CHAPTER 3

Learning Outcomes
1. Recognizing the multiplicity of interpretation that can be read from
a historical text.
2. Educate the students about the solutions that can address the
population and consumption challenges.

IX. THE BEGINNINGS OF FILIPINO

NATIONALISM
NATIONALISM
• the most significant pre-
requisite to the
development of Philippine
National consciousness and
desire for national
advancement and
ultimately independence.
• Rooted in rivalry and
resentment.
•  Militant by nature
PATRIOSISM
 a cultural attachment to one's
homeland or devotion to one's
country, although
interpretations of the term vary
with context, geography and
political ideology. It is a set of
concepts closely related to
those of nationalism
 Based on affection.
 Based on peace.

Certain events and developments in the 1800s to 1900s led to a

further awakening of the people’s consciousness as a nation with
common grievances against Spanish colonial rule. These events
included:
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1. THE BRITISH INVASION AND
OCCUPATION
• In 1761, Spain and France entered into a treaty of alliance against
England’s ambition for supremacy. During the Seven Years’ War
in Europe between France and England, Spain was naturally drawn
into the conflict.
• The British sent an expedition from India, which at that time was a
colony of England, to the Philippines to occupy and seize it from
Spain. Archbishop Manuel Rojo was acting governor-general when
the British, with 6,000 men including Sepoys (Indian soldiers)
from Bombay, bombarded Intramuros, Malate, Ermita, and
Bagumbayan (now Luneta) on September 22, 1762.
• Unprepared from such a decisive attack, the Spaniards with their
Filipino soldiers tried desperately to defend Intramuros,
particularly the walls of San Diego and San Andres. Their cannons
were no match to the superior cannons and weapons of the English.
Archbishop Rojo surrendered Manila and Cavite while Simon
Anda, a magistrate of the Audiencia, escaped to Pampanga to
continue the resistance.
• The British took over the reins of the government and guaranteed
the safety of Spanish officials, the community, and property.

2. SILANG AND POLARIS REVOLT

• The Spanish defeat in the hands of the British opened the eyes of
the Filipinos to the impermanence of Spanish rule in the country
and to the fact that it could be challenged by force of arms.
• In the same year, 1762, Diego Silang, an Ilocano from Ilocos
province rose in revolt.

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 • He demanded the expulsion of Spaniards and Spanish mestizos
from Ilocos. He was successful at first and was able to expel the
Spanish provincial governor and many Spaniards from Vigan.
• He then declared himself ―King of the Ilocos.
• The British, impressed by Silang’s victories, tried to win him over
to their side by sending him gifts and promising to make him
governor of the province if he conspired with the British against
the Spaniards.
• Silang accepted their offer but the alliance ended when he was
killed by an assassin.
• His wife, Gabriela, took over the leadership and carried on the
fight courageously but she was later captured and hanged, along
with 100 followers.
• That same year, 1762, Juan de la Cruz Palaris led a widespread
revolt in Pangasinan, demanding for the end to the payment of
tributes and countless abuses by the Spanish officials.
• The revolt, which started in Binalatongan, spread to the towns of
Bayambang, Paniqui (then a part of Pangasinan), Dagupan,
Calasiao, Santa Barbara, Mangaldan, San Jacinto, and Malasiki.
Palaris, having been inspired by the recent success of the British
invasion of Manila, succeeded in inciting the people to revolt. He
ignored the friar-curates who tried to pacify him.
• For more than a year, Palaris dominated the province. Upon the
conclusion of the war with France and Spain, the British left in
1764. Spain, now rid of Gabriela Silang, sent 3,000 Ilocano troops
to Pangasinan to quell the revolt. Palaris was defeated and died in
battle.

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3. BASI REVOLT
 These widespread revolts alarmed the Spanish authorities. Not long
after, economic reforms were introduced. In 1807, some 10,000
rebels in Ilocos revolted against the government monopoly of a
locally produced wine from sugarcane called basi. The Basi revolt,
as it was called was among the bloodiest uprisings ever recorded
during this time.

4. LAISSEZ – FAIRE AND THE OPENING

PORTS
 Laissez-faire or ―let-alone policy in commercial and trading
venture by the Europeans soon caught the interest of the Spanish
king. This policy gave full freedom to private individuals and firms
to engage in economic activities without much interference from
the government. This also allowed for the entry of foreign firms
into the country. The King opened Manila to foreign traders. With
the coming of foreign products and businessmen, the economic
isolation of the Philippines was ended.

5. THE RISE OF THE FILIPINO CLASS

• It was inevitable that with material progress, social changes would
follow. Somehow, the fruits of the developments in trade and
commerce benefitted the mestizos, particularly the Spanish and
Chinese mestizos.
• The inquilinos or the tenants in the haciendas and their families
began to accumulate wealth. Together, they constituted the middle
class – a group below the aristocratic Spanish officials, families
and religious orders but higher or above the masses.

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 • The Indios. As members of the middle class, they were able to
send their children to colleges and universities in Manila and even
to Europe.
• The ilustrados (wealthy and highly-educated Filipinos) composed
the middle class.
• The term Filipino, needs to be clarified at this stage. The term
actually applied only to insulares (Spaniards born in the
Philippines).
• Españoles or peninsulares are the Spaniards born in Spain but
working and residing in the country. The rest were either mestizos
or Indios.
• Belonging to the middle class also meant changing their former
lifestyle, clothing, houses, forms of amusement and cultural
activities to those that were similar or closer to what Spaniards and
Europeans did and maintained, which were comfortable and
expensive. By contrast, the Indios lived in poverty and ignorance,
and suffered more discrimination.

6. EDUCATION OF SOME FILIPINOS

• The Spaniards founded many colleges for men and women
exclusively for the Spaniards and the Spanish mestizos. These
included San Juan de Letran, San Jose, San Felipe and others.
Schools for women included College of Santa Potenciana, Santa
Isabel College, and the Santa Rosa College.
• It was not until the second half of the 19th century that these
colleges, including the University of Santo Tomas, admitted
natives.
• As a result, many well-to-do Filipinos were able to send their
children to these schools. A good number of these children became
lawyers, physicians, pharmacists, teachers, land surveyors, and
merchants.

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 • They later on asked for reforms in the Spanish administration in
the Philippines. As the Spaniards feared, it was the ilustrados who
asked for embarrassing questions about Spanish misdeeds,
incompetence, inefficiency, greed and corruption.
• Most dangerously, they pushed the idea of the Indios with equal
rights as the Spaniards in the country.
7. THE OPENING OF SUEZ CANAL

• The Suez Canal was opened in 1869. This resulted in the shorter
route and travel time between Spain and the Philippines.
• As a result, many Spaniards with progressive ideas migrated to the
Philippines. . Among them were exiled creoles (criollo; Spaniard
born in Mexico or any part of the Americas during the colonial
period) whose subversive ideas and activities advocated freedom
and liberties.
• Later on, they influenced some educated Filipinos and soon both
were asking the government to introduce changes in the
administration of the colony.
• Another effect of the shorter distance was the influx of progressive
books and periodicals to the country.
• Filipino intellectuals learned Locke’s theory of revolution, and
Rousseau’s Social Contract Theory. They learned that people
could overthrow a government that is not working for their good of
the governed (Locke’s Theory of Revolution).
• Likewise, they realized that a government is an agreement between
the ruler and the ruled to govern for the welfare of the ruled
(Rousseau’s Social Contract Theory).
• Other liberal ideas that Filipinos learned included the following:
equality before the law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
freedom of assembly, protection of human rights, representation in
the legislature, and sovereignty of people.

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 • As a result, many Filipino intellectuals started to wonder at the
deplorable conditions of the country. They began discussing
potential issues and started clamoring for reforms in the
government.

8. LIBERALISM IN THE PHILIPPINES

• In 1868, a revolution took place in Spain. Revolutionists were
against the autocratic reign of Queen Isabel II. When they won,
Queen Isabel was forced to flee to France and the Republic of
Spain was born
• The triumph of liberalism in Spain in 1868 resulted in the
appointment of Carlos Maria Dela Torre as governor-general in
1869. With his assumption into office as the chief executive of the
country, Dela Torre put into practice the liberal principles of the
revolutionists in Spain.
• He lived simply and avoided luxury by dismissing the halberdiers
(guards) of his palace. He walked the streets of Manila in civilian
clothes. This was something new at that time, because in the past,
governors wore their military uniforms, complete with medals and
ribbons on most occasions.
• This development was something the friars then did not like. For
the first time, the Filipinos were allowed to talk about freedom and
democracy openly.
• During his term of office, freedom of speech and of the press as
guaranteed by the Spanish Constitution was recognized. He
abolished the censorship of the press, abolished flogging as a
punishment, and he solved the agrarian unrest in Cavite.
• He was considered to be the best governor general the Philippines
ever had. As a consequence of his liberal policy, Father Burgos
and other Filipino clergy were motivated to work for the
Filipinization of parishes throughout the country.

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9. RETURN OF AUTOCRACY
 With the restoration of the Spanish monarchy in 1870 and the
return of conservatism in Spain, Dela Torre was removed from
office and replaced by the reactionary (opposed to progress or
reform) Rafael de Izquierdo, who boasted that he came to the
Philippines with a cross in one hand and a sword in the other. This
boast was not an empty promise. Immediately, he reversed the
reforms of Dela Torre. The friars and the monarchists among the
Spaniards became his loyal supporters.

10. THE SECULARIZATION CONTROVERSY

• Priesthood during the Spanish period was composed of two
classes:
1. Regular priests – those who belonged to the religious
orders (Augustinians, Dominicans, Recollects, and the
Franciscans).
 Regulars have a mission to fulfil, i.e., to convert
non-Christian people to Christianity. After
fulfilling this, they would leave and go to another
area to make converts.
 In the Philippines, friars not only made to convert
but they also occupied parishes. As such, they
were called friar-curates.
2. Secular priests – not members of any religious order.
 In the Christianized areas, churches or parishes were built
which the seculars administered.
• Later on, when some natives studied priesthood and became
seculars, the friar-curates refused to vacate the parishes. This
refusal led to a controversy between the seculars and regulars.

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 • This started when the seculars asked for their right to administer
the parishes.
• Early 19th century, the controversy became more heated when a
decree was passed denying the native clergy the right to administer
the parishes occupied by the regulars. The government even gave
the parishes run by Filipino seculars to Spanish regulars.
• . This led to the campaign called secularization. Later, it was
called Filipinization because of its racial overtone
 Cavite Mutiny
 occurred on January 20, 1872, involving several
workers and some marine detachment. This
mutiny was caused by the revocation of the
privilege of shipyard workers to be exempted
from forced labor and from paying tribute by
Gov. Gen. de Izquierdo.

11. THE EXECUTION OF GOMBURZA

• The mutineers included Indios, mestizos, and criollos. They were
led by La Madrid. They killed some Spanish soldiers and officers
in the fort. An expedition to Cavite was sent to put down the
rebellion. The leaders and participants were arrested and later shot
to death.
• The government, believing it to be a rebellion ordered the arrest of
Filipinos and mestizo who were allegedly behind it. Among those
arrested were Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, Jacinto
Zamora, Pedro Dandan, Toribio del Pilar, Mariano Sevilla, Agustin
Mendoza, Jose Guevara, and others.

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 • A The priests Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were jailed in Fort
Santiago before they were tried for rebellion. Priests, both regular
and secular, were allowed to see them.
• During the trial, the government failed to prove convincingly that
the accused were really connected with the January Cavite mutiny.
• The governor general promised to present documents to prove that
the three priests were guilty of rebellion which to many was
actually a mutiny (open revolt against authority, especially by
servicemen against officers). But he never presented any document
and to this day, no document had been found to show that Gomez,
Burgos, and Zamora were, in any way, connected with the mutiny.
• Nevertheless, they were sentenced to death by garrote.
• Rizal who was eleven years old that time, would later dedicate his
second novel, El Filibusterismo (The Rebel) to the memory of the
three martyred priests.

X. THE CAMPAIGN FOR REFORMS

The violent events of 1872 led to significant developments in
colonial Philippines. A campaign for reforms was developed. . The
wealthy and educated Filipinos started to air their complaints through
peaceful means such as writings, speeches, organized societies,
artworks, etc.

REFORM MOVEMENT
Reasons for the discontent of Filipinos
• The masses remained poor and burdened with heavy taxes.

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 • The wealthy and educated were discontented by the abuses of the
Spaniards and they were not free to air their complaints or even
allowed to participate in the administration of the government.

• There were threats of persecution for those who would oppose or

criticize Spanish rules. As a result, the educated and the wealthy left
for Spain where there was freedom. There, they studied and worked
for the introduction of reforms in the Philippines. This reform
movement is called the Propaganda movement and it began in
1882 and lasted to the early months of 1892.
 Propaganda a publicity intended to spread ideas or
information. It was a peaceful campaign for reforms geared
towards changing the political and social order in the country
under Spanish rule.

Among the reforms sought by the reformists who came

under the ranks of Filipino Ilustrados were the
following.
• Assimilate the Philippines as a province of Spain
• Philippines will be represented in the Spanish lawmaking body
called the Cortes.
• Filipinos would become Spanish citizens with equal rights and
privileges by all Spanish citizens
•Filipinos would not be treated cruelly by the friars and Spanish
Civil authorities.
 The Great Triumvirate a group of three individuals sharing
authority and power) of the Filipino reformists were Graciano
Lopez Jaena, Jose Rizal and Marcelo H. Del Pilar

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  The other reformists were Jose Ma. Panganiban, Antonio Luna,
Mariano Ponce, Eduardo de Lete and a few others.
 They were all young men who went to Europe to study. In the
course of their studies, they involved themselves in the cause of
their country.

THE TRIUMVIRATE
▪GRACIANO LOPEZ JAENA (The Great
Orator)
• Born in Jaro, now a part of Iloilo City, on December 18, 1856.
• Seeing the injustices, immorality and greed of the friars and civil
officials, he wrote a long story about a friar named Fray
Botod.
• The friars hated him for it. He went to Manila to escape
persecution and continue his studies. But the Spanish authorities
harassed him, which compelled him to secretly sail for Europe in
1880.
• He studied medicine in Spain but later on gave it up and devoted
his time and energy to writing articles.
• He founded the fortnightly newspaper La Solidaridad
(Solidarity) and became its first editor.
• It became the propaganda arm of the Filipino reformists in Spain.
Copies were sent secretly to the Philippines.

 Aims of the La Solaridad

 To fight reaction
 To stop all the efforts to keep the Philippines a
backward country  To extol (praise) liberal ideas

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  To defend progress Lopez Jaena wrote articles favorable
to Filipinos and delivered speeches defending them from
the cruel charges of Spanish writers like Pablo Feced
and Wenceslao E. Retana, who were anti–Filipino.

 The Demands of the Filipino Reformist

Presented by Jaena
 Representation in the Spanish Cortes
 The right to vote
 Freedom of speech, of assembly and of press
 Freedom of commerce
 Removal of the friars from the Philippines
 Education of the people
 Reforms in the jails of the country
 Abolition of the diezmos prediales or the tithe (1/10 of
the produce of the land)

• Jaena suffered from hunger and illness, and on January 20, 1896,
he died of tuberculosis in Barcelona, Spain.

▪ Jose Rizal (The Great

Thinker and Writer)
 The most brilliant of the Filipinos during
his time.
• Born in Calamba, Laguna on June 19, 1861.
• He observed early in life how the Spaniards maltreated the
Filipinos. He saw, too, how the Spanish authorities ordered his
aging mother to walk from Calamba to the town of Sta. Cruz, the
capital of the province, because of a false charge made against her
by Spanish provincial officials.

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 • This made him swore to work for the freedom of his country.
• At the age of twenty-six, he wrote his first novel, Noli Me
Tangere (Touch Me Not). This novel exposed the defects of the
Spanish administration of the Philippines, the greed and
immorality of the friars and the superstition of the Filipinos.
• Next, he wrote his second novel, El Filibusterismo (The Rebel),
which was a sequel of the first novel.
• Rizal expressed his political ideas in this novel and predicted the
coming of the revolution.
• Rizal wrote poems, essays, and articles showing his love of
country. Because of his attacks on the civil and ecclesiastical
authorities in the Philippines, they hated him and worked for his
arrest.
• They found concrete evidence when he returned to the Philippines
and founded La Liga Filipina.
• He was first banished to Dapitan, Zamboanga and lately tried by a
military court that sentenced him to be shot to death. He was
executed at Bagumbayan Field (Luneta/ Rizal Park) on December
30, 1896.

▪ Marcelo H. Del Pilar (The Great Political

Analyst and Journalist)
• the greatest journalist produced by the purely Filipino race even
by his Spanish enemies.
• Born at the barrio of Cupang, Bulacan, Bulacan, on August 30,
1850.
• In 1880, he began his campaign against the abuses of the friars
and civil officials.
• He founded the Tagalog – Spanish newspaper, Diariong Tagalog,
which although shortlived, published suggestions on how to
improve the administration of the country.

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 • In 1888, he secretly left for Spain to avoid arrest.
• A year later, he became the editor of La Solidaridad and became
its guiding spirit. He not only edited the newspaper, but he also
wrote many articles and editorials.
• Two of his famous books were La Soberania Monacel en
Filipinas (Monastic Sovereignty in the Philippines) and La
Frailocracia Filipina (Frailocracy in the Philippines).
• Unlike Rizal and the other reformists, he wrote in the language of
the masses.
• Due to his heavy work and lack of proper food, Del Pilar
contracted tuberculosis. He wanted to return to the Philippines
because he believed that the campaign for reforms was a failure
and that it was time to shift to revolutionary action.  He died on
July 4, 1896.

THE PRO-FILIPINO SOCIETY

▪ Circulo Hispano- Filipino (The Spanish-
Filipino Circle)
 Established in 1882
 This society published the newspaper Revisita del Circulo
Hispano-Filipino (Journal of the Spanish-Filipino
Circle)
 This is to bring to the attention of the Spanish authorities in the
Spain the conditions in the Philippines and to work for the
introduction of reforms.
 This newspaper and society did not last long because of lack of
financial support and lack of leadership.

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▪ Asociacion Hispano-Filipina
 Inaugurated in 1889
 The aspiration of this association was ―to work for the material
and moral improvement of the Philippines. Some of its aims were
as follows:
1. The abolition of diezmos prediales and the sanctorum (the tax being
paid as support to the church)
2. The compulsory teaching of Spanish in all schools in the
Philippines
3. Radical reforms in the University of Santo Tomas
4. Abolition of flogging as a form of punishment
5. The establishment of agricultural banks
6. Tax and other reform

 This society lived longer than the Circulo but it never realized its
goals because the Spanish High officials in Spain were too busy
with state problems.
▪ Masonic Lodges
 “Heart of the Propaganda activities’’
 Masonry is a secret society of an international fraternity for
mutual help, having an elaborate ritual and system of secret signs
and associated with freethinking and libertarian beliefs.
 The reformists, including Rizal, Lopez Jaena, Del Pilar and others,
decided to join Masonry not only to win friends among the
Spanish Masons, but also because of its antifriar character.

a. Lodge Revolution- founded by Graciano Lopez

Jaena in Barcelona on a April 1, 1889.

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 b. Lodge Solidaridad- founded by M.H. Del Pilar
with the help of Julio Llorante in Madrid.
c. Lodge Nilad- this was the 1st masonic lodge
established in the Philippines by Serrano Laktaw on
January 6, 1892.

 The following are the aims of the organization.

• To work for freedom and prosperity of the Philippines
• To work for good government
• To ask for representation in the Spanish Cortes
• Establish the Philippines as a province of Spain

 By May 1893, there were thirty-five Masonic lodges in the

country, of which, nine were on Manila.

▪ La Liga Filipina
 In 1892, Rizal returned to the Philippines. He proposed the
establishment of a civic society, La Liga Filipina.
 The following officers were elected:
o Ambrosio Salvador – president o
Agustin dela Rosa – fiscal o Bonifacio
Arevalo – treasurer
o Deodato Arellano – secretary

 Aims of the Liga

• To unite the whole archipelago into one strong body
• To give mutual protection of all members in case of necessity
• To encourage agriculture, commerce, and education
• To defend members against any kind of violence and injustice

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 • To study and apply reforms
 To carry out these aims, the society was to be governed by a
supreme council, a provincial council, and a popular council. The
members of the society were to pay a monthly due of ten centavos
for the following causes:
• To support a member or his son without financial means but with
ability and
industry
• To support the poor against the rich and powerful
• To give financial help to any member who suffered losses
• To open stores and shops which would sell goods to members at
low price
• To introduce machines in order to promote industries

 Rizal was arrested as a consequence La Liga Filipina died a

natural death.

WHY THE REFORM MOVEMENT FAILED

• Lack of Funds
• Leadership crisis
• Failure of the Spanish Government to attend the problems in the
colony.
• Reformists faced financial problem

XI. BONIFACIO AND THE KATIPUNAN

FOUNDING OF KATIPUNAN
• When Apolinario Mabini organized the Cuerpo de Comprimisario,
the radicals, especially Bonifacio, did not join Mabini.

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 • Bonifacio came to realize that the welfare of the Filipinos could
not be achieved by peaceful requests for reforms but through a
violent revolution.
• Bonifacio then founded the “Kataastaasang
Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng
Bayan” (Katipunan or KKK) or Supreme and
Venerable Association of the Sons of the People on
the night of July 7, 1892 in a house occupied by Deodato Arellano
at No. 72, Azcarraga St. Tondo, Manila (now Claro M. Rector
road).
• These men were Andres Bonifacio, Teodora Plata,
Valentin Diaz, Ladislao Diwa, Deodato Arellano,
and one or two others. All of them belonged to the lower class of
society.
• The founders of the Katipunan performed the blood compact
ritual to show their patriotism and love of things that were
Filipino. It was to seal friendship or brotherhood (kapatiran).
• Aims and Structure of the Katipunan
a. Political to fight for Philippine Independence and unite all
Filipinos.
b. Moral to teach the Filipinos good manners, cleanliness,
hygiene, fine morals, and how to guard themselves to religious
fanaticisms.
c. Civic to help themselves and defend the poor oppressed.
• Branches of Katipunan
 Kataastaasang Sangunian
(Supreme Council)
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 -the highest body and considered of a president, a
secretary, a treasurer, and a comptroller.
 Sangguniang Bayan (Provincial
Council) - represents the province level.
 Sangguniang Balangay (Popular
Council)
- represented the municipality or town.
 Sangguniang Hukuman (Judicial Council)
- responsible for resolving conflicts among the Katipunan
members.
 Camara Secreta (Secret Chamber)
- doled out punishment for members who betrayed or broke the
bylaws of the Katipunan.
- composed of Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, and Pio Valenzuela

• The Katipunan Elections

 The triangle method was slow and ineffective resulting to only
about 100 new members by the end of 1892.

• Katipunan Membership
 It was divided into three groups:
1. Katipon (Member)
- Password: Anak ng Bayan
- wear black hood with a triangle of white ribbons
2. Kawal (Soldier)
- Password: GomBurZa
- wear green hood with a triangle of white lines

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 3. Bayani (Patriot)
- Password: Rizal
- wear red hood

In order to recognize each other in the streets, a member, upon

meeting another member, would place the palm of his right hand
on his breast, and as he passed the other member he would close
his hand and bring his index finger and his thumb together.

As the Katipunan were busy plotting an uprising, Manuel Sityar,

the Spanish Lieutenant of the Guardia Civil, reported the strange
activities of certain Filipinos gathering arms and recruiting men
for unknown reasons.

On August 13, 1896, Father Agustin Hernandez, an Agustinian

curate of San Pedro, Makati, informed Don Miguel Luengco, the
civil governor of Manila, about a secret gathering in his parish
whose members were bringing bolos.
On August 19,1896, the Katipunan was discovered by the Spanish
Authorities. Teodoro Patino, a Katipunero, confessed to Father
Mariano Gil about the existence of the Katipunan upon the advice
of a nun at Mandaluyong Orphanage where his sister was
working. Teodoro also revealed that the printing materials of
Katipunan can be found at the office of Diario de Manila. These
evidences were presented to the Spanish Authorities. taga

THE KATIPUNAN CODE OF CONDUCT

it contained fourteen rules that instruct the way a Katipunan should
behave, and which specific values should be uphold. Generally,
the rules that are contained in the Kartilya can be classified into

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 two. The first group contains the rules that will make the member
an upright individual and the second group contains the rules that
will guide the way he treats his fellow men

I. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is

a tree without a shade, if not a poisonous weed.

II. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue.

III. It is rational to be charitable and love one's fellow creature, and to

adjust one's conduct, acts and words to what is in itself

IV. Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal:
superiority in knowledge, wealth and beauty are to be understood,
but not superiority by nature.

V. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel,

gain to honor. VI. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.

VII. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.

VIII. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in
the field.

IX. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping

secrets.

X. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman (“parents”)

and the children, and if the guide leads to the precipice, those
whom he guides will also go there.

XI. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a
faithful companion who will share with thee the penalties of life;

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 her (physical) weakness will increase thy interest in her and she
will remind thee of the mother who bore thee and reared thee.

XII. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers
and sisters, that do not unto the wife, children, brothers and sisters
of thy neighbor.

XIII. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is
aquiline, and his color white, not because he is a priest, a servant
of God, nor because of the high prerogative that he enjoys upon
earth, but he is worth most who is a man of proven and real value,
who does good, keeps his words, is worthy and honest; he who
does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he who loves
and cherishes his fatherland, though he be born in the wilderness
and know no tongue but his own.

XIV. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed-for
sun of Liberty shall rise brilliant over this most unhappy portion
of the globe and its rays shall diffuse everlasting joy among the
confederated brethren of the same rays, the lives of those who
have gone before, the fatigues and the well-paid sufferings will
remain. If he who desires to enter (the Katipunan) has informed
himself of all this and believes he will be able to perform what
will be his duties, he may fill out the application for admission.

As the primary government document, which determine the rules

of conduct in the Katipunan, properly understanding the Kartilya
will thus help in understanding the values, ideals, aspirations and
even the ideology of the organization.

__________________________________________

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 References
Agoncillo III, Teodoro & Mangahas, Fe. Philippine History (Expanded
and Updated edition)
Torres, Jose Victor (2018). Batis: Sources in Philippine History, C & E
Publishing Inc., Quezon City.
Candelaria, John Lee P., et.al, (2018) Readings in Philippine History,
Rex Bookstore, Recto Avenue, Manila

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