Grade-8 Filipino

1. PAHAYAG
Emilio Jacinto
Isinalin sa Filipino ni Virgilio S. Almario
Isa iyong gabing madilim.
Wala isa mang bituing nakatanglaw sa madilim na langit ng kagimbal-gimbal na
gabing iyon. Nakayukayok at sapupo ng dalawang palad ang mukha, naghihi-mutok
ang isang kabataan.
Ang tahanang katatagpuan sa naturang kabataan ay natatanglawan ng isang tinghoy,
na kukurap-kurap at ang liwanag ay nanganganib nang kusang panawan ng buhay.
Sa yugtong halos isuko na ng kabataan ang sarili sa matinding poot at sa pag-iisip na
kahila-hilakbot at palagiang gumigiyagis sa kanyang puso, na waring nakabaon sa
kaibuturan ngunit sapilitan nang ibinubulalas ng dibdib, sa yugtong ito niya
naramdaman ang isang mabining haplos sa isa niyang balikat at naulinigan ang isang
mahinang tinig, matamis at malungkot, na nag-uusisa:
“Bakit ka lumuluha? Anong kirot o dalita ang dumudurog sa iyong puso at yumuyurak
at humahamak sa iyong kabataan at lakas?”
Nag-angat siya ng ulo at natigib sa panggigilalas: may kapiling siya at halos apat na
hakbang ang lapit, at nabanaagan niya ang isang anino na waring nababalot ng
maputing ulap ang kabuuan.
“Ay, mahabaging anino! Ang mga pighati ko’y walang lunas, walang katighawan.
Maaaring kung isiwalat ko sa iyo ay sabihin mo o isipin mong walang anumang halaga.
Bakit kailangan mong lumitaw ngayon upang antalahin ang aking paghibik?”
“Hanggang kailan,” sagot ng anino, “ang kamangmangan at ang katunggakan ay
magiging sanhi ng mga hirap at pasakit ng mga tao at ng mga bayan?
“Hanggang kailan kayo makasusunod magbangon pabalikwas sa kabulagan ng pag-
unawa tungo sa tugatog ng katwiran at adhika? Hanggang kailan ninyo ako hindi
makikilala at hanggang kailan kayo magtitiwalang umasa na kahit wala sa aking piling
ay maaaring matamo ang tunay at wagas na ligaya tungo sa kapayapaan ng
sangkalupaan.”
“Sino ka samakatwid na nagmamay-ari ng kagila-gilalas na kapangyarihan at kahanga-
hangang lumitaw at nag-aalay?”
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

2. “Ay, sa aba ko! Diyata’t hindi mo pa ako nakikilala hanggang ngayon? Ngunit hindi
ako magtataka, sapagkat mahigit nang tatlong daang taon magmula nang dalawin ko
ang tinatahanan mong lupain at kusain ng iyong mga kababayan na sumampalataya sa
mga huwad na idolo ng relihiyon at ng mga tao, ng mga kapwa mo nilikha, at kung
kaya naglaho sa inyong mga gunita ang pagkakilala sa akin…
“Nais mo bang malaman kung sino ako? Kung gayo’y makinig: Ako ay ang Simula ng
mga bagay na higit na dakila, higit na maganda at higit na kapuri-puri, marangal at
iniingatan, na maaaring matamo ng sangkatauhan. Nang dahil sa akin ay nalaglag ang
mga ulong may korona; nang dahil sa akin ay nawasak ang mga trono at napalitan at
nadurog ang mga koronang ginto; nang dahil sa aking adhikain ay nabigo at namatay
ang siga ng “Santa Inkisisyon” na ginamit ng mga prayle para busabusin ang libo at
libong mamamayan; nang dahil sa adhikain ko’y napagkakaisa ang mga tao at
kinalilumutan ng bawat isa ang pansariling pakinabang at walang nakikita kundi ang
higit na kabutihan ng lahat; nang dahil sa akin ay natimawa ang mga alipin at nahango
mula sa lusak ng pagkalugami at kalapastanganan; at napugto ang kayabangan at
kayamuan ng kanilang mababangis na panginoon; Kailangan ako sa bawat naisin at
lasapin ng mga bayan at sa ilalim ng aking kalinga may ginhawa at biyaya at
kasaganaan ang lahat, katulad ng idinulot ko sa Hapon, Amerika, at ibang pook; nang
dahil sa akin ay umiimbulog ang diwa upang siyasatin at tuklasin ang mga hiwaga ng
siyensiya; saan mang pinaghaharian ko ay napaparam ang mga pighati at
nakasisinghap nang daglian ang dibdib na nalulunod sa pang-aalipin at kabangisan.
Ang pangalan ko ay KALAYAAN.”
Nagulilat at naumid ang kabataan pagkarinig nito at pagkaraan ng ilang saglit saka
nakapangusap:
“Sapagkat ang mga kabutihan at biyaya mo ay walang kapantay, o kataas-taasang
Kalayaan! Papawiin ko ang pighati na nagpapabalong ng labis-labis na luha sa aking
mga mata, na ang sanhi ay hindi naiiba sa mga pagdaralita ng aking lupang sinilangan.
Kung mapagmamasdan mo ang mga alipusta, mga pangangailangan, mga kautusang
dapat tiisin at pagdusahan ng aking bayan ay matitiyak na tutubuan ka ng awa at
muling kakalingain sa iyong magiliw at di-mapag-imbot ngunit kinakailangang
pangangalaga. Ay, ihihibik ng aking mga kapatid!
“’Ako,’ sabi nila, ‘ay nagugutom,’ at siyang nagturo sa akin na pakainin ang
nagugutom ay tumugon: ‘Kainin ang mga labi at mga mumo sa aming masaganang
mga piging, sa aming mariwasang hapag!’
“Sabi ng aking mga kapatid: ‘Ako’y nauuhaw,’ at siyang nagturo sa akin na painumin
ang nauuhaw ay tumugon: ‘Lagukin ang inyong mga luha at ang pawis, sapagkat
dudulutan namin kayo ng sapat na kalinga nito!’
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

3. “Hibik ng aking mga kapatid: ‘Wala akong damit, ganap akong hubad,’ at siyang nag-
utos sa amin na damitan ang hubad ay tumugon: ‘Ngayon di’y babalutin ko ang buong
katawan ng patong-patong na mga tanikala!’
“Sabi ng aking mga kapatid: ‘Nahalay ang aking puri ng isang kura, ng isang Kastila,
ng isang mariwasa, at ang hukom na matibay na haligi ng hustisya ay tumutugon:
‘Ang taong iyan ay tulisan, isang bandido at isang masamang tao: ikulong sa piitan!’
“Sasabihin ng aking mga kapatid: ‘Kaunting pag-ibig, kaunting awa at kaunting
lingap,’ at mabilisang tutugon ang mga maykapangyarihan at pinunong makatwiran at
mabuting loob kung mamahala: ‘Ang taong iyan ay filibustero, isang kaaway ng Diyos
at ng Inang Espanya: Dalhin sa Iligan!’
“Pansinin at pagmasdang mabuti, KALAYAAN; pagmasdan at pansinin kung dapat
magdamdam ang aking puso at kung may sanhi ang pagluha…”
“Dapat magdamdam at lumuha,” tugon ni KALAYAAN sa himig na nangungutya at
ginagagad ang mapaghimutok na paraan ng pagsasalita. “Lumuha! Lumuha ay dapat
kung ang may sugat ay wala nang dugong maitigis, kung ang mga sukab ay wala nang
buhay na maaaring putulin; kung tinatanggap nang ang kawalanghiyaan at
katampalasanan sa pagbitay kina Padre Burgos, Gomez at Zamora, sa pagpapatapon
kay Rizal, ay hindi nangangailangan ng makatwiran at maagap na paghihiganti, na
maaaring mabuhay sa piling ng mga kaaway, at na may mga pagmamalabis na dapat
pang ipagmakaawa ng katubusan. Lumuha sa sariling tahanan. At sa katahimikan at
kadiliman ng gabi ay hindi ko maunawaan. Hindi ito ang nararapat para sa isang
kabataan… hindi ito ang nararapat.”
“Ano ang nais, kung gayon, ano ang dapat gawin? Kaming mga Tagalog ay naugali na
sa ganoon. Sapol pa sa sinapupunan ng aming ina ay naturuan na kaming magdusa at
magtiis sa lahat ng uri ng mga gawain, upasala, at pagkadusta. Ano ang higit na
nararapat naming gawin bukod sa lumuha? Wala na kundi ito ang naugalian ng aming
pagkukusa.”
“Hindi lahat ng naugalian ay mabuti,” paliwanag ni KALAYAAN, “may masasamang
kahiligan at ang mga ito’y dapat iwaksi lagi ng mga tao.”
Ibig sanang tumutol ng kabataan, ngunit hindi pa niya matiyak ang sasabihin at walang
maapuhap na ipangungusap. Sa gayon ay nagpatuloy si KALAYAAN sa
pagpapaliwanag.
“Ang ipinahayag ko sa iyo ay ang katotohanan. Walang kautusan na maaaring
magpabagsak dito, sapagkat hindi maaaring ang wasto at tuwid ay maging kalaban ng
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

4. wasto at tuwid, maliban kung ito ay binaluktot. Samakatwid, makinig ka. Noong
sinaunang panahon, noong ang karuwagan at pagkaalipin ay hindi pa pumapalit sa
magagandang kaugalian ng iyong mga ninuno, nasa lilim ko ang bayang Tagalog at
nasa ilalim ng aking pangangalaga, at siya ay maligaya at sinisimsim ang simoy na
nagdudulot sa kanya ng buhay at lakas ng katawan; Tinatanglawan ng aking liwanag
ang kanyang pag-iisip at iginagalang siya ng mga kalapit bayan. Ngunit isang araw, na
dapat ikarimarim at isumpa, dumating ang Pang-aalipin at nagpakilalang siya ang
kagalingan, ang katwiran, at ang karampatan, at nangakong luwalhati sa lahat ng
sasampalataya sa kanya.
“Dumating man siyang nakabihis ng balatkayo ng kagandahan at kabutihan, at
mapayapa at magiliw sa kanyang mga paggalaw at pagkilos, ay nakilala ko kung sino
siya. Nabatid kong ang kaligayahan ng bayan ay nagwakas na; na ganap nang napako
sa kanya ang kapuspalad na bayan… at inalayan siya ng iyong mga kapatid ng papuri
at halos pagsamba… at ako ay nakalimutan at halos itakwil nang may pagkamuhi at…
Umabot sa akin ang iyong mga hinagpis at natigib ako sa labis-labis na dalamhati at
iyon ang dahilan ng aking pagparito. Ngayo’y dapat na akong umalis kaya’t paalam
na.”
“Huwag muna, Kalayaan,” pakiusap ng kabataan nang makita siyang tumalikod at
nakahandang lumisan. “Pagbigyan mo muna ako ng kaunting panahon. Naipaliwanag
mo ang mga malubhang pagmamalabis na pinagdusahan at tiniis ng aking bayan, hindi
mo ba sila maaaring kahabagan at ibalik sa iyong pangangalaga?”
“Unawain akong mabuti. Bagaman hindi mo nababanggit, walang ibang naririnig ang
aking tainga at walang ibang nakikita ang aking mga mata, sapagkat iisa ang
pinagbubuhusan at dinaramdam ng aking puso at kung kaya maagap akong
dumadamay at humahanap sa mga naaapi at tuwing may naririnig na dumaraing.
Ngunit walang tao na karapat-dapat sa aking pangangalaga at kalinga kung hindi siya
pumipintuho sa akin at umiibig sa akin, at kung wala siyang kakayahang mamatay
para sa aking adhika. Maaari mo itong ipahayag sa iyong mga kababayan o
katinubuang lupa.”
Halos katatapos wikain ito, noon lumamlam ang sinag ng tinghoy, na pakurap-kurap
ang ningas dahil sa kawalan ng langis…
Kinaumagahan, nang pawiin ng kaliwanagan ng araw ang mga lagim at karimlan ng
gabi, may bagay na kumikislap sa mga mata ng kabataan na mistulang isang
nagbabagang adhika.
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

5. Emilio Jacinto (attrib.)
“Pahayag”
Source: Dimas Alan, “Pahayag”, translated into Spanish by Juan Caro y Mora under the title
“Manifiesto”in Wenceslao E. Retana (ed.), Archivo del bibliofilo Filipino, vol. III (Madrid: Imprenta
de la viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 138-44.
Notes by Jim Richardson:
“Pahayag,” the longest of the known contributions to Kalayaan, imagines a
conversation between a patriotic youth and a shadowy apparition of Liberty, who regrets
she has not visited the Islands for over three hundred years. The youth describes the
sorrows of the Tagalog people, and beseeches Liberty to stay and help them be free.
Pio Valenzuela recalls that in writing the piece Emilio Jacinto took inspiration
from a book called Las Ruinas de Palmira.i This was a Spanish edition of Les Ruines,
ou méditations sur les révolutions des empires by the French philosopher Constantin-
François de Volney. Published in 1791, Volney’s work became a late Enlightenment
classic, and in various translations remained influential throughout the 19th century. It
made a great impression on Abraham Lincoln, and Andres Bonifacio reportedly had a
personal copy that he donated to the Katipunan’s small library.ii Aside from reflecting
upon the pretensions and transience of empires, Volney’s discourse affirms the equality
of men before the law, advocates the overthrow of tyranny, and argues that in matters of
religion the truth cannot be known beyond the law of nature, by which God governs the
universe.
Unfortunately, the original Tagalog text of “Pahayag” has never been located, not
even a fragment or a draft, and historians who have summarized or discussed the piece
have been obliged to rely on the Spanish translation published in 1897 by Wenceslao
Retana, which is transcribed here beneath a fresh translation into English. So far as is
known, the text has not previously been translated into English in its entirety, although
extracts are to be found in several studies.
                    
English translation from the Spanishiii
Manifesto
It was a dark night.
Not a single star shone in the dark sky of this awful night.
His head bowed, his face in his hands, a young man sighed.
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

6. The room in which the youth was to be found was lit by a tinghoy [a native oil
lamp], which flickered and whose light, already dim, was in danger of dying.
Just as the youth was about to succumb to his anger and to the terrible idea that
constantly tortured his heart, that seemed not to subside and that struggled to leave his
breast, at that very moment he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, and could hear a
voice, soft, smooth and sad, that questioned him thus:
“Why are you weeping? What pain or affliction rends your heart, spoils your
youth and saps your strength?”
He raised his head and to his astonishment he discerned in his presence, only
about four steps away, a shadowy apparition that seemed to be enveloped in an aura of
white vapor.
“Ay! compassionate shadow! My sorrows have no remedy, no consolation. If I
told you about them, you would say or think that they are not important. But still, why
have you come to interrupt my tears?”
“How long ,” replied the shadow, “will ignorance and stupidity still be the cause
of the travails and sufferings of men and nations?”
“How long will intellects still be held back from the heights of judgment and
thinking, and kept in blindness? How long will people not even know me, and how long
will they confidently hope that true and perfect happiness can be spread across the face
of the earth without me?”
“Who are you, then, who enjoys so much power and who offers such wonderful
things?”
“Woe to you! Does this mean that you don’t yet recognize me? But this does not
shock or surprise me, for it has been more than three hundred years since I visited the
land where you live. It is the fate of your people to worship the false idols of religion and
of men, those close to them, and so all knowledge of me has been erased from your
memory....”
“Do you want to know who I am? Then listen: I am the source of all the things
that are greatest, most beautiful and laudable, most dignified and precious, to which
humanity can aspire; for me crowned heads fall; for me thrones are toppled or seized,
and crowns of gold destroyed; in my cause was fought and extinguished the flame of the
‘Holy Inquisition’ in which the friars tortured thousands upon thousands of men; for my
cause men unite, each one forgetting his own personal interest, and seeking nothing but
the common good; for me slaves are rescued and lifted up from the mire of degradation
and shame, the pride and malice of their cruel masters broken. Anyone who wishes can
embrace me. The peoples under my protection witness progress, betterment and
abundance in everything, as are due to me in Japan, America and other places; and from
me springs the thinking that probes and discovers the secrets of science. Wherever I
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

7. rule, tears of suffering are dried, and chests once drowned by tyranny and cruelty can
again breath freely. My name is Liberty.”
As he listened to this, the youth was stunned and transfixed. And after a short
while, he asked:
“Oh splendid Liberty! Since your attributes and achievements have no equal, I
shall shake off the sadness that has caused so many tears to flow from my eyes, which
stem from nothing else than the sufferings of the land where I was born. If you observed
the insults, the deprivations, the denials and violations of rights, then surely you would
take pity on the land and take her once again under your loving, even-handed and surely
necessary protection. Ay, my brothers are going to speak!:
“‘I am hungry,’ they say, and the one who teaches me to feed the hungry replies:
‘Eat the leftovers and the crumbs of our savory fare and our sumptuous board.’"
“My brothers say: ‘I am thirsty’, and the one who teaches me to give to drink to
the thirsty replies: ‘Drink your tears and the sweat, and we shall make sure that you
have enough of both.’”
“My brothers clamor: ‘I am without clothes, completely naked’, and the one who
directs us to clothe the naked replies: ‘Then I shall at once wrap your whole body in a
coat of chains, one on top of the other.’”
“My brothers say: ‘My honor has been violated by a priest, by a Spaniard, by a
rich man’, and the judge who is portrayed as a pillar of justice will reply: ‘That man is a
bandit, a brigand and a bad man. To jail with him!’"
“My brothers will say: ‘A little love, a little leniency and compassion’, and the
superiors and chiefs who govern judicially and spiritually will at once reply: ‘That man is
a filibuster, an enemy of God and Mother Spain: to Iligan with him!....’"
“Observe and take note, Liberty, look and see what my heart feels and whether
there is reason to cry….”
“You must be affected and cry,” Liberty responded in a mocking voice, as if
imitating the youth’s doleful tone: “Cry! Crying must wait until the wound no longer
bleeds, when the tyrants no longer have lives that can be cut short, when the shameful
execution of Fathers Burgos, Gomez and Zamora and the exile of Rizal no longer
demand a just and righteous vengeance. But whilst there is still blood in the veins, and
your enemies are still living, and there are still iniquities to be avenged, to cry in a room,
in the silence and darkness of the night, is not admissible; it is not the proper thing for a
youth to do…it is not right.”
- What, then, do you want me to do? We the indios have become accustomed to
this; from our mother’s womb we are taught to endure and suffer all kinds of travails,
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

8. insults and rejections. How much more do you want us to undergo without crying? We
are accustomed to nothing else, it has become our habit.
- Not everything that is customary is good – Liberty retorted - there are bad
habits, which a man must always disdain.
The youth was going to answer, but he paused, not knowing whether it was better
to keep silent or not. Liberty then carried on:
“What I have shown you is the truth, and there is no just law that can overthrow
it, for what is opposed to the right and just cannot be just and right; that would be
twisted logic. So, listen. In another time, when the good customs of your ancestors had
not yet been sunk in cowardice or suppressed, the Tagalogs or native people lived in the
shade of my affection, and in my bosom the land was happy and breathed the air that
gave life and strength to her body. Her knowledge was enhanced by my light and she
was respected by her neighbors. But one day, which must be execrated and cursed,
Slavery arrived saying that she was virtue, rectitude and justice, and she promised glory
to all who would believe in her.”
“Although she came disguised in a mask of loveliness and goodness, and was
calm and affectionate in her behavior, I recognized her. I knew that the happiness of the
country was over, that she had deceived your unfortunate people… and your brothers
believed in her and practically adored her… and forgot me, even seemed to hate me and
be annoyed by me… But now your sighs have reached me, and filled me with sadness,
which is why I have come. And now I must say farewell and be on my way.”
“Wait, Liberty– begged the youth on seeing that she was taking her leave and
getting ready to go…. Just listen to me a moment: I have already described to you the
excessive wrongs that my people suffer and endure: would it not be possible for you to
have compassion and again protect them?”
“I understand everything, even though you haven’t said it, because my ears hear
nothing else; the sorrow that my heart feels is indeed heavy and deep, and those who are
wronged and afflicted are precisely the ones that I seek out and assist. But he who has
no affection for me and who does not love me, he who does not know how to die in my
cause, is not worthy of my protection and shelter. You can tell this to your compatriots
or fellow countrymen."
Scarcely had Liberty finished saying this, when the oil lamp stopped glowing, its
flame, which had been flickering for want of oil…
Next day, when the brightness of the sun dispelled the darkness and obscurity of
the night, in the young man’s eyes there was seen shining a smoldering ambition.
DIMAS ALAN
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

9. Spanish translation
Manifiesto
Era noche oscura.
Ni una sola estrella brillaba en el cielo oscuro de esta noche horrible.
Caída la cabeza y sostenida la cara por ambas manos, suspiraba un joven.
La habitación donde se hallaba el joven dicho estaba alumbrada por un tinghoy
(candil del país), que oscilaba, y cuya luz ya mortecina amenazaba apagarse.
En el momento que obedeciendo á la cólera y á la idea tremenda y constante que
torturaba su corazón, que no parecía sino que se hundía y que forceaba por salirse del
pecho, en este mismo momento sintió que le tocaban suavemente en un hombro,
dejándose oír una voz suave, armoniosa y triste, que le preguntaba de este modo:
-¿Por que lloras? ¿Qué pena ó aflicción destroza tu corazón y aja y abate tu
juventud y fuerza?
Levantó la cabeza y llenóse de estupor: tenía en su presencia y se le acercó hasta
como á unos cuatro pasos, y vislumbraba como una sombra que le pareció envuelta en
vapor blanco en una aureola.
-¡Ay, sombra piadosa!, mis tristezas no tienen remedio, no tienen consuelo. Si te
las digo, dirás tú ó creerás que no tienen importancia. ¿Por qué has venido tú todavía á
suspender mi llanto?
-¿Hasta cuándo – replicó la sombra – la ignorancia y la estupidez serán la causa
de los trabajos y penalidades de los hombres y de los pueblos?
-¿Hasta cuándo seguirá remontándose atrevido en ceguedad del entendimiento á
la cumbre del juicio y del pensamiento? ¿Hasta cuándo no han de conocerme y hasta
cuándo han de esperar confiadamente en que fuera de mí hay quien puede extender la
verdadera y perfecta alegría por la faz de la tierra?
-¿Quién, pues, eres tú que gozas de tanto poder y tan admirable te presentas en
tus ofrecimientos?
-¡Ay de ti! ¿Es decir que tú no me conoces aún? Empero no es de admirar ni
extrañarme debo de esto, puesto que hace ya más de trescientos años que no he visitado
la tierra que habitas, y es voluntad de tu raza la de adorar falsamente los ídolos falsos de
la religión y de los hombres, sus prójimos, ha llegado á borrar en vuestra memoria el
conocimiento de mi…..
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

10. -¿Quieres saber quién soy yo? Pues escucha: Yo soy el principio de todas las cosas
más grandes, más hermosas y más laudables, dignas y preciosas, de que puede sacar
provecho la humanidad; por mi caen las testas coronadas; por mi se derrocan los tronos
y varían de sitio y se destrozan sus coronas de oro; por mi causa se derrumbó y murió la
hoguera de la “Santa Inquisición”, donde torturaban los frailes miles y miles de
hombres; por causa mía se unen los hombres y se olvida cada uno de su propio interés y
no mira más que el bien común; por mí son rescatados los esclavos y levantados del
cieno de la degradación y vergüenza y quebrantan la soberbia y malicia de sus crueles
señores; á mí se debe el que gusten y saboreen los pueblos que están bajo mi amparo el
alivio y mejoras y abundancia en todo, como se me debe en el Japón, en América y otros
puntos; por mi es llevado el pensamiento que sonda y descubre las profundidades de la
ciencia; doquier que yo reino se secan las lágrimas y respira con franqueza el pecho
ahogado por la tiranía y crueldad. Mi nombre es Libertad.
Estupefacto y cortado quedó el joven al escuchar esto. Y después al poco rato
preguntó:
-Puesto que tus bienes y gracia no tienen igual, ¡oh excelente Libertad!, voy á
desechar la tristeza que háme hecho derramar tantas lágrimas de mis ojos, cuya causa
no es otra que los sufrimientos del suelo en que nací; si observaras los escarnios, las
necesidades, los derechos que ha padecido y sufrido, de seguro que habrías de
compadecerte de él y le acogerías otra vez con tu cariñosa y desinteresada cuanto
necesaria protección. ¡Ay, mis hermanos van á hablar!:
«Yo, dicen, tengo hambre, y el que me enseña á dar de comer al hambriento,
responde:- Cómete las sobras y las migajas que quedan de nuestros sabrosos manjares,
de nuestras opíparas mesas.»
Mis hermanos dicen: «Yo tengo sed, y el que me enseña á dar de beber al
sediento, responde:- Bébete tus lágrimas y el sudor, porque para eso las procuramos
hacer que sean crecidos. »
Mis hermanos claman: «Yo estoy en cueros, desnudo por completo, y el que nos
manda vestir al desnudo, responde:-Ahora mismo voy á envolverte todo el cuerpo
rodeándole de cadenas, unas sobre otras. »
Mis hermanos dicen: «Pisoteado veo mi honor por un cura, por un castila, por
un rico, y el juez que figura ser la columna que sustenta de la justicia, responderá:- Ese
es un tulisán, un bandido y un mal hombre ¡á la cárcel! »
Mis hermanos dirán: «Un poco de amor, un poco de clemencia y de piedad, y á la
vez responderán los superiores y jefes que gobiernan judicial y espiritualmente:-Ese es
un filibustero, un enemigo de Dios y de la Madre España: ¡a Iligan con él!.... »
Nota y observa bien, Libertad; observa y nota si debe sentirse mi corazón y tiene
causa por qué llorar…..
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

11. -Debe sentir y llorar… - respondió Libertad con acento burlón y como imitando
su mismo modo plañidero de hablar. - ¡Llorar! Llorar se debe cuando de la herida ya no
hay más sangre que correr, cuando los infames ya no tuvieran una vida que poder
cortar, cuando la soberbia y desvergüenza de la ejecución del P. Burgos, de Gómez y
Zamora, el destierro de Rizal, no pidieran una justa y diligente venganza. Pero si hay
sangre en las venas, hay vida en los enemigos y hay iniquidades que piden vengarse, el
llorar en una habitación, y en el silencio y obscuridad de la noche, no se concibe; no es lo
más propio en un joven…. no es les lo propio.
-¿Qué quieres, pues, que yo haga? Nosotros los indios nos hemos ya
acostumbrado á eso; desde el vientre de nuestra madre nos enseñan ya á sufrir y
padecer todo género de trabajos, desprecios y negativas. ¿Qué más quieres que
hagamos sino llorar? Á esto nada más está acostumbrada nuestra voluntad.
-No todo aquello á que se está acostumbrado es bueno – replicó Libertad; - hay
malas inclinaciones y éstas son las que deben desecharse siempre del hombre.
El joven iba á contestar, pero se detuvo al no acertar ya á decir nada ni tener más
que declarar. En esto prosiguió Libertad diciendo:-
-Lo que yo te he manifestado, esa es la verdad; y no hay derecho que pueda echar
esto abajo, porque no es posible que sea justo y recto lo que se opone á lo recto y justo, si
no es lo torcido. Por lo tanto, escucha. En otro tiempo, cuando aun no estaba hundido
en la cobardía y aislamiento o detención las buenas costumbres de tus antepasados,
había yo amparado al pueblo tagalo ó indígena debajo ó á la sombra de mi cariño, y en
mi regazo él era feliz y respiraba la brisa que le daba vida y fuerzas á su cuerpo; se
extendía por mi claridad su entendimiento y era respetada por sus convecinos. Pero un
día, que debe ser execrado y maldito, llegó la Esclavitud diciendo que ella era la virtud,
el derecho, ó la justicia, y prometió la gloria á todo aquel que en ella creyese.
-No obstante que ella venía disfrazada con la máscara de la hermosura y bondad,
y tranquila y cariñosa en sus movimientos ó acciones, yo la llegué á conocer; conocí que
la alegría del pueblo era concluída, que se había clavado en tu desdichado pueblo....., y
tus hermanos la dieron crédito y casi la adoraron… y á mi me olvidaron y hasta parece
que me aborrecieron con enfado y ….. Llegaron á mi tus suspiros, y penetrada yo de
justo dolor, hé aquí la causa de yo haber venido. Y ahora me retiro y despídome ya.
-Espérate, Libertad – suplicó el joven al ver que se despedía y se disponía á
marcharse… Escúchame todavía un momento: héte ya explicado los agravios excesivos
que sufre y padece mi pueblo: ¿no sería posible que tú te compadecieras y volvieras á
ampararle?
-Compréndolo todo, aunque no lo has dicho, porque no oyen otra cosa mis oídos,
ni ven otra cosa mis ojos: mucho y grande es, en efecto, lo que siente mi corazón, y
precisamente lo que voy persiguiendo y buscando son los agraviados y cuantos se hallan
afligidos. Empero no es digno de mi protección y amparo el que no me tiene afición y no
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.

12. me ama, el que no sabe morir por mi causa. Puedes decirles esto á tus compatriotas ó
conterruños.
Apenas concluyó de decir esto, al punto dejó de lucir el candil, cuya llama, que
oscilaba por falta de aceite….
Al otro día, cuando la claridad del sol borró las tinieblas y obscuridad de la noche,
en los ojos del joven se veía brillar una cosa así un lento proyecto.
DIMAS ALAN
i Pio Valenzuela, “Memoirs” (translated by Luis Serrano from an unpublished manuscript in Tagalog
(c.1914) and reproduced as Appendix A in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes
Commission, 1964), 106.
ii Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio”, Revista Filipina, II:11 (November 1917), 61.
iii This translation is my own, but to some extent it is a collation and assemblage of four partial
translations: (i) Epifanio de los Santos, “Emilio Jacinto”, Philippine Review, III:6 (June 1918), 419-20;
(ii) Reynaldo Clemeña Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution: Popular movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910
(Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1979), 109-13; (iii) Vicente L. Rafael, The Promise of
the Foreign: Nationalism and the technics of translation in the Philippines (Pasig City: Anvil, 2006), 185-
90; and (iv) a translation of some sections of the text made by my father, Geoffrey Walter Richardson.
De La Salle University Manila, Great Works class of Prof. Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, 3rd term, 2017-2018.