Bonifacio: Newer information

By Michael “Xiao” Chua November 30, 2019

MICHAEL “XIAO” CHUA

RECENTLY, historian John Ray and I wrote a book for youngsters titled

Andres Bonifacio, which is part of the Kahel Press’ “Bayani” Biographies

series. At last, fulfilling a wish that Rene Villanueva had told me two weeks

before he died, “Kayong mga historyador, magsulat naman kayo para sa mga

bata.” Despite the fact that it is a book aimed at young readers, London-based

Katipunan expert Jim Richardson said: “This excellent book…is one of the

first to take account of the latest discoveries about Bonifacio and the

Katipunan. Though aimed mainly at younger readers, it deserves to be read

too by college students, who will find that it augments and updates earlier
works.”

This Bonifacio Day morning, we will talk about the newer information and

perspectives on Bonifacio that we wrote about in the book at a lecture and

book signing at Gateway Gallery. Technically, the “new information” is not
really new. A lot of this information has been lying around for years, some of

it published 60 years ago, some about two decades ago. They just had to be

collected. One wonders why the wrong information kept on surfacing even in
recent publications.

One problem may be the accessibility of the materials where the corrected

information can be found. A students’ book containing information from

interviews with sister Espiridiona Bonifacio on the early life of Manong

Andres, Stories of Andres Bonifacio (by historian Diosdado G. Capino who

also wrote the Stories of Rizal series) published in 1967 has only a few

remaining copies in university libraries. Another one featuring information

from Espiridiona as well as other sources, New Data on Andres Bonifacio:

Manila’s Foremost Hero by E. Arsenio Manuel was read in an academic

conference in 1989 but was never published. It’s a good thing Vic Torres

gave me a copy of the typescript! Santiago Alvarez’s memoirs remained

scattered newspaper columns until these were compiled by Paula Carolina

Malay in 1992. A very good coffee table book by Adrian Cristobal, Tragedy

of the Revolution, had very good reproductions of letters and documents

from Bonifacio collected by Epifanio de los Santos, but is very expensive.

For many years, Jose P. Santos’ Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan and

Teodoro Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses, remained the most accessible of

the Bonifacio biographies and although most of their facts still hold water,
they are not updated on some stuff.

The good thing today is that the internet has made the spread of these newer

information easier. It is good that Richardson compiled some corrected

biographical notes on Bonifacio that can be easily accessed in his website

Katipunan Documents and Studies.

Although it may be true that the newer information doesn’t change much the

spirit of what we already know about Bonifacio’s place in our history, it still

clarified a lot of issues. Zeus Salazar’s paper on the “Reales,” or camps, of

Bonifacio and how he was inspired by indigenous warfare destroyed the

misconception that he did not have a military strategy. Milagros Guerrero’s

clarification about Bonifacio not losing all his battles and that he actually was

our first president based on some documents, illuminates Bonifacio’s role in

the founding of the nation.

There are so many newer information but we can start with three.

Bonifacio’s mother, Catalina de Castro, was actually half Spanish since her

father was a Spaniard. This belies the impression that Bonifacio might have
looked pure “indio.” The family may have also been working class but not
dirt poor as some have suggested.

Almost all books on Bonifacio say that he was orphaned at 14 (around 1878)

and had to take care of his five other siblings. This came from Jose Santos.

But the Tondo vecindarios (list of residents) that were discovered by Joel

Mallari (from 1881) and Richard Rivera (1884) showed us that in later years,

Bonifacio’s parents were still alive. E. Arsenio Manuel wrote that his mother

Catalina lost her life giving birth to Maxima and soon after, her husband

Santiago followed. Capino got a more precise date but contrary circumstance;

Catalina died June 29, 1883 aged 35, from an illness, while Santiago died

March 5, 1885 aged 40. What is now clear is that Andres was almost 22

already when he was orphaned. It is very likely then that selling fans and
canes was a family business even when his parents were still alive.

We always thought that unlike Rizal, Bonifacio had no personal experience

of cruelty in the hands of the Spaniards. A piece of information on

Bonifacio’s uncle changes that. His uncle, Hermogenes, and his wife were

actually living in the Bonifacio home and helping the family. For avoiding

the mandatory military service, the guardia civiles arrested Hermogenes, beat

him badly with rifles and took him away. Later, they would find out that he
was exiled to Puerto Princesa.
These bits of newer information give as a more accurate picture of the Father
of the Filipino Nation.