Philippine Literature under Prof.

Dela Hostria Literature under the US Philippine Seditious Plays Handout

Philippine Seditious Plays

When the United States entered the war against Spain and
collaborated with Aguinaldo, the hopes of the
reolutionary forces were understandably high. !he great
A"erican republic was co"ing to aid the nationalist
#ilipinos who were professing the ideas e$pressed in that
egalitarian docu"ent, the Declaration of Independence.
As eents were soon to show, howeer, the difference
between e$pressed ideals and actual practice is often
great. !he !reaty of Paris and %c&inley's ()eneolent
Assi"ilation Procla"ation( of *+ Dece"ber, +,-,
e$tended A"erican rule oer the Philippines and "ilitary
co""anders were instructed to i"ple"ent this policy.
!he effect of the A"erican act of betrayal was crushing,
co"ing as it did after the #ilipino people had gotten a
taste of freedo" and a s"ell of ictory. !his factor, plus
the newly pro"ulgated law which outlawed the word
(.asarinlan( which referred to Philippine independence
greatly influenced #ilipino writers to turn their zarzuela
writing s.ills on the ''bagong panginoon( or new lord.

/ne of the "ost inspiring stories in Philippine history is
the story of the 0seditious plays1 of the first decade of the
*2th century. #ollowing in the heels of the A"erican
"ilitary occupation was the i"position of a strictly
enforced censorship against any utterance against the
A"erican goern"ent and any e$pression of
independence.

Using the !agalog zarzuela for", a dra"a that included
singing, the playwrights wrote allegorical stories,
intentionally "ade with a thin plot so as to pass the
A"erican censors and so as to encourage adlibbing.
3ibrant sets, "usic, clandestine atte"pts to show the
Philippine flag, thinly4eiled characters "eant to
represent the #ilipino "otherland or the oppressie
A"erican goern"ent, adlibbed, e"otional speeches
about the oppression by A"erica of the #ilipino,
e"otionally inoled audiences5 all these "a.e the rise of
0seditious plays1 one of the "ost colorful "o"ents in
Philippine history.

Hindi Aco Patay 6I Am Not Dead7 by 8uan %atapang
9ru: caused a riot during its perfor"ance of %ay ,, +-2;
because A"erican soldiers atte"pted to stop the
perfor"ance after the flag of the &atipunan was raised.
!en actors and the playwright were arrested later. Also in
+-2;, 8uan Abad, author of Tanikalang Guinto (Golden
Chain), was arrested during the perfor"ance of the play.
!he "ost fa"ous of the seditious plays is ahapon!
Ngayon! at "uka#, 6<esterday, !oday, and !o"orrow7
which caused a riot during its initial perfor"ance on %ay
+=, +-2; and caused its author 6who also acted in the
play7, Aurelio !olentino, to be sentenced to life in prison.
Along with the long4haired reolutionary leader, %acario
Sa.ay, these seditious plays hae beco"e the great
sy"bols of #ilipino tenacity, courage and creatiity
during the first ten years of the oppressie A"erican
occupation.

Juan Abad who was born in Sa"paloc, %anila, had a
history of wor.ing for Philippine independence which
first "anifested itself "+,-, when he >oined the staff of
the newspaper $a Independencia% His interests gradually
turned hi" to the theater. /n Septe"ber ;, +-22 he
staged his play &apangla' na Pagka(alaala 6Sad
?e"e"brance7 at the !eatro Uniersal. !his led to his
first arrest and the discoery that he had not ta.en an oath
of allegiance to the United States which all adult "ales
were supposed to hae done. His ne$t play, &anila(
)longapo! was about his arrest, his i"prison"ent, and
later e$ile to /longapo. !his did not daunt Abad and in
+-2; his "ost fa"ous play Tanikalang Guinto 6the
@olden 9hain7 opened in )atangas causing his second
arrest. !he >udge of the )atangas 9ourt of #irst Anstance,
Paul W. Linebarger, conicted Abad of sedition giing
hi" a sentence of two years and a fine of B*,222.

Aurelio Tolentino was born in @uagua, Pa"panga on
/ctober C, +,C,. Upon finishing his schooling he wor.ed
as a cler. in !ondo where he "et Andres )onifacio and
beca"e introduced to the Propaganda %oe"ent by
helping to distribute $a *olidaridad% He beca"e a %ason
and after the brea.4up of the $iga +ilipina he beca"e one
of the earliest "e"bers of the &atipunan after the
for"ation of the first triangle. With the outbrea. of the
Philippine4A"erican war, he was na"ed to the #ilipino
9o""ission which was to confer with the Schur"an
9o""ission about the Duestion of peace. He beca"e a
staff writer for the newspaper $a Patria and was arrested
in Eoe"ber of +,-- for his writings but was later
released. He then tried starting his own paper
+ilipina# but this was soon stopped by the authorities
because of the paper's political color. His first play,
*inukuan was a sy"bolic zarzuela in three acts which
had the downfall of the reolution as its "ain the"e. His
ne$t wor. $uhang Tagalog was not actually seditious but
did stir up the audience and (inspired thoughts of war and
treason.( !he A"erican authorities, by a policy of
harass"ent and threats of arrests, "anaged to suppress its
showing. His play ahapon! Ngayon! at "uka#
6<esterday, !oday, and !o"orrow7 staged at the Libertad
!heater on %ay +=, +-2; went too far, howeer, in its
conde"nation of the A"erican regi"e. Feryone in the
theater was arrested and !olentino was conicted of
sedition and charged with two years i"prison"ent and a
fine of B*,222.

Pascual H. Poblete was born in Eaic, 9aite in +,GH and
fro" +,,, until +,-C he founded a nu"ber of
newspapers oicing the desire for a liberal goern"ent.
An +,-C he was sent to Spain as a prisoner but upon his
return he beca"e actie again. !urning his attention to
the new A"erican regi"e he wrote zarzuela#
in addition to his newspaper actiities. His zarzuela!
Pagi,ig *a $upang Tinu,uan 6Loe for /ne's Eatie
Land7, was seerely censored and beca"e the sub>ect of
e$tended litigation in +-22.

Severino Reyes was born in Santa 9ru:, %anila on
#ebruary ++, +,C+. He was arrested on the charge of
being a %ason when the reolution bro.e out in +,-C,
but was soon able to escape. He did not fight during the
war but started his zarzuela career writing plays in
support of nationalis". !hey gained i""ediate
acceptance and he beca"e a ery popular writer. !wo of
his patriotic plays were +ilipina# para lo# +ilipino# 6!he
Philippines for the #ilipinos7 and $a -enta de +ilipina al
.apon 6!he Sale of the Philippines to 8apan7. An the latter
play one character suggests that the A"ericans will
abandon the Philippines to 8apan and then a #ilipino
patriot ends the play with a speech about freedo". ?eyes'
play /alang *ugat 6Eot Wounded7 is considered a
chameleon play! which reDuires only a si"ple alteration
of costu"e, scenery, or "a.e4up to co"pletely change
the play's ob>ect of derision 4 originally an anti4Spanish
wor. beca"e anti4A"erican due to the need of the cause
of Philippine independence.