...Treaty of Paris, December 10, 1898 -- "A Cause for Indignation" ...                                                                                                       ...Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 10, 1948 -- "A Cause for Celebration" ...

 'Demands of Dignity'

'Demands of Dignity'

<DEVELOPING THE DISCOURSE ON OUR DECEMBER 1Oth DECLARATION>

 

      On-Line Edition of the Book by Ed Aurelio C. Reyes    

 Introductory Essay -- by Prof. Bernard LM Karganilla 

 

 'Demands of Dignity' 

by Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, 2008

CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK:


 FRONT OF THE BOOK  


 FEEDBACK RECEIVED 


 AUTHOR'S INTRO 


 CHAPTER
UDHR '48: A Cause for Celebration
Branching Out into OtherInstruments
UN Complaints Procedure

Predecessor Documents

The International Criminal Court

The Rights of Peoples

Human Rights & Peace: Intertwined 

     Advocacies  

Human Rights Work Spans Centuries

Celebrating While Working Harder

Appendix 1-A: Text of UDHR

Appendix 2-B: Text of UDRP   


 CHAPTER
TP '98: A Cause for Indignation

Motive and Conduct of US War with Spain

Conditions in the Philippines

Early American Deception

Mock Battle and its Aftermath

More Duplicity

Aug. 13: Historic Date Between Centuries

Negotiating and Signing the Treaty

Reactions to Signed Treaty

US Domestic Moves for Ratification

Precarious Vote Ratifies Pact

App 2-A: Text of Treaty of Paris, 1898  

App 2-B: War to Enforce the Sale


 CHAPTER3 
Decade-old Document Dissected

Relating the Two Documents

Our Decade-old 1998 Declaration

Dissecting the Demands

Demanding Apologies from the US (10  reasons)

Demanding Apologies from Spain (2 reasons)

Appendix 3-A: Text of A Philippine Declaration of Felicitation and Protest, 1998

App 3-B: List of 300+ signatories

App 3-C: Unreal Estate: Map of  Fraudulent Sale


 CHAPTER 4 

Response to the Spanish Response

Response from Madrid’s Envoy

Almost an Apology, But…

Review of Rizal’s Critiques Needed

Closer Familiarity for Closer Friendship

How to Serve One’s Honor Best

App 4-A: Text of Response from Spain’s Envoy

App. 4-B: Life at the start of Spanish Rule


 CHAPTER 5 

Response to the American Non-Response

Elaborating on a Parody

Two Myths Among Filipinos About Americans

America’s Long Double-Bladed History

Clueless About Global Resentment

A New Hope

App 5-A: Open Letter to the American People

App 5-B: Dear Whites, I Am No Racist! 

App 5-C: Mark Twain's 'The War Prayer'


 EPILOGUE

Demands of Dignity 

Running on One Foot

Wrongs Cry Out to be Righted

Developing the Discourse from Our Declaration

Seek One Humanity!  


  EXCERPTS: 

-o0o-  

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed Dec. 10, 1948, has been a cause of celebration, and the Treaty of Paris, signed Dec. 10, 1898, has been a cause for indignation...   on the part of ALL  HUMANS."

-o0o-  

"The HUMANITY of ALL is ONE!  Assaults on the Rights of a human anywhere are assaults on the rights of all humans everywhere."

-o0o-

"The current Human Evolutionary Imperative is attaining Synergy in Conscious Oneness."

-o0o-

"We demand apologies not to uphold our national dignity, but to give the offenders the opportunity to uphold theirs."

-o0o-

"Demands for Human Dignity come from within Human Dignity itself."

-o0o-

"We seek redress, closure and healing...  Since the governments involved and the international organizations that depend on the consent of governments cannot be expected to support these calls or accord them any serious attention, we are calling upon the citizens of these and other nations, on the citizenry of the world."

-o0o-

"One of the factors underpinning the habit of trying to hide or mangle the truth is the illusion that facts hidden well enough as secrets can stay as such forever. Another is the illusion that you can harm your fellow-humans without harming yourself."

-o0o-

"Inevitably, eventually and ultimately, all wrongs cry out to be fully acknowledged, regretted, and set aright. Your peace of mind now and in the future demands it. Your very dignity demands it."

-o0o-

"Smile for Synergy! Seek One Humanity!"

 

  LINKS TO THE MAIN PARTS OF THE Demands of Dignity BOOK: 

 Foreword by Max de Mesa, Phil.Alliance of Human Rights Advocates

 Prologue by Noli Santos, Institute of Strategic & Internat'l Studies

 Introductory Essay by Bernard Karganilla, Kamalaysayan chair

 Author's Intro: Campaigning for Deeper, Broader Discourse

Introduction: Campaigning for Deeper, Broader Discourse  

CHAPTERS: Introduction  Ch.1  Ch.2  Ch.3  Ch.4  Ch.5  Epilogue

Bibliography    Alphabetical Index    Publication Information

The Author: Ed Aurelio Reyes    The Publisher: Kamalaysayan   

GENERAL FEEDBACK    SPECIFIC FEEDBACK     FEEDBACK BOX

  Introductory Essay

  -------------------------------- 

Dignifying December

By Prof. Bernard LM Karganilla

Chair, Dept. of Social Sciences, Coll. of Arts & Sciences,

University of the Philippines Manila; and 

Chair, Kamalaysayan Solidarity Network 

           on Sense of History

(Culled from two successive issues of Prof. Karganilla’s regular opinion columns in Malaya, a broadsheet daily widely circulated throughout the Philippines.)

IN THIS SEASON of Advent, three Filipino causes are worth championing. The Kamalaysayan solidarity network on sense of history has reason to pursue all these causes vigorously.

Interlinked Causes

People’s organizations in Caloocan are spearheading a global campaign to include the Bonifacio Monument in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The World Heritage Convention, adopted 36 years ago by member-states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, noted that the world’s cultural and natural heritage are increasingly threatened with destruction not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing social and economic conditions. It considered monuments as "cultural heritage" and obliged all parties to recognize its duty of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of such heritage. The Philippines joins 185 other states in making inventories of properties threatened by serious and specific dangers, such as rapid urban development projects.

These are principles that are valued by the masses of Caloocan. The SAMATRIP, the PD1517 Coalition, the Caloocan City Urban Poor Sectoral Council District 2, and the Bagong Silang Multi-Sectoral Movement, through the representation of Rolando G. Ocampo, urge their fellow Filipinos to enlist in the Monumento Global Campaign in honor of the memory and legacy of Gat Andres Bonifacio, a son of the City and a hero of the Nation

Bonifacio, a Pangulo of the Republika ng Haringbayang Katagalugan, and his comrades in the Katipunan, are immortalized in the monument that stands at the northern terminus of the Line 1 of the Light Rail Transit. The work of art, which is surrounded by the old Araneta Building, the Ever Emporium, the Monumento Market, and the LRT Line 1, was crafted in 1933 by Guillermo Tolentino, a National Artist and a Fine Arts dean of the University of the Philippines

The Bonifacio Monument was mandated by Act No. 2760 on February 23, 1918. It was a bold and successful move, considering the temper of those times. In those days, the Philippine National Flag was banned by the Philippine Commission through Act No. 1696, which prohibited the "display of Katipunan flags, banners, emblems, or devices." Yet, the erection of a work of art commemorating the Spirit of the Katipunan was legislated. It was a rollercoaster of struggle for patriotic Filipinos.

The so-called Flag Law (Act No. 1696, in effect from September 6, 1907 to October 22, 1919) contradicted the Bonifacio Monument edict (Act No. 2760), and it took 15 years for the Tolentino masterpiece to materialize. Today, the Monumento at Caloocan is simply a marker for commuters of LRT Line 1, and it would be a waste and a stain on the patriotism of our forefathers if the Bonifacio Monument is imprisoned by the coming of another metropolitan rail structure.

The substance and symbolism of the Bonifacio Monument is defended by the Heroes Del 96 community, home of 50,000 citizens, and these heritage-aware residents of Caloocan enjoin their compatriots to enlist in the Monumento UNESCO Global Campaign. Send your letters to rollyocampo@yahoo.com

Our second advocacy this December comes from 61 old and sickly women who are survivors of the Japanese Rape of Mapanique.

On November 23, 1944, the Japanese Imperial Army attacked the village of Mapanique in the town of Candaba in the province of Pampanga. Pilar Galang, Francia Buco, Belen Sagum, Corazon Suba and Emilia Mangilit "witnessed how they (Japanese soldiers) grabbed and tortured our fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers."

Belen Culala, Felicidad Turla, Marta Gulapa, Maria Quilantang and Victoria dela Pena "saw how they battered those male relatives, tied them to posts and trees for the ants to bite before they (Japanese soldiers) cut off their (our relatives) penises and stuffed the same in their (victims) mouths." Teresita Pangilinan, Januaria Garcia, Lucila Payawal, Teodora Hernandez and Jovita David "cannot forget the sight of our burning houses and belongings and the smell of burning flesh and bones, which were our relatives’. They made us carry our belongings that they had looted, and then they raped us, some in full view of the others, most of us, repeatedly."

Joliana Magat, Rufina Mallari, Candilaria Soliman and the other victims of the Japanese are in the twilight of our years and it should pain all decent souls that these ladies would die without seeing justice. Therefore, Lourdez Navarro, Francisca Atencio, Erlinda Manalastas and the other survivors of the Mapanique Massacre are appealing to the House of Councillors of the Japanese Parliament to enact a law that will give justice for all victims of sexual violence of the Japanese Imperial Army.

Corazon Calma, Ester Palacio, Natalia Alonzo and the other members of Malaya Lolas, the organization of surviving victims of the Mapanique mass rape, are aware that some Japanese councillors had sponsored a bill asking the Japanese government to take historical responsibility, to apologize publicly for the comfort women system as a war crime, to mention this event in Japan’s history books, and to compensate the victims.

But Leonor Sumawang, Tarcila Sampang, Anita Briones and the rest of Malaya Lolas are dismayed that the Japanese House of Councillors never passed that bill into law.

The Malaya Lolas (Teofila Punzalan, Mamerta Puno, Magdalena Liwag, et.al.) understand that Japan’s definition of comfort women exclude them from being considered as such. But Esperanza Manapol, Pastora Guevarra, Maxima Angulo and the other Mapanique survivors would like to tell the honorable Japanese legislators that "our sufferings were not any degree lighter simply because the Japanese soldiers did not bring us to brothels."

The Malaya Lolas (Zoila Manaluz, Ana Alonzo, Lidya Sanchez, et.al.) "experienced unspeakable horror and terror" and believe that they also deserve justice, along with the other victimized Filipinas who have been officially classified as "comfort women." To further explain what had happened to them, Rosita Culala, Catalina Manio, Rosario Buco and the rest of Malaya Lolas refer the Japanese to the decision of the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal of December 2000.

If you want to know more, go to the following websites: http://kaisa-ka.livejournal.com/759.html and www.gopetition.com/online/21631

Our third advocacy in this season of joy and hope commemorates the 110th anniversary of the Spain-USA Treaty of Paris and celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

On December 10, 1898, the United States of America and the Queen Regent of Spain, through their plenipotentiaries assembled in Paris, signed a Treaty of Peace wherein Spain ceded the Philippine Archipelago to the US. In return, the US paid to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars [Article III]. It was a large-scale violation of Filipino human rights. On December 10, 1948, the UN promulgated the UDHR, which proclaimed that everyone has the right to a nationality (Article 15).

Linking the two anniversaries, 314 signatories made on December 10, 1998 a Philippine Declaration of Felicitation and Protest that asked Spain and USA to apologize for their Treaty of Paris and their violation of Filipino human rights. That 1998 Declaration remains relevant. This is explained in Ed Aurelio Reyes’ new book, "Demands of Dignity." These three campaigns of conscience, courage and cheer will bear healthy fruit as God helps those who help themselves.

More on the Traitors' Treaty

The representatives of the commercial republic that had spawned Benedict Arnold and the kingdom of medieval inquisitors dickered over our future.

They had no right to decide the fate of a third nation, but they did. And the motivation was money. The sum of twenty million dollars for the Philippine Archipelago.

After a brief, manufactured war, the United States of America and the Queen Regent of Spain, through their plenipotentiaries assembled in Paris, signed a Treaty of Peace wherein Spain ceded the Philippines to the U.S. It was December 10, 1898, and the price paid was for the rich friar lands (haciendas owned by Spanish monastic groups, trade houses and feudal lords) tilled by oppressed Filipino peasants.

America, the brash, new imperial power in the Pacific, had defeated Spain, a declining empire from the Mediterranean, in a two-front war. Las Islas Filipinas was the second front, along with Guam and the Marianas Island Group.

But the U.S. Pacific victory was only a naval engagement in Manila Bay. The land battles were actually won by the republican Filipino armed forces. In fact, by September 1898, a Revolutionary Congress in Malolos, Bulacan stood for the Filipino-liberated provinces, crafting a national Constitution, installing tertiary-level educational institutions and affirming local government resolutions.

The Filipinos had launched a War of Independence against Spain in August 1896 that culminated in a Philippine Republic, which was inaugurated on January 23, 1899 in Luzon. Embassies in Manila were duly informed and the international press covered the Philippine Revolution.

Clearly, Spain, the defeated ex-colonizer, had no authority to cede the Philippines to the U.S., the opportunistic imperialist that had no mandate to buy a newly-independent republic in Asia.

The 1898 Spain-USA Treaty of Paris was a large-scale violation of Filipino human rights.

    This is a hard historical fact that in modern times both the Spaniards and the Americans have to record in their textbooks, teach their students, brief their diplomats and impress upon their businessmen.

For modern Filipinos, two things in addition have made the December 10 Treaty indigestible. One, it became the basis for the American invasion and occupation of the Philippines from 1899 to 1941. The Filipinos resisted, of course, defending their Republic, homes and civil liberties. In the course of the Philippine-American War and the subsequent American pacification campaign, the successors of Abraham Lincoln committed unspeakable cruelties upon Filipino combatants and civilians alike.

Two, the Paris "peace" document also became the basis of the computation of the national territory of the Philippines upon the re-establishment of the Filipino Republic. The Archipelago of Jose Rizal lost control of some of its islands, which went to the U.S. and the British concoction of Malaysia.

The treaty between the colonialist Spaniards and the imperialist Americans marked its 110th anniversary in 2008. High time that the descendants of Andres Bonifacio recover their tarnished sovereignty and history.


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