Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

2 INDEPENDENCE CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS

we urged our legislative leaders to carry it out because they are
the legal representatives of the people, we were told that, in
order.to give freshness to the movement and to attract other
men and parties, citizens outside of active politics had better
take the initiative. In that way, they further argued, the
people of the United States would know that the independence
agitation here is not limited to the political leaders. This is
the explanation for the calling of this congress merely by a
group of citizens.
\V-hile at first glance the task seemed stupendous due to the
suspicion and jealousies that must necessarily exist in a government run by political parties, the one thought that drove us
on was the fact that there is a complete accord as regards the
Philippine question among all Philippine entities. We reasoned
out that if all the party leaders were one in their protestations
for the independence of the country, there cannot be any objection to their gathering together in one vast assembly for a
brief period of five days, for the purpose of reaffirming their
political faith and of discussing the various problems connected
with independence. We tried to make it perfectly plain that
the committee did not propose, in so far as we could control
it, to make this congress the organ of any party or any group
of leaders. That was not our idea. Frankly speaking, it
took us some time to convince many people of the sincerity
of our purpose. There were times when we felt like giving
up the idea altogether. We were convinced that if we had
not been able to call together all these elements which, though
opposed to each other, are still one in the fundamental problem
of independence, it would not have been our fault. It would
have been rather the failure, to our minds, of the system that
prevailed in the country, which allowed or encouraged such
jealousies and suspicions which make a uniform and united action
impossible. The fact that we were able to bring together
here the representatives of the two political parties of the country, sitting side by side, their rivalries apparently laid aside,
is an undisputable proof that there still exists among our political leaders the supreme gift of tolerance and the fervor of
undiluted Filipinism.