Lesson 6 THE ACT OF PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE (ACTA DE LA PROCLAMACION | DE LA INDEPENDENCIA DEL PUEBLO FILIPINO) Learning Outcomes | ae ‘At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. Discuss the context and perspective of the document 2, Explain how the Philippines achieved its independence from Spanish colonial rule 3, Examine the state of Philippine independence today Historical Context The first phase of the Philippine Revolution ended in a stalemate between the Spaniards and the Filipino rebels. In December 1897, a truce was declared between the two ia iit sc Scanned with CamScannerTHEACTOFPROCLAMATIONOFINDEPENDENCEOFTHEFIURNOPEorLE 75 forces with the Filipino leaders, led by Gen. E agreeing to be i 0 Aguinaldo, iled to Hong Kong while the Spaniards paid an indemnity for the damages caused as a result of the conflict. The truce, however, lasted for only a few months before it collapsed. The renewed conflict would have been disastrous for the Filipinos if not for the deteriorating diplomatic relations between Spain and the United States over the another revolution in Cuba. This eventually led to the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the arrival of a new colonizer to the Philippines—the Americans. Even before the Battle of Manila in 1898, Aguinaldo had already been meeting with the Americans in Singapore. He talked with consul E. Spencer Pratt regarding US-Filipino collaboration against the Spaniards before he went back to Hong Kong to meet up with Commodore George Dewey, commander of the Asiatic Fleet. Unfortunately, Dewey had already left for the Philippines to attack the Spanish fleet following America’s declaration of war against Spain in April. Aguinaldo remained in Hong Kong and met with the American consul general Rounseville Wildman. He paid ‘Wildman a total of P117,000 to purchase rifles and ammunition. A first shipment worth P50,000 was made but the other half was never delivered. Wildman never returned the money given to him. On May 19, 1898, Aguinaldo finally returned to the Philippines on board the U.S. cruiser McCulloch. Aguinaldo conferred with Dewey on Philippine conditions and was supplied with arms captured from the Spaniards. From his headquarters in Cavite, Aguinaldo announced the resumption of the revolution against the Spaniards, thus beginning the second phase of the revolution. The Filipinos immediately flocked to the province to join the army. By the end of May, Aguinaldo was in command of an army of 12,000 troops. On May 28, the Filipino forces won their first victory in Alapan, Imus. The newly-made Filipino flag was hoisted in Alapan then later unfurled at the Teatro Cavitefio in Cavite Nuevo (now Cavite City) in front of the Filipinos and captured Scanned with CamScanner76 UNDERSTANDING PERSPECTIVE iers aS rs and soldiers Spanish soldiers, A group of American offi witnessed the ceremony. ck at ; » creation Earlier, On May 24, Aguinaldo announced the °F cule ee ; is t the dictatorial government. The formation of this tYP tion needed nly tem blical was a necessity when the growing na He emphasized that the dictatorship was 0! i uu would be a prelude to the establishment of a rep! government, 4 philippine eclare . On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo deci" house in ‘ cme ony f independence from Spanish rule at a cerem' i declaration re P autista in American Kawit, Cavite. Ambrosio Rianzares Bautist? that was later signed by 177 persons, including “then known mlitary officer. The Philippine National Anthem, van Felipe, se cMancha Nacional Filipina,” composed oy en i was played by the Banda de San Francisco de Philippine flag was again unfurled. About the Author (Although the actual author of the proclamation was ‘Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, the initiator of Philippine independence that led to the making of the proclamation was Gen, Emilio Aguinaldo.) Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869 in Kawit, Cavite (Cavite el Viejo), the second to the youngest of eight children of Carlos Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy. The Aguinaldos were a wealthy and influential family with Carlos being gobernadorcillo for several terms. Following his father’s death in 1883, Emilio assisted his mother in the family business and worked to help earn the family income. Aguinaldo followed in his father’s footsteps and was chosen capitan municipal of Kawit in 1894. Months later, he joined the Katipunan choosing the name Magdalo, a name that was also iy to another branch of the Katipunan (the other was the lagdiwang) which he set up in his province, Scanned with CamScannerqupACTOrPROCLAMATIONOFINDEFENDENCEOFTHEFILIPNOPEORLE = 7 7 When the revolution began in 1896, the Katipunan in Cavite succeeded in driving away the Spaniards from the province. But territorial and logistical problems between the two groups soon forced Aguinaldo to ask for help from Supremo Andres Bonifacio in settling the conflict. Bonifacio’s intervention, however, only worsened the situation and the only solution the two factions saw was to create a revolutionary igure g, Gen, Emilio Aguinaldo government. Elections for a pamahalaang panghihimagsik were held in Barrio Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias) on March 22, 1897. Aguinaldo was elected President with Mariano Trias (Vice-President), Artemio Ricarte (Captain- General), Emiliano Riego de Dios (Director of War), and Andres Bonifacio (Director of the Interior). But the elections were disrupted following a protest over Bonifacio’s educational qualification for such a position, Bonifacio angrily declared the result of the elections null and void and walked out. The Magdalos, however, considered the election binding and the new government was founded. When Bonifacio tried to put up his own government with an armed group, he was arrested and tried for sedition. Found guilty, the Supremo and his brother Procopio were executed on May 10, 1897. The internal dissent caused by Bonifacio’s death weakened the Katipunan further. The Spanish troops regained Cavite and Aguinaldo was forced to retreat to the mountains of Biak-na- Bato. But the Spaniards soon realized that going after the rebels in their mountain hideout was futile. A stalemate ensued broken only by a truce proposal to which the rebels agreed. In exchange for an indemnity, amnesty, and colonial reform, Aguinaldo and his officers went into exile in Hong Kong in December 1897. Scanned with CamScanner78 UNDERSTANDING PERSPECTIVE 5 pine Independence FIGURE 9. Declaration of Philip yentually changed The Spanish-American War in 1898 © Philippine history. After the Americans won the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines with their help and announced the resumption of the revolution against Spain. After winning several victories against the Spaniards, he declared Philippine independence on June 12, 1898. But the Filipinos soon realized that the Americans were to become their new colonizers. ‘After the Spanish defeat in 1898, the United States began to send fresh troops to the Philippines. In 1899, Aguinaldo convened a Congress in Malolos, Bulacan in which the delegates wrote a Constitution and established the Philippine Republic with Aguinaldo as President in January 1899. Three weeks later, the continuing friction with the Americans erupted into a conflict in February 1899. The Philippine- American War eventually ended in 1901 with the capture of Aguinaldo. Soon after, he pledged allegiance to the United States and returned to private life on his family farm. He briefly hugged the limelight when he ran for the presidency of the Philippine Commonwealth but lost to Manuel L. Quezon. Aguinaldo was charged with collaboration by the Americans for helping the Japanese during World War II but was later freed Scanned with CamScanner79 ‘THE ACT OF PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE in a general amnesty. As a private citizen, he devoted his time to the cause of veteran revolucionarios until his death at the age of 94 on February 6, 1964. About the Text On June 10, 1896, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo issued a one- sentence decree appointing his Auditor General of War, Ambrosio , as a “special commissioner” to write the Rianzares Bautis Act of the Declaration of the Independence. The result was a sixteen-page document that contained the aspirations of freedom from Spanish rule, the sacrifices made, and the revolution that resulted from it. It was the text of this declaration that was read in Kawit in the afternoon of the celebration of the declaration of independence. Copies of the document were made and distributed. However, there was a problem in determining how many witnesses really signed the declaration. The copies classified under Philippine Revolutionary Papers (PRP) in the National Library had varying numbers. Later research by historian-writer Jim Richardson placed the total number of signees at 177. The Act of Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People In the town of Cavite-Viejo, Province of Cavite, this 12th day of June 1898: Before me, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, War Counselor and Special Delegate designated to proclaim and solemnize this Declaration of Independence by the Dictatorial Government of the Philippines, pursuant to, and by virtue of, a Decree issued by the Egregious Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, The undersigned assemblage of military chiefs and others of the army who could not attend, as well as the representatives of the various towns, Scanned with CamScannerBQ — unvenstanpine Pensrective 1 the people of this country Taking into account the fact tha’ ominous yoke of Spanish are already tired of bearing the domination, Because of arbitrary arrests and abuses of the Civil Guards who cause deaths in connivance with and even under the express orders of their superior officers who at times would order the shooting of those placed under arrest under the pretext that they attempted to escape in violation of known Rules and Regulations, which abuses were left unpunished, and because of unjust deportations of illustrious Filipinos, especially those decreed by General Blanco at the instigation of the Archbishop and the friars interested in keeping them in ignorance for egoistic and selfish ends, which deportations were carried out through hose of the Inquisition which processes more execrable than t without hearing, every civilized nation repudiates as a trial Had resolved to start a revolution in to regain the independence and sovereignty of which the people had been deprived by Spain through Governor Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who, continuing the course followed by his predecessor Ferdinand Magellan who landed on the shores of Cebu and occupied said Island by means of a Pact of Friendship with Chief Tupas, although he was killed in battle that took place in said shores to which battle he was provoked by Chief Kalipulako of Mactan who suspected his evil designs, landed on the Island of Bohol by entering also into a Blood Compact with its Chief Sikatuna, with the purpose of later taking by force the Island of Cebu, and because his successor Tupas did not allow him to occupy it, he went to Manila, the capital, winning likewise the friendship of its Chiefs Soliman and Lakandula, later taking possession of the city and the whole Archipelago in the name of Spain by virtue of an order of King Philip II, and with these historical precedents and because in international law the prescription established by law to legalize the vicious acquisition of private property is not recognized, the legitimacy of such revolution cannot be put in doubt which was calmed but not August 1896 in order Scanned with CamScannercompletely stifled by the pacification proposed by Don Pedro A. Paterno with Don Emilio Aguinaldo as President of the Republic established in Biak-na-Bato and accepted by Governor-General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera under terms, both written and oral, among them being a general amnesty for all deported and convicted persons; that by reason of the non-fulfillment of some of the terms, after the destruction of the Spanish Squadron by the North American Navy, and bombardment of the plaza of Cavite, Don Emilio Aguinaldo returned in order to initiate @ new revolution and no sooner had he given the order to rise on the 31st of last month when several towns anticipating the revolution, rose in revolt on the 28th, such that a Spanish contingent of 178 men, between Imus and Cavite Viejo, under the command of a major of the Marine Infantry capitulated, the revolutionary movement spreading like wild fire to other towns of Cavite and the other provinces of Bataan, Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, and Morong, some of them with seaports and such was the success of the victory of our arms, truly marvelous and without equal in the history of colonial revolutions that in the first mentioned province only the Detachments in Naic and Indang remained to surrender; in the second, all Detachments had been wiped out; in the third, the resistance of the Spanish forces was localized in the town of San Fernando where the greater part of them are concentrated, the remainder in Macabebe, Sexmoan, and Guagua; in the fourth, in the town of Lipa; in the fifth, in the capital and in Calumpit; and in the last two remaining provinces, only in their respective capitals, and the city of Manila will soon be besieged by our forces as well as the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Zambales, and some others in the Visayas where the revolution at the time of the pacification and others even before, so that the independence of our country and the revindication of our sovereignty is assured. And having as witness to the rectitude of our intentions the Supreme Judge of the Universe, and under the protection Scanned with CamScanner82 —_ Unoenstaypine Pensrrerive of the Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, the United States of America, we do hereby proclaim and declare solemnly in the name and by authority of the people of these Philippine Islands, That they are and have the right to be free and independent; that they have ceased to have any allegiance to the Crown of Spain; that all political ties between them are and should be completely severed and annulled; and that, like other free and independent States, they enjoy the full power to make War and Peace, conclude commercial treaties, enter into alliances, regulate commerce, and do all other acts and things which an Independent State has a right to do, And imbued with firm confidence in Divine Providence, we hereby mutually bind ourselves to support this Declaration with our lives, our fortunes, and with our most sacred possession, our Honor. We recognize, approve, and ratify, with all the orders emanating from the same, the Dictatorship established by Don Emilio Aguinaldo whom we revere as the Supreme Head of this Nation, which today begins to have a life of its own, in the conviction that he has been the instrument chosen by God, in spite of bis humble origin, to effectuate the redemption of this unfortunate country as foretold by Dr. Don José Rizal in his magnificent verses which he composed in his prison cell prior to his execution, liberating it from the Yoke of Spanish domination, And in punishment for the impunity with which the Government sanctioned the commission of abuses by its officials, and for the unjust execution of Rizal and others who were sacrificed in order to please the insatiable friars in their hydropical thirst for vengeance against and extermination of all those who oppose their Machiavellian ends, trampling upon the Penal Code of these Islands, and of those suspected persons arrested by the Chiefs of Detachments at the instigation of the friars, without any form nor semblance of trial and without any spiritual aid of our sacred Religion; and likewise, and for the Scanned with CamScannerTHEACTOFPROCLAMATIONOF INDEPENDENCEOFTHEFILNWOPEoRLE = QB same ends, eminent Filipino priests, Doctor Don Jose Burgos, Don Mariano Gomez, and Don Jacinto Zamora were hanged whose innocent blood was shed due to the intrigues of these so-called Religious corporations which made the authorities to believe that the military uprising at the fort of San Felipe in Cavite on the night of January 21, 1872 was instigated by those Filipino martyrs, thereby impeding the execution of the decree-sentence issued by the Council of State in the appeal in the administrative case interposed by the secular clergy against the Royal Orders that directed that the parishes under them within the jurisdiction of this Bishopric be turned over to the Recollects in exchange for those controlled by them in Mindanao which were to be transferred to the Jesuits, thus revoking them completely and ordering the return of those parishes, all of which proceedings are on file with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to which they are sent last month of last year for the issuance of the proper Royal Decree which, in turn, caused the growth of the tree of liberty in this our dear land that grew more and more through the iniquitous measures of oppression, until the last drop from our chalice of suffering having been drained, the first spark of revolution broke out in Caloocan, spread out to Santa Mesa and continued its course to the adjoining regions of the province where the unequalled heroism of its inhabitants fought a one- sided battle against superior forces of General Blanco and General Polavieja for a period of three months, without proper arms nor ammunitions, except bolos, pointed bamboos, and arrows. Moreover, we confer upon our famous Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo all the powers necessary to enable him to discharge the duties of Government, including the prerogatives of granting pardon and amnesty, And, lastly, it was resolved unanimously that this Nation, already free and independent as of this day, must use the same flag which up to now is being used, whose design and colors are found described in the attached drawing, the white triangle Scanned with CamScanner84 Unverstanvine Pensrective signifying the distinctive emblem of the famous “Katipunan” which by means of its blood come the masses to rise in revolution; the three stars, n, Mindanao, three principal Islands of this Archipelago—LM2™" ried; the and Panay where this revolutionary movert” f the . : the sons sun representing the gigantic steps made by res ight country along the path of Progress and Civilization ae rays, signifying the eight provinces—Manila, ar ciaeangas— Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna, a” the first which declared themselves in a state of war as soon a White revolt was initiated; and the colors of Blue, Red, on ties commemorating the flag of the United States of Nort ae - as a manifestation of our profound gratitude towards this Gre " Nation for its disinterested protection which it lent us an continues lending us. And holding up this flag of ours, I present it t here assembled: (The text is followed by the Signatures of the Witnesses) Relevance Nothing is more relevant to Philippine history than the declaration of independence from colonial rule. The Declaration is, of course, that sole document that proves the value Filipinos place on their freedom. At present, our independence has been questioned especially in relation to our dealings with the United States (which colonized us for almost half a century and later recognized our independence in 1946). However, it must be understood that the independence we attained in 1898 was freedom that was fought for with the lives of Filipinos. The goal or objective of this independence, however, is something that we might have failed to achieve and protect properly. It in this context that the Acta must be studied again. ‘0 the gentlemen Scanned with CamScanner