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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-9/gising-tagalog-sm.webp" alt="Emilio Jacinto's wake up Tagalogs" />
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(First page of "Gising na mga Tagalog in Jacinto's handwriting)
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For more than three hundred years - an amazing length of time! - the felicitous sun in this land of Katagalugan has been submerged and drowned by cruelty and deceit. For more than three hundred years we have been in darkness, the horrifying dark night of slavery! And this night is silent, like the graveyards. And in this silence nothing can be heard except the clanking of chains, or perhaps melancholy lamentations, or perhaps the sterile anger of a heart pierced by the sword of hate! This night is truly long! Sleep is heavy, and deep [?]!....


When, Tagalogs, when shall the sun blaze, when shall you be strong and your suffering end? Ay! Seeing your situation makes the heart burst, the eyes cloud over, the blood seethe, and the righteous breast howl with rage. Is that not so, brothers? Or will you remain blind and enslaved? What has happened to the mettle and courage of your forebears, who fought against those from other lands so that this country of the Tagalogs would not be ruled by outsiders? Where now is the blood of Kalipulako, the defiant ruler of Mactan, who killed the traitor Magellan? And where is the strong heart of Soliman? Were they not your brothers? Will you forever be chained to the pillar of the oppression that causes great anger in your hearts? Will you witness nothing in your lives but hardship, poverty, sickness, dejection, grief and oppression?

Forward! Forward, my country and awake! Arise, open your eyes, and look about you, my unfortunate people!


Do you see those who are exposed to the heat of the afternoon sun; who are soaked by the rain, and who with the drops of their sweat and the fatigue of their exhausted bodies raise from the earth the harvest that gives life to everyone and gives comfort to those whose spirits are low? They are Tagalogs.


And now notice those who like in the afternoon to lounge in soft and luxurious chairs. The most delicious food is theirs; theirs are the biggest houses, and the most beautiful women are theirs also; they have grabbed everything, and yet they are the ones to whom we, young and old alike, must doff our hats; they are the ones whose hands we must kiss. These are the representatives of God, the Spanish friars.


Wherever you turn your eyes, nothing is to be seen but Tagalogs who are poor and Spaniards who are rich; Tagalogs who are enslaved and Spaniards who are enslavers!


Why? Why are the Tagalog soldiers who fight in the name of Spain and against the enemies of Spain; who suffer exhaustion, hunger and thirst; who give their lives and their blood; who are taken away when their youth and strength should support their old and weary parents; why are they insulted by the Spaniards?


And why are Spanish soldiers who do not expose their chests to the weapons of the enemy in combat later heaped with various rewards for their unmatched bravery? Why are their uniforms decorated with ribbons and gold stars, when they only open their mouths to utter a foul curse and only raise their hands to strike a painful blow? And why, above all, do the Tagalogs accord them any respect? 


Wherever you look, wherever, the same sort of things can be seen.... But here we shall stop, let a heavy curtain be drawn over these desolate truths, and turn our thoughts to the best remedy.… "What on earth are you thinking? We shall achieve nothing. We have no unity." This will be your immediate answer, without letting me finish what I want to say.


You lament there is no unity, which suggests that you want unity. But you are mistaken; but we shall be truly mistaken. Do you believe that words are enough, that an aspiration is enough? If you just say you will move forward; if you just have the desire to move forward, does it mean you actually will move forward? Does it mean that you actually will reach your destination? Deeds, deeds and deeds! If you do not have the courage to act, the unity of which you speak is perhaps a lie that conceals your cowardliness; the unity that you desire is a dream that belies your weak resolve.


What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for them to take pity on you, and decide compassionately to grant you your rights? Are you waiting for them to do this, they who live because you die, they who prosper because you live in poverty; they who are masters because you are slaves? How long will it still be, Tagalogs, before the true source of your oppression is recognized? When will you stop waiting for compassion from them, especially since their lives are always delightful and prosperous, when they have nothing to worry about and have everything at their disposal – their force of arms, their deceit, our own compatriots and the wealth they have seized from us. And as a result of our ignorance and blind hope in their honest character we are squeezed and suffocated, and they will only let go when they have extracted the last drop of juice from the bones of our corpses.

"Wake up, Tagalogs", Emilio Jacinto's rallying call to the patriotic cause