Early in May, 1898, Admiral Dewey brought from Hong Kong on the United
States steamship McCulloch, Aguinaldo with seventeen of his colleagues
and landed them at Cavité. Aguinaldo, in addition to prosecuting a
vigorous campaign against the Spaniards, at once began organizing a
government, dictatorial in form and in fact, of which Cavité remained
the Capital until the arrival of General Anderson early in July. When
the latter had established his head-quarters at Cavité and commenced
active preparations for the coming attack on Manila, Aguinaldo changed
his Capital to Bacoor, a little village a few miles from Cavité, and
nearer to Manila. The Capital remained at Bacoor until it was seen
that General Merritt would not permit armed Insurgents to enter Manila,
when Malolos was proclaimed the Capital and Aguinaldo himself took up
his residence there early in September, and the newly elected Filipino
Congress met at the same place on the 20th of the same month.
From that time until its capture on March 31st Malolos was of the
first importance to the Insurgents, but its fall was disappointing
to many, for the cry of "On to Malolos" had been very popular, and it
had been expected that the consequences of its occupation by American
troops would be immediate and far-reaching. It simply furnished one
more instance in history where the fall of an enemy's Capital failed to
bring to a successful ending a campaign or a war. The only two instances
that may be cited against this statement really tend to prove the
proposition, for France was defeated before the entry of Paris, and the
Confederacy was in its last extremity when Richmond fell. The immediate
results would have been the same in either case if neither the one nor
the other had been occupied.
Malolos is twenty-two miles from Manila, in the Province of Bulacan,
on the railway connecting Manila with Dagupan, the only one in the
Philippine Islands. This made it very accessible, but the real reason
for the selection of Malolos as the Insurgent Capital was the fact that
the present revolution had its first beginnings there; that the place
persistently remained a hot-bed of revolution, and as a reward for the
patriotism and loyalty of this picturesque little town, the legendary
seat of the Bulacan kings, Aguinaldo fixed upon it as the site of his
permanent Capital.
Aguinaldo now lays claim to descent from the Bulacan kings, but the
best informed Filipinos say that this occurred to him after coming to
Malolos, and was prompted by an effort to inspire among his followers
a greater awe and respect. His followers ascribe to him supernatural
powers that enable him to perform miracles and make him proof against
the bullets of his enemies. Whether he encourages them in this belief
cannot be verified. This peculiar power among the Filipinos is known
as "_anting anting_" and is popularly supposed to be possessed by
many. A wily Filipino goes through a battle or escapes some danger and
then exhibits a curiously carved knife-handle or match-box or piece of
jewelry or coin, and claims that his immunity is due to this trinket.
He is at once regarded as an "_anting anting_" man, and his power and
fame grow and spread at each subsequent lucky escape.
[Illustration: Dwelling-house in Malolos, Philippine Islands,
Thatched with Nipa.
The inmates have just returned, satisfied that they are safe under
American occupation.]
Malolos lies in the heart of a valley of marvellous fertility, extending
north from Manila, and is surrounded by fields, large and small, fringed
with rows of bamboo and cultivated principally to rice. As one rides
through this valley, with the beautiful, glossy-leaved mango trees
dotting it in all directions, he cannot fail to be reminded, if he has
seen them both, of the beautiful Santa Clara Valley of California, so
much are they alike.
The first mutterings of the revolution were heard in Malolos in 1888.
In the same year Masonry was first introduced into the Philippine
Islands by Don Centeno, the Civil Governor of Manila, who encouraged
the diffusion of its teachings among the natives, and assisted in the
formation of chapters in the city. He was influenced to do this through
hostility to the Archbishop and to the Church.
Catholicism is radically opposed to secret societies of any kind, and
the fight between the Archbishop, as representative of the Church, and
the Masons grew so bitter that finally a determined attack was made
upon the Archbishop's life. The leaders were promptly arrested and
thrown into prison, and from there they sent a memorial to the Queen,
remarkable for its eloquence, and for the fact that it revealed a
widespread and deeply rooted devotion to the principles of freedom.
So strict was the surveillance over the meetings of the Masons in
Manila, now that it was suspected they were merely a cloak for the
revolutionary discussions, that Malolos soon became the Mecca for all
revolutionists. It had always been a popular place for hunters and
fishermen, and now many of the hunting lodges became Masonic rendezvous.
The well-to-do and educated classes quickly and eagerly accepted the
revolutionary teachings, and Malolos, from 1888, was regarded as a
strong revolutionary centre. It must be borne in mind that the Filipino
never became a pure Mason, accepting and practising the teachings of
that ancient Society. Only some of the outward forms of the Society
were adopted and used, under cover of which the spread of revolutionary
ideas was made easy. Before 1888 there were scarcely two dozen Filipinos
who were Masons, and these were residents of Paris or other European
Capitals, but from that year the spread of the Society was rapid.
In 1892 there were many lodges all over the Archipelago, and women
were admitted as members. Its mysteries and symbols appealed to the
barbaric, half-civilized natives, and these they retained, while their
meetings were centres of discussions of the abstract and theoretical
principles of freedom and independence with which the Malay brain is
always pregnant. Discussions soon led to plotting against the Spanish
authorities and the preliminary steps toward revolution, and what was
Masonry only in name soon gave way to the Filipino League, of which
Rizal was the leader. This league was an association with a basic form
of Masonry, but whose true designs were political and anti-Spanish.
[Illustration: Exterior and Interior of the Insurgent Capitol in
Malolos while Occupied as Head-quarters of the Utah Light Battery.
In this old church the Filipino Revolutionary Congress formulated
the Constitution which was proclaimed on January 21, 1899.]
The methods of the league were soon found to be not radical enough
by a majority of the members, and the league, in 1894, was dissolved
and the formidable and bloody Katipunan formed under the leadership
of Marcelo Hilarío del Pilar. Its object was to secure the freedom
of the Philippines by putting to the sword all the Spaniards in the
Archipelago. Manila, of course, was the seat of the supreme council of
the Katipunan, and its branches or chapters were established in all the
provinces and principal towns of the Islands.
Every member on being initiated into the Society received a name by
which he was always thereafter known to the other members, and all were
masked. In this way no one knew the identity of any other member, and
even a man's next door neighbor or his brother or partner in business
might be seated next to him nightly at the Katipunan Lodge and he would
never be the wiser. At initiation the new member took a bloody oath and
subscribed to it by dipping his pen in the blood drawn from an incision
in his left arm. This idea is said to have been derived from a painting
called "_Pacto de Sangre_," executed in Madrid by a famous Filipino
painter, Juan Luna. After the revolution broke out in 1896, the members
of the Katipunan could always be identified among the dead and prisoners
by the scars.
A symbolic chart was in the possession of each member, and by that he
could find the Katipunan Lodge in the provinces or towns wherever he
might be and identify himself by means of it. As an example of the names
borne by the members, General Ricarte, now in the Insurgents' army,
was known under the name of "Vivora," meaning viper, poisonous snake.
The present General Pilar, of whom so much is heard in the uprising
against the Americans, is not the Pilar of Katipunan fame, though it is
generally taken for granted that he is. The present Pilar assumed that
name some years ago, but his characteristics are such as to easily lead
one to believe that he and the Pilar who originated the Katipunan are
one and the same.
[Illustration: The Train which Makes Two Trips Daily from Manila to
Malolos and Return.
It carries forage, rations, fresh bread and meat, and distilled water
for the American troops, and brings back the sick and wounded to the
hospitals.]
From 1888 to 1892 Malolos seems to have been the most troublesome
place in the Islands to the Colonial Government. There are slightly
over five thousand towns distributed over the Archipelago, and out of
these Malolos was the only one which rejected the parish priests that
the Government selected. As Malolos was known to be much disaffected,
great care was taken to select the most exemplary of priests to be sent
there, but without avail. The first two sent were deported and the third
assassinated.
_El Katipunan del Norte_ (the northern branch of the Katipunan) was
most active in the Province of Bulacan and especially around Malolos.
Contributions poured into the revolutionary fund, and when open
rebellion finally broke out in August, 1896, the Spaniards fought
the rebels over very much the same ground as the Americans fought the
Insurgents in the advance from Caloocan to Malolos and beyond. Peace
was agreed upon in December, 1897, at Biac-na-bato, in the Province
of Bulacan, and until May, 1898, there was a period of quiet in the
Islands.
While the Insurgent Capital still remained at Cavité, Aguinaldo, on
June 18th and 23d, respectively, issued the proclamations which gave
his government a representative form. In the proclamation of the 18th
he invites attention to the Providential circumstances that had placed
him in the position in which he then found himself, and signifies
his intention not to shrink from his responsibilities, but to make
the redemption of his people, "from slavery and tyranny, regaining
our liberty and entrance into the concert of civilized nations," the
aspiration of his whole life, and the "final object of all my efforts
and strength." In the same proclamation the methods were given by
which the chiefs of towns and provinces and the representatives to the
Revolutionary Congress were to be elected.
In the proclamation of the 23d it was directed that the Dictatorial
Government should thereafter be styled the Revolutionary Government
and that the Dictator should thenceforth be known as the President of
the Revolutionary Government. The executive, legislative, and judicial
powers were defined and the manner of administering them was prescribed,
and on the 27th of June the rules concerning the details of installing
the government were published.
[Illustration: Street Scene in Malolos, Philippine Islands.]
From Bacoor, on the 6th of August, was sent the letter to foreign
governments, in which the "President of the Revolutionary Government of
the Philippines, and in the name and representation of the Philippine
people, asks the support of all the powers of the civilized world, and
earnestly entreats them to proceed to the formal recognition of the
belligerency of the revolution and the independence of the Philippines,
since they are the means designated by Providence to maintain the
equilibrium between peoples, sustaining the weak and restraining the
strong, to the end that by these means shall shine forth and be realized
the most complete justice in the indefinite progress of humanity."
The Augustinians had been assigned to the parish of Malolos, and in fact
this body of friars held all the livings in the Province of Bulacan. In
the convent forming part of a new church erected by them at Malolos,
Aguinaldo established his head-quarters, surrounded by considerable
barbaric splendor and ceremonial. This was known as the "White House"
of the Insurgent Government. The State Department was also in the same
building, and in a less pretentious structure a hundred yards away the
Treasury Department was installed.
When the American troops occupied Malolos, General MacArthur made this
building his head-quarters, and in it was found a small field-safe
containing some drafts and a little money. The postage and telegraph
stamps issued by the Insurgent Government were made here, but all had
been removed. The convent with the church adjoining, and the Treasury
Department, were on two sides of the plaza of Malolos, and on the third
side the War Department was established in some buildings that the Third
United States Artillery afterward occupied.
The old Augustinian church some distance from the plaza had been taken
as the Insurgent Capitol. Here the Revolutionary Congress assembled on
September 20, 1898, and sat in deliberation until, in January, 1899,
the Political Constitution of the Filipino State was given to the world.
The constitution was proclaimed by Aguinaldo on the 21st of the month.
Malolos has a population variously estimated at from five to seven
thousand, and as the Americans entered it, every man, woman, and child
left with the retreating army.
With the exception of American troops moving about, the place was in a
state of desolation. The refugees tried to take with them most of their
valuable possessions, but the houses remained just as they left them. It
was weeks before any of them dared to return, and then they came one or
two at a time, carrying over their shoulders a bamboo rod to which was
attached a white cloth as a flag of truce. They timidly approached their
houses, and, finding them intact, and that there was really nothing to
fear, hastened back into the country to bring their families and tell
their neighbors.