Content and Contextual

Analysis of Selected Primary

Sources in Philippine History
PRIMARY SOURCES TO EXAMINE

Antonio Pigafetta’s First Voyage Around the World

Emilio Jacinto’s “Kartilya ng Katipunan”
1898 Declaration of Philippine Independence
Alfred McCoy’s Philippine Cartoons: Political
Caricature of the American Era (1900-1941)
Corazon Aquino’s Speech Before the U.S.
Congress 2
Antonio Pigafetta’s First
Voyage Around the World
The First Voyage Around
the World

-book that was taken from the

chronicles of contemporary
voyagers and navigators of the
16th century
-one of them was Italian
nobleman Antonio Pigafetta,
who accompanied Ferdinand
Magellan in his fateful
circumnavigation of the world 4
ANTONIO
PIGAFETTA
5
A Brief Summary of the First Voyage Around the World by Magellan

o Pigafetta’s travelogue is one of the most important primary sources

in the study of the precolonial Philippines .

o His account was also a major referent to the events leading to

Magellan’s arrival in the Philippines, his encounter with local
leaders, his death in the hands of Lapu-Lapu’s forces in the Battle
of Mactan, and the departure of what was left of Magellan’s fleet
from the islands.

o The First Voyage Around the World by Magellan was published

after Pigafetta returned to Italy.
6
A Brief Summary of the First Voyage Around the World by Magellan

o In Pigafetta’s account, their fleet reached what he called the

Ladrones Islands or the “Islands of the Thieves.”

o He recounted:

o “These people have no arms, but use sticks, which have a fish bone
at the end. They are poor, but ingenious, and great thieves, and for
the sake of that we called these three islands the Ladrones Islands.”

o The Ladrones Islands is presently known as Marianas Islands.

These islands are located south-southeast of Japan, west-
southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guinea, and east of Philippines. 7
LADRONES ISLANDS

8
MAGELLAN

9
• Ten days after they reached Ladrones Islands, Pigafetta
reported that they reached what Pigafetta called the isle of
Zamal, now Samar.

• Pigafetta recounted that after two days, March 18, nine men
came to them and showed joy and eagerness in seeing them.

• Magellan realized that the men were reasonable and

welcomed them with food, drinks and gifts. In turn the natives
gave them fish, palm wine (uraca), figs, and two cochos. The
natives also gave them rice (umai), cocos, and other food
supplies.
10
• “This palm produces a fruit named cocho, which is as
large as the head, or thereabouts: its first husk is green,
and two fingers in thickness, in it they find certain
threads, with which they make the cords for fastening
their boats. Under this husk there is another very hard,
and thicker than that of a walnut. They burn this second
rind, and make with it a powder which is useful to them.
Under this rind there is a white marrow of a finger’s
thickness, which they eat fresh with meat and fish, as
we do bread, and it has the taste of almond, and if
anyone dried it he might make bread of it (p.72).”
11
• Pigafetta characterized the people as “very familiar and friendly”.

• The fleet went to Humunu Island (Homonhon) and there they found
what Pigafetta referred to as the “Watering Place of Good Signs.”

• They named the island with the nearby islands as the archipelago of
St. Lazarus.

• The left the island, then on March 25th. Pigafetta recounted that they
saw two ballanghai (balangay), a long boat full of people in Mazaua.
The leader, who Pigaffeta referred to as the king of ballanghai, sent
his men to the ship of Magellan.

• The two then expressed their desire to become brothers.

12
• After a few days, Magellan was introduced to the king’s brother who was
also a king of another island. They went to this island and Pigafetta reported
that they saw mines of gold.

• The king was named Raia Calambu, king of Zuluan ang Calagan (Butuan
and Caragua), and the first king was Raia Siagu.

• On March 31st, which happened to be Easter Sunday, Magellan ordered the

chaplain to preside a Mass by the shore.

• Pigafetta reported that both kings participated in the mass. He wrote:

• “…when the offertory of the mass came, the two kings, went to kiss the
cross like us, but they offered nothing, and at the elevation of the body of
our Lord they were kneeling like us, and adored our Lord with joined
hands.” 13
• After the Mass, Magellan ordered that the cross be brought with nails
and crown in place. Magellan explained that the cross, nail and the
crown were signs of his emperor and that he was ordered to plant it in
the places that he would reach.

• The king concurred and allowed for the cross to be planted. This Mass
would go down in history as the first Mass in the Philippines.

• After seven days, Magellan and his men decided to move and look for
islands where they could acquire more supplies and provisions. They
learned of the Islands of Ceylon (Leyte), Bohol, and Zzubu (Cebu) and
intended to go there.

• Raia Calambu offered to pilot them in going to Cebu, the largest and
richest of the islands. 14
• By April 7th of the same year, Magellan and his men reached the
port of Cebu. The king of Cebu, through Magellan’s interpreter,
demanded that they pay tribute as it was customary, but Magellan
refused.

• Magellan’s interpreter explained to the king of Cebu that

Magellan’s king was the emperor of a great empire and that it
would do them better to make friends with them than to forge
enmity.

• By the next day, Magellan’s men and the King of Cebu, together
with other principal men of Cebu, met in an open space. There,
the king offered a bit of his blood and demanded that Magellan do
the same. 15
Pigafetta recounts:

“Then the king said that he was content, and as a greater

sign if affection he sent him a little of his blood from his right
arm, and wished he should do the like. Our people answered
that he would do it. Besides that, he said that all the captains
who came to his country had been accustomed to make a
present to him, and he to them, and therefore they should ask
their captain if he would observe the custom. Our people
answered that he would; but as the king wished to keep up the
custom, let him begin and make a present, and then the captain
would do his duty.”
16
• The following day, Magellan spoke before the people of Cebu abut peace and
God. Pigafetta reported that the people took pleasure in Magellan’s speech.

• Pigafetta also related how the people talked about, how at old age, parents were
no longer taken into account and had to follow the orders of their children as the
new leaders of the land. Magellan responded to this by saying that his faith
entailed children to render honor and obedience to their parents.

• Pigafetta wrote that their men were overjoyed seeing that the people wished to
become Christians through their free will and not because they were forced or
intimidated.

• On the 14th of April, the people gathered with the king and other principal men of
the islands. Magellan spoke to the king and encouraged him to be a good
Christian by burning all of their idols and worship the cross instead. The king of
Cebu was then baptized as a Christian.
17
Pigafetta wrote:

“To that king and all his people answered that thy would obey
the commands of the captain and do all that he told them. The
captain took the king by the hand,a nd they walked about on the
scaffolding, and when he was baptized he said that he would
name him Don Charles (Carlos), as the emperor his sovereign
was named; and he named the prince Don Fernand (Fernando),
after the brother of the emperor, and the King of Mazavva,
Jehan: to the Moor he gave the name of Christopher, and to the
others each a name of his fancy.”

18
• After eight days, Pigafetta counted that all of the island’s inhabitant
were already baptized. He admitted that they burned a village down
for obeying neither the king nor Magellan.

• When the queen came to the Mass one day, Magellan gave her an
image of the Infant Jesus made by Pigafetta himself.

• When Magellan reiterated that all of the newly baptized Christians

need to burn their idols, but the native gave excuses telling Magellan
that they needed the idols to heal a sick man who was a relative to
the king. Magellan insisted that they should instead put their faith in
Jesus Christ. They went to the sick man and baptized him. After the
baptismal, Pigafetta recorded that the man was able to speak again.
He called this a miracle.
19
• On the 26th of April, Zula, a principal man from the island of
Matan (Mactan) went to see Magellan and asked him for a
boat full of men so that he would be able to fight the chief
named Silapulapu (LapuLapu). Such chief, according to Zula,
refused to obey the king and was also preventing him from
doing so.

• Magellan offered three boats instead and expressed his

desire to go to Mactan himself to fight the said chief.

• Magellan’s forces arrived in Mactan in daylight. They

numbered 49 in total and the islanders of Mactan were
estimated to number 1,500. The battle began. 20
Pigafetta recounted:

“When we reached land we found the islanders fifteen hundred in number, drawn
up in three squadrons; they came down upon us with terrible shouts, two
squadrons attacking us on the flanks, and the third in front. The captain then
divided his men in two bands. Our musketeers and crossbow-men fired for half
an hour from a distance, but did nothing, since the bullets and arrows, though
they passed through their shields made of thin wood, and perhaps wounded their
arms, yet did not stop them. The captain shouted not to fire, but he was not
listened to. The islanders seeing that the shots of our guns did them little or no
harm would not retire, but shouted more loudly, and springing from one side to
the other to avoid our shots, they at the same time drew nearer to us, throwing
arrows, javelins, spears hardened in fire, stones and even mud, so that we could
hardly defend ourselves. Some of them cast lances pointed with iron at the
captain-general.”

21
• Magellan died in that battle.

• The natives, perceiving that the bodies of the enemies were protected
with armors, aimed for their legs instead. Magellan was pierced with a
poisoned arrow in his right leg. Magellan was hit with a lance in the
face.

• Magellan retaliated and pierced the same native with his lance in the
breast and tried to draw his sword but could not lift it because of his
wounded arm. Seeing that the captain has already deteriorated, more
natives came to attack him. One native with a great sword delivered a
blow in Magellan’s left leg, brought him face down and the natives
ceaselessly attacked Magellan with lances, swords and even with
their bare hands.
22
Pigafetta recounted the last moments of Magellan:

“Whilst the Indians were thus overpowering him, several times

he turned round towards us to see if we were all in safety, as
though his obstinate fight had no other object than to give an
opportunity for the retreat of his men.”

23
• Pigafetta also said that the king of Cebu who was baptized could have
send help but Magellan instructed him not to join the battle and stay in
the balangay so that he would see how they fought.

• The king offered the people of Mactan gifts of any value and amount in
exchange of Magellan’s body but the chief refused.

• Magellan’s men elected Duarte Barbosa as the new captain. Pigafetta

also told how Magellan’s slave and interpreter named Henry betrayed
them and told the king of Cebu that they intended to leave as quickly as
possible.

• Pigafetta alleged that the slave told the king that if he followed the
slave’s advice, then the king could acquire the ships and goods of
Magellan’s fleet. The two conspired and betrayed what was left of
Magellan’s men. 24
• The king invited his men to a gathering where he said he would
present jewels that he would send for the King of Spain and twenty-
four men attended. It was only a short time when they heard cries
and lamentations.

• The natives had slain all of the men except the interpreter and Juan
Serrano who was already wounded. Serrano was presented and
shouted at the men in the ship asking them to pay ransom so he
would be spared. However, they refused and would not allow anyone
to go to the shore.

• The fleet departed and abandoned Serrano. They left Cebu and
continued their journey around the world.
25
Analysis of Pigafetta’s Chronicle
 The chronicle of Pigafetta was one of the most cited documents by
historians who wished to study the pre-colonial Philippines. As one of
the earliest written accounts, Pigafetta was seen as a credible source.

 Being the earliest detailed documentation, it was believed that

Pigafetta’s writings account for the “purest” pre-colonial society. Indeed,
Pigafetta’s work is of great importance in the study and writing of
Philippine history.

 In the case of Pigafetta, the reader needs to understand that he was a

chronicler commissioned by the King of Spain to accompany and
document a voyage intended to expand the Spanish empire. He was
also of noble descent and he is also a scholar of cartography and
geography. These attributes influenced his narrative, his selection of
details to be included in the text, his characterization of the people and
the species that he encountered, and his interpretation and retelling of
27
the events.
 In reading Pigafetta’s description of the people, one has to keep in
mind that he was coming from a sixteenth century European
perspective. Hence, the reader might notice how Pigafetta, whether
implicitly or explicitly, regarded the indigenous belief systems and way
of life as inferior to that of Christianity and of the Europeans.

 He would always remark on the nakedness of the natives or how he

was fascinated by their exotic culture. Pigafetta also noticeably
emphasized the native’s amazement and illiteracy to the European
artillery, merchandise and other goods, in the same way that Pigafetta
repeatedly mentioned the abundance of spices like ginger, and of
precious metals like gold.

 It should be understood that such observations were rooted from the

context of Pigafetta and of his era.
28
The KKK and the
“Kartilya ng Katipunan”
KATIPUNAN OR KKK
 Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan

 The most important organization formed in the Philippine history

 It was only this organization that envisioned (1) a united Filipino nation
that would revolt against the Spaniards for (2) the total independence
of the country from Spain.

 Previous armed revolts had already occurred before the foundation of

the Katipunan, but none of them envisioned a unified Filipino nation
revolting against the colonizers.
30
KARTILYA NG KATIPUNAN

 One of the most important Katipunan documents

 The original title of the document was “Manga [sic] Aral Nang [sic]
Katipunan ng mga A.N.B.” or “Lessons of the Organization of the
Sons of Country.”

 The document was written by Emilio Jacinto in the 1896.

 It can be treated as the Katipunan’s code of conduct. It contains

fourteen rules that instruct the way a Katipunero should behave,
and which specific values should be uphold.
31
EMILIO JACINTO

 He was a law student at the Universidad de Santo Tomas. He was only

18 years old when he joined the movement.

 Despite his youth, Bonifacio recognized the value and intellect of Jacinto.
He became the secretary of the organization and took charge of the short-
lived printing press of Katipunan.

 On April 15, 1897, Bonifacio appointed him as a commander of the

Katipunan in Northern Luzon. Jacinto was 22 years old.

 He died of Malaria at a young age of 24 in the town of Magdalena,

Laguna.
32
EMILIO JACINTO
1875-1899
33
KARTILYA

1. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose

is a tree without a shade, if not a poisonous weed.

2. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue.

3. It is rational to be charitable and love one's fellow creature, and to

adjust one's conduct, acts and words to what is in itself reasonable.

4. Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal:

superiority in knowledge, wealth and beauty are to be understood,
but not superiority by nature.
34
5. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel,
gain to honor.

6. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.

7. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.

8. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the
field.

9. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.

10. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the
children, and if the guide leads to the precipice, those whom he guides
will also go there. 35
11. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything,
but as a faithful companion who will share with thee the
penalties of life; her (physical) weakness will increase thy
interest in her and she will remind thee of the mother who
bore thee and reared thee.

12. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children,
brothers and sisters, that do not unto the wife, children,
brothers and sisters of thy neighbor.

36
13. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline,
and his color white, not because he is a priest, a servant of God, nor because of
the high prerogative that he enjoys upon earth, but he is worth most who is a
man of proven and real value, who does good, keeps his words, is worthy and
honest; he who does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he who loves
and cherishes his fatherland, though he be born in the wilderness and know no
tongue but his own.

14. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed-for sun of
Liberty shall rise brilliant over this most unhappy portion of the globe and its rays
shall diffuse everlasting joy among the confederated brethren of the same rays,
the lives of those who have gone before, the fatigues and the well-paid sufferings
will remain. If he who desires to enter (the Katipunan) has informed himself of all
this and believes he will be able to perform what will be his duties, he may fill out
the application for admission.
37
Analysis of the
“Kartilya ng Katipunan”
 As a document written for a fraternity whose main purpose is to
overthrow a colonial regime, we can explain the content and
provisions of the Kartilya as a reaction and response to certain value
systems that they found despicable in the present state of the things
that they struggled against with.

 One can analyze the values upheld in the document as consistent with
the burgeoning rational and liberal ideals in the eighteenth and
nineteenth century. Equality, tolerance, freedom, and liberty were
values that emerged in the eighteenth century French Revolution,
which spread throughout Europe and reached the educated class of
the colonies.

 Aside from the liberal values that can be dissected in the document,
we can also decipher certain Victorian and chivalrous values in the
text. 39
 Various provisions in the Kartilya repeatedly emphasized the importance of
honor in words and in action.

 The teaching of the Katipunan on how women should be treated with honor
and respect, while positive in many respects and certainly a significant
stride from the practice of raping and physically abusing women, can still be
telling of the Katipunan’s secondary regard in relation to men.

 Not even in Europe or in the whole of the West at that juncture recognized
the problem of gender inequality.

 Indeed, it can be argued that Katipunan’s recognition of women as

important partners in struggle, as reflected not just in Kartilya, but also in the
organizational structure of the fraternity where a women’s unit was
established, is an endeavor advanced for its time.
40
 Kartilya was instructive not just of the Katipunan’s conduct
toward other people, but also for the members’ development
as individuals in their own rights.

 The rules in the Kartilya can be classified as either directed

to how one should treat his neighbor or to how one should
develop and conduct one’s self.

 All in all, proper reading of the Kartilya will reveal a more

thorough understanding of the Katipunan and the significant
role that it played in the revolution and in the unfolding of the
Philippine history as we know it.
41
Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• Philippine independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 in the province
of Cavite. Indeed, such event is a significant turning point in the history of
the country because it signalled the end of the 333 years of Spanish
colonization.

• The declaration was a short 2,000-word document, which summarized the

reason behind the revolution against Spain, the war for independence, and
the future of the new republic under Emilio Aguinaldo. Reading the details
of the said document in hindsight is telling the kind of government that was
created under Aguinaldo, and the forthcoming hand of the United States of
America in the next few years of the newly created republic.

• The proclamation commenced with a characterization of the conditions in

the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. The document
specifically mentioned abuses and inequalities in the colony. 43
The declaration says:

“Taking into consideration, that their inhabitants being already weary of bearing the
ominous yoke of Spanish domination, on account of arbitrary arrests and harsh
treatment practiced by the Civil Guard to the extent of causing death with the
connivance and even with the express orders of their commanders, who sometimes
went to the extreme of ordering the shooting of prisoners under the pretext that they
were attempting to escape in violation of the provisions of the Regulations of their
Corps, which abuses were unpunished and on account of the unjust deportations,
especially those decreed by General Blanco, of eminent personages and of high
social position, at the instigation of the Archbishop and friars interested in keeping
them out of the way for their own selfish and avaricious purpose, deportations
which are quickly brought about by a method of procedure more execrable than that
of the Inquisition and which every civilized nation rejects on account of a decision
being rendered without a hearing of the persons accused.”
44
• The above passage demonstrates the justifications behind the
revolution against Spain. Specifically cited are the abuse by the
Civil Guards and the unlawful shooting of prisoners whom they
alleged as attempting to escape.

• The passage also condemns the unequal protection of the law

between the Filipino people and the “eminent personages.”

• Moreover, the line mentions the avarice and greed of the clergy
like the friars and the Archbishop himself.

• Lastly, the passage also condemns what they saw as the unjust
deportation and rendering of other decision without proper
hearing, expected of any civilized nation. 45
• From here, the proclamation proceeded with a brief historical overview
of the Spanish occupation since Magellan’s arrival in Visayas until the
Philippine Revolution, with specific details about the latter, especially
after the Pact of Biak-na Bato collapsed. The document narrates the
spread of the movement “like an electric spark” through different towns
and provinces like Bataan, Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna,
and Morong, and the quick decline of Spanish forces in the same
provinces.

• The document also mentions Rizal’s execution, calling it unjust.

• The execution, as written in the document, was done to “please the

greedy body of friars in their insatiable desire to seek revenge upon
and exterminate all those who are opposed to their Machiavellian
purposes, which tramples upon the penal code prescribed for these
islands.” 46
• The document also narrates the Cavite Mutiny of January 1872
that caused the infamous execution of the martyred native
priests Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora,
“whose innocent blood was shed through the intrigues of those
so-called religious orders” that incited the three secular priests
in the said mutiny.

• The proclamation of independence also invokes that the

established republic would be led under the dictatorship of
Emilio Aguinaldo. The first mention was at the very beginning
of the proclamation.
47
It stated:

“In the town of Cavite Viejo, in this province of Cavite, on the

twelfth day of June eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, before me,
Don Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, Auditor of War and Special
Commissioner appointed to proclaim and solemnize this act by
the Dictatorial Government of these Philippine Islands, for the
purposes and by virtue of the circular addressed by the Eminent
Dictator of the same Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy.”

48
EMILIO AGUINALDO
49
AMBROSIO RIANZARES BAUTISTA
50
The same was repeated toward the last part of the proclamation. It
states:

“We acknowledge, approve and confirm together with the orders that
have been issued therefrom, the Dictatorship established by Don
Emilio Aguinaldo, whom we honor as the Supreme Chief of this
Nation, which this day commences to have a life of its own, in the
belief that he is the instrument selected by God, in spite of his humble
origin, to effect the redemption of this unfortunate people, as foretold
by Doctor Jose Rizal in the magnificent verses which he composed
when he was preparing to be shot, liberating them from the yoke of
Spanish domination in punishment of the impunity with which their
Government allowed the commission of abuses by its subordinates.”
51
Another detail in the proclamation that is worth looking at is its explanation on the Philippine
flag that was first waved on the same day.

The document explained:

“And finally, it was unanimously resolved that this Nation, independent from this day, must
use the same flag used heretofore, whose design and colors and described in the
accompanying drawing, with design representing in natural colors the three arms referred to.
The white triangle represents the distinctive emblem of the famous Katipunan Society, which
by means of its compact of blood urged on the masses of the people to insurrection; the
three stars represent the three principal Islands of this Archipelago, Luzon, Mindanao and
Panay, in which this insurrectionary movement broke out; the sun represents the gigantic
strides that have been made by the sons of this land on the road of progress and civilization,
its eight rays symbolizing the eight provinces of Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva
Ecija, Bataan, Laguna and Batangas, which were declared in a state of war almost as soon
as the first insurrectionary movement was initiated; and the colors blue, red and white,
commemorate those of the flag of the United States of North America, in manifestation of our
profound gratitude towards that Great Nation for the disinterested protection she is extending
to us and will continue to extend to us and will continue to extend to us.” 52
The Philippine Flag
53
• This often overlooked detail reveals much about the historically accurate
meaning behind the most widely known national symbol in the Philippines.

• It is not known by many for example, that the white triangle was derived
from the symbol of the Katipunan.

• The red and the blue colors of the flag are often associated with courage
and peace, respectively. Our basic education omits the fact that those
colors were taken from the flag of the United States.

• While it can always be argued that symbolic meaning can always change
and be reinterpreted, the original symbolic meaning of something presents
us several historical truth that can explain the subsequent events, which
unfolded after the declaration of independence on the 12th day of June
1898. 54
Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• A re-examination of the document on the declaration of independence
can reveal some often overlooked historical truths about this important
event in Philippine history.

• The abuses specifically mentioned in the proclamation like friar abuse,

racial discrimination, and inequality before the law reflect the most
compelling sentiments represented by the revolutionary leadership.
However, no mention was made about the most serious problem that
affected the masses more profoundly (i.e., the land and agrarian crisis
felt by the numerous Filipino peasants in the 19th century).

• The common revolutionary soldiers fought in the revolution for the hope
of owning the lands that they were tilling once the friar estates in
different provinces like Batangas and Laguna dissolve, if and when the
revolution succeeded.
56
• The proclamation also gives us the impression on how the victorious
revolutionary government of Aguinaldo historicized the struggle for
independence.

• There were mentions of past events that were seen as important turning
points of the movement against Spain. The execution of the GOMBURZA,
were example, and the failed Cavite Mutiny of 1872 was narrated in
detailed.

• This shows that they saw this event as a significant awakening of the
Filipinos in the real conditions of the nation under Spain.

• Jose Rizal’s legacy and martyrdom was also mentioned in the document.

• However, the Katipunan as the pioneer of the revolutionary movement was

only mentioned once toward the end of the document. 57
• On the contrary, the war led by Aguinaldo’s men with the forces of the
United States were discussed in detail.

• It can be argued, thus, that the way of historical narration found in the
document also reflects the politics of the victors.

• The point is, even official records and documents like the proclamation
of independence, while truthful most of the time, still exudes the politics
and biases of whoever is in power. This manifests in the selectiveness
of information that can be found in these records. It is in the task of the
historian, thus, to analyse the content of these documents in relation to
the dominant politics and the context of people and institutions
surrounding it. This tells us a lesson on taking primary sources like
official government records within the circumstance of this production.
58
• The Treaty of Paris was an agreement signed between
Spain and the United States of America regarding the
ownership of the Philippine islands and other Spanish
colonies in South America. The agreement ended the short-
lived Spanish-American war. The Treaty was signed on
December 10, 1898, six months after the revolutionary
government declared the Philippine independence. The
Philippines was sold to the United States at $20 million and
effectively undermined the sovereignty of the Filipinos after
their revolutionary victory. The Americans occupied the
Philippines immediately which resulted in the Philippine-
American war that lasted until the earliest years of the 20th
century. 59
A Glance at Selected Philippine Political
Caricature in Alfred Mccoy’s Philippine
Cartoons: Political Caricature of the
American Era (1900-1941)
• Political cartoons and caricature are a rather recent art form, which
veered away from the classical art by exaggerating human features and
poking fun and its subject. Such art genre and technique became a part
of the print media as a form of social and political commentary, which
usually targets persons of power and authority.

• Cartoons became an effective tool of publicizing opinions through heavy

use of symbolism, which is different from a verbose written editorial and
opinion pieces.

• The unique way that a caricature represents opinion and captures the
audience’s imagination is reason enough for historians to examine
these political cartoons. Commentaries in mass media inevitably shape
public opinion in such kind of opinion is worthy of historical examination.
61
EXAMPLES
62
In his book Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature of the
American Era (1900-1941), Alfred McCoy, together with Alfredo
Roces, compiled political cartoons published in newspaper
dailies and periodical in the aforementioned time period.

63
EXAMPLE # 1
64
• The first example shown above was published in The
Independent on May 20, 1916.

• The cartoon shows a politician from Tondo, named Dr.

Santos, passing his crown to his brother in law, Dr.
Barcelona. A Filipino guy (as depicted wearing salakot and
barong tagalog) was trying to stop Santos, telling the latter
giving Barcelona the crown because it is not his to begin
with.

65
EXAMPLE # 2
66
• The second cartoon was also published by The Independent on June
16, 1917.

• This was drawn by Fernando Amorsolo and was aimed as a

commentary to the workings of the Manila Police at that period.

• Here, we see a Filipino child who stole a skinny chicken because he

had nothing to eat. The police officer was relentlessly pursuing the said
child. A man wearing a salakot, labeled Juan de la Cruz was grabbing
the officer, telling him to leave the small-time pickpockets and thieves
and to turn at the great thieves instead. He was pointing to huge
warehouses containing bulks of rice, milk and grocery products.

67
EXAMPLE # 3
68
• The third cartoon was a commentary on the unprecedented
cases of colorum automobiles in the city streets.

• The Philippine Free Press published this commentary when

fatal accidents involving colorum vehicles and taxis
occurred too often already.

69
EXAMPLE # 4
70
• The fourth cartoon depicts a cinema. A blown-up
police officer was at the screen saying that couples
are not allowed to neck and make love in the
theatre. Two youngsters looked horrified while an
older couple seemed amused.

71
EXAMPLE # 5
72
• The next cartoon was published by The Independent on
November 27, 1915.

• Here, we see the caricature of Uncle Sam riding a chariot

pulled by Filipinos wearing school uniforms. The Filipino boys
were carrying American objects like baseball bats, whiskey
and boxing gloves. McCoy, in his caption to the said cartoon,
says that this cartoon was based on an event in 1907 when
William Howard Taft was brought to the Manila Pier riding a
chariot pulled by students of Liceo de Manila. Such was
condemned by the nationalists at that time.
73
EXAMPLE # 6
74
• The last cartoon was published by Lipang Kalabaw on
August 24, 1907.

• In the picture, we can see Uncle Sam rationing porridge to

the politicians and members of the Progresista Party
(sometimes known as Federelista Party) while members of
the Nacionalista Party looked on and wait for their turn. This
cartoon depicts the patronage of the United Stated being
committed by politicians from either of the party.

75
Analysis of the Political Caricatures
during the American Period
• The transition from the Spanish colonial period to the American
occupation period demonstrated the different strands of changes and
shifts in culture, society and politics.

• It was also during the American period that Filipinos were introduced
to different manifestations of modernity like healthcare, modern
transportation and media. This ushered in a more open and clearer
press.

• The post-independence and the post-Filipino-American period in the

Philippines were experienced differently by Filipinos coming from
different classes. The upper principalia class experienced economic
prosperity with the opening up of the Philippine economy to the United
States but the majority of the poor Filipino remain poor, desperate and
victims of state repression. 77
• The selected cartoons illustrate not only the opinion of certain media outfits about
the Philippine society during the American period but also paint a broad image of
society and politics under the United States.

• First, it seemed that the Filipino politicians at that time did not understand well
enough the essence of democracy and the accompanying democratic institutions
and processes. This can be seen in the rising dynastic politics in Tondo as
depicted in the cartoon published by The Independent.

• Patronage also became influential and powerful, not only between clients and
patrons but also between the newly formed political parties composed of the elite
and the United States. This was depicted in the cartoon where the United States
represented by Uncle Sam, provided dole outs for members of the Federalista
while the Nacionalista politicians look on and waited for their turn. Thus, the
essence of competing political parties to enforce choices among the voters was
cancelled out. The problem continues up to the present where politicians transfer
from one party to another depending on which party was powerful in specific
periods of time. 78
• The transition from a Catholic-centered Spanish-Filipino society to an imperial
American-assimilated one, and its complications, were also depicted in the
cartoons.

• One example is the unprecedented increase of motorized vehicles in the city.

Automobiles became a popular mode of transportation in the city and led to the
emergence of taxis. However, the laws and policy implementation was mediocre.
This resulted in the increasing colorum and unlicensed vehicles transforming people
around the city. The rules governing the issuance of the driver’s license was loose
and traffic police could not be bothered by rampant violations of traffic rules. This is
a direct consequence of the drastic urbanization of the Philippine society.

• Another example is what McCoy called the “sexual revolution” that occurred in the
1930s. Young people, as early as that period, disturb the conservative Filipino
mindset by engaging in daring sexual activities in public spaces like cinemas. Here,
we can see how that period was the meeting point between the conservative past
and the liberated future of the Philippines. 79
• Lastly, the cartoons also illustrated the conditions of poor Filipinos in
the Philippines now governed by the United States. From the looks of
it, nothing much has change.

• For example, a cartoon depicted how police authorities oppressed

petty Filipino criminals while turning a blind eye on hoarders who
monopolized goods in their huge warehouses (presumably Chinese
merchants).

• The other cartoon depicts how Americans controlled Filipinos through

seemingly harmless American objects. By controlling their
consciousness and mentality, Americans got to control and subjugate
Filipinos.
80
Revisiting Corazon Aquino’s Speech
before the US Congress
• Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco Aquino functioned as the symbol of the
restoration of democracy and the overthrow of the Marcos
dictatorship in 1986. The EDSA People Power, which installed Cory
Aquino in the presidency put the Philippines in the international
spotlight for overthrowing a dictator through peaceful means. Cory
was easily a figure of the said revolution, as the widow of the slain
Marcos oppositionist and former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

• Cory was able to capture the imagination of the people whose rights
and freedom had long been compromised throughout the Marcos
regime. This is despite the fact that Cory came from a rich
haciendero family from Tarlac and owned vast estates of sugar
plantation and whose relatives occupy local and national government
positions.
82
Former President Corazon Aquino
83
• The People Power Revolution of 1986 was wildly recognized around the world for its
peaceful character.

• Senator Ninoy Aquino was shot at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport on
August 21, 1983.

• Marcos had to be something to prove to his ally in the United States that he remained to
be the democratically anointed leader of the country.

• He called for a Snap Election in February 1986, where Corazon Cojuangco Aquino the
widow of the slain senator was convinced to run against Marcos. The canvassing was
rigged to Marcos’s favour but the people expressed their protest against the corrupt and
authoritarian government. Leading military officials of the regime and Martial Law
orchestrators themselves, Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel V. Ramos, plotted to take over
the presidency, until civilians heeded the call of then Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal
Sin and other civilian leaders gathered in EDSA. The overwhelming presence of
civilians in EDSA successfully turned a coup into a civilian demonstration. The
thousands of people who gathered overthrew Ferdinand Marcos from the presidency
after 21 years. 84
Photo by: Pete Reyes (Manila Times)

People Power Revolution

85
• On September 18, 1986, seven months since Cory became
president, she went to the United States and spoke before the joint
session of the U.S. Congress. Cory was welcomed with long
applause as she took the podium and addressed the United States
about her presidency and the challenges faced by the new republic.
She began her speech with the story of her leaving the United States
three years prior as a newly widowed wife of Ninoy Aquino.

• She then told of Ninoy’s character, conviction and resolve in

opposing the authoritarianism of Marcos. She talked of the three
times that they lost Ninoy including his demise on August 23, 1983.
The first time was when the dictatorship detained Ninoy with other
dissenters.
86
Cory related:

“The government sought to break him by indignities and terror.

They locked him up in a tiny, nearly airless cell in a military
camp in the north. They stripped him naked and held the threat
of a sudden midnight execution over his head. Ninoy held up
manfully–all of it. I barely did as well. For 43 days, the
authorities would not tell me what had happened to him. This
was the first time my children and I felt we had lost him.”

87
• Cory continued that when Ninoy survived the first detention, he was then
charged of subversion, murder, and other crimes. He was tried by a
military court, whose legitimacy Ninoy adamantly questioned. To solidify
his protest, Ninoy decided to do a hunger strike and fasted for 40 days.
Cory treated this event as the second time that their family lost Ninoy. She
said:

• “When that didn’t work, they put him on trial for subversion, murder and a
host of other crimes before a military commission. Ninoy challenged its
authority and went on a fast. If he survived it, then, he felt, God intended
him for another fate. We had lost him again. For nothing would hold him
back from his determination to see his fast through to the end. He stopped
only when it dawned on him that the government would keep his body
alive after the fast had destroyed his brain. And so, with barely any life in
his body, he called off the fast on the 40th day.”
88
• Ninoy’s death was the third and the last time that Cory and their
children lost Ninoy.

• She continued:

• “And then, we lost him, irrevocably and more painfully than in the past.
The news came to us in Boston. It had to be after the three happiest
years of our lives together. But his death was my country’s
resurrection in the courage and faith by which alone they could be free
again. The dictator had called him a nobody. Two million people threw
aside their passivity and escorted him to his grave.”

89
• Cory attributed the peaceful EDSA Revolution to the martyrdom of Ninoy. She stated
that the death of Ninoy sparked the revolution and the responsibility of “offering the
democratic alternative” had “fallen on (her) shoulders.” Cory’s address introduced us to
her democratic philosophy, which she claimed she also acquired from Ninoy. She
argued:

• “I held fast to Ninoy’s conviction that it must be by the ways of democracy. I held out for
participation in the 1984 election the dictatorship called, even if I knew it would be
rigged. I was warned by the lawyers of the opposition that I ran the grave risk of
legitimizing the foregone results of elections that were clearly going to be fraudulent. But
I was not fighting for lawyers but for the people in whose intelligence I had implicit faith.
By the exercise of democracy, even in a dictatorship, they would be prepared for
democracy when it came. And then, also, it was the only way I knew by which we could
measure our power even in the terms dictated by the dictatorship. The people vindicated
me in an election shamefully marked by government thuggery and fraud. The opposition
swept the elections, garnering a clear majority of the votes, even if they ended up,
thanks to a corrupt Commission on Elections, with barely a third of the seats in
parliament. Now, I knew our power.”
90
• Cory talked about her miraculous victory through the people’s struggle and
continued talking about her earliest initiatives as the president of a restored
democracy. She stated that she intended to forge and draw reconciliation after a
bloody and polarizing dictatorship. Cory emphasized the importance of the EDSA
Revolution in terms of being a “limited revolution that respected the life and
freedom of every Filipino.” She also boasted of the restoration of a fully
constitutional government whose constitution gave utmost respect to the Bill of
Rights. She reported to the U.S. Congress:

• “Again, as we restore democracy by the ways of democracy, so are we

completing the constitutional structures of our new democracy under a
constitution that already gives full respect to the Bill of Rights. A jealously
independent Constitutional Commission is completing its draft which will be
submitted later this year to a popular referendum. When it is approved, there will
be elections for both national and local positions. So, within about a year from a
peaceful but national upheaval that overturned a dictatorship, we shall have
returned to full constitutional government.” 91
• Cory then proceeded on her peace agenda with the existing
communist insurgency, aggravated by the dictatorial and authoritarian
measure of Ferdinand Marcos. She asserted:

• “My predecessor set aside democracy to save it from a communist

insurgency that numbered less than 500. Unhampered by respect for
human rights, he went at it hammer and tongs. By the time he fled,
that insurgency had grown to more than 16,000. I think there is a
lesson here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with the means
by which it grows.”

92
• Cory’s peace agenda involves political initiatives and re-integration program to
persuade insurgents to leave the countryside and return to the mainstream society to
participate in the restoration of democracy. She invoked the path of peace because she
believed that it was the moral path that a moral government must take.

• Nevertheless, Cory took a step back when she said that while peace is the priority of
her presidency, she “will not waiver” when freedom and democracy are threatened.
She said that similar to Abraham Lincoln, she understands that “force may be
necessary before mercy” and while she did not relish the idea, she “will do whatever it
takes to defend the integrity and freedom of (her) country.”

• Cory then turned to the controversial topic of the Philippine foreign debt amounting to
$26 billion at the time of her speech. This debt ballooned during the Marcos regime.
Cory expressed her intention to honor those debts despite mentioning that the people
did not benefit from such debts. Thus, she mentioned her protestations about the way
the Philippines was deprived of choices to pay those debts within the capacity of the
Filipino people.
93
• She lamented:

• “Finally, may I turn to that other slavery: our $26 billion foreign debt. I have
said that we shall honor it. Yet must the means by which we shall be able to
do so be kept from us. Many conditions imposed on the previous
government that stole this debt continue to be imposed on us who never
benefited from it.”

• She continued that while the country had experienced the calamities
brought about by the corrupt dictatorship of Marcos, no commensurate
assistance was yet to be extended to the Philippines. She even remarked
that given the peaceful character of EDSA People Power Revolution, “ours
must have been the cheapest revolution ever.” She demonstrated that
Filipino people fulfilled the “most difficult condition of the debt negotiation,”
which was the restoration of democracy and responsible government.”
94
• Cory related to the U.S. legislators that wherever she went, she met
poor and unemployed Filipinos willing to offer their lives for
democracy.

• She stated:

• “Wherever I went in the campaign, slum area or impoverished village,

they came to me with one cry: democracy! Not food, although they
clearly needed it, but democracy. Not work, although they surely
wanted it, but democracy. Not money, for they gave what little they
had to my campaign. They didn’t expect me to work a miracle that
would instantly put food into their mouths, clothes on their back,
education in their children, and work that will put dignity in their lives.
But I feel the pressing obligation to respond quickly as the leader of a
people so deserving of all these things.” 95
• Cory proceeded in enumerating the challenges of the Filipino people as their tried
building the new democracy. These were the persisting communist insurgency and
the economic deterioration. Cory further lamented that these problems worsened by
the crippling debt because half of the country’s export earnings amounting to $2
billion would “go to pay just the interest on a debt whose benefit the Filipino people
never received.” Cory then asked a rather compelling question to the U.S Congress:

• “Has there been a greater test of national commitment to the ideals you hold dear
than that my people have gone through? You have spent many lives and much
treasure to bring freedom to many lands that were reluctant to receive it. And here
you have a people who won it by themselves and need only the help to preserve it.”

• Cory ended her speech by thanking America for serving as home to her family for
what she referred to as the “three happiest years of our lives together.” She enjoined
America in building the Philippines as a new home for democracy and in turning the
country as a “shining testament of our two nation’s commitment to freedom.”
96
Analysis of Cory Aquino’s Speech
• Cory Aquino’s speech was an important event in the political and
diplomatic history of the country because it has arguably cemented
the legitimacy of the EDSA government in the international arena.
The speech talks of her family background especially her
relationship with her late husband, Ninoy Aquino.

• In her speech, Cory talked at length about Ninoy’s toil and suffering
at the hands of the dictatorship that he resisted. Moreover, her
attribution of the revolution to Ninoy’s death demonstrates not only
Cory’s personal perception on the revolution, but since she was the
president, it also represents what the dominant discourse was at
that point in our history.

98
• The ideology or the principles of the new democratic government can also
be seen in the same speech.

• Aquino was able to draw the sharp contrast between her government and
her predecessor by expressing her commitment to a democratic constitution
drafted by an independent commission. She claimed that such constitution
upholds and adheres to the rights and liberty of the Filipino people.

• Cory also hoisted herself as the reconciliatory agent after more than two
decades of a polarizing authoritarian politics. For example, Cory saw the
blown-up communist insurgency as a product of a repressive and corrupt
government. Her response to this insurgency rooted from her diametric
opposition of the dictator (i.e., initiating reintegration of communist rebels to
the mainstream Philippine society). Cory claimed that her main approach to
this problem was through peace and not through the sword of war.
99
• Despite Cory’s efforts to hoist herself as the exact opposite of Marcos, her
speech still revealed certain parallelisms between her and the Marcos’s
government. This is seen in terms of continuing the alliance between the
Philippines and the United States despite the known affinity between the said
world super power and Marcos.

• For example, Cory recognized that the large sum of foreign debts incurred by
the Marcos regime never benefitted the Filipino people. Nevertheless, Cory
expressed her intention to pay off those debts. Unknown to many Filipinos was
the fact that there was a choice of waiving the said debt because those were
the debt of the dictator and not of the country. Cory’s decision is an indicator of
her government’s intention to carry on a debt-driven economy.

• Reading through Aquino’s speech, we can already take cues, not just on Cory’s
individual ideas and aspirations, but also the guiding principles and framework
of the government that she represented.
100
101