LESSON 12

The Cry of Balintawak/

Pugadlawin
Details

Accounts
• The “First Cry of Revolution” became the
movement of the Filipinos to fight back on the
tyrannical rule of the Spanish regime.
• It is also called as the “First Cry” or the
revolution of independence.
• In this scenario, the Filipinos
tore their cedulas (tax receipt)
and proclaimed the start to
fight for independence (main
goal).
ANDRES BONIFACIO
 Andres Bonifacio, the Supreme
leader of the Katipunan organized a
meeting outside the city particular in
Balintawak to talk about their next
movement for the revolution against
Spaniards. According to him, the start
of the revolution will begin at the end
of month of August.
1. Account of Dr. Pio Valenzuela
Dr. Pio Valenzuela has
been authorized the ‘’Cry of
Pugad Lawin’’, who
happened to eyewitness the
event. He was also an official
of the Katipunan and a
friend of Andres Bonifacio.
1.In his first version, he told that the prime staging
point of the Cry was in Balintawak on Wednesday of
August 26, 1896. He held this account when the
happenings or events are still vivid in his memory.

2. On the other hand, later in his life and with a fading

memory, 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.
2. Account of Santiago Alvarez

This version of the

“Cry’’ was written by
Santiago Alvarez, a
well-known Katipunero
from Cavite and a son
of Mariano Alvarez.
• Santiago is a relative of Gregoria de Jesus, who
happened to be the wife of Andres Bonifacio.
Unlike the author of the first version mentioned
(Valenzuela), Santiago Alvarez is not an
eyewitness of this event. As a result, this
version of him is not given of equal value as
compared with the other versions for authors of
other accounts are actually part of the historic
event.
3. Account of Guillermo Masangkay
In 1932, Guillermo
Masangkay, a friend and
fellow Katipunero of
Andres Bonifacio,
recounted his
experiences as a member
of the revolutionary
movement.
• In an interview with the Sunday Tribune magazine,
Masangkay said that the First Cry happened in
Balintawak on August 26, 1896. In the first decade of
American rule, it was his account that was used by
the government and civic officials to fix date and
place of the First Cry which was capped with the
erection of the ‘’Monument to the Heroes of 1896’’
in that place.
• However, in an interview published in the newspaper
Bagong Buhay on August 26, 1957, Masangkay
changed his narrative stating that the revolution
began on August 23, 1896, similar to the assertion of
Dr. Pio Valenzuela. But Masangkay’s date was later
changed again when his granddaughter, Soledad
Buehler- Borromeo, cited sources, including the
Masangkay papers, that the original date was August
26.
4. Account of Gregoria De Jesus

She was known as

the “ Lakambini of
the Katipunan” and
wife Andres
Bonifacio.
• She has been a participant of this event and became
the keeper of the secret documents of the
Katipunan. After the revolution in August 1896, she
lived with her parents in Caloocan then fled to
Manila when she was told that the Spanish
authorities wanted to arrest her. Eventually, she
joined her husband in the mountains and shared
adversities with him. In her account, the First “Cry”
happened near Caloocan on August 25, 1896.