THE FILIPINO MARTYRS - Part 5: Chapters 10 & 11 of 16

The Filipino Martyrs
A Story of the Crime of February 4, 1899
BY AN EYE WITNESS Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Barrister at Law,
Inner Temple John Lane: The Bodley Head London and New York 1900
COPYRIGHT, 1900, By JOHN LANE.

WHAT WE FILIPINOS SHOULD KNOW: (Note: Bold and/or underlined words are HTML links. Click on them to see the linked posting/article. Forwarding the postings to relatives and friends, especially in the homeland, is greatly appreciated.)

(Chapters 1-2 are found in:Filipino Martyrs – Part 1)
(Chapters 3,4,5 are found in: Filipino Martyrs – Part 2)
(Chapters 6-7 are found in: Filipino Martyrs – Part 3 )
(Chapter 8-9 are found in:Filipino Martyrs – Part 4 )

Author William Pfaff wrote that history is an insistent force: the past is what put us where we are. The past can not be put behind until it is settled with.

This book is an historical eyewitness report by British diplomat Richard Brinsley Sheridan on the American arrival, duplicity and intervention during the revolution against Spain. It also demonstrates the determined and brave nationalism of our (Katipunan) revolutionary forefathers.

The report angers but most important reminds us that our revolutionaries were led by men who were aware of the principles of democracy and had plans for a democratic national government, but whose dreams for "the people," i.e. the native, dispossessed Malay majority, were destroyed by the duplicitously invading Americans in cooperation with local mendicant friends - our traitorous socioeconomic elite.

The Americans have duped the naïve and sentimental thus trusting native leadership. Fast forward today, it is unfortunate, sad and enraging that no significant change for the better has occurred in the attitudes and behaviors of our local elites, native and foreign, old and new .

Hopefully this kind of glossed over and hidden, if not unpopular, history will make us consciously aware of our relevant past, of Filipino nationalism forgotten, ignored and debased, of mythologies and outright lies highlighted by the mock Battle of Manila Bay; of American intervention and occupation as God-ordained Manifest Destiny, of being colonized by America with the sole altruistic intent of "benevolent assimilation," of us being the Americans' "little brown brothers,"of us having "special relationship" with America, etc. ad nauseam.

Hopefully, all these long-unquestioned historical claims and myths we learned will be outgrown by objective knowledge; and therefrom help us, as a people, to be more prudent and realistic in dealing with America and other foreign nations.

In matters of true nationhood, mass ignorance is not bliss but brings and guarantees only misery and pain, as in the past, present and foreseeable future.

(NOTE: Because of its length ---200+ pages, subsequent Chapters will be posted by installment)

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"The Phillipines makes a decent representative example of the US' first official exercise in colonial imperialism and formal empire [*], also referred to as "civilizational imperialism" - a project we're presently repeating." Lest this seem to be the bellicose pipedream of some dyspeptic desk soldier, let us remember that the military deal of our country has never been defensive warfare. Since the Revolution, only the United Kingdom has beaten our record for square miles of territory acquired by military conquest. Our exploits against the American Indian, against the Filipinos, the Mexicans, and against Spain are on a par with the campaigns of Genghis Khan, the Japanese in Manchuria and the African attack of Mussolini. No country has ever declared war on us before we first obliged them with that gesture. Our whole history shows we have never fought a defensive war. And at the rate our armed forces are being implemented at present, the odds are against our fighting one in the near future." - --Major General Smedley D. Butler, America's Armed Forces: 'In Time of Peace', 1935.1898-1914: The Phillipines.

"The HISTORY of an oppressed people is hidden in the lies and the agreed myth of its conquerors.” - Meridel Le Sueur, American writer, 1900-1996

“The true Filipino is a decolonized Filipino.” – Prof. Renato Constantino (1919-1999)

"Upang maitindig natin ang bantayog ng ating lipunan, kailangang radikal nating baguhin hindi lamang ang ating mga institusyon kundi maging ang ating pag-iisip at pamumuhay. Kailangan ang rebolusyon, hindi lamang sa panlabas, kundi lalo na sa panloob!" --Apolinario Mabini, La Revolucion Filipina (1898)
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CHAPTER X General Otis publishes a Proclamation - Hostile Intention shown - General Otis blunders - General Aguinaldo publishes Two Proclamations

ON January 4th, I was with Admiral Dewey, and he told me that " General Otis had in his possession for a considerable time a proclamation from Washington, which he did not desire to publish at present. I am not, however, of his opinion," he added; "Otis has not been here so long as I, and therefore cannot be expected to understand the Filipinos. He has seen very little of them."

The morning following, General Otis issued the proclamation, no doubt owing to the urgent advice of Admiral Dewey. The proclamation was as follows:

"PROCLAMATION 6 OFFICE OF THE MILITARY GOVERNOR OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, MANILA, P. I., January 4, 1899.

"To the People of the Philippine Islands: " Instructions of his Excellency, the President of the United States, relative to the administration of affairs in the Philippine Islands, have been transmitted to me by direction of the Honourable, the Secretary of War, under date of December, I898. They direct me to publish and proclaim, in the most public manner to the inhabitants of these islands, that in the war against Spain the United States forces came here to destroy the power of that nation, and to give the blessings of peace and individual freedom to the Philippine people, that we are here as friends of the Filipinos, to protect them in their homes, their employments, their individual and religious liberty; that all persons, who either by active aid or honest endeavour cooperate with the government of the United States to give effect to these beneficent purposes, will receive the reward of its support and protection. "

The President of the United States has assumed that the municipal laws of the country, in respect to private rights, and property, and the repression of crime, are to be considered as continuing in force, in so far as they may be applicable to a free people, and should be administered by the ordinary tribunals of justice, presided over by representatives of the people and those in thorough sympathy with them in their desires for good government; that the functions and duties connected with civil and municipal administration are to be performed by such officers as wish to accept the assistance of the United States, chosen, in so far as it may be practicable, from the inhabitants of the islands; and while the management of public property and revenue, and the use of all public means of transportation, are to be conducted under the military authorities until such authorities can be replaced by civil administration, all private property, whether of individuals or corporations, must be respected and protected.

If private property be taken for military uses, it shall be paid for at a fair valuation in cash, as is practicable at the time; receipts, therefore, will be given, to be taken up and liquidated as soon as cash becomes available. The ports of the Philippine Islands shall be open to the commerce of all foreign nations, and goods and merchandise, not prohibited for military reasons by the military authorities, shall be admitted upon payment of such duties and charges as shall be in force at the time of importation. "

The President concludes his instructions in the following language:

- "' Finally, it should be the earnest and paramount aim of the administration to win the confidence, respect and affection of the Philippines, by insuring to them, in every possible way, the full measure of individual rights and liberty, which is the heritage of a free people; and by proving to them that the mission of the United States is one of beneficent assimilation, which will substitute the mild sway ofjustice and right for arbitrary rule. In the fulfilment of this high mission, while upholding the temporary administration of affairs for the greatest good of the governed, there will be sedulously maintained the strong arm of authority to repress disturbance and to overcome all obstacles, to the bestowal of the blessings of good and staple government upon the people of the Philippine Islands.' "'

"From the tenor and substance of the above instructions of the President, I am fully of the opinion that it is the intention of the United States government, while directing affairs generally, to appoint the representative men, now forming the controlling element of the Filipinos, to civil positions of trust and responsibility, and it will be my aim to appoint thereto such Filipinos as may be acceptable to the supreme authorities at Washington. " It is also my belief that it is the intention of the United States government to draw from the Filipino people so much of the military force of the islands as possible and consistent with a free and well-constituted government of the country, and it is my desire to inaugurate a policy of that character; I am also convinced that it is the intention of the United States government to seek the establishment of a most liberal government for the islands, in which the people themselves shall have as full a representation as the maintenance of order and law will permit, and which shall be susceptible of development on lines of increased representation and the bestowal of increased powers into a government as free and independent as is enjoyed by the most favoured provinces of the world. "It will be my most constant endeavour to cooperate with the Filipino people seeking the good of the country, and I invite their full confidence and aid. "'

' E. S. OTIS, "Major General of the United States Volunteers, " Military Governor."

This proclamation at last opened Aguinaldo's eyes, and clearly showed to him and his people that they had been the victims of American duplicity; that the independence for which they had fought so bravely and so long was farther from them now than at any time under the rule of their Spanish oppressors. They saw that the American government meant to conquer and to subjugate them; that the proclamation of General Merritt was but a will-o'-the-wisp, calculated to trick them into a peaceful alliance so that they might the more easily be disbanded and subdued. In this proclamation by Otis it is stated that the United States forces came to the islands in order to destroy the Spanish power, and among other things to grant "individual freedom."

It assures the Filipinos that the Americans were in Manila "as friends." From the circumstances I have mentioned as to the relations of the Americans with the Filipinos, these assurances of friendship are decidedly open to question. Continuing, the proclamation suggests that the Filipinos may take part in the "civil and municipal administration as far as may be practicable." The President, in conclusion, desires to insure in "every way possible the full measure of individual rights and liberty, which is the heritage of a free people; and proving to them that the mission of the United States is one of beneficent assimilation, which will substitute the mild sway of justice and right for arbitrary rule. In the fulfilment of this high mission... there will be sedulously maintained the strong arm of authority to repress disturbance and to overcome all obstacles."

The above words speak for themselves. It is hardly necessary to comment on them. The Filipinos are referred to as a free people, deserving individual rights. Has the treatment of the Filipinos by the Americans been such as to suggest that they were a free people, and that the United States were "beneficent" protectors of an oppressed race? In the above proclamation, the American teeth are shown, and the lamb becomes the wolf where, "in the fulfilment of this high mission, there will be maintained the strong arm of authority," etc. Finally, General Otis implies to the Filipinos that they are conquered, and that he is entitled to all the feudal rights over a subdued nation; for the United States government proposes "to draw from the Filipino people so much of the military force of the islands as possible and consistent with a free and well-constituted government of the country," and that they "shall have as full representation as the maintenance of order and law will permit."

In issuing this proclamation General Otis made a terrible blunder. He first received a copy of one from Washington, which he was to issue, and which upon consultation with Admiral Dewey, no doubt, appeared to be most unsuitable, for it was reported to have contained commands to the Filipinos to lay down their arms. Then General Otis is said to have obtained permission from his government at Washington to remodel it, as his discretion might suggest, and the one quoted was the proclamation issued. Unfortunately he sent the first one received, in his careless indifference, by a British man-of-war, to be delivered to the commander of an American war vessel at Iloilo, and to be published at once.

The Filipinos, being in constant communication with their forces in all the islands, quickly discovered that two proclamations, the one different from the other, had been issued. General Aguinaldo hurriedly consulted with those in his confidence, and issued the following, which was found posted on the walls and public buildings in the city.

MANIFESTO OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT
"To my Brother Filipinos, and to All the Consuls, and Other Foreigners:

"The proclamation of General E. S. Otis, of the volunteers of the United States, published yesterday in the papers of Manila, obliges me to circulate the present, so that all may know who read and understand this my most solemn protest against what is contained in General Otis's proclamation. It is my duty, before my conscience, before God, before my political engagements with my beloved country, and in view of my relations, in particular, with the officials of North America. General Otis calls himself, in the proclamation referred to, Military Governor of the Philippine Islands, and I protest once, and a thousand times, and with all the energy of my soul, against such authority.

I solemnly proclaim that I have never had, either in Singapore, or in Hong Kong, or here in the Philippines, any undertaking or agreement, either by word or by writing, to recognise the sovereignty of America, in this my beloved country. On the contrary, I say that I returned to these islands on board an American warship on the i9th of May of last year, with the decided and manifest proposition to carry on the war with the Spaniards, to reconquer our liberty and our independence. I stated this in my official proclamation on the 24th of the said month of May, and it was published in a manifesto to the Filipino people on the I2th of last June, when in my native town of Cavite, I exhibited, for the first time, our holy national banner as a sacred emblem of that supreme aspiration for independence; and, further, this was indorsed by the American General Sefor Merritt, the predecessor of General Otis, in the manifesto which he directed to the Filipino people, days before he intimated to the Spanish General Jaudenes that the town of Manila had capitulated, in which manifesto it was clearly and definitely stated that the sea and land forces of the United States had come here to give us our liberty, overthrowing the bad government of Spain.

"Finally, to state the case once and for all, nationals and foreigners are witnesses that the land and sea forces, which are here, of the United States, have recognised by their acts the Filipinos as belligerents, as they have publicly saluted the Philippine flag which triumphantly sailed in these seas, before the eyes of all foreign nations represented here by their respective consuls.

"In the proclamation of General Otis, he alludes to instructions written for him by his Excellency, the President of the United States, referring to the administration of affairs in the Philippine Islands. I solemnly protest, in the name of God, the root and foundation of all justice and of all right, and who has given to me the power to direct my dear brothers in the difficult work of our regeneration,-against this intrusion of the government of the United States in the sovereignty of these islands. Equally, I protest, in the name of all the Filipino people, against this intrusion, because when they gave me their vote of confidence, in electing me, though unworthy, as President of the nation, they imposed on me the duty to sustain to the death their liberty and independence.

Lastly, I protest against this act, so little expected, asserting the sovereignty of America in these islands. I protest in the name of all that is passed, of which I have proofs in my possession referring to my relations with the American authorities, which prove in the most unequivocal manner that the United States did not bring me from Hong Kong to make war against the Spaniards to benefit the Americans, but to help us to gain our liberty and independence, for the attainment of which object the American authorities promised me verbally their decided and efficacious cooperation; and so you must understand, my dear brothers, that, united by bonds which it will be impossible to break, such is the idea of liberty and our absolute independence, which have been our noble aspirations, all must work together to arrive at this happy end, with the force that gives conviction, already so generally felt among all the people, never to turn back in the road of glory on which we have already so far advanced. "

EMILIO AGUINALDO."
MOLOLOS, January 5, 1899.

Have the officials of the American government representing the people of America read this proclamation, and if they have, have they published it to their people, whose honour is at stake in this great question? Have they inquired into the truth of Aguinaldo's statement in that proclamation that " I returned.... to reconquer our liberty and independence.... I have proofs in my possession, in referring to my relations with the American authorities which prove in the most unequivocal manner, that the United States did not bring me from Hlong Kong to make war to benefit the Americans, but to help us to gain our liberty and independence, for the attainment of which object the American authorities promised me verbally their decided and efficacious cooperation"?

On the same day General Aguinaldo published a further proclamation, which is as follows -

"PROCLAMATION OF' GENERAL AGUINALDO TO THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

The government of the Philippines has come to the conclusion that its duty is to explain before all the civilised powers the facts bearing on the rupture of amicable relations between the Filipinos and the army of the United States of America in these islands, in order that the foreign nations may be convinced that, for my part, I have done everything possible to avoid a rupture, even to the extent of sacrificing uselessly many clear rights. After the naval battle of the 1st of May, between the Spanish and American squadrons, the commander of the American squadron agreed to my return from Hong Kong to this, my beloved country, and he distributed among the Filipinos a number of rifles taken in the arsenal at Cavite, undoubtedly with the intention that they should be used to support the revolution which was there, to a certain extent, subdued by the agreement of Biacnabato, in order to get the half of the Filipinos on the American side.

The Filipinos, on account of the outbreak of war between the United States and Spain, had their eyes open to the necessity of making a fight for their liberty, and they felt sure that the Spanish nation was incapable and unfit to assist the Filipinos on the road to prosperity and progress. Therefore the people greeted my arrival with rejoicings, and I had the honour of being received with acclamation as chief, on account of the service which I had rendered in the former revolution. Thereupon all the Filipinos, without distinction of class or creed, took up arms, and every province set to work to defeat and expel from its midst the Spanish forces located there. This is the explanation of how, in so remarkably short a space of time, my government has acquired domination over the whole of Luzon, the whole of Bisayas, and a part of Mindanao.

If the North Americans have taken no part whatever in these military operations, which have cost no small amount of blood and money, my government does not fail to recognise that the destruction of the Spanish squadron and the handing over of rifles from the arsenal to my people were influential, to some extent, in the success of our arms. I was, moreover, convinced that the American forces must sympathise with the revolution, which they had assisted to foment, and which saved them much bloodshed and hard work, and, above all, I had absolute confidence in the history and traditions of a nation which struggled for independence and for the abolition of slavery; yea, held itself up as the champion and liberator of oppressed peoples under the safeguard of the good faith of a free republic. "

The Americans, seeing the friendly disposition of the Filipino people, disembarked their troops in the village of Paranaque, and took up positions in the whole line occupied by my forces right up to Maytubig, taking possession by their cleverness, not unaccompanied by force, of a large quantity of trenches constructed by my people. Ultimately, the garrison of Manila capitulated, having been compelled to surrender at the first attack. In this I took a very active part, although I was not notified. My forces from the port of Cavite were extended all round the suburbs of Malate, Ermita, Sampaloc, and Tondo.

In spite of all these services, although the Spaniards would not have surrendered if my forces had not closed every road of retreat into the interior, the American generals not merely left me out entirely in the terms of capitulation, but even asked me to withdraw my forces from Cavite and the suburbs of Manila. I have laid before the American generals the injustice which has been done to me, and I have begged them in the most friendly terms to recognise in a satisfactory manner my cooperation, but they have refused anything of the sort.

Nevertheless, desirous always of demonstrating my friendship and good sentiments toward those who call themselves liberators of my people, I made my troops evacuate the port of Cavite and the suburbs of Ermita, Malate, Sampaloc, and Tondo, only keeping a portion of the suburb of Paco. In spite of the concessions, before many days passed, Admiral Dewey, with absolutely no cause, seized our launches, which had been flying freely about Manila Bay, hitherto with his express consent. "

About the same time, I received a letter from General Otis, commander in chief of the American army of occupation, demanding that I should withdraw my forces beyond a line marked on a plan, which he also sent me, within which line were included the village of Pandacan and the hamlet of Singalong, which never came within the heading ' Manila and suburbs.' In view of this inexplicable attitude of both American chiefs, I called my generals together in consultation, and at the same time I held a 'privy council' (consejo de gobierno), and in accordance with the opinions of both bodies I named commissioners to put themselves in communication with the American authorities.

Admiral Dewey received my commissioner very cavalierly and with most aggressive language, and never gave him a chance to reply. Yet I complied with the request of General Otis, withdrawing my troops to the line desired, with the object of avoiding contact with their troops,- a cause of much dissatisfaction to our people, -but we hoped that the Paris conference would soon end, and that my people would obtain the complete independence promised by the United States. c Consul General Pratt, in Singapore, said we should have a formal guarantee of the friendship proclaimed in manifestos and speeches by the American generals who have come here. But it was not so. These generals took all my concessions in the cause of peace and friendship as indications of weakness. So, their ambition increasing, they sent forces to Iloilo, on the 26th of December last, with the object of taking possession in the guise of conquerors of the islands occupied by my government.

"Such a proceeding, so far removed from the principles of good conduct and from the practice observed by civilised nations, gives me the right to act quite independently of such considerations. However, for the sake of acting with propriety up to the end, I sent to General Otis commissioners, with instructions to beg him to desist from his rash undertaking; but these overtures were entirely unnoticed. " My government cannot remain indifferent in view of a violent and aggressive usurpation of a portion of our territory by a people which calls itself defender of oppressed nations. So my government is prepared to commence hostilities if the American forces attempt to carry out by force the occupation of the Bisayas. I proclaim these facts before the whole world, in order that the universal conscience may point out inflexibly who are the real oppressors of nations and the executioners of humanity. On their heads be all the blood that will be spilt! "

EMILIO AGUINALDO. "MOLOLOS, January 5, I899."

Reference is made in this proclamation to certain promises made by Consul General Pratt. He assured me that in regard to the matter he only acted upon instructions, as I have stated, and the matter therefore, in justice to him, calls for careful investigation by the American people. "These generals took all my concessions in the cause of peace and friendship as indications of weakness." Can this arraignment be answered? Can this conduct on the part of America be justified? The Filipinos are said to be barbarians, incapable of self-government, because it is alleged they are unacquainted with the conventionalities of civilisation. But this is utterly untrue.

The Filipinos can govern, and govern well, the people of their islands. Those at the head of their present republic are men of culture, of taste, and of education. A stranger planted on the moors of Yorkshire, and coming into contact with the yokels of that county, might say that England was unfit for self-government, but ministers of state do not belong to these classes in England, nor in the Philippines, nor in any other country in the world.

For several months the Filipinos had charge of the internal government of the islands; and they were admirably governed. They controlled the postal and telegraphic arrangements for the interior, and all foreigners know how perfect that service was. These proclamations of Aguinaldo are remarkable in their sentiments and sincerity, and read beside the proclamations of General Otis make the generosity of the nation protecting the "oppressed" pale before the magnanimity of the Filipinos. They point to a blot so black upon the history of the war that the American people, not the government, will have difficulty in preventing it from obliterating its glory and its cause!

Can it be said that these two proclamations contain the hysterical sentiments of a frenzied and barbaric people? The American nation will admit, when the true facts are made known to them, that great injustice has been done to General Aguinaldo, the President of the Filipinos, who in his proclamation calls upon his creator to witness that he has done all in his power to avoid bloodshed.

"I have," he says, "laid before the American generals the injustice that has been done me." Have those generals reported those injustices to the American government? If they have not,why not? and if they have, has the government made any atonement for the wrongs it has done toward an innocent and confiding people? From mypersonal knowledge, I know that the United States, through its representative, General Otis, declined to recognise the Filipinos as a race of men, and refused to listen to their prayers for mercy and for justice.

General Aguinaldo, like a man, proclaims not only to the Americans, but to all the representatives of the world, that he had been promised the independence of his people in consideration of his assisting America to destroy Spain's forces in the Philippines. He calls upon the consuls of all nations to witness that whatever blood may be shed, the responsibility for it rests upon the shoulders of the American representatives. If the statements contained in the proclamation of Aguinaldo were untrue, why did Otis not deny them in a subsequent proclamation, not only to the Filipino people but to the representatives of the civilised nations of the world?

CHAPTER XI
Anxious Time in Manila-Another ProclamationExodus of Natives Rumoured Massacre of Americans-Within the " Rebel" Lines The British Flag a Passport-" Rebel" Launches - Drill of " Rebel" Soldiers - Otis declines to assist British Merchants - The Forces at Cavite - Another Scare -A Filipino child shot dead

AFTER the issue of these proclamations, the city was in a very disturbed condition, and great anxiety prevailed. The last proclamation was considered as a declaration of war by the Filipinos, against the Americans. It was estimated that there were about two hundred thousand " rebels " in the city employed as servants to the Americans and Europeans, and in other positions. These serving people were armed with bolos and guns, and were prepared to rise upon a given signal from Aguinaldo. Around the city, it was stated, there were thirty thousand armed troops, in addition to the two hundred thousand men in the city.

That a scheme for a rising had been organised was true, as I afterward heard at Mololos. An attack, it was alleged, had been planned upon Manila for the I 5th of January, when at a certain hour the two hundred thousand rebels in the city were to rise, cut off the electric light, and massacre the Americans, whilst the troops outside the city were to attack at all points. The English and other foreign inhabitants were to hang at their gates their national flag, and their houses were to be left untouched by the Filipinos. The native women were ordered by Aguinaldo to leave Manila, and in the event of their not doing so, the risk and responsibility were to be their own. Carts, trucks, and other vehicles were passing in a continuous train, through the streets, all day long, conveying Filipino women with their children and their household effects to the railway station, en route for the interior.

Mr. Higgins told me he was obliged to run special trains almost hourly, in order to cope with the increased passenger traffic. It was calculated that five thousand Filipinos left Manila by train and by road in twenty-four hours. This exodus from the city continued for many days. Having my wife with me in Manila, I was naturally anxious to ascertain the real dangers to which she was likely to be subjected. I therefore asked my friend, Mr. Higgins, to arrange for me an interview with General Aguinaldo. This he was good enough to do. He and Mr. Wood, my kind host, and I proceeded by an early train to Mololos, distant about thirty-five miles from Manila. Mr. Higgins had provided for my accommodation his private car, which was attached to the end of the train. After we had left Manila station, we passed almost immediately out of the American lines and entered those of the Filipinos.

At Coloogan station, about three miles from Manila, where the train waited, the Filipinos had dug excellent trenches, and had erected guns along the railway track, as I thought, in positions most dangerous to an approaching enemy. This was also the opinion of Captain Montgomery, the commander of H.M.S. Bonaventure, who went into the interior of Luzon to Bayambang with us on one occasion.

On our arrival at the station, the Filipino soldiers, armed with Mauser rifles, surrounded our carriage, thinking we were Americans, and when the station master whistled the train's departure, the Filipino officers in charge of the soldiers ordered it " to halt." The situation was sudden and delicate, as the Filipinos were in earnest. They had levelled their guns at our carriage, and Mr. Higgins, ever ready in an emergency, quickly explained that I was English, going to Mololos to visit Aguinaldo. No further opposition was then offered to the train proceeding.

At Mololos railway station, we were met by Senor Buencamino, one of Aguinaldo's chief officers and advisers. He had very kindly provided caramattas (native carriages) to take us to General Aguinaldo's headquarters, in Mololos town, which is situated about a mile and a half from the station. As we passed the numerous Filipino outposts along the road, we were repeatedly challenged, and but for Sefor Buencamino, we should have had much difficulty in reaching Mololos. Passing through the town, I was surprised to see many stone-built houses, whereas I had expected to see only nipa ones (native houses), as in the interior; but in Mololos there were a great many stone edifices, as in Manila. We arrived at a large building of one story, from which numbers of Filipino soldiers were issuing. I was informed we had reached the headquarters of the Filipinos. This house had been formerly a Spanish monastery.

Sefor Buencamino preceded us and passed between innumerable sentries and officials, to a short, broad staircase, which led to a long wide corridor, in which were standing groups of Filipino officers, dressed in gorgeous and picturesque uniforms, resembling those of the old French hussars. It became immediately apparent how intimately associated Mr. Higgins must have been with these gentlemen, for he was received with the utmost cordiality. I was introduced to many of them, and I found several were men who had travelled in Europe and America, and spoke English fluently. They were educated and thoroughly conversant with Western customs and habits. We were quickly ushered into a large room, or hall, which I understood was the "chamber" of the republic. We were not kept waiting long, before we were informed that Sefor, the President, would be happy to receive us.

General Aguinaldo greeted us in a large well-furnished room, in which I noticed he had a Maxim gun of the most improved type. He was courtly and dignified in his demeanour, and impressed me most favourably. He is a man of some thirty years of age, with a cleanshaven face. He told me he was always happy to meet Englishmen, because he had the most implicit confidence in them and their dealings. I told him the reasons of my visit, and he replied most kindly that he hoped there was no immediate cause for alarm, and he did not see any necessity why a lady should leave Manila, at any rate for the present. He hoped to avoid a conflict with the American forces, but their conduct was a continual source of irritation to his soldiers. He added, that in any event the lives and property of the British and other foreigners should be protected and respected. It might be well to display from the windows of the house the English flag. Mr. Wood told General Aguinaldo that it was our intention to go to the Lake de Bay during the next few days, and he promised to send a pass through his lines at Santa Ana.

General Aguinaldo impressed me as a man of great reticence and discernment. He talked little, but paid great attention to everything that was said to him. After our interview, we returned to Manila. The Manila newspapers continued to excite the minds of both the American and Filipino soldiers by their ridiculous and inflammatory inventions. As time passed, affairs were not improved. Trouble commenced between the merchants and General Otis, who declined to assist them in the continuance of their trade. To illustrate this, I will mention a case. Messrs. Smith, Bell & Co., one of the most important firms in Manila, had chartered a vessel from Hong Kong to collect a certain cargo from Cebu, an island some distance from Luzon. The Consul General, Mr. Rounseville Wildman, declined to despatch the vessel from Hong Kong. Messrs. Smith, Bell & Co. then approached General Otis, who refused to assist them. Mr. Wood, a partner in that celebrated house, asked: " Are the Philippine ports to be closed? We are English traders, and have a vessel waiting to take a cargo from an island on which no war has been declared, and you decline to despatch our ship? Am I to cable home to say the Philippine ports are closed to business?")

"You can do as you like," replied General Otis. It was most unfortunate that the British merchants had lost their consul, Mr. Walker, who, as I stated in a previous chapter, died from the effects of the siege; no other consul had been appointed in his place. The acting Consul, Mr. Ramsden, a pleasant and popular man, had no influence, and was entirely disregarded by the American local government on account of his being a coloured man. In the "rebel" lines great excitement prevailed. On the receipt of Aguinaldo's pass, we went in Mr. Wood's launch up the Rio Passig to the Lake de Bay. When we arrived at Mandaloyan and Santa Ana, which is a distance of about five miles by the river, and about three miles by the road, from Manila, we were challenged by the "rebel" sentries. The display of the British flag was a sufficient pass for our launch.

Santa Ana was at that time the stronghold of the so-called rebels surrounding that part of Manila, and they occupied as barracks the old Spanish houses in the town. There were a few English families still residing there in the midst of the Filipino lines, amongst whom were Mr. and Mrs. Fitten, and Mr. and Mrs. Macleod. I asked Mr. Fitten, on one occasion, whether his wife was not alarmed at the rumoured reports of war, and he replied, "Oh, no, the Filipino general in command of the forces in Santa Ana assures us we shall be safer here than in Manila." Arriving at Pambeck, a native nipa village, we met two large launches, with three or four hundred "rebel" troops on board. At first they looked fiercely at our launch, and covered us with their guns; but directly they saw the flag we carried, they cheered enthusiastically. These men were coming from the lake region, to take up their positions, and to be in readiness for trouble in Santa Ana. Launches carrying native troops were continuously passing us during the day. Later, on our return, we found the troops we had passed were being drilled within fifty yards of the American lines. The contrast was amazing, -the little Filipino in his clean white uniform, obedient and silent to his superior officer, with banners flying, and bands playing the most charming marches, and on the other hand, the Americans in their dirty and ragged brown khaki uniforms, shouting to each other, and using profane language fluently.

I went also to Cavite and passed the "rebel" sentries, and entered the insurgent quarters of the town. Here, too, the American and Filipino sentinels were only a few yards apart. I was much struck with the attitude taken by the Filipinos. They were, no doubt, preparing for war, and many were sharpening their bolos (native knives) and cleaning their guns. I asked one if I could purchase a bolo, and the Filipino replied: ' I fear we shall need them all. The Americans are forcing us to war, which we have endeavoured to avoid. We have done them no harm, and in return for our good services they desire to kill us." I asked him whether he thought war certain, and he replied, " I hope not; but whatever consequences there may be, our General Aguinaldo has called upon us to be prepared, and perhaps in a week we may be dead." The forces at Cavite were by no means strong, and the Americans could, I knew, either from the sea or the land, destroy every one of these poor creatures, who had enrolled themselves unselfishly under the banner of independence. The most serious "scare," perhaps, that occurred in Manila at any time before February 4, 899, was the one in the afternoon of the I Ith of January, which was attended, it was reported, with the loss of two lives. A soldier on guard in the Escolta, having nothing better to do, shot at a dog in the street three times with his revolver, without effect, and another soldier, who was not far distant, drew his revolver and emptied its chambers at the dog. The noise of the shots being heard, a report was communicated, almost instantly, to every American in the town, that the insurgents had attacked them at last. The panic was terrible: the shops were shut and barricaded; people were rushing trembling with fear from place to place, imploring protection; women and children stood screaming in the streets with fear.

The American soldiers were also stricken with the same panic. The news was communicated immediately to headquarters, where plans were quickly conceived, and from whence intelligent orders were issued; the regiments were called from their quarters, the streets were barricaded, the bridges were armed with men, the traffic was stopped, and inquiries were made. The quickness with which the position was controlled did credit to those responsible for the conception and promulgation of the orders. At the same time the rumours of the unknown danger so excited the American sentries, that a Filipino riding past a sentry, on being challenged and unable to control his horse, was shot dead. Another case -one of the most brutal of all American atrocities in the Philippines, and one which filled the Filipinos with just indignation and horror- was where a Filipino child, playing outside a Chinaman's store, took an egg, laughingly, from his stall, without any intention of stealing it, and was shot by an American soldier. Old John Chinaman is most devoted to children. He was literally amazed that men, reported to be civilised, could hurt, much less kill, anything unable to offer apology or explanation for an offence which in no sense and by no law warranted a criminal's death. I39

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Democracy Fades as Transnationals via WTO Take Over

Democracy Fades as WTO Seizes Control For Multinational Corporations
The Stealth Coup: US Democracy Fades As WTO Seizes Control For Multinational (Transnational) Corporations...


WHAT WE FILIPINOS SHOULD KNOW: (Note: Bold and/or underlined words are HTML links. Click on them to see the linked posting/article. Forwarding the postings to relatives and friends, especially in the homeland, is greatly appreciated)

The below article, somewhat dated but still very relevant, is not filled with hearsay nor written by a nationalist nor left-leaning anti-globalist, as those so-called technocrats among us might hastily say. Any mature, intelligent and socially-conscious citizen will appreciate the fact that multinational corporations --many of which are American-controlled-- have only brought havoc to their employees/workers and overall to the society these global corporations are in regardless of location. In America which has practically de-industrialized, or abroad such as in poor/Third World countries like ours where serial peso devaluations have practically made Filipino workers -- college-educated or not-- highly dispensable employees clocking into, what one can aptly call, sweatshops.

Filipinos in the Philippines have perpetually and worseningly suffer the punishments the IMF/WB now through the WTO (controlled and used by the G7 nations for their multinational corporations) have continually brought to our homeland, thanks to our traitorous technocrats and political rulers who, because of their miseducation, vested economic and/or political interests, unquestioningly kowtow to these organizations.

(Phillips was educated at the Bronx High School of Science, Colgate University, the University of Edinburgh and Harvard Law School. After his stint as a senior strategist for the Nixon campaign, he served a year, starting in 1969, as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General, but left after a year to become a columnist. In 1971, he became president of the American Political Research Corporation and editor-publisher of the American Political Report (through 1998).

In 1982, the Wall Street Journal described him as “the leading conservative electoral analyst -- the man who invented the Sun Belt, named the New Right, and prophesied ‘The Emerging Republican Majority’ in 1969.”

Ironically for someone who in later life became a virulent critic of Republicans from the south and west, Phillips in his 1969 book identified the "Heartland" as the future core of Republican votes, and the "Yankee Northeast" as the future Democratic stronghold, foreshadowing the current split between Red States and Blue States. More than 30 years before the 2004 election, Phillips foresaw such previously Democratic states as Texas and West Virginia swinging to the Republicans while Vermont and Maine would become Democratic states. The rise of such partisan leaders as Howard Dean; John Kerry and Ned Lamont for the Democrats and religious conservatives in the Republican ranks would have come as no surprise.) - WIKIPEDIA

“The selfish spirit of commerce knows no country, and feels no passion or principle but that of gain" - Thomas Jefferson, 1809

"To be poor and independent is very nearly an impossibility.” - William Corbett, 1830

"You show me a capitalist, I'll show you a bloodsucker" - Malcolm X, 1965

""Capitalism and altruism are incompatible; they are philosophical opposites; they cannot coexist in the same man or in the same society" - Ayn Rand, 1961

"The chief business of America is business" - President Calvin Coolidge, 1925

"The glory of the United States is business" - Wendell L. Willkie, 1936

"What else do bankers do -- walk-in and turn-off the lights in the country." - William Slee, 1978

"There is no literate population in the world that is poor; there is no illiterate population that is anything but poor.” – John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006)

“One of the major errors in the whole discussion of economic development has been the tendency to look at the United States or Canada and say that this has worked here, and therefore it must work in the poor countries.” – John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006)

"Upang maitindig natin ang bantayog ng ating lipunan, kailangang radikal nating baguhin hindi lamang ang ating mga institusyon kundi maging ang ating pag-iisip at pamumuhay. Kailangan ang rebolusyon, hindi lamang sa panlabas, kundi lalo na sa panloob!" --Apolinario Mabini, La Revolucion Filipina (1898)

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Democracy Fades as WTO Seizes Control For Multinational Corporations
The Stealth Coup: US Democracy Fades As WTO Seizes Control For Multinational (Transnational) Corporations...

The WTO and the Fed have essentially become two new branches of government, in many ways more powerful than Congress and the president. Who elected them anyway?

By KEVIN PHILLIPS , November 21, 1999

WASHINGTON--An important prelude to the 2000 elections could take place
in Seattle, if organizers can produce their hoped-for "protest of the
century" against the Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade
Organization that begins Nov. 30.

Doubters scoff at this. While activists urge people to travel to
Seattle to protest the WTO, nine of 10 Americans probably can't explain
what the organization is. So they won't be paying attention to
complaints that the WTO is about to become an unelected fourth branch
of the U.S. government, or that it is a magna carta for U.S.
multinational corporations to further decrease their dependence on
American employees and loyalties.

The World Trade Organization, though officially only 4 years old,
represents a huge intrusion on U.S. politics and on national, state and
local decision-making, largely in the interest of multinational
corporations and trade lobbies. Scare talk like this has been
exaggerated before. But this is not hyperbole: Legislators in
Washington could be on the brink of understanding that they--and the
voters--are losing control over the evolution of America's role in the
global economy in the 21st century.

This is a grave danger. The historical evidence from the two previous
great economic world powers is that whatever financial elites
want--high-profit global priorities--is bad for ordinary citizens, who
are more vulnerable and require that domestic economics come first.

Yet, headlines from Seattle could launch a public debate, especially if
the protesters are largely American. It's this nation whose ordinary
citizens have the greatest political and economic stake in limiting the
WTO and its anticipated role.

Alienated voters bemoan losing control over U.S. policymaking, but
representatives and senators share in the loss. Where the U.S.
government once had three branches--executive, legislative and
judicial--it now has five. The newest branches are the unelected
Federal Reserve Board, which controls money supply, interest rates and,
in many respects, the U.S. economy; and the WTO, which not only
controls trade practices but can overrule federal, state and local laws
that interfere with trade rights as the organization defines them.
Politicians and voters have little or no control over either the Fed or
the WTO.

Power, quite simply, has been shifting to major financial institutions
and multinational corporations. In the Federal Reserve system, which
operates behind closed doors, controls its own funds and is independent
of Congress, the presidents and boards of the individual regional
Federal Reserve banks are selected by the business and financial
communities. Yet, some of the regional Fed presidents sit on the Open
Market Committee, which makes Federal Reserve interest-rate and
monetary policy. This lack of democracy didn't used to matter much. But
in the last decade, the world's central banks have been gaining
influence over national and international economies and becoming
increasingly independent of politicians and elected officials.

Trade policy has similarly been moving from elected hands to unelected
private interests and global bureaucrats who better represent the
multinational trade and investment communities. This includes
international agencies, trade lawyers and lobbyists, banks and
multinational corporations of all national stripes, though U.S. firms
have the most clout.

Despite occasional talk by right-wing kooks that the WTO is dangerous
because the United States has only one vote and could be outmuscled,
the effective control in WTO--as in the International Monetary Fund,
the World Bank and other such organizations--lies with the Quad
countries--the United States, Japan, Canada and the European
Union--whose decisions, in turn, are dominated by multinational trade
and investment elites. The real problem is that their loyalty is to the
man in the executive suite, not the man on the street.

In the last decade, the Washington trade-policy establishment has moved
to strip U.S. politicians and voters of their influence over trade
policy by a number of devices. For example, in 1994, the key
congressional vote in favor of establishing the World Trade
Organization was held according to "fast track" rules and during a
post-election lame-duck session of Congress, when defeated lawmakers
would be pliable and the measure could be slipped through with little
discussion. The fast-track procedure was established so that Congress
could not tinker with trade agreements sent to Congress but had to
reject or rubber-stamp them, as it did with the North American Free
Trade Agreement.

The WTO is exhibit A in the neutering of Congress and the voters. WTO
procedures allow countries to challenge each other's laws and
regulations as violations of WTO trade rules. Cases are decided in
secret, with documents, hearings and briefs kept confidential and
unreleased, by tribunals of three bureaucrats, usually corporate
lawyers. There are no conflict-of-interest restraints for these people.
In addition, no appeal is possible outside the WTO.

Under this authority, barely debated in the legislative fast shuffle of
1994, the WTO has already overturned part of the U.S. Clean Air Act and
declared illegal a recent U.S. environmental regulation. Now there is
talk of enlarging WTO's jurisdiction to include education and health
matters. Congress is being fleeced like lambs at a shearing.

Proponents of this transfer generally argue that either 1)
globalization is the inevitable and we have to guide it or 2)
globalization may involve some sacrifices but, in the long run, most
Americans will profit.

History's example, however, raises major cautions. Indeed, the two
great world economic powers before the United States--the Dutch in the
17th and early 18th centuries, and the British thereafter--followed the
same internationalization trajectory as their world leadership peaked
and then went into decline.

This precedent is as frightening as it is clear. As the Dutch and
British global economies peaked, their future, said the elites, lay in
embracing international rather than internal economic opportunities.
As the old industries started to fade--textiles, shipbuilding and
fisheries in the Netherlands; coal, textiles and steel in Britain--the
elites said: Never mind. We now lead the world in services: banking,
finance, overseas investments, shipping, insurance, communications.
And that's where the payoff is.

Within each nation--1720-40 Holland and Britain in the "Upstairs,
Downstairs" era of 1900-1914--two things came to pass. First, common
people started losing the old industrial jobs that had made ordinary
Dutchmen and Britons the envy of Europe. The old industrial districts
deteriorated. Second, even as industrial decay worsened, finance and
investments soared, inequality mushroomed and the elites buzzed about a
new golden age. But then, something went wrong; finance, investments
and services lost their way. The golden age imploded and the economy
became no more than a shell of its old broad-based heyday--Holland in
1770 or Britain in 1945.

This is the enormous risk that ordinary Americans--the huge two-thirds
in the economic middle--now take in allowing U.S. democracy and
representative government to be undercut and restructured by the U.S.
equivalent of the financial and multinational elites that so selfishly
misdirected early 20th-century Britain and 18th-century Holland. Recent
statistics showing the top 1% of Americans soaring on financial wings,
even as inflation-adjusted median family incomes are about the same as
they were 25 years ago, buttress the parallel. So do efforts of current
U.S. elites to move their investments overseas, as the earlier Dutch and British elites
did, and to sell technology to nations like China that could easily become a
threat to U.S. interests.

It's easy to see why U.S. corporate CEOs and investment bankers want
the new globalism. Dozens have publicly admitted they don't want their
organizations to be American any longer; they want them to be
international so they can cut loose from stagnant median family incomes
and the future pensions and benefits for those 58-year-old workers in
Kansas and Kentucky.

The WTO is many things, some of them reasonable. To say otherwise would
be misleading. Nonetheless, too many multinational banks and
corporations silently applaud the WTO as an enabler of overseas
investment that will make it safe for U.S. companies to move more of
their employment, profits and loyalties elsewhere. Ordinary Dutchmen
and Britons couldn't stop the earlier trends, and maybe Americans can't
stop these.

Even so, tens of thousands of angry people in the streets of Seattle,
giving these issues a human face, could do more than attract headlines
and evening-news coverage. They might propel the matter into an arena
where such important decisions should be made: the 2000 presidential
and congressional elections. *

- - -

Kevin Phillips, a Political Historian, Is Author of "The Politics of
Rich and Poor" and "The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics and the
Triumph of Anglo-America."

Source: http://www.cb3rob.net/%7Emerijn89/nieuws/99-11-21-2.html

Noli Me Tangere and the Catholic Church in Our History
[Subtitle: Sa manga masasamang libro,t, casulatan]


WHAT WE FILIPINOS SHOULD KNOW: (Note: Bold and/or underlined words are HTML links. Click on them to see the linked posting/article. Forwarding the postings to relatives and friends, especially in the homeland, is greatly appreciated).

After the novel Noli Me Tangere, written by Dr. Jose P. Rizal, was published in 1887, the below article CAINGAT CAYO was issued as a warning to Filipinos by a Spanish Catholic priest about God's damnation that will befall them for reading the novel.

I remember it was during my late teens and after leaving the seminary that I became aware, bought and read Rizal's two novels: Noli Me Tangere and its sequel, El Filibusterismo (translation by Leon Ma. Guerrero). At the time, I read them voraceously, with feelings of anxiety, shock and wonder.

It can safely be said that past, present and future generations of us native Malay Filipinos were/are/will be conditioned in an atmosphere of fear of God (and of the church, i.e. hierarchy). Such fear has created in us a conscious and/or unconscious self-censorship in our thoughts, way of thinking and action.

Like a herd of sheeps we look and wait for our so-called God's shepherds to tell us what to think and do, what not to think nor question nor do. We learn to live and practice the admonition "let us not go there" when we talk about certain important issues, i.e. Chrisitian religion/belief systems.

We do not seem to realize that till today, our Filipino Christianity is still mainly the medieval version as compared to those of many other considered Christian countries --though strongly secularized. Our Filipino version of Christianity has worked as an escape from reality, i.e. make Karl Marx's 160+ -year old charge that (it)religion is the opium of the people as valid and true; has greatly contributed against the development of critical thinking among us Filipinos and has therefore served as an impediment to needed fundamental changes in our homeland/society.

“The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us a hierarchy of values: man comes first, and the Sabbath second. Public, social and ecclesiastical institutions exist for man, and not the other way round. We, like the Samaritan, must first of all see the man, his status in society notwithstanding, his splendid clothes or pauper's rags notwithstanding.” – Fr. Victor Potapov, Rector, Russian Orthodox Cathedral

“RELIGION. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.” - Ambrose Bierce, 1842-1914, American Author, Editor, Journalist, ''The Devil's Dictionary''

“Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.”- Napoleon Bonaparte

“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed people, the heart of the heartless world, and the soul of the soulless conditions, it is the opium of the people.” – Karl Marx

“Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions.” – Blaise Pascal

“There is no literate population in the world that is poor; there is no illiterate population that is anything but poor.” – John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006)

“Most people would rather die than think, in fact, they do so”. – Bertrand Russell


“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them”. – Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992

"Upang maitindig natin ang bantayog ng ating lipunan, kailangang radikal nating baguhin hindi lamang ang ating mga institusyon kundi maging ang ating pag-iisip at pamumuhay. Kailangan ang rebolusyon, hindi lamang sa panlabas, kundi lalo na sa panloob!" --Apolinario Mabini, La Revolucion Filipina (1898)

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¡CAIÑGAT CAYO!
Sa mañga masasamang libro,t, casulatan.
May lubos na pahintulot ang mañga Puno

Ang librong ito,i malilimus sa halagang isang cuarta ang isa; sa halagang sangsalapi ang sangdaan, at sa halagang apat na piso ang sanglibo, doon sa Asilo de Huérfanos sa Guadalupe, sa bayan nang san Pedro Macati, provincia nang Mainila.

Ang sulat na hingi ay ipadala sa P. Director cun sa Hermano Inspector nang Asilo, at bahala sila magpadala sa ituturong padadalhan sa Mainila.

Pequeña Imp. del Asilo del Huérfanos 1888.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I.
Caiñgat ñga cayo sa manga masasamang libro,t, casulatan, sapagca,t, dapat ninyong tantoin na may isang cautusan ang santa Iglesiang Ina natin na ipinagbabaual ang pagbasa nang manga masasamang libro,t, casulatan, pati nang pag-iingat at pagcacalat noon; at ipinag-uutos pa na ang sino mang magcamayroon nang gayong libro,i, ibigay agad sa manga Puno nang santa Iglesia, sa Confesor cun sa Amang Cura caya; at cun sacali,t, di maibibigay ay sunuguin man lamang tambing. At ang utos na ito,i, mahigpit na di sapala, na cun di ninyo ganapin ay icapagcacasala ninyo nang casalanang daquila, at cun magcaminsa,i, maguiguing excomulgado pa cayo dahil sa pagbasa noon. Caya cun cusain ninyong basahin ang isang librong natatalastas ninyong baual nang santa Iglesia ay magcacamit cayo nang casalanang daquila, at cun sa saui ninyong palad ay abutin cayo nang camatayan sa gayong calagayang ay mapapacasama cayong magpasaualang hangan.

Ang manga Puno nang santa Iglesia, sa macatouid, ang santo Papa at ang manga Poong Cardenal na pinatungculan niya, sampon nang mang̃a Guinoong Obispo, ay mayroon silang capangyarihan macapagbabaual nang balang mamasam-in nilang librong icasasama nang mang̃a calolouang quinacaling̃a nila; at caya ng̃a catungculan naman nang baua,t, sino mang cristianong sundi,t, ganaping lubos ang canilang mang̃a utos tungcol dito. Ang balang minamasama,t, ibinabaual nila,i, tinatandaan nama,t, isinasacay sa isang librong pinacalistahan nang mang̃a librong baual at masasama.

Ng̃uni,t, palibhasa,i, hindi mangyayaring mabalitaan nila,t, maquita ang lahat na mang̃a masasamang librong ipinagcacalat sa sangcacristianohan; na caya,t, di naman mangyayaring matang̃ing maipagbaual na lahat; at sa cabila nama,i, cun itulot na basahin hangan di tang̃ing ipagbaual ang mang̃a gayong libro,i, macasasamang lubha sa mang̃a caloloua; dahil dito,i, ang santa Iglesia, ang mang̃a nasabing Puno baga nang santa Iglesia, upang mahadlang̃an hangan macacayanan din lamang, ang gayong mang̃a calaguim-laguim na capahamacan, ay mayroong ibinigay sa atin nang mang̃a utos na paraang pagcacaquilanlan nang mang̃a libro, na, cun di pa tang̃ing ipinagbaual, ay dapat nating parahing baual; at cun sacali,t, basahin ay ipagcacasala natin nang casalanang daquila, na para rin cun basahin ang tang̃i nang ipinagbaual. Isusunod co ng̃ang sasaysayin dito ang mang̃a pang̃ulong utos na paraang aquing sinabi, at nang mapagquilala mo, guiniguilio cong bumabasa nito, ang dapat mong asalin tungcol dito sa lubhang mahalagang bagay na icaliligtas nang caloloua mo sa capahamacang ualang hangan.

II.
Ang caunaunaha,i, baual ang lahat na mang̃a libro sa Santong Casulatan na inihulog nang mang̃a ereje sa uicang castila, cun sa uicang tagalog, cun sa alin mang uica; cun sacali,t, cristiano man ang maghulog ay cun ualang pahintulot ang mang̃a Puno.—Caya ng̃a ang lahat na mang̃a libritong hang̃o sa santong Sulat sa bagong Testamento, na ipinagcacalat na limbag sa Oxfort at sa Hong-kong sa uicang castila at cung magcabihira,i, sa tagalog, ay pauang baual; sampon niyang mang̃a Evangeliong uicang castila cun tagalog caya, na iniing̃atan nang marami, cun isinasabit sa liig na parang anting-anting, ay baual din naman.

Ang icalaua,i, baual din ang mang̃a librong sadyang nagtutucoy, nagsasalita, cun nagtuturo caya nang calibugan, cahit doo,i, ualang nahahalong maling aral cun erejía caya.—Alinsunod dito,i, baual iyang lahat na mang̃a palasintaha,t, auit at corridong paraparang mahahalay, na totoong quinauiuilihang basahing nang caramihang mang̃a tagalog, lalaqui man at babayi man. ¡Daming ba pa nang mang̃a nang̃apapang̃anyayang caloloua dahil dito sa mang̃a tampalasang auit at palasintahan! Cun touirin ninyong mabuti ay agad matatalastas na ang pagcapang̃anyaya nang di mabilang na mang̃a bagong-tauo,t, dalaga,i, nagmula sa pagbasa nitong mang̃a baual na auit at palasintahan.

Ang icatlo,i, baual naman ang mang̃a devociones cun tauaguin, ang mang̃a panalang̃in, at mang̃a casulatang quinapapalamnan nang mang̃a pang̃acong sinung̃aling, na di umano,i, ang mang̃a gayo,t, gayon ay ualang di pangyayari.—Caya ng̃a,t, alinsunod dito,i, iyang mang̃a panalang̃in, at iyang mang̃a casulatan na di umano,i, nalaglag sa Lang̃it, at nasumpung̃ang nacababao sa santo Sepulcro, sa altar cayang pinagmimisahan nang santo Papa, at iba,t, iba pang ganito na ipinalimbag sa mang̃a panahong ito sa uicang castila ma,t, sa uicang tagalog, at ipinagcacalat na mainam nang mang̃a alagad nang demonio, ay pauang baual, at ipagcacasala nang sino man ang pagdarasal at ang pagbasa noon, pati nang pagcacalat at pagiing̃at niyon.

Ang icapat ay baual din naman ang lahat na mang̃a libro, mang̃a munting fojas, at munti man mang̃a casulatang nagtuturo nang panghuhula, panggagayuma, pangculam, at iba,t, iba pa.—Ayon dito,i, ipinagcacasala ang pagbasa,t, pag-iing̃at ang mang̃a lunario, cun tauaguin nang iba; at iyang lahat na mang̃a casulatang iniing̃atan nang mang̃a hang̃al na ualang namumuang̃an; na marahil cun caya iniing̃ata,t, pinaniniualaan ay di umano,i, sulat yaon nang mang̃a matatanda, na mang̃a hang̃al pa sa canila.

Ang icalima,i, baual na lahat ang mang̃a libro na hangan sa taon 1584 at hangan ng̃ayo,i, nilimbag ó lilimbaguing ualang itinuturong pang̃alan nang sumulat ó cumatha, nang nagpalimbag, nang pinaglilimbagan, pati nang panahong ipinagpalimbag; at cun sacali ma,t, may itinuro ang lahat nang ito,i, mang̃a hindi totoo ang itinuturo, at paconouari lamang;sapagca,t, ito,i, nagpapaquilalang dapat pang̃anibang may taglay na lico,t masasamang aral na di dapat basahin nang isang cristiano.—Alinsunod dito,i, ang lahat na mang̃a auit at corrido, na arao-arao,i, ipinalilimbag na ualang pahintulot, at ualang itinuturong may catha, (na palibhasa,i, iquinahihiya ang sinulat ay di ibig na maquilala) ay paraparang baual na lahat; lalong lalo na,t, ang caramihan niyang mang̃a auit ay mang̃a punong puno nang mang̃a camaliang di naayon sa mang̃a aral nang santa Iglesia.

Gayon din naman iyang mang̃a libro,t casulatang ipinagcacalat ng̃ayon sa uicang castila at sa uicang tagalog na uala ring itinuturong may gaua,t, may palimbag; at ang laman niyon ay pauang cabulaanang laban sa señor Arzobispo at sa mang̃a Pareng religioso, na pati nang mang̃a cagalang-galang na mang̃a Madre religiosa, ay di rin quinaalang-alang̃anan nang tampalasan nilang pluma, ay ang lahat na ganiyang mang̃a libro,t, casulatan ay baual na basahin, at ipagcacasala nang daquila ang pagbasa,t, pag-iing̃at noon, at lalong lalo na ang pagcacalat.

Pauang cabulaanan, uica co; sapagca,t, cun mapatotohanan nila sana ang canilang mang̃a sinasabi ay hindi nilang ipagmamacahiyang maalaman ang canilang mang̃a pang̃alan; at cun totoo sana ang laman niyang mang̃a carimarimaring sulat ay ualang sucat icatacot ang may catha man, ang lumimbag man, ó ang nagpapalimbag, at nagpapacalat caya, cahit sila,i, ipaghabla,t, isacdal sa Justicia nang mang̃a pinararatang̃an nila nang gayong mang̃a casamaan. Tunay ng̃a pala na ang mang̃a nagcacalat nang mang̃a gayong sulat na anónimo (ualang pang̃alan) ay sucat ipaquibilang sila sa mang̃a tauong ualang hiya!

Ang icaanim ay baual ang lahat na mang̃a librong sulatin cun ipang̃alat, na ang taglay na laman ay mang̃a maling caisipa,t, mang̃a aral na laban sa pinasasampalatayanan sa atin nang santa Iglesia.—Gaya nang̃a baga nang librong catha nang Dr. Rizal, na ang pang̃ala,i, Noli me tangere, na pinupuri,t, binabasang ualang agam-agam nang maraming natuturang cristiano, baga ma,t, sa pagbasang ito,i, nagcacamit sila nang casalanang daquila; sapagca,t, ang nasabing libro,i, punong puno nang mang̃a erejía,t, mang̃a aral na laban sa ating santa Religión.

Halos sa baua,t, fojas at sa baua,t, talata ay may mababasa roong mang̃a sabing sinung̃aling, mang̃a udyoc na capangahasan, mang̃a nacamumuhi,t, mahalay na iparing̃ig sa mang̃a tunay na cristiano, mang̃a paglalapastang̃an sa mang̃a cagalang-galang na Puno nang santa Iglesia at sa caramihang cristiano, mang̃a pagsisiphayo sa Dios, mang̃a camangmang̃a,t, cahunghang̃ang humihicayat sa pagcampi sa tacsil at sucab na si Lutero at sa iba pang mang̃a ereje, mang̃a aral na lubhang lihis at mang̃a erejíang tunay; ano pa,t, hangan sa umuudyoc upang houag sampalatayanang may Dios. Ang lahat nang ito,i, pauang mababasa diyan sa tampalasang libro, at caya baual na basahin, at ang pagbasa noo,i, isang lubhang mabigat na casalanan. At ang may catha noon, ang Dr. Rizal baga, cun taimtim sa caniyang loob ang mang̃a sinulat niya sa nasabing libro at hindi pa niya pinagsisisiha,t, tinatalicdan, ay dapat na ariin siyang tacsil at tampalasan sa Dios, ereje at excomulgado.

Tingni, mang̃a guiniguilio cong tagalog, tingni,t, masdan itong caauaaua capoua ninyong tagalog, na pinupuri nang marami sa inyo na parang ualang capara sa carunung̃an; ualang dao ga sino si Rizal; di umano,i, capurihan dao nang lahi ninyong tagalog, na sucat ninyong ipagparang̃alan. ¡Ay sa aba co! At lalong catampatang sabihin, na sucat inyong ipagmamacahiya ang gayong cahabag-habag na bulag na loob; sapagca,t, siyang caunaunahang tagalog na cusang gumamit nang caniyang camay sa pagsulat nang mang̃a catacot-tacot na catampalasanan sa Dios, sa ating santa Religión cristiana, at sa mang̃a sinasampalatayanan natin.

Bucod pa sa siya,i, tampalasan, ay hañgal pa naman sa madlang bagay; sapagca,t, cun siyasatin ang pagcagaua nang nasabing libro,i, isip ninyong hindi ang camay nang may bait na tauo, cundi ang paa nang isang mangmang ang isinulat noon; at halos sa lahat nang fojas ay mapagmamalas na ang gumaua,i, hang̃al na hang̃al sa paghahanay nang masanghayang pananalita, lalong lalo na sa uicang castila; ang totoong tang̃ing matatanghal doon ang sino man ay ang isang sucab at tacsil na pagcapoot niya sa ating santa Religión at sa España.

Ang icapito,t, catapusa,i, baual ang lahat na mang̃a librong malaqui ma,t, maliliit, ang mang̃a munting calat na casulatan, ang mang̃a diario, at balang nang sulat na ang laman ay lumalaban sa mang̃a aral nang santa Iglesia; ang tanang casulatang nagpupuri sa mang̃a camaliang hinati,t, sinala nang santo Papa, gaya nang mang̃a sinala ni Pio IX sa caniyang casulatang padala sa sangcacristianohan, nang 8 de Diciembre de 1864; ang balang nang sulat na cumucut-ya sa mang̃a Santong guinagalang nating sa mang̃a altar, cun nagsasalita caya nang mang̃a cabulaana,t, ipinataratang sa canila nang mang̃a gaua, mang̃a uica,t, mang̃a acalang di ucol sa cabanalan; ang lahat nang mang̃a librong nanunuya sa mang̃a Sacramento,t, sa mang̃a ugaling paraang na ipinag-uutos nang santa Iglesia sa pagmimisa, pagdarasal, at sa iba,t, ibang mang̃a gauang magaling; at sa cauacasa,i, ang dilang casulatang sa conouari ma,t, di conouari ay cumacampi sa mang̃a camaliang aral na laban sa pananampalataya at sa mang̃a mabanal na asal.—Laban dito sa cautusang itong bigay nang santo Papang si Pio IX, upang masaula ang mang̃a cristiano sa pagbasa nang mg̃a masasamang diario, ay hindi lamang nagcasala ang mang̃a bumabasa nang balang na sa mang̃a nasabing casulatan, cundi pa naman ang nang̃acacatulong sa pagpalimbag at sa pagcacalat, gaya baga cun limbaguin, ipagbili, bilhin, pasulat at iba pa.

Ang pitong utos na ito,i hang̃ong lahat sa libro nang indice sa naturang casulatan ni Pio IX na dapat nating talimahi,t, ganapin, cun tunay nating ibig na mapacagaling.


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III.
Bucod pa sa rito,i, cun caya gayon ang ipinag-uutos nang santa Iglesia sapagca,t, ito,i, utos din naman nang Dios, na turo sa atin nang catutubo nating bait; na cahit di ipagbaual nang santa Iglesia, at mauala man ang listahan nang mang̃a librong baual na, at cahit di nagcaroon nang mang̃a utos na paraang pagcacaquilanlan nang mang̃a masasamang libro, ay nagtuturo sa atin ang catutubo nating bait na di dapat basahin ang mang̃a gayong librong masasama. At sa catunaya,i, magsabi ca sa aquin: ¿di caya baga mabigat na casalanang laban sa icalimang utos nang Dios ang cumain cun uminum caya nang lasong icatatapus nang sariling buhay, at icamamatay nang ating catauan? Ay ano ¿di caya baga lalong mabigat na casalanan ang cumain nang lasong icatatapus nang buhay nang atin caloloua, na icamamatay baga niya dahil sa pagcauala sa caniya nang pananampalataya?

Diyata,i, pinatotohanan co sa iyo na ualang mabisang lasong icamamatay nang ating catauan na sucat mapara sa lasong taglay nang masasamang libro; lasong sacdal nang bisa sa icasisira nang pananampalataya,t, icamamatay tuloy nang ating caloloua; lason ng̃ang camatay-matay na capag nahahalata nating nasisilid sa ano mang casulatan ay catungculan nating pang̃ilagan, at cun dili,i, magcacamit tayo nang mabigat na casalanan cun ituloy nating basahin. Caya ng̃a ualang maimatouid ang maraming bumabasa nang mang̃a librong limbag ma,t, sulat camay, gaya nang mang̃a cay Rizal, na ang itinututol nila,i, di pa ipinagbaual; sapagca,t, cun di pa tang̃ing ipinagbaual, ay baual na talaga, ayon sa mang̃a cautusang sinasaysay na; at bucod pa sa rito,i, capag naquiquitang may lason nang mang̃a erejía at mang̃a lisiyang aral ay ipinagbabaual nang catutubo nating bait, na nagpapaquilala sa ating yao,i, utos nang Dios. Sucat na lamang na sabihin sa iyo nang Confesor ó nang ibang mabait na Sacerdote, cun nang iba pa mang tauo na nacacaalam, at cahit icao man ang Páhiná 19macamasid na ang gayong libro,i, masama, at pagdaca,i, dapat mong bitiua,t, ibigay sa iyong Confesor cun sa iyong Amang Cura, at cun dili caya ipagatong mo sa apoy; sapagca,t, cun pabayaan mo muna sa bahay may pang̃anib na mabasa; at ang cusang lumalagay sa pang̃anib ay diyan siya mapapang̃anyaya, uica nang Dios Espíritu Santo.

Caya ng̃a, cristianong bumabasa nito, ay houag cang paraya sa iyong sarili, na gaya nang ibang marami na ang acala,i, hindi totoong nacacapahamac ang pagbasa nang mang̃a masasamang libro; sapagca,t, hindi masama lamang, cundi casamasamaan ang quinasasapitan nang sumusuay sa mang̃a utos na ito. ¡Ay capatid co! Sinong macapagsasalaysay nang mang̃a casiraang nangyayari sa mang̃a caloloua dahil sa pagbasa nang Páhiná 20mang̃a masasamang libro? Ang uica nang P. Doctor Sardá: «na ang isang masamang librong may taglay na mang̃a tacsil na udyoc, cun mang̃a mahahalay ang halimbaua ay higuit ang casamaan sa mapagcanulong caibigan, higuit ang cahunghang̃an sa mahunghang na maestro, at lalong dapat capootan sa magdaraya,t, mapaghibong tauo.

Ualang imic-imic, at di nang̃adaramdaman ay unti-unting binabagbag ang puso, inililigao ang lalong matalinong isip, sinisira ang lalong maayos na cabaitan, hinihila ang calooban sa mang̃a lisiyang asal, pinupucao ang mang̃a mahahalay na pita, pinapaniniig sa maruruming gaua at malibughaang casalanan». ¿Ano caya ang dahil na yaong binatang dating mabait at masunurin sa magulang ay ng̃ayo,i, naguíng mapagyabang at ualang cahihiyan? Cun ano,t, yaong dalagang dating masayang loob at mahinhing asal ay ng̃ayo,i, laguing namamanglao at caguitla-guitlang ugali? Cun sino ang nagnacao sa canila nang cabaitan, nang cahinhinan, nang casayahan nang loob, sampon nang casiglahan nang canilang catauan?

¡Ay sa aba co! Yaon palang tampalasang libro, yaong mahalay na auit, yaong carumal-dumal na palasintahan, yaong maruruming tula, na paraparang pinatutuloy sa bahay nang ualang pag-iing̃at na magulang! ¡Ay sa aba ninyo, mang̃a magulang! at cayo ng̃a ang hihing̃ang sulit nitong mang̃a casiraang iquinapapahamac nang di mabilang na mang̃a masasama na di ninyo pinalalayo sa inyong bahay at sa camay at mata nang inyong mang̃a anac! Sapagca,t, maniuala cayo,t, dili, ay uuliting cong sabihin ang sinabi co nang madalas: Ay nagcacasala nang daquilang casalanan ang sino mang cristiano, na baga ma,t, natatalastas niyang baual, ó dapat man lamang ipagbaual, ay bumabasa nang mang̃a tampalasang libro. At di lamang nagcacasala ang bumabasa nang mang̃a librong yaon, cundi pa naman ang nag-iing̃at, sapagca,t, utos nang santa Iglesia na ibigay sa mang̃a Puno, cun dili caya,i, sunuguin. At nagcacasala rin nang daquila ang magpahiram sa ibang ualang pahintulot sa pagbasa nang masasamang libro.


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IV.
Alinsunod dito sa mang̃a sinabi co magpahang̃an ng̃ayo,i, marahil nasain mo, cristianong bumabasa, ang ilang malinao,t, tapat na hatol, na parang pinacareglang aalinsunurin; na cun sundin mo naman ay macapang̃ing̃ilag ca sampon nang iyong mang̃a casambahay, mang̃a caibigan nama,t, caquilala, sa mang̃a daquilang pang̃anib na laguing nasusumpung̃an sa pagbasa nang mang̃a masasamang libro. Isasaysay co ng̃a sa iyo ang mang̃a inaacala cong lalong quinacailang̃an at lalong bagay sa pagtatamo nang ninanasa nating paquinabang.

Una-una. Capag banta mong bumili cun bumasa nang anomang libro, munti ma,t, malaqui man, nang diariong may mang̃a lamina,t, uala, nang auit man, tula man, maguing limbag maguing sulat camay, ay bago mong bilhin ó basahin ay dapat mong usisain muna cun baual, cun dili caya; ó cun dapat maguing baual sapagca,t, masama.—Ang pag-uusisa nito,i, nacacailang̃ang siyasatin mo cun ang librong bibilhin ó babasahin ay natatamaan nang alin man sa mang̃a pitong utos na paraang pagcacaquilanlan nang mang̃a librong dapat na ipagbaual, na baual na talaga; at ang lalong maigui sa lahat ay magtanong ca sa Confesor, cun sa Cura caya, cun sa canino mang banal na sacerdote; at ang paraan na ito,i, lalong magaling, sapagca,t, malalayo ca sa pang̃anib nang pagcacamali.

Icalaua. Dapat mong tandaang pinacalandas di dapat sinsayan ang houag bumili, at houag bumasa nang ano mang libro, auit, at casulatang uala sa unang fojas na may lubos na pahintulot ang mañga PUNO. Sapagca,t, ang ayao huming̃i nang pahintulot sa mang̃a Puno ay marahil hindi cristiano, at cun ganoon sucat nang ipaquibilang sa mang̃a baual ang quinathang libro; at cun cristiano naman, at ayao huming̃i nang pahintulot ay hayag siyang souail na cristiano, at masasapantahang magtuturo nang camalian.

Tanto cong magaling na yaong ibang libro,i, di nagcacailang̃an nang pahintulot, at nang mailimbag; at mababasa ng̃a cahit uala ang gayong pahintulot; datapoua,t, sang-ano man ang pag-iing̃at tungcol dito,i, alang̃an pa; sapagca,t, sa casamaang nang mang̃a panahong quinalalag-yan natin ay pati sa mang̃a librong di nagcacailang̃an nang pahintulot, cun magcabihira,i, iguiniguiit din ang mang̃a erejía at mang̃a lisiyang aral: caya ng̃a cailang̃an din sumigao na ualang tugot: ¡Caing̃at cayo sa mang̃a masasamang libro,t, casulatan!

Napagunaua mo na marahil, na sa toui cong sinasabing cailang̃an ang pahintulot nang mang̃a Puno, ang tinutucoy cong mang̃a Puno ay ang sa santa Iglesia, ang Santo Papa baga at ang mang̃a Poong Obispo, palibhasa,i, sila na lamang ang macahahatol nang cagaling̃an at casamaan nang ano mang libro.

Icatlo. Cun totoong totoo,t, ninanasa mong houag magcamali dito sa daquilang bagay na ito, ang lalong mabisang paraan, na nasasaclauan nang lahat na mang̃a ibang paraang iyong mapipili, ay ito ng̃a: Na houag cang bumili, at houag bumasa nang ano mang libro, diario, auit at ano mang casulatan na di ca maquipagsanguni muna sa iyong Confesor, sa iyong Amang Cura, cun sa ibang banal na Sacerdote. At ito rin ang dapat mong ipasunod sa iyong mang̃a nasasacupan. Sapagca,t, doon pa sa mang̃a librong hindi masama, at may pahintulot ang mang̃a Puno sa paglimbag, ay marami rin ang di mo nararapat basahin, sapagca,t, marahil macasasama sa iyo; at caya ualang macapaghahatol sa iyo nang tapat gaya nang mang̃a may catungculang magsaquit sa icagagaling nang iyong caloloua.

Sundin mo ng̃a, guilio cong cristiano, itong mang̃a bilin co sa iyo, at ipasunod mo naman sa iyong mang̃a nasasacupan, at hindi ninyong icapapang̃anyaya ang mang̃a masasamang casulatan. At cun sacali,t, dala nang di ninyo carunung̃an nang dacong arao ay may pinatuloy cayo sa inyong bahay na mang̃a librong masasama ay inyong pagsicapang hanapin, ay dalhin ninyo agad sa Amang Cura cun sa Confesor, na ito ng̃a ang lalong magaling; ng̃uni,t, cun di ninyo magagaua ito,i, sunuguin ninyong tambing. Sunuguin, sunuguing ualang aua,t, hinayang sa salaping ibinili niyong mang̃a libro, at nang houag cayo,i, masunog sa infierno dahilan sa canila.

¡Ay capatid co! cun tularan mo sana ang magandang halimbauang ipinaquita niyaong isang babaying nang̃ang̃alacal nang libro, ayon sa sinasalita ni P. Mach sa caniyang librong «Tesoro del Catequista»:

Nang malapit nang mangyari yaong balitaa,t, malaquing pagcagulo doon sa caharian nang Francía, ay may isang babaying nang̃ang̃alacal nang libro na dinatnan nang balita, na si P. Borgar (Beauregard) ay lubhang mariquit na magsermon, na caya ng̃a hinahang̃aan siya nang lahat na taga Paris.

Dala nang balitang ito,i napasa simbahan nang Nuestra Señora de Paris ang nasabing babayi, at gayac siyang maquiquinyig nang pang̃ang̃aral nang Pareng yaon; at nagcataon naman na ang mang̃a sinasabi nang Pare noong gabing yaon ay pauang nauucol sa mang̃a masasamang libro. Ang naturang babayi, baga ma,t, timtima,t, may puri, ay nagbibili nang mang̃a librong laban sa ating santa Religión at laban din sa magagaling na asal. Anaqui nabulagan siya nang casaquiman sa salapi, gaya nang pagcabulag nang maraming naglalaco,t, nang̃ang̃alacal nang mang̃a mahahalay na palasintahan, auit, corrido at iba,t, iba pang mang̃a masasamang casulatan, at di nila inaanumana ang mang̃a casalanang di mabilang na quinacamtan nila, at ang mang̃a quinacamtan nang iba dahilan sa canila.

Ng̃uni,t, ang babaying yao,i, dahil sa pang̃ang̃aral nang Pare ay iminulat niya ang mata nang caniyang isip, caya,t, napagquilala, na ang mang̃a tampalasang librong lumalaban sa santa Religión, at umaaquit sa maruruming hilig nang catauan, ay parang bucal nang camatay-matay na lasong sumisira sa caloloua,t, puso nang tauo; at ang mang̃a nagpapalimbag, nagbibili, cun tumutulong sa papaano mang paraan nang pagcacalat sa mang̃a gayong libro ay catulad nang mang̃a manglalason; at darating ang arao, at sila,i, hihing̃an nang Pang̃inoong-Dios nang mahigpit na pagsusulit sa mang̃a caguluha,t, casalanang nangyari dahil sa canila.

Halos di ng̃a magcasiya sa loob nang babaying yaon ang sisi sa sarili, at napag-unaua na ang pang̃ang̃alacal niya,i, lubhang di carapat-dapat sa isang calolouang may iniing̃atan pang cahihiyan at pagquilala sa Dios; caya ng̃a,t, minabuti niyang lisanin magpacailan man ang paghahanap buhay na yaon. Nang matapus ang sermon ay tinung̃o niya ang bahay nang Pare, at nagsabi sa caniya nang ganito: Aquin napagquiquilala, Ama co, ang cadaquilaan nang aquing pagcacasala sa pagbibili co nang mang̃a masasamang libro; ng̃uni,t, yayang minulan na ninyo ang paggamot sa aquing caloloua,i, lubusin ninyong pagcagaling̃in: pumaroon po cayo sa aquing tindahan, tignan ninyo ang mang̃a librong naroroon, at sunuguin po ninyo ang lahat na mamasamain ninyo.

Sang-ano man ang maguing capang̃aluguihan co, at mauala man sa aquin ang lahat cong mang̃a tinubo, ay mamagaanin cong lahat, houag lamang mapacasama ang aquing caloloua. Pinuri ni P. Borgar ang gayong magandang banta, at nang̃acong tutulong̃an siya sa pagganap nang caniyang ninanasa. Quinabucasa,i, naparoon siya, ibinucod ang mang̃a masasamang libro,t, itinuro sa babayi, na quinuha nito,t, isinugbang lahat sa isang malaquing siga na caniyang inihanda. Ang halaga nang mang̃a sinunog na libro,i, mahiguit dao sa sanglibo,t, dalauang daang piso; at magmula noo,i, pinagtiticahan niyang mahigpit na hindi na magbibili nang mang̃a ibang libro, cundi yaon lamang macapagpapagaling sa mang̃a caloloua.

¡Tularan naua itong magandang halimbaua nang mang̃a sederang naglalaco nang mang̃a bagay bagay na auit at masasamang libro! Tularan mo rin ng̃a, guiniguilio cong bumabasa, cun sacali,t, sa mang̃a nacaraang arao,i, di ca nagpacaing̃at capara nitong babayi; at tungcol sa haharaping arao ay houag cang lumihis munti man sa mang̃a itinuro sa iyo dito sa libritong ito. At isinasamo co pa sa iyo na ipaquilala mo ang libritong ito sa iyong mang̃a hinlog, mang̃a catoto,t, mang̃a caquilala, at nang sila nama,i, gumanap nang mang̃a bilin dito: at cun magcaganoon ay mahahadlang̃an ang marami sa mang̃a capahamacang dala nang masasamang libro,t, casulatan.

¡Loobin naua nang catamis-tamisang Puso ni Jesús at nang calinis-linisang Puso ni Maria, sampon nang maloualhating Poon san José, na pagpalain nila,t, gauaran nang mahal nilang bendición itong munti cong pagod, upang mapaquinabang̃an nang mang̃a caloloua, at mapatungcol na lahat sa lalong capurihan nang Dios. Siya naua.

Fr. José Rodriguez

Religioso sa Orden ni san Agustin.

Source: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:T8ZPj1G7baMJ:onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/bparchive%3Fyear%3D2006%26post%3D2006-04-12,3+caingat+cayo+gutenberg&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us