From Jail to Jail. Tan Malaka
who were the most prominent in the revolution did not take part in the American administration afterwards. And those in the front lines, particularly the ordinary fighters, were mostly indigenous Indonesians.
Because under Spanish rule the children of rich Spaniards and Chinese formed the majority of those attending secondary and tertiary schools in the Philippines, it was in the main they who were used by American imperialism to “develop the Philippines.” Thus, nearly all Philippine administrative offices were staffed by mestizos who became American subjects and willingly cooperated with American imperialism. Likewise, nearly all the mestizo-owned plantations, factories, shipping lines, and stores (including those bought by mestizos during and after the revolution) were left intact, while many of the peasant-soldiers returned from the battlefield to find their land sold or mortgaged. As the people of Jakarta say: the master eats the jack-fruit, and I get the sap.10
It would not be accurate to say that the mestizos consciously manipulated the native people in order to topple Spanish imperialism, only to lead them under the rule of American imperialism. In history such a development is but a natural process. Those who are most oppressed—the workers and peasants—form the mass base for the struggle. The workers and peasants chose as their leaders indigenous Filipino intellectuals because they lived directly in their midst and shared the bitterness of foreign oppression.
[127] The oppressors and the oppressed in the Philippines, although of different races, did have much in common. First and foremost they shared a common religion, Christianity, and the culture which developed from that religion in the Philippines. It is this common religion and culture that has blurred or even eliminated the difference of skin color between the indigenous people and the mestizos and that drew the lower classes of the mestizos into the storm of the revolution. This is how a very popular general, such as Luna, could be a mestizo.11 The late President Manuel Quezon was only twenty-four years old at the time of the revolution, but with a bolo (machete) in his hand he was able to reach the rank of major. Dearly loved by his soldiers, he was a genuine mestizo: fifty-fifty Filipino and Spanish blood.12 Up to the time I was there (1927) the mestizos were not a class apart, distrusted and hated by the indigenous Filipino. On the contrary, the word “mestizo” was not pejorative, but a symbol of a privileged group in Filipino society. In the annual Queen Contest it was the mestizo form and appearance that was used as the measure of beauty. The Indo-Chinese or Indo-Europeans, however slight the Chinese or European blood in their veins, preferred calling themselves mestiza rather than using the name of the race of their father or mother. This all relates to the high position held by the mestizos in the economic, social, and political fields.
It would not be far from the truth to say that the Indo-Europeans and Indo-Chinese in the Philippines during the time of Spanish imperialism were in general far more radical and more integrated with the indigenous people than were the Indo-Europeans and Indo-Chinese in Indonesia. As mentioned above, many of them played an important part in the revolution.
Since they shared language and religion and action during the revolution, it is not surprising that the mestizos in the time of American imperialism entered the administrative offices and even the legislature without opposition from the common people. What conflict there has been with the mestizos (and this has become more evident in recent years) arose from economic and social conflict—that is, the conflict between the Indonesian (indigenous Filipino) workers and the mestizo capitalists. Most of the haciendas, factories (sugar, tobacco, and so forth), and shipping lines were owned by mestizos. But this conflict did not give rise to an anti-mestizo feeling since other mestizos were not exempt from the process of proletarianization.13
[128] Even at the height of the revolution the Filipino revolutionaries did not direct their attacks and their slogans against foreigners. There are many stories, some written by American observers, that describe how nearly all the Spanish soldiers held by the Filipinos were well treated and returned to their commanders after being disarmed. Frequently they were even left with their weapons, since the Filipinos fought only with bolos. Not a few Spanish soldiers, after getting to know the Filipinos, felt deceived by their government and regretted their past actions, staying to risk their lives with the Filipinos and refusing to return to Spanish-held areas. But one also hears of executions and torture suffered by the Spanish priests, because they were so hated by the Filipino people. Do not forget that it was the priests who, in the time of Spanish imperialism, possessed most of the property (land, churches, etc.) and political and social power in the Philippines. In essence the Philippine revolution was directed against landholders cloaked in priestly vestments, and not against foreigners themselves or against foreign religion.14
Agricultural workers, particularly in the Mariquina area—who organized before World War II into the rebel Sakdalista and after the war into the Hukbalahap—continually mounted attacks on the landholders (hacienderos).15 This only proves that the revolution of 1898-1901, like many before it, did not solve the agrarian problem.
That completes my rough outline of the greatest and most recent Philippine revolution. I feel that now I should fill in the sketch with some detail.
The Filipino pemuda of today have a right to be proud of the three hundred or so rebellions, half of which were of substantial size, carried out by the Filipino people over some four hundred years with the aim of freeing themselves from the shackles of cruel and reactionary Spanish imperialism.16 I say they have a right to be proud because these continual rebellions were the clearest expression of a spirit that resisted colonization. Naturally we are unable to relate the history of all these revolutions here. Let us just take a few facts from the most recent Philippine revolution, that which aimed to overthrow Spanish and American imperialism (1898-1901).
Inseparable from this revolution is the name “La Liga Filipina” (the Philippine League) and that of its founder, Dr. Jose Rizal. To shorten the story and to make things clearer, it might help if I compare La Liga Filipina with our Studieclub, later to become the PBI (Persatuan Bangsa Indonesia) and still later Parindra. I shall compare Dr. Rizal with Dr. Soetomo, the late Pak Tom.17
[129] This comparison is only an attempt at brief and quick clarification and is not intended in any way to liken the two organizations or the two men in every respect. It is true that the Philippines and Indonesia have much in common with regard to geography, climate, race, and agriculture. But as regards size, economy, government, and culture, Indonesia of the early twentieth century differed considerably from the Philippines of the end of the nineteenth century.
To begin with, La Liga Filipina, founded by Dr. Rizal in 1894 after his return from Europe, was a Party of Reforms and cooperation. Its aim was to advance the Philippines step by step through reforms in such areas as the economy, agriculture, and education. La Liga Filipina did not reject cooperation with the Spanish government. Perhaps historians will see some point in comparing the program and activity of La Liga Filipina with that of the Studieclub/Parindra. If so, go right ahead and gather all the relevant material from both sides. But La Liga Filipina was never as successful in action as the Studieclub/Parindra. Opposing an imperialism that had the Spanish priest-landlord caste on its side, La Liga Filipina, right from its inception, was distrusted and attacked by the Catholic hierarchy up to the time of its banning.18
The founder, Jose Rizal, like the founder of the Studieclub and Parindra, Pak Tom, was a doctor. And aside from sharing the title Dr., they were both brilliant men. We all know of Pak Tom’s brilliance in the field of medicine, but we know little of Dr. Rizal’s skill in this field. After receiving the title of Dr. from the University of Madrid, he visited the Universities of Paris and Berlin, where he was also accorded honors. It is possible that the well-known story of Dr. Rizal’s treatment of a young German girl who could not be helped by German doctors may be a little exaggerated (I myself cannot vouch for its authenticity).19 But whatever the case, Dr. Rizal was very popular in the Philippines, and his fame spread as far as China. When he was in exile in Dapitan, Mindanao, he was visited by the French consul in Hong Kong, accompanied by his daughter. The consul had an eye disease which many different doctors had failed to cure. He had been unable to see for some time and had to be led everywhere by his daughter. In Dapitan his eyesight was restored, but he lost his only child. His daughter became