Gems of Philippine oratory; selections representing fourteen centuries of Philippine thought, carefully compiled from credible sources in substitution for the pre-Spanish writings destroyed by missionary zeal, to supplement the later literature stunted by intolerant religious and political censorship, and as specimens of the untrammeled present-day utterances, by Austin Craig ...

26

GEMS OF PHILIPPINE ORATORY

I do not want to be your leader, let others do the directing, but I do wan
to point out the wrongs that you and I alike suffer at the hands of our rich
countrymen. What redress you may seek I leave to you. Only remembel
that we have nothing, not even, many of us, a family name. The laboring
class are but slaves. With or without a constitution, we are overtaxed, over
worked and unprotected.
Now we are told that the constitution has been abolished, but that story
may be only another deceit of the principales.
HOW DISTRUST AND INJUSTICE KILLED)
LOYALTY
CAPTAIN ANDRES NOVALES
(Address to comrades in inciting insurrection, on the eve, too, of his execution,
in June, 1823, in Manila: Edmund Plauchut's account.)
You all know how during the French invasion of Spain the revolutionary
Cortes acknowledged overseas subjects to be Spaniards of equal rights with
peninsulars. And you cannot have forgotten that on King Fernando VII's
return from captivity His Catholic Majesty specially thanked us Filipinos for
our loyalty to him.
Now comes a new governor-general from Spain, bringing, as none of his
predecessor has ever done, a hungry horde of peninsular non-commissioned
officers that he proposes to make lieutenants and captains in place of Filipino
commissioned officers whom he will retire. The first victims are to be those
who, on account of the distance and necessary delay, have not yet received
from Madrid the written evidence of their rank. From these acts you may
judge how sincere were the former words of appreciation, how genuine was
the expressed gratitude, how grateful the King really is to those who have made
sacrifices in his service.
Like you I am a Filipino. I feel the injustice done to the loyal sons of
the soil, and I know that what has happened to some of you will eventually
happen to the rest of us. Our turn to be displaced will come.
The authorities have doubted my honor by exiling me to Mindanao, but
the storm has kept in port the ship on which I was to sail. Providence seems
to point out to-night as our opportunity for my brother Mariano is in charge
of the guard of Fort Santiago, and the weather will relax the vigilance of the
high officers.