A letter written by Apolinario Mabini for his brother, Alejandro.

February
17, 1901:
MY DEAR BROTHER:
I guess you have been waiting to hear from your Kuya and me, so let me give you a
brief
account
of
what
happened.
We boarded the ship Rosencrans in the morning of Tuesday, last January 18 and left
Manila Bay in the afternoon of the next day. We sailed toward the south, passing in
front of Camarines and Albay. We crossed the strait of San Bernardino and finally we
reached the Pacific Sea, heading for the island of Guam toward the east, if I am not
mistaken, where we arrived at about noontime on the 24th day.
Dont ask me about the details of our trip, since I could not leave my cabin even
once, during the journey. I do not know of any accidents that happened, except an
engine trouble of the ship, which constrained us to stop until past noon in the
vastness of the Pacific Ocean. I got a little seasick when I inhaled its saline sea
breeze.
Kuya
has
no
news
to
tell
you.
According to them, for lack of accommodation, we had to stay on board for a period
of 28 days. We disembarked in the afternoon of the 12th of this month in a barrio
called Piti. Then we started to walk, which we did most of the time, while the others
were carried in carts, towards the direction of Agaa, the former capital of the
Marianas Islands. Now it is Guam. After a roads journey for three fourths of an hour,
we came to a barrio called Asan, which they claim, is an hours walk from Agaa (4
miles
approximately),
where
we
had
encamped.
(In spite of having remained on board the ship for quite some time, the prison house
is not constructed yet. In view of this, we are temporarily housed in tents. We are
occupying a place which used to be a hospital for the lepers during the Spanish rule.
This was burned when the Americans took over the island. Apparently, they are
telling us that this place is just the most appropriate for us, for our mind is afflicted
with a contagious illness forcing them therefore, to isolate us and prevent us from
mingling with our own kind, just like the lepers. I hope our isolation contributes to
the pacification of our beloved land, because notwithstanding my exile, I think not
of myself, but of all of you out there, who are exposed to so much risk while the war
is
going
on.)
At first glance, this is an arid land. As we took the road from the time we
disembarked, we have seen only a few houses. The mountains, as well as the plains
we saw have scarce vegetation and the little that we have seen seems to have been
scorched by the sun. Seeing it, one is tempted to say that the summer season is
just
about
to
end,
rather
than
begin.

Nevertheless, we are occupying a beautiful lot. Can you imagine a land covered with
very fine sand? It is even planted with coconut trees all over, whose trunks, I would
wish were well-formed and whose foliage more lush and luxuriant, to prevent the
scorching sun from penetrating through the canvas roofs of our tents. Facing the
North, I behold the ever raging sea; a steep hill hides my back and my left side, and
to my right, I could figure out a street, the little huts in the barrio, hidden among the
coconut trees and half-destroyed by the last storm. Yonder is another almost shaven
hill and behind which, they say, is Agaa hiding, toward the northeast.
At first glance, the natives of this island seem to belong to our race and their
climate
is
the
same
as
ours.
For one who views life not in terms of comfort and ease, our situation is bearable.
We have good food, which is indispensable for ones survival. The Prisons
commanding officer has so far done everything possible that would give us
embarrassment and unnecessary work. Since this letter has to pass through him, I
dont want to praise him lest he thinks Im flattering him. Besides he doesnt need
praises from any one of us.
Filipino contributor: General Carlos Romulo. Contributed parts of Article 2
of
the
UDHR.
Some of the newly independent nations and other nations that chafed under
domination by the big powers supported the idea.General Carlos Romulo of the
Philippines led a successful effort to include a statement in the UN Charter that
respect for human rights applied to everyone without distinction as to race, sex,
language,
or
religion.
--Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 2008

THE DRAFTERS OF THE

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Top row, from left:
Dr. Charles Malik (Lebanon)
Alexandre Bogomolov (USSR)
Dr. Peng-chun Chang (China)
Middle row, from left:
Ren Cassin (France)
Eleanor Roosevelt (US)
Charles Dukes (United Kingdom)
Bottom row, from left:
William Hodgson (Australia)
Hernan Santa Cruz (Chile)
John P. Humphrey (Canada)