7 MARCH

American-sponsored Philippine Congress, circa 1916

1919 - The American-sponsored Philippine Legislature passes a Declaration of Purposes that officially spells out the purported position of the Filipinos on the vital issue of the "Philippine question"--the grant of independence by the imperialist United States; the Declaration come after some five years after the Filipino freedom fighters have been completely subdued and the last shots of the bloody and protracted Filipino-American War (1899-1914) fired; earlier in 1916, the Jones Act was passed by the United States Congress, providing for the recognition of Philippine independence supposedly after Filipinos would have been able to establish a stable government; the Senate and the Lower House would be established and control over most of the executive departments be given to the Filipinos, with the notable exception of the important Education portfolio; the Bald Eagle nation stole the Southeast Asian nation's virtual independence during the turn of the century during a lull in the Philippine Revolution against Spain when it conned revolutionary leader Emilio F. Aguinaldo into helping fight the Spaniards during the intersecting Spanish-American War, all the while making verbal promises to honor the independence of the Southeast Asian archipelago, only to annex it and then secretly provoke war in February 1899 against what was then the fledgling Philippine Republic.


Photo credit: http://www.ssc.edu.ph/centennial%20website/SSC%201910-1919.htm

6 MARCH

Imperialist Taft Commission

1901 - Apolinario M. Mabini, Prime Minister of the fledgling Philippine Republic under siege by imperialist American forces, informs President Emilio F. Aguinaldo of William H. Taft's reply that the United States could not recognize Philippine independence, two years and one month into the bloody and protracted Filipino-American War (1899-1914); in reaction, Aguinaldo declares his continued pursuit of independence and urges peace within that context; the reply of Taft, head of the Philippine Commission [translation: imperialist commission] has revealed to the Filipinos that the Taft Commission is aimed at consolidating American sovereignty and not honoring the independence of Filipinos in any way; earlier, in November 1900 following his August conference with Taft, Mabini communicated to Aguinaldo his thoughts about the enemy Americans' adamant refusal to recognize Philippine independence; Bald Eagle President William Mckinley's policy to forcibly annex the Southeast Asian archipelago and instigate the Fil-Am War has been criticized by the more honorable Americans, including the members of the Anti-Imperialist League; less than two years earlier, the Filipino leader agreed to cooperate with Admiral George Dewey in fighting Spain based on the verbal promises of the latter and other American officials in the Manila/Southeast Asia that the U.S. will honor Philippine Independence, with Aguinaldo later stupidly allowing the free entry of G.I.s into the archipelago.


Raw Photo Credit:
 http://philippineamericanwar.webs.com/collapse1901.htm

5 MARCH

1899 - A band of Filipinos fire on some crew members of the imperialist United States' gunboat U.S.S. Bennington one month into the Philippine-American War (1899-1914);  the incident is supposed to give Washington the impression that their invading forces are getting nervous and restless under the "harassment"  of the patriots of the fledgling Philippine Republic; the Phil-Am War began on February 4, 1899 under the provocation of the Bald Eagle forces whereby Bald Eagle President William McKinley crafted a vile pre-arranged plan to precipitate a war and thereby trick the US Senate to approve the controversial December 1898 Treaty of Paris and thus secure funding for military operations to annex the  Southeast Asian archipelago (in context, along with Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guano islands, American Samoa, and other islands in the Pacific).


Photo credit: http://ngayonsakasaysayan.blogspot.com/2010_03_04_archive.html

4 MARCH

Rosa Sevilla Alvero

1879 - Rosa Sevilla Alvero, oustanding Filipina patriot, early feminist, suffragist, and educator, is born in Tondo, Manila during the Spanish colonial period; Alvero will serve in the Philippine Revolution by helping prepare food for the Filipino troops, attend to the wounded, and be one of the two women staffers of La Independencia, a wartime newspaper published by Gen. Antonio Luna in September 1898 during the second phase of the struggle against Spain; during the (early part of the) Philippine-American War (1899-1914), she will crop her hair and don a man's uniform to fight the enemy forces of the imperialist United States although a timely intervention of Gen. Marcelino de los Santos will prevent what could have been a horrible fate as her father will die a captive in the hands of the enemy Americans; Alvero will establish the Instituto de Mujeres, what would be the first Filipino-run school for girls offering primary to collegiate courses, and will help fight for women's right to vote during the American colonial period; she will be noted for a patriotically pro-women speech she will deliver before Congress in 1930 that cites the important role of women in revolutions and nation-building:

"Where a patriot or a hero sprang up, there always appeared the beneficent and inspiring figure of a mother, a wife, a daughter or a sister, ready to encourage and sustain him."

Photo credit:

http://philippineamericanwar.webs.com/philippineindependence.htm

3 MARCH

Monument to earlier Basi Revolt

1815 - The Kailianes ("townmates") of the Philippine northern town of Sarrat in Ilocos Norte begin a rebellion against the rule of the Spanish colonizers; soon spreading to other towns such as Batac, Piddig, Paoay, Vintar, and San Nicolas, the uprising under the leadership of Simon Tomas, Mariano Espiritu, Vicente Santiago, and Andres Bugarin will be one of the many unsuccessful revolts in the archipelago prior to the Philippine Revolution of 1896; Spain had colonized the Southeast Asian archipelago some 250 years earlier and onerous tributary arrangements and other conditions conditions of the natives have occasionally fueled (failed) revolts, including the Basi Revolt staged by the people of Ilocos Norte some eight years earlier in the bid to protest the colonial authorities' imposition of wine monopoly; in 1521, the ill-fated expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan "discovered" the islands for the Spanish monarch and some four decades and several fruitless expeditions later,  King Philip II ordered Mexican Viceroy Velasco to prepare for an expedition to conquer the archipelago after being convinced that it fell under the Spanish zone in accordance with the 1493 demarcation line set by the Treaty of Tordesillas.


 Photo credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigberto/1002655675/in/photostream/

2 MARCH

Imperialist U.S. Gen. MacArthur inspects Manila tunnel
after recapturing Corregidor from the Japanese

1945 - The imperialist United States forces retake from the Japanese Imperial Army the island fortress of Corregidor in the Philippines, American colony in Southeast Asia since the turn of the century, during World War II; the Bald Eagle forces led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines in November 1944 with the plan to launch major attacks on the islands of Luzon and Mindanao; after Manila was captured away from Japanese hand, the 38th Division of the U.S. forces landed on Luzon's Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor recaptured using two attacks--parachute drop and amphibious landing; Corregidor had fallen to the Japanese Imperial Army on May 6, 1942 as the Second World War swept through the Pacific, with Japan pounding the American military bases as part of the campaign to take the U.S. colony and MacArthur fleeing to Australia; it is said that it is the presence of the American imperialist forces in the Philippines that served as magnet for the Japanese invasion as the former Asian military power needed to neutralize U.S. Far East Air Force in its bid to push for its hegemony in a  "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" while seeking to "liberate East Asia from white invasion and oppression"; while Filipino revolutionaries dating back to the Himagsikan against Spain or earlier had sought the assistance of Japan including in terms of trying to secure arms shipments, the communist Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas joined the guerrilla warfare by organizing the HUKBALAHAP despite Japan's declaration of Philippine Independence from American colonial rule.



Photo credit: http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=854f468920b67806

1 MARCH

Katipunan Seal signed with blood

1896 -  Some five months before the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, the Supreme Council of the  Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK), appoints a committee tasked with negotiating the purchase of arms and ammunition from Japan; the Katipunan is a secret society aimed at liberating the Southeast Asian archipelago from the yoke of over 300 years of Spanish colonization; the Katipunan committee members  were Jose Dizon, Mariano Crisostomo, and Jose Ma. Basa, and Emilio Jacinto,  described as the 'soul of the Katipunan'  by no less than Supremo Andres Bonifacio y  de Castro for his immense contributions to the philosophy (and tactics) of the revolutionary society; by August of the same year, the KKK, after premature discovery of its existance by the colonial authorities, will transform itself into a revolutionary government with Bonifacio as President of the islands and launch the valiant Himagsikan against Spanish misrule.


Photo credit: http://www.remonty-dkm.pl/ikc.php?q=katipunan-kkk

29 February

Katipunan initiation rites

1848 - Ramon Basa, future Filipino revolutionary martyr and second president of the underground society-turned-revolutionary-government Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK), is born; while a clerk at the marina comandancia, he will be recuited by townmate Ladislaw Diwa and be initiated into the Katipunan on November 9, 1892;  Basa will succeed Deodato Arellano as head of the KKK  around February 1893 when Katipunan co-founder and future "Father of the Philippine Revolution," Andres Bonifacio y de Castro, realizing the need for a more effectual leader, decides to intervene and forge a reorganization within the anti-colonial movement; Basa himself will be replaced around 1894, yielding the Katipunan leadership to Bonifacio supposedly over his disagreements with the latter on the matter of having initiation rites, Bonifacio's handling of the society's funds wherein money is lent to needy members no matter that they come complete with promissory notes, and his refusal to have his son inducted into the Katipunan; Basa, native of San Roque, Cavite, will be arrested following the outbreak of the Himagsikan and become one of the so-called 13 Martyrs of Bagumbayan that the colonial authorities will forcibly march to and publicly execute in Bagumbayan (future Luneta) in Manila during the waning years of the despised Spanish rule in the Philippine archipelago.

Photo credit:

http://homebodyhubby.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/katipunan-initiation-rites-1892.gif

28 FEBRUARY

1903 - Filipino patriot, revolutionary, and Filipino-American War (1899-1914) Gen. Artemio Ricarte y Garcia returns from exile in Guam but still admiringly refuses to take the oath of fealty to the enemy United States; Ricarte, who was aboard USS Thomas with the a a number of captured officials of the what will be considered the First Philippine Republic including the ailing former Prime Minister Apolinario, will be banned by the imperialist American government and made to sail to Hong Kong where he will remain for ten months before secretly sailing back to the Philippines in the hope of reviving the revolutionary spirit but would be arrested anew and imprisoned until 1910; after his release from jail, Ricarte would be exiled again by the colonial American authorities owing to his adamant refusal to to swear fealty to the imperialist Bald Eagle flag; between 1911-1914 and while surrounded by traitors including Ignacio Velasco, Ricarte will plot a revolutionary uprising against the American colonial government which would be foiled by secret agents in Japan; for many years, Ricarte and his wife will live in Japan in obscurity until the breakout of World War II as the Japanese brings him back to his motherland to try to help pacify the Filipinos.

Photo credit: http://www.freshlinkjuice.info/wiki/Artemio_Ricarte

27 FEBRUARY

1870 - Future Filipino revolutionary, governor and senator Daniel Maramba y Bautista is born in Santa Barbara, Pangasinan during the Spanish colonial times; he would be inducted into the secret revolutionary society Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK)) in 1893 and in 1897, will begin protecting his town from the Katipongos, a group masquerading as Katipunan but with members engaging in looting during the interim period between the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution of 1896 and its official resumption in 1898 after the camp of Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo, who earlier seized revolutionary leadership from Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro, returned from truce-related exile and resumed  military aggression against the Spaniards; during the Filipino-American War (1899-1914), however, following his imprisonment and capture by the invading Bald Eagle forces,  Maramba will rather quickly swear fealty to the enemy  flag on May 1, 1901 a few weeks after Aguinaldo himself was captured and subsequently decided to swear allegiance to the imperialist United States; during the colonial American period, Maramba will become become governor of Pangasinan, member of the Committee on National Defense (along with Felipe Buencamino, Jr. Benigno S. Aquino, Maximo M. Kalaw, etc.) and will also be elected Senator in November 1941, about a month before succumbing to tuberculosis.


Photo credit: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Daniel-Maramba/275674867074?sk=info

26 FEBRUARY

1893 - Andres Bonifacio y de Castro, co-founder of the Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK), the secret society aimed at toppling Spanish colonial rule on the Philippine islands, enjoins all the district heads to collect the required fees from all member Katipuneros in the earliest possible time, with the collection to be sent to the KKK treasurer; the Katipunan was officially founded by Bonifacio and other radically inclined leaders in July 1892 after foremost reformist patriot Jose Mercado Rizal was arrested by the colonial authorities; the KKK will transform itself into a revolutionary government just before the launch of the Himagsikan in about three and a half years; Bonifacio, then the fiscal and comptroller of the KKK, will rise to be Katipunan Supremo, be instrumental in enlarging KKK membership, and will lead the Filipinos in the initial phase of the valiant Revolution against Spain.

25 FEBRUARY

1986 - Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco Aquino is sworn in as the new President of the Philippines under street protest circumstances, helping put an end to nearly 14 years of dictatorship under Ferdinand E. Marcos who is flown by a United States helicopter to Hawaii; the installation of "Cory" into the presidency followed four days of peaceful "People Power" street protests after Defense Chief Juan Ponce Enrile and Vice-Chief-of-Staff Fidel Ramos holed themselves up in mutiny against Marcos; Cory, who ran against Marcos during the February 7 'Snap Polls' but officially lost, with her camp claiming poll fraud,  is the widow of opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy"Aquino whose assassination in 1983 has been widely blamed on the administration of the ailing strongman; Marcos, who would die years later while in Hawaii, and his family would later tell of how the imperialist U.S., long-time supporter of the Marcos' regime , deceived them into thinking that they were being airlifted to their home province of Ilocos Norte instead of outside the country; that the Bald Eagle government decided to surreptitiously ditch Marcos in recent years will later be revealed amidst information that the dreaded U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has, through  the CIA-linked  National Endowment for Democracy, heavily funded the National Movement for Free Elections the "citizen's arm" that  trended in favor of Aquino (in contrast to the official Commission on Elections count that showed Marcos as the leading candidate) before abruptly stopping its quick count; the legacy of EDSA I would also be a subject of controversy--whether it truly restored democracy and improved the plight of the Filipinos or whether  it even set back the Philippines' economic development, lowered the living standard, and undermined or worsened the state of national independence in favor of compradors co-opted by the imperialist America.


Photo credit: http://www.prepys.com/

24 FEBRUARY

1862 - Filipino revolutionary General Edilberto T. Evangelista, is born in Santa Cruz, Manila during the Spanish colonial times; a civil engineering graduate from Belgium's University of Ghent, he would be responsible for ably directing all the entrenchment and defense works of the Filipino revolutionaries during the initial phase of the Philippine Revolution of 1896, thus giving the Spanish colonial forces considerable trouble in many battles; Evangelista will heroically perish during a battle defending the Sapote river in Cavite on February 17, 1897; in December 1896, Evangelista will suggest to Andres Bonifacio y de Castro, Supremo of the underground-society-turned-revolutionary government Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK), that the revolutionary body adopt a constitution but his proposal will be rejected on grounds that the draft he would be presenting is largely plagiarized from the Spanish Maura Law.


Photo credit: http://jeanrojas.tripod.com/id27.html

23 FEBRUARY

Gen. Douglas MacArthur - Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita

1945 - American colonial authorities in the Philippines hang Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese forces during World War II, in Los Banos, Laguna after a swift, 'kangaroo court trial'; United States Gen. Douglas McArthur had appointed a military commission whose rules he himself set and the charges he also himself drew up, with the body unsurprisingly finding Yamashita guilty of failure to discharge the duty 'to control the operations of the members of his command' and for supposedly even allowing them to 'commit brutal atrocities and other high crimes' against Americans and people from its ally and dependent countries; Yamashita denied knowing and permitting the atrocities perpetrated by the Japanese in Manila, with evidence even suggesting that members of the Japanese Naval Force had refused to heed his command to move out of Manila and that he really had no command over the same during the February 3, 1945 battle in Manila; it is said that MacArthur aimed at turning Yamashita's trial into a showcase in the bid, apparently to cover up the fact that he fled Manila soon after the Japanese invasion in 1941; while Yamashita's case will be appealed before the U.S. High Court, the decision of McArthur's War Crimes Board will be upheld in a split vote, with Justice Ruthledge opining that it is  "the worst in the Supreme Court's history, not even barring Dred Scott".

Pres. Manuel Roxas- Mons. Michael O’Doherty

1947 - Philippine President Manuel A. Roxas and Manila Archbishop Michael O’Doherty formally sign an agreement whereby the government will acquired a total of eight estates owned by the Roman Catholic Church for the price of P5,630,000, with such estates to be sold later in small lots and at reasonable prices to the tenants; the agreement comes six months after the Philippines was granted "independence" by the imperialist United States following World War II;  Monsignor O'Doherty will be the last foreigner and the second and last American to occupy the post of Manila Archbishop, having been assigned in September 1916, some two years after the last shots of the Filipino-American War (1899-1914) were fired and the  Philippines "pacified" [Read: completely subdued] by the Bald Eagle nation. 



Photo credits:

http://ngayonsakasaysayan.blogspot.com/2010_02_23_archive.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14117283@N03/2259583597/
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Douglas_MacArthur
http://oli1985.blogspot.com/

22 FEBRUARY

Jose Rizal and Marcelo H. de Pilar

1889 - In a correspondence between Philippine reformist and patriots Jose Mercado Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar, the former writes a long message in Tagalog entitled "To the Young Women of Malolos" during the Spanish colonial period; in the letter, Rizal lauds the lasses--daughters of the elites from Malolos, Bulakan-- for their extraordinary courage in petitioning for a language school, having dared ask the  colonial Governor-General Valeriano Weyler earlier in December last year to authorize them to open a night school for them to learn the Spanish language; del Pilar, who would be known as the "Great Propagandist," has prodded Rizal to write the young Bulakenas in the Tagalog langugage in the bid to boost their reformist cause; earlier, Lopez Jaena praised the Malolos Women for their desire to "learn the beautiful language of the mother country" and for which they deserve "devoted support" in the column "Ecos de Ultramarr" in the reformists' organ, La Solidaridad; Rizal, del Pilar, and Lopez-Jaena formed the great triumvirate of the reformist-assimilationist Propaganda movement that  aimed to awaken the Spanish monarch/government as to the needs of its colony, the Philippines, and to make for a closer and more equal association of the archipelago and  supposed motherland, Spain.