Sorsogon College of Criminology Inc.

3928 Rizal St. Piot Sorsogon City

Readings in Philippine History

Period: Prelims

Introduction to History, Definition, Issues, Sources, and Methodology

 Definition and Subject Matter
 Questions and Issues in History
 History and the Historian
 Historical Sources
Content and Contextual Analysis of Selected Primary Sources in the Philippine History
 A brief Summary of the First Voyage Around the World by Magellan by Antonio Pigafetta
 The KKK and the “ Kartilya ng Katipunan”
 Reading the “ Proclamation of the Philippine Independence”
 A glance at Selected Philippine Political Caricature in Alfred McCoy’s Philippine Cartoons:
Political Caricature of the American Era (1900-1941)
 Revisiting Corazon Aquino’s Speech before the U.S Congress

Definition of terms

Diplomatic Sources– include charters and other legal documents which observe a set format.
External Criticism -refers to the evaluation of a document in order to test its authenticity.
Historiography- is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic
discipline, and by extension in any body of historical work on a particular subject.
History – is the study of the past as it is described in written documents.
Internal Criticism- is the examination of the truthfulness of the evidence.
Narrative sources – tell a story or message. These include diaries, films, biographies, lending
philosophical works and scientific works.
Primary Sources – provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person, or work
of art.
Secondary Sources- is a document or recording that relates or discusses information originally
presented elsewhere.
Social Documents- are records created by organization, such as register of births and tax
records.

Discussion:
Definition and Subject Matter

 History has been always known as the study of the past.

 History was derived from the Greek word “historia” which means” knowledge acquired
through inquiry or investigation “
 History as a discipline existed for around 2,400 years and is as old as mathematics and
philosophy. This term was then adopted to classical latin where it acquired a new
definition. Historia became known as the account of the past of a person or a group of
people through written documents and historical evidences.
 History became an important academic discipline. It became the historian’s duty or write
about the lives of important individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints, and nobilities.
 History also focused on writing about wars, revolutions, and other important break
troughs. It is important to ask: What counts as history? Traditional historians lived with
the mantra of “no document, no history”. It means that unless a written document can
prove a certain historical event, then it cannot be considered as a historical fact.
 History progressed and opened up to the possibility of valid historical sources, which
were not limited to written documents like government records, chroniclers’ accounts, or
personal letters.
Nature of History

1. History is a study of the present in the light of the past. The present owes its existence
on the past. To understand how society has come to its present from there is a need to
know its past. One cannot just leapfrog and ignore what happened in the past. The past
events need to be unearthed to reveal how the present evolved out of it.
2. History is a study of man. As one historian said, history deals with man’s struggles
through the ages. Past events are riddled with man’s engagement in wars, his struggles to
win his independence. History traces the fascinating story of how man has developed
through the ages, how man has studies to use and control his environment and how the
present institution have grown out of the past.
3. History is concerned with man in time. It deals with a series of events and each event
happens at a given point in time. History dwells on the human development in time.
4. History is concerned with man in space. History talks about nations and human
activities in the context of their physical and geographical environment. It centers on the
interaction of man on his environment and vice versa.
5. History provides an objective record of happenings. Historian are careful on the data
they include in their books. They base their data on original sources and make them free
from subjective interpretation.
6. History is multisided. History is not limited to one certain aspect of man’s life it covers
all other aspects as they are all closely interrelated. A change in politics could have an
effect in other aspects of the society.
7. History is a dialogue between the events of the past and progressively emerging
future ends. Past events are interpreted and become predictor of new objectives.
8. History is not only narration but it is also an analysis. History is not confined with
narrative accounts. It dissects and explain the occurrence of the event and how it
ultimately changes the society over time.
9. Continuity and coherence are the necessary requisites of history. History monitors
the development of the society, from generation to generation, after series of event,
justifying the essence of continuity.
10. History is relevant. In the study of history, only significant events which have
influenced the society are covered and essential to the understanding of the present life.
11. History is comprehensive. History is not limited to one period or to one country alone. It
deals with all aspects of human life—political, social, economic, religious, literary,
aesthetic and physical, giving a clear picture of global linkage.

Questions and Issues in History

Indeed history as a discipline has already turned into complex and dynamic inquiry. This
dynamic inevitably produced various perspectives on the discipline regarding different questions
like:
1. What is history?
2. Why study history?
3. And history for whom?
These question can be answered by historiography.

Historiography - is the history of history.

- Is important for someone who studies history because it teaches the student to
be critical in the lesson presented to him.
 History and historiography should not be confused with each other. The former’s object
of study is the past, the events that happened in the past, and the causes of such events.
 The latter’s object of study on the other hand, is history itself (i.e, How was a certain
historical text written? Who wrote it? What was the context of its publication? What
particular historical method was employed? What were the sources used?)Thus
historiography lets the student have better understanding of history. They do not get to
learn historical facts, but they are also provided with the understanding of fact’s and the
historian’s contexts. The methods employed by the historian and the theory and
perspective, which guided him, will also be analyzed.
 Positivisms is the school of thought that emerged between eighteenth and nineteenth
century. This thought requires empirical and observable evidence before one can claim
that particular knowledge is true. Positivism also entails an objectives means of arriving
at a conclusion. In the discipline of history, the mantra “no document, no history” stems
from this very same truth, where historians required to show written primary documents
 in order to write a particular historical narrative. Positivism historian are also expected to
be objective and impartial not just in their argument but also on their conduct historical
research.
 Postcolonialism is a school of thought that emerged in the early twentieth century when
formerly colonized nations grappled with the idea of creating their identities and
understanding their societies against the shadow of their colonial past.
Looks at two things in writing history:
1. First is to tell the history of their nation that will highlight their identity free from
that of colonial discourse and knowledge.
2. Second is to criticize the methods, effects, and idea of colonialism.

Historian
 To seek historical evidence and facts but also interpret these facts
 To give meaning to these facts and organize them into a timeline
 Establish causes
 Write history
 Person of his own who is influenced by his own context, environment, ideology,
education and influences.
 His interpretation of the historical fact is affected by his context and circumstances
 His subjectively will inevitability influence the process of his historical research: the
methodology he will use, the facts he shall select and deem relevant his interpretation and
form of his writings.

Historical Methodology
 Compromises certain techniques and rules that historians follow in order to properly
utilize sources and historical evidences in writing history.
 Certain rules apply in cases of conflicting accounts in different sources, and on how to
properly treat eyewitness accounts and oral sources as valid historical evidence.

Annales School of History

 a school of history that challenged the canons of history.
 Annales Scholars:
 Lucien Febvre
 Marc Bloch
 Ferdinand Braduel
 Jacques Le Goff
Studied other subjects in historian manner
 They were concerned with social history and studies longer historical periods
 They advocated that the people and classes who were not reflected in the history of the
society in the grand manner be provided with space in the records of mankind.
 Annales thinkers married history with other disciplines like geography
Historical Sources
With the past as history’s subject matter, the historian’s most important research tools are
historical sources. In general, historical sources can be classified between:
1. Primary Sources
- are those sources produced at the same time event, period, or subject being
studied.
- provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event evidence about an event, an
object, an object, a person, or work of art.These primary sources provide the
original materials on which other research is based and enable students and other
researcher to get close as possible to what actual happened during a particular
event or era.

For example, if a historian wishes to study the Commonwealth Constitution Convention

of 1935, his primary sources can include the minutes of the convention, newspaper
clippings, Philippine Commission reports of the U.S. Commissioner, records of the
convention, draft of the Constitution, and even the photographs of the events. Eyewitness
accounts of convention delegates and their memoirs can also be used as primary sources.
The same goes with other subject of historical study. Archival documents, artifacts,
 memorabilia, letters, census, and government records, among others are the most
common example of primary sources.

Different Kinds of Primary Sources

Literary or Cultural Sources

1. Novels, plays, poem (both published and in manuscript form)
2. Television show, movies or videos
3. Painting or Photographs

Accounts that describe events, people or ideas

1. Newspaper
2. Chronicles or history accounts
3. Essay and Speeches
4. Memoirs, Diaries, Journals, and Letters
5. Philosophical treaties or manifestos
Information about People
1. Census records
2. Obituaries
3. Newspaper Articles
4. Biographies and Autobiographies

Finding Information about a Place

1. Maps and atlases
2. Census information
3. Statistics
4. Photographs
5. City directories
6. Local libraries or historical societies

Three types of Written Sources

1. Narrative sources or literary sources – tell a story or message. These include diaries,
films, biographies, lending philosophical works and scientific works.
2. Diplomatic Sources – include charters and other legal documents which observe a set
format.
3. Social Documents- are records created by organization, such as register of births and tax
records.

2. Secondary Sources
- are those sources, which were produced by an author who used primary sources
to produce the material. In other words secondary sources are historical sources, which
studied a certain historical subject.
- generally describe, discuss, interpret, comment upon, analyze, evaluate,
summarize and process primary sources.

For example, on the subject of the Philippine Revolution of 1896, students can read
Teodoro Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses: the story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan
published originally in 1956. The Philippine Revolution happened in the last year of the
nineteenth century while Agoncillo published his work in 1956, which makes the Revolt
of the Masses used a secondary sources.

 However historians and students of history need thoroughly scrutinize these historical
sources to avoid deception and to come up with the historical truth. The historian should be
able to conduct an external criticism and internal criticism of the source, especially
primary sources which can age in centuries.
 External Criticism – is the practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining
its physical characteristics, consistency with the historical characteristics of the time when it
was produced and the material used for evidence.
Examples, of the things that will be examined when conducting external criticism of the
document include the quality of the paper, the type of ink, and the language and words used
in the material, among others.
 Internal Criticism- is the examination of the truthfulness of the evidence. It looks at the
content of the source and examines the circumstances of its production. Internal Criticism
looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the author of the source,
its context, the agenda behind its creation, the knowledge which informed it and its intended
purpose among others.
Examples, Japanese reports and declaration during period of the war should not be taken as a
historical fact hastily. Internal criticism entails that the historian acknowledge and analyze
how such reports can be manipulated to be used as war propaganda. Validating historical
sources is important because the use of unverified, falsified and untruthful historical sources
can lead to equally false conclusion. Without thorough criticisms of evidences, historical
deceptions and lies will be highly probable.

Note:
Please click the link to watch the video on:
 What is the Difference between Primary & Secondary Sources?
https://youtu.be/1m5l_FnHZ0o
 Primary and Secondary Sources in History Explained
https://youtu.be/kOXfArLq6uY

Philippine Historiography
 Underwent several changes since the precolonial period until the present.
 Ancient Filipinos narrated their history through communal songs and epics that they passes
orally from a generation to another.
 When the Spaniards came, their chroniclers started recoding their observation through
written accounts. The perspective of historical writing and inquiry also shifted. The Spanish
colonizers narrated the history of their colony in a bipartite view. They saw the age before
colonization as a dark period in the history of the island until they brought trough Western
thought and Christianity.
 Filipino historian Zeus Salazar introduced the new guiding philosophy for writing and
teaching history.
 Pantayong pananaw( for us-from us perspective) – this perspective highlights the
importance of facilitating an internal conversation an discourse among Filipinos about our
own history, using the language that is understood by everyone,

A brief Summary of the First Voyage Around the World by Magellan by Antonio Pigafetta

Antonio Lombardo Pigafeta (c1491-1531)

-was a Venetian scholar and explorer.
-He travel with the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew under the order of King Charles
I of Spain on their voyage around the world.
- He served as Magellan’s assistant and kept an accurate journal, which became the source of information
on Magellan’s voyage.
- Pigafeta’s first voyage completed the first circumnavigation of the world.

Ferdinand Magellan (c1480-1521)

- Was born in Sabrosa, Portugal, to a family of minor Portuguese nobility.
- At the age of 12 Ferdinand Magellan (Fernặo de Magalhặes in Portuguese and
Fernando De Magallanes in Spanish) and his brother Diogo travel to Lisbon to serve
as pages at Queen Leonora’s court.
- While at the court Magellan was exposed to stories of the great Portuguese and
Spanish rivalry for sea exploration.
- Intrigued by the promise of fame and riches, Magellan developed an interest in
maritime discovery in those early years.

 Landrones Island – is presently known as the Marianas Islands.These islands are located south-
southest of japan, west-southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guine and east of Philippines.
 Ten days after day reach the landrones Island, Pigafeta reported that they reached what Pigafetta
called the isle of Zamal, now Samar but Magellan decided to land in another uninhabited island
for greater security where they could rest for few days.
 March 18,1521 nine men came to them and showed joy and eagerness in seeing them. Magellan
realized that the men were reasonable and welcomed them with food, drinks, and gifts. In return
the natives gave them fish,palm wine (uraca), figs and two cochos. The Natives also gave them
rice (umai), cocos and other food supplies.
  The Fleet went to Humunu Island (Homonhon) and they found what Pigafetta referred to as the
“Watering Place of Good Signs”.It is the place where Pigafetta wrote that they found the first
signs of gold in the Island.They named the Island with the nearby island as the archipelago of St.
Lazarus.
 March 25, 1521 Pigafetta recounted that they saw two ballanghai (balangay), a long boat full of
people in Mazzava/Mazaua.The Leader, Pigafetta refered to as the king of the ballanghai, sent his
men to the ship of Magellan. The Europeans entertained these men and gave them gifts.
 March 31, 1521- Easter Sunday. This was the first mass to be said in Philippines.
 After the mass Magellan ordered that the cross be brought with nails and crown in place.
Magellan explained that the cross, the nail and the crown were the sign of his emperor and that he
was ordered to plant in the places that he would reach.
 Magellan further explained that the cross would be beneficial for their people because once other
Spaniards saw the cross, they would not cause troubles, and any person who might be held
captives by them would be released.
 After 7 days Magellan and his men decided to move and look for islands where they could
acquire more supplies and provisions. They learned of the islands of Ceylon (Leyte), Bohol, and
Zubu (Cebu) and intended to go there.
 Raja Calambu offered to pilot them going to Cebu, the largest and richest of the Islands.
 April 7, 1521- Magellan and his men reached the port of Cebu.
 Magellan’s men and the King of Cebu, together with other principal men of Cebu, met in an open
space. There, the king offered a bit of his blood and demanded that Magellan will do the same.
 April 14, 1521- the people gathered with the King and other principal men of the Island.
Magellan spoke to the king and encourage him to be a good Christian by burning all of the idols
and worship of the cross instead. The king of Cebu baptized as a Christian.
 After 8 days, Pigafetta counted that all of the Islands inhabitant were already baptized. He
admitted that they burned a village down for obeying neither the King nor Magellan. The mass
was conducted by the shore every day. When the queen came to the mass one day, Magellan gave
her an image of the infant Jesus made by Pigafetta himself. The king of Cebu swore that he would
always be faithful to Magellan.
 April 26, 1521- Zula a principal man from the island of Matan (Mactan) went to Magellan and
asked him for a boat full of men so that he would be able to fight the chief named
Silapulapu(Lapulapu).Such chief , according to Zula, refused to obey the king and was also
preventing him from doing so.
 Magellan offered three boats instead and expressed his desire to go to Mactan himself to fight the
said chief. Magellan’s forces arrived in Mactan in daylight. They numbered 49 in total and the
islanders of Mactan were estimated to number 1,500.
 Magellan died in that battle. The natives perceiving that the bodies of the enemies were protected
with armors, aimed for their legs instead. Magellan was perceived with a poisoned arrow in his
right leg. Magellan retaliated and perceived the same native with his lance in the breast and tried
to draw his sword but could not lift it because of his wounded arm.Seeing that the captain has
already deteriorated, more natives came to attack him.
 Magellans men elected Duarte Barbosa as the new captain. Pigafetta also told how Magellan’s
slave and interpreter named Henry betrayed them and told the king of Cebu that they intended to
leave as quickly as possible.
 Pigafetta alleged that the slave told the king that if followed the slave’s advice then the king could
acquire the ships and the goods of Magellan’s fleet. The two conspired and betrayed what was
left of Magellan’s men.
 The natives has slain all of the men except the interpreter and Juan Serrano who was already
wounded. Serrano was presented and shouted at the men in the ship asking them to pay ransom so
he would be spared. However they refused and would not allow anyone to go to the shore. They
fleet departed and abandoned Serrano. They left Cebu and continued their journey around the
world.

Note:
Please click the link to watch the video on:
 History of the Philippines- Magellan’s Exploration
https://youtu.be/t_oF56TWYzl
 Ang Paglalayag na nagpabago sa Mundo Magpakailanman
https://youtu.be/zWSm_m7-Z5U
 The KKK and the “ Kartilya ng Katipunan”

Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalan Katipunan ng mga anak ng Bayan (KKK)

 Was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish colonialism Filipinos in Manila
in 1892, it primary goal was to gain independence from Spain, through revolution.
 is arguably the most important organization formed in the Philippine History.

Karilya ng Katipunan
 the original title of the document was “ Manga(sic) Aral nang (sic) Katipunan ng mga A.N.B” or
“Lesson of the organization of the Sons of the Country”
 Served as the guidebook for new members of the organization, which laid out the groups rules
principle.The first edition of the Kartilya was written by Emilio Jacinto in the 1896.
 One of the most important Katipunan documents.

July 7, 1892
 After the Spanish discovered the existence of the La Liga Filipina, Rizal was ordered to be
departed at Dapitan.
 As response, Bonifacio together with Deodato Arellano, Vallentine Diaz, Teodoro Plata, Ladisiao
Diwa, Jose Dizon and other members of the league, held a secret meeting at No. 72 Azcarraga St.
Tondo, Manila.The meeting marked the formation of the Kataas-taasang Kaganggalan na
Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan “KKK”. As a sign of their membership, the group engaged in
a symbolic blood compact ceremony.
 The members agreed to recruit more people using “triangle system” of enlistment. Each original
member would do the same thing and so on down the line. Members were also asked to
contribute one Real (about 25 centavos) each month in order to raise funds for the association.

The KKK members agreed the following objectives:

 The political goal was to completely separate the Philippines from Spain after declairing the
country’s independence.
 The moral goal was to teach the filipinos good manners, cleanliness, hygiene, fine morals and
how to guard themselves to religious fanaticism.
 The civic goal was to encourage filipinos to help themselves and to defend the poor oppressed.

The Leaders of the Katipunan:

 Deodato Arellano- Supremo
 Ladislao Diwa- Fiscal
 Teodora Plata- Secretary
 Valentie Diaz-Treasurer
 Andres Bonifacio- Controller
Jose Rizal
 Never became involved in the organization and the activities of the Katipunan, but the
katipuneros still looked up to him as a leader. In fact Rizal’s named was used as a password
among the society’s highest ranking members, who were called bayani.
Andres Bonifacio
 History honors him as the “father of katipunan” having been its founder and leader and because
of his humble origins.
 Had already known Rizal during his La Liga Filipina Days, althought Rizal did not know
Bonifacio personally Nevertheless, Bonifacio so respected Rizal’s Intelligence and talent that in
June 1896, he sent Dr. Pio Valenzuela to Dapitan to seek Rizal’s advice in the planned revolution.

Rizal told Valenzuela that the timing was not right for a revolution. The people were not yet ready
and they did not have enough weapons. He suggested that the katipunan obtain the support of wealthy
and influential Filipinos first, in order to gain financial assistance. He recommended

Antonio Luna
 Commander of its armed forces, since Luna had much knowledge and expertise in military
tactics.

Emilio Jacinto
 Known as the “ brain of the Katipunan”
 Jacinto was the right hand man of Andres Bonifacio.
 He wrote many of the Katipunan Documents including the famous “ Kartilya”, a word was
adopted from the Spanish cartilla which at that time meant a primer for grade school student.
 He was a law student at the Universidad de Santo Tomas.
  April 15, 1897, Bonifacio appointed Jacinto as a commander of the Katipunan in Northern
Luzon, Jacinto was 22 years old. He died of Malaria at the young age of 24 in the town of
Magdalena, Laguna.
The Kartilla can be treated as the Katipunan’s code of conduct. It contains 14 rules that instruct the way
of a Katipunero should behave, and which specific values should be uphold. Generally the rules that will
make the member an upright individual and the second group contains the rules that will guide the way he
treats his fellow men.

Below this is the translated version of the rules in Kartilla:

I. The life that is not consecrated to lofty and reasonable purpose is tree without a shade, if not a
poisonous weed.
II. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue.
III. It is rational to be charitable and love one’s fellow creature, and to adjust one’s conduct, acts and
words to what is in itself reasonable.
IV. Whether our skin be black or white, we are born equal: superiority in knowledge, wealth and
beauty are to be understood, but not superiority by nature.
V. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain: the scoundrel, gain to honor.
VI. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.
VII. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.
VIII. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the field.
IX. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.
X. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the children and if the guide leads to
the precipice, those whom he guides will also go there.
XI. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a faithful companion who will share
with thee the penalties of life, her (physically) weakness will increase thy interest in her and she
will remind thee of the mother who bore thee and reared thee.
XII. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers and sisters, that do not unto the
wife, children, brothers and sisters of thy neighbor.
XIII. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline, and his color white, not
because he is a priest, a servant of God, nor because of the high prerogative that he enjoys upon
earth, but he is worth most who is man of proven and real value, who does good, keeps his words
is worthy and honest; he who does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he who loves and
cherish his father land, though he be born in the wilderness and know no tongue but his own.
XIV. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed for sun of liberty shall rise brilliant
over this most unhappy portion of the globe and its rays shall diffuse everlasting joy among the
confederated brethren of the same rays, the lives of those who gone before, the fatigues and well-
paid suffering will remain. If he who desires to enter has informed himself of all this and believes
he will be able to perform what will be his duties, he may fill out the application for admission.

As the primary governing document, which determines the rules of conduct in the Katipunan, properly
understanding the Kartilya will thus help in understanding the values, ideals, aspirations and even the
ideology of the organization.

Reading the “Proclamation of the Philippine Independence”

The most significant achievement of Emilio Aguinaldo’s Dictatorial Government was

the Proclamation of the Philippine Independence from Spain in Kawit, Cavite on June 12,
1898. The day was declared a national holiday. Thousands of people from the provinces gather
in Kawit to witness the historic event. The ceremony was solemnly held at the balcony of
General Emilio Aguinaldo’s residence. The military and civil officials of the government were in
attendance.

Emilio Aguinaldo
 He was born on March 22, 1869, in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines.
 is officially recognized as the first and youngest President of the Philippines (1899-1901)
and first president of a constitutional republic in asia.
 He lead Philippine forces first against Spain in the latter part of the Philippine Revolution
(1896-1898) and then is the Spanish- American War (1899-1901).

 The declaration included a list of grievances against the Spanish government stretching back
to explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s arrival in 1521 and confers upon our famous Dictador
Don Emillio Aguinaldo all the powers necessary to enable him to discharge duties of
Government, including the prerogatives of granting pardon and amnesty.
 A dramatic feature of the ceremony was the formal unfluring of the Filipino Flag amidst
the cheers of the people. At the same time, the Philippine National Anthem was played by the
band Ambrioso Rianzares Bautista solemnly read the “Act of Declaring of
Independence”which himself wrote, with 98 persons signing the declaration.
 Philippine National Anthem,which embodies the struggles and the glory of Filipino people in
search of freedom from foreign denomination, was composed by the San Francisco de
Malabon Band. The Spanish lyrics were written by Jose Palma a year later.
 The Philippine National flag had been made in Hongkong by Marcela Agoncillo, assited by
Lorenza Agoncillo and Delfina Herbosa

Symbols of the Flag:

The flag of the Republic of the Philippines representing the country is symbolized by the
following:
 Royal Blue Field- peace, truth, and justice.
 Scarlet Red Field- patriotism and valor
 White Triangle- equality and brotherhood
 Three stars on the corner of the triangle – the three main geographical regions of the country
namely:
Luzon
Visayas
Mindanao
 The sun at the center of the triangle- has eight rays representing the eight Philippine
provinces of Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna and
Batangas which were declared in a state of war.

o He believed that such a move would inspire the people to fight more eagerly against the
Spaniards and at the same time lead the foreign countries to recognize the independence
of the country.
o A few leaders in Aguinaldo’s had objected to move. They based their objection on the
fact that it was more important to reorganize the government in such manner as to
convince the foreign powers of the competence and stability of the new government than
to proclaim Philippine Independence at such early period. Aguinaldo, however stood his
ground and won.

A Glance at Selected Philippine Political Caricature in Alfred McCoy’s Philippine

Cartoons: Political Caricature of the American Era (1900-1941)

Philippine Political Cartoons gained full expression during the American era. Filipino
artist recorded national attitudes toward the coming of the Americans as well as the changing
mores and times. About 377 cartoons compiled in the Book “Political Caricature” of the
American Era, 1900-1941 by historian Alfred W. McCoy speaks for themselves.
 Political Cartoons and Caricature are a rather recent art form, which veered away from the
classical art by exaggerating human features and poking fun at its subjects.
 Such art genre and techniques became a part of the print media as a form of social and political
commentary, which usually targets persons of power and authority.
 Cartoons became an effective tool of publicizing opinions through heavy use of symbolism,
which is different from a verbose written editorial and opinions pieces.
 The technique way that a caricature represents opinion and captures the audience’s imagination
is reason enough for historians to examine these political cartoons.

Public post is not Hereditary crown

 The cartoon shows a politician from Tondo named Dr. Santos, passing his crown to his brother-
in-law Dr. Barcelona.
 A Filipino guy was trying to stop Santos, telling the latter to stop giving Barcelona the crown
because it is not his to begin with

War against Speculator

 This was drawn by Fernando Amorsolo. A Filipino child who stole a skinny chicken because he
had nothing to eat. The police officer was relentlessly pursuing the said child.
 A man wearing salakat named Juan De la Cruz was grabbing the officer, telling him to leave the
small time pockets and thieves and to turn at the great thieves instead.
 He was pointing to huge warehouse containing bulks of rice, milk and grocery products.

COLORUM

 The Philippine free press published this commentary when fatal accidents involving Colorum
vehicles and taxis occurred often already.

CINEMA

 a blown up officer saying that couple are not allowed to neck and make love in the theater.
 Two youngster looked horrified while older couple seemed amused.
 Uncle Sam Ridding A Chariot

 Uncle Sam Ridding a chariot pulled by Filipinos wearing School uniforms.

 The Filipino boys were carrying American Objects like baseball bats, whiskey and boxing gloves.

El Turno Los Partidos

 was published by Lipang Kalabaw on August 24, 1907.

 In the picture we can see the Uncle Sam rationing porridge to the to the politicians and member of
the Progresista Party while members of the Nacionalista Party look on and wait for their turn.
 This cartoon depicts the patronage of the United States being coveted by politicians from either of
the party.

Revisiting Corazon Aquino’s Speech Before the U.S Congress

Cory Aquino Background

 Maria Corazon “Cory” Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino was a Filipino politician who
served as the 11th president of the Philippines, becoming the first woman to hold that
office. Corazon Aquino was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People Power
Revolution, which eneded the 21st –year rule of the President Ferdinand Marcos.
 Born: 25 January 1933, Paniqui
 Died: August 1, 2009, Makati Medical Center, Makati
 Presidential term: February 25, 1986- June 30, 1992

Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco Aquino functioned as a symbol of the restoration of democracy and
the overthrow of the Marcos Dictatorship in 1986. The EDSA People Power, which installed
Cory Aquino in the presidency, put the Philippines in the International spotlight for overthrowing
a dictator through peaceful means.
Cory was easily a figure of the said revolution, as the widow of the slain Marcos oppositionist
and former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Cory was hoisted as the antithesis of the
dictator. Her image as a mourning, widowed housewife who had always been in the shadow of
her husband and relatives and had no experience in politics was juxtaposed against Marcos’s
statesmanship, eloquence, charisma, and cunning political skills.

The People Power Revolution of 1986

Was widely recognized around the world for its peaceful character. When former senator Ninoy
Aquino was shot at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983, the Marcos
regime greatly suffered a crisis of legitimacy.
 Marco’s credibility in the international community also suffered. Paired with the looming
economic crisis. Marcos had to do something to prove his allies in the United States that he
remained to be democratically anointed leader of the country. He called for a Snap Election in
 February 1986, where Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, the widow of the slain senator was
convinced to run against Marcos. The canvassing was rigged to Marco’s favor but the people
expressed their protest against the corrupt and authoritarian government.
 Leading military officials of the regime and martial law orchestrators themselves, Juan Ponce
Enrille and Fidel V. Ramos, plotted to take over the presidency, until civilian leaders gather in
EDSA. The overwhelming presence of cilivilians demonstration.
 The thousands of people who gather overthrew Ferdinand Marcos from the presidency after
21 years.
 September 18, 1986, seven months since Cory became president, she went to United States and
spoke before the joint session of the U.S. It was her first visit to America since the dictator
Ferdinand Marcos had been deposed in February of the same year and the Philippines was
reckoning with everything his administration had inflicted. That included the $26 billion in total
foreign debt, and a communist insurgency that grew, throughout the Marcos era, from 500 armed
guerillas to 16,000. We were just at the start of a long road to recovery.
 So Aquino lodged an appeal for help. Addressing the House, she delivered a historic speech that
managed to sway in our favor the vote for an emergency $200-million aid appropriation. In the
moving speech penned by her speechwriter Teddy Locsin Jr., Aquino defended her
reconciliatory stand on the communist insurgency- a sensitive issue in the U.S., given that this
was 1986- and asked for financial aid towards rebuilding the Philippine economy.
 “ We fought for honor and if only for honor, we shall pay.” She said, agreeing to pay the debt that
was stolen by Marcos.” And yet should we have to wring the payments for the sweat of our men’s
faces and sink all to wealth piled up by the bondsman’s two hundred fifty years of unrequited
toil.”
 The speech was impassioned deeply personal and effective; interrupted 11 times by applause and
bookended with standing ovations. House Speaker Tip O’Neil called it the “ Finest speech I’ve
ever heard in my 34 years in congress” Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole told her “ Cory, you
hit a home run.” And the House Minority Whip Trent Lott said” Let’s just say emotion of the
moment saved the day.” It will go down in the annals of our history as one of the former
President’s finest speeches.

References:
 Martinez, Rodolfo M. (et.al).Readings in Philippine history. Manila: Mindshapers Co., c2018.
 Candelaria, John Lee P., Readings in Philippine History. Quezon: Rex Book Store Inc., c2018.
 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/exploration/ferdinand-
magellan
 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~udls/slides/
udls-sammagella
 http://www.philippine-history.org/katipunan.htm
 https://knappily.com/onthisday/the-philippines-independence-spain-united-states-aguinaldo
 https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/revisit-cory-aquino-s-historic-1986-speech-before-
the-us-congress-a00207-20180125
 Candelaria, John Lee P., Readings in Philippine History. Quezon City: Rex Book Store Inc., c2018.
 Sorsogon College of Criminology Inc.
3928 Rizal St. Piot Sorsogon City

Readings in Philippine History

Period: MIDTERM

Philippine History: Spaces for Conflict and Controversies

 Making Sense of the Past: Historical Interpretation
 Multiperspectivity
 Case Study 1: Where did the first Catholic Mass take place in the Philippines?
 Case Study 2:What Happen in the Cavite Mutiny
 Case Study 3: Did Rizal Retract?
 Case Study 4: Where did the cry of Rebellion Happen?

Definition of terms:
Clergy- the body of all people ordained for religious duties especially in the Christian Church.
Execute- carry out a sentence of death on (a legally condemned person).
Friar- a member of any certain religious orders of man, especially the mendicant orders
(Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans).
Garote- is a weapon, most often a handheld ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line
used to strangle a person.
Instigators- a person who brings about or initiates something.
Martyrdom- the death or suffering of a martyr.
Multiperspectivity- refers to epistemological idea that history is interpretational and subjective,
with multiple coexisting narratives about particular historical events, rather than history being
objectively represented by one “close” narrative.
Mutiny- an open rebellion against the proper authorities, especially by soldier or sailors against
their officers.
Propaganda- information, especially of a biased or misleading nature used to promote or
publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
Revolution- is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political
organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due to
perceived oppressed or political incompetence.
Skirmish- a minor fight in war usually incidental to larger movements.
Woefully- in a manner expressing sorrow or misery.

DICUSSION:

Making Sense of the Past: Historical Interpretation

History is the study of the past, but a more contemporary definition is centered on how it
impacts the present through its consequences. Geoffrey Barraclough defines history as “the
attempt to discover, on the basis of fragmentary evidence, the significant things about the past
. He also notes “the history we read through based facts, is strictly speaking, not factual at all, but
a series of accepted judgments. “ Such judgments of historians on how the past should be seen
make the foundation of historical interpretation.

The Code of Kalantiaw

- Is a mythical legal code in the epic history Maragtas. Before it was revelead as
a hoax, it was a source of pride for the people of Aklan. In fact, a historical
marker was installed in the town of Bataan, Aklan in 1956.
- It was the only in 1968 that it was proved a hoax, when William Henry Scott,
the doctoral candidate at the University of Santo Tomas, defended his research
on pre-Hispanic sources in the Philippines history.
- He attributed the code to a historical fiction written in 1913 by Jose E.
Marco titled Las Antiguas Leyendas de la Isla de Negros. Marco attributed
the code itself to a priest named Jose Maria Pavon. Prominent Filipino
Historians did not dissent to Scott’s findings, but there are still some who
would like to believe that the code is a legitimate document.
Historians utilize facts from primary sources of history and then draw their own reading so that
their intended audience may understand the historical event a process that in essence,”makes
sense of the past”.

Sa Aking Mga Kababata

- Is a poem purportedly written by Jose Rizal when he was eight years old and is
probably one of Rizal’s most prominent works. There is no evidence to support
the claim that this poem with the now immortalized lines.” Ang hindi mag mahal
sa kanyang salita/mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda.” Was written by Rizal, and
worse the evidence against Rizal’s authorship of the poem seems all unassailable.
- There exist no manuscript of the poem handwritten by Rizal. The poem was first
published in 1906, in a book by Hermenegildo Cruz, Cruz said he received the
poem from Gabriel Beato, Francisco, who claimed to have received it in 1884
from Rizal’s close friend, Saturnino Raselis. Rizal never mentioned writing this
poem anywhere in his writtings and more importantly, he never mentioned of
having a close friend by the person of Raselis.
- Further criticism of the poem reveals more about the wrongful attribution of the
poem to Rizal. The poem was written in tagalog and reffred to the word”
Kalayaan”. But it was documented in Rizal’s letters that he first encountered the
word through a Marcelo H. del Pillar’s translation of Rizal’s essay “ El Amor
Patrio” where it was spelled as “Kalayahan”
- While Rizal’s native tongue was tagalog, he was educated in Spanish, starting
from his mother, Teodora Alonso. Later on, he would express disappointment in
his difficulty in expressing himself in his native tongue.
- The poem also suspect – the use of letters”k” and “w” to replace “c” and “u”,
respectively was suggested by Rizal as an adult. If the poem was indeed written
during his time, it should be use the original Spanish orthography that was
prevalent in his time.

Many of the things we accept as “true” about the past might not be the case anymore, just
because these were taught to us “facts” when we were young does not mean that it is a set of
stone-history is after all, a construct. And as construct, it is open for interpretation. There might
be conflicting and competing accounts of the past that need one’s attention, and can impact the
way we view our country’s history and identity.
Multiperspectivity
- A way of looking at historical events, personality’s development, cultures and
societies from different perspectives. This means that there is a multitude of ways
by which we can view the world, and each could be equally valid and at the same
time, equally partial as well.
- The historian decides on what sources to use, what interpretation to make more
apparent, depending on what his end is. Historian may misinterpret evidence,
attending those that suggest that certain event happened and then ignore the rest
that goes against the evidence.
- Historian may omit significant facts about their subject, which makes the
interpretation unbalanced.

Case Study 1: Where did the First Catholic Mass Take Place in the Philippines?

There are two primary sources that historians refer to in identifying the site of the first
catholic mass. One is the log kept by Francisco Albo, a pilot of one’s Magellan’s ship Trinidad.
The other one is Antonio Pigafetta who has more complete. Pigafetta was also a member of
Magellan expedition and an eye witness of the events, particularly the first mass.

Primary Source: Albo’s Log

1. On the 16th of March (1521) as they sailed in a westerly course from Ladrones, they saw
land towards the northwest but owing to many shallow places they did not approach it.
They found later that its name was Yunagan.
2. They went instead that same day southwards to another small island named Suluan, and
there they anchored. There they saw some canoes but these fled Spaniards approach. This
island was at 9 and two-third degrees North latitude.
 3. Departing from those two island, they sailed westward to an uninhabited island of “Gada”
where they took in a supply of wood and water. The sea around that island was free from
shallows. (Albo does not give the latitude of this island but from Pigafetta’s testimony,
this seems to be the “Acquada” or Homonhon at 10 degrees North latitude.
4. Departing from those two island they sailed westward towards a large island names
Seilani- or Pigafetta’s calls it “Ceylon” –was the island of leyte.)
5. Sailing southwards along the coast of that large island called “Mazava”. That island is
also at a latitude of 9 and two thirds degrees north.
6. The people of that island of Mazava were very good. There the Spaniards planted a cross
upon a mountain-top and from there they were shown three island to the west and
southwest, where they were told there was much gold.” They showed us how the gold
was gathered, which came in small pieces like peas and c.”
7. From Mazava they sailed again towards Seilani. They followed the coast of Seilani in a
northwesterly direction, ascending upto 10 degrees of latitude where they saw three small
islands.
8. From there they sailed westwards some ten leagues and there they saw three islets, where
they dropped the anchor for the night. In the morning they sailed southwest some 12
leagues, down the latitude of 10 and one third degree. There they entered a channel
between two island, one of which was called “ Matan” and the other “ Subu”
9. They sailed down that channel and then they turned westward and anchored at the town
(la villa) of Subu where they stayed many days and obtained provisions and entered into
peace-pact with the local king.
10. The town of Subu was on an east-west direction with the islands of Suluan and Mazava.
But between Mazava and Subu there were so many shallows that the boats could not go
westward directly but has to go (as they did) in a round-about way.

It must be noted that in Albo’s account the location of Mazava fits the location of the Island of
Limasawa, at the southern tip of Leyte, 9°54’N. Also, Albo does not mention the first mass, but
only the planting of the cross upon a mountain-top from which could be seen three islands to
west and southwest, which also fits the southern end of Limasawa.

Primary source: Pigafetta’s Testimony on the Route of Magellan’s Expedition

1. Saturday, 16TH March 1521- Magellan’s expedition sighted a “high land” named “Zamal”
which was some 300 leagues waetward of Landrones (now the Marianas) Islands.
2. Sunday, March 17-“the following day” after sighting Zamal Island, they landed on
“another island which was uninhabited” and which lay “to the right” of the above
mention island of “Zamal”. There they set up two tents for the sick members of the crew
and had a sow killed for them. The name of this island was “Humunu” (Homonhon). This
island was located at 10 degrees North latitude.
3. On the same day, Magellan named the entire archipelago of the “Islands of Saint
Lazarus” the reason being that it was Sunday in the Lenten season when the Gospel
assigned for the Mass and the liturgical Office was the eleventh chapter of St. John,
which tells of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
4. March 18 1521- in the afternoon of their second day on that island, they saw boat coming
towards them with nine men in it. An exchange of gifts was effected. Magellan asked for
food supplies, and the men went away promising to bring rice and other supplies in “ four
days”
5. There were two springs of water on that island of Homonhon. Also they saw there some
indication that there was gold in these islands. Consequently Magellan renamed the
island and called it the “Watering Place of Good Omen (Acquada la di bouni segnialli).
6. March 22, 1521-
7. Magellan’s expedition stayed eight days at Homonhon: from Sunday, March 17, to the
Monday of the following week March 25.
8. March 25, 1521- in the afternoon, the expedition weighted anchor and left the island of
Homonhon. In the ecclesiastical calendar this day March 25 was the feast-day of the
Incarnation, also called the feast of the Annunciation and therefore “Our lady’s day” On
this day, as they were about to weigh the anchor, an incident happened to Pigafetta: he
fell into the water but was rescued. He attributed his narrow escape from death as grace
obtained through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on her feast-day.
9. The route taken by the expedition after leaving Homonhon was “toward the west
southwest between four islands; namely, Cenalo, Hiunanghan, Ibusson and Albarien. “
 Very probably “Cenalo” is a misspelling in the Italian manuscript for what Pigafetta in
his map calls” Ceilon” and Albo calls “Seilani”, namely the island of Leyte.”
Hiunganghan” a (a misspelling of Hinunangan) seemed to Pigafetta to be separate Island,
but actually on the mainland of Leyte (i.e. “Ceylon). On the other hand Hobusn
(Pigafetta’s Ibusson) is an island east of Leyte’s southern tip.
Thus, it is easy to see what Pigafetta meant by sailing “toward the west southwest” past
those island.
10. Thursday, 28 March- in the morning of the Holy Thursday, March 28, they anchored off
an island “lies the latitude of nine and two thirds towards the Article Pole (i.e North) and
in longitude of one hundred and sixty-two degrees from the line of demarcation. It is
twenty five leagues from Acquada, and is called Mazaua.
11. They remained seven days on Mazaua Island.
12. Thursday, April 4- they left Mazaua, bound for Cebu. They were guided thither by the
king of Mazaua to who sailed in his own boat. Their route took them past five” islands”
namely: Ceylon, Bohol, Canighan, Baibai, and Gatighan.”
13. At Gatighan, they sailed westward to the three island of the Camotes group namely, Poro,
Pasihanand Ponson. Here the Spanish ships stopped to allow the king of Mazaua to catch
up with them, since the Spaniards ships were much faster than the native balanghai—a
thing that excited the admiration of the king Mazaua.
14. From the Camotes Islands they sailed (southwestward) towards “Zubu”
15. Sunday, 7 April—at noon on Sunday the 7th of april, they entered the harbor of “Zubu”
(Cebu). It had taken them three days to negotiate the journey from the Mazaua
nothhwards to the Camotes Islands and then southwards to Cebu.

That is the route of the Magellan expedition as described by Pigafetta. It coincedences substainly
and in most details with the route as described in Albo’s log. In that route, the southernmost
point reached before getting to Cebu was Mazaua, situated at nine and two thirds degrees North
Latitude.

Primary Source: Pigafetta and Seven Days in Mazaua

1. Thursday, March 28-in the morning they anchored near an island where they has seen a
light the night before. A small boat (boloto) came with eight navites, to whom Magellan
threw some trinkets as presents. The natives paddled away but two hours later two larger
boats (balanghai) came in one of which the native king sat under an awning of mats. At
Magellan’s invitation some of the natives went up the Spanish ships, but native king
remained seated in his boat. An exchange of gifts was affected. In the afternoon of that
day the Spanish ships weighed anchor and came closer to shore, anchoring near the
native king’s village. This Thursday, March 28, was Thursday in holy week i.e Holy
Thursday.
2. Friday, 29 March—“Next day, Holy Friday, “Magellan sent his slave interpreter ashore
in a small boat to ask the king if he could provide the expedition with food supplies and
to say that they had come as friends and not as enemies. In reply the king himself came in
a boat with six or eight men, and this time went up Magellan’s ship and the two men
embraced. Another exchange of gifts was made. The native king and his companions
returned ashore, bringing with them two members of Magellan’s expedition as guest for
the night. One of the two was Pigafetta.
3. Saturday, 30 March- Pigafetta and his companion had spent the previous evening feasting
and drinking with the native king and his son. Pigafetta deplored the fact that, although it
was Good Friday, they had to eat meat. The following morning (Saturday) Pigafetta and
his companion took leave of their hosts and returned to ships.
4. Sunday, 31 March- “ early in the morning of Sunday, the last of March and Easter
Sunday, “ Magellan sent the priest ashore with some men to prepare for the Mass. Later
in the morning Magellan landed with some fifty men and Mass was celebrated, after
which cross was venerated. Magellan and the Spaniards returned to the ship for the noon-
day meal, but in the afternoon they returned ashore to plant the cross on the summit of the
highest hill. In attendance both at the Mass and the planting of the cross were the king of
Mazaua and the king of Butuan.
5. Sunday, 31 March- on the same day afternoon, while on the summit of the highest hill,
Magellan asked the two kings which ports he should go to in order to obtain more
abundant supplies of food ports to choose from: Ceylon, Zubu and Calagan. Of the three,
Zubu was the port with the most trade. Magellan then said that he wished to go to Zubu
and to depart the following morning. He asked for someone to guide him thilther. The
 kings replied that the pilots would be available “any time”. But later that evening the king
of Mazaua changed his mind and said he would himself conduct Magellan to Zubu but
that he would first have to bring the harvest in, he asked Magellan to send him men to
help with the harvest.
6. Monday, 1 April- Magellan sent men ashore to help with the harvest, but no work was
done that day because the two kings were sleeping off their drinking bout of the night
before.
7. Tuesday, 2 April and Wednesday, 3 April- work on the harvest during the next two days.
8. Thursday, 4 April- they leave Mazaua, bound for Cebu.

The Age of Exploration

- Is a period of competition among European rulers to conquer and colonize lands outside
their original domains. Initially, the goal was to find alternative routes by sea to get Asia,
the main source of spices and other commodities.
- Spain’s majority foray into the exploration was through Christopher Columbus, who
proposed to sail westward to find a short cut in Asia.
- Spain colonized parts of North America, Mexico and South America in the sixteenth
century. They were also able to reach the Philippines and claim it for the Spanish Crown.
Later on, other European rulers would compete with the activities of exploring and
conquering lands.

Case Study 2: What Happened in the Cavite Mutiny?

The year 1872 is a heroic year of two events: Cavite Mutiny and the martyrdom of the three
priests: Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, later on immortalized as
GOMBURZA. These events are very important milestone in the Philippine history and have
cause ripples throughout time. Directly influencing the decisive events of the Philippine
Revolution toward the end of the century.

Spanish Accounts of the Cavite Mutiny

The documents of Spanish historian Jose Montero y Vidal centered on how the event was
an attempt in overthrowing the Spanish government in the Philippines. Although regard as
historian, his account of the mutiny was criticized as woefully biased and rabid for scholar.
Another account from the official report written by Governor General Rafael Izquierdo
implicated the native clergy, who were then, active in the movement toward secularization of
parishes.

Primary Sources: Excerpts from Montero’s Account of the Cavite Mutiny

The abolition of privileges enjoyed by the laborers of the Cavite arsenal of exemption
from the tribute was according to some, the cause of the insurrection. There were, however, other
causes.
 The Spanish revolution which overthrew a secular throne, the propaganda carried by an
unbridled press against the monarchical principles, attentatory of the most sacred
respects towards the dethrone majesty, the democratic and republican books and
pamphlets, the speeches and preaching of the apostles of these new ideas of Spain; the
outburst of the American publicists and the criminal policy of the senseless Governor
whom the revolutionary government sent to determining circumstances which gave rise,
among certain Filipinos, to the idea of attaining their independence.
 1872, the authorities received anonymous communications with the information that a
great uprising would break out against the Spaniards, the minute the fleet at Cavite left
for South and that all would be assassinated, including the friars. But nobody gave
importance to those notices. The conspiracy had been going on since the days of La Torre
with utmost secrecy. At times the principal leaders met either the house of Filipino
Spaniards D. Joaquin Pardo de Taverra, or in that of the native priest, Jacinto Zamora,
and these meetings were usually attended by the curate of Bacoor, the soul of movement,
whose energetic character and immerse wealth enabled him to exercise a strong
influence.
Primary Source: Excerpts from the Official Report of Governor Izquierdo on the
Cavite Mutiny of 1872

 The instigators, to carry out their criminal project, protested against the injustice of the
government on not paying the provinces for their tobacco, crop, and against the usury that
some practice in documents that the finance department gives crop owners who have to
sell them at a loss. They encourage the rebellion by protesting what they called the
injustice of having obliged the workers in the Cavite arsenal to pay tribute starting January
1 and to render personal service, from which they were formerly exempted.

 It is apparent that the accounts underscore the reason for the “revolution” the abolition of
the privileges enjoyed by the workers of the Cavite arsenal such as exemption from
payment of tribute and being employed in polo’s y servicios, or force labor. They also
identified other reason which seemingly made the issue a lot more serious, which included
the presence of the native clergy who out of spite against the Spanish friars,” conspired
and supported” the rebel’s, Izquierdo in an obviously biased report, highlighted that
attempt to overthrow the Spanish government in the Philippines to install a new “hari” in
the persons of fathers Burgos and Zamora. According to him native clergy attracted
supporters by giving them charismatic assurance that their fight would not fail because
they had God’s support, aside from premises of lofty rewards such as employment,
wealth, and ranks in the army.
 In the Spaniards account the event of 1872 was premeditated and was part of a big
conspiracy among the educated leaders, mestizos, lawyers and residents of Manila and
Cavite. They allegedly plan to liquidate high ranking Spanish officers, then kill the friars.
The signal they identified among these conspirators of Manila and Cavite was the rockets
fired from Intramuros.
 January 20, 1872- the district of Sampaloc celebrated the feast of the Virgin Loreto and
came with it were some fireworks display. The Caviteńos allegedly mistook this as the
signal to commence with the attack. The 200 men contingently led by Sergeant Lamadrid
attacked Spanish officers at sight and seized the arsenal. Izquierdo, upon learning of the
attack, ordered the reinforcement of the Spanish forces in Cavite to quell the revolt. The
“revolution” was easily crushed, when the Manileńos who were expected to aid the
Caviteńos did not arrive. Leaders of the plot were killed in the resulting skirmish, while
Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were tried by a court-martial and sentenced to be
executed.
 Others who were implicated such as Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Jose
and Pio Basa and other Filipino lawyers were suspended from the practices of law,
arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Marianas Island. Izquierdo dissolved
the native regiments of artillery and ordered the creation of an artillery force composed
exclusively by Peninsulares.
 February 17, 1872, the GOMBURZA were executed to serve as a threat to Filipino never
to attempt to fight the Spaniards again.

Differing Accounts of the Events of 1872

Two other primary accounts exist that seem to counter the accounts of Izquierdo and Montero.
First the account of Dr. Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera, a Filipino scholar and
researcher, who wrote a Filipino version of the bloody incident in Cavite.

Primary Source: Excerpts from Pardo de Tavera’s Account of the Cavite Mutiny
 According to this account, the incident was merely a mutiny by Filipino soldiers and
laborers of the Cavite arsenal to the dissatisfaction arising from the draconian policies
of Izquierdo, such as the abolition of privileges and the prohibition of the founding of
the school arts and trades for Filipinos, which the General saw as a smokescreen to
creating a political
 Tavera is of the opinion that the Spanish friars and Izquierdo used the Cavite Mutiny
as a way to address other issues by blowing out of portion the isolated mutiny attempt.
During this time, the central government in Madrid was planning to deprive the friars
of all the powers of intervention in matters of civil government and direction and
management of educational institutions. The friars needed something to justify their
continuing dominance in the country and the mutiny provided such opportunity.
 However, the Central Spanish Government introduced an educational decree fusing
sectarian schools run by the friars into a school called the Philippine Institute. The
 decree aimed to improve the standard of education in the Philippines by requiring
teaching positions in these schools to be filled by competitive examinations, an
improvement welcomed by most Filipinos.
 Another account, this time by French writer Edmund Plauchut, complemented
Tavera’s account and analyzed the motivations of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny.

Primary Source: Excerpts from Plauchuts’s Account of the Cavite Mutiny

General La Torre- created a junta composed of high officials including some friars and six
Spanish Officials. At the same time there was created by the government in Madrid a committee
to investigate the same problems submitted to the Manila committee. When the two finished
work, it was found that they came to the same conclusion.
Here is the summary of the reforms they considered necessary to introduce:
1. Changes in tariff at customs and the methods of collection.
2. Removal of surcharges on foreign importations.
3. Reduction of exports fees.
4. Permission for foreigners to reside in the Philippines, buy real estate, enjoy freedom of
worship and operate commercial transports flying the Spanish flag.
5. Establish of an advisory council to inform the Minister of the Overseas Affairs in Madrid
on the necessary reforms to be implemented.
6. Changes in primary and secondary education.
7. Establishment of an Institute of Civil Administration in the Philippines, rendering
unnecessary the sending home of short, term civil officials every time there is a change of
ministry.
8. Study of direct-tax system.
9. Abolition of the tobacco monopoly.
 The arrival in Manila of General Izquierdo put a sudden end to all dreams of reforms the
prosecutions instituted by the new Governor General were probably expected as a result of
the bitter disputes between the Filipino clerics and the friars.
 In regards to schools, it was previously decreed that there should be in Manila a Society of
Arts and Trades to be opened in March of 1871 to repress the growth of liberal teaching.
General Izquierdos suspended the opening of the school the day previous to the scheduled
inauguration.
 The Filipinos had duty to render service on public roads construction and pay taxes every
year. But those who were employed at the maeztranza of the artillery, in the engineering
shops and arsenal of Cavite, were exempted from this obligation from time immemorial.
Without preliminaries of any kind, a decree by the Governor withdrew form such old
employees their retirement privileges and declassified them into the ranks of those who
worked on public roads.
 The friars used the incident as a part of a larger conspiracy to cement their dominance,
which had started to show cracks because of the discontent of the Filipinos. They showcased
the mutiny as part of the greater conspiracy in the Philippines by Filipinos to overthrow the
Spanish Government.

GOMBURZA
 Is the collective name of the three martyred priest Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and
Jacinto Zamora, who were tagged as the mastermind of the Cavite Mutiny. They were
prominent Filipino priest charged with treason and sedition. It is believed that the
Spanish clergy connected the priest to the mutiny as part of the conspiracy to stifle the
movement of secular priest who desired to have their own parishes instead of being
merely assistants to the regular friars. The GOMBURZA were executed by garrote in
public, a scene purportedly witness by a young Jose Rizal.

Case Study 3: Did Rizal Retract?

Jose Rizal is identified as a hero of the revolution for his writings that center on ending
colonialism and liberating Filipino minds to contribute to creating the Filipino nation. The great
volume of Rizal’s lifework was committed to this end, particularly the more influential ones,
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. His essay vilify not the Catholic religion, but friars, the
main agents of injustice in the Philippines society.
Primary Source: Rizal’s Retraction

I declared myself a catholic and in this Religion in which I was born and educated I wish
to live and die.
I retract with all my heart whatever in my words, writings, publications and conduct has been
contrary to my characters as son of the Catholic Church. I believe and I confess whatever he
teaches and I submit to whatever she demands. I abominate Masonry, as the enemy which is of
the Church and as a Society prohibited by the Church. The Diocesan Prelate may, as the Superior
Ecclesiastical Authority, make public this spontaneous manifestation of mine in order to repair
the scandal which my acts may have caused and so that God and people may pardon me.

Manila 29 of December of 1896

Jose Rizal

Four iterations of the text of this Retraction:

1. Was Published in La Voz Espańola
2. Diario de Manila, on the day of the execution.
3. Text appeared in Barcelona, Spain in the magazine La Juventud, a few months after the
execution, February 14 1897. From anonymous writer later revealed to be Fr. Vicente
Balaguer
4. the original text was only found in the Archidiocesan Archives, May 18, 1935

The Balaguer Testimony

Doubts on the retraction document abound especially because only one eyewitness account of
the writing of the document exists- that of the Jesuits friar Fr. Vicente Balaguer. According to his
testimony, Rizal woke up several times, confessed four times attended a Mass, received
communion, and prayed the rosary, all which seemed out of character. But since it is the only
testimony of allegedly a “primary” account that rizal ever wrote a retraction document, it has
been used to argue the authenticity of the document.
Primary Source: Eyewitness Account of the Last Hours of Rizal

 At 7:50 yesterday morning, Jose Rizal entered death Row accompanied by his counsel,
Senior Taviel de Andrade and the Jesuit priest Vilaclara. At the urgings of the former
and moments after entering, he was served a light breakfast. At approximately 9, the
assistant of the Plaza, Senior Maure, asked Rizal if he wanted anything. He replied that
at the moment he only wanted a prayer book, which was brought to him shortly by
Father March.
 Seńor Andrande left death row at 10 and Rizal spoke for long while with the Jesuit
Father March and Vilaclara, regarding religious matters, it seems. It appears that these
two presented him with a prepared retraction on his life and deeds that he refused to
sign. They argued about the matter until 12:30 when Rizal ate some poached egg and a
little chicken. Afterwards he asked to leave to write and wrote for a long time by
himself.
 At 3 in the afternoon, Father March entered the chapel and Rizal handed him what he
had written. Immediately, the chief of the firing squad, Seńor del Fresno and the
assistant of the plaza, Seńor Maure, were informed. They enter death row and together
with Rizal signed the document that the accused had written.
 At 5 this morning of the 30th, the lover Rizal arrived at the prison dressed in morning.
Only the former entered chapel, followed by a military chaplain whose name I cannot
ascertain, Donning his formal clothes and aided by a soldier of the artillery, the nuptials
of Rizal and the woman who had been his lover were performed at the point of death (in
articulo mortis). After embracing him she left, flooded with tears.

Rizal’s Connection to the Katipunan

-is undeniable- in fact, the precursor of the Katipunan as an organization is the La Liga
Filipina, an organization Rizal founded, with Andres Bonifacio as one of its members. But La
Liga Filipina was short-lived as the Spaniards exiled Rizal to Dapitan. Former membersdecided
to hand together to establish the Katipunan a few days after Rizal’s excile on July 7, 1892.
 In 1896, the katipuneros decided to inform Rizal of their plans to launch the revolution,
and sent Pio Valenzuela to visit Rizal in Dapitan. Valenzuela’s account of his meeting
with Rizal have been greatly doubted by many scholars, but according to him, Rizal’s
 objected to the plans saying that doing so would be tantamount to suicide since it would
be difficult to fight the Spaniards who had advance of military resources.
 He added that the leaders of Katipunan must do everything they could to prevent the
spilling of the Filipino Blood. Valenzuela informed Rizal the revolution could
inevitability break out if the Katipunan were to be discovered by the Spaniards. Rizal
Advised Valenzuela that the Katipunan should secure the support of wealthy Filipinos to
strengthen their cause and suggested that Antonio Luna be recruited to direct the military
movement of the revolution.

Case Study 4:Where Did the Cry Rebellion Happen?

 Momentous events swept the Spanish colonies in the late nineteenth century,
Including the Philippines.
 Journalists of the time referred to the phrase “El Grito de Rebelion or “Cry of
Rebellion” to mark the start of these revolutionary event, identifying the places where
it happened.
 In the Philippines, the cry of Rebellion happened in August 1896, northeast of
Manila, where they declared rebellion against the Spanish Government.
 These events are important in the History of colonies that struggled for their
independence against their colonizers.
 Prominent Filipino Historian Teodoro Agoncillo emphasizes the events when
Bonifacio tore the Cedula or tax receipt before the Katipuneros who also did the
same.
 Some writers identified the first military event with the Spaniards as the moment of
the Cry, for which Emilio Aguinaldo commissioned a “Himno de Balintawak” to
inspire the renewed struggle after the Pack of the Biak na Bato failed.

Different Dates and Places of the Cry

 Various account of the Cry give different dates and places.

 A guardia civil, Lt. Olegario Diaz,identified the Cry to have happened in
Balintawak on August 25, 1896.
 Teodoro Kalaw, Filipino Historian, marks the place to be in Kangkong,
Balintawak, on the last week of August 1896.
 Santiago Alvarez, a katipunero and son of Mariano Alvarez, leader of the
Magdiwang faction in Cavite, put the cry in Bahay Toro in Quezon City on
August 24, 1896.
 Pio Valenzuela, known katipunero and privy to many events concerning the
Katipunan stated that the Cry happened in Pugad Lawin in August 23, 1896.
 Historian Gregorio Zaide identified the Cry to have happened in Balintawak on
August 26, 1896.
 Teodoro Agoncillo put it at Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896, according to
statement by Pio Valenzuela.
 Research by historians Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnation and Ramon
Villegas claimed that the event took place in Tandang Sora’s barn in Gulod
Barangay Banlat, Quezon City, on August 24, 1986.

Primary Source: Account of the Cry

The historic First rally of the Philippine Revolution of 1896 occurred at the rustic barrio
of Balintawak, a few kilometers north of the city of Manila. On august 26, 1896, according to
this eyewitness account by Katipunan General Guillermo Masangkay, Bonifacio’s Childhood
Friend. Similarly this date site were American regime, after having consulted the surviving
Katipuneros and prestigious historian at the time. A monument depicting the event was erected
near the site, financed by funds donated by the people, and was inaugurated on September 11,
1911. In his memoirs, General Masangkay recounts the “Cry of Balintawak”.

 August 26, 1896- a big meeting was held in Balintawak at the house of Apolonio
Samson, then the cabeza of the barrio of Caloocan. Among those who attended. I
remember were Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Tomas Remigio, Briccio
Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Pio Valenzuela, Enrique Pacheco and Francisco Carreon.They
were all leaders of the Katipunan and composed the board of directors of the
 organization. Delegates from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite and Morong (now Rizal) was
also present.
 About nine o clock in the morning of August 26, 1896, the meeting was opened with
Andres Bonifacio presiding and Emilio Jacinto acting as Bonifacio’s secretary. The
purpose was to discuss when the uprising was to take place. Teodoro Plata (bonifacio
brother in law), Briccio Pantas, and Pio Valenzuela were all opposed to starting a
revolution too early. Andres Bonifacio sensing that he would lose in the discussion then
left the session hall and talked to the people who were waiting outside for the result of the
meeting of the leaders. He told the people that the leaders were arguing against stating the
revolution early, and appealed to them fiery speech in which he said: “you remember the
fate of our country men who were shot in Bagumbayan. Should we return now to the
towns, the Spaniards will only shoot us. Our organization has been discovered and we are
all marked men. If we don’t start the uprising, the Spaniards will get us anyway. What
then, do you say?”
“Revolt!” the people shouted as one.
Bonifacio then asked the people to give pledge that they were to revolt. He told them that
the sign of slavery of the Filipino were the cedula tax charged each citizen. “If it is true
that you are ready to revolt. I want to see you destroy your cedulas. It will be a sign that
all of us have declared our severance from the Spaniards.”

Reference:
Candelaria, John Lee P., Readings in Philippine History. Quezon City: Rex Book Store Inc., c2018.
 Sorsogon College of Criminology Inc.
3928 Rizal St. Piot Sorsogon City

Readings in Philippine History

Period: Pre-Finals

Social, Political, Economics, and Cultural Issues in the Philippine History

 Evolution of the Philippine Constitution
1897: Constitution of Biak-na-Bato
1899: Malolos Constitution
1935: The Commonwealth Constitution
1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism
1987: Constitution after Martial Law
Attempts to Amend or change the 1987 Constitution
 Policies on Agrarian Reform
Landownership in the Philippines under Spain
Landownership in the Philippines under the Americans
Post- War Interventions toward Agrarian Reform
Agrarian Reform Efforts under Marcos
Post-1986 Agrarian Reform
CARPER and the Future Agrarian Reform in the Philippines
 Evolution of the Philippine Taxation
Taxation in Spanish Philippines
Taxation under Americans
Taxation during the Commonwealth Period
Fiscal Policy from 1946 to Present

Definition of Terms:

Agrarian - relating to cultivated land or the cultivation of land

Bicameral- having two branches or chambers
Cedula – a personal registration tax certificate in the Philippines
Civil Rights- the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality
Dictatorship- is a form of government which one person or a small group possesses absolute
power without effective constitutional limitations.
Executive- the person or branch of a government responsible for putting policies or laws into
effect.
Judicial- belonging to the branch of government that is charged with trying all cases that involve
in the government and with the administration of justice within its jurisdiction.
Legislative- belonging to the branch of government that is charged with such powers as making
laws, levying and collecting taxes and making financial appropriations.
Martial Law- military government, involving the suspension of the ordinary law.
Ministries- is a high government organization, headed by a minister that is meant to manage a
specific sector of public administration.
Parliamentary- relating to, enacted by, suitable for a parliament.
Preamble- the introductory part of a statute or deed stating its purpose, aims and justification.
Sovereignty- supreme power especially over a body politic.
Taxation- is a term for when taxing authority, usually a government, levies or imposes a tax.

Discussion:

Evolution of the Philippine Constitution

The constitution is defined as a set of fundamental principles or established precedents
according to which a state or other organization is governed, thus, the word itself means to be a
part of a whole, the coming together of distinct entities into one group, with the same principles
and ideals. These principles define the nature and extent of government.
 1897: Constitution of Biak-na-Bato
Emilio Aguinaldo established his headquarters in Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan province.
The news immediately spread throughout the country, and the revolutionaries were once more in
high spirits. General llanera, who was in Nueva Ecija, declared his support for Aguinaldo. In
July 1897, Aguinaldo established the Biak-na-Bato Republic and issued a proclamation stating
the following demands:

▪ Expulsion of the friars and the return of the friar lands to the Filipinos
▪ Representation of the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes
▪ Freedom of the press and of religion
▪ Abolition of the government’s power to banish Filipinos
▪ Equality for all before the law.

 A charter based on the Cuban Constitution was also drafted by Felix Ferrer and Isabelo
Artacho. It was signed on November 1, 1897. The Biak-na-Bato Constitution provided for
the establishment of a Supreme council that would serve as the highest governing body of the
Republic. It also outlined certain basic human rights, such as freedom of religion, freedom of
the press, and the right to education. Emilio Aguinaldo and Mariano Trias were elected
Supreme Council president and vice president, respectively.

The Pact of Biak-na-Bato

Pedro Paterno, a Spaniard born in the Philippines volunteered to act as negotiator between
Aguinaldo and Gov. Primo de Rivera Pact of Biak-na-Bato with Pedro Paterno and Emilio
Aguinaldo in order to end the clashes. Paterno’s effort paid off when on, December 15, 1897,
the Pact he sign the Pact as the representative of the revolutionaries, and de Rivera as the
representative of the Spanish government.

The Leaders are:

Emilio Aguinaldo -President

Mariano Trias -Vice President
Antonio Montenegro -Secretary
Baldomero Aguinaldo -Treasurer
Emilio Riego de Dios.

 On December 23, 1897, Generals Celestino Tejero and Ricardo Monet of the Spanish
army arrived in Biak-na-Bato and became hostages of the rebels. A ceasefire was declared by
both camps and an agreement between Aguinaldo and the Spanish forces was made -that the
Spanish government will grant self-rule to the Philippines in 3 years if Aguinaldo went to
exile and surrender his arms. In exchange, Aguinaldo will receive P800,000 (Mexican Pesos)
as remuneration to the revolutionaries and an amnesty. After receiving a partial payment of
P400,000,
 Aguinaldo left for Hong Kong on December 27, 1897. Some Filipino generals, however, did
not believe in the sincerity of the Spaniards. They refused to surrender their arms.
Nevertheless, the Te Deum was still sung on January 23, 1898.

The Biak-na-Bato Pact Fails

The Filipino’s and the Spaniards did not trust each other. As a result, periodic clashes between
the two groups still took place even after Aguinaldo’s departure from the country. The Spanish
did not pay the entire agreed amount.
 1899: Malolos Constitution
Following the declaration of independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 by the Revolutionary
Government, a congress was opened in Malolos, Bulacan Province on Sept. 15, 1898 to draw up
a constitution for the First Philippine Republic.

 The Congress proceeded to elect its officers, namely, Pedro A. Paterno, President;
Benito Legarda, Vice-President; Gregorio Araneta, First Secretary; and Pablo
Ocampo, Second Secretary. On September 29 the Congress ratified the independence
proclaimed at Kawit on June 12, 1898. Aguinaldo partly said in Tagalog:
“ now we witness the truth of what the famous President Monroe said to the effect that the United
States was for the Americans; now I say that the Philippines is for the Filipinos.”

 A committee to draft the constitution was created with Felipe G. Calderon as its most
prominent member. With the advice of Cayetano Arellano, a brilliant mestizo, Calderon
drew up his plans for a constitution, deriving inspiration from the constitutions of
Mexico, Belgium, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil and France.
 In the session of October 8, 1898. Calderon presented the draft of this constitution. A
few other amendments were inserted in the draft constitution before it was sent to
Aguinaldo for approval.
 It was the first republican constitution in Asia. The document stated that the people had
exclusive sovereignty. It stated basic civil rights, separated the church from the state,
and called for the creation of an Assembly of Representatives which would act as the
legislative body. It also called for a Presidential form of government with the president
elected for a term of four years by a majority of the Assembly.
 Aguinaldo declared that this constitution was the first crystallization of democracy in
Asia. He sent ambassadors to the United States, Japan, England, France, and Australia to
seek recognition for his government.
 After promulgating the Malolos Constitution, the Filipino leaders made preparations to
inaugurate the first Philippine Republic.
Primary Source: Preamble of the Political Constitution of 1899

 As a direct challenges to colonial authorities of the Spanish empire, the sovereignty was
retroverted to the people, a legal principle underlying the Philippine Revolution. The
people delegated governmental functions to civil servants while they retained actual
sovereignty.
 The 27 articles of Title IV detail the natural rights and popular sovereignty of Filipinos,
the enumeration of which does not imply the prohibition of any other rights not expressly
stated.
 Title III, Article V also declares that the State recognizes the freedom and equality of all
beliefs, as well as the separation of the church and state. These are direct reactions to
features of the Spanish government in the Philippines, where the friars were dominant
agents of the State.
 The form of government according to, Title II, Article 4 is to be popular, representative,
alternative and responsible and shall exercise three distinct powers- legislative, executive
and judicial. The legislative power was vested in a unicameral body called the Assembly
of the Representatives, members of which are elected for terms of four years.
 Secretaries of the government were given seats in the assembly, which meet annually for
a period of atleast three months.
 Bills could be introduced either by the president or by a member of the assembly. Some
powers not Legislative in nature were also given to the body, such as the right to select its
own officers, right of censure and interpellation, and the right of impeaching the
president, cabinet members, the chief justice of Supreme court and the solicitor-general.
A permanent of the seven elected by assembly, and granted specific powers by the
constitution, was to sit during the intervals between sessions of the assembly.
 Executive power was vested in the president and elected by a constituent assembly of the
Assembly of Representatives and special representatives. The president will serve a term
 of four years without re-election. There was no vice president and in case of a vacancy, a
president was to be selected by the constituent assembly.
 The 1899 Malolos Constitution was never enforeced due to ongoing war. The Philippines
was effectively a territory of the United States upon signing of the Treaty of Paris
between Spain and the United States, transferring sovereignty of the Philippines on
December 10, 1898.
1935: the Commonwealth Constitution
 Right after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in Washington D.C in 1898 that ceded the
Philippines to the US paying the amount of $20, 000, 000 to Spain in the process, and the
eruption of Filipino-American War in 1899, our country was placed under a military
government until 1901 with the passing of the Spooner Amendment, putting an end to the
military rule in the Philippines and replacing it with a civil government with William H.
Taft as the first civil governor.
 The ratification of the Philippine Bill of 1902, which called for the creation of a lower
legislative branch composed of elected Filipino legislators, and the Jones Law in August
1916 gave the Filipinos the opportunity to govern themselves better.
 The First Philippine Assembly, which convened on October 16, 1907, was composed of
educated Filipinos from illustrious clans such as Sergio Osmeña and Manuel L.
Quezon, who revived the issue of immediate independence for the Filipinos and this was
expressed by sending political missions to the US Congress.
 Controversy divided the Philippine legislature with the debate on the acceptance or
rejection of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Bill brought home by Osmeña-Roxas mission
from the US Congress in 1931, which provided for a 10-year transition period before the
granting of Philippine independence.
 The passage of the independence bill resulted in the splitting of the Democrata Party
and Nacionalista Party into two factions; the Pros and Antis. Majority in the legislature
led by Quezon and Recto rejected the said bill, thereby composing the Antis, while the
Pros became the Minority under Osmena, Roxas and others.
 On October 17, 1933, Quezon and others triumphed in this battle as the Philippine
legislature rejected the bill. Quezon eventually brought in from the United States the
Tydings-McDuffie Act (Public Law 73-127) authored by Sen. Millard Tydings and
Rep. John McDuffie, a slightly amended version of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting bill signed
by President Franklin Roosevelt on March 24, 1934.
 The bill set July 4 after the tenth year of the commonwealth as date of Philippine
independence. This was accepted by the Philippine Legislature on May 1, 1934.
 The organization of constitutional Convention that would draw up the fundamental law of
the land based on the American model was one of the salient provisions of the Tydings-
McDuffie Act. Delegates to the convention were subsequently elected in 1934. In the
first meeting held on July 30 at the session of the House of Representatives, Claro M.
Recto was unanimously elected as its President.
 Salient features of the 1935 Constitution include the following: a bicameral legislature
composed of a senate and House of Representatives.
 The President is to be elected to a four-year term together with the Vice-President
without re-election;
 rights of suffrage by male citizens of the Philippines
 who are twenty-one years of age or over
 are able to read and write;
 Extension of the right of suffrage to women within two years after the adoption of
the constitution.
 The draft of the constitution was approved by the convention on February 8, 1935 and
ratified by Pres. Roosevelt in Washington D.C on March 25, 1935.
 Elections were held in September 1935, Manuel L. Quezon was elected as the president
of the Commonwealth.
 The 1935 Constitution provided the legal basis of the Commonwealth Government which
was considered a transition government before the granting of the Philippine
independence with American-inspired constitution; the Philippine government would
eventually pattern its government system after American government. It has been said
that the 1935 Constitution was the best-written Philippine charter ever.
Primary Source: Preamble of the 1935 Commonwealth

 the constitution created by the Commonwealth of the Philippines an administrative body

that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946. It is a transitional administration to
prepare the country toward its full achievement of independence. It originally proven for
a unicameral National Assembly with a president and vice president elected six year term
without re-election.
 It was amend in 1940 to have a bicameral Congress composed of a Senate and House of
Representatives, as well as the creation of independent electoral commission and limited
the term of office of the president and vice president to four years, with one re-election.
 While the dominant influence in the constitution was American, it also bears traces of the
Malolos Constitution, the German, Spanish, and Mexican constitutions, constitutions of
several South American countries, and the unwritten English constitution.
 The was briefly interrupted by the events of the World war II, with the Japanese
occupying the Philippines. Afterward, upon liberation, the Philippines was declared an
independent republic on July 4, 1946.

1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

 In 1965, Ferdinand E. Marcos was elected president. Marcos won the re-election in
1969, in a bid boosted by campaign overspending and use of government funds, in
1967, Philippine Congress passed a resolution calling for a constitutional convention
to change the 1935 Constitution.
 On August 24, 1970, RA No. 6132 was approved setting November 10, 1970 as an
election day for 320 delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Former President
Carlos P. Garcia being elected as convention president. Unfortunately, he died and
was succeeded by another former President Diosdado Macapagal. Before the
convention finished its work, martial law was declared. Marcos cited a growing
communist insurgency.
 The convention started its work rewriting the Constitution on June 1, 1971. The 1935
Constitution, with reference to Malolos Constitution, was made the basis for the
drafting of amendments to the new Constitution. After 15 months, on its 291st plenary
session on November 29, 1972, the convention approved the new proposed charter of
the land. The vote was 273 in favor, 15 against, 27 absent, 1 refuse to vote. There
were no abstentions. The proposed Constitution was signed the following day,
November 30, 1972.
 Earlier on September 21, 1972, Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1081 placing the
entire country under martial law. To broaden the base of citizen participation in the
democratic process, and to afford ample opportunities for the citizenry to express
their views on important matter of local or national concern, Presidential Decree No.
86 was issued on December 3, 1972, creating a Citizens Assembly in each barrio in
municipalities and each district in chartered cities throughout the country.
 Presidential Decree No. 86A was issued on January 5, 1973 defining the role of
barangays (formerly Citizens Assemblies). It provides that the barangay created un
PD 86 shall constitute the base for citizen’s participation in governmental affairs and
their collective views shall be considered in the formulation of national policies or
programs and whenever practicable, shall be translated into concrete and specific
decisions.
 Under the same decree, the barangays were conduct a, referendum on national issues
between January 10 and 15,1973. Pursuant to PD 86A, the following question were
submitted before the Citizens Assemblies or Barangays:
1. Do you approved of the new Constitution?
2. Do you still want a plebiscite to be called to ratify the new Constitution?
 The results revealed that 14,976,561 members of all the Barangays voted for the
adoption of the proposed Constitution, as against 743,869 who voted for its rejection. On
question as to whether or not the people would still like a plebiscite to be called to ratify the
new Constitution. 14, 298,814 answered that there was no need for a plebiscite.
 On the basis of the members of the Barangays were in favor of the new Constitution and upon
the strong recommendation of the Katipunan ng mga Barangay, Marcos issued Proclamation
No. 1102 on January 17, 1973 certifying and proclaiming that the Constitution proposed by
 the 1971 Constitutional Convention had been ratified by the Filipino people in a viva voce
vote and thereby come in effect.
 The 1973 Constitution was amended by the following:
 the first, in 1976 gave the President , Legislative powers even if the Intecrim
Batasang Pambansa was already operating.
 The second, in 1980 was not significant. It merely raised the requirement of
justices of the Supreme Court from 65 to 70 as to keep Fernando for 5 more
years.
 The third, in 1980 changed the form of government form Parliamentary to
Presidential.
 The fourth, in 1984, responded the succession problem by proving for a Vice
President
 The 1973 Constitution, promulgated after Marcos declared of Martial Law, was
supposed to introduce a parliamentary style government. Legislative power was
vested in a unicameral National Assembly whose members were elected for six year
terms. The President was ideally elected as the symbolic and purely ceremonial head
of state chosen from amongst the members of the National Assembly for six-year
term and could be re-elected to an unlimited number of terms.
 Executive power was meant to be exercised by the Prime Minister who was also
elected from amongst the sitting Assemblymen. The Prime Minister was to be the
head of the government and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces but the set
up was subsequently amended. The 1976 amendment are:
 An Intercrim Batasang Pambansa (IBP) substituting for the Interim
National Assemby;
 The President would also become the Prime Minister and he would continue to
exercise legislative powers until such time martial law was lifted.
 Other amendment authorized the President to legislative on his own on an emergency
basis:
Whenever in the Judge of the President there exists a grave emergency or treat
imminence thereof, or whatever the IBP fails or unable to act adequately on any matter
for any reason that in his judgment requires immediate action, he may in order to meet
the exigency, issue the necessary decrees, orders or letters of instructions, which shall be
form part of the law of the land.
 In the 1981 amendment, the false parliamentary system was formally modified into a French-
style semi-presidential system
 Executive power was restored to the President
 Direct election of the President was restored
 An executive Committee composed of the Prime Minister and not more the 14
members was created to “assist the President in the exercise of his powers and
functions in the cabinet.
 While the 1973 Constitution ideally provided for a true parliamentary system in practice,
Marcos had made use of subterfuge and manipulation in order to keep executive powers
for himself, rather than devolving these to the Assembly and the cabinet headed by the
Prime Minister.
The end result was the final form of the 1973-after all amendments and subtle
manipulations- were merely the abolition of the Senate and a series of Cosmetic
rewordings.
 The old American-derived terminology was replaced by names more associated with
parliamentary government:
 The House of Representative became known as the “ Batasang Pambansa”
 Departments became “ Ministries” and their cabinet secretaries became known as
the “ cabinet ministries” with the President Assistant- the Executive Secretary-
being styled the “ Prime Minister”
 Marcos purported parliamentary system in practice functioned as an Authoritarian
Presidential System with all real power concentrated in hands of the President but with
the promise that such was constitutional.
 1987: Constitution after Martial Law

President Corazon Aquino’s government had three options regarding the constitution:
revert to the 1935 Constitution, retain the 1973 Constitution and be granted the power to
make reforms, or start a new and break from the “vestiges of the disgraced dictatorship”.
They decided to make a new constitution that according to the president herself, should be
“truly reflective of the aspirations and ideals of the Filipino People.”
 March 1986, President Aquino proclaimed a transitional constitution to last for a year
while a Constitutional Commission drafted a permanent constitution. This called the
Freedom Constitution, maintained many provision of the old one, including the
rewritten form the presidential right to rule by decree.
 In 1986, a constitutional convention was created, composed of 48 members appointed by
President Aquino from varied backgrounds and representations. The convention drew up
a permanent constitution, largely restoring the setup abolished by Marcos in 1972 but
with new ways to keep the president in check, a reaction to the experience of Marco’s
rule. The new Constitution was officially adopted on February 2, 1987.
 The constitution begins with a preamble and eighteen self-contained articles. It
established the Philippine as a “democratic republican State” were “sovereignty resides in
the people and all government authority emanates from them.” It allocates governmental
powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government.
 The Executive Branch is headed by the president and his cabinet, whom he appoints. The
president is head of the state and the chief executive, but his power is limited by
significant checks from two other co-equal branches of government especially during
times of emergency. This is put in place to safeguard the country from the experience of
martial law despotism during the presidency of Marcos.
 The legislative power resides in a Congress divided into two House:
 The Senate
 The House of Representatives
 The 24 senators are elected at large popular vote, and can serve no more than two
consecutive six-year terms. The house is composed of the district representatives
representing a particular geographic area and make up around 80% of the total number of
representatives. There are 234 legislative districts in the Philippines that elected their
representatives to serve three-year terms.
 The 1987 Constitution created a party-list system to provide spaces for the participation
of under-represented community sectors or groups. Party-list representatives may fill up
not more than 20% of the seats in the House.
 The Philippine Court system is vested with the power of the judiciary, and is composed
of a Supreme Court and Lower courts as created by law. The Supreme Court is a 15
member court appointed by the president without the need to be confirmed by Congress.
 The Supreme Court justice may hear on appeal, any cases dealing with the
constitutionally of any law, treaty, or decree of the government, cases where questions of
Jurisdiction or judicial error are concerned, or cases where the penalty is sufficiently
grave. It may also exercise original jurisdiction over cases involving government or
international officials. The Supreme court is also charge of overseeing the functioning
and administration of the lower courts and their personel.
 The constitution also established three independent Constitutional Commission namely,
1. Civil Service Commission, a central agency in charge of Government Personnel.
2. Commission on Election, mandated to enforce and administer all election law
and regulations
3. Commission on Audit, which examines all funds, transaction, and property
accounts of the government and its agencies.
 To further promote the ethical and lawful conduct of the government, the Office of the
Ombudsman was created to investigate complaints that pertain to public corruption,
unlawful behavior of public officials, and other public misconduct. The Ombudsman can
charge public officials before the Sandiganbayan, a special court created for the purpose.

Changing the Constitution is a perennial issue that crops up and terms such as “Cha-Cha”, “
Con-Ass”, and “ Con-Con” are regularly thrown around the Article XVII of the 1987
Constitution provides three ways by which the Constitution can be changed.
 1. Congress (House of Representatives and the Senate) may convene as a Constituent
Assembly (Con-Ass) to propose amendments to the Constitution. It is not clear, However
if the Congress is to vote as a single body or separately. How the Congress convenes as a
“Con-Ass” is also not provided for in the Constitution.
2. Constitutional Convention (Con-Con), where the congress, upon a vote of two thirds of
all its members, calls for a constitutional convention. They may also submit to the
electorate the question of calling a convention through a majority vote of all its member.
In Con-Con delegates will propose amendments or revisions to the constitution, not
Congress. The 1987 Constitution does not provide for a method by which delegates to the
Con-Con are chosen.
3. People’s Initiative or (PI). In this method, amendments to the Constitution may be
proposed by the people upon a petition of at least 12% of the total numbered of registered
voters. All legislative districts must be represented by at least 12% of the registered
voters therein. No amendment is allowed more than once every five years since a
successful PI. The 1987 Constitution directs the Congress to enact a law to implement
provisions of the PI, which has not yet materialized.
Amendments or revision to the constitution shall be valid only when ratified by a majority of
the votes cast in national referendum.

Attempts to Amend or Change the 1987 Constitution

 The 1987 Constitution provided for three methods by which the Constitution can be
amended, all requiring ratification by a majority vote in a national referendum. These
methods were Constituents Assembly, Constitutional Convention and People’s
Initiative.
 These methods were modes, there were efforts to amend or change the 1987 Constitution,
starting with the Presidency of Fidel V. Ramos who Corazon Aquino.
 The first attempt was in 1995 when the secretary of National Security Council Jose
Almonte drafted a Constitution, but it was exposed to the media and it never prospered.
 The second effort happened in 1997, when the group called PIRMA hoped to gather
signature from voters to change the constitution through a people’s initiative. Many were
against this, including then Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who brought the issue to
court and won with the Supreme Court judging that a people’s initiative cannot push
through without an enabling law.
 The succeeding President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, formed a study commission to
investigate the issue surrounding charter change focusing on the economic and judiciary
provisions of the constitution. This effort was also blocked by different entities.
 After President Joseph Estrada was replaced by another People Power and succeeded by
his Vice President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, then the house speaker Jose De Venecia
endorsed constitutional Change through a Constituent Assemby, which entails a two
thirds vote of the House to propose amendments or revision to the Constitution.
 This initiative was also not successful since the term of President Arroyo was mired in
controversy and scandal, including the possibility of Arroyo extending her term as
president, which the constitution does not allow.
 The administration of the succeeding President Benigno Aquino III had no marked
interest in charter change, except those emanating from different members of the
Congress, including the Speaker of the House, Feliciano Belmonte Jr., who attempt to
introduce amendments to the Constitution that concern economic provisions that aim
toward liberalization.

Landownership in the Philippines under the Americans

The Americans were aware that the main cause of social unrest in the Philippines was
landlessness, and they attempted to put an end to the deplorable conditions of the tenant farmers
by passing several land policies to increase the small landholders and distribute ownership to a
bigger number of Filipino tenants and farmers.

 The Philippine Bill 1902 provided regulations on the disposal of public lands. A private
individual may own 16 hectares of land while corporate landholders may have 1,024
hectares. Americans were also given rights to own agricultural lands in the country.
 The Philippine Commission also enacted Act No. 496 or the Land Registration Act,
which introduced the Torrens System to address the absence of earlier records issue land
titles and conduct accurate land surveys.
 In 1903, the homestead program was introduced, allowing tenant to enter into an
agricultural business by acquiring a farm of at least 16 hectares. This program, however
was limited to areas in Northern Luzon and Mindanao, where colonial penetration had
been difficult for Americans, a problem they inherited from the Spaniards.
 Landownership did not improve during the American period; in fact it even worsened,
because there was no limit to the size of holdings people could possess and the
accessibility of possession was limited to those who could afford to buy, register and
acquire fixed property titles.
 This early land reform program was also implemented without support mechanism-if a
landless peasant farmer received a land, he only received land, nothing more. Many were
forced to return tenancy and wealthy Filipino hacienderos purchased or forcefully took
over lands from farmers who could not afford to pay their debts.
 The system introduced by the American enabled more lands to be placed under tenancy,
which led to widespread peasant uprisings, such as the Colorum and Sakdal Uprising in
Luzon.
 Peasant and workers found refuge from millenarian movements that gave them hope that
change could still happen through militancy.
 During the years of the Commonwealth government the situation further worsened as
peasant uprising increased and landlord-tenant relationship became more disparate.
 President Quezon laid down a social justice program focused on the purchase of
haciendas, which were divided and sold to tenants.
 His administration also created the National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC) to
assign public defenders to assist peasants in court battles for their rights to the land, and
the Court of Industrial Relations to exercise jurisdiction over disagreements arising from
landowner- tenant relationship.
 The homestead program also continued through the National Land Settlement
Administration (NLSA). Efforts toward agrarian reform by the Commonwealth failed
because of many problems such as budget allocation for the settlement program and
widespread peasant uprisings.

Post-War Intervention toward Agrarian Reform

 Rehabilitation and rebuilding after the war were focused on providing solutions to the
problem of the past. The administration of President Roxas passed Rebulic Act No.
34 to establish a 70-30 sharing agreement between tenant and landlord, respectively
which reduced the interest of landowner’s loans to tenants at six percent or less.
 The government also attempt to redistribute hacienda lands, falling prey to the woes
of similar attempts since no support was given to small farmers who were given
lands.
 Under the term of President Elpidio Quirino, the Land Settlement Development
Corporation (LASEDECO) was established to accelerate and expand the resettlement
program for peasant. This agency later on became the National Resettlement and
Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) under the administration of President
Ramon Magsaysay.
 Magsaysay saw the importance of pursuing genuine land reform program and
convinced the Congress, majority of which were landed elites, to pass legislation to
improve the land reform situation.
 Republic Act No. 1199 or the Agricultural Tenancy Act was passed to govern the
relationship between landholders and tenant farmers, protecting the tenurial right of
tenants and enforced tenancy practices. Through this law, the Court of Agricultural
Relation was created in 1955 to improve tenancy security, fix the land rentals of
tenanted farms, and resolve land disputes filed by the landowners and peasant
organizations.
 The Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration (ACCFA) was
also created mainly to provide ware house facilities and assist farmers in marketing
their products. The administration spearheaded the establishment of the Agricultural
and Industrial Bank to provide easier terms in applying for homestead and other
farmlands.
  NARRA accelerated the government’s resettlement program and distribution of
agricultural lands to landless tenants and farmers. It also aimed to convince members
of the Huks, a movement of rebels in Central Luzon to resettle in areas where they
could restart their lives as peaceful citizens.
 Despite a more vigorous effort toward agrarian reform, the situation for the farmers
remained dire since the government lacked funds and provided inadequate support
services for the programs.
 A major stride in land reform arrived during the term of President Diosdado
Macapagal through the Agrarian Land Reform Code (Republic Act No. 3844)

Primary Source: Declaration of Policy under RA No. 3844 or Agricultural Land

Reform Code
1. To establish owner-cultivatorship and the economic family-size farm as the basis
of Philippine agriculture and as a consequence, divert landlord capital in
agriculture to industrial development;
2. To achieve a dignified existence for the small farmers free from pernicious
institutional restrains and practices;
3. To create a truly social and economic structure in agriculture conductive to
greater productivity and higher farm incomes;
4. To apply all labor laws equally and without discrimination to both industrial and
agricultural wages earners;
5. To provide a more vigorous and systematic land resettlement program and public
land distribution;
6. To make the small farmers more independent self-reliant and responsible citizens
and a source of genuine strength in our democratic society.

Agrarian Reforms Efforts under Marcos

 President Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, enabling him to essentially wipe out the
landlord-dominated Congress. Through his “technocrats” he was able to expand
executive power to start a “fundamental restructuring” of the government, including its
effort in solving the deep structural problems of the countryside.
 Presidential Decree No. 27 or the Code of Agrarian Reform during Marcos regime.

Primary Source: Presidential Decree No. 27, 21 October 1972

 The tenant farmer, whether in land classified as landed estate or not shall be deemed
owner of a portion constituting a family size farm of five hectares if not irrigated and 3
hectares if irrigated.
 In all cases, the landowner may retain an area of not more than seven (7) hectares if such
landowner is cultivating such area or will now cultivate it;
 For the purpose of determining the cost of the land to be transferred to the tenant-farmer
pursuant to this Decree, the value of the land shall be equivalent to two and one-half (2½)
times the average harvest of the three normal crop years immediately preceding the
promulgation of this Decree;
 The total cost of the land, including the interest at the rate of six (6) per centum per
annum, shall be paid by the tenant in fifteen (15) years of fifteen (15) equal annual
amortizations;
 In case of default, the amortizations due shall be paid by the farmers’ cooperative in
which the defaulting tenant-farmer is a member, with the cooperative having a right of
recourse against him; The government shall guaranty such amortizations with shares of
stock in government-owned and government-controlled corporations;
 No title to the land owned by the tenant-farmers under this Decree shall be actually
issued to a tenant-farmer unless and until the tenant-farmer has become a full-pledge
member of a duly recognized farmer’s cooperative;
 Title to land acquired pursuant to this Decree or the Land Reform Pragram of the
Government shall not be transferable except by hereditary succession or to the
Government in accordance with the provisions of this Decree, the Code of Agrarian
Reforms and other existing laws and regulations;
 The Department of Agrarian Reform through its Secretary is hereby empowered to
promulgate rules and regulations for the implementation of this Decree
“Operation Land Transfer” on lands occupied by tenants of more than seven hectares on rice
and corns land commenced, and through legal compulsion and an improved delivery of
support services to small farmers, agrarian reform seemed to be finally achievable.

Under the rice self-sufficiency program “ Masagana’ 99”, farmers were able to borrow from
banks and purchase three hectares plots of lands and agricultural inputs. However, the
landlord class still found ways to circumvent the law. Because only rice lands were the focus
of agrarian reform, some landlords only needed to change crops to be exempted from the
program, such as coconut and sugar lands.

Lands worked by wage labor were also exempt from the program, so landed elite only had to
evict their tenants and hire workers instead. Landless increased, which made it all more
difficult for the program to succeed because landless peasants were excluded from the
program. Many other methods were employed by the elite to find way to maintain their
power and dominance, which were worsened by the corruption of Marcos and his cronies
who were also involved in the agricultural sector.

POST-WAR 1986 AGRARIAN REFORM

 On July 22, 1987, Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation 131 and Executive Order
229, which outlined her land reform program.
 In 1988, the Congress passed Republic Act No. 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law (CARL), which introduced the program with the same name
(Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP).It enable the retribution of the
agricultural lands to tenant-farmers from landowners, who were paid in exchange by
the government through just compensation and allowed them to retain not more than
five hectares.
 Corporate landowners were, however allowed under law to voluntary divest a
proportion of their capital stock, equity, or participation in favor of their workers or
other qualified beneficiaries instead of turning over their land to the government.
 CARP was limited because it accomplished very little during the administration of
Aquino. It only accomplished 22.5% of land distribution in six years owing to the
fact that Congress, dominated by landed elite was unwilling to fund the high
compensation costs of the program. It will also mired controversy, since Aquino
seemingly bowed down to the pressure of her relatives by allowing the stock
redistribution option. Hacienda Luisita reorganize itself into a corporation and
distributed stock to farmers.
 Under the term of President Ramos, CARP Implementation was speeded in order to
meet ten year time frame, despite limitations and constraints in funding, logistics and
participation of involved sectors.
 By 1996, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) distributed only 58.25% of the
total area target to be covered by the program.
 To address the lacking funding and dwindling time for the implementation of CARP,
Ramos signed Republic Act No. 8532 to amend CARL and extend he program to
another ten years.

CARPER AND THE FUTURE OF AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE PHILIPPINES

 The new deadline of CARP expired in 2008, leaving 1.2 million farmer beneficiaries and
1.6 million hectares of Agricultural land to be distributed to farmers.
 In 2009, President Arroyo signed the Republic Act No. 9700 or the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) the amendatory law that
extended deadline to five more years.
 Section 30 of the Law also mandates that any case and or proceeding may remain
pending on June 30, 2014 shall be allowed to proceed its finality and executed even
beyond such date.
  From 2009 to 2014, CARPER has distributed a total of 1 million hectares of land to
900,000 farmer beneficiaries. After 27 years of land undistributed. The DAR and the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are the government agencies
mandated to fulfill CARP and CARPER, but even the combined effort and resources of
the two agencies have proved incapable of fully achieving the goals of agrarian reform in
the Philippines.

Evolution of Philippine Taxation

Taxation

 is the process by which the Sovereign, through its law making body, races revenues use
to defray expenses of government.
 It is a means of government in increasing its revenue under the authority of the law,
purposely used to promote welfare and protection of its citizenry.
 It is the collection of the share of individual and organizational income by a government
under the authority of the law.
Purpose & Significance of Tax

Primary Sources: generates funds or revenues use to defray expenses incurred by the
government in promoting the general welfare of its citizenry. Public expenditure.

Other purposes: to equitably contribute to the wealth of the nation.

What is the history of tax?

- To support the colony, several taxes and monopolies were established. The “buwis”
(tribute), which could be paid in cash, or kind with tabacco, chicken, produce gold,
blankets, cotton, rice, or other products depending on the region of the country.
- Also there was a” bandala” (from the tagalog term “mandala”, around stack of rice
stalk to be threshed) an annual forced sale and requisitioning of goods such as rice.
Taxation in Spanish Philippines

Taxes imposed by the Spanish Government in the Philippines. Taxes during the Spanish
Period was compulsory. All the Spanish Colonies in America and Philippines were required to
pay taxes for two reasons:

1. As recognition of Spains Sovereignty over the Colonies.

2. To defray the expenses of pacification (the act of forcibly suppressing hostility within the
colonies) and governance, thereafter.
 Tributo- was a general tax paid by the Filipinos to Spain which amounted to
eight reales. Those who were required to pay the tribute the:
a) 18 to 50 years old males
b) The carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths, tailors and shoe makers
c) Town workers such as those in road construction and those whose is
public in nature.
 Sanctorum- was a tax in the amount of 3 reales. These were required for the cost
of Christianization, including the construction of the churches and the purchase of
materials for religious celebrations.
 Donativo- was the tax in the amount of half real for the military campaign of the
government against the muslims, In the later years, however the amount collected
from donavito was almost exclusively used for the Spanish fort in Zambuanga.
 Caja de comunidad was a tax collected in the amount of 1 real for the incurred
expenses of the town in the construction of roads, repair of bridges, or the
improvement of public buildings.
  Polo y servicio is the system of forced labor which evolved within the framework
of the encomienda system, introduced into the South American colonies by the
Conquistadores and Catholic priest in almost all of the Spanish Colonial
government around the world. Polo y servicio is forced the for 40 days of men
ranging from 16 to 60 years of ages who were obligated to give personal services
to the community projects. One could be exempted from polo by paying the falla(
corruption of the Spanish Falta, meaning “absence”) a daily fine of one and a half
real.
 Bandala System-implemented by Spanish authorities in the Philippines that
required native Filipino farmers to sell their good to the government.

TAX REFORM OF 1884

One of the good reforms which Spain introduced in the 19th century was the Tax
reform of 1884, as provided by the Royal Decree on March 6, 1884, this tax reform
contained two important provisions.

1. Abolition of the hated Tribute and its replacement of Cedula Tax

2. Reduction of the 40 day annual forced labor (polo) to 15 days.
Cedula Personales

Cedulas were first issued based on the Royal Decree on March 6, 1884. All men and
women residents of the island. Spanish, foreigners and natives who were over 18 years
old were required to obtain a cedula. The only exception were the Chinese who paid
another poll tax, the remontados d infeles that were not subject to local administration,
and the natives and the colonist of the archipelago of Jolo and other islands of Balabac
and Palawan.

All in all, there were 16 different classes of cedulas. Originally, there were 9 classes
taxed rates of taxes ranged from 150 to 25 pesos and a tenth, grantis, for priest, soldier
and privileged classes.

1878-two direct taxes were added.

Urbana-tax on the annual rental value of urban real state.

Industria- tax on salaries, dividends and profits.

TAXATION UNDER THE AMERICANS

1898-1903- The Americans followed the Spanish system of taxation with some
modification.

Internal Revenue Law of 1904-passed as reaction to the problem regarding collection of

land tax. It prescribed ten major sources of revenue:

1. License taxes on firms dealing with alcoholic beverages and tobacco.

2. Excise tax on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
3. Taxes banks and bankers
4. Documentary stamp taxes
5. The Cedula
6. Taxes on insurance and insurance companies
7. Taxes on forest products
8. Mining concessions
9. Taxes on business and manufacturing
10. Occupational licenses.
 In 1907 some provinces were authorized to double the fee for the cedula to support the
construction and maintenance of roads.

In 1913, the Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act was passed, resulting to a reduction in the
revenue of the government as export taxes levied on sugar, tobacco, hemp, and copra
were lifted.

Governor General Francis Burton Harrison- urged that tax recipient be increased to
make up for the loss of revenue.

New sources of revenues were introduced later on. In 1914, income tax was created. In
1932, national lottery was establish to create more revenue for the government

TAXATION DURING COMMONWEALTH PERIOD

 In 1936, income tax rates were increased. Income tax rates of corporations were also
increased.
 In 1937, cedula tax was abolished but in 1940, a residence tax was imposed on every
citizen aged 18 years old and in every corporations.
 In 1939, the Commonwealth government drafted the National Revenue Code.
1. The normal tax of three percent and the surtax on income was replaced by a
single tax a progressive rate.
2. Personal exemptions were reduced
3. Corporation income tax was slightly increased by introducing taxes on
inherited estates of gifts donated in the name of dead person.
4. The cumulative tax was replaced by a single turnover tax of 10% on luxuries.
5. Taxes on liquors, cigarettes, forest products, and mining were increased.
6. Dividends were made taxable.

FISCAL POLICY FROM 1946 TO PRESENT

 Although the Philippines was declared independent by the American government, but the
country needed financial support from the American government to support the
rehabilitation of the country.
 In 1949, there was a severe lack of funds in the many aspect of governance such as
military and educational sectors. United States advice to adoption of direct taxation but
the President Manuel Roxas declined the proposal.
 Economic growth came during the administration of President Elpidio Quirino, through
implementation of import and exchange controls that led to import substitution
development.
 The period of post war also saw rise in corruption.
 From 1959-1968, Congress did not pass any tax legislation despite important changes in
the economy and the vested interests of Filipino businessmen in Congress will manifest
in many instances such as the rejection of taxes imports.
 Under the Marcos regime, the tax system remains regressive, 70% of tax collection was
from indirect tax system.
 As Corazon Aquino took the helm of the government after the EDSA Revolution, she
reformed the system through the 1968 Tax Reform Program. A major reform tax system
introduced under the term of Aquino, was the introduction of valued-added tax (VAT).
The VAT law was signed in 1986 and was put effect in 1988.
 The succeeding term of Joseph Estrada was too short to effect any change in the tax
system.
 In Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term, she undertook increased government spending
without adjusting tax collections. This resulted to large deficits from 2002-2004. The
government had took for additional sources of revenue. In 2005, the Expanded Value
Added Tax (E-VAT) was signed as a Republic Act 9337. This expanded the VAT base,
 subjecting to VAT energy products such as electricity, coal, and petroleum products VAT
rate also increased from 10% to 12%
 In President Benigno Aquino III succeeded President Arroyo in 2010, he promised that
no new taxes will be imposed. The administration venture into the adjustment of excise
tax on liquors and cigarettes or the Sin Tax Reform.
 The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte promised tax reforms particularly on
income tax as it vowed to lower income taxes shoulder by the working Filipino. The
proposed tax reform also seek to limit VAT exemptions and increase excise taxes on
petroleum products and automobiles.

References:

https://www.philippine-history.org/biak-na-bato.htm
https://www.filipinoamericanwar.com/maloloscongress.htm
http://nhcp.gov.ph/the-constitution-of-the-philippinecommonwealth
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1972/10/21/presidential-decree-no-27-s-1972/
https://www.scribd.com/document/433111087/Taxation-and-Fiscal-Policy
Candelaria, John Lee P., Readings in Philippine History. Quezon City: Rex Book Store Inc., c2018.
 Sorsogon College of Criminology Inc.
3928 Rizal St. Piot Sorsogon City

Readings in Philippine History

Period: Finals

Doing History: A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS

 Doing Historical Research Online

 Doing Historical Research in Libraries and Archives
 Doing Life Histories and Biographical Research
 Doing Local and Oral History
 Interacting with History through Historical Shrines and Museums

DEFINITION OF TERMS:

Archives- a collection of documents and records that contain historical information.

Artifacts-an object made by human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

Cyberspace- the notional environment in which communication over computer networks occurs.

Internet- is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet
Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to communicate.

Local History- is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates
on the local community.

OPAC- is an online database of materials held by a library or group of libraries.

Search engine- is a software system that designed to carry out web search, which means to
search the World Wide Web in systematic way for particular information specified in textual
web search query.

Website- a location connected to the internet that maintains one or more pages on the World
Wide Web.

Wikipedia- is a free, web-based encyclopedia project which contains information on a wide

variety subjects which are added by contributors from all over the Internet.

DISCUSSION:

Doing Historical Research Online

 Internet – it is increasingly become the primary means by which anyone would find any
information that they need. With a single click the students are able to access tons and
tons of available information.
 Cyberspace- is a great resource for research if you know how to use it properly.
Remember that just because information is available does not mean you should just get it
and use it right away- appropriating something, such as an idea, as yours is considered
plagiarism, which is one of the worst crimes in the academe. Treat anything you find
 online as a source and use the same historical methods you have learned to analyze the
data you get online.
Search engine websites:

 Yahoo! (www.yahoo,com)
 Google (www.google.com)
Could lead you to a lot of sources with the right search strings. A search string is a combination
of words that you use to come up with relevant, results and lead you to what you are looking for.
The more refined your search string is, the more definite and refined the results will be.

 Google Scholar (www.scholar.google.com)

You may use it to find electronic journal articles, materials from institutional
repositories, and book chapters from many different sources. It could be a good starting
point in building your research by providing an overview of existing published material
for your topic.
 Google Books (www.books.google.com)
Also provides sources for scanned books, where you may be able to read some
chapters for free. This could be useful if you want to know if a certain book
would be useful to your research before going to a physical library to loan the
book or photocopy pages of it.
 Wikipedia- is the biggest open source encyclopedia in the whole of cyberspace.
In 2017, it has 40 million articles in 293 languages. Being an open source
encyclopedia, anyone could contribute or edit articles in the sites, which makes some of
the information in the site unreliable. Nonetheless, Wikipedia provides a useful launch
pad to sources that you may use for research.
Website’s that you may use legally download scanned copies of books and other materials
for free

 Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)

-is the oldest digital library in the world founded in 1971.
- it has more than 50,000 items in its collection, which may include many works
concerning the Philippines, such as the Doctrina Christiana (the first published
book in the Philippines), the published travelogues for foreigners who visited the
Philippines.
 Internet Archives (www.archive.org)
An online library that originally sought to archive web history, but grew later on to
provide digital version of other works. The archive contains 279 billion pages, 11
million books and texts, four million audio recodings, three million videos, 1million
images and 100, 000 software programs.

 Philippines Government Webites (www.gov.ph)

-are starting to be enriched with sources that may be used for historical research,
especially on laws and other government issuances that may be useful when doing
topics of a more contemporary period. Websites of newspapers, magazines,
broadcasting stations, and other media outlets usually keep an archive of their
articles from a particular date. For older issues, you may have to find copies, either
digitized or physical copies in the library.

DOING HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES

Nowadays, libraries have forgone the tedious and antique card cataloguing system and have
been using the digital version to catalog their holdings, called Online Public Access Catalog
(OPAC), sometimes simply the Library Catalog. In this system instead of going through each
entry on physical index cards, a simple search will yield the holdings of the library related to what
you are searching for.

A problem that could arise this way is when the search yields too many results- shifting through
these may need more refined search string using more definite keywords to limit the results.

For example, “Philippine History” as a search string would results in hundreds, even thousands of
materials. Limit to a particular keyword that focus on you topic, such as “Philippine Revolution”,
“Emilio Aguinaldo”, “Declaration of Independence” and other more defined strings.

The National Library of the Philippines, in Ermita, Manila

- provides a rich treasure trove of materials for the student-researcher interested in

Philippine History, especially in their Filipiniana ‘section. It has a valuable Rizaliana
collection, several sets of Blair and Robertson’s the Philippine island” , 1493-1898,
rare Filipiniana books, Philippines Presidential Papers, and other materials that are
accessible to the public, especially to students.
The National Archives of the Philippines, MANILA

- is an agency of the government mandated to collect, store, preserve, and make available
records of the government and other primary sources pertaining to the history and development of
the Philippines.

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHLIPINES IN DILIMAN QUEZON CITY

- have holdings that could be useful in research. The collection particularly in the main library in
Gonzales hall are rich in resources especially in Filipiniana section

OTHER UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES ARE ALSO ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC

 The Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City-holds American Historical Collection.

 The University of Santo Tomas in Exspana, Manila also has collection from the sixteenth
century, owing the fact that it is the oldest Catholic University in the country and is a
historic site itself.
PRIVATE LIBRARIES AND INSTITUTIONS

 The Family History Center at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints is a generous
resource for the research on genealogies.
 The Chinben See Memorial Library in Kaisa Angelo King Herritage ad Filipino-Chinese
in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia.
 The Archdiocesan Archives of Mania has immense Church data sources.

DOING LIFE HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH

 Life history is an oft-neglected subdiscipline of history of history because it is seen as a

trivial to larger narrative of nations, societies, civilizations.
 Individuals influence can span centuries and generations. Individuals can also influence
large and many places.
 The writing of life history should not be limited to great individuals can like heroes,
prophets, or world leaders. Ordinary individuals should also be able to locate themselves
in the pages of history.
 However doing life history is not easy task, the researcher should be able to identify factors
that affected the life of the person he is trying to study.
 Doing life history of an individual will also lead to questions about his family and
genealogy. Family is an important aspect of an individuals. It determines the person’s
socioeconomic status, religious belief, character, interests and values.
  Institutions where the individual belonged should also be looked at in studying his life
history. If the family and the community where belonged will give us clues about his early
life can be understood with certain activities and learning that he had as he affiliated in
different institutions like schools, organizations, fraternity, church, and interest groups.

DOING LOCAL AND ORAL HISTORY

Local History

-is the study of the history of a particular community or smaller unit geography.

 Does local history study local communities? Local Institutions? Local Groups? Local
Heroes?
 Local historians study the history of local institutions like churches. They also study the
local economies, local heroes and local events. Local history, thus is also a broad and
dynamic field of inquiry that aims to have an in-depth understanding of a certain locale.
 Local history can serve as a balancer of these tendencies by showing the peculiarities in
certain locales in a particular nation, region or continent. Studying Local History can
provide new and alternative interpretations on the different aspects of a nation’s history.
 Local history also facilitates a historical narrative emanating from the people. Historians
call this the history below. Ultimately, studying local history shall provide new provisions
and perspectives on the already established national history.
 Doing Local History, however is not an easy task. Despite the seemingly smaller scope of
the study, historians are often faced with challenges in locating sources for local and pecific
objects of study.
 One important historical methodology to local history is oral history.
Oral history

- The important in the midst of scarcity in written sources, historical documents and other
materials evidences. This method uses oral accounts of the historical subject, witness,
members of the communities and the like.
- Oral history primarily relies on memory. The subject or the other informant will recount
his experiences to the researcher as he remembers it.
- This nature and definition of oral history caused positivist historian or those who
subscribe to the belief that history should be primarily based on written documents to
criticize the methods of oral history.
- However, one cannot discount the importance of oral history in writing the history of
under privileged sectors and communities like the urban poor or indigenous peoples.
These groups are usually left out on records. They were undocumented because of their
status. In these instances it is the task of the historian to search for alternative methods
that will capture the experience and collective pasts of these communities.
- Local and oral History are important endeavors in the development and enrichment in
the discipline of history. These efforts fill the gaps in the discipline by highlights
alternative areas of the study and methodology toward a more holistic, inclusive and
progressive study of our past.
INTERACTING WITH HISTORY THROUGH HISTORICAL SHRINES AND
MUSEUMS

 Historical shrines and Museums serve as the portals to the past. But one must also
take note that visiting a museum entails preparation. In the course of your study,
you are bound to visit one or two of these sites. Once you know what you will be
visiting, it is essentials to do a background reading on the place you will visit so
that you may know what to expect and you can situate the importance of the place
you will be visiting in the national historical narrative.
 Upon arriving the historical shrine or museum one thing that you can do is to look
for the historical marker. These markers put up by the National Historical
 Commission of the Philippines (NHCP, or formerly National Historical Institute
or NHI) provide the basic details on what makes certain site historical.
 Shrines and museums are lot more interactive now, aided by the available
technology. Take the chance and participate in these interactive opportunities to
experience. This is also great chance to analyze the artifacts since artifacts also
texts that are open for reading, interpretation, criticism and evaluation.

Reference:

Candelaria, John Lee P., Readings in Philippine History. Quezon City: Rex Book Store Inc., c2018.