(This item is identical to Appendix VIII with the same title found on pages 398-401 of the book entitled "The Filipino Tragedy and Other Historical Facts Every Filipino Should Know," published by the author.)
I, a woman of limited resources, have been requested by the Red Cross Society to express to you, Filipino Soldiers, its praise and homage of gratitude for your efforts in defending our mother country – the Philippines – and preventing it from being taken away from us.
We salute you with words of respect and infinite thanks for having voluntarily renounced any remuneration from our government during such time as our mother country is in danger and for having also placed your property at her disposal in addition to your desire to fight for her, thereby putting your lives in jeopardy. Great, unsurpassed example! Were we to think of it and measure its magnitude our minds would be overcome, incapable of comprehending your chivalrous spirits. Were it not a shocking thing for us to wear trousers and to carry rifles, we would aid you in the struggle and die by your side, for what would our lives amount to if we should still have to live in slavery? As though we had seen it, the Americans will endeavor to extinguish the Filipino race for the absurd reason to prevent any future struggle between natives and Americans, so that they may reign all over the country. The so-called history of civilization affords us instances of this statement (and, if I am not mistaken, in America itself, the same thing has happened.) As an indication of what I have just stated, bad treatment which, in spite of their policy of attraction, is what they are according to our brothers in Manila and in towns captured by them. Under such circumstances, should we surrender? Never! I think that by keeping up our struggle we will be able within 10 years to attain the liberty and independence of the Philippines and that it will not take 20 years as you first thought it would. Since it is true that no one in this world is willing to endure such a thing, we should prefer death rather than slavery, for they are trying to subdue us by the efficacy of their powerful arms and not by the force of their rights, like those which we are fighting for. For this reason, I thank you, Filipino soldiers, very much. On the other hand, it is with humiliation that we, the women, are unable to render the same services as you do, gallantly fighting for the country, disregarding the quantity and quality of the arms of the enemy. Therefore, with all our hearts, we are rendering aid in the hospitals and will give you such assistance as is within our power. If there is no cloth left, we will gladly make the bandages for the wounded soldiers from our own clothing. And bear in mind that the Red Cross Society will never fail to give you assistance, even when you should unfortunately fall into the hands of the imperialists. The sacrifice is great, but as our aspirations are lofty and inestimable, we shall also sacrifice our highly esteemed lives and cherished property.
Allow me to compare our Mother Philippines with a handsome and wealthy young girl, who, on account of her two qualities, is loved by he who may happen to see her; if she disdains his courtship, she is maligned by him. In a like manner, the American imperialists, upon realizing that all their wooing was in vain, made up their minds to get the Philippines by the power of their arms, overwhelming her with opprobrium and preferring disgraceful charges against her in order to attain their desires. Their charges are entirely inconsistent. They affirm that the Filipinos are incapable of self-government, and yet they are the first in recognizing and respecting our men of learning since they urged upon our countrymen to accept positions – from the highest to the lowest ones – in the so-called Supreme Court. (We must also thank our countrymen who accepted such positions, for they will prove our capacity.) It appears that they are trying to enforce an evil procedure: whenever an American commits a punishable action against a Filipino, neither the courts of first instance nor the President of the Supreme Court has anything to do with him, but in cases where they have grounds for complaint, they file strong accusations with said bodies. It appears, further, that whatever their chief or General Otis wishes, has to be carried out. What sort of law is that? We should, however, pay no attention to it, since it is their practice in dealing with people of another race. We should only notice that they are hindering with their powerful arms our aspirations, and that they are not willing to listen to the pleadings for rights. We must, therefore, think of the best means to defend our Philippine country, even by treacherously killing them, one by one, which, in the long run, will exterminate them since we are short of arms and have sufficient rights. Although we are women, we can aid you in carrying out these “dukuts.” As an illustration, there is the case of what a member of this society has lately accomplished. An American officer is in love with her, but she refuses to reciprocate his passionate affection. The officer threatened her. The girl, acting through fear, pretended to accept him and, at the same time, appointed a place to meet him. When the officer was carrying out his designs and not having gone as far as the place appointed, he was captured by our flying guerrilla. This is not of great importance, nevertheless, it means a small loss caused to the imperialists.
I respectfully salute you, American country, famous in wealth and in sound principles, a model which all should imitate. If your fame is true, why do you allow your sons to take away what does not belong to them? I sincerely tell you that we are weak in the struggle for the lack of arms, but notwithstanding this, it is our duty to defend our country, because apart from our sacred rights, the Philippines is of our ownership. We should not have engaged in fighting each other, because it is against the agreement between our chief and your representative, Admiral Dewey, and his followers, who when they came to this country, gave us the assurance that you came here for the purpose of freeing the Philippines from slavery and to give her self-government, in addition to your saying that “Americans and Filipinos are brothers, the Spaniards are bad.” So we aided you, facilitating the landing of your troops, which cost not a drop of blood to you but plenty to the Filipinos. And when you had many soldiers here and when the Treaty of Paris was about to be ratified there [in America], unexpectedly you begun to fire against our soldiers who scared, ran away, a great many of them dying, and being unable to respond to your firing until received an order to that effect from the government, because it was strictly prohibited for them to do so. And now, we are, according to information furnished to America, charged with firing on you; due perhaps to said information, the imperialists won the popular votes in the Congress. It is logical to suppose that you give credit to such erroneous information, as everyone is apt to justify his own action, and it is especially true in the present case where you are foreseeing a new wealth. But you must realize that if such accusation were true, firstly, we, the Filipinos, would not have awaited the arrival of the American troops, but would have attacked where you were in the Tambo and Maitubig barrios, before the withdrawal of our troops from the districts of Manila; and secondly, the Filipinos are not so blind as to seek a dagger with which to stab his own body, as it would be to fight against you, famous both in wealth and bravery which we recognize. I think that you are not aware of the foregoing facts, which, for the sake of brevity, I have not fully mentioned here, because if you were, the war would have ceased long ago. Will you, the American people, permit the Filipinos to be throttled and murdered in order only that the imperialists may attain their desires, which, on the other hand, we are unable to prevent because, as I have stated above, we are fighting to defend our country? Are you complying with your Constitution, respected and esteemed by the world because of the excellence of its principles? I do not think that all of you are heedless to our claims; there is, yonder, the democratic party, under the leadership of Bryan, which advocates and demands justice be done to us by granting our independence. We know that your country was once a colony of England and the Honorable Kingdom of France assisted you in your struggle for independence. The Filipino people expect that you will not fail to imitate such exemplary conduct, inasmuch as it is but justice for you to do it. Though I am a weak woman, I can assure you that my prayer is that of the Filipino people. It is true that there are some autonomists, but they are acting as such under fear and in order that their property may not be destroyed. As they are my countrymen, I am not qualified to brand their conduct. You who read this article, judge them and say whether there is a man on earth who does not wish that his country or nation should enjoy independence. Oh! American people, in case my prayer reaches you not but is checked by the imperialists, we are, at any event, disposed to bear all kinds of sufferings.
And you, soldiers, defenders of the Philippines! If any of you has any scheme or devised which will strengthen our country, I again entreat you to produce it in order that all of us may aid you in carrying out the same, and in order that we may rest in independence which is the true peace.
(Signed) HILARIA RO. REYES DE AGUINALDO
President, Philanthropical Red Cross Society
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