By Ed Aurelio C. Reyes
Kampanya para sa Kamalayan sa Kasaysayan
KAMALAYSAYAN OFFICERS have recently become busy speaking at different fora. And usually there would be at least one among the forum participants asking me or whoever is there for Kamalaysayan to clarify a confusion: why are we saying that the centennial year has started when al1 those ads being run by government on televtsion refers to a much later date, specifically 1898, as Philippine Centennial? Which centennial are you commemorating ba?
The title and the logo of the commemoration we of the Kampanya para sa Kamalayan sa Kasaysayan are coordinating should have been enough to make that simple clarification: "Sentenaryo '96" and "Sentenaryo ng Rebolusyong Pilipino." But some confusion has indeed come from the activities, promotional spots and logo of the National Centennial Comnussion which has June 12, 1898 for its centerpoint and climax.
The NCC, speaking through its Chairman, former Vice President Salvador H. Laurel, and its executive director, Mr Louie Morales, has said that all these centennials are important. The July 1992 centennial of the founding of the Katipunan was important, the August 1996 centennial of the start ot the Philippine Revolution was important, and both these centennials leads to what the Commission considers to be the biggest one of all, the "Centennial of the Philippines" itself in the 100th anniversary in June 12, 1998 of the proclamation of independendence and the first republic in Asia.
We of Kamalaysayan have expressed full readiness to go along with the logic of giving due importance to a whole series of important historical centennials. But identifying June 12 as independence day and as the establishment day for the first republic in this continent has run into serious controversy with historians.
The historians are saying that the June 12 declaration in Kawit, Cavite, was one of a protectorate (or "independence" that was "under the protection of the mighty and humane North American nation"). And the government that was formed was a dirtatorial government, which, upon the advice of Apolinario Mabini, was changed later into a revolutionary government. It was only in September 1898 thal constituent assemlbly (called "Malolos Congress") was I convened, and it was in January of the following year that upon the resultant Constitution hammered out by that assembly the first Philippine Republic (also called "Malolos Republic") was inaugurated.
Kamalaysayan feels that if we are to look for some sort of "climax centennial," that of the inauguratlon of the Republic in I899 is the more important date than June 12. Still, we feel that the birth of this natlon happened much earlier. The events of August 1896 did not only include shouting ("The Cry") and tearing of cedulas. There also was formed a mechanism of governance. The Katipunan was transformed from a secret society into the government of "Haring Bayang Katagalugan" (Sovereign Nation of the Katagaluganan Archipelago), w ith the word "Katagalulgan' officially used by the Katipuneros to mean "all who are of this archipelago ... be one a Visayan, an llocano, a Pampango, etc ... he is a Tagalog just the same." The Philipping Revolution of 1896 was not all bolos and bloodshed. It marked the first time the people from the provinces as far north as the Batanes and as far south th as Cotabato started engaging in one unified enterprise, even hefore the Tejeros Convention shifted leadership in 1897. The 1896 Philippine Revolution was no less than the birth ot the nation.
Which centennial should we be celebrating? AII ot them deserve to be marked with commemorative activities. But "Sentenaryo '96", promoted and coordinated nationwide and even overseas by Kamalaysayan, among others, highlights the glory that was August 1896. And, beyond the level of dates, we prefer to concentrate on promoting the ideals of the Katipunan as reflected in the "Kartilya' and the other writings of Bonifacio and Jacinto.
That would also get us into some controversy. In a forum convened by the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) where I was a speaker along with Mr. Morales of the NCC ancl Dr. Jaime Veneracion of the UP Department of History, I praised the slogan being promoted by the NCC while expressing strong reservations about the years
hightlighted (1898 and 1998). The slogan, "Kalayaan: Kayaman ng Bayan" (Freedom: Wealth of the Nation) is a very good
one. I asked the forum participants to give this slogan profound attention.
The ideals of the Katipunan teach us not to be mababaw (shallow) in
perception. Emilio Jacinto, the same wonder boy who penned the "Kartilya" also
wrote in his profoundly philosopohical essay, "Liwanag at Dilim," that we should
not be deceived by external appearances, that we should be able to discern true light
from mere glitter. With that sort of depth of perception, what would we now make of the NCC's slogan, "Kalayaan: Kayamanan ng Bayan"? Are we going to go along with the government in celebrating independence especially on the centennial of its declaration? Or are we going to see that what we have is just the glitter, the appearances, of national sovereignity, and we are in fact still under effective foreign domination which accounts for our worsening mass poverty? In that case, we would join in chanting the NCC's slogan, "Kalayaan: Kayamanan ng Bayan" and add, quite emphatically, that we therefore have to win that Kalayaan at the soonest possible time. We would add, "Kaya dapat ipaglaban! (Let's Fight for it!)"
I'm not sure the government is ready for that sort of interpretation of the NCC's "Philippine Centennial" slogan.
Still, if we are able to promote widely and deeply enough the ideals of the Katipunan, which carry the metaphor of family ties in its central philosophy on nationhood (highlighting "Inang Bayan", "Mga Anak ng Bayan" and "Kapatid"), even the sharpest of controversies can be handled in a positive, constructive manner.
The NCC, speaking through its Chairman, former Vice President Salvador H. Laurel, and its executive director, Mr Louie Morales, has said that all these centennials are important. The July 1992 centennial of the founding of the Katipunan was important, the August 1996 centennial of the start ot the Philippine Revolution was important, and both these centennials leads to what the Commission considers to be the biggest one of all, the "Centennial of the Philippines" itself in the 100th anniversary in June 12, 1998 of the proclamation of independendence and the first republic in Asia.
