From Jail to Jail. Tan Malaka
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class commemorating the occasion in speeches and songs filled with sorrow and appreciation. The anniversary of Andres Bonifacio’s death on 30 November is marked, especially on the street corners of poor neighborhoods in Manila, by the fiery speeches of the people, who raise their clenched fists, as if pledging to continue his work cut short by political assassination.46
[138] Of course a revolution does not outlaw killing, and there are those who can be killed without serious consequences for the revolution itself. But the revolution must not kill the groups or leaders that have been its driving force. This stricture is even more important when the aims of the revolution have not yet been achieved. The admonition “thou shalt not kill” must be seen from two different angles, internal and external, subjective and objective. Subjectively, although the aims of the slain revolutionary leaders will sooner or later be taken up by their followers, it is the leaders in the front lines of the struggle who determine its course. Not only will the revolution have lost its most radical force, but the moderates who inflicted the blow will also be weakened. If the two groups are of approximately equal strength, the revolution will devour its own children and soon collapse. Even if the moderates win the struggle in their ranks, the whole revolution will have lost its most valuable force, and it will be easy for the reactionaries to triumph in the end. A revolution will not stop in the middle: it will devolve upon either the radicals or the reactionaries.
This final point was made clear in the Philippine revolution after the Bonifacio affair. It may have been because he felt unable to stand up militarily to the Americans, or because of pressure from the Filipino bourgeoisie, who desired peace, or even a combination of these two possibilities, but President Aguinaldo was for some time engaged in (secret?) contacts with the Americans and was prepared to accept less than 100 percent independence for the Philippines.47
Mabini, who as a lawyer was able to bamboozle the American admiral in debates on independence and international law, had long been afraid of this.48 He was firmly in favor of holding out for 100 percent independence, but perhaps because he was new to the revolutionary arena or because of his ill health, Foreign Minister Mabini, the “sublime paralytic,” was unable to spread his views or his own influence among the masses.49 When the news broke that Aguinaldo wanted to make peace on the basis of a treaty that was destructive of an independent Philippines, Mabini, as minister of foreign affairs, stated that such a peace treaty was the responsibility of Aguinaldo alone—that it was made without the agreement of the minister of foreign affairs, let alone of the people. Such was Mabini.
[139] When he heard the news that Aguinaldo had been deceived and arrested by an American military force, the “sublime paralytic” went everywhere trying to fan the spirit of the guerrilla forces and leaders to continue the struggle.50 When he was captured, Mabini, wearing peasant clothes, was meeting with other guerrilla leaders in a peasant’s house. American troops surrounded them. The American commander barked out an order: “Everyone in the house stand up.” The one who could not stand was the “sublime paralytic,” the first minister of foreign affairs of the Philippines. He was quickly recognized and captured.51
Aguinaldo, the president of the Philippine revolution, who was then (1901) only thirty years old, swore an oath to the American government that he would not involve himself in politics as long as the American flag flew over the Philippines. With a large annual subsidy, the first president of the first republic to arise in Asia lives peacefully with thousands of other veterans of the revolution who are permitted by the Americans to celebrate the revolution’s anniversary each year.52
Mabini, with his hundreds of comrades who refused to pledge allegiance to the American flag, was exiled to the island of Guam, at that time filled with infectious diseases. He died there.53
In the peace negotiations in Paris between Spain and America, the Philippines were crushed in the coils of diplomacy and sold by Spain to America, to become an “American Protectorate,” another name for colony.54 This was the tragic end of the republic that so amazed the world at the end of the nineteenth century—the first in Asia or Africa and established by one of the Indonesian peoples.
Evidently Philippine society at that time was not yet able to divide and coordinate the work as follows: the organization of the revolution under Bonifacio, state and military affairs under Aguinaldo, and foreign affairs under Mabini. The Philippine national and social revolution was not carried through; America became its “protector,” and the landlords went unchecked.
American imperialism immediately instituted changes in all fields. Jose Rizal was commemorated, and his program was implemented. This was not done out of altruism, but because it accorded with the interests of modern American capitalism, and also because Uncle Sam recognized the strength of the Philippine bolo on the field of battle.55
[140] First Uncle Sam attacked the anopheles mosquito that raged everywhere. Advances were made in the sphere of public health; the birth rate increased while the death rate declined, and the population of the Philippines rose from six million at the end of the last century to sixteen (?) million today.56 The Spanish government had paid more attention to education than the Dutch did in Indonesia. When the Spaniards left the Philippines, Santa Tomas University had long been established, while for all the inlanders of the Dutch East Indies there were only the Inlandsche Kweekschool [Native Teachers’ Training School] and the School tot Opleiding voor Inlandsche Bestuursambtenaren [Training School for Native Civil Servants] that could be considered institutes of higher learning.57 But in spite of the advances the Spaniards had made when Uncle Sam arrived, illiteracy in the Philippines was widespread. America wiped it out through an organized plan of action: the number of universities was increased to five, and secondary schools, technical and trade schools were established throughout the Philippines.58 The standard of living was raised by increasing the wages of workers. A porter at the wharves in Manila could earn about three pesos a day (one peso = f. 0.85), while the workers at the cigar factories in Manila could earn three to six pesos a day. In nearly all cities, small and large, and even in many villages, one could see modern schools, hospitals, and electrical plants. Many of the sugar, cigar, hemp, and inter-island domestic shipping concerns were in the hands of Filipinos themselves. Even the railways were Filipino-owned.59
In 1915 (?) a bicameral legislature was instituted in the Philippines.60 There was not one American seated in either house, and nearly all administrative functions were in the hands of Filipinos. As in education, so also in the administration: each year the number of American advisers and heads was decreased according to plan, and the number of Filipinos in charge increased. It can be said that the Filipino people held internal power. According to John’s Law, when the Filipino people were capable of maintaining a stable government, full independence would be granted to them by America.61
But we must not look only at the good, at the real progress made in education, social welfare, justice, and standard of living, and politics, economics, and culture. The semi-victorious revolution of 1898-1901 was not able to eliminate all evils, and remnants of the ills suffered under Spanish rule continue to affect Philippine society to this day.
[141] The power of the large landholders at the time of the revolution was not diminished under American rule.62 In several areas of Luzon island, and in the Visayan provinces, the situation of the rural proletariat was extremely depressing. The conflict between landholders and poverty-stricken peasants in those areas was not alleviated. Wage increases accorded by American imperialism were accompanied by increases in the cost of living. Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate, whose members were principally landholders and members of the bourgeoisie, wanted or were able to put an end to the unrest there. The workers and peasants were unable to win seats in the Congress and, just as in America itself, Philippine democracy functioned only for the wealthy.
While in domestic matters the Filipinos really did have some power, they had no authority at all in external affairs. Every channel to the outside world—trade, diplomacy, defense, immigration, and finance—was controlled by the Americans through the governor general in Manila. The capitalist system, which appeared liberal when viewed superficially, resulted in the channeling of Philippine