July 26, 2023 • 28 mins
Apolinario Mabini was known as "The Sublime Paralytic" but not many know why he is worthy of our reverence as a national hero. Carmina and Patch discuss his many contributions and shed light on different phases of his life. Learn about his trials, his many heartaches, and the very last signature he tragically left behind. Prepare to be amazed at their discovery about a favorite Pinoy band and how Apolinario Mabini lent his name to the group's moniker. Finally, Patch reminds Carmina to keep her pledge for her future lottery winnings!
To learn more: Mabini's Decalogue for Filipinos, Xiao Talks: The Apolinario Mabini Lecture for the National Archives of the Philippines, Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas: Ang Huling Lagda ni Apolinario Mabini, In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philipines, Apolinario Mabini, A 1920 Biography Of Apolinario Mabini and Mabini.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carmina (00:06):
Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore
everything fun, weird, and inbetween about the Philippines.
And now a quick shout out.
Check out Manila Candle. ManilaCandle features Filipino
inspired scents like Tagaytay,Palawan, Ube Halaya and Buco
(00:30):
and Mango. They also have funones like Ay Nako and Bahala Ka
Sa Buhay Mo.
Patch (00:35):
Enjoy their car fresheners, wax melts and
merchandise to visitmanilacandle.com and take a
trip to the Philippines throughtheir scents.
Carmina (00:46):
Back to our show.
Patch (00:48):
Today's trip is a holiday trip when we talk about
a specific holiday observancefestival or celebration. And
today we are celebrating thelife of Apolinario Mabini.
Carmina (01:01):
So July 23 is the special working holiday that
we're talking about Patch whenApolinario Mabini was born.
July 23, 1864 in Panawan andBatangas . His father was a
farmer. His mom was a coffeefarmer and vendor, and he is
(01:21):
the second of eight children.
Patch (01:24):
His father held the position of Esa de , and his
mother was the daughter of avillage school teacher. So she
could read and write andunderstand the need for
education.
Carmina (01:37):
She was very instrumental in making sure
that Apolinario realized hisfull potential when it came to
education and went to greatlengths to make sure that he
succeeded. There was one timewhen Apolinario needed money.
His mom doubled her efforts tosell all her coffee, to raise
the funds . All she could sellher coffee for was a measly
(02:01):
coin. Even then, she braved badweather to get that coin to
Apolinario, and so she got sickand apparently died after a few
months
Patch (02:12):
Since then. Though I guess the description was that
he felt guilty.
Carmina (02:16):
Yeah, that really underscores just how much they
wanted him to succeed in life.
Speaking of Mabini's studiesmatch, he had his undergraduate
studies, a San Juan De Letran,and there he really showed a
lot of potential for a childhis age and for the station in
his life.
Patch (02:36):
Mabini was a hard worker, even as a child. And
even though he was quiet, hepreferred to sit alone and
meditate rather thanparticipate in many of the
other children's games. It wasknown that he always was
willing to protect anotherchild who has been abused or
bullied by others. In onemonth, he learned the alphabet
(02:57):
and the rosary from his mother,and he was so eager to learn
more that she allowed him toquit herding carabaos and the
farm work . And he was allowedto go travel to his
grandfather's school as avisitor with his older brother.
And Mai was so focused on thelessons that even at the end of
(03:18):
the first week, he knew morethan his brother.
Carmina (03:21):
Wow.
Patch (03:22):
This obviously delighted his grandfather who convinced
the boy's parents to allow himto continue his education.
Carmina (03:29):
Patch . He apparently had a photographic memory.
Patch (03:32):
Yes.
Carmina (03:33):
I wish I had the photographic memory.
Patch (03:36):
Carmina (03:37):
Would've saved me a lot of headaches. . So
we were talking about hisfamily's very humble status and
life, and that required him tobe a working student.
Patch (03:48):
So I believe he was an assistant Latin teacher.
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (03:52):
.
Patch (03:53):
I mean, obviously Latin was hard.. Isn't there
a saying, "it sounds like Latinto me." .
Carmina (04:03):
Yes, and it's a status though to know Latin, right? In
those times.
Patch (04:07):
Mm-hmm..
Carmina (04:07):
So if you knew Latin and you could actually teach
it, that helped boost thestatus even though people knew
he was poor.
Patch (04:15):
There was a short anecdote that I read that while
he was studying in Letran,there was a professor who was
picking on him because of hisclothes. I'm assuming he wore
like very shabby clothing. Andum, apparently he was asking
him a series of difficultquestions to try to stump him,
but apparently he answered allof them flawlessly. And
(04:38):
basically the professor waslike, embarrassed..
Carmina (04:41):
So we should mention though that Mabini success was
not all because of his hardwork. He did have benefactors
during his school life, namelyDon Arcadio and Don Adriano.
They were instrumental in hiseducational and professional
success. Now, these men wereliberals and because of their
(05:01):
connections, he was exposed toliberal people and liberal
ideas that eventually led tohis being a mason . So Patch,
before we go to his politicallife, we know Apolinario to be
a paralytic. Right? And a lotof people thought he contracted
polio when he was young.
(05:22):
Actually, he got sick with itright before the Philippine
Revolution in 1896 when he was32 . And this was especially
sad because he apparently loveddancing all his life. Did you
know that he was not aparalytic since he was a child?
Patch (05:39):
Maybe because there was lack of photographs that I
didn't see him as a child withpolio. I never thought that he
had it when he was a child.
Carmina (05:48):
Oh, wow. Look at you
Patch (05:49):
. Look at me
being ignorant and being
correct by ignorance.
Carmina (05:57):
But at least you knew it wasn't from childhood. I
always thought it was fromchildhood, which shows how
ignorant, and to use your term,I was about Apolinario Mabini.
And in fact, something thatleft the deep impression on me
while doing research for thisepisode is the lack of printed
(06:17):
material about him. Whilereading about his love of
dancing, though I also readthat no one really wanted to be
his partner, wawa.
Patch (06:28):
Oh no, why? I
Carmina (06:29):
I think it was a combination of him, number one,
being poor, and he also hadsome personality , um,
challenges, I guessbecause he was so
intelligent...
Patch (06:43):
And quiet, I think.
Carmina (06:44):
And quiet people viewed him sometimes as being,
you know, not social. You know,other people probably felt ,
um, that he was showing off orbeing arrogant.
Patch (06:55):
I was always curious about people's personality and
how people perceive them, thosewho knew them, like these
heroes, right ? We've alwayslearned that probably Hoel was
very much charming andobviously very good looking .
So I'm always curious. SoMabini was described someone
who was not imposing inappearance, and I quote, so
(07:18):
what does that mean? ?
He's neither here nor there,right?
Carmina (07:24):
Oh no.
Patch (07:25):
"But it was through his personality that one discovered
his greatness. He was of mediumheight and a slight physique.
He carried his head a little toone side. He had a sensitive
face and a high forehead. Hiseyes were penetrating, yet not
lively. When he walked, heeither looked straight ahead
(07:49):
into space or gazed at the sky,and as a rule, he wore the
ordinary Filipino attire. Andhe was never really
well-dressed. He had one blackcoat when he was in law school,
and he never really wore shoesbecause he disliked them so
much. His voice was full andresonant. And he spoke slowly
(08:12):
and distinctly. Through hislife, he was devoutly
religious, he was faithful tohis friends, and he was just in
d ealings with them. Too, proudto accept assistance from
anyone he trusted always to hisown strength. He spoke little
and thought much."
Carmina (08:31):
That's a great way to bring him to life in my head.
So , so you were reading this,he was becoming more and more
animated in my head.,
Patch (08:40):
Yeah. Right? It's always good to hear descriptions of
these titans of history. Youknow what struck me though in
that description? I don't k nowwhy I always thought that he
was against Catholicism. I don't k now why I always thought
that, but apparently he wasvery religious and r emained so
through the rest of his life.
Carmina (09:00):
LYeah. And when we talk about one of his most
important writings that reallypermeates, okay, so Mabini was
a hero, and obviously to be ahero at that time, you really
had to be involved in politics,right?
Patch (09:15):
Right.
Carmina (09:16):
Let's talk about how he got involved in politics and
how he eventually becameinvolved in the Philippine
revolution. So we already saidearlier that his benefactors
during his school life, DonArcadio and Don Adriano were
instrumental in opening hismind to all of these liberal
ideas and introducing him tovarious liberals. His first
(09:39):
known involvement in politicswas when he joined the La Liga
Filipina that was establishedby Jose Rizal . And as we
talked about in the Rizalepisode, the La Liga was only
days in existence because Rizalwas immediately arrested right
after he formed it. Mabini thenjoined an offshoot of La L iga
(10:00):
called, Cuerpo deCompromisarios. At Cuerpo, he
gathered funds for thereformist movement and its
newspaper ab road c alled, LaSolidaridad. Say that ten times
Fast, I don't evenwant to say it a second time
because I perfected it throughpractice. That one time.
Patch (10:21):
I was gonna ask if you practiced that.
Carmina (10:23):
As we know when the La Liga was being formed and when
we were talking about Rizal andBonifacio, it wasn't really
clear what their relationshipwas and all the controversy
surrounding it. There'ssomething similar apparently
that happened with Mabini andthat circle. Around this time
when he was raising funds atthe Cuerpo, Bonifacio was
(10:43):
already organizing the K K K.
But famously Mabini wasn't amember. However, he was often
in dialogue with them, and hiswritings hinted at the cl ose t
ies that he had with theorganization. You know, as we
dig deeper into all of thesehistories of these individuals
Patch, I am beginning to thinkit was part of their strategy
(11:05):
to not be too closely tied witheach other so that they could
kind of continue if one of themever got killed or captured by
the Spaniards.
Patch (11:16):
Yeah, you're probably right.
Carmina (11:17):
There are several controversies though, because
he was called by the Americans,the Brains of the Revolution.
Apparently there was debatebecause in the KKK, Emilio
Jacinto was called the same.
Patch (11:31):
Right.
Carmina (11:32):
Also, he was vocal, sometimes called tactless.
There's some writing thatsurvives from Gregoria de Jesus
who is, as we know, Bonifacio'swife. And on the topic of him
being called the Brains of theRevolution, she said that he
was like somebody who joinedthe banquet when everything was
cooked .
Patch (11:52):
Oh.
Carmina (11:53):
And all he did was really enjoy the meal.
Patch (11:56):
So she wasn't a fan.
Carmina (11:58):
Apparently she wasn't a fan. But this just shows you
that even then a lot of these ,uh, interpersonal dynamics were
at play. So we know whathappened with Bonifacio. We
know what happened with the,how then did he get involved
with Emilio Aguinaldo.
Patch (12:15):
General Emilio Aguinaldo requested Mabini to join the
Revolutionary Government in1898.
Carmina (12:21):
Mm-hmm. < affirmative>.
Patch (12:22):
And that's when he assisted him a nd the
organization i n drafting lawsa nd decrees. And he was named
P resident of the Cabinet,which in today's world is
equivalent to ExecutiveSecretary.
Carmina (12:36):
Aguinaldo read about his writings and was also
hearing about his legal skillsfrom others in his circle. He
wanted Mabini to join therevolutionary cost so much that
he sent for him in a hammockall the way from Los Banos to
Cavite.
Patch (12:53):
And I saw a painting depicting the men carrying him
in a hammock. And I believe ittook, I believe it took
hundreds of men to take turnsin carrying him.
Carmina (13:05):
Patch today, drive time...
Patch (13:08):
That would be one hour and 21 minutes. But if you
walked, it would take 12 hours.
Carmina (13:15):
Wow. . So
imagine, people carrying
someone else in a hammock.
That's how valued he was. Itwas no wonder then Mabini
arrived in Cavite on exactlyJune 12th, 1898, when Aguinaldo
declared PhilippineIndependence. Mabini was not in
favor of declaring Philippineindependence because he was
(13:38):
convinced that we first had todemonstrate our ability to
govern ourselves throughorganized government. And he
correctly predicted that bydoing so, we were going to wage
a war, not just with Spain, butwith America as well. He had
the foresight that America'sinterests in the Philippines
were not entirely just toassist us in the Philippine
(14:02):
revolution.
Patch (14:03):
He disputed this US propaganda that the occupation
was intended to train Filipinosin the art of self-government.
He argued that self-governmentis learned through experience
as demonstrated by the Americanpeople themselves, and that
Filipinos would never learnself-government while under
(14:24):
foreign control.
Carmina (14:26):
Wasn't that so impressive? I read that his
political philosophy wasderived from the American and
French revolutions. So tounderscore what you were just
saying, he really believed thatthe government has to be
faithful to the popular will.
So obviously, Aguinaldo didn'tlisten to him. Right? And
(14:46):
because he saw that he was toolate, he instead helped
Aguinaldo to, to draft thecountry's constitutional
program. So the constitutionalprogram that he wrote granted
full power to Aguinaldo duringthe Revolutionary War, but he
also had the wherewithal tobasically put in checks and
balances. And he described howthe Philippines could be a
(15:08):
democratic institution completewith a vision for a national
legislature and electedofficials, which was unique in
Asia at that time. He alsowrote in guarantees for freedom
of religion, freedom of speech,and women's rights. However, of
course, the Wealthy elite thatwas also part of Aguinaldo's
(15:30):
movement did not like thisbecause it was more friendly to
the people. And so his draft ofthe Constitution was not
adopted, and something elsereplaced it. The Calderon
draft, as it's called, whichwas more friendly to that , uh,
elite faction. Speaking of thedraft constitution that he
(15:53):
wrote, it was accompanied bywhat's called the True
Decalogue for Filipinos. And itwas meant to accompany the
Constitution, written like the10 Commandments. That was like
a guide for patriotism. And alot of historians, both
Filipino and not viewed thisdecalogue really as a guide for
(16:15):
anyone who is interested indemocracy. It's a very short
read and worth pondering,especially in the context of
the times we live in. And Iwould encourage everybody if
they can to read it inTagalog . It especially is very
impactful when read in Tagalog.
In any case, we'll link this inthe show notes for a free
(16:36):
download of the Englishversion. I guess we could also
say that Aguinaldo was at leastsmart enough to know he needed
somebody like that to balanceout his cabinet. Right? But it
must also have been hard forhim to constantly maneuver
between Mabini's populist viewsagainst his wealthy elite
(17:00):
interests. We shouldn't forget,as we mentioned before,
Aguinaldo himself is consideredto be part of that ruling
elite. So speaking of hispolitical enemies, he was also
sometimes called by them asAguinaldo's dark chamber.
Remember, these are his enemiestalking about him ,
Patch (17:20):
These same enemies apparently were the ones who
were spreading rumors that hebecame disabled because he had
syphilis. Yes. And all of thosenasty rumors.
Carmina (17:31):
Right? His political situation within a Aguinaldo's
cabinet apparently became sountenable that he resigned on
May 4th, 1899. And this wasspecifically because when the
Americans were negotiating withthe revolutionary government,
the faction of the wealthyelite scheme to oust him
because of his opposition tothe plans , to ally with the
(17:55):
US. In any case, Aguinaldostill wanted Mabini to be part
of his government. So heproposed to s eat him as a
judge in the Supreme Court, buthis enemies were a dded again,
they opposed i t. A nd guesswhat? Their big reason was?
Patch (18:10):
What?
Carmina (18:10):
Because he was crippled. So Mabiniwas so
furious, and I g uess wrote ina publication where he asked if
it was part of a Supreme Courtjustice's job to walk all day.
< laugh>. I mean, the wholeissue became moot anyway,
because the Supreme Court nevergot established because the
(18:32):
revolutionaries were beinghunted by the Americans. And he
himself was arrested byAmerican forces, in September
of 1899.
Patch (18:39):
He was imprisoned. And specifically, it was between
December 11, 1899 throughSeptember 23rd, 1900. So he was
at Fort Santiago at that time.
But his independence campaignwould continue even after his
release. And he flatly deniedoffers to serve in the
government. And that was whenhe was deported to Guam. Where
(19:04):
he remained two years.
Carmina (19:06):
And we talked about Guam in another episode. So
head over there as to why Guamwas the was the place
where all of these politicalexiles were sent. But do you
think that he became , uh,docile and compliant in Guam?
Of course not.
Patch (19:22):
. No.
Carmina (19:23):
So while in Guam, he continued to write. And he
severely criticized Aguinaldobecause as we know, Aguinaldo
in the end, allied with theAmericans. It was also during
this time that he wrote hismemoir about the Revolutionary
War titled La RevolutionFilipina. And it wasn't just a
memoir. It apparentlydocumented important lessons
(19:45):
for future generations. And hededicated this to his mother.
Another tidbit while in Guam,Patch, that really demonstrates
his personality, an Americanincorrectly commented that
there was no originalPhilippine literature. Guess
what his response was?
Patch (20:03):
What?
Carmina (20:04):
He wrote the entire Florante At Laura ,
which is, you know, a veryfamous original Filipino
creation. Right. During theSpanish colonial period from
memory to prove the Americanwrong.
Patch (20:17):
Yes . Speaking of that photographic memory we were
talking about earlier, right? Ithink it's very interesting to
note a lot of our heroes, theyreceived their education in
Europe.
Carmina (20:29):
Mm-hmm.
,
Patch (20:30):
He is distinct in that he received all his education
in the Philippines.
Carmina (20:35):
Right? And he really is a true Filipino homegrown
hero. So on July 4th, 1902, weknow that the US declared the
Philippine American War over,which of course wasn't true,
and amnesty was declared to allof the political prisoners. So
(20:55):
after 25 months of politicalexile, Mabini embarked the USS
Thomas in February, 1903, alongwith General Ricarte and other
political exiles. Apart fromMabini and Ricarte everyone
else had signed their pledge ofallegiance to the United
(21:17):
States. Aguinaldo and Ricartetold the Americans that they
were going to think aboutsigning the Pledge of
Allegiance during the trip, andwould decide once they arrived
in Manila. The US tried toentice Mabini with all kinds of
political positions, which theyhoped would influence his final
decision. I think I wasmentioning earlier that it was
(21:39):
really hard to find printedbooks about Mabini. There are
actually more YouTube videosthan actual books about him,
which is really, really sad.
And a lot of historians werealso saying that only by
amassing and publishing all ofhis works, can anyone truly
appreciate how profound athinker he was. Among the
(22:01):
YouTube results that I foundwas a theatrical production by
the University of thePhilippines' department of
Speech Communication andTheater Arts titled, Ang Huling
Lagda Ni Apolinario Mabini. InEnglish, it means Apolinario
Mabini's last signature. It's amusical that Chronicles Moi's
last days of exile i n Guam,and gives a window into his
(22:24):
thoughts about his decision toreturn to the Philippines. It's
of course, fictionalized. Butto me, it did a really good job
of exploring Moi's internalstruggles, especially during
that scene when he was on theship on Manila's docks,
thinking about whether to signthe Pledge of Allegiance or n
ot.
Patch (22:45):
Carmina , did he ever actually sign the Pledge of
Allegiance?
Carmina (22:48):
Well, a lot of the things that I read said that he
did. And I was, you know , inthe beginning wondering what is
Mabini's last signature? Soit's referring to his signature
on the Pledge of Allegiance.
And it was his last, because hearrived from Guam on February
26th, 1903, and he died ofcholera just months later on
(23:12):
May 13th, 1903 at the age of38. Can you imagine? You can't
disembark until you do this,and then your country is right
there, like really just downthe plank.
Patch (23:25):
Right?
Carmina (23:26):
A lot of people were critical. And in fact, Ricarte,
who was with him, right?
Ricarte didn't sign i t. So tothe end, General Ricarte stood
his ground. And Ricarte's viewwas that they needed to stand
their ground. In this musical,there was a scene where people
were asking, like in responseto Mabini's critics, what more
(23:46):
could this man have done?
Patch (23:47):
Right? He passed away shortly after his return. It
was actually three months afterhis return from exile. But do
you know how he contractedcholera? He drank unpasteurized
milk.
Carmina (24:00):
Uhhuh.
Yeah.
Patch (24:01):
And that's how he contracted it. So what's
noteworthy for me was when hepassed away, although he was
impoverished, and this is a manwho, like what you said, did so
much for the country. Even so at his funeral was organized by
a lot of his admirers, a lot of labor a nd civic
organizations. And in fact, thefuneral March was that year's
(24:25):
largest gatherings. So he waswell l oved by the people.
Carmina (24:29):
So Patch , I'm really happy that we decided to talk
about the Apolinario Mabinibecause I admit that I am one
of these people who , apartfrom knowing that he was a
paralytic and a hero at thesame time, didn't really know
much else. And there was oneother YouTube video by
Professor Xiao, who was aprominent historian in the
(24:52):
Philippines that talked aboutmany people know why Mabini was
paralyzed, but don't know whyhe's a hero. Which is just a
very sad statement. It made mefeel guilty because I was one
of them. And Patch to myearlier comment about more
YouTube videos being availablerather than his work published
(25:14):
work. I mean, every book that Itried to find, for example,
that memoir that he wrote whilein Guam, out of print.
Patch (25:22):
Right.
Carmina (25:23):
Other writings about him that really digs deep into
his history out of print.
Everything was out of print.
That was so frustrating. So I'mreally hoping that by covering
him in this episode, that willhopefully inspire people to
strive to really find a way topublish this works. Because a
(25:44):
lot of historians feel that itcould benefit not just
Filipinos, but democracieseverywhere. If I win the
lottery, that will be my firstproject, just saying.
So Patch , before we end thisepisode, I wanted to end here.
Do you know the Apo HikingSociety?
Patch (26:03):
Yes, of course.
Carmina (26:04):
They were a famous band in the seventies. And even
today, sadly, one of theirmembers, Danny Javier, died.
Patch (26:12):
Passed away, right.
Carmina (26:13):
Yeah. So rest in peace. But the band was also
made up of two other people,Boboy Garrovillo and Jim
Paredes. I don't know why, butI never really was curious
about what Apo stood for.
. So this is the storybehind their name.
Patch (26:30):
Oh my.
Carmina (26:32):
So the three of them were students at the Ateneo de
Manila High School, and theyformed the band while they were
in high school. They werethinking about names that use
the first letters of Ateneo deManila High school. So that's
AMHS. So when they werebrainstorming, they came up
with Apolinario Mabini, andthey were like, oh, Apolinario
(26:52):
Mabini. Great. He's a hero.
We're all for that. ApolinarioMabini. Okay, so we've got A
and M covered.
Patch (26:59):
Mm-hmm. .
Laughs
Carmina (27:05):
What about HS? So they came up with hiking society,
and it was kind of a funny wayto not funny, I don't know.
It's not politically correctnowadays, because as we know,
he was famous as a paralytic.
Patch (27:19):
Right?
Carmina (27:19):
But they're calling the band Apolinario Mabini
Hiking Society. But they stuckwith it and they considered it
a tribute to Apolinario Mabini,hence Apo Hiking Society.
Patch (27:32):
Wow. I never knew that.
Carmina (27:34):
Me too. But isn't that so much fun to discover?
Patch (27:37):
. Okay,
Carmina. So you're on record
now that when you win the lotto , you're gonna spend at
least some part of yourwinnings on discovering more
fun facts about ApolinarioMabini and other Heros
.
Carmina (27:58):
Well, given that the likelihood of being struck by
lightning is moreprobable than winning
the lotto , let's not hold ourbreath and hope that somebody
takes up the cause before then.
And with that, that's ourepisode. We hope you join us on
our next trip. O siya, siya!
Patch (28:18):
Ingat! Thanks for listening to Filtrip with
Carmina and Patch SupportFiltrip through Patreon or
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Subscribe at Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or wherever all
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Carmina (28:38):
Thanks to FilTrip sponsor, Solepack, a functional
shoe accessory bag. Visitthesolepack .com for more
details.
Patch (28:47):
Email us at the thefiltrip@gmail.com.
Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore
everything fun, weird, and inbetween about the Philippines.
And now a quick shout out.
Check out Manila Candle. ManilaCandle features Filipino
inspired scents like Tagaytay,Palawan, Ube Halaya and Buco
(00:30):
and Mango. They also have funones like Ay Nako and Bahala Ka
Sa Buhay Mo.
Patch (00:35):
Enjoy their car fresheners, wax melts and
merchandise to visitmanilacandle.com and take a
trip to the Philippines throughtheir scents.
Carmina (00:46):
Back to our show.
Patch (00:48):
Today's trip is a holiday trip when we talk about
a specific holiday observancefestival or celebration. And
today we are celebrating thelife of Apolinario Mabini.
Carmina (01:01):
So July 23 is the special working holiday that
we're talking about Patch whenApolinario Mabini was born.
July 23, 1864 in Panawan andBatangas . His father was a
farmer. His mom was a coffeefarmer and vendor, and he is
(01:21):
the second of eight children.
Patch (01:24):
His father held the position of Esa de , and his
mother was the daughter of avillage school teacher. So she
could read and write andunderstand the need for
education.
Carmina (01:37):
She was very instrumental in making sure
that Apolinario realized hisfull potential when it came to
education and went to greatlengths to make sure that he
succeeded. There was one timewhen Apolinario needed money.
His mom doubled her efforts tosell all her coffee, to raise
the funds . All she could sellher coffee for was a measly
(02:01):
coin. Even then, she braved badweather to get that coin to
Apolinario, and so she got sickand apparently died after a few
months
Patch (02:12):
Since then. Though I guess the description was that
he felt guilty.
Carmina (02:16):
Yeah, that really underscores just how much they
wanted him to succeed in life.
Speaking of Mabini's studiesmatch, he had his undergraduate
studies, a San Juan De Letran,and there he really showed a
lot of potential for a childhis age and for the station in
his life.
Patch (02:36):
Mabini was a hard worker, even as a child. And
even though he was quiet, hepreferred to sit alone and
meditate rather thanparticipate in many of the
other children's games. It wasknown that he always was
willing to protect anotherchild who has been abused or
bullied by others. In onemonth, he learned the alphabet
(02:57):
and the rosary from his mother,and he was so eager to learn
more that she allowed him toquit herding carabaos and the
farm work . And he was allowedto go travel to his
grandfather's school as avisitor with his older brother.
And Mai was so focused on thelessons that even at the end of
(03:18):
the first week, he knew morethan his brother.
Carmina (03:21):
Wow.
Patch (03:22):
This obviously delighted his grandfather who convinced
the boy's parents to allow himto continue his education.
Carmina (03:29):
Patch . He apparently had a photographic memory.
Patch (03:32):
Yes.
Carmina (03:33):
I wish I had the photographic memory.
Patch (03:36):
Carmina (03:37):
Would've saved me a lot of headaches.
we were talking about hisfamily's very humble status and
life, and that required him tobe a working student.
Patch (03:48):
So I believe he was an assistant Latin teacher.
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (03:52):
Patch (03:53):
I mean, obviously Latin was hard.
a saying, "it sounds like Latinto me."
Carmina (04:03):
Yes, and it's a status though to know Latin, right? In
those times.
Patch (04:07):
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (04:07):
So if you knew Latin and you could actually teach
it, that helped boost thestatus even though people knew
he was poor.
Patch (04:15):
There was a short anecdote that I read that while
he was studying in Letran,there was a professor who was
picking on him because of hisclothes. I'm assuming he wore
like very shabby clothing. Andum, apparently he was asking
him a series of difficultquestions to try to stump him,
but apparently he answered allof them flawlessly. And
(04:38):
basically the professor waslike, embarrassed.
Carmina (04:41):
So we should mention though that Mabini success was
not all because of his hardwork. He did have benefactors
during his school life, namelyDon Arcadio and Don Adriano.
They were instrumental in hiseducational and professional
success. Now, these men wereliberals and because of their
(05:01):
connections, he was exposed toliberal people and liberal
ideas that eventually led tohis being a mason . So Patch,
before we go to his politicallife, we know Apolinario to be
a paralytic. Right? And a lotof people thought he contracted
polio when he was young.
(05:22):
Actually, he got sick with itright before the Philippine
Revolution in 1896 when he was32 . And this was especially
sad because he apparently loveddancing all his life. Did you
know that he was not aparalytic since he was a child?
Patch (05:39):
Maybe because there was lack of photographs that I
didn't see him as a child withpolio. I never thought that he
had it when he was a child.
Carmina (05:48):
Oh, wow. Look at you
Patch (05:49):
correct by ignorance.
Carmina (05:57):
But at least you knew it wasn't from childhood. I
always thought it was fromchildhood, which shows how
ignorant, and to use your term,I was about Apolinario Mabini.
And in fact, something thatleft the deep impression on me
while doing research for thisepisode is the lack of printed
(06:17):
material about him. Whilereading about his love of
dancing, though I also readthat no one really wanted to be
his partner, wawa.
Patch (06:28):
Oh no, why? I
Carmina (06:29):
I think it was a combination of him, number one,
being poor, and he also hadsome personality , um,
challenges
intelligent...
Patch (06:43):
And quiet, I think.
Carmina (06:44):
And quiet people viewed him sometimes as being,
you know, not social. You know,other people probably felt ,
um, that he was showing off orbeing arrogant.
Patch (06:55):
I was always curious about people's personality and
how people perceive them, thosewho knew them, like these
heroes, right ? We've alwayslearned that probably Hoel was
very much charming andobviously very good looking .
So I'm always curious. SoMabini was described someone
who was not imposing inappearance, and I quote, so
(07:18):
what does that mean?
He's neither here nor there,right?
Carmina (07:24):
Oh no.
Patch (07:25):
"But it was through his personality that one discovered
his greatness. He was of mediumheight and a slight physique.
He carried his head a little toone side. He had a sensitive
face and a high forehead. Hiseyes were penetrating, yet not
lively. When he walked, heeither looked straight ahead
(07:49):
into space or gazed at the sky,and as a rule, he wore the
ordinary Filipino attire. Andhe was never really
well-dressed. He had one blackcoat when he was in law school,
and he never really wore shoesbecause he disliked them so
much. His voice was full andresonant. And he spoke slowly
(08:12):
and distinctly. Through hislife, he was devoutly
religious, he was faithful tohis friends, and he was just in
d ealings with them. Too, proudto accept assistance from
anyone he trusted always to hisown strength. He spoke little
and thought much."
Carmina (08:31):
That's a great way to bring him to life in my head.
So , so you were reading this,he was becoming more and more
animated in my head.
Patch (08:40):
Yeah. Right? It's always good to hear descriptions of
these titans of history. Youknow what struck me though in
that description? I don't k nowwhy I always thought that he
was against Catholicism. I don't k now why I always thought
that, but apparently he wasvery religious and r emained so
through the rest of his life.
Carmina (09:00):
LYeah. And when we talk about one of his most
important writings that reallypermeates, okay, so Mabini was
a hero, and obviously to be ahero at that time, you really
had to be involved in politics,right?
Patch (09:15):
Right.
Carmina (09:16):
Let's talk about how he got involved in politics and
how he eventually becameinvolved in the Philippine
revolution. So we already saidearlier that his benefactors
during his school life, DonArcadio and Don Adriano were
instrumental in opening hismind to all of these liberal
ideas and introducing him tovarious liberals. His first
(09:39):
known involvement in politicswas when he joined the La Liga
Filipina that was establishedby Jose Rizal . And as we
talked about in the Rizalepisode, the La Liga was only
days in existence because Rizalwas immediately arrested right
after he formed it. Mabini thenjoined an offshoot of La L iga
(10:00):
called, Cuerpo deCompromisarios. At Cuerpo, he
gathered funds for thereformist movement and its
newspaper ab road c alled, LaSolidaridad. Say that ten times
Fast
because I perfected it throughpractice. That one time.
Patch (10:21):
I was gonna ask if you practiced that.
Carmina (10:23):
As we know when the La Liga was being formed and when
we were talking about Rizal andBonifacio, it wasn't really
clear what their relationshipwas and all the controversy
surrounding it. There'ssomething similar apparently
that happened with Mabini andthat circle. Around this time
when he was raising funds atthe Cuerpo, Bonifacio was
(10:43):
already organizing the K K K.
But famously Mabini wasn't amember. However, he was often
in dialogue with them, and hiswritings hinted at the cl ose t
ies that he had with theorganization. You know, as we
dig deeper into all of thesehistories of these individuals
Patch, I am beginning to thinkit was part of their strategy
(11:05):
to not be too closely tied witheach other so that they could
kind of continue if one of themever got killed or captured by
the Spaniards.
Patch (11:16):
Yeah, you're probably right.
Carmina (11:17):
There are several controversies though, because
he was called by the Americans,the Brains of the Revolution.
Apparently there was debatebecause in the KKK, Emilio
Jacinto was called the same.
Patch (11:31):
Right.
Carmina (11:32):
Also, he was vocal, sometimes called tactless.
There's some writing thatsurvives from Gregoria de Jesus
who is, as we know, Bonifacio'swife. And on the topic of him
being called the Brains of theRevolution, she said that he
was like somebody who joinedthe banquet when everything was
cooked
Patch (11:52):
Oh.
Carmina (11:53):
And all he did was really enjoy the meal
Patch (11:56):
So she wasn't a fan.
Carmina (11:58):
Apparently she wasn't a fan. But this just shows you
that even then a lot of these ,uh, interpersonal dynamics were
at play. So we know whathappened with Bonifacio. We
know what happened with the,how then did he get involved
with Emilio Aguinaldo.
Patch (12:15):
General Emilio Aguinaldo requested Mabini to join the
Revolutionary Government in1898.
Carmina (12:21):
Mm-hmm. < affirmative>.
Patch (12:22):
And that's when he assisted him a nd the
organization i n drafting lawsa nd decrees. And he was named
P resident of the Cabinet,which in today's world is
equivalent to ExecutiveSecretary.
Carmina (12:36):
Aguinaldo read about his writings and was also
hearing about his legal skillsfrom others in his circle. He
wanted Mabini to join therevolutionary cost so much that
he sent for him in a hammockall the way from Los Banos to
Cavite.
Patch (12:53):
And I saw a painting depicting the men carrying him
in a hammock. And I believe ittook, I believe it took
hundreds of men to take turnsin carrying him.
Carmina (13:05):
Patch today, drive time...
Patch (13:08):
That would be one hour and 21 minutes. But if you
walked, it would take 12 hours.
Carmina (13:15):
Wow.
someone else in a hammock.
That's how valued he was. Itwas no wonder then Mabini
arrived in Cavite on exactlyJune 12th, 1898, when Aguinaldo
declared PhilippineIndependence. Mabini was not in
favor of declaring Philippineindependence because he was
(13:38):
convinced that we first had todemonstrate our ability to
govern ourselves throughorganized government. And he
correctly predicted that bydoing so, we were going to wage
a war, not just with Spain, butwith America as well. He had
the foresight that America'sinterests in the Philippines
were not entirely just toassist us in the Philippine
(14:02):
revolution.
Patch (14:03):
He disputed this US propaganda that the occupation
was intended to train Filipinosin the art of self-government.
He argued that self-governmentis learned through experience
as demonstrated by the Americanpeople themselves, and that
Filipinos would never learnself-government while under
(14:24):
foreign control.
Carmina (14:26):
Wasn't that so impressive? I read that his
political philosophy wasderived from the American and
French revolutions. So tounderscore what you were just
saying, he really believed thatthe government has to be
faithful to the popular will.
So obviously, Aguinaldo didn'tlisten to him. Right? And
(14:46):
because he saw that he was toolate, he instead helped
Aguinaldo to, to draft thecountry's constitutional
program. So the constitutionalprogram that he wrote granted
full power to Aguinaldo duringthe Revolutionary War, but he
also had the wherewithal tobasically put in checks and
balances. And he described howthe Philippines could be a
(15:08):
democratic institution completewith a vision for a national
legislature and electedofficials, which was unique in
Asia at that time. He alsowrote in guarantees for freedom
of religion, freedom of speech,and women's rights. However, of
course, the Wealthy elite thatwas also part of Aguinaldo's
(15:30):
movement did not like thisbecause it was more friendly to
the people. And so his draft ofthe Constitution was not
adopted, and something elsereplaced it. The Calderon
draft, as it's called, whichwas more friendly to that , uh,
elite faction. Speaking of thedraft constitution that he
(15:53):
wrote, it was accompanied bywhat's called the True
Decalogue for Filipinos. And itwas meant to accompany the
Constitution, written like the10 Commandments. That was like
a guide for patriotism. And alot of historians, both
Filipino and not viewed thisdecalogue really as a guide for
(16:15):
anyone who is interested indemocracy. It's a very short
read and worth pondering,especially in the context of
the times we live in. And Iwould encourage everybody if
they can
impactful when read in Tagalog.
In any case, we'll link this inthe show notes for a free
(16:36):
download of the Englishversion. I guess we could also
say that Aguinaldo was at leastsmart enough to know he needed
somebody like that to balanceout his cabinet. Right? But it
must also have been hard forhim to constantly maneuver
between Mabini's populist viewsagainst his wealthy elite
(17:00):
interests. We shouldn't forget,as we mentioned before,
Aguinaldo himself is consideredto be part of that ruling
elite. So speaking of hispolitical enemies, he was also
sometimes called by them asAguinaldo's dark chamber.
Remember, these are his enemiestalking about him
Patch (17:20):
These same enemies apparently were the ones who
were spreading rumors that hebecame disabled because he had
syphilis. Yes. And all of thosenasty rumors.
Carmina (17:31):
Right? His political situation within a Aguinaldo's
cabinet apparently became sountenable that he resigned on
May 4th, 1899. And this wasspecifically because when the
Americans were negotiating withthe revolutionary government,
the faction of the wealthyelite scheme to oust him
because of his opposition tothe plans , to ally with the
(17:55):
US. In any case, Aguinaldostill wanted Mabini to be part
of his government. So heproposed to s eat him as a
judge in the Supreme Court, buthis enemies were a dded again,
they opposed i t. A nd guesswhat? Their big reason was?
Patch (18:10):
What?
Carmina (18:10):
Because he was crippled. So Mabiniwas so
furious, and I g uess wrote ina publication where he asked if
it was part of a Supreme Courtjustice's job to walk all day.
< laugh>. I mean, the wholeissue became moot anyway,
because the Supreme Court nevergot established because the
(18:32):
revolutionaries were beinghunted by the Americans. And he
himself was arrested byAmerican forces, in September
of 1899.
Patch (18:39):
He was imprisoned. And specifically, it was between
December 11, 1899 throughSeptember 23rd, 1900. So he was
at Fort Santiago at that time.
But his independence campaignwould continue even after his
release. And he flatly deniedoffers to serve in the
government. And that was whenhe was deported to Guam. Where
(19:04):
he remained two years.
Carmina (19:06):
And we talked about Guam in another episode. So
head over there as to why Guamwas the
where all of these politicalexiles were sent. But do you
think that he became , uh,docile and compliant in Guam?
Of course not.
Patch (19:22):
Carmina (19:23):
So while in Guam, he continued to write. And he
severely criticized Aguinaldobecause as we know, Aguinaldo
in the end, allied with theAmericans. It was also during
this time that he wrote hismemoir about the Revolutionary
War titled La RevolutionFilipina. And it wasn't just a
memoir. It apparentlydocumented important lessons
(19:45):
for future generations. And hededicated this to his mother.
Another tidbit while in Guam,Patch, that really demonstrates
his personality, an Americanincorrectly commented that
there was no originalPhilippine literature. Guess
what his response was?
Patch (20:03):
What?
Carmina (20:04):
He wrote the entire Florante At Laura
which is, you know, a veryfamous original Filipino
creation. Right. During theSpanish colonial period from
memory to prove the Americanwrong
Patch (20:17):
Yes . Speaking of that photographic memory we were
talking about earlier, right? Ithink it's very interesting to
note a lot of our heroes, theyreceived their education in
Europe.
Carmina (20:29):
Mm-hmm.
Patch (20:30):
He is distinct in that he received all his education
in the Philippines.
Carmina (20:35):
Right? And he really is a true Filipino homegrown
hero. So on July 4th, 1902, weknow that the US declared the
Philippine American War over,which of course wasn't true,
and amnesty was declared to allof the political prisoners. So
(20:55):
after 25 months of politicalexile, Mabini embarked the USS
Thomas in February, 1903, alongwith General Ricarte and other
political exiles. Apart fromMabini and Ricarte everyone
else had signed their pledge ofallegiance to the United
(21:17):
States. Aguinaldo and Ricartetold the Americans that they
were going to think aboutsigning the Pledge of
Allegiance during the trip, andwould decide once they arrived
in Manila. The US tried toentice Mabini with all kinds of
political positions, which theyhoped would influence his final
decision. I think I wasmentioning earlier that it was
(21:39):
really hard to find printedbooks about Mabini. There are
actually more YouTube videosthan actual books about him,
which is really, really sad.
And a lot of historians werealso saying that only by
amassing and publishing all ofhis works, can anyone truly
appreciate how profound athinker he was. Among the
(22:01):
YouTube results that I foundwas a theatrical production by
the University of thePhilippines' department of
Speech Communication andTheater Arts titled, Ang Huling
Lagda Ni Apolinario Mabini. InEnglish, it means Apolinario
Mabini's last signature. It's amusical that Chronicles Moi's
last days of exile i n Guam,and gives a window into his
(22:24):
thoughts about his decision toreturn to the Philippines. It's
of course, fictionalized. Butto me, it did a really good job
of exploring Moi's internalstruggles, especially during
that scene when he was on theship on Manila's docks,
thinking about whether to signthe Pledge of Allegiance or n
ot.
Patch (22:45):
Carmina , did he ever actually sign the Pledge of
Allegiance?
Carmina (22:48):
Well, a lot of the things that I read said that he
did. And I was, you know , inthe beginning wondering what is
Mabini's last signature? Soit's referring to his signature
on the Pledge of Allegiance.
And it was his last, because hearrived from Guam on February
26th, 1903, and he died ofcholera just months later on
(23:12):
May 13th, 1903 at the age of38. Can you imagine? You can't
disembark until you do this,and then your country is right
there, like really just downthe plank.
Patch (23:25):
Right?
Carmina (23:26):
A lot of people were critical. And in fact, Ricarte,
who was with him, right?
Ricarte didn't sign i t. So tothe end, General Ricarte stood
his ground. And Ricarte's viewwas that they needed to stand
their ground. In this musical,there was a scene where people
were asking, like in responseto Mabini's critics, what more
(23:46):
could this man have done?
Patch (23:47):
Right? He passed away shortly after his return. It
was actually three months afterhis return from exile. But do
you know how he contractedcholera? He drank unpasteurized
milk.
Carmina (24:00):
Uhhuh
Yeah.
Patch (24:01):
And that's how he contracted it. So what's
noteworthy for me was when hepassed away, although he was
impoverished, and this is a manwho, like what you said, did so
much for the country. Even so at his funeral was organized by
a lot of his admirers, a lot of labor a nd civic
organizations. And in fact, thefuneral March was that year's
(24:25):
largest gatherings. So he waswell l oved by the people.
Carmina (24:29):
So Patch , I'm really happy that we decided to talk
about the Apolinario Mabinibecause I admit that I am one
of these people who , apartfrom knowing that he was a
paralytic and a hero at thesame time, didn't really know
much else. And there was oneother YouTube video by
Professor Xiao, who was aprominent historian in the
(24:52):
Philippines that talked aboutmany people know why Mabini was
paralyzed, but don't know whyhe's a hero. Which is just a
very sad statement. It made mefeel guilty because I was one
of them. And Patch to myearlier comment about more
YouTube videos being availablerather than his work published
(25:14):
work. I mean, every book that Itried to find, for example,
that memoir that he wrote whilein Guam, out of print.
Patch (25:22):
Right.
Carmina (25:23):
Other writings about him that really digs deep into
his history out of print.
Everything was out of print.
That was so frustrating. So I'mreally hoping that by covering
him in this episode, that willhopefully inspire people to
strive to really find a way topublish this works. Because a
(25:44):
lot of historians feel that itcould benefit not just
Filipinos, but democracieseverywhere. If I win the
lottery, that will be my firstproject,
So Patch , before we end thisepisode, I wanted to end here.
Do you know the Apo HikingSociety?
Patch (26:03):
Yes, of course.
Carmina (26:04):
They were a famous band in the seventies. And even
today, sadly, one of theirmembers, Danny Javier, died.
Patch (26:12):
Passed away, right.
Carmina (26:13):
Yeah. So rest in peace. But the band was also
made up of two other people,Boboy Garrovillo and Jim
Paredes. I don't know why, butI never really was curious
about what Apo stood for.
Patch (26:30):
Oh my.
Carmina (26:32):
So the three of them were students at the Ateneo de
Manila High School, and theyformed the band while they were
in high school. They werethinking about names that use
the first letters of Ateneo deManila High school. So that's
AMHS. So when they werebrainstorming, they came up
with Apolinario Mabini, andthey were like, oh, Apolinario
(26:52):
Mabini. Great. He's a hero.
We're all for that. ApolinarioMabini. Okay, so we've got A
and M covered.
Patch (26:59):
Mm-hmm.
Laughs
Carmina (27:05):
What about HS? So they came up with hiking society,
and it was kind of a funny wayto not funny, I don't know.
It's not politically correctnowadays, because as we know,
he was famous as a paralytic.
Patch (27:19):
Right?
Carmina (27:19):
But they're calling the band Apolinario Mabini
Hiking Society. But they stuckwith it and they considered it
a tribute to Apolinario Mabini,hence Apo Hiking Society.
Patch (27:32):
Wow. I never knew that.
Carmina (27:34):
Me too. But isn't that so much fun to discover?
Patch (27:37):
now that when you win the lotto
least some part of yourwinnings on discovering more
fun facts about ApolinarioMabini and other Heros
.
Carmina (27:58):
Well, given that the likelihood of being struck by
lightning
the lotto , let's not hold ourbreath and hope that somebody
takes up the cause before then.
And with that, that's ourepisode. We hope you join us on
our next trip. O siya, siya!
Patch (28:18):
Ingat! Thanks for listening to Filtrip with
Carmina and Patch SupportFiltrip through Patreon or
PayPal. And follow us onInstagram and Twitter.
Subscribe at Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or wherever all
podcasts are downloaded.
Carmina (28:38):
Thanks to FilTrip sponsor, Solepack, a functional
shoe accessory bag. Visitthesolepack .com for more
details.
Patch (28:47):
Email us at the thefiltrip@gmail.com.
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