Part 11

"Article 1. All Filipinos should observe our fellow-countrymen in order to see whether they are American sympathizers. They shall take care to work with them in order to inspire them with confidence of the strength of the holy cause of their country. Whenever they are assured of the loyalty of the converts they shall instruct them to continue in the character of an American sympathizer in order that they may receive good pay, but without prejudicing the cause of our country. In this way they can serve themselves, and at the same time serve the public by communicating to the committee of chiefs, and of our army, whatever news of importance they may have [70].

GIFTS AS COVERS FOR ATTACK.

"Art. 2. All of the chiefs and Filipino brothers should be ready and courageous for the combat, and should take advantage of the opportunity to study well the situation of the American outposts and headquarters, observing especially secret places where they can approach and surprise the enemy.

"Art. 3. The chief of those who go to attack the barracks should send in first, four men with a good present for the American commander. Immediately after will follow four others, who will make a pretense of looking for the same officer for some reason and a larger group shall be concealed in the corners or houses in order to aid the other groups at the first signal. This wherever it is possible at the moment of attack.

TO MURDER IN WOMAN'S DISGUISE.

"Art. 4. They should not, prior to the attack, look at the Americans in a threatening manner. On the contrary, the attack on the barracks by the Sandtahan should be a complete surprise and with decision and courage. One should go alone in advance in order to kill the sentinel. In order to deceive the sentinel this one should dress as a woman, and must take great care that the sentinel is not able to discharge his piece, thus calling the attention of those in the barracks. This will enable his companions who are approaching to assist in the general attack.

"Art. 5. At the moment of the attack the Sandtahan should not attempt to secure rifles from their dead enemies, but shall pursue, slashing right and left with bolos until the Americans surrender, and after there remains no enemy who can injure, they may take the rifles in one hand and the ammunition in the other.

FIREBRANDS FROM THE HOUSETOPS

"Art. 6. The officers shall take care that on the top of the houses along the streets where the American forces shall pass there shall be placed four to six men, who shall be prepared with stones, timbers, red hot iron, heavy furniture, as well as boiling water, oil and molasses, rags soaked in coal-oil ready to be lit and thrown down, and any other hard and heavy objects that they can throw on the passing American troops. At the same time in the lower parts of the houses will be concealed the Sandtahan, who will attack immediately.

"Great care should be taken not to throw glass in the streets, as the greater part of our soldiers go barefooted. On these houses there will, if possible, be arranged in addition to the objects to be thrown down, a number of the Sandtahan, in order to cover a retreat or to follow up a rout of the enemy's column, so that we may be sure of the destruction of all the opposing forces.

WOMEN TO PREPARE "BOMBS"

"Art. 9. In addition to the instructions given in paragraph 6, there shall be in the houses vessels filled with boiling water, tallow, molasses and other liquids, which shall be thrown as bombs on the Americans who pass in front of their houses, or they can make use of syringes or tubes of bamboo. In these houses shall be the Sandtahan, who shall hurl the liquids that shall be passed to them by women and children.

"Art. 10. In place of bolos or daggers if they do not possess the same, the Sandtahan can provide themselves with lances and arrows with long sharp heads, and these should be shot with great force in order that they may penetrate well into the bodies of the enemy. And they should be so made that in withdrawal from the body the head will remain in the flesh.

"Emilio Aguinaldo"

The following official notice posted up in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, is another interesting example of the extent to which this race hatred spread:

NOTICE.

The traitor Honorato Quisunbin, who in an evil moment denied his country, died yesterday.

To-day, one no less a traitor and renegade to his mother country, has also died. He who has been the cause of so many husband-less wives and fatherless children, has received a punishment for his crimes which will prevent him from repeating them.

We will allot to-morrow, for the punishment of the remainder if they do not change their conduct, but continue to follow the steps of the above mentioned. For this reason, beloved compatriots now that you have witnessed the punishment given to those who have left the path marked by our authority which our government conferred on us although we are unworthy of it, but as we have been appointed, we have forcibly to obey all the decrees published, for the crimes which are punishable by death and which are as follows:

1st. All those who have any public or private communication with the enemy and serve them as guides;

2nd. All those who attack and rob in a band;

3rd. Violation or abuse;

4th. Incendiarism;

5th. All those who receive any position or employment in the service of the enemy.

(Signed) THE COMPATRIOTS.

This race hatred is illustrated very clearly in the definition of the Katipunan given by Romualdo Teodoro de J., when he said that its aim was to kill all Spaniards and take possession of the islands. No

## particular hatred was shown to any class; it was all Spaniards of

all classes and conditions who were to be assassinated. It is also clearly depicted in the Act of Session of the Katipunan Sur already quoted (See page 81; also foot-note page 80).

Note 76. What Sr. Diaz intends by Tagalog Katipunan is not quite clear. The whole society was practically confined to the Tagalog provinces and was insignificant in extent even beyond the city of Manila and its suburbs. There was no other Katipunan.

In November 1895 the assembly of the Katipunan was composed of ten individuals of the Supreme Council, and the presidents of the popular sections who were entitled to assist in virtue of holding some office therein.

In January of the following year of 1896, after the annual election, the assembly was composed as follows:

President Andres Bonifacio. Secretary Emilio Jacinto. / Vicente Molina. Treasurer + Pantaleon Torres. \ Hermenegildo Reyes. / Francisco Carreon. | Jose Trinidad. Councillors + Balbino Florentino. \ Aguedo del Rosario. Fiscal Pio Valenzuela.

Note 77. The question of the amount and the source of the supply of arms possessed by the Katipunan has always been one of dispute. Some suppose the rebels to have been well armed, whilst others reckon the number of serviceable guns to have been very small.

Among the papers and documents belonging to the Katipunan Sur, seized by the Spanish authorities, is the following:

"Commissioned for the purchase of arms:

D. Gabino \ D. Juan + Tantoko D. Antonio | D. Ezequiel / D. Epifanio Ramos. D. Victoriano Luis for the distinct armories of Manila."

In a letter of the Secretary to the President D. Agustin Tantoko (a native priest; see page 79):

"I believe we can obtain the dynamite by bribing some of the harbor employees."

This letter has a foot-note which says: "When you have read this, destroy it."

Numeriano Adriano testified (fols. 1,309-1,312) that Andres Bonifacio had collected 10,000 pesos for the purchase, in Japan, of 4,000 rifles with abundant ammunition.

He also stated that the arms had been purchased and were to be landed near by the mountains of San Mateo and in the Batanes islands, from whence they would be brought to Manila.

That "Andres Bonifacio went to San Mateo with men to receive and arrange arms, whilst Deodato Arellano and Timoteo Paez were encharged to send people to Batanes to the same end."

Also that "It is said that many of the insurgents in the province of Cavite bear arms of different systems, and he supposed that they must have been acquired by the rich and wealthy persons of that province, such as Francisco Osario and others, who knowing perhaps of the existence of the Liga of Manila, its form and object, had formed their own also, in the said province, in order to unite to that of Manila and make common cause therewith."

Domingo Franco declared (fols. 1,381-1,382), in answer to a question during his trial, as to what he knew in reference to the purchase of arms and ammunition, that "all he knew was that arms and ammunition had been purchased, because at the end of 1895, or the beginning of 1896, he saw Francisco L. Rojas in his office in Calle Jolo, and the said Rojas told him that he had received a quantity of arms and ammunition." He stated moreover, that he did not know the make or number, nor where they had been landed.

Tomas Prieto of Nueva Caceres mentioned the receipt of 50 arms from Bato. He also stated that Mariano Melgarejo, according to references from Macario Valentin, received a load of arms in eleven cases from Pasacao."

Pio Valenzuela affirmed that the arms borne by the rebels were for the most part domestic bolos [71] and lances, and that the chiefs were armed with revolvers." These revolvers were, he affirmed, acquired from the Maestranzi de Artilleria.

Juan Castaneda declared that "the Japanese offered to land here 100,000 rifles with their ammunition, the expense of which should be paid in a fixed number of years."

Numeriano Adriano also affirmed that it had been decided to purchase arms in Japan and that one of the islands of the Archipelago should be given to Japan in exchange for its aid.

Domingo Abella affirmed that he had visited Francisco Rojas in his office for the purpose of finding out if the arms which the tailor Luis Villareal had ordered for the society, had arrived; and that although Francisco Rojas did not belong to the society, he was encharged to portion out the arms and commissioned to bring them to Manila. Francisco told him that he could not provide him with any as they were all sold.

The net cost of the arms and ammunition necessary to carry out the revolt was considerable, and as their introduction into the country would have to be very carefully planned, and be carried out with the greatest secrecy, the original cost would be considerably increased. Large sums of money were therefore necessary to cover expenses. Although the entrance fees and monthly subscriptions were considerable they could not produce the amount necessary to provide for the revolution, especially when there existed such a wide spread tendency among those who handled the funds, to absorb them as a sponge absorbs water. Castillo in his work concerning this association and its funds says [72]:

"Undoubtedly it (the Katipunan) possessed large sums of money, only the most insignificant part of which, according to report, was discovered in the possession of Pio Valenzuela, preserved in gold and amounting, we believe, to less than 30,000 pesos. These resources could not cover the extraordinary expenses of the propaganda, that of the Commissioners sent to Japan to treat with that power on the question of a protectorate, and that of the coming war expenses which were without doubt, very considerable.

"The Indian is not so selfish or so patriotic that he would, without immediate advantage to himself permit himself the extravagance of abandoning the sedentary life he usually leads, to launch out into the field of adventures of doubtful result. Those who from the headquarters of the revolution directed those torpid masses must have realised this, and to make sure of the exit, caused money to be distributed to all the affiliated and to their families, giving them at the same time rice in abundance.

"On the morning of the events which took place at San Juan del Monte, two women who live in the Santa Mesa road, were engaged in giving money to the taos [73] who passed that way, advising them to unite themselves with the insurrectos to the end of killing all the Spaniards.... ................................................................

"This money set aside for distribution in San Juan del Monte, in Pasig and in the pueblos on the banks of the river, must have come from a well stocked treasury...................................... .................................................................."

A little further on, the author gives a very broad hint as to one probable source of funds when he asks the question, where is the million and a half pesos which constitute the default in the public treasury of Manila?

"It would be a curious coincidence," says the author, "if part of this amount perhaps the greater part should have served as funds from which the expenses of the revolution and the war were paid."

Note 78. The initiations into the Katipunan were grotesque in the extreme. The person introduced for initiation was placed in a room draped in black, with its walls hung with mottoes in Tagalog dialect such as: "If you have courage you may continue," "If you have been brought here by your curiosity, retire." Upon a table was placed a skull, a loaded revolver and a bolo. A paper upon which were written three questions lay also upon the table. These questions were: "In what state did the Spaniards find the Tagalog people at the time of the conquest? In what state are they found now? What future can it hope for?

The initiated previously instructed by his god-father, or by the person who catechised him, was to reply that, at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, the Filipinos living on the coasts enjoyed a certain amount of civilization, since they already had cannons and silk dresses, that they enjoyed political liberty, sustained diplomatic (sic) relations and commerce with the neighboring countries of Asia; had their own religion and writing; in a word, lived happy with their independence. A certain amount of civilization may be. Let us see what that certain amount was:

"Barely clothed, and more often naked, revelling day and night in drunkenness, given to the practice of infanticide, holding virginity as a dishonor, having among them people who practiced defloration as a profession, ignorant of the value and uses of money, making use of men, women and children to pay debts, in continual warfare with one another and enslaving their prisoners, practicing wholesale murder of slaves on the death of a chief or important personage, adoring and sacrificing to rocks, trees, crocodiles and idols of wood; lacking religion, but having in its stead most bestial and absurd superstitions; without temples, monuments or even literature, although they possessed a species of written language. The only human ideas they possessed were adopted from the Chinese, Japanese and Borneo Mohammedans whom they imitated after the manner of apes. This, historians tell us, was the condition of this people 340 years ago! when the missionaries planted the Cross on Philippine soil, and brought to the benighted natives the gospel." So much for the certain amount of civilization.

Cannons and silk dresses: of a kind; as to the cannons, where did they all come from? Bought from or exchanged with the Borneo moros probably. As to these and the silk dresses, the savages of the south-sea islands enjoyed the use of such things and enjoyed them with better knowledge of how to use them! They enjoyed political liberty; let us see what Morga the historian who speaks most glowingly of the ancient civilization of the Filipino peoples, has to say on this point.

He says: "In all these islands the people had neither kings nor lords to dominate them as in other kingdoms and provinces. But in each island were many chiefs from among the same natives, some greater than others each one with his subjects, by groups and families, who obeyed and respected them. Sometimes these chiefs were at peace with one another and some times at war.... The superiority which these chiefs had over the people of their group was such that they held them as subjects, with power to treat them well or ill, disposing of their persons, children and estates at their will, without resistance or the necessity of giving account to anyone, and for very slight offences they killed and wounded them and made slaves of them; and if it happened that one of the chiefs were bathing in the river and a native passed in front of him or looked upon him with want of respect, and for other similar things, they made slaves of them for ever." This is a good and practical kind of political liberty, just the kind of liberty the country would enjoy if in the hands of the leaders of the Federal Party, so anxious for liberties for themselves and coercion for those who do not agree with their way of thinking.

Diplomatic relations and commerce with the neighboring countries of Asia: As to the diplomatic relations the mere idea of such a thing is preposterous. If we are to concede the use of diplomatic relations to the ancient Tagalog people, then we must consider as diplomatic relations such customs as the passing of the "peace pipe" practiced by the indian of the United States, and the giving and accepting of young women for sensual convenience practiced in many of the islands of the Pacific up to the present day. As to their foreign commerce let us listen once more to Morga. "Their contracts and negotiations were as a rule illicit, each one considering the best way to come off successful in his business."

Their own religion: For a religious system they worshiped their ancestors and performed human sacrifices. The Spaniards found in these islands less than a million inhabitants, who were divided into innumerable tribes governed by rulers who had no more title of sovereignty than that they were enabled to impose upon the people by brute force and untold cruelties. The inhabitants formed a jumble of inferior races some more or less pure in blood, others intermixed; people speaking many dialects. They all lacked religion, in the proper sense of the word; they lacked morals, in fact they were wanting in everything that raises man above the level of the brute creation.

As to their own writing, certain it is that they possessed a crude and very inefficient manner of writing, but what is very remarkable is, that in spite of their possessing a system of script, not a single piece of their literary work has yet been discovered nor even a written tradition. This goes to prove that either the Filipinos were at that time too deep in the savage ages to realise the importance of writing, or that the form of script was useless for practical purposes.

To the second question the initiated replied that the friar missionaries had done nothing to civilize the Filipinos, as they considered the civilization and illustration of the country to be incompatible with their interests [74].

To the third question the initiated was to reply that they had faith, courage and constancy to aid them to remedy these evils in the future. [75]

The master of ceremonies warned him that he was taking a very important and very solemn step, and he was recommended to retire if he did not feel courage enough to continue since he would uselessly expose his life. If the initiated insisted in continuing with the mysteries of the initiation he was presented to the reunion of the brethren to be tried by the proofs assigned, which were very similar to those adopted in universal masonry, but surrounded with more paganism, if that be possible. He was blindfolded and made to discharge a revolver against an imaginary enemy, a person he was made to believe really was present and awaiting there the executionary bullet which should make him pay the penalty of a treason. If he passed through the proofs successfully he was introduced into the hall of oaths and there with his own blood, drawn by means of an incision made in the left arm between the shoulder and the elbow, he signed the oath.

Note 79. See note 50, pages 171, 173 and 174.

Note 80. The liberty of the Tagalog people; the chief aim which gave rise to the revolt. The first thing the separatists desired was to get rid of the Peninsular Spaniard; the next to go would have been the insular Spaniard, then the Spanish mestizo, then the Chinee half-caste and the Chinee; after which would come the gradual extinction of the various tribes. In the mean time the country would suffer considerably and at last...? See page 69, last four lines of the first paragraph.

It is well nigh impossible to imagine to what the liberty of the Tagalog people would mean if it were put into practice. If the South American states which are recognized as independent, are unable to govern themselves in spite of the political superiority of the people inhabiting them over the peoples of this archipelago, without an unending series of revolutions, what might we expect from the Philippines? Give the country independence with one of the native "commissioners" as president of the republic and how long do you suppose it would be before Pedro Paterno at the head of some 5 or 6,000 men would march into Manila to depose the president and proclaim himself Emperor Pedro I? And before the new Emperor could install himself in Malacanan he would have at his heels a thousand and one petty chiefs, princes, kings and perhaps even a few ambitious queens!

It is over a half a century ago since the South American Republics became independent, and at that time the rest of the world cared but little for the consequences of such a step. But this indifference of the nations can never exist here in the Orient at the commencement of this XX Century. It would never suit the rest of the world to see independence declared in the Philippines and especially if that independence left the reins of government in the hands of the Tagalog people.

The question of the expulsion from the country or the destruction of the Spaniards has been spoken of under several notes; the idea was, doubtless, a semi-savage interpretation of the preachings and teachings spread abroad by the Bible societies in all parts and especially in Spanish countries. And this becomes the more probable when we call to mind what the El Imparcial of the 26th of August 1896 published concerning this identical point. Speaking of the state of the country in general as a result of the insurrection, it says:

"The minister of Foreign affairs received a telegram yesterday from General Blanco manifesting that more arrests had been made......... ...................................................................

The conjuration had ramifications in various parts of the Archipelago, and in it figured not only masonic societies but also Bible societies.......................................................... ...................................................................

The propaganda of filibusterism is encharged to the colporteurs of evangelical books, who wander all over the Archipelago selling protestant publications."