FilTrip

August 23, June 12, or July 4? The Philippine Independence Saga.

• Carmina and Patch • Season 1 • Episode 16

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In this episode, Carmina and Patch navigate the long (and sometimes confusing!) journey to Philippine independence. They discover that our country’s struggle was full of sacrifice, betrayal and plot twists. On the way, they learn interesting, and sometimes heartbreaking, facts about Filipino independence fighters from our pre-colonial and colonial past. 

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Thanks to the podcast's sponsor SOLEPACK. Visit thesolepack.com for more details.


For additional reading: A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos, Philippines’ Resistance: The Last Allied Stronghold in the Pacific, Philippine War Claims, Sultan Kudarat: The Philippines’ Most Powerful Sultan, THE TWO FACES OF THE 1872 CAVITE MUTINY, Gomburza, 1872, Fagen: An African American Renegade in the Philippine-American War, Andres Bonifacio: Myths, trivia, execution, The Philippines Gained Independence From The US, and  Untold Story Of The Igorots.


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Patch:

Hi Carmina!

Carmina:

Hi Patch! Hi listeners! Welcome to JeepneyTrip, a podcast where we explore everything fun, weird, and in between about the Philippines.

Patch:

A word about our sponsor.

Carmina:

Jeepneytrip is sponsored by soak a functional shoe accessory bag its patented design stores. Your shoes on the sides of your backpack and provides an ergonomic and hygienic means to carry your shoes.

Patch:

Now you can travel hands free, have more space inside your backpack and keep your dirty shoes away from everything. Be sure to also check out their string bags and backpacks for more options,

Carmina:

Visit thesolepack.com and enter JeepneyTrip10 at checkout for a 10% discount. Now back to our show.

Patch:

Today's trip is a round trip when we talk about historical facts and things that connect us back. In this episode, we'll be discussing Philippine Independence.

Carmina:

Patch, I think this is one of those times when different people will have different opinions about how long the Philippines has actually been independent.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

So most people will say 76 years counting from the time that the Americans granted us independence in 1946 on July 4th. And our listeners might recognize July 4th, right? Because that's also the US Independence Day. And then others could argue that it really should be 124 years, if you count it from the time that Aguinaldo declared our independence on June 12th, 1898.

Patch:

We recognize it officially now as June 12th though, right?

Carmina:

Right. But before we even go back to why it was changed from July 4th to June 12th and argue about what year we really became independent<laugh>, there were so many events and people who died and struggled in resisting colonization and in asserting independence. I went all the way back<laugh> to precolonial times.

Patch:

Okay.

Carmina:

And many people will recognize the name of Lapu-Lapu. So to refresh people's memories, Lapu-Lapu was said to have killed Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 in the Battle of Mactan. So it's common knowledge that Ferdinand Magellan was said to have been the first explorer to have, quote-unquote, discovered the Philippines. And the legend of Lapu-Lapu says that Lapu-Lapu killed Magellan because Magellan was basically trying to conquer Mactan. Lapu-Lapu was actually credited for delaying Spanish colonization by 44 years.

Patch:

Oh, I didn't realize that.

Carmina:

I discovered some things that surprised me.

Patch:

Like what?

Carmina:

Apparently, Lapu-Lapu was an immigrant.

Patch:

What<laugh>?!

Carmina:

Lapu-Lapu was documented to have come from Borneo-

Patch:

What?!

Carmina:

- which is a neighboring island, right?

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

When Lapu-Lapu arrived, he arrived in Cebu. And he met Raja Humabon, another popular figure in our history.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

Because he-

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

- was actually the first ruler that Magellan encountered when he arrived in the Philippines. And he was able to convince Humabon to convert to Catholicism. I mean, he probably was in a very strategic part of the Philippines because Lapu-Lapu also met him first w hen Lapu-Lapu arrived. So Lapu-Lapu asked Humabon to settle in Cebu and Humabon apparently gave him one of his territories, which is what's now known as Mandaue in the general area of Mactan.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

Lapu-Lapu became a really popular leader and Humabon and him had a falling out.

Patch:

Okay. Spill the tea, Carmina.

Carmina:

<laugh>. So they had an argument surrounding trade because if you remember, in that part of the Philippines, there was very active trading going on at that time, and Lapu-Lapu proved to be a really good, you know, ruler and tradesmen.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

So by the time Humabon met Magellan, the two of them already had beef.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

It was said that Humabon converted to Catholicism and was trying to please Magellan because he egged Magellan on to fight Lapu-Lapu for his benefit.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

Humabon was able to convince all of the other surrounding rulers to submit and welcome Magellan except very few. And one of them was Lapu-Lapu.

Patch:

He was not having any of that.

Carmina:

When Magellan tried to extract his, you know, fealty, Lapu-Lapu resisted and then Humabon seized the opportunity to basically get rid of Lapu-Lapu. That's what led to Magellan fighting Lapu-Lapu. Magellan was very, you know, confident of his abilities to defeat Lapu-Lapu. So he underestimated Lapu-Lapu's people.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

And even though Humabon offered to give him men to fight Lapu-Lapu, he wanted all the glory and wanted to do it alone. And we all know what happened to Magellan.

Patch:

<laugh> Right.

Carmina:

So, you know, there's this mythology surrounding Lapu-Lapu that said that he killed Magellan with his own hands. And the statues of Lapu-Lapu would depict him as this, you know, muscular warrior in his prime.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

Apparently, he was already in his sixties or seventies during that time.

Patch:

What? Okay. Why is that even more impressive though?<laugh>

Carmina:

So it was unlikely that he was the one who actually killed Magellan, but, but since he was the leader, I mean, kudos still to him, right?

Patch:

Yeah.

Carmina:

He was probably the one who strategized about the battle and everything. So the killing of Magellan was more likely a group effort than just the work of Lapu-Lapu alone.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

Especially since the natives did o utnumber the Spanish soldiers.

Patch:

Wow. That's really interesting.

Carmina:

Right.

Patch:

I mean-

Carmina:

I don't think we studied that in

Patch:

No, we did not.

Carmina:

<laugh> You know, the funny thing though-

Patch:

What?

Carmina:

There wasn't really anything much said about Lapu-Lapu afterwards. So there's a lot of mythologies, like I said, surrounding him, including one that said he turned into stone<laugh>. So apparently there's a stone structure around that area that roughly looks like a human and the fishermen in that area in Mactan throw coins at it for good fishing.

Patch:

Okay.

Carmina:

And then others have said that he actually went back to Borneo with his family. So we don't really know what happened to him, but still, right, we recognize him as our first national hero.

Patch:

Right. Very impressive.

Carmina:

The other pre-colonial figure, Patch, is Sultan Kudarat.

Patch:

I mean, I've heard of him, but I don't remember facts about him. I'll be honest.

Carmina:

His full name is Mohammed Dipatuan Kudarat, and he was the seventh sultan of Magindanao. So do you remember when we talked about Islam and Mindanao in Episode 13?

Patch:

Yes.

Carmina:

And how the Spaniards never really were able to conquer it? Plug for Episode 13,<laugh> about Islam and Mindanao. So it was largely credited to Sultan Kudarat. He ruled for 52 years from 1581 to 1671.

Patch:

He's known to have hindered the spread of Roman Catholicism in the island of Mindanao.

Carmina:

That's right. He was already ruling a very advanced kingdom at that time. And he was a strategic international trade partner to the Dutch and the Chinese.

Patch:

Mm.

Carmina:

And it was said that before he even became a sultan, he was a soldier. So he had hands-on experience battling with the Spanish. It was also said that he was so inspirational to his people because even when he was a sultan, he himself fought in battle and women, including his wife and even children, were so inspired by him that they followed him into one of the battles. And I read this, too, about his wife- when she was in danger of being captured by t he Spaniards, was said to have jumped over a cliff while holding her baby to avoid capture.

Patch:

Wow.

Carmina:

There was a very famous speech that he was said to have delivered in order to unite the Muslims in Mindanao against the Spaniards. And I found a translation of it in an article that we'll link in our show notes, and convince the other Muslim rulers in Mindanao to join him in his resistance. And also, Patch, do you remember in our Mindanao episode, we talked about other countries coming to the aid of the Philippines when they were resisting because they formed a jihad?

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

He was credited for forming alliances with the international rulers of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. And also used his trade relations with the Dutch to pit them against the Spaniards.

Patch:

Wow. He was quite a diplomat.

Carmina:

So he was credited for maintaining peace and stability in Mindanao until he died in 1671. So those were the two precolonial figures that I thought were very interesting and had big roles to play.

Patch:

Since we're talking about fighting off the Spaniards, I read somewhere about the Igorots.

Carmina:

Yeah, tell us about it.

Patch:

The Igorots really are very fierce people. In 1601, Spain launched a Holy Crusade in an attempt to Christianize the Igorots.

Carmina:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Patch:

But they were fiercely territorial and very uninterested in these white outsiders. They used their traditional weapons of bamboo lances and wooden shields to fight off these conquerors. They would create defensive blockades of trees and branches in the passages that would lead to their villages. And so the Spaniards were not able to pass through. When the enemies approached, they would often hurl stones and tree trunks at them, killing them. They also kept the locations of their villages a closely guarded secret. So no one could really determine where they were located. The Spaniards never were able to conquer the Igorots. They really were one of the few minority groups that kept their traditions and culture without being enveloped into Christianity.

Carmina:

So as we know, we were conquered by the Spanish for over 300 years.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

In the long history of Spanish colonization, one event was credited for awakening our national consciousness, and it had to do with three priests. Mini quiz- which three priests?

Patch:

Gomburza.

Carmina:

What does Gomburza stand for?

Patch:

<laugh> I do not remember, uh, I'm gonna have to, uh, Google it.

Carmina:

Or call a friend.

Patch:

Found it!<Laugh> Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos. And Jacinto Zamora.

Carmina:

Exactamento. These three were very vocal in advocating for including Filipinos in the priesthood and holding very important positions.'Cause as we know, right, the Spanish friars were really very powerful. They held a lot of wealth and a lot of power, but they were also very territorial and basically relegated, even Filipinos who may have been of Spanish descent that were born in the Philippines, they marginalized. This was one of the surprising things that I found out- that Father Burgos was actually of Spanish descent, but was born in the Philippines. He was also friends with a former governor general, Governor General D ela T orre who was said to be very liberal. But when political power changed hands in Spain, governor generals c hanged according to the political affiliations under which they were appointed. S o his bestie< laugh>, Governor General Dela Torre was removed from his post when the opposing faction i n Spain took over, and he was replaced by a super conservative and iron-fisted Governor General, Izquierdo. So Father Burgos not only lost his bestie, the way the Philippines was ruled kind of swung to the other end of the spectrum, which a lot of Filipinos, including him were not used to after having been under Governor General De la To rre.

Patch:

Right, so he lost that ally.

Carmina:

And Governor Izquierdo overturned a lot of the liberal policies that Dela Torre had implemented. Anyway, why are we talking about these three priests and why were they executed? So there was this thing called the Cavite Mutiny. And the Cavite Mutiny happened because a lot of the shipyard workers in Cavite were protesting taxes and fines that were levied against them. And again, this was another fallout from having lost Governor General Dela Torre. So one day when they were getting their pay, they noticed that it was reduced so drastically because of all of these deductions that the Spanish government were taking from them. So it was the first recorded strike in Philippine history. So what does that mutiny have to do with anything? So General Izquierdo punished the mutineers severely. And because these three priests were known generally as activists and liberals anyway, Izquierdo kind of found a way to get rid of, you know, two birds or in this case three birds-

Patch:

Three, right

Carmina:

- with one stone. And he was able to link them to the mutiny. One of the mutineers, his name was Saldua, was instrumental in providing, quote-unquote, evidence against these three priests in the hopes that he was going to be spared punishment himself. No such luck. He got hanged with them.<laugh>

Patch:

And there you go.

Carmina:

These are some interesting factoids that I found out about these three priests.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

The order of execution was Father Gomes first, then Father Zamora, then Burgos. So Father Gomes- his name ends with an"s" and not a"z."

Patch:

What?!<laugh>

Carmina:

Yes. He was already 73 when he was executed. And he was a well-loved priest by his parishioners in Bacoor, Cavite, where he was. He had famous last words and they were,"Let us go where the leaves never fall or move without the will of God." So he apparently said that right before he was executed.

Patch:

That's very poetic.

Carmina:

Then next was Father Zamora. He was 37 when he was executed.

Patch:

So he was still very young.

Carmina:

He was studying for a doctorate in canon law at the University of Santo Tomas, which is the oldest university in the Philippines. So when he was a young student, apparently he headed up a student protest that was in 1860. And then when their executions happened in 1872, that was one of the evidences that were brought up against him even though at the time when he did the protest, he wasn't really punished severely for it. And after he graduated, he even got a lot of appointments to different parishes. But there was one thing about Father Zamora that made him vulnerable to be kind of swept up into this whole thing.

Patch:

What?

Carmina:

He had a vice.

Patch:

Oh no. Is it alcohol?<laugh>

Carmina:

He was a gambler.

Patch:

Okay.

Carmina:

And he was addicted to this game called Panguingge. I never heard of this card game.

Patch:

Me neither.

Carmina:

It's a Filipino card game and also is very popular in the Southwestern part of...the United States.

Patch:

What?!

Carmina:

Yes<laugh>. What a shock. So we're gonna have to look into that in a future episode'cause-

Patch:

What's that card game called here.

Carmina:

It's called Pan. And I was trying to-

Patch:

Okay.

Carmina:

- absorb how it's played. I mean, I got lost and why only the Southwest, right? Like-

Patch:

Mm- hmm< affirmative>.

Carmina:

- that whole thing we're gonna have to look into< laugh>. And the case against him was based on a note that was confiscated in his mail that read"Grand reunion. O ur friends are well-provided with powder and ammunition." So without any context, you'd be like,"Oh my God! For sure, he was part of the mutiny.

Patch:

<laugh>

Carmina:

Right. But it was an invitation to a card game.

Patch:

Oh wait, but why powder and-?

Carmina:

It was a reference to all the money that the people in the card game were gonna bring to the card game

Patch:

<laugh> okay.

Carmina:

Gambling was a vice, right?

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

Even back in those days. And he was probably hiding this vice.

Patch:

It was a code.

Carmina:

Anyway, they used it against him. And in this article that I read that we'll link in our show notes, people said that he looked very serene at the execution. However, there was a reason for his looking serene and it had to do with him suffering a nervous breakdown before the hanging. It probably was best because they were hung by this very ancient and brutal method called the garrote. Which if you read about it, sounded really, really painful. It was just gruesome, but-

Patch:

Very violent. Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

I'm glad if that is the case, he probably didn't comprehend anymore what was happening.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

And poor Father Burgas was the last one to be executed. Can you imagine this- three people before you and then it's your turn.

Patch:

Right?

Carmina:

I'm sure it was not being hidden from him either. He was probably watching the whole thing. So he was said to have the most dramatic death because he was screaming his innocence up until the last moment. When they finally calmed him down, his last act was to pardon his executioner and he gave one last blessing to the crowd.

Patch:

How old was he when he passed?

Carmina:

He was 35 years old. He was a known swordsman and a boxer. So he was also a very active person. And he had doctoral degrees in both theology and canon law. And he wrote a lot. So he was very promising. In any case, this execution was considered a turning point because it was said to awaken a sense of nationalism in the Filipinos, which became the seed for the Philippine Revolution.

Patch:

And they did say that Gomburza's death influenced Jose Rizal in writing El Filibusterismo.

Carmina:

Another interesting factoid. So, Jose Rizal dedicated his book to these three and he had a foreword with some references to the execution and their age. And he apparently got a lot of the facts wrong.

Patch:

Oops.

Carmina:

There was no Google.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

So I forgive him for that.<laugh> So speaking of Rizal, I have a question. A rhetorical question. But when I was reading about it sprang to mind, because it was mentioned many times. What did the Age of Enlightenment in Europe have to do with the awakening of Filipino nationalism? Especially since Age of Enlightenment was said to have ended in the early 1800s and our revolution didn't really happen until the late 1800s. Just to remind people,'cause I had definitely had to remind myself- the Age of Enlightenment has to do with the birth of many ideas, like individual rights, pursuit of knowledge and happiness, liberty, progress, science, separation of church and state- you know, all of the things that may have b een considered associated with h eretics during that time.

Patch:

<laugh> Mm-hmm<affirmative>

Carmina:

So do you remember, Patch, what the Filipino middle class were referred to during the Spanish colonial period?

Patch:

The ilustrados.

Carmina:

Yes. So the ilustrados, which was the Philippines' middle class, experienced huge growth and it allowed them to basically send their children to Europe to study. Coincidentally, that was also around the time that the Suez Canal was opened. And that reduced the travel from Europe to the Philippines from about six months to around 33 days. I mean, I still can't imagine being<laugh> on a ship for 33 days.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

But many young Filipinos were exposed to these liberal ideas. And so there, they learned about the enlightenment ideas, they learned about the Spanish Revolution and the French Revolution. And it just so happens that one of these ilustrados was Dr. Jose Rizal. Just in the interest of time,'cause there has been many things written about Rizal, right? And his achievements are well-documented. But one that I really wanna focus on is his formation of the La Liga Filipina. And his aspirations for this was to enlighten the minds of the Filipinos across the entire country to develop agriculture and commerce, to protect against violence and injustice and the development of education. So he was really putting his education to work.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

One of his novels was Noli Me Tangere, that was the first. And then El Filibusterismo was the sequel. And because of those books and of his other writings, he was branded as a revolutionary by the Spaniards, even though he really was not really advocating for revolution, he was only advocating for reforms. I mean all that didn't matter, of course. He was exiled to Mindanao in 1892 and in the same year, a member of the La Liga, who is a huge fanboy of Rizal's<laugh> founded the KKK. Not the KKK that we know here in the US.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

It's a different KKK. It stands for Kataastaasang Kagalang-galangan Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, which means"Highest, Most Honorable Society of the Country's Sons and Daughters." And the person who formed it was Andres Bonifacio.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

So unlike the reformist views of La Liga, Bonifacio's organization shifted to complete independence from Spain, and the members were said to have been mainly from the lower middle classes and the working classes. And they did not shy away from ideas about armed revolution.

Patch:

As you mentioned, Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan. It's a secret society that was opened both to the middle class and mostly the peasants.

Carmina:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Patch:

I did find a few facts about Bonifacio that I thought was interesting.

Carmina:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Patch:

He lost his parents at an early age.

Carmina:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Patch:

His parents died of tuberculosis and he became essentially the head of his family. So the way he, uh, provided for his siblings was he made walking canes and paper fans and sold them at premium prices in Manila's busy streets. At the same time, he also took jobs to support his family. He became a warehouse keeper. He was a clerk at an English firm called JM Fleming and Company. He made posters for companies because he had excellent penmanship

Carmina:

Something I never mastered.

Patch:

<laugh> me as well. And also he was a Moro Moro performer. So he was in theater as well.

Carmina:

Wow.

Patch:

So he wasn't actually dirt poor as what is commonly known about him. He moved up in society through his hard work. This can also be credited to the fact that most of his patrons, those who bought his canes and his fans were the rich. So they rose to lower middle class status through his hard work.

Carmina:

Yeah. Apparently also was very well-read.

Patch:

Yes. He loved to read. He was always found with a book on hand, the books that he was known to have read were Le Miserables.

Carmina:

Wow.

Patch:

The Holy Bible, Noli Me Tangere and El Fibusterismo, of course.

Carmina:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Patch:

The history of the French revolution. And he was an avid reader of the law and medical books. So he was very well-read even though he only finished, I think, second year of high school. So it's not really accurate to say that he was not educated. He educated himself quite a bit.

Carmina:

Yeah. Probably even though he didn't go to Europe, he absorbed all of those Enlightenment ideas.

Patch:

Exactly. And the other thing is, you know, our image of Bonifacio was he's wearing this kamisa de chino with this handkerchief on his neck, but apparently he was often with a coat and a tie. In fact, photographs of him in this outfit is what can be seen in history books. So I had a different image of him.

Carmina:

So there are two images now that we have to revise in our heads.

Patch:

<laugh> it's Lapu-Lapu and Bonifacio.<laugh>

Carmina:

Exactly. So I found an interesting factoid about the KKK itself and I'm sure this was also because of him, because he's one of the founders. What struck me about it was it's very explicit elevation of women as equal to men in its formation.

Patch:

Yes.

Carmina:

Which is a return, actually, to the equal status that women enjoyed in precolonial times. So I really think that he was very forward-thinking and maybe even kind of an homage to our precolonial times by doing that. So when Bonifacio formed the KKK, he and his men were on a very steady path towards what they hoped to achieve. So they had a lot of strategies. They stored weapons and many safe places and they trained many people in armed conflict. So for a long time, there were many rumors that existed about them, but nobody could produce any proof. So the Spaniards were constantly taken by surprise, you know, with the KKK's efforts. But a low-ranking disgruntled member named Teodoro Patino told his very devout Catholic sister about the KKK's efforts. And guess what the sister did?

Patch:

Did she join<laugh>?

Carmina:

Well, our history would probably have been so different if she did<laugh>. She told her parish priest!

Patch:

Oh my goodness.

Carmina:

The name of the parish priest is Father Mariano Gil. And it was Father Gil who convinced the brother to lead him to important documents about the KKK. So they were prematurely discovered and really kind of interrupted their well-laid plans.

Patch:

As we know in history, Bonifacio proclaimed Filipino independence in August 23rd, 1896.

Carmina:

Many executions followed after the premature discovery of the KKK. And of course, one of the most known casualties was Jose Rizal when they implicated him in it.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

I don't know if you remember, Patch, but when we were growing up, there was this whole Team Bonifacio, Team Rizal-

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

- who should be the hero argument.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

A lot of the pro-Bonifacio constituents were saying it should really be Bonifacio because apparently when the Katipuneros approached Rizal about declaring revolution, Rizal didn't think that we were ready. So it was said that he wasn't really in favor of it and that he still believed that reform was the way to do it, even though it was going to be much slower. And I don't know if I just forgot this, Patch, but apparently Rizal was supposed to go to Cuba as a volunteer medic when the Spanish started losing its grip on its colonies. So in his attempt to show the Spanish that he wasn't a revolutionary, he volunteered to go.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

Patch, he was on his way when the revolution broke out in the Philippines and then they intercepted him in Barcelona. When he landed in Barcelona, he was sent back. And one of the evidence used against him was that one of the passwords the Katipuneros used was" Rizal."

Patch:

Ah! I mean<laugh>-

Carmina:

So unfortunate.

Patch:

That's not on him.

Carmina:

Poor guy. I mean, who knows? Right? I'm sure a lot of things were not known, including whether he did or didn't really get involved. Who knows. But that was apparently the piece of evidence that was used against him.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

There was one other thing about Rizal that I didn't really register, I guess, when we were studying it in school. But when he was executed, the riflemen who fired the shots were Filipino, but right behind them were Spanish riflemen-

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

- who had their rifles pointed at the Filipino riflemen.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

And they had orders to shoot the Filipino riflemen if they refused to kill Rizal.

Patch:

They're so cruel.

Carmina:

Yeah. It was probably symbolic, right, to instill fear. So this, I remember from our school days, Rizal wanted to face the shooters, but he was refused.

Patch:

Yes.

Carmina:

However, in the last moment he did manage to twist his body. So he was facing up when he fell. Okay. So Patch, going back to the KKK and Bonifacio.

Patch:

At the same time, forces headed by another prominent figure in Philippine history, Emilio Aguinaldo, were more successful and won control over towns.

Carmina:

You know, I found that so sad that they eventually went against each other, right?

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>

Carmina:

Aguinaldo, unlike, Andres Bonifacio was considered part of the mestizos in Kavita. So he was regarded as also part of the elite.

Patch:

Right. And I think that's what helped in overthrowing Bonifacio. So apparently it was Aguinaldo who had him executed- him and his brother, Procopio.

Carmina:

Even though Bonifacio was very popular, like you said, he lost many of the battles as compared to a Aguinaldo.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

So that execution that you were talking about, it was because they held an election of the KKK and Aguinaldo won.

Patch:

Apparently there were cheating allegations, though.

Carmina:

Yes. Because the elections were held in Cavite, which is Aguinaldo's territory.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

I mean, of course we don't know, right? But that change of hands between Aguinaldo and Bonifacio was said to have really changed the course of how the pursuit of Philippine Independence changed because Bonifacio coming from the working class is generally known to have had this vision of complete independence. Whereas the shift to Aguinaldo kind of caused this mindset of compromise because the elite really had a lot to lose, right? And so when the going got tough-

Patch:

The tough got going<laugh>.

Carmina:

Exactly. So, so that kind of uncompromising pursuit for independence, they said, was kind of diluted. Bonifacio's execution, isn't really just offing Bonifacio.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

He was charged with treason because he wasn't abiding by the decision of this revolutionary government. After Bonifacio was executed, Aguinaldo then assumed the business of setting up this revolutionary government. Aguinaldo established his headquarters in Biak-na-Bato. And that's where he established the Biak-na-Bato Republic and Constitution. By this time, like we said, right Aguinaldo was really a great strategist and was winning many battles. The Spanish government negotiated a treaty with him whereby the Spanish would grant self-rule to the Philippines within three years. But the condition was that Aguinaldo had to go into exile in Hong Kong. And as part of this agreement, he was given money and amnesty. And he said that he intended to use the money that he was going to receive, of course, secretly to purchase more arms. So he could later continue the revolution, but both sides didn't trust each other. The Spanish never paid the full amount and the rebels didn't really fully adhere to the ceasefire. And then of course, world events started to encroach on this effort, right? The Spanish American war happened in 1898.

Patch:

This is when Commodore George Dewey and his fleets arrived in Manila Bay and eventually defeated the Spanish fleets.

Carmina:

The US contacted Aguinaldo while he was an exile. The US promised assistance in the revolution to free the Philippines and make it independent. So Aguinaldo was brought back to the Philippines by the Americans.

Patch:

The Filipinos defeated the Spanish almost everywhere.

Carmina:

The only thing that they couldn't get their hands on was Intramuros. So Aguinaldo and the US had a secret agreement. What Aguinaldo didn't know- just like a t elenovela- w as that the US at that time was embarking on their experiment with imperialism. And then they were themselves experiencing an economic crisis that they were very deep in at that time. And they saw the Philippines as the solution to both their experiment with imperialism and their economic woes. Even though Aguinaldo didn't really know all this, he didn't fully trust the Americans and viewed it kind of as a m arriage of convenience.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

And as you said, he was mostly winning already in the Philippines except for Intramuros. So the Americans were fighting alongside him, but they were only really waiting for more of their troops to arrive.

Patch:

On June 12th, 1898, at the height of its military victories over Spain, the revolutionary government declared independence.

Carmina:

Aguinaldo declared independence, and even invited Commodore Dewey at the ceremonies. But in another plot twist, Dewey did not attend. He made an excuse for his absence, even though Aguinaldo and the people who were organizing the ceremonies honored the US at these ceremonies. Aguinaldo began appointing his officers, his ministers, and started preparing for governing an independent Philippines. So he was doing all this in spite of the fact that there was still a hold-out in Intramuros of the Spaniards. He didn't know that the Spaniards were making a deal with the Americans behind his back.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>- sneaky.

Carmina:

So the Spaniards just couldn't take it. It was so unacceptable and humiliating to them that they would lose to a race that they viewed as inferior to them for more than 300 years. They chose to make a deal with the Americans and agreed with the Americans to hold a mock battle where the Spaniards would appear to lose to the Americans. But it was all totally scripted is. It's like the Real Housewives franchise<laugh>- is it reality or is it scripted? But yes, it was totally scripted.

Patch:

Right? But apparently that fake battle claimed the lives of six Americans and 49 Spaniards.

Carmina:

So when this happened, Aguinaldo was already suspecting, right, that something else was going on. So he tried to seek international support to recognize the Philippine government, but unfortunately he was ignored. So on December 10th, 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

In it. Spain agreed to relinquish Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and the Marianas, which is now known as Guam. In exchange, the US paid Spain 20 million. What a plot twist, huh?

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

This is the other thing that made me really mad. Part of that agreement, Patch, is a 10-year access by the Spaniards of Philippine ports and goods. I mean, honestly.

Patch:

Aaah!

Carmina:

And because we were colonized for more than 300 years, there were very large Spanish communities, of course, in the Philippines. They had large businesses, you know, an example is San Miguel, right?

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

That persists to this day. They've intermarried with the natives and you know, they still had remaining interest there and they considered the Philippines their home. They were also allowed to continue living in the Philippines and continue operating these businesses.

Patch:

Yes. So apparently Aguinaldo felt really betrayed as he should be, because we were. And he just assumed that the American forces would sympathize with his movement. But as we know, really the purpose was assimilation.

Carmina:

So that Treaty of Paris had to be ratified by US Congress. And I just assumed that because of the ambitions of the US to become colonizers themselves and wealth that the Philippines was going to bring, that it was a very popular undertaking, right?

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

US Congress only ratified the treaty of Paris by one vote.

Patch:

Oh my.

Carmina:

it was really close.

Patch:

Yeah.

Carmina:

But that one vote made all the difference in our history.

Patch:

That's all it needed.

Carmina:

Aguinaldo wasn't really going to capitulate. And so he was eventually captured by the Americans in 1901.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

Many men and women died to protect him and help him escape. But in the end, it was all futile.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

But even though he was captured, armed conflicts with the Filipinos continued, right? So that was the beginning of the Philippine-American War. It was declared over in 1902, but in reality, it lasted for 10 years because of guerrilla warfare.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

And was said to have even been more bloody and costly than the Spanish-American War, which only lasted for four months.

Patch:

Wow.

Carmina:

And then to add salt to the wound, many ilustrados defected to the Americans because they were given attractive offers for positions in the government. And just as an aside-

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

Aguinaldo's age when he declared the Philippine Republic was 29.

Patch:

Oh wow. He was so young.

Carmina:

And was considered to be the youngest in Southeast Asia. Probably even the world<laugh>-.

Patch:

Hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

- at that time to become a country's president.

Patch:

During that war, the US dubbed it as an insurgency. And that was a very important classification for two reasons. So first, the US War Department portrayed itself as the non-aggressor with Filipinos being portrayed as insurgents for unlawfully, rising up against an established authority. And secondly, by classifying the conflict as insurgency, they avoided having to pay combat pay to their troops. And this marginalization of the Philippines struggle continues to haunt US-Philippine relations to this day.

Carmina:

The Americans weren't any better than the Spaniards when it came to racism and xenophobia, unfortunately.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

Many of the soldiers were apparently veterans of the campaigns against Native Americans, for example.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

And like you said, right, I'm sure that the classification as insurgency also didn't help us in the US press'cause they also didn't depict us favorably.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

And apparently, some black Americans sympathized with us, even in the ranks of the US military. Did you know Patch, there were many black defections to our side.

Patch:

Oh, I didn't know that.

Carmina:

This is super interesting. One that became more famous than the rest was a man named David Fagen. So the backdrop to all of this is that the black servicemen did not receive equal treatment in the US army, which is of course a reflection of what they were experiencing in the United States as a whole, at that time, right?

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

And when they were in battle against the Filipinos, they themselves were experiencing racist abuse by their superiors. And even back here in the US, there were many in the African-American communities who were opposed to the invasion of the Philippines.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

Because it reminded them of the enslavement, they experienced.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

So it's starting to, like, intersect right, a lot of it.

Patch:

Right, right.

Carmina:

So Fagen became a legend. And he made many successful guerilla operations against the US so painful<laugh>, that he was featured in a New York Times headline story on October 29th, 1900.

Patch:

Oh wow.

Carmina:

So I thought that was an interesting backstory to this.

Patch:

For sure.

Carmina:

We don't have a lot of time to delve into a whole lot of details on the Philippine-American War, but just as a broad brush stroke, there were many atrocities that were committed against Filipinos. And even though there were attempts to censor the US press, some letters of the soldiers who were serving, that they were sending back to their families, were describing a lot of these atrocities- things like torture of the Filipino, senseless killings of civilians and the like.

Patch:

And the use of the dead bodies of Filipinos as foundations for the entrenchments.

Carmina:

And then just skipping ahead- in 1934, US Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffy Act, which provided for a 1 0- y ear transition period for the Philippines to attain independence. And they had to prove to the Americans that we were ready for it.

Patch:

Right. But before those 10 years could be completed, World War II broke out in Europe and eventually found its way to our shores. The Philippines, in cooperation with the US army, were preparing for war. But unfortunately all that was too late. The Japanese attacked us before defense preparations were finished. They basically decimated the US air forces and naval facilities in these early days of war. Realizing that the situation was hopeless, the Philippine government at that time had relocated itself to Corregidor to protect basically the city of Manila from bombing and Bataan and Corregidor were forced to surrender. It was then that Manuel Quezon would establish the Commonwealth Government in exile in Washington. For three years, the Philippines was under Japanese control. To gain Filipino loyalty, the Japanese declared the Philippines independent before the US promise in 1943, although a government was established most Filipinos saw through this Japanese intentions and instead supported the guerilla resistance movement.

Carmina:

Well needless to say, there were so many other things that happened during that Japanese occupation, right?

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative> right. And so much effort from Filipinos- men, women, children who were behind the scenes, still aspiring for P hilippine independence. And even though we're skipping over it right now, it was a very significant portion of our history that we hope to devote a whole episode t o in the future.

Carmina:

Right. But for now, let's skip ahead. In 1945, the Philippines was declared liberated by MacArthur. As we know, on August 6th of the same year, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which basically ended World War II. So that is how we came to have an independence day on July 4th, which as I mentioned at the top of the show, the same as the United States independence day, in 1946. So having said that, how did it change again to June 12?

Patch:

<laugh> so I just remember a little bit of it that it was President Macapagal who declared it.

Carmina:

Do you wanna hear the tea behind that?<laugh>

Patch:

Yes. Spill please.

Carmina:

So, as I said, initially, we were declared independent on July 4th, right? The same as America's Independence Day. The more innocuous reasons for this was the US wanted to really establish this very strong hold over the Philippines, so they wanted it to be on the same day, but apparently it cost a lot of confusion in the Philippines and abroad. Are we celebrating your birthday? Are we celebrating our birthday?<laugh>

Patch:

I wonder why. Confusion? Not at all.

Carmina:

Confusion. And so, however, on a more serious note, it had something to do again with US Congress. So this is the background. during World War II, as you mentioned, right, there was a lot of destruction of property. Some of them were voluntary because you have to destroy some of these strategic facilities or else, if the Japanese got a hold of them, they would've had even more advantages, right? So there was voluntary destruction of some of those. And then of course, when we fell into the hands of the Japanese, there was even more destruction as retaliation for the guerilla movement. And then when MacArthur returned to liberate us, even more destruction on top of the destruction. So it really devastated our economy at the end of the war. And at the end of the war, back in 1946, there was this thing called the Philippine Rehabilitation Act, and it was supposed to assist us in rebuilding our economy. And that was kind of, I think, mostly paid up to like 78% of the claims were fulfilled. But in 1962, there was another reparation bill that was put in front of Congress to make up the remaining balance and to fulfill all of these other claims. When it first came up for the vote in US Congress, it was rejected. And one of the major sticking points was that the award of reparations in that bill were to individual or corporate claimants rather than the Philippine government. So critics of it said that it would only benefit a few corporations and individuals rather than the Philippine economy as a whole. I can kind of see that point, right?

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative> right

Carmina:

Around the same time, in anticipation of it being approved, President Macapagal planned a state visit to the US under President Kennedy's administration. But because it was defeated, he canceled it.

Patch:

Oh.

Carmina:

And in this article that I read, it was even said that President Kennedy himself called Macapagal to try and convince him to still push through with the visit.

Patch:

Uhhuh

Carmina:

President Macapagal's canceled visit, and then his decision to change our independence day back to June 12th, were both very influential in the bill eventually getting passed.

Patch:

<laugh> okay.

Carmina:

A lot of US congressmen and senators viewed Macapagal kind of holding them hostage in the vote with those two acts. So that's how it came to be that our independence day was changed from July 4th to June 12th.

Patch:

And now no more confusion<laugh> except- except that we have so many independence days<laugh>

Carmina:

Well, one person who was very happy was Aguinaldo, right? He was still very much alive when the change happened,'cause he was very young when he started the revolution.

Patch:

Right.

Carmina:

So have you ever wondered what happened to July 4th?

Patch:

It was still a recognized holiday, right?

Carmina:

It was changed to Philippine-American Friendship Day that was declared a holiday under president Ferdinand Marcos. And then when president Cory Aquino came to office, she did away with the holiday.

Patch:

Mm-hmm<affirmative>.

Carmina:

But then president Fidel Ramos restored it on its 50th anniversary. So whew, that was a long road to get us to Philippine Independence Day. But of course, given our recent history and what we're going through today, the whole notion of Philippine independence kind of takes on a very different meaning now. Because to be honest, we're still struggling for independence in many respects, maybe not against foreign colonizers anymore, but under very different forces.

Patch:

I'm really very glad that we went through all this research to remind ourselves and our listeners about what we went through as a people so that we continue to value the past. So whatever happens going forward, we remember the importance of independence.

Carmina:

So that's our episode. We hope you join us on our next trip. O siya, siya.

Patch:

Ingat! Thanks for listening to JeepneyTrip with Carmina and Patch. Logo design by Fred Agcaoili. If you want to listen to more episodes, please subscribe to our show at Apple Podcasts or wherever all fine podcasts are downloaded. We'd love to hear from you, so please rate and leave a review. Follow JeepneyTrip on Twitter and Instagram. If you have a question, email us at jeepneytrip@gmail.com.