Discuss the Kartilya as a blueprint for a just and humane society.

(Jacinto)

The Kartilya is the best known of all Katipunan texts that contained the KKK’s
principles and teachings. The Kartilya comprises thirteen lessons that detail not
only the vision of the Katipunan, but the vision for an egalitarian and morally
sound Filipino nation.

For the Katipunan leadership, such as Emilio Jacinto, the ideas of Right and Light,
Katwiran and Kaliwanagan, were of utmost importance. They saw themselves as
not only as inheritors of the Age of Enlightenment, but intellectual and moral
revolutionaries fighting to create and define a nation and culture that was post-
Enlightenment; that was no longer shackled by the ideological and colonial
restraints of the West, but a country that adopted and merged the best of Spain,
the United States, France, and our own unique culture and society, in support of
being Filipino.

Compared to other works, the Kartilya was longer, more literary and philosophical.
It presented its concept of virtuous living as lessons for self reflection, rather than
as direct prescriptions. It asserted that it was the internal, not the external
qualifications that make human greatness, just like the Enlightenment of the West.
This is why the Kartilya stresses the words Liberty (Kalayaan), Equality
(Pgakapantay), Fraternity (Kapatiran), Reason (Katwiran). Progress (Kagalingan)
and Enlightenment itself (Kaliwanagan). Written more than a hundred years ago at
a time when the idea of nationhood was still a dream, the Kartilya reflected a
vision, “bright sun of freedom in the islands, spreading its light upon brothers and
a race united.”

The Kartilya was the moral and intellectual foundation used to guide the actions of
Katipuneros. Upon joining the Katipunan, members were required to read the
Kartilya and adhere to its code of conduct. Changing the way people thought and
acted was paramount to the early Katipuñeros; they understand that was the only
way to truly change the Philippines for the better. Pretending/play-acting as and
implicitly referencing the Katipunan without fully understanding their political and
moral context and goals essentially degrades the breadth of what they were trying
to achieve.

Understanding context helps explain the hows and whys of developments on a local
and national level. Ignoring context breeds contempt and impatience for the need
to build movements and institutions. Ignoring context is counter-productive to
building stability and contemporary unity. It means we look for shortcuts; we seek
the paths of least resistance. We reach for revolt without understanding the
importance of reform.

Its message though is eternal and provides direction even today. Maybe that is the
the enduring lesson and challenge of the Kartilya and Katipunan, of the Revolution
and Republic. The intriguing idea that we have to evolve past resorting
consistently to superficially structured armed revolt and uprising, of militancy,
intransigency, and violence, but learn to seek higher ideals of Reason, and Right
and Light, and utilize them in favor of a greater purpose, dedicated to an
enlightened concept of Filipinas.
The Kartilya enshrined traditional Christian moral principles as well as Filipino
cultural values, such as selflessness, being true to one's word, not wasting time,
keeping secrets, chastity and respect for women, the golden rule. But these now
gain new applications for the task of the Katipunan - papagisahin ang loob at
kaisipan, ipagtanggol ang inaaapi - and new meaning in the light of a new reality,
bayang tinubuan.

In brief then, the Katipuneros sounded the call for unity of minds and wills in the
revolutionary struggle against oppression. The prescriptions of Jacinto's Kartilya
were aimed at moral development, the inculcation of moral integrity and injection
of spiritual vigor, among the katipuneros. The ethical code had priority over
particular rules and regulations for the objective was to equip the revolutionaries
with moral, social and cultural values so much needed in the impending task of
revolution.

Discuss how the Kaharian ng mga Tagalog is a utopian vision of a sovereign

Filipino state. (Bonifacio)

The article, “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga Tagalog,” calls for the Tagalogs of
Bonifacio’s generation to restore the “paradise” before colonization where food
was abundant and where their forebears were literate, lived happily, and traded
with foreigners.

In “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga Tagalog,” Bonifacio argued that prior to the coming
of the Spaniards the natives of the archipelago enjoyed the abundance of their soil:
they had plenty of food, they enjoyed their lives, they had their own system of
writing and knew how to read and write, they engaged in domestic and foreign
trade. They were on good terms with the people of the neighboring countries with
whom they traded and bartered all kinds of goods. Their literacy was high: young
and old, men and women, knew how to read and write in their native language. In
a word, they had a developing civilization of their own. But when the Spaniards
came and offered them friendship, together with the promise of guiding them
towards a better way of life and a higher stage of knowledge, the Tagalogs were
persuaded by these deceitful words. Moreover, the Spaniards agreed to follow and
respect the customs of the people. A blood contract was made in Bohol which
symbolized the bond of friendship, indicating they were blood brothers. The
contract in effect says that the natives would help the Spaniards in their plans in
exchange for helping the natives develop a high level of civilization through
religious, educational, and other means.

While the natives fulfilled their part of the contract, the Spaniards fell short of
theirs. True, the Spaniards Christianized most natives and elevated them to world
civilization, but it was not honestly and fully accomplished. A lot of things were still
behind: economic prosperity was limited to the Spaniards and a few natives and
mestizos; the majority of the natives were poor despite the abundance of natural
resources; education was generally limited to religious instruction which led to
religious fanaticism; the natives were exploited through forced labor; and so on. In
short, the promised prosperous civilization never came.
In light of all these facts, what should the Tagalogs do? In view of the Spanish
breach of contract, it was time the Tagalogs rose up and regained that lost
paradise where once the natives were relatively prosperous, educated, and happy.
In other words, Bonifacio suggested that this recovery of the lost Eden could only
be done through revolution.

Unfortunately, Bonifacio said, for over 300 years while the Tagalogs kept their part
of the agreement by providing the Spaniards with their needs and by fighting in
their wars, particularly against the Chinese and the Dutch, the Spaniards did not
keep their part of the agreement. Instead of leading the Tagalogs to the path of
knowledge, the Spaniards betrayed, corrupted, and contaminated them and
destroyed the Tagalog indigenous customs; they brought them up on pretensions
or false belief; and they pushed the country’s honor into the mire of wickedness.
Bonifacio held that a little affection which the Tagalogs asked for was answered
with banishment while the Spaniards considered a sigh heaved from the natives’
breast as a grave offense and was immediately ferociously punished. Consequently,
there was nothing stable in the lives of the natives. Peace was disturbed by the
moans, sighs, and grief of orphan, widows, and parents (of those wronged or put to
death by the Spaniards). Bonifacio argued that slavery enchained each native,
thereby debasing him.

What then should the Tagalogs do? Reason dictates, according to Bonifacio, that in
the face of widespread suffering; increasing betrayals, insults, and slavery; and the
fact that the promised prosperity of the Spaniards was not forthcoming, the
Tagalogs must therefore rely on themselves and cease depending on others for
existence. Moreover, they must unite in sentiment, in thought, and in purpose in
order to have sufficient strength to combat the existing evils of the country and
they must voluntarily dedicate all their strength to what is good in order to
succeed in what they wished for the land of their birth, viz., prosperity. Here lies
the crux of Bonifacio’s philosophy of revolution: the abundance and high literacy
enjoyed by their forebears would have to be restored or recovered by the present
generation, the justification of which was the Spaniards’ having reneged on the
agreement between the two peoples embodied in an oath symbolized by the Blood
Compact.

Discuss the La Revolucion Filipina’s analysis of the revolution and show how it is
rooted in the rationality of the Katipunan. (Mabini)

The theoretical justification of the Revolution and the articulation of the program
of government fell upon that great intellectual leader, Apolinario Mabini. Initially
firmly committed to reform and legal procedures, he later saw the futility of
peaceful means and joined the Revolution to become its sublime thinker and
ideologue. Like the good scholastic philosopher that he was, he distinguished
between two aspects of the Revolution, the external and internal. The external
Revolution sought to overthrow the Spanish regime and establish new structures
of government in a cord with democratic republican principles. But the external
Revolution called for an internal one, the price of radical moral transformation.
". . . We must change radical not only our institutions but our manner of behaving
and thinking.
A revolution which is external and internal at the same time becomes a necessity;
we must base our moral education on solid principles and renounce those bad
habits which for the most part we have inherited from the Spaniards. "The
guidelines for the internal Revolution are contained in Mabini's Decàlogo, which,
in his own words, was to serve as "the solid base and fundamental principle of the
moral education of the Filipino as a human being and a citizen." What Mabini had
in mind was the same as in Rizal: the formation of a new national community,
which for Mabini became a more pressing task in view of the sure outcome of the
Philippine Revolution and the recently declared Spanish-American War.

Love of country was second only to love of God. The individual must develop his
faculties and talents so that he may contribute to the cause of justice, the common
good and human progress. The prosperity of the country must have priority over
one's own. Going beyond Bonifacio's and Jacinto's love of neighbor, Mabini
exhorted his countrymen to love one another not as neighbors only but as friends,
brothers and companions, constituting as they do a new community sharing the
same interests, aspirations, and destiny. Beyond merely affirming the dignity and
equality of men, Mabini urged the people to recognize authority only in officials
selected by them, the reason being that authority emanates from God who in turn
speaks in the consciences of the people so that only those elected by the people
have real authority.

The distinctive contribution of the early Filipino political thinkers was that they
pushed the moral consciousness of the Filipino beyond the borders of the family
and its intricate extensions and the wider limits of linguistic groups, to become
aware of an even larger community- lupang tinubuan (Bonifacio), bayang tinubuan
(Jacinto), querido pueblo (Mabini), and inextricably linked moral education with
social and political transformation. For them, there was no sharp dividing line
between politics and morality, one could not be divorced from the other. Political
ends could be achieved only by moral means, political decisions must abide by a
noble code of ethics. While the nation as a whole must live by moral values, much
more was expected of national leaders who must be ethical and exemplary in their
private as well as public lives.

In fact, Mabini placed the blame for the failure of the Revolution on the lack of
moral integrity of the revolutionary army, in particular he cited abuse of women,
but principally on the person of the chief executive, Emilio Aguinaldo. The
punishment for his crimes, wrote Mabini, was moral death, more bitter than
physical death, and the defeat of the Revolution. The point is clear: ethical codes
have primacy over constitutions, laws and decrees because of the firm conviction
that only moral and spiritual values could justify and successfully animate attempts
at social and political change.