Andres Bonifacio 1896 Revolution
Andres Bonifacio 1896 Revolution
Andres Bonifacio 1896 Revolution
encouragement of education, agriculture and commerce, and the study and application of
reforms.
The Liga Filipina was short-lived. On 6 July, Rizal was arrested and detained upon the orders of
the Governor-General Eulogio Despujol. Two weeks later, he was sent to Dapitan, Mindanao,
where he lived in exile for four years.
One of the founding members of the league was Andres Bonifacio. On 6 and 7 July, when it had
become apparent that an openly pro-Filipino organization like the Liga Filipina would be
suppressed by the colonial government, Bonifacio and some friends formed a secret society.
Among them were Deodato Arellano, Ladislao Diwa, Valentin Diaz, Jose Dizon, and Teodoro
plata. The organization was called the Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak
ng Bayan. The aims of the Katipunan were to unite the country and to win independence from
Spain by means of revolution.
Bonifacio, however, continued to work with the Liga, which its other prominent members had
resurrected in April 1893 because of his personality and communication skills, the Supreme
Council of the Liga appointed him chief of propaganda. Bonifacios success in recruiting
members unnerved the more conservative elements of the Liga, who did not agree with his
revolutionary ideas. The Liga ceased to exist as October 1894.
Bonifacio did not become president of the Katipunan until 1895, although he had always been an
officer. Under his guidance, the Katipunan prepared for revolution. Emilio Jacinto, Bonifacios
trusted friend and adviser, wrote the Cartilla or primer, which embodied the teachings of the
organization. The Katipunan operated a clandestine printing press and published a newspaper,
Kalayaan. By 1896, on the eve of the revolution, the membership of the society had expanded
dramatically. Estimates vary from 30,000 to 400,000.
The Spanish secreta or secret police knew of the existence of a dangerous clandestine
organization by early 1896. The Governor-General believed the government was still on top of
the situation, but there was no let-up in the surveillance of suspect personalities. By April 1896,
the rebels were reported to have cut railroad lines in Kalookan and environs. By May, the general
assembly of pangulo and representatives from all the balangay (chapters) of the Katipunan were
locked in heated discussions on the timing of the revolution. To many, the time had come; but
some, like Rizal, balked at the idea.
By April or May 1896, the existence of the Katipunan was already known to the Guardia Civil
Veterana. In August, the confession of Teodoro Patinos sister to Fray Mariano Gil, the
Augustinian curate of Tondo, merely confirmed what the government already knew. The priest
persuaded the authorities of the grave danger the society posed to the Spanish community.
Reacting to the ensuing hysteria and acting on information collated over a long period of time,
the government had numerous prominent residents arrested and detained; houses were raided and
searched. Governor-General Ramon Blanco was urged to apply the juez de cuchillo or total
annihilation of the Filipino population in a prescribed zone within the areas of uprising.
There was no holding back the revolution.
Andres Bonifacio, cited as president of the Tagalog Republic. This engraving accompanied an
article on the Philippine Revolution in the La Ilustracion Espaola y Americana, 8 February
1897. The journal referred to Aguinaldo as a generalissimo, not the head of government.
Bonifacio had 60,000 troops at his command, 20,000 of them armed.
A nation is born
The Spanish historian Manuel Sastron describes the revolution as a rebellion of the Tagalogs
against Spanish domination; he also refers to the Tagalog rebels. But it is clear that the 1896
revolution was a national endeavor.
Written and published in 1896, the Katipunans Cartilla defined its major objectives:
directly to its root, refers to those who prefer to settle along rivers, truly a trait, it
cannot be denied, of all those born in the Philippines, in whatever island or town.)
In his patriotic writings, Bonifacio expressed his concept of nationhood. In K.K.K Katungkulang
Gagawin ng mga Z.Li.B., Pagibig sa Tinubuaang Bayan, Hibik ng Filipinas sa Ynang Espaa
and Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog, he referred to the Philippine islands as sangkapaluan
or Katagalugan. In a revolutionary leaflet printed in Cavite during the first quarter of 1897,
Bonifacio wrote: Mabuhay ang Haring Bayang Katagalugan.
It was clear to Bonifacio and the members of the Katipunan that theirs was a national struggle.
A Class 7 Cedula issued to Vicente Mario of Taal, Batangas, on 18 December 1896. This was
the type of tax receipt torn up by members of the Katipunan in Balintawak. (Emmanuel N.
Encanacion [ENE] Collection)
First Filipino government
From 24 August 1896, the Katipunan became an open de facto government. The society had
been organized as a secret organization with its own laws, bureaucratic structure and an elective
leadership. But a working government was imperative once the August 1896 revolution had
begun.
Bonifacio, when questioned at Tejeros, Cavite, defined the letter K in the flag to mean
kalayaan or freedom and explained:
na mula sa Ktt. Pamunuan ng Katipunan, hanggan sa kababa-babaan, ay
nagkakaisang gumagalang sa pagkakapatiran at pagkakapantay-pantay;
namumuhunan ng dugo at buhay laban sa Hari, upang makapagtatag ng sarili at
malayang Pamahalaan, na samakatwid, ay mamahala ang Bayan sa Bayan, at
hindi ang isa o dalawang tao lamang.
(that from the Highest Officials of the Katipunan to the lowest members, all are
one in their respect for brotherhood and equality; they risk blood and life in the
struggle against the King, in order to institute our own free Government, so that,
in short, the People, and not only one or two people, shall govern the Country.)
Jacinto Lumberas stated:
Ang Kapuluan ay pinamamahalaan na ng K.K.K. ng mga anak Anak ng Bayan,
na siyang nagbukas ng Paghihimagsik; may Batas at Alintuntuning pinaiiral;
sinusunod at iginagalang ng lahat sa pagtatanggol ng Kalayaan, pag-ibig sa
kapatid, pag-aayos at pamamalakas ng mga Pamunuan.
(The Archipelago is governed by the K.K.K. ng mga Anak ng Bayan, which
initiated the Revolution: with Laws and Regulations which enforces; followed and
respected by all for defending Freedom, fraternal love, constituting and
consolidating the Leadership.)
Santiago Alvarez also said:
Kaming mga Katipunanay mga tunay na Manghihimagsik sa pagtatanggol ng
Kalayaan sa Bayang tinubuan.
(We of the Katipunanare true Revolutionaries in defending the Freedom of our
Nation.)
While Bonifacio, Lumberas and Alvares defined the moral, democratic and nationalist bases of
the government, some elements were more explicitly republican. One captured official seal,
illustrated in the 30 March 1897 issue of La Illustracion Espaol y Americana, bore the term
Republika ng Katagalugan.
John R.M. Taylor, the American military historian and custodian of the Philippine Insurgent
Records, concluded that Bonifacio established the first Filipino national government. Taylor
interpreted the documents he saw as follows:
The Katipunan came out from the cover of secret designs, threw off the cloak of
any other purpose, and stood openly for the independence of the Philippines.
Bonifacio turned his lodges into battalions, his grandmasters into captains, and the
supreme council of the Katipunan into the insurgent of the Philippines.
Gregorio F. Zaide, who wrote a history of the Katipunan, acknowledged Bonifacios
revolutionary government:
The Katipunan was more than a secret revolutionary society; it was, withal, a
Government. It was the intention of Bonifacio to have the Katipunan govern the
whole Philippines after the overthrow of Spanish rule.
Even Teodoro Agoncillo had to concede that:
The earliest dated and only known 1892 Katipunan document, authorizing the establishment of
a Katipunan Sangunian balangay or chapter council, in Mindanao. Sworn statement of
Restituto Javier dated 2 September 1892, with Andres Bonifacio signing as the societys
Secretary for Deodato Arellano, President, among others. (ENE Collection)
Katipunan democracy
Bonifacio set in place mechanisms for popular participation from the national to the local
levels. The government established by the Katipunan was run by consensus.
The Supreme Council was called the Kataastaasang Kapulungan as can be noted from the
letterhead and seal used by Bonifacio. Baldomero Aguinaldo, Pangulo (President) of
Sangunian Bayan Magdalo (Magdalo Council), in a letter dated 21 March 1897 and addressed
to Felix Cuenca and Mariano Noriel refers to a memorandum from Bonifacio as isang
Kalatas ng G. Presidente (a message from Mr. President) and recognizes the national
government led by Bonifacio as Kgg na pulungan ng hihimacsic (Gobierno revolucionario)
(Honorable revolutionary council (Revolutionary government).
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In each province, the Kataastaasang Sangunian coordinated the Sangunian Bayan, which saw
to public administration and military affairs on the supra-municipal or quasi-provincial level.
In the province of Manila, there were many Sangunian Bayan, such as in Tondo, Kalookan,
Mandaluyong, San Juan del Monte, Marikina, Pasig and Pateros, San Mateo, etc. There were
Sangunian Bay an in the province of Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, Nueva Ecija and Tayabas,
etc. There were at least three Sangunian Bayan under unified military commands to facilitate
strategic planning and tactical moves.
At the founding assembly in Kalookan on 24 August 1896, the revolutionary government
made the following decisions: 10 the revolution would begin with attack on Manila at
midnight of Saturday, 29 August; 20 a revolutionary was established with the appointment of
Aguelo del Rosario, Vicente Fernandez, Ramon Bernardo and Gregorio Coronel as brigadiers
general; 3) the four generals were tasked with strategic planning for the occupation of Manila;
4) the military situation was to be constantly appraised so that an uprising could be started
earlier than 29 August; 5) assigned routes for three commanders were laid out through Tondo,
San Marcelino and the Sampaloc rotunda (now part of Sta. Mesa).
The revolutionary troops were more enthusiastic than effective, however, and the Katipunan
was unable to wrest state power from the well-entrenched Spanish forces.
Later, Bonifacio and more than ten generals commanded a rebel army assembled by
Sanggunian Bayan of various towns within and around present Metro Manila. They engaged
mostly in attack-and-withdraw operations: they seized town halls, capture food, arms, and
ammunition supplies, and neutralized enemy outposts.
The rebel forces were divided into north and south sectors by the Pasig River. To the north lay
Bonifacios guerilla forces in Manila and suburbs, with fortified camps in Balara, San Mateo,
Pantayanin and Montalban; the armed Katipunan groups in Bulacan and Mariano Llaneras
forces based in Nueva Ecija were constanly on the move through The Siera Madre the patron
(landed gentry and rural elite) leaders. Governor Ramon Blanco reported to the Spanish Cortes
the reinforcements were necessary to destroy both sectors and end the insurrection.
The Cavite rebel groups evolved into two supramunicipal governments with military
commands. One was called Magdiwang, covering the territory from Noveleta and San
Francisco de Malabon up to Batangas. The other was called Magdalo, which extended its
sphere of influence from Kawit, Cavite, to the southern parts of the province of Manila, now
Rizal. It soon became apparent that in order to hold on to captured territory, the rebels had to
conform unified intra-provincial administrative units. The perimeter was then secured with
forts and trenches.
The Katipunan army in Cavite was big, but it has been estimated that the army north of the
Pasig River was much bigger. In other parts of the archipelago, the rebels were organized into
squads and commands smaller than those in Central Luzon.
The original Katipunan sub-organizations of Sangunian Bayan on the supra-municipal level,
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and the Panguluhang Bayan (local council) on the district or barrio level constituted the
civilian component of the Katagalugan government. As the government was a revolutionary
one, many civilian leaders were concurrently military officials. At the same time, generals and
key officers in the revolutionary army exercised power over government structures. Bonifacio,
as president was effectively the commander-in-chief. Aguinaldo was one of his captains
general.
The Spanish military writer Federico de Monteverde gives details of the military organization
instituted by Bonifacio. Monteverde fully illustrates the different revolutionary insignas
corresponding to each rank, such as colonel, brigadier general, major general, lieutenant
general and captain general. Various military insignas are also discussed by Taylor, and
described by Generals Alvarez and Artemio Ricarte in their memoirs.
As the revolution progressed, Bonifacio had to formalize the army. In an order dated 16
December 1896, the revolutionary president redefined the hierarchy of the Katipunan military
organization. Each battalion unitcalled Katiponwas to be composed of 203 men.
As commander-in-chief, Bonifacio supervised the planning of military strategies and the
preparation of orders, manifests and decrees, adjudicated offenses against the nation, as well as
mediated in political disputes. He directed generals and positioned troops in the fronts. On the
basis of command responsibility, all victories and defeats all over the archipelago during his
term of office should be attributed to Bonifacio.
The claim by some historians that Bonifacio lost all his battles" is ridiculous.
Foreign Affairs
Prior to the outbreak of the revolution, some Filipinos based in Hong Kong acted on behalf of
the nationalist movement in the Philippines. Led by Doroteo Cortes, they solicited funds from
various sources, especially from wealthy businessmen and companies. They sent the donations
to Jose Maria Basa, who was also based in Hong Kong and served as disbursing officer.
A large portion of the funds was used to send a commission to Japan to negotiate for political,
military and financial aid for the anticipated uprising towards the end of 1896. With Cortes
were Isabelo Artacho and Jose A. Ramos, who arranged with Japanese politicians to acquire
100,000 rifles and an unspecified amount of ammunition. The weapons were partly paid for in
advance while the balance was to be amortized over a number of years. The commission also
petitioned Japan to send a military squadron to aid the revolutionary forces and, after
independence was won, to recognize the Filipino state. Investigations by the Spanish
authorities revealed, "The plan was that while Andres Bonifacio was busy recruiting people
for the general uprising, Doroteo Cortes should carry on the necessary negotiations with
Japan"
Although Japan was not at war in 1896, she looked at her Asian neighbours with a keen
expansionary eye. However, most Asian countries then were under European colonial
dominion. Around the middle of May 1896, the Japanese cruiser Kongo visited Manila.
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Bonifacio and some Katipunan members immediately sought a meeting with Japanese
Admiral Kanimura, while Jacinto drafted a message addressed to the Emperor of Japan. It
read: "The Filipino people greet the Emperor of Japan and the entire Japanese nation, with the
hope that the light of liberty in Japan will also shed its rays in the Philippines" Japan was
not disposed to go to war against Spain in 1896-1897 just to uphold the rights of Filipinos.
Nevertheless, Bonifacio expected the arrival of arms and ammunition from Japan in August
1896.
Cortes continued to represent the revolutionaries before foreign entities. Together with Basa
and A.G. Medina, Cortes sent a petition to the Consul of the United States of America in Hong
Kong on 29 January 1897. The request implored the "Gefe Supremo desu Nacion" for
protection of the Filipinos and recognition of their right to self-government. But the petition
was ill-timed. Grover Cleveland lost the presidential elections; his successor, William
McKinley, declared a national policy focused on "domestic business conditions and economic
recovery from the continuing depression of 1893 and therefore (he tried) to avoid conflict with
Spain."
In January 1897, The Philippine Commission in Hong Kong addressed a petition to Henry
Hannoteaux, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, which enu,erated 50 grievances of the
Philippines against Spain and called for assistance. However, France remained strictly neutral
because she feared that such anticolonialism would contaminate neighbouring French
Indochina, and also because France had no means for practicable intervention.
1917 marker of the 23 August Cry at Kangkong, installed by the veterans of the revolution.
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Reproduced from Sulyap Kultura (a publication of the National Commission for Culture and the
Arts) (Second Quarter 1996): 3-12.
Accessed at http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about_cultarts/articles.php?artcl_Id=5.