What good is independence if the slaves of today are the tyrants of tomorrow?” Jose P. Rizal, as spoken through the fictional character of Father Florentino in his novel, El Filibusterismo

O nce again it is the month of June and Filipinos worldwide celebrate what is supposedly the birth of Asia’s first democratic Republic. Tomorrow is the big annual Philippine parade in Manhattan, New York, as Filipino-American community members from the Eastern Seaboard commemorate the June 12, 1898, Philippine independence from Spain. Yes, what good is independence if some of the “slaves” (as described by Dr. Rizal during his days) are now the “tyrants” that control and compose the much-despised “The Imperial Manila”?

Should Filipinos celebrate their independence from Spain, and on July 4^th, their freedom from the United States, when their de-facto head of state, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has become the number-one tyrant in the land? Should Filipinos commemorate the declaration of independence from colonial powers when just some 200 families (that now control “The Imperial Manila”) have continued the tyranny? The 19^th-century Filipino revolutionary heroes surely did not give up their lives in the fields of battle or in the foreign lands where they were exiled just to continue the slavery of their people under the new tyrants, even if the new oppressors are fellow Filipinos.

H ere are some published articles in this website about Philippine Independence:

Reconciling the 1898 and 1946 Philippine-Independence Days

The Fourth of July Is RP-US "Interdependence Day" 

H ere are some articles about the banishment of Filipino revolutionary heroes to Africa and Guam, especially that about Isabelo de los Reyes, who was probably the only Filipino exiled twice (once by the Spaniards and then for the second time by the Americans):

Correcting Bicol History and Remembering the Bicolano (and Filipino) Heroes Exiled to Africa 

The Filipinos’ Unfinished and Coming Agenda in Guam 

Isabelo de los Reyes: Founder of the Philippine Labor Movement (Among Other Titles) # # #