The Katipunan
An Illustrated
Historical and Biographical Study
of the Society which Brought about the
Insurrection of 1896–98 & 1899
Taken From
Spanish State
Documents
By
Francis St. Clair
Manila
Tip. “Amigos del Pais,” Palacio 258
1902
The Katipunan
The Katipunan
Or
The Rise and Fall of the Filipino Commune
By
Francis St. Clair
Manila
Tip. “Amigos del Pais,” Palacio 258
1902
To the Honorable Filipinos
Who, True to the
Principles of
Patriotism
have not harbored in their hearts sentiments of ingratitude toward that noble Nation which raised them to the level of civilization to which they have attained, not have at any time conspired against the lawfully constituted authorities, Spanish or American, of this Archipelago.
To such honorable Filipinos as these, it gives me the greatest pleasure to dedicate this small work, as a token of the genuine respect in which they are held by
Introduction
«Manila, 21st (Aug. ’96).—The Governor General to the Colonial Minister:
Vast organization of secret societies discovered with anti-national tendencies.
Twenty-two persons detained, among them the Gran Oriente (of Philippine freemasonry) of the Philippines, and others of importance.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Immediate action taken and special judge will be designated for greater activity in the proceedings....
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
—Blanco.
Such was the telegram sent by Gen. Blanco and read by Sr. Castellano in the Spanish Camara, announcing the discovery of the revolutionary movement headed by the Katipunan, the bastard child of Filipino freemasonry.
Freemasonry in the Philippines was but a pretext: under this pretext the enemies of Spain, in days of Spanish rule, and the enemies of the U. S. in these days of American rule, put themselves into close and secret communion, to earn out plans of revolt.
This Filipino masonry cast its net far and wide, and in its meshes were caught many fish of all classes and conditions; some of them men of money who sought in masonry what money could easily purchase,—honors and titles, grand crosses and medals; others were men whose pockets were more or less replete, and whose aims were of a great variety of natures; whilst others were men whose treasuries were more or less empty and who sought in masonry what they did not care to earn by honest labor—a livelihood.
Masonry was imported into the Archipelago, shortly after the Spanish Revolution, and was, during the first years of its life, confined to Spaniards; but later on it opened its doors to half-castes and indians. In 1887 it extended by leaps and bounds; but upon the coming of Gen. Weyler to the Archipelago, as Governor General, in 1888, it dwindled away almost into nothingness. Gen. Weyler was, and has ever shown himself, a patriotic Spaniard; and he would not permit the existence here, under his Governorship, of anything which tended to the detriment of his country. Well did the masons of the Philippines and elsewhere know this, and hence the vicious and cruel campaign they carried on against him both in the Peninsular and Cuba, but more especially in the U. S. of America.
The Katipunan, the bastard child of filipino masonry, that ungrateful offspring which was unfaithful even to the mother which brought it forth, was a society within the bosom of which was redeveloped the malay instinct which had lain dormant for some three centuries. This instinct, brutal, savage, intensely ignorant, immoral, ungodly; an instinct found still among some of the uncivilized tribes of the mountain fastnesses of Luzon; an instinct once almost blotted out after many years of most difficult labor and self-sacrifice on the part of the Religious Orders, once again burst forth in all its strength.
The indian left to himself, deprived of the curbing influence of the christian religion, speedily falls back into the condition of depravity in which Urdaneta and Legazpi found him. The malay instinct, like the volcano, vomits forth when least expected; the history of the revolt of the Tagalogs gives overabundant proof of it. Take one by one the many leading characters in the revolution, and the instinct will be found so plainly marked, that it is unmistakable. Take for instance Marcelo H. del Pilar, in whose brain was conceived the plot of the Katipunan farsical-tragedy; Andrés Bonifacio, whose duty was the materializing of the plot; the Lunas, Juan especially, who had some time previous, in Paris, given an example of how easily the malay burned through the veneer of civilization to which the Filipino indian is susceptible; and so on, including the Aguinaldos, the Mabinis, the Agoncillos and even many of those, who in these days boast in public of their americanist ideas, and in private plot with treacherous zeal to overthrow the government of those they call their deliverers from Spanish tyranny. In them all may be traced the strange instinct of the old time filipino indian. Entering the fold of freemasonry, they threw off the bridle of religion which restrained them; loosing respect for Almighty God and for their faith they soon lost respect for others and for themselves. The result is well known. History, the history of the last five or six years, has shown it to us.
It is of this society of notables—for such is the meaning of the full title of the Katipunan—that I wish to say a few words in the following pages. I have taken as a foundation for my study, a very concise statement of the whole situation, drawn up by Capt. Olegario Diaz, Commander of the Guardia Civil Veterana de Manila. This document being an official statement, is of vital interest in the study of the birth, life and internal corruption of that diabolical association which, gigantic though it was, comparatively speaking, could, by reason of its infantility, have been easily stifled, had it been dealt with, with a strong hand. I have taken the document as a base, and by a series of notes in the form of a somewhat more lengthy appendix, have endeavored to provide my readers with a file of interesting items of historical value.
This pamphlet is not intended to be a history of the rebellion; I have endeavored to confine myself to the society which brought about the revolt, and if at any time I have strayed from the path I laid out for myself, it has been because there was by the wayside some flower I wished to pluck to add to the bouquet I herewith present to you.
Statement of Capt. Olegario Diaz[1]
Freemasonry
It is fully proved that freemasonry has been the principal factor for the development in these islands, not only of advanced ([2]) and anti-religious ideas, but chiefly for the foundation of secret societies, possessing a character especially separatist ([3]). This conviction I have come to after the examination of a countless number of documents, and the much correspondence this Corps ([4]) fell in with, after laborious work and investigations, in the possession of several well known filibusters ([5]) who are at the present time prisoners; these documents and parcels of correspondence were included in the military suit tried before Colonel D. Francisco Olive ([6]).
«Some 20 years ago, there was installed in this country, a lodge dependent upon the Gr∴ Or∴ Español ([7]): a lodge which was inoffensive in its beginning because it was composed of peninsular Spaniards, with the absolute exclusion of the native element of the Archipelago. In this form it developed languidly until the year 1890.
«During this epoch, the Filipino colony resident in Madrid, Hong-Kong and Paris, in the which figured as exalted separatists José Rizal ([8]), Marcelo H. del Pilar ([9]), Graciano Lopez, Mariano Ponce, Eduardo Lete, Antonio and Juan Luna ([10]), Julio Llorente, Salvador V. del Rosario, Doroteo Cortés ([11]), José Baza, Pedro Serrano ([12]), Moisés Salvador, Galicano Apacible and many others, who were in communication with the seditious elements of Manila, strove hard to influence don Miguel Morayta ([13]), (Grand master of the Oriente Español), in Madrid, and with whom they sustained close relations, to the end that the statutes should be reformed so that the native element might be affiliated, and even more, that lodges of a character exclusively Tagalog ([14]), might be created in the Archipelago. Conferences, general gatherings, and finally compromises of certain magnitude decided in the favor of the Filipinos, Morayta thus, unconsciously sowing the seed, the fruit of which we are to-day gathering.
«D. Alejandro Roji, resident in this capital, Captain of Engineers, was nominated general delegate to direct the works, and with ample powers from Morayta, came the native school-teacher Pedro Serrano, who enjoyed in Manila the confidence and protection of the said Colonel, assisted by the Flores, lieutenants of Infantry, Numeriano Adriano, Ambrosio Rianzares, Juan Zulueta, Faustino Villaruel ([15]), Agustin de la Rosa, Ambrosio Salvador, Andrés Bonifacio ([16]), Apolinario Mabini ([17]), Estanislao Legaspi Domingo Franco ([18]), Román Basa, Deodato Arellano, Antonio Salazar, Felipe Zamora, Nazario Constantino, Bonifacio Arevalo, Pedro Casimiro, Dionisio Ferraz, Timoteo Paez and a thousand others, all indians, but having a career or a comfortable social position; they commenced a silent and tenacious propaganda which resulted in 180 Tagalog lodges, extended throughout the territory of Luzon and part of the Bisayas, being constituted in 5 years. The character of the native ([19]), so propitious to all the mysterious and symbolic, easily accustomed itself to the ridiculous practices of freemasonry: the initiations ([20]), the proofs ([21]), the oaths ([22]), attributes, signs and pass words, and the pseudonyms, all and everything surrounded by shade and mystery, appealed to the native and served him as an educative ladder which prepared his mind for his entry into other associations of graver transcendencies, according as the initiators and apostles of filibusterism, Rizal, Pilar, López, Cortés and Zulueta had forseen, as can be proved by that correspondence which has come to my hands.
«In order to direct the organization of the lodges dependant upon the Gran Oriente Español, there was constituted by Morayta, a Gran Consejo Regional ([23]) which received its instructions from him, and which was presided over by Ambrosio Flores (h∴ Muza), and formed of Adriano, Villaruel, Flores (A), Mabini, Paez, Zamora, Mariano and Salazar. The newspaper La Solidaridad ([24]) which, in the previous year had been founded in Barcelona by M. Pilar, as a delegate of the propaganda of Manila, and the publishing centre of which was later on translated to Madrid, was declared the official organ of all Filipino masonry; and in its collaboration, all the Filipinos of a medium culture resident in the capital, took a hand, under the auspices and direction of its new proprietor, the oft-mentioned and ill-starred Morayta.
«In 1893 the Gran Oriente Nacional, of which the Grand Master is Sr. Pantoja, reporter of the highest tribunal of justice, conceded powers to the lieutenant military councillor Sr. Lacasa, and the sergeant of Infantry, José Martin, to carry on propaganda in these islands among the native element, and in competition with the other Oriente. The result did not correspond to the efforts of the propagandists, who only succeeded in creating some few lodges in the Capital, in Cavite, Cagayan, Iloilo and Negros. How could it be expected to prosper, when the Gran Oriente Español had already catechized the masses of the country!
«It must be declared, although it makes one blush to do so, that many peninsular Spaniards, and among them some holding important official positions in the country, have contributed to this propaganda, scandalous, and from all points of view, aimed at the integrity of the nation ([25]). Only candor can exculpate them. May the country pardon them.
«From the first moments, both in the organ of Filipino freemasonry, La Solidaridad, and in the circulars which the Gran Oriente sent to Spain for the information of the brethren there resident, was commenced a coarse and shameless campaign against the Monastic Orders ([26]), and of scoffing and ridicule of religion. Later on, this campaign acquired a political character, attacking the government of the metropolis, and the authorities of the archipelago, demanding liberal reforms for the country, such as representation in the Cortes, the colonial Cámara, municipal autonomy, increase of individual rights etc. etc., Let anyone with half an eye examine carefully the collections of the cited paper, and he will certainly meet with something contrary to the national unity, artfully and modestly hidden. Let him read the almost countless number of documents ([27]) pertaining to the Tagalog lodges, and sent by me to the judge, Señor Olive, which were united to the charges, and the most incredulous will be convinced that the lodges and their aids and abettors devoted themselves to something more than the propaganda of freemasonry. There is not a single one of the chiefs and organizers of the filibuster organizations up to this time discovered, who is not a freemason.»
«La Propaganda» and the «Asociacion Hispano-Filipina.»
At the end of the year 1888, Marcelo del Pilar, a lawyer of Bulacán, and a frenetic filibuster, considering himself in peril of deportation in consequence of juridical proceedings formed against him in the said province, decided to translate his residence to Spain, under the shelter of a certain element of the country ([28]). In those days was created in Manila a committee of propaganda ([29]) formed by Doroteo Cortés, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, Pedro Serrano and Deodato Arellano, under the presidency of the first named, its mission being the gathering from among the better class and more wealthy element, funds for the propagation throughout the Archipelago, of all classes of pamphlets and proclamations written to depreciate and cast slurs upon the Monastic Orders ([30]), and upon Religion; and likewise for the implantation in the country democratic doctrines; finally the nomination was agreed to of a delegation which should depend directly upon the committee recently constituted, and which should have its residence in Barcelona, its duty being to make overtures to the public authorities for the concession to the Archipelago of greater liberties and of representation in the Cortes in the first place. And in order to sustain and defend these ideals together with some few more, the foundation was authorized of a bi-monthly newspaper.
«The committee of propaganda fully fulfilled its mission; it overcame all the wealthy element of Luzon ([31]), gathered grand quantities, and Marcelo del Pilar set off for the Peninsular, installing himself comfortably in the «Ciudad Condal» [2] at the expense of his countrymen ([32]).
«In January 1889, he commenced the campaign in union with his companion of the delegation Mariano Ponce. They founded the paper La Solidaridad and constituted the Hispano-Filipino association, into which were drawn a large number of the native students residing in Barcelona [3]. The committee made great progress in Manila, added to the number of its followers and collected funds in return for subscriptions to La Solidaridad which, day by day, had more readers; it distributed books, pamphlets and proclamations of the worst class, for which a good price was collected.
«The association had increased hand over hand; its aspirations ([33]) were most radical; and considering its action limited in Barcelona, it determined to translate its headquarters to Madrid, where it would have a wider field for its pretensions. About this same time Serrano, Rizal, Luna, López etc., were united to the delegation and they succeeded in implanting Tagalog masonry in their country ([34]), and from this precise moment, commenced their relations with Morayta.
«In January 1890 the «Asociacion Hispano-Filipina,»[4] the delegation, and the paper La Solidaridad were installed in Madrid. Morayta accepted the presidency of the Association and became proprietor of the newspaper from which such good results were expected, it counting with an increased output to supply enforced subscriptions among masons and their associates at the rate of a peso a head.
«From that moment Morayta was made the idol of the turbulent indians, who considered him as their redeemer; no one is ignorant of the labors undertaken by the said personage in Spain, both in the realms of journalism and around and about the powers that be, on behalf of the securing representation in the Cortes, the liberty of association ([35]) and that of the press, municipal autonomy and even under a hidden guise, of that of the colony; in the memory of all is preserved the remembrance of the banquet given by the Filipinos inspired by Morayta, to Sr. Labra, the autonomist deputy for Cuba, and no one has forgotten the proposition presented to the Congress by Sr. Junoy, the republican deputy, also inspired by the Association and the delegation presided over and protected by Morayta. And who finally, does not feel indignation upon calling to mind the articles published in La Solidaridad by the Filipinos Kalipulako (M. Ponce), Jaena (G. Lopez), Dimas-Alang (José Rizal), Eduardo Lete, Taga-Ilog (Antonio Luna), Juan Totoo (J. Zulueta) and Kupang or Maitalagá (M. del Pilar)?
«What Spaniard is not fired to anger, upon reading the books and pamphlets written by Rizal, Luna and Lopez and the infinite number of printed libels which circulate here full of falsities and loathsome calumnies against the most sacred and venerated, the Fatherland? Have we forgotten, perhaps, Dr. Blumentritt ([36]) who repaid our most generous hospitality by making common cause with our enemies? Do we not call to mind, peradventure, that all the filipino colony in Spain and a good portion of that here resident, sympathised with that ungrateful man, conferring upon him the honor of banqueting him and extending to him their congratulations?
«Fortunately these labors obtained no practical result in the peninsula ([37]), but they caused the native element of some amount of culture to harbor imaginary ills and want of confidence in the Metropolis, covert discontent with the authorities of the islands (38), and finally, sowed the seed of aspirations which could never be realized [5]. but a seed which is to-day, unfortunately, bearing fruit.
«A casino of recreation known as the Centro Filipino, was also organized in Madrid: a revolutionary club was the only thing to which that center could be compared. There Spain was discussed, criticized and slandered under the shelter of the law of association which prevails in the Peninsula, and shielded by the hypocrisy and deception so proper of cowards.
«Personal rivalries and the want of morality in the administration of the funds ([39]) remitted from Manila by the committee of propaganda, gave rise to a grave disagreement between the two apostles of filipino filibusterism, Rizal and Pilar; with the former sided the young and impetuous element; with the latter the mature and thoughtful ([40]). Both elaborated the same material, but each using a different process; the one boldly insolent and hostile, the other masked with hypocrisy and calm. Both being ambitious, each found the world too small to contain him. This state of things ceased with the coming of Rizal to these islands in 1892 ([41]), Pilar remaining the absolute possessor of the field at Madrid.
«In the meanwhile the committee of propaganda was not inactive. It created delegations throughout the archipelago, and by their means introduced the La Solidaridad and all kinds of revolutionary printed matter into the utmost corners of the archipelago.
The «Liga Filipina»
«Rizal, magnanimously pardoned by His Excellency the Captain General of the Archipelago, D. Eulogio Despujol ([42]), after the making of a thousand and one lying protests of repentance, reached this capital in May 1892, being received by his countrymen with extraordinary proofs of enthusiasm and rejoicing; and converting himself into an apostle of filibusterism, commenced a campaign of scandalous propaganda.
«Three days after his arrival he convoked a large reunion ([43]) in the house of the Chinese half-caste Ongjungco in Tondo, and under his presidentship there gathered Franco, property owner; Flores, Lieutenant of Infantry; Rianzares, lawyer; Zulueta, government employee; Adriano, notary; Reyes, tailor; Paez, business agent; Francisco, industrial; Serrano, school-teacher; A. Salvador, contractor; Salazar, industrial; Mariano, property owner; Legaspi, industrial; José, property owner; Bonifacio, warehouse porter; Plata, curial; Villareal, tailor; Rosa, book-keeper; Arellano, military employee; M. Salvador, industrial; Arévalo, dentist; Rosario, merchant; Santillán, industrial; Ramos, industrial; Joven, property owner; Villaruel, merchant; Mabini, lawyer; Nacpil, silversmith; and many other Filipinos well known by their ideas. To this assembly Rizal made known the motive which had inspired him to call it together, which was no other than the creation of a secret society to be known as the «Liga Filipina», founded for the purpose of fomenting the advancement and culture of the country and the attaining, later on, of emancipation from Spain ([44]). He read out a list of provisional regulations drawn up by himself; these regulations were unanimously approved; a commission formed of Ambrosio Salvador and Deodato Arellano as president and secretary respectively, was at once nominated for the studying and development of Rizal’s project, and the reunion was dissolved till it should be again convoked.
«The opportune deportation of Rizal ([45]), Cortes and Salvador, upset the plans of the «oath bound» conspirators and the panic thus brought about dispersed them for the moment. In the beginning of the year 1893 they re-assumed the work ([46]), sometimes in the house of Domingo Franco, and at others in that of Deodato Arellano; and after it had been agreed that they should be ruled by the regulations of Rizal, and votes having been cast, the Supreme Council of the «Liga» was constituted in the following form:
| President | Franco. | |
| Secretary & Treasurer | Arellano. | |
| Fiscal | Francisco. | |
| Councillors |  | Zulueta. |
| Legaspi. | ||
| Paez. | ||
| Bonifacio. | ||
| Nacpil. | ||
| Adriano. | ||
| Mabini. | ||
| Rianzares. | ||
| Flores. |
«Before continuing, and in order that the facts which follow may be better understood, I will give some idea of the «Liga» according to the mentioned regulations. Its determined ends ([47]), were the independence of the islands; its means, the propaganda of advanced political ideas ([48]), availing themselves of conferences, books, pamphlets and the paper «La Solidaridad» which was declared the official organ of the association; the culture of the country by means of study, and its material advancement by stimulating the creation of large enterprises and industries; and, as a final means, armed rebellion ([49]). The catechised or initiated submitted themselves to a solemn oath before a human skull, which they afterwards kissed, signing with their own blood ([50]) a compromising document, after making the corresponding incision in one of their arms.
«All those initiated incurred the duty of making propaganda ([51]) by all means in their power, and of increasing the number of the associates, of preserving under severest penalties, the most impenetrable silence on all matters relating to the «Liga» and blind obedience to their superiors. The association was governed by a Supreme Council with residence in Manila, and composed of a President, a Treasurer, a Fiscal, a Secretary and twelve Councillors; for the Peninsular and Hong-Kong, the delegations composed of Marcelo del Pilar and Ildefonso Laurel[6].
“In each province was formed a provincial council with the same organizations as the Supreme Council, but with only six councillors, who, in their turn, had under their orders as many popular councils as there should be pueblos in the province in which the council should be constituted. The popular councils with analogous organization to the provincial councils, had jurisdiction within the demarcation of a pueblo; they depended directly upon the respective provincial council and the provincial upon the Supreme.
“All the members of the Supreme Council were to constitute in the capital of Manila a popular council formed of their converts within the zone of their residences; and all the members had to recruit among the natives of some culture, till the society should be thoroughly developed.
“Each treasurer collected a peso as entrance fee from the initiated and a medio (half) peso, as a monthly subscription for each member. With the said funds there was created a central deposit in the treasury of the Supreme Council, for the covering of the expenses of the delegations, and the sustainment of the Solidaridad; and it was agreed that once there should be sufficient capital, great enterprises, of a nature undetermined, should be undertaken.
“The eternal question of money in this class of organizations ([52]) gave rise to a serious falling out between Rizal and the Liga ([53]), on which account their official relations were severed. The subscriptions were badly collected, and those encharged with the custody and turning in of what few funds did exist misapplied them ([54]); this was what brought about the decadence of the league and the cause of its falling into discredit and disrepute and for its not prospering, in spite of the fact that among those who aided it with their moral and metalic aid, but without formal or written compromise ([55]), were a number of shameless filibusters, so much the more repugnant as the brilliant social position they held under the protection of Spain was elevated. Among many others may be cited the wealthy proprietors Pedro and Francisco Roxas ([56]), Mariano Linjap, Telesforo Chuidian, Luis R. Yangco, Antonio and Juan Luna, Felipe Zamora, Eduardo Litonjua, Marcelino de los Santos, Máximo Paterno ([57]) and Nazario Constantino ([58]).
“Of the members of the Supreme Council, only the following succeeded in forming popular councils: Estanislao Legaspi who organized one in Tondo, known as Talang Bakero; Andrés Bonifacio, one in Trozo, known as Mayon; and Francisco Nacpil, one in Santa Cruz, known as Mactan ([59]). The rest of the members of the Supreme Council only succeeded in forming the following fruitless sections: Flores, one in Ermita and Malate; Zulueta in Binondo; Rianzares in San Nicolás; Francisco in Quiapo; Adriano and Mabini in Sampaloc and Nagtajan, and Salvador in Pandacan.
“In the provinces also the Liga enjoyed such slow progress, that it was not possible to organize to popular councils, but sections only, and these were organized in the Laguna, by Vicente Reyes; in Batangas by Felipe Agoncillo ([60]); in Nueva Ecija, Bentus and Natividad; in Tarlac the notary del Rosario, and in Bulacán, Pampanga and other provinces wealthy persons of the same. In time, there was not a Filipino of wealth or career or of medium social position, who did not pertain to, or aid and abet the Liga, apart from a few most honorable exceptions ([61]) which it pleases me to recognize.
“At the commencement of the year 1894 and when the league had reached the age of one year, the members agreed to the dissolution of the society, both on account of the discords which continually sprung up in its bosom, and for the fear of discovery by the authorities which had already perceived something of the goings on ([62]). A grand assembly of the leaders was called together and it was determined to gather in as many documents as had been drawn up or circulated, and make a bonfire of them, so that all compromising indications should be made to disappear. The society became dissolved but it took a form more hypocritical. The popular councils re-entered the masonic lodges, and these took up the work of the Liga, a thing very easy to accomplish, when we remember that there was not a single member of the society who was not a freemason.
“There remained however, as a living remembrance of the Liga, a committee formed of the lawyer Numeriano Adriano and Deodato Arellano (a brother-in-law of Pilar) president and secretary, who had at their orders some 20 or 30 members from among the most important of the defunct Liga and who were known under the name of the compromisarios ([63]). These enjoyed no special organization and worked with almost entire independence. Their mission was the propagation of the La Solidaridad and the gathering of funds for the sustainment of the paper, and of the delegations in the Peninsula and elsewhere, with which they sustained active political correspondence. The work was continued with greater cunning by the lodges and by the compromisarios; and they succeeded in keeping alive the spirit of protest in a good part (the most influential) of the native element till the end of the year 1895.
«About this time the populous empire of China was defeated by the Japanese, and the Japanese Empire, having won the laurels of victory so easily, began to consider the weaving of a net of preponderance in the Occident. The Filipinos who followed with interest and satisfaction our contrarieties in Cuba, considered the occasion propitious for the Empire of the Rising Sun to copy in these islands the conduct of the Americans in the Antilles. Japan became the fashion in the Archipelago and its inhabitants were chosen as models of culture ([64]), wealth, of liberty and strength. They sighed for their protection and assistance, and to the attaining of it they uselessly directed their efforts. Doroteo Cortés emigrated to Yokohama ([65]), and with him Ramos, Baza, Español and others, where they established a separatist committee in correspondence with that of Manila. Marcelo del Pilar prepared to leave Madrid to join them, but died suddenly in Barcelona and finally the foolish political schemers dreamed of the liberation of Rizal ([66]) who had been deported to Dapitan, in order that he also should follow Cortés and the others. From Manila there departed frequently parties of wealthy Filipinos who went to Japan under the pretext of making recreative, instructive or artistic voyages, but in reality to conspire, and it is assured that they were listened to by some of the official element of that nation ([67]). The Japanese corvette Kongo ([68]) arrived in Manila in the month of May and no one could explain its sudden appearance in the bay; but on the other hand the officers were mysteriously banqueted by a commission of Filipinos in the Bazar Japones ([69]) where they lodged. Causalities perhaps, but....
[1] The numbers which will be found throughout this document signify notes to be found in the appendix. The letters in brackets signify footnotes of minor importance.
[2] Barcelona.
[3] About this same time a lodge composed of Filipinos was formed in Madrid, and known as the Solidaridad. There it was that steps were taken to catechize the masses of the Filipinos in their own homes.
[4] In the Official Bulletin of the Gr∴ Or∴ Esp∴ for Sept. 1896, Morayta, speaking of this association of separatists said: “It was born strong,—the filipino colony numbered then more than 70 members, by the side of whom labored several peninsular Spaniards.” It is a pity Morayta did not classify these peninsular Spaniards, for had he done so we might perhaps have found among their number some of the social outcasts who have since aided the insurgent element against the legitimate authority of the United States.
[5] These aspirations almost all turned upon the idea of independence. The ability of the natives to govern themselves has had many tests. During the last days of Spanish rule a taste of this privilege in minor grade was allowed the native as a test, and it needed but a drop of the independence tincture to put the patient into a burning fever. It truly takes a visionary to claim for the Filipino the ability to govern his own country. In the Filipino family the woman “wears the breeches” and in the pueblo all is subservient to the “boss”, the presidente. The aspirations of the pre-American Filipinos are the same as the aspirations of the Federal Party: aspirations which can never be realized till the character of the aspirant radically changes. “Filipinas” yet awaits in expectation to find the Filipino who can govern his own household!
[6] The executive committee of the Liga was composed of Moises Salvador, Ambrosio Flores, Apolinario Mabini, Domingo Franco, Numeriano Adriano, Timoteo Paez, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, and the brothers Venancio and Alejandro Reyes. Testimony of Antonio Salazar. (fols. 1118 to 1129).
K. K. K. N. M. A. N. B.
Kataastaasang Kalagayan Katipunan Nang Mang̃a Anak Nang Bayan.
Supreme Society of the Sons of the People[1].
Whilst Rizal, in Manila, was engaged in the organization of the “Liga Filipina” into which only the well-to-do or educated classes could enter ([70]), an attempt which, for that time, failed on account of his immediate deportation, Marcelo H. del Pilar, from Madrid, in July 1892, advised the creation of another association, which was to be similar thereto, but which was to include the agricultural laborers and persons of little or no education and instruction ([71]), but who directed in the localities by the caciques and chiefs, were to form an enormous nucleus which should, at the proper time, give forth the cry of rebellion. He (Pilar) provided minute instructions concerning the organization and forwarded a project of regulations.
“Deodato Arellano (brother in-law of Marcelo), Andrés Bonifacio, Ladislao Dina and Teodoro Plata where those commissioned to carry into practice the project of Pilar ([72]); they discussed the regulations and added to them making them still more terrifying, agreeing that they should all immediately proceed with the preparatory works, and they were not interrupted till the conspiracy was discovered on the 19th of August of this year (1896). Both the said organizers and the others who composed the first Supreme Council, belonged to the «Liga filipina».
“The organization given to the society was analogous to that enjoyed by the «Liga» ([73]) but amplified to the extent of anarchism, swearing hatred and destruction to everything of a character or nature Spanish ([74]), and sowing the seed of a race-hatred which has developed to a great extent ([75]). The Supreme, the Provincial and the popular Councils, the sections and the delegations ruled this horrible association. The first governed the whole Tagalog Katipunan ([76]); the second, that corresponding to a pueblo and the sections were sub-divisions or fractions into which the popular councils were divided. Those commissioned to form sections were called delegations, and whilst they remained unconstituted, they depended directly upon the Supreme Council. Every associate paid an entrance fee of a medio peso, and a monthly subscription of a real. The collections were made by the respective treasurers and passed into the central treasury of the Supreme Council. The funds so gathered were utilized for the succor of the brethren in their afflictions and sicknesses, for the covering the expenses of the works of propaganda, and for the secret acquisition of fire and other arms ([77]).
«As in freemasonry, the initiations ([78]) were performed with a wealth of the ridiculous, and with unending extravagances; but of such a nature, that the ignorant indian was fascinated and became converted into a slave of his oath.
«The initiated were masked ([79]) as also was the person to be initiated; before a table was placed a skull and crossbones, a triangle and two candles; the person about to be initiated was told that the object of the Katipunan[2] was the liberating of the Tagalog people, and the expulsion of the Spaniards from the archipelago, or their destruction ([80]); following this, came a series of questions and replies in the which the martyrdom of Gomez, Burgos and Zamora ([81]), native priests judged and condemned for their part in the rebellion of Cavite in 1872 was exalted, and they passed on to the proofs ([82]) which consisted in imitating an assassination, a suicide, etc. This was followed by the taking of an oath of striving to effect the liberation of the people till death, an oath which demanded a blind obedience to the commands of the superior and the preservation of the secrets of the association under the pain of death ([83]). Finally, to terminate the ceremony, they made with a dagger especially adapted to that use, an incision in the arm of the person initiated and with the blood which flowed from the wound thus made, the new katipunero signed his compromise (see note [50].)
«The initiated were called brethren and had their «sacred words» and their special signs of recognition. They were ruled by a code which established punishments ranging from whipping till death ([84]) and received no orders from anyone, or had no intercourse with anyone, except with their immediate superiors. The details which might be made mention of are infinite and curious, but it would make this short memorial unending to speak of them all.
“All the matters of importance and organization were dealt with in assemblies ([85]) constituted by the Supreme Councils and all the presidents of the provincial and popular councils. The accords were taken and discussions decided by a nominal votation and at least by a majority of votes.
“Both the Supreme, the provincial and the popular Councils and the sections held their periodical sessions in the which were discussed a thousand different affairs, and the decisions of the Councils had to be submitted to the approval of the immediate superior. The gatherings were always held in different houses and localities, no day being set aside as fixed, but the days of festivities or those upon which was observed some ecclesiastical feast were chosen for that purpose ([86]), under the pretext of banquets or dances in which the authorities had no suspicion, and because on the said days these semi-public rejoicings were permitted without the necessity of seeking the license of the governing authorities.
«Both the provincial and the popular councils and the sections were known by special names; the initiated were “baptized” with symbolic appellations; and the documents were drawn up in the Tagalog dialect, the most important being in secret code.
“The first Supreme Council was constituted on the 15th of July 1892, and was as follows:
| President | Deodato Arellano. | |
| Secretary | Andrés Bonifacio. | |
| Treasurer | Valentin Diaz. | |
| Councillors |  | Ladislao Dina. |
| Bricio Pantas. | ||
| Teodoro Plata. |
Delegates were immediately appointed to establish sections in Tondo, Binondo, Trozo, Sta. Cruz, Nagtajan, Sampaloc, Quiapo, Dilao (Paco) and Intramuros. Commissioners set out with all rapidity to the neighboring pueblos and provinces, and in a few weeks councils were in working order in Caloocan, Malabon, Mandaloyan, San Juan del Monte, Pandacan, Sta. Ana, and Pasay. In the Capital of Cavite was constituted a popular council, and sections in Noveleta, Cavite Viejo and Imus. The same occurred in San Isidro, Gapan and several other pueblos of these provinces.
’Andrés Bonifacio, Secretary of the Supreme Council, displayed a notable audacity and energy, and this united to a clear intelligence, gave him a great predominance over his companions. This predominance he asserted, and in 1893 brought about the destitution from the presidency, of Deodato Arellano, Román Baza ([87]), chief clerk of the Comandancia General de Marina being elevated to that office. On account of the want of character and initiative on the part of the new president, Bonifacio decided, by a coup-d’état if we may so call it, to depose him also, putting himself in that office and becoming the «dictator» of the Katipunan.
“Under the Presidency of Bonifacio, the society commenced an era of febrile activity; the greater number of the tribunales of the pueblos were converted into centres of propaganda, which were directed by the municipalities. Pamphlets and proclamations against the friars and the whole Spanish element were circulated in profusion ([88]). Injuries and outrages were invented, and by these and a thousand and one other infamous means, little by little, hatred and revenge were inculcated into the mind of the indian.
“In 1895 Bonifacio took the first decisive steps towards the organizing of an armed rebellion; he sent different delegations to Dapitan to confer with Rizal and receive his advice and instruction ([89]); he opened negotiations with the Japanese Government ([90]), but did not succeed therein. But with his immense ascendancy over the popular masses, an ascendancy beyond imagination, he declared himself dictator. The secret aiders of the Katipunan who pertained to the upper classes, offered funds of considerable amount, with the which were acquired a good number of arms which were landed on the coast of Cavite and Batangas with the aid of wealthy persons ([91]).
«In August of this year (1896) exaltation among the masses reached its full height, and Bonifacio realizing the fact, prepared what was necessary in order that in a short time, the conspiracy which was to take effect on the same day and hour in almost all Luzon, should be in readiness. The plan of the attack and taking of Manila was coarsely conceived but it might have been successful and massacre, sacking and pillage would have crowned the iniquitous work.
“At this time the Supreme Council was was composed as follows.
| President | Andrés Bonifacio. | |
| Secretary | Emilio Jacinto. | |
| Treasurer | Enrique Pacheco. | |
| Fiscal | Pío Valenzuela ([92]). | |
| Councillors | | |
| Hermenegildo Reyes. | ||
| Teodoro Plata. | ||
| Balbino Florentino. | ||
| Bricio Pantas. | ||
| Pantaleón Torres. | ||
| José Trinidad. | ||
| Francisco Carreón. | ||
| Aguedo del Rosario. | ||
| Vicente Molina. | ||
| Alejandro Santiago. | ||
| José T. Santiago. |
“In Tondo existed the popular Council Catagalugan presided over by Alejandro Santiago; and the sections Cabuhayan, Catotohanan, Pagtibain, Calingaan and Bagongsilang, presided over by Hilarion Cruz, Braulio Rivera, Cipriano Pacheco, Nicolás Rivera, and Deogracias Fajardo.
“In Sta. Cruz the popular Council Laonlaan presided over by Julian Nepomuceno, and the sections Tanglao and Dimas Alang[3] by Procopio Bonifacio and Restituto Javier.
“In Trozo the popular Council Dapitan[4] presided over by Francisco Carreón, and the sections Silang̃anan and Alapaap, by Juan de la Cruz and R. Concha.
“In Binondo the popular Council Ilog Pasig by Faustino Mañalac.
“In Concepción and Dilao (Paco) the popular Council Mahiganti, presided over by Rafael Gutiérrez, and the sections Panday and Ilog with a delegation in Ermita.
“But why continue? It would not be exaggerating to assert that the fourth of the native population pertained to the Katipunan, and the task of consigning more names would be useless, as nothing new would be discovered.
“Astounding is the number of the initiated; in Manila and its province alone they exceed 14,000, and in the provinces of Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Nueva Ecija there are no less than 20,000. Adding to this number those of the remainder of Luzon, the total will ascend to an enormous mass of “illusioned” who bowed in obedience to an inquisitous schemer. It must be recognized, however, that Bonifacio is not a common man; of active character, energetic and bold, gifted with a facility of expression in his language which suggested itself to his countrymen; of a criterion clear but badly cultivated by the reading of books of an elevated style and a pernicious character[5] and possessed of an unfathomable ambition—such was the warehouse porter who had charge of the store house of the foreign commercial house of Fressel and Co. in Calle Nueva, Binondo[6].
“His proclamations, pamphlets, and circulars although not a model of literature were possessed of a certain amount of culture.
“In Calle Clavel, in the dwelling house of Alejandro Santiago, the Katipunan possessed a secret printing establishment, in which were prepared many most injurious and insulting publications. There also was edited and published the paper Kalayaan (Liberty) ([93]) which only twice saw the light and which was supposed to have been printed in Yokohama, (it bearing the name of that town as the place of publication) and was published over the signature of Marcelo H. del Pilar. This was all false, all studied out for the purpose of throwing dust in the eyes of the local authorities. The paper was edited by Bonifacio, his brother-in-law Teodoro Plata and the secretary of the Supreme Council, Emilio Jacinto, a young student of law, of no scanty intelligence.
“On the 19th of August last (1896) the conspiracy was denounced and a great number of imprisonments were made by this Corps. Bonifacio and those more closely connected with him in his schemes, fled aghast to the neighboring pueblo of Caloocan and there remained hidden in the house of the Capitan Municipal (a native) and in that of the Capitán Pasado (also a native) Adriano de J, father-in-law to Andrés Bonifacio. On the 23rd Bonifacio set out for the barrio of Balintauac, followed by some 200 inhabitants of Caloocan; on the 24th they were combatted by the Civil Guard in the fields of the said pueblo and fled to their former hiding place.
“The Supreme Council convoked a large assembly to be held on the following day in the said barrio, to which gathered more than 500 members; there a discussion took place concerning the steps which would have to be taken in view of the failure of the conspiracy, and of the imprisonments which were being made. Some, feeling repentant, desired to return to a legal status, submitting to the Spanish authority but the president Bonifacio protested, proposing immediate rebellion. Both propositions were put to the vote, and as a result, that of the president gained by an immense majority; so much for the prestige of Andrés Bonifacio! ([94]).
“The orders were circulated with rapidity throughout Manila, Cavite, Nueva Ecija and other provinces, commanding that armed rebellion should commence at day-break of Sunday the 30th. The day and hour assigned finally arrived, and the whole province of Manila broke out; the rebels committing a thousand and one abuses and crimes upon as many Europeans and loyal natives as were encountered. Like wild beasts they attacked the waterworks and the powder station situated at San Juan del Monte from whence they were valiantly driven back by a section of artillery and another of the 70th regiment. Simultaneously they attempted to invade the suburb of Sampaloc by way of Santa Mesa and there also they were combatted and dispersed by 60 Veteran Guards who prevented, by their defence, a day of mourning for the city of Manila. All Cavite, except the capital, arose in insurrection on the afternoon of the 31st., assassinating and disarming the whole of the Civil Guard of the province, after an heroic defence on the part of the latter. They assaulted the convents and estates of the Religious Orders and murdered the defenseless ministers of the Lord ([95]). On the 3rd of September the capital of Nueva Ecija was attacked by large masses of rebels, and the colony[7] and the Civil Guard heroically resisted until the arrival, from Manila, of a column which combatted the enemy and saved that handful of Spaniards from a certain death. But why continue to relate events so well known to all[8].
Denouncement of the Conspiracy and its Discoverer.
“Teodoro Patiño. A name which all Spaniards should pronounce with pleasure, because, by his repentance, inspired by divine Providence ([96]), Spain was saved from an unending series of bitter experiences.
“Patiño, a workman in the printing establishment of the Diario de Manila, pertained to the Katipunan of Tondo, as did also the majority of the compositors and book binders of the said establishment.
“Repentant and fearful of the increase of the association, and of the criminal projects it pursued, he decided to denounce it to his sister, a student of the College of Looban, directed by the learned and virtuous Sisters of Mercy ([97]). His sister made known the denunciation to her Superior who called Patiño into her presence; and realizing the gravity which surrounded the matter, sent him to the Rev. P. Mariano Gil, parish priest of Tondo ([98]), a suburb of Manila; to this Rev. Father, Patiño repeated all that he had manifested, and all that he could know, he being only a simple initiated member. He affirmed that in the printing establishment of the Diario receipts and proclamations were printed, and daggers were secretly made for the Katipunan, and he offered, moreover, to make known where the lithographic stones used for the printing were hidden.
“Srs. Grund and Cortés, lieutenants of the sub-division of the Veterana of that district, were called to the convent by P. Gil, who expounded to them all that had occurred. These officers made known the facts to their chiefs, and constituted themselves into a “cuartelillo”. That same night there fell into the power of P. Gil the lithographic stones, some receipts and printed regulations of the Katipunan: objects which were placed at the disposition of this Corps. In the “cuartelillo” Patiño was minutely examined, and immediate proceedings were commenced for the arrest of 22 oath bound katipuneros, whose houses were also searched. In this search an abundance of documents and effects which justified the denunciation were encountered. From that time no stone was left unturned by the officers and guards of this Corps, who for 15 days worked unceasingly and untiringly that their labor might be crowned with the greatest success.
“More than 500 prisoners of importance, among those who were convicted and among those who confessed, were handed over to the Courts of Justice together with all the documents, books, pamphlets, seals, attributes and the archives of the Supreme Council. The back of the vast conspiracy was broken; some of the guilty have already expiated their crimes ([99]), many have suffered deportation, ([100]) whilst no few still remain in prison awaiting the decision of human justice.
“If with our aid we have contributed to the salvation of this portion of Spanish territory, what better recompense and reward for this Section of the Guardia Civil Veterana?
“Manila, 28th October 1896—Olegario Diaz—Signed—The document bears a seal which reads: Sección de Guardia Civil Veterana.—Manila.
Here ends the document which forms the text. In continuation follow the notes with their corresponding numbers.
[1] The words Supreme Society express the idea of supreme social situation, of a society formed of noteworthy people. A well-read writer on the subject of “El Katipunan ó el filibusterismo en Filipinas,” says, speaking of this union of such notable folk: “A reunion of people who meet to concoct assassinations, cannot be a reunion of noteworthy people but should rather be called a reunion of noteworthy criminals.” There is not the shadow of a doubt that this is the best and, in fact, the only title to which such a society as the katipunan can justly lay claim.
Opinion is divided as to the origin of the word katipunan, and as to the manner in which it should be written. Some spell it with C whilst the majority use K. As to the derivation: the root word is undoubtedly Tipon which, prefixed with the particle ca and terminated with an gives us a word, which signifies very select association. The word is however generally written with K so as to be in keeping with the Tagalog way of spelling, as they (that is to say the “redimidos” have taken to the use of K for C whenever C has a hard sound as in cat. In like manner, to the insurgent and his sympathisers, Cavite should be Kawite. The K and W are Blumentrittisms, i. e. of German descent.
[3] The pseudonym of Rizal. By this name he is mentioned in almost all the masonic documents relating to him and over this same name he wrote in the La Solidaridad and the Kalayaan.
[4] The place of Rizal’s banishment.
[5] Pio Valenzuela y Alejandro, a near companion of Bonifacio in matters relative to the Katipunan, testified in his evidence in the courts of Justice, (fols 1,663 to 1,673), that Andrés Bonifacio had read much, and possessed a library which was destroyed when his house caught fire. (See note [16]) That he would pass the night in reading instead of sleeping, and that from such an excess of reading there had happened to him the same as happened to Don Quixote—his brain had become turned. Thus it was that Andrés was ever dreaming of the presidency and speaking of the French Revolution.
[6] It was in the warehouse of this German firm that the Spanish authorities discovered the documentary evidence which Valenzuela testified had been hidden there by Bonifacio. It had been determined by the Katipunan to destroy all documents, but evidently Bonifacio overtaken suddenly by the unexpected discovery of the plot he was developing, had not sufficient presence of mind, or what is more probable still, enough time to put them out of existence, and he therefore hid them as has been said, hoping no doubt, to be thus enabled to put the authorities off the track in case they should happen to get possession of them.
[7] That is to say the Spanish population.
[8] As the events here spoken of do not fall within the scope of this sketch, no note has here been made of them. As was pointed out in the introduction, this review is not intended as a history of the revolution, but as a brief sketch of the society which gave rise to it.
Notes.
These notes are, as regards historical
matter, chiefly taken from Spanish
official documents drawn up as a
result of juridical proceedings
against certain
individuals accused
of treason.
Note 2. In that period of time in which the evil effects of freemasonry began to tell upon the public and private life of the government officials and upon the morals of the people in general, the Civil Governor of Manila, D. Justo Martin Lunas (1886), gave a ball to which the cream of Manila society was invited. Among the selections for the evening was an extravagant item, nothing more or less than ... a can-can! This in itself was enough; but what made the matter so much the worse was that the governor had invited the venerable Archbishop of Manila to the ball. The news of the innovation spread far and wide, and very soon the whole city was in a state of wild excitement. In the defense of public morals the Archbishop deemed it necessary to issue a pastoral letter condemning such spectacles.
Although not directed at that particular “school of scandal”, this pastoral was interpreted by all those concerned, as well as by the public in general, as a severe lesson for Sr. Lunas and those who had gathered in the government house to dance the can-can or to take pleasure therein. Hence Sr. Luna and his party considered themselves offended, and did not hesitate to take revenge when an opportunity occurred, upon the aged and infirm Archbishop who did all he had done, in defense of the morals of his flock.
From this event sprung the seed which gave rise, later on, to the famous, or rather infamous manifestation of ’88: an insensate campaign inspired against the Religious Orders by these offended ones and their followers (See note [30]).
The Civil Governor at that time was D. José Centeno y García an active propagator of freemasonry, holding the 33rd degree. He, together with Sr. Quiroja, fostered and godfathered the “manifestation”. In this semi-official insult to Archbishop Payo, an insult so ably analysed by Sr. Retana[1], we have one of the best examples that could be furnished of the methods adopted by the masonic enemies of the Catholic faith in this archipelago. This manifestation, fostered by a governor who drew down upon himself the righteous ire of all honorable men and women by reason of his protection of the houses of ill-fame in and about the city, was a truly masonic invention by which many, in fact some 98% of those who signed it, were grossly deceived. The following notes taken from the analysis of Sr. Retana, will give an idea of the real value of the “manifestation” and the part the people had therein. In the Suburb of Sta. Cruz there were 144 people who signed the document, that is to say there were 144 names. Of these no less than 56 were unknown, 3 were minors and 3 did not recognize their signatures; 52 were natives and 8 were Chinese half-castes. In Sampaloc: 61 signatures, all of which were of indians none of whom followed trades or professions which necessitated the use of brain power. In Malate: 38 signatures, 31 of indians, only 15 of whom understood Spanish. In Binondo: 41, 31 of whom were indians; five minors. In Sta. Ana, out of 104, the number of minors was 14, and 50 did not understand Spanish; 66 were indians. In Caloocan: 80 signatures of which 55 were indians who did not understand Spanish; 38 were laborers, 7 were minors. In Navotas: 140 signatures; 49 laborers, and 49 fishermen; 127 did not understand Spanish. In Mariquina: 68, 38 of whom were laborers, 51 did not understand Spanish. In San Fernando de Dilao (Paco): 35; 6 minors and all indians. In San Mateo, 50 signatures; 39 laborers, 45 indians, 41 of whom did not understand Spanish. In San Miguel 49; and here comes the crowning piece of the magnificent work, for of these 49 no fewer than 16 had died! yes died previous to the drawing up of the document and therefore could not possibly have signed it; moreover 7 did not recognize their signatures, and all were indians.
In recapitulation; there were 810 signatures; of these 85 did not declare on examination, 56 were unknown, 39 were minors, 22 did not recognize their signatures and 16 had died previous to the drawing up of the document (Feb. 20th 1888). This brings the 810 down to 592. Of these 592 signatures 208 were of laborers, 50 of fishermen, 31 of carpenters, 7 washermen and 5 barbers: a total of 301 persons whose occupations called for no particular amount of education, and whose interest and concern in such a movement as this may be judged from their social standing. Deducting these 301 from the remaining 592 we have 291 left for further analysis. Of these 25 were of tailors, 4 singers (!) and 3 school masters; 58 escribientes whose occupation it is to make clean copies of documents and other manuscript, the most that can be said of the majority of them being that they can write well, not an uncommon thing anyhow for a filipino; 11 of musicians, men who lead the life of crickets, enjoying hunger by day and noise by night; 9 type-setters, men who after having set a dozen columns of material could not tell you anything of the subject they were composing, in other words, men who like the escribientes reproduce mechanically without knowing what they are reproducing; this gives us 107 of another grade leaving 184 to be divided among the many odds and ends of occupations followed by the native to earn his “fish and rice”. No less than 384 of the number did not understand Spanish and 13 could not write. In the matter of races: ONE was a Spaniard, Enrique Rodriguez de los Palacios who called himself a merchant and was domiciled in Binondo. Upon investigation it turned out that he also had been fooled and that he had signed the protest because he had been told that other Spaniards had also signed it; as to its contents he affirmed that he knew nothing. One was a Spanish mestizo, 66 were Chinese half-castes and 524 were indians. So much for the famous manifestation which resulted in giving a most decisive blow to the moral and social standing of those who prepared and those who signed it. Those concerned therein learned the bitter lesson that “they who dig pits for their neighbors are apt to fall therein themselves.”
The common opinion has always been that the document in question was drawn up by Doroteo Cortés (see note 11) who had on several occasions been under police vigilance; had been expelled from Navotas and compelled to reside within the walled city, later on pardoned, but still kept under police surveillance. But however that may be, the document was infamous in the extreme, and was the precursor of the modern campaign against the Religious Orders. From that time to this present, this campaign has continued to spread, and is still being fostered by the Federal Party.
Another of the advanced ideas which saw the light of day during the interim governorship of D. José Centeno y Garcia, a 33rd degree freemason and a stout republican, was the toleration, for the first time in the history of the Archipelago, of houses of prostitution. Centeno was a governor who, having erred considerably during his governorship, attempted some years later to regain public confidence by the publication of an insulting pamphlet against the Religious Orders. This novelty of semi-official houses of ill-fame was, for Manila, a most genuine expression of modern democracy. Scandals until then unheard of or undreamed of in Manila, became the order of the day. White girls imported or inveigled, were hired out by their mistresses to pander to the sensual appetites of blacks, merely because the said black-skinned sensualists were wealthy enough to pay the price demanded. What edification! Fundicion street became a centre in which the scandals daily increased in number and importance. The native weaned after many long years of careful training at the hands of the Religious Orders, from the vices in which he was found submerged at the time of the Spanish Conquest, was brought face to face with the same scandalous surroundings, introduced by people of the same white race which had removed his forefathers therefrom. Gradually but surely this leaven of corruption has eaten its way into the customs of the people, and to-day we are witnesses of its terrible effects. A comparison of the public morals of to-day with those of 20 years or so ago, would reveal facts which would astound many of those who are at a loss to account for the reason of the existence of the “querida” evil among so many of the Filipinos of modern Manila. A quarter of a century ago Manila was a paradise to what it is to-day, crimes so common in these days that they are scarcely worth recording, were unheard of; and even drunkenness was almost entirely confined to foreign sailors. What Manila is to-day it owes to the advanced and anti religious ideas introduced by freemasonry and modern democracy.
Note 3. Separatism, vulgarly called filibusterism, has always, in the Philippines, been marked by essential characteristics. It was always, under the circumstances by which it was surrounded, necessarily anti-patriotic. One thing which helped to give it the robust life it enjoyed among the middle class of people, was the supposition of the existence of a Tagalog civilization anterior to the discovery of the archipelago by the famous Magallanes. This fantastic doctrine was preached and propagated principally by two of the more prominent Filipinos, Pedro Paterno and José Rizal. The former, much less cultured than Rizal, was the one to whom the most insensate ideas on this subject were owing, and this because although Rizal upheld the idea, he was led to do so by his perverse character rather than by his belief; whilst Paterno really believes in this pre-Spanish civilization, and that to such a degree that many of his own country-men call him a fool and ridicule him. Another essential mark was the enmity demonstrated against the Religious Orders. But few, if any at all of the propagators of the doctrines of separatism labored outside of the four walls of the masonic lodge room. In other words they were freemasons. Masonry was to them a medium through which they might carry on their conspiracies; it was an excuse for the creation of the spirit of association, till then unknown in the Philippines.
The aims of separatism may be classed as direct and indirect. The indirect aim was the independence of the country from the yoke of Spain. At the best this idea of independence was but second hand, a lesson learned by heart by a scholar whose power of thought was insufficient to enable him to grasp the true meaning of the words of the lesson. The average Filipino lacks the sentiment of nationality; hence in the minds of the majority of the people independence is but the enjoyment of the unbridled liberty to do as they please, in fact to revert to the times of their ancestors when everyone who could exert an authority was a king, a prince or a ruler of some description. To the Filipino it is of little importance whether his sovereign or his supreme ruler be the King of Spain or the President of the U. S. of America, as long as he is protected from his “friends” and from his own country-men and may enjoy his cock-fighting and have the necessary supply of rice and fish for his daily sustenance.
The direct aims of the separatists were those they sought in public, viz: representation in the Spanish Cortes, the expulsion of the Religious Orders, etc., etc. The result of representation in the Cortes would have been a veritable comedy; that of the expulsion of the Friars a decided tragedy for Spain, in as much as the Religious was ever the backbone of the administration of the colony. The consequences of the independence of the country would have been equally disastrous. There would have been the tremendous preponderance of the black over the white and eventually inter-tribal disputes and even armed struggles for the mastery. This would entail the complete stagnation of the moral and material progress of the people, who would gradually but surely drift back into the savage ways of their ancestors. And at last, who knows but that Japan or perhaps China would have to step in to save the inhabitants from becoming cannibals.
This doctrine of separatism was the doctrine disseminated by Filipino masonry, a daughter of Spanish freemasonry. Filipino freemasonry however, was to a great extent addicted to views not held or sustained by the Gr∴ Or∴ Español, and hence did not make common cause with Universal Freemasonry, although it used its ritual, its signs and its name, to shield from public view those of its labors which could not be allowed to see the light of day. Hence the diving into the subject of Universal Freemasonry is somewhat irrelevant to our present study, suffice it to say that the brotherhood, universal as it is, suffers no other division than that into families. Its aim is one; its methods one; its doctrine one[2]; it is the worldly imitation of the unparalleled Catholic unity of divine foundation.
The Spanish family was founded in 1811 by the Count de Grasse-Tilley. On the 21st of February 1804 the Supreme Council of Charleston issued a circular to the Count in which it said among other things which demonstrate the aim of the foundation: “Above the idea of country is the idea of humanity”; “frontiers are capricious demarcations imposed by the use of force.” And others of the same nature.
When the Count set forth to found the Spanish Supreme Council he was armed with a letters patent issued by the Supreme Council of Charleston containing this sentence: “the masonic solidity will never be effective whilst the brethren do not recognize one only power, as is one only the earth we inhabit, and one also the horizon we contemplate.... To unify, therefore, the masonic labors we all journey to the one end to which the work of this Supreme Council is directed, and hence what we have pointed out to Spain as one of the points in which is more necessary than elsewhere the one direction to which we refer.”
In 1882 Spanish freemasons were divided into different Orientes each of which claimed continuity with the institution of Grasse-Tilley; the matter was finally settled by the Supreme Council of Charleston.
Opinion is divided on the question of the responsibility of the Spanish freemason lodges or rather the ruling “Oriente” for the beliefs and practices of their filipino brethren. That they were indirectly responsible is more than certain; and oft-times they were so indirectly. D. Manuel Sastrón ex-Deputy to the Spanish Cortes, ex-Civil Governor of the Philippines, speaking on this subject says: “It is not possible for us on any account to fall in line with these suspicious reasonings: never have we had a disposition to form a part of such a sect, because we are old time Christians; but we repeat that we cannot believe nor do we imagine that any masonic centre composed of peninsular Spaniards could tolerate, and much less foment consciously, the propagation of doctrines which, whatever masonry brought about in the Philippines, could have given origin to the congregation of separatist elements.”
“Nevertheless side by side with this firm conviction we repeat what we tersely maintained, viz: that freemasonry has been the medium which marshalled the element which generalled the Filipino insurrection. Filibusterism knew how to exploit it to a fine point.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“We do not find it inconvenient to affirm, but just the opposite, we repeat with pleasure and absolute belief that Spanish freemasonry was ignorant of the true ends of the Filipino masons. But it is proved to our way of thinking, to the point of evidence, that Filipino masonry pursued no other ends than the independence of those islands (the Philippines.)”[3]
It must be noted that this is the opinion of a Spanish patriot, for a patriot Sastrón certainly was, and what is more natural than that a true patriot should doubt the possibility of his own countrymen mixing themselves up in anti-patriotic movements: Yet while Sastrón and other writers would redeem their fellow countrymen from such a stain as that of treason, I am inclined to believe that the asserted ignorance of the Spanish freemason was too often official, that is to say it was not genuine, but limited to the members of the society who enjoyed the privileges of the lower degrees.
There are two sides to every question, however, and that the “other side” may be given a fair hearing, I will quote a declaration of Antonio Luna on this subject. Luna, among the many statements made before the Lieut. Col. in command of the Cuartel de Caballeria, on the 8th of October 1896, confessed that “in the year 1890 or 91, of his own free-will, he formed a masonic project based on Spanish masonry: a project which might, at its proper time be applied to filibuster conspiracy. This project was discussed and approved by the Oriente Español in Madrid; but that center did not know the secondary ends to which it would be applied.... Of his own free-will he manifested that his ideas were, when he formed the project, anti-Spanish....”
With rare exceptions the Filipinos who left their native soil to finish their education in the Spanish peninsula, were those to whom the real work of separatism is owing. The Filipino at home who has fallen into line with his foreign educated brother is but a blind worker. And the Filipino who went to Spain was as a rule, a very general rule, taken under the sheltering care of Miguel Morayta (see note [13]). The responsibility therefore for the ideas inculcated into the minds of those “students” lies, and that heavily, upon Morayta, the chief of that family of freemasonry which claims ignorance of the aims of its filipino membership. The only logical excuse that can be brought forwards is that filipino freemasonry degenerated. When once it took root in the Archipelago it spread with wonderful rapidity. The adepts were for the most part Chinese half-castes; and little by little that strange train of thought of the native, whether he be full blooded or mixed, a train of thought which, like the filipino pony is accustomed to walk backwards when it should go forwards, or like the patient carabao which too often lies down just at the moment when its services are the most needed to drag a load over a mud hole, carried the would-be citizens of an independent country to the verge of political insanity. Certain it is that as the idea of separation became more and more developed the Spanish masons who were member of the Filipino lodges severed their connection therewith. But yet it does not appear within the limits of common sense to believe that the Spanish masons were ignorant; the greater probability is that they were too indulgent, too confiding. To hold too fast to the excuse of ignorance is to profess oneself very ignorant. But whether it was ignorance or the wanting of even that species of patriotism which one expects to find in beasts of burden (for every horse knows his own stables) the black fact still remains that Spanish masonry gave birth to, and fostered, Filipino freemasonry or in other words, the katipunan.
However, be the degree of ignorance what it may, we cannot overlook the fact that the actions of the Tagalog freemasons, the katipunan if you will, for the one and the other are the same thing under different names, were the cause of no little surprise to the Grand Oriente Español. The filipino mason was a traitor to the mother which gave him being and nourished him into activity: a traitor who used the cover of the freemason lodge only that he might the easier and safer hatch out his plot to gain, by the most brutal means imaginable, the independence of his country.
In his declaration made in the presence of Colonel Francisco Olive y Garcia and others on the 23rd of September 1896, Moises Salvador Francisco, of Quiapo (Manila) stated that “in April 1891 he came to Manila bringing with him a copy of the agreements arrived at by the Junta of Madrid, and these he handed over to Timoteo Paez to see if masonic lodges could be established as a commencement of the work. In the following year of 1892 Pedro Serrano arrived from Spain and then Masonry (native) was introduced into the Philippines, the first lodge instituted being the Nilad.”
To give some idea of the separatist aims which gave life and nourishment to the Tagalog revolt, I will quote a few extracts taken from masonic documents, and from the declarations, made by persons complicated in the conspiracy. These declarations were made in the presence of the appointed judge, Col. D. Francisco Olive y Garcia, and others, and are of capital interest in the study of the rise and fall of the filipino “commune”.
I. In an act of Session of the Katipunan Sur at the commencement of the year 1896, the session being opened, the president don Agustin Tantoko, a native priest[4], invited the membership present to express its opinion concerning the questions proposed, viz: how ought we to act towards society; towards ourselves; and how ought we to act in case of surprise. Mariano Kalisan considered, dealing with the first question, that “as their principal object was not to leave alive any Spaniard in all the future Filipino republic” they should procure to make friends with them as much as possible in order to be able to carry out their plans with more surety when the time should arrive to give the cry of independence. D. Gabino Tantoko, brother of the president, considered that the said principle should be carried out especially in dealing with the members of the Religious Orders. Both propositions were accepted.
As regards the second question, Epifanio Ramos proposed that meetings should be held as seldom as possible “in order to avoid scandals”.
In case of surprise, Hermenegildo García considered that “the strongest fort lay in denial.” The brothers Tantoko remarked that such surprise was almost impossible seeing that they had determined “not to leave alive any of those who might surprise them.” The president moreover remarked that, from that time forward, in case of danger, “they should destroy all the papers they held in their power, such as acts, receipts, letters, plans and especially the arms they held, in case the blow they were to deal in Manila should not succeed.” This was accepted unanimously.
In reply to a question, the president affirmed that “all the sections of Katipunan existing in the future Filipino republic pursued the same end: viz: the independence of the Filipino people, the release from the yoke of the step-mother[5] Spain.”
II. In a document dated the 12th of June 1896 and giving instructions to those who should carry out the proposed slaughter of all the Spaniards in Manila, we read:
“2nd. Once the signal is given every bro∴ shall fulfill the duty imposed upon him by this Gr∴ Reg∴ Log∴ without considerations of any kind, neither of parentage, friendship nor of gratitude, etc.”
“4th. The blow having been struck at the Captain General and the other Spanish Authorities, the loyals shall attack the convents and shall behead their infamous inhabitants, respecting the wealth contained in the said convents; this shall be gathered ... etc.”
“6th. On the following day the bbro∴ designated shall bury all the bodies of their hateful oppressors in the field of Bagumbayan together with their wives and children, and on the site shall later on be raised a monument commemorative of the independence of the G∴ N∴ F∴ (Gran Nación Filipina).”
“7th. The bodies of the members of the Religious Orders shall not be buried, but burned in just payment for the felonies (sic) which they committed during life against the Filipino nation during the three hundred years of their nefarious domination.”[6]
This infamous document is signed by the president of the executive commission by the Gr∴ Mast∴ adj∴ Giordano Bruno, and the Gr∴ Sec∴ Galileo.[7]
III. In his declaration made before Col. Olive y García, the second Lieutenant D. Benedicto Nijaga y Polonis, a native of Carbeyeng, province of Samar, stated that the conspiracy was entered into for the purpose of securing from Spain, by peaceful means, or by the process of revolution, the independence of the country. He affirmed moreover that, in the case of revolution, the aid of Japan was to be sought and that the co-operation of the native troops was expected: and that the plan of campaign of the rebels who were in San Mateo, was to “fall upon Manila”, the native infantry sent out to meet the attack to pass over to the rebel ranks.
IV. In his declaration made in Manila before the same judge, Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino stated that he was one of the members of the Interior Supreme Council of the Katipunan, the aim of which was to collect a large amount of money and promote a general rising in order to declare the independence of the islands under the protectorate of the Empire of Japan. Further on he stated that the rising was to have taken place at 7 o’clock p. m. on the 29th of August, entry being made into Manila and its suburbs, the rebels “killing the Spaniards, and the natives and Chinese who did not wish to follow them, and then devoting themselves to the sacking of the town, to robbery and incendiarism and the violation of women.”
V. Romualdo de J., sculptor of Sta. Cruz, Manila, declared that he had founded the Katipunan in 1888, the year in which the manifestation against the Archbishop was made; he defined the aim of the society to be “the killing of all the Spaniards and the taking possession of the islands.”
VI. In his declaration made in Cavite, September 3, 1896, Alfonso Ocampo affirmed that according to the plans formulated, they were “to make the assault, killing and robbing all the peninsular Spaniards.” And moreover, that “the rebellion had for its object the assassination of all the peninsular Spaniards, the violation and beheading afterwards of their wives and of their children even to the youngest.”
Many others might be cited; with these six samples an idea may be gathered of the progressive idea advocated or fostered by Rizal, Pilar, Lopez, Ponce, the Lunas, Rosario, Cortés, and others who were inspired by Morayta, the Grand Master of the Gran Oriente Español.
Note 4. The then Civil Governor of Manila, in a report to the Colonial Minister concerning what was taking place in Manila says, speaking of this Corps:
“... this Corps of Vigilance which, although composed of no more than 45 persons including the inspectors of the same ... renders a service (to the Government in secret service work) which should be confided to 100 persons, considering the nature and the amount of the work undertaken and performed daily, from the day of the formation of the Corps to this day: a period of about a year. The interesting body of police which under my orders has performed such valuable services, is that which has attained greatest success in the fruitful labor of making clear the vandalistic events we have been experiencing.”
Note 5. Filibusters: more properly called separatists. Noah Webster describes a filibuster as a “lawless military adventurer, especially one in quest of plunder; a free-booter, a pirate.” Hence, taken in its true meaning, the word does not apply to the separatists of the Philippines. Retana classifies the filibuster in three groups: the first: he who, thinking little or nothing of the independence of his country, showed more or less aversion to the peninsular Spaniards. 2. He who, under the pretext or without it, of illustrating his countrymen, inculcated into their minds political ideas which, without meriting the qualification of subversive, tended to incite them against supposed oppressions of the Spaniards; against all things which appeared behind the times, hence according to their way of arguing, against the Religious Corporations, to which they owed everything except their anti-Spaniardism. As a rule those belonging to this group professed great love for the mother-country and did not preach ideas of independence; they held the belief that theirs was the duty to prepare the way for the emancipation which should be attained by their grandchildren. And 3. Those whose aim was to attain the emancipation of their country as soon as possible. This latter group were the true separatists. It is however difficult to distinguish between the filibuster so called, and the true separatist; perhaps the only admissible distinction is that the separatist is a man of peaceful methods whilst the filibuster is a man of struggles. Rizal was more or less a separatist, Andrés Bonifacio a veritable filibuster.
Note 6. Sr. Olive was a gentleman who well deserved the respect and honor paid to him by his nation, and the hatred of those whose plans of treachery he thwarted and who, in spiteful revenge, have gone so far as to accuse him of using torture and other forcible means of extorting confessions, many of which they claim to have been false. Sr. Olive was too kind-hearted a man to stoop to such methods even had the circumstances demanded the use of moderate physical persuasion.
At one time Sr. Olive was the Governor of the Marianas Islands concerning the which he wrote and published a very interesting memoir. He was at that time Lieut. Colonel.
Later on he was made Colonel and as such was placed at the head of one of the sections of the Guardia Civil of Manila. He was secretary of the sub-inspection of arms of the Philippines. When a state of war was declared, the charges which were at that time being prepared in connection with the insurrection, were handed over to Sr. Olive, who with a zeal worthy of praise, and an energy too seldom exerted, commenced to deal out strict justice to the enemies of their country. About a year and a half ago Sr. Olive was made General of Brigade.
Note 7. According to a pamphlet written by a pseudonymous freemason and printed in Paris in 1896, the first lodge founded in the Philippines was that established in Cavite about 1860 under the name of Luz Filipina and subject to the Gr∴ Or∴ Lusitian, enjoying immediate correspondence with the Portuguese lodges of Macao and Hong-Kong which served as intermediaries between that lodge and those of other neighboring countries.
Another statement however, from the pen of Sr. Nicolas Diaz y Pérez who formed his data from the original documents of the lodges, places the first foundation at the end of the year 1834. At this time, says Sr. Diaz, D. Mariano Marti, who died twenty-seven years later, whilst on his return to Spain, founded, together with others, lodges in various parts of the Archipelago, but they did not prosper and soon dissolved. The epoch of intrigues which produced so much disquietude and perversion of moral customs and ideas, more especially in the Tagal provinces, commenced about 1868. The masonic activity at that time was owing greatly to the political intriguers who were deported from Spain to this archipelago, where their influence was felt in no small degree, to the detriment of public morals.
About 1872, during the interim government of Gen. Blanco Valderrama, a lodge was founded in Sampaloc, subject to the Gr∴ Or∴ Esp∴, and composed entirely of peninsular Spaniards with the exclusion of natives.
In the same year D. Rufino Pascual Torrejón reached Manila and united his efforts to those of Marti, founding lodges purely Spanish.
On the first of March 1874 was created the lodge “Luz de Oriente” under the obedience of the Gr∴ Or∴ de Esp∴, the Gr∴ Comend∴ being D. Juan de la Somera. This was really the first successful establishment of masonry in the Philippines. The cited Sr. Diaz y Pérez says on this point; “It may be said that freemasonry regularly constituted in the Philippines, dates from the 1st. of March 1874, with the creation of the lodge Luz de Oriente....”
On the 1st of March 1875 was installed the Gr∴ L∴ Departmental, D. Rufino Pascual Torrejon being the Gr∴ President.
Up to the year 1884 the lodges of the Philippines did not admit to their membership either indians or half-castes; but since that time, and upon the initiative of the Gr∴ Mast∴ of the Gr∴ Or∴ Esp∴ the doors of the lodges were opened to all indians and half-castes who could read or write. Later on purely native lodges were founded and from that time Spain lost, little by little but surely, her hold upon the people, with the result that she eventually lost her colony. What masonry has accomplished in other parts of the world it also accomplished here very effectually. It laid the foundation for the undermining of society, bringing forth a generation of traitors and building up a kingdom for anti-Christ.
As has been proved over and over again by the many masonic documents which have been discovered, freemasonry was ever anti-Catholic in the Philippines; but it was not until it had degenerated into filibusterism that the anti-Spanish spirit really took shape. Year by year this spirit spread and more, especially among the natives and half-castes of less intellectual capacity. Among this element, separatist ideas spread with marvelous rapidity owing to the peculiarity of the character of the native and of the half-caste, more especially the Chinese half-caste. (See note [19]).
Up to 1890, even Filipino masonry enjoyed but insignificant development. By 1892, however, it had spread widely, and in the following year Manila was gifted with a female lodge founded on the 18th of July of that year, under the name of “La Semilla”, of which Rosario Villareal, the daughter of Faustino Villareal, was declared the Ven∴ Gr∴ Mistress.
From this time the element of politico-social decomposition gained ground among the native and half-caste population. New ideas continually gave place to the old and as the aims and purposes of the lodges degenerated, these centers of anti-catholic propaganda became more and more anti-Spanish.
Isabelo de los Reyes, in an attempted defense of his “friends”, makes the important confession that “Filipino freemasonry was not so inoffensive as it was believed.... The “Liga” at least was a school of conspiracy, and in truth, the Filipinos did not turn out bad pupils.”
Another demonstration of the inoffensiveness of freemasonry is the following series of facts taken from a pamphlet published in 1896 in Paris by Antonio Regidor under the pseudonym of Francisco Engracio Vergara. Regidor was a distinguished figure in the attempted revolt of 1872, and hence may justly be supposed to know something of the matter of which he speaks. He says:
“By reason of the rising of Cavite many Filipinos characterized as progressives were deported to Marianas.... To the masons of Hong-Kong was owing the flight of several Filipinos....”
“The foreign masons distributed arms in Negros, Mindanao and Jolo. The official bank of Singapore distributed in Cebu, Leyte and Bohol over £80,000 stg., and that of Hong-Kong more than £200,000 in Panay and Negros.... The French freemasons at the petition of brother Paraiso, went to aid also the escape of the deported in Marianas.”
Note 8. Rizal and others: Of this group Rizal, Pilar, the Lunas and Cortés, formed the more guilty part, they being men of superior education and more enlightened minds. Rizal was the center upon which almost everything connected with the revolt turned. During his younger days he lived with his parents in Calamba, where they occupied a stretch of land owned by the Dominican Corporation. The Rizal family was one of those most favored by the Dominicans[8], and one of those ungrateful ones too, which commenced law-suit against the said Corporation to unjustly possess themselves of the land they held at rent.
Rizal received his secondary education at the Ateneo Municipal conducted by the Jesuit Fathers, and was always a bright attentive and successful pupil. At that time he was secretary of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin and Promoter of the Apostleship of Prayer. Whilst he remained true to the traditions of Catholic Spain, he was an upright pious youth. Much of his time he spent in carving wooden images of the Blessed Virgin and of the Sacred Heart, and in writing compositions, some of them remarkable for their beauty, in which were reflected a pure love for Spain.
Having attained the degree of Bachelor he left the Ateneo and passed to the University of Manila, continuing his studies under the Dominican Fathers. There he studied medicine with great success for some years, and at length went to Europe to terminate his career and take his degrees.
Rizal left school like so many other filipino students, overloaded with science he was unable to direct, full of pride because of his accomplishments, and very ambitious. He terminated his studies in Madrid and Germany, in both of which places he fell in with a class of people who utilized him as a tool to accomplish an end at that time unknown to him. They filled his head with new and false ideas, making him vain promises which appealed to his pride, and by their dark arts made of him a separatist. He also studied English and German, his studies in this latter language making him enthusiastic in the things of Germany and, in an extraordinary degree, with those of protestantism.
Among his own people he was the possessor of an exceptional intelligence and talent but outside his own circle his most famous accomplishments are but poor to the student of Literature. His sadly famous Noli me tangere and El Filibusterismo cannot pass for more than very second-hand for their ingenuity and literary taste, but they possess the quality of being a mirror in which is reflected the inclinations, character and perverse moral sense of their author. In them he is reflected as a restless spirit anxious for human glory, haughty and above all, anti-Spanish and ungrateful in the extreme.
It was in Berlin that he published his Noli in 1886. That this novel was written by Rizal there in no doubt, but that the ideas therein expressed came directly from his own head is more than doubtful. Like the vast majority of Filipino productions, it is but a copy taken from models which had struck the fancy of the author. The pictures he draws therein of the disadvantages suffered by the Filipinos who have become españolized, are but reproductions prepared in his own coarse and crude way of thinking, of the most scurrilous anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic works of propaganda produced by the Bible Societies and spread abroad throughout the world as gospel truth. Taking away the insults hurled against the Church and the Religious Orders, and against Spain, there is absolutely nothing new in the novel. Its object was to attack the friars and the chiefs of the Guardia Civil, both of which the author well knew to be the sustainment and guarantee of peace and order in the Archipelago and consequently the strongest support of the Spanish sovereignty in the Philippines, a sovereignty he wished to overthrow. To a reader whose library consists of a half a dozen books of insignificant literary value, the noli of Rizal is a masterpiece; but to the reader who has seen a book with a cover, who has had some experience of that portion of the world which lies outside the limits of the town of his birth, and who is gifted with more or less ability to think for himself, and sift the wheat from the straw in a literary composition, noli me tangere is but a half-tone picture cut from a newspaper and colored with water-colors by a ... school-boy.
Towards the end of 1887, Rizal returned to the Archipelago, remaining about two months, during the which he made active propaganda of the ideas and fancies he had picked up in Europe: ideas which he himself could not really understand.
In February 1888 he left Manila for Japan, from whence he returned to Europe, living for a while in Paris and later on in London.
In 1892 Rizal, relying upon the generous character of D. Eulogio Despujols, the then Governor General of the Archipelago, decided to return to Manila. From Hong-Kong where he was then residing, he wrote to the governor, asking permission to return to his home; the Governor replied by means of the Spanish Consul at Hong-Kong, that he had no reason to prohibit him from returning, and that he could do so when it so pleased him, providing he came with no intention to disturb the peace then reigning in the Islands.
This Rizal lost no time in doing; he arrived together with his sister. The baggage of both was carefully examined and in one of the trunks was discovered a bundle of leaflets in the form of anti-friar proclamations which indicated the bad faith of a traitor. These were handed over to Despujols unknown to Rizal. The Governor preserved them in his desk for future reference. In an interview with the Governor, Rizal begged pardon for his father who was under sentence of deportation for certain events which had taken place in Calamba; this was granted him without reserve.
Our hero soon forgot the aims he professed to the Governor; instead of thinking about his folks and making his arrangements for the colonizing scheme he professed to have worked out in Borneo, he set to work to stir up disrespect towards the authorities, and the spirit of political unrest. He together with Doroteo Cortés and José Basa were the objects of careful vigilance on the part of the secret police.
After a few days a prolonged conference took place between the Governor General and Rizal. During this conference the latter made patent his political feelings, at the same time making protestations of respect for Spain. His political programme however was not in keeping with his protestations of patriotism, and this fact so angered Despujols, who now saw that Rizal’s idea was to fool him, that he took from his drawer the proclamations discovered in the agitator’s baggage and thrusting them under the nose of the traitor, said:
—And these proclamations; what are they, what do they mean?
Rizal taken by surprise and confounded, cowardly declared that they were the property of his sister, a declaration which only enraged the General the more, and he ordered his detention in Fort Santiago; on the following day he decreed his deportation to Dapitan.
Whilst in exile his opinion and advice were sought concerning the advisability of immediate armed rebellion. But he, crafty, more or less far seeing and, above all, jealous of Bonifacio’s increasing ascendancy over the people, refused to countenance the idea. Granting the unselfish desire he professed of seeking merely the independence of his country, Rizal’s jealousy was justified. Bonifacio’s one great idea was the presidency; Rizal’s: the honor and glory of having prepared the way for, and eventually, by his labors accomplishing his country’s deliverance from what he was pleased to call the oppression of the Spanish Government. Had such oppression existed, Rizal’s idea would have been worthy of classifying as noble. George Washington well deserved the name of the “Father of his Country,” for he, laying aside all selfish aims and desires, led a handful of men against a horde of mercenaries sent by a cruel monarch who oppressed his people, not only in the colonies but in the mother-country also. Washington was a man who deserved and received the respect of those against whom he fought, for he fought for a principle. Such an honor never has, and never can be received by Rizal from his own countrymen. The campaign Rizal fought was inspired by and worked out in the freemason lodges which used our “hero” as a willing tool. Rizal was a Filipino Garibaldi, never a Filipino Washington, and hence the honors paid to his memory as a “patriot” must emanate from the lodge rooms which made him what he was, and not from the people of his country.
In Dapitan the Filipino agitator was not inactive. On one occasion he directed a letter (which never reached its destination on account of its having fallen into the hands of Spanish authorities) to the Capitan Municipal of the province of Batangas, giving him information of the work of filibusterism which was at that time being carried on.
Rizal, tiring of his position in Dapitan, eventually asked permission of the Governor General, Gen. Blanco, to be sent to Cuba as physician to the Spanish forces there. Blanco agreed to the proposition and ordered his return to Manila in preparation for the voyage to Spain, where he was to be sent and placed at the disposition of the Minister of War.
From Spain came word, however, that the petition could not be accepted; and for a very good reason. Rizal’s idea of becoming an army surgeon, was a manifest pretence, his real aim was to aid the separatist movement there, if he ever got there, but primarily to make his escape at an intermediate port, Singapore probably, if opportunity occurred. Moreover, it having come to the ears of the authorities that certain people of Pampanga and Bulacan were preparing a reception for the agitator, the Governor ordered that he should not be allowed to leave Dapitan, and that should he have left there, he should not be allowed to land in Manila on his arrival, but be transferred to another ship which should carry him back to Mindanao. It happened that he had left Dapitan on board the S. S. España, and in due time he arrived at Manila. At 11 a. m. on the 6th of August the ship on which he came anchored in the bay and everyone landed except Rizal. A lieutenant of the Veterana went aboard and took possession of the person of Rizal, holding him as a prisoner till 7:30 p. m., at which time, through an error in the delivery of an order, he was allowed to disembark. This he did in company with his sister Narcisa, and they made their way to the office of the Captain of the Port and later on to the Comandancia of the Veterana. His sister not having been under sentence of deportation, was allowed to go to the home of her relatives.
During the evening of the same day Gen. Blanco gave a reception at Malacañang at which were present the Archbishop of Manila, the Illust. Sr. Bernardino Nozaleda; Sr. Echaluce; Sr. Fernandez Victorio, President of Audiencia; Sr. Bores Romero, the Civil Director and others. During the reception Gen. Blanco received a telegram from the Governor of the province of Batangas stating that in the pueblo of Taal, in the house of the brother of the filibuster Felipe Agoncillo, had been discovered a quantity of arms and ammunition, among other things being 10 revolvers, 10 winchesters, 10 other guns, a case of explosive bullets, a quantity of dynamite, a Japanese flag, another composed of red and blue with a representation of the sun in the center surrounded by seven stars—the flag of the future Filipino republic. Blanco realizing the importance of the news, formed a committee from among those present, choosing those who were members of the Junta of Authorities, to take steps in the matter. Orders were immediately given that Rizal should be placed on board the cruiser Castilla which was stationed at Cavite; this was carried out, the start from Manila being made at 11 p. m. the same night. This action was considered necessary, in as much as the news of the landing of Rizal spread fast and caused no little stir among his followers.
Whilst Rizal was on board the cruiser Castilla which was awaiting orders, the Katipunan revolt broke out in Manila and the suburbs. Very soon afterwards his voyage Spainwards was commenced on board the S. S. Colon, the insurrection becoming more and more wide-spread daily. On finding to what an extent Rizal was complicated in the work of the revolution, his return to the Archipelago, as a prisoner, was demanded, and so our “hero” returned to be judged as were so many of his fellow agitators, for the crimes for which he was morally and physically responsible.
A council of war was constituted under the presidency of Lieut. Col. Tabares, Capt. Tavil de Andrade taking charge of the defense of the prisoner. The accusation preferred against him was that he was the chief organizer of the revolution. The trial took place in the hall of the Cuartel de España in the presence of a large audience among whom were his sister and the woman with whom he had been living in Dapitan. The charge having been read out, several declarations were made by Rizal, some before his voyage to Spain and others since his return were also read. During his trial Rizal denied the knowledge of several persons who were his intimate friends and co-workers; among them Maximo Inocencio and Mariano Linjap, and others with whom he had been in almost continual communication. He denied knowledge of the “Liga Filipina” stating that not only did he not found it, but that he was not aware of its existence. He affirmed ignorance of who Valenzuela was, and almost immediately afterwards stated that he had held an interview with him in Dapitan when that individual had been sent there by Bonifacio to consult him on the subject of armed rebellion. Throughout the whole trial he pursued the same tactics, proving that, of himself, he was but an ordinary Filipino indian who, when left to himself to stand on his own merits, gave no signs of particular judgement or power of thought. The Filipino on trial, even for some significant affair, cannot tell a lie to advantage: Rizal was no exception even in this. The trial being ended he was condemned to execution.
Previous to meeting his death he confessed and received the Holy Communion from the hands of the Jesuit Fathers having after long consideration, made the following retraction of his errors:
“I declare myself Catholic and in this religion in which I was born and educated I wish to live and die. I retract with all my heart all my words, writings and actions that have been contrary to my condition as a son of the Catholic Church. I believe and profess whatever She teaches and I submit to whatever She demands. I abominate masonry as an enemy of the Church and as a society condemned by the Church.
“The diocesan prelate, as superior ecclesiastical authority, may make public this spontaneous manifestation, to make reparation for the scandals which may have been caused by my works, and that God and my fellow-men may pardon me.”
“Manila 29th December 1896.—José Rizal.—Witnesses: Juan del Fresno, Chief of Picket.—Eloy Maure, Adjutant.”
He also entered the holy bonds of matrimony with the young woman with whom he had been living for some time in Mindanao. On the way to the place of his execution he remarked to one of the Fathers who accompanied him. Father, it is my pride that has brought me here.”
Of the political error committed by the Spanish Authorities in the execution of Rizal, I do not hold myself up as a judge. All governments, like human beings, commit mistakes and at times grave ones. The Spanish authorities, feeling themselves justified in so doing, ordered the execution of the prisoner who was responsible for one of the most bloody revolts since the time of the French revolution: the pattern taken by the Filipino leaders, for the means of the foundation of the Filipino republic. Rizal was executed on the Luneta. To assert that he was offered up as a victim to gratify the wishes of the Religious Orders is but a crude and vicious argument worthy of its inventors and propagators. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can be brought forward to prove such an assertion, but on the contrary, those members of the Religious Orders who concerned themselves in the stirring affairs of the revolution were, as a very general rule, opposed to harsh and extreme measures being taken; and among these was the Illustrious Archbishop of Manila, Sr. Nozaleda, a noble, tenderhearted and compassionate prelate, a prelate who has been dubbed by Foreman as “the blood-thirsty Archbishop”. Had the friars held the reins of government as they are stated to have done, history would not have to record the names of so many, many people who were executed: people who were scarcely to be held as guilty, in as much as they were but sheep who thoughtlessly followed their shepherds without even looking to see where the road they trod would lead them.
In politics Rizal had his party composed of a number of insignificant petty-lawyers, petty-doctors and others possessing academic titles and a semi-formed cerebral power. These were backed by a mass of the people of Calamba, Rizal’s birthplace. In their eyes he was a “Messiah”, a “Mahdi”, their prophet and redeemer. As an individual he was bright and intelligent, and had he not been led astray by those who made a “cat’s paw” of him, and who cruelly deserted him in his hour of need, he would doubtless have been one of the foremost Filipinos of to-day in that sphere of life in which God had placed him.
A Spanish proverb says: “In blind man’s land the one eyed man is a king.” Rizal was a king.
Note 9. Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaytan was a native of Bulacan. He was, by profession, a lawyer, and had been enabled to complete his studies in that direction through the good offices of the Augustinian Fathers of Manila, who had given him the money necessary to matriculate and to pay the cost of his title of “abogado.”[9]
Pilar left Manila for the peninsula about the end of ’88 for fear of deportation: a punishment at that time staring him in the face. He was one of the earliest workers on the “La Solidaridad”, the official organ of Filipino freemasonry in all its sections. He later on became its director.
Pilar was another of the many malays whose ways were beyond human comprehension. Spaniards who have lived a life-time among the indians and studied them carefully from all points of view agree that the deeper one studies the native character the more incomprehensible it becomes. That is, the study of the average filipino: Pilar was one of the average. He was not gifted with the education enjoyed by Rizal, nor was he such a stupid visionary as Pedro Paterno; he possessed touches of the character of both.
Like so many of those Filipinos who fed at the hands of the Religious Orders, he eventually turned to bite the hand that fed him. As in the case of the others who had done the like, he did so, not because he had cause to, but because he fell, as did they, under the evil influence of those who utilized them to work out their schemes of treachery.
Pilar was sent to Spain as a delegate of the Committee of propaganda. Owing to this position of chief of the delegation in Madrid, and by reason of his intimate friendship with Morayta, he occupied a position from which neither Rizal nor even the whole of the progressive indians combined, could drive him. He held, for some time, high office in the Gr∴ Or∴ Esp∴ as will be seen from the following clipping taken from page 107 of the Annual of that Orient for the year 1894–95.
“GRAN CONS∴ DE LA ORDEN
1894–1895
Muy Ven. Gran Maestre Presidente
Ven. H. Miguel Morayta y Sagrario, Gr∴ 33
...................................
Ven. Gran Orador Adjunto
V. Marcelo H. del Pilar Gr∴ 33” (h∴ Kupang)
It was Pilar who conceived the plan of the Katipunan; and yet after all it was not his conception, for the scheme he formed was at the best, a piece of patch work made up of the plans worked out in the various revolutions which had taken place in some part of the world.
What Pilar’s ambition was, it is hard to say; from his actions and writings one is almost driven to the supposition that he had none in particular, but was led to the separatist labors he performed by force of compromise.
When the time was ripe for action Pilar determined to leave Madrid and make his way to Japan. He commenced the journey arriving at Barcelona, from whence he was to make his way east. There, however, he was taken suddenly ill, and died on the 4th of June 1896, in the Hospital of that city.
In many things Pilar was superior to Rizal. Unlike that agitator, Pilar was not a sneaking, skulking petty-politician; he was straight-forward and had the courage of his opinions. What Pilar would have done if placed in the same circumstances as Rizal it is hard to say, but we may be assured that he would not have acted the coward as did Rizal.
Note 10. Antonio and Juan Luna were two of four brothers. The former was a bacteriologist, the latter an artist who at one time, whilst he followed the instruction, and remained under the guidance of his master, showed no little talent. Antonio went to Spain in ’88, and later on passed to Paris where he lived with his brother Juan who supported him. There he devoted himself to the study which made him famous; this he did in the laboratory of Dr. Roux. He became an assistant editor of the Solidaridad, the official organ of filipino freemasonry, and wrote many vicious articles in its columns over the pseudonym of Taga-Ilog. As a member of the freemason fraternity he was known as Gay Lussac.
On his return to Manila he established, for a livelihood, a school of fencing, and like the vain, insensate “magpie in borrowed plumes” that he was, he once sent his seconds to a Spanish officer, inviting him to a duel!
During the second half of the rebellion of ’96, Aguinaldo offered Antonio the position of director of the War Department with the grade of General of Brigade. This honor, however, he declined. The Independencia speaking on this incident, says:—
“The military knowledge of Sr. Luna, acquired during his captivity (sic) in the prisons of the peninsula (Spain), is to be found condensed in two small works, one concerning the organization of the army, having as its base the idea of obligatory service in which he demonstrates that Luzon might put on a war footing 250,000 to 400,000 men, and the whole archipelago as many as from 800,000 to 900,000. The other work is a practical course in field fortifications as adopted by the French and German armies.”[10]
Juan, from childhood, was of an artistic turn of mind and found among his many protectors those who sent him to Spain to study art. In Spain he met with Sr. Alejo Vera, a noteworthy artist, under whom he studied, receiving an exceptional education both in art and in morals, Sr. Vera being a Christian gentleman. Later on he went to Rome, and there formed part of the Spanish artistic colony. After some two or three years of study there he sent to Spain his first painting[11]. Being an artistic production of a Filipino indian it was received with open hands and given a reception greater than it really deserved, as a result of the influence of Luna’s friends. From Rome he went to Paris. It was in that city that he committed the fiendish double murder which so startled and shocked his friends and acquaintances, his victims being his wife and his mother-in-law, sister and mother of a prominent political aspirant of modern Manila. The result of the trial was that the courts of Justice of Paris absolved him. He then returned to Madrid, and soon after, to Manila.
What Spain did for the Filipino brought forth fruit in only a few of the people who fell under her beneficent christian influence. The Lunas were among the few. They, like so many other ungrateful children, repaid their benefactors by becoming leaders of the insensate and inexcusable revolt against them: a revolt, the first act of which was to be the brutal murder of all Spaniards irrespective of parentage or other claims of consideration. Both the brothers suffered arrest by the Spanish authorities for rebellion and sedition, but in spite of the degree to which they were complicated, they remained practically free from punishment, and ever at the right hand of the imbecile General Blanco, himself a freemason, and friend of the enemies of his country. Eventually the two brothers left the ante-chamber of the Governor to enter the security of the military prison.
Both brothers eventually retracted their errors only to fall into them again as soon as the lying protests of repentance had fallen from their lips.
Juan died in Hong-Kong; Antonio, after a career of militarism succumbed to the same unprincipled ambition which carried Andrés Bonifacio to an untimely grave.
Note 11. Doroteo Cortés was banished by Governor Despujol in the year 1893, to the province of La Union where he founded in San Fernando, the Capital, aided by Arturo Dancel, the lodge “Rousseau” and two others in the pueblos of San Juan and Agoó. He was a lawyer and became the president of the committee of Propaganda which was formed with the idea of gathering pecuniary resources for covering the expense of the distribution of all classes of pamphlets and anti-Religious proclamations. He was at one time the president of the Superior Supreme Council of the Katipunan[12], and received the funds collected for the payment of the expenses of the political commission sent to Japan to seek the aid and protection of that power. Cortés was a co-worker with Andrés Bonifacio and whilst the former devoted his efforts to the enlistment of people for the general rising throughout the country, the latter continued his negotiations with Japan to the end of forcing some international struggle between Spain and that Power[13]. By order of the Superior Council Cortés went to Japan to join Ramos and aid in the purchase of arms. Shortly after his arrival he communicated by letter with Ambrosio Bautista informing him that he had seen and spoken on the subject with the Japanese ministers of State and of Foreign Affairs[14], and that the said ministers “demanded guarantees” of the probable success of the undertaking before entering into the scheme. According to a statement of Isabelo de los Reyes, Cortés was “the first person of means and position who came to the decision of attacking, in the Philippines, the Religious Corporations. He was the soul of the manifestation of ’88.” (See appendix B.) At the time of the American occupation of the Archipelago the Cortés family showed themselves friendly to the new sovereignty and aided in many ways the establishment of good feeling between the two peoples.
Note 12. Pedro Serrano, symbolic name Panday-Pira, was a 24th degree mason. He was a school-master of the municipal school of Quiapo. After having done considerable work of propaganda in masonry he abjured it. He was the cause of the entry into the lodges of hundreds of indian and half-caste clerks, laborers, employees, petty merchants and others of all classes and employments. He was accused by his fellow masons of exploiting the society[15] and of treason, of frequenting the Palace of the Archbishop and the College of San Juan de Letran, and of many things unbecoming a mason. In a document dated the 31st of March 1894, dispatched by the G∴ Cons∴ Reg∴ of Filipino masonry to the lodge Modestia, Serrano was denounced, and all masons were urged to flee from him. In the said document, a translation of which will be found in Appendix C, is poured forth the complaint of the president of the Gr∴ Cons∴ (h∴ Muza) of a leakage somewhere in the treasury in which were stored up the secrets of the treasonable labors being carried out in the Filipino lodges. By way of specific charges the president denounces Panday-Pira because he had the courage to give vent to his opinions concerning the doings of the Filipino lodges, to a foreign mason; because he was known to have, for some reason or other, visited the Archbishop’s palace and Dominican College; that he had demanded the possession of certain documents, threatening the possessors if they did not give them up, etc. etc. On this account he was denounced as a traitor and dubbed “reptile”, the pot calling the kettle black.
Note 13. Morayta, the famous Don Miguel, the “papa” of the rebellious Filipinos! It is an almost world-wide belief that the number 13 is an unlucky number. If this be so, then Miguel Morayta well deserves his name, for in it there are thirteen letters; the first letter of each word commences with the thirteenth letter of the alphabet and it happens also that this miserable individual falls to note 13. I will therefore complete the coincidence by saying all I have to say of this person in thirteen lines.
Morayta was at one time Gr∴ Master of the Gr∴ Or∴ de España, but was later on expelled therefrom, according to a masonic publication. In 1888 he founded the Gr∴ Or∴ Español, the mother of the Katipunan. In 1890 he took over the proprietorship of La Solidaridad then published by Marcelo del Pilar for separatist ends. Morayta was the idol of the Filipino students who sought education in the Peninsula. Using him as a means towards an end they aimed at, they banquetted him and thus assiduously attacking his stomach they finally captured him.
Note 14. Tagalog: The Tagalogs are a branch of the Malay family which, in former times, dominated from Madagascar to the ends of the Pacific. They form part of what we might call the Malay-Chinee race, i. e. the cross between the female on the Malay side and the Chinee on the side of the male. This cross has been taking place from time immemorial, commencing long before the islands were discovered by the Spanish explorers. The present Tagalog indian enjoys more of the characteristics of the Chinee than of the Malay on account of the potency of the Chinee blood over the Malay.
Going back to ancient times the probability is that the original Malay first became modified by its crossing with the inhabitants proper of the archipelago—the Negritos—marks of which mixture are still discernible in many of the Tagalogs.
A second modification came through the mixture between the Malay-Negrito and the Indonesian, traces of which are seen in the light color of the skin in a portion, although small, of the Tagalogs. Another modification, the most marked, originated from the crossing of the Malay-Negrito-Indonesian with the Chinee, the Chinee being marked by the increase in stature, the elevation of the skull and other minor marks.
During the last three centuries this hybrid Tagalog has undergone another small and gradual change by reason of a limited crossing with Spanish blood. This latter mixture however is insignificant in extent but always produces a superior type. As a people the Tagalogs number about one and a half millions, and inhabit the regions around about Manila. The traits of character of the four principal trunks from which the Tagalog of to-day is derived are, although still present in a greater or lesser degree, considerably modified by climatological and historical circumstances.
At the coming of the Spaniards the Tagalogs, like the remaining native peoples of the archipelago, were met with in the depths of the savage ages, and were to a certain extent, of cannibalistic tendencies.
The average Tagalog is not wanting in courage, a fact he has often displayed, but this courage is never seen to advantage except when the indian is under the leadership of a person of exceptional valor or a strict disciplinarian. Like most peoples derived from the Malay stock, the Tagalog indian is subject to strange fits of mental aberration, the fits taking different forms, generally innocent ones, the worst being a homicide under the influence of a “hot head”. At least that is what might have been said of him 8 or 10 years ago, previous to the time in which he became fanaticised by freemasonry. He is not even yet apt to run amok as is usual among the Malays and this is undoubtedly due to the civilizing religious influence which has been brought to bear upon him during the three centuries of Spanish rule in the Archipelago. It is a noteworthy fact that in the same degree as the influence of religion, of the Religious Orders if you will, became lesser, in exactly equal degree did crime increase. Explain this as you will the fact remains that during the four years or so that the indian has been under the care and protection of a government indifferent to all religion, crime has increased a hundred fold, perhaps arithmetically so also, and crimes unheard of in days gone by, have become so common as scarcely to merit mention in the columns of Manila’s yellow journalism. What the Tagalog indian is equal to when free from the restraint of the Catholic religion, has been seen from the fearful crimes and barbarities committed against Spaniards and against Americans during the insurrection. The brutalities committed upon the unfortunate prisoners who fell into their hands were unheard of even among the savage Arab hordes of the Soudan, nor have the records of the ferocity of the Chinese boxers yet told us of things equal to the fearful events which took place in the province of Cavite and elsewhere. And for all this the Tagalog indian is responsible: the Tagalog for whom Pedro Paterno claims a pre-Spanish civilization on the plan of the Aztec and ancient Peruvian indians. Like all oriental peoples the Tagalog is superstitious and loves demonstration, symbolism and things grotesque. About the only thing left to him of his ancient civilization as Paterno calls it, barbarism we generally say, is his mythology. In it everything is more or less connected with spirits. Their faith in what they call their anting anting[16] is unbreakable. Rizal was supposed to be under the protection of the anting-anting but the leaden missiles which took away his life carried away the anting-anting also: and yet there are thousands upon thousands of indians, some of them men of enlightenment, who still cling to the belief that Rizal still lives, thanks to the influence of his protecting amulet. Nor did anting anting avail Aguinaldo who now probably believes far more in the protection of his American prison than in that offered by his anting anting charms.
Their mythology has, like their ancient character, been greatly modified in the vast majority, by the influence of the civilization implanted by Spain. This is one point in which Spain has differed from most nations in methods of civilization and colonization. However we may judge her in respect to her colonial administration in the Philippines, we cannot deny that she has been distinguished from other nations by her aim of preserving the native races of the archipelago, the destruction consequent upon the radical change undergone in everything, being limited to the savage customs and immoralities in which the native peoples were found submerged.
The masonic lodges spoken of in the text which were asked of Morayta, were established, although they were not exclusively Tagalog in their membership. As a result of the petition of the Filipino colony mentioned in the same text, the theories and practices of Masonry were carried to the Tagalogs but instead of the needy brethren being aided by the wealthy ones, they were subjected to a contribution in exchange for which they received a gaudy regalia; in other words they were bought over with strings of beads and with tinsel truck as were the indians discovered by Capt. Cook in the South Sea Islands, with the exception that Capt. Cook and those who followed him carried civilization to the natives, whilst the founders of the Katipunan carried to the Tagalogs and the other indians of the archipelago misery and demoralization.
Note 15. Faustino Villaruel Gomara was a Spanish half-caste, a native of Pandaran, living in Binondo. He was the founder of the lodge “La Patria” of which he was also the Ven∴ Gr∴ Master with grade 18. He also founded a lodge of female freemasons, for the foundation of which he committed the nefarious crime of prostituting his daughter, handing her over, in the period of her innocence and candor, to the ridiculous workings and practices of freemasonry. Rosario Villaruel (Minerva), thus sacrificed by her father, was initiated in Hong-Kong and made venerable of the first lodge of female masons in Manila, drawing in after her a large number of her half-caste friends, young folk of bare instruction. This lodge was known as “La Semilla”. Its composition was: Sisters: Carlota Zamora, of Calle Crespo; María Teresa Bordas, of Tabaco, province of Albay; Fabiana Robledo, wife of Sixto Celis; Lorenza Nepomuceno, of Calle San José, Trozo; Angelica Lopez, Calle Jolo; Narcisa Rizal; María Dizon, Calle Trozo, and other fanatic females.
Villaruel was the Gr∴ Oriente of filipino masonry, a deluded fanatic, a man of but scarce intellectual endowments, an instrument of those who knew more and were shrewder than he. By laying hands upon him the Spanish Authorities laid hands also upon a large number of incriminating documents which were the means of connecting many prominent business men of Manila with the bloody programme of the Katipunan. Among these was Francisco L. Roxas.
Besides these documents were a large number of loose papers written in Tagalog, in which were discovered many threatening phrases and the expression of hopes in the success of an event to take place in the near future. Masks and other masonic implements, including a heavily made and sharply pointed dagger were also discovered.
Previous to suffering the penalty of his treason he made and signed a public abjuration, for the copy of which see Appendix E.
Note 16. Andrés Bonifacio was the soul of the Katipunan movement; he was the President of the “Council of Ministers of the Supreme Popular Council.” His social condition was of a low grade, that grade from which many of the most fanatical pseudo-reformers have come; he was a warehouseman, a porter. In this capacity he was employed in the establishment of Messrs Fressel and Co., and was one of the humblest of the employees.
Bonifacio was, however, very vain and quixotic. He was, too, a man of sanguinary character, and held the people over whom he attained ascendancy, in awe. His ambition was the cause of his ignominious downfall and brutal murder at the hands of another self-asserted dictator of the filipino Commune. Like most of his kind, he was a great reader, and by those who knew him best he was likened to Don Quixote, for like that worthy he passed many a night burning away oil and candles, and sacrificing needed sleep in reading, until his brain was turned and his whole mind given up to ideas of revolutions. His favorite study was the French Revolution, from the which he learned many lessons which he utilized in his projects, the principal of which was the formation of a government after the style of the French Commune. He was astute and comparatively intelligent, and spoke the Tagalog dialect well. For the carrying out of his plans he had agents in every nook and corner. No place where information might be gathered or the work of propaganda done, was over-looked. The offices of the Civil Government had their quota of his spies, as also did the Intendencia, the Maestraza de Artilleria and the other large centers. Nor were the Convents and Colleges overlooked, nor even the big business Corporations.
Bonifacio enjoyed an envied ascendancy over the lower classes and the ignorant. Like others of similar tendencies, Bonifacio knew how to exploit the “membership”. He was at one time treasurer of the Katipunan, and upon one occasion after the examination of the books by the president of the society Andrés was denounced as an exploiter, the accounts being found in a very bad condition. A series of mutual squabbles and insults passed between the president Roman Basa, and Bonifacio, the whole affair ending up in a re-election of officers, Bonifacio being chosen as president. This occurred towards the end of the year 1893.
The vanity of Bonifacio was comparable only to that of Aguinaldo. Among the number of chief workers of the Katipunan was a certain Valenzuela, a doctor who had, according to his own confession, been forced into the membership by Bonifacio, on the strength of a “love” affair; he was given the choice of membership or death. He chose the former but later on resigned. Whilst a member he enjoyed a salary of 30 pesos a month as medical officer, but only with difficulty could he collect his pay. He claimed to have been exploited by Bonifacio who, whilst merely a porter, could thus have at his command the free services of a real doctor, spurning the services of the petty physicians which abound in Manila. Nor was this all. His own (Bonifacio’s) house having been burned down, he went, on the strength of this same “love” affair, to live in the house of the said doctor (see foot-note p. 48), taking with him his paramour, the doctor paying the greater part of the expenses thus incurred.
At the time of the organization of the popular Supreme Councils, Bonifacio was chosen president of the Council of Trozo; but in consequence of internal troubles occasioned by his rebelliousness, the Supreme Council decided to dissolve the local Council. Bonifacio, true to his colors, disregarded this order and continued working on his own account, taking upon himself the faculties of the Supreme Council.
He preserved in a case which was found in the warehouse of Messrs Fressel and Co., the organization of the “Filipino Republic” which was to be, as well as a number of regulations, codes, decrees of nominations, etc., all drawn up in Tagalog (see foot-note p. 49.)
Upon the discovery, on the 19th of August 1896, by the Augustinian Padre fray Mariano Gil, parish priest of Tondo, of the plot of the Katipuneros, Bonifacio and his immediate assistants fled from Manila to Caloocan. From that point he sent orders to the provinces of Manila, Cavite and Nueva Ecija that a general rising should take place on the 30th of that month. These orders were given out of revenge for the failure of the blood-thirsty plot whereby every Spaniard, man, woman or child should share in the sufferings which his diseased brain had concocted for those who should fall into his hands. Bonifacio issued special orders concerning the Governor General, his plan being that he and the other Spanish authorities of any importance should be taken prisoners, but not killed, it being intended to hold their persons as security for the granting of their demands. He called together the members of the Junta Superior and nominated a general-in-chief, a general of division and other officials. These however refused to step into the places he had prepared for them and Bonifacio angered thereat threatened to have the head removed from the shoulders of anyone who dared to disobey him. The general-in-chief Teodoro Plata, a cousin of Bonifacio, fled during the night following his nomination, whereupon Bonifacio issued orders for his capture, commanding his death wherever he should be found.
Sometime previous to this, about the month of May, Bonifacio sent Pio Valenzuela to Dapitan to hold a conference with Rizal concerning the convenience of immediate rebellion against Spain. Rizal would not consent to the projected revolt but opposed the idea most strenuously, being thrown into such a bad humor by the information he received of Bonifacio, that Valenzuela, who had gone to Dapitan intending to spend a month there, determined to return on the following day. On his return to Manila he recounted to Bonifacio the result of his mission. Bonifacio who knew Rizal’s influence over the people to be greater than his own, had been living in hopes of receiving Rizal’s consent which would be the surrendering to him of the whole responsibility and glory of the bloody enterprise. Bonifacio aspired to the absolute, like all the so-called leaders of the revolt; so when he realized the stand taken by Rizal, who was willing to wait patiently till the poison with which he had inoculated the people should work of itself, he flew into a rage like a spoilt child, declaring Rizal to be a coward and imposing upon Valenzuela, his messenger, implicit silence on this subject, prohibiting him from manifesting to anyone what he considered to be the bad exit of the consultation.
No methods were too underhand for Bonifacio; to gain his end he lied to the people over whom he held sway as only a Filipino can lie. On one occasion he affirmed that in Coregidor was a vessel loaded with arms and ammunition for the rebels, and by this means he animated them, a very necessary thing at that time, as they were but scantily armed with bolos and were no match against those they intended to assail.
Taking him all in all, Bonifacio was a first class organizer for such an enterprise as that aimed at by the Katipunan, and upon his shoulders lies the weight of the greater part of the iniquities of the diabolical society. He ordered the outbreak and in a skillful manner pulled the strings which worked the figures which formed the performers in the marionette revolution. He had rivals in the field however, the most powerful being Aguinaldo, the would be president of the mushroom republic. After the encounter at San Juan del Monte in which the insurgents suffered the loss of 95 killed and 42 taken prisoners in the first instance, and shortly afterwards of 200 more, Bonifacio escaped, carrying with him the funds of the Katipunan, some 20,000 pfs.[17] He was supposed to be in hiding in the most inaccessible parts of the mountains of San Mateo, in as much as he had told Pio Valenzuela that in case the movement were unsuccessful he had determined to retire to that point to devote himself to highway robbery[18], to foot-padding, an idea gotten from some modern French novel probably. He worked his way eventually into Cavite, and, according to information gotten from Pedro Gonzalez, he fell into the disfavor of Aguinaldo who saw his own superiority in danger of being supplanted; the generalisimo therefore put a price upon his head[19]. A party was sent in search for the runaway and upon his capture he was subjected to most brutal treatment, and at last fell a victim to the unprincipled ambition of the Dictator.
Had Bonifacio lived he would have made a splendid acquisition to the Partido Federal, he being a man who could, like many of the self-asserted leaders of to-day, plan and follow out any double-faced policy that might be needed under the circumstances.
Note 17. This note not being ready at the time of the printing of the pages of this section, it has been reserved for note [101], which see.
Note 18. Domingo Franco y Tuason was a native of Mambusao, Province of Capiz. He was the president of the first junta called by Rizal in 1892 for the formation of the “Liga Filipina”. Till that time he was like many others of the same class almost unknown.
Note 19. The character of the native: this is a subject upon which one might write many volumes without conveying to the minds of his readers more than a faint idea of what that strange character is.
More mysterious than the most profound mystery of Religion, his most striking trait of character being a decided tendency to retrogression, the Malay stands out among the numerous divisions of the human family as a man with a marked propensity to the mysterious, to the prodigious. He is accustomed to give a blind obedience to his superiors and more so to his own caciques, he is docile as a general rule, and shows but little resentment to abusive language, although he will sometimes carefully guard the remembrance of some insignificant insult or blow, and take a cruel revenge, a thousand times greater than the injury he received, after a period, at times, of years. Other peculiarities of the native are his delight in gambling and cockfighting, his aversion to manual labor, his infantile but excessive vanity, his lack of the power of thought in matters of moment, his well developed imagination, his instability from all points of view and his liability to complete and radical changes. The average indian is to-day virtuous, honest and grateful for favors received, tomorrow he is vicious, thieving and shows an ingratitude not to be found even in the brute creation. This very marked trait of character may be found in many of the Filipinos who have held and still hold some of the highest official positions in the islands.
To sum up the Filipino indian in a few words: he is inexplicable. There have been those who have spent their lives in the study of the indian, but in spite of all that man can do to study man, the problem remains unsolved. Only those “globe trotters” who have studied the native from the muchacho who waited upon them at the hotel at which they stayed during their few days visit, and the cochero who had the honor of conducting such savants to and from the Luneta, have so far been able to demonstrate what is this character which has puzzled men of common sense and lifelong experience, for centuries.
Being by nature credulous, ignorant and superstitious, the indian fell an easy victim to the mysteries of freemasonry, which served him as are introduction to the semi-savage methods of the “Liga Filipina” and the barbarous practices of the Katipunan, the pacto-de-sangre of which, carried him back to the savage times of his remote ancestors who were drawn from their mountain and forest lairs and domesticated by the Religious Orders.
Notes 20, 21, 22. The initiations, proofs, oaths etc., of Universal freemasonry were utilized by the Filipino lodges to serve as a ceremonial, a very essential thing to the success of any association among orientals. Nothing suited the taste of the Filipino better than the awe inspiring solemnity of his initiation. These ceremonies however fell into abuse, and by the time they became utilized by the Katipunan they had reached the verge of the grossest superstition and absurdity.
Note 23. The G∴ Cons∴ Reg∴ was installed in 1893. A masonic document bearing a seal “Gr∴ Consejo Regional de Filipinas. G∴ Secretaria”, and purporting to be a copy of two paragraphs from a letter of the illustrious bro∴ Kupang (Marcelo H. del Pilar) dated from Madrid on the 17th December 1894, says: “D. Miguel (Morayta) has a very poor opinion of the Reg∴ (Regional Council).... He says that this Council continues working well for some few months, at the end of which all the enthusiasm of the founders vanishes and.... Oh, if we could only by our acts give the lie to this pessimism. Morayta was the founder of the Council.
Note 24. La Solidaridad was the official organ of Filipino freemasonry in all its branches. Although it was published in the peninsula its circulation was intended for the Philippines. Its editors were the leaders of the disaffection against the metropolis and stout advocates, indirectly, of an impossible independence. The chief aim of the paper was to mortify everything Spanish, and to this end its columns were continually full of seditious articles aimed, not merely at individuals but at the State. Its diatribes against the Government of the Metropolis were of the bitterest nature, and therefore but little publicity was given to the sheet in Madrid, where it was printed. It enjoyed no exchange with the periodicals of importance of the city, had no street sales, nor was it exposed for sale publicly. The libraries did not carry it on their tables and it never reached the hands of the public authorities. In fact the people of the official element know nothing of its existence.
In the office of this bi-monthly paper was established a freemason lodge bearing the same name as the paper; all the members of the Association Hispano-Filipina became members of the lodge. Being the organ of masonry as well as of separatism it was introduced into the Archipelago and secured a free circulation in all parts of the principal islands where its calumnies against the Religious Orders had the effect of producing a decided effect upon the maintenance of public order.
The statement that the bi-monthly was founded by Pilar is erroneous; it was first published by Lopez Jaena in Barcelona where it enjoyed its enforced life till it reached its number 18, of October 1889, when it suddenly ceased publication on account of the seizure by the authorities of a number of incriminating documents and pamphlets. It recommenced publication in Madrid on the 15th of November of the same year. It was later on acquired by Pilar and Morayta. It was in reality a vent for the spleen of its writers against Spain and things Spanish; it was a precursor of the Independencia[20] the official organ of the Revolution against the U. S., and of the La Democracia its daughter, the official organ of the Federal Party, the dregs of the old revolutionary government of Malolos.[21]
Note 25. One of the first propagators of Filipino masonry was Sr. Centeno, Civil Governor of Manila, a man of anything but happy memory for this country[22]. Centeno and Quiroga Ballesteros worked hard to undermine the beneficial influence of the Clergy, an influence which was the safe-guard of law and order. Their most famous piece of work was the manifestation of ’88 against Archbishop Payo (See note [2]). In that manifestation was conceived the cry of sedition which was later on to ring throughout the archipelago and tear down the banner of the fatherland to replace it with the red flag of anarchy; a flag which well nigh brought the people of a would be independent country to the verge of political and moral destruction.