Andres Bonifacio, 1863-1897

Title

Creator

Yabes, Leopoldo Y.

Language

English

Source

Volume XV (Issue No.1) January 1963

Year

1963

Subject

Philippine Revolution

Heroes

Bonifacio, Andres, 1863-1897

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

It is not easy to understand why the founder of the Katipunan and the father of the Revolution has not as yet been duly recognized by his people.

Fulltext

It is not easy to understand why the founder of the Katipunan and the father of the Revolution has not as yet been duly recognized by his people. ANDRES BONIFACIO, 1863-1897 Leopoldo Y. Yabes It is easy to understand why neither Spain nor Am erica has been very kind to the memory of Andres Boni facio: Spain because Bonifa cio initiated the armed move ment which ultimately over threw her rule over the Phil ippines, and America because the idea alone of a subversive movement like Bonifacio’s would not have been contributive to the stability of her own regime. However, it is not easy to understand why the founder of the Katipunan and father of the Revolution, which made possible the eventual restoration of Philippine in dependence, has not as yet been duly recognized by his people, who are now enjoy ing the fruits of that indeypendence, for what he was — v their main liberator and a leading architect of Philip pine democracy. This year will mark Boni facio’s centenary, having been. born on 30 November 1863, in Tondo, Manila, of a poor couple. CThe oldest of six, children, he found himself at) a young age saddled with the;,. > responsibility of supporting the family because of the early death of both parents The best information avail able to date is that he reach ed only the primary school, although there is unverified claim to the effect that his formal schooling reached the third year of secondary in struction. Regardless of whether the claim is true or not, the fact is that Boni facio was a voracious and as siduous reader, and so what he lacked in formal educa tion he made up for in cons 2 Panorama cientious and wide reading in serious literature. So, between eking out a ■difficult living by making canes and paper fans and working in two foreign estab lishments and instructing himself, he was being made painfully aware gradually of the rottenness of the society he was living in and of the ■cessity of drastic action to .*aprove the situation. Or iginally he may not have en tertained thoughts of revolu tion; the Filipino propagan dists in Spain originally were assimilationists (M. H. del Pilar himself did not advo cate separation until the last months of his life); it was on ly after Rizal was deported to Dapitan and the Liga Fil ipino was dissolved that he and a few other patriots or ganized the Katipunan on 7 July 1892, obviously as a last resort. The staying power and growth of the Katipunan as a secret revolutionary organ ization may be attributed chiefly to the superior qua lities of Bonifacio as an or ganizer and leader. That it was discovered sooner than expected may be attributed no longer to some fault in or ganization but to deficiency of character and to conflict in loyalty of certain members of a society where ultimate loyalty should have been, but unfortunately was not, to the national community then in the process of being formed. The strike for freedom an nounced to the world by Bonifacio and his katipuneros in August 1896 could not have surprised any obserant student of the times, because the restiveness of the native population in Manila and in the provinces was too ob vious to escape the attention of the perceptive observer. The people’s answer to the call to arms was spirited and spontaneous, and if the revch lutionists only had more and better arms at the beginning of hostilities, they could have subdued the Spanish forces and overthrown the colonial regime within the first few months, before effective re inforcements could arrive from Spain. As a result of the protracted conflict and inevitable setbacks for the in adequately armed insurgents, there arose a conflict in lead ership of the revolutionary organization which ended in JANUARY 1963 S the unfortunate and unneces sary elimination of the foun der of-the movement, on 10 May 1897, under dubious cir cumstances. The forced exit of Bonifa cio in the manner it happen ed was to a great extent his own fault. He was naive or unsuspecting enough to ac cept an invitation to go to a rebel territory where he was not sure his authority was re cognized, hoping he could set tle factional disputes there. He discovered, to his sorrow, that he had played into the hands of his rivals. NQt ex pecting the humiliating treat ment given him, he reacted quite sharply to the insults, but his action drew a reprisal, from which he was helpless to protect himself and his bro ther. The stature of Bonifacio will grow greater as the Fil ipino nation emancipates it self gradually from the colo nial mentality that has afficted it these last four centuri*** and as it asserts its indepen, ence and integrity in its deal ings with itself and with other nations. Bonifacio can be the hero only of a self-respecting and enlightened people; not of a nation of intellectual slaves and spiritual obscuran tists. BETTER ALIVE THAN DEAD All who are not lunatics are agreed about certain things: That it is better to be alive than dead, better to be adequately fed than starved, better to be free than a slave. Many people desire those things only for themselves and their friends; they are quite con tent that their enemies should suffer. These people can be refuted by science: Mankind has become so •much one family that we cannot insure our own pros perity except by insuring that of everyone else. If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy. — Bertrand Russell. 4 Panorama

pages

2-4

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