Bonifacio Achievements
Bonifacio Achievements
ho is Andrs Bonifacio? Why is it important to know him? People who revere him as
a hero know little about his life, much less his death. November 30, his birth date is
celebrated as a Philippine national holiday. Why is there an ongoing, oversimplified debate
between Bonifacistas versus the Rizalistas?
Learning about Andrs Bonifacio will help us see the connection between our lives as
Filipino Americans today and the historical events of the 19th century, especially during
Bonifacios time.
Andres Bonifacio, declared a national hero has an impressive monument by Guillermo
Tolentino on EDSA Circle, showing him brandishing a bolo and leading a rabble of
plebeians known as the Katipuneros. There is another, less imposing, monument formerly
found in Balintawak. That historic monument is now inside the University of the
Philippines Diliman campus in front of Vinzons Hall. Balintawak is supposedly the place
where Bonifacio first tore his cedula as a protest against the injustices of the Spanish regime.
The cedula was a personal head tax used as an identification card.
Bonifacio was born in Tondo, Manila on November 30, 1863. He was orphaned early and he
raised his younger brothers and sisters. He made a living selling homemade fans and
walking sticks. In todays world, I would call it a family-run cottage business. A sister,
when asked about this vending experience said they managed a good business. Some of
their bastones or canes were high-end, costing about 100 pesos each in 1870s pesetas.
Andres found work in a British trading firm, Fleming and company as a messenger-agent
clerk, corregidor, or tax appraiser. Later he worked for a German trading firm, Fressell and
Co., and was assigned to its industrial warehouse or bodega. This is where our textbooks
began calling him, in a disparaging manner, a bodeguero, whereas his occupation was listed
as a mandatorio or attorney.
He never went to secondary school because he took over the family responsibility at a
young age. However, he was a self-determined, self-educated man. He taught himself
English and was well readHistory of the French Revolution, Les Miserables, Eugene Sues The
Wandering Jew, The Count of Monte Cristo, the Lives of American Presidents. He read the La
Solidaridad, Rizal's annotated version of the Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas by Morga and Noli
me Tangere. Rizals El Filibusterismowas almost a blueprint for Bonifacios KKK revolution.
Bonifacio was greatly influenced by Rizals political views. He considered Rizal a real
patriot and joined the latters La Liga Filipina in July 1892. With Rizal exiled to Dapitan,
Bonifacio organized a secret society, the KKK. The initials stood for Kataas-taasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (the highest, the most respected Association of
the Nations Children). This organizations aim was to rise in armed revolt against the
Spanish colonial power and to win freedom and independence for the country. Bonifacio
wrote a constitution called the Kartilya, patterned after Rizals La Liga Filipina. He realized
the need to wrest control of the government from the oppressive hands of the Spaniards.
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(from Tondo and Cavite), but with the discovery of the Katipunans strategy, the actual
revolution date was advanced and staged earlier than planned.
So, in Balintawak, Caloocan, on August 23, the cry was proclaimed. It was not a cry
literally. It was a symbolic metaphor. El Grito de la revolucion, the shout, now taught to
schoolchildren as the Cry of Balintawak.
Bonifacio staged the gesture of defiance when the opportunity came, a media event as it
were. He tore up his cedula on August 23, 1896 to signify freedom from oppression. The
leader of the Philippine Revolution was catapulted onto the national scene, the icon, a
commonly dressed revolutionary leader, raising a Philippine bolo in one hand and a torn
cedula in the other.
It was also the beginning of the recognition of the
identity Filipinono longer Indio. Filipinos began to
see themselves as a nation and aspired to fight Spain
as a nation. Earlier revolts had been attempted to
redress specific injustices. This time, the people
stopped looking at Spain as the mother country and
The Katipuneros
In the first encounter with the Civil Guards, Bonifacio lost the element of surprise and thus
lost the battle of Pinaglabanan (where the battle was fought). Historian Ambeth Ocampo,
with tongue-in-cheek, called the place Pinagtalunan (where the battle was lost).
However, in Cavite, a faction developed between two rival parties. The Magdiwang, a group
loyal to Bonifacio and the Magdalo, headed by Aguinaldo, the mayor of Kawit and a
Katipunan leader who had successfully won battles with the Spanish. Bonifacio, as head of
the organization, (the Katipunan called him Supremo,) went to Cavite to patch up the rift.
However, he was trapped by circumstances and fell victim to turf mentality. Aguinaldos
men would not follow his orders and were very disrespectful and dismissive of his title and
office.
Aguinaldos men saw Bonifacio as a usurper of the leadership post in Cavite. A general
assembly was held, elections were rigged and Bonifacio was voted out as the Katipunan
leader. Bonifacio declared the elections fraudulent. He and his brother Procopio were
arrested, brought to the hilly town of Maragondon and assassinated by officials of
Aguinaldos faction. They were buried in a shallow grave under an alibangbang tree on May
10, 1897. He was 34.