21 DECEMBER

Fr. Gregorio Aglipay y Labayan

1889 - Filipino and future revolutionary  Gregorio Aglipay y Labayan is ordained  priest of the Catholic Church during the Spanish colonial times; Aglipay will take part in the Philippine Revolution against Spain by urging his fellow priests to organize themselves into one cohesive body and will be the only priest-signatory of the Malolos Congress, the body that  drafted the Constitution of the fledgling Philippine Republic under Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo; Aglipay will later advocate the Filipinization of the Catholic clergy in the Philippines from the archbishops down to the parish priests but, upon rejection by Vatican, will later form the  Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan Church); during the Philippine-American War (1899-1914), Aglipay will take up arms and become guerrilla leader of the Filipino freedom-fighters but would surrender as Gen. Aguinaldo will quickly swear loyalty to the enemy American flag when the imperialists capture him in Palanan, Isabela.

Imperialist U.S. President William McKinley

1898 - Imperialist United States President William McKinley declares  his propaganda-style vile invasion designs on the Philippines with his declaration of the "Policy of Benevolent Assimilation" some four months after the notorious Mock Battle of Manila and 11 days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris; the wicked doublespeak of McKinley is seen in how he expressed his supposed intention to to win the Filipinos' "confidence, respect and affection" by coming "not as invaders and conquerors but as friends" while instructing the American military leaders to claim sovereignty over the whole  Philippines; Filipino leader Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo had earlier stupidly allowed the free entry of G.I.s into the Southeast Asian archipelago after  being conned by American officials into thinking that the U.S. was an ally against the Spanish colonizers, thus allowing the enemy Americans to  position themselves for the eventual invasion.

1892 - Future outstanding Filipino  historian, Rizalist, and educator Nicolas Zafra y Alviar is born in San  Fernando, La Union during the Spanish  colonial times; Zafra will earn two  bachelor degrees and a masters degree,  major in history, from the University of the Philippines and will soon  become a Fullbright research grantee  before leading the committee tasked to  review the biography of hero Jose  Rizal, "The First Filipino," before  submission to the Rizal Centennial Committee; Zafra will considerably contribute to the propagation of Philippine history, with works that will include  Historicity of Rizal's Retraction (Bookmark, 1961); A Short History of the Philippines (1966); Philippine History Through Selected  Sources (1967); and Oriental History (co-authorship with Ganzon).


Photo credit: http://www.revolutionintheair.com/histstrategy/forbidbk.html