MikeLigalig.com

By Christine G. Dulnuan, National Historical Institute

32. Naic Military Agreement. April 20, 1897. Bonifacio signed this document declaring the results of the elections during the Tejeros Convention null and void and established its own army separate from the Revolutionary Army formed during the convention. This led to his capture and later his execution in May of the same year.

33. Pact of Biyak-na-Bato. December 14, 1897. Signed by the Spanish government and the Filipino revolutionary leaders. This provided for the secession of hostilities between the two parties and the voluntary exile of revolutionary leaders in Hong Kong.

34. Uprising of Leon Kilat in Cebu. April 2, 1898. Leon Kilat (Pantaleon Villegas) led the uprising against the Spaniards in Cebu, which was suppressed after a week with the arrival of reinforcements from Iloilo and Manila. Leon Kilat continued his cause through guerrilla campaigns.

35. Battle of Manila Bay. May 1, 1898. The American naval fleets led by George Dewey fought against the Spanish fleet under General Patrocinio Montojo. This signaled America’s colonization of the Philippines.

36. Proclamation of Philippine Independence. June 12, 1898. General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite. During the event, Marcha Nacional Filipina, which what would become the National Anthem composed by Julian Felipe, was played by the band of San Francisco de Malabon and the Philippine national flag was hoisted in public.

37. Bates Treaty Agreement. August 20, 1898. Signed in Mindanao between US Representative John C. Bates and the Filipino Muslim leaders Rajah Muda, Datu Calbi, Datu Joakanain and the Sulu Sultan, the agreement signified noninvolvement of the Muslims in the Filipino-American War.

38. Republic of Negros. November 5, 1898. Revolutionary forces under General Juan Anacleto Araneta proclaimed the Republic of Negros.

39. Cry of Santa Barbara. November 17, 1898. The revolutionists led by General Martin Delgado waved the Filipino flag and established the revolutionary government in Iloilo.

40. The Treaty of Paris. December 10, 1898. This was signed between the United States and Spain ceding Spanish colonies, including the Philippines, to America. The Americans received the right to colonize the Philippines after paying Spain $20 million.

41. Benevolent assimilation of the Philippines. 1898. President William McKinley proclaimed this as there was nothing left to do with the Philippines after the Spanish-American War but to take it as a colony.

42. Assassination of General Antonio Luna. June 5, 1899. General Luna and his aide Col. Paco Roman were assassinated by fellow revolutionists in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. This event is considered one of the tragedies of the Revolution.

43. La Independencia newspaper published Jose Palma’s poem. September 3, 1899. The poem became the lyrics for the Marcha Nacional Filipina of Julian Felipe, thereby completing a national anthem for the Philippines. On September 22, 1943, the Commonwealth government adopted the flag and the anthem as national symbols.

44. Arrival of the Presbyterian Missionaries. April 21, 1899. They were the first group of Protestant missionaries to arrive and established missions in the Philippines. They established the first Protestant University in the Philippines, Silliman University, in August 1901.

45. Battle of Tirad Pass. December 2, 1899. General Gregorio del Pilar died in action while defending Tirad Pass from the Americans soldiers.

46. Balangiga Massacre. September 28, 1890. About 180 Filipinos attacked 72 American soldiers and killed many of them. Soon after, the Americans retaliated by killing every Filipino who refused to surrender and were capable of carrying arms, including 10-year-old boys. America’s pacification policy turned Samar into a "howling wilderness."

47. Capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela. March 23, 1901. The American colonial government considered this the end of the Revolution.

48. Public education system. 1901. The Philippine Commission passed Act 74 providing for the public education system, which includes the use of English as the medium of instruction, free primary education and a normal school for the training of teachers. The Thomasites arrived in the Philippines to serve as teachers. The normal school on Taft Avenue in Manila is now known as the Philippine Normal University.

49. Antisedition Law. October 1, 1901. The American colonial government passed Act 292 to quell armed nationalist sentiments during the era.

50. Founding of Union Obrero Democratica. 1902. This first labor federation in the country was established at Teatro Variedades in Sampaloc, Manila, with Isabelo de los Reyes as president and Hermenigildo Cruz as secretary. The organization celebrated Labor Day the following year.

51. Establishment of civil government. July 2, 1902. The US Congress signed the Cooper Bill that provided for the establishment of a civil government in the Philippines.

52. Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church). August 3, 1902. The first Filipino church independent of Rome to be established with Gregorio Aglipay as the first bishop. It was a result of the disparagement and prejudice felt by nationalistic priests.

53. Manila Electric Railway and Light Co. (Meralco). March 24, 1903. Granted franchise by the government to supply Manila and its environs with electricity and the electric street-railway system.

54. Pensionado Law. August 27, 1903. Act 854 provided for scholarship of Filipino students to universities in the United States and their return to the Philippines to serve in various fields, including government.

55. The first Labor Day rally in the Philippines. May 1, 1903. Organized by the Union Obrero Democratica de Filipinas. Thousands of participants marched to Malacañan to publicly demand for working conditions.

56. Philippine Constabulary School. February 19, 1905. It was first established at the Santa Lucia Barracks in Intramuros, transferred in 1908 in Baguio City as the Philippine Military Academy, and developed into a premier military school.

57. Inauguration of the first Philippine Assembly. October 16, 1907. It served as the lower house of a bicameral legislature with the Philippine Commission as the upper house.

58. Creation of the University of the Philippines. June 18, 1908. The country’s premier state university was created by Act 1870.

59. First court case of libel. October 30, 1908. El Renacimiento published in its editorial "Aves de Rapina" (Birds of Prey) about a man who preyed on his enemy the way an eagle, vulture, owl and a vampire do. American Secretary of the Interior Dean C. Worcester felt alluded to in the article and sued the paper’s editor and publisher Teodoro M. Kalaw and Martin Ocampo. Worcester won the case and the newspaper was closed.

60. Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas. February 28, 1909. The first indigenous evangelical church in the Philippines founded by Nicolas Zamora as a result of the separation of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

61. Iglesia ni Cristo. 1914. An indigenous church founded by Felix Manalo. Its leaders are often wooed by politicians who are aware of the church’s tendency to vote by block.

62. Founding of Congreso Obrero de Filipinas. May 1, 1913. Organized by Hermenigildo Cruz, the organization battled for an eight-hour working day, abolition of child labor, just labor standards for women and liability of capitalists.

63. Flag Day. October 31, 1919. Proclaimed by the National Assembly.

64. National Federation of Women’s Clubs. 1921. It was organized primarily to advance the political rights of Filipino women and later on developed into an organization of women leaders for national development. Among its prominent members were Pilar Hidalgo Lim, Josefa Llanes Escoda and Trinidad F. Legarda.

65. Radio stations. June 1922. First serviced Manila and Pasay before they expanded to the provinces. Most of the stations were confiscated by the Japanese during the war.

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