Case Study 4: Where Did the Cry of Rebellion Happen?

- Momentous events swept the Spanish colonies in the late nineteenth

century, including the Philippines.

- Journalists of the time referred to the phrase “El Grito de Rebelion” or “Cry
of Rebellion” to mark the start of these revolutionary events, identifying the
places where it happened.

- In the Philippines, the Cry of Rebellion happened in August 1896, northeast

of Manila, where they declared rebellion against the Spanish colonial government.

- These events are important markers in the history of colonies that

struggled for their independence against their colonizers.

- Prominent Filipino historian Teodoro Agoncillo emphasizes the event when

Bonifacio tore thecedula or tax receipt before the Katipuneros who also did the
same.

- Some writers identified the first military event with the Spaniards as the moment
of the Cry, for which, Emilio Aguinaldo commissioned a “Himno de
Balintawak” to inspire the renewedstruggle after the Pact of the Biak-na-Bato
failed.

Different Dates and Places of the Cry Various accounts of the Cry give different
dates and places

1.A guardia civil, Lt. Olegario Diaz identified the Cry to have happened in
Balintawak on August 25, 1896.

2.Teodoro Kalaw, a Filipino historian, marks the place to be in Kangkong,

Balintawak, on the last week of August 1896.

3.Santiago Alvarez, a Katipunero and son of Mariano Alvarez, leader of the

Magdiwang faction in Cavite, put the Cry in Bahay Toro in Quezon City on
August 24, 1896.

4.Pio Valenzuela, known Katipunero and privy to many events concerning the
Katipunanstated that the Cry happened in Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896.
Bonifacio and his fellows were planning a nationwide revolt. This led to an
event called the 'Cry of Pugad Lawin', where revolutionaries took part in a mass
tearing of cedulas (community tax certificates), symbolizing their fight against
Spain. Bonifacio simultaneously planned an attack on Manila.