prelim

the philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands in the south china sea
situated between taiwan to the north and borneo to the south. this position
has led to it becoming a cultural crossroads, a place where malays, arabs,
chinese, spaniards, americans, japanese and others have interacted to forge
a unique cultural and racial blend. it is located just above the equator
between latitude 4'23" and 21" 25" north and longitude 116 and 127 east,
with the total land area of 115,707 square miles. only approximately 1,000 of
its islands are populated, and fewer than one-hall of these are larger than 2.5
square kilometers eleven islands make up 95 percent of the philippine
landmass the nine largest islands are luzon (40,814 sq. miles), mindanao
(36.906sq. miles), palawan, panay, mindoro, santar, negros, leyte and cebu
make up 90% of the nation's land area. the island of romblon lies exactly at
the center of the philippine
archipelago. the y'ami isle is the northernmost point and saluag the
southernmost
the philippines is part of "pacific ring of fire "that is characterized by active
volcanoes. among the famous peaks are mount mayon in albay near legazpi
city is the world's most perfectly-shaped cone. mayon has a violent history of
47 eruptions since 1616 and another
violent eruption is currently feared, taal volcano in batangas is the smallest
volcano in the world, and mount apo on mindanao is the highest peak which
is 2.954 m above sea level. the second highest point can be found on luzon at
mount pulog a peak 2.842 m above sea level. almost all of the philippine
islands are prone to earthquakes because the country lies in the pacific
seismic belt.
the northern luzon highlands, or cordillera central, rise to between 2,500 and
2.750 meters, and, together with the sierra madre in the northeastern portion
of luzon and the mountains of mindanao, boast rain forests that provide
refuge for numerous upland tribal groups
the country's most extensive river systems are the pulangi river, which flows
into the mindanao river (rio grande de mindanao); the agusan, in mindanao
which flows north into the mindanao sea; the rio grande de cagayan in
northern luzon; and the pampanga, which
flows south from east central luzon into manila bay. laguna de bay, east of
manila bay, is the largest freshwater lake in the philippines.
the philippines has a tropical wet climate dominated by a rainy season and a
dry season. the summer monsoon brings heavy rains to most of the
archipelago from may to october, whereas the winter monsoon brings cooler
and drier air from december to february. manila and most of the lowland
areas are hot and dusty from march to may. even at this time, however,
temperatures rarely rise above 37 °c. mean annual sea-level temperatures
rarely fall below 27 c. annual rainfall measures as much as 5,000 millimeters
in the mountainous east coast section of the country, but less than 1,000
millimeters in some of the sheltered valleys.
the philippines are prone to fatural disasters, particularly typhoons, floods,
landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis, lying as it does
astride the typhoon belt, in the active
volcanic region known as the "pacific ring of fire," and in the geologically
unstable region between the pacific and eurasian tectonic plates. the
philippines also suffers major human caused environmental degradation
aggravated by a high annual population growth rate,
including loss of agricultural lands, deforestation, soil erosion, air and water
pollution, improper disposal of solid and toxic wastes, loss of coral reefs,
mismanagement and abuse of coastal
resources, and overfishing.
monsoon rains, although hard and drenching, are not normally associated
with strong winds and waves. but the philippines sit astride the typhoon belt,
and it suffers an annual onslaught of
dangerous storms from july through october. these are especially hazardous
for northern and eastern luzon and the bicol and eastern visayas regions, but
manila gets devastated periodically as well.
in the last decade, the philippines has been hit severely by natural disasters.
in 2005 alone, central luzon was hit by both a drought, which sharply
curtailed hydroelectric power, and by a typhoon that flooded practically all of
low-lying manila's streets. still more damaging was the 1990 earthquake that
devastated a wide area in luzon, including baguio and other northern areas.
the city of cebu and nearby areas were struck by a typhoon that killed more
than a hundred people, sank vessels, destroyed part of the sugar crop, and
cut off water and electricity for several days. the philippines is prone to about
18-21 typhoons per year sometimes even up to 26. of course the 1991 mount
pinatubo eruption also damaged much of central luzon, the lahar burying
towns and farmland, and the ashes affecting global temperatures.
building construction is undertaken with natural disasters in mind. before,
most rural housing has consisted of nipa huts that are easily damaged but are
inexpensive and easy to replace. urban buildings are steel and concrete
structures designed (not always successfully) to resist both typhoons and
earthquakes. damage is still significant, however, and many people are
displaced each year by typhoons, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. in
1987 alone the department of social welfare and development helped 2.4
million victims of natural disasters. recently typhoon ondoy and pepeng have
submerged ncr, rizal, laguna, batangas including northern luzon provinces
into floodwaters causing damages worth billions of pesos.
natural resources and wildlife
the important natural resources available in the philippines are timber,
petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt and copper.
the rain forests offer prime habitat for more than 500 species of birds,
including the philippine eagle (or monkey-eating eagle), some 800 spesies of
orchids and some 8.500 species of flowering plants. this vast island nation
consists of a wide variety of ecosystems which has also
numerous mangrove, swamps, marshes, grasslands, and coral reefs. these
are the sanctuaries of a wide diversity of wildlife found in the philippines.
among the most popular species are the "butandings" or whale sharks known on land a substantial quantity of the earth's water in the form of ice causing
as the "gentle giants" of donsol, sosogon, appear every year in an incredibly the water levels in
large number. philippines' largest native animal is the endangered tamaraw,
the world's oceans to drop. at the height of the last ice age (wurm ii) which
which is found in the mindoro and less than 350 are known to exist. the other
occurred about
endangered animals are philippine crocodile and the tiny philippine tarsier.
60,000 to 10,000 years ago, the sea levels around the philippines were at
theories on the formation of the philippines
least 50 meters lower
there are three (3) accepted scientific theories on the formation of the
than they are today. the present sea beds surrounding the malay peninsula
philippine archipelago.
and the islands of
continental drift
sumatra, java, borneo and palawan were all above water making one huge
it explains that the philippines was connected to mainland asia. large land extension to the
masses have moved
continental land mass of asia. during the reis glacial period 360,000 to
horizontally or continental drift have taken place. 235,000, sea level
it is said that the philippines was connected with vietnam in the past. dropped to about 200 meters exposing the landbridges connecting the major
continental drift has islands of the
taken place that caused them to separate. it is calculated to have happened philippines. it also exposed the landbridges connecting palawan to borneo
before the and mindanao to
pleistocene which began 2.5 million years ago and ended at about 5,000 sulu. when the ice melts and the glaciers retreat, the sea level would rise. the
years ago. earth's climate
advance and retreat of glaciers began warming 18,000 years ago and the oceans regained their present high
levels about 8,000
over the past two million years, the earth has undergone twenty cycles of
glaciation. four years ago.
major glacial periods were of the pleistocene period. during these ice ages, vulcanism
glaciers accumulate
this theory explains that the philippines rose from the ocean bottom 200 no pre-hominid or hominid species such as australopithecus or homo erectus
million years ago. it has been found in
was formed through a process know as vulcanism, wherein molten rocks the philippines. the first human beings probably reached the philippines about
beneath the earth 40,000 years
ascended to or near the surface. according to alcaraz, "the philippine ago at roughly the same time as they reached australia and new guinea. the
foundations consist of earliest human
crystalline rocks formed by emplacement of large quantities of this molten bones found in the philippines were on palawan of modern type and date to
matter or magma 22,000 b.p.
below the surface and by lava flows and volcanic debris from submarine although stone tools from palawan date back to 30,000 b.p.
eruptions" due to heat
many historians and scientists believe that the first inhabitants of the
and pressure, the crystalline rocks have changed so much that they can philippine islands
hardly be recognized.
emerged during the pleistocene period. there are two theories on where the
succeeding volcanic eruptions built up the crystalline mounds, some emerging inhabitants (first
from the seas to
filipinos) came from namely: beyer's "migration theory" and jocano's
form islands. the theory of alcaraz was supported by the formation of didicas "evolution theory".
island in the
migration theory
babuyan seas about 11 to 25 million years ago, didicas volcano came to life
famous social scientist henry otley beyer believes that filipinos descended
spewing out lava,
from different
causing a thin layer of black rock, basalt, to form over the sea bottom. later
groups that came from southeast asia in succeeding waves of migration. each
volcanic activity
group had a
piled up additional layers of basalt until an elongated volcanic mountain was
distinct culture, with its own customs and traditions. the first migrants were
formed.
what beyer caked
theories of the peopling of the philippine
the "dawnmen". these dawnmen resembled java man, peking man, and other permanent inhabitants.
early asians
because of the disappearance of the land bridges, the third group of migrants
who existed about 250,000 years ago. dawnmen did not have any knowledge was skilled in
of agriculture,
seafaring. they were the indonesians, who came to the islands in boats. more
and lived by hunting and fishing. it was just in search of food that they came advanced than
to the philippines
the aetas : they had tools made out of stone and steel, which enabled them
via land bridges that connected the philippines and indonesia. their migratory to construct
in nature, they
sturdier dwellings: they also have knowledge in farming and mining, and used
eventually left the philippines materials made
the second wave of migrants was the dark-skinned pygmies called "aetas' or of brass; they wore clothing and other body ornaments.
"negritoes".
last to migrate to the philippines, were malays. they were believed to have
about 30,000 years ago, who have crossed the land bridged from malaya, come from java,
borneo, and australia
sumatra, borneo, and the malay peninsula more than 2,000 years ago. like
until they reached palawan, panay, negros, mindoro and mindanao. these the indonesians,
were pygmies who
they also traveled in boats.the malays were brown-skinned and of medium
used spears and small flint stones weapons. the aeta are a nomadic hunting height, with
and gathering
straight black hair and flat noses. their technology was said to be more
people who forage in small family bands with an informal organization and advanced than that of
leadership. when
their predecessors. they have knowledge in pottery, weaving, jewelry making
the land bridges disappeared due to the thinning of the ice glaciers and the and metal
subsequent
smelting, and introduced the irrigation system in rice planting.
increase in seawater level "forced" the aetas to remain in the country and
jocano's theory
become its first
filipino anthropologist felipe landa jocano believes that asians, including culture, evidence shows that he was already capable of using his brain in
filipinos are the order to survive and
result of a long development of evolution and migration. according to him, it keep himself safe.
is difficult to
jocano advances the evolution theory, as an explanation of the peopling of
confirm that negritoes were the aborigines of this country. the only thing that the philippines, he
can certainly
believes that the first people of southeast asia were products of a long
concluded from fossil evidences, is that the first men who came to the process of evolution
philippines also went to
and migration. his research indicates that they shared more or less the same
new guinea, java, borneo, and australia. culture, beliefs,
in 1962, a skullcap and a portion of a jaw-presumed to be a human origin- practices an even similar tools and implements. these people eventually went
were found in the their separate
tabon caves of palawan by archaeologist robert fox and manuel santiago, ways; some migrated to the philippines, the others to new guinea, java and
who both worked borneo, jocano
for the national museum. carbon dating placed their age at 21,000 to 22,000 says, proof can be found in the fossils discovered in different parts of
years. this southeast asia, as well as
proves, that man came earlier to the philippines than to the malay peninsula; the recorded migrations of other peoples from the asian mainland when
therefore, the history began to
first inhabitants of our islands could not have come from the region. the unfold
"tabon man" is said to
2 early philippines
resemble java man and peking man gathering fruits, leaves and plants for his
early ancestors
food. he hunted
long before the arrival of the europeans to the asia, filipino ancestors had
with weapons made of stone. although further research is still being done on
their own culture
his life and
and life-style, which included their customs, society, government and laws, a bamboo ladder that could be drawn up at night or when the family was out.
writing and it also had a
language, literature/music and arts, religion, superstitious beliefs, economy gallery, called batalan, where big water jars were kept for bathing and
and sciences. all washing purposes. under
these things, in the course of time, became the asian heritage of the filipino the house were kept the rice, firewood and animals (dogs, cats and chickens
people. and even pythons
the barangays. which serve as a guard to catch mice.
when the spaniards arrived in the 16th century, they were surprised to see some of our ancestors lived in tree-houses which were built on the top of
the early filipinos trees for better
having a civilization of their own and living in well-organized villages called protection against the enemy. the bagobos and kalingas still live in such
barangays. the houses
name barangay originated from balangay, a malay word meaning "sailboat". the badjaos (sea-gypsies) of the sulu sea still live in boat-houses as their
obviously, our forefathers did in
seafaring ancestors named their villages after their sailboats. ancient times
the barangay was a self-sustaining unit, ruled by a datu. generally, it food and drinks.
consisted of from 30 to
the staple food of the early filipinos was rice. aside from rice, their food
100 families. some barangays were quite large, each having a population of consisted of carabao
more than 2,000
meat, pork, chickens, sea turtles, fish, bananas and other fruits and
houses and dwellings. vegetables. they cooked
the ancient filipinos lived in houses in the barangay. these houses were made their food in earthen pots or in bamboo tubes. they made fire by chafing two
of wood and pieces of dry
bamboo, roofed by nipa or palmleaves and bahay in tagalog, balay in visayan. wood to cook their food. they stored their drinking water in big earthen jars
each house had or in huge bamboo
tubes. by tagalogs and patadyong by visayans a piece of red or white cloth called
tapis which they
their most popular wine was the tuba which was taken from coconut spouts.
the other wines wrapped around their waists. they tied their long, black hair in a graceful knot
at the back of
they manufactured were basi an ilocano wine brewed from sugarcane;
pangasi, a visayan wine their heads. like the men, they went about barefoot. since gold is an ordinary
commodity, they
made from rice; lambanog, a tagalog wine taken from the coconut palm.
according to dr. had jewels, such as gold necklaces, gold armlets called kalumbigas, gold
bracelets, large gold
antonio de morga, one of the spanish who witnessed the pre-colonial
philippines, it was "a earrings and gold rings and gold anklets. both nen and women inserted "gold
between their
wine of the clarity of water, but strong and dry"; and the tapuy, an igorot
wine made from rice. teeth as an ornament"
mode of dressing tattooes.
the early filipinos were already wearing clothes even before the spaniards the early filipinos tattooed their bodies and faces with various designs. the
arrived. the men tattooes served
wore a collarless, short-sleeved jacket called kangan and a strip of cloth, two purposes: (1) to enhance their bodily beauty, and (2) to show their war
called bahag, wrapped record. the more
around the waist and in between the legs. the jacket (kangan) was dyed men a warrior had killed in battle, the more tattooed he was. the women
(tinina) either in blue were less tattooed
or black, except that of the chief which was red. the men used the putong, a than men. the children were not tattooed at all. among the ancient filipinos
piece of cloth the visayans were
wound around the head. the most tattooed people, early spaniards called them pintados.
the women wore a wide-sleeved jacket called baro or camisel. their loose courtesy and politeness.
skirt was called saya
filipino ancestors were courteous and polite. he addressed his superior with they washed their mouths and cleaned their teeth upon waking up in the
the word po or morning.
opo, which is tantamount to "sir". he spoke in polite language. he also use they kept their homes clean.according to the jesuit historian, father francisco
the second person coling. they
plural-kayo ,nyo ninyo, inyo when speaking to an older man or woman. keep a vessel full of water at the door of every house, and every person,
whether belonging to
the women were shown courtesy everywhere. when a man and a woman
walked together, the the house or not, upon entering, takes water from this vessel and washes his
feet, especially
man was always behind the woman. customary laws also gave women the
rights to be equal of during the rainy seasons."
men. family
cleanliness and neatness. the family was the basis of society in ancient philippines. they developed the
strong family ties
the early filipinos were clean and neat in their personal habits. they bathed
daily, by washing that are practiced even today. the children were given considerable attention,
affection, and
their hair regularly with gugo and water. they anointed it with coconut oil and
other lotions. discipline by their parents.
they washed their mouths and cleaned their teeth upon waking up in the parents took good care of the children the father was the head of the family.
morning. his word was law
cleanliness and neatness. to the children. the mother, on the other hand, was the housekeeper. she
enjoyed the privilege
the early filipinos were clean and neat in their personal habits. they bathed
daily, by washing of naming the children. the names chose for the children were usually based
on certain events.
their hair regularly with gugo and water. they anointed it with coconut oil and
other lotions. 1
society and social classes. pre-spanish society was divided into three social
classes: (1) nobles,
12) freemen and (3) alipin. the nobles, called maharlikas, constituted the
barangay aristocracy,
the highest social class. this class was composed of the affluent alipin-owning
families,
including the datu, his family and relatives and the rich people. the members
of this social class
enjoyed political and social privileges which were denied to the freemen and
the alipins. the
freemen, called timawas, constituted the middle class in the barangays. they
were free-born
persons and emancipated alipin. by and large, the freemen formed the
majority among the
inhabitants of every barangay. the alipin belonged to the lowest social class.
the causes of
being an alipin werex (1) birth, (2) captivity in war, (3) purchase, (4) failure
to pay debts and, (5)
penalty for crimes committed. a noble could become an alipin in ancient
philippines, a freeman
could rise to the nobility and an alipin could become a freeman
emancipation of alipin
in pre-spanish times a filipino alipin could emancipate himself and become a
freeman. the
various ways of emancipation were as follows: (1) marriage, (2) purchase
and (3) voluntary
action of the master. an alipin woman who married a freeman or a noble
automatically
becomes free. an alipin man could become free by paying his master a
certain sum of gold. and
an alipin-owner, according to customary laws, might emancipate his alipin for
saving his life in
the war or for having served his family faithfully for many years.
kinds of alipin.
among the ancient tagalogs, there were two kinds of slaves: (1) aliping
namamahay and (2)
aliping saguiguilid. the aliping namamahay lived in their houses. they owned
their property.
they could marry without their master's consent. and they could not be sold.
on the other
hand, the aliping saguiguilid owned no property; they lived in their master's
house; they could
not marry without his consent; and they could be sold anytime.
woman's position in early society.
women occupied a unique position in ancient philippines. laws and customs tultogan, visayan bamboo drum; the silbay, ildcano reed flute; and the
recognized them suracan, subanun
as the equal of men. they could own and inherit property. they could engage cymbal.
in trade and
among their folk dances were the following:
industries. if they were daughters of datus who had no sons, they could
gehe kumintang, the tagalog love dance; the
inherit the chieftainship
mahinhin, tagalog courtship dance; the dandansoy, visayan tuba dance; the
and rule the barangays. moreover, as already mentioned, they had the
kinnoton, ilocano
exclusive right of
ant's dance; the panjalay, muslim wedding dance; and the tadek, tinggian
naming their children.
love dance.
many women became famous in song and story. among them were sibabae,
their songs expressed all aspects of life, love, war, labor, religion and death.
the legendary first
among them were
woman in the world; lubluban, the legendary lawgiver of the visayans;
the tagumpay, tagalog song of victory; the dallu, negrito religious song; the
lalahon, the visayan
ayeg-klu, igorot
goddess of fire and volcanoes; and kalangitan, the sultana of the pasig and
serenade song; the bactal, tagbanua death song; the dalot, ilocano ballad
lakan dula's
song, which recounts
grandmother
the exploits of lam-ang, mighty hero of ilocandia; the kilay-kilay, tinggian
music and dances. wine song; and the
the early filipinos were lovers of music. they had various musical instruments tudob, agusan harvest song,
and numerous
marriage customs.
dances and songs for different occasions. among their musical instruments
it was customary among the ancient filipinos to marry within their rank,
were the kudyapi
however, there was no
tagalog guitar; the kalaleng, tinggian nose-flute; the kulintang, muslim
strict prohibition against intermarriages between the nobility and the
xylophone; the
commoner and between
the rich and the poor. thus, a prince could marry an alipin girl or freeman the barangays of pre-spanish philippines were virtually independent village.
could marry a each barangay was
princess. a man's legitimate wife was called asawa while the other women ruled by a chieftain or' datu. the rulers of bigger barangay assumed the title
of raha, or lakan.
'euphemistically called "friends". only the children of the asawa were
regarded as legitimate the datu exercised great powers. in time of peace, he was the chief
executive, legislator, and
and legal heirs.
judge of the barangay, and in time of war he was the supreme commander.
were
the economic
before marriage, the groom gave a dowry to the family of the bride. this
aspect of the barangay was the primary concern of the chieftain.
dowry was called
the datu, despite his great powers, was not an absolute ruler. in some
bigaykaya. it consisted of gold, land, alipin or anything else of value. aside
important matters, the
from this dowry, the
datu had to consult the barangay elders (maguinoos) and obtain their
#groom had to work in the house of the girl for a certain period of time this
approval. these barangay
is called
elders also took part in judicial trials of persons accused of certain crimes
paninilibihan. he carried water and firewood to the house. he assisted the
furthermore, the datu
girl's father in
had to seek the advice of the elders in making new laws for the barangay. in
plowing the field. and he helped in the planting and harvesting of rice.
case a datu died
early filipinos practiced divorce.
without any heir or heiress, all freemen and maharlikas met together and
the grounds were: (1) adultery on the part of the wife; (2) desertion on the elected a new datu.
part of the
confederation of barangays.
husband; (3) loss of affection; (4) cruelty, (5) insanity and (6) childlessness.
some barangays in pre-spanish times united and formed a confederation.
barangay government. there were some
historical examples of a confederation of barangays. at the time of legazpi's stolen from them; and third is when they go in peace to any village, and they
arrival, the are wronged or
barangays around manila as far as laguna and pampanga recognized the maltreated."
authority of raha
laws.
sulayman of the islamic sultanate of maynilad. the sugbu confederacy existed
the early filipinos had both oral and written
then under the
laws. the oral laws were their customs which had
overall rule of raha tupas.
been handed down orally from generation to generation. the written laws
baranganic relations.
were promulgated
normally, the ancient barangays had peaceful relations among them. they
by datus with the help of the elders (maguinoos) and announced to the
carried on trade and
people by a barangay
communication with one another persons of one barangay married in other
crier known as umalohokan: unfortunately, because of the destruction of
barangays.
ancient filipino
barangays also concluded treaties of alliance and friendship with each other,
writings by spaniards and by the ravages of time, we do not have an
sealed by the
authentic example of early
traditional ceremony of the blood compact called sanduguan.
filipino laws.
wars broke out between the barangays. the causes of these baranganic wars
according to william henry scott, genuine philippine custom law as described
sometimes wars broke out between the barangays. the causes of these in early
baranganic wars,
spanish accounts permits even the most serious offenses to be settled
according to captain miguel de loarca were as follows, "the first is when an amicably by the
indian (filipino
payment of fines, and this is still true of filipino groups who never submitted
zl goes to another village and is put to death without cause; the second, to spanish
when their wives are
sovereignty..."
religion laraw . during laraw, it was then observed no colored clothes were worn by
the mourning
the ancient filipinos believe in the immortality of the soul (kaluluwa) and in
life after death. people. all wars and quarrels were suspended. and singing in boats returning
from the sea or
they believe in bathalang maykapal, the equivalent to spanish dios, was
supposed to be the rivers was prohibited. all warriors carried their spears with points downward
and their daggers
creator of heaven and earth and man. they also worship other deities such as
idiyanale a god of with hilts reversed.
death, sidapa a rainbow god, balangaw a war god, mandarangan a fire god, superstitions
agni a god of the
the ancient filipinos, like all other people on earth, had their superstitions.
other world, magwayen a goddess of harvest, lalahon a god of hell, and they believed in
siginarugan a god of
witches, mangkukulam, who caused people to die or be sick by pricking a toy
love. the ancients also worshipped ancestral spirits called anitos to protect with his magic pin,
them. they offered
such as the aswang, who assumed the form of animals like cat, dog, a bird or
sacrifices to these anitos through rituals performed by priests or priestess, any other kind,
called katalonans or
and feed on human flesh and it also sucked the baby's entrails by means of
babaylans his elongated
in mindanao, particularly in sulu, islam is an established religion. tongue; and the tikbalang, who appeared in the form of a dog, a horse or an
old man to deceive
burial.
his victims.
because of the belief in life after death, the ancient filipinos made respectful
of their dead. they believed in the magical power of amulets or charms, such as the anting-
anting, which was
mourning of a dead man was called maglabi; for a dead woman, morotal.;
and of the datu, believed to make its possessors invulnerable; gayuma, a love potion which
can arouse an
adamant woman's affection; odom, bicol magic herb which makes its according to him "i found in this language, four qualities of the four greatest
possessor invisible to the languages of the
human eye: and uiga, a visayan charm which enables any man to cross a world, hebrew, greek, latin and spanish: it has the abstruseness and
river without getting, obscurity of the hebrew;
wet. the articles and distinctions in proper as well as in common nouns, of the
greek; the fullness of
many of these ancient superstitious beliefs survive to the present day. among
them are the elegance of latin; and the refinement, polish and courtesy of the spanish".
following: (1) the appearance of a comet is an ill omen, for it is a harbinger of writing
war, pestilence,
the ancient filipinos had their own system of writing. according to father
pregnant woman should not eat twin bananas, otherwise she will give birth to chirino, almost all of
twins; (4) a girl
them knew how to read and write. their alphabet, called baybayin, originated
who sings before the stove while cooking will marry an old widower; and, (5) from the asokan
when a cat wipes
alphabet of india. it consisted of three (serving as five) vowels and fourteen
its face with its paw, a visitor is coming to the house. consonants - a total
languages. of 17 letters. they used as pen a sharp-pointed iron instrument called sipol,
with this iron
the early filipinos, even until now had different languages and dialects. but by
learning one instrument, they engraved words on bamboo tubes, wooden boards and
leaves of plants which
filipino language, it was comparatively easy to know the other languages and
dialects because were used as paper. the direction of their writing was horizontal, from left to
right, unlike
all of them originated from a common linguistic source - the malayo-
polynesian language. chinese or japanese writing, which runs vertically from right to left. their
ancient writing is still
of all the native languages wrote father chirino, the tagalog was regarded as
the best.
preserved by the mangyans of mindoro and the tagbanuas of palawan, both both academic and vocational. the father trained his sons to be warriors,
of whom still use hunters, fishermen,
the ancient alphabet. miners, lumbermen and shipbuilders. the mother, on the other hand, trained
her daughters in
literature.
cooking, gardening, sewing and other household arts.
the early filipinos had both oral and written literature. fortunately, their oral
literature which it is said in ancient panay there was a barangay school called bothoan under
the charge of a
has been handed down from generation to generation is still preserved as a
priceless heritage teacher, usually an old man. the subjects taught to the children in this
barangay school were
of the race. it consists of awit (songs), bugtong (riddles), sala-wikain
(proverbs), myths, legends reading, writing, arithmetic, the use of weapons and lubus (acquiring
kinaadman or amulets.)
and poetry (lyric and epic. lunfortunately, most of this written literature of the
past has been arts. architecture in pre-spanish philippines was expressed in the bahay kubo
style of dwelling,
lost.
which was cool, cozy; and well-adapted to the tropical climate. in naval
of the interesting folk epic of pre-spanish literature, the following have,
architecture, ancient
fortunately, been
filipinos excelled; they built various kinds of boats from the one-man canoe
preserved: the ifugao aum and hudhud, the llocano lam-ang, the bicol
called bangka, to
handiong, the kalinga
the 230-man warboat, called karakao (caracao).
ullalim, the maranao bantigan, the maguindanao indarapatra and sulayman,
the illanon agyu 1
and the taosug parang sabil. their early painting was the tattoo. skilled tattoo artists using human bodies
as canvases,
education.
dagger points as brushes and black soot and plant saps as colors, painted
the children in ancient philippines were given the rudiments of education.
gorgeous designs on
such education was
human bodies, representing the sun, moon, stars, flowers, animals and
geometric figures.
sculpture was manifested in the anito statues of stone, wood, and gold made
by tribal carvers.
the handles of weapons and bolos were usually fancifully-carved, expressing
primitive
sculptural art. clay pots and jars with beautiful designs were skillfully done.
sciences.
although their medical lore was associated with magic, early filipinos had
some knowledge of
medicine. they knew the curative power of many medicinal plants. there were
herbalists who
were experts in the use of poisons. there was some crude knowledge of
astronomy. heavenly
bodies were attributed with god-like powers. the morning star was i called
tala by the tagalog)
the pleiades, poyo-poyo by the bagobos; and the dipper, monbunkol by the
ifugaos. the early
llocanos knew astrology, and they called an astrologer mamacta.
they also knew mathematics. prior to the spanish conquest, they could count
up to
100,000,000 (bahala), and could add, multiply, subract, and divide. they had
native terms for
numericals, such as isa (one), pu (ten),daan (hundred), libo (thousand), yuta
(one hundred
thousand), angaw (one million), kati (ten million) and bahala (one hundred
million).
weights and measures. they had their own weights and measures. for
weighing things, they
used the talaro, which was a kind of balance with scales. their measures of
capacity were the
kaban (25 gantas), the salop (one ganta), the kaguitna (one-half ganta) and
the gatang (one
chupa). their measures for length were the dipa, the length of the
outstretched arms, the
* tumuro, the length between the tip of the thumb and that of the forefinger
when extended; the
ysandamak, the width of the hand with the five fingers pressed together; and
the sandali, the
width of one finger. calendars. the ifugaos still use the calendar of their
ancestors. this ifugao
calendar contains 13 months in a year, each month having28 days." the
ifugaos have a tribal
calendar recorder called tumunoh, who keeps 13 strings representing the 13
months of the
year. at the end of each day, he ties one knot on a string to show that one
day has elapsed. he
ties 28 knots per string to represent one month. the ifugao calendar contains coinage and gold coins.
364 days a year.
it is interesting to note that the early filipinos knew the art of coinage and
in case of a leap year, one more day is added to the 13th month to make 365 had gold coins which
days.
they used as a medium of exchange in their business transactions among
domestic and foreign trade. themselves and with
domestic trade existed in ancient philippines. barangay traded with barangay, foreign traders. many of these ancient gold coins have been found in the
island with country as early as in
island. this early domestic trade was carried on by means of barter. according 1887 in mandaluyong and in 1914 at thebarrio of tiis, bagac, bataan.
to captain
modem filipino and foreign numismatists call these ancient filipino gold coins
miguel de loarca, the filipinos of the inland region exchanged their rice and piloncitos (little
cotton for fish, salt
cones) because of their conical shape. such peculiar shape for gold coins is
and other sea products raised by the dwellers of the coastal district. they also the result of pouring
carried on
molten gold into banana leaves folded into a cone. each of these ancient gold
commerce with china, japan, siam (thailand), malacca, india, borneo, coins measures
sumatra, java and other
nine millimeters in diametrical base and six millimeters in height. at the round
asian lands. the usual method of trading was by barter in which they offered base is engraved
their own
the ancient letter "ma" of the ancient filipino alphabet.
products in exchange for the products of other countries. sometimes they
agriculture and industries.
used gold dusts,
farming was the main industry of ancient filipinos. two methods of cultivation
shells and bronze gongs as money. it was observed by two early chinese
were used by
writers. chao ju-kua
the farmers. the first method was the kaingin method, in which the land was
(1225) and wang ta-yuan (1349), that filipinos were honest in their
cleared by setting
commercial transactions.
fire to the shrubs and bushes, after which holes were bored in the ground
with pointed sticks
and seeds were then planted there. the second method was the regular
means of tillage using
wooden plows and harrows drawn by carabaos. in some regions/irrigation
was used to increase
production as evidenced by the famous ifugao terraces of northern luzon.
they also recognized both systems of public and private ownership of land.
the mountain slopes and less arable lands were considered public property of
the barangay. the cultivated lands were owned privately by the different
families. these private lands were acquired by occupation, purchase, or
inheritance. other industries were fishing, mining, lumbering, weaving, metal
work, making of tools and weapons, manufacture of wines, raising of poultry
and stock, tanning and shipbuilding. the existence of agriculture and
industries in the philippines during pre-spanish times showed that our filipino
forefathers possessed a relatively high culture.
midterms
spanish period
ferdinand magellan, born in 1480 in the town of ponte de barca, province of
minho, portugal. in 1505, when he was 23 years old, he joined the
portuguese expedition to the east. he fought bravely in many battles,
especially in cannanore, diu, and malacca. it was in the battle of malacca
(1511), where he saved the life of his cousin and close friend, francisco
serrano, during the exploration of the moluccas, serrano was shipwrecked on
an uninhabited island (probably turtle islands), and he and his men took
refuge in mindanao in 1512. this well documented incident thus makes
serrano the first european “discoverer” of the philippines. 3 he was also one
of those responsible for having encouraged magellan to secure a trade route
to the spice islands.
in 1513, accompanied by enrique, a malay slave, whom he had acquired in
malacca, magellan returned to lisbon. afterwards he took part in the
portuguese campaign against the moors of africa.
at the close of the african war, magellan again returned to lisbon, where he
pore over old maps arid crystallized his belief in a westward route to the east.
unfortunately, his monarch king manuel refused to increase magellan’s
pension, and ignored his proposed plan to sail westward route to the spice
islands (moluccas).
disgusted, magellan renounced his portuguese citizenship and went to spain.
through the efforts of his father-in-law and other influential friends, he was
able to appear at the royal court of king charles at valladolid and presented
his bold venture to find a new route to the moluccas. the spanish king
approved magellan’s bold venture.
magellan completed the preparation of his expedition which consisted of five
ships and 265 men. of the 265 men in the expedition, two-thirds were
spaniards and the rest were foreign mariners. accompanying magellan were
his malay slave, enrique of malacca (acting as interpreter of the expedition),
alvaro de mezquita (magellan's nephew), father pedro de valderrama (fleet
chaplain), and antonio pigafetta, 4 venetian knight and chronicles of the
expedition; and duarte barbosa (magellan's brother-in-law).
on august 10,1519, after hearing mass and receiving communion at the
church of santa lucia, magellan and his men sailed from seville. sailing
southwestward, he reached the canaries on september 26, striking across the
atlantic, he landed on the south american coast, now pernambuco, brazil, on on march 6,1521, magellan reached guam the natives called chamorres,
november 29. after obtaining provisions from friendly natives, magellan supplied his famished men with fresh water and provisions. at first magellan
resumed his voyage, reaching rio de janeiro on december 13. he named it called the islands (guam and those nearby) the “islands of sails” because of
"santa lucia" because he landed there on santa lucia's day. leaving rio de the numerous sail- boats along the coast; later, he changed the name to
janeiro, he explored the rio de la plata vainly searching for the gateway to the "ladrones islands" because the natives stole a boat from his flagship.
pacific. his men suffered terribly from storms and cold at last he anchored at
arrival in the philippines. from guam, magellan continued his voyage
port san julian on march 31,1520, and made it his winter base.
westward. at dawn of saturday, march 16 1521 he saw above the horizon the
on the night of palm sunday, april 1, a mutiny broke out. the ringleaders were towering heights of samar.
quesada, captain of the concepcion mendoza, captain of the victoria; and
the following day magellan landed on the small uninhabited islet of
cartagena, whom magellan deposed as captain of san antonio during the
homonhon at the mouth of leyte gulf. on march 18 nine friendly filipinos from
atlantic voyage for insubordination juan sebastian de elcano, to his lasting
the neighboring island of saluan arrived in a boat and hospitably gave their
disgrace, joined the mutiny. but magellan was equal to the emergency. he
cargo of bananas, fish, coconuts and palm wine to magellan. they were the
suppressed the mutiny and meted out swift justice to the guilty quesada was
first filipinos seen by the spaniards.
executed. cartagena and father sanchez de la reyna were marooned on the
coast. forty mutineers, including elcano, were pardoned. first mass in the philippines. in the afternoon of monday/march 25,1521,
magellan left homohhon. due to a storm, he was forced to sail south, along
with the advent of spring, magellan left port san julian, sailing southward. the
the northeast tip of mindanao towards butuan bay, which provided a shelter
santiagol was wrecked by a violent squall. with four remaining ships, he
from the typhoon. on holy thursday, march 28, the fleet landed in masao,
sailed on october 21, 1520, he discovered the strait which now bears his
butuan, agusan del norte, a fertile, heavily-forested, and mountainous
name. he called it the "strait of all saints". while sailing through the strait, the
territory ruled by raha kolambu.
san antonio, piloted by esteban gomez (a portuguese) deserted on the night
of november 20 and returned to spain. kolambu welcomed magellan. they made a blood compact on good friday,
march 29,1521 to seal their new friendship and brotherhood. this was the
with only three ships, on november 28 magellan began his trans-pacific
first recorded blood compact in the annals of the country. on easter sunday,
voyage which lasted 3 months and 20 days. death, sickness and hunger rode
march 31, 1521 a mass was held on masao's shore. it was the first catholic
the masts of his fleet. provisions ran low and the men devoured worms, rats,
mass held in the philippines. it was officiated by rev. pedro de valderrama,
sawdust and water-soaked leather. most of the crew were stricken with
fleet chaplain, and was attended by magellan, raha kolambu and siagu,
scurvy. nineteen men died and 30 became too ill to work. but magellan boldly
spanish voyagers and filipinos.
sailed on. in mid-ocean he found two barren and uninhabited islets which he
called "unfortunate islands"
after the mass, magellan entertained the people of masao to a spectacular
display of european tournament staged by the significance of the first
kingdom best swordsmen of his expedition. the people marveled at the
visitors' skill with their, weapons.
at sundown of the same day, magellan, in the presence of spaniards and
filipinos, solemnly a large wooden cross on the summit of a hill overlooking
the sea. he took possession of the land in the name of spain. he named the
country the "archipelago of st. lazarus".
"first christian filipinos” in cebu. magellan's men helped the people of
masao in harvesting their vice the harvest over, king kolambu piloted the fleet
to cebu, a flourishing kingdom under raha humabon. magellan landed in cebu
on april 7,1521 and on the same day he made a blood compact with
humabon. at that time cebu was already an entrepot of oriental trade
magellan met there a siamese trader.
on sunday, april 14,1521, a mass was held on the shore of cebu. raha
humabon and his warriors were highly impressed by the sublime ceremony.
after the mass, magellan planted a wooden cross, which still exists.
thus, after magellan planted a wooden cross in the area and gave a gift of
the image of the santo nino to queen juana, wife of raha humabon (she was
renamed after her baptism for the mother of king charles i of spain), his
expedition claimed to have made converts of the filipinos in the area.
however, the first filipino converts to catholicism did not appear to last. when
legazpi arrived in cebu in 1865, he did not find such faith among the natives.
the image of the santo nino was accidentally found in the house of one of the
native leaders in cebu, and legazpi noted that “these lost people" were
"ignorant" of its meaning. evidently, they had kept the statue among the
native idols, as some good luck charm, a custom that many filipinos still
follow today.
the battle of mactan. raha humabon of cebu and other chieftains
welcomed the spaniards. only one filipino leader defied the white men, and
he was the fearless lapu-lapu, king of mactan. magellan was irked and
wanted to crush the defiant champion of filipino freedom.
at dawn of april 27, 1521, magellan invaded mactan with an assault army of
60 steel-clad spaniards in three vessels and 1,000 cebuano warriors in 30
boats. before the battle, he boastfully told humabon and his. men to remain
in their boats and to watch how the europeans fights with his spanish
soldiers/he waded ashore and attacked the mactan defenders.
the battle was furiously fought. magellan found out too late that he had
underestimated the fighting prowess and fierce courage of lapu-lapu and his
men. the spanish invaders were beaten and forced back to their boats.
magellan was wounded by a poisoned arrow in his right leg; twice his iron
helmet was knocked off, and a mactan bamboo spear struck him in the face.
one mactan warrior slashed his left leg, he fell face downward, and lapu-lapp
and his fighters pounced and killed him.
lapu-lapu, first filipino hero. by vanquishing magellan, the world s first
circumnavigator, lapu-lapu became the first filipino fighter for freedom. to
western historians, he may have been just another hostile native on the
shore. but to filipinos, his decisive victory in mactan was significant because
he successfully defended his territory against western aggression. it was the
first recorded triumph of filipino arms over invading western forces, and it
drew attention to these islands.
return trip to spain. the spaniards lost face in cebu because of their
disastrous defeat in mactan. duarte barbosa and juan serrano became the
new commanders. on may 1, they and twenty-seven other spaniards were
massacred by the cebuanos,' feeling no longer safe, the spanish survivors
hurriedly embarked and continued their voyage to the moluccas, finally
landing at tidore an island in the moluccas, on november 8, 1521. they were
left with only the survivors decided that the victoria, under elcano's
command, would sail back to spain via the longer safe, the cape of good
hope, while the trinidad, led by gomez de espinosa, would cross the pacific to
panama.
more fortunate than the trinidad, the victoria crossed the indian ocean,
rounded the cape of good hope and finally reached san lucar, spam on
september 6, 1522, with only 18 survivors the voyage around the world
lasted 2 years, 11 months and 16 days and for the first time, the globe had
been circumnavigated by men.
results of magellan’s voyage. magellan's voyage was the greatest
maritime exploit of mankind; its results affected the course of history. first,
for the first time man circumnavigated the world thereby proving the world
was round. second, europe became aware that the greatest of all oceans lies
between the new world and asia third, it enhanced geographical knowledge
and made europeans eager to explore and to conquer the pacific. finally, it
paved the way for spanish colonization and christianization of the philippines.
unfortunately, the glory and rewards of the journey, which should have been
given to magellan, were reaped by sebastian de elcano, the ex-mutineer.
spanish conquest. the success of magellan's voyage paved the way for
spain's expansion to the orient. five other expeditions successively headed by
loaisa, cabot, saavedra, villalobos and legazpi' were sent to the east to
explore, conquer and colonize the philippines and the moluccas. the filipinos
resisted the spanish invasion but to no avail. in the end they accepted
spanish rule and christianity.
rivalry between spain and portugal. in the 16th century, portugal and
spain were the rivals for colonies among the great powers. in 1493, pope
alexander vi (who was spanish) issued four papal bulls, one of which divided
the world between spain and portugal. the next year, in 1494, the two
kingdoms made an agreement, known as the treaty of tordesillas, shifting the
demarcation, line made by the pope. then, in 1529, several years after
magellan's circumnavigation, they quarreled again over ownership of the
moluccas (spice islands).
to settle their rival claims, they concluded the treaty of zaragoza on april 22,
1529. the spanish king sold his rights to the moluccas to the portuguese king,
and a new demarcation line was king fixed.
but this was big mistake for portugal. it did not know at the time, due to
incomplete scientific knowledge and instruments that the molucca and the
philippines were really inside the line which belonged to it. so portugal only
bought what it really owned. the story why portugal never really colonized
the philippines is one of the mysteries of our history. after all, as we have
seen, the portuguese were really the first western discoverers of these
islands, li, dating to francisco serrano's stranding on the coast of mindanao in
1512. magellan knew about the rich island he would find at 90 north latitude
(mindanao), and thus he took this downward course after coming to the
pacific. since the portuguese were the first in these waters, it was known to
the spanish colonizers like legazpi that they were interested in the philippines,
and indeed made trouble after the first spanish settlements.
but, fortunately, portugal never claimed or colonized the philippines. if we
had fallen to the portuguese, the dutch later on would have taken over the
country, as they took over the spice islands in 1607. the dutch were more
cruel colonial masters than either the portuguese or spanish. nor were the
dutch interested in evangelizing the natives, whom they regarded as
practically sub-humans. the dutch did not intermarry or educate the people in
their colonies. asas compared to the colonial experiences of the dutch, british
or french, the spanish were more benign and liberal with their colonies
the post-magellan expeditions. after magellan, there were five other
voyages financed by spain for the seemingly impossible mission of finding
and holding the new islands in the east for a colony. western conquistadores
took the risks of the journey to the unknown eastern seas. the following are
the spanish expeditions, their leaders and results:
1. loaisa expedition (1525).
2. cabot expedition (1526).
3. saavedra expedition (1527).
4. villalobos expedition (1542) he named the philippines "islas filipinas" in
honor of crown prince philip (later king philip ii)
5. legazpi expedition (1564)
legazpi's expedition (1564). in 1556 king charles i (concurrently emperor
charles v of germany), abdicated the spanish throne so that his son became
king of spain as philip ) (1556-1598). three years later, on september
24,1559, philip ii wrote to mexican viceroy velasco ordering him to prepare an
expedition for the conquest and colonization of the philippines. 9 the
command of this expedition was given to miguel lopez de legazpi, spanish-
bom soldier and lawyer and former secretary of the government of mexico
city,
during the preparation of the expedition, the mexican government ran out of
funds. legazpi spent his own fortune to finish the preparations. with a fleet of
four ships and 380 men (mostly mexicans), he left natividad, mexico, on
november 21, 1564. he was accompanied by father urdaneta (acting as chief
pilot), 10 captain felipe de salcedo (legazpi's grandson), guido de lavezaris
(survivor of the villalobos expedition), melchor de legazpi (fleet accountant
and legazpi's son) and five augustinian missionaries, sailing westward across
the pacific, legazpi stopped at guam, where he obtained fresh water and
supplies. continuing his voyage he anchored near the island of cebu on
february 13,1565. unable to land at this island due to cebuano hostility, he
sailed to the neighboring islands. at samar he was welcomed by a friendly
chief, urrad, with whom he made a blood compact on february 22. on march
9, he landed at limasawa, whose young king named "banka hospitably
received him.
later, legazpi landed at bohol and befriended two native kings, katuna
(sikatuna in spanish records) and gala (sigala in spanish records). on march
16,1565, legazpi and katuna made a blood compact at the present site of
barrio bo-ol, baclagon. a few days later, a similar pact was done by legazpi
and gala.
the conquest of cebu. from bohol, legazpi sailed to cebu, arriving there on
april 27,1565. king tupas of cebu defied the spaniards. under cover of artillery
fire, a spanish assault force hit the shore and grappled furiously with the
cebuano defenders. spanish artillery and muskets won the day. tupas, with
his men retreated to the hills, leaving his kingdom in flames.
first spanish settlement. a spanish settlement; the first of its kind in the
philippines, was established in cebu. it was in the form of a triangle, with two
sides facing the "sea and the third fronting the land. it was surrounded by a
strong palisade and was defended by a fort. wells were dug to assure
constant supply of water. a church for the augustinian fathers was erected
and in this church was kept the historic image of the child jesus. buildings
were constructed for the soldiers. affectionately, legazpi named the
settlement the "city of the most holy name of jesus" in honor of the catholic
image. thus cebu city, which legazpi founded in 1565, is the oldest spanish
city in the philippines.
first filipino-spanish treaty (1565). more of a statesman than a
conquistador, legazpi tried to win the cebuano king and people by a policy of
attraction. he invited them to return and rebuild their homes and live in peace
with the spaniards. with the help of cid hamal (sidamit), a muslim malay who
was in cebu at that time, legazpi succeeded in winning the friendship of raha
tupas and lesser datus.
on june 4,1565, legazpi and tupas concluded a treaty with the condition that
raha tupas and the other datus recognize spanish sovereignty and friendship.
the true spanish colonization. as legazpi was laying down the foundations
of spanish rule in cebu, the augustinian missionaries were busy sowing the
seeds of christianity. the first cebuano convert was the widowed niece of
tupas named landulaman. father diego de henra baptized her under the name
isabel in honor of isabel garces, legazpi's deceased wife. in the same year
(1565), after her baptism, she was married to master andres, a greek
member of
legazpi’s expedition. the wedding ceremony was officiated by father
hererra. this was the first christian marriage (and the first filipino-spanish
marriage) on philippine soil
on march 21,1568, king tupas accepted baptism at the hands of father
hererra, with legazpi as godfather. he was named felipe in honor of philip .
his son, pinsuncan, cebu’s crown prince, was likewise baptized and was
named carlos, with captain felipe de salcedo as godfather. following the
example of their king and prince, the cebuanos accepted christianity.
second conquest of manila (1571). after his victory, goiti left maynilad
and returned to panay. he told legazpi of the existence of the muslim
kingdom by the shore of manila bay which was called maynilad. it was a rich
kingdom because of its trade with the chinese, borneans, siamese and other
foreign merchants. hascinated by goiti's tale, legazpi decided to colonize
maynilad. the next year he gathered a stronger expedition consisting of 27
vessels, 280 spaniards and 600 visayan allies. he left panay and reached
manila bay in the middle of may 1571. the second conquest of manila was a
bloodless event. lakan dula, last king of tondo and sulayman's uncle, realized
that it was useless to resist the powerful spaniards. he paddled out to manila
bay and welcomed legazpi. he also persuaded his valiant nephew raha
sulayman, and raha matanda (sulayman's uncle) to submit peacefully to
legazpi. thus legazpi landed at manila, without a fight.
on may 19,1571, legazpi took possession of manila in the name of his
monarch. king philip ii of spain. bankusay, where the first battle of manila bay
was fought. although sulayman and lakan dula gave up their respective
kingdoms and became friends of legazpi, the filipinos in central luzon defied
spain. a valiant pampango warlord named bambalito (not raha sulayman)
rallied the warriors of macabebe (his native town) betis, hagonoy, navotas
and other barangays to carry on resistance to the spanish invaders.
bambalito established his war camp in navotas, where he assembled his
forces. one day he went to tonda and conferred with lakan dula and raha
sulayman to support his cause. the two former native rulers did not join him
because they had given their word of honor to legazpi to maintain peace with
spain and as men of honor, they could not break it. however, a son and two
nephews of lakan dula and some of sulayman's warriors joined his forces.
founding of manila. on june 24, 1571, the peast day of st. john the
baptist, legazpi proclaimed manila as capital of the philippines and established
its city government. this date is annually on june 3,1571, bambalito's flotilla philippines from lim-ah-hong's invasion (1574-75). he died of fever in vigan,
of war boats sailed down the channel of bankusay, off the north shore of march 11,1576, at the age of 27.
manila bay and engaged marshal goiti's forces in furious naval battle. at the
the catholicism in the conquest of the philippines. the might of the
height of the bloody sea fight, bambalito was killed. his death demoralized his
spanish sword and the martial exploits of legazpi, goiti, salcedo andother
forces. for lack of a leader, his men were routed. thus was fought the first
conquistadores helped much in the conquest. but without the eloquent
battle of manila bay, with victory to spain. celebrated until the present time
teachings and sacrificial labors of the missionaries, the spanish colonization
as the "foundation day of manila."
would not have been an enduring success, as there was but a handful of
over the ashes of raha sulayman's muslim kingdom, legazpi built the spanish spanish soldiers, who could easily have been wiped out by the filipinos.
city of manila, years later. king philip ii by his royal decree of june 1, 1574,
by accepting christianity, the filipinos became loyal subjects of spain. thus
named manila the insigney siempre leal ciudad (distinguished and ever loyal
wrote tomas de comyn: "of little avail would have been the valor and
city). later, by his royal decree of march 20,1596, the same king conferred a
constancy with which legazpi and his worthy companions overcame the
beautiful coat-of-arms on manila.
natives of the islands, if the apostolic zeal of the missionaries had not
the death of legazpi. on august 20, 1572, legazpi, the first spanish seconded their exertions, and aided to consolidate the enterprise. the latter
governor and adelantado of the philippines, died of heart attack in manila.13 were the real conquerors they who without any other arms but their virtues,
his death was deeply mourned by both the spaniards and filipinos. he had gained over the goodwill of the islanders."
served god and the king so well, sacrificing even his own personal fortune,
it is one of the history's incredible facts that the overall conquest of the
that he died a poor man. his work during the seven years of his sojourn in
philippines was achieved more by the cross than by the sword and that the
the philippines "entitles him to a place among the greatest of colonial
conversion of the filipinos to catholicism (the first christian sect to arrive)
pioneers".
proceeded at a relatively quicker pace than in the other colonies,
salcedo, last spanish conquistador. the greatest military hero of the
spanish troops during time numbered a little more than 300 in 1565, and
spanish conquest was captain juan de salcedo, worthy grandson of legazpi.
after this time they increased to 400 (in 1590) and then further increased not
he was a youthful and dashing mexican cavalier. he subdued the region along
more than 2,000 (in 1707) such a handful of soldiers could not possibly have
laguna de bay; discovered the gold mines of paracale; then going northward
conquered a righting race of filipinos totaling between one-half to one million
the pacified ilocandia and cagayan, and later, in 1573, he conquered
in legazpi’s time, had it not been for a miraculous feat of conversion.
bicolandia and catanduanes. in recognition of his military services to the
spanish crown, he was given the encomienda of the ilocos and was promoted the augustinian missionary-historian martin de rada in a letter to the viceroy
to the rank of field marshal. his last service to spain was the saving of the of mexico in 1569, reported that: 'they (the early filipinos) can be converted
and adopt our faith easily... the fear with which cod has inspired them is
great, for no matter how large may be the village, when a dozen spaniards
go for it, the natives come out immediately with their hands tied and beg for
peace."
moreover, the american protestant historian. prof. e.g. bourne of yale
university, an authority on spanish colonization, wrote: "in the light, then, of
impartial history raised above race prejudice and religious prepossessions,
after a comparison with the early years of the spanish conquest in america, or
with the first generation or two of the english settlements in the united states
- z.), the conversion and civilization of the philippines in the forty years
following legazpi s arrival must be pronounced an achievement without
parallel in history."
thus, it appears that the coming of catholic spain to these islands prepared
the philippines for its greatest role - that of being the door between the
christian west and the non-christian east
spanish institutions
political system
the spanish quickly organized their new colony according to their model. the
first task was the reduction, or relocation of native inhabitants into
settlements. the earliest political system used during the conquista period
was the encomienda system, which resembled the political system known as
feudalism in to provide soldiers for the king, in particular, for the defense of
the colony from invaders such as the dutch, british and chinese. the
encomienda was entrusted to the encomendero by the king for only two
generations. the encomienda system was abused by encomenderos and was
replaced by a more medieval europe. the conquistadores, friars and native
nobles were granted estates, in exchange for their services to the king, and
was given the privilege to collect tribute from its inhabitants. in return, the
person granted the encomienda, known as an encomendero, was tasked to
provide military protection to the inhabitants, justice and governance. in
times of war, the encomendero was duty bound advanced system of
governance of the times.
the most prominent feature of spanish cities was the plaza, a central area for
town activities such as the fiesta, and where government buildings, the
church, a market area and other infrastructures were located. residential
areas lay around the plaza. during the conquista, the first task of colonization
was the reduction, or relocation of the indigenous population into settlements
surrounding the plaza.
as in europe, the church always had control over the state affairs of the
colony. the friars controlled the sentiments of the native population and was
more powerful than the governor general himself. among the issues that
resulted to the philippine revolution of 1898 that ended spanish rule was the
abuse of power by the religious orders.
national government
on the national level, the king of spain, through his council of the indies
(consejo de indias), governed through his sole representative in the
philippines: the governor-general (gobernador y capitán general). with the
seat of power in intramuros, manila, the governor-general was given several
duties: he headed the supreme court (real audiencia), was commander-in-
chief of the army and navy, and was the economic planner of the country. all
known executive power of the local government stemmed from him and as
vice-regal patron, he had the right to supervise mission work and oversee
ecclesiastical appointments. his yearly salary was p40,000. for obvious
reasons, the governor-general was usually a peninsular (spaniard born in
spain) to ensure loyalty of the colony to the crown.
provincial government
on the provincial level, heading the pacified provinces (alcaldia), was the
provincial governor (alcalde mayor). the unpacified military zones
(corregidor), such as mariveles and mindoro, were headed by the
corregidores. city governments (ayuntamientos), were also headed by an
alcalde mayor. alcalde mayors and corregidores exercised multiple
prerogatives as judge, inspector of encomiendas, chief of police, tribute
collector, capitan-general of the province and even vice-regal patron. his
annual salary ranged from p300 to p2000 before 1847 and p1500 to p1600
after it. but this can be augmented through the special privilege of "indulto de
commercio" where all people were forced to do business with him. the alcalde
mayor was usually an insulares (spaniard born in the philippines). in the
1800s, the peninsulares began to displace the insulares which resulted in the
political unrests of 1872, notably the execution of gomburza, novales revolt
and mutiny of the cavite fort under la madrid.
municipal government
the pueblo or town is headed by the gobernadorcillo or (little governor.
among his administrative duties were the preparation of the tribute list
(padron), recruitment and distribution of men for draft labor, communal
public work and military conscription (quinto), postal clerk and judge in minor
civil suits. he intervened in all administrative cases pertaining to his town:
lands, justice, finance and the municipal police. his annual salary, however,
was only p24 but he was exempted from taxation. any native or chinese
mestizo, 25 years old, literate in oral or written spanish and has been a
cabeza de barangay of 4 years can be a gobernadorcillo. among those
prominent is emilio aguinaldo, a chinese mestizo and who was the
gobernadorcillo of cavite el viejo (now kawit). early officials of the pueblo
were taken from the maharlika class or nobles of rep-colonial society. their
names are survived by prominent families in contemporary philippine society
such as tupas, gatmaitan, liwanag, pangilinan, panganiban and agbayani to
name a few.
barrio government
barangay
barrio government (village or district) rested on the barrio administrator
(cabeza de barangay). he was responsible for peace and order and recruited
men for communal public works. cabezas should be literate in spanish and
have good moral character and property. cabezas who served for 25 years
were exempted from forced labor. in addition, this is where the sentiment
heard as, mi barrio', first came from.
the residencia and the visita
to check the abuse of power of royal officials, two ancient castilian institutions
were brought to the philippines. the residencia, dating back to the fifth
century and the visita differed from the residencia in that it was conducted
clandestinely by a visitador-general sent from spain and might occur anytime
within the official's term, without any previous notice. visitas may be specific
or general.
maura law
the legal foundation for municipal governments in the country was laid with
the promulgation of the maura law on may 19, 1893. named after its author,
don antonio maura, the spanish minister of colonies at the time, the law
reorganized town governments in the philippines with the aim of making
them more effective and autonomous. this law created the municipal
organization that was later adopted, revised, and further strengthened by the
american and filipino governments that succeeded spanish rule. [7]
economy
manila-acapulco galleon trade
the manila-acapulco galleon trade was the main source of income for the
colony during its early years. service was inaugurated in 1565 and continued
into the early 19th century. the galleon trade brought silver from new spain
and silk from china by way of manila. this way, the philippines earned its
income through buy and sell - that is, they bought silk from china for resale
to new spain and then bought american silver for resale to china. the trade
was very prosperous. however, initially it neglected the development of the
colony's local industries which affected the indios since agriculture was their
main source of income. in addition, the building and operation of galleons put
too much burden on the colonists’ annual polo y servicio. howeverhowever, it
resulted in cultural and commercial exchanges between asia and the americas
that led to the introduction of new crops and animals to the philippines
notably tobacco that gave the colony its first real income which benefit
extended to the common indio. the trade lasted for over two hundred years,
and ceased in 1821 with the secession of american colonies from spain.
royal society of friends of the country
jose de basco y vargas, following a royal order to form a society of
intellectuals who can produce new, useful ideas, formally established the real
sociedad economica de amigos del pais. composed of leading men in
business, industry and profession, the society was tasked to explore and
exploit the island's natural bounties. the society led to the creation of plan
general economico of basco which implemented the monopolies on the areca
nut, tobacco, spirited liquors and explosives. it offered local ad foreign
scholarships and training grants in agriculture and established an academy of
design. it was also credited to the carabao ban of 1782, the formation of the
silversmiths and gold beaters guild and the construction of the first papermill
in the philippines in 1825. it was introduced on 1780, vanished temporarily on
1787-1819, 1820-1822 and 1875-1822 and ceased to exist in the middle of
the 1890s.
royal company of the philippines
on march 10, 1785, charles iii created the royal philippine company with a 25
year charter.[8] it was granted exclusive monopoly of bringing to manila,
philippines; chinese and indian goods and shipping them directly to spain via
the cape of good hope. it was stiffly objected by the dutch and english who
saw it as a direct attack on their trade of asian goods. it was also vehemently
opposed by the traders of the galleon trade who saw it as competition. this
gradually resulted into the death of both institutions: the royal philippine
company in 1814 and the galleon trade in 1815.[9]
taxation
to support the colony, several forms of taxes and monopolies were imposed.
the buwis (tribute), which could be paid in cash or kind (tobacco, chickens,
produce, gold, blankets, cotton, rice, etc., depending on the region of the
country), was initially was fixed at 8 reales (one real being 12.5 centavos)
and later increased to 15 reales, apportioned as follows: ten reales buwis ,
one real diezmos prediales (tithes), one real to the town community chest,
one real sanctorum tax, and three reales for church support.[10]
also collected was the bandala (from the tagalog word mandalâ, a round
stack of rice stalks to be threshed), an annual enforced sale and
requisitioning of goods such as rice. custom duties and income tax were also
collected. by 1884, the tribute was replaced by the cedula personal, wherein
colonists were required to pay for personal identification. everyone over the
age of 18 was obliged to pay.[11]
forced labor (polo y servicio)
the system of forced labor otherwise known as polo y servicio evolved within
the framework of the encomienda system, introduced into the south american
colonies by the conquistadores and catholic priests who accompanied them.
polo y servicio is the forced labor for 40 days of men ranging from 16 to 60
years of age who were obligated to give personal services to community
projects. one could be exempted from polo by paying the falla (corruption of
the spanish falta, meaning "absence"), a daily fine of one and a half real. in
1884, labor was reduced to 15 days. the polo system was patterned after the
mexican repartimento, selection for forced labor.
culture and education
by the 1800s, the philippines had become an important possession. the early
small number of european settlers, soldiers and missionaries brought with
them aspects of european life, i.e. the spanish menu, religious festivals, stone
houses, manner of clothing and fashion. the colonists used the gregorian
calendar, the latin script and used theocentric art, music, literature.
likewiselikewise, the european settlers and their descendants, insulares (lit.
"islanders"), also adapted to oriental culture learning to eat rice as their
staple and use soy sauce, coconut vinegar, coconut oil and ginger.
british invasion
in august 1759, charles iii ascended the spanish throne. at the time, britain
and france were at war, in what was later called the seven years war. france
successfully negotiated a treaty with spain known as the family compact
which was signed on 15 august 1761. by an ancillary secret convention, spain
was committed to making preparations for war against britain. on 24
september 1762 [15], a small but technically proficient force of british army
regulars and british east india company soldiers, supported by the ships and
men of the east indies squadron of the british royal navy, sailed into manila
bay from madras in india. the expedition, led by brigadier general william
draper and rear-admiral samuel cornish, captured manila, "the greatest
spanish fortress in the western pacific", and attempted to establish free trade
with china.
the spanish defeat was not really surprising. the royal governor of the
philippines, don pedro manuel de arandia had died in 1759 and his
replacement brigadier don francisco de la torre had not arrived because of
the british attack on havana, cuba. spanish policy was for the archbishop of
manila to be lieutenant governor. because the garrison was commanded by
the archbishop don manuel rojo del rio y vieyra, instead of by a military
expert, many mistakes were made by the spanish forces.
under spanish rule, the philippines never paid its own way, but survived on
an annual subsidy paid by the spanish crown. as a cost saving measure, and
because the spanish authorities never really contemplated a serious
expedition against manila by a european power, the 200 year old
fortifications at manila had not been improved much since first built by the
spanish.
early success by the british in manila did not enable them to expand their
control over all parts of the spanish philippines. in reality they only controlled
manila and cavite, and parts of ilocos and cagayan. but manila was the
capital, and key, to the spanish philippines, and the british accepted the
written surrender of the spanish government in the philippines from
archbishop rojo and the real audiencia on 30 october 1762.
the terms of surrender proposed by the real audencia and agreed to by the
british leaders, secured private property, guaranteed the roman catholic
religion and its episcopal government, and granted the citizens of the former
spanish colony the rights of peaceful travel and of trade 'as british subjects'.
under superior british control, the philippines would continue to be governed
by the real audencia, the expenses of which were to be paid by spain.
the seven years war was ended by the peace of paris signed on 10 february
1763. at the time of signing the treaty, the signatories were not aware that
the philippines had been taken by the british and was being administered as a
british colony. consequently no specific provision was made for the
philippines. instead they fell under the general provision that all other lands
not otherwise provided for be returned to the spanish crown.
the british rule ended with them embarking from manila and cavite in the first
week of april 1764, and sailing out of manila bay for batavia, india and
england. the conflict over payment by spain of the outstanding part of the
ransom promised by archbishop rojo in the terms of surrender, and
compensation by britain for excesses committed by governor drake against
residents of manila, continued in europe for years afterwards.
filipino revolts
one of the most significant part of philippine history is the revolts of the
people against their spanish oppressor. history reveals that throughout the
more than three centuries of colonial bondage to spain, filipinos had risen in
more than 100 revolts to reclaim their lost freedom.
spanish imposed institutions of exploitation have a tremendous impact to the
filipinos. these struggles, which unfortunately were suppressed by spanish
superior arms, produced the first filipino heroes.
these early revolts against spanish rule were caused chiefly by the people’s
desire to regain their lost freedom. other revolts were caused by spanish
oppression, the hated tribute, the forced labor, and the religious persecution.
some revolts were economic in nature, being caused by agrarian disputes
with the friars who grabbed the lands of the natives. the filipinos, claiming
the land titles of the friar haciendas, rose in arms to fight for their ancestral
lands. these agrarian uprisings broke out in the provinces of batangas,
bulacan, cavite, and laguna in 1745-1746. finally, some filipino revolts were
religious in character.
16th century
dagami revolt (1567)
the dagami revolt was a revolt against spanish colonial rule led by the filipino
rebel, dagami, in the island of cebu in the philippines, in 1567.
manila revolt (1574)
the manila revolt, also known as the lakandula revolt, or the sulayman revolt,
was an uprising in 1574 against spanish colonial rule led by rajah lakandula
and rajah sulayman, in manila, in the philippines. the revolt occurred in the
same year when the chinese pirate, limahong attacked the palisaded, yet
poorly-defended enclosure of intramuros.
before the death of governor-general miguel lópez de legazpi, lakandula was
baptized as carlos lacandola, and he and his descendants (along with
sulayman), were justly compensated with exemption from tribute and forced
labor, which their families enjoyed until 1884. the lakandula and sulayman
families also received the exclusive right to keep their family names. legazpi's
successor, however, governor-general guido de lavezaris, sequestered their
properties, and even tolerated the abuse and oppression of their people by
spanish encomienderos. with the help of spanish and filipino colonial troops,
governor-general lavezaris was able to quell the rebellion and restore order in
manila.
pampangos revolt (1585)
the pampangos revolt, or the first pampangos revolt, was an uprising in 1585
by native kapampangan leaders against spanish landowners, or
encomienderos, in the philippines. it began due to the abuses inflicted by the
encomienderos on the natives of pampanga. the revolt included a plot to
storm intramuros. however, the conspiracy was foiled before it could even be
implemented, after a filipino woman who was married to a spanish soldier
reported the plot to the spanish authorities. spanish and filipino colonial
troops were sent by governor-general santiago de vera, and the leaders of
the revolt were arrested and summarily executed.
conspiracy of the maharlikas (1587-1588)
the conspiracy of the maharlikas, or the tondo conspiracy of 1587-1588 was a
plot against spanish colonial rule by the kin-related noblemen, or datus of
manila and some towns of bulacan and pampanga, in the philippines, led by
agustin de legazpi, nephew of lakandula, and his first cousin, martin pangan.
the datus swore to rise up in arms by anointing their necks with a split egg.
the uprising failed when they were betrayed to the spanish authorities by
antonio surabao (susabau) of calamianes. the leaders were caught , hanged
and decapitatated. their severed heads place for public exhibition.
revolts against the tribute (1589)
the revolts against the tribute nohpresent-day provinces of cagayan, ilocos
norte and ilocos sur in 1589. the natives, which included ilocanos, ibanags
and others, rose in revolt over alleged abuses by tax collectors, including the
collection of unjust taxes. governor-general santiago de vera sent spanish
and filipino colonial troops to pacify the rebels. they were eventually
pardoned, and reforms on the philippine tax system were made.
 dingras revolt
 cagayan revolt
magalat revolt (1596)
the magalat revolt was an uprising in the philippines in 1596, led by magalat,
filipino rebel from cagayan. he had been arrested in manila for inciting
rebellion against the spanish, and after he was released on the importunities
of some dominican priests, he returned to cagayan. together with his brother,
he incited the whole country to revolt. he was said to have committed
atrocities upon his fellow natives for refusing to rise up against the spaniards.
he soon controlled the countryside, and the spanish eventually found
themselves besieged. thethe spanish governor-general francisco de tello de
guzmán, sent pedro de chaves from
manila with spanish and filipino colonial troops. they fought successfully
against the rebels,
and captured and executed several leaders under magalat. magalat himself
was assassinated within his fortified headquarters by his own men, who
apparently had been promised a reward by the spaniards.
17th century
igorot revolt (1601)
the igorot revolt was a religious revolt in 1601 against spanish attempts to
christianize the igorot people of northern luzon, in the philippines. governor-
general francisco de tello de guzmán sent captain aranda with spanish and
filipino colonial troops, who successfully crushed the igorot rebellion.
chinese revolt of 1603
in 1603, the chinese inhabitants of manila set fire to quiapo and tondo, and
for a time threatened to capture intramuros.
irraya revolt (1621)
(1621) the irraya revolt came to be because of the cruelty of the spaniards to
the igorots, leading to a revolt under the leadership of gabriel dayag and his
brother named felix cutabay.[7]
tamblot revolt (1621-1622)
the tamblot revolt or tamblot uprising was a religious uprising in the island of
bohol, led by tamblot in 1621. the jesuits first came to bohol in 1596, and
eventually governed the island and converted the boholanos to the catholic
faith. tamblot, a babaylan or native priest, urged his fellow boholanos to
return to the old native religion of their forefathers.[8] the revolt began on
the day when the jesuits were in cebu, celebrating the feast day of st.
francisfrancis xavier. it was finally crushed on new year's day, in 1622.
bankaw revolt (1621-1622)
the bankaw revolt was a religious uprising against spanish colonial rule led by
bankaw, the datu of kan gara , in the present-day carigara philippine province
of leyte. bankawbankaw had warmly received miguel lópez de legazpi as his
guest, when he first arrived in the philippines in 1565. although baptized as a
christian in his youth, he abandoned his faith in later years. with a babaylan,
or religious leader named pagali, he built a temple for a diwata or local
goddess, and pressed six towns to rise up in revolt. similar to the tamblot
uprising, pagali used magic to attract followers, and claimed that they could
turn the spaniards into clay by hurling bits of earth at them. governor-general
alonso fajardo de entenza sent the alcalde mayor of cebu, juan de alcarazo,
with spanish and filipino colonial troops, to suppress the rebellion. bankaw's
severed head was impaled on a bamboo stake and displayed to the public as
a stern warning. one of his sons was also beheaded, and one of the
babaylans was burned at the stake. three other followers were executed by
firing squad. other historical sources/accounts reports the bankaw revolt as
the
first recorded uprising against foreign colonization. the (1621-1622) dates
may be inaccurate. carigara was evangelized only a decade after magellan
landed in limasawa in 1521. the uprising may well have taken place towards
the end of 1500s. it is important to note the dagami revolt 1567) actually
happened well after the bankaw revolt. carigara was founded more than fifty
years before dagami. both towns are in leyte and is still called dagami.
isneg revolt (1625-1627)
the isneg revolt, or the mandaya revolt, was a religious uprising against
spanish colonial rule led by miguel lanab and alababan, two christianized
filipinos from the isneg or mandaya tribe of capinatan, in northwestern
cagayan, in the philippines. the region is now part of the landlocked province
of apayao. in june of 1625, lanab and alababan murdered, beheaded and
mutilated two dominican missionaries, father alonzo garcia and brother
onofre palao, who were sent by the spanish colonial government to convert
the isneg people to christianity. after cutting father garcia's body into pieces,
they fed his flesh to a herd of pigs. afterwards, they compelled their fellow
isnegs to loot, desecrate christian images, set fire to the local churches, and
escape with them to the mountains.
in 1626, governor-general fernándo de silva sent spanish and filipino colonial
troops to suppress the rebellion. they destroyed farms and other sources of
food to starve the isnegs, and forced them to surrender in 1627.
cagayan revolt (1639)
as a result of the british invasion and the revolutionary propaganda of silang
and palaris, the flames of rebellion spread to cagayan. the people of ilagan
proclaimed their independence on february 2, 1763, defying the tribute
collectors and spain. the insurrection spread to cabagan and tuguegarao.
under their chieftains named dabo and juan marayac, the rebels committed
various acts of violence on the spanish officials and the friars. but the revolt
did not last long, for don manuel de arza and his loyal filipino troops came
and quelled it.the leaders were executed.
ladia revolt (1643)
ladia was a bornean and a descendant of lakandula who came to malolos in
1643. at that time, the filipinos were suffering from oppression and he
thought that it was about time that they stage an uprising. this was despite
the fact that a parish priest tried to convince him not to pursue his plans.
upon his capture, he was brought to manila where he was executed.
sumuroy revolt (1649-50)
in what is today the town of palapag in northern samar, juan ponce sumuroy,
a waray, and some of his followers rose in arms on june 1, 1649 over the
polo system being undertaken in samar. this is known as the sumuroy revolt,
named after juan ponce sumuroy. the government in manila directed that all
natives subject to the polo are not to be sent to places distant from their
hometowns to do their polo. however, under orders of the various town
alcaldes, or mayors, samarnons were being sent to the shipyards of cavite to
do their polo, which sparked the revolt. the local parish priest of palapag was
murdered and the revolt eventually spread to mindanao, bicol and the rest of
the visayas, especially in places such as cebu, masbate, camiguin,
zamboanga, albay, camarines and parts of northern mindanao, such as
surigao. a free government was also established in the mountains of samar.
thethe defeat, capture and execution of sumuroy in june 1650 delivered a big
setback to the revolt. his trusted co conspirator david dula sustained the
quest for freedom with greater vigor but in one of a fierce battles several
years later, he was wounded, captured and later executed in palapag,
northern samar by the spaniards together with his seven key lieutenants, one
of who was the great great grandfather of current northern samar governor
raul daza[1]. the capture of dula marked the end of the revolt in its
operational center in northern samar but the sporadic skirmises and hatred
with the spanish authorities started by sumuroy and dula in some parts of
luzon, visayas and mindanao continues, and pursued by new faces in the
rebellion fronts. this is marked as the beginning of the end of the long
spanish rule in the country
pintados revolt (1649-1650) see sumuroy revolt
zambal revolt (1660) see malong revolt.
maniago revolt (1660)
maniago revolt (was actually a non-revolt) led by don francisco maniago,
initially caused by natives' protest against the polo and bandala, later became
a struggle to free the natives from spanish rule. the rebels were weakened by
gov. de lara's cooperation of arayat chief macapagal.
malong revolt (1660-1661)
the filipinos revolted against spanish rule due to the oppressive treatment nonetheless, but were finally defeated in march, 1764. palaris was captured
given them by the spaniards. one of these revolts was the malong revolt. the and hanged. [10]
people were suffering from forced labor and the non-payment of the timber
ilocano revolt (1661)
used in the construction of galleons as well as rice and other foodstuffs.
a part of the chain to the malong revolt was the llocos revolt. the letters sent
the malong revolt was influenced by the pampanga revolt because the
by malong that urged other provinces to rise in arms ignited the long-
prevailing conditions then at pampanga and pangasinan were almost the
nourished ill feelings of the ilocanos against unjust practices of the spanish
same. andres malong led the people in pangasinan to take up arms against
authorities. during the revolt, pedro almazan was proclaimed king of the
the spaniards. the revolt spread throughout the province with great success
llocanos. unfortunely, before the revolt could spread to the provinces,
so that he proclaimed himself king of pangasinan. thousandshousands of
almazan was captured and executed.
filipinos joined this revolt and malong was tempted to extend it to pampanga,
ilocos, and cagayan. the dispersal of his forces, however, proved to be his chinese revolt of 1662
undoing. it weakened his own defenses in pangasinan, enabling the spaniards
fearing an invasion of chinese leaded by the famous crusader koxinga, the
to capture him and suppress his revolt before reinforcements could arrive
garrisons around manila were reinforced. an increasing anti-chinese
from the other provinces. malong was subsequently executed.
sentiment grew within much of the population. in the end, the invasion did
in the 18th century the people of binalatongan (now san carlos city), not materialize, but many locals massacred hundreds of chinese in the manila
pangasinan, took arms demanding the removal of the tribute and the alcalde- area without the spaniards intervening to stop the carnage.
mayor, joaquin gamboa who had been making illegal collections of the
panay revolt (1663)
tribute. the defeat of the spaniards in manila by the british during the seven
years' war and the occupation of the city by the british, contributed to the the panay revolt was a religious uprising in 1663, that stemmed from the
outbreak of the revolt. prevalent misdemeanors of spanish friars that alienated countless filipino
natives from the catholic faith. tapar a native of the island of panay, in the
the realization that the spaniards could be defeated encouraged the filipinos,
philippines, wanted to establish a religious cult in the town of oton. he
who took advantage of the preoccupation of the spaniards with their british
attracted many followers with his stories about his frequent conversations
enemies. but a spanish force defeated the rebels in bayambang. laterlater,
with a demon. tapar and his men were killed in a bloody skirmish against
juan dela cruz palaris, a native of binalatongan, led a renewal of the revolt. it
spanish and filipino colonial troops. their corpses were impaled in stakes.
spread throughout the province, especially in the towns of calasiao, dagupan,
manaoag, mangaldan, san jacinto, bayambang, malasiqui, santa barbara, and zambal revolt (1681-1683)
paniqui. as a concession, the spanish authorities required the alcalde-mayor
of pangasinan to resign. the people of pangasinan tontinued their resistance
after suppressing the malong revolt in pangasinan, the spanish moved to
exterminate the roots
of the rebellion. chief tumalang fought bitterly, but was captured and
converted to catholicism. the zambals led by chieftain calignao retaliated by
killing rf. domingo perez, a dominican friar, after which the spanish sent
additional troops and defeated the rebels. calignao escaped with the help of
his followers.
tingco plot (1686)
in 1686, a chinese conspiracy led by tingco plotted to kill all the spaniards,
burn the city of manila and loot the churches. they struck at the parian on
august 1896 and was foied by the spanish troops while looting. tingco and his
followers were annihilated.
18th century revolts
dagohoy rebellion (1744-1829)
in 1744 in what is now the province of bohol, what is known today as the
dagohoy revolt was undertaken by francisco dagohoy and some of his
followers. this revolt is unique since it is the only philippine revolt completely
related to matters of religious customs, although unlike the tamblot uprising
before it, it is not a complete religious rebellion.
after a duel in which dagohoy's brother died, the local parish priest refused to
give his brother a proper christian burial, since dueling is a mortal sin. the
refusal of the priest to give his brother a proper christian burial eventually led
to the longest revolt ever held in philippine history: 85 years. it also led to the
establishment of a free boholano government. twenty governors-general,
from juan arrechederra to mariano ricafort palacín y ararca, failed to stop the
revolt. ricafort himself sent a force of 2,200 troops to bohol, which was
defeated by dagohoy's followers. another attack, also sent by ricafort in 1828
and 1829, failed as well.
dagohoy died two years before the revolt ended, though, which led to the
end of the revolt in 1829. some 19,000 survivors were granted pardon and
were eventually allowed to live in new boholano villages: namely, the
present-day towns of balilihan, batuan, bilar (vilar), catigbian and sevilla
(cabulao).
agrarian revolt (1745-1746)
the agrarian revolt was a revolt undertaken between the years 1745 and
1746 in much of the present-day calabarzon (specifically in batangas, laguna
and cavite) and in bulacan, with its first sparks in the towns of lian and
nasugbu in batangas. filipino landowners rose in arms over the land-grabbing
of spanish friars, with native landowners demanding that spanish priests
return their lands on the basis of ancestral domain.
silang revolt (1762-63)
arguably one of the most famous revolts in philippine history is the silang
revolt from 1762 to 1763, led by the couple of diego and gabriela silang.
unlike the other revolts, this revolt took place during the british occupation of
the philippines. on december 14, 1762, diego silang declared the
independence of ilocandia, naming the state “free ilocos" and proclaimed
vigan the capital of this newly-independent state. the british heard about this
revolt in manila and even asked the help of silang in fighting the spanish.
however, silang was killed on may 28, 1763 by miguel vicos, a friend of
silang, the spanish authorities paid for his murder, leading to his death in the
arms of his wife, gabriela. she continued her husband's struggle, earning the
title "joan of arc of the ilocanos" because of her many victories in battle. the
battles of the silang revolt are a prime example of the use of divide et
impera, since spanish troops largely used kampampangan soldiers to fight the
llocanos.
eventually, the revolt ended with the defeat of the ilocanos. gabriela silang
was executed by spanish authorities in vigan on september 10, 1763.
palaris revolt (1762-1765)
main article: palaris revolt
on november 3, 1762, with the spanish at war with britain and a british
invasion of the philippines in progress, a pangasinense leader named juan de
la cruz palaris (also known as pantaleon perez) rebelled against spanish
imposition of the tribute. the revolt lasted two years, spreading across
pangasinan and affecting other provinces. the report ended in 1764, when
spanish forces along with some llocanos loyal to spain led by manuel de azar
hunted palaris down and executed him publicly.[12]
19th century
ambaristo revolt (1807)
ambaristo revolt, also known as the basi revolt, was a revolt undertaken from
september 28 or 28, 1807. it was led by pedro mateo with its events
occurring in the present-day town of piddig in llocos norte. this revolt is
unique as it revolves around the llocanos' love for basi, or sugarcane wine.
in 1786, the spanish colonial government expropriated the manufacture and
sale of bast, erectively banning private manufacture of the wine, which was
done before expropriation. ocanos were forced to buy from government
stores. however, wine-loving llocanos in piddig rose in revolt on september
16, 1807, with the revolt spreading to nearby towns and with fighting lasting
for weeks. spanish troops eventually quelled the revolt on september 28,
1807, albeit with much force and loss of life on the losing side.
bayot revolt (1822)
this revolt, headed by brothers joaquin, manuel and jose bayot. sons of
francisco bayot, a spanisn army colonel based in manila. the rebellion was
triggered by spanish favoritism of peninsulares (spaniards born in spain) over
insulares (spaniards born in the philippines). the bayot brothers were
insulares, and planned to take up arms, overthrow the government, and
arrested before the plan could be put into action and, after trial, sentenced to
life imprisonment. their father, francisco, was acquitted due to insufficient
evidence but was proclaim an independent philippines with francisco bayot as
king. the bayot brothers were forced to resign from the army.[13
the novales mutiny (1823)
on june 1, 1823, newly installed governor general juan antonio martinez
ordered the reassignment to mindinao of captain andres novales of the
spanish army, who had expressed discontent with insulares in the military
were treated. when a strong typhoon caused cancellation of the
reassignment, novales and supporters seized the opportunity to take up arms,
killing former governor general folgueras and several other officials. govern
ment troops slowly decimated novalis' troops, forcing his surrender in the
early morning of june 2, 1823 after the surrender, an immediately convened
court martial found novales guilty of mutiny and ordered his execution ar five
in the afternoon of june 2, 1823. this revolt can be considered as the shortest
in philippine history.
pule revolt (1840-1841)
one of the most famous religious revolts is the pule revolt, more formally
known as the henglous revolt of hermano pule. undertaken between june
1840 and november 1841, this revolt was led by apolinario de la cruz,
otherwise known as “hermano pule de la cruz started his own religious order,
the confraternity of saint joseph (spanish: contradia de san josé) in lucban,
located in the present-day province of quezon (then called layabas), in june
1840. however, there were two types of priests in the philippines then:
secular priests, or parish priests, which were usually filipino, and religious
priests, or convent priests, whnicn were usually spanish. due to the
concentration of spanish religious power and authorny in the already
established religious orders (the augustinians, jesuits and franciscans to name
a rew) and the concept that filipino priests should only stay in the church and
not the convent and vice-versa (although this was not always followed), the
spanish government banned thne new order, especially due to its deviation
from original catholic rituals and teachings, such as prayers and rituals suited
for filipinos.
however, thousands of people in tayabas, batangas, laguna and even manila
already joined. because of this, the spanish government sent in troops to
forcibly break up the order, forcing de la cruz and his followers to rise in
armed revolt in self-defense. many bloody battles were fought with the
order's last stand in mount san cristobal, near mount banahaw, in october
1841. the spaniards eventually won, and apolinario de la cruz was executed
on november 4, 1841 in the then-provincial capital, tayabas.
it did not end there, though. many members of the spanish armed forces'
tayabas regiment, based in malate in manila, had relatives that were
members of the order, of which many of those relatives were also killed in
the ensuing violence. on january 20, 1843, the regiment, led by sergeant
irineo samaniego, rose in mutiny, eventually capturing fort santiago in
intramuros. the next day, however, the gates of fort santiago were opened by
loyalist soldiers. after a bloody battle, the mutineers were defeated by loyalist
troops, resulting in the execution of samaniego and 81 of his followers the
same day.
cavite mutiny (1872)
on the night of january 20, 1872 about 200 filipino soldiers and workers in
the cavite arsenal mutinied. their leader was lamadrid, a filipino sergeant. the
mutineers had been led to believe that filipino soldiers in manila would join
them ma concerted uprising, the signal being the firing of rockets from the
city walls on that night. unfortunately, the suburb of sampaloc in manila
celebrated its fiesta on that very night with a gay display of fireworks. the
cavite plotters, thinking the hostilities had been started by the manila troops,
rose in arms, killed their spanish officers, and took control of the arsenal and
fort.
the following morning, government troops under don felipe ginoves were
rushed to cavite. a bloody fight ensued. many of the mutineers, including
lamadrid, were killed in the fighting on january 22, the survivors were
subdued, taken prisoner and brought to manila.
this mutiny was magnified by the spaniards into a "revolt" to implicate the
filipino priests and patriots. it was in reality only a violent outburst of the
cavite soldiers and workers who resented the government action in abolishing
their former privileges, notably exemption from forced labor and the tribute.
spanish writers alleged that it was a seditious "revolt" directed against
spanish rule and instigated by fathers burgos, gomez, zamora, and other
filipino leaders. such charge, although false, was made by the spanish
authorities because it gave them justification to persecute filipino patriots
who advocated reforms.
immediately after the mutiny, scores of filipino priests and patriots were crowd, consisting of filipinos and foreigners, witnessed the execution. zaldua,
arrested and thrown into jail. they were tried by a military court behind who testified falsely against the martyrs, wexecuted first. apparently, the
closed doors on the charge of treason and sedition. on january 27,1872, spanish promise of a pardon and a sum of gold, which he was supposed to
governor izquierdo approved the death sentence on 41 of the mutineers. on receive for testifying falsely against the three priests, were not fulfilled.
february 6, eleven more were condemned to death, but the governor
of the three priest-martyrs, father gomez, aged 84, was the first to be
commuted their death penalty to life imprisonment. on february 8, camariño
garroted. he was followed by father zamora, aged 37, who was unaware of
was sentenced to die and eleven of the guias de la torre were each given a
his fate, for he had lost his mind. the last to be executed father burgod, aged
ten-year prison sentence for their complicity in the mutiny. other patriots and
35, youngest and most brilliant of the martyred triumvirate.
priests were exiled to guam.
significance of gom-bur-za's martyrdom. the execution of fathers
the trial of gom-bur-za. the three most illustrious victims of the cavite
gomez, burgos, and zamora (gom-bur-za) was a great blunder on the part of
mutiny were fathers mariano gomez, jose burgos, and jacinto zamora. their
the spanish officials in the philippines. fortunatelyfortunately, the church was
trial, like those of their fellow accused, was a farce. there was no positive
not a party to the injustice committed by the state. prior to the execution,
evidence of their guilt. the star witness of the government, francisco zaldua,
archbishop gregorio meliton martinez was requested by governor izquierdo to
former bicolano soldier of the battalion of artillery, was bribed by the
degrade the three priests by taking off their priestly habits, but he refused.
government authorities to testify against gom-bur-za. he incriminated the
on the day of the execution, the church bells of the city tolled a funeral dirge
three heroic priests. thusthus was the triumvirate of priest-martyrs railroaded
as christendom's farewell salute to the departing souls of the martyrs.
to their doom.
the filipino people deeply resented the execution of fathers gomez, burgos,
during the farcical trial the lawyers of gom-bur-za defense made no effort for
and zamora. they knew that the three priests were innocent and that they
the acquittal of their clients. one of them. attorney jose arrieta, burgos'
were killed because they championed the right of the filipinos. thus they
vindictive enemy, did not plead the case to prove burgos' innocence. on the
came to regard the executed priests as true martyrs of their fatherland. in
contrary he merely requested the court for clemency, declaring that burgos
their indignation, the people forgot their tribal differences and regional
had confessed his guilt. arousedaroused by his lawyer's damaging perfidy,
barriers and joined together as one people to fight for their common cause.
father burgos flared up in the courtroom and exclaimed: "i have not
the execution of gom-bur-za hastened the growth of philippine nationalism,
confessed any guilt, for i am not guilty! that is not my defense, that
which ultimately brought about spain's downfall.
gentleman (pointing to arrieta) has changed it. i deny all the charges against
me. they have no foundation in fact or law." rise of spanish liberalism the liberals won the spanish revolution of 1869.
carlos maría de la torre was sent to the philippines to serve as governor-
the martyr's execution. at sunrise of february 17, 1872, fathers burgos,
general (1869-1871). he is one of the most loved governors- general in the
gomez, and zamora, were escorted under 'heavy guard to luneta. a vast
philippines having implemented reforms in the colony. at one time, his
supporters serenaded him in front of the malacañang palace. among those
who serenaded were padre burgos and joaquín pardo de tavera. when the
reactionaries regained power in spain, de la torre was recalled and replaced
by governor-general izquierdo who vowed to rule with an iron fist.
freemasonry freemasonry had gained a generous following in europe and
the americas during the 1800s and found its way to the philippines. the
western world was quickly changing and sought less political control from the
roman catholic church. the philippine reform movements of la solidaridad, la
liga filipina and katipunan were mason-inspired and applied the rituals of
freemasonry in their induction of members. key figures of the reform
movement and/or philippine revolution were members of freemasonry such
as josé rizal, andrés bonifacio and emilio aguinaldo.
the opening of the philippines to world trade
the 1800s was a period of global change. the world had entered its first
phase of globalization under the british empire. in europe, the industrial
revolution had spread from great britain which had entered its pax britannica
known as the victorian age. the rapid industrialization of europe were seeking
new markets and found them in the colonies. the colonies prospered with the
production of raw materials for the mother countries. it was during this period
that governor-general basco opened the philippines to world trade. the
economy of the philippines rose rapidly and its local industries developed to
satisfy the rising industrialization of europe. european immigration increased
with the opening of the suez canal which cut the travel time between europe
and the philippines by half. new ideas, which the friars and colonial
authorities found dangerous, found their way into the philippines notably
freemasonry and ideals of the french and american revolutions and of spanish
liberalism.
rise of filipino nationalism the opening of the philippines to world trade
rapidly developed the philippine economy. many filipinos prospered overnight.
everyday filipinos also benefited from the new economy with the rapid
increase in demand for labor and availability of business opportunities. some
europeans immigrated to the philippines to join the wealth wagon, among
them jacobo zobel, patriarch of today's zobel de ayala family and prominent
figure in the rise of filipino nationalism. their scions studied in the best
universities of europe where they learned the ideals of liberty from the french
and american revolutions. the new economy gave rise to a new middle class
in the philippines, usually not ethnic filipinos.
in the early 1800s, the suez canal was opened which made the philippines
easier to reach from spain. the small increase of peninsulares from the iberian
peninsula threatened the secularization of the philippine churches. in state
affairs, the criollos, known locally as insulares (lit. "islanders"). were displaced
from government positions by the peninsulares, whom the native insulares
regarded as foreigners. the insulares had become increasingly filipino and
called themselves los hijos del país (lit. "sons of the country"). among the
early proponents of filipino nationalism were the insulares padre pedro
peláez, archbishop of manila, who fought for the secularization of philippine
churches and expulsion of the friars; padre josé burgos whose execution
influenced the national hero josé rizal; and joaquín pardo de tavera who
fought for retention of government positions by natives, regardless of race. in
retaliation to the rise of filipino nationalism, the friars called the indios
(possibly referring to insulares and mestizos as well) indolent and unfit for
government and church positions. in response, the insulares came out with
indios agraviados, a manifesto defending the filipino against discriminatory
remarks. the tension between the insulares and peninsulares erupted into the
failed revolts of novales and the cavite mutiny of 1872 which resulted to the
deportation of prominent filipino nationalists to the marianas and europe who
would continue the fight for liberty through the propaganda movement. the spanish authorities and friars, but they failed to awaken the government of
cavite mutiny implicated the priests mariano gómez, josé burgos, and jacinto the peninsula to
zamora (see gomburza) whose executions would influence the subversive
the demoralizing realities of colonial administration. the reform movement
activities of the next generation of filipino nationalists, in particular paciano
was a failure in
rizal, elder brother of the philippine national hero. in turn, josé rizal dedicated
his novel, el filibusterismo to the three martyred filipino priests. that it did not achieve its goals. in another sense, however, it was a success,
for its failure led to
the founding of the revolutionary katipunan with separatist aims
prefinals
the middle class
the campaign for reforms
the economic development of the philippines in the nineteenth century led to
the unjust execution of the three filipino priests mariano gomez, jose burgos,
the rise of the
and jacinto
filipino middle class composed of spanish and chinese mestizos, rose to a
zamora was a turning point in philippine history, for it ushered in a new era,
position of power in
the reform
the filipino community and eventually became leaders in finance and
movement. realizing the danger of fighting for their cause on the home front,
education. with the
the sons of the
change in status they hankered for official or bureaucratic power to make
wealthy and the well-to-do filipino families migrated to europe to breathe the
their position in the
free atmosphere
social pyramid more secure and influential. but the spanish authorities looked
of the old world. there they initiated a sustained campaign for reforms in the
down upon
administration of
them for they did not belong to the inner circle of peninsulares , spaniards
the philippines. in the homeland, meanwhile, the filipino intellectuals secretly
born in spain
collaborated
whose prerogative it was to rule and govern. this attitude was not surprising,
with those in spain and founded nationalistic societies.
for spanish
for more than a decade the filipino propagandists waged their war of
propaganda against the
society in the philippines was a sort of caste consisting of two well-defined
classes: the
peninsulares or spaniards bom in spain and the insulares or spaniards bom in
the philippines.
the contempt with which the former dealt with the latter arose from a feeling-
that anybody
bom in the philippines was inferior. thus, to show their contempt for the
insulares, the
peninsulares called them filipinos. the "natives" on the other hand, were
invariably called
indios. it was not until governor-general basilio augustin called for the loyalty
and aid of the
indios" in 1898 that the latter were called filipinos.
their attempts to win a place in the sun". the members of the middle class
started, almost
unobtrusively, the movement for reforms. there was no alternative: the
spanish authorities
looked down upon them with condescension, if not indeed with contempt,
while the "natives"
looked upon them with suspicion the "natives" having been, and continued to
be, the victims of
the mestizos' arrogant and insolent mannerisms. between the two evils the
contempt of the
spaniards and the suspicion of the "natives" the middle class chose the lesser
evil, that is, the
natives. it was thus that the filipino middle class and the "natives" came to
work hand in hand,
with the former naturally leading the latter by the hand. the chance of the
middle class to show
their political color came when general carlos maria de la torre became
governor in 1869,
identified with the revolutionary
forces in spain, de la torre showed his democratic tendencies
when he dismissed the palace halberdiers, lived simply within his means,
walked the streets in
multi, and abolished flogging as a punishment. the filipino middle class saw
an ally in him and,
on the night of july 12, 1869, they marched to the governor's residence and
there serenaded
him. the list of the serenaders was a roster of the well-known mestizos and
insulares of the
period: lose burgos, maximo paterno, angel garchitorena, joaquin pardo de
tavera, andres
nieto, manuel genato, and others. orations were delivered, a poem was
declaimed, and toasts
to liberty were drunk. it was a night of splendor for the middle class, but it would be represented in the spanish cortes and thereby their representatives
was also a night that m the body
the spanish reactionary group never forget. from then on, the middle class could propose and participate in the approval of laws beneficial to the
led the reform country. as spanish
movement which was temporarily silenced during the decade from 1872 to citizens, they would then be immune from the abuses of the spaniards and be
1882. when the freed from
filipino intelligentsia, a segment of the middle class, took over the leadership paying unreasonable taxes. such a program constituted what has been known
from the wealthy as assimilation
segment the assimilation of the philippines to spain
the nature of the reform movement that is to say the transformation of the philippines to a province of spain and
making the
the dissatisfaction of the filipino men of wealth and intellect was centered
around the abuses filipinos fellow-spaniards, was to be accomplished m a peaceful manner. the
rich and the
of the spanish authorities, civil as well as clerical. men with a social
conscience and at least intellectuals then, were reformers,
some of them with ulterior motives, the middle class denounced spanish not revolutionists, for they believed in the power of words,
abuses and asked
and
spam to make the philippines a province of spain there was no clamor for
not of the sword to achieve their purpose. approximately half of their number
independence, for
belonged
the reformists believed that the filipinos would be better off if they were to
to the propertied class and the other half to the intellectual class it was but
become spanish
natural for the
citizens enjoying all the rights and privileges of the latter. as spanish citizens,
propertied class to shun a show of force for an armed conflict was almost
the filipinos
sure to affect their
material possessions, to which anybody would cling desperately the of the welfare of their country first and their personal welfare last. to this
intellectual class, on the group of young
other hand also shunned revolution for logic and history were on their side; filipinos belonged graciano lopez jaena, marcelo h. del pilar, jose rizal,
no uprising could antonio luna, mariano
have or would have succeeded without the necessary arms with which to ponce, jose m. panganiban, eduardo de lete, and a few others whose role in
fight the enemy. in the reform
these circumstances, therefore, the two segments comprising the middle movement was more or less passive.
class had to resort to
graciano lopez jaena
peaceful means to convince the authorities in spain to introduce beneficent
was born in jaro, iloilo, on december 17, 1856, the son of placido lopez and
reforms m the
mana jacobo
administration of the philippines. hence the program of assimilation.
jaena. he studied at the seminary of jaro operated by the paulists, but it
the great reformists- seemed that his study
not all the sons of wealthy filipinos who went to spain in the second half of of religion and the atmosphere of the seminary did not in the least affect his
the nineteenth inborn qualities as
century were in the propaganda movement. some of them were there to a rebel. even as a boy, he was already thinking independently of his teacher.
study in the hope that endowed with the
they would someday become successful professionals and businessmen in power of keen observation, he saw the sad state of his country. lively and
their own country highly intelligent, he
only a few of them were connected with the movement they were serious- took to writing early in life, producing a tale entitled fray botod. this work,
minded young men which deals with
whose faith in their country was boundless, whose idealism in a corrupt age the ignorance, abuses, and immorality of a certain friar named botod,
made them think circulated in manuscript
form. its existence, however could not be hidden for long, and lopez jaena
found himself the
object of a manhunt. why so? because he delineated the average friar of the
period - fat (botod
is the hiligaynon word for a big-bellied man, the equivalent of the tagalog
slang botyok),
ignorant, abusive, and immoral. the friars saw in his fray botod their own
picture, and nothing
excites the anger of man more than to be ridiculed in public. there was only
one way out of the
tight fix lopez jaena was in: to leave the philippines. in 1880, he secretly left
for spain, and
enrolled in medicine at the university of valencia. he later transferred to
madrid, where he
found the atmosphere congenial, for he loved light and shadows, the clubs
and the cafes, and
the journalists of the capital. in social and political clubs, he distinguished
himself as a great
orator. his speeches and orations were, however, almost always about the
condition of the
philippines or a defense of the filipinos against the malignant charges of
spanish hacks. one of
his greatest oratorical triumphs occurred in madrid in 1882 during the
celebration of the
international congress of commercial geography. on that occasion, a friar, fr.
ramon martinez
vigil, who had been to the philippines and had written an article on the
ancient tagalog script,
was praising the friars for their "benevolent" role in the philippines when all of
a sudden lopez
jaena stood up and delivered a defense of the filipinos. at the same time, he
denounced
vigorously the role of the friars in introducing and maintaining obscurantism
in the philippines
and in obstructing the progress of the people. somewhat like lord byron,
lflpez jaena woke up
the next morning to find himself famous. triumph followed upon triumph. the
following year,
1883, at the teatro de madrid, on the 391st anniversary of the "discovery" of
america, lopez
jaena, in the presence of the diplomatic corps, prominent men in politics,
arts, and letters, and
distinguished ladies, delivered an impassioned speech in which he called
america the brains of
the commercial world and the philippines the heart in which "all the arteries,
all the veins of the
industrial and commercial wealth converge...." at the same time, he pointed
out that the
filipinos did not want a semi-feudal state; neither did they want the friars who progress; in a word, to be a propagandist, above all, of democratic ideas in
represented order to make these
"oppression, intolerance, and fanaticism." but yes, they, the filipinos, wanted supreme in all nations here and across the seas,
a free press and
the aims, therefore, of la solidaridad are described as to collect, to gather
the right to be represented in the cortes so that their aspirations could be libertarian ideas
considered by them
which are manifested daily in the field of politics, science, art, literature,
and recognized by the government of spain. there was wild applause after his commerce,
speech, and the
agriculture, and industry.
venezuelan minister to spain, dr. calcano, sprang to his feet and embraced
we shall also discuss all problems relating to the general interest of the nation
lopez jaena in the
and seek
name of latin america.
solutions to those problems in high-level and democratic manner.
in 1889, sensing the necessity of a newspaper to promote the interests of the
with regard to the philippines, since she needs the most help, not being
philippines and
represented in the
the filipinos, the filipino reformists founded the newspaper la solidaridad. the
cortes, we shall pay particular attention to the defense of her democratic
first number
nights, the
of this periodical came out on february 15, with pablo rianzares as financier
accomplishment of which is our patriotic duty. that nation of eight million
and lopez jaena as
souls should not
editor. the aims of la solidaridad, as expressed in its initial editorial, follow:
must not be the exclusive preserve of theocracy and traditionalism.
our aspirations are modest, very modest. our program, aside from being
the sol, as the newspaper was lovingly referred to by the reformists, became
simple, is clear: to
the mouthpiece
combat reaction, to stop all retrogressive steps, to extol and adopt liberal
of the filipinos in spain it published not only news but also essays and articles
ideas, to defend
about the
philippines and the filipinos. in 1891, at barcelona, lopez jaena collected his yet anyone reading any of his speeches or articles would easily feel the
speeches and impact of his hidden
articles and published them in book form under the title discursos y arttculos personality. for he had the power and the genius of a bom orator. that is why
varies. his eccentricities;
it is to the credit of lopez jaena that he initiated the reform movement which while shameful, were easily forgiven and forgotten, for when he spoke he
gathered shone with a halo of
strength as the years rolled on. so great was he as an orator that even saintliness this was proved once more when, invited to lecture at the ateneo
spaniards admired his de barcelona, he
command of their own language. he was fiery, and no one would suspect that conjured up imaginary facts in such a manner as to convince his hearers of
such a man of the truth of what he
small stature and slovenly habits could sway the masses of men to his side by was saying when his filipino friends pulled his coat to call his attention to his
the power of the wanton display of
spoken word he was slovenly and careless, as was said of him by his friends irresponsibility, he ignored them and continued dishing out more imaginary
so much so that he facts. when after
ate sardines with his fingers which he dutifully cleaned afterwards by the the lecture his friends chided him for his inventions, he calmly answered: if
simple expedient of what i have said
wiping them with his coat. he was almost always in raps, and the filipino was not true, no one among those present could belie me either, because on
colony in spain felt that subject they
ashamed of him and his eccentricities. mariano ponce used to buy suits for are as ignorantas lam
him, but lopez
as editor of the sol, lopez jaena did not receive any salary his only
jaena was so enamored of his old and dirty ones that he implored ponce not compensation was free
to throw them
lodging, meals, clothing, and a little pocket money for trivial expenses. to
away. then he would pawn his new suits and promptly return to his beloved make him write the
rags.
filipinos would refuse to give him food. in the cafe where he spent most of his
waking hours,
lopez jaena would sit idly, order cups of wine, and magnificently allow others
to spend for him.
here in the cafe, his friends would give him sheets of paper on which, to write
his pieces, and
surprisingly enough, he wrote with ease when his head was full of spirits. it
was in this
characteristic manner that he wrote most of his speeches and articles.
but such mode of living, such mental vigor without any rest and sufficient
nutriment, could only
lead to physical breakdown. tuberculosis stepped in and challenged his
oratory to drive it out
of his lungs. but lopez jaena was too weak to reply effectively, and on
january 20, 1896, in
barcelona, the great filipino passed on as a living memory.
marcelo h. del pilar
the political analyst of the filipino colony in spain, was bom in the barrio of
kupang, bulakan
bulakan, on august 30, 1850, the son of julian h. del filar and blasa
gatmaitan. his father was a
poet of sorts and from him marcelo inherited his love for the arts. as a young
man, he studied
at the college of san jose and later at the university of santo tomas, where he
finished his law
course in 1880. his sense of justice led him early in life to campaign against
the abuses of the
friars, and since there was no freedom of speech and of the press at the time
he paid for his
temerity with a month's imprisonment. in 1878, he married his first cousin,
marciana del pilar,
by whom he had several children, with only anita and sofia surviving. marcelo
began his career
as his country's evangelist in 1880 when he took to the field to campaign
against the forces that
stifled freedom and progress in the philippines. he made the plaza and the
cockpits, even the
small tiendas, his platform, preaching the gospel of work, self-respect, and
dignity, he was a
master of tagalog and in this language he tried to arouse the consciousness
of the masses to
the necessity of acting as a unified people. in 1882, he founded the
nationalistic newspaper
diariong tagalog. he wrote of patriotism and the sad state of the country. the
newspaper,
however, did not live long enough to become a major force in filipino society.
nevertheless, del
pilar carried his personal campaign against the abuses of the spaniards to the
different barrios
and towns of bulakan. once, at a barrio fiesta, del pilar heard a friar holding
forth on the
miracles of the saints. he asked the priest: "how many miraculous saints do
we have in the
philippines?" "todos," was the priest's quick reply. "ah!" del pilar said without
concealing his
sarcasm. "in that case spain ought to envy the philippines, for here all saints
are miraculous."
not to be outwitted, the unsuspecting priest replied: "even there in spain, my
son." "but there
in spain," marcelo said, "the priests are not so miraculous as those in our
country!" this
statement drew the laughter of the crowd and the friar, embarrassed and
humiliated, fled and
miracles of the saints. he asked the priest: "how many miraculous saints do
we have in the
philippines?" "todos," was the priest's quick reply. "ah!" del pilar said without
concealing his
sarcasm. "in that case spain ought to envy the philippines, for here all saints
are miraculous.
not to be outwitted, the unsuspecting priest replied: "even there in spain, my
son." "but there
in spain," marcelo said, "the priests are not so miraculous as those in our
country!" this
statement drew the laughter of the crowd and the friar, embarrassed and
humiliated, fled and
called out the civil guard. but del pilar was smart. he left hurriedly and
disappeared among the
crowd before the guards' arrival. the year 1888 was significant to del pilar, for
it was in that
year that he gave his life wholly to the propagation of uncommon, at least in
the philippines,
ideas. he wrote pamphlet after pamphlet ridiculing friar sovereignty and
exposing the injustices
committed almost daily against the filipinos. in the same year, the spanish
friar, jose'
rodriguez, issued a series of pamphlets, denouncing rizal and his noli me
tangere. one of
these pamphlets caingat cayo, savagely attacked rizal as an enemy of the
holy catholic
religion. it described rizal's novel as a bad book which should not be read. del
pilar immediately
jumped to the defense of rizal by issuing his brilliant pamphlet caingat cayo, a
searing
indictment of rodriguez's pamphlet, using the pen name dolores manapat. at
the same time,
the nationalistic filipino priest, vicente garcia, of tanawan, batangas, refuted 4. thou shalt pawn thyself to pay for the burial of thy father and mother.
fr. rodriguez,
5. thou shouldst not die if thou hast not the money to pay for thine
using the pen name v. caraig (v. garcia). not content with defending rizal, del interment.
pilar wrote the
6. thou shalt not covet his wife.
withering satire, dasalan at toksohan, a brilliant parody of the prayer book.
7. thou shalt not steal with him.
thus in "amain
8. thou shalt not accuse him even if thou be called a liar.
namin." a parody of "our father," del pilar said.
9. thou shalt not refuse him your wife.
our uncle who art in the convent, cursed be the name, may
10. thou shalt not deny him your property.
we be delivered from thy greed, may thy throat be slit here on earth
the ten commandments of the friars boil down to two things: first, worship
as it is in heaver. give back this day our daily rice thou hast stolen
the friar above all,
from us and draw our laughter by thy lowing as thou laughest
and second, offer him thy honor and wealth.
when thou stealest our money; and deliver us from thine temptation
aside from the satirical dasainn at toksohan, del pilar wrote dupluhan,
and save us from thine foul mouth. amen. kadakilaan ng dios,
del pilar also parodied the ten commandments to ridicule the friars, the most pasiong dapat ipag-alab nang puso nang tauong babasa, sagot nang espana
potent single sa hibik nang
group in the philippines. he called this particular work the "ten filipinas, dudas, la sobrenm monacal, la frailocracm filipina, and scores of
commandments of the friars", editorials and
namely: articles published in the sol.
1. thou shalt worship and love the friars above all. his radical activities could no longer be tolerated by the spanish authorities,
who promptly
2. thou shalt not cheat them of their stipends.
ordered his arrest. but del pilar skipped the country and left for spain in
3. thou shalt sanctify the friar, sundays or holidays.
october 1888. in
december 1889, he took over the editorship of the sol and became the (5) equality before the law;
moving spirit behind
(6) assimilation; and
the reform movement. he toiled encessantly, writing, editing the sol, and
(7) representation in the spanish cortes, since the filipinos had never been
contacting
truly represented in
progressive spaniards who would fight side by side with the filipino
that body
reformists. in the process
spain, however, had her own internal problems to look after and, therefore,
he missed many a meal. in one of his editorials, he said:
could not listen
there is an aspiration a for better life in the philippines; the people who pay
attentively to the anguished cry of the filipino reformers. del pilar became
the taxes, the
disillusioned and, on
country that supports the spanish flag with its farm and blood - this faithful
the eve of his death, switched his vigorous mind from assimilation to
country is aware
revolution. he said:
that she is not composed of mere flock of sheep. this country does not ask
"insurrection is the last remedy, especially when the people have acquired the
any kind of sacrifice
belief that
from spain; all she asks is that she be governed well or ill, but with a full
peaceful means to secure the remedies for evils prove futile." he planned to
understanding of
call the leaders of
causes, that the country be heard through legitimate means...
the reform movement to a meeting at hongkong in order to take steps
we are asking for assimilation; we demand that those islands be hispanized... toward the liberation of
under del pilar, the aims of the sol were expanded to include the country from spanish tyranny. but he was gravely ill. he was missing his
meals; cigarettes
(1) the removal of the friars and the secularization of the parishes;
he had none; and to minimize the biting cold he would walk the streets of
(2) active participation in the affairs of the government;
barcelona to pick up
(3) freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly
cigarette butts to smoke. the sol had no longer the funds necessary to
(4) a wider social and political freedom; continue the campaign
for reforms. rizal was already in dapitan as an exile; lopez jaena was sick; so debate, tenacious in maintaining his conclusions, the personality of marcelo
was jose del pilar as a
panganiban. del pilar s daughter anita sent him a peso, but love and devotion propagandist is doubtless the greatest produced by the tagalog race. while he
alone could not had not the
stave off hunger. friendliness and hungry the great reformist and political culture and intensity of purpose of his countryman, rizal, he had, however,
analyst died on july 4 nagibno onimos the advantage of
1896 upon his death, even his spanish political adversaries paid him a knowing how to instill his thoughts in a subtle manner into the minds of his
homage. said the followers.
spanish newspaper la politica de espana en filipinas, the organ of the friars: jose rizal
marcelo del pilar was the greatest journalist produced by the purely filipino the most cultured of the reformists, was bom in kalamba, laguna, on june 19,
race. we did not 1861, the son of
consider him as an artful filibuster; at times we saw in him the calculating francisco mercado and teodora alonzo. a precocious child, he was alleged to
conspirator, the have written a
journalist gone astray, who had no real hatred for the sovereign country, tagalog poem at the age of eight and entitled it "so aking kabata," a poem
though he showed he that teaches love of
had it for the state of affairs prevailing in the philippines. but whatever the one's own language. having secured his preliminary education under a private
truth may be, we tutor at
must not lose sight of the fact that it was marcelo... the tagalog who, as binyang, rizal was sent to manila to continue his studies. he enrolled at the
publicist, inspired us ateneo municipal,
with the greatest esteem when serenely, and apparently with the greatest operated by the jesuits and there he learned not only poetry, mathematics,
sincerity, he gave his and rhetoric, but
views on very arduous political problems. more correct in form than any also painting and sculpture. even as a boy, he had already learned from
other, skillful in observation and
experience the difficulties that attended the daily life of the people. his
mother became a
victim of gross injustice and was imprisoned. this sad event deeply affected
rizal, who
determined to work for the welfare of his country. at eighteen he won first
prize in a literary
contest in which the supposedly superior spaniards participated. his work was
entitled a la
juventud filipina. later, his allegorical play, el consejo de los dioses, was
adjudged the best
entry in a contest, but he was not awarded first prize simply because he was
a filipino. he
studied for a time at the university of santo tomas, but in 1882, at the age of
twenty-one, he
left for spain. he studied medicine, read much on many subjects not included
in the medical
curriculum, and mastered several languages, including french and "german.
now far from his
country, he looked across the seas to find its strength as well as its
weaknesses, and at the age
of twenty-six he finished his novel noli me tangere. this is a socio-historical
novel based on
facts that he gathered while in the philippines. the book is a novel only in the
sense that the
technique employed by the author is that of fiction. it is a mistake to suppose
that because it
was written in novel form it is, therefore, fiction. rizal himself made this clear
when, in a letter
to the great filipino painter, felix resurrección hidalgo, he said:
noli me tangere, words taken from the gospel of st. luke,' signify "do not
touch me." the book
contains things of which no one among ourselves has spoken up to the
present; they are so
delicate that they cannot be touched by anybody. in so far as i am concerned,
i have tried to do
what nobody likes to do. i have endeavored to answer the calumnies which
for centuries had
been heaped on us and our country; i have described the social condition, the
life, our beliefs,
our hopes, our desires, our grievances, our griefs: i have unmasked hypocrisy
which, under the
guise of religion, came to impoverish and to brutalize us; i have distinguished
the true religion
from the false, from superstition, from that which trafficks actually, st. john.
with the holy
word to extract money, to make us believe in sorcery, of which catholicism
would be ashamed
if it were aware of it. lives of the members of the religious orders in the provinces were described
in the pages of
the facts i narrate are all true and actually happened; i can prove them.
rizal's book and the immorality and the viciousness of the friars were exposed
the novel gained immediate popularity, but only a limited number of copies
to the public
entered the
view. the defects in the system of education pursued in the colleges and in
philippines, for the spanish authorities, particularly the friars whom rizal
the filipino
ridiculed in the novel,
university were also exposed and the evil results of the teaching fingered out.
prohibited its reading. anybody caught reading it was punished severely. the
so vividly were
effect of the book
the defects in the spanish colonial administration described that the entire
on the spaniards in the philippines was tremendous, for in it they found their
structure tottered,
unflattering
and the prestige which spanish civilization in the islands had attained up to
images: all their defects, their ignorance, their immorality, their bogus
that time in the
culture, and their vices
minds of the filipinos was completely discredited.
were faithfully mirrored in the novel. as dr. trinidad h. pardo de tavera, a
spaniard born in the the book was attacked in all quarters of the spanish community in the
philippines. fr. jose
philippines, said:
rodriguez, as already intimated, issued his pamphlet caingat cayo, which
all the defects of the public administration of affairs, the ignorance of the
warned the filipinos
functionaries and
against reading the noli. in 1889, rizal published his answer to fr. rodriguez in
their corruption, the vices of the clergy, the incapacity of the governors, and
the pamphlet la
the inferiority of
vision de fr. rodrtguez, a brilliant satire in which rizal exposed the ignorance
spanish culture in these islands were made manifest. the prestige which the
of the friar. the
friars had enjoyed,
result of all his writings was to antagonize the spaniards, but rizal, with a
and which was based only on the ignorance of the masses, crumbled away
single-minded
when the private
devotion to his country and his people, worked harder for the welfare of the undertake to combat. and while we await that spain some day shall restore
native land. in your good name
1891, he finished his second novel. el filibusterismo, published the same year and shall cease to be a party to your death, let these pages serve as a tardy
with the help of wreath of dried
valentin ventura, who lent him the money necessary to print the book. leaves over your unknown tombs, and any one who, without clear proofs,
remembering the attacks your
unjust execution of the three filipino priests burgos, gomez, and zamora, rizal memory, stains his hands in your blood!
dedicated his
the fili, in contrast with the noli, is a political novel in which rizal predicted the
second novel to their memory, saying: coming of the
the church, by refusing to degrade you, has placed in doubt the crime that revolution. yet because he was essentially a man of peace, he made that
has been imputed revolution fail, for he
to you; the government, by surrounding your trials with mystery and conceived of it only as a peaceful, not an armed, revolution. thus, he put in
shadows, causes the the lips of father
belief that there was some error, committed in fatal moments, and the entire florentine, the kindly filipino priest, these significant words:
philippines, by
i do not mean to say that our liberty will be secured at the sword's point for
worshipping your memory and calling you martyrs, in no sense recognizes the sword plays
your culpability
but little part in modem affairs, but that we must secure it by making
in so far, therefore, as your complicity in the cavite mutiny is not clearly ourselves worthy of it, by
proved, as you may or
exalting the intelligence and the dignity of the individual, by loving justice,
may not have been patriots, and as you may or may not have cherished right and greatness,
sentiments for justice
even to the extent of dying for them, - and when a people reaches that
and for liberty, i have the right to dedicate my work to you as victims of the height god will provide
evil which
a weapon, the idols will be shattered, the tyranny will crumble like a house of revolt, stayed on the ship to await the arrival of the next steamer for spain.
cards and liberty when finally he left
will shine out like the first dawn. for spain he thought that he was already safe from the arm of spanish law.
but before the ship
rizal returned to the philippines for the second time - the first was in 1887 -
early in 1892 and could dock at barcelona, he was placed under arrest, incarcerated, and
returned to the
was promptly arrested and thrown into fort santiago. on july 7,1892, his
banishment to philippines. he was tried on charges of treason and complicity in the
revolution, charges which
dapitan was announced officially. for four years he remained in dapitan
helping his less were absolutely baseless. he was sentenced to die by musketry and on the
early morning of
fortunate countrymen, teaching the young boys how to be good citizens,
planting fruit trees, december 30, 1896, he was shot amidst the frenzied shouts of the spaniards.
doing some business on the side, writing letters, collecting shells and sending la solidaridad.-the last two decades of the nineteenth century were
them to his friend characterized by political
ferdinand blumentritt in austria, writing a tagalog grammar, and beautifying activities never before witnessed among the filipinos. it was an era of growing
the plaza. his life political and
was, as it had been in europe, intense. there was no idle moment. finally, fed social consciousness and discontent which found expression in the works of
up with his lopez jaena, rizal,
isolation in dapitan, he asked permission from the governor-general to go to del pilar, eduardo de lete, pedro govantes and others, who left the philippines
cuba to enlist as a in search of
military doctor. his request was granted, and soon he was on a ship bound freedom elsewhere. lopez jaena and other reformers founded the filipino
for manila. it was at circle in madrid in
this critical moment that the revolution flared up. rizal, not wanting to be 1882 and even published its mouthpiece to bring to the attention of the
involved in the peninsular spaniards
the so-called philippine problem. but the minister of the colonies discouraged marcelo h. del pilar in barcelona on new year's day, 1889, the founding of a
the circle and its filipino organ
mouthpiece, with the result that the reformists were forced to disperse. in gained acceptance from all filipinos in spain. it was agreed to finance the first
1887, however, n numbers of the
eduardo de lete and other filipinos put out the newspaper españa en filipinas periodical by contributions from the filipino expatriates. on february 15, 1889,
which was to the first
voice the desires of the filipinos. the patriotic filipinos at home col ted funds number of la solidaridad came out in barcelona. the paper was a fortnightly
as advanced dedicated to the
subscription, but before the money could reach the editor, eduardo de lete, exposition of conditions in the philippines, the defense of the filipinos against
the newspaper the malicious
had already passed out of existence. it was at this point that the reformists in and slanderous attacks of the hired writers of the friars, and the publication
spain thought of of studies about
publishing an official organ. on the suggestion of mariano ponce it was the philippines and the filipinos.
agreed to continue the
the first editor of the sol was lopez jaena, but he turned over its management
publication of the espana en filipinas, but the failure of the paper was taken a to del pilar in
reason against
december 1889. the news of the birth of the sol reached the philippines
reviving it. in 1888, the expatriates in spain proposed to the reformists at within two months
home that a new
and soon the nationalists began sending their contributions to spain. the
organ be founded, a proposal that was accepted by the manila end of the periodical came out
reform movement.
regularly every fifteen days, thanks to the patriotism of the filipinos in spain
rizal, chosen to manage the proposed periodical, but then in london busy and those in the
copying and
philippines. in writing for the sol, the filipino reformists used pen names for
annotating morga's sucesos de las islas filipinas, turned down the offer. with obvious reasons.
the arrival of
rizal used dimas along and laong laan; mariano ponce hid under the pen that the filipinos had no civilization before the coming of the spaniards. thus,
names tikbalang, when barrantes
naning, and kalipulako; antonio luna used taga-llog; marcelo h. del pilar claimed that the filipinos had no theater, rizal, writing in the sol, ridiculed him
wrote under the pen and exposed not
(cod) only his prejudice, but also his profound ignorance. the sol, then, represented
in that age the
yangilinib
spirit of the filipinos. having played its role creditably, the newspaper bowed
name plaridel; and jose ma. panganiban wrote as jomapa. the spaniards in
out of existence
the philippines
in madrid with its last number dated november 15,1895.
naturally forbade the reading of the periodical, but their vigilance was not
enough to the hispano-filipino association
discourage the filipinos from smuggling in copies of the forbidden newspaper. at first the reformists worked individually, but later on, realizing the
the sol may not advantages of pooling their
have succeeded in influencing the peninsular government to grant the resources and efforts in the campaign to have their voices heard by the
reforms demanded by peninsular
the filipinos, for it was not disposed, in the first place, to humor them, but in government, they banded together to form a society. the society, conceived
its more than six as early as july
years of existence the sol represented the ideals of the filipino reformist 1888, was inaugurated on january 12, 1889 in madrid. since it was composed
group. at the same of filipinos and
time, it also succeeded in exposing the evils in philippine society and in spaniards who favored the granting of reforms in the colony the society was
belying the claims put called hispano-
forth by such anti-filipino writers as wenceslao e. retana, vicente ban-antes, filipino association. prominent among the spanish members of the society
and pablo feced were miguel
morayta, professor of history at the universidad central de madrid, and felipe of good roads and railways.
de la corte,
the concerted campaign of the hispano-filipino association resulted in the
author of several works on the philippines. morayta was elected president of passage of laws in
the society. to
the cortes which would have been of benefit to the filipinos had they been
make the propaganda work effective, the society was divided into three carried out. it was
sections: the political
this society which urged no less than fifty-two spanish towns to petition the
section under marcelo h. del pilar; the literary section under mariano ponce; cortes to favor
and the sports
parliamentary representation of the philippines. the petition was presented to
section under tomas arejola. the central directorate of the association the cortes by
outlined the reforms
representative emilio junoy on february 21, 1895, but nothing came out of it.
needed in the philippines, among the most important of which were (1) the the society also
compulsory
secured the passage of the maura law in 1893, the law for the compulsory
teaching of spanish in all schools; (2) the suppression of inhuman punishment teaching of spanish;
in all jails and
and the laws providing for the initiation of reforms in the judiciary. but these
tribunals of justice; (3) the establishment of the civil register and the register reforms were
of deeds; (4) the
never carried out in view of the return to power of the reactionary group in
abolition of the diezmos prediales and the sanctorum2; (5) the establishment spain.
of secondary
the role of masonry
schools in two or three provinces of the archipelago: (6) reforms in the
disgusted with the role of the friars in philippine affairs, the filipino
university of santo
propagandists in spain
tomas in order to raise it to the rank of the universities in spain; (7) the
affiliated 2 the diezmos prediales was a tax which amounted to one-tenth of
establishment of
the produce of the
agricultural banks; (😎 the initiation of reforms in the public administration;
and (9) construction
land; the sanctorum was a tax for the support pf the church. with masonic
lodges in spain.
lopez jaena, not contented with merely becoming a member of a spanish
masonic lodge,
thought of bringing together all filipino masons into one lodge consequently,
he established
the lodge revolucion in barcelona on april 1, 1889, which was exclusively by
and for the
filipinos a year later lodge la solidaridad was founded in madrid this lodge
took in all the
members of revolucion when the latter was dissolved. these lodges became
the focus of
propaganda activities m spain and were responsible for the maintenance of
unity m the ranks.
the leading filipino masons then thought that it was time to establish lodges
in the philippines
pedro serrano laktaw and antonio luna were selected to carry out this
decision. serrano
laktaw, upon his arrival in the philippines conferred with patriotic filipinos
regarding the
feasibility of secretly establishing masonic lodges. on january 6, 1891 the
lodge nilad was
established and a year later, on march 10 1892 it was recognized by the gran
oriente espanol,
the spanish mother lodge. the masons were careful in their pronouncements
for they did not
want to antagonize unduly the spanish authorities. in one of their meetings,
the masons set
forth their platformas follows:
we want a dignified, free and prosperous country in whose
horizons can be seen the splendor of the sun of justice and civil-
ization. we want a democratic regime, a genuine and effective
autonomy of the human individual as against the enslaving pre-
tensions of an ambition that nourishes its life in the absorption
of the rights of the people and that waters its happiness with the
tears of the needy. we want a good government and a good adminis-
tration. we want our country to be represented in the cortes:
not a single representative, not a single senator is defending its
interests in the spanish parliament. its government is dependent
in madrid upon the ministry of the colonies who, by and for itself,
legislates and governs the philippines through royal orders, while
in manila the governor-general executes and annuls the orders
of the ministers. we want our country declared a spanish province
with all the rights and obligations. in a word, we want reforms,
reforms, reforms. by natives. i request your excellency... to inform me hourly of this, and, if
true to redouble the
such platform could not but win the sympathy of the enlightened filipinos. in
view of the vigilance and to issue necessary orders to the provincial governors."
increasing number of masons, it was thought practical to establish other at the outbreak of the revolution. masonry was already deeply entrenched in
lodges throughout the the philippines.
philippines. as of may 1893, the masonic lodges in the country numbered though not directly responsible for the revolution - andres bonifacio, however,
thirty-five, nine of was a mason
which were in manila. the popularity of masonry was such that even women it served as a pattern for the methods and organization of the radical
joined it. the first katipunan.
woman to become a mason was rosario villaruel who was initiated a member it served as a pattern for the methods and organization of the radical
of the lodge katipunan.
walana on july 18, 1893. the other female members were trinidad rizal, la liga filipina -
romualda lanuza,
almost simultaneously with the introduction of masonry in the philippines, a
josefa rizal, marina dizon, sixta fajardo, valeriana legazpi, and purificación civic society called
leyva. it can be
la propaganda was established. its members, composed mostly, if not
said that the propaganda corps was composed mostly of masons, and it was exclusively, of the middle
this fact which
class, contributed money to defray the expenses of the filipino reformers in
worried the spanish minister of the colonies who on april 4, 1895, sent a spain who were
cablegram to the
waging a campaign to obtain political concessions from the mother country.
governor-general in which he said that "an alarm exists here about the the funds
separatist work m
collected were forwaided to the hispano- filipino association. in time,
archipelago through masonic propaganda that excludes all spaniards and is however, the funds of
directed exclusively
the organization were malversed, and the society passed out of existence.
at this juncture, rizal stepped into the picture and proposed the founding of
another civic
society. he had prepared a constitution for this society while at hongkong and
now he thought
that the tune had come for concrete action. on the night of july 3, 1892, at a
house in tondo,
rizal founded and inaugurated
la liga filipina. elected were ambrosio salvador, president; agustin de la rosa,
fiscal; bonifacio
arevalo, treasurer; and deodato arellano, secretary. the aims of the liga, as
expressed in its
constitution, were:
(1) to unite the whole archipelago into one compact, vigorous, and
homogeneous body;
(2) mutual protection in every want and necessity:
(3) defense against all violence and injustice; -
(4) encouragement of instruction, agriculture, and commerce; and
(5) study and application of reforms.
the aims of the liga were to be carried out through the creation of a
governing body composed
of the supreme council, the provincial council, and the popular council. the
members were
each to pay ten centavos as monthly dues. each of the members was free to
choose a symbolic
name for himself. the funds of the society were to be used in the following
manner:
(1) the member or his son who, while not having means shall show
application and great
capacity, shall be sustained;
(2) the poor shall be supported in his right against any powerful person;
(3) the member who shall have suffered any loss shall be aided;
(4) capital shall be loaned to the member who shall need it for an industry or
agriculture;
(5) the introduction of machines and industries, new or necessary in the
country, shall be
favored; and
(6) shops, stores, and establishments shall be opened, where the members
may be
accommodated more economically than else-where.
innocent as the society was, the spanish authorities considered it dangerous
and on the night
of july 6, 1892, rizal was secretly arrested. the following day, governor-
general eulogio
despujol ordered rizal's deportation to dapitan. the liga languished for a
while, but some
members continued to support it. the aims remained the same, but it was society and effective medium for propaganda.
agreed that all
the failure of the reform movement
should contribute toward the support of la solidaridad in spain. domingo
the intensive campaign of la solidaridad for reforms did not yield any tangible
franco was elected
result in the
president; deodato arellano, secretary-treasurer; isidore francisco, fiscal; juan
form of changes in the administration of the philippines. it is true that it
zulueta and
brought to the
timoteo paez, members of the supreme council. later on, mabini becamethe
attention of the peninsular spaniards the so-called philippine problem, but the
liga's secretary.
mother country
the liga was at first active, but later on its members tired of paying their
was too preoccupied with its own internal problems to give a moment's
dues, alleging that the
thought to the colonial
spanish government did not heed la solidaridad which they were financing.
problem. then, too, the friars were to powerful even in spain to be
the society lasted
sidetracked by the spanish
only a few months. its death led to a conflict among its members. the middle-
authorities, so that whatever good impressions the sol had created in the
class members of
minds of the spanish
the society believed that something could still be done by la solidaridad in its
officials in spain were counteracted by the influential and powerful newspaper
campaign for
of the friars, la
reforms. the poor members led by andres bonifacio thought that there was
politico de españa en filipinas.
no hope of
in the second place, the societies established in the philippines whose
reforms. this conflict led to the formation of the cuerpo de compromisarios by
purpose was to
the middle
campaign for reforms did not have sufficient means with which to carry out
class. bonifacio, however, had already founded his katipunan. the cuerpo
their aims. there
lived but a few
was difficulty in collecting funds for the continued publication of the sol. some
months, for its members, though patriotic, were passive and too conservative
of the members
to make the
of these societies realized the futility of the peaceful propaganda, considering
that in its more
than six years of existence the sol had not succeeded in convincing the
government of spain to
grant the needed reforms in the administration of the colony.
in the third place, the propagandists were divided against themselves by
petty jealousies. the
result was the weakening of the ties that bound them together. most of the
members of the
middle class were conservative and lacked the courage and the vigorous hope
necessary to continue an unequal struggle. hence the failure of the peaceful
campaign for reforms
finals
lesson-4(finals coverage)
our glorious revolution
the katipunan
the failure of the reform movement was already evident as early as 1892
when rizal was arrested and then banished to dapitan. yet the more hopeful
among the middle class still hung on to the conviction that they could soften
the heart of mother spain into granting the reforms demanded. it is for this
reason that the reform movement continued for four more years or until 1896
when the masses, led by andres bonifacio, were forced to take to the field
against the spaniards. andres bonifacio, a man of scanty education but
nevertheless highly intelligent, founded the katipunan on the very night that
the news of rizal's deportation to dapitan leaked out. unlike the members of
the middle class, bonifacio and his plebeian associates did not dream of mere
reforms. they were interested in liberating the country from the tyranny of
the spaniards and the only way, to their minds, to accomplish their end was
to prepare the people for an armed conflict. thus the katipunan was founded
on a radical platform, namely, to secure the independence and freedom of
the philippines by force of arms.
the founding of the katipunan
the news of rizal's deportation shocked and surprised the people, for rizal to
them was the symbol of freedom. that night of july 7, 1892, andres bonifacio,
valentin diaz, teodoro plata, ladislao-diwa, deodato arellano, and few others,
met secretly at a house on azcarraga (now- claro m. recto avenue), near
elcano street, tondo, and decided to form an association called. kataastaasan
kagalang-galang na katipunan nang manga anak nang bayan, or katipunan
for short. the men gathered around a flickering table lamp, performed the
ancient blood compact, and signed their membership papers with their own
blood. it was agreed to win more members to the society by means of the
triangle method in which an original member would take in two new
members who did not know each other but knew only the original member
who took them in. thus, original member a, for instance, would take in new
members b and c. both b and c knew a, but b and c did not know each other.
also agreed upon during the meeting was the payment of an entrance fee of
one real fuerte (twenty-five centavos) and a monthly due of a media real
(about twelve centavos.)
the katipunan objectives
under the leadership of bonifacio, the katipunan laid down three fundamental
objectives or aims: political, moral, and civic. the political objective consisted
in working for the separation of the philippines from spain. the moral
objective revolved around the teaching of good manners, hygiene, good
morals, and attacking obscurantism religious fanaticism, and weakness of
character. the civic aim' revolved around the principle of self-help and the
defense of the poor and the oppressed. all members were urged to come to
the aid of the sick comrades and their families, and in case of death the
society itself was to pay for the funeral expenses. for purposes of economy,
however, the society saw to it that the funeral was of the simplest kind,
avoiding unnecessary expenses so common under the rule of the friars.
the structure of the katipunan. a study of the procedure and structure of
the katipunan
reveals that it was influenced by masonry, insofar as initiation rites were
concerned, and by
rizal's la liga filipina as to organization. this is not surprising, for bonifacio was quarreling brethren or factions. during its existence, the judicial council had
a member of not passed the
the liga and was also a mason, being affiliated with the lodge taliba. death sentence on any member. but a secret chamber composed of
structurally, the society bonifacio, jacinto, and
had three governing bodies: the kataastaasang sanggunian or the supreme valenzuela, sentenced some members to be expelled for having allegedly
council, the violated the secrets
sangguniang bayan or provincial council, and the sangguniang balangay or of the society. the triangle method of taking in members was so slow and
popular council. clumsy that in
the kataas-taasang sanggunian was the highest governing body of the society october 1892 bonifacio convened the original members and decided to
and was change the method of
composed of a president, a fiscal, a secretary, a treasurer, and a comptroller recruiting members. it was agreed that any member of the society could take
or interventor. the in as many new
sangguniang bayan and the sangguniang balangay represented, respectively, members as he could get. under this new method the membership of the
the province and society reached more
the municipality or town. each of these had a council similar to that of the than 100 eight months later, in august 1896, immediately before the
supreme council. discovery of the katipunan,
the latter, together with the presidents of the two other councils, constituted the fifth and last supreme council took its oath of office. immediately before
the katipunan the outbreak of
assembly. judicial matters affecting the members of the society were referred the revolution, therefore, bonifacio organized the katipunan into a
to a sort of court government revolving around
known as the sangguniang hukuman or judicial council. it sat as a court of a "cabinet" composed of men of his confidence.
justice to pass
kinds of membership
judgment on any member who violated the rules of the society or to mediate
between
when the katipunan had sufficiently expanded to include more than a hope. the front of the mask had white borders that formed a triangle with
hundred new members three k's arranged as
in its ranks, bonifacio thought it convenient to divide the members into three if occupying the angles of a triangle within a triangle. at the latter's base
grades: the first, were the letters z- li.
the second, and the third. the first grade was called katipon and wore a black b. in a horizontal row, thus:
hood in the
k.
meetings of the society. the hood had a triangle of white ribbon inside of
k. k.
which were the
z. li. b.
letters z. li. b., the katipunan characters corresponding to the roman a. ng b.,
meaning anak the password was rizal. for the members to recognize each other in the
street, the society
ng bayan (son of the people)-the password of the katipon. the second grade,
called kawal adopted countersigns: a member meeting another member placed the palm
of his right hand
(soldier), wore a green hood with a triangle consisting of white lines. at the
three angles of the on the breast, and as he passed the other member he closed his hand,
bringing the index finger
triangle were the letters z. li. b. suspended from the neck of the kawal was a
green ribbon with and the thumb together. the katipon could graduate to the kawal class if he
had brought
a medal at the end, with the letter k in the ancient tagalog script (tr)
appearing in the middle several members into the society, while
of the medal. beneath the letter k was a crossed sword and flag. the the kawal could become a bayani upon being elected
password was gom-bur-
an officer of the society. the katipunan codes. the katipunan members faced
za, taken from the names of the three martyrs gomez, burgos, and zamora. many dangers, so
the third grade,
that precautions had to be taken to keep the society secret. to maintain the
called bayani (patriot), wore a red mask and sash with green borders, secrets of their
symbolizing courage and
communications, bonifacio evolved a system of writing that would make it election that followed bonifacio was chosen director of the interior.
difficult, if not unfortunately, his election
impossible, for the spanish authorities to discover the existence of the society was questioned by daniel tirona. bonifacio, hurt by the insult, declared the
results of the
the revolution
election null and void. in april, he was ordered arrested, tried, and executed.
the katipunan became especially popular in the suburbs of manila and in the
the filipinos were
provinces of
at the time losing battle after battle. aguinaldo retreated to biyak-na-bato,
central luzon. but as the number of its affiliates increased, the spanish
where the republic
authorities began to
was founded. later, in december, the truce of biyak-na-bato was concluded
suspect its underground character. the friars began to denounce the nightly
between the
meeting held by
rebels and the spanish government. the truce, however, was a failure.
the katipuneros and on august 19, 1896, patino exposed the society to fr.
mariano gil. with
the discovery of the katipunan, bonifacio had no other alternative than to
take to the field and
rizal and the revolution
on august 23, at pugadlawin, he and his men declared their intention to fight
bonifacio, who had known rizal during the liga days but whom rizal did not
to the bitter end.
know personally,
the revolution spread to other provinces.
wanted rizal's opinion on the necessity of rising in arms against the spaniards.
in cavite, meanwhile, the two factions (magdalo and magdiwang) of the he, therefore,
society were at
commissioned dr. pio valenzuela to go to dapitan in june 1896 to confer with
loggerheads and bonifacio was invited to mediate between them. at tejeros, rizal. with
it was agreed to
valenzuela on the s.s. venus were rizal's sister narcisa and his niece angelica
change the society with a government responsive to the demands of the rizal lopez. the
times, and in the
ship cast anchor at the port of dapitan in the late afternoon of june 21. which rizal failed to suggest a solution.it is obvious that rizal was not against
valenzuela immediately revolution in
proceeded to rizal's home. in the evening after supper, valenzuela whispered itself, but was against it only in the absence of preparation and arms on the
to rizal the real part of the rebels.
purpose of his visit. he then related the founding of the katipunan and its this was because rizal feared thatwithout arms the rebels would surely be
aims, among which defeated and
was to overthrow spanish authority. told that the revolution might break out thereby cause irreparable damage to the innocent people. his knowledge, of
prematurely the history of
because of the impatience of the masses, rizal pointed out that a revolution revolutions in other lands led him to believe that any revolution was useless
without sufficient unless the rebels
arms should not be started against an armed nation. he remembered the first were at least as armed. as the enemy. after the interview, valenzuela sailed
cuban revolution back to manila and
against spain which failed because of lack of arms. even so, he suggested reported the results of his mission to bonifacio. the latter, having been
that influential and apprised of rizal's
wealthy filipino be attracted to the cause of the society in order to ensure the opinions, admitted that it would be fatal for them to start a revolution without
success of the enough arms
revolution. in such a case, he said, there would be unity among all classes of with which to fight the enemy.
filipinos. knowing
preparations for the struggle
that the society had no competent military leadership, he suggested that
meanwhile, the katipunan began preparations geared for any emergency.
antonio luna be
bonifacio thought
appointed to direct all military operations against the enemy. valenzuela
that sooner or later the revolution would explode, and he did not want to be
pointed out the
taken by surprise.
difficulty of winning over the wealthy filipinos to the katipunan side. this was
one problem to
consequently, he ordered the , manufacture of bolos to be distributed to the the maestranza (arsenal), and ordered them to steal rifles and pistols, for the
members of the maestranza was a
society. bolos alone, however, would not do, for the enemy was armed with place where the ordinance was located. through this expediency the weapons
remingtons and of the katipunan
mausers. a ray of hope shone on the katipuneros when valenzuela told increased. even so, the quantity of such weapons was not sufficient to start a
bonifacio that the revolution. more
japanese warship kongo, with admiral kanimura on board, had dropped bolos were ordered and hidden to prevent the authorities from discovering
anchor at manila bay the intentions of
and that it might be possible for them to seek the aid of the admiral in the the society.
struggle for national
spanish suspicion aroused
liberation. contacts were made through jose moritaro tagawa, a japanese
the increase in the number of the katipunan affiliates, while advantageous to
employee of a
bonifacio, was in
japanese bazaar, and soon the katipunan committee headed by bonifacio
a way a disadvantage. the new members were impatientand in their
himself had
impatience they met
interview with admiral kanimura. the interview was cordial, but the japanese
nightly, a circumstance that aroused the suspicion of the authorities. rumors
refused to
or such
commit his country to the revolutionary plans of the society. with the failure
nocturnal meetings reached manila, and the spanish population, particularly
to enlist the help of
the friars, became
japan, bonifacio looked elsewhere for concrete help, but found that the best
jittery. from batangas, a rumor circulated that there were secret gatherings
help was self-help.
and that rifles and
he thought of the katipuneros in the various branches of the government and
ammunition from hongkong and yokohama were being landed. the friars
sought to use
exploited this rumor
them as his tools. he called two of them, tito miguel and roman ramos, who
were employed in
to advantage by telling the governor-general to act at once in order to
prevent a bloody
uprising. blanco, the governor-general, was reluctant to act upon the
suggestion of the friars,
for he was not exactly sympathetic to the friars. nevertheless, he banished all
the prominent
men of malolos, bulacan, in 1895, and those of taal, batangas in 1896. the
friar campaign of
vilification now began. on june 20,1896, a recollect friar in cavite denounced
the alleged
existence of a group of men who met at banquets to toast the victory of the
cuban revels
against the spaniards. another rumor had it that there were some 17,000
rebels in the town of
san juan del monte, san felipe neri, san pedro makati, pasig, and caimito. the
parish priest of
guadalupe, listening to a rumor-monger that was his servant, denounced the
existence of an
alleged secret society in his parish to the governor-general. the curate of
santa cruz, manila,
reported to the authorities alleged secret meetings of suspicious persons in
manila.
in spite of these reports, most of which were exaggerated and calculated to
force the governor-
general to act precipitately, the latter refused to take any action. instead, he
rebuked the friars
and told father mariano gil's messenger "undeceive yourself, freemasonry and
filibustering are
like a pit m which you put your finger and at once you touch the bottom.
both evils exist only in
the minds of the friars and a few other fanatical spaniards." the friars,
undaunted by their
rebuff, continued to pester the governor-general with more reports of alleged
secret meetings.
to them, the governor-general was a fathead who could not make up his
mind.
the discovery of the katipunan-father mariano gil disgusted over the
governor's attitude, next
ran to the military governor of manila, general echaluce, and revealed what
he knew about the
katipunan. but echaluce was not m a mood to humor the friar. instead, he
took precautions to
make manila safe from disturbances of any kind. at almost the same time,
however, an
unfortunate incident took place between two katipuneros who were working
m the spanish-
owned diario de manila. apolonio de la cruz and teodoro patino had a
misunderstanding and
patino, weakling that he was, took his revenge on apolonio by revealing the purpose was the overthrow spanish sovereignty in the philippines.
secrets of the
the discovery of the katipunan was immediately followed by mass arrests of
society to his sister, honoria. the latter, an inmate at the orphanage in filipino suspects.
mandaluyong. was
prominent men, numbering about 500, were rounded up and convicted of
reported to have cried. the madre portera. sor teresa, when informed of the illegal association
cause of the girl's
and treason. others, though innocent, were thrown into jail and fort santiago.
alleged grief, suggested that teodoro patiño tell all he knew to father mariano that night,
gil. in the
manila hardly slept, for the filipinos did not know when they would be
afternoon of august 19 patiño told father mariano of what he knew about the arrested and tortured
secret society.
without even a semblance of reason.
the friar immediately hurried to the printing shop of the diario de manila and,
wealthy filipinos implicated
accompanied by
as valenzuela feared, the wealthy filipinos refused to join the katipunan.
the owner of the periodical, searched the premises for the hidden proofs of
bonifacio thought
the existence of the
that in order to force them to sympathize with the members of the society a
katipunan. the lithographic stone used to print the katipunan receipts was
trick should be
found and when it
played on them in such a way as to make it appear that they were deeply
was shown to patino the latter pronounced it genuine. at midnight, thelocker
involved in the
of policarpio
katipunan. jacinto then drew up a list of wealthy filipinos while some of the
turla, whose signature appeared in the receipts, was forced open and there a
katipuneros were
dagger, the rules
ordered to study their signatures for the purpose of forging them on some
of the society, and other pertinent documents were found. these proofs were
documents they
turned over to
were about to prepare. this done. fake letters with the forged signatures of
the police, who were now convinced of the existence of a vast underground
the wealthy victims
society whose
were made. the alleged documents contained the information that such
wealthy men as luis r.
yangco, francisco l. roxas, and others, were heavy contributors to the
katipunan fund and that
they were in sympathy with the principles and plans of the society. the result
of this trick was
unexpected: instead of forcing the wealthy filipinos to join or contribute to
the society they
denounced it and denied any knowledge of its existence. but their excuses
were of no avail, for
the authorities simply refused to believe them. francisco l. roxas was
executed, while yangco
and others were saved by bribing some highly-placed spanish officials.
the "cry" of pugadlawin
the news of the discovery of the katipunan spread throughout manila and the
suburbs.
bonifacio, informed of the discovery, secretly instructed his runners to
summon all the leaders
of the society to a general assembly to be held on august 24. they were to
meet at balintawak
to discuss the steps to be taken to meet the crisis. that same night of august
19, bonifacio,
accompanied by his brother frocopio, emilio jacinto, teodoro plata, and
aguedo del rosario,
dipped through the cordon of spanish sentries and reached bahntawak before
midnight. pio
valenzuela followed them the next day. on the 21st bonifacio changed the
katipunan code
because the spanish authorities had already deciphered it to the afternoon of
the same day,
the rebels, numbering about 600, left balintawak for kangkong, where
apolonio samson, a
katipunero, gave them food and shelter. in the afternoon of august 22, they
proceeded to
pugadlawin. the following day in the yard of juan a. ramos, the son of
melchora aquino who
was later called the "mother of the katipunan", bonifacio asked his men
whether they were
prepared to fight to the bitter end. despite the objection of his brother-in-law,
teodoro
plata,all assembled agreed to fight to the last. "that being the case, "bonifacio
said, "bring out
your cedulas and tear them to pieces to symbolize our determination to take
up arms!" the
men obediently tore up their cedulas, shouting: "long live the philippines!"
this event marked
the so-called "cry of balintawak," which actually happened in pugadlawin. followed. the rebels lost two men and the enemy one. because of their
inferior weapons,
first skirmishes
which consisted mostly of bolos and a few guns, the rebels decided to
in the midst of this dramatic scene, some katipuneros who had just arrived
retreat. on the other
from manila and
hand, the spaniards, finding themselves greatly, outnumbered, also decided
kalookan shouted: "dong andres! the civil guards are almost behind us and
to retreat. so both
will reconnoiter
camps retreated and thus prevented a bloody encounter. this was the first
the mountains." bonifacio at once ordered his men to get ready for the
skirmish fought in
expected attack of the
the struggle for national emancipation.
spaniards. since they had inferior arms the rebels decided, instead, to retreat.
under cover of the naik military agreement
darkness, the rebels marched toward pasong tam6, and the following day, bonifacio's anger over what he considered an irregular election and the insult
august 24, they heaped on him
arrived at the yard of melchora aquino, known as tandang sora. it was by daniel tirona, a magdalo, rankled for long. at naik, he and his men drew
decided that all the up another
rebels in the surrounding towns be notified of the general attack on manila on document in which they resolved to establish a government independent of,
the night of and separate from
august 29,1896. that established at tejeros. an army was to be organized by persuasion or
force and a military
at ten in the morning of august 25, some women came rushing in and
notified bonifacio that commander of their own choice was to take command of it. the document
read:
the civil guards and some infantrymen were coming. soon after, a burst of
fire came from the we who sign these presents with our true names, all officers of the army who
have met in
approaching spaniards. the rebels deployed and prepared for the enemy. in
the skirmish that
convention headed by the supreme chief [bonifacio], on account of the
critical situation of the
pueblos and the war, having discovered the treason committed by certain
officers who have
been sowing discord and conniving with the spaniards, our enemies,
corrupting the army and being guilty of criminal neglect in the care of the
wounded, have agreed to deliver the people from this grave danger by the
means hereinafter enumerated:
first: all combatants shall, by persuasion or force, be incorporate in an army
corps and placed under the command of general pio del pilar.
second: we shall recognize no one as being vested with full power except
right in the first place, and those courageous officers who, since the
beginning of the war and until the present moment have never gone back on
their oath and have conducted themselves loyally.
third: any disloyal person shall be punished on the spot according to his
desserts.
such is our agreement, and we swear before god and the country of our birth
that we shall keep it unto the grave.
among the forty-one men who signed it were bonifacio, artemio ricarte, pio
del pilar, and severino de las alas. the document posed a potential danger to
the cause of the revolution, for it meant a definite split in the ranks of the
revolutionists and almost certain defeat in the face of a united and well-
armed enemy.
the tragedy of the revolution
the trial and execution of bonifacio. from naik, bonifacio, his wife, and
two brothers, with a handful of loyal followers, transferred to the barrio of
limbon, indang. the naik military agreement came to the knowledge of
aguinaldo and, realizing the significance of bonifacio's intentions, he ordered
the arrest of the bonifacio brothers. a group of soldiers under the command
of colonel agapito bonzon was dispatched to lim bon to effect the arrest.
bonzon ordered his men to surround the perimeter of the zone of which
bonifacio's house was the center. a skirmish was inevitable, and in the firing
that followed bonifacio was stabbed in the larynx, his brother ciriaco was
killed, and his other brother procopio was wounded. bonifacio was placed in a
hammock and brought to naik, the capital of the rebel government. on april
28, aguinaldo forwarded the bonifacio case to the council of war in order "to
conduct the necessary trial...." on april 29, a personnel of the council of war
was completed, with colonel pedro lipana as the judge advocate. jose elises
was fiscal, while placido martinez and teodoro gonzales were appointed
defense attorneys of andres and procopio, respectively. the trial lasted from
april 29 to may 4. the council of war that tried the bonifacio brothers was
composed of general mariano noriel, president, and crisostomo riel, general
tomas mascardo, placido martinez (bonifacio's attorney), mariano riego de
dios, esteban ynfante, and sulficio antony, members.
andres and procopio bonifacio were found guilty of treason and sedition in
spite of the fact
that the evidence was not sufficient to prove their alleged guilt. bonifacio was
returned to jail
pending the reading of the sentence. on may 8, baldomero aguinaldo, the
auditor of war,
wrote president aguinaldo recommending approval of the council of war's chose four soldiers to accompany him in his mission. having reached the
decision, namely, vicinity of the
execution of the two brothers. on the same day, may 8, president aguinaldo mountain, makapagal, upon the request of bonifacio, opened the sealed
commuted the letter. it contained an
death sentence to banishment. as soon as this order changing the death order to execute andres and procopio bonifacio. there was a warning that
sentence to failure to comply
banishment reached the headquarters of generals mariano noriel and pio del with the order would be punished severely. without much ado, makapagal
pilar, they followed the order.
immediately rushed to general aguinaldo and asked him to withdraw his bonifacio's grave was shallow, the hole having been dug by bayonets.
order. they reasoned makapagal placed a few
that with bonifacio alive the cause of the revolution would be prejudiced since twigs on the grave.
he would
continue to disrupt the unity of the revolutionary forces. the two generals
were seconded by
the government of central luzon.
clemente jose zulueta, dr. anastacio francisco, and general mamerto
natividad, all of whom news of aguinaldo's arrival at biyak-na-bato reached the towns of central
luzon. as a
hated bonifacio, under this pressure. general aguinaldo withdrew his order. in
other words, consequence, armed men from pangasinan, zambales, the llocos provinces,
tariac, and nueva
the original decision of the council of war stood. early on the morning of may
10, general ecija, renewed their armed resistance against the enemy. from biyak-na-bato,
aguinaldo and
noriel ordered major lazaro makapagal to bring out the two brothers from jail.
makapagal was his men joined forces with those of general mariano llanera of nueva ecija
and harassed the
handed a sealed letter with orders to read its contents after reaching mount
tala. makapagal
spanish soldiers garrisoned in the central luzon provinces. with the coming of
the rainyseason,
primo de rivera's campaigns were temporarily halted. those
meanwhile, at puray, the rebels met in the camp of general licerio geronimo.
assembled established the departmental government of central luzon,
comprising manila,
morong, bulakan, laguna, nueva ecija, bataan, tariac, and pangasinan. the
assembly elected
the following:
father pedro dandan ........ president
anastacio francisco........ vice-president
paciano rizal............secretary of the treasury
cipriano pacheco.......... secretary of the war
teodoro gonzales.........secretary of the interior
feliciano jocson ............secretary of welfare
the assembly also designated the field commanders with their corresponding
military rank.
the biyak-na-bato republic. unable to persuade the filipinos to give up their
arms, primo de
rivera issued a decree on july 2, 1897, which prohibited all inhabitants to
leave their villages
and towns. the effect of the decree was contrary to the governor's
expectations, for the people
continued fighting for the filipino cause. from his hideout, aguinaldo issued a
proclamation in
july entitled "to the brave sons of the philippines in which he listed the
revolutionary demands,
namely:
(1) the expulsion of the friars and the return to the filipinos
of the lands they appropriated for themselves;
(2) representation in the spanish cortes;
(3) freedom of the press and tolerance of all religious sects;
(4) equal treatment and pay for peninsular and insular civil servants;
(5) abolition of the power of the government to banish citizens; and
(6) legal equality for all persons.
this proclamation shows that aguinaldo was still willing to return to the
spanish fold provided
these demands were met. this in spite of the fact that before july he and his
men had already
established a republican government at biyak-na-bat6, known as the biyak-
na-bato republic.
the provisional constitution of this republic was prepared by felix ferrer and
isabelo artacho,
who copied, almost word for word, the cuban constitution of jimaguayu. the freedom of the press, as well as the freedom to exercise any of the
biyak-na-bato professions. in accordance
constitution was signed on november 1, 1897. its preamble states: with article i, the supreme council was created on november 2, with the
following as officers:
the separation of the philippines from the spanish monarchy and their
formation into an emilio aguinaldo............president
independent state with its own government called the philippine republic has mariano trias..............vice-president
been the end
antonio montenegro .........secretary of foreign affairs
sought by the revolution in the existing war, begun on the 24th of august,
isabelo artacho..............secretary of the interior
1896; and,
emfliano ricgo de dfos .......secretary of war
therefore, in its name and by the power delegated by the filipino people,
interpreting faithfully baldomero aguinaldo.........secretary of the treasury
their desires and ambitions, we, the representatives of the revolution, in a
meeting at biac-na
the truce of biyak-na-bato
bato, november 1, 1897, unanimously adopted the following articles for the
sometime in august, a mestizo, pedro a. paterno, who had spent a part of his
constitution of the
life in spain,
state. the constitution provides for the creation of a supreme council
approached governor-general primo de rivera and asked that he be made a
composed of a president,
mediator between
a vice-president, a secretary of war, and a secretary of the treasury. article
the filipinos and the spaniards. he wanted, he said, to stop the fatal conflict
vill reflects the
between the two
nationalism of the revolutionists, for it provides that "tagalog shall be the
peoples, for he loved spain and the philippines. the governor-general acceded
official language of
to his request.
the republic". the constitution also provides the religious liberty, freedom of
from august to december, paterno negotiated with aguinaldo and primo de
education,
rivera on the
conditions that he thought would be satisfactory to both. on november 18, (3) that primo de rivera would pay the additional sum ofp900,000 to the
the first document families of the non-
of what came to be known as the truce of biyak-na-bato was signed by combatant filipinos who suffered during the armed conflict.
paterno as
to make sure that the spanish authorities were sincere, the revolutionists
representative of the revolutionists, and by primo de rivera for the spanish demanded that two
government. other
spanish generals were to remain at biyak-na-bat6 as hostages and another.
matters were threshed out by paterno, and on december 14 the second colonel miguel
document known as
primo de rivera, the governor's nephew, to accompany the exiles to hong-
the "programme" was signed by paterno and primo de rivera. the following kong. primo de
day, december 15,
rivera agreed, and on december 23 the spanish generals, celestino tejeiro and
the third and last document of the truce was signed, also by paterno and ricardo monet,
primo de rivera. the
arrived at biyak-na-bath and became hostages of the rebels. on the same
resulting truce provided, among other things: day, aguinaldo and
(1) that aguinaldo and his companions would go into voluntaryexile abroad; his men, including pedro and maximo paterno, boarded a launch and sailed
for kalumpit. they
(2) that primo de rivera would pay the sum of p800,000 to therebels in three
installments: took the train for dagupan, then the carromatas for the port of sual,
pangasinan. the group
(a) p400,000 to aguinaldo upon his departure from biyak-na-bato,
sailed for hongkong the same day, december 27, with aguinaldo in
(b) p200.000 when the arms surrendered by the revolutionists exceeded 700,
possession of a check for
and
p400.000.
(c) the remaining p200,000 when the te deum was sung and general amnesty
proclaimed by the revolution: second phase
the governor; aguinaldo deposited the p400.000 he received from primo rivera in two
hongkong banks. only
the interest of the amount was withdrawn and used for the expenses of the whatever good intentions primo de rivera had with regard to the solution of
exiles. meanwhile, the philippine
aguinaldo, with two companions, went to singapore where the american problem were frustrated when the conservative party of spain was succeeded
consul e. spencer by one to which
pratt conferred with him. pratt persuaded aguinaldo to cooperate with the governor-general did not belong. the succeeding liberal party sent general
commodore george basilio augustin
dewey who was about to sail to manila to destroy the spanish navy. war was to the philippines as primo de rivera's successor. this was unfortunate, for the
declared new governor-
between the united states and spain, and dewey promptly sank the spanish general was ignorant the actual conditions in the philippines. primo de rivera
warships. wanted to remain
aguinaldo returned to the philippines on board an american ship and soon for sometime because rumors were afloat it the serious spanish-american
after raised the relations might
standard of revolt against spain. the filipinos who had surrendered or who degenerate into a shooting war. in such an eventuality, it was not wise to
had joined the send a new governor-
spanish army as volunteers immediately deserted to the aguinaldo camp. general to the philippines. on april 9,1898, however. general augustin arrived
govemor-general in manila, and
basilio augustin made desperate attempts win over the filipinos to the spanish the following day primo de rivera turned over the reins of the philippine
side, but it was government to his
too late. fighting on practically all fronts was renewed. successor. immediately upon his assumption of office, the new governor
announced that he
would continue primo de rivera's work of pacification. with this
announcement, he leaned
the relief on primo de rivera
back and waited for developments.
american designs on the philippines operations. at the same time, he instructed dewey to take offensive action
against the spanish
meanwhile, the spanish-american relations were turning for the worse. the
cuban revolution flotilla based in manila in case of a war with spain. thus, when the war finally
broke out, dewey
had drawn the united states to the side of the cuban rebels, for american
economic interests was in a position to rush immediately to manila to destroy the spanish
warships. the coming of
in the island were paramount. at that time, theodore roosevelt, sr., one of the
influential the americans, therefore, was not a mere accident of the spanish-american
war, but a planned
americans, wished that war between spain and the united states should break
out in order to action. roosevelt himself made this clear when he confessed in 1899: "it has
been said that it
expand the navy. this statement was made to his sister as early as may 1896.
when he became was a mere accident that dewey happened to be in command of the asiatic
squadron when the
assistant secretary of the navy in 1897, he conceived the idea of attacking
manila in the event war broke out. this is not the fact. he was sent to command it in the fall of
1897 because... it
that war should break out between the united states and spain. to his
militarist mind, there was deemed wise to have there a man who could go to manila if necessary.
was only one man who could carry out the plan. it was commodore george
dewey. taking
the spanish-american war.
advantage of the retirement of the commander of the american asiatic
in the face of the philippines and cuban revolutions, spain could not
squadron, roosevelt
antagonize the united
worked for the appointment of commodore dewey, to the position. on
states. she therefore tried to heal the rift in order not to draw her into a fatal
february 25, 1898,
war with a rising
roosevelt cabled dewey, now commander of the squadron, to make hongkong
powerful nation. unfortunately however, spain's ambassador to the united
his base of
states, dupuy de
lome, wrote a friend in havana, cuba, in january 1898, stating that president at a little past noon, april 25, dewey received a cable from secretary of the
william mckinley navy long, saying:
was a weakling and a low politician. this letter was stolen and published in a "war has commenced between the united states and spain. proceed
new york particularly against the
periodical. the result of its publication was that the americans, who had been spanish fleet. you must capture vessels or destroy. use utmost endeavor."
roused to anger secretary long's
by stories of alleged spanish brutalities and mistreatment of american citizens cable to dewey was offshoot of the teller resolution which the american
in cuba congress passed on
demanded war against spain. the relief of the spanish ambassador did not april 21, 1898, declaring a state of war with spain. congress passed a formal
lessen the anger of declaration of war
the american public. on april 25.
this unfortunate incident was still fresh in the american mind when a tragic the battle of manila bay
event led to the
with the receipt of secretary long's cable announcing the declaration of war
declaration of war against spain. on february 15, 1898, the american warship with spain, dewey
maine was
sailed from mirs bay, near. hongkong, for the philippines with seven heavily
blown up at havana harbor, resulting in the death of 246 men. roosevelt, armed ships. in the
seeing in his accident
early morning hours of may 1, 1898, his fleet entered manila bay almost
an excuse to goad his government to war, said: "i would give anything if undetected by the
president mckinley
spanish shore batteries on corregidor and bataan. dewey sailed straight
would order the fleet to havana harbor tomorrow. the maine was sunk by an toward the manila bay
act of treachery
shore in the hope that he would find admiral patrick) montojo's fleet there
on the part of the spaniards.' and give battle
immediately. the spanish fleet, meanwhile, was near sangley point, cavite, the united states the rustling of the pages of geography books could be
waiting for the best heard, for they were
opportunity to go into the fray. in the dawn's light dewey saw the outlines of ignorant of the location of the philippines. with that single event, the united
the spanish ships states found
far to his back and immediately ordered his men to turn back in the direction herself enmeshed in the coils of world politics and signalized her entrance
of sangley point. into the "days of
on the bridge of his flagship olympia, dewey calmly estimated the distance empire".
between the two
aguinaldo in singapore
fleets and when he thought that his guns could hit the enemy ships
as early as the middle of april 1898, rumor filtered through manila and the
effectively, he turned to the
provinces that the
captain of the olympia and said calmly: "you may fire when you are ready,
spanish-american war was a matter of days or perhaps a few weeks away.
gridley."
many of the rebel
the naval battle that followed was one-sided; in fact it was a massacre. while
leaders stopped their revolutionary activities pending the determination of the
it is true that the
truth of the
spanish ships outnumbered those of the americans, the former were,
rumor. meanwhile, in hongkong, aguinaldo and his companions were
nevertheless, poorly
following the trend of
armed. all in all, the american fleet had more tonnage than the spanish
events on the other side of the pacific. to them it was an opportunity to oust
flotilla. at 12:30 p.m.,
the spaniards
the destruction of montojo's fleet was complete. the spaniards, in the face of
from the philippines. but there was a division in the ranks of the exiles, for
absolute defeat,
isabelo artacho
hoisted the white flag in cavite in token of surrender.
wanted the p400.000 given to aguinaldo to be divided among them.
news of the victory of dewey in manila bay electrified the americans. almost aguinaldo refused and
everywhere in
artacho sued aguinaldo in the hongkong supreme court. to avoid appearing in aguinaldo. dewey answered: "tell aguinaldo come as soon as possible." pratt
court, arranged for
aguinaldo, accompanied by gregorio del pilar and j. leyba, secretly left for aguinaldo's departure, and on april 26, aguinaldo and his two companions
saigon where he sailed for hongkong.
took another ship to singapore. in the afternoon of his arrival, april 23, unfortunately, however, dewey had already sailed formanila bay when
howard bray, an aguinaldo arrived.
englishman of long residence in the philippines, contacted aguinaldo and told aguinaldo and consul wildman
him that the
aguinaldo was naturally disappointed upon finding that dewey had already
american consul, e. spencer pratt, wanted to have an interview with him. in sailed for manila.
the course of the
nevertheless, the american consul at hongkong, rounseville wildman,
interview, pratt persuaded aguinaldo to cast his lot with the americans, promptly met him and
adding: "you need not
informed him that dewey had left instructions for him to make arrangements
have any worry about america. the american congress and president have for the return of
just made a solemn
aguinaldo to the philippines. in the succeeding conferences with aguinaldo,
declaration disclaiming any desire to possess cuba and promising to leave the wildman
country to the
suggested that upon his return to the philippines aguinaldo should establish a
cubans after having driven away the spaniards and pacified the country. cuba dictatorial
is at our door,
government which was necessary in the prosecution of the war against spain.
while the philippines is 10,000 miles away!" however,
aguinaldo expressed his eagerness to return to the philippines to lead once wildman said, after the war and after the peace had been restored, aguinaldo
more the filipinos should establish
in the fight against the spaniards. pratt cabled dewey, who was then in a government similar to that of the united states.
hongkong, regarding
preparatory to his return to the philippines, aguinaldo asked wildman to agoncillo informed the committee of the arrival of aguinaldo and suggested
purchase arms and the temporary
ammunition for the filipinos. he gave wildman p50.000 for 2,000 rifles and suspension of the
200,000 rounds of
meeting to give aguinaldo and galicano apacible time to enter the session
ammunition. before his departure, he gave wildman p67.000 for another hall. once inside,
shipment of arms.
aguinaldo related his dealings with pratt and wildman. since the situation in
with uncommon energy, wildman took charge of the purchase of the needed the philippines
arms and
was critical, aguinaldo asked the members of the junta to advise him on what
ammunition. the first arms shipment was consummated, to do. after an
the second shipment, for which aguinaldo gave him p67.000, was never exchange of opinions, the junta unanimously decided that aguinaldo should
realized. nor did return to the
wildman return or account for the huge sum entrusted to him by aguinaldo. philippines to lead the filipinos against the spaniards.
aguinaldo and the hongkong junta aguinaldo returns.
in the wake of dewey's victory, the filipinos who composed the hongkong aguinaldo was convinced of the wisdom of the junta's decision and so he
junta met on may 4 prepared for his
to discuss the steps to be taken in the face of the new developments. present return to the philippines. on may 7, the revenue cutter mcculloch arrived in
during the hongkong, but the
deliberations were felipe agoncillo, temporary president; doroteo lopez, master of the ship notified aguinaldo that dewey did not instruct him to take
tempo rary secretary; aguinaldo aboard
teodoro sandico, anastacio francisco, mariano llanera, miguel malvar, andres on the revenue cutter's second return to hongkong, however, aguinaldo was
garchitorena, notified that
severo buenaventura, maximo kabigting, faustino lichauco, and antonio dewey had given instructions to the captain to have aguinaldo return on
montenegro. board the mcculloch.
consul wildman made the arrangements for aguinaldo's passage and as soon as aguinaldo had landed the war materials he had brought from
suggested that he and hongkong, rebels from
his companions board the ship at night in order to avoid the suspicion of the bataan came to see him. aguinaldo handed them copies of his proclamations
spanish consul at urging the people
hongkong. the mcculloch left hongkong at eleven in the morning of may 17 to rally once more to the filipino flag in the struggle against the spaniards.
and arrived at the news of his
cavite on may 19. soon after, dewey's launch took him to the olympia where return spread throughout central luzon. a number of filipino volunteers in the
he was given spanish army
honors due a general. aguinaldo alleged that in his conference with dewey defected to the filipino forces. aguinaldo ordered them to occupy dalahikan,
aboard the latter's the cavite
flagship, he was told that the united states needed no colonies and that there shipyard, to prevent the enemy from occupying it. arms were secured from
was no doubt the captain of the
that the united states would recognize philippine independence. dewey, american warship petrel and distributed among the large number of filipinos
however, denied he coming in to offer
made much a statement to aguinaldo and asserted that he treated with the their loyalty and services to aguinaldo.
filipino general in a
on may 21, assured that his people would not desert him, aguinaldo issued a
personal manner without committing the government of the united states. proclamation,
there is no
saying: everything appears favorable for attaining independence. i urge that
sufficient evidence to back up aguinaldo's contention.it is more probable that we strive to unite
he mistook the
our efforts, and let us fire our hearts with the idea of vindicating our country.
personal attentions of the admiral as those of the american government. many nations are
renewal of the struggle en our side. on the last day of the present month, at noon, we shall be able
to rise all at once,
and in case our enemies are aware of it, start doing so openly. when you hands by june 1898.
hear that we are
spanish attempts to win over filipinos
bombarding ! any of the towns of salinas [rosario], noveleta, naic, tanza,
the effect of aguinaldo's return on the spanish authorities was demoralizing. a
cauit, bacoor, las
few days after
piñas, and parañaque, you may begin to move and follow up the enemy on
the event, governor-general basilio augustin found himself betrayed by the
his retreat;
filipino soldiers
notwithstanding, it would be better if you could come on so as not to scatter
who volunteered to the spanish army. to counteract its total effect on the
the arms too
filipino civilians,
much.
some spaniards, with the consent and, perhaps, inspiration of the governor-
day after day, aguinaldo's headquarters was besieged by patriotic general, circulated
rebels
a handbill entitled viva la autonomia! in which they stated that the "salvation
by the end of may, aguinaldo's forces had captured about 5,000 prisoners. of the unity of
imus, paranaque,
the islands, the unity of its liberties, and the unity of its local and central
bakood, and las pinas were captured from the enemy within a week. in government" lay with
pampanga, san
spain. pedro a. paterno, the negotiator of the truce of biyak-na-bato, was
fernando and macabebe were captured by the rebels, forcing the spanish behind this circular,
general, monet, to
for he confessed at the time that he still loved spain and was hostile to the
run for his life. laguna, batangas, bulakan, nueva ecija, bataan, tayabas united states. on
(quezon), and
may 28, general augustin called the first and only consultative assembly and
camarines were up in arms and declared their loyalty to aguinaldo. so appointed
sweeping were filipino
prominent mestizos to sit in it. his purpose in calling the consultative
victories that practically the whole of luzon, except the port of cavite and assembly was to win over
manila, were in rebel
to his side the wealthy and influential segment of the filipinos, namely, the for he did not have enough men to occupy it. he waited for reinforcements
mestizos, and to from the united
make it appear that he had the welfare of the filipinos at heart. actually, states. meanwhile, the filipino forces under aguinaldo besieged the city in an
however, the attempt to starve
consultative assembly was nothing but a decoration, for its function was out the enemy within its walls. the suburbs, like tondo, santa cruz, san juan
purely advisory and del monte, and as
did not have the right to initiate reforms. augustin's attempts to win over the far north as kalookan, teemed with filipino soldiers. to make the siege
filipinos to the effective, aguinaldo cut
side of spain failed. off the city's food and water supply. so effective was the strategy that the
people inside the city
the siege of manila
- spaniards, as well as filipinos and aliens - suffered from hunger and thirst. it
what was then known as the city of manila was the walled city or intramuros.
was only a matter
the districts
of weeks before the spanish authorities would surrender to aguinaldo.
outside the city were called arrabales or suburbs. soon after the destruction
of the spanish on june 6, and again the following day, aguinaldo offered governor-general
augustin
navy, dewey blockaded manila to prevent spanish ships from entering or
leaving the bay. honorable surrender. but augustin, thinking more of spanish honor than his
life, stubbornly
though helpless in the face of a powerful enemy, the spaniards nevertheless
continued hoping refused to accept surrender, for in the spanish code of honor the word
surrender was non-
for a miracle. dewey had so far not invaded or bombarded the city, where
thousands of existent. with this refusal, aguinaldo continued the siege in the belief that
hunger and thirst
spaniards had sought refuge. dewey thought that it was useless to conquer
the city by arms, would finally compel the governor to give up the struggle.
the spanish-american secret agreement
the first american reinforcements dewey had been waiting for arrived on june appointed general fennin jaudenes in his stead. jaudenes, like augustin,
30, 1898, under believed that the
the command of general thomas anderson. on july 17, the second spanish position was hopeless in the face of a superior enemy and in the face
reinforcements, headed by of the filipino
general francis v. greene, arrived. with fresh troops, the americans were rebels. to save face, he insisted that to satisfy the spanish code of honor
confident that they there should be a
could easily dislodge the spaniards from the city. hope of an easy victory mock battle, after which the spanish armed forces would surrender. he
filled their hearts further insisted that the
when the third reinforcements, headed by general arthur mac-arthur, arrived filipinos rebels should be excluded from participating in the surrender of
on july 31. manila, that is to say,
preparations were immediately made for the battle that would determine the they should not be allowed to enter the city. dewey and merritt accepted the
fate of manila. terms even if it
for several nights, some spanish soldiers outside the city skirmished with the meant treachery to their ally. general aguinaldo. dewey went so far as to
americans, promise to hold back
resulting in a few casualties. the filipino troops while the mock battle was being enacted. this agreement
between
meanwhile, dewey made use of his inborn diplomatic skill. he thought that
the surrender of jaudenes, on one hand, and dewey and merritt, on the other, was so secret
that no one else in
manila could be affected without the use of arms. consequently, he started
negotiations with either camp knew of its existence.
augustin, through the belgian consul, andre, regarding the surrender of beginnings of the filipino-american rift
manila. but when the
at the time that dewey was waiting for reinforcements, aguinaldo and his
peninsular government heard of augustin's plan to surrender it relieved him forces were laying
as governor and
siege to manila. this situation was favorable to the americans, for they did not why, in spite of the fact that the spaniards were then at the mercy of the
have to be on filipino troops,
the lookout for any hostile spanish maneuver since the job of watchdog was american reinforcements continue to pour on in numbers. his suspicions of
being done by ultimate american
their filipino allies. it was dewey's policy not to provoke an armed conflict with intentions, however, he kept to himself. but other filipino military leaders
the spaniards were harboring the
until after the arrival of the reinforcements. when, finally, the latter arrived. same suspicions. general artemio ricarte, for example, expressed his doubts
general wesley as to american
merritt decided that the offensive against manila should be conducted along intentions and warned aguinaldo "to be careful because it seems that the
the bay side. since americans want to
this position was occupied by the filipinos, he instructed general francis v. fool us." general pio del pilar also unburdened him-self of the same feeling to
greene to ask for aguinaldo and
aguinaldo's cooperation in the drive against their common enemy. by suggested that batteries be mounted in certain places to prevent the
"cooperation" merritt americans from passing
meant the evacuation of the bay side area by the filipino troops so that the through them.
americans could
meanwhile, the americans began to improve positions. with this advantage
occupy it. aguinaldo demanded that the request for the evacuation be made and the fact that
in writing. greene
dewey and merrit had already made a secret agreement with the enemy
promised he would after the evacuation. with this verbal promise, aguinaldo regarding the
withdrew his
exclusion of the filipino troops from the walled city the americans became
troops to give way to the americans. greene, however, did not honor his more and more
word.
secure in then: improved positions. so secure were they that on the eve of
the continuous stream of american reinforcements worried aguinaldo no end. the mock assault on
he wondered
manila, general andersen had the insolence to: telegraph aguinaldo: with his government, but dewey and merritt turned down the request.
"do not let your troops enter manila without permission from the american the morning of august 13 was dark and heavy with clouds. then the rains
commander. on poured and drenched
this side of the pasig river you will be under fire." such an attitude served to the soldiers. the filipino troops, armed to the teeth, position themselves on
increase the right flank of
aguinaldo's suspicions of american intentions. what began as a friendly general arthur macarthur, ready to rush into the fray. despite requests from
alliance worsened into general andersen
silent hostility. not to advance his troops when the attack commenced. aguinaldo stood pat
on his decision to
the mock battle of manila
participate in the assault on manila.
the assault on manila was to have begun on august 10. bad weather,
however, delayed the the plan of attack was for dewey's ships to bombard fort san antonio abad.
general greene
planned action. o august 7, dewey and merritt issued a joint ultimatum to
jaudenes telling him was to advance from the direction of malate. while general macarthur was to
attack from the
to evacuate the non-combatants to safe places as the american land and
naval force..would direction of singalong. at 9:30 m the morning, the olympia began the
bombardment of the
start operations "against the defenses of manila; jaudenes asked the opinion
of high spanish spanish positions in the fort, followed a little later by the other warships.
greene began his
officials, including the archbishop on what to do. since there was no
unanimity of opinion advance almost an hour later, while macarthur commenced his advance
about 11:00 a.m. the
waited till the next day to give his answer. another ultimatum was issued to
him on august 9 filipino troops then moved in closer to the walls of the city. there was a short
display of
asking him to surrender the city and his forces. jaudenes asked for sufficient
time to consult
fireworks on the side of the enemies. the spaniards hoisted the white flag of and the filipino volunteers found inside the walled city. the americans, on the
surrender at the other hand,
southwest bastion of the walls it about 11:20 a.m., but it was not until 12:00 agreed to safeguard the city, its inhabitants, its churches, and religious
noon that general worship. the following
greene noticed it. manila had "fallen". day, sunday, august 14, the document containing the terms of surrender was
formally signed
terms of capitulation
by the representatives of both parties.
general greene, upon seeing the white flag, rushed into the open
bagumbayan field, followed
by a handful of soldiers. traversing what is now the city hall, greene,
accompanied by his chief
the protocol of peace
of staff, captain bates, took a carriage and entered the city at the puerto real.
before the mock assault on manila, spain and the united states were
he was on his
negotiating for the
way to the ayuntamiento to confer with general jaudenes. meanwhile,
cessation of hostilities. on august 10, secretary of state day submitted to the
admiral dewey sent his
representative of
flag lieutenant, brumby, as his representative to the surrender negotiations.
spain, jules cambon, the french ambassador to washington, a draft of the
merritt, on the
protocol with
other hand, personally went to the ayuntamiento to negotiate the surrender
provided for the appointment of not more than five commissioners on each
of manila. it was
side to discuss the
about five in the afternoon when the terms of capitulation were agreed upon
peace treaty. the peace commissioners were to meet in paris not later than
by both sides. by
october 1.
the terms of the agreement, the spanish authorities agreed to surrender the
moreover, the draft also provided for the cessation of the spanish-american
spanish troops
hostilities. spain
agreed to sign these terms. consequently, on august 12, washington time. tensions between the philippine and the american governments existed
president because of the
mckinley issued a proclamation directing that "all military operations against conflicting movements for independence and colonization, aggravated by the
the enemy be feelings of
suspended." this proclamation was cabled to general merrit on the same day, betrayal on the part of aguinaldo. the malolos congress declared war on the
but because united states on
dewey cut the cable between manila and the outside world after the battle of june 2, 1899, with pedro paterno, president of congress, issuing a
manila bay proclamation of war.[29]
the american period the philippine-american war ensued between 1899 and 1902.
war against the united states first philippine commission
june 12, 1898, when filipino revolutionary forces under aguinaldo (later to on january 20, 1899 president mckinley appointed the first philippine
become the commission (the
philippines' first republican president) proclaimed the sovereignty and schurman commission), to investigate conditions in the islands and make
independence of the recommendations. in
philippine islands from the colonial rule of spain after the latter was defeated the report that they issued to the president the following year, the
at the battle of commissioners
manila bay during the spanish-american war. acknowledged filipino aspirations for independence; they declared, however,
that the
the declaration, however, was not recognized by the united states or spain,
as the spanish philippines was not ready for it. specific recommendations included the
establishment of
government ceded the philippines to the united states in the 1898 treaty of
paris, in civilian government as rapidly as possible (the american chief executive in the
islands at that
consideration for an indemnity for spanish expenses and assets lost.
time was the military governor), including establishment of a bicameral
legislature,
autonomous governments on the provincial and municipal levels, and a
system of free public
elementary schools.