Different accounts of the First Cry for Independence on the indicated required readings about the

topic. You may search for other primary or secondary sources about the topic. Groups 3 and 4 shall
have draw-lots on which side they will defend. One group will defend Pugadlawin (August 23, 1896)
while the other group will defend Balintawak (August 26, 1896) as the location and date of the first
“Cry”. Conduct a debate about the exact date and location of the Cry. (Pugadlawin August 23, 1896
vs Balintawak August 26, 1896)

Side: Pugad Lawin (August 23, 1896)

Arguments:

 On 23rd of August 1896, the Supremo Andres Bonifacio and his troops formally launched an
armed revolution against Spain. They tore their resident certificates or cedulas which
symbolize their defiance against the colonizers. This become known in history as “The Cry of
Pugadlawin”.

 Pugadlawin is a sitio in Bahay Toro, Caloocan. It is not found in any of the ordinary maps of
that time because sitios were not normally added in maps because doing so would overcrowd
maps and make them less readable.

 El grito de rebelion strictly refers to a decision or call to revolt. It does not necessarily connote
shouting, unlike the Filipino sigaw. Thus, the “First Cry” should be defined as the
“pagpupunit” or the tearing of cedulas.

 It was the first battle against a detachment of the Guardia Civil that happened on August 26,
1896, not the ripping of cedulas (the defining event of the “Cry”). The battle was fought on the
date inscribed in Balintawak Monument, August 26, 1896 at a place about five kilometers
north-east of Balintawak, between the settlements of Banlat and Pasong Tamo. During this
battle, the Guardia Civil observed that their slain opponents were without their cedulas, thus
connoting that the “Cry” had occurred beforehand.

 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES PROCLAMATION NO. 149 DECLARING FRIDAY,

AUGUST 23, 1963, AS A
SPECIAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN QUEZON CITY WHEREAS, the 23rd day of August marks the
sixty-seventh anniversary of the “Cry of Pugad Lawin,” a historic event in our struggle for
freedom

 There were also discrepancies with the accounts of Guillermo Masangkay, one of the
proponents of the Cry of Balintawak version.

-Masangkay mistakenly addressed Apolonio Samson as cabeza de barangay in 1896. This is false
because there is no record of Samson’s name in the Talaan ng mga Cabeza de Barangay ng
Kalookan in 1896.

-Masangkay changed the date of the “Cry” from his initial claim of it happening on August 26,
1896 to August 24, 1896.

 There were 4 (not 1) credible witnesses (with first-hand accounts) to the Cry of Pugad Lawin.
-Dr. Pio Valenzuela=manggagamot at piskal ng Katipunan; kasapi ng Camara Secreva

-Briccio Brigido Pantas=first to share lessons of the Katipunan in Batangas

-Cipriano Pacheco=first president of “Pagtibayin”; was actually present during the tearing of
cedulas as proven by a picture of Valenzuela where Pacheco was even with his father

-Domingo Orcullo=official of Magdalo; was sent by Aguinaldo to the meeting of presidents of the
Katipunan in Caloocan on August 1896.

Other Reference/s (APA format):

Borromeo-Buehler, S. M. (1998). The cry of Balintawak a contrived controversy: a textual analysis

with appended documents. Manila, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Guerrero, M., Encarnacion, E., & Villegas, R. (1996). Balintawak: The cry for a nationwide
revolution. Sulyap Kultura, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 1 (2): 13–22.

Isagani, M. (1996). Paghimagsik. C. Ronquillo (Ed.). Manila, Philippines: University of the

Philippines Press.

National Historical Commission of the Philippines

Proclamation No. 149, August 22, 1963

Renacimiento Filipino, September 14, 1911