The Possibility of Postcolonial Philippine Society’s Reform Seen Through Prostitution and Elite’s Suicide in F. Sionil Jose’s Ermita

This paper examines F. Sionil Jose’s Ermita, a seminal text of Philippine English literature since its publication in 1988, to explore the possibility of social change through Ermita’s prostitution, as well as Roland Cruz’s complicity with neocolonialism and his ensuing suicide. To that end, the paper focuses on demonstrating that Ermita’s body is not a mere national allegory for the Third World, but it serves as a scope of specific Filipino experiences which interrogate the establishment in cahoots with imperial powers, thus raising the possibility of resistance and solidarity. It also analyzes Cruz’s suicide from the perspective of not only the postcolonial nation’s failure but predatory neocolonialism as well, implying that his decision ironically serves to empower Ermita and other women to form solidarity against dictatorship and corruption for social transformation in the Philippines.