Kartilya NG Katipunan

THE KKK and the “KARTILYA NG KATIPUNAN”
The Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang, Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or

Katipunan is arguably the most important organization formed in the Philippine history.
While anti-colonial movements, efforts, and organizations had already been established
centuries ago to the foundation of the Katipunan, it was only this organization that
envisioned (1)a united Filipino nation that would revolt against the Spaniards for (2) the
total independence of the country from Spain. Previous and armed revolts had already
occurred before the foundation of the Katipunan, but none of them envisioned a unified
Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers. For example, Diego Silang was known as
an Ilocano who took up his arms and led one of the longest running revolts in the
country. Silang, however, was mainly concerned about his locality and referred to
himself as El Rey de Ilocos (The King of Ilocos). The imagination of the nation was largely
absent in the aspirations of the local revolts before Katipunan. On the other hand, the
propaganda movements led by the illustrados like Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Graciano Lopez
Jaena, and Jose Rizal did not envision a total separation of the Philippines from Spain, but
only demanded equal rights, representation, and protection from the abuses of the friars.
In the conduct of their struggle, Katipunan created a complex structure and a
defined value system that would guide the organization as a collective aspiring for a
single goal. One of the most important Katipunan documents was the Kartilya ng
Katipunan. The original title of the document was “Manga [sic] Aral Nang [sic] Katipunan
ng mga A.N.B.” or “Lessons of the Organization of the Sons of Country.” The document
was written by Emilio Jacinto in the 1896. Jacinto was only 18 years old when he joined
the movement. He was a law student at the Universidad de Santo Tomas. Despite his
youth, Bonifacio recognized the value and intellect of Jacinto that upon seeing the
Jacinto’s Kartilya was much better that the Decalogue ger wrote, he willingly favored that
the Kartilya be distributed to the fellow Katipuneros. Jacinto became the secretary of the
organization and took charge of the short-lived printing press of the Katipunan. On April
15, 1897, Bonifacio appointed Jacinto as a commander of the Katipunan in Northern
Luzon. Jacinto was 22 years old. He died of Malaria at a young age of 24 in the town of
Magdalena, Laguna.
The Kartilya can be treated as the Katipunan’s code of conduct. It contains
fourteen rules that instruct the way a Katipunero should behave, and which specific
values should he uphold. Generally, the rules stated in the Kartilya can be classified into
two. The first group contains the rules that will make the member an upright individual
and the second group contains the rules that will guide the way he treats his fellow men.
Below is the translated version of the rules in Kartilya:
1. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a tree without
a shade, if not a poisonous weed.
2. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue.
3. It is rational to be charitable and love one’s fellow creature, and to adjust one’s
conduct, acts and words to what is in itself reasonable.
4. Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal: superiority in
knowledge, wealth and beauty are to be understood, but not superiority by nature.
5. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel, to gain honor.
6. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.
7. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.
8. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the field.
9. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.
10. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the children, and if
the guide leads to the precipice, those whom he guides will also go there.
11. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a faithful
companion who will share with thee the penalties of life; her (physical) weakness
will increase thy interest in her and she will remind thee of the mother who bore
thee and reared thee.
12. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers and sisters,
that do not unto the wife, children, brothers, and sisters of thy neighbor.
13. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline,
and his color white, not because he is a priest, a servant of God, nor because of
the high prerogative that he enjoys upon earth, but he is worth most who is a man
of proven and real value, who does good, keeps his words, is worthy and honest;
he who does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he who loves and
cherishes his fatherland, though he be born in the wilderness and know no tongue
but his own.
14. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed-for sun of
liberty shall rise brilliant over this most unhappy portion of the globe and its rays
shall diffuse everlasting joy among the confederated brethren of the same rays,
the lives of those who have gone before, the fatigues and the well-paid sufferings
will remain. If he who desires to enter has informed himself of all this and believes
he will be able to perform what will be his duties, he may fill out the application for
admission.
As the primary governing document, which determines the rules of conduct in

the Katipunan, properly understanding the Kartilya will thus help in understanding the
values, ideals, aspirations, and even the ideology of the organization.

Kartilya NG Katipunan

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THE KKK and the “KARTILYA NG KATIPUNAN”

The Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang, Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or

Below is the translated version of the rules in Kartilya:

6. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.

As the primary governing document, which determines the rules of conduct in

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