RIZAL AND BONIFACIO

Questions:

1. Who is bonifacio?

Andres Bonifacio was the father of the Philippine Revolution. He was a working class hero, who
initiated a period of immense struggle from below, an effort often treated as a footnote in Philippine
history. Bonifacio's mother, Catalina de Castro, was a native of Zambales. She worked as a supervisor in
a cigarette factory. His father, Santiago, was a tailor, a boatman and a local politician who served as
Tondo’s teniente mayor.

In 1892 Bonifacio was one of the founding members of José Rizal's La Liga Filipina, an organization
which called for political reforms in Spain's colonial government of the Philippines. However, La Liga
disbanded after only one meeting as Rizal was arrested and deported to Dapitan in Mindanao.
Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini and others revived La Liga in Rizal's absence and Bonifacio was active at
organizing local chapters in Manila. He would become the chief propagandist of the revived Liga. La
Liga Filipina contributed moral and financial support to the Propaganda Movement of Filipino
reformists in Spain.

Andrés Bonifacio was also a member of Freemasonry with the lodge Taliba headed by Jose Dizon; and
his pseudonym was Sinukuan, possibly taken from a Philippine mythological character Maria Sinukuan.

2. How did he develop his philosophy and political thoughts?

Bonifacio learned his alphabet in 10 years through his mother's sister and he was first enrolled in a
private school of one Guillermo Osmeña where he learned Latin and mathematics though his normal
schooling was cut short when he dropped out at about fourteen years old to support his siblings after
both of their parents died of illnesses one year apart. Not finishing his normal education, Bonifacio
enriched his natural intelligence with self-education. He read books about the French Revolution,
biographies of the Presidents of the United States, books about contemporary Philippine penal and civil
codes, and novels such as Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Eugène Sue's Le Juif errant and José Rizal's Noli
Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo. Aside from Tagalog and Spanish, he could speak and understand
English, which he learned while working at J.M. Fleming and Co.

He was born in an era when the natives were considered Indios and the Spanish friars were believed to
be God’s representative on earth. He observed that the Filipinos during his time were not free and the
Spanish government and the Catholic Church enslaved them. During the same period, Freemasonry
and its doctrine gained popularity.

Bonifacio admired Jose Rizal for his great effort in awakening Filipino nationalism. He even witnessed
and joined the founding of La Liga Filipina spearheaded by Rizal on 3 July 1892. Sadly, the organization
died naturally after Rizal was exiled in Dapitan. Prior to his involvement in free masonry and Liga,
Bonifacio continued to work in Fressel & Co. and sell fans and canes. He met Ladislao Diwa, and
Teodoro Plata who would play major roles in the establishment of the Katipunan.

3. How did rizal influence the political thoughts of bonifacio?

At first Rizal advocated reforms. But when then plea for reforms failed, he advocated independence,
even through revolution. This is evident in his novel Noli Me Tangere which emphasized reforms and its
sequel, El Filibusterismo which preached revolution. Bonifacio read the novels of Rizal and possibly his
two nationalistic essay that were published by La Solidaridad, the periodical of reformist Filipino
emigres in Madrid, which Rizal had joined but which he later left when he finally realized that their
agitation for reforms were falling on the deaf ears. It was then that Rizal wrote the “Fili”. It was Rizal’s
writings and his growing reputation as a leader of Filipino nationalism that led Bonifacio in 1892 to join
Riza’s La Liga Filipina, an organization that was in essence a shadow government for an independent
nation.

4. Compare the strategies used by rizal and his radical pacific death with bonifacio’s leadership and
death.

Both in Rizal’s novels and in newspaper editorials, he called for a number of reforms of the Spanish
colonial system in the Philippines. He advocated freedom of speech and assembly, equal rights before
the law for Filipinos, and Filipino priests in place of the often-corrupt Spanish churchmen. In addition,
Rizal called for the Philippines to become a province of Spain, with representation in the Spanish
legislature (the Cortes Generales). Rizal never called for independence for the Philippines. Nonetheless,
the colonial government considered him a dangerous radical, and declared him an enemy of the state.

The Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896. Rizal denounced the violence and received permission
to travel to Cuba in order to tend victims of yellow fever in exchange for his freedom. Bonifacio and two
associates sneaked aboard the ship to Cuba before it left the Philippines, trying to convince Rizal to
escape with them, but Rizal refused. He was arrested by the Spanish on the way, taken to Barcelona,
and then extradited to Manila for trial. Jose Rizal was tried by court martial, charged with conspiracy,
sedition, and rebellion. Despite a lack of any evidence of his complicity in the Revolution, Rizal was
convicted on all counts and given the death sentence. [He was allowed to marry Josephine two hours
before] his execution by firing squad on December 30, 1896. Jose Rizal was just 35 years old.

After Rizal's arrest and deportation, Andres Bonifacio and others revived La Liga to continue
pressure on the Spanish government to free the Philippines. Along with his friends Ladislao Diwa and
Teodoro Plata, however, he also founded a group called Kataastaasang Kagalannalangang Katipunan
ng mga Anak ng Bayan. In 1895, Andres Bonifacio became the top leader or Presidente Supremo of the
Katipunan. Along with his friends Emilio Jacinto and Pio Valenzuela, Bonifacio also put out a newspaper
called the Kalayaan, or "Freedom." Over the course of 1896, under Bonifacio's leadership, Katipunan
grew from about 300 members at the beginning of the year to more than 30,000 in July. With a militant
mood sweeping the nation, and a multi-island network in place, Bonifacio's Katipunan was prepared to
start fighting for freedom from Spain.

Bonifacio kicked off the revolt by leading thousands of his followers to tear up their community
tax certificates or cedulas. This signaled their refusal to pay any more taxes to the Spanish colonial
regime. Bonifacio named himself President and commander-in-chief of the Philippines revolutionary
government, declaring the nation's independence from Spain on August 23. He issued a manifesto,
dated August 28, 1896, calling for "all towns to rise simultaneously and attack Manila," and sent
generals to lead the rebel forces in this offensive.

After Emilio Aguinaldo "won" the rigged election at Tejeros, Andres Bonifacio refused to recognize
the new rebel government. Aguinaldo sent a group to arrest Bonifacio; the opposition leader did not
realize that they were there with ill intent, and allowed them into his camp. They shot down his brother
Ciriaco, seriously beat his brother Procopio, and some reports say that they also raped his young wife
Gregoria. Aguinaldo had Bonifacio and Procopio tried for treason and sedition. After a one-day sham
trial, in which the defense lawyer averred their guilt rather than defending them, both Bonifacios were
convicted and sentenced to death. Aguinaldo commuted the death sentence on May 8 but then
reinstated it. On May 10, 1897, both Procopio and Andres Bonifacio likely were shot dead by a firing
squad on Nagpatong Mountain. Some accounts say that Andres was too weak to stand, due to
untreated battle wounds, and was actually hacked to death in his stretcher instead. Andres was just 34
years old.

5. Discuss the heroism and legacies left by bonifacio and rizal.

As the first self-declared President of the independent Philippines, as well as the first leader of the
Philippine Revolution, Andres Bonifacio is a crucial figure in that nation's history. However, his exact
legacy is the subject of dispute among Filipino scholars and citizens.

Jose Rizal is the most widely recognized "national hero of the Philippines," although he advocated a
more pacifist approach of reforming Spanish colonial rule rather than overthrowing it by force.
Aguinaldo is generally cited as the first president of the Philippines, even though Bonifacio took on that
title before Aguinaldo did. Some historians feel that Bonifacio has gotten short shrift, and should be set
beside Rizal on the national pedestal.

Andres Bonifacio has been honored with a national holiday on his birthday, however, just like Rizal.
November 30 is Bonifacio Day in the Philippines.

Jose Rizal is remembered today throughout the Philippines for his brilliance, his courage, his peaceful
resistance to tyranny, and his compassion. Filipino school children study his final literary work, a poem
called Mi Ultimo Adios ("My Last Goodbye"), as well as his two famous novels.

Spurred on by Rizal's martyrdom, the Philippine Revolution continued until 1898. With assistance from
the United States, the Philippine archipelago was able to defeat the Spanish army. The Philippines
declared its independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. It was the first democratic republic in Asia.

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 The Tejeros convention according to
General Artemio Ricarte