June 12 and national identity

Title

Language

English

Source

Volume XIX (6) June 1967

Year

1967

Subject

Independence Day (Philippines) -- Anniversaries, etc.

Philippines -- History

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

[The significance of the first declaration of Philippine independence is here explained by a noted professor in the state university.]

Fulltext

■ The significance of the first declaration of Phil ippine independence is here explained by a noted professor in the state university. JUNE 12 AND NATIONAL IDENTITY The recognition of June 12 as the chief Philippine holiday, however, has been the most important step taken toward the consolida tion and strengthening of the national identity. Before this act, it was not easy to make people, including some of our countrymen, accept the historical fact that the Filipinos were the first to establish a liberal democra tic Republic in Asia. When we were marking our independence only from July 4, 1946, the date on whidh the United States res tored the Republic which our revolutionary heroes had established toward the end of the nineteenth century as an independent national state, the Philippines was not much older than India, Pa kistan, and Indonesia, be cause these countries won their independence only shortly after 1946. But now we can rightfully claim that our reformists and revolu tionaries were in the van guard of the liberal, demo cratic nationalist movement that began shaking the ram parts of colonial Asia and Africa towards the later part of the nineteenth century and which is still sweeping over large areas of those con tinents in our own days. The declaration of inde pendence at Kawit on 12 June 1898 was the first con certed act of a visible poli tical authority derived from representatives of the people from the different provinces assembled to assert their so vereignty. From it we can trace the clear beginnings of the Filipino national iden tity. The martyrdom of Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora in 1872, the publication of Rizal’s novels (it is signifi cant that Rizal himself des cribed the “Noli” as “novela tagala” and the “Fili” as "novela filipina”), the found ing of the La Solidaridad in 1889 and of the Liga FiliJUNE 1967 17 pina and the Katipunan in 1892, the premature outbreak of the Revolution in 1896 and the martyrdom of Rizal in December of the same year — all these also contri buted to the formation of the Filipino nationality, but it was the Declaration of Independence in 1898 that formally marked the birth of the Filipino nation. This declaration was fol lowed by the convening of the Congress at Malolos which ratified the declara tion and which promulgated a Constitution for a wartime Republic which was inaugu rated in January 1899. That the 'Republic which was es tablished subsequent to the Independence Proclamation was • suppressed by American arms cannot destroy the sig nificance or minimize the importance of the Kawit de claration in the life of the Filipino people. When the Kawit proclama tion was made by Aguinaldo and his associates the follow ing month, it was with the understanding on the part of Aguinaldo that America, on the strength of the promise he claims to have received from Admiral Dewey and the American consuls at Singa pore and Hongkong, would recognize that independence and extend help to the young Republic. That things did not turn out as expected by Aguinaldo and that, instead, the fledging Republic had to fight for its life against the new invaders, has al ready become a significant chapter in our history. In spite of the ill effects of the American colonial rule in the advancement of Phil ippine nationalism, particu larly its economic and poli tical aspects, it must be ad mitted that the rule, also con tributed some definite good to the national life, like the secular and popular public school system extending from the grades to the University, an efficient system of hygiene and public health, and a re presentative democracy kept relatively stable and clean through the use of the secret ballot in the conduct of elec tions. Set against this back ground, the celebration of July 4 as Independence Day is not very appropriate; in the context of the national 18 Panorama history, the Kawit declara tion was much more impor tant than the Truman pro clamation of Independence read at the Luneta on July 4, 1946. The Declaration at Kawit would for us Fili pinos have the same signifi cance as the Declaration of July 4, 1776 of the Phila delphia for the Americans and of the Declaration of August 17, 1945 at Jakarta for the Indonesians. It is inevitable that the Kawit declaration will dev elop into the most eloquent and effective rallying point for those who would want to enhance the Filipino heri tage and the national iden tity. There is very little danger of our suffering the same fate as the Hawaiians, Basques, Guamanians, and Maltese, who have lost their identity to some other and more powerful people. Despite our centuries of subjection by colonialists, neither the Spaniards nor the Americans nor the Jap anese have succeeded in as similating or suppressing us altogether. It is well to re mind ourselves always, how ever, that the national iden tity can always be under mined if we don’t take ne cessary measures to protect it from harm. — Leopoldo Yabes, abstracts from Manila Times, June 8, 967. June 1967 19

pages

17-19

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