Edited Nov. 16 2022 - RPH Cry-of-Revolution

1896
Background
• It is with Andres Bonifacio, leader of the Katipunan -
a liberalist movement, who sought independence for
the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule. In August
19, 1896, the Katipunan (KKK) was revealed.
• Andres Bonifacio was also a member of La Liga

Filipina, although he soon lost hope in gaining
reforms though peaceful means. This feeling was
especially heightened when Jose Rizal was exiled to
Dapitan.
• Bonifacio became convinced that the only way the

Philippines could gain independence was through a
revolution.
Readings in Philippine History
Mr. El Nazareno Lanorte, LPT I University of Batangas
Background
• Bonifacio then founded the “Katastaasang
Kagalanggalangang Katipuanan ng mga Anak ng
Bayan” (KKK) on July 7, 1892 in a house on
Azcarraga street (now Claro M. Recto), in Tondo
Manila.
• The Katipunan had colorful beginnings. As a

symbol of the member’s loyalty, they performed
the solemn rite of sanduguan (blood compact),
wherein each one signed his name with his own
blood..
Discovery of the Katipunan
• Rumors about a secret revolutionary society had
long been in circulation, although no solid
evidence could be found to support them.
• The big break as far as the Spanish authorities

was concerned, came on August 19, 1896 when
a KKK member, Teodoro Patiño told his sister
Honoria about the existence of the Katipunan.
Patiño was a worker in the printing press of
Diario de Manila. Honoria was then living with
nuns in a Mandaluyong orphanage.

What is meant by the “Cry”?
The debate has long been clouded by a lack of consensus on exactly

what is meant by the “Cry”. The term has been applied to three related
but distinct events –
• the “pasya” – the decision to revolt;
• the “pagpupunit” – the tearing of cedulas; and
• the “unang labanan” or “unang putukan” – the first encounter
with Spanish forces
Several sources to this event presents several interpretation of the

word. But, what is worth dealing is its exact date and location.
• Bonifacio called a meeting where the leaders and hundred of comrades-
in-arms assembled in the hills of Balintawak north of Manila.
• In an emotion-laden ceremony, the fighters tore their residence

certificates as proof for the termination of their loyalty to Spain while
shouting the battle cry: "Long live Philippine independence!"
• The event went down in Philippine history as the "Cry of Balintawak".
• But because of differing accounts and the ambiguity of places named in

these accounts, the exact date and place of the Cry is disputed.
• Five different venues for the first cry: Balintawak, Pugadlawin, Kangkong,
Bahay Taro, Pasong Tamo.
• There were five dates for the Cry – August 20, 23, 24, 25 and 26.
Pio Valenzuela’s Cry of Pugad Lawin
• Pugad Lawin’s foremost proponent

was Pio Valenzuela, who had been
the supreme fiscal and physician
of the Katipunan and who had
latterly, in the early 1920s, been
the provincial governor of
Bulacan.
• He was a prestigious figure, but

not a good witness to history.

The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio

Jacinto, Procopio Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Aguedo del
Rosario and myself was Balintawak, the first five
arriving there on August 19 and I on August 20, 1896. At
first there were 500 members of Katipunan that met at
the house and yard of Apolonio Samson at Kangkong, on
August 22.
It was at Pugad Lawin, in the house, store-house and
yard of Juan Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino where over
1,000 members of the Katipunan carried and met out
considerable debate and discussion on August 23, 1896.

Valenzuela's account should be read with

caution: He once told a Spanish investigator that the
"Cry" happened in Balintawak on Wednesday, 26 August
1896.
Much later, he wrote in his Memoirs of the Revolution that
it happened at a place near Pasong Tamo he called
Pugad Lawin on 23 August 1896. Such inconsistencies in
accounts should always be seen as a red flag when dealing
with primary sources.

“On August 26, 1896, a big meeting was held at Balintawak at the house of Apolonio
Samson, then cabeza of the barrio in Caloocan. Among those who attended I remembered
were, Bonifacio, Jacinto, Agueldo del Rosario, Tomas Remigio, Bricio Pontas, Teodoro Plata,
Pio Valenzuela, Enrique Pacheo and Francisco Carreon. About 9:00 in the morning of
August 26, 1896, a meeting was opened by Bonifcaio and Jacinto as his secretary. The
purpose was to discuss when the uprising to take place.
“It is true that you are ready to revolt. I want to see you destroy your cedulas and it will be
the sign of our formal separation to Spain.”
Despite the opposition, the revolution started and the people outside shouted: “Long live
the Philippine Republic!!”
Guillermo Masangkay’s Version

Santiago Alvarez’s “The Cry of Bahay Toro”
• At ten o’clock that Sunday morning, 23 August 1896, we arrived at Bahay Toro. Our number had
grown to more than 500 and the house, yard, and warehouse of Cabesang Melchora was getting
crowded with us Katipuneros.
• The following day, Monday, 24 August, more Katipuneros came and increased our number to
more than a thousand. The Supremo called a meeting at ten o’clock that morning inside Cabesang
Melchora’s barn. Under his leadership, the meeting began at 9:00 in the morning.
• After the adjournment of the meeting at twelve noon, there were tumultuous shouts of “ Long Live
The Sons of the People!”
He is a prominent Katipunan warlord of the Cavite, son of Mariano

Alvarez, a relative of Gregoria de Jesus. He is not an eyewitness of the
historic event because he was at Cavite during the start of the revolution.

Emmanuel Encarnacion, Ang pamana ni Andres Bonifacio (Quezon City: Adarna, 1997), n.p.
According to Guerrero, Encarnacion, and Villegas, all these places are in
Balintawak then part of Caloocan, now, in Quezon City.
Gregoria de Jesus’ Version of the First “Cry”
• She is the wife of Andres Bonifacio and the

“Lakambini of the Katipunan”
• Founder and Vice President of the Katipunan’s

Women Chapter.
• She was also the custodian of the secret documents,

seal and some weapons of the Katipunan and
constantly risked her life in safeguarding them.

Gregoria de Jesus’ Version of the First “Cry”
“The activities of the Katipunan had reached nearly all corners of

the Philippine Archipelago, so that when its existence was
discovered and some of the members arrested, we immediately
returned to Caloocan.
However, as we were closely watched by the agents of the
Spanish authorities, Andres Bonifacio and other Katipuneros left
the town after some days. It was then that the uprising began,
with the first cry for freedom on August 25, 1896

Memoirs of Emilio Aguinaldo
Noong ika-22 ng Agosto, 1896, ang Sangguniang Magdalo ay

tumanggap ng isang lihim na sulat mula sa Supremo Andres
Bonifacio, sa Balintawak, na nagsasaad na isang mahalagang
pulong ang kanilang idadaos sa ika-24 ng nasabing buwan, at
lubhang kailangan na kami ay magpadala roon ng dalawang
kinatawan o delegado sa ngalan ng Sanggunian.

Significance of the First Cry
• The establishment of a revolutionary or de facto government
that was republican in aspiration.
• The designation of Bonifacio as the Kataastaasang Pangulo

(Supreme President).
• The election of the members of cabinet ministers and

Sanggunian and Balangay heads.
• The Cry marked the beginning of the Philippine Revolution in

1896 which ultimately led to Philippine Independence in 1898.

• In 1911, a monument was built in Balintawak where beginning in
1908, people believed that August 26, 1896 was the ﬁrst cry of
revoluCon.
• Nonetheless, the date and place of the ﬁrst cry was later
contradicted by several KaCpunan personaliCes who were
allegedly present at that Cme.
According to Na-onal Historical Commission of the Philippines:
NHCP decided that, following extensive research of primary sources,
the First Cry of the Philippine RevoluCon of 1896 happened on August
23, 1896 at Pugad Lawin, now part of Project 8 in Quezon City.


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1896

• Andres Bonifacio was also a member of La Liga

• Bonifacio became convinced that the only way the

• The Katipunan had colorful beginnings. As a

• The big break as far as the Spanish authorities

Readings in Philippine History

The debate has long been clouded by a lack of consensus on exactly

Several sources to this event presents several interpretation of the

• In an emotion-laden ceremony, the fighters tore their residence

• The event went down in Philippine history as the "Cry of Balintawak".

• But because of differing accounts and the ambiguity of places named in

• Pugad Lawin’s foremost proponent

• He was a prestigious figure, but

Readings in Philippine History

The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio

Readings in Philippine History

Valenzuela's account should be read with

Readings in Philippine History

Guillermo Masangkay’s Version

He is a prominent Katipunan warlord of the Cavite, son of Mariano

Readings in Philippine History

• She is the wife of Andres Bonifacio and the

• Founder and Vice President of the Katipunan’s

• She was also the custodian of the secret documents,

Readings in Philippine History

“The activities of the Katipunan had reached nearly all corners of

Readings in Philippine History

Noong ika-22 ng Agosto, 1896, ang Sangguniang Magdalo ay

Readings in Philippine History

• The designation of Bonifacio as the Kataastaasang Pangulo

• The election of the members of cabinet ministers and

• The Cry marked the beginning of the Philippine Revolution in

Readings in Philippine History

Readings in Philippine History

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