NOTE: The original article was written in my old blog, Pinoy-Culture.com on June 16, 2016. That blog does not exist any longer. I have used the original article, editing and expanding on it.

It’s that time of year again, where Filipino communities in the Philippines and the diaspora come together and celebrate Philippines Independence Day through parades and festivities. But what exactly does it mean to be independent? It is a topic that often gets stuck on my mind every year. Yes, we are our own sovereign nation and we have won our freedom from Spain, Japan (while technically not colonized, we were under them for a time including the British occupation) and the United States. However, are we really and truly free?

TIMELINE OF THE PHILIPPINES INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN

June 12, 2024 marks 126 years since the Philippines declared itself free from Spain. Many look to the formation of the revolutionary organization, the Katipunan, the leadership of Andres Bonifacio, and the acts of General Emilio Aguinaldo and others at the time, when discussing the road to independence. You have to realize however, that while these were important events, revolts against the Spaniards were held throughout the islands for many years prior to this. From the longest revolt in history, the Dagohoy Rebellion, which lasted for 83 years and led by Francisco Dagohoy in Bohol, to the Silang Revolt led by Diego and Gabriela Silang in Ilocos, these revolts were local. Sentiments to be free from Spanish colonial rule were held and were acted upon, however there was never a truly unified front across the Philippines. Most of the revolts used guerrilla tactics against the Spaniards, but there never was one true leader or unified uprising and army against the Spanish.

The secret organization, the Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, aka the K.K.K. or the Katipunan, was founded in Manila on July 7, 1892, with Andres Bonifacio being one of the founding fathers and primary leader. The founding members came together and forged the beginning of the organization by a blood compact, or sandugo, a traditional and pre-colonial method of forming an agreement, alliance, or making an oath. Members of the Katipunan proceeded to perform the sandugo by drawing their blood and signing their names and oaths in blood, some even writing the entirety of their oaths in it. This is reminiscent to the pre-colonial tradition of sandugo where they would draw their own blood and mix it in a cup of water to be drank by the parties involved in the oath. For the Katipunan, members would use a particular instrument to cut their arm. Renowned Filipino historian, Ambeth Ocampo, posted on his Facebook last year of a scanned image of a title-page in an 1897 book on the Katipunan that has an illustrative photo of how the instrument looked like. Eventually, this secret organization gained more members and chapters primarily in Luzon, from Batangas, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, Laguna Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Bicol, and Pangasinan.

In the Visayas, uprisings occurred in Panay separate from the Katipunan, eventually leading to the formation of the independent Federal State of the Visayas after the Panay Revolt of 1898. This separate state was short-lived however, only lasting for 4 months before Aguinaldo set to abolish it. While records of these events are lacking compared to the records of the Katipunan, several documents were supposedly resurfaced and sold in the Asian Cultural Council Auction hosted by the Leon Gallery on February 27, 2021. Where these documents are and who owns them I am not sure, but I would love to dig into the whereabouts of them and for historians to determine their validity.

After the arrest and execution of Andres Bonifacio by the orders of Emilio Aguinaldo, he would eventually declare the Philippines as its own nation on June 12, 1898. At this point, the Filipino freedom fighters fought and defeated the Spaniards, crippling them to one of their last remaining stronghold, the walled city of Intramuros. Spain at the time battled with two problems, losing face to the new and emerging colonial power, the United States. The second was losing the fight against the Filipinos who they colonized and rules over for 333 years, but refusing to admit defeat. In desperation to save themselves from mockery of losing to those they colonized, Spain chose to work with the U.S. Both parties planned a mock battle to pretend the Spanish forces lost to the U.S. This mock battle would be known in history as the Battle of Manila and was agreed upon by the admiral of the U.S. navy, George Dewey and the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, Fermín Jáudenes. In the disguise of being allies with the Filipino revolutionaries, the U.S. gave a false pretense to them and Emilio Aguinaldo that they were there to support the revolution, hiding the fact that this was not the case. During the same day of the Battle of Manila, U.S. forces prevented the Philippine troops from entering the walled city of Intramuros, claiming Manila as theirs.

After this mock battle, the U.S. would then gain the Philippines from Spain during the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 189. Spain gave the U.S. the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam, thus ending the Spanish-American War. Shortly after, learning what was done and that the U.S. was now becoming the new colonial power instead of Spain, ignited the continued fight for independence from one colonial ruler to a new one, the emerging imperialist nation, the U.S. The revolution and the Filipinos who would rise and fight against the Americans would then lead to the Philippine-American War, or known in U.S. history books, the Philippine Resurrection.

NAMED AFTER A KING FROM SPAIN

Colonization of our people first started when Ferdinand Magellan first stepped foot on the shores of the island of Homonhon on March 16, 1521. Homonhon back then was uninhabited and considered a sacred island. The Spaniards called it, “Isla Encantada” according to Padre Francisco Alcina. In his Historia de las islas e indios visayas (1668), he mentions in Part 2, Book 3, Chapter 25, that the Visayans, particularly in Samar and Leyte, believed the island was sacred. They would go there as a pilgrimage to offer prayers to the diwata, the deities, in particular to the diwata, Makapatag, the son of the diwata Malaon. Makapatag to the people of Leyte and Samar, was the supreme deity who was likened to Jupiter of the Romans. Events during the early days of colonization, from the arrival of Magellan to the Battle of Mactan in April 27, 1521, would eventually lead to the eventual formation and history of what is now known as the Philippines.

Today, we acknowledge our Independence Day, not on the day when the U.S. finally let go of the Philippines as a colony and commonwealth on July 4, 1946, but on June 12, commemorating General Emilio Aguinaldo’s declaration of independence from Spain. However, why is it that after 126 years we are still named after a dead Spanish king? The Philippines, or Filipinas, was the name given to the islands by Spain in honor of King Felipe II, the king of Spain when the Philippines was first colonized. Why haven’t we managed to change the name of the country after all these years to something that we can proudly call ours, instead of using a name that still represents our colonization. The term Filipino itself wasn’t even originally used to refer to us. Historically, the term Filipino was used to refer to the Spaniards who lived and resided on the islands, whereas we were simply referred to as Indios.

Many believe that we shouldn’t change the name of the country because of its prominence in history, with others thinking why even bother, it’s not important. In my opinion it is important, as by changing the name we can finally and truly start to break away from the effects of colonization and establish ourselves. There have been so many nations who were once colonized who have changed their colonial names or branched out from another country to a new one to signify their new free nation. Some examples are Burma to Mynamar, Siam to Thailand, Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, Dutch East Indies to Indonesia, French Indochina to Vietnam, Formosa to Taiwan, Peking to Beijing, Ceylon to Sri Lanka, and many more. They have chosen a name to represent them and disposed of the name their colonizers used, so why not us? As the first nation in Asia to rise up and revolt against their colonizers, inspiring those around us such as Indonesia to due the same, it’s tragic that we still hold on to the name from Spain. It’s my firm belief that to further entice and help shake off the remnants of colonization, changing the name of the country to something we can agree on and call ours would be a boost in changing the nation for the better good.

The question remains however, what name would we choose? Past proposals to changing the name of the Philippines have been brought up before, including when President Ferdinand Marcos attempted to change it to Maharlika, which fell through due to problems during Marco’s regime. People today who support the name change however, still suggest to changing the name to Maharlika. However, the term Maharlika is rejected by many, including myself, because the term was actually an old Tagalog term to refer to a social class of the Tagalog before the colonization. Maharlika was the term for the nobility and warriors, the “free people” who weren’t slaves or commoners. So calling the country Maharlika wouldn’t be right, in fact it’s a little egotistical, because the majority of the people aren’t of nobility and aren’t warriors. Using the term would also further perpetuate the favor of a certain group of people in the old social classes along with using a Tagalog term.

Another name proposed was “Katagalugan”, which was first suggested by Andres Bonifacio. However, the problem with that one is that Katagalugan essentially translates to “The Tagalog nation” and again, we don’t all come from the Tagalog ethnic group despite Bonifacio originally saying the others were Tagalog as well.

So what then should we call the Philippines if we were in fact changing the name? This would have to be discussed and agreed upon by the majority of the country. It should be a name that we can all be prideful of and doesn’t specifically refer to or use the language of one group, in particular the Tagalog. I’ve proposed in the past on my old blog, Pinoy-Culture on Tumblr, the name Saribayan, essentially meaning “diverse, mixed, or varied nation” which for me would refer to the rich diversity of the Philippines and all the ethnic groups who call the islands home. But a thorough discussion would have to take place in order to decided on a name.

ARE WE TRULY FREE?

While we celebrate our independence and wave the Philippine flag up high with immense pride, you have to ask yourself and think, are we truly free? While the Philippines may not be under Spain or the U.S. any longer, including even the short occupation from the British and Japan, how can we still call ourselves free when the colonial mentality and oppression of our people is still present today? How can we as a people truly say we are independent, when we are still dependent on the U.S., with many still continuing to suggest we would be better off being a colony once again or to become a state? There was even a petition going around back in 2014 for the Philippines to become a state which had 7,635 people sign and support it.

How can we say we are truly independent when we keep sending people overseas to be OFW’s (overseas Filipino workers), making our own people as the country’s number one export, perpetually pushed for by the Philippine government. Often times, these OFW’s leave their families for years on end to work abroad while sending money back home in the Philippines. People are often sent abroad to study and get a better education than what they can gain in the Philippines or they leave to get better paying jobs to help support their families back home. It’s not until many years have passed when they are old enough to retire do they ever come back, sometimes never even coming back. How are we truly independent and free when the cries of our people are so loud, yet unheard? How are we truly independent when the U.S. still have control over us through politics, economics, and when we as a people are denied our basic rights?

From the early days of colonization starting with the arrival of Magellan to now, our struggles for true freedom and independence still continues to persist today. From the U.S. militarization within our waters and China’s claims on the Spratly Islands. From years of fighting the dictatorship and corruption within the Philippine government, including the likes of Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Rodrigo Duterte. From the corporations, often owned by foreigners, who continue to push people out of their ancestral homes in favor of logging, mining, and the building of resorts at the cost of the destruction of the land and lives of the people living there. In Mindanao, many are still refugee’s within their own homelands, often fleeing from the conflicts and militarization occurring there. From the Lumad persistently being persecuted and unable to go back to their homes and schools due to military occupation, to the displaced residents of Marawi City who are still unable to return back home after the Siege of Marawi (which lasted from May 23-October 23, 2017), many living in shelters with false promises of compensation from the government and unable to go back after 7 years since the siege.

Many of our people still continue to struggle with poverty, with a gap between those who are wealthy or better off, to those living day by day trying to survive. Exploitation, either sexual or physical, both continue to exist within the Philippines and abroad, often resulting from individuals trying to escape from poverty. In terms of where all the money and wealth in the country goes to, it all goes toward what many people like to all, “Imperial Manila,” leaving the rest of the provinces to dust.

Many of our people are routinely killed for voicing their opinions and raising awareness to the onslaught of the people. From indigenous members of various ethnic groups in the Philippines such as the Ati in Boracay and the various ethnic groups under the general term, Lumad, being purposely killed for defending their lands and people, to activists, journalists, and innocent people who have been killed during Duterte’s Drug War, all kidnapped and slaughtered by those in government and in corporations who want to silence them.

So how can we, as Filipinos, truly admit and state that we as a whole are free when all of this continues today? How can we say we are free, when all of us are not?

While celebrating our independence from our colonizers, I feel that it’s important to realize and acknowledge that we are still not truly free until everyone is. These struggles and the fight for true freedom has not ended despite being freed from Spain and eventually the U.S. The continued oppression of our people, the U.S. militarization of the Philippines, and the ongoing attack to the Philippines sovereignty by China, need to be addressed before we can truly say we are free.

So as we celebrate the 126th anniversary of the Philippines Declaration of Independence from Spain, let us not forget all the heroes and heroines who fought and died for a true, independent Philippines. Let us not forget those who have died fighting for their right to live in freedom within their ancestral lands and to those who were violently killed raising awareness of the struggles our people face. May we continue to fight for a true, independent, and free Philippines.