MODULE 4

Kartilya ng Katipunan
The Act of Proclamation of Independence
of the Filipino People

SOCSCI102
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Jhannaine A. Delaserna
Instructor

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 MODULE 4

Objectives
Through this module, students are expected to:

 Understand the concept and essence of an independent nation

 Determine the basis for the June 12, 1898 independence proclamation

Let’s Read This!

See next page for the attached readings

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Attached Readings:

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Source:
http://malacanang.gov.ph/7013-andres-bonifacios-decalogue-and-the-kartilya-
ng-katipunan/

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 Kartilya ng Katipunan
1. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a tree without a
shade, if not a poisonous weed.

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

3. 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 reasonable.

4. 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.

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

6. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.

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

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

9. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.

10. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the children, and if the guide
leads to the precipice, those whom he guides will also go there.

11. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a faithful companion who
will share with thee the penalties of life; her (physical) weakness will increase thy interest
in her and she will remind thee of the mother who bore thee and reared thee.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

[translation by Gregorio Nieva, 1918]

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 Kartilya ng Katipunan
1. Ang kabuhayang hindi ginugugol sa isang malaki at banal na kadahilanan ay kahoy na walang
lilim, kundi damong makamandag

2. Ang gawang magaling na nagbubuhat sa pagpipita sa sarili, at hindi sa talagang nasang

gumawa ng kagalingan, ay di kabaitan.

3. Ang tunay na kabanalan ay ang pagkakawang gawa, ang pagibig sa kapua at ang isukat ang
bawat kilos, gawa’t pangungusap sa talagang Katuiran.

4. Maitim man at maputi ang kulay ng balat, lahat ng tao’y magkakapantay; mangyayaring ang
isa’y higtan sa dunong, sa yaman, sa ganda…; ngunit di mahihigtan sa pagkatao.

5. Ang may mataas na kalooban inuuna ang puri sa pagpipita sa sarili; ang may hamak na
kalooban inuuna ang pagpipita sa sarili sa puri.

6. Sa taong may hiya, salita’y panunumpa.

7. Huag mong sasayangin ang panahun; ang yamang nawala’y magyayaring magbalik; nguni’t
panahong nagdaan na’y di na muli pang magdadaan. Value of time

8. Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi, at kabakahin ang umaapi.

9. Ang taong matalino’y ang may pagiingat sa bawat sasabihin, at matutong ipaglihim ang dapat
ipaglihim.

10. Sa daang matinik ng kabuhayan, lalaki ay siyang patnugot ng asawa’t mga anak; kung ang
umaakay ay tungo sa sama, ang patutunguhan ng iaakay ay kasamaan din.

11. Ang babai ay huag mong tignang isang bagay na libangan lamang, kundi isang katuang at
karamay sa mga kahirapan nitong kabuhayan; gamitan mo ng buong pagpipitagan ang kaniyang
kahinaan, at alalahanin ang inang pinagbuhata’t nagiwi sa iyong kasangulan.

12. Ang di mo ibig na gawin sa asawa mo, anak at kapatid, ay huag mong gagawin sa asawa,
anak, at kapatid ng iba.

13. Ang kamahalan ng tao’y wala sa pagkahari, wala sa tangus ng ilong at puti ng mukha, wala
sa pagkaparing kahalili ng Dios wala sa mataas na kalagayan sa balat ng lupa; wagas at tunay na
mahal na tao, kahit laking gubat at walang nababatid kundi ang sariling wika, yaong may
magandang asal, may isang pangungusap, may dangal at puri; yaong di napaaapi’t di nakikiapi;
yaong marunong magdamdam at marunong lumingap sa bayang tinubuan.

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14. Paglaganap ng mga aral na ito at maningning na sumikat ang araw ng mahal na Kalayaan
dito sa kaabaabang Sangkalupuan, at sabugan ng matamis niyang liwanag ang nangagkaisang
magkalahi’t magkakapatid ng ligaya ng walang katapusan, ang mga ginugol na buhay, pagud, at
mga tiniis na kahirapa’y labis nang natumbasan. Kung lahat ng ito’y mataruk na ng nagiibig
pumasuk at inaakala niyang matutupad ang mga tutungkulin, maitatala ang kaniyang ninanasa sa
kasunod nito.

Source:
Kartilya ng Katipunan - Philippine Center for Masonic Studies
(philippinemasonry.org)

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 The Act of Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People
ACT OF PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE
(Acta de la proclamación de la independencia del pueblo Filipino)

In the town of Cavite-Viejo, Province of Cavite, this 12th day of June 1898:
BEFORE ME, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, War Counsellor and Special Delegate designated to
proclaim and solemnize this Declaration of Independence by the Dictatorial Government of the
Philippines, pursuant to, and by virtue of, a Decree issued by the Egregious Dictator Don Emilio
Aguinaldo y Famy,
The undersigned assemblage of military chiefs and others of the army who could not attend, as
well as the representatives of the various towns,
Taking into account the fact that the people of this country are already tired of bearing the ominous
yoke of Spanish domination,
Because of arbitrary arrests and abuses of the Civil Guards who cause deaths in connivance with
and even under the express orders of their superior officers who at times would order the shooting
of those placed under arrest under the pretext that they attempted to escape in violation of known
Rules and Regulations, which abuses were left unpunished, and because of unjust deportations of
illustrious Filipinos, especially those decreed by General Blanco at the instigation of the
Archbishop and the friars interested in keeping them in ignorance for egoistic and selfish ends,
which deportations were carried out through processes more execrable than those of the Inquisition
which every civilized nation repudiates as a trial without hearing,
Had resolved to start a revolution in August 1896 in order to regain the independence and
sovereignty of which the people had been deprived by Spain through Governor Miguel López de
Legazpi who, continuing the course followed by his predecessor Ferdinand Magellan who landed
on the shores of Cebu and occupied said Island by means of a Pact of Friendship with Chief Tupas,
although he was killed in battle that took place in said shores to which battle he was provoked by
Chief Kalipulako of Mactan who suspected his evil designs, landed on the Island of Bohol by
entering also into a Blood Compact with its Chief Sikatuna, with the purpose of later taking by
force the Island of Cebu, and because his successor Tupas did not allow him to occupy it, he went
to Manila, the capital, winning likewise the friendship of its Chiefs Soliman and Lakandula, later
taking possession of the city and the whole Archipelago in the name of Spain by virtue of an order
of King Philip II, and with these historical precedents and because in international law the
prescription established by law to legalize the vicious acquisition of private property is not
recognized, the legitimacy of such revolution can not be put in doubt which was calmed but not
completely stifled by the pacification proposed by Don Pedro A. Paterno with Don Emilio
Aguinaldo as President of the Republic established in Biak-na-Bato and accepted by Governor-
General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera under terms, both written and oral, among them being a
general amnesty for all deported and convicted persons; that by reason of the non-fulfillment of
some of the terms, after the destruction of the Spanish Squadron by the North American Navy, and

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bombardment of the plaza of Cavite, Don Emilio Aguinaldo returned in order to initiate a new
revolution and no sooner had he given the order to rise on the 31st of last month when several
towns anticipating the revolution, rose in revolt on the 28th, such that a Spanish contingent of 178
men, between Imus and Cavite-Viejo, under the command of a major of the Marine Infantry
capitulated, the revolutionary movement spreading like wild fire to other towns of Cavite and the
other provinces of Bataan, Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, and Morong, some of them
with seaports and such was the success of the victory of our arms, truly marvelous and without
equal in the history of colonial revolutions that in the first mentioned province only the
Detachments in Naic and Indang remained to surrender; in the second, all Detachments had been
wiped out; in the third, the resistance of the Spanish forces was localized in the town of San
Fernando where the greater part of them are concentrated, the remainder in Macabebe, Sexmoan,
and Guagua; in the fourth, in the town of Lipa; in the fifth, in the capital and in Calumpit; and in
the last two remaining provinces, only in their respective capitals, and the city of Manila will soon
be besieged by our forces as well as the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union,
Zambales, and some others in the Visayas where the revolution at the time of the pacification and
others even before, so that the independence of our country and the revindication of our
sovereignty is assured.
And having as witness to the rectitude of our intentions the Supreme Judge of the Universe, and
under the protection of the Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, the United States of America, we
do hereby proclaim and declare solemnly in the name and by authority of the people of these
Philippine Islands,
That they are and have the right to be free and independent; that they have ceased to have any
allegiance to the Crown of Spain; that all political ties between them are and should be completely
severed and annulled; and that, like other free and independent States, they enjoy the full power to
make War and Peace, conclude commercial treaties, enter into alliances, regulate commerce, and
do all other acts and things which an Independent State has a right to do,
And imbued with firm confidence in Divine Providence, we hereby mutually bind ourselves to
support this Declaration with our lives, our fortunes, and with our most sacred possession, our
Honor.
We recognize, approve, and ratify, with all the orders emanating from the same, the Dictatorship
established by Don Emilio Aguinaldo whom we revere as the Supreme Head of this Nation, which
today begins to have a life of its own, in the conviction that he has been the instrument chosen by
God, in spite of his humble origin, to effectuate the redemption of this unfortunate country as
foretold by Dr. Don José Rizal in his magnificent verses which he composed in his prison cell
prior to his execution, liberating it from the Yoke of Spanish domination,
And in punishment for the impunity with which the Government sanctioned the commission of
abuses by its officials, and for the unjust execution of Rizal and others who were sacrificed in
order to please the insatiable friars in their hydropical thirst for vengeance against and
extermination of all those who oppose their Machiavellian ends, trampling upon the Penal Code
of these Islands, and of those suspected persons arrested by the Chiefs of Detachments at the

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instigation of the friars, without any form nor semblance of trial and without any spiritual aid of
our sacred Religion; and likewise, and for the same ends, eminent Filipino priests, Doctor Don
Jose Burgos, Don Mariano Gomez, and Don Jacinto Zamora were hanged whose innocent blood
was shed due to the intrigues of these so-called Religious corporations which made the authorities
to believe that the military uprising at the fort of San Felipe in Cavite on the night of January 21,
1872 was instigated by those Filipino martyrs, thereby impeding the execution of the decree-
sentence issued by the Council of State in the appeal in the administrative case interposed by the
secular clergy against the Royal Orders that directed that the parishes under them within the
jurisdiction of this Bishopric be turned over to the Recollects in exchange for those controlled by
them in Mindanao which were to be transferred to the Jesuits, thus revoking them completely and
ordering the return of those parishes, all of which proceedings are on file with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to which they are sent last month of last year for the issuance of the proper Royal
Degree which, in turn, caused the growth of the tree of liberty in this our dear land that grew more
and more through the iniquitous measures of oppression, until the last drop from our chalice of
suffering having been drained, the first spark of revolution broke out in Caloocan, spread out to
Santamesa and continued its course to the adjoining regions of the province where the unequalled
heroism of its inhabitants fought a onesided battle against superior forces of General Blanco and
General Polavieja for a period of three months, without proper arms nor ammunitions, except
bolos, pointed bamboos, and arrows.
Moreover, we confer upon our famous Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo all the powers necessary
to enable him to discharge the duties of Government, including the prerogatives of granting pardon
and amnesty,
And, lastly, it was resolved unanimously that this Nation, already free and independent as of this
day, must use the same flag which up to now is being used, whose design and colors are found
described in the attached drawing, the white triangle signifying the distinctive emblem of the
famous Society of the "Katipunan" which by means of its blood compact inspired the masses to
rise in revolution; the three stars, signifying the three principal Islands of this Archipelago-Luzon,
Mindanao, and Panay where this revolutionary movement started; the sun representing the gigantic
steps made by the sons of the country along the path of Progress and Civilization; the eight rays,
signifying the eight provinces-Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna,
and Batangas - which declared themselves in a state of war as soon as the first revolt was initiated;
and the colors of Blue, Red, and White, commemorating the flag of the United States of North
America, as a manifestation of our profound gratitude towards this Great Nation for its
disinterested protection which it lent us and continues lending us.
And holding up this flag of ours, I present it to the gentlemen here assembled:
Don Segundo Arellano Don Flaviano Alonzo
Don Tiburcio del Rosario Don Mariano Legazpi
Don Sergio Matias Don José Turiano Santiago y Acosta
Don Agapito Zialcita Don Aurelio Tolentino

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Don Felix Ferrer
Don Felipe Buencamino
Don Fernando Canon Faustino
Don Anastacio Pinzun
Don Timoteo Bernabe
Don Flaviano Rodríguez
Don Gavino Masancay
Don Narciso Mayuga
Don Gregorio Villa
Don Luis Pérez Tagle
Don Canuto Celestino
Don Marcos Jocson
Don Martin de los Reyes
Don Ciriaco Bausa
Don Manuel Santos
Don Mariano Toribio
Don Gabriel Reyes
Don Hugo Lim
Don Emiliano Lim
Don Fausto Tinorio
Don Rosendo Simón
Don Leon Tanjanque
Don Gregorio Bonifacio
Don Manuel Salafranca
Don Simon Villareal
Don Calixto Lara
Don Buenaventura Toribio
Don Zacarias Fajardo
Don Florencio Manalo
Don Ramon Gana
Don Marcelino Gómez
Don Valentin Polintan
Don Felix Polintan
Don Evaristo Dimalanta
Don Gregorio Álvarez
Don Sabas de Guzmán
Don Esteban Francisco
Don Guido Yaptinchay
Don Mariano Rianzares Bautista
Don Francisco Arambulo
Don Antonio Gonzales
Don Juan Arevalo
Don Ramon Delfino
Don Honorio Tiongco
Don Francisco del Rosario
Don Epifanio Saguil
Don Ladislao Afable José
Don Sixto Roldan
Don Luis de Lara
Don Marcelo Basa
Don José Medina
Don Epifanio Crisia
Don Pastor López de León
Don Mariano de los Santos
Don Santiago García
Don Claudio Tria Tirona
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Don Estanislao Tria Tirona
Don Daniel Tria Tirona
Don Andrés Tria Tirona
Don Carlos Tria Tirona
Don Sulpicio P. Antony
Don Epitacio Asunción
Don Catalino Ramon
Don Juan Bordador
Don José del Rosario
Don Proceso Pulido
Don José María del Rosario
Don Ramón Magcamco
Don Antonio Calingo
Don Pedro Mendiola
Don Estanislao Calingo
Don Numeriano Castillo
Don Federico Tomacruz
Don Teodoro Yatco
Don Ladislao Diwa,

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Who solemnly swear to recognize and defend it unto the last drop of their blood.:
In witness thereof, I certify that this Act of Declaration of Independence was signed by me and by
all those here assembled including the only stranger who attended those proceedings, a citizen of
the U.S.A., Mr. L. M. Johnson, a Colonel of Artillery.

Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista

War Counselor and Special Delegate-Designate

Source:
Philippine Declaration of Independence - Wikisource, the free online library

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 Let’s Try This!

Name: __________________________ Year and Section: ___________

What does it mean to be independent? Does the quest for independence end upon
attaining it? Why should we be independent in the first place? These are some of
the questions we need to answer to better understand the path the Filipinos took
towards that fateful day when the Philippine Flag was unfurled in Kawit. The
attached readings in this module are related to that event. These are some of the
sources necessary to understand the aspired independence of the Filipinos at the
time of the Revolution, the achieved independence they have fought and died for,
and the experienced independence we are enjoying at the present.

Activity 1
1. What is the Kartilya ng Katipunan? What is it all about?
2. Who is Emilio Jacinto? What is his background?
3. What was happening at the time Jacinto wrote the Kartilya?
4. Why did Jacinto write the Kartilya?
5. Which of the points in the Kartilya can you relate to the most? Why?
6. Which of the points in the Kartilya is the most applicable in the present time? Why?

Activity 2
1. What was the Act of Proclamation of Philippine Independence?
2. Who is Ambrocio Rianzares Bautista? What is his background?
3. What was the author’s basis for proclaiming Philippine Independence? Does this basis
justify the independence proclamation? How so?
4. What does it mean to be an independent country? Explain
5. Do you think that the Philippines is indeed an independent country? How do you say
so?

R&R – Reflections and Realizations

Use this space for any reflections and realizations you gained during this activity
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Prepared by:
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 RUBRIC

Excellent Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

(9-10 points) (8 points) (7 points) (6 points)
Answers the Answers the Answers the Does not
Answer to question question question address the
the question thoroughly, in clearly, but at posed, but question; may
posed a nuanced and a superficial may ramble be completely
thoughtful level off-topic off-topic
way
Strong essay; Strong essay; Essay is not Paragraphs lack
paragraphs paragraphs strong; topic
Organization are well- are mostly paragraphs sentences; no
organized well- may jumble clear transitions
with clear organized, but together between
transitions and one or two several ideas; paragraphs.
topic may lack clear weak
sentences transitions. transitions.

No One or two A few Numerous

Quality of grammatical minor grammatical grammatical
writing or mechanical grammatical errors that errors; phrasing
errors; errors; distract from is awkward or
phrasing is phrasing is the paper; unclear.
clear and easy clear. some
to follow awkward
phrasing.

Punctuality Worksheet is Worksheet is Worksheet is Worksheet is

submitted on submitted on submitted one submitted a
or before the the exact day day after the few days after
deadline. of submission deadline. the deadline.
but a few
hours late.

Retrieved from:

https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/assessing-student-learning/rubric-creation-use/index.html
on August 26, 2022

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 OFFICIAL MCC MODULE DISCLAIMER

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to have monetary gain in using the textual information, imageries, and other

references used in its production. This module is only for the exclusive use

of a bona fide student of Mabalacat City College.

In addition, this module or no part of it thereof may be reproduced,

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electronic, mechanical, photocopying, and/or otherwise, without the prior

permission of Mabalacat City College.

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