![]() ![]() On May 2, 1935, the nonviolent campaign degenerated into an armed conflict with Sakdalistas armed with clubs, bolos, sickles, daggers, old pistols, and homemade guns faced off against Philippine Constabulary units in several towns around Manila. They boycotted foreign goods (particularly American automobiles), refused to pay taxes, pulled their children out of pro-foreign school, and refused to patronize stores owned by “enemies of Independence.” When municipal officials tried to suppress the Sakdalistas in the provinces through police harassment, arrest, and denying their right of free assembly, the Sakdalistas took to the streets in protest. The Sakdalistas demanded nothing less than “absolute and immediate” independence, the abolition of most taxes, the distribution of land to the poor, the protection of workers’ rights, the nationalization of industries, the close monitoring of politicians, the retention of lawyers for poor defendants, the formation of a 500,000-strong Philippine Army, the use of regional languages in public schools, the investigation of friar estates and ill-gotten Church wealth, and the “adoption of voting machines to prevent election frauds.” At the end of 1931, the movement launched Mapayapang Pagsuway (Peaceful Disobedience), inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent civil disobedience in India. The movement eventually led to the formation of the Partido Sakdal on October 29, 1933. Through his newspaper Sakdal, Ramos managed to build a large popular base of supporters in Luzon.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |