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Apolinario Mabini was a Filipino revolutionary, the first Prime Minister and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines upon the establishment of the First Philippine Republic.
Expounding on the ideals that he believed the Philippine Revolution should have had, he wrote “El Verdadero Decalogo” (The True Decalogue) in May 1898. Aguinaldo authorized its continued publication, together with Mabini’s proposed constitution.
The True Decalogue, by Apolinario Mabini
First. Love God and your honor over all things: God, as the source of all truth, all justice and all activity; your honor, the only power that obliges you to be truthful, just and industrious.
Second. Worship God in the form that your conscience that God speaks to you, reproaching you for your misdeeds and applauding you for your good deeds.
Third. Develop the special talents that God has given you, working and studying according to your capabilities, never straying from the path of good and justice, in order to achieve your own perfection, and by this means you will contribute to the progress of humanity: thus you will accomplish the mission that God himself has given you in this life, and achieving this, you will have honor, and having honor, you will be glorifying God.
Fourth. Love your country after God and your honor, and more than you love yourself, because your country is the only paradise that God has given you in this life; the only patrimony of your race; the only inheritance from your ancestors; and the only future of your descendants: because of your country you have life, love and interests; happiness, honor and God.
Fifth. Strive for the happiness of your country before your own, making her the reigning influence for reason, justice and work; if your country is happy, you and your family will also be happy.
Sixth. Strive for the independence of your country, because you alone can have a real interest in her aggrandizement and ennoblement, since here independence will mean your own freedom, her aggrandizement your own perfection, and her ennoblement your own glory and immortality.
Seventh. In your country, do not recognize the authority of any person who has not been elected by you and your compatriots, because all authority comes from God, and as God speaks to the conscience of each individual, the person chosen and proclaimed by the consciences of all the individuals of a whole town is the only one that can exercise real authority.
Eighth. Strive that your country be constituted as a republic, and never as a monarchy: a monarchy empowers one or several families and lays the foundation for a dynasty; a republic ennobles and dignifies a country based on reason, it is great because of its freedom, and is made prosperous and brilliant by dint of work.
Ninth. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, because God has imposed on him and on you the obligation to help one another, and has dictated that he does not do unto you what he does not want you to do unto him; but if your neighbor is remiss in this sacred duty and makes an attempt on your life, your freedom and your priorities, then you should destroy him and crush him, because the supreme law of self preservation must prevail.
Tenth. Always look on your countryman as more than a neighbor: you will find in him a friend, a brother and at least the companion to whom you are tied by only one destiny, by the same happiness and sorrows, and by the same aspirations and interests.
Because of this, while the borders of the nations established and preserved by the egoism of race and of family remain standing, you must remain united to your country in perfect solidarity of views and interests in order to gain strength, not only to combat the common enemy, but also to achieve all the objectives of human life.
From La Revolucion Filipina by Apolinario Mabini, courtesy of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
