{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_14660/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_14660","id":"gutenberg_14660","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14660","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - Other","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Politics","Conduct of life","Mabini, Apolinario, 1864-1903","Patriotism"],"text":"=MABINI'S DECALOGUE FOR FILIPINOS=\n\n[Illustration: Apolinario Mabini]\n\nApolinario Mabini, Martyr.\n\n\"Thou shalt love thy country after God and they honor and more than\nthyself: for she is the only Paradise which God has given thee in this\nlife, the only inheritance of thy ancestors and the only hope of thy\nposterity.\"\n\nPHILIPPINE PRESS BUREAU\nWashington, D. C.\n\n1922\n\n\n\n\nMABINI\n\n\nMabini was undoubtedly the most profound thinker and political\nphilosopher that the Pilipino race ever produced. Some day, when his\nworks are fully published, but not until then, Mabini will come into\nhis own. A great name awaits him, not only in the Philippines, for he\nis already appreciated there, but in every land where the cause of\nliberty and human freedom is revered.\n\nMabini was born in Tanawan, province of Batangas, island of Luzon,\nP.I., of poor Filipino parents, in 1864. He received his education in\nthe \"Colegio de San Juan de Letran.\" Manila, and in the University of\nSanto Tomas. He supported himself while studying by his own efforts,\nand made a brilliant record in both institutions. Later he devoted his\nenergies to the establishment of a private school in Manila and to\nlegal work.\n\nMabini came to the front in 1898 during the Pilipino revolution\nagainst Spain. In the subsequent revolution against the United States\nhe became known as \"the brains of the revolution.\" He was so\nconsidered by the American army officers, who bent every energy to\ncapture him.\n\nHe was the leading adviser of Aguinaldo, and was the author of the\nlatter's many able decrees and proclamations. Mabini's official\nposition was President of the Council of Secretaries, and he also held\nthe post of Secretary of the Exterior.\n\nOne of Mabini's greatest works was his draft of a constitution for the\nPhilippine Republic. It was accompanied by what he called \"The True\nDecalogue,\" published in the pages following. Mabini's \"ten\ncommandments\" are so framed as to meet the needs of Filipino\npatriotism for all time. He also drafted rules for the organization\nand government of municipalities and provinces, which were highly\nsuccessful because of their adaptability to local conditions.\n\nMabini remained the head of Aguinaldo's cabinet until March, 1899,\nwhen he resigned. But he continued in hearty sympathy with the\nrevolution, however, and his counsel was frequently sought.\n\nMabini was arrested by the American forces in September, 1899, and\nremained a prisoner until September 23, 1900. Following his release,\nhe lived for a while in a suburb of Manila, in a poor nipa house,\nunder the most adverse and trying circumstances. He was in abject\npoverty.\n\nIn spite of his terrible suffering from paralysis, Mabini continued\nwriting. He severely criticised the government, voicing the sentiments\nof the Filipino people for freedom. He was ordered to desist, but to\nthis, in one of his writings to the people, he replied: \"To tell a man\nto be quiet when a necessity not fulfilled is shaking all the fibers\nof his being is tantamount to asking a hungry man to be filled before\ntaking the food which he needs.\"\n\nMabini's logic was a real embarrassment to the American military\nforces, and in January, 1901, he was arrested a second time by the\nAmericans. This time he was exiled to the island of Guam, where he\nremained until his return to Manila on February 26, 1903.\n\nMabini died in Manila, of cholera, May 13, 1903, at the age of 39\nyears. His funeral was the most largely attended of any ever held in\nManila.\n\nAlthough he died from natural causes, Mabini died a martyr to the\ncause of Philippine independence. Five years of persecution left his\nintense patriotism untouched, but it had made his physical self a\nready victim for a premature death.\n\n\n\n\n=\"THE TRUE DECALOGUE\"=\n\n=By APOLINARIO MABINI=\n\n\nFirst. Thou shalt love God and thy honor above all things: God as the\nfountain of all truth, of all justice and of all activity; and thy\nhonor, the only power which will oblige thee to be faithful, just and\nindustrious.\n\nSecond. Thou shalt worship God in the form which thy conscience may\ndeem most righteous and worthy: for in thy conscience, which condemns\nthy evil deeds and praises thy good ones, speaks thy God.\n\nThird. Thou shalt cultivate the special gifts which God has granted\nthee, working and studying according to thy ability, never leaving the\npath of righteousness and justice, in order to attain thy own\nperfection, by means whereof thou shalt contribute to the progress of\nhumanity; thus; thou shalt fulfill the mission to which God has\nappointed thee in this life and by so doing, thou shalt be honored,\nand being honored, thou shalt glorify thy God.\n\nFourth. Thou shalt love thy country after God and thy honor and more\nthan thyself: for she is the only Paradise which God has given thee in\nthis life, the only patrimony of thy race, the only inheritance of thy\nancestors and the only hope of thy posterity; because of her, thou\nhast life, love and interests, happiness, honor and God.\n\nFifth. Thou shalt strive for the happiness of thy country before thy\nown, making of her the kingdom of reason, of justice and of labor: for\nif she be happy, thou, together with thy family, shalt likewise be\nhappy.\n\nSixth. Thou shalt strive for the independence of thy country: for only\nthou canst have any real interest in her advancement and exaltation,\nbecause her independence constitutes thy own liberty; her advancement,\nthy perfection; and her exaltation, thy own glory and immortality.\n\nSeventh. Thou shalt not recognize in thy country the authority of any\nperson who has not been elected by thee and thy countrymen; for\nauthority emanates from God, and as God speaks in the conscience of\nevery man, the person designated and proclaimed by the conscience of a\nwhole people is the only one who can use true authority.\n\nEighth. Thou shalt strive for a Republic and never for a monarchy in\nthy country: for the latter exalts one or several families and founds\na dynasty; the former makes a people noble and worthy through reason,\ngreat through liberty, and prosperous and brilliant through labor.\n\nNinth. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: for God has imposed\nupon him, as well as upon thee, the obligation to help thee and not to\ndo unto thee what he would not have thee do unto him; but if thy\nneighbor, failing in this sacred duty, attempt against thy life, thy\nliberty and thy interests, then thou shalt destroy and annihilate him\nfor the supreme law of self-preservation prevails.\n\nTenth. Thou shalt consider thy countryman more than thy neighbor; thou\nshalt see him thy friend, thy brother or at least thy comrade, with\nwhom thou art bound by one fate, by the same joys and sorrows and by\ncommon aspirations and interests.\n\nTherefore, as long as national frontiers subsist, raised and\nmaintained by the selfishness of race and of family, with thy\ncountryman alone shalt thou unite in a perfect solidarity of purpose\nand interest, in order to have force, not only to resist the common\nenemy but also to attain all the aims of human life.","title":"Mabini's Decalogue for Filipinos","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":1196}