ANDRES BONIFACIO AND THE KATIPUNAN

The failure of the reform movement was already evident in 1892 when Rizal was arrested and banished to
Dapitan. Yet the more hopeful among the middle class still hung on to the conviction that they could soften the
heart of mother Spain into granting the reforms demanded. It is for this reason that the reform movement
continued for four more years or until 1896 when the masses, led by Andres Bonifacio, were forced to take to the
field against the Spaniards. Andres Bonifacio, a man of scanty education but nevertheless highly intelligent,
founded the Katipunan on the very night that the news of Rizal's deportation to Dapitan leaked out. Unlike the
members of the middle class, Bonifacio and his plebeian associates did not dream of mere reforms. They were
interested in liberating the country from the tyranny of the Spaniards, and the only way, to their minds, to
accomplish their end was to prepare the people for an armed conflict. Thus theKatipunan was founded on a
radical platform, namely, to secure the independence and freedom of the Philippines by force of arms.
The Founding of the Katipunan
The news of Rizal's deportation shocked and surprised the people, for Rizal to them was the symbol of freedom.
That night of July 7, 1892, Andres Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, Deodato Arellano and
a few others, met secretly at a house on Azcarraga (now Claro M. Recto Avenue), near Elcano Street, Tondo,
and decided to form a new association called Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalang na Katipunan nang manga Anak
ng Bayan or Katipunan for short. The men gathered around a flickering table lamp, performed the ancient blood
compact, and signed their membership papers with their own blood. It was agreed to win more members to the
society by means of the triangle method in which an original member would take in two new members who did
not know each other, but knew only the original member who took them in. Thus, original member A, for
instance, would take in new members B and C. Both B and C knew A, but B and C did not know each other. Also
agreed upon during the meeting was the payment of an entrance fee of one real fuerte(twenty-five centavos) and
a monthly due of a media real (about twelve centavos).
The Katipunan Objectives
Under the leadership of Bonifacio, the Katipunan laid down three fundamental objectives or aims: political, moral
and civic. The political objectives consisted in working for the separation of the Philippines from Spain. The moral
objective revolved about around the teaching of good manners, hygiene, good morals, and attacking
obscurantism, religious fanaticism, and weakness of character. The civic aim revolved around the principle of
self-help and the defense of the poor and the oppressed. All members were urged to come to the aid of the sick
comrades and their families, and in case of death the society itself was to pay for the funeral expenses. For the
purpose of economy however, the society saw to it that the funeral was of the simplest kind, avoiding
unnecessary expenses so common under the rule of the friars.
The "Cry" of Pugadlawin
The news of the discovery of the Katipunan spread throughout Manila and the suburbs. Bonifacio, informed of
the discovery, secretly instructed his runners to summon all the leaders of the society to a general assembly to
be held on August 24. They were to meet at Balintawak to discuss the steps to be taken to meet the crisis. That
same night of August 19, Bonifacio, accompanied by his brother Procopio, Emilio Jacinto, Teodoro Plata, and
Aguedo del Rosario, slipped through the cordon of Spanish sentries and reached Balintawak before midnight.
Pio Valenzuela followed them the next day. On the 21st, Bonifacio changed the Katipunan code because the
Spanish authorities had already deciphered it. In the afternoon of the same day, the rebels, numbering about
500, left Balintawak for Kangkong, where Apolonio Samson, a Katipunero, gave them food and shelter. In the
afternoon of August 22, they proceeded to Pugadlawin. The following day, in the yard of Juan A. Ramos, the son
of Melchora Aquino who was later called the "Mother of the Katipunan", Bonifacio asked his men whether they
were prepared to fight to the bitter end. Despite the objection of his brother-in-law, Teodoro Plata, all assembled
agreed to fight to the last. "That being the case, " Bonifacio said, "bring out your cedulas and tear them to
pieces to symbolize our determination to take up arms!" The men obediently tore up their cedulas,
shouting "Long live the Philippines!" This event marked the so-called "Cry of Balintawak," which actually
happened in Pugadlawin.
The First Meeting of Tejeros
The Second Meeting at Tejeros
On March 22, 1897, the Magdiwang and Magdalo
councils met once more, this time at the friar estate Aguinaldo, who was at Pasong Santol, a barrio of
house in Tejeros, a barrio of San Francisco de Dasmariñas, was notified the following day of his
Malabon. This convention proved even stormier than election to the Presidency. At first, he refused to
the Imus meeting and, as in Imus, the declared leave his men who were preparing to fight the
objective of the meeting was not even discussed. enemy, but his elder brother, Crispulo Aguinaldo,
persuaded him to take the oath of office, promising to
take his place and would not allow the enemy to
According to Jacinto Lumbreras, a Magdiwang and
first presiding officer of the Tejeros convention, the
meeting had been called to adopt measure for the
defense of Cavite. Again this subject was not
discussed, and instead, the assembled leaders,
including the Magdiwangs, decided to elect the
officers of the revolutionary government, thus
unceremoniously discarding the Supreme Council of
the Katipunan under whose standard the people had
been fighting and would continue to fight.
Bonifacio presided, though reluctantly, over the
election. Beforehand, he secured the unanimous
pledge of the assembly to abide by the majority
decision. The results were:
President Emilio Aguinaldo
Vice-President Mariano Trias
Captain-General Artemio Ricarte
Emiliano Riego de
Director of War
Dios
Director of the
Andres Bonifacio
Interior
Emilio Aguinaldo had been awarded the highest
prize of the Revolution on his own birth anniversary,
although he was not present, being busy at a military
front in Pasong Santol, a barrio of Imus. As for
Bonifacio, the death-blow to the Katipunan and his
election as a mere Director of the Interior showed
clearly that he had been maneuvered out of power. It
must have been a bitter pill to swallow, especially
since even the Magdiwangs who were supposed to
be his supporters did not vote for him either for
President or Vice-President.
But another insult was yet to follow. Evidently, the
Caviteño elite could not accept an "uneducated"
man, and a non-Caviteño at that, even for the minor
post of Director of the Interior. Daniel Tirona
protested Bonifacio's election saying that the post
should not be occupied by a person without a
lawyer's diploma. He suggested a Caviteño lawyer,
Jose del Rosario for the position.
This was clearly an intended insult. It naturally
infuriated Bonifacio who thereupon hotly declared: "I,
as chairman of this assembly and as President of
the Supreme Council of the Katipunan, as all of
you do not deny, declare this assembly
dissolved, and I annul all that has been approved
and resolved."
The Philippines: A Past Revisited. Renato
Constantino
overrun the place without dying in its defense.
Aguinaldo then acceded to his brother's request and
proceeded to Santa Cruz del Malabon (now Tanza),
where he and the others elected the previous day,
with the exception of Bonifacio, took their oath of
office.
Meanwhile, Bonifacio and his men, numbering forty-
five, again met at the estate-house of Tejeros on
March 23. All of them felt bad about the results of the
previous day's proceedings, for they believed that
anomalies were committed during the balloting.
Convinced that the election held was invalid, they
drew up a document, now called the Acta de Tejeros,
in which they gave their reasons for not adopting the
results of the convention held the previous day. From
Tejeros, Bonifacio and his men proceeded to Naik in
order to be as far as possible from Magdalo men
who, they thought, were responsible for the
commission of anomalies during the Tejeros election.
Aguinaldo, wanting to bring back Bonifacio to the
fold, sent a delegation to him to persuade him to
cooperate with the newly constituted government.
But Bonifacio refused to return to the revolutionary
fold headed by Aguinaldo.
The Naik Military Agreement
Bonifacio's anger over what he considered an
irregular election and the insult heaped on him by
Daniel Tirona, a Magdalo, rankled for long. At Naik,
they drew up another document in which they
resolved to establish a government independent of,
and separate from, that established at Tejeros. An
army was to be organized "by persuasion or force"
and a military commander of their own choice was to
take command of it.
Among the forty-one men who signed it were
Bonifacio, Artemio Ricarte, Pio del Pilar and
Severino de las Alas. The documentposed a
potential danger to the cause of the Revolution, for it
meant a definite split in the ranks of the revolutionists
and an almost certain defeat in the face of a united
and well-armed enemy.