NAME: GILBERT YABO DATE: 07\10\2020

POSITION PAPER

Introduction

What is the truth about the Katipunan’s Cry? The news of the discovery of the Katipunan spread
throughout Manila and the suburbs. Bonifacio, informed of the discovery, secretly instructed his runners
to summon all the leaders of the society to a general assembly to be held on August 24. They were to
meet at Balintawak to discuss the steps to be taken to meet the crisis. That same night of August 19,
Bonifacio, accompanied by his brother Procopio, Emilio Jacinto, Teodoro Plata, and Aguedo del Rosario,
slipped through the cordon of Spanish sentries and reached Balintawak before midnight.

Body

The Cry of Pugad Lawin, also known as Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin, alternately and originally referred to as
the Cry of Balintawak, was the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule. National
Historical Commission, state that the spark of the Revolution started with a cry, followed by the tearing
of cedulas led by Andres Bonifacio in Pugadlawin, Quezon City. The issue is not just historiographical but
political. Re-opening the issue looks simple because people think it’s just like tossing a coin to decide
between Balintawak or Pugadlawin. The other options for historical sites are Pasong Tamo, Bahay Toro,
Kangkong, and Banlat. If you think location is the only issue, look again. The date declared by the
National Historical Commission as the start of the Philippine Revolution on August 23, 1896 but one date
proposed, the others being August 20, 24, 25 and 26, 1896. Eyewitness accounts mention captures,
escapes, recaptures, killings of Katipunan members; the interrogation of Chinese spies; the arrival of
arms in Meycauyan, Bulacan; the debate with Teodoro Plata and others; the decision to go war; the
shouting of slogan; tearing of cedulas; the sending of letters presidents of Sanggunian and balangay
councils; the arrival of civil guard; the loss of Katipunan funds during the skirmish.

Eyewitness accounts mention captures, escapes, recaptures, killings of Katipunan members; the
interrogation of Chinese spies; the arrival of arms in Meycauyan, Bulacan; the debate with Teodoro Plata
and others; the decision to go war; the shouting of slogan; tearing of cedulas; the sending of letters
presidents of Sanggunian and balangay councils; the arrival of civil guard; the loss of Katipunan funds
during the skirmish. All these events, and many others, constitute the beginning of nationwide
revolution. The Cry, however, must be defined as that turning point when the Filipinos finally rejected
Spanish colonial dominion over the Philippine Islands, by formally constituting their own national
government, and by investing a set of leaders with authority to initiate and guide the revolution towards
the establishment of sovereign nation. In spite of the above findings and in the absence of any clear
evidence, the NHI disregarded its own 1964 report that the Philippine Historical Committee had
determined in 1940 that the Pugad Lawin residence was Tandang Sora’s and not Juan Ramos’s and that
the specific site of Pugad Lawin was Gulod in Banlat.
Conclusion

All these debates about dates and places which may seem trivial to the general public, It is the lifeblood
of historians. Based on many article what I’ve read about what historians said about Katipunan’s cry.
They conclude and justified that it was happened on August 23, 1986 at Pugad Lawin and not on other
date and place that other historians said. In 1940, research team of the Philippines Historical Committee
(NHI), which included Pio Valenzuela, identified the precise spot of Pugad Lawin as part of sitio Gulod
Banlat, Kalookan City. In Valenzuela memoirs (1964,1978) averred that the Cry took place on August 23
at the house of Juan Ramos at Pugad Lawin. In 1963, upon the NHI endorsement, President Diosdado
Macapagal ordered that the Cry be celebrated on 23 of August and that Pugadlawin be recognized as its
site. The proof was validated and reliable according to the basis of 1983 committee’s findings, the NHI
placed a marker on 23 August 1984 on Seminary Road in barangay Bahay Toro behind Toro Hills High
School, the Quezon City General Hospital and the San Jose Seminary.