ALVAKEZ , DAN ROU Vv. LIZ). Ine Rapunerl and the Rewolotion ; memoits of a Geren. 1 Loypl, Heights , Quan Citys Ateneo de Manila, University, Press. 82 ‘(THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION was promoted to lieutenant gene , and Capt. Antero Ri Cavite were suffering defeat after defeat with grea ‘Magdalo territories had passed to Spanish hands after tho Bat! of Salitran, Zapote, and Dalahikan. Imus, the rebel capital, was in a state of imminent collapse. To strengthen defenses so that they could stop the Spanish advance into the rest of the province that was still held by the Magdiwang and to forestall the loss of more the Supremo Bonifacio, with the approval of other revalution- ary leaders, called a meeting of the Magdalo and Magdiwang lead- ers. This meeting, scheduled for 24 March 1897, was postponed for the next day because of the death of Lt, Gen, Crispulo Aguinaldo, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s brother, on that day in the Battle of Salitran. ‘The Magdiwang leaders were waiting for their Magdalo counter- parts at the Tejeros friar estate house, the designated pla after lunch on that day. They had to start in the afternoon to the usual enemy raids, which came i before they ventured out to Tejeros, a village in the muni San Francisco de Malabon. When the Magdalo group finally came at about five in the afternoon, they brought with them the sad nes of the death of General Magdalo’s own brother. Heading a small group, General Magdalo recounted the circumstances of the heroic death of his patriot brother. Then he begged to be excused to attend to arrangements for his beloved brother's funeral. Thus, the meeting was put off for the next day at the same place. But before dispersing, Secretary of the Treasury Diego Mojica proposed a resolution of condolence and prayers for patriots who had died heroically like Lt. Gen. Crispulo Aguinaldo, The Supremo Bonifacio thought this was superfluous and objected to such a reso- lution, “True love of country,” the Supremo argued, “and service to the cause of freedom for the Motherland are the most noble attrib- utes that would ensure one's place in heaven, Lt. Gen. Crispulo Aguinaldo and the comrades who died before him are all truly blessed and are now in their respective places in the heavenly kingdom, ‘Moreover, they will always occupy an honored place in the history of our eounlay.” 32 ‘The assembly at Tejeros was fi ‘The invitations to the meeting were signed by Secretary Jacinto Lumbreras of the Magdiwang Council, and he presided over the as- sembly, Seated with Lumbreras at the long presidential table were convened on 25 March 1897. © the Supremo Andres ‘THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION 83 nifacio, Messrs. Mariano M. Alvarez, Pascual ‘Alvarez, Ariston Villanueva, Mariano C. Trias, Diego Mojica, Gmiliano R. de Dios, Santi Nocon, Luciano San Miguel, Pablo Mi Santiago Rillo, all of them of the Magdiwang. Among the Magdalo seated at the head table were Messrs. Baldomero Aguinaldo, Daniel ‘Tirona, and Cayetano Topacio. Te must be mentioned that, before the assembly was convened, Secretary of War Ariston Villanueva of the Magdiwang Counci received the confidential information that Mr. Daniel Tirona of the ‘Magdalo faction was set to undermine the proceedings of the assem. iy and that he had already succeeded in enjoining many among the Magdiwang leaders to ally with him. Secretary Villanueva kept silent, but nevertheless alerted Captain Generel Apoy, who had troops in readiness for any sudden eventu ‘The leaders were seated at the president described, and all the others were standing in groups on both sides of those seated, After Chairman Jacinto Lumbreras had declared the assembly open, he announced the main topic of discussion, hhow to bolster the defenses in the areas still under Magdiwang con- trol. Presently, Mr. Severino de las Alas rose to speak, and when he was recognized he said, “Before we discuss minor de tackle the major issue such as what kind of government. we should have and how we should go about establishing it, Once we make Lumbreras replied, *the Katipunan now holds authority’ over the islands. It has a govern ent of law and a definite program. It is obeyed and respected by II because it stands for freedom, brotherly love, and a well-organ- ed and well-run government, The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the best measures to take to strengthen the Magdiwang government vis-a-vis the enemy. We should avoid surrendering the headquarters of the Katipunan army should the Magdalo eventually lose out.” ‘The chair next recognized the Supremo. He concurred with what Chairman Lumbreras had just said and explained that the “K" in the middle of the sun in the Katipunan flag used in the Revolution stood for Kalayaan (Freedom). ‘Mr. Severino de las Alas spoke again, He countered that the letter “K” and the sun on the flag did not indicate whether the revo. Iutionary government was democratic or no! ‘The Supremo replied that from the rank and file to the highest levels, the Katipunan was united in its respect for universal broth: erhood and equal self ‘of men. It was risking bloodshed and84 ‘THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTIO} in ite struggle against the king, in order to establish a sovereign and free government. In short, it stood for people's sovereignty, not a government led by only one or two Mr. Antonio Montenegro spoke in defense of Mr. Severino de las Alas’s stand. He argued that if they would not agree on the kind of revolutionary government they were to have and that if they were to let the status quo prevail, then they who were in the Revolution be no better than pack of bandits or of wild, mindless animals. General Apoy was hurt by these words of Mr. Montenegro. He quickly stood up and looked angrily at the previous speaker. “We of the Katipunan,” he began, “are under the ‘our respected Highest Council of the Sons of the People. This Coun- cil is the defender of, and has authority over, the Magdiwang and = ‘Magdalo governments of Cavite. We are true revolutionaries fight- ing for freedom of the native land. We are not bandits who rob others of their property and wealth. Nor should we be likened to beasts, for we know how to protect and defend others, especially the political refugees who seek asylum with us. We are rational and we do not expose those who talk big but do not accomplish anything. If ‘you want to establish a different kind of government that is to your liking, you must do as we have done: Go back to your localities and snatch them from Spanish control! Then you can do what pleast you; but don’t you dare seek refuge among cowards who might c: you bandits and beasts, And for everybody's satisfaction, 1 am now ordering your arrest!” Captain General Apoy stopped speaking and looked intently at the person he was alluding to and ordered a detachment under Damaso Fojas to keep him under guard. After a short while, Dr Jose Rizal's sister, Trining, and his widow, Josephi General Apoy not to arrest Mr. Montenegro, but te im stay at the estate house where they themselves were staying. They volun- teered to be held personally responsible for Mz. Montenegro w! in their custody. Captain General Apoy easily acceded to t request. ‘The strong and excited denunciation by Captain General Apoy of Mr. Montenegro alerted the Magdiwang troops. The leaders eyed everyone suspiciously and were only awaiting a signal from General Apoy for them to begin shooting. Disorder ensued and’ disrupted the assembly, When order was restored, some wanted the convention adjourned, but the Supremo Bonifacio prevailed upon the others to continue However, the presiding officer, Mr. Lumbreras, refused to resume his role of chairman. He wanted to yield the chair to the Suprema ‘whom he thought to be the rightful chairman. © Gon of some, this assembly was cal rsdiction of J 85 winan, as you know,” Mr. Lumbreras explained, “was rene bogan for the spread of the revolutionary es. But because af the dsefe to establish a ne overall evo ton Src Ir we aro to pareve thie ambitious and important weeraking, ‘only the Supremo has the right to preside at this as- sat oo et pats ofthe Katipunan and Ue Revaution” sembly, fl rorage opeedh as well received and his proposal as ‘unanimously accepted. The Supremo Bonifacio assumed the chair- jmanship accordingly and said, "Your aim is to establish a new over a ee ine Katpcaas of te Sona of the People, This 2 edhe decisions mae atthe mowing held atthe far aon ee tnt In my copacy oo “Dresident-Sapreme” of the an eae eae eae ua aTegeaon et ase with suey eapcatins, But I-with to remind joa thet comes wth PUT dednone properly leurs and approved Tr eae Janet fe should repoct end sbide by the wishes of the mejority.” of a repented clamor for the approval of the establish err i the chair proceeded presidente ic ment of «government ofthe Philippine Repu Ze prepare for en eleeon tothe allowing breion, miter of ins, ster of sie, and eaplain gener Phe Suprowo spoke again before the election begon. He said that tha candiets who would get the most number of votes for each positon should be the winner, no matter what hie station in life or cdceatonal attainment, What should matter was that the can diate bed never been a iaitor to the cause of the Motherland Svergone agreed and there were shouts of approval such ao, “Tat Jr how it should be-equality for everyonsl Nobody should be higher tor lower than the other. May love of country prevail "The Supremo Bonifacio appointed Gen. Artemio Ricarte as secre tary Them, wth th help of Me, Daniel Tiron, be distributed pieces of paper to seve as ballots. When the ballots had been collected tnd the voles were ready to be canvassed, Mr, Diego Moje, the Mogdiwang secretary of tho treasury, warned the Supremo that many Dallts distabuted were already filed oat and thet the volrs had fot done this themselves. ‘Tho Supremo ignored this remark. He proceeded with the business at hang a if nothing unascel had Rfnon the voles for president were counted, Mr. Emilio Aguinaldo won over Mr. Andres Bonifacio, the Supremo. The winner was cleimed by applaase and shouts of "fabuhay” (Long lve) Mr "Soverine de las Alas spoke again to say that sinco the Supreme Bonifacio hed reeived the second highest amber of votes87 86 ‘THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION 4 ‘gjig KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION rin my capacity as chairman of this convention and as President. Supremo of the Most Venerable Katipunan of the Sons of the People ‘phich association is known and acknowledged by hereby Jedare null and void all matters approved in this meeting ES then he left quickly and was followed by his aides and some others present. ‘Mr. Baldomero Aguinaldo, the Magdalo president, did not leave ‘gan Francisco de Malabon that night, in order to convince the * Magdiwang leaders to reconvene the disrupted meeting the follow- ing day. They agreed to his proposal. That same night, rumor had it that Messrs. Mariano Trias, Daniel Tirona, Emiliano R, de Dios, Santiago Rillo, and others were in the parish house of the Catholic chazch at Tanza (Santa Cruz de Malabon), and that they were conferring with the priest, Fr. Cenon Villafrenca. Many attested to seeing them, but no one knew what they talked about (On the request of Magdalo Pres. Baldomero Aguinaldo, a meeting was called at the same friar estate house in Tejeros. Called on the day after the tumultuous convention, its purpose was to continue and revalidate the proceedings of the election meeting, to revive their former alliances, and to restore cordiality and fraternal love in their relations, Aside from the Supremo Andres Bonifacio, among the Magdivang leaders who attended were Messrs, Mariano Alvarez, Diego Mojica, Ariston Villanueva, Pascual Alvarez, Ja Lumbreras, Santiago Alvarez, Artemio Ricarte, Nicolas Portilla, Santos Nocon, and Fr. Manvel Trias, the parish priest of San Francisco de Malabon. They waited until five that afternoon, but none of the Magdalo members came, not even their president’ who had initiated whiat would have been a reconciliation mesting. ‘That same night it was rumored that the Magdalo leaders were holding their ovin meeting at the parish house in Tanza. t had reason to be apprehensive because the Magdalo were territory under its jurisdiction, the Magdiwang leadership other way because the Magdalo were hard-pressed for mecting places since its territories had all been taken by the Spanish enemy. ‘The next morning, 27 March 1897, eyewitnesses who had spied on the proceedings revealed that, indeed, a meeting had taken place at the Tanaa parish house and that the Supremo’s decisions regard- ing the election at the friar estate house were not respected. These revelations surfaced despite denials from many sectors, ‘At the gathering in the Tanza parish house, those elected at the ‘Tejeros convention knelt before a crucifix and in the name of the Holy Father, the highest pontiff of the Roman Catholic church, in- voked the martyred saints and solemnly took their office, Fr. Cenoa Villafranca officiated. With Messrs. Severino de les Alas and Daniel for the presidency, he should be proclaimed vice-president of the government of the Philippine Republic. When nobody signified approval or disapproval of the proposal, the presiding officer, the Supremo Bonifacio, ruled that the election be continued. For vice. president, Mr. Mariano Trias won over Mr. Mariano Alvarez and the Supremo Bonifacio. General Vibora was elected captain over General Apoy. General Vibora demurred, saying that he had neither the abil- ity nor the right to assume the new position. But General Apoy cut short his objections by saying that he personally vouched for Gen. ora's competence and right to occupy the position to which ted. Gener jo wanted the elections to be Gnished before itate the counting of votes, he suggested that ions to be voted upon, voters should stand on one in favor and on the other side if against. The sug- gestion was adopted for the rest of the election, For the position of secretary of war, Mr. Emiliano R. de Dios was elected overwhelm. ingly over Messrs. Santiago V. Alvarez, Ariston Villanueva, and Dan. ‘Tirona. After the voters had given the proper honors ta the new retary of war, they proceeded to elect the secretary of the inte- Mr. Andres Bonifacio, the Supremo, won over Mr. Mariano Alvarez. The crowd broke into shouts of “Mabuhay!” Mr. Daniel ‘Tirona requested for a restoration of order and then spoke aloud’ “My brethren, the office of secretary of the interior is of so great 8 scope and of such sensitivity that we she entrust it to one who is not a lawyer, One among us here is a lawyer. He Jose del Rosario. Let us reconsider the choice for the last por for he has no credentials to show attesting to any educa attainment, then in as loud a voice as he could muster, Tirona shouted, “Let us elect Mr. Jose del Rosario, the lawyer!” Greatly embarrassed, the Supremo Bonifacio quickly stood up and said, "We agreed to abide by the majority vote and accept its choice no matter what the station in life of the person elected. And because of this, I demand from you, Mr. Daniel Tirona, an apology. You must restore to the voters and the one they elected the honor you have only now hesmirched.” ‘Then he pulled out his revolver and took aim. Instead of replying, Mr. Tirona ignored the Supremo's remarks and, perhaps because of fear, he slid away and got lost in the crowd, Disorder ensued as the convention secretary tried to disarm the Supremo, who was intent on shooting Mr. Tirona. The people began to disperse and the Supremo edjourned the meeting with these88 ‘THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTIO, ‘Tirona as witnesses, the following took their oaths of office: Messrs, Emilio Aguinaldo, Mariano C. Trias, and Artemio Ricarte, Conspi ously absent was the Supremo Andres Bonifacio, who was not invited although he was one of those elected to office recalled that as chairman of the Tejeros convention, he declared null and void all matters approved by the assembly because of a grave violation of a principle agreed upon before the election. It should be noted here that, unknown to the Magdiwang Council, ‘the Magdalo posted troops to guard the Tanza parish house for th oath-taking ceremonies. The troops were under strict orders not to admit any of the unwanted Magdiwang partisans. If the news about the secret ceremony had leaked out earlier, and the underdogs in the power struggle had attempted to break into it, they would have been annihilated then and there. 33 ‘The Spaniards captured and occupied the town of Imus in the afternoon of 25 March 1897. They left Imus three days afterwards and marched into the San Francisco de Malabon territory up to the village of Bakaw. When they reached Bakaw, they were intercepted by Magdiwang troops led by Supremo Bonifacio and General Apoy. A pitched battle ensued. But the Magdiwang initiative was foiled by the arrival of a great number of enemy reinforcements at the height of the encounter. In the face of such an unfavorable situation, ‘the Supremo decided on @ tactical retreat to their fortifications. General Apoy, for his part, ordered Major Baluyot to rally all other armed units of the Magdiwang army and assign them to the Tarike fortifications in San Francisco de Malabon, After the battle, the Spaniards encamped and rested in Bakaw, but throughout the night they were harassed with potshots from small Katipunan bands, Anticipating that the y encamped at Bakaw would try to penetrate the strong in fortifications in Noveleta from the rear, General Apoy ordered General San Miguel to pull out all troops from Dalahikan and transfer them to some other fort. On 3 April, the Supremo made a bid to recapture Noveleta. Gen- eral Vibora and Gen. Santos Nocon accompanied him in the offen. sive, which lasted the whole day. But despite a fierce determination on their part and heavy enemy losses, they were unable to dislodge ‘the Spaniards. ‘A few days after the Supremo’s unsuccessfiil attempt to retake Noveleta, fresh Spanish reinforcements began an in great numbers in the open fields to the west of Bakaw aad along the sea- shores of Noveleta and Salinas. At nine that morning, artillery fire cpholing Was KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION 89. mountain cannons began battering the oer de 2 an ling fo Teese Take A abr ar followed by ground attack by cavalry and infantry {ro0Ps preliminary skirmishes, man-to-man combet broke out at the ~ ite fort, Tt became a fierce battleground as the rebels made a valent defen; Boer peed at the neck Al that could be heard guicthe rattle of gleaming blades, the burst of gunfire, and the thud ea catrenieean ci ane So area eer eeice I on intan, he ip Batt ke i ae lle cane out area tah ats agent rin soma pled musta othe in Bia inn sone inane oat ee drt eulrace with soa See ne aS ote ence gan, Antone pu Sapna are om ogi aT are a A ee isn tnt wi fed were te Ee i a tines France Arnido, Joan ee aaa one ae a it mar eal of the Mageining a a ee ata fear rece tariereL Se asa tok place Thus, Majer eee eer ee doa sing with «small detachment ae a a eee i elhdeal without noting those ade the Ft sgnus and Kawit, the enemy took Noveleta without eins fm Kaus and et ee and coed Halpuran Seen eet Coming