Affirmative

The “Cry of Pugad Lawin” cannot be considered as historically accurate. It lacks positive
documentation, artifacts, and supporting evidences. Our side, therefore strongly defend that Balintawak
is the most appropriate stage point of “The first cry”. According to the story of Guillermo Masangkay, an
eyewitness of the said historical event, the first cry happened in balintawak on august 26, 1896.

Written in his account, “On August 26th [1896] a big meeting was held in Balintawak, at the house of
Apolonio Samson, then the cabeza of that barrio of Caloocan. Among those who attended, I remember,
were Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Tomas Remigio, Briccio Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Pio
Valenzuela, Enrique Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon. They were all leaders of the Katipunan and
composed the board of directors of the organization. Delegates from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite and
Morong (now Rizal,) were also present. Emilio Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose was to discuss
when the uprising was to take place.”

Masangkay refers to the residence of Apolonio Samson in Kangkong. We have identified that Kangkong
and other particular places mentioned in the place that the First Cry happened are all part of the
"Greater Balintawak," which in turn was part of "Greater Caloocan.

Masangkay’s testimony, was able to clearly narrate the happenings during the first cry as he vividly gave
detailed information starting from the Aguinaldo’s dress up to how the katipuneros are distributed in
strategic positions and were prepared for attack of the civil guards.

Given this information we can therefore infer that it is best to consider that the First cry is situated in
Balintawak.

Negative
Influenced by the accounts of Dr. Pio Valenzuela and interpretations of Teodoro Agoncillo, the
National History Institute endorsed that the Cry be celebrated on 23 August and that Pugad Lawin be
recognized as its site to President Diosdado Macapagal. Consequently, Macapagal ordered that the first
Cry must be celebrated according to the recognition of NHI.

In the first statement of Valenzuela, he said that the prime staging point of the Cry was in
Balintawak on Wednesday of August 26, 1896. However, later in his life he wrote his Memoirs of the
Revolution without consulting the written documents of the Philippine revolution and claimed that the
“Cry” took place at Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896. Valenzuela’s first account must be considered
more effective, given that he held it when the happenings of the important historical event are still vivid
in his memory. On the other hand, his recent statements seem to be unreliable as they were held with
the factor of fading memory due to his age. He was known to not have an impeccable memory and his
statements were of different versions contradicting each other up until the time that he was interviewed
again as an old man by Teodoro Agoncillo.

Due to Valenzuela’s inconsistency for his stories, his accounts must be given less credence. The
testimony from Dr. Pio Valenzuela is not enough to authenticate and verify a controversial issue in
history.
 His accounts lack support and corroboration from other eyewitnesses and sources. Unlike
Guillermo Masangkay’s statements which are corroborated by Julio Nakpil’s and Oligarion Diaz’s
statements. In Julio Nakpil’s hand written memoirs deposited in the National Library, he wrote
“swearing before God, and before history that everything in these notes is the truth” : “The Revolution
started in Balintawak in the Last days of August 1896”. In addition, Oligarion Diaz, a Guardia Civil officer,
reports, he has seen that on the 23rd, Bonifacio moved to the barrio of Balintawak followed by 200 men
from Caloocan, on the 24th the Guardia Civil attacked them in the outskirts of the said town…”. Hence,
considering these supporting statements, it is more appropriate to conclude that the First cry took place
in Balintawak and not in Pugad Lawin.

Rebutt
Eye witnesses such as Guillermo Masangkay, Oligarion Diaz, and Julio Nakpil’s written document
stands as a concrete proof that the event of The First Cry really happened in Balintawak and not in
Pugad Lawin. The date and site presented by Masangkay were accepted by the preliminary years of
American government. To further support this stand, Emilio Aguinaldo’s memoirs, Mga Gunita ng
Himagsikan (1964), refer to two letters from Andres Bonifacio pinpoint the date and place of the crucial
Cry meeting when the decision to attack Manila was made. According to Aguinaldo, “On 22 August 1896,
the Magdalo Council received a secret letter from Supremo Andres Bonifacio, in Balintawak, which
stated that the Katipunan will hold an important meeting on the 24th of the said month, and that it was
extremely necessary to send two representatives or delegates in the name of the said Council.” This
record, was written only one and a half years after the event. Moreover, Pugad Lawin was just later on
recognized on the Philippine map 32 years after the event. Writer and linguist Sofronio Calderon,
conducting research in the late 1920s on the toponym “Pugad Lawin,” went through the municipal
records and the Census of 1903 and 1918, could not find the name, and concluded that It would be a
mistake to say that there is such as Pugad Lawin in Kalookan. A rough sketch or croquis de las
operaciones practicadas in El Español showed the movements of Lt. Ros against the Katipunan on 25, 26,
and 27 August 1896. The map defined each place name as sitio “Baclac” (sic: Banlat). In 1897, the
Spanish historian Sastron mentioned Kalookan, Balintawak, Banlat and Pasong Tamo. The names
mentioned in some revolutionary sources and interpretations- Daang Malalim, Kangkong and Pugad
Lawin- were not identified as barrios. Even detailed Spanish and American maps mark only Kalookan and
Balintawak.

Hence, considering these sources the revolution was always traditionally held to have occurred
in the area of Balintawak, it is more accurate to stick to the original “Cry of Balintawak.”