Lesson 2: Excerpt from Apolinario Mabini's The

Philippine Revolution: Chapters 9 and 10 [Memoirs]

Apolinario Mabini
      - Filipino revolutionary leader, educator, lawyer and
statesman who served first as a legal and constitutional
adviser to the Revolutionary Government, and then as the
first Prime Minister of the Philippines upon the
establishment of the First Philippine Republic.
     - He is regarded as the "Utak ng Himagsikan" or
"Brain of the Revolution".
     - Mabini performed all his revolutionary and
governmental activities despite having lost the use of both
his legs to polio shortly before the Philippine Revolution
of 1896.
First stage of revolution
Less than a year afterward I heard that the
Katipunan had spread all over the province of
Manila and was beginning to branch out into Cavite
and Bulacan. I foresaw the horrors which would
follow its discovery by the authorities, but, having
been unable to obstruct (its activities) before,
much less could I do so now when I was already ill
and was, besides, considered by the society's
In August 1896 the head of the printing press of the
Diario de Manila, having discovered that some of his
employees belonged to a secret society, handed
them over to the constabulary for the corresponding
investigation. Recourse was had to the usual
methods of torture, and not only the Katipunan but
also the Masonic brotherhood and other societies
already dissolved, like the Liga and the Cuerpo de
Compromisarios, were discovered. Warned in time,
Bonifacio and his followers were able to flee to the
mountains
The Spanish authorities, following the advice of the
friars, decided to teach a terrible exemplary lesson
and for this purpose seized not only thekatipuneros
but the Masons as well and all those who had
belonged to the dissolved societies. Convinced that
the insurrection could not be the work of the
unlettered but rather of the country's educated class,
they also ordered the arrest of all the prominent
Filipinos in every province. The fate of the captured
was cruel and horrible.
Rizal was shot on the 30th
December 1896 as the
principal instigator of the
movement, and those really
guilty of giving cause for the
Filipinos to hate the very
name of Spaniard were
praised for their patriotism.
Shortly before the outbreak of the
insurrection Rizal, in order to put an
end to an indefinite exile, had offered
his medical services to the Spanish
army campaigning in Cuba. The
government having agreed to his
proposal, he was taken from Dapitan
and kept aboard a warship anchored
in Manila Bay, awaiting transport to
Spain
Rizal had not started the resistance,
yet he was condemned to death:
were he not innocent, he would not
be a martyr. In contrast to Burgos
who wept because he died guiltless,
Rizal went to the execution ground
calm and even cheerful, to show that
he was happy to sacrifice his life,
which he had dedicated to the good
of all the Filipinos,
Such cruelties could do no less than
arouse general indignation, and,
rather than suffer them, the rebels
preferred to die fighting even though
armed only with bolos. Besides, the
movement had more success in Cavite
because the government forces there
consisted only of small constabulary
Fortunately, Don Edilberto Evangelista, a
Manilan who was a civil engineer graduated
from the University of Ghent in Belgium, put
his services at the disposal of the insurrection
and directed all the entrenchment and
defense works which would give the Spanish
forces so much trouble. General Polavieja, at
the head of a considerable force, boldly
decided to overrun the province of Cavite, and
Edilberto, who was conducting the defense of
the Sapote river, died fighting heroically on the
17th February 1897.
Fortunately, Don Edilberto Evangelista, a Manilan
who was a civil engineer graduated from the
University of Ghent in Belgium, put his services at
the disposal of the insurrection and directed all
the entrenchment and defense works which
would give the Spanish forces so much trouble.
General Polavieja, at the head of a considerable
force, boldly decided to overrun the province of
Cavite, and Edilberto, who was conducting the
defense of the Sapote river, died fighting
heroically on the 17th February 1897.
From then on the Spanish forces were able
to take one after the other the towns within
the jurisdiction of the Magdalo council,
whose members were finally compelled to
withdraw to San Francisco de Malabon,
there to meet with the Magdiwang and
arrive at an agreement with the latter on
the most appropriate measures for the
defense of the province.
 For that purpose the members of both councils, together with the principal
military leaders, gathered in the estate-house of Tejeros on the 12th March
1897.

This tragedy smothered the enthusiasm for the revolutionary cause, and
hastened the failure of the insurrection in Cavite, because many from
Manila, Laguna and Batangas, who were fighting for the province (of Cavite),
were demoralized and quit, and soon the so-called central government had
to withdraw to the mountains of Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan. It could afford to
remain there because the Spaniards ceased to attack it to cut down their
casualties. Besides, Don Pedro A. Paterno offered himself to General Primo
de Rivera as a negotiator with the leaders of the insurrection for what they
called an honorable peace.
Reflecting that they would be compelled by lack of arms to
surrender later under worse conditions, the chieftains
accepted the offer, encouraged by a design to spend the
money on the purchase of arms with which they would return
to the archipelago at the first favorable opportunity. It was
agreed that the government would give 400,000 to Mr.
Aguinaldo and his companions in Hong Kong, 200,000 to the
chieftains re maining in the islands, and 200,000 more some
time after, perhaps in the light of the subsequent conduct of
the chieftains who surrendered. For this part Mr. Aguinaldo
promised to order all the people in arms to surrender and
turn over their weapons to the Spanish authorities.
 CHAPTER IX Development of the Revolution

Because I had been a member of the Liga Filipina and one of the compromisarios, I too was
indicted and imprisoned as one of the instigators of the rebellion. However, I had suffered
a paralytic stroke six months before the uprising and I attribute to this circumstance my not
having been beaten up and shot together with Don Domingo Franco and others. In the
event I was covered by General Primo de Rivera's amnesty proclamation and set free by
virtue thereof after having been confined for almost nine months in the prisoners' section
of the San Juan de Dios hospital in Manila. Months afterwards, I moved to the town of Los
Baños, and thence to Bay, in the province of La Laguna, where I drafted a scheme for the
organization of a general uprising, which I judged to be imminent in view of the general
restlessness. This transpired two months before the declaration of war between the United
States and Spain, which was soon followed by the annihilation of the Spanish fleet in the
Philippines by Admiral Dewey on the 1st May 1898, and Mr. Aguinaldo's return to, the
islands.
One of the copies of the scheme which I had drafted reached Mr.
Aguinaldo's hands by chance, and he thereupon wrote, although he
did not know me, asking me to help him. Although I was just as
unacquainted with him, I wanted to help in the common endeavour
as far as I was able, and I called on him at Cavite port on the 12th
June 1898, the very day on which the independence of the
Philippines was being proclaimed in the town of Kawit. I
immediately asked him about the agreement he had concluded with
the United States Government, and to my great surprise learned
that there was none, and that the (American) consul in Singapore,
Pratt, and Admiral Dewey had only given him verbal assurances that
the United States Government did not want any part of the islands
and it designed only to help the natives destroy the Spanish tyranny
so that all the Filipinos could enjoy the blessings of an independent
government.
I proposed a scheme reorganizing the provinces and towns
in the most democratic form possible in the circumstances
and, with Mr. Aguinaldo's approval, it was carried out
without loss of time. I followed this up with another
proposal for the creation of the (government) departments
needed for the orderly working of the central
administration, as well as of an assembly or congress
composed of two prominent residents of each province to
advise Mr. Aguinaldo and propose measures for the
common welfare and the attainment of the longed for
rights.
After the capitulation of Manila, the Philippine, Government moved
from Bacoor, Cavite, to Malolos, Bulacan, where the newly created
Congress held its first session. The first results of this assembly's
deliberations were the ratification of the proclamation of
independence prematurely made in Kawit, and the decision to draft
a constitution for the establishment of a Philippine Republic. I
should note that, although Mr. Arellano had not yet assumed office
as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, his deputy, Don Trinidad H. Pardo de
Tavera, had taken over the business of the department, so that I was
then simply Mr. Aguinaldo's private adviser. As such I advised him to
address a message to Congress, reminding it that Congress should
not draft a constitution because it was not a constitutional
convention
After a long wait, Mr. Arellano finally stated that he could not
discharge the office of Secretary of Foreign Affairs, in view of
which Mr. Aguinaldo insisted that I should take charge of the
department. I accepted for the purpose of seeking an
understanding with the United States Government before the
proposed constitution was voted upon by the Philippine
Congress, and assumed office on the 2nd January 1899. All my
efforts failed because the Treaty of Paris, concluded on the
10th December the previous year, had vested in the Congress
of the United States the authority to determine the civil rights
and the political status of the Filipinos, and Congress
Amid this crisis, the Constitution of the Philippine Republic, already
definitely voted upon and approved, was sent to the government
for promulgation. I was still trying to delay it because of the gravity
of the situation, but seeing that on the one hand, the
representatives were obdurate and threatened a scandal, and that,
oh the other hand, an understanding with the American
Government was impossible because of its refusal to recognize our
juridical existence and its insistence on unconditional surrender, I
had to give in especially since Mr. Aguinaldo too was in favour of
the promulgation. I did not yet have reason to even suspect that
the most determined advocates of the promulgation of the
Constitution would be the leas t ready to defend it at the least sign
of danger to their persons and interests.
President McKinley destroyed the Spanish
tyranny, but, apparently, only in order to
replace it with another in the American
manner. It is interesting to observe that the
Republican Party, led by a Lincoln in its
beginnings, freed many millions o f slaves in
the United States, while, led by a McKinley in
its greatest period of vigour and prosperity, it
made the United States the absolute owner of
many millions of Filipinos.
As I had foreseen, our improvised militia could not withstand the first
blow struck by the disciplined American troops. Moreover, it must be
admitted that the Filipino forces stationed around Manila were not
prepared for an attack that night: General Ricarte, in command of the
detachments in the south, and General San Miguel, commander of the
eastern zone where the attack began, were. then in Malolos. Little
accustomed to war, the Filipino commanders and officers hardly
appreciated the value of military instruction and discipline so that the
emplacements were not served with anything approaching order and
precision. The Filipino general staff had not studied or laid down any
plans for offensive or withdrawal movements in case of an outbreak of
hostilities. Mr. Aguinaldo, who had scant appreciation of the advantages
of a unified command and coordinated tactics, had made no provision
In spite of all these obstacles, Luna would have
succeeded in imposing and maintaining discipline if
Aguinaldo had supported him with all the power of
his prestige and authority, but the latter was also
beginning to grow jealous, seeing Luna slowly gain
ascendancy by his bravery, audacity, and military skill.
All those affronted by his actuations were inducing
Aguinaldo to believe that Luna was plotting to wrest
from him the supreme authority. After the Calumpit
bridge had fallen to the American forces, due mainly
to the scarcity of ammunition, Luna came to see me
in San Isidro and entreated me to help him convince
Mr. Aguinaldo that the time had come to adopt
Aguinaldo established his government in Tarlac,
wasting his time on political and literary activates, a
negligence which General Otis exploited by landing
his infantry in San Fabian while his cavalry, wheeling
through San Jose and Umingan, took San Quintin and
Tayug, thus cutting all of Mr. Aguinaldo's lines of
retreat and giving the deathblow to the Revolution.
Until now I cannot believe that Luna was plotting to
wrest from Mr. Aguinaldo the high office he held
although Luna certainly aspired to be prime minister
instead of Mr. Paterno, with whom Luna disagreed
because the former's autonomy program was a
violation of the fundamental law of the State and as
To sum it up, the Revolution failed because it was badly led;
because its leader won his post by reprehensible rather than
meritorious acts; because instead of supporting the men most
useful to the people, he made them useless out of jealousy.
Identifying the aggrandizement of the people with his own, he
judged the worth of men not by their ability, character and
patriotism but rather by their degree of friendship and kinship with
him; and anxious to secure the readiness of his favorites to sacrifice
themselves for him, he was tolerant even of their transgressions.
Because he thus neglected the people forsook him; and forsaken by
the people, he was bound to fall like a waxen idol melting in the
heat of adversity. God grant we do not forget such a terrible lesson,
learnt at the cost of untold suffering