Dramatic moments in the career of Bonifacio

Title

Creator

Alzona, Encarnacion

Identifier

Our favorite hero

Language

English

Source

Volume XII (Issue No. 11) November 1960

Year

1960

Subject

Biography (Literary form)

Revolutionaries

Philippines -- History -- Revolution, 1986

Bonifacio, Andres, 1863-1897

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Our favorite hero DRAMATIC MOMENTS IN THE CAREER OF BONIFACIO by Encarnacion Alzona During the time we were un der foreign rule, it required a great deal of persistence, cour age, and sacrifice to stand for one’s ideas if theywere contra ry to those held by the rulers, for insistence upon them in de fiance of the authorities invar iably meant either banishment, imprisonment and torture, the scaffold, or confiscation of pro perty and ruthless persecution, not only of the offender but also of his close relatives and friends. There was no freedom of the press, speech, association or assembly. The counterpart of that rule today is the Com munist regime. Such restraints are unknown to the present generation of Filipinos, thanks to our heroes who knew how to fight and even die for the dignity of our country. Today anyone . who wishes to voice his grievances or express a dissenting opinion can write to the newspapers and perhaps the tabloids, be take himself to the radio sta tion or to some government of fice, to his representative in the Congress, or stand on a public platform and air his views. One thing only he must bear in mind: There is a libel law in this country. In Rizal’s time the patriotic and articulate Filipinos had to be faraway from the jurisdic tion of the Philippines, to be able to write against the colo nial government. The reform ists, like Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano, Lopez Jaena, Mariano Ponce, and the rest, fled to Europe and there de nounced the abuses of the Spa nish friars, civil and military officials in the press and on the platform. Those who could not leave the Philippines re sorted to the clandestine print ing of handbills, risking their lives thereby. They had to hide their little printing presses and move them from place to evade the police. November 1960 19 After ardent years of peace ful and orderly propaganda, of writing newspapers articles, delivering eloquent petitions to the governors-general, and even to the king of Spain, what did they obtain? Nothing. The government officials were deaf to their pleas. If they listened at all, their reply was arrest, banishment, imprisonment and torture, or death on the scaf fold or Bagumbayan Field. Even Rizal with his legalistic mind in the end lost his faith in the efficacy of peaceful me thods or relying on the promises of Spanish politicians and colo nial governors-general. If the Filipinos wanted to be redeem ed, he said, they should redeem themselves. Hence, before his deportation to Dapitan, he had begun to negotiate for funds with which to purchase arms and to enlist the adherence of wealthy Filipinos to the na tional cause. After him other patriotic Filipinos took up the tremendous task. Towering among them was Andres Boni facio (1863-1897). The story of Bonifacio has been told by many writers and students of the Philippine Re volution. Thanks to them we are now familiar with his hum ble origin, his struggle to edu cate himself, his favorite read ings, his reckless daring and patriotic fervor. In the narra tion of his role in the Revolu tion there are dramatic mo ments of far-reaching conse quence on the course of that popular movement. On the night of 7th July 1892, the day the order for Rizal’s deportation came to be known, Bonifacio was in the house of Deodato Arellano to gether with Valentin Diaz, Teodoro Plata, Ladislaw Diwa, Jose A. Dizon, and a few others talking about what they should now do in view of the banish ment of Rizal, whom, they con sidered their leader. I Bonifacio was a member of the short lived Liga Filipina, founded by Rizal; nevertheless, he felt that in view of the turn of events, that association was no longer adequate to meet the need of the moment. J The new political situation, in his opin ion, demanded a militant organ ization to prepare the people for the overthrow of Spanish sovereignty. The need of the hour was for red blooded men organized and willing to take up arms to redeem their native land. Rizal’s life and writings had prepared the minds of his countrymen for this militant movement.^ There and then they made a solemn vow to dedicate their lives to the expulsion of the foreign oppressors of their coun try, and following an ancient custom of the land, they made a blood compact. For a name they adopted KATAASTAASAN KAGALANG-GALANG 20 Panorama NA KATIPUNAN NG MGA ANAK NG BAYAN, which came to be popularly called KATIPUNAN and its members Katipuneros. Naturally it was a secret society. Forthwith its leaders set out to win loyal adherents and collect muchneeded arms in preparation for the day of reckoning. Unluck ily before it was ready for ac tion, news of its existence leak ed out, and, alerted, the author ities lost no time in searching the houses of suspects making arrests and wresting confessions even from innocent persons. A veritable reign of terror ensued, brutal enough to silence and immobilize the weak-hearted. However, Bonifacio was of a different mettle. Stouthearted, dedicated, an ardent patriot, he was like the famed warriors of old whose bravery redoubled once they were wounded. As our saying goes, Ang bayaning masugatan ay nag-iibayo ang tapang. He lost no time in summoning his fellow Katipu neros to a rendezvous in the secluded place called Pugadlawin, in the barrio of Balintawak. There on the 23rd of August 1896, in the spacious yard a son of Tandang Sora (Melchora Aquino) one of our heroines of revolutionary fame, more than a thousand Katipu neros foregathered. It was in that place and on that day that occurred the momentous event to which our historians have given the name, “The Cry of Balintawak” — the cry of em ancipation of the downtrodden Filipinos that resounded throughout the Archipelago. We can visualize Bonifacio, 33 years old, in the full vigor of manhood, standing in the midst of those intense men poor, illclad, with only a gulok (bolo) and sibat (bamboo spear) for weapons. He asked them point blank, in the plainest language that they understood, if they were determined to rise against the foreign tyrants. Hearing their vigorous reply of “Yes!” he asked them to tear up their cedula personal in token of their irrevocable decision, which they forthwith did with enthu siasm, and shouts of "Viva ang Pilipinas! Viva ang Katipunan!” rent the air. It was a dramatic moment. In Bonifacio they had found their long-awaited leader, bold and daring. This was precisely what Ri zal had foreseen and feared. That the Filipinos, exasperated at the deafness of the Spanish government to their pleas for reforms, for the expulsion of their oppressors, the friars, might take up the law in their hands and though miserably unprepared, would rise in arm ed revolt, and their blood would redden the soil of their native land. When they took this oath, the Katipuneros were yet un organized, untrained in the art of modern warfare, and without November 1960 21 adequate weapons, without mo ney. And they were to face professional Spanish soldiers armed with Remingtons, and Mausers. The fact that they were willing to plunge into bat tle, despite their unprepared ness, indicated that their situa tion had become unendurable, desperate. It was the glory of Bonifacio to lead the Katipuneros in their first encounter with the govern ment forces. That was the com mencement of the armed re volt against Spain, of the Re volution of 1896. Unfortunately Bonifacio’s en emies were not only the Span iards. As the revolt he started spread and his fame as a leader grew, he aroused the jealously and animosity of some of his comrades in arms. He was the founder of the Katipunan and later became its head with the dignified title of Supremo, and already was being hailed by his admirers as the future ruler of the Philippines, as undoubt edly he hoped to b£T~\ But other leaders were emerging and winning military victories and loyal supporters. For ex ample, Emilio Aguinaldo of Cavite. His successes on the battlefronts were drawing to his side more and more fellow Cavitenos who already destined him to be the head of the in dependent Philippines. Despite the growing adulation of his fol lowers, he affected a certain modesty. He was soft-spoken and gentle, and furthermore, lax towards his erring soldiers who remained unpunished des pite their scandalous immoral ities, an attitude which made him popular among his men. Not so was Bonifacio. VHe was a disciplinarian and from his men he demanded sobriety and exemplary conduct, which he believed necessary to attain the objectives of the Revolu tion. Read his Decalogue or the Cartilia, drafted by his comrade, Emilio Jacinto, which he adopted for the guidance of the Katipuneros. Soon clashes between the two leaders and their followers arose. Cavite provided the stage for the final dramatic in cidents in Bonifacio’s revolu tionary career. Imus, Tejeros in San Francisco de Malabon, now General Trias, Limbon in Indang, and Maragondon wit nessed the lamentable inci dents that stained the annals of the Revolution. These places were the stations, so to speak, where Bonifacio stopped on the road to his Calvary for his cru cifixion. It will take too long a time to give here a descrip tion of the scenes enacted on these stages. Suffice it to say that they revealed the conflict ing ambitions of the two revo lutionary leaders, and Bonifacio was at a great disadvantage on account of the place where they were staged. He was in the 22 Panorama home territory of his rival Aguinaldo and regionalistic sen timent could not be avoided. Bonifacio had gone to Cavite reluctantly at the invitation ol the Cavite Katipuneros. Once there it did not take him long to sense a feeling of antagonism towards him among Aguinaldo’s followers. They wanted to force Bonifacio to recognize Aguinaldo as the supreme head of the revolutionary govern ment and they hurled accusa tions that Bonifacio and his brothers were preparing a coun ter-revolution. Very recently, this speaker had the privilege to read an unpublished manuscript with the title of Apunters para la Revolution Filipina, etc. (Notes for the History of the Philip pine Revolution, etc.) in the handwriting of Julio Nakpil, who died on the 2nd of the month of, November (1960). The late author was a member of Rizal’s Liga Filipina and a comrade of Bonifacio in the Revolution. According to this document, Bonifacio denied the accusation that they were plot ting a counter-revolution, and he forthwith challenged Agui naldo to a duel, saying “If you are offended by my behavior, name your seconds.” But, ins tead of accepting the challenge like a man, wrote Nakpil, Agui naldo ordered the arrest of the Bonifacio brothers when they were preparing to leave Cavite and return to Morong (now Rizal Province). Now in the grip of Aguinal do’s soldiers,. Bonifacio were rendered helpless. His men from Morong, Manila and Bulacan had failed to arrive. Dur ing the arrest, Ciriaco Bonifacio was mortally wounded. Boni facio was stabbed, and weak ened by the bleeding, he could not walk and had to be carried in a hammock to the jail in Naik and then to Maragondon. This was on the 29th of April 1897. On the morning of the 10th of May following, the Bo nifacio brothers were on the way to their Golgotha. By af ternoon their executioners had finished their grim tesk, and the two brothers lay in hastily dug graves somewhere at the foot of the hills in the environs of Maragondon. Thus the Agui naldo government removed from the arena a formidable contender for the leadership of the nation and silenced him forever, but not history. In the unpublished Nakpil MS. is a damning indictment of Aguinal do. The Filipino people have pronounced their verdict on Andres Bonifacio: He is a hero and not a traitor to be placed before a firing squad; and they have erected to his memory the grandest monument to a hero in existence in this coun try today. November 1960 23

pages

19-23

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