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Lecture notes: Philippine History
Sources:
Agoncillo, Teodoro at Fe Mangahas.
2010. Philippine History, Lungsod
Quezon: C & E Publishing Inc.
Viana, Augusto. 2011. The
Philippines: A Story of a Nation.
Lungsod ng Maynila: Rex Book Store.
Abinales, Patricio and Donna
Amoroso. 2005. State and Society in
the Philippines. Pasig City: Anvil
Publishing.
The Philippines in ancient times
Some theories on Philippine prehistory
suggest that the Philippines and the
rest of the islands in Southeast Asia
may have been sites of human
evolution between 200,000 and
300,000 years ago. One theory
during the Ice Age, the waters around
what is now the Philippines fell about
4.7 meters below its level. Because of
this, large areas of land came to the
surface and formed land bridges to
mainland Asia. It is said that it was
during this period that the first
settlers, a small hominid, came to the
Philippines. Most likely, they were
hunters and gatherers on an
exploration trip. The earliest stone
tools and animal fossils found in
Cagayan Valley in northern Philippines
were dated back to at least 200,000
years ago. Although no human fossil
were found yet, the artifacts suggest
their existence. Collectively they were
called Cagayan Man or Homo erectus
philippinensis. They had similar
characteristics as the Java Man of
Indonesia and Peking Man of China.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010, p.13)
In 1962, a skull cap of man was
discovered in the Tabon caves of
Palawan. From this skull,
archaeologists learned that man had
been in the Philippines for at least
22,000 years. The cave where the
Tabon man was found dated back to
half a million years and had been
occupied for more or less 30,000
years. A piece of charcoal which
dated back to 30,000 years was also
found which may indicate the first use
of fire in the archipelago. The pre
historic people had a primitive culture
characterized by stone implements.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010, p.13)
Some 25,000 to 30,000 years ago,
another kind of settlers, the ancestors
of the Negritos (Aetas, Ati, Dumagat)
came to the Philippines by crossing
land bridges. They were said to have
come from the south, by way of
Palawan and Borneo. Another Negrito
migration occurred little later by way
of Sulu and Mindanao. These
immigrants used blow gun, bow and
arrow. They practiced dry agriculture
similar to the Kaingin system. Their
tools were made of stone. Their
clothing consisted of bark of trees and
their houses were made of leaves and
branches of trees. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas, 2010, p.14)
More than 7,000 years ago, the
resulting rise in the sea level ushered
the arrival of another group of people,
the Austronesians. They came to
south east Asia by boats from
southern China. They had brown skin
and an early stone culture. Much later
some of them came to the Philippines
from Indo China and South China also
by boats. They practiced dry
agriculture and produced yams, rice
and gabe. Their clothing consisted of
pounded bark of trees with various
printed designs. The Kalingas,
Gaddangs, Apayaos, Igorots and
Ilongots, all indigenous groups of
Luzon, the native Visayans; the
Tagbanuas of Palawan, the Bagobos,
the Bilaans, the Manobos, and the
Tirurays of Mindanao, are descendants

of this group. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas, 2010, p.14)
Early Filipinos practiced agriculture,
which was the main source of their
sustenance. Rice, coconut, sugar
cane, cotton, banana, hemp, orange
and many kinds of fruits and
vegetables were raised. Land
cultivation was done in two ways: the
Kaingin and tillage. In the Kaingin
system, the land was cleared by
burning the shrubs and bushes. The
cleared land was then planted to
crops. In the tillage system, the land
was plowed and harrowed, then
followed by planting. The ancient
Filipinos practiced irrigation. They
increased their crop production by
irrigating ditches. The rice terraces in
Banawe attest to this ancient practice.
The ditches of these rice terraces are
stone walled and run for thousands of
feet up the mountain side. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas, 2010, p.15)
Aside from agriculture, the ancient
Filipinos engaged in industries such as
fishing, mining, ship building, poultry
and live stock raising, logging, pottery
and weaving. Textiles like sinamay
were woven with threads obtained
from banana and cotton plants. They
also domesticated chickens, native
ponies, carabaos, pigs and goats.
Fishing was a common industry
because most of the settlements were
along rivers and seas. Mining was also
another important industry before the
coming of the Spaniards. In 1569,
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi reported to
the Viceroy of Mexico that there were
more or less gold in all these islands, it
is obtained from rivers and in some
places, from mines which the natives
work. (Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010,
p.15)
Ship building and logging were also
thriving industries before the Spanish
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came. Filipinos were proficient in
building ocean going vessels. This
skill can be explained by the
abundance of thick forest in the
archipelago that are rich in hard wood
and as the country is surrounded by
water, naturally produced good
sailors. The Filipino shipbuilders built
all kinds of boats for travel, war and
commerce. (Agoncillo and Mangahas,
2010 p.16)
No currency was used in trading.
Goods were bought and sold through
the barter system called baligya. For
example, a goat is exchanged for a big
basket of fish. Sometimes the Filipinos
would exchange gold for products sold
by the Chinese, who trusted the
Filipinos and consigned their goods to
be paid only upon their return trip to
the islands. Commerce extended far
and wide into nearby islands such as
Borneo, Malaya, Thailand, Cambodia,
Sumatra and India. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas, 2010 p.16)
The ancient Filipinos were divided into
social classes. These were the nobles,
freemen and dependents. The nobles
composed of the chiefs and their
families were the societys upper
class. In the Tagalog region, the
nobles usually carried the title of Gat
or Lakan. Next to the nobles were the
freemen who may be regarded as the
middle class. The members of the
lowest class were the dependents
called alipin. The low social status of
the dependent was acquired by
captivity in battle, by failing to pay
ones debts, by inheritance, by
purchase or by being pronounced
guilty of a crime. Among the Tagalogs,
the dependents were classified into
aliping namamahay and aliping
sagigilid. The namamahay had his
own house and family. He served his
master by planting and harvesting his
masters crops, by rowing his masters

boat and by helping in the
construction of the masters house.
On the other hand, sagigilid had no
house of his own, he lived with his
master and could not marry without
the latters consent. Dependents were
further classified into three levels or
grades: first, as full dependent (whose
parents were both dependents);
second as one half dependent (with
one parent as dependent); and third,
as semi-dependent (with one parent
being one half dependent and the
other free). These levels were not
permanent. Anyone could move up
and down a level upon payment of
debts or purchase. Thus there were
no slaves in the real sense of the
word, only dependents due to debts or
captivity from war or battles.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010 pp.16-
17)
The Filipina before the arrival of the
Spaniards enjoyed high position in
society. As a custom, women were
equal of men in society. They could
own and inherit property and sell it,
they could engage in trade and
industry; and they could succeed to
chieftainship of her community or
barangay in the absence of a male
heir. The men respected the women.
To show this respect, the men, when
accompanying women, usually walked
behind the latter. This was done not
only to show respect for the women,
but also to protect them from any
harm that may come from behind.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010 p.17)
In most cases, a woman of one class
married into the same class. Thus a
noble man married a woman from a
noble family. However, there were
exceptions, when a man, for example
showed bravery and courage in battle,
or when he had become powerful
enough to lead the people of his
community. A man could marry as
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many women as he could support. His
children by his first wife were
considered legitimate children and
could, therefore inherit his property.
The so called illegitimate children were
not given the right to inherit from their
father. Courtship was long and
difficult. A man served the parents of
the girl he loved for years. He
chopped wood, fetched water and did
errands for the girls parents. When
accepted by the parents, the marriage
was then arranged. The man was
required to give a dowry, called bigay
kaya, which usually consisted of a
piece of land or gold. To the parents
of the girl, the man must give a gift
called panghimuyat. The marriage
was simple. It consisted of the groom
and the bride drinking from the same
cup. Then the old man would
announce that the ceremony was
about to begin. A priestess would bow
to the assembled guests and then
would take the hands of the couple
and join them over a plate of
uncooked rice. She would then shout
and throw the rice to the guests.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010 pp.17-
18)
Among the ancient Filipinos, the male
clothing consisted of upper and lower
parts. The upper part was a jacket
with short sleeves called kangan. The
color of the jacket indicated the rank
of the wearer: the chief wore red,
while those lower in rank wore either
black or blue. The lower part was
called the bahag, which consisted of a
cloth wound about the waist, passing
down between the thighs. The women
were usually naked from the waist up.
They wore a saya or skirt. Among the
Visayans, this lower part is called
patadyong. A piece of white or red
cloth called tapis, was usually
wrapped around the waist or the
chest. Filipinos walked bare footed.
Men usually wore a head gear called

putong, a piece of cloth wrapped
around the head. The color of the
putong showed the number of persons
the wearer killed. Thus, a man
wearing a red putong had killed at
least one man and the one wearing an
embroidered putong had killed at least
seven men. (Agoncillo and Mangahas,
2010 p.20)
The ancient Filipinos wore ornaments
made of gold and precious stones.
Women as well as men wore armlets
called kalumbiga, pendants, gold
rings, earrings, leglets and bracelets.
The body was also adorned by
tattooing including the face. Among
men, however, tattooing had another
use. It was used as a mans record,
that is, the more a man was tattooed
the more he was admired by the
people of his community for his
bravery in battle. According to the
first Spanish missionaries who wrote
about the ancient Filipinos, the
Visayans were the most tattooed
people, the missionaries called them
pintados. (Agoncillo and Mangahas,
2010 p.21)
There were no formal schools but
children of school age were taught in
their own homes by their mothers who
were their first teachers. Early
Filipinos possessed a system of writing
called a syllabary, baybayin or alibata
where every letter is pronounced as a
syllable. The syllabary consisted of
seventeen symbols, three of which are
vowels (patinig) and fourteen are
consonants (katinig). They wrote on
large leaves of plants and trees, and
sometimes on barks of trees and
bamboo tubes. They used colored
saps of trees as ink, while they used
pointed sticks or iron as pencil. Some
samples of this ancient writing that
have come down to the present are
found among the Hanumo Mangyans
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of Mindoro and Palawan. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas, 2010 pp.22-23)
The early Filipinos had literature. The
Ifugaos had epics which were
originally recited but later on were
written down. Their epics are the
Hudhud and the Alim. The former
glorifies Ifugao history and its hero
Aliguyon. The Alim on the other hand,
tells the story of gods that resemble
Indian gods in the epic Ramayana.
The epic of the Ilocanos, Biag ni Lam-
ang originated even before the arrival
of the Spaniards. The Bicolanos hae
their epic called Handioing. The
Muslims, a very daring, brave, and
courageous people produced several
epics: the Bantugan, Indarapatra and
Sulayman, Bidasari and Parang Sabil.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010 p.23)
The earliest Filipinos works of art may
be seen in their tools and weapons.
These tools and weapons were at first
rough, but as time went on, the
Filipinos began to polish them. Later,
beads, amulets, bracelets and other
ornaments were used to improve their
appearance. With the introduction of
bronze, certain instruments were
manufactured like bronze gongs, bells
and even drums. This indicates that
the social arts such as dance and
music were already developed in
ancient times. The early Filipinos also
used metal and glass. Simple
weapons, such as daggers, bolos,
knives, and spears were made with
artistic designs in their handles.
Muslim art in particular deals with
plant and geometrical designs while
Ifugao art deals with animal and
human representations. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas, 2010 p.25)
Early Filipinos believed that the soul is
immortal. They also believed in life
after death as evidenced by the
manunggul jar, a container of bones

for the dead. They believed in one
Supreme Being they called Bathalang
Maykapal or Bathala. Aside from the
Supreme Being, they also worshiped
minor deities whose functions were
closely related to the daily life of the
people. Thus, the god of agriculture
was called Idiyanale, the god of death,
Sidapa, the god of fire, Agni, the god
of rainbow and Balangaw, the god of
war. Ancient Filipinos worshiped the
sun and venerated the moon, the
animals and birds for they believed in
the interconnectedness of the unseen
with the visible. Thus the objects of
nature should be respected, even
crocodiles were venerated. Old trees
too were considered sacred and
nobody was allowed to cut down such
trees. Reefs, rocks and crags were
also revered and dishes and kitchen
wares were left on them as a sign of
reverence. The soul spirits called
anito were venerated. This is called
the cult of the dead. The memory of
dead relatives was kept alive by
carving images made of gold, stone
and ivory. The image was called
larawan or likha among the Tagalogs,
diwata among the Visayans, and bulol
among the Ifugaos. The people
offered prayers and sacrifices to these
images or symbols in order to win
their sympathy. The offerings or
rituals were laid down by a woman
priest called baylana, babaylan or
katalona. (Agoncillo and Mangahas,
2010 pp.25-26)
An early settlement was referred to as
the barangay, a tagalong word
originally meaning boat, referring to a
boat load of related people, their
dependents and their slave. These
kinship groups were led by a datu,
hence barangay also meant the
following of a datu, a political
community defined by personal
attachment, not territorial location.
The barangay settled together in a
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community ranging from thirty to one
hundred households and through
subdivision, many were still that size
when the Spanish arrived in the
sixteenth century. (Abinales and
Amoroso 2005, p.28)
Datuship is a political office that
included military, judicial, religious
and entrepreneurial roles. A datu was
expected to govern his people, settle
their disputes, protect them from
enemies and lead them into battle.
He was assisted by a considerable
staff. His chief minister or privy
counsellor was atubang sa datu-
literally facing the datu- and his
steward or majordomo was paragahin,
dispenser, who collected and recorded
tribute and crops. His sheriff or
constable was bilanggo, whose own
house served as a jail. A kind of town
crier-patawag was a slave, he
announced proclamations, mantala,
either by shouting them out from the
top of a tall tree, or by delivering them
to the persons concerned for
example, timawa being summoned for
a hunt or raid, these served as the
datus military forces, armed at their
own expense. Success and power
always depended on an individuals
charisma and valor, a combination of
diplomacy and military prowess
resulting in wealth that was used to
attract more followers. (Abinales and
Amoroso 2005, p.29)
Relations existed between barangays.
They traded with each other.
Sometimes alliances were concluded
between barangays for mutual
protection against a common enemy.
An alliance was sealed through a ritual
called sanduguan or blood compact.
This entailed drawing of blood from
the arms of the contracting parties
mixing their respective blood in a cup
of wine and drinking the mixture.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010, p.18)

The datu made the laws of the
community. When he had a law in
mind, he called in the council of elders
to give their opinion. If the elders
approved the proposed law, the datu
ordered the town crier to announce to
the community the approval of the
law. The law will then be explained by
the town crier to the people. Any
person violating the law was
immediately arrested and brought
before the datu for trial. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas, 2010, p.19)
Most disputes were decided peacefully.
The court of justice was composed of
the datu as judge and elders of the
barangay as members of the jury. If
conflict arose between members of
different barangays, the differences
were resolved by arbitration. A board
composed of elders from neutral
barangays acted as arbiter. Trial by
ordeal-consisted of ordering the
suspects, in the case of theft, to dip
their hands into a pot of boiling water,
the suspect whose hand was scalded
the most was adjudged guilty.
Another form of trial was holding
lighted candles by the suspects; the
suspect whose candle died out first
was the guilty party. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas, 2010, p.19)
Common reasons for going to war
included avenging a killing,
mistreatment or abduction, there also
customary times of year to plunder
and capture slaves. But although the
situation was fluid, it was not chaotic
as it appeared to the Spanish.
Alliances were made, often through
marriage, for friendship and help
against mutual enemies. These
alliances yielded hierarchies of datus
who paid tribute to those above at
once a system of trade and a way to
reinforce the hierarchy. Alliances were
always sensitive to the relative
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strength of partners, as is the case in
international diplomacy still, were
liable to be tested by warfare. But
warfare was episodic, not continual,
ending quickly with the seizure of
goods and people. The end of
hostilities usually saw the withdrawal
of the victorious forces and the
payment of heavy tribute by the
defeated datu. Each locality remained
under its own datu, although of course
a datu was liable to fall to an
externally sponsored rival if
unsuccessful in war. (Abinales and
Amoroso 2005, p.33)
For datus, gifts of prestige goods were
the primary material means of
cementing strategic alliances with
other elites and rewarding the loyalty
of subordinates. In a society in which
political coalitions are not
automatically defined by territory or
uni-lineal descent groups,
personalized alliance networks were,
by necessity, built through inter
marriage and the circulation of
prestige groups. (Abinales and
Amoroso 2005, p.33)
Filipino historians and archaeologists
believe the Filipino-Chinese trade
contacts began around the 9th century
during the Tang Dynasty. They cite as
evidence Tang stonewares that were
found in the Babuyan islands, along
the coast of Ilocos, Pangasinan,
Batangas and Manila. The Chinese
trade in the Philippines greatly
improved during the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1650). During this time,
Emperor Yung Lo sent a fleet of
vessels to the Philippines to visit
Lingayen, Manila, Mindoro and Sulu.
Trade with Malaya and Indonesia: The
Laguna Copper plate discovered in the
Pagsanjan Laguna river delta in 1986
is evidence of early Filipino contact
with its South East Asian neighbors

particularly the Malays and Indonesia.
Dated in 900 AD, the copperplate
contains an inscription in an old
Philippine language, stating the full
payment of a loan obtained by a
woman trader from her contacts in
Indonesia. The copperplate also shows
shared knowledge in metallurgy and
its use in trade and commerce to
record transactions, as in this case, as
certificates of credit and loan payment
. (Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010,
pp.33-34)
Entry of Islam: Islam had first entered
Southeast Asia in the 13th century
through Indian and Arab traders and
missionaries who converted port rulers
on the coasts of Sumatra and Java. By
the 14th century, the Mongol-ruled
Yuan Dynasty of China had conquered
Muslim regions as far as west as
Baghdad, facilitating the flow of
Muslim scholars, preachers, and
traders into East and Southeast Asia.
(Abinales and Amoroso 2005, p.42)
A Muslim ruler found that Islam helped
him build and centralized political
power which rested on three bases:
material reward, coercion and spiritual
power. Conversion strengthened a
datus commercial advantages
through favoured access to growing
Muslim trade networks. Sulu, the
island group near northeast Borneo,
was home to the first sultanate and
supra barangay state in the
Philippines. Sulu appeared in Chinese
records beginning in 1349 and sent
several tribute missions during the
early Ming Dynasty. According to
historian Cesar Majul, Sulu was visited
by Chinese Muslim traders and Arab
missionaries who began to spread the
faith in the late 14th century. Paduka
Batara, the Sulu ruler who died in
China, left to sons to be raised among
Chinese Muslims. But Sulu did not
have a Muslim ruler until about 1450,
7
when Rajah Baginda (a Minangkabau
prince) and Sayid Abu Bakr (Sayid
signifies descent from the Prophet
Muhammad) fled Sumatra after his
defeat by non Muslim Javanese.
Baginda arrived in Sulu with a group of
wealthy merchants and married
locally, but lacked spiritual credentials
to become more than a paramount
datu. Abu Bakr, with his prestigious
lineage, had the necessary stature.
He allied with Baginda by marrying his
daughter and became Sultan Shariff
ul-Hashim. Majul stated that Abu Bakr
introduced not Islam as such but Islam
as a form of state religion with its
attendant political and social
institutions modelled on those of
Melaka. The sultanate spread its
religion and authority from the port of
Jolo to the interior of Sulu and
neighboring islands claiming
ownership of rights and land over all
subject people. Authority was
established through missionary
activity and the creation of political
districts. Each was administered by a
Panglima, an official one rank lower
than a datu who collected taxes,
adjudicated disputes, organized
conscripted labor and announced royal
decrees. (Abinales and Amoroso 2005,
p.44)
Teachings of Islam: 1) there is only one
Supreme Being, Allah, the creator of
the Universe and all of mankind; 2)
Allah is jus and merciful God and it is
Allahs desire that all should repent of
their sins, purify themselves so they
could enter Paradise after death; 3)
Life in this world is only temporary and
ones good deeds, as well as the bad
deeds, are listed by an angel for final
judgment on the last day of the entire
humanity. Each one of us will be
judged according to what one has
done in his lifetime; 4) the Koran
forbids any human or animal
representation in their art, only

geometric patterns are allowed; 5)
eating pork, drinking wine, gambling
and other vices are forbidden in
orthodox Islam; 6) Islam forbids loans
and usury; 7) Muslims are duty bound
to help the poor, orphans and widows;
8) telling lies, stealing, adultery and
murder are all gave sins that deserve
serious punishment; 9) every Muslim
must have goodness expressed in
faith in God and such virtues as
patience, faithfulness, honesty,
industry, honor and courage; and 10)
a follower of Allah has to observe the
following rituals or obligations: a
declaration of faith in the oneness of
God (shahada); prayer facing the east
(Mecca) five times a day (salah);
fasting (sawm); giving of alms (zakat)
and a one time pilgrimage to Mecca
(hadjj). (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, pp.35-36)
The Arrival of the Spaniards:
The object of the Spaniards, as of the
Portuguese before them and the Dutch
soon to follow was to capture and
monopolize the highly profitable spice
trade that stretched from a group of
islands called the Moluccas (now
Maluku, Indonesia) to European
markets. Europe was rebuilding its
population and prosperity after the
disastrous, plague ridded 14th century
and experiencing a rising demand for
exotic Eastern goods that sharply
spiked from 1550 to 1620. Before the
Europeans entered the trade directly,
these spices were collected from local
producers by Southeast Asian traders
and delivered to the Muslim entreports
of Melaka and Aceh on the Strait of
Malacca. Through the Indian Ocean,
around the Indian sub continent and
through the Persian Gulf, they were
carried on Indian, Arab or Turkish
ships. Across the dessert at the
Mediterranean ports, the Egyptian
ruler took his cut. Finally, Venetian
8
sailors completed the last leg of the
journey, bringing the now highly
expensive product to European ports.
Wresting this trade from Muslim
control was a dream first realized
though briefly, incompletely and quite
destructively by the Portuguese. In
1499, the Portuguese began capturing
seaports along the route and
destroying their Muslim rivals to
monopolize trade through superior
military power. In 1511, they captured
Melaka, forcing the Sultanate into
exile. (Abinales and Amoroso 2005,
p.47)
The goal of the navigational race by
this time the Spanish were involved
was direct access to the primary
producers of Maluku. Competition
between the two Catholic powers was
mediated by the Pope, who drew a line
of demarcation based on incomplete
geographic knowledge and added the
condition that conquered lands had to
be Christianized. It was in this context
that the Spanish Crown, sponsoring
the Italian Christopher Columbus
sought a better route, stumbled into
the western hemisphere and built an
empire based in Mexico that enriched
Spain with silver. In 1520, Ferdinand
Magellan, a Portuguese sailor who
defected to the Spanish king, sailed
from Spain to the Atlantic, around
South America and over the Pacific to
chart the western route Maluku,
discovering the Philippines along the
way. A powerful indication of how
cosmopolitan a world is that the
Europeans were entering is that
Magellans expedition had little trouble
finding interpreters (usually slaves)
who spoke languages ranging from
Spanish, Arabic, Malay and Tagalog.
(Abinales and Amoroso 2005, p.47)
Magellan landed in the Central
Philippines in 1521. He and the
Visayans immediately began to trade

and exchange gifts. From the Spanish
side came hats, knives, mirrors,
combs, bells and ivory. The Visayans
brought fish, poultry, palm wine,
bananas, coconut, ginger and gold.
After a few weeks of friendly meetings,
eating and drinking, the Spaniards
held Easter mass in the settlement.
Two datus joined the worship, kissing
the cross but not making an offering
nor taking communion. Before the
expedition moved on, Magellan
erected a cross on the highest summit.
(Abinales and Amoroso 2005, p.48)
This association continued when the
expedition landed on Cebu, which
Magellan had been told in Butuan was
the largest settlement with most
trade. When Magellan arrived in 1521,
Rajah Humabon welcomed him as a
matter of course and tried to collect
tribute from him, as he had from a
recently departed Siamese vessel.
Magellan refused, asserting the
superiority of his King and
demonstrating his weaponry. Upon his
display of power and the information
from Muslim traders that these were
the same people who had conquered
Melaka, the rajah offered to pay
tribute to Magellans king. Magellan
responded that he sought not tribute
but trade and conversion to his
religion. (Abinales and Amoroso 2005,
p.48)
Magellan made it clear that his only
enemies would be those who hate our
faith, while those who became
Christian of their own free will would
be better regarded and treated than
the others. He added that as a
Christian, Rajah Humabon could more
easily defeat his enemies. Thereupon,
the Rajah and his subordinate chiefs
expressed their interest in learning
about the religion. In the next week,
about eight hundred people in Cebu
and some surrounding areas were
9
baptized and were taught to adore the
cross daily. Magellan further
convinced early Filipinos by healing a
sick man, and he began the process of
localization when he baptized
Humabons queen and gave her a
carved wooden child Jesus to take the
place of her idols, known as the Santo
Nino, the baby Jesus image was widely
adopted by Filipino Christians.
(Abinales and Amoroso 2005, p.49)
Magellan also tried to re orient the
existing power structure toward Spain
by having all the datus pledge loyalty
to Rajah Humabon and Humabon
himself to the King of Spain. But not
all were prepared to follow Humabon
into alliance with the newly arrived
power. One village on the neighboring
island of Mactan was burned for
refusing to convert and Mactans
powerful chief, Lapulapu, took this
opportunity to move against Cebus
rajah. On his own initiative, Magellan
went into battle to punish Lapulapu.
Recklessly, he refused Humabons
offer of reinforcements, aiming to
show the power of the vastly
outnumbered Christians against the
assembled forces of Lapulapu. The
result was a rout in which Magellan
himself was killed and his body never
recovered. Having failed to see the
divine backing in warfare that
Magellan promised, Humabon hastily
tried to recover his position by turning
on the Spanish survivors. The Santo
Nino was hidden away by the Visayans
and the survivors of the expedition
spent several months haplessly
searching for Maluku-seizing and
ransoming those who crossed their
path before sailing to Spain to
complete the first circumnavigation of
the globe. (Abinales and Amoroso
2005, p.49)
Over the next fifty years, Spain sent
four more expeditions, including one

that first used the name Felipina (after
King Philip II) for some of the islands.
These culminating in the expedition of
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, which
returned to seize Cebu in 1565 and
after three years succeeded in
converting the rajahs of the Visayas to
Christianity. He was aided by his
recovery of the Santo Nino (which had
acquired divine status in connection
with Magellans unavenged death),
key defections to his side and the
interest of local traders in doing
business with the silver rich Spaniards.
Legazpis position in the Visayas was
tenuous; he faced food shortages and
attacks from the Portuguese. Another
problem became apparent when seven
or eight Luzon natives came to see the
Spaniards and asked for permission to
trade. The ships were laden with iron,
tin, ceramics, scarves, light wool cloth,
glossy and fine taffetas and other
Chinese goods, spices and other
miscellaneous things. Legazpi
reported to the Viceroy of Mexico that
Maynilad (Manila) on the Northern
island of Luzon would be a more
superior base because of its direct
access to the China trade, which did
not come to Cebu. In 1571, Legazpi
mounted a military expedition to the
north. (Abinales and Amoroso 2005,
pp.49-50)
The ruler of Maynilad was the son of a
Luzon Datu and grandson of a Brunei
King: Brunei Malays also rules Tondo
and other settlements around the
Manila Bay. In the absence of strongly
centralized authority, Maynilad was
were unable to mount an effective
defense against the Spanish. One
datu who signed a treaty with Legazpi
told him: there is no king and no sole
authority in this land; but everyone
holds his own point of view and does
as he prefers. With the help of six
hundred Visayan troops, Legazpi
conquered Maynilad and surrounding
10
settlements and renamed it Manila.
With Legazpis victory in 1571, the
Spanish establishment of Manila set
out to redefine the archipelago
internally and resituate it in relation to
the Asian trade. The enormity of the
endeavour cannot be overstated. Like
the Muslim rivals, the Spanish sought
to replace pagan beliefs with a religion
of the book. Moreover, they tried to
bring all the islands under a single
political and religious authority for the
first time. (Abinales and Amoroso
2005, p.50)
The extension of Spanish rule through
low land Luzon and the Visayas took
many decades of combined military
and missionary action. Like other
colonial powers, the Spanish did not
have much manpower and relied on a
combination of local alliances and
superior firepower. Inducements
offered to datus to accept the new
authority included gifts, housing,
medical treatment, protection from
soldiers and the ritual and pageantry
of Catholic practice. If this failed,
settlements were razed and
conquered populations controlled by
militias. But the primary agents of
conquista espiritual (spiritual
conquest) were the Spanish friars-
Augustinians, Franciscans, Jesuit,
Dominican and Augustinian Recollect
missionaries. Because of Spains right
to the Philippines had been granted by
the pope on condition of Christianizing
its inhabitants, these religious orders
were officially agents of the colonial
government assigned to different
areas of the archipelago. (Abinales
and Amoroso 2005, p.51)
The mission to convert was
inseparable from the goal of political
pacification. Missionary friars became
parish priests, learning local
languages and living among their
converts in an effort to translate

Christianity into local cultures and
stamp out worship of local spirits.
Under their leadership, everyday life
was framed and regulated by Church
teachings and guidelines. For the
friar, religion was a tool of both
liberation and subordination. Imbued
with a deep sense of righteousness
and moral ascendancy, the friar hoped
the conversion of the non believers
would bring about their salvation. At
the same time, the threat of eternal
damnation helped ensure loyalty to
the Church and colonial state.
(Abinales and Amoroso 2005, p.51)
Converts adopted Christian teachings
and rituals creatively, blending them
with pre Spanish norms and practices
to create folk Catholicism. Typical
examples were the adoption of
Catholic icons to correspond to the
waning power of specific anito and
diwata and the worship of revered
ancestors along with the new Catholic
saints (who were seen, reasonably
enough as revered ancestors of the
Spanish. (Abinales and Amoroso
2005, p.51)
Another important component of
conquista espiritual was hostility to
Islam. They called the Muslims Moros,
after the hated Moors of Islamic Spain
and they described Islam as a noxious
weed that had taken root in Brunei
before we took possession of the
Philippines and from that island they
had come to preach it in Manila where
they had begun to teach it publicly
when our people arrived and tore up
the roots. The proximity of Spanish
power caused Brunei to decline,
concentrated anti-Spanish Muslims in
Sulu and encouraged he spread of
Islam in the south. This created a
lasting new division within the territory
that would become the Philippines and
undercut the Spanish attempt to rule
11
the entire archipelago. (Abinales and
Amoroso 2005, p.52)
Spanish Colonial Government:
Conquista espiritual was followed by a
process called Reduccion. Under
Reduccion, barangays were coaxed or
coerced into towns (cabeceras)
organized around a newly built church
with a resident friar. Reduccion was a
long process as whole barangays fled
to the mountains to avoid conquest or
families slipped away after soldiers left
the area. Most reluctant converts
were gradually brought into visitas,
small outlying settlements equipped
with a chapel to receive a visiting friar.
Reduccion eventually achieved the
remapping of the Philippine settlement
patterns into todays cabaceras
(district capitals), poblaciones (towns),
barangay or barrios (villages) and
sitios (hamlets). The object of
Reduccion was to bring all indios into
Christian communities bajo dela
campana (under the church bells) and
to accurately count the population in
order to collect tribute the combined
goals of church and state carried out
under friar supervision. (Abinales and
Amoroso 2005, p.53)
The new political and spiritual order
was reflected spatially in town
planning. Even when sited on an older
settlement, the cabecera departed
from organic indigenous organization-
houses arranged linearly along a river
or next of kin-to follow rational lines
derived from classical western theory.
These included open spaces, a nearby
body of water, and an orderly grid in
which the rank of persons and
institutions was clearly visible. There
was some variation between coastal
and inland towns, and not all achieved
the ideal, but in the basic plan, a
quadrilateral plaza mayor (open
square) housed the church and

convento (friars residence), civic
buildings and homes of prominent
Spaniards and Indios. The Church was
the most impressive building and a
visible representation of Spanish
power. It was the first to be
constructed in stone built with
tribute and unpaid labor and towered
above the native and civic structures.
In coastal towns, the church faced the
sea, where its bell tower, an adjacent
structure served also as a watch tower
against Muslim raids. In commercial
towns, including Manila, certain
sections were fortified against
invasion. Inside the walls, resided
Spaniards, leading Indios and
important institutions of Church and
state. Outside lived non-Christians,
common Indios, dispossessed datus at
odds with the new order and Chinese
and other foreign communities.
(Abinales and Amoroso 2005, pp.54-
55)
Throughout lowland Luzon and the
Visayas, the structure of
administrative authority that evolved
after the pacification reflected two
fundamental conditions of the
conquest period. First, there was the
need to mobilize labor and collect
tributes, a major source of revenue for
the state. Second, the shortage of
civilian officials in this far flung
outpost of the empire. To solve both
problems, King Philip II granted
encomiendas: the administrative right
to collect tribute and draft labor from
among the inhabitants of a defined
geographical area, along with the
responsibility to protect them and
provide religious instruction. One
encomienda might cover a portion of a
poblacion or the whole town. From the
late 16th century, the tribute was set at
ten reales per adult male (eight reales
equalled one Mexican Peso) of which
two went to the state, eight to the
encomendero, two reales of his share
12
were owed to the Church in fulfilment
of his religious responsibilities.
(Abinales and Amoroso 2005, p.55)
Three kinds of encomienda: There
were three kinds of encomienda; 1)
the royal encomienda, which belonged
to the King; 2) the ecclesiastical
encomienda, which belonged to the
Church; and 3) the private
encomienda belonged to the private
individual. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p.62)
Friar and encomendero became rivals
as friars began to report abuse in the
collection of tribute. Because the
uprooted and resettled barangays had
little surplus and no access to
currency, tribute was paid in kind
local produce such as rice, salt,
chickens, eggs, venison, other game
meat, swine and native liquor and
wine. Encomenderos arbitrarily
assigned low value to the tribute
products and sold them at higher
market prices in Manila; they used
under weight scales to cheat tribute
payers; their soldiers brutally exacted
payment even when crops failed and
they accepted the substitution of labor
for payment-a kind of debt slavery.
The first bishop of Manila was
outspoken in his letters to the King,
declaring that encomenderos hurt the
cause of the Church through their
greed and brutality. In the long run,
the encomendero was no match for
the friar largely because until the
mid 18th century colonial law
prohibited non official, non clerical
Spaniards from residing outside the
cities. By 1700, the encomienda
system was largely replaced by
administrative provinces, each headed
by an Alcalde Mayor. (Abinales and
Amoroso 2005, p.55)
The Alcalde Mayor was appointed by
the Governor General, his salary was
small but he could collect a part of the

tribute to increase his income. The
Alcalde Mayor is given the right to
engage in trade, this right is called
indulto de comercio. In almost all
cases, the alcalde mayor committed
acts of corruption and abused its
power in relation to the said right. The
right was abolished in 1844. Another
anomalous practice of the alcalde
mayor came with its role as judge of
the province. In response to these
indiscretions, in 1886, the King
ordered that the alcalde mayor would
remain as judge, another man was
concurrently appointed as alcalde
mayor whose main duty was to
administer the province. Under the
provincial government was the
municipal government. The town or
municipality, composed of several
barrios, was headed by the
gobernadorcillo, also called capitan
municipal. (Today this post is called
the mayor). The gobernadorcillo was
elected by thirteen electors who were
prominent in town. Six of these
electors were former cabeza de
barangay; six were actual cabeza de
barangay and the thirteenth elector
was the outgoing cabeza. The one
selected as gobernadorcillo had to be
approved by the Spanish friar-curate.
If approved, his name was sent to the
alcalde mayor who in turn submitted
his name to the Governor General in
Manila for approval. The
gobernadorcillo was aided in the
administration of the town by deputies
called tenientes, a chief of police and
subordinate officials called alquaciles.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.57)
The Audiencia: The judicial powers of
the government were exercised by the
Audiencia and the lower courts. The
Audiencia was established in the
Philippines in 1583 to administer
justice to the aggrieved people in the
colony. Governor Santiago de Vera
was its first president. The Audiencia
13
is the highest court insofar as civil and
criminal cases were concerned.
Moreover, political and administrative
matters were brought before the
Audiencia by the Governor. In the
absence of a Governor or when he
could not perform his duties, the
Audiencia exercised political and
administrative powers. It also audited
the finances of government.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.56)
During the first century of Spanish
rule, there were only two cities: Cebu
and Manila. As conquest and
settlement continued, the Spanish
officials created one city after another.
By the 17th century the country had six
cities: Cebu, Manila, Vigan, Nueva
Segovia (now Lal-lo, Cagayan), Arevalo
(now part of Iloilo City) and Nueva
Caceres (Naga City). (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p.57)
There was union of Church and State
in Spain, the same union was
introduced in the Philippines, in such a
way that officials appointed by the
King and by his representatives in the
colony were also defenders of the
faith. The Governor General had
authority to appoint priests to the
parishes. The Clergy were active in
government and had political powers.
The friars became members of the
central government. In the local
government, the friar curate almost
always was the census enumerator,
the health officer, the inspector of
schools, the examiner of pupils who
wanted to study primary school, the
censor who approved or disapproved
dramas and other writings to be
published and the auditor of the local
government. He also certified the
good physical condition of a young
man who was to become a soldier in
the colonial army. To the people of
every town, the friar curate performed
many duties. In some cases, a high

church official was also eligible to
become governor general during the
latters absence or illness. Examples
of church officials who became acting
governor general were Archbishop
Francisco dela Cuesta (1719-1721),
Bishop Juan Arrechederra (1745-1750);
Bishop Miguel Lino de Expeleta (1759-
1761); and Archbishop Manuel Rojo
(1761-1762) (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p.59)
Residencia and Visita: The residencia
was the public investigation and trial
of outgoing colonial officials in order to
ascertain whether they had committed
abuses in the performance of their
duties. The procedure involved the
incoming Governor General to conduct
the investigation and trial of his
predecessor and other officials of the
government. The result of the
investigation and trial was sent to
Spain for final decision. While the
residencia was instituted with a good
purpose, in many cases, it was abused
by the investigating Governor General
and his men, who often harassed the
outgoing governor. It was common
during those days for enemies of an
outgoing official to invent charges to
embarrass him. Governor General
Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera (1635-
1644) was a good example when his
enemies filed unfounded charges
against him, resulting in his
imprisonment. The Visita was a secret
investigation of an officials conduct as
public servant. Its purpose was to
ensure that the official will work
honestly and efficiently as he was
expected to do. This was done any
time in the duration of the officials
term. (Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010,
p.61)
Forced labor: While Filipinos were
required to render services to the
State and the Church, the Laws of the
Indies provided that the natives, who
14
were ordered to work either for the
state or church, should be paid their
wages. The Spanish officials in the
Philippines ordered the Filipinos to
work in the construction of churches,
roads, bridges, ships and in the
industries of hauling and cutting
timber. However some conditions
were set for forced labor or polo y
servicio, which included the following:
1) that the Filipinos to be drafted for
work must be paid for their work; 2)
that the Filipino laborers should not be
made to work in distant places where
they could not return to their families;
3) that the drafting of laborers should
not coincide with the planting and
harvesting seasons; 4) that men who
are physically incapable should not be
overworked; 5) that forced labor
should be resorted to only in cases of
absolute necessity; and 6) that the
number of laborers drafted should be
diminished as soon as laborers from
other countries had volunteered to
work. In practice, the laws on forced
labor were violated. Filipinos were not
paid their wages. They were
separated from their families be
sending them to far flung provinces.
They were not given food as required
by law, but instead they had to
provide for their own food. Moreover,
they were overworked and as a result
thousands of Filipino laborers died.
This was one of the causes of the
decrease in population of the
Philippines for some years in the 16th
and 17th century. For a Filipino laborer
to be exempted from forced labor, he
had to pay a fee called falla. This fee
was unreasonably high and oftentimes
the laborer could not afford to pay it.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.63)
The Tribute: To finance the
administrative expenses in the colony,
Filipinos were required to pay a tribute
in cash or in kind, in full or instalment
basis to the Spanish colonial

government. The tribute was a form
of recognition of the Filipinos loyalty to
the King of Spain. When it was
introduced officially in 1570, the
amount was small. Those who paid
tribute were persons above sixteen
years and those below sixty. In 1589,
the tribute was raised, of which a
small portion went to the Church. This
was called Sanctrum. Because of the
opposition to the tribute and to the
abuses connected with its collection,
the King abolished it in 1884 and the
Cedula personal was introduced.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.63-
64)
Taxes: Aside from the tribute, the
Filipinos also paid other taxes. They
included the diezmos prediales, the
donativo de Zamboanga and the vinta.
The diezmos prediales was a tax which
consisted of one tenth of the produce
of the land. The donativo de
Zamboanga which was introduced in
1635, was a tax specifically used for
the conquest of Jolo. The vinta was a
tax paid by the people of some
provinces along the coast of western
Luzon for the defense of the coast
from Muslim pirates who raided the
Visayas and Luzon for slaves that they
needed in their overseas trading.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.64)
Government monopolies: Governor
Basco is remembered for his role in
establishing government monopolies.
Seeing the advantages of monopoly in
tobacco, Basco recommended to the
King that the monopoly be established
in the Philippines. Consequently, the
King issued a decree in 1780 ordering
the establishment of the tobacco
monopoly. It was however, actually
established in the colony in 1782. The
following were the provisions of the
decree: 1) the cultivation of tobacco
was prohibited except for the
provinces selected to grow it; 2)
15
contraband sale of tobacco was
forbidden; 3) the government had the
exclusive right to purchase all tobacco
products, to inspect and classify the
tobacco plant and to prepare and
manufacture cigar and cigarettes; and
4) the government had the right to
prohibit the exportation or importation
of tobacco by any agency not
connected with government. Bascos
estimate that increased government
revenues would result from the
tobacco monopoly was correct. In
1808, the government realized a net
profit of about P500,000. For the
planting year 1880 to 1881, the net
profit amounted to P3,500,000.
Furthermore, the monopoly led to the
development of agriculture in the
provinces where tobacco was grown,
like Ilocos, Nueva Ecija, Cagayan
Valley and Marinduque. On the other
hand, these advantages of the
monopoly were offset by its bad
results. For example, Spanish officials
in charge of inspection and
classification of tobacco committed
abuses like seizing the lands from
tobacco farmers who failed to produce
the required quota of tobacco. In most
cases, inspectors also searched the
houses of farmers for alleged
contraband of tobacco, but in reality
the purpose was to abuse the farmers
family. In other cases, the farmers
were not paid the value of the tobacco
crop, instead they received nothing
but promissory notes. This amount in
many cases was not paid because of
the dishonesty of Spanish employees
and officials. Tobacco also
commanded a steep price. Because of
the anomalies connected with the
monopoly, the King in 1881 ordered its
abolition. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 64)
The Royal Company: In 1785,
Governor Basco established the Royal
Company. The company had a capital

of P8,000,000, the amount was
divided into 32,000 shares costing
P250 a share. The aims of the
company were to promote the
progress of the Philippines by
improving the foreign trade of the
colony with Spain and develop the
natural resources of the country by
encouraging industry, manufacturing,
and agriculture. Of the expected net
profits of the company, 4% was to be
invested in agricultural pursuits. To
implement the program, the King
granted the Company with privileges.
For example, it was given the
monopoly of trade between Spain and
the Philippines. Products that the
Philippines exported to Europe were
exempted from tariff duties.
Moreover, the Companys ships were
allowed to visit oriental ports and the
prohibition that Manila merchants
could not trade with China and India
was lifted. Because of these
privileges, commercial relations
between the Philippines and Europe
were promoted and consequently, led
to increased revenues. The
encouragement of cultivation of
indigo, sugar cane, pepper and other
spices by the Company, led to
increased agricultural production.
Moreover, foreign capital was
encouraged to enter Manila thus
improving the trade and commercial
relations between the Philippines and
other countries. With the influx of
foreign capital, the revenues of
government increased. In spite of
these incentives, the Company failed.
This failure may be attributed to the
following causes: 1) the Spanish
merchants in the Philippines, who had
been accustomed to the profitable
galleon trade, did not cooperate whole
heartedly with the company; 2) the
company was not able to establish
commercial contact with Japan, China
and India, so it had to buy
commodities from these countries
16
through Manila merchants, resulting in
paying higher prices for those
commodities than in the countries
where they came from; 3) the
Company was not well managed
because its officials spent their time in
activities that were not connected with
the promotion of the welfare of the
company; and 4) foreign vessels,
instead of the Companys vessels
brought to Manila such items such as
groceries, canned goods, wine and
other European products. As a result
of the failure of the Company to
implement its program in the
Philippines, it was abolished in 1834.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.65)
The Mexican Subsidy: Because of the
poor economic condition of the
country, which generally speaking the
Spaniards did not improve, the
Philippines became a burden to Spain.
In order to prevent the government
from becoming bankrupt, the Mexican
government sent to the Philippines an
annual subsidy called the situado.
This subsidy amounted to P250,000 on
the average. This amount was enough
to save the colonial government of the
Philippines from bankruptcy. However,
the money received from Mexico was
not spent for the improvement of the
condition of the Filipinos. A large
portion of the subsidy went to the
pockets of Spanish officials,
employees and priests in the form of
salaries. The Mexican subsidy was
finally stopped when Mexico became
independent in 1821. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p.65)
Galleon Trade: The galleon trade was
named for the huge ships that carried
cargo on the dangerous but highly
lucrative voyages. Europe had
insatiable demand for Chinese silk and
other Asian luxury goods; Spain had
the Mexican silver necessary to buy
them. Manila became the

transhipment point for this trade, and
Spanish residents were awarded a
cargo quota on the ships. The
Philippine state government was
somewhat disadvantaged in obtaining
revenue from this trade because the
Mexican Viceroys controlled the
galleons, prevented other New World
traders from sailing to Manila and
collected custom duties in Acapulco on
incoming Chinese merchandise and
outgoing Mexican silver. Manilas
share of the revenue was supposedly
to be remitted on the following
galleon, but was chronically late and
incomplete. Indigenous trade with
China was largely shut out of the
galleon trade. Local goods from
Luzon, Butuan, Cebu or Sulu could
only be smuggled aboard in small
quantities. (Abinales and Amoroso
2005, p.62)
During the 17th century the bandala
was instituted by Governor General
Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera. The
term originated from the Tagalog word
mandala which referred to a round
stack of rice stalks to be threshed.
Bandala referred to the assignment of
quotas of products that should be sold
to the government. Since the
government had no money, it issued
promissory notes. The provinces of
Central Luzon provided rice while
provinces like Tayabas and Camarines
paid in coconut oil. Since the
government could not pay for all the
goods, bandala amounted to
confiscation. The Pampangans were
most affected as the government
owed them 200,000 pesos in 1660
which coincided with the Maniago
revolt. The people refused to plant
rice knowing it would be confiscated
by the government. The abuses in the
bandala system caused its abolition in
Tondo, Pampanga, Batangas, Tayabas,
Laguna and Cavite in November 1782.
(Viana 2011, p.88)
17
Chinese in the colonial setting:
Moving through the country by permit,
the Chinese became wholesalers,
distributors and shopkeepers keeping
Manila provisioned. In this capacity
they had good relations with alcalde
mayors and lay administrators of friar
estates. Yet the Spanish felt wary and
insecure. Their response was to
extract maximum resources and labor
from the Chinese, discourage them
from settling in the colony and control
and segregate Chinese settlers from
Christianized Indios. In 1581, Chinese
traders were forced to live in the
Parian a restricted quarter built
outside the fortified walls of Manila.
Here officials could more easily collect
taxes and restrict trade. Chinese who
settled were required to pay a yearly
license fee, tribute and house tax
totalling eighty one reales (compared
to the Indios ten), render unpaid
labor, and pay occasional arbitrary
taxes. Theirs was the highest level of
taxation in the colony, but it was the
arbitrary demands that caused
Chinese hostility to flow back to the
Spanish. In 1593, when four hundred
Chinese were forcible drafted to row
vessels in a military expedition against
Maluku; they mutinied and killed the
Governor of the colony. In the
aftermath, half the Chinese population
was deported and the rest was placed
under guard. Other revolts occurred
when the mutual suspicions of
Spaniards and Chinese were provoked.
In 1603, the Spanish began to fortify
Manila against a phantom Chinese
invasion; residents of Parian, fearing a
pre-emptive massacre, rose to revolt
and the Spanish nearly killed nearly
the whole community of twenty
thousand. Sixty years later, Spanish
fear of the Chinese warlord Koxinga
ended in a tragic replay. Frequent
expulsions during the first two
centuries of Spanish rule usually

following revolts determined the size
and composition of the Chinese
population, not actually reducing it to
the mandated six thousand, but
usually holding it close to twenty
thousand. (Abinales and Amoroso
2005, p.65)
The British Occupation of 1762: While
Spains ambition to control the spice
trade was an initial reason for
retaining the Philippines, its navy
lacked the ability to operate in so
distant a region and the Dutch won
control of Maluku. What kept the
Spaniards in the Philippines was the
value of Manila as a staging post for
religious missions, especially to China
and Japan and as a transhipment point
for the galleon trade. As a strategic
outpost, however, the Philippines
remained a liability; open to attack by
rival European powers and slave
traders. Spains growing military
weakness was matched by its
economic position. Lacking valuable
southern Philippine commodities (for
example, pearl) or attractive
manufactures (such as those the
British produced) to exchange for
Chinese goods, the Spanish watched
silver drain from their empire. The
British wanted access to China,
specifically to Chinese tea, without
spending their own hard currency. To
accomplish this, they inserted
themselves into existing networks,
trading arms to Sulu to obtain marine
and forest products China wanted.
The British intruded on the galleon
trade, buying Mexican silver with
Indian textiles through Asian
middlemen and loading their own
goods onto the Acapulco-bound
galleon. Manilas administrative
weakness became apparent as state
official accepted bribes to permit this
illicit trade. Some members of the
English East India Company and the
British military sought to do away with
18
even this slight impediment and in
1762 an opportunity was afforded by
the Seven Years war to attack and
occupy Manila. Although the British
military was small, the Spanish offered
no real resistance and occupation
lasted until a 1764 negotiated
withdrawal. British control never
reached past Manila, but the
circumstances of the assault and
occupation offer an opportunity to
assess state and social cohesion.
Militarily, defenses were wholly
inadequate and the weakness of the
clerical-secular office was in full view.
The Philippines governor general had
died in office and until his successor
arrived the colony had been waiting
three years already-the archbishop of
Manila was legal civil and military
commander. Receiving prior warning
of the attack, archbishop Rojo made
no preparations; worse, he agreed
neither to surrender nor to take
military action. The city was therefore
subject to looting and violence. But
the British were surprised that the
Indios did not desert the city as their
troops prepared to take Intramuros.
Instead of watching the natives panic
along with the Spanish, the British
came under attack by a unit of 1,900
Pampangans, forces loyal to the state
who were accustomed to putting down
revolts. Only after the Pampangans
were defeated did the Indios flee the
city. On the other hand, many Indio
revolts occurred throughout the colony
during the occupation against the
authority of alcalde mayor and parish
friars. When the Pampanga based
Spanish government in exile ordered a
pre-emptive massacre of the Chinese
in Manila, most of who were Catholic,
this sent an armed force of five
thousand against the Spanish. In the
aftermath, the last expulsion order in
1766 reduced the number of Chinese
yet again. (Abinales and Amoroso
2005, pp.71-72)

Change in Filipino names: Before the
coming of the Spaniards, Filipinos had
no surnames. The name of a boy, for
example, was taken from his physical
appearance or from any natural event,
or object. Thus, if a boy looked strong,
he was named Malakas. The
Spaniards at first, made little changes
in the names of the Filipinos, those
who had Christian surnames chose
Spanish names, usually the names of
the Saints. Thus, a boy was named
after a saint, such as Santo Tomas or
San Andres. Many Filipinos, did nt
change their names. They used such
names as Magiting, Magtangol or
Bayani. Because many Filipinos had
no surnames, confusion arose. Two or
more men with the same name
brought confusion to the Spanish
authorities. To put an end to this
confusion, Governor General Narciso
Claveria issued a decree in 1849
allowing Filipinos to change their
names. A very long list of Spanish
names was prepared so that Filipinos
could choose the names they wanted
to use. Thus, Spanish names such as
Cruz, Reyes, Santos, among others
were adopted by most Christian
Filipinos. A few Filipinos, however,
continued to use their Filipino names
although they adopted Christian
names. Today, one finds such names
such as Francisco Dimagiba which are
a combination of Spanish Christian
names and Filipino names. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, pp.85-85)
Clothing in the Spanish era: The
Barong began to be worn by the
ordinary men folk. Unlike the
European and Spanish shirt that was
tucked in, the barong was loosely worn
to distinguish the natives from the
foreigners. In place of the original
putong, the males learned to wear
hats. The gobernadorcillo wore a
salakot with a silver top. He also wore
19
a coat over a long shirt and carried a
gold hilted cane. The well to do
Filipinos wore slippers and shoes, but
the poor went about barefooted. The
women on the other hand, still wore
their skirt or saya, the tapis, and the
patadyong. They learned to wear a
camisa in a Spanish way. The camisa
was made of fine material such as husi
or pinya. They too learned to wear
slippers and shoes. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, pp.87-88)
Position of women: During the
Spanish period, the women existed as
dependents of men. Their rights over
property which was enjoyed during the
pre Spanish times were curtailed.
They could not sell the property
inherited from their parents before
their marriage without the consent of
their husbands. But the husbands
could sell the same property even
without their knowledge. The friar
curates taught the Filipino women to
be very obedient to their husbands,
even if their husbands were cruel and
immoral. The friars taught them to
prepare themselves for marriage,
which was taught to be the only
function of women. They were taught
prayers and how to behave in public.
Women were not taught how to be
independent, in helping the husbands
in earning more for the family and how
to think for themselves. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, pp.89-90)
Education in the Spanish colonial era:
During the early period of Spanish
rule, education was not available to
the majority of Filipinos. However, the
second half of the 19th century,
primary and secondary schools were
opened to Filipino school age children.
Despite this move, many children were
still afraid to go to school because the
teachers were often times cruel. With
the rise of the middle class, many
Filipinos were able to go to colleges

like San Juan de Letran, San Jose and
Ateneo Municipal. Later, this Filipinos
were admitted to the University of
Santo Tomas where they finished
course in law, medicine, pharmacy
and surveying. The colonizing
countries did not educate the people
of their colonies. Only the children of
the ruling class were educated up to a
certain level, just like India, Malaya
and Indonesia. However, they were
not allowed to study to become
lawyers, physicians, chemists and
pharmacists. They were given little
education and were allowed to serve
as clerks in the civil service. On the
other hand, the Filipinos, at least those
who had money and the talent, were
given a chance to become lawyers,
physicians and teachers. No other
colonized country in Asia produced
many intellectuals and artists in the
class of Jose Rizal, Marcelo Del Pilar,
Graciano Lopez Jaena, Juan Luna and
Felix Hidalgo. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p.92)
Portuguese challenge: The Portuguese
knowing that the islands belonged to
them under the Treaty of Zaragosa,
refused to acknowledge that Legazpis
presence in Cebu was legal. In 1566
and 1588, Portuguese ships under the
command of General Gonzalo Pereira
anchored in Cebu without Legazpis
permission and on both occasions
asked Legazpi to leave. When Legazpi
refused, Pereira blockaded Cebu to
starve the Spaniards but Legazpi and
his men held their ground and forced
the Portuguese to leave instead.
Returning in 1570, Pereira bombarded
the Spanish settlement. However, the
Portuguese again failed to dislodge
their rivals. Portuguese incursions into
the archipelago ceased when Portugal
became part of Spain in 1580.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.72)
20
The Dutch incursions: At the height of
Spains power under King Charles I
and his son, King Philipp II, Holland
was part of the Spanish Empire. The
Dutch revolted against Spain and
proclaimed their independence in
1579. Spain refused to recognize
Dutch independence. Soon after the
Thirty Years War in Europe, in which
Spain was deeply involved, Spain
finally recognized Hollands
independence with the conclusion of
the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
Spain, however, closed the Port of
Lisbon to the Dutch to discourage
them from trading with the
Portuguese. The need for trading
posts forced the Dutch to send ships
to the East. In the process Holland
colonized Malaya and what is now
Indonesia. In 1597, Holland sent an
expedition to the East under the
command of Oliver van Noort.
Reaching Manila Bay, they seized
Filipino and Chinese vessels. A
Spanish squadron under the command
of Antonio de Morga engaged the
Dutch in battle. In the first battle of
Mariveles, van Noort was defeated and
was forced to leave for Holland. The
second Dutch attack occurred in 1610
when they tried to land in Cuyo Island.
The Filipinos were however, hostile to
the Dutch and fought them off.
Another expedition was sent later and
upon reaching Manila Bay, the Dutch
fleet blockaded Manila. The Spaniards
aided by Filipinos, fought them and
the second battle of Mariveles took
place. In this battle, the Dutch were
badly beaten. In spite of this, the
Dutch were relentless. In 1616,
another Dutch fleet appeared in
Manila Bay and began to plunder
vessels carrying food stuff from the
provinces to Manila. The Audiencia
which was then discharging duties of
the Governor General, sent a fleet
against the Dutch and in the Battle of
Playa Honda in 1617, the Dutch were

again defeated. There were more
Dutch attacks in the succeeding years
but they were all defeated by the
Spaniards with the help of Filipinos.
The last attack which occurred in
1647, tried to capture Cavite and
Bataan, but this time they were finally
driven off. The Dutch never again
made any serious attempts to contest
Spanish sovereignty in the Philippines.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.73)
Native revolts against Spain:
The revolt of Magat Salamat: In 1587
the former datus of Tondo, Bulacan
and Laguna decided to rise up in arms.
They were led by the former datus of
Tondo consisting of Magat Salamat
who was the son of Lakandula. The
other invaders were Martin Pangan,
the gobernadorcillo of Tondo; Juan
Banal a datu of Tondo; Felipe Salonga,
a datu of Polo, Juan Balinguit, a datu of
Pandacan; Agustin de Legazpi (a
nephew of Lakandula); Geronimo Gasi
(brother of Agustin); Esteban Taes, a
datu of Bulacan; Kalaw, a datu of
Tondo; Dionisio Capolo, datu of
Candaba; Omaghicon, a datu of
Navotas and several others. The
conspirators were to seek the
assistance of the datus of Cuyo, the
Calamianes and Brunei whose rulers
were their relatives. The help of Japan
was also enlisted. Through Japanese
interpreter Juan Gayo, Japan would
provide arms and troops and he and
his Japanese warriors would be paid
half of all the tributes collected when
the rebellion succeeds. Agustin de
Legazpi would become the new king of
the islands. The plan to overthrow the
Spaniards was revealed by Magat
himself to Antonio Surabao and
Amarlangagui, chief of Bay, Laguna
who pretended to be his supporters.
His plot to overthrow the Spaniards
was reported to Pedro Sarmiento, the
encomendero of the Calamanianes
21
who in turn revealed it to Governor
General Santiago de Vera. De Vera
quickly ordered the arrest of the
conspirators. Salamat, Agustin de
Legazpi, Basi, Gayo and his interpreter
Dionisio Fernandez were hanged and
their bodies were drawn and
quartered. The others consisting of
Pitonngatan, Balanguit, Salonga,
Omaghicon, Taes, Basi and Manuguit
were exiled to Mexico. (Viana 2010,
p.109)
The Revolt of Maniago and Malong:
The imposition of polo and bandala on
the inhabitants of Pampanga caused
restiveness in the province. In 1660,
the Pampangos rose up in arms under
the leadership of Francisco Maniago.
Maniago belonged to the principalia
being the chief of the town of Mexico
and master of camp in the colonial
army. Maniago established his camp
at Bacolor, took Lubao and sent letters
to other principalia leaders in
Pangasinan, Cagayan and Ilocos
urging them to liberate themselves
from Spanish oppression. They were
later to elect a king among
themselves. To prevent the Spanish
forces from reaching them, Maniago
and his men closed the mouths of the
rivers with stakes. To divide the rebels
and prevent the rebellion from
spreading, Governor General Enrique
de Lara went to Macabebe and
prevented the natives from joining the
revolt. He induced the powerful chief
of Arayat, Juan Makapagal to remain
loyal to Spain, De Lara offered him
lands and an appointment as master
of camp in the colonial army. Though
Makapagal had become an ally of
Spain, the Spaniards did not entirely
trust him and to keep him in check,
they kept his wife and children in
Manila in the pretext of keeping them
safe from the rebels. Through
Makapagals help, the rebels were not
able to pass through his territory. He

also raised an army to fight Maniagos
followers. Makapagals siding with
Spain demoralized the rebels and
Maniago was forced to negotiate for
peace. De Lara agreed to grant
pardon to all rebels; the payment of
P14,000 as partial instalment to the
debts owed to the Pampangos; and
that the Pampangos would be given
time to attend to their families while
timber cutting was to continue.
Maniago and his men laid down their
arms and returned to their homes.
(Viana 2011, pp.112-113)
Following the call to arms by Maniago,
the Pangasinenses under Andres
Malong rose to arms against Spain.
Like Maniago, Malong belonged to the
Principalia and was master of camp of
Binalatongan. Like the Pampangos,
the people of Pangasinan chaffed
under the heavy tribute extractions.
On December 15, 1660 the rebels
struck killing the alcalde mayor. The
rebellion swept the whole province
and Malong declared himself as king of
Pangasinan. He appointed Pedro
Gulampos as count, Francisco Pacadua
as judge and Jacinto Macasiag and
Melchor de Vera as generals. The
rebels killed mostly Spanish military
and civil officials but spared the clergy
and even saw to it that the people
attended to their religious obligations.
However, in Bolinao, the convent was
burned and the rebels threatened the
Recollect friar with death if he did not
leave. Intending to liberate the rest of
Northern Luzon, Malong sent Gumapos
with 3,000 men to Ilocos and 6,000
men under De Vera to aid Maniago in
Pampanga. This was a fatal mistake
for Malong who was left with only
2,000 men. He did not know that
Maniago had made peace with the
Spaniards. The Spaniards on the other
hand, sent two forces to challenge
Malong. One force under General
Ugalde went by the sea and landed at
22
Lingayen. The other force consisted
mostly of Pampangos went by land
under General Esteybar. ESteybars
force encountered the rebel force
under De Vera. Both retreated upon
seeing the great numbers of troops on
both sides while claiming victory. The
two Spanish armies joined forces and
marched along Malunguey and
Binalatongan. It was too late for
Malong to recall his troops in the Ilocos
and Pampanga as many of them
deserted and fled to the forests. The
Spaniards has an added boost from
the Dominicans who called on the
people to remain loyal to the Church
and Spain. In February 1661, Malong
was ambushed and captured. He was
tried and later executed by gun fire as
a concession to being a master of
camp. Malongs other leaders like De
Vera was hanged in Binalatongan
while Pedro Gumapos was hanged in
Vigan. (Viana 2011, pp.113-114)
The Revolt of Sumuroy: Opposition to
Spanish impositions like forced labor
caused the Indio to revolt. In 1649,
Governor General Diego Fajardo
ordered the alcalde mayor of Visayas
to draft polistas to work the royal
shipyard at Cavite. The Visayans were
to replace the people of Luzon who
were building the galleons. The
Visayans resented the order because it
meant leaving their families and
farms. Despite being displeased with
the friars, Governor Fajardo stood pat
on the order. The people of Palapag,
Samar rose up under the leadership of
Agustin Sumuroy on June 1, 1649. The
rebels killed the towns unpopular
curate and the rebellion spread to
other towns in Samar and later to
Cebu, Masbate, Camiguin, Albay,
Camarines, northern Mindanao,
Zamboanga and Masbate. Sumuroys
revolt was the first large scale native
rebellion to the Spanish period. The
Spaniard recruited the most seasoned

warriors of the island including the
Lutaos of Zamboanga under their
native leaders Francisco Ugbo who
was appointed master of camp and
Alonso Manobo who was made
sargento mayor. When the Spanish
commander offered a large reward for
Sumuroys head, the rebels sent him
back the head of a pig. This was done
to infuriate the commander and his
Lutao allied who were Samal Muslims
who recently converted to Christianity.
In July 1650, the combined Filipino-
Spanish forces assaulted Sumuroys
fort. They captured Sumuroys
mother, dragged her and threw her
into a ravine. Sumuroy was betrayed
by his own men and was beheaded.
The severed head was presented to
the Spaniards. (Viana 2011, p.112)
Silang and Palaris revolt 1762-1763:
In Northern Luzon in Ilocos Sur, a
member of the principalia named
Diego Silang protested the collection
of the annual comun tribute, the
drafting of polistas and the
unscrupulous practices of the alcalde
mayor-Antonio Zabala. The revolt
broke out on December 13, 1762 and
Silang was supported by the officials
from two Ilocos provinces, Abra and
Cagayan. He made his capital in
Vigan. Some principales who refused
to join his cause were arrested. Those
who resist were to be killed. To
oppose the rebels Bishop Bernardo
Ustariz issued an interdict asking the
Ilocanos to stop supporting Silang.
Silang immediately had all friars
arrested and prevented from
communicating with each other.
Despite the detention of the religious,
the Bishop was able to move about
freely. Silang then decided to ally
himself with the British when it
became apparent that the Spaniards
under Governor Simon de Anda were
planning to march against him. The
British Governor of Manila, Dawsome
23
Drake recognized Silang as the rightful
ruler of the Ilocos. Bishop Ustariz, on
the other hand, excommunicated
Silang and ordered the closing of the
churches when Silang ordered the
deportation of six Augustinian to
Manila. On May 26, two of Silangs
friends named Pedro Becbec and
Miguel Vicos appeared before Ustariz
to plan his elimination. Becbec once
helped Silang in controlling the
Tingguianes of Abra while Vicos was a
Spanish mestizo who served Silang in
the North. The motives of the two
were apparently that Silang had not
given them the proper appreciation
and that promises of personal gain
have not been fulfilled. (Viana 2011,
p. 115)
Ustariz happily gave his blessings to
the murder of Silang and even offered
absolution for their sins. Not
suspecting their treachery, Silang
welcomed the two conspirators in his
house in Bantay. They pretended to
ask his advice on certain matters. As
Silang turned to walk to his room,
Vicos drew out a blunderbuss and shot
him in the back, killing him. Their
companions, who were also
principales, took turns in stabbing
Silangs lifeless body. Silangs
rebellion was continued by his wife,
Josefa Gabriela. She urged vengeance
for the murder of her husband and
gathered followers who elected his
uncle, Nicolas Carino as their military
chief. Bishop Ustariz, on the other
hand, raised a force of Cagayanos
under Don Manuel de Arza. Gabriela
and Carino fought a fierce battle
between Sinait and Cabugao on June
27, 1763. In the second battle at
Bantay on July 9, the rebels were
defeated. Nicolas Carino was killed
and Gabriela was forced to watch the
hanging of each of 90 followers along
the coast between Candon and Bantay
until she herself was executed in Vigan

on September 20, 1763. (Viana 2011,
pp.115-116)
The Dagohoy Revolt 1744-1825: The
longest rebellion during the Spanish
period was began by Francisco
Dagohoy in Bohol. In 1744, the curate
of Inabangan, Fr. Gaspar Morales
ordered a constable named Sagrino
Dagohoy to capture a man who had
abandoned his Christian religion.
Dagohoy pursued the fugitive but was
killed then. His brother Francisco
brought Sagrinos body to be given the
proper Christian burial but he was
refused on the grounds that the
deceased died in a duel. Another
reason was that the proper church
offerings were not given. Sagrinos
body lay unburied for three days and
had began to decompose. The
infuriated brother incited the people to
rise up to arms. At that time the
Boholanos seethed with resentment at
the heavy taxes paid to the alcalde
mayor and forced labor readily rose
up. The first victim of the rebellion
was Fr. Guiseppe Lamberti, the Jesuit
curate of Jagna who was killed on
January 24, 1744. Fr. Morales was
killed by Dagohoy. Dagohoys
followers originally numbering 3,000
grew to more than 20,000 as many
Boholanos decided to join him to avoid
being drafted to fight the Moros in
Mindanao. The rebels remained
undefeated for almost 85 years. At
that time the Spanish was preoccupied
in meeting the threat of Moro pirates
and raiders who wreaked havoc in the
Visayas. On May 27, 1827, a Filipino
Spanish force numbering 2,200 under
Jose Lazaro Cairo landed to regain the
territory lost to the rebels. Fighting
became protracted and the expedition
was a failure. In April 1828, another
force under Captain Manuel Sanz
landed and fought a year long
campaign which resulted in the final
defeat of the rebels. Fighting ended
24
on August 31, 1829 and Governor
Mariano Ricafort allowed the rebels to
live in the lowlands. By that time the
original leader of the rebellion,
Francisco Dagohoy, was nowhere to be
found because he had died as a free
man. His remaining followers were
settled in the villages which are now
the towns of Batuanan, Balilihan,
Cabulao, Catigbian and Vilar. (Viana
2011, pp.116-117)
The Revolt of Apolinario dela Cruz
1841: The last of the widespread
religious rebellions in the 19th century
was that of Hermano Pule. Known as
Apolinario dela Cruz, Hermano Pule
was born in Barrio Pandak, Lukban
Tayabas on July 31, 1815. Wishing to
become a Dominican priest, he was
not accepted on the grounds that he
was an Indio. He became instead a
lay brother of the Order of Hospitallers
of St. John and served the order as lay
worker or donado in the San Juan de
Dios Hospital which administered the
Order. In December 1832, dela Cruz
and a Filipino secular priest named
Ciriaco delos Santos and 19 others
founded the Cofradia de Senor San
Jose y voto del Santisimo Rosario or
Cofradia de San Jose. The
organization was open only to Indios
and it met every 19th of the month.
The members paid a monthly due of
twelve and a half centavos and rice.
Each member who was able to bring in
12 recruits was appointed cabecilla.
Dela Cruz was recognized as the
organizations principal founder and
promoter. Its membership which
numbered in the thousands included
inhabitants from Tayabas, Laguna and
Batangas. Dela Cruz sought official
recognition for his organization but
was refused by the religious and civil
authorities. Instead the Cofradia was
outlawed and was ordered to disband.
Undaunted dela Cruz continued
recruiting and his popularity alarmed

colonial authorities. On October 19,
1840, government forces raided a
meeting of the Cofradia in Lucban
arresting 243 members. Dela Cruz
and his followers fled to Majayjay
where he continued to gather more
followers. On September 1, 1841, the
Spaniards attacked Majayjay and dela
Cruz escaped to Manila where he
planned to stage a revolt in the
provinces. Returning to Tayabas,
Hermano Pule proclaimed his revolt in
defense of freedom and his followers
called him King of the Tagalogs. On
October 23, 1841, the Spaniards under
Governor Joaquin Ortega with 150
soldiers and friars attacked his camp
at Ilayan Sabang in Tayabas. Hermano
Pule routed the attackers killing
Governor Ortega. On November 1,
1841, Governor General Marcelino de
Oraa sent more troops to Tayabas.
Hermano Pule made a valiant stand at
Alitao where he was finally defeated
and later captured. He was shot to
death and his body was quartered.
His head was hung in front of his
house in Lual Street in Lucban, his two
hands and two feet were hung inside
the cages at the guardhouse in
Tayabas. (Viana 2011, pp.118-119)
The Revolt of Bancao: In 1622, in
Leyte, Bancao a chieftain of Limasawa
led a revolt against the Spaniards
because of the intolerance of the
friars. Legazpi befriended Bancao who
had given him food and other supplies.
He became Catholic and a loyal
subject of the Spanish king. Later,
Bancao returned to the religion of his
forefathers. Because of this, the
Spanish friar curate of his own town
hated him as he convinced a lot of
natives to go back to their original
faith. The natives stopped going to
church, which had the Spanish curate
to seek help from the governor of
Cebu to help restore Spanish influence
on the Warays in Visayas. This led
25
Bancao to incite his people to rise in
arms against them. The uprising
spread from Carigara to other parts of
Leyte and endangered the friar curate
and the Catholic faith in the province.
The provincial governor of Cebu sent
troops consisting of hundreds of
Filipino soldiers under Spanish officers
and defeated Bancao, who died
fighting. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p.76)
The Revolt of Magalat:
Disillusionment with Spanish rule may
not be national in scope but it spread
to many places. In Cagayan, some
natives, led by Magalat, rose to
revolution against Spanish rule in
1596 and although it was quelled the
Filipino rebels continued their
opposition to the Spaniards. The
Governor General sent a strong
contingent composed of a few Spanish
soldiers and hundreds of Filipino
recruits against Magalat but the
Ilocanos fought bravely. When they
failed to defeat Magalat, the Spanish
authorities thought of another way to
get rid of him. They hired a Filipino
assassin to murder Magalat. The plan
succeeded and Magalat was killed.
According to Spanish contemporary
historian, Antonio de Morga, with the
death of Magalat, Cagayan became
quiet and peace reigned once more.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas, 2010 p.74)
Ladias Conspiracy: A man claiming to
be a descendant of Lakandula tried to
instigate a revolt in 1643 against the
Spaniards of Malolos, Bulacan. He was
Pedro Ladia, a native of Borneo who
came to Bulacan to lead an armed
uprising against the Spaniards. If they
succeeded he would be proclaimed
King of the Tagalogs. His plan reached
the friar curate of Malolos who
dissuaded the town people from
believing Ladia. He urged them to
remain faithful to the Church and to
the King of Spain. At the same time,

the friar curate notified the Spanish
authorities of Ladias activities. Ladia
was arrested, sent to Manila and then
executed. (Agoncillo and Mangahas,
2010 p.74)
The growth of global trade:
The desire to earn more income
prompted the colonial authorities to
slowly abandon monopolistic trade
practices and open the Philippines to
international trade. Through the
Philippines was prohibited by royal
decree to trade with the colonies of
other countries especially those of its
enemies like England and the
Netherland, trade was tolerated by
local authorities. The reason for this
toleration was the prospect of bribes
given by foreign merchants. Foreign
especially British merchants also
found a way of going around the royal
prohibition of trading with the colony
by using Portuguese ships or
disguising their vessels as Portuguese
ships while trading between the
Philippines and India. Foreigners also
use the ships of other countries
among them were Armenian vessels
which plied the trade between the
Dutch East Indies and Manila. In 1864,
the Spanish government revoked the
monopoly of the Royal Company of the
Philippines and opened the port of
Manila to world trade, thus formalizing
the open commercial practice in the
city. Foreign firms were allowed to set
up shop in Manila and the English
established an office in the city in
1809. Spain granted all foreigners to
a right to live in all its colonies. By
1859, Manila had 15 foreign firms
consisting of seven British, three
American, two French, two Swiss, and
one German firm. To protect the
interests in the country, foreign
consulates were established in the
Philippines. Among the countries with
diplomatic relations with the
26
Philippines were Russia and the United
States in 1817, France and German
states of Hamburg and Bremen in
1835, Great Britain in 1844 and Japan
in 1888. Foreign trade caused the
shift from a subsistence economy to
that one relying on cash crops for the
export market. These crops were
sugar, tobacco, abaca, rice, coffee and
indigo. The shift to cash crop
economy caused the conversion of
virgin areas into plantations such as
those in Negros, Pampanga, and the
Bicol region. The exposure of the
country to foreign trade caused an
increase in the value of exports. In
1810, Philippine exports were valued
at P4,795,000 which rose to
P9,213,000 in 1856 to P28,000,000 in
1870 and P33,149,984 by 1894.
Imports also rose from P5,239,000 to
P6,959,000 in 1856 to P23,500,000 in
1870 and P28,558,552. Products
being imported consisted of farm
equipment, tools, cloth, wine and
luxuries. (Viana 2011, p.144)
The opening of the Suez Canal:
The changes that took place in the
second half of the 19th century had far
reaching effects on the Filipinos. One
of these important changes was the
opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
This resulted in the shorter route and
travel time between Spain and the
Philippines. Many Spaniards with
progressive ideas migrated to the
Philippines. Among them were exiled
Creoles from Mexico like Varela and
Novales, whose subversive ideas and
activities advocated freedom and
liberties. Later on, they influenced
some educated Filipinos and soon both
were asking the government to
introduce changes in the
administration of the colony. Another
effect of the short distance between
Spain and the Philippines was the
influx of progressive books and

periodicals to the country. Books on
American independence and the
French Revolution circulated in the
country. Sending these materials from
Spain to the Philippines became easy
and inexpensive. These books and
periodicals were read by the educated
Filipinos who learned about
democratic practices in Europe, such
as freedom of the press, freedom of
speech and the free exchange of ideas
among people. Printed literature and
magazines, plus the introduction of
technology such as the mail (1854),
the telegraph (1873), the telephone
and the Manila-Dagupan railway
(1890), hastened the spread of these
ideas and awareness of the
happenings between the cities and
countryside. Likewise, the shorter
travel time and distance between the
Mother Country and the colony
encouraged many educated Filipinos
to go to Europe to continue their
studies and to prove they were equal
of the Spaniards. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, pp. 102-103)
The Rise of the Filipino Middle
Class:
The economic development of the
Philippines in the 19th century led to
the rise of the Filipino middle class.
Nonexistent in previous centuries, the
middle class composed of Spanish and
Chinese mestizos, rose to a position of
power in the Filipino community and
eventually became leaders in finance
and education. (Agoncillo 1990,
p.130)
The main beneficiaries of the
emerging cash crop economy were the
Spanish and Chinese mestizos who
served as middlemen and inquilinos or
primary lessees of haciendas owned
by religious orders. Many of them
became quite affluent and owned
luxurious stone houses. Though
27
despised by Spaniards for being the
new rich called bestias cargadas de
oro or beasts with gold, the mestizos
formed the countrys middle class.
Many of them began sending their
children to higher educational
institutions in Manila and abroad
where they were exposed to liberal
ideas. These children of the middle
class rose to become priests, lawyers,
physicians, government employees
and other professionals. Along with
the rise of a middle class there was
also the development of a large
working class population. Many
natives were drawn to cities like
Manila to find work in the citys cigar
factories. Others became workers and
small entrepreneurs such as
carpenters, building contractors,
gardeners and artisans. Migrants from
the provinces formed slums especially
districts of Tondo. Chinese immigrants
who were lured by economic
opportunities augmented migrants
from the provinces. Many of them
arrived and served as workers and
small businessmen. They assimilated
into Philippine society by being
baptized as Christians and secured the
patronage of influential Spaniards with
which they established their
businesses. They achieved
acceptance in the local society by
learning the local dialect, marrying
local women, and raising their children
as Filipinos. Through their industry
and perseverance, they rose to the
upper levels of Filipino society and
became part of the countrys middle
class. (Viana 2011, p. 143)
But the Spanish authorities looked
down upon the middle class for they
did not belong to the inner circle of
peninsulares (Spaniards born in Spain)
whose prerogative it was to rule and
govern. This attitude was not
surprising, for Spanish society in the
Philippines was sort of a caste

consisting of well defined classes: the
peninsulares or Spaniards born in
Spain and the insulares or Spaniards
born in the Philippines. The contempt
with which the former dealt with the
latter arose from a feeling that
anybody born in the Philippines was
ipso facto inferior. Thus, to show their
contempt for the insulares, the
peninsulares called the former
Filipinos. The natives, on the other
hand, were invariably called indios. It
was not until Governor General Basilio
Augustin called for the loyalty and aid
of the indios in 1898 that the latter
were called Filipinos. Before 1898,
then, the Filipinos were called indios
and the insulares, Filipinos. (Agoncillo
1990, p.130)
The chance of the middle class to
show their political color came when
General Carlos Maria dela Torre
became Governor in 1869. Identified
with revolutionary forces in Spain, dela
Torre showed his democratic
tendencies when he dismissed the
palace halberdiers, lived simply within
means, walked in streets in mufti and
abolished flogging as a form of
punishment. The Filipino middle class
saw him an ally in him and on the
night of July 12, 1869, they marched
to the governors residence and there
serenaded him (harana). The list of
serenaders was a roster of the well
known mestizos and insulares of the
period: Jose Burgos, Maximo Paterno,
Angel Gachitorena, Joaquin Pardo de
Tavera, Andres Nieto, Manuel Genato
and others. Orations were delivered, a
poem was declaimed and toasts to
liberty were drunk. It was a night of
splendour for the middle class, but it
was also a night that the Spanish
reactionary group never forgot. From
then on, the middle class led the
reform movement which was
temporarily silenced during the
decade from 1872 to 1882, when the
28
Filipino intelligentsia, a segment of the
middle class, took over the leadership
from the wealthy segment. (Agoncillo
1990, p. 130)
Unfortunately for the Filipinos and
their allies among the mestizos and
the progressive Spaniards, the
administration of Governor de la Torre
was brief. The Republic of Spain
ended in 1870 when the monarchy
was restored and a new king assumed
the Spanish throne. With this change
from republic to monarchy, the
monarchist officials in Spain sent to
the Philippines some like minded
Spaniards to take over the political
leadership of the country. One of
these was Rafael de Izquierdo. He
immediately reversed the reform of de
la Torre. He disapproved the
establishment of a school of arts and
trades in Manila because he was afraid
that it might be used as a political
club. Censorship of the press and
restrictions on freedom of speech was
restored. Those who were known to
have favoured the administration of de
la Torre were considered suspects and
were spied upon. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 104)
The Spanish in the Philippines founded
many colleges for men and women.
But these colleges and universities
were exclusively for the Spaniards and
Spanish Mestizos. These included San
Juan de Letran, San Jose, among
others. The schools for women
included Santa Rosa and Santa Isabel.
It was not until the second half of the
19th century that colleges, including
the University of Santo Tomas
admitted natives. Owing to the
opening of the doors of Spanish
colleges and universities to Filipinos,
the well to do parents were able to
send their children to these schools.
As a result, a good number of those
children became lawyers, physicians,

pharmacists, teachers and land
surveyors. These educated Filipinos
later asked for reforms in the Spanish
administration of the Philippines. As
the Spaniards feared, it was the
Illustrado who would later ask
embarrassing questions about Spanish
misdeeds, incompetence, inefficiency,
greed and corruption. And most
dangerously, they pushed the idea of
the indios as Filipinos with equal rights
as the Spaniards in the country.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.101)
The Secularization Issue:
The emergence of an educated middle
class caused a demand for the
recognition of its capability to lead the
nation. This was manifested in the
controversy involving the issue of the
secularizing of the Philippine church.
(Viana 2011, p.143) Priesthood during
the Spanish period was composed of
two classes: the regular and the
secular. The regular priests were
those who belonged to the religious
orders like the Dominicans, the
Recollects, the Augustinians and the
Franciscans. The secular priests were
not members of any religious orders.
The regular priests have a mission to
fulfil, i.e. to convert non Christian
people to Christianity. As soon as they
had converted the people of a locality
to Christianity, they would leave and
go to another area to make converts.
In the Christianized areas, churches or
parishes were built which the seculars
administered. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 104)
As early as 1583, King Philip II decreed
that the parishes should belong to the
seculars. These parishes could be
transferred when there were enough
secular priests who could take over.
The regulars and friars who were
missionaries at the beginning of
Spanish rule managed most f the
29
Philippine parishes. In 1753, King
Ferdinand announced that there were
enough competent seculars and
issued a decree to effect the takeover
of the parishes. This decree was not
complied immediately as the regular
clergy claimed that there were not
enough native secular priests.
Actually, there were already native
secular priests by the 17 th century
among who was Fr. Francisco Baluyot
of Pampanga who was ordained in
1698. Other priests were Agustin
Tabuyo of Cagayan (1621) and Miguel
Geronimo of Pampanga (1655). These
two were mestizo priests. In 1761,
Manila Archbishop Basilio Sancho de
Santa Justa y Rufina began the
implementation of the secularization
of parishes. This was done to reign in
the regulars who clashed with him on
the issue of pastoral visitation. The
regulars insisted that they were
responsible only to their respective
superiors and should not be
supervised by the bishop. The
secularization of the parishes was only
a way of controlling the regulars.
(Viana 2011, p. 144)
The expulsion of the Jesuits by royal
decree in 1768 provided the
opportunity for the seculars to take
over the parishes they held in Manila,
Cavite and the Visayas. In 1774,
Governor General Simon de Anda
ordered the granting of 17 parishes in
Pampanga formerly held by the
Augustinians. The Augustinians
complained to the King who ordered
de Anda to restore the parishes. To
appease the regulars, the King
provided an instruction that one or two
affluent parishes in each province
should remain with the regulars.
Despite the royal instructions, the
regulars took over the newly
established parishes in Santa Rosa
Laguna, Las Pinas, Manila and Imus
Cavite which rightly belonged to the

seculars. These parishes were handed
back to the seculars despite protests
from the regulars. In 1822, the
Augustinian administered parish of
Malate was handed over to the
seculars. However, with the
revolutions for independence in
Spains Latin American colonies,
parishes which were taken from the
regulars were given back to them in
1826. There were no protests from
the seculars. However, the seculars
reacted in 1849 when new parishes in
Cavite were given to the recollects and
the Dominicans. Leading the protests
were Fr. Pedro Pelaez in Manila and Fr.
Mariano Gomez, the parish priest of
Bacoor Cavite. (Viana 2011, pp. 144-
145)
In 1859, the Jesuits returned to the
Philippines and were given parishes in
Mindanao which were intended for the
recollects. To compensate for the loss
of the parishes, most of the secular
run parishes were given to the
recollects in 1861. By 1871, of the
792 parishes only 181 remained in the
hands of the seculars. The regulars
continued to take over parishes when
the secular parish priest died. Among
these were the rich parish of Antipolo
which was considered as the pearl of
the curacies, it being a famous
pilgrimage site for travellers. Another
rich parish was that of San Rafael,
Bulacan which grew from only 80
parishioners to 13,000. The Filipino
secular clergy became embittered by
the loss of their parishes prompting
Manila Archbishop Meliton Martinez to
write in December 1770 to Marshal
Francisco Serrano, who was then the
Regent of the Spanish Monarch, that
the discrimination against the native
clergy was fuelling anti-Spanish
sentiment. (Viana 2011, p. 145)
The Cavite Mutiny of 1872
30
Discontent grew among the people
especially among the soldiers and
workers at the Cavite arsenal whose
pay was reduced because of increased
taxation. They were also required to
render forced labor from which they
were exempted since the middle of the
18th century. On January 20, 1872,
some 200 soldiers under a Sergeant
La Madrid mutinied. They were joined
by some workers of the arsenal. The
soldiers were expected to be joined by
troops from Manila whose own
uprising would be signalled by the
firing of rockets. At that night, the
residents of Sampaloc had a fiesta
with a lively display of fireworks.
Thinking that their comrades in Manila
had started the rebellion, the Cavite
troops took control of the fort and
killed their Spanish officers. In the
following morning, loyal Spanish
troops under Felipe Ginoves retook the
fort and arsenal killing La Madrid and
other mutineers. The mutiny was
magnified by the Spaniards to
implicate liberal Filipinos and priests
seeking the secularization of the
churches. They said that the mutiny
was part of the conspiracy to
overthrow Spanish rule. (Viana 2011,
p. 146)
The government believing it to be a
rebellion ordered the arrest of Filipinos
and mestizos who were allegedly
behind it. Among those arrested were
Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez,
Jacinto Zamora, Pedro Dandan, Toribio
del Pilar, Mariano Sevilla, Agustin
Mendoza, Jose Guevarra and others.
Among the civilians arrested were
Pedro Carillo, Antonio Regidor, Joaquin
Pardo de Tavera and others. They
were sentenced to be banished in
Guam, while Gomez, Burgos and
Zamora were sentenced to death.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
105)

The execution of the three
martyred Filipino priests:
The priests, Gomez, Burgos and
Zamora were jailed in Fort Santiago
before they were tried for rebellion.
Priests, both regular and secular were
allowed to see them. Each one of
them had a confessor. During the
trial, the government failed to
convincingly prove that the accused
were really connected with the mutiny.
On February 17, 1872, the three
priests marched from Fort Santiago to
Luneta and were executed by garrotte.
The significance of the execution of
the three priests rested on the fact
that the Filipinos who witnessed the
execution began to think and feel as
Filipinos, not as Ilocanos, Tagalogs or
Visayans. They suspected that
because they belonged to a different
race, the Spaniards, who had always
felt superior over the Filipinos, took
them for beasts of burden. From this
time forward, they began to feel the
necessity for unity. Rizal, who was
eleven years old at that time, would
later dedicate his second novel El
Filibusterismo to the memory of the
three priests. He wrote: the Church by
refusing to degrade you, has placed in
doubt the crime that has been
imputed against you; the Government,
by surrounding your trials with
mystery and shadows, causes the
belief that there are some error
committed in fatal moments; and the
Philippines, by worshiping your
memory in no way recognizes your
culpability. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 106)
The nature of the reform
movement:
The dissatisfaction of the Filipino men
of wealth and intellect was centered
on the abuses of the Spanish
authorities, civil as well as clerical.
31
There was no clamor for
independence, for the reformist
believed that the Filipinos would be
better off if they were to become
Spanish citizens enjoying the rights
and privileges of the latter. As
Spanish citizens, the Filipinos would be
represented in the Spanish Cortes and
thereby their representatives in the
body could propose and participate in
the approval of laws beneficial to the
country. As Spanish citizens, they
would be immune from the abuses of
the Spaniards and be freed from
paying unreasonable taxes. Such a
program constituted what has been
known as assimilation. The
assimilation of the Philippines to
Spain, that is to say the
transformation of the Philippines to a
province of Spain and making the
Filipinos fellow Spaniards, was to be
accomplished in a peaceful manner.
The rich and the intellectuals then
were reformers, not revolutionaries,
for they believed in the power of
words and not the sword, to achieve
their purpose. Approximately, half of
their number belonged to the
propertied class and the half to the
intellectual class. It was but natural
for the propertied class to shun a show
of force, for an armed conflict was
almost sure to affect their material
possessions, to which anybody would
cling desperately. The intellectual
class on the other hand, also shunned
revolution, for logic and history were
on their side; no uprising could have
or would have succeeded without the
necessary arms with which to fight the
enemy. (Agoncillo 1990, p. 131)
The Reformists:
Graciano Lopez Jaena was born in Jaro
Iloilo City on December 18, 1856. His
parents were Placido Lopez and Maria
Jacobo Jaena. He studied at the
Seminary of Jaro to become a priest,

but later on, he changed his mind to
become a physician instead. He was
observant and saw the injustices,
immorality and greed of the friars and
civil official. He wrote a long story
about a certain friar named Fray
Botod, who was greedy and immoral.
The story was first circulated in Iloilo
and soon, the friars hated him for it.
He went to Manila to escape the
persecution and to continue his
studies. But the Spanish authorities
harassed him, which compelled him to
secretly sail to Europe in 1880. In
Spain, he studied Medicine but later
on gave it up and devoted his time
and energy in writing articles. In
1889, he founded the newspaper La
Solidaridad and became its first editor.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
111)
As editor of the paper, he did not
receive any salary. His only
compensation was free lodging, meals,
clothing and little pocket money for
trivial expenses. In the cafe, his
friends would give him sheets of paper
on which to write his pieces and
surprisingly enough, he wrote with
ease when his head was full of spirits.
It was in this characteristic manner
that he wrote most of his speeches
and articles. It is to the credit of Lopez
Jaena that he initiated the reform
movement which gathered strength as
the years rolled on. So great he was
as an orator that even Spaniards
admired his command of their own
language. Tuberculosis stepped in and
challenged his oratory to drive it out of
his lungs. But Lopez Jaena was too
weak to reply effectively and on
January 20, 1896, in Barcelona, the
great Filipino passed on as a living
memory. (Agoncillo 1990 p. 134-135)
In 1891, at Barcelona, Lopez Jaena
collected his speeches and articles
and published them in book form
32
under the title Discursos y Articulos
Varios. (Agoncillo 1990, p. 134)
Marcelo H Del Pilar is regarded as the
greatest journalist produced by the
purely Filipino race. He was born in
barrio Cupang, Bulacan on August 30,
1850. He studied at the College of
San Jose and later in the University of
Santo Tomas, where he finished his
law studies in 1880. In the same year,
he began his campaign against the
abuses of the friars and Spanish civil
officials. He spoke in meetings,
especially in the crowded cockpit
where the common people heard him
criticize the friars. In 1882, he
founded the Tagalog Spanish
newspaper, Diariong Tagalog, which
although short lived, published
suggestions on how to improve the
administration of the country. It also
published mild criticisms of the
Spaniards mild because there was no
freedom of the Press and Speech
during the Spanish times. In 1888,
the Spanish friars of Bulacan
persuaded the Spanish officials of the
province to arrest Del Pilar; but his
admirers warned him about the order
of his arrest and so he secretly left for
Spain. A year after his arrival in Spain,
he became the editor of La
Solidaridad. Thereafter he became its
guiding spirit. He not only edited the
newspaper, but he also wrote many
articles and editorials. Two of his
books in Spanish which became
famous were La Soberania Monacal en
Filipinas (Monastic Sovereignty in the
Philippines) and La Frailocracia Filipina
(Frailocracy in the Philippines). Unlike
Rizal and other reformists, Del Pilar
wrote in the language of the masses.
He wrote Caiingat kayo, Dasalan at
Toksohan, Kadakilaan ng Dios, Sagot
ng Espana sa Hibik ng Pilipinas and
many others. These writings in
Tagalog were truly enjoyed by the
masses. Due to his heavy workload

and lack of proper food, Del Pilar
contracted Tuberculosis, he died on
July 4, 1896. He wanted to return to
the Philippines because he believed
that the campaign for reforms was a
failure and it was time to shift to
revolutionary action. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 113)
Del Pilar wrote a withering satire in
Dasalan at Toksohan, a brilliant parody
of the Prayer book. Thus in Amain
naming, a parody of Our Father, Del
Pilar said: Our uncle who art in the
convent, cursed be thy name, may we
be delivered from thy greed, may thy
throat be slit on earth as it is in
heaven. Give back this day our daily
rice thou hast stolen from us and draw
out laughter by thy lowing as thou
laughest when thou stealest out
money; and deliver us from thine
temptation and save us from thine foul
mouth. Amen. (Agoncillo 1990, p.
135)
In Del Pilars Ten Commandments of
the Friars: 1) Thou shalt worship and
love the friars above all; 2) Thou shalt
not cheat them of their stipends; 3)
Thou shalt sanctify the friar, Sundays
or Holidays; 4) Thou shalt pawn thyself
to pay for the burial of thy father and
mother; 5) Thou shouldst not die if
thou hast not the money to pay for
thine internment; 6) Thou shalt not
covet his wife; 7) Thou shalt not steal
with him; 8) Thou shalt not accuse him
even thou be called a liar; 9) Thou
shalt not refuse him your wife; and 10)
Thou shalt not deny him your property.
(Agoncillo 1990, p. 136-137)
Jose Rizal was born in Calamba,
Laguna on June 19, 1861. He studied
at the Ateneo Municipal and later in
University of Santo Tomas. He went to
Europe to continue his medical
studies. He observed early in life how
the Spanish authorities ordered his
33
aging mother to walk from Calamba to
Santa Cruz because of the false
charge made against her by Spanish
provincial officials. He saw all the
injustices being committed against
Filipinos and thus his young mind and
heart rebelled against it. In 1882, he
went to Spain with the help of his
uncle and elder brother Paciano. He
studied medicine and several
languages such as French and
German. At the age of twenty six he
published his first novel Noli me
Tangere and in El Filibusterismo his
sequel to Noli, Rizal predicted the
coming of the revolution. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, p. 112)
Noli me Tangere gained immediate
popularity, but only a limited number
of copies entered the Philippines for
the Spanish authorities, particularly
the friars whom Rizal ridiculed in the
novel prohibited its reading. Dr.
Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Spanish
born in the Philippines described the
novel as: All the defects of public
administration of affairs, the ignorance
of the functionaries and their
corruption, the vices of the clergy, the
incapacity of governors, and the
inferiority of Spanish culture in these
islands were made manifest. The
prestige which the friars had enjoyed
and which was based only on the
ignorance of the masses, crumbled
away when the private lives of the
members of the religious orders in the
provinces were described in the pages
of Noli and the immorality and
viciousness of the friars were exposed
to the public view. (Agoncillo 1990, p.
140)
The Fili, in contrast with the Noli, is a
political novel in which Rizal predicted
the coming of a revolution. Yet
because he was essentially a man of
peace, he made that revolution fail, for
he conceived of it only as a peaceful,

not an armed, revolution. Thus, he
put in the lips of Father Florentino, the
kindly Filipino priest, these significant
words: I do not mean to say that our
liberty will be secured at the swords
point, for the sword plays but a little
part in the modern affairs, but that we
must secure it by making ourselves
worthy of it, by exalting the
intelligence and the dignity of the
individual, by loving justice, right and
greatness, even to the extent of dying
for them, and when a people reaches
that height god will provide a weapon,
the idols will be shattered, the tyranny
will crumble like a house of cards and
liberty will shine out like the first
dawn. (Agoncillo 1990, p. 141)
Rizal returned to the Philippines for
the second time the first was in 1887
early in 1892 and was promptly
arrested and thrown into Fort
Bonifacio. On July 7, 1892, his
banishment to Dapitan was
announced officially. For four years he
remained in Dapitan helping the less
fortunate countrymen, teaching the
young boys how to be good citizens,
planting fruit trees, doing some
business on the side, writing letters,
collecting shells and sending them to
his friend Ferdinand Blumentritt in
Austria, writing a tagalog grammar
and beautifying the plaza. Finally, fed
up with his isolation in Dapitan, he
asked permission from the Governor
General to go to Cuba to enlist as a
military doctor. His request was
granted, and soon he was on a ship
bound for Manila. It was in this critical
moment that the revolution flared up.
Rizal not wanting to be involved in the
revolt stayed in the ship to await the
next streamer for Spain. When finally
he left for Spain he thought he was
already safe from the arm of the
Spanish law. But before the ship could
dock in Barcelona, he was placed
under arrest, incarcerated and
34
returned to the Philippines. He was
tried on charges of treason and
complicity in the revolution, charges
which were absolutely baseless. He
was sentenced to die by musketry and
on the early morning of December 30,
1896, he was shot amidst the frenzied
shouts of the Spaniards. (Agoncillo
1990, pp. 141-142)
La Solidaridad:
The Sol, as the newspaper was
lovingly referred to by the reformists,
became the mouthpiece of the
Filipinos in Spain. It published not only
news but also essays and articles
about the Philippines and Filipinos.
Lopez Jaena and other reformers
founded the Filipino Circle in Madrid in
1882 and even published its
mouthpiece to bring to the attention of
the peninsular Spaniards the so called
Philippine problem. But the Minister of
the Colonies discouraged the Circle
and its mouthpiece, with the result
that the reformists were forced to
disperse. In 1887, however, Eduardo
de Lete and other Filipinos put out the
newspaper Espana en Filipinas which
was to voice the desires of the
Filipinos. The patriotic Filipinos at
home collected funds as advanced
subscription, but before the money
could reach the editor, Eduardo de
Lete, the newspaper had already
passed out existence. It was at this
point that the reformists in Spain
thought of publishing an official organ.
On the suggestion of Mariano Ponce it
was agreed to continue the publication
of the Espana en Filipinas, but the
failure of the paper was taken as a
reason against reviving it. In 1888,
the expatriates in Spain proposed to
the reformists at home that the new
organ be founded, a proposal that was
accepted by the Manila end of the
reform movement. Rizal, chosen to
manage the proposed periodical, but

then in London busy copying and
annotating Morgas Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas, turned down the offer.
With the arrival of Marcelo H Del Pilar
in Barcelona on New Years Day, 1889,
the founding of a Filipino organ gained
acceptance from all Filipinos in Spain.
It was agreed to finance the first
numbers of the periodical by
contributions from the Filipino
expatriates. On February 15, 1889,
the first number of La Solidaridad
came out of Barcelona. The paper was
a fortnightly dedicated to the
exposition of conditions in the
Philippines, the defense of the Filipino
against the malicious and slanderous
attacks of hired writers of the friars,
and the publication of studies about
the Philippines and the Filipinos.
(Agoncillo 1990, pp. 142-143)
The first editor of the Sol was Lopez
Jaena, but he turned over its
management to Del Pilar in December
1889. The news of the birth of the Sol
reached the Philippines within two
months and soon the nationalists
began sending their contributions to
Spain. The periodical came out
regularly every fifteen days, thanks to
the patriotism of the Filipinos in Spain
and those in the Philippines.
(Agoncillo 1990, p. 143)
The aims of the La Solidaridad are as
follows: Our aspirations are modest,
very modest. Our program, aside from
being simple, is clear: to combat
reaction, to stop ail retrogressive
steps, to extol and adopt liberal ideas,
to defend progress; in a word, to be a
propagandist , above all , of
democratic ideas in order to make
these supreme in all nations here and
across the seas. The aims therefore,
of La Solidaridad are described as to
collect, to gather libertarian ideas
which are manifested daily in the
fields of politics, science, art and
35
literature, commerce, agriculture, and
industry. We shall also discuss all
problems relating to the general
interest of the nation and seek
solutions to those problems in high
level and democratic manner. With
regard to the Philippines, since she
needs the most help, not being
represented in the Cortes, we shall
pay attention to the defense of her
democratic rights, the
accomplishment of which is our
patriotic duty. (Agoncillo 1990, p. 133)
Under Del Pilar, the aims of the Sol
were expanded to include: 1) the
removal of the friars and the
secularization of the parishes; 2)
active participation in the affairs of the
government; 3) freedom of speech, of
the press and of assembly; 4) wider
social and political freedom; 5)
equality before the law; 6) assimilation
and 7) representation in the Spanish
Cortes, since the Filipinos had never
been truly represented in that body.
(Agoncillo 1990, p. 137)
In writing for the Sol, the Filipino
reformists used pen names for obvious
reasons. Rizal used Dimas Alang and
Laon Laan; Mariano Ponce hid under
the pen names Tikbalang, Naning, and
Kalipulako; Antonio Luna used Taga
Ilog; Marcelo H Del Pilar wrote under
the pen name Plaridel and Jose Ma
Panganiban wrote as Jomapa. The
Spaniards in the Philippines naturally
forbade the reading of the periodical,
but their vigilance was not enough to
discourage the Filipinos from
smuggling in copies of the forbidden
newspaper. The Sol may not have
succeeded in influencing the
peninsular government to grant the
reforms demanded by Filipinos, for it
was not disposed, in the first place to
humor them, but in its more than six
years of existence the Sol represented
the ideals of the Filipino reformist

group. At the time, it also succeeded
in exposing the evils of Philippine
society and in belying the claims put
forth by such anti-Filipino writers as
Wenceslao Retana, Vicente Barrantes
and Pablo Feced that the Filipinos had
no civilization before the coming of the
Spaniards. Thus, when Barrantes
claimed that the Filipinos had not
theater, Rizal, writing in the Sol,
ridiculed him and exposed not only his
prejudice, but also his profound
ignorance. The Sol then represented
in that age the spirit of the Filipinos.
Having played its role creditably, the
newspaper bowed out of existence in
Madrid with its last number dated
November 15, 1895. (Agoncillo 1990,
p. 143)
La Liga Filipina:
On the night of July 3, 1892 at the
house in Tondo, Rizal founded the La
Liga Filipina. Elected were Ambrosio
Salvador as President; Agustin dela
Rosa as Fiscal; Bonifacio Arevalo as
Treasurer and Deodato Arellano as
Secretary. The aims of the La Liga
were the following: (Agoncillo 1990, p.
147)
1. To unite the whole archipelago
into one compact, vigorous and
homogenous body;
2. Mutual protection in every want
and necessity;
3. Defense against violence and
injustice;
4. Encouragement of instruction,
agriculture and commerce; and
5. Study the application of reforms
The aims of the Liga were to be
carried out through the creation of a
governing body composed of the
Supreme Council, the provincial
council and the Popular Council. The
members were to pay ten centavos as
monthly dues. Each of the members
was free to choose a symbolic name
36
for himself. The funds of the society
were to be used in the following
manner: (Agoncillo 1990, p. 147)
1. The member or his son, while
not having means shall show
application and great capacity,
shall be sustained;
2. The poor shall be supported in
his right against any powerful
person;
3. The member who shall have
suffered any loss shall be aided;
4. Capital shall be loaned to the
member who shall need it for an
industry or agriculture;
5. The introduction of machines
and industries, new or
necessary in the country shall
be favoured; and
6. Shops, stores, and
establishments shall be opened,
where the members may be
accommodated more
economically than elsewhere.
Innocent as the society was, the
Spanish authorities considered it
dangerous and on the night of July 6,
1892, Rizal was secretly arrested. The
following day, the Governor General
Eulogio Despujol ordered Rizals
deportation to Dapitan. The Liga
languished for a while, but some
members continued to support it. The
aims remained the same, but it was
agreed that all should contribute
toward the support of La Solidaridad in
Spain. Domingo Franco was elected
as President; Deodato Arellano as
Secretary-Treasurer; Isidoro Francisco
as Fiscal; Juan Zulueta and Timoteo
Paez as members of the Supreme
Council. Later on, Apolinario Mabini
became the Ligas Secretary.
(Agoncillo 1990, p. 147)
The Liga was first active, but later on
its members tired of paying their dues,
alleging that the Spanish government
did not need La Solidaridad which they

were financing. The society lasted
only a few months. Its death led to
conflict among its members, the
middle class members of the society
believed that something could still be
done by La Solidaridad in its campaign
for reforms. The poor members led by
Andres Bonifacio thought that there
was no hope for reforms. This conflict
led to the formation of the Cuerpo de
Compromisaros by the middle class.
Bonifacio, however, had already
founded the Katipunan. The Cuerpo
lived but a few months, for its
members though patriotic, were too
passive and conservative. (Agoncillo
1990, p. 147-148)
Pro Filipino Societies:
The Filipinos who went to Spain
believed that it was wise for them to
seek the help of Spaniards with liberal
ideas. In order to cultivate the
friendship and sympathy of these
Spaniards, the Filipinos organized
societies with members that are
sympathetic to the cause of
introducing reforms in the Philippines,
whether they were Spaniards or
Filipinos. In 1882, they organized the
Circulo Hispano-Filipino. In order to
propagate their views, the society
published the newspaper Revisita Del
Circulo Hispano Filipino (Journal of the
Spanish Filipino Circle). The purpose
of the paper was to bring to attention
of the Spanish authorities in Spain the
conditions in the Philippines and to
work for the introduction of reforms
which would benefit the Filipinos. But
this newspaper and the society did not
last long. It died a natural death
because of lack of financial support
and, most of all, lack of leadership.
Another society was founded with
patriotic aims, the Asociacion Hispano
Filipina, which was inaugurated in
1889. Like the Circulo, it was
composed of Filipinos and Spaniards
37
who sympathized with the with the
Filipino cause. The associations
aspiration was to work for the material
and moral improvement of the
Philippines. Some of the aims were as
follows: 1) the abolition of the diezmos
prediales and the sanctorum; 2) the
compulsory teaching of Spanish in all
schools in the Philippines; 3) radical
reforms in the University of Santo
Tomas; 4) the abolition of flogging as a
form of punishment; 5) the
establishment of agriculture banks;
and 6) tax and other reforms. All of
these aims were to benefit the
Filipinos. This society lived longer
than the Circulo, but it never realized
its goal because the Spanish officials
in Spain were too busy with the state
problems to even mind and solve the
problems of the colony. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p.114)
Free Masonry in the Philippines
Many of the Filipino reformists joined
the free masonry as a way of seeking
help among Spanish liberals who
happened to be masons themselves.
Among the leading masons was
Marcelo H Del Pilar who was the most
senior. There were already masons in
the Philippines as early as 1856. In
Spain, Lopez Jaena founded the lodge
called Revolucion which was
recognized by the Spanish lodge Gran
Oriental Espanol in April 1889. Del
Pilar for his part organized the
Solidaridad which included Rizal,
Serrano Laktaw, Galiciano Apacible
and Baldomero Roxas as members. In
1891, Serrano Laktaw on orders from
Del Pilar went to the Philippines and
founded the lodge Nilad on January 6,
1892. The Filipino masons advocated
the dignified and prosperous country
with good government. More Masonic
lodges were established by 1893; they
allowed the entry of women among
whom were Rosario Villaruel, Josefa
Rizal, Marinao Dizon, Sixto Fajardo,

Purificacion Leyva among others.
Meanwhile, dissension was beginning
to manifest itself among the reformists
in Spain. Del Pilar and Lopez Jaena
believed that their Spanish brethren
were to slow and too conservative.
Among the Filipinos the reformists
broke into camps. Lopez Jaena soon
left the movement followed by Rizal.
The remaining reformists remained
weak and divided. (Viana 2011, p.
152)
The founding of the Katipunan:
The news of Rizals deportation
shocked and surprised the people, for
Rizal to them was the symbol of
freedom. That night of July 7, 1892,
Andres Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz,
Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, Deodato
Arellano and a few others, met
secretly at a house on Azcarraga (now
Claro M Recto Avenue), near Elcano St.
Tondo and decided to form an
association called Kataastaasang
Kagalanggalang na Katipunan nang
mga Anak ng Bayan or Katipunan.
The men gathered around a flickering
table lamp and performed an ancient
blood compact and signed their
membership papers with their own
blood. It was agreed to win more
members to the society by means of a
triangle method in which an original
member would take on two new
members who did not know each other
but knew only the original member
who took them it. Thus, original
member A, for instance, would take in
new members B and C. Both B and C
knew A, but B and C did not know
each other. Also agreed upon during
the meeting was the payment of an
entrance fee of real fuerte (twenty five
centavos) and a monthly due of a
medio real (about twelve centavos).
(Agoncillo 1990, pp. 149-150)
Objectives of the Katipunan:
38
Under the leadership of Bonifacio, the
Katipunan laid down three
fundamental objectives: political,
moral and civic. The political objective
consisted of working for the separation
of the Philippines from Spain. The
moral objective revolved around the
teaching of good manners, hygiene,
good morals and attacking
obscurantism, religious fanaticism and
weakness of character. The civic aim
revolved around the principle of self
help and the defense of the poor and
the oppressed. All members are urged
to come to the aid of the sick
comrades and their families, and in
case of death the society itself was to
pay for the funeral expense. For
purposes of economy, however, the
society saw to it that the funeral was
of the simplest kind, avoiding
unnecessary expenses so common
under the rule of the Spanish friars.
(Agoncillo 1990, p. 150)
Structure of the Katipunan:
A study of the procedures and
structure of the Katipunan reveals that
it was influenced by Masonry, in so far
as initiation rites are concerned and by
Rizals La Liga Filipina as to
organization. This is not surprising for
Bonifacio was a member of the Liga
and was also a Mason, being affiliated
with the lodge Taliba. Structurally, the
society had three governing bodies:
the Kataastaasang Sanggunian or the
Supreme Council, the Sangguniang
Bayan or Provincial Council, and the
Sangguniang Balangay or popular
council. The supreme council was the
highest governing body of the society
and was composed of a President, a
fiscal, a secretary, a treasurer and a
comptroller or interventor. The
provincial and popular council
represented, respectively, the
province and the municipal or town.

Each of these had a council similar to
that of the Supreme Council. The
latter together with the Presidents of
the two other councils, constituted the
Katipunan Assembly. Judicial matters
affecting the members of the society
were referred to a court-the
Sangguniang Hukuman or Judicial
Council. It sat as a court of justice to
pass judgment on any member who
violated the rules of the society or to
mediate between quarrelling brethren
or factions. During its existence, the
Judicial Council had not passed the
death sentence. But a Secret
Chamber, composed of Bonifacio,
Jacinto and Valenzuela, sentenced
some members to be expelled for
having allegedly violated the secrets
of the society. (Agoncillo 1990, pp.
150-151)
The Katipunan elections:
The triangle method of getting new
members was slow and ineffective. As
a result, there were only about 100
new members taken into the society
by the end of 1892. It was therefore,
agreed that all members should be
allowed to get as many new members
as circumstances permitted.
Consequently, the membership of the
society increased in a few months. It
was thought that because the
Katipunan had enough members, as
set of officers would be elected. The
elected officers of the first Supreme
Council were the following: Deodato
Arellano, president or supremo; Andres
Bonifacio as comptroller; Ladislao
Diwa as fiscal; Teodoro Plata as
secretary and Valentin Diaz as
treasurer. As months passed,
Bonifacio observed that Arellano being
a very busy man was not very active
in the society. So early in 1893
Bonifacio, through an election, moved
to replace Arellano. Roman Basa was
elected in Arellanos place. The
39
officers of this second supreme council
were as follows: Roman Basa as
supremo; Bonifacio as fiscal; Jose
Turiano Santiago as secretary and
Vicente Molina as treasurer. The
elected councillors were Bricio Brigido
Pantas, Restituto Javier, Teodoro Plata,
Teodoro Gonzales and Ladislao Diwa.
Early in 1895, Bonifacio not contented
with the performance of Basa as
supremo, had himself elected to
replace Basa. He remained the
supremo of the Katipunan until the
establishment of a revolutionary
government in Tejeros, Cavite.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
121)
Details on the organizational
structure of the Katipunan:
The Katipunan members were of three
kinds: the first grade was called
katipon; the second grade was kawal
and third grade was bayani. The pass
word of the katipon was anak ng
bayan, that of kawal was Gomburza
and that of the bayani was Rizal. In
order to recognize each other in the
streets, a member upon meeting
another member would place the palm
of his right hand on his chest and as
he passed the other member would
close his hand and bring his index
finger and thumb together. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, p. 121)
Teachings of the Katipunan
Bonifacio made: Katungkulang
Gagawin ng mga Anak ng Bayan
(Duties of the Sons of the People) to
guide the Katipuneros in leading a
highly moral life:
1. Love God with all your heart
2. Bear always in mind that the
love of God is also love of
country, and this too, is love of
ones fellowmen

3. Engrave in your heart that the
true measure of honor and
happiness is to die for freedom
of your country.
4. All your good wishes will be
crowned with success if you
have serenity, constancy,
reason and faith in your acts
and endeavours
5. Guard the mandates and aims
of the KKK as your guard your
honor
6. It is the duty of all to defend at
risk of their own lives and
wealth, anyone who runs great
risks in the performance of his
duty
7. Our responsibility to ourselves
and the performance of our
duties will be the example set
for our fellow men to follow
8. Insofar as it is within your
power, share your means with
the poor and unfortunate
9. Diligence in the work that gives
sustenance to you is the true
basis of love-love for your own
self, for your wife and children
and for your brothers and
countrymen
10.Punish any scoundrel and traitor
and praise all good work.
Believe, likewise, that the aims
of the KKK are God given, for
the will of the people is also the
will of God
Realizing the importance of a primer
to indoctrinate the members of the
Katipunan in its ideals, Emilio Jacinto
made the kartilla which consisted of
thirteen teachings which the members
of the society were expected to follow:
(Agoncillo 1990, pp. 161-162)
Life which is not consecrated to a
lofty and sacred cause is like a tree
without a shadow, if not a
poisonous weed
A good deed that springs from the
desire for personal profit and not
40
from the desire to do good is not
kindness
True greatness consists of being
charitable, in loving ones fellow
men and in adjusting every
moment, deed and word of true
reason
All men are equal, be the color of
their skin black or white. One may
be superior to another in
knowledge, wealth and beauty, but
cannot be superior in being
He who is more noble prefers honor
to personal gains; he who is mean
prefers personal profit to honor
To a man with a sense of shame,
his world is inviolable
Dont fritter away time; lost riches
may be recovered, but time lost
will never come again
Defend the oppressed and fight the
oppressor
An intelligent man is he who is
cautious in speech and knows how
to keep the secrets that must be
guarded
In the thorny path of life, man is
the guide of his wife and children; if
he who guides moves towards evil,
they who are guarded likewise
move toward evil
Think not of a woman as a thing
merely to while away in time with,
but as a helper and partner in the
hardships of life. Respect her in
her weakness and remember the
mother who brought you into this
world and who cared for you in
your childhood
What you do not want done to your
wife, daughter and sister, do not do
to the wife, daughter and sister of
another
The nobility of a man does not
consist in being a king, nor in the
highness of the nose and whiteness
of the skin, nor in being a priest
representing God, nor in the
exalted position on this earth , but

pure and noble is he who tough
born in the woods, is possessed of
an upright character; who is true to
his words; who has dignity and
honor; who does not oppress and
does not help those who oppress;
who knows how to look after and
love the land of his birth. When
this doctrines spread and the Sun
of beloved liberty shines with
brilliant effulgence on these
unhappy isles and sheds its soft
rays upon the united people and
brothers in everlasting happiness,
the lives, labors and sufferings of
those who are gone shall be more
than recompensed.
The women of the Katipunan
Bonifacio wanted to involve the
women in the Katipunan without
putting it into danger of discovery. So
he suggested that women be taken in
as members of the Katipunan. To
minimize the danger of exposing
society to women who could not be
relied upon, Bonifacio decided that
only the wife, sister, daughter of a
Katipuneros and a few selected
women can be eligible for
membership. This strict requirement
compelled women members to keep
the secrets of the Katipunan. The
katipuneras duty aside from helping
the male members in their work of
propagating the ideas and ideal of the
society was to make the police
authorities believe that no Katipunan
meeting was being conducted in the
house. The women engaged in
dancing and singing in full view of the
people on the street. While the
katipuneras were doing this, the male
members were holding a meeting in a
room behind the sala, where the
women were singing and dancing. In
this way, the authorities were not able
to detect the meetings of the
Katipunan in places designated by
41
Bonifacio. Among the prominent
women members of the Katipunan
were Josefa Rizal, president; Gregoria
de Jesus, vice president; Marthina
Dizon, secretary; and Angelica Lopez
Rizal as fiscal. Gregoria de Jesus, in
particular, frequently risked her life by
keeping the documents in her person
at a time when Spanish authorities
were watching the movements of the
members. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 126)
The Kalayaan:
Bonifacio and Jacinto believed that
they could easily propagate their
revolutionary ideas by having a
printing press. However, the
organization had no money to
purchase a printing machine.
Fortunately for them, two Visayan
patriots from Kalibo, Capiz gave the
Katipunan the money to purchase a
printing press. They were Candido
Iban and Francisco del Castillo, who
won one thousand pesos in a lottery.
The printing press was purchased for
four hundred pesos and it was at once
transferred to the house of Bonifacio.
Jacinto purchased some templates to
be used in printing the Katipunan
newspaper. Other templates were
stolen from a Spanish printing press.
Two experienced printers, Ulpiano
Fernandez and Faustino Duque, both
katipuneros managed the press. Dr.
Pio Valenzuela suggested the name of
the newspaper Kalayaan. After weeks
of preparation, the newspaper, written
in Tagalog, came out in the middle of
March 1896. The Kalayaan contained
articles written by Bonifacio, Jacinto
and Valenzuela. To mislead the
authorities, they put Yokohama as the
place of publication and Marcelo H Del
Pilar as the editor. Jacintos Pahayag
(Manifesto) and Bonifacios poem, Pag-
ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa (Love of
Country) were published in the only

issue of the Kalayaan. They did not
sign their true names for fear that the
Katipunan might be discovered.
Jacinto used the pen names Pingkian
and Dimas-Ilaw; Bonifacio used
Agapito Bagumbayan and Valenzuela
used Madlang Araw. As Bonifacio and
Jacinto thought, the Kalayaan easily
influenced many Filipinos to become
members of the Society. In January
1896, the total membership did not
exceed 3000. But after the
distribution of the Kalayaan in
Pampanga, Tarlac, and the Tagalog
provinces, from Manila in the center to
Nueva Ecija on the north and Batangas
in the south, the total membership
reached about 30,000. The Kalayaan
had done its duty before it was
destroyed by Fernandez and Duque to
prevent the Spanish authorities from
confiscating it. The fiery pen,
revolutionary spirit and political will of
the tandem Bonifacio-Jacinto in the
newspaper proved effective in unifying
the people towards freedom and
independence. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, pp. 126-127)
Andres Bonifacio and Emilio
Jacinto:
Andres Bonifacio was born on
November 30, 1863 in a small nipa
house on what is now Azcarraga Street
near the present day Manila railroad
station. His parents, Santiago
Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro,
belonged to the lower middle class.
His mother, Catalina was Spanish
Chinese of Filipino origin from
Zambales and worked at a cigarette
factory. His father, Santiago was a
tailor, a boatman and a former
municipal official of Tondo. He had
three brothers and two sisters: Ciriaco,
Procopio, Espiridiona, Troadio and
Maxima. Andres studied the alphabet
in a school conducted by a certain
Guillermo Osmena of Cebu. The death
42
of his parents forced Andres to give up
schooling to shoulder the burden of his
family. Though very limited in his
education, he was endowed with a
beautiful penmanship and an interest
craftsmanship. He made canes and
paper fans which he sold around.
When there was time, he made
posters for business firms. The little
leisure he had was employed in self
study, for he loved books. Late in his
teens, he was employed as a clerk-
messenger in the commercial firm of
Fleming and Company. Serious
minded, honest and dedicated, to his
work he later on became the
companys agent. He sold rattan, tar
and other articles of trade. His
earnings however, were not enough to
make both ends meet and so he
transferred to Fressel and Company as
an agent. (Agoncillo 1990, pp. 157-
158)
His constant struggle to make a living
did not give him much leisure to
improve his mind. Nevertheless, he
read books by the lamp light at home.
He read Rizals two novels, the Ruins
of Palmyra, Hugos Les Miserable,
Eugene Sues the Wandering Jew, the
lives of the Presidents of the United
States, International Law, the Penal
and Civil Codes, some novels and a
book on the French Revolution. Thus
while not fortunate to have a formal
education he educated himself by
hard work. In his early manhood,
Andres fell in love with a certain
Monica, whom he later married. The
marriage was short lived, for Monica
died of leprosy. In 1892, he met
Gregoria de Jesus of Caloocan and fell
in love with her. After months of
courtship, the two married, with
married, with Restituto Javier and his
wife, Benita Rodriguez as sponsors.
After their Catholic marriage at
Binondo Church, the couple were re
married according to the Katipunan

rites. After the rites, Gregoria was
initiated into the Womens Chapter of
the Katipunan and chose the
Lakangbini (Muse) as her symbolic
name. Henceforth, she took custody
of the papers, revolvers, seals and
other paraphernalia of the society.
Humble and self effacing, Bonifacio
knew his limitations and recognized
the worth of others. When after
writing a sort of Decalogue for the
Katipunan, he found that Emilio
Jacintos Kartilla was better, he did not
hesitate to set his own aside and
adopt that of Jacinto as the official
teaching of the Katipunan. Though
the founder that of Jacinto as the
official teachings of the society.
Though the founder and organizer of
the Katipunan, he did not insist on
becoming its president. It was only
after the discovery that the first two
presidents were not as serious in their
duties as expected of them that he
took over the reins of the Katipunan
government. To him the question of
the societys survival was a matter of
life and death, for he knew that the
success of the society depended on its
President and the cooperation of its
officer and members. (Agoncillo 1990,
pp. 158-159)
Bonifacio may have been ignorant
from the point of view of the middle
class, but he succeeded where the
middle class failed. The middle class,
in their naivet, held on to their
mistaken belief that Spain would hear
their cries for reforms. Bonifacio,
though not educated, had more insight
than his intellectual superiors. His
insight told him that only an armed
conflict could make the Spaniards
realize the folly of their bull
headedness. Bonifacio then was the
legitimate Father of the Revolution and
without him it is extremely doubtful
whether the Philippine Revolution
could have become a reality at a time
43
when everybody seemed in despair
without doing anything about it. Yet,
in the present estimation he is
overshadowed by Rizal as the national
hero. The reason of this is that when
the Americans came they found in
Rizals philosophy of education of the
masses first before independence a
fitting rationalization of their colonial
policy, namely that of benevolent
assimilation, and so they encouraged
and promoted the Rizal cult. On the
other hand, they found in Bonifacio, a
common man, a dangerous precedent,
for Bonifacio stood for a cause of
armed might in attaining
independence and freedom. For the
Americans therefore, to promote the
Bonifacio cult was to defeat their own
purpose of discouraging the Filipinos
from taking arms against them.
(Agoncillo 1990, pp. 159-160)
Emilio Jacinto called the Brains of the
Katipunan, Emilio Jacinto was born in
Tondo on December 15, 1875, the son
of Mariano Jacinto and Josefa Dizon.
As a boy he spent most of the day in
the streets and so came to learn the
Spanish which may be described as
bamboo or pidgin Spanish. Being poor
did not detain his parents from
sending him to school to pursue a
career. He enrolled at San Juan de
Letran College and later in the
University of Santo Tomas, where he
developed a taste for reading. At the
age of eighteen, he joined the
Katipunan, becoming the youngest
member of them all. Membership in
the secret society forced Jacinto to
speak Tagalog, for it was a rule that all
conversations and discussion were to
carried on in Tagalog. By a painful
process, Jacinto became an expert in
Tagalog and wrote most his articles in
this language. Honest and highly
intelligent, he won the admiration of
Bonifacio and subsequently became
his trusted friend and adviser.

Bonifacio had such implicit faith in him
that when the latter wrote the Kartilla
or primer for the Katipuneros Bonifacio
did not hesitate to adopt it as the
official teachings of the society.
Bonifacio and Jacinto were like
brothers who never separated from
each other if either one could help it.
Separation came late in December
1896 when Bonifacio went to Cavite to
mediate between the two rival factions
of the Katipunan in that province and
Jacinto, appointed commander in chief
of the revolutionary forces in Laguna,
went to this province to direct the
movements of the revolutionists.
Nevertheless, they communicated
with each other when time and
circumstances permitted. Bonifacio
died two years earlier than Jacinto
who, while directing a campaign
against the Spaniards in Mahayhay,
Laguna, contracted fever and died on
April 16, 1899. (Agoncillo 1990, pp.
160-161)
Jacinto was the author of articles
which influenced the masses to join
the society and to make sacrifices for
the welfare of the native land. He was
the editor of the societys newspaper
Kalayaan which voiced the aspirations
of the people. The secret of Jacintos
success as a propaganda writer lies in
the simplicity of his lifestyle that
reflected his personality. Precisely
because of his style the masses
understood him and felt the power of
his words. Aside from the Kartilla,
Jacinto wrote Liwanag at Dilim,
Pahayag, Sa Mga Kababayan, Ang
Kasalanan ni Cain, Pagkakatatag ng
Pamahalaan sa Hukuman ng Silangan
and Samahan ng Bayan sa
Pangangalakal. (Agoncillo 1990, p.
161)
Rizal and the Katipunan:
44
Bonifacio, who had known Rizal during
the La Liga days but to whom Rizal did
not know personally, wanted Rizals
opinion on the necessity of rising in
arms against the Spaniards. He
therefore commissioned Dr. Pio
Valenzuela to go to Dapitan in June
1896 to confer with Rizal. With
Valenzuela on the SS Venus were
Rizals sister Narcisa and his niece
Angelica Rizal Lopez. The ship cast
anchor at the port of Dapitan in the
late afternoon of June 21. Valenzuela
immediately proceeded to Rizals
home. In the evening after supper,
Valenzuela whispered to Rizal the real
purpose of his visit. He then related
the founding of the Katipunan and its
aims, among which was to overthrow
Spanish authority. Told that the
revolution might break out
prematurely because of the
impatience of the masses, Rizal
pointed out that a revolution without
sufficient arms should not be started
against an armed nation. He
remembered the first Cuban revolution
against Spain which failed because of
lack of arms. Even so, he suggested
that influential and wealthy Filipinos
be attracted to the cause of the
society in order to ensure the success
of the revolution. In such as case, he
said, there would be unity among all
classes of Filipinos. Knowing that
society had no competent military
leadership, he suggested that Antonio
Luna be appointed to direct all military
operations against the enemy.
Valenzuela pointed out the difficulty of
winning over the wealthy Filipinos to
the Katipunan side. This was one
problem to which Rizal failed to
suggest a solution. (Agoncillo 1990,
pp. 167-168)
It was obvious that he was not against
the revolution itself, but was against it
only in the absence of preparation and
arms on the part of the rebels. This

was because Rizal feared that without
arms the rebels would surely be
defeated and thereby cause
irreparable damage to innocent
people. His knowledge of the history
of revolutions in other lands led him to
believe that any revolution was
useless unless the rebels were at least
as armed as the enemy. (Agoncillo
1990, p. 168)
Preparations for the Katipunan:
Bonifacio thought that sooner or later
the revolution would explode, and he
did not want to be taken by surprise.
Consequently, he ordered the
manufacture of bolos to be distributed
to the members of society. Bolos
alone however, would not do, for the
enemy was armed with Remingtons
and Mausers. A ray of hope shone on
the Katipuneros when Valenzuela told
Bonifacio that the Japanese warship
Kongo, with Admiral Kanimura on
board, had dropped anchor at Manila
Bay and that it might be possible for
them to seek the aid of the admiral in
the struggle for national liberation.
Contacts were made through Jose
Moritaro Tagawa, a Japanese employee
of a Japanese bazaar and soon the
Katipunan committee headed
Bonifacio himself had an interview
with Admiral Kanimura. The interview
was cordial, but the Japanese refused
to commit his country to the
revolutionary plans of the Katipunan.
(Agoncillo 1990, p. 168)
With the failure to enlist the help of
Japan, Bonifacio looked elsewhere for
concrete help, but found that the best
help was self help. He thought of the
Katipuneros in the various branches of
government and sought to use them
as his tools. He called two of them,
Tito Manuel and Roman Ramos, who
were employed in the Maestranza
(arsenal), and ordered them to steal
45
rifles and pistols, for the Maestranza
was a place where the ordinance was
located. Through expediency, the
weapons of the Katipunan increased.
Even so, the quantity of such weapons
was not sufficient to start a revolution.
(Agoncillo 1990, p. 169)
The increase in the number of the
Katipunan affiliates, while
advantageous for Bonifacio, was in a
way a disadvantage. The new
members were impatient and in their
impatience they met nightly, a
circumstance that aroused the
suspicion of authorities. From
Batangas, a rumor circulated that
there were secret gatherings and that
rifles and ammunition from Hongkong
and Yokohama were being landed.
The friars exploited this rumor to
advantage by telling the governor
general to act at once in order to
prevent a bloody uprising. Governor
General Blanco was reluctant to act
upon the suggestion of the friars, for
he was not exactly sympathetic to the
friars. Nevertheless, he banished all
the prominent men of Malolos,
Bulacan in 1895 and those of Taal,
Batangas in 1896. Another rumor had
it that there were some 17,000 rebels
in the town of San Juan del Monte, San
Felipe Neri, San Pedro Makati, Pasig
and Caimito. The parish priest of
Guadalupe, listening to the rumor
monger that was his servant,
denounced the existence of an alleged
secret society in his parish to the
Governor General. The curate of
Santa Cruz Manila reported to the
authorities alleged secret meetings of
suspicious persons in Manila. In spite
of these reports, most of which were
exaggerated to force the Governor
General to act precipitately, the latter
refused to take any action. (Agoncillo
1990, pp. 169-170)
Discovery of the Katipunan

Father Mariano Gil disgusted over the
Governor Generals attitude ran to the
military governor of Manila, Genera
Echaluce and revealed what he knew
about the Katipunan. But Echaluce
was not in the mood to humor the
friar. Instead he took precautions to
make Manila safe from disturbances of
any kind. At almost the same
however, an unfortunate event took
place between two Katipuneros who
were working in the Spanish owned
Diario de Manila. Apolonio dela Cruz
and Teodoro Patino had a were about to prepare. This done,
misunderstanding and Patino took his
revenge on Apolonio by revealing the
secrets of the Katipunan to his sister,
Honoraria. The latter, an inmate at
the orphanage in Mandaluyong, was
reported to have cried. The madre
portera, Sor Teresa, when informed of
the cause of the girls grief, suggested
that Patino tell all he knew to Father
Mariano Gil. In the afternoon of
August 19, Patino told Father Mariano
of what he knew about the secret
society. The friar immediately hurried
to the printing shop of the Diario de
Manila and accompanied by the owner
of the periodical, searched the
premises for hidden proofs of the
existence of the Katipunan. The
lithographic stone used to print the
Katipunan receipts was found and
when it was shown to Patino, he
pronounced it as genuine. At
midnight, the locker of Policarpio Turla,
whose signature appeared in the
receipts, was forced open and there a
dagger, the rules of the Katipunan and
other pertinent documents were
found. These evidences were turned
over to the police, who were now
convinced of the existence of a vast
underground society whose purpose
was to overthrow Spanish sovereignty
in the Philippines. (Agoncillo 1990, p.
170)
46
Implicating the upper class
As Valenzuela feared, the wealthy
Filipinos refused to join the Katipunan.
Bonifacio thought that in order to force
them to sympathize with the
Katipunan a trick should be played on
them in such a way as to make it
appear that they were deeply involved
in the Katipunan. Jacinto drew up a
list of wealthy Filipinos, while some
Katipuneros were ordered to study
their signatures for the purpose of
forging them on some documents they
fake letters with forced signatures of
the wealthy victims were made. The
alleged documents contained the
information that such wealthy men as
Luis Yangco, Francisco Roxas and
others, were heavy contributors to the
Katipunan fund that they were in
sympathy with the principles and
plans of the society. The result of this
trick was unexpected: instead of
forcing the wealthy Filipinos to join or
contribute to the society, they
denounced it and denied any
knowledge of its existence. But their
excuses were of no avail, for the
authorities simply refused to believe
them. Francisco Roxas was executed;
while Yangco and others were saved
by bribing some highly placed Spanish
officials. (Agoncillo 1990, p. 171)
The Cry of Balintawak/Pugadlawin
and First Battles of the Revolution
Bonifacio called on all Katipuneros to
Balintawak to decide on their next
course of action. On August 21, 1896
they converged at the house of Vidal
Acab and later at the yard of Apolonio
Samson, Katipuneros from areas such
as far as Nueva Ecija and Batangas
had arrived swelling the number to
more than a thousand. On August 23,
in a place called Pugadlawin, the
leaders of the Katipunan met at the

house of Juan Ramos to decide
whether or not they will launch the
revolution. In the discussion the
leaders were sharply divided on the
matter. The most vocal was Teodoro
Plata who said that the Katipunan
lacked absolute arms. Others
opposing the revolution were Pio
Valenzuela and Briccio Pantas who
said that it was too early. (Viana 2011,
p. 170)
Sensing that he would lose in the
debate, Bonifacio left the house to
face hundreds of Katipuneros waiting
for their decision. The Spaniards had
already discovered our organization; if
we return to our homes we will be
arrested. He then asked the
Katipuneros, revolt, cried the
Katipuneros. As proof of their
commitment, Bonifacio then asked
every Katipunero to bring out his
Cedula certificate and tear it to pieces.
The tearing of the Cedula sealed their
fate since anyone seen without it will
surely be arrested. Then they threw
the pieces of the Cedula to the air and
shouted, Long live Philippine
Independence. The Katipuneros then
gathered up the torn Cedulas into a
cried up Carabao hole where they
were burned. (Viana 2011, pp. 170-
171)
The Katipuneros heard that there were
80 civil guards and infantrymen
approaching Balintawak. The
Katipuneros then dispersed in several
directions. Bonifacios group
proceeded to the barrio of Pasong
Tamo where the Katipuneros had their
first battle with the Spaniards. The
Katipuneros were armed with bolos,
spears and crude guns called sulsulin
and arkonite. These two weapons
which were likely crude mortars, used
iron fragments for bullets and were
fired with their ends buried in the
ground. The Katipuneros
47
outnumbered the enemy but had to
withdraw because it was better armed
with Remington and Mauser rifles. The
Spaniards also withdrew when they
saw that they were outnumbered.
There were casualties on the part of
the Katipuneros. A man named
Simplicio Acabo, came out of his
hiding place with a bolo. He lunged at
a civil guard with the objective of
killing him and capturing his rifle. He
was shot before he could reach his
enemy. While Acab laid dying, the civil
guards and infantrymen retreated
towards Manila. (Viana 2011, p. 171)
Bonifacio then led his forces to
Hagdang Bato in Mandaluyong where
he issued his manifesto urging the
Filipinos to rise up against the
Spaniards. The Katipuneros planned
to attack the polvorin or powder
magazine in San Juan del Monte on
August 30 in an attempt to seize
weapons. A two pronged attack was
planned at midnight with one force led
by Bonifacio and Jacinto and another
force led by Sancho Valenzuela on the
other side. A general uprising in
Manila would also take place
beginning with the extinguishing of
lights at Bagumbayan. With the
extinguishing of the lights the
Katipuneros of Cavite will launch their
attacks. (Viana 2011, p. 171)
The coordinated attack on the polvorin
however, never took place as
Bonifacio had overslept. He was
awakened at four in the morning to
hear gunshots in the distance. He
correctly assumed that Valenzuelas
forces were being engaged by the
Spaniards. This took place in Santa
Mesa and Pandacan. Bonifacios force
reached the polvorin and surrounded
it. Though heavily outnumbered the
Spanish garrison stubbornly held out
until it was relieved by reinforcements
from Manila. Around 150 Katipuneros

lost their lives in this first major battle
of the revolution. The lights of
Bagumbayan were never
extinguished; nevertheless, the
Katipuneros of Cavite began the
revolution by seizing the town halls
and seizing the arms of the local
police and civil guards on the early
hours of August 31. (Viana 2011, p.
171-172)
Responses of the Spanish colonial
government against the
Katipunan
Meanwhile, the reign of terror was
unleashed as the Spaniards arrested
more suspects. Filipino spies betrayed
their countrymen and reported them
to authorities. One of those arrested
was Melchora Aquino who at 80 years
old, was betrayed by a spy of the
Spaniards. She was sent to the Bilibid
prison and later deported to Guam
along with 200 others. Persons with
scars on their arms were automatically
arrested and imprisoned. One of the
most infamous jails of the revolution
was the one at Fort Santiago which
was a small dungeon that could
comfortably hold fifty inmates. More
than 150 were crammed in the cell
and around half died of suffocation
and were found dead standing up at
the end of the day. In the afternoon of
August 30, Governor General Ramon
Blanco issued decree declaring eight
provinces in a state of war and placed
them under martial law. These
provinces were Manila, Cavite,
Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga, Tarlac,
Bulacan and Nueva Ecija. Though the
revolution had broken out in these
provinces there were outbreaks in
other provinces like Zambales and
Bataan. (Viana 2011, p. 172)
At that time, Spanish forces were
thinly stretched throughout the
country. Manila had only 200 artillery
48
men and the Manila Regiment which
was tasked to defend the city and
province also had to defend Cavite,
Batangas and Bulacan. Most of the
Spanish army was preoccupied in a
campaign against the Moros in Lanao
and had to be pulled out to fight the
Katipuneros in Luzon. Blancos decree
offered pardon for those who would
surrender within 48 hours except for
leaders of the Katipunan. Many took
advantage of the offer including Pio
Valenzuela who disagreed with
Bonifacio on starting the revolution.
However, many Katipuneros were
subjected to torture to reveal the
names of the supporters and members
of the Katipunan. (Viana 2011, p. 172)
Executions immediately followed
beginning with the execution of
Katipunan leaders Sancho Valenzuela,
Eugenio Silvestre, Modesto Sarmiento
and Ramon Peralta at Bagumbayan on
September 4, 1896. In Cavite, 13
suspects were executed at Plaza de
Armas on September 12, 1896. These
were Maximo Inocencio, Luis Aguado,
Victorino Luciano, Hugo Perez, Jose
Lallana, Antonio San Agustin, Agapito
Conchu, Feliciano Cabuco, Maximo
Gregorio, Eugenio Cabezas, Severino
Lapidario, Alfonso de Ocampo, and
Francisco Osorio. They were known as
the Trece Martires of Cavite. On
December 14, an undetermined
number of citizens were executed in
Tarlac and in the Bicol region 15
persons were arrested of which 12
were executed in Bagumbayan on
January 4, 1897. Following the
outbreak of the revolution in Capiz, 19
Katipuneros were executed in Kalibo
on March 23, 1897. Aside from the
executions, some suspects were
deported. Among them were Antonio
and Juan Luna, Isabelo Delos Reyes
who were deported to Spain. Others
were deported to Spain then to the
prison colony at Fernando Po Island off

Africa. Other prisoners were exiled to
the presidio of the Marianas in Guam.
(Viana 2011, p. 172-173)
Victories gained by the Katipunan:
The revolution continued to spread.
On September 2, 1896 in Nueva Ecija,
Katipuneros led by Mariano Llanera,
the Kapitan Municipal of Cabiao and
Pantaleon Valmonte, Kapitan Municipal
of Gapan accompanied by a bamboo
musical band called musikong
bumbong stormed the provincial
capital at San Isidro. The town fell
after a spirited fight and Leonardo Val,
the provincial governor, several friars
and soldiers became prisoners of the
Katipuneros. The victory over the
Spaniards is celebrated today s Araw
ng Nueva Ecija. The victory however
was short lived because Spanish
reinforcements under Don Arteaga
arrived and drove out the Katipuneros
who had relaxed their guard. Among
those killed was Kapitan Valmonte.
Llanera retreated to Cabiao where he
continued to resist the Spaniards.
(Viana 2011, p. 173)
In Cavite, Katipunan leaders earlier
took over their respective towns on
August 31. Among the first to fall was
Kawit, where Emilio Aguinaldo was its
Kapitan Municipal. The town hall of
Noveleta was taken over by
Katipuneros headed by Mariano
Alvarez. Other towns like San
Francisco de Malabon, Bacoor, and
Tanza fell into the hands of the
insurgents. The weapons captured
from the town halls augmented those
of the rebels. Many of the town
policemen or cuadrilleros had previous
knowledge of the outbreak of
hostilities. They simply defected to
the ranks of the Katipunan and were
crucial in the takeover of the various
tribunals and the capture of Spanish
officials. (Viana 2011, pp. 173-174)
49
On September 1, Katipuneros Tagle
besieged the towns friar house which
fell the following day after burning its
occupants to death. Tagles men
managed to capture 14 rifles and
small cannon. During the siege
Aguinaldo and his men moved to the
north to engage the Spaniards under
General Ernesto Aguirre. He was
narrowly killed as the better armed
Spaniards decimated his men.
Aguinaldo pretended to be dead by
hiding under the body of one of his
followers. He then returned to Imus to
join Tagle and prepare for the defense
of the town. There Aguinaldo and
Tagle dug trenches along the Imus
river and demolished the arch of the
bridge. On September 3, the
Spaniards proceeded confidently while
the Filipinos hid in the vegetation. At
a given signal the Filipinos using
captured rifles and cannon attacked
causing many Spanish soldiers to fall.
Soon the enemy was in disarray and
some made the mistake of running
across the muddy rice fields where
they were mired in the mud to be cut
down by the revolutionaries. In his
hasty retreat, General Aguirre dropped
his sword of command which was
recovered by Tagles men. The sword
which bore the year 1869, the year of
Aguinaldo birth, was presented to
Aguinaldo and became his personal
sword ever since. Aguinaldos victory
at Imus electrified the imagination of
the Cavitenos and everyone wanted to
join the revolution. Most of Cavite
remained in rebel hands until June
1897. (Viana 2011, p. 174)
At Binakayan and Dalahican,
Katipuneros hurled back a massive
offensive personally led by Governor
General Blanco on November 9 to 11,
1896. The Katipuneros build
fortifications of sand filled bamboo
traps ingeniously designed by Belgian

trained engineer General Edilberto
Evangelista. However, after hurling
back the first sortie of the Spaniards
came in force and overran the Filipino
positions killing Candido Tria Tirona,
the Secretary of War of the Katipunan
Magdalo Council. In Bulacan, the
Katipuneros belonging to the Balangay
Katipunan set up a republic in the
liberated areas on December 1896.
The Republic known as the Republic of
Kakarong de Sili was led by Eusebio
Roque who was also known as
Maestrong Sebio or Dimabunggo.
Other leaders were Canuto Villanueva
and Casimiro Galvez. (Viana 2011, pp.
174-175)
Disunity in the Katipunan: The
rise of Aguinaldo and fall of
Bonifacio
Dissension within the Katipunan began
to show its effect after a series of
defeats in Cavite took place as early
as January 1897. The Magdiwang
faction led by Mariano Alvarez
requested Bonifacio to come to Cavite
and help unite the organization.
Bonifacio who was then in Morong,
initially refused to come saying that
his presence there is needed. But
Alvarez and Artemio Ricarte insisted
and Bonifacio, together with his
brothers Procopio and Ciriaco left for
Cavite in December 1896. The arrival
of Bonifacio did not patch up the
Katipunan as bad blood began to
hamper unity among the Katipuneros.
Upon arrival in Cavite, the Cavitenos
did not have a good opinion of
Bonifacio. Derisively calling him alsa
balutan, they considered Bonifacio as
an outsider and interloper who would
lord it over them and share their
spoils. This happened even as the
Magdiwangs, whose leader is Mariano
Alvarez was an uncle of Bonifacios
wife, elected Bonifacio as Haring
Bayan. Malicious tongues began to
50
wag that Bonifacio was a Spanish
agent, unfit for leadership and a
mason. Bonifacio suspected Daniel
Tirona as the author of the vilification
campaign against him. There was also
an encounter with Emilio Aguinaldo in
December in which the two aimed
pistols at each other. (pp. 176-177)
Meeting in Imus on December 31,
1896, the Magdalos headed by
Baldomero Aguinaldo believed that the
Katipunan had ceased to be a secret
society and should be replaced by an
organization that would be keeping
with the demands of the time. The
Magdiwangs, on the other hand,
believed that the Katipunan should
continue to remain as the government
of the revolutionists because it already
had a Constitution and by-laws. It was
decided that the second meeting
should be held to decide the fate of
the Katipunan and unite the
organization. This meeting was held
at the friar estate house in the barrio
of Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon
on March 22, 1897. The convention of
insurgent leaders was attended mostly
by delegates from Cavite who was
Magdiwangs. Aguinaldo was then
absent fighting at the front. At two in
the afternoon, the convention was
opened with Jacinto Lumberas as
presiding officer. It was agreed that
everyones opinion should be
respected. The issue of the form of
government was settled when the
delegates voted for the replacement
of the Katipunan with a revolutionary
government led by a President not a
Haring Bayan. (Viana 2011, p. 177)
Then the election of the officials of the
new government took place. There
was a plea to keep Bonifacio as
president since he was the Supremo of
the Katipunan. This motion however,
was defeated. Bonifacio was first
nominated president but was defeated

by Emilio Aguinaldo who had the solid
backing of Magdalo members in the
convention. The Magdiwang vote was
divided between Emiliano Riego de
Dios and Bonifacio, enabling Aguinaldo
to win as President. Bonifacio was
again nominated as Vice President but
was bested this time by Mariano Trias.
Artemio Ricarte was elected captain
general and Emiliano Riego de Dios
was elected Director of War. In the
election for Director of the Interior,
Bonifacio was finally elected. When
Bonifacio was being proclaimed,
Daniel Tirona spoke saying that the
position of Director of Interior is an
exalted one and someone with a
lawyers diploma should be the one to
occupy it. He then said that there is a
lawyer in Cavite and mentioned the
name Jose Del Rosario. (Viana 2011,
pp. 177-178)
Bonifacio was insulted by Tironas
remarks and reminded him of the
agreement that anyone elected should
be respected. He demanded a
retraction from Tirona who instead of
apologizing to Bonifacio, started to
leave the Hall. Angrily, Bonifacio drew
out his pistol to shoot Tirona but
Ricarte held his arm. Still angry,
Bonifacio shouted that as President of
the Council of the Katipunan, he would
declare the assembly dissolved and
the results of the election null and
void. He and his men left the Hall.
(Viana 2011, p. 178)
Meanwhile, General Aguinaldo was
informed about his election as
president. He took his oath together
with other elected officials at the
Church of Santa Cruz de Malabon (now
Tanza). Bonifacio meanwhile refused
to recognize the results of the election
at Tejeros alleging that there were
anomalies in the election and that
there was a conspiracy among the
Magdalos to oust him. Returning to
51
Tejeros n March 23, Bonifacio and his
men drew up the Acta de Tejeros in
which they enumerated their reasons
for not accepting the results of the
election at Tejeros Convention the
previous day. They then proceeded to
Naic where a delegation from
Aguinaldo arrived to convince them to
return to the fold. (Viana 2011, p.
178)
While in Naic, Bonifacio consisting of
his supporters including Artemio
Ricarte, Pio del Pilar and Severino
delas Alas drew up the Naic military
agreement which formed a new army
under del Pilar. The document
disregarded the authority of anyone
else and warned that any disloyal
person would be punished on the spot.
Aguinaldo heard about the agreement
through Lazaro Makapagal who was
held prisoner by Bonifacios men.
Even though he was suffering from
malaria, Aguinaldo personally went to
estate house in Naic accompanied by
large force. By that Bonifacio and his
men already left and Aguinaldo
encountered only Ricarte and Del Pilar.
Both men were apologetic in joining
Bonifacio and claimed to have been
deceived. Ricarte and del Pilar were
then pardoned and joined Aguinaldos
men. (Viana 2011, p. 178)
Meanwhile, while still in Naic in the
barrio of Limbon, Bonifacio found out
the inhabitants were reluctant to
support him. In his anger he ordered
the burning of the houses of those
who refused to provide supplies to his
men. Aguinaldo heard about the
atrocities committed by Bonifacio and
his men and ordered his arrest.
Aguinaldos men consisting of Colonel
Agapito Bonzon and Jose Ignacio Paua
surrounded Bonifacios encampment.
During the arrest, Bonifacio was
stabbed in the throat by Paua (Insik
Paua) while his brother Ciriaco, was

killed after the latter killed one of
Aguinaldos men. Another brother,
Procopio was wounded. Bonifacio and
his brother were then brought to Naic
where Aguinaldo forwarded their case
to a military tribunal headed by
General Mariano Noriel on April 28.
The Tribunal consisted of Noriel as
president, Crisostomo Riel, General
Tomas Mascardo, Mariano Riego de
Dios, Esteban Ynfante and Sulpicio
Antony as members. Bonifacio was
defended by Placido Martinez and
Teodoro Gonzalez. The prosecutor was
Jose Elises. Because of the advance of
Spanish forces the trial and the
prisoners were moved on the town of
Maragondon. (Viana 2011, p. 179)
Bonifacio was charged with treason
and sedition, murder and the
attempted assassination of Aguinaldo.
His former allies including Pio Del Pilar
testified against him saying that
Bonifacio had threatened his fellow
officers to join him in Naic military
agreement. Severino Delas Alas said
that Bonifacio connived with the friars
in founding the Katipunan so the
Filipinos would fight a war for which
they were poorly prepared. He also
said that Bonifacio and his men were
planning to surrender to the
Spaniards. He also said that Bonifacio
was responsible for the killing of a
Spanish priest whom Aguinaldo
wanted spared and that he was
responsible for atrocities in Naic.
Another witness, Lt. Pedro Giron said
that Bonifacio paid him P10 to kill
Aguinaldo. When Bonifacio asked that
he should be allowed to confront the
witness against him, the tribunal
refused. It said that Giron was killed in
battle. Actually he was very much
alive and he was seen in the company
of Aguinaldo days after Bonifacios
execution. Despite insufficient
evidence the tribunal recommended
52
the death sentence for the two men.
(Viana 2011, p. 179)
On May 8, General Baldomero
Aguinaldo who was the Auditor of War
recommended the approval of the
decision of the Council of War.
General Emilio Aguinaldo however,
commuted the sentence to exile but
members of the Council and Pio Del
Pilar pleaded to Aguinaldo to retain
the original sentence for the sake of
unity of the revolutionaries. They also
said that Bonifacio should be executed
to prolong Aguinaldos life and that
as long as he remains alive he would
remain a danger to the movement.
Noriel and Del Pilar were supported by
Jose Clemente Zulueta, Dr. Anastacio
Francisco and Mamerto Natividad.
Aguinaldo then restored the original
sentence and on May 10, Andres and
Procopio Bonifacio were taken out of
their cells by Major Lazaro Makapagal
on orders of General Noriel. The men
were taken to barrio Hulog at the
outskirts of Maragondon and were
executed. (Viana 2011, p. 179-180)
The Government of Central Luzon:
During this period, the Filipino rebels
suffered one defeat after another.
The Spanish forces, on the other hand,
suffered from tropical diseases and
lack of experience. At this stage, the
Spanish Army was composed of many
Spanish recruits to replace Filipino
soldiers who had defected to the
Katipunan. Governor General Camilo
de Polavieja, who succeeded Governor
General Blanco in December 1896
grew tired of fighting the Filipinos who
refused to surrender. His health failed
him so he asked to be relieved. His
successor was Governor General
Fernando Primo de Rivera who had
served previously as Governor of the
country. Primo de Rivera took
personal charge of the military

campaign against the rebels. By May
1897, almost the whole province of
Cavite was in the hands of the
Spaniards. Aguinaldo, in order to
escape captivity, retreated to
Batangas. The Spanish Army followed
him and tried to trap him. Aguinaldo
however, succeeded in eluding the
enemy and, with some followers
headed for Morong (now Rizal
province). With 500 armed men,
Aguinaldo walked the distance to San
Juan del Monte and Montalban and on
to Mount Puray. From here, he and his
men walked all the way to Biak na
Bato, in San Miguel de Mayumo,
Bulacan, where they established his
headquarters. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 139)
Meanwhile, news of Aguinaldos arrival
in Biak na Bato reached the people of
Central Luzon. Immediately, the
people of the provinces of Zambales,
Pangasinan, Ilocos, Tarlac and Nueva
Ecija renewed their offensive against
the enemy. Such was the situation
when the rebels met at Mount Puray
and established the Departmental
Government of Central Luzon. This
comprised the provinces of Manila,
Morong, Bulacan, Laguna, Bataan,
Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Pangasinan.
Those present in the meeting elected
the following officials: President-Father
Pedro Dandan; Vice President-
Anastacio Francisco; Secretary of
Treasury-Paciano Rizal; Secretary of
War-Cipriano Pacheco; Secretary of
Interior-Teodoro Gonzales; and
Secretary of Welfare-Feliciano Jocson.
The Biak Na Bato Republic
Primo de Rivera failed to win over the
Filipinos back to Spain. The Filipinos
were tired of Spanish promises.
Before July or early in July, Aguinaldo
established a republican government
at Biak na Bato. He ordered the
53
preparation of a Constitution. Felix
Ferrer and Isabelo Artacho copied the
Cuban Constitution of Jimaguayu. The
Biak na Bato Constitution was signed
on November 1, 1897. The
Constitution provides for the creation
of a Supreme Council composed of the
President, a Vice President, Secretary
of War, and Secretary of Treasury.
Article VIII reflects the nationalism of
the revolutionists, for it provides that
Tagalog shall be the official language
of the Republic. The Constitution also
provides the religious liberty freedom
of education, freedom of the press, as
well as freedom to exercise any of the
professions. The following officers
were elected: Emilio Aguinaldo-
President; Mariano Trias-Vice
President; Antonio Montenegro-
Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Isabelo
Artacho-Secretary of Interior; Emiliano
Riego de Dios-Secretary of War; and
Baldomero Aguinaldo-Secretary of
Treasury. (Agoncillo 1990, p. 183)
The Truce of Biak Na Bato
Because of the difficulties that
confronted both the Filipino rebels and
the Spanish Army, an agreement
between the combatants were made.
Pedro Paterno, a Filipino of Chinese
ancestry, approached Governor Primo
de Rivera and offered himself as
mediator. The governor agreed and
soon Paterno was negotiating with the
two camps on how to end the bloody
struggle. On November 18, 1897, the
first document of what came to be
known as the Truce of Biak Na Bato
was signed by Paterno as
representative of the revolutionaries
and by Primo de Rivera for the Spanish
Government. Other matters were
threshed out by Paterno and on
December 14, the second document
known as the Programme was
signed by Paterno and de Rivera. On
December 15, the third and last

document was signed by Paterno and
de Rivera. The resulting Truce
provided the following: (Agoncillo
1990, p. 184)
1. That Aguinaldo and his
companions would go into
voluntary exile abroad;
2. That Primo de Rivera would pay
the sum of P800,000 to the
rebels in three instalments: a)
P400,000 to Aguinaldo upon his
departure from Biak Na Bato, b)
P200,000 when the arms
surrendered by the
revolutionaries exceeded 700,
and c) the remaining P200,000
when the Te Deum was sung
and general amnesty
proclaimed by the Governor.
3. That Primo de Rivera would pay
the additional sum of P900,000
to the families of the non
combatant Filipinos who
suffered during the armed
conflict.
To make sure that the Spanish
authorities were sincere, the
revolutionists demanded that two
Spanish generals were to remain at
Biak Na Bato as hostages and another,
Colonel Miguel Primo de Rivera, the
governors nephew, to accompany the
exiles to Hongkong. Primo de Rivera
agreed and on December 23, the
Spanish generals, Celestino Tejeiro and
Ricardo Monet arrived in Biak Na Bato
and became hostages of the rebels.
On the same day, Aguinaldo and his
men, including Pedro and Maximo
Paterno, boarded a launch and sailed
for Kalumpit. They took the train for
Dagupan, then sailed the carromatas
for the port of Sual, Pangasinan. The
group sailed for Hongkong on
December 27, with Aguinaldo in
possession of a check for P400,000.
(Agoncillo 1990, pp. 184-185)
54
Failure of the Truce
The month of January 1898 was a
happy one for the Spaniards. Peace
reigned once more and the Spanish
community enjoyed their activities like
attending horse and boat races,
fireworks and going to theaters. The
Te Deum was sung at the Manila
Cathedral on June 23, to celebrate the
publication of a peace treaty.
Meanwhile, the Filipino military officers
who were left at Biak Na Bato to
attend to the surrender of firearms
kept themselves busy. Others,
however, were suspicious of Spanish
motives held on to their weapons.
Likewise, the Spanish authorities did
not trust the Filipinos. This mutual
suspicion resulted to armed clashes
that started in February. One of the
Filipino military leaders, General
Francisco Makabulos of Tarlac, who
was suspicious of Spanish motives,
organized the Central Executive
Committee which acted as an
independent government. It intended
to operate temporarily as government,
pending the establishment of a central
government run by Filipinos. It had a
Constitution, popularly called the
Makabulos Constitution. In the
months that followed, armed clashes
between the Filipinos and the
Spaniards occurred. These clashes
made the Filipinos and Spaniards more
suspicious of each other. Bad faith on
both sides ultimately caused the truce
to fail. (Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010,
p. 141)
The Spanish-American War:
Meanwhile, the Spanish-American
relations were turning for the worse.
The Cuban revolution had drawn the
United States to the side of the Cuban
rebels, for American economic
interests in the island were
paramount. In 1897, Assistant

Secretary of the Navy Theodore
Roosevelt Sr conceived the idea of
attacking Manila in the event that war
should break out between the United
States and Spain. On February 25,
1898, Roosevelt cabled Commodore
George Dewey, Commander of the
American Asiatic Squadron to make
Hongkong the base of his operations.
At the same time he instructed Dewey
to take offensive action against the
Spanish flotilla based in Manila in case
of a war with Spain. Thus, when the
war finally broke out, Dewey was in a
position to rush immediately to Manila
to destroy the Spanish warships. The
coming of the Americans therefore
was not a mere accident of the
Spanish-American war, but a planned
action. (Agoncillo 1990, p. 188)
On February 15, 1898, the American
warship USS Maine was blown up at
Havana harbor, resulting in the death
of 246 men. Roosevelt seeing in his
accident an excuse to goad his
government to go to war, said: I
would give anything of President
McKinley would order the fleet to
Havana harbor tomorrow. The Maine
was sunk by an act of treachery on the
part of the Spaniards. A little past
noon, April 25, Dewey received a cable
from Secretary of the Navy Long,
saying: War has commenced between
the United States and Spain.
Secretary Longs cable to Dewey was
an off shoot of the Teller Resolution
which American Congress passed on
April 21, 1898, declaring a state of
was with Spain. US Congress passed a
formal declaration of war on April 25.
(Agoncillo 1990, p. 189)
Battle of Manila Bay:
Dewey ordered his fleet to sail for
Manila Bay. Quietly, his fleet entered
the bay in the early morning or May 1,
1898. The Spanish batteries in
55
Corregidor were too late in detecting
the passage of the fleet. The Spanish
squadron commanded by Admiral
Patricio Montojo was waiting in
Sangley Point in Cavite. Montojo was
watching Deweys course as he
entered Manila Bay. At dawn, Dewey
spotted the Spanish ships and ordered
his fleet to turn back and sail toward
Cavite. Standing on the bridge of the
flagship USS Olympia, Dewey
estimated the distance between the
two fleets. When he thought that his
guns could effectively hit the enemy,
he turned to the Captain of the ship
and said calmly: You may fire when
you are ready. The signal for firing
was given and the guns of all the
American ships fired. The Battle of
Manila Bay was one sided. The
heavier and better armed American
ships outgunned the Spanish fleet and
by 12:30 in the afternoon, Admiral
Montojos fleet was already destroyed.
The Spanish hoisted a white flag in
Cavite as sign of surrender. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, p. 147)
Aguinaldo and his men:
Meanwhile in Hongkong, Aguinaldo
and his companions were following the
trend of events on the other side of
the Pacific. To them, it was an
opportunity to oust the Spanish from
the Philippines. But there was division
in the ranks of the exiles, for Isabelo
Atacho wanted the P400,000 given to
Aguinaldo to be divided among them.
Aguinaldo refused and Artacho sued
Aguinaldo in the Hongkong Supreme
Court. To avoid appearing in Court,
Aguinaldo accompanied by Gregorio
del Pilar and J. Leyba, secretly left for
Saigon where he took another ship to
Singapore. In the afternoon of his
arrival, April 23, Howard Bray, an
Englishman of long residence in the
Philippines, contacted Aguinaldo and
told him that the American consul,

Spencer Pratt, wanted an interview
with him. In the course of the
interview, Pratt persuaded Aguinaldo
to cast his lot with the Americans,
adding that: You need not have any
worry about America. The American
Congress and President have just
made a solemn declaration
disclaiming any desire to possess
Cuba and promising to leave the
country to the Cubans after having
driven away the Spaniards and
pacified the country. Cuba is at our
door, while the Philippines is 10,000
miles away. (Agoncillo 1990, p. 190)
Aguinaldo expressed his eagerness to
return to the Philippines to lead once
more the Filipinos in the fight against
the Spaniards. Pratt cabled Dewey
who was then in Hongkong, regarding
Aguinaldo. Dewey responded: Tell
Aguinaldo come as soon as possible.
Pratt arranged for Aguinaldos
departure and on April 26, Aguinaldo
and his two companions sailed for
Hongkong. Unfortunately, however,
Dewey already sailed for Manila Bay
when Aguinaldo arrived. (Agoncillo
1990, p. 190)
The American Consul at Hongkong,
Rounseville Wildman told Aguinaldo
that Dewey had left instructions for
the return of Aguinaldo to the
Philippines. Wildman later told
Aguinaldo to establish a dictatorial
government in the Philippines so that
he could easily take steps to continue
the revolution against Spain. But after
the hostilities, Aguinaldo should
establish a government like the United
States. Having been won by
Wildmans recommendations,
Aguinaldo entrusted him to purchase
rifles and ammunitions to be used by
the Filipino army. For this purpose, he
gave Wildman the sum of P50,000.
Later, he gave Wildman P67,000 for
the purchase of more arms and
56
ammunition. The first shipment of
arms and ammunition costing P50,000
was delivered but the second
transaction, which cost P67,000 was
never realized. There was no record
that Wildman returned the money.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
148)
The Hongkong Junta:
In the wake of Deweys victory, the
Filipinos who composed the Hongkong
Junta met on May 4 to discuss the
steps to be taken in the face of the
new developments. Present during
the deliberations were Felipe
Agoncillo, Doroteo Lopez, Teodoro
Sandico, Anastacio Francisco, Mariano
Llanera, Miguel Malvar, Andres
Gachitorena, Severo Buenaventura,
Maximo Kabigting, Faustino Lichauco
and Antonio Montenegro. Agoncillo
informed the Committee of the arrival
of Aguinaldo and suggested the
temporary suspension of the meeting
to give Aguinaldo and Galicano
Apacible time to enter the session hall.
Once inside, Aguinaldo related his
dealings with Pratt and Wildman.
Since the situation in the Philippines
was critical, Aguinaldo asked the
members of the Junta to advise him
what to do. After the exchange of
opinions, the Junta unanimously
decided that Aguinaldo should return
to the Philippines to lead the Filipinos
against the Spaniards. (Agoncillo
1990, p. 191)
The return of Aguinaldo:
On May 17, 1898, Aguinaldo boarded
the American revenue cutter
McCulloch, which was bound for
Manila. The ship arrived in Manila Bay
two days later. Immediately, he was
transferred to Deweys flagship, the
Olympia. Dewey assured him that the
United States did not need colonies.

Dewey, who had been promoted to
Rear Admiral, assured him that the
United States would recognize the
independence of the Philippines.
Dewey would later deny having made
any promise to Aguinaldo and that his
relations with the Filipino were purely
personal, not official. When Aguinaldo
finished disembarking the war
equipment which was purchased in
Hongkong, Filipino rebels came to pay
him a visit. He handed them copies of
proclamations that he had prepared.
These proclamations urged the people
to rise in arms once more and to
continue the struggle against the
Spanish oppressors. The news of
Aguinaldos return spread far and
wide. Many Filipinos in the Spanish
army defected to Aguinaldos forces.
Some arms were given to the Filipinos
by the American Navy. On May 21,
Aguinaldo issued a proclamation
saying that, Everything appears
favorable for attaining independence; I
urge that we strive to unite our efforts
and let us fire our hearts with the idea
of vindicating our country. Many
nations are on our side. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, pp. 149-150)
By the end of May, Aguinaldos armed
forces had captured about 5,000
prisoners. Town after town, in Cavite
and Morong, fell into the hands of the
Filipino rebels. In Pampanga, Laguna,
Batangas, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,
Tayabas, Bataan and Camarines, the
people were up in arms against Spain.
By June 1898, practically the whole of
Luzon, with the exception of the port
of Cavite, which was in the hands of
Americans and the City of Manila,
which was under the Spaniards, was in
the hands of the Filipino rebels. On
June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo signed the
Proclamation of Philippine
Independence in Kawit, Cavite.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
150)
57
On June 5, Aguinaldo ordered that June
12 be set aside for the proclamation of
independence. To make the event
memorable, he asked Julian Felipe, a
musician from Cavite, to compose a
march which would be played during
the Independence Day ceremonies.
Six days later, Julian Felipe showed
Aguinaldo and some of his officers the
music he had composed. It was
entitled Marcha Filipina Magdalo.
Upon hearing the music, Aguinaldo
decided to make it the official march
of the Philippines. On June 12,
between four and five in the
afternoon, Aguinaldo proclaimed the
independence of the Philippines from
the window of his home in Kawit,
Cavite. The Philippine Flag, designed
by Aguinaldo and sewn in Hongkong
by Marcela Agoncillo with the help of
Delfina Herbosa and Lorenza
Agoncillo, was officially hoisted for the
first time to the accompaniment of the
Marcha Filipina. The Act of the
Declaration of Independence was
prepared and read in Spanish by
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista. This was
his last act. After June 12, he faded
from the picture and Mabini stepped in
as Aguinaldos top most adviser. The
Declaration of Independence was
signed by ninety eight persons. US
Admiral Dewey declined the invitation
to the ceremonies. Instead, an
American army officer by the name of
Colonel L.M. Johnson attended on his
behalf. It was not until August 1 that
many towns of Luzon promulgated the
proclamation of independence.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p. 157-
158)
The siege and mock battle of
Manila:
The defeat of the Spanish fleet
discouraged the Spanish officials in
the city. What demoralized them was

Aguinaldos return. It meant that
Filipinos would renew the struggle
against the Spaniards. Added to this
was the further desertion of many
Filipino soldiers from the Spanish
armed forces. They joined the cause
of the revolutionaries and transferred
under Aguinaldos banner. To prevent
the Filipino population from siding with
Aguinaldo, Governor General Basilio
Agustin issued a Circular saying that
the unity of the Philippines and its
liberties lay with Spain. He appointed
prominent Spanish mestizos to the
consultative assembly for the purpose
of winning over to the Spanish side of
all the wealthy Filipinos and influential
Filipinos and thus, make it appear that
he had the welfare of the Filipinos a
heart. But many educated Filipinos
saw the consultative assembly as
nothing but a puppet since it could not
pass laws. Its only duty was to give
advice to the governor. This last
desperate effort by the governor
general proved useless as the Filipinos
refused to cooperate. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 150)
Instead the Filipino rebels besieged
Manila, which was then called
Intramuros. Dewey could not deploy
troops in Manila because he did not
have enough soldiers aboard the
battleship. All he could do was to
guard Manila and prevent Spanish
ships from entering or leaving the bay.
On the other hand, Aguinaldo ordered
is forces to lay siege to the city to
starve the Spanish population and
make them helpless. Tondo, Sta. Cruz,
San Juan and even as far as Caloocan
were filled with Filipino rebels that
surrounded the city. Aguinaldo also
ordered the citys food and water
supply be cut off. Then he demanded
the surrender of the Spanish forces
inside the city, but Governor Agustin,
thinking of Spanish honor refused to
58
surrender. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 150-151)
Dewey did not besiege the city
because he did not enough forces to
do it. In June and July, however,
American troops arrived in Manila Bay.
They landed in Paranaque and
encamped south of Pasay. With this
force, the American military
commanders, among them General
Arthur McArthur believed that they
could fight the Spaniards. But Dewey
thought that he could make the
Spaniards surrender without a fight.
He sent Belgian consul to Governor
Augustin to negotiate with him. The
governor was ready to surrender to
the Americans, but the government of
Spain did not like this. He was
relieved of his duty and was
succeeded by General Fermin
Jaudenes. Jaudenes believed that the
Spanish position was very weak, but
he could not surrender without losing
face. So he entered into a secret
agreement with Dewey and General
Wesley Merritt. As agreed, both sides
would stage would stage a mock
battle to lead to Spanish surrender. It
was also agreed upon that the Filipino
rebels should not be allowed by their
American allies to enter the city. This
agreement was known only to
Jaudenes, Merritt and Dewey.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
151)
It was August 13, 1898, the day was
dreary; there was a downpour because
the rainy season had arrived. The
American soldiers walked quietly
toward the walls of the city in
preparation for the battle. On the
other hand, Aguinaldos generals
suspected that the Americans were
not being faithful to them. Questions
lingered in their minds about the true
intentions of the Americans. Why
were the Americans positioned for

battle? It was just a matter of time,
perhaps a day or two, for the
Spaniards to surrender to the Filipino
forces. Why were they staying? Didnt
they promise that they would not
colonize the Philippines? These
questions were asked by Filipino field
generals like General Artemio Ricarte,
General Mariano Noriel and General
Pio Del Pilar. Ricarte, among others
warned Aguinaldo to be careful
because it seems that the Americans
want to fool us. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 151)
When the firing started, the Filipino
soldiers advanced. General Merritt
ordered General Francis Greene to
stop the Filipinos, Greene did was he
was ordered and warned Aguinaldo
not to allow his soldiers to enter
Intramuros. Greene added that if they
did otherwise, the American soldiers
would be forced to fire at the Filipinos.
Aguinaldo much against his will,
ordered his soldiers to desist from
entering Intramuros. Meanwhile, firing
started and no American was killed.
Then Dewey and Merritt saw a white
flag hoisted. It was hoisted by Spanish
soldiers at a corner of the walls, facing
what is now Manila Hotel. Firing
ceased and Merritt entered the city as
the victor of the Manila battle.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p. 151-
152)
The terms of the Americans:
At 5:00pm of August 13, 1898, the
Spanish governor general agreed to
sign the surrender document. In line
with the terms of surrender, the
Spaniards, including the Filipino
volunteers under the payroll of the
Spanish Army inside the City, agreed
to admit defeat. On the other hand,
the Americans agreed to protect the
city, its inhabitants, buildings and
churches. The following day, the
59
document containing these terms
were formally signed by
representatives of Spain and the
United States. Meanwhile, in
Washington DC, the protocol of Peace
was signed by the representatives of
Spain and the US. According to this
protocol, both nations would appoint
not more than five commissioners
each. These commissioners were to
meet on October 1, 1898 in Paris,
France to discuss the terms of the
peace treaty. The two countries also
agreed to stop the hostilities between
them. On August 12, Washington
time, President McKinley of the US
issued a proclamation ordering that all
military operations against the enemy
be suspended. On the same day, the
proclamation was cabled to General
Merritt in Manila. It did not reach
Merritt on time, however, because
Dewey cut the cable linking Manila
with the outside world after the battle
of Manila Bay. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 152)
The Treaty of Paris:
The Americans decided to keep the
Philippines. Writing in Washington, DC
President William McKinley said that
to give them (the Philippines) back to
Spain is not honourable. To leave
them to other countries is not
acceptable. To allow them to be free
is unthinkable. They would tear each
other apart. I decided to keep the
Philippines for us to civilize. There
were actually other factors responsible
for his decision to keep the Philippines.
Other powers especially the Germans
were on the wings to take over the
Philippines. Commercial interests
were involved. To American capitalists
the Philippines represented a rich
source of raw materials for American
industries and a market for American
goods. It was also a gateway to the
orient, especially China. Under the

Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the
Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico
and in return received an indemnity of
$20 million. The amount was not a
purchase of the territories but
payment for the war bonds owed by
the Spanish government. Cuba was to
be guaranteed its independence.
Filipino diplomats led by Felipe
Agoncillo tried but were denied a
chance to talk to McKinley. They were
to propose practical alternatives to the
colonization of the Philippines
including the reimbursement of the
money paid by the US to Spain by
treating it as a loan to be paid by the
Philippines. The Philippines would
allow American naval and coaling
stations and its independence and
neutrality were to be guaranteed by
the worlds leading powers. Agoncillo
even tried to negotiate with Pope who
also refused involvement. In the
Philippines, Aguinaldo publicly
protested the Treaty of Paris and
proclaimed the countrys readiness to
oppose Americas design on the
Philippines. This proclamation which
was issued on December 1898 was
practically a Philippine declaration of
war. (Viana 2011, pp. 191-192)
The Malolos Government and
Constitution:
With his victory in Manila not realized,
Aguinaldo moved the capital of his
government to Malolos on August 22,
1898. On September 15, the
Revolutionary Congress was
inaugurated. Elected President of the
Congress was Pedro Paterno and other
officials were Benito Legarda, Vice
President; and Gregorio Araneta,
Secretary. Araneta was replaced by
Pablo Tecson. Of the 135 members
only 42 were elected. The rest were
Aguinaldos appointees because the
places they represent were either too
far or their constituencies were still at
60
war. On September 29, the Congress
again ratified the proclamation of
Philippine Independence. The
Congress then moved to draft a
Constitution for a republic. Three
drafts were presented to Congress.
The first was Apolinario Mabinis
Constitutional Program which
consisted to 130 articles not including
the clauses. Other drafts were made
by Pedro Paterno and Felipe Calderon.
Mabinis draft contained unique
features. One of its provisions made
English as an official language of the
Philippines. Other features included
the prescription of the death penalty
only for military insubordination in the
face of an enemy; and the
disqualification of women from any
public office with jurisdiction. (Viana
2011, pp. 190)
Mabinis opponents disapproved his
Constitutional Program reasoning that
it was too Masonic. The Paterno draft
reminded the Congress of the Spanish
Constitution of 1868 and was also
rejected. The last draft made by
Calderon which was inspired by the
constitutions of France, Belgium, Costa
Rica, Guatemala, Brazil and
Nicaragua, was accepted. It had
amendments inserted by Aguinaldo:
the President would continue to have
decree making powers as long as the
independence of the Philippines is not
officially recognized; the separation of
church and state remained suspended
and that the friars were to be expelled
from the Philippines and all their
properties would be restored to the
state. Other amendments had
provisions for non Christian and hill
tribes including their representation in
the Congress and the power of the
President to negotiate with the
Muslims for the basis of national
solidarity. (Viana 2011, pp. 191)

Debates on the draft constitution
lasted until November 5, 1898. The
most contentious matter involved the
issue of the separation of Church and
State. Calderon favoured a union of
the two believing that a separation
was a myth. He advocated the
adoption of Catholicism as a state
religion. Opposing Calderon were
masons led by Antonio Luna who
believed that separation was a way of
riding the country of the influence of
the friars. The first voting ended with
a tie and with Paterno abstaining.
Separation of Church and State won in
the second voting with a vote of Pablo
Tecson in its favor. On January 21,
General Aguinaldo proclaimed the
1899 Constitution and on January 23,
the Philippine Republic was
inaugurated. Aguinaldo pardoned all
prisoners of war except members of
the Spanish army. He also granted the
Spaniards and other foreigners the
right to engage in business in the
Philippines. (Viana 2011, pp. 191)
Local Government Reorganized
and Administration of Justice
Mabini prepared the decree of June 18
which provided for the reorganization
of the government into provinces that
were already taken from the
Spaniards. The right to vote was given
to men of high moral character and
good standing in his community. They
were the ones who would elect the
town head, the cabeza of each barrio
and the delegate for the police and
internal order, the delegate for justice
and civil registry, and the delegate for
taxes and property. All these and the
town and barrio chiefs constituted the
Popular Assembly. The town chief
acted as President of the Assembly;
the Cabeza of the Poblacion or town
proper as the vice president; and the
delegate for justice and civil registry
as the secretary. On the other hand,
61
the provincial chief or governor and
three councillors were elected by the
town chiefs, in consultation with the
Popular Assembly. The provincial
chief, the chief of the capital of the
province, and the three councillors
constituted the Provincial Council.
Mabini thought that there should be a
Revolutionary Congress. To prepare
for this, he included in the June 18
decree a provision stating that each
province should elect its delegates to
Congress. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 158)
In a supplementary decree of June 20,
Mabini provided for the administration
of justice in areas under the Filipino
government. For the time being, the
Spanish Penal Code was adopted
except for those provisions which were
contrary to the decrees of the Filipino
government. Under the set up, the
town chief was automatically assigned
as the town judge. In criminal cases,
the papers relating to a case had to be
sent to the Provincial Council. This is,
in turn, would order the accused to
appear before the Provincial Council to
stand trial. In civil cases, the
decisions were made by the Popular
Council. All decisions were to be
considered temporary and may be
changed by a court of higher
jurisdiction. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 159)
The Revolutionary Government:
Upon the advice of Mabini, Aguinaldo
changed the form of government from
dictatorial to revolutionary. This took
effect on June 23. From this time on,
the name of the government was
revolutionary government. The
decree, prepared by Mabini, changed
the title of the Chief of State from
Dictator to President. To help the
President in his duties, four
departments were created. They were

the Department of Foreign Affairs,
Navy and Commerce; the Department
of War and Public Works; the
Department of Police and Public Order,
Justice, Education and Hygiene; and
the Department of Finance, Agriculture
and Manufacturing Industry. The June
23 decree also provided for the
creation of Congress. Provinces which
could not hold any elections for
delegates to Congress, because they
were still under the Spaniards, would
be represented by appointive
delegates to Congress. The Congress
was not a law making body but an
advisory one. It would advise the
President on matters pertaining to the
organization of the revolutionary army
and the raising of funds to support it.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
159)
The Malolos Congress and
Constitution:
Following the provisions of the decrees
of June 18 and 23, Aguinaldo called on
Congress to meet at Barasoain Church
in Malolos, Bulacan. On September 4,
Aguinaldo appointed fifty delegates to
Congress to represent provinces that
were experiencing unstable conditions
because of peace and order issues.
On the final count, ninety two
delegates came. Thirty five delegates
were elected, while fifty seven were
appointed. The majority of these were
educated and rich. Lawyers,
physicians and businessmen made up
59%. None from the peasants, labor,
Muslims and other ethno linguistic
groups were represented. The Basilica
of Barasoain was filled with people in
the morning of September 15, 1898.
The Banda Pasig played the Marcha
Filipina at the church yard, the Marcha
is now known as the National Anthem.
After the opening of Congress by
Aguinaldo, its members elected the
following officers: Pedro Paterno as
62
President, Benito Legarda as Vice
President, Gregorio Araneta as First
Secretary and Pablo Ocampo as
Second Secretary. In the meeting of
September 29, Congress ratified the
proclamation of independence in Kawit
on June 12. This was the first
significant act of Congress. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, p. 160)
The Malolos Constitution was the first
important state document that the
Filipino people, speaking through their
representatives had ever produced.
Republican in orientation, the
Congress worked hard to have a
Constitution for the people, which was
democratic in its aspects. According
to the Malolos Constitution, the
government that was established was
popular, representative and
responsible. It was divided into three
branches: the executive, legislative
and judiciary. The Constitution also
provided for national and individual
rights not only to Filipinos, but also to
foreigners. Safeguards against abuses
were provided for so the people would
not experience what they had
experienced under Spain. The
Assembly is unicameral. The
President was elected by the
Assembly, which took the place of
Congress. The department secretaries
the secretary of Foreign Affairs,
secretary of Justice, among others
were responsible not to the President,
but to the Assembly. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 161)
The Malolos Constitution is unique for
three reasons: first, the Assembly or
the legislature branch was more
powerful than the executive and the
judicial branch; second, it provided
that when the Assembly was not in
session, a Permanent Commission,
composed of members of the
Assembly, would sit as a legislative
body; and third, the Constitution

established a unicameral legislature.
The framers of the Constitution
explained that the reason behind the
superior rank of the legislative branch
over the executive and judicial
branches was that he was afraid that if
the executive branch (i.e. Aguinaldo)
became powerful, then the ignorant
soldiers who were for Aguinaldo would
dominate the government. They
preferred the oligarchy of the intellect
over the oligarchy of the ignorant. But
since education was accessible only to
the rich, this excluded many who were
poor and uneducated. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, pp. 161-162)
The First Philippine Republic
Aguinaldo reorganized his cabinet into
the following:
President of the Cabinet and
Secretary of Foreign Affairs:
Apolinario Mabini
Secretary of Interior: Teodoro
Sandico
Secretary of War: Baldomero
Aguinaldo
Secretary of Finance: Mariano
Trias
Secretary of Welfare, Public
Instruction, Public Works,
Communications, Agriculture,
Industry and Commerce: Gracio
Gonzaga
This cabinet was also called the
Council of Government. At the
inauguration of the Republic on
January 23, 1899 Aguinaldo took his
oath of office as President of the
Republic. The Army took its oath of
loyalty to the country before President
Aguinaldo. Then the Malolos
Constitution was read article by
article. To make the event more
memorable, Aguinaldo pardoned all
prisoners who were not regular
members of the Spanish Army. Also
Spaniards and other foreigners were
63
granted the right to engage in
business in the Philippines. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, p. 162)
To publicize its activities, the
government had an organ called El
Heraldo dela Revolucion which was
later changed to Indice Oficial and
finally to Gaceta de Filipinas. These
organs published the decrees of the
government as well as news and
Tagalog poems which were aimed to
promote nationalism among their
readers. (Viana 2011, p. 202)
To free itself from the grip of the friars
in the countrys educational system,
the government established a
university called the Universidad
Cientifico Literaria. This university
was housed inside the Barasoain
Church convent in Malolos where
many members of the Malolos
congress served as professors of law,
medicine, pharmacy and liberal arts
subjects including the teaching of
English, French and Spanish. Dr.
Joaquin Gonzales served as the first
president of the university. There
were also an equivalent of a high
school and trade school called the
Instituto Burgos. On October 25,
1898, the government established a
military academy to develop a
professional corps of officers for the
armed forces. Called the Academia
Militar, the military school was the
brainchild of General Antonio Luna. It
was headed by Colonel Manuel Sityar,
a former lieutenant in the Spanish
Army who had earlier denounced the
Katipunan, served as its
superintendent. The Academia Militar
also held classes at the Barasoain
Church convent. These schools
functioned until the outbreak of the
Filipino American war in 1899. (Viana
2011, p. 202)
Autonomy instead of independence:

Though the government of the
Republic was established on the
aspiration of attaining independence,
uncertainties began to plague the
government right from the very start.
General Aguinaldo was aware that the
Filipinos were divided into two parties,
one favoring absolute independence
and other preferring a protectorate
under the United States in a
conversation with Brigadier General
Whittier on October 25, 1898,
Aguinaldo said that he was waiting
which side would have the majority.
Whittier pointed out to Aguinaldo that
it would be useless to favor complete
independence because the Philippines
lacked a navy and capital needed for
the development of the country, and
that it needed an element of strength
to ensure the retention of the islands.
Aguinaldo countered naively that the
civilized nations would ensure that the
Filipinos would not lose their territory.
Whittier then replied that these
civilized nations were now controlling
and holding Chinese territory.
Aguinaldo then said that the United
States furnish the navy, while the
Filipinos held all the Filipinos held that
all the country and administered civil
offices with its own people. (Viana
2011, p. 204)
After a while, Aguinaldo was joined in
by Felipe Buencamino who became his
chief adviser. He said: I could be
certain that if a protectorate were
granted, they (he and Aguinaldo)
would do their best to have it
accepted by the people on the same
lines that I have stated, agreeing with
me fully that to hold one island and
giving the other islands to other
powers would be most unfortunate,
and not to be considered. From the
notes of his conversation with
Aguinaldo, Whittier concluded that
there was a great desire for our
64
protection, for the improvement of
their people materially and
intellectually, the wish to send their
young people to America for
education. He reported these views
in Washington, DC when he was
summoned to explain the views of the
Filipinos. (Viana 2011, p. 204)
Many officials in the Malolos
government especially members of
Congress favored autonomy under the
United States because American rule
assured them of stability, and being
members of the landed elite, their
properties would be at stake in case of
war with the Americans. The pro
autonomy stance of some officials
infuriated others who advocated
absolute independence for the
country. Antonio Luna denounced
these Filipinos as traitor and ordered
their arrest. Writing as editor in chief
of La Independencia, he attacked
Buencamino and Pedro Paterno who
was president of the Philippine
Congress. Death to autonomy, he
cried. Luna and his men arrested and
tried to have them to exile but were
quietly released under orders of
Aguinaldo. Luna tried to resign as
Director of war but was refused. (Viana
2011, p. 204)
Benevolent Assimilation:
On December 21, McKinley issued his
benevolent assimilation
proclamation which stated his
intention of the Philippines. This
proclamation laid the Americas claim
over the Philippines. It said that
United States came not as invaders or
conquerors but as friends and that the
aim of the military administration was
to win the confidence, respect and
affection of the inhabitants of the
Philippines by assuring them in every
possible way that the full measure of
individual rights and liberties is the

heritage of free peoples, and that by
proving to them that the mission of
the United States is one of benevolent
assimilation. These noble words,
however barely hid Americas
imperialistic objectives in the country.
(Viana 2011, p. 207)
In defending his decision to take all
the Philippines, McKinley said that the
islands were a gift from the gods.
Speaking before a group of clergy
men, he said that he did not know
what to do with them and that he
walked the floor of the White House
and went down on his knees to ask
God for guidance. He came to
conclude that he could not give the
island back to Spain-that would be
cowardly and dishonourable; he could
not turn them over to France and
Germany, their commercial rivals in
the Orient-that would be bad for
business; that he could not leave them
for themselves, they are unfit for self
government and they would soon have
anarchy and misrule over there worse
than Spain was. He concluded that.
there was nothing left for us to do but
to take them all, and to educate the
Filipinos, and uplift, civilize and
Christianize them, and by gods grace,
do the very best we could by them, as
our fellowmen whom Christ also died.
(Viana 2011, p.207)
Meanwhile, the Americans and
Filipinos increased their preparations
for war. As more Americans arrived in
Manila, they sent an expedition to
occupy Iloilo in December. At that
time, the American troop levels
65
numbered to 20,851. Aguinaldo did
not wish to risk to fight the Americans
and had troops evacuate some areas
in Manila to avoid any confrontation
with them. However, when he learned
that the American commander
General Elwell Otis had orders to
occupy all of the country, he ordered
his forces to prepare for war. He knew
that the US Senate had to vote on the
Treaty of Paris and that there were
some Americans who were against the
occupation of the Philippines. (Viana
2011, p.207)
Aguinaldo knew that a war with the
United States would bring hardship
and suffering to the people. He tried to
relax the tension by suggesting to Otis
that their representatives should meet
to discuss ways and means of avoiding
a conflict. Consequently, Otis
appointed his representatives which
were composed of three military
officers. Aguinaldo appointed his three
representatives. The representatives
met for almost one month specifically
in January but nothing came out of the
meetings because the American
representatives were stalling, which
heightened the tension between the
two panels. The Filipino military
officers believed that the Americans
were only deceiving the Filipinos and
that there was no interest in keeping
Filipino-American diplomatic relations.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
169)

The beginning of the Filipino-American
War:
On February 1, 1899, a group of
American engineers was arrested by
Filipino troops. Otis protested, but
Aguinaldo replied that the Americans
were not arrested but merely detained
because they were found within the
Filipino lines. On February 2, General
Arthur McArthur protested the
presence of some Filipino soldiers
within the American lines, the Filipino
soldiers withdrew and MacArthur was
satisfied. On the night of February 4,
1899, Private Willie Grayson shot a
Filipino soldier on the corner of
Sociego and Silencio Streets in Santa
Mesa, Manila. The Filipinos answered
with rifle fire and the war between the
Filipinos and Americans began. Within
an hour, all American units were
effectively deployed and mobilized
throughout Manila and the suburbs.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
169)
That night, Captain Fernando Grey
sent a telegram to Malolos saying that
the Americans had commenced
hostilities. The Filipino commander of
the sector where the firing started was
in Malolos, together with other
officers, attending a dance. Aguinaldo
sent an emissary to inform Otis that
the firing on our side the night before
had been against my order. But Otis
arrogantly replied that, fighting
having started, must go on the grim
end. Aguinaldo wanting to know how
66
the incident happened ordered an
investigation to determine the truth.
Subsequent investigation showed that
even as early as February 2 and 3, the
Filipino employees in the service of
American ships had been dismissed;
that in the morning of February 4,
between 200 to 300 American soldiers
boarded two cascos for Cavite. Later it
was revealed that the soldiers
returned to Manila to rejoin their units.
It was also noted during the
investigation that the sudden attack
by the Americans in all sectors showed
that they have been preparing for an
offensive against the Filipinos. On the
other hand, the American commander,
Otis did not attempt to make an
investigation against the Filipino
troops everywhere. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, pp. 169-170)
The American offensive:
Because of their advance preparations
and superior arms, the American
troops easily captured town after town
in what is now Rizal province. Earlier
in the north of Manila, the Americans
won victories in the Battle of La Loma,
near the Chinese cemetery, where
Major Jose Torres Bugallon died in
combat. With La Loma in his hands,
MacArthur proceeded to Caloocan
where he was met by General Antonio
Lunas force. In the battle that
ensued, Luna was defeated. The
superior arms of the Americans could
not neutralized by bravery and
courage alone. Luna then planned to
recapture Manila. On March 22, he led
the attack on the city. Two days later,
he reached Azcarraga Street. The
Americans, realizing Lunas victory in
this sector, fought hard and succeeded
in forcing the intrepid Antonio Luna to

retreat to Pulo, Bulacan. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, p. 170)
American reinforcements arrived in
February and March. Otis took the
offensive in the north, while Genera
Henry Lawton started his offensive in
the south. In a few days, Pulo fell to
the Americans, and by March 30, they
were nearing Malolos. Meanwhile,
Aguinaldo evacuated Malolos and
transferred the capital to San Isidro,
Nueva Ecija. Otis ordered MacArthur
to rest in Malolos, while Lawton was
ordered to continue his offensive in
Cavite. The Filipinos had very few
victories, but these victories were
costly to the Americans. On March 25,
the Filipino troops repulsed General
Lloyd Wheaton in the Battle of Pulo
and killed an American colonel. In
Quinga (now Plaridel), Major Bell of the
American cavalry was killed in combat
with the troops led by General
Gregorio Del Pilar. In a battle fought
on April 23, Colonel Stotsenberg was
killed. On December 18, General
Licerio Geronimos group defeated the
Americans under General Lawton in
the Battle of San Mateo. General
Lawton was killed in this battle.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
170)
The capture of Malolos by MacArthur
led General Luna to retreat farther to
north of Luzon. He established his
headquarters in Calumpit, Bulacan.
Here he prepared his defenses against
the Americans who were pursuing him.
Luna sent a telegram to General
Tomas Mascardo in Guagua asking for
reinforcements. Mascardo who was
under Lunas command refused the
order; this angered Luna and ordered
his officers to leave for Guagua to
punish Mascardo. He brought with
him the artillery units, cavalry and
elements of the infantry. During
Lunas absence, General Gregorio Del
67
Pilar commanded the sector at barrio
Bagbag, Calumpit. When Luna
returned to Calumpit at twilight, the
Americans had already captured a
large portion of the town. Luna
retreated farther north, to Pampanga
and made preparations to meet the
advancing enemy. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 170-171)
The fall of Mabini and Luna:
With the outbreak of war, Mabini urged
the people to continue their struggle
for independence. As a compromise,
he was willing to leave the country
independent but under the protection
of the United States. Other members
of the cabinet like Paterno and
Buencamino were amendable to
accept autonomy under the US. The
first Philippine Commission under
Jacob Schurman was authorized to
offer autonomy to the Filipinos.
Influential members of the Philippine
Congress asked Aguinaldo to
repudiate Mabini for insisting on
independence and to relieve him of his
duties as head of the Philippine
cabinet. On May 7, 1899, Aguinaldo
notified Mabini that a new cabinet was
being formed under Paterno. Mabini
was replaced by Paterno as President
of the cabinet and his position as
Secretary of Foreign Affairs was taken
over by Buencamino. The divisions
were also evident in the Hongkong
Junta; while Apacible and Agoncillo
were for Philippine independence,
others like Basa and Cortes were for
autonomy. Cortes was said to have
paid Admiral Dewey money so he
would not bombard his properties.
Other members simply lost interest in
the struggle and were minding their
private business. (Viana 2010, pp.
210-211)
The cause of independence suffered a
severe blow with the assassination of

General Luna in Cabanatuan on June
5, 1899. Luna created enemies not
only among the autonomists but also
among other people because of his
sharp tongue and terrible temper. He
once called soldiers who refused to
fight as sundalong mantika and
ordered that all civilians move their
grain, animals and other goods to the
interior barrios and burn their houses
to deny their use by the Americans.
Central to his ire were the leaders of
the Kawit Company whom he blamed
for the defeat of his counterattack in
Manila. General Luna ordered its
officers to be punished. He also
accused Buencaminos son Joaquin of
cowardice. The elder Buencamino
came in support of his son and
brought the issue of Lunas action at
Bagbag. Luna slapped and pushed
Buencamino, a much older man, to the
floor. (Viana 2011, p. 211)
On June 2, 1899, Luna received a
telegram asking him to see Aguinaldo
at his headquarters in Cabanatuan.
On June 5, Luna left his headquarters
at San Isidro accompanied by a
cavalry escort of 16 men. Upon
entering the town, he was
accompanied by his two aides, Colonel
Francisco Roman and Captain Eduardo
Rusca, and a few soldiers. He arrived
at the Cabanatuan Convent which
served as Aguinaldos headquarters.
As he went inside the building, he
noticed that the guards were members
of the Kawit Company, which he
ordered disbanded. He slapped the
guard and promised to attend to him
when he was finished meeting
Aguinaldo. When he went upstairs, he
did not encounter Aguinaldo but his
arch enemy, Felipe Buencamino.
Aguinaldo had left earlier and had
gone to Bamban in Tarlac. Angry
words were exchanged between Luna
and Buencamino and a rifle shot was
heard outside. General Luna then
68
went down to punish the soldier who
fired his rifle. (Viana 2011, p. 211)
At this time, the Kawit men led by an
officer named Colonel Pedro Janolino
attacked Luna. Janolino struck Luna at
the temple with his dagger while other
men shot and stabbed Luna. Seriously
wounded Luna drew out his pistol and
fired at his assassins but missed. His
aide de camp Colonel Roman tried to
help him but he was also mowed down
by Lunas killers. The other aide,
Captain Rusca was shot in the thigh
and escaped death by crawling inside
the Cabanatuan Church. (Viana 2011,
p. 211)
Buencamino then went outside and
asked if any of the Kawit men were
hurt. He then ordered that Lunas
body be searched and retrieved the
incriminating telegram which sent
Luna to Cabanatuan. June 8,
Secretary of the Interior Severino
delas Alas who investigated the
deaths of Luna and Roman placed the
fault entirely on the two men. The
report made by delas Alas concluded
that the incident was a result of a
military collision and Luna insulted and
assaulted the sentinel and guards of
the honourable President.
Furthermore, Luna and Roman also
kicked and insulted them and having
revolvers discharged against them by
both men. The sentinel and the
guards then had to make use of their
arms against the unjust aggression of
Luna and his aide, both of whom were
instantly killed. By the time of Lunas
death, Aguinaldo conducted a loyalty
check to his officers and weeded out
those who were loyal to Luna. The
elimination of Luna demoralized the
Filipino forces and many of them found
it convenient to surrender to the
Americans. Meanwhile, the Americans
drove out the Filipino forces under
General Pio del Pilar from Morong and

Taguig and seized Calamba. With
naval gunfire support, the Americans
captured the areas under General
Baldomero Aguinaldo consisting of
Paranaque, Las Pinas, Kawit, Bacoor
and Imus. Filipino forces were
suffering from severe shortage of
ammunition while the Americans were
well supplied. Resistance to the
enemy was becoming limited to
guerrilla attacks. (Viana 2011, p. 212)
The Filipino-American War in the
Visayas and Mindanao:
Meanwhile, Otis instructed Miller to
invade Iloilo. To Millers demand that
the Filipino troops surrender, the
Visayan patriots under the leadership
of General Martin Delgado decided to
fight instead. To prevent the enemy
from capturing the city, Delgado
ordered his men to burn it. The
Americans landed with full force and
on February 20, 1899 Jaro fell,
followed by Santa Barbara, Oton and
Mandurriao. With Iloilo in their hands,
the Americans sent an expeditionary
force o Cebu and on February 22, the
city surrendered to the enemy. The
Cebu resorted to guerrilla warfare
under the command of General
Arcadio Maxilom and Leandro Fullon.
It took some time and much effort for
the Americans to completely subdue
the Cebuanos. In Negros, many
wealthy Negrenses sympathized with
the Americans. When the Americans
came, they raised the American flag.
A committee composed of prominent
Negrenses was sent to Manila to ask
General Otis to allow them to arm a
battalion to maintain peace and order.
Otis approved the petition, for it was
an unusual act of collaboration with
the Americans. On March 1, Otis
issued an order providing the creation
of a military district to include Panay,
Negros and Cebu. This was known as
the Visayan Military District. The
69
Negrenses were allowed to meet n a
convention to frame a constitution,
known as the Negros Constitution; it
was submitted to President McKinley
for approval. The US President did not
take it seriously and nothing came out
of it. (Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010,
p. 173)
Upon learning that the Spaniards to
completely subjugate the Muslims, the
Americans dealt with them in a
diplomatic way in order to neutralize
their offensive. General John Bates
tried to win the friendship of the
Muslims by negotiating with them and
treating them as equals. The Sultan of
Jolo, Datu Kiram insisted that the
Americans must not be allowed to
occupy any other part of Sulu except
the town proper of Jolo. Furthermore,
the Sultan insisted in collecting
customs duties in places that were not
occupied by the Americans. Thus, on
August 20, 1899, an agreement was
signed with General Bates and the
Sultan of Jolo and his datus. Known as
the Bates treaty, it provided that the
Sovereignty of the United States over
the whole archipelago of Sulu and its
dependencies is declared and
acknowledged and that the rights and
dignities of His Highness, the sultan
and his datus shall be fully respected.
Moreover, the Americans promised not
to interfere in religious matters and
not to prosecute anybody of his
religious beliefs. The Americans also
agreed to pay the Sultan and his
leading datus monthly salaries. With
the neutralization of the Muslims, the
Americans proceeded with the so
called pacification of the Christian
areas of the Philippines. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, pp. 173-174)
Aguinaldos retreat and capture:
With the death of General Luna, many
Filipinos field commanders were

demoralized. A number of Aguinaldos
generals surrendered to the enemy.
This development led Otis to make
plans to entrap Aguinaldo. General
Aguinaldo seeing the collapse of his
regular army ordered his troops and
the people to conduct guerrilla warfare
against the enemy. The Americans
who were not familiar with the terrain
and not use to the tropical weather
would be put to a great disadvantage
with this tactic. Meanwhile, Aguinaldo
together with some select men, his
son, wife, mother and sister fled to
Pangasinan. The Americans followed
him but failed to catch him.
Determined not to be captured,
Aguinaldo walked from town to town
with very little rest. Later he left his
family behind in order to spare them
from the hardships of travelling on
foot over rivers, valleys, mountains
and streams. Aguinaldo and a handful
of followers walked to Tierra Virgen,
Cagayan. On September 6, 1900, he
and his men reached Palanan, Isabela
where he established his
headquarters. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 174)
While fleeing the mountains,
Aguinaldo reached the Mountain
Province. He ordered his trusted
General, Gregorio Del Pilar, to remain
behind as they continued to advance.
Del Pilar was to intercept the
Americans who were tracking them.
This would give Aguinaldo enough
time to widen the distance between
him and the pursuing Americans. Del
Pilar, after the departure of Aguinaldo,
chose to delay the enemy at Tirad
Pass, a narrow pass of 4,500 feet high
where he had a good view of the
surrounding country. There was only
one trail leading to it. So narrow was
the trail that only one man at a time
can climb it. It was in this place that
Del Pilar and sixty loyal soldiers
positioned themselves. The American
70
troops under Major Peyton March
pursued Aguinaldo. In the morning of
December 2, 1899, March and his well
armed men proceeded towards Del
Pilars position. The Filipino troops
guarding the narrow pass fired at the
Americans who had no recourse but to
retreat. Unfortunately, an Igorot
guided the Americans to a secret trail
leading to Del Pilars men. The
Americans slowly and quietly went up
the trail and surprised the Filipino
troops. A fierce battle ensued and Del
Pilar was killed by a bullet that passed
through his neck. The Americans left
the body there and for two days it
remained unburied, on the third day,
the Igorots buried his remains in a
shallow grave. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, pp. 174-185)
With the help of a Spaniard, Lazaro
Segovia, who joined the Filipino forces
against the Americans, Colonel
Frederick Funston planned the capture
of Aguinaldo. The Spaniard led some
men from Macabebe and pretended to
have captured some American
soldiers. They walked to Palanan and
informed Aguinaldo through a courier
that they were bringing in the
American captives. Aguinaldo was
happy to hear the news and made
preparations for the soldiers who had
captured the enemy. When Segovia
arrived in the house where Aguinaldo
was staying, he and his men signalled
to their comrades to start firing. When
Aguinaldo rushed to the window to see
what was happening, Funston and his
men told Aguinaldo to surrender. It
was useless he said, the whole house
was surrounded. Aguinaldo was
brought to Manila where, on April 1,
1901, he took the oath of allegiance to
the government of the United States.
In a proclamation of April 19, 1901 he
appealed to the Filipino people to
accept the sovereignty of the United

States. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 176)
Aftermath of Aguinaldos capture and
the emergence of guerrilla warfare:
Despite the capture of Aguinaldo,
Filipino resistance to the American
continued. Largely guerrilla warfare
was characterized by hit and run
attacks. Often, the fighters mingled
with the populace by day as ordinary
farmers but assembled at a moments
notice by their warlord. The
Americans resorted to
reconcentration. This was done to
deprive the guerrillas of sources of
support from the people. Entire
communities were uprooted and
burned. Their occupants were
concentrated in groups where they
could be monitored. The areas outside
the communities were considered free
fire zones. Anyone seen outside the
relocated communities could be shot
on sight, civilians wishing to join the
relocated village had to carry a white
flag and shout amigo or friend. The
Americans also resorted to destroying
what is considered excess stocks of
foodstuff like rice as well as farm
animals. The result of the scorched
earth policy was famine. Often, the
enemy resorted to torture to force
captives to squeal on the resistance.
The Americans relied heavily on
Filipinos who were ready to betray
their countrymen; they were employed
as guides, spies, and informants. They
also recruited former members of the
Spanish army who were not recruited
into the revolutionary army. The ranks
of these Filipinos grew as many of
them were either disillusioned with the
Filipino government or plain
opportunists who saw the Philippine
independence as a lost cause. (Viana
2011, p. 215)
71
A few leaders like Luciano San Miguel
and Simeon Ola continued a lonely
struggle. In some areas, armed
resistance to the Americans lingered.
In Samar, Filipino guerrillas under the
command of General Vicente Lukban
dealt the Americans their worst single
defeat in the town of Balangiga. On
September 23, 1901, Filipino guerrillas
disguised as workers suddenly
attacked American soldiers taking
their breakfast. The Americans who
were looking for the center of the
insurgent activity had garrisoned the
town and impressed many of the men
to clear the town of excess vegetation;
they also took some of the produce of
the inhabitants without compensation.
Popular discontent with the Americans
was fanned by a revolutionary officer
named Major Eugenio Daza who
convinced the inhabitants to rise up
against the Americans. Originally, the
plan was to capture the Americans
and seize their rifles. The so called
massacre of Balangiga where 74
Americans were killed was not really a
massacre of the Americans because
28 of the attackers were killed as the
defenders fought back. On the other
hand, the event was a massacre of
Filipinos as American troops arriving to
reinforce the doomed garrison
rounded up 250 natives and killed
them. (Viana 2011, pp. 216-217)
When news of the incident reached
the United States, President Theodore
Roosevelt instructed General Jacob
Smith to pacify Samar. Smiths
order to his subordinates was to kill
and burn. Orders were given to shoot
anybody including boys as young as
10 who were capable of carrying rifles
or swing bolos. Within six months,
Samar was transformed into a howling
wilderness. News of the punitive
action reached the United States
through the letters of American troops.
Smith was court martial and retired

from the service. General Lukban, the
leader of the insurgents in Samar was
later captured on February 27, 1902.
In Batangas, the leader of the
resistance General Miguel Malvar
surrendered after losing most of his
men to the Americans, starvation and
disease. Insurgent activity continued
in Albay as Simeon Ola raided towns
and captured constabulary armories.
However, continued campaigns
against him as well as propaganda
whittled down his followers. Ola
surrendered in 1903. (Viana 2011, p.
217)
On July 4, 1901, the United States
declared the end of what is called the
Philippine Insurrection. However, it
was still fighting elements of the anti-
colonial struggle all over the county.
That year, the Philippine Commission
passed the Brigandage Act which
changed the character of the
insurgents to mere bandits.
Individuals who continued to resist the
Americans were now considered
ordinary criminals who could be dealt
with by penal laws. Filipino insurgents
such as Macario Sakay continued to
fight and even created a new
Katipunan and a Tagalog Republic with
himself as president. He was
persuaded to surrender by Dominador
Gomez but was later tricked and
arrested by the Americans who tried
him for crimes such as banditry and
murder, and hanged at the old Bilibid
prison on September 13, 1907. (Viana
2011, pp. 217-218)
Where the revolutionary elite
capitulated ordinary peasants who
were long oppressed by the Spanish
colonial government, the native elite
continued the struggle which they
believed would free them from the
exploitation by the new foreign
masters and their local allies. In
Samar, Leyte and parts of Cebu, the
72
resistance was carried on by the Dios-
Dios and the Pulajanes. In Negros, the
resistance was fought by the
Babaylanes and in Luzon, there were
the Santa Iglesia and some Anting-
anting groups in Laguna and Tayabas.
Some of the leaders of these
movements were former
revolutionaries. Others trace their
origins from the poor and
disenfranchised segments of peasant
society. (Viana 2011, p. 218)
Despite the declaration of peace, the
insurgency simmered and the
Americans suspected many Filipinos
leaders of encouraging and abetting
the insurgents. Foremost among
these was Apolinario Mabini who was
earlier captured in Nueva Ecija. Even
under detention, Mabini remained
defiant and refused to swear
allegiance to the United States. He
continued to write letters denouncing
the Americans and defending the
cause of Philippine independence. By
orders of General Arthur MacArthur
who was the military governor
general, Mabini and 56 others
including General Artemio Ricarte who
refused swearing allegiance to the
Americans were considered
irreconcilables. They were deported
to the island of Guam on February 26,
1900. They remained there until July
4, 1903 when President Roosevelt
declared the end of Philippine
insurrection and allowed most of the
deportees to return to the Philippines
as long as they swore allegiance to the
United States. Mabini and Ricarte
refused to swear allegiance and
remained in Guam until February
1903. Fearing death alone in a foreign
land, Mabini finally decided to swear
allegiance to the United States upon
arriving in Manila the next day.
Ricarte refused to take the oath and
was placed on the next steamer to
Hongkong where he later joined

remnants of the Philippine Central
Committee in the British colony and
dreamed one day to lead the liberation
of the Philippines from the Americans.
(Viana 2011, p. 219)
Cultural resistance:
Despite the failure of the armed
struggle, Filipinos never lost hope of
attaining independence. They shifted
their struggle to nationalistic plays
remind the people in their struggle for
freedom. One of these writers was
Aurelio Tolentino who wrote Kahapon,
Ngayon at Bukas. Tolentino often
participated in these plays which
allegorized the Philippines, portrayed
as Inang Bayan. Other writers were
Severino Reyes who wrote walang
sugat; Juan Matapang Cruz who wrote
hindi ako patay; and Juan Abad,
writer of Tanikalang Ginto. At that
time Filipinos were not allowed to
publicly manifest their desire for
independence under the Sedition Act
of 1901. Policemen were present
when the plays, considered seditious
by American authorities, were
presented. Parts of the plays called
for disrespect for the symbols of
American authority such as spitting or
stomping on the American flag. Often,
when this part comes up, the actor
would show reluctance because of
imminent arrest by the police.
Tolentino would then take over the
actor and stomp and spit on the flag,
then the police would come to the
stage and arrest him. Tolentino spent
several times in jail for his plays. In
1905 he was arrested for sedition and
condemned to life imprisonment. The
sentence was later reduced to 15
years, then eight. In 1912, he was
pardoned by Governor William Forbes.
Aside from seditious plays, the
Filipinos were also prohibited from
displaying the Filipino flag which was a
symbol of Philippine independence.
73
They were also banned from speaking
in favor of independence. (Viana
2011, p. 230)
The Philippine Independence Church:
One of the legacies of the Philippine
Revolution was the establishment of
the Iglesia Filipina Independiente or
the Philippine Independent Church.
Since the establishment of the
revolutionary government, Filipino
leaders endeavoured to purge the
country of what they consider the
pervasive influence of the church
which manifested itself as a
frailocracy. On October 22, 1899,
Apolinario Mabini issued a manifesto
urging the Filipino clergy to form a
national church. In the following day,
Fr. Gregorio Aglipay, the Vicar General
of the Filipino Army, stated the
Filipinization of the Church as one of
his aims in order to prevent anarchy in
religious matters. In Paniqui, Mabini
called a meeting of Filipino secular
priests to discuss the possibility of
establishing a Filipino church. Another
meeting held in 1899 in Pinili, Ilocos
Norte was convened by Fr. Aglipay. He
urged the Filipino priests to rally to the
revolutionary cause and work for the
advancement of the Filipino clergy.
Alarmed by Aglipays increasing
popularity, Manila Archbishop
Bernardo Nozaleda charged Aglipay
with usurpation of authority on April
29, 1899 and excommunicated him.
(Viana 2011, p. 230)
Instead of asking for forgiveness,
Aglipay remained defiant and more
Filipino priests rallied around him.
Despite the fall of the Philippine
revolutionary movement, the desire to
remove the hated friars remained
strong. The Apostolic Delegate to the
Philippines Monsignor Placido Chapelle
was sent in to reconcile Aglipay to the
church. He also demeaned the native

clergy saying that they were
incompetent and fit only for menial
work. Chapelles undiplomatic
language only drove away Aglipay and
his group. A delegation of Filipino
priests went to the Vatican consisting
of Salustiano Araullo and Jose Chanco
and sought audience with the Pope
and brought before him the plight of
the Filipino clergy. The Pope who was
inclined to listen to the friars promised
nothing. The inaction of the church
officials only encouraged the enemies
of the clergy to engineer a schism
from the Catholic Church. (Viana
2011, p. 232)
Taking up the challenge for an
independent church was labor leader
Isabelo Delos Reyes. He was a bitter
enemy of the frailocracy and was
imprisoned in Spain for his views.
Returning from Spain in 1901, he
founded the Union Obrero
Democratica which became the
countrys first labor union. Using the
organization as his mass base, he
stirred up anti-friar feelings among the
populace. In a meeting of the union at
the Zorilla Theater in Quiapo on
August 3, 1902, Delos Reyes delivered
a strong anti-friar rhetoric. He said
that it was time to establish a Filipino
church and he proposed to the crowd
that Fr. Aglipay as its Supreme Bishop.
Delos Reyes proposal was met with
approval from the crowd. Delos Reyes
then formed the Executive Committee
of the new church which included
Trinidad Pardo deTavera, Fernando Ma.
Guerero, Martin Ocampo and Manuel
Artigas, as well as Fathers Adriano
Garces, Jorge Barlin, Manuel Roxas and
Toribio Dominguez. Some of these
people, especially the priests, were
included in the committee without
consulting them. (Viana 2011, p. 232)
At that time, Aglipay did not approve
of the schism; he and the Jesuits were
74
in talks at reconciling Aglipay and his
group to the Catholic Church. The
Jesuits sent Fr. Francisco Foradada,
author of a book about the Philippines,
to persuade Aglipay to return to the
Catholic Church. Foradada and
Aglipay met for four days. Foradada
promised if Aglipay signed his
retraction, he would be appointed
bishop with a large sum of money
thrown in. Aglipay also wanted an
assurance that the Filipino clergy
would be appointed to replace the
Spanish priests. As he was about to
sign the document, Foradada made a
remark why Aglipay minded so much
the Filipino priests whom he
considered as vicious and inefficient.
Aglipay was incensed by the remark
and grabbed Foradada by the neck.
Aglipays companions Leon Ma.
Guerero rushed in. Addressing
Foradada, he told him that his insults
unmasked the true intentions of the
Church. As Aglipay left the building,
the schism was now complete. On
October 26, 1902, he celebrated his
first mass as Supreme Bishop and on
January 18, 1903, he was formally
consecrated as Obispo Maximo of the
new church. The Philippine
Independent Church gained adherents
and it was strong where nationalist
sentiment was also strong such as the
Ilocos and Tagalog regions. One effect
of the schism was the attempt of the
Philippine Independent Church to seize
churches held by the Roman Catholics.
(Viana 2011, pp. 232-233)
Faced with the challenge of the new
church, the Catholic Church undertook
its counter reformation. In 1903, Fr.
Jorge Barlin was appointed as the first
Filipino bishop. Spanish archbishop of
Manila, Fr. Bernardino Nozaleda, was
replaced by American Bishop Jeremiah
Harty. The Spanish regulars started to
be replaced but with the scarcity of
qualified Filipino clergy, non Spanish

priests and nuns started to arrive.
Among them were the Benedictines,
Pauline sisters from France, and the
Holy Spirit, Societas Verbi Divini
(Society of the Divine Word), and the
Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae
(Congregation of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary) from Germany. Local
seminaries such as the San Carlos
Seminary began accepting more
native applicants for the priesthood.
In 1927, Catholic learning institutions
such as the University of Santo Tomas
opened its doors to women. The
reforms within the Philippine Catholic
Church resulted in its revival. Though
some Spanish friars remained in the
country, the Philippine Church was
now run by the seculars. (Viana 2011,
p. 233)
The Schurman and Taft Commissions:
With the effective suppression of the
pro-independence movement, the
American enlisted the help of the elite
to help them govern the country on
both the national and local levels. In
1899, the first Philippine commission
was formed. It was headed by Jacob
Schurman, President of Cornell
University. (Viana 2011, p. 234) The
Commission issued the following
recommendations to implement
American rule: (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 191)
1. The enforcement of American
sovereignty over the entire
Philippines;
2. Training for self government of
the Filipinos compatible with the
maintenance of order and with
a wise, just and economical
administration of public affairs;
3. Protection of the civil rights of
the Filipinos; and
4. The promotion of the welfare of
the Filipinos
75
The second Philippine Commission
headed by William Howard Taft had
Filipino members such as Gregorio
Araneta and Benito Legarda. Filipinos
were also given a role in the judiciary
with the appointment of Cayetano
Arellano as Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court. Understandably, the
first Filipino officials in the Commission
and the Court were pro Americans and
members of the pro American parties
like the Federal Party which advocated
the union of the Philippines with the
United States. (Viana 2011, p. 234)
The Taft Commission introduced free
primary education and that the English
language should be used as medium
of instruction. To summarize,
American policy with regards to the
Philippines was based on President
McKinleys instructions to the
Schurman and Taft Commissions. This
policy incorporated the principle that
the Americans came to the Philippines
not as conquerors bust as friends,
whose aim was to work for the benefit
and welfare of the Filipino people.
Unlike the fact finding Schurman
Commission, the Taft Commission may
be described as an organizing
commission; it did not leave the
Philippines but stayed on to organizing
the civil government. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 193)
The disposition of friar lands: From the
first phase of the revolution (1896-
1898 against Spain) to the second
phase (1898-1902 against the US),
owning a piece of land, in addition to
independence, was a major goal of the
struggle. It is true the revolutionary
government in Malolos confiscated the
friar lands, but these went to those
who could present security is cash or
kind. As a result, these lands were

awarded to the Illustrados and families
with means. The peasants who tilled
small plots before losing these to the
various religious orders did not get
their share. When the Treaty of Paris
was signed, Spain ceded the
Philippines to the US for $20 million,
huge tracts of church lands amounting
to 422,000 acres became the property
of the US colonial government. But the
friar protested and demanded for
repossession of their land. Governor
Taft negotiated with the Vatican for the
forced sale of the estates to the US
with the possibility of reselling the
friars lands to American corporations.
In 1905, the US completed the
purchase of these lands from the
Vatican for $6.9 million. In subsequent
years, the Filipino elite, along with the
American businessmen, would be able
to buy these lands as reward for their
cooperation and support for the newly
established US colonial regime.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, pp.
180-181)
Towards Filipino Self Rule:
In 1902, the Philippine Organic Act
(Cooper Act) authored by Henry Allen
Cooper provided for the appointment
of two resident commissioners in the
US Congress. These Philippine
representatives were allowed to
engage in debates but not to vote. In
1907, Benito Legarda and Pablo
Ocampo were sent to the US Congress
as the countrys first resident
commissioners. The Cooper Act also
provided for the formation of a
legislative body composed of Filipinos
when it was ascertained that peace
and order in the country had been
established. On July 30, 1907,
76
elections for the Philippine Assembly
were held. Contending parties were
the Partido Progresistas which
emerged from the Partido Federalista
and the newly founded Partido
Nacionalista which advocated for
immediate and absolute independence
for the Philippines. The Nacionalista
won a majority in the 80 seat
assembly signifying the victory of the
pro-independence group. (Viana
2011, p. 234)
The Philippine Assembly: On October
16, 1907, the Philippine Assembly was
inaugurated at the Manila Grand
Opera House in Santa Cruz, Manila,
with Sergio Osmena as Speaker,
Manuel Quezon as the Majority Floor
Leader. One of the notable
achievements of the Assembly was
the passage of the Gabaldon Act which
provided one million pesos for the
construction of school houses all over
the country. (Viana 2011, p. 234)
Under the leadership of Speaker
Osmena, the Assembly outlined its
activities based on the following goals:
1) cooperating with the United States
on the basis of mutual respect; 2)
making the assembly an instrument in
achieving the autonomy of the
Philippines; 3) passing of laws
intended to hasten the economic,
social and political development of the
people; and 4) substituting the
oppressive policy of the past with
progressive policies. Among the
achievements of the Assembly were
the establishment of an agricultural
bank; the construction of new railway
lines; the installation of telegraph and
telephone lines; the construction of
school houses, roads, bridges and
irrigation canals; the creation of the
Bureau of Labor for the protection of
the labor class; the establishment of
the School of Fine Arts of the
University of the Philippines and the

establishment of the National Library.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
197)
The Jones Law: By 1916, another step
towards self rule took place with the
passage of the Philippine Autonomy
Act. Authored by William Atkinson
Jones, was signed by President
Woodrow Wilson. The law provided for
the establishment of a 24 member
Senate and House of Representatives
with 93 members. The law also
promised in its preamble
independence once a stable
government had been established.
(Viana 2011, p. 235)
The Jones law provided for a
government patterned after the United
States. The government was to have
three branches the executive,
legislative and judiciary. The
executive branch was headed by the
governor general who was appointed
by the US President with the approval
of the American Senate. The vice
governor, also an American was to be
appointed in the same manner as the
governor general. He was
automatically the Secretary of Public
Institution. Assisting the governor
general was a cabinet composed of
department secretaries who were
responsible to him. The department
secretaries were appointed by the
governor general with the approval of
the Philippine Senate. The legislative
power was vested in the Philippine
Congress. This was composed of two
chambers: the upper house or the
Senate and the lower chamber or the
House of Representatives. Members
of both chambers, except those
representing the non-Christian tribes
were elected by qualified Filipino
voters. The judicial power was
exercised by the Supreme Court and
the lower courts of justice. The
Supreme Court justices were
77
appointed by the US President with the
approval of the US Senate. The Jones
law incorporated the Bill of Rights.
This provision enumerated the civil
rights of the Filipino people. These
included the freedom of speech,
freedom of the press, freedom from
illegal search, freedom to assemble for
the redress of grievances and other
rights exercised by people in
democratic countries. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 206)
The establishment of the Philippine
Legislature: Before the passage of the
Jones law, the all American Philippine
Commission was the first, the only law
making body in the Philippines. With
the inauguration of the Philippine
Assembly in 1907, the Filipinos shared
with the Americans the responsibility
of making laws. With the enactment
of the Jones law, the entire task of
making laws was passed on to the
Filipinos. The Philippine Commission
was abolished and in its place the
Philippine Senate was created, the
Philippine Assembly became the
House of Representatives. Sergio
Osmena continued to be Speaker of
the House, while Manuel Quezon was
elected senator and became President
of the Senate. The Philippine
Legislature under the Jones law was
inaugurated in Manila on October 16,
1916. They could pass laws subject to
the vetoes of the US Governor General
and the US President. In the election
of 1916, the Nacionalista party, which
had stood for immediate and absolute
independence, won over the
Progresistas. With the defeat of the
Progresistas, it decided to merge with
the newly established Democrata
party. (Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010,
p. 207)
The administration of Governor
General Francis Burton Harrison:
Under Governor Harrison, the colonial

government allowed greater autonomy
to Filipino officials. Harrison also
undertook a Filipinization of the
bureaucracy by beginning the
reduction of American civil servants
and replacing them with Filipinos. One
effect of Harrisons administration was
the emboldening of Filipino officials
who over extended their powers which
they consider as their prerogatives.
Many officials who belonged to the
elite and their values rooted in history
used their offices to dispense
patronage leading to violations of law
and ethics. Among them were the
appointment of individuals to offices
because of favors done in the past or
utang na loob and the appointment of
relatives into public office. Rapid
Filipinization was actually harmful
because it afforded Filipino officials
with powers but not instilling in them
the necessary responsibilities. (Viana
2011, p. 235)
Acting on the suggestion of Speaker
Osmena, Governor Harrison created
the Council of State. This was
composed of the Governor General as
Chairman, the Speaker of the House,
the Senate President, and the
members of the Cabinet. The
composition of the Council, therefore
was predominantly Filipino and only
the governor general and the vice
governor were Americans. Speaker
Osmena became the vice chairman of
the council. He, therefore, was
recognized as a leader among the
Filipinos. The duty of the Council was
to advise the governor general on
matters of public importance. But to
Osmena, whose purpose in suggesting
the creation of the Council was to
widen the powers and the
participation of the Filipino political
leaders in the government, the council
meant a political body, of, and for
Filipinos. Even policies of the different
departments under the executive were
78
outlined and planned by the Council.
This was a violation of the Jones law.
Harrison, however, did not oppose
such move, instead he agreed to most
suggestions of the Filipino members of
the Council. In view of these powers
of the Council of State, it shared with
the governor general the power to
initiate legislation. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2011 p. 207-208)
The administration of Governor
General Leonard Wood: After Wood
replaced Harrison on October 5, 1921,
he vetoed 64 of 217 bills by the
Legislature compared to only 5 of
Harrison. According to Filipinos, the
bills were dismissed on the most
flimsy motives. Wood for his part saw
the vetoed bills as poorly made or
unconstitutional. The strictness of
Wood was perceived as an affront to
the newly found liberties by Filipino
leaders like Quezon. Wood was also
aghast to learn that the government
was in a financial crisis and it was
losing corporations like the Philippine
National Bank, the Manila Railway
Company and Manila Coal Company,
which became inefficient because of
having too many employees, many of
whom were recommended by Filipino
officials. Wood moved to streamline
these corporations and make them
self sufficient. The threat of removing
officials placed there by patronage of
Filipino officials made Wood their
personal enemy. (Viana 2011, p. 235)
The point of confrontation between
Wood and the Filipino officials led by
Quezon came to fore with the cabinet
crisis of 1923. This crisis was sparked
over Woods order to reinstate an
American police detective Ray Conley.
Conley was the head of vice squad of
the Manila police tasked in running
after the operators of gambling and
opium dens and their patrons. He was
charged with accepting bribes from

gambling dens operators apparently
as revenge by criminal elements
because of his efficient drive against
them. The City Mayor of Manila,
Ramon Fernandez, and the Secretary
of Interior, Jose Laurel, believed in
Conleys guilt. The Court of First
Instance, however, found the evidence
against Conley as inefficient and
inconsistent, and ordered the case
against the detective dismissed.
Wood ordered Conley reinstated but
Conleys enemies wanted him charged
administratively of keeping a mistress
and having made false statement that
the mistress was his wife. Laurel tried
to Conley investigated
administratively but Wood objected
saying that this would make Conleys
accusers his judges. Wood himself
encouraged the investigation of
Conley on the charge of keeping a
mistress and making false statements.
An independent committee in
investigation was convened and it
found Conley not guilty of the charges.
Wood then sent a memorandum to
Laurel ordering Conleys
reinstatement. Laurel transmitted the
letter to Mayor Fernandez requesting
compliance and then tendered his
resignation as Secretary of the Interior.
Conley, who was later reinstated,
retired with full benefits. (Viana 2011,
p. 236)
Filipino officials then accused Wood of
meddling in the details of the local
government which should have been
handled by the Filipinos. Quezon saw
this incident as an opportunity to
embarrass Governor Wood by
resigning from the Council of State. At
that time, the ruling Nacionalista Party
was facing the prospect of defeat in
the 1923 elections. Quezon needed a
villain to fight and keep himself in
power. Following Quezons
resignation, the Mayor of Manila,
Speaker of the House, Manuel Roxas
79
and all the Filipino Department
Secretaries also resigned. Wood
accepted the mass resignation of
Filipino officials. Quezon, as President
of the Philippine Senate, refused to
confirm for his part, and refused to
confirm all officials appointed by Wood
to replace the officials who resigned.
The Cabinet crisis plagued the rest of
Woods term until his death on August
7, 1927 while being operated on for a
brain tumor. (Viana 2011, p. 236)
Constructive cooperation between the
American administration and the
Filipinos was restored with the
establishment of the administration of
Henry Stimson. Stimson steered away
from the issue of Philippine
independence and emphasized on
requirements of independence
especially the development of the
countrys natural resources and the
revival of the Council of State. The
cordial relationship between the
American governor generals continued
until the birth of the Philippine
Commonwealth. (Viana 2011, p. 237)
The Campaign for Independence:
With the passage of the Jones law in
1916 came the definite American
promise of Philippine independence. It
also became clear to Filipino
politicians the American policy
towards the Filipinos. Democratic
administrations in the United States
which tend to concentrate on domestic
policies tend to favor Philippine
independence compared to Republican
administrations. The Jones Law was
obtained under the democratic
administration of President Woodrow
Wilson. His successor, William
Harding, was less inclined to negotiate
the countrys independence.
However, both political parties were
interested in retaining American
supremacy in the Philippines

regardless if independence was
granted o not. (Viana 2011, p. 237)
Many Americans resisted the idea of
integrating the Philippines as part of
the United States. Labor groups
feared that the influx of Filipino
laborers would derive jobs that
rightfully belonged to the Americans.
Filipinos showed their growing power
when they participated in strikes for
better wages and working conditions
in Stockton and Fresno California as
well as the plantations in Hawaii in the
1920s. To curb the growing influence
of the Filipinos, the Americans decided
to limit the recruitment of workers
from the Philippines. After 1935, only
Hawaii and Alaska, not yet states of
the United States, were allowed recruit
Filipino laborers and Filipino
immigration to the United States was
limited to 50 individuals a year. (Viana
2011, p.238)
In November 1918, a Commission of
Independence was formed by the
Philippine Legislature to study all
matters involving the negotiation and
organization of the independence of
the islands. The commission was
given powers and jurisdiction to act for
the Philippine legislature and
represent it in all aspects during the
recess of the Legislature. The
commission comprised 11 senators
and 40 congressmen including the
presiding officers of both chambers.
Later, the membership was increased
to all members of the Legislature
regardless of party affiliation. The
commission sent missions to the US to
negotiate for the countrys
independence. (Viana 2011, p.239)
The first independence mission was
sent to the US in 1919. Consisting of
42 delegates, it was led by Senate
President Quezon and Senator Rafael
Palma. The Mission accomplished
80
nothing since Washington was more
concerned with problems arising from
the First World War. The republican
politicians were unconvinced about
the ability of the country for
immediate independence. It
demanded convincing proof of the
ability of the Filipinos to govern
themselves. The outgoing Democratic
administration of Woodrow Wilson
made a recommendation favoring
Philippine independence. The new
American President, Warren Harding
dispatched a fact finding mission led
by General Leonard Wood and former
Governor General William Cameron
Forbes. The mission reported that the
Philippines was not yet ready for
independence. (Viana 2011, p.239)
Undeterred by the negative report, the
Philippine Legislature sent another
independence mission in April 1922. It
returned in August 1922 with vague
promises of Philippine independence.
Another mission was sent in 1923
which also conveyed the complaints
by Filipino officials about the conduct
of Governor General Wood. Other
missions were sent in 1924. One
important development that year was
the introduction of the Fairfield Bill in
April. The bill provided for a 30 year
period of autonomy in which the
Filipinos would have control of insular
affairs with an elective governor
general who would lead the
government of the Commonwealth.
The bill in its final form provided for
Philippine independence in 1944 after
a 20 year Commonwealth. The
country would be under a Filipino
governor general. (Viana 2011, p.240)
The bill initially received support from
Quezon, Roxas and Osmena who led
the independence mission at that
time. The Americans expected it to
be approved by Filipinos first before
finally having it passed into law.

However, while on the way home,
Quezon, Osmena and Roxas learned
that the Fairfield bill would receive
general opposition in the Philippines.
The bill had tariff features that would
ensure the countrys economic
dependence on the United States.
Under the bill, the US Commissioner
could take over the executive function
of the Philippine government upon
instruction of the US President. Before
returning to the Philippines, Quezon,
Osmena and Roxas decided to reverse
their position and oppose the Fairfield
bill. (Viana 2011, p.240)
However, Claro M Recto who belonged
to the opposition Democrata Party
exposed the three and accused them
of insincerity. He said that Quezon
and his companions favored the bill
and promised to support the
administration of Governor Wood. To
prove his charges, Rector produced
during the session of the Philippine
Legislature letters from the Bureau of
Insular Affairs of the Department of
War General Frank McIntyre to Wood
showing Quezons willingness to work
for the approval of the Fairfield bill.
Rectos charges were ignored by the
Legislature and Quezon and his fellow
missioners were instead praised for
their patriotism for declining the bill
and issued a resolution demanding
immediate, complete and absolute
independence. (Viana 2011, p.240)
One cause the failure of the Philippine
independence missions was that the
missioners were actually lobbying for
more autonomy rather than
independence. In a meeting in June
1922, Representative Horace Towner,
Chairman of the House Committee on
Territories and Insular Possessions,
reported to President Warren Harding
that Quezon and Osmena were
lobbying for the appointment of a
Filipino vice governor general or more
81
Filipino positions in the Supreme
Court. Towner warned Quezon and
Osmena that if they asked for new
legislation for greater autonomy, they
ran the risk of getting total
independence instead. An American
observer, Joseph Ralston Hayden
noted that Filipino leaders were
vigorously campaigning for
independence but were actually
nervous at the prospect of
independence. (Viana 2011, pp.240-
241)
The conflict between Quezon and
Osmena: When Quezon became
President of the Senate; he thought
that he should outrank Osmena. He
believed that the leadership of the
Filipino participation in the
government should go to the Senate
President and not with the Speaker of
the House. Osmena of course thought
otherwise. Quezon realizing Osmenas
influence did not fight his at this time.
He waited for the opportune moment
to challenge the Speaker. In 1921,
Quezon believing that the time had
come to challenge Osmena for the
leadership of the Filipino people,
started to criticize Osmenas
leadership. He complained about
Osmena being a dictator and getting
all the honors for which the Filipino
statesmen also worked for. Later,
Quezon formed a group within the
Nacionalista Party known as the
collectivistas, which believed that the
political leadership should be
exercised collectively, that no one
person should dictate policies but
instead all should participate in their
formulation. Osmena, on the other
hand, led the group in the party called
the unipersonalistas who believed that
leadership should be exercised by one
person, not by a group. In the election
of 1922, the issue between Osmena
and Quezon was clarified:
unipersonalistas leadership against

collectivistas leadership. Quezons
group won more seats than Osmenas
group. A third party, the Democrata
Party, successfully challenged both
collectivistas and unipersonalistas. To
prevent the further weakening of their
parties, Quezon and Osmena
reconciled and merged for the 1925
elections. Osmena was elected to the
Senate and Manuel Roxas was elected
to succeed Osmena as Speaker of the
House of Representatives. In the
Senate, Quezon was re-elected as
president, while Osmena was elected
president pro tempore. Osmena to
preserve party leadership was content
to let Quezon succeed him as the main
political leader of the Filipinos.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
212)
Further independence missions: The
sending of independence missions
continued in 1926 and 1930. On the
surface, the missions which demanded
a commitment for Philippine
independence from the United States
were no more than efforts to gain
concessions from the colonial power.
These missions were also junkets,
were also done for political effect to
boost the political stock of the leader
of the mission. Filipino leaders feared
that with independence, the country
would lose its free trade preferences
with the United States. In his 1930
mission, Quezon proposed immediate
independence with 10 years free trade
with the US or the establishment of an
autonomous government with free
trade for 10 years and a plebiscite
every 10 years to allow the people to
vote if they wanted independence.
(Viana 2011, p. 242)
The Great Depression in the US in the
late 1920s and early 1930s put
pressure on American leaders to
consider granting independence to the
Philippines. Philippine exports such as
82
coconut oil and sugar were competing
with American products. The influx of
Filipino labor posed a threat to
American workers. At the same time,
US military authorities feared that the
Philippines was becoming harder to
defend in case of a conflict with
powers like Japan. Japan invaded
Manchuria in 1931 and established a
puppet republic called Manchukuo.
The sea lanes in the Pacific from the
Gilberts to the Marianas and Palau
Islands were already dominated by
Japan after said archipelagos were
seized from Germany in 1914.
American strategists estimated that
Japan might invade the Philippines
sooner or later. (Viana 2011, p. 242)
The Hare Hawes Cutting bill: In
December 1931, a Philippine
Independence mission headed by
Osmena and Roxas arrived in
Washington DC. In the following year,
the US Congress passed the Hare
Hawes Cutting Act which granted
independence to the Philippines. As
expected, the law contained provisions
which heavily favored the US and the
Philippines would be independent only
by name. The Philippines would
undergo a 10 year transition period
which the US would control the
conduct of foreign affairs and currency
system and the country would
continue to host American military and
naval facilities. The Act also
accommodated the demands of
American farmers and labor unions by
subjecting to stiff restrictions on
Philippine exports like sugar and
coconut oil, and restricting Filipino
migration to the US. On the other
hand, the countrys markets were to
remain open to American products.
Upon learning of the passage of the
Act, Quezon cabled Osmena and Roxas
to reject it. According to Quezon, the
Act seriously imperilled the trade
relations with the US; that its

immigration provisions were
objectionable and offensive to
Filipinos; that the powers of the US
High Commissioner were too
indefinite; and that the retention of
American naval and military facilities
in the Philippines was inconsistent
with true independence. Despite
Quezons arguments against the Hare
Hawes Cutting Act, he was wary that
whoever successfully brings home a
Philippine independence law would
become the next leader of the
Philippines. Upon the arrival of
Osmena and Roxas to the Philippines,
Quezon immediately moved to
discredit the Hare Hawes Cutting Act.
Roxas and Osmena defended the Act
saying that it was the best thing that
could be obtained at that time. (Viana
2011 pp. 243-244)
Quezon disagreed and led a the delegates met and elected their
propaganda campaign to discredit the
Act. The Nacionalista Party was again
spit into anti and pro factions, with the
pros led by Osmena and Roxas and
the antis led by Quezon campaigning
for its rejection. The pros were finally
defeated after the Senate, led by
Quezon, turned down the Hare Hawes
Cutting Act. Quezon then left for the
US in November 1933 to secure a
better independence bill. In March
1934, he secured a Philippine
Independence Act known as the
Tydings McDuffie. The Act closely
resembled the Hare Hawes Cutting Act
except that it had no provisions for
American military bases and refuelling
stations. On May 1, 1934, the
Philippine Senate approved the
Tydings McDuffie Act. Like past
independence laws, provisions of the
law were heavily stacked up against
the Philippines. The US President was
in a position to abrogate the Act if the
Philippines was unable to provide
satisfactory political and economic
performance. Control over currency
83
remained with the US. There were
also restrictive provisions on
migrations which allowed only 50
Filipinos to immigrate to the US. The
economic provisions of free trade
allowed unhampered entry of
American goods while Philippine
products were subjected to graduating
tariffs. (Viana 2011 p. 244)
The Constitutional Convention of
1934:
Under the Tydings McDuffie Act, a
constitutional convention was called to
draft the constitution of the
Philippines. This constitution was to
be approved by the President of the
United States and ratified by the
Filipinos. On July 10, 1934, elections
were held for the delegates to the
Constitutional Convention. On July 30,
officials. Elected President was Claro
M Recto; Ruperto Montinola First Vice
President; Teodoro Sandiko, Second
Vice President; and Narciso Pimentel,
Secretary. A committee composed of
Filemon Sotto, Norberto Romualdez,
Manuel Roxas, Vicente Singson
Encarnacion, Manuel Briones, Miguel
Cuaderno and Jose Laurel wrote the
draft document. Sotto served as the
Chairman of the committee and
Conrado Benitez later replaced Jose
Laurel. The drafting of the
Constitution lasted from July 30, 1934
to February 8, 1935. On that day, the
Constitutional Convention approved
the Constitution by a vote of 177 in
favor of only one against. The Lanao
delegate, Tomas Cabili gave the
dissenting vote saying that the
Constitution did not provide for a
system of election of the members of
the National Assembly in Lanao. The
Constitution was approved by
President Franklin Roosevelt on March
23, 1935 and ratified by the people in

a plebiscite held on May 14, 1935.
(Viana 2011, p. 245)
Under the Constitution, the
government of the Philippines was
unicameral and it provided only for
one legislative body. It was also
unitary as against the American
system which was federal. Like the
United States, the government of the
future Republic of the Philippines was
to be based on the separation of
powers. The legislative branch was to
be separated from that of the
executive. The Philippine president
was vested with extraordinary
constitutional powers including the
power to veto appropriation measures,
tariffs and conditional powers during
times of emergency. It gave the
potential of an autocracy or even
dictatorship which was exploited by
future presidents. The vice president
was to elected separately. Thus,
unlike in the American system wherein
the President and Vice President were
elected as a team, it was possible to
have a Philippine President and vice
president elected from opposing
parties. (Viana 2011, p. 245)
In September 1935, campaigns were
held for the presidency of the
Philippine Commonwealth which would
be the preparatory government before
the recognition of the countrys
independence. At this time, the
Nacionalista Party had again split
between Quezon and Osmena-Roxas
factions. Quezon and Osmena again
reunited for the elections and were
elected President and Vice President of
the Philippine Commonwealth. They
won over the aging rivals Emilio
Aguinaldo who led the Partido
Socialista Nacional and Bishop
Gregorio Aglipay. On November 15,
1935, the Philippine Commonwealth
was formally inaugurated in front of
the Legislative Building in Manila with
84
a crowd of about half a million in
attendance. Also inaugurated was the
98 members National Assembly.
(Viana 2011, p. 245)
The Public School system: The
Americans introduced the public
school system in the Philippines.
Immediately after the battle of Manila
Bay, schools were established. These
schools were free and open to
everyone. Later many towns that were
pacified under martial law and after
the effective reconcentration tactics,
primary schools were opened,
attracting many to enrol. In 1901, the
Department of Public Instruction was
established. At the same time, normal
schools and schools of Arts and Trade
were also established. American
teachers called the Thomasites were
brought to the country to teach Filipino
children the English language. With
the compulsory use of English as the
medium of instruction, literacy
increased. Through the English
language, more middle class Filipinos
speaking different native languages
came to understand one another
better. (Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010,
p. 198) The oldest university founded
by the Americans was Silliman
University in Dumaguete City, followed
by Central Philippine University in
Iloilo. The University of the Philippines
was founded in 1908 in Manila.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
223)
The pensionado program: The
program which was inaugurated in
1903 sent Filipino students to the US

for higher education as government
scholars. After four years of college
and living with American families, they
returned to the Philippines as
teachers, lawyers, engineers and
mostly, as civil servants in the
bureaucracy. The pensionados and
some met American standards of
expertise. They were also the most
qualified persons to hold government
positions from among the Filipino
upper class families. Some talented
students of the lower class were also
included in the program. In time, most
of these pensionados would become
the most loyal and friendly to
American rule. These pensionados,
having been direct beneficiaries of the
benevolent but colonial policies, would
later support American stay in the
Philippines. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 198)
Public health and welfare: The United
States improved the provision of
public health and welfare in the
Philippines. Before the 1900s, the
Filipinos suffered from the ravages of
small pox, dysentery, tuberculosis,
cholera, malaria and other deadly
diseases which killed thousands of
people every year. Public health and
sanitation were very poor during the
Spanish regime. They became worse
during the revolution and the
Philippine-American war. The American
authorities immediately set to work to
control the spread of deadly diseases.
In 1901, the Americans created the
board of Public Health, which later on
became a bureau. Its duties were to
instruct the people in hygiene and
sanitation and to combat the peoples
ignorance and superstitions which
were the greatest enemies of
medicine and public health. Hospitals,
85
leprosarium and dispensaries ere
established to attend to the sick. The
policies undertaken by the Americans
toward minimizing the deaths of
people arising from poor hygienic
conditions resulted in the decrease of
mortality rate. For example, in 1898,
when the Americans came to the
Philippines, the death rate per 1,000
persons was 30.5%. In 1907, it
decreased to 21.29%. In the
succeeding years, the death rate per
thousand persons progressively
decreased. At the same time that the
Americans, with the help of Filipino
physicians, were fighting the ravages
of diseases, they also improved the
Filipino diet. The Americans taught
the Filipinos nutrition. Balanced diet,
consisting of large amounts of all
known vitamins and minerals was
introduced. It is estimated that the
height of the average Filipino in 1900
was five feet and three to four inches,
by 1920, the average height may be
estimated at five feet and six inches.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
223)
Improvements in transportation and
communication: In 1898, when Spain
as ousted from the Philippines by the
Filipinos, the Philippines had less than
2,000 kilometers of road. The length
was increased to more than 20,000
kilometers when the Commonwealth
was inaugurated. During the Spanish
period, bridges and culverts numbered
less than 3,000. In 1935, this number
increased to more than 8,000. The
railway line was likewise extended. In
1903, there were less than 200
kilometers of railway. In 1935, it rose
to more than 1,000 kilometers. The
Manila-Dagupan railway, founded by
the Spanish period was acquired by
the government and became the
Manila Railroad Company. The railway
line extended to the provinces of
Northern and Southern Luzon.

(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
224)
Improvements in industry: During the
American regime, coconut oil mills,
cigar and cigarette factories, rope
factories, fishing and fish canning,
alcohol distilleries and sugar centrals
were established throughout the
Philippines. More laborers were
employed and Filipino capital, though
small and timid, began to be invested
in industries. Mining, which the
Spaniards did not improve, was
encouraged and became an important
industry. In 1929, gold mining
produced almost seven million pesos
worth of gold. In 1935, it produced
almost 32 million pesos worth of gold.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
224)
The English Language: One of the
most lasting influences of the
American rule in the Philippines was
the teaching of the English language
and literature to the Filipinos.
President McKinley ordered that the
English language be made as a
medium of instruction in all public
schools. Within ten years of the
American occupation, some Filipinos
began to write in English. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, p. 226)
The Commonwealth Period:
The commonwealth government was a
transition government preparatory to
granting of independence. It was a
period of adjustment, of solving
problems that confronted the nation
as it marched towards complete
emancipation from foreign rule. The
problems it faced were on national
security, social stability and economic
self sufficiency. National security:
Japans expansionist goal in the region
would certainly include the Philippines
86
as an object of conquest and the
United States would not be able to do
anything about it. President Franklin
Roosevelt believed that to avoid war
with Japan, the United States should
give the Philippines its independence.
Japan was a rising power and had
defeated China and Russia in separate
wars. In the succeeding years, Japan
invaded Korea, Manchuria and finally,
China. It was this thought of an
expanding Japan that hounded
Quezon. Consequently, the first law
he recommended to be passed by the
National Assembly was the National
Defense Law. This law provided for a
citizen army composed of trainees
who belonged to the 21 year old
group. To put into operation, Quezon
appointed General Douglas McArthur
as Field Marshal of the Philippine Army.
MacArthur estimated that the end of
the commonwealth period, the
Philippines would have an army of
about 40,000 citizens. Because there
was not enough money to finance the
construction of costly battleships,
cruise ships and destroyers, McArthur
thought of the so called mosquito
fleet. This was composed of small,
fast and well armed boats. Aviation
was also considered because in
modern wars, the role of airplanes had
become very important. Filipinos were
trained in air warfare and prepared for
possible war. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 230)
Social problems: Amidst poverty and
ignorance, the masses toiled day by
day without any hope of deliverance.
This dire condition of the masses led
many to rise in revolt. In the 1920s,
the so called colorums took up arms
against the authorities in Mindanao to
show their displeasure over existing
conditions. In central and southern
Luzon and in the Visayas, the peasants
also rose in revolt in the 1920s and
1930s. In particular, the uprising in

Tayug, Pangasinan in 1931 was a
reaction to the oppression of some
landlords. But the social discontent
was well illustrated by the Sakdal
Uprising in 1935. Founded by Benigno
Ramos, a Tagalog poet, the Sakdal
organization identified itself with the
peasants. It attacked graft and
corruption in government. It fought
for immediate independence and
therefore against the Tydings McDuffie
Law. On May 23, 1935, the Sakdals
revolted against the government. The
government suppressed the uprising
and punished those who participated
in it. Ramos then fed to Japan. The
period saw the rise of socialism and
communism among the lower classes:
peasants and workers. Through
unions and associations, they worked
for reforms beneficial to their class.
Just like the Sakdals, they were met
with state violence and were
outlawed. Quezon initiated the policy
of social justice for everyone. But
because the government did not have
enough money to purchase landed
estates, Quezon tried to implement
laws to improve the welfare of the
rural population. However, the big
and powerful landlords and Quezons
private circle of friends and supporters
resisted these social justice
legislations. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 231)
Economic problems: Since the
Spanish period, the Chinese had been
dominating the retail trade industry in
the country. On the other hand,
Philippine foreign trade was
dominated by foreigners: the
Americans, Chinese and Japanese.
When free trade between the
Philippines and the United States
began in 1909, the Philippine products
like sugar, coconut oil, abaca fiber,
copra and others entered the
American markets free of duty. This
led to artificial prosperity because
87
those products had a ready market in
the United States. Also, free trade led
the Filipinos to depend, almost
exclusively, on the American market
and neglected the other foreign
markets. In 1937, Quezon made an
agreement with US President
Roosevelt regarding the creation of a
joint preparatory committee composed
of Filipino and American members.
The committee studied the economic
problems of the commonwealth. It
recommended that Philippine-
American free trade relations be
extended so that the Philippines could
have enough time to adjust its
economy before independence. Some
Philippine products would be allowed
to enter the United States in limited
quantities, while others would enter
without export duties. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, pp. 231-232)
Tagalog as the national language:
Quezon realized the serious language
problem. The Philippines has more
than a hundred languages and
dialects. Under the American rule and
during the commonwealth, English
served as the medium of instruction
and communication. Filipinos had to
use a foreign language to
communicate with one another. To
solve this problem, Quezon asked the
National Assembly to pass a law
providing for the creation of a national
language institute which would study
the language problem. On December
30, 1937, upon the recommendation
of the Institute of National Language,
composed of representatives from the
different regions, Quezon proclaimed
that Tagalog would be used as the
basis of the national language.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
232)
Achievements of the Commonwealth:
 88

In a span of five years, from 1935 to producers and merchants. (Agoncillo

the outbreak of the war in 1941, the and Mangahas 2010, p. 233)
Commonwealth government had
achieved relative progress in Public welfare was given priority as
commerce and industry, the government strengthened certain
transportation and communication and agencies like the Bureau of Public
public welfare. Statistical data Welfare, the Associated Charities and
reported that in 1933, the Philippine the National Relief Administration in
foreign trade amounted to only order to improve and extend the scope
P346,000,000 but rose to of service to the people, especially to
P520,000,000 in 1936. Foreign trade the poor. People with mental illnesses,
was made possible through the ports the children of poor families and
of Manila, Mindanao and Southern delinquent children were taken care by
Luzon. Quezon improved the agencies such as Welfareville, the
countrys transportation and Settlement House and the Child
communication facilities. Inter island Welfare Division. Likewise, the jobless
shipping was encouraged and the rail were given full or part time jobs by the
way lines were improved and National Relief Administration which
extended to La Union and Legazpi, also distributed food to victims of
Albay. The number of busses, cars, natural calamities like floods,
vessels and taxicabs increased, thus earthquakes and fires. Womens
making transportation and suffrage was passed in 1937.
communication accessible at relatively (Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
cheap fares. Air fields were 233)
constructed to bring the cities and
principal towns of the country closer The War in the Pacific:
together. Telephone and wireless
services were improved and radio The preparations of the
broadcasting was inaugurated in Commonwealth for an independent
Manila. By 1940, the number of Philippines were interrupted when the
families owning radio sets was more war on the Pacific broke out in 1941.
than 60,000. (Agoncillo and The fear of Filipino political leaders,
Mangahas 2010, p. 233) especially Claro M Recto, that Japan
was a menace to the security of the
The National Assembly upon the Philippines came true. On December
recommendation of Quezon created 7, 1941, Hawaiian time, Japanese
the National Economic Council whose bombers attacked the American fleet
primary duty was to advise the in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Provoked by
government on economic matters. In the attack, US President Franklin D
accordance with this policy, the Roosevelt spoke before the joint
National Development Company was session of the American Congress and
reorganized to make it more efficient urged it to declare war against Japan.
and responsive to the needs of the Immediately, Congress declared war
people. It also established against Japan. On December 8,
government companies such as the England also declared war against
National Food Products Corporation, Japan and the war in the Pacific
the National Rice and Corn started. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
Corporation and others, whose main 2010, p. 234)
duty was to protect the people from
being exploited by unscrupulous The Japanese Occupation:

The Japanese naval, military and air
forces took the offensive against the
United States, Britain and Holland.
Their colonies in Asia were attacked,
the Philippines, Malaya and Indonesia.
On December 8, and the succeeding
days, the Japanese bombed many
places including Manila and the
suburbs. In order to save Manila from
destruction, General Douglas
MacArthur declared it an open city. All
guns and other defenses were
withdrawn from Manila. But the
Japanese did not honor the declaration
of the open city. They continued
bombing it, resulting in the destruction
of properties and buildings like the old
Santo Domingo Church, the
Intendencia, which later became the
Central Bank Building, San Juan de
Letran College, Santa Catalina College
and the offices of the newspapers El
Debate, Mabuhay, Philippines Herald
and Monday Mail. Meanwhile,
Japanese forces landed simultaneously
in northern and southern Luzon. Both
forces attacked Filipino-American
defenses and on January 2, 1942 the
Japanese forces entered and occupied
Manila. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 234)
The fall of Bataan and Corregidor:
Manuel Quezon was very sick when
the war broke out. His illness became
serious when he learned that
thousands of Filipinos died as a result
of Japanese bombing in Bataan and
other places. In order to save him
from the Japanese who were driving
toward Manila, MacArthur suggested
that Quezon, his family, together with
Vice President Osmena as well as a
few others should go to Corregidor. In
Corregidor, on December 30, Quezon
took his oath of office to mark the
beginning of his second terms as
President of the commonwealth.
89
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
234)
With Manila and other parts of Luzon
were in the hands of the Japanese,
Bataan and Corregidor, under the
command of General MacArthur began
to take heavy bombing. The
reinforcements that MacArthur and the
Filipinos were expecting from the
United States did not come. Food was
scarce in Bataan and as a result,
Filipino and American soldiers suffered
from hunger and diseases. Realizing
that Bataan would fall soon, President
Roosevelt ordered Quezon to be
transferred to Australia. In March, he
also ordered MacArthur to fly to
Australia from where he would direct
military operations against Japan.
Having suffered not only from hunger
and diseases but also from enemy
bombs and cannon fire, the American
commander in Bataan surrendered on
April 9, 1942. Hundreds were killed
during the transit of Filipino and a few
American prisoners of war to Capas,
Tarlac the Death March. The
Japanese were now free to devote
their entire offensive against
Corregidor. The small island suffered
from almost ceaseless bombing
attacks of the enemy and on May 6,
General Jonathan Wainwright
surrendered the Philippines to the
Japanese. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 235)
The Government reorganized by the
Japanese:
Shortly, after the occupation of Manila
by the Japanese forces, General
Masaharu Homma, the Japanese
commander in chief, ordered the
reorganization of the central
government. This was renamed
Central Administrative Organization
composed of six executive
departments Interior, Finance, Justice,

Agriculture and Commerce, Education,
Health and Public Welfare, Public
Works and Communications. In each
department, Japanese advisers were
installed. The advisers were actually
spies or agents of the Japanese
military. All appointments to the
headship of Departments had to be
approved by the Japanese military
authorities. On the provincial and
municipal levels, however, nothing
was changed. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 235)
To gain the sympathy of the Filipinos,
the Japanese military authorities
declared that Japanese educational
policy would be based on the spiritual
rejuvenation of the Filipinos; the
propagation of Filipino culture, the
encouragement of vocational and
elementary education and the
promotion of love of labor. To
implement this policy, the Japanese
military authorities ordered the
opening of schools, especially those
giving courses in agriculture, fisheries,
medicine and engineering. In spite of
attempts to encourage Filipinos to go
to school, many school children
remained in their homes or on their
farms. Enrolment in the schools
throughout the Philippines did not
exceed 300,000. The uncertainty of
war conditions discouraged schooling
and other activities. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 236)
The establishment of the Second
Republic:
To win the trust of the Filipinos, the
Japanese authorities in Japan declared
that the Philippines should be given
independence. The real intention of
the Japanese was to show the Filipinos
that they were better than the
Americans such that, in just a very
short time of more than a year, they
offered independence to the Filipinos.
90
Consequently, a Commission created
for the purpose of framing the
Constitution was headed by Jose P
Laurel as President. On September 4,
1943, the constitution prepared by the
Commission was approved by a
convention. On September 25, 1943,
the National Assembly elected Jose P
Laurel as President of the Second
Republic. This was inaugurated on
October 14, 1943. In spite of great
efforts exerted by Laurel and other
government officials, the prices of
commodities increased daily until it
was impossible for most Filipinos to
eat three times a day. At such times,
the Filipinos ate substitutes; corn was
boiled and sprinkled with salt to be
eaten. Rice was scarce; the Japanese
Army either bought all the rice or
confiscated it. Thousands died of
hunger in Manila and in other centers
of population where food was scarce.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
236)
Guerrilla Warfare by Filipinos:
The Filipinos, with very few exceptions,
were anti-Japanese. Many of the
soldiers who escaped Bataan and
Corregidor joined and founded
guerrilla organizations. Throughout
the entire Philippines, guerrilla groups
emerged. These groups harassed
Japanese army units, ambushed, killed
them. Filipino spies in the employ of
the Japanese sent reports to their
guerrilla units. These in turn sent the
reports to General MacArthur in
Australia. Among the most famous
guerrilla leaders were Governor Tomas
Confessor of Iloilo; Colonel Macario
Peralta of Panay; Colonel Ruperto
Kangleon of Leyte; Tomas Cabili,
Salipada Pendatun and Wendell Fertig
of Mindanao; Wenceslao Vinzons of
Camarines Norte; Miguel Ver and
Eleuterio Adevoso who headed the
Hunters ROTC guerrillas, Marcos

Agustin or Marking who headed the
Markings guerrilla and Luis Taruc who
led the Hukbong Bayan Laban sa
Hapon (HUKBALAHAP). Their guerrilla
warfare tactics made the Japanese
conquest of the Philippines very
difficult. Because of Filipino guerrillas,
MacArthurs return to the Philippines
was facilitated. When MacArthur and
his forces returned, the ground was
ready for clearing operations.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
237)
The government in exile:
Quezon and his party left Corregidor in
February 1942. They were brought to
Australia and from there they took a
boat to San Francisco and then by
train to Washington DC. Quezon then
reorganized the Commonwealth
government. His cabinet included
General Basilio Valdes, Secretary of
National Defense; Manuel Nieto,
Secretary of Agriculture and
Commerce; Joaquin Elizalde, Resident
Commissioner; Dr. Arturo Rotor,
Executive Secretary; and Jaime
Hernandez, Secretary of Finance.
Because of war conditions, the
Commonwealth government thought it
wise to extend the presidency of
Quezon beyond his term of office.
However, Quezon was very sick, and
on August 1, 1944 he died at Saranac
Lake in New York. He was succeeded
by Vice President Sergio Osmena.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
237)
The return of the Americans:
In 1944, the United States began its
offensive against Japan. Island after
island in the Pacific, which the
Japanese had captured early in the
war, fell into the hands of the
Americans. In several naval battles,
the American Navy won over the
Japanese Navy. MacArthur, feeling
91
that was time to return to the
Philippines, ordered all his naval,
marine and air forces to begin the
attack on the Japanese in the
Philippines who had the most part
been defeated by the Filipino
guerrillas. Manila and other places
were heavily bombed by American
airplanes. On October 20, the
American air and naval forces
bombarded the Japanese positions in
Leyte and the battle for Philippine
liberation began. In several
encounters, the Japanese navy was
defeated by elements of the American
Navy which guarded Leyte. As
Japanese military forces weakened,
MacArthur landed in Lingayen,
Pangasinan on January 9, 1945. From
Lingayen, the American Army marched
through Central Luzon and reached
Manila on February 3, 1945. The
American and allied prisoners of war
at the University of Santo Tomas were
freed. (Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010,
p. 238)
When Leyte was liberated from the
Japanese, MacArthur re-established
the Commonwealth on October 23,
1944, with Tacloban as the temporary
capital. MacArthur was the military
administrator; but on February 27,
1945, he turned over the reins of
government to President Osmena.
Then on July 4, MacArthur proclaimed
the liberation of the Philippines from
the Japanese. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 238) With the
Japanese defeated in the Philippines,
MacArthur proposed to carry the war
to Japan itself. US bombers bombed
Japanese cities particularly, Tokyo,
Nagoya and Osaka. US President
Harry Truman and Prime Minister
Churchill demanded for Japan to
surrender unconditionally. At first
Japan refused to surrender, the
Americans then dropped atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
 92

Faced with the threat of annihilation, In order to make the government

Japan surrendered unconditionally. On responsive to the immediate needs of
September 2, 1945, Japan signed the the people, President Osmena, in
terms of surrender on USS Missouri at March 1945, reorganized the
Tokyo Bay. The war of the Pacific was government. The executive
finally over. (Agoncillo and Mangahas departments, as they existed
2010, p. 239) immediately before the war, were
restored and a new department, the
The Post War Philippines: Department of Information was
established. The American
The end of World War II left the government decided to extend
Philippines devastated. The Japanese financial aid to the Philippines, after
fought savagely and this led to bitter conducting a survey of the damage
fighting and the destruction of farms, done by the Japanese and by the
work animals, machinery, buildings, Americans themselves, the US
roads, bridges and more importantly, Congress appropriated one hundred
thousands of Filipino lives. The heavy million dollars to be used by the
bombing of Manila by the Americans Philippine Government for its
to clear the city of Japanese operating expenses and for the
installations destroyed infrastructure redemption of guerrilla notes issued
needed for economic recovery. For during the war. Moreover, American
many months there was no Army surplus materials with a sale
production, there was widespread value of one hundred million pesos
unemployment. Food was scarce and were given to the Philippine
thousands died of various diseases. government. The Philippines was
As a response, the American Army in given a loan of sixty million dollars for
the Philippines created an agency to purposes of reconstruction. (Agoncillo
extend immediate aid to the Filipinos. and Mangahas 2010, p. 243)
The Philippine Civil Affairs Unit (PCAU)
was set up to help the military On October 1945, the American
commanders in extending relief aid to Congress passed a law known as the
the people. Municipal officers and Bell Trade Act, which provided that the
teachers were paid their salaries by free trade relations between the
the PCAU. The American government Philippines and the United States
gave money to the Philippine should continue beyond the
government for the purchase of food Commonwealth period or up to 1954.
stuff, medicine, and clothing for the After that year, Philippine products
Filipinos. However, this money was entering the United States would be
paid back by the Philippine taxed 5% each year until the full 100%
government in due time. was reached in 1974. The law,
Redistributing centers in Manila and however, had a questionable provision
the provinces were established. Rice, that required Filipinos to amend the
corn, sardines, salmon and other Constitution in order to grant the
American goods were distributed to Americans parity rights in the
the people. PCAU also employed Philippines. This meant that the
Filipino laborers in American military Americans, like the Filipinos, would be
projects and thus provided money for given the right to dispose, exploit,
circulation. (Agoncillo and Mangahas develop and utilize all agricultural,
2010, p. 242) timber and mineral lands in the
Philippines. This violated the

Constitution of 1935, which provided
that after the independence only
corporations of which 60% was owned
by Filipinos were allowed to exploit,
develop, dispose and utilize the
natural resources of the country.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
242)
The Third Republic
When Congress was convened by
Osmena, it proceeded to elect Manuel
Roxas to the presidency of the Senate.
Roxas wanted to become President of
the Philippines and Osmena, who was
not in good health wanted to retire.
He was however, persuaded by men
around him to run for the presidency.
In the election of April 23, 1946, Roxas
was elected President of the
Commonwealth and at the same time,
the first President of the Third
Republic.
On July 4, 1946, the proclamation of
Philippine independence by US
President Harry Truman was read by
Paul McNutt, the last American high
commissioner to the Philippines. In
the proclamation, President Truman
said that the United States was
withdrawing and surrendering all
rights, possession, supervision,
jurisdiction, control, or sovereignty
now existing and exercised by the
United States of America in and over
the territory and people of the
Philippines. At the same time, Truman
also said that the United States,
through him, was recognizing the
independence of the Philippines as a
separate and self governing nation.
(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
244)
Manuel Roxas took his oath of office as
first President of the Third Republic.
But Roxas stayed in office only for two
years, he died of heart attack on April
93
15, 1948 after delivering a speech at
Clark Air Base, Pampanga, in which he
promised Filipino cooperation with the
US in case of another war. He was
referring to the looming war in Korea.
Conscious of the problem of national
security, President Roxas granted the
US control of the military and naval
bases at Clark Air base and Subic Bay
Naval Base, in exchange for military
aid. The country at this time was also
faced with a Communist unrest in the
rural areas. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 245)
The insurgents:
The Hukbalahap (Hukbong Bayan
laban sa Hapon) was founded in early
1942 as an anti-Japanese organization
of peasants in Central Luzon. These
peasants were led by intellectuals
such like Pedro Abad Santos, and the
Lava brothers, Vicente, Jose and Jesus.
Their Supremo was Luis Taruc, a
peasant leader. The Huks won many
skirmishes with the enemy and made
central Luzon practically independent
of the Japanese. The Huks had
become so powerful that the landlords
of central Luzon feared them. After
the surrender of the Filipino-American
troops in Bataan and Corregidor, the
Huks succeeded in getting many
firearms from Bataan. These weapons
were used against the Japanese. After
the war, they refused to surrender
their arms because they feared that
their landlords might hire armed men
to kill them. President Roxas failed to
win over the Huks to his side. He
declared the Huks a band of outlaws;
in March 1948 he declared the Huks
and its peasant organization, the
Pambansang Kaisahan ng mga
Magbubukid (PKM) as illegal. Violent
encounters between government
forces and the Huks took place and
Central Luzon became no mans land.

(Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p.
245)
The Quirino and Magsaysay
Administrations:
Elpidio Quirino, an economist believed
that a country could not truly be
independent unless it had achieved
economic stability. Thus, his
administration focused on agricultural
productivity and industrialization. He
also stabilized Philippine currency by
establishing the Central Bank of the
Philippines. He signed into law the
Magna Carta of Labor and the
Minimum Wage Law. He opened
diplomatic and trade relations with
neighboring countries such as
Thailand, South Korea, China, India,
Indonesia and Australia. However, the
Huk rebellion persisted and continued
to disrupt government. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 245)
President Quirino tried to win over the
Huks to the government by sending
his younger brother, a former judge
Antonio Quirino to meet with Luis
Taruc. During the negotiations, Taruc
asked for the following: 1) scrapping of
the Bell Trade Act; 2) no trade with
Japan; 3) redistribution of large estates
to the peasants/tenants; 4) release of
Huk prisoners; 5) industrialization; and
6) the removal of US bases in the
Philippines. As a result of Taruc-
Quirino meetings, President Quirino
proclaimed amnesty to all Huks and
the PKM members. The Huks, for their
part, promised to surrender their arms
to government authorities. Judge
Quirino, however, denied agreeing to
implement Tarucs demands. The
amnesty failed and the peace that
reigned in Central Luzon lasted only
for a short duration. On the other
hand, the Huks accused the
government of bad faith. The
campaign against the Huks was
94
renewed. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, p. 246)
Because of the peace and order
problem, the high prices of
commodities and graft and corruption
in and outside of government, the
people became disillusioned with the
administration of President Quirino.
Ramon Magsaysay, who was Quirinos
Secretary of National Defense, worked
hard to resolve the Huk problem.
Magsaysay adopted strict measures
which included organized and
simultaneous raids by the Armed
Forces and the police to arrest Huk
leaders and supporters. On October
18, 1950, the Huk Politburo fell into
the hands of the military and police
authorities. In the court, members of
the politburo were charged with
rebellion, complexed with murder and
arson and were sentenced to life
imprisonment that was later reduced
to ten years. With the help of
American money, Magsaysay won the
presidency in 1953, receiving a great
majority of votes. He became popular
with the common people. He shook
hands with them and walked in
wooden clogs. In 1954, he convinced
Taruc to surrender. Taruc recognized
the authority of President Magsaysay
and the sovereignty of the Republic of
the Philippines. The Huk movement
slowed down, its members
demoralized. In 1964, Dr. Jesus Lava,
Tarucs successor was captured in
Manila. The backbone of the Huk
movement was finally broken.
Magsaysay, besides his successful
campaign against the Huks, is
remembered for his policy of honest
government. During his term, no
friends or relatives benefited from his
position as President. Magsaysay
created extensive irrigation systems,
introduced modern agricultural
methods and approved the
Agricultural Tenancy Act. President

Magsaysay died in Cebu in an airplane
crash on March 17, 1957. (Agoncillo
and Mangahas 2010, pp. 246-247)
The Carlos Garcia administration:
President Magsaysay was succeeded
by his Vice President Carlos Garcia. In
the election of November 1957, Garcia
was elected as President. He
anchored his program of government
on austerity. He said that, austerity
as a policy means temperate
spending. It signifies work, more
thrift, more productive investment and
more efficiency. It means less imports
and less extravagant consumption. It
is a challenge to our resiliency as a
people to change our past habits and
make thrift and economy our everyday
way of living. President Garcia
proclaimed the Filipino first policy. It
means that the Filipinos would be
masters in their own land. This policy
was adopted because President Garcia
realized that the foreigners had been
controlling businesses, trade and
commerce. Thus, according to
President Garcia, the Filipinos would
be given all the chances to improve
the economy. The policy was a pro
Filipino and above all. His national
policies included the revival of
Philippine culture through the arts and
historical researches. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 247)
The Diosdado Macapagal
Administration:
Diosdado Macapagal candidate of the
Liberal Party for President won the
election of 1961. Macapagals
presidency was known for two things:
the land reform code and the change
of Independence Day celebration from
July 4 to June 12 of every year. It was
said that Macapagal came from a poor
family; as such he understood their
plight, as well as the need to improve
95
the status of the peasants.
Consequently, he asked Congress to
approve his Agricultural Land Reform
Code whose main provisions were 1)
to establish and encourage the
formation of family sized farms as the
basis of Philippine agriculture; 2) to
improve the status of the poor farmers
by freeing them from exploitative
practices such high rates of interest
for loans; 3) to encourage bigger
productivity to increase the income of
small farmers; 4) to apply all labor
laws to all irrespective of their status
in life; 5) to provide a land settlement
program and the distribution of land
and, 6) to make poor farmers
independent, self reliant and
responsible citizens. To partially
implement this policy, President
Macapagal declared twelve towns in
Central Luzon as land reform areas. In
these areas, the old kasama system
was substituted by the leasehold
system. In this system, the tenant-
farmer, now leaseholder will pay 25%
of the harvest to the owner of the
land. In theory, the leaseholder is
freed from the control of his former
landlord. Macapagal was the first
president to adopt the decontrol policy
imposed by foreign banks. The free
floating policy of dollar exchange to
the peso was supposed to be good for
the economy. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 248)
Macapagal through an Executive Order
changed the celebration of
Independence Day from July 4 to June
12 of every year. Philippine
independence was proclaimed by
Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898, while the
one proclaimed on July 4 was made
not by the Filipino President, but by US
President Truman. Since 1964,
therefore, Philippine Independence
Day has been celebrated on June 12.
The fourth of July was changed to
Philippine-American Friendship Day

and Republic Day. President
Macapagal proposed an organization
uniting Malay based countries through
MAPHILINDO (Malaysia, Philippines
and Indonesia). This is considered as
a pre cursor of the Association of
South East Asian countries (ASEAN).
Agoncillo and Mangahas 2010, p. 248)
The Ferdinand Marcos administration:
Ferdinand Marcos wanted to run for
the presidency in 1961. But
Macapagal, the Liberal Party Vice
President asked him to defer his
political plan, Marcos agreed provided
that Macapagal would serve only one
term. But when Macapagals term was
over and he refused to keep the
agreement, Marcos left the Liberal
Party and run under the Nacionalista
Party. Marcos easily won the election
with Fernando Lopez as his Vice
President. His program of government
included the following: 1) production
of more rice and the diversification of
crops to attain self sufficiency in food;
2) implementation of land reform
program; and, 3) community
development to strengthen the
countrys social, economic and
political development. Marcos worked
hard to realize his program of
government, but the period was
unstable both in the domestic and
international scene. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 249)
The governments budget was
inadequate to meet basic needs
(education, health, social welfare and
infrastructure). To augment income
from taxes, Marcos secured foreign
loans through the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund. To link
the countrys islands, Marcos
embarked on a massive infrastructure
program by constructing roads and
bridges. He tried to increase
agricultural production through a new
96
strain of cereal called miracle rice
and through modern irrigation
systems. Due to rising agrarian unrest
in the countryside, he intensified the
counter insurgency drive against the
renewed Communist Party by Jose
Maria Sison and the New Peoples
Army. In the cities, he strengthened
the police force to deal with crime
syndicates. In the foreign affairs, the
period was caught in an intensifying
cold war the struggle for supremacy
between the United States and Soviet
Union. In Asia and South East Asia, in
particular, the Communists (China,
Vietnam and North Korea) were
engaged in fierce fighting drawing
mass support from students, workers
and peasants. The Philippines, as a
member of the SEATO (South East
Asian Treaty Organization) sent a civic
action group to the war in Vietnam. In
1966-1968, the peace and order
situation in the country worsened.
The massacre of peasants in
Concepcion, Tarlac, the killing in cold
blood of 30 members of Lapiang
Malaya in Manila, the killing of Muslim
trainees in the infamous Jabidah
massacre in Corregidor Island were
exposed to the public. The Huk
repression, graft and corruption,
carabao rustling, unresolved crimes
involving agents of the government
further disillusioned the citizens.
Thus, when Marcos ran for re election
in 1969 for a second term, events
were unfavourable for him and the
nation. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, pp. 249-250)
Martial Law:
Peace and order continued to
deteriorate with the massacre of
demonstrators of the Lapiang Malaya
at Taft Avenue in 1968. The
demonstrators, led by the Supremo
Valentin Delos Santos, were marching
towards Malacanang to demand the

resignation of Marcos. In 1969,
Marcos was re-elected after defeating
Sergio Osmena Jr. in the election that
was considered the bloodiest and
anomalous until that time. Marcos
was the first President to win the re-
election. The presidential election,
aside from being the noisiest and
bloodiest with 264 people killed by
election related violence was also
characterized by heavy government
spending which amounted to more
than P900 million. This expenditure
depleted government coffers forcing it
to borrow from the IMF-WB. One of
the conditions of the loans was the
devaluation of the peso to P7 to a US
Dollar. (Viana 2011, p. 316)
The worsening economic situation and
the inability of the administration to
curb corruption increased the ranks of
anti-Marcos activists began to swell.
On January 30, 1970, following Marcos
state of the nation address, more than
2,000 students tried to storm
Malacanang and the US embassy. The
students managed to commandeer a
fire truck which was used to ram the
gates of the Palace. The students
were driven back by the police and the
constabulary. The event provoked a
series of protests in 1970 known as
the First quarter Storm. Violent
incidences continued as crime also
increased. In November that year, an
attempt was made on the life of Pope
John Paul VI who was visiting Manila.
Even the First Lady was the subject of
an assassination attempt injuring her.
The worst violence took place during
the Miting de Avance of the opposition
Liberal Party at Plaza Miranda in
Quiapo, Manila on August 21, 1971.
Two grenades were hurled at the
speakers platform killing and injuring
several people including Senator Jovito
Salonga, Eva Estrada Kalaw, John
Osmena, Gerardo Roxas, Ramon Mitra
Jr., former Congressman Eduardo
97
Ilarde, Ramon Mitra, Ramon Bagatsing
and others. There were suspicions
that Marcos was behind the attack.
Decades later, it was found to be a
plot of the Communist Party of the
Philippines which intended to use the
incident to create a revolutionary
situation that would cause more
people to join the radical Left. (Viana
2011, p. 316)
As a result of the Plaza Miranda
bombing, Marcos suspended the Writ
of Habeas Corpus which was later
restored on January 11, 1972 after a
series of public protests. Earlier in
1970, the government held elections
for a Constitutional Convention to
replace the 1935 Constitution. The
convention met at the Manila Hotel
and was headed by former President
Carlos Garcia who died shortly and
was replaced by former President
Diosdado Macapagal. The convention
was marked by debates which slowed
down work. Anti-Marcos delegates
proposed a ban Marcos provision in
the draft to prohibit the current
President from serving under the new
Constitution. In January 1972, one of
the delegates Eduardo Quintero
exposed an attempt by the
administration of bribing the delegates
in order to defeat the ban Marcos
provision. Quintero was forced to flee
the United States for fear of his life.
(Viana 2011, p. 317)
On the floor of the Senate, Senator
Benigno Aquino Jr. exposed a plan to
declare martial law with code name
Sagittarius. The plan turned out to be
a decoy which was intended to find
out who among the military was
supplying Senator Aquino with the
information. Demonstrations against
the administration continued and on
the afternoon of September 22, 1972,
Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile
was reportedly ambushed. This

incident was cited in Marcos
proclamation of martial law. On
September President Marcos cited the
threats of the CPP NPA, rightists
including the political opposition and
the separatists. He said that these
groups were threats to the integrity
and security of the country. (Viana
2011, p. 317)
Two months after the declaration of
martial law, the new Constitution was
finally completed. This new
constitution replaced the 1935 charter.
In January 1973, Marcos formed a
Citizens assembly. While Marcos
enjoyed near absolute powers, his
political opponents remained in jail.
On April 7, 1978, elections were held
for the Batasang Pambansa was held.
Aquino campaigned from his prison
cell. Most of the winners in the
election came from Marcos Kilusang
Bagong Lipunan (KBL). The Batasang
Pambansa was nothing but a rubber
stamp parliament since Marcos
retained legislative powers and he
could over rule legislations he
disfavoured. In June 1980, the KBL
again dominated the elections. (Viana
2011, p. 330)
In January 17, 1981, Marcos lifted
Martial Law; it was done within a week
of the visit of Pope John Paul II to
provide a semblance that the country
had returned to normal. It was,
however, a deceiving end of dictatorial
rule since Marcos continued to rule by
decree under Amendment No. 6 of the
Constitution. Nevertheless, the
regime could still arrest individuals
and detain them indefinitely without
trial through the Presidential
Commitment Order (PCO) which
replaced the martial law Arrest, Search
and Seizure Order (ASSO). (Viana
2011, p. 330)
98
With the forthcoming presidential
elections in 1981, the opposition
conducted a boycott. With a token
opposition posed by his former WWII
rival Alejo Santos, Marcos was
predictably re-elected for the third
time on June 16, 1981 under the 1973
Constitution. Earlier that year, Aquino
who had been sentenced to death by
subversion and murder was allowed to
leave the United States for a heart
operation. Meanwhile, the countrys
economy continued to worsen. The
prices of the countrys products in the
world market especially sugar and
coconut oil plummeted. With a serious
debt crisis, the countrys financial
creditors, the IMF-WB began to impose
conditions which included the
devaluation of the peso and opening
of the economy to foreigners. Such
measures caused more hardships as
many businesses were forced to close
shop throwing thousands of workers
from their jobs. More than half of the
countrys budget was being used to
service the countrys debts to the
detriment of the people. At the same
time, Marcos personal health began
to decline; he was diagnosed with
Lupus which attacked his kidneys.
(Viana 2011, p. 331)
In 1983, former Senator Benigno
Aquino Jr. decided to end his self exile.
With Marcos ill and with the possibility
of imminent death, he offered himself
as an alternative and declared he was
willing to reconcile with his former
enemy for the good of the nation. The
authorities warned Aquino not to
return because communist elements
whom he allegedly double crossed
were out to eliminate him. (Viana
2011, p. 332) On August 21, 1983,
Aquino was gunned down and fell on
the airport tarmac. The assassin,
allegedly a lone gunman hired by the
communist also lay dead after being
gunned down by soldiers belonging to

the airport security command. The
double murder at the Manila
International Airport was later tried by
the Agrava Commission. The result
pointed to Marcos Chief of Staff,
General Fabian Ver, General Prospero
Olivas, Brigadier General Luther
Custodio and other officers of the AFP.
Later, they were all acquitted by the
Sandigan Bayan which was presided
over by Justice Manuel Pamaran for
lack of evidence. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 266)
Ninoy Aquinos funeral procession took
eleven hours from Quezon City to the
Memorial Park in Paranaque.
Hundreds of thousands attended the
procession, which observers described
as more of a protest march than a
funeral procession. In the following
months, rallies and mass actions were
held, brazenly challenging Marcos to
step down. The opposition led the
mass protests joined by the Catholic
church, middle class, business sector,
members of the military, eased out
members of the Marcos
administration. For the first time, the
anti-Marcos movement was
characterized by people across socio-
economic classes, dominated by
moderates. Before 1983, the protest
movement was dominated by the
Leftist movement, mostly from basic
sectors of society like the workers,
peasants, urban poor and lower
middle class. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, p. 266)
Marcos announced that he was ready
for a snap election on February 7,
1986. Cory Aquino, widow of Ninoy
Aquino emerged as the oppositions
candidate for president with Salvador
Laurel as her vice president. To
ensure a clean and fair counting of
votes, concerned businesses and other
cause oriented groups organized the
National Movement for Free Elections
99
(NAMFREL). People bravely protected
their ballots. Initial count of the
Commission of Elections (COMELEC)
showed Marcos leading by 1.2 million
votes, which was contrary to the
overall NAMFREL tally that gave
Aquino and Laurel a consistent lead.
Finally, on the second day, after the
election, thirty eight computer
programmers of the COMELEC walked
out in protest of the COMELECs
attempts to manipulate the results
shown in the tally board. These
further enraged the people causing
massive rallies to be held in Makati.
On February 20, 1986, Marcos was
declared president elect, along with
Arturo Tolentino as vice president. On
the same day, Cory Aquino in a
peoples victory rally at the Rizal Park
called for civil disobedience.
According to NAMFRELs tally Aquinos
final votes numbered 7,835,070 over
Marcos 7,053,068. She asked her
supporters to boycott crony banks,
newspapers, beer and other
businesses affiliated with the Marcoses
and even stop paying taxes if
necessary. (Agoncillo and Mangahas
2010, pp. 267-268)
On February 22, 1986, Defense
Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Vice
Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos severed
their ties with President Marcos. The
planned coup de etat by the Reform
the Armed Forces Movement (RAM)
organized by officers under Minister
Enrile was discovered. That day, they
were held up inside Camp Aguinaldo
ready to fight forces that would arrest
them. General Ramos joining them
strengthened their morale. General
Vers forces were ready to deal with
the rebel soldiers and officers when
Cardinal Sin appealed Ver the radio to
help protect the soldiers at Camp
Aguinaldo. The people answered and
in the next two days, the civilians
protected the military. Prayers,

flowers, bread and drinks offered by
the people stopped the attacking
Marcos soldiers who were aboard
trucks and tanks. Every inch of EDSA
was occupied by people from all walks
of life. They could have been
dispersed but it would entail tanks and
vehicles trampling or running over
warm bodies, which by then,
numbered over a million. The climax
of the event came when Marcos
helicopter pilots refused to drop
bombs on the teeming crowds, and
instead, landed the helicopters to join
100
the People Power Revolution at EDSA.
On the morning of February 23, 1986,
the oath taking of Marcos as newly
elected president was hastily stopped.
Radio stations were captured by the
rebel soldiers who were on their way
to Malacanang. The US government
offered to help Marcos and his family
to flee to Hawaii. (Agoncillo and
Mangahas 2010, pp. 268-269)