REVOLUTIONS

Notes: The Philippine Revolution Miguel Lopez de Legazpi led the Spanish expedition which successfully established a colonial foothold in the Philippines after several failed attempts. He founded Cebu, the first Spanish city, in 1565. In 1572, Legazpi moved the Spanish capital to Manila. For his outstanding service to the Crown, he was named "Adelantado" and became the first Spanish governor-general of the Philippines.

Emilio Jacinto (1875-1899), like Andres Bonifacio, was born in Tondo. He studied at San Juan de Letran and the University of Santo Tomas. At the age of 18, he joined the Katipunan and became its youngest member. He was a prolific writer in Tagalog and was tagged the "Brains of the Katipunan." He wrote the Katipunans primer, Kartilla, and was the editor of its newspaper, Kalayaan (Freedom). With the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1896, he became the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary forces in Laguna.

Jose Rizal (1861-1896), regarded as the Philippines national hero, was the most brilliant Filipino. He was a writer, sculptor, ophthalmologist, linguist, inventor, and painter. He gained fame primarily because of his nationalistic writings. He was a stalwart of the Propaganda Movement, an organization founded in Europe in the 1880s by ilustrados or middle class elite who sought reforms in the colonial administration. Through his writings, he inspired and encouraged Filipinos to stand up against colonial abuses, to better themselves, and to assert their equality vis-a-vis the colonizers. His famous and widely read novels,Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Subversive), awakened a nation from a long, deep slumber and highlighted the need for significant reforms and an end to Spanish abuses. The Spanish authorities banned his novels, branding them as subversive because it was critical of the frailocracy and the colonial administration. Ironically, his significance became more pronounced upon his death in a Christ-like fashion in the hands of the Spaniards in 1896. Alive, he inspired many Filipinos, particularly Andres Bonifacio; upon death, he became the catalyst which fanned the flames of the Philippine Revolution.

Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), the first of the two novels of Jose Rizal, was published in 1887 in Belgium. The novel is a classic in Philippine literature because of its literary merits as well as the stark social and political realities which it convincingly essays. Set in a fictional town called San Diego which represents town life in late nineteenth century Philippines, Noli Me Tangere is a scathing, full-scale indictment of the Spanish colonial regime with its incompetent and corrupt political administrators and its abusive and conscienceless friars. It also criticizes the apathy and pretensions of many Filipinos who either passively accept the social order out of fear, or collaborate with the colonizers in abusing other Filipinos because of political and economic expediencies resulting from the colonial set-up. In a nutshell, Noli Me Tangere is about a young mestizo, educated, middle class man, Crisostomo Ibarra, who returns to his native Philippines after seven years of education in Europe. He returns to learn about the tragic death in jail of his father who was imprisoned on false charges after he incurred the displeasure of Padre Damaso, the parish priest of San Diego. Worse, his fathers grave was desecrated by the friars and was denied a Christian burial. Instead of avenging his fathers death, Crisostomo pursues his fathers dream of educating the people by building a school. In the laying of the cornerstone for the planned

school, he almost dies after a scaffolding collapses in an "accident" which is hinted as having been engineered by Padre Damaso and/or Padre Salvi. The latter is the lustful priest who secretly covets Maria Clara, Crisostomos betrothed and daughter of Capitan Tiago, the wealthy Chinese mestizo. Crisostomo was saved by Elias, a mysterious boat man whose own life Crisostomo had previously saved in an excursion to the lake. Later in the evening, Padre Damaso once again insults Crisostomos dead father prompting the latter to attack the priest. Padre Damaso immediately excommunicates him although it is lifted later on through the intercession of the governor-general who is his friend. Meanwhile, the head sacristan concocts a rebellion of the malcontents of San Diego and claims it was supported by Crisostomo. Padre Salvi renounces the uprising and Crisostomo is imprisoned. He was later convicted on the basis of a distorted interpretation of a letter he wrote to Maria Clara when he was still in Europe. The letter was extracted by Father Salvi from Maria Clara in return for two letters of her mother which would have scandalized the family because it revealed that Maria Claras real father is Padre Damaso. At this time, Crisostomo escapes from prison with the assistance of Elias and meets up with Maria Clara to straighten out things and bid his farewell. As they escape to the lake, Elias and Crisostomo were pursued by the guardia civil (civil guard). Elias swims to the shore to allow Crisostomo to drift in the bottom of the boat. Eventually, Elias is hit by bullets and he dies. The following day, the newspapers wrongfully report the death of Crisostomo. Meanwhile, Maria Clara mourns the death of her sweetheart and refuses to marry the Spaniard chosen by Padre Damaso for her. Instead she opts to enter the nunnery where Padre Salvi was reassigned. The novel ends with the scene of a young woman, presumably Maria Clara, on the roof of the convent one stormy night, imploring the Lord to deliver her. These unresolved characters will find their way in El Filibusterismo (The Subversive), the sequel to Noli Me Tangere.

El Filibusterismo (The Subversive) is the sequel of Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not). Published in 1891 or four years after Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo followed up the anti-friar and colonial indictment themes of the first novel. The story revolves around Simoun , a mysterious, wealthy jeweler who was actually the disguised and returning Crisostomo Ibarra, the main protagonist inNoli Me Tangere. Simoun has returned to San Diego after several years of self-imposed exile to rescue his sweetheart Maria Clara from the nunnery and to foment a revolution as a way of exacting revenge and righting the wrongs. Because of his wealth, he has become a powerful political figure able to influence many people including the Spanish governor-general. Simoun methodically plans a revolution to be instigated by a bomb explosion during a gathering of the powerful colonial and church officials. He hoped that the tragedy will wipe out the evils of the society, as symbolized by the decadent colonial rule, and will cause the rebirth of a better nation. He capitalizes on the misfortune of many people who suffered colonial abuse to win them to his cause. These includes Cabesang Tales whose land was usurped by the friars; the schoolmaster who was deported by the colonial authorities for teaching his students Spanish; and Basilio whose entire family had been victims of Spanish persecutions. Unfortunately, Simouns scheme failed on the night of the gathering and the planned explosion. He escapes and opts to commit suicide rather than be captured by colonial authorities. The ending in El Filibusterismo indicates Rizals conviction that, so long as the Filipinos are not morally and intellectually prepared for freedom, revolution was not the correct path to take.

General Leandro Fullon, a principalia (elite) from Antique, was educated in Manila where he joined the Katipunan. In 1898, he was named by Emilio Aguinaldo head of the expeditionary force in Antique and was tasked with consolidating the revolutionary efforts in that province. In 1899, he was elected by his fellow principalias as governor of Antique.

"Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog" [What the Tagalogs Should Know"] was written by Andres Bonifacio and published in the first issue of Kalayaan[Independence], the official newspaper of the Katipunan. In this essay, Bonifacio exhorts the Tagalogs to free themselves from colonial bondage. He points out that the time has come to open their eyes, rise in arms, and restore the countrys dignity which was trampled by three hundred years of Spanish rule.

General Macario Sakay was a member of the Katipunan who refused to surrender and pledge allegiance to the United States. He continued fighting the Americans even after the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo, the President of the Philippine Republic, in 1901. Sakay founded the new Katipunan and called his government the Tagalog Republic. He fought a guerrilla war against the Americans in southern Tagalog. To discredit him, Sakay was branded by the Americans as a bandit or thief. In 1906, he was persuaded to lay down his arms and pursue the struggle for independence in a constitutional manner. He marched to Manila and was warmly received by the Filipinos, thus signifying their moral support for his struggle. But the Americans arrested, tried, and hanged him for banditry in 1907.

Gregoria de Jesus (1875-1943), born in Caloocan, married Andres Bonifacio on the night of the founding of the womens chapter of the Katipunan where she served as Vice-President. Like other Katipuneras, de Jesus provided diversionary tactics while the Katipuneros met at the interior of the house. She also assisted in concealing the Katipunan documents. With the outbreak of the Revolution, she fought side by side with Andres and in risked her life for motherland. It was revealed during the trial of Bonifacio that Aguinaldos soldiers attempted to dishonor her. Despite Bonifacios death, de Jesus continued the struggle. She eventually remarried another Katipunan official, Julio Nakpil.

Melchora Aquino (1812-1919), also known as Tandang (Old Lady) Sora, is considered the "Mother of the Philippine Revolution." She provided invaluable services to the revolutionary troops such as nursing the wounded, curing the sick, offering her twenty-five hectare property as refuge to Katipuneros, and feeding innumerable troops. In 1896, the Spanish authorities deported Tandang Sora and 171 others to Guam for allegedly committing rebellion and sedition. Her exile lasted until 1903 when the American authorities allowed her to return to the Philippines.

Gregoria Montoya y Patricio (1863-1896) became famous for leading a thirty-men unit, "with one hand holding a Katipunan flag and another hand clasping firmly the handle of a long, sharp-bladed bolo", against Spanish troops in Dalahican Beach, Cavite City. In the said battle, she lost her husband. Gregoria once more displayed her valor in the Battle of Binakayan in Kawit, Cavite. It was in one of the battles that she expired after a bullet pierced her as she waved a white cloth used in mass to ward off bullets.

Not much is known about Agueda Kahabagan y Iniquinto who was referred to as "Henerala Agueda." She earned fame in the battlefield of Laguna where she fought "dressed in white, armed with a rifle and brandishing a bolo." The 1899 roster of generals listed her as the only woman general of the Philippine Republic.

Teresa Magbanua y Ferraris (1868-1947) earned the distinction of being the only woman to lead combat troops in the Visayas against Spanish and American forces. Born in Pototan, Iloilo, to wealthy parents, she earned a teaching degree and taught in her hometown. Having come from a family of revolutionaries, she immediately volunteered her services to the motherland and became a topnotch horseman and marksman. Fifty years later, her heroism was once again displayed when she helped finance a guerrilla resistance movement against the Japanese in Iloilo.

Magdiwang and Magdalo were the two revolutionary councils in Cavite. Based in the town of Noveleta, the Magdiwang was led by Mariano Alvarez, the uncle of Gregoria de Jesus. The Magdalo was headed by Baldomero Aguinaldo, a cousin of Emilio Aguinaldo, and was based in Kawit. The bickering of these two councils was fatal to the revolutionary cause since each refused to provide assistance to the other during battles. To resolve their differences, Andres Bonifacio, the Supremo of the Katipunan, came to Cavite in May of 1897. Bonifacio himself was engulfed by the intramural which led to his downfall and death.

On March 22, 1897, the Tejeros Convention was held at the friar estate house in Tejeros, a village in San Francisco de Malabon, Cavite. Its original objective was to resolve the conflict between the Magdiwang and Magdalo factions. But as a result of political maneuverings, the issue became the kind of government needed during the revolution. Despite Bonifacios insistence that the Katipunan was serving the needs of the time, the consensus was to establish a revolutionary government. In the subsequent elections for officials of the revolutionary government, the following were elected: Emilio Aguinaldo, president; Mariano Trias, vice-president; Artemio Ricarte, captain-general; Emanuel Riego de Dios, director of war; and Andres Bonifacio, director of interior. Bonifacio lost in the elections for the higher posts as the Cavitenos conspired to oust him from power. After winning the last post, Bonifacios educational qualification was questioned by a Caviteno, Daniel Tirona, who recommended instead a fellow Caviteno lawyer, Jose del Rosario, as his replacement. Humiliated and maligned, Bonifacio voided the proceedings and walked out.

In his capacity as commander of the American Asiatic Squadron, Commodore George Dewey, sailed for Manila Bay upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. On May 1, 1898, his seven heavily armed ships led by his flagship Olympia battled the Spanish fleet under Admiral Patricio Montojo. Although the Spanish ships outnumbered its American counterpart, they were poorly armed. Dewey routed Montojos forces.

Apolinario Mabini was called the "Sublime Paralytic," having been paralyzed by a fatal illness which struck his lower limbs in 1894. A lawyer by profession, his earlier political exposure was through the revived La Liga Filipina, the organization established by Jose Rizal in 1892. Notwithstanding his physical handicap, President Emilio Aguinaldo recognized his brilliance and named him his chief adviser. His thinking shaped the constitutional and political basis of the Philippine Republic, thus earning him the title the "Brains of the Revolution."

The Malolos Constitution is the first democratic constitution in all of Asia, a distinction fitting the Philippine Republic of Emilio Aguinaldo which was the first independent, representative government in

Asia. There were two important provisions of the Malolos Constitution. First, it established a popular and representative government with three distinct and equal branches of government - the executive vested on the president, the legislative in the hands in the Assembly of Representatives, and the judicial anchored on a Supreme Court elected by the Assembly with the concurrence of the President. Second, the Constitution provided a Bill of Rights for its citizens. ruce of Biak-na-Bato and the Betrayal of the Revolution The death of Bonifacio was a turning point in the Revolution. The stewardship of the Revolution was left to Aguinaldo and the elite. But the Filipinos and the Spaniards faced a long haul. Aguinaldos troops were being routed in Cavite and, thus, his revolutionary government moved to the more secluded Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan. At this time, Aguinaldos commitment to the revolutionary cause became suspect. His military advisers persuaded him to issue a declaration that his Biak-na-Bato government was willing to return to the fold of law as soon as Spain granted political reforms. These reforms included the expulsion of the hated Spanish friars and the return of lands they appropriated from the Filipinos; Filipino representation in the Spanish Cortes; freedom of the press and religious tolerance; equality in treatment and payment for both peninsular and insular civil servants; and equality for all before the law. This pronouncement by Aguinaldo proved that he and the ilustrados were willing to return to the Spanish fold provided there were reforms and the ilustrado interests were met. The standoff in the battlefield prompted both sides to agree to an armistice. The Truce of Biak-na-Bato stipulated that Spain would pay financial remuneration to the Filipino revolutionaries in exchange for the surrender of arms and the voluntary exile abroad of Aguinaldo and the other leaders. Toward the end of December 1898, Aguinaldo and the other revolutionary leaders went into voluntary exile in Hong Kong and they were given the initial sum of 400,000 pesos, most of which were deposited in a Hongkong bank and used later on to purchase more weapons. Distrust on both sides resulted in the failure of the truce. Both sides were only biding time until they could launch another offensive. The coming of the Americans marked the second phase of the Philippine Revolution. In Singapore, Aguinaldo met U.S. consul Spencer Pratt who persuaded him to cooperate with the Americans. In February 1898, the American warship Maine was mysteriously sunk in the waters of Havana, Cuba. This incident was the immediate cause of the Spanish-American War. Admiral George Deweywho was stationed in Hongkong received a cable on April 25 announcing that war had commenced between the two countries. He was ordered to retake the Philippines and, on May 1, 1898, his flagship U.S.S. Olympia defeated the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay at a cost of eight wounded Americans and around five hundred casualties on the Spanish side. Back in Hongkong, Aguinaldo was told by U.S. consul Rounsenville Wildman that Dewey wanted him to return to the Philippines to resume the Filipino resistance. Aguinaldo claimed that the American officials prodded him to establish a Philippine government similar to the United States, and that they pledged to honor and support the Filipinos aspiration for independence. Spencer, Wildman, and Dewey would later deny having made any promise or commitment to Aguinaldo.

Struggle Between the Masses and the Elite Aside from ethnicity and gender, class conflict was central to the Revolution. In the aftermath of the outbreak of the revolution, most of the ilutstrados or the nineteenth century middle class denounced the Katipunan and renewed their loyalty to Spain. Many ilustrados immediately condemned the revolution as an irrational action of uneducated masses. Some, like Rizal, believed that it was an ill-timed and illprepared struggle. But many did so out of allegiance to Spain. Later when the Katipunan was winning battles, some ilustrados gradually turned around and embraced the revolution. These ilustrados, though

driven by nationalism like the masses, fought to preserve their social status and economic wealth. Their interests and agenda vastly differed from the objectives of the Katipuneros. Other ilustrados preferred to remain fence-sitters until the tide of the Revolution was clear. In a study of the municipal and provincial elite of Luzon during the Revolution, Milagros C. Guerrero concluded that well-to-do Filipinos as well as municipal and provincial officials refused to join the Revolution during 1897 and early 1898. There was even hesitancy even after they did join. Many history books assert that class conflict was symbolized by the leadership struggle between Bonifacio and Aguinaldo. In contrast to the working class background of Bonifacio, Aguinaldo was an ilustrado and a former gobernadorcillo or town executive in his home province of Cavite. Aguinaldos ascendance to prominence as a result of his strategic victories in battles naturally brought him into conflict with Bonifacio over the leadership of the Revolution. In a sense, their bitter struggle reflected the falling out of the masses and the ilustrados during the Revolution. It started as a result of the intramural between the two factions of the Katipunan in Cavite the Magdiwang and Magdalo. Their conflict had deteriorated such that each one refused to assist the other in battles. Moreover, in one of the battles in Manila, the Caviteno forces even failed to provide assistance to the revolutionaries of Manila. Bonifacio as Supremo of the Katipunan was invited to Cavite to resolve the factional differences and thus ensure a united front against the Spaniards in the province. Once in Cavite, the ilustrados maneuvered to ease Bonifacio from the leadership. In the Tejeros Convention of March 22, 1897, they voted to supersede the Katipunan with a revolutionary government and an election of the officers of the new government was conducted. Aguinaldo was elected as President while Bonifacio lost in several elections for key posts before he finally won as Director of the Interior. But a Caviteno, Daniel Tirona, immediately questioned his lack of education and qualification for the post, and insisted that he be replaced instead by a Caviteno ilustrado lawyer, Jose del Rosario. Insulted and humiliated, Bonifacio as Supremo of the Revolution declared the election and the formation of the new government void. What followed was a black mark in the history of the Revolution. Aguinaldo, upon the prodding of his fellow, ilustrados, ordered the arrest and trial of Bonifacio on the grounds of treason. A bogus trial found Bonifacio and his brother, Procopio, guilty, and they were sentenced to death. Aguinaldo gave his approval and the Bonifacio brothers were shot on May 10, 1897, at Mt. Tala, Cavite. In rationalizing the fate of Bonifacio, Aguinaldo and his men claimed Bonifacio was establishing his own government which would have subverted the revolutionary cause. His elimination was necessary to maintain unity under Aguinaldos leadership. Ironically, Bonifacio, the father of the Revolution, became a victim to the ambition and self-serving interests the ilustrados as personified by Aguinaldo.

Filipino Women Revolutionaries Like ethnicity, gender played a significant role during the Revolution. As early as 1892, the Katipunan had a womens chapter, Katipuneras, which was mostly made up of the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters of the Katipuneros. While the Katipuneros men held clandestine meetings in the interior or back of a house, the Katipuneras provided the diversionary tactics in the living room for passers-by to see. Some of these Katipuneras were Gregoria de Jesus, Andres Bonifacios wife, who became known as the Lakambini or First Lady of the Katipunan; Jose Rizals sisters; and Melchora Aquino who was also called Tandang Sora (Old Sora). Tandang Sora became a legend because she was a medicine woman who stitched the wounded and cured the sick. Her home was used by the Katipunan for their clandestine meetings and she served the Revolution by rendering her "medical" expertise to Katipunan members. There were also numerous Filipinas who distinguished themselves in the battlefield. In 1896, Gregoria Montoya y Patricio, upon the death of her

Katipunero husband, led the charge of a thirty men unit while holding a Katipunan flag on one hand and a sharp-bladed bolo(machete) on another hand. She used a white piece of cloth, commonly used during mass, to ward off bullets. Another Filipina revolutionary was Agueda Kahabagan who fought the Spaniards armed with a rifle, brandishing a bolo and dressed in white. Teresa Magbanua, on the other hand, earned the sobriquet "Joan of Arc" of the Visayas for the valor she displayed in many battles. But Filipino womens participation during the Revolution was not confined to actual fighting. Rosario Lopez, a scion of the wealthyhacendero Lopez clan of Negros, donated firearms to the revolutionary cause. Similarly, women of Cavite utilized their business connections to form a network of contacts for the Revolution. The Filipino Red Cross, established in 1863, became another venue for women participation in the Revolution. In 1899, the Red Cross, under the leadership of the wife of Emilio Aguinaldo, had thirteen chapters spread out from Ilocos Norte to Batangas. Conventional female activities such as sewing and cooking were utilized outside the homes to serve the needs of Filipino troops. The Hukbalahap Rebellion (19461954) was a Communist insurgency that began after World War II and was fought against the Roxas Administration. When it became evident that Manuel Roxas, whom the Huks accused of having been a collaborator, would run for the presidency the Huks allied themselves with the Democratic Alliance, a new political party, and threw their support behind President Sergio Osmea. When Manuel Roxas won the Presidency, the Huks retreated to the jungle and began their open rebellion. The Huks, however, succeeded in electing Luis Taruc and other members of the Democratic Alliance to Congress. After Taruc was unseated by the Liberal Party, Between 1946 and 1949 the indiscriminate counterinsurgency measures by President Roxas ("mailed fist" policies) strengthened Huk appeal. The Philippine Army, Philippine Constabulary, and civilian guards attacked villages seeking out subversives. In 1948 the Huk leaders to adopt a new name, the 'Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan' or the 'People's Liberation Army'

Timeline
In 1949, Hukbalahap members ambushed and murdered Aurora Quezon, Chairman of the Philippine Red Cross and widow of the Philippines' second president, Manuel L. Quezon, as she was en route to her hometown for the dedication of the Quezon Memorial Hospital. Several others were also killed, including her eldest daughter and son-in-law. This attack brought worldwide condemnation of the Huk, who claimed that the attack was done by "renegade" members. In this particular period the Huks carried out campaign of raids, holdups, robbery, ambushes, murder, rape, massacre of small villages, kidnapping and intimidation. The Huks confiscated funds and property to sustain the movement and relied on small village organizers for political and material support. The Huk movement spread in the central provinces Luzon like in Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, and in Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Laguna, Bataan and Quezon. By 1950 the guerrillas were approaching Manila, and the Communist leaders decided the time was ripe for a seizure of power. The Huks suffered a crucial setback when government soldiers raided their secret headquarters in Manila. The entire Huk political leadership was arrested in a single night. At the same time, Huk strength was dealt another blow when U.S. President Harry Truman, alarmed at the worldwide expansion of Communist power, authorized large shipments of military supplies to the Philippine government. In June 1950, American alarm over the Huk rebellion during the cold war prompted

President Truman to approve special military assistance that included military advice, sale at cost of military equipment to the Philippines and financial aid under the Joint United States Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG). In September 1950, former USAFFE guerilla, Ramon Magsaysay was appointed as Minister of National Defense on American advice. With the Huk Rebellion growing in strength and the security situation in the Philippines becoming seriously threatened, Magsaysay urged President Elpidio Quirinoto suspend the writ of habeas corpus for the duration of the Huk campaign. The American assistance allowed Magsaysay to create more BCTs, bringing the total to twenty-six. By 1951, army strength had increased by 60 percent over the previous year with 1,047-man BCTs. Major military offensive campaigns against the Huks were carried out by the 7th, 16th, 17th, and 22nd BCTs. Another major effort against the Huks was Operation "Knockout" of the Panay Task Force (composed of the 15th BCT, some elements of the 9th BCT and the Philippine Constabulary commands of Iloilo, Capiz and Antique) under the command of Colonel Alfredo M. Santos. The Operation conducted a surprise attack on Guillermo Capadocia, commander of the Huk Regional Command in the Visayas, erstwhile Secretary General and one of the founders of the CPP. Santos' masterstroke was the enlistment of Pedro Valentin, a local mountain leader who knew the people and the terrain like the back of his hand. Capadocia died of battle wounds on September 20, 1952. In 1954, Lt. Col. Laureo Maraa, the former head of Force X of the 16th PC Company, assumed command of the 7th BCT, which had become one of the most mobile striking forces of the Philippine ground forces against the Huks, from Colonel Valeriano. Force X employed psychological warfare through combat intelligence and infiltration that relied on secrecy in planning, training, and execution of attack. The lessons learned from Force X and Nenita were combined in the 7th BCT.
^ Jeff Goodwin, No Other Way Out, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p.119, ISBN 0521629489, ISBN 9780521629485