyer

About the author

Frederic H. Sawyer, fully named Frederic Henry Read Sawyer, is best known as the author of The Inhabitants of the Philippines, published in 1900. The book presents a wide-ranging account of life, customs, and society in the islands, drawing on his own years of residence and travel there.

In the preface, Sawyer describes arriving in Manila already fluent in Spanish, later learning Tagal, and spending fourteen years in Luzon while traveling through the central and southern provinces as well as parts of the Visayas and Palawan. He also identified himself with the professional initials Memb. Inst. C.E. and Memb. Inst. N.A., pointing to an engineering background.

What makes his work stand out is its tone. Sawyer said he wanted to offer a fairer and more favorable view of Filipinos than many English-language writers of his day, and that aim gives his writing a clear point of view: part travel observation, part social history, and part argument against easy prejudice.