Philippine Revolution
The
Philippine Revolution (1896—1898) was a conflict between the native
Katipuneros and
Spanish colonizers in the
Philippines.
During the Spanish colonial period, the concept of
Filipino did not include the native
Malay population, as they were commonly referred to at the time as
indios. The natives themselves normally classified each-other tribally, for example as
Ilocanos,
Batangeños and
Cebuanos. The Spanish military quelled uprisings from one region with natives from another, in accordance with Roman military principle,
Divide et impera (Divide and Conquer). For example,
Diego Silang attempted to establish a native Ilocano nation but Spanish authorities enrolled natives from neighboring
Macabebe, Pampanga as enforcers to help suppress the rebellion; alienating the natives from themselves as a result. The
Spanish-based creole language Chavacano was developed at first as a pidgin language, as native workers could not communicate in their native languages.
The Philippine revolution was precipitated by peaceful and organized demands for reforms by Filipino intellectuals called the illustrados. The Church was highly influential in governing the colonial Philippine society. Native Filipinos attempted to reform the Church hierarchy. The
La Liga Filipina did not even demand a separate government or republic. All possible means for peaceful reforms were exhausted. The colonial government further outraged Filipinos by executing the priests
Gómez, Burgos and Zamora (shortened to GOMBURZA) and the illustrado prodigy,
José Rizal.
The GOMBURZA's martyrdom and propaganda literature by Rizal and other ilustrados gradually formed a unified Filipino consciousness and identity. Natives from different regions started to interact and coordinate. For the first time, revolutionaries united against the Spaniards when the
Katipunan revolutionary organization formed.
The
Friarocracy, the power of religious orders, remained one of the great constants of Spanish colonial rule over the centuries. Even in the late 19th century, the friars of the
Augustinian,
Dominican, and
Franciscan orders conducted many of the executive and control functions of local government. They were responsible for education and health measures, census and tax records, reporting on the character and behavior of individual villagers, supervising the selection of local police and town officers, and maintaining public morals and reporting incidences of sedition to the authorities. Contrary to the principles of the church, they allegedly used information gained in confession to pinpoint troublemakers. Given the minuscule number of Spaniards living outside the capital even in the 19th century, the friars were regarded as indispensable instruments of Spanish rule that contemporary critics labeled a "friarocracy" (frialocracia).
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Early flag of the Filipino revolutionaries |
Controversies over visitation and secularization were persistent themes in Philippine church history. Visitation involved the authority of the bishops of the church hierarchy to inspect and discipline the religious orders, a principle laid down in church law and practiced in most of the Catholic world. The friars were successful in resisting the efforts of the archbishop of Manila to impose visitation; consequently, they operated without formal supervision except that of their own provincial or regional superiors. Secularization meant the replacement of the friars who came exclusively from Spain with Filipino priests ordained by the local bishop. This movement, again, was successfully resisted, as friars through the centuries kept up the argument, often couched in crude racial terms, that Filipino priests were too poorly qualified to take on parish duties. Although church policy dictated that parishes of countries converted to Christianity be relinquished by the religious orders to indigenous diocesan priests, in 1870 only 181 of 792 parishes in the islands had Filipino priests. The national and racial dimensions of secularization meant that the issue became linked with broader demands for political reform.
The friarocracy seems to have had many personal irregularities, and the priestly vow of chastity often was honored in the breach. However, most inexcusable in the eyes of educated Filipino priests and laymen was the friars' open contempt toward the people. By the late 19th century, they were blatantly racist. One friar, responding to the challenge of the ilustrados, said "the only liberty the Indians want is the liberty of savages. Leave them to their cock-fighting and their indolence, and they will thank you more than if you load them down with old and new rights."
The martyrdom of
Gomburza, propaganda literature by the
ilustradosand literature of
José Rizal gradually formed a unified Filipino consciousness and identity. Natives from different regions started to coordinate and interact with each other. For the first time, revolutionaries united against the Spaniards when the
Katipunan was formed.
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Philippine Declaration of Independence*
The Philippine Revolution by Apolinario Mabini *
The Philippine Revolution by Emilio Aguinaldo
