READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY John Lee P. Candelaria Veronica C. Alporhaa certain increase in wealth, influence, and power. These contexts should be used and understood in order to have a more qualified reading of Pigafetta’s account, The KKK and the “Kartilya ng Katipunan” The Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak Bayan (KKK) or Katipunan is arguably the most important organizati formed in Philippine history. While anti-colonial movements, efforts, organizations have already been done centuries prior to the foundation of Katipunan, it was only this organization that envisioned (1) a united Filipi nation that will revolt against the Spaniards for (2) the total independence the country from Spain. Previous armed revolts had already occurred bet the foundation of the Katipunan, but none of them envisioned a unit Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers, For example, Diego Si was knowa as an Iocano who took up his arms and led one of the lonj running revolts in the country. Silang, however, was mainly coi about his locality and referred to himself as El Rey de Ilocos (The King Tocos). The imagination of the nation was largely absent in the aspirati of the local revolis before Katipunan. On the other hand, the propag: movements led by the ilustrados like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Jaena, and Jose Rizal did not envision a total separation of the Philippil from Spain, but only demanded equal rights, representation, and pro! from the abuses of the friars. In the conduct of their struggle, Katipunan ereated a complex struc and a defined value system that will guide the organization as a coll aspiring for a single goal. One of the most important Katipunan docu was the Kartilya ng Katipunan. The original title of the document Manga sic] Aral Nang [sic] Katipunan ng mga A.N.B. or “Lessons of Organization of the Sons of County.” The document was written by Emil Jacinto in the year 1896, Jacinto was only 18 years old when he joined movement. He was a law student in the University of Santo Tomas, Des his youth, Bonifacio recognized the value and intellect of Jacinto that seeing Jacinto's Kartilya was much better than the Decalogue he wrote, willingly favored that the Kartilya be distributed to their fellow Katipun dacinto became the secretary of the organization and took charge of short-lived printing press of the Katipunan. On 15 April 1897, Bonifi appointed Jacinto as a commander of the Katipunan in Northern Lu: Jacinto was 22 yoars old. Jacinto died of Malaria at young age of 24 in town of Magdalena, Laguna, 20 Readings in Phlippine History‘The Kartilya can be treated as the Katipunan’s code of conduct. It contained fourteen rules that instruct the way a Katipunero should behave, and which specific values should he uphold. Generally, the rules that are contained in the Kartilya ean be classified into two. The firet group contains the rulee that will make the member an upright individual and the second group contains the rules that will guide the way he treats his fellow men. Below is the translated version of the rules in Kartilya: L IL ‘The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a tree without a shade, if not a poisonous weed. ‘To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue. It is rational to be charitable and love one's fellow creature, and to adjust one’s conduct, acts and words to what is in itself reasonable Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal: superiority in knowledge, wealth and beauty are to be understood, but not superiority by nature. ‘The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel, gain to honor, To the honorable man, his word is sacred. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the field. ‘The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the children, and if the guide leads to the precipice, those whom he guides will also go there. ‘Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a faithful companion who will share with thee the penalties of life; her (physical) weakness will increase thy interest in her and she will remind thee of the mother who bore thee and reared thee. ‘Chepter2 | Content and Conestual Analy of elected Primary Scares in Philippine History 21XI What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers and sisters, that do not unto the wife, children, brothers and sisters of thy neighbor. XII. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline, and his color white, not because he is a priest, a servant of God, nor because of the high prerogative that he enjoys upon earth, but he is worth most who is a man of proven and real value, who does good, keeps his words, is worthy and honest; he who does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he who loves and cherishes his fatherland, though he be born in the wilderness and know no tongue but. his own. XIV. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the Jonged- for sun of Liberty shall rise brilliant over this most unhappy: portion of the globe and its rays shall diffuse everlasting joy among the confederated brethren of the same rays, the liv of those who have gone before, the fatigues and the well-pai sufferings will remain. If he who desires to enter has inform« himself of all this and believes he will be able to perform what will be his duties, he may fill out the application for admissior As the primary governing document, which determines the rules conduct in the Katipunan, properly understanding the Kartilya will th help in understanding the values, ideals, aspirations, and even the ideolo; of the organization, Analysis of the “Kartilya ng Katipanan” Similar to what we have done to the accounts of Pigafetta, this prima source also needs to be analyzed in terms of content and context. As document written for a fraternity whose main purpose is to ovorthrow colonial regime, we can explain the content and provisions of the Kartilya a reaction and response to certain value systems that they found dospicabl in the present state of things that they struggle against with. For exampl the fourth and the thirteenth rule in the Kartilya is an invocation of t inherent equality between and among men regardless of race, occupation or status. In the context of the Spanish colonial era where the indios w treated as the inferior of the white Europeans, the Katipunan saw to it the alternative order that they wish to promulgate through their revoluti necessarily destroys this kind of unjust hierarchy. 2 ‘Readings in Philippine HistoryMoreover, one can analyze the values upheld in the document as consistent with the burgeoning rational and liberal ideals in the 18th and 19th century. Equality, tolerance, freedom, and liberty were values that first ‘emerged in the 18th century French Revolution, which spread throughout Europe and reached the educated lass of the colonies, Jacinto, an ilustrado himself, certainly got an understanding of these values. Aside from the liberal values that can be dissected in the document, we can also decipher certain Vietorian and chivalrous values in the text. For example, various provisions in the Kartilya repeatedly emphasized the importance of honor in words and in action, The teaching of the Katipunan on how women should be treated with honor and respect, while positive in many respects and ceitainly a significant stride from the practice of raping and physically abusing women, can still be a telling of the Katipunan’s secondary regard for women in relation to men, For example, in the tenth rule, the document specifically stated that men should be the guide of women and children, and that he should set a good example, otherwise the woman and the children ‘would be guided in the path of evil. Nevertheless, the same document stated that women should be treated as companions by men and not as playthings that can be exploited for his pleasure. In the contemporary eyes, the Katipunan can be griticized because of these provisions. However, one must not forget the context where the organization was born. Not even in Burope or in the whole of the West at that juncture recognized the problem of gender inequality, Indeed, be argued that Katipunan’s recognition of women as important partners in the struggle, as reflected not just in Kartilya but also in the organizé al structure of the fraternity where a women’s unit was established, is an endeavor advanced for its time. Aside from Rizal's known Letter to the Women of Malolos, no same effort by the supposed cosmopolitan Propaganda Movement was achieved until the movement's eventual disintegration in the latter part of the 1890s. Aside from this, the Kartilya was instructive not just of the Katipunan's conduct toward other people, but also for the members’ development as individuals in their own rights. Generally speaking, the rules in the Kartilya can be classified as either directed to how one should treat his neighbor or to how one should develop and conduct one’s self, Both are essential to the success and fulfillment of the Katipunan’s ideals. For example, the Kartilya's teachings on honoring one’s word and on not wasting time are teachings directed toward self-development, while the rules on treating the neighbor's wife, children, and brothers the way that you want yours to be treated is an instruction on how Katipuneros should treat and regard their neighbors, Chapter2 | Comet aod Conestal Analy of Selected Pdmaty Sources n Philippine Hitery 73All in all, proper reading of the Kartilya will reveal a more thorou understanding of the Katipunan and the significant role that it played the revolution and in the unfolding of the Philippine history, as we know i Reading the “Proclamation of the Philippine Independence” Every year, the country commemorates the anniversary of the Philippi Independence proclaimed on 12 June 1898 in the province of Cavite. Indi such eventiis a significant turning point in the history of the country bea’ it signaled the end of the 333 years of Spanish colonization. There have numerous studies done on the events leading to the independence of 1! country but very few siudents had the chance to read the actual document the declaration, This is in spite of the historical importance of the docum: and the details that the documents reveal on the rationale and circumsta: of that historical day in Cavite. Interestingly, reading the details of the document in hindsight is telling the kind of government that was crea! under Aguinaldo, and the forthcoming hand of the United States of Amer in the next few years of the newly created republic. The declaration wi a short 2,000-word document, which summarized the reason behind t vevolution against Spain, the war for independence, and the future of new republic under Emilio Aguinaldo. ‘The proclamation commenced with a characterization of the conditic in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. The docuns specifically mentioned abuses and inequalities in the colony. The declar says: “taking into consideration, that their inhabitants being already weary of bearing the ominous yoke of Spanish domination, on account of the arbitrary arrests and harsh treatment practiced by the Civil Guard to the extent of causing death with the connivance and even with the express orders of their commanders, who sometimes went to the extreme of ordering the shooting of prisoners under the pretext that they were attempting to eseape, in violation of the provisions of the Regulations of their Corps, which abuses were unpunished and on account of the unjust deportations, especially those decreed by General Blanco, of eminent personages and of high social position, at the instigation of the Archbishop and friars interested in keeping them out of the way for their own selfish and avaricious purpose, deportations which are quickly ‘brought about by a method of procedure more execrable than that of the Inquisition and which every civilized nation rejects on account of a decision being rendered without a hearing of the persons accused” a Readings in Phillpine Misery