Utente:Joaquin008/Sandbox

The Philippine Revolution (1896 - 1898) 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.

In 1898, with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Aguinaldo unofficially allied with the United States, returned to the Philippines and resumed hostilities against the Spaniards. By June, the rebels had conquered nearly all Spanish-held ground within the Philippines with the exception of Manila. Aguinaldo thus declared independence from Spain and the First Philippine Republic was established. However, neither Spain nor the United States recognized Philippine independence. Spanish rule in the islands only officially ended with the 1898 Treaty of Paris, wherein Spain ceded the Philippines and other territories to the United States. The Philippine-American War broke out shortly afterward.

Background

When the revolution began in 1896, Spain had ruled the Philippines for 331 years. During the Spanish conquest in the 16th century; European missionaries and immigrants steadily flowed to the colony. The inhabitants of the islands were converted to Christianity, and integrated into colonial society. The foundation was rather a period of slow economic growth and the colony spent its early years in constant warfare, not only quelling native rebellions, but also invasions by other nations including the Dutch, British, Portuguese, and Chinese. The longest native rebellion was the Dagohoy Rebellion, led by Francisco Dagohoy, which lasted roughly 85 years. In the late 1700s, Governor-General Basco introduced economic reforms and opened the islands to world trade. Almost overnight, criollos, and mestizos in the islands amassed tremendous wealth and the Philippines became one of the most affluent societies in the East Indies. This new breed of business and intellectual leaders became the colony's middle class society.

Rise of Filipino nationalism

Template:Unreferenced section In 1789, 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.

The 1800s was also a new era for Europe. Church power was at a decline and friars began pouring more to the Philippines, ending hopes for the friars ever relinquishing their posts. With the opening of the Suez Canal, the voyage between Spain and the Philippines was cut short. More peninsulares (Spaniards born in the Spain) began pouring into the colony and began occupying the various government positions traditionally held by the criollo (Spaniards born in the Philippines). In the 300 years of colonial rule, the criollos have been accustomed to being semi-autonomous with the governor-general being the only Spaniard (peninsulares) in the islands. The criollos demanded representation in the Spanish Cortes where they could express their agrievances. This together with the secularization issue gave rise to the Criollo Insurgencies.

Criollo insurgencies

Template:Unreferenced section Template:Expand In the late 1700s, Criollo (or Insulares, "islanders," as they were locally called) writers began spreading the ideals of the French Revolution in the Philippines. At the same time, a royal decree ordered the secularization of Philippine churches and many parishes were turned over to Philippine-born priests. Halfway in the process, it was aborted with the return of the Jesuits to the Philippines and the religious orders retaking Philippine parishes. One instance that enraged the Insulares was the Franciscan take over of the richest parish in the islands which had been under the Philippine-born priests, that of Antipolo. In the early 1800s, Fathers Pedro Peláez and Mariano Gómez began organizing activities that demanded the return of control of Philippine parishes to Filipino seculars. Father Peláez, who was Archbishop of the Manila Cathedral, died in an earthquake while Father Gómez retired to private life. The next generation of Insular activists included Father José Burgos who organized the student rallies in the University of Santo Tomas. In the political front, activists like Joaquín Pardo de Tavera and Jacobo Zobel. The unrest escalated into a large insurgency when Novales declared the independence of the Philippines from Spain and crowned himself Emperor of the Philippines. In 1872, the conflict of Insular uprisings came when soldiers and workers of the Cavite Arsenal of Fort San Felipe mutinied. They were led by Sergeant La Madrid, a Spanish mestizo. The soldiers mistook the fireworks of Quiapo as the signal for a national uprising which had long been planned. The colonial government used the incident to spread a reign of terror and liquidate subversive political and church figures. Among them were Priest Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora who were executed through the garrote. They are remembered in Philippine history as Gomburza.

La Solidaridad and La Liga Filipina

Template:Unreferenced section 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. Nevertheless, the Liga was continued in his absence but it eventually dissolved due to the ideologies of its members. 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

A flag of the Katipunan.

Andrés Bonifacio, Deodato Arellano, Ladislao Diwa, Teodoro Plata and Valentín Díaz founded the Katipunan (in full, Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan n͠g mg̃a Anak n͠g 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". By 1895 Bonifacio was the supreme leader (Supremo) or supreme president (Presidente Supremo) of the Katipunan and headed its Supreme Council. Estimates of the membership of the society by 1896 vary from 30,000 to 400,000.

Start of the Revolution

Bonifacio's Katipunan battle flag.

The existence of the Katipunan eventually became known to the authorities through a member, Teodoro Patiño, who revealed it to a Spanish priest, Father 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, 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 Balintawak" or "Cry of Pugad Lawin". 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.

Upon the discovery of the Katipunan Bonifacio sent a circular to all Katipunan councils to a meeting in Balintawak or Kangkong to discuss their situation. This is dated by historian Teodoro Agoncillo to August 19 and by revolutionary leader Santiago Alvarez to August 22.

On August 21, Katipuneros were already congregrating in Balintawak in Caloocan. Late in the evening amidst heavy rain, the rebels moved to Kangkong in Caloocan, and arrived there past midnight. As a precaution, the rebels moved to Bahay Toro or Pugad Lawin on August 23. Agoncillo places the Cry and tearing of certificates at this point the house of Juan Ramos at Pugad Lawin. Alvarez writes that they met at the house of Melchora Aquino (known as Tandang Sora, and mother of Juan Ramos) in Bahay Toro on that date. Agoncillo places Aquino's house in Pasong Tamo and the meeting there on August 24. In any case, rebels continued to congregate and by August 24, they were over a thousand strong.

On August 24, it was decided to notify the Katipunan councils of the surrounding towns that a general attack on the capital Manila was planned for August 29. Bonifacio appointed generals to lead rebel forces to Manila. Before hostilities erupted, Bonifacio also reorganized the Katipunan into an open revolutionary government, with him as President and the Supreme Council of the Katipunan as his cabinet.

On the morning of August 25, the rebels came under attack by a Spanish civil guard unit, the rebels having greater numbers but the Spanish being better armed. The forces disengaged after a brief skirmish and casualties on both sides.

Another skirmish took place on August 26 which sent the rebels retreating toward Balara. At noon, Bonifacio and some of his men briefly rested in Diliman. In the afternoon, civil guards sent to Caloocan to investigate attacks on Chinese merchants - done by bandits who had attached themselves to the rebels - came across a group of Katipuneros and briefly engaged them. The commander of the guards, a Lieutenant Ros, reported the encounter to the authorities and this report drove Governor-General Ramón Blanco to prepare for coming hostilities.

From August 27 to 28, Bonifacio moved from Balara to Mt. Balabak in Hagdang Bato, Mandaluyong. There meetings were held in order to finalize their plans for the Manila attack the following day. Bonifacio issued the following general proclamation:

This manifesto is for all of you. It is absolutely necessary for us to stop at the earliest possible time the nameless oppositions being perpetrated on the sons of the country who are now suffering the brutal punishment and tortures in jails, and because of this please let all the brethren know that on Saturday, the 29th of the current month, the revolution shall commence according to our agreement. For this purpose, it is necessary for all towns to rise simultaneously and attack Manila at the same time. Anybody who obstructs this sacred ideal of the people will be considered a traitor and an enemy, except if he is ill; or is not physically fit, in which case he shall be tried according to the regulations we have put in force. Mount of Liberty, 28th August 1896 - ANDRES BONIFACIO

The conventional view among Filipino historians is that Bonifacio did not carry out the planned Katipunan attack on Manila on the following day and instead attacked a powder magazine at San Juan del Monte. However, more recent studies have advanced the view that the planned attack did push through; according to this view, Bonifacio's battle at San Juan del Monte (now called the "Battle of Pinaglabanan") was only a part of a bigger whole - a "battle for Manila" hitherto unrecognized as such.

Hostilities in the area started on the evening of August 29, when hundreds of rebels attacked the Civil Guard garrison in Pasig, just as hundreds of other rebels personally led by Bonifacio were massing in San Juan del Monte, which they attacked hours later on the 30th. Bonifacio planned to capture the San Juan del Monte powder magazine along with a water station supplying Manila. The defending Spaniards, outnumbered, fought a delaying battle until reinforcements arrived. Once reinforced, the Spaniards drove Bonifacio's forces back with heavy casualties. Elsewhere rebels attacked Mandaluyong, Sampaloc, Sta. Ana, Pandacan, Pateros, Marikina, and Caloocan, as well as Makati and Tagig. Balintawak in Caloocan saw intense fighting. Rebel troops tended to gravitate towards fighting in San Juan del Monte and Sampaloc. South of Manila, a thousand-strong rebel force attacked a small force of civil guards. In Pandacan Katipuneros attacked the parish church, making the parish priest run for his life.

After their defeat in San Juan del Monte, Bonifacio's troops regrouped near Marikina, San Mateo and Montalban, where they proceeded to attack these areas. They captured these areas but were driven back by Spanish counterattacks, and Bonifacio eventually ordered a retreat to Balara. On the way, Bonifacio was nearly killed shielding Emilio Jacinto from a Spanish bullet which grazed his collar. Despite his reverses, Bonifacio was not completely defeated and was still considered a threat.

North of Manila, the towns of San Francisco de Malabon, Noveleta and Kawit in Cavite rose in rebellion. In Nueva Ecija rebels in San Isidro led by Mariano Llanera attacked the Spanish garrison on September 2-4; they were repulsed.

By August 30, the revolt had spread to eight provinces. On that date, Governor-General Blanco declared a state of war in these provinces and placed them under martial law. These were Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Bataan, Laguna, Batangas, and Nueva Ecija. They would later be represented in the eight rays of the sun in the Filipino flag.

The rebels had few firearms; they were mostly armed with bolo knives and bamboo spears. The lack of guns has been given as a possible reason why the Manila attack allegedly never materialized. Also, the Katipunan leaders from Cavite had earlier expressed reservations about starting an uprising due to their lack of firearms and preparation. As a result, they did not send troops to Manila but attacked garrisons in their own locales. Some historians have argued that the Katipunan defeat in the Manila area was (partly) the Cavite rebels' fault due to their absence, as their presence would have proved crucial. In their memoirs, Cavite rebel leaders justified their absence in Manila by claiming Bonifacio failed to execute pre-arranged signals to begin the uprising such as setting balloons loose and extinguishing the lights at the Luneta park. However, these claims have been dismissed as "historical mythology"; as reasoned by historians, if they were really waiting for signals before marching on Manila, they would have arrived "too late for the fray". Bonifacio's command for a simultaneous attack is interpreted as evidence that such signals were never arranged. Other factors for the Katipunan defeat include the capture of his battle plans by Spanish intelligence. The Spanish concentrated their forces in the Manila area while pulling out troops in other provinces (which proved beneficial for rebels in other areas, particularly Cavite). The authorities also pre-empted a mass defection of 500 native troops by transferring their regiment to Marawi,Mindanao, which later rebelled there.

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.

By December, the Spanish authorities in Manila recognized three major centers of rebellion: Cavite (under Emilio Aguinaldo and others), Bulacan (under Mariano Llanera) and Morong (modern-day Rizal, under Bonifacio). Bonifacio served as tactician for the rebel guerillas though his prestige suffered when he lost battles he personally led.

Note

Andres Bonifacio

Bonifacio was married twice but his first marriage did not last long as his wife, Monica, died of leprosy. After her death, he met Gregoria de Jesus of Caloocan and immediately fell in love with her. With Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata acting as go-between, Bonifacio courted Gregoria against the will of her father, Nicolas de Jesus, who strongly objected to Bonifacio's freemasonry as a creation of the devil. Despite this, Gregoria's father evntually agreed to the marriage provided that the wedding be under Catholic rites. In March 1893, Bonifacio and Gregoria de Jesus were married at Binondo Church with Restituto Javier and Benita Rodriguez acting as sponsors.

Later, the couple were also married under Katipunan rites. The wedding ceremony was attended by Pio Valenzuela, Jose Turiano Santiago, Roman Basa, Marina Dizon, Josefa and Trinidad Rizal. De Jesus was then inducted into the women's chapter of the Katipunan with Lakambini as her symbolic name. Her duties included protecting the letters, manuscripts, revolvers, and seals of the Katipunan.

After spending a week at the house of Javier, Bonifacio and de Jesus transferred to their new house located on Anyahan Street in front of the San Ignacio Chapel. The couple eventually had a son whom they named Andres and was later baptized with Pio Valenzuela as godfather. Unfortunately, the child died two months later after contracting smallpox.

[edit] The Katipunan After the dissolution of the Liga and the arrest and exile of Rizal, a secret meeting was held Deodato Arellano's house located at 72 Azcarraga Street on July 7, 1892. The meeting was attended by Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz, Teodoro Plata, Jose Dizon, and others. They formed the Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or Katipunan as a reaction to what they saw as the inherent weaknesses of the Liga and the reform movement and the necessity of ending Spanish rule in the Philippines. Their aim was to achieve Philippine independence through revolution. Bonifacio and the others performed a blood compact and used their blood to sign their names as members of the society.

Since most of its founding members were freemasons, the Katipunan employed the principles of masonry in its organization. Katipuneros used codes, hand signals, symbols, and secret initiation rites and ceremonies in accepting new members. Initially, the triangle system was used in recruiting members, wherein a member would recruit two people who did not know one another. The new recruits would also follow the same process in recruiting members. However, the process proved too slow and tedious so the Katipunan decided to abandon the system and just directly recruit members.

With the passing of months, Katipunan membership grew with increasing fervor. Bonifacio became the central force in uniting and organizing the society, although he was not its first leader. It was only when the first set of leaders failed to live up to their responsibilities that Bonifacio established his leadership of the Katipunan and was eventually elected supremo.

[edit] Outbreak of the Revolution Prior to the outbreak of the revolution in 1896, it was estimated that the membership of the Katipunan was between 30,000 to 40,000 Katipuneros. With such numbers, it was only a matter of time before its existence became known to Spanish authorities in the Philippines.

The Katipunan was finally discovered in August 1896. Bonifacio had no choice but to launch the revolution, although prematurely, as the Spaniards started to arrest Filipinos who were actual and suspected members of the Katipunan. Gathering the Katipuneros, Bonifacio and his men tore their cedulas as a symbol of their struggle against Spain. He then gave orders to the different chapters of the Katipunan in various parts of the Philippines to begin the revolution.

The revolution spread like wildfire throughout the country but the most successful military campaigns of the Katipunan were in Cavite, where Katipuneros managed to liberate town after town. Gradually, hostilities shifted from Manila to Cavite as the Spaniards tried to counter these military victories. Both sides started diverting their troops and supplies to the province.