6 DECEMBER

Eduard Douwes Dekker

 1888 - Filipino patriot and polymath Jose  Rizal  writes his Austrian friend Ferdinand  Blumentritt that he is sending a  Dutch-authored book he  describes as far  better than his own Noli Me Tangere (Touch  Me Not); the book referred to is the book of  Multatuli's (=Eduard Douwes Dekker),  which resembles the Noli but of a less  virulent tone; Rizal also briefly mentions  about his election as director of a  Madrid-based Filipino periodical.


1898 - Debates in the Senate hall of the  imperialist United States begin on the issue  of American 'authority' to acquire territories  and the right of the people of the fledgling  Philippine Republic to live independently and  freely;  a day earlier, McKinley claimed with wicked-level gall before the U.S. Congress that they own the Philippines by force of law and equity ; some two weeks earlier, the government of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo appointed a diplomat "to seek official  recognition of the independence and  government of the Philippines and to prepare the establishment of relations with  them" but as Felipe Agoncillo found no signs of US moving to recognize the sovereignty of the country, he helped form a Commission that would travel to Washington and work at seeking American recognition of Filipino independence.