A heritage tour of Cavite

MANILA, Philippines - The ancestral home of Emilio Aguinaldo, now a shrine to commemorate the Declaration of Independence, looked exactly the way it did the first time I visited it ages ago.

What was new for me during a recent visit was the Aguinaldo Park in front of the house. The park has two pools and full reproductions, inscribed in black granite, of the Declaration of Independence, in Filipino, English and Spanish.

War counselor Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista had read the declaration, which he authored, on June 12, 1898 from the window of the grand hall. The flag of the first Philippine Republic was also formally unfurled from a front window. On the grounds the marching band of San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias in Cavite) played the Philippine National Anthem for the first time, although still without lyrics.

Years later, Aguinaldo built a decorative “Independence balcony” in his house, from where the flag is hoisted by government officials every Independence Day.

You will learn all these details at the shrine, one of the most popular tourist destinations in this part of Cavite. From the southern tip of Coastal Road in Las Piñas, the drive to Kawit is less than five minutes through the newly opened Cavitex.

The drive through the road built on the water bypasses the narrow, traffic-choked streets of Cavite, and offers a panoramic view of the fishing villages and resorts of the province. This traffic-saving road, unfortunately, is not for the poor to enjoy on a regular basis, with the P64 toll each way collected by the Public Estates Authority Toll Corp.

Emilio Aguinaldo added the ‘Independence Balcony’ to his house, now a shrine, in Kawit. (commons.wikimedia.org)

“Heritage tours” in Cavite may also provide disappointing reminders to Pinoys of the turf wars, disunity and betrayals that doomed the Philippine revolution against Spain.

The wording of the Declaration of Independence itself, immortalized in that memorial in Kawit, may raise doubts about our revolutionaries’ concept of independence. It proclaimed, by virtue of a decree issued “by the Egregious Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy…” Philippine independence “under the protection of the Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, the United States of America…”

It also cited the use of red, white and blue in the Philippine flag to commemorate the US flag, “as a manifestation of our profound gratitude towards this Great Nation for its disinterested protection which it lent us and continues lending us.”

When the declaration was written, the US Navy fleet under George Dewey had just obliterated the entire Spanish naval armada in the Philippines, and Dewey’s guns were trained on the coastal areas of Manila Bay, so perhaps those lines were understandable.

The declaration, which reads like a short story, also mentions the abuses of friars and the “Religious corporations” at the time, whose sowing of intrigue led to the execution of Filipino priests Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora. The three priests were garroted for involvement in the 1872 mutiny of Filipino workers in the Cavite naval shipyard over a pay cut due to higher taxes.

Cavite was a hotbed of armed unrest against colonial rule and was a natural choice as the seat of the revolutionary government, with its leadership dominated by sons of the province. Caviteños staged several successful attacks against Spanish troops and targets. The significant battles are commemorated in memorials and markers across the province.

A heritage tour of Cavite can be a painful reminder of the human failings of our revolutionaries. But it also celebrates the courage, born of centuries of oppression, of people who were prepared to face the might of the Spanish empire armed with little more than bolos, bamboo spears and arrows. National hero Jose Rizal disapproved, and was executed anyway, giving the revolution its most famous martyr.

The view of Cavite’s coastal villages from the Cavitex. RUDY SANTOS

From the Aguinaldo Shrine, signs pointed to the site of the Tejeros Convention in General Trias, so that was my next stop. The town is also home to the church where the marching band of Malabon practiced the National Anthem before it was played in Kawit.

The original friar estate called “Casa Hacienda de Tejeros” unfortunately was not restored after it was destroyed during the war. It has been replaced with a three-story convention center within a spacious compound. But the original foundations are still visible by the river, including an underground passage that a caretaker told me led to Aguinaldo’s home in Kawit. The passage has been sealed.

General Trias is named in honor of Mariano Trias, who together with Diego Mojica and Nicolas Portilla staged the first Katipunero armed attack in Cavite against Spain, on Aug. 31, 1896. Their target was the town tribunal.

At the Tejeros Convention, whose 115th anniversary was celebrated last March 22, Trias was elected vice president of the revolutionary government. 

This part of the convention many Filipinos remember from our history lessons: Bonifacio of the Magdiwang faction presided over the election of officials in the new revolutionary government that would replace the Katipunan, which he had founded. The Magdalo faction, with its roots in Cavite, picked its head, Aguinaldo, over Bonifacio as president.

Bonifacio would have kept his peace after being elected as director of the interior. But when his qualifications for the post were challenged by Daniel Tirona, Bonifacio nullified the election results and stalked out with his men.

The next day, they went back to the friar estate and left a document declaring the reasons for the nullification. Then they went to Naic, planning to set up a separate government.

Aguinaldo at the time was said to be preparing for battle but was persuaded by his brother to first take his oath as president. After dropping by Casa Hacienda and finding it closed, Aguinaldo proceeded to a convent in Sta. Cruz de Malabon (now Tanza) where he and the other newly elected officials took their oaths before a cross that was believed to be miraculous.

Aguinaldo subsequently ordered the arrest of Bonifacio and his brother Procopio. The brothers were taken to Maragondon and tried by a military court headed by Brig. Gen. Mariano Noriel.

Katipuneros evaded Spanish troops through a river behind Casa Hacienda.

The “Bonifacio Trial House” has been preserved, a few blocks from the 18th century Maragondon Church, which served briefly as headquarters of Aguinaldo’s government. With its ornate carved wooden doors, the church is classified as a National Cultural Treasure.

After being found guilty of treason and sedition, the Bonifacio brothers were brought to Mount Nagpatong in Maragondon, in the shadows of Mount Buntis. Procopio was hacked with bolos while Andres was shot.

An impressive shrine has been built, presumably on the exact spot of the execution, although for some time the precise location of the killings was not publicly known.

The memorial is large and built in a spacious eco-tourism park, but it may be hard to find for visitors. Locals seem to confuse the shrine with the Trial House. There is only one sign, scrawled on a small board attached high up on a lamppost at the end of a narrow road in Barangay Ul-ong.

You follow the arrow to a dirt road, drive up the hill until you hit a grassy clearing. It’s not the end of the road so keep driving a bit further up. When you reach a bamboo gate, just open it and continue on, making sure you don’t hit any of the grazing cows, until you reach a narrow stretch of paved road. At the end of the road is the main gate to the shrine, where you pay P20 per head to enter.

Across the memorial is a pavilion where you can rest a bit before returning to the Maragondon town proper.

There are still several other points of historical interest in Cavite, where Aguinaldo spent the days and months before he had to move his government across Central and Northern Luzon when the Philippine-American War broke out. Those next chapters in our history can be remembered in other provinces.

The events commemorated in Cavite celebrate the courage of Filipinos. They also show what the nation can achieve in unity, and what happens when egos and personal interests get in the way.

For the valuable lessons that remain relevant to this day, every Filipino should take a trip to these historical sites.