Module 2

Content and
Contextual Analysis of Mr. Jhon V. Libres
Selected Primary Instructor
Sources
Email Address:
[email protected]

Contact Number:
09208367193

Module Duration:
September 19– October 14, 2022

GE002
Readings in Philippine History
 SAN MATEO MUNICIPAL COLLEGE GE002
General Luna St., Guitnang Bayan I, San Mateo, Rizal Mr. Jhon V. Libres,LPT,MAED
Tel. No. (02) 997-9070
www.smmc.edu.ph

MODULE 2: CONTENT AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED PRIMARY SOURCES

OVERVIEW

Module 2 showcase the complete knowledge of the past through credible and reliable sources
is essential to the understanding and learning of the students of their own history. History must be
studied carefully; hence it necessitates the application of historical method. Historical method is the
process of critically examining and analyzing the records and survivals of the past (Gottschalk, 1969).
The intent of the application of historical method is to make students competent in their
interpretation of facts and critical analysis of historical narrative or account. For this to be achieved,
the students will be engaged in content and contextual analysis of the selected primary sources.
Content analysis is a systematic evaluation of the primary source be it a text, painting, caricature,
and/or speech that in the process students could develop and present an argument based on their
own understanding of the evidence from their readings. The students will identify pertinent information
from the text/document and explain its importance to their understanding of history in the Philippine
setting. Contextual analysis on the other hand, considers specifically the time, place, and situation
when the primary source was written. The analysis as well includes the author's background, authority
on the subject and intent perceptible, and its relevance and meaning to people and society today.
The approach is essential to the enhancement of student's analytical and critical thinking skills and
their ability to articulate their own views on the specific primary source in this chapter. Moreover, for
this to be realized, the selected primary sources which will be utilized are provided and introduced
separately with a brief description for each.

MODULE DURATION: WEEK 3-5

I. Synchronous Learning via virtual meeting (google meet)

II. Asynchronous learning inquiries, you may reach me through messenger
group chat and personal message during our official time.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• To familiarize oneself with the primary documents in different historical periods of the
Philippines
• To learn history through primary sources, and
• To properly interpret primary sources through examining the content and context of the
document

INPUT INFORMATION

1. The First Voyage around the World by Antonio Pigafetta

2. Emilio Jacinto’s Kartilya ng Katipunan
3. The Declaration of Philippine Independence
4. Political Caricature of the American Era (1900-1941)
5. The Speech of President Corazon Aquino before the U.S Congress

LESSON 1: ANTONIO PIGAFETTA’s FIRST VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD

The sequence of events was taken from the chronicles of contemporary voyagers and navigators of the
sixteenth century. One of them was Italian nobleman Antonio Pigafetta, who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan
in his fateful circumnavigation of the world. Pigafetta’s work instantly became a classic that prominent literary
men in the West like William Shakespeare, Michael de Montaigne and Giambattista Vico referred to the book
in their interpretation of the New World. Pigafetta’s travelogue is one of the most important primary sources in
the study of the precolonial Philippines. His account was also a major referent to the events leading to
Magellan’s arrival in the Philippines, his encounter with the local leaders, his death in the lands of Lapulapu’s
forces in the Battle of Mactan, and in the departure of what was left of Magellan’s fleet from the islands.

Examining the document reveals several insights not just in the character of the Philippines during the
precolonial period, but also on how the fresh eyes of the Europeans regards a deeply unfamiliar terrain,
environment, people, and culture. Locating Pigafetta’s account in the context of its writing warrants a familiarity
on the dominant frame of mind in the age of exploration, which pervaded Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth
century.

For this module, we will focus on the chronicles of Antonio Pigafetta as he wrote his firsthand observation
and general impression of the Far East including their experiences in the Visayas. In Pigafetta’s account, their
fleet reached what he called the Ladrones Islands or the “Islands of the Thieves.” He recounted: “These people
have no arms, but use sticks, which have a fish bone at the end. They are poor, but ingenious, and great
thieves, and for the sake of that we called these three islands the Ladrones Islands.”

The Ladrones Islands is presently known as the Marianas Islands. These islands are located south-
southeast of Japan, west-southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guinea, and east of Philippines. Ten days after
they reached Ladrones Islands, Pigafetta 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 a few days. Pigafetta recounted that after two days, March 18, 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 turn, the natives gave them fish, palm wine (uraca), figs, and two cochos. The natives also
gave them rice (umai), cocos, and other food supplies. Pigafetta detailed in amazement and fascination the
palm tree which bore fruits called cocho, and wine. He also described what seemed like a coconut. His
description reads: “This palm produces a fruit name cocho, which is as large as the head, or thereabouts: its first husk
is green, and two fingers in thickness, in it they certain threads, with which they make the cords for fastening their boats.
Under their husk there is another very hard, and thicker than that of a walnut, they burn this second rind, and make with
it a powder which is useful to them. Under this rind there is a white marrow of a finger’s thickness, which they eat fresh
with meat and fish, as we do bread, and it has the taste of an almond, and if anyone dried it he might make bread of it
(p. 72).”

Pigafetta characterized the people as “very familiar and friendly” and willingly showed them different
islands and the names of these islands. The fleet went to Humunu Island (Homonhon) and there they found
what Pigafetta referred to as the “Watering Place of Good Signs.” It is in his place where Pigafetta write that
they found the first signs of gold in the island. They named the island with the enarby island as the archipelago
of St. Lazarus. They left the island, then on March 25th, Pigafetta recounted that they saw two balanghai
(balangay), a long boat full of people in Mazzava/Mazaua. The leader, who Pigafetta referred to as the king of
the balanghai (balangay), sent his men to the ship of Magellan. The Europeans entertained these men and
gave them gifts. When the king of the balangay offered to give Magellan a bar of gold and a chest ginger,
Magellan declined. Magellan sent the interpreter to the king and asked for money for the needs of his ships
and expressed that he came into the islands as a friend and not as an enemy. The king responded by giving
Magellan the needed provisions of food in chinaware. Magellan exchanged gifts of robes in Turkish fashion,
red cap, and gave the people knives and mirrors. The two then expressed their desire to become brothers.
Magellan also boasted of his men in armor who could not be struck with swords and daggers, the king was
fascinated and remarked that men in such armor could be worth one hundred of his men. Magellan also shared
with the king his carts and maps and shared how they found the islands.

After a few days, Magellan was introduced to the king’s brother who was also a king of another island.
They went to this island and Pigafetta reported that they saw mines of gold. The gold was abundant that parts
of the ship and of the house of the second king were made of gold. Pigafetta described this king as the most
handsome of all the men that he saw in this place. He was also adorned with silk and gold accessories like
golden daggerm which he crried with him in a wooded polish sheath. This king was named Raia Calambu, king
of Zuluan and Calagan (Butuan and Caragua), and the first king was Raia Siagu. On March 31st, which
happened to be Easter Sunday Magellan ordered the chaplain to preside a Mass by the shore. The king head
his plana nd sent two dead pigs and attended the Mass with other king, Pigafetta reported that both kings
participated in the mass. He wrote: “...when the offertory of the mass came, the two kings, went to kiss the
cross like us, but they offered nothing, and at the elevation of the body of our Lord they were kneeling like us
and adored our Lord with joined hands.”

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 signs of his emperor and that he was ordered to
plant it in the places that he wo uld reach. Magellan further explained that the cross would be beneficial for
their people because once other Spaniards saw this cross, then they would know that they had been in his
land and would not cause them troubles, and any reason who might be held captives by them would be
released. The king concurred and allowed for the cross to be planted. This Mass would go down in history as
the first Mass in the Philippines, and the cross would be the famed Magellan’s cross still preserved at present
day.

After seven 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 Zzubu (Cebu) and
intended to go there. Raia Calambu offered to pilot them in going to Cebu, the largest and the richest of the
islands. By April 7th of the same year, Magellan and his men reached the port of Cebu. The king of Cebu,
through Magellan’s interpreter, demanded that they pay tribute as it was customary, but Magellan refused.
Magellan said that he was a captain king himself and thus would not pay tribute to other kings. Magellan’s
interpreter explained to the king of Cebu that Magellan’s king was the emperor of a great empire and that it
would do them better t make friends with them than to forge enmity. 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 do the same. Pigafetta recounts: “Then the king said that he was content, and as a greater sign of
affection he sent him a little of his blood from his right arm and wished he should do the like. Our people
answered that he would do it. Besides that, he said that all the captains who came to his country had been
accustomed to make a present to him, and he to them, and therefore they should ask their captain if he would
observe the custom. Our people answer that he would; but as king wished to keep up the custom, let him begin
and make a present, and then the captain would do his duty.

The following day, Magellan spoke before the people of Cebu about peace and God. Pigafetta reported
that the people took pleasure in Magellan’s speech. Magellan then asked the people who would succeed the
king, who his reign and the people responded that the eldest child of the king, who happened to be a daughter,
would be the next in line. Pigafetta also related how the people talked about, how at old age, parents were no
longer taken into accounts and had to follow the orders of their children as the new leaders of the land. Magellan
responded to this by saying that his faith entailed children to render honor and obedience to their parents.
Magellan preached about their faith further and people were reportedly convinced. Pigafetta wrote that their
men were overjoyed seeing that the people wished to become Christians through their free will and bit because
they were forced or intimidated.

On the 14th of April, the people gathered with the king and other principal men of the islands. Magellan
spoke to the king and encouraged him to be a good Christian by burning all the idols and worship the cross
instead. The king of Cebu was then baptized as a Christian. Pigafetta wrote: “To that king and all his people
answered that they would obey the commands of the captain and do all that he told them. The captain took the
king by the hand, and they walked about on the scaffolding, and when he was baptized, he said that he would
him Don Charles (Carlos), as the emperor his sovereign was named; after the brother of the emperor named
the prince Don Fernand (Fernando), after the brother of the emperor, and the King of Mazavva, Jehan: to the
Moor he gave the name of Christopher, and to the others each a name of his fancy.”

After eight days, Pigafetta counted that all of the island’s inhabitants 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 wrote that he would always be faithful to Magellan. When Magellan
reiterated that all of the newly baptized Christians need to burn their idols, but the natives gave excuses telling
Magellan that they need the idols to heal a sick man who was relative to the king. Magellan insisted that they
should instead put their faith to Jesus Christ. They went to the sick man and baptized him. After the baptismal,
Pigafetta recorded that the man was able to speak again. He called this a miracle.

On the 26th of April, Zula, a principal man from the island of Matan (Mactan) went to see 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 im from doing so. Magellan offered
three boats instead and expressed his desire to go 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. The battle began. Pigafetta recounted: “When we reached land we found the islanders fifteen hundred
in number, drawn up in three squadrons; they came down upon us with terrible shouts, two squadrons attacking
us on the lanks, and the third in front. The captain then divided his men in two bands. Our musketeers and
crossbowmen fired for half an hour from a distance, but did nothing, since the bullet and arrow, though they
passed through their shields made of thin wood, and perhaps wounded their arms yet did not stop them. This
captain shouted not to fire, but he was not listened to. The islanders seeing that the shots of our guns did them
little or no harm would not retire, but shouted more loudly, and springing from one side to the other to avoid
our shots, they at the same time drew nearer to us, throwing mud, so that we could hardly defend ourselves.
Some of them cast lances pointed with iron at the captain general.”

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 pierced with a poisoned arrow in his right leg. A few of their
men charged at the natives and tried to intimidate them by burning the entire village but this only enraged the
natives further. Magellan was specifical ly targeted because the natives knew that he was the captain general.
Magellan was hit 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. One native
with a great sword delivered a blow in Magellan’s left leg, brought him face down and the natives ceaselessly
attacked Magellan with lances, swords, and even with their bare hands. Pigafetta recounted the last moments
of Magellan: “Whilst the Indians were thus overpowering him, several times he turned around towards us to
see if we were all in safety, as though his obstinate fight had no object than to give opportunity for the retreat
of his men.”

Pigafetta also said that the king of Cebu who was baptized could have sent help, but Magellan instructed
him not to join the battle and stay in the balangay so that he would see how they fought. The king offered the
people of Mactan gifts of any value and amount in exchange of Magellan’s body, but the chief refused. They
wanted to keep Magellan’s body as a memento of their victory.

Magellan’s 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 he 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 king invited these men to a gathering where he said he would present the jewels that he
would send for the King of Spain. Pigafetta was not able to join the twenty - four men who attended because
he was nursing his battle wounds. It was only a short time when they heard cries and lamentations. The natives
had 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 spare. However, they
refused and would not allow anyone to go to the shore. The fleet departed and abandoned Serrano. They left
Cebu and continued their journey around the world.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Draw a timeline of Ferdinand Magellan as per account of Antonio Pigafetta from their arrival at Zamal now
Samar Island to the death of the Captain General.
LESSON 2: THE KKK AND THE KARTILYA NG KATIPUNAN

The Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or Katipunan is

arguably the most important organization formed in the Philippine history. While anti-colonial movements,
efforts, and organizations had already been established centuries prior to the foundation of the katipunan, it
was only this organization that envisioned:

1) a united Filipino nation that would revolt against the Spaniards for

(2) the total independence of the country from Spain.

Previous armed revolts had already occurred before the foundationof the Katipunan, but none of them
envisioned a unified Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers. For example, Diego Silang was known as
a llocano who took up his arms and led one of the longest running revolts in the country. Silang. however, was
mainly concerned about his locality and referred to himself as El Rey de Ilocos (The King of locos). The
imagination of the nation was largely absent in the aspirations of the local revolts before Katipunan. On the
other hand, the propaganda movements led by the ilustrados like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena,
and Jose Rizal did not envision a total separation of the Philippines from Spain, but only demanded equal
rights, representation and protection from the abuses of the friars. The Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangan
Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or Katipunan is arguably the most important organization formed
in the Philippine history. while anti-colonial movements, efforts and organizations had already been established
centuries prior to the foundation of the Katipunan, it was only this organization that envisioned:

(1) a united Filipino nation that would revolt against the Spaniards for.

(2) the total independence of the country from Spain

Previous armed revolts had already occurred before the foundation of the Katipunan, but none of them
envisioned a unified Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers. For example, Diego Silang was known as
an Ilocano who took up his arms and led the longest running revolts in the country. Silang, however was mainly
concerned about his locality and referred to himself as El Rey de Ilocos (The King of Ilocos). The imagination
of the nation was largely absent in the aspirations of the local revolts before Katipunan. On the other hand, the
propaganda movements led by the Ilustrados like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, and Jose Rizal
did not envision a total separation of the Philippines from Spain, but onl y demanded equal rights,
representation and protection from the abuses of the friars.

In the conduct of their struggle, Katipunan created a complex structure and a define value that would
guide the organization as a collective aspiring for a single. One of the most important Katipunan documents
was the Kartilya ng Katipunan. The original title of the document was “Manga (sic) Aral ng (sic) Katipunan ng
mga A.N.B.” or “Lessons of the Organizations of the Sons of Country.” The document was written by Emilio
Jacinto in the 1896. Jacinto was only 18 years old when he joined the movement. He was a law student at the
Universidad de Santo Tomas. Despite his youth, Bonifacio recognized the value and intellect of Jacinto that
upon seeing that Jacinto’s Kartilya was much better than the Decalogue he wrote, he willingly favored that the
Kartilya be distributed to their fellow Katipuneros, Jacinto became the secretary of the organization and took
charge of the short-lived printing press of the Katipuneros. On 15 April 1897 Bonifacio appointed Jacinto as a
commander of the Katipunan in Northern Luzon. Jacinto was 22 years old. He died of Malaria at a young age
of 24 in the town of Magdalena, Laguna.

The Kartilya can be treated as the Katipunan’s code of conduct. It contains fourteen rules that instruct
the way a Katipunero should behave, and which specific values should he uphold. Generally, the rules stated
in the Kartilya can be classified into two. The first group contains the rules that will make the member an upright
individual and the second group contains the rules that will make the way he treats his fellow men.

Below is the translated version of the rules in Kartilya:

I. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a 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 all 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. Depend on 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 or in the field.
 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 the penalties of life; her (physical) 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’s brothers and sisters, that do not unto the
wife, children, brothers and sisters of thy neighbors.
XIII. Man is not worth because he is asking, 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 a 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 cherishes his fatherland, though he be born in the wilderness and know no tongue but
his own.
XIV. When these rules of conduct 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 have gone before, the fatigues
and the well-paid sufferings 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 understanding the values, ideals, aspirations, and even the ideology
of the organization.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

1. What is the concept of nationalism according to Emilio Jacinto?

________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________.

2. According to Jacinto, who were qualified to join the secret society?

________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________.
LESSON 3: THE DECLARATION OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE

With a government in operation, Aguinaldo thought that it was necessary to declare the independence
of the Philippines. 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.
Mabini, who had by now been made Aguinaldo's unofficial adviser, objected. He based his objection on the
fact that it was more important to reorganize the government in such a manner as to convince the foreign
powers of the competence and stability of the new government than to proclaim Philippine independence at
such an early period. Aguinaldo, however, stood his ground and won. In the town of Cavite-Viejo, Province of
Cavite, this 12th day of June 1898:

BEFORE ME, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, War Counsellor and Special Delegate designated to
proclaim and solemnize this Declaration of Independence by the Dictatorial Government of the Philippines,
pursuant to, and by virtue of, a Decree issued by the Engregious Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy,The
undersigned assemblage of military chiefs and others of the army who could not attend, as well as the
representatives of the various towns, Taking into account the fact that the people of this country are already
tired of bearing the ominous joke of Spanish domination.

Because of arbitrary arrests and abuses of the Civil Guards who cause deaths in connivance with and
even under the express orders of their superior officers who at times would order the shooting of those placed
under arrest under the pretext that they attempted to escape in violation of known Rules and Regulations,
which abuses were left unpunished, and because of unjust deportations of illustrious Filipinos, especially those
decreed by General Blanco at the instigation of the Archbishop and friars interested in keeping them in
ignorance for egoistic and selfish ends, which deportations were carried out through processes more
execrable than those of the Inquisition which every civilized nation repudiates as a trial without hearing.

Had resolved to start a revolution in August 1896 in order to regain the independence and sovereignty
of which the people had been deprived by Spain through Governor Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who, continuing
the course followed by his predecessor Ferdinand Magellan who landed on the shores of Cebu and occupied
said Island by means of a Pact of Friendship with Chief Tupas, although he was killed in the battle that took
place in said shores to which battle he was provoked by Chief Kalipulako ** of Mactan who suspected his evil
designs, landed on the Island of Bohol by entering also into a Blood Compact with its Chief Sikatuna, with the
purpose of later taking by force the Island of Cebu, and because his successor Tupas did not allow him to
occupy it, he went to Manila, the capital, winning likewise the friendship of its Chiefs Soliman and Lakandula,
later taking possession of the city and the whole Archipelago in the name of Spain by virtue of an order of
King Philip II, and with these historical precedents and because in international law the prescription established
by law to legalize the vicious acquisition of private property is not recognized, the legitimacy of such revolution
cannot be put in doubt which was calmed but not complete stifled by the pacification proposed by Don Pedro
A. Paterno with Don Emilio Aguinaldo as President of the Republic established in Biak-na-Bato and accepted
by Governor-General Don Fernando Primo De Rivera under terms, both written and oral, among them being
a general amnesty for all deported and convicted persons; that by reason of the non-fulfillment of some of the
terms, after the destruction of the plaza of Cavite, Don Emilio Aguinaldo returned in order to initiate a new
revolution and no sooner had he given the order to rise on the 31st of last month when several towns
anticipating the revolution, rose in revolt on the 28th , such that a Spanish contingent of 178 men, between
Imus Cavite-Viejo, under the command of major of the Marine Infantry capitulated , the revolutionary
movement spreading like wild fire to other towns of Cavite and the other provinces of Bataan, Pampanga,
Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, and Morong, some of them with seaports and such was the success of the victory
of our arms, truly marvelous and without equal in the history of colonial revolutions that in the first mentioned
province only the Detachments in Naic and Indang remained to surrender; in the second all Detachments had
been wiped out; in the third the resistance of the Spanish forces was localized in the town of San Fernando
where the greater part of them are concentrated, the remainder in Macabebe, Sexmoan, and Guagua; in the
fourth, in the town of Lipa; in the fifth, in the capital and in Calumpit; and in last two remaining provinces, only
in their respective capitals, and the city of Manila will soon be besieged by our forces as well as the provinces
of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Zambales, and some others in the Visayas where the revolution
at the time of the pacification and others even before, so that the independence of our country and the
revindication of our sovereignty is assured.

And having as witness to the rectitude of our intentions the Supreme Judge of the Universe, and under
the protection of our Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, The United States of America, we do hereby proclaim
and declare solemnly in the name by authority of the people of these Philippine Islands, That they are and
have the right to be free and independent; that they have ceased to have allegiance to the Crown of Spain;
that all political ties between them are should be completely severed and annulled; and that, like other free
and independent States, they enjoy the full power to make War and Peace, conclude commercial treaties,
enter into alliances, regulate commerce, and do all other acts and things which and Independent State has
right to do.

And imbued with firm confidence in Divine Providence, we hereby mutually bind ourselves to support
this Declaration with our lives, our fortunes, and with our sacred possession, our Honor.
We recognize, approve, and ratify, with all the orders emanating from the same, the Dictatorship established
by Don Emilio Aguinaldo whom we reverse as the Supreme Head of this Nation, which today begins to have
a life of its own, in the conviction that he has been the instrument chosen by God, inspite of his humble origin,
to effectuate the redemption of this unfortunate country as foretold by Dr. Don Jose Rizal in his magnificent
verses which he composed in his prison cell prior to his execution, liberating it from the Yoke of Spanish
domination.

And in punishment for the impunity with which the Government sanctioned the commission of abuses
by its officials, and for the unjust execution of Rizal and others who were sacrified in order to please the
insatiable friars in their hydropical thirst for vengeance against and extermination of all those who oppose their
Machiavellian ends, trampling upon the Penal Code of these Islands, and of those suspected persons arrested
by the Chiefs of Detachments at the instigation of the friars, without any form nor semblance of trial and without
any spiritual aid of our sacred Religion; and likewise, and for the same ends, eminent Filipino priest, Doctor
Don Jose Burgos, Don Mariano Gomez, and Don Jacinto Zamora were hanged whose innocent blood was
shed due to the intrigues of these so-called Religious corporations which made the authorities to believe that
the military uprising at the fort of San Felipe in Cavite on the night of January 21, 1872 was instigated by those
Filipino martyrs, thereby impeding the execution of the decree- sentence issued by the Council of State in the
appeal in the administrative case interposed by the secular clergy against the Royal Orders that directed that
the parishes under them within the jurisdiction of this Bishopric be turned over to the Recollects in exchange
for those controlled by them in Mindanao which were to be transferred to the Jesuits, thus revoking them
completely and ordering the return of those parishes, all of which proceedings are on file with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to which they are sent last month of the year of the issuance of the proper Royal Degree which,
in turn, caused the grow of the tree of the liberty in our dear land that grow more and more through the
iniquitous measures of oppressions, until the last drop of our chalice of suffering having been drained, the first
spark of revolution broke out in Caloocan, spread out to Santa Mesa and continued its course to the adjoining
regions of the province were the unequalled heroism of its inhabitants fought a one sided battle against
superior forces of General Blanco and General Polavieja for a period of 3 months, without proper arms nor
ammunitions, except bolos, pointed bamboos, and arrows.

Moreover, we confer upon our famous Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo all the powers necessary to
enable him to discharge the duties of Government, including the prerogatives of granting pardon and amnesty.

And lastly, it was results unanimously that this Nation, already free and independent as of this day,
must use the same flag which up to now is being used, whose designed and colored are found described in
the attached drawing, the white triangle signifying the distinctive emblem of the famous Society of the
"Katipunan" which by means of its blood compact inspired the masses to rise in revolution; the tree stars,
signifying the three principal Islands of these Archipelago - Luzon, Mindanao, and Panay where the
revolutionary movement started; the sun representing the gigantic step made by the son of the country along
the path of Progress and Civilization; the eight rays, signifying the eight provinces - Manila, Cavite, Bulacan,
Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna, and Batangas - which declares themselves in a state of war as
soon as the first revolt was initiated; and the colors of Blue, Red, and White, commemorating the flag of the
United States of America, as a manifestation of our profound gratitude towards this Great Nation for its
disinterested protection which it lent us and continues lending us. In witness thereof, I certify that this Act of
Declaration of Independence was signed by me and by all those here assembled including the only stranger
who attended those proceedings, a citizen of the U.S.A., Mr. L.M. Johnson, a Colonel of Artillery.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

1. What are the main reasons behind the declaration of independence?

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2. What are the highlights of the declaration?

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LESSON 4: THE POLITICAL CARICATURES OF AMERICAN ERA (1900-1941)

LEARNING ACTIVITY

1. What seemed to be common among the political caricatures shown?

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_________________________________________________________________

2. What does the author want to convey in these political caricatures?

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LESSON 5: SPEECH OF PRESIDENT CORAZON C. AQUINO DURING THE JOINT SESSION OF THE
UNITED STATES CONGRESS ON SEPTEMBER 18, 1986

Speech of Her Excellency Corazon C. Aquino

President of the Philippines During the Joint Session of the United States Congress

[Delivered at Washington, D.C., on September 18, 1986]

Three years ago, I left America in grief to bury my husband, Ninoy Aquino. I thought I had left it also to
lay to rest his restless dream of Philippine freedom. Today, I have returned as the president of a free people.

In burying Ninoy, a whole nation honored him. By that brave and selfless act of giving honor, a nation
in shame recovered its own. A country that had lost faith in its future found it in a faithless and brazen act of
murder. So in giving, we receive, in losing we find, and out of defeat, we snatched our victory.

For the nation, Ninoy became the pleasing sacrifice that answered their prayers for freedom. For myself
and our children, Ninoy was a loving husband and father. His loss, three times in our lives, was always a deep
and painful one.

Fourteen years ago, this month was the first time we lost him. A president-turned-dictator, and traitor
to his oath, suspended the Constitution and shut down the Congress that was much like this one before which
I am honored to speak. He detained my husband along with thousands of others – senators, publishers and
anyone who had spoken up for the democracy as its end drew near. But for Ninoy, a long and cruel ordeal
was reserved. The dictator already knew that Ninoy was not a body merely to be imprisoned but a spirit he
must break. For even as the dictatorship demolished one by one the institutions of democracy – the press, the
Congress, the independence of the judiciary, the protection of the Bill of Rights – Ninoy kept their spirit alive
in himself.

The government sought to break him by indignities and terror. They locked him up in a tiny, nearly
airless cell in a military camp in the north. They stripped him naked and held the threat of sudden midnight
execution over his head. Ninoy held up manfully–all of it. I barely did as well. For 43 days, the authorities
would not tell me what had happened to him. This was the first time my children and I felt we had lost him.

When that didn’t work, they put him on trial for subversion, murder and a host of other crimes before a
military commission. Ninoy challenged its authority and went on a fast. If he survived it, then, he felt, God
intended him for another fate. We had lost him again. For nothing would hold him back from his determination
to see his fast through to the end. He stopped only when it dawned on him that the government would keep
his body alive after the fast had destroyed his brain. And so, with barely any life in his body, he called off the
fast on the fortieth day. God meant him for other things, he felt. He did not know that an early death would still
be his fate, that only the timing was wrong.

At any time during his long ordeal, Ninoy could have made a separate peace with the dictatorship, as
so many of his countrymen had done. But the spirit of democracy that inheres in our race and animates this
chamber could not be allowed to die. He held out, in the loneliness of his cell and the frustration of exile, the
democratic alternative to the insatiable greed and mindless cruelty of the right and the purging holocaust of
the left.

And then, we lost him, irrevocably and more painfully than in the past. The news came to us in Boston.
It had to be after the three happiest years of our lives together. But his death was my country’s resurrection in
the courage and faith by which alone they could be free again. The dictator had called him a nobody. Two
million people threw aside their passivity and escorted him to his grave. And so began the revolution that has
brought me to democracy’s most famous home, the Congress of the United States.

The task had fallen on my shoulders to continue offering the democratic alternative to our people.

Archibald Macleish had said that democracy must be defended by arms when it is attacked by arms
and by truth when it is attacked by lies. He failed to say how it shall be won.

I held fast to Ninoy’s conviction that it must be by the ways of democracy. I held out for participation in
the 1984 election the dictatorship called, even if I knew it would be rigged. I was warned by the lawyers of the
opposition that I ran the grave risk of legitimizing the foregone results of elections that were clearly going to
be fraudulent. But I was not fighting for lawyers but for the people in whose intelligence I had implicit faith. By
the exercise of democracy, even in a dictatorship, they would be prepared for democracy when it came. And
then, also, it was the only way I knew by which we could measure our power even in the terms dictated by the
dictatorship.

The people vindicated me in an election shamefully marked by government thuggery and fraud. The
opposition swept the elections, garnering a clear majority of the votes, even if they ended up, thanks to a
corrupt Commission on Elections, with barely a third of the seats in parliament. Now, I knew our power.

Last year, in an excess of arrogance, the dictatorship called for its doom in a snap election. The people
obliged. With over a million signatures, they drafted me to challenge the dictatorship. And I obliged them. The
rest is the history that dramatically unfolded on your television screen and across the front pages of your
newspapers.

You saw a nation, armed with courage and integrity, stand fast by democracy against threats and
corruption. You saw women poll watchers break out in tears as armed goons crashed the polling places to
steal the ballots but, just the same, they tied themselves to the ballot boxes. You saw a people so committed
to the ways of democracy that they were prepared to give their lives for its pale imitation. At the end of the
day, before another wave of fraud could distort the results, I announced the people’s victory.

The distinguished co-chairman of the United States observer team in his report to your President
described that victory:

“I was witness to an extraordinary manifestation of democracy on the part of the Filipino people. The ultimate
result was the election of Mrs. Corazon C. Aquino as President and Mr. Salvador Laurel as Vice-President of
the Philippines.”

Many of you here today played a part in changing the policy of your country towards us. We, Filipinos,
thank each of you for what you did: for, balancing America’s strategic interest against human concerns,
illuminates the American vision of the world.

When a subservient parliament announced my opponent’s victory, the people turned out in the streets
and proclaimed me President. And true to their word, when a handful of military leaders declared themselves
against the dictatorship, the people rallied to their protection. Surely, the people take care of their own. It is on
that faith and the obligation it entails, that I assumed the presidency.

As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it. That is my contract with my people and my commitment
to God. He had willed that the blood drawn with the lash shall not, in my country, be paid by blood drawn by
the sword but by the tearful joy of reconciliation.

We have swept away absolute power by a limited revolution that respected the life and freedom of
every Filipino. Now, we are restoring full constitutional government. Again, as we restored democracy by the
ways of democracy, so are we completing the constitutional structures of our new democracy under a
constitution that already gives full respect to the Bill of Rights. A jealously independent Constitutional
Commission is completing its draft which will be submitted later this year to a popular referendum. When it is
approved, there will be congressional elections. So within about a year from a peaceful but national upheaval
that overturned a dictatorship, we shall have returned to full constitutional government. Given the polarization
and breakdown we inherited, this is no small achievement.

My predecessor set aside democracy to save it from a communist insurgency that numbered less than
500. Unhampered by respect for human rights, he went at it hammer and tongs. By the time he fled, that
insurgency had grown to more than 16,000. I think there is a lesson here to be learned about trying to stifle a
thing with the means by which it grows.

I don’t think anybody, in or outside our country, concerned for a democratic and open Philippines,
doubts what must be done. Through political initiatives and local reintegration programs, we must seek to
bring the insurgents down from the hills and, by economic progress and justice, show them that for which the
best intentioned among them fight.

As President, I will not betray the cause of peace by which I came to power. Yet equally, and again no
friend of Filipino democracy will challenge this, I will not stand by and allow an insurgent leadership to spurn
our offer of peace and kill our young soldiers and threaten our new freedom.

Yet, I must explore the path of peace to the utmost for at its end, whatever disappointment I meet there,
is the moral basis for laying down the olive branch of peace and taking up the sword of war. Still, should it
come to that, I will not waver from the course laid down by your great liberator: “With malice towards none,
with charity for all, with firmness in the rights as God gives us to see the rights, let us finish the work we are
in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for
his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all
nations.”

Like Lincoln, I understand that force may be necessary before mercy. Like Lincoln, I don’t relish it. Yet,
I will do whatever it takes to defend the integrity and freedom of my country.

Finally, may I turn to that other slavery: our $26 billion foreign debt. I have said that we shall honor it.
Yet must the means by which we shall be able to do so be kept from us? Many conditions imposed on the
previous government that stole this debt continue to be imposed on us who never benefited from it. And no
assistance or liberality commensurate with the calamity that was visited on us has been extended. Yet ours
must have been the cheapest revolution ever. With little help from others, we Filipinos fulfilled the first and
most difficult conditions of the debt negotiation the full restoration of democracy and responsible government.
Elsewhere, and in other times of more stringent world economic conditions, Marshall plans, and their like were
felt to be necessary companions of returning democracy.

When I met with President Reagan yesterday, we began an important dialogue about cooperation and
the strengthening of the friendship between our two countries. That meeting was both a confirmation and a
new beginning and should lead to positive results in all areas of common concern.

Today, we face the aspirations of a people who had known so much poverty and massive
unemployment for the past 14 years and yet offered their lives for the abstraction of democracy. Wherever I
went in the campaign, slum area or impoverished village, they came to me with one cry: democracy! Not food,
although they clearly needed it, but democracy. Not work, although they surely wanted it, but democracy. Not
money, for they gave what little they had to my campaign. They didn’t expect me to work a miracle that would
instantly put food into their mouths, clothes on their back, education in their children, and work that will put
dignity in their lives. But I feel the pressing obligation to respond quickly as the leader of a people so deserving
of all these things.

We face a communist insurgency that feeds on economic deterioration, even as we carry a great share
of the free world defenses in the Pacific. These are only two of the many burdens my people carry even as
they try to build a worthy and enduring house for their new democracy, that may serve as well as a redoubt
for freedom in Asia. Yet, no sooner is one stone laid than two are taken away. Half our export earnings, $2
billion out of $4 billion, which was all we could earn in the restrictive markets of the world, went to pay just the
interest on a debt whose benefit the Filipino people never received.

Still, we fought for honor, and, if only for honor, we shall pay. And yet, should we have to wring the
payments from the sweat of our men’s faces and sink all the wealth piled up by the bondsman’s two hundred
fifty years of unrequited toil?

Yet to all Americans, as the leader of a proud and free people, I address this question: has there been
a greater test of national commitment to the ideals you hold dear than that my people have gone through?
You have spent many lives and much treasure to bring freedom to many lands that were reluctant to receive
it. And here you have a people who won it by themselves and need only the help to preserve it.

Three years ago, I said thank you, America, for the haven from oppression, and the home you gave
Ninoy, myself and our children, and for the three happiest years of our lives together. Today, I say, join us,
America, as we build a new home for democracy, another haven for the oppressed, so it may stand as a
shining testament of our two-nation’s commitment to freedom.

REFLECTIVE ASSESSMENT

After completing the topics in this module, compare what you discovered with what you learned. Write
your ideas to complete the statement below.

I learned that
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I realized that
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I intend to
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ASSIGNMENT
TO DO!
Be ready for Midterm Examination.

LEARNING RESOURCES

References:

Ligan, V.O, Espino, L.C, Atienza, E. A et.al. Readings in Philippine History. Malabon City:
Mutya Publishing House, Inc.

Torres, J. V. (2018). BATIS Sources in Philippine History. Quezon City: C & E Publishing, Inc.