THE END OF SPANISH RULE.
One of the first things that General Primo de Rivera did after his
arrival, for the second time, in the islands, was to issue a
proclamation offering amnesty to all who would lay down their arms. Many
of the Filipinos who were in revolt accepted the offer, and pledged
allegiance to Spain.
They were driven to this step by their fears. The Filipino forces were
weakened and discouraged. General Polavieja had carried on the campaign
against them with such savage cruelty that the people were filled with
terror. No quarter had been given by the Spanish, and in Cavite Province
alone over 30,000 Filipinos had lost their lives. Aguinaldo had left
Cavite, which province was now cleared of the Filipino forces, and had
joined General Llaneras (lyän ār´äs), who was leading the Filipinos in
the north, beyond Pampanga.
The state of the country at this time was pitiful. No crops had been
planted; there was no food for the people; their young carabaos had been
killed; the rice and camotes were all gone. War had reduced the country
to a wilderness. Everywhere the authorities were seeking to put down the
rebellion, but their cruel measures actually made rebels of the people.
The Filipino priests and curates were put in chains, were flogged and
tortured, to make them tell what they might have learned, through the
confessional, of the secret societies and the movements of the people.
The Spanish campaign in Manila was being conducted by General Monet
(Mō´nāt), and there, too, no mercy was shown to natives so unfortunate
as to be captured. In Pangasinan General Nuñez (nön´yeth) was fighting
the rebels. The war was waged with bitterness; no quarter was given on
either side, and the natives lost no opportunity to avenge the
punishment which the Spaniards visited upon them.
By this time the rainy weather was telling severely on the unseasoned
Spanish soldiers. There was much sickness among them, so that the
military hospitals were full. The soldiers had not been paid for several
months, and they were bitterly discontented.
The Filipinos, too, were suffering severely. They were poorly fed and
poorly armed; but they kept up a constant petty warfare that was very
trying to the Spanish, although it was useless, so far as gaining any
real end was concerned. They now held two places, Angat (än´gät) and San
Mateo, in Bulacan Province. These had been fortified securely, and they
were by nature such fortresses that it would have been almost impossible
for the Spanish to dislodge any force from them. The Filipinos were not,
however, strong enough to make any effective warfare against the enemy,
but had to content themselves with holding these two places and
harassing the Spanish as much as they could.
On the 2d of July, 1897, the governor-general issued an edict commanding
all who were concerned in the rebellion to report themselves to the
Spanish authorities by July 10. The edict also ordered all officers,
military and civil, to prevent the people from leaving the towns or
villages, except to till the fields, to look after their farm
properties, or do their daily work. All who were allowed to go out on
such business must be provided with passes stating where they were
going, by what road they should travel, when they should return, and
what was their errand. Any Filipino staying out over time, or found on
any road or in any place not mentioned in the pass, was to be treated as
a rebel. The edict also declared that after July 10 all persons would be
obliged to prove their identity by “cedula personal,” together with the
pass. Anyone who failed to observe these orders, it was declared, would
be tried by court-martial.
This measure was so outrageous and so unnecessary that it had an effect
on the people exactly opposite to what the governor-general hoped for.
Those Filipinos who had been neutral were made angry by it. It enraged
the rebels and drove many others into the insurgent camp.
The rebels themselves responded by a document calling upon all Filipinos
to rise in defense of the country. This document demanded that the
friars should be expelled, and that land seized by them should be
returned to the towns to which it belonged; that all livings and
parishes should be divided equally between the Spanish and the native
priests. It asked for representation by Filipinos in Parliament; for
freedom of the press; for religious toleration; and for more just laws
in the islands. It demanded that there should be equal terms and pay for
Spanish and native civil servants; that no citizen should be banished
from the Philippines; and that there should be equal punishment for
Spaniards and Filipinos who should offend against the laws of the land.
It declared that the war would be prolonged until Spain was compelled to
grant the demands of the people. To these demands Aguinaldo added an
appeal to the people to join the rebellion. Many Filipinos responded,
and the force of the rebels was greatly increased.
General Primo de Rivera now began to urge the home government to grant
some of the demands made by the Filipinos. The authorities at Madrid
were coming to see that something must be done. The war in Cuba had so
drained the resources of Spain that she had neither men nor money to
expend in punishing the rebel Filipinos, and it was therefore decided to
make some concessions to their demands.
In August, 1897, Señor Pedro Alisandro Paterno (äl ē sän´drō pä ter´nō),
a Filipino, educated in Europe, a man of means and position in Manila,
was made the agent of Spain to try to arrange terms of peace with the
rebel leaders. He visited Aguinaldo in the mountains of Bulacan
Province. There he talked with the Filipino leader, and was given power
to act in his name. Aguinaldo stated to Señor Paterno the terms on which
peace could be made. It must always be a matter of regret that these
terms were never made public, either by the Filipinos or by the
Spaniards. In the disputes that afterwards arose, the Spanish government
denied the claims made by the Filipinos, and declared that the terms of
peace had included nothing of what the Filipinos stated had been agreed
upon. It will, therefore, never be certainly known what these terms
were.
[Illustration:
BIAC-NA-’BATO, WHERE THE TREATY WAS MADE.
]
Certain reforms in the government were demanded. These reforms were
opposed by the friars, whose power was lessened by them. The friars
endeavored to prevent the government from yielding the terms, whatever
they may have been, and succeeded in prolonging the trouble for several
months.
At last, however, Señor Paterno was given authority to act for the
captain-general of the forces in the islands, representing the Spanish
government. On September 19 he had a meeting with Aguinaldo and his
generals, and an agreement was entered into. This conference took place
at Biac-na-’bato (bē äk´nä´bä tō), a mountain fastness not far from the
famous sulphur springs, near Angat, in the province of Bulacan.
Here was made what is now known to history as the treaty of
Biac-na-’bato. It was made between Aguinaldo and the other Filipino
generals on the one hand, and Señor Paterno, acting for the Spanish
government, on the other. By its terms the Filipinos agreed to deliver
up their arms, all ammunition, etc., to the Spaniards. They were to give
up all places held by them, and to cease, for three years, all plotting
against the Spanish authority. These three years the government should
have for bringing about the reforms demanded and promised. Aguinaldo and
thirty-four others of the insurgent leaders promised to leave the
country, not to return until they were given permission by the Spanish
government.
The government, on its side, agreed to pay the rebels $1,000,000,
Mexican, as indemnity, and to reimburse the Filipinos not in arms, but
who had suffered by the war, in the sum of $700,000, Mexican. This
latter sum was to be paid in three equal installments, the last one to
be paid in six months after the _Te Deum_ should be sung in token that
peace was secured.
After this treaty had been signed, Aguinaldo and his thirty-four
companions were taken to Sual (sö´äl), on the coast, under an escort of
Spanish officers. Here they and their escort had a feast, and great good
feeling towards Spain was expressed by the Filipino military leaders.
Then the exiles were taken on board the steamship _Uranus_ (ö rä´nus),
for Hong-Kong. They sailed on December 27, 1897, with an escort of
Spaniards of high rank. When they reached port, they were handed a draft
on the Bank of Hong-Kong for $400,000, Mexican, the first installment on
the sum agreed to be paid them.
In the meantime there was rejoicing in Manila and in Madrid. General
Primo de Rivera received great commendation, and was publicly thanked by
the government. On every side were words of praise for his success as a
peacemaker. The Queen Regent presented him with the Grand Cross of San
Fernando and a pension of 10,000 pesetas a year.
The people now looked to see the promised reforms carried out; but,
instead, the government seemed to forget that any promises had been
made. The Filipinos had laid down their arms, and there were about two
months of quiet. Seven thousand of the troops were sent back to Spain,
and General Primo de Rivera evidently thought that he had broken the
back of the revolt. Business was resumed in Manila. The Spaniards went
on with their pleasures, and matters in Luzon seemed, on the surface, to
be as usual; but trouble was still in store for the islands.
Persons who had taken part in the rebellion were arrested, on slight
charges, from time to time, and put into prison; others were openly
insulted and regarded with suspicion, as rebels against the country.
There were many executions, and instead of the general pardon which was
taken for granted as a part of the treaty of peace, only a few pardons
were bestowed. Time went on. No steps were taken toward making the
reforms, and the Filipinos began to see that the government had once
more deceived them.
At this time the Seventy-fourth Regiment of native infantry was in
garrison at Cavite. This was a very old regiment in the Philippines. For
many years it had been known as the First Regiment of the Visayas. In
1886 it was thought that by making the native regiments a part of the
Spanish army another tie would be formed between the islands and Spain.
So these were all numbered in line with the Spanish regiments, and the
First Visayas became the Seventy-fourth Regiment of infantry.
Early in 1898, companies of armed men, whom the government called
ladrones, were infesting the province. The country was in an unsettled
state, and some of these companies—really insurgents who had taken up
arms again—came into Cavite Province. On March 24, the Seventy-fourth
Regiment was ordered out against them; but, to the surprise of
everybody, it refused to go. The soldiers declared that they were ready
to fight the enemies of Spain or of the islands, but that they would not
march against their own people. Eight corporals were called out of the
regiment, and the men were again ordered to advance, on penalty of death
to all. All refused, and the entire regiment was sent to the barracks to
await sentence. By morning it had deserted in a body. On the following
day another regiment joined them.
On March 25 occurred in Manila one of the most senseless of the many
tragedies which marked Spanish rule in the islands. This is known as the
massacre of Calle de Camba (käl´yā dā käm´bä). A number of Visayan
soldiers, in a public house on this street, fell into a discussion of
matters of no especial importance; but they got to talking loudly, and
became excited over their talk. Some one overheard them and reported to
the police.
[Illustration:
EMILIO AGUINALDO.
]
Without stopping to ask any questions, a band of the Guardia Civil came
and raided the place. They shot down a large number of the people, and
made between sixty and seventy of them prisoners. Some of these latter
were men who had not been in the building at all, but were merely
passing in the street and were taken along with the rest. Next morning
the whole company of sixty-two were taken out to the cemetery and shot.
The rebellion now flamed up again, and among the insurgents were two
battalions of well-trained veteran soldiers.
On the 3d of April, 1898, a party of 5,000 natives made a raid on the
city of Cebu. The leaders were armed with rifles, but the rank and file
had only bolos. The Spanish fled before them, and the natives cut the
cable to Manila, so that the refugees could not communicate with the
garrison there. A gunboat came in from Mindanao that afternoon, however,
and two small boats were sent to Iligan (ē lē gän´) and Iloilo for
troops. These arrived two or three days later, and were followed by
reënforcements from Manila. The rebels were forced out of the city on
the 8th of April, and sustained a crushing defeat. After that the
Spanish chased them back into the mountains, where they took refuge.
This new movement was more serious than any that had gone before. All
trust in Spain was swept away. The earlier leaders had desired reform,
but the Filipinos now in the field sought first of all vengeance for the
wrongs which had been heaped upon them.
It had been understood in connection with the treaty of Biac-na-’bato
that General Primo de Rivera would stay in the islands and see that the
reforms were carried out. Instead of his doing this, however, the home
government recalled him early in 1898, and appointed in his place
General Basilio Augusti (bä sē´li ō au gus´tē), a stranger to the
Philippines. He arrived in the islands early in April, and in the second
week of that month Primo de Rivera left Manila for Spain. Before he
reached Madrid, Spain’s disaster in Manila had taken place, and the
islands were fated never again to come under Spain’s rule.
_Summary._—One of Primo de Rivera’s first acts was to offer amnesty to
all Filipinos who would lay down their arms and pledge their
allegiance to Spain. This was a good move, and many accepted the
offer. Later, however, another edict was issued, which forbade people
to leave their towns or villages without passes stating their
business, the roads they might travel, and the time when they should
return. All persons were also required to prove identity by “cedula
personal.” This measure was so unreasonable and so severe that it
enraged the people, and the rebellion blazed up anew. The rebels
issued a proclamation calling upon the people to join them, and
stating their grievances and demands. The governor-general advised the
authorities in Spain to grant some of these demands. In August, 1897,
Pedro A. Paterno, a Filipino, was sent in behalf of Spain to confer
with the Filipino leaders. He met them at Biac-na-’bato, and there a
treaty was arranged. War was to cease; and the rebel leaders would
leave the country and give up all plotting against Spanish authority.
The government agreed to pay certain sums to the revolutionists; to
reimburse Filipinos not in rebellion, who had suffered from the war;
and to grant the reforms demanded by the rebels.
When this treaty had been signed, the thirty-five rebel leaders were
escorted to Sual, whence they sailed for Hong-Kong, on December 27,
1897, with an escort of Spaniards of high rank. At Hong-Kong they were
handed a draft for $400,000, Mexican, the first installment of a sum
agreed to be paid them. Business now went on in Manila. Many of the
Spanish troops were sent home; but no steps were taken toward the
promised reforms, and the people began to see that they had again been
deceived. On March 24, 1898, the Seventy-fourth Regiment of native
infantry revolted when ordered to go against certain Filipinos who had
taken up arms in Cavite Province. Next day this regiment deserted in a
body, and on the following day another regiment joined them. On March
25 occurred the massacre of Calle de Camba. All trust in Spain was now
at an end, and the people again began arming themselves. Contrary to
the understanding claimed under the treaty of Biac-na-’bato, a new
governor-general, Basilio Augusti, was sent out, and Primo de Rivera
left Manila in April, 1898.
_Questions._—What was the edict that caused the rebellion to break out
afresh? What proclamation did the patriot leaders issue? What did
Rivera advise the government to do? What was the treaty of
Biac-na-’bato? How was this treaty kept on the part of Spain?
[Illustration]