THREE LETTERS OF APOLINARIO MASINI

By Encarnacion Alzona, Academician

At this fourth annual meeting of t he National Academy of

Science and Technology, I am presenting three letters of Apolina-
rio Mabini (1864-1903) to Cayo Alzona (1869-1927), rather than
let them slip into limbo or to be devoured by termites or des-
troyed by fire, as it has happened to the other letters.
Mabini needs no introduction to a Filipino. Every school boy
or girl had heard of him and his place in our national history .
Mabini and Cayo Alzona met as students at the College of
Law (Facultad de Leyes) of the University of Santo Tomas (Real
y Pontificia Uniuersidad de Santo Tomas de Manila). Mabini was
highly admired by his classmates for his extraordinary brillance.
Many years later, in 1926, one them, Felix M. Roxas (1865-1936),
well-remembered mayor of the city of Manila from 1905 to 1917,
wrote in his column in El Debate, l De Ayer a Hoy (From the Past
to the Present) about a Promoci6n Notable (A Notable Class). It
was about the class in "Ecclesiastical Discipline" conducted by
Father Nozaleda. In his previous classes he never gave more than
three grades of "Excellent" (Sobresaliente); but this time he had
to give seventeen. He declared emphatically, striking the table
with his fist, that never before had he seen such a thing happen at
the University. Roxas mentioned that the members of that class
were Mabini, Aquiles Luzuriaga, Julian Gerona, Magalona, Goyen-
chea, Jose Varela Calderon, Roberto Moreno, Francisco Santa-
marfu, Bartolome Revilla, Francisco Villanueva, Gregorio Singian,
Cayo Alzona, 2 Eugenio Amedo, and others he could no longer
recall . Out of modesty he did not mention himself as a member of
that notable class.
Both Mabini and Alzona, during their student days, taught at
the Escue/a Priuada de Segunda Enseiianza (Private Secondary
School) in Manila whose director was Raymundo Alindada, later
one of the members of the Malolos Congress.
The first of these letters is dated 13 of September 1899 at
Rosales, Pangasinana , and deals about his election as President of

1£/ Debate. Year IX, No. 397, p. 8, A Filipino newspaper in Spanish.

2cayo Alzona, Licentiate in Jurisprudence (Master of Laws) 1896, Meritis-
simus Sobresaliente, which is equ.ivalent to summa cum laude of the
universities in the United States of America.
3First published in the Philippine Social Science Review, Nov. 1938, pp.
330·336.

24
 ~·

APOLINARIO M. MABIN!
23 July 1864- 13 May 1903

the Supreme Court by the Congress. The government of the Philip-

pine Republic had already moved to Tarlak, fleeing from the
advancing American attackers.
The original letter is in Spanish. Here is my English transla-
tion:

Rosales, 13September1899
Mr. Cayo Alzona

My dear friend and colleague:

I received your letter of the 6th instant. I have

been told already about that document, for Panganiban
came to see me when he passed through this town and
he related to me the same thing he told you. The nullity
25
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r ,1,...._ ~ ... - ~ --'- ~ .i.... "~-

I,• ~-.:;t.. k.( ~ ...,.. . ) 1~_...__c-~

_,,,·<r' -t_r;__~ • . -,-. ~ ~ ..<-.

"'"~~..... l,._ --- -.....-'-, ~ . .c_ -'-}
~ 1-C.. ~ ~~~, ,.....,...__ ~ ~ ..c- ----=- r I ..._.. - r-____.,.._ ..
..._ .......:. r- ~ ,._ t"'-'- "'-< c . ..,__ ..._.._
,. ·t -y ..._:__......_...._~'----<
/~ ~ ~

d'f;...
y---.
~ • , . _ r--
-
~ .. -.__ ,. ___
'--- .__..___
,___
"-- ~ ---?- .t.c. c..o..a..
".......:;~'--
~ ~ .....---'-'-
.._:__
..,
_;

---
~
~·
-
-<-,~c..,.............

,....._."""
.<.. --..... -

t-4-· - ---~·--"----- , _ - <y--- ..:. I/.

.~ .._... ,<_ ~ y- ~ 1- .._L:.,,(_...( ')-- ~7--- .... ._._

~ r-"'~-<, ~ ~ .....:._
·-- ..:_~~·---~ ---"-'--
~-<--....(-.
,.._..Le.... ~~~
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.._ .__.._.._'\.-..______ ._
,,..._ c..(

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,.._.._

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,/.,_ .,.4 .. ~-- .

~~ (
v-- ' --;-- . _.:_.__ '---".
y- - ,.___ ...( ..,... ~ , 1 "-·- '-- ~ t-- - -
'
~--
-a~ 2-t::-.

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••

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~.c.. ...........,.,_.........

A- ---~,
........_

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-1.· ...c.. "-al,:.__ ~ .....( r- ~ ~ -
.._t.:.._ I ........, - ~ --- -"l 41"'-~"t.....

A pho f.os f.n f. <·o n .v of M:o hin i 's l<' t.1.Pr l.o C a yo i\l z on a .
 CA YO ALZONA
1869·1927
(Photo taken at Hong Kong in 1900)

that they are seeking is groundless. The election was

done by the legislative power in concurrence with the
executive and consequently that election, if it is not in
conformity with any existing law, will repeal the former,
but the resolution cannot be null and void. Had it been
done by the executive power whose duty is to enforce
the Jaw, it can be declared null and void; but the reso-
lutions of the legislature, which makes the laws, do not
infringe them, but abrogate them partially or totally,
whether forever and in a general way or temporarily
and for a particular case, as it happens now.
27
 Moreover, the incapacity they allege applies to
prosecuting attorneys and judges whose duties cannot
be performed by persons who cannot walk, because
many times they have to be in various places to conduct
investigations. This is not so in the case of the President
of the Supreme Court who can direct and dictate his
orders without leaving his office and delegate certain
duties that have to be done outside.
They cannot allege that there is no justifiable
reason for the law not to be enforced, because there is
no other reason more justifiable than the sovereign will
of the Congress which has elected me.
Moreover, let them cite to me a function of the
President of the Supreme Court that I cannot perform,
because I have held the post of President of the Cabinet
and Secretary of Foreign Affairs despite the physical
handicap they attribute to me. They allege only physical
incapacity, but they do not say what it consists of, be-
cause if I am physically handicapped to perform the
duties of a judge, I cannot be necessarily incapable of
performing the task of another post, for I can write
and think as a healthy man. Now, if the law says that
crippled men are unqualified for all judicial posts, my
election could be annulled. What a pity that I cannot
defend myself! They would see that they cannot do
anything to one who knows how to reason.

Most affectionately yours,

Ap. Mabini

Mabini was crippled by poliomyelitis in January 1896. Des-

pite this physical handicap, in June 1898 President Aguinaldo in-
vited him to s~rve as his private adviser; and then after the ap-
proval of the Constitution of the Republic, the first cabinet was
established with Mabini as president and secretary of foreign
affairs. The Mabini Cabinet assumed office on 4 January 1899
and resigned on 4 May 1899. He was out of the government when
he was elected by the Congress President of the Supreme Court
of Justice, who was also Vice President of the Republic in accord-
ance with the Constitution. The Paterno Cabinet opposed his
appointment and President Aguinaldo listened to it.
Although he was no longer in the government, Mabini was
pursued by the Americans and finally captured him at Kuyapo,
Nueva Ecija, on 10 December 1899. They imprisoned him in the
Estacion de Calle Anda, Intramuros, until 3 October 1900.
28
 The following letter was written in that prison.

Manila, 5 February 1900

Mr. Cayo Alzona

Hong Kong

My dear friend and colleague:

I received your letter of 20 January and your ac-

count of what you have seen on that rock gave me
much satisfaction. I am very much surprised that it took
you 55 days to reach Hong Kong. I attribute it to a slip
of the pen, because I suppose that the trip would not
take more than 5 days. Some say that it takes only three
days. I am not surprised at your seasickness, because
they say that it happens to those who sail the high seas
for the first time.
Aquilino 4 tells me that he has received a letter
from there informing him of the receipt of my replies
to Wheeler. 5 I had to rewrite them, because I have not
received the first ones. I have just received a letter from
Wheeler dated there asking me to send to Washington
a list of the members of the two cabinets of Aguinaldo.
I have already sent it together with a statement for the
Senate, commenting on the bases presented by Senator
Bacon and published in The Hong Kong Telegraph.
Corrales came here with your trunk, because there
they kidnapped Adolfo Castillo. He told me that he has
a letter of :Nor Bosiongs addressed to his clients there,
advising them to reveal my hiding-place to the Ameri-
cans. Notwithstanding, I bear no grudge at that dotard
who is proud like a child of his post as judge of the
Court of First Instance of Pangasinan.
Singian7 has not yet come back to see me. Thank
Kahukom for his regards to me, which I return very

4or. Aquilino Calvo, a mutual friend.

5Gen. Joseph Wheeler of the American Army who asked him to answer
eleven questions about the Philippine Revolution and the aspirations of
the Filipinos. His replies may be found in T. M. Kalaw Las Carias Politicas
de Mabin~ Manila 1930, pp. 261-264.
6 Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, president of the Congress and Mabini's
political adversary. :Nor is colloquial for senor.
7or. Gregorio Singian, noted surgeon and mutual friend.

29
 affectionately. For the present I have nothing notable
to tell you. Greet on my behalf our compatriots there .
Wishing you rapid progress in your studies.

Your friend at your command,

Ap. Mabini

Cayo Alzona had gone to Hong Kong with some messages

of Mabini for the Central Filipino Committee established there
under the direction of Galicano Apacible. He remained there for
a few months and enrolled in the Victoria School to study English.
The third letter was written after his return from his exile in
Guam. It was typewritten.

Manila, 26 April 1903

Mr. C. Alzona
Ilagan, lsabela

My dear friend and colleague:

I have just received your letter of 23 March and

everybody in the house as well as I are most grateful for
your compliments.
Buencamino with Abreus did see me in Guam; but
I could not tell him if it would be convenient for me
to return or not to the Philippines, because I had not
yet read the Proclamation of Amnesty. When I found
out its terms, I requested that I be permitted to take
the oath here in Manila, after having ascertained that I
could do it without remorse. I waited five long months
for the decision that I was free to go anywhere, except
the Philippines, without first taking the oath of alle-
giance.
As it was necessary for me to know the prevailing
conditions here, having received no information about
them for two years that they held me there, I had no
alternative but to comply with the requirement.
My only plan is to withdraw from politics, because
my illness requires a more peaceful life. I do not intend
to re-enter into politics, unless I see that my coopera-
tion would be indispensable.

8Felipe Buencamino was secretary of foreign affairs in the Paterno Cabinet.

Jose Abreu was a Filipino lawyer.

30
 With regard to my health, I am as before. I am glad
that you are there with your family and I wish success
in your office.9
If Don Gracio Gonzaga1° lives there, please greet
him in my behalf.
Needless to say, you may command me as before.

Your most affectionate friend,

Ap. Mabini

After taking the oath of allegiance, he was offered the post

of register of deeds; but he declined it with statesman-like dignity.
The harsh climate of the tiny Pacific island of Guam and the
monotonous diet of canned food provided by the American army
for the prisoners wrought havoc upon Mabini's poor constitution.
Two months and seventeen days after his return from Guam, at
eleven o'clock at night, he died. It was the 13th of May 1903.
To the Filipinos in general Mabini was the brilliant, consis-
tent and tireless defender of their human rights, of their political
independence. To the Americans he was a thorn in their side .
General E. S. Otis, the American military governor, called him
"the most dangerous insurgent". General Arthur MacArthur, his
successor, decided to deport him, along with other Filipino
patriots, to the forbidding Island of Guam. Civil Governor Wm.
H. Taft reported to Washington that he was "a consistent oppo-
nent of American sovereignty and a persistent inspirer of rebellion
and insurrection, and the most prominent irreconcilable among
the Filipinos."
What they did not say was that the Republican administra-
tion of President McKinley was determined to hold our beautiful
and rich Archipelago to serve as an American foothold in the
Far East. Lying next door to the vast market of China our country
was also alluring to the American capitalists. Already on the road
to becoming a super power, America must not lag behind Great
Britain and France, and even Holland, which held important
territories in this part of the world.
Thus, with her superior military force, aided by the enforce-
ment of a sedition law, censorship of the press, prohibition of the
display of the Filipino flag, concentration camps, and other repres-
sive measures she was able to remain in our country; and she is
still here. (1982).

9 Cayo Alzona was then prosecuting attorney or provincial fiscal of the

Province of Isabela.
10 Gracio Gonzaga was secretary of development (fomento) in Mabini
Cabinet.

31
DISCUSSION ON
THREE LE'ITERS OF APOLINARIO MABINI

Serafin D. Quiazon, Ph.D. Discussant

It is to Dr. Encarnacion Alzona that singular compliments

be given for bringing to light some inner thoughts of Mabini ex-
pressed in three letters written sometime after he left the gov-
ernment service.
These letters, never before published, form a part of a private
collection which, I presume, belongs to the Alzona family of
which our distinguished resource person is a proud scion.
To begin with, Apolinario Mabini and Cayo Alzona met in
the Faculty of Law, University of Santo Tomas during their stu-
dent days and together taught during their spare hours at the Es-
cuela Privada de Ensenanza in Manila.
Later in the course of their professional lives as lawyers,
Mabini, in a note to President Aguinaldo on the composition of
the Audiencia, proposed Don Cayo Alzona as one of the 13 mem-
bers and hold one of the positions of Attorney-fiscals. That let-
ter although undated was written according to T .M. Kalaw on
March 12, 1899, twc months before Mabini resigned as President
of the Cabinet on May 4, 1899.
Seeking a cure for his health and upon invitation of the
Municipal President of Rosales, Pangasinan Mabini went there
and stayed in Balungaw, a banio of the town where there was a
hot-spring. That was in June 1899. Cayo Alzona, who was his
private secretary stayed with him until they parted ways, partly
attributable to the fact that the Americans were pursuing Agui-
naldo up the north of Luzon.
Later, contact between the two was made by the first letter.
Here Mabini explained to his friend the legal angles and his defense
on the controversy raised by his detractors on his (Mabini's)
appointment as President of the Supreme Court.
His opponents opposed because of his paralytic condition.
But the real reason could be that, and this is not expressed in any
of the letters of views of the oppositors, Mabini as president of
the Supreme Court would also be, according to Article 40 of the
Malolos Constitution, the Vice President of the Republic who
would have presidential functions too "in the meantime, while the
choice of the President of the Republic has ·not yet taken place."
32
The consequence of this was that the nation would be led in its
struggle for independence-and during the times of the Fil-Ameri-
can hostilities-by a paralytic. The question that nagged, sup-
posedly was: How effective can a paralytic discharge one of the
main presidential functions in such circumstances. For according
to Article 65 of the same Constitution, "The President shall com-
mand the army and navy, declare war ... and Article 67, no. 6
which says the President was to "preside over national ceremonies
and to receive envoys ....
This line of thinking show somehow the Paterno cabinet was
totally wrong and therefore Aguinaldo rightfully listened to it.
The second letter in relation to the Republic is not very sig-
nificant because by that time it no longer existed, as the Philip-
pines was already occupied by the Americans.
What it reveals was the heroic forebearance Mabini had for
one of his strongest opponents-Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista,
CFI Judge of Pangasinan whom he called Nor (short for Senor)
Bosiong. Bautista in effect wanted him captured by the Americans
and thereby silence his opposition to the American occupation.
Here Mabini also revealed his humanity. He said he bears
no grudge at him but in the same breath he called him dotard- an
imbecile or one of advanced age attended by enfeebled mentality
and childishness. Let us take note of the translation phraseology :
"I bear no grudge at the dotard who is proud like a child of his
post... "
But let us bear in mind Mabini wrote this letter in prison, two
months after his capture by the Americans, to Alzona who was
then in Hongkong.
Written in his residence at Nagtahan, Manila, the 3rd letter
found Alzona in Ilagan, Isabela as provincial fiscal. It revealed
Mabini's delicate patriotic conscience. He wanted to be sure that
remorse would not follow him to the grave if he were to sign the
oath of allegiance to the American flag. It was a farewell letter
to politics; he even declined the post of register of deeds in the
American regime government. A certain premonition of death
was surely in his mind for in two week's time he breathed his last.
It was the 13th of May 1903, 14 days after his arrival from his exile
in Guam.

MABIN! SHRINE
In this house as in the hearts of all Filipinos is enshrined the
memory of Apolinario Maranan Mabini. In this house were penned
by him brilliant essays, letters and documents that served as guides
for his contemporary Filipino leaders in the early struggles for
national independence.
33
 Born in poverty but endowed with a vastly superior intellect,
Mabini stayed in this n'ipa house as a boarder from 1888 when he
entered law school. Owned by a couple, Cecilio del Rosario and
Maxima Castaneda, the humble dwelling stood on # 23 Nagtahan,
Sampaloc on a lot portion of the estate of the Tuazon-Legarda,
to whom the del Rosarios presumably paid rents.
It was in that house that on 23 July 1892 Emilio Jacinto
consulted Mabini, then a law student, on the preparation of a draft
for a newly organized secret society. He agreed and drafted in
Spanish a blueprint of the organization which Jacinto later trans-
lated into Tagalog and became the Katipunan 's constitution.
On Christmas day of 1893, Andres Bonifacio came here to
ask advise on a planned purchase of arms for the Katipunan which
he formally organized at about this time. This plan was deferred
until 1895 when Mabini, already a lawyer, drafted the credentials
of the Katipunan representatives to Japan to pursue Bonifacio's
plan.
Undoubtedly, the house at Nagtahan sitting on a rented lot
from an ilustrado became the birthplace of the Katipunan for here
the seeds of its organization were sown.
Two months after the Cry of Balintawak, and the start of
the struggle for national independence in August 1896, Mabini
was paralyzed in both legs. The Spaniards arrested and brought
him away from the house but not to a prison cell. Instead he was
placed "under house arrest" at the San Juan de Dios Hospital until
5 July 1897.
Despite his physical handicap he continued writing; before
and after his stint in the Malolos Congress he served as a para-
mount intellectual powerhouse of Aguinaldo's shortlived republic.
Mr. Cayo Alzona was Mabini's private secretary.
During the American regime he was rearrested in Jan. 1901
and exiled to Guam only to be returned to this house in 1903
where he died, victim of a cholera epidemic on 13 May, 14 days
after his arrival. He was age 39.
The house at # 23 Nagtahan Sampaloc was first located on
a lot near the foot of the north approach to the old Bailey bridge
(now Mabini) across Pasig going to Pandacan. In the 1930s
the lot was acquired by the Ampil family from the Legarda estate,
while the house passed on to Mabini's younger brother Agapito,
married to Maria, a daughter of the del Rosario couple, the
original owners.
At this tum of events, the memory of Apolinario Mabini
was endangered of being obliterated. Whereupon President Quezon
ordered an adjacent lot of the Ampil's to be bought and through
Director T.M. Kalaw of the National Library and Museum, the
national government acquired for 'P'l,800 the house and its relics
34
and had them transferred to the new site which was declared in
1941 a national shrine at the instance of the Philippine Historical
Committee.
Came the war and the destruction of Manila, including the
Bailey bridge but the fragile shrine remained intact unlike the
neighboring buildings which were reduced to ashes. As rehabilita-
tion and progress advanced into the area the bridge was recon-
structed and so expanded that its foot at the north approach
at the Sampaloc side bank of the Pasig occupied a major portion
of the shrine.
Decades passed and the shrine seemed to have passed into
oblivion until Pres. Marcos ordered the shrine's transfer, which
was completed in 23 Mar. 1966, to a 3 1/2 hectare lot located
across the Pasig, opposite the old shrine site and ceded for the pur-
pose by the Bureau of Animal Industry to the Philippine Historical
Commission. On 12 Jan. 1968, the new site was finally declared
the permanent shrine of Mabini.
Of thatch and pyramidical roofed and built of sturdy local
materials, the house stands a few meters from the south bank of
the Pasig on the Pandacan side. Its posts are of whole tree trunks,
whose upper parts extend to the second floor area where their
exposed portions are polished to a sheen of reddish brown. The
inner walls and the ceilings are of aged sawali, partitioned by a
movable divider, the spacious one-room upper floor of 15 win-
dows is constantly wafted through by cool breezes from the
Pasig; here and there are the few furnishings that served the almost
heremitic needs of the intellectual Mabini: a writing desk, an
aparador, a couple of thonet chairs, a chinal mirror and the fami-
liar convalescent chair.
Except for a wooden bench in a comer and a carved wooden
wreath the rest are replicas of the originals which are now on dis-
play at the Mabini Birthplace Shrine in Talaga, Tanauan, Batangas.
Today thanks to the efforts of First Lady Imelda R. Marcos,
the then Chairwoman of the National Parks Development Commit-
tee, Mr. Teodoro Valencia, MH Chairman Carmen Guerrero Nakpil
and Jose Guevarra, monetary contributions from civic groups
and individuals and, today, with the care of the National Historical
Institute, the Mabini Shrine is truly a lasting memorial, albeit with
the atmosphere of fragility of relic and rusticity of scenery, yet
verily reflecting the lasting ideas of an intellectual and scholar who
belonged to the rare breed of the first generation of Filipino intel-
lectuals.

35
Gregorio F. Zaide, Ph.D., Discussant

I would like to make a suggestion, if it is possible to make the

article more interesting. I suggest that the title be like this: "The
Other Side of Mabini, His Three Letters," just like the Other Side
of Midnight and the Other Side of Alma Moreno.
It is my great pleasure to comment on the paper of Dr. Al-
zona, my beloved history professor at the old UP. Most people
know her as the worthy daughter of Don Kayo Alzona, especially
in Laguna. I am, of course, also from Laguna. But to me, Dr. Al-
zona is the top lady historian of our nation, for whom I do
believe some day the bell of history shall ring an eternal salute
for her wonderful achievements in Philippine historiography. She
has done a wonderful job now, by preserving the three letters and
translating them into English so that our people now and even his-
torians may know them. It is a lamentable fact that Spanish is
dying out and yet, it is a fact also that no historian can write the
history of the Philippines without knowing Spanish unless they
copy from others.
Now the first letter as read to you, is relevant and viable to
history for three reasons. First, this is a brilliant defense of an intel-
lectual giant like Mabini against the malicious protest of his
enemies, against his election as chief justice of the Supreme Court
of the First Philippine Republic. Why the protest was given to
Gen. Aguinaldo is because Paterno himself coveted that position.
He did not want Mabini, his political enemy, to get in. Unfor-
tunately, Pres. Aguinaldo heeded the protest because Paterno was in
power, being the president of the Cabinet, with Felipe Buencamino
as foreign secretary. Now, the question arises, supposed Pres.
Aguinaldo approved, would Mabini make a good chief justice des-
pite his paralysis? That is of course, academic.
Now the second reason, the first letter of Mabini exposes the
prevalence of dirty politics in Malolos Republic, as it is now and
will be in the future and till the end of time. Politics has always
been dirty as evidenced by rivalries, jealousies, and bickerings
that produce disgraceful incidences, such as the feuds between
Paterno and Mabini, between Gen. Luna and Buencamino, and
between Gen. Mascardo and Gen. Luna. These are due to dirty
politics. Third reason, this letter -:tlso reveals the break-up between
Mabini and Aguinaldo till death and beyond death. Mabini, sapag-
kat siya'y tao lamang, resented his dismissal as adviser, president
of the Cabinet and secretary of foreign affairs and the disapproval
of his appointment as chief justice. No wonder, when Mabini in
the last chapter of his Memoirs (written in Guam), he blamed
Aguinaldo for the failure of the Philippine Revolution. There's a
moral lesson to be heeded in this Mabini's letter that is - Do not
36
antagonize people because some day what you antagonize may be-
come your enemy and will do you bad. That is why I do not anta-
gonize people. So after I die, they cannot say anything bad against
me.
Now, the second letter, that was February 5, 1900, by an
American general, Joseph Wheeler who asked Mabini for the names
or members of the Mabini Cabinet and the Paterno Cabinet. At the
same time, he sent a questionnaire for Mabini to answer. Mabini
complied although he hated the Americans. But, being broad-
minded intellectually, he courteously complied with the request.
He furnished the names and the answer to the rest of the ques-
tions. There should have been three cabinets, namely, the Mabini,
Paterno and Luna Cabinets, but the third cabinet was aborted be-
cause Luna was assassinated in Cabanatuan on June 5, 1899.
That time, he was about ready to overthrow the Paterno Cabinet
and formed his own cabinet with himself as head and secretary of
war. As a matter of fact, the list of the cabinet, which Luna was
organizing, was published in the La Independencia on June 3, two
days before he was killed. Had Luna not been assassinated there
would have been three cabinets. But the third one, was if. The
word if in history means many things.
Now the last letter is about the signing of the oath. Dr.
Alzona was right that Mabini's health broke down during his exile
in Guam for eating too much canned goods everyday. So he had to
sign the oath of allegiance to the U.S. when he was set free , in
accordance with the Amnesty Proclamation of Pres. Theodore
Roosevelt on July 4, 1902.
Gov. Taft, his worst enemy, wanted to stop that, and even
wrote a letter to Secretary of State Elihu Root not to allow
Mabini to go home, because he was the most dangerous Filipino
and was an ardent advocate of rebellion and insurrection . But
Secretary Root did not mind Taft's letter because Mabini's home-
coming was a fait accompli. The Amnesty Proclamation was
already proclaimed and all the exiles in Guam had returned home.
Mabini and Ricarte together arrived at the same time aboard
US Transport Thomas in Manila on February 26 about 1903.
Mabini took the oath because he wanted to go home. Ricarte re-
fused to take it so that he was deported to Hongkong. Now, sum-
ming up, the three letters, are valuable documents in the study of
the Philippine Revolution. Historians should read and know them
to write a better account of the Philippine Revolution. It is to be
hoped that Dr. Alzona would reveal more historical letters, like
these "Three Letters of Mabini" and her precise English Transla-
tions.

37