Andres Bonifacio is a Philippine patriot, founder and leader of the

nationalist Katipunan society, who instigated the revolt of August 1896 against the Spanish.

Bonifacio advocated complete independence from Spain. In 7th of July 1892 he founded the
Katipunan in Manila, modeling its organization and ceremony on that of the Masonic order. The
Katipunan at first grew slowly, but by 1896 it had an estimated 100,000 members and branches
not only in Manila but also in central Luzon and on the islands of Panay, Mindoro,
and Mindanao. Its members were mostly workers and peasants; the urban middle class
supported reform rather than revolution. He’s an optimistic leader because he held the
responsibility of being a revolutionary leader without any hesitation that showed his strong
sense of responsibility and patriotism or his love for our country. Bonifacio also has a social
responsiveness attitude during the time he founded the Katipunan in an aim to gain
independence from Spain.  Through the said act, Bonifacio actively responded to the call of the
time to make a change. On the other hand, in August 1896 Bonifacio led the long-
planned insurrection on Luzon; but his forces were defeated by Spanish troops, while Emilio
Aguinaldo, one of his lieutenants, carried on resistance. As the Spanish systematically routed
the insurrectos, it became increasingly clear that Bonifacio was an ineffective military leader.

Strengths of Bonifacio would include his optimism and sense of social responsibility when it
comes to handling a revolutionary movement; he has the strong belief that they could achieve
their aim. Also, Bonifacio displayed “nobility and purity of character and purpose” by dedicating
his life and all his capabilities for the people’s revolutionary struggle suffering untold hardships
not just for himself but for his family and giving the ultimate sacrifice of his life, together with
his two siblings, upon his betrayal and murder ordered by the ilustrado General Emilio
Aguinaldo.The weakness of Bonifacio, is his military-strategy weakness when he, himself and his
men met “defeats,” their battles were in Manila, the bastion of enemy strength; wherein, during
the battle against the oppressors, the forces from Cavite failed to show up at the designated time
and place. According to my research, Bonifacio was said to have a short temper and was
maligned by his enemies as having a dictatorial and imperious bent. Another is that His
weakness or error, he was too trusting of the bourgeoisie and overestimated their importance
in the struggle.

If there is no reform movement by that time, it is possible that Filipinos are still ‘puppets’ and
still blind of what is really happening. They won’t know the essence of having a complete
freedom and identity. They were still abused, as well as their rights, by the oppressors who
have their personal intentions that may harm our country’s identity and being. Filipinos by that
time won’t enjoy the freedom of having our government spearheaded by our own. The wide-
ranging campaign for political, social, and economic freedom in the Philippines, as well as its
progress on our own, won’t be achieved. And if reform movement was not established before, I
think Philippines today is not Philippines anymore, but a territory with a foreign identity and
foreign people, our culture and tradition will no longer exist.

If I were Andres Bonifacio, I will do the same concept of revolution but not the execution. It is
good that his reform movement remain as secret and anonymous to others which led to it to
gain more members for more power. I was amazed that it was joined by common people
mostly including workers and peasants, and the urban middle class. I admired his ability to
conclude and firmly believe that the Filipino masses were ready and willing to rise up in arms as
one, bear the sacrifices needed to fight against the superior Spanish colonial forces and win
their freedom from tyranny and exploitation. But, I won’t imitate the way he and his people
behave during the encounter that led them to a lot of failures and resulted to defeat. I think
they had lacked of proper and effective planning.