The Sublime Paralytic

Apolinario Mabini was known as "The Sublime Paralytic" but not many know why he is worthy of our reverence as a national hero. Carmina and Patch discuss his many contributions and shed light on different phases of his life. Learn about his trials, his many heartaches, and the very last signature he tragically left behind. Prepare to be amazed at their discovery about a favorite Pinoy band and how Apolinario Mabini lent his name to the group's moniker. Finally, Patch reminds Carmina to keep her pledge for her future lottery winnings!

To learn more: Mabini's Decalogue for Filipinos, Xiao Talks: The Apolinario Mabini Lecture for the National Archives of the Philippines, Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas: Ang Huling Lagda ni Apolinario Mabini, In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philipines, Apolinario Mabini, A 1920 Biography Of Apolinario Mabini and Mabini. 

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Transcript

Carmina: 0:06

Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore everything fun, weird, and in between about the Philippines. And now a quick shout out. Check out Manila Candle. Manila Candle features Filipino inspired scents like Tagaytay, Palawan, Ube Halaya and Buco and Mango. They also have fun ones like Ay Nako and Bahala Ka Sa Buhay Mo.

Patch: 0:35

Enjoy their car fresheners, wax melts and merchandise to visit manilacandle.com and take a trip to the Philippines through their scents.

Carmina: 0:46

Back to our show.

Patch: 0:48

Today's trip is a holiday trip when we talk about a specific holiday observance festival or celebration. And today we are celebrating the life of Apolinario Mabini.

Carmina: 1:01

So July 23 is the special working holiday that we're talking about Patch when Apolinario Mabini was born. July 23, 1864 in Panawan and Batangas . His father was a farmer. His mom was a coffee farmer and vendor, and he is the second of eight children.

Patch: 1:24

His father held the position of Esa de , and his mother was the daughter of a village school teacher. So she could read and write and understand the need for education.

Carmina: 1:37

She was very instrumental in making sure that Apolinario realized his full potential when it came to education and went to great lengths to make sure that he succeeded. There was one time when Apolinario needed money. His mom doubled her efforts to sell all her coffee, to raise the funds . All she could sell her coffee for was a measly coin. Even then, she braved bad weather to get that coin to Apolinario, and so she got sick and apparently died after a few months

Patch: 2:12

Since then. Though I guess the description was that he felt guilty.

Carmina: 2:16

Yeah, that really underscores just how much they wanted him to succeed in life. Speaking of Mabini's studies match, he had his undergraduate studies, a San Juan De Letran, and there he really showed a lot of potential for a child his age and for the station in his life.

Patch: 2:36

Mabini was a hard worker, even as a child. And even though he was quiet, he preferred to sit alone and meditate rather than participate in many of the other children's games. It was known that he always was willing to protect another child who has been abused or bullied by others. In one month, he learned the alphabet and the rosary from his mother, and he was so eager to learn more that she allowed him to quit herding carabaos and the farm work . And he was allowed to go travel to his grandfather's school as a visitor with his older brother. And Mai was so focused on the lessons that even at the end of the first week, he knew more than his brother.

Carmina: 3:21

Wow.

Patch: 3:22

This obviously delighted his grandfather who convinced the boy's parents to allow him to continue his education.

Carmina: 3:29

Patch . He apparently had a photographic memory.

Patch: 3:32

Yes.

Carmina: 3:33

I wish I had the photographic memory.

Patch: 3:36

<laugh>

Carmina: 3:37

Would've saved me a lot of headaches. <laugh> . So we were talking about his family's very humble status and life, and that required him to be a working student.

Patch: 3:48

So I believe he was an assistant Latin teacher. Mm-hmm.

Carmina: 3:52

<affirmative> .

Patch: 3:53

I mean, obviously Latin was hard. <laugh>. Isn't there a saying, "it sounds like Latin to me." <laugh> .

Carmina: 4:03

Yes, and it's a status though to know Latin, right? In those times.

Patch: 4:07

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.

Carmina: 4:07

So if you knew Latin and you could actually teach it, that helped boost the status even though people knew he was poor.

Patch: 4:15

There was a short anecdote that I read that while he was studying in Letran, there was a professor who was picking on him because of his clothes. I'm assuming he wore like very shabby clothing. And um, apparently he was asking him a series of difficult questions to try to stump him, but apparently he answered all of them flawlessly. And basically the professor was like, embarrassed. <laugh>.

Carmina: 4:41

So we should mention though that Mabini success was not all because of his hard work. He did have benefactors during his school life, namely Don Arcadio and Don Adriano. They were instrumental in his educational and professional success. Now, these men were liberals and because of their connections, he was exposed to liberal people and liberal ideas that eventually led to his being a mason . So Patch, before we go to his political life, we know Apolinario to be a paralytic. Right? And a lot of people thought he contracted polio when he was young. Actually, he got sick with it right before the Philippine Revolution in 1896 when he was 32 . And this was especially sad because he apparently loved dancing all his life. Did you know that he was not a paralytic since he was a child?

Patch: 5:39

Maybe because there was lack of photographs that I didn't see him as a child with polio. I never thought that he had it when he was a child.

Carmina: 5:48

Oh, wow. Look at you

Patch: 5:49

<laugh>. Look at me being ignorant and being correct by ignorance.

Carmina: 5:57

But at least you knew it wasn't from childhood. I always thought it was from childhood, which shows how ignorant, and to use your term, I was about Apolinario Mabini. And in fact, something that left the deep impression on me while doing research for this episode is the lack of printed material about him. While reading about his love of dancing, though I also read that no one really wanted to be his partner, wawa.

Patch: 6:28

Oh no, why? I

Carmina: 6:29

I think it was a combination of him, number one, being poor, and he also had some personality , um, challenges <laugh>, I guess because he was so intelligent...

Patch: 6:43

And quiet, I think.

Carmina: 6:44

And quiet people viewed him sometimes as being, you know, not social. You know, other people probably felt , um, that he was showing off or being arrogant.

Patch: 6:55

I was always curious about people's personality and how people perceive them, those who knew them, like these heroes, right ? We've always learned that probably Hoel was very much charming and obviously very good looking . So I'm always curious. So Mabini was described someone who was not imposing in appearance, and I quote, so what does that mean? <laugh> ? He's neither here nor there, right?

Carmina: 7:24

Oh no.

Patch: 7:25

"But it was through his personality that one discovered his greatness. He was of medium height and a slight physique. He carried his head a little to one side. He had a sensitive face and a high forehead. His eyes were penetrating, yet not lively. When he walked, he either looked straight ahead into space or gazed at the sky, and as a rule, he wore the ordinary Filipino attire. And he was never really well-dressed. He had one black coat when he was in law school, and he never really wore shoes because he disliked them so much. His voice was full and resonant. And he spoke slowly and distinctly. Through his life, he was devoutly religious, he was faithful to his friends, and he was just in d ealings with them. Too, proud to accept assistance from anyone he trusted always to his own strength. He spoke little and thought much."

Carmina: 8:31

That's a great way to bring him to life in my head. So , so you were reading this, he was becoming more and more animated in my head. <laugh>,

Patch: 8:40

Yeah. Right? It's always good to hear descriptions of these titans of history. You know what struck me though in that description? I don't k now why I always thought that he was against Catholicism. I d on't k now why I always thought that, but apparently he was very religious and r emained so through the rest of his life.

Carmina: 9:00

LYeah. And when we talk about one of his most important writings that really permeates, okay, so Mabini was a hero, and obviously to be a hero at that time, you really had to be involved in politics, right?

Patch: 9:15

Right.

Carmina: 9:16

Let's talk about how he got involved in politics and how he eventually became involved in the Philippine revolution. So we already said earlier that his benefactors during his school life, Don Arcadio and Don Adriano were instrumental in opening his mind to all of these liberal ideas and introducing him to various liberals. His first known involvement in politics was when he joined the La Liga Filipina that was established by Jose Rizal . And as we talked about in the Rizal episode, the La Liga was only days in existence because Rizal was immediately arrested right after he formed it. Mabini then joined an offshoot of La L iga called, Cuerpo de Compromisarios. At Cuerpo, he gathered funds for the reformist movement and its newspaper ab road c alled, La Solidaridad. Say that ten times Fast <l augh>, I don't even want to say it a second time because I perfected it through practice. That one time.

Patch: 10:21

I was gonna ask if you practiced that.

Carmina: 10:23

As we know when the La Liga was being formed and when we were talking about Rizal and Bonifacio, it wasn't really clear what their relationship was and all the controversy surrounding it. There's something similar apparently that happened with Mabini and that circle. Around this time when he was raising funds at the Cuerpo, Bonifacio was already organizing the K K K. But famously Mabini wasn't a member. However, he was often in dialogue with them, and his writings hinted at the cl ose t ies that he had with the organization. You know, as we dig deeper into all of these histories of these individuals Patch, I am beginning to think it was part of their strategy to not be too closely tied with each other so that they could kind of continue if one of them ever got killed or captured by the Spaniards.

Patch: 11:16

Yeah, you're probably right.

Carmina: 11:17

There are several controversies though, because he was called by the Americans, the Brains of the Revolution. Apparently there was debate because in the KKK, Emilio Jacinto was called the same.

Patch: 11:31

Right.

Carmina: 11:32

Also, he was vocal, sometimes called tactless. There's some writing that survives from Gregoria de Jesus who is, as we know, Bonifacio's wife. And on the topic of him being called the Brains of the Revolution, she said that he was like somebody who joined the banquet when everything was cooked <laugh> .

Patch: 11:52

Oh.

Carmina: 11:53

And all he did was really enjoy the meal <laugh>.

Patch: 11:56

So she wasn't a fan.

Carmina: 11:58

Apparently she wasn't a fan. But this just shows you that even then a lot of these , uh, interpersonal dynamics were at play. So we know what happened with Bonifacio. We know what happened with the, how then did he get involved with Emilio Aguinaldo.

Patch: 12:15

General Emilio Aguinaldo requested Mabini to join the Revolutionary Government in 1898.

Carmina: 12:21

Mm-hmm. < affirmative>.

Patch: 12:22

And that's when he assisted him a nd the organization i n drafting laws a nd decrees. And he was named P resident of the Cabinet, which in today's world is equivalent to Executive Secretary.

Carmina: 12:36

Aguinaldo read about his writings and was also hearing about his legal skills from others in his circle. He wanted Mabini to join the revolutionary cost so much that he sent for him in a hammock all the way from Los Banos to Cavite.

Patch: 12:53

And I saw a painting depicting the men carrying him in a hammock. And I believe it took, I believe it took hundreds of men to take turns in carrying him.

Carmina: 13:05

Patch today, drive time...

Patch: 13:08

That would be one hour and 21 minutes. But if you walked, it would take 12 hours.

Carmina: 13:15

Wow. <laugh> . So imagine, people carrying someone else in a hammock. That's how valued he was. It was no wonder then Mabini arrived in Cavite on exactly June 12th, 1898, when Aguinaldo declared Philippine Independence. Mabini was not in favor of declaring Philippine independence because he was convinced that we first had to demonstrate our ability to govern ourselves through organized government. And he correctly predicted that by doing so, we were going to wage a war, not just with Spain, but with America as well. He had the foresight that America's interests in the Philippines were not entirely just to assist us in the Philippine revolution.

Patch: 14:03

He disputed this US propaganda that the occupation was intended to train Filipinos in the art of self-government. He argued that self-government is learned through experience as demonstrated by the American people themselves, and that Filipinos would never learn self-government while under foreign control.

Carmina: 14:26

Wasn't that so impressive? I read that his political philosophy was derived from the American and French revolutions. So to underscore what you were just saying, he really believed that the government has to be faithful to the popular will. So obviously, Aguinaldo didn't listen to him. Right? And because he saw that he was too late, he instead helped Aguinaldo to, to draft the country's constitutional program. So the constitutional program that he wrote granted full power to Aguinaldo during the Revolutionary War, but he also had the wherewithal to basically put in checks and balances. And he described how the Philippines could be a democratic institution complete with a vision for a national legislature and elected officials, which was unique in Asia at that time. He also wrote in guarantees for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and women's rights. However, of course, the Wealthy elite that was also part of Aguinaldo's movement did not like this because it was more friendly to the people. And so his draft of the Constitution was not adopted, and something else replaced it. The Calderon draft, as it's called, which was more friendly to that , uh, elite faction. Speaking of the draft constitution that he wrote, it was accompanied by what's called the True Decalogue for Filipinos. And it was meant to accompany the Constitution, written like the 10 Commandments. That was like a guide for patriotism. And a lot of historians, both Filipino and not viewed this decalogue really as a guide for anyone who is interested in democracy. It's a very short read and worth pondering, especially in the context of the times we live in. And I would encourage everybody if they can <laugh> to read it in Tagalog . It especially is very impactful when read in Tagalog. In any case, we'll link this in the show notes for a free download of the English version. I guess we could also say that Aguinaldo was at least smart enough to know he needed somebody like that to balance out his cabinet. Right? But it must also have been hard for him to constantly maneuver between Mabini's populist views against his wealthy elite interests. We shouldn't forget, as we mentioned before, Aguinaldo himself is considered to be part of that ruling elite. So speaking of his political enemies, he was also sometimes called by them as Aguinaldo's dark chamber. Remember, these are his enemies talking about him <laugh> ,

Patch: 17:20

These same enemies apparently were the ones who were spreading rumors that he became disabled because he had syphilis. Yes. And all of those nasty rumors.

Carmina: 17:31

Right? His political situation within a Aguinaldo's cabinet apparently became so untenable that he resigned on May 4th, 1899. And this was specifically because when the Americans were negotiating with the revolutionary government, the faction of the wealthy elite scheme to oust him because of his opposition to the plans , to ally with the US. In any case, Aguinaldo still wanted Mabini to be part of his government. So he proposed to s eat him as a judge in the Supreme Court, but his enemies were a dded again, they opposed i t. A nd guess what? Their big reason was?

Patch: 18:10

What?

Carmina: 18:10

Because he was crippled. So Mabiniwas so furious, and I g uess wrote in a publication where he asked if it was part of a Supreme Court justice's job to walk all day. < laugh>. I mean, the whole issue became moot anyway, because the Supreme Court never got established because the revolutionaries were being hunted by the Americans. And he himself was arrested by American forces, in September of 1899.

Patch: 18:39

He was imprisoned. And specifically, it was between December 11, 1899 through September 23rd, 1900. So he was at Fort Santiago at that time. But his independence campaign would continue even after his release. And he flatly denied offers to serve in the government. And that was when he was deported to Guam. Where he remained two years.

Carmina: 19:06

And we talked about Guam in another episode. So head over there as to why Guam was the <laugh> was the place where all of these political exiles were sent. But do you think that he became , uh, docile and compliant in Guam? Of course not.

Patch: 19:22

<laugh> . No.

Carmina: 19:23

So while in Guam, he continued to write. And he severely criticized Aguinaldo because as we know, Aguinaldo in the end, allied with the Americans. It was also during this time that he wrote his memoir about the Revolutionary War titled La Revolution Filipina. And it wasn't just a memoir. It apparently documented important lessons for future generations. And he dedicated this to his mother. Another tidbit while in Guam, Patch, that really demonstrates his personality, an American incorrectly commented that there was no original Philippine literature. Guess what his response was?

Patch: 20:03

What?

Carmina: 20:04

He wrote the entire Florante At Laura <laugh> , which is, you know, a very famous original Filipino creation. Right. During the Spanish colonial period from memory to prove the American wrong <laugh>.

Patch: 20:17

Yes . Speaking of that photographic memory we were talking about earlier, right? I think it's very interesting to note a lot of our heroes, they received their education in Europe.

Carmina: 20:29

Mm-hmm. <affirmative> ,

Patch: 20:30

He is distinct in that he received all his education in the Philippines.

Carmina: 20:35

Right? And he really is a true Filipino homegrown hero. So on July 4th, 1902, we know that the US declared the Philippine American War over, which of course wasn't true, and amnesty was declared to all of the political prisoners. So after 25 months of political exile, Mabini embarked the USS Thomas in February, 1903, along with General Ricarte and other political exiles. Apart from Mabini and Ricarte everyone else had signed their pledge of allegiance to the United States. Aguinaldo and Ricarte told the Americans that they were going to think about signing the Pledge of Allegiance during the trip, and would decide once they arrived in Manila. The US tried to entice Mabini with all kinds of political positions, which they hoped would influence his final decision. I think I was mentioning earlier that it was really hard to find printed books about Mabini. There are actually more YouTube videos than actual books about him, which is really, really sad. And a lot of historians were also saying that only by amassing and publishing all of his works, can anyone truly appreciate how profound a thinker he was. Among the YouTube results that I found was a theatrical production by the University of the Philippines' department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts titled, Ang Huling Lagda Ni Apolinario Mabini. In English, it means Apolinario Mabini's last signature. It's a musical that Chronicles Moi's last days of exile i n Guam, and gives a window into his thoughts about his decision to return to the Philippines. It's of course, fictionalized. But to me, it did a really good job of exploring Moi's internal struggles, especially during that scene when he was on the ship on Manila's docks, thinking about whether to sign the Pledge of Allegiance or n ot.

Patch: 22:45

Carmina , did he ever actually sign the Pledge of Allegiance?

Carmina: 22:48

Well, a lot of the things that I read said that he did. And I was, you know , in the beginning wondering what is Mabini's last signature? So it's referring to his signature on the Pledge of Allegiance. And it was his last, because he arrived from Guam on February 26th, 1903, and he died of cholera just months later on May 13th, 1903 at the age of 38. Can you imagine? You can't disembark until you do this, and then your country is right there, like really just down the plank.

Patch: 23:25

Right?

Carmina: 23:26

A lot of people were critical. And in fact, Ricarte, who was with him, right? Ricarte didn't sign i t. So to the end, General Ricarte stood his ground. And Ricarte's view was that they needed to stand their ground. In this musical, there was a scene where people were asking, like in response to Mabini's critics, what more could this man have done?

Patch: 23:47

Right? He passed away shortly after his return. It was actually three months after his return from exile. But do you know how he contracted cholera? He drank unpasteurized milk.

Carmina: 24:00

Uhhuh <affirmative>. Yeah.

Patch: 24:01

And that's how he contracted it. So what's noteworthy for me was when he passed away, although he was impoverished, and this is a man who, like what you said, did so much for the country. Even so a t his funeral was organized by a lot of his admirers, a lot o f labor a nd civic organizations. And in fact, the funeral March was that year's largest gatherings. So he was well l oved by the people.

Carmina: 24:29

So Patch , I'm really happy that we decided to talk about the Apolinario Mabini because I admit that I am one of these people who , apart from knowing that he was a paralytic and a hero at the same time, didn't really know much else. And there was one other YouTube video by Professor Xiao, who was a prominent historian in the Philippines that talked about many people know why Mabini was paralyzed, but don't know why he's a hero. Which is just a very sad statement. It made me feel guilty because I was one of them. And Patch to my earlier comment about more YouTube videos being available rather than his work published work. I mean, every book that I tried to find, for example, that memoir that he wrote while in Guam, out of print.

Patch: 25:22

Right.

Carmina: 25:23

Other writings about him that really digs deep into his history out of print. Everything was out of print. That was so frustrating. So I'm really hoping that by covering him in this episode, that will hopefully inspire people to strive to really find a way to publish this works. Because a lot of historians feel that it could benefit not just Filipinos, but democracies everywhere. If I win the lottery, that will be my first project, <laugh> just saying. So Patch , before we end this episode, I wanted to end here. Do you know the Apo Hiking Society?

Patch: 26:03

Yes, of course.

Carmina: 26:04

They were a famous band in the seventies. And even today, sadly, one of their members, Danny Javier, died.

Patch: 26:12

Passed away, right.

Carmina: 26:13

Yeah. So rest in peace. But the band was also made up of two other people, Boboy Garrovillo and Jim Paredes. I don't know why, but I never really was curious about what Apo stood for. <laugh>. So this is the story behind their name.

Patch: 26:30

Oh my.

Carmina: 26:32

So the three of them were students at the Ateneo de Manila High School, and they formed the band while they were in high school. They were thinking about names that use the first letters of Ateneo de Manila High school. So that's AMHS. So when they were brainstorming, they came up with Apolinario Mabini, and they were like, oh, Apolinario Mabini. Great. He's a hero. We're all for that. Apolinario Mabini. Okay, so we've got A and M covered.

Patch: 26:59

Mm-hmm. <affirmative> . Laughs

Carmina: 27:05

What about HS? So they came up with hiking society, and it was kind of a funny way to not funny, I don't know. It's not politically correct nowadays, because as we know, he was famous as a paralytic.

Patch: 27:19

Right?

Carmina: 27:19

But they're calling the band Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society. But they stuck with it and they considered it a tribute to Apolinario Mabini, hence Apo Hiking Society.

Patch: 27:32

Wow. I never knew that.

Carmina: 27:34

Me too. But isn't that so much fun to discover?

Patch: 27:37

<laugh> <laugh> . Okay, Carmina. So you're on record now that when you win the lotto <laugh> , you're gonna spend at least some part of your winnings on discovering more fun facts about Apolinario Mabini and other Heros <laugh> .

Carmina: 27:58

Well, given that the likelihood of being struck by lightning <laugh> is more probable <laugh> than winning the lotto , let's not hold our breath and hope that somebody takes up the cause before then. And with that, that's our episode. We hope you join us on our next trip. O siya, siya!

Patch: 28:18

Ingat! Thanks for listening to Filtrip with Carmina and Patch Support Filtrip through Patreon or PayPal. And follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever all podcasts are downloaded.

Carmina: 28:38

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Patch: 28:47

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