Filipino nationalism
Encyclopedia
Filipino nationalism is an upsurge of patriotic sentiments and nationalistic
ideals in the 1800s Philippines that came consequently as a result of more than two centuries of Spanish rule and as an immediate outcome of the Filipino Propaganda Movement
(mostly in Europe) from 1872 to 1892. It served as the backbone of the first nationalist revolution in Asia
, the Philippine Revolution
of 1896.
The Creole Age (1780s–1872)
The term "Filipino" in its earliest sense referred to Spaniard
s born in the Philippines or Insulares (Creoles
) and from which Filipino Nationalism began. Spanish-born
Spaniards or mainland Spaniards residing in the Philippines were referred to as Peninsulares
. The indigenous peoples of the Philippines were referred to as Indios. Those of mixed ancestry were referred to as Mestizos
.
Traditionally, the Creoles had enjoyed various government and church positions—composing mainly the majority of the government bureaucracy itself. The decline of Galleon Trade
between Manila
and Acapulco
and the growing sense of economic insecurity in the later years of the 18th century led the Creoles to turn their attention to agricultural production. The Creoles gradually changed from a very government-dependent class into capital-driven entrepreneurs. Their turning of attention towards guilded soil caused the rise of the large private hacienda
s. Various government and church positions were transferred to the roles of the Peninsulares who were characterized mostly in the 19th century Philippine history as corrupt bureaucrats.
The earliest signs of Filipino Nationalism could be seen in the writings of Luís Rodríguez Varela, a Creole educated in liberal France
and highly exposed to the romanticism of the age. Knighted under the Order of Carlos III, Varela was perhaps the only Philippine Creole who was actually part of European nobility. The court gazette
in Madrid
announced that he was to become a Conde
and from that point on proudly called himself Conde Filipino. He championed the rights of Filipinos in the islands and slowly made the term applicable to anyone born in the Philippines. However, by 1823 he was deported together with other Creoles [allegedly known as Los Hijos del País (The Children of the Country)], after being associated with a Creole revolt in Manila led by the Mexican
Creole Andres Novales
.
Varela would then retire from politics but his nationalism was carried on by another Creole Padre Peláez, who campaigned for the rights of Filipino priests (Creoles, Mestizos and Indios) and pressed for secularization of Philippine parishes. The Latin American revolutions and decline of friar
influence in Spain
resulted in the increase of the regular clergy
(Peninsular friars) in the Philippines. Filipino priests (Creoles, Mestizos and Indios) were being replaced by Spanish friars (Peninsulares) and Peláez demanded explanation as to the legality of replacing a secular
with regulars—which is in contradiction to the Exponi nobis. Peláez brought the case to the Vatican
almost succeeded if not for an earthquake that cut his career short and the ideology would be carried by his more militant disciple, José Burgos
. Burgos in turn died after the infamous Cavite Mutiny, which was pinned on Burgos as his attempt to start a Creole Revolution and make himself president or Rey Indio. The death of José Burgos, and the other alleged conspirators Mariano Gómez
and Jacinto Zamora
, seemingly ended the entire Creole movement in 1872.Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo y Gutiérrez
unleashed his reign of terror in order to prevent the spread of the Creole ideology—Filipino nationalism.
. This massive propaganda upheaval from 1872 to 1892 is now known as the Propaganda Movement
. Through their writings and orations, Marcelo H. del Pilar
, Graciano López Jaena
and José Rizal
sounded the trumpets of Filipino nationalism and brought it to the level of the masses. Rizal's Noli me tangere
and El filibusterismo
rode the increasing anti-Spanish (anti-Peninsulares) sentiments in the islands and was pushing the people towards revolution. By July 1892, an Ilustrado with a working-class background, in the name of Andrés Bonifacio
established a revolutionary party based on the Filipino nationalism that started with Los Hijos del País--Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan
. Ideology and millenarianism turned into revolution and gave Asia its first anti-imperialist/nationalist revolution by the last week of August 1896.
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
ideals in the 1800s Philippines that came consequently as a result of more than two centuries of Spanish rule and as an immediate outcome of the Filipino Propaganda Movement
Propaganda Movement
The Propaganda Movement was a literary and cultural organization formed in 1872 by Filipino émigrés who had settled in Europe. Composed of Filipino liberals exiled in 1872 and students attending Europe's universities, the organization aimed to increase Spanish awareness of the needs of its colony,...
(mostly in Europe) from 1872 to 1892. It served as the backbone of the first nationalist revolution in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, the Philippine Revolution
Philippine Revolution
The Philippine Revolution , called the "Tagalog War" by the Spanish, was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire.The Philippine Revolution began in August...
of 1896.
The Creole Age (1780s–1872)
The term "Filipino" in its earliest sense referred to Spaniard
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
s born in the Philippines or Insulares (Creoles
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
) and from which Filipino Nationalism began. Spanish-born
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Spaniards or mainland Spaniards residing in the Philippines were referred to as Peninsulares
Peninsulares
In the colonial caste system of Spanish America, a peninsular was a Spanish-born Spaniard or mainland Spaniard residing in the New World, as opposed to a person of full Spanish descent born in the Americas or Philippines...
. The indigenous peoples of the Philippines were referred to as Indios. Those of mixed ancestry were referred to as Mestizos
Filipino mestizo
Filipino mestizo is a term used in the Philippines to describe people of mixed Filipino and foreign ancestry. The word mestizo is of Spanish origin, and was originally used in the Americas to only describe people of mixed European and Native American ancestry.- History :Spanish periodThe Spanish...
.
Traditionally, the Creoles had enjoyed various government and church positions—composing mainly the majority of the government bureaucracy itself. The decline of Galleon Trade
Manila Galleon
The Manila galleons or Manila-Acapulco galleons were Spanish trading ships that sailed once or twice per year across the Pacific Ocean between Manila in the Philippines, and Acapulco, New Spain . The name changed reflecting the city that the ship was sailing from...
between Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
and Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
and the growing sense of economic insecurity in the later years of the 18th century led the Creoles to turn their attention to agricultural production. The Creoles gradually changed from a very government-dependent class into capital-driven entrepreneurs. Their turning of attention towards guilded soil caused the rise of the large private hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
s. Various government and church positions were transferred to the roles of the Peninsulares who were characterized mostly in the 19th century Philippine history as corrupt bureaucrats.
The earliest signs of Filipino Nationalism could be seen in the writings of Luís Rodríguez Varela, a Creole educated in liberal France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and highly exposed to the romanticism of the age. Knighted under the Order of Carlos III, Varela was perhaps the only Philippine Creole who was actually part of European nobility. The court gazette
Gazette
A gazette is a public journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.In English- and French-speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name Gazette since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers bear the name The Gazette.Gazette is a loanword from the...
in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
announced that he was to become a Conde
Conde
Conde is a title of nobility in Spanish, Galician and Portuguese. In English, the title is Count or Earl. The female form is Condesa in Spanish and Galician and Condessa in Portuguese. The territory of a Conde is called a Condado, equivalent to Countship or County...
and from that point on proudly called himself Conde Filipino. He championed the rights of Filipinos in the islands and slowly made the term applicable to anyone born in the Philippines. However, by 1823 he was deported together with other Creoles [allegedly known as Los Hijos del País (The Children of the Country)], after being associated with a Creole revolt in Manila led by the Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
Creole Andres Novales
Andres Novales
Andres Novales was a creole captain in the Spanish Army in the Philippines. He was considered as the last emperor of the Philippines. His discontentment with the treatment of creole soldiers led him to start a revolt that inspired even the ranks of Jose Rizal....
.
Varela would then retire from politics but his nationalism was carried on by another Creole Padre Peláez, who campaigned for the rights of Filipino priests (Creoles, Mestizos and Indios) and pressed for secularization of Philippine parishes. The Latin American revolutions and decline of friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
influence in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
resulted in the increase of the regular clergy
Regular clergy
Regular clergy, or just regulars, is applied in the Roman Catholic Church to clerics who follow a "rule" in their life. Strictly, it means those members of religious orders who have made solemn profession. It contrasts with secular clergy.-Terminology and history:The observance of the Rule of St...
(Peninsular friars) in the Philippines. Filipino priests (Creoles, Mestizos and Indios) were being replaced by Spanish friars (Peninsulares) and Peláez demanded explanation as to the legality of replacing a secular
Secular clergy
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...
with regulars—which is in contradiction to the Exponi nobis. Peláez brought the case to the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
almost succeeded if not for an earthquake that cut his career short and the ideology would be carried by his more militant disciple, José Burgos
José Burgos
José Apolonio Burgos y García was a Filipino mestizo secular priest, accused of mutiny by the Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippines in the 19th century...
. Burgos in turn died after the infamous Cavite Mutiny, which was pinned on Burgos as his attempt to start a Creole Revolution and make himself president or Rey Indio. The death of José Burgos, and the other alleged conspirators Mariano Gómez
Mariano Gómez
Mariano Gómez y Guard was a Filipino secular priest, part of the Gomburza trio who were falsely accused of mutiny by the Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippines in the 19th century. He was placed in a mock trial and summarily executed in Manila along with two other clergymen.-Early...
and Jacinto Zamora
Jacinto Zamora
Jacinto Zamora y del Rosario was a Filipino friar, part of the Gomburza trio who were falsely accused of mutiny by the Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippines in the 19th century...
, seemingly ended the entire Creole movement in 1872.Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo y Gutiérrez
Rafael de Izquierdo y Gutíerrez
Rafael de Izquierdo y Gutiérrez was a Spanish Military Officer, Political Leader and Statesman who became Governor-General of the Philippines from April 4, 1871 to January 8, 1873. He was famous for his use of "Iron Fist" type of government, contradicting the liberal government of his predecessor,...
unleashed his reign of terror in order to prevent the spread of the Creole ideology—Filipino nationalism.
Spread of Filipino Nationalism (1872–1892)
But the Creole affair was seen by the other natives (Mestizos and Indios) as a simple family affair—Spaniards born in Spain (Peninsulares) against Spaniards born in the Philippines (Creoles). The events of 1872 however invited the other colored section of the Ilustrados (Intellectually Enlightened Class) to at least do something to preserve the Creole ideals. Seeing the impossibility of a revolution against Izquierdo and the Governor-General's brutal reign convinced the Ilustrados to get out of the Philippines and continue propaganda in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. This massive propaganda upheaval from 1872 to 1892 is now known as the Propaganda Movement
Propaganda Movement
The Propaganda Movement was a literary and cultural organization formed in 1872 by Filipino émigrés who had settled in Europe. Composed of Filipino liberals exiled in 1872 and students attending Europe's universities, the organization aimed to increase Spanish awareness of the needs of its colony,...
. Through their writings and orations, Marcelo H. del Pilar
Marcelo H. del Pilar
Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitán , better known by his nom-de-plume Plaridel, was a celebrated figure in the Philippine Revolution and a leading propagandist for reforms in the Philippines A master polemicist in both the Tagalog and Spanish languages, he helped the Propaganda Movement through...
, Graciano López Jaena
Graciano López Jaena
Graciano López Jaena was a Filipino journalist, orator, and revolutionary from Iloilo, well known for his written work, La Solidaridad....
and José Rizal
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
sounded the trumpets of Filipino nationalism and brought it to the level of the masses. Rizal's Noli me tangere
Noli Me Tangere (novel)
Noli Me Tangere is a novel by Filipino polymath José Rizal and first published in 1887 in Berlin, Germany. Early English translations used titles like An Eagle Flight and The Social Cancer, but more recent translations have been published using the original Latin title.Though originally written in...
and El filibusterismo
El filibusterismo
El filibusterismo , also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium...
rode the increasing anti-Spanish (anti-Peninsulares) sentiments in the islands and was pushing the people towards revolution. By July 1892, an Ilustrado with a working-class background, in the name of Andrés Bonifacio
Andres Bonifacio
Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro was a Filipino nationalist and revolutionary. He was a founder and later Supremo of the Katipunan movement which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Philippine Revolution...
established a revolutionary party based on the Filipino nationalism that started with Los Hijos del País--Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan
Katipunan
The Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...
. Ideology and millenarianism turned into revolution and gave Asia its first anti-imperialist/nationalist revolution by the last week of August 1896.