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Apolinario Mabini, c. 1900.via Wikipedia

ByKallie Szczepanski

Like fellow Philippine revolutionariesJose Rizal andAndres Bonifacio, lawyer Apolinario

Mabini, the first prime minister ofthe Philippines, did not live to see his 40th birthday.

He suffered from paraplegia (paralysis of the legs), but Mabini had a powerful intellect,

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and was known during his short life as the "Brains of the Revolution" and also the

"Conscience of the Revolution."

Early Life:

Apolinario Mabini y Maranan was born on July 22 or 23, 1864 in Talaga, Tanauwan,

Batangas, about 70 km (43.5 miles) south of Manila. His parents were very poor; father

Inocencio Mabini was a peasant farmer, and mother Dionisia Maranan supplemented

their farm income as a vendor at the local market. Apolinario was the second of their

eight children.

As a child, Apolinario was remarkably clever and studious. Despite his family's poverty,

the boy studied at a school in Tanawan under the tutelage of Simplicio Avelino, working

as a houseboy and tailor's assistant to earn his room and board.

 He then transferred to a school run by the famed educator Fray Valerio Malabanan.

At the age of 17, in 1881, Mabini won a partial scholarship to Manila's Colegio de San

Juan de Letran. He once again had to work all through school, teaching Latin to

younger students at three different schools in the area. Apolinario earned his Bachelors

degree and official recognition as a Professor of Latin in 1887, and went on to study law

at the University of Santo Tomas.

Apolinario Mabini went into the legal profession in order to defend poor people. Hehimself had faced discrimination from fellow students and professors, who picked on

him for his shabby clothing before they realized how brilliant he was.

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 It took him six years to complete his law degree, since he worked long hours as a law

clerk and a court transcriptionist in addition to his studies. Mabini earned his law degree

in 1894, at the age of thirty.

Political Activities:

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While at school, Mabini supported the Reform Movement, which was a conservative

group mainly made up of middle and upper class Filipinos calling for changes to

Spanish colonial rule, rather than outright Philippine independence.

 It included the intellectual, author, and physician Jose Rizal. In September of 1894,Mabini helped establish the reformistCuerpo de Comprimisarios, the "Body of

Compromisers," which sought to negotiate better treatment from Spanish officials. Pro-

independence activists, mostly from the lower classes, instead joined the more

radicalKatipunan movement, which was established by Andres Bonifacio. Katipunan

advocated armed revolution against Spain.

In 1895, Mabini was admitted to the bar, and worked as a newly-minted lawyer in the

Adriano law offices in Manila. He also served as the secretary of the Cuerpo de

Comprimisarios.

 

Early in 1896, Apolinario Mabini contracted polio, which left his legs paralyzed.

Ironically, this disability saved his life that autumn - the colonial police arrested Mabini in

October of 1896 for his work with the reform movement. He was still under house arrest

at the San Juan de Dios Hospital on December 30 of that year, when the colonial

government summarily executed Jose Rizal. Mabini's polio likely kept him from the

same fate.

Between his medical condition and his imprisonment, Apolinario Mabini was not able toparticipate in the opening days of the Philippine Revolution. His experiences, and the

execution of Rizal, radicalized Mabini, however, and he turned his keen intellect to the

issues of revolution and independence.

In April of 1898, he penned a manifesto on theSpanish-American War, presciently

warning other Philippine revolutionary leaders that Spain would likely cede the

Philippines to the US if it lost the war. He urged them to continue to fight for

independence, whether from Spain or the US. This paper brought him to the attention

of GeneralEmilio Aguinaldo, who had ordered the execution of Andres Bonifacio theprevious year, and had been driven into exile in Hong Kong by the Spanish.

The Americans hoped to use Aguinaldo against the Spanish in the Philippines, so

brought him back from his exile on May 19, 1898. Once ashore, Aguinaldo ordered his

men to bring the author of the war manifesto to him; they had to carry the disabled

Mabini over the mountains in a stretcher to Cavite. Mabini reached Aguinaldo's camp

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on June 12, 1898, and soon became one of the general's primary advisers. That same

day, Aguinaldo declared the Philippines' independence, with himself as dictator.

Establishing the New Government:

Mabini was able to talk Aguinaldo out of ruling the Philippines as an autocrat. On July

23, 1898, under Mabini's influence, the new president modified his plans, establishing a

revolutionary government with an assembly rather than a dictatorship. Apolinario

Mabini's power of persuasion over Aguinaldo was so strong that his detractors called

him the "Dark Chamber of the President," while his admirers named him "the Sublime

Paralytic."

Because his personal life and morality were difficult to attack, Mabini's enemies in the

new government resorted to a whispering campaign to slander him. Jealous of his

immense power, they started a rumor that his paralysis was due tosyphilis, rather than

polio. The fact that syphilis does not cause paraplegia did nothing to clear Mabini's

name. Despite these petty attacks, however, Mabini continued to work toward

fashioning a better country.

Mabini wrote most of Aguinaldo's presidential decrees. He also molded policy on the

organization of the provinces, the judicial system, and the police, as well as property

registration, and military regulations. Aguinaldo appointed him to the Cabinet as

Secretary of Foreign Affairs and President of the Council of Secretaries. Mabini also

exercised significant influence over the drafting of the first constitution for the Philippine

Republic.

At War Again:

On January 2, 1899, Mabini was appointed prime minister and foreign minister of the

new government. He began negotiations with the United States on March 6, over the

Philippines' fate now that the US had defeated Spain. The two sides were already

engaged in hostilities, but had not declared war on one another. Mabini sought to

negotiate autonomy for the Philippines, as well as a ceasefire. US negotiators refused

the ceasefire condition, or a proposed armistice. In frustration, Mabini threw his support

behind the war effort, and on May 7, he resigned from Aguinaldo's government.

Aguinaldo declared war on the United States on June 2, 1899. The revolutionary

government at Cavite had to flee; once again Mabini was carried in a hammock, this

time to Nueva Ecija, 192 km (119 miles) to the north. He was captured by the

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Americans on December 10, 1899, and was made a prisoner of war in Manila until the

following September.

On January 5, 1901, Mabini published a scathing newspaper article titled "El Simil de

Alejandro" (The Resemblance of Alejandro), which stated that "Man, whether or not hewishes, will work and strive for those rights with which Nature has endowed him,

because these rights are the only ones which can satisfy the demands of his own

being. To tell a man to be quiet when a necessity not fulfilled is shaking all the fibers of

his being is tantamount to asking a hungry man to be filled while taking the food which

he needs." The Americans immediately re-arrested him, and when he refused to swear

fealty to the US, sent him into exile inGuam.

During his long exile, Apolinario Mabini wroteLa Revolucion Filipina, a memoirs. Worn

down and sickly, fearing that he would die in exile, Mabini finally agreed to take the oath

of allegiance to the US.

Final Days:

On February 26, 1903, Mabini returned to the Philippines. American officials offered

him a plush government position as a reward for agreeing to take the fealty oath, but

Mabini refused. He released the following statement: "After two long years I am

returning, so to speak, completely disoriented and, what is worse, almost overcome by

disease and sufferings. Nevertheless, I hope, after some time of rest and study, still to

be of some use, unless I have returned to the Islands for the sold purpose of dying."

Sadly, his words were prophetic. Mabini continued to speak and write in support of

Philippine independence over the next several months. He fell ill withcholera, which

was rampant in the country after years of war, and died on May 13, 1903. Apolinario

Mabini was only 38 years old. 

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Emilio Jacinto Biography Many people interested in Philippine history are looking forinformation about Emilio Jacinto. Jacinto played an important role in

Philippine independence and he also had an interesting political life.Emilio Jacinto

 This biography of Emilio Jacinto begins with his early life:

• Emilio Jacinto was born in 18! on the 1!th of "ecember.

• #e was the only son of a man named Mariano Jacinto and a

woman named Josefa "i$on.

• %hortly after he was born& his father passed away. This

untimely death forced his mother to send Emilio to li'e with his

uncle& "on Jose( "i$on. #is mother belie'ed that his uncle couldcare for the young Emilio better then she could after the death of Mariano.

College and Education

)ery little is known about Emilio(s early childhood up until the pointthat he went to college. #owe'er& it is known that by the time hewent away to college& he could *uently speak both %panish and

 Tagalog& the language of the Philippine people. #owe'er& hepreferred to speak in %panish a ma+ority of the time.

Emilio attended the %an Juan de ,atran -ollege when he rstembarked on his college career. #owe'er& he later attended the/ni'ersity of %an Tomas in order to study law. Emilio left collegebefore completing his law degree.

Politics and Revolution

Perhaps the most interesting part of a biography of Emilio Jacintoare the details about his political life and contributions:

• 0fter dropping out of college at the age of 2& Emilio +oined the3atipunan& a secret re'olutionary society. This was a group whoseob+ecti'e was to gain Philippineindependence from %pain in 184.

•  Jacinto became the secretary& directly reporting to the leader of the 3atipunan. #e also became the chief ad'isor on scal mattersconcerning this secret society. 5n addition to these duties& Emilioalso wrote the society(s newspaper& the Kalayaan.

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• Emilio was gi'en a new name when he was part of this group.

 To the 3atipunan& he was often referred to as /tak ng 3atipunan.#owe'er& he wrote under the pseudonym "imasailaw whenwriting for the newspaper and he was more commonly referred toin the group as Pingkian. Jacinto was also placed in charge ofwriting the guidebook for new members and current members ofthe 3atipunan& which was called 3artilya ng 3atipunan.

• 6hen the leader of the 3atipunan passed away& Emiliocontinued to carry out the wishes of 7onifacio. The 3atipunan atthis time had many factions and not all of them operated in thesame way in their eorts to gain their independence from %pain.0s with his predecessor before him& Jacinto refused to +oin withthese factions who had dierent 'iews. This included refusing to

 +oin the Magdalo faction of the 3atipunan under the leadership of

Emilio 0guinaldo.Emilio Jacinto died on 0pril 19& 1844 at the age of . The cause ofhis death at such a young age was malaria& which he had contractedwhile in Ma+ay+ay& ,aguna. The remains of his body were transferredfrom this location to Manila where he was laid to rest in Manila ;orth-emetery. #is name li'es on in history for the Philippine people andhe is known as the 7rains of the 3atipunan.