Celebrating 124 years of Philippine Independence

A Philippine Independence Day special narrated by Anonymous Kabataan

Figure 1. RIZAL DAY. President Rodrigo Duterte leads the wreath-laying ceremony in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal at the Rizal Park in Manila on Thursday (Dec. 30, 2021). In his message for the occasion, the President paid tribute to the “unmatched boldness and compassion” of front-liners in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. (Screengrab from RTVM)

Happy 124th Philippine Independence Day! My kababayan. We are celebrating 124 years of independence anniversary of our country from the European colonial power which is Spain who colonized us Filipinos for 333 years from the year 1565 until the year 1898 when Spain as a colonial power is in its moribund state after it suffered defeats from its colonial wars in Latin America and its 6 years of fighting the First French Empire led by Napoleon Bonaparte that led to its costly victory in the Napoleonic Wars.

Figure 2. The map of the Spanish Empire according to the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_American_wars_of_independence#/media/File:1812SpanishConstitutionMap.svg

Ok, let's back to the Philippines where I just cited how Spain became weak colonial power that led to being taken advantage of by us Filipinos to start a revolution against them that the fact that we don't need the Spanish overlords to rule over us and we can stand as one nation in our own. But before that, I will give you a summarized context of what the Spanish did during their time of controlling the Philippine Islands which was a part of the Spanish East Indies. Starting from the year 1565, the Spanish officially colonized our nation where they successfully incorporated Cebu, Samar, Mazaua, Leyte, and Bohol before conquering Manila which at the time was ruled by Tondo, a historical pre-colonial polity.

Figure 2. The map of the pre-colonial Tondo polity at the year 1565, the same year the Spanish started to colonize the Philippines.

After the years have passed by, the Spaniards implemented Polo Y Servicio where it was a labor policy made by the Spanish colonizers for over 250 years that required the forced labor of all Filipino males from 16 to 60 years old for 40-day periods. The workers could be placed on any project the Spanish wanted, despite hazardous or unhealthy conditions. The Philippines acted as the epicenter of the Spanish Galleon trade from Manila to Acapulco, which was so prosperous for Spain that it neglected to consider and develop the colony's local industries. The Filipino people were agriculturally based and grew crops, not only for profit but also for their own diet. Aside from injuring and killing many Filipino males, the polo y servicio crippled the ability of the Filipinos to feed themselves, causing hunger and frustration and leading to numerous rebellions. As an example, Puente Dr Malagonlong, one of the 12 Spanish colonial arched bridges build through the Polo Y Servicio and the other heritage sites in the locality OST Tayabas. (2019, February 19). What Was Polo Y Servicio?. OST Tayabas Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/1743680625843449/posts/what-was-polo-y-serviciopolo-y-servicio-was-a-practice-employed-by-spanish-colon/2242104226001084/.

Aside from the harsh Polo y Servicio, the Spanish also brought Roman Catholicism which they forced to convert the natives into their religion and adopted Spanish surnames the claim that was actually supported by the book Catálogo alfabético de apellidos where it was created after the Spanish Governor-General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa issued a decree on November 21, 1849, to address the lack of a standard naming convention. In addition to the historical information, the Spanish made an educational contribution in the Philippines where the oldest universities, colleges, and vocational schools, dating as far back as the late 16th century were created during the colonial period, as well as the first modern public education system in Asia, established in 1863. According to Coleman, Ambrose. "The Work of the Religious Orders in the Philippines." The Firars in the Philippines, BiblioBazaar, 2009, pp. 23-36. At the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, the Filipinos were among the most educated peoples in all of Asia, boasting one of the highest literacy rates in that continent. Simultaneously, the knowledge of Filipinos about neighboring cultures receded. So the myth that the native Filipinos were uneducated during the Spanish rule was proven false that the fact that the Spanish built bridges, hospitals, schools, and other buildings, many of which we can still see even today. I'm not saying that I am pro-Spanish and that, of course, there was some mistreatment that happened during the colonial rule which was the execution of GOMBURZA who were the priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora who were falsely accused of instigating 1872 Cavite Mutiny which inspired the execution of Jose Rizal and the instigation of the Philippine Revolution of 1896. Despite these things that happened, you cannot deny the fact that the Spaniards made important cultural contributions to the Philippines that we still practice today.

With the Philippine Revolution sparked in the year 1896, several provinces in the Philippines were successfully liberated from the Spanish thanks to the perseverance and determination of our ancestors. These sacrifices made by the Filipino revolutionaries paved the way for the celebration of the Philippine Independence Day on the 12th of June 1898 in Kawit, Cavite. This made the Philippines in a form of the First Philippine Republic, the first constitutional democracy in Asia. The fact that we are the first Asian country to declare independence from a colonial power makes us proud to be Filipinos thanks to the blood and sacrifices of our ancestors that led to the freedom and rights that we enjoy today. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ka kapwa ko kababayan! And I am Anonymous Kabataan saying "Happy 124th Philippine Independence Day Anniversary!"