To the Seeker of the Right
Dr. Norberto L. Mercado, MNSA, Sigma Rho '73
President, Philippine-American Writers Society
THE TRUTH ABOUT MAY 1,1898 : WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO THE PHILIPPINES IF THE AMERICAN NAVY DIDN'T COME, OR IF IT LOST TO THE SPANISH ARMADA IN THE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY ?
(This article is a continuation of my previous article titled "THE TRUTH ABOUT JUNE 12,1898" which was published in this e-column . Dr. Norberto L. Mercado, MNSA,RC 21, Youngest Graduate in the History of NDCP - the War College of the Philippines) .
I had a very pleasant evening conversation with my Sigma Rho brod JP Quimpo recently, and among our topics was the coming of the American navy to the Philippines on May 1,1898.
We had dinner at KFC in UP-Ayala Techno Hub, and then a cup of brewed coffee in a nearby Starbucks. And after we discussed myriads of issues about the constructive and positive effects of the Sigma Rho Alumni countrywide unification, JP and I found ourselves discussing Philippine history when I thanked him for re-posting my article "THE TRUTH ABOUT JUNE 12,1898" to the FACEBOOK Account of the Sigma Rho ( non-Diliman/Manila account ) .
JP asked this question : "What if the Americans didn't come ?"
It's an intriguing question. What if the American navy under Admiral George Dewey didn't come to the Philippines and fought the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1,1898 ? Or if Dewey's battleships lost to the Spanish navy ?
From the coming of the Spanish Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to the coming of American Navy Admiral George Dewey was a span of three centuries and more than three decades. The Philippines, described by Dr. Jose "Rizal" Mercado ,who was a nephew of my great grandfather, as the "Pearl of the Orient Seas", was a prized Spanish possession.
Spain would not give up the Philippines to the Filipino revolutionaries led by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. The Spanish crown would give it up only to a superior conqueror, and that is the United States.
To prove my point, I will cite to you two clear historical incidents :
1. IN REALITY , THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES WON OVER THE FILIPINO REBELS UNDER GEN. EMILIO AGUINALDO IN " THE 1896 PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION" .
Again, the "nationalist whatevers" will bamboozle me for this statement . But this is the truth . Between Spain and the Philippines, I will choose the Philippines anytime because it is my homeland . But between falsehood and the truth, I will choose the truth anytime.
What really happened? Simple. Through Pedro Paterno, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo agreed to surrender his forces, including their firearms, for a relatively huge amount of eight hundred thousand (800,000) Mexican pesetas in the "Treaty of Biak-na-Bato" . The amount would be paid in three installments by the Spanish government in Manila.
In short, and sad to say it , the Filipino rebel leaders under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo sold their revolution ! This is a hard statement, but it is the truth, and the truth hurts .
It is also stipulated in the said treaty that Gen. Aguinaldo and the Filipino rebel leadership would agree to be exiled to a foreign land of their choice. Aguinaldo and his circle chose Hong Kong. His group would later be called the "Hong Kong Junta" . They were all under surveillance by the Spanish Consulate in Hong Kong on the first day they arrived in that British colony. ( I did business in Hong Kong for almost 10 years ).
What the "nationalist whatevers" were saying that the "Hong Kong Junta" would use the money for purchasing firearms was purely speculative. Granting for the sake of argument that such purchase of firearms was Aguinaldo's intention . The Spanish Consulate in Hong Kong would have known such purchase thru its numerous agents that included "bellas hermosas" .
And the Spanish Crown could have asked its fellow European colonizer Great Britain to arrest and imprison the Hong Kong Junta for conspiring to overthrow Spain inside a British territory. That would have been treason by the "Hong Kong Junta" against their host - the English crown . Let us not forget that the Spanish royals and the English royals are blood relatives!
2. THE SPANISH CROWN ASKED THE HELP OF GERMANY AND FRANCE IN ITS WAR AGAINST THE FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARIES .
The Spanish royals, the German royals, and the French royals are also related by blood through inter-marriages !
This is the reason why Germany and France sent their battleships to Manila Bay - to block any enemy ship which would carry firearms to the Filipino revolutionaries . The German ships and French ships were all docked in Manila Bay when Admiral Dewey's fleet destroyed all warships of the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Manila Bay !
Why didn't the Germans and the French join the fray? Well, they knew the firepower of the US battleships, and they didn't have the go signal from their respective governments to fight the United States.
And so, I answered my Sigma Rho brod JP Quimpo's question : "What if the Americans didn't come?"
I told him : " The Philippines would have remained a Spanish colony until the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in World War 2".
And even if Dewey's fleet came, but it lost to the Spanish Armada in Manila Bay, Spain would have continued its centuries-old colonial rule - until the Japanese Imperial Army came in December 1941.
By the way, there was no "Philippine Republic" during the ruthless Japanese rule. There was the "JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES" . The PRESIDENT of the JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES is Jose P. Laurel .He was a Japanese collaborator . There were other Japanese collaborators with Jose P. Laurel. He nearly died in an assassination attempt by the Filipino guerillas.
My father, Aurelio Mercado Sr., was a guerilla officer during World War 2. My uncle, Gadong Lacierna , brother of my mother Francisca Lacierna of San Clemente, Tarlac, was a Bataan veteran and Death March survivor. Sick and emaciated, he decided to escape in Pampanga because the Japanese forces were bayonetting Filipino and American "death marchers" who were too sick to walk. Another brother of my mother, Quirino Lacierna, was a member of the Philippine Scouts . When Bataan fell, he joined the guerillas. Uncle Gadong later joined him.
From them, my family members, I learned love for my poor country. This is the main reason why I have remained in the Philippines until now. That doesn't mean though that Filipinos who have migrated to the US don't love their country. I believe they do.
I love living with my family - my wife June, our children John Mark, Jerusalem Angela, and Joanne - in our homeland - the Philippines .
When my Heavenly Father says that my time and work on earth is up, I want to die in my homeland, and not as an "economic exile" in another country.
Dr. Norberto L. Mercado
Quezon City, Philippines
Posted on June 26,2012
Dr. Norberto L. Mercado, MNSA, Sigma Rho '73
President, Philippine-American Writers Society
THE TRUTH ABOUT MAY 1,1898 : WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO THE PHILIPPINES IF THE AMERICAN NAVY DIDN'T COME, OR IF IT LOST TO THE SPANISH ARMADA IN THE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY ?
(This article is a continuation of my previous article titled "THE TRUTH ABOUT JUNE 12,1898" which was published in this e-column . Dr. Norberto L. Mercado, MNSA,RC 21, Youngest Graduate in the History of NDCP - the War College of the Philippines) .
I had a very pleasant evening conversation with my Sigma Rho brod JP Quimpo recently, and among our topics was the coming of the American navy to the Philippines on May 1,1898.
We had dinner at KFC in UP-Ayala Techno Hub, and then a cup of brewed coffee in a nearby Starbucks. And after we discussed myriads of issues about the constructive and positive effects of the Sigma Rho Alumni countrywide unification, JP and I found ourselves discussing Philippine history when I thanked him for re-posting my article "THE TRUTH ABOUT JUNE 12,1898" to the FACEBOOK Account of the Sigma Rho ( non-Diliman/Manila account ) .
JP asked this question : "What if the Americans didn't come ?"
It's an intriguing question. What if the American navy under Admiral George Dewey didn't come to the Philippines and fought the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1,1898 ? Or if Dewey's battleships lost to the Spanish navy ?
From the coming of the Spanish Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to the coming of American Navy Admiral George Dewey was a span of three centuries and more than three decades. The Philippines, described by Dr. Jose "Rizal" Mercado ,who was a nephew of my great grandfather, as the "Pearl of the Orient Seas", was a prized Spanish possession.
Spain would not give up the Philippines to the Filipino revolutionaries led by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. The Spanish crown would give it up only to a superior conqueror, and that is the United States.
To prove my point, I will cite to you two clear historical incidents :
1. IN REALITY , THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES WON OVER THE FILIPINO REBELS UNDER GEN. EMILIO AGUINALDO IN " THE 1896 PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION" .
Again, the "nationalist whatevers" will bamboozle me for this statement . But this is the truth . Between Spain and the Philippines, I will choose the Philippines anytime because it is my homeland . But between falsehood and the truth, I will choose the truth anytime.
What really happened? Simple. Through Pedro Paterno, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo agreed to surrender his forces, including their firearms, for a relatively huge amount of eight hundred thousand (800,000) Mexican pesetas in the "Treaty of Biak-na-Bato" . The amount would be paid in three installments by the Spanish government in Manila.
In short, and sad to say it , the Filipino rebel leaders under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo sold their revolution ! This is a hard statement, but it is the truth, and the truth hurts .
It is also stipulated in the said treaty that Gen. Aguinaldo and the Filipino rebel leadership would agree to be exiled to a foreign land of their choice. Aguinaldo and his circle chose Hong Kong. His group would later be called the "Hong Kong Junta" . They were all under surveillance by the Spanish Consulate in Hong Kong on the first day they arrived in that British colony. ( I did business in Hong Kong for almost 10 years ).
What the "nationalist whatevers" were saying that the "Hong Kong Junta" would use the money for purchasing firearms was purely speculative. Granting for the sake of argument that such purchase of firearms was Aguinaldo's intention . The Spanish Consulate in Hong Kong would have known such purchase thru its numerous agents that included "bellas hermosas" .
And the Spanish Crown could have asked its fellow European colonizer Great Britain to arrest and imprison the Hong Kong Junta for conspiring to overthrow Spain inside a British territory. That would have been treason by the "Hong Kong Junta" against their host - the English crown . Let us not forget that the Spanish royals and the English royals are blood relatives!
2. THE SPANISH CROWN ASKED THE HELP OF GERMANY AND FRANCE IN ITS WAR AGAINST THE FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARIES .
The Spanish royals, the German royals, and the French royals are also related by blood through inter-marriages !
This is the reason why Germany and France sent their battleships to Manila Bay - to block any enemy ship which would carry firearms to the Filipino revolutionaries . The German ships and French ships were all docked in Manila Bay when Admiral Dewey's fleet destroyed all warships of the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Manila Bay !
Why didn't the Germans and the French join the fray? Well, they knew the firepower of the US battleships, and they didn't have the go signal from their respective governments to fight the United States.
And so, I answered my Sigma Rho brod JP Quimpo's question : "What if the Americans didn't come?"
I told him : " The Philippines would have remained a Spanish colony until the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in World War 2".
And even if Dewey's fleet came, but it lost to the Spanish Armada in Manila Bay, Spain would have continued its centuries-old colonial rule - until the Japanese Imperial Army came in December 1941.
By the way, there was no "Philippine Republic" during the ruthless Japanese rule. There was the "JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES" . The PRESIDENT of the JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES is Jose P. Laurel .He was a Japanese collaborator . There were other Japanese collaborators with Jose P. Laurel. He nearly died in an assassination attempt by the Filipino guerillas.
My father, Aurelio Mercado Sr., was a guerilla officer during World War 2. My uncle, Gadong Lacierna , brother of my mother Francisca Lacierna of San Clemente, Tarlac, was a Bataan veteran and Death March survivor. Sick and emaciated, he decided to escape in Pampanga because the Japanese forces were bayonetting Filipino and American "death marchers" who were too sick to walk. Another brother of my mother, Quirino Lacierna, was a member of the Philippine Scouts . When Bataan fell, he joined the guerillas. Uncle Gadong later joined him.
From them, my family members, I learned love for my poor country. This is the main reason why I have remained in the Philippines until now. That doesn't mean though that Filipinos who have migrated to the US don't love their country. I believe they do.
I love living with my family - my wife June, our children John Mark, Jerusalem Angela, and Joanne - in our homeland - the Philippines .
When my Heavenly Father says that my time and work on earth is up, I want to die in my homeland, and not as an "economic exile" in another country.
Dr. Norberto L. Mercado
Quezon City, Philippines
Posted on June 26,2012
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