ALDERSGATE COLLEGE READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION EROLLE TOLENTINO CARIÑO

Module 2: Content and Contextual Analysis of

Selected Primary Sources in Philippine History

Overview
The lesson provides the students an overview on the analysis on the content and context of selected
primary sources in Philippine History. This lesson allows the students to interpret primary sources in our
history.

Objectives
At the end of the module the student should be able to:
1. A Brief Summary of the First Voyage around the World by Magellan by Antonio Pigafetta (16th
Century).
2. The KKK and the “Kartilya ng Katipunan”
3. Reading the “Proclamation of the Philippine Independence”
4. A Glance at Selected Philippine Political Caricature in Alfred McCoy’s Philippine Cartoons:
Political Caricature of American Era (1900-1941)
5. Revisiting Corazon Aquino’s Speech Before the U.S. Congress

LEARNING FOCUS

INTRODUCTION

The historian’s primary tool of understanding and interpreting the past is the historical
sources. Historical sources ascertain historical facts. Such facts are then analyzed and interpreted
by the historian to weave historical narrative. Using primary sources in historical research entails
two kinds of criticism. The first one is EXTERNAL CRITICISM and the second is INTERNAL
CRITICISM. EXTERNAL CRITICISM examines the authenticity of the document or the evidence
being used while INTERNAL CRITICISM examines the truthfulness of the content of the evidence.

1. A Brief Summary of the First Voyage around the World by Magellan by Antonio
Pigafetta (16th Century).
Who is Antonio Pigafetta? – Famous Italian traveler born in Vicenza around 1490 and
died in the same city in 1534, who is also known by the name of Antonio Lombardo or Francisco
Antonio Pigafetta. Initially linked to the order of Rhodes, which was Knight, went to Spain in 1519,
accompanied by Monsignor Francisco Chiericato, and was made available from Carlos V to
promote the company initiated by the Catholic Monarchs in the Atlantic. Soon he became a great
friendship with Magallanes, who accompanied, together with Juan Sebastián Elcano, in the famous
expedition to the Moluccas begun in August of 1519 and finished in September 1522.

Who is Antonio Pigafetta? – He was wounded at the battle of the island of Cebu
(Philippines) in which Magellan found death. The output of Seville made it aboard of the Trinity; the
return, along with a handful of survivors (17 of the 239 who left this adventure), in victory, ship that
entered in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) on September 6, the designated year. In the last years
of his life, he traveled by land from France to finally return to Italy in 1523. He wrote the relation of
that trip, which was the first around the world, Italian and with the title of Relazioni in lathe to the
primo viaggio di circumnavigazione. Notizia del Mondo Nuovo with figure you dei paesi scoperti,
which was published posthumously, in 1536.

Who is Antonio Pigafetta? – The account of Pigafetta is the single most important source
about the voyage of circumnavigation, despite its tendency to include fabulous details. He took
notes daily, as he mentioned when he realizes his surprise at Spain and see that he had lost a day
(due to its driving direction). Includes descriptions of numerous animals, including sharks, the
Storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus), the pink spoonbill (Ajaja ajaja) and the Phyllium orthoptera,

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an insect similar to a sheet. Pigafetta captured a copy of the latter near Borneo and kept it in a box,
believing a moving blade who lived in the air. His report is rich in ethnographic details. He practiced
as an interpreter and came to develop, at least in two Indonesian dialects.

Pigafetta’s work instantly became a classic that prominent literary men in the West like
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, MICHEL de MONTAIGNE, and GIAMBATTISTA VICO referred to the
book in their interpretation of the New World. Pigafetta’s travelogue is one of the most important
primary sources in the study of the precolonial Philippines.
In Pigafetta’s account, their fleet reached what he called the LADRONES ISLANDS or the
“Islands of the Thieves.” He recounted: “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
call these three islands the Ladrones Islands.”
The Ladrones Islands is presently known as the Marianas Islands. Ten days after they
have reached Ladrones Islands, Pigafetta reported that they have what he called the Isle of Zamal,
now Samar but Magellan decided to land in another uninhabited island for greater security where
they could rest for a few days. – On 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.

Pigafetta detailed in amazement and fascination the palm tree which bore fruits called
cochos and wine. – He characterized the people as “very familiar and friendly” and willingly showed
them different islands and the names of these islands. The fleet went to Humunu Island
(Homonhon) and there they found what he referred to as the “Watering Place of Good Signs.” for it
is in this place that they found the first signs of gold in the island. They named the island together
with a nearby island as the archipelago of St. Lazarus.

On March 25th, Pigafetta recounted that they saw two balanghai (balangay), a long boat
full of people in Mazzava/Mazaus. The leader whom he reffered to the king became closely bonded
with Magellan as they both exchanged gifts to one another. – After a few days, Magellan was
introduced to the king’s brother who was also a king of another island where Pigafetta reported that
they saw mines of gold. The gold was abundant that parts of the ship and of the house of the king
were made of gold. This king was named Raia Calambu, king of Zuluan and Calagan (Butuan and
Caragua), and the first king was Raia Siagu.

On March 31st (Easter Sunday), Magellan ordered the chaplain to preside a Mass by the
shore. The king heard about this plan and sent two dead pigs and attended the Mass with the other
king. Pigafetta then 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.”
This was the first Mass in the Philippines, and the cross would be famed Magellan’s Cross which is
still preserved at present day. This was the same cross which Magellan explained to the kings as a
sign of his emperor who ordered him to plant it in the places where he would reach and further
explained that once other Spaniards saw this cross, then they would know that they had been in
this island and would not cause them troubles.
By April 7th, Magellan and his men reached the port of Sugbu (Cebu) with the help of Raia
Calambu who offered to pilot them in going to the island. The kind of Cebu demanded that they pay
tribute as it was customary but Magellan refused. 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. – On April 14, Magellan spoke to the kind
and encouraged him to be a good Christian by burning all of the idols and worship the cross
instead. The king of Cebu was then baptized as a Christian. After 8 days, all of the island’s
inhabitant were already baptized.

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

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fight the chief name Silapulapu (Lapulapu). Magellan offered 3 boats instead and went to Mactan
to fight the said chief. – They numbered 49 in total and the islanders of Mactan were estimated to
number 1,500. Magellan died in battle. He was pierced with a poison arrow in his right leg. The
king of Cebu who was baptized offered help but Magellan refused so that he could see how they
fought. – The kind also offered the people of Mactan gifts of any value and amount in exchange of
Magellan’s body but the chief refused and wanted to keep Magellan’s body as a memento of their
victory.
Magellan’s men then elected Duarte Barbosa as the new captain. – Pigafetta also
accounted how Magellan’s slave and interpreter named Henry betrayed them and told the king of
Cebu that they intended to leave as soon as possible. Henry and the king of Cebu conspired and
betrayed what was left of Magellan’s men. The king invited these men to a gathering where he said
he would present the jewels that he would send for the King of Spain.
Pigafetta was left on board the ship and was not able to join the 24 men who went to the
gathering because he was nursing his battle wounds. – The natives had slain all the men except
the interpreter and Juan Serrano who shouted at the men on this ship to pay ransom so that he
would be spared but he was left on the island for they refused to go back to shore. – The fleet
abandoned Serrano and departed. They left Cebu and continued their journey around the world.
Analysis of Pigafetta’s Chronicle

o Antonio Pigafetta was a chronicler commissioned by the King of Spain to accompany the
voyage of Ferdinand Magellan, thus his text is in favor of Spain.

o The voyage took place in the 16th century, thus his writing was in European perspective.
He believed that Filipinos are pagans Philippine beliefs during the time of his voyage were barbaric
because they only see Catholicism as the true Christianism.

o Pigafetta remarked on the nakedness of the Filipino natives but in fact the natives have
covering but on European context, they look at it as naked.

o Materials used by the natives in housing were despised by the Europeans comparing to
the housing system they were used. Filipinos have light materials like bamboo in their houses for
the air to come through and to compensate the hot climate in the islands.

o It must be noted that 16th century was known as the age of Exploration and mercantilism
wherein wealth of a nation is based on the accumulations of gold and other precious metals. Hence
the article of Pigafetta contains, words like spices or the richness of the place they reached. This
would reveal that the main reason of the Spaniards in coming to our country is to accumulate
wealth as a result of their search of the Spice Island. This also indicates that Europe has scarcity of
spices.

2. The KKK and the “Kartilya ng Katipunan”

The Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or Katipunan is

arguably the most important organization formed in the Philippine history. The two principal aims of
the KKK as gathered from the writings of Bonifacio:

1. Unity of the Filipino people

Bonifacio came out after the failure of the reform movement headed by Jose Rizal and Marcelo Del
Pilar. This paved way for a more radical and more active lines. He formed the Katipunan, a secret
society which was founded at Tondo Manila, in a house on Azcarraga Street then numbered 314,
on July 7, 1892, the same date on which Rizal was decreed to be banished to Dapitan.
2. Total independence of the country from Spain
Previous armed revolts had already occurred but none of them envisioned to unify the
country against the colonizers. The Propaganda Movement and the illustrados, Jose P. Rizal,

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Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena did not envisioned total separation from Spain. Equal
rights, representation and protection from the abuses of the friars were what they demanded.

Rizal doubtless approved the first aim but refused to accept the second and this was the
reason that he refused to go along with the “Katipuneros” (soldiers’ of the Katipunan) and
voluntarily surrendered that leads him to prison and death. – To achieve unity of the Filipinos,
propaganda work must be done and this was through massive education and civic trainings of the
Katipuneros. To that end, Bonifacio prepared his now well-known decalogue, and Jacinto his
famous “Kartilya ng Katipunan” (Primer of the Katipunan)
These are the rules in Kartilya. The Kartilya can be treated as the Katipunan’s Code of
conduct which contains 14 rules that instruct the way a Katipunero should behave.

Below is a translated version of the rules on Kartilya

I. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a tree without a shade,
if not a poisonous weed.

II. 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.

III. 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.

IV. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel, gain to honor.

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

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

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

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

IX. 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.

X. 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.

XI. 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.

XII. 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.

XIII. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed-for sun of liberty shall rise
brilliant over this unhappiest 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.

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An Excerpt from the Second Paragraph of the Kartilya which states that: “The object
pursued by this association is great and precious: to unite in ideas and purposes all Filipinos by
means of a strong oath and from union derive force with which to tear the veil that obscures
intelligence and thus find the true path of reason and light” – The strong oath was documented and
signed with the signed with the blood of the “Katipuneros” (blood (blood compact). They swore at
the Katipunan creed; Katipunan creed; to defend the oppressed, fight the fight the oppressor even
to the extent of supreme self- supreme self- sacrifice.

An Excerpt from the Second Paragraph of the Kartilya which states that – One of the most
important Katipunan documents was the Kartilya ng Katipunan. – The original title of the document
was “Manga (sic) Aral Nang (sic) Katipunan ng mga A.N.B.” Or “Lesson of the Organization of the
Sons of Country”.

Analysis of the “Kartilya ng Katipunan”

o The document was written for a fraternity to overthrow colonial regime. The fourth (4th)
and thirteenth (13th) rules are an invocation of equality between and among men regardless of
race, occupation, or status. This is a manifestation of the society during the Spanish time, where
Indios (Filipinos) are treated inferiorly and the white Europeans as superior.

o The document upheld consistency of rational and liberal ideas in the 18th and 19th
century, equality, tolerance, freedom and liberty. Emilio Jacinto as the author of the document was
an illustrado who used pen to spread liberal ideas.

o It also emphasized the importance of honor in words and in action. Honoring and
respecting women but from the document itself emphasized that men should be the guide of
women and children as it was stated in the 10th rule. This idea can be criticized but the context of
the document and organization was born during the patriarchal age, were men are seen as the
leaders and women are important partners in the struggle during the Spanish era. This is shown by
the women like Melchora Aquino, Gregoria de Jesus and Teresa Magbanua.

o The Kartilya is instructive not just to the Katipunan’s conduct toward other people, but for
the member’s development as an individual.

3. Reading “The Proclamation of the Philippine Independence”

On June 12, 1898, the Philippine Declaration of independence was proclaimed in Cavite el
Viejo (presentday Kawit, Cavite) – Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo
proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of
Spain.
1896 - the Philippine Revolution began. Eventually, the Spanish signed an agreement with
the revolutionaries – Emilio Aguinaldo went into exile in Hongkong. At the outbreak of the Spanish-
American war.

Commodore George Dewey - sailed from Hong Kong to Manila Bay leading a squadron
of U.S. Navy ships. – May 1, 1898 - the United States defeated the Spanish in the Battle of Manila
Bay. – the U.S. Navy transported Aguinaldo back to the Philippines.

THE PROCLAMATION ON JUNE 12, 1898

Independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 between four and five in the afternoon in
Cavite at the ancestral home of General Emilio Aguinaldo. – The event saw the unfurling of the
National Flag of the Philippines, made in Hong Kong by Marcela Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo, and
Delfina Herboza and the performance of the Marcha Filipina Magdalo, as the national anthem, now

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known as Lupang Hinirang, which was composed by Julián Felipe and played by the San
Francisco de Malabon marching band. – The Act of the Declaration of Independence was
prepared, written, and read by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista in Spanish.

The Declaration was signed by ninety-eight people, among them an American army officer
who witnessed the proclamation who attended the proceedings, Mr. L. M. Johnson, a Coronel of
Artillery. – The proclamation of Philippine independence was, however, promulgated on 1 August,
when many towns had already been organized under the rules laid down by the Dictatorial
Government of General Aguinaldo

The declaration was not recognized by the U.S. nor Spain and Spain later sold the
Philippines to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish-American War. –
Philippine-American War - The Philippine Revolutionary Government did not recognize the treaty
or American sovereignty, and subsequently fought and lost a conflict with United States ended
when Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by U.S. forces, and issued a statement acknowledging and
accepting the sovereignty of the United States over the Philippines. – Following World War II, the
US granted independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946 via the Treaty of Manila.

Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10, 1898 formally ceding Philippines to the
Americans by the Spaniards.

President Diosdado Macapagal signed into law Republic Act No. 4166 designating June 12
as the country's Independence Day.
Declaration of Philippine Independence

Translation by: Sulpicio Guevara

In the town of Cavite-Viejo, Province of Cavite, this 12th day of June 1898:

BEFORE ME, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, War Counsellor 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 Engregious
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,

Taking into account the fact that the people of this country are already tired of bearing the ominous
joke of Spanish 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 friars interested in keeping them in ignorance for egoistic and
selfish ends, which deportations were carried out through processes more execrable than those of
the Inquisition which every civilized nation repudiates as a trial without hearing.

Had resolved to start a revolution in August 1896 in order 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 the 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

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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 can not be put in doubt which was calmed but not
complete 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 plaza of Cavite, Don Emilio Aguinaldo returned in order to initiate
a 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 Cavite-Viejo, under the command of 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 last two remaining
provinces, only in there 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 of our Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, The United States of
America, we do hereby proclaim and declare solemnly in the name 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 allegiance to the Crown of Spain; that all political ties between them are 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 and Independent State Has 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 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 reverse 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, inspite of his humble origin, to effectuate the redemption of this
unfortunate country as foretold by Dr. Don Jose 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 sacrified 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 same ends, eminent Filipino priest, 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

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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 the year of the issuance of the proper Royal Degree which, in
turn, caused the grow of the tree of the liberty in our dear land that grow more and more through
the iniquitous measures of oppressions, until the last drop of 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 were the unequalled heroism of its
inhabitants fought a one sided battle against superior forces of General Blanco and General
Polavieja for a period of 3 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 results unanimously that this Nation, already free and independent as of
this day, must used the same flag which up to now is being used, whose designed and colored are
found described in the attached drawing, the white triangle signifying the distinctive emblem of the
famous Society of the "Katipunan" which by means of its blood compact inspired the masses to rise
in revolution; the tree stars, signifying the three principal Islands of these Archipelago - Luzon,
Mindanao, and Panay where the revolutionary movement started; the sun representing the gigantic
step made by the son of the country along the path of Progress and Civilization; the eight rays,
signifying the eight provinces - Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna,
and Batangas - which declares themselves in a state of war as soon as the first revolt was initiated;
and the colors of Blue, Red, and White, commemorating the flag of the United States of America,
as a manifestation of our profound gratitude towards this Great Nation for its disinterested
protection which it lent us and continues lending us.

And holding up this flag of ours, I present it to the gentlemen here assembled:

Don Segundo Arellano

Don Tiburcio del Rosario
Sergio Matias
Don Agapito Zialcita
Don Flaviano Alonzo
Don Mariano Legazpi
Don Jose Turiano Santiago y Acosta
Don Aurelio Tolentino
Don Felix Ferrer
Don Felipe Buencamino
Don Fernando Canon Faustino
Don Anastacio Pinzun
Don Timoteo Bernabe
Don Flaviano Rodriguez
Don Gavino (?) Masancay
Don Narciso Mayuga
Don Gregorio Villa
Don Luis Perez Tagle
Don Canuto Celestino
Don Marcos Jocson
Don Martin de los Reyes

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Don Ciriaco Bausa

Don Manuel Santos
Don Mariano Toribio
Don Gabriel de los Reyes
Don Hugo Lim
Don Emiliano Lim
Don Faustino Tinorio(?)
Don Rosendo Simon
Don Leon Tanjanque(?)
Don Gregorio Bonifacio
Don Manuel Salafranca
Don Simon Villareal
Don Calixto Lara
Don Buenaventura Toribio
Don Gabriel Reyes
Don Hugo Lim
Don Emiliano Lim
Don Fausto Tinorio(?)
Don Rosendo Simon
Don Leon Tanjanque(?)
Don Gregorio Bonifacio
Don Manuel Salafranca
Don Simon Villareal
Don Calixto Lara
Don Buenaventura Toribio
Don Zacarias Fajardo
Don Florencio Manalo Don Ramon Gana
Don Marcelino Gomez
Don Sixto Roldan
Don Luis de Lara
Don Marcelo Basa
Don Jose Medina
Don Efipanio Crisia(?)
Don Pastor Lopez de Leon
Don Mariano de los Santos
Don Santiago Garcia
Don Andres Tria Tirona
Don Valentin Politan
Don Felix Politan
Don Evaristo Dimalanta
Don Gregorio Alvarez
Don Sabas de Guzman
Don Esteban Francisco
Don Guido Yaptinchay
Don Mariano Rianzares Bautista
Don Francisco Arambulo
Don Antonio Gonzales
Don Juan Antonio Gonzales
Don Juan Arevalo
Don Ramon Delfino
Don Honorio Tiongco
Don Francisco del Rosario
Don Epifanio Saguil
Don Ladislao Afable Jose
Don Estanislao Tria Tirona
Don Daniel Tria Tirona

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ALDERSGATE COLLEGE READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
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Don Andres Tria Tirona

Don Carlos Tria Tirona
Don Sulpicio P. Antony
Don Epitacio Asuncion
Don Catalino Ramon
Don Juan Bordador
Don Jose del Rosario
Don Proceso Pulido
Don Jose Maria del Rosario
Don Ramon Magcamco(?)
Don Antonio Calingo
Don Pedro Mendiola
Don Estanislao Galinco
Don Numeriano Castillo
Don Federico Tomacruz
Don Teodoro Yatco
Don Ladislao Diwa(?).

Who solemnly swear to recognize and defend it unto the last drop of their blood.

In witness thereof, I certify that this Act of Declaration of Independence was signed by me and by
all those here assembled including the only stranger who attended those proceedings, a citizen of
the U.S.A., Mr. L.M. Johnson, a Colonel of Artillery.

Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista

War Counsellor and Special Delegate-Designate

Analysis of the “Proclamation of the Philippine Independence”

o Abuses mentioned on the proclamation like friar abuse, racial discrimination, and inequality
before the law reflect the compelling sentiments represented by the revolutionary leadership but
nothing was mention on the serious issue that the masses faced, land and agrarian crisis. The
main reason for these is that Emilio Aguinaldo, Felipe Buencamino, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista
were land owners. According to Teodoro Agoncillo, Philippine Revolution historian, the Philippine
Revolution was an agrarian crisis. Revolutionaries fight in the revolution in the exchange of land or
they even grab lands from the peasants or middle class.

o It can be observed that the proclamation did not even mention Andres Bonifacio or the
Katipunan, thus the document is politically biased. This emphasized the faction between Magdalo
faction (Emilio Aguinaldo) and Magdiwang (Andres Bonifacio). This shows political bias.

4. A Glance at Selected Philippine Political Caricature in Alfred McCoy’s Philippine

Cartoons: Political Caricature of American Era (1900-1941)

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ALDERSGATE COLLEGE READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
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6. Revisiting Corazon Aquino’s Speech Before the U.S. Congress

Full Name: Maria

Corazon Cojuangco
Aquino
Born on: January 25,
1933
Died on: August 1,
2009
*First Female President
(1986-1992)
*Known as the symbol
of the restoration of
democracy and
overthrown the Marcos
dictatorship

Speech before the joint session of the United States Congress - Sept. 18, 1986

Mr. Speaker, Senator Thurmond, Distinguished members of Congress.

Three years ago, I left America in grief, to bury my husband, Ninoy Aquino. I thought I had
left it also, to lay to rest his restless dream of Philippine freedom. Today, I have returned as the
President of a free people.

In burying Ninoy, a whole nation honored him by that brave and selfless act of giving honor
to a nation in shame recovered its own. A country that had lost faith in its future, founded in a
faithless and brazen act of murder. So, in giving we receive, in losing we find, and out of defeat we
snatched our victory. For the nation, Ninoy became the pleasing sacrifice that answered their
prayers for freedom.

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For myself and our children, Ninoy was a loving husband and father. His loss, three times
in our lives was always a deep and painful one. Fourteen years ago, this month, was the first time
we lost him. A president-turned-dictator and traitor to his oath, suspended the constitution and
shutdown the Congress that was much like this one before which I'm honored to speak. He
detained my husband along with thousands of others - Senators, publishers, and anyone who had
spoken up for the democracy as its end drew near. But for Ninoy, a long and cruel ordeal was
reserved. The dictator already knew that Ninoy was not a body merely to be imprisoned but a spirit
he must break. For even as the dictatorship demolished one-by-one; the institutions of democracy,
the press, the congress, the independence of a judiciary, the protection of the Bill of Rights, Ninoy
kept their spirit alive in himself.

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 a threat of a
sudden midnight execution over his head. Ninoy held up manfully under all of it. I barely did as
well. For forty-three 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.

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. God meant
him for other things, he felt. He did not know that an early death would still be his fate, that only the
timing was wrong. At any time during his long ordeal, Ninoy could have made a separate peace
with a dictatorship as so many of his countrymen had done. But the spirit of democracy that
inheres in our race and animates this chamber could not be allowed to die. He held out in the
loneliness of his cell and the frustration of exile, the democratic alternative to the insatiable greed
and mindless cruelty of the right and the purging holocaust of the left.

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 and the courage and faith by which alone they could be free again. The
dictator had called him a nobody. Yet, two million people threw aside their passivity and fear and
escorted him to his grave.

And so began the revolution that has brought me to democracy's most famous home, The
Congress of the United States.

The task had fallen on my shoulders, to continue offering the democratic alternative to our
people. Archibald Macleish had said that democracy must be defended by arms when it is attacked
by arms, and with truth when it is attacked by lies. He failed to say how it shall be won. 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.

Last year, in an excess of arrogance, the dictatorship called for its doom in a snap election.
The people obliged. With over a million signatures they drafted me to challenge the dictatorship.
And I, obliged.

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The rest is the history that dramatically unfolded on your television screens and across the
front pages of your newspapers. You saw a nation armed with courage and integrity, stand fast by
democracy against threats and corruption. You saw women poll watchers break out in tears as
armed goons crashed the polling places to steal the ballots. But just the same, they tied
themselves to the ballot boxes. You saw a people so committed to the ways of democracy that
they were prepared to give their lives for its pale imitation. At the end of the day before another
wave of fraud could distort the results, I announced the people's victory.

Many of you here today played a part in changing the policy of your country towards ours.
We, the Filipinos thank each of you for what you did. For balancing America's strategic interest
against human concerns illuminates the American vision of the world. The co-chairman of the
United States observer team, in his report to the President said, "I was witness to an extraordinary
manifestation of democracy on the part of the Filipino people. The ultimate result was the election
of Mrs. Corazon Aquino as President and Mr. Salvador Laurel as Vice-President of the
Philippines."

When a subservient parliament announced my opponent's victory, the people then turned
out in the streets and proclaimed me the President of all the people. And true to their word, when a
handful of military leaders declared themselves against the dictatorship, the people rallied to their
protection. Surely, the people take care of their own. It is on that faith and the obligation it entails
that I assumed the Presidency.

As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it. That is my contract with my people and
my commitment to God. He had willed that the blood drawn with a lash shall not in my country be
paid by blood drawn by the sword but by the tearful joy of reconciliation. We have swept away
absolute power by a limited revolution that respected the life and freedom of every Filipino.

Now, we are restoring full constitutional government. 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.

Given the polarization and breakdown we inherited, this is no small achievement. My

predecessor set aside democracy to save it from a communist insurgency that numbered less than
five hundred. Unhampered by respect for human rights he went at it with hammer and tongs. By
the time he fled, that insurgency had grown to more than sixteen thousand. I think there is a lesson
here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with a means by which it grows. I don't think
anybody in or outside our country, concerned for a democratic and open Philippines doubts what
must be done. Through political initiatives and local re-integration programs, we must seek to bring
the insurgents down from the hills and by economic progress and justice, show them that which the
best-intentioned among them fight. As president among my people, I will not betray the cause of
peace by which I came to power. Yet, equally and again, no friend of Filipino democracy will
challenge this. I will not stand by and allow an insurgent leadership to spurn our offer of peace and
kill our young soldiers and threaten our new freedom.

Yet, I must explore the path of peace to the utmost. For at its end, whatever
disappointment I meet there is the moral basis for laying down the Olive branch of peace and
taking up the sword of war.

Still, should it come to that, I will not waiver from the course laid down by your great
liberator.

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"With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the
right, let us finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds. To care for him who shall have
borne the battle and for his widow and for his orphans to do all which may achieve and cherish a
just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Like Abraham Lincoln, I understand that force may be necessary before mercy. Like
Lincoln, I don't relish it. Yet, I will do whatever it takes to defend the integrity and freedom of my
country.

Finally, may I turn to that other slavery, our twenty-six billion dollar foreign debt. I have said
that we shall honor it. Yet, the means by which we shall be able to do so are kept from us. Many of
the conditions imposed on the previous government that stole this debt, continue to be imposed on
us who never benefited from it.

And no assistance or liberality commensurate with the calamity that was vested on us have
been extended. Yet ours must have been the cheapest revolution ever. With little help from others,
we Filipinos fulfilled the first and most difficult condition of the debt negotiation, the full restoration
of democracy and responsible government. Elsewhere and in other times, a more stringent world
economic conditions, marshal plans and their like were felt to be necessary companions of
returning democracy.

When I met with President Reagan, we began an important dialogue about cooperation
and the strengthening of friendship between our two countries. That meeting was both a
confirmation and a new beginning. I am sure it will lead to positive results in all areas of common
concern. Today, we face the aspiration of a people who have known so much poverty and massive
unemployment for the past 14 years. And yet offer their lives for the abstraction of democracy.

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 give them work that will put dignity in
their lives. But I feel the pressing obligation to respond quickly as the leader of the people so
deserving of all these things.

We face a communist insurgency that feeds on economic deterioration even as we carry a

great share of the free world defenses in the Pacific. These are only two of the many burdens my
people carry even as they try to build a worthy and enduring house for their new democracy. That
may serve as well as a redoubt for freedom in Asia. Yet, no sooner as one stone laid than two are
taken away. Half our export earnings, two billion dollars out of four billion dollars which is all we can
earn in the restrictive market of the world, must go to pay just the interest on a debt whose benefit
the Filipino people never received.

Still we fought for honor and if only for honor, we shall pay. And yet, should we have to ring
the payments from the sweat of our men's faces and sink all the wealth piled by the bondsman's
two-hundred fifty years of unrequited toil. Yet, to all Americans, as the leader to a proud and free
people, I address this question, "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 want it by themselves and need only the help to preserve it."

Three years ago, I said, thank you America for the haven from oppression and the home
you gave Ninoy, myself and our children and for the three happiest years of our lives together.
Today I say, join us America as we build a new home for democracy; another haven for the
oppressed so it may stand as a shining testament of our two nations' commitment to freedom.

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COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND EDUCATION EROLLE TOLENTINO CARIÑO

Analysis of Cory Aquino’s Speech

o The speech of Corazon Aquino talks of her family and especially her relationship with her
husband, Ninoy Aquino. She talked about the suffering of Ninoy at the hands of a dictator
Ferdinand Marcos. She emphasized the contribution of her husband to the rebirth of democracy.

o It can be observed that Cory’s speech shows continued alliance with the Americans
despite her efforts to hoist herself as opposite of Ferdinand Marcos.

o The speech was the guiding principle and framework of the government that she
represented.

IX. REFERENCES

Britannica.com (2020 July 28). Maria Corazon Aquino. Retrieved August 27, 2020 from
https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419

Candelaria, J. & Alphora, V. (2018). Readings in Philippine History. Manila: Rex Book Store.

Corpuz, R. & Tabotabo, C. (2018). Readings in Philippine History. Manila: Mindshapers., Inc.

Filipino.biz.ph - Philippine Culture (n.d). The Act of Declaration of Philippine Independence.

Retrieved August 26, 2020 from https://filipino.biz.ph/history/declaration.html

Iowa State University (1986 September 18). Speech before the joint session of the United States
Congress - Sept. 18, 1986. Retrieved August 20, 2020 from
https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/speech-before-the-joint-session-of-the-united-
states-congress-sept-18-1986/

Martinez, R., et al. (2018). The Readings in Philippine History. Manila: Mindshapers., Inc.

McCoy, A. (1985). Selected Sections and Cartoons from 'Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature
of the American Era 1900-1941' edited by Alfred W. McCoy and Alfredo R. Roces (1985).
Retrieved August 25, 2020 from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315678206_Selected_sections_and_cartoons_from_'Phili
ppine_Cartoons_Political_Caricature_of_the_American_Era_1900-1941'_edited_by_Alfred_W
McCoy_and_Alfredo_R_Roces_1985

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LEARNING ACTIVITIES

A. Project – Critical Essay (60 points). Choose two (1) topics from the following primary
sources below then make a critical essay/analysis. Use the guide questions below:

1. What does the document or artifact is all about?

2. What/ where was the provenance or source of the document/artifact?
3. Who authored it (if applicable)?
4. What was the context or background of the primary source’s production?

Primary sources:
* The Laguna Copperplate Inscription
* Poem “Ang Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa” by Andres Bonifacio
* The Declaration of Martial Law in 1972 by Ferdinand Marcos
* The Speech of KALIBAPI Acting Director Camilo Osias on December 1943
* The 1935 Constitution
Description: This rubric will help you know exactly what I am expecting to find in an essay.

4 / Needs
10 / Excellent 8 / Very Good 6 / Average 2 / Unacceptable
Improvement
This paper is clear This paper is mostly The writer is Topic is not well- As yet, the paper has
and focused. It holds focused, and has beginning to define defined and/or no clear sense of
the reader's some good details the topic, even though there are too many purpose or central
attention. Relevant and quotes. development is still topics. theme. To extract
Ideas details and quotes basic or general. meaning from the
enrich the central text, the reader must
theme. make inferences
based on sketchy or
missing details.
The organization Paper (and The organizational Sentences within The writing lacks a
enhances and paragraphs) are structure is strong paragraphs make clear sense of
showcases the mostly organized, in enough to move the sense, but the direction. Ideas,
central idea or order, and makes reader through the order of paragraphs details, or events
theme. The order, sense to the reader. text without too much does not. seem strung together
Organization
structure of confusion. in a loose or random
information is fashion; there is no
compelling and identifiable internal
moves the reader structure.
through the text.
The form and The format only has a The writer's message The writer's The reader receives a
presentation of the few mistakes and is is understandable in message is only garbled message due
text enhances the generally easy to read this format. understandable to problems relating
ability for the reader and pleasing to the occasionally, and to the presentation of
Presentation
to understand and eye. paper is messily the text, and is not
connect with the written. typed.
message. It is
pleasing to the eye.

B. Cartoon Analysis. Direction: Analyze the cartoon carefully and write its meaning on the space
provided. (10 points each) – Use the rubric below as your guide in your analysis.

Rubrics
Content 5
Organization 3
Originality 2
Total points 10

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1)

2)

3)

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4)

5)

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