ABOUT THE WORK

The Birth Certificate of the Filipino Nation A Manuscript Copy of the Declaration of Independence by JORGE MOJARRO The original Proclamation of Independence document is safeguarded in none other than the National Library of the Philippines. It is, of course, a unique document. What was not known until now is that at least one of the military men around Aguinaldo rushed to make a handwritten copy on that very same fateful day of June 12th 1898. Lt. Col. Jose Bañuelo may have been acutely aware of the historical importance of that founding event, or may have simply wanted a copy for safekeeping in case the original was lost, or perhaps to certify his own participation in this lofty enterprise as a way of obtaining future political favors. What we also do know is the copy is a single handwritten document, written on the same date as the original Act of Independence and copied directly from the original document. The author of the copy, whose signature appears at the end, is a lieutenant colonel of the revolutionary government, José Bañuelo, although the rest of the document’s handwriting appears to belong to a Tagalogspeaking amanuensis or scribe to whom it was dictated. The document is not entirely faithful to the original, since Aguinaldo is described as ""egregious"", when in the original he is described as ""eminent"", in an attempt to enhance the figure of the leader. Likewise, the long list of signatories is summarized as follows: ""Ambrosio Flores - Artemio Ricarte - Pantaleón García - Baldomero Aguinaldo - José Bañuelos, and hundreds of other signatures ending with that of the American subject, Mr. L. M. Johnson"". We don’t know if the rest of the signatories were left out of hastiness, lack of readability, or for the purpose of drawing attention only to those few names. This is a key document of the existence of the Philippines as an independent nation. It is not only a foundational document, but in its very content, reference is made to the history of the Philippines: it speaks of recovering an independence that was taken away from them by Legazpi in 1571; it mentions alleged abuses by the Civil Guard in recent times; it refers to the alleged greed of the friars of the religious orders; and it even speaks of Magellan and Lapulapu in Mactan. There are, moreover, two important features of this document that are usually overlooked: first, Aguinaldo proclaimed himself a dictator with absolute powers; and his first impetus for the Philippine republic was not as a liberal democracy, but as a dictatorship. (This would later be corrected by the Malolos Congress and Constitution.) Secondly, the symbols of the national flag are explained and that its red, white, and blue reflected “gratitude to the American nation for help rendered.” As far as the mysterious Colonel Johnson is concerned, according to historian Ambeth Ocampo, it is very likely that his addition to the list of signatories was false and was done to give greater legitimacy to the document. About José Bañuelo, we only know that he was a man in Aguinaldo's confidence and that he was part of the war department until at least 1899.