It's the 116th year of Philippine Independence today. As history tells us, it was on June 12, 1898 that Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo read the Act of Declaration of Independence, and under his leadership proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from Spanish colonial rule. But then, in those days, Gen. Aguinaldo was pushing for a Republika ng Tagalogan, which of course he later changed to the Republic of the Philippines.
But history wasn't kind to Gen. Aguinaldo, perhaps it was because he had his political rival Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio charged in a Kangaroo court filled with Aguinaldo's men and had them executed on May 10, 1897. As Apolinario Mabini later wrote, that act by Gen. Aguinaldo in executing the Bonifacio brothers (another brother Circiaco was killed during the arrest of Andres and his brother Procopio) demoralized many rebels from Manila, Laguna, and Batangas and Emilio Jacinto and Macario Sakay never even recognized Aguinaldo's authority or presidency.
Gen. Aguinaldo also did not come to the aid of Katipunero Pantaleon "Leon Kilat" Villegas, that brave man from Bacong, Negros Oriental who led the Tres de Abril uprising two and a half months earlier when he routed the Spanish Guardia Civil in Cebu City and held it for four days, while the Spaniards kept themselves locked inside the Fort San Pedro.
Cebu City was the only city in the whole country that the Katipuneros ever captured, but since no one came to support Leon Kilat (the Cebuano populace, fearful of the Spaniards who held Cebu for 400 years didn't rally behind Leon Kilat), and when Spanish cruiser Don Juan Austria arrived in Cebu Port on April. 7, Leon Kilat and his men fled to the hills. Leon Kilat was betrayed by his men and killed so they could offer his body to the Guardia Civil. They were all killed by the pursuing Spanish troops.
What further complicated Gen. Aguinaldo's act of declaration was that on May 1, 1898, the Asiatic Fleet of Admiral George Dewey entered Manila Bay and fought the Spanish Armada under Admiral Patricio Montojo and defeated him in what was to be one of the greatest victories for the United States of America.
Suddenly, the Americans had no choice but to rid Manila of its Spanish colonizers. Then a month and a half later, Gen. Aguinaldo raised the Philippine flag in his home in Kawit, Cavite. But it was too late for Gen. Aguinaldo because not a single nation recognized his call for independence and that the Americans have began replacing the Spaniards.
People of my generation never recognized June 12th as our Independence Day because when the Americans gave us independence on July 4, 1946, the member nations of the United Nations recognized our independence. So if you want to know why this moment in history was moved to June 12th, it was due to Pres. Diosdado Macapagal who signed Republic Act No. 4166 designating June 12th as the country's independence day. This is what happens when politicians interfere with our history.
Now is a good time to ask ourselves, have we Filipinos been truly independent? As my mentor, the late Sir Max Soliven would often describe our nation's history as " We had 400 years in the convent and 50 years of Hollywood, but now we are under the control of one ethnic group called the Tagalogs." But have we really gotten free from the clutches of America's influence? Under the Aquino regime, all the more are we dependent on the Americans especially when he had the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement signed.
Meanwhile, I gathered that today there will be a massive anti-pork barrel rally at the Fuente Osmeña. I was asked to join the meetings for this rally, but I decided to shy away from the group because of the bad incident that happened during the August 26, 2013 rally, which was originally slated to be held at the Fuente Osmeña. But as I wrote in my Aug. 27, 2013 column, I pointed out that this rally was hijacked by the pro-Aquino groups and moved to the Plaza Independencia so that it would seem that only a few people were against the pork barrel.
True enough, its emcee Dr. Rowena Burden prevented people from attacking Pres. PNoy by turning off the microphone as they spoke. That to me was a curtailment of the Freedom of Speech. The emcee even admitted over the microphone that she was pro-Aquino! When the people heard that, they were disappointed and left. It was a victory by the pro-Aquinos who clearly disrupted what would have been the biggest rally Cebu had ever seen.
Well, I gathered from Stella Palomo that she would be the emcee for this rally and that it will be held today at the Fuente Osmeña. All I can say is, I hope that this group or coalition calling for the resignation of the suspected pork scammers and to jail the guilty would succeed and not be hijacked again by the rabid Yellow forces supporting Pres. Aquino.
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Email: vsbobita@gmail.com