La Independencia

 This is a sample scanned copy of La Independencia:

Relevance to Bayambang's history:

"La Independencia" (September?-November 12 or 13?, 1899)

A historical event in Sitio Bautista, Bayambang (now the town of Bautista) is the stealthy publication of an issue or issues of "La Independencia," the First Philippine Republic's newspaper, around the time when General Emilio Aguinaldo and company stopped by the town for rest and declared it as a temporary capital and, at the same time, disbanded the national army and turned its elements into guerrilla forces.

Originally edited by General Antonio Luna, this issue must have been edited at the time by the poet-soldier Jose Palma, who was also the writer of "Filipinas," the lyrics of the Philippine national anthem in the original Spanish version. Luna had been assassinated earlier, in June of the same year.

As recounted by historian Ricardo Jose, "As the Americans advanced, the press moved northward (right inside the coach of the Ferrocarril de Manila-Dagupan): to Angeles, Tarlac and finally to Bautista, Pangasinan."

"Due to the difficult conditions and shortage of printing materials, the size of the paper shrank and the number of pages dropped to two. Paper was never totally lacking, as loyal Filipinos somehow were able to maintain the supply of newsprint, but the difficulties of putting out the paper under siege conditions finally became so great that the press and its materials were buried near the final office of the paper. Palma and his compatriots then escaped to Camiling, Tarlac."

An account of General Elwell Stephen Otis would reveal that the American Army was eventually able to retrieve the buried printing press. How they were able to learn about the secret publication and

locate the printing press in its place of concealment is a mystery.

Reference:

The Philippine revolutionary press, 1896-1900 by Ricardo T. Jose, www.cmfr.com.ph/pjr/2001/200105/0105revopress.html

Acknowledgement:

Source of copy of La Independencia:

https://nlpdl.nlp.gov.ph/LI01/1898/dec/1/bs/datejpg.htm . Thanks for the tip Dir. Ed Quiros!

Thanks to Nel Mercado for the tip re. Gen. Otis.