Reading the

“Proclamation of
the Philippine
Independence
 June 12, 2021
“The Philippines
Commemorate the
123 years of
Independence”
“123rd Anniversary of the
Proclamation of Philippine
Independence ‘Kalayaan
2021:
Diwa ng Kalayaan sa
Pagkakaisa at Paghilom ng
Bayan”
YouTube link :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=UDnhuXnSvKA
 Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• Every year, the country commemorates the
anniversary of the Philippine Independence
proclaimed on 12 June 1898, in the province
of Cavite.
• It is a significant turning point in the history
of the country because it signaled the end of
the 333 years of Spanish Colonization.
Emilio
Aguinaldo
Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The declaration was
short 2000 word
document, which
summarized the reason
behind the revolution
against Spain, the war
for independence and
the future of the new
 Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The proclamation commenced with a
characterization of the conditions in the
Philippines during Spanish colonial
period.
• The document specifically mentioned
abuses and inequalities in the colony.
The declaration says:

“….taking into consideration, that their inhabitants

being already weary the ominous yoke of Spanish
domination, on account of the arbitrary arrest and
harsh treatment practiced by the civil guard to the
extent of causing death with the connivance and
even with the express orders of their commanders,
who sometimes went to the extreme of ordering the
shooting of prisoners under the pretext that they
were attempting to escape, in violation of the
provisions of the Regulations of their Corps,
The declaration says:

“.. which abuses were unpunished and on account of

the unjust deportations, especially those degreed by
General Blanco, of eminent personages and of high
social position, at the Archbishop and friars
interested in keeping them out of the way for their
own selfish and avaricious purpose, deportations
which are quickly brought about by a method of
procedure more execrable than that of the
Inquisition and which every civilized nation rejects
on account of the decision being rendered without
hearing of the person accused”
Ramón Blanco y Erenas
1833--1906
Captain General Ramón Blanco y Erenas
had served the Spanish government in the
wars against the Carlist pretender and in
the Philippines before he was selected to
replace Valeriano Weyler as Captain
General of Cuba. Blanco faced a difficult
task since he was expected to reverse the
harsh treatment Cubans had received at the
hands of his predecessor and yet defend the
colony from a probable attack from the
United States.
Ramón Blanco y Erenas
1833--1906
His proposed solution was that Spanish
troops join with Cuban insurgents, led by
Máximo Gómez, to protect the island from
the invaders. When Gómez refused to join
forces with the Spaniards, Blanco
coordinated the maneuvers of both army
troops and naval squadron commanded by
Admiral Pascual Cervera in their struggle
against the invaders. Blanco, believing it
better for Spain to lose Cuba honorably in
battle than by surrender, ordered Cervera to
sail out of Santiago and into disastrous
defeat and loss of life.
 Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The above passage demonstrates the justifications
behind the revolution against Spain.
• Specifically cited are the abuse by the Civil Guards
and unlawful shooting of prisoners whom they
alleged as attempting to escape.
• The passage also condemn the unequal protection
of the law between the Filipino people and eminent
personages.
 Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The line mentions the avarice and greed of
clergy like friars and the Archbishop himself.
• Lastly, the passage also condemns what they
saw as the unjust deportation and rendering
of decision without proper hearing, expecting
of any civilized nation.
Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The document narrates the spread of the
movement “like an electric spark” through
different towns and provinces like Bataan,
Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, and
Morong and the quick decline of Spanish
forces in the same provinces.
Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The document also mentions Rizal execution,
calling it unjust.
• The execution, as written in the document, was
done to “please the greedy body of friars in their
insatiable desire to seek revenge upon and
exterminate all those who are opposed to their
Machiavellian purpose which tramples upon the
penal code prescribed for these islands.
 Who Was José Rizal?
While living in
Europe, José Rizal wrote
about the discrimination that
accompanied Spain's colonial
rule of his country. He
returned to the Philippines in
1892 but was exiled due to
his desire for reform.
Although he supported
Sedition - conduct or
speech inciting people to
peaceful change, Rizal was
rebel against the authority convicted of sedition and
of a state or monarch. executed on December 30,
1896, at age 35.
 Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The document also narrates the Cavite Mutiny
of January 1872, that caused the infamous
execution of the martyred native priest Jose
Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora,
“whose innocent blood was shed through the
intrigues of those so-called religious orders”
that incited the three secular priest in the said
mutiny.
Jose Burgos,
Mariano
Gomez
Jacinto
Zamora
Cavite Mutiny, (January 20, 1872),
brief uprising of 200 Filipino troops
and workers at the Cavite arsenal,
which became the excuse for Spanish
repression of the embryonic
Philippine nationalist movement.
Ironically, the harsh reaction of the
Spanish authorities served ultimately
to promote the nationalist cause.
The mutiny was quickly crushed, but the Spanish
regime under the reactionary governor Rafael de
Izquierdo magnified the incident and used it as an
excuse to clamp down on those Filipinos who had
been calling for governmental reform. A number of
Filipino intellectuals were seized and accused of
complicity with the mutineers. After a brief trial,
three priests—José Burgos, Jacinto Zamora, and
Mariano Gómez—were publicly executed. The three
subsequently became martyrs to the cause of
Philippine independence.
 He was a Spanish Military Officer, politician, and
statesman.
He served as Governor-General of the Philippines from
4 April 1871 to 8 January 1873.
He was famous for his use of "Iron Fist" type of
government, contradicting the liberal government of his
predecessor, Carlos María de la Torre y Navacerrada.
He was the Governor-General during the 1872 Cavite
Rafael de mutiny which led to execution of 41 of the mutineers,
Izquierdo
including the Gomburza martyrs.
Izquierdo also acted as Governor-General of
Puerto Rico from March 1862 to April 1862.
Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The proclamation of
independence also
invokes that the
established republic
would led under the
dictatorship of Emilio
Aguinaldo.
The first mention was at the very beginning of the
proclamation. It stated :

“In the town of Cavite Viejo, in this province

of Cavite, on the 12th day of June 1898, before
me, Don Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista,
Auditor of War and Special Commissioner
appointed to proclaim and solemnize this act
by the Dictatorial Government of these
Philippine Islands, for the purpose and by
virtue of the circular addressed by the
Eminent Dictator of the same Don Emilio
-December 7, 1830 – December 4, 1903
- also known as Don Bosyong, was a Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista
lawyer and author of the
Declaration of Philippine Independence. A
distant relative of the Rizal family, Bautista
often gave advice to José Rizal, a Filipino
nationalist, while studying in Manila.
The same was repeated toward the last part of the
proclamation. It states:

“We acknowledge, approve and confirm together

with the others that have been issued therefrom,
the Dictatorship established by Don Emilio
Aguinaldo, whom we honor as the Supreme Chief of
this Nation, which this day commences to have a life
of its own, in the belief that he is the instrument
selected by God, in spite of his humble origin, to
effect the redemption of the magnificent verses
which he composed when he was preparing to be
shot, liberating them from the yoke of Spanish
domination in punishment of the impunity with
Another detail in the proclamation that is worth looking
at is its explanation on the Philippine flag that was first
waved on the same day. The document explained:

“And finally, it was unanimously resolved that

this Nation, independent from this day, must
use the same flag used heretofore, whose
design colors and described in the
accompanying drawing, with design
representing in natural colors the three arms
referred to.”
The Making of the Filipino Flag

During his exile in Hongkong in 1897, Gen. Emilio

Aguinaldo designed the Filipino flag as it looks today. The
flag was sewn by Dona Marcela Marino de Agoncillo
with the help of her daughter Lorenza and Mrs. Delfina
Herbosa de Natividad (niece of the Philippine National
Hero - Dr. Jose P. Rizal). It was first raised during the
declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898 in Kawit,
Cavite.
The Making of the Filipino Flag

It was made of silk with a white triangle containing a

sunburst of eight rays at the center, a five-pointed star at
each angle of the triangle, a blue field and a red field. The
white triangle stands for equality and fraternity; the blue
field for peace, truth and justice; and red field for
patriotism and valor. The eight rays of the sun stand for
the first eight provinces that the colonizers have put
under martial law. The three stars symbolize Luzon,
Visayas, and Mindanao.
“The white triangle represents the
distinctive emblem of the famous
Katipunan Society, which means of its
compact blood urged on the masses of
the people to insurrection; the three
stars represent the three principal
Islands of this Archipelago, Luzon,
Midanao and Panay,
in which this insurrectionary movement
broke out, the sun represents the
gigantic strides that have been made by
the sons of this land on the road of
progress and civilization, its eight rays
symbolizing the eight provinces of
Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga,
Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna and
Batangas, which were declared in a
state of war almost as soon as the first
“and the colors blue, red and white,
commemorate those of the flag of
United States of North America, in
manifestation of our profound gratitude
towards that Great Nation for the
disinterested protection she is
extending to us and will continue to
extend to us”
 Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• This often overlooked detail reveals much
about the historically accurate meaning
behind the most widely known national symbol
in the Philippines.
• It is not known by many for example, that the
white triangle was derived from symbol of the
Katipunan.
 Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The red and blue colors of the flag are
often associated with courage and peace,
respectively.
• Our basic education omit the fact that
those colors were taken from the flag of
the United States.
Reading the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• While it can always be argued that symbolic
meaning can always change and be
reinterpreted, the original symbol meaning
of something presents us several historical
truths that can explain the subsequent
events, which unfolded after the declaration
of independence on the 12th day of June 1898.
 Analysis of the
“Proclamation of
the Philippine
Independence
 Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The document reflects the general
revolutionary sentiment of that period
• Like friars abuse, racial discrimination and
inequality before the law.
 Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”

• However, no mention was made about the

more serious problem that affected the
masses more profoundly (the land and
agrarian crisis felt by the numerous Filipino
peasants in the nineteenth century).
Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• This is ironic especially
when renowned Philippine
Revolution historian,
Teodoro Agoncillo, stated
that the Philippine
Revolution was an agrarian
revolution.
The Treaty of Paris
• It was an agreement signed
between Spain and the United
States of America regarding the
ownership of the Philippine
Islands and other Spanish
colonies in South America. The
agreement ended the short-
lived Spanish-American War.
The Treaty of Paris
• The treaty was signed on
1o December 1898, six
months after the
revolutionary government
declared the Philippine
Independence.
 The Treaty of Paris

• The Philippines was sold

to the United States at
20 million US dollar and
effectively undermined
the sovereignty of the
Filipinos after their
revolutionary victory.peso
1,020,010,000.00 Philippine
 The Treaty of Paris
• The American occupied
the Philippine
immediately which
resulted in the
Philippine-American War
that lasted until the
earliest years of the
twentieth century.
Philippine-American War, war between the
United States and Filipino revolutionaries from 1899 to
1902, an insurrection that may be seen as a
continuation of the Philippine Revolution against
Spanish rule. It began after the United States
assumed sovereignty of the Philippines following the
defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War. Although
an end to the insurrection was declared in 1902,
sporadic fighting continued for several years
thereafter.
 Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The proclamation also gives us the impression on
how victorious revolutionary government of
Aguinaldo historicized the struggle for
independence.
• The execution of GOMBURZA and the failed
Cavite Mutiny of 1872 are examples that shows a
significant awakening of the Filipinos in the real
conditions of the nation under Spain.
Jose
Rizal
Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• Jose Rizal’s legacy
and martyrdom
was also
mentioned in the
document.
 Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• However, the Katipunan as the pioneer of the
revolutionary movement was only mentioned
once toward the end of the document.
• There was no mention of the Katipunan’s
foundation.
• Bonifacio and co-founders were also left out.
Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• The point is, even official records and
documents like the proclamation of
independence, while truthful most of
the time, still exude the politics and
biases of whoever is in power.
Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• This manifest the selectiveness of
information that can be found in these
records.
• It is the task of the historian to analyse the
content of these documents in relation to
the dominant politics and the contexts of
people and institution surrounding.
Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• This tell us the lesson on taking
primary sources like official
government records within the
circumstance of this production.
Analysis the “Proclamation of
the Philippine Independence”
• Studying historical subject, thus entails
looking at multiple primary sources
and pieces of historical evidences in
order to have a more nuanced and
contextual analysis of our past.
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