Filipino nationalism began with an upsurge of patriotic sentiments

and nationalistic ideals in the 1800s Philippines that came as a consequence of more
than three centuries of Spanish rule. This served as the backbone of the first nationalist
revolution in Asia, the Philippine Revolution of 1896, and continues up to this day.
These nationalistic sentiments have led to a wide-ranging campaign for political, social,
and economic freedom in the Philippines.

In the years before the 11th century, the Philippines was divided into numerous
principalities known as barangays, a name derived from Malayan boats
called balangays. These small political units were ruled by datus, rajahs or sultans. In
1565, European colonization began in earnest when Spanish explorer Miguel López de
Legazpi arrived from Mexico and formed the first European settlements in Cebu.
Beginning with just five ships and five hundred men accompanied by Augustinian
monks, and further strengthened in 1567 by two hundred soldiers, he was able to repel
competing Portuguese colonizers and to create the foundations for the Spanish
colonization of the Archipelago. In 1571, the Spanish occupied the kingdoms
of Maynila and Tondo and established Manila as the capital of the Spanish East
Indies. This Spanish colonization united the Philippine archipelago into a single political
entity.

The term "Filipino" originally referred to the Spanish criollos of the Philippines. During
their 333-year rule of the Philippines, the Spanish rulers referred the natives as indios.
Also during the colonial era, the Spaniards born in the Philippines, who were more
known as insulares, criollos, or Creoles, were also called "Filipinos." Spanish-born
Spaniards or mainland Spaniards residing in the Philippines were referred to
as Peninsulares. Those of mixed ancestry were referred to as Mestizos. The Creoles,
despite being regarded by the Peninsulares as inferior to them, had enjoyed various
government and church positions, and composed the majority of the government
bureaucracy. The sense of national consciousness came from the Creoles, who now
regard themselves as "Filipino". It was brought to its advent by three major factors: 1)
economy, 2) education and 3) secularization of parishes. These factors contributed to
the birth of the Filipino Nationalism. The opening of the Philippines to the international
or world trade, the rise of the middle class, and the influx of Liberal ideas from Europe
were only a few examples of how the Philippines developed into a stable country. "The
first manifestation of Philippine nationalism followed in the decades of the 1880s and
the 1890s, with a reform or propaganda movement, conducted both in Spain and in the
Philippines, for the purpose of “propagandizing” Philippine conditions in the hopes that
desired changes in the social, political and economic life of the Filipinos would come
about through peaceful means."

Nationalism have rooted from a strong feeling among populace that they belong to the
same race. Sentiments have not yet existed prior to the 19th century. Although cultural
traits of early Filipinos had similarities, their linguistic differences as well as the local
autonomy of each political unit in the archipelago barely yield to the development of his
national sentiment. The absence of adequate means of transportation and
communication made situation more dismal.

The transition of the country’s traditional societal structure to colonial bureaucracy

brought about awareness of local inhabitants as their common source of anxiety and
suffering. Unknowingly, the Spanish government planted the seeds of nationalism by
perpetuating and injustice among the lower classes of society. The following have been
regarded in history as factor that gave rise to the Filipino Nationalism.

Given the two periods, it can be evidently seen how much the Philippine society
changed and how the Spanish regime invoked the sudden will of the Filipino for
freedom. During the pre-colonial period, the Filipino didn't have a sense of nationalism
for they don't have a common identity yet during that time. They primarily focus was
their community and the people's welfare and they didn't show any sign of interest with
other barangays. This proves that the Philippines didn't act as a nation despite seeing
movement for every community. In contrast, the Spanish period drove the Filipinos to
act as a nation. Being ill-treated and misguided, the Filipinos found the courage and
strength from Rizal's works and revolted against the Spaniards and this turned out to be
the Filipino nationalism that we know now today (Cortes et al., 2000). There are
different factors that led to the development of Filipino nationalism namely the deaths of
GOMBURZA, Rizal's writings and his two novels, "Noli Me Tangere" and "El
Filibusterismo", and world events that occurred during the Spanish regime. First is the
death of GOMBURZA. The Filipinos were severely affected by the deaths of these three
priests because many, especially those who witnessed the execution believed that they
were innocent. It was described to be a judicial murder and this incident is something
that the Filipinos could forget during that time. Second is Rizal's writings.The Filipinos,
before Rizal's time, were afraid to fight for their freedom because of different reasons,
including the false teachings of Catholicism during that time. When Rizal's two novels,
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, circulated among the masses, a sense of unity
has begun to form and the Filipinos started to unite as one in fending off the Spanish
oppression. Third are the world events that occurred during the Spanish regime. These
events namely the Seven Years' War, French Revolution, US Declaration of
Independence, Latin American War of Independence, Age of Enlightenment introduced
the concept of Liberalism to the Filipinos. During this time, the Filipino learned that the
Spaniards were not that superior and that they can be defeated. These events caused
the opening of the Suez Canal, the Philippines became opened to world trade, the
death of Rizal, Chinese expulsion and the Jesuit eviction. Most of the perceptions of the
Filipino changed during this point.
Filipino nationalism began with an upsurge of patriotic sentiments and nationalistic
ideals in the 1800s Philippines that came as a consequence of more than two centuries
of Spanish rule. This served as the backbone of the first nationalist revolution in Asia,
the Philippine Revolution of 1896, and continues up to this day. These nationalistic
sentiments have led to a wide-ranging campaign for political, social, and economical
freedom in the Philippines.

Economy. The decline of Galleon trade between Manila and Acapulco was caused by
the arrival of the ship Buen Consejoin 1765. The Buen Consejo took the shorter route
via Cape of Good Hope, a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast controlled by Portugal.
The journey through the Cape of Good Hope takes three months from Spain to the
Philippines, whereas the journey of the galleon trade takes five months. The event
proved that Portugal was already past its prime in controlling the route via the Cape of
Good Hope, which was already under Dutch control as early as 1652. Shorter journeys
to and from Spain brought faster trade and quicker spread of ideas from Europe. Also,
the growing sense of economic insecurity in the later years of the 18th century led the
Creoles to turn their attention to agricultural production. The Creoles gradually changed
from a very government-dependent class into capital-driven entrepreneurs. Their turning
of attention towards guilded soil caused the rise of the large private haciendas. Various
government and church positions were transferred to the roles of the Peninsulares who
were characterized mostly in the 19th century Philippine history as corrupt bureaucrats

During the 1780s, two institutions were established in order to enhance the economic
capacity of the Philippines. These were the Economic Societies of Friends of the
Country and the Royal Company of the Philippines. The former, introduced
by Governor-General Jose Basco in 1780, was composed of leading men in business,
industry and profession, the society was tasked to explore and exploit the natural
resources of the archipelago. It offered local and foreign scholarships, besides training
grants in agriculture and established an academy of design. It was also credited to the
carabao ban of 1782, the formation of the silversmiths and gold beaters guild and the
construction of the first papermill in the Philippines in 1825. The latter, created by Carlos
III on March 10, 1785, was granted exclusive monopoly of bringing to Manila; Chinese
and Indian goods and shipping them directly to Spain via the Cape of Good Hope. It
was stiffly objected by the Dutch and English who saw it as a direct attack on their trade
of Asian goods. It was also vehemently opposed by the traders of the Galleon trade who
saw it as competition.

Education. During the administration of Governor-General Jose Raon, a royal order

from Spain, which stated that every village or barrio must have a school and a teacher,
was implemented. The implementation of the order expanded the reach of basic
education during the Spanish era. Also, during the 18th century, modern agricultural
tools made many people leave farming for pursuing academic and intellectual courses.
After the arrival of Buen Consejo, the Philippines had more direct contact to Europe and
the ideas circulating. Thus, the Philippines was influenced by the principles during
the Age of Enlightenment and radical changes during the French Revolution.

Secularization of parishes. By royal decree on February 27, 1767, King Carlos

III ordered the Jesuits to be expelled from Spain, and from all her colonies. The decree
reached the Philippines in early 1768, wherein Governor-General Raon tried to do the
Jesuits a favor by delaying the implementation of the royal order in exchange of bribes.
This gave the Jesuit priests to hide all of their possessions and destroy documents that
could be held against them, which were supposed to be confiscated. The first batch of
Jesuits, numbered 64, left Manila only by May 17, 1768. This event caused Raon to
face prosecution from the next Governor-General, as ordered by the King of Spain.
Raon died before the judgment for him was laid.
The expulsion of Jesuit priests from the country resulted to a shortage of priests in the
parishes. This prompted the current Manila archbishop, Basilio Sancho de Santa Justa,
to launch his favorite project: secularization of Philippine parishes. Sancho reasoned out
that priests were only sent to facilitate missions to areas that are not yet much
Christianized. Native priests must be ordained to facilitate the parishes since the
Philippines was already a Christian country. Sancho recruited every Indio he got to
become priests. There was even a joke at the time that there were no one to man the
galleons anymore, since Sancho had made them all priests. The secularization partly
failed because many members of the newly formed native clergy soiled the parishes
with their ignorance, sloth, and the like. One achievement of Sancho's secularization
project was the establishment of a school for native boys who aspire to become priests.
Effect of the progress during the period (1760s–1820s) The earliest signs of the effect to
Filipino Nationalism by the developments mentioned could be seen in the writings
of Luis Rodríguez Varela, a Creole educated in liberal France and highly exposed to
the Age of Enlightenment. Knighted under the Order of Carlos III, Varela was perhaps
the only Philippine Creole who was actually part of European nobility. The
court gazette in Madrid announced that he was to become a Conde and from that point
on proudly called himself El Conde Filipino. He championed the rights of Filipinos in the
islands and slowly made the term applicable to anyone born in the Philippines.
Further progress of Filipino Nationalism (1820s-1860) At this stage, the Creoles slowly
introduced their own reforms. Parishes began to have native priests at the time of
Archbishop Sancho. The Philippines was given representation in the Spanish
Cortes three times (last time was from 1836–1837). However, on June 1, 1823, a
Creole revolt broke out in Manila led by the Mexican-blood Creole captain Andres
Novales. The revolt, caused by an order from Spain that declared military officers
commissioned in the Peninsula (Spain) should outrank all those appointed in the
Colonies, saw Manila cheering with Novales's cry of "Viva la Independencia"
(English: Long Live Independence). The revolt prompted the government to deport
Varela together with other Creoles [allegedly known as Los Hijos del País (English: The
Children of the Country)], after being associated with the Creole reformists. The
Novales Revolt would soon be followed by another Creole plot of secession known as
the Palmero Conspiracy, which was caused by the replacement of Creole public
officials, especially provincial governors, with Peninsulars.
Economic developments also did a part in making up the shape of Filipino Nationalism.
Before the opening of Manila to foreign trade, the Spanish authorities discouraged
foreign merchants from residing in the colony and engaging in business. In 1823,
Governor-General Mariano Ricafort promulgated an edict prohibiting foreign merchants
from engaging in retail trade and visiting the provinces for purposes of trade. However,
by the royal decree of September 6, 1834, the privileges of the Company were
abolished and the port of Manila was opened to trade.
Shortly after opening Manila to world trade, the Spanish merchants began to lose their
commercial supremacy in the Philippines. In 1834, restrictions against foreign traders
were relaxed when Manila became an open port. By the end of 1859, there were 15
foreign firms in Manila: seven of which were British, three American, two French, two
Swiss and one German. In response to Sinibaldo de Mas' recommendations, more ports
were opened by Spain to world trade. The ports
of Sual, Pangasinan, Iloilo and Zamboanga were opened in 1855. Cebu was opened in
1860, Legazpi and Tacloban in 1873. Like Japan that rushed into modernization and
national transformation during the Meiji Restoration, the Philippines and its people saw
that the Spanish and its government is not as invincible as it was two centuries before.
The Indios and the Creoles became more influenced by foreign ideas of liberalism as
the Philippines became more open to foreigners. Foreigners who visited the Philippines
had noticed the speed of the circulation of the ideas of Voltaire and Thomas Paine.
Songs about liberty and equality were also being sung at the time. Some Spanish who
foresaw a "fast verging" Indio takeover of the archipelago began to send money out of
the Philippines.
First Propaganda Movement (1860-1872) Varela would then retire from politics but his
nationalism was carried on by another Creole, one Pedro Peláez, who campaigned for
the rights of Filipino priests (Creoles, Mestizos and Indios) and pressed for
secularization of Philippine parishes. He reasoned out the same point Sancho had,
friars are for missions on areas that are still pagan. The Latin American revolutions and
decline of friar influence in Spain resulted in the increase of the regular
clergy (Peninsular friars) in the Philippines. Filipino priests (Creoles, Mestizos and
Indios) were being replaced by Spanish friars (Peninsulares) and Peláez demanded
explanation as to the legality of replacing a secular with regulars—which is in
contradiction to the Exponi nobis. Peláez brought the case to the Vatican and almost
succeeded if not for an earthquake that cut his career short. The earthquake struck on
June 3, 1863, during the feast of Corpus Christi. The ideology would be carried by his
more militant disciple, José Burgos.
Demonstrations became a norm in Manila during the 1860s. One of the first of a series
of demonstrations was during the transfer of the remains of former Governor-
General Simón de Anda y Salazar from the Manila Cathedral after the 1863 earthquake.
Anda was a hero for the natives because he fought friar power during his term, and he
established a separate government in Bacolor during the British occupation of Manila.
On the day of the transfer, a young Indio priest approached the coffin and laid a laurel
wreath dedicated by "The Secular Clergy of the Philippines" to Don Simón de Anda.
Then, a young Indio student went to the coffin and offered a crown of flowers. Lastly, a
number of gobernadorcillos went to do their own salutations for Don Simón de Anda.
Since none of those acts were in the program, the Spanish saw that it was a secretly
planned demonstration. Though no one told who the mastermind was, there were
rumors that it was Padre Burgos. The demonstrations got more frequent and more
influential during the liberal regime of Governor-General Carlos María de la
Torre (1869–1871). Only two weeks after the arrival of de la Torre as Governor-
General, Burgos and Joaquin Pardo de Tavera led a demonstration at the Plaza de
Santa Potenciana. Among the demonstrators were Jose Icaza, Jaime Baldovino
Gorospe, Jacobo Zobel, Ignacio Rocha, Manuel Genato and Maximo Paterno. The
demo cry was "Viva Filipinas para los Filipinos!". In November 1870, a student
movement, denounced as a riot or motin, at the University of Santo Tomas formed a
committee to demand reforms on the school and its curricula. It later announced support
of Philippine autonomy and recognition of the Philippines as a province of Spain. The
committee was headed by Felipe Buencamino.
During this period, a secret society of reformists met in a cistern under a well at the
house of Father Mariano Gómez. The society, headed by Jose Maria Basa, worked
mainly on a Madrid journal called the Eco de Filipinas (not to be confused with the El
Eco de Filipinas that was published much later, in September 1890). The journal
exposed problems in the Philippines and pressed on reforms that they seek for the
country. Among the members were Burgos, Maximo Paterno, Ambrosio Rianzares
Bautista, and Father Agustin Mendoza. It served as a precursor to La Solidaridad.
However, Burgos died after the infamous Cavite Mutiny, which was pinned on Burgos
as his attempt to start a Creole Revolution and make himself president of the
Philippines or Rey Indio. The death of José Burgos, and the other alleged
conspirators, Mariano Gómez and Jacinto Zamora on February 17, 1872, seemingly
ended the entire Creole movement. Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo y
Gutiérrez unleashed his reign of terror in order to prevent the spread of the Creole
ideology—Filipino nationalism
Another event in history created an impact on Filipino nationalism during this period.
Before 1869, the route through the Cape of Good Hopeproved to be a shortest available
journey to Europe by Indios and Creoles alike. The journey takes 3 months travel by
sea. On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal opened after 10 years of construction
work. At its advent, the journey from the Philippines to Spain was further reduced to one
month. This allowed a much faster spread of European ideology and an increase of
Filipino presence in Europe itself. The Propaganda Movement would later benefit from
the Suez Canal for the shorter route it provided.
Second Propaganda Movement (1872–1892).The events of 1872 however invited the
other colored section of the Ilustrados (Intellectually Enlightened Class), the growing
middle-class natives, to at least do something to preserve the Creole ideals. Seeing the
impossibility of a revolution against Izquierdo and the Governor-General's brutal reign
convinced the Ilustrados to get out of the Philippines and continue propaganda in
Europe. This massive propaganda upheaval from 1872 to 1892 is now known as the
Second Propaganda Movement. Through their writings and orations, Marcelo H. del
Pilar, Graciano López Jaena and José Rizal sounded the trumpets of Filipino
nationalism and brought it to the level of the masses. The propagandists mainly aimed
for representation of the Philippines in the Cortes Generales, secularization of the
clergy, legalization of Spanish and Filipino equality, among others. Their main work was
the newspaper called La Solidaridad (Solidarity), which was first published
at Barcelona on December 13, 1888. Rizal, the foremost figure of the propagandists,
created the Noli Me Tángere (published 1887) and El filibusterismo(published 1891). It
rode the increasing anti-Spanish (anti-Peninsulares) sentiments in the islands and
pushed the people towards revolution, rather than discourage them that a revolution
was not the solution for independence.
Post-propaganda era. By July 1892, Rizal returned to the Philippines and established a
progressive organization he called the La Liga Filipina (The Philippine
League). However, the organization collapsed after Rizal's arrest and deportation to
Dapitan on July 7. At the same day, a Philippine revolutionary society was founded
by Ilustrados led by Andrés Bonifacio, Deodato Arellano, Ladislao Diwa, Teodoro
Plata and Valentín Díaz. The main aim of the organization, named Katipunan, was to
win Philippine independence through a revolution and establish
a republic thereafter. The rise of the Katipunan signaled the end of peaceful
propaganda for reforms.
Philippine Revolution. The Katipunan reached an overwhelming membership and
attracted almost the lowly of the Filipino class. In June 1896, Bonifacio sent an emissary
to Dapitan to reach Rizal's support, but the latter refused for an armed revolution. On
August 19, 1896, Katipunan was discovered by a Spanish friar which started the
Philippine Revolution.
The revolution flared up initially into the eight provinces of Central Luzon.
General Emilio Aguinaldo, a member of the Katipunan, spread an armed resistance
through Southern Tagalog region where he liberated Cavite towns little by little.
Leadership conflicts between Bonifacio and Aguinaldo culminated in the Imus
Assembly in December 1896 and Tejeros Convention in March 1897. Aguinaldo was
elected in absentia as President of an insurgent revolutionary government by the
Tejeros convention. Bonifacio, acting as Supremo of the Katipunan, declared the
convention proceedings void and attempted to reassert leadership of the revolution. In
late April Aguinaldo fully assumed presidential office after consolidating his position with
revolutionary leaders. Aguinaldo's government then ordered the arrest of Bonifacio, who
stood trial on charges of sedition and treason against Aguinaldo's government and
conspiracy to murder Aguinaldo, resulting in his conviction and execution
In December 1897, Aguinaldo agreed to the Pact of Biak-na-Bato with the Spanish
colonial government. Aguinaldo and his revolutionary leadership were exiled to Hong
Kong. However, not all of the revolutionary generals complied with the agreement. One,
General Francisco Makabulos, established a Central Executive Committee to serve as
the interim government until a more suitable one was created.
Independence declaration and the Philippine-American War. In 1898, as conflicts
continued in the Philippines, the USS Maine, having been sent to Cuba because of U.S.
concerns for the safety of its citizens during an ongoing Cuban revolution, exploded and
sank in Havana harbor. This event precipitated the Spanish–American War. After
Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish squadron at Manila,
a German squadron, led by Vice Admiral Otto von Diederichs, arrived in Manila and
engaged in maneuvers which Dewey, seeing this as obstruction of his blockade, offered
war—after which the Germans backed down.
The U.S. invited Aguinaldo to return to the Philippines in the hope he would rally
Filipinos against the Spanish colonial government. Aguinaldo arrived on May 19, 1898,
via transport provided by Dewey. By the time U.S. land forces had arrived, the Filipinos
had taken control of the entire island of Luzon, except for the walled city of Intramuros.
On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo declared the independence of the Philippines in Kawit,
Cavite, establishing the First Philippine Republic under Asia's first democratic
constitution, the Malolos Constitution, an insurgency against Spanish rule.
Spain and the United States sent commissioners to Paris to draw up the terms of
the Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish–American War. In the treaty,
Spain ceded the Philippines, along with Guam and Puerto Rico, to the United States.
Cession of the Philippines involved payment by the U.S. of US$20,000,000.00. U.S.
President McKinley described the acquisition of the Philippines as "... a gift from the
gods", saying that since "they were unfit for self-government, ... there was nothing left
for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and
Christianize them", in spite of the Philippines having been already Christianized by the
Spanish over the course of several centuries.
Filipino forces under Aguinaldo as President of the insurrgent Philippine
Republic resisted the U.S. occupation, resulting in the Philippine–American War (1899–
1913). The poorly-equipped Filipino troops were easily overpowered by American
troops in open combat, but they were formidable opponents in guerrilla
warfare. Malolos, the revolutionary capital, was captured on March 31, 1899. Aguinaldo
and his government escaped however, establishing a new capital at San Isidro, Nueva
Ecija. On June 5, 1899, Antonio Luna, Aguinaldo's most capable military commander,
was killed by Aguinaldo's guards in an apparent assassination while
visiting Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija to meet with Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo dissolved the
regular army on November 13 and ordered the establishment of decentralized guerrilla
commands in each of several military zones, Another key general, Gregorio del Pilar,
was killed on December 2, 1899 in the Battle of Tirad Pass—a rear guard action to
delay the Americans while Aguinaldo made good his escape through the mountains.
Aguinaldo was captured at Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901 and was brought to
Manila. Convinced of the futility of further resistance, he swore allegiance to the United
States and issued a proclamation calling on his compatriots to lay down their arms,
officially bringing an end to the war. However, sporadic insurgent resistance to
American rule continued in various parts of the Philippines, notably insurgencies such
as the Irreconcilables and the Moro Rebellion, until 1913.
 RESEARCH PAPER
(PHILIPPINE HISORY)

Name: Jhon Anthonie Imperial

Section: PCED-06-201A