INTRODUCTION
A Filipino may encounter and use a green two hundred-peso banknote or the former brown ten-peso banknote, which both contain the image of a historic Catholic church – the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen de Barásoain or simply known as Barasoain Church, built in 1885 by Augustinian Fr. Juan Girón, located in the present day Malolos, Bulacan. Most Filipinos from the generation of the 1980s and 1990s may remember their childhood days when they humorously ask to find a sleeping cat in the image of the Barasoain Church depicted on the reverse side of the old ten-peso bill. Little did Filipinos know, the Barasoain Church is not only a sanctified place of worship but also the sacred birthplace of the first constitutional republic in Asia – the Republica Filipina or the First Philippine Republic, which was inaugurated on 23 January 1899.
THE CONCEPTION OF THE FIRST PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC
Between 1889 to 1890, Jose Rizal wrote a socio-political essay entitled “Filipinas Dentro de Cien Años or “The Philippines a century hence” which envisions the political condition in the Philippines for the next one hundred years. Rizal leaves a question on what will be the future of the Philippines from Spain when he asked:
Will the Philippine Islands continue to be a Spanish colony, and if so, what kind of colony? Will they become a province of Spain, with or without autonomy? And to reach this stage, what kind of sacrifices will have to be made?
Will they be separated from the mother country to live independently, to fall into the hands of other nations, or to ally themselves with neighboring powers?
The query made by Rizal was gradually answered within a decade after it was written. The decade was the 1890s when the Philippines witnessed historic events such as the banishment of Rizal to Dapitan, which led to the founding of the secret organization Katipunan by Andres Bonifacio and other Filipino patriots in 1892. Four years later, the Katipunan was compromised after it was discovered by the Spaniards which sparked the 1896 Philippine Revolution that triggered Spanish authorities to execute Rizal who was unjustly accused as a conspirator of said revolution. The revolution in the Philippine archipelago was briefly paused due to the Pact of Biak-na-Bato in December 1897. Five months later, revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines from his exile in Hong Kong to take advantage of the losing grounds of the Spaniards against the Americans which subsequently led Aguinaldo to continue the revolution and declare Philippine independence from Spain on 12 June 1898 in Kawit, Cavite.
To further legitimize the independence of the Philippines, Aguinaldo’s leadership exercised what a democratic free country does – the representation of the masses in the government, thus, eminent and dignified men from different corners of the Philippines convened inside the Barasoain Church which became known as the Malolos Congress held on 15 September 1898. The Malolos Congress ratified the Philippine Declaration of Independence on 29 September 1898 and drafted the constitution in the latter part of 1898. The drafted constitution was finally approved by the Malolos Congress on 20 January 1899, sanctioned by General Emilio Aguinaldo on 21 January 1899, and promulgated on 22 January 1899.
On 23 January 1899 inside the motherly womb of Barasoain Church, after long years of conception, the Malolos Congress formally inaugurated the very first constitution in Asia called the Malolos Constitution, and General Emilio Aguinaldo was sworn in as the president, which gave birth to the democratic nation of the First Philippine Republic. Like other republican countries, the First Philippine Republic exercised its powers on fiscal policy, budget allotment for public works and welfare, and the judiciary system. The First Philippine Republic even had its own postage and currency which further established its tangible existence as a republic.
Americans on the other hand did not recognize the First Philippine Republic which prompted them to enter the Philippine-American War on 4 February 1899. Merely a month old after its inauguration, the young Philippine Republic was baptized by fire by the Americans. Due to the Americans’ edge in military tactics and weapons, President Emilio Aguinaldo together with the Republican army was forced to retreat to the mountains of Palanan, Isabela, and faced their defeat on 28 March 1901 after Aguinaldo was captured by American forces. Aguinaldo appealed to the Filipinos to accept the sovereignty of the United States over the Philippines, when he took allegiance to the United States of America in April 1901 which ceased the First Philippine Republic.
In the first half of the 20th Century, the Philippines was colonized by the Americans and occupied by the Japanese. Nevertheless, the Americans acknowledged the independence efforts of the Filipinos encapsulated by the spirit of the First Philippine Republic. On 4 July 1946, the Philippine Republic was reborn and internationally recognized.
REMEMBERING THE FIRST PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC THROUGH CURRENCY
As Filipinos enjoy their sovereignty over their own islands, Filipinos paid homage to the First Philippine Republic by placing the image of its cradle – the Barasoain Church on Philippine currency. Upon the establishment of the Central Bank of the Philippines in 1949, they released the first set of designs of Philippine currency called the English Series. Featured in the one-peso banknote was the portrait of Apolinario Mabini who was known as the “sublime paralytic.” He introduced amendments to the draft Malolos Constitution that was accepted by its delegates. The reverse side of the one-peso English Series features the image of the Barasoain Church where the Malolos Constitution was promulgated.
In 1969, the Central Bank of the Philippines responded to nationalistic sentiments and redesigned the Philippine banknotes by primarily using the Pilipino language (now called the Filipino language), thus the series was called the Pilipino series. In the series, Apolinario Mabini appeared on the obverse side of the ten-peso banknote while the Barasoain Church was depicted on its reverse.
By the presidential decree issued by Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. in 1973, the Central Bank of the Philippines redesigned the banknotes and added the slogan Ang Bagong Lipunan, thus the series was called Ang Bagong Lipunan Series. The Barasoain Church image remained on the reverse side of the ten-peso note.
The Central Bank of the Philippines released a new set of banknotes called the “New Design Series” in 1985. Barasoain Church remained together with Apolinario Mabini in the ten-peso note. In 1997, the ten-peso banknote was revised, adding Andres Bonifacio together with Apolinario Mabini on the obverse side while the blood compact of the Katipuneros was added alongside the Barasoain Church. The last sets of ten-peso notes were issued in 2001 after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas popularized the use of ten-peso coins that was first issued in 2000. However, the ten-peso notes remained legal tender until 2017.
In 1998, the Philippines celebrated the Centennial of Philippine Independence by issuing one hundred thousand peso banknotes, and two thousand peso banknotes. The two-thousand-peso banknote measures 216 mm x 133 mm and features the Barasoain Church, the Malolos Constitution, and the oath-taking of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada on the obverse side, while the reverse side features the celebration of the Centennial of Philippine Independence led by President Fidel V. Ramos.
The current “New Generation Currency” series was released in 2010 with the portrait of former president Diosdado Macapagal, the Barasoain Church, Aguinaldo’s Mansion, and the oath-taking of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo depicted on the obverse side of the two hundred-peso note. In 2017, the two hundred-peso note design was revised. The current design features the scene of the declaration of Philippine Independence from Aguinaldo’s Mansion, and the scene of the Opening of the Malolos Congress held inside Barasoain Church.
CONCLUSION
It may be remembered that the First Philippine Republic issued its own currency but as the nations’ destiny brought them to the pantheons of our sacred memory, unbeknown to them that they would someday be immortalized on Philippine currency. The First Philippine Republic may be a short-lived republic but will forever live in our nationhood.
1949 – 1974 English Series, One Peso
Dimension: 162 × 67 mm
Obverse: Apolinario Mabini
Reverse: Barasoain Church
Courtesy of Numista
1969 – 1974 Pilipino Series, 10 Peso (White Border)
Dimension: 160 × 66 mm
Obverse: Apolinario Mabini
Reverse: Barasoain Church
Courtesy of Numista
1969 – 1974 Pilipino Series, 10 Peso (With Border)
Dimension: 160 × 66 mm
Obverse: Apolinario Mabini
Reverse: Barasoain Church
Courtesy of Numista
1973 – 1993 Ang Bagong Lipunan Series, 10 Peso
Dimension: 160 × 66 mm
Obverse: Apolinario Mabini
Reverse: Barasoain Church
Courtesy of Numista
1985 – 2017 New Design Series, 10 Peso (Version 1)
Dimension: 160 × 66 mm
Obverse: Apolinario Mabini, and El Verdadero Decalogo
Reverse: Barasoain Church
Courtesy of Numista
1985 – 2017 New Design Series, 10 Peso (Version 2)
Dimension: 160 × 66 mm
Obverse: Apolinario Mabini, Andres Bonifacio, Kartilya ng Katipunan, and El Verdadero Decalogo
Reverse: Barasoain Church, and the blood compact scene of the Katipuneros
Courtesy of Numista
1998 Centennial Note, 2000 piso
Dimension: 216 × 133 mm
Obverse: Barasoain Church, Malolos Constitution and the Oath-Taking of President Estrada
Reverse: Celebration of the Centennial of Philippine Independence lead by former President Ramos
Courtesy of Numista
2010 – present New Generation Currency Series, 200 Piso (Version 1)
Dimension: 160 × 66 mm
Obverse: Diosdado Macapagal, Barasoain Church, Aguinaldos’ Mansion, and EDSA People Power II
Reverse: Tarsier (Tarsius Syrichta), Bohol Chocolate Hills, and native Philippine textile design.
Courtesy of Numista
2010 – present New Generation Currency Series, 200 Piso (Version 3)
Dimension: 160 × 66 mm
Obverse: Diosdado Macapagal, scene of the declaration of Philippine Independence from Aguinaldo’s Mansion, scene from the Opening of the Malolos Congress held inside the Barasoain Church and EDSA People Power II
Reverse: Tarsier (Tarsius Syrichta), Bohol Chocolate Hills, and native Philippine textile design.
Courtesy of Numista
References:
The Laws of the First Philippine Republic, National Historical Institute, 1994
Epifanio de Los Santos’ The Revolutionist, National Historical Institute, 1993
Philippine Presidents 100 Years, The Republic Against American Imperialism 1898 – 1902, Philippine Historical Association, 1999
The Philippines a Century Hence by Jose Rizal, edited by Austin Craig, 1912.