The Political and Constitutional Ideas of the Philippine Revolution

Cesar Adib Majul | 4.81 | 10 ratings and reviews

The book concedes that the Revolution of 1896 was a national movement caused mainly by oppressive feudal conditions and the abuses of Spanish friars and officials. The organization responsible for the uprising was the secret nationalist society called Katipunan. In Cesar A. Majul’s words, “It was the tyranny of the government as experienced by the masses, and the realization on the part of a few Filipino leaders that the purposes of government were being perverted by the interests of a small class, that were directly responsible for the birth and growth of the Katipunan.” The political and social framework of the revolution was constructed by the propagandists and reformers led by Jóse Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar. It was Andres Bonifacio who tried to organize the mass base of the movement.

In the beginning, the movement was purely the work of the masses; their goals were freedom and social justice. Later, in 1898, the educated segment—the ilustrados—joined the revolution and captured power from the masses. The ilustrados were needed during the later phase of the revolution to bring a semblance of classlessness to the revolution and to strengthen the sense of nation. Majul’s conclusion was: “Thus, even though initially the leadership of the Republic became the monopoly of the ilustrados, their propaganda and increasingly large concessions to the democratic mood developed expectations of even greater concessions. Many people became conscious of being citizens of a Filipino Republic.”

Majul analyzes and interprets the ideas and events that led to the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1896. He dissects the ideas of Rizal, del Pilar, Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini on politics and the constitution.

Basic political issues such as the relationship between man and society, the origin, necessity and function of government, obedience to law, revolution, and the relationship between the Church and State are discussed thoroughly in this book.

Two central problems are posed by Majul in this book: first, What were the political concepts of the Philippine Revolution? and second, How are these concepts related to the actual historical events? The second question required an examination of three related issues: (1) How were these concepts useful as propaganda in bringing about the revolutionary uprising? (2) To what extent were these ideas and ad hoc rationalizations arising after the upheavals? and (3) To what extent did the revolutionary leaders use these ideas to channel the course of the Revolution? less

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