Kulay Colorization

PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY (JUNE 12, 1898)

Photo Restoration by Adlai Jan Garcia Jawid

Independence Day of the Philippines (Filipino: Araw ng Kasarinlán; also known as Araw ng Kalayaan, "Day of Freedom") is a national holiday in the Philippines observed annually on June 12, commemorating the declaration of Philippine independence from Spain in 1898. Since 1978, it has been the country's National Day.

The earliest recorded event related to the holiday was when Andres Bonifacio, along with Emilio Jacinto, Restituto Javier, Guillermo Masangkay, Aurelio Tolentino, Faustino Manalak, Pedro Zabala, and few other Katipuneros went to Pamitinan Cave in Montalban (now Rodriguez, Rizal) to initiate new members of the Katipunan. Bonifacio wrote Viva la independencia Filipina! or Long Live Philippine independence on walls of the cave after the Spanish discovery of the revolutionary group. Bonifacio also led the Cry of Pugad Lawin, which signals the beginning of the Philippine Revolution. Members of the Katipunan, led by Bonifacio, tore their community tax certificates (cedulas personales) in protest of Spanish conquest.

The Philippine Revolution began in 1896. The Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 14, 1897, established a truce between the Spanish colonial government and the Filipino revolutionaries. Under its terms, Emilio Aguinaldo and other revolutionary leaders went into exile in Hong Kong after receiving $MXN400,000 from the Spanish Government.

At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Commodore George Dewey sailed from Hong Kong to Manila Bay leading the US Navy Asiatic Squadron. On May 1, 1898, Dewey defeated the Spanish in the Battle of Manila Bay, effectively placing the Spanish capital under US control. Later that month, the US Navy transported Aguinaldo back to the Philippines. Aguinaldo arrived on May 19, 1898 in Cavite.

On June 5, 1898, Aguinaldo issued a decree at his house located in what was then known as Cavite El Viejo proclaiming June 12, 1898 as the day of independence. The Acta de la Proclamacion de la Independencia del Pueblo Filipino was solemnly read by its author, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, Aguinaldo's war counselor and special delegate. The 21-page declaration was signed by 98 Filipinos, appointed by Aguinaldo, and one retired American artillery officer, Colonel L. M. Johnson. The Philippine flag was officially unfurled for the first time at about 4:30 p.m, as the Marcha Nacional Filipina was played by the band of San Francisco de Malabon.

Independence was ratified in Bacoor by 190 municipal presidents from the 16 provinces liberated by August 1, 1898, and was ratified again by the Malolos Congress, a partly elected and partly appointed body representing all constituencies of the Philippines.

The Philippines failed to win international recognition of its independence — specifically not from either the United States of America or Spain. The Spanish government later ceded control over the Philippines to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, in which Filipino representative Felipe Agoncillo was denied entry, and in spite of Filipino control over large portions of the islands. The Revolutionary Government of the Philippines and later the democratically constituted First Philippine Republic did not recognize the treaty, leading to the outbreak of the Philippine–American War with the US over the latter's assertions of sovereignty over the islands.

The US government recognized the independence of the Philippines on July 4, 1946. In accordance with the Philippine Independence Act (more popularly known as the "Tydings–McDuffie Act"), in which Filipinos ratified a constitution and voted for independence, President Harry S. Truman issued Proclamation 2695 of July 4, 1946, officially recognizing the independence of the Philippines. On the same day, the Treaty of Manila was signed.

July 4 was chosen as the date by the United States because it corresponds to the United States' Independence Day, and that day was observed in the Philippines as Independence Day until 1962. On May 12, 1962, in response to the US government's failure to approve a payment of $72 million in war damages, President Diosdado Macapagal issued Presidential Proclamation No. 28, which declared June 12 a special public holiday throughout the Philippines, "... in commemoration of our people's declaration of their inherent and inalienable right to freedom and independence." On August 4, 1964, Republic Act No. 4166 renamed July 4 holiday as "Philippine Republic Day", proclaimed June 12 as "Philippine Independence Day", and enjoined all citizens of the Philippines to observe the latter with befitting rites.

Prior to 1964, June 12 was observed as Flag Day in the country. In 1965, President Diosdado Macapagal issued Proclamation No. 374, which moved National Flag Day to May 28 (the date the Philippine flag was first flown in the victory by Filipino forces in the Battle of Alapan located in Imus, Cavite in 1898). In 1994, President Fidel V. Ramos issued Executive Order No. 179, extending the celebration period from May 28 to Philippine Independence Day on June 12, ordering government departments, agencies, offices, government owned and controlled corporations, state agencies, and local government units, and even private establishments, to prominently display the national flag in all public buildings, government institutions, and official residences during this period; ordering the Department of Education, in coordination with the private sector, non-government organizations, and socio-civic groups, to enjoin the prominent display of the national flag in all public squares and, whenever practicable, in all private buildings and homes in celebration of national independence.

Kawit, Cavite holds a yearly commemorative act with the flag raising at the Aguinaldo Shrine and the reading of the Philippine Declaration of Independence. Worldwide, Filipinos gather on June 12 or a date close to it to publicly celebrate, sometimes with a parade. There are also local celebrations as well, with a national celebration in the capital of Manila, which in past years included a civil-military parade of uniformed organizations and public and private entitles. The last major parade was held in 2018 to mark the 120th year of nationhood.

FUSILAMIENTO DE JOSE RIZAL (Executuion of Jose Rizal) - 1896

Photo Restoration by Adlai Jan Garcia Jawid

The ex*****on by firing squad of José Rizal, December 30, 1896. This photograph (Fusilamiento de José Rizal) was taken by Manuel Arias Rodriguez, a Spanish creole.

"I SAW RIZAL DIE"
There is one eyewitness to Rizal’s ex*****on whose observation was told to a journalist in 1949, or 53 years after the event. A man named Hilarion Martinez, then 72 years old, relayed to Alberto Mendoza of the Sunday Times Magazine what he witnessed during Rizal’s ex*****on.

In 1896, a then 20-year old Martinez was a member of the Leales Voluntarios de Manila (Loyal Volunteers of Manila) and was assigned to the drum corps. Martinez and his fellow drum corps members accompanied the condemned man from the time he left Fort Santiago until he reached Bagumbayan. Because of his role in the drum corps, it is said that he occupied a good vantage point from which to observe the ex*****on. Martinez’ complete account is reproduced below:

"It was six o’clock in the morning of December 30, 1896, when we woke up at our quarters at the corner of Sta. Potenciana and Magallanes Streets, in Intramuros, to attend the ex*****on of Jose Rizal, about which we had been briefed the day before. We were in the Leales Voluntarios de Manila, a semi-military organization under the command of Capt. Manuel Leaño. Our immediate officer was a youthful Spanish lieutenant named Juan Pereira. I was twenty years old then, and a member of the drum corps.

"We marched out of Intramuros through the Puerta Real, or where Nozaleda (now General Luna) Street out through the walls on the south, clad in our cañamo uniforms and with our cajas vivas strapped around our waists. We proceeded to what is now Padre Burgos Street, under an overcast sky and a biting December morn.
"Bagumbayan is not the Luneta now. The waters of Manila Bay still reached the other side of Malecon Drive (now Bonifacio Drive) where the new Luneta is located. The Luneta of those days was as far back as the site of the old Bagumbayan police station, near which lush bamboo thickets grew.

"As we rounded the corner of P. Burgos and General Luna Streets, we got a glimpse of the cuadro, a square formation of about ten companies of Filipino and Spanish soldiers. The former occupied the inner portion of the quadrangle, while the latter was at the rear. This formation was strategic because the Filipino soldiers’ position within the cuadro signified that the Spanish authorities wanted Rizal to die in the hands of the Filipino soldiers. If the latter disobeyed the command to fire upon Rizal, the Spanish soldiers positioned at the rear would fire upon them.

"There were civilian spectators, too. The side of the cuadro near the bay was open.

"As we approached the quadrangle, we saw some Spanish military officers earnestly talking in low voices. Rizal was nowhere to be seen – yet. Not having had a glimpse of the man before, I began to wonder what he looked like. I remembered how my mother told me Rizal was so learned, nobody could poison him as he always carried with him his own spoon and fork with which he could detect whether his food was poisoned or not. I heard too, of his fighting for our (Filipino) cause aside from legends that were beginning to be woven around him.

"Soon the small crowd heard the muffled sound of our approaching vivas draped with a black cloth during ex*****on ceremonies. A slight commotion broke out at the right end of the cuadro near the bay as some soldiers with fixed bayonets entered followed by a man in black, his arms tied at the elbows from the back, on his head, a derby hat or chistera, on his sides, a Spanish officer and a Jesuit priest.

"When I saw the man, I knew he was Rizal.

"A group of Spanish officers who were standing nearby opened into a semicircular formation or media luna. Then a Spaniard (we would learn later he was Lt. Luis Andrade, one of Rizal’s popular Spanish defenders and sympathizers) affectionately shook the latter’s hand. When Rizal was near the center of the quadrangle, the mayor de la plaza, a colonel, announced at the bandillo: “En el nombre del Rey, el que se levante la voz a favor del reo sera ejecutado.” (In the name of the King, he who raises his voice in favor of the criminal will be executed.)

"A deep silence enshrouded the whole assembly.

"We in the drum corps were about seven paces behind Rizal who then faced the bay. Our commanding officer approached us and told us should Rizal attempt to speak aloud, we should beat our drums hard to drown out his voice. I looked at Rizal. He was of regular build, unshaven, quite pale, perhaps as a result of his confinement but he was visibly composed and serene. A Jesuit approached him, said a prayer, and blessed him. Then a colonel approached him too, as our commanding officer ordered us to move two paces backward, and the firing squad of six Filipinos came forward and took our former position behind Rizal. With visible effort, Rizal raised his right hand which was tied, and took off his chistera or derby hat. My heartbeat fast, as in all other ex*****ons I had witnessed before, I felt tense and nervous. Amidst the silence, Rizal moved his head very slowly up and down, his lips moving as if in prayer.

"Then the commanding officer by means of his saber signaled the firing squad to aim. Then the saber dropped and there was a simultaneous crack of rifle fire that shattered the stillness of the morning. Jose Rizal wheeled in one last effort and toppled forward with a thud, his face towards the sky and his derby hat thrown ahead. He had fallen in the direction of the bay.

"Many of the reos [condemned criminals] had been caused to kneel and be hoodwinked before they were shot on the head. But Rizal was spared that humiliation.
"Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a small dog appeared and ran in circles around Rizal’s fallen body, barking and whimpering. This incident would much later be the subject of our talk in our quarters. Some of my comrades were quick to conclude that it was a premonition of a coming misfortune.

"Then the capitan militar de la sanidad (medical officer) stepped forward, knelt before the fallen man, and felt his pulse. Looking up, he beckoned to a member of the firing squad to come forward and give the final tiro de gracia, another shot was done at close range. I thought I saw a faint haze rise from Rizal’s coat, but it might be a wisp of the morning mist. Seeing the body before me, I felt weak.

"The officers began to show animation again. They fell in formation and marched to the tune of the Spanish national air, the Paso Doble Marcha de Cadiz.
"As was customary in past ex*****ons, we filed past the body to view it for the last time. When we were commanded 'eyes left,' I did not shut my eyes as I did at the sight of the several reos whose heads were blown off by rifle fire. I wanted to see the face of the man one last time. Rizal lay dead on the dewy grass. The day had started and I realized that I was gazing on the face of the great Malayan; that I was witnessing history in the making."

[Source: Alberto Mendoza, “I saw Rizal Die,” Sunday Times Magazine 29 December 1949, pp. 10-11.]
*Original post by Emil Justimbaste
PHOTO:
Author: Manuel Arias Rodriguez

13 MARTYRS OF BAGUMBAYAN - 1897

Photo Restoration by Adlai Jan Garcia Jawid

The ex*****on of the 13 members of the Liga in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park, Manila), twelve days after Jose Rizal was executed on the same site, 11 January 1897, Museo del Ejército collection, Toledo, Spain.

1897, days after Philippine independence hero Jose Rizal was shot by the Spanish, 13 martyrs to the same cause suffered the same fate at the same ex*****on grounds.

The 13 Martyrs of Bagumbayan (not to be confused with the 13 Martyrs of Cavite; it was a bakers’ dozen special on Filipino martyrs during the Philippine Revolution) consisted of:

- Domingo Franco
- Numeriano Adriano
- Moises Salvador
- Francisco Roxas
- Jose Dizon
- Benedicto Nijaga
- Cristobal Medina
- Antonio Salazar
- Ramon A. Padilla
- Faustino Villaruel
- Braulio Rivera
- Luis Enciso Villareal
- Eustacio Manalac

They were casualties of Spanish pressure against the revolutionary Katipunan and/or its Rizal-rounded parent organization La Liga Filipina.

Not all this grab-bag of sacrificial patriots were really firebreathing revolutionaries. But the (serious) divisions among Filipino activists and revolutionaries were of small import to the Spanish, who (as the 13-strong martyr batches suggest) went in for the wholesale school of repression.

Perhaps most notable in this day’s batch was Francisco Roxas, one of the Philippines’ wealthiest men. Despite his liberal sympathies, he’d refused the more radical Katipunan’s shakedown for financing, only to have that organization vengefully place his name on a membership list the Spanish were sure to find. (Roxas maintained his innocence, but accepted his unsought martyr’s crown and never betrayed his fellows.)

RIZAL AVE corner RECTO - 1949

Photo Colorization by Adlai Jan Garcia Jawid

Magazine stand, Rizal Avenue corner Recto, Manila, Philippines, 1949

In 1949, the magazine stands of Manila were more than simple places to purchase reading material—they were vibrant gathering points that reflected the hopes, interests, and changing culture of a nation rebuilding after the devastation of the Second World War.

Just four years after liberation, Manila was undergoing a remarkable transformation. Streets once scarred by conflict were slowly returning to life, and among the many signs of recovery were the magazine vendors who lined busy thoroughfares, plazas, and commercial districts. Their modest wooden stalls and newsstands offered a colorful display of local and international publications that attracted students, office workers, soldiers, businessmen, and curious passersby.

The city's busiest magazine stands could be found along the bustling avenues of Escolta, near the markets of Quiapo, and around government offices and transportation hubs. Displayed prominently were copies of newspapers, comic books, movie magazines, literary journals, and imported publications from the United States. Many Filipinos eagerly browsed the latest issues to keep abreast of world affairs, entertainment trends, and developments in the young Philippine Republic.

American influence remained strong during this period. Popular magazines such as *Life*, *Time*, *Reader's Digest*, and *The Saturday Evening Post* often occupied prominent positions on newsstands. Alongside these were local publications that showcased Filipino writers, artists, and journalists who were helping shape the country's postwar identity.

For many Manileños, purchasing a magazine represented more than leisure. It was an affordable connection to the wider world. Newsstands became informal meeting places where customers discussed politics, sports, cinema, and current events. Vendors often knew their regular customers by name and would set aside popular issues for them.

The visual appearance of these stands was equally distinctive. Stacks of magazines were arranged in neat rows, while colorful covers featuring movie stars, political figures, and advertisements competed for attention. The scene reflected the growing consumer culture of the late 1940s, as businesses sought to attract readers with increasingly sophisticated publications and graphic designs.

Children gathered around comic books and illustrated magazines, while adults searched for news about reconstruction, government policies, and international affairs. In an era before television became widespread, magazines played a central role in informing and entertaining the public. They brought stories, photographs, and ideas from across the globe directly into the hands of Manila's residents.

FERNANDO AMORSOLO'S "BATAAN" (Reimagined) - 1942

Painting Reimagination by Adlai Jan Garcia Jawid

Painted in 1942 during the darkest days of the Second World War in the Philippines, "Bataan" by Filipino master painter Fernando Amorsolo captures the profound human tragedy of war. Rather than portraying soldiers in combat, Amorsolo chose to focus on the suffering left in its wake—a grieving Filipina woman mourning over the body of a fallen soldier amid a landscape scarred by destruction.

At the center of the painting stands a young woman clothed in traditional Filipino attire, her head covered by a pale veil. Kneeling beside the bloodied body of a soldier, she gazes upward with an expression of anguish and helplessness. The soldier's lifeless form, combined with the burning ruins and smoke-filled atmosphere surrounding them, transforms the scene into a powerful symbol of the sacrifices endured by countless Filipino families during the Battle of Bataan.

The painting was created in the same year that the Bataan campaign ended with the surrender of Filipino and American forces on April 9, 1942. The defeat was followed by the infamous Bataan Death March, one of the most tragic episodes of the Pacific War. While Amorsolo does not depict the event directly, the artwork embodies the grief, loss, and uncertainty experienced by those whose loved ones never returned home.

Known for his luminous depictions of rural Philippine life, Amorsolo rarely painted scenes as somber as Bataan. The subdued palette, dramatic contrasts, and emotional intensity reveal a different side of the artist—one deeply affected by the wartime suffering of his countrymen. Through this work, he transformed a national tragedy into a deeply personal moment of mourning.

One interesting detail is that Amorsolo painted the woman not merely as an individual mourner, but almost as an allegorical figure representing the Philippines itself—grieving for her fallen sons during one of the nation's most painful wartime chapters.

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