Philippine Revolution

Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), called the "Tagalog War" by the Spanish, was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire.

The Philippine Revolution began in August 1896, upon the discovery of the anti-colonial secret organization Katipunan by the Spanish authorities. The Katipunan, led by Andrés Bonifacio, was a secessionist movement and shadow government spread throughout much of the islands whose goal was independence from Spain through armed revolt. In a mass gathering in Caloocan, the Katipunan leaders organized themselves into a revolutionary government and openly declared a nationwide armed revolution. Bonifacio called for a simultaneous coordinated attack on the capital Manila. This attack failed, but the surrounding provinces also rose up in revolt. In particular, rebels in Cavite led by Emilio Aguinaldo won early victories. A power struggle among the revolutionaries led to Bonifacio's execution in 1897, with command shifting to Aguinaldo who led his own revolutionary government. That year, a truce was officially reached with the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and Aguinaldo was exiled to Hong Kong, though hostilities between rebels and the Spanish government never actually ceased.

Origins

The Philippine Revolution was an accumulation of numbers of ideas and exposition to international community that led to the opening of nationalistic endeavors. The rise of Filipino nationalism was slow but inevitable. Abuses by the Spanish government, military and the clergy prevalent during its three centuries of occupation, and the exposition of these excesses by the ilustrados in the late 19th century paved the way for a united Filipino people. Unfortunately, the growth of nationalism was slow because of the difficulty in social and economic intercourse among the Filipinos. Thus, according to a dated letter to Father Vicente García of Ateneo Municipál de Manila written by the Filipino writer José P. Rizal:

There is, then, in the Philippines,a progress or improvement which is individual, but there is no national progress.

—January 17, 1891

The Philippine-American War then ensued.

Summary

The main stream of influx of revolutionary ideas came at the start of the 19th century when the country was opened for world trade. In 1809, first English firms were established in Manila followed by a royal decree in 1834 opening the city officially to world trade. Philippines was formerly only tied to Mexico from 1565 when galleon trade become the prominent means of economy. The use of galleons ended in 1815 when Mexican War of Independence broke up. At this point, post-French Revolution ideas entered the country through literature which caused the rise of enlightened Ilustrado class in the society.

The 1868 Spanish Revolution brought to an end of the autocratic rule of Queen Isabella II and was replaced by a liberal government led by General Francisco Serrano. Serrano dispatched the 91st governor-general Carlos María de la Torre in 1869. The leadership of de la Torre has brought the idea of liberalism in the Philippines.

That same year, in 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to the world after almost ten years of construction.

The election of despot Amadeo of Savoy to the throne of Spain led to replacement of de la Torre in gubernatorial power in 1871. In 1872, the government of the succeeding governor-general Rafael de Izquierdo was leashed by a bloody uprising of Filipino soldiers at the Fort San Felipe arsenal in Cavite el Viejo. Seven days after the mutiny, many people were arrested and tried in courtroom. Three of these victims were secular priests: José Burgos, Mariano Gómez and friar Jacinto Zamora who were hanged and executed by Spanish authorities in Bagumbayan. The execution of the priests, later known in history as the GOMBURZA, became the conditional thrust to many Filipinos to announce the abuse of colonial authorities.

Opening of Manila to world trade

Before the opening of Manila to foreign trade, the Spanish authorities discouraged foreign merchants from residing in the colony and engaging in business. The royal decree of February 2, 1800 prohibited foreigners from living in the Philippines. as did the royal decrees of 1807 and 1816. In 1823, Governor-General Mariano Ricafort promulgated an edict prohibiting foreign merchants from engaging in retail trade and visiting the provinces for purposes of trade. It was reissued by Lardizábal in 1840. A royal decree in 1844 prohibited foreigners from traveling to the provinces under any pretext whatsoever and as late as 1857 the several anti-foreigner laws were renewed.

With the wide acceptance of laissez-faire doctrine in the later part of 18th century, Spain relaxed its mercantilist policies. The British occupation of Manila in 1762-1764 made Spain realize the impossibility of isolating the colony from world intercourse and commerce. In 1789, foreign vessels were given permission to transport Asian goods to the port of Manila. Even before 1780s, many foreign ships including Yankee clippers had visited Manila regardless anti-foreign regulations. In 1790, Governor-General Félix Berenguer de Marquina recommended to the Crown the opening of Manila to world commerce. Furthermore, the bankruptcy of the Real Compaña de Filipinas (Royal Company of the Philippines) catapulted the Spanish king to open Manila in world trade. By the royal decree of September 6, 1834, the privileges of the Company were abolished and the port of Manila was thrown open to trade.

Economic surveys, port openings and admission of foreign firms

Shortly after the opening of Manila to world trade the Spanish merchants began to lose their commercial supremacy in the Philippines. In 1834, restrictions against foreign traders were relaxed when Manila became an open port. By the end of 1859, there were 15 foreign firms in Manila–seven of which are British, three are American, two French, two Swiss and one German.

In 1834, some American merchants settled in Manila and invested heavily in business. Two American business firms were established-the Russell, Sturgis & Company and the Peele, Hubbell & Company which became two of the leading business firms. At first, Americans had the edge over their British competitors in Manila, for they offered good prices for Philippine exports, such as hemp, sugar, and tobacco.

American trade supremacy did not last long. In the face of stiff British competition, they gradually lost their control over Philippine business, and the decline was due to lack of support from the home government and lack of US trade bases in the Orient. In 1875, Russell, Sturgis & Company went into bankruptcy, followed by Peele, Hubbell & Company in 1887. Soon thereafter, British merchants, including James Adam Smith, Lawrence H. Bell and Robert P. Wood, dominated the financial activities in Manila.

Enlightenment

Before the start of Philippine Revolution, the Filipino society was merely subdivided into light social classification that was based on economic status of the people involved. There are two cases in this classification: the highest being a member of the principalia and the other is the masses. The principalia included landlords, teachers, local officials and ex-officials. The members of this class constituted the social aristocracy of a town.

The Spanish people belonged to the principalia class and they were further subdivided into two classes: the peninsulares and the creoles. The peninsulares were Spanish-born Spaniards living in the Philippines, or they were living in the colony but were born in Spain. The creoles or criollo people, were Spaniards born in the colonies. Although thepeninsulares and the creoles enjoyed the same social power as they both belonged to the principalia, the peninsulares considered themselves as socially superior to the creoles.

Liberalism (1869-1871)

In 1868, a revolution overthrew the monarchy of Queen Isabella II of Spain and was replaced by a civil and liberal government led by Francisco Serrano. The next year, General Serrano dispatched Carlos María de la Torre, a member of the Spanish army, to become the 91st Governor-General of the Philippines. Filipino and Spanish liberals residing in the country welcomed him with a banquet at the Malacañang Palace on June 23, 1869. On the night of July 12, 1869, Filipino leaders, priests and students gathered and serenaded de la Torre at Malacañang to express their appreciation and gratitude for his liberal policies. The serenade was led by prominent residents of Manila, including the Civil Governor of Manila José Cabezas de Herrera, José Burgos, Maximo Paterno, Manuel Genato, Joaquín Pardo de Tavera, Ángl Garchitorena, Andrés Nieto and Jacóbo Zóbel y Zangroniz.

Rise of Filipino nationalism

In 1776, the first major challenge to monarchy in centuries occurred in the American Colonies. While the American Revolution succeeded, it was still an event in a relatively isolated area. In 1789, however, the French Revolution began changing the political landscape of Europe as it ended absolute monarchy in France. The power passed from king to people through representation in the parliament. People in other European countries began asking for the same representation in parliament. In the Philippines, this ideal spread in the colony through the writings of criollo writers as Luis Varela Rodríguez who called himself "Conde Filipino" (Earl of the Philippines). This was the first instance that a colonist called himself a Filipino rather than a Spanish subject. With the rising economic and political stability in the Philippines, the Middle Class began demanding that the churches in the Philippines be nationalized through a process known as Secularization. In this process, the control of Philippine parishes were to be passed from the religious orders to the secular priests, particularly Philippine-born priests. The religious orders, or friars, reacted and a political struggle between the friars and secular priests commenced.

La Solidaridad and La Liga Filipina

The Terror of 1872, its deportation of Criollos and Mestizos to the Mariana Islands and Europe created a colony of Filipino expatriates in Europe, particularly in Madrid. Filipinos in Europe founded the La Solidaridad, a newspaper that pressed for reforms in the Philippines through propaganda. As such, this movement is also known in history as the Propaganda Movement.

La Solidaridad included the membership of leading Spanish liberals such as Morayta. Among the pioneering editors of the paper were Graciano López Jaena, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and José Rizal. The Propaganda Movement in Europe managed to get the Spanish legislature to pass some reforms in the islands but the colonial government did not implement them. After years of publication from 1889 to 1895, La Solidaridad had begun to run out of funds without accomplishing concrete changes in the Philippines. José Rizal decided to return to the Philippines and founded La Liga Filipina, the Manila chapter of the Propaganda Movement.

Merely days after its founding, Rizal was arrested by colonial authorities and deported to Dapitan, and the Liga was discontinued. Ideological differences had contributed to the dissolution of Liga. Conservative upper class members favoring reform, under the leadership of Apolinario Mabini, set up the Cuerpo de Compromisarios which tried to revive La Solidaridad in Europe. Other, more radical members belonging to the middle and lower classes, led by Andrés Bonifacio, had already set up the Katipunan alongside the revived Liga.

Katipunan

Andrés Bonifacio, Deodato Arellano, Ladislao Diwa, Teodoro Plata and Valentíne Díaz founded the Katipunan (in full, Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan "Supreme and Venerable Society of the Children of the Nation") in Manila on July 7, 1892. The organization, advocating independence through armed revolt against Spain, was influenced by Freemasonry through its rituals and organization; Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, and other leading members were also Freemasons.

From Manila, the Katipunan expanded into several provinces, including Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Bicol and Mindanao. Most of the members, called Katipuneros, came from the lower and middle classes. The Katipunan had "its own laws, bureaucratic structure and elective leadership". For each province it involved, the Katipunan Supreme Council (Kataas-taasang Kapulungan, of which Bonifacio was a member and eventually head) coordinated provincial councils (Sangguniang Bayan) which were in charge of "public administration and military affairs on the supra-municipal or quasi-provincial level" and local councils (Panguluhang Bayan), in charge of affairs "on the district or barrio level.

Start of the revolution

The existence of the Katipunan eventually became known to the authorities through a member, Teodoro Patiño, who revealed it to a Spanish priest, Mariano Gil. Patiño was engaged in a bitter personal dispute with fellow Katipunero Apolonio de la Cruz and exposed the Katipunan in revenge. Father Gil was led to the printing press of the newspaper Diario de Manila , where a lithographic stone used to print the secret society's receipts was uncovered. A locker was seized containing a dagger and secret documents.

As with the Terror of 1872, colonial authorities ensued several arrests which included some of the wealthiest ilustrados, including José Rizal. Despite having no involvement in the secessionist movement, many of them were executed, notably Don Francisco Roxas. Bonifacio had forged their signatures into Katipunan documents hoping that they would be forced to support the revolution.

In the last days of August, 1896, Bonifacio called Katipunan members to a mass gathering in Caloocan, where they decided to start a nationwide armed revolution against Spain. The event was marked by a mass tearing of cedulas (community tax certificates) accompanied by patriotic cries. The exact date and location are disputed, but two possibilities have been officially endorsed by the Philippine government: August 26 in Balintawak and later, August 23 in Pugad Lawin. Thus the event is called the "Cry of Pugad Lawin" or "Cry of Pugad Lawin|Cry of Balintawak". However the issue is further complicated by other dates such as August 24 and 25 and other locations such as Kangkong, Bahay Toro and Pasong Tamo. Furthermore, at the time "Balintawak" referred not only to a specific place, but also a general area which included some of these proposed sites like Kangkong.

Execution of José Rizal

When the revolution broke out, Rizal was living as a political exile in Dapitan, and had just volunteered to serve as a doctor in Cuba, where a similar revolution was taking place. Instead of taking him to Barcelona from where he would be sent to Cuba, his ship, acting upon orders from Manila, took him instead to the capital where he was imprisoned in Fort Santiago. There he wrote his valedictory poem and awaited his execution, which came on December 30, 1896 after a military trial. Although Rizal opposed the Katipunan, his writings inspired the revolution. His execution escalated the anger of the Filipinos, and the revolution pushed on.

Tejeros Convention

On December 31, an assembly was convened in Imus to settle the leadership status. The Magdalo insisted on the establishment of revolutionary government to replace the Katipunan and continue the struggle. On the other hand, the Magdiwang favored retention of the Katipunan, arguing that it was already a government in itself. The assembly dispersed without a consensus.

On March 22, 1897, another meeting was held in Tejeros. It called for the election of officers for the revolutionary government. Bonifacio chaired the election and called for the election results to be respected. When the voting ended, Bonifacio had lost and the leadership turned over to Aguinaldo, who was away fighting in Pasong Santol. Instead, he was elected to Director of the Interior but his qualifications were questioned by a Magdalo, Daniel Tirona. Bonifacio felt insulted and would have shot Tirona had not Artemio Ricarte intervened. Invoking his position of Supremo of the Katipunan, Bonifacio declared the election null and void and stomped out in anger. Aguinaldo took his oath of office as president the next day in Santa Cruz de Malabon (present-day Tanza) in Cavite, as did the rest of the officers, except for Bonifacio.