This article explores the historical controversy surrounding June 12, 1898, as the official date of Filipino Independence Day. It questions the authenticity of the proclamation made in Kawit, Cavite, and highlights its flaws, including the declaration of a dictatorial government and the acknowledgment of US protection.
Last of two partsFirst wordI TURN next to another grave error that survived multiple presidential administrations and cries out for rectification to this day.This was the decision to designate June 12 , 1898, as the precise date of Filipino Independence Day and accept as authentic the proclamation read in Kawit , Cavite , as the official proclamation of Filipino independence.On this matter, there is debate.
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, who was serving at the time in Emilio Aguinaldo's headquarters, was assigned to write the text of the proclamation.'The historic proclamation was written by hand in beautiful Castilian script,' wrote historian Onofre D. Corpuz. 'It was prolix, and it rambled. Only two brief clauses show literary eloquence beyond rhetoric. The first stated that 'the Filipino nation begins on this day to have a life of its own.' The second affirmed that 'the iniquitous measures employed by Spain to suppress the flowering of the tree of liberty in our land only caused it to flourish more and more until the last drop having been drained from the cup of our afflictions,' the revolution began.'Bautista's text contained major flaws. It stated that the Filipino government was a dictatorial government.Worse, it declared that the Filipino people, in proclaiming their independence, were 'under the protection of the powerful and humanitarian nation, the United States of America.'After the Kawit ceremonies were over, the document of the proclamation was passed out for signing. Among the 100 or so signatures, there is at the bottom of the document the signature of L.M. Johnson, a spurious character who appeared in the uniform of a US Army artillery colonel.Upon the recovery of Filipino independence on July 4, 1946, the new Filipino government adopted July 4 as National Independence Day to coincide with America Freedom Day.And so it went on until the accession to office of President Diosdado Macapaga
Filipino Independence Day June 12 1898 Kawit Cavite Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista Proclamation US Protection
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