APOLINARIO MABINI

Apolinario Mabini was born on July 23, 1864 in the village

A show of uncommon intelligence while tagging along with an elder brother to his grandfather's classes
brought him to a regular school. While studying at a school owned by Simplicio Avelino, he worked as a
houseboy for a tailor in exchange for free board and lodging. He later transferred to the school of Fr.
Valerio Malabanan, a fam ous educator in Tanauan who is mentioned in Jose Rizal's novel El
Filibusterismo.

Mabini then went to the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila in 1881 as a scholar. It was there
where he amazed a professor who thought of picking on him because of his bad clothes - as if poverty
gave him any other choice. He was asked a series of very difficult questions, which he all answered
excellently.

While studying at Letran, he earned money for his board and lodging by teaching children. Because of a
chronic lack of funds, his studies in Manila went on and off.

In 1887, he completed his Bachilles en Artes with highest honors. The next year, he enrolled in law at
the University of Santo Tomas. He completed his course in 1894.

 
Political activity

Mabini, probably as a result of his wide readings, had begun to develop egalitarian ideas of sorts while a
student at Letran. On one of his trips to Tanauan, he met a priest on the road. Following the custom
then, the priest extended his hand to Mabini, expecting the young man to kiss it. Mabini shook the
priest's hand instead, explaining to his brother afterwards that only parents' hands should be kissed.

He began to take an active part in politics while studying law.

It is believed that at the University of Santo Tomas – considered Asia’s oldest university - he came into
contact with fellow students who had links with the Reform Movement. He would later be given the task
of corresponding regularly with Marcelo del Pilar, who was then agitating for reforms in Madrid through
the paper La Solidaridad. His job was to inform del Pilar of the situation on the home front and explain
what reforms were needed. He did this task assiduously even while practicing his profession.

When the revolution led by Andres Bonifacio broke out in 1896, Mabini did not immediately support it.
He believed that the Reform Movement had not yet been given a full chance.

It was also in that year that he contracted a disease which paralyzed him from the waist down. He had
to be confined at the San Juan de Dios Hospital. His involvement in the Reform Movement had made
him suspect in the eyes of the Spanish authorities, but his condition saved him from Bagumbayan -
where a number of his friends were executed.

The execution of Rizal in December 1896 signified to Mabini the death of the Reform Movement. At this
point he transferred his whole support to the Revolution.

He wrote the pamphlets "El Verdadero Decalogo" and "Ordenanzas de la Revolucion," which were
intended to inspire the revolutionaries in the fields and guide them in their conduct of the struggle; and
a constitutional program for the Philippine government.

In 1898, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo invited Mabini to work in the Revolutionary Government. He helped in
organizing it and wrote laws and decrees. He was appointed President of the Cabinet - a position
equivalent to today's Executive Secretary, which is now manned by Alberto Romulo.

Unlike Aguinaldo, Mabini was suspicious of the Americans - who presented themselves purportedly to
help the Filipinos secure liberty from Spain - early on. He was in fact against the declaration of
independence on June 12, 1898; he thought it premature, as it revealed to the Americans the real
objectives of the Filipinos, while the intentions of the supposed allies were unknown. But other forces
within the Revolutionary Government had prevailed at that time.
Later developments would prove Mabini right. In December 1898, unknown to the Filipinos, the United
States obtained the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. In February 1899, the United States launched
its war of conquest against the Philippines.

Mabini would become a leading luminary of the resistance against the U.S. occupation of the
Philippines. He wrote articles and pamphlets urging his compatriots to continue the struggle for freedom
and condemning American military atrocities against the Philippine populace. He also disputed U.S.
propaganda which described the occupation as intending to train the Filipinos in the art of self-
government: he would argue that self-government is learned by experience, as proven by the American
people themselves, and that Filipinos would never learn self-government while under foreign control -
and this would give the Americans "justification" for staying in the country indefinitely. He also junked
the U.S. line that the occupation of the Philippines would serve to make the country prosperous, arguing
that any "prosperity" that would be derived from the American occupation would benefit the Americans
and not the Filipinos.

Consequences

Mabini would suffer for his uncompromising stand for independence.

Even in the early days of the Philippine-American war, there were those in the Revolutionary Congress
who were open to the idea of autonomy instead of independence, most notably Pedro Paterno (who,
just two years before, had negotiated for the Spanish government in the Pact of Biak na Bato, a pact that
made peace between the Philippines and Spain - within the framework of continued Spanish sovereignty
over the Philippine islands). Mabini would inevitably come into conflict with these elements within the
Revolutionary Government. He had no choice except to resign, as General Aguinaldo would show
partiality toward the forces of autonomy.

When the American forces began to pursue the leaders of the Philippine resistance movement, Mabini
went into hiding in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija. Soon, he would be arrested by American soldiers, courtesy of a
group of Macabebe Scouts who led them to his hiding place. He was imprisoned in Fort Santiago from
December 11, 1899 to September 23, 1900.

Mabini would continue his agitation for independence after his release. He flatly rejected offers to serve
in the colonial government, and also refused to take the oath of allegiance to the American flag. Because
of this, he was exiled to Guam, where he was to stay for two years.

Last days