The True Decalogue by Apolinario Mabini

Ambeth Ocampo lamented the fact that more and more young people today are forgetting the heroes that fought for the freedom they enjoy now. This lament came when one youngster commented on Facebook that the movie 'Heneral Luna' is a very good rendition of historical facts but why do Mabini only sits throughout the movie?

Ocampo said that "Rizal wrote a lot for a nation that does not read." This I think is very much applicable to that of the writings of Apolinario Mabini. What is sad about Mabini is the fact that he became immortalized a hero that sits in a chair and not appreciated for his good writing.

Here is one of Mabini's literature:

First. Love God and your honor over all things: God, as the source of all truth, all justice and all activity; your honor, the only power that obliges you to be truthful, just and industrious. 

Second. Worship God in the form that your conscience that God speaks to you, reproaching you for your misdeeds and applauding you for your good deeds. 

Third. Develop the special talents that God has given you, working and studying according to your capabilities, never straying from the path of good and justice, in order to achieve your own perfection, and by this means you will contribute to the progress of humanity: thus you will accomplish the mission that God himself has given you in this life, and achieving this, you will have honor, and having honor, you will be glorifying God. 

Fourth. Love your country after God and your honor, and more than you love yourself, because your country is the only paradise that God has given you in this life; the only patrimony of your race; the only inheritance from your ancestors; and the only future of your descendants: because of your country you have life, love and interests; happiness, honor and God. 

Fifth. Strive for the happiness of your country before your own, making her the reigning influence for reason, justice and work; if your country is happy, you and your family will also be happy. 

Sixth. Strive for the independence of your country, because you alone can have a real interest in her aggrandizement and ennoblement, since here independence will mean your own freedom, her aggrandizement your own perfection, and her ennoblement your own glory and immortality. 

Seventh. In your country, do not recognize the authority of any person who has not been elected by you and your compatriots, because all authority comes from God, and as God speaks to the conscience of each individual, the person chosen and proclaimed by the consciences of all the individuals of a whole town is the only one that can exercise real authority. 

Eighth. Strive that your country be constituted as a republic, and never as a monarchy: a monarchy empowers one or several families and lays the foundation for a dynasty; a republic ennobles and dignifies a country based on reason, it is great because of its freedom, and is made prosperous and brilliant by dint of work. 

Ninth. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, because God has imposed on him and on you the obligation to help one another, and has dictated that he does not do unto you what he does not want you to do unto him; but if your neighbor is remiss in this sacred duty and makes an attempt on your life, your freedom and your priorities, then you should destroy him and crush him, because the supreme law of self preservation must prevail. 

Tenth. Always look on your countryman as more than a neighbor: you will find in him a friend, a brother and at least the companion to whom you are tied by only one destiny, by the same happiness and sorrows, and by the same aspirations and interests.
Because of this, while the borders of the nations established and preserved by the egoism of race and of family remain standing, you must remain united to your country in perfect solidarity of views and interests in order to gain strength, not only to combat the common enemy, but also to achieve all the objectives of human life.

This piece was written by Mabini to outline the values that he believed the Philippine Revolution should have had upheld in his hut in Los Banos in May 1898.