DEBATE: CRY OF 1896 (UNANG LABANAN SIDE)

ARGUMENTS

1. Charla
Cavite Mutiny was one of the small first fights of Filipinos and Spaniards that then ignited such
nationalism. Why? Because such injustice of the Spanish government was seen in this event (the
removal of rights) and this is the event where the GOMBURZA died then the death of GOMBURZA
inspired Jose Rizal to become a nationalist and he formed La Liga Filipina which is a group of people
who sought to involve the people directly in the reform movement and Bonifacio was part of it. The
organization derived from La Solidaridad and the Propaganda movement but when the Propaganda
movement failed its mission, Bonifacio started the militant movement for independence that’s why
he founded the KKK. The KKK’s aims to win Philippine independence by overthrowing the Spanish
government by means of an armed conflict (or revolution)

2. Lara kyot
Pio Valenzuela's account cannot be held accurate as he himself wrote on his account that he was old
and cannot fully remember every detail of what happened during that time so it is uncertain to have
Pio's account as a basis on pasya in which Teodoro Agoncillo used. Also, Valenzuela did not expressly
repeat in his "Memoirs" that Pugad Lawin was near Pasong Tamo (as what Agoncillo claimed), but
neither did he specify any other locations. He clearly did not mention Bahay Toro as the "pasya" site
and there is no evidence that he ever did. It is ironic that Valenzuela is now presented as the star
witness for a version of events - the official "Pugad Lawin in Bahay Toro as the pasya site" version -
in which he did not himself subscribe or parang sure. In contemporary records, alas, and on
contemporary maps, the name Pugad Lawin cannot be found anywhere. “Isa[ng] ... pagkakamali...
ang sabihing mayroong Pugad Lawin sa Kalookan,” the scholar Sofronio G. Calderon decided after a
fruitless search way back in the 1920s.

3. Christine
The purpose and root cause for the Cry is to fight against the Spanish forces (which is the so called
unang labanan) at hindi ang pagpupunit ng cedula dahil ang adhikain ng mga katipuneros ay
lumaban against Spanish forces at ang pagpupunit ng cedula ay ginamit lamang na simbolismo para
dito. According to an article by Sun Star Philippines "The cedula is a reminder of Spain's tyranny
against Filipinos who were branded as "Indios" during the invaders' 333-year rule. It's a piece of
paper that symbolizes the Spaniards' oppression and tearing them means the start of the Filipinos
FIGHT for freedom and independence"

4. Cyril
Accdg kay Borromeo-Buehler, descendant of Alvarez, states that the "unang labanan" is the first to
be commemorated, pointing to the monument unveiled back in 1911 (over a decade and a half after
the revolution) that contained a text stating that it is "in honour of those who died in 1896," also
with the specific date (26 August 1896). This means that by that time, a battle has already taken
place na. The first fight there was an encounter with the Guardia Civil in the 26th, within Balintawak
(but not exactly where the statue was located, probably near Pasong Tamo).
5. Ken
According to Buehler, the Balintawak monument continued to be the focus of the yearly “Cry”
celebrations, held on August 26, for decades. In this 1960s, however, the official definition of the
“Cry” changed. Officially, the “Cry” ceased to mean the unang labanan and was defined instead as
“that part of the Revolution when the Katipunan decided to launch a revolution against Spain. This
event culminated with the tearing of the cedula.” This definition, which is more or less in line with
Agoncillo’s, thus embraces both the pasya and pagpupunit, but excludes the unang labanan.
 According to Buehler, the Pugad Lawin “Cry” was sort of a hoax because it is uncertain
where exactly a meeting was held in the place of Pugad Lawin, and where the pagpupunit
really happened – where are the cedulas?
 It was the unang labanan, as Borromeo-Buehler points out, that was commemorated by the
first monument to the events of August 1896. The main inscription on the plinth read
“Homenaje del Pueblo Filipino a los Heroes de ’96 / Ala-ala ng Bayang Pilipino sa mga Bayani
ng ‘96”, and a smaller plaque bore the date “August 26, 1896”. Therefore, the first to be
commemorated is the first fight and so it is the one first deemed to be significant therefore
mas nauna anf unang labanan officially basing by the date.
Soledad Borromeo-Buehler takes the view – the traditional view that KKK veterans took, she says -
that the “Cry” should mean the unang labanan.
It was the unang labanan, as Borromeo-Buehler points out, that was commemorated by the first
monument to the events of August 1896. The main inscription on the plinth read “Homenaje del
Pueblo Filipino a los Heroes de ’96 / Ala-ala ng Bayang Pilipino sa mga Bayani ng ‘96”, and a smaller
plaque bore the date “26 Agosto 1896” .
Unveiled before a huge cheering crowd in September 1911, the statue was erected in Balintawak,
the largest and best-known barrio in the general area where the Katipuneros had congregated in
August 1896. The name Balintawak was often used as shorthand to denote that general area, and
the “Cry” had become popularly known as the “Cry of Balintawak” even before the monument was
erected.

6. Charla
The documentary evidence on the unang labanan is reasonably clear. The first battle, an encounter
with a detachment of the Guardia Civil, was fought on the date inscribed on the Balintawak
monument - August 26 – at a place about five kilometers north-east of Balintawak, between the
settlements of Banlat and Pasong Tamo. A few sources give the date as August 25 but, as both
Borromeo-Buehler and Encarnacion have shown, the most solid, contemporary sources confirm
August 26 to be correct.
Argumentative questions for “pasya”

1. Since there are arguments between all the accounts and historians on where did the Cry occurred,
Ambeth Ocampo, a Filipino historian, remarked that in Caloocan, which at the time was a district of
Balintawak, are all the venues mentioned for the cry. He then suggested to simply call the occasion
“Cry of Caloocan”. However, how could pasya justify that it occurred in Pugad Lawin when it was not
located in Caloocan as what Sofronio G. Calderon studied and it is ironic that Valenzuela is now
presented as the star witness for a version of events - the official "Pugad Lawin in Bahay Toro as the
pasya site" version - in which he did not himself subscribe? (see argument 1 and the table of
different dates and places on the other file)
2. How did Katipuneros decided (pasya) to revolt when there is no conflict happened in the first place
and pushed them to decide to have a revolution?
3. How should the “pasya” be the one to be commemorated on the Cry of 1896 when it was just a
decision and the Philippine Revolution is known for the FIGHT between Filipinos and Spanish?

Final Statement

"We believe that unang labanan is the root cause for the other distinct events to happen and it should
be the one commemorated as it is the act of fighting against the Spanish forces that gave us
INDEPENDENCE and not the cedula because tearing them does nothing and just symbolizes the fight and
it is neither the pagpapasya to revolt because it was just mere decision that would not change anything
and requires action to for it to happen which still falls under the unang labanan. Ano naman kung
nagpunit ka ng cedula? Pag pinunit mo ba yun papalayain na tayo ng Espanyol? Sa pagpapasaya? Di
sapat na decision lang kailangan labanan mismo. Action, which is the unang labanan, ang pinaka dahilan
para makamit ang Kalayaan at dahil dito kailangan itong pagpasyahan ng Katipuneros at sinimbolohan
nila ito sa pamamagitan ng pagpupunit ng cedula.