THE MEANING OF HISTORY

 
The English word history is derived from the Greek word “istoia” meaning learning
According to Aristotle, history is the systematic account of a set of natural phenomena whether
or not chronological ordering was a factor in an account, and this is considered as natural history.
As time passed, the equivalent Latin word “scientia”, which is science in English later was used
more to designate non-chronological systematic accounts of phenomena.
Presently, the word “history” means the “past of mankind”. History is the study of past events,
particularly in human affairs.
History in German is “Geschichte”, meaning, “that which has happened”. This means that the
word implies that history teaches and we may learn from the lessons of history.
With the definition of history, it brings man to a recognition that history cannot be reconstructed,
that the past of mankind, much of it, is beyond recall. And that even the best of our memories
cannot re-create our past.
The reconstruction of the total past of mankind is the total goal of historians which, however, is
unattainable. Historians will never really know everything that happened in the past.
The problem that every historian confronts is that the evidence they rely on is likely to be
fragmented, incomplete and even contradictory. The result is, each historian’s conclusions are
influenced by the evidence they have selected from what is available and from how they
interpreted it.
And from whatever a historian only has will be the only thing that he can use to connect him to
the past.
HISTORICAL METHOD
The process of critically examining and analyzing the records and survivals of the past. 
To study objectively (intention of acquiring detached and truthful knowledge independent of
one’s personal reactions) a thing must first be an object and must have an independent resistance
outside the human mind). Most of history is based on the human mind since most of history is
based upon recollection (written or spoken history).
In reconstruction, only a part of what was observed is remembered, only a part of what was
remembered is recorded, only a part of what was recorded survives, only a part of what survived
comes to the historian’s attention.
Only of a part of what is credible has been grasped, only a part of what has been grasped can be
expounded and narrated by the historian. 
 
HISTORICAL SOURCES
     - Objects from the past or testimony concerning the past which historians use to create their
own depiction of the past.
 
1.  According to Form
*Written Sources
     - Published materials (books, journals etc.) and manuscript (handwritten and unprinted like
archival materials and memoirs)
*Non written Sources
     -Oral history, artifacts, fossils, etc.
 
2. According to Origin
*Primary Sources
     - Testimony of an eyewitness
     - It must have been produced by a contemporary of that is narrated. It is a document or
physical object written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during
an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event.
*Secondary Sources
     - Interpret and analyze primary sources
     - They are one or more steps removed from the event. Examples are printed textbooks.

HISTORICAL CRITICISM
- Settles matters on the form and content of a source
 
*External Criticism
     - Deals with the problem of authenticity
     - To spot hoaxes, fakes, forgeries and fabrications
     - Tests of Authenticity are:
          Determine the date if it is Anachronistic: a material, skill or culture does not exist at that
time
          Determine the author in the uniqueness of his handwriting or signature
          Determine the provenance or custody:  genuineness
          Determine the Semantics, meaning of a text or word
          Determine the Hermeneutics, the ambiguities
 
*Internal Criticism
     - deals with the problem of credibility.
     - Tests of credibility are:
          Determine the Character of the Author, his reliability, and his ability and willingness to tell
the truth
          Determine the Corroboration, historical facts rest upon the testimony of two or more
reliable   witnesses
 
KINDS OF PRIMARY SOURCES
Records of social and cultural observations
Chronicles
Human Fossils (remains of ancient man imbedded in the earth such as bones, hair, skin etc.)
Artifacts ( cultural evidences of man in the past such as tools and implements)
Records of Detective Investigations
Royal Decrees and Laws
Official Reports
Maps
Memoirs or Autobiographies
Personal accounts: record of interviews
Newspapers and Magazines: reports of correspondents
Legislative journals
Court Records
Other Repositories of Primary Sources are the libraries of various universities in the Philippines
such as the University of the Philippines, the Ateneo de Manila Rizal Library and Museum, the
American Historical Collection in ADMU, and the University of Sto. Tomas Central Library and
Museum.

Santiago Alvarez
     - A revolutionary general and a founder and honorary president of the first directorate of the
Nacionalista Party
     - Also known as Kidlat ng Apoy because of his inflamed bravery and dedication as
commander of Cavite's famous battles
     - The only child of revolutionary general Mariano Alvarez
 
 

Teodoro Agoncillo
      - A prominent 20th-century Filipino historian
     - He and his contemporary Renato Constantino were among the first Filipino historians
renowned for promoting a distinctly nationalist point of view of Filipino history.

Robert Fox
     - An anthropologist and leading historian on the prehispanic Philippines
     - He led a six-year archaeological research project in Palawan, focusing mainly on the caves
and rock shelters of Lipuun Point in the southern part of the island. Its most outstanding site is
the Tabon Cave complex, the large main cave delivered the only Pleistocene human fossils found
in the Philippines to date. The fossil finds include a skullcap, jaw bones, teeth and several other
fragmented bones. Dubbed as the "Tabon Man",  the finds represent more than just one
individual.
 
William Henry Scott
     - A historian of the Gran Cordillera Central and Prehispanic Philippines

Antonio Pigafetta
     - An Italian scholar and explorer from the Republic of Venice.
     - He joined the expedition to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the
flag of King Charles I of Spain and, after Magellan's death in the Philippines, the subsequent
voyage around the world.
     - During the expedition, he served as Magellan's assistant and kept an accurate journal which
later assisted him in translating the Cebuano language. It is the first recorded document
concerning the language.

Juan de Plasencia
     - A Spanish friar of the Franciscan Order.
     - He spent most of his missionary life in the Philippines, where he founded numerous towns
in Luzon and authored several religious and linguistic books, most notably the Doctrina Cristiana
(Christian Doctrine), the first book ever printed in the Philippines.
Emilio Jacinto
     - A Filipino General during the Philippine Revolution
     - He was one of the highest-ranking officer in the Philippine Revolution and was one of the
highest-ranking officers of the revolutionary society Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galang na
Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, or simply and more popularly called Katipunan, being a
member of its Supreme Council.
 
Kartilla
     - served as the guidebook for new members of the organization, which laid out the group's
rules and principles. The first edition of the Kartilya was written by Andres Bonifacio. Emilio
Jacinto later pen a revised Decalogue.

The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred in Kawit, Cavite on 12 June 1898 where

Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and
independence of the Philippine islands from Spanish colonization after the latter was defeated at
the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898 during the Spanish-American War.
     - The Act of the Declaration of Independence was prepared and written by Ambrosio
Rianzares Bautista in Spanish, who also read the said declaration.  The Philippine Declaration
was signed by ninety-eight persons, among them an American army officer who witnessed the
proclamation.
     - The Act declared that the Filipinos “are and have the right to be free and independent,” and
that the nation from ”this day commences to have a life of its own, with every political tie
between Filipinas and Spain severed and annulled”.
 
Apolinario Mabini
      - Filipino revolutionary leader, educator, lawyer and statesman who served first as a legal and
constitutional adviser to the Revolutionary Government, and then as the first Prime Minister of
the Philippines upon the establishment of the First Philippine Republic.
     - He is regarded as the "Utak ng Himagsikan" or "Brain of the Revolution".
     - Mabini performed all his revolutionary and governmental activities despite having lost the
use of both his legs to polio shortly before the Philippine Revolution of 1896.

Emilio Aguinaldo
     - A Filipino revolutionary, politician, and military leader who is officially recognized as the
first and the youngest President of the Philippines (1899–1901) and first president of a
constitutional republic in Asia

HISTORICAL METHOD

Historical method
Historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary
sources and other evidence to research and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the
past. The question of the nature, and even the possibility, of a sound historical method is raised
in the philosophy of history as a question of epistemology. The study of historical method and
writing is known as historiography.
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
The systematic collection and evaluation of data to describe, explain, and understand actions or
events that occurred sometime in the past. There is no manipulation or control of variables as in
experimental research. An attempt is made to reconstruct what happened during a certain period
of time as completely and accurately as possible.

Primary sources include documents or artifacts created by a witness to or participant in an event.

They can be firsthand testimony or evidence created during the time period that you are studying.
A primary source is something that originates from the past. It can be a chronicle, a piece of
pottery, or even a piece of glacial ice that gives us climate data about the levels of atmospheric
carbon one thousand years ago. Historians, to the best of their abilities, work with primary
sources to understand the past on its own terms, not through the modern-day lenses. 
Primary sources may include diaries, letters, interviews, oral histories, photographs, newspaper
articles, government documents, poems, novels, plays, and music.  The collection and analysis of
primary sources is central to historical research.

Secondary sources analyze a scholarly question and often use primary sources as evidence.
A secondary source is a work that comments on the past. Typically this is a recently written book
that describes past events, often written by a historian or trained scholar familiar about the time
period and civilization in question. A secondary source is a book about history. Scholars will
spend just as much time with secondary sources as they will with primary sources since they
attempt to understand how other scholars interpret obscure events and may disagree with their
analyses.
Secondary sources include books and articles about a topic.  They may include lists of sources,
i.e. bibliographies, that may lead you to other primary or secondary sources.

The two rival factions of the Katipunan, started out as mere sangguniang balangay (councils).
Andres Bonifacio presided over the founding of both. The Magdiwang was formed in Noveleta,
Cavite on April 2, 1896; the Magdalo, in Kawit, Cavite, on April 3, 1896. Due to their rapid
growth in membership, the two branches were elevated by the Kataastaasang Sanggunian
(Katipunan Supreme Council) to the status of sangguniang bayan (provincial councils), after
which the two groups were authorized to form balangays under them and to expand their
influence. The rift (gap) between the two groups grew when Spanish forces assailed Cavite in the
latter part of 1896; the rift grew further after the liberation of Cavite. The two factions began
their own regional government with separate leaderships, military units, and “mutually agreed
territories.” The rivalry was limited to the province of Cavite and some parts of Batangas
because these areas were already liberated and thus revolutionists could freely move and
convene. The rift never culminated into violence. At times, the two groups were cordial and
fought side by side against their common foe, the Spaniards.
On March 22, 1897, two rival factions of the Katipunan, the Magdiwang and the Magdalo, met at
the administration building of the friar estate in Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon in Cavite.
The meeting on March 22 had clear objectives, according to the memoirists Artemio Ricarte and
Santiago Alvarez: the planned defense of the liberated territory of Cavite against the Spanish,
and the election of a revolutionary government. The meeting was first presided over by Jacinto
Lumbreras, a member of the Magdiwang faction, who would later yield the chair to Bonifacio
when it came time to address the reorganization of the revolutionary government. The Katipunan
was a well-organized revolutionary movement with its own structure and officers. It had an
established system that included provincial units. But during the Imus assembly of December 31,
1896, proposals to either transform and revise the organization of the Katipunan or replace it
with a revolutionary government organization fomented.
Tabon Man•

Tabon Man refers to fossilized anatomically modern human remains discovered on the island of
Palawan.

Dr. Robert B. Fox, an American anthropologist of the National Museum of the Philippines
discovered the remains on May 28, 1962.•

Tabon Man remains generally got its name “Tabon” from the cave were it was collected, the
Tabon Cave in Palawan.

Tabon Cave appears to be a kind of Stone Age factory.

They have both finished stone flake tools and waste core flakes having been found at four
separate levels in the main chamber
The Tabon Man fossils are considered to have come from a third group of inhabitants, who
worked the cave between 22,000 and 20,000 BCE.

The Tabon Man skullcap belongs to modern man, Homo sapiens, as distinguished from the mid-
Pleistocene Homo erectus species.•

Tabon Man was pre-Mongoloid or the anthropological term of racial stock that applies to which
entered Southeast Asia during the Holocene and absorbed earlier peoples to produce the modern
Malay, Indonesian, Filipino, and "Pacific" peoples.
Antonio Pigafetta was a key player of one of the most amazing world exploration trips. He was
born in Vicenza in 1492, and he was an Italian seafarer and geographer.
The relevance of his own venture, fundamentally lies in the fact that he took part of the first
globe circumnavigation (Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island,
continent, or astronomical body), between 1519 and 1522, and he was able to accomplish it after
the murder of Ferdinand Magellan, leaving a detailed description of the journey in the Report of
the first trip around the world, a lost manuscript that was rescued later, in 1797, and today is
considered one of the most important documentary evidence relating the geographical
discoveries of the Sixteenth Century.
His own narration about the first world circumnavigation was one of the greatest achievements in
the history of navy exploration and discovery.
In this narration can be found descriptions of peoples, countries, goods and even the languages
that were spoken, of which the seafarer was trying to assemble some brief glossaries.
Pigafetta tells how, being in Barcelona in 1519, he heard about Magellan’s expedition, and being
wishful to learn about the world, he asked for and obtained the permission to join in the voyage.
Moving on, then they arrived in Patagonia, where they spent winter months in a desolate
solitude. They met local people, who looked like giants in their eyes full of wonder, because of
their robust body types.
They survived the mutiny of one of the captains and some disgruntled sailors, and continued the
exploration of the coast. One of the vessels was drowned, but the whole crew managed to be
saved.
They proceeded until the discovery of the strait, named after, Magellan himself, on October 21st
1520, and went through, although one of the ships deserted, sailing back to Spain.

Finally, they arrived in the Philippines, where they became acquainted with the natives who
proved hospitable and welcomed them as guests in the king’s palace. The indigenous people,
affected by the celebration of Mass and the crucifix planted in the island, promised to convert to
Christianity.
Quickly they developed commerce and trade, and the king, the queen and other notables of Cebu
were converted, until the entire population rapidly followed them in the new religion.

Shortly after, happened the disastrous episode that changed the course of the expedition.
Magellan took part in a conflict between some local tribes and was killed. The rest of the
expedition managed to escape and retired, preparing to leave, but a trap set by Magellan’s
interpreter and the king of Cebu, led to another massacre of the Europeans.
The surviving ships continued toward Borneo and to the city of Brunei, where they managed to
stock up, then from there, traveling southbound, they came to the Moluccas, 27 months after the
departure from Spain, finding a warm welcome by an astrologer king who had predicted their
arrival.
But at this point, despite the perspective of good business and the rich exchanges that would lie
ahead, their desire to return to Spain urged them and pushed them to a quick return.

Juan de Plasencia
He is believed to have arrived to the Philippines in 1577, after a stopover in Mexico. As soon as
he arrived, he joined forces with another missionary, Fray Diego de Oropesa, and they both
started preaching around Laguna de Bay and Tayabas, Quezon, in Quezon Province, where he
founded several towns.
During the following years they are also credited with the foundation of a large number of towns
in the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna and Rizal, such as Tayabas, Caliraya, Lucban, Mahjayjay,
Nagcarlan, Lilio(Liliw), Pila, Santa Cruz, Lumban, Pangil, Siniloan, Morong, Antipolo, Taytay,
and Meycauayan.
As a friar, Juan de Plasencia lived up to his pledge, leading a lifestyle devoid of any luxury and
in constant contact with the people he was trying to convert to Christianity.
He was also known to be a defender of the native population, looking after the poor, ill, or
neglected, and standing up for their rights on numerous occasions.
He was also very keen on creating primary schools, and requested official sanction for the
creation of educational centers where "Filipinos could not only learn Christian doctrine, but also
reading and writing, and some arts and crafts, so they would become after, not only good
Christians but also useful citizens", an initiative that was approved by Domingo de Salazar, the
first Bishop of the See of Manila (1512–1594).

BACKGROUND OF THE DOCUMENTS

CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOGS
It was written on the year 1589 during the Spanish Colonial Period. After receiving the
Lordship’s letter, Plasencia wished to reply immediately; but he postponed his answer in order
that he might first thoroughly inform himself in regard to People’s request, and to avoid
discussing the conflicting reports of the Indians.

Therefore, he collected Indians from different districts old men, and those of most capacity; and
from them he have obtained the simple truth, after weeding out much foolishness, in regard to
their government, administration of justice, inheritance, slaves, and dowries.

Customs of the Tagalogs is a part (either chapters or subsections) of longer monographs written
by the chroniclers of the Spanish expeditions to the Philippines during the early 16th and 17th
centuries.
They appeared initially in Blair and Robertson’s 55 volumes, The
Philippine Islands (1903) and in the Philippine Journal of Sciences (1958).

Emilio Jacinto was considered one of the greatest military strategists during his time who played
a very important role in the fight for Philippine Independence. For Andres Bonifacio, Emilio
Jacinto was “the brain and soul of the Katipunan.” He was very close to Bonifacio who treated
him as his brother.
 
Very little is known about Jacinto’s childhood up until he went to college. By that time, Jacinto
was proficient both in Spanish and Tagalog though he preferred to speak in Spanish most of the
time.
 
Jacinto loved learning and despite being an orphan, he had been lucky enough to be educated in
good schools through the kind–heartedness of his uncle. He grew up to be a brilliant,
nationalistic and morally principled young man.
 
Jacinto managed to send himself to San Juan de Letran College, and later transferred to
the University of Santo Tomas to pursue law. There he became classmates with future Filipino
leaders Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmeña and Juan Sumulong. He left college even before
completing his law degree and joined the secret society “Kataas-taasan, Kagalang–galangang
Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan” or more popularly called Katipunan whose objective was to
gain Philippine Independence from Spanish rule.
 
Jacinto became the youthful adviser on fiscal matters and secretary to Andrés Bonifacio because
of his intelligence. Being a member of its Supreme Council, he was elected Secretary of State for
the Haring Bayang Katagalugan, a revolutionary government established during the outbreak of
hostilities. He became a Filipino General during the Philippine Revolution and was one of the
highest ranking officers of the revolutionary society. He was later known as “Utak ng
Katipunan”.
 
 
Jacinto wrote the primer of the Katipunan, the oath of pledges, and edited the revolutionary
newspaper of the Katipunan called Kalayaan under the pseudonym 'Dimasilaw', and used the
alias 'Pingkian' in the Katipunan. He was also the author of the Kartilya ng Katipunan, ethics
code or the guidebook for members of the Katipunan in fighting the Spanish colonizers that also
contained the constitution and by–laws of the Katipunan.
 
In 1898, while leading his troops against the Spaniards in the Battle of Maimpis in Magdalena,
Laguna, Jacinto was severely wounded and was captured and then taken to the church.  He was
saved by an identity pass which belonged to another man identifying him as a Spanish spy.  His
wounds were treated and he was released. 
 
While living in San Juan, Sta. Cruz, Jacinto contracted malaria and died on April 9, 1899 at the
age of 23. It was said that he became a meat dealer before his death. A photo taken during
Jacinto’s wake shows his pregnant wife and other mourners. His remains were buried in Sta.
Cruz, Laguna but were transferred to the Manila North Cemetery a few years later. Just after he
was buried, American soldiers stormed into Laguna.
 
In the 1970’s, Jacinto's remains were again transferred and then enshrined at the Himlayang
Pilipino Memorial Park in Quezon City. At the shrine is a life–size bronze sculpture of a defiant
Jacinto riding a horse during his days as a revolutionary.
 

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

During the Spanish-American War, Filipino rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo proclaim

the independence of the Philippines after 300 years of Spanish rule. By mid-August,
Filipino rebels and U.S. troops had ousted the Spanish, but Aguinaldo’s hopes for
independence were dashed when the United States formally annexed the Philippines as
part of its peace treaty with Spain.

Declaration of
Independence

With a government in operation, Aguinaldo thought that it was necessary to declare the
independence of the Philippines. He believed that such a move would inspire the people to fight
more eagerly against the Spaniards and at the same time, lead the foreign countries to recognize
the independence of the country. Mabini, who had by now been made Aguinaldo's unofficial
adviser, objected. He based his objection on the fact that it was more important to reorganize the
government in such a manner as to convince the foreign powers of the competence and stability
of the new government than to proclaim Philippine independence at such an early period.
Aguinaldo, however, stood his ground and won.
***

On June 12, between four and five in the afternoon, Aguinaldo, in the presence of a huge crowd,
proclaimed the independence of the Philippines at Cavite el Viejo (Kawit). For the first time, the
Philippine National Flag, made in Hongkong by Mrs. Marcela Agoncillo, assisted by Lorenza
Agoncillo and Delfina Herboza, was officially hoisted and the Philippine National March played
in public. The Act of the Declaration of Independence was prepared by Ambrosio Rianzares
Bautista, who also read it. A passage in the Declaration reminds one of another passage in the
American Declaration of Independence. The Philippine Declaration was signed by ninety-eight
persons, among them an American army officer who witnessed the proclamation. The
proclamation of Philippine independence was, however, promulgated on August 1 when many
towns has already been organized

Proclamation of Philippine
Independence

The most significant achievement of Aguinaldo's Dictatorial Government was the proclamation

of Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, on June 12, 1898. The day was declared a national
holiday. Thousands of people from the provinces gathered in Kawit to witness the historic event.
The ceremony was solemnly held at the balcony of General Emilio Aguinaldo's residence. The
military and civil officials of the government were in attendance.
A dramatic feature of the ceremony was the formal unfurling of the Filipino flag amidst the
cheers of the people. At the same time, the Philippine National Anthem was played by the band.
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista solemnly read the "Act of the Declaration of Independence" which
he himself wrote. The declaration was signed by 98 persons. One of the signers was an
American, L.M. Johnson, Colonel of Artillery.

Teodoro A. Agoncillo is considered one of the most important historians of our time. His new
brand of historiography did away with conventional ways of writing the history of Philippines—
through the eyes of foreigners—and introduced a more Filipino-centric style, seeing the events of
the Philippines unfold through the eyes of Filipinos. Today, his works are considered essential to
the study of Philippine history, and have also transcended to the realm of classic literature. In
1985 Agoncillo was included in the roster of the Order of National Scientists by President
Ferdinand E. Marcos for his contributions to Philippine History. His notable works include The
History of the Filipino People; Malolos: The Crisis of the Republic; The Writings and Trials of
Bonifacio; andRevolt of the Masses. To celebrate his birth centennial, we are publishing two
essays from the book History and Culture, Language and Literature: Selected Essays of Teodoro
A. Agoncillo edited by Dr. Bernardita Reyes Churchill.

The assembly at Tejeros was finally convened on 25 March 1897. The invitations to the meeting
were signed by Secretary Jacinto Lumbreras of the Magdiwang Council, and he presided over
the assembly. Seated with Lumbreras at the long presidential table were the Supremo Andres
Bonifacio, Messrs. Mariano M. Alvarez, Pascual Alvarez, Ariston Villanueva, Mariano C. Trias,
Diego Mojica, Emiliano R. de Dios, Santiago Rillo, all of them of the Magdiwang. Among the
Magdalo seated at the head table were Messrs. Baldomero Aguinaldo, Daniel Tirona, and
Cayetano Topacio.

The chair next recognized the Supremo. He concurred with what Chairman Lumbreras had just
said and explained that the “K” in the middle of the sun in the Katipunan flag used in the
Revolution stood for Kalayaan (Freedom).

The Supremo replied that from the rank and file to the highest levels, the Katipunan was united
in its respect for universal brotherhood and equality of men. It was risking bloodshed and life
itself in its struggle against the king, in order to establish a sovereign and free government. In
short, it stood for people’s sovereignty, not a government led by only one or two.

Captain General Apoy stopped speaking and looked intently at the person he was alluding to and
ordered a detachment under Maj. Damaso Fojas to keep him under guard. After a short while,
Dr. Jose Rizal’s sister, Trining, and his widow, Josephine, pleaded with General Apoy not to
arrest Mr. Montenegro, but to let him stay at the estate house where they themselves were
staying. They volunteered to be held personally responsible for Mr. Montenegro while in their
custody. Captain General Apoy easily acceded to the request. The strong and excited
denunciation by Captain General Apoy of Mr. Montenegro alerted the Magdiwang troops. The
leaders eyed everyone suspiciously and were only awaiting a signal from General Apot for them
to begin shooting. Disorder ensued and disrupted the assembly. When order was restored, some
wanted convention adjourned, but the Supremo Bonifacio prevailed upon the others to continue.
However, the presiding officer, Mr. Lumbreras, refused to resume his role of chairman. He
wanted to yield the chair to the Supremo whom he thought to be the rightful chairman.

The Supremo Bonifacio appointed Gen. Artemio Ricarte as secretary. Then, with the help of Mr.
Daniel Tirona, he distributed pieces of paper to serve as ballots. When the ballots had been
collected and the votes were ready to be canvassed, Mr. Diego Mojica, the Magdiwang secretary
of the treasury, warned the Supremo that many ballots distributed were already filled out and that
the voters had not done this themselves. The Supremo ignored this remark. He proceeded with
the business at hand as if nothing unusual had happened.

General Vibora demurred, saying that he had neither the ability nor the right to assume the new
position. But General Apoy cut his objections by saying that he personally vouched for General
Vibora’s competence and right to occupy the position to which he was elected.

To all appearances the pact of Biak-na-Bato gave the leaders of the Revolution an advantageous
way out of an indefensible position. Since both parties were acting in bad faith, one of them
could not complain if the other broke its pledges. But such a solution was far from enough to
quench the general state of excitement because there was no public announcement of any
specific covenant on the political reforms hoped for by the people. The Spanish government
believed that, with the voluntary expatriation of some leaders and the unconditional surrender of
some others, peace would soon be restored, but it was wholly mistaken. Only the grant of the
reforms sought by La Solidaridad could have restored a spirit of peace, but, precisely to avoid
such concessions, the Spanish government was using all the means suggested by diplomatic guile
and skill. And so it came about that many of the discontented remained afield with forebodings
of grave and unpredictable events.

The Spanish authorities, following the advice of the friars, decided to teach a terrible exemplary
lesson and for this purpose seized not only thekatipuneros but the Masons as well and all those
who had belonged to the dissolved societies. Convinced that the insurrection could not be the
work of the unlettered but rather of the country's educated class, they also ordered the arrest of
all the prominent Filipinos in every province. The fate of the captured was cruel and horrible.
The katipuneros had managed to put themselves beyond reach of the persecution in time, and
only those who were not, were arrested. Since the latter were tortured to compel them to admit
their complicity in the insurrection, and they knew nothing about it, they could not escape these
sufferings. Many died as a result; many were executed under sentence of courts-martial; many
others, shot without any trial at all; and still others, suffocated in grim dungeons. Those who
suffered only imprisonment and deportation were lucky. Rizal was shot on the 30th December
1896 as the principal instigator of the movement, and those really guilty of giving cause for the
Filipinos to hate the very name of Spaniard were praised for their patriotism

The katipuneros had managed to put themselves beyond reach of the persecution in time, and
only those who were not, were arrested. Since the latter were tortured to compel them to admit
their complicity in the insurrection, and they knew nothing about it, they could not escape these
sufferings. Many died as a result; many were executed under sentence of courts-martial; many
others, shot without any trial at all; and still others, suffocated in grim dungeons. Those who
suffered only imprisonment and deportation were lucky. Rizal was shot on the 30th December
1896 as the principal instigator of the movement, and those really guilty of giving cause for the
Filipinos to hate the very name of Spaniard were praised for their patriotism.

Shortly before the outbreak of the insurrection Rizal, in order to put an end to an indefinite exile,
had offered his medical services to the Spanish army campaigning in Cuba. The government
having agreed to his proposal, he was taken from Dapitan and kept aboard a warship anchored in
Manila Bay, awaiting transport to Spain. It was during this time that the insurrection happened to
break out. Nonetheless the governor general sent Rizal on to Spain, whence he had to be sent
back soon after because the judge advocate of the continuing court-martial demanded custody of
Rizal to answer the charges against him that might appear from the evidence. Although Rizal's
banishment to Dapitan eliminated all possibility of his active participation in the movement, he
was found guilty of having been its chief instigator because, had it not been for the articles he
had published in La Solidaridad and for his novels, the people would never have taken to
politics. This judgment was totally incorrect because political activities in the Philippines
antedated Rizal, because Rizal was only a personality created by the needs of these activities: if
Rizal had not existed, somebody else would have played his role. The movement was by nature
slow and gentle, it had become violent because obstructed. Rizal had not started the resistance,
yet he was condemned to death: were he not innocent, he would not be a martyr.

Shortly before the outbreak of the insurrection Rizal, in order to put an end to an indefinite exile,
had offered his medical services to the Spanish army campaigning in Cuba. The government
having agreed to his proposal, he was taken from Dapitan and kept aboard a warship anchored in
Manila Bay, awaiting transport to Spain. It was during this time that the insurrection happened to
break out. Nonetheless the governor general sent Rizal on to Spain, whence he had to be sent
back soon after because the judge advocate of the continuing court-martial demanded custody of
Rizal to answer the charges against him that might appear from the evidence. Although Rizal's
banishment to Dapitan eliminated all possibility of his active participation in the movement, he
was found guilty of having been its chief instigator because, had it not been for the articles he
had published in La Solidaridad and for his novels, the people would never have taken to
politics. This judgment was totally incorrect because political activities in the Philippines
antedated Rizal, because Rizal was only a personality created by the needs of these activities: if
Rizal had not existed, somebody else would have played his role. The movement was by nature
slow and gentle, it had become violent because obstructed. Rizal had not started the resistance,
yet he was condemned to death: were he not innocent, he would not be a martyr.

In contrast to Burgos who wept because he died guiltless, Rizal went to the execution ground
calm and even cheerful, to show that he was happy to sacrifice his life, which he had dedicated to
the good of all the Filipinos, confident that in love and gratitude they would always remember
him and follow his example and teaching. In truth the merit of Rizal's sacrifice consists precisely
in that it was voluntary and conscious. He had known perfectly well that, if he denounced the
abuses which the Spaniards were committing in the Philippines, they would not sleep in peace
until they had encompassed his ruin; yet he did so because, if the abuses were not exposed, they
would never be remedied. From the day Rizal understood the misfortunes of his native land and
decided to work to redress them, his vivid imagination never ceased to picture to him at every
moment of his life the terrors of the death that awaited him; thus he learned not to fear it, and had
no fear when it came to take him away; the life of Rizal, from the time he dedicated it to the
service of his native land

Such cruelties could do no less than arouse general indignation, and, rather than suffer them, the
rebels preferred to die fighting even though armed only with bolos. Besides, the movement had
more success in Cavite because the government forces there consisted only of small constabulary
detachments scattered in different towns of the province, except for the port and arsenal which
the rebels were unable to take. At that time theKatipunan had two people's councils in the
province, one called Magdalo in Kawit led by Don Baldomero Aguinaldo, and the other, the
Magdiwang in Noveleta under the orders of Mariano Alvarez. There were also a number of
katipuneros in San Francisco de Malabon who obeyed the latter. Upon receiving Andres
Bonifacio's order to rise, the katipuneros, helped by their friends, were able to surprise the
constabulary barracks and kill the Spanish officers and sergeants in command. With the handful
of arms thus captured, the citizens of Noveleta, under the command of Don Artemio Ricarte,
threw back the forces of General Blanco on the 9th November 1896, while those of Kawit, under
the orders of Don Emilio Aguinaldo, the town mayor, and of Don Candido Tirona, who died in
the encounter, were able to retake, on the 11th of the same month, the powder-magazine of
Binacayan, which had fallen to the Spaniards a few days before.

General Polavieja, at the head of a considerable force, boldly decided to overrun the province of
Cavite, and Edilberto, who was conducting the defense of the Sapote river, died fighting
heroically on the 17th February 1897. From then on the Spanish forces were able to take one
after the other the towns within the jurisdiction of the Magdalo council, whose members were
finally compelled to withdraw to San Francisco de Malabon, there to meet with the Magdiwang
and arrive at an agreement with the latter on the most appropriate measures for the defense of the
province. For that purpose the members of both councils, together with the principal military
leaders, gathered in the estate-house of Tejeros on the 12th March 1897. The assembly, presided
over by Bonifacio, agreed on the election of a central government which would take charge of
the general business of the insurrection.

Don Emilio Aguinaldo was elected president, and Don Mariano Trias, vice-president. Bonifacio
was elected director of the department of the interior, but, affronted when some of those present
opposed his appointment because he was not educationally qualified, he walked out of the
meeting, declaring that, as head of the Katipunan, he did not recognize the validity of the
decisions, reached. Nevertheless those elected took possession of their offices and, in high
dudgeon, Bonifacio went off with his two brothers to the mountains of San Mateo; but (Mr.
Aguinaldo sent after him) two companies of soldiers were sent after him with orders to arrest
him. Bonifacio resisted, and as a result he was wounded thrice, and one of his brothers and three
of the soldiers were killed. The soldiers were able to take Bonifacio and his other brother to
Naic, thence to Maragondon, and afterward to Mount Buntis where the two brothers were shot.

To all appearances the pact of Biak-na-Bato gave the leaders of the Revolution an advantageous
way out of an indefensible position. Since both parties were acting in bad faith, one of them
could not complain if the other broke its pledges. But such a solution was far from enough to
quench the general state of excitement because there was no public announcement of any
specific covenant on the political reforms hoped for by the people. The Spanish government
believed that, with the voluntary expatriation of some leaders and the unconditional surrender of
some others, peace would soon be restored, but it was wholly mistaken. Only the grant of the
reforms sought by La Solidaridad could have restored a spirit of peace, but, precisely to avoid
such concessions, the Spanish government was using all the means suggested by diplomatic guile
and skill. And so it came about that many of the discontented remained afield with forebodings
of grave and unpredictable events.

After the capitulation of Manila, the Philippine, Government moved from Bacoor, Cavite, to
Malolos, Bulacan, where the newly created Congress held its first session. The first results of this
assembly's deliberations were the ratification of the proclamation of independence prematurely
made in Kawit, and the decision to draft a constitution for the establishment of a Philippine
Republic.
Mr. Aguinaldo who had named him commanding general of the Philippine army. Luna had
certainly allowed himself to say on occasion that Aguinaldo had a weak character and was unfit
to be a leader, but such language was 7 only an explosive outlet for a fiery and ebullient
temperament which saw its plans frustrated by the lack of necessary support. All of Luna's acts
revealed integrity and patriotism combined with a zealous activity that measured up to the
situation. If he was sometimes hasty and even cruel in his decisions, it was because the army was
in a desperate position due to the demoralization of the troops and the lack of munitions; only
acts of daring and extraordinary energy could prevent its disintegration. The death of Andres
Bonifacio had plainly shown in Mr. Aguinaldo a boundless appetite for power, and Luna's
personal enemies exploited this weakness of Aguinaldo with skillful intrigues in order to
encompass Luna's ruin. To say that if Aguinaldo, instead of killing Luna.