"There were nine conditions for peace to prevail."
"There were nine conditions for peace to prevail."
Try studying Philippine history, it really is exciting. I particularly like discovering primary and secondary sources that have not yet been published. Because of the thousands of people who were involved in the Philippine revolution against Spain and our war of independence against America, it is my belief that the truth we know about our past remains partial at best. Worse, historical truths many believe in are tainted by biases of modern-day “historians” who peddle misinterpretations and misrepresentations of past events.
Primary and secondary sources offer buried information that shed light on important events in our past. Sometimes, unexpected and never-have-been-known-to-have-existed documents offer pleasant surprises to present students of history like me.
These past weeks have been historically exciting for me. Last Thursday, colleagues in Tunay na Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas (TUKLAS), Inc. formally entered a contract with the National Historical Commission (NHCP) to publish “Talang Buhay ng Supremo And. Bonifacio sa Kabite.” The document was written by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo narrating the events following the arrival of Supremo Andres Bonifacio in Cavite up to the time of his capture after the Acta de Naic. The whole manuscript is in the handwriting of Gen. Aguinaldo and will be transcribed by me.
The book will be launched on March 22, 2020 as part of the ending of Gen. Aguinaldo’s 150th and also his 151st birth anniversary.
Also, I had the chance to revisit some of the other historical documents that I have started working on. One of these is the scanned copy of a four-page note in the handwriting of Gen. Aguinaldo entitled “Ang Kasunduan sa Biak na Bato.” I have transcribed this earlier but did not really pay much attention because the content was clearly not the Biak-na-Bato pact signed between the parties of Aguinaldo and then Governor and Captain General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera.
It will be remembered that the official pact of Biak na Bato took effect on Dec. 15, 1897. I was completely surprised when I reread the document I had. This manuscript written by Gen. Aguinaldo narrated the first visit and discussions with Pedro Alejandro Paterno and lawyers Jose Ner and Felix Ferrer, who, as claimed by Paterno, were sent to Biak na Bato by the Governor General to broker a peace settlement with the revolutionaries.
The first visit was on Aug. 4, 1897 or more than four months before the final pact was agreed upon. This document, upon closer scrutiny may contain the first draft of Aguinaldo’s and Paterno’s agreed terms for a pact! This in itself is amazing because it gives the present readers an opportunity to get some perspective on the mindset of Aguinaldo’s forces when they agreed to negotiate for a peace accord between the revolutionists and the Spanish colonizers.
What amazed me more were the actual contents of the first agreement with Paterno’s party, which, to me, were totally biased in favor of the revolutionists. This document tells me that Aguinaldo was asking for the moon when he started negotiating with Spain. This also makes me think that perhaps even if he agreed to negotiate, he did not believe that anything would come out of it. For why else would he make demands that would surely be rejected by Spain?
In this note, Aguinaldo said that they were forced to move the revolutionary headquarters to Biak na Bato in San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan in June 1897 owing to the defeat of Cavite because of the 40,000-strong Spanish infantry forces that attacked Aguinaldo’s home province.
Despite this, however, Spanish colonizers still could not defeat the revolution as it has already spread like wild fire to the provinces of Bulakan, Bataan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlak, Zambales, Pangasinan, besides Laguna, Batangas, and others.
This was the context within which Paterno’s party, claiming to have been sent by the Spanish Governor-General Primo de Rivera, arrived in Biak-na-Bato. While Aguinaldo had no lawyers with him, he asked Paterno for a written authority from the Governor-General. To this, Paterno replied that he had none, only the verbal agreement with the highest Spanish official upon his request for him to go to Aguinaldo and try to broker a peace agreement by getting from the leader of the revolution the demands so peace can be achieved.
After much discussion, the parties agreed to these nine conditions for peace to prevail:
“Paalisin ang lahat ng mga Frayle, at ibigay sa lahat ng Pareng Filipino ang lahat ng Curato at Obispado.” (Remove all Spanish priests and replace them with Filipino priests in all curates and dioceses.)
“Paghihiwalay ng Pamahalaan at Sambahan ng Kabanal .” (Separation of Church and State.)
“Ang lahat ng mga Hacienda ng Frayle ay ibigay sa KaniKanyang bayang nakasasakop.” (Ownership of all estates shall be transferred from the priests to the municipalities that have jurisdiction over them.)
“Representacion o Kakatawanin ng Filipinas sa Corte ng España.” (Philippine representation in Spanish Court.)
“Pantaypantay na palagay ng Pamahalaan, sa Tagalog at Kastila.” (Tagalog and Spanish citizens shall be accorded equal treatment by government.)
“Ibigay sa Tagalog ang Kalahati ng mga Tungkulin sa Pamahalaan.” (Half of all government positions shall be given to Tagalogs.)
“Malayang pamamahayag ng isip at Kalooban ng Tagalog, Katulad ng Samahan at Imprenta.” (Freedom of speech and expression including freedom of assembly and of the press.)
“Palayain at ipahatid sa KaniKanila ang lahat ng Preso politico.” (Free all political prisoners and send them back home.)
“Tatlong Angao na piso (P3,000,000) ang ibibigay sa Pamahalaan ng Panghihimaksik.” (Three million pesos shall be given to the revolution.”
These demands were made in August 1897 and I am looking at these through my 2019 eyes. I cannot help but be amazed by our revolutionists’ desire for our people then to live free and democratic lives. Many of these demands for peace in 1897 remain relevant now, more than 120 years after. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and our revolutionaries were more progressive in 1897 than many of our leaders now, in 2019.
We should learn the lessons from our valiant history.
(Note: The copy of Gen. Aguinaldo’s handwritten note together with the transcripts will be posted on TUKLAS Facebook page.)
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