June 12, 1898: An historical milestone

June 12, 1898: An historical milestone

On June 12, 1898, General Emilio Aguinaldo, the country's
first president, unfurled for the first time the official flag of
the Republic of the Philippines and proclaimed its independence
from Spanish colonial rule. It was the climax of the revolution
started by Filipino nationalist Andres Bonifacio and inspired by
the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal.

That watershed period in the late 19th century bore witness to
several milestones in Asian historiography and political thought.
Rizal became the first Asian to proclaim the inalienable rights
of man. Almost immediately after Spanish authorities executed him
at Bagumbayan, Filipino revolutionaries, roused by his heroism,
intensified their resistance against Spain and waged the first
successful anticolonial revolution in Asia, giving birth to
Asia's first republic.

The Philippine revolution of 1896-1898 and the life and
writings of Rizal inspired nationalists in Malaysia and Indonesia
and other subjugated peoples in Asia in their own struggle for
independence. Rizal, Southeast Asia's homo universalis, and the
revolution against Spain brought the positive aspects of European
Enlightenment to Southeast Asia and, at the same time,
strengthened the assertion of a common Filipino-Indo-Malay
identity and consciousness.

As early as the 19th century, the beginnings of a modern
subregional consciousness were already taking root. Rizal
identified himself with colonized peoples beyond the borders of
the archipelago and considered himself part of the "Malay race".
Rizal's impact in the region has been such that many Indonesians
and Malaysians continue to adopt, until now, his name as their
own. Another Filipino nationalist intellectual during Rizal's
time, Apolinario Mabini, saw the Philippine revolution as a model
for the struggle for freedom of other Malay peoples from colonial
powers.

More than a century later, Filipinos around the world
commemorate with pride the founding of the Republic and the birth
of the Filipino nation, this time in the invigorating air of
democracy and a modernizing economy.

Together with the 3,000-strong Filipino expatriate community
in Indonesia, we share with our Indonesian kin this celebration
of freedom and the triumph of reason, courage and nationalism
over tyranny and oppression. It is still this same impetus, it
seems, that has delivered the deathblow to more recent forms of
tyranny, and has restored democracy, both in the Philippines and
in Indonesia, to its rightful place.

The striking similarities and parallelisms between Indonesia's
own democratic transition and that of the Philippines offer an
Asian example of democratic resurgence in the Asia-Pacific this
century. The Philippines and Indonesia are now the two largest
democracies in Southeast Asia and the potential for future
political and economic cooperation seems limitless as the
political values and systems of our two countries assume a more
common identity and redefine our role in the region, beyond our
respective borders.

Together in partnership, the Philippines and Indonesia now
form the most important pillars of Nusantara Southeast Asia, a
reality that would have made Rizal and Mabini very proud indeed.

H.E. Mr. Leonides T. Caday

Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia