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The Philippine Revolution

Mia Perrin

Junior Division

Historical Paper

Paper Length: 1608 words

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July 2, 1892

A lot has been happening in the Philippines recently, so I, (My name is Bayani Corazon)

have decided to keep a diary. I might not write regularly, as a lot happens to me in my life, but

when something big happens, you bet you’ll find me writing about it.

July 7, 1892

Spain’s rule over us seems to have grown stronger each day. One day, we will be free.

But that future has been clouded by Spain’s strength and power, forcing us back. We must first

break their grip on us, if we are to break free. I first got ideas like this twelve years ago, when my

best friend, Toyhacao Yabut, began to say bad things about Spain. Toyhacao always had a way

with me, making me believe anything.

Toyhacao could say, “Bayani, The Queen Of England wants to see you!” And I’d almost

believe him. That was twelve years ago, but to this day, the demand for liberation from Spain has

been escalating nationwide. Today though there is a man, Andres Bonifacio,1 Toyhacao knows

him, anyway, he was a poor warehouseman. But he has always agreed with me and Toyhacao’s

1
Kallie Szczepanski, www.thoughtco.com/andres-bonifacio-of-the-philippines-195651
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ideas about Spain. And today, he founded a resistance group, right here in Manila. His goal is to

secure the Philippine’s independence and freedom. He shall have to use force of arms, as Spain

refuses to grant us reforms. He founded the group on Recto Avenue, and I was there for it all. He

decided to call it the Katipunan,2 and he wants to gain freedom, just as much as I do. Things are

starting to look up for us. We just need to give things a push to get the ball rolling, and I think

Andres did just that today.

August 23, 1896

Today, the real fight began. We learned that we, meaning the Katipunan, had been

discovered. Andres called for us to meet, so we all got together at Juan Ramos’s house. Ramos is

a good man, and we knew we could trust him. He was the son of Melchora Aquino, who we

sometimes called Tandang Sora.3

Anyway, Andres asked us if we would fight until the end, no matter what happened. We

all decided we would, except for Teodoro Plata,4 who thought we were rushing into things. I

never did like Teodoro much. He was always too cautious, and careful. He never had any fun or

adventure.

2
​msc.edu.ph/centennial/katipunan.html

3
http://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/melchora-aquino-biography.html
4
https://www.geni.com/people/Teodoro-Plata/6000000019410636230
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Andres thought we needed to show our determination and defiance, and asked us to tear

our cedulas, which are official documents or certificates. We all were so faithful, and were

caught in the heat of the moment. We all, me, Toyhacao, everyone, tore our cedulas and cried

our cry into the world.

“Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!” (Long live the Philippines!)

May 10, 1897

Today I have been deeply saddened. My fighting spirit has taken a wound so deep, it

seems nearly impossible to continue. My side of the battle now seems equal in badness, hatred,

and wickedness.

A man named Emilio Aguinaldo, who calls himself General Miong, has taken over the

Katipunan. They tried to settle leadership issues unsuccessfully. Aguinaldo became President Of

The Philippines, and used his power to take over. He executed Andres today. It happened right

on the foothills of Mt. Buntis. Major Lazaro Makapagal did it.

I do not trust Aguinaldo. He will never be respected by me. He will never have my

gratitude. He will never be viewed as a hero through my eyes.

December 27, 1897

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That man, Aguinaldo, accepted exile in Hong Kong. He did this because of the pact of

Biak-Na-Bato.5 He’s basically bringing an end to our revolution. He did this probably for only

the pesos he was offered. We were also offered substantial government reforms, in return for

laying down our arms. It seems a good deal to me, but I wonder why Aguinaldo is getting such

amounts of money, when we get so little.

Toyhacao agrees with me. Well, I guess we usually agree with each other on most things,

but it felt nice to have somebody to agree with me. It always feels nice to have someone on your

side. Of course, Toyhacao says he agrees with me when I say that too. He is a very good friend.

May 20, 1898

Neither Spain nor Aguinaldo stayed within the terms of the pact very well.6

Aguinaldo, distrustful as always, I always knew we shouldn’t trust him. Well, at least since he

executed Andres. Anyway, Aguinaldo used the money he received to purchase arms when he

was in Hong Kong. The Spanish were just as bad though, as they didn’t pay what they should

5
kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/843/today-in-philippine-history-december-27-1897-g
eneral-emilio-aguinaldo-sailed-for-hongkong-in-compliance-with-the-terms-of-the-pact-o
f-biaknabato

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​kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1666/today-in-philippine-history-may-20-1898-aguin
aldo-returned-to-restart-his-insurrection
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have, and they also revoked the promised reforms. That is the part that angers me. They won’t

change for the better, so we just have to get rid of them altogether.

Me, Toyhacao, and some of ours other friends were talking recently as well. Now that the

pact fell through, we can start to fight again. And maybe, we can become the independent nation

we deserve to be. We know deep down that, someday, Spain will be defeated. If we don’t live to

see it, maybe our children, or grandchildren will. Is that really too much to ask? Because I don’t

think it is.

December 10, 1898

Today’s entry shall be long, but I need a place to vent. I would do it to Toyhacao, but

even he doesn’t want to deal with my emotions. Spain stepped away, so we all celebrated.

Toyhacao and I went to a celebration that most people in the area went to. While I was there, I

met the most wonderful woman, who I am now in a relationship with. Her name is Malaya Una.

The Spaniards captured her little sister, Julita. She is now reunited with Julita, so it was a joyous

day for her. It was a great time while it lasted.

We thought Spain would leave us to be an independent nation, but they actually gave us

to the United States! We thought they were on our side, but now we see that they are no better

than Spain. This fight, our fight, isn’t over. Even if we don’t have the United States fighting

with us this time, we will still try our hardest to get our independence. I shall fight, but not as
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often. I will still come home every so often. I need to see Malaya sometimes, as even though we

have only been with each other for a few months, I still love her with all my heart.

December 18, 1898

Toyhacao finally found a girl who wants him. Malaya came to our house for a day with

some of her friends, and Toyhacao came to go outside and get something with me. When he

entered, one of the girl’s face got red, and looked away quickly, while her friend’s chuckled

softly.

I teased Toyhacao about it, but when we got back, the girl was still there. She introduced

herself as Ysip. She said that she found him wonderful, and wanted to go on a walk with him.

The two went out together, and had a wonderful time. She was very understanding of Toyhacao

going to fight, and she said she would wait for him.

February 14, 1899

Toyhacao is dead.
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He was on the battlefield with me and we were fighting. He had his gun aimed at one of

America’s Generals, but another soldier ran into him just as he was going to shoot.

He missed, and that period of weakness gave somebody else a chance to shoot him. He

was shot in the abdomen, and we took him back home, as we were fighting so close to it. We laid

him on his bed with Ysip is in tears. As am I. As is Malaya.

It is so unfair. There was a previous fight, one against Spain, and we had allies. Now our

allies turn against us. We have nobody to fight with other than ourselves.

I was making bitter comments like this when Toyhacao turned to face me, and told me to

stop commenting on the bad things, as that will just make the things seem worse.

He then said his last words to me. He said this, “Don’t write in that little diary anymore.

That isn’t a place to keep you from your troubles, and it isn’t an escape from this harsh world.

It’s just a distraction. It’s a distraction from the now. You sit and scribble and ramble on and on

about the wars out there, but when you are doing that, you can’t be fighting at the same time.

And if you can believe it, not everything out here is bad. Just look at Malaya, she is proof of that,

as is Ysip. You only live once, so live it in the moment!”

So as I’m sure you can guess, this is my last entry. I’ll come back to this moment

whenever I find myself stuck and dwelling on the past instead of living in the moment. I’m sure
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he would have done it that way if he could do it again. These records will become verbal, at least

in my story. Maybe I don’t need these pages as much as I thought I did. Maybe, they were

something bigger than I thought they were. Maybe they weren’t just for keeping records. Maybe

I did use them as an escape, or at least tried to. Maybe they did distract me from what was really

important. Whatever they were, they aren’t going to be that anymore.

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Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources

Agoncillo, Felipe. “Felipe Agoncillo's Protest on the Injustice of the Treaty of Paris.” ​Philippine
Culture​, filipino.biz.ph/history/ag9812xx.html. I used this to get a Filipino's response and
ideas to the things that had happened during this time, specifically the Treaty of Paris.

Day, William R, and Jules Cambon. “Protocol Of Peace.” Philippine Culture,

filipino.biz.ph/history/pr980812.html. I used Article Three to add clarity to what the
United States role was after the Philippine Revolution had ended.

Ramirez de Villa-Urrutia, Wenceslao, et al. “Treaty of Peace Between the United States and
Spain.” ​Philippine Culture,​ filipino.biz.ph/history/tr981210.html. I used this to get more
information on the deal made between Spain and the United States after the Philippine
Revolution.

Secondary Sources

“Baby Names Filipino.” ​Top 100 Baby Names Search,​

www.top-100-baby-names-search.com/baby-names-filipino.html. I used this to find
character names because it had a lot of names and their meanings. It also had their
origins.

Cavendish, Richard. “Filipino Insurrection against US.” ​History Today,​ History Today, Feb.
1999, www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/filipino-insurrection-against-us. This
gave me a lot of information about what happened during the Philippine Revolution and
the Philippine-American War. I used as a starting point to see the big picture, and see
what I should get more details on.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Philippine Revolution.” ​Encyclopædia Britannica​,

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 5 Aug. 2016,
www.britannica.com/event/Philippine-Revolution. I used this as a point to find more
details to research. It gave me a lot of the main idea of what happened during the
Philippine Revolution.
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“Filipino Names.” ​BabyCenter,​

www.babycenter.com/babyNamerSearch.htm?origin=Filipino&&batchSize=40&sort=za.
I used this to find names that would fit my characters and that originated in The
Philippines. It also gave me the meanings of the names, so I could fit them to my
characters even better.

“Melchora Aquino Biography.” ​YourDictionary​, 26 Oct. 2016,

biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/melchora-aquino-biography.html. I used this to
learn more about Melchora Aquino de Ramos' role in the Philippine Revolution.

“Philippine Independence Declared.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, Dec. 6ADAD,

www.history.com/this-day-in-history/philippine-independence-declared. I used this to get
information on what happened before, during, and after the Philippine Revolution.

“Philippine Insurrection: The Consequence Of Imperialism.” ​Military.com​,

www.military.com/Resources/HistorySubmittedFileView?file=history_philippineinsurrec
tion.htm. It gave me more information about what happened after the Philippine
Revolution. It elaborates on the Philippine-American War and the aftermath of that war. I
can use it to give information about aftermath, change, and consequence about the main
topic of my paper.

“The Philippine Revolution: The Katipunan.” ​Philippine Culture,​

msc.edu.ph/centennial/katipunan.html. ​I used this to get more information about the
Katipunan to put in my project.

Szczepanski, Kallie. “Andres Bonifacio Of The Philippines.” ​ThoughtCo​, 17 Apr. 2017,

www.thoughtco.com/andres-bonifacio-of-the-philippines-195651. This article gave me
more information and told me about the life of Andres Bonifacio.

“Teodoro de Jesus Plata.” ​Geni Family Tree,​ 4 Dec. 2016,

www.geni.com/people/Teodoro-Plata/6000000019410636230. I used this to get more
information about one of the founders of the Katipunan.

“Today In Philippine History, December 27, 1897, General Emilio Aguinaldo Sailed For
Hongkong In Compliance With The Terms Of The Pact Of Biak-Na-Bato.” ​The
Kahimyang Project,​ 27 Dec. 2011,
kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/843/today-in-philippine-history-december-27-1897-g
eneral-emilio-aguinaldo-sailed-for-hongkong-in-compliance-with-the-terms-of-the-pact-o
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f-biaknabato. I used to get more information on Emilio Aguinaldo's relocation to Hong

Kong and the Pact Of Biak-Na-Bato.

“Today In Philippine History, May 20, 1898, Aguinaldo Returned To Restart His Insurrection.”
The Kahimyang Project,​ 18 May 2014,
kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1666/today-in-philippine-history-may-20-1898-aguin
aldo-returned-to-restart-his-insurrection. This gave me more information about what
happened when Emilio Aguinaldo returned from Hong Kong.