November 29, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Seven stolen historical documents have been rescued from ebay and have finally come home to the National Library of the Philippines where they belong.
All are from the Philippine Insurrection Records – that alongside Rizal’s “Noli” and “Fili” – are the most important treasures of the library and the Filipino nation.
It is the first case of the surrender and recovery of these priceless papers since 1993. Unfortunately, they are just the tip of the iceberg, with thousands of documents possibly changing hands in the last four decades, with new collectors today unaware that they are stolen government property — and that they can be easily identified through telltale marks.
The recovered documents were presented to the historical and academic community at simple ceremonies recently. National Library director Cesar Adriano made an appeal to any collectors who may have any of these invaluable documents in their possession. “We guarantee that the handover will not cause you any kind of inconvenience and we will not hold you responsible,” Adriano said.
The Insurrection Records are the irreplaceable record of our country’s journey to freedom from 1897 to 1898 — they include Bonifacio’s Trial and the June 12 Declaration of Independence to name just two — but also the day-to-day running of the First Philippine Republic, both its civilian government and its army. It thus contains the heart and soul of the Philippine Revolution and the years of Asia’s first democratic republic and its war to remain independent until 1903.
Massive thefts from 1986 to 1993
Sadly, the June 12 Declaration of Independence and the Trial of Bonifacio (along with many others such as the letters of Leonor Rivera and various Katipunan documents) were stolen between 1986 and 1993.
The thefts were discovered several years later in 1994 when PIR documents were being offered for sale at some Mabini Street antique shops in Ermita, Manila. A certain Ronaldo Bayhon, who was then a researcher at the National Historical Institute and who had special access to the PIR, was subsequently charged and after a long trial found guilty by a Manila court in 2008 for having “taken, stolen, and carried away from the National Library” thousands of precious documents.
More than 10,000 documents recovered
In the end, more than 10,000 documents (including the Bonifacio Trial and June 12 Declaration) were eventually recovered by the National Bureau of Imvestigation from three or four individuals who had purchased them. Bayhon was sentenced to a prison term of ten years and a day, but never served a day in prison and is still at large.
He would never admit how many documents he had gotten hold off and sold. One witness simply described them as “voluminous” and delivered in huge piles to collectors. It is therefore painfully unclear how many of these historical records remain out there.
Thanks to the keen eye of London-based KKK scholar, Dr. Jim Richardson, three of those missing documents were discovered for sale on ebay — for $749.95 or P45,000 each. He shared the shocking news to me and I, in turn, called the NLP Director Cesar Adriano. And because of his quick and decisive action the sale was stopped in 24 hours. Four more documents were subsequently saved from the same source, before they came to market, voluntarily surrendered by Mr. Donald Lipincott of Boston, Massachusetts and the owner of the Open Boat Booksellers ebay account. These included a letter and telegram from Jose Ma. Basa, a friend of Jose Rizal, and a tract calling for the expulsion of the friars from the Philippines. These documents are proof that hundreds if not thousands of the PIR trove remain still unaccounted for.
How to spot a stolen insurgent record
Dealers, online sites, and collectors should consider this: Thanks to the US Army’s record keeping, the documents were ink-stamped and/or inscribed with distinctive markings to confirm they were part of the “Insurgent Records” collection. The PIR are the only Philippine historical documents with these types of stamps and marks.
The PIR were first formally turned over in 1899 by the US Military Governor Gen. Elwell Otis to Capt. John R. M. Taylor who was assigned to catalog and analyze them for presentation to the US Congress. He devised, according to Dr. Richardson, three different but easy-to-identify types of markings to be found on the Insurgent Records. Richardson noted these as follows, firstly, the “Office of Adjutant General – War Department” ink stamp with a registration number within the range 459001 to 460519. This may be accompanied by an enclosure number (in the example shown as number 13) which is often handwritten close to this ink stamp.
Second, an “Insurgent Records” ink stamp, usually with letters and then a number, in this instance “L.R. 22.” (Occasionally, the first and second kind will be found side by side.)
Finally, Richardson said, there are handwritten numbers, such as “Book 43, Insurgent Records L.R. 24,” in the hand of J. R. M. Taylor himself. (Incidentally, these examples come from the Bonifacio trial documents.)
In addition, other notations include “L.S.” which Capt. Taylor used to mean “Letter Sent”, “L. R.” for “Letter Received” and L.D. for “Letter Draft.”
In addition, when the US government finally agreed to turn over the P.I.R. to the Philippines in 1957, it decided first to photograph the entire collection and preserve the images on microfilm on 643 rolls. Two sets of the microfilms were presented to the Philippine government together with the actual document, and one of these sets is now kept in the National Library.
Thus, whenever a document with the distinctive “Insurgent Records” markings surfaces and is offered for sale, the National Library staff will almost certainly be able to confirm its origin – and therefore its status as government property – by checking the microfilms set.
Countless documents from the revolutionary period, it should be stressed, were never captured by the United States Army. They have remained in private hands – in both the Philippines and the United States – and are frequently offered for sale, legitimately, at auctions and online. Collectors ought to be aware, however, that the documents marked as “Insurgent Records” are likely to have been purloined from the government, and should be neither sold nor purchased. Whenever such a document does appear on the market, the National Library should be informed. Please call the NLP hotlines at +632.5314-2100, local 131 or +63917.871.8228 or email [email protected] if you have any information about them.
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