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Land of Bandage, Land of The Free

The speaker accuses those who have oppressed the tao people for 300 years of bondage and slavery. He indicts the Spanish encomendero for unfair taxes, usurers for impossible debts, and radical leaders who undermine the people's confidence. He argues that the tao are accused of not supporting families, ignorance, and indolence only because of the bondage imposed on them. The speaker demands land ownership as a path to freedom and dignity, saying the tao will work tirelessly to pay for this right, but threatens violence if this demand is not met.

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Elaine Policarpio
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10K views1 page

Land of Bandage, Land of The Free

The speaker accuses those who have oppressed the tao people for 300 years of bondage and slavery. He indicts the Spanish encomendero for unfair taxes, usurers for impossible debts, and radical leaders who undermine the people's confidence. He argues that the tao are accused of not supporting families, ignorance, and indolence only because of the bondage imposed on them. The speaker demands land ownership as a path to freedom and dignity, saying the tao will work tirelessly to pay for this right, but threatens violence if this demand is not met.

Uploaded by

Elaine Policarpio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Land of Bandage, Land of the Free by Raul Manglapus

No wonder then,/ that the tao,/ being a slave,/ has acquired the habits of a slave.//
No wonder that after three centuries in chains,/ without freedom,/ without hope,/ he
should lose the erect and fearless posture of the freeman/ and become the bent,
misshapen,/ indolent/ vicious,/ pitiful thing that he is!// Who dares accuse him,/
who dares rise up in judgment against this man,/ reduced to this subhuman level by
three centuries of oppression?// The tao does not come here tonight to be judged-//
but to judge!// Hear then/ his accusation and his sentence.//
I indict the Spanish encomendero// for inventing taxes impossible to bear:// I indict
the usurer for saddling me with debts impossible to pay.//

I indict the irresponsible radical leaders/ who undermine with insidious eloquence/
the confidence of my kind in our government.//

You accuse me of not supporting my family.// Free me from bondage/ and I shall
prove you false.//

You accuse me of ignorance.// But I am ignorant because my master finds it


profitable to keep me ignorant.// Free me from bondage / and I shall prove you
false.//

You accuse me of indolence.// But I am indolent/ not because I have no will,./ but
because I have no hope.// Why should I labor/ if all the fruits of my labor/ go to
pay an unpayable debt?// Free me from bondage/ and I shall prove you false.//

Give me land.// Land to own.// Land ‘unbeholden to any tyrant.// Land that will be
free.// Give me land for I am starving.// Give me land that my children may not
die.// Sell it to me,/ sell it to me at a fair price./ as one freeman sells to another/ and
not as a usurer sells to a slave./// I am poor, / but I will pay it!// I will work,/ work/
until I fall from weariness for my privileges,/ for my inalienable right to be free.//

BUT IF YOU WILL NOT GRANT ME THIS… // If you will not grant me this
last request,/ this ultimate demand,// then build a wall around your home//… build
it // place a sentry on every parapet!… for I who have been silent these three
hundred years/ will come in the night when you are feasting,/ with my cry, and my
bolo at your door.// And may God/ have mercy on your soul.

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