June 12: The true Philippine Independence Day
Another excellent education dissertation by professor Randy David on the July 4 holidays in the United States and the Philippines. I am not a historian or a sociologist, but will attempt to show the differences.
On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve the Lee Resolution, severing political ties with Great Britain. Two days later, on July 4, 1776, it approved the final wording of Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration. It was only on Sept. 2, 1776, that it was signed by the group. Only after eight years of the Revolutionary War between the colonies and Great Britain did the war end with the Treaty of Paris on Sept. 3, 1783. This was the official start of the United States of America, a new nation “anchored in the principle of human equality.“
On June 12, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo, in the balcony of his house in Kawit Cavite, declared the independence of of the Philippines from Spain. The Philippine flag was hoisted for the first, likewise, the national anthem, “Lupang Hinirang,” was played for the first time. However, this was not recognized internationally. It took us 48 years later before the treaty of Manila signed by both President Manuel Roxas and Ambassador Paul V. McNutt on July 4, severing political ties and granting independence, was given to us by the US. Unfortunately, there was no real independence from the US since certain laws were partial to the Americans, our former colonizers: military bases, trade policies, and others.
The Americans wanted “to accomplish in this part of the world, a modern Asian nation created in the American image.” The American colonial government took the least resistance by “governing through, rather than against, the landed principality.” According to David, this led to our political dynasties, unsuccessful land reform, and a persistent patrimonial system. He also mentioned causes of our underdevelopment after our independence which included a lack of meritorious civil servants, corruption, misgovernance, predatory colonial extraction, and others.
With the July 4 Declaration of Independence in the US, it established a “nationhood anchored in the principle of human equality” with its warts and all. When Philippine Independence Day was moved to June 12 to correct an error, it did not correct it since it was just “a proclamation of grievance and severance“ and not an establishment of a new nation. July 4 in the Philippines was not a complete independence from American rule as mentioned above.
I will stick to the celebration of the Declaration of Independence of the Philippines on June 12, because even up to now, we might be politically independent from the US but not economically and even culturally.
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas. God bless America.
Ida M. Tiongco,
idationgco@gmail.com
