23 JULY

1864 - Apolinario Mabini y Maranan, the future "Brains of the Philippine  Revolution", key adviser,  and Foreign Minister of what would be the short-lived  Philippine Republic under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, is born in Talaga, Tanauan, Batangas to Dionisia Maranan and  Inocencio  Mabini during the Spanish colonial rule;  acquiring paralysis later in adulthood, Mabini will be summoned to become an adviser of Aguinaldo who, by that time, had already seized revolutionary leadership from Generalissimo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro during the time of the Philippine Revolution against Spain; Mabini will be one of the few officials of the fledgling Philippine Republic that will for some time resist the pressure of swearing fealty to the imperialist United States of America during the Filipino-American War (1899-1914) ; it will be the second phase of the Philippine Revolution that Mabini will become a key Filipino figure--his counterpart during the initial phase of the Himagsikan led by Bonifacio,  co-founder and Supremo of the Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan,  will be Emilio Jacinto y Dizon, who will earn the title "Brains of the Katipunan; a few years before his death, Mabini will author his memoirs of the Philippine Revolution, including his account of Aguinaldo's "insubordination" to, and the tragic "crime" and "assassination" committed against Bonifacio.


1567 - Miguel  Lopez de Legaspi, the Spanish conquistador who forged a blood  compact  with the Filipino natives and deceived them into thinking that his people were friends, subsequently facilitating Spain's colonization of the Southeast Asian islands, reports to King Philip II about how Chinese  and Japanese come yearly to some islands in the archipelago, such  as Luzon and Mindoro, to trade silk, wool bells, iron, tin, porcelains, perfumes, colored cotton cloths and other  small wares in exchange for gold and wax.


Raw image credit: National Historical Institute