To the Seeker of the Right
by Dr. Norberto L. Mercado
THE TRUTH ABOUT JUNE 12,1898 : AGUINALDO'S DECLARATION OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT AMERICAN VICTORY OVER THE SPANISH NAVY IN MANILA BAY ON MAY 1, 1898
"You can not cheat history." - Anonymous
History is my favorite subject. I topped all my history exams in my elementary, high school, and college years - Philippine history, Asian history, and world history.
I would have taken history as my first course in college if Ninoy Aquino Jr. was not my idol way back my high school years in Moncada,Tarlac. Ninoy was a journalist, and I wanted to be like him. And so, I took up Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in UP Diliman as my first course.
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In college, I heard the so-called "nationalist whatevers" claim that the Americans denied the Filipino revolutionaries, headed by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo , victory over the Spanish army.
To their version of Philippine history, the United States is the imperialist enemy which prevented what could have been the first successful Philippine revolution against Spain.
Were those "nationalist whatevers" saying the truth? Or were they spinning falsehood?
I love my country, the Philippines. My grandfather Francisco Lacierna was an officer in the army of Gen. Makabulos in Tarlac during the 1896 revolution against Spain. My father, Aurelio Mercado Sr., was a guerilla officer during the Japanese period. (There was no Philippine government in the Philippines during that dark period; only a Japanese government manned by Filipino collaborators). My uncle Gadong Lacierna was a USAFFE. He fought in Bataan. He joined the Death March, but was able to escape in Mabalacat, Pampanga. He joined the guerillas with his younger brother, Uncle Quirino, who was a member of the Philippine Scouts. From their examples of sacrifice, I learned by heart love of country from my youth.
I should have left the Philippines for the United States with my wife, Architect June Morales-Mercado, and our children 30 years ago. But we opted to stay in our beloved land, and contributed the little I could to protect its freedom and enhance its security. I have no regrets. And if we were to start all over again, we would do the same thing.
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Between the Philippines and the US, I will choose the Philippines anytime. But between falsehood and the truth, I will choose truth anytime.
What are the truths which I want to share with you in this article which I'm writing this day, June 2,2012, or 10 days before our June 12 Philippine Independence Day celebrations?
A. NO PHILIPPINE REBELLION AGAINST THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES EVER SUCCEEDED.
The lesson from our history : no bloody revolution will ever succeed in our 7,100 islands. CPP-NPA-NDF chief and communist dictator Jose Ma. Sison should have seriously pondered on this truth before he started his Mao-Pol Pot-type of revolution which has claimed more than 60,000 lives of Filipino men, women, and children, most of whom belong to the poorest of the poor. There were 25,000 NPAs in 1988, and Joma was saying that his communist revolution had already reached the "strategic stalemate" stage. Today, there are less than 4,000 NPAs, and Joma is back to the strategic defensive stage after 45 years of fighting ! He will not succeed in his desire to be a Kim Il Sung, Mao, or Fidel Castro even if he has to fight for 100 years . History is not on Joma's side, which is good for the country. All Filipino revolutions against Spain failed, mainly because of the archipelagic nature of the Philippines . This makes it hard for the leaders of a bloody revolution to unite the people who speak different dialects and have prejudices against one another ( Cebuanos and Tagalogs, Ilokanos and Kapampangans,Ilonggos and Muslims, etc.). The Sumuroy rebellion, the Tamblot rebellion, the Dagohoy rebellion, the Diego and Gabriela Silang rebellion, the Palaris rebellion, and scores of rebellions against Spain all failed, including the 1896 Philippine revolution. Filipino historians, like Teodoro Agoncillo, have been shy in explaining to Filipino students that our 1896 revolutionaries sold their revolution at Biak Na Bato for a relatively huge amount when they signed the "Pact of Biak Na Bato" and allowed themselves to be exiled by the Spanish government in the Philippines to Hong Kong! Those revolutionary leaders were later lumped as the "Hong Kong Junta". They were under the constant surveillance of the Spanish consulate in Hong Kong, with its agents who included "bella mujeres" who befriended the Hong Kong Junta members. The "nationalists' claim that the "Hong Kong Junta" would use the money they received from the Spanish government to purchase firearms to continue their revolution was just a claim to justify their failure. And greed?
At any rate, even if , for the sake of argument, the " Hong Kong Junta " members led by Gen Aguinaldo wanted to use the money they received from the Spanish government in the Philippines for the purchase of firearms, the Spanish government (thru their agents in Hong Kong) would have known with speed such purchase. Telegraph was already well-used during that time. Spain would have asked the British government in Hong Kong to arrest the junta members and put all of them to jail ! Let us not forget that Spain and England were both European colonizers in Asia, and they were helping each other maintain their colonies. Even if, for the sake of argument again, the junta was able to buy firearms and load these in a ship to the Philippines, that ship of firearms could have been blocked by the combined armada of Spain, Germany, and France. Yes! Spain sought the help of Germany and France to maintain their prized Philippine colony. The German and French ships were docked at Manila Bay in 1898, ready to help their fellow European colonizer against the Filipino revolutionaries if the latter would continue with their revolution.
2. WITHOUT THE VICTORY OF THE AMERICAN NAVY OVER THE SPANISH ARMADA IN THE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY ON MAY 1,1898, GEN. EMILIO AGUINALDO'S JUNE 12,1898 PROCLAMATION OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE IN KAWIT, CAVITE WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE.
The "nationalist whatevers" will quarrel with me over this statement. But this is the truth!
Let's look back to the year 1898, briefly mention what happened, and analyze the implications of the events from May 1 to June 12, 1898.
REMEMBER THESE THREE DATES:
1. On May 1, 1898, the US Navy, led by the battleship Olympia, under the command of Admiral George Dewey, routed the Spanish armada in Manila Bay. All the Spanish ships were destroyed, and many Spanish navy officers and men were killed. The "BATTLE OF MANILA BAY" on May 1,1898 was not a "mock battle", as "nationalist whatevers" wish us to believe. The naval battle is a real, bloody battle between the American and Spanish warships. It was the bombardment of the Spanish ground troops in Manila by the American warships in Manila Bay which appeared to be the "mock battle", and this happened weeks after May 1,1898. After the defeat of the Spanish navy in Manila Bay, the Spanish government in the Philippines realized that the end was near. The Spanish Governor General in the Philippines was negotiating with Dewey for an honorable transfer of power. And he didn't want more Spanish troops killed . And so, the American bombardiers intentionally missed the Spanish troops holed in Intramuros and in Baclaran. That is the "mock battle".
After the total destruction of the Spanish ships, Admiral Dewey knew that it was difficult to occupy Manila without ground troops. He wired Washington for reinforcements. At the same time, he sent the battleship McCullough, which participated in routing the Spanish ships, to fetch Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and his junta in Hong Kong. Admiral Dewey needed the help of Aguinaldo in the fight against the Spanish ground troops in Manila and its environs.
2. On May 19,1898, Gen. Aguinaldo arrived at Sangley Point, Cavite aboard the US battleship McCullough. The American naval officers who fetched him in Hong Kong brought him to the battleship Olympia, where Admiral George Dewey was. Aguinaldo was accorded full military honors and reception due his rank . It was in that meeting with Admiral Dewey in the battleship Olympia where Dewey allegedly told Aguinaldo (according to Aguinaldo) that the US would help the Filipino revolutionaries expel the Spanish government in the Philippines, and the US would not occupy the Philippines. Dewey, however, claimed that whatever he told Aguinaldo about the US not occupying the Philippines was a personal opinion, and not the official position of Washington D.C. Who was telling the truth? We may never know .
3. On June 12,1898, or three weeks and three days after the Aguinaldo-Dewey meeting in the US battleship Olympia, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence in Kawit, Cavite. The rest is history.
QUESTIONS :
1. If the American navy was defeated by the Spanish navy in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1,1898, was it possible for Admiral Dewey to send the battleship McCullough to Hong Kong and fetch Gen. Aguinaldo? The answer is NO.
2. If Admiral Dewey did not send the battleship McCullogh to Hong Kong to fetch Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, was it possible for the Filipino revolutionary leader to come back to Sangley Point in Cavite on May 19,1898? The answer is NO.
3. If Aguinaldo was not in the Philippines beginning May 19,1898 ( and was still in Hong Kong ) , was it possible for him to be physically present in Kawit, Cavite on June 12,1898 to proclaim the independence of the Philippines? The answer is NO.
4. And if he was not in the Philippines in 1898 (and was still in Hong Kong), was it possible for him to lead his troops against the Spaniards who were trapped in Intramuros? The answer is NO.
HISTORY TEACHES US, therefore, that without the American navy battleship McCullogh, which participated in destroying the Spanish ships in the "Battle of Manila Bay", fetching Aguinaldo in Hong Kong, there would have been no June 12,1898 proclamation of Philippine independence in Kawit, Cavite by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo.
Did the US government want to colonize the Philippines beginning the year 1898, and so it sent Admiral Dewey and his battleships to Manila Bay on May 1,1898? The answer is YES. American agents posing as traders were already in Manila and Cebu City in the 1850s. The Philippines is strategically located in Southeast Asia. The US needs it to its expand its military, political, economic, and cultural power in Asia and the Middle East. Without its influence and power in the Asia-Pacific, the United States will just be a regional power like China, and not the only superpower it is today. Any claim that China has attained "superpower" status does not know what he is talking about. It will take decades, if ever, before China can equal or surpass the military technology, capability, and influence of the US in the four continents of the world. That's the truth.
Someone said : " You can not cheat history". Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos used to say, "No one can cheat history". That's the truth which history teaches us.
DR. NORBERTO L. MERCADO, UP SIGMA RHO '73, is a National Security analyst, and the youngest graduate in the history of the National Defense College of the Philippines, the only war college of this country. He is also the
Founder-President, DR. NORBERTO MERCADO GLOBAL iTV NETWORK, now with 36 global channels and growing, and the largest iTV Network in the Asia-Pacific Region !
He has authored 25 books, and one of the few ASEAN citizens who has visited all ASEAN countries.
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