Pruweba nga ba ang Marso 22, 1948 sulat kamay ni Aguinaldo na siya ang nagpapatay kay Bonifacio?

ni Basilio Ibabawan

Maraming umaakusa kay Aguinaldo na ipinapatay niya si Bonifacio dahil sa kanyang sulat kamay niya na may petsang Marso 22, 1948. Itong sulat daw na ito ay pagamin ni Aguinaldo na inutos niyang ipapatay si Bonifacio. Halatang-halata na hindi nagsaliksik o talagang di alam ang dahilan kung bakit naglabas si Aguinaldo ng ganitong sulat. Kaya nararapat isalaysay ang pinagmulan ng sulat upang maliwanagan ang tunay na pangyayari.

Mapapansin na ang petsa ng sulat ay Marso 22, 1948, ilang dekada na ang nakalipas kung bibilangin mula sa araw ng pangyayayari. Bakit noon lang ito sinulat ni Aguinaldo? Ayon kay Aguinaldo mas minabuti niyang manahimik sa usapin tungkol sa nangyari sa magkapatid dahil ayaw niyang pagsimulan ito ng sigalot lalo na't tayo noon ay hindi pa malaya.

Ngunit noong Marso 22, 1947 nagkaroon ng pagdiriwang sa kanyang tahanan sa Kawit para sa ika-78 niyang kaarawan na dinaluhan ng maraming tapat na kabigan, tagasunod at tagasangguni. At dahil ika-50 ding kaarawan ng pulong sa Tejeros tinanong siya kung tutuo ang pahayag ni Heneral Pio del Pilar na di umano'y huli na nang natanggap ni Heneral Mariano Noriel ang patawad dahilan sa siya (si Aguinaldo) ay nasa isang ilang na lugar at nangangalap ng mga tauhan upang makatulong sa hukbong nagagapi na ng mga Kastila. Sa kaunaunahang pagkakataon nagsalita si Aguinaldo tungkol sa pangyayari sa magkapatid na Bonifacio at ang sagot niya ay "...iyan ay walang katotohanan." Dugtong pa niya na talagang tanto na nina Del Pilar at Noriel ang tungkol sa patawad bago pa man binaril ang magkapatid dahil noong ilabas niya ito ay agad-agad siyang nilapitan ng dalawa at nagsumamo na bawiin ang patawad at ipatupad ang hatol ng Korte Militar para sa kapakanan ng himagsikan at kapanatagan ng bayan.

Nang okasyon ding iyon, nagunita ni Aguinaldo ang pagbisita ng isang manunulat na may dalang kasulatan na pinalalagdaan sa kanya. Kinuha niya ang kopya ng nasabing sulat sa kanyang silid at ipinakita sa mga bisita. Itinuro niya ang dalawang talata na nagsasaad na di umano'y huli na ng matanggap ni Heneral Noriel ang indulto kaya natuloy ang pagbaril sa magkapatid na Bonifacio. Hindi niya nilagdaan ang kasulatan at sinabi niya sa manunulat na hindi tutuo ang sinasabi doon at siya'y magsisinungaling kung kanyang lalagdaang. At dugtong pa niya, dapat aniya katotohanan ang masulat sa kasaysayan.

Kaya naman pagsapit ng kanyang ika-79 kaarawan ng Marso 22, 1948, at bilang handog sa alaala ng himagsikan at pagtatama ng kasaysayang ng sambayanang Pilipino ay minarapat ni Aguinaldo na sulatin ang tunay na pangyayari. At ito na nga ang sulat kamay niyang may petsang Marso 22, 1948.

Kung babalikan ang pangyayaring noong May 10, 1897, hindi si Aguinaldo ang nagpataw ng parusang kamatayan kundi ang Korte Militar na lumitis sa magkapatid. Sapagkat ang hatol ay siyang buod ng makatuwirang parusang iginawad sa magkapatid at ito ay may matibay na tinitindigan - ang pagtataksil ni Bonifacio sa pamahalaan, lalo't na nagawa niya ito sa panahon pa naman ng giyera, bagay na nakatulong sa kalaban. Kung tawagin ito sa Ingles ay "treason", or kataksilan, at ang katapat na parusa na naging kaugalian ng militar saan man pook ng mundo ay kamatayan sa pamamagitan ng bitay o pagbabaril.

Ano nga ba ang mga kasalanan ni Bonifacio? Dapat pagusapan ito upang lumabas ang tunay na dahilan ng kanyang pagkamatay. Makikita sa pagsusuri na si Bonifacio mismo ang nagtulak sa kanyang sarili tungo sa kamatayan. Narito ang mga kasalanan ni Bonifacio: Una, hindi niya kinilala at nilabanan pa nga ang pamahalaan; Ikalawa, naglunsad siya ng kudeta; Ikatlo, nagtayo ng sariling hukbo; Ika-apat, inatake ang bayan ng Indang; Ika-lima, nakipagbarilan sa mga umaarestong kawal na naging sanhi na pagkamatay na isa niyang kapatid na si Ciriaco at dalawang kawal ng pamahalaan; at, Ika-anim, binalak niyang patayin si Aguinaldo na isasagawa sana niya kung hindi natutop ang kanyang sinimulang kudeta. Malaki ang pagkakasala ni Bonifacio, hindi biro-biro, lalo't naging sanhi ng pagkakahati-hati ng hanay ng mga rebolusyonaryo na maaring naging mitsa ng isang giyera sibil kung hindi naagadan.

Kaya nga nasabi ni Mabini na kung sa kanya nangyari ang ginawa ni Bonifacio, wala nang paglilitis, baril agad.

Ang batis: ang mga binanggit ko rito ay hango sa aklat ni Jose P. Santos, na pinamagatang "Andres Bonifacio" nalimbag noong 1948 at ang aklat ni Carlos Ronquillo, "Ilang Talata Tungkol sa Paghihimagsik Nang Taong 1896-1897", nalimbag noong 1996, pati na ang kay Onofre D. Corpuz, "Saga and Triumph" at ang alaala ni Santiago Alvarez.

#TuklasPilipinas
#NoHateHistory

ANG PAGKAMATAY NG HENERAL ANTONIO LUNA

Ang Pagkamatay ng Heneral Antonio Luna

This paper is the transcription of the original document entitled, “Ang Pagkamatay ng Heneral Luna” by General Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, the First President of the Republic of the Philippines. The manuscript, typewritten with substantial handwritten edits by Gen. Aguinaldo, is now part of a private collection from Felisa Diokno’s estate. Ms. Diokno was the personal secretary of the first President until he passed on. The parts in yellow (bold) are the edits by Gen. Aguinaldo. The document was transcribed by Elizabeth Angsioco in April 2018.

On Aguinaldo's Capture in Palanan, Isabela

Aguinaldo bust and marker at Palanan, Isabela,
 the terminal point of the revolution.

by Tommy Matic IV

While many Filipinos take this as an example of Miong's weakness and surrender to the Americans, they can only do this because of their ignorance of the context.

Aguinaldo never entertained the thought of surrender until he was surrounded, bound and helplessly brought aboard the enemy warship with no hope of rescue. It is true that he had made numerous attempts at conciliation - negotiating with the erstwhile American 'allies' when incidents erupted prior to Feb 1899, offering to restore peace immediately after an American soldier shot a Filipino soldier on Feb 4, 1899, and sending delegates to negotiate a peace with the American Schurmann Commission in opposition to his staunchest supporters Mabini and Luna - yet none of these peace overtures were meant to sacrifice Filipino independence. Aguinaldo made this abundantly clear in his letter to Benito Legarda, an Autonomista who had been part of the First Republic government that had gone over to the American side and was begging Aguinaldo to surrender.

Legarda wrote: "...We are in error, and yet we persist in that error... The war so far has only laid bare our insufficiency and our shortcomings...
In my judgment, giving these conditions, the time has arrived for your policy to change in a radical manner... Nothing can prevent the triumph of America.. Do not struggle against the inevitable...Peace must come some time, and the man who restores peace to the Philippines will win the admiration of the world, and the gratitude of his country. Be that man. Since 1896 you have been the soul of the people, and have merited their blessings for your wonderful and providential wisdom... be now the one to say 'Enough of conflict.'"

And Aguinaldo replied: "...In reply to this I must tell you that it is impossible for me to turn back from the enterprise which I have undertaken -that of defending our country, and especially as I have sworn that as long as life lasts I shall labor until I gain the acknowledgment of the independence of the Philippines. Do not attribute this declaration to my vanity, but to my desire to fulfill a former promise. This, aside from the fact that the struggle for the independence of our country is just and based upon our perfect rights.

We are not alarmed by the numerous arms nor the valor of our enemy. What is life to us if we are to be the slaves of the foreigner? .... I repeat, we will not give up the struggle until we gain our longed-for independence: death is of but little moment to us if we are but able to ensure the happiness of the people and of future generations.

If this is not enough to induce our enemies to desist from their endeavor, we will go, if necessary, into the mountains, but never will we accept a treaty of peace dishonorable to the Philippine arms and disastrous to the future of the country, such as that which they seek to impose."

Is that the language of a traydor? A jealous dictator? A self centered individual who cares only for personal gain?

Aguinaldo was the spirit of Filipino resistance for three bloody years. Cabezas de Barangay, town mayors, judges, farmers all refused even under torture, to betray his whereabouts to the American invaders. The bloody guerrilla resistance was dragging on, costing the Americans treasure and sapping their spirit as the war that was supposedly "mission accomplished" was proving interminable. It was determined that only the capture of Aguinaldo, the decapitation of the head of Filipino resistance could bring the war to an 'official' close.

And yet this would have been impossible had not the Americans captured a messenger from Aguinaldo asking for supplies and reinforcements from one of his officers, Urbano Lacuna. This was an intelligence coup that essentially sealed the fate of Filipino resistance against America. So long as Aguinaldo remained as head of state, the Filipinos could claim to have a nation with an extant government among the Great Powers of the World. So long as Aguinaldo remained free, Filipino freedom's light burned and flickered, lighting up the lie that America was benevolent in its assimilation.

It would take the foremost practitioner of guerrilla warfare in the United States Army, Frederick Funston, former Cuban guerrilla fighter and current commander of the hell-roaring 20th Kansas Volunteers to plan and execute one of the most daring 'commando' raids of all time, trusting a turncoat gang of ex-Spanish loyalists turned American 'Scouts' to portray a company of Filipino revolutionary troops, under the command of ex-Spanish officers (who might have still had some hard feelings against the Americans that defeated them) while he and his picked squad of American officers would be bound up as prisoners, helpless in the hands of Filipinos and Spanish that were supposedly on their side. And of course they had to actually find Aguinaldo first.

Find him they did, on the day after the Filipino president's birthday. This was an extremely fortuitous coincidence for Funston as it meant that Aguinaldo and the rest of his much reduced presidential coterie and guards were off their guard, relaxed and unready after a day of feasting and celebrating. When the moment came and Funston commanded the Macabebe Scouts to open fire, they scattered Aguinaldo's guard platoon directly opposite them with a resounding volley, killing several of the Revolutionary guardsmen. Aguinaldo, like the hapless Antonio Luna three years previously, heard the sound of gunfire and rushed to investigate - but the turncoat Spanish officers pinioned Aguinaldo, rendering him helpless. Their orders were to take the Filipino president alive, if possible.

As he was hustled away, poor Emilio Aguinaldo wondered aloud, "Is this not some sort of joke?"

With his capture, the hopes of an extended Filipino resistance were quickly crushed - even as he was being taken, Filipino officers were surrendering to the Americans as a weary Filipino civilian population were slowly assimilated into the American military government. The dauntless Batanguenos under Miguel Malvar were eventually reconcentrated into fortified camps guarded by American Krags and Springfields, separating Malvar's guerrillas from their civilian support. Malvar in Batangas and Simeon Ola in Southern Tagalog region were the last two 'official' Filipino generals to surrender.

Palanan was the last stand of the Filipino First Republic, the last hope for independence in the Philippine Revolutionary period. It would be more than 40 years before America recognized the independence that Aguinaldo and the Filipino people had fought for, a recognition that would never have happened without the indomitable courage and devotion to duty that Aguinaldo held to until the moment he was forced to yield at Palanan.

#aguinaldo #emilioaguinaldo

Mabini on Aguinaldo

by Angelo J. Aguinaldo

Said Mabini of Aguinaldo:

 "The Revolution failed because it was badly directed, because its leader won his post not with praiseworthy but with blameworthy acts, because instead of employing the most useful men of the nation he jealously discarded them. Believing that the advance of the people was no more than his own personal advance, he did not rate men according to their ability, character and patriotism but according to the degree of friendship or kinship binding him to them; and wanting to have favorites willing to sacrifice themselves for him, he showed himself lenient to their faults. Because he disdained the people, he could not but fall like an idol of wax melting in the heat of adversity. May we never forget such a terrible lesson learned at the cost of unspeakable sufferings!"
(Source: http://j.mp/Malacanang)

Aguinaldo, the leader Mabini was referring to, got elected in absentia. Being chief flag officer of the Magdalo Council, he commanded the revolutionary force which was pinned down in a seesaw battle with Spanish General Jose Lachambre’s army in Pasong Santol. He refused to leave the battle front until Crispulo, his older brother, vowed to take his place so he, together with Mariano Trias could take their oath as elected President and vice-president. The election was presided over by Magdiwang Council. Only Aguinaldo was elected among the officers of the Magdalo. Crispulo died in the Battle of Pasong Santol.  That’s not blameworthy. Mabini did not even see action during the first phase of the Revolution.

On Aguinaldo’s jealously discarding some useful men:

Dencio Yuson, an observer, has this to say: "The Full Story of Aguinaldo's Capture" by Lazaro Segovia (1969ed). The appendix contains an article by American journalist O.K Davis which appeared in Everybody's Magazine Vol.V Aug. 1901 that contains the remarkable unpublished "Aguinaldo Resignation Letter". I will excerpt the following from the said article:

In December, 1898, at the time when the Filipinos were in the hey-day of their power, Aguinaldo wrote a letter resigning the office of the president of the revolutionary government. For eight months they had been perfecting their organization and increasing their strength... They understood, both leaders and people, that the conflict with the Americans was approaching rapidly. 

He (Aguinaldo) went on to say... that the crisis was too great for him to deal with, that it required a man of greater strength and better education, an abler and older man to lead them through the difficulties which were before them... and he asked the people to give him as 'Aguinaldo', release from the office of the president, and allow him to resign in favor of a man more fitted than he to guide them.

 his letter was never circulated. Mabini and his colleagues discovered that Aguinaldo had written it and they succeeded in persuading or compelling him to suppress it. THE TRUTH IS THAT AGUINALDO WAS THE IDOL OF THE FILIPINOS, THOUSANDS OF WHOM WOULD FOLLOW HIM BLINDLY WITH ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE. IF THAT LETTER HAD BEEN MADE PUBLIC BY AGUINALDO THE INSURRECTION WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. 

Too bad, that the whole letter was not published along with the article. This letter proves that Aguinaldo was not the scheming, power hungry TRAPO politician, an image prevailing today.

 Mabini may have also referred to himself when he said: “because instead of employing the most useful men of the nation he jealously discarded them.” He resigned from the Cabinet due to intrigues and other members of the Cabinet began seeing him as Gen. Aguinaldo’s “dark chamber.”

Mabini opposed the declaration of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898 and instead suggested the reorganization of the government. Aguinaldo, however, felt otherwise. He believed that the proclamation would serve as a great rallying point.

Felipe Agoncillo recommended Apolinario Mabini and  Antonio Luna. Mabini became Prime Minister; Antonio Luna was promoted several times even to the rank of lieutenant general. So, that may have been the favoritism Mabini noted.

Said Aguinaldo of Luna in an interview conducted by Vicente Albano Pacis (A Second Look at America, New York, 1957):

“Neither, indeed, did Luna go to a military school, for he was a pharmacist by training; but in addition to his undeniable valor, he was an avid student of military theory and history. Not only was he our ablest commander but also he had the foresight and ability to open and operate a military school with which he trained most of our officers. We need him to keep our forces as a coordinated unit. And we needed even his terrible temper to impose discipline on our unschooled army.”

And Mabini had reservations to Luna’s appointment. He event wrote Emilio Aguinaldo on March 7, 1899 (a month after the start of the Philippine-American War) asking the latter NOT to give to Gen. Antonio Luna the position of Secretary of War and calling the general "a despot" and not fit to command an Army ("Kundi bagay sa mando ng Hokbo ay lalong hindi sa oficina, sapagkat despota").

It is not surprising that Mabini changed his opinion of Aguinaldo when he was exiled in Guam as he expressed in his Memoir “La Revoluciion Filipina.” He blamed everybody whom he thought abandoned him. Also, he was likely influenced by Artemio Ricarte who was also with him in Guam. Ricarte also had an axe to grind against Aguinaldo.

Credits: Dencio Yuson, Dr. Vic Torres, Alfredo B. Saulo.