50 Interesting Facts About Apolinario Mabini, The Brains of The Revolution

Apolinario Mabini is one of the most prominent figures in Philippine History. He is known in the pages of Philippine History books as “the Sublime Paralytic” and the “Brains of the Revolution”.  Mabini had proven that poverty is not a hindrance to education and if there’s a will, there’s a way.

1.) His complete name is Apolinario Marana Mabini and was nicknamed Poly.

2.) He was born on July 23, 1864 in Barangay Talaga in the town of Tanauan, Batangas.

3.) This great Filipino political philosopher and a revolutionary died at the very young age of 38.

4.) He is known for writing a constitutional plan for the First Philippine Republic of 1899-1901.

5.) To Mabini’s enemies and detractors he is referred to as the “Dark Chamber of the President”.

6.) Mabini was the 2^nd of 8 children of Dionisia Maranan and Inocencio Mabini. Her mother was a vendor in the Tanauan market and his father is an unlettered peasant.

7.) His maternal grandfather was the village teacher from whom he began his informal studies.

8.) Because of Mabini’s exceptional display of intelligence he was transferred to a regular school where he worked as a houseboy to the owner of the school.

9.) Mabini also took odd jobs from a local tailor in exchange for free board and lodging.

10.) He later transferred to the school conducted by the famous educator Fray Valerio Malabanan.

Image Source

11.) When he was 16, he received a scholarship for Colegio San Juan de Letran in Manila.

12.) At one time, he amazed one of his professors by answering a series of very difficult questions with ease.

13.) Due to poverty, Mabini’s studies at Colegio San Juan de Letran were periodically interrupted.

14.) Mabini earned money for his board and lodging by teaching children. He only has 2 pairs of uniform.

15.) His mother wanted him to become a priest but Mabini’s desire to defend the poor made him decide to become a lawyer.

16.) He graduated his Bachilles en Artes with highest honors and received the title Professor of Latin from Letran. Mabini was also a member of Jose Rizal’s La Liga Filipina.

17.) He then transferred to the University of Santo Tomas and finished his law degree in 1894.

18.) Mabini also served as copyist in the Court of First Instance in Manila.

19.) After Rizal’s execution in December 1896, he joined the revolution wholeheartedly.

20.) During the revolution of 1898, he served as the chief adviser for General Aguinaldo.

21.) He drafted the framework of the revolutionary government which was implemented in Malolos in 1899.

22.) 1n 1899, he was appointed Prime Minister and also acted as foreign minister of the independent dictatorial government of Emilio Aguinaldo.

23.) Mabini led the first cabinet of the Philippine Republic on January 23, 1899.

24.) After a few months of serving as Prime Minister, Mabini resigned from government on May 7, 1899.

25.) Apolinario Mabini was a member of the fraternity of Freemasonry.

26.) When negotiations between the Philippines and the U.S failed, Mabini supported the war against the latter.

27.) Mabini was captured by the Americans on December 10, 1899 in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija

28.) He was released in 1901 and was exiled to Guam along with other revolutionists for refusal to swear allegiance to America.

29.) After two years in exile, Mabini returned home to the Philippines in 1903 after agreeing to take the oath of allegiance to the United State.

30.) Just 3 months after coming back home from exile, Mabini died of cholera on May 13, 1903 at the age of 38.

Image Source

BRP Apolinario Mabini (PS-36)

31.) The house where Mabini died is now located in Santa Mesa, Manila at the campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines or PUP.

32.) This simple nipa house contains the original furniture and some of the books written by Mabini.

33.) A replica of the house where he was born was built in Tanauan, Batangas and it contains memorabilia as well.

34.) People who witnessed Mabini’s funeral said that it was the most largely attended of any ever held in Manila.

35.) His remains were buried in his hometown of Tanauan, now a city.

36.) In honor of Mabini, his face adorns the Philippine Ten Peso Bill together with another great Filipino – Gat. Andres Bonifacio.

37.) There are 4 towns in the country named after him; Mabini, Batangas; Mabini, Bohol; Mabini, Compostella Valley; and Mabini, Pangasinan.

38.) The BRP Apolinario Mabini (PS-36), the Philippine Navy’s Jacinto class corvette, is named in his honor.

39.) The Apolinario Mabini Awards is presented by the Philippine government annually to outstanding people with disabilities.

40.) A school in Lipa City, Batangas is named The Mabini Academy. Mabini’s image is depicted in the school’s logo.

41.) The expressway that connects Batangas to the South Luzon Expressway or SLEX is named Apolinario Mabini Superhighway or Southern Tagalog Arterial Road.

42.) Mabini exposed the vicious opportunism of the Paterno-Buencamino tandem who tried to gain control and to profit from, the financial transactions of the revolutionary government.

43.) Because he was poor, like Andres Bonifacio,  Mabini found himself opposed in many occasions by the wealthy bourgeoisie.

44.) Even when Mabini was still alive, there were already controversial rumors saying that his paralysis was due to venereal disease.  This controversy lasted several decades more after he died.

45.) It was only in 1980 that this issue was clarified when his bones were exhumed and the autopsy proved once and for all that the cause of his paralysis was Polio.

46.) Prior to the released of Mabini’s autopsy report, a novel entitled Po-on written by F. Sionil Jose, a National Artist, was already publish. In this novel, Jose stated that Mabini had indeed become a paralytic due to syphilis.

47.) The rumor against Mabini that he became paralytic due to syphilis was spread by the wealthy mestizos around Aguinaldo who wanted Mabini’s ethical and ideological influence cut off.

48.) In the later editions of the book written by F. Sionil Jose, he corrected the error and issued an apology.

49.) La Revolution Filipina is Mabini’s chief work. It is a logical analysis that reveals the progressive and democratic impulse behind his thinking.

50.) According to the former Military Governor of the Philippines, Gen. Arthur McArthur – “Mabini is a highly educated young man who, unfortunately, is paralyzed. He has a classical education, a very flexible, imaginative mind, and Mabini's views were more comprehensive than any of the Filipinos that I have met. His idea was a dream of a Malay confederacy. Not the Luzon or the Philippine Archipelago, but I mean of that blood. He is a dreamy man, but a very firm character and of very high accomplishments. As said, unfortunately, he is paralyzed. He is a young man, and would undoubtedly be of great use in the future of those islands if it were not for his affliction”.

See also

• 50 Interesting Facts About Andres Bonifacio, A Philippine National Hero – The Hero of the Masses

• Jose Rizal: The Last Renaissance Man

• Amazing Facts About Jose Rizal: The Philippine National Hero

• Interesting Facts About Emilio Jacinto, the Brains of the Katipunan