20090831

National Historical Institute: José Alejandrino

JOSÉ ALEJANDRINO
(1870-1951)
General, Philippine Army

Jose Alejandrino proved his love of country and great heroism as an engineer and general in the revolutionary army of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. Considered an early Filipino chemical engineer, he was born to a wealthy couple from Arayat, Pampanga on December 1, 1870 in Binondo, Manila. His brother, Col. Joaquin Alejandrino, also rendered military service during the Philippine Revolution, assisting Gen. Manuel Tinio.

General Alejandrino obtained his education both here and abroad, initially at the Ateneo Municipal and, thereafter, at the University of Santo Tomas, where he acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree. He pursued his studies in Spain and at the University of Ghent in Belgium, where he distinguished himself and brought honor to his country through his superior academic performance. Edilberto Evangelista, another Filipino engineer who served in the revolutionary army, was his schoolmate in Ghent. In July 1895, he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering.

While in Spain, Alejandrino became an active member of the Propaganda Movement, which strove to secure political reforms in the Philippines from the Spanish government. Together with Eduardo Lete and Dominador Gomez, he joined the editorial staff of La Solidaridad, the mouthpiece of the Propagandists. When the Propagandists decided to hold an election for the leadership of the Filipino community in Spain, two partisan groups emerged. One, in support of Marcelo H. del Pilar, was led by Antonio Luna and included Dominador Gomez, Salvador V. del Rosario and Mariano Ponce. The other group, composed of M. Salvador, Galicano Apacible, B. Roxas and Alejandrino himself, supported Rizal, who eventually won the presidency but gave it up in favor of Del Pilar. Alejandrino and Rizal, who were close friends, were together when the latter had El Filibusterismo, his great sequel to Noli Me Tangere, published. It was Alejandrino bought the manuscript to the printing press.

On November 21,1896, several months after the Philippine Revolution broke out, Alejandrino accompanied by Feliciano Jocson, journeyed to Kawit , Cavite to seek a meeting with General Aguinaldo. Evangelista his old schoolmate at the University of Ghent, had proposed that he acquired the much-needed arms for the revolutionaries from either China or Japan. Alejandrino offered to undertake the dangerous mission. When Aguinaldo accepted his offer, he proceeded to Hong Kong, where he help organized the Revolutionary Council along with Felipe Agoncillo, Jose Basa, and Mariano Ponce. Much later he became part of the group in Hong Kong Committee, which included Agoncillo and Galicano Apacible who staunchly advocated independence, as opposed to the circle led by Jose Basa and Doroteo Cortes, who were for annexing the country to the United States.

From Hong Kong, however, was able to dispatch to the revolutionaries in the Philippines only dynamites and rifle pistons. Thus, in February 1897, he left Hong Kong for Japan, to try to aquifer more weapons and supplies.

In 1898, he served in the Malolos Congress that was first convoked on September 15 by the revolutionary government. He became a member of two crucial committees - the committee on budget, and the committee to draft the Constitution. On September 26, he was given the position of director of agriculture and industry of the revolutionary administration. Later, he was designated chief of the engineers of the army by President Aguinaldo.

When the Philippine-American War erupted, he affiliated with Gen. Antonio Luna and his troops. Subsequently, as chief engineer, he directed the building of trenches in several areas, including Bulacan and Caloocan.

He rose to the position of brigadier-general, and served as acting Secretary of War. He was also appointed commanding general of the military operations in Central Luzon (in place of Gen. Pantaleon Garcia), and military governor of Pampanga, replacing Gen. Maximino Hizon, who had earlier been caught by the enemy. By then the beleaguered government of Aguinaldo had been continuously hounded by the pursuing American forces and pushed backed to Tarlac.

In September 1899, he headed the three- man commission charged with releasing 13 American prisoners and holding talks with General Otis, the commanding general of the American army in the Philippines, on the suspension of hostilities. Lt. Col. Ramon Soriano and Maj. Evaristo Ortiz assisted General Alejandrino. Later he also conferred with Gen. Arthur McArthur, who had replaced Otis as chief of the American forces. The two talked on the brutal, dehumanizing abuse of Filipino civilians by American soldiers. Meanwhile, the revolutionaries' struggle was being debilitated by cowardly Filipinos whom Alejandrino excoriated for treacherously collaborating with the Americans.

In May 1901, after much suffering and the tragic loss of countless comrades in the field, General Alejandrino surrendered, in Arayat, to General Funston. The latter initially refused his offer to surrender and, instead, had him placed under arrest, demanding that he present a certain American Negro, named Fagan, who was wanted for desertion. Although he resisted Funston's demand, Alejandrino was released the next day.

In August of the same year, Alejandrino accepted from Gov. William H. Taft the position of second city engineer of Manila, but discharged his duties for not more than a year. He retired to lead a farmer's life until 1923, when he was designated senator for Sulu and Mindanao by Gov. Gen, Leonard Wood. In 1934, he was elected representative of Pampanga's second district to the Constitutional Convention. He was a member of the Partido Democrata Nacional, which counted among its members Claro M. Recto and Juan Sumulong. He was also one of the founders of the Pan-Orientalist Society.

La Senda del Sacrificio, General Alejandrino's account of the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American War, tells of the noble revolutionaries and the lonely wars, both great and small, that they fought in order to attain the ever-elusive but exalted goal of national freedom. General Alejandrino was among those noble revolutionaries. He died on June 1, 1951.


References:

Larkin, John A. The Pampangans, Colonial Society in a Philippine Province, University of California Press, 1972.

Gwekoh, Sol. “Hall of Fame,” Manila Times, 1965-1966.

Cornejo, M.R. Commonwealth Directory of the Philippines, 1939.


Wikipedia: Antonio Luna

20090830

Re: Philippine Daily Inquirer: US combat role reported first in 2002

American Imperialism Defilipinization Syndrome— ENEMY STRATEGY


This is regarding the Philippine Daily Inquirer report on "US combat role reported first in 2002" by Julie Alipala which can be found at: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090829-222542/US-combat-role-reported-first-in-2002


In 1899, the Americans started their invasion of our nation which was just newly born in 1898. Gen. Ricarte, Gen Antonio Luna, Gen Malvar, Gen Alejandrino, Gen Lukban, Gen Sakay, Maj Torres Bugallon and many of our elder warriors led our resistance against the aggressors. 500,000 to 900,000 of us Filipinos died in that resistance. This was the result of that efficient American Imperialistic Depopulation System. It made our resistance weaker to a large extent. With a weaker resistance, the Americans were able to transmit in our education, defense, political, communication and the whole of our developmental system, an Heredity Injuring Virus. The whole of our supposedly inherited developmental system has been replaced by the Americans with a corrupted version. From a fierce defender of our inheritance-- our purity, our newly born nation of 1898, which was cut-off from us, we became worshiping dependents of our invaders.

Today, the American invaders are reaping the benefits of that Heredity Injuring Virus their elder invaders have transmitted to our nation. Today, the corruption of our development has been replicated to further alienate us from our identity. Today, our defense system has turned against us Filipinos who are resisting the foreign invaders. It has become an autodefense disease. Today, our government from one generation to the next serve the needs of our foreign invaders- the Americans in our case. Today, there are fewer of us Filipinos who are still continuing the resistance started by our elder warriors. These are symptoms of the American Imperialism Defilipinization Syndrome.

American invasion still continues. The resistance against the Americans started by our elder warriors has not been concluded yet. Filipinos among us, how long are we going to continue existing with an injured self-respect of a prostitute?


José Miguel García

20090828

As I Wreck This Chair: How your home will become ground zero in the looming US-China war


As we continue to disregard our history, the probability of our archipelago becoming ground zero continues to increase. This is the reason why providing our national archive a secured home is the first step and priority.

As I Wreck This Chair:The national problem: We only see the trees


This is one of the reasons why we need to preserve our national archives as we try to provide it with a more secured building. Our history is documented here.

20090827

Filipiniana.net: Re:Reminder dated 4 February 1900 on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Filipino-American War


This is an address dated February 4, 1900 to us the Filipino people by those among us in the Filipino Army, reminding us of the anniversary of outbreak of the Filipino-American War in February 4, 1899. This is written in Tagalog. This is who we were. Since this is our origin, and with the present invasion of the Americans not only of our territory but of our developmental system which covers the whole aspect of our national life including that of our defense, political and economic, this is who we are today.

Today, under a situation in which the Americans are continuing their invasion by their continued control of our nation and by their continued rape of our Filipinas with impunity, this is a reminder of this address to us the Filipino people by soldiers among us in the Filipino Defense system.

20090823

Re: Philippine Daily Inquirer: Editorial: Failing Nation

BEYOND THE SYMPTOM


This is about paying attention to the statement of the Americans on the failure by the government of the Philippines to check terrorism in Mindanao[1].

It mentioned about the GMA government creating an atmosphere to render potentially restive troops having hands too full. This is a deterrent against their potential to resist the GMA government atrocities. Indeed, if we are GMA, do we not benefit from keeping the hands of troops with history of resistance against anomalous governments, too full to focus on us?

However, there is an additional scenario where the Americans are shown to be benevolently concerned with the "failure" of a supposedly legitimate government of the Philippines to check terrorism. This supposedly benevolent concern warrants their presence. There is nothing wrong with this historical concern, except that:

1) If we are the Americans, have we not always benefited from "failures" of the Philippines to check military problems? Has not our presence as Americans in the Filipino archipelago provided us with regional military and economic security?

2) If we are the Filipinos, have we not always been the losers? Has not the American presence resulted in the atrophy (biological term for reduction in mass, strength and performance capacity as a result of minimal utilization of potentials) of our defense, political, economic and value systems? Have not the American military exercises in our terrain been providing them with familiarization with, and data of our military assets increasing their capability to operate in our archipelago? Have not these reduced the military value of our inventory of assets that have been supposed to be secret and thus off limits to foreigners, because they are already familiar to the Americans whose invasion of our nation since 1899 have not yet been resolved? Have we not failed in checking the Chinese invasion of our economy as well as other assets starting in the 1900s when the Americans provided them with security? Have we not been able also to check American rape with impunity of our Filipinas?

In fact, the Americans who invaded us in 1899 after we have already been born as a nation in 1898, deliberately replaced all those systems of ours with an apparently Filipino system. But it has been a corrupted version to develop us into failures in recognizing our national identity, in loving and defending that identity and in capacity to be productive as a result. The result has been, alienation from our nation and the worship of our invaders.

We have an inherited nation which has been in the possession of the Americans[2] [3] and the Chinese until today.[4] [5] It is a matter of us, being aware of it. Then we will finally know were to go—home, to recover it, and possess it.



[1] Philippine Daily Inquirer Editorial: “Failing Nation”, Aug. 23, 2009; http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20090822-221542/Failing-nation

[2] There are Americans like Capt David Fagen, Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie and many others who defected on our side or have fought for the rights of nations which their own nation have abused. They are not the enemy but accepted as Filipinos.

BOEHRINGER, Gill H., A Magnificent Seven and an Unknown Soldier: Black American Anti-Imperialist Fighters in the Philippine-American War, Contributed to Bulatlat, Vol. VIII, No. 12, April 27-May 3, 2008, http://www.bulatlat.com/2008/04/magnificent-seven-and-unknown-soldier-black-american-anti-imperialist-fighters-philippine-am

BENDER, Stephen, Recalling the Anti-Imperialist League, January 13, 2005, http://www.antiwar.com/orig/bender.php?articleid=4335

[5]There are Chinese or Chinese meztizos in the Philippines such as Herman Tiu Laurel, Alejandro Lichauco and Gen Danilo Lim in the Philippines who: came here with legitimate purpose; fought for the cause of our liberation as a Filipino nation-- they are more Filipinos than the collaborator GMA, the congressmen for sale or Filipino mercenaries in the Armed Forces.


José Miguel García

20090818

Photo: Palawan

Images of Palawan courtesy of: 1. Our World Travels (By Tarmo and Kersti; http://www.ourworldtravels.com/philippines/gallery ) and; 2. Philippine Beaches (Philippine Beaches pictures of Palawan where taken by Rene Carlo, Jody Anne Alarva, and Jaymie Alarva on May 19-21, 2009 in Coron, Palawan; http://www.philippinebeaches.org/2009/11/discovering-the-beauty-of-coron-palawan/ )

















20090807

Le Monde Diplomatique: France's History Wars

Wikipedia: Battle of Mabitac

Our tactical victory over our American invaders which all of us Filipinos must remember.

20090801

Rogue Magazine: State of the Nation Honor Roll 2009

Filipino Response to American Invasion at a Micro Level

RESPONSE OF A SUBSTANCE DEPENDENT, TOWARDS RAPE

Should we be surprised with the development of the Smith Rape of Nicole? Should we be surprised with her concern more of money and herself and less of her dignity and other Filipinas among us who would be raped by Americans? As I have been monotonously repeating, our situation today is a symptom of the infection transmitted to us in the 1900s. Many of us have been refusing to look into the underlying cause. Many of us have been enjoying victims. Many of us have a very injured dignity that we have begun to concern ourselves only with being relieved momentarily of hunger or of the short term pain. We have abandoned the future of our children and our brother Filipinos to the creek.

We were a newly born nation in 1898. Thru overbearing might and slyness, Americans took advantage of our being weak as a newborn nation to force their will on us by invading us, as we resisted fiercely in 1899. Is this not an act of rape? Our resistance weakened when 500,000 to 900,000 of us Filipinos died as a consequence. With a weak resistance, Americans continued raping our institutions one of the earliest of which was our military. Then they proceeded with the governance, economy, the education and our communication. We were infected by a Heritage Injuring Virus. The identity we inherited from our fathers and which defined our relationship among us Filipinos was injured. This corrupted every system of the life of our nation. This corruption replicated from the defense system, spread to the other systems until it spread to our culture and finally into our national psyche. This replicated from one generation to the next.

The symptoms are: a whole new generation of dependent people drawing life from and willing to give all of their most treasured assets to the trespasser; and an autoimmune defense system which now recognize as the enemy, the self (us, Filipinos) trying to resist the foreign invaders and their collaborators who is now recognize as the superior or super ego. We are now in the stage of Alienated Identity and Defense Syndrome. Our defense system has been corrupted.

Nicole is just a cell of our body as Filipinos which was corrupted by that Heritage injuring Virus transmitted by the Americans thru the continued rape of our institutions. With the corruption of our national system by this virus, the identity of each one of us with our nation has been as a consequence, corrupted. How then, could we have love for one another. Could we then expect Nicole to think of the Filipinas among us who would also be raped by Americans?

We have brother Filipinos who sacrificed themselves, their families and their future like Artemio Ricarte, Antonio Luna, Alejandrino, Torres Bugallon, Lukban, Malvar, Leon Sakay and our other elder brothers. We now also have Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr, Bishop Labayen, Nemenzo, Jonas Burgos, Trillanes 1V, Miranda, Danilo Lim, de Leon, Segumalian, Jason Aquino, Faeldon, Alejano, Layug and many other nationalistic Filipinos who have been continuing this resistance. So long as we have people like them, our resistance to this social disease will continue.

Let us Filipinos continue to fight this virus transmitted by the Americans in the 1900s until we can fully recover. Then we can finally come home!

José Miguel García