About Antonio Pigafetta
the expedition. Aside from him
Antonio Pigafetta was a young Venetian, likely in his
20s when he arrived in the Philippines as part of
Magellan’s crew on March 17, 1521.
The geographer and scribe of the group, he recorded
not only names of places and the vocabulary of the
natives, but their food, attire, customs, and
traditions, too. He described historical events like
the first Easter Day Mass celebrated in the
Philippines and the battle of Mactan, where
Magellan was killed by Lapulapu’s men.
Pigafetta’s eyewitness account is the “most detailed
and only surviving account” of this critical event in
Philippine history, according to Dr. Rene V.
Escalante, Chairman of the National Historical
Commission.
Pigafetta wrote all his observations in a journal, now
lost. But based on this original journal, 4 manuscripts
were produced – 3 in French and one in Italian. They
were distributed to European royals interested in
financing their own expeditions to the Spice Islands.
These 4 manuscripts have survived. The originals are
in libraries in the United States, France, and Italy.
Their pages are a treasure trove of knowledge about
the Philippines’ mysterious precolonial past – when
chieftains ruled independent fiefdoms, animals and
plants were sacred, and Western civilization was
hazier than myth.
*excerpt taken from "Bringing Home Pigafetta's
Manuscript" by Pia Ranada, published in Rappler,
October 16, 2019.
Introduction:
The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan led
the first voyage around the world, beginning in 1519.
Sailing southward along the coast of South America,
Magellan discovered the strait that today bears his
name and became the first European to enter the
Pacific Ocean from the east. Magellan died while
exploring the Philippines, but his ships continued
west to complete the circumnavigation of the globe.
The following account of the difficult passage
through the Strait of Magellan was written by a
member of the crew, Antonio Pigafetta.
Antonio Pigafetta (c. 1491-1531) was the chronicler
of the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan. Pigafetta was
born into a noble Italian family in the city of Vicenza.
As a young man he studied cartography, geography
and astronomy and served on the ships of the
Knights of Rhodes in the early 16th century. As the
chronicler of the Magellan expedition, Pigafetta
recorded information regarding the geography,
climate, flora, fauna and the native inhabitants of
the places visited by 
the last pilot of one of Magellan's ship, Francisco
Albo kept a formal logbook about the expedition.
 
Pigafetta was wounded in the battle of Mactan
where Magellan was killed by natives under Lapu
Lapu. He was one of the18 survivors aboard the
vessel Victoria which made it back to Spain in
September 1622. - He wrote his account of the
voyage in a book Relazione del primo viaggio intorno
al mondo (Report on the First Voyage Around the
World) which was published by Giovanni Ramusio in
1550-1559. However the work was upstaged by
the work of Maximilianus Transylvannus who
interviewed the survivors of the Magellan expedition
and published his writings in 1522.
Nevertheless Pigafetta's account contained vivid
recollections and drawings about the places visited
by the Magellan voyage.
Below is an excerpt of Pigafetta's account as the
Magellan expedition first set foot in the island
of Homonhon:
 
..the right of the above-mentioned island, in order to
be more secure, and to get water and have some
rest. He had two tents set up on the shore for the
sick and had a sow killed for them. On Monday
afternoon, March 18, we saw a boat coming toward
us with nine men in it. Therefore, the captain-
general ordered that no one should move or say a
word without his permission. When those men
reached the shore, their chief went immediately to
the captain-general, giving signs of joy because of
our arrival. Five of the most ornately-adorned of
them remained with us, while the rest went, to get
some others who were fishing, and so they all came.
The captain-general seeing that they are reasonable
men, ordered food to be set before them, and gave
them red caps, mirrors, combs, bells, ivory, bocasine,
and other things. When they saw the captain's
courtesy, they presented fish, a jar of palm wine,
which they call uraca (i.e., arrack), figs more than
one palmo long, (i.e., bananas), and others which
were smaller and more delicate, and two
cocoanuts. They had nothing else then, but made us
signs with their hands that they would bring umay
or rice, and cocoanuts and many other articles of
food within four days.
 
Cocoanuts are the fruit of the palm-tree. Just as we
have bread, wine, oil, and milk, so those people get
everything from that tree. They get wine by boring
into the hole into the heart of the said palm at the
top called palmito (i.e., stalk), from which distils a
liquor which resembles white mist. That liquor is
sweet but somewhat tart, and (is gathered) in canes
(of bamboo) as thick as the leg and thicker. They
fasten the bamboo to the tree at evening for
the morning, and in the morning for the evening.
That palm bears a fruit namely, the cocoanut, which
is as large as the head or thereabouts. Its outside
husk is green and thicker than two fingers. Certain
filaments are found in that husk, whence is made
cord for binding together their boats. Under that
husk there is a hard shell, much thicker than the
shell of the walnut, which they burn and made into
powder that is useful to them. Under that shell is a
white marrowy substance one finger in
thickness, which they eat fresh with meat and fish as
we do bread; and it taste like the almond. It
could .be dried and made into bread. There is a
clear, sweet water in the middle of that marrowy
substance which is very refreshing. When that water
stands for a while after having been collected,
it congeals and becomes like an apple. When the
natives wish to make oil, they take that
cocoanut, and allow the marrowy substance and the
water to putrefy. Then they boil it and it becomes
oil like butter. When they wish to make vinegar, they
allow only the water to putrefy, and then place
it under the sun, and a vinegar results like (that
made from) white wine. Milk can also be made
from it for we made some. We scraped that
marrowy substance and then mixed the scrapings
with its own water which we strained using a cloth,
and so obtained milk like goat's milk. Those
palms resemble date-palms, but although not
smooth they are less knotty than the latter.- A family
of x persons can be supported on two trees, by
utilizing them week about for the wine; for if they
did otherwise, the trees would dry up. They last a
century.
 
Those people became very familiar with us. They
told us many things, their names and those of some
of the islands that could be seen from that place.
Their own island was called Zuluan and it is not very
large. We took great pleasure with them, for they
were very pleasant and conversable. In order to
show them greater honor, the captain-general took
them to his ship and showed them all his
merchandise cloves, cinnamon, pepper, ginger,
nutmeg, mace, gold, and all the things in the ship. He
had some mortars fired for them, whereat they
exhibited great fear, and tried to jump out of the
ship. They made signs to us that the above said
articles grew in that place where we were going.
When they were about to retire they took their leave
very gracefully and neatly, saying that they would
return according to their promise. The island where
we were is called Humunu.
KARTILYA NG KATIPUNAN WRITTEN BY Emilio Jacinto
 
 Apart from Bonifacio another significant revolutionary writer was Emilio
Jacinto. Jacinto is remembered as the Brains of the Katipunan. Born on
December 15, 1875 in Trozo, Tondo, Manila, he lost his father, Mariano
Jacinto, at very young age and he was raised by his mother, Josefa
Dizon, and uncle. He studied at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where
he obtained the degree of bachiller en artes. Later he enrolled at the
University of Santo Tomas to study law. It was during this time when
Jacinto joined the Katipunan and he was one of the youngest members
of the revolutionary society at the age of 18. In the katipunan, he was
known by his pseudonym Pingkian and he became the editor of the
Katipunan newspaper Kalayaan.
As one of the main leaders of the Katipunan Jacinto authored the
Kartilya or the primer of the Katipunan which was adopted by Bonifacio.
Before Jacinto's work there was already a kartilya written by Bonifacio,
but seeing Jacinto's version was better, Bonifacio set aside his own and
used Jacinto's Kartilya instead. The Kartilya contains a code of conduct
for the Katipuneros and it reveals that aside from seeking political and
social change the Katipunan aims to create a moral change for its
members and it aspires that this Kartilya will instill moral and patriotic
values for the Filipinos in general.
Writing as Dimas-ilaw, Jacinto wrote a collection of writings entitled
Liwanag at Dilim. His poem A la Patria which was said to be the
equivalent of Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios. In the Katipunan, Jacinto served as
its secretary and fiscal.
He fought in Laguna and Morong and while he was fighting in Laguna he
  was wounded and captured by the Spaniards. He was saved from
Emilio Jacinto execution when he passed himself off as a spy working for the
Spaniards. Upon his release Jacinto refused an offer to be the adviser to
Aguinaldo because he believed that Aguinaldo had a hand in the death
of his friend, Andres Bonifacio. Jacinto decided to live the simple life as a
meat merchant. In 1899 Jacinto was afflicted with malaria and in his
weakened state he was also afflicted by dysentery which caused his
death. He died on April 16, 1899 in Majayjay, Laguna. His remains were
later transferred to the Manila North Cemetery.

       The Katipunan was for a long time, best

remembered by school children in Gregorio F.
Introduction Zaide’s history textbook, for the so-called August 26,
1896 Cry of Balintawak—made momentous and
dramatic by the mass  tearing of cedulas personal.
Other historians like Teodoro Agoncillo, later
challenged this claim (his version was August 23,
1896 at Pugad Lawin), and soon, as other accounts
surfaced, the date and place of its actual occurrence
became a national controversy.
      But the Katipunan was not just a cry for
freedom. It was a national  aspiration made flesh. It
caught the passion of ordinary people, willing to
stake their lives and overcome the dread of reprisals;
believing that worse fate awaited their families if
they did not stand up to face their oppressors. It was
a secret society that had a formal hierarchy
composed of a supreme council and local councils,
and a ritual of membership often mistaken for
Masonry. Moreover, it had an ideology embodied in
its  Ang Kartilya ng Katipunan, authored by Emilio
Jacinto.
      It was Andres Bonifacio who first formulated a
code of conduct and to whom the Dekalogo ng
Katipunan was attributed.  But it was not published;
instead, it was said that upon reading the Kartilya
drafted by Jacinto, Bonifacio decided that it was
superior to his Dekalogo, and adopted it as the
official primer of the Katipunan.  Emilio Jacinto, then
became the chief theoretician and adviser of
Bonifacio and later earned for him the title Brains of
the Katipunan.  Joining the Katipunan  in 1894, he
was the youngest member and nicknamed,
according to historian Dr Isagani R. Medina (1992),
Emiliong Bata to distinguish him from Emiliong
Matanda, or Emilio Aguinaldo.               
      The Dekalogo had only ten points and dealt
primarily with one’s duties to God, country, family,
neighbor, the Katipunan and himself. It spoke of
honor, charity and self-sacrifice but warned of
penalty to the traitor and disobedient.    objective of the Katipunan revolved around the
      The Kartilya was longer, more literary and
philosophical.  It presented its concept of virtuous
living as lessons for self reflection, rather than as
1. Ang kabuhayang hindi ginugugol sa isang malaki at
banal na kadahilanan ay kahoy na walang lilim, kundi
damong makamandag.  poisonous weed.
2. Ang gawang magaling na nagbubuhat sa pagpipita sa
sarili, at hindi sa talagang nasang gumawa ng kagalingan,
ay di kabaitan.  
3. Ang tunay na kabanalan ay ang pagkakawang gawa,
ang pagibig sa kapua at ang isukat ang bawat kilos,
gawa’t pangungusap sa talagang Katuiran.  what is in itself reasonable.
4. Maitim man at maputi ang kulay ng balat, lahat ng
direct prescriptions.  It asserted that it was the
internal, not the external qualifications that make
human greatness. In the third statement, Jacinto
defined true piety (kabanalan) as charity, love for
one another, and actions, deeds and speech guided
by judicious reasons (“talagang katuiran”, literally,
true reason).  Written more than a hundred years
ago at a time when the idea of nationhood was still a
dream, the Kartilya reflected  a vision, “bright sun of
freedom in the islands, spreading its light upon
brothers and a race united.”
      
      The Kartilya can be better appreciated in its
original Tagalog form because its essence was 
expressed using Tagalog syntax. It should also be
appreciated within the context of the social and
political environment of that colonial era, amid local
traditions, spiritual beliefs, family concepts and
ethnic diversity.
Katipunan Ideology - Ang Kartilya ng Katipunan
 
The Katipunan was founded by Andres Bonifacio and
their goal was to unite and prepare the people for an
armed conflict in order to liberate the country from
the tyranny of the Spaniards. The moral & civic
teachings of good manners, hygiene, good morals,
self-help and defense of the poor and oppressed.
The Kartilya made by the Katipunan are:
1. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and
reasonable purpose is a tree without a shade, if not a
2.  To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake
is not virtue.
3.  It is rational to be charitable and love one's fellow
creature, and to adjust one's conduct, acts and words to
4.  Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born
tao’y magkakapantay; mangyayaring ang isa’y higtan sa
equal: superiority in knowledge, wealth and beauty are
dunong, sa yaman, sa ganda…; ngunit di mahihigtan sa
to be understood, but not superiority by nature.
pagkatao. 

5. Ang may mataas na kalooban inuuna ang puri sa

5.  The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain;
pagpipita sa sarili; ang may hamak na kalooban inuuna
the scoundrel, gain to honor.
ang pagpipita sa sarili sa puri.

6. Sa taong may hiya, salita’y panunumpa. 6.  To the honorable man, his word is sacred.

7. Huag mong sasayangin ang panahun; ang yamang

7.  Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but
nawala’y magyayaring magbalik; nguni’t panahong
not time lost.
nagdaan na’y di na muli pang magdadaan. 

8. Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi, at kabakahin ang umaapi. 8.  Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before
  the law or in the field.

9. Ang taong matalino’y ang may pagiingat sa bawat 9.  The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in
sasabihin, at matutong ipaglihim ang dapat ipaglihim.   keeping secrets.

10. Sa daang matinik ng kabuhayan, lalaki ay siyang

10. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of
patnugot ng asawa’t mga anak; kung ang umaakay ay
woman and the children, and if the guide leads to the
tungo sa sama, ang patutunguhan ng iaakay ay kasamaan
precipice, those whom he guides will also go there.
din.  
 11. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere
11. Ang babai ay huag mong tignang isang bagay na
plaything, but as a faithful companion who will share
libangan lamang, kundi isang katuang at karamay sa mga
with thee the penalties of life; her (physical) weakness
kahirapan nitong kabuhayan; gamitan mo ng buong
will increase thy interest in her and she will remind thee
pagpipitagan ang kaniyang kahinaan, at alalahanin ang
of the mother who bore thee and reared thee.
inang pinagbuhata’t nagiwi sa iyong kasangulan. 

12. Ang di mo ibig na gawin sa asawa mo, anak at 12. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife,
kapatid, ay huag mong gagawin sa asawa, anak, at children, brothers and sisters, that do not unto the wife,
kapatid ng iba.  children, brothers and sisters of thy neighbor.

13. Ang kamahalan ng tao’y wala sa pagkahari, wala sa 13. Man is not worth more because he is a king,
tangus ng ilong at puti ng mukha, wala sa pagkaparing because his nose is aquiline, and his color white, not
kahalili ng Dios wala sa mataas na kalagayan sa balat ng because he is a *priest, a servant of God, nor because of
lupa; wagas at tunay na mahal na tao, kahit laking gubat the high prerogative that he enjoys upon earth, but he is
at walang nababatid kundi ang sariling wika, yaong may worth most who is a man of proven and real value, who
magandang asal, may isang pangungusap, may dangal at does good, keeps his words, is worthy and honest; he
puri; yaong di napaaapi’t di nakikiapi; yaong marunong who does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed,
magdamdam at marunong lumingap sa bayang he who loves and cherishes his fatherland, though he be
tinubuan.  born in the wilderness and know no tongue but his own.

14. Paglaganap ng mga aral na ito at maningning na 14. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all,
sumikat ang araw ng mahal na Kalayaan dito sa the longed-for sun of Liberty shall rise brilliant over this
kaabaabang Sangkalupuan, at sabugan ng matamis  most unhappy portion of the globe and its rays shall
niyang liwanag ang nangagkaisang magkalahi’t diffuse everlasting joy among the confederated brethren
magkakapatid ng ligaya ng walang katapusan, ang mga of the same rays, the lives of those who have gone
ginugol na buhay, pagud, at mga tiniis na kahirapa’y labis before, the fatigues and the well-paid sufferings will
nang natumbasan. Kung lahat ng ito’y mataruk na ng remain. If he who desires to enter (the Katipunan) has
nagiibig pumasuk at inaakala niyang matutupad ang mga informed himself of all this and believes he will be able
tutungkulin, maitatala ang kaniyang ninanasa sa kasunod to perform what will be his duties, he may fill out the
nito.  application for admission.

HALALAN SA KAPULUNGAN NG TEJEROS PAGPIPISAN NG SANGGUNIANG MAGDIWANG AT MAGDALO

 
 Emilio Famy Aguinaldo Sr. was born on March 22, 1869 in Kawit, Cavite.
He was the sevent among the eight children of Carlos Jamir Aguinaldo
and Trinidad Famy-Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo’s family was well off since his
father was the community’s appointed gobernadorcillo of their pueblo. 
Emilio attended high school at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran but had
to stop on his fourth year because of his father’s death. He then took
responsibility of helping his mother run their farm. In 1895, at the age of
25, he became Kawit’s first “gobernadorcillo capitan municipal.”
Aguinaldo became a Freemason during this year, joining Pilar Lodge No.
203, Imus, Cavite with the codename “Colon.” He also joined the
Katipunan and used the nom de guerre “Magdalo” in honor of Mary
Magdalene.
Aguinaldo would later become the first and youngest President of the
Country by being President of the First Philippine Republic. His
presidency was cut short when he was captured by the American Soldier
in Palanan, Isabela where he pledged his loyalty to the American
Government thus dissolving the First Republic. He tried to rejoin politics
by challenging Manuel L. Quezon in the 1935 presidential election but he
lost, leading him to retire from public life. Nevertheless, Aguinaldo
continued to serve the government politically under the succeeding
  administrations. President Elpidio Quirino appointed him as member of
Emilio Aguinaldo the Philippines Council of State in 1950.
Emilio Aguinaldo died of coronary thrombosis on February 6, 1964. He
was 94 years old. In his lifetime, he was able to witness the
administration of succeeding presidents of the Philippines until the term
of President Diosdado Macapagal.

HALALAN SA KAPULUNGAN NG TEJEROS PAGPIPISAN NG SANGGUNIANG MAGDIWANG AT MAGDALO

 
CASA HACIENDA DE TEJEROS
"Hindi ko pa nasasagot ang kanilang pakay sa akin, agad-agad ay isinalaysay sa akin ang mga sumusunod na
pangyayari sa halalan:
Na pagkatapos mabuksan ang kapulungang pambansa ng Manghihimagsik na pinangunguluhan ng Haring Bayan,
Andres Bonifacio ay isinunod agad ang paghirang at paghalal ukol sa Kataas-taasang Puno na mangungulo sa
ganitong pag-iisa.
Dalawa lamang kandidato ang napaharap, at ito'y ang Supremo Andres Bonifacio at si Heneral Emilio Aguinaldo.
Pagkatapos ng halalan ay lumabas noon din at ipinasiya ng Kapulungan sa pamamagitan ng Supremo Andres
Bonifacio, na si Heneral Emilio Aguinaldo, ang siyang pinagkaisahan at pinagbotohang maging Kataas-taasang Puno
o taga-Pangulo ng Manghihimagsik.
Nagtaka sila diumano kung paano nangyari, na ang Supremo Andres Bonifacio na siyang nagpahanda ng nasabing
pag-iisa at siya pang pangulo sa nasabing pulong, ay kung bakit ako ang inihalal ng karamihan laban sa Supremo
Andres Bonifacio.
Isinunod ang tungkuling Vice-Presidente. Ang Supremo Andres Bonifacio, ay muling ikinandidato, subalit tinalo siya
ng kanya ring Ministro de Gracia y Justicia, na si Heneral Mariano Trias, at noon din ay ginawa ang proklamasyon.
Isinunod ang tungkuling Kapitan Heneral, ay nagtunggali naman ang dating Kapitan Santiago Alvarez, anak ni Virey
Mariano Alvarez, at si Heneral Artemio Ricarte, isang Ilocano. Bagama't tumutol si Heneral A. Ricarte sa
pagkakahalal sa kanya, dahil diumano sa kawalan niya ng kaya sa gayong tungkulin, ay iniurong din niya
pagkatapos nang hindi tanggapin ng mesa. Isinunod dito ang proklamasyon sa kanya.
Sa paka-Secretario de Guerra, ang Supremo Andres Bonifacio ay muli na namang ikinandidato, at ang nakatunggali
niya ay si Heneral Emiliano Riego de Dios, na kanya ring Ministro de Fomento sa Sangguniang Magdiwang. Natalo
na naman ang Supremo, at ito ang ikatlong pagkagapi niya sa halalan.
Sa pagka-Secretario de Interior, ay muli na namang ipinasok na kandidato ang Supremo Andres Bonifacio at ang
kanyang kalaban ay ang dalawa niyang Ministro sa Magdiwang na sina Ginoong Severino de las Alas at Ginoong
Diego Mojica. Sa halalang ito'y nagtagumpay ang Supremo Andres Bonifacio, at kagaya ng kaugalian ay ipinasiya na
siya ang nahalal at dahil dito ay binati sa kanyang tagumpay.
Subali't pagkatapos na pagkatapos na maipasiya ng Asamblea ang kanyang tagumpay ay biglang tumindig at
sumalungat sa pagkahalal sa kanya si Heneral Daniel Tirona, at sinabing; "Hindi nababagay sa Supremo Andres
Bonifacio, ang tungkuling nasabi, pagka't hindi siya abogado, at ang bagay rito'y ang Abogado Jose del Rosario, na
taga Tanza."
Dito nagmula ang gulo ng Kapulungan, subalit wala namang sinumang pumangalawa kay Heneral Tirona, kaya't
wala ring kabuluhan ang nasabing pagtutol. Gayon man, sa sama yata ng loob ng Supremo kay Heneral Daniel
Tirona, ay agad-agad siyang tumindig at sinabi ang ganito: "Hindi baga bago tayo nagpulong ay pinagkaisahan natin
na sinuman ang lumabas o mahalal sa Kapulungang ito, ay ating susundin at igagalang ng lahat?"
"Opo" - ang hiyawan ng madla.
"Kung gayon" - patuloy niya, "Bakit nang ako ang napahalal ay may tumututol?
"Wala pong pumangalawa sa tutol."
At sa di mapigil na sama ng loob ng Supremo, ay agad binunot ang kanyang rebolber at anyong papuputukan si
Heneral Daniel Tirona, sa gitna ng di magkamayaw na gulong naghari. Salamat na lamang at napigil ni G. Jacinto
Lumbreras at ni Heneral Artemio Ricarte, ang masamang tangka ng Supremo. Si Heneral Tirona naman ay maliksing
nakapagtago at nagsuut-suot sa kakapalan ng mga Asemblesista kaya hindi natuloy ang pagtudla sa kanya.
Palibhasa'y hindi yata mapigilan ng Supremo ang sama ng loob, bakit maikatlo pang natalo sa halalan, bagama't
napayapa ang gusot at tahimik na ang lahat, pagdaka'y tumindig siya at sinabi sa kapulungan ang ganito:
"Ako sa aking pagka-Pangulo nitong Kapulungang Pambansa ng mga Manghihimagsik, ay pinawawalan ko ng
kabuluhan ang halalang dito'y naganap." Saka pagdaka'y umalis at nilisan ang kapulungan at umuwi sa Malabon.
Sa ganyang pangyayari, ay naligalig sandali ang kapulungan, ngunit biglang tumahimik nang ang delegado ng
lalawigang Batangas, na si Koronel Santiago Rillo, na kumakatawan sa may 2,000 manghihimagsik, ay nagtindig at
isinigaw sa Supremo na huwag siyang umalis, pagka't proklamado na siya sa pagka-Secretario de Interior, bukod sa
ang mungkahi ni Heneral D. Tirona, laban sa kanya ay wala sa orden, pagka't walang sinumang pumangalawa, at
dahil dito'y walang anumang bisa. Gayon man ay di nangyaring napigilan ang Supremo at patuloy nang umalis nang
walang paalam.
Dahil sa kaguluhang nangyari, at sapagka't hindi napigilan ang Supremo, sa kaniyang pasiya na lisanin ang
kapulungan, si Santiago Rillo, delegado ng Batangas, ay tumayo at nagtanong sa madla kung sang-ayon silang
ipagpatuloy ang kapulungan, at kung pahihintulutan nilang siya na ang mangulo. Sa ganitong katanungan ay parang
iisang taong sumagot ang lahat ng "Opo."
Sa ganyang kapasiyahan, ay ipinagpatuloy ang Kapulungan at wala namang iba pang pinag-usapan maliban sa
kilalanin o pagtibayin ang tanang mga naihalal na saka humirang ng isang "Comission" upang ipabatid kay Heneral
Emilio Aguinaldo, ang pagka-hirang sa kanya ng Kapulungan ng Manghihimagsik na maging Kataas-taasang Puno ng
Himagsikan, tuloy kaunin siya sa madaling panahon upang makapanumpa sa tungkuling iniaatang sa kanya ng
bayang nanghihimagsik. 
Pagkatapos nito, ay pinigil munang pansamantala ang pulong, samantalang hinihintay nang buong kasabikan ang
pagdating ng nahalal na puno ng himagsikan, si Heneral Aguinaldo."
 
__________________
Emilio Aguinaldo,
Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan
Manila: National Centennial Commission, 1964.

Political Caricature of the American Era 1900-1941 by Alfred W. McCoy and Alfredo R. Roces (1985)
 
Introduction
Media fulfills several basic roles in our society. One obvious role is entertainment. Media can act as a springboard
for our imaginations, a source of fantasy, and an outlet for escapism. In the 19th century, Victorian readers
disillusioned by the grimness of the Industrial Revolution found themselves drawn into fantastic worlds of fairies
and other fictitious beings. In the first decade of the 21st century, American television viewers could peek in on a
conflicted Texas high school football team in Friday Night Lights; the violence-plagued drug trade in Baltimore in
The Wire; a 1960s-Manhattan ad agency in Mad Men; or the last surviving band of humans in a distant, miserable
future in Battlestar Galactica. Through bringing us stories of all kinds, media has the power to take us away from
ourselves.
Media can also provide information and education. Information can come in many forms, and it may sometimes be
difficult to separate from entertainment. Today, newspapers and news-oriented television and radio programs
make available stories from across the globe, allowing readers or viewers in London to access voices and videos
from Baghdad, Tokyo, or Buenos Aires. Books and magazines provide a more in-depth look at a wide range of
subjects.
Another useful aspect of media is its ability to act as a public forum for the discussion of important issues. In
newspapers or other periodicals, letters to the editor allow readers to respond to journalists or to voice their
opinions on the issues of the day. These letters were an important part of Philippine newspapers even when the
nation was an American colony, and they have served as a means of public discourse ever since. The Internet is a
fundamentally democratic medium that allows everyone who can get online the ability to express their opinions
through, for example, blogging or podcasting—though whether anyone will hear is another question.
Political Cartoons and Caricatures
Political cartoons and caricature are a rather recent art form, which veered away from the classical art by
exaggerating human features and poking fun at its subjects. Such art genre and technique became a part of the
print media as a form of social and political commentary, which usually targets persons of power and authority.
Cartoons became an effective tool of publicizing opinions through heavy use of symbolism, which is different from
a verbose written editorial and opinion pieces. The unique way that a caricature represents opinion and captures
the audience’s imagination is a reason enough for historians to examine these political cartoons. Commentaries in
mass media inevitably shape public opinion and such kind of opinion is worthy of historical examination.
In the book, Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature of the American Era (1900-1941), authored by Alfred McCoy,
together with Alfredo Roces, compiled political cartoons published in newspaper dailies and periodicals in the
aforementioned time period.

A Glance at Selected Philippine Political Caricatures in Alfred McCoy’s Philippine Cartoons (American Era: 1900-
1941)
 
Petition Against Governor- General Leonard Wood by the Philippine Independence Mission
 
INTRODUCTION:
An arch-enemy of Philippine Independence, Governor- General Leonard Wood was set on undoing all that his
predecessor, Francis Burton Harrison, had done to give the Filipinos ample powers and responsibilities in
preparation for self-government. Among other things, he turned his cabinet secretaries into glorified office clerks,
solely responsible to him and under his absolute control, although their appointments were subject to control and
approval of the Philippine legislature. To advise him in matters that were purely the concern of the Filipinos, he
instead formed what then Editor Carlos P. Romulo called the “Kitchen Cabinet” or “Cavalry Cabinet” as others
dubbed it, composed of U.S. Army officers including his playboy son, Lt. Osborne C. Wood.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF LEONARD WOOD (1921-1927)

The choice of Leonard Wood as Governor-General demonstrated that President Harding accepted the Wood-
Forbes Mission's recommendation as to Philippine policy and that he looked to Wood to remedy the unfortunate
condition pointed out in the Mission's report. It is indeed unfortunate that Wood became Governor-General so
soon after the completion of his mission, a difficulty which he himself had foreseen and which situation
undoubtedly colored his relations with the Filipinos politicians whose performance he had just indicted. After an
initial period marked by amicable relations and cooperation the Administration of Governor Wood was marked by
vigorous political agitation-the most intense in Philippine-American relation since the end of the Filipino-American
War.

THE GOVERNOR'S VETO POWER

The veto power of Governor Wood, in the eyes of the Filipino leaders. was being excessively exercised, "on the
most flimsy motives." Governor Wood's veto record showed the following: From October 1923 to February 1924,
the Sixth Philippine Legislature passed 217 bills not having been presented until after the adjournment of the
Legislature so that, Wood commented, conference with a view to modification or correction of errors was possible.
Not only did the Governor exercise liberally his power to veto bills passed by the Legislature , but he even went to
the extent of altering measures already passed by the legislature, and then affixing his signature after the
alteration was made.

THE BOARD OF CONTROL CONTROVERSY

Wood was convinced that the Board was illegal because the Governor-General occupied a minority position in it (in
violation of the Organic Act which placed supreme executive control in the hands of the Governor-General), and so
he could never get the consent of the two Filipino members (the Senate president and the House Speaker) to get
the government of business.
There are two fundamental reasons advanced by Wood for getting the government out of the business: First, that
the Philippines treasury needed the money invested in the business enterprises to spend it for the greater benefit
of the public; and second, that governments were not qualified, in any nation of the world to conduct business or
engage in any industries which would compete with private initiative.

LEONARD WOOD: IN RETROSPECT

Leonard Wood's tenure as Governor-General of the Philippines was marked by deadlock and political strife with
the politicos lead by Quezon openly challenging the authority of the American representative in Manila. The
friction grew out of the governor's program to restore American supervision and control, particularly with respect
to the functions of the Legislature. But there were some who though it was greatly exacerbated by the clash
between the personal ambitions of the Filipino political leaders and Wood's desire to exercise what he saw as "The
inherent rights of the Governor-General" and because the contest was hopelessly enmeshed in the consuming
emotional issue of independence, the political rancor was fanned by distrust and prejudice.
Any Governor-General who was sent to the Philippines after Harrison probably would have found the Filipino
leaders particularly difficult to handle, unless he went as far Harrison did in allowing the Filipinos a generous share
in the direction of their affairs. Wood was of a different mind he was convinced that the Filipinos had taken an
enormous stride backward during the Harrison Administration. He found the Philippine government bogged down
in a major financial crisis and riddled with inefficiency, graft and nepotism. He, therefore, saw it as his
responsibility to reform the "critical situation" and restore the country to an efficient and orderly government
worthy of American sponsorship. He probably had the right prescription for the Philippines honesty in government
and a tight administration but his approach was hardly the most effective one. Contentious and imperial, he
showed little consideration for the sensitive feelings of the Filipinos, for whom self-esteem, personal honor and
that incomprehensible ( to the Westerner ) worship of "face" were important matters.

COMPLETE TEXT OF "FILIPINO GRIEVANCES AGAINST GOVERNOR WOOD"

The text that is presented below has been taken from Gregorio F. Zaide and Sonia Zaide’s Documentary Sources
of Philippine History.
The document was originally published as Appendix of Maximo M. Kalaw’s Philippine Government under the
Jones Law.

More than a quarter of a century has elapsed since the Philippines came under the American flag- an emblem of
freedom, not of subjugation; a symbol of altruism, not of selfishness or greed. American sovereignty was
implanted in our country with the avowed purpose of training in us in the art of self-government and granting us
independence. Our good, not her gain was to be America’s aim. Our country was committed to her in trust to be
conserved and developed for the benefit of our people. Believing in the sincerity of America’s purpose, the
Filipinos applied themselves to the task of meeting the conditions exacted of them, anxiously awaiting the day
when
America would honor her promise. The first twenty years of civil government were marked by mutual
understanding and loyal cooperation between American and Filipinos. At the end of that period, when it seemed
that the goal had finally been reached, after the President of the United States had advised the Congress that the
time had come for America to fulfill her sacred pledge, Major-General Leonard Wood was sent to the Philippines as
Governor-General. Cognizant of the part taken by General Wood in the liberation of Cuba, the Filipino people
expected that under his administration the spirit of cooperation would be maintained and that the work of political
emancipation would be complete. Contrary, however, to our expectations, his conduct of government has been
characterized by a train of usurpations and arbitrary acts, resulting in the curtailment of our autonomy, the
destruction of our constitutional system, and the reversal of America’s Philippine policy.
This line of conduct recently culminated in the issuance of Executive Order No. 37, by which he has attempted to
nullify laws creating the Board of Control and assumed functions of the body. The gravity of this last step is more
evident when we recall the series of usurpations theretofore committed by him.
He has refused to assent to laws which were the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has set at naught both the legal authority and responsibility for the Philippine heads of departments.
He has substituted his constitutional advisers for a group of military attaches without legal standing in the
government and not responsible for the people.
He has reversed the policy of Filipinizing the service of the government by appointing Americans even when
Filipinos of proven capacity were available.
He has obstructed the carrying out of national economic policies duly adopted by the Legislature, merely because
they are in conflict with his personal views.
He rendered merely perfunctory the power of the Legislature to pass the annual appropriation law by reviving
items in the law of the preceding year, after vetoing the correspondent items of the current appropriation act, in
flagrant violation of the Organic Law.
He has made appointments to positions and authorized the payment of salaries therefore after having vetoed the
appropriations for such salaries.
He has used certain public funds to grant additional compensation to public officials in clear violation of the law.
He has arrogated upon himself the right of exercising the powers granted by law to the Emergency Board after
abolishing said board on the ground that its powers involved an unlawful delegation of legislative authority.
He has unduly interfered in the administration of justice.
He has refused to obtain the advice of the Senate in making appointments where such advice is required by the
Organic Act.
He has refused to submit the Senate appointment for vacancies occurring during the recess of the Legislature in
contravention of the Organic Act.
He has continued in office nominees whose appointments had been rejected by the Senate.
He has usurped legislative powers by imposing conditions on legislative measure approved by him.
He has, in the administration of affairs in Mindanao, brought about a condition which has given rise to discord and
dissension between certain groups of Christian and Mohammedan Filipinos.
He has by his policies strained relations between resident Americans and Filipinos.
He has endeavored, on the pretext of getting the government out of business, to dispose of all the companies
capitalized by the government worth many millions of the people’s money to powerful American interests.
He has sanctioned the campaign of insidious propaganda in the United States against the Filipino people and their
aspirations.
He has attempted to close the Philippine National Bank so necessary to the economic development of the country.
He has adopted the practice of intervening in, and controlling directly, to its minute details, the affairs of the
Philippine Government, both insular and local, in violation of self-government.
He has insistently sought the amendment of our land laws approved by the Congress of the United States, which
amendment would open up the resources of the country to exploitation by predatory interests.
Not content with these and other arbitrary acts, the Governor-General has recently promulgated Executive Order
No. 37, declaring that the laws creating and defining the powers of Board of Control which is authorized to vote
the stocks owned by the government in certain private corporations, are absolute nullities. In the same order the
Governor-General also announced his purpose to exercise solely and by himself the powers and duties developing
upon said board. This executive order is purported to be based upon an opinion rendered by the Judge Advocate
General of the United States Army and the conformatory opinion of the Acting Advocate General on November 7.
Despite this fact, he has found it convenient to withhold the publication of his order until November 10, a few
hours after the Legislation had adjourned, thus depriving the Legislature of an opportunity to consider the matter.
The laws creating and defining the powers of the Board of Control have been in force and acted upon by the
present Governor-General and other officers of the government for a number of years, and they have neither been
repealed by the Legislature, annulled by Congress, nor declared unconstitutional by the courts. To hold that the
Governor-General by a mere executive order can set them aside, is to subvert the whole system of constitutional
government and destroy the theory of separation of powers which the Governor-General has always been so
intent in upholding.
In the face of this critical situation, we, the constitutional representatives of the Filipino people, met to deliberate
upon the present difficulties existing in the Government of the Philippine Islands and to determine how best to
preserve the supremacy and majesty of the laws and to safeguard the rights and liberties of our people, having
faith in the sense of justice of the people of the United States and inspired by her patriotic example in the early
days of her history, do hereby, in our behalf and in the name of the Filipino people, solemnly and publicly make
known our most vigorous protest against the arbitrary acts and usurpations of the present Governor General of the
Philippine Islands, particularly against Executive Order No. 37.
The consciousness of our sacred and inescapable duty to our country and our sense of loyalty to the people of the
United States constrain us to denounce the foregoing acts of the present Governor-General as arbitrary,
oppressive and undemocratic. We appeal to the judgment and conscience of the American people in justification
of our stand and for the vindication of our rights.
Corazon Aquino Speech before the US Congress (September 18, 1986)
 
Introduction:
When former President Corazon Aquino spoke before a joint session of the United States Congress in September of
1986, the dust was only beginning to settle. It was her first visit to America since the dictator Ferdinand Marcos
had been deposed in February of the same year, and the Philippines was reckoning with everything his
administration had inflicted. That included $26 billion in total foreign debt, and a communist insurgency that grew,
throughout the Marcos era, from 500 armed guerillas to 16,000. We were just at the start of a long road to
recovery.
So Aquino lodged an appeal for help. Addressing the House, she delivered a historic speech that managed to sway
in our favor the vote for an emergency $200-million aid appropriation. In the moving speech penned by her
speechwriter (and our current ambassador to the United Nations) Teddy Locsin, Jr., Aquino defended her
reconciliatory stand on the communist insurgency—a sensitive issue in the U.S., given that this was 1986—and
asked for financial aid towards rebuilding the Philippine economy.
"We fought for honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay," she said, agreeing to pay the debt that was stolen by
Marcos. "And yet, should we have to wring the payments from the sweat of our men’s faces and sink all the wealth
piled up by the bondsman’s two hundred fifty years of unrequited toil?"
The speech was impassioned, deeply personal, and effective; interrupted 11 times by applause and bookended
with standing ovations. House Speaker Tip O'Neill called it the "finest speech I've ever heard in my 34 years in
Congress." Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole told her, "Cory, you hit a home run." And House Minority Whip
Trent Lott said, "Let's just say the emotion of the moment saved the day." It would go down in the annals of our
history as one of the former President's finest speeches.
FULL Speech of President Corazon Aquino during the Joint Session of the U.S. Congress, September 18, 1986
 TRANSCRIPT:
Speech
of
Her Excellency Corazon C. Aquino
President of the Philippines
During the Joint Session of the United States Congress
[Delivered at Washington, D.C., on September 18, 1986]
 
Three years ago, I left America in grief to bury my husband, Ninoy Aquino. I thought I had left it also to lay to rest
his restless dream of Philippine freedom. Today, I have returned as the president of a free people.
In burying Ninoy, a whole nation honored him. By that brave and selfless act of giving honor, a nation in shame
recovered its own. A country that had lost faith in its future found it in a faithless and brazen act of murder. So in
giving, we receive, in losing we find, and out of defeat, we snatched our victory.
For the nation, Ninoy became the pleasing sacrifice that answered their prayers for freedom. For myself and our
children, Ninoy was a loving husband and father. His loss, three times in our lives, was always a deep and painful
one.
Fourteen years ago this month was the first time we lost him. A president-turned-dictator, and traitor to his oath,
suspended the Constitution and shut down the Congress that was much like this one before which I am honored to
speak. He detained my husband along with thousands of others – senators, publishers and anyone who had
spoken up for the democracy as its end drew near. But for Ninoy, a long and cruel ordeal was reserved. The
dictator already knew that Ninoy was not a body merely to be imprisoned but a spirit he must break. For even as
the dictatorship demolished one by one the institutions of democracy – the press, the Congress, the independence
of the judiciary, the protection of the Bill of Rights – Ninoy kept their spirit alive in himself.
The government sought to break him by indignities and terror. They locked him up in a tiny, nearly airless cell in a
military camp in the north. They stripped him naked and held the threat of sudden midnight execution over his
head. Ninoy held up manfully–all of it. I barely did as well. For 43 days, the authorities would not tell me what had
happened to him. This was the first time my children and I felt we had lost him.
When that didn’t work, they put him on trial for subversion, murder and a host of other crimes before a military
commission. Ninoy challenged its authority and went on a fast. If he survived it, then, he felt, God intended him for
another fate. We had lost him again. For nothing would hold him back from his determination to see his fast
through to the end. He stopped only when it dawned on him that the government would keep his body alive after
the fast had destroyed his brain. And so, with barely any life in his body, he called off the fast on the fortieth day.
God meant him for other things, he felt. He did not know that an early death would still be his fate, that only the
timing was wrong.
At any time during his long ordeal, Ninoy could have made a separate peace with the dictatorship, as so many of
his countrymen had done. But the spirit of democracy that inheres in our race and animates this chamber could
not be allowed to die. He held out, in the loneliness of his cell and the frustration of exile, the democratic
alternative to the insatiable greed and mindless cruelty of the right and the purging holocaust of the left.
And then, we lost him, irrevocably and more painfully than in the past. The news came to us in Boston. It had to be
after the three happiest years of our lives together. But his death was my country’s resurrection in the courage and
faith by which alone they could be free again. The dictator had called him a nobody. Two million people threw
aside their passivity and escorted him to his grave. And so began the revolution that has brought me to
democracy’s most famous home, the Congress of the United States.
The task had fallen on my shoulders to continue offering the democratic alternative to our people.
Archibald Macleish had said that democracy must be defended by arms when it is attacked by arms and by truth
when it is attacked by lies. He failed to say how it shall be won.
I held fast to Ninoy’s conviction that it must be by the ways of democracy. I held out for participation in the 1984
election the dictatorship called, even if I knew it would be rigged. I was warned by the lawyers of the opposition
that I ran the grave risk of legitimizing the foregone results of elections that were clearly going to be fraudulent.
But I was not fighting for lawyers but for the people in whose intelligence I had implicit faith. By the exercise of
democracy, even in a dictatorship, they would be prepared for democracy when it came. And then, also, it was the
only way I knew by which we could measure our power even in the terms dictated by the dictatorship.
The people vindicated me in an election shamefully marked by government thuggery and fraud. The opposition
swept the elections, garnering a clear majority of the votes, even if they ended up, thanks to a corrupt Commission
on Elections, with barely a third of the seats in parliament. Now, I knew our power.
Last year, in an excess of arrogance, the dictatorship called for its doom in a snap election. The people obliged.
With over a million signatures, they drafted me to challenge the dictatorship. And I obliged them. The rest is the
history that dramatically unfolded on your television screen and across the front pages of your newspapers.
You saw a nation, armed with courage and integrity, stand fast by democracy against threats and corruption. You
saw women poll watchers break out in tears as armed goons crashed the polling places to steal the ballots but, just
the same, they tied themselves to the ballot boxes. You saw a people so committed to the ways of democracy that
they were prepared to give their lives for its pale imitation. At the end of the day, before another wave of fraud
could distort the results, I announced the people’s victory.
The distinguished co-chairman of the United States observer team in his report to your President described that
victory:
“I was witness to an extraordinary manifestation of democracy on the part of the Filipino people. The ultimate
result was the election of Mrs. Corazon C. Aquino as President and Mr. Salvador Laurel as Vice-President of the
Philippines.”
Many of you here today played a part in changing the policy of your country towards us. We, Filipinos, thank each
of you for what you did: for, balancing America’s strategic interest against human concerns, illuminates the
American vision of the world.
When a subservient parliament announced my opponent’s victory, the people turned out in the streets and
proclaimed me President. And true to their word, when a handful of military leaders declared themselves against
the dictatorship, the people rallied to their protection. Surely, the people take care of their own. It is on that faith
and the obligation it entails, that I assumed the presidency.
As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it. That is my contract with my people and my commitment to God.
He had willed that the blood drawn with the lash shall not, in my country, be paid by blood drawn by the sword
but by the tearful joy of reconciliation.
We have swept away absolute power by a limited revolution that respected the life and freedom of every Filipino.
Now, we are restoring full constitutional government. Again, as we restored democracy by the ways of democracy,
so are we completing the constitutional structures of our new democracy under a constitution that already gives
full respect to the Bill of Rights. A jealously independent Constitutional Commission is completing its draft which
will be submitted later this year to a popular referendum. When it is approved, there will be congressional
elections. So within about a year from a peaceful but national upheaval that overturned a dictatorship, we shall
have returned to full constitutional government. Given the polarization and breakdown we inherited, this is no
small achievement.
My predecessor set aside democracy to save it from a communist insurgency that numbered less than 500.
Unhampered by respect for human rights, he went at it hammer and tongs. By the time he fled, that insurgency
had grown to more than 16,000. I think there is a lesson here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with the
means by which it grows.
I don’t think anybody, in or outside our country, concerned for a democratic and open Philippines, doubts what
must be done. Through political initiatives and local reintegration programs, we must seek to bring the insurgents
down from the hills and, by economic progress and justice, show them that for which the best intentioned among
them fight.
As President, I will not betray the cause of peace by which I came to power. Yet equally, and again no friend of
Filipino democracy will challenge this, I will not stand by and allow an insurgent leadership to spurn our offer of
peace and kill our young soldiers, and threaten our new freedom.
Yet, I must explore the path of peace to the utmost for at its end, whatever disappointment I meet there, is the
moral basis for laying down the olive branch of peace and taking up the sword of war. Still, should it come to that, I
will not waver from the course laid down by your great liberator: “With malice towards none, with charity for all,
with firmness in the rights as God gives us to see the rights, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s
wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphans, to do all which
may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Like Lincoln, I understand that force may be necessary before mercy. Like Lincoln, I don’t relish it. Yet, I will do
whatever it takes to defend the integrity and freedom of my country.
Finally, may I turn to that other slavery: our $26 billion foreign debt. I have said that we shall honor it. Yet must the
means by which we shall be able to do so be kept from us? Many conditions imposed on the previous government
that stole this debt continue to be imposed on us who never benefited from it. And no assistance or liberality
commensurate with the calamity that was visited on us has been extended. Yet ours must have been the cheapest
revolution ever. With little help from others, we Filipinos fulfilled the first and most difficult conditions of the debt
negotiation the full restoration of democracy and responsible government. Elsewhere, and in other times of more
stringent world economic conditions, Marshall plans and their like were felt to be necessary companions of
returning democracy.
When I met with President Reagan yesterday, we began an important dialogue about cooperation and the
strengthening of the friendship between our two countries. That meeting was both a confirmation and a new
beginning and should lead to positive results in all areas of common concern.
Today, we face the aspirations of a people who had known so much poverty and massive unemployment for the
past 14 years and yet offered their lives for the abstraction of democracy. Wherever I went in the campaign, slum
area or impoverished village, they came to me with one cry: democracy! Not food, although they clearly needed it,
but democracy. Not work, although they surely wanted it, but democracy. Not money, for they gave what little
they had to my campaign. They didn’t expect me to work a miracle that would instantly put food into their mouths,
clothes on their back, education in their children, and work that will put dignity in their lives. But I feel the pressing
obligation to respond quickly as the leader of a people so deserving of all these things.
We face a communist insurgency that feeds on economic deterioration, even as we carry a great share of the free
world defenses in the Pacific. These are only two of the many burdens my people carry even as they try to build a
worthy and enduring house for their new democracy, that may serve as well as a redoubt for freedom in Asia. Yet,
no sooner is one stone laid than two are taken away. Half our export earnings, $2 billion out of $4 billion, which
was all we could earn in the restrictive markets of the world, went to pay just the interest on a debt whose benefit
the Filipino people never received.
Still, we fought for honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay. And yet, should we have to wring the payments from
the sweat of our men’s faces and sink all the wealth piled up by the bondsman’s two hundred fifty years of
unrequited toil?
Yet to all Americans, as the leader of a proud and free people, I address this question: has there been a greater test
of national commitment to the ideals you hold dear than that my people have gone through? You have spent many
lives and much treasure to bring freedom to many lands that were reluctant to receive it. And here you have a
people who won it by themselves and need only the help to preserve it.
Three years ago, I said thank you, America, for the haven from oppression, and the home you gave Ninoy, myself
and our children, and for the three happiest years of our lives together. Today, I say, join us, America, as we build a
new home for democracy, another haven for the oppressed, so it may stand as a shining testament of our two
nation’s commitment to freedom.