POSITION PAPER FOR ANDRES BONIFACIO AS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE

PHILIPPINES

Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro was born in Tondo, Manila, on November 30, 1863. His father,
Santiago, was a tailor, a local politician, and a river-ferry operator. Catalina de Castro, his
mother, worked in a cigarette-rolling factory. Andrés and his five younger siblings were well-
cared for by the parents, but Catalina died of TB in 1881. The following year, Santiago also
became ill and passed away. Bonifacio was obliged to abandon his intentions for higher
education at the age of 19 and begin working full-time to support his orphaned younger siblings.
He worked as a broker, or corredor, for the British trading firm J.M. Fleming & Co. for local raw
resources such as tar and rattan. Later, he worked as a bodeguero, or grocer, for the German
company Fressell & Co.

In 1892, Bonifacio became a member of Jose Rizal's La Liga Filipina, an organization dedicated
to reforming the Spanish colonial authority in the Philippines. However, the group only met once
since Rizal was arrested and deported to Mindanao, a small island off the coast of the
Philippines, shortly after the initial meeting. Following Rizal's detention and deportation,
Bonifacio and others resurrected La Liga to keep the Spanish government under pressure to
release the Philippines. He did, however, form a group named Katipunan with his buddies
Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata. Katipunan, also known as Kataastaasang Kagalannalangang
Katipunan ng Mga Anak ng Bayan (roughly "Highest and Most Respected Society of the
Children of the Country"), was an armed resistance group dedicated to fighting the colonial
administration. The Katipunan organization, primarily made up of people from the middle and
lower classes, quickly created regional chapters in several provinces around the Philippines.
Bonifacio became the Katipunan's top leader, or Presidente Supremo, in 1895. Bonifacio
published the Kalayaan, or "Freedom," newspaper with his companions Emilio Jacinto and Pio
Valenzuela. In 1896, Katipunan increased from 300 members to over 30,000 under Bonifacio's
leadership. Bonifacio's organization was ready to begin fighting for independence from Spain,
with a militant atmosphere sweeping the country and a multi-island network in place. The
Spanish colonial administration realized the Philippines was on the verge of a revolution in the

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summer of 1896. On August 19, authorities tried to preempt the uprising by arresting hundreds
of people and jailing them under treason charges. Some of those swept up were genuinely
involved in the movement, but many were not.

Jose Rizal, who was on a ship in Manila Bay waiting to ship out for service as a military doctor
in Cuba, was among those imprisoned (part of his plea bargain with the Spanish government, in
exchange for his release from prison in Mindanao). Bonifacio and two others dressed up as
sailors and boarded the ship, attempting to persuade Rizal to join them, but he refused; he was
eventually tried and hanged in a Spanish kangaroo court. Thousands of Bonifacio's followers
began the revolution by tearing up their community tax certificates, or cedulas. This was a signal
to the Spanish colonial administration that they would not pay any more taxes. On August 23,
Bonifacio declared the Philippines' independence from Spain, naming himself president and
commander-in-chief of the revolutionary government. On August 28, 1896, he issued a
manifesto calling for "all cities to rise simultaneously and attack Manila," He dispatched generals
to lead the rebel forces in this assault. Bonifacio himself commanded an attack on San Juan del
Monte to capture Manila's metro water station and the Spanish garrison's powder storage.
Despite being considerably outmanned, the Spanish troops inside managed to fend off
Bonifacio's forces until reinforcements came.

Bonifacio's forces were forced to retreat to Marikina, Montalban, and San Mateo, which
sustained significant losses. Other Katipunan gangs fought Spanish forces across the city of
Manila. The revolt had swept across the country by early September. As Spain drew all its
resources back to defend Manila, rebel groups in other locations began to sweep up the sliver of
Spanish resistance that had been left behind. Cavite (a peninsula south of Manila Bay that juts
into Manila Bay) successfully forced the Spaniards out. Emilio Aguinaldo, an upper-class
politician, led the Cavite insurgents. Aguinaldo's soldiers controlled most of the peninsula by
October 1896.

Bonifacio was the faction leader that split off from Morong, roughly 35 miles east of Manila.
Mariano Llanera's third group was based in Bulacan, north of the city. Bonifacio selected
generals to establish bases in the highlands around the island of Luzon. Despite his previous
military defeats, Bonifacio personally commanded an attack on Marikina, Montalban, and San

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Mateo. Although he was initially successful in driving the Spaniards out of those towns, they
were soon regained, and Bonifacio was nearly killed when a bullet went through his collar.

In Cavite, Aguinaldo's faction was pitted against a second rebel force led by an uncle of
Bonifacio's bride, Gregoria de Jesus. Emilio Aguinaldo felt justified in founding his rebel
government in opposition to Bonifacio's since he was a more successful military leader and a
wealthier, more robust family member. Aguinaldo conducted an election at the Tejeros
Convention of the rebels on March 22, 1897, to demonstrate that he was the rightful president of
the revolutionary government. Bonifacio was defeated for the presidency by Aguinaldo, but he
was also relegated to the humble position of Secretary of the Interior. When Daniel Tirona
questioned Bonifacio's suitability for the job due to his lack of university education, the
embarrassed former president pulled out a revolver and would have killed Tirona if a bystander
hadn't intervened.

Bonifacio refused to acknowledge Emilio Aguinaldo's rebel government after he "won" the
falsified election in Tejeros. Aguinaldo dispatched a squad to arrest Bonifacio; the opposition
leader was unaware they were there for nefarious purposes and welcomed them into his camp.
According to some accounts, they killed his brother Ciriaco, severely beaten his brother
Procopio, and raped his young wife, Gregoria. Bonifacio and Procopio were tried for treason and
sedition by Aguinaldo. Both Bonifacio was convicted and condemned to death after a one-day
sham trial in which their defense lawyer averred their guilt rather than defending them.

On May 8, Aguinaldo commuted the death penalty, although it was later reinstated. A firing
squad presumably shot both Procopio and Bonifacio on Nagpatong Mountain on May 10, 1897.
According to other reports, Bonifacio was hacked to death in his stretcher because he was too
weak to stand owing to untreated combat wounds. He was only 34 years old at the time.