One event in history that was momentous in declaring for a movement against the

Spanish regime in the late 1800s was the Cry of Pugadlawin. It symbolized the unity of the
Filipinos to band together and create reforms for the future of the country. However, there are
numerous notable accounts that conflict on when was the exact date that the event took place
in time.

According to the account of Guillermo Masangkay, the 26 th of August 2016 was the day
in which the higher ranked members of the Katipunan held a meeting that was to discuss about
an uprising. It was then at that meeting in which the members agreed to tear their cedulas and
paved way for an actual plan of revolution against the Spaniards.

The account of Pio Valenzuela, however, stated that the gathering was at the house of
Tandang Sora in Caloocan in which people came from the 21 st to the 22nd of August 1896.
August 23, 1896 was the date in which the meeting that tackled the possible revolution against
the Spanish will commence on a later date in the 29 th but this wasn’t the case as they all tore
cedulas and proclaimed their revolution.

Lastly, the other account that has a good claim to when was the actual date was by
Santiago Alvarez in which he detailed that August 24, 1896 was the date in which The Supremo,
Andres Bonifacio, held a meeting and agreed that the uprising will start at 29 th or unless earlier
if the opportunity is favorable. The meeting was then adjourned by the tearing of cedulas with
chants of “Long Live Philippines!”

In our opinion, the 23rd of August 1896 is the actual date of the Cry of Pugadlawin for it
was almost certain that the decision to revolt was taken on Monday, August 24, 1896, after a
lengthy meeting (or series of meetings) that had begun on Sunday, August 23.

According to historian Teodoro Agoncillo, Valenzuela’s telling of the “Cry” story

reminded us that it was just an account of the event however it gained a particular weight for
his seniority in the Katipunan, his status as a physician, his political career, his prominence at
commemorations of the revolution, his contacts with historians, and so on.

Valenzuela believed that Ramos and his mother both lived in “Pugad Lawin near Pasong
Tamo”. Immediately after the tearing of cedulas in Pugad Lawin on August 23, Agoncillo wrote
iin Revolt, the Katipuneros got word the Guardia Civil were approaching, and so they hastily
marched off in the dark to Pasong Tamo, arriving at Melchora Aquino’s house the next day.

Overall, the event signified as a start of something big to come in the history of the
Filipino people and a remembrance of what led us to the present.