// re: philippine independence//

A couple weeks ago, I reblogged a post that expressed a criticism of celebrating Philippine independence on June 12 (as established post-1898 Philippine Revolution) that simultaneously pointed out some Filipinos’ neglect or, to put as euphemistically as possible, forgetfulness regarding other times in Philippine history where the Filipino people were not as “free” and “independent” as we had previously declared ourselves to finally be.

For those who have not had the time or opportunity to delve into the history behind Philippine independence, here it is in a nutshell: the Philippines has had to choose between the two dates - June 12 or July 4 - as the official day to celebrate the national independence of the Republic of the Philippines.

June 12 was based on the day in 1898 when the Philippine national flag was first introduced and the Philippine national anthem was first played, when General Emilio Aguinaldo publicly read the Act of Declaration of Independence on behalf of the Filipino people as they sought to liberate themselves from their Spanish colonizers, and what has been acknowledged by a handful of Filipino nationalists as the moment that prompted the later signing of the Treaty of Paris to “grant the Filipinos their freedom” basically by giving the Philippines to the United States after the Spanish-American war. (All this dialogue concerning Philippine independence, of course, is unfortunately excluding the histories of the Moro people into the much larger narrative of us as a Filipino people, which is yet another portion of Philippine history that is seldom addressed and unraveled.)

July 4, then, was based on the day in 1946 that under the leadership of President Harry S. Truman and the agreement stated in the bylaws of the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, the United States finally recognized/would finally recognize Philippine Independence in the Treaty of Manila. (For JFAV advocates and everyone else who’s been following the news surrounding the lack of promised equity for Filipino veterans, this was also the very time that may have instigated the Rescission Act of 1946, stripping Filipinos of their benefits and U.S. citizenship privileges. The only country out of the 66 countries allied with the United States during WWII to have faced such a decision by U.S. Congress. But that’s another story for another time.)

Now back to the post, I then responded with my agreement of its remarks about how, with this established date of June 12 as the day to commemorate Philippine independence, there are Filipinos (in the Philippines and beyond) who do not seem to acknowledge the facts that post-Spanish colonization, the Philippines was invaded by Japan, under the control of the United States, and still being dominated by either foreign oppressors and/or the residing oligarchy.

Well, did my research and here’s a brief summary of what I found: President Diosdado Macapagal, after being corrected by Filipino historians, was actually the one who finalized the date of Philippine Independence to be June 12 for the following key reasons— that 1) the July 4, 1946 date was established by the United States and was on the same day as the United States’ own independence day and he wanted a date that was established by the Filipino people themselves and that 2) Macapagal had hoped that June 12 would prompt contemporary Filipino generations to remember and be inspired by their heroic predecessors who believed in and stood up for the Filipino people’s right to freedom. (I had initially intended to use the adjective “revolutionary-minded” instead of “heroic,” but there is also much debate as to whether some Philippine heroes like Rizal were actually revolutionary or simply reformist.)

So, I must admit, some of you were right and thank you for encouraging me to do some more research and write this post today. There are legitimate reasons as to why we celebrate Philippine Independence Day on June 12. BUT I’d like to also say this..

Let’s make sure that every Philippine Independence Day we actually fulfill President Diosdado Macapagal’s hopes that we, the Filipino people, continue to fight for our rights and our freedom. All too often I see the inefficiency and injustices imposed by our reigning systems of government and social hierarchy and become disappointed further when those of us that are more-privileged succumb to mediocrity and hypocrisy and when those of us who are robbed of our voice and blurred of our once-hopeful visions give in to repressive complacency. As we sing songs in Philippine languages and proudly wear our Barong Tagalogs and “Pinoy Pride” attire, we make it our responsibility to remind ourselves, our loved ones, and any other fellow Filipino we meet that we take the time to learn the complete history of the Philippines. Jose Rizal’s martyrdom may be regarded as an important fragment of Philippine history, but this fragment should never be over-glorified to represent its entirety. Philippine history is multi-faceted, incomplete, and ongoing. We each have a share of what goes in it and we equally hold the power to influence a change in it. The topic of Philippine independence alone is one that holds much questioning and controversy. How much more of other issues we should hold of significant value?

Furthermore, I must also call into consideration the validity in another point made by the author of the original Philippine independence post on how even Philippine history textbooks and some instructors do not or refuse to recognize all the events post-Spanish colonization that made Filipinos question their “freedom” and struggle again for their rights. As someone who has lived and learned from the educational systems in both the Philippines and the United States, I have to attest in my personal experiences sitting in Philippine classrooms that never taught me about how there are still U.S. military bases in the Philippines and how the U.S. actually “helped” the Philippine government choose its political leaders and controls a majority of foreign investments going through the nation and in being absolutely confused when my U.S. public school history teachers never really had the inclusion of Filipinos in their curriculum (despite their permanent settlement within and contributions to American society since the mid-eighteenth century) and insisted that July 4, 1946 was to replace my long-developed understanding of the actual date of Philippine independence. This (intended) deprivation of proper information is what leads to the historical illiteracy and amnesia. This is the reason why we need Philippine Studies in our schools.

If we do not become active agents in and educate ourselves of our own history as a nation and as a people, we will not only be doomed to repeat it but we would have the disservice of having it dictated to us as well.