THE UPRISING OF 1896.
When the Jesuits left Manila in 1768, the missions which they had
founded were given to the Recoletos. In 1859 the Jesuits came back to
the islands. These missions, for which the Society had worked so hard in
years gone by, were returned to it, and other places were made for the
Recoletos. This was done at the expense of the native priests, and the
people resented it. The feeling was growing among them that the native
clergy were not fairly treated, and the installing of friars in their
places increased that feeling.
It would be unjust to the Spanish Orders to overlook the good they did
in early years in this country. They helped the people in many ways. To
them is due the credit of introducing chocolate, coffee, cotton, and
tobacco into the islands. They taught the people to weave, and to make
many things of use. But too great power fell into their hands, and they
did not keep pace with the times. Besides this, the people had now come
to believe that their spiritual leaders should be men of their own race.
[Illustration:
FORT GENERAL WEYLER IN MINDANAO.
]
Moreover, a feeling of national life, such as they had never before
known, was awakening among the Filipinos. The many languages spoken
among them, and the tribal differences which existed in the country, did
more than anything else to keep the Filipino people in subjection. Not
until they are a united people, with one language, and with a common
desire for the welfare of their country, can they take the place which
they should hold among the peoples of the world. This the more
enlightened among them were coming to see, and were making a steady
effort to unite the tribes in a demand for reform.
In this effort the secret societies, of which mention has been made,
played a large part. These societies were in the beginning Masonic
lodges. The first of them in the Philippines was founded at Cavite in
1860. Only Spaniards were members at the outset, but in time Filipinos
and Mestizos were admitted. Later the members began to take an interest
in politics, and little by little the Masonic lodges came to be the
gathering places of thinkers and reformers. None of these societies had
as yet any idea of revolt against the mother country; but the people
were bent upon securing reforms in the government of the islands.
It was impossible to get justice in any court in the archipelago. Every
public officer knew that good service and an honorable record would not
serve to keep him in office if anyone who had more influence than he
wished his position. Corruption, bribery, and dishonesty were the order
in the government. All classes were taxed to the utmost limit, and the
country was in a state of wretchedness through misrule. The Filipinos
themselves had no rights which anyone seemed bound to respect.
The people remembered with bitterness those noble words of the Cortes
which declared, in the Constitution of 1812: “The countries and
provinces of America and Asia are and ought always to have been an
integral part of the Spanish monarchy. Their natives and free
inhabitants are equal in rights and privileges to those of the
Peninsula.” What the reformers sought was not separation from the mother
country. They desired only that Filipinos should be recognized as among
her citizens, and entitled to the rights which this declaration of the
Cortes said were theirs.
After the revolt at Cavite, a new secret society was formed, known as
the Katipunan (kä tē pö´nän) or Association of the Sons of the Country.
One of the passwords of this society was “Gom-bur-za.” This word is made
up of a part of the name of each one of the native padres executed
because of that trouble at Cavite—Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora. The
Katipunan was composed of the common people. It numbered many thousands
of members, who stood ready to give their lives for the good of the
Philippines, and it was probably more responsible than any other one
thing for the great uprising of 1896.
In 1895 trouble broke out among the Moros in the south, and in that year
the Spanish began what is known as the Marauit (mär ä wēt´) campaign in
Mindanao. This was an expedition against the Moros, under the command of
Governor-General Blanco himself. This campaign proved a great surprise
to the Moros, who were finally overpowered by a division of the Spanish
troops commanded by Brigadier-General Gonzales Parrado (pä rä´dō). The
campaign lasted for three months, and was a complete success.
After this, in order that the government might keep order there, it was
decided to settle the country in the Marauit district with families from
Luzon and the other northern islands. This decision hastened the
downfall of the Spanish in the Philippines. At first the Filipino people
were invited to go and live in this conquered territory, but no one
accepted the invitation. It sounded smooth and fair; but it meant
leaving friends and home and security for peril, hardship, and doubtful
adventure. So, as the unwillingness of the people was seen, the
invitation was made more urgent, and took the form of an order. This
order, however, was only sent to provinces where the secret societies
were supposed to be strongest. It caused great dissatisfaction among the
Filipinos, who quickly understood its meaning. Many left their homes and
went to live in the mountains to avoid trouble.
The government now made still greater effort, and in 1895 and 1896 there
was a systematic persecution of the people to get them to go south. This
persecution proved too much for even Filipino patience, and in the
spring of 1896 the Katipunan sent a petition to Japan, asking the Mikado
to annex the Philippine Islands to Japan. It is said that 5,000
Filipinos signed this petition. The emperor of Japan sent the petition
to Spain, and in this way the names of all these petitioners became
known to the government. The powers at Manila, however, did not dare to
act at once, but waited their time; and the punishment, when it came,
was all the more severe for the delay.
[Illustration:
THE BRIDGE OF SAN JUAN DEL MONTE.
]
At this time all the Spaniards in Manila knew that some great uprising
was planned among the people. The government, however, realized the
mistake that had been made in paying too much attention to the revolt at
Cavite, and it now made the greater mistake of not paying enough
attention to this trouble.
On July 5, 1896, an officer of the Guardia Civil reported that over
14,000 men in the valley of Pasig were pledged to revolt. Still nothing
was done about this by the Spanish until a month later, when a large
number of revolutionary flags and ammunition were found at Taal.
Governor-General Blanco then ordered some arrests to be made.
By this time the Katipunan had its plans nearly completed. There was to
have been an uprising on the 20th of August; but, on the night before,
the plot was discovered by Father Mariano Gil (mä rē ä´nō zhēl), an
Augustine friar, the parish priest at Tondo. The authorities then
realized for the first time that the Katipunan was a political society,
and Governor-General Blanco cabled the fact to Madrid.
The garrison at Manila numbered only 1,500 men, many of whom were
natives and not to be depended upon for help; so that General Blanco did
not dare to take the field against the rebels. Nevertheless, arrests
were made daily, and the prisons were full to overflowing. Among the
prisoners were some of the leading Filipinos of Luzon, many of whom were
merely suspected of disloyalty to the government.
Much time was lost by the Spanish because General Blanco was unwilling
to use force until every honorable means of bringing about peace had
been exhausted. He felt, moreover, that his army was too small to
justify an advance against the rebels, and so he cabled to Madrid for
help. In return he got word that 2,000 men, two gunboats, and large
stores of arms and ammunition were to be sent at once.
By August 30 the uprising was in full force. The rebels were gathered at
San Juan del Monte, a suburb of Manila, where the first battle was
fought. This took place between the Filipinos under command of Sancho
Valenzuela (sän´kō väl ān thu ā´lä) and three others, and some native
cavalry and members of the Guardia Civil. The Filipinos were driven
back, and on that day martial law was proclaimed in Manila and in the
provinces about the bay. Later the rebel leaders at San Juan were shot
on the Luneta. This was the first of many executions which took place
from week to week afterwards, until the green lawn of the Luneta was
saturated with patriot blood.
Now there was war in earnest between the Spanish and the Filipinos. The
rebellion was growing daily, and the cream of Manila society was in the
jails. Governor-General Blanco was still inclined to look upon the
uprising as merely local, and not to regard it seriously; but he was
constantly urged to severe measures by certain of his advisers. They
desired that all rebels caught should be put to death at once, and there
seemed no length to which their vindictive spirit was not willing to go.
The newspapers of Manila were forbidden to speak of the uprising, or to
use the words “rebellion” or “rebel.” The matter was treated as of
slight importance, and the natives engaged in the insurrection were
spoken of as bandits. This was also the tone which Governor-General
Blanco adopted in all the despatches which he sent to the home
government.
Province after province declared with the rebels, until all southern
Luzon was in revolt. Cavite Province had become the center of the
uprising, and Emilio Aguinaldo (ä mēl´ē ō äg wē näl´dō), formerly a
schoolmaster at Cavite, came to the front as a leader. He was a native
of the city of Cavite, born March 22, 1869, and at this time was about
twenty-seven years old.
[Illustration:
DUNGEON AT CAVITE.
]
By the middle of September, troops to the number of 6,000 had been sent
up from Zamboanga and southern stations to aid the government at Manila.
Nearly two-thirds of these were natives, however, and the Spaniards felt
that they had good reason to distrust their loyalty. The rebels were in
great force about Silang, Imus (ē´ mus), and Novaleta (nō vä lā´tä), and
there were uprisings in Tarlac (tär´läk), Pangasinan, Laguna, Morong,
and Tayabas.
On October 1 a steamer arrived from Spain with a battalion of marines,
which was warmly welcomed by the Spaniards. The next day came another
steamer with more troops, and after that a large number of men came,
until, before the trouble was over, there were 28,000 Spanish soldiers
in the islands. These, however, were raw drafts. The trouble in Cuba had
taken all of Spain’s fighting men, and she had nothing to send to the
Philippines but boys. These young soldiers were undrilled, without
uniforms, and but poorly armed.
The Filipinos were no better off than the Spanish troops. They were
hardier, but they were even more poorly armed. They had some rifles, but
most of their guns were made of gas or water pipe wrapped with telegraph
wire. They had cannon made from boiler tubes and from old bells and
other metal. But they were determined and courageous, and were fighting
for what was dearer to them than life—the decent treatment to which
every free man is entitled at the hands of his government.
The Spanish treated all Filipinos captured with great cruelty. From time
to time suspects were sent in from the provinces, bound hand and foot;
they were hauled up from the holds of vessels with chain and hook, and
discharged as cargo, like bales of hemp.
The rainy season set in, and General Blanco had not the force at his
command which his successor had afterwards. The native troops were not
to be depended upon, and it was almost impossible for the few Spanish
soldiers to get about the country. He contented himself, therefore, with
keeping the rebels out of Manila.
In December, 1896, the governor-general went back to Spain. At that time
the total European force in the islands was 10,000 men. They held the
arsenals at Cavite, and the city of Manila; but the rebels were strongly
entrenched throughout the peninsula of Cavite and in Laguna Province.
“At that time,” says Forman, the historian, “I was informed by the
secretary of the military court that there were 4,700 individuals
awaiting trial by court-martial.”
General Camilo Polavieja was sent out to the Philippines as
governor-general in Blanco’s stead. He arrived in June, 1896, and at
once set to work to put down the rebellion. He was an energetic military
leader, a man who had himself risen from the ranks. He had been in Cuba,
and his experience there enabled him to see at once how serious was the
state of things in the Philippines. On the ship with him came 500
troops, under command of General Lachambre (lä chäm´brā), and on another
ship 1,500 more. Others quickly followed, so that in a short time, as we
have stated before, there were 28,000 fighting Europeans in the islands.
It was now the dry season, and General Lachambre at once took the field
against the rebels in Cavite Province. The Filipinos at this time
expressly declared that they were fighting, not Spain, but the dominion
of the Spanish friars. Their battle cry was, “Long live Spain! Down with
the priests!” The campaign was conducted very well on the part of the
Spanish. Their troops were better armed than the Filipinos, and were
well commanded, while the rebels had no trained military officers to
plan their battles. The Filipinos were driven from Imus, and later from
Silang; and although the Spanish met with great losses, in time the
rebels, unable to hold any one place, were driven up to Laguna Province.
By the middle of March every rebel band of importance had been
scattered.
Polavieja cabled for more troops to be sent from Spain. He wanted these
to garrison the districts which he had taken from the rebels, as his
army corps was needed in the northern provinces, to which the Filipinos
had been driven back. But there were already 200,000 Spanish soldiers in
Cuba, and more were needed there. The Spanish government, therefore,
refused to send any more troops to the Philippines.
The newspapers at Madrid made light of the trouble in the islands, and
criticised the governor-general’s rule. Polavieja then cabled that he
was broken down in health and should be obliged to resign. Through much
of the campaign he was so ill that he could not sit his horse, and was
obliged to direct the campaign from Parañaque (pä rän yä´kē), where he
remained until after the capture of San Francisco and the driving back
of the rebels into the mountains.
In April, 1897, he went back to Spain. General Lachambre followed, to
receive great praise for the good work he had done in the Philippines.
Polavieja himself arrived in Spain blind, physically disabled, and
really ill; but he had accomplished a great deal in the islands, and had
gotten the rebellion well in hand.
The next governor-general was Primo de Rivera, who had held that office
before, from the years 1880 to 1883. He reached Manila on the 23d of
April, and went to the front on the 29th day of that month.
_Summary._—The growth of secret societies in the islands, and the
rebellious attitude of many of the people, led Spain to adopt a new
measure. It was decided to settle the Marauit district, in Mindanao,
with Filipinos from Luzon. Invitations, amounting really to orders, to
go and live in this district were sent out among the people living in
provinces where the secret societies were supposed to be strongest.
Because of these invitations many Filipinos left their homes and went
to live in the mountains, to avoid trouble. The government then began
trying to force people to go south to live. In 1896 the Katipunan sent
a petition to the emperor of Japan, asking him to annex the islands to
Japan. The emperor sent this petition to Spain. The government now
awoke to a knowledge of how serious was the revolt in the islands.
Many arrests were made, and soon the jails in Manila were filled with
prisoners.
By August 30 the uprising was in full force, and the first battle was
fought at San Juan del Monte, on that day. Troops were now sent from
Spain, while from all over the islands fighting men gathered to the
aid of the Filipino leaders. By December, 1896, there were 10,000
European troops in the islands. They held the arsenal at Cavite, and
the city of Manila; but the Filipinos held strong positions in the
Cavite peninsula and in Laguna Province. Governor-General Blanco went
back to Spain, and General Camilo Polavieja was sent out in his stead.
The new governor-general carried on the war with great vigor. He sent
for more troops, until there were 28,000 Spanish soldiers in the
country. The Spanish succeeded in driving the Filipinos back from
their strong places, but were too few to do more than hold them in
check. The home government refused to send more troops to the
Philippines, as all Spain’s armed force was needed in Cuba.
Governor-General Polavieja was taken very ill, and went back to Spain.
General Lachambre followed, soon after. The next governor-general was
Primo de Rivera, who reached Manila April 23, 1897.
_Questions._—What were the secret societies that now grew up in the
islands? What plan did the government make for settling the Marauit
district? Give an account of the petition sent by the Katipunan to
Japan. When was the first battle fought in the uprising of 1896?
Outline the progress of this uprising.
[Illustration]