“The bravery you have manifested since the start of this Revolution in
fighting against the Spanish enemy is the clearest proof that you are not
terrified by the noise of the preparations for the invasion here of the army of
Polavieja. That army, in a short span of time, has demonstrated marked
cowardice and base conduct by torturing and killing multitudes of our noncombatant people. Their burning of the towns here, their desecration of the
purity of our women without regard to their weakness, the murder of the old
and of helpless infants – these acts are not those of any man of honor and
courage. They cry out for vengeance and justice.
After the enemy assault, you may perhaps be found lifeless on the
field of battle, but this is an honorable legacy for our country, for our race
and for our family.
Your dying breath will be the breath that gives life to our nation and will
serve as a loving memory to your brothers whom you leave behind.
You must realize that the reason why we give our life and all that we
have, is for us to be able to hold and to cherish the much desired Liberty of
our nation, which will bring forth comfort and avenge our desecrated honor
crushed by slavery and buried in the abyss of subhuman treatment.
Will you be faint-hearted and reluctant to face death because of
these? No, no! Because in your minds is indelibly stamped the memory of
thousands of lives snuffed out by the ruthless hand of the Spaniards, the
moaning and weeping of those orphaned by their cruelty, our brothers
chained within the dismal prison cells with merciless tortures for their daily
bread, the seemingly endless stream of tears caused by bitter separation
from children, husbands, parents and the loved ones exiled to distant
places, and the brutal murder of our beloved countryman, Don José Rizal.
These have opened a wound in our heart which will never heal. All these
should set aflame the coldest blood, and should impel us to fight against
the ignoble Spaniards who have given us misery and death.
Therefore, my brothers, gird yourselves to fight and be assured of
victory. Our side is in the right. Ours are noble deeds. The Spaniards,
that contemptible race that found its way here, are fighting for the wrong.
They are here usurping and oppressing a nation that is not theirs.
To preserve the sanctity and glory of our race so that the world may
recognize our nobility, let us not imitate our Spanish enemies in debasing
the conduct of war. Let us not fight and kill merely for the sheer desire of
killing. Rather, let us do so in defense of the Liberty of our Nation. Sons of
the People, receive our close embrace, and let us shout with all our might:
“Long Live! Long Live the Sovereign Tagalog Nation!””