Whatever reforms might have been promised would have been purely governmental matters which required no mediator for their execution; but as to the money payments to be made, Paterno was to receive them from the Government and distribute them. An Agreement to this effect was, therefore, signed by General Primo de Rivera and Pedro A. Paterno in the following terms, viz.:—
In the peace proposals presented by the sole mediator, Don Pedro Alejandro Paterno, in the name and on behalf of the rebels in arms, and in the Peace Protocol which was agreed to and submitted to His Majestyʼs Government, which approved of the same, there exists a principal clause relating to the sums of money which were to be handed over to the rebels and their families as indemnity for the loss of their goods consequent on the war, which sums amounted to a total of ₱1,700,000, which the mediator, Señor Paterno, was to distribute absolutely at his discretion, but the payment of the said sum will have to be subject to the conditions proposed by the representative of the Government, H.E. the General-in-Chief of this Army. These conditions were agreed to be as follows, viz.:—
(1) For the rebels in arms a draft for the sum of ₱400,000 will be handed to Señor Paterno, payable in Hong-Kong, as well as two cheques for ₱200,000 each, payable only on the condition of the Agreement being fulfilled on the other part. (2) For the families of those who were not rebels in arms, or engaged in rebellion, but who have likewise suffered the evils of war, the balance of the sum offered shall be paid in three equal instalments, the last to be paid six months after the date on which the Te Deum shall be sung, assuming the peace to become an accomplished fact. Peace shall be held to be effectively concluded if, during the interval of these instalment periods, no party of armed rebels, with recognized leader, shall exist, and if no secret society shall have been discovered as existing here or abroad with the proved object of conspiracy by those who benefit by these payments. The representative of the rebels, Don Pedro Alejandro Paterno, and the representative of the Government, the Captain-General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera, agree to the above conditions, in witness whereof each representative now signs four copies of the same tenour and effect, one being for the Government, another for the archives of the Captain-Generalcy, and one copy each for the said representatives. [14]Done in Manila on the 15th of December, 1897.
Fernando Primo de Rivera,
The General-in-Chief.
Pedro A. Paterno,
The Mediator.
In the course of a few days a military deputation was sent by the Gov.-General, under the leadership of Lieut.-Colonel Primo de Rivera, to meet Aguinaldo and his 34 companions-in-arms at a place agreed upon in the Province of Pangasinán. They had a repast together, and Aguinaldo called for cheers for Spain, in which all heartily joined. Thence they proceeded in vehicles to Sual to await the arrival of the s.s. Uranus, in which they embarked for Hong-Kong on Monday, December 27, 1897. Armed rebel troops were stationed at several places all along the route to Sual, ready to avenge any act of treachery, whilst two Spanish generals were held as hostages at the rebel camp at Biac-na-bató until Aguinaldo cabled his safe arrival in Hong-Kong.
Aguinaldo had very rightly stipulated that a Spanish officer of high rank should accompany him and his followers to Hong-Kong as a guarantee against foul play. The Gov.-General, therefore, sent with them his two nephews, Lieut.-Colonel Primo de Rivera and Captain Celestino Espinosa, and Major Antonio Pezzi. Aguinaldo and eight other chiefs, namely, Gregorio H. del Pilar, Wenceslao Vinegra, Vito Belarmino, Mariano Llaneras, Antonio Montenegro, Luis Viola, Manuel Fino, and Escolástico Viola, stayed at the Hong-Kong Hotel, whilst the remainder took up their abode elsewhere in the city. Aguinaldo cashed his draft for ₱400,000, but as to the other two instalments of the ₱800,000, the Spanish Government defaulted.
There was great rejoicing in Manila, in Madrid, and in several Spanish cities, and fêtes were organized to celebrate the conclusion of peace. In Manila particularly, amidst the pealing of bells and strains of music, unfeigned enthusiasm and joy were everywhere evident. It was a tremendous relief after sixteen months of persecution, butchery, torture, and pecuniary losses. General Primo de Rivera received the thanks of the Government, whilst the Queen-Regent bestowed on him the Grand Cross of San Fernando, with the pension of 10,000 pesetas (nominal value £400). But no one in Spain and few in Manila as yet could foresee how the fulfilment of the Agreement would be bungled. According to a letter of Pedro A. Paterno, dated March 7, 1898, published in El Liberal of Madrid on June 17, 1898, it would appear that (up to the former date) the Spanish Government had failed to make any payment to Paterno on account of the ₱900,000, balance of indemnity, for distribution according to Clause (2) of the Agreement set forth on the preceding page. The letter says:—
As a matter of justice, I ought to have received the two instalments, amounting to ₱600,000. Why is this obligation not carried out, and why has General Primo de Rivera not followed my advice by arresting Yocson and his followers from the 5th of last February? I have my conscience clear respecting the risings in Zambales and Pangasinán Provinces and those about to take place in La Laguna and Tayabas.
Whatever were the means employed, the rebellion was disorganized for a while, but the Spanish authorities had not the tact to follow up this coup by temperate and conciliatory measures towards their wavering quondam foes. Persons who had been implicated in the rebellion were re-arrested on trivial trumped-up charges and imprisoned, whilst others were openly treated as seditious suspects. The priests started a furious campaign of persecution, and sought, by all manner of intrigue, to destroy the compact, which they feared would operate against themselves. More executions took place. Instead of the expected general amnesty, only a few special pardons were granted.
There had been over two months of nominal peace; the rebels had delivered up their arms, and there was nothing to indicate an intention to violate their undertakings. Primo de Rivera, who believed the rebellion to be fast on the wane, shipped back to Spain 7,000 troops. The Madrid Government at once appointed to vacant bishoprics two friars of the Orders obnoxious to the people, and it is inconceivable that such a step would have been so speedily taken if there were any truth in the rebelsʼ pretension that the expulsion of the friars had been promised to them. Rafael Comenge, the President of the Military Club, was rewarded with the Grand Cross of Military Merit for the famous speech which he had delivered at the Club. It was generally lauded by Spaniards, whilst it filled all classes of natives with indignation. Here are some extracts from this oration:—