Ui, Amara Bianca March 24, 2014KASPIL2

Quiz # 4

The Brigandage Act of 1902 is a law that disables Filipinos to create or to form movements which advocates or supports any form of nationalism. Any kind of group which has the intention of going against the Americans will be imprisoned or will be accused with criminal offenses. This law was approved by the Philippine Commission during the conquest of the Americans. During this time, it was still inevitable for any law to stop some Filipinos who are really willing to fight for the country. These people are called the Bandoleros. I think that these people can and must be considered as heroes because they are not the ones who are too afraid to actually fight for what they think is right. They are the ones who have the heart of what a true Filipino. They are the ones who were willing to risk everything such as their freedom, rights and even their own life just for the sake of fighting for the country. This kind of dedication is not seen in most Filipinos because during that time, the Americans were too powerful to be put down. This became the reason why the Filipinos just had to deal with whats going on in order for them to become safe. It is very rare for anyone to find people who will actually be willing to go through any consequence just to fight for one thing when they can actually just go with the flow in whats happening and not harm themselves. The people like the Bandoleros makes me want to salute their bravery and their act of nationalism. The love for their country is very huge and powerful that fear did not hinder them from doing what they ought to do.

I think that the establishment of the First Philippine Republic is not premature because aside form its achievements (Philippine independence, borrowing of 20 million pesos from banks for government expenses, establishment of schools, drafting of the Philippine constitution, declaring war against the United States, etc.), I think that if the law was not established earlier, the agony of the Filipinos will continue and the more that the Americans stay in the country, the harder it is for the Filipinos to dissolve the rule of the US in the Philippines. Also, the movements made by the Filipinos were actually big movements and were actually enough to be able to accomplish what they wish to accomplish.