of 17 August 1945. There has never been an oppressed and exploited nation or caste whose arms have exceeded or even equalled those of the caste that oppressed it. You do not have to have an intellect of international caliber to see this. If a nation or caste could equal, let alone exceed, its enemy in possession of arms then it would not be oppressed. Neither equality nor superiority can be attained before the revolution, but only during or after it, if it is a real social and economic or national revolution organized in a disciplined fashion.
The “blind” person, now more open-eyed than the sighted, was absolutely amazed to hear this answer from Dr. Rizal. Upon hearing the answer, Andres Bonifacio, the worker from Tondo, graduate of the primary school, bitterly exclaimed “Lintik! [Heavens!] Where on earth did Dr. Rizal read that?” His remark did not, however, imply loss of respect and love for the person he regarded as his teacher in everything, as we shall see later in this story.32
[133] After the Spanish-American War broke out, Dr. Rizal offered to go to Cuba as a Red Cross doctor. His offer was accepted by the Spanish government and he left for Cuba. The priests in the Philippines attacked the government on this decision, however, and he was recalled. In Hong Kong he was met by his younger sister Eleonara (?).33 In Manila harbor the secret and official police were lying in wait. The conspiring priests had planted a false letter in Eleonara’s purse. This letter was to implicate Dr. Rizal in a secret society that the conspiring priests maintained was linked to him. His younger brother was tortured to unconsciousness twice but refused to bear false witness against his brother.34
Rizal was jailed and brought to trial, charged with being a rebel and trying to overthrow the Spanish government. The trial was rigged and stank of fabrication from beginning to end. Dr. Rizal had been arrested in order to be sentenced, and in essence was sentenced even before being tried. He was sentenced to be executed by a firing squad.
On his last night he was visited by his mother and his younger sister. His famous poem, “My Last Farewell,” which was to become a national inheritance, had been hidden in an oil lamp. “Send this lamp as a memento to my friend Professor Blumentritt,” he said. “There is something inside,” he added in a whisper to his sister. In this way were preserved for Philippine history the emotions of a Filipino hero, thinker, and man of wisdom, about to leave everything he had loved through his thirty-six-year life to face the bullets of Spanish imperialism with calmness and composure.35
At dawn Dr. Rizal was awakened and led to Bagumbayan field to be shot and displayed to the crowds of Spaniards and Filipinos. The edge of the field was filled with Spanish women and dignitaries, happy to see the destruction of a native son with the courage to oppose the power of Spain.
Jose Rizal walked out with a firm step. The air was still cool, and the dew wet his face for the last time. “How beautiful this morning is,” said Rizal. “My child,” replied a priest walking on his right, “it would be even more beautiful if . . .” The good-hearted priest could not finish his sentence because the official guards whisked him away from Rizal’s side.
[134] The firing squad was ready. The front line, which was to fire, consisted of Filipinos. Behind them stood a line of Spanish soldiers, just in case the native soldiers refused to shoot a leader of their people.
Dr. Rizal protested to the commandant, who wanted him bound and shot in the back. “I am not a traitor,” said Dr Rizal. “I am only following orders,” answered the officer. “If that’s the case then just don’t let me be shot in the head,” said Rizal. The officer granted this request.
How calmly the Filipino hero stood in the center of the field, as if opposing the power of Spain with his attitude: “My body may be destroyed, but my spirit will live on. And this destruction of my body will bring about the destruction of Spanish power in the Philippines.” A Spanish doctor was amazed at his colleague’s calmness and asked permission of the commandant to examine the pulse of the Filipino doctor who was facing death. He shook his head in astonishment when he found that the pulse rate was normal.
Jose Rizal was facing death. A volley of shots rang out. As the Filipino hero dropped, he was seen to be struggling to fall as he wanted. He succeeded and lay with his unscathed face to the sky. So fell the noble Filipino fighter in 1896. In appreciation and respect, his people have built a monument to him at his place of death, and this place of tragedy is now called the Luneta Square.36
Among those watching was someone who was not known to the crowds but who was to be remembered in history. With his bolo at his waist, Andres Bonifacio, former secretary of La Liga Filipina and now leader of the Katipunan, awaited the moment to attack in order to free his teacher and comrade-in-arms from the jaws of death. But the group with him had long been prepared to thwart this hopeless idea. They were awaiting a better moment to attack, to strike out in unison with a single blow. With tears streaming down his face, his teeth chattering, and his bolo still hidden in his sarong, Andres followed the advice of his followers and watched helplessly as his teacher and comrade-in-arms fell to the earth.37
[135] His bolo was not to stay hidden in his sarong for long. When he felt the moment was right, he drew it out and, with a small but courageous band, attacked the Spanish fort at Balintawak on the outskirts of Manila in 1898 (?).38 Clearly he chose the right moment. Throughout the island of Luzon, flanked by the other islands of the Philippines, the independence flag fluttered in answer to the cry of Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the Katipunan: “Citizens of our nation, the hour of our final hope is at last upon us!”39
Everywhere guerrilla groups sprang up. In almost all fields of battle the Spanish troops retreated or surrendered. The Filipino officers carried out all kinds of guerrilla strategies that amazed the whole world. Take a look at the European and American newspapers of that time: the world was completely taken aback by the skill, astuteness, and valor of this tiny unheard-of nation in the Pacific, now making itself known with a clear, ringing cry in the fight against a powerful empire. The names of the fighting units, and commanders like Generals Luna, Malvar, and Ricarte,40 echoed throughout the cities and villages of the Philippine Islands.41 Above all resounded the name of General Aguinaldo, the former village school teacher: adroit, sharp, and ignorant of the word defeat, a supreme guerrilla strategist.
Finally the Spanish army was driven from every corner of the islands except the capital city of Manila. At that precise moment the American armada sailed into the port of Manila to intervene. When their imperialist aims became clear, the Filipino people turned their fighting units against the modern American army. For about a year the bitter struggle raged on under the leadership of Aguinaldo.42
During the two- or three-year war of independence fought against two rich and powerful nations with a wealth of arms and military experience, much went on among the rebels themselves. Differences arose that gradually hardened into conflict and finally into enmity. The differences between Aguinaldo and Bonifacio ended in the murder of Bonifacio, while those between Aguinaldo and Mabini caused Mabini to break off relations.43
In the Philippines this conflict and enmity generally is interpreted as stemming from personal differences alone. But I believe they developed from a difference of intentions between the various classes in the struggle, as represented by Aguinaldo, Mabini, and Bonifacio.
[136] This is only my own opinion. Filipino historians are not clear on this point or have not turned their attention to this interpretation. I have not been able to obtain complete data on which classes were the main supporters of the various leaders. There is a possibility that Aguinaldo had his base—at the end if not from the beginning of the revolution—primarily among the Filipino rich peasants and bourgeoisie. Mabini represented the radical democratic intelligentsia and a section of the common people, while Bonifacio appears to have represented the murba of the cities and villages.44
In
