Emilio Aguinaldo’s Thoughts on the eve of Declaration of Philippine Independence

(as composed for the old hologram of the Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo in 1998; transcribed by Dr. Emmanuel F. Calairo in 2014)

Magandang gabi mga kaibigan!

Salamat sa inyong pagdalaw at pagtaguyod ng ating makasaysayang tangkain. Nararamdaman ko na dulot ng ating pagkakaisa, haharapin natin na buong-buo ang loob ang masayang hamon ng kasarinlan. Narito na ang bunga ng ating pagpapakasakit – ang kasarinlan na hinahangad; ang tunay na katubusan sa pagka alipin; ang lubos na pagsasauli ng nawalang kalayaan. Wala pang dalawang pung araw mula nang bumalik ako ng pagkakadestiyero sa Hongkong nang  pinalakas natin muli ang labanan. Napalaya na ang mga lalawigan ng Cavite, Mindoro, Batangas, Laguna, Morong, Tayabas, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac at Pangasinan. Napipinto na rin ang tagumpay ng ating mga hukbo ng mga probinsiya ng hilagang Luzon at Visaya.

Mabubuo na ang ating bansa. Makakapagtatag na tayo ng mga pamunuan at paaralang pampubliko sa bawat bayan. Titipunin natin ang pinakamarurunong at pinakamamahusay na kabayan na may puso at damdamin para sa kapakanan ng lahat.

Magtatayo tayo ng kongreso. Ito ang nilikha ng ating saligang batas. Ang kongreso din ang siyang maghahalal ng ating magiging Pangulo. Isasaayos natin an gating pamahalaan nang sa gayon tayo ang magiging kauna-unahang republika sa Asya. Panahon na kung gayon upang ipabatid natin sa buong mundo na kaya nating pangasiwaan an gating mga sarili , na may Libertad, Equalidad, at Fraternidad – na galing Fransiya ang katagang iyan – Kasarinlan, Pagpapantay-pantay, at Pagkakapatiran.

Ngayon ay dadalhin natin sa Asya ang demokrasya. Ipinagkatiwala ko na kay Ginoong Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista ang dokyumento ng proklamasyon. Walang mag-aalinglangan sa kakayahan ng ating si Ginoong Bautista. Sa kaniyang edad na anim na pu’t pito siya ay marami ng karanasan at may sapat na kaalaman upang gampanan ang ganitong gawain. Siya ay may malasakit. Isa siyang abugado na pinagtatanggol ang mga mahihirap ng walang bayad. Matagal na rin siyang kabalikat ng mga rebolusyonaryo. Sa katunayan tinustusan niya ang paglalathala ng La Solidaridad at naging kasapi siya ng La Liga Filipina ng kaniyang pamangking si Rizal. May sapat na dahilan kung siya ay aking gawing awditor ng giyera at opisyal na tagapayo.

Bukas makakasama nating lahat ang makabayang bumuhay sa ating paniniwala at pagtitiwala sa sarili. Hindi man natin sila makapiling o hindi man sila makadalo, tiyak kasama na natin ang ibang makabayan sa puso at damdamin. Bukas ipagdiwang natin ang kalayaan mula sa pagka-alipin at pang-aapi. Magsisimula tayo magbanghay ng sariling tadhana. Magpasalamat tayo at bukas, sisilab ang araw sa isang bagong bansa. #

How June 12 as PH Independence day was correctly restored

Shared by Eliseo Art Silva

How June 12 as PH Independence day was correctly restored as the genuine National Day of the Philippines. (Hint: It was not Pres. Diosdado Macapagal)
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However, early in 1960, the Philippine Historical Association (PHA) petitioned the President and the Congress of the Philippines to adopt and declare 12 June every year as the true independence day of the country. Arguments became heated and nasty. The issue approximate the republican issue of contemporary Australia. The American colonial bond was strong. American educated Senator Camilo Osias was one of those who opposed the change but at the end found the light and strongly supporte the PHA position.

According to Historian Esteban A. de Ocampo, the 12 June proclamation was desirable for it was an act undertaken by Filipinos themselves in the exercise of their voluntary, spontaneous, deliberate, solemn and sovereign will. Commenting on the same subject, then Senator Ambrosio Padilla stated during the debate that the Truman Proclamation was a notorious document in international law for proclaiming the independence of the Philippines when by tradition and by history the only ones that can proclaim the independence of a country are the people of that country.

More Filipinos became enlightened and beleivede that it was appropriate to rectify the practice of observing and celebrating their independence day on 4 July of every year. The PHA, however, did not dismiss the importance of 4 July in Philippine history. The learned body recommended that the date be commemorated instead as a thanksgiving day for the restoration and recognition of Philippine independence by the Americans.

It was a national issue that found support from the then President Diosdado Macapagal, who in 1962, issued a proclamation declaring 12 June, instead of 4 July, as Philippine Independence Day. In issuing the presidential directive, President Macapagal stated that the heroic and inspiring event was a legitimate assertion by the Filipinos of their natural and inalienable claim to freedom and independence.

Link to full article:
http://muntingnayon.com/104/104203/index.php

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The First Hoisting of the Philippine Flag as a War Standard

by Basilio Ibabawan

The first major victory of Aguinaldo in the second phase of the revolution was the capture on May 29, 1898 of the Bacoor church that the Spaniards used as a fort. It came the day after a Spanish column of 418 men and 15 officers that were sent to capture the first shipment arms to Cavite were repulsed and held captive by Aguinaldo. Here is an eyewitness account of the Aguinaldo's assault of the Bacoor church defended by 1,000 Spanish troops. It was during this battle that the Filipino flag was hoisted as a war standard with the red side up. (source: Joseph L. Stickney, "War in the Philippines...", pages 75-79)

On Filipinos' loss of respect towards Aguinaldo...

by Angelo J. Aguinaldo

Up to this time, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo has been vilified and seen as plain villain in the story of the revolution. As students of history were taught to blame the so-called failure of the revolution to one single person since he was president of the Republic, a lot of documents and reference materials are still available for reading. The story of the 1935 elections is one area that many should study. Meanwhile, the succeeding points are just a few notes to explain why Saulo noted a kind of historical writing "incompatible with our status as a free and sovereign nation " and create an image of Aguinaldo as someone who has done nothing for our liberation.

Renato Constantino wrote in one of his books: “Aguinaldo led the force that pre-empted the revolution. The elimination of Bonifacio assured the leadership to the elite. The result was Biak-na-bato, that shameful betrayal of people’s sacrifices…”

Aguinaldo did not pre-empt the Philippine Revolution. He even started it in Cavite on August 31, 1896. It began in Cavite on the day after the Katipunan revolt led by Bonifacio collapsed in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, which according to Zaide , resulting in 153 Katipuneros killed and about 200 taken prisoner. Aguinaldo turned the Katipunan revolt into a full-scale revolution. He salvaged the revolt by beating the best of Spanish generals in “fair combat.”

Bonifacio, himself, as presiding officer of the Tejeros Convention, also presided over the death of the Katipunan, a secret society. From then on, Aguinaldo continued the libertarian struggle against the Conquistadores until the inauguration of the First Philippine Republic on January 23, 1899.

Bonifacio was not eliminated. Such a statement has misled a lot of students since he was “executed” for sedition and treason against a constituted revolutionary government. He was tried by a military court which others refer to as “kangaroo court”. It could not be such as the military court was composed of Mariano Noriel as chairman, and with Tomas Mascardo, Mariano Riego de Dios, Crisostomo Riel, Esteban Ynfante, Sulpicio Antony, and Placido Martinez as members. Riego de Dios, Riel, and Ynfante even had to abstain from voting since they opposed the death verdict.

The elimination of Bonifacio assured the leadership to the elite is simply not true. It is a case of “appraising a past event in the light of present standards.” Historians have always failed to note that during the first phase of the revolution, there was no such elitism. As observed by Saulo (1987) everybody regardless of social standing joined the struggle out of sheer love of country. If truly, Bonifacio is not as poor as many had perceived him to be since he was for so many years labelled as the “great plebeian” and now that many historians debunk his being poor then clearly, Don Andres is also from the elite.

Biak-na-bato, is not a shameful betrayal of people’s sacrifices. Aguinaldo made the best of bad bargain. He accepted the Pact but made a secret agreement to use the Spanish indemnity to purchase arms abroad and resume their unfinished revolution. He did purchase arms and return to the Philippines to continue the revolution in May 1898. That could not be a betrayal.

And seemingly following the American colonial policy of denigrating anything that Aguinaldo did resulting into the Filipinos loss of respect towards him, Constantino went on to add that “ because Aguinaldo declaration was not a real independence proclamation, and because it is associated with a man whose revolutionary integrity is in question, June 12 should not be the symbol of our effort to achieve independence…”

With a man whose revolutionary integrity is in question ? Such accusation referred to the oft repeated issue on handling of the Spanish indemnity of Php 400,000.00. 43 Filipino revolutionary leaders in Hongkong already voluntarily signed an affidavit attesting to the honest handling of that amount on April 23, 1898 as noted by Taylor (1971). These leaders include Mariano Llanera, Miguel Malvar, Tomas Mascardo, Jose Alejandrino, Servillano Aquino, and Mamerto Natividad. American historian John R. M. Taylor who would have been biased to the American point of view, also had a good word for Aguinaldo’s handling of the fund. Jose Alejandrino also defended Aguinaldo’s integrity. Alejandrino emphasized that Aguinaldo “had the integrity and unselfishness to return to his country to expose again his life for an ideal which is the ideal of his people and his race.” Most ironically, Quezon in 1941 even mentioned that “Aguinaldo was as poor as he was when the war started” when he addressed the US House of Representative. Such integrity could not be in question. But politics soon would again change everything.

June 12 should be the symbol of our effort to achieve independence. The proclamation could not be associated with one man alone. June 12 is valuable to the birth of our nation as evidenced by the fact that we Filipinos succeeded in holding a revolutionary congress, writing and promulgating our own constitution and our own laws (which many of this generation do not even know), creating our own flag and national hymn, and most of all, establishing the First Republic in Asia!