#OnThisDay: Selected Historical Events in the month of December

 December

In December 1660, Andres Malong raised a revolt in Pangasinan. A master of camp (maestre de campo) at Binalatongan (now San Carlos), he was crowned "King of Pangasinan" while his second in command, Pedro Gumapos of Agoo, was made his "Count."

While encouraged by Francisco Maniago's call for uprising from Pampanga, Malong and his followers also had their own grievances. One of the cited reasons behind their rebellion was the sheer amount of timber being taken from the province to support shipbuilding and related activities in Cavite. Another reason seemed to be the desire to create a free government in Pangasinan, and take vengeance against the abuses heaped on them by the Spanish.

Unlike Maniago, who waited to consolidate his forces and leverage his diplomatic standing, Malong took the offensive by attacking Lingayen and Bagnotan (now Dagupan). Among others, they successfully killed the governor of the province (alcalde mayor), Francisco Gomez Pulido, and the chief of police (alguazil mayor), Nicolas de Campo, whose heads were allegedly put in stakes. Estimates of Malong's following ranged from 4,000 to 40,000, but more liberal estimates probably included looters and pillagers who took advantage of the instability that resulted.

When Malong learned that Maniago had not yet made an offensive, since the Pampanga leader at the time was already negotiating with Spanish Governor General Sabiniano Manrique de Lara, he sent Melchor de Vera with 6,000 men to undertake an expedition in Pampanga and continue the rebellion there himself.

Meanwhile, Gumapos and his 3,000 men were tasked to extend Malong's influence to Ilocos. Entering Agoo on December 16, they have called upon the Ilocano elite (babaknang) to slaughter the Spaniards. Gumapos's expedition, however, would only last four days, going as far as Bauang before returning to Lingayen. At about the same time, de Vera had reported success in Pampanga, supposedly killing as many as 1,000 enemies along the way. As he raced for Arayat, Malong's commander learned that the Spanish forces under General Francisco de Esteybar have retreated to Magalang. Along with them came Japanese soldiers and Kapampangan troops who were integrated into the colonial military.

This heartened Malong, who further divided his forces by having another expedition sent to Ilocos, this time led by a certain Jacinto Makasiag (Macasiag), which constituted 4,000 men (many of whom were from Zambales), while reinforcing de Vera's force in hopes that they could crush the Spanish in Pampanga. The decision left Malong with around 2,000 men in Pangasinan, spreading his lines too thin. Malong's confidence, however, ruined his strategy. Esteybar, who commanded 200 Spanish and 400 local soldiers, had no intention of facing de Vera, who apparently bloated sporadic skirmishes into large-scale battles when reporting to his "king." The Spanish troops also had firearms to work with, which many of the rebels in general lacked.

By keeping the bulk of Malong's forces occupied in Pampanga, the Spanish saw an advantage to cut down the head at Pangasinan. Landing 100 troops in Bolinao, 70 of whom were Spanish, General Felipe de Ugalde on Christmas Eve (December 24) secured a foothold in the province. By January 1661, Lingayen had fallen. Only Binalatongan and Malanguey (Bayambang) remained under Malong's influence. Realizing his mistake, Pangasinan's "king" recalled de Vera from Pampanga, but it was General Esteybar who emerged to unite his forces with Ugalde's.

In the ensuing battle, around 500 of Malong's followers were killed. Malong had Binalatongan burned before retreating somewhere in the vicinity of Bagnotan and Calasiao, where he would be captured. Meanwhile, Makasiag's march in Ilocos was blocked at Agoo, where the provincial governor Alonso de Peralta was reinforced by a 1,500-strong Ilocano force organized through the efforts of Lorenzo Peding and Pedro Lopez, both masters of camp. Indecision from the Spanish leadership, however, doomed the defense of the area. The rebels attacked first, seizing the element of surprise. Instead of assisting the Ilocano troops, the Spanish decided not to attack. Peding and Lopez died fighting, severely affecting the Ilocano morale. Makasiag's 5,000-strong force won the day.

The triumphant Makasiag proceeded to as far as Badoc and continued to recruit locals along the way when he received a call for assistance from Malong on January 31, 1661. Believing that Malong was concentrating his strength to end Spanish rule, he abandoned the campaign to Cagayan. Makasiag's return was too late, and they were met instead by Esteybar's troops at the vicinity of Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia. Some 400 rebels died in battle, signalling the end of Malong's rebellion. The King of Pangasinan was eventually executed.

10th December
On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed between the United States and Spain. Among the major provisions was the cession of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States, as well as the formal end of the Spanish-American War. While Filipinos did not figure in the negotiations, which lasted for months, the treaty remains significant to this day in defining national territory and the extent of Filipino sovereignty. In particular, the Treaty of Paris was instrumental in setting the lines of the nation's internationally recognized borders.

By limiting the ceded territory to longitude 127 degrees east, the Philippines essentially lost control over Guam and virtually the rest of the Spanish possessions in the Pacific. In fact, the Marianas and the Carolinas, both island groups being administered from the Philippines until 1898, were ceded instead to Germany in the German-Spanish Treaty of 1899.

On the other side of the archipelago, the limitation was placed at longitude 116 degrees east, which pretty much excluded most of the Spratlys. Maritime features such as Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) would probably be included, but farther ones to the west such as Thitu Island (Pag-asa Island) would be outside the lines of the treaty.

The southern border also virtually dropped any Philippine claim over Sabah in North Borneo, as the southernmost limit was pegged at latitude 4.75 degrees north, approximately the location of Sibutu Islands today, and around 50 kilometers away from Sabah's nearest coast.

Perhaps noticing the issues brought about by the Spanish cession, a subsequent Treaty of Washington in 1900 was signed between the two nations to clarify the Paris-defined lines. For one, the islands of Cagayan, Sulu, and Sibutu were included in the American colony "as if they had been expressly included within those lines." Then again, what would be more significant for the territorial integrity of the Philippines was the relinquishment of all Spanish claims in "any and all islands belonging to the Philippine Archipelago, lying outside the lines described in Article III of that Treaty." This encompassing provision would have at least two repercussions in legal terms.

First, Spain and the United States did not yet have a complete assessment of the extent of Philippine territory even at the time. Second, the Americans, and possibly in extension Filipinos when they become independent, were implicitly given the liberty to extend the Paris-defined lines as they saw fit. In relation to this, the contemporary Sino-French Convention in 1887 also had similarly ambiguous decisions when it defined demarcation lines based on the earlier Treaty of Tianjin. This, in turn, helped complicate territorial issues.

As one of the earliest legal texts cited by the People's Republic of China today in regards to claims in the Spratlys, the convention placed the demarcation line between French Indochina and Qing China at longitude 108 degrees east.

Everything west of this line would be French territory, while those east of the line was Chinese territory. Like the Treaty of Washington 13 years later, this vague demarcation could theoretically be interpreted that France supposedly allowed the Chinese to claim every inch of the sea to the east, except that where this line began and ended was not exactly defined. If the line was only meant to divide Vietnamese waters, then it would narrow down to the Gulf of Tonkin, which maximum longitude would have been at approximately 110 degrees east, still too far from the Spratlys.

11th December
On December 11, 1899, General Daniel Tirona surrendered to the United States in Aparri. With this surrender came the fall of Filipino defense in Cagayan province, which the Americans under Colonel Charles Hood entered without much resistance ten days later, December 21.

It was said Tirona was humiliated to the point of serving as a "majordomo" of an American officer, supposedly earning the ire of President Emilio Aguinaldo and the Filipino troops still with him when they were informed of his "cowardice" later on. Available records, meanwhile, indicate Tirona was appointed by the Americans as temporary civil governor of Cagayan until 1900, when Gracio Gonzaga assumed the position. Gonzaga was formerly the Welfare Secretary under the First Republic in Malolos. Tirona eventually left Cagayan to serve as provincial secretary in Cavite.

Born on July 22, 1864 in Cavite, Daniel Tirona was interrupted in his law studies when the Philippine Revolution erupted. He was the brother of Candido Tirona, who died in battle.

His controversial opposition to the election of Andres Bonifacio as Director of the Interior during the Tejeros Convention in 1897, and his later decision to avail of the amnesty offered by Spanish Governor General Camilo de Polavieja, among others, influenced views about his career as a revolutionary. He would eventually return to the banner of the Revolution, with Aguinaldo giving him an opportunity to redeem himself through the liberation and pacification of Cagayan. Coming with this task was his rank of colonel.

Succeeding in his mission by August 1898, he was appointed commanding general of the province, with Vicente Nepomuceno of Camalaniugian assuming the governorship of Cagayan. Tirona also served as the elected representative of Batanes in the Malolos Congress. Tirona's service in Cagayan, however, was not without issues. Before his surrender, it was reported that Tirona was engaged with "monopolizing" commodities. This allegedly made Tirona a wealthy man, amassing more than 200,000 pesos by 1899.

The locals were supposedly glad of Tirona's departure after his surrender, but as far as Aguinaldo was concerned, Cagayan being under American control limited his options. Throughout 1900, Aguinaldo's route only crossed the southern parts of Cagayan before he eventually settled in Isabela territory.
Tirona, meanwhile, would live on under American rule. He died on September 2, 1939.

11th December
On December 11, 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Japan with the aim to reduce carbon emissions and to promote sustainable development. The protocol's first commitment period began in 2008, and was renewed in 2012 with 37 nations having binding targets.

In April 1998, the Philippines signed the Kyoto Protocol as a non-annex party with no binding targets, ratifying it five years later.

12th December
On December 12, 1934, Senator Renato "Compañero" Cayetano was born in Pangasinan. After finishing political science and law in the University of the Philippines, he obtained three graduate degrees in the United States, namely Master of Public Administration, Master of Laws, and Doctor of Laws. As a legal luminary, Cayetano handled a number of high profile cases pro bono. His practice as a lawyer was further introduced to the general public through a television program called "Compañero y Compañera."

In 1984, he was elected as representative of Taguig-Pateros-Muntinlupa in the Batasang Pambansa. A year later, he was appointed as Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, in charge of administering the Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA). This was the predecessor of today's Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), which continues to generate investment and employment through more than 400 ecozones in the country.

In 1995, he was appointed as Chief Presidential Counsel during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos. He would also serve as Vice Chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC), through which he became instrumental in improving crime prevention and the justice system in the Philippines.

Three years later, he was elected as senator, garnering the second highest number of votes (after Loren Legarda) that election cycle. In the Senate, he emphasized legislation involving justice, human rights, and public order. Among the landmark laws he passed include the Philippine Clean Air Act (RA 8749), the Electronic Commerce Act (RA 8792), the Securities Regulation Code (RA 8799), the Fair Election Act (RA 9006), and the Administrative Naturalization Law (RA 9139). Cayetano also served briefly as Minority Floor Leader after Senator Teofisto Guingona was appointed as Vice President in February 2001.

 
Cayetano died on June 24, 2003 after enduring a liver transplant in the United States. His liver cancer was a complication of the Hepatitis B virus, with which he was diagnosed a few years prior.

12th December
On December 12, 1888, twenty women of Malolos presented to Spanish Governor General Valeriano Weyler a letter of request for establishing a night school for women to learn Spanish. Penned by Teodoro Sandiko (Sandico), who by the time was already teaching Spanish, the request was denied.
The lobbying for a school, however, did not stop as the women found more allies for their cause. In February 1889, the school was approved under certain conditions, including the designation of their teacher (Guadalupe Reyes), the time of classes would be in the day, and their schooling would be financed by the women themselves. Sandiko's troubles, however, led him to leave the country. The school was open only for around three months.

Jose Rizal, in commendation of the victory of the Women of Malolos, wrote them a letter also in February 1889, which says in part:

"Talastas ng lahat ang kapanyarihan at galing ng babae sa Filipinas, kaya nga kanilang binulag, iginapos, at iniyuko ang loob, panatag sila't habang ang iba'y alipin, ay ma-aalipin din naman ang lahat ng mga anak. Ito ang dahilan ng pagkalugami ng Asya; ang babae sa Asya ay mangmang at alipin. Makapangyarihan ang Europa at Amerika dahil doo'y ang mga babae ay malaya at marunong, dilat ang isip at malakas ang loob."

Tradition has it that Rizal managed to personally meet the ladies in person when he visited Malolos, Bulacan in 1892. The hailed women were as follows: Elisea Tantoco Reyes, Juana Tantoco Reyes, Leoncia Santos Reyes, Olympia San Agustin Reyes, Rufina Reyes, Eugenia Mendoza Tanchangco, Aurea Mendoza Tanchangco, Basilia Villariño Tantoco, Teresa Tiongson Tantoco, Maria Tiongson Tantoco, Anastacia Maclang Tiongson, Basilia Reyes Tiongson, Paz Reyes Tiongson, Aleja Reyes Tiongson, Mercedes Reyes Tiongson, Agapita Reyes Tiongson, Filomena Oliveros Tiongson, Cecilia Oliveros Tiongson, Feliciana Oliveros Tiongson, Alberta Santos Uitangcoy.

18th December
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the new-born King!

Are you familiar with these lyrics? Did you know this Christmas carol was first heard in 1739? The composition was attributed to Reverend Charles Wesley, who was born on this day, December 18, in 1707. It was said he was born prematurely in Lincolnshire, Great Britain.

Wesley, who with his brother John led the Methodist movement during the 18th century, was ordained in 1735. He would eventually be assigned to a mission in Georgia Province, but he was slandered and persecuted by the very settlers who asked him to preach in their area.

While suffering from an illness after his departure from Georgia, Wesley in 1738 had been reading Martin Luther's works when he experienced "peace with God", a turning point for his ministry. From 1739 to 1743, Wesley was able to account in his writing nearly 150,000 people listening to his sermons.
This was done through open-air or street preaching, which the Wesley brothers saw as a solution when church buildings were being shut down from them by their opponents. His last national tour would be in 1756 as his deteriorating health leading him to be content with preaching in chapels within the vicinity of Bristol and London. Meanwhile, he was said to have produced 56 volumes amounting to more than 6,000 hymns in his 53 years of writing.

Originally called "Hymn for Christmas-Day", Wesley derived Hark! the Herald Angels Sing from Luke 2:13-14, which went as follows:

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”

Reverend George Whitefield, one of the early leaders of Methodism, adapted Wesley's carol in 1758 with lyrics more familiar to what we might hear today. Take for example the first two lines from Wesley's original composition:

Hark how all the Welkin rings
Glory to the King of Kings

Wesley died on March 29, 1788, still considering himself a member of the Church of England (Anglican Church) in his deathbed. Charles and John Wesley continue to be remembered in the Anglican Calendar of Saints with their commemoration date set on May 24.

19th December
On December 19, 1899, the Battle of San Mateo saw the death of the highest ranking American officer to have been killed during the course of the Filipino-American War. American troops under General Henry Ware Lawton marched from the north, aiming to take Marikina and San Mateo on the way to Manila in hopes to sever enemy communication lines and smash Filipino forces still operating near the capital.

Preparing to face them in San Mateo were around 1,000 Filipino troops led by General Licerio Geronimo, who entrenched themselves along the Marikina River. Apparently, the civilian population gave them important intelligence of the American movement. Thus, they waited all night of December 18 for the American offensive, missing the tradition of "Simbang Gabi" or Midnight Mass. One of Lawton's known tactics was using nighttime for his attacks. However, American soldiers would only appear by the next morning in the area which would today be Batasan Hills.

The fierce Filipino resistance initially repulsed the American attack, compelling Lawton to personally lead the troops himself in the front line. Perhaps confident of his earlier successes since his arrival in the Philippines, he did not seriously consider the possibility of him being targeted, which the sharpshooters (tiradores de la muerte) with Geronimo did. The person who landed the fatal shot was Private Bonifacio Mariano. Despite Lawton's death, the Americans found a way to maneuver around the Filipino troops by sending cavalry through the Montalban area. The Filipinos would eventually retreat from their lines, but it proved to be a costly affair. The Americans reported 24 casualties, including the slain general.

The Americans would further report 165 casualties on the Filipino side, including Private Mariano. Some sources, however, indicate that Mariano would remain alive until the end of the war and would receive American amnesty. B. Mariano Street, located in the vicinity of the Battle of San Mateo, was named in his honor.

Plaza Lawton in Manila, meanwhile, has been renamed as Liwasang Bonifacio in 1963.

20th December
On December 20, 1863, Queen Isabel II of Spain issued a decree mandating education reform in the Philippines. This included the introduction of primary education through a public school system as towns were to set up at least two elementary schools (for boys and for girls). Standardization of curriculum and the creation of "normal schools" were also mandated. This made the Philippines as one of the first in Asia to have a modern public education system, notably accessible to all regardless of origin.

Implementation and financing, however, was another matter. While the number of schools increased from around 1,600 by the time of the decree to more than 2,100 by 1892, literacy across the Philippines made steady yet slow gains during the period. It would seem quite similar to the experience of Spain when public education was introduced in the Peninsula in 1857 through the Moyano Act. By 1900, literacy rates in both Spain and the Philippines remained under 50 percent of the population.

To be fair, literacy rates around the world were quite as low. Our World In Data, for one, would show 21 percent as the global average in 1900. This would make both nations somewhat above average, and public education was believed to be helpful in achieving this feat.

Still, there were also issues on the ground which continued to persist in challenging education. One of the portrayals of Spanish era education after Isabel's reform would be seen in Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere (1887), where he wrote: "A poor teacher struggles not only against prejudices but also against certain influences. First, it would be necessary to have a suitable place and not to do as I must at present—hold the classes under the convento by the side of the padre’s carriage. There the children, who like to read aloud, very naturally disturb the padre, and he often comes down, nervous, especially when he has his attacks, yells at them, and even insults me at times. You know that no one can either teach or learn under such circumstances, for the child will not respect his teacher when he sees him abused without standing up for his rights. In order to be heeded and to maintain his authority the teacher needs prestige, reputation, moral strength, and some freedom of action. Although he insulted me, I had to remain silent, for if I replied he would have had me removed from my position, by which I should lose all hope in my chosen profession. Nor would the cause of education gain anything, but the opposite, for everybody would take the curate’s side, they would curse me and call me presumptuous, proud, vain, a bad Christian, uncultured, and if not those things, then anti-Spanish and a filibuster."

Meanwhile, school teachers figured in the Philippine Revolution, which probably made some Spanish wonder if public education and the knowledge it brought contributed to the Filipino desire to revolt, while others conjectured that it was the lack thereof that led the people to seek change. Spanish military doctor Felipe Trigo, for instance, would connect the "dismal" literacy of Filipinos in Spanish as one of the reasons for the Revolution.

When martial law was declared on August 30, 1896, the Civil Administration also ordered to gather the names of teachers and assistants "whom you might have news or suspect of being involved in the conspiracies or rebellion." They were later dismissed. Among the better known of these revolutionary teachers would be Generals Artemio Ricarte, Juan Cailles, Tomas Mascardo, Eusebio Roque, Teodoro Sandiko, Arcadio Maxilom, and Martin Delgado.

Despite its limitations, the Spanish public school system nevertheless contributed to the development of education in the Philippines. Manuel Quezon, for one, would cite this with his speech concerning the Jones Bill in 1914: "Que el sistema de instrucción pública establecido por el gobierno español era mucho menos eficiente que el establecido por los Estados Unidos, es, por supuesto, totalmente verdad; pero que tal sistema sólo figuraba en "el papel," y que los maestros y las escuelas y los alumnos tenían poca existencia real fuera de la "imaginación" de los hombres que escri bieron ese papel, está muy lejos de ser verdad." (That the public education system established by the Spanish government was much less efficient than the one established by the United States, is, of course, totally true; but that such a system figured only on "paper," and that teachers and schools and pupils had little actual existence outside of the "imagination" of the men who wrote that paper, is far from true.)

21st December
On December 21, 1935, Commonwealth Act No. 1 was signed by President Manuel Quezon, providing for a national defense policy, instituting mandatory military service, as well as creating the Council of National Defense Department of National Defense - Philippines and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In his first State of the Nation Address (November 1935), Quezon asserted the importance of reinforcing national strength: "Self-defense is the supreme right of mankind, no more sacred to the individual than to the nation, the interests of which are immeasurably of greater significance and extent. A threat against the nation involves not alone the life of one individual, but of millions; not the welfare and fortune of a single family, but of all. And above everything else, depending upon the exercise of the right of national self-defense is freedom itself, the most precious reward from Heaven to the worthy. This immutable principle is firmly incorporated in our Constitution—the Magna Charta of Philippine Liberty."

With a ten-year defense buildup program aimed to boost the nation's capabilities, the first external threat to test this new organization would be the Second World War.

25th December
On December 25, 1914, the battlefield became a land of temporary peace as unofficial efforts were made across Europe to silence their guns. Instead, what blasted from the top of their lungs were Christmas carols and cheering for mutually enjoyed games. Despite what became the legendary "Christmas truce," which demonstrated good will, it was not to say there was a general ceasefire across all fronts.

There were records of fighting still pursued in various sectors throughout Christmastime. Pope Benedict XV earlier called for a truce in the spirit of Christmas, but it was officially denied by the warring nations. In all, around 100,000 troops were believed to have laid down their arms to foster camaraderie with their brothers in arms for the occasion. The event, nonetheless, also displayed difficulties of the chain of command. If soldiers in the field could decide on such arrangements on their own, it would derail plans on the overall war conduct.

28th December
On December 28, 1856, President Woodrow Wilson was born in Virginia, United States. Even during his years in the academe, it was said Wilson was publicly opposed to American annexation of the Philippines, as exhibited in what he wrote in 1899, a year after the Treaty of Paris: "It was my personal wish at the time that we should not take the Philippines. If we sent our institutions in manuscript they would suffer the same fate which befell a dress suit once captured by savages."

During his political career, however, his stand on the Philippine issue would not surface until after the 1912 election, when he had already won the presidency: "The Philippines are at present our frontier, but I hope we presently are to deprive ourselves of that frontier."

The election of Wilson, the first Democrat to obtain the presidency of the United States since 1892, was supposedly welcomed by Filipinos, who for the longest time believed in the Democratic Party's leaning on anti-imperialist stances.

Notably, Wilson signed in 1916 the Jones Act, which reiterated in clearer terms the American policy in the Philippines: "It is, as it always has been, the purpose of the people of theUnited States to withdraw their sovereignty over the PhilippineIslands and to recognize their independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein." While no specific date for independence was established, it was nonetheless a step forward since the previous governing law in the Philippines, the 1902 Philippine Organic Act, had no mention of independence in any of its provisions.

A commemorative plaque was given to Wilson by the Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines in gratitude for his efforts in expanding Filipino autonomy and charting a path for eventual independence of the nation.

After the First World War, where Filipinos valiantly fought under the American flag, there was renewed clamor for the Philippines to be granted independence in light of changing international dynamics. This was articulated by Senate President Manuel Quezon in his address to the United States Congress in 1919: "You have recognized the independence of countries of Europe which have been under the control of autocratic powers; who have had no opportunity of exercising the powers of self-government, and to these countries you were not pledged to give independence, you were not in any way related, you were not tied by bonds of long association and affection. How can you afford not to recognize the independence of the Filipino people whom you have solemnly promised independence, whom you have helped to acquire the science and practice of self-government, and who are bound to you by ties of affection, friendship, and eternal gratitude? The granting of our national freedom will be at this time the object lesson that you could give to the world that this country can give of her belief in democracy and in the rights of every people to be free and to govern themselves."

Wilson was apparently convinced that the Philippines had adequately met the spirit of the Jones Act, as demonstrated in his final address to the Congress in 1920: "Allow me to call your attention to the fact that the people of the Philippine Islands have succeeded in maintaining a stable government since the last action of the Congress in their behalf and have thus fulfilled the condition set by Congress, as precedent to the consideration of granting independence to the Islands."

The Republican-majority Congress, however, decided not to decide on Wilson's appeal. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, would not allow ailing Wilson to seek a third term.

29th December
On December 29, 1821, Mexican President Agustin de Iturbide conveyed a message to the Philippines to encourage revolt against Spain. Earlier, in September, Mexico ratified its Declaration of Independence from Spain.

Iturbide's call for revolution was believed to be one of the reasons behind the later revolt in Manila led by Captain Andres Novales, who was said to have had Mexican blood. On June 2, 1823, after his mission to Mindanao was aborted the night prior, Novales rose up with 21 officers and 800 soldiers. As they occupied key points in Intramuros and killed officials, they openly proclaimed Novales as the "Emperor of the Philippines." Novales, meanwhile, referred to the "loyal sons of the soil" as Filipinos.

30th December
Did you know that Daet, Camarines Norte was the site of the first Rizal Monument built in the Philippines? Construction of the stone pylon began on December 30, 1898, two years after Jose Rizal's death, and the first time Rizal Day was officially commemorated (as per decree by President Emilio Aguinaldo on December 20). It was finished two months later, in February 1899, antedating the monument in Luneta.

This despite Rizal probably never setting foot on Camarines Norte.

31st December
1844: The Year Philippines Lost December 31?

For most of the time Spain ruled the Philippines, the archipelago followed the date in the Iberian Peninsula. This meant the Philippines was practically a day behind her Asian neighbors. That is, until 1844, when Spanish Governor General Narciso Claveria decreed to rectify this timekeeping error, moving the calendar ahead in the Philippines.

As a result, December 31, 1844 virtually vanished from Filipino calendars, skipping to January 1, 1845. Nonetheless, even after New Year 1845, the International Date Line for some geographers looked like how this 1888 German encyclopedia (pictured) called Meyers Lexikon portrayed it. This was evidence that nations remained unaware of Claveria's move long after the Governor General ended his service.

31st December
On December 31, 1941, the Tank Battle of Baliuag (Baliwag) in Bulacan saw the first successful engagement of American tanks in the Second World War. Supported by Filipino artillery, the US 192nd Tank Battalion, mainly composed of M3 Stuart light tanks and M3 Gun Motor Carriage half-tracks, was ordered to face the Japanese 7th Tank Regiment under Colonel Seinosuke Sonoda (園田農之助). It was said to be one of the Japanese tank regiments at the time with a German observer.

The Japanese utilized the Type 95 Ha-Gō light tanks and Type 89 I-Gō medium tanks. In the ensuing combat, the Japanese 37-mm and 57-mm guns proved "ineffective" against American armor, whereas the Americans claimed to have taken down eight Japanese tanks. Japanese records, meanwhile, indicate only one of their tanks was lost, a single Type 89. Nonetheless, this was accomplished with no tank loss on the American side.

This victory, while rare during the course of the Philippine campaign, was eventually overshadowed by subsequent events, including the evacuation of Baliuag. By January, the combined Filipino and American forces withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula, in line with War Plan Orange. As for Sonoda, he would be killed in action on April 6, 1942, days before the surrender of Bataan. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of major general.

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