Jim Richardson - The Light of Liberty

The Light of Liberty

Documents and Studies
on the Katipunan, 1892−1897
Jim Richardson
ATENEO DE MANILA
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Ateneo de Manila University Press
Bellarmine Hall, Katipunan Avenue
Loyola Heights, Quezon City
P.O. Box 154, 1099 Manila, Philippines
Tel.: (632) 426-59-84 / Fax (632) 426-59-09
E-mail: unipress@admu.edu.ph
Website: www.ateneopress.org
Copyright © 2013 by Ateneo de Manila University

and Jim Richardson
Cover design by Karl Fredrick M. Castro

Book design by Paolo Tiausas
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the written permission of the Publisher.
The National Library of the Philippines CIP Data
Recommended entry:
Richardson, Jim .
The light of liberty : documents and studies on the Katipunan,
1892–1897 / Jim Richardson. – Quezon
City : Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013.
p. ; cm.
ISBN 978-971-550-852-0

1. Philippines--History--Autonomy and independence movements--
Sources. 2. Philippines--History--Sources. 3. Revolutionaries--Philippines--
Sources. I. Title.
DS653 959.9026 2013 P320130715

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
About the documents xx
Glossary and abbreviations xxiv
Chapter 1. Foundational documents

1.1. “Casaysayan; Pinagcasundoan; Manga daquilang
cautosan,” January 1892 1
1.2. “Kasaysayan; Pinag-kasundoan; Manga dakuilang
kautusan,” August 1892 20
Chapter 2. 1892−1895
2.1. Center, Fragment of appointment, c. September 1892 41
2.2. Center, Draft appointment, September 11, 1892 43
2.3. Supreme Council, Meeting held on December 24−25, 1894 44
2.4. Andres Bonifacio, Fragment of a speech, c. February 1895 46
2.5. Sb. Katagalugan, Note to the President of the
Supreme Council, March 30, 1895 48
2.6. Emilio Jacinto, “¡¡Gising na, mga tagalog!!”
October 23, 1895 49
2.7. Sb. Katagalugan, Letter to officeholders,
November 17, 1895 54
2.8. Supreme Council, Notice to section presidents,
November 26, 1895 57
2.9. Supreme Assembly, Meeting held on November 30
and December 1, 1895, in Caloocan 60
2.10. Supreme Assembly, Meeting held on
December 24−25, 1895 76
Chapter 3. Membership documents

3.1. Oath, c. 1894 85
3.2. Andres Bonifacio, Ritual for the initiation
of a Bayani, c. 1894 87
3.3. Initiation rites, c. 1896 100
3.4. Initiation rites [different version], c. 1896 119
vi CONTENTS
3.5. Andres Bonifacio, “Katungkulang gagawin

ng mga Z.Ll.B.” [the “Decalogue”], c. 1896 126
3.6. Emilio Jacinto, Katipunan nang manga A. N. B.
—Sa may nasang makisanib sa katipunang ito
[The “Kartilya”] 129
3.7. Oath, c. 1896 138
Chapter 4. January−February 1896

4.1. Supreme Assembly, Meeting held on January 1, 1896 141
4.2. Supreme Council, Meeting held on January 5, 1896,
in Mandaluyong 149
4.3. Supreme Council, Meeting held on January 6, 1896,
in Malabon 151
4.4. Supreme Council, Notice to all KKK members,
January 25, 1896 154
4.5. Supreme Council, Meeting held on February 1, 1896,
in Polo 161
4.6. Supreme Council, Meeting held on February 11, 1896 163
4.7. Supreme Council, Meeting held on February 21, 1896 164
Chapter 5. Kalayaan
5.1. Notes on Kalayaan, the Katipunan paper 169
5.2. Emilio Jacinto, “Sa mga kababayan,” c. March 1896 175
5.3. Emilio Jacinto, “Pahayag,” c. March 1896 179
5.4. Pio Valenzuela, “¡Katuiran din naman!” c. March 1896 186
5.5. Andres Bonifacio, “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog,”
c. March 1896 189
5.6. Andres Bonifacio, “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,”
c. March 1896 193
5.7. Emilio Jacinto, “¡¡¡ Gomez, Burgos, Zamora !!!”
April 30, 1896 206
5.8. Emilio Jacinto, “Sa Bayang tinubuan,” undated 210
Chapter 6. March−August 1896

6.1. Supreme Council, Meeting held on March 8, 1896 213
6.2. By. Silanganan, Meeting held on March 15, 1896 215
6.3. Supreme Council, Meeting held on March 15, 1896 217
6.4. Supreme Council, Notice to members of the KK,
March 15, 1896 220
6.5. Supreme Assembly, Meeting held on March 22, 1896, in
Mandaluyong 224
6.6. Supreme Council, Meeting held on March 29, 1896, in Pasig 230
6.7. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 2, 1896,
in Noveleta 232
6.8. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 3, 1896, in Kawit 233
CONTENTS vii
6.9. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 5, 1896 235

6.10. Supreme Council, Notice to all KKK members,
c. April 6, 1896 238
6.11. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 19, 1896 244
6.12. Supreme Council, Notice to members of the KK,
May 27, 1896 248
6.13. Sb. Mahiganti, Meeting held on May 30, 1896 250
6.14. Supreme Council, Meeting held on June 21, 1896,
in Sta. Ana 253
6.15. Supreme Council, Meeting held on June 24, 1896,
in Pandacan 255
Chapter 7. Kamaynilaan and Morong,

August 1896–September 1897
7.1. Roster of Katipuneros at Balintawak, August 1896 259
7.2. Andres Bonifacio, Draft notice of appointment,
August 26, 1896 262
7.3. Supreme Council, Letter to Mariano and
Santiago Alvarez, October 29−30, 1896 264
7.4. High Executive, Letter to leaders, December 3, 1896 271
7.5. Emilio Jacinto, Letter to Isidoro Francisco,
December 8, 1896 273
7.6. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to the High Military Council,
December 12, 1896 275
7.7. High Council, Letter to leaders, December 15, and
result of election held on December 17, 1896 283
7.8. High Council, December 18, 1896 285
7.9. Emilio Jacinto, Letter to the High Council of the
Northern District, December 23, 1896 288
7.10. High Council, Demand for donations, c. December 1896. 290
7.11. High Council, Christening certificate, February 23, 1897 291
7.12. High Council, Marriage certificate, c. February 1897 292
7.13. High Council, Draft appointment, February 15, 1897 294
7.14. Emilio Jacinto, Letter to Julio Nakpil, April 11, 1897 295
7.15. High Council, Letter to Fr. Cipriano Ortiz,
September 28, 1897 296
Chapter 8. Cavite: Politics in a Time of Revolution

8.1. Andres Bonifacio, “Mararahas na manga Anak ng Bayan,”
February or March 1897 301
8.2. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Julio Nakpil,
February 13, 1897 304
8.3. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, March 8, 1897 310
8.4. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto,
c. March 15, 1897 312
viii CONTENTS
8.5. The Sovereign People, Declaration, March 23, 1897

[the “Acta de Tejeros”] 320
8.6. Artemio Ricarte, Declaration, March 24, 1897 342
8.7. Andres Bonifacio, Notice of appointment, April 15, 1897 346
8.8. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 16, 1897 349
8.9. Andres Bonifacio and others, Declaration, c. April 19, 1897
[the “Naik Military Agreement”] 355
8.10. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Julio Nakpil, April 24, 1897 384
8.11. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 24, 1897 389
Appendices
A. Notes on the Katipunan in Manila, 1892−1896 399
Table 1. Katipunan activists in Manila, 1892−1896 416
Table 2. Katipunan councils and branches 449
in Manila, 1892−1896
B. Revolution or Religious Experience? 452
C. Kabulaanan: the bogus “Minutes of the Katipunan” 466
D. Bonifacio’s letters to Emilio Jacinto 477
E. A note on the authenticity of
“Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog” 485
F. Research note 494
Bibliography 496
Index 501
Acknowledgments
The essence of this book lies in the documents, so my foremost debt of grati-
tude is to the archivists at the Archivo General Militar de Madrid and to
the staff who took such care in supplying me with legible photocopies from
the fragile originals. For assistance in locating other important primary
sources, I am grateful to Cayetano Sánchez Fuertes, OFM, at the Archivo
Franciscano Ibero-Oriental in Madrid; and Constantino Mielgo Fernández,
OSA, and Carlos Alonso, OSA, respectively the librarian and archivist of the
Real Colegio Seminario de los Padres Agustinos in Valladolid. For giving me
the initial leads to these treasure troves, for searching out materials in other
Spanish depositories, and for her invigorating scholarly belligerence, I extend
my special thanks to Raquel A. G. Reyes.
I first wrote the essays and notes in this volume for two websites, Ari
Ngaseo’s “Bonifacio Papers” blog (http://bonifaciopapers.blogspot.com/)
and my own “Katipunan: Documents and Studies” site (http://kasaysayan-
kkk.info/). In the course of my research, many individuals have generously
shared their knowledge, insights, and sources and I thank them all: Digna
B. Apilado, Roberto Blanco Andrés, Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, Emmanuel
Franco Calairo, Michael Charleston Chua, Fe Susan Go, Paul Guerrero,
Reynaldo C. Ileto, Ambeth R. Ocampo, Oona Paredes, Mike G. Price, Ruben
V. Reyes, Wigan Salazar, John N. Schumacher, SJ, John T. Sidel, and Megan
C. Thomas. I am indebted to Glenn Anthony May for his detailed observa-
tions on drafts of a number of the pieces here. Even though I have contested
his doubts about key documents, sometimes combatively, his responses have
invariably been most constructive and cordial. Collectively, these scholars
have rescued me from errors beyond count. I readily accept, in time-honored
fashion, full responsibility for the mistaken interpretations that may remain,
but not for every mistake of fact, because they come unavoidably with the
territory.
The “Katipunan: Documents and Studies” site has now been in exist-
ence for six years, and the number of visits has been gratifyingly high. It has
also been good to see some of the material (usually with due attribution)
floating elsewhere in the Philippine galaxies of cyberspace. The level of crit-
ical engagement with the website’s content, however, and feedback on points
of detail, have been disappointing. I am therefore inordinately thankful to
the few readers who have sent me compliments, comments, and corrections,
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
notably Ian Alfonso, Erwin S. Fernandez, Roberto Prudente, Edgar Millan,

Arnold Arnaiz, Vernon Totanes, and Bobby Manasan.
Way before the days of websites, my interest in the Katipunan and its
times was stimulated by conversations with two good friends now sadly
deceased, Cirilo S. Honorio of the Kapatirang Alagad ni Bonifacio, and
Jonathan Fast, with whom I used to discuss late- nineteenth century Manila
whilst kicking a football about on Clapham Common.
Finally, I want to express my appreciation as always to my wife Clarita
Policarpio Richardson, not just for her kindness and tolerance, but also for
her vital assistance, as the native Tagalog speaker in residence, in fathoming
the meaning of difficult texts.
Preface
One eminent contemporary of the Katipunan said it wanted to establish

a communist republic; others said it wanted to create a monarchy. Some
said the Katipuneros wished to resurrect the old pre-Hispanic religion and
worship the deity Bathala; others said the Katipuneros were godless. Not one
of these assertions is true.
Misinformation about the Katipunan still abounds to this day, not least
in the halls of academia. Even though the literature on the late-nineteenth
century is more voluminous by far than on any other period of Philippine
history, scholarly works on the Katipunan and the revolution it instigated in
1896 are much rarer than studies of what came before and after, especially
the Propaganda movement, the 1898 Republic, and the Philippine-American
War. Nor does this imbalance seem to be diminishing. In the past decade
alone, the events, personalities, and literature of the 1880s and early 1890s
have been reexamined in half a dozen finely detailed, accomplished studies,
but nothing remotely as substantial has been published on the Katipunan for
more than a generation.1
The main deterrent to researchers has been a paucity of sources. Teodoro
Agoncillo—whose Revolt of the Masses is still, sixty years on, the classic work—
relates in his foreword how he had tried hard to pump Andres Bonifacio’s
surviving contemporaries for information about him and the Katipunan, but
“to no avail!”2 The number of actual KKK texts Agoncillo lists in his bibli-
ography can be counted in single figures. Forty or so years later Glenn May
embarked on a research project on the 1896 revolution, but found the sources
so problematic that he first narrowed his scope to a biography of Bonifacio
and then eventually decided—after wondering whether to drop the project
entirely—to limit his study just to disputing the sources themselves, their
provenance and the manner in which historians had handled them.3 His
book, Inventing a Hero, does not cite any Tagalog documents besides the few
Agoncillo had cited decades previously.
The elusiveness of KKK documents is explained to some extent by the
fact that from its formation in 1892 until August 1896, the Katipunan was a
secret society. Discovery, its members knew, might mean—and for many did
mean—imprisonment, exile, or execution by firing squad. Once the revolution
began, the KKK became a civil administration, clandestine except in the liber-
ated zones, and a fighting army that was dispersed and often embattled. These
circumstances, needless to say, were conducive neither to the publication
xi
xii PREFACE
of manifestos, handbills, or newspapers nor to the preservation of internal

records. The Katipunan was able to produce just one issue of its newspaper,
Kalayaan, and not a single copy of that issue has yet been located. Otherwise,
only five documents are known to have been set in print before August 1896:
the Kartilya (a small pamphlet for new members on the KKK’s principles and
teachings) and four single sheets—a list of points to be borne in mind when
recruiting members; the application form; the questions to be answered by
recruits at their initiation; and the oath of allegiance. Handwritten docu-
ments—letters, notices to members, minutes of meetings—were generated
in abundance but were dangerous to keep, especially once the Katipunan
was discovered and combat was joined. Briccio Pantas, for example, some-
time secretary to the KKK Supreme Council, later told how Bonifacio had
entrusted him with records from the Katipunan’s early years. When the revo-
lution broke out, though, his relatives had burned them, fearful they would be
discovered.4 The entire second issue of Kalayaan was also thrown onto a fire.
Countless documents, however, were not destroyed in time to escape the
Spanish dragnet. When the Guardia Civil Veterana raided the homes and
workplaces of Katipuneros in August 1896, they seized cartloads of papers,
including, its commander reported, “all the documents, books, pamphlets,
seals, effects, and files of the Supreme Council.”5 Once intelligence agents had
extracted evidence from this haul to arrest and prosecute KKK members, the
papers were presumably kept in the Guardia’s barracks in Manila until the
American occupation of 1898. Thereafter they were shipped to Spain, where
they were consigned to the military archives and more or less forgotten.
Overlooking the mass of vernacular material that had perished or been incar-
cerated, one distinguished scholar goes so far as to tell his readers that “in
the heroic age of Philippine history, when the country pioneered the rise of
nationalism in Asia, nearly all the documents were written in [Spanish].”6 As
so often, the men who wrote in Spanish, the ilustrado propagandists and the
elitist ministers of the 1898 Republic, thereby get privileged in the historical
narrative over those who used Tagalog, the Katipuneros who actually fought
and died for liberty.
With so many crucial documents either destroyed or inaccessible, discus-
sion on the Katipunan has been constricted, almost claustrophobic. It tends
inevitably to dwell on the same few texts (the Kartilya, some contributions
to Kalayaan, a scattering of letters and poems, Emilio Jacinto’s “Liwanag at
Dilim,” the Acta de Tejeros, the Naik Military Agreement, and the records of
Bonifacio’s trial) and the same handful of partisan memoirs. Worse yet, the
crying shortage of reliable sources has tempted historians to write history
as they wish it had been, and has allowed every species of fallacy to flourish,
from wild conjecture and fanciful exegesis to hagiography and myth-making;
PREFACE xiii
from simple error to outright fabrication. If nothing else, it is hoped this

volume will serve as a corrective to the worst excesses.
I join the offenders in the dock, and plead guilty. I first wrote about the
Katipunan, in particular its class composition and ideology, in a short book
coauthored with Jonathan Fast that was published in 1979.7 I, too, failed to
look beyond the familiar texts, or to check the translations, and I, too, got
one or two details plain wrong. I wanted to find out more, but had no decent
leads, and was stymied.
My interest was reawakened by the flurry of studies that came out around
the time of the 1996 centennial of the revolution, some of which drew on fresh
sources, and it was aroused even more when I heard about a dissertation on
the Katipunan submitted by Carmen Molina Gómez-Arnau at the University
of Madrid.8 In this dissertation, I was amazed to learn, Gómez-Arnau had
cited several of the KKK documents that had been locked away in the Spanish
military archives, documents that scholars previously did not even know had
survived. Held for long decades in Segovia, the papers had been transferred
in 1982 to the Archivo General Militar de Madrid (AGMM), now located
in the Cuartel del Infante Don Juan on the Paseo de Moret. Excited by this
lead I hurried to the archives myself, and as I went through the folders it
became clear the material was even richer and more fascinating than I had
anticipated. Though not voluminous—they fill less than two box files—the
Katipunan papers are hugely important, for they include two sets of founding
documents; more than twenty documents of the Supreme Council; four of
the Supreme Assembly; drafts of some contributions to the KKK newspaper,
Kalayaan; three Bonifacio letters; and a handful of other pieces by Bonifacio
and Emilio Jacinto.
These documents from the AGMM constitute the kernel of this book—52
of the 56 hitherto unpublished texts in the compilation are to be found in that
one depository. There is nothing in the box files to indicate where or when the
documents were captured. The records of the Supreme Council, as mentioned,
were seized soon after the Katipunan was discovered, perhaps at the ware-
house where Bonifacio worked in Binondo, but some of the documents date
from several months later. The majority, at a guess, had at some time been
in the possession of Bonifacio or Jacinto (as secretary of the KKK Supreme
Council and later as an army commander) or Julio Nakpil (as secretary, later
president, of the KKK’s civil administration in the area around Manila).
The material has some inherent imbalances. First, the ideals and preoc-
cupations of the Katipunan are presented here very much as they were artic-
ulated by the society’s leaders—49 out of the 73 documents were penned by
either Bonifacio or Jacinto, and most of the remainder was written by the
presidents or secretaries of KKK sections. Testimony from middle-level cadres
xiv PREFACE
and rank-and-file members, alas, is extremely scant. Second, with very few
exceptions, the documents relate to a limited geographical area, essentially
the city of Manila and the provinces of Manila and Cavite. It would have been
good to survey KKK activities elsewhere, especially in the six other provinces
where Governor General Ramon Blanco declared a “state of war” in August
1896—Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Tarlac, and Batangas—but
as yet the information is too patchy and elusive. Third, the great majority of
the documents date from just two years, 1896 and 1897. I wish it were possible
to track down more documents from the years 1892−1895, but it seems very
few have survived. If the timeframe had been extended beyond Bonifacio’s
death in May 1897, on the other hand, the available material would have
grown exponentially and become unmanageable. By that time, in any event,
the Katipunan had become a different entity, or in fact multiple entities.
No longer a tightly structured and disciplined secret society, it had become
subsumed in the multifaceted revolution it had instigated. Even to Bonifacio,
it had ceased to matter greatly whether a person was actually a member of
the Katipunan or not; what mattered much more was their ability to help the
fight.9
The documents have been selected against two basic criteria—their
significance in charting the history of the Katipunan, and their “freshness”
in the sense of being hitherto unpublished or relatively unknown. But there
are several exceptions. Bonifacio’s “Decalogue” and Jacinto’s Kartilya, for
example, are well known, but have been included nevertheless because any
volume on the KKK would simply be incomplete without them; nowhere else
are the Katipunan’s ideals proclaimed so clearly. Other documents have been
reproduced previously in edited or modified forms—in translation, in retrans-
lation or in a modernized orthography—but are included here so as to make
them available exactly as they were written. A few routine documents about
the formation of new branches are also presented here because they shed
light on how the association grew, and might also be of interest to local histo-
rians in the Philippines. Omissions, primarily for reasons of space, notably
include “Liwanag at Dilim” (which it seems was not published prior to the
revolution) and the record of Bonifacio’s trial, both of which are readily acces-
sible in print and on the web.10
The texts are grouped in sections, essentially in a chronological sequence
but with separate sections devoted to the KKK’s oaths, rituals, and recruit-
ment documents and to Kalayaan, the Katipunan newspaper. There are six
appendices. The first is an extended essay on the character of the Katipunan’s
membership in the city and province of Manila, focusing in particular on
the issue of social class. Annexes to this essay set out data on the KKK’s
leading activists and the location of the KKK’s branches, providing a kind of
PREFACE xv
reference guide to the people and places mentioned throughout the volume.
The second appendix discusses the portrayal of the Katipunan in the work
of the distinguished scholar Reynaldo C. Ileto, a portrayal that provocatively
contests the dominant nationalist narrative. The next three appendices,
deliberately consigned to the end of the book, are strictly speaking not about
the Katipunan at all, but rather about disputed issues of historiography and
documentary provenance. They demonstrate in detail, perhaps bordering on
obsessive detail, why the so-called Minutes of the Katipunan published by the
National Historical Institute are completely bogus, and why the contested
texts of Bonifacio’s letters to Jacinto, and of certain pieces written for
Kalayaan, are authentic. The sixth and final appendix is a brief note offering
pointers to further primary sources.
Most of the documents are preceded by introductions, which vary in
length from a few lines to several pages. The two longest, on the Acta de
Tejeros and the Naik Military Agreement, reached the size of articles and
could have been combined into another appendix, but I decided in the end
to keep them within the overall chronological sequence. Their subject—the
internal politics of the revolution from March to May 1897—is, of course,
oft-trodden, oft-disputed territory, but I have ventured there in an attempt to
draw evidence from the primary sources to verify, clarify, and augment the
familiar, later testimony of famed participants.
The transcriptions of the Tagalog texts are followed in most cases by
English translations or (to save time and sanity) paraphrases, the main excep-
tions being relatively brief and routine documents, whose substance I have
summarized in the introductory commentaries, and a peroration and a poem
by Jacinto, whose translation I happily leave to literary scholars.
The documents do not spring any huge surprises, but they do revise
or clarify several points of detail. It is now evident, for example, that the
Katipunan had already been conceived in January 1892, six months earlier
than previously thought, and so was not, as is often said, an offshoot of the
Liga Filipina or a spur-of-the-moment response to the news of Jose Rizal’s
arrest and deportation. It is recorded that Emilio Aguinaldo joined the
Katipunan in March 1896—less than six months before the revolution, not
as he recalls in his memoirs in March 1895; and that, whenever cedulas were
defiantly torn in Balintawak, the formal decision to launch the revolution was
taken at a meeting of the Katipunan’s Supreme Assembly on August 24, 1896.
More broadly, the documents show that the Katipunan as conceived by
its founders, and as it developed in and around Manila from 1892 to 1897,
was very different from traditional dissident groups. It had constitutions and
regulations, and a defined structure of councils and branches. It chose its pres-
idents, secretaries, and other officeholders by election, for specified terms. It
xvi PREFACE
kept records of its meetings, and collected subscriptions. Recruits joined as

individuals, of their own free will, and were assigned specific tasks and duties.
The Supreme Council created a library, appointed a librarian, and appealed
to members to donate books—not the pasyon, at a guess, or the lives of saints,
or sagas of medieval chivalry, but books about advances in knowledge and
the rights of the citizen. The library was started with books from Bonifacio’s
personal collection, such as Volney’s Las ruinas de Palmira; medical books
donated by the KKK’s physician, Pio Valenzuela; and law books donated by
Jacinto, who was a prelaw student at the University of Santo Tomas.
The Katipuneros shared the nineteenth century’s optimistic sense of
world history, of mankind’s march from despotism, religious dogmatism, and
poverty towards liberty, reason, and progress. Their own battle to be free from
subjugation by Spanish autocrats and Catholic friars, they perceived, was
part of a wider, transnational war. They cheered the rebels in Cuba, wanted
to establish a presence in Hong Kong, and sought aid from Japan. In the
broad sweep of Philippine history, they looked back to the civilization and
contentment of pre-Hispanic times, but did not dwell on resurrecting the
native past or indigenous beliefs and customs. Attentive much more to the
currents of their own century, they traced the Katipunan’s lineage back to the
liberal agitation of the late 1860s, and the martyrdom of the Filipino priests
Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora in 1872. They revered the propagandists who
had labored for the patriotic cause in Europe, above all José Rizal—who they
appointed, without his knowledge, as honorary president of the KKK—and
Marcelo H. del Pilar.
The Katipunan exhorted its members to believe and trust in the Creator
who guided their sacred cause, but it left them as free individuals to decide
whether or not to embrace a particular faith or creed. It had no prophets,
no clergy, no religious rites, and no hallowed texts. It did not promise its
adherents or martyrs eternal life in the hereafter. Its rituals and iconography
were derived not from Catholicism or folk-Catholicism, but from masonry
into which Bonifacio and many other KKK leaders had been initiated. And
the ideals that resound loudest and clearest in the documents are the same
ideals as the revolutionaries in France proclaimed in 1789 and 1848, and as
were printed in large type on the certificates of the masonic lodges, the great
trilogy of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.
There is nothing in the documents to substantiate the claims that the
Katipuneros wanted to establish a “communist republic” or were utopian
socialists.11 Equality was not articulated as denoting egalitarianism, to be
attained by redistributing wealth and ending exploitation. Equality signified
equality of citizenship, of rights before the law, and of the obligation to live a
good and honorable life. As liberals, the Katipuneros reproached those who
PREFACE xvii
considered themselves masters of their equals by virtue of birth or title, and as

revolutionaries they wanted to destroy the mystique of colonial authority, of
which inequality was the very essence. Spanish insinuations that the Filipinos
were an inferior race had to be exposed for what they were—contemptible,
cynical lies, designed to obstruct the people from rightfully taking charge of
their own destiny. “A man’s worth,” Jacinto wrote in the Kartilya, “does not
come from him being a king, or in the height of his nose and the whiteness
of his face, or in him being a priest, a representative of God, or in his exalted
position on the face of this earth.”
The Katipunan, in sum, was at its core a modern, forward-looking organ-
ization, rationalist and secular. It was not the first association to launch a
revolt against Spanish rule, for outbreaks of resistance had begun with the
conquest, and it did not initiate the discourse on liberalism, modernity, and
Philippine nationhood, which is customarily said to have begun in the 1860s.
The originality of the Katipunan, the singular, momentous achievement of the
Katipuneros, lay in connecting the anticolonial impulse with the contempo-
rary discourse, and in launching a revolution that was “nationalist” in the full,
inclusive, nationwide sense of the word. The KKK called upon all the people
of the archipelago to unite, to fight for freedom, and to found a new nation.
It betokened the era of militant nationalism not only in the Philippines but
also across Southeast Asia. Elsewhere in the region, too, resistance to foreign
domination dated back decades and centuries, but nowhere in the 1890s was
there any organization akin to the Katipunan.
The Katipunan did not address its appeals to any particular class or sector
of society. It sought to unite the entire nation, to mobilize the whole bayan, in
the fight for freedom, and it welcomed support from wherever it came, from
rich and poor, from hacenderos and peasants alike. When men and women
joined the Katipunan, they did so not as communists, as monarchists, as
devotees of Bathala or as atheists. They joined the Katipunan, they risked
their lives, because they desired passionately, in the words of their Kartilya,
“to unite the hearts and minds of all…in order that this union may be strong
enough to tear aside the thick veil that obscures thought, and to find the true
path of Reason and Enlightenment.”12 They deserve to be remembered and
honored as they truly were, as patriots who saw liberty as the path to progress,
and who stood up to fight for liberty.
London
June 2013
xviii PREFACE
1 Benedict Anderson, Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination (London:
Verso, 2005); Vicente Rafael, The Promise of the Foreign: Nationalism and the Technics of
Translation in the Spanish Philippines (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005); Resil B.
Mojares, Brains of the Nation: Pedro Paterno, T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Isabelo de los Reyes and the
Production of Modern Knowledge (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2006);
Raquel A. G. Reyes, Love, Passion and Patriotism: Sexuality and the Philippine Propaganda
Movement, 1882–1892 (Singapore: NUS Press; Seattle: University of Washington Press,
2008); Floro C. Quibuyen, A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American Hegemony and Philippine
Nationalism (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1999); and Megan C.
Thomas, Orientalism, Propagandists and Ilustrados: Filipino Scholarship and the End of Spanish
Colonialism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012).
2 Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan
(Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), vii. Although the book was not published
until 1956, it was written in 1948.
3 Glenn Anthony May, Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio
(Madison: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, 1996), 2–3.
4 Briccio Brigido Pantas, untitled statement in José P. Santos, “Andres Bonifacio at ang
Katipunan” (unpublished MS, c.1948) reproduced as an appendix to Soledad Borromeo-
Buehler, The Cry of Balintawak: A Contrived Controversy (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila
University Press, 1998), 140–41.
5 Olegario Diaz, commander of the Manila detachment of the Guardia Civil Veterana, Report
on the Insurrection against Spain, dated October 28, 1896, in Wenceslao E. Retana, ed.,
Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid: Imprenta de la viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios,
1897), 360.
6 Benedict Anderson, The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia and the World
(London: Verso, 1998), 23.
7 Jonathan Fast and Jim Richardson, Roots of Dependency: Political and Economic Revolution in
19th century Philippines (Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist Studies, 1979).
8 Carmen Molina Gómez-Arnau, “Los movimientos emancipadores en Filipinas durante el
período español. El Katipunan,” Ph.D. dissertation, Universidad Central de Madrid, 1995.
9 Emilio Aguinaldo envisaged the Katipunan as being absorbed into the Republic of which
he had been elected president at the Tejeros Convention in March 1897. In July 1898, he
proclaimed formally that the Katipunan had ceased to exist because it now embraced the
whole nation. “All Filipinos,” he said, “must understand that they are now included in the
Katipunan whether they want to be or not.” Two years later, however, fighting a guerrilla war
against the United States, he ordered his commanders to reorganize the association “for the
defense of our country as well to put an end to the gambling and other diversions with which
the enemy attracts our brothers.” The KKK, he reasoned, had in former times constituted “a
powerful means to attract our brothers to the road of their duties.” The extent to which the
commanders were able to implement this directive is not known, but in the subsequent years
Katipunans proliferated in many localities, some doubtless independent of Aguinaldo’s fugi-
tive government and not to its liking. Emilio Aguinaldo, “To the Katipunan,” July 15, 1898,
in The Philippine Insurrection against the United States, a compilation of documents with
notes and introduction by John R. M. Taylor, vol. 3 (Pasay City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation,
1971), 161–62; and Emilio Aguinaldo, Letters to Mariano Trias, August 15, 1900, and to the
Commander of the Forces coming from the Ilocos, August 20, 1900, in ibid., vol.5, 128–30.
PREFACE xix
10 See, for example, Emilio Jacinto’s “Liwanag at Dilim” in José P. Santos, Buhay at mga Sinulat
ni Emilio Jacinto (Manila: José Paez Santos, 1935), 27–48 (available online at http://quod.lib.
umich.edu/p/philamer/ ); The Trial of Andres Bonifacio: The Original Documents in Tagalog
Text and English Translation. Translated by Virginia Palma-Bonifacio with an historical intro-
duction by Carlos Quirino and preface by Miguel A. Bernad, SJ (Manila: Ateneo de Manila,
1963); and Teodoro A. Agoncillo and Silvino V. Epistola, The Writings and Trial of Andres
Bonifacio (Manila: Bonifacio Centennial Commission, 1963).
11 Isabelo de los Reyes, La religión del Katipunan, Segunda edición (Madrid: Tip. Lit de J.
Corrales, 1900), 37; Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses, 115.
12 Emilio Jacinto (attrib.), Katipunan nang manga A. N. B.—Sa may Nasang Makisanib sa
Katipunang Ito [The Kartilya] in José P. Santos, Buhay at mga Sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto (Manila:
José Paez Santos, 1935), 60.
About the Documents
Every effort has been made to transcribe the documents as accurately as

possible. Thankfully, both Bonifacio and Jacinto had handwritings that are
readily legible, and even more thankfully only a handful of the documents
had to be deciphered from code. In a few instances, though, the texts are
either incomplete due to pages having got lost, or are partially illegible due
to seepage of the ink through the page, or to the paper crumbling with age.
Words that are difficult to read are followed by a question mark in square
brackets—”[?]”—and gaps are indicated with the note “[word(s) missing].
Any words in round brackets—for example, “(Consejero)”—are as found in
the original texts. I have fought the temptation to alter spellings that seem
strange, and to modernize the orthography, so the transcriptions contain
what readers today might see as oddities and inconsistencies. Consistency
with regard to orthography, nomenclature, abbreviations and the like, need-
less to say, was a lesser concern to the Katipuneros than plotting, and then
fighting, the revolution. The abbreviation for the KKK’s popular councils
(“Sangunian Bayan”), for example, is sometimes “S.B.” and sometimes “Sb.”;
Emilio Jacinto signs his alias in some instances as “Pinkian” and in others
as “Pingkian.” Whenever possible, KKK aliases have been converted in the
translations and paraphrases into real names, so that “Pingkian” is rendered
as Emilio Jacinto, and so on.
The original Tagalog texts bear accents in accordance with the conven-
tions of the time, but these have been omitted here due to the difficulties of
rendering them in print, particularly the double-width tilde over the word
and sound “ng.” Other diacritics generally employed by Bonifacio and Jacinto
include acute accents over the second “a” in words like anák and agád; circum-
flexes over the “i” in “dî”; and grave accents over the “o” in words like pusò
and hibò.
The translations, unless stated otherwise, are my own, aided by continual
reference to my wife and to the dictionaries of Pedro Serrano Laktaw,
Sofronio G. Calderon, and Mamerto Paglinawan.1 In a few instances I have
drawn heavily on previous translations into English, and have acknowledged
my indebtedness accordingly, but responsibility for the finished products
is entirely mine. On a number of occasions when I was struggling to sense
the meaning of passages in the documents where the Tagalog was especially
“deep,” or archaic, I was also helped greatly by translations into Spanish made
by the Filipino historian Antonio M. Molina.2
xx
ABOUT THE DOCUMENTS xxi
There have been two main difficulties of translation. First, it is impos-

sible to know for sure whether the word bayan is being used to signify
“people” or “nation.” Recognizing that it could connote either or both, I
have followed the consensus in translating the KKK’s short title, “Katipunan
ng mga Anak ng Bayan,” as “Association of the Sons of the People,” but
the phrase “Ang Haring Bayan Katagalugan” as “The Sovereign Tagalog
Nation.”3 The second quandary has been how to interpret abbreviations, and
in particular the plethora of “K.”s. It is strange but true, for instance, that
the “K.K.K.” of the association’s long title does not appear in any document
yet located, so we cannot be absolutely sure that the first “K.” always stood
for “Kataastaasan(g)” or the second “K.” for “Kagalang-galang.” Artemio
Ricarte, a KKK leader in the province of Cavite, remembers the first “K.” as
being not “Kataastaasan” but “Kamahal-mahala’t,” and a KKK document
in the Spanish archives suggests the second “K.” might at some time have
been taken to mean “Kamahal-mahalang” rather than “Kagalang-galang.”4
There is a slight uncertainty, too, about the titles Bonifacio and Jacinto used
within the Supreme Council, which were abbreviated to “K. P.” and “K.K.”
respectively. The “K.” has been taken here to denote “Kataastaasang,” that
is, Supreme President and Supreme Secretary, but it may alternatively have
denoted “Kapatid” (as was definitely the usage in the KKK branches), thus
making the titles Brother President and Brother Secretary.
Any corrections, or suggestions as to how the translations and para-
phrases might be improved, will be gratefully received.
The Katipunan cipher

The great majority of the documents in this compilation, thanks be,
were written in regular Tagalog. Only five (documents 1.2, 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, and
3.1) were written entirely in cipher, and they all date from 1892−1895. In 1896
and 1897, the cipher was not entirely discarded—some of Bonifacio’s letters,
for example, contain brief passages of cipher—but its use had become rare.
This may have been mainly because it was less laborious to write in regular
Tagalog, but there also seems to have been a recognition that the cipher was
too simple, and therefore served little purpose. In March 1896, the Supreme
Council agreed that a new code should be devised, but apparently this
proposal came to naught.
Many sources suggest the KKK had a series of codes, but all the docu-
ments just mentioned, from the foundational documents of August 1892, to
xxii ABOUT THE DOCUMENTS
the last letters of Bonifacio in April 1897, in fact, use the same basic cipher,
with only minor variations. The key to the cipher is set out below.
Tagalog/Spanish KKK Cipher
A N or Z
B B
C K
D D
E Q
F -
G G
H F
I Ñ
J -
K K
L J
M V
N LL
O C
P P
Q -
R R
S S
T T
U X
V M
W W
X U
Y Y
Z -
ABOUT THE DOCUMENTS xxiii

The symbol of the Katipunan, which was drawn in hand on many of the
documents, depicts a blaze of light bursting forth from the character “Ka”
as written in the pre-Hispanic script known as baybayin. The “Ka” meant
“Katipunan,” but it also connoted the association’s paramount purpose,
“Kalayaan,” or Liberty.
1 Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Diccionario Hispano-Tagalog (Manila: Estab. Tipográfico La Opinión,

1889); Mamerto Paglinawan, Diksionariong Kastila-Tagalog (Diccionario Hispano-Tagalog)
(Maynila: Limbagang “El Progreso,” 1913); Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Diccionario Tagalog-
Hispano (Manila: Imprenta de Santos y Bernal, 1914); Sofronio G. Calderon, Diccionario
Ingles-Español-Tagalog (Manila: Libreria y Papeleria de J. Martinez, 1915).
2 Antonio M. Molina was commissioned by the military authorities in Madrid, in 1988, to
translate some of the KKK documents into Spanish. His translations have been printed and
bound together in a research guide which may be consulted at the Archivo General Militar,
but which has not been published.
3 I have also followed the consensus, and in particular the example of scholars such as Teodoro
A. Agoncillo and Reynaldo C. Ileto, in translating the gender-free “mga Anak” as “sons”
rather than as “sons and daughters,” or “children.” “Kapatid,” similarly, has been rendered as
“brother” in preference to “sibling.”
4 Artemio Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino laban sa Kastila (Yokohama: “Karihan
Café,” 1927), 1; “Panuntunan,” n.d. (Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5677, leg.1.38).
Glossary and Abbreviations
Anak ng Bayan A.N.B Sons of the People

Basahan ng Bayan People’s Library
Balangay By. Branch
Bayan People; nation; town
Kalihim K; Kal Secretary
Kampon K.; Kpon Member
Kapatid K.; Kp. Brother
Kapuluang Katagalugan K. K. Katagalugan Islands
Kasanguni Kas. Councilor
Kataastaasang, KKK Highest and Most
Kagalang-galang Respected Association
Katipunan
Kataastaasang Kalihim K. K. Supreme Secretary
Kataastaasang Kapisanan K. K. Supreme Assembly
Kataastaasang Kapulungan K. K. Supreme Congress
Kataastaasang Pangulo K. P. Supreme President
Kataastaasang Sangunian K. S. Supreme Council
Kataastaasang Tagausig K. T. Supreme Fiscal
Kualta 1/160th of a peso
Guinoo G.; Gn. Señor
Haring Bayan H. B. Sovereign People;
Sovereign Nation
Huling Lagda H. L. Postscript
Mabalasik Mab. Terrible
Maguinoo M. Don
Mahal M. Dear
Maniningil Collector
Manunulat Writer; Recorder
Mataas na Kalihim M. N. K. High Secretary
Mataas na Pamunuan M. N. P. High Executive
Mataas na Pangulo M. N. P High President
Mataas na Sangunian M. N. S. High Council
Pangalawang Kalihim Pang. K. Second Secretary
Pangalawang Pangulo Pang. P. Vice President
Pangulo P; Pang.; P-Ulo President
Punong Hukbo P. H. Army Commander
xxiv
GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS xxv
Salapi Half a peso – 80 kualta

Sangunian Bayan S. B.; Sb. Popular Council
Sangunian Lihim S. L. Secret Council
Sikapat One-eighth of a peso
– 20 kualta
Tagaingat-yaman Ty. Treasurer
Tagalaan Warden; Keeper
Tagalibot Patroller
Tagapamahala ng Custodian of
“Basahan ng Bayan” the People’s Library
Tagapangasiwa Administrator
Tagatulong sa Pagsulat Assistant Clerk
Tagausig T; Tag Fiscal
Taliba Sentinel
chapter 1
Foundational Documents
M
1.1
“Casaysayan; Pinagcasundoan; Manga daquilang cautosan,” January 1892
Archivo General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5677, leg.1.37.
ost histories say the Katipunan was born on July 7, 1892, and they may
be right, but that was not the date it was conceived. The news circu-
lating on July 7 of Rizal’s deportation to Mindanao may or may not have been
the final catalyst that brought the society to life, but it had been plotted a
while earlier.
Transcribed below is a draft of the foundational document of the
Katipunan, written in January 1892. The original text is penned in a small
booklet of 44 pages fashioned from 11 sheets of paper folded together, and
is divided into 3 sections—“Casaysayan” (Narrative), “Pinagcasundoan”
(Covenant), and “Manga daquilang cautosan” (Principal orders).
A declaration of independence
The ambition in the document is colossal. Separation from Spain
is proclaimed not just as a goal, but as an action taken, a status in a sense
attained by the very act of its proclamation. Plainly and unequivocally,
1
2 THE LIGHT OF LIBERTY
independence is declared: “from this day forward these Islands are separated
from [Spain] and …no other leadership or authority shall be recognized or
acknowledged other than this Supreme Catipunan.”
Nor is there any doubt or equivocation about the extent of the territory
over which the Catipunan is to govern. It is to be the entire Archipelago,
“which in time will be given a proper name.” The Spaniards will not be
ousted, the document recognizes, by peaceful means; the fight ahead will
demand courage and selfless sacrifice, and in due course the Catipunan will
direct its leaders in the provinces to raise an army.
A statement of motives
The first part of the document, the “Casaysayan,” enumerates the reasons
for taking the momentous decision to separate from Spain. More directly and
specifically than any other document that has yet come to light, it sets out the
response the initiators of the Katipunan would themselves give to the ques-
tion, “What were the causes of the Philippine revolution?”
Students nowadays confronted with that question in an exam might
best be advised to skip it, and to look on the paper for easier options. But if
it can’t be dodged, where to start? With the propagandistas of the 1880s; the
execution of Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora in 1872; or the liberal aspirations
of 1868? Or further back, with Hermano Pule’s revolt of 1841; the opening of
Manila and other ports to foreign trade; the mutiny of Novales in 1823; the
economic reforms begun in the 1780s; or even, and most logically, with the
initial Spanish conquest? Are we to consider just the outbreak of 1896, or to
look at the whole decade of revolution that followed? Manila and the nearby
provinces or the whole archipelago? Should greater weight be attached to
economic or to political causes? Social, cultural, or religious factors? What
about the technics of translation?
Just as individual historians would give strikingly different answers
to the question, of course, so too would individual revolutionaries. Finding
such first-hand testimonies, however, is not easy. The memoirs of Katipunan
veterans are few and mostly brief, and invariably they recall people and
events more clearly than motivations. In part this may simply be how human
memory works, but it probably also evinces the belief of the memoirists that
they did not need to explain what drove them to fight for their country’s inde-
pendence. Their readers, they undoubtedly hoped, would share their patri-
otic ideals, and would accept without reservation that their cause had been
just. Debates as to whether Spain had been a relatively malign or benign
colonial power, or what particular aspects of her rule had been most hateful
FOUNDATIONAL DOCUMENTS 3
or detrimental, they might see as almost incidental, even irrelevant, to the

nation’s fundamental right to be free.
To some extent the same assumptions are evident in Katipunan docu-
ments that predate the revolution. The paper Kalayaan, for example, the only
publication the KKK circulated prior to the revolution, sought to mobilize
support from across the whole subjugated population, and depicted colonial
injustice in concrete detail only rarely. Liberty is projected in its pages as an
aspiration that should be common to all, because the abuses and indignities
of Spanish rule have been suffered by all. Details are unnecessary, super-
fluous, because colonial injustice is part of the very fabric of daily life. Thus
the well-known essay, “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog” (document 5.5),
describes colonial abuses and transgressions only in generalized terms: the
Spaniards, it says, had in the course of three centuries betrayed their “promise
to awaken us to a better life”; “destroyed our good customs”; “contaminated
us with their base behavior”; inculcated “false beliefs”; “cast the honor of our
land into the mire”; left us “deprived and hungry”; and “punished us with
inhuman cruelty.”
These generalized sources of discontent and antagonism also figure
prominently in the “Casaysayan,” but here they are elaborated in rather more
detail, and augmented by grievances that are more specific. Complaints are
voiced about racial discrimination—that the Spaniards in the Islands enjoy
special privileges, hold all the highest-paid positions, get preferential treat-
ment in the courts, and treat the Tagalogs with gross disrespect. Spain, it is
stated, keeps the Tagalogs in a state of backwardness, prevents them from
learning the knowledge and skills that the country needs to progress, bans
them from reading books on “beneficial pursuits.” Economic advancement is
also thwarted by high taxes and tariffs, limitations on trade, and competition
from the Chinese.
But noteworthy, too, are the matters about which the “Caysaysayan”
is silent. The Spanish friars, for instance, are condemned implicitly for
suppressing modern knowledge and explicitly for fornication. But there is
no mention of the bitterness felt towards them in some localities as land-
owners and small-town despots, or to their opposition to the preferment of
native clergy. Other than a passing reference to the “Joloanos,” there is no
censure of the threat posed by the Spanish regime to the cultures and beliefs
of the Muslims and other non-Christianized peoples of the Islands. Abuses
of power by the Spanish provincial governors, the alcaldes, are also left unre-
marked, as are the excesses of the Guardia Civil in the provinces, and the
conscription of forced labor for public works projects. Nor is any reference
made to Spaniards as employers, either as hacenderos in the countryside or

as the owners of tobacco factories, print shops, and other establishments in
the city. The sole discontent voiced in relation to conditions in places of work
is less about exploitation than discrimination, and the single example cited at
that juncture is not a farm or a factory, but the offices of the governor general.
The author or authors of the “Casaysayan,” it is clear, wanted to articu-
late the laments of “the entire subject population of these Islands,” and most
of the grievances they enumerate are couched in broad terms. It is also clear,
however, that the statement’s scattered departures from generalities, its
pattern of inclusions and omissions, reflects the particular milieu and preoc-
cupations of whoever wrote it.
Self-evidently, it is penned from the perspective of Manila. No other
place is mentioned by name, and no other place furnishes examples of the
listed abuses in the same manner. Even though the new nation is as yet
unnamed, “the Tagalogs”—the natives of Manila and the surrounding prov-
inces—is the term already chosen by the Catipunan’s initiators to signify the
native population of the whole archipelago. It is also evident that the milieu
from which the “Casaysayan” springs was one in which it was commonplace
to have direct contact with Spaniards and with the policies and practices of
Spanish rule. The statement expresses the discontents of businessmen and
traders who felt that initiative and expansion was being retarded by taxes,
tariffs, and restrictive trade legislation; the resentments of students and
graduates who felt the instruction offered at clerically administered colleges
and university was “backward” and that intellectual life in the colony was
stifled; the grievances of court clerks, government employees, and military
personnel who had an inside view of the prejudice, corruption, and injustice
that pervaded the institutions of colonial administration and control; and the
frustration of liberals, patriots, and dissentients of whatever stripe that the
potential avenues for peaceful protest were all blocked. Representation in the
Cortes had been denied; reformist newspapers and pamphlets were banned,
and free speech strangled. Anyone who dared speak out against the abuses of
the government or the friars was likely to face imprisonment or exile.
A just cause, guided by God and Reason

The second part of the document, the “Pinagcasundoan,” or Covenant,
begins with a reference back to the first. The “wicked and perverse acts” of
the Spaniards narrated in the “Casaysayan,” it indicates, are the immediate,
particular, and pressing reasons for separating from Mother Spain. But the
case for separation, it then explains, is also justified on historical and ethical
grounds.
Again prefiguring themes developed in Kalayaan four years later, the

“Pinagcasundoan” relates how, when the Spaniards first set foot in the
Islands, they had solemnly pledged not to subjugate the native people, but
to defend them from all dangers, to safeguard their welfare, and to treat them
like brothers. But the compact had never been honored; on the contrary, for
over three hundred years, it had been grievously betrayed. The unfortunate
natives had been enslaved, impoverished, held captive. They consequently
had no obligation to Spain under the compact, or any debt of gratitude. Nor
did they have any financial debt, because the little cost Spain had incurred in
occupying the Islands had been outweighed by the rewards she had reaped.
Under these circumstances, the “Pinagcasundoan” argues, it is not trea-
sonous or criminal for the people to bring down their oppressive rulers. It is
a moral right. Ultimately, however, the document affirms that the case for
freedom would still be valid even if Spanish rule had not been so oppressive
and debilitating, even if the people felt some obligation to Spain. The seizure
by a foreign power of land and possessions that were not hers was against
the will of God, and the struggle for independence is a “sacred cause.” Those
who now pledged allegiance to that cause could place themselves confidently
before the Almighty and seek his aid in ensuring they would be “sheltered
and succored by true reason.”
An organizational blueprint
The third and final part of this document, the “Manga daquilang
cautosan,” or “Principal orders,” calls upon “the entire subject population” to
heed the declaration of independence and to recognize the Catipunan as the
sole sovereign power in the Islands.
The orders then detail the proposed structure of the Catipunan, arrange-
ments for the collection and safekeeping of dues, the oath that initiates
should swear and sign in blood, and the establishment of a central bank or
treasury. This part of the document has been transcribed in full below, but
has not been translated. The plans it sets out were not put into effect, and
in August 1892 they were superseded by the framework set out in document
1.2. Some sections of the “Casaysayan” and “Pinagcasundoan” were also
discarded or revised at that time, but others were retained.
Orthography
The document is unsigned, and it is difficult for the untutored eye to tell
whether or not it was penned by a single hand. The orthography, however, is
more or less consistent throughout, and is highly distinctive. One surprise is
that the “c” is favored rather than the “k” (which was later to become almost
obligatory within the Katipunan). The name of the society, for example, is
consequently rendered as the cagalang galang na Cataastaasang Catipunan. But
the use of the “c” was still commonplace in the Manila of the 1890s, as were
other characteristics of the old-style orthodoxy to be found in the document—
the use of “u” rather than “w” in words such as gaua and uala, for instance,
or sila,i, among others rather than sila’y and so on—so none of these conven-
tions is in any way aberrant or anachronistic. What is truly unusual about
this document orthographically, perhaps even unique, is that the author or
authors customarily use “j” in place of “h,” so that hindi becomes jindi and
hanap buhay becomes janap bujay, and so on. As yet, the reason for this
stylistic quirk remains a mystery.
Two words, signifiers for the hated enemy, are half-suppressed. España,
the nation that subjugates the Archipelago, is deliberately diminished as
“E……”, and the españoles are customarily slighted as “her children,” or simply
“them.” And on another occasion they appear not as the Castila but as the
Kzstnja—the only word in the whole document written in the newly devised
(and not yet fully mastered) cipher of the Association.
Tagalog text
Casaysayan
Pag sasaysay ng mga cadahilanan ng pag jiualay ng Capuloang ito sa nag

aanquing Yna.
Ang umodioc sa amin na jumiualay sa E........ ay ang malabis niyang ugali, matigas
na loob, catacsilan at iba pang manga carumaldumal na gaua na jindi dapat gamitin
ng sino mang Yna sa alin mang anac, gaya ng manga sumusunod:-
1. Ang cataasan at ualang auang pag singil ng buis namin, maguing sa aming
catauan, maguing sa mga are o cayamanan namin.
2. Ang pag caltas sa caunting quiquitain namin cung cami ay gumamit nang
anomang industria; yaon ay isang paraang cami ay mang jina at juag maca bangon.
3. Ang mataas na pag singil sa Aduana tungcol sa ano mang calacal na mag daan
sa caniya.
4. Ang di ilajoc itong aming Capuloan sa mga pinagcasundoan ng
Ynang E........at ibang Cajarian gaya ng America sa pag jajatid at pag tangap ng isa at
isa ng canicanilang manga calacal. Pagpapabayang yaon ay quinusa upanding cami ay
manatili sa caralitaan.
5. Cun jindi cami macabigay sa canilang Acicudang jare nang buis dajil sa
casalatan, lalo na cun ang ipinag babayad na industria ay jindi pinagtutuboan at
bagcos pinangunguluguijan ay papatungunang utang, at cun ualang salape, ay
sasamsamin ang aming pagaare at jindi na gumagaua nang siyasat na cung nag tubo
ay mag bayad at cung nangulugui ay patauarin.
6. Pinapayagang cami ay maaganan sa aming janap bujay nang alin mang
nacion lalo na ang manga insic na jindi macapag tuturo o mapupulutan ng ano
mang icamumulat sa gauang magaling, cun di pauang cadayaan, pag nanacao at mga
caralitaan.
7. Ang jindi cami payagang na tulad sa caniyang manga anac, datapoa,i, oo tuncol
lamang sa parusa nang anomang casalanan.
8. Jindi cami pagcalooban ng mga biyaya (privilegios) gaya nang manga
ibinibigay sa caniyang mga anac na siyang lamang inibig.
9. Jualang linicjang catungcolan na di inilalaan caniyang caniyang manga anac
ay may malaquing sasajorin at sa amin ay ang cacaunting buanan.
10. Ayao caming payagang malajoc sa manga Catipunan (Congreso) at
magcaroon nang pinacacatau na maquijarap sa manga Cortes, mag tangol at tumutol
sa ngalan namin ng aming catoiran, mag sumbong ng manga camaliang quinacamtang
cusa ng mga pinuno, mag saysay nang aming caapihan sa alin mang calabisan nila at
jumingi nang mga nauucol sa icaguiguinjaua nitong malayong Capuloan.
11. Jindi cami bigyang layao na maca licja o magcalat ng ano mang libro o
casulatan sa aming uica na icamumulat namin sa gauang magaling at icaliliuanag
ng manga pag-iisip gaya ng manga Artes y Ciencias at iba pang jindi banal; caya
ganoon ay upanding cami ay manatili sa cabulagan, at cung acayen saan man ay juag
macaaninao ng catoiran at iba pang mga carangalan.
12. Ariing pag labag at pag laban sa Jare ang alin mang dumulog at itagjoy
sa caniya o itala ang mga camalian, calabisan at madlang casaman ng caniyang
manga anac na ditoy pinag catiualaan ng caniyang capangyarijan at pamamajala sa
Capuloang ito.
13. Sabijing tumatatua sa Religion Catolica ang alin man sa amin na mag calat
ng sulat na pauang nag jajayag at tuloy nag susumbong lamang ng manga camaliang
quinacamtan ng naturang Catipunan.
14. Pag tayong tayungin ang anomang panucala na maca gagaling sa lupang ito.
15. Ang jindi pag ganap nang caniyang manga anac sa mga cautosang maca pag
bibigay ayos sa amin, caya gayon upanding cami ay malubos sa casalatan.
16. Ang pag lalatjala ng manga cautosan na na babagay lamang sa manga lupang
bagong tuclas o dili caya ay ang manga tauo doon,i, jindi pa na susupil na tuluyan,
catulad ng manga Joloano. Ysa sa manga cautosang yaon ay ang bagong Decreto na
pinajijintulotang muli at binibiguian pa ng malabis na Capangyarijan ang Mataas na
Puno dito sa manga Capuloan na cailan man at ibiguin ay bunutin sa tajimic na tirajan
at candungan nang nag mamajal at minamajal na alagad o casambajay, ang sino man
sa amin, na dajil sa caunti o ganap na carunungan na tinataglay ay quina-iinguitan,
lalo pa, cung na pag jajalatang maalam dumamdam nang sugat, na tinitiis ng lajat o
nacaaabot ng catoirang dapat ipaglaban sa manga camaliauat calabisang na quiquita,
ay pararatangan agad ng ganang cabulaanan, paratang na pag dacay diringuin at di na

gagauin ang manga nauucol na pag usig nang may pag calinauan cung totoo o bulaan
ang mga paratang, cun di sucat na lamang ang jubad na sumbong upanding itapong
caguiat sa malayo ang pinag bibintangan.
16. [sic] Juag caming payagang macapag palimbag nang ano mang tagabalita
(Periodico) lalo pa cung sa aming uica, na jindi magdaraan muna sa punajan (Sensura)
pagcat ito,i, casaboat, bajalang pumintas cun ang salitaan ay may sisiualat nang manga
camalian nang pinuno. Caya ganoon ay nang juag dumating sa balita ng iba lalo na
sa E........ ang mga capusongang guinagaua dito, at bajala na ang nasasactan, cung
may gagastajin, lumayag patungo doon at mag sacdal, baga mat jindi rin didinguin
at juala namang gagaua pa nang ganoong paraan, upang juag nang mabasagulojan.
17. Pag api ngay malabis gaya nang nangyayare sa mga Oficina nang Jare sa
manga Capuloang ito na ang manga utosan at tagasulat ay pauang tagalog at ang
manga tinatauag na Oficiales at Jefes ay tagauas na Castila, baga mat iilan sa manga
Pinunong ito ang maalam gumaua at ang caramijan ay jindi pumapasoc at nangag
lilibot lamang, bajalang gumaua na ang canicanilang manga tagasulat ng manga
gagaoin na natutungcol sa canila at cung mayari ay sucat na lamang ang canilang
tibayan o firmajan. !Mabubuting upajan....!
18. Nangag papangap na manga lalaquing maningning (ilustrados) may
pinag aralan at conoa,i, manga majal, datapoa,i, labis ang manga cabastosan at dito y
maquiquita. Sa alin mang pulong nang manga Castila ay ang tagalog na mapaquilajoc
ay ibinibilang na alangan sa canilang pag catauo at cung magcaminsan ay jindi pa
aloquin nang luclocan (baga man maningning na capoa nila,) lalo pa cung pumapanjic
sa canilang manga tirajang bajay; datapoa cung sila ang naquiquituloy ay ualang
pagcasiyajan ang nang mga tagalog at sila,i, sinasalubong nang boong ucol at pag irog,
tuloy ipinag papalagay jalos na silay manga Dioses, bucod pa sa ganoong manga asal
ay balang tagalog na causapin jindi iguinagalang caunti man caya ngat ang mapuputi
na ang bujoc sa catandaan, ano man ang catungcolang, jauac ay cung tauagin ay icao,
tuloy tutungayaoin ng negro o chongo. ¿Ganito caya ang naquiquicapatid? Jindi cung
di ganoon ang naquiquipag cagalit at jumajamon nang auay o guerra.
19. Pinupuri na magandang gaua ang pag salanta na ualang aua ng manga
Pinunong guardia Civil maguing sa loob at labas nang Cuta nitong pinaca ulong
Manila sa manga tauong canilang madaquip, may sala o uala man, ang caramijan ay
mga lalaquing namamayan nang matajimic, pag canilang quinapupuotan sa minsang
sila,i, jindi sundin sa canilang naguing pita masama o magaling man.
20. Cung magcaminsan ay nacamamatay ang manga pagsalautang yaon na uala
sa catoiran, datapoa,i, iuululan pa cung ang sinasalanta ay pinipilit na aminin ang
ipinararatang o isigao ang jindi dapat idamay at cung sa catacutan ay umamin, ijajatid
sa quinauuculang Jocom o alin mang may capangyarijan at ang mga Pinunong ito ay
maniniuala naman sa ganong pag amin.
21. Pinapayagan na ang mga Fraile ay maquiapid sa babaye, caya ngat sa manga
provincia ang caramijan ay bijira ang jindi may manga anac at bijira rin naman ang
mga binibini na jindi canilang sinisira.
22. Ang manga magulang at iba pang camag-anac nang magcagano-ong babaye,
na mag taglay puot sa ganoon asal ay pararatangan agad nang gauang jindi totoo
upang matapon sa lubjang malayo.
Pinagcasundoan
Caming nag
Alang-alang sa manga buctot at capusongang gaua na nanga tatala sa
nangungunang casaysayan, manga cadahilanang inahihiualay sa... nitong
Sangcapuloan.
Yamang ang unang majalaga at pinuputungan ng masaganang carangalan at
capurijan sa alin mang maningning na Kajarian ay ang majal na catungculan na mag
tangol sa caniyang bayan, mag paca jirap sa icaguiguinjaua nito, gugulin ang dugo
sampo nang bujay sa icararangal ng caniyang bayan, manga capatid at anac, upang
juag sacupin, lupiguin at apijin ng ibang cajarian.
Yamang ang tauo ay pinag calooban ng P.D. nang ganap na caramdaman.
Yamang jindi ipinag iniuutos nang Maykap.l na ang isa niyang linalang ay
lumupig at yumurac sa capua, lalo na cung ito ay jindi nagbibigay dajilan.
Yamang jindi gauang calilojan ang mag tangol at umibig sa caniyang bayan lalo
na cung iniinis at inaalipin ng namumuno sa caniya, gaya nang manga casalucuyang
nagyayare.
Yamang ang isang bayan, capag pinagpupunoan nang laban sa caniyang manga
intereses, cailangan, at mga tunay o tapat na jangad, ay mairo,-ong catoirang ijapay
ang namumuno na may ganoong asal, at cung dumating ang ganitong janga, ay jindi
pag laban o calilojan, cung di pag balicuas sa ningas nang jirap, na pinag susucbajan
sa caniya sa isang salita ay pag tatangol sa matapat na catoiran.
Yamang tatlong daang taong majiguit ang linalacaran nitong calunoslunos na
bayang tagalog sa ilalim nang capangyarijan nang manga Kastila ay nag cacaloob
ng malaquing cababaan at bulag na pag sunod, baga man inaalagaan sa boong
caalipinan, quinacaladcad at inalulubog sa ilalim nang malauac na hirap, iniinis na
di ibig pajingajin, at bagcos dinadangunan ng mabibigad na patao, upanding huag ng
lumitao mag pacailan pa man.
Yamang hualang inaasal at guinagaua ang Kzstnja cung di sugatan at salautain
ang puso ng lalong matajimic, mati,isin at may tapat na pag ibig sa canila.
Yamang pinag pipilitang malaglag sa tangcay at malanta ang lupang ito na
di ibig sibulan caunti mang dacta na icabubujay, ano pat (huluin nang matalinong
isip ang mga talinjagang ito) ang nacacatulad nitong culang palad na lupa ay isang
catauan na bagamat uala nang tumatayo cun di ang balancas na majinang manga buto
ay quinucutcot pa ito, nang matapos sipsipin ang caniyang manga laman upang juag
nang mabujay na baca ipag giganti ang tiniti,is na kaapijan.
Yamang, nang unang silay lumiligao, upanding tumuntong sa manga Capuloang
ito, ay pinangcoang majicpit ang caniyang mga inanac, na tatauaging capatid at ipag
tatangol sa ano mang manga Capanganiban tuloy bibijisin sa cajubaran, at jindi
aasalin ang manga nanga sabe na sa itaas, datapoa,i, jindi tinutupad ang ganoong
pinagcasundoan.
Yamang mag bujat nang una, ang E.... sa caniyang pag samsam at pag cacalat
ng caniyang capangyarijan sa boong Capuloang ito, jindi gumugol ng malaquing
pujunan, maguing pagod, dugo o bujay man, pagcat, ang manga Campon niyaon ay
sinalubong ng malaquing capacumbabaan at tinangap nang boong pag irog, ayon
sa canilang magandang pangaco at pag asang aarinig Anac at Capatid ang boong
tagarito, na di lulupiguin at pag lililicjan sa manga pinag casundoan.
Yamang ang E.... ay nag tubo na at nag camal nang hindi cacaunting cayamanan
sa caniyang pag jauac at pag lupig sa mga Capuloang ito.
Yamang jindi natatala sa alin mang Catoiran na ang sino man ay macapag jauac
at cumamcam ng jindi niya lupa o pag aare, ay caming may areng tunay at tubo sa
lupang ito na linupig at quinamcam may tunay na catoiran, huag na ang maningil
nang pautang dajil sa manga gauang yaon, cun di na lamang jingin na isarile sa amin
ang boong Capangyarijan sa manga Capuloang ito, bucod pa sa cami ay jindi nag
cacailangan na pangjimasucan at pamunoan nang taga ibang lupa, cun ang guinagaua,
gaya ngayon, ay pauang pag inis, pag lait, pag api, pag iring at pag patay.
Alinsunod sa lajat nang manga gauang capusongan, na nasasaysay sa una, cung
damdamin ang matinding sugat na sa puso namin ay binucsan ng manga gauang
yaon at cung noynoin ang manga catoirang nanga talata, caming nag tibay sa ibaba
nitong casulatan ay nagca isang loob at panucala na bunutin sa gayong caalipinan,
cadustaan, caapijan at iba pang maraming calabisan na tinitiis nitong Sangcapuloan
na quinamcam at linupig nang ualang aua, matacao at dayucdoc na nag papangap
Jalimao.
Upanding camtan namin ang mabuting janga nanga majicpit at mabigat na
panucala, catungculang baga mat malaqui sa taglay naming lacas ay aming gaganapin
mag bujat ngayon ay cami ay nag sasacdal sa mataas na Jocoman ng Maycapal at
jumijinging tulungan nang caniyang daquilang lacas at capangyarijan, tuloy cami ay
sumusucob at na pasasaclolo sa matapat na catoiran.
Sa pag ganap nang aming manga ipinangusap at pinagcasundoan ay nanumpa
cami sa jarap nitong cagalang galang na Cataast... Catipunan, sa caniya, dajil sa aming
bayan, sa caniyang manga sugat na aming dinaramdan, sa caniyang icaguiguinjaua at
sa cami ay nag aasal majal na ipag tatangol at gagauing mapilit ano mang mangyare
na siya ay mag sarili at majiualay at di namin papayagang malupig pang muli nang
nag jajauac ngayon at nang iba pang Cajarian na mangajas lumupig, at sa ganitong
banal na jangad, ay aming isinasagot, sa pag ganap, ang aming catauan, bujay at
manga cayamanang jinajauacan at jajauacan pa.
Sumusumpa din naman cami na aming gaganapin at ipagaganap ang mga
cautusang sa juli ay inilagda at pinag caisajan nang manga guinoo na naga jajarap
sa Cataastaasang Catipunang ito, na aming iguinagalang at ipinagdidiuang sa .......
ica........ ng Enero isang libo ualong daan at siyam na puo at dalaua.
Manga Daquilang Cautosan
Sa pag tupad nang manga nalalaman sa nangungunang Pinagcasundoan ay

ipinag uutos namin sa boong nasasacupan ng manga Capuloang ito, na sa
capanajunan ay bibigyan nang nababagay na pangalan, at aming ipinag bibilin nang
boong pag ibig na ganapin at ipaganap ang mga sumusunod na pasiya.
1
Isinasaysay na ang manga Capuloang ito ay jumijiualay sa............ mag bujat sa
arao na ito at ualang quiniquilala at quiquilanlin pang Puno at macapangyayare cung
di itong Cataastaasang Catipunan.
2
Ang Cataastaasang Catipunan ay tumatayo magbujat ngayon at siya ang
magjajauac nang manga daquilang capangyarijan dito sa boong Capuloan.
3
. .
Ang Cataast. . Catip. . ay jinajauacan ngayon ng isa catauo na gaganap ng Lubjang
mataas na catungcolan na Pangulo, at labing dalaua catauo naman na tauaguing
manga Jaligue na pauang lalagay at mangag papasiya sa ilalim ng Capangyarijan
niyaon at sa jarap ng sacsi nito, sa pagpupulong, na tatauaguing Tagaingat o
Tagatangap.
4
Ang labing dalauang Jaligue ay binabajague sa tatlong Pulutong 1o 2o at 3o na
cung magipon ay pinamumunoan ng Lub... Mat... na Pangulo.
5
Bauat Pulutong ay may capangyarijang sarile at macapamamajala sa canicanilang
sacop, sa ngalan ng Cataast... Catip...
6
Bauat Pulutong ay bajalang mag jalal nang caniyang Cabig na labindalauang
tauo na tatauaging Sujay.
7
Bauat Sujay ay may Catungculan din naman ng mag jalal nang labingdalauang
Camay at bauat isa nito ay dalauang puoong campon na pauang mababait at may
ingat natapang.
8
Ang lajat na loobin at panucalain o ipag pasiya ng alin man sa tatlong Pulutong ay
ipag bibigay alam o isasanguni sa Cataast... Catip.... Gayon din naman ang gagagauin
ng mga Pinuno sa capua na nacatataas sa canila.
9
Ipinagbibilin ang pitagan nang isa sa isa, gayon din naman ang ucol at
magandang pagsunod nang mababa sa nacatataas sa caniya tungcol sa catungcolan,
at ang manga Pinuno ay mag papatanao ng magandang gaua at tapat na Catoiran na
ualang quiquilingan, upang maguing jalimbaua sa canicanilang manga campon, na
mangag sisigalang sa canila.
10
Sa manga Jaligue na mangag pupuno sa balang Pulutong ay pangu-ngunajan
nang isa sa canila na ijajalal nang Lub... Mat... na Pangulo at yaon lamang ang
paquiquialaman nito tungcol sa anomang ibig na ipag utos sa sinasacupang Pulutong.
11
Cailan man mag caron ng anomang dajilang dapat mag tayo nang Sanguni sa
jarap ng Cataastaasang Catip... ay ang Pangulo mag papatauag sa manga Jaligue na
mag pulong upanding mag pasiya ang isa at iba sa arao, horas at lugar na ipag bilin
niyaon at capagdacay tutupdin ang gayong pabilin.
12
Ang anim o cung dili ay tatlong Jaligue, catamtaman ng mag tayo nang Sanguni,
sacaling juala ang iba, at susundin ang anomang loobin o ipag pasiya nang caramijan.
13
Sa capanajunan at cailan mat marapatin ng Catast... Catip... na cailangan ang
mag tayo nang isang Jocbo sa alin mang provincia na nasasacupan nitong Capuloan
ay mag pupulong ang manga Guinoong Jaligue upang pag usapan ang manga na
uucol sa bagay na yaon.
14
Ang manga Pinuno ay jajarap na ualang sala tuing arao ng Sabado mag bujat
sa alas 7 jangang alas 9 nang gabe sa Capua Pinuno na nacatataas, upanding mag
bigay sulit dito nang caniyang catungculan at upang tumangap nang anomang
bilin o cautosang ilagda ng manga lalong Mataas at tuloy ipag bibigay alam cung
nacuculangan ang caniyang campon o nag jalal nang pang jalile sa culang o sa alin
mang tumangal o cusang tinangal.
15
Ang lajat ng manga tauo na nauucol sa Catip... ito ay igagauad nang panunumpa
na gaganap nang boong tapat at cabaitan nang canicanilang catungculan na sila,i,
may tacot at namimintujo sa naturang Cataast...; na silay napaiilalim at napasasacop
sa caniyang manga cautosan at ipag uutos pa; na ang manga ito,i, gaganapin at
ipagaganap sucdang icalagot ng canilang bujay, alang alang sa pag liligtas nang
canilang bayan at sa icagagaling nito sampo ng canilang manga anac.
16
Ang panunumpa ay gagauin tulad sa ipinag bibilin sa casunod na cautosan,
at igagauad sa harap nang canicanilang manga pinunong quinau-ucolan at nanga
catataas sa canila.
17
Samantalang na sa ganitong panajon nang pag jajanda sa pag jiualay nitong
Capuloan ay bago tangapan ng sumpa ang sino man ay siya,i, bibinyagan ng
pangalang bago na ibigay ng caniyang Puno na malapit. Pag catapos ipag uutos nito
na simulan ang panunumpa sa sumusunod na paraan.
Ang Puno ay sa sumusumpa tatanong nang ganito:
Tanong – ¿ Cayong Guinoo na si (ang pangalang ibininyag ay sambitin) na inijalal
na (ang catungculan) ay sumusumpang majigpit, sa ngalan nang ating Cataast...
Catip..., na siyay igagalang at ipagagalang sucdang icauala nang inyong bujay?
Sagot – Oo po sumusumpa aco na gayon ang gagauin.
T – ¿ Sumusumpa cayong majigpit sa ngalan ng Cataast... Catip... na gaganapin at
ipagaganap ang caniyang manga cautosan at manga ipag uutos pa, sucdang etc.
S – Oo po sumusumpa aco na etc.
T – ¿ Sumusumpa cayo ng majigpit sa ngalan etc. na gaganapin ninyong matapat
ang inyong jinajauacang catungculan na ..... sa inyo,i, jabilin ng naturang Catip...
sucdang etc.?
S – Oo po sumusumpa aco etc.
T – ¿ Sumusumpa cayo nang majigpit sa ngalan ng Cat... Catip... na ang lajat nang
inyong jilig ay sa icagagaling at icajijiualay nitong ating inibig na bayan sucdang etc?
S – Oo po, sumusumpa aco etc.
Jatol: Cung matapos ay pag sabijan: Cung gayon ang inyong gagauin cayo,i, pag
palain ng P. Dios at nang Cataast... Catip... at cung jindi cayo,i, papag dusajin, at nang
may pagcaquilanlan at tibayan (firmar) ang inyong sumpa nang inyong pangalan na
igugujit nang inyong tunay na dugo.
Sa ganitong pag papatibay ay ang gagaoin, sundutin nang patalim ang catauan
nang sumumpa sa bandang jindi icapanganganyaya at sa catamtamang lumabas ang
caunting dugo na sumapat sa pag gujit nang pangalang ibininyag, gaya nang na sabe
sa una.
Cung matapos ang lajat na yaon ay babasajan ang sumumpa ng pangaral na
sumusunod:
Alang-alang sa inyong camajalang taglay at sumpa na guinaua ay pag ingatan,
sa ngayon jangang dumating ang capanajunang pag jiualay, na mag lijim at juag ma
sinalat ang ating iguinagalang na Catipunan sampo nang caniyang manga jangad at
cautosan, matuloyang maualan tayo nang bujay. Pag iingat na ito,i, jindi cadoagan,
cun di isang paraan, na dapan [?] gamitin, upanding juag majadlangan ang pag
sulong sa magandang tinutungo na mapajiualay itong ating Capuloan.
18
Ynalilijim sa ngayon nang Cataast. . Catip... ang manga ganting bijis na ibibigay
.
sa magpaquita nang mabuting gaua, pag tupad nang catungculan, carunongan at

catalasan sa mag panuncala, catapangan at cabaitan.
Ynalilijim din naman ang manga parusa na ilalapat sa manga camalian, sa balang
mag lilo at bumasag nang ipinanumpa, sa balang sumalansang at mag pacasani[b?]
sa manga cautosang jinajarap at jajarapin.
Dapat talastasin na ang manga matataas na catungculan at iba pang biyaya
na masasarili nitong Sang Capuloan ay cacamtan unauna at ualang pagsala nang
caniyang manga inanac na maquilajoc sa caniyang pag jiualay.
Pag lilicja ng Caja Real o “Sisidlang Jare”
19
Sapagcat ang Cataast... Catip... ay ualang na lalaan, upang igugugol sa manga pag
jajanda, cacailanganin, gagaoin at iba pang paraang na uucol sa pag tatangol at pag
laban na mapajiualay itong SangCapuloan ay minarapat nang naturang Catip... na
lumicja ng isang Sisilang [sic]-Jare na sa capanajunan ay macapag papaloal sa manga
pag gugugulang yaon na juag culangin nang anoman, upan din namang mairoong
isaclolo sa manga asaua at anac nang sino mang culanging palad na mamatay sa
ganoong panajon.
20
Sa manga bagay na ito ay ang Catip... nag bubucas mag bujat ngayon nang utang
na $10.000.000 $ sampuong lacsa na caniyang pag babayaran cung dumating ang
lubjang mapalad na caarauan nang pagcajiualay nitong manga Capuloan.
21
Upang matacpang madali ang jalaga nang salapeng nasasabe sa nangungunang
cautosan, ang Cataast... Catip... ay nag-uutos na calaquip ang malunos na tagjo,i, sa
caniyang manga inanac at paaanac na pagpaloalan sa boanboan ang naturang jalaga
mag bujat sa manga arao, panajon at paraan na pauang na tatala sa sumusunod na
jagdan.
Sulong
Ps Rs Cs
1a Clase
Pangulo
2a Clase
Jaligue
3a Clase
Sujay
4a Clase
Camay
5a Clase
Campon
22
Ang manga Pinunong Pangulo at Jaligue ay mag susulong nang jalagang ucol pag
paloalan mag bujat sa unang arao jangang icanim na macatangap nang cani-canilang
Catungcolan; datapoa ay ibayo ang unang sulong.
23
Ang ibang manga Pinuno ay ang sulong gagaoin mag bujat sa unang arao
jangang sa icasumpuo na matangapan nang sumpa.
24
Gayon din ang gagaoin nang manga Campon sa canilang pag susulong.
25
Ang manga susunod na sulong na gagaoin ng lajat ay sisimulan sa unang arao
jangang ica sampo nang boan.
26
Samantalang uala pang inijajalal na maguing Lagacan o Tagaingat ay ang
masisingil, isusulong pag daca sa Pangulo.
27
Sa paniningil ang manga Pinuno bajalang gumanap yamang sila ang dapat
managot sa pag papaloal, sacaling sa caniyang nasasacupan ay mayroong jindi
macatupad ng pag bibigay nang nauucol sa caniya.
28
Balang singil ay mag daraan sa manga pinuno mag bujat sa mababa jangang
dumating sa mataas at lalaquipan nila ng isang talata na mag sasaysay nang pangalan
nang manga nag bigay.
Narration
English translation of Casaysayan
Statement of the reasons for separating this Archipelago from the Mother who
possesses her.
We have been impelled to separate from Sp... by her abusive behavior, hard-
heartedness, treachery, and other degradations that no Mother should inflict upon
any child, like the following:
1. The pitiless imposition of high taxes upon us, even on our bodies, even upon
our produce or wealth.
2. The expropriation of our meager profit if we practice any industry, so that we

are kept weak and prevented from bettering ourselves.
3. The imposition of a high tariff on any goods that pass through the Customs.
4. The refusal to permit our Archipelago to enter into treaties with Mother Sp....
and other powers like America in relation to the export and import of any and every
item of commerce. As a consequence, initiative is stifled and we remain in poverty.
5. If we are unable to pay taxes to their Treasury due to hardship, especially if
investment in industry produces no profit and even deepens our debt, and if we have
no money, our possessions are confiscated and there is no investigation into whether
there was any profit, or exemption granted if there was a loss.
6. Allows our means of livelihood to be snatched away from us by any nation,
above all by the Chinese, who have not been educated or nurtured in decent behav-
iour, but only in deceit, robbery, and misery.
7. Does not treat us like her children, except in relation to punishment for any
misdemeanor.
8. Does not grant us any privileges like those she gives to her children, who are
the only ones she loves.
9. Does not create positions with salaries that are high unless they are for her
children, whilst our monthly pay is meager.
10. Does not like us to participate in congresses or for us to have representa-
tives in the Cortes, who could defend and assert our rights in our name, denounce the
mistaken decisions of the leaders, relate how we are oppressed as a result of all their
abuses and submit proposals for the welfare of this distant Archipelago.
11. Does not give us any freedom to produce or distribute any book or document
in our language that would open our eyes to beneficial pursuits and enlighten our
thinking on the Arts and Sciences and other things that are not holy, so that thus we
remain in blindness, and wherever we are led we are prevented from glimpsing reason
and other virtues.
12. Deems to be illicit and against the King anything that resembles a lament
about her, or enumerates the mistakes, abuses, and public misdemeanors of her chil-
dren who are supporting her power and authority here in this Archipelago.
13. Denounces as inimical to the Catholic Religion anyone among us who
circulates writings that expose and protest against the errors committed by that
organization.
14. Halts or delays whatever plans come from this land.
15. Does not require her children to observe the laws given to order our affairs, so
that any guilt is entirely ours.
16. The publication of orders which solely concern the newly discovered territo-
ries, or to the people there who have not yet been subjugated, like the Joloanos. One
of these orders is the new Decree which again gives still more power to the High Chief
here in the Islands, so that whenever something happens that disturbs the tranquil
existence and sensibilities of her loving and beloved supporters or fellow residents,
any one of us who is envied because of a little learning of accomplishment or, even
more so, someone who recognizes and feels the wounds, the suffering of all, or has
come to understand that mistakes and abuses must be fought whenever they are
seen, is immediately charged and prosecuted on some pretext. Nothing will be done
to investigate the allegations against him to establish whether they are true or false,
because the bare allegations alone will be sufficient for the accused to be dispatched
forthwith into distant exile.
16. [sic]. Does not allow us to publish any newspaper, especially in our language,
that is not passed first to the Censor, because it is he, fellow conspirator, who is respon-
sible for detecting whether what is said reveals the errors of the chief. That is why the
news about the abuses that are committed here does not reach others, especially in
Sp...., regardless of who is aggrieved. If someone has funds they could sail there and
press charges, but they will not be given a hearing so as to avoid any confrontation,
and still they will achieve nothing.
17. Gross injustice, such as happens in the Office of the Ruler of these Islands,
where the underlings and copy clerks are all Tagalogs and the so-called Officials and
Chiefs are solely Spaniards, even though few of these chiefs know what to do. The
majority do not even turn up and are out just roaming around, so the clerks are the
ones left to attend to their duties. If necessary, they just add their endorsement or
signature. What a great way to earn a salary....!
18. The pretensions of the enlightened men (ilustrados) who have education and
everything they desire, dear ones, but it can be seen that their habits are coarse. If the
Tagalogs participate in any meeting with the Spaniards they are counted as unworthy,
and sometimes even if they are as brilliant as the others they are not given a place of
honor, especially if they go to visit Spanish homes. But if the Spaniards are the ones
who visit Tagalog homes they expect to be received with all due honor and respect, and
to be treated almost as if they are Gods. They demand this from every Tagalog they
speak to, but in return they show no respect at all. Regardless of our status, regardless
of whether our hair has turned white with age, they address us familiarly as “Tu,” and
even insult us by calling us “blacks” or “monkeys.” Does this behavior show frater-
nity? It does not. It breeds anger, and incites enmity or conflict.
19. Honors as glorious conduct the pitiless cruelties of the officers of the Guardia
Civil, both inside and outside their barracks in this capital of Manila towards the
people they arrest, whether they are guilty or not, mostly men who are peaceful citi-
zens, in order to intimidate them if once in a while they do not comply with their
wishes, whether bad or good.
20. If sometimes one of these prisoners dies, without any justice, it will always
be pretended that the victim was forced to admit the denunciations or imputations
against them. If they get a confession by such means, the case will be referred to
the corresponding Judge or whatever authority and these Chiefs will accept that
confession.
21. Allows the friars to fornicate with women, so that in the provinces it is rare
for the majority not to have children, and it is rare, too, that they have not violated the
young women.
22. The parents and other relatives of these women who detest this conduct
have to say immediately that it did not really happen, because otherwise they will be
deported far away.
Covenant
English translation of Pinagcasundoan
We,
Considering the wicked and perverse acts related in the foregoing narration as
reasons for separating this Archipelago from....
Whereas the most important, most abundantly honorable and sublime duties of
any enlightened Power are to defend her country, to safeguard its welfare, and to shed
blood and even life for her country, brothers and children in order that they are not
subjugated, oppressed, and enslaved by another ruler.
Whereas men depend on the God the Father to achieve their desires.
Whereas the Almighty does not mandate any one of His creations to oppress and
trample on another, particularly if this other has given no cause.
Whereas to defend and love one’s country is not a crime, especially if she is suffo-
cated and enslaved by her rulers, as is happening now.
Whereas a people whose interests, needs and true and genuine desires are under
overwhelming attack has just cause to bring down the rulers who behave in such a
way, and if this eventuality arrives it is not lawless or treasonous, but a response forced
by the flame of hardship, and what arouses the people, in a word, is the defense of true
reason.
Whereas for over three hundred years this unfortunate Tagalog people has labored
under the dominion of the Spaniards, bearing great humiliation and obeying blindly,
even though kept under complete slavery, dragged and submerged in vast hardship,
denied loving care, weighed down by heavy burdens, and never allowed to escape.
Whereas the manner in which the Spaniard behaves and acts does nothing but
wound and hurt the heart of the most peaceful and long-suffering, and whoever has a
genuine love for him.
Whereas this land has been broken from the stem and withered, and shows no
inclination to grow fresh shoots or spring back to life. More precisely (and a sharp
mind is needed to comprehend these mysteries), this unfortunate land is like a body
of which only a skeleton of fragile bones is left standing, but the body still manages to
scratch deeper, and finally it sucks the last of its own flesh so that it lives no more, and
so perhaps gains revenge for the oppression it has suffered.
Whereas when they were first paying court in order to tread on these Islands she
solemnly promised to treat us like her godchildren, to call us brothers, to defend us
from all dangers, to clothe our nakedness, and not to talk down to us, but the compact
was never honored.
Considering that from the outset, Sp… did not have to incur great expense, or
even effort, blood, or life in her confiscation and extension of her power in this entire
Archipelago, because the subjects at that time greeted her with great humility and
received her with full affection on account of her pledges that everybody here would be
her Children and Brothers, that they would not be subjugated, and that the compact
would not be betrayed.
Considering that Spain has prospered and accumulated not inconsiderable riches
as a result of her possession and subjugation of these Islands.
Considering that no Reason can be registered why anybody should seize and
confiscate land or possessions that are not hers and that we are the true owners and
natives of this oppressed and subjugated land, there is no cause according to true
Reason to have any debt as a result of what has happened. Our only desire is to have
our own independent and complete sovereignty in these Islands. Moreover, we do not
need the interference or direction of people from other lands, because if that happens,
like now, the result is frustration, humiliation, enslavement, scorn, and slaughter.
Having regard to all the abuses narrated above, which open deep wounds in our
heart, and for the reasons enumerated here, we affirm below this document that we are
of one accord and resolve to put an end to this enslavement, maltreatment, injustice
and many other abuses that this subjugated Archipelago suffers at the hands of its
pitiless, ravenous, and bestial oppressors.
In order to ensure the success of this momentous and arduous undertaking, we
henceforth have a vital duty in whatever we may accomplish with our own strength to
place ourselves before the High Tribunal of the Almighty and to request the help of
his great strength and power in order that we may be sheltered and succored by true
reason.
For the fulfillment of what we have discussed and covenanted, we swear before
this Most Respected and Supreme Catipunan that for her, our country; for her wounds,
which pain us; for her welfare, which we pledge to defend dearly, that we shall strive
and fight come what may for her independence and separation. We shall not allow her
to be subjugated again like she is now by any other Power who dares to invade us. In
the fulfillment of this sacred cause, we shall respond with our bodies, lives, and wealth,
now and in the future.
We swear also that we approve and shall put into effect the rules set out below,
which have been signed and agreed by the gentlemen at the fore of this Supreme
Catipunan. With our respect and salutations, on _______the ________ of January one
thousand, eight hundred and ninety-two.
Principal Orders
English translation of Manga daquilang cautosan
For the achievement of all that is set out in the foregoing Covenant, we are
ordering the entire subject population of these Islands, which in time will be given a
proper name, and we are appealing to them with the utmost fervor to implement and
accomplish the following decisions:
1
It is hereby now declared that from this day forward these Islands are separated
from --------- and that no other leadership or authority shall be recognized or acknowl-
edged other than this Supreme Catipunan.
2
The Supreme Catipunan is constituted forthwith, and will be the body that exer-
cises sovereign power throughout the Archipelago.
1.2
“Kasaysayan; Pinag-kasundoan; Manga dakuilang kautusan,” August 1892
Written in August 1892, this founding document is based in part on the

version drafted seven months previously, in January (document 1.1). Like
the earlier version, the document is divided into three sections, now headed
“Kasaysayan” (Narrative), “Pinag-kasundoan” (Covenant), and “Manga
dakuilang kautusan” (Principal orders). It is written in a new orthography—
notably with “k” replacing “c” —and in a simple form of code known tech-
nically as a “monoalphabetic substitution cipher.” The Katipunan’s ringing
proclamation of independence, for example, is encrypted as follows:
Ysñllzszyszy vzg bxfzt sz zrzc llz ñtc llz zllg vzllgz Kzpxjczllg ñtc zy
fxvllfllwzjzy sz Qspzllñz zt wzlzllg kñllñkñjzjz zt kñkñjzlljñllg Pzvxvxllc
kxllg dñ ñtcllg Kztzzstzzszllg Kztñpxllzll.
Deciphered, this becomes:-

Ysinasaysay mag buhat sa arao na ito na ang manga Kapuloang ito ay humi-
hiwalay sa Espania at walang kinikilala at kikilanling Pamumuno kung di
itong Kataastaasang Katipunan [Be it declared that from this day forward
this Archipelago is separated from Spain, and that no leadership is recog-
nized or will be recognized other than this Supreme Katipunan].
This proclamation is worded in practically the same terms as in the

January 1892 document, and so, too, is the affirmation that Katipunan “is
constituted forthwith, and will exercise power throughout the archipelago”—a
reiteration which tends to confirm that the organization, though conceived in
January (or maybe even earlier), had since remained in gestation, or dormant.
Several other paragraphs are likewise retained more or less unchanged
from the January 1892 document, but the bulk of the text is new. The lengthy
statement of grievances against Spain with which the January document
opened (“Casaysayan”) has been discarded in favor of a shorter, less specific
declaration of patriotic outrage and intent. Special mention is made of four
“beloved brothers,” already heroes of the nation about-to-be-born, the priests
Mariano Gomez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, who had been executed
in 1872, and José Rizal, recently consigned to exile in Mindanao. The second
section of the document (“Pinag-kasundoan”) has also been abbreviated,
but retains from the earlier version the solemn pledge to the sacred cause of
liberty, and the entreaties for strength and succor to both the Almighty and
true reason. The final and lengthiest section (“Manga dakuilang kautusan”)
details the organization’s structure and the responsibilities of officeholders
and members.
Nomenclature
In the January 1892 document the organization had been called the
“cagalang galang na Cataastaasang Catipunan” in one instance, but other-
wise just the “Cataastaasang Catipunan.” This August 1892 document sticks
to “Kataastaasang Katipunan” and does not employ the adjective kagalang-
galang at all.
The titles of leadership positions within the organization have also yet
to be finalized, with terms such as “Ulo” (Head) and “Puno” (Chief ) being
employed rather than “Pangulo” (President), which later became the norm.
The overall leader, similarly, is called the “Punong Ubod” (Central Chief ), or
“Punong dakila” (Paramount Chief ), not yet the “Kataastaasang Pangulo”
(Supreme President). Somewhat surprisingly, the document calls the country
“Pilipinas,” a name the January 1892 version had avoided, and indeed had
said would in time be altered to “a proper name.”1 The person of the central
chief, the statutes say, is to be treated with great respect, and he will be given
the title “H. N. B. P.” Could this mean “Hari ng Bayang Pilipinas” (“King [or
Ruler] of the Philippine Nation”)? In any event, neither this abbreviation
nor the term “Punong Ubod” figure in any other Katipunan documents yet
located.
The constitutional provisions of the founding documents drafted in
January and August 1892, it therefore seems, could barely have been trans-
lated into any kind of reality before they were discarded and superseded. The
documents are fascinating insofar as they reveal the founders’ motivations
and ambitions, but the sections on organization are not necessarily indicative
of the Katipunan’s actual structure in its early days.
The founding of the Katipunan

The Katipunan thus came to life as it was to continue, in a state of
constant flux. Its foundation was not a single event but a sequence of events,
a process that may tentatively be summarized as follows:-
• In January 1892 the founding document “Casaysayan;
Pinagcasundoan; Manga daquilang cautosan” was drafted. Another
draft, which today cannot be located, was produced on June 19, 1892.2
• On July 7, 1892, by most accounts, when the Gaceta de Manila
announced that Rizal was to be deported from Manila to the south,
Bonifacio, Plata, Diwa, and others decided the time had come to
proceed.
• In August the revised founding document transcribed below—
“Kasaysayan; Pinag-kasundoan; Manga dakuilang kautusan”—was
produced, identical to the January 1892 document in some places
but substantially different in others—for example, in specifying the
triangle pattern of organization. Veterans later recalled that the
recruitment of members through the formation of triangles began
at around this time—a month or so after the July foundation date.3
The August 1892 document specifies that the Katipunan shall be
directed by a “Central Chief” and six councilors (Kasanguni) who
shall together comprise the “great Council” (dakilang Sangunian).
However, the term “Supreme Council” (Kataastaasang Sangunian) is
not used.4
• The first Supreme Council (with Deodato Arellano as president),
surviving founders later recalled, was constituted in the latter half of
1892—one said in August, another in October—so it would seem that
the structure specified in the “Manga dakuilang kautusan” section of
this document was operative, if at all, for only a matter of months at
most.5
• Within another few weeks or months—in December 1892, according

to one account—the triangle pattern of organization had been
discarded as unworkable.6
This sequence of events means that in the course of 1892 there must have
been a succession of meetings about forming and building the Katipunan,
meetings held at different locations and attended by an evolving, shifting
set of activists. And this, in turn, may partly explain why the literature on
the organization’s foundation is so beset with discrepancies. It conceivably
might explain, for example, the confusion over exactly where the Katipunan
was founded. Two of the founding members, Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro
Gonzales, recalled the address as being 734 Elcano, an accesoria known as
Dalmacio’s near the corner with Azcarraga.7 This testimony was accepted by
Gregorio Zaide when he wrote the first substantial English-language study
on the Katipunan, but not by Teodoro Agoncillo, who wrote the second.
Agoncillo says “the majority of Katipuneros” believed the historic location to
have been 72 Azcarraga, which in 1892 was reportedly an accesoria occupied
by Deodato Arellano.8 But it is entirely within the bounds of possibility, of
course, that the veterans were recalling different meetings.
Testimony as to the identity of the founders is also contradictory, and in
some instances there might be a similar explanation. There is an oft-repro
duced diagram, for instance, based on Ladislao Diwa’s recollections, that
depicts the four initial “triangles” of the Katipunan, purportedly as created
at the foundational meeting on July 7, 1892. Bonifacio forms the first triangle
with Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata, and then a second triangle with
Ciriaco Bonifacio and Restituto Javier. Diwa forms the third triangle with
Teodoro Gonzales and Roman Basa, and Plata forms the fourth with Briccio
Pantas and Valentin Diaz.9 This diagram, though, is highly problematic. If
we accept the majority view that the Katipunan was founded in the accesoria
of Deodato Arellano, why does he not figure in any of the triangles? Why,
conversely, are Briccio Pantas and Román Basa included in the initial triangles
when they are not usually included among those present at the foundation
meeting?10 The explanation might well be that with the passage of decades
two events had become one in Ladislao Diwa’s memory, and the first “trian-
gles,” as indicated earlier, had not been formed until a month or so after July 7.
Authorship
We do not know who wrote the founding documents. Ladislao Diwa said
the structure of interlocking triangles had been his idea, modeled, he said,
on an Italian secret society.11 This snippet aside, such limited testimony as
exists is again contradictory and dubious. Following the discovery of the
Katipunan in 1896, the Spanish authorities claimed the statutes had been
sent from Madrid by the renowned propagandista Marcelo H. del Pilar, who
Governor General Ramón Blanco regarded as the true instigator of the sepa-
ratist movement.12 Olegario Diaz, commander of the Guardia Civil Veterana
in Manila, stated in his official report on the insurrection that Del Pilar had
written a sketch of the Katipunan’s by-laws (un proyecto de reglamento) and
had prescribed the organization’s structure in minute detail (minuciosas
instrucciones de organización).13 The only written evidence to support these
assertions seems to have been a letter Del Pilar sent to the Modestia masonic
lodge in Manila in 1894, in which he made reference to a “new organization”
for which he had prepared a “plan of documentation.”14 Almost certainly Del
Pilar was referring here to a masonic organization rather than the Katipunan,
but many Spaniards neglected to draw such a distinction, believing the
Katipunan to be part of a larger masonic conspiracy.
Spanish interrogators pursued this line when they grilled known and
suspected filibusteros in the weeks following the August 1896 outbreak.
When they interrogated José Dizon, for example, they asked him to describe
how the Katipunan had been founded, and he replied without making any
mention of Del Pilar or instructions from abroad. But the next day, seemingly
out of the blue, he was asked “Who was it who brought instructions from
Spain for the establishment of the Katipunan in Manila?” “Moises Salvador,”
replied Dizon:
[H]e brought them from Madrid, from Marcelo H. del Pilar, and delivered
them to Deodato Arellano [who was Del Pilar’s brother-in-law] and Andres
Bonifacio, but Deodato Arellano also received instructions from Marcelo
H. del Pilar…. Deodato Arellano showed me some letters he received direct
from Del Pilar referring to the organization of the Katipunan, and in one
of them he asked whether Moises Salvador had done what he was commis-
sioned to do. Salvador replied that he had. Moreover, Deodato Arellano and
Andres Bonifacio told me of Moises Salvador’s mission.”15
Dizon’s response, of course, may well have been extracted under torture,
and he may well have told his interrogators whatever he felt they wanted to
hear. But some Katipunan veterans told similar stories after the revolution,
when they could speak freely. Aguedo del Rosario, for instance, a former
member of the Supreme Council, wrote in 1908 that the Katipunan had been
founded “at the initiative of the lawyer, Marcelo H. del Pilar,”16 and presum-
ably it can only have been the recollections of former Katipuneros that led the
historian Epifanio de los Santos to accept that it was:
[V]ery correctly stated that Andres Bonifacio ordered Teodoro Plata to draw
up the statutes of the Katipunan, and that he did this with the aid of Ladislao
Diwa and Valentin Diaz. After the statutes had been discussed, Andres
Bonifacio, with the concurrence of Deodato Arellano, submitted them to
[Marcelo H.] del Pilar for approval. Upon the latter’s letter approving the
statutes, Andres Bonifacio used the same for the purpose of gaining adepts.
From all this we may deduce that if Del Pilar was not the initiator of the
Katipunan, he was at least its inspirer.17
Later historians of the Katipunan, such as Zaide and Agoncillo, kept

prudently silent about this story, doubtless wary that De los Santos did not
cite his sources. Whether true or false, however, the story was not a figment
of De los Santos’s imagination. Bonifacio, it is clear, revered Del Pilar just as
he revered Rizal; he kept the Katipunan away from the division in Manila’s
masonic and patriotic circles between “Pilaristas” and “Rizalistas.” He tran-
scribed some of Del Pilar’s letters, as he transcribed some of Rizal’s, into the
Katipunan code, and cherished them, in De los Santos’s words, “like relics.”18
And when Bonifacio, Pio Valenzuela, and Emilio Jacinto put together the
KKK newspaper Kalayaan in early 1896, they decided to pretend that Del
Pilar was its editor and that the lead editorial was his message of greeting
and solidarity to his compatriots, sent from afar.19 The stories that Del Pilar
had written or endorsed the Katipunan’s founding documents in 1892, there-
fore, were possibly concocted and circulated with the same motive, to give the
organization Del Pilar’s prestigious imprimatur.
Kasaysayan
Tagalog text (deciphered)
May isang bayang pinag haharian nang sama at lupit; ang manga kautusan ay
ualang halaga at nananaig ang balang malakas. Gayon man ang bayan ito gumugugol
ng dugo at buhay sa kapurihan at kailangan ng sa kaniyay ang hahari, maguing dapat
lamang tawaguing kapatid o anak. Ang kaniang yaman bohay at puai ay ipinaiiyan,
upang itangkakal sa may nasang sukab. Tatlong siglo nang mahiguit na nagtitiis ng
hirap at pagod alipusta ay di ipinagmamasakit bagkus ipinauubaya.
Ang bayang ito, ay, ang atin; ito ang napakabalita sa pagka duahagui; bayang
lubos na mapag tiis, hangang sa maalipin; ¡oh Pilipinas! ¡sa aba mo! ¡oh bayan naming
tinoboan! tangi kang lubos sa ibang kapamayanan; kung sa kaniyay natampok ang
bayang anak na nagpuri o maghangad ng bayang ikakagaling o ikaguiguinhawa, sa iyo
ay hindi gayon, inuusig at pinaruausahan ng parusang kalaitlait at lihis sa katuiran;
ang paisaisa mong anak na sumisita sa iyo, ito rin at kinukutia sa sariling buhay ang
ibang hindi makaimik at inilalathala ang puri na kusang guinagahis.
Dakila at ganap na pori ang nababagay sa tawong may pusong umiaog at mag
masakit sa sariling bayan, sa pagkat linilisan nito ang magulang, kapatid o kaya asawa,
anak at kaibigan: hinahamak ang sariling layon at kayamanan, inaalintana ang hirap
na sasapitin, makapag handog lamang ng isang balak, isang inisip sa ikagagaling ng
kaniyang tinubuang lupa.
Kaya sa manga iniirog kong kapatid na si Gomez, Burgos at Zamora na nangalait
sa pag sintang lubos sa ating bayang Pilipinas at sa manga ngayoy nawawakawak, nag
durusa at nanga matay ang iba sa deportasion, inihahandog ang aming puso at buhay
sa pag damay sa ilalim nang isang mahigpit at dakilang Katipunang itatatag ngayon
sa pag pipigitang maagao sa kukong masakim nang manga Kastila itong ating bayan
at matimawa sa hirap gaya nang kanilang nais napinag karamayan nang kanilang
sariling bayan.
Huag na tayong maniwala sa tibong tayoy inaakay at tinaturuan; ang silbing
salamin sa atin ang pagkapanganyaya nang ating matapang at mairuguing kapatid na
si Guinoong Rizal na may malaking nasang guminhawa at matuto ang bayan, ngayon
ay itinapon nang manga sukab.
Yamang ang unang mahalaga at pinuputungan nang masaganang karangalan, at
kapurihan sa alin mang maningning na kaharian ay ang katungkulan na mag tangol
sa kaniyang bayan, mag paka hirap sa ikaguiguinhawa nito, gugulin ang yaman dugo
sampong buhay sa ikararangal ng kaniyang bayan, manga kapatid at anak upang
huag, lupiguin, at apihin nang ibang kaharian.
Yamang hindi ipinag uutos nang Maykapal, na ang isa niyang linalang ay
lumupig at yumurak sa kapoa.
Yamang hindi gawang kalilohan ang mag tangol, at pag ibig sa kaniyang
bayan, lalo na kung iniinis at inaalipin nang namumuno sa kaniya, gaya ng mga
kasulukuyang nangyayare.
Yamang ang isang bayan, kapag pinag pupunuan nang lupit at laban sa kaniyang
manga intereses kailangan, manga tunay at tapat na hangad, ay mayroong katoirang
ihapay ang namumuno o nag hahare na may ganoong asal, at kung dumating sa
ganitong hanga ay hindi pag laban o kaliluhan kung di pag tatangol sa matapat na
katoiran at pag bangon sa ningas nang hirap na pinag susukbahan sa kaniya.
Yamang hindi natatala sa alin mang Leyes o katoiran ang pag kamkam sa ano
mang pamaan nang hindi niya pag aare, ay kaming may are na tunay sa lupang ito,
may katoirang humingi na isauli sa aming ang boong kapangyarihan sa manga
Kapuloang ito, bukod pa sa kami ay hindi nag kakailangan na pang-himasukan at
pamunuan nang taga ibang lupa kun ang guinagawa, gaya ngayon, pauang pag inis,
pag lait, pag api at pag patay.
Pinag-kasundoan
Alinsunod sa lahat nang manga gauang kapusungan na nanga sasaysayan sa una,

sa pagdaramdam nang matinding sugat na sa puso namin ay binuksan nang manga
gawang yaon nang Kastila at kung noynoin ang manga katoirang nanga tatala sa
itaas. Kaming nag tibay (firmantes) sa ibaba nitong kasulatan ay nagka isang loob
at panukala na bunutin sa kaalipinan, kadustaan, kaapihan at iba pang maraming
kasukaban na tinitiis nitong sang Kapuloan na kinamkam at linupig nang walang awa
ng manga matakao at dayukdok na kaniya, na ang papangap Halimao.
Upanding kamtan namin ang mabuting hanga nang panukalang ito na lubhang
mabigat, at malake sa taglay naming lakas, aming isinasakdal sa mataas na Hukuman
nang Dios na Maykapal at kami humihinging tulungan nang kaniyang dakilang
lakas at kapangyarihan, tuloy kami ay sumusukob at napasasaklolo sa matapat na
katoiran.
Sa pag ganap nang aming manga ipinangusap at pinagkasundan ay nanunumpa
kami sa ngalan nang Dios sa harap nitong Kataastaasang Katipunan at sa aming
kamahalan, na ipag tatangol nitong aming bayan, pag pipilitan ano man ang karatnan
na siya ay magsarile at mapahiwalay sa Espanya.
Sa pag ganap nang ganitong manga banal na hangad ay isinasagot namin ang
aming katawan, buhay at manga kayamanang hinahawakan at hahawakan pa.
Sumusumpa din naman kami na aming gaganapin at ipagaganap ang manga
kautusang dakila na inilagda at pinagkaisahan namin at nang iba pang manga Guinoo
na nag kakapisan sa Katipunang ito, na aming iguinagalang at ipinagdidiwang. Ang
manga kautusang yaon ay kalakip sa huli nito.
Tondo ika..................... nang Agosto taong isang libo walong daan at siyam na puo
at dalawa.
Manga dakuilang kautusan

Alinsunod sa nangungunang kasaysayan at pinagkasundoan, ay sa boong

nasasakop at masasakop nitong sang Kapuluang Pilipinas ipinaguutos namin na
ganapin at ipaganap ang manga sumusunod na kautusan.
1.
Ysinasaysay mag buhat sa arao na ito na ang manga Kapuloang ito ay
humihiwalay sa Espania at walang kinikilala at kikilanling Pamumuno kung di itong
Kataastaasang Katipunan.
2.
Ang Kataastaasang Katipunan ay natatayo mag buhat ngayon at siya ang
maghahawak at pag bubuhatan nang manga dakilang kautusan at kapangyarihan
dito sa boong Kapuluan.
3.
x
Ang Katx x ay may isang Punong dakila na kikilalanin, igagalang at susundin ng
lahat na maguing kabig at tawong sasanib dito o sa manga Katipunang itatatag sa iba
at ibang bayan at probinsia nitong Sang Kapuluan.
4.
Ang Puno ay may dalawang pangatlo sa kaniyang pamamahala, na tatawaguing
Tagasanguni at ang mapagkaisahan nila ay sapilitang susundin at tutuparin ng
walang tutol nang lahat na pinamumunuan.
5.
Bawa’t isa nitong Tagasanguni ay may tigalawa namang katatlo na dito bubunot
ng isang na Kalihim ang Puno, isang Tagaligpit ng ambag ng iipunin sa isang Banko,
isang Tagatupad ng balak tungkol sa pag gugol nang puhunan o salaping ng ligpit
at Tagausig laban sa balang may sala o naguing masuwain sa kautusan dito sa
Katipunan.
6.
Ang balang isa naman sa Kalihim at iba pa ay mag kakaroroon ng kanikanilang
sariling katatlo na sapilitang ang paghanap sapagkat dito tumutungtong ang
karangalan nang nakikisanib, sampo ng ilalaki at ilalaganap nitong Katipunan
hangang sa masapit ang manga layong sinambit na sa itaas.
7.
Ang lahat ng tawo sa Katipunan ay may katungkulang mahigpit na umambag
nang manalape ang balang Ulo, Tagasanguni at manga Katulong; tigatlong bahagui
ang manga Pinulo; mangahati ang manga alagad at tig lalabing anim sa kualta ang
manga kabig ayon sa tadhana sa kalakip na tabla sa huli.
8.
Ang bawat Katipunan nang tatlo ay siyang magsasangunian lamang ng mga
bagay na minamagaling sa ipag titibay ng pagkakaisa o sa pag tatangol sa sakuna
nang kapatid, maguing sa ikagagaling ng pamumuno at sa isang mabuting aasalin ng
lahat gayon din sa pag papasabog ng balita o pag papasapit sa Puno ng ano mang
bagay na napapansin nila sa kaaway o sa pag papasok ng kanikanilang ambagan at
pag papatalastas ng naguiguing kautusang bago.
9.
Baga man sa nabibilin sa ikatlong atas ay makapipili sa ibang kapanig ng ibig at
inaakalang may sapat na kaya sa manga katungkulang ilinalaan at hindi maguiguing
sanhi sa lakad na kalihimang dapat alinsunurin dito sa Katipunan.
10.
Ang Katipunan sa bawat bayan at probinsia ay kahuad din nang sa Maynila
at manga bayang karatig datapuat ang kaibhan ay nasasakop ang sa bayanbayang

kalipunan ng Puno ng nasasa kanikanilang probinsia at ang na sa probinsia ay
nasasakop ng ubod sa nasasa Maynila.
11.
Ang papasok dito sa dakilang Katipunan kaylanan, na tawong kilala, na may
tunay na loob at pusong matigas sa pag tatangol ng bayan natin, ayon sa manga pag
subok na gagawin ng sa kaniya’y humihikayat kung may karapatang tangapin ipag
bibigay alam sa Katipunan ng kakatlo nito, upang magbigay utos ang pinaka Ulo
sa binyagan nang bagon pangalan, at, papanumpain sa harap ng Dios, sa ngalan
nitong Pilipinas na idadamay ang buhay sa pag tatagol ng bayan at mag pirma sa
kapangakoang tinutungkol.
12.
Pag pilitan ng mga kabig na mamanaag sa kanilang kabaitan at ningning nang
asal nang lahat ng namumuno sa kanila, maguing sa pakikisama, pakikikaibigan,
pakikikapatid at pag mamagulang, gayon din sa pag kakaawang gawa sa kangino man.
13.
Ang manga katungkulan sa Katipunan ay hahalinhan sa bawat dalawang taon,
liban ang pinag uusig. Sa pagkawalay nang alin mang Ulo o alin man sa manga
Katulong ay makatatayo ang alin man sa dalawang katatlo niya.
14.
Gamitin ang boong panahon sa layon nitong Katipunan; at isang kalupitang
kikilalanin ang pag kabalam nang pagkaligtas nitong Pilipinas sa pag hahawak ng
manga sukab.
Katungkulan ng Ulo
15.
Uriing mabuti ang mga utos at balak sa ikagagaling ng Katipunan at ikawiwili ng
boong nasasakupan ng tapat na pag sunod.
16.
Ang mga utos at balak ay walang halaga kun di may pasia ang dalawang
Kasanguni. Pananagutan ng Kalihim kung mangyari ang gayong pagsasarili.
17.
Sa biglang kailangan, may kapangyarihan ang Ulong mag utos ng minamarapat
kahit walang Kasanguni o Kalihim, datapua’t pananagutan ang lahat ng guinawa at
nangyari.
18.
Sa panahon ng digma ang Ubod ay lalo sa lahat at siya ang maguutos at susundin
ng lahat ng Ulo sa boong probinsia at bayan bayan.
19.
Ang pasiya sa pag paparusa o pagganti sa magandang gawa ay hindi ma babali.
20.
Ang Ubod o Puno nang Katipunan ay di makapag papayo sa pinag uusapan. Ang
maguing yari sa usap ay susundin.
21.
Yamang ang tunay na layon nitong Katipunan ay ang kagalingan ng bayang
Pilipinas ay pag pipilitan ang makapag lagda nang magandang kautusan sa tulong ng
kaniyang mga Kasanguni.
22.
Sa balang may sala ay ipag uutos ang pag tatatag ng isang Hukuman at madaling
lulutasin ang hatol.
23.
Sa naguiguing dapat sa ganti, alangalang sa isang magandang gawa ay ayong
ding agad alamin at kilalananin ang dapat ipakamit ng pala.
24.
Ang katawan ng Punong Ubod ay kagalang-galang at hindi sukat palibhasan ni
lapastangin ng sino man at tatawaguing H. N. B. P....
25.
Piliting maganap sa boong nasasakupan ang pamumunong tapat at ang
ikaguiguinhawa ng buhay ng nangamamayan at ito kailan man ang layon ng alin
mang bago at bagong kautosan.
Sa Kasanguni
26.
Pagingatan na ang Ulo o Puno ay makapa-manihalang maayos.
27.
Huag payagang manghina ang bisa ng manga kautosan o ng manga ipag uutos
ayon sa takbo ng bagay.
28.
Ang isa sa dalawang Kasanguni ay tutulong sa loob sa pamamahala at ang isa ay
sa lahat upang na sasayod na lahat ang mga nangyayari sa lakad ng Katipunan.
29.
Walang aalintanahing bagay kahit ang kaliitliitan.
30.
Pag iingatan ang lihim nang Puno.
Sa manga Katulong
Kalihim
31.
Paka ingatan ang manga balak ng lihim ng Puno na isinasanguni sa kaniya,
gayon din ang manga nayayaring usap sa loob ng Sangunian.
32.
Ang mga kautusan ay huag ipaubayang mabalam.
33.
Ang kautusan o mga utos ay kung na sa papel kailangang pag tibain ng Kalihim
at ang wala sa papel ay uuliting maka itlo ng Puno sa dalawang Kasanguni, gayon din
ang gagawin nila sa pag papahayag sa kanikanilang katatlo hangang umabot sa lahat
ng kabig.
34.
Ang mga bagay na kailangang matalastas ng boong Katipunan hangang sa iba
at ibang probinsia at manga bayang sakop ang utos o balita ay isusulat nang letra sa
bagong alpabeto, na pararaanin sa Korreo sa kaugaliang Kastila at may katunayan ng
Kalihim.
Tagausig
35.
Sa ano mang bagay, sa Katipunan ay siyang mag pupumilit humingi ng pala o
parusa sa harap ng dakilang Sangunian.
36.
Mahihingi kailan man at kailangan ang kasulatang talaan ng pumapasok at
lumalabas na salapi ng Katipunan.
37.
Mauusig niya buhat sa puno hangang dulo ng boong Katipunan kaniyang
kinalalaguian kailan man at ang kukulang sa pag tupad ng katungkulan ng isa at isa.
38.
Dapat kilalaning lahat ang pangalang tunay gayon din ang bansag ng isa at isa.
Katulong
39.
Silay makikipag alam sa Kalihim ng Puno at tatangap ng balang utos.
Kung kailanang mag lakbay bayan ang gagagastahan ay mang gagalin sa kaban
ng Katipunang kinalalagyan ng punong nag uutos gayon din naman sa pag papagawa
ng ano mang bagay ng kailangan at mag bibigay ng malinis at tapat na kasulatan ng
guinawang gasta o gugol.
Puno sa Hukbo
40.
Pag-ka tangap ng utos ng punong makapangyarihan sa Katipunan ay tutupding
agad na walang liwag.
Buan buan ay mag papasok sa kaban ng Katipunan ng ambag na katungkulang
ibigay ng lahat gayon ang sa kanikanilang kabig.
Huag kalilingatan na ang kanikaniyang kabig ay hindi nag sasanay sa manga

habilin ng kautusang ng aatas.
Atas sa lahat
Ang balang dalawa kabit sa tatlo buhat sa dulo kikilala sa nakakabit sa gawing
itaas na siyang pinakaulo at ito’y pahagdan-hagdan hangang sumapit sa katapusan
sa itaas. Ito rin naman ang paraang gagawin, upang makasapit sa ulo ang kanilang
ambagan. Ganito rin ang lakad kung may utos na atas sa lahat, pahagdanhagdan
namang mananaog hangang dulo buhat sa Kalihim.
Isang lubos na kailangan ang paglilihim sa mga di dapat makaalam ng mga balak,
gawa at utos ng mga puno sa Katipunan maguing sa magulang, kapatid, anak, asawa
at ibang minamahal nila kahit pag karamayan ng buhay ay huag mabibighaning
sabihin sa pagkat ang kabagsikan ng Katipunan ay mararanasan din ng balang mag
kulang sa atas na ito.
Ano mang bagay na kagalitan, usap tungkol sa ari o kayamanan ay bawo [?]
na ipag sakdal sa ibang hukuman labas sa Katipunan. Ang lahat ay hahatulan at
huhusain ng kanilang Kxxx.
Narrative
English translation of Kasaysayan
There is a country that is ruled by wickedness and cruelty; the laws are worth-
less and what prevails is the rule of the mighty. And yet this country is sacrificing its
blood and life for the honor and glory of its rulers, just to be called brother or child.
Its wealth, life, and honor are at the disposal of people with evil desires. For more than
three centuries it has suffered hardship and wearisome deceit: a record not of tolerant
benevolence, but of callous neglect.
This country is ours; this chronicle of oppression is ours. A country full of
suffering, to the extent of slavery. Oh Philippines! How wretched you are! Oh country
of our birth! Had she wanted you to progress, she would have given you advantages
over other peoples; had she desired your welfare, she would have treated you like a
favored child. But you have not been treated like this. You have been persecuted; you
have suffered despicable punishments and grave injustices. [To Spain:] One by one
your children are accusing you; here, too, you despise the very being of those who
cannot answer back or protest that honor is being stained.
Great and certain is the honor to be accorded to those who devote their hearts
and souls to their country, because they are prepared to leave their parents, brothers
and sisters, spouses, children, and friends, to forsake their own interests and wealth,
and to disregard the hardship ahead. Their single goal, their single thought, is the
betterment of the land of their birth.
And therefore to my beloved brothers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora, who were
reviled for their absolute devotion to the Philippines, our country, and to those who
are now being sent to isolated places, punished, and dying in exile, we dedicate our
hearts and lives in solidarity under a great and resolute Katipunan, which is now
constituted to wrench this our country from the rapacious claws of the Spaniards and
from the enslavement and hardship they inflict upon us in pursuit of their desire to
succor and benefit themselves.
We should not believe the honeyed words about being guided and tutored; we
have been invited to observe the reality by our brave and beloved brother Mr. Rizal,
who desires the welfare and education of the country most earnestly, but who has now
been exiled by the malefactors.
Whereas the most important, most abundantly honorable and sublime duties of
any enlightened power are to defend her country, to safeguard its welfare, to expend
riches, blood, and even life for her country, brothers, and children in order that they
are not oppressed and enslaved by another ruler.
Whereas the Creator does not mandate any one of His creations to oppress and
trample one another.
Whereas to defend and love one’s country is not a crime, especially if she is suffo-
cated and enslaved by her rulers, as is happening now.
Whereas a people whose interests, needs, and true and genuine desires are under
relentless attack has just cause to bring down the leaders or rulers who behave in such
a way, and that if this eventuality arrives it is not lawless or traitorous, but the defense
of true reason, and a revolt against the flame of hardship.
Whereas no Laws have been passed or justification given for the confiscation of
anything that is not hers, and that we are the true owners of this land, it is just for us
to demand the return of what has been borrowed, for us to govern these Islands. We
do not need the intervention or direction of people from other lands, because if that
happens, like now, the result is frustration, humiliation, enslavement, and slaughter.
Covenant
English Translation of Pinag-kasundoan
Having regard to all the abuses just narrated, the acts perpetrated by the
Spaniards that open deep wounds in our heart, and for the reasons that are enumer-
ated above, we affirm below this document that we are of one accord and conviction
to extirpate the oppression, maltreatment, enslavement, and many other excesses
that this subjugated and oppressed Archipelago suffers at the hands of its pitiless,
ravenous, and bestial oppressors.
In order to ensure the success of this momentous and arduous undertaking, and
to fortify our strength, we place ourselves before the High Tribunal of God the Creator
and we request the help of his great strength and power in order that we may be shel-
tered and succored by true reason.
For the fulfilment of what we have discussed and covenanted, we swear in the
name of God before this Supreme Katipunan and our loved ones to defend this our
country and to strive, come what may, for her independence and separation from
Spain.
For the fulfilment of this sacred cause, we shall respond with our bodies, lives,
and wealth, now and in the future.
We swear also that we shall adopt and shall put into effect the principal orders
that have been signed and agreed by ourselves and by other Gentlemen who belong to
this Katipunan, whom we respect and salute. These orders are attached at the end.20
Tondo, the _______of August in the year one thousand, eight hundred and
ninety-two.
Principal Orders
English translation of Manga dakuilang kautusan
In conformity with the foregoing narrative and covenant, we direct the whole
subject and subjugated population of this Philippine Archipelago, now and in the
future, to observe and implement the following orders:-
1.
Be it declared that from this day forward this Archipelago is separated from
Spain, and that no leadership is recognized or will be recognized other than this
Supreme Katipunan.
2.
The Supreme Katipunan is hereby established, and henceforth it will be the para-
mount authority throughout the entire Archipelago and will issue the principal orders.
3.
The Katipunan has a paramount chief who is to be recognised, respected and
obeyed by all who support and join the association here or the Katipunans established
in other towns and provinces of this Archipelago.
4.
The chief has two groups of three in his administration, who will be called coun-
cilors. Their decisions must be followed and implemented without protest by all
subordinates.
5.
From amongst the councilors in these two groups of three will be drawn a secre-
tary, a keeper of the funds to be deposited in a bank, an executor of plans regarding
the expenditure of the capital or cash reserves, and a prosecutor who will take action
against anyone who commits offences or disobeys orders here in the Katipunan.
6.
Each of the secretaries and others must recruit their own groups of three, because
in this manner the membership will attain a respectable size, and thus the Katipunan
will grow and spread until the objectives set out above are attained.
7.
Everyone in the Katipunan has a strict duty to pay their contributions: 80 kualta
from every head, councilor, and assistant; 60 kualta from each of the lieges; 40 kualta
from each partisan; and 16 from each follower, in accordance with the schedule in the
table attached at the end.21
8.
Each Katipunan of three should deliberate on steps that will be effective in
strengthening unity, defending brothers who are suffering misfortune, developing
skills of leadership and encouraging good conduct amongst all members, and like-
wise in spreading news, notifying members of new instructions, and in bringing to the
attention of the chief anything they notice about the enemy, and information about
the deposits in their reserves.
9.
Although the group of three may wish to recruit another member whom they
believe to be competent enough and ready to be assigned duties, this should not be
a reason for disregarding the secret procedures that must be followed here in the
Katipunan.
10.
The Katipunan in each town and province is modelled on that in Manila and the
surrounding towns, but the difference is that those in the towns are subordinate to the
confederation of chiefs in their respective provinces, and those in the provinces are
subordinate to the center in Manila.
11.
Those who will be admitted into this great Katipunan must be people known to
be of good character, to have their hearts set on the defense of our country, and to
be prepared to face the trials they will be set. Before the supreme head authorizes a
person’s admission, a group of three must be persuaded that he is worthy of being
received into the Katipunan. He will then take a new name, swear before God in the
name of this Philippines to pledge his life in defense of the country and sign a pledge
to that effect.
12.
Leaders must demonstrate to their followers meritorious and commendable qual-
ities, such as fellowship, friendship, brotherhood, and good parenting, and likewise
show compassion toward whoever is in need.
13.
Offices in the Katipunan will be held for a term of two years, with the exception of
the position of fiscal. In the event that any head or any of the assistants vacates their
position, their place will be taken by either of the two others in their triangle.
14.
Bear in mind constantly the aims of this Katipunan, and is acutely aware of how
long overdue is the rescue of the Philippines from the clutch of the malefactors.
Duties of the Head

15.
Gives orders and devises plans to make the Katipunan effective, and ensures that
all followers comply with them loyally.
16.
Orders and plans will have no effect unless they have the agreement of the two
councilors. The secretary will be answerable if they are independent.
17.
Should it be necessary, the head has authority to give orders even in the absence
of any councilor or secretary, but he will be answerable for everything done and its
consequences.
18.
In time of war the Center is in control of everything and will give the orders to be
followed by all the heads in the provinces and towns.
19.
Decisions regarding punishments or rewards for achievement will be final.
20.
The Center, or the chief, of the Katipunan will be impartial when there is a discus-
sion. Whatever is decided on the matter will be followed.
21.
Whereas the fundamental aim of this Katipunan is the betterment of the
Philippine people, he will strive to sign beneficial laws with the help of his councilors.
22.
Whenever there is wrongdoing, he will order the establishment of a court to make
a judgment expeditiously.
23.
When a reward is to be given in recognition of a meritorious deed, he will
announce it immediately and make known the favor to be granted.
24.
The person of the central chief is to be treated with great respect. Nobody will
treat him with disrespect or irreverence, and he will be called the H. N. B. P....
25.
Will strive to give sound leadership to all subjects and to improve the livelihood
of the people, which will invariably be the purpose of all initiatives and new orders.
For Councilors
26.
Ensures that the head, or chief, has his affairs in good order.
27.
Does not allow the effectiveness of the orders and instructions about operational
matters to be undermined in any way.
28.
One of the two councilors will help inside the administration and the other will
ensure that everything possible is being done to advance the Katipunan.
29.
Ensures nothing is neglected, not even small matters.
30.
Safeguards the secrets of the chief.
For Assistants
Secretary
31.
Safeguards the secret plans of the chief on which he is consulted, and likewise the
confidentiality of whatever is discussed inside the council.
32.
Must comply with the orders without negligent delay.
33.
Orders or instructions on paper need to be endorsed by the secretary and those
not on paper shall be repeated three times by the head to the two councilors, and in
the same way they will pass the orders down to their groups of three until they have
reached all members.
34.
Orders and information that must be communicated to the whole Katipunan
down to the different affiliated provinces and towns will be written in the script of a
new alphabet, and will be despatched by post in the Spanish manner and be endorsed
by the Secretary.
Prosecutor
35.
Should a favor or punishment be sought in relation to any matter within the
Katipunan, it is he who will be required to request it before the great council.
36.
Will request, whenever it is needed, the written schedule of the income and
outgoings of the money of the Katipunan.
37.
Will check constantly that nobody in the Katipunan, from the top to the bottom,
is falling short in the accomplishment of their respective duties.
38.
Must know the true names, and also the aliases, of each and every one.
Assistant
39.
Will report to the secretary of the chief and will accept his every order.
If expenses for travel need to be withdrawn from the coffers of the Katipunan, will
hand over the required amount to the chief as ordered, and will also provide any other
necessities and give a true and honest reckoning of the expenditure or expenses incurred.
Head of the Army

40.
Receives orders from the chief in charge of the Katipunan and puts them into
effect immediately without delay.
Will get funds from the coffers of the Katipunan every month and be responsible
for distributing the full amount to their men.
Must not neglect to ensure that their men are trained to obey orders from above.
Rules for all

The two members at the base of each triangle will report on their activities to the
third member, who in turn will pass information on to his leader, and so on until it
reaches the top. This will also be the procedure to be followed for sending contribu-
tions to the head. It will likewise be the way to proceed when orders need to be passed
down from above, or communications from the Secretary need to be filtered down to
the base.
Absolute secrecy must be maintained in relation to the plans, deeds, and
commands of the chiefs of the Katipunan. These must not be disclosed even to
parents, brothers and sisters, children, spouses, and other loved ones and partners
in life, no matter what the temptation, because the Katipunan will deal harshly with
every violation of this order.
Anything that is the subject of discord, any case concerning property or wealth,
must not be brought before any court outside the Katipunan. Everything will be
judged and resolved by their Katipunan.
1 The first appearance of the name “Katagalugan” so far located is in a document dating from
1894.
2 In a booklet written in 1931, Gregorio F. Zaide relates that José P. Santos gave him copies
of two Katipunan constitutions, one dated June 19, 1892 and the other January 4, 1894.
Unfortunately neither of these documents can be located in his collection, which is now
housed in the Ortigas Library. Gregorio F. Zaide, Documentary History of the Katipunan
Discovery (Manila: Good Shepherd Press, 1932), 2; Email from Celia C. Cruz, Librarian,
Ortigas Library, to the author, dated November 21, 2007.
3 Comité de Antiguos Miembros del K.K.K.Ll.V.Z.Ll.B., statement dated July 27, 1930, in
Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, The Cry of Balintawak: A Contrived Controversy (Quezon City:
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998), 24–25.
4 The formation of some form of council prior to the Supreme Council is corroborated by the
testimony given by Pio Valenzuela under Spanish interrogation in 1896. The September
1892 appointment letter transcribed here as document 2.1 refers to the directorate the Ubod
(Center) in line with this founding document. Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino, declaration
dated October 21, 1896 in Wenceslao E. Retana, comp., Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. 3
(Madrid: Imprenta de la Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 297.
5 Teodoro Gonzales recollected that the first Supreme Council was constituted in August
1892, whilst Ladislao Diwa recalled it as being October. José P. Santos, “Mga Ulat ukol sa
Pagkakatatag ng Katipunan” (typescript, n.d., Guillermo Masangkay Papers), cited in
Borromeo-Buehler, The Cry of Balintawak, 195.
6 Gregorio F. Zaide, The History of the Katipunan (Manila: Loyal Press, 1939), 3–4.
7 Fernando Hernandez, “El ultimo superviviente del primer Katipunan,” Philippines Free Press,
September 7, 1929, 62–63 (quoting a piece written by Ladislao Diwa in 1928); Zaide, The
History of the Katipunan, 2. The article in the Philippines Free Press includes a photograph of
the Elcano accesoria.
(Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 43. Agoncillo does not say who he
means by “the majority of Katipuneros,” or why he favors their testimony over that of
Diwa and Gonzales. Most other scholars also favor Azcarraga over Elcano, but differ as to
the exact street number. Manuel Artigas y Cuerva includes a photograph of the building
and identifies it as no. 64 Azcarraga. Teodoro M. Kalaw includes a later photograph of the
same building, with a historical marker now affixed to its wall.Kalaw is said by Manuel to
have believed the address to be 314 Azcarraga. Isagani Medina, in his annotated edition
of Ronquillo’s memoir, includes the same photograph as Artigas y Cuerva, but follows
Agoncillo in giving the address as 72 Azcarraga. Zaide also seems to have eventually
accepted this majority verdict. By the 1990s the building, whatever its street number, had
been demolished, but a marker set in a concrete plinth had been erected on the site, and
more recently that has been replaced by a large sculpted tableau. Manuel Artigas y Cuerva,
Glorias nacionales: Andres Bonifacio y el ‘Katipunan’ (Manila: Libreria ‘Manila Filatelica,’
1911), 23; Teodoro M. Kalaw, The Philippine Revolution [1925] (Mandaluyong: Jorge B. Vargas
Filipiniana Foundation, 1969), 24;E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol. 1
(Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications, 1955), 60; Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang Talata tungkol sa
Paghihimagsik nang 1896−1897 [1898], edited by Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City: University
of the Philippines Press, 1996), 230;Gregorio F. Zaide, The Philippine Revolution (Manila:
Modern BookCo., 1968), 79; Ambeth Ocampo, “The Founding of the Katipunan,”Philippine
Daily Inquirer, July 8, 2010.
9 Hernandez, “El ultimo superviviente,” as cited.
10 In the case of Román Basa there is another question. According to many sources he replaced
Deodato Arellano as president of the Supreme Council in February 1893, and yet one (rela-
tively solid-looking) piece of evidence indicates that he did not join the association until
November 1893. Artigas y Cuerva, Glorias nacionales, 24–27. Artigas y Cuerva reproduces here
a list of KKK members who joined the association between September 1892 and April 1895,
tabulated chronologically by precise date. Since the Spanish secret police knew nothing of
the Katipunan until 1896, this information must presumably have come from an internal
KKK document.
11 A. B. German, “Ladislao Diwa: The ‘Unknown’ Angle in the KKK Triangle,” Sunday Times
Magazine, June 27, 1965; Emmanuel Franco Calairo, Ladislao Diwa at ang Katipunan (Cavite
Historical Society, 1996), 12–13.
12 Ramón Blanco, Memoria que al Senado dirige el general Blanco: acerca de los últimos sucesos
ocurridos en la Isla de Luzón (Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de “El Liberal,” 1897), 75.
13 Olegario Diaz, commander of the Manila detachment of the Guardia Civil Veterana, Report
on the Insurrection against Spain, dated October 28, 1896, in Wenceslao E. Retana, ed.,
Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid: Imprenta de la viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios,
1897), 343.
14 Epifanio de los Santos, “Marcelo H. del Pilar,” Philippine Review 5, nos. 4–5 (April–May
1920): 309.
15 José Dizon y Matanza, declaration dated September 23, 1896, in Retana, Archivo del bibliófilo
filipino, vol. 3, 204. Deodato Arellano was married to Marcelo H. del Pilar’s sister, Hilaria.
16 Aguedo del Rosario, “The Katipunan of 1896” [1908], appendix C to The Minutes of the
Katipunan (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1978), 113.
17 Epifanio de los Santos, “Marcelo H. del Pilar,” Philippine Review 5, no. 8 (August 1920):
528.
18 Ibid., 516. In 1896, the Spaniards discovered some of these letters at Bonifacio’s workplace in
Binondo, and later submitted them as evidence at Rizal’s trial. For this purpose the letters
were retranslated into Spanish, but in one odd instance Del Pilar’s forename Marcelo was
left in the KKK code—VZRKGJC. The Trial of Rizal, edited and translated with notes by
Horacio de la Costa (Manila: Ateneo de Manila, 1961), 108.
19 Pio Valenzuela, “Memoirs” (translated by Luis Serrano from an unpublished MS in Tagalog
[c. 1914], reproduced as appendix A, in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes
Commission, 1964), 105–6.
20 The copy of this document that survives in the Archivo General Militar does not bear any
signature.
21 This schedule is not attached to the copy preserved in the Archivo General Militar.
chapter 2
1892–1895
A
2.1
Center (Ubod)
Fragment of Appointment, September 1892
Photograph of the original document in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution
(Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing, Inc., 1997), 26.
part from the founding statements and statutes, this appointment may
well be the earliest Katipunan document yet found. At this time the soci-
ety’s highest organ was not yet known as the Supreme Council, but simply
as the Center (Ubod). The original document is in a private collection and
it seems only this fragment—the final page—has ever been put in the public
domain. The text is in cipher, and appears to have been penned by Andres
Bonifacio.
According to Adrian E. Cristobal, the document authorizes Restituto
Javier [alias Mangahas] to establish a KKK chapter in Mindanao.1 Javier
has accepted his assignment under oath and signed the paper in his own
blood, witnessed by four of the Katipunan’s initial inner circle: Teodoro Plata
[Pangligtas] as kinatawan, or representative; Ladislao Diwa [Baliti] as fiscal;
Andres Bonifacio [Maypagasa] as secretary; and Valentin Diaz [Walangulat]
as councilor. Plata’s designation as kinatawan, placed directly below the
title Ang Nangungulo (The President), might indicate that he signed the
41
appointment on behalf of the president, Deodato Arellano, who for some

reason was not present.
Restituto Javier was the son of Luciano Javier, a Tondo property owner.
After studying at the private schools of Pedro Serrano Laktaw and Hipolito
Magsalin, Restituto found employment as a personero in the Customs House,
and subsequently with Fressel & Co., the German-owned trading company
for which Bonifacio worked as a warehouseman.2 It is possible that Javier was
going to Mindanao in connection with his work, and intended to take any
opportunity for proselytizing that arose.
...pinagbilanan na ang balang magagawa ay ipag bigay alam dito sa Ubod sa

balang magiging pasiya.
Ang Maginoong Nangungulo ay ang pasiya na bigyang hanga at ihinto itong pag
pupulong tuloy siyang ang pirma, sumunod na gumagawa ang nanumpa ng kaniyang
tunay na dugo, at ang ibang kaguinoohan na Tagausig at manga Kasanguni na ngayoy
ang kakabilog at isa sa kanila’y akong Kalihim na nag papatotoo.
Ang Nangungulo
Ang Kinatawan
Pangligtas Ang Nanumpa
Mangahas
Tagausig
Baliti
Kasanguni Kasanguni
Walangulat
Kalihim
Maypagasa
1 Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc.,
1997), 26.
2 E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol.1 (Quezon City: Filipiniana
Publications, 1955), 234.
2.2
1892–1895 43
Center (Ubod)
Draft Appointment, September 11, 1892
Assuming this draft became a formal appointment, Ildefonso Laurel was

hereby authorized to form a Katipunan chapter in Hong Kong, where he
normally resided. Laurel had only been initiated into the Katipunan the
previous day.1 A week earlier, on September 3, 1892, he had written from
Manila to José Rizal, injudiciously saying that the people hoped he would
return from his Dapitan exile as their redeemer and savior (redentor y salvador)
and that all stood ready to shed blood for his salvation and that of the country.
A copy of this letter in the KKK’s cipher was amongst the documents found at
Bonifacio’s workplace by the Guardia Civil Veterana after the outbreak of the
revolution, and was later presented as evidence at Rizal’s trial.2
Whether Laurel was able to win any recruits to the Katipunan in Hong
Kong is not known, but he certainly remained active in Filipino nationalist
circles there. When José Alejandrino came to the colony in 1897, hoping
to purchase arms for the Katipunan, he ate his noon and evening meals at
Laurel’s house, paying him 10 pesos a month. At that time Laurel was running
a barbers shop.3
Tagalog text
Alang alang na si G. I. L. at [?] tauwong tunay sa bayan ng Sta Rosa Hukuman

ng la Laguna, nag tataglay ng mga bagay na karapatan na kinakailangan ng bayan
at na pailalim sa manga atas na itinatag sa mga katuiran ng Kat ... Katip ... ng Ubod
ng Mainila at sa panukala na payo [?] ng mga Kasanguni ay inihahalal siyang
tagapangasiwa buhat ngayon sa Colonia Inglesa ng Hong Kong, tuloy siyang
tinutulutan, upang makapag tayo sa naturang Colonia ng isang Katipunan na ang
kalagayan ay provincial, ang kinauukulan ay ang nasabing Ubod at doon ay siya ang
sangayon [?] ay, Pangulo.
Kaya nga ipinag uutos namin eto [?] sa mga makikisanib sa kaniya, na igalang at
alinsunurin sa anomang kanyang cautusan na calooban din namin.
Manila, a 11 de Set. de 1892
1 Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, Galeria de filipinos ilustres (Manila: Imp. Casa Editora
“Renacimiento,” 1917), 388.
2 The Trial of Rizal, edited and translated with notes by Horacio de la Costa (Manila: Ateneo de
Manila, 1961), 18.
3 José Alejandrino, The Price of Freedom: Episodes and Anecdotes of Our Struggle for Freedom
[1933]. Translated by José M. Alejandrino (Manila: M. Colcol, 1949), 62, 67.
2.3
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on December 24−25, 1894
This is the earliest document yet located that refers to the Katipunan’s execu-
tive body as the Supreme Council (Kataastaasang Sangunian, K.S.), and to the
basic two-tier structure the association would retain until the revolution—
with branches (Balangay, By.) grouped together, as soon as there were suffi-
cient members in the district or town, under the jurisdiction of popular coun-
cils (Sangunian Bayan, S.B., or Sb.).
The document records that on Christmas Eve, 1894, the members (Kawal)
of the Supreme Council and the heads of the KKK’s councils and branches
cast their votes for candidates to the four most important positions in the
organization—president (Pangulo); secretary (Kalihim); fiscal (Tagausig); and
treasurer (Tagaingat-yaman).
For each position there were three candidates. In the voting for president,
Bonifacio [alias Maypagasa] came ahead of José Turiano Santiago [Tiktik]
and Manuel Ureta [Mahusay]; for secretary, Emilio Jacinto [Pingkian] came
ahead of Restituto Javier [Maypangahas] and José Turiano Santiago; for
fiscal, Emilio Jacinto came ahead of Restituto Javier and “Pangsalot” (identity
unknown); and for treasurer, José Turiano Santiago came ahead of Vicente
Molina [Maniangad] and Andres Bonifacio.
This ballot, however, was only the first stage in the electoral process. In
order that the elections carried the “Authority of the People” (Kapangyarihan
ng Bayan), the document directs the Kawal to relay to the secretariat
(Kalihiman) the votes of the rank-and-file members of the society (Akibat)
within the next five days so that the final results could be tallied. Judging from
later documents, it appears the eventual outcome was that Andres Bonifacio
1892–1895 45
was elected as president; José Turiano Santiago as secretary; Emilio Jacinto as

fiscal; and Vicente Molina as treasurer.
The document is written in cipher by Bonifacio himself as secretary to
the Supreme Council, the office he still holds until the electoral process has
been completed. Beneath the main text of the document he has inscribed the
words “the Elected President” (Ang Kahalalang P.), presumably anticipating
that the outgoing president, Roman Basa, would sign the document, but the
space beneath that title is blank.
In closing, Bonifacio asks the Kawal to receive a “close embrace”—
a common KKK valediction—and wishes them “K.P.K.,” which may
signify something like Katapatan, Pananalig at Kapayapaan—“Constancy,
Commitment, and Peace.”
Deciphered text
K x K x Kx
Nx Mx Ax Nx Bx
Kgx na Karurukan ng mga Kawal

Sa pulong na ginawa sa Kgx na Karurukan ng mga Kawal ng Kx Sx ng ika 24
hangang ika 25 ng buang ito na pinagdaluhan ng mga Pinuno sa mga Sx Bx at Byx
dooy isa sa mga pinagkaisahang lumabas na pag pipilian ng mangang si si pamuno sa
buong Katipunan ng mga pangalang sumusunod:-
Pangulo Halal Kalihim Halal

1. Maypagasa 13 1. Pingkian 9
2. Tiktik 8 2. Maypangahas 8
3. Mahusay 1 3. Tiktik 3

Tagausig Halal Tagapag-yn Halal
1. Pingkian 11 1. Tiktik 8
2. Maypangahas 5 2. Maniangad 8
3. Pangsalot 2 3. Maypagasa 3
Ipinagkakapuri naming ipag bigay alam ang lahat ng ito, at tuloy umaasa na sa
Kgx na Karurukan ng mga Kawx gagawin ninyo ang nauukol na Kalihiman at pag
iingat sa pag hahalal. Kinakailangang sa ikatutupad ng Kapangyarihan ng Bayan,
ang bawat Kawal ay lalagay sa pinakakatawan ng isang bahagi ng kabilangan ng mga
Akibat at siyang tataglaing halal o votos.
Inaantay namin na sa loob ng limang araw sa dina matatanigan ipinahahatid

ninyo dito sa Kx Kalihiman, ang kinalabasan ng mga halal.
Tangapin ang mahigpid na yakap kapatid at ang Kx Px Kx aming ipinahahatid.
Maynila Kx Sx ika 26 ng Dibrg 1894
Ang Kahalalang Px
Ang Kahalalang Kalx

Bayanx Maypagasa
Kinunang salin ding

S.B. Dapitan
Maynila, ika 29 ng Dbre 1894

Bulalakaw
2.4
Andres Bonifacio
Fragment of a speech, c. February 1895
Nobody knows why José Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora were
charged with complicity in the Cavite mutiny. Nobody knows why they were
found guilty by a military court that refused to hear any defense; or why on
February 17, 1872, they were taken to Bagumbayan to have their necks broken
by the garrote. The archbishop of Manila asked the governor general to
let him see the evidence on which the three priests were convicted, but his
request was denied, and the trial records have still not been made accessible
to this day.
Outrage at this atrocity burned fierce and long. More than any other
single event, the executions awakened the sense of national identity that
impelled Filipino patriots in the 1880s to campaign for greater justice and
liberty under the Spanish flag and in the 1890s to conclude that the Islands
should sooner or later be free. Rizal famously dedicated his second novel, El
Filibusterismo, to the martyred priests, “as victims of the evils which I under-
take to combat.” Although still a child in 1872, he recalled elsewhere, he felt
1892–1895 47
fiercely that the injustice and cruelty must eventually be avenged, and he
swore to dedicate his life to that purpose.1
The killing of Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora was also seen as a momen-
tous, pivotal event by the Katipunan. To mark the anniversary of the execu-
tions in 1896, Pio Valenzuela relates, each of the popular councils was
instructed to erect a catafalque, shrouded in black, with a torch at each of the
four corners. The catafalque was adorned with wreaths made of the maka-
buhay plant, a symbol of immortality. The members then entered the room in
single file, prayed for the souls of the martyrs and, like Rizal, swore to avenge
their deaths.2
Transcribed below is the unfinished draft of a speech Bonifacio wrote for
the commemoration the previous year, 1895. The day would come, he pledged,
when “the sun of Reason will blaze, and those with debts will have to pay.”
Tagalog text
Minamahal kong mga kapatid
Ang kalumbayang na mamalas sa mukha at kaayusan ng lahat na ditoy nag

kakapulong, nag bibigay hapis sa gunita, at nag papakilalang sa puso nang lahat ay
laging na na riwa ang mahapding sugat na binugsan ng kalupitan at kaliluhan sa pag
kitil ng mga mahalagang buhay ng ating mga kababayang si BxGxZx.
Ang ikalawang buan ng taong isang libo at pitong puoo at dalawa, ay nakintal sa
puso ng lahat ng mga tunay na anak ng bayang Katagalugan at lalong lalo na sa bawat
Anak ng KxKxKx, sa pagkat ito ang taong katandaang tinataglay kapagkarakang
maging dapat sa kanyan kandugan.
Dalawang puo at tatlong taong bumibilang sa ngayon ang kalagimlagim pag
isiping lamang na nangyari sa parang ng Bagong bayan ng bitayin ang tatlong tagalog
na nangunang nag sabog ng kaliwanagan at nag wasak sa nakatatabing na dilim sa
mga mata ng Katagalugan. Ang bayan, pinanunhan ng buong katiisan, at sa pagkat
mahina, mahina sapagkat di magkakaisa sa pag daramdam at pag dadamayan….
[paper crumbled; two lines illegible] ang malalin na pag hihimutog at nabigkas ang
“May araw ring sisikat ang araw ng Katuiran, at magbabayad ang may mga utan.”
1 José Rizal to Mariano Ponce, April 18, 1889, in Teodoro M. Kalaw, ed., Epistolario Rizalino,
vol. 2 (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1930), 166.
2 Testimony of Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino, October 21, 1896, in Wenceslao E. Retana, comp.,
Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid: Imprenta de la Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios,
1897), 305.
2.5
Sb. Katagalugan
Note to the President of the Supreme Council, March 30, 1895
Many history books report that José Rizal was made the honorary president
of the Katipunan, but the brief note transcribed below is the only contempo-
rary document yet located that confirms the fact.
Written and signed by Alejandro Santiago [alias Halimaw], the presi-
dent of the KKK’s Katagalugan Council, the note informs Bonifacio that
the contributions collected to meet the cost of a banquet for “the family of
our President, Dr. Rizal” totaled 11 pesos and 92 kualta. As Bonifacio had
requested, Santiago attached to the note a list of the contributors, but this is
now missing.
Some history books report that the hero’s sister, Josefa Rizal, was the
president of the KKK women’s section; that his niece Angelica Lopez y Rizal
(daughter of Narcisa) was the fiscal; and that another sister, Trinidad, and
another niece (Delfina Herbosa y Rizal, daughter of Lucia) were also members.
Whether these reports are accurate is not yet known, but this note corrob-
orates the testimony of Gregoria de Jesus that a number of Rizal’s relatives
were at the very least closely acquainted with the leaders of the Katipunan.
And that, in turn, must suggest that Rizal himself had at least heard about
the Katipunan some time before its emissary Pio Valenzuela visited him in
Dapitan in June 1896 to sound out his views on the wisdom of an imminent
revolution.
The document is transcribed below first as it was written, in the
Katipunan’s cipher, and then in its deciphered form.
Original Text
Kx Kx Kx
ģx vx
Nx Llx Bx
Pnģxfxfnll
O Kgnjnģ gnjnģ lln Px ģ Kx Sx Sn ñllyc pnģ kfñjñģnll, vñllnrnpnt kcģ ñpndnjn nģ

kjnkñp lln jñfnv llñtc, lln kñllntntnjnnll ģ vgn pnģnjnll ģ llnģng sñ nbxjcy sn pñgxñģ ģ vgn
pnvnjñn ģ ntñg Px Dr. Rñsnr.
1892–1895 49
Txllkj px sn kxnjtn lln nvñģ ñlln qlltrqgn dñnll ny jnbñģ ñsnģ pñsc nt npnt lln snñkpnt
nt jnbvñģ dnjnwnģ kxnjtn.
Tnllgnpñll ng ynkp kp nt nģ bccģ Kpnynpnñll.
Txlldc, Sbx Ktg. 30/3/95.
Fnjñvnw
Sn Kgx lln Px ģ Kx Sx
Tagalog Text
Kx Kx Kx
nģ mga
Ax Nx Bx
Panguluhan
O Kagalang galang na Px nģ Kx Sx Sa inyo panģ kahilingan, minarapat kong

ipadala ang kalakip na liham nito, na kinatatalaan ng mga pangalan ng nangag si
abuloy sa piguing ng mga pamilia ng ating Px Dr. Rizal.
Tunkol pu sa kualta na aming ina entrega dian ay labing isang piso at apat na
saikpat at labing dalawang kualta.
Tangapin ang yakap Kp. at ang boong Kapayapain.
Tundo, Sbx Ktg. 30/3/95.
Halimaw
Sa Kgx na Px nģ Kx Sx
2.6
Emilio Jacinto
¡¡ Gising na, mga tagalog!!, October 23, 1895
This stirring rallying call to the patriotic cause has the rhythm of oratory, and
so far as is known it was never published.
The piece is in Jacinto’s handwriting, but for some unknown reason he
has signed it J. Aging rather than with his usual alias Pingkian.
Original Text
¡¡Gising na, mga tagalog!!
Mahigit sa tatlong dan taun—¡kahangahangang kalaunan!—na lumubug sa kalunuran

ng bangis at daya ang araw ng ligaya nitong Katagalugan! Mahigit sa tatlong dan
taung tayo’y na sa dilim, dilim na nakapangingilabot ng gabi ng kaalipinan! ¡At ang
gabing ito’y tahimik na katulad ng mga libingan! ¡at sa katahimikang ito’y walang
ibang nadidingig liban ang kalansing nga mga tanikala, o kaya ang mapanglaw na
daing o kaya naman ang binging galit ng pusung tinuhug ng kalis ng ganid! Ang
gabing ito’y malaun nang tutoo! ang himbing ng tulug ay nakakukutaya [?] na!...
....¿Hangang kailan, hangang kailan, mga tagalog, sisikat ang araw ng inyong
lakas kasabay ng inyong kaginhawahan? ¡Ay! kung nakikita ang inyong kalagayan,
pusu’y nagpuputuk, mata’y nagdidilim, dugu’y kumukulu at kusang napapahiaw
ang tapat na dibdib:- ¿Diyata, mga kapatid? ¿diyata’t kayo’y mamamalagi na sa
ganitong kabulagan at kaalipinan? ¿saan napatungo ang dahas at tapang ng inyong
mga magulang niyaong sila’y nakipaglaban sa mga tagaibang lupang yaan nang di
pagharian ng sino mang pusung itong bayang tagalog? ¿saan napatungu ang dugu
ni Kalipulako, ang masiglang hari sa Maktan, niyaong pinatay niya ang lilong si
Magallanes? ¿at saan nandoon ang matibay na pusu ni Soliman? ¿Diyata mga
kapatid? ¿diyata’t kayo’y lagi nang nakagapus diyan sa dustang haligi niyang lubhang
nakapupoot na kapusungan? ¿diyata’t sa inyong buhay wala nang makikita, kung di
hirap, dalita, sakit, lumbay, dusa’t kaamisan?...
¡Hayo na, hayo na bayan ko’t ikaw ay gumising! ¡ikaw ay magbangun, buksan ang
mata mo’t ikaw ay magmasid, ay bayang kong sawi!
¿Nakikita mo yaung maghapunang nanga kabilat sa init ng araw, nangababasa
sa ulan, at sa agus ng kanilang pawis at sa pagud ng kanilang katawang hapu na’y
pinabubukal sa lupa ang bungang nagbibigay buhay sa lahat at nagbibigay sarap sa
mga katawang may masamang loob? Sila’y mga tagalog.
Tignan mo ngayon itong maghapunan ding nangakahilig sa malabambut at
mayayamang upuan. Ang lalung masasarap na pagkain ay kanila, kanila ang lalung
malalaking bahay, at ang lalung magagandang babai ay kanila din: lahat ay kanilang
iniikaw, at sila’y pinapupugayan at hinahagkan ng kamay ng bata’t matanda. Ito’y
mga kahalili ng Dios, mga fraileng kastila.
Saan man patungu ang iyong mga mata’y walang makikita kun di tagalog na
magdadalita at kastilang mayaman, tagalog na naaapi’t kastilang umaapi!
¿Bakit? ¿bakit ang mga sundalong tagalog na nakikihamuk sa ngalan ng kastila
at sa mga kalaban ng kastila; nagtitiis ng pagud, gutum at uhaw; na gumugugul ng
buhay at dugu; at ninananakaw sa nagpalaking magulang ang kabataa’t lakas na
ipatutungkud sa dustang katandaan, bakit inaalipusta ng kastila?
¿At bakit naman ang mga sundalung kastila na inilalayu ang dibdib sa sandata
1892–1895 51
ng kalaban kung makikihamuk, pagkatapus nito’y nilalawitan ng sarisaring pala sa

kahirang tapang na walang makapantay? ¿Bakit ang damit nila’y hiniyasan ng mga
guhit at bituing ginto, pagbubuka ng kanilang bibig isang mapait na tungayaw,
pagkilos ng kanilang kamay isang mahapding hampas? ¿at bakit na lalu silang
iginagalang ng tagalog?
Saan man, saan man ay gayon ang makikita.... nguni’t atin nang ihinto, atin
nang hulugan ng masinsing tabing itong mga kalagimlagim na katutuhanan, at
ating isipin ang lalung mabuting kagamutan.... “¿Anong isip isip pa? wala din tayong
magagawa, wala tayong pagkakaisa.” Yto’y siyang biglang isasagut ninyo sa akin na di
na babayaang matapus mangusap.
Sa makatuid naghihinanakit kayo’t walang pagkakaisa, sa makatuid nasa ninyo
ang pagkakaisang ito. Datapuat kayo’y namamali, kundi man kami ay talagang
minamali. ¿Ynaakala ninyong sukat na ang salita, sukat na ang nasa? Kung sasabihin
lamang ninyong kayo’y lumalakad, kung nasain ninyo lamang ang lumakad, ¿kayo
kaya’y tunay ngang lumalakad, ¿kayo kaya’y dumating sa inyong paroroonan? Gawa,
gawa at gawa! Kung kayo’y walang kapangahasang gumawa, ang inyong pagkakaisang
sinasabi ay isang kasinungali ngang ibinabalat kayu sa inyong karuagan; ang
pagkaisang inyong ninanasa ay isang pangarap ng inyong kaloobang pinamugaran ng
hamak na pagsasarili.
¿Ano ang inyong hinihintay? ¿hinihintay baga ninyong sila’y siyang maawa sa
inyo’t ibigay sa awang ito ang nauukul sa inyong mga matuid? ¿hinihintay ninyong
gawin nilang lahat ito, silang nabubuhay dahil sa kayo’y namamatay, silang nasa
ginhawa dahil sa kayo’y nasa hirap, silang panginoon dahil sa kayo’y alipin?
¿Hangang kailan pa mga tagalog kikilanlin ang tunay na pinagbubuhatan ng inyong
mga kaamisan? ¿Kailan ma’y huag antayin sa kanila ang ganitong awa: lalu’t higit
pa nga; nang sila’y mamalagi sa sarap at ginhawa ng kanilang pamumuhay, walang
salang iisipi’t gagamitin ang lahat ng paraan, kanilang sasandatahin ang lakas, ang
daya, ang atin sariling mga kababayan at ang atin sariling mga kayamanang kanilang
sinamsam; at sa ating kamangmangan at bulag na pagasa sa kanilang tapat na loob,
tayo’y pipigain, tayo’y iinisin at saka lamang bibitiwan kung pati butu ng ating mga
bangkay ay wala nang kapatak man ng taglay na katas.
¡Hayo na mga tagalog kayo ay gumising at magkaisa sa gawa! Ang bawa’t isa’y
lumingap sa lahat at ang lahat ay lumingap sa bawat isa. Kayong lahat ay tunay na
magkakapatid; iisa ang dugung tumatagbu sa inyong mga ugat; iisa ang lupang
inyong tinubuan, iisa ang araw na namulatan ng inyong mga mata’t nagbigay init sa
inyong katawan at iisa ang inyong pighati’t pagkaayop; ¿bakit di pagisahin naman
ang inyong mga kalooban at kaisipan, upang maging isa din ang lakas ninyong lahat
at nang walang mangahas lumibak at yumurak ng inyong mga banal na matuid?
¡Hayo na bayan ko, hayo na’t gumising! Ang bibig mong malaung napipi ngayon
ay mangusap, ang bingi mong tainga ngayon ay makinyig, at
“Makapangyarihang kanan mo’y ikilos papamilansikin ang kalis ng poot....”
¡Sukat na ang pagdarusa! siya na ang pagtitiis! !siya na ang pananangis! Yaa’y
nababagay lamang sa mga babai at sangol; ang mga lalaking may dangal at puri, may
pusu’t lakas ay gumagawa, nakikilaban at namamatay...! ¡kayo ay gumawa, makilaban
at matutung mamatay, mga tagalog!
J. Aging
23.10.95
English Translation
Wake up, Tagalogs!!
For more than three hundred years—an amazing length of time!—the felicitous sun in
this land of Katagalugan has been submerged and drowned by cruelty and deceit. For
more than three hundred years we have been in darkness, the horrifying dark night of
slavery! And this night is silent, like the graveyards. And in this silence nothing can be
heard except the clanking of chains, or perhaps melancholy lamentations, or perhaps
the sterile anger of a heart pierced by the sword of hate! This night is truly long! Sleep
is heavy, and deep [?]!....
When, Tagalogs, when shall the sun blaze, when shall you be strong and your
suffering end? Ay! Seeing your situation makes the heart burst, the eyes cloud over,
the blood seethe, and the righteous breast howl with rage. Is that not so, brothers? Or
will you remain blind and enslaved? What has happened to the mettle and courage of
your forebears, who fought against those from other lands so that this country of the
Tagalogs would not be ruled by outsiders? Where now is the blood of Kalipulako, the
defiant ruler of Mactan, who killed the traitor Magellan? And where is the strong heart
of Soliman? Were they not your brothers? Will you forever be chained to the pillar of
the oppression that causes great anger in your hearts? Will you witness nothing in
your lives but hardship, poverty, sickness, dejection, grief, and oppression?
Forward! Forward, my country and awake! Arise, open your eyes, and look about
you, my unfortunate people!
Do you see those who are exposed to the heat of the afternoon sun, who are soaked
by the rain, and who with the drops of their sweat and the fatigue of their exhausted
bodies raise from the earth the harvest that gives life to everyone and gives comfort to
those whose spirits are debased? They are Tagalogs.
And now notice who likes this afternoon to lounge in soft and luxurious chairs.
The most delicious food is theirs; theirs are the biggest houses, and the most beau-
tiful women are theirs also; they have grabbed everything, and yet they are the ones to
1892–1895 53
whom we, young and old alike, must doff our hats; they are the ones whose hands we
must kiss. These are the representatives of God, the Spanish friars.
Wherever you turn your eyes, nothing is to be seen but Tagalogs who are poor and
Spaniards who are rich; Tagalogs who are enslaved and Spaniards who are enslavers!
Why? Why are the Tagalog soldiers who fight in the name of Spain and against
the enemies of Spain; who suffer exhaustion, hunger, and thirst; who give their lives
and their blood; who are taken away when their youth and strength should support
their old and weary parents; why are they insulted by the Spaniards?
And why are Spanish soldiers who do not expose their chests to the weapons of
the enemy in combat later heaped with various rewards for their unmatched bravery?
Why are their uniforms decorated with ribbons and gold stars, when they only open
their mouths to utter a foul curse and only raise their hands to strike a painful blow?
And why, above all, do the Tagalogs accord them any respect?
Wherever you look, everywhere, the same sort of things can be seen. But here we
shall stop, let a curtain be drawn over these desolate truths, and turn our thoughts to
the best remedy.… “What on earth are you thinking? We shall achieve nothing. We
have no unity.” This will be your immediate answer, without letting me finish what I
want to say.
You lament there is no unity, which suggests that you want unity. But you are
mistaken; but we shall be truly mistaken. Do you believe that words are enough, that
an aspiration is enough? If you just say you will move forward; if you just have the
desire to move forward, does it mean you actually will move forward? Does it mean
that you actually will reach your destination? Deeds, deeds, and deeds! If you do not
have the courage to act, the unity of which you speak is perhaps a lie that conceals your
cowardliness; the unity that you desire is a dream that belies your weak resolve.
What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for them to take pity on you, and
decide compassionately to grant you your rights? Are you waiting for them to do this,
they who live because you die, they who prosper because you live in poverty; they who
are masters because you are slaves? How long will it still be, Tagalogs, before the true
source of your oppression is recognized? When will you stop waiting for compassion
from them, especially since their lives are always delightful and prosperous, when
they have nothing to worry about and have everything at their disposal—their force of
arms, their deceit, our own compatriots, and the wealth they have seized from us. And
as a result of our ignorance and blind hope in their honest character we are squeezed
and suffocated, and they will only let go when they have extracted the last drop of juice
from the bones of our corpses.
Forward, Tagalogs, awake and unite in action! Each one should care for all; and
all should care for each. You are all true brothers; one is the blood that runs through
your veins; one the country of your birth; one the sun under which you opened your
eyes and which gave warmth to your body; one your grief and humiliation. Why not,
therefore, unite your resolve and thoughts in order also to make one your strength, so
that nobody will dare to insult and trample on your sacred rights?
Forward, my country; awake and go forward! Your voice, for so long mute, should
now speak; your ears, for so long deaf, should now listen, and
“The power is yours to act and vanquish the sword of hate.”
Too many afflictions already! No more suffering! No more cruelty! Only women
and babies would bear these things; men who have integrity and honor will fight and
die…! You, Tagalogs, mobilize, fight, and learn how to die!
J. Aging
23.10.95
2.7
Sb. Katagalugan
Letter to officeholders, November 17, 1895
In this letter, the president of Sb. Katagalugan, Alejandro Santiago [alias

Halimaw], informs his fellow officeholders within the council that Eleuterio
de Guzman [Lintik], the sometime treasurer, had passed information about
the Katipunan to the Policia Secreta.
The two specific charges against Eleuterio de Guzman detailed in the
letter are firstly that he had divulged to a police agent the secret signals and
passwords used within the KKK, and secondly that he had also divulged to the
police the identity of at least one Katipunan member—Esteban Cruz [Buan].1
Since these acts of treachery were placing individual members and the KKK
as a whole in grave peril, Santiago urgently asks his fellow officeholders to
let him have their considered views on how this situation should be tackled,
and on what punishment Eleuterio de Guzman should suffer. Whoever was
selected to execute the agreed punishment, he says, should be reproached by
no one.
It is not known whether the accusations were true. The individual whose
name Eleuterio de Guzman had allegedly passed to the secretas—Esteban
Cruz—remained at liberty, at least for a few more months.
1892–1895 55
A couple of weeks after this letter was written, according to Pio

Valenzuela, the Supreme Assembly of the Katipunan sentenced Eleuterio de
Guzman to death, which given the gravity of his alleged crimes seems entirely
credible. No evidence has been found, however, to suggest this sentence was
ever executed.2
This and other references in the Katipunan documents to the unwanted
attentions of the secret police, of course, raise intriguing questions as to when
the Spanish authorities first obtained specific, solid intelligence about the
Katipunan, as distinct from just vague rumors and unreliable gossip about
masonic plots, filibusterismo, and personas sospechosas.3 The answer to these
questions might well be found in the records of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia y
Seguridad, the body formed in 1895, to which the secret police mentioned
here most likely belonged.4
As was customary in the KKK at this time, Santiago used small crosses
rather than dots to signify an abbreviation. This usage has been copied below
in the transcription of the heading, but not throughout.
Tagalog Text
KxKxKx
LlxVxNxLlxBx
Pngxjxfnll
Oh mga ginigiliw kong mga Kpx na pinuno ng Sb. Ktg. at mga By.: Minatapat
kong isanguni sa inyong kamahalan ang mga sumbong na tinangap sa Sb. ito, laban
sa Kp. na Jñlltñk Eleuterio de Guzman ang mga sumusunod:
Kaunaunahan = Ng ikalabing apat nitong umiiral na buan sa oras ng alas 5 y ½ ng
hapon, dumating sa aking bahay ang mga Kp. na Pang. ng K.S. at sa By. sa “Koncepcion,”
na ipinag tatanong na kon ang na nasabikong Kp. ay sa ngayoy tumatangap ng balita
tunkol sa mga kalihiman na ating ginagawa, ang sagot koy hindi, ang Kp. nayan sa
ngayoy gumagamit ng malaking kataksilang dito sa K.K.K.ģ.v.N.Ll.B. na ang taksilang
ginagamit, ang mga lihim dito sa Ktp. na hindi dapat ipahayag kangino mang walang
malay, gaya ng mga señas tokes at mga mahal na wika ay ipinakilala sa isang W. na
Policia Secreta upang makilala ng nasabing Sekreta ang mga nasasanib na mga tawo
sa Ktp. ito, sa masamang nais na ipahuhuli, kayangat ang Pang. sa nasabikonang By.
ayun sa ibinigay sa kaniyang señas ay kaniyang nakilala at siya namay napakilala na
nang papatotoo ay si Guzman pagkat doon ng yari sa kaniyang tindahan ang mga
bagay na yon, na iyan ay Kp. na nasasanib sa By. Dalisayan sa Kalookan, sa bagay
nayaon ay ipinag tanong sa Pang. ng K.S. na kun ang pangalang Igmidio Tolentino
ay totoo ngang nasasanib sa By. Dalisayan ang sagot ay wala, cayangat sumanguni
naman dito sa Ktg. kun tunay ngang Kp. yang pangalang yan na namamagat na itak
ang sagot koy hindi malaman, nguni datapua ginawa ko ang marapat napag uusig sa
dalawang By. Kb. at Kto. ay walang makapag sabi na iyay Ktp.
Ikalawa = Ngayong ikalabing pito nito ring umiiral na buan sa oras ng alas 9¼
ng umaga dumating dine ang Kp. na Buan Estevan Kruz na ipinag sasabi ayon sa
tinangap niya sa Kp. na Mariano Trajano na namimiligro ang kaniyang kalagayan
ayun sa sinabi sa kaniya ng isang Policia Sekreta na icao aniyay nakikilala ko na isaka
sa Ktp. na sa amiy ipinauusig, na ang may sabi sa kania ay si Eleuterio de Guzman
maestro sastre.
Sa bagay nayon ang tanong ko sa inyo mga ginigiliw kong mga Kp. sa
kapahamakan ng ating Kp. at sampu pa ng Ktp. Ano ang inyong minamatapat sa rile
ninyong bait na sukat iganti sa kaniyang mga iniugali [?] antay ko ang mahinahon
ninong kasagutan na dapat gamitin sa kataksilan niya upang huag ng sapitin ang
kalagimlagim na mapagsasapit ng Ktp. ang siyay ating papamalagim sa kataksilan
niyang ginagawa o ang kitlin ang masamang supling na ditoy siang sisira sa kalakhan,
ang bagay na itoy kong kaya ko itinala sa ganitong kaayusan ayun sa tinataglay nating
mga kahigpitan sa panahong ito sa naguusig sa ating Policia Sekreta, at sa banta
ko ay lalong magaling ang sa papaganitong kaayusan upang itong mapag himig na
mabuti sa inyong sariling bait o malines na konsiencia ang lahat ng sumbong na ditoy
na tatala, at ang matapat na inyong kasagutan o magiging pasiya sa lahat ng yaon
ay mangyaring inyong itala sa isang liham na lihim na walang macababatid na sino
paman at gayondin naman itala ninyo sa nasabing liham ang inong minamagaling
na paraan ayun sa pagkitil ng masamang sumisira sa atin, at tuloy ipag ka tiwala sa
may dala nito ang kasagutang lihim, at kun sino man sa atin ang mahalal na tutupad
ng kaparusahang igagawad sa taksil na loob ay walang makasusuay, at ang sumuay ay
siang unang gagamitan niyang mahigpit na kaparusahan.
Tundo (Maynila) ikalabing pito nitong buan ng Noviembre ng taong isang libo
walong daan at siam napu at lima = Kntngnjxgnll =
Ng Png
Fnjñvnw
1 By. Kb. at Kto.—Balangays Kabuhayan and Katotohanan.

2 Testimony of Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino, October 21, 1896, reproduced in appendix L, in
Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1978), 168. See the record of
the Supreme Assembly, November 30−December 1, 1895 (document 2.9).
1892–1895 57
3 Milagros C. Guerrero, “Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan,” in Jose Dalisay Jr., ed.,
Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People, vol. 5 (Hong Kong: Asia Publishing Co., Ltd.,
1998), 160.
4 Bernadita Reyes Churchill, Eden Manalo Gripaldo, and Digna Balangue Apilado, eds.,
The Movement for Independence in the Philippines (1896−1898): Calendar of Documents in the
Archives of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia de Manila (Manila: National Commission for Culture and
the Arts, 2011).
2.8
Supreme Council
Notice to section presidents, November 26, 1895
This document calls the presidents of all the KKK’s sections—popular coun-
cils (Sangunian Bayan), branches (Balangay) and units (Hukuman*)—to a big
meeting in the municipality of Caloocan on Saturday, November 30, 1895.
The meeting will be held in the house of Brother “Liwayway,” and is sched-
uled to start at eight o’clock in the morning.
Penned by Emilio Jacinto (although at this point he was fiscal, not secre-
tary, of the Supreme Council), the communication stresses the importance of
the meeting, which will discuss almost every aspect of the Katipunan and will
affect each and every section. It is consequently anticipated that the meeting
will last all day, and those attending are therefore asked to make a donation—
a salapi, or half a peso—to pay for both their lunch and supper.
The document is signed by Bonifacio, Jacinto, and several other leading
members of the Katipunan, mostly using their KKK aliases and the KKK
cipher. Aguedo del Rosario, for example, whose alias was Tagaisok, signs
the document “Tngnñsck.” The identities of the signatories, where known,
are detailed beneath the transcription. It is interesting to note that on this
occasion Bonifacio uses a different cipher from the other signatories. He
customarily inscribed his alias—Maypagasa—as “Vzypzgzsz,” but here it is
“Gnubnonzn” and it is prefaced by the letter “L.,” which presumably signifies
his rank within the organization. The two next-highest ranking members of
the Supreme Council, Emilio Jacinto and José Turiano Santiago, preface their
signatures with the letter “B.
Tagalog Text
[Hand-drawn Katipunan Symbol]
K xK xK x
N x Mx Ax Nx Bx
Kataastaasang Sx
Sa mga P. ng lahat ng mga S.B., By. at Hkan. at sa mga kap. na Tagaisok,

Dimasayaran, Maniangat, Pingkian, at iba pang nararapat dumalo.
Minamahal na mga kap.:
Ipinagkakapuring ipagbigay alam sa inyo’y mga karangalan na sa Sabadong
darating ikatatlong puong araw ng lumalakad na buan, ay gagawin ang isang
malaking pagpupulong sa bayan ng Kalookan at sa bahay ng kap. na Liwayway at sa
ikawalong palu ng tansu sa bakal ng umaga.
Sa bagay na ito at sa karapatang kami’y magsidalo, sapagkat pinakakatawan ng
kani-kaniyang pulutong ang bawat isa sa mga P., at sa mga katungkulan at tanging
paglilingkod at katalinuhan ng mga iba, kayong lahat ay aming pinamamanhikan na
mangyari lamang dumalo sa nasabing pagpupulong.
Datapua’t dito ay paguusapan ang lahat ng mga bagay halus na nauukol sa
boong Kat. at sa bawat kaniyang pulutong, kaya’t walang salang magtatagal marahil
ng maghapun at hangang gabi pa. Sa dahilanan nito, ang aming minabuti na kayong
lahat at sumambag ng isang salapi na ibibili ng pagkaing gagamitin sa tanghalian at
hapunan.
Sa lahat ng ito, kami’y umaasang hindi wawaling kabuluhan ang aming
kapamanhikan, at di mamasamain ang inakalang ambag, na mangyayaring ibigay
karakarakang dumating ang kasulatang ito sa mga mahal ninyong kamay.
Kayo’y aming niyayakap ng lubos na pagibig ng tunay na magkakapatid.
Maynila ikadalawangpu at anim ng Noviembre ng taung 1895.
Ang K xP x
L x. Gnubnonzn
Ang K x K x
B x Tnk-Tnk
B x Pñllgkñzll Illegible
[Illegible] Bcrgcs
Snjnlljnllnll Gjngnll
Vngxñjñxñll Fnwns
Pxtxktn [?] Tzvbxjñ
Fnjnvmv Magiliw
Vzllnzllgzt Dimasayaran
1892–1895 59
Vnjzllc Vntnpng
Sñjnllg Paku
Tñcg
Laut - Jnct
Mapilit - Vzpñjñt
Tagaisok - Tngnñsck
Identities of Signatories
The Supreme President

L. Maypagasa
[Andres Bonifacio]
The Supreme Secretary

B. Tik-Tik
[José Turiano Santiago]
B. Pingkian Illegible
[Emilio Jacinto]
Illegible Burgos
[Geronimo Cristobal]
Silanganan Ilagan
[Francisco Carreon] [Rafael Gutierrez]
Maguiliuin Hiwis
[Ignacio Sanchez] [Identity unknown]
Putukti [?] Tambuli

[Identity unknown] [Identity unknown]
Halimaw Magiliw
[Alejandro Santiago] [Rogelio Borja]
Maniangat Dimasayaran
[Vicente Molina] [Pio Valenzuela]
Milano Matapang
[Ponciano Herrera] [Juan Cruz]
Silang Paku
[Balbino Florentino] [Estanislao de los Santos]
Tiog [?]
[Identity unkown]
Laot
[Isabelo Reyes]
Mapilit
[Adriano Jesus]
Tagaisok
[Aguedo del Rosario]
* Sometimes the word “Hukuman” is used in KKK documents to mean province, for example,
“Hukuman ng Maynila,” and sometimes it is used to mean “jurisdiction.” Here, though, it
seems to refer to the units at the foot of the KKK’s organizational ladder—sections that as yet
had insufficient members to elect a full set of officers and become a Balangay (branch).
2.9
Supreme Assembly
Record of meeting held on November 30 and December 1, 1895
Archivo General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5677, leg.1.41 bis.
Brotherhood, discipline, and internal unity are always extolled within revolu-
tionary organizations, but rarely maintained.
By November 1895, Bonifacio and Jacinto had respectively been supreme
president and supreme fiscal of the Katipunan for almost a year. The society,
they were keenly aware, had not made great advances since its foundation in
1892. Its active membership could at best be counted at around three hundred,
and it had not yet expanded beyond Manila and a handful of nearby towns.
Some of its local sections were barely functioning, and others were fractious.
This document shows the determination of Bonifacio and Jacinto to
invigorate the society, and to root out the malcontents, the miscreants, and
the timid. To give collective sanction and legitimacy to this catharsis, they
1892–1895 61
summoned the KKK’s leading activists to meet in Caloocan on the morning

of Saturday, November 30, 1895. The matters to be discussed, they said, would
affect every council and branch.1 They warned the delegates beforehand that
the meeting might last the whole day, but in the event it continued right
through the night as well, not dispersing until eight o’clock on the Sunday
morning. It was held some distance from the población in a house surrounded
by rice fields, and was attended by about thirty-five to forty people.2
In the course of the proceedings, the gathering was formalized as the first
meeting of the Supreme Assembly (Kataastaasang Kapisanan), which hence-
forth became the society’s paramount decision-making body. Theoretically, it
comprised the members of the Supreme Council, the presidents of the popular
councils (Sangunian Bayan), and the presidents of branches (Balangay) not
affiliated to popular councils, but in practice the presidents were often accom-
panied by one or two other leading activists from their sections.
In total, this record of the meeting in Caloocan names 46 individuals who
the Assembly decided should be “separated” or “distanced” from the society—
the terms itiwalag and ilayu seem to be used interchangeably—and many
others, it is clear, will also be cast out unless they show more commitment.
Aside from the numbers involved—perhaps a sixth of the active member-
ship—it is striking how many of the expellees had at one time or another
belonged to the society’s inner core. They included Bonifacio’s predecessor as
supreme president, Roman Basa; the existing supreme secretary, José Turiano
Santiago; and five others thought to have been sometime members of the
Supreme Council—Teodoro Gonzales, Restituto Javier, Faustino Mañalac,
Tomas Remigio, and Teodoro Vedua.
In 1894, Remigio and Mañalac had headed two of the first four
Sangunian Bayan, or popular councils, to be established by the
Katipunan—S.B. Laong Laan in the district of Santa Cruz and S.B. Ilog
Pasig in Binondo. From the perspective of Bonifacio and Jacinto, these two
popular councils had clearly become the main hotbeds of dissent within
the society, and it was they who were the prime targets of the purge. Of
the 46 named expellees, 15 belonged to S.B. Laong Laan (11 of whom were
branded as “traitors”) and 11 to S.B. Ilog Pasig (including 7 “traitors”). No
representative from either of these councils seems to have been present at
the Caloocan assembly, and no records have been found to indicate that
S.B. Laong Laan continued to exist thereafter. S.B. Ilog Pasig was reduced
to the status of a branch. Several members of S.B. Laong Laan may well
have left the Katipunan of their own accord prior to being expelled. Tomas
Remigio, one of those denounced as a “traitor,” recalled in a brief memoir
that he and others dissolved Laong Laan and formed “a new organiza-
tion, also committed to fighting for national independence, called Binhing
Payapa [Seed of Peace].” It is probable that a number of expellees from

other councils and branches had similarly departed before being ejected.3
The Caloocan assembly may also have sounded the death knell for the
KKK women’s section, albeit more inadvertently. Among the expellees were
the husbands of at least four of the most active women’s section members—
Marina Dizon, Benita Rodriguez, Simeona de Remigio, and Marta Saldana—
who it might be guessed would not be inclined to remain in the society them-
selves under these circumstances. The section was reportedly disbanded at
around this time.4
At the instigation of Jacinto, the Assembly agreed that the expulsions
need not be final and irrevocable. At least some of those who were “sepa-
rated,” it was hoped, would acknowledge the errors of their ways and apply for
readmission. Most likely this hope was realized only in a very few instances,
and not one of the most prominent expellees is known to have rejoined the
Katipunan as an organization. But this did not necessarily mean that their
patriotism had waned, or that they would not fight for freedom when the
fateful moment came. The former members of S.B. Laong Laan who estab-
lished the breakaway Binhing Payapa, most notably, assigned two of their
leaders—Tomas Remigio and Lorenzo Alonso—to rendezvous with the
Katipuneros who gathered in Balintawak in August 1896. Bonifacio welcomed
their support, and reportedly assigned Remigio to take charge of the revo-
lutionary forces in Santa Cruz, the district where S.B. Laong Laan had been
based.5 Other expellees remembered as having rallied at Balintawak included
Marcelo Badel, Crispulo Chacon, Restituto Javier, Faustino Mañalac, and
Pedro Zabala.6
Emilio Jacinto acted as secretary to the Assembly and wrote the record
of the meeting that is transcribed below. Under normal circumstances, these
tasks would have been undertaken by the actual supreme secretary—José
Turiano Santiago—but he arrived late and left early, evidently angered by
what was happening.
As was customary in the KKK at this time, Jacinto used small crosses
rather than dots to signify an abbreviation. This usage has been copied below
in the transcription of the heading, but not throughout. The orthography is
not consistent throughout, and it may be noted that Jacinto even rendered
his own alias in two ways —in some places as “Pinkian” and in others as
“Pingkian.”
The English text beneath the transcription is a paraphrase of the Tagalog,
not a translation.
1892–1895 63
Tagalog Text
K x. K x. K x.
N x. M x. A x. N x. B x.
Kataastaasang Kap x.
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan at ng K.K.K. ng mga A. N. B., ay nagpulung ang

Kataastaasang Kapisanan, sa ikatlong puong araw ng buan ng Noviembre ng taong
isang libo, walong dan, siam na puo’t lima; pagpupulong na minabuti nitong K.S. Sa
ikasampung palu sa tangsu ng bakal ng umaga ay binuksan ang Kagalanggalang na
Kar., na nangakaharap at dumalo ang mga kap. na Halimaw at Tagaisok, pangulo
at kalihim ng S.B. “Katagalugan”; Silanganan at Talibong, p. at tagausig ng S.B.
“Dapitan”; Paku at Tambuli p. at kal. ng By. “Alapaap”; Maypagasa, Maniangat at
Pingkian, p., tag. at t. ng K.S.; Bulalakaw p. ng By. “Dimasalang”; Matapang p. ng
By. “Silanganan”; Magiliwin, Sampalukan, Kalumpang at Pagatpat, p., kal., t. at tag.
ng By. “Dalisayan”; Mapilit at Laot, p. at tag. ng By. “Dimahipo”; Labong p. ng By.
“Kabuhayan”; ang mga kap. na Dimasayaran at Silang at iba pa. Ang pagpupulong
na ito ay ginawa sa bahay ng kap. na Liwayway sa bayan ng Kalookan. Nagkaroon ng
ambagang manalapi dahil sa pagkaing ginamit. Ang mga kapisan ng By. “Dalisayan,”
karakaraka’y nagalay ng isang malaking paglilingkod na halihaliling tumaliba habang
ginagawa ang pagpupulong.
Sapagkat di sumipot ang kap. na Tiktik kal. ng K.S., lumagay at gumanap ang
kaniyang katungkulan ng kap. na Pingkian.
Karakarakang naayos ang Kar., ipinagbigay alam ng K.P. ang lahat na nagawa ng
mga pinuno sa K.S. sa kapanahunang hinawakan nila ang kanilang mga katungkulan.
Tuloy ipinahayag ang bilangan ng salapi. Datapua’t sa di pangyayaring masiyasat
ng lahat sa sandaling yaun lamang, ay nagkaisa ang kapulungan na maghalal ng apat
na kapisan ng K.K., na siyang magsisiyasat at magbibigay alam sa lahat ng pulutong
ng kinalabasan ng kanilang pagsisiyasat. Lahat man ng nangakaharap ay umaayung
walang daya ang bilangang ito, minarapat ang paghahalal na yaun, dahil sa mga
alingawngaw at paglait ng ginagawa ng ilang mga K. sa K. S. sa wika’y ninanakaw ang
salapi. Ang apat na inihalal ay ang kap. na Halimaw, ang kap. na Silanganan, ang kap.
na Tagaisok at ang kap. na Ilagan, p. ng By. “Mahiganti” itong huli.
Ang kap. na Talibong ay nagsalita ng mga salang ginawa at ginagawa ng k.
Marahas (T. Reyes), na sinisiraang lubha ang K.S. na ninanakaw ang salapi, at mga
salitang lubos ang kapangitan na naringig sa kaniya ng naturang kap. na Talibong.
Marami sa nangkaharap ang nagpatutuhanan ng mga gawang ito at sampu ng

isangkawalanghiang ginawa sa labas na nagnakaw ng isang cheque, gawang
ikinapasuk niya sa bilangguan ng Bilibid. Sa pagkakita nitong mga kasamaan
ng Marahas, pinagkaisahan siyang ilayu, at ipagbigay alam sa boong Kat. ang
pagkalayung ito, at ang kadahilanan, sampu ng paglalagay ng kaniyang larawang
may sulat na taksil sa ibaba, sa kar. ng lahat ng pagpupulong ng lahat ng pulutong.
Sa karapatang magkaroon ang lahat ng nagpupulong ng isang bagay na
pagkayarian kung dumating ang dakip, ay ipinagsanguni ng k.p. ang bagay na ito.
Ang pinagkaisahan ay itong sumusunod: kung dumating ang dakip at matutup ang
kapulungan ay ikakatuiran ng lahat na nagsasaya lamang dahil sa kaarawan ng
kapanganakan ng kap. na Maypagasa, at dahil pa sa pagbibinyag ng anak ng isang
kap. na kaapit bahay. Datapua’t kung wala nang sukat na malusutang katuiran, at
aayaw din maniwala ang nagsisidakip, lahat ay magsisilaban kahit mangamatay at
tatarakang una ang sino mang tumagbu, tuloy ililigtas o susunugin ang mga kalatas.
Sa tanung ng k.p. sa kap. na Milan, p. ng Hkan. ng Nagtaha, tungkol sa
kalagayan at mga inaasal ng mga kapisan sa naturang Hkan., isinagut niya na
isang nagngangalang Guillermo Sandiego, kumpare ng k. si Eleuterio de Guzman
(Lintik), ay naguugali at gumagamit ng sama nito. Ipinagbigay alam din ang gawa
ng isang tinatawag na Eulogio Rodriguez na naningil at di napakita. Ang mga kap.
na napagsingilan ay ang kap. na Milan..... Gayon din ang sinabi tungkol sa kalagayan
ng kanilang Hkan., na walang kumilos na sino pa man liban siya at ang kap. na ...
(C.G). Sa pagkakita at ng ibang mga patutuhanan sa lahat ng sinabi ng kap. na Milan,
ay pinagkayariang itiwalag ang Sandiego at ang Rodriguez, tuloy ipagbibigay alam
sa boong Kat. ng pagkatitiwalag na ito. Tungkol sa mga k. hindi kumikilos at wari’y
nakakalimot ng kanilang tungkol, ay padadalhan ng isang kasulatan at ng kanilang
maisagut ang talagang nasa at nasasakalooban. Ito’y ang mga kap. na ... ............. ..; kung
sila’y talagang may ibig tumupad ng ipinanumpa ay isasanib sila sa By. “Makabuhay,”
at kung hindi ay ititiwalag din.
Pinagkayarian na ang sino mang k., magpahayag at magpakilala ng mga bagay
nauukol sa Kat., sa sino mang tiwalag at ititiwalag, na siya’y ariin pang kap. sa Kat.,
sukat nang patutuhanan ang gawang ito ng tatlong kap., ay ititiwalag din ng K.S.
Ipinagsabi ng k.p. ang mga nakawan at mga kaliluhang lahat ng mga k. si
Doroteo Dominguez (Abang), Tomas Remigio (Toremige), Pedro Trinidad (Maliksi),
Manuel Ureta (Mahusay), Lorenzo Alonso (....) Teodorico Guerrero (Kislat), Julian
Nepomuceno (Digma), Emiliano Morales (Lagasa), Teodoro Gonzalez (Lathala),
Gregorio del Rosario (....), Marcelo de la Rosa (....) Luis Velazco (Kulog), Mariano
Inocencio (Ating-ating), Andres Flores (Matigas), Rosendo Domingo (Lingab).
Sapagkat kilala ng lahat ang sama ng mga k. ito, sila’y pinarusahan ng parusang
ibinigay sa Telesforo Reyes (Marahas), liban ang Lathala, G. del Rosario, M. de la
Rosa, Ating-ating, at Lingab na ititiwalag lamang.
Ipinagsaysay ng k.p. ang muling pagkatatayu ng S.B. “Laong-Laan” at ng By.
1892–1895 65
“Dimasalang” na nagasira dahil sa mga kataksilang ginawa ng mga k. katatapus na

parusahan. Ipinagsabi din ang muling pagkasira ng By. “Dimasalang,” dahil sa mga
gawa ng mga k. si Restituto Javier at Doroteo Lopez (Mapangahas at Silang), p. ang
nauuna at kal. ang ikalawa ng By. na ito.
Siya namang pagdating ng k. kal., na mga ikalawang palu na sa dapit hapun, at
pagkaalam ng pinaguusapan ay nagsulit na ang kaniyang naaalaman tungkol sa By.
“Dimasalang,” na pinangunguluhan ng kapatid niya sa dugo, ay ito. Mula daw yatang
lumabas ang policia secreta, ay nangatakut ang mga kapisan dito, liban sa p. at kal.;
kaya’t makaitlo kung makaapat na nagpadalo sa pulung ang p. at kal. ay walang isa
mang sumipot. Dahil dito’y tumugon ang k. p. na sa mga araw na yaon ay dumating sa
kaniya at sa kap. na Pingkian ang sumbong ng kap. na Dimasayaran, Kalipulako, at iba
pang mga kapisan sa By. “Dimasalang,” na ang nangyari ay ganito: Ang Mapangahas
at Silang ay nagpupulong, at dito’y sinabi nila ang mga limbag na inutang ng p. sa
mga pinuno ng K.S., at dito na nagsalita ang Silang na kinakalakal at niwawalanghia
ng K.S. ang boong Kat., na di dapat pagbayaran, at mga iba pang panungayaw na
salita; at kung gayon ang mangyayari’y mabuting sila’y humiwalay. Ang Mapangahas
ay di umaayon sa una at sa huli’y umayon na sa mga paratang ng Silang. Pagkaringig
nito ang k.p. ay nagusisa ng dapat, at nakilala niyang nagkakasapakatan ang dalawa
sa kagagawang ito, sapagkat araw gabi halus nagkakasama’t nagsasalitaan, ang
Mapangahas ang siyang kumuha ng mga limbag, at siya lamang ang dumadalo sa
pulong, sa makatuid siya lamang ang hindi nagdamdam. Tuloy ipinagbigay alam
ng k.p. na pagkaalam niya nito ay kaniyang pinahintulutan ang mga kapisan sa By.
“Dimasalang” na maghalal ng ibang p. at kal. at itiwalag muna ang mga nasabi na.
Dito’y sumagut ang k. kal. na ang Mapangahas ay walang kasalanan kung di ang
Silang lamang na nagiisa. Sapagkat ang mga kap. na Maypagasa at Pingkian ay siyang
pinararatangan ng pangangalakal at ang kap. na Tiktik ay kapatid ng Mapangahas,
ang tatlong ito’y nagsilabas sa kar., at pinagkayarian na sa nangatira ay maghahalal
muna ng isang p., at saka hahatulan ang nauukol sa bagay na ito. Ang kap. na Tiktik ay
umui ng patuluyan. Pagbabalik ng p. at ng t. sa kanikanilang upuan, ay pinahayagan
sila na ang naging kahatulan ay ang matiwalag ang Mapangahas at Silang, tuloy
ipagbibigay alam sa boong Kat. ng kanilang mga gawa.
Pinagusapan ang By. “Ilog Pasig,” at dahil sa kilala ng lahat ang mga kasamaan
ng marami sa By. na ito, hinatulang itiwalag at sulatan ng taksil ang larawan ng mga
k. si Marcelo Santos (Talim), Faustino Mañalac (Mayon), Juan Guerrero (Kalipulako),
Juan Florentino (...) Alejo Garcia (Mainit), Antonio Arocha (Dorado), Miguel Sancho
(Matapang), Antonio Nadal (Mercurio), Eugenio Reyes (Matigasan) at Felipe Reyes
(Kainta), liban ang Matapang, Katigasan at Kainta na ititiwalag lamang.
Dito’y nakasama ang Roman Basa (Liwanag). Lahat ng ito katulad din sa mga
sinusundang hinatulan. Pinagkaisahan din na ang mga kapisang hindi nagsisikilos
sa By. na ito ay padadalhan ng isang kasulatan kamukha ng sa mga kapisan ng Hkan.
ng Nagtaha.
Sa tanung na ginawa ng k.p., tungkol sa kalagayan ng S.B. “Dapitan” sa p.

nito, ay sumagut na dito’y ang gumagamit ng lubhang pagkukulang ay ang tag. na
kap. na Kalasag (Teodoro Vedua); sapagkat ang k. ito ay tutoong naninibulos sa
pangangalunya at paglalaru ng matagal na panahun, bukod pa sa di halus nakikialam
sa mga bagay na nauukol sa Kat. at lalung lalu na sa kaniyang mga tungkol. Sa
pagkarigig nito, at sa pagkaalam ng marami, pati ng pagkakasakit ng k. ito buhat sa
kaniyang buhalhal na asal, ay hinatulan ding itiwalag at ilathala sa boong Kat. Gayon
din ang naging kahatulan sa Narciso Gonzalez, na magmula ng malaung panahung
siya’y na pasuk hindi napakikita man lamang baga ma’t ulit ulit siyang ipinatawag.
Hinatulan din ng parusang ito, ang mga kapisang si Justo Zalazar, Andres Perez,
Juan de la Cruz (Karim), Arcadio de Jesus at Pantaleon de la Cruz, ng By. Dalisayan.
Gayon din ang kap. na Burgos ng By. Maluningning, at ang mga kapisan ng By.
na ito, na di nagsisikilos ay padadalhan ng isang kasulatang kanilang sasagutin, at sa
sagut na ito ay magbubuhat ang sila’y matiwalag o hindi. Tungkol sa kapisan ditong
si Marcelo Badel, na napasuk sa pagka policia secreta, at di umiimik man sa mga k.
tungkol sa pagkapasuk niyang ito, ay ititiwalag, at titiktikan ng kap. na Subiang at
Igmidio Tolentino; at kung makilalang masamang talaga ay papatain.
Binasa ang isang sumbong na kinalalaman ng mga mabibigat at maraming
ginawang sala ng Eleuterio de Guzman (Lintik), at sa pagkakilala ng manga lilong
tangka nito ng kalahatan siya’y hinatulan ng isang parusang itinala sa isang kalatas
na pinagtalaan naman ng lahat ng naroon ng kani-kanilang pangalang tunay.
Sapagka’t ang mga kasalanang ginawa sa mga kap. na Pingkian at Maypagasa at
iba pa, ng Pedro Zabala (Pagpalain), ang siyang hahatulan ang mga kap. na Maypagasa
at Pinkian ay nagsilabas sa kar., kamukha ng paghatul sa Mapangahas at Silang.
Niyang nagbalik sa dating upuan ang k.p. at k.t., ay ipinakilala sa kanila na ang naging
hatul at parusa ay ang itiwalag ang Pagpalain. Gayon din ang naging kaparusahan
ng Benito Jose sa By. “Kabuhayan” at ng Eustaquio Stos (Urani), Crispulo Chacon at
Modesto Quitain sa By. “Kabuhayan.”
Sa pagkatapus nito ay ipinagsanguni ng kap. na Pinkian ang isang minarapat
na akala; na ang sino may k. tinawalag, kung ibig na mabalik ay ipaiilalim sa tatlong
buang subok ang paninibago ng kaniyang asal; bukod pa sa rito’y magbabayad ng
piso ukol sa kaniyang pagkabalik, at pagbabayaran din ang nauukol sa kapanahunang
siya’y natitiwalag.
Ipinagsanguni din naman sa kalahatan ang karapatang magtayu ng isang
Sanguning Lihim. Kapagkatapus ng isang mahaba at ulit ulit na palilining,
pinagkaisahan na ang Sanguniang Lihim na ito ay magkakaroon ng kapangyarihan
gumawa ng akalaing nararapat sa ikatutupad ng kanilang katungkulang magtangol sa
Kat. laban sa kangino pa mang makagugulo’t makawawasak dito; ang mga pangunang
katungkulan ng Sangunian Lihim ay ang umusig at laging tumiktik sa loob at labas
ng Kat., at ang umisip at gumamit ng lalung matalinong mga paraan sa ikawawala ng
1892–1895 67
masasamang supling. Tatlong k. ang siyang mangangatawan ng S.L., na di makikilala

ng sino pa man, liban sa isa. Ang isang ito ay siyang pipili ng tatlong kasanguning
lihim, at siya ding makikipagalain sa kanila’t sa Kat. Siya ang magdadala ng mga
kasu(la)tang pabigay ng S.L., sa sino mang k. at pulutong, at siya din ang magbibigay
sa S.L. ng mga kasulatang padala sa kaniya. Binigian din ng Kataastasang Kapisanan,
ang S.L. ng kapangyarihang magutos sa sino may k. at susunod ito sa pilitan,
liban lamang kung ang ipinaguutos ay nalalaban sa mga aral at layon ng Kat. Ang
pagkakikilanlan ng mga kasulatan ng S.L. ay ang isang tatak na kakikitaan ng isang
mata, isang bararaw at isang tagayan (copa) na nililibaran ng ahas; lahat nito’y puti at
maguguhit sa itim. Sa pagkatapus nito’y pinagkayarian na, ang paghahalal ng k. Pilili
ng magsisipangatawan ng S.L. at ang inihalal ay ang kap. na Pingkian.
Ipinakilala ng p. ang pagkakailangang halinhan ang mga hudiatan, dahil sa
makapal na nangatiwalag at napagkayarian ng lahat ng itong mga sumusunod:
kung may nakaharap na dik. hahawakan ng nakatatalastas ang kaniyang tainga, na
ang kahuluga’y may makariringig, at ang iba sa bibig ang hawak, tanda na sila’y di
magsasalita. Kung sasaayus ay ilalagay ang kanang kamay sa balikat na kaliwa.
Kung nagagapus ay isusuntok ang mga kamay, liban ang kalingkingan na iuunat —
Sa pagkakamayan ay ihahagut ang hintuturo sa dakong ibaba ng galangalangan. Sa
pagbabatian o pagpupugayan ay alilinin ang kalu (sombrero) at ilalagay ng patihaya sa
tapat ng pusu. Sa mga tanungan ay ito “¿ Anong araw kahapun? (sagut)—Kapayapaan.
¿ Anong araw ngayon? (sagut) Kaalipinan—¿ Anong araw bukas? (sagut) Kalayaan. —
Ang mga lihim na wika ay “Na-La-Anak-Bayan”. —Ang lahat ng mga dating hudiatan
ay wala nang ano mang kagamitan. Tuloy na pinagkayarian din na hindi ituturo ang
hudiatang mga bago sa kanino man tiwalag, at ang dito’y magkasala lalapatan ng
isang matinding parusa.
Binasa ng kap. na Pingkian ang pagkatatayu at patnugutang susundin ng
“Basahan ng Bayan,” at ito’y minarapat ng kapulungan, liban ang ika-35 pangkat
na binago. Sapagkat sa patnugutang ito na kinatha ng tatlong magiingat at apat na
uusisa, ito’y inihalal: sa tatlong magiingat lumabas na Tagapamahala ang kap. na
Silang, Tagapangasiwa ang kap. na Pinkian at Tagaingat yaman ang kap. na Cipriano
Pacheco. Sa magsisipagusisa ay lumabas ang mga kap. na Silanganan, Mapilit,
Halimaw at Tagaisok, p. itong huli. Sa bagay na ito at sa pagkakailangang magkaroon
ang basahang ito na kaunting puhunan, ay pinagkayarian din na hihingan ng sikapat
ang lahat at bawat isang k., kasabay ang paghingi ng kani-kanilang mga libro.
Ipinagsabi ng kap. na Pinkian ang pagkatatayu ng K.K.K. ng mga A.N.B., na
nakasulat sa Patnugutang kinatha niya at ng kap. na Maypagasa, at pinagkaisahang
minarapat ng kagalanggalang na kapulungan. Sa pagkatatayung ito ang mga
pangunang dapat na malaman ay ang sumusunod: na sa Kat. ang una at lubos na
kapangyarihang ay hahawakan ng Kataastaasang Kapisanan; ang dito’y mangaling
na utos ay pilit na susundin at ang hindi pagsunod ay malalagay na isang kataksilan
sa tunay na Kat., sapagkat ang K.K. ay kinakatawan ng lahat ng mga p. sa lahat ng

pulutong, na sila ang pinagsalinan ng kanilang pinangunguluhan ng taglay na
kapangyarihan.
Pinagkayarian ding padalhan ang S.B. “Laon-Laan” at ang By. “Tanglaw” ng
isang kasulatang sasagutin nila; at sa sagut na ibigay ay magbubuhat ang pagkaayos o
pagkatiwalag ng naturang S.B. at By.
Sa palagay na kap. na Pingkian ang pinagkaisahan na ang tatlong dating
kabunyian ay maui lamang sa dalawa, kaw. at ak. Pinagkayarian din na sa bawat
kabunyian ay magkakaroon ng tatlong buang subuk, panahung binibilang mula sa
pagkapasuk o pagkaangat; kung sa loob ng tatlong buang subok ay hindi nakitaan
ang baguhan ng ano mang ugaling masama, at siya’y tumupad sa lahat niyang tungkol
at makaraus sa mga subuk sa gawa, na sa kaniya’y ipinagutos, kung ito’y maganap
sa loob ng tatlong buan, at saka lamang tuturuan ng mga hudiatan at mangyayaring
makialam sa mga pagpupulong at iba pang nauukol sa mga palakad ng Kat.
Datapua’t kung ang baguhang kawal at ang akibat ay maihalal sa isang katungkulang
kinakailanganan ng kaw., yaun ay inangat ng wala ng tatlong buang subuk.
Sa pagkakikita at pagkalam ng Kapulungan na ang kap. na Tiktik kal. ng K.S.
ay hindi tumutupad ng ano man sa hinahawakang katungkulan mula ng maihalal,
bukod pa sa mga ibang kakulangan siya’y pinagkayariang ilayu at huag turuan ng mga
hudiatan hangang sa maiba ang kaniyang kaasalan.
Pinagkayarian din na ang K.S. ay magbibigay ng Katunayan sa mga pulutong na
magalingin, ayon sa pagkaayos at tibay.
Ang Patnugutan ng K.K.K. ng mga A.N.B. na kinatha ng kap. na Maypagasa
at Pingkian ay ipinalagay sa pasia ng lahat, at napagkayarian na yau’y siyasatin at
paghiningin ng anim na kapisan ng K.K. sa ngalan nito at ang pagkayarian ng anim na
ito ay siya ang mangyayari. Sa paghahalal ay nagsilabas ang mga kap. na Bulalakaw,
Silang, Maniangat, Tagaisok, Halimaw at Dimasayaran, p. itong huli.
Sa lubhang kalaunan na nitong pagpupulong ay pinagkayariang wakasan, at
inilibot ang suput ng saklolo na nagsalin ng siam na sikapat at labingdalawang kualta,
na karagdag ang sikapat labing dalawang lumabis sa ambagan ng pagkain, ay ibinigay
sa kap. na may bahay, alang alang sa mga kapaguran at malaking kaabuluhan at
ligalik.
Niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ikawalong palu ng tansu sa bakal ng umaga
ng unang araw ng buang ng Diciembre ng taung isang libo walong dan siam na puo’t
lima.
Maynila ikaunang araw ng Diciembre taung 1895.
Ang K.P.
Gnubnvnzn7
Lumagay na Kal.
Ang K.T.
1892–1895 69
Pnllkngll
[Seal—“A. N. B.”]
English Paraphrase
K x. K x. K x.
N x. M x. A x. N x. B x.
Supreme Assembly
The Supreme Assembly convened in the name of the native country and the
Katipunan at ten o’clock in the morning of Saturday, November 30, 1895.
Among those present were:
Alejandro Santiago and Aguedo del Rosario, the president and secretary of S.B.
Katagalugan;
Francisco Carreon and Hermenegildo Reyes, the president and fiscal of S.B.
Dapitan;
Estanislao de los Santos and Tambuli [identity unknown], the president and
secretary of By. Alapaap;
Andres Bonifacio, Vicente Molina, and Emilio Jacinto, the president, treasurer,
and fiscal of the Supreme Council;
Pantaleon Torres, the president of By. Dimasalang;
Juan Cruz, the president of By. Silanganan;
Ignacio Sanchez, Cornelio Sanchez, Mateo Hernandez, and Pagatpat [identity
unknown], the president, secretary, fiscal, and treasurer of By. Dalisayan;
Adriano Jesus and Isabelo Reyes, the president and treasurer of By. Dimahipo;
Lino Villanueva, the president of By. Kabuhayan; and
Pio Valenzuela, Balbino Florentino, and others.
The meeting was held in the house of Kap. Liwayway [identity unknown] in
Caloocan. There was a collection towards the cost of the food. Members of the KKK
section in Caloocan, By. Dalisayan, acted as lookouts throughout the proceedings.
The secretary of the KKK Supreme Council, José Turiano Santiago, was not
present when the meeting began, and so the fiscal, Emilio Jacinto, acted as secretary
in his stead.
Once the meeting had come to order, the supreme president, Andres Bonifacio,
reported on the activities of the members of the Supreme Council since they had
assumed their present offices [probably meaning since January 1895].
The next issue discussed was the accounting of the Katipunan’s funds. However,
because it was not possible to investigate all aspects of this question there and then,
the Supreme Assembly agreed to elect four of its members to investigate the issue,
and to charge them with reporting back to all the KKK’s sections on the outcome of
their investigation. Everybody present was agreed that there should be no deceit in the
accounting, because the allegations that some members of the Supreme Council had
stolen from the Katipunan’s coffers were causing much vilification and having serious
repercussions. The four members elected were Alejandro Santiago, Francisco Carreon,
Aguedo del Rosario, and Rafael Gutierrez, the last-named being the president of By.
Mahiganti.
Hermenegildo Reyes spoke about the past and continuing misdeeds of Telesforo
Reyes, who had caused great damage by making allegations that were totally scur-
rilous, and by accusing members of the Supreme Council of stealing the organization’s
funds. Many of those present knew about his actions, especially what had come out
about his theft of a check, a shameless act for which he had been committed to Bilibid
Prison. In view of these misdeeds, the Supreme Assembly agreed that Telesforo Reyes
should be expelled, that his expulsion be made known to the whole Katipunan, and
that his picture should be displayed at every meeting of every section, with the word
“traitor” written beneath it.
The Assembly considered what action all those present should take if the gath-
ering was discovered by the authorities. It was agreed that in the first instance everyone
should maintain that they had come together to celebrate Bonifacio’s birthday [which
indeed it was] and a child’s baptism. If the authorities refused to believe this explana-
tion, the Assembly members should fight to the death rather than surrender, but one
of their numbers should seek to rescue any incriminating documents and if necessary
burn them.
Bonifacio asked Ponciano Herrera, the president of the Nagtaha section, about
the situation and the behavior of the members in that section.8 Herrera replied that
the person responsible for the bad situation was Guillermo Sandiego, the compadre
of Eleuterio de Guzman. He reported also on the actions of Eulogio Rodriguez, who
had collected contributions and then disappeared. The members from whom he had
taken money included Ponciano Herrera..... No one was active in the Nagtaha section
except Herrera himself and C.G. [identity unknown]. In this light, and having consid-
ered other facts related by Herrera, the Assembly ruled that Sandiego and Rodriguez
be expelled from the Katipunan and that all members be informed accordingly. The
Assembly also agreed that a letter should be sent to certain members of the Nagtaha
section who had become passive and neglectful of their duties, asking them to state
their true wishes and feelings. If they replied that they still wanted to honor the obli-
gations to which they had sworn, they should be admitted to By. Makabuhay [the
KKK section based in Mandaluyong], but if they did not they, too, should be expelled.
The Assembly ruled that any member who disclosed information about the
Katipunan to expelled members should themselves be expelled if the breach of secrecy
1892–1895 71
was confirmed by three other members. Such expulsions would be effected by the
Supreme Council.
Bonifacio spoke about the thievery and treachery of Doroteo Dominguez, Tomas
Remigio, Pedro Trinidad, Manuel Ureta, Lorenzo Alonso, Teodorico Guerrero, Julian
Nepomuceno, Emiliano Morales, Teodoro Gonzalez, Gregorio del Rosario, Marcelo
de la Rosa, Luis Velazco, Mariano Inocencio, Andres Flores, and Rosendo Domingo.
Because the misdeeds of these members were known to all, the Assembly agreed that
they should be punished in the same manner as Telesforo Reyes [i.e., be expelled and
be branded as traitors], except for Gregorio del Rosario, Marcelo de la Rosa, Mariano
Inocencio, and Rosendo Domingo, who would just be expelled.
Bonifacio related how S.B. Laong-Laan and By. Dimasalang had been re-estab-
lished following their disintegration, which had been caused by the treachery of
the members whose punishment had just been discussed. He also related how By.
Dimasalang had then been fractured again as a result of the actions of its president
and secretary, Restituto Javier and Doroteo Lopez.
Jose Turiano Santiago, the secretary of the Supreme Council, then arrived at the
meeting. By this time it was around two o’clock in the afternoon. He gave an account
of what he knew about By. Dimasalang, whose president—Restituto Javier— was his
own brother.9 The members of the branch, he related, had been scared by the activities
of the secret police. The president and secretary—Javier and Lopez—had summoned
the members to meetings of the branch on three or four occasions, but no one had
turned up.
Andres Bonifacio responded to this by recalling that around that time Pio
Valenzuela, Kalipulako [identity unknown]10 and other members of By. Dimasalang
had complained to him and Emilio Jacinto that Javier and Lopez had convened a
meeting at which they had spoken about the funds that the president [meaning
Javier] had loaned to the leaders of the Supreme Council. Lopez had accused the
Supreme Council of shamelessly profiteering from the whole Katipunan, and had said
other hateful things. If this was the situation, he had argued, By. Dimasalang should
not send any more money to the Supreme Council, and it would be better if they broke
away from the Katipunan. Restituto Javier had not been in agreement at first, but had
later supported the accusations of Lopez. Upon hearing these reports, Bonifacio had
agreed that an investigation was necessary, and he had found out about the conniv-
ance of Javier and Lopez, who were talking together almost from dawn to dusk. Javier
was the one obtaining the donations, he was the only one attending the meetings, and
he was the only one who was not bothered. Bonifacio had then informed the members
of By. Dimasalang what he had found out, and had said they should elect a new presi-
dent and secretary and that Javier and Lopez should be expelled.
To this, José Turiano Santiago insisted that his brother, Javier, was guiltless, and
that the trouble had been caused by Lopez alone.
Because Bonifacio and Jacinto were being accused of shady business, and because
Turiano Santiago was the brother of Javier, the three of them left the meeting room,
and the Assembly elected a president in order to preside over its deliberations on this
matter.
José Turiano Santiago returned to the temporary quarters for visitors. Bonifacio
and Jacinto returned to their seats in the meeting room, and they were informed that
the Assembly had decided that Javier and Lopez should be expelled, and that the
whole Katipunan should be told about their actions.
By. Ilog Pasig was discussed. Everyone knew about the transgressions committed
by many members of this branch, and so it was ruled that the following should be
expelled and their pictures displayed with the word “traitor” written underneath:
Marcelo Santos, Faustino Mañalac, Juan Guerrero, Juan Florentino, Alejo Garcia,
Antonio Arocha, Miguel Sancho, Antonio Nadal, Eugenio Reyes, and Felipe Reyes,
except Miguel Sancho, Eugenio Reyes, and Felipe Reyes, who would just be expelled.
Roman Basa was together with them. The foregoing judgments all apply in the
same way. It was also agreed that the members of By. Ilog Pasig who had become
inactive should be sent a letter like that sent to the members of the Nagtaha section,
asking them to state their true wishes and feelings.
In reply to a question from Bonifacio about the situation in S.B. Dapitan, the
president of this council, Francisco Carreon, stated that the serious deficiencies in
this section were the fault of the treasurer, Teodoro Vedua, who was committing adul-
tery and had been playing around for a long time, aside from which he knew almost
nothing about what was happening in the Katipunan, and above all about his own
responsibilities. On hearing this, which was known to many, and given the damage
Vedua had caused by his disorderly conduct, it was agreed that he should be expelled
and the whole Katipunan informed accordingly. The same judgment was passed on
Narciso Gonzalez, who had not attended any meetings for a long time, despite being
summoned on many occasions, and also on five members of By. Dalisayan—Justo
Zalazar, Andres Perez, Juan de la Cruz, Arcadio de Jesus, and Pantaleon de la Cruz.
It was agreed that a letter should be sent to Geronimo Cristobal and other inac-
tive members of By. Maluningning, asking them to state their intentions. Any inac-
tive member who did not give a positive response would be expelled. The member
Marcelo Badel, who without telling anybody had joined the secret police, was also to
be expelled, but in addition would be placed under surveillance by Jose Trinidad and
Igmidio Tolentino. If they discovered he was doing anything really bad, he would be
killed.
An account of the grave and numerous misdeeds of Eleuterio de Guzman was
read out, and in the light of his treacherous activities it was agreed that his punish-
ment should be formally ratified in a document to be signed by all those present in
their true names.11
The heinous behavior of Pedro Zabala towards Bonifacio and Jacinto was then
discussed. Since they were personally involved in the matter, Bonifacio and Jacinto
1892–1895 73
once again withdrew from the meeting. The Assembly agreed that Zabala should be
punished in the same manner as Javier and Lopez, and when Bonifacio and Jacinto
returned to their seats they were informed accordingly. It was further agreed that
four members of By. Kabuhayan should be expelled likewise—Benito José, Eustaquio
Santos, Crispulo Chacon, and Modesto Quitain.
Upon the suggestion of Jacinto, it was agreed that any expelled member who
wanted to be readmitted to the Katipunan should be accepted back on a three-month
trial basis and given the opportunity to demonstrate they had reformed their ways.
They would be required to pay a readmission fee of 1 peso, and also to pay whatever
dues they had missed whilst expelled.
The Assembly then debated the need to establish a Secret Council. After a long
and repetitive discussion, it was agreed that this Secret Council should have the duty,
and power, to defend the Katipunan against whoever sought to disrupt or wreck the
organization. Its primary responsibilities would be to maintain vigilance, to deal with
threats to the organization both from within and without, and to devise and apply
effective methods of preventing undesirable offshoots. The Secret Council would
have three members, whose identities would be known to only one person. This
person would select the three members, and he would also be the one to communicate
between the Secret Council and the Katipunan. He would be the one to send letters
from the Secret Council to any member or section, and likewise he would receive
letters addressed to the Secret Council. The Supreme Assembly agreed to give the
Secret Council the authority to compel any member to obey its orders, except when
these orders were against the teachings and principles of the Katipunan. The letters
of the Secret Council would be authenticated by a distinctive seal whose design would
incorporate an eye, a bolo, and a chalice entwined by a snake.12 After this discussion,
the Assembly approved these arrangements, and elected Emilio Jacinto to be the
person who would select and appoint the three members of the Secret Council.
Bonifacio explained the need to change the secret signals used within the
Katipunan, due to the large number whose expulsions that had just been approved.
The Assembly decided that the new signals should be as follows:-
• If there is a stranger present, touch your ear with one hand and your mouth
with the other as a signal that someone might be listening and that it is not
safe to speak.
• If everything is in order, place your right hand on your left shoulder.
• If a member is tied up, and wants to be recognized as a member, he should
clench his fist but leave the little finger straight.
• When shaking hands, rub the tip of your index finger just below the other’s
wrist.
• Upon greeting a fellow member, lift your kalu (sombrero) and place it in
front of your heart, with the inside facing outwards.
• The questions to be asked, and their answers, are as follows: “What day
was it yesterday? Peace. What day is it today? Slavery. What day will it be
tomorrow? Freedom.”
• The password will be Na La Anak Bayan [With the Sons of the People].
The Assembly ruled that the old signals should no longer be used, and the new
signals should not be disclosed to members who had been expelled. Anyone who diso-
beyed this ruling would merit a severe punishment.
Jacinto reported on arrangements for the establishment and financing of a
“People’s Library,” and these were approved by the Assembly except for the newly
affiliated 35th section. The Assembly elected three custodians of the collection:
Balbino Florentino (manager), Emilio Jacinto (administrator), and Cipriano Pacheco
(treasurer); and four monitors: Franciso Carreon, Adriano Jesus, Alejandro Santiago,
and Aguedo del Rosario, the last-named to act as president. Since a little capital would
be needed to establish the collection, it was agreed that all members of the Katipunan
should be asked to contribute sikapat—20 kualta. They should also be asked to donate
their books to the collection.
Jacinto spoke about the establishment of the “K.K.K. ng mga A.N.B.” [presumably
meaning the Supreme Assembly itself ], which the Directorate created by Bonifacio
and himself had written about, and this was approved by the respected Assembly.
Within the Katipunan, he said, the Supreme Assembly was to be the primary and
paramount body: its decisions had to be followed, and anyone who failed to follow
them would be committing treason against the whole organization. All the presidents
of the KKK’s sections would be members of the Supreme Assembly, and they would
have the authority to speak and act on behalf of their respective sections.
It was agreed that letters should likewise be sent to S.B. Laong-Laan and By.
Tanglaw, asking them to state their intentions; and depending upon how they replied
a decision would be taken either to reorganize those sections or to expel them.
Upon the suggestion of Jacinto, it was agreed that the grades of Katipunan
membership should be reduced from three to just two—kawal (soldier) and akibat
(companion). It was also ruled that for each of these grades there should be a three-
month trial period following admission or promotion. If nothing bad was noticed
about the recruit or promotee within this three-month period, if he performed all his
duties diligently, passed the trials by deed, and obeyed orders, he could then be taught
the secret signals, attend meetings and be kept informed of other matters relating to
the progress of the Katipunan. However, the three-month trial period could be waived
if the new kawal or akibat was elected to a position of responsibility.
Recognizing that José Turiano Santiago, the secretary of the Supreme Council,
had not been fulfilling any of his duties since the time of his election, aside from other
shortcomings, the Assembly ruled that he should be expelled and not told about the
new signs unless he changed his ways.
It was ruled that the Supreme Council should give accreditation to sections that
were well-organized and strong.
1892–1895 75
The Directorate of the Katipunan formed by Bonifacio and Jacinto was rati-
fied, and it was agreed that it should be subject to review and scrutiny by six elected
members of the Assembly, whose authority and judgment would be final. Elections
were held, and the six members elected for this purpose were Pantaleon Torres,
Balbino Florentino, Vicente Molina, Aguedo del Rosario, Alejandro Santiago, and Pio
Valenzuela, the last named to act as president.
Having regard to the length of time the Assembly had now been in session, it was
agreed that the proceedings should be drawn to a close. A collection pouch was passed
around and the sum collected was 1 peso and 32 kualta. Together with the 32 kualta
collected at the start of the meeting towards the cost of the food, this sum was given to
the owner of the house in gratitude for his great hospitality and endurance.
The meeting ended at eight o’clock in the morning of December 1, 1895.
Manila, December 1, 1895

Andres Bonifacio

Acting as Secretary
The Supreme Fiscal
Emilio Jacinto
1 See Notice to Section Presidents, November 26, 1895 (document 2.8).

2 Testimony of Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino, October 21, 1896, reproduced in appendix L, in
Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1978), 168.
3 “Tomas A. Remigio on the Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio, and the ‘Cry,’” in Soledad
Borromeo-Buehler, The Cry of Balintawak: A Contrived Controversy (Quezon City: Ateneo de
Manila University Press, 1998), 177–79; and Kasaysayan ni Tomas Alup Remigio at Basilio,
unpublished MS, n.d. (Guillermo Masangkay Papers, University of the Philippines Main
Library, Diliman).
4 The turbulence and discord must have strained many personal relationships. Marina Dizon,
for example, the wife of the expelled José Turiano Santiago, was also Emilio Jacinto’s first
cousin, and had grown up in the same household as him. Turiano Santiago’s half-brother,
Restituto Javier, also an expellee, was a work colleague of Bonifacio. He and his wife, Benita
Rodriguez, had been sponsors at Bonifacio’s wedding to Gregoria de Jesus, and had hosted
the dinner party (kaunting salusalo) afterwards. Testimony of Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino,
October 21, 1896, as cited, 165; Gregoria de Jesus, “Mga Tala ng Aking Buhay” (1928), in Julio
Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution, with the Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus, edited and
translated by Encarnacion Alzona (Manila: Heirs of Julio Nakpil, 1964),158.
5 “Tomas A. Remigio on the Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio and the ‘Cry,’” as cited, 179.
6 “Unang Sigaw, Unang Labanan sa Paglaya,” Bagong Buhay, August 25, 1952.
7 On earlier (1894) and later (1896) documents Bonifacio customarily inscribed his alias—
Maypagasa —as “Vzypzgzsz,” but around this time he employed a different cipher that was
apparently his alone.
8 The district of Nagtaha (now Nagtahan) is situated on the bank of the Pasig River opposite
Malacañang Palace.
9 Strictly speaking, Restituto Javier and José Turiano Santiago were half-brothers. Javier was
born in 1873, the son of Telesfora Acosta and Luciano Javier; and Turiano Santiago was born
in 1875, the son of Acosta and José Santiago.
10 This document mentions two different KKK members who used the alias Kalipulako (the
name by which the slayer of Magellan, Lapu Lapu, was generally known in the 1890s),
two different “Matapangs” (“Fearless”) and two different “Silangs” (“Birth”). The two
“Kalipulakos” were Juan Guerrero and this unknown member; the two “Matapangs” were
Juan Cruz and Miguel Sancho; and the two “Silangs” were Balbino Florentino and Doroteo
Lopez.
11 Eleuterio de Guzman was suspected of passing information about the Katipunan to the
Policia Secreta. The allegations against him are detailed in the letter (document 2.7) dated
November 17, 1895, from the president of S.B. Katagalugan, Alejandro Santiago, to his fellow
officeholders within that council.
12 An “insurrecto seal” that features all these symbols—an eye, a bolo, and a chalice entwined
by a snake—is pictured in Rafael Guerrero, Crónica de la guerra de Cuba y de la rebelión de
Filipinas (1895−1896), vol. 4 (Barcelona: M. Maucci, 1896), 355. The illustration is reproduced
in Jose Dalisay Jr., ed., Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People, vol. 5 (Hong Kong: Asia
Publishing Co., Ltd., 1998), 151.
2.10
Supreme Assembly
Record of meeting held on December 24–25, 1895
From ten o’clock on Christmas Eve to seven o’clock on Christmas morning,

as church bells called the faithful to mass and the fortunate feasted, the
Supreme Assembly of the Katipunan met at the house of Andres Bonifacio in
the Dulumbayan District of Manila.
This was the second meeting of the Assembly. At its first meeting, held in
Caloocan on November 30, the Assembly had been largely preoccupied with
rooting out dissidents and reprobates from the society, and this Christmas
meeting again dwelt on issues of internal discipline. But here there was also
a more forward-looking focus. Plans were made to reinvigorate sections that
had become inactive; there was discussion on how to put the Katipunan’s
finances on a firmer footing; and a new Supreme Council was elected to lead
1892–1895 77
the society in 1896. With hindsight, of course, we know that 1896 was to be
the year of the revolution.
This document is the official record of the Assembly meeting, written by
Emilio Jacinto.
The English text below the transcription is an abbreviated paraphrase of
the document, not a translation.
Tagalog text
K.K.K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Kataastaasang Kapisanan
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan, at sa lalung ikalalaki ng lakas at kaayusang taglay

ng K.K.K.N.M.A.N.B., ay gumawa ang K.K. ng isang pagpupulong sa ikadalawang
puo’t apat na araw ng umiiral na buan ng Diciembre sa bahay ng kap. na Maypagasa.
Dito’y nagsidalo ang mga kap. na Maypagasa, Pinkian, Maniangat, p., t. at
ty. ng K.S.; ang mga kap. na Silanganan, Talibong, p. at t. ng S.B. Dapitan; ang
kap. na Matapang p. ng By. “Silanganan”; ang mga kap. na Paku, Tambuli, p. at
kal. ng By. “Alapaap”; ang mga kap. na Magiliw, Dupil at Tawas, kal., t. at ty. ng By.
“Makabuhay”; ang kap. na Ilagan, p. ng By. “Mahiganti”; ang kap. na Matulin, p. ng
By. “Maluningning”; ang kap. na Halimaw, p. ng S.B. “Katagalugan”; ang kap. na
Labong, p. ng By. “Kabuhayan”; ang kap. na Magiliwin, p. ng By. “Dalisayan”; ang kap.
na Bulalakaw, p. ng B. “Dimasalang”; ang kap. na Mataas, t. ng By. “Tanglaw”; at ang
mga kap. na Dimasayaran, Silang, Dimalitiwan, Lintik (H. V. [?]), Subiang, Kapit at
iba pang mga kapisan ng By. “Makabuhay.”
Sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi ay binuksan ang kagalangalang
na Karurukan, at tuloy binasa ng k.t. na siyang lumagay na kal., ang pinagsulatan ng
katatapus na ginawang pagpupulong ng ikatlong puo ng Noviembre ng nagtatapus
na taun, at sa ipinahayag na pagayun ng lahat sa mga nalalaman sa pinagsulatang ito,
tinalaan ng k.p. at ng k.t. at saka tinatakan, alinsunod sa nararapat na kaayusan.
Bago ituloy ang mga gawang doo’y gaganapin at paguusapan, pinagkaisahang
maghalal ng mga k. na hali-haliling tumaliba sa bawa’t isang daguk ng bakal sa tansu,
sa habang pagpupulong. Sa pagkaringig nito ng mga k. sa By. “Makabuhay,” sila’y
kusang naghandog ng kanilang paglilinkod sa ikatutupad ng katungkulang tumaliba,
na minarapat naman ng lahat, at pinasamahan sa tuing maghahalili ng isang k.
Maynila, sapagka’t siyang nakakikilala sa magsisidating.
Ang kap. na Matulin ay nangusap at tumugon sa pasabing iniatas ng K.K.

sa By. “Maluningning,” tungkol sa kapaubayaang dito’y namasdan, at sinabing
kung kaya ang By. na ito ay hindi gumamit ng malaung panahun ng pagsisikap na
kinakailangan, ay dahil: - Una: Sa lubhang mapanganib na kalagayan ng bahay na
kanilang pinagpupulungan, na siyang Nlltqlldqllsñn Fqllqrnj [Intendencia General].
Ika-2: Sa pagwi sa kaniyang bayan ng ty. at ng p. na nagasawa sa Batangan: - Ika 3: Sa
karamihang tutoo ng mga ginagawa ng p., at dahil sa nagagalit ang kaniyang asawa
kung siya’y magpapanaog sa bahay. Tuloy pangakong gagamit na ng masikap na
pagtupad ng kaniyang mga katungkulan, at ng kaniyang mga kabalangay. Dahil dito’y
tinangap ng kapulungan ang mga ipinagsabing dahilan ng kap. na Matulin.
Ipinagsanguni ng kap. na Pingkian ang mga kapansanang nakakapigil sa K.S. na
magpadala, alinsunod sa iniatas ng K.K. sa sinundang pulong, ng isang kasulatan sa
ilang mga k. ng mga pulutong, at tuloy na ipinalagay na sapagkat hindi mangyayaring
matalastas agad kung sino ang mga k. dapat padalhan, ay gumawa na lamang ang
K.S. ng isang pahayag sa buong Kat., na magpaalala ng mga gawad na sumpa at
makapagpabangun sa mga kalobang nahihimbing sa di pagdadamdam; at tuloy na
ipagsabi na ang mga pulutong at mga k. na sa ngayo’y hindi kumikilos, sa loob ng
labing limang araw buhat sa pagdating ng pahayag sa kanilang kamay, ay gagawa
ng pulong at magpapasabi sa K.S. ang araw na ito’y dadaluhan, kung pulutong ang
siyang nagbabalik loob, at kung k. lamang, ito’y haharap sa mga pinuno ng K.S. sa
loob ng araw na taning. Ang K.S. ay magpapadalo ng isa, dalawa or lahat ng kaniyang
mga pinuno sa pulong ng mga pulutong na nagnanasa ng kaayusan, at sa pulong na
ito sisiyasatin ang lahat ng mga k. na dito’y napipisan, at hatulan ang balang masama
at sila’y bigian ng nararapat na parusa.
Pinagkaisahan na ang mga kpung wala pang larawan ay magpapakuha sa loob ng
tatlong buan, at ipadadala sa K.S.
Ipinahayag ng k.p. ang pagkakailangang maghalal ng mga bagong mapipisang
lalagay sa K.S., sapagkat pagtatapus na ang taung kapanahunan ng mga dati.
Bago simulaan ang paghahalal ay pinagkayarian muna na sukat na ang K.K.
na maykapangyarihang gumawa nito, at hindi katulad ng ginawa sa sinundang
pagkahalal, sapagkat kung ang K.K. ay may kapangyarihang makapagpairal ng
anomang kautusan, ay lalu’t higit na dapat magkaroon, sa pagpili ng magpapatupad
ng mga kautusang ito. Sa bagay na ito ay ginawa ang paghahalal at lumabas na p. ang
kap. na Maypagasa, kal. ang kap. na Pingkian, t. ang kap. na Dimasayaran, ty. ang kap.
na Maniangat, at sa anim na kasanguni ay lumabas ang mga kap. na Tagaisok, Silang,
Bulalakaw, Talibong, Silanganan at Subiang.
Ipinakita ng k.p. sa kapulungan ang lalagian ng mga larawan ng mga taksil, at
ang pagkahahanay nila, na minabuti at pinayagan ng kalahatan.
Ipinamanhik ng kap. na Pinkian na mangyaring mabalik ang k. itiniwalag na
nagpapamagat ng Burgos, sapagkat: una: bago pa matalastas na siya’y natitiwalag
1892–1895 79
ay nagpakita na ng matinding pagsusumikap, at ito’y hindi kumupas kahit niya

naalaman; ikalawa: ang mga salitang nabitiwang minsan tungkol sa paghilig kun di
man ayun, sa mga ipinamamarali ng mga taksil, ay walang ibang pinagbuhatan kun
di ang pagkabatang loob na tutoong tungo sa mga pagkabibigla; ikatlo: tunay na
nagpapakumbaba at nagpapakita ng malaking pagsisisi. Sa maringig ito ng lahat ay
umayon sa kahilingan ng kap. na Pinkian at pinatawad na pinayagang mabalik ang
kap. na Burgos ng wala nang tatlong buang subok at wala ding bayad sa pagkabalik.
Ipinagbigay alam ng kap. na Maypagasa ang mga palaging sinasabi sa kaniya
ng k. Tiktik, na wari’y nagiibig magsikap sa Kat., at tuloy ipinagsanguni sa lahat
ang nararapat sa k. ito. Sapagkat ang hanap ng lahat ay ang gawa at ang k. Tiktik
ay di nakikitaan ng gabahit mang gawa, siya’y hindi minarapat na mabalik, at ang
pagkatiwalag niya’y ginawa nang patuluyan.
Ipinakilala ng k.p. ang mga sumbong na sa kaniya’y dumating tungkol sa mga
pagkukulang ng k. Kalapati na pinanganlang kaululan ang mga gawa ng Kat. at dito
daw ay walang nangyayari kun di paua’y na nakawan. Dahil dito’y pinagkayariang
ilayu siya muna at tuloy pagusigin ang katutuhanan ng mga sumbong na ito.
Pinagkaisahan din na ang mga limbag na niyari na, ay ipagbibili ang pahayag
sa mga may nasang makisanib apat na kualta; ang pinagsulatan ng panunumpa sa
pagpasuk, ang pinagsulatan ng pangangaku at ang tanungan sa silid sa panilayan,
isang kualta ang isa; at ang talaan ng mga kabagayang taglay ng hinikayat at na
nagnanasang makisanib, dalawa ang isang kualta.
Pinagusapan ang kaayusang nararapat umiral tunkol sa salapi, at kapagkatapus
ng isang masiyasat na paglilining ay pinagkaisahan muna na magkakaroon ng
dalawang pagkaiba ng salaping natitipon: isa, ang salaping natitipon tunay at iisang
pisan na ari ng buong Kat.; at magkakaroon din ng salaping natitipon tangi na ari na
bawa’t isang pulutong mula sa K.S. hangang sa kahuli-hulihang Hkan.
Dahil dito’y naalalang pagkaisahan din ang paggawad ng Katibayan sa mga k. Ito’y
dalawa katibayang ak. at katibayang kaw., na hindi igagawad kung ang paggagawaran
ay hindi mapatunayang nakabayad na, ng ukol sa pagkapasuk o pagkataas.
Muling pinagusapan ang nauukol sa salapi, at pinagkayariang ipaunawang
paghininging ng anim na inihalal sa sinundang pulong sa pagsisiyasat ng Patnugutan,
ang palagay ng kap. na Pingkian na itong sumusunod: Ang pagbubuhatan ng salaping
ukol sa buong Kat. ay ang mga kabayaran sa pagpasuk, sa pagangat, sa mga katunayan
at sa pagkabalik ng mga tiwalag. Ang salapi ng bawa’t pulutong ay ganito: Ang Hkan.
sa kabuoan ng mga kabayaran sa buan buan ng kaniyang mga kapisan ay ipadadala
ang ikatlong bahagi sa By. na sa kaniya’y nakasasakup, ang kabuan ng mga kabayaran
sa buan buan ng mga k. ng By. kasama ang padala ng Hkan., ay pagtatatluhing bahagi,
at ang ikatlo ay ipadadala sa S.B. sumasakup, gayon din ang S.B ukul sa S.H na sa
kaniya’y nakasasakup; gayon din ang S.H. ukol sa K.S., datapua’t ito’y may limang
piso pa sa balang isang dan ng salapi ng buong Kat.
Sa lubhang kalaman na nitong pagpupulong ay inilibot ang supot ng saklolo,

at ang isinalin nito ay kulang dalawang kualta sa piso. Pinagkaisahang iambag ang
salaping ito, sa kap. na namatayan ng anak sa By. “Mahiganti.”
Niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ika pitong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga,
pagkasumpa ng lahat na di isiniwalat ang lahat na namasdan at napakingan.
Maynila, ikadalawangpuo’t lima ng Diciembre ng taung 1895.
Ang k.p.
Vzypzgzsz
Lumagay na kal.
Ang k.t.
Pñllkñzll
English Abbreviated Paraphrase
K.K.K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Supreme Assembly
In the name of the native country, and in order to develop further the strength
and organization of the K. K. K., the Supreme Assembly held a meeting on December
24, at the house of brother Bonifacio.
Present at the meeting were brothers:-
Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, and Vicente Molina, the president, fiscal, and
treasurer of the Supreme Council;
Francisco Carreon and Hermenegildo Reyes, the president and fiscal of S.B.
Dapitan;
Estanislao de los Reyes and “Paku,” the president and secretary of By. Alapaap;
Rogelio Borja, “Dupil,” and “Tawas,” the secretary, fiscal, and treasurer of By.
Makabuhay;
Inocencio Marcial, the president of By. Maluningning;
Alejandro Santiago, the president of S.B. Katagalugan;
Lino Villanueva, the president of By. Kabuhayan;
Ignacio Sanchez, the president of By. Dalisayan;
“Mataas”, the fiscal of By. Tanglaw;
1892–1895 81
Pio Valenzuela, Balbino Florentino, Apolonio de la Cruz, “Lintik” (H. V. [?])*;

José Trinidad, “Kapit,” and other members of By. Makabuhay.
The meeting commenced at ten o’clock in the evening, and began with Emilio
Jacinto [the supreme fiscal, but acting here as supreme secretary] reading out the
report of the previous meeting of the Supreme Assembly, which had been held on
November 30, 1895. The Assembly approved the contents of the report, and it was
signed and sealed by Bonifacio and Jacinto to certify it as correct.
Before proceeding any further, the Assembly elected members to act as lookouts
and guards whilst the meeting was in progress. It was agreed that the watch should
be changed every hour, and that members of By. Makabuhay [which was based in
Mandaluyong] should be paired with members from Manila who would know who
was due to arrive.
Inocencio Marcial, the president of By. Maluningning, responded to the concerns
of the Assembly about the shortcomings of that branch. He acknowledged that for
some time the branch had not been conducting its affairs with due diligence, and
attributed this to (i) the grave danger that its meetings might be discovered, because
the meeting place was the Intendencia General [the Government treasury]; (ii) the
fact that the president [himself] and the treasurer [Perfecta Simeon] had gone home
to Batangas to get married; and (iii) the fact that he had so many things to do, and that
his bride was getting angry because he was always out of the house. He still hoped,
however, to be able to fulfill his duties and attend to branch affairs diligently in the
future. The Assembly welcomed this assurance and accepted his explanation.
Emilio Jacinto reported that the Supreme Council had not implemented the deci-
sion taken at the previous meeting of the Supreme Assembly that letters should be
sent to members who had become inactive. Since it would be difficult to determine
exactly which individuals needed to be sent such letters, the Supreme Council had
decided instead to issue a general proclamation to the whole Katipunan, calling upon
all members to revive their dormant spirits and honor the oaths they had sworn to.
Within fifteen days from the receipt of this proclamation, each section or group of
members that had become passive should arrange a meeting and inform the Supreme
Council when and where it would be held. The Supreme Council would then send one,
two, or even all its members to these meetings to ensure that good order had been
restored and to determine whether any misdeeds had occurred that required investiga-
tion and punishment.
The Assembly agreed that members who had not yet sent pictures of themselves
to the Supreme Council should be required to do so within the next three months.
Andres Bonifacio announced that elections to the Supreme Council were now
due, because those previously elected had now completed their one-year terms. It
was confirmed that the Assembly itself had the necessary authority to elect the new
Supreme Council, and that the old arrangements had been superseded. Since the
Supreme Assembly had been given the power to issue orders to the Katipunan, it was
reasoned, it should also have the power to select the individuals whose task it was to
ensure those orders were implemented. The elections were then duly held, and the
outcome was that Andres Bonifacio was reelected as president; Emilio Jacinto was
elected as secretary; Pio Valenzuela as fiscal; Vicente Molina as treasurer; and Aguedo
del Rosario, Balbino Florentino, Pantaleon Torres, Hermenegildo Reyes, Francisco
Carreon, and José Trinidad as councilors.
To the approval and acclaim of the congress, Bonifacio displayed the case in
which the portraits of the traitors had been arranged in rows.
Emilio Jacinto asked the Assembly to agree that the member whose alias was
Burgos [probably Geronimo Medina y Cristobal], who had been expelled from the
Katipunan, should now be readmitted. First, even before being notified of his expul-
sion, “Burgos” had again shown his former diligence, and this had not lessened even
when he had been told. Second, he had once said something in haste about wanting to
resign, but he had never really agreed with the defamatory accusations of the traitors.
Third, he was really contrite and repentant. Upon hearing this account, the Assembly
agreed that “Burgos” should be readmitted, and agreed also to Jacinto’s request that he
be excused from the three-month probation period and the re-admission fee normally
imposed upon returning expellees.
Andres Bonifacio notified the Assembly that the expelled José Turiano Santiago
[until recently the supreme secretary] kept saying that he still wanted to serve the
Katipunan. Discussion then ensued on what should be done about this member. The
consensus was that Turiano Santiago should be judged on his deeds [not on mere
words] and that since he had not actually done anything, his expulsion should be
confirmed.
Bonifacio reported that accusations had reached him that the actions of Kalapati
[possibly Nicomedes Carreon, the treasurer of By. Dapitan] were a discredit to
the Katipunan and were causing people to accuse the society of being a racket. The
Assembly agreed that Kalapati should be distanced from the society until the truth or
otherwise of these accusations had been investigated.
It was agreed that the printed documents used by the Katipunan should be priced
as follows: the manifesto given to those who wished to join the society [the Kartilya],
4 kualta per copy; the oath to be sworn upon initiation into the society, 1 kualta per
copy; the application form, 1 kualta per copy; the questions to be considered in the
chamber of reflection, 1 kualta per copy; and the list of points to be borne in mind
when recruiting members, 1 kualta for two copies.
The Assembly then discussed the need to put the finances of the Katipunan in
better order. After detailed consideration, it was agreed as a starting point that the
funds of the Katipunan should be of two types: (i) funds that should belong to the
Katipunan as a whole; and (ii) funds that belonged to each individual section, from
the Supreme Council down to the smallest unit.
1892–1895 83
It was recalled that it had previously been agreed that members should be
awarded certificates, either as a companion (akibat) or a soldier (kawal), and that such
certificates would not be issued unless the awardee had actually paid the required fee
for his admission or promotion.
At the request of the six members elected by the Assembly at its previous
meeting to investigate the Directorate, Emilio Jacinto expressed his thoughts on the
future organization of the Katipunan’s finances as follows: The sources of the funds
that belonged to the whole Katipunan should be (i) the admission fees paid by new
recruits; (ii) the fees for promotion to a higher grade; (iii) the fees for the certificates
just mentioned; and (iv) the fees paid by expellees who wished to return. The source
of the funds that belonged to each individual section, on the other hand, should be
the members’ monthly dues. Each small unit should send a third of the amount it
collected each month to the Branch to which it was affiliated, and retain two-thirds.
Each Branch should likewise send a third of its monthly collection (plus a third of the
amount received from the small units) to the Popular Council to which it was affili-
ated; each Popular Council should likewise send a third of its income to the Provincial
Council, and each Provincial Council should send a third to the Supreme Council. In
addition, the Supreme Council would be allocated 5 pesos out of every 100 from the
funds collected for the whole Katipunan.
A collection pouch was passed around, and the sum collected amounted to just
less than 1 peso. It was agreed that this sum should be donated to a brother in By.
Mahiganti who had recently lost a child.
The meeting ended at seven o’clock in the morning. Everyone present swore not
to disclose anything that they had seen or heard.
Manila, December 25, 1895
The supreme president

Andres Bonifacio
Acting as secretary
The supreme fiscal
Emilio Jacinto
* Two initials—probably “H. V.”—are written after the alias Lintik, presumably to indicate
this member’s true name and thereby differentiate him from another Lintik—Eleuterio de
Guzman.
chapter 3
Membership Documents
I
3.1
Oath, (c. 1894)
Photograph of original document in Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The Story
of Bonifacio and the Katipunan, (Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 38.
t seems the Katipunan did not have access to a printing press until 1895 or
1896, and in its earlier days recruits were therefore asked to copy out their
oath of allegiance in a set format. The text that follows has been transcribed
from the oath written and signed by José Turiano Santiago [Tiktik], but the
same wording was followed—though using a slightly different cipher—by a
recruit named Pedro de la Cruz [Mapagtangol].1
The date beneath Turiano Santiago’s oath—February 18, 1894—is a little
puzzling, because he had already been active in the KKK since at least the
previous year. One of the documents presented as evidence at the trial of José
Rizal in December 1896 records a KKK gathering in July 1893, at which José
Turiano Santiago and Emilio Jacinto both made rousing speeches and raised
cheers for Dr. Rizal and liberty.2 Possibly the Katipunan changed the form
of its oath in 1894, or possibly Turiano Santiago was simply reaffirming his
commitment to the association.
85
The oath is transcribed below first as it was written, in the Katipunan’s

cipher, and then in its deciphered form. The letter “i” was rendered in the
cipher as “ñ,” but here as in many other documents the tilde was frequently
omitted.
Original Text
K xxx K xxx K xxx
ģ vģz
Z xxx ģ xxx B xxx
Zkcy sn Txrnzllc Szlltñzgc, llzllzllxvpz sz llgzjzll ģ Dncs zt ģ bzyzll llz npzg tztz’gcl ģ
bcc’g atzpz’gzll z’g vģz adzfnjzllzll ģ K xxx K xxx K xxx ģ vģz Z xxx ģ B xxx ñllgztzll z’g
kzllnyz’g vga jnfnv llz vzvzsdzll zt vzpzkñllgzll, sxlldnll sñyz g pnknt vztz, szkjcjcfzll
z’g jzfzt llz vģz kzkzpxxx sz jzfzt llz pzllgzllnb zt sz pzgkzkznjzllgzll lnjz, Llzllxllxvpz
zt llzllgzllgzkc rñll llzvzll zkc llz vzg pntzgzll sz kzllnjx’g vģz Pnllxllc, fxzg llz vzg
tzksnj sz kzllnjz’g, sz allnjz’g vģz axtzszll zt bnjñl zt tztzjzzll kc’g zkc’g dxgc llz kxsz’g
nbxbxbc dntc sz kzsxjztz’g fnllzfzrzp.
Tnktnk
18/2/94
Deciphered Text
K xxx K xxx K xxx
ng mga
A xxx ng B xxx
Akoy si Turiano Santiago, nananumpa sa ngalan ng Dios at ng bayan na ipag tatangol

ng boong katapangan ang mga kadahilanan ng K xxx K xxx K xxx ng mga A xxx
ng B xxx ingatan ang kaniyang mga lihim na mamasdan at mapakingan, sundin
siya ng pikit mata, saklolohan ang lahat na mga kakapxxx sa lahat na panganib at sa
pagkakailangan nila, Nanunumpa at nangangako rin naman ako na mag pitagan sa
kanilang mga Pinuno, huag na mag taksil sa kanilang, sa kanilang mga kautusan at
bilin at tatalaan kong aking dugo na kusang ibububo dito sa kasulatang hinaharap.
Tiktik
18/2/94
MEMBERSHIP DOCUMENTS 87
English Translation
K xxx K xxx K xxx
ng mga
A xxx ng B xxx
I, Turiano Santiago, swear in the name of God and the country to defend the cause of
the K.K.K. ng mga A. ng B. with all my courage, to keep secret whatever I witness and
hear, to follow orders blindly, and to support all my brethren against every danger and
in every exigency. I also swear and pledge to respect the leaders, not to betray them,
their orders or instructions, and I so attest with my blood, which is shed here on this
document.
Tiktik
18/2/94
1 A photograph of the oath signed by Pedro de la Cruz may be seen in Adrian E. Cristobal, The
Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 55.
2 The Trial of Rizal, W. E. Retana’s transcription of the official Spanish documents, edited and
translated, with notes, by H. V. de la Costa (Manila: Ateneo de Manila, 1961), 23.
3.2
Andres Bonifacio (attrib.)
Ritual for the initiation of a Bayani, c. 1894
This document sets out the ritual to be followed when a KKK member with
the rank of soldier (Kawal) is to be elevated to the rank of patriot (Bayani).
The system of ranks or grades within the Katipunan changed over time.
When the statutes were drafted in January 1892 (document 1.1), a five-tier
hierarchy was envisaged, ascending from follower (Campon) up through hand
(Camay), prop (Suhay), and pillar (Haligue) to president (Pangulo). The redraft
in August 1892 (document 1.2), which structured the KKK in triangles, makes
no mention of grades, but when the triangle structure was discarded in 1894
a new three-tier hierarchy is said to have been adopted. According to Isabelo

de los Reyes, the three grades were associate (Katipon), soldier (Kawal), and
patriot (Bayani), and this same information is repeated in many subsequent
accounts.1 Contemporary KKK documents, however, including the docu-
ment transcribed below, indicate that members below the rank of Kawal were
known as companions (Akibat). The word “Katipon” is found in some docu-
ments, but seems to be a general term used to refer to members of all grades.
Finally, in November 1895, the KKK Supreme Assembly agreed that the grade
of bayani should be abolished, and that henceforth there should be just two
grades—Akibat and Kawal.
Like the rituals devised for new recruits (documents 3.3 and 3.4), this
ritual tests the courage and commitment of the postulant bayani by submit-
ting him to “trials” (subok). He is blindfolded, bound with rope, and led to a
“gallows,” from which he is only rescued at the last moment. Later, he is given
a “poisoned dagger,” and asked to “execute” a KKK member who has betrayed
the society’s secrets to the enemy.
Presiding over the ritual, the Most Respected President (presumably
Bonifacio himself ) reflects on the martyrdom of the priests Burgos, Gomez,
and Zamora—a great wrong, he says, that tore aside the veil that had covered
the eyes of the Tagalogs. Tracing the Katipunan’s political lineage a little
further back, he also alludes to the movement for reforms that preceded the
Cavite mutiny, mentioning specifically the newspaper El Eco Filipino, which
was founded by Manuel Regidor (the brother of Antonio Ma. Regidor),
Federico de Lerena (the brother-in-law of José Ma. Basa), and other liberal
Filipinos in Madrid in 1871. Copies were sent to Manila but soon began to
be intercepted, and people found in possession of the paper were liable to be
arrested.2
Bonifacio then describes the persecution that reformists and suspected
filibusters continued to suffer, dwelling in particular on the pain caused by
separation—the separation of the patriots sentenced to execution, imprison-
ment, or deportation from their wives, children, and aged parents. His evoca-
tion of this distress, such as that of “the disconsolate mother down whose
cheeks flow the marks of her affliction,” prefigures a passage in the famous
essay, “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog,” published in Kalayaan in 1896
(document 5.5).
I have attributed this document to Bonifacio on the basis of the hand-
writing, and do so with some confidence, but his penmanship here lacks
its customary neatness. He was evidently writing in haste, deleting and
amending as he dashed along. This has made it difficult in places to deci-
pher the text as have the thinness of the paper and the resulting seepage of
ink from one side of a page to the other. Some words are illegible, and others
open to doubt, which has obviously exacerbated the normal problems of

translation.
Tagalog Text
Kxxx na Pangxxx: Manga minamahal na Kapxxx ang Kawxxx na si N.... sa ngayoy na

sa silid na panilayan at ipapasok dito sa atin, ng mangangad sa kabuniang Bayxxx..
Sa bagay na ito ipinamamanhik ko, mga minamahal na Kapxxx, na pakirandamang
mahinahon, na kong ang Kapxxx na ito, nagtataglay ng lahat ng mga karapatan na
kinakailangang dapat taglain ng lahat ng Bayxxx sa mga sagot, na sa kanyng tatangapin
sa mga tanong na ating gagawin at sa mga kilos na sa kanyng mamasnasdan sa
mga subok na ating gagawin. Baga mat, lahat ay nababatid na hindi rin magiging
kalabisan ang sa inyoy ipaalaala, na bago papakiaalamin sa ating mga mataas na
kalihiman ay lubos na kinakailangan, matatap natin tunay na tunay, na kung mahal,
matapang, tapat, matiaga at lubos na daluhong sa pag titiis ng mga karalitaang at
mga kapighatiaan na aabutin sa kakilakilabot na pag lalaban na lagi nang tatayoan sa
ating mga kaaway.
Kxxx na Mabxxx Mabxxx ipasok ang Kawxxx dito sa Kxxx na Karxxx at sa harap
nitong Pinang unluhan.
(Ang Kxxx na Mabxxx gaganapin ang utos ng Kxxx na Pangxxx.)
Kxxx na Pangxxx: Minamahal kong Kapxxx na .... naririto kayo ngayon sa Kxxx na
Karxxx na pinagpupulungan ng mga Bayani nitong Sangxxx bayang... ....sa pag aalaala
niyaong di malilimot na araw na kasakitsakit na gunitain ng tagsilin ng buong
kadwagang pagpatain? yaong tatlong nagkasakit sa pag ibig sa bayang tinubuan na
sina Bxxx Gxxx Zxxx.
Inibig niniyong masok dito sa Kxxx na Karxxx at minarapat sa bagay na ito ang
mga katotohan inyong ipinakilala na katiyagaan, kamahalan at tapang buhat sa
kabuhayang Kawxxx. Ngayoy, tantoin, na ang nagkakaumpok dito sa Kxxx na Karxxx
hinihiling sa inyo ang isang tapat at mahal na puso isang kaloobang walang bahit
dungis at isang lubos na pagdaluhong na di masisira. ¿Iniong na pag isip na mabuti
minamahal na Kapxxx ang kabigatan ng bagay na ito? ¿May kaisipan kayo sa hagbang
na totoong mapanganib na inyong gagawin?
(Sasagot ang Kawxxx.)
Kxxx na Pxxx: ¿Di na lalagim ang inyong isip at di nanglolomo ang inyong kalooban?

Kxxx na Pxxx: ¿At kayoy nag tataglay ng malabis na tapang na pailalim sa mga subok
na lalong kagulat gulat na kailan may di sukat magunita?
Kxxx na Pangxxx: Kung gayo’y pakingan, ang ating bayang tinubuan itinatangis
ng buong kapaitan, ang katakotakot na naging hanga niyaong napanganyaya ng
kalupitang lakas ng mga Fraile; at hinihingi sa kanyan mga anak ang isang pag
susumakit na..[?]lang likat na ikatatayo ng isang pagkakaisa malakas at matibay,
labis na ilapat ang matuid at bag[illegible] na kaparusahan sa katakotakot na mga
Sukaban.
Ang kamalian minimahal kong Kapxxx na ginawa niyaong tatlong marapat na
mga Bayxxx niyaong malabis ng Dunong at ng ang isang kamay na mapangahas at
sukaban tigpasin ang kanilang mga mahalagang buhay liban sa mga sumusunod.
Ang mga mababait at malabis na kulang palad na mga tagalog na sina Bxxx
Gx xZxxxkalakip ang ibang mabubuting kababayan, [illegible] kapootan sa di
x
mabilang na mga pagpatay, pagnanakaw at paginis na labis ng kapusongan at

kahamakan di sukat magunita, na ginawa at magpahangan ngayon niyang nga ganit
na kaaway ng katotohanan, ng katuiran at ng mga mahihina, laban sa kulang palad
na bayang tagalog di ikinagulat ang mga panganib na kanilang kapapahamakan,
pinagkaisahan simulan sa ating bayan ang pag lalathala ng mga mataas na akala sa
pag ibig sa bayan, simulan [?] sa pag papatanyag sa isang periodico pinanganlan
Eco Filipino na itinayo sa España, ng matatapang na mga kasulatan, na matuid
at maningas na paghadlang laban sa mga pag lapastangan sa katuiran, laban sa
nakaririmarim na kasinungalingan sa tapat na kaisipan, laban sa walang subong pag
api sa mahihina, laban sa kasuklamsuklam na pag kalakal sa mga mangmang at laban
sa lahat ng mga masasama [?] na pinili itinangi pagsalin ang ating Bayang tinubuan.
Hiningi rin naman sa Gobierno ng España, na ipaiiral ang mga utos na ipinatupad at
ipinagbawal din nila.
Mamasdan ito ng mga Fraile, lumalang ng isang makamandak na kataksilan ng
pagka fraile, laban sa ating kaawaawang mga Kababayan.
Ginawa sa bagay na yaon, papagalsahin ang guarnicion tanod sa Kabite sa ngalan
nila at ng ibang karamihan namamayan sa Maynila at ibang mga bayan at di na
[illegible] siyang pag putong [?] ng kamatayang pag aalsa sa Kabite. Kapagkatapos
na masunod ang kalaitlait na gawa siyang pag akiat sa bibitayan, waring nga [?]
tunay at kasuklamsuklam na mga tampalasan, yaong mga pinahirapan na ilinagmog
ng Kalupitan at kapusongan, niaong ang bagay [?] kinakailangang ang kanilang
malalaking mga puso at ng kanilang mga tigas [?] katalinuhang. Ang mga Alopong
na nagkasilong sa kadumaldumal nilang kublihan, na tinatawag na mga convento
inantababayanan ang magkadaang sumibasib sa kanilang mga pinagtagsil, pinagalaw
na dumaluhong at ikinalat ang kamandag na lubhang malimit na kapukaban ni [?]
mga sumbong at paratang. Ipinagbibilango at itinapon sa ibang bayan, at sa bagay na

ito, namasdan sa mga mababait na mga magulang na nanga hiban sa dagat ng sakit,
ng pag susungaban at pagniting walang awa sa yakap ng kahabaghabag na asawa at sa
halik ng mga walang malay na mga anak, namasdan ang matandang ama humagulgol
na nag hihinagpis sa kasawiang palad ng iniibig niya sa buhay na kapilas ng kanyang
puso, kaginhawan at tungkod niya sa katandaan; namasdan din naman ang kapatid na
nag ngalit sa di masawatang kagalitan sa maaga at di marapat ukol na pagkamatay ng
kapatid; at nakita namang ng pag hihinagpis ng ina na ang mga pisngi namumulta sa
pighati, lapastanganin ang Dios at ng mga tawong nag hiwalay sa anak na karugtong
ng hininga, ng iniibig niyang lalo sa lahat.
¡Mga kulang palad nangalayo sa kanilang lupang tinubuan at sa kanilang
minamahal sa buhay, itinapon at isinadlak sa malalayong pasigan na may walang
awang na kapagkakasakit na singaw, dooy sa paglagaslas ng mga luhang dugo kung
minsay ikinayayamot na ang di pagkalagot ng buhay. Nagbuhos ng dugo, maraming
dugo ng walang malay, lumagaslas ng luha, maraming mamapait na luha, na nakihalo
sa malungkod na na pagsasaliwan ng putok ng mga fusil ng mga nagpapapatay;
ang daing ng mga na panganyaya, at itong matasulay na ugong, ay siyang tanging
nakikisaliw sa ynyong katahimikan ng kamatayan.
Isang mapait na pagka aninaw sa kasukaban ang siyang nag wasak ng masinsing
tabing na tumatakip sa paningin ng mga tagalog at [illegible] ng kakilakilabot
ang kasuklamsuklam na kabulukan, namalas na nangag galawgalaw sa kanya ang
kadumaldumal na mga uod [?] na sa nakalalasong nilang laway nakakamandagan [?]
ang [?] kabuhayan nang mga bayang tagalog.
Mga Kxxx Kxxx ¡lagi ng palaitlaitin ang mga nakamatay!
Ang lahat: Palaitlaitin sila.
Kxxx na Pxxx: Minamahal kong Kapxxx ¿Kayoy makapag titiis na gaya ng kanilang
kinasapitan na mamatay sa pag ibig sa bayang tinubuan?
(Sagagot ang Kawxxx.)
Kxxx na Pxxx: Yniyong kakatawanin ang na pagsapid niyaong tatlong martires.

¿Tumatalaga kayong gawin?
Kxxx na Pxxx: Ginoong N... Ang Gobierno ng Kastila kayoy binibiglang kasalanang
nag tagsil sa bayang Kastila, sapagkat kayoy nakisanib sa isang katipunan tinatawag
nilang filibusteros. ¿Ano ang itututol ninyo sa bagay na ito? Sumagot.
(Sagagot ang Kawxxx)

Kxxx na Kalihim: Sa kasagutan na katatapos nating naringig sa tawong ito. inaamin

Inaamin? [?] ang katagsilan sa kanyay ibinubuhat.
Kxxx na Tagxxx: Sa pagkakitang ng katatapos isiniwalat ipinahahayag kong nag kasala

ng malaking katagsilan sa Gobierno ng Kastila (sasabihin sa Kawxxx). Sa inyoy aking
babasahin ang kahatulan ng Consejo de Guerra na sa inyoy ilalapat, mangyaring
pakingan.
(Babasahin ang kahatulan.)
Kxxx na Tagausig: Kapxxx na Mabxxx ihatid ang Kawxxx sa Capilla. [Ang Capilla
nakalagay ng lubos na kaukulan at talagang kaugalian.3]
(Ang Kxxx na Mabxxx gaganapin ang utos ng Kapxxx na Tagausig. Kapagkatapos ng mga
kinakailangang gawin, ang Kapxxx. na Mabxxx. ihahatid ang Kawxxxsa bibitayan at dooy
bibitayin.)
Kxxx. na Pxxx[?]: Mga minamahal kong Kapxxx. isang Kawxxx. na ang nabibingit sa
kamatayan, ilalapat ng verdugo, at kayong nangagsipanumpang gugugol ang inyong
mga buhay sa pagtatangulan ng isa,t, isa makisanib kayo sa akin at iligtas natin ang
ating kapatid.
Titindig ang Kagalangalang na Pangulo na susundan ng lahat ng mga Kapxxx at aalisan

ang Kawxxx ng kanyang mga tali. Kapagkatapos ang Kapxxx na Mabxxx yaoy ihahatid sa
isang silid at dooy aalisan ng kapucha.
Kxxx. na Pxxx: Minamahal kong mga kapatid ating tangapin sa palatandaang Kawxxx.
ang ating Kap..... na ating na ayaw sa mga kuko ng ating mga kaaway.
(Lahat titindig at lalagay sa kaayusang Kawxxx at ang Kapxxx na Mabxxx yaoy ipapasok na
may takip ang mga mata.)
Kxxx na Pxxx: Inyong natapos na kinatawan ang kabuhayang napagsapid niyaong

mga napahamak at mga mahal na mga mapag tangkilig sa bayan. ¿Ano ang akala niyo
sa bagay na yan?
Kxxx. na Pxxx: Minamahal kong Kapxxx na .... lahat ng inyong katatapos naramdaman
at tiniis ay ipinakikilala sa inyo, ang kataksilan at kababaan ginamit doon sa ating
mga kababayan na malungkot at kakilakilabot na gunitain dapat ipag alab ng puso ng
lahat ng mabubuting tagalog, isang volkan nag naglalagaplapat [?] babaya na dapat
na bumuga [?] ng walang tila at di masawatang unos ng kagalitan at pag hihiganti.

Silay nag gawat din naman sa inyo ng lubos na pag papakilala ng katuiran, pag ibig
sa bayang tinubuan at tapang, na ang kanilang mga mukha nagag [?] sipanngitin? at
kakilakilabot sa umiipit at tumatapos na lakad [?] at ng nasa pinto na ng isang pilit
na kamatayang at sa pag hihimutok at sa pagalaw [?] at buhat [?] sa isang kakilakibot
[?] na pag hihingalo, ipinahatid sa kahulihulihang pag hinga ang isang maningas na
pag asa sa ikaliligtas ng ating bayan at sa pag tatagumpay ng ating mga mataas na
akala. Gayon din naman suyoy ipinakilala na inaantay kayo ng gayon ding hanga, ang
araw na ang KKKxxx ay matuklasan ng ating mga kaaway (marahan).
K xxx na P xxx: At di kayo kinikalabutan Kxxx na .... sa [illegible] nanga kita ninyo na
sa isang araw mangyarin gawin sa inyo ang sa kaniyay ginawa?
(Sasagot ang Kaw xxx.)
Kxxx na Pxxx: Sa inyong mga tiniis at sa tapang ng inyong pagpapailalim sa mga

subok, kami ay nagkaroon ng kaunting paniniwala na kayoy mayroon tunay na pag
daluhong na kahit ikalagot ng buhay sa pag tatangkakal ng ating KKKxxx. Sa bagay
na ito itong Katipunan napangayagang tinangap sa kanyan sinapupunan ang isang
tawo, na bukal na kasamaan, gumamit ng kataksilang isiniwalat ang ating mga lihim
sa ating mga kaaway. Ang taksil naroroon ngayon may gapos at may takip ang bibig
sa isang silid. Ang nag kaisang KKKxxx minarapat na kayoy inihalal na magtarap[?] sa
puso ng sukab ng punal na may lason ¿Tinatangap ninyo ang katungkulan iginagawak
sa inyo ng kalahatan minamahal kong Kapatid?
Kxxx na Pxxx: Kapxxx na Mabxxx ganapin ang inyon tungkol.
(Ang Kxxx na Mabxxx ihahatid ang Kawxxx sa silid na kinalalagian ng taksil at ibibigay ang
punal. Kapagkatapos, na ang Kawxxx maiharap ang punal, ang Kxxx na Mabxxx muling
ipapasok sa Kxxx na Karurukan.)
Kxxx na Mabxxx: Kxxx na Pxxx: ang Kapxxx na Kawxxx sinapat [?] ng buong tapang ang
katungkulang sa kanyay iginawad ng K.K.Kxxx.
Kxxx na Pxxx: Kapxxx na Kawxxx Kayoy nag handog ng malaking pag lilingkod sa
KKKxxx at tatangapin ninyo ngayon din ang palang na sa inyoy nararapat (sa Kapxxx
na Mabxxx). Kapxxx na Mabxxx igawad sa Kapxxx na Kawxxx ang paso ng tubig, na
ipaghuhugas ng mga kamay na nabalikan [?] ng dugo niyaong kulang-palad.
(Ang Kapxxx na Mabxxx gaganapin ang utos ng Kxxx na Pxxx.)
Kxxx na Pxxx: Bago suotan kayo ng kabunyiang ng Kataastaasang Bayani sa inyoy

aking babasahin ang Katibayang na inyong tatalaan.
(Pagbasa ng Katibayan na nasusulat ng ganito.)

“Akoy si N. N. na ipinahaha [?] ng buong katahimikan ng isip na siyang pumatay
sa kay.... wala akong kaalam, at di sa udiok ng sino pa man, kundi sa talagang
sariling kalooban.
Maynila, ika... ng 18....

Tatatalaan ng tunay na pangalan
Kxxx na Pxxx ¿Tunay na tumatalaga kayong maghandog [?] ng mahalagang sumpa

na sa mga panganib at na [?] pakahirapan katungkulan na inyong mapapakisaniban?
Kxxx na Pxxx: Magagsitindig at sumaayos minamahal kong mga kapatid at kayo

Kapxxx na Kawxxx tumayo at sumunod sa akin.
“Ako si... iniulit ko ang panunumpang iginawad ng pagka Akibat at pag Kaw xxx na
nanunumpa sa harap ng bayan at sa harap ng K.K.Kxxx ng mga [?] ng pagtatapat,
kalihiman at kasipagan. Nanunumpa naman, mamatay, makipaglaban, igugol ko ang
lahat at mawala ang lahat sa ika liligtas ng Katagalugan.”
Kxxx. na Pxxx: Kung mabaon kayo sa putik ng kasamaan, sirain ninyo ang sumpang
ito, ang inyong buhay lumagi na sa walang papatid na nakatakotakot na paghihirap
at kasakitan walang katapusan, na [illegible] kayong lumasap kailan man ng kahit
sandaling katahimikan at kaginhawahan, buong katawan ninyoy laganapin ng sakit
na leprang nakasusuklam, mabaho at nakahahawa, ilagan kayo ng lahat na gaya ng pag
ilag sa makamandag na ganit, lahat ay mabasa sa inyong noo—ang wikang Proditor na
mag isang nakahahamak tatak na palatandaan ng kawalang puri at kaayu...
English Translation
Most Esteemed President: Beloved brothers, the Soldier N is now in the chamber of
reflection, and will come to us here with the ambition of being elevated to the distin-
guished rank of Patriot. For this purpose, I beg you, my beloved Brothers, to consider
calmly whether this Brother possesses all the qualities that every Patriot needs—in
his answers, in the manner he reacts to the questions we shall ask, and in the way he
responds to the trials we shall set. Nevertheless, whatever may be observed is not as
important as remembering the need, before we divulge our high secrets, to be abso-
lutely certain that he will be honorable, brave, loyal, and diligent; that he will be fear-
less in dealing with the hardships and anguish that must be endured, above all when
we stand before our enemies in fearsome battle.
Brother Terrible: Let the Soldier enter the Respected Lodge and appear before this
Presidium.
(The Brother Terrible will comply with the order of the Most Esteemed President.)
Most Esteemed President: My beloved Brother [N], you are now here in the Respected
Lodge in which are gathered the patriots of this Popular Council …. in remembrance
of that unforgettable day of painful memory which saw the treacherous, cowardly
execution of B., G., and Z., martyred for their love of the native land.
It is your wish to enter this Respected Lodge and to apply the qualities you have
learnt as a soldier—diligence, nobility, and valor. Today, therefore, we who are gath-
ered together in the Respected Lodge ask you to manifest an honest and noble heart,
a character without blemish and a fervor that cannot be stilled. Have you reflected
deeply, beloved Brother, on the gravity of this matter? What are your thoughts about
this truly dangerous step you are about to take?
(The Soldier will respond.)
Most Esteemed President: Is your mind not fearful; is your resolve not wavering?
Most Esteemed President: And will you be brave enough to endure the trials that are too
horrific to contemplate?
Most Esteemed President: If that is so, then please listen. The land of our birth is
weeping bitterly, still suffering under the cruel tyranny of the friars, and she beseeches
her children to support her by tirelessly forging a unity that is firm and strong, so as to
wreak just and proper vengeance upon the dreaded deceivers.
My beloved Brother, a great wrong was committed against those three loyal, most
learned Patriots. An audacious and perfidious hand cut short their estimable lives.
And yet…
The decent and most unfortunate Tagalogs B., G., and Z., together with other
fine compatriots, were outraged by the numberless killings and thefts. They were
appalled by the arrogance and disdain with which the intransigent enemies of truth,
justice, and of the weak treated—and still treat—the unfortunate Tagalog people. Not
frightened by the dangers or the terrible fate that might befall them, they together
proclaimed to the people their high patriotic ideals. As a start, the renowned journal
Eco Filipino was founded in Spain, a brave publication that directed forthright, fiery
attacks against the irreverent twisters of truth, against the sickening lies against true
reason, against the flagrant oppression of the weak, against the loathsome exploita-
tion of the ignorant, and against all the diverse evils inflicted on our native land. They
also asked the Spanish government to implement the laws and prohibitions that had
been approved.
The friars took notice of this, and in a poisonous betrayal of their status as friars
they sought to fight our pitiable compatriots.
Towards that end, they incited the garrison guard in Cavite to stage an uprising in
their own name, and on behalf of many other citizens of Manila and other towns. The
doomed uprising in Cavite was suppressed almost as soon as it broke out. Immediately
there came that vile act, the erection of the scaffold, and truly sickening cruelties.
They had to face great pain and suffering, for which they needed their brave hearts
and steadfast minds. The despicable cobras in their shabby abodes, which are known
as conventos, wanted to halt the campaign against their treacheries, their incitements
and agitations, and their constant scattering of venomous accusations and denuncia-
tions. There came imprisonments and deportations to foreign lands. Witness the good
parents who became demented in a sea of suffering, struck down by misery, embraced
by their disconsolate spouses and kissed by innocent children. Witness the elderly
father, sobbing and groaning at the misfortune of his loved ones, those who were his
comfort and support in his old age. Witness also the brother, seized by an uncontrol-
lable rage at the premature and unjust death of his brother, and see, too, the disconso-
late mother, down whose cheeks flow the marks of her affliction. Those who separate a
mother from her children are committing a blasphemy against God, because a mother
loves her children, the continuation of her own breath, above all else.
Poor unfortunates, stranded far from the land of their birth and their loved ones
in life, deported and cast away on pitiless, malodorous shores where they weep tears of
blood, and at times rage that they were not put to death. Blood spills, so much inno-
cent blood; tears flow, so many bitter tears, interspersed with the accursed crackle of
the executioners’ guns and the moans of the stricken. These are the noises, this is the
roar that shake the quiet stillness of your grave.
This treachery was a bitter revelation. It tore aside the veil that covered the eyes
of the Tagalogs. It disclosed a dreadful, repugnant corruption, the sight of which
provoked great unrest against those debauched maggots whose venomous saliva has
poisoned the livelihood of the Tagalog people.
Respected Brothers: Curse the executioners for all time!
All: We curse them.
Most Esteemed President: Will you be able to suffer as they did, giving their lives for the
love of the native country?
Most Esteemed President: You will now follow in the steps of those three martyrs. Are
you really prepared to do that?
[(The Soldier will respond.)]4
Most Esteemed President: Mr. N, the Spanish government suddenly accuses you of
treachery against the Spanish nation, because you have joined an association that they
call seditious. How do you protest against this? Respond.
Brother Secretary: From the replies we have just heard from this person, it is clear that
he admits to treason.
Brother Fiscal: In view of what has just been revealed, I proclaim you guilty of a grave
treason against the government of Spain (he tells the Soldier). I shall read to you the
judgment of the Council of War as to what punishment you deserve. Please listen.
(Reads the sentence.)
Brother Fiscal: Brother Terrible, accompany the soldier to the chapel (footnote: the
Chapel has been laid out with everything that is required, according to custom.)
(The Brother Terrible will comply with the order of the Brother Fiscal. After finishing what
needs to be done, the Brother Terrible will accompany the Brother Soldier to the scaffold,
and there a rope will be put round his neck.)
Most Esteemed President: My beloved Brothers, a soldier is in mortal peril, about to be

executed. You, who have sworn to give up your lives to defend one another, join me,
and we shall rescue our brother.
(The Most Esteemed President will rise, followed by all the Brothers, and they will go to set
loose the Soldier from the ropes with which he has been bound. The Brother Terrible will
then accompany the Soldier to another room, where he will remove the hood that has been
placed over his head.)
Brother President: My beloved brothers, we embrace our Brother [N], who has shown
he is a true soldier, and whom we have taken from the clutches of our enemies.
(Everybody will rise and stand to attention, and the Brother Terrible will escort the soldier
back into the room. The soldier is blindfolded.)
Most Esteemed President: What you have just endured represents the fateful doom that
faces any patriot who is dedicated to the country. What are your thoughts about that?
Most Esteemed President: My beloved Brother [N]. All the suffering you have just
endured should impress upon you the perfidy and indignity inflicted on our unfortu-
nate compatriots. That terrible memory must blaze in the hearts of all good Tagalogs
like a volcano; the rightful response must be an unstoppable eruption of wrath and
vengeance. The trials have also given you a clear understanding of reason, of love
for one’s native land, and of valor in the face of terror and repression. At the end of
this arduous journey, even at the door of a violent death, amidst cries of distress and
terrible mortal agonies, you will harbor to your very last breath a burning desire for
the liberation of our native country and the triumph of our high ideals. And by the
same token you will be waiting, with the same desire, for the day when the K.K.K. will
be discovered by our enemies (spoken softly).
Most Esteemed President: And do you not shiver, Brother [N], from seeing that what
happened to him might one day happen to you?
Most Esteemed President: In your suffering and in the bravery you showed during the
trials, we are inclined to believe that you are bold enough even to take life in defense
of our K.K.K. This being the case, the Katipunan has regrettably taken into its ranks
a person of bad character, who has committed treason by disclosing our secrets to our
enemies. The traitor is now bound and gagged in another room. The K.K.K. has duly
agreed to appoint you to stab the traitor through the heart with a poisoned dagger.
Are you prepared to accept the duty that the association has assigned to you, my
beloved Brother?

Most Esteemed President: Brother Terrible, fulfill your duty.
(The Brother Terrible will accompany the Soldier to the room where the traitor is held, and
give him the dagger. Afterwards, once the Soldier has handed back the dagger, the Brother
Terrible [and the Soldier] will return to the Respected Lodge.)
Brother Terrible: Most Esteemed President: The Brother Soldier has most valiantly
carried out the task that the K.K.K. assigned him.
Most Esteemed President: Brother Soldier, you have rendered a great service to the
K.K.K., and you will now receive the bolo that you merit. (To the Brother Terrible)
Brother Terrible, give the Brother Soldier the water container, so that he can wash the
blood of that wretch from his hands.
(The Brother Terrible will comply with the order of the Most Esteemed President.)
Most Esteemed President: Before you are invested with the rank of Most Elevated
Patriot, I shall read to you the certificate that you must sign. (Reads the certificate,
which is written thus)
I, NN, being of calm mind, declare that I killed……., who was not known to
me, and that I did so not at the instigation of anyone else, but truly of my own
volition.
Manila, the…….18….
(To be signed with the real name)
Most Esteemed President: Are you truly committed to taking this solemn oath of office,
knowing the hardships and dangers you will face?
Most Esteemed President: My beloved brothers, please stand up and come to order, and
you, Brother Soldier, arise and repeat after me:
“I, [N], hereby reaffirm the oaths I took as a companion and as a soldier, and I
duly swear before the country and before the K.K.K to be loyal and diligent, and
to guard our secrets. I further swear that I am ready to die, to fight, to give every-
thing, to lose everything, for the liberation of Katagalugan.”
Most Esteemed President: If you fall into the mire of iniquity, and break this oath, your
life will be plagued forever by fearful hardship and endless suffering. You will not be
able to enjoy even a moment of peace and comfort. Your whole body will be afflicted
by the repugnant disease of leprosy, malodorous and contagious. Everyone will shun
you, as if they were avoiding a poisonous beast, and everyone will be able to read on
your forehead the word “Traitor,” a contemptuous label denoting a person without
honor...
1 Isabelo de los Reyes, La sensacional memoria de Isabelo de los Reyes sobre la revolución Filipina
de 1896−97 (Madrid: Tip. Lit. de J. Corrales, 1899), 71. See also, for example, Manuel Artigas
y Cuerva, Glorias nacionales: Andres Bonifacio y El ‘Katipunan’ (Manila: Libreria ‘Manila
Filatelica,’ 1911), 30–31; and Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of
Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 50–51.
2 John N. Schumacher, “Gomburza,” in Filipino Heritage: The Making of a Nation, vol. 6
(Manila: Lahing Pilipino, 1978), 1153–57. See also 1872, documents compiled and annotated
by Leandro Tormo Sanz, translated by Antonio J. Molina (Manila: Historical Conservation
Society, 1973), 19, 28, 30.
3 These words in square brackets are in a note at the foot of the page.
4 These words do not appear in the Tagalog original, but presumably were intended.
3.3
Initiation Rites
Philippine Insurgent Records, L.R.53 (microfilm reel no. 160).
This document offers the fullest, most exact depiction of KKK initiation
rites yet located, giving the stage directions and script for each of the officers
involved—Brothers President, Sentinel, Terrible, Secretary, Treasurer, and
Fiscal. The document also prescribes how the routine business of KKK meet-
ings is to be handled—at the door Brother Sentinel will ask everyone to show
the secret signs before letting them enter; Brother Terrible will post lookouts
to ensure the meeting is not disturbed; Brother Secretary will read the report
arising from the previous meeting; and Brother Treasurer will give a financial
report, and then pass round the collection pouch, the suput ng saklolo.
There is no reason to suppose the initiation rites detailed here were
atypical, but it is not known how widely they were observed in precisely
this form, because practices changed over time, and varied from branch to
branch. In the months immediately prior to August 1896, the Katipunan

seems generally to have adopted shorter, simpler rituals in order to cope with
the dramatic, unprecedented surge in recruitment.1 The ritual set out here
would manifestly have taken a long time, especially if several recruits were
being initiated at once, which might suggest the document dates from before
1896. This impression is supported by the wording of the questions the initi-
ates are asked about precolonial times, Spanish rule, and the future, which
differs from the prescribed formula (“What was the condition of Katagalugan
in early times?” etc.) known to be in use by early 1896. It may be, however,
that the slips on which the prescribed formula was printed had not reached
whoever wrote this document, so we cannot be sure.
The proceedings begin outside the inner door of the Lodge, where the
initiate is blindfolded. Brother Terrible places a dagger at his throat, and
demands to know what he wants. The initiate then knocks on the door of
the Lodge and is permitted to enter. Once inside he is stripped to the waist
by Brother Secretary, who records any identifying marks on his body, and
then he is questioned at length by Brother President about his family back-
ground, means of livelihood, religious persuasion, and masonic or other affili-
ations. The initiate is also asked to confirm that he recognizes the hardships
KKK members must endure. If he does, he is taken by Brother Terrible on a
symbolic hazardous journey along dark tunnels or across fast-flowing rivers.
Next he is escorted to the “Chamber of Reflection,” a small room or parti-
tioned-off area draped in black cloth, on whose walls hang pictures depicting
the fate of the Tagalogs under Spain.2 Here the initiate is asked to sit at a
desk and answer, in writing, seven questions about the people’s condition in
the past, present, and future. After he has finished this task, he faces further
verbal questioning, this time from Brother Fiscal, about the measure of his
manly fortitude, and as a final “trial” he is ordered to kill a member who has
betrayed the society. The document ends at this point, but presumably the
initiate would thereafter be formally accepted into the lodge, be asked to draw
blood from his arm and sign his oath of allegiance.
Shorter initiations
Accounts of KKK initiations to be found in the secondary literature,3
based principally on Isabelo de los Reyes’ Sensacional memoria, seemingly
describe the abbreviated “1896” variant of the rites, which had just four
stages—the written test in the “Chamber of Reflection,” a brief caution from
the Brother Terrible, the “trials,” and the signing of an oath in blood.4
On the walls of the “Chamber of Reflection,” in this abbreviated variant,
there are not pictures but signs, each bearing an admonition: “If you are strong
and brave, you may proceed” (Kung may lakas at tapang, ikaw’y makatutuloy);
“If curiosity has brought you here, you should depart” (Kung ang pag-uusisa
ang nagdala sa iyo dito’y, umurong ka); and “If you do not know how to control
your bad desires, you should depart: the doors of the Sovereign and Most
Respected Association of the Sons of the People will never be opened to
you” (Kung di ka marunong pumigil ng iyong masamang hilig, umurong ka: hindi
kailan man ang pintuan ng Maykapangyarihan at Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng
mga Anak ng Baya’y bubuksan dahil sa iyo).5 Having been led to the Chamber,
the initiate is instructed to sit at a dimly lit desk on which there is a human
skull, a loaded revolver, and a machete. There is also a pen, some ink and the
questions, pared down to only three: “What was the condition of Katagalugan
in early times?” (¿Ano ang kalagayan nitong Katagalugan ng unang panahun?);
“What is its condition now?” (¿Ano ang kalagayan sa ngayon?); and “What
will be its condition in the time to come?” (¿Ano ang magiging kalagayan sa
darating na panahun?).
Having been coached beforehand, says De los Reyes, the initiate was
expected to answer the first question to the effect that the Filipinos had their
own civilization before the Spaniards arrived. They had artillery; wore clothes
of silk; enjoyed political liberty; maintained diplomatic and commercial rela-
tions with their Asian neighbors; and had their own religion and alphabet.
To the second question, the answer should affirm that the Spaniards, specifi-
cally the friars, had done nothing to advance the civilization of the Filipinos;
indeed they saw civilization and enlightenment as incompatible with their
own interests. They taught the catechism, but offered the people no spiritual
depth. They lavishly celebrated religious festivals, but expected the people
to bear the cost. They abused their power and privileges; they were oppres-
sors. To the third question, about the future, the initiate should confidently
predict that with faith, courage, and perseverance all the country’s evils would
be overcome.
The initiate is then escorted from the “Chamber of Reflection” and
brought before the Brother Terrible, who cautions him that he is about to
take a very momentous step, and advises him to withdraw if he doubts that he
possesses the necessary resolve.
If the initiate persists in his wish to join the society, he is formally
presented to the assembled brethren and asked to prove his mettle by under-
going the “trials.” He might be blindfolded, handed a revolver, and ordered
to shoot dead a supposed “enemy,” who would, of course, safely absent
himself before the bullet was fired. He might be led to believe his skin was
to be scorched with naked flames. Pio Valenzuela testified that at his initia-
tion, again whilst blindfolded, he had been asked to throw himself forwards
onto the tip of a dagger that had been placed on his chest. Then he had
been handed the dagger, led to a man—doubtless an “enemy” or “traitor”—
who he found by touch to be seated, and ordered him to stab him to death.6
Far from being intimidated or repelled by these trials, De los Reyes
writes, initiates were reportedly moved to tears by deep emotion and enthu-
siasm. They were overcome because they were joining a society that pledged
to liberate their country from its present lamentable situation, and to win it at
a brilliant future.
If the initiate passed the trials, finally, he would be led to another “room,”
or partitioned-off area, where he would be asked to sign an oath of member-
ship in blood drawn from his left forearm.
Katipunan ritual and masonry

Katipunan rituals are often described as “quasi-masonic,” and rightly
so. Their main model, beyond question, was the ritual followed in Manila’s
masonic lodges. They also blindfolded their initiates, placed daggers at their
breasts, escorted them to the “Chamber of Reflection” for written tests, took
them on symbolic journeys, put them through “trials,” and perhaps ordered
them to “kill the traitor.” They also guided their initiates from “blindness”
to “enlightenment,” and insisted they cast aside “bad desires.” The authors of
the Katipunan’s rites, very likely masons themselves, even replicated some of
the fine detail of masonic ritual. One of the signs mentioned by De los Reyes,
for instance, “If curiosity has brought you here, you should depart,” was iden-
tical to a sign used in masonic initiations. When the candidate mason was led
to the inner door of the Lodge, for instance, he was expected, as here, to knock
in an “irregular” manner, in other words in the manner of someone who was
not yet a brother. Before the candidate was subjected to the “trials,” he would
be advised, as here, to withdraw if he felt fearful.7
But there were also obvious differences between the masonic and
Katipunan rituals. In the masonic lodges, it would appear, the proceedings
were invariably conducted in Spanish, whilst the KKK, at least in Manila,
invariably used Tagalog. The leading officers of a masonic lodge were
known as the Venerable Maestro, Vigilante (Primero and Segundo), Orador,
Secretario, and Tesorero, not as the Pangulo, Taliba, and the like.8 The ques-
tions asked of candidate masons in the “Chamber of Reflection” were about
man’s duties to God, his fellow men, and himself, not about the state of the
nation. And when lectured on their duties as masons, most strikingly, the
initiates were instructed to “observe the laws of the country.”9 Recruits to the
Katipunan, by contrast, were embraced by their brethren as fellow outlaws.
Tagalog Text
Pagbubukas ng Karurukan
------ ng -----
K.K.K.N.M.A.N.B
-------------------------------
Sa paglapit sa pinto ng Karurukan, ay magpakilala sa Taliba, kung pauang kapatid,

alinsunod sa mga hudiatang lihim, sapagkat kung hindi makapagpakilala, bukod sa di
pasukin, ay ibibilango pa.
Ang Tagausig, ang siyang namamahalang maglagay ng mga tanod sa paliguid liguid
ng Karurukan.
Kung narating na ang oras na taning na pagbubukas ng Mahal na Karurukan, at
nakaupo na ang lahat sa kanikanilang dapat upoan, ang Pangulo ang magsasalita ng gayon:
Pangulo = Kapatid na Taliba, napasiyasat na baga ninyo ayon sa mga hudiatang

lihim, kun ang mga kaharap ay pauang mga Kapatid?
Taliba = Oo po Kapatid na Pangulo, ang mga kaharap ay pauang mga kapatid.
Pangulo = Kapatid na Tagausig, guinaua na baga ninyo ang mga karapatan sa
Mahal na Karurukan?
Tagausig = Oo po, Kapatid na Pangulo, may mga kapatid ng tumatanod ng ating
kapayapaan.
Pangulo = Kung gayon, yayamang ganap na ang lahat ng nararapat sa pagbubukas
ng ating Mahal na Karurukan, tayo’y, magsitindig at sumaayos, Minamahal
kong mga Kapatid.
Kung sila’y, nakatindig na at nakaayos magsasalita ang Pangulo ng susunod:
Pangulo = Sa ngalan ng Bayang pinaghahadugang lubos ng Ating linalayon,

ipinauunawa kong bukas na Ang Mahal ng Karurukan ng M.A.N.B.
Kung matapos mauika ito, ang Pangulo ay magsasaysay muli ng gayon:
Pangulo = Tayo’y magsiupo, mga kapatid, at simulaan nating pagtalakayan ang

mga bagay bagay na ikalalauig at ikaaayos ng K.K.K. natin.
Kung pagkabukas ng Karurukan ay dahil lamang sa karaniwan (Junta Ordinaria) ang

Pangulo ay maguiuika:
Pangulo = Kapatid na Kalihim, mangyari ngang basahin ninyo ang kasulatang

ibinangon sa kahuli huliang pagkapulong natin.
Kalihim = Sa bayan ng -----------------------------------etc etc ---------------ika --------ng

------------- ng taong -----------------------etc etc
Pangulo = Mga kapatid, napagtalastas na baga ninyo ang nasasabi sa kasulatan

ng ating huling pagkatipon? ¿Uala na bagang dapat idagdag o alsin ?
Dito nila pag-uusapan, ang kung ualang dapat bagohin, kanilang pagpipilmahanan;
ngunit kung mayroroon, ibobota [?] ng Kalihim sa dulo ng kasulatan, at saka nila
pagpipilmahanan.
Kung matapus na ang bagay na ito, ay kanila ng sisimulaan ang pag-uusap sa mga
bagay na nararapat sa pagka katipong ito, at kung uala na silang pagtalakayan, bago sila
nagsitindig, ang Tagaingat-yaman, ay igagala niya sa bauat isa sa mga kapatid ang suput ng
saklolo at saka niya bibilangin sa harapan ng lahat ng matipon. Kung ito maganap na, ang
Pangulo ang magsasalita ng sumusunod:
Pangulo: Kapatid na Tagaingat-yaman, inyo ngang ipahayag ang kabooan ng

salaping inyo ngayon ini-ingatan at gayon din, ang pinaggugulan ng iba’t,
ibang bagay buhat sa huling pagkapulong hangan ngayon.
Ipahahayag lahat ng Tagaingat-yaman ang mga bagay bagay na ikalilinis ang [?]
kaniyang tinataglay na tungkol.
Kung ang pagkabukas ng Karurukan, ay dahil sa may mga nasang makisanib,

pagkatapus masalita ng Pangulo ang “Tayo’y magsiupo etc. etc., ay maguiuikang
sumusunod:
Pangulo = Kapatid na Kalihim, inyo ngang ipahayag sa lahat ang mga ngalan ng
mga nagnanais makisanib dito sa K.K.K.N.M.A.N.B.
Kalihim = Fulano etc.
Pangulo = Sino baga sa inyo, mga Kapatid, ang nakatatalastas sa mga taong itong
nakikisanib, kung paano ang kanikanilang buhay at pamumuhay?
Kanilang dadalisaying magaling ang buhay at pamumuhay ng baua’t isa sa mga

nakikisanib, at pagkatapus, magsasalita ang Pangulo, ng sumusunod:
Pangulo = Ngayon at atin ng napag-unaua ang mga ugali ng mga makikipagisa sa

atin, atin ngang sila’y ipailalim sa mga mahihigpit na subuk na dinadaanan
ng lahat, na sa Katipunang ito’y pumapasok.
Samantalang pinagdadalisayan sa Karurukan, ang mga buhay at pamumuhay ng

mga nakikisanib, ang Mabalasik, ay tatanung niya ng isa’t, isang sa mga nakikisanib na
nakapiring ng kanilang mga mata, ng mga sumusunod na tanong:
Mabalasik = ¿Ikaw ay sino?
Kasabay ng pagsasalita niya, ay kaniyang ilalagay sa may lalamunan ng sino mang

nakikisanib, ang dulo ng kaniyang taglay na bararaw.
Nakikisanib = Fulano de tal.

Mabalasik = ¿Ano ang dito’y, iyong hinahanap?
Nakikisanib =
Mabalasik = Napabatid mo baga, kapagkaraka’y, dito iyong matatagpuan ang
hinahanap?
Nakikisanib =
Mabalasik = ¿Sino ang may sabe sa iyo?
Pagkasabi niya nito, ang dulo ng bararaw, ang kaaalsin sa pinaglalamunan, at ilalagay
sa may sikmura.
Nakikisanib =
Mabalasik = Sino ang nagbunsod sa iyo at nagkaroon ka ng gayong hangad?
Nakikisanib =
Mabalasik = Di mo baga nababatid na kapagkarakang ikao’y, masanib sa
Katipunang ito, ikaw ay mabibingit sa katakot takot na kapahamakan, gaya
ng matapon sa iba’t, iba o malayong lupa, o ang maualay, kaya sa piling
ng iyong pinakaguiguiliw na asaua’t, anak o kapatid kaya ¿hindi ka baga
natatakot?
Nakikisanib =
Mabalasik = Di ka nalalaguim na dumaluhong sa gayong karami’t ualang pag
itan na kamatayan?
Nakikisanib =
Mabalasik = Ikaw ay magtapat.
Nakikisanib =
Mabalasik = Kung gayon na ikaw ay napapumilit mapakisanib sa Katipunang ito,
ikaw ay sumama.
Kung matapos na niya ang lahat, at pag kauay ng Taliba sa kaniya, ay kaniyang akayin
ang mga nakikisanib at pagdating sa pinto ng Karurukan, ay tutuktok ng paano paano, sa
makatuid, tuktok ng hindi nasasanib pa.
Ang Pangulo pagkarinig [?] niya ang gayong pagtauag ay magpasalitang .....[?]... ng
sumusunod:
Pangulo = Kapatid na Taliba sa pinto ng Karurukan may tumatauag na di kakilala.

Mga kapatid, ihanda ang inyong mga sandata, at tila may sasalakay sa atin
na di kaalam.
Silang lahat ay magsisitindig at bubunutin nila ang kanilang mga bararaw, at sa

ganitong anyo, magsasalita ang
Pangulo = Kapatid na Taliba inyong tingnan kung sino, at tuloy itanong kung
ano ang ibig.
Paparoon ang Taliba at pagdating niya sa may pinto, ay magsasalita ng gayon.
Taliba = ¿Sino kayo?

Mabalasik = Ako po Kapatid na Taliba, may akay na mga taong buhat sa lusak
ng pagkaalipin, inagaw sa kuko ng bulag, kapagkatapos ay naglagos sa
balabalaking kapansanan at kapahamakan, ngayo’y, naririto’t, tumatauag sa
Mahal na pinto ang na [?] iyo pong tinatanuran at hinahanap ang Kalayaan.
Taliba = Kung gayon, kayo’y, magantay.
Paparoon sa harap ng Pangulo at kaniyang ipagsasaysay ang kaniyang narinig ng

sagot; [?] matapus niyang masabi, ay magsasalita ng susunod ang
Pangulo = Kung gayon, inyong papasukin, si Kapatid na Mabalasik at hingian ng

hudiatang lihim, at kung siya’y, tunay na kapatid, ay kaniyang ipasok dito
ang mga akay, kaya kaya [?] po Kapatid na Tagausig ng [?] pakingang [?]
akbayan si Kd. na Taliba at ng [?] may aagapay [?] sa mga taong kasama
sapagkat kung ang nagdala rito ay di makapagpakilala, nahiya’y [?] tunay
na Kd. siya at kasamahan niya, inyong ibilango, at ng mautas natin ang
kanikanilang mga hininga, at sinisira ang ating kapanatagan.
Gagawin nilang lahat ang natatagubilin, at kung ipasok na nila, ay itutuloy sa harap
ng Pangulo, at ito maguiuika ang sumusunod:
Pangulo = Kapatid na Kalihim, inyong hubaran ng mga baro, itong mga taong
naririto, at inyong itala ang kanilang pangala’t mga pangalawang pangala
sampu ng tandang pagkakilanlan sa katauan nila.
Aakayin ng Kalihim ang mga nakikisanib at ilalayo sa harap ng Pangulo at saka

niya gaganapin ang natatagubilin sa itaas nito, at pagkagawa, sa harap [?] naman niya sa
Pangulo ang lahat ng taong nakikisanib at tuloy iyayabot niya ang talaan ng ngala’t, tanda
ng baua’t, isa, at sa pagaabot ay mag-uiuika ang
Kalihim = Naganap ko na po ang inyong itinungkol sa akin at naito na silang

lahat pati talaan ng kanilang mga ngala’t, mga pangalawang pangalan pati
tandang nakita ko sa kanilang mga katauan.
Aabutin ng Pangulo, at tatauaguing niya ang isa sa kanila, kung sila’y marami, at ang
iba’y, ilalayo muna ng Taliba hangang di niya tauaguin, at sa tinauag, ay tatanungin ng
Pangulo ng gayon mga sumusunod, at isusulat naman ng Kalihim ang mga sagot.
Pangulo = Ikaw baga, kababayan, tunay na si...............

Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Alin bagang bayan at hukuman dito sa Filipinas ang iyo pong
tinuboan?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = ¿Ano bagang mga pangalan ang inyo [?] pong mga magulang?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Buhay po baga ang iyo pong ama’t, ina.
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = May kapatid po kayong buhay? At kung mayroroon ano po ang
pangalan?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Ikao po baga ay ano ang kalagayan at ilan ka pong taong edad?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Ikao po baga murong bumasa’t, sumulat?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Ano po bagang pinagkakakitaan ng ikabubuhay?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Ano bagang pinananaligan ninyong religion?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Ano pa ang inyong pakay at kayo’y, maparito?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Uala baga kayong kinasasanibang ibang Katipunan, gaya baga ng
Masoneria?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Sa pakikisanib sa Katipunan ito, ay marami at sarisaring hirap na
pagdadaanan, at lalot higuit kung nasasanib na, ¿Ano kababayan, na
hahanda baga ang inyong loob sa magdauas ng hirap?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Kung gayon, humanda kayo. Kapatid na Mabalasik gawin ninyo ang
inyong tungkol sa dito [?] kababayang nakikisanib sa K.K.K. natin.
Kukunin ni Mabalasik at kaniyang pasusutin sa isang lunga o paduluksulim [?] kaya

sa isang maluat na [?] ilog o balou [?], at pagkatapus niya nito, kaniyang papasukin sa
silid ng panilayan, at doon niya iiwan, ngunit kaniyang ipagbibiling [?] na aalsin ng taong
nakikisanib ang piring ng mga mata niya, pagkasiya nakarinig ng apat na tuktok sa pinto.
Ang tinatauag na Silid na Panilayan, ay isang maliit na natatabuigan, ang boo niyang
paliguid liguid, ng itim na damit, at nagbitin dito, ang ilang cuadro:
Ang sa isa’y, makikitang [?] napipinta ang isang punong malpabong na mangga na
humihitik ng bunga, at sa may puno ay ang karamihang taong mukang tagalog na lahat, at
sa baba [?] nila mababasa ang ganito:
Ang sa ikalaua ay ang punong manga ring nakilala [?] sa unang cuadro, ngunit ang
mga na sa silong niya, ay mga mukang Kastilang lahat at sila’y, nagsisikainan ng bunga at
ang mga inu-upoan at yinayapakan, ay mga taong tagalog: makabasa sa cuadrong ito ang
sumusunod:
Ang ikatlo ay isang mag-asauang tagalog; na ang babae ay nasa sinapupunan ng isang
Frayle nakayapos na totoong mahigpit at pinipilit, ay dito mababasa ang sumusunod:
Ang ikapat ay isang bunong may namamarko ang tama ng bala sa noo, at dito
mababasa ang sumusunod:
At ang na sa harapan ng isang dulang na munti, ay isang taong taganas na buto na
uala nang balat ni man man [?] pati ulo, at namamasdan sa kaniya, ang mga butas na
dinaanan ng bala, ang nangabaling buto sa hampas na tinangap ng siya nabubuhay pa, at
dito mababasa ang mga sumusunod:
Sa ibabaw ng dulang na munti o mesita na siya ang pinakaaltar bukod sa may tintero’t,
pluma [?] papel na doon ay nakalagay na gayon ang mga nasasabi:
Ano ang kalagayan nitong ating lupa noong uala pa ang mga Kastila?
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
¿Paano ang mga pasunuran ng mga tao baga mat di pa sila binyagan noon?
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
Ano ang lagay nitong Sangkapuluang Filipinas ngayo’t, nasa kapangyarihan ng mga
Kastila ?
------------------------------
------------------------------
¿Paano ngayon ang pagpapasunuran ng mga tagalog sa kapua tagalog?
------------------------------
------------------------------
Paano naman ang pagsunod ng tagalog sa mga Kastila?
------------------------------
------------------------------
Kung sakalit maalis sa mga Kastila itong Filipinas at mapa sa pamamahala ng tagalog
na siyang tunay na may are, ¿ano kaya ang maguiguing kalagayan?
----------------------------
----------------------------
¿Mag-iringan po kaya ang mga tagalog kung sila ang may boong kapangyarihan sa
tunay at sarili niyang pagaare?
---------------------------
---------------------------
Kung inaakala ni Mabalasik na tapos na sa pagnilaynilay, ay kukunin [?] buksan ang
pinto ng Silid ng Panilayan, ay magsasalita ng gayon:
Mabalasik = Kababayan ikao po baga ay natapos na ng pagdinilaynilay at

nakapiring na baga ang inyong mga mata?
Nakikisanib =
Mabalasik = Kung gayon, kayo sumama.
Pagkalabas sa pinto, ang Tagausig ay ituturok niya ang dulo ng kaniyang bararaw sa
may sikmura ng nakikisanib at tatanungin ng sumusunod:
Tagausig = Kayo ba’y, lalake o babae?

Nakikisanib =
Tagausig = Kung gayon ang inyong mga salita at gaua, ¿gawang baga ng lalake?
Nakikisanib =
Tagausig = Kung gayon, ¿nahihia baga kayong [?] di ninyo matupad o magawa
ang inyong masabi o maypangako?
Nakikisanib =
Tagausig = Ituloy ninyo, Kapatid na Mabalasik sa dapat pangiharapan [?] pa.
Ang Tagausig ay papasok sa Silid ng Panilayan at titingnan ang guinawa ng

nakikisanib at kung nasagot ang mga tanong na nasa ibabaw ng alta, ay kaniyang kukunin
at ihaharap sa Pangulo, at si Mabalasik ay ihaharap din sa Pangulo ang taong nakikisanib.
Mabalasik = Natapus na po Kd. na Pangulo ang pagganap ko ng tungkol dito sa

kababayang nakikisanib.
Pangulo = Sa mga pahirap na inyong guinawa sa kanila, uala baga kayong
namasdang ano mang ikinaudlot ng kanilang loob?
Mabalasik =
Pangulo = Kung gayon sila’y, kinakaila magdaan pa sa isang [?] bagay nadapat
pagkakilanlan sa kanila; kaya kababayan, inyong uliniguing mabuti itong
aking ipagsasaysay:
Sa Katipunang ito ay baual na baual na ang kaniyang mga kalihiman ay

ibabandual ng sino mang nasasanib, sa kanino pamang di kaalam at huag namang
akalain na di malalaman ng Katipunang ang magtataksil, sapagkat may mga palagay
ding naguusig na lubhang mahihigpit na kasamahan: ngayon may isang nasasanib,
na nabibilango, dahil sa dalas ng kaniyang dila at paharosharos ng gawa, ¿may
pangangako baga ninyong mapatay?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Mapipilmahan baga ninyo ang kasulatang ibabangon sa pagpatay, at
ng may lubos na panghauakan itong Katipunan, hindi lamang sa inyo kundi
sa pagkapagbigay ng tapat na parusa sa kaniyang kataksilan?
Nakikisanib =
Pangulo = Ilabas nga ninyo, Kd. na Taliba, ang taksil na Kd. na nasa bilangoan at
inyong ipahipo ang kaniyang katauan, dito sa kababayang nakikisanib.
Gagagawin ng Taliba at tuloy magsasalita ng gayon:
Taliba = Ito ang nasasanib na nababandual ng mga kalihiman nitong Katipunan

at ibig ipahamak ang iba pang mga kasamahan, iyo pong hipoin [?] at
nakagapos at may pakagat [?] pa sa bibig ng huag na siyang makasigaw.
Pangulo = Kapatid na Mabalasik, inyong ihatid ang kababayang nakikisanib
pati itong nabibilango sa lugal na pinagpapatayan at doong ganapin ang
parusang nararapat.
English Translation
Opening of the Lodge

------ of the -----
K.K.K.N.M.A.N.B
-------------------------------
At the door of the Lodge, everyone will make themselves known to the Sentinel by
giving the secret signs. Anybody who is not recognized, aside from not being admitted, will
be imprisoned.
The Fiscal is in charge of posting lookouts around the Lodge.
At the agreed hour for the opening of the Respected Lodge, and when everybody is
seated in their designated places, the President will speak thus:
President = Brother Sentinel, Have you checked by means of the secret signs that
all those present are brothers?
Sentinel = Yes Brother President, those present are all brothers.
President = Brother Fiscal, have you done what is necessary as regards the
respected lodge?
Fiscal = Yes, Brother President, there are brothers on watch to safeguard our
peace.
President = In that case, everything necessary has been done for the opening of
our Respected Lodge. Let us stand and come to order, my dear Brothers.
Once they have stood and come to order, the president will say the following:-
President = In the name of the Nation to whom we fully dedicate our endeavors, I
declare open the respected lodge of the Sons of the People.
After saying this, the president will speak further, thus:
President = Let us be seated, brothers, and commence our discussion of various

matters concerning the expansion and good order of our K. K. K.
If the lodge has been opened solely for an ordinary meeting (Junta Ordinaria) the presi-
dent will say:
President = Brother Secretary, could you read the report arising from our previous
meeting.
Secretary = In the town of --------etc. etc. -------- -------------on the ------- of---------
of the year ------------------ etc. etc.
President = Brothers, do you approve of what is said in the report of our previous
meeting? Is there anything that should be added or deleted?
Discussion then ensues; if nothing needs to be changed, the report is duly approved, but
if there is anything, then the Secretary will make a note at the end of the report, which they
will then approve.
Once this matter has been dealt with, they commence discussion on the matters that
need to be considered at this meeting. After the discussion has concluded, and before the
brothers rise from their seats, the Treasurer will pass round the pouch for contributions to
each of the brothers, and will then count the sum collected in the presence of everyone gath-
ered. Once this has been done, the President will speak as follows:
President: Brother Treasurer, please announce the total of the cash that is now
in your care, and likewise the expenses that have been incurred on different
items since the previous meeting.
The Treasurer will then give an accurate account of the matters for which he has
responsibility.
If the Lodge has been opened to consider some candidates for membership, the
President—after saying “Let us stand, etc. etc.”—will say the following:
President = Brother Secretary, you shall announce to everyone the names of those
here who wish to join the K. K. K. N. M. A. N. B.
Secretary = Juan etc.
President = Who among you, brothers, knows about the lives and livelihoods of
these people who wish to join?
They verify that the life and livelihood of each candidate is honest and genuine, and
afterwards the President will speak as follows:-
President = Now we have gained some idea of the character of those who wish to
unite with us, we shall subject them to the arduous trials that lie in the path
of all those who enter this Katipunan.
Whilst the Lodge is vetting the lives and livelihoods of the candidates, the Terrible will
ask each of them, their eyes now blindfolded, the following questions:
Terrible = You are who?
Whilst he speaks, he will put the tip of his dagger to the candidate’s throat.
Candidate = Juan de la Cruz.

Terrible = What are you looking for here?
Candidate =
Terrible = Have you found here what you are searching for?
Candidate =
Terrible = Who was it who told you?
As he says this, he takes the tip of his dagger away from the throat and places it against
the stomach.
Candidate =
Terrible = And who revealed this to you, so that you came to have this purpose?
Candidate =
Terrible = Do you not know that once you have joined this Katipunan you will be
at the threshold of the most frightful dangers, such as being exiled to various
faraway places or being separated from your most beloved spouses, children,
brothers and sisters. So, are you not afraid?
Candidate =
Terrible = Do you not dread rushing to the attack in the face of certain death?
Candidate =
Terrible = Be truthful.
Candidate =
Terrible = If that is so, and you still insist upon joining this Katipunan, follow me.
Once [Brother Terrible] has finished [questioning all the candidates], and the Sentinel
has given him a wave, he will lead the candidates to the door of the Lodge, upon which they
will knock in an irregular manner, that is to say, in the manner of those who are not yet
members.
The President hears the knocking, and will speak as follows:
President = Brother Sentinel, there are strangers at the door of the Lodge.
Brothers, prepare your weapons. These people who we don’t know might
attack us.
They all stand and draw their daggers, and then says the
President = Brother Sentinel, see who is there, and ask them what they want.
The sentinel will go there, and when he is at the door, he will speak thus.
Sentinel = Who are you?

Terrible = It is me, Brother Sentinel. I have led some people from the mire of
bondage, snatched from the claws of blindness. Having passed many obsta-
cles and dangers, they are now here, calling at the esteemed door you are
guarding, in search of Liberty.
Sentinel = In that case, wait.
[Brother Sentinel] goes back to the President and relates the answers he has heard.
After he has spoken, [the President] will say as follows
President = If that is so, you shall let the Brother Terrible enter, and ask to see
the secret signs. If he is truly a brother, he may enter here with those he is
leading. Brother Fiscal, put your arm around Brother Sentinel’s shoulder
and stand together with the others, because if those brought here are not
recognized the Brother [Terrible] and his companions will be shamed, you
shall imprison them, we shall extinguish their breath, and our tranquility
shall be destroyed.
These instructions will be implemented. If [the candidates] are permitted to enter they
will go and stand before the President, who will say the following:
President = Brother Secretary, strip the shirts from these people here, and record
their names, second names, and any identifying marks on their bodies.
The Secretary will lead the candidates away from the President and fulfill the above
instructions. Then, standing before the President again, he will hand over the list of names,
the marks of each one, and thereafter will say the
Secretary = I have now completed the task you gave me, and here is the list of all
their names, second names and the marks that I have seen on their bodies.
The President will take the list, and call each of them in turn. If they are many, the
Sentinel will keep the others at a distance until they are called. The President will ask each in
turn the questions that follow, and the secretary will write down the answers.
President = Are you, compatriot, truly...............?

Candidate =
= From which town and province here in the Philippines do you come?
Candidate =
President = What are the names of your parents?
Candidate =
President = Are your father and mother still living?
Candidate =
President = Do you have any siblings? And if you do, what are their names?
Candidate =
President = What is your marital status, and how old are you?
Candidate =
President = Do you know how to read and write?
Candidate =
President = What is your means of livelihood?
Candidate =
President = What is your religious persuasion?
Candidate =
President = What is your purpose in coming here?
Candidate =
President = Are you not a member of some other organization, like masonry?
Candidate =
President = Applying for membership in this Katipunan entails many and diverse
hardships along the way, and even more should you become a member. And
so, compatriot, have you readied yourself to endure these hardships?
Candidate =
President = If that is so, you are ready. Brother Terrible, do your duty in relation
to these compatriots who wish to join our K.K.K.
The Terrible will take [the candidate] into a deep pit or tunnel, across a raging river or
down a water well. After this, he will let the candidate enter the chamber of reflection, and
there he will leave him, instructing him to remove the blindfold from his eyes when he hears
four knocks on the door.
The so-called Chamber of Reflection is a small screened-off area that is completely
draped in black cloth. In it are hanging some pictures.
In the first, will be seen depicted a luxuriant mango tree laden with fruit, and by the tree
there are many people who all look like Tagalogs. Beneath [the picture the candidates] will
read this:
The second one is also a mango tree like in the first picture, but the people under it all
look like Spaniards, and whilst they are eating the fruits they are sitting and treading on the
Tagalog people. On this picture may be read the following:
The third shows a Tagalog couple; the woman is in the lap of a friar, who is holding her
very tightly and roughly, and here may be read the following:
The fourth shows a dissenter whose forehead has been marked with a target for bullets,
and [beneath this picture] may be read the following:
And [a picture] in front of a small table shows a person who is nothing but bones, who
has no skin nor even a head. On him may be seen holes where bullets have penetrated, and
yet there is still life in his fractured, bludgeoned bones. And here may be read the following:
Upon the small table or desk, which is the high altar, there is a pen, ink, and paper on
which is written the following:
What was the condition of this land of ours when the Spaniards were not yet here?
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
How did the people become subordinated when they were not yet baptized at that time?
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
What is the condition of these Philippine Islands now, under the rule of the Spaniards?
-----------------------------
------------------------------
How should the Tagalogs now follow their fellow-Tagalogs?
------------------------------
------------------------------
And how should the Tagalogs follow the Spaniards?

---------------------------
------------------------------
If it happened that the Spaniards departed from the Philippines and the Tagalogs came
to govern the land that is truly theirs, what would be their condition?
----------------------------
----------------------------
Would the Tagalogs be hostile if they governed the land that is truly their own?
---------------------------
---------------------------
If the Terrible believes the time of reflection is finished, he will open the door of the
Chamber of Reflection, and will speak thus:
Terrible = Compatriot, have you now finished your reflection, and has the blind-
fold now been removed from your eyes?
Candidate =
Terrible = If so, follow me.
Outside the door, the Fiscal puts the tip of his dagger to the stomach of the candidate
and asks the following:
Fiscal = What are you, a man or a woman?

Candidate =
Fiscal = If that is so, are your words and actions those of a man?
Candidate =
Fiscal = If that is so, will you be ashamed if you fail to accomplish or undertake
whatever you pledge or promise?
Candidate =
Fiscal = Proceed, Brother Terrible, with the presentations.
The Fiscal will enter the Chamber of Reflection and look at what the candidate has
done. If he has answered the questions upon the altar, [the Fiscal] will bring [the paper]
and present it to the President, and the Terrible will bring the candidate before the president.
Terrible = Brother President, I have now completed what I had to do here in rela-
tion to the compatriots who wish to join.
President = During the hardships you inflicted upon them, did you notice any
wavering of their resolve?
Terrible =
President = In that case, they still need to pass one further test of their resolve.
So, compatriots, listen carefully to what I have to tell you:
In this Katipunan it is strictly forbidden for any member to disclose its secrets
to any stranger. To pass information to anybody outside the Katipunan is an
act of treachery which it is believed should be punished collectively with the
utmost severity. Here today there is a member who we have detained because
of the looseness of his tongue and his despicable deeds. Will you promise to
kill him?
Candidate =
President = Do you approve the report that decrees the sentence of death, upon
which this Katipunan, not you alone, fully relies in meting out the due
punishment for his treachery?
Candidate =
President = Brother Sentinel, bring out the traitorous Brother from the prison
and deliver him here to the compatriots who wish to join.
The Sentinel will do as bid, and then speak thus:
Sentinel = This is the member who betrayed the secrets of this Katipunan and
wanted to cause harm to fellow members. Tie him up and gag his mouth so
that he cannot shout out.
President = Brother Terrible, bring the compatriots who are candidates together
with this prisoner to a place of execution and there carry out the due penalty.
1 Some leading Katipuneros had wanted to curtail the ritualistic aspects of the society long
before 1896, and the issue had been much debated. Even the second president of the Supreme
Council, Roman Basa, reportedly wanted to do away with “the tedious process of initiation,”
but Bonifacio resisted the move. E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol. 1
(Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications, 1955), 93.
2 It is interesting to note that the document calls the country’s inhabitants “ang mga tagalog,”
but calls the country itself “Filipinas” rather than “Katagalugan.” This may be a further indi-
cation that the text originates prior to 1896.
3 See, for example, Gregorio F. Zaide, History of the Katipunan (Manila: Loyal Press, 1939), 6−7;
and Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan
(Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 48–50.
de 1896−97 (Madrid: Tip. Lit. de J. Corrales, 1899), 75–77. De los Reyes obtained his informa-
tion mainly from conversations with Katipuneros.
5 De los Reyes renders these messages in Spanish; the Tagalog versions here, perhaps copied
from a primary source, are taken from Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, Galeria de filipinos ilustres
(Manila: Imp. Casa Editora “Renacimiento,” 1917), 397–98.
6 Testimony of Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino, October 21, 1896, in appendix L to Minutes of the
Katipunan, with a preface by Carlos Quirino (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1964),
167.
7 R.W. Bro. Leon Zeldis, “The Initiation in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite,” Pietre-
Stones Review of Freemasonry; http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/zeldis26.html.
Accessed December 23, 2010.
8 No reference has been seen to the equivalent of Brother Terrible existing in the Manila
lodges of the 1890s, though such an office has existed in masonic lodges in other times and
places.
9 “Discurso del Orad. al neofito de una Iniciación,” undated MS, c.1890s. Archivo General
Militar de Madrid, Caja 5393, leg.4.53.
3.4
Initiation Rites (different version)
Philippine Insurgent Records, 514.10 (microfilm reel no. 31).
No printed version of a KKK initiation ritual has yet been found, and probably
none ever existed. Lodge officers who conducted the rites must therefore have
relied on handwritten copies, or guidance passed on by word of mouth, or their
own devices. Practices consequently varied from place to place. Nevertheless,
the two texts transcribed here as documents 3.3 and 3.4 (the only Spanish-era
versions so far located) indicate the observances had a common core. The ritual
set out below is at many points identical, or nearly so, to the longer version
reproduced as document 3.3. Before the meeting, Brother Sentinel stands
by the door checking the secret signs, and Brother Fiscal assigns brothers to
keep watch outside. Brother Terrible asks the initiates the same questions,
“Who are you? And what are you searching for here?” etc., and cautions them
that joining the Katipunan will place them mabibingit sa katakot-takot na
kapamahakan (“on the threshold of the most frightful misfortunes”). When
he introduces them to the lodge, he uses the same, poetic phrasing. They have
come, he tells his fellow brethren, buhat sa lusak ng pagkaalipin, inagao sa kuko
ng bulag (“from the mire of slavery, snatched from the claws of blindness”).
But the ritual set out below also differs from the longer version in several
respects. No reference is made, for instance, to blindfolds being used in the
“trials,” or to crossing a raging torrent, and the initiate faces instead the
threat of a branding iron being put to his cheek. The initiate does not get
stripped to the waist, or have to answer a succession of questions about his
personal life from the lodge president. But it is possible, of course, that the
ritual did include some of these elements, and that they were just not spelt
out in the document. More significantly, perhaps, the text does not mention
the “Chamber of Reflection,” where initiates in other branches had to sit at a

desk and answer, in writing, questions about the country’s past, present, and
future condition. Possibly this task was omitted from the ritual because many
recruits were unlettered, or at least would have difficulty with a written test.
The most striking feature of this ritual, entirely absent in the other
version, is the long, exhortatory speech delivered to the neophyte. Whoever
delivers the speech—presumably Brother President or Brother Terrible—
becomes the channel through whom matandang kalayaan (old liberty) speaks,
begging her compatriots to rescue her from the chains of slavery. The voice
of liberty beseeches the initiate to defend not only the native land, but also
its “sorrowing religion.” Does this mean the pre-Hispanic religion, of which
Bathala was the Supreme Deity, or an “authentic” form of Christianity, untar-
nished by friar distortions and embellishments? Alas, the text offers no clues.
Tagalog Text
Pagbubukas ng Karurukan
Paglo = Kapatid na Taliva: na pagsiyasat na baga niño sa mga hudiatan lihim

kung kaharap ay pauang mga Kapad.
Taliva = Oopo Kapad na paglo. = na ang kaharap ay pauang mga Kapd.
Paglo = Kapd na Taga Usig = guinaua na baga ang karapatan na uukol sa mahal
na karurukan.
Tagg. Oopo Kapd na paglo. = na ang sa ngayo,y, may manga kapatid na tumatanod
ang atin kapanatagan.
Paglo = Kung gayon yamang ganap na ang karapatang na u-ukol kayo,y, mag
si tindig at suma ayos minamahal kong mga kapatid....Sangalan ng bayan
pinaghahandogan ng lubos nating linalayon ay ipina-u-unaua kong bukas
na ang mahal karurukan ng mga A. N. B.
Kailangan isiyasat ng mabalasik itong sumusunod.
Mabk.= Ikao ay sino? At ano ang dito ay iyong hinahanap?

Nababatid mo baga kapagkarakang dito ay matatagpuan mo ang iyong
hinahanap?
= At sino ang me sabe sa iyo?
At sino ang nagbunsod sa iyo at nagkaroon ka ng ganitong hangad.
M = Dimo baga na babatid na kapagkarakang ikao ay masanib sa Katipunan

ito ikao ay mabibingit sa katakot-takot na kapahamakan gaya ng matapon

sa iba,t, iba o malalayong lupa o ang maualay kaya sa piling ng iyong
pinagkaguiguilio na magulang, asaua, anak at kapatid ay hindi ka natatakot.
M = Paris ng mapiit sa malungkot na bilangoan o ang maakiat sa kakilakilabot
na bibitayan at patain ng kadusta dusta.... Di ka nangangamba... Di
ka nalalaguim na dumaluhong sa gayong karame at ualang pag itan
kamatayan.... Ikao ay magtapat.
Kung gayon ay nag pipilit karin mapakisanib sa Katipunan ito ikao ay sumama.
Pagkatapos ay ipunin sa tabi ng karurukan at tumuktok sa pinto.
Paglo = Kapatid na Taliba = sa pinto ng karurukan ay me tumatauag na di kakilala

sa [?] atin.
Tala = At saan buhat.
Tagg = Buhat sa lusak ng pagkaalipin inagao sa kuko ng bulag kapagkatapos ay
naglagos sa balabalaking kapansanan at kapahamakan ngayo,y, naririto,t,
tumatauag sa mahal mo pong pintuan at hinahanap ang kalayaan.
Ngayon ay magagaua ang unang hirap gaya ng pagsoot sa isang lunga o

patalunin sa balon.
Paglo = Ano mga kababayan naparito baga kayong inihahanda niño ang iñong
loob sa bauat hirap na ibibigay namin sa iño
= Kung gayon yamang kayo ay tankang magbabata ay humanda kayo.
= Kapatid na Mabalasik gauin ang tungkol.
Pagkatapos ay sabihin ng kapd na Mabk sa paglo
Natapos na po ang tungkol kapd na Paglo.

Paglo = Kung gayon kapd na Mabk uala kayon nakikilalang ano mang ikina-
uudlot ng kanilang loob. = Kung gayon yamang hindi sila nakilanlan = ano
kaya mga kababayan ma ipangako kaya niño sa akin paris na nga ngayon
may magtaksil sa K. ito ano ma ipangako kaya niñong mapatay.... At hindi
kaya kayo natatakot. Kung gayon Kapd na Mbk gauin ang dapat sa kanila.
= Tila kung akin titigan ay meroroong kayong mga pusong bakal yata =
Yayamang kung gayon na ang puso mandin niño ay tunay ngang dalisay
kung akin pag kuruin ay ano baga.
= Manga kababayan sa pagkat dito ay nangangailangan ng isang tangkang sukat
pagkakilanlan sa habang panahon samantalang kayo ay nasabe [?] sa mga
bagay na ito ay matatagalan kaya nino ang datal ng isang pangherong bakal
sa pisnge
= Kapd na Mabk gauin ang dapat sa kanila.

= Ngayon, yamang kilala ko na ang tapang niño, ano ma-isasalubong naman kaya
niño ang iñong katauan sa......[?].... at yaong [?] ... [?] at matalas na puñal
upang inong mga..... [?].... ipagtatangol at di pagpapabaya kung sakali. Ano,
na payag kayo = Kapd na Mabalasik gauin ang tungkol.
Pagkatapos ay isunod na basahin.
= Ini irog kong piling mga kababayan. Kahabagan mo ako nasaan baga ang
taglay mong lakas na na sisimpan malaon ng arao at ipinagkakait sa akin. =
Idulot mo nga at damayan akong na sa malabis na pagka api at hirap na di
maaguanta = agauin niño ako sa kuko ng lilo, ¿Ako baga ay nalimutan mo
na?
(Titiguil ng kaunte)
= Ako ang matandang kalayaan na nabibilibiran ang katauan ng katakot

na tanikalang bakal at napipilan ng hibong maraya at ng matapos ay
pinagbabantaan patain = Ako ang guinhaua ng unang panahon na naualay
sa lahing tagalog at nag dudulot ng sari-saring guinhaua ng puso hanguin
mo ako upang tayo ay magsasama sa lubos na kapayapaan huag kang
mang hinayang sa kaontin dugong pupuhunanin at magaganti ka rin ng
ualang takal na biyaya.= Yayamang sumapit na ang panahon dapat ipag-
higante ng napapaayop nating bayan sa mga kuhilang kastila, ang dugong
hihibik-hibik sa pamamahala ng abang frayle = lahing ualang puri at bayan
kahirap-hirapan at dugong malabo sa lahat ng dugo ay kaylangan ngan
gamitin mga nililayag ang sinimpok na tapang na kinamulatan sa ating
lahi at tapang na itinagong maluat ng panahon at tapang na minana sa
manga unang nuno natin = kayo mga minamahal na kung nayuyukayok sa
karumal dumal at kalaguim laguim na sinapupunan ng nag I-ina-inahang
España kayo mga irog kong kalahi ang inaasahan dadamay at makiki ysa sa
halagang ninanais upang ipagsangalang ang bandila ng tumatangis nating
religion at matandang kalayaaan yayang sa kagandahan ng nilalayon ito at
pagkadalisay [?] ng dugong tagalog na nagtatakbuhan sa aking mga ugat
ay huag magpabaya at siang magbibigay bisa sa panukalang ito = Talastasin
naman niño gilio kong kababayan na ang nilalandas ng Katipunan ito ay
isang daan pagkakaisa pagtitinginan at pagdadamayan na dimagmamalio
mag pahangan libing = At sa Katipunan ito talastasin naman niño na
iniauaksi ang masasamang asal masasamang loob at lalu pa at higuit ang
kapalaluan palibhasa ay ang isang uagas at dalisay na kalinisan mag pang
hangan kailan = Kababaan loob at pamumuhunanan ng ingat na buhay at
madlang kaya upang ipagtanggol ang bandila ng tumatangis nating Religion

at sariling bayan at upang din ngang mabaui sa mga kuhila [?] ang kalayaan
dinaya sa mga unang puno natin = Tayahin naman nino sa isat isang sarile
ang lahi ng kastila at tagalog at alalahanin ang kalayaan ng unang panahon
= At sino baga kaya ang kastila dibaga kaya nilalang dinparis natin ng isang
Dios?Malabis baga kaya ang pagkatao nila sa atin? Hindi makalilibong hindi
mga guiniguilio tayo ang me sariling bait sariling isip na paris din nila may
kamay may paa at ibat iba na sangkap ng katauan. Nguni,t, bakit isosoko
ang atin pagkatao? Dibaga may lakas tayong sukat ikalaban !Ay! mga piling
hirang buksan na niño ang nangungulabong isip at titigan ang kaayupan
ng kinaguisnan Bayan at dito nino maninilay ang kaonting hirap, kung
magahis tayo sa ating pagpaubaya at pagpapatubay tubay at ualang kusa at
pang hihinayang sa impok na buhay ay libo bong sakit suson suson hirap at
ualang pag itan tangis at paghihimutok: = Nasaan ang pusong bayani nadi
dadaluyan sa ganitong kahihinatnan !Ay! ka aba abang labis ng hirap =
kaya nga ang inaasahang kong makapagliligtas ng kalait-lait na anong ito =
Narian sabalon ng dalita at hinagpis at nalulugami ang kahabaghabag natin
mga anak at kapatid at hihibikhibik ang ating mga binibining guinagahasa
mga pusong halimao at naririan din naman ang mga pagluha at hinutok, at
nadidian din naman ang sariling buhay na napipilan ng labis at labis kung
tayo ay may papabaya at di kikilos ng makakayanan…
Sino kaya ang may puso na di sasaguinin [?] at bubukalan ng paghihigante
kung madiledile ang sasapitin ito, sa banta koy wala, [?] sino-naman kaya
ang may pusong [di] magdaramdam sa kalagayan ito? Nguni,t, sino naman
kaya ang may tungkol na gugulin sa pag iuas [?] sa kalupitan ito? At sino
naman kaya ang ating aasahan upang tayo ay maligtas sa kaayupan ito? !Ay!
mga liag uala nga [?] kun di ang bayan o tayo na ngan magkakasama ang
magtatangol.
English Translation
Opening of the Lodge
President: Brother Sentinel, have you checked the secret signs to ensure that all
those present are Brothers?
Sentinel: Yes, Brother President—each of those present is a Brother.
President: Brother Fiscal—Have the necessary measures been taken in relation to
the respected Lodge?
Fiscal: Yes, Brother President—there are now brothers keeping watch to ensure
we are not disturbed.
President: If that is so, and everything necessary has been done, please stand and
come to order my beloved brothers… In the name of the nation to whom we
fully dedicate our endeavors I declare open the respected Lodge of the A. N.
B.
The Terrible must then ask the following:-
Terrible: Who are you? And what are you searching for here?
Have you learned that you will find here what you are searching for?
And who told you this?
And who revealed this to you so that you came to have this purpose?
Do you not know that once you have joined this Katipunan you will be at the
threshold of the most frightful misfortunes, such as being exiled to various
faraway places or being separated from your most beloved parents, spouses,
children, brothers and sisters? Are you not now afraid?
Do you not fear being imprisoned in a miserable cell or ascending the scaffold to
ignominious death?... Are you not frightened?... Do you not dread rushing to
the attack in the face of certain death?... be truthful. If that is so, and you still
insist upon joining this Katipunan, follow me.
They then proceed to the side of the Lodge and knock at the door.
President: Brother Sentinel, there is someone at the door of the Lodge who is not
known to us.
Sentinel: And where from?
Fiscal: From the mire of slavery, saved from the claws of blindness; having repeat-
edly passed through various obstacles and dangers and now are here calling
before your esteemed door in search of liberty.
Now the first ordeals may be undertaken, such as jumping into a well or
crawling through a narrow tunnel.
President: Compatriots, what have you done to prepare yourselves for each ordeal
we will set for you?
If that is the case, you should get ready to face what you have prepared for.
Brother Terrible, do what is required.
Afterwards, the Brother Terrible will say to the President:-
I have now completed what is required, Brother President.

President: If that is so, Brother Terrible, have you not noticed any wavering of
their resolve? In that case, if nothing has been noticed, = what, compatriots,
can you promise me? We have now someone who has betrayed the Katipunan,
so will you vow to kill him? And not be afraid? If that is the case, Brother
Terrible, do to them what you must. = From what I have observed it seems
you indeed have hearts of iron. = If that is the case, can I be assured that your
hearts are also truly genuine? = What we need here, compatriots, is a suit-
able means of distinguishing for all time that you have spoken about these
things. You will therefore endure the touch of a branding iron on your cheek.
Brother Terrible, do to them what you must. = Now, since I now recognize
your courage, what would you be prepared to throw your body onto ... a sharp
dagger.... come what may, to resist and not surrender? So, are you willing? =
Brother Terrible, do what is required.
Then will be read the following:-
My beloved compatriots, have compassion for me. Where is the strength you
possess that has been saved up through all these years and kept from me?
Offer it to me, and have compassion for me in my state of unbearable oppres-
sion and hardship. Save me from the claws of traitors. Have you already
forgotten me?
(Pause briefly)
I am the old liberty, whose body is wrapped in fearsome chains of metal, subjected
to deceitful temptations and threatened with death. I am the well-being of
former times that gives many kinds of comfort to the heart. Rescue me so
that we can be together in ultimate peace. Do not feel regret at the blood you
shall expend, for you shall be rewarded with grace beyond measure. The time
has come for our most humiliated country to seek revenge from the Spanish
betrayers for the blood that has flowed during friar rule. Race without honor
and a suffering nation. Blood, a surge of dark blood, is needed, a wave of
courage that will open the eyes of our race to the long-concealed, valiant
legacy of our first chiefs. Dear ones, if you are despondent in the shameful
and dreadful bosom of so-called Mother Spain, have compassion, my
beloved kindred, and unite behind this precious goal. Defend the banner
of our lamenting religion and our ancient liberty. Rally to this magnificent
cause. With the pure Tagalog blood that flows in my veins, I beseech you not
to waver, and to bring this project to fruition. Bear in mind, my dear compa-
triots, that the way travelled by this Katipunan is the way of unity, mutual
caring, and mutual compassion that will not perish even unto the grave.
And bear in mind that in this Katipunan, bad behavior and bad character
and pride, in particular, are renounced, for the object of our journey is the
purest and most immaculate existence that can ever be attained. Be humble
in character and sacrifice your lives and all your resources in order to defend
the banner of our tearfully lamenting religion and native land and also to
recover from the Betrayers the freedom they deceitfully took from our early
chiefs.
= Figure also that the Spaniards and Tagalogs are separate races, and recall the
freedom of that early time. And who then were the Spaniards; did they not
know that we also have one God? Why did they force their character upon
us? No, my beloved ones, a thousand times no. We have our own qualities,
our own minds just as they do, as we have hands, have feet, and other parts
of the body. So why should we surrender our character and identity? Are we
not strong enough to fight? Ay! Open your clouded minds, chosen ones, and
gaze at the infamy that is our Nation’s heritage. If we cannot overcome our
passivity, if we cannot persevere, we can see that the unavoidable, woeful
result will be a life of a thousand sufferings, untold layers of hardship, and
ceaseless lamentations and sobbing. Where is the patriotic heart that does
not revolt at such a prospect? Ay! Such pitiful hardship. And so I really long
to be rescued from this accursed condition. There is the well of poverty and
plaints and the piteous misfortunes of our children and brothers and sisters,
and the sobbing of our young women raped by the heartless monsters. And
we too shall be fated to suffer abuse after abuse should we falter and not
move forward as are able.
Who has a heart that will not beat and boil with vengeance if this comes quickly?
I think no one. Who has a heart that is not outraged by this situation? But
who then has the task of dedicating themselves to stop this brutality? And
who should we trust to deliver us from this infamy? Ay! Beloved ones, there
is really nobody except the people, ourselves, and together we shall stand
defiant.
3.5
Andres Bonifacio
Katungkulang gagawin ng mga ZxxxLlxxxBxxx [the “Decalogue”]
Photograph of original handwritten document in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the
Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 40.
Although unpublished during Bonifacio’s lifetime, this Decalogue is today

well known, printed in schoolbooks and inscribed on monuments.1 The
format in which Bonifacio sets out the duties of KKK members obviously
derives from the Old Testament, and in content the injunctions echo the
“Programa Masonica” and “Codigo Masonico” of the Gran Oriente Español.

The “Codigo,” for instance, similarly opens with a direction to exalt the
Creator, and similarly extols charity and love for one’s fellows. It, too, enjoins
lodge members to be calm, to be guided by reason, and to support one
another, “even at the cost of one’s life.” It, too, says members who break their
obligations will be duly punished.2
The crucial difference between the masonic credo and Bonifacio’s
Decalogue is one of ultimate purpose. The mission of masonry, according
to the Gran Oriente’s “Programa,” is exclusively humanitarian: It strives to
“foster charity and philanthropy among free men of good standing” and to
establish a “fraternity among mankind.” The mission of the Katipunan, the
Decalogue makes clear, is to liberate the country from enslavement.
Tagalog Text
KxxxKxxxKxxx
Katungkulang gagawin ng mga
ZxxxLlxxxBxxx3
1. Sumampalataya sa MayKapal ng taimtim sa puso.
2. Gunamgunamin sa sarili tuina, na ang matapat na pag sampalataya sa Kanya ay
ang pag ibig sa lupang tinubuan, sa pagkat ito ang tunay na pag ibig sa kapwa.
3. Ykintal sa puso ang pag asa na malabis na kapurihan at kapalaran na kung
ikamamatay ng tawoy mag bubuhat sa pagliligtas sa kaalipinan ng bayan.
4. Sa kalamigan ng loob, katiagaan, katuiran at pag asa sa ano mang gagawin nag
bubuhat ang ikagaganap ng mabuting ninanais.
5. Paingat ingatang gaya ng puri ang mga bilin at balak ng K... K... K....
6. Sa isang na sa sapanganib sa pag tupat ng kanyang tungkol, idadamay ng lahat,
ang buhay at yaman upang maligtas yaon.
7. Hangarin na ang kalagayan ng isatisa, maging fuaran4 ng kanyang kapwa sa
mabuting pagpapasunod at pag tupad ng kanyang tungkol.
8. Bahaginan ng makakaya ang alin mang nagdaralita.
9. Ang kasipagan sa pag hahanap-buhay ay siyang tunay na pag ibig at pag
mamahal sa sarili sa asawa, anak at kapatid o kabayan.
10. Lubos na pag sampalataya sa parusang ilinalaang sa balang sowail at magtaksil,
gayon din sa pala na kakamtan ukol sa mabuting gawa. Sampalatayanan din
naman na ang mga layong tinutungo ng K... K... K... ay kaloob ng Maykapal, sa
makatwid ang hangad ng bayan ay hangad din Nya.
English Translation5
KxxxKxxxKxxx
Duties of the Sons of the People
1. Believe with a fervent heart in the Creator.

2. Reflect always that a sincere faith in Him involves love of one’s native land,
because this shows true love for one’s fellows.
3. Engrave on the heart the conviction that to die for the liberation of the country
from enslavement is the highest honor and fortune.
4. In any endeavor, the realization of good aspirations depends on calmness, perse-
verance, reason, and hope.
5. Guard the instructions and plans of the K... K... K... as you would guard your own
honor.
6. Anyone who falls into danger whilst carrying out their duties should be supported
by all, and rescued even at the cost of life and riches.
7. Let each of us strive in the performance of our duty to set a good example for
others to follow.
8. Share whatever you can with whoever is needy.
9. Diligence in earning a livelihood is a true expression of love and affection for self,
spouse, children, and brothers or compatriots.
10. Believe absolutely that scoundrels and traitors will be punished and good deeds
will be rewarded. Believe, likewise, that the aims of the K... K... K... are blessed by
the Creator, for the will of the people is also His will.
1 The wording, however, is often modified and modernized to varying degrees. The Almighty,
to give just a single example, called “Maykapal” in the original, becomes Hispanicized in
some renditions as “Dios” and anachronized in others as “Diyos.”
2 Reynold S. Fajardo, The Brethren: Masons in the Struggle for Philippine Independence (Manila:
Enrique L. Locsin and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, 1998), 106; Teodoro
M. Kalaw, La masonería filipina: su origen, desarrollo y vicisitudes hasta la época presente
(Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1920), 115.
3 “Z.Ll.B” was the Katipunan code for “A.N.B.”—“Anak ng Bayan,” or “Sons of the People.”
4 Presumably huaran—the letter “h” was rendered as “f” in the Katipunan alphabet, and
perhaps Bonifacio inadvertently slipped to code in this instance.
5 This translation is my own, but draws on those in Epifanio de los Santos, “Andres Bonifacio”
[English version], Philippine Review (Revista Filipina) 3, nos. 1−2 (January−February 1918):
42–45; Manuel L. Quezon, “Andres Bonifacio: the Great Plebeian” [1929], Historical Bulletin
7, no. 3 (September 1963): 245–48; and Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The
Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 94.
This latter translation may also be found in The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans-
lated by Teodoro A. Agoncillo with the collaboration of S. V. Epistola (Manila: Antonio J.
Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963), 1.
3.6
Emilio Jacinto (attrib.)
Katipunan nang manga A. N. B.—Sa may nasang makisanib sa katipunang ito
[The Kartilya]
Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997),
46; José P. Santos, Buhay at mga Sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto (Manila: José Paez Santos, 1935), 59–63.
Taught in schools and debated in universities, the Kartilya is the best-known

of all Katipunan texts. Making manifest the KKK’s principles and teachings,
it was printed as a small pamphlet for new members. It is the only document
of any length set in print by the Katipunan prior to August 1896 that is known
to be still extant.
The earliest reference to the Kartilya yet found is in the minutes of a
Supreme Assembly meeting held in December 1895, which say the mani-
festo (pahayag) will be priced at 4 kualta per copy.1 Whether it is the KKK
branches or the individual recruits who are to be charged this amount
is not clear, and nor is it known whether the title phrase—“To those
who want to join this Katipunan”—truly means potential recruits, or in
practice should be taken to mean, “To those who have just joined this
Katipunan.” If copies were sold to potential as well as actual recruits, need-
less to say, there was a heightened risk they might fall into the wrong hands.
The Kartilya was still in use during the first phase of the revolution, and
Bonifacio was planning to print more copies shortly before he was killed.2
It may still have been used during the second phase of the revolution, for a
version survives in the Philippine Insurgent Records that is stamped with the
seal used by Artemio Ricarte in 1899. This version contains basically the same
text as is transcribed here, but it bears a different title—“Final Declaration on
Admission to the Katipunan” (Katapusang pamamahayag sa pagpasok sa K.)—
and it omits the famous footnote that says “the word Tagalog means all those
born in this Archipelago.”3
Authorship of the Kartilya has always been credited to Emilio Jacinto, and
there is little doubt this attribution is sound: it dates back to the Sensacional
memoria of Isabelo de los Reyes, whose sources included several senior KKK
veterans, and it has never been challenged.4 Bonifacio, the story goes, had
originally intended that his “Decalogue” should be printed and handed to

new recruits, but he then read Jacinto’s Kartilya and decided it was supe-
rior.5 The two texts, though, are not really comparable. Bonifacio seeks only
to enumerate the duties of Katipunan members, Jacinto couches his primer,
four times as long, rather as a statement of aspirations and ethical values.
Bonifacio lists ten obligations; Jacinto presents twelve “guiding principles”
and fourteen “teachings.”
In its structure the Kartilya resembles the declaration used in Manila’s
masonic lodges, a declaration that had presumably been written in Spain
around 1889, when the grand order to which the lodges were affiliated—
the Gran Oriente Español—had been founded by Miguel Morayta.6 The
Kartilya is addressed “To those who want to join the Katipunan”; the
masonic document to los profanos que deben inscribirse en la Sociedad. The
preamble to the Kartilya echoes the masonic document’s stated purpose,
which is to ensure that candidates fully understand the association’s objec-
tives before making a commitment they might later repent. The division in
the Kartilya between principles (layon) and teachings (aral) broadly paral-
lels the division in the Gran Oriente’s manifesto between the “Programa
Masonica” and the “Codigo Masonico.” And the Kartilya, finally, like
the document used in the lodges, asks neophytes to pledge their alle-
giance to the association’s objectives and to affirm with their signature
that they are becoming members of their own free will (ninais ng loob ko).
There are also parallels between the content of the two documents.
Recruits to the lodges were advised that masonry considera como hermanos
todos los hombres; that they should renounce todos los vicios; and should
defenderás al oprimido. Within the Katipunan, said the Kartilya, “all are equal
and true brethren.” Members had to “renounce disorderly habits” and to
“defend the oppressed.”
Other influences may be identified more tentatively. The admonitions
to regard a woman as a “helpmate” rather than a “plaything,” and to “have
due regard to her weakness” may be biblical in origin. The adage that “an
honorable man’s word is his bond” may be traced back to Cervantes; and
the thought that “time lost is lost forever” may have come from Benjamin
Franklin. One precept is perhaps taken from Rizal. A “life which is not dedi-
cated to a great idea is useless,” declares Rizal’s fictional insurrectionist
Simoun in El Filibusterismo: “It is a pebble lost in the field, when it should
form part of some building.”7 “Life which is not consecrated to a lofty and
sacred cause,” Jacinto writes, varying the metaphor, “is like a tree without
shade, if not a poisonous weed.”
To emphasize Enlightenment influences on Katipunan thinking, some
say, effaces the originality of documents like the Kartilya, which may be found
in the nuances of their Tagalog and their resonance with the native psyche,
familial bonds, folk Christianity, indigenous dissident traditions, and so on.
Such arguments may be true up to a point, but often they seem nebulous,
reliant more on wishful assertion than on substantiating chapter and verse.
The Tagalog words that resound loudest in the Kartilya, beyond doubt, are the
equivalents of the Enlightenment’s defining watchwords: Liberty (Kalayaan),
Equality (lahat ng tao’y magkakapantay), Fraternity (kayong lahat ay magkaka-
patid), Reason (Katuiran), Progress (Kagalingan), and Enlightenment itself
(Kaliwanagan). Most, perhaps all, of these Tagalog equivalents had already
been employed by ilustrado writers like Rizal and Del Pilar before the KKK
was founded.8 The revolutionary originality of the Katipunan lay not in its
idiom, but in its objectives and its deeds.
Tagalog Text9
KATIPUNAN
NANG MANGA
A. N. B.
SA MAY NASANG MAKISANIB

SA KATIPUNANG ITO
Sa pagkakailangan, na ang lahat na nagiibig pumasuk sa katipunang ito, ay

magkaroon ng lubos na pananalig at kaisipan sa mga layong tinutungo at mga
kaaralang pinaiiral, minarapat na ipakilala sa kanila ang mga bagay na ito, at ng bukas
makalawa’y huag silang magsisi at tuparing maluag sa kalooban ang kanilang mga
tutungkulin.
Ang kabagayang pinaguusig ng katipunang ito ay lubos na dakila at mahalaga;
papagisahin ang loob at kaisipan ng lahat ng tagalog (*) sa pamagitan ng isang
mahigpit na panunumpa, upang sa pagkakaisang ito’y magkalakas na iwasak ang
masinsing tabing na nakabubulag sa kaisipan at matuklasan ang tunay na landas ng
Katuiran at Kaliwanagan.
(*) Sa salitang tagalog katutura’y ang lahat nang tumubo sa Sangkapuluang ito;
sa makatuid, bisaya man, iloko man, kapangpangan man, etc., ay tagalog din.
Dito’y isa sa mga kaunaunahang utos, ang tunay na pag-ibig sa bayang tinubuan
at lubos na pagdadamayan ng isa’t isa.
Maralita, mayaman, mangmang, marunong, lahat dito’y magkakapantay at tunay
na magkakapatid.
Kapagkarakang mapusok dito ang sino man, tataligdan pilit ang buhalhal na
kaugalian, at paiilalim sa kapangyarihan ng mga banal na utos ng katipunan.
Ang gawang lahat, na laban sa kamahalan at kalinisan, dito’y kinasusuklaman;
kaya’t sa bagay na ito ipinaiilalim sa masigasig na pakikibalita ang kabuhayan ng sino
mang nagiibig makisanib sa katipunang ito.
Kung ang hangad ng papasuk dito’y ang tumalastas lamang o mga kalihiman
nito, o ang ikagiginhawa ng sariling katawan, o ang kilalanin ang mga naririto’t ng
maipagbili sa isang dakot na salapi, huag magpatuloy, sapagkat dito’y bantain lamang
ay talastas na ng makapal na nakikiramdam sa kaniya, at karakarakang nilalapatan ng
mabisang gamut, na laan sa mga sukaban.
Dito’y gawa ang hinahanap at gawa ang tinitignan; kaya’t hindi dapat pumasuk
ang di makagagawa, kahit magaling magsalita.
Ipinauunawa din, ang mga katungkulang ginaganap ng lahat ng napaaanak
sa katipunang ito ay lubhang mabibigat lalung lalu na, kung gugunitain na di
magyayaring maiiwasan at walang kusang pagkukulang na di aabutin ng kakilakilabot
na kaparusahan.
Kung ang hangad ng papasuk dito, ang siya’y abuluyan o ang ginhawa’t malayaw
na katahimikan ng katawan, huag magpatuloy, sapagkat mabigat na mga katungkulan
ang matatagpuan, gaya ng pagtatangkilik sa mga naaapi at madaluhong na paguusig
sa lahat ng kasamaan; sa bagay na ito ay aabuting ang maligalig na pamumuhay.
Di kaila sa kangino paman ang mga nagbalang kapahamakan sa mga tagalog na
nakaiisip nitong mga banal na kabagayan (at hindi man), at mga pahirap na ibinibigay
na nagharing kalupitan, kalikuan at kasamaan.
Talastas din naman ng lahat ang pagkakailangan ng salapi, na sa ngayo’y isa
sa mga unang lakas na maaasahang magbibigay buhay sa lahat; sa bagay na ito,
kinakailangan ang lubos na pagtupad sa mga pagbabayaran; piso sa pagpasok at
sa buan buan ay sikapat. Ang salaping ito’y ipinagbibigay alam ng nagiingat sa
tuing kapanahunan, bukod pa sa mapagsisiyasat ng sinoman kailan ma’t ibigin. Di
makikilos ang salaping ito, kundi pagkayarin ng karamihan.
Ang lahat ng ipinagsaysay at dapat gunitain at mahinahong pagbulaybulayin,
sapagkat di magaganap at di matitiis ng walang tunay na pagibig sa tinubuang lupa,
at tunay na adhikang ipagtangkilik ang Kagalingan.
At ng lalong mapagtimbang ng sariling isip at kabaitan, basahin ang
sumusunod na
MGA ARAL NANG

KATIPUNAN NG MGA A.N.B.
----------
Ang kabuhayang hindi ginugugol sa isang malaki at banal na kadahilanan ay

kahoy na walang lilim, kundi damong makamandag.
Ang gawang magaling na nagbubuhat sa pagpipita sa sarili, at hindi sa talagang

nasang gumawa ng kagalingan, ay di kabaitan.
Ang tunay na kabanalan ay ang pagkakawang gawa, ang pagibig sa kapua at ang
isukat ang bawat kilos, gawa’t pangungusap sa talagang Katuiran.
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.
Ang may mataas na kalooban inuuna ang puri sa pagpipita sa sarili; ang may
hamak na kalooban inuuna ang pagpipita sa sarili sa puri.
Sa taong may hiya, salita’y panunumpa.
Huag mong sasayangin ang panahun; ang yamang nawala’y magyayaring
magbalik; nguni’t panahong nagdaan na’y di na muli pang magdadaan.
Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi, at kabakahin ang umaapi.
Ang taong matalino’y ang may pagiingat sa bawat sasabihin, at matutong
ipaglihim ang dapat ipaglihim.
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.
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.
Ang di mo ibig na gawin sa asawa mo, anak, at kapatid, ay huag mong gagawin sa
asawa, anak, at kapatid ng iba.
Ang kamahalan ng tao’y wala sa pagkahari, wala sa tangus ng ilong at puti ng
mukha, wala sa pagkaparing KAHILILI 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.
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.
SA HKAN. NG _____________________________________________
AKO’Y SI_____________________________________________
TAONG TUBO SA BAYANG NG______________________________
HUKUMAN NG _________________________ANG KATANDAAN KO
AY___________TAON, ANG HANAP BUHAY_____________________

ANG KALAGAYAN____________________________AT NANANAHAL-
NAN SA ________________________DAAN NG____________________
Sa aking pagkabatid ng boong kagalingan ng mga nililayon at ng mga aral, na

inilalathala ng KATIPUNAN ng mga A.N.B. ninais ng loob ko ang makisanib dito.
Sa bagay na ito’y aking ipinamamanhik ng boong pitagan, na marapating tangapin
at mapakibilang na isa sa mga anak ng katipunan: at tuloy nangangakong tutupad at
paiilalim sa mga aral at Kautusang sinusunod dito.
______________________ika ____________ng buan ng _________________

____________________ng taong 189__.
Nakabayad na ng ukol sa pagpasok.

ANG TAGA INGAT NG YAMAN.
ASSOCIATION
OF THE
SONS OF THE PEOPLE
TO THOSE WHO WANT TO JOIN THIS

ASSOCIATION
In order that all who want to enter this association may have a full understanding
and knowledge of its guiding principles and main teachings, it is necessary to make
these things known to them so that they will not, tomorrow or the next day, repent,
and so that they may perform their duties wholeheartedly.
This association pursues a most worthy and momentous object: to unite the
hearts and minds of all the Tagalogs (*) by means of an inviolable oath, in order that
this union may be strong enough to tear aside the thick veil that obscures thought,
and to find the true path of Reason and Enlightenment.
(*The word “Tagalog” means all those born in this Archipelago; even a person
who is a Visayan, Ilocano, or Kapampangan, etc. is therefore a Tagalog, too.)
One of the foremost rules here is true love of the native land and genuine compas-
sion for one another.
Poor, rich, ignorant, wise—here, all are equal and true brethren.
As soon as anybody enters here, he shall perforce renounce disorderly habits and
shall submit to the authority of the sacred commands of the Katipunan.
All acts contrary to noble and clean living are repugnant here, and hence the life
of anyone who wants to affiliate with this association will be submitted to a searching
investigation.
If the applicant merely wishes to know the secrets of the association, or to seek
personal gratification, or to know who is here in order to sell them for a handful of
silver, he cannot proceed, for here the many who are watching him will already know
his intentions, and will immediately have recourse to an effective remedy, such as
befits traitors.
Here, only actions are demanded and esteemed; hence anybody who is not willing
to act should not enter, no matter how good a speaker he might be.
It is also announced that the duties to be performed by the members of this asso-
ciation are exceedingly hard, especially if one remembers that there can be no derelic-
tion or wilful evasion of duty without the exaction of a terrible punishment.
If an applicant merely desires financial support relief or wants to lead a life of
bodily comfort and ease, he had better not proceed, for he will encounter weighty
tasks, like the protection of the oppressed and the relentless fight against all that is
evil. In this way, his fate will be a vexatious life.
Nobody is unaware of the misfortune that threatens the Filipinos who contem-
plate these things that are sacred (and even those that are not) and the sufferings they
are made to endure by the reign of cruelty, injustice, and evil.
Everybody also knows the need for money, which today is one of the main things
upon which we depend to bring sustenance to all. In this regard, the punctual payment
of dues is required: 1 peso upon entry and then 12 pesos and ½ centimos each month.
The custodian of the funds will periodically render an account to the members, and
each member has a right to examine the accounts, should he so wish. The funds
cannot be expended without the consent of the majority.
All this must be thought over and deliberated upon calmly, as it cannot be accom-
plished or endured by anyone who has no love for his native land and no genuine
desire to promote Progress.
And for the upliftment of your mind and virtue, read the following
TEACHINGS OF THE
KATIPUNAN OF THE SONS OF THE PEOPLE
A life that is not dedicated to a great and sacred cause is like a tree without a
shade, or a poisonous weed.
A good deed lacks virtue if it springs from a desire for personal profit and not
from a sincere desire to do good.
True charity resides in acts of compassion, in love for one’s fellow men, and in
making true Reason the measure of every move, deed, and word.
Be their skin dark or pale, all men are equal. One can be superior to another in
knowledge, wealth, and beauty... but not in being.
A person with a noble character values honor above self-interest, while a person
with an ignoble character values self-interest above honor.
An honorable man’s word is his bond.
Don’t waste time; lost wealth may be recovered, but time lost is lost forever.
Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor.
An intelligent man is he who takes care in everything he says and keeps quiet
about what must be kept secret.
Along the thorny path of life, the man leads the way and his wife and children
follow. If the leader goes the way of perdition, then so do those who are led.
Do not regard a woman as a mere plaything, but as a helpmate and partner in
the hardships of this existence. Have due regard to her weakness, and remember the
mother who brought you into this world and nurtured you in your infancy.
What you would not want done to your wife, daughter, and sister, do not do to the
wife, daughter, and sister of another.
A man’s worth does not come from him being a king, or in the height of his nose
and the whiteness of his face, or in him being a priest, a REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD,
or in his exalted position on the face of this earth. Pure and truly noble is he who,
though born in the forest and able to speak only his own tongue, behaves decently,
is true to his word, has dignity and honor, who is not an oppressor and does not abet
oppressors, who knows how to cherish and look after the land of his birth.
When these doctrines have spread and the brilliant sun of beloved liberty shines
on these poor Islands, and sheds its sweet light upon a united race, a people in ever-
lasting happiness, then the lives lost, the struggle and the suffering will have been
more than recompensed.
--------------------------
If the applicant understands all this, and believes he will be able to fulfil these
duties, he should put his request in writing, as follows:
TO THE PROVINCIAL DIRECTORATE OF

_____________________________________________
I, _____________________________________________
NATIVE OF THE TOWN OF ______________________________
PROVINCE OF _________________________MY AGE
IS___________YEARS, OCCUPATION_____________________
MARITAL STATUS____________________________AND RESIDENT

AT ____________________STREET OF ________________________
Having fully understood the principles and teachings proclaimed by the

Katipunan of the Sons of the People, I wish with heart and soul to become a member.
Respectfully, therefore, I beg to be deemed worthy of admission and to be counted
as one of the sons of the association, and I pledge to comply with its teachings and
submit to its Orders.
[Sgd.]
the ____________of the month of _________________
____________________of the year 189_.
Entrance fee has been paid.
THE TREASURER
1 Supreme Assembly, meeting held on December 24–25, 1895 (document 2.10).

2 Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Julio Nakpil, April 24, 1897 (document 8.10).
3 Katipunan: Katapusang Pamahayag sa Pagpapasok sa K. (n.pub, n.d.) [Philippine Insurgent
Records 1190.3, microfilm reel 73]. This booklet also leaves out the application form that is
appended to the version transcribed here.
de 1896−97 (Madrid: Tip. Lit. de J. Corrales, 1899), 75.
5 Epifanio de los Santos, “Andres Bonifacio” [English translation], Philippine Review (Revista
Filipina) 3, nos. 1−2 (January−February, 1918): 38.
6 Reynold S. Fajardo, The Brethren:Masons in the Struggle for Philippine Independence (Manila:
Enrique L. Locsin and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, 1998), 106; Teodoro
M. Kalaw, La masonería filipina:su origen, desarrollo y vicisitudes hasta la época presente (Manila:
Bureau of Printing, 1920), 115.
7 José Rizal, El Filibusterismo [1891]. Translated by Leon Ma. Guerrero (New York: W.W.
Norton, 1962), 52.
8 See, for example, José Rizal, “Sa mga Kababayang Dalaga sa Malolos” [February 1889],
in Teodoro M. Kalaw (comp.), Epistolario Rizalino, Tomo 2 (Manila: Bureau of Printing,
1931), 122−39; and Marcelo H. del Pilar, “Kalayaan,” in José P. Santos, Buhay at mga sinulat
ni Plaridel (Maynila: Palimbag ng Dalaga, 1931), 28. Also Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Diccionario
Hispano-Tagalog (Manila: Estab. Tipografico ‘La Opinion,’ 1889).
9 The first two paragraphs and the subsequent asterisked footnote have been transcribed from
the photograph of the front page of a printed Kartilya, in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy
of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 46; the remainder of the text
has been copied from the version in José P. Santos, Buhay at mga sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto
(Manila: José Paez Santos, 1935), 59–63. The photographed text has been used initially not
because there are any doubts about the authenticity of the Santos text, but simply to mini-
mize possible transcription errors.
10 The English translation of the main text (i.e., the text apart from the application form at
the end) is mostly a “pick and mix” from those in Epifanio de los Santos, “Emilio Jacinto,”
Philippine Review 3, no. 6 (June 1918): 421–22; and Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the
Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines,
1956), 83–86.
3.7
Oath, c. 1896
Photograph of original printed document in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution
(Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 48.
Aside from the Kartilya and the newspaper Kalayaan, the only documents
printed by the Katipunan seem to have been single-sided forms—“the list of
points to be borne in mind when recruiting new members” (no copy of which
has yet been located), the application form, the questions to be considered
by applicants in the “Chamber of Reflection,” and this document, the oath to
be sworn upon initiation into the society. Like the earlier, handwritten oath
(document 3.1) it was to be signed by the initiate in his own blood.
Tagalog Text
K. K. K.
N. M. A. N. B
-----()-----
BY.
Aking ipinahahayag na sa kadahilanan ng pagkapasuk ko sa K. K. K. NG MGA

A. N. B. ay naghandog ako ng isang mahalagang panunumpa sa ngalan ng Bayang
tinubuan, at sa harap ng isang kagalanggalang na kapulungan nitong katipunan,
na gugugulin ang lahat ng maigugugol at lahat ng minamahal ko sa buhay, sa
pagtatangol ng kaniyang banal na Kadahilanan, hanggang sa abuting magdiwang,
sukdang ikalagot ng hininga. Sa bagay na ito, isinumpa ko ring lubos na tutupad at
susunod sa kaniyang Patnugutan at mga kautusan.
Sa katunayan nito, aking itinala ang aking pangalan ng tunay na dugong

tumatagbo sa aking mga ugat sa pahayag na ito.
Ika.................araw ng buan ng ....................................ng taong 189
Tinaglay ko ang pamagat na
English Translation
Barangay.....
I hereby declare that in joining the K.K.K. NG MGA A.N.B. I offer a solemn oath
in the name of the native Land, and in front of a respected meeting of this association,
to dedicate all my resources, and everything I hold dear in life, to the defense of its
sacred cause, until victory is won, even unto the last breath. To this end, I also swear to
follow its directorate and comply fully with its orders.
To authenticate this, I sign this statement in my true name and with the blood
that flows in my veins
The..... day of the month of..............of the year 189..
I have taken the alias

chapter 4
January−February 1896
T
4.1
Supreme Assembly
Record of meeting held on January 1, 1896
ranscribed below is the official record, written by Emilio Jacinto, of

the third meeting of the Supreme Assembly, held in Bonifacio’s house
on New Year’s Day, 1896. The meeting went on for nine hours—from eleven
o’clock in the morning until eight o’clock in the evening—so this record is
obviously just an abbreviated summary of the proceedings, and it is impos-
sible to tell which items of business took longer than others. But as usual
the focus is inward, on matters of organization, internal discipline and, in
particular, finance. There is no direct reference to Spanish rule, to popular
grievances, to mobilizing the people for revolution, or to making plans for
government.
The English text below the transcription is a paraphrase of the docu-
ment, not a translation.
141
Tagalog Text
[Hand-drawn Katipunan symbol]
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Sa ngalan ng Bayan tinubuan at sa lalung kapurihan at ikalalaki ng kaayusa’t

lakas ng K.K.K.N.M.A.N.B., ay gumawa ang K.K. ng isang pagpupulung sa unang
araw ng unang buan ng taung isang libo, walong dan, siam na puo’t anim, sa bahay ng
kap. na Maypagasa.
Dito’y nagsidalo ang mga kap. na Maypagasa’t Pingkian, p. at t. ng K.S.; Halimaw
at Tagaisok, p. at kal. ng S.B. “Katagalugan”; Palakul, Dupil at Tawas, p., t. at ty. ng
By. “Makabuhay”; Mapilit, Badarag, p. at kal. ng By. “Dimahipo”; Talibong, t. ng
S.B. “Dapitan”; Ilagan, p. ng By. “Mahiganti”; Bulalakaw, p. ng By. “Dimasalang”;
Matapang, p. ng By. “Silanganan”; Paku, p. ng By. “Alapaap”; Mataas, t. ng By.
“Tanglaw”; Sampalukan, kal. ng By. “Dalisayan”; at ang mga kap. na Dimasayaran,
Subiang, Silang, Hininga, Lintik, Kapit, Loob, at iba pa.
Sa ikalabing isang daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga ay binuksan ang
kagalanggalang na kar. Sa kautusan ng k.p. ay binasa ang pinagsulatan ng pulong na
sinundan nito; at pinatunayan ng lahat, ang doo’y nalalaman.
Kapagkaraka’y nagpahayag ang k.p. na ang lahat ay may kapahintulutang
mangusap, at ang kap. na Ilagan, sa bagay na ito, ay nagpalagay na ang anim na k.
sisiyasat ng mga Patnugutan ay dagdagan ng anim pa, palagay na di minabuti ng
lahat at pinagkaisahang huag mabago ang dating bilang ng mga k. magsisipagsiyasat,
datapuat pinagtibay ang kapangyarihang gawad sa kanilang anim ukol sa bagay na
ito.
Sa pagkalutas nito, ay naghandog ng panunumpang tutupad ng buong
pagsisikap at pagtatapat, ang mga k. inihalal na mamuno at malagay sa K.S.; at tuloy
tumangap ang kap. na Maypagasa ng katungkulang k.p., ang kap. na Dimasayaran
ng katungkulang k.t., ang kap. na Pingkian sa katungkulang k. kal, at ang mga kap.
na Tagaisok, Subiang, Talibong, Silang, Bulalakaw sa katungkulang mga kasanguni.
Hindi nakasumpa at hindi nakatangap ng katungkulang k.ty. ang kap. na Maniangat,
sapagkat hindi dumalo, at gayon din ang kap. na Silanganan sa katungkulan
kasanguni, sapagkat wala sa hukuman ng Maynila’t na sa malayung bayan.
Ipinakilala ng k.p. ang pagkakailangan na sa ngayo’y pairalin na ng Kat. ang
buong kabaksikan sa pagparusa sa balang magkulang at gumamit ng kataksilan, at
hindi ang nangyayari sa dati na hindi pinapansin ang di kakaunting sala. Ang lahat ay
umayon naman sa ganitong akala.
Ipinagsabi ng k.p. ang nangyari sa k. Pagpalain, na sa kagabihan ng araw ng
JANUARY−FEBRUARY 1896 143
Lingong nagdaan ay dumating ng may taglay na matinding galit sa bahay niya’t pilit
nahinihingi ang kanyang larawan, sapagkat nabalitaang isinabit na may salitang
taksil; ang kasama ay ang K. Kidlat. Sa bagay na ito ay ipinagsanguni din kung ano
ang nararapat sa nagsalita sa kaniya na ang kaniyang larawan ay inilalathala ng gayon,
at ang naging pasiya ng kalahatan ay ang lapatan ng gayon ding parusa.
Sa kahilingan ng k.p. ay ipinagsulit ng kap. na Halimaw ang kaniyang nakita at
napakingan sa pulong na kaniyang inabutang ginagawa ng mga k. Matunog, Kidlat,
Kabalasian, Talim, Subdan, at Talaga; ipinagsabi na ang mga k. magkakapulong na ito
ay pawang nagsalita na kanilang dinaramdam ang pagkaputul ng pasabi sa ilang mga
k. ng kanilang By. “Katutuhanan,” na ang kanilang pagkaalam ay gawa ng K.S., kahit
ang tunay ay pinagkaisahan sa S.B. Katagalugan. Ipinahayag din ng kap. na Halimaw,
na ang mga k. ito ay pilit na hinihingi sa kaniya ang lahat ng kasulatan at kalatas na
nauukol sa kanilang By. “Katutuhanan”; at nagsabi din, na kaniyang inaakala na sa
paghinging ito ay mayroong inaadhikaing gawin na di pagtatapat sa K.K.K. ang mga
naturang k. Ipinagsanguni ng k.p. ang nauukol sa bagay na ito, at ang lumabas na
pinagkaisahan ay ang palagay ng kap. na Tagaisok, na siyang sumusunod:- Sapagka’t
ang ilan sa mga k. yaun, ay inihalal na pinuno ng S.B. Katagalugan sa taung tinatanaw,
at sa pagkakailangan na ang salapi at mga kalatas ng kanilang By., ay makuha at
maalis sa panganib, sila’y papagtangapin ng mga katungkulang iginawad sa kanila, at
masda’t tiktikan ang bawat nilang kilos. Kung mapatunayan ang kanilang kasamaan,
sila’y lalapatan ng nauukol sa masasamang loob.
Alinsunod sa pinagkaisahan nitong K.K. sa pulong ng ikadalawang puo’t apat ng
buang nakaraan, na ang K.K.K. ay magkakaroon ng salaping tangi na matitipon at
aaring tunay at lubos ng buong Kat., ang kapulungang dito’y nakaharap ay nagpasiya
at pinagkaisahan sa pamagitan ng mahinahong paglilining, na ang lahat ng pulutong
ay ipadadala sa K.S. ang mga kabayarang lahat na ginawa ng lahat ng mga k. ukol
sa pagkapasuk at sa pagkaangat sa kaw. na kabunyian, kasabay ng isang kasaysayan
ng pangala’t pamagat, tinubuan, tahanan, kalagayan at hanap buhay ng mga k.
pinagbuhatan ng mga padalang kabayaran.
Sa bgay [sic] na ito’y ipinagsanguni ng k.p. ang pagtataguan ng salaping ito, at
pinagkayariang itatagu sa kabang bakal ng kap. na Maniangat na kaniya namang
iniaalay. Datapua’t sa malaking panganib na masamsam ang salaping ito kung iiwan
ang kaban sa bahay ng kap. na Maniangat, ang naging pasiya at pinagkaisahan ng
lahat ay ang maitagu ang kabang ito sa bahay ng kap. na Dimasayaran, dahil sa ito’y
manggagamut (medico), at di sukat pagtakhang magkaroon ng kabang bakal ng
salapi.
Sapagkat ang kap. na Dimasayaran ay namamayan sa malayu, at sa pagkakita
naman ng Kapulungan, na ang K.K.K. ay nagkakailangang magkaroon ng isang
mangagamut, nangagkaisa ang lahat na siya’y patirahin na sa Maynila, at ang lahat ng
mga k. ay umambag ng halagang labing anim na kualta sa buan buan. Katungkulan
naman ng kap. na Dimasayaran ang gumamut ng walang upa sa lahat ng mga k.
sampu ng kanilang magulang, asawa, anak at kapatid (familia). Ang K.S. ay siyang
may katungkulang sumingil ng ambagang labinganim na kualta at siya din ang
magbabayad sa kap. na Dimasayaran ng tatlong puong piso sa buan buan. Kung
magkulang ang ambagan ay pupunan ang kulang ng salaping nauukol sa buong Kat.
at kung lumabis naman ay ibabayad sa naging utang kung may utang, at kung wala ay
itatagu din sa kaban kahit mabubukod ang bilangan niya.
Pinagkaisahan din na sa tuing unang araw ng buan ay magpapasiyasat ang lahat
ng pulutong sa tatlong katipong nasasanib sa kaniya, na salaping iniingatan ng K.S.
upang mawala sa paraang ito ang mga likong sapantaha at hamak na paninirang puri
na makagulo at nakagugulo sa K.K.K., at upang maiwasan din na ang salaping ito ay
pakinabangan ng isang lilo lamang. Ang mga k. sisiyasat nito ay iba’t iba.
Ayon sa katungkulan ng K.S. na sa buong Kat. ay umiiral ang lubos na kaayusan,
lalung lalu na ang tungkol sa salapi, ay pinagkaisahan din na ang anim na kasanguni
ng K.S. sa tuing tatlong buan ay sisiyasat sa salapi ng lahat ng pulutong.
Dumating ang kap. na Dinalitiwan, at sa itinanung sa kaniya ng k.p. tungkol sa
natatalastas niya sa mga gawa ng k. Kidlat, ay sumagut na ang k. ito at ang kaniyang
mga ibang kasamahan ay nagsalita sa kaniya na masama ang loob nila sa pagkaparusa
sa k. Pagpapalain. Tinanung sa kaniya kung batid niya na kung sino ang nagsalita sa
k. Pagpalain na ang larawan niya’y nasasabit sa lalagian ng mga taksil; ang isinagut
ay hindi niya batid. Sa bagay na ito ay pinagkayarian na ang kap. na Subiang at ang
kap. na Dinalitiwan ay paparon sa bahay ng k. Kidlat at sa mga salitaang mangyari ay
uusisain at huhulihin nila ang buong katutuhanan sa bibik din niya.
Ang kap. na Hininga na inihalal na ty. ng “Basahan ng Bayan” sa pulong ng ikatlong
puo’ng nagdaang Noviembre ay naghandog ng panunumpa na tutuparing lubos ang
katungkulang sa kaniya’y ipinagkaloob, at tuloy tumangap ng katungkulang ito.
Sa palagay ng kap. na Pingkian ay pinagkaisahan itong sumusunod, tungkol sa
mga Pinakakatawan:- una, ang Pinakakatawan ng mga pulutong sa Kataastaasang
Kapisanan ay ang mga pangulo ng mga Sb. at By. na di nasasakupan ng alin mang
Sb.; ikalawa: Kung ang bayang kinatatayuan ng pulutong ay lubhang malayu na
di mangyaring makadalo ang p. nito sa mga pulong ng K.K., ang pulutong ay may
kapangyarihang maghalal ng pinakakatawan sa mga k. malalapit, kahit sino, kahit
ang k.p. o ang mga k. ng K.S., at kahit ang isang k. ng alin mang By. o Hkm.; ikatlo:
kung ang pangulong nangangatawan sa isang pulutong ay may isang kapansanan na
di makadalo sa isang pagpupulong, siya’y papatlan muna sa kaniyang katungkulan ng
isa ng mga pinuno, maging ang t. kaya ang kal. o kaya ang ty.
Sa ngalan ng K.S. at ng K.K.K. ay pinasalamatan ng k.p. ang kap. na Tagaisok,
dahil sa dalawang carpeta at 175 tiklop ng kalatas na tinatawag na papel catalan de
1a, na ibinigay ng naturang kap. sa K.S. sa buan ng Marzo ng taung bagong natapus.
Sa pasabi ng By. Mahiganti na isa sa mga k. doo’y napipisan ay namatayan ng
anak, pinagkaisahan na ang kap. na Silang ang siyang maglilibot ng kasulatang
padala at hihingan niya ng ambag ang lahat ng k. kahiyang masalubong.
Sa kaibigan ng lahat ay pinagkaisahang wakasan na itong pagpupulong; at

sa bagay na ito’y inilibot ang supot ng saklolo na nagsalin ng anim na sikapat.
Pinagkayariang ibigay sa dalawang batang tumulog sa paglimbag ng mga kalatas ng
Kat., ang halagang tatlong sikapat bawa’t isa.
Sa ikawalong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi ay niwakasan itong pagpupulong,
pagkasumpa ng lahat na di isisiwalat sa kanino pa man ang lahat na namasdan at
napakingan.
Maynila ikaunang araw ng buan ng Enero ng taung 1896.
Ang k.p.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang k. kal
Pñllgkñzll
English Paraphrase
In the name of the native land, and for the greater honor, good order, and
strength of the Katipunan, the Supreme Assembly held a meeting on the first day of
the first month of the year 1896, at the house of Bro. Andres Bonifacio.
Among those present were Bros.:-
Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto, the president and secretary of the Supreme
Council;
Alejandro Santiago and Aguedo del Rosario, the president and secretary of S.B.
Katagalugan;
“Palakul,” “Dupil,” and “Tawas,” the president, fiscal, and treasurer of By.
Makabuhay;
Adriano de Jesus and Badarag, the president and secretary of By. Dimahipo;
Hermenegildo Reyes, the fiscal of S.B. Dapitan;
Rafael Gutierrez, the president of By. Mahiganti;
“Paku,” the president of By. Alapaap;
“Mataas,” the fiscal of By. Tanglaw;
Cornelio Sanchez, the secretary of By. Dalisayan; and
Pio Valenzuela, José Trinidad, Balbino Florentino, Cipriano Pacheco, “Lintik,”
“Kapit,” “Loob,” and others.
The most respected summit commenced at eleven o’clock. Upon the instruction
of the supreme president, the record of the previous meeting was read out, and its
contents were approved by all.
The supreme president then asked whether anyone wished to speak, and Bro.
Rafael Gutierrez suggested that the number of members elected to scrutinize the
work of the Directorate should be increased from six to twelve. This proposal did not
win general approval, and it was agreed that that the number should remain at six,
as previously agreed. The Assembly confirmed the authority bestowed upon the six
members who had already been chosen.
This matter having been settled, those elected to the Supreme Council [at the
Assembly’s previous meeting, held on December 24−25, 1895] swore on oath to fulfill
their duties loyally and diligently, and thereupon assumed their respective offices:
Andres Bonifacio as supreme president; Pio Valenzuela as supreme fiscal; Emilio
Jacinto as supreme secretary; and Aguedo del Rosario, José Trinidad, Hermenegildo
Reyes, Balbino Florentino, and Pantaleon Torres as councilors. Vicente Molina did
not swear an oath or assume office as supreme treasurer because he was not present at
the meeting, and similarly Francisco Carreon did not assume his position as a coun-
cilor, because he was away in a town distant from the province of Manila.
The supreme president stated that failings and acts of treachery within the
Katipunan should now be punished with the utmost severity. The former habit of
turning a blind eye, even to serious misdeeds, had to stop. Everyone was in agreement
with this opinion.
The supreme president related that, on the evening of the previous Sunday, Pedro
Zabala had come to his house in a furious rage, insisting that he be given his portrait
because he had received news that the word “traitor” had been hung on it. He had
been accompanied by Hermogenes Plata. There was discussion on what should be
done about the person who had told Zabala that his portrait had been displayed in
this manner, and everyone agreed that this person merited the same punishment [i.e.,
that he be expelled and be branded as a traitor].
At the request of the supreme president, Bro. Alejandro Santiago related what
he had seen and heard at a meeting he had come across between members Salustiano
Cruz, Hermogenes Plata, Jorge de Lara, Leon Cruz Decena, Irineo Francisco, and
Benito Campos. Santiago reported that these members were saying how they felt
about certain members of their By. Katutuhanan being ejected.1 They believed this to
be the work of the Supreme Council, whereas in truth the decision had been taken by
S.B. Katagalugan. Santiago also reported that these members had demanded that he
hand over all the documents and reports concerning their By. Katutuhanan. Making
this demand, in his view, suggested that these members were not loyal to the KKK.
The supreme president sought the views of the Assembly as to what should be done
about this matter, and the outcome, as proposed by Bro. Aguedo del Rosario, was as
follows:- Because a few of the members involved had been elected as leaders of S.B.
Katagalugan for the coming year, and since it was essential to obtain and remove from
danger the funds and documents of their branch, they should assume the positions
bestowed upon them, and their movements be kept under close surveillance. If it was
confirmed that they were acting wrongly, then they should be treated in the manner
their bad attitudes deserved.
In line with the decision taken by the Assembly at its meeting on December 24,
1895—that the Katipunan should have funds that truly and completely belong to the
society as a whole—the Assembly resolved after careful consideration that all sections
should send to the Supreme Council the fees paid by members upon their admis-
sion to the society. This also applies upon their promotion to the rank of Soldier of
Distinction, together with details of the members who had paid the fees, specifying
their name, alias, place of birth, place of residence, situation [presumably meaning
marital status], and occupation.
In this regard, the supreme president sought the views of the Assembly about
where the Katipunan’s funds should be hidden. It was agreed that they should be kept
in a metal chest owned by Bro. Vicente Molina, which he had offered for this purpose.
However, because there was a great danger that the funds would be seized if the chest
was left at Molina’s home, it was agreed by all that the chest should be hidden at the
house of Bro. Pio Valenzuela, because he was a physician, and it would not be consid-
ered unusual for a physician to have a metal money chest.2
Since Bro. Pio Valenzuela was living far away, and since the meeting recognized
that the KKK needed to have a physician, everyone agreed that he should reside in
Manila and that all members should contribute 16 kualta a month. Bro. Valenzuela
would then provide free treatment not just to all KKK members but also to their
parents, spouses, children, brothers, and sisters. The Supreme Council would be
responsible for collecting the contributions and for paying Bro. Valenzuela 30 pesos
a month. If the contributions fell short, the deficiency would be made good from the
funds that belonged to the whole Katipunan. If there was a surplus, it would be used
when necessary to cover previous shortfalls. If that was not necessary, the cash would
be kept [with the rest of the KKK’s money] in the metal chest, but be treated and
accounted for as a separate fund.3
It was further agreed that on the first day of every month each section should
send three of its members to inspect the money in the care of the Supreme Council in
order to refute the slanderous accusation that there was disorderliness in the K.K.K.,
and also to ensure the money was not taken by a renegade for his own purposes. The
three members assigned to inspect the money should be different individuals every
month.
In conformity with the duty of the Supreme Council to ensure that good order be
kept throughout the Katipunan, especially in relation to money, it was agreed that the
six councilors on the Supreme Council should check on the finances of all the sections
every three months.
Apolonio de la Cruz arrived at the meeting, and the supreme president asked him
what he had witnessed in relation to what Hermogenes Plata was doing. De la Cruz
replied that Plata and his associates had told him how aggrieved they felt about the
punishment of Pedro Zabala. De la Cruz was asked if he knew who had told Zabala that
his portrait had been placed in the case where the pictures of the traitors were kept, and
he replied that he did not know. On this matter, it was decided that Bro. José Trinidad
and Bro. Apolonio de la Cruz should go to the house of Hermogenes Plata, talk to him
about what was happening, and try to extract the whole truth from his own mouth.
Bro. Cipriano Pacheco, who had been elected treasurer of the “People’s Library”
at the meeting held on November 30, 1895, swore on oath to perform his duties faith-
fully, and he was thereupon inducted into this office.
Upon the suggestion of Emilio Jacinto, the following was agreed with regard
to the Representatives:- first, the representatives of the sections on the Supreme
Assembly are the presidents of the Popular Councils and of Branches that are not affil-
iated to Popular Councils; second, sections that are far distant and whose presidents
are unable to attend meetings of the Supreme Assembly should have the authority
to designate KKK members who lived closer to act as their proxies—anyone they
chose, be it the supreme president, the councilors of the Supreme Council, or an ordi-
nary member of a branch or small group; third, if a section president cannot attend a
Supreme Assembly meeting for any unforeseen reason, he should assign one of his
fellow leaders to take his place, for example the fiscal, secretary, or treasurer.
In the name of the Supreme Council and the Katipunan, the supreme presi-
dent thanked Bro. Aguedo del Rosario for the two portfolios and 175 folded sheets
of premier quality Catalan paper that he had donated to the Supreme Council the
previous March.
On hearing that the child of one of the members of By. Mahiganti had died, the
Assembly agreed that Bro. Balbino Florentino should go around with a letter seeking
donations from sympathetic members.
By common consent, it was agreed to draw the meeting to a close. The pouch for
contributions was passed around, and the collection totaled six sikapat [equivalent
to 120 kualta, or three-quarters of a peso]. It was decided that this amount should be
given—half each—to the two youngsters who slept at the Katipunan’s print shop.
The meeting finished at eight strikes of the iron on the copper in the evening. All
those present swore not to disclose to anybody what they had seen or heard.
Manila, January 1, 1896.

The supreme president
Andres Bonifacio
The supreme secretary
Emilio Jacinto
1 Alejandro Santiago was invited by Bonifacio to speak at this juncture because he was the
president of the Tondo-based Katagalugan Popular Council, to which the Katutuhanan
branch was affiliated. Later in the meeting, when Apolonio de la Cruz arrived, he was also
asked to relate what he knew about the situation because he, too, was a member of the
Katagalugan Popular Council.
2 Vicente Molina worked as a concierge at the Intendencia General (the government treasury),
and presumably lived either on the premises or very nearby.
3 Sixteen kualta was equivalent to one-tenth of a peso, so the number of members’ contri-
butions needed to raise P30 a month would be 300. That might be why Valenzuela specifi-
cally recalled Bonifacio telling him around this time that the Katipunan’s membership
was around that figure. “The Memoirs of Dr. Pio Valenzuela” [c. 1914], translated from the
Tagalog by Luis Serrano, reproduced as appendix A, in The Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila:
National Heroes Commission, 1964), 105.
4.2
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on January 5, 1896
On Sunday, January 5, 1896, seven members of the KKK Supreme Council

(Andres Bonifacio, Pio Valenzuela, Emilio Jacinto, Hermenegildo Reyes,
Balbino Florentino, José Trinidad, and Pantaleon Torres) went from Manila
to the nearby town of Mandaluyong. At four o’clock in the afternoon,
Bonifacio presided over the promotion of the KKK Balangay in the town—By.
Makabuhay—to the status of a Sangunian Bayan.
Elected as officers of the new S.B. Makabuhay were Rogelio Borga
[Magiliw, elsewhere Magiliwin] as president; “Bituin” as secretary; “Bakal”
as fiscal; and “Dupil” as treasurer. Four others were elected as kasanguni,
or councilors. All the remaining members of the former By. Makabuhay
were then deemed to have moved to a new Balangay, By. Tala, and elections
were duly held to fill its offices. Elected as its president was Buenaventura
Domingo [Gatdula], the teniente mayor of the town.
Emilio Jacinto’s record of the occasion, transcribed below, relates that
after the elections had been held and oaths-of-office had been duly sworn,
Bonifacio delivered an instructive address on the need for all members of the
Katipunan, and especially those in positions of leadership, to act with dili-
gence, intelligence, and fortitude.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Kataastaasang Sangunian
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan at sa lalung kapurihan at ikalalaki ng kaayusa’t

lakas ng K.K.K., itong K.S. sa pamagitan ng k.p., k.t. at k.kal. at ng mga kasanguning
Talibong, Silang, Subiang at Bulalakaw, ay dumalo sa pulong na ginawa ng By.
“Makabuhay” ng ikalima ng Enero ng taung umiiral, sa bayan ng Mandaluyong na
siyang kinatatayuan ng naturang By.
Sa ikaapat na palu ng bakal sa tansu ng hapun ay binuksan ang kar., na
pinanguluhan ng kap. na Maypagasa at lumagay na kal. ang kap. na Pingkian.
Alinsunod sa kaayusang sinusunod, tungkol sa pagtatayu ng Sb., kung ang isang
By. sa isang bayang walang Sb. pa ay magkaroon ng kabilangang nauukol na mga k.
nasasanib, ang k.p. ay nagpahayag na kinakailangang magtayu ng Sb., sapagkat ang
mga k. ng By. Makabuhay ay lumalabis pa sa kabilangang hanap.
Sa bagay na ito ay ginawa ang paghahalal ng mga pinuno sa itatayung Sb. na
magdadala ng pangalan din ng dating By. Sa katungkulang pangulo ay lumabas ang
kap. na Magiliw, sa kal. ang kap. na Bituin, sa t. ang kap. na Bakal at sa ty. ang kap na
Dupil.
Sa pagkatapus nito’y ginawa naman ang paghahalal ng apat na kasanguni ng Sb.,
at nagsilabas ang mga kap. na Araw, Bato, Tala at Bato-balani.
Kapagkatapus nito ay sumumpa ang apat na pinuno muna at saka ang apat
na kasanguni sa ngalan ng Bayan, at ng K.K.K., na kanilang tutuparin ng lubos na
pagtupad ang katungkulang ipinagkaloob sa kanila ng kanilang mga kap. Tuloy
tumangap ng kanikanilang katungkulan, at saka ipinahayag ng k.p sa boong
kapulungan na magmula sa araw na yaun ay natatayu na ang Sb. “Makabuhay” sa
Bayan ng Mandaluyong.
Ayon sa talagang palakad ay sinimulang magtayu ng isang bagong By. na
kasasaniban ng lahat ng mga k. hindi na ihalal sa ano mang katungkulan sa Sb. Sa
kaibigan ng lahat ay inalanan ng “Tala” itong bagong By.
Tuloy ginawa ang paghahalal ng mga pinuno at alagad na mangangasiwa sa By.
“Tala,” at ang kinalabasan ay itong sumusunod: p. ang kap. na Gatdula, t. ang kap. na
Batong-buhay, kal. ang kap. na Higanti, ty. ang kap. na Loob;Mabalasik ang kap. na
Limbo, Tagalaan ang kap. na Sila, taliba ang kap. na Buan, at Maniningil ang kap. na
Tankilik.
Karakarakang malutas ang mga paghahalal sa mga kap. na ito, sila’y
nagsipanumpa na tutupad at gaganap ng lubos sa mga katungkulang ipinagkatiwala
sa kanila ng kanilang mga kap., tuloy tumangap ang bawa’t isa’t ng sa kaniya’y
nauukol. Sa pagkatapus nito’y ipinahayag ng k.p. sa buong kapulungan na magmula sa
araw na yaun ay natatayu na, sa bayan ng Mandaluyong at sa ilalim ng kapangyarihan
ng Sb. “Makabuhay,” ang By. “Tala.”
At saka nagbigay ang k.p. ng ilang mga pangaral tungo sa pagpapatibay ng mga
bagong itinayung pulutong, na ang wika’y walang ibang pagbubuhatan kung di ang
kasipagan, tiaga at katalinuhan ng mga kap. na doo’y nalalagay, lalung lalu na ang
mga pinuno.
Niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ika pitong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi,
kapagkatapus sumumpa ang lahat na di isisiwalat ang lahat na namasdan at
napakingan.
Mandaluyong ika 5 ng Enero ng taung 1896.
Ang K.P.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllknzll
4.3
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on January 6, 1896, in Malabon
On Monday, January 6, 1896—a holiday to celebrate the Feast of Three Kings

—members of the KKK Supreme Council went from Manila to the nearby
town of Malabon. At two o’clock in the afternoon, Bonifacio presided over the
promotion of the KKK Balangay in the town—By. Dimahipo—to the status of
a Sangunian Bayan.
Elected as officers of the new S.B. Dimahipo were Adriano Jesus
[Mapilit], a cloth manufacturer, as president; Eugenio Goson [Madarag], a
tabaquero at the El Oriente factory, as secretary; “Tala” as fiscal; and Isabelo

Reyes [Laot], also a tabaquero at the El Oriente factory, as treasurer.
All the remaining members of the former By. Dimahipo in the barrio
of Tinajeros were then deemed to have moved to a new Balangay, By.
Tangulan, and elections were duly held to fill its offices. Elected as its presi-
dent was Damaso Huat [Tubig]. A second new Balangay, based in the barrio
of Tambobong, was established with the name By. Masikap, and elections
likewise held to fill its offices. Elected as its president was Gregorio Coronel
[Leon], a cloth manufacturer, who was subsequently to become a member of
the Katipunan’s Supreme Council.
Emilio Jacinto was sick on the day of the meeting and unable to attend.
In his absence Pio Valenzuela took a note of the decisions of the meeting, but
it was nevertheless still Jacinto who later wrote up this formal record, certified
by his own and Bonifacio’s signatures.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.

lakas ng K.K.K., itong K.S. sa pamagitan ng ilang mga pinuno at kasanguni niya,
ay dumalo sa pulong na ginawa ng By. “Dimahipo” ng ikaanim ng Enero ng taung
umiiral sa bayan ng Malabon na siyang kinatatayuan ng nasabing By.
Sa ikalawang daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng hapun, ay binuksan ang kar., na
pinanguluhan ng k.p. at lumagay na kal ang k.t., sapagkat may sakit ang k. kal.
Alinsunod sa kaayusang sinusunod, tungkol sa pagtatayu ng Sb., kung ang
isang By. sa isang bayang wala pang Sb. ay magkaroon ng kabilangang nauukol na
mga kpung nasasanib, ang k. p. ay nagpahayag na kinakailangang magtayu ng Sb.,
sapagkat ang mga k. ng By. Dimahipo ay lumalabis pa sa kabilangang hanap.
Sa bagay na ito ay ginawa ang paghahalal ng mga piununo sa itatayung Sb. na
magdadala ng pangalang dala ng dating By. Sa mga paghahalal ay lumabas na p. ang
kap na Mapilit, t. ang kap. na Tala, kal. ang kap. na Madarag, at ty. ang kap. na Laot.
Kapagkatapus ay sumumpa ang apat na k. ito sa ngalan ng Bayan at ng K.K.K.,

na kanilang tutuparin ng lubos na pagtupad ang mga katungkulang ipinagkaloob sa
kanila ng kanilang mga kap.Tuloy tumangap ng kanilang mga katungkulan, at saka
ipinahayag ng k.p. sa madlang nangakaharap, na magmula sa araw na ito ay natatayu
na ang Sb. “Dimahipo” sa bayan ng Malabon.
Ayon sa talagang palakad ay sinimulang itayu ang isang bagong By. na
kasasaniban ng lahat ng mga k. hindi naihahalal sa ano mang katungkulan sa Sb. sa
nayon ng Tinageros. Sa kaibigan ng lahat ay inalanan “Tangulan” itong bagong By.
Tuloy ginawa ng paghahalal ng mga k. dito’y mamumuno, at ang kinalabasan
ay itong sumusunod: p. ang kap. na Tubig, t. ang kap. na Sinukuan, kal. ang kap na
Ugong, at ty. ang kap na Matuid. Sila’y tuloy na sumumpang tutupad sa kanilang mga
katungkulan at saka tinangap ng bawa’t isa ang sa kaniya’y nauukol. Sa pagkatapus
nito’y ipinahayag ng k. p. sa madlang nangakaharap na magmula sa araw na ito ay
natatayu sa nayon ng Tinageros at sa ilalim ng kapangyarihan ng Sb. “Dimahipo,” ang
By. “Tangulan.”
Muling nagtayu ng isang bagong By. sa nayon ng Tambobong na kasasaniban
ng mga k. doo’y nananahan. Sa kaibigan ng lahat ay inalanan ang By. na ito ng
“Masikap.”
Tuloy ginawa ang paghahalal ng mga k. dito’y mamumuno, at ang kinalabasan ay
itong sumusunod: p. ang kap. na Leon, t. ang kap. na Maghusay, kal ang kap. na Dayap,
at ty. ang kap. na Bomba. Karakarang mahalal ang mga k. ito, nila’y nagsipanumpa
ng lubos na pagtupad sa mga katungkulang ipinagkatiwala sa kanila ng mga kap.
nila, tuloy tumangap ang bawa’t isa ng sa kaniya’y nauukol. Sa pagkatapus nito’y
ipinaghayag ng k.p. sa buong kapulungan na magmula sa araw na ito ay natatayu na
sa bayan ng Malabon, nayon ng Tambobong at sa ilalim ng kapangyarihan ng Sb.
Dimahipo, ang By. “Masikap.”
Sa ikaanim na daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng hapun ay niwakasan ang pagpupulong,
pagkagawad ng gawing panunumpa.
Malabon, ikaanim ng Enero, ng taung 1896
Ang K.P.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllknzll
4.4
Supreme Council
Notice to all KKK members, January 25, 1896
This document informs the KKK membership about decisions taken at meet-
ings of the Supreme Assembly and the Supreme Council, and asks that these
decisions be noted and implemented. The English text below the transcrip-
tion is an abbreviated paraphrase of the document, not a translation.
Bonifacio wrote the document himself in a neat calligraphic script, and
signed it “Vzypzgzsz” (Maypagasa) beneath the abbreviation of his title, “Ang
K. P.” He also wrote “Ang K. Kal.” at the foot of the text in anticipation that
Jacinto would sign it as well, but for some reason this did not happen.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Sa lahat ng mga Katipon
Minamahal na mga Kapatid:
Alinsunod sa katungkulan nitong K.S. na maglathala sa buong Katipunan ng mga

atas ng Kataastaasang Kapisanan at nang sariling mga atas niya, upang matalastas
ng lahat at sundin, ay aming ipinakikilala ang mga pinagkaisahan sa mga pulong na
ginawa ng naturang K.K. sa ikadalawang puo’t apat ng Diciembre ng katatapos na
taun, at sa unang araw ng Enero nitong umiiral, sampo ng pinagkaisahan sa K.S.
Mga atas ng K. Kapisanan

Sa unang pulong
Una:- Sa malaking pagkakailangan na matipun ang larawan (retrato) ng lahat

ng mga katipun, sapagka’t ang mga larawang ito’y dapat malathala na magiging
kaparusahan sa pagkakasala at pag papala naman sa pag tupad at paggawa ng
kagalingan sa Katipunan, ng sinomang Kap.; at sa karapatang makilala ng buong
Katagalugan pagdating ng kaarawan, ang mga tunay na anak na sa kanya’y nag

ligtas sa dustang kaalipinan, ay ipinaguutos na ang lahat ng mga katipung hindi pa
nakapagbibigay ng kanilang larawan ay magpakuha sa loob ng tatlong buan mula sa
kaarawang ito, at ipadala sa K.S. Ang hindi tumupad sa atas na ito’y magkakamit ng
parusang nauukol.
Ikalawa: Sa pagka’t ang K. tiwalag na Kap. na Burgos, bagu pa na pagtalastas na
siya’y na titiwalag ay nakitaan na ng pagbabalik loob; sa pagka’t ang pagsusumikap na
dating nakita sa kanya ay muling sumusungaw, sa pagka’t ang pagsusumikap na ito ay
hindi rin kumukupas kahit naalaman na niya ang sa kanya’y ipinarusa; sa pagkat ang
mga salitang na bitiwang minsang wari ay hilig sa mga ipinamamarali ng mga taksil
ay hindi iba ang pinagbuhatan, kundi ang pagkabatang loob niya, na pinatunayan ng
lahat na nakakikilala sa kanya, at dahil dito’y mag buhat ang mabiglaunang maniwala
kahit sandali sa lilong hikayat ng mga nasabing taksil; at sa pagkat nakitaan ng
malaking pag sisisi sa nagawang pagkukulang, ay minarapat ng K.K. na ang kap. na
Burgos ay patawarin sa ginawang sala at mabalik, at maalis sa pagkatiwalag ng wala
nang tatlong buang subok at wala ding bayad sa pagkabalik.
Ikatlo: Sa pagkat may mga sumbong na dumating sa K.S. laban sa mga gawa ng
kap. na Kalapati na pinanganlang kaululan ng K. ito ang Katipunan; sa pagkat sa mga
paguusig na ginawa wari’y tunay na nagkasala; sa pagkat sa katungkulan niyang Kal.
ng Sb. Dzpñtzll ay hindi gumaganap ng anoman lamang mula ng tangapin niya ang
katungkulan; at sa pagka’t lumalabas na inuudiukan nito ang kap. na Kampilan na
ama niya, na huag tumupad sa mga katungkulang sinagutan, ay minarapat ng K.K.,
na ang k. Kalapati ay matiwalag muna hangang pinaguusig ang buong katutuhanan
ng mga sumbong na tinangap, at maparusahan kung mapatunay ang may sala o kaya
mabalik kung mapagkilalang wala.
Ikaapat:- Ang mga limbag na kasulatan, na kagamitan sa Kat., ay babayaran
sa mga sumusunod na halaga: ang pahayag sa mag may nasang makisanib, apat na
kualta ang isa; ang pinagsulatan ng panunumpa sa pagkakapasuk, ang kasulatan sa
pamamanhik na mapasuk at ang tanungan sa silid na panilayan, isang kualta ang isa;
at ang talaan ng mga kabagayang taglay ng hinihikayat na may nasang makisanib
isang kualta ang dalawa.
Ikalima:- Ang salapi ng Kat. ay matitipon ng dalawang pagtitipon: isa, ang
salaping matitipon ng buong Kat. na di magagalaw kungdi sa pasya’t kaibigan ng
K.K.; at isa ang salaping tangi ng bawa’t isang pulutong, buhat sa K.S. hangang sa
kahulihulihang By. at Hkan; ang salaping ito ay pamamahalaan ng pulutong na
kinauukulan.
Ikaanim: Ang bawa’t K. ay magkakaroon ng isang kalatas na limbag, na
pagkakikilanlan na siya’y tunay na A.N.B; ito’y tinatawag na Katibayan at mayroong
dalawang pinagkakaibahan: katibayang akibat at katibayang kawal. Ang K.S. ay
siyang may katungkulang mag gawad ng mg Katibayan; datapua’t hindi igagawad:
Una: Sa mga katipong gumagamit ng masasamang kaasalan at mabibigat na

pagkukulang.
Ikalawa: Sa mga katipong hindi na kababayad ng ukol sa pagkapasuk o
pagkaangat; at
Ikatlo: Sa mga baguhan.

Sa ikalawang pulong
Una: Upang makilala ng lahat at gamitan ng nauukol, ay inilalathala ang mga

katipong tumangap ng mga katungkulan sa K.S. sa taung hinaharap; ay itong mga
sumusunod: Pangulo, ang kap. na Maypagasa; Tagausig ang kap. na Dimasayaran;
Kalihim ang kap. na Pingkian; Tagaingat-yaman ang kap. na Manyangat; at mga
Kasanguni ang mga kap. na Tagaisok, Talibong, Bulalakaw, Subiang at Silang.
Ikalawa: Ang dating hindi pagpansin sa di kakaunting mga pagkukulang
ay puputulin, at sa ngayo’y paiiralin na ng K.K.K. sa pamagitan ng kanyang mga
Sangunian, ang buong kabagsikan sa paghatul at pagparusa sa balang magkulang at
gumamit ng kataksilan.
Ikatlo: Alinsunod sa ikalimang atas ng K.K. sa pulong ng ikadalawang puo’t
apat ng Diciembreng nagdaan, at sa lubos na pagkakailangang mangyari sa gawa ang
nasabing atas, ang K.K. sa pamagitan ng kanyang mataas at matuid na kapangyarihan
at kapagkatapus ng isang masiyasat na paglilining ay nagpasya nitong mga
sumusunod:-
Una: Ipadadala ng lahat ng pulutong sa K.S. ang mga kabayarang ginawa na

at ginagawa ng mga katipun, ukol sa pagkapasuk at ukol sa pagkaangat sa Kaw.
na kabunyian.
Ikalawa: Magpapadala din kasabay ng salapi ng isang kasaysayan ng mga
pangalan at pamagat, tinubuan, tahanan, kalagayan, hanap buhay at araw ng
pagkapasuk ng mga katipung pinagbuhatan ng mga padalang kabayaran.
Ikatlo: Ang salaping matitipon ay itatagu sa isang kabang bakal na ari ng
kap. na Maniangat at ang kaban ay ilalagay sa bahay ng kap. na Dimasayaran, sa
pagka’t hindi sukat pagtakhan na magkaroon ang isang Medico ng isang kabang
bakal na tinatawag na talega.
Ikaapat: Sa tuing unang araw ng bawa’t buan ay magpapasiyasat ang lahat
ng pulutong sa tatlong Katipun niya ng salaping nito, upang mawala sa ganitong
paraan ang mga likong sapantanha at hamak na paninirang puri na nakagulo at
nakagugulo sa K.K.K., at upang maiwasan din na ang salaping ito ay lansagin at
pakinabangan ng isang lilo lamang.
Tagubilin dito sa ikaapat: Ang tatlong Katipun ng bawat pulutong na

sisiyasat ng salapi ay iibahin sa buan buan.
Ikaapat: Ang K.S. sa katungkulan niyang gumanap ng nararapat upang
maghari sa buong Kat. ang lubos na kalinisan, lalung laluna ang tungkol sa
salapi, ay magpapasiyasat sa anim niyang Kasanguni ng salapi ng lahat ng
pulutong sa tuing ikatlong buan, kaya’t sa bagay na ito ay kinakailangan na ang
mga pulutong ay maglinis ng kanilang bilangan ng salapi.
Ikalima: Ang tunay na Pinakakatawan ng mga pulutong sa K. Kapisanan
ay ang mga Pangulo; datapua’t kung ang bayang kinatatayuan ng pulutong
ay lubhang malayu, na di mangyaring makadalo ang P. nito sa mga pulong
ng K. Kapisanan, ang pulutong ay pipili sa mga K. nananahan sa malapit, ng
kakatawan sa kanya. Mangyayaring piliin ang Pinakakatawang ito sa kahit
sinong K., maging pinuno’t kasanguni ng K.S., maging sinomang k. ng alin mang
By. at Hkan. Kung ang P. kumakatawan ng isang pulutong ay hindi makadalo sa
pulong at may isang kapansanang malaki, siya’y hahalinghan muna sa kanyang
katungkulan ng isa sa mga kasamahang pinuno.
Tagubulin sa atas na ito: Sa salitang ang mga P. ng pulutong ang siyang
pinakakatawan nito sa K. Kapisanan; katutura’y ganito: ang mga P. ng Sh. o kaya
ang inihalal na K. na nanahan sa Maynila ang kakatawan sa lahat ng pulutong
nanasasakop nito.
Ang mga P. ng Sb. dito sa Maynila, at ang mga P. ng Sb. na wala pang sumasakop
na Sh., at ang mga By. na walang nakakasakop na Sb. ay siyang magkarapatang
dumalo (ojo).
Atas ng K. Sangunian
Sa pagka’t ng ikatlo ng Enerong umiiral ay tumangap ang K.S. ng mga sumbong

na laban sa K. Kidlat t. ng By. “Katutuhanan”; sa pagka’t sa pulong na ginawa nitong
K.S. ng ikapitong araw ng buan ding ito, ay humarap sa kautusan nitong K.S. ang
naturang k. at nag pahayag at sumagut sa mga tanung na ginawa sa kanya; sa pagka’t
sa mga ipinahag ay lumabas: una, na siya’y sumusua’y sa K. Kapisanan at sa makatuid
sa K.K.K.; ikalawa, na siya’y hindi lamang nagtangka kundi talagang kinusang ginawa
na maihiwalay ang By. “Katutuhanan” sa K.K.K., ikatlo, na ang k. Kidlat ay nagkasala
sa ika tatlong atas ng K.K. sa pulong na ginawa nito ng ikatlong puong araw ng
Noviembreng nag daan; ikaapat, na siyay kumilos ng salapi sa kanyang By. na di
ipinagbigay alam hangang sa na usisa sa kanya; at ikalima, na sa mga pagpapahayag
na ito ay may mga sinabing walang katutuhanan, kahit kasusumpa pa lamang na
sasabihin ang buong katutuhanan; sa pagka’t ang mga salang ito ay malinaw na
pinatunayan ng sariling bibig ng K. Kidlat, bukod pa sa iba’t ibang pinagkakilanlan;
at sa pagkat isa lamang sa mga salang ito ay labis labis nang siya’y maparusahan,
ayon sa na sasabi sa naturang ika tatlong atas ng K.K. sa pulong ng Noviembreng
nagdaan, itong K.S. sa pag tupad ng kanyang katungkulan, ay humatul sa K. Kidlat
Hermogenes Plata) at pinarusahan siyang matiwalag sa Kat. at masama ang kanyang
larawan sa piling ng sa mga taksil.
Ilibot at ipakilala sa buong Kat. ang lahat ng mga Atas na ito, at tuloy tangapin
ang aming mahigpit na yakap.
Maynila ika 25 ng Enero ng taong isang libo walong dan siam na puo at anim.
Ang K.P.
Ang K. Kal.
Vzypzgzsz
English Paraphrase
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Supreme Council
To all Members
In accordance with its duty to publicize the orders of the Supreme Assembly and
its own orders, so that they can be noted and followed, the Supreme Council hereby
makes known the decisions taken by the aforesaid Supreme Assembly at meetings
held on December 24, 1895, and January 1, 1896, and also decisions taken by the
Supreme Council.
Orders of the Supreme Assembly, approved at a meeting held on December 24, 1895
First: Pictures of all members should be collected so that they can be displayed
when misdeeds have to be punished or when dutiful service to the Katipunan merits
recognition, and also, when the day comes, so that the whole of Katagalugan will know
the identity of the true sons who delivered her from ignominious enslavement. All
members who have not yet obtained their pictures should therefore do so within the
next three months, and send them to the Supreme Council. Those who do not comply
with this order will be punished accordingly.
Second: It has been decided that Bro. “Burgos” [probably Geronimo Medina y
Cristobal], who had been expelled from the society, should now be readmitted. He had
become active again even before being notified about his expulsion, and was ready
to show the same dedication to his duties as before. It seems his youthful spirit was
briefly swayed by the bad influence of the traitors, but those who know him cannot
believe that he was ever truly convinced by those renegades. Now that he has recog-
nized his mistake he should be accepted back, should not be subject to any three-
month probation period [which was the agreed norm for returning expellees] and
should not have to pay his admission fee again.
Third: The Supreme Council has received complaints about the actions of Bro.
“Kalapati,” whose behavior was a discredit to the name of the Katipunan. Since he
became the secretary of the Dapitan Council he has accomplished nothing, and
because it has come out that this was on the advice of his father, Bro. “Kampilan,”
the Supreme Assembly accordingly decided that Bro. “Kalapati” should be suspended
from the society until the accusations have been investigated. If the accusations
are proven he will be punished, but if they are found to be groundless he will be
readmitted.
Fourth: The printed documents used by the Katipunan are priced as follows: the
manifesto given to those who wish to join the society [the Kartilya], 4 kualta per copy;
the application form, 1 kualta per copy; the oath to be sworn upon initiation into the
society, 1 kualta per copy; the questions to be considered in the Chamber of Reflection,
1 kualta per copy; and the list of points to be borne in mind when recruiting members,
1 kualta for two copies.
Fifth: The funds of the Katipunan are divided between (i) the money that belongs
to the whole Katipunan, which cannot be disturbed unless the Supreme Assembly so
decides; and (ii) the money which is at the disposal of each individual section, from
the Supreme Council down to the last branch and provincial unit.
Sixth: Each member should have a printed letter to identify them as truly Anak
ng Bayan; this is called an Authentication, and there are two different types: officer’s
authentication and soldier’s authentication. The Supreme Council is responsible for
awarding the authentications, but will not award them (i) to members who behave
badly or fall seriously behind with their dues, (ii) to members who have not paid their
fees for admission or promotion, and (iii) to neophytes.
Orders of the Supreme Assembly, approved at a meeting held on January 1, 1896
First: Everyone should note that the members who have taken positions on
the Supreme Council for this year are as follows: President, Andres Bonifacio; Fiscal,
Pio Valenzuela; Secretary, Emilio Jacinto; Treasurer, Vicente Molina; and Councilors
Aguedo del Rosario, Hermenegildo Reyes, Pantaleon Torres, José Trinidad, and
Balbino Florentino.1
Second: The former habit of turning a blind eye to failings within the society
must now cease; and henceforth the councils of the K.K.K. will judge and punish all
deficiencies and acts of treachery with the utmost severity.
Third: In line with the fifth order given by the Supreme Assembly at its meeting
on December 24, 1895, and given the pressing need to put that order into effect, the
Supreme Assembly has decided after careful consideration (i) that all sections should
send to the Supreme Council the fees paid by members upon their admission to
the society and upon their promotion to the rank of Soldier of Distinction; (ii) that
together with this money the sections should also send details of the members who
paid the fees, specifying their name, alias, place of birth, place of residence, situa-
tion [presumably meaning marital status], occupation, and date of admission to the
society; (iii) the money collected will be hidden in a metal chest owned by Vicente
Molina, and this chest will be kept in the house of Pio Valenzuela because it is not
unusual for a physician to own a metal chest, called a talega; (iv) on the first day of
every month each section should send three members to inspect this money in order
to refute the slanderous accusation that there is disorderliness in the K.K.K., and also
to ensure the money is not taken by a renegade for his own purposes. Note: The three
members assigned to inspect the money should be different individuals every month.
Fourth: Since the Supreme Council has a duty to ensure that the whole Katipunan
is completely clean, especially in relation to money, six members of the Council will
inspect the money of all the sections every three months.
Fifth: The real representatives of the sections on the Supreme Assembly are the
section presidents, but sections that are far distant may appoint members who live
closer to represent them. Any member may be appointed in this way, from the chiefs
and councilors of the Supreme Council to an ordinary member from a branch or
provincial unit. If a section president cannot attend a Supreme Assembly meeting for
any unforeseen reason, he should assign one of his fellow leaders to take his place.
Note: As stated, the sections should be represented on the Supreme Assembly by their
respective presidents; this means that the presidents of the Provincial Councils or
their proxies who live in Manila are the representatives of all the sections under their
jurisdiction. The presidents of the Popular Councils here in Manila, the presidents of
Popular Councils not affiliated to any Provincial Council, and the presidents of the
branches not affiliated to any Popular Council, have a right to attend.
Orders of the Supreme Council
On January 3, 1896, the Supreme Council received accusations against

Hermogenes Plata, the fiscal of By. Katutuhanan, and on January 7 the Supreme
Council questioned Hermogenes Plata about these accusations. As a result, it has been
established (i) that Hermogenes Plata disobeyed the Supreme Assembly, and there-
fore the whole Katipunan; (ii) that he attempted to separate By. Katutuhanan from
the KKK; (iii) that he violated the third order approved by the Supreme Assembly at
its meeting on November 30, 1895; (iv) that he moved the funds of his branch without
notifying anybody; and (v) that he tried to deny the truth of these accusations after
having sworn to tell the whole truth, despite having previously confessed. Having
regard to the fact that any one of these transgressions would be sufficient to warrant
his punishment in accordance with the aforementioned third order approved by the
Supreme Assembly in November, this Supreme Council directs that Hermogenes
Plata be expelled from the Katipunan and that his picture be displayed alongside
those of the traitors.2
These orders should be circulated and made known to the whole Katipunan.
Receive our close embrace.
Manila, January 25, 1896.
The supreme president.

The supreme secretary
Maypagasa
1 The elections had been held at the Supreme Assembly meeting held on December 24–25,
1895, but this note refers to the oath-taking and formal induction of those elected, which
took place at the subsequent Supreme Assembly meeting on January 1, 1896. The sixth coun-
cilor, Francisco Carreon, was absent on that occasion and Bonifacio has therefore omitted
his name at this juncture.
2 It is not known what is meant here by the “third order.”
4.5
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on February 1, 1896, in Polo
On Saturday, February 1, 1896, Pio Valenzuela and Emilio Jacinto traveled

to Valenzuela’s hometown, Polo in the province of Bulacan, in their respec-
tive capacities as fiscal and secretary of the Supreme Council. There, at eight
o’clock in the evening, Valenzuela [Dimas Ayaran] presided over the forma-
tion of what may well have been the first formally constituted branch of the
Katipunan in any province beyond Manila.
Transcribed below is Jacinto’s record of the meeting, at which it was
agreed to call the branch “Huaran”—“Exemplar”—and to elect Braulio
Flamenco [Patung] as its president, Crispiniano Agustines [Mabagsik] as
fiscal, “Mabangis” (possibly Faustino Duque) as secretary, and “Kamumo” as
collector.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Supreme Council
(—Pinagsulatan —)
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan, at sa lalung kapurihan at kaayusan ng K.K.K.

Ngayong ikauna ng Febrero ng taung isang libo, walong dan, siam na puo’t anim,
pinulong nitong K.S. sa pamagitan ng K.T at K. Kal. ang mga kpon. sa bayan ng Pulo
hukuman ng Bulakan.
Sa ikawalong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi ay binuksan ang kar. at tuloy
ipinahayag ng kap. na Dimas Ayaran na siyang nangungulo, ang dahil ng pagpupulong
na ito, na sapagka’t dumating na sa kailangang kabilangan ang mga kpon. sa bayang
ito, ay nararapat na magtayu ng isang By.
Sa bagay na ito’y pinagkaisahang aalanan ng Huaran ang itinatayung By.
Ginawa ang paghahalalal ng mga pinuno at alagad ng By. na itinatayu at lumabas
na p. ang kap. na Patung, t. ang kap. na Mabagsik, kal. ang kap. na Mabangis at
Maniningil ang kap. na Kamumo.
Pinapanumpa at pinatangap ng kani-kanilang katungkulan ang mga kap. na ito,
at saka ipinahayag ng kap. na nangungulo ng buhat sa araw na ito’y natatayu na sa
bayan ng Pulo ang By. Huaran.
Sa kapahintulutan ng K.T. ang K. Kal. ay nangaral at ipinakilala sa tanang
nakaharap ang nauukol na ganapin sa bawat katungkulan.
Kapagkatapus manumpa ang lahat na di isisiwalat ang lahat ng namasda’t
napakingan, niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu
ng gabi.
Pulo, ika unang araw ng Febrero ng taung 1896.
Lumagay na P.
Ang K.T.
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllgknzll
4.6
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on February 11, 1896
At eight o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, February 11, 1896, members of

the Supreme Council gathered at Bonifacio’s house for rites that elevated
five KKK activists to the second grade of membership—that of kawal, or
soldier. Among the five was Pio Valenzuela, who as the fiscal (Tagausig) of
the Supreme Council was the third highest-ranking member of the society
after Bonifacio and Jacinto. One would have expected that he would have
been elevated sooner, and it therefore seems there was not always a direct
correlation between grades and seniority in the society. The other four activ-
ists elevated to the second grade were all members of the Mahiganti branch
based in the Ermita, Concepcion, and Paco Districts of Manila, including its
president Rafael Gutierrez [Ilagan]. This record of the occasion was penned
by Jacinto.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Kataastaasang Sangx.
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan at sa lalung kapurihan at kaayusan ng K.K.K.

Ngayong ikalabing isa ng Febrero ng taung isang libo, walong dan, siam na puo’t
anim, itong K.S. ay gumawa ng isang pagpupulong sa bahay ng kap. na Maypagasa.
Sa ikawalong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga ay binuksan ang kar., at tuloy

binasa ang pinagsulatan ng nagdaang pulong, na pinatunayan ng lahat.
Kapagkatapus ay niwakasan, at saka binuksan ang kar. ng mga kawal.
Kapagkarakang nabuksan ito’y ginawa ang pagaangat sa ikalawang kabunyian
ng mga kap. na Dimas Ayaran, Ilagan, Lintik, Baga at Magdalena, mga kpon. itong
apat na huli ng By. Mahiganti.
Kapagkatapus manumpa ang lahat na di isisiwalat ang namasdan at napakingan,
ayon sa ugaling palakad, iniwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ika-siam na daguk ng
bakal sa tansu ng umaga.
Maynila, ika 11 ng buan ng Febrero ng taung 1896.
Ang K.P.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang K. Kal.
Pñllkñzll
4.7
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on February 21, 1896
Transcribed below is Jacinto’s record of a Supreme Council meeting held

at Bonifacio’s house on February 21, 1896. Seven members of the ten-man
council were present—Andres Bonifacio, Pio Valenzuela, Emilio Jacinto,
Aguedo del Rosario, Balbino Florentino, José Trinidad, and Pantaleon
Torres—and three were therefore absent: Vicente Molina, Francisco Carreon,
and Hermenegildo Reyes.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Supreme Council
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan, at sa lalung ikalalaki ng kaayusa’t lakas ng K.K.K.,

itong K.S. ay gumawa sa ikadalawang puo’t isa ng Febrero ng taung isang libo, walong
dan, siam na puo’t anim, ng isang pagpupulong, sa bahay ng kap. na Maypagasa.
Sa ikawalong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi, ay binuksan ang kar. at ang dito’y
nangakaharap ay ang mga kap. na Maypagasa, Dimas Ayaran, Pingkian, Tagaisok,
Silang, Subiang at Bulalakaw.
Sa ipinagutos ng k.p. na basahin ang pinagsulatan ng sinusundang pagpupulong,
ay ipinahayag ng k. kal. na kaniyang nakalimutang dalhin ang nasabing pinagsulatan.
Sa bagay na ito’y pinagkaisahang dadalhin at babasahin sa susunod na pulong.
Ginawa ang paghahalal ng pangalawang Kal., Tagalaan, Taliba, Manunulat at
Tagalibot ng K.S., at ang pinagkaisahang nagsilabas ay ang mga kap. na Tagaisok sa
katungkulang pangalawang Kal., Bulalakaw tagalaan, Talibong Taliba at tagalibot,
at Silanganan manunulat. Ang mga kap. na Subiang at Silang ay inihalal namang
tagatulong sa pagsulat.
Sa pagkakita ng lahat ng pagkakailangang tumaning ng mga araw na maging
ugaling pagpupulong ng K.S., pinagkaisahan na sa tuing una at ikatlong araw ng
Lingo ng bawat buan ay gagawin ang mga ugaling pagpupulong sa ikawalong daguk
ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga sa bahay ng kap. na Maypagasa; at sa bagay na ito ang
sino man ay di na kakailanganing untagin pa sa nauukol na pagdalo.
Pinagkaisahang hihingin sa lahat ng pulutong ang isang malinaw na kasaysayan
ng lahat ng k. nasasanib at nasasakupan nila. Sa kasaysayang ito ay malalagay ang
pangalan ng bawat isa, pamagat, araw ng pagkapasuk, katungkulang hinahawakan,
pulutong na kinasasaniban, kabayaran sa pagkapasuk at pagkaangat at tahanan.
Pinagkaisahang pupulungin sa ika dalawang puo’t dalawa ng buan ng Marzong
dadating ang K.K.
Pinagkaisahang ipagtungkol sa kap. na Talibong ang lumibot sa mga By. at
iba pang pulutong, na siya’y maglilipit sa mga k. hindi pa nagbibigay ng ambagang
manikapat labing dalawa na nauukol sa saklolong pinagkaisahang ibibigay sa asawa
ng ating namatay na kap. na Jasmin.
Tungkol sa dating atas ng K.K. na ipagluluksa ng buong Kat. ang kalagimlagim
na araw ng ikadalawang puo’t walo ng Febrero dahil sa pagkabitay sa araw na ito ng
mga kababayang Gomez, Burgos at Zamora ay pinagkaisahan itong mga sumusunod:
I—Ang bawat bayang may pulutong ang magaayus ng isang undas sa araw na ito
mula sa ikaanim ng daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga hangang sa ikasampu ng
sa gabi. II—Ito’y tatanuran sa loob ng maghapun ng halihaliling k. may sandata sa
kamay. III—Sa undas ay masasabit ang isang kalatas na kinasulatan ng panunumpang
ipaghihiganti ang pagkamatay nila. IV—Sa gagawad ng panunumpang nakasulat
at tuloy maglalaglag ng isang munting kaya sa pingang ilalagay sa harap ng undas.
V.—Ang salaping dito’y mailigpit ay ibibigay sa Sanguniang Lihim. VI—Sa silid na

kalalagian ng undas ay walang makakapasuk kung di k. at nakaluksa.
Kapagkatapus sumumpa ang lahat na di isisiwalat ang lahat ng namasda’t
napakingan, niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu
ng gabi.
Maynila, ika 21 ng Febrero ng taung 1896.
Ang K. P.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllknzll
English Paraphrase
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Supreme Council
(—Report —)
In the name of the native land, and for the greater effectiveness and strength of
the K.K.K., the Supreme Council met in the house of Andres Bonifacio on February 21,
1896.
The session opened at eight strikes of the iron on the copper in the evening,
the session, and those present were Bros. Andres Bonifacio, Pio Valenzuela, Emilio
Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Balbino Florentino, José Trinidad, and Pantaleon Torres.
When instructed by the Supreme President to read the report of the previous
meeting, the Supreme Secretary stated that he had forgotten to bring the said minutes.
It was accordingly agreed that the minutes should be read at the following meeting.
Elections were held to the positions of assistant secretary, warden, sentinel and
patroller, recorder, and Aguedo del Rosario, Pantaleon Torres, Hermenegildo Reyes,
and Francisco Carreon respectively were elected to these positions. José Trinidad and
Balbino Florentino were elected as assistant administrators.
In recognition of the need to meet more regularly and frequently, the Supreme
Council agreed that it would in the future convene at Bonifacio’s house on the first
and third Sunday of every month at eight o’clock in the morning. It would therefore
not be necessary to remind members about attendance.
To improve and standardize record-keeping throughout the organization, the
council agreed to request all councils and branches to prepare a report showing each
member’s name, alias, date of initiation, positions held, dues paid; and status and
occupation.
It was agreed that a meeting of the Supreme Assembly should be convened on
March 22, 1896.
Hermenegildo Reyes was assigned to contact branches whose members had not
yet contributed to a collection for the widow of the brother known as Jasmin.
The Supreme Council discussed arrangements for marking the twenty-fourth
anniversary of the executions of the priests Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora. It was agreed
that on February 28, the sections of the Katipunan should set up a catafalque in some
secure location in their respective districts, guarded throughout the day—from six
o’clock in the morning until ten o’clock at night—by brothers bearing weapons. Beside
the catafalque should be displayed the text of an oath for members to read and sign,
pledging to avenge the martyred priests. A collection plate should also be provided,
into which it was hoped each member would put a small donation, and the sections
should later turn over to the Secret Council whatever sum was collected.
After all those present had sworn to reveal nothing of what they had seen and
heard, the meeting ended at ten strikes of the iron on the copper in the evening.
Manila, February 21, 1896

Andres Bonifacio

Emilio Jacinto
chapter 5
Kalayaan
5.1
P
Notes on Kalayaan, the Katipunan Paper1
rior to Kalayaan coming out in March 1896, according to Pio Valenzuela,

the Katipunan’s membership had reached only about three hundred in
four years, but once the paper began to circulate the association attracted
thousands of new adherents. By the outbreak of the revolution in August, he
estimates, it had 20,000, or even 30,000 members.2
Nobody knew the exact membership figures, of course, and nobody today
can weigh the impact of Kalayaan against other eventualities that added to
the gathering momentum of the Katipunan in the early months of 1896—
more vigorous and open recruitment; more frequent meetings in Manila and
beyond; and the consequent fact that the Spanish authorities, well before the
“discovery” of the association by Padre Mariano Gil of Tondo in mid-August,
had tightened their surveillance and persecution of suspected filibusteros and
thereby provoked a further escalation of bitterness and anger.
But whatever the true measure of Kalayaan’s contribution to this swelling
tide of events, the paper has its own intrinsic importance. Not only was it
169
the first publication of the Katipunan prior to August 1896, it was also the
last. Produced and circulated on the brink of the revolution, its pages, and
its pages alone, carried in print the message of liberty the three top-ranking
leaders of the Katipunan—Bonifacio, Jacinto, and Valenzuela—wanted the
people, the bayan, to hear and to heed.
Production of the paper

Prior to 1896, it seems, the Katipunan did not publish any propaganda
materials. The association did have a printing press,3 but its capacity was low,
and the extensive or protracted use of any other press, it may be presumed,
was feared to run too high a risk of betrayal and discovery. A few documents,
such as membership forms and the sheets bearing the questions initiates had
to answer (¿Ano ang kalagayan nitong Katagalugan nang unang panahun? etc.)
were reportedly printed clandestinely on the presses of the Spanish daily,
Diario de Manila, but these documents were small in size and limited in quan-
tity. In 1895, however, a better press was purchased for the Katipunan by two
members from Kalibo, Francisco del Castillo and Candido Iban, who had
recently returned to the Philippines after working as shell and pearl divers
in Australia and had some money from a lottery win. They bought the press
and a small quantity of type from Antonio Salazar’s Bazar El Cisne on Calle
Carriedo, and Del Castillo transported it to the house of Andres Bonifacio in
the Santa Cruz District of Manila.
Valenzuela recalls that after being elected as fiscal (tagausig) of the
Supreme Council in December 1895, he told Bonifacio that he would accept
the position “on condition that he would give me the printing press of
the Katipunan, which he had in his house, so that I could direct and edit a
monthly review, which was to be the organ of the Katipunan.” Bonifacio
agreed, and in mid-January 1896, the press was transferred to Valenzuela’s
residence at 35 Lavezares in San Nicolas. To assist with the actual printing,
Valenzuela recruited two of his town mates from Polo, Bulacan—Ulpiano
Fernandez, who earned his living as a printer with the paper, El Comercio; and
Faustino Duque, a student at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
After making these arrangements, however, Valenzuela very soon
decided that he “had no time to take charge of the printing” because of his
commitments as a physician and a Katipunan organizer. Nor, apparently, did
he retain much of his “directing” role. Responsibility both for producing and
for editing Kalayaan then passed to Emilio Jacinto, who went to the house
on Lavezares after his prelaw classes at the Universidad de Santo Tómas.
On the production side, the main problem was a shortage of type. Wishing
to compose the paper in accord with the new Tagalog orthography that
KALAYAAN 171
disdainful Spaniards called “Germanized” (alemanizada), the printers lacked

in particular the letters “k” and “w,” and also “h,” “y,” and the common
vowels. Jacinto was obliged to ask his mother, Josefa Dizon, for 20 pesos
so that he could buy type from Isabelo de los Reyes, who owned a printing
press, and Valenzuela bought and begged some more from employees of the
press of the Diario de Manila. Even then, Valenzuela recalls, there was only
enough type to set one page at a time, and the laborious process of setting all
eight pages took two months to complete. Though dated January 1896 on its
masthead, the paper did not finally appear until about the middle of March.
Valenzuela states that 2,000 copies were printed, but Epifanio de los
Santos puts the figure at just 1,000, of which 700 were distributed by Andres
Bonifacio in Manila and the surrounding towns; 200 in Cavite by Emilio
Aguinaldo; and the other 100 by Pio Valenzuela in Bulacan.
A second issue was then planned. KKK members were urged to submit
contributions; but in practice, Valenzuela says, Emilio Jacinto wrote the
issue single-handedly. Then the production process was bedeviled by the
continuing shortage of type and by acute fears that the press would be discov-
ered. Toward the end of June 1896, the press was moved out of Valenzuela’s
house on Lavezares to another house on the same street where his town
mates Faustino Duque and Ulpiano Fernandez watched over it. And when
the Katipunan was exposed in mid-August it was moved, again, to the house
of Alejandro Santiago a block north, at 6 Clavel. Soon afterwards, Duque
subsequently related, he and Fernandez received a tip-off that the Spanish
dragnet was closing in, and “without losing a single minute (we) destroyed
the press, the tools, the types, and the moulds. We also burned the papers.”4
Still lacking its eighth and final page, the second issue of Kalayaan went up in
flames, and the pieces Jacinto had written never appeared.
Physical appearance
Judging from Valenzuela’s recollections, the pages of Kalayaan measured
about 9 inches across and 12 inches tall, slightly larger than the A4 paper size
of today. As just mentioned, his memoirs state unequivocally that there were
8 pages. In a contemporary article, in El Heraldo de Madrid, Wenceslao Retana
indicates there were 32 pages, but given the length of the known contribu-
tions this seems most unlikely.5 It might be speculated that Retana had not
seen the paper himself, but had deduced from dispatches from Manila that
8 sheets of paper, each folded in the centre and printed on both sides, would
carry 32 sides of text.
Most of the text was in font size 12, with a lesser amount in size 10.
Title and masthead

Valenzuela claims it was he who chose the title. The word Kalayaan
had only gained currency in a political context since Marcelo H. del Pilar
employed it to render the Spanish word libertad when he translated José
Rizal’s essay, “El Amor Patrio,” for the Manila paper, Diariong Tagalog, in
1882.6 Rizal himself had subsequently used “kalayaan” to render the French
liberté when he translated the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the
Citizen,” the famous document approved by the National Assembly of France
in August 1789.7
Printed in Tagalog beneath the banner title, in a smaller typeface, was the
following:-
Issued at the end of each month.

Year 1—Yokohama, January 1896—No.1
Subscription price—half a peso for three months. To be paid in advance.

If purchased, 2 reales per issue.
Submissions must be signed by their authors.
“The news, as far as it can be told.”
Valenzuela claims credit, too, for Yokohama being put on the masthead
as the place of publication and for the impression being given that Marcelo
H. del Pilar was the editor of the paper. Whether Del Pilar’s name was actu-
ally printed is not clear, but the lead editorial purported to be his message
of greeting and solidarity to his compatriots sent from afar. According to
Retana, Governor General Ramón Blanco at first believed that the nuevo
papel filibustero had indeed emanated from Yokohama, and wanted to send
an envoy, Alfredo Villeta, to Japan to investigate. Blanco abandoned the idea,
however, when asked to authorize a budget for the mission of 800 pesos over
three months.
The price for copies bought individually—2 reales—was equivalent to 25
centavos. Readers who paid in advance for three months, it was intended,
should get a 50 percent discount.
Contents
No copy of the paper has yet been located, and with three signal excep-
tions— the poem, “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,” and the articles, “Ang dapat
mabatid ng mga tagalog,” and “Pahayag”—its incendiary contents are little
known.
KALAYAAN 173
In his Archivo, Retana gives the titles of six contributions to the paper: (i)
the lead editorial—“Sa mga kababayan,” (ii) “Pahayag” [signed Dimas Alan],
(iii) “¡Katuiran din naman!” [signed Madlangaway], (iv) “Ang dapat mabatid
ng mga tagalog” [signed Agap-Ito Bagum-bayan], (v) “Pagibig sa tinubuang
Bayan” [signed A.B. or A.I.B.], and (vi) “Balita.”
In an article in the Spanish daily, Heraldo de Madrid, however, Retana
seems to allude to two further pieces. One contribution to Kalayaan, he writes,
condemns the religious ideas taught by the friars as nothing but myths, and
the churches as places of idolatry and greed. Another piece, he says, salutes
the Cuban revolt against Spain and the victory of Japan in the Sino-Japanese
War of 1894−1895. Japan is hailed as a nation to be admired and emulated.8
None of these topics is treated in the Kalayaan texts so far located, so unless
they were carried as news items under the heading “Balita” they must have
been raised in contributions that are as yet unknown. Valenzuela, similarly,
remembers there being an article by Emilio Jacinto in Kalayaan, “urging the
Filipino people to revolt as the only recourse to secure liberty,” a description
that likewise does not fit any of the known items.
Texts
The texts reproduced on the following pages are as close as possible to
the originals as it is currently possible to get, ordered as Retana suggests they
appeared in Kalayaan’s pages:
Document 5.2 is a previously unpublished draft, in Tagalog, of a substan-

tial section of the lead editorial, “Sa mga kababayan,” together with a
new English translation of the entire piece.
Document 5.3 is a fresh English translation from the Spanish of the alle-
gorical piece, entitled “Pahayag,” of which the original Tagalog text
has never been found.
Document 5.4 is a previously unpublished Tagalog version, with an
English translation, of the article, “¡Katuiran din naman!”
Document 5.5 is the famous rallying call, “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga
tagalog,” with a fresh English translation.
Document 5.6 is the well-known poem, “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,”
with two Tagalog versions printed in parallel.
Documents 5.7 and 5.8 are previously unpublished poems by Emilio
Jacinto, “¡¡¡Gomez, Burgos, Zamora!!!” and “Sa Bayang tinubuan,”
that he most likely wrote for Kalayaan’s aborted second issue.
The Tagalog versions of “Sa mga kababayan,” “¡Katuiran din naman!”

and “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan” have been transcribed (with difficulty)
from three separate handwritten drafts found in the Madrid military archives.
It is unlikely that these versions are either the “original” first drafts or the
“final” texts that actually appeared in print. Most probably, in other words,
there were earlier drafts, and almost certainly there were later amendments.
In each case, it appears that the handwriting is not that of the person
to whom the piece is most commonly ascribed. “Sa mga kababayan,”
usually attributed to Emilio Jacinto, looks to be in the handwriting of
Andres Bonifacio. Conversely, a note on the front page of “Pagibig sa
tinubuang Bayan,” which is usually attributed to Bonifacio, is in the hand-
writing of Emilio Jacinto, as is the manuscript of “¡Katuiran din naman!”
which Valenzuela claims to have authored. But the identities of the respec-
tive penmen, of course, do not necessarily correspond with the identities of
the respective authors. The editorial, “Sa mga kababayan,” is unsigned, but
beneath “¡Katuiran din naman!” appears the pseudonym “Madlangaway,”
which Valenzuela said was his, and beneath the poem are the initials “A.B.,”
suggesting Andres Bonifacio. It is entirely plausible that the texts were copied,
one by Bonifacio and two by Jacinto, whilst Kalayaan was being prepared for
publication, perhaps for editing purposes and perhaps to make them more
legible for the printers. All that can be said for sure is that Bonifacio and
Jacinto collaborated very closely in putting the paper together, and that in
proclaiming the Katipunan’s revolutionary message they spoke as if with a
single voice.
1 Except where specified otherwise, the information on Kalayaan in these notes is derived from
six key sources: (i) Wenceslao E. Retana, comp., Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid:
Imprenta de la Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 132–48; (ii) Manuel Artigas y Cuerva,
Andrés Bonifacio y el “Katipunan” (Manila: Librería “Manila Filatelica,” 1911); (iii) Epifanio de
los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [in Spanish], Revista Filipina 2, no. 11 (November 1917): 59–82,
which was translated into English and published in Philippine Review 3, nos. 1−2 (January−
February 1918): 34–58; (iv) Epifanio de los Santos, “Emilio Jacinto,” Philippine Review 3,
no. 6 (June 1918): 412–30; (v) José P. Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan (Manila:
n.pub, 1935); and (vi) the various recollections of Pio Valenzuela, especially his “Memoirs”
(translated by Luis Serrano from an unpublished MS in Tagalog (c. 1914) and reproduced
as appendix A, in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1964),
91–109, and his conversations with Teodoro A. Agoncillo for the latter’s The Revolt of the
Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines
Press, 1956).
2 In a memoir written in 1899, Antonino Guevara, who joined the KKK in early August 1896,
also recalls believing at the time that “some 30,000” were “pledged to rise in arms.” Antonino
Guevara y Mendoza, History of One of the Initiators of the Filipino Revolution, translated from
the Spanish by O. D. Corpuz (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1988), v.
3 Gregoria de Jesus, “Mga Tala ng Aking Buhay,” in Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution,
with the Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus (Manila: Heirs of Julio Nakpil, 1964), 162.
KALAYAAN 175
4 “The Memoirs of Pio Valenzuela” [c. 1914], translated from the Tagalog by Luis Serrano,
reproduced as appendix A, in The Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes
Commission, 1964), 107–9; Gregorio F. Zaide, History of the Katipunan (Manila: Loyal Press,
1939), 49–51.
5 El Heraldo de Madrid, August 29, 1896. I am grateful to Roberto Blanco Andrés for sending me
a copy of this item.
6 Rolando M. Gripaldo, Liberty and Love: The Political and Ethical Philosophy of Emilio Jacinto
(Manila: De La Salle University Press, 2001), 10.
7 José Rizal, “Ang mga Karampatan ng Tao” (c. 1891−1892), in Escritos políticos e históricos
(Manila: Comisión Nacional del Centenario de José Rizal, 1961), 293–94.
8 El Heraldo de Madrid, August 29, 1896.
5.2
“Sa mga kababayan”
“Sa mga kababayan,” incomplete MS copy in Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5395,
leg.4.25; Spanish translation from Kalayaan, by Juan Caro y Mora, published under the title
“Á los compatriotas,” in Wenceslao E. Retana, comp., Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. 3
(Madrid: Imprenta de la Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 134–38.
“Sa mga kababayan” was the lead editorial in the sole issue of Kalayaan. Pio
Valenzuela, in whose house the paper was produced, recalls in his “Memoirs”
that “I wrote the first editorial and handed it to Emilio Jacinto for publica-
tion in the first issue” [but when] he “showed me the proof of the first page
[I saw to my surprise] that the printed editorial was not the one I had given
him but another by Marcelo H. del Pilar in La Solidaridad,” the organ of the
propaganda movement in Spain that had ceased publication in 1895. This
editorial, Valenzuela continues, “was translated into Tagalog by Jacinto, and
was much better than the one I had prepared. I told Jacinto that I almost
believed that the real editor of [Kalayaan] was Del Pilar himself. There were
various Bulaqueños who knew the Tagalog of Del Pilar, and they declared the
language used by Jacinto in his translation resembled Del Pilar’s perfectly.”1
In his conversations many years later with Agoncillo, Valenzuela varied this
account slightly, recollecting that Jacinto based “Sa mga kababayan” on a
number of editorials by Del Pilar rather than just one.2
In the piece Del Pilar, as channelled by Jacinto, sends his salutations
from “the other side of the wide ocean,” laments that Spain had scorned La
Solidaridad’s patient supplications, and urges his compatriots now to support
the cause of Kalayaan and take charge of their own destiny.
The manuscript copy of “Sa mga kababayan” that survives in Madrid,

which is transcribed below, is in Bonifacio’s handwriting, not Jacinto’s, but
this does not necessarily mean that Bonifacio was actually the author. It is
entirely plausible that Bonifacio copied out the text whilst Kalayaan was
being prepared for publication, perhaps for editing purposes and perhaps to
make it more legible for the printers.
There is no way of knowing for certain whether the Madrid manuscript
was the final draft prior to the editorial being set in type, or whether there
were later amendments. Nevertheless, any such amendments can only have
been minor, because the text of the manuscript clearly does correspond very
substantially with the Spanish translation (made from a printed copy of
Kalayaan) that was published by Wenceslao Retana in 1897.3
The manuscript copy, however, is incomplete. It has seven paragraphs,
whereas the Spanish translation has ten. To give at least an indication of
how the piece concludes, the last three paragraphs have been translated into
English below from the Spanish translation.
Tagalog Text
Sa mga kababayan
Buhat dito sa kabila ng malawak na dagat, sa sinapupunan at pagkakandili ng

ibang lupa at ibang mga kautusan, sa inyo mga kababayan ang tungo ng aming unang
bati, ang kaunaunahang salita na iguhit ng aming kamay, ang unang himutok na
pumulas sa aming dibdib, ang unang pag bigkas ng aming mga labi…sa lahat ay sa
inyo.
Inyo ngang tangapin, at masarapin tunay ng inyong kalooban, sa pagkat
nagbubuhat sa tapat naming puso, na wala nang iba pang itinitibok kung di isang
matinding pag ibig sa tinubuang Bayan at tunay na pag daramdam sa pagkaapi at
inaabot nyang kadustaan.
Kapagkarakang narinig ng aming mga tainga ang inyong mga pag daing,
kapagkarakang mapag malas ng aming mga mata ang inyong pagkaaping walang
makatulad at mabangis na kahirapan, agad nang nukal na kusa sa aming kalooban
ang isang banal at dakilang nasa, na kayo’y maibangon sa pagkalugmok at pukawin
ang inyong puso sa pagkahimbing at malusong pagkagupiling o maampat kaya ang
matinding dagok ng sakit at kalumbayang inyong tinitiis.
Tunay na kami ay umasa din, gaya ng makapal na mga kababayan na nagakala
na ang inang Espana ay siyang tanging may karapatang mag bigay ng kaginhawahan
nitong Katagalugan. Nguni’t ang panahung lumipas, ang patung patung na pag ulol,
ang walang pangitang silo ng daga na sa aking ininumang, ang mga pangakung hindi
KALAYAAN 177
tinutupad, ay siyang omuntag [?] sa aming payapang at katiwalang kalooban at nag

pakilalang tayo’y siyang gumawa at may yaman at umiasa’t antain sa ating lakas na
sarili ikabubuhay.
¿Ano pa ang inaantay at hinahangad? Tatlong dang taung mahigit na pag titiis
sa bigat ng pamatok ng pagkaalipin, malaung panahung wala tayong ginawa kungdi
ang lumuhogluhog at humingi sa kanila ng kahit gubahit na pag lingap at kaunting
pagtingin, gayon ma’y ¿ano ang nakikita nating isinasagut at iginaganti sa ating pag
mamakaawa?Wala kung di ang tayo’y itap [?] at isadlak sa lalung kamatayan.
Pitong taung walang tigil na ang “La Solidaridad” ay kusang nagpumilit na
iniubos ang buong lakas niya, upang tamuhin natin ang mga matamo ng kaunting
karapatan sa kabuhayan ng tao, at ¿ano ang inabot niyang pala sa mga pagud at
panahung ginugol? Pangako, daya, alipusta at mapait na pagkamatay......
Ngayong hapu na ang ating nag taas na kamay sa laging pag luhog; ngayong na
namamaus na’t unti unting na wala ang sigaw ng ating mapanghan na tingig sa laging
pag daing, ngayong inaagaw na halus ang ating hininga sa bangis ng hirap, aming
itinayu ang yukong ulong na gawi na sa pag suko, at kumuhang lakas sa matibay
na pananalig namin sa tunay na katuiran, na maimulat ang kaisipan ng aming mga
kababayan at maipakitang malinaw sa kanila na ang salitang Inang Espana ay isang
pag limang at hibo lamang, na maitutulad, sa basahang pangbalut sa tanikalang
kaladkad; walang ina’t walang anak; wala kung di isang lahing lumulupig at isang
lahing palulupig, isang bayang nagtatamasa at nabubusog sa di niya pagud at isang
bayang nagpapagud sa di niya pinakikinabangan at ikinabubusog.
English Translation
To the Compatriots
From here on the other side of the wide ocean, under the bosom and protection
of another land and other laws, to you, compatriots, is sent our first greeting, the first
word written by our hand, the first sigh that leaves our breast, the first enunciation,
too, of our lips... everything is to you.
Receive it then, and truly savor it in your being, because it comes from our sincere
heart, which beats with nothing but an intense love for the native land and a true
compassion for her in the oppression she suffers.
Readily our ears can hear your complaints; readily our eyes so often have the
misfortune to see your singular oppression and cruel hardship; immediately and spon-
taneously there springs in our soul a great and exalted desire that you may rise up
from your prostration and rouse your hearts from their deep and restful slumber, and
thus bring to an end the heavy blows of pain and your woeful tribulations.
Truly we also hoped, as a great number of compatriots believed, that mother
Spain would be able to bring prosperity to this Katagalugan. But time passes; the
follies accumulate, the rat trap in which I am always the bait, the unfulfilled promises
have shattered our peaceful and trusting nature and made us realize that we must be
the ones to act and create wealth and that we must hope and wait on our own strength
to achieve our welfare.
What else is to be expected and desired? Over three hundred years suffering the
heavy yoke of slavery, yet for a long time we did nothing but beseech and ask them
for just a little consideration and a little mercy. And then what answers were seen in
response to our supplications and pitifulness? None, except that we were sent into
exile or even to our deaths.
For seven years La Solidaridad worked incessantly and exhausted its whole
strength in order that we might achieve some modest right to a human existence. And
yet what was the result of the expended time and effort? Promises, deceit, scorn, and
bitter death….
Now we are weary of raising our hands aloft in constant supplication; now the cry
of our mournful voice in constant complaint is gradually ceasing; and now our breath
has almost been taken away from us by the cruelty of our suffering; we raise our bowed
heads, accustomed to being submissive, and drawing strength from our firm belief in
true reason, we can open the minds of our fellow countrymen and show them clearly
that the phrase Mother Spain is only a distraction and deceit that can be compared
to a rag wrapped around encumbering shackles; that there is no mother and no child;
that there is nothing else than a race that oppresses and a race that is oppressed; a
people that tirelessly enriches and satiates itself and a people that is tired of depriva-
tion and hunger.
Note: From this point onwards, the Tagalog text has not been located. The remainder of the
editorial, as published in Spanish translation in Retana’s Archivo, was many years ago translated
in turn into English by my father, Geoffrey Walter Richardson, and is as follows:-
Too well we know that this must cause great misgivings and fears, must give rise
to a cruel persecution and all kinds of torments and sufferings for our compatriots
there. But what do one, or five, or ten, or a hundred, signify in comparison with a
million brothers? We firmly believe, moreover, that these abominations and vilenesses
will come to us first from the arms of collaborators, as was already predicted by the
wisest, most noble, and most esteemed of the Tagalogs [José Rizal] when they notified
him of the arrest of those who were exiled: “Weep, I tell them—the son for the disgrace
of the father, the father for the disgrace of the son, the brother for the brother—but he
who loves the country where he was born, and considers what is necessary to better it,
should rejoice, because by this road alone can freedom now be attained.”
KALAYAAN 179
And now that we have shown our aim and purpose, we will not end these inad-
equate lines without sharing your lamentations. We see the truth, and in our hearts
and breasts we have a great and deep desire that you help us in the publication and
propaganda of Kalayaan, above all amongst the unfortunate people of the country, for
the insults they suffer are the cause and motive of this publication.
And if by chance they could not use it for any greater purpose, may it at least
serve as a cloth to wipe the tears that fall from their eyes and the sweat that runs from
their humbled brows.

[c. 1914] and reproduced as appendix A, in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National
Heroes Commission, 1964), 106.
(Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 79.
3 The most evident disparity is in the second sentence of the fourth paragraph, which could be
rendered from the Retana version into English as, “But time passes; the multiple follies and
the unfulfilled promises have clarified and awakened our whole view of things, and made us
realize that the blood of the Spaniards here or living in the Archipelago is the same blood as
that of the Spaniards who live in Spain.”
5.3
“Pahayag”
Dimas Alan, “Pahayag,” translated into Spanish by Juan Caro y Mora under the title
“Manifiesto,” in Wenceslao E. Retana, ed., Archivo del bibliofilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid: Imprenta
de la viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 138−44.
“Pahayag,” the longest of the known contributions to Kalayaan, imagines a

conversation between a patriotic youth and a shadowy apparition of Liberty,
who regrets she has not visited the Islands for over three hundred years. The
youth describes the sorrows of the Tagalog people, and beseeches Liberty to
stay and help them be free.
Pio Valenzuela recalls that in writing the piece, Emilio Jacinto took inspi-
ration from a book called, Las Ruinas de Palmira.1 This was a Spanish edition
of Les Ruines, ou méditations sur les révolutions des empires, by the French
philosopher Constantin-François de Volney. Published in 1791, Volney’s work
became a late Enlightenment classic, and in various translations remained

influential throughout the nineteenth century. It made a great impression on
Abraham Lincoln, and Andres Bonifacio reportedly had a personal copy that
he donated to the Katipunan’s small library.2 Aside from reflecting upon the
pretensions and transience of empires, Volney’s discourse affirms the equality
of men before the law, advocates the overthrow of tyranny, and argues that in
matters of religion the truth cannot be known beyond the law of nature, by
which God governs the universe.
Unfortunately, the original Tagalog text of “Pahayag” has never been
located, not even a fragment or a draft, and historians who have summarized
or discussed the piece have been obliged to rely on the Spanish translation
published in 1897, by Wenceslao Retana, which is transcribed here beneath a
fresh translation into English. So far as is known, the text has not previously
been translated into English in its entirety, although extracts are to be found
in several studies.
English Translation from the Spanish3
Manifesto
It was a dark night.

Not a single star shone in the dark sky of this awful night.
His head bowed, his face in his hands, a young man sighed.
The room in which the youth was to be found was lit by a tinghoy [a native oil
lamp], which flickered and whose light, already dim, was in danger of dying.
Just as the youth was about to succumb to his anger and to the terrible idea that
constantly tortured his heart, that seemed not to subside and that struggled to leave
his breast, at that very moment he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, and could hear a
voice soft, smooth, and sad, that questioned him thus:
“Why are you weeping? What pain or affliction rends your heart, spoils your
youth, and saps your strength?”
He raised his head and to his astonishment he discerned in his presence, only
about four steps away, a shadowy apparition that seemed to be enveloped in an aura
of white vapor.
“Ay! compassionate shadow! My sorrows have no remedy, no consolation. If I
told you about them, you would say or think that they are not important. But still, why
have you come to interrupt my tears?”
“How long,” replied the shadow, “will ignorance and stupidity still be the cause of
the travails and sufferings of men and nations?”
“How long will intellects still be held back from the heights of judgment and
KALAYAAN 181
thinking, and kept in blindness? How long will people not even know me, and how
long will they confidently hope that true and perfect happiness can be spread across
the face of the earth without me?”
“Who are you, then, who enjoys so much power and who offers such wonderful
things?”
“Woe to you! Does this mean that you don’t yet recognize me? But this does not
shock or surprise me, for it has been more than three hundred years since I visited the
land where you live. It is the fate of your people to worship the false idols of religion
and of men, those close to them, and so all knowledge of me has been erased from
your memory....”
“Do you want to know who I am? Then listen: I am the source of all the things
that are greatest, most beautiful and laudable, most dignified and precious, to which
humanity can aspire; for me crowned heads fall; for me thrones are toppled or seized,
and crowns of gold destroyed; in my cause was fought and extinguished the flame of
the ‘Holy Inquisition’ in which the friars tortured thousands upon thousands of men;
for my cause men unite, each one forgetting his own personal interest, and seeking
nothing but the common good; for me slaves are rescued and lifted up from the mire
of degradation and shame, the pride and malice of their cruel masters broken. Anyone
who wishes can embrace me. The peoples under my protection witness progress,
betterment, and abundance in everything, as are due to me in Japan, America, and
other places; and from me springs the thinking that probes and discovers the secrets
of science. Wherever I rule, tears of suffering are dried, and chests once drowned by
tyranny and cruelty can again breathe freely. My name is Liberty.”
As he listened to this, the youth was stunned and transfixed. And after a short
while, he asked:
“Oh splendid Liberty! Since your attributes and achievements have no equal,
I shall shake off the sadness that has caused so many tears to flow from my eyes,
which stem from nothing else than the sufferings of the land where I was born. If you
observed the insults, the deprivations, the denials and violations of rights, then surely
you would take pity on the land and take her once again under your loving, even-
handed and surely necessary protection. Ay, my brothers are going to speak!
“‘I am hungry,’ they say, and the one who teaches me to feed the hungry replies:
‘Eat the leftovers and the crumbs of our savory fare and our sumptuous board.’”
“My brothers say: ‘I am thirsty,’ and the one who teaches me to give to drink to
the thirsty replies: ‘Drink your tears and the sweat, and we shall make sure that you
have enough of both.’”
“My brothers clamor: ‘I am without clothes, completely naked,’ and the one who
directs us to clothe the naked replies: ‘Then I shall at once wrap your whole body in a
coat of chains, one on top of the other.’”
“My brothers say: ‘My honor has been violated by a priest, by a Spaniard, by a
rich man,’ and the judge who is portrayed as a pillar of justice will reply: ‘That man is a
bandit, a brigand, and a bad man. To jail with him!’”
“My brothers will say: ‘A little love, a little leniency and compassion,’ and the
superiors and chiefs who govern judicially and spiritually will at once reply: ‘That man
is a filibuster, an enemy of God and Mother Spain: to Iligan with him!....’”
“Observe and take note, Liberty, look and see what my heart feels and whether
there is reason to cry….”
“You must be affected and cry,” Liberty responded in a mocking voice, as if
imitating the youth’s doleful tone: “Cry! Crying must wait until the wound no longer
bleeds, when the tyrants no longer have lives that can be cut short, when the shameful
execution of Fathers Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora and the exile of Rizal no longer
demand a just and righteous vengeance. But whilst there is still blood in the veins,
and your enemies are still living, and there are still iniquities to be avenged, to cry in
a room, in the silence and darkness of the night, is not admissible; it is not the proper
thing for a youth to do…it is not right.”
“What, then, do you want me to do? We the indios have become accustomed to
this; from our mother’s womb we are taught to endure and suffer all kinds of travails,
insults, and rejections. How much more do you want us to undergo without crying?
We are accustomed to nothing else, it has become our habit.”
“Not everything that is customary is good,” Liberty retorted, there are bad habits,
which a man must always disdain.
The youth was going to answer, but he paused, not knowing whether it was better
to keep silent or not. Liberty then carried on:
“What I have shown you is the truth, and there is no just law that can overthrow
it, for what is opposed to the right and just cannot be just and right; that would be
twisted logic. So, listen. In another time, when the good customs of your ancestors
had not yet been sunk in cowardice or suppressed, the Tagalogs or native people lived
in the shade of my affection, and in my bosom the land was happy and breathed the
air that gave life and strength to her body. Her knowledge was enhanced by my light
and she was respected by her neighbors. But one day, which must be execrated and
cursed, Slavery arrived saying that she was virtue, rectitude and justice, and she prom-
ised glory to all who would believe in her.”
“Although she came disguised in a mask of loveliness and goodness, and was
calm and affectionate in her behavior, I recognized her. I knew that the happiness
of the country was over, that she had deceived your unfortunate people… and your
brothers believed in her and practically adored her… and forgot me, even seemed to
hate me and be annoyed by me…But now your sighs have reached me, and filled me
with sadness, which is why I have come. And now I must say farewell and be on my
way.”
“Wait, Liberty—begged the youth on seeing that she was taking her leave and
getting ready to go…. Just listen to me a moment: I have already described to you the
KALAYAAN 183
excessive wrongs that my people suffer and endure: would it not be possible for you to
have compassion and again protect them?”
“I understand everything, even though you haven’t said it, because my ears hear
nothing else; the sorrow that my heart feels is indeed heavy and deep, and those who
are wronged and afflicted are precisely the ones that I seek out and assist. But he who
has no affection for me and who does not love me, he who does not know how to die in
my cause, is not worthy of my protection and shelter. You can tell this to your compa-
triots or fellow countrymen.”
Scarcely had Liberty finished saying this, when the oil lamp stopped glowing, its
flame, which had been flickering for want of oil…
Next day, when the brightness of the sun dispelled the darkness and obscurity of
the night, in the young man’s eyes there was seen shining a smoldering ambition.
DIMAS ALAN
Spanish Translation
Manifiesto
Era noche oscura.

Ni una sola estrella brillaba en el cielo oscuro de esta noche horrible.
Caída la cabeza y sostenida la cara por ambas manos, suspiraba un joven.
La habitación donde se hallaba el joven dicho estaba alumbrada por un tinghoy
(candil del país), que oscilaba, y cuya luz ya mortecina amenazaba apagarse.
En el momento que obedeciendo á la cólera y á la idea tremenda y constante que
torturaba su corazón, que no parecía sino que se hundía y que forceaba por salirse
del pecho, en este mismo momento sintió que le tocaban suavemente en un hombro,
dejándose oír una voz suave, armoniosa y triste, que le preguntaba de este modo:
-¿Por que lloras? ¿Qué pena ó aflicción destroza tu corazón y aja y abate tu
juventud y fuerza?
Levantó la cabeza y llenóse de estupor: tenía en su presencia y se le acercó hasta
como á unos cuatro pasos, y vislumbraba como una sombra que le pareció envuelta en
vapor blanco en una aureola.
-¡Ay, sombra piadosa!, mis tristezas no tienen remedio, no tienen consuelo. Si te
las digo, dirás tú ó creerás que no tienen importancia. ¿Por qué has venido tú todavía á
suspender mi llanto?
-¿Hasta cuándo—replicó la sombra—la ignorancia y la estupidez serán la causa de
los trabajos y penalidades de los hombres y de los pueblos?
-¿Hasta cuándo seguirá remontándose atrevido en ceguedad del entendimiento á
la cumbre del juicio y del pensamiento? ¿Hasta cuándo no han de conocerme y hasta
cuándo han de esperar confiadamente en que fuera de mí hay quien puede extender la
verdadera y perfecta alegría por la faz de la tierra?
-¿Quién, pues, eres tú que gozas de tanto poder y tan admirable te presentas en
tus ofrecimientos?
-¡Ay de ti! ¿Es decir que tú no me conoces aún? Empero no es de admirar ni
extrañarme debo de esto, puesto que hace ya más de trescientos años que no he visitado
la tierra que habitas, y es voluntad de tu raza la de adorar falsamente los ídolos falsos
de la religión y de los hombres, sus prójimos, ha llegado á borrar en vuestra memoria
el conocimiento de mi….
-¿Quieres saber quién soy yo? Pues escucha: Yo soy el principio de todas las cosas
más grandes, más hermosas y más laudables, dignas y preciosas, de que puede sacar
provecho la humanidad; por mi caen las testas coronadas; por mi se derrocan los
tronos y varían de sitio y se destrozan sus coronas de oro; por mi causa se derrumbó
y murió la hoguera de la “Santa Inquisición,” donde torturaban los frailes miles
y miles de hombres; por causa mía se unen los hombres y se olvida cada uno de su
propio interés y no mira más que el bien común; por mí son rescatados los esclavos y
levantados del cieno de la degradación y vergüenza y quebrantan la soberbia y malicia
de sus crueles señores; á mí se debe el que gusten y saboreen los pueblos que están
bajo mi amparo el alivio y mejoras y abundancia en todo, como se me debe en el Japón,
en América y otros puntos; por mi es llevado el pensamiento que sonda y descubre las
profundidades de la ciencia; doquier que yo reino se secan las lágrimas y respira con
franqueza el pecho ahogado por la tiranía y crueldad. Mi nombre es Libertad.
Estupefacto y cortado quedó el joven al escuchar esto. Y después al poco rato
preguntó:
-Puesto que tus bienes y gracia no tienen igual, ¡oh excelente Libertad!, voy á
desechar la tristeza que háme hecho derramar tantas lágrimas de mis ojos, cuya causa
no es otra que los sufrimientos del suelo en que nací; si observaras los escarnios,
las necesidades, los derechos que ha padecido y sufrido, de seguro que habrías de
compadecerte de él y le acogerías otra vez con tu cariñosa y desinteresada cuanto
necesaria protección. ¡Ay, mis hermanos van á hablar!:
«Yo, dicen, tengo hambre, y el que me enseña á dar de comer al hambriento,
responde:- Cómete las sobras y las migajas que quedan de nuestros sabrosos manjares,
de nuestras opíparas mesas.»
Mis hermanos dicen: «Yo tengo sed, y el que me enseña á dar de beber al sediento,
responde:- Bébete tus lágrimas y el sudor, porque para eso las procuramos hacer que
sean crecidos. »
Mis hermanos claman: «Yo estoy en cueros, desnudo por completo, y el que nos
manda vestir al desnudo, responde:- Ahora mismo voy á envolverte todo el cuerpo
rodeándole de cadenas, unas sobre otras. »
Mis hermanos dicen: «Pisoteado veo mi honor por un cura, por un castila, por un
KALAYAAN 185
rico, y el juez que figura ser la columna que sustenta de la justicia, responderá:- Ese es
un tulisán, un bandido y un mal hombre ¡á la cárcel! »
Mis hermanos dirán: «Un poco de amor, un poco de clemencia y de piedad, y á la
vez responderán los superiores y jefes que gobiernan judicial y espiritualmente:-Ese es
un filibustero, un enemigo de Dios y de la Madre España: ¡a Iligan con él!.... »
Nota y observa bien, Libertad; observa y nota si debe sentirse mi corazón y tiene
causa por qué llorar….
-Debe sentir y llorar… - respondió Libertad con acento burlón y como imitando
su mismo modo plañidero de hablar. - ¡Llorar! Llorar se debe cuando de la herida ya
no hay más sangre que correr, cuando los infames ya no tuvieran una vida que poder
cortar, cuando la soberbia y desvergüenza de la ejecución del P. Burgos, de Gómez y
Zamora, el destierro de Rizal, no pidieran una justa y diligente venganza. Pero si hay
sangre en las venas, hay vida en los enemigos y hay iniquidades que piden vengarse, el
llorar en una habitación, y en el silencio y obscuridad de la noche, no se concibe; no es
lo más propio en un joven…. no es les lo propio.
-¿Qué quieres, pues, que yo haga? Nosotros los indios nos hemos ya acostumbrado
á eso; desde el vientre de nuestra madre nos enseñan ya á sufrir y padecer todo género
de trabajos, desprecios y negativas. ¿Qué más quieres que hagamos sino llorar? Á esto
nada más está acostumbrada nuestra voluntad.
—No todo aquello á que se está acostumbrado es bueno—replicó Libertad; - hay
malas inclinaciones y éstas son las que deben desecharse siempre del hombre.
El joven iba á contestar, pero se detuvo al no acertar ya á decir nada ni tener más
que declarar. En esto prosiguió Libertad diciendo:-
-Lo que yo te he manifestado, esa es la verdad; y no hay derecho que pueda echar
esto abajo, porque no es posible que sea justo y recto lo que se opone á lo recto y justo,
si no es lo torcido. Por lo tanto, escucha. En otro tiempo, cuando aun no estaba hundido
en la cobardía y aislamiento o detención las buenas costumbres de tus antepasados,
había yo amparado al pueblo tagalo ó indígena debajo ó á la sombra de mi cariño, y
en mi regazo él era feliz y respiraba la brisa que le daba vida y fuerzas á su cuerpo; se
extendía por mi claridad su entendimiento y era respetada por sus convecinos. Pero un
día, que debe ser execrado y maldito, llegó la Esclavitud diciendo que ella era la virtud,
el derecho, ó la justicia, y prometió la gloria á todo aquel que en ella creyese.
-No obstante que ella venía disfrazada con la máscara de la hermosura y bondad, y
tranquila y cariñosa en sus movimientos ó acciones, yo la llegué á conocer; conocí que
la alegría del pueblo era concluída, que se había clavado en tu desdichado pueblo..., y
tus hermanos la dieron crédito y casi la adoraron… y á mi me olvidaron y hasta parece
que me aborrecieron con enfado y…. Llegaron á mi tus suspiros, y penetrada yo de
justo dolor, hé aquí la causa de yo haber venido. Y ahora me retiro y despídome ya.
-Espérate, Libertad—suplicó el joven al ver que se despedía y se disponía á
marcharse… Escúchame todavía un momento: héte ya explicado los agravios excesivos
que sufre y padece mi pueblo: ¿no sería posible que tú te compadecieras y volvieras á
ampararle?
-Compréndolo todo, aunque no lo has dicho, porque no oyen otra cosa mis oídos,
ni ven otra cosa mis ojos: mucho y grande es, en efecto, lo que siente mi corazón, y
precisamente lo que voy persiguiendo y buscando son los agraviados y cuantos se
hallan afligidos. Empero no es digno de mi protección y amparo el que no me tiene
afición y no me ama, el que no sabe morir por mi causa. Puedes decirles esto á tus
compatriotas ó conterruños.
Apenas concluyó de decir esto, al punto dejó de lucir el candil, cuya llama, que
oscilaba por falta de aceite….
Al otro día, cuando la claridad del sol borró las tinieblas y obscuridad de la noche,
en los ojos del joven se veía brillar una cosa así un lento proyecto.
DIMAS ALAN

[c. 1914] and reproduced as appendix A, in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National
Heroes Commission, 1964), 106.
2 Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio,” Revista Filipina 2, no. 11 (November 1917): 61.
3 This translation is my own, but to some extent it is a collation and assemblage of four partial
translations: (i) Epifanio de los Santos, “Emilio Jacinto,” Philippine Review 3, no. 6 (June
1918): 419–20; (ii) Reynaldo Clemeña Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the
Philippines, 1840–1910 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1979), 109–13; (iii)
Vicente L. Rafael, The Promise of the Foreign: Nationalism and the Technics of Translation in the
Philippines (Pasig City: Anvil, 2006), 185–90; and (iv) a translation of some sections of the
text made by Geoffrey Walter Richardson.
5.4
Pio Valenzuela
“¡Katuiran din naman!”
Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5677, leg. 1.93.
Pio Valenzuela recalls in his memoirs that he wrote an article for

Kalayaan on “the cruelty inflicted by the priest of San Francisco del
Monte and the Guardia Civil upon a poor barrio lieutenant.”* The
surviving draft, however, as transcribed below, is in the hand of Emilio
KALAYAAN 187
Jacinto. It seems likely that Jacinto copied out the text whilst Kalayaan
was being prepared for publication, presumably for editing purposes.
Tagalog Text
¡Katuiran din naman!
Narito’t aming ibabalita ang isang nangyaring dapat na isiping mahinahon ng

lahat ng tagalog. Ito’y isang bagay na nakamamangha’t nakapupoot, at gayon ma’y
siyang nangyayari sa araw-araw.
Sa kagabihan ng ikadalawangpuo’t apat na araw ng Diciembreng nagdaan, ang
teniente del barrio sa S. Francisco del Monte ay nasasabahay niya’t humahatul sa
hablahang nangyari sa dalawang babai. Anopa’t niyang kasalukuyang gumaganap
ng kaniyang katungkulan, dadating ang kura’t siya’y tinapatan sa bintana at sabay
na tinungayaw ng katakut-takut, na sa kapangitang lubha ng mga sinabi ay di namin
maitala.
Datapua’t di nagkasiya ito sa galit o lupit niya, marahil, kaya’t sunod-sunod na
pinutukan ang teniente del barrio ng isang revolver na dala sa kamay. Niyang makita
nito, na siya’y talagang papatayin, at naramdaman niyang sumayad sa noo niya
ang ikatlong putok, kaniyang sinibasib [?] ang inagaw ang revolver at katulong ng
mga anak niya’t asawa kanilang ginapus, sapagka’t sa paraang ito lamang kanilang
mapipigilan ang sa among na kabangisan.
Sa ganitong anyo, sila’y inabutan ng mga hukom na galing sa Maynila, at agad
agad na dinakip ang buong kamaganakan at mga kaibigan ng teniente del barrio,
sampung bata’t matanda, babai’t lalaki. Ang cura’y tahimik na umui sa convento ng
kaniyang mga kasamahan sa Maynila.
Sa mga tanungan at usisaang nangyari ay lumitaw na ang isang babai ang
lumalabas na may sala sa hatulan ay kalunya ng among. (¡!)
Tignan ngayon ng bayan ang kabaitan, kalinisan at kapakumbabaan ng mga
pinupoon niyang kahalili ng Dios.
At tignan din naman ang gawa ng nagaakay sa kaniya sa landas ng katuiran, na
ang maglilingko’y ipinagtatangol at pinapagdurusa ang nilulupig nito. At salamat
kung ito’y sukat na; malapit na mangyari, ayon sa mga alingawngaw at dating ugali,
na ang teniente del barrio at ang anak na babaing nito, na nag ngangalan ng Pia, ay
itapun ang isa sa ibang pulo, at ang isa sa iba; sapagka’t ito’y siyang kinakailangan sa
mga ayaw papatay sa ama ng kalulua.
Madlangaway
English Translation
Reason yet again!
We will tell news here about an incident that all Tagalogs need to think about
calmly. It is an astonishing and infuriating matter, and yet such things happen every
day.
On the evening of the 24th of December last, the barrio lieutenant in San
Francisco del Monte was in his house adjudicating on a dispute between two women.
Whilst he was thus engaged in his duty, the parish priest arrived at the window and
shouted some fearful profanities mixed with harsh words that we cannot write.
But then, seemingly unable to contain his anger or cruelty, he shot at the barrio
lieutenant with a revolver he had been carrying in his hand. Seeing this, and believing
that he would really be killed, and feeling the third shot graze his forehead, the barrio
lieutenant lunged forward, grabbed the revolver and with the help of his children and
wife tied the priest up, because this was the only way they could stop the ferocious
father.
At this moment, some justices of the peace arrived from Manila and immediately
arrested the whole family and some friends of the barrio lieutenant, ten people, young
and old, women and men. The priest quietly returned home to the convento of his
confrères in Manila.
As a result of questions and investigations, it was discovered that the woman who
was found to be at fault in the dispute was the mistress of the master (¡!).
Now the people can see the goodness, propriety, and humility of the lords who
are the representatives of God.
And also to be seen is a duty to lead the people on the path of reason, to support
and defend them and to punish whoever oppresses them. It would be good if this were
all. But soon it will happen, according to rumour and previous custom, that the barrio
lieutenant and his daughter, named Pia, will be deported, one to one island and one
to another, because this is what is deemed necessary for those who do not want to kill
the father of souls.
Madlangaway
* Pio Valenzuela, “Memoirs” [c. 1914], translated by Luis Serrano from an unpublished manu-
script in Tagalog and reproduced as appendix A, in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila:
5.5
KALAYAAN 189

“Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog”
José P. Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan (Manila: n.pub, 1935), 6–7.
This famous patriotic rallying call was published under the nom de plume
Agapito Bagumbayan. The Tagalogs, it declares, have supported and
sustained “the race of Legazpi” for over three hundred years, but have been
rewarded with treachery, “false beliefs,” and dishonor. “To eyes long blind,”
the light of reason has now revealed this harsh injustice and shown the sepa-
rate, self-reliant road the Tagalogs must take.
The authenticity and authorship of this piece is discussed in detail in
appendix E. There it is concluded beyond reasonable doubt that the Tagalog
text transcribed here is authentic, but some uncertainty is acknowledged as
to whether it was authored by Bonifacio or Jacinto (or both), and whether it
is exactly the same as the version actually published in Kalayaan or a prepub-
lication draft.
Tagalog Text
ANG DAPAT MABATID NG MGA TAGALOG
Ytong Katagalugan na pinamamahalaan ng unang panahon ng ating tunay na

mga kababayan niyaong hindi pa tumutungtong sa mga lupaing ito ang mga kastila
ay nabubuhay sa lubos na kasaganaan, at kaguinhawahan. Kasundo niya ang mga
kapit bayan at lalung lalo na ang mga taga Japon sila’y kabilihan at kapalitan ng
mga kalakal malabis ang pag yabong ng lahat ng pinagkakakitaan, kaya’t dahil dito’y
mayaman mahal ang kaasalan ng lahat, bata’t matanda at sampung mga babae ay
marunong bumasa at sumulat ng talagang pagsulat nating mga tagalog. Dumating
ang mga kastila at dumulog na nakipagkaibigan. Sa mabuti nilang hikayat na di
umano, tayo’y aakain sa lalung kagalingan at lalung imumulat ang ating kaisipan,
ang nasabing nagsisipamahala ay ng yaring nalamuyot sa tamis ng kanilang dila
sa paghibo. Gayon man sila’y ipinailalim sa talagang kaugalian ng mga tagalog
na sinaksihan at pinapagtibay ang kanilang pinagkayarian sa pamamaguitan ng
isang panunumpa na kumuha ng kaunting dugo sa kanikanilang mga ugat, at yao’y
inihalu’t ininom nila kapua tanda ng tunay at lubos na pagtatapat na di mag tataksil
sa pinagkayarian. Ytoy siang tinatawag na “Pacto de Sangre” ng haring Sikatuna at ni

Legaspi na pinaka katawan ng hari sa España.
Buhat ng ito’y mangyari ay bumibilang na ngayon sa tatlong daang taon
mahiguit na ang lahi ni Legaspi ay ating binubuhay sa lubos na kasaganaan, ating
pinagtatamasa at binubusog, kahit abutin natin ang kasalatan at kadayukdukan;
iguinugugol natin ang yaman dugo at sampu ng buhay sa pagtatangol sa kanila;
kinakahamok natin sampu ng tunay na mga kababayan na aayaw pumayag na sa
kanilay pasakop, at gayon din naman nakipagbaka tayo sa mga Ynsik at taga Holanda
na nagbalang umagaw sa kanila nitong Katagalugan.
Ngayon sa lahat ng ito’y ano ang sa mga guinawa nating paggugugol nakikitang
kaguinhawahang ibinigay sa ating Bayan?Ano ang nakikita nating pagtupad sa
kanilang kapangakuan na siang naging dahil ng ating pag gugugol! Wala kung di
pawang kataksilan ang ganti sa ating mga pagpapala at mga pagtupad sa kanilang
ipinangakung tayo’y lalung guiguisingin sa kagalingan ay bagkus tayong binulag,
inihawa tayo sa kanilang hamak na asal, pinilit na sinira ang mahal at magandang
ugali ng ating Bayan; Yminulat tayo sa isang maling pagsampalataya at isinadlak sa
lubak ng kasamaan ang kapurihan ng ating Bayan; at kung tayo ‘y mangahas humingi
ng kahit gabahid na lingap, ang naguiguing kasagutan ay ang tayo’y itapon at ilayo sa
piling ng ating minamahal na anak, asawa at matandang magulang. Ang bawat isang
himutok na pumulas sa ating dibdib ay itinuturing na isang malaking pagkakasala at
karakarakang nilalapatan ng sa hayop na kabangisan.
Ngayon wala ng maituturing na kapanatagan sa ating pamamayan; ngayon
lagui ng guinagambala ang ating katahimikan ng umaalingawngaw na daing
at pananambitan bunton hininga at hinagpis ng makapal na ulila, bao’t mga
magulang ng mga kababayang ipinanganyaya ng mga manlulupig na kastila;
ngayon tayo’y malunod na sa nagbabahang luha ng Yna na nakitil na buhay ng
anak sa pananangis ng sanggol na pinangulila ng kalupitan na ang bawat patak
ay katulad ng isang kumukulong tinga, na sumasalang sa mahapding sugat ng
ating pusong nagdaramdam; ngayon lalut lalu tayong na bibilibiran ng tanikala ng
pagkaalipin, tanikalang nakalalait sa bawat lalaking may iniingatang kapurihan. Ano
ang nararapat nating gawin? Ang araw ng katuiran na sumisikat sa Silanganan, ay
malinaw na itinuturo sa ating mga matang malaong nabulagan ang landas na dapat
nating tunguhin, ang liwanag niya’y tanaw sa ating mga mata, ang kukong nag akma
ng kamatayang alay sa ating ng mga ganid na asal. Ytinuturo ng katuiran, na wala
tayong iba pang maaantay kundi lalut lalung kahirapan, lalut lalung kataksilan, lalut
lalung kaalipustaan at lalut lalung kaalipinan. Ytinuturo ng katuiran, na huag nating
sayangin ang panahon sa pagasa sa ipinangakong kaguinhawahan na hindi darating
at hindi mangyayari. Ytinuturo ng katuiran ang tayo’y umasa sa ating sarili at huag
antain sa iba ang ating kabuhayan. Ytinuturo ng katuiran ang tayo’y mag kaisang
loob magka isang isip at akala at ng tayo’y magkalakas na maihanap ang naghaharing
kasamaan sa ating Bayan.
KALAYAAN 191
Panahun na ngayong dapat na lumitaw ang liwanag ng katotohanan; panahon

ng dapat nating ipakilala na tayo’y may sariling pagdaramdam, may puri, may hiya
at pagdadamayan. Ngayon panahun ng dapat simulan ang pagsisiwalat ng mga
mahal at dakilang aral na magwawasak sa masinsing tabing na bumubulag sa ating
kaisipan; panahun na ngayong dapat makilala ng mga tagalog ang pinagbuhatan ng
kanilang mga kahirapan. Araw na itong dapat kilalanin na sa bawat isang hakbang
natin ay tumutuntong tayo at nabibingit sa malalim na hukay ng kamatayan na sa
ati’y inuumang ng mga kaaway.
Kaya! oh mga kababayan! ating idilat ang bulag na kaisipan at kusang igugol
sa kagalingan ang ating lakas sa tunay at lubos na pag asa na mag tagumpay sa
nilalayong kaguinhawahan ng bayang tinubuan.
English Translation*
WHAT THE TAGALOGS SHOULD KNOW
In the early days, when the Spaniards had not yet set foot on our soil, this
Katagalugan was governed by our compatriots, and enjoyed a life of great abundance,
prosperity, and peace. She maintained good relations with her neighbors, especially
with the Japanese, and traded with them in goods of all kinds. As a result, everyone
had wealth and behaved with honor. Young and old, including women, could read
and write using our own Tagalog alphabet. Then the Spaniards came and offered us
friendship. It seemed they would help us better ourselves and awaken our intellects,
and our leaders were seduced by the sweetness of their enticing words. The Spaniards,
however, were required to follow the custom of the Tagalogs, and to bind their agree-
ment by means of an oath, which consisted of taking blood from each other’s veins,
and then mixing and drinking it as a token of their sincere and wholehearted pledge
not to betray the agreement. This was called the “Blood Compact” of King Sikatuna
and Legazpi, the representative of the King of Spain.
Since then, for more than three hundred years, we have supported the race of
Legaspi most bountifully; we have allowed them to live lavishly and grow fat, even if
we ourselves suffered deprivation and hunger. We have expended our wealth, blood,
and even our lives in defending them, even against our fellow countrymen who
refused to submit to their rule; and we have fought the Chinese and the Dutch who
tried to take Katagalugan from them.
Now, after all this, after everything we have done, what benefits have we seen
bestowed upon our country? Do we see them fulfilling their side of the contract, which
we ourselves fulfilled with sacrifices? We see nothing but treachery as a reward for
our favors. Instead of keeping their promise to awaken us to a better life, they have
only blinded us, contaminated us with their debased customs and forcibly destroyed
the good customs of our land. They have instilled in us a false faith, and have cast
the honor of our country into a mire of corruption. And if we dare beg for scraps of
compassion, they respond by banishing us, by sending us far away from our beloved
children, spouses, and aged parents. Every sigh we utter is branded by them as a grave
sin, and is instantly punished with brute force.
Now nothing can be considered stable in our lives; our peace is now always
disturbed by the moans and lamentations, by the sighs and plaints of countless
orphans, widows, and parents of compatriots wronged by the Spanish oppressors;
now we are being deluged by the streaming tears of a mother whose son was put to
death, by the wails of tender children orphaned by cruelty, and whose every falling
tear is like a drop of molten lead that sears the excruciating wound of our suffering
hearts; now we are being bound ever tighter with the chains of slavery, chains that
shame every man of honor. What, then, is to be done? The sun of reason that shines
in the East clearly shows, to our eyes long blind, the way that must be taken; its light
enables us to see the claws of those inhuman creatures who bring us death. Reason
shows that we cannot expect anything but more and more suffering, more and more
treachery, more and more insults, more and more enslavement. Reason tells us not to
waste our time waiting for the promised prosperity that will never arrive. Reason tells
us that we must rely upon ourselves alone and never entrust our livelihood to anybody
else. Reason tells us to be one in sentiment, one in thought, and one in purpose so that
we may have the strength in confronting the evil that reigns in our Country.
Now is the time that the light of truth must shine; now is the time for us to
make it known that we have our own feelings, have honor, have self-respect and soli-
darity. Now is the time to start spreading the noble and great teachings that will rend
asunder the thick curtain that obfuscates our minds; now is the time for the Tagalogs
to know the sources of their misfortunes. This day we must realize that every step we
take is taking us closer to the brink of the abyss of death that our enemies have dug to
ensnare us.
And so! Oh, compatriots! Let us dispel the blindness from our intellects; let us
resolutely dedicate our strength to the triumph of our true and mighty cause, the pros-
perity and peace of our native land.
* This translation is my own, but it draws heavily on two others—Reynaldo Clemeña Ileto,
Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840–1910 (Quezon City: Ateneo
de Manila University Press, 1979), 102–6; and The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio,
translated by Teodoro A. Agoncillo with the collaboration of S. V. Epistola (Manila: Antonio
J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963),
2–3.
KALAYAAN 193
5.6
“Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan”
José P. Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan (Manila: n.pub, 1935), 8–10. and A. B.,
“Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,” MS in Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5677, leg. 1.94.
One of the best-known Katipunan texts, this paean to patriotism calls upon
the people to rise up and rescue the unhappy motherland from her torment.
The poem was published in Kalayaan in March 1896, above the initials
“A. I. B.”1 It is generally accepted that these initials stand for “Agapito
Bagumbayan,” which was the pseudonym placed beneath another contribu-
tion to the paper—“Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog”—and that both pieces
were written by Bonifacio.2 The pseudonym connotes something like “the
new nation is here, and ready.”3
Two texts
Unfortunately, no printed copy of Kalayaan has yet been located, and
perhaps none has survived. The familiar Tagalog text of “Pagibig,” which was
first published by José P. Santos in 1935, was probably transcribed not from
an actual printed copy of the paper, but from a handwritten draft.4 There is
no way of knowing for sure whether this was the final draft prior to the poem
being set in type, or whether there were later amendments. No facsimile or
photograph of the document that Santos copied has ever been placed in the
public domain, and possibly it has been lost.
A manuscript copy of “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan” has survived,
however, in the military archives in Madrid. This, too, is a draft, and it is
almost certainly an earlier draft than the text published by Santos. The poem
at that stage was evidently still a “work in progress,” and the manuscript is
marked with several amendments, some of which are reflected in the Santos
text and some of which are not.
The two texts of “Pagibig”—the later, Santos version and the earlier,
Madrid version—are transcribed below in parallel, and the discrepancies
between them, large and small, are highlighted in the Madrid version. As can
be seen, the significant discrepancies are confined to just a handful of the
poem’s twenty-eight stanzas.
A note on the front page of the Madrid manuscript indicates that the
handwriting is that of Emilio Jacinto. Signed by sometime KKK Supreme
Council member Valentin Diaz, the note reads, Letra de Emilio Jacinto según
manifiesta Aguedo del Rosario—Aguedo del Rosario being another KKK

Supreme Council member. There is little doubt that this identification is
correct. But the identity of the penman, of course, does not necessarily corre-
spond with the identity of the author, and at the foot of the poem are inscribed
the initials “A. B.,” obviously suggesting that Bonifacio was the author. It is
possible that Jacinto copied out the text whilst Kalayaan was being prepared
for publication, presumably for editing purposes.
There is perhaps a further sliver of evidence indicative of Bonifacio’s
authorship in the orthography of the text published by José P. Santos. There
are several words in the text in which the letter “g” is followed by the double
vowel “ui” —guinhawa, for example, guiliw, ibiguin, and palaguing. These spell-
ings are not “wrong,” or even that rare, but more commonly (at least from the
late-nineteenth century onwards) writers have omitted the “u” and employed
the forms ginawa, giliw, and so on. Emilio Jacinto almost invariably omitted
the “u,” and the manuscript of “Pagibig” in his handwriting, as can be seen,
renders none of these words with the “ui” combination.5 Bonifacio, on the
other hand, switched back and forth, sometimes using the “ui” forms and
sometimes not. By this particular measure, at least, the document from which
Santos transcribed the published text of “Pagibig” thus seem more likely to
have been penned by Bonifacio than by Jacinto. Tagalog scholars might be
able to discern other variations in orthography (and perhaps in style) that
would corroborate or confute this line of speculation.
Tagalog Texts
The text published by José P. Santos is transcribed in the left-hand column

below, and the Madrid manuscript—the earlier draft—is transcribed in the right-hand
column.
The verse numbers do not appear in the originals, and have been inserted simply
to facilitate comparison between the Tagalog versions and the two translations into
English that have been transcribed underneath.
KALAYAAN 195
Text reproduced in José P. Santos, Manuscript draft

Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan in the Archivo General Militar de Madrid,
(Manila: n.pub, 1935), 8−10. Caja 5677, leg. 1.94.
PAGIBIG SA TINUBUANG BAYAN Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan
Panaho’y matamis sa tinubuang Bayan

at pawang panglugod ang balang matanauan[?],
ang simoy sa parang ay panghatid buhay,
tapat ang pagirog, sulit ang mamatay.6
J. Rizal
1. 1.
Alin pag ibig pa ang hihigit kaya Aling pagibig pa ang hihigit kaya
sa pagka dalisay at pagkadakila sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila
gaya ng pag ibig sa tinubuang lupa? gaya ng pagibig sa tinubuang lupa?
alin pag ibig pa? wala na nga, wala. ¿alin pagibig pa? wala na nga; wala.
2. 2.
Ulitulitin mang basahin ng isip Ulitulitin mang basahin ng isip

at isa isahing talastasing pilit at isa-isahing talastasing pilit
ang salitat buhay na limbag at titik ang salita’t buhay na limbag at titik
ng sang katauhan itoy namamasid. ng sangtinakpan ito ang mababatid.
3. 3.
¡Banal na pag ibig! pag ikaw ang nukal ¡Banal na pagibig! pagikaw ang nukal
sa tapat na puso ng sino’t alin man sa tapat na puso ng sino’t alin man,
imbit taong gubat maralitat mang mang imbi’t taong gubat maralita’t mangmang
naguiguing dakila at iguinagalang. nagiging dakila at iginagalang.
4. 4.
Pagpupuring lubos ang palaguing hangad Pagpupuring lubos ang palaging gawad
sa bayan ng taong may dangal na ingat ng taong mahal sa Bayan niyang liyag
umawit tumula kumathat sumulat umawit, tumula, kumatha’t sumulat
kalakhan din nia’y isinisiwalat. kalakhan din niya’y isinisiwalat.
5. 5.
Walang mahalagang hindi inihandog Walang mahalagang hindi inihandog

ng mga pusong mahal sa Bayang nagkupkup ng may pusong mahal sa Bayan niyang irog
dugo yaman dunong katiisat pagod dugo, yaman, dunong, katiisa’t pagod,
buhay may abuting magkalagot lagot. buhay ma’y abuting magkalagot-lagot.
6. 6.
Bakit? alin ito na sakdal ng laki ¿Bakit? ¿alin ito na sakdal ng laki,
na hinahandugan ng boong pag kasi na hinahandugan ng buong pagkasi,
na sa lalung mahal na kapangyayari na sa lalung mahal nakapangyayari
at guinugugulan ng buhay na iwi. at ginugugulan ng buhay na iwi?
7. 7.
¡Ay! itoy ang Ynang Bayang tinubuan ¡Ah! ito’y ang inang Bayang tinubuan
siya’y inat tangi na kinamulatan na siyang una’t tangi na kinamulatan
ng kawiliwiling liwanag ng araw ng kawiliwiling liwanag ng araw
na nagbigay init sa lunong katawan. na nagbigay init sa lunong katawan.
8. 8.
Sa kania’y utang ang unang pagtangap Sa kaniya ay utang ang unang paglangap
ng simuy ng hanging nagbibigay lunas ng simoy ng hanging nagbibigay lunas
sa inis na puso na sisingapsingap sa inis na puso na sisingap-singap
sa balong malalim ng siphayo’t hirap. ng pinakadustang kanyang mga anak.
9. 9.
Kalakip din nitoy pag ibig sa Bayan Kalakip din nitong pagibig sa Bayan
ang lahat ng lalung sa gunitay mahal lahat ng lalung mahal7
mula sa masaya’t gasong kasangulan mula sa tuat aliw ng kasangulan
hangang sa kataway mapa sa libingan. hangang sa katawa’y mapasa libingan.
10. 10.
Ang nanga karaang panahun ng aliw Ang nangakaraang panahun ng aliw

ang inaasahang araw na darating ang inaasahang araw na darating
ng pagkatimawa ng mga alipin ng pagkatimawa ng mga alipin
liban pa sa bayan saan tatanghalin? liban pa sa Bayan, ¿saan tatanghalin?
KALAYAAN 197
11. 11.
At ang balang kahuy at ang balang sanga At ang balang kahuy at ang balang sanga
na parang nia’t gubat na kaaya aya ng parang niya’t gubat na kaaya-aya
sukat ang makitat sa sa ala ala kung makita’y susagi sa alaala
ang inat ang guiliw lumipas na saya. ang ina’t ang giliw, lumipas na saya.
12. 12.
Tubig niyang malinaw na anaki’y bubog Tubig niyang malinaw na anaki’y bubog
bukal sa batisang nagkalat sa bundok bukal sa batisang nagkalat sa bundok
malambut na huni ng matuling ayos malambot na huni ng matuling agus
na naka a aliw sa pusong may lungkot. nakaaaliw din sa pusung may lungkot.
13. 13.
Sa aba ng abang mawalay sa Bayan! ¡Sa aba ng mawalay sa tinubuang Bayan

gunita may laguing sakbibi ng lumbay gunita niya’y laging sakbibi ng lumbay
walang alaalat inaasam asam walang alaala’t inaasam-asam,
kung di ang makita’y lupang tinubuan. kung di ang makita’y ang lupa niyang mahal.
14. 14.
Pati ng magdusat sampung kamatayan Pati ng magdusa’t sampung kamatayan

wari ay masarap kung dahil sa Bayan wari ay masarap kung dahil sa Bayan;
At lalung maghirap ¡oh! himalang bagay at lalung maghirap, ¡oh! himalang bagay!
Lalung pag irog pa ang sa kaniay alay. lalung pagirog pa ang sa kaniya’y alay.
15. 15.
Kung ang bayang ito’y nasasa panganib Kung ang Bayang ito’y nasasapanganib
at sia ay dapat na ipagtangkilik at kinakailangang siya’y ipagtankilik
ang anak, asawa, magulang kapatid ang anak, asawa, magulang, kapatid
isang tawag niay tatalikdang pilit. sa isang tawag niya’y tatalikdang pilit.
16. 16.
Dapuat kung ang bayan ng katagalugan Dapua’t kung ang Baya’y ang Katagalugan
ay linalapastangan at niyuyurakan na nilapastangan at niyuyurakan
katuiran puri niyat kamahalan katuiran niya’t puri ng tagaibang Bayan,
ng sama ng lilong taga ibang bayan. ng tunay na bangis ng hayop sa parang,
17. 17.
Di gaano kaya ang paghihinagpis ¿Di gaano kaya ang paghihinagpis

ng pusong tagalog sa puring na lait? ng pusung tagalog sa puring na lait?
at alin kalooban na lalong tahimik at ¿aling kalooban na lalung tahimik
ang di pupukawin sa panghihimagsik? ang di pupukawin sa panghihimagsik?
18. 18.
Saan magbubuhat ang paghihinay [???] ¿Saan magbubuhat ang panghihinayang

sa paghihigantit gumugol ng buhay sa paghihiganti’t gumugol ng buhay,
kung wala ding iba na kasasadlakan kung wala ding iba na kasasadlakan,
kung di ang lugami sa kaalipinan? kung di ang lumagi sa kaalipinan?
19. 19.
Kung ang pagka baun niya’t pagka busabos ¿Kung ang pagkabaun niya’t pagkalugmok
sa lusak ng dayat tunay na pag ayop sa lusak ng daya’t tunay na pagayop,
supil ang pang hampas tanikalang gapos supil ng panghampas tanikalang gapos,
at luha na lamang ang pina a agos. at luha na lamang ang pinaaagos?
20. 20.
Sa kaniang anyo’y sino ang tutunghay Sa anyo niyang ito’y ¿sino ang tutungha’y
na di aakain sa gawang magdamdam na di aakayin sa gawang magdamdam?
pusong naglilipak sa pakasukaban pusong naglilipak sa pagkasukaban
na hindi gumugugol ng dugo at buhay. ang hindi gumugol ng dugo at buhay.
21. 21.
Mangyayari kaya na itoy malangap ¿Mangyayari kaya, na ito’y malangap,

ng mga tagalog at hindi lumingap at hindi lingapin ng tunay na anak,
sa naghihingalong Ynang na sa yapak kung sa inang liig ay nasasayapak
na kasuklamsuklam sa kastilang hamak. ng mga kastilang gumanti ng hirap?
22. 22.
Nasaan ang dangal ng mga tagalog ¿Nasaan ang dangal ng mga tagalog?
nasaan ang dugung dapat na ibuhos? ¿nasaan ang dugong dapat na ibuhos?
baya’y inaapi bakit di kumilos? Baya’y inaapi, ¿bakit di kumilos,
at natitilihang itoy mapanood. at natitilihang ito’y mapanood?
KALAYAAN 199
23. 23.
Hayo na nga kayo, kayong nanga buhay Hayo na nga, kayo, kayong nangabuhay
sa pag asang lubos na kaguinhawahan sa pagasang lubos ng kaginhawahan,
at walang tinamo kundi kapaitan at walang tinamo kung di kapaitan,
hayo nat ibiguin ang naabang bayan. hayo na’t ibigin ang naabang Bayan.
24. 24.
Kayong natuyan na sa kapapasakit Kayong natuyan na, sa kapapasakit

ng dakilang hangad sa batis ng dibdib ng dakilang hangad sa batis ng dibdib,
muling pabalungit tunay na pag-ibig muling pabalungin, tunay na pagibig
kusang ibulalas sa bayang piniit. kusang ibulalas sa Bayang piniit.
25. 25.
Kayong nalagasan ng bungat bulaklak Kayong nalagasan ng bunga’t bulaklak,

kahuy niaring buhay na nilantat sukat kahuy na sariwa, na nilanta’t sukat
ng balabalakit makapal na hirap ng balabalaki’t makapal na hirap
muling manariwat sa baya’y lumiyag. muling manariwa’t sa Baya’y lumiyag.
26. 26.
Kayong mga pusong kusang [???] Kayo mga pusong pilit inihapay
ng daya at bagsik ng ganid na asal ng daya at bagsik ng ganid na asal,
ngayon ay magbanguit baya’y itangkakal ngayon ay magbangu’t nariyan ang Bayan,
aagawin sa kuko ng mga sukaban. nariya’t humihibik, mga anak siya’y antay.
27. 27.
Kayong mga dukhang walang tanging [???] Kayong mga dukhang walang tanging palad,
kundi ang mabuhay sa dalitat hirap kung di ang mabuhay sa dalita’t hirap,
ampunin ang bayan kung nasa ay lunas ampunin ang Bayan, kung nasa ay lunas,
pagkat ang guinhawa niya ay sa lahat. pagka’t ginhawa niya’y ginhawa ng lahat.
28. 28.
Ipahandog handog ang boong pag-ibig Datapua’t ibigin ng lubos na lubos

hangang sa mga dugo’y ubusing itiguis sa lahat ng bagay itangi sa loob
kung sa pagtatangol buhay ay [???] at sa kalakhan niya’y dapat na iubos
itoy kapalaran at tunay na langit. ng malaking puso ang malaking linkod.
A.B.
English Translations
Transcribed in the left-hand column below is the translation made from Santos’s
Tagalog text by Teodoro A. Agoncillo, as printed in The Writings and Trial of Andres
Bonifacio, translated by Teodoro A. Agoncillo with the collaboration of S. V. Epistola
(Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of
the Philippines, 1963), 5−8.
Transcribed in the right-hand column below is the translation made from
Epifanio de los Santos’s Spanish version [“Amor a la patria” in his “Andrés Bonifacio,”
Revista Filipina 2 (November 1917): 64−66] and published in Philippine Review 3, nos.
1−2 (January−February 1918): 40−41. De los Santos did not describe the document
on which he based his Spanish translation, but it is reasonable to assume it was the
same document that his son, Jose P. Santos, reproduced in Si Andres Bonifacio at ang
Himagsikan two decades later. The translation into English is generally credited to
Gregorio Nieva, the publisher of Philippine Review, but this cannot be confirmed.8
Both translations, it may be noted, render “ang mga tagalog” as “the Filipinos”
and “Katagalugan” as “Filipinas.”
Agoncillo Translation Philippine Review Translation
Love of Country Love of Country
1. 1.
What love can be Is there any love that is nobler

purer and greater Purer and more sublime
than love of country? Than the love of the native country?
What love? No other love, none. What love is? Certainly none.
2. 2.
Even when the mind repeatedly reads Though the mind may not cease reflecting
and try to understand And sifting with perseverance
the history that is written and printed What humanity has printed and written:
by humanity, this (love of country) can be That will be the result, none other.
seen.
KALAYAAN 201
3. 3.
Holy love! when born Sacred love! when thou reignest

of a pure heart, In a loyal heart, be it even
the humble and the backwoodsman, the poor, A plebeian’s, a rustic’s untutored
the unlettered
become great and respected. Thou makest it grand and revered.
4. 4.
Love of country To give the fatherland boundless honor

is always the desire of a man with honor; Is the purpose of all who are worthy
In songs, in poetry, in his writings And who sing, or compose, or make verses
the greatness of the country is always the To spread their country’s glory.
theme.
5. 5.
Nothing dear to a person with a pure heart There is nothing worth having the patriot
is denied to the country that gave him birth: Will not give for his native land:
blood, wealth, knowledge, sacrifices, Blood and wealth, and knowledge and effort,
E’en if life itself ends. Even life, to be crushed and taken.
6. 6.
Why? what is this that is so big Why? What thing of infinite greatness
to which is dedicated with utmost devotion, Is this, that all knees should be bended
all that is dear Before it? that it should be held higher
and to which life is sacrificed. Than the things most precious, even life?
7. 7.
Ah, this is the Mother country of one’s birth, Ah! the land it is that gave us birth,
she is the mother on whom Like a mother, and from her alone
the soft rays of the sun shine, Came the pleasant rays like the sun’s
which gives strength to the weak body. That warmed the benumbed body.
8. 8.
To her one owes the first kiss To her we owe the first breath
of the wind that is the balm That enlivened the breast oppressed
of the oppressed heart drowning And smothered in the abyss
in the deep well of misfortune and suffering. Of pain and grievous suffering.
9. 9.
Entwined with this is love of country, With the love of country are coupled
everything that is dear to the memory, All dreams and all ideals,
from the happy and careless childhood From joyful, restless childhood
to the hour of death. Till the grave receives the body.
10. 10.
The bygone days of joy, The times gone-by of gladness

the future that is hoped And the day to come that we sigh for
will free the slaves, When the yoke shall be taken from us:
where can this be found but in one’s native land? What are they but dreams of the patriot?
11. 11.
Every tree and branch And every tree and branchlet

of her fields and forest joyful to behold, Of its woods and its laughing meadows,
‘tis enough to see them to remember Bring back to the mind the memory
the mother, the loved one, and the happiness Of the mother and past days of gladness.
now gone.
12. 12.
Her clear waters— Its crystalline cooling waters

they come from the mountain springs, That flow from the springs in the mountains,
the soft whisper of the rushing wavelets The soft murmur of swift current
enlivens the sorrowing heart. Are balm to the heart that is drooping.
KALAYAAN 203
13. 13.
How unfortunate to be separated from the Unhappy the exile from his country!
country!
Even memory is in sorrow’s embrace, His mind, full of sad recollections,
nothing is desired Is haunted by anxious longing
but to see the country of one’s birth. For the land where stood his cradle.
14 14.
This fourteenth stanza is omitted in Agoncillo’s Misfortune and death seem lighter
translation, perhaps due simply to a printing or When we suffer them for our country,
publishing error. And the more that for it we suffer,
The more our love grows—oh, marvel!
15. 15.
If this country is in danger If our land with danger is threatened

and she needs defending, And help must be quickly forthcoming,
Forsaken are the children, Children, wife, and parents and brothers
the wife, the parents, the brothers and sisters
at the country’s beck and call. At her first call we must abandon.
16. 16.
And if our land, Filipinas, And if our land, Filipinas,

is offended and her honor, reason, and dignity Is offended, and outraged her honor
outraged, And her dignity into the mire
by a traitorous foreign country; Is dragged by the foreign impostor:
17. 17.
What unhappiness and grief Will by boundless grief not invaded

will invade the heart of the Filipino? Be the heart of the Filipino?
And will not even the most peaceful And will not the most peaceful even
Rise to avenge her honor? Rise to avenge her honor?
18. 18.
Where will the strength And whence will it come, the vengeance,
to take revenge and to throw away life come, The sacrifice of our life blood,
if none can be relied upon for help, If at the end of the struggle,
but those suffering from slavery? We shall fall into cruel bondage?
19. 19.
If his suffering and slavery If to her fall and prostration

are in the mire of deceit and oppression, Into the mire of fraud and derision
one holds the whip, the chains that bind, Will be added the lash and the shackles,
and only tears are allowed to roll down. Naught being left her but mourning?
20. 20.
Who is there to whom her condition Who is there whom her condition
Will not fill the soul with sorrow? Will not fill the soul with sorrow?
Will the heart most hardened by treachery Will the heart most hardened by treachery
Not be moved to give her its life blood? Not be moved to give her its life blood?
21. 21.
Will not, perchance, her sorrow Will not, perchance, her sorrow
Drive the Filipinos to come to the rescue Drive the Filipinos to come to the rescue
of the mother in agony, trampled Of the mother in agony, trampled
underfoot by the mean Spaniards? Underfoot by the foe disgusting?
22. 22.
Where is the honor of the Filipino? Where is Filipino honor?

where is the blood that should be shed? Where the blood that must be set flowing?
The country is being oppressed, why not make Their country in peril—why passive?
a move,
you are shocked witnessing this. Will they calmly see her suffer?
23. 23.
Go, you who have lived Come ye, who have been living
in the full hope of comfort, Of future felicity dreaming,
and who reaped nothing but bitterness, And have tasted naught but sorrow,
Go and love the oppressed country. Come, love your unhappy country.
KALAYAAN 205
24. 24.
You who, from the stream of your breast, Ye, in whom the struggling desire
have lost the holy desire to sacrifice, Has dried the springs of the bosom,
Once more let true love flow, May true love again be born in you
express that love for the imprisoned country. And flow for your suffering country.
25. 25.
You from whom the fruit and flowers Ye, who have lost the fruit and the flower
of your life have been plucked Of the trees of this life, withered early
by intrigues and incomparable sufferings, By so many perplexing sorrows,
once more freshen up and love thy country. Revive and succor your country.
26. 26.
You, so many hearts that... [???] Ye, who are propitious victims
of cheating and oppression of the mean in actions, Of deceit and bestial rigor,
now rise up and save the country, Arise now to save your country,
snatch it from the claws of the tyrant. Free her from the claws of the traitor!
27. 27.
You who are poor without... [???] Ye, wretches, who nothing demanded
except to live in poverty and suffering, But to live ‘midst sorrows and torments,
protect the country if your desire is to end Strike a blow to save your country,
your sufferings, for her progress is for all. Since she is our common mother.
28. 28.
Dedicate with all your love— Unto her in holocaust loving

as long there is blood—shed every drop of it, The last drop of your blood you must offer,
If for the defense of the country life is... [???] If to free her your life you have given,
this is fate and true glory. Yours is glory then and redemption.
1 Wenceslao E. Retana, comp., Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid: Imprenta de la
Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 133.
2 Ibid., 148; Pio Valenzuela, “Memoirs” [c. 1914], translated by Luis Serrano from an unpub-
lished MS in Tagalog and reproduced as appendix A, in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila:
National Heroes Commission, 1964), 106; Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The
Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 80,
91–96, 334–35.
3 Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, Andrés Bonifacio y el “Katipunan” (Manila: Libreria “Manila
Filatelica,” 1911), 403.
4 José P. Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan (Manila: n.pub, 1935), 8–10. The reasons
for believing Santos transcribed the poem from a manuscript rather than from a typeset
document are set out in the notes on “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog,” in appendix E.
5 Santos said he transcribed the text of “Pagibig sa tinubuang bayan” from the original
“without making any changes, even in the manner and style of the writing” (sinipi ko ng
walang anumang pagbabago, maging sa ayos at paraan ng pagkakasulat). He neither employed
the “ui” forms in his own writing, nor do they appear in his transcriptions of Jacinto’s works.
6 These four lines are from the “Song of María Clara,” in chapter 33 of the Noli, and were
presumably translated from the Spanish of the first edition—José Rizal, Noli me tangere:
novela tagala (Berlin: Berliner Buchdruckerei-Actien-Gesellschaft, 1887), 119. The same
lines are rendered in English by Soledad Lacson-Locsin as: “Sweet are the hours in one’s
own land/ Where all is loved under the sun,/ Life is the breeze in her fields sweeping,/ Death
is welcome, and love more caring!” José Rizal, Noli me tangere, translated by Ma. Soledad
Lacson-Locsin, edited by Raul L. Locsin (Manila: Bookmark, 1996), 141.
7 When editing the poem, Jacinto deleted words from this line, but in his haste omitted to
substitute other words in their stead, leaving the line conspicuously short and incomplete.
8 Santos himself credits the translation into English of Bonifacio’s “Decalogue” from Epifanio
de los Santos’s Spanish, not to Gregorio Nieva but to Leo Fischer, an American linguist who
worked as a translator and interpreter for the United States colonial administration. Santos,
Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan, 16.
5.7
Emilio Jacinto
“¡¡¡ Gomez, Burgos, Zamora !!!” April 30, 1896
The day that Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora were executed, writes Jacinto, was
a day of degradation and wretchedness. Twenty-four years had since passed,
but the excruciating wound inflicted that day on Tagalog hearts had never
healed; the bleeding had never been staunched. Though the lives of the three
priests had been extinguished that day, their legacy would endure forever.
Their compatriots would honor their memory, and would seek to emulate
their pursuit of truth and justice. As yet, Jacinto acknowledges, some were not
fully ready to embrace those ideals, either because they failed to appreciate
the need for solidarity and unity or because their minds were still clouded by
the smoke of a mendacious Church. But those who could no longer tolerate
KALAYAAN 207
oppression were now looking forward to a different way of life, to a splendid

new dawn.
Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora, affirms Jacinto, knew how to die for their
compatriots and the land of their birth. Would their compatriots, he asks,
be prepared to sacrifice their lives in turn? That was a difficult question to
answer, he concludes, but one thing was certain: the terror that began with
the scaffold at Bagumbayan in 1872 had not yet finished.
Jacinto prefaces his piece with a stanza from the famous poem, Florante
at Laura, by Francisco Baltazar [Balagtas], a metrical romance that tells in
“mellifluous and highly allegorical verse” the story of a knight and a prin-
cess in the medieval kingdom of Albania. First published in 1838, its readers
and hearers attached to it their own meanings, some in later decades seeing
in Florante’s travails “a reflection of their own misery and outrage under
the oppressive rule of foreign tyrants.”1 Here, the stanza chosen by Jacinto
to introduce his tribute to the martyred priests is highly apt: “What lips yet
venture to uphold/ The cause of Truth, of Wisdom bold/ Straightaway are
struck, and stricken cold/ By swords that reap death in their fold.”2
Beneath the text, Jacinto has written “Year 1—Issue 2,” which almost
certainly means he intended to publish the piece in the second issue of
Kalayaan. As already noted, however, the issue never materialized; it was still
being set in type when the Katipunan was discovered, and the printing press
had to be hastily destroyed.
Tagalog Text
¡¡¡ Gomez, Burgos, Zamora !!!
At ang balang bibig na binubukalan

ng sabing magaling at katutuhanan
agad binibiyak at sinisikangan
ng kalis ng lalung dustang kamatayan
F. Balagtas
¡Gomez, Burgos, Zamora!

¡Mga kababayang inihayin ng kasukaban sa tamparasang sungit ng mga
mangyayaring lumulupig sa ating Bayan!
¡Tatlong maningning na ilaw na pinatay ng makamandag na hihip ng sama!
¡Ang kanilang buhay, ang mahalaga nilang buhay ay nilagot sa kalupit-lupit na

bibitayan nang ikalabing anim ng Febrero ng taung isang libo, walong dan, pitong
puo’t dalawa!3
¡Kailan ma’y di napapanood ng langit ang gayong kalaking kataksilang linsil!
¡Gawang di lilimutin magpahangang kailan man ng bayang tagalog! ¡Araw na
napakarawal at kalagim-lagim!
Buhat sa araw na yaun, ang kanilang mga pusung bukal ng sagana’t wagas
na pagibig sa kanilang mga kalulu’t kapatid, ay hindi na tumitibok; ang kanilang
kaloobang karurukang mataas ng mga banal na nasa ay hindi na nagpipita; ang
kanilang mga bibig ay hindi na nangungusap, hindi na tumututol sa pagsasangalang
ng Katuiran at ng kagalingang lahat... Ang kapusungan at ang lilong galit ng mga
palamara ay nagdami’t hukom, at sila’y kinitlan ng hininga nang walang makawangis
na katampalasanan.
Nguni’t, ¡sa aba nagtatayu ng kapangyarihang hawak sa lusak ng kasamaan!
¡sa aba ng pangahas na naghahapay ng Katuiran sa ngalan ng Katuiran, ng uslak na
nagwawalat ng mga dibdib na mahal sa ngalan ng kamahalan! ¡sa aba nila! Sapagka’t
sa kabagsikang malabis ng ginamit na poot, ang bakal na pumatay sa tatlong
ginawang sadlakan ng hamak nilang higanti, ay tumagus at nagbukas pa mandin ng
isang maluang at malalim na sugat sa pusung kanilang mga kababayan.
Dalawang puo’t apat na taun na ang nakararaus, buhat nang mangyari itong
di matingkalang kaliluhan, at ang mahapding sugat ay di pa naglalangip, at hanga
ngayo’y dumudugo...dumudugo ng walang patid...
¡Gomez, Burgos, Zamora! Kapurihang walang katapusan ang handog ng inyong
mga kababayan sa malinis ninyong mga pangalang iniirog!
¡Mapalad na buhay, yaung nagiiwan karakarakang maamis [?] ng isang
butihing binhi sa kalooban ng kaniyang bayan, upang magdamdam ang mga alipin
at matutuhan nilang ibangun ang dangal ng kanilang katauhan na tuntungan ng
kapalaluan ng sukabang panginoon!
Ang inyong alaala ay kalakip ng lahat ng makapagbibigay buhay sa Bayang
tinubuan. Sapagka’t, kung sa gunita’y nahaharap ang inyong dustang pagkamatay,
ang lalung tamad at pikit na nagiisip ay nagbubulay-bulay, at sa naliliming na mga
karamaang naghahari’t nakapangyayari, nililimot ng tapat na pusu ang sariling
katiwasayan at naaakay lumingon at lumingap sa kalagayang kaaba-aba’t kahambal-
hambal na kinasapitan ng lahing tagalog.
Kung tinatanghal sa gunamgunam ng mata ng panasudim ang inyong
kahabag-habag na anyo, ang mga liig ninyong supil ng panakal na bakal, ang ulong
naglungayngay ng malamig ninyong bangkay, sa nagsisikip na dibdib ng inyong mga
kapatid ay sumisilakbo ang ningas ng poot, naaalaala nila ang lubhang pagkaayop
at pagkailing na lubha ng kanilang kapurihan; naaalaala nila na ang kanilang
pinagkalooban ng kanilang kalayaan at mga banal na matuid, ang hinahandugang
lagi ng pagud, yaman, buhay at sampung karangalan, ay siyang ganid na halimaw na
KALAYAAN 209
sumisilo tuina mahalagang buhay ng mga lalaking [one word illegible] na sa kanila’y
nagtatangol; naaalaala’t nakikilala nila na ang mga kapusungang [?], ito’y nangyayari
dahil sa sila’y kulang ng pagdaramdam at pagkakaisa, puno’t umba [?] ng kanilang
kahinaan; naaalaala’t nakikilala nila na wala nang iba pang dapat pagkatiwalaang
makapagbabangun ng kanilang Katuiran, kung di ang sariling dahas ng kanilang mga
kamay at ang matapang na tibay ng kanilang loob. At sa di na makayang batahing
mga kaapihan, ang sa isip na mata’y itinititig sa ibang kabuhayan sa pagasang sakdal,
na darating at darating ang bagong maligaya’t marilag na kaarawan.
Ang mga buhay ni Gomez, ni Burgos at ni Zamora ay nautas, datapua’t ang
mga katutuhanang pinangugulan ng mga buhay na iyan ay hindi namamatay, hindi
nawawala. At kung di lumalaganap ng lubos na lubos, at di pa kumakalat sa lahat
ng kaisipan, ay dahil sa nangababalut sa gipong kalawang ng masasamang gawi at
hamak na pagsasarili; dahil sa nauulapan pa ng masangsang na aso ng mga pasucob
ng marayang simbahan.
Datapua’t ang nangyaring kakila-kilabot na sinisimulaan sa bibitayan ng
Bagumbayan ay hindi pa natatapus....
Si Gomez, si Burgos at si Zamora ay natutong mamatay dahil sa kanilang mga
kababayan at dahil sa lupang tinubuan. Ang kanilang mga kababayan kaya nama’y
¿hindi matututong mamatay dahil sa lupang tinubuan at dahil sa kanila?
Tanung itong may kahirapan sagutin; datapua’t ang nangyaring kakila-kilabot ay
hindi pa natatapus...
Dimas Ilaw
Maynila 30 Abril de 1896
Taung 1—Bilang 2
1 Bienvenido Lumbera, “The Nationalist Literary Tradition,” in Elmer A. Ordonez, ed.,

Nationalist Literature: A Centennial Forum (Manila: University of the Philippines Press and
PANULAT/ Philippine Writers Academy, 1996), 2–3.
2 Francisco Baltazar [Balagtas], “Pinagdaanang Buhay ni Florante at Laura sa Cahariang
Albania” [1838], in Jovita Ventura Castro, et al., eds., Anthology of Asean Literatures:
Philippine Metrical Romances (Quezon City: ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information,
1985), 341. Translation by Tarrosa Subido.
3 Historians now agree that the executions took place on February 17. Jacinto may well have
taken the date of February 16 from the editorial “16 de Febrero de 1872,” written to mark the
twentieth anniversary of the executions in La Solidaridad, the paper edited by Marcelo H. del
Pilar in Madrid, in its issue dated February 15, 1892. La Solidaridad, in turn, inherited the
date of the 16th from a report by Edmund Plauchut that it reprinted in the same issue imme-
diately following the editorial. Plauchut’s report, first published in the Paris-based Revue de
deux mondes in 1877, suggests in one passage that Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora were executed
on the 16th, but indicates in another passage that it was the 17th. La Solidaridad, parallel
text edition with English translation by Guadalupe Fores-Ganzon, vol. 4 (Manila: Fundación
Santiago, 1996), 62–75.
5.8
Emilio Jacinto
“Sa Bayang tinubuan”
This poem is in the handwriting of Jacinto, but is unsigned and undated. It

might be one of the contributions he wrote around April 1896, for the second
issue of Kalayaan, the publication of which had to be aborted.
Jacinto calls upon his enslaved compatriots to emulate the example of
their brothers in Cuba, who after long years of docility had at last come to life
and rebelled.
Tagalog Text
Sa Bayang tinubuan
¡Oh, Bayang nahimlay sa kaalipinan!

¿ano’t di bumangun sa pagkagulaylay?
bugsi [?] iyang mo’t kusa kang pumukaw,
masdan ang pagayop ng Inang hinirang.
Iyang nangalandakan na Inang España,

maraming pangakong pagyayamanin ka,
tatlong dang taun ang nakaraus na,
magpahanga ngayon ay dinadaya pa.
Matamis na sabi’y huag kang mawiwili,

lalung mararawal ang buhay sa huli,
dusang patung patung ang ibabahagi
sa tanang anak mong larawan ng api.
Masdan ang ginawa kapatid mong isa,

sa masusunurin nga at payapang Cuba,
KALAYAAN 211
¿di ang naging huli binigian ng sigla?

kaya’t naghiganti buhay ma’y mapaka.
¿Ano’t di balungan ng kamunting hiya,

matutong magdamdam sa pasan mong dalita
[?]ng mo pa yatang mamatay sa pula,
na sa itangol mo ang anak na mutiya.
¿Di baga mayroon kang kalakasa’t tapang?

lupa mo’y ¿di baga sagana sa yaman?
¿bakit di iwaksi ang parusang alay,
ihanap ng aliw iyang kabuhayan?
¿Di baga mayroon kang malalaking bundok,

na panganganlungan sa pakikihamok,
sagana sa ani’t sagana sa hayop?
di nga magugutom, di madadayukdok.
¿Bakit naruruag at nagbabata ka,

na sa iyo’y ipatung tanikalang dusa?
di ikaw may pakpak na gaya ng Aguila,
¿ano’t di gamitin ang dahas at sigla?
Ang akalain mo’y kapaguagpabaya,

cusang manatili sa pagkapayapa,
darating ang araw ng lalung dalita,
na iyong kakanin ang sariling luha.
Ang mga sakup mo’y lalung lulupigin

yuta yutang dusa ang iyong papasanin,
ang anak mo’t ikaw pawang malalagim
sa daguk ng lubhang dahas ng hilahil.
chapter 6
March−August 1896
O
6.1
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on March 8, 1896
n Sunday, March 8, 1896, Andres Bonifacio presided over the promotion

of the KKK Balangay in the Manila district of Ermita—By. Mahiganti—
to the status of a Sangunian Bayan. The proceedings started at eight o’clock
in the morning and went on until three o’clock in the afternoon.
Elected as officers of the new Sb. Mahiganti were Rafael Gutierrez
[Ilagan], a foreman for the waterworks, as president; “Magdalena” as secre-
tary; “Lintik” as fiscal; and “Gahis” as treasurer.
It was also agreed that the new S.B. Mahiganti should initially have two
balangay under its jurisdiction, the first—By. Tagailog—being formed by
members who earned their living on the Pasig River, and the second to be
known as By. Pandayan. “Buhawi” was elected as president of By. Tagailog,
and “Baga” as president of By. Pandayan. Other officers were also elected.
Emilio Jacinto’s record of the occasion, transcribed below, relates that
after the elections had been held and oaths-of-office had been duly sworn,
Bonifacio outlined the respective duties of each office. He explained the
213
decision taken by the KKK’s Supreme Assembly that all sections should send
to the Supreme Council the fees paid by members upon their admission to
the society and upon their promotion to a higher grade. The newly formed
Sb. Mahiganti then handed over the sum of 28.5 pesos.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.

Ngayong ikawalo ng Marzo ng taung isang libo, walong dan, siam na puo’t anim,
itong K.S. sa pamagitan ng k.p. at k. kal. ay pinulong ang By. Mahiganti ng bayan ng
Ermita (Maynila).
Sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga ay binuksan ang kar., at tuloy
ipinahayag ng k.p. ang dahil ng pagpupulong na ito, na ayon talagang palakad, at
sapagka’t sumasakay na sa kailangang kabilangan ang mga kpon. ng By. na ito ay
kinakailangang magtatag ng Sb.
Sa bagay na ito’y ginawa ang paghahalal, at lumabas na p. ang kap. na Ilagan, kal.
ang kap. na Magdalena, t. ang kap. na Lintik at ty. ang kap. na Gahis.
at kapagkatapus ay ipinahayag ng k.p. na mula sa araw na ito’y natatayu na ang Sb.
Mahiganti sa bayan ng Ermita.
Kapagkarakang magawa ito’y ipinagsabi ng p. ang pagkakailangang magtayu ng
mga By. na kasasaniban ng mga ibang kpon. Sa bagay na ito sumagut ang kap. na
Ilagan na sila’y nagtayu ng isang By., Tagailog ang pangalan, na kinaroonan ng mga
kap. na naghahanap sa ilog, at ipinakilala ang nahalal na p. ito, na kap. na Buhawi.
Pinapagtibay at minarapat ang pagkatatayu ng By. Tagailog at tuloy pinapanumpa at
pinatangap ng katungkulan ang mga pinunong dito’y naihalal.
Sinimulang magtayu ng isa pa By. na kasasaniban ng mga ibang kpon. at
pinagkaisahang aalanan ng Pandayan.
Ginawa ang paghahalal, at lumabas na p. ang kap. na Baga, t. ang kap. na Bagyo,
kal. ang kap. na Bukal at ty. ang kap. na Iba. Naghalal ng mga alagad at nagsilabas ang
mga kap. na Sibat tagalaan, Mabilis taliba, Bundok maniningil at Limbas mabalasik.
MARCH−AUGUST 1896 215

at saka ipinagsabi ng k.p. na mula sa araw na ito’y natatayu na ang By. Pandayan sa
ilalim ng kapangyarihan ng Sb. Mahiganti.
Kapagkatapus nito’y nangaral ang k.p. at ipinagsaysay ang mga gaganapin sa
bawat katungkulan.
At saka ipinagbigay alam ang atas ng K.K. tungkol sa pagpapadala sa kaban ng
buong Kat. ng lahat na naging kabayaran sa pagpasuk at pagkaangat. Sa bagay na
ito’y nagbigay ang Sb. Mahiganti ng dalawang puo’t walong piso at isang salapi.
niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ikatlong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng hapun.
Maynila ika 8 ng Marzo ng taong 1896.
Ang K.P.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllknzll
6.2
By. Silanganan
In the early months of 1896, a number of Katipunan branches were wracked

by internal problems. In the district of Trozo, for reasons unknown, the
Dapitan popular council (Sb.) was downgraded to the status of a branch (By.)
and its former branches were reorganized.
This document records the election and induction of new officers in By.
Silanganan: Guillermo Masangkay [Alakdan] as president, Melecio Ruestra
[Buhawi] as secretary, “Tambuli” as fiscal, and Juan Cruz [Matapang] as
treasurer. Pio Valenzuela [Dimas Ayaran] presided over the oath-taking in his
capacity as fiscal of the Katipunan Supreme Council. The meeting was held at
the house of Tomas Villanueva [Ipil], who was a tabaquero. It had been over
two months since the previous meeting, which was perhaps symptomatic of
the problems within the KKK organization in Trozo.
The collection pouch yielded less than a quarter of a peso.
The document is written and signed by Juan Cruz [Matapang], who for
some reason uses the title “Respected President”—the position he held before
the elections, but not afterwards.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
By. Silanganan
Sa pulung na ginawa ng araw ng Lingo, ikalabing lima sa bilang

ng araw sa buan ng Marzo ng taung isang libu’t walong daan
at syam na pu’t anim, ay nagsidalu ang mga K. na si Matapang,
Alakdan, Dimas Ayaran, Buhawi, Matigas, Pakulin, Init,
Madaluhung, Sibat, Totoo, Halimaw, Taga-Ilug at ang iba pang
mga K, sa ibang By. sa bahay ng K. Ipil, ay binuksan ng K. P. ang
Karurukan sa pagpalo ng tatlo ng bakal sa tansu sa dapit hapun.
at minulauna itong mga sumusunod.
Nauna: Ipinag sabi ng P. ay maghalal na ng mga bagong pinuno

sa By. Silanganan, ay ang lumabas na P. ay ang Kp. na
Alakdan, ayon sa labing isang botos, Kalihim, ang Kp. na
Buhawi, ang lumabas ayon sa labing dalawang botos, Taga
usig ay ang lumabas ang Kp. na Tambuli, alinsunud sa
labing isang botos, at ang Taga ingat yaman ay ang Kp. na
Matapang, at pag katapus maihalal ang mga bagon Pinuno
ay ang ginawa ng Taga usig sa K.S. ay pinasumpa sila ayon
sa kani kanilang mga pangangasiwa.
Ikalawa: Binasaang kasulatan ng nag daang pulong na
ginawa ng ikalima, sa buan ng Enero ng taung ding ito, at
pinapagtibay ng lahat, ang mga sinasabi doon.
Ikatlo: Binasa ng Kp. na Matapang sa harap ng lahat ang
dalawang ipinapalagay ng bagong K. namay pamagat na
Palanyag (Roman Ramos) pag katapus binasa ay sumagut
ang lahat ay pag usigin.
Ikaapat: Inilibut ang suput ng saklolo ng Kp. na Tagalaan,
ay ang nakuha ay sikapat labing walo, ay pinagkaisahan
ng lahat ay ibigay sa asawa ng may bahay, at pag katapus

ay ginawa ng Kp. na Tagausig sa K.S. ay sinarhan ang
Karurukan sa bilang ng pag palo ng apat ng bakal sa tanso—
at pina panumpa ang lahat.
Maynila ikalabing lima ng buan ng Marzo ng taong isang

libu’t walong daan at siyam naput anim.
Ang K. P.
Vntnpn’g
[Seal—“By. SÑJNLLGNLLNLL” (Silanganan)]
6.3
Supreme Council
On Sunday, March 15, 1896, the Supreme Council met at Bonifacio’s house
from nine o’clock in the morning until one in the afternoon. Jacinto’s record
of the proceedings, transcribed below, summarizes the key points discussed
and decisions agreed.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan at sa lalung kapurihan at kaayusan ng K.K.K.,

itong K.S. ay gumawa, sa ikalabinglima ng Marzo ng taung isang libo, walong dan,
siam na puo’t anim, ng isang pagpupulong sa bahay ng kap. na Maypagasa, ayon sa
mga ugaling pulong ng K.S. na pinagkaisahan sa sinusundang pagpupulong.
Sa ikasiam na daguk na bakal sa tansu ng umaga, ay binuksan ang kar., at tuloy

binasa ng Kal. ang pinagsulatan ng pulong na nagdaan, at ang sa pagtatayu ng Sb. sa
mga bayan ng Mandaluyong at Malabon, na pinatunayang lahat ng taung kaharap.
Inusisa at ipinakilala sa lahat ang salaping nailigpit ng araw ng ikadalawang
puo’t walo ng nakaraus na buan, at lumabas na labing tatlong piso at sikapat, liban
ang sa Malabon na di pa dumadating.
Inusisa at ipinakilala sa lahat ang salaping naililigpit, ukol sa kap. na Dimas
Ayaran, at ang lumabas ay tatlong puo’t walong piso, at tatlong bahagi’t apat. Sa
makatuid ang nagiging kulang pa sa buan ng Febrero ay dalawang puo’t isang piso,
isang salapi at labing anim na kualta.
Ang kap. na Leon, p. ng By. “Masikap” na pinadalo sa pulong na ito, ay
pinagpahayagan ng k.p. na kung kaya siya ipinatawag at nangyaring pinaharap
sa pulong na ito, dahil sa minarapat ng K.S. siya’y mapisan dito at makatulong sa
makapal na gagawin. Sa bagay na ito’y nahalal siyang Tagapamahala ng “Basahan ng
Bayan” at sabay na Kasanguni ng K.S. Sapagka’t ang katungkulang Tagapamahala
ay hinahawakang dati ng kap. na Silang, sa kap. na ito ang natungkol ay ang sa
Tagapangasiwa na hinahawakan ng kap. na Pingkian.
Pinagkaisahang ipalalathala na ang mga bagong hudiatan na pinagkaisahan sa
pulong ng K.K. nang ika ng Noviembre ng taung nagdaan, sapagka’t may kalinisan na
ang Kat. sa masamang K.
Pinagkaisahang magbubukas ng isang pahayagan ng mga panukala tungkol sa
pagsulat na lihim na dapat gamitin ng K.K.K. Pinagkaisahan ding makasasali dito ang
sino mang kpon., at ang makapagpakilala ng lalung [?] matalino’t magaan ay bibigian
ng pala na isang hiyas na pilak na inihahandog ng kap. na Leon. Ang mga panukala ay
tatalaan ng may katha at ilalagay sa isang balutang-sulat na nakadikit, at ibibigay sa
K.S. Ang mga pagbibigay ay hindi na tatangapin kung di hangang sa ikalabinglima ng
buan ng Mayong dadating. Ang hahatul ay ang K.S.
Pinasumpa at pinatangap ng bago niyang katungkulan ang kap. na Leon.
Pinagkaisahan itong mga sumusunod tungkol sa pulong na gagawin ng K.K.
sa ika 22 ng buang umiiral:- Una—Ang lahat ng dadalo ay aambag ng mangahati—
Ikalawa—Ang hindi dumating sa ikapitong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga sa bahay
ng kap. na Maypagasa ay iiwan, pagka’t ang pulong ay sa Mandaluyong.— Ikatlo:-
ipakikilala ang mga unang paguusapan at ng maaralang mahinahon:- Ikaapat:- ang
salaping ambag ay igugugol sa pagkain at paglakbay.
Pinagkaisahang magpapadala ng pasabi sa lahat, tungkol sa ambag at mga
librong nauukol sa Basahan, na makapal pa ang hindi nagbibigay.
Kapagkatapus sumumpa ang lahat sa dating ugali na di isisiwalat ang lahat ng
namasdan at napakingan, niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ikaunang daguk ng bakal
sa tansu ng hapun.
Maynila, ika 15 ng Marzo ng taung 1896.

Ang K. P.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang K. Kal
Pnllknzll
Abbreviated paraphrase
The Supreme Council approved the records of its previous ordinary meeting and
of its meetings in Mandaluyong (on January 5) and Malabon (on January 6) at which
popular councils had been established in those towns.
It was reported that the money collected on February 28, 1896, had totaled 13
pesos and 20 kualta, excluding a contribution that was still awaited from Malabon.
It was reported that that money collected to pay the salary of Pio Valenzuela as
KKK physician for the month of February totaled 38 pesos and 64 kualta, and that
there was thus a shortfall for the month of 21 pesos and 96 kualta.1
It was agreed to appoint Gregorio Coronel ([Leon]—the president of the KKK
council in Malabon) as a member of the Supreme Council and to place him in charge
of the Basahan ng Bayan.2 Balbino Florentino, who had previously been responsible
for the collection, was appointed to the position of administrator, relieving the over-
burdened Jacinto. Coronel and Florentino took their oaths of office.
It was agreed that the membership should be reminded about the need for dona-
tions of cash and books to help build the Basahan ng Bayan, because “many people
had still not contributed.”
The Supreme Council agreed to make known to the membership the new
“signals”—gestures, forms of greeting, and a password—that had been agreed upon by
the Supreme Assembly in November 1895, the changes being necessary because the
Katipunan had now been “cleansed” of bad elements.
It was also agreed that a contest should be held to devise a new secret code for
the organization. Members would be invited to submit their proposals to the Supreme
Council in a sealed envelope by not later than May 15, 1896, and the entries would
then be judged against the dual [and potentially conflicting] criteria of ingenuity
and simplicity. The member who submitted the best code would win a piece of silver
jewelry donated by Gregorio Coronel.
The Supreme Council then discussed arrangements for the meeting of the Supreme
Assembly due to be held in the town of Mandaluyong on the following Sunday, March
22. It was agreed that those making the trip from Manila should assemble at Bonifacio’s
house at seven o’clock in the morning, and bring with them kahati (40 kualta) for food
and transportation. The Supreme Council also settled the main topics to be discussed
by the Supreme Assembly, so that those matters could be given due forethought.
1 The nomenclature of Philippine currency in the 1890s is a little complicated. A peso

comprised 160 cuartos, or kualta. Half a peso—80 kualta—was called an escudo in Spanish and
a salapi in Tagalog. A quarter of a peso was called kahati. An eighth of a peso—20 kualta—was
called a real fuerte in Spanish and either a bahagi, or sikapat, in Tagalog. Since Valenzuela’s
agreed salary was P30 a month, the Supreme Council must have been discussing two months
together—presumably January and February 1896. It seems that Valenzuela’s later recollection
that he never received the full amount he was due, and that he only received payment for a
single month, may well be accurate. José Hevia Campomanes, Lecciones de gramática hispano-
tagala (Manila: Tip. de la Univ. de Sto. Tomás, 1930), 50; Eusebio T. Daluz, Filipino-English
Vocabulary, with Practical Examples of Filipino and English Grammars (Manila: s.n., 1915), 85–86;
Testimony of Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino, September 2, 1896, reproduced as appendix L, in
Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1978), 148, 155.
2 Basahan ng Bayan might be translated as “People’s Reading Room,” or possibly even as
“National Library.” The initial core of this collection is said to have been formed by books
from Bonifacio’s personal library, law books donated by Jacinto, and medical books donated
by Valenzuela. Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [Spanish version] Revista Filipina
2, no. 11 (November 1917): 61.
6.4
Supreme Council
Notice to members of the Kataastaasang Kapisanan, March 15, 1896
Written in a neat calligraphic script by Bonifacio himself, this document

details the agenda and arrangements for a meeting of the Kataastaasang
Kapisanan to be held in Mandaluyong the following Sunday, March 22. Then
still separated from Manila by open country, Mandaluyong was fast becoming
a major center of KKK activity, and by the outbreak of the revolution it had as
many as twenty separate Balangay, or local branches. The Spaniards rightly
labelled the town an insurrecto stronghold—a baluarte del Katipunan.
Bonifacio and Jacinto signed the document as the president and secre-
tary of the Supreme Council. Beneath their signatures is a list of topics for
discussion at the meeting on March 22, and beneath that list fourteen other
leading Katipuneros have signed their code names (some in cipher, some not)
to confirm that they will attend the meeting.
Tagalog Text
KxKxKx
Nx Mx Ax Nx Bx
-----------------
Sa mga Pinakakatawan sa Kx Kx
Minamahal na mga kapatid:
Ayon sa lalung ikalalaki ng kaayusa’t lakas ng Kx Kx Kx, itong Kx Sx sa mga

pulong na ginawa ng ika 20 ng Febrerong nagdaan at ng ika 15 nito, ay nag pasiya
nitong mga sumusunod:
Una: Ang K. Kapisanan ay mag pupulong sa ika 22 ng buang umiiral sa bayan ng
Vzlldzjxycllg.
Ikalawa: Ang lahat ng mga Pinakakatawang dito’y dadalo ay dadating sa ika
pitong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga ng nasabing araw sa bahay ng kapatid na
Maypagasa.
Ikatlo: Ang hindi tumupad sa sinusundang pasiya at dumating na huli, ay
lalapatan ng nauukol.
Ikaapat: Ang mga kx dito’y dapat dumalo ay aambag ng mga-hati (2 rs.), at ang
salaping ito ay gagamitin sa paglalakbay at sa mga ibang kakailanganin.
Ikalima: Upang mapagkuro at mapaglining ang buong karampatan ay
ipatatalastas ang mga kaunaunahang pag uusapan sa pulong na ito, na nasasaysay sa
dakong huli nito.
Tangapin ninyo ang aming mahigpit na yakap.
Maynila ika 15 ng Marzo ng 1896
Ang K. P.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllknzll
---- Mga bagay na pag uusapan ----
Tungkol sa pagtatayo ng isang pulutong na tangi na siyang mamamahala sa mga

pagsaklolo, sa mga Kx dapat saklolohan.
Tungkol sa pagpapalabas ng isang Atasan limbag na siyang maituturing na
Gaceta Oficial ng Katipunan.
Tungkol sa revistang mangagaling sa Kaharian ng Japon.

Tungkol sa Kapx na Dimas Ayaran sa katungkulang Mangagamot.
Tungkol sa mga saklolo sa asawa ng namatay na Kapx na Jasmin.
Tungkol sa nararapat na pag iingat sa mga pagpupulong pag hikayat at
pagdadalisay.
Tungkol sa mga tiwalag na sumusuko at nagbabalik.
Subiang [Illegible]
[Illegible] Ñjngnll
condicional K. Bxrgcs Vnpñjñt
Bujzjzkzw Macabuhay
Fnjñvnw Tngnñsck
Magiliw Vntxncg
Mabagsik1
Alakdan Hininga
Maniangat
Ilagan o caya isa sa manga kapatid
English Translation
KxKxKx
Nx Mx Ax Nx Bx
Supreme Council
To the delegates to the [Supreme Assembly].
Dear brothers:
In order to further develop the organization and strength of the K.K.K., this
[Supreme Council] at meetings held on the 20th of February last and the 15th of the
present month has resolved as follows:
First: The [Supreme Assembly] will meet on the 22nd of the present month in
the town of Mandaluyong.
Second: All representatives who will be attending this meeting should arrive on
the morning of the said day at the house of brother Bonifacio at seven strikes of the
iron on the copper.
Third: Anyone who fails to conform with this decision and arrives late will have
to pay the appropriate penalty.
Fourth: The brothers who attend this meeting must bring along halves (2 reales),
and this money will be used for transportation and other necessities.
Fifth: In order that they can be considered properly and given their due impor-
tance, the first matters for discussion at this meeting will be as set out below.
Receive our close embrace.
Manila, 15 March 1896.

Andres Bonifacio
Emilio Jacinto
Matters for discussion
Regarding the establishment of a special fund for administering assistance to

brothers who have to be given succor.
Regarding the issue of printed Ordinances which would be like the Official Gazette
of the Katipunan.
Regarding the newspaper coming from the Empire of Japan.2
Regarding the position of Bro. Pio Valenzuela as physician.
Regarding assistance to the widow of the late Bro. “Jasmin.”
Regarding the pressing need to have meetings that are persuasive and clear.
Regarding those who were expelled for giving up, and are now coming back.3
Subiang [José Trinidad]

Conditional Bro. Burgos [Geronimo Cristobal]
Bulalakaw [Pantaleón Torres]
Halimaw [Alejandro Santiago]
Magiliw [Rogelio Borja]
Mabagsik [Crispiniano Agustines]
Alakdan [Guillermo Masangkay]
Maniangat [Vicente Molina]
Ilagan [Rafael Gutierrez, or one of the brothers]
Ilagan [Rafael Gutierrez]
Mapilit [Adriano Jesus]
Macabuhay [Enrique Pacheco]
Tagaisok [Aguedo del Rosario]
Matunog [Salustiano Cruz]

Hininga [Cipriano Pacheco]
1 Mabagsik (Savage) was the Katipunan name of Crispiniano Agustines, who was fiscal of
the Juaran Council in Polo, Bulacan. Polo was the hometown of KKK Supreme Councilor
Pío Valenzuela, who was absent from this meeting, and it is possible that Agustines was
attending on his behalf.
2 The Katipunan newspaper Kalayaan, which was then just about to come off the press,
announced on its masthead that it emanated from Yokohama, and presumably this pretense
was maintained internally within the organization as a security precaution.
3 This translation is uncertain, because the original Tagalog could either mean that those
returning to the Katipunan had been formally expelled, or that they had simply “separated
themselves” from the organization by lapsing into inactivity.
6.5
Supreme Assembly
Record of meeting held on March 22, 1896, in Mandaluyong
This document is the record of the fourth meeting of the Supreme Assembly,
the previous three having been held as follows:-
• November 30–December 1, 1895, at the house of Brother “Liwayway”
in Caloocan (document 2.9).
• December 24−25, 1895, at Andres Bonifacio’s house in the
Dulumbayan area of Manila (document 2.10).
• January 1, 1896, again at Bonifacio’s house in the Dulumbayan area
of Manila (document 4.1).
It is not known exactly how many times the Supreme Assembly convened
after this fourth meeting on March 22, 1896, which was held at the house of
Brother “Talisay” in Mandaluyong. The formal records of the subsequent
meetings have not yet been located. Almost certainly, though, it met again on
at least a further three occasions:-
• On or about May 3–4, 1896, in the house of Valentin Cruz in Pasig.
This famous meeting—at which Pio Valenzuela was appointed to go
to Dapitan to sound out Rizal’s views on an imminent revolution—is
recalled in the memoirs of four of the participants: Pio Valenzuela,
Emilio Aguinaldo, Santiago Alvarez, and Valentin Cruz himself.
None of their accounts states specifically that the gathering was a

meeting of the Supreme Assembly, but there seems little doubt that
it was.1
• May 30−31, 1896, somewhere along the Pasig River. The summons to
this meeting (document 6.12) instructs the delegates from Manila to
assemble first at the Insular tobacco factory, and then make their way
to the Pasig, where two boats would be awaiting them.2
• August 24, 1896, in Balintawak. Bonifacio refers to this meeting in a
draft appointment reproduced here as document 7.2. It was on this
occasion that the Assembly took the momentous decision to launch
the revolution.
The illegibility of a few phrases in the Tagalog text—only two or three
words in each instance—is due not to Emilio Jacinto’s handwriting but to the
fact that the document got wet at some stage in its history and the ink ran.
Tagalog Text

K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan, at sa lalung kapurihan at kaayusan ng K.K.K.

Ngayong ikadalawang puo’t dalawa ng Marzo ng taung isang libo, walong dan,
siam na puo’t anim, itong K. Kapisanan ay gumawa ng isang pagpupulong sa bayan
ng Mandaluyong sa bahay ng kap. na Talisay.
Sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga, binuksan ang kagalanggalang
na kar., at ang k. kal. sa kapahintulutan ng k.p., ay binasa ang pinagsulatan ng
sinusundang pulong ng ikauna ng Enero ng taung umiiral. Tungkol sa mga [illegible]
tala na ang mga Pinakakatawan ng K.K. ay ang mga p. ng mga Sb. at mga By. na
walang nakasasakup na Sb. lamang, ayon sa talagang pinagusapan at pinagkaisahan.
Ang paalalang ito’y pinatunayan ng madlang nakaharap naman, kaya’t idinagdag na
itinala sa pinagsulatan, at saka na tinatakan at tinalaan ng k.p at k.kal.
Ipinagsabi ng isang kpon., na ang kap. na Gatdula, p. ng By. Tala ay humihingi ng
kapatawaran sa di niya pagdalo, sapagka’t nanganganak ang asawa. Pinatunayan ng
marami’t minarapat ng lahat.
Ipinahayag ng k.p. ang panukala niyang magtayu ng isang pulutong na tangi,
na walang ibang tutungkulin kung di ang lahat ng nauukol sa pagaabuloy at mga

pagsaklolo. Sa pagkabatid ng lahat nang pagkaikailangan nito, ayon sa kaayusan
ng K.K.K., pinagkaisahang matayu ang pulutong na ito. Sapagka’t kapagkatapus ng
isang mahaba’t masiyasat na paglilining at mga tutol ng isa’t isa, ay hualang lumitaw
na may malinis at malinaw na karapatan, tungkol sa pagtatatag ng pulutong na
ito’y pinagkayariang maghalal ng mga kap [illegible] at lumagda ng Patnugutang
[illegible]. Ang mga kpong. lumabas na nahalal ay ang mga kap. na Tagaisok, Leon,
Matunog at Makabuhay.
Pinagkaisahang gagamitin muna ang dating palakad sa mga pagsaklolo,
datapua’t ito’y hindi gagawin sa mga kpong hindi tumutupad ng katungkulan niya,
kung di nagbubuhat ang di pagtupad na ito sa tunay at matuid na dahil.
Ipinagsabi ang panukalang magpalabas ng isang “Atasan” na siyang
maituturing na Gaceta oficial ng Kat. Sa pagkakilala ng lahat ng pagkakailangan
nito, ay minarapat na pinagkaisahang palabasin. Sapagka’t hindi mangyayari ang
pinagkaisahang ito, dala ng kakapusang malaki ng mga kagamitan sa limbagan
ng K.K.K., ito’y ipinagsabi ng mga kap. na doo’y nakaharap at nakaaalam ng mga
gawang paglilimbag. Sa maringig ito ng kap. na Buhawi, na tumama sa premio mayor
ng Loteria, ay kusang naghandog ang limang puong piso sa kabagayang ito. Ang
kap. na Tagasapa na pinakakatawan [illegible] kpon. sa Nueva Ecija, ay nangakung
magbibigay sa ngalan ng mga kinakatawan, ng dalawang puo’t limang piso, na
kaniyang dadalhin pagbabalik niya sa Maynila inakamahal na araw. Ang kap. na
Alang-alang ay naghandog ng tatlong piso sa bagay ding ito. Ang kap. na Magiliw na
pinakakatawan ng Sb. Makabuhay ay nagalay ng sampung piso sa ngalan ng kaniyang
nasasakupan. Ang kap. na Pagsanhan ay nagbigay ng dalawang piso sa bagay ding ito.
Pinagkaisahan din na ang Atasan ay palabasin sa bawat buan. Pinagkaisahan na ang
mga pulutong ay magpapasulat sa pilitan sa Atasan at ang mga kpon. ang may ibig
lamang. Pinagkaisahang isang salapi ang ibabayad sa isang buan ng mga pulutong at
sikolo ang mga kpon.
Tungkol sa periodicong tagalog na mangagaling sa kaharian ng Japon ay
pinagkaisahan itong mga sumusunod: Una: Ang lahat ng kpon. may katungkulang
pagpilitang magpasulat at [illegible] magpasulat ang mga taong labas na inaakalang
magkarapatan [?]. Ikalawa: Ang mga pinakakatawanan ng mga pulutong ay siyang
makikipagalam [?] sa K.S. tungkol sa pagpapasulat at ang mga pinakakatawang ito
ang makikipagalam sa mga kpong nagpapasulat at sa mga dikaalam na hinikayat
magpasulat ng kaniyang mga kpon. Ikatlo:- Ang mga pangalan ng mga taong
nagpapasulat ay di gagamitin at walang ikakikilala sa kanila kung di sa pamagitan
ng taglay na kabilangan: Sa bagay na ito’y magkakaroon ng kasaysayan ng mga
nagpapasulat sa lihim sa pagsulat ang kanilang mga pangalan at sa tapat ang bilang
na nauukol sa bawa’t isa.
Sa pagkakilala ng lahat na ang kap. na Dimas Ayaran ay di mangyayaring
manatili sa gayong pamumuhay, na tutoong salat at di pa nabayaran ng talagang
dapat sa sinasagut na katungkulan. Pinagkaisahan [illegible] sumusunod: Una: ang

mga pangulo ay managut buan buan, maningil at hindi ang kaniyang mga kpon, ng
isang halagang nakataning.
Sa bagay na ito ang mga pinakakatawang doo’y nakaharap nanagut ang Sb.
Katagalugan ng $10’0, ang Sb. Dimahipo $3’00, ang Sb. Makabuhay $7’00, ang By.
Dapitan $2’00, ang K.S. $1’00, ang Sb. Mahiganti $3’50, ang By. Dimasalang $1’50. —
Ikalawa:- ang kap. na Dimas Alang [sic] ay papagbabayarin ng patente, at sa bagay
na ito’y nagbukas ng ambagan sa pagkakaharapang yaun, na lumabas ng ganito:
Maypagasa $1-, Vicente Leiva 1-, Labong 1-p., Ilagan $1-, Buhawi 2-p, Tambuli – 50,
Tagaisok –50, Mapilit –50, Laot –50, Leon –50, Batobalani –50, Matunog –50, Magiliw
–50p, Loob –25p., Pagsanhan –50p., Bakal –25p, Kalipulako –50, Bulalakaw –50,
Tagosapa –50p., Sampalok –20p. ang nailigpit sa suput ng saklolo 1’27p.
Pinagkaisahang ilathala ang malaking paglilingkod ng mga kap. na Makahia at
Talisay na nagpakain sa makapal na kapatid na nagsidalo, ng walang hangad na ano
pa man.
Kapagkatapus sumumpa ang lahat ayon sa dating ugali niwakasan ang kar. sa
dapit hapun.
Maynila, ika 22 ng Marzo ng taung 1896.
Ang K. P.
Ang K. Kal
Pnllknzll
Abbreviated paraphrase
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Supreme Assembly
(—Record —)
In the name of the native country, and for the honor and good order of the K.K.K.
Today, March 22, 1896, this Supreme Assembly held a meeting in the town of
Mandaluyong at the house of Brother “Talisay.”
The respected summit began at ten strikes of the iron on the copper in the
morning. With the consent of the Supreme President, the Supreme Secretary read out
the report of the previous meeting of the Assembly held on January 1, 1896. Questions
were raised about the tally of the delegates who had been present at that meeting,
and it was confirmed that the membership of the Supreme Assembly comprised the
presidents of the Popular Councils and the presidents of branches that were not affili-
ated to Popular Councils. The Assembly agreed that this was in line with what had
been previously discussed and agreed, and so the list of those present at the January
meeting was duly augmented. The report of that meeting was then certified and sealed
by Bonifacio and Jacinto.
A member stated that Buenaventura Domingo, the president of By. Tala, had
asked to be excused from attendance at the Assembly because his wife was having a
baby. The reason for his absence was confirmed by others, and accepted by all.
Bonifacio proposed that a group be established with specific responsibility for
all matters regarding mutual assistance and support. Everybody recognized that this
proposal was in the interests of good order within the Katipunan, and it was approved.
After a long and searching discussion, however, in which everybody expressed
conflicting views, the Assembly gave no clear and unequivocal mandate for the estab-
lishment of such a group. It was therefore decided (illegibility makes this meaning
tentative) to elect four members to consider this matter further, and Aguedo del
Rosario, Gregorio Coronel, Salustiano Cruz, and Enrique Pacheco were duly elected
for this purpose.
It was agreed that in the meantime the existing arrangements should continue,
but that support should not be extended to members who were not fulfilling their
duties, unless they had a real and genuine excuse.
The Assembly discussed the plan to issue a “Bulletin” (more literally, Ordinances),
which would be like the Official Gazette of the Katipunan. Everybody recognized the
need for such a publication, and the plan was approved. Members present who knew
about printing, however, cautioned that the plan could not be implemented at present
because the Katipunan’s printing press had only a very limited capacity. On hearing
this, Brother “Buhawi,” who had won first prize in the lottery, volunteered to give 50
pesos towards the cost of a better printing press. Brother “Tagasapa,” from Nueva
Ecija, promised to give 25 pesos in the name of members in that province when he
returned to Manila again in Holy Week. Brother “Alang-alang” donated 3 pesos for the
same purpose. Rogelio Borja, representing the Makabuhay popular council, offered
10 pesos in the name of his membership. Brother “Pagsanjan” gave 2 pesos. It was
further agreed that the “Bulletin” should be issued every month, and that the KKK’s
sections should be obliged to submit material to the publication. Individual members
could also write material if they wished. Each section would be required to contribute
a salapi (half a peso, i.e., 80 kualta) every month towards the cost of producing the
“Bulletin,” and each member should contribute sikolo (10 kualta) a month.
Regarding the newspaper coming from the Empire of Japan, the following was
agreed: First, all members had a firm duty to write for the paper and solicit contribu-
tions from sympathizers outside the KKK. Second, the representatives of the sections
should encourage their members to write contributions, and should relay any contri-
butions to the Supreme Council. Third, the names of the members who contributed
to the paper would not be published, and no one would know their identity except
by means of a number, and the names that corresponded to each number would be
recorded only in a secret register.
Everyone acknowledged that Brother Pio Valenzuela could not continue to act as
the KKK’s physician unless he was adequately paid for his services, and it was agreed
that the section presidents should each be responsible for contributing a set amount
each month.
In this regard, the sections represented at the Assembly would be responsible for
making monthly contributions as follows: Sb. Katagalugan $10’0, Sb. Dimahipo $3’00,
Sb. Makabuhay $7’00, By. Dapitan $2’00, the Supreme Council $1’00, Sb. Mahiganti
$3’50, and By. Dimasalang $1’50. Second, Brother “Dimas Alang” [sic3] needed
to pay for a license to practise medicine, and a fund was opened for this purpose to
which the following contributions were made: Andres Bonifacio $1-, Vicente Leiva
1-, Lino Villanueva 1-p., Rafael Gutierrez $1-, Victoriano Domingo 2-p, Tambuli – 50,
Aguedo del Rosario –50, Adriano de Jesus –50, Isabelo Reyes –50, Gregorio Coronel
–50, Genaro de los Reyes –50, Salustiano Cruz –50, Ignacio Sanchez (?) –50p, “Loob”
–25p., Policarpio Tarla –50p., “Bakal” –25p, “Kalipulako” –50, Pantaleon Torres –50,
“Tagosapa” –50p., Cornelio Sanchez (?) –20p. The sum of 1’27p was placed in the
collection pouch.
The Assembly thanked Brothers “Makahia” (probably Liborio de Guzman) and
“Talisay” for their generous hospitality, and for feeding the large number of brothers
who had gathered—no one could have wished for anything more.
After all those present had sworn the customary oath (to divulge nothing of what
they had seen and heard), the summit ended in the late afternoon.
Manila, March 22, 1896.

Pinkian
1 Testimony of Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino, September 2, 1896, reproduced in appendix L,

in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1978), 144–45; Emilio
Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan (Manila: n.pub., 1964), 42–44; Santiago V. Alvarez,
The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of a General, translated by Paula Carolina S.
Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992), 9–13; Valentin Cruz, “Ang
Aking Autobiografia” [Typescript, Guillermo Masangkay Papers, Main Library, University
of the Philippines, Diliman]; and Dean Carlos Tech, “Was Bonifacio Tortured to Death?”
Philippine Daily Inquirer, February 8, 1998. Tech’s article is based in part on the personal
recollections of Valentin Cruz, whom he interviewed in October 1956. The accounts differ as
to the precise date of the meeting, but Alvarez is probably correct in remembering that it
started late in the evening of Sunday, May 3, 1896, and carried on through the night.
2 Jocelyn Uy reports that local historians in the towns of Pasig and Taguig believe that one or
more important Katipunan meetings were held at the parola, the lighthouse at the mouth of
the Napindan River (a tributary of the Pasig River) in Laguna de Bay, so it is possible that
this was the venue for the Assembly meeting on May 30–31. Jocelyn Uy, “Taguig Lighthouse
Katipuneros’ Rubicon,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 30, 2006.
3 This is presumably a slip of the pen. Jacinto meant to write “Dimas Ayaran” (“Untouchable”),
the Katipunan alias of Valenzuela. “Dimas Alang” (“Touch me Not”) was one of the pen
names adopted by José Rizal, and “Dimasalang,” as Jacinto had just written the line before,
was the name of a KKK branch.
6.6
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on March 29, 1896, in Pasig
On Sunday, March 29, 1896, Pio Valenzuela, Aguedo del Rosario, and
Pantaleon Torres went to the town of Pasig in their respective capaci-
ties as fiscal, assistant secretary, and councilor of the Supreme Council. At
one o’clock in the afternoon, Valenzuela [Dimas Ayaran] presided over the
promotion of the KKK Balangay in the town—By. Nagbangon—to the status
of a Sangunian Bayan and the creation of a new Balangay, By. Pinaglabanan.
Elected as president of Sb. Nagbangon was Eulalio Santiago [Magaling],
who was a tailor.
Transcribed below is the record of the occasion, which is in Emilio
Jacinto’s handwriting even though he had not personally been present.
Tagalog Text

K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
( Pinagsulatan)

Ngayong ikadalawang puo’t siam ng Marzo ng taung isang libo, walong dan,
siam na puo’t anim, pinulong nitong K.S. sa pamagitan ng k. t, ng k. pangalawang kal.
at ng kasanguning Bulalakaw ang By. Nagbangon ng bayan ng Pasig sa bahay ng kap.
na Mabato.
Sa unang daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng hapun ay binuksan ang kar., at tuloy
ipinahayag ng kap. na Dimas Ayaran na siyang nangungulo, ang dahil ng pagpupulong
na ito, na di iba’t ang pagtatayu ng Sb., sapagka’t ang mga kpon. ng By. Nagbangon ay
sumasaka’y na sa kabilangang kinakailangan, ayon sa talagang palakad.
Sa bagay na ito’y ginawa ang paghahalal ng mga pinuno’t kasanguni ng
itinatayung Sb., at lumabas na p. ang kap. na Magaling, t. ang kap. na Yantok, kal. ang
kap na Timog, ty. ang kap. na Nagbago, at mga kasanguni ang mga kap. na Kakawate,
Habagat, Magingat at Mabato.
Pinapanumpa at pinatangap ng kanikanilang katungkulan ang mga kap. na ito,
at saka ipinahayag ng kap. na nangungulo, na buhat sa araw na ito’y natatayu sa bayan
ng Pasig ang Sb. Nagbangon.
Karakarakang nagawa ito’y ipinagsabi ng kap. na Dimas Ayaran, ang
pagkakailangang magtayu ng isang bagong By. na kasasaniban ng mga ibang kpon.
Sa bagay na ito’y pinagkaisahang alanan ng Pinaglabanan ang By. na itatayu.
Ginawa ang paghahalal ng mga pinuno at lumabas na p. ang kap. na Halo.
Pinagkaisahang manatili sa kanilang katungkulan ang mga pinuno ng dating By.
Nagbangon, sa itinatayung By. Pinaglabanan, liban ang p. sapagka’t siyang nahalal
sa Sb.
Pinapanumpa at pinatangap sila ng kanikanilang katungkulan at saka ipinahayag
na buhat sa araw na ito’y natatayu sa ilalim ng kapangharihan ng Sb. Nagbangon ang
By. Pinaglabanan. At saka [one word illegible] at ipinagsaysay ng kap. na nangungulo
ang gaganapin sa bawat katungkulan.
niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ikatlong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng hapun.
Maynila ika 29 ng Marzo taung 1896.
Ang Pangalawang-Kal. Ang lumagay na P.

K.T.
6.7
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on April 2, 1896, in Noveleta
On April 2, 1896—Holy Thursday—Andres Bonifacio, Pio Valenzuela, and

Emilio Jacinto went to Noveleta, Cavite, to preside over the formation of a
Katipunan branch in the town.
The document transcribed below is Jacinto’s formal record of the meeting,
at which it was agreed to call the branch Balangay Magdiwang—“Celebrate,”
or “Triumph”—and to elect Santiago Alvarez [Apuy] as its president, Pascual
Alvarez [Bagong-buhay] as secretary, “Mabalasik” as fiscal; and “Mabuti” as
treasurer.
At some point before the outbreak of the revolution in August 1896, the
branch was elevated to the status of a popular council, or Sangunian Bayan,
and at that juncture Mariano Alvarez, Santiago’s father, was elected as its
president.
Tagalog Text

K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
( Pinagsulatan)
Ngayong ikadalawa ng Abril ng taung isang libo, walong dan, siam na puo’t anim,
itong K.S. sa pamagitan ng k.p at k.t. at ng k.kal ay pinulong ang mga kpon. ng bayan
ng Noveleta ng hukuman ng Tangway.
Sa ikapitong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi ay binuksan ang kar. at tuloy
ipinagsabi ng k.p. na ang kadahilanan ng pulong na ito ay ang pagtatayu ng isang By.
sapagkat ang mga kpon. nitong nasabing bayan ay dumating na sa kabilangang ukol,
ayon sa talagang palakad.
Sa bagay na ito’y pinagkaisahang alanan ng “Magdiwang” ang itinatayung By.
Ginawa ang paghahalal ng mga pinuno at lumabas na p. ang kap. na Apuy, kal.
ang kap. na Bagong-buhay, t. ang kap. na Mabalasik at ty. ang kap. na Mabuti.
at saka ipinahayag ng k.p. na buhat sa araw na ito’y natatayu sa bayan ng Noveleta
hukuman ng Tangway ang By. Magdiwang.
Ang K.P. ay nangaral at ipinakilala ang mga gaganapin sa bawat katungkulan.

Kapagkatapus manumpa ang lahat na di isisiwalat ang namasdan at napakingan
niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi.
Noveleta (Tangway) ika 2 ng Abril ng taung 1896.
Ang K. P.
Ang K. Kal
Pnllgknzll
6.8
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on April 3, 1896, in Kawit
On April 3, 1896, Andres Bonifacio and three other members of the Supreme
Council of the Katipunan—Pio Valenzuela, Emilio Jacinto, and Pantaleon
Torres— went to the town of Kawit in the province of Cavite. There, at ten
o’clock in the evening, Bonifacio presided over the formation of a Katipunan
branch called Magdalo after the town’s patron saint, St. Mary Magdalene.
Transcribed below is Jacinto’s formal record of the meeting, at which it
was agreed to elect Emilio Aguinaldo [Magdalo] as president of the branch,
“Panahun” (possibly Silvestre Legaspi) as fiscal, Baldomero Aguinaldo
[Mabangis] as secretary, and Candido Tria Tirona [Sukat na] as treasurer.
At some point before the outbreak of the revolution in August 1896, the
branch was elevated to the status of a popular council, or Sangunian Bayan,
and at that juncture Baldomero Aguinaldo, Emilio’s first cousin, was elected
as its president.
In his memoirs, Emilio Aguinaldo mentions Bonifacio coming to Kawit
to help establish the Magdalo branch, but he mistakenly says this happened
“one day in June 1895”—ten months before it actually did. Aguinaldo likewise
brings forward the date he joined the Katipunan by a year, remembering his
initiation as being in March 1895, when in fact it was on March 25, 1896—just
nine days before the meeting in Kawit and just five months before the start of
the revolution.1
Santiago Alvarez also mentions the formation of the Magdalo branch in

his memoirs (he had accompanied Bonifacio and the other members of the
KKK Supreme Council to Kawit), and he dates the occasion correctly as Good
Friday, 1896. The meeting was held in Aguinaldo’s own house. Just as it was
about to begin, he relates, shouts were heard outside: “Fire! Fire in Manila!”
Alvarez continues, “We went to the stone bridge to east of the house to look
across the bay to Manila. When we saw the huge conflagration the Supremo
[Bonifacio] was dismayed and he fell limply against the stone wall. He said
he felt certain that his house and his furniture had gone up in flames.”2 Sadly,
his fears were not unfounded.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
( Pinagsulatan)

Ngayong ikatatlo ng Abril ng taung isang libo, walong dan, siam na puo’t anim,
pinulong nitong K.S. sa pamagitan ng k.p, ng k.t., ng k.kal at ng kas. Bulalakaw, ang
mga kpon ng bayan ng Kawit hukuman ng Tangway.
Sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi ay binuksan ang kar. at tuloy
ipinagsabi ng k.p. na ang kadahilanan ng pagpupulong na ito’y ang pagtatayu ng isang
By., sapagka’t ang mga kpon. nitong nasabing bayan ay lumapit na may kabilangang
kinakailangan ayon sa talagang palakad.
Sa bagay na ito’y pinagkaisahang alanan ng Magdalo ang By. na itinatayu.
Ginawa ang paghahalal ng mga pinuno, at lumabas na p. ang kap. na Magdalo, t.
ang kap na Panahun, kal. ang kap. na Mabangis at ty. ang kap. na Sukat-na.
Pinapanumpa at pinatangap ng kani-kanilang katungkulan ang mga kap. na
ito, at saka ipinahayag ng k.p. na buhat sa araw na ito’y natatayu ang By. Magdalo sa
bayan ng Kawit hukuman ng Tangway.
Nangaral ang k.p. at ipinakilala ang mga gaganapin sa bawat katungkulan.
Kapagkatapus maggawad ng panunumpa ang lahat na di isisiwalat nsa kanino
pa man ang namasdan at napakingan, niwakasan itong pagpupulong sa ikalawang
daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga ng kinabukasan.
Kawit ikatatlo ng Abril ng taung 1896.
Ang K. P.
Ang K. Kal
Pnllgknzll
1 Emilio Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan (Manila: Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay, 1964),
31–32. The membership slip signed by Aguinaldo when he joined the KKK is preserved in
the Madrid military archives along with those of two other recruits, Candido Tria Tirona
and Raymundo Mata, who had travelled with him from Kawit that day. The latter figures
in Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses as a “blind old man” who, posing as a patient, accompa-
nied Pio Valenzuela on his trip in June 1896, to see Rizal in Dapitan. His membership slip
shows that he was, in fact, just 40 at the time, though his signature suggests that he was
indeed blind. Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5393, leg. 5.3; Teodoro A. Agoncillo,
The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of
the Philippines, 1956), 117.
2 Santiago V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of a General, translated by
Paula Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992), 8.
6.9
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on April 5, 1896
Bonifacio had seen the huge fire in Manila from 8 miles away, across the
bay in Kawit, and as he feared his own house in Dulumbayan was among
the hundreds lost to the flames. Mercifully, his wife and infant son were
unharmed, and the family went to live temporarily at Pio Valenzuela’s
house on Calle Lavezares in San Nicolas. There the KKK Supreme Council
convened on the morning of Easter Monday, 1896, and the damage wrought
by the conflagration on Good Friday was naturally the principal topic of
discussion. This record of the meeting was penned by Emilio Jacinto.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
(Pinagsulatan)
-----------------
lakas ng K.K.K., itong K.S. ay gumawa, sa ikalima ng Abril ng taung isang libo, walong
dan, siam na puo’t anim, ng isang pagpupulong sa bahay ng kap. na Dimas Ayaran.
Nagsidalo ang mga kap. na Maypagasa, Pingkian, Silanganan, Talibong,
Bulalakaw, Silang at Subiang, at humarap ang kap. na Dinalitiwan.
Sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga ay binuksan ang kar., at tuloy
binasa ng kap. na kal. ang pinagsulatan ng sinundang pagpupulong na minarapat ng
lahat, at pinatunayan.
Kapagkatapus, ay pinasumpa at pinatangap ng katungkulang Kasanguni ang
kap. na Silanganan, na inihalal ng K.K.
Ipinagbigay alam ng k.p. ang naging bunga ng lakad sa bayan ng Noveleta’t Kawit
ng mga kap. na Maypagasa, Dimas Ayaran, Pingkian at Bulalakaw, na nakapagtayu ng
dalawang By.: By. “Magdalo” sa Kawit, at sa Noveleta By. Magdiwang.
Ipinagbigay alam din naman na ang mga libro ng Basahan na nailigpit na, at
maghahalaga ng mga tatlong dang piso, ay nasunog ng Viernes na nagdaan, at gayon
din ang mga uupang tinatawag na silla de Viena na ari ng Kat, liban sa dalawang
nailigtas. Ang mga libro’t uupang ito ay nakalagak sa bahay ng kap. na Maypagasa.
Pinagkaisahang kumatha [?] at lumimbag ng isang folleto na magpaalab ng
kalooban ng mga tagalog laban sa pagpapasunog, na gawa ng mga kaaway. Sa bagay
na ito at nang makapagkalat ng marami ay aambag ng isang salapi ang mga K. ng K.S.
at ang kap. na Dinalitiwan at ang iba pang may ibig.
Pinagkaisahang magpapalabas ng dalawang gabi sa Teatro Colon, at ang kitain
dito’y ipagbabaha-bahagi sa lahat ng kap. na nasunugan sa Viernes Stong nagdaan.
Wikang tagalog ang palalabasin at matatandang tao, at ng di mangalugi ay ipagbibili
ang mga billete nang maaga, upang maubos na pagginawa ang palabas. Naghalal
ng mga kap. na mamahala nito at nagsilabas ang mga kpong. Dinalitiwan, Subiang,
Talibong, Tagaisok at Maniangat, p. ang Dinalitiwan, kal. Subiang at ty. Tagaisok.
Ang palabas ay gagawin sa ikalawa at ikatlo ng buan ng Mayong hinaharap.
Kapagkatapus sumumpa ang tanang nakaharap, ayon sa dating ugali, na di
isisiwalat sa kanino pa man ang lahat ng namasdan at napakingan, niwakasan itong
pagpupulong sa ikalabingdalawang daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga.
Maynila ika 5 ng Abril ng taung 1896.

Ang k.p.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang k. kal
Pnllknzll
Abbreviated Paraphrase
The Supreme Council members present at the meeting were Andres Bonifacio,
Emilio Jacinto, Francisco Carreon, Hermenegildo Reyes, Pantaleon Torres, Balbino
Florentino, and José Trinidad; and brother Apolonio de la Cruz was also in attendance.
Francisco Carreon took his oath of office as a member of the Council.1
Bonifacio reported on the fruitful trip to Cavite from which he, Jacinto,
Valenzuela, and Pantaleon Torres had just returned. During this trip, KKK branches
had been established in the towns of Noveleta and Kawit, to be known respectively as
By. Magdiwang and By. Magdalo.
Among the contents of Bonifacio’s house destroyed by the fire was the book
collection being assembled by the Katipunan, called the “Basahan ng Bayan,” which
was valued at around 300 pesos, and all but two of a set of “Vienna chairs” the organi-
zation had purchased, presumably for use by the Supreme Council.2
It was agreed that the Katipunan should produce a leaflet “to incite the anger of
the Tagalogs against the act of arson, perpetrated by the enemies.”3 Those present
agreed to contribute a salapi (80 kualta) towards the cost of the leaflet.
The Council decided that the Katipunan should put on a stage show at the Teatro
Colon on May 2/3 to raise funds for members affected by the fire, and agreed that
tickets should be produced and sold as soon as possible. An ad hoc committee, headed
by Apolonio de la Cruz, was elected to organize and promote the event, which it was
agreed should be in Tagalog and should appeal to an adult audience.4
1 Carreon had been elected to this position on December 24/25, 1895, but had been absent
when his fellow councilors had subsequently taken their oaths.
2 “Vienna chairs,” originally imported from Austria, were fashioned from wood bent by steam,
enabling it to be worked into sinuous designs in keeping with the art nouveau style then
in vogue. Martin I. Tinio, “Inside Story,” in Turn of the Century (Quezon City: GCF Books,
1978), 239.
3 It is not known whether this accusation had any basis in fact.
4 The Teatro Colon was located in the Palomar District of Tondo. Established in 1895, it
usually staged Spanish zarzuelas. Cristina Laconico-Buenaventura, The Theater in Manila,
1846–1946 (Manila: De la Salle University Press, 1994), 192.
6.10
Supreme Council
Notice to all members, c. April 6, 1896
This document informs the KKK membership about decisions taken at

the meetings of the Supreme Assembly (Kataastaasang Kapisanan) and the
Supreme Council (Kataastaasang Sangunian), and asks that these decisions be
noted and implemented.
The document seems to have been written by Bonifacio himself, but for
some reason the space beneath his title is left blank, without a signature. The
document is, however, signed by Emilio Jacinto as secretary to the Supreme
Council.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
-----------------
Sa lahat ng mga Katipon
Minamahal na mga kap:
Alinsunod sa mga katungkulang taglay nitong K. S., ukol sa paglalathala sa

buong Katipunan ng mga atas ng Kataastaasang Kapisanan at ng sariling mga pasiya,
sampu ng sa ibang mga pulutong na nararapat sa gayon, upang makilala ng lahat at
maganap, sa pag tupad ng katungkulang ito’y aming ipinagbibigay alam ang mga
sumusunod:
Una :- Tungkol sa “ Kalayaan” (periodikong wikang tagalog na nangagaling sa

Japon) ay gaganapin itong mga sumusunod:- Una: sa pagka’t di kakaunting tulong
ang maibibigay nito sa ipagtatamo ng mga nilalayon ng K.K.K., at sa ikadadali ng
pagkagising ng kaisipan at kalooban ng mga tagalog, ang lahat ng katipon ay may
katungkulang mahigpit na pagpilitan nilang magpasulat at humikayat na magpasulat
sa mga dikaalam na inaakala nilang may karapatan. Ikalawa: Ang mga pinuno ng
mga pulutong ay siyang lalagay na parang katiwala ng mga pinuno ng K.S. sa mga
pagpapasulat na ito.
Ikalawa: Sa ikatutupad ng iniatas na ambagang ibibigay sa buan buan sa kap.
na Dimas-Ayaran, ay pinagkaisahang sasagutin ng mga pinakakatawan ang isang
halagang tatagang taning. Sa bagay na ito’y lumabas na sumagut ng sampung piso
ang Sb. Katagalugan, tatlong piso ang Sb. Dimahipo, pitong piso ang Sb. Makabuhay,
dalawa ang By. Dapitan, tatlo’t isang salapi ang Sb. Mahiganti, piso ang K.S., piso’t
isang salapi ang By. Dimasalang.
Ikatlo: Ang mga kpong. nagkakailangan ng saklolo, bago ganapin ang nararapat
ay uusisain muna kung nagsipagtupad sa kanilang mga tungkol, at kung walang mga
pag kukulang na ginagamit. Kung lumabas na di tumutupad at nagkulang ay hindi
sasaklolohin.
Ikaapat: Sa tanging mga paglilingkod sa K.K.K., at sa mga gugol na kinatawan
ng mga kap. na Makahia at Talisay sa nasasakupan ng Sb. Makabuhay, minarapat ng
K. Kapisanan na sa lalung kapurihan nila, ay malathala sila sa buong Katipunan.
Mga atas ng K. Sangunian
Una:- Ang mga Sb. at ang mga By. na walang nakasasakup na Sb., ay magpapadala
dito sa K.S. ng buong kasaysayan ng lahat ng mga kpon. na kanilang nasasakupan. Sa
kasaysayang ito ay malalagay ang pangalan ng bawat isa, pamagat, taong katandaan,
kalagayan, tinubuan, tahanan, araw ng pagkapasuk, kabayaran sa pagkapasuk,
katungkulang hinahawakan (kung sakali’t mayroon) at pulutong na kinasasaniban.
Tagubilin: Ang mga ktpong. tiwalag at gayon din ang nasasamalayu, ay pawang
ilalagay din, lamang ay sa tapat ng “pulutong” na kinasasaniban ay isisulat na tiwalag,
kung tiwalag.
Ikalawa:- Ang mga hudiatang pasiya ng K. Kapisanan sa pulong na ginawa
ng ikatlong puo ng Noviembre, ng nagdaang taun, ay ipakikikala sa lahat, upang
maipairal at maihalili sa mga dati. Ang mga hudiatang ito ay ang sumusunod:
Kung sasaayus ay ilalagay ang kanang kamay sa balikat na kaliwa. Sa
pagkakamayan ay ihahagud ng makaitlo ang dulo ng hintuturo sa dakong ibaba
ng galang-galangan. Sa pag pupugayan, ay aalisin ang kalu [sombrero] at ilalay ng
patihaya sa tapat ng puso. Sa mga tanungan ay ito:“¿Anong araw kahapon? Sagut:
Araw ng Kapayapaan. ¿Anong araw ngayon? Sagut: Araw ng Kaalipinan. ¿Anong araw
bukas? Sagut: Araw ng Kalayaan.” Ang mga lihim na wika ay “Na La Anak-Bayan.”
Kung ang isang Katipon ay nagagapus, ng siya’y makilala ay isusuntok niya ang
kaniyang mga kamay liban sa kalingkingan na iuunat. Kung may nakaharap na di
kalaalam ay hahawakan ng nakakatalastas ang kaniyang tainga, na ang kahuluga’y
may nakariringig; at ang iba’y sa bibik ang hawak tanda na siya’y di magsasalita.
Sa bagay na ito, mula sa kaarawang taglay nitong kasulatan hangang sa
makalampas ang dalawang puong araw, ay wala nang kabuluhan ang mga dating
hudiatan, at may katuirang huag kilalanin kap. ang di nakaaalam ng mga bago, liban
lamang kung may mga ibang bagay na dapat pagkakilanlan.
Tagubilin: Ang mahulihang marapatan na magsiwalat ng mga hudiatang ito sa
kanino mang dikaalam at mga katpon. tiwalag, ay lalapatan ng matinding parusa.
Ikatatlo:- Ang sino mang katpon. na makapagpadala dito sa K.S. ng lalung
matalino’t lalung magaang pagaaralang panukala tungkol sa lihim na pag sulat na
dapat gamitin ng K.K.K., ay bibigian ng isang palang ipagkakapuri niya. Ang palang
ito’y isang hiyas na pilak na handog ng kap. na Leon. Ang mga panukala ay isusulat,
atkalakip nito’y ipadadala ang pamagat na nakapaloob sa isang balutang-sulat (sobre)
na nakadikit. Ang mga panukala ay hindi na tatangapin, kung di hangang sa ikalabing
lima lamang ng Abril darating. Ang hahatol sa pagpapangagaw na ito ay ang K.S.
Ikaapat:- Sa pagka’t napatunayang pinupulaan ng katpong. Tiktik ang K.K.K.
sa mga hinlog at buong kamaganakan ng Dr Rizal; sa pagka’t ang mga larawan ng
mga magulang at kapatid nitong bunying kababayan natin, na pagawa at aring tunay
ng K.K.K. ay pinakialaman niyang kinuha at ibinigay sa kanila, na di naaalaman ng
K.K.K., at sa pagka’t ang naturang katpon. Tiktik ay lalu’t lalung nagpapakita ng
matinding pagsuail sa kaniyang panunumpang inihandog, itong K. S. alinsunod sa
kapangyarihang iginawad sa kaniya ay nagpasiya nitong mga sumusunod: Una: Ang
larawan ng Ktpong. Tiktik (José T. Santiago), na dating natitiwalag, ay isasama sa
piling ng mga “Taksil.” Ikalawa: Ang mga katpong. makialam sa kaniya’t ariin pang
kapatid sa Kat., ay paguusigin at lalapatan ng nauukol kong siyang nagigingdapat.
Ikalima: Sa pagka’t ang Kpong. Kulog (Donato Abella Cruz) sa nasasakupan
ng Sb. Katagalugan, ay gumamit ng malaking pag labag sa kapangyarihang gawad
ng K.K.K., sa kaniyang mga pinuno, at sa makatuid tunay na pag alipusta sa Kat.;
sa pagka’t ang nasabing Kat. bukod pa sa rito ay nakitaan ng lubos na kapaubayaan
sa pag tupad ng kaniyang mga panunumpa, ay minarapat nitong K.S. ang parusang
iniatas ng naturang Sb. Katagalugan na siya’y matiwalag at malagay ang kaniyang
larawan sa piling ng mga Taksil.
Paunawa: Ang ikalawang pasiya ng K.S. tungkol sa kpong Tiktik ay kapit din sa
kapong ito.
Ikaanim: Sa pagka’t ang kapong Limbas (Eleuterio Reyes) sa nasasakupan ng
Sb. Katagalugan, ay hindi dumadalo sa alin man pulong kahit ulit-ulit na ipatawag;
sapagka’t siya’y napatunayang naglalaru ng sabung, at niwawalang bahala ang mga
pangaral sa kaniya; sa pagka’t itong mga kapaubayaan niya’t mga pagkukulang ay
maituturing na kaniyang niwawalang kabuluhan ang K.K.K., ay minarapat nitong
K.S., ang parusang iniatas ng Sb. Katagalugan na siya’y matiwalag, datapua’t hindi
ang masama pa ang kaniyang larawan sa piling ng mga Taksil.
Ikapito: Sa ikakikilala at ikagaganap ng nauukol ay ipinagbibigay alam na
ang Tagapamahala sa ngayon ng “Basahan ng Bayan” ay ang kap. na Leon, at
Tagapangasiwa ang kap. na Silang, sapagka’t nag bitiw ng katungkulang ito ang kap.
na Pingkian.
Ikawalo: Sa ikakikilala ng lahat at ikagaganap ng nauukol ay ipinag bibigay
alam ding na inihalal na Pangalawang Kalihim sa K.S. ang kap. na Tagaisok at mga
Kasanguni ang kap. na Leon at ang kap. na Makabuhay.
Ikasiam: Sa pagka’t kinakailangan na ang ambagang manikapat labing dalawa
na pinagkaisahang ibibigay sa asawa ng ating kap. na Jasmin; at sapagka’t marami pa
ang hindi nakatutupad, ay muling ipinaaalaala nitong K.S. sa mga Katpong. di pa nag
bibigay na mangyari lamang na kanila ng ganapin.
Ikasampu: Sa pagkakita nitong K.S. nabibihira ang nakatutupad pa sa mga
librong ibibigay at manikapat na ambag sa “Basahan ng Bayan,” ay nag pasiya na
muling ipaalaala sa kanila.
Ikalabing isa: Alinsunod sa pag dadamayang ipinanumpa at sa pagka’t
kinakailangang ito’y gamitin sa mga kap. na nasunugan ng ikatatlo ng Abril, ay nag
pasiya ang K.S. na maglagay ng palabas sa “Teatro Colon” at ang dito’y kitain ay
iaabuloy sa kanila. Sa bagay na ito’y katungkulan ng lahat ang pumasuk sa gagawing
palabas at magpapasuk pamandin ng dikaalam. Dito’y di kasali ang mga pulutong na
nasamalayung bayan, at ang kanilang tutungkulin ay ang ambagan lamang.
Ipakilala at ipatupad sa lahat ang mga atas na ito, at tuloy tangapin ang aming
mahigpit na yakap.
Maynila, ika ng ng taung 1896.
Ang K. P.
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllgnzll
English Paraphrase
Orders of the Supreme Assembly:-
First: The publication of Kalayaan, “the Tagalog-language paper that comes from
Japan,” has helped in no small measure to advance the aims of the KKK and to awaken
the thinking and resolve of the Tagalogs. Members therefore have an important duty
to write and solicit contributions to the paper, and the leaders of the KKK’s councils
and branches are to assist the Supreme Council in this undertaking.
Second: Contributions towards the salary of Bro. Pio Valenzuela as physician to
the KKK need to be received on a regular basis, and a number of Sangunian Bayan
and Balangay will have fixed monthly quotas, as follows: Sb. Katagalugan, P10; Sb.
Makabuhay, P7; Sb. Mahiganti, P3½; Sb. Dimahipo P3; By. Dapitan, P2; and By.
Dimasalang, P1½. The Supreme Council will itself contribute P1 each month.
Third: Before a council or branch gives financial assistance to any of its members
[in the event of sickness or bereavement, for example] an investigation should be
conducted to confirm that they have fulfilled their duties diligently and paid their
dues. If they are found to have fallen short or lapsed in some way, they should not be
assisted.
Fourth: Brother “Makahia” and Brother “Talisay” of Sb. Makabuhay are to be
thanked and commended for the special support they have given the Katipunan “and
in meeting the expenses of the delegates.”*
Orders of the Supreme Council:-
First. Every council, and every individual branch not attached to a council,
should submit to the Supreme Council a full roster of their members, detailing each
one’s name, alias, age, situation [presumably meaning marital status], place of birth,
residence, date of admission to the society, payment of membership dues, branch, and
positions held. Members who had been expelled or become “distant” from the society
should also be listed, but the word “separated” should be written on their record.
Second. The secret signs approved by the Supreme Assembly on November 30,
1895, should now replace the old ones. The new signs are as follows:
• If everything is in order, place your right hand on your left shoulder.

• When shaking hands, rub the tip of your index finger three times just below
the other’s wrist.
• Upon greeting, lift your kalu (sombrero) and place it in front of your heart,
with the inside facing outwards.
• The questions to be asked, and their answers, are as follows: “What day
was it yesterday? The day of Peace. What day is it today? The day of Slavery.
What day will it be tomorrow? The day of Freedom.”
• The password will be Na-La-Anak-Bayan [With the Sons of the People].
• If a member is tied up, and wants to be recognized as a member, he should
clench his fist but leave the little finger straight.
• If you are with other members and notice a stranger present, touch your
ear with one hand and your mouth with the other as a signal that someone
might be listening and that it is not safe to speak.
Twenty days from the date of this notice, the old signs will cease to be opera-
tive, and thereafter anyone who does not know the new signs should not be recog-
nized as a brother, unless you already know them. The disclosure of the new signs
to anybody who is not connected with the society, or has been expelled, will merit a
severe punishment.
Third. The KKK needs to change its secret code, and a competition is to be held
to devise a new code that is at once ingenious and easy to comprehend. Members are
invited to submit their ideas for such a code in a sealed envelope, together with their
alias, to the Supreme Council before April 15, and whoever submits the best proposal
will win a piece of silver jewelry donated by Gregorio Coronel.
Fourth. It has been confirmed that José Turiano Santiago has been criticizing
the Katipunan to the family and all the relatives of Dr. Rizal. He also took away the
pictures of the parents and siblings of our illustrious compatriot, which the KKK made
and owns, and gave them to the family without the knowledge of the Katipunan.
Above all, he is showing ever-greater disobedience to his oath of allegiance. For these
reasons, the Supreme Council has decided, first, that a picture of Turiano Santiago,
who has already been expelled from the KKK, should be placed beside those of the
“Traitors,” and secondly, that members associated with him who treat him as if he
were still a brother in the Katipunan should be investigated and if necessary punished.
Fifth. Donato Abella Cruz of Sb. Katagalugan is strenuously working against the
authority invested in the KKK and its leaders, and has completely violated his oath of
allegiance. The Supreme Council has therefore endorsed the punishment ordered by
the aforesaid Sb. Katagalugan that he be expelled from the KKK and that his picture
be placed alongside those of the “Traitors.” The second decision of the Supreme
Council relating to Turiano Santiago also applies to Donato Abella Cruz.
Sixth. Eleuterio Reyes of Sb. Katagalugan has not attended any meetings even
though he’s been repeatedly summoned. What he really likes to do is to go to the
cockpit, and he takes no notice of what anybody says. This behavior shows he is of no
worth to the Katipunan, and the Supreme Council has therefore endorsed the punish-
ment ordered by Sb. Katagalugan that he be expelled, but that his picture should not
be placed alongside those of the “Traitors.”
Seventh. Gregorio Coronel has been placed in charge of the “Basahan ng Bayan”
(People’s Library) and Balbino Florentino has been appointed to the position of
administrator, from which Emilio Jacinto had been released.
Eighth. Aguedo del Rosario has been elected as assistant secretary of the Supreme
Council and Gregorio Coronel and Enrique Pacheco have been elected as councilors.
Ninth. Members are reminded that the Supreme Council has appealed for all
members to contribute 32 kualta to a fund for the widow of Brother “Jasmin.” Many
members have not yet made their donations.
Tenth. Members are reminded that the Supreme Council has appealed for
onations of books and financial contributions to help build the “Basahan ng Bayan.”
d
The response to these appeals has so far been disappointing.
Eleventh. In accordance with our sworn duty to show compassion to the afflicted,
the Supreme Council will be staging a show at the Teatro Colon to raise funds for
members who had lost their homes and possessions in the devastating fire on April
3. All members in Manila are urged to attend, and persuade others to attend, and
members in more distant branches are asked to donate to a fund for the fire victims.
The document concludes by asking KKK members to “to note and fulfill all these
decisions, and to receive our close embrace.”
* Sb. Makabuhay was the popular council in the town of Mandaluyong, where the Supreme
Assembly had met on March 22, so presumably Brother “Makahia” (probably Liborio de
Guzman) and Brother “Talisay” are being thanked here for their generous hospitality and
assistance on that occasion.
6.11Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on April 19, 1896
At this meeting the Supreme Council added Enrique Pacheco [Makabuhay]

to increase the number of its kasanguni, or councilors, to eight and its total
membership to twelve—Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Pio Valenzuela,
Vicente Molina, José Trinidad, Pantaleon Torres, Aguedo del Rosario,
Francisco Carreon, Balbino Florentino, Hermenegildo Reyes, Gregorio
Coronel, and Enrique Pacheco. This was possibly the last change made to its
membership prior to the revolution. It is interesting to note, though, that the
meeting was attended by a number of activists who were not members of the
Supreme Council—as at meetings of the Supreme Assembly, it seems, attend-
ance was not circumscribed in a rigid, preclusive sort of way.
The illegibility of a few phrases—only two or three words in each
instance—is due not to Emilio Jacinto’s handwriting but to the fact that the
document got wet at some stage in its history and the ink ran.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
(Pinagsulatan)

Ngayong ikalabingsiam ng Abril ng taung isang libo, walong dan, siam na
puo’t anim, ikatlong araw ng Lingo ng buan, itong K.S. ay gumawa ng isang ugaling
pagpupulong na dinaluhan ng mga kap. na Maypagasa, Dimas Ayaran, Pingkian,
Tagaisok, Silanganan, Bulalakaw, Silang, Leon at Talibong. Nagsiharap ang mga kap.
na Mapilit, Labong, Loob, Burgos at iba pa.
Sa ikasampung daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng umaga ay binuksan ang kar., at sa
pahintulot ng k.p. binasa ang pinagsulatan ng sinusundang pulong, na pinatunayan
ng lahat. Binasa din naman ang pinagsulatan ng pagtatayu ng Sb. Mahiganti, na
pinatunayan din.
Ipinagbigay alam ng k.p. na bukod sa dalawang silla ng Kat. na nailigtas sa sunog
may apat pang dating nakalagak sa bahay ng kap. na Dimas Ayaran; sa makatuid ay
anim pa.
Binasa ang padalang pagbibigay alam ng Sb. Katagalugan na isang kasaysayan
ng lahat ng ginanap niya buhat sa Enero ng taung umiiral.
Ang lahat ng mga atas at pasiyang doo’y pinagkaisahan, ay minarapat ng
kapulungan, liban ang nauukol sa parusang ibibigay sa kpng. Limbas (E.R.) na ang
minabuti nitong K.S. ay hayaan nang tiwalag muna, datapua’t huag ilagay sa piling ng
mga taksil, at padadalhan ng K.T. ng pasabi na magbago na sa kaniyang pangungugali,
at ayon sa maging kasagutan ay lalapatan ng nauukol.
Tungkol sa mga kap. na Gagalangin at Palakul ng By. Dimasalang at sa kap. na
Paku ng By. Dapitan ay pinagkaisahang padadalhan din ng pasabi ng K.T., na sila’y
magbago at alisin nila ang gawang pagsasabung. Ayon sa magiging kasagutan at sa
makikitang pamumuhay nila, ay lalapatan ng nauukol.
Pinagkaisahang ilagay sa piling ng mga taksil ang tiwalag na kpong.Tiktik.
Minabuti ang palagay na binasa, katha ng kap. na Makabuhay tungkol sa
ikatutupad at ikalilinis ng saklolo sa asawa ng namatay na kap. na Jasmin.
Pinagkaisahang ipatuloy ang palabas sa Teatro Colon na ang kikitain ay iaabuloy
sa mga kap. na nasunugan, alinsunod [?] sa pasiya ng pulong na nagdaan. Ang
Malabon ay hindi masasali dito at sila’y gagawa ng ambagan na lamang dahil sa
kanilang kalayuan.
Ipinagbigay alam ng k.p. ang labing walong piso na sa kaniya’y abuloy ng Sb.
Makabuhay, at ipinagsabi din na siya’y susulat sa nasabing Sb. at ipahahayag niya na
tila siya’y di lamang ang dapat abuloyan kung di ang lahat ng kap. na nasunugan.
Pinagkaisahang inihalal na kasanguni ng K.S ang kap. na Makabuhay.
Pinaharap ang kap. na Sumisikat at itinanung sa kaniya ang kaniyang inaakalaing
nararapat sa kaniyang kalagayan. Sa isinagut niyang siya’y ibig na malagay sa
mabuti, siya’y pinagkayariang masanib sa By. Pagtibayin, at siya’y maggagawad ng
panibagong panunumpa.
Kapagkatapus manumpa ang tanang kaharap na di isisiwalat ang lahat ng
namasdan at napakingan niwakasan ang pulong sa ikalabing dalawang daguk ng
umaga.
Maynila ika 19 ng Abril ng taung 1896.
Ang K. P.
Ang K. Kal
Pnllgknzll
English paraphrase
In the name of the native land, and for the greater honor and good order of the
K.K.K.
Today, April 19, 1896, the third Sunday in the month, this Supreme Council held
an ordinary meeting that was attended by Bros. Andres Bonifacio, Pio Valenzuela,
Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Francisco Carreon, Pantaleon Torres, Balbino
Florentino, Gregorio Coronel, and Hermenegildo Reyes. Also present were Bros.
Adriano de Jesus, Lino Villanueva, “Loob,” Geronimo Cristobal, and others.
The summit began at ten strikes of the iron on the copper in the morning. With
the consent of the Supreme President, the Supreme Secretary read out the record of
the previous meeting, which was approved by all. A report on the establishment of Sb.
Mahiganti (based in Ermita, Concepcion, and Paco) was also read out and approved.
Andres Bonifacio reported that aside from the two chairs owned by the
Katipunan that had been rescued from the fire (that had destroyed his house on April
3) four others had been taken previously to Pio Valenzuela’s house, so in total six had
survived.
The report submitted by Sb. Katagalugan, covering that Council’s activities since
January, was read out.
The Supreme Council endorsed all the orders and decisions mentioned in the
report, except the one concerning the punishment handed down to the member
Eleuterio Reyes. The Supreme Council approved his separation from the Katipunan,
but did not feel that he should be consigned to the ranks of the traitors. Pio Valenzuela,
in his capacity as Supreme Fiscal, would notify him that he had to mend his ways, and
the action then taken would depend on how he responded.
It was agreed that the Supreme Fiscal should likewise inform Bros. “Gagalangin”
and “Palakul” of By. Dimasalang and Bro. “Paku” of By. Dapitan that they, too, had to
change their ways, and to overcome their addiction to gambling at the cockpit. Again,
what action was to be taken would depend on how they responded and whether they
were seen to have reformed.
It was agreed that the expelled member José Turiano Santiago (who prior to
December 1895, had been the supreme secretary) should be consigned to the ranks of
the traitors.
The Supreme Council approved the proposal that was read out, put forward by
Bro. Enrique Pacheco, about effectively and cleanly rendering assistance to the widow
of Bro. “Jasmin.”
It was agreed that arrangements should go ahead for staging a show at the Teatro
Colon in aid of brothers affected by the recent fire, as had been agreed at the previous
meeting. The members in Malabon would not be participating in this event, due to
their distance from the city, but they would be making a financial contribution.
Bonifacio reported that he had received a donation of 18 pesos from Sb.
Makabuhay. He indicated that he would be writing to that Council to say that the
assistance should not be for him alone, but for all the brothers who had been affected
by the fire.
It was agreed that Enrique Pacheco should be appointed as a councilor on the
Supreme Council.
Bro. “Sumisikat” appeared before the council and was asked to explain his posi-
tion. He replied that he wanted to be in good standing (with the KKK), and he was
therefore instructed to join By. Pagtibayin, and to renew his oath.
After all those present had sworn to divulge nothing of what they had seen and
heard, the meeting ended at noon.
Manila, April 19, 1896.

Pingkian
6.12
Supreme Council
Notice to members of the Supreme Assembly, May 27, 1896
This document is a summons to a meeting of the Supreme Assembly

(Kataastaasang Kapisanan), which comprised the members of the Supreme
Council and the presidents (or their nominated deputies) of the KKK’s coun-
cils and branches.
Those attending the meeting, which is to be held on Saturday, May 30,
1896, are directed to assemble at five o’clock in the afternoon at the back
of the Insular tobacco factory, which is located on the Plaza Calderon de la
Barca in Binondo. They would then make their way to the Pasig River and
be directed to two banka (river boats) which would be moored alongside one
another and would be ready to be steered out in the darkness somewhere well
away from watching eyes. Each delegate should contribute a peso to the cost.
The principal topics for discussion at the meeting were to be:-
• A plan for the final conflict (huling pakikipaglaban);

• The organization of a banquet to thank Japanese residents of the city
who had helped the Katipunan;
• The position of Pio Valenzuela as physician to the KKK;
• The circulation of the KKK’s orders, or regulations (Atasan);
• The KKK’s printing press; and
• Ways of improving the effectiveness of the Supreme Assembly.
The document is signed by six members of the Supreme Council—

Andres Bonifacio, Pio Valenzuela, Emilio Jacinto, Vicente Molina, Aguedo del
Rosario, and Pantaleon Torres—and also by a number of leading activists from
the popular councils, including Quirino Cordero [Tupas] from Sb. Dalisayan,
Isabelo Reyes [Laot] from Sb. Dimahipo, Salustiano Cruz [Matunog] from
Sb. Katagalugan, and Rafael Gutierrez [Ilagan] from Sb. Mahiganti. Against
some of the signatures is recorded the fact that they have paid the 1 peso
contribution.
Tagalog Text

K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Sa mga Pinakakatawan sa K.K.
Ayon sa lalong ikalalaki ng kaayusan at lakas ng K.K.K., itong K.S., alinsunod

sa mga kapangyarihang taglay niya, ay minarapat na sa ikatlong poung araw nitong
buang umiiral ay gumawa ang K. Kapisanan ng isang pagpupulong.
Sa bagay na ito ay nagpasiya din ng mga sumusunod:
Una: Ang lahat ng mga Pinakakatawan na dito’y dadalo ay dadating sa ikalimang
dagok ng bakal sa tanso ng hapon ng nasabing araw sa likoran ng “La Insular.”
Ikalawa: Ang pagpupulong ay gagawin sa dalawang banka na nagkakaagapay at
patutungo ng Pasig. Ang mga bankang ito ay mahahanda sa nauukol napag gamit.
Ikatlo: Ang mga katipon na dito’y dapat dumalo ay aambag ng mamiso, at ang
salaping ito ay gagamitin sa paglalagbay at sa mga ibang kakailanging.
Ikaapat: Upang mapagkuro at mapaglining ang boong karampatan ay
ipatatalastas sa pasabing ito ang mga kaunaunahang paguusapan, sa pagpupulong, na
nasasaysay sa dakong huli nito.
Tangapin ninyo mga kapatid ang aming mahigpit na yakap.
Maynila, ika 27 ng Mayo ng taong 1896.
Ang K. Kal. Ang K.T. Ang K.P.

Pnllgknzll Dimas Ayaran Vzypzgzsz
Pagado $1 Pagado $1
Ang mga bagay na paguusapan
Tunkol sa paglilining ng isang panukala ukol sa huling pakikipaglaban .

Tunkol sa piging na inaakalang dapat sa pag ganti ng paglilinkod sa K.K.K. ng
mga taga Hapon na dito’y nananahan.
Tunkol sa kapatid na Dimas Ayaran sa katungkulang mangagamot.
Tunkol sa ipalalabas na “Atasan.”
Tunkol sa limbagan, at iba pang bagay bagay na paguusapang tungkol sa
ikagagaling ng K.K.
Sa ngalan ng P ng
Sb. Dalisayan P.O. Sa ngalan ng P. ng Sb.
Txpns Dimahipo
Jzct
Katiagaan Ptñllg
Bxjzjzkzw b.
Vzllñzllgzt b. Ang ngalan ng P. ng

sa B. Silanganan
b. Tngnñsck Pagado $ 1 Ang ngalan ng P.

Vztñgzs Pagado
[Illegible]
b. Njngnll [Illegible] Matunog b.

b. Bcgllct
b. Vngunjgklln Tupas b.
6.13
Sb. Mahiganti
Record of meeting held on May 30, 1896
The secret police are on the alert. We must act quickly. By late May 1896,
Katipunan members knew that time was short. Bonifacio had already warned
the Supreme Assembly that the KKK’s secrecy had been broken; the associa-
tion, he said, was like a pregnant woman who had to deliver before she was
due.*
The main worry expressed in this document from the Mahiganti
Council is about the Katipunan’s financial straits. Funds were needed to
send a messenger to Dapitan in Mindanao to sound out Rizal’s views on
how to proceed; to send a delegation to Japan; and obviously to prepare for
the uprising itself, the acto ng Alsamiento. If everybody contributed to their
utmost, it was estimated, the council’s Pandayan branch might be able to raise
P50 in a fairly short space of time, and the Taga-Ilog branch P30. Elsewhere,
the branches in Malabon might raise P500, Pasig P200, Pio Valenzuela P200,
Andres Bonifacio P25, Dapitan (in Trozo) P100, and other KKK sections P285,
making a grand total of P1,390. But this would not be sufficient, the Mahiganti
leadership recognized, to finance the trips to both Dapitan and Japan. The
priority, they agreed, should be to send Pio Valenzuela—the KKK’s supreme
fiscal and physician—and an aide to Dapitan so that “our brother” Rizal could
be informed that “all of us are ready at all times” (tayon lahat natatalaga sa
lahat ng horas). The unspoken hope, it seems, was not just that Rizal would
support the revolution, but also that he would assume a leading role.
The meeting received Bonifacio’s thoughts (probably relayed by the
Mahiganti president, Rafael Gutierrez) on what was to be done (paraang
gagauin) in the city of Manila, and Gutierrez informed those present that
Bonifacio had ordered KKK members to refrain from attending wakes,
weddings, or baptisms for fear of attracting the attention of the secretas to
“our virtuous plans” (inaacalang cabutijan).
The Mahiganti Council was based in the districts of Paco and Concepcion
(the neighborhood to the south and east of the present-day Manila City Hall),
and had an attached delegación in the nearby district of Ermita. Gutierrez has
signed the document with his alias Ilagan in Katipunan code, and a delegate
from Ermita has appended his alias, Sinag. It was envisaged that the council’s
secretary and fiscal would also sign the document, but the spaces left for their
signatures remain blank.
The style of this document is unusual insofar as the writer favors the
“c” rather than the “k”—hence “Catipunan” rather than “Katipunan” (but
still “KKK”)—and also employs a liberal sprinkling of Spanish and Spanish-
derived words.
Tagalog Text
KxxxKxxxKxxx
Dito sa bayan ng Gigante hucuman ng Maynila at Balangay ng Pandayan at
Taga-Ilog, ngay-on y catatlonpo ng buan ng Mayo sa sanlibo ualong daan siamnapo
at anim na taoon.
Ang 1o. Ay pinagcaisahan ng calahatang sanguniang ay ang magbigay parte sa
ating capatid na na sa Dapitan na si José Risal; gay-on din ang pagcumbida sa Japón
dahil sa mga buque de Guerra na dapat umabuloy sa acto ng Alsamiento, cayat sa
aming Junta ay hindi rin naprobahan ang proyectong sa itaas nito sa dahilan ang
ating caculangan, ay ang salaping nararapat gastusin sa pagpaparoon sa Japón at sa
Dapitan; sa bagay na ito ay ang lahat na pinag casunduan ay ang lahat ng Presidencias
at nasasacupan ay magcucuntribusion ng halagan mamiso ang bauat isa sa ating mag
ca capatid sa Catipunan.
Ang 2 o. Naming tinangap sa Cataas taasan Supremo sa Consejo Popular, ang

buong pag iisip sa paraan gagauin sa nasabing Ciudad ng Maynila.
Ang 3 o. Ay ang aquing isasaysay sa mababa nito, sa pagcat cami na nagsidalo
sa nasabing Pulong ay nag si paghalal ng buong macayanan sigun sa balangay na na
sasacupan, 1o. ang Balangay na Pandayan ay 50 pesos 2o. sa Taga Ilog 30 P, Malabon
ay 500 pesos, Pasig ay 200 pesos, Medico 200 pesos at ang ating quiniquilang Supremo
25 pesos, Dapitan 100 pesos; gay-on din ang ibat ibang secciones na hindi co na sasabi
ang canicanilang lugal ay ang lahat lahat nang contribuciones ay 1390 pesos; sa bagay
na ito ay sa madaling panahon at maipon ang na sabing contribuciones ay insiguida
pinag caisahan naming mga Pangulo, na si Don Pio na Medico at isang casama
na pinacang Ayudante ang siang lalacad sa Dapitan, at ang sa Japon ay hindi pa
nanunumbrahan cayat ang sa Dapitan ang siang muna ay para ibigay parte na tayon
lahat natatalaga sa lahat ng horas.
Sa hangan dito ay maraming pinagusapan na hindi lumabas na probado sa
dahilang ang naquiquiniquitang ang pagbibigay alam sa nararapat na umabuloy
sa ating mga caculangan, caya nga ang nais cong cahilingan namin ay manñyaring
gugulin at pagmasaquitan ang nasabing contribuciones para maintindihan natin ang
hanga na pinagpaguran; sa hangan dito ay ang lahat nababasa nito ang itindihing
mabute at itanim sa secreto at huag ipagmacaingay sa naturang hindi (mag) capatid,
gay-on din pinagbibigay alam co sa lahat ng capatid na dapat nating apirmahan na
tayo dumami ang campon sa pagcat uala nang panahong aantayen pa; gay-on din
ang pag dadamay damay sa naturang namatayan o casalan o cayay biniagan ay hindi
nararapat natayo,i, magsidalo pero ang ibig na magbigay ng macacaya ay mag abuloy,
itong ang aquin tinangap na orden sa Supremo dahil sa mga Pulicia secreta ay ng
huag mapag malayan ang ating inaacalang cabutijan.
Maynila, 31 de Mayo de 1896
Calihim Pangulo ng Sangunian

Ñjngnll
Tagausig
Delegado ng taga Ermita

Sñllng
* Santiago V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of a General, translated by
6.14
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on June 21, 1896, in Sta. Ana
On the afternoon of Sunday, June 21, 1896, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto,
and Aguedo del Rosario (the supreme president, supreme secretary, and
deputy secretary) went to the town of Sta. Ana, just east of Manila. At one
o’clock in the afternoon, Bonifacio presided over the promotion of the KKK
Balangay in the town —By. Kasilawan—to the status of a Sangunian Bayan.
Elected and inducted as officers of the new Sb. Kasilawan were Narciso
Tibay [Santol], a compositor at the Imprenta de los Amigos del Pais, as
president; “Apuy” as fiscal; “Matigas” as secretary; and Valentin Matabagdal
[Walang-takut] as treasurer.
It was decided to establish three Balangay (By., branches) under the juris-
diction of the new Sangunian Bayan—By. Agapan in the barrio of Lamayan,
By. Matatag (or Matatatag) in the barrio of San Roque, and By. Tagisan in the
barrio of Suaboy—and elections were also held to fill the leading positions in
these three branches.
This record of the occasion was penned by Jacinto.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
(Pinagsulatan)
Ngayong ikadalawang puo’t isa ng Junio ng taung isang libo, walong daan, siam
na puo’t anim,
Sa ngalan ng Bayang tinibuan at sa lalung kapurihan at kaayusan ng K.K.K.,
Itong K.S. sa pamagitan ng K.P, ng K. Kal. at ng Pangalawang Kal. ay nagsidalo
sa bayan ng Sta Ana, at kanilang pinulong ang mga katipon ng By. Kasilawan na
natatayu sa bayang ito at sa ilalim ng kapangyarihan ng Sb. Makabuhay.
Sa ikaunang daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng hapun ay sinimulaan ang pulong, at

ipinahayag ang K.P. na ang nagiging kadahilanan ng pagpupulong na ito, ay ang
pagtatayu ng Sb., sapagka’t ang kabilangan ng mga ktpon. sa By. na ito ay lumalabis
pa sa talagang kinakailangan.
Sa bagay na ito ay sinimulaan at ginanap ang paghahalal ng mga pinunong
tutungkol sa itinatayung Sb., at lumabas na Pangulo ang kapatid na Santol, Tagausig
Apuy, Kalihim Matigas at Tagaingat-yaman ang kap. na Walang-takut.
Nagsipaghandog ng panunumpang tutuparing lubos ang mga katungkulang
ipinagkatiwala sa kanila ng kanilang mga kasamahan. Tuloy nagsitangap ng kani-
kanilang mga katungkulan.
Kapagkatapus nito ay ipinahayag ng K.P. na mula sa araw na ito ay natatayu na sa
bayan ng Sta. Ana ang Sanguniang Bayang Kasilawan.
Ayon sa talagang palakad ay sinimulaan namang magtayu ng tatlong By. na
masasakupan ng Sb. ito. Sa bagay na ito ay inalanan ang isa na By. Agapan, ang isa ay
By. Matatag at ang isa ay By. Tagisan, ang una’y sa nayon ng Lamayan, ang ikalawa sa
S. Roque at ang ikatlo sa Suaboy.
Ginawa ang paghahalal sa By. Agapan, at lumabas na Pangulo ang kapatid na
Nagtangol, Tag. ang kap. na Naghikayat, Kal. ang kap. na Sumulung at Ty. ang kap.
na Maibigin.
Ginawa ang paghahalal sa By. Matatatag [sic] at lumabas na Pangulo ang kap.
sa Salamin, T. ang kap. na Kasipagan, Kal. ang kap. na Ipagadya at Ty. ang kap. na
Buhawi.
Ginawa ang paghahalal sa By. Tagisan at lumabas na P. ang kap. na Araru, T. ang
kap. na Matapang, Kal. ang Kap. na Ugit at Ty. ang kap. na Disinasadya.
Nangagsipanumpa at nagsipagtangap ng kanikanilang mga katungkulan.
Niwakasan itong pagpupulong kapagkatapus manumpa ang lahat na di
isiniwalat ang balang namasdan at napakingan.
Maynila, 21/6, 1896.

Ang K. P.
Vzypzgzsz
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllgknzll

6.15
Supreme Council
Record of meeting held on June 24, 1896, in Pandacan
Chronologically, this is the last known Supreme Council document prior

to August 1896. When it was written, Bonifacio and Jacinto knew the revo-
lution could not be long delayed. Just two months later they would be in
Balintawak. Historians might hope, therefore, to glean from the docu-
ment a sense of the excitement and trepidation with which the Katipunan’s
leaders faced the coming struggle, or a hint of their debates about strategy
and tactics, or some detail about their last-minute efforts to secure weapons.
Unfortunately, the document conveys nothing of this. It is a prosaic
record of a meeting convened to resolve the mundane problems then beset-
ting the KKK Council in the Manila suburb of Pandacan. Such problems,
sadly, were not infrequent in the months preceding the revolution. The
Katipunan was growing, but not becoming more cohesive, let alone harmo-
nious. The Supreme Council also found it necessary to intervene in the affairs
of the KKK sections in Binondo, Tondo, Trozo, and possibly elsewhere.*
Bonifacio and Jacinto went to Pandacan as representatives of the
Supreme Council, and the president of the local KKK council, Ramon
Bernardo [Salogo] was also in attendance. A member known by the alias
Kalasutsi was summoned to explain his failure to undertake an assignment
given him by Salogo—a task which meant crossing to the other side of the
Pasig River. He said he had been tired. He admitted he had been gambling
and drinking basi (sugarcane wine), asked to be forgiven his failings, and said
he was prepared to accept his punishment. He admitted, too, that there had
been bad-feeling between him and a member known as Palakul. A member
known by the alias Balabad was also called upon to speak, and complained
that Salogo had given him too many tasks, had sworn at him, and had threat-
ened to strike him.
Bonifacio ordered Kalasutsi to visit Palakul and reconcile their differ-
ences, and presumably (though this record written by Jacinto doesn’t say so)
he implored the brethren in Pandacan to cease their squabbling forthwith,
and to direct all their energies to preparing for battle.
Tagalog Text
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.

Ngayong ika 24 ng Junio ng taung 1896, ay gumawa ng isang pagpupulong sa
bayan ng Pandakan sa pamamagitan ng K.P., ng K. Kal, ng mga kapatid na Salago at
iba pa.
Sa ikawalong daguk ng bakal sa tansu ng gabi ay sinimulan ang pagpupulong,
at ipinahayag ng K. P. ang kadahilanan nito, na dili iba, kung di ang paghatul sa mga
pagkukulang na ginawa ng kap. na Kalasutsi.
Pinaharap ang kapatid na Kalasutsi at pinapanumpa na magsasabi ng boong
katutuhanan. Tinanung kung nababatid niya ang kadahilanan ng pagkapapatawag ay
sumagut ng oo; na dahil nga sa siya daw ay ipinatawag ng P. sa Sb. at siya’y uutusan
sa ibayo, na siya’y hindi nakasunod dahil sa siya’y napapagud; datapua’t siya’y hindi
nagsasalita ng ano pa mang salitang masama sa nasabing P. na gaya ng sinasabi ng
kapatid na Balibad. Tinanung kung ano ang masasabi niya tungkol sa kapatid na
Palakul at sumagut na kinikilala niyang magkasala siya dito, datapua’t nagkulang din
ang Palakul. Tinanung siya kung kinikilala niyang pagkukulang ang mga pangsusugal
at pangbabasi na ginagawa niya, at siya’y sumagut na kinikilala niya, at sa bagay na
ito kaniyang inaantay ang sa kaniya’y ipinaparusa.
K lahose [sic]
Pinaharap ang Balibad at nanumpa na magsasabi ng buong katutuhanan.

Tinanung kung ano ang masasabi niya tungkol sa bagay na ito, at sumagut na niyang
pinaroonan niya sa ngalan ang kaniyang tinatawag sa kautusan ng P. ay nagalalang,
at nagsalita ng:Marami naman, aniya, siyang (ang P.) mauutusan ay ako pa ang
kaniyang inuutusan (at may idinugtong na salitang masama); na nagsalita din niyang
ng ganito: Kung ako aniya ang pinalung gaya ng Antonio (isang kap. na pinaruusahan
ng ganito) ay may mangyayari.
Balibad
Pinaharap na muli ang Kalasutsi at tinanung kung siya’y walang kagalit sa

loob ng Katipunan ay sumagut ng wala. Tinanung na kung siya’y walang naiibigang
palakad dito sa Kat. at sumagut na wala, lamang ay sa pagtatanung niya sa Balibad
kung bakit ipinapalu ang Antonio, at ang isinagut sa kaniya ay ito: Kung ang Kalihim
ang sumangala [?] niyarin ay ipapapalu ko rin. Tinanung siya kung siya’y wala nang
idinagdag ay sumagut ng: Naku, bakit naman gayon.—Nagsalita din naman na siya ay
humihingi ng kapatawaran sa mga pagkukulang na kaniyang magawa.
K lahose
Pinagkaisahang paparusahan, at ang ipaparusa ay ang siya’y ang tumungkol

na uusigin niyang mabuti ang lahat ng mga kapatid dito na gumagawa ang mga
pagkukulang, at kaniyang ipagbibigay alam sa Pangulo. Tinangap ang parusa na sa
kanya’y iginawad.
Pinapanumpa ang kapatid na Kalasutsi na kung tutuparan niya ang mga bagay
na ito, at naghandog ng pamunumpa.
Siya’y pinangaralan ng K.P. at siya’y inutusan magsadia sa kap. na Palakul at
siya’y makipagkasundin.
Kapagkatapus manumpa ang lahat na di isisiwalat ang mga namasdan at

napakingan, niwakasan ang pagpupulong.
Maynila, ika 24 ng Junio ng taung 1896.
Ang K. P.
Ang K. Kal.
Pnllgknzll
* Records of these interventions by the Supreme Council may be found in the Archivo General
Militar de Madrid, Caja 5677 as follows:– meeting held on January 3, 1896 at which a dispute
within By. Ilog Pasig was discussed (leg. 1.87); two meetings held on January 4, 1896 and
a further meeting on January 8, 1896 at which discord within S.B. Katagalugan, especially
its Katotohanan branch, was discussed (legs. 1.74; 1.77; and 1.41); and a meeting held on
February 17, 1896 at which strife in S.B. Dapitan was discussed (leg.1.53). Aside from a few
routine communications about meeting arrangements, these are the only Supreme Council
documents yet located that have not been included in this compilation.
Andres Bonifacio, “Maypagasa.” Supreme President of the KKK
(1895–1896); President of the Sovereign Nation (1896–1897).
Sources: Republic of the Philippines, Presidential Museum
and Library; España, Ministerio de Defensa,
Archivo General Militar de Madrid (hereafter AGMM).
(a) Deodato Arellano, “Santol.” (b) Guillermo Masangkay, “Alakdan.”
Supreme President of the KKK Member of the Supreme
(1892–1893). Council (1894); President of
Source: National Historical Commission By. Silanganan (1896).
of the Philippines. Source: Soledad Borromeo-Buehler collection.
(c) Pio Valenzuela, “Dimas Ayaran.” (d) Julio Nakpil, “Giliw.” President
Supreme Fiscal of the KKK (1895–1896). of the High Council of the Northern
Source: Philippine National Library. District (1896–1897).
Source: Heirs of Julio Nakpil.
Masonic Certificate of Gregorio Mariano, “Dula” as a Mason and “Maligaya” as a
Katipunero. Many KKK activists belonged to Masonic lodges.
Source: Archivo de Padres Agustinos de Filipinas.
Record in code of the first stage of Bonifacio’s election as
Supreme President on Christmas Eve, 1894 (Document 2.3).
Source: AGMM.
First page of Supreme Council document dated March 15, 1896,
in Bonifacio’s calligraphy (Document 6.4).
Source: AGMM.
Second and third pages of document dated March 15, 1896, signed by Jacinto
and Bonifacio over the Supreme Council’s seal (Document 6.4).
Source: AGMM.
Draft of the editorial “Sa mga kababayan” written for the KKK newspaper
Kalayaan, in the handwriting of Bonifacio (Document 5.2).
Source: AGMM.
Draft of the poem “Pag-ibig sa tinubuang Bayan” written for
Kalayaan, in the handwriting of Jacinto (Document 5.3).
Source: AGMM.
“Written test” completed by a recruit.
Source: AGMM.
Membership slip signed by Emilio Aguinaldo, March 25, 1896.
Source: AGMM.
Certificate of christening signed by Julio Nakpil
and Emilio Jacinto (Document 7.11).
Source: AGMM.
(a) KKK signatures of Bonifacio, Jacinto and Valenzuela above the seal of the Supreme Council;
(b) Headed paper used by Bonifacio in April 1897 (Document 8.10);
(c) Headed paper used by Jacinto in April 1897 (Document 7.14).

Source: AGMM.
chapter 7
Kamaynilaan and Morong,

August 1896–September 1897
A
7.1
Roster of Katipuneros at Balintawak, August 1896
“Unang Sigaw, Unang Labanan sa Paglaya,” Bagong Buhay, August 25, 1952.
midst all the debate about precisely when and where the revolution
started, historians have often neglected to ask exactly who gathered
in Balintawak or thereabouts in August 1896. In the absence of a complete
roster—clearly an impossibility at this distance in time—the fullest listing is to
be found in an interview given by the KKK veteran Guillermo Masangkay to
the Manila newspaper, Bagong Buhay, in 1952. In this interview, Masangkay
recalled the names of fifty-six men who had met in Balintawak prior to the first
encounters with Spanish forces. In the great majority of cases, he also recalled
their occupations, and it is fascinating to note that nearly half the patriots on
his list worked in some capacity or other for branches of the Spanish admin-
istration. The three “government secret agents,” it is presumed, had in the
preceding months been supplying useful information to the Katipunan and
misinformation to the Spaniards.
Masangkay’s list is reproduced below; the occupational descriptions have
been translated into English from the original mix of Tagalog and Spanish,
259
and in a few cases have been amplified. Since the list was reconstructed from
memory more than fifty years after the event, erroneous inclusions are likely
and omissions are inevitable.
Aguedo del Rosario Printer at the Diario de Manila

Apolonio de la Cruz Printer at the Diario de Manila
Alejandro Santiago Printer at El Resumen
Deogracias Fajardo Printer
Juan Fajardo Printer
Tomas Alegre Master cigar maker

Pio H. Santos Master tobacco worker
Patricio Belen Tobacco worker
Crispulo Chacon Tobacco worker
Lorenzo Martinez Tobacco worker
Tomas Villanueva Tobacco worker
Procopio Bonifacio Railway baggage-master
Rogelio Borja Mechanic

Isaac del Carmen Mechanic
Hilario Sayo Mechanic
Melecio Ruestra Draftsman

Pastor Santos Draftsman
Guillermo Masangkay Kuridor (buyer and seller)

Pedro Zabala Kuridor (buyer and seller)
Macario Sakay Personero (sales agent)
Salustiano Cruz Master tailor
Juan Cruz Barber; playwright
Emilio Jacinto Student
Andres Bonifacio Warehouse employee at Fressel & Co.;

walking-cane and fan maker; calligrapher
KAMAYNILAAN AND MORONG, AUGUST 1896 – SEPTEMBER 1897 261
Nicomedes Carreon Cobrador (debt collector); salesman at Casa Chofre

Miguel Resurreccion Grass (fodder) cutter
Vicente Leyva Milk seller
Cipriano Pacheco Clerk
Briccio Pantas Assistant to Court of First Instance judge

Teodoro Plata Clerk, Mindoro Court of First Instance
José Trinidad Clerk, Tondo Court of First Instance
Hermogenes Plata Court clerk
Tomas Remigio Government treasury clerk

Pantaleon Torres Government treasury clerk
Vicente Molina Government treasury caretaker
Enrique Pacheco Manila city government clerk
Faustino Mañalac Manila port administration clerk
Calixto Santiago Customs official

Restituto Javier Customs official
Hermenegildo Reyes Customs official
Valentin Lagasca Customs guard sergeant

Eugenio Santos Customs guard sergeant
Francisco Carreon Customs guard
Sarhento Marcelo Customs guard
Roman Ramos Government arsenal employee

Tito Miguel Government arsenal employee
Julio Navarro Government secret agent

Alejandro Andaya Government secret agent
Marcelo Badel Government secret agent
Geronimo Cristobal Army corporal
Cosme Taguyod Fire Department lieutenant

Rafael Gutierrerez Fire Department captain
Estanislao Vargas Property owner

Apolonio Samson Property owner
Pio Valenzuela Physician
Ramon Bernardo Mechanic; former municipal captain of Pandacan
7.2
Draft notice of appointment, August 26, 1896
Photograph of original document, in Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang talata tungkol sa paghihimagsik
nang 1896−1897 [1898], edited by Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City: University of the
Philippines Press, 1996), 32.
Transcribed below is a document, apparently in Bonifacio’s own handwriting,

written with a view to appointing Mariano Alvarez as the overall chief, both
civil and military, of all the revolutionary forces in the province of Cavite.
According to Isagani Medina, the document is from the “Borador ng
Pulong ng Kataastaasang Sangunian,” or rough copy book of the Katipunan
Supreme Council. Since a proper borador was understandably not to hand in
Balintawak at this tumultuous moment, the Supreme Council’s communica-
tions were inscribed in some kind of farm ledger, used under normal circum-
stances to record crop yields or sales. The text is therefore written across
printed columns that are headed Maiz, Mani, Camote, and so on, and, as the
question marks—[?]—indicate, it is difficult in places to decipher. So far as is
known, Medina is the only historian ever to have reproduced a page from this
book, and it would hugely be interesting to know where the book is now held
and what else it contains.
Obviously, the document is a draft, and it is unsigned. We cannot be sure
that a final version was ever produced and dispatched to Alvarez. Even so,
the few hasty lines of the document are historically important because they
confirm:-
• That the decision to initiate the revolution was taken formally by a
meeting of the Supreme Assembly (Kataastaasang Kapisanan) of the
Katipunan held on August 24, 1896. This supports the conclusion

reached by Milagros C. Guerrero et al. that the anniversary of the
revolution should properly be celebrated on August 24th rather than
on the 23rd or the 26th.1
• That the Sangunian Bayan Magdalo, of which Emilio Aguinaldo
was a leading member, was initially not in accord with the decision
to revolt (di pag ayon sa pinagkaisahang pag galaw) and had registered
its opposition in writing. This corroborates the recollection of Gen.
Artemio Ricarte; the reason for Magdalo’s opposition, says Ricarte,
was simply the “absolute lack of arms” with which to fight.2
Tagalog Text
Ayon sa pinagkaisahan sa ginanap [?] pulong ng Kataastaasang Kapisanan [?]

ikadalawang puo’t apat nitong umiiral na buan tungkol sa paghihimagsik (revolucion)
at sa pagkakailangang [?] maghalal ng magsisipamahala ng bayan at mag aakay ng
hukbo, itong Kataastaasang Sangunian sa paganap ng kanyang tungkol Sa pagkat
ang kapatid na si G [?] sa kanyang pagka Pangulo ng Sb. Magdiwang ay nagpakilala
ng lubos at tapat na pangangasiwa sa Katipunan, at sa pagka tangap nitong to, sa
kasulatang pahatid ng Sb. Magdalo na di pag ayon sa pinagkaisahang pag galaw, itong
Kataastaasang Sangunian ay minararapat na inihalal na Pangulong kikilalanin sa
buong hukuman ng Tangway ang nasabing Kap. na si G. Mariano Alvarez (Mainam).
Sa bagay na ito aking iginawad [?] itong Patunayan na tinalaan ko ng tunay na
pangalan at pamagat sa Katipunan, at tuloy sinaksihan.
Kalookan, Maynila, ika 26 ng Agosto ng taong 1896
CJ
1 Milagros C. Guerrero, Emmanuel N. Encarnacion, and Ramon N. Villegas, “Balintawak: The

Cry for a Nationwide Revolution,” Sulyap Kultura 2 (1996): 13–21.
2 Artemio Ricarte, Memoirs (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1963), 7; see also the
account of Juan Maibay in Santiago Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of
a General [1927], translated by Paula Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila
University Press, 1992), 36.
7.3
Supreme Council
Letter to Mariano Alvarez and Santiago Alvarez, October 29−30, 1896
“Historia Civil de Filipinas,” Tomos 6.5, 51–53 and 6.6, 191–93 (on microfilm), University of
Santo Tomas archives.
Bonifacio probably wrote this letter somewhere in the hills to the east of
Manila, where he was directing preparations for an attack on Spanish posi-
tions in the town of San Mateo. He had been moving between different
Katipunan camps and safe houses since the revolution began. In the initial
weeks of fighting, the KKK leaders in Cavite lost track of his whereabouts. By
the end of October 1896, however, after they had successfully liberated most
of the province from Spanish control, both the Magdiwang and Magdalo
Councils had succeeded in reestablishing contact. The Magdiwang Council,
Ricarte relates, sent a courier to the hills above Marikina and Montalban to
find Bonifacio, carrying letters telling him about the victories in Cavite and
inviting him to come to the province to witness at first-hand the spirit and
determination with which the local Katipuneros were dealing with the harsh
circumstances in which they found themselves.1
The letter below, reproduced here for the first time, is Bonifacio’s reply,
declining the invitation on the grounds that his immediate priority must be
to attend to the needs of the Katipunan forces in Manila, Morong, Bulacan,
and Nueva Ecija. Upon receiving this response, the Magdiwang quickly
dispatched a second, more pressing invitation, and then a third, to which
Bonifacio finally acceded.2 He arrived in Cavite, together with Jacinto, on
November 17, which means this flurry of correspondence began and ended
within the space of less than three weeks. Unfortunately, none of the other
letters has yet been located, so whatever caused Bonifacio to change his mind
about leaving the Manila area must remain a matter of speculation.
Bonifacio’s letter contains nothing to suggest that the Magdiwang
leaders had urged him to come to Cavite to mediate in a conflict between
them and the Magdalo Council. On the contrary, Bonifacio says he has
already been in communication with “our brother” Emilio Aguinaldo, the
Magdalo President of War, and has sent him a letter about his situation and
future plans. Aguinaldo, he assumes, has by now shared this letter with the
Magdiwang leaders, and he therefore does not repeat what he had written.3
From the present standpoint this is frustrating, a sharp reminder that the
historical record rarely survives in the form historians would wish! Here we
have a letter, the only document so far located written by Bonifacio during
the critical months of September and October 1896, which tantalizingly tells
us that he had described his situation and plans in another letter that we may
never find.
One striking revelation in the letter, though, is that Bonifacio (and
possibly Jacinto, too), at great personal peril, had recently gone back to Manila
in an effort to transmit a message to Filipino patriots in Japan imploring
them to arrange a shipment of weapons as soon as humanly possible. His
initial hope, it seems, was that the message could be sent by José Moritaro
Tagawa, the owner of a Japanese bazaar in Binondo who a few months previ-
ously had hosted (and acted as interpreter at) a meeting between Katipunan
leaders and officers from a visiting Japanese navy training ship, the Kongo.4
In July 1896, just a month before the outbreak of the revolution, Bonifacio
is said to have approached Tagawa to help the Katipunan purchase Murata
rifles from Japan.5 But now, Bonifacio relates, Tagawa had become fright-
ened, and the vital message was still to be dispatched.
Tagalog Text6
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Sa Kapatid na Mainam Pangulo at sa Kapatid na Kidlat ng Apoy Punong Hukbo ng

Sanguniang Magdiuang
Ngayong ika dalauangpu at siyam na arao nitong buang umiiral ay aming

tinangap ang inyong mga kasulatang ipinadala sa amin¡ at kami ay tunay na kinakapus
ng mga pangungusap na sukat makapagpatanyag ng kagalakang ualang makatulad
na sa aming puso ay naririnig karakarakang matanto ang kaayusan, katuiran, tapang
at mga pag[?] inyong ysinasaysay: una pati tila nakaapula uari ng mga dalamhating
dinaramdam sa pagka paganyaya ng makapal na mga kapatid at kababayan na dating
kasamasama at katuang sa pagpapalago ng ating K.K.K.
Kami ay nagpadala na sa ating kapatid na si Gral. Emilio Aguinaldo ng isang
liham na bilang kasagutan sa mga tinangap at pagpapatalastas sa mga kapatid sa
Hukuman ng Tanguay ng aming katayuan at mga inaakala; at di na namin uulitin
dito, sapagkat inaasahan naming ibinalita na sa iyo ang naturing ang kapatid. Buhat
ng mangyari ang paglalaban sa Polvorin ng San Juan, kami bagama,t, lubhang
mapanganib aming pinagpipilitang makapasok ng Maynila sapagkat ang aming
pakay ay ang makasulat sa ating mga kababayan sa Japon tungkol sa kakulangan ng

baril at iba pang sandatahang kailangan at gayon din ang humikayat sa ating mga
kapatid na sundalo na magsikilos na, datapuat ang kaibigang Japones na si Moritaro
ay natakot na uari at tumanguing ng paraan upang maipadala ang aming sulat, at
tungkol naman sa mga sundalong kapatid ay nangabilango na bago pa nangyari ang
pagkakagulo.
Pagkatangap na namin isang balitang may mga hokbo sa parang kami ay
agad ng umahon at aming hinahanap, kaya’t bago po lamang kaming nagaayos
at nagpalakas dito,i, sa bagay na ito,i, di naming inaakalang nauukol sa ngayon na
kami ay humiualay at pumatungo muna diyan, hangang sa kami ay kinakailangan
ng di mabilang na mga kapatid sa mga Hukuman ng Maynila, Bulakan, Nueva Ecija
at Morong. Kung sakali,t, kami ay palaring magkamit ng boong pagtatagumpay sa
mga kalaban at aming magaua ang mga akalang ipinagsabi na sa liham na padala sa
kapatid na Magdalo at saka lamang namin matataningan sa inyo ang kaarauan ng
ating pagtatagpo sa kuta ng Maynila.
Kami ay nagbibigay sa inyo ng ualang likat na pasasalamat sa mga iniaalay na
ikabubuhay ng aming mga hokbo na hangang ngayo,i, ualang ibang maguiguing
kailangang malaki kung hindi ang baril.
Tungkol sa paglalagay ninyo ng apat na Ministro ay aming minamarapat sa
lalong kaayusan ng pangangasiua diyan.
Kami ay gumagaua naman ng lahat ng paraan upang makapagbili ng mga
sandatang kailangan yayamang ipinagkakaloob ninyo sa amin ang maihahanap sa
bagay na ito.
Uala kaming ibang nasa kundi magkikita tayo gaya ng inyo ding hangad at ng
maibigay ang aming mahigpit na yakap sa mga kapatid na natutong kumatauan at
maituturing na bumuhay ng dakilang kadahilanan ng Katipunan ng mga anak ng
bayan.
Niyaong mabasa namin sa diario ang labanan sa Nasugbu, bagama,t, bihasa
na sa mga kasinungalingang laguing sinasabi ay tila ng lumo ang aming loob sa
mga nasusulat doong isang daan at limang puong tagalog ang nangamatay sa mga
palkonete at kanong na agao sa kanila ng mga Kastila; datapuat ngayong nabasa
namin ang mga padala ninyong sulat dito, tua at ligaya ang aming dinaramdam.
Sa hangan dito at kami ay paalam na sa inyo hangang sa panibagong liham na
pangako namin hindi malalaon at kayo,y, padadalhan muli.
Uala namang kaming ibang maipagtatagubilin liban sa pagiingat na huag masira
ang pagkakaisa at pagkakasundo sa lahat ng bagay. Sa katahimikan at lubos na
kaligayahan datnin naua kayo nitong mahigpit na yakap namin.
Ika 30 ng Oktubre ng taong 1896

Ang K. Pangulo Ang K. Kalihim

Andres Bonifacio Emilio Jacinto
Maypagasa Pingkian
May isang tatak

English Translation
K . K . K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Supreme Council
To Brother Mainam, President, and Brother Kidlat ng Apoy, Army Commander, of the
Magdiwang Council.
Dear Brothers,
Today, the 29th day of this present month, we received the letters you sent to us.
We have truly longed to read reports of such great good cheer! Nothing has lifted our
hearts more than hearing the news you relate about the organization, sound judg-
ment, bravery, and successes there. But at the same time we feel sorrow when we recall
the misfortune of the numerous brothers and compatriots who were our partners and
comrades in building our K.K.K.
We have already sent a letter to our brother Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in response to
communications received from the province of Cavite about our situation and plans.
We will not repeat here what we said, because we expect that the said brother has
already let you know. Since the battle at the San Juan gunpowder depot, although it
has been very dangerous for us, we have been compelled to go to Manila because we
wanted to send a letter to our compatriots in Japan about the lack of guns and other
weapons we need, and also to persuade our brother soldiers to take the field, but our
Japanese friend Moritaro seems to be frightened, and has refused to assist in sending
our letter, and the brother soldiers were already imprisoned before the revolt broke
out.
We have received news that troops are coming to our area and we will be looking
out for them immediately, so we have only just started to get organized and strengthen
our forces here. For this reason we are not planning at present to leave this place and
go there, for we need to attend to the countless brothers in the provinces of Manila,
Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Morong. If possible, if we have the fortune to gain complete
victory over the forces of the enemy and accomplish the aims we already related in the
letter sent to brother Magdalo, we can then set a date with you for our assault on the
fortress of Manila.
We extend to you our boundless gratitude for the support you have offered in
sustaining our armies, so there are no major exigencies at present aside from the lack
of guns.
Regarding your creation of four ministries: we endorse this as a means of
improving the organization of the administration there.7
We are doing everything we can to purchase the weapons we need, in accordance
with the mission that you have entrusted to us in this regard.
We desire nothing else other than to see that we share the same ambitions, and to
extend a close embrace to the brothers who have shown how to take the initiative and
to bring to life the great cause of the Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan.
When we read in the newspaper about the battle in Nasugbu, even though we
are already accustomed to the lies they always tell, the report that 150 Tagalogs were
killed by the falconets and cannon taken from them by the Spaniards made our mood
somber.8 But now we have read the letters you have sent here, our feelings are light
and joyful.
For the present that is all, and we bid you farewell until the next letter, which we
promise we will send before long.
We ask for nothing except that care is taken not to fracture our unity and concord
on all matters. We hope you will receive this close embrace of ours in peace and
complete happiness.
30th October of the year 1896
The Supreme President The Supreme Secretary

Andres Bonifacio Emilio Jacinto
Maypagasa Pingkian
[Seal of the Supreme Council]
Addendum
As soon as Bonifacio’s letter arrived in Noveleta, Mariano Alvarez ordered

copies to be made for circulation to the town presidents in Magdiwang terri-
tory. Transcribed below is his covering note, in which he asks them to receive
the Supremo’s fraternal embrace and to raise the cheer “Long live, long live
the King of our sacred Katipunan!” Alvarez’s titling of Bonifacio as King (Hari)
and of himself as Vice King, or Viceroy (Vi Rey, or Virrey) aroused controversy
in Cavite at the time, and has been much discussed since. Some accounts say
the Magdiwang Council bestowed the regal title on Bonifacio only after he
came to Noveleta on November 18, 1896, but this note hails him as the “Hari”
even before he arrived. No document has yet been found in which Bonifacio
used the title himself and, in fact, he rarely used the Hispanic honorific more
widely accorded him in Cavite, “Supremo.” More often he either retained, as
here, his prerevolutionary designation “Kataastaasang Pangulo” (Supreme
President), or assumed the title “Pangulo ng Haring Bayan” (President of the
Sovereign People).
Mariano Alvarez (Mainam)

Circular to town presidents, October 31, 1896
Kpd. na mga Plo dito sa S.B. Magdiuang:
Sa arao na ito ay tinangap ko po ang kalatas na sagot sa ak-

Salinas ing sulat ng ating Hari na (Y.N.D.)9 ang ganitong saysay.
Panguagi o Tanza
Maguagi Ang mga bagay na ito ay ipinagbibigay alam ko sa inyo mga
Ternate kapatid upang inyong mapagunaua ang kalagayan at tuloy
Magtagumpay namang sambitin ninyo ang uicang mabuhay mabuhay ang
Magallanes Hari nitong ating banal na Katipunan. Salubong yakap na
Bailen punong puno ng pagibig sa kapatid at ingatan naua tayong
Alfonso lahat ng Panginoong Dios sa mahabang panahon.
Indan
Amadeo Magdiuang ika-31 ng Oktubre ng 1896
Mapagtiis
Ualang Tiguil o Ang Presdte dito sa S.B.
Madalian Mainam
1 Artemio Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino laban sa Kastila (Yokohama: Karihan Café,
1927), 30–31; Santiago Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General [1927],
translated by Paula Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press,
1992), 66.
2 Ricarte, Himagsikan, 31.
3 None of the familiar sources mentions the fact that Bonifacio was in contact with Aguinaldo
before he was located by the courier sent by the Magdiwang Council. Though perhaps
surprising, it is probably not significant. It may merely have been that someone was able
to carry a letter from Bonifacio to the Magdalo headquarters in the town of Cavite el
Viejo before a courier could be found who was heading to the Magdiwang headquarters in
Noveleta.
4 For a superbly researched biography of Moritaro Tagawa, see Yoko Yoshikawa, “Jose M.
Tagawa and the Japanese Commercial Sector in Manila,” Philippine Studies 43, no. 2 (1995):
162–94. The meeting between Katipunan leaders and officers from the Kongo is recalled in
“The Memoirs of Pio Valenzuela” [c. 1914], translated from the Tagalog by Luis Serrano,
reproduced as appendix A, in The Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes
Commission, 1964), 103–4.
5 Bonifacio’s plan is said to have been for Tagawa to establish a trading company that would
export Philippine hemp, sugar, and tobacco to Japan, and for the profits to be used to
purchase the guns. Tagawa, he hoped, would be willing to go to Japan (at the Katipunan’s
expense) to arrange the deal himself. Takuya Osaki, Chomin Sakamoto Shiroo [The Late
Sakamoto Shiroo] (Tokyo: Chomin’kai, 1932), cited in Josefa M. Saniel, Japan and the
Philippines, 1868–1898 (Manila: De La Salle University Press, 1998), 250; and in Yoshikawa,
“Jose M. Tagawa,” 172.
6 This text has not been transcribed directly from the original document. The two versions
on microfilm in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) archives are at best copies made by
clerks in the Cavite towns to which the letter was forwarded, and are more likely to be copies
of copies. Although the wording is for the most part identical, the orthography differs mark-
edly, one version generally favoring the “k” (as did Bonifacio and Jacinto), and the other the
“c.” The clerk who copied the latter, one presumes, altered the orthography of the original
to make it conform more to his or her own. Here the “k” version has been followed in the
main, but not invariably, because it, too, contains apparent errors and inconsistencies of
transcription.
7 After liberating their territories from Spanish control, both the Magdiwang and Magdalo
kept the Katipunan designation Sangunian Bayan (Popular Councils) but also reorganized
themselves as revolutionary Panguluhan, or Presidencias, subprovincial governments each
with a cabinet of ministers and a military high command. The four Magdiwang ministries
to which Bonifacio refers were Gracia y Justicia (headed by Mariano Trias as minister),
Fomento (Emiliano Riego de Dios), Guerra (Ariston Villanueva), and Hacienda (Diego
Mojica). A fifth ministry—Interior, headed by Cornelio Magsarili—is mentioned in some
accounts, but presumably this must have been established at a slightly later date. Telesforo
Canseco, “Historia de la Insurrección Filipina en Cavite” [1897]. Typescript, 27 [“Historia
Civil de Filipinas,” Tomo 7 (on microfilm), UST archives]; Alvarez, The Katipunan and the
Revolution, 42.
8 The version of events that Bonifacio read in a Manila newspaper was probably an embellish-
ment of the official communiqué issued by the governor general, Ramon Blanco. On Sunday,
October 18, the coastal town of Nasugbu in Batangas had been retaken from “the rebels”
by forces under the command of Gen. Nicolas Jaramillo. This “hard-fought and glorious
victory” had been won by troops of Regiments 70 and 73 of the Third Cazadores Battalion
and the Guardia Civil, supported by marines and heavy artillery fire from two gunboats in
the harbor, the Leyte and the Bulacan. “The enemy fled towards Looc, chased by our columns,
leaving in the field and entrenchments 104 dead and many weapons, including a cannon
and three falconets. On our side there were two men killed and 23 injured.” But this was not
the full story. Women, children, and other noncombatants, the Jesuit historians Achutegui
and Bernad relate, had sought refuge from the fighting in the church. “But the Spanish
army did not respect that sanctuary. The church doors were battered down, the soldiers
entered and slaughtered the refugees. They then set fire to the church and convento. None
were spared except some women, who were taken ‘to satisfy the soldiers’ lust.’” The Spanish
atrocity, proclaimed Aguinaldo, revealed “the bitter hatred, the contempt and the savagery of
these so-called Fathers of Civilization.” Fernando Soldevilla, El Año Político, 1896 (Madrid:
Imprenta de Enrique Fernandez-de-Rojas, 1897), 412–13; El Correo Militar (Madrid), October
20 and 21, 1896; Pedro S. de Achutegui, SJ, and Miguel A. Bernad, SJ, Aguinaldo and the
Revolution of 1896: A Documentary History (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila, 1972), 29; Emilio
Aguinaldo, “Manifiesto,” dated October 31, 1896, in ibid., 30–33.
9 An abbreviation of “Yngatan ng Dios.”
7.4
High Executive
Letter dated December 3, 1896
Before he went to Cavite in mid-November 1896, Bonifacio appointed Isidoro

Francisco as high president (Mataas na Pangulo) of the Katipunan High
Council (Mataas na Sangunian) in the Northern District (which covered the
four provinces of Manila, Morong, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija) and Julio Nakpil
as its secretary (Mataas na Kalihim).* Francisco was a leather manufacturer
who had once belonged to the council of the Liga Filipina; Nakpil a piano
teacher from a wealthy background who had also been an active member of
the Liga. It is not known whether Bonifacio made any other appointments
before he left, but in his letter (document 7.6) dated December 12, 1896 to
the Mataas na Sangunian, written from Cavite, he ratified the authority of a
number of councilors (Kasanguni) elected to the body, and also approved the
election of Hermogenes Bautista as commander (Punong Hukbo) of the army
of Pantayanin, which was where the Mataas na Sangunian was initially based.
This letter is signed by Francisco [alias Añora], Nakpil [Giliw], and
Bautista [Barras], and perhaps four others—Nicolas de Lara [Sumisikat] in
his capacity as high treasurer (Mataas na Tagaingat Yaman), Atilano Sta. Ana
[Mulanon] as Kalihim N.P.H. (probably meaning Secretary of the Punong
Hukbo), Francisco de los Santos [Pagisa], and apparently by someone whose
illegible signature appears beneath the printed letters “L.N.D.B.”
The letter uses the term “High Executive” (“Mataas na Pamunuan”)
rather than “High Council” (“Mataas na Sangunian”), and is the only docu-
ment so far located to do so. Possibly the term “High Executive” signified just
the High Council’s inner directorate, or possibly the High Council had not yet
been fully constituted, for two weeks later a ballot was held to elect a further
six councilors to the body.
The letter informs its recipients—copies were presumably circulated by
courier—that an attack was to be mounted on the Spanish forces in the nearby
town of Pasig on either Friday, 11th or Saturday, 12th December 1896, and
that the troops involved should be assembled without fail at Pantayanin on
the Thursday.
Tagalog text
Dito sa tahanan ng Mataas na Pamunuan ika tatlo ng Diciembre ng taong isang

libo, walong daan, siyam na puo at anim: kaming nangagsi pagtala sa ibaba ng aming
pangalan, ay nagsasaysay sa kasulatang ito, na sa araw ng Viernes na darating ika
labing isa ng buang lumalakad, o kung dili kaya’y sa araw ng Sabadong susunod, ay
aming papasukin at sasalakayin ang Bayang Pasig na nasasakop nitong Hukuman ng
Maynila, ayon sa aming pinagkayaria’t pinagkaisahang lahat. Ito’y aming pinagtitibay
sa Ngalan ng Bayang tinubuan, at sa katunaya’y ipinagtayo namin nitong kasulatan
na aming pinagpirmahan sa harap ng Mataas na Pang-ulo at Mataas na Kalihim.
Ang Mataas na Pang-ulo

[sgd] Isid. Francisco
[Añora]
Sa kabila. Ang ibang pirma.
[signatures]
L.N.D.B Hermogenes Bautista

[Illegible] [Barras]
Kalihim N.P.H. Francisco de los Santos

Atilano Sta. Ana [Pagisa]
[Mulanon]
Ang M. na Tagaingat yaman Ang M. na Kalihim

Nicolas de Lara Julio Nakpil
[Sumisikat] [Giliw]
Sa utos ng Mataas na Pang-ulo, ay [four words illegible] ng Katipunan na

nasasakop niya, ng mga sulat na sila’y mangag si paritong walang sala araw ng Jueves
na darating ika sampuo ng lumalakad upang makasama sa salakay na pinagkayarian,

ngayon ika tatlo ng Diciembre ng isang libo walong daan, siyam na puo at anim.
Pinatototohanan ko.
Ang M. na Kalihim
Giliw
Inilakip dito ang sumusunod na sulat, tungkul sa salakay na pinagkayarian

ngayon ika 3 ng Diciembre ng 1896. Pinatototohan ko—Giliw.
* Julio Nakpil, “Notes on Teodoro M. Kalaw’s ‘The Philippine Revolution,’” in Julio Nakpil and
the Philippine Revolution, with the Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus (Manila: Heirs of Julio
Nakpil, 1964), 46.
7.5
Emilio Jacinto
Letter to Isidoro Francisco, December 8, 1896
The original of this document is torn, so the transcription has many gaps
(indicated by dots), but a few points of interest may be gleaned nonetheless.
Jacinto is writing, it is not known from where, to Isidoro Francisco, the presi-
dent of the High Council (Mataas na Sangunian) in “the North” (Hilagaan),
who was based at this juncture in Pantayanin.
Jacinto thanks Francisco for his commitment to “our sacred aims,” but
at the same time seems to recognize that Francisco is uneasy about his posi-
tion, and is perhaps worried about his own safety. If Francisco does not want
to go to the Katipunan encampment at Balara, Jacinto suggests, he would be
welcome at Jacinto’s own base, where “you would not have any worries about
food, or about the Spaniards.”
Jacinto asks Francisco to take good care of the gunpowder under his
control, and to ensure that rifles are allocated only to soldiers who are truly
loyal to the Katipunan. Jacinto also enquires about two small cannons
(falconetes) of which Francisco has charge.
Jacinto then refers to something important that is being planned, and
says he has convened a meeting for the coming Sunday, December 13, to which
he has invited all the KKK branch presidents in his locality. He asks Francisco
likewise to notify the KKK presidents in his area, but to stress the need for the
utmost secrecy. The meeting is to be held in a barrio of Mandaluyong. Jacinto
asks Francisco to send him P100 so that he can purchase supplies for what-
ever is being planned. Quite possibly, the matter to which Jacinto alludes was
an attack on the town of Pasig, which Bonifacio also mentions in the letter
he sent to the High Council from Cavite on December 12, 1896. Jacinto and
Bonifacio were seemingly unaware that the High Council was itself making
preparations to attack Pasig more imminently, and had in fact instructed
local KKK commanders to assemble their troops at Pantayanin, on December
10, with a view to the assault being launched on the 11th or 12th. In the event,
though, the action was postponed, the High Council perhaps recognizing that
its planning needed to be better coordinated.
In a postscript to his letter, Jacinto asks about a brother with the surname
Florentino. The text is incomplete at this point, but it seems likely he is refer-
ring to Balbino Florentino—a member of the KKK Supreme Council when the
revolution broke out—and fears he may have been killed.
Tagalog Text
K. K. K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Sa M. na Pang-ulo na Kapatid na si Ginoong I. Francisco
-----
Minamahal na Kapatid:
Aking tinangap ang mahalaga ninyong sulat, at nabatid kong lahat ng mga
ipinagsasabi ninyo.
Sa bagay na ito, ay lubos ang aking pagsasalamat sa inyo, bagay sa napagtalastas
kong pagsisikap ninyo dito sa ating banal na nilalayon. At tungkol naman sa nagiging
kadahilanan ng di [torn]..pagparito, ay dinaramdam ko din…..ka’t wala akong hangad
kung di….ayo’y magkasamsama sa lahat…at magkadamayan; kaya’t kung…uli kong
inaanyayahan dito sa aking kinalalagyan kung kayo man ay aayaw sa Balara, at dito
nama’y wala kayong aalalahanin tungkol sa pagkain, gayon din sa Kastila.
Tungkol na inyong isinagot sa Punong-hukbo sa Balara ay siya kong inaakalang

nauukol.
Ang polvora ay huag lamang ninyong pababayaan, at gayon din ang mga baril
ay inyong ingatang mabuti at huag ninyong ipahahawak kung di sa mga kapatid
na talagang tapat sa ating Katipunan. Ang dalawang falconeteng nariyan ay kaya
nangyaring inusisa ko sa inyo ay dahil sa siyang.... nararapat na ....sa may lalung
mahigpit na laban sapagka’t... mga falconete namang... rito ay hindi tutoong....bukod....
Ayon sa ating binabalak na mahalagang bagay ay minarapat ko na gumawa tayo
ng pulong sa araw ng Lingong darating at ating ipatawag ang lahat ng mga pangulo.
Sa bagay na ito, ay magpalibot kayo ng isang circular sa mga Pang-ulong inyong
sinasabi at ipatalastas sa kanila ang bagay na gagawing ito. Lamang ay ang aking
bilang na ipinagtatagubilin ay ang boong kalihiman tungkol sa pulong na ito na ating
gagawin sa nayon ng Malitlit (Mandaluyong), at ipagsabi din naman sa circular na
gamitin ang lubos .... hag lilihim.
...sa mga kinakailangan mga paghahanda, at sa iba’t ibang nauukol na bilhin,
ako’y inyong padalhan dito ng mga isang daang piso.
Kayo’y aking niyayakap ang lubos na pagibig.
Emilio Jacinto
8-12-96
Huling-lagda—Aking tinangap din [?].. ang inyong ipinadalang mga

plano. Mangyari lamang na ipasabi ninyo sa akin kung na.... ang ating kp. na si.... no
Florentino.
Vale
7.6
Andres Bonifacio
Letter to the High Military Council in the Northern District,
December 12, 1896
Transcribed below is a previously unpublished letter that Bonifacio wrote

from Cavite on December 12, 1896 to the Katipunan military command in the
“Northern District,” the region to the north and east of the capital.
When he had arrived in Cavite in mid-November, Bonifacio had been

greeted by crowds shouting Mabuhay!, by brass bands, fireworks, the firing of
rifles in the air, and the pealing of church bells.1 In Noveleta, he and Emilio
Jacinto had been driven on a tour of inspection in a luxurious carriage pulled
by a swift, well-fed white horse. But the acclaim with which he had been
honored, he sadly observes here, had awakened in a few hearts the “worm
of envy,” and already he had become the target of falsehoods and malicious
intrigues.
Aside from its significance as an addition to the still slender corpus
of Bonifacio’s known writings, the letter is interesting as a pointer to his
concerns at this critical time.
The recipient of the letter was probably Julio Nakpil, and he or his secre-
tary has written at its top the date a reply was dispatched—Sinagot ito ng ika 30
ng Dis. ng 1896.
Tagalog Text
K. K. K.
N. M. A. N. B.
K. S.
Sa Mataas na Sangunian ng mga hukbo sa dakong Hilagaan
Tinangap dito ang inyong sulat taglay ang kaarawang ika apat ng umiiral na buan,
kalakip ang mga sulat na salin buhat sa mga pinuno ng hukbo ng Ugong. Tungkol
sa mga baril na nawaglit ay pagpilitan ninyong ipahanap at at [sic] kung hindi
matagpuan diyan ay inyong ipahatid dito ang mga pangalan nang nangagsipagdala at
aking ipauusig sa mga pinuno ng buong Katipunan.
Ang inyong pagdamay sa mga kapatid nating nasasa Antipolo at ang kanilang
pagtatagumpay sa lumusob na kaaway ay malabis naming ikinatutua at ang
pagdadamayan ay siyang tunay na diya’y naghahari.
Ang ginawang pagkahahalal sa kapatid na si G. Hermogenes Bautista sa
katungkulang Punong hukbo ng mga kawal ng Pantayanin at gayon din naman sa
mga na halal na Kasanguni (Consejero) ay amin minamarapat at inaayunan ang
karapatan nila.
Ang pagsalakay sa bayan ng Pasig na ginagayak ay aming tunay na minagaling at

ito’y siyang kapagdaka na’y [?] siyang aming hinahangad na mangyari. Sa matanto
ito ng Pangulong hukuman at ng General S. Alvarez ay malabis na ikinatua at sila’y
nagkusang abuluyan ang hukbo diyan ng mga sandaang sandatahan ng pana at sibat,
bukod pa ang mga dalawang puong barilan na taglay na ang kapsulang kakailanganin.
May dalawa o tatlong falconete pang makakasama bukod sa naunang ipinagkaloob sa
atin.
Ang lahat ng ito’y hindi na ipadalang kasabay ng kapatid na si G. Lucino de
la Cruz sa kanyang pag uwi, sa pagkat nang nahahanda na ay siyang pagdatin ng
kapatid na Jokson na galing sa Maynila at ito’y ang siyang nagbalita na sasalakain
itong Tangway sa mga araw na ito ng tatlong libong Kastila na bagung dating,
datapua’t ngayong araw na ito ay may bago namang balita na di umano’y sa ika 18 sa
nitong umiiral na buan sa salakay dito, bagay na ipinagpasia ng General Santiago na
palakarin na at salakayin sa madaling panahon.
Nang itong sulat na ito’y aking wawakasan ay siyang pagtangap ko ng panibagong
sulat ninyo na taglay ang ika 9 na araw ng buang ito at sa kanya’y aking nabatid
matapat na inyong kautusan tung[kol] sa pag uusig sa mga taksil na kababayan.
Ang mga salin ng sulat ng k. Dagoberto gr...3o ay pawa kong na pagtalastas ang
kanyang mamalasakit na paglingap sa Banal na kadahilanan ng ating K. Katipunan
at gayon din naman sa mga kaloob niyang salitre at kapsulang walang laman ay
pinasasalamatan ko sa ngalan ng Bayan.
Tungkol ipinagkaloob na polvora ng kap na si G. Domingo Magampon ay amin
din pinasasalamatan ang kanilang masikap na pag damay sa pag tatangol sa ating
tinubuang bayan.
Ang sino pamang hindi ninyo kilalang kapatid at pinuno sa Katipunan ay hindi
nararapat na inyong pagkalooban ng saklolong salapi ng Katipunan, kaya’t nararapat
ang inyong hindi biglang pagkakaloob.
Aking inaayunan ang inyong matapat na pasya tungkol sa pagpapaayos ng hukbo
sa mga bayan ng hukuman ng Bulakan, ito’y totoong kinakailangang pilitin ninyong
lumaganap sa buong na sa saklawan ng daan ng Ferrocarril, at ng ang tropa ng kaaway
ay magkakalat kalat at huang makapagtipon ng malaki.
Ang inyong ipinagkaloob sa kay G. Emilio Jacinto Pingkian ay aking minamarapat
at ng siya’y may roong karakarakang pagkukunan sa ano pamang pagkakailangan ng
Katipunan.
Ang mga kababayang ating sinulatan ay inyong tandaan ang mga pangalan at
ating sisingilin pagdating ng araw ang kanilang pagsasarili at hindi pagdamay.
Hindi na gawang sagutin agad ang inyong sulat baga mat siya kong hangad sa
pagka’t ako’y inanyayahang ng mga pinuno dito na dumalaw sa mga bayan nilang
nasasakupan at dooy ipinagkakapuri ng ating Katipunang ibalita ko sa inyo na ako’y
naging dahil ng malaking pag sasaya ng bawat bayang aming pasukin. Ito’y buhat pa
nang aming pagdating ay siya nang isinalubong ng ating mga kapatid dito, at siyang
naging mula na gumising sa hamak na kalooban ng ilang kababayan ang uuod ng

kaingitan na bumubulog ng kaasalan ang ako’y ipamaraling bata ng mga fraile at ibat
iba pang ugaling gamiting sandata ng mga taksil na gaya nang sinasabing lumabas sa
diario ng kaaway na pag sira sa akin.
Tinangap namin dito ang polvora at salitre na dala ni gral. Lucino at gayon din
naman ang huling nababalot ng banig, ito’y malabis na pinasasalamatan ng ating mga
kapatid dito.
Ang mga taong kasabay nito na abuloy diyang ating mga kapatid dito na pawang
may sandata at ang ibay barilan ay pilitin ninyong pag tulung tulungang pagpakitaan
ng loob at tuloy ipakilala sa ating mga tao ang paggamit ng pitagan sa mga pinunong
kasamahan at gayon din naman ipatanyag ang kanilang dating ingat na katapangan
sa pakikipaglaban.
Buhat diyan ay maipag uutos ninyo sa mga kap. na nasa Pasig at Guadalupe na
huak nilang papayagan ang sino pamang mangagaling diyan na walang katunayang
inyong pinahintulutan ang paglalagbay dito sa Tangway at ng sa paraang ito’y mapigil
ang sino pamang lumalayas ng hindi ninyo pahintulod buhat pa sa Pasig.
Tungkol sa kay Palamara y Ca ay aking pagpipilitang pag iisipin ang paraang
magaling na silay marapatan ng kapatas na kagamutan ng kanilang sakit na
dinaramdam. Kung sa pamagitan ng mga tao natin at mga ipadadala ko diyan kasabay
ng sulat na ito ay magagawa ninyo samsaman ng armas at inyong mahahatulan ay
inyong karakarakang gawin at ng hindi makasira at makadungis sa kalinisan ng banal
na Layon ng ating Katipunan.
Ang ating kapatid na si G. Emilio Jacinto ay minatapat kong ihalal na General
en Jefe sa mga bayan nasasakupan ninyo at siyang sa ngayon pag kikilalanin ng mga
Generales na puno nila at siyang gagawa ng paraan sa pakikipaglaban.
Tangapin ninyong lahat diyan ang mahigpit ma yakap ng inyong kapatid.
Ang Plo. ng Haringbayan

And... Bonifacio
Maypagasa
12/12/96
Sa tatlong Consejeros na nalalagay inyong sulat ay hindi ko maalaman [?] kung

ang lahat ng ito’y lumabas gayon may nagpadala ako ng tatlong nombramiento at
kayo ang bahalang mag bigay sa dapat pag bigyan.
Vale
English Translation
K. K. K.
N. M. A. N. B.
K. S.
To the High Council of the Armies of the North2
Dear brothers:
Your letter dated the fourth of the present month has been received here together
with the transcribed letters from the leaders of the army of Ugong. Regarding the
guns that have gone missing; make an effort to locate them, and if they are not found
there, send here the names of those who were carrying them, and I will have it investi-
gated by the leaders of the whole Katipunan.
Your solidarity with our brothers in Antipolo and their victory over enemy attacks
pleased us greatly, for solidarity is what truly prevails.
We have approved the due election of brother Sr. Hermogenes Bautista to the
position of military commander of the soldiers of Pantayanin and likewise the elec-
tion of councilors, and we have ratified their authority.3
The attack on the town of Pasig is being planned really well by us, and we hope to
carry it out as soon as possible. In the meantime, the district president and General S.
Alvarez are extremely pleased and they have voluntarily contributed to the army there
a hundred troops armed with bows, arrows, and spears, in addition to about twenty
riflemen who already have the necessary cartridges.4 Two or three falconetes are also
included aside from the ones given to us before.5
All of this [military force] is not going to be sent with brother Sr. Lucino de la
Cruz when he returns home, because as it was being prepared. Brother Jokson arrived
from Manila and he gave us the news that Tangway would be attacked at this time by
three thousand Spaniards who have newly arrived, although now today we have fresh
information which says that this attack will come on the 18th of the present month, so
General Santiago has decided to set off and attack very soon.6
When I was about to finish this letter, I received your new letter dated the 9th of
this month, and from that I learnt directly about your order to prosecute the compa-
triots who are traitors.7
The transcribed letters of Brother Dagoberto gr...3o have all informed me of his
compassionate concern for the Sacred Cause of our K. Katipunan and also about his
donation of saltpeter and empty cartridges, for which I am thanking him on behalf of
the People.8
In relation to the gunpowder donated by Bro. Sr. Domingo Magampon, we are

also expressing thanks for their zealous support in the defense of our native land.
You must not grant financial assistance from the Katipunan to anybody you do
not know to be brothers and chiefs in the Katipunan, and you must not make dona-
tions on the spur of the moment.
I agree with your sound decision regarding the organization of forces in the towns
of the province of Bulacan; it is truly essential that you press to widen out along the
whole route of the railroad so that the troops of the enemy get dispersed and are not
able to form large concentrations.
I have approved the honor you have granted to Sr. Emilio Jacinto Pingkian so
that he can immediately get whatever is needed by the Katipunan.
You should remember the names of the compatriots we wrote to, and when the
day comes we shall take revenge for their selfishness and unhelpfulness.
Although I wanted to answer your letter immediately I wasn’t able to, because I
was invited by the leaders here to visit the towns under their jurisdiction where, I can
tell you, they honor the Katipunan, because there was great exultation in every town
that we entered. This started as soon as we arrived and were welcomed by our brothers
here, and it began to awaken in the base sentiments of a few compatriots the worm of
envy, which became virile in their conduct, and they spread it about that I am a pawn
of the friars, and all sorts of other insinuations the traitors are using as weapons to
destroy me, like those it is said are coming out in the newspaper of the enemy.9
We have received here the gunpowder and saltpeter that was brought by General
Lucino, and likewise the previous [consignment] wrapped in matting, for which our
brothers here are deeply grateful.
The people coming with this [letter] are sent by our brothers here to assist there;
each has a weapon and some have rifles; you should extend them every courtesy and at
the same time you should show our people how to respect leading comrades, and also
spread the word about the bravery they have displayed in battle.
From there you should order the brothers in Pasig and Guadalupe not to allow
anybody from there to come here to Tangway without your due authority, and by this
means stop anybody from abandoning Pasig without your permission.10
Regarding Palamara and Co., I will try to think of a clever way for them to get the
proper medicine for their unhealthy sentiments. With assistance from our people and
those I am sending there together with this letter you could confiscate their weapons
and pass your sentence with immediate effect so that the purity of the sacred Aims of
our Katipunan will not be broken and tarnished.11
I have approved the election of our brother Sr. Emilio Jacinto as general in chief
of the towns under your jurisdiction and he will now be recognized by the generals as
their chief and he will make plans for the fight.
Everybody there receive the close embrace of your brother.
The President of the Sovereign Nation

And. Bonifacio
Maypagasa
As regards the three councilors mentioned in your letter; since I cannot know
what the outcome of all this will be, I have sent three appointments, and you should
just give them to those who need them.
Adieu
1 Santiago Alvarez says in his memoir that Bonifacio arrived in Cavite on December 17, and
this date has been accepted in many subsequent accounts. Two contemporary documents,
however, record that he reached the town of San Francisco de Malabon on the afternoon
of November 18, accompanied by Emilio Jacinto and eight soldiers. They had spent the
previous night in the Magdalo town of Imus, and so the actual date of his arrival in the prov-
ince is November 17. Santiago V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of
a General, translated by Paula Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University
Press, 1992), 67, 170; Pascual Alvarez (Secretary of S.B. Magdiwang), Circular to town presi-
dents, November 18, 1896; and KKK council in Maguagui (Naik), Circular to town presidents,
November 18, 1896 (“Historia Civil de Filipinas,” Tomo 6.6, 200 [on microfilm], University of
Santo Tomas archives).
2 It is possible that this nomenclature deliberately echoes that of the American Civil War.
Bonifacio wanted the Katipunan forces in the north to be under a single general-in-chief—
Emilio Jacinto—but to have distinct identities based on their geographical location. The two
largest military encampments at this time were in the hills either side of the Marikina Valley,
one at Balara near the present-day campus of UP-Diliman and the other at a place variously
called Mount Masuyod, Pasong Kawayan, or Pantayanin in the vicinity of Antipolo. There
was thus an “army of Balara” and an “army of Pantayanin,” and Bonifacio also mentions here
an “army of Ugong”—a barrio in the municipality of Pasig.
3 Hermogenes Bautista, known as General Menes, was born in Marikina in 1866, and as a
young man had worked in that area as a farmer and cochero. He had then served for over
a decade in the colonial military and police forces, first as an infantry conscript in Lanao
and later with the Veterana in Manila and the Guardia Civil in Bulacan. E. Arsenio Manuel,
Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol. 1 (Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications, 1955), 95–96.
4 The “Pangulong hukuman” mentioned here by Bonifacio was Mariano Alvarez, president
of the Magdiwang Council of the Katipunan. This council was initially founded in Noveleta,
but by this time had transferred its headquarters to the larger town of San Francisco de
Malabon. It was here that Bonifacio made his base following his arrival in Cavite, and almost
certainly it was here that he wrote this letter. Santiago V. Alvarez, the son of Mariano, was
captain general of the Magdiwang army.
5 A falconete was a small cannon, capable of firing shot weighing up to about a kilogram.
6 Lucino de la Cruz, known as General Lucino, or Ipo-Ipo, had been elected in October 1896,
as second in command (to Luis Malinis) of the troops based at Balara. He travelled from
Balara to Cavite at about the same time as Bonifacio, and may have headed the Supremo’s
escort party. Ronquillo describes him as Bonifacio’s adjutant. Feliciano Jokson (sometimes
Jocson, or Jhocson) was one of the most energetic Katipunan emissaries and suppliers at
this time, travelling back and forth between Manila and the KKK’s encampments, on occa-
sion disguised as a woman. A pharmacist by profession, he carried “brass sheet for the
making of cartridges…and at other times saltpeter for the manufacture of gunpowder which,
in order to mislead the Spanish authorities, he placed in demijohns as if it were wine.” He
also taught the rebel forces how to fashion primitive types of blunderbuss and cannon—
trabucos, lantakas, and falconetes. The Spanish assault on Tangway—Cavite—that he reported
might be imminent did not materialize until February 1897. Grl. Santiago here again refers
to Santiago Alvarez. O. D. Corpuz, Saga and Triumph: The Filipino Revolution against Spain
(Manila: Philippine Centennial Commission, 1999), 96; Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 415; Miguel
Samio Ignacio, Feliciano Jokson: datos biográficos (Manila: Renacimiento Filipino, 1912); Julio
Nakpil, “Feliciano Jocson and his activities during the Revolution of 1896–1897,” in Julio
Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution, with the Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus (Manila: Heirs
of Julio Nakpil, 1964), 61.
7 Bonifacio may well be referring here to two prominent citizens of San Mateo who are
mentioned in the memoir of Col. Genaro de los Reyes. Known as Kapitan Matias and Kapitan
Ismael, these men were said to be “sworn enemies” of the Katipunan who denounced KKK
members and sympathizers to the Spanish authorities and caused many to be tortured and
summarily executed. De los Reyes, quoted in Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 173.
8 Dagoberto was the masonic name of both Epifanio Cuisa and Lucas Ricafort, and the
reference here could be to either. Cuisa had been in Taliba Lodge together with Bonifacio
before the revolution, and Ricafort, a member of Dalisay Lodge, is known to have served as
a captain during the Philippine-American War. Reynold S. Fajardo, The Brethren: Masons
in the Struggle for Philippine Independence (Manila: Enrique L. Locsin and the Grand Lodge
of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines, 1998), 142, 184; Manuel Artigas y Cuerva,
Galeria de filipinos ilustres (Manila: Imp. Casa Editora “Renacimiento,” 1917−1918), 827.
9 According to these hostile fictions, Bonifacio was a bata (literally, “child”) of the friars
because he had been bribed by them to found the Katipunan and lead the poorly armed
Filipinos to certain and disastrous defeat. Artemio Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino
laban sa Kastila (Yokohama: “Karihan Café,” 1927), 70.
10 In the latter months of 1896, Cavite witnessed an influx of large numbers of Filipinos from
the neighboring provinces, some escaping from Spanish offensives against Katipunan forces
and others wanting to share the exhilarating sense of freedom and hope that prevailed in
the liberated territory. Many of those arriving came without means of support, and several
sources relate that the Caviteños in general did not welcome them. They called them alsa
balutan, which may be translated as “runaways” or “refugees,” but literally means “baggage
carriers.” Bonifacio’s letter indicates that he, too, wanted to curtail the flow, partly perhaps
because he recognized the tensions and divisions it was creating in Cavite, but also because a
continued exodus from Pasig, Guadalupe, and other towns around Manila would undermine
the Katipunan’s efforts to establish some form of government in the area and would leave
Katipunan fighters isolated and exposed.
11 Palamara was the Katipunan alias of Juan de la Cruz, who had been elected, in October 1896,
as a general and second-in-command of troops based at Mount Tungko in San José del
Monte. The nature of his unhealthy sentiments is not known.
7.7
High Council
Letter dated December 15, 1896, and result of election held on
December 17, 1896
Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5677, leg.1.122.
The High Council (Mataas na Sangunian) notionally had jurisdiction over four
provinces—Manila, Morong, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija. Nowhere within this
swathe of Luzon were the Katipunan forces able to establish a large “liberated
zone” as they did in Cavite, but in late 1896 and early 1897 the High Council
did function as a form of local government in some areas, particularly to the
east of Manila and in the Sierra Madre foothills. Its leaders, both civil and
military, organized elections, made appointments, planned and fought battles
with the Spanish enemy, solicited funds for the revolutionary cause, and tried
to deal with the consequences of the fighting on the civilian population.
This letter invites KKK leaders to attend a meeting on December 17—
two days hence—in Pantayanin, believed to be in the Sierra Madre foothills
between Pasig and Antipolo. The purpose of the meeting is to elect six coun-
cilors to the High Council, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation as
councilor of Ponciano de la Paz, and, if time allows, to hold the trial of some
prisoners.
The letter is signed by Isidoro Francisco as president and Julio Nakpil
as secretary of the High Council, and by Hermogenes Bautista as military
commander.
Beneath the text of the letter are about twenty-five further signatures.
Most likely these signatures were added at the meeting held on December
17, as a kind of register of those present. Beneath the signatures there are the
tallies of two ballots held at the meeting, the first to elect six candidates from
a field of seventeen or eighteen (the name Calixto Santos appears twice), and
then a “second round” involving only the six successful candidates, perhaps
to determine which councilor should be assigned which “portfolio,” or tasks
on the council.
Tagalog Text
Mataas na Sangunian
Ginigiliw naming mga Kapatid:

Aming inaanyahan po silang lahat na mga pinuno sa araw ng Jueves ika 17 nitong
lumalakad, tungkol sa malaking bagay ng paghahalal ng anim na Kasanguni nitong
Mataas na Sangunian at dahilan naman sa ating kamahalmahalang Kapatid na si
Ginoong Ponciano de la Paz, na hinihinging siya’i halinhan sa kaniyang katungkulang
Kasanguni dito sa Hukuman sanhi sa kaniyang tunay na kadahilanan.
At tuloy kung magkakaroon ng panahon, ay gagawin ang paghatol sa mga
nabibilango.
Ito’i aming ipinahahayag po sa kanilang lahat na huag na di magsidating dito
sa nasabing Hukuman at tuloy itala ang kanilang tunay na pangalan sa huli nitong
kasulatan balang pagdaanan.
Pantayanin, ika 15 ng Diciembre ng 1896
Ang Mataas na Pang-Ulo

Isid. Franc.
Añora
[Seal—“A. N. B.—K. K. S.”]
Ang Mataas na Kalihim Ang Punong Hukbo

Julio Nakpil [Giliw] Hermogenes Bautista
[Illegible] [Lirio] Roman Ygnacio [Mayapis]
G. [?] Valentin [Magsigasig] Mariano [?] [Calapati]
M. Lopez [Pagatpatin] Leon [?]
Manuel Martinez Francis Aquino
Julian Marquez -Masikap Leocaro Garcia
Andres Bernardo Sumpoan
Honorato de la Paz Rufino de [?]
Prudencio Santos Mateo de la Paz
Candido Paz Feliciano Santo Domingo [Baso]
Braulio Santiago Jose Francisco
Cecilio Sto. Domingo Diego Carlos [Bilad]
Domingo [?] Pedro Gregorio
Edilberto Santos Carlos Estanislao
Dunato Hercoles [Illegible]
Marcelino Sabal
Calixto Santos | 1
Isabelo Victorino || 2
Honorato de la Paz ||| 3
Atilano Sta. Ana | 1
Mariano Paseo ||| 3

Feliciano Santo Domingo || 2
Marselino Seguisman [?] ||||| 5
Eugenio de los Santos ||||||||||||||| 15
Prudencio Santos ||| 3
Claro Fernando ||||||||||||||| 15
Marcelino de Guzman ||||||||||||| 13
Sixto de la Paz |||||||||||||||||| 18
Andres Bernardo ||| 3
Candido de la Paz || 2
Calixto Santos ||| 3
Miguel Fransico |||||||||||| 12
Mariano Cruz |||||||||| 10
Norverto Santos ||| 3
113
Eulogio de los Santos 15 ||||||||||||| 13

Claro Fernando 15 ||||||||||||| 13
Marcelino Guzman 13 ||||||||||||| 13
Sixto de la Paz 18 |||||||||||||| 14
l co
Mig. Fran. 12 |||||||| 8
Mar.o Cruz 10 |||||||||| 10
7.8
High Council
Record of meeting held on December 18, 1896
Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5677, leg.1.148A.
On December 3, 1896, the High Council (Mataas na Sangunian) decided

that the town of Pasig was to be attacked on either Friday, December 11,
or Saturday, December 12, 1896, and gave orders for the troops involved
to be assembled without fail at Pantayanin—the High Council’s base—on
December 10.
Subsequently, “due to many obstacles,” it was agreed that the planned
attack should be postponed. This document gives a brief record of a meeting
held on December 18, to discuss what had gone wrong and to make plans for
attacking the town at some date in the near future. The meeting was presided
over by Emilio Jacinto in his capacity as Supreme Military Commander

(Kataastaasang Punong Hukbo).
The meeting assigned various tasks to local commanders and units in
preparation for the attack on Pasig. Ponciano de la Paz and Enrique Espiritu
were directed to engage the Spanish detachment stationed in Marikina and
seize their weapons. The KKK forces in Kainta, Taytay, and Antipolo would
obtain the ingredients for dynamite, which Atilano Sta. Ana would use to
blow up the roads at strategic points around Pasig. The forces in Santulan
would construct fortifications, and the units along the banks of the Pasig
River at Pineda and Malapad-na-bato would also be mobilized.
There being insufficient time to conclude the discussion about the attack
on Pasig, the meeting elected Emilio Jacinto, Julian de la Cruz, and Francisco
Santos to consider the strategy and tactics to be adopted in more detail, and
agreed that their decisions and directives should be final.
Tagalog Text
Sa Pantayanin Mataas na Sangunian ng mga lupalup ng Manila, Bulakan, Nueva

Exija’t Morong, ika labing-walo ng Diciembre ng isang libo walong daan at siam na pu
at anim: nangagkatipon ang mga Ginoong natatala sa kapanig alangalang sa anyaya
ng M.N.S., ng maipahayag nito na bukas na ang salitaan at ang Mamumuno sa pulong
ay ang K.P.H. si Gn.Emilio Jacinto halal ng K.S. ay ito’i napasintabi sa kalahatang
kaginoohan at nagsaysay, na ang pagkaurong ng paglusob sa Pasig ay dahilan sa
maraming kapansanan, hiningi naman na waling bahalain sa loob ang pagkaabala ng
iba’t ibang Hukbong dumatal dito sa Hukuman, at ang bagay na paguusapan nitong
kapisanan ay ang boong kagalingan, at karalian ng nasabing paglusob sa Pasig: ng
matanto ng kalahatan, nangagkaisang nagkasundo sa pinagusapang sumusunod:
ang mangangasiwa ng paglupig sa mga kahamok sa Marikina at sasamsam ng
madlang kasangkapang gamit sapaglalamas ay ang mga Goong Ponciano de la Paz at
Enrique Espiritu: ang sa Kainta, Taytay at Antipolo sa pamamagitan ng sasangkaping
dinamita ay ang Gn.Atilano Sta Ana: sa Santulan ay ang mga Goong Genaro de los
Reyes at Eusebio de los Santos sampu ng pagtatayo ng kuta: sa pangpang ng Pineda
si Gn.Juan Manuel: sa pangpang ng Malapad-na-bato si Gn.Tininting Pio; at ang mga
daang patungong Pasig sinumangan [?] ng dinamita ni Gn.Atilano Sta. Ana.
Sa kapalangan ng panahon ay hindi nawakasan ang bagay ng pinagpupulungan,
kaya nga ang naturang Namamahala ang K.P.H. si Gn.Emilio Jacinto ay inihayag sa
kalahatan ang pangangailangan ng paghahalal ng tatlong Kahalig sa mga naturang
kaginoohan na sakop nitong Hukuman, at ang pagkaisahan nila sa gagawin mga
paraan na di napaguusapan pa, nang tatalimahin ng kalahatlahatang kapatid, ng
matanto ng boong kapulungan ay pawang nagsing-ayon, at pinagkasunduang
magkamit ng naturang katungkulang Kahalig ay ang mga Gng. Francisco Santos 15

votos, Julian de la Cruz, Emilio Jacinto.
Ang M.N.S. bago hinanganan ang kapulungan ay pinapanumpang lahat sa
kabagsikan ng walang hangang kabanalbanalang Katipunan na sino ma’i walang
magsisiwalat nitong pinagusapan kahit sa tunay at tapat nakapatid, tuloy inilagda
itong kasulatan at tinalaan ng kanikanilang pangalan ang marunong na kanognog ng
M.N.P., sa lahat ng ito’i ako’y M.N.K. ay nagpapatibay.
Ang M.N.P.
Isid. Franc.
Añora.
Calixto Santos Emilio Jacinto

Francisco de los Santos Julian de la Cruz1
Atilano Sta. Ana2
H. Valentin [?] Mariano Pasig [?]
Pedro Victorino Genaro de los Reyes3
Juan Manuel Eusebio Santos
Gregorio Bonifacio Marcelino Martin [?]
Felipe Santos Nicolas Paz [?]
Pedro Magsayo Octabio Kikino [?]
Bonifacio Bedoña4 [?]
Teodorico Asuncion
Ang M. na Kalihim
Julio Nakpil [Giliw]
Flaviano Rojas
[Seal—“A. N. B.—K. K. S.”]
1 A Katipunero named Julian de la Cruz held the position of sentinel (Taliba) in the KKK
chapter Dimasalang in Bigaa, Bulacan, and a Julian de la Cruz was also among the signato-
ries to the Truce of Biak-na-bato in November 1897. But whether these men were one and the
same is not known.
2 The previous month, November 1896, Atilano Sta. Ana had commanded a detachment at the
ill-fated engagement with Spanish forces on the Langka River, near San Mateo. Santiago
V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of a General, translated by Paula
Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992), 165.
3 Genaro de los Reyes [alias Bato Balani], from Mandaluyong, was one of Bonifacio’s personal
assistants, and held the rank of colonel in the Katipunan army. From his autobiographical
notes on the revolution, which Santiago V. Alvarez incorporated in his own memoir, it would
appear that at the time of this meeting—December 18, 1896—he had just returned from a
brief visit to Cavite, where he had delivered some firearms to Bonifacio and had doubtless
briefed him on the latest situation on the “eastern front” (dakong Silangan). Alvarez, The
Katipunan and the Revolution, 170–72.
4 The name Bonifacio Bedaña [alias Suyod] appears on a marriage certificate dated February
1897 (document 7.12) as the president of the KKK chapter Nagligtas, which was based in the
barrio of Pulo, Pasig.
7.9
Emilio Jacinto
Letter to the High Council of the Northern District, December 23, 1896
“The bearer of this note,” Jacinto writes, “is the uncle of Juan Malinban, who
is your prisoner there,” in Pantayanin.* Jacinto asks the High Executive of the
Northern District (Mataas na Pamunuan ng Hilagaan) to release Malinban on
condition that he is not permitted to return to his hometown. He also asks
the executive to hand over a horse and trap (kalesa), which Malinban had
apparently stolen, to the uncle. The uncle will then deliver the horse and trap
to Jacinto for his personal use—an arrangement that has the consent of the
kalesa’s owner, who is a kapatid. Jacinto needs a means of transportation, he
explains, because he has returned the carriage he had previously borrowed to
San Francisco de Malabon in Cavite.
In a postscript, Jacinto asks whether there is anyone in Pantayanin
who knows about electric batteries. If there is, he would like the Mataas na
Sangunian to dispatch the person to him, together with some dynamite, a
percussion cap with wire and a percussion cap without wire. He has received
three electric batteries from Malabon, he says, and wants to test them out
before they are put to use in battle.
Tagalog Text

Sa M. na Pamunuan ng Hilagaan
-----
Ang taong may dala nito ay siyang mamà ng Juan Malinban na inyong ibinilangu
diyan.
Ang isa ko lamang na bilang ipinamamanhik sa inyo ay kung mangyayaring
ipagkaloob na sa aking Kapangyarihan ang nasabing Juan Malinban, na di ko na
naman papayagang makauwi pa ng bayan.
Tungkol sa kabayo ng kalesang kaniyang inaakay ay inyo ding ibigay sa may dala
nito, sapagka’y ang nagaari niyaon ay kapatid, at ito nama’y ipinagkakaloob na sa
akin; at ako’y walang sukat na magamit ngayon, dahil sa ipinasauli ko na sa Malabon
(Tanguay) ang dati kong sinasakyan.
Sa boong pagasa ko na sisirain itong naging kahilingan, kayo’y aking niyayakap
ng lubos na pag-ibig.
Ika 23 ng Dbre ng taong 1896.
Ang K. Punong-Hukbo
Emilio Jacinto
Huling Lagda—
Kung sakali’t kayo’y mayroong nakikilala diyang na kaaalam ng paggamit ng pila

electrica, ay mangyari lamang na ipadala dito sa akin, at gayon din ang kaputol na
dinamita, at isang pistong may kawad at isang wala, sapagka’t ako’y may tinangap
nang tatlong pila na galing sa Malabon; at ang hangad ko lamang ay ang ating
masubukan muna bago atin gamitin.
Vale
* The letter is written on a single sheet of paper folded to make four sides. The text covers three
sides, and on the fourth side Jacinto has written K. P-H. Sa M. na Pamunuan sa Pantayanin.
The letter has then been folded again so that this address appears on the outside. The recip-
ient, probably Council Secretary Julio Nakpil, has written above the text Sinagot ito ng ika 29
ng Dis ng 1896. Tinangap ng ika 25.
7.10
High Council
Demand for donations, c. December 1896
This document, a typeset form used by the High Council (Mataas na

Sangunian) to solicit donations, highlights one of the Katipunan’s most crit-
ical dilemmas. Without funds the revolution would fail, and the only Filipinos
able to make substantial contributions were the well-to-do. Most wealthy
Filipinos, however, were reluctant to donate, either because they believed
the revolution to be mistaken or because they feared exposure and Spanish
reprisals. Gentle, polite requests for donations were therefore unlikely to elicit
much response, and Katipunan leaders had to employ a degree of coercion.
Support for the revolution, they insisted, was a patriotic obligation whose
avoidance or refusal would be harshly judged and duly punished. The danger
inherent in this intimidatory approach, of course, was that it would antago-
nize more potential donors than it persuaded.
Tagalog Text
MATAAS NA SANGUNIAN
---------
HARING-BAYANG KATAGALUGAN
----------------------
Sa Kay Ginoong
Minamahal na kababayan: itong Mataas na Sangunian sa

kadahilanan ng malaking pagkakailangan ng salaping maibibili
ng mga baril at iba pang sandatang nagiging kakulangan sa
ipagdiriwang ng nangag sisi pagtangol ng katuiran at puri nitong
katagalugan ay nag atas at minarapat ng lahat na iluhog sa mga
kababayan nakaririwasa ang kanilang boong kaya, at ang di
magkaloob na umabuloy ay ipalalagay na kalaban at karakarakang
lalapatan ng nauukol sa mga sukabang tumatalikod sa mga kalahi
at tunay na kapatid.
Sa bagay na ito aming minarapat na kayo’y tungkulan
umambag ng halagang __________ at sa katunayan nito, ay aming
tinalaan ng tunay naming pangalan at tinaktakan itong kasulatan,

sa lubos na pagasang di ipagkakait sa gipit naming kalagayan ang
inyong mahalagang tulong.
Hilagaan ika ____ng ___________ng taong 189__
Ang Mataas na Pang-Ulo
Ang Mataas na Kalihim
7.11
High Council
Certificate of christening, February 23, 1897
Amidst all the exigencies of war, the leaders of the High Council (Mataas na
Sangunian) found time on occasion to officiate at baptisms and weddings,
at least in the locality where they were based, near the town of Pasig. This
document records that Julio Nakpil, the high president (Mataas na Pangulo)
presided over a ceremony in the Pasig barrio of Pulo at which an infant
girl has been given the name Patrisia. Also in attendance were Leon de la
Cruz, the high secretary (Mataas na Kalihim), and Emilio Jacinto, the army
commander (Punong Hukbo).
The ceremony is termed a pagbibinyag, which would normally be trans-
lated as “baptism,” but there is no reference to any immersion, and in place
of a priestly discourse on Catholic teachings there was a reflection on the
“Sacred cause of the Katipunan.”
Tagalog Text
Sa nayon ng Pulo bayan ng Pasig at balangay ng “Nagligtas” ika dalawangpu at

tatlong Febrero ng isang libo walong daan at siam napu at pito: nangagkatipon sa
bahay ng kapatid G. Engracio Cruz (Alagaw) ang M N P-Ulo G. Julio Nakpil (Giliw)
K. P. Hukbo G. Emilio Jacinto (Pingkian) M. N. Kalihim G. Leon de la Cruz (Habagat)
sanhi sa pagbibinyag ng Sangol na babae na inianak ng madaling araw ng Lingong
nakaraan ika dalawangpu at isa nitong lumalakad, ni G. Felicia Gatsaliang at ng

naturang kapatid magasawang tunay. Sa bagay na ito, pinaharap sa kapisanan ang
ini-ina sa binyag na si G. Marcela de la Cruz, dalaga, sakop ng naturang balangay, at
pinakalong ang Sangol, at pagkatapos aralan ng ipinaguutos sa Banal na kadahilanan
ng Katipunan ay inalanan ang bata ng Patrisia tunay na anak ng magasawang nasabi
na.
Inilathala sa M. A. N. B. itong Banal na katuirang pagbibinyag at inilagda itong
kasulatan na tinataktakan at pinagtalaan ng Pinunong kabuoan ng M. S. Sa lahat ng
ito, akong M. N. Kalihim ay nagpapatotoo.
Ang M.N.P.Ulo Ang K. P. Hukbo

Julio Nakpil Emilio Jacinto

Ang tunay na ama Ang tunay na ina
E Gracia curoz pilisa gadsilang

Ang ina sa binag Ang gumanap
Marcela Cruz Rogelio Borja
Bonifacio Bedaña
7.12
[Seals—“MATAAS NA SANGUNIAN—A. N. B.” and “A.N.B.—PUNONG HUKBO”]
High Council
Certificate of marriage, February 1897
This document certifies a marriage over which Julio Nakpil, the high presi-
dent (Mataas na Pangulo), presided in the Pasig barrio of Pulo. Also in attend-
ance were Leon de la Cruz, the high secretary (Mataas na Kalihim), and Emilio
Jacinto, the army commander (Punong Hukbo). One of these leaders delivered
a homily on the qualities of a good marriage, but so far as can be ascertained
the ceremony was entirely secular—there is no mention in the document of
either the Church or the Almighty.
Tagalog Text
[Seal—“MATAAS NA SANGUNIAN—A. N. B.”]
Sa balangay ng Nagligtas, nayon ng Pulo ng bayang Pasig ika ng Febo ng 1897

nangagkatipon sa M.S. ang M.N. P-Ulo G. Julio Nakpil (Giliw) K.P. Hukbo G. Emilio
Jacinto (Pingkian) M.N. Kalihim G. Leon de la Cruz (Habagat) P-Ulo sa naturang
balangay G. Bonifacio Bedaña (Suyod) at iba’t iba pang Pamunuan na umabuloy
sa dahilang pagpapaasawa sa kapx G. Geronimo Ignacio (Siko) binata, anak ng
nangamatay na G. Brigido Ignacio at Lucia Perez, kay G. Julia Saguisag, dalaga, anak
ng kapx G. Graciano Sagisag Melon at Antonia Garcia.
Ang tanang kaginoohan lumikmo sa kanikaniang luklukan at ang M.N. P-Ulo
na namamahala ng pagkakatipon, siniyasat ang binata at dalaga kung walang
kapamanan ang isa’t isa sa nilalayong pag aasawa, pinilit kaya o inudiokan lamang
ng iba at di sa tunay na pagibig at pagkakasundo: sampu ng nangahaharap ay inusisa
nitong pagsasaliksik, isa ma’y walang lumaban at pawang tumugon ng lubos na
kaayusan sa ipagpipisan ng dalawang iniharap.
Sa bagay na ito, nangag sitindig ang kalahatan at pinapagkamay ang
magkasintahan na tinutungohan ng mga saksi G. Bonifacio Bedaña at G. Vicenta
Cruz inaralan ng Pinuno ang laking bagay ng kanilang pagaasawa, ang mahalagang
pagsusumuran, ang kamahalang pagsasama at kagandahang pamumuhay at iba’t
iba pang sukat itanghal sa Sandaigdigan. Ito ang hinanganan ng kapisanan at sa
katunayan, inilagda itong pangatlong kasulatan, tinaktakan at pinagtatalaan ng
maalam sa nangahaharap, sa lahat ng ito. Akong M.N. Kalihim ay nagpapatibay at
nagpapatotoo.
Ang M.N. Pang-Ulo

Julio Nakpil (Giliw)
[Seals—“MATAAS NA SANGUNIAN—A. N. B.” and “A.N.B.—PUNONG

HUKBO”]
Ang K.P. Hukbo

Emilio Jacinto
Rogelio Borja
Ang P-Ulo ng balangay

Bonifacio Bedaña
Ang kaginoohan- lahat

Garciano Sagisag+ Geronimo Ignacio+

Antonia Garcia + Saturnina Santos +
Vicenta Cruz Juliana Sagisag
[Illegible] [?] Crisostomo
Pedro Magsayo Juan Baltazar
Sebastian Cruz
Ang M.N. Kalihim
Leon de la Cruz
Habagat
7.13
High Council
Draft appointment dated February 15, 1897
Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5677, leg.1.148-B.
Drafted “in accordance with the authority vested in [the High Council] by the
Supreme President of the Sovereign Tagalog Nation,” this document in its
final form would appoint Felicisimo Frineza as procurator fiscal (Pintakasing
Tagausig) in Binangonan, a town in the province of Morong. Reports had
evidently reached the High Council (Mataas na Sangunian) that too many
Katipuneros in the town had lost sight of the KKK’s “Sacred Mandate”
(Banal na Kautusan) and were devoting their energies instead to cockfighting,
gambling, and drinking. The procurator fiscal, it was hoped, would keep their
behavior to the straight and narrow.
The document is in the handwriting of Emilio Jacinto, the army
commander (Punong Hukbo) of the High Council.
Tagalog Text
Upang maganap ng buong hinusay ang katuparan ng Banal na Kautusan

ng K.K.K., at sa pangangailangang lumikha sa bayang Binangonan ng isang
Atasan nagaayos sa kapal na kapatid na [one word illegible] at namamalibhasa
sa Katip. at namumuhay sa [one word illegible] na asal gaya ng nangahihilig sa
sugal, sabong, paglalasing, [one word illegible] lubha pa nang Tagausig Lihim
(P. Secreta) na nagsusukab sa M.A.N.B. na nag gugugol ng ari, nagpapatulo ng
dugo at namumuhunan ng buhay [?] sa pagnanasang hangarin [?] ang kalayaan

ng lahat— Itong M.S., alinsunod sa kapangyarihang hawak na ipinagkatiwala
ng Kataastaasang Pang Ulo ng Haring Bayang Katagalugan minarapat halal na
Pintakasing Tagausig ang G. Felicisimo Frineza, taga bayang nasabi na, alang
alang sa naaabot mangmatuid, mabining ugali at [one word illegible] ingat.
Sa bagay na ito, ipinakikilala sa namamahala ng Punong-Hukbo, mga Pamunuan
at lahat ng kawal sa Binangonan, ang kapangyarihan ng Pintakasing Tagausig na
namamahala ng Atasan, aabuluyan ng kakailangan tulong sa ikatutupad ng mabangit
na Banal na Kautusan, datapua’t kung may manting [?] kamaliang masusubog sa
kasulukuyang pamamahala ibigay tanto karakaraka dito sa M.S. upang maganap ang
pasiyang tapat sa sala.
At sa katunayan, iginawad itong katibayan na aming tinaktakan, tinalaan [?] at
pinagtibay.
Hilagaan 15 ng Febrero ng 1897.
7.14
Emilio Jacinto
Letter to Julio Nakpil, April 11, 1897
Archivo General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5677, s.n.
Emilio Jacinto is responding here to a message from Julio Nakpil about

the long-awaited arrival of weapons from Japan or Hong Kong. Nakpil has
received a letter saying that a shipment has arrived, and has asked Jacinto
whether the news is true. Jacinto replies that he hasn’t heard anything
about the weapons, and suggests that clarification should be sought from
Aguinaldo, or better yet from Bonifacio because “we recognize him, and he is
now the only figure of authority involved in the fighting now going on there
in the area of Cavite, according to what people coming from there say. They
say that Don E. Aguinaldo has now gone really quiet.”
It is not known where Emilio Jacinto was based at this time, or how
much he knew about events in Cavite. He wrote this letter some three weeks
after the fateful Tejeros Convention, but may have heard nothing about it—
Bonifacio had not yet written to tell him what happened.
Jacinto says that later in the week he will be coming to Nakpil’s base,
which was in the vicinity of Pasig.
Tagalog Text
EMILIO JACINTO
PINGKIAN
-------------------------
PANGULONG -DIGMA
M. Julio N. Giliw
Minamahal na kapatid:
Tinangap kong malualhati ang inyong sulat at nabasa ko naman ang kalakip.
Ayon sa inyong hinihiling na pasiya ko tungkol sa nabangit nang kalakip na
sulat, ay inaakala ko na ang sulat na ito ay hindi nagbuhat sa taong may tunay na
karapatang magpanukala, at magkuro naman ng wasto at katutuhanan ng mga
balita at ng nauukol pagsakdalan at gawain. Ang sinasabi niyang dumating na mga
sandatang nababatid ko ay wala akong kamalay-malay; at kung sa General Emilio
Aguinaldo naman natin tatalastasin ang tila lalung nauukol sa kay M. Andres
Bonifacio, sapagka’t siya nating kinikilala, at siya namang nangangatawan lamang sa
labanan ngayon doon sa lupang Kavite, ayon sa sabi ng nagsisipangaling doon at si M.
E. Aguinaldo ay tunay daw pong tumatahimik na.
Kaya po ako’y sa gang [?] ating sarili, kung sakali’t mayroong makapaparoon ay
talastasin natin ito kay M. A. Bonifacio.
Ako’y hindi mangyayaring makararating diyan bukas kung di sa Miercoles,
sapagka’t tinawag ko ng pulong sa Martes ang pinagkikingan natin dito ng abuloy.
Tangapin ang aking yakap.

Emilio Jacinto
11-4-97
7.15
High Council
Letter dated September 28, 1897
Archivo Franciscano Ibero-Oriental, Madrid, Sign. 63/13.
Although this letter is brief and its subject matter unremarkable—a request
for a donation to the revolutionary cause—it is interesting because it shows
that the KKK High Council in the area around Manila was still functioning
four or five months after Bonifacio’s execution, and functioning independ-

ently, it seems, of Aguinaldo’s government, which was then in Biak-na-
bato. Julio Nakpil is soliciting funds for the revolutionary government
dito—here—meaning in effect the High Council itself, whose partisans
he explicitly describes as mga Katipunan ng mga anak ng bayan. The selyo,
or stamp, impressed on the letter, likewise, places the words “Mataas na
Sangunian—Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan” together in a circle around
the Katipunan’s “baybayin K within a sun” symbol. Nothing in the letter
alludes to the “Republica Filipina” of which Aguinaldo had been elected pres-
ident at the Tejeros convention in March.1 The letter also indicates that the
Sangunian, which in late 1896 had been based in the town of Pasig, was now
operating even closer to the seat of Spanish power, in the Manila suburb of
Sta. Ana.
One might expect to find such a letter addressed to a wealthy resident
of Sta. Ana, or of another suburb or town nearby. Surprisingly, this partic-
ular letter was sent to Paete, a town in Laguna some fifty miles distant. Even
more surprisingly, the addressee was the parish priest of Paete, who was a
Franciscan friar and presumably a Spaniard.
Tagalog Text
Maginoong Cipriano Ortiz

Cura Parroco sa Paiti
Maginoong Cipriano Ortiz,
Di gunitang tua iring tatamuhin kung kayo’y maluahating dadnin niring abang
liham lalu pa kung tiwasay at walang ano mang sakuna.
Ang dahilan nitong kalatas ay kayo umangbag dito sa Gobierno revolucionario ng
salapi upang may maigugol sa mga gastos de guerra at inaasahan ko na kayo’y gagawa
ng isang kasulatan na kayo’y hindi magpapanganyaya sa mga Katipunan ng mga anak
ng bayan o defensores de la patria; ang katibayang ito’y siya kong panghahawakan.
Kayo’y ingatan nawa ng Maykapal sa mahabang panahon.
Sta. Ana ika 28 ng Septiembre ng taong 1897.

Akong Mataas na Pang-Ulo.
Julio N. Giliw
Huling Lagda: Ang tawong may taglay nito, maipagkakaloob ninyo ang salaping
ambag sampu ng katibayan, at ang mapahamak dito sa Bayan ng Silangan ay kapatid

ang inyong mahal na ulo.
Mayhalaga
Giliw
[SEAL—“MATAAS NA SANGUNIAN—KATIPUNAN NG MGA ANAK NG

BAYAN”]
English translation2
Señor Cipriano Ortiz,
Unforgettable joy shall be mine if you will be well when this humble letter reaches
you, particularly if you are at peace and without any misfortune.
The reason for this message is to request you to contribute to this Revolutionary
Government in order that it may have something to spend for the expenses of war,
and I hope you will make a written statement that you will not cause any harm to the
Katipunan ng mga anak ng bayan or defenders of the fatherland; I shall rely upon this
document.
May the Creator protect you for a long time.
Sta. Ana, the 28th of September of the year 1897.

I, the High President
Julio N. Giliw
Postscript: You can entrust to the bearer of this (letter) the contributed money
as well as the certification, and whoever suffers in this land of the East is a brother of
your dear chief.

Respectfully
Giliw
1 Nakpil did for a time accept a position—minister of fomento—in the Departmental

Government of Central Luzon, which had been constituted with Aguinaldo’s sanction at
an assembly in Puray in mid-1897. He then “communicated to them [his colleagues in the
Departmental Government] my conformity with the constitution of our government, and I
hinted the continuation of the Katipunan... for the purpose of collecting more funds for the
acquisition of firearms, telling them that the Katipunan revolutionists and even outsiders
had very great faith in the Katipunan. Mr. Emilio Aguinaldo took this ill and without any
further explanation ordered Gens. Severino Taiño and Pio del Pilar to assassinate me.” It was
presumably this unwelcome turn of events that made him decide to concentrate his ener-
gies again on the Mataas na Sangunian. Julio Nakpil, “Notes on Teodoro M. Kalaw’s ‘The
Philippine Revolution,’” in Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution, with the Autobiography
of Gregoria de Jesus (Manila: Heirs of Julio Nakpil, 1964), 45.
2 This translation is my own, but it draws heavily on a translation filed with the original docu-
ment in the Archivo Franciscano Ibero-Oriental in Madrid.
chapter 8
Cavite: Politics in a Time of Revolution
F
8.1
Andres Bonifacio
Mararahas na manga Anak ng Bayan, Undated proclamation, February or
March 1897
Photograph of original leaflet, in Pedro S. de Achutegui and Miguel A. Bernad, Aguinaldo and
the Revolution of 1896: A Documentary History (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila, 1972), 570.
or about four months, from November 1896 to March 1897, Bonifacio was
based in San Francisco de Malabon, the town in which the Magdiwang
Council of the Katipunan had also established its headquarters. The handbill
transcribed below is the only known proclamation issued by him during that
time. It warns the soldiers of the Katipunan that the relative peace that had
briefly prevailed in the liberated areas of Cavite would soon be shattered by a
Spanish offensive. Many of us, Bonifacio says, may die in the coming battle,
but it is our duty, our legacy to our country, race, and kin.
Surprisingly, a number of words that Bonifacio would normally have
spelt with a “k” are spelt here with a “c”—capurihan, cayo, caguinhawahan, and
others. Perhaps his original text was edited or augmented by someone else, or
perhaps the printer simply ran out of “k”s. It is also slightly surprising that
Bonifacio’s name and his alias, Maypagasa, are printed at the foot of the docu-
ment without any accompanying title or position. His extant letters from this
time all bear a printed letterhead with the rubric “President of the Supreme
301
Congress” and/or the titles “The Supreme President,” or “The President of

the Sovereign Nation,” above his signature.
Tagalog Text
KATIPUNAN
MARARAHAS NA MANGA ANAK NANG BAYAN
Ang inyong ipinakilalang katapangan sa pakikihamok sa kaaway na mga kastila

buhat pa ng simulan itong panghihimagsik, ay siyang nagsasabing mataas na di
ninyo ikinasisindak ang ugong ng paghahanda at pagsalakay dito ng hukbong akay ni
Polavieja, na sa kaunting panahon ay nagpakilala na ng malabis na kaduagan at hamak
na kaasalan ng alipin sa kanyang pagpapahirap at malimit na pagpatay sa makapal
na kalahing hindi nagsisilaban. Yaong pagpapasunog nito sa mga bayan, yaong
paglapastangan at pagdungis sa capurihan ng mga babai na di pinacundanganan ang
canilang cahinaan, yaong pagkitil ng buhay ng mga matatandang hindi na macausad
at sangol na sumususo pa, na cailan may hindi aasalin at gagawin ng sino pa mang
lalaking may puri at may tapang, ay humihingi ng isang masiglang paghihiganti at
matinding caparusahan.
Sa inyong pamimiyapis mangyayaring abutin ang cayo’y tanghalin bangkay sa
gitna ng parang ng pakikidigma; nguni’t ito’y isang kapurihang inyong maipamamana
sa ating Bayan, sa ating lahi, at sa ating angkan.
Ang inyong mapupugtong hininga, ay siyang magbibigay buhay sa ating Bayan
at siyang matamis na alaala sa gunita ng inyong mga kapatid na maiiwan.
Dapat naman ninyong mabatid, na ang kadahilanan ng ating paggugugol ng
lalong mahalaga sa loob at sampu ng ingat na buhay, ay ng upang tamuhin at kamtan
yaong linalayong Kalayaan ng ating Bayang tinubuan na siyang magbibigay ng buong
caginhawahan at magbabangon ng ating kapurihan na ilinugmok ng kaalipinan sa
hukay ng kadustaang walang makatulad.
¿Sasagi kaya sa inyong loob ang panlolomo at aabutin ang panghihinayang na
mamatay sa kadahilanang ito? ¡hindi, hindi! sapagka’t nakikintal sa inyong gunita
yaong libolibong kinitil na buhay ng mapanganyayang kamay ng kastila, yaong daing,
yaong himutoc at pananangis ng mga pinapangulila ng kanilang kalupitan, yaong
mga kapatid nating nangapipiit sa kalagimlagim na bilanguan at natitiis ng walang
awang pagpapahirap, yaong walang tilang pag agos ng luha ng mga nawalay sa piling
ng kanilang mga anac, asawa at matatandang magulang na itinapon sa iba’t ibang
malalayong lupa at ang katampalasanang pagpatay sa ating pinakaiibig na kababayan
na si M. Jose Rizal, ay nagbukas sa ating puso ng isang sugat na kailan pa ma’y di
mababahaw. Lahat ng ito ay sukat ng magpaningas sa lalong malamig na dugo at
CAVITE: POLITICS IN A TIME OF REVOLUTION 303
magbunsod sa atin sa pakikihamok sa hamak na kastila na nagbibigay sa atin ng lahat

ng kahirapan at kamatayan.
Kaya mga kapatid, igayak ang loob sa pakikipaglaban at paasaasahan ang
pagtatagumpay, sapagka’t na sa atin ang tunay na katuiran at kabanalang gawa; ang
kastila, iyang kasuklamsuklam na lahing dito’y napasuot, ang tanging ipinaglalaban,
ay ang maling katuirang panggagaga at panlulupig dito sa di nila bayan.
Sa lahat ng ito, ng malubos ang kabanalan at kapurihan ng ating lahi, ng
tanghalin ng Sandaigdaigan ang kamahalan ng ating kalooban, ay huag nating
tularan ang kalabang kastila sa pagkahamak ng asal na ugaling gamit sa pakikidigma,
huag tayong makipaghamok sa kaibigan lamang pumatay, kundi sa pagtatangol ng
Kalayaan ng ating Bayan, at abutin sa mahigpit na pagkakayakap nating mga anak
ng Bayan, ay maihiyaw ng buong lakas na Mabuhay! Mabuhay! ang Haring Bayang
Katagalugan!
ANDRES BONIFACIO
Maypagasa
Limbagan ni Z. Fajardo sa Malabon ó Mapagtiis
English Translation*
KATIPUNAN
BRAVE SONS OF THE PEOPLE
The bravery you have manifested since the start of this Revolution in fighting
against the Spanish enemy is the clearest proof that you are not terrified by the noise
of the preparations for the invasion here of the army of Polavieja. That army, in a short
span of time, has demonstrated marked cowardice and base conduct by torturing and
killing multitudes of our noncombatant people. Their burning of the towns here, their
desecration of the purity of our women without regard to their weakness, the murder
of the old and of helpless infants—these acts are not those of any man of honor and
courage. They cry out for vengeance and justice.
After the enemy assault, you may perhaps be found lifeless on the field of battle,
but this is an honorable legacy for our country, for our race and for our family.
Your dying breath will be the breath that gives life to our nation and will serve as
a loving memory to your brothers whom you leave behind.
You must realize that the reason why we give our life and all that we have, is for
us to be able to hold and to cherish the much desired Liberty of our nation, which will
bring forth comfort and avenge our desecrated honor crushed by slavery and buried in
the abyss of subhuman treatment.
Will you be faint-hearted and reluctant to face death because of these? No,
no! Because in your minds is indelibly stamped the memory of thousands of lives
snuffed out by the ruthless hand of the Spaniards, the moaning and weeping of those
orphaned by their cruelty, our brothers chained within the dismal prison cells with
merciless tortures for their daily bread, the seemingly endless stream of tears caused
by bitter separation from children, husbands, parents, and the loved ones exiled to
distant places, and the brutal murder of our beloved countryman, Don José Rizal.
These have opened a wound in our heart which will never heal. All these should set
aflame the coldest blood, and should impel us to fight against the ignoble Spaniards
who have given us misery and death.
Therefore, my brothers, gird yourselves to fight and be assured of victory. Our
side is in the right. Ours are noble deeds. The Spaniards, that contemptible race that
found its way here, are fighting for the wrong. They are here usurping and oppressing
a nation that is not theirs.
To preserve the sanctity and glory of our race so that the world may recognize our
nobility, let us not imitate our Spanish enemies in debasing the conduct of war. Let us
not fight and kill merely for the sheer desire of killing. Rather, let us do so in defense
of the Liberty of our Nation. Sons of the People, receive our close embrace, and let us
shout with all our might: “Long Live! Long Live the Sovereign Tagalog Nation!”
ANDRES BONIFACIO
Maypagasa
* With a few changes, this is the translation to be found in Pedro S. de Achutegui and Miguel
A. Bernad, Aguinaldo and the Revolution of 1896: A Documentary History (Quezon City: Ateneo
de Manila, 1972), 331–32. Achutegui and Bernad acknowledge the assistance of Rodrigo S.
Gabriel, of the Institute of National Language, in making this translation.
8.2
Andres Bonifacio
Letter to Julio Nakpil, February 13, 1897
Transcribed below (in the original Tagalog, followed by an English transla-

tion) is a previously unpublished letter that Bonifacio wrote on February 13,
1897, to Julio Nakpil who had succeeded Isidoro Francisco as the president of
the Katipunan government in the “Northern District,” the region to the north
and east of the capital. The letter is interesting mainly for its references to
Fr. Antonio Piernavieja, a Spanish friar then being held captive by Katipunan
forces.
Fr. Antonio Piernavieja

The bald chronology of Piernavieja’s life is recorded in a directory
compiled from the archives of his Order, the Augustinians. A native of the
small Castilian town of Rueda, he took his vows in Valladolid in 1853, and
was sent to the Philippines in 1855. For more than three decades he served
as a cura párroco in the province of Bulacan, assigned at various times in the
towns of Paombong, San Rafael, and San Miguel de Mayumo. Relieved of
parish duties in 1891, purportedly due to his advancing years, he lived for a
time in Augustinian convents and then was appointed in 1895 as chaplain to
the casa-hacienda of Buenavista in the town of San Francisco de Malabon,
Cavite.1
But beyond these spare details there lies an astonishing story. In the
1880s Piernavieja became a figure of great notoriety, the epitome, for anti-
clericals, of the cruel and abusive Spanish friar. Rizal even mentions him
in a footnote in Noli me tangere. It is not known, says Rizal, whether any
Franciscan friar was ever guilty of a crime like the murder of Crispin (a poor
boy in the novel who earned a few paltry coppers for ringing the church bells),
“but something similar is related of the Augustinian P. Piernavieja.”2 The
tragic tale of Crispin is said to have been translated from the Noli by Marcelo
H. del Pilar and circulated as a propaganda leaflet in the Tagalog provinces,
giving still wider currency to the belief that it was based on a real occur-
rence in a Bulacan parish “where Fr. Antonio Piernavieja had charge of the
souls.”3 Word spread, too, that Piernavieja had committed another murder,
his second victim being an elderly woman servant. John Foreman, a long-
time British resident of Manila, heard these stories and accepted them as fact.
Even though the public voice could not then be raised very loudly against the
priests, he wrote, the scandal was so great that “the criminal friar” had to be
removed from his parish.4 Piernavieja’s consignment to convent life in 1891,
therefore, may not have been due to his age after all. He was still in his fifties.
After withdrawing from the public eye for about four years, in any event,
Piernavieja was deemed fit again for the ministry and was assigned to San
Francisco de Malabon. The truth about what then happened is just as irre-
coverable today as the truth about his alleged crimes. Some accounts say
that after the area was liberated from Spanish control in September 1896,
he was forced into acting as the “mock bishop” of revolutionary Cavite. To
save his life he accepted this indignity, but then used his freedom to collect
information about the movements, plans, and strongholds of the Katipunan

forces for passing on to his Order and the Spanish authorities.5
The letter transcribed here indicates that in mid-February 1897,
Piernavieja was being held prisoner, but that Bonifacio would be prepared to
authorize his release if a suitably large ransom could be negotiated. No agree-
ment was reached, however, and Piernavieja was put on trial together with
two other Augustinians and a Recoleto before a Katipunan court. Accounts
again differ as to the nature of the charges. The case against Piernavieja
presumably included his attempts to pass information to the enemy, but the
prosecution may also have raised the deaths of the boy and the old woman
in Bulacan, and also older political allegations against him. In the wake of
the Cavite mutiny of 1872, he had identified many prominent liberals and
subversives in Bulacan to the authorities and had thereby been instrumental
in dispatching them into long exile.6 He and the other captured friars are also
said to have confessed (under duress) to the corporate culpability of their reli-
gious orders for the execution of Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora in 1872, and of
Rizal in 1896.7
Found guilty by the court, the three Augustinians and the Recoleto
were sentenced to death and in March 1897 were executed near the town of
Maragondon. According both to the revolutionary general Artemio Ricarte
and to the official Augustinian records, Piernavieja, like the others, was shot.
But the facts about his death, as about his life, got submerged by legend and
rumor. A number of sources relate that he was tied to a post or tree and left in
the tropical sun to die of heat and thirst.8
The executions deepened the enmity between the two Katipunan factions
in Cavite, the Magdiwang headed by Mariano Alvarez and the Magdalo
headed by Emilio Aguinaldo. The tribunal that imposed the death penalty is
said by Ricarte to have been appointed by Bonifacio acting on the authority
of the Magdiwang Council en banc, and the sentence was carried out by
Magdiwang troops. Aguinaldo says in his memoirs that he wrote to Bonifacio
urging that two of the accused (not Piernavieja) be treated leniently because
they had not committed any serious crimes, but that his intervention was to
no avail.9 After the executions he is said to have angrily denounced Bonifacio
and the others responsible as crueles and atheists.10 So far as Bonifacio was
concerned, the accusation of atheism was false, and if it was indeed made
it must be seen as part of Aguinaldo’s campaign to swing public opinion
against the Katipunan Supremo. In reality, both Bonifacio and Aguinaldo
were under pain of excommunication from the Catholic Church because they
were masons, but as masons they both professed to abhor atheism. “The
doors of Masonry,” stipulated the code to which the Philippine lodges of
the time subscribed, “will never open to an atheist or to those who deny the
existence of the Supreme Creator.”11 Like other Katipuneros, as the example

here shows, Bonifacio sometimes signed off his letters with the wish that the
recipient should remain safe in the care of the Lord (Maykapal).
The “Himno Nacional”

Bonifacio mentions in his letter that he has received a copy of the “Himno
Nacional” that Nakpil had sent. Julio Nakpil later recalled that he composed
this piece —also known as the “Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan”—at the
request of Bonifacio when they were encamped with Katipunan troops
in the vicinity of Balara in November 1896. He remembered the hymn still
being played in Cavite and Laguna in 1898, but as the history textbooks tell,
Aguinaldo then chose as the national anthem the composition by Julian
Felipe, originally titled the “Marcha Filipina Magdalo.” In 1903, Nakpil
reworked his “Marangal na Dalit” as a tribute to Rizal under the title “Salve,
Patria,” but the only surviving copies of the original score were destroyed in
1945, during the battle for Manila. The version of “Marangal na Dalit” we
have today was reconstructed by Nakpil from memory when he was in his
eighties.12 The form chosen by Nakpil, the dalit, was traditionally a sung
prayer or supplication, and his hymn, as readers may hear, is very solemn,
almost mournful.13 To lift the spirits, it is good to listen to a different piece
by Nakpil that is also highly evocative of those revolutionary times, the lively
pasa-doble military, entitled “Pasig Pantayanin.”14
Tagalog Text
Sa Kap... na M. Julio Nakpil Guiliw, Pangulo ng M. na Sangunian sa bayan ng Pasig.
Guiliw kong kapatid: tinangap ko po rito ang iniyong kalatas gawa ng ika 30
ng Enerong nagdaan, at sa pagkatanto ng doo’y iniyong saad, ay ang tugon ko’y ang
sumusunod.
Ako po ay tumangap ng sulat niniyo na dalawang veces na at aking sinagot
naman, nguni’t ang di malaman ay kun tinangap niniyo, baga man aquing ipinaaalaala
na ang sagot ng huli ay saloob na ng buang ito.
Kalakip ng kalatas niniyo na sinasagot ko, na dumating sa akin ng ika [blank]
ng lumalakad, ay tinangap ko ang Himno Nacional at susundin ang tanging hiling
sainiyo ukol dito.
Ang Fraileng si Antonio Piernavieja ay mabute at kalakip na ipinadadala ko
sa iniyo upang gawin ang nararapat, ang sulat ng nasabing Fraile sa kaniyang anak
na ibinabalita ang kaniyang kalagayan at tuloy sinasabi na siya ang may nasa na
maabuloy sa atin. Ayon dito sa abuloy na ito at sa sabi niniyo na ang anak na iyan ay
ayos sa atin at makaabuloy ng halagang $1000; sa akala ko ay makahihingi tayo ng

$5000—limang libong piso, sapagka sa balita ko ay may kualtang marame na hindi
niya lubos ipagdadamdam ang halagang ito; kaya ka yo ang bahalang tumapon.
Masasahe niniyo tuloy sa anak niya ang kaniyang amo ay hindi mapapatay na at dili
naman pahihirapan, sapagka ipinagutos ko na taga ingat ng bilanguan na huag na
siyang papagtrabahuhin.
Ako ay lubos nagagalak sa balita inyo tungkol sa kay Grl. Francisco de los Santos,
at kun kayo ay susulat sa kaniya ay masabi niniyo ang aking sa kaniya ay pagpupuri.
Mangyare po lamang na kun ano man ang mangyare sa sulat ni Piernavieja sa
kanyang anak, ay malaman ko agad.
Ako po at ilang mga taga rian ay may panukala na humagay sa bayang Bakood at
ng malapit dian sa atin at ang isapa ay ng doon magawa ang mga paggagayak ng mga
kakailanganin sa paguwi namin dian na ito ay di malalaon, sapagka talastas ko na
malaking lubha ang kailangan na tayo ay magkapipisan dian.
Ingatan kayong lahat dian ng Maykapal; at tangapin ang yakap na ipinahahatid

namin.
Malabon, ika 13 ng Febrero ng 1897.
Ang K. Pangulo
And.: Bonifacio
Maypagasa
[SEAL—“HARING BAYANG KATAGALUGAN—KATAASTAASANG

KAPULUNGAN”]
English Translation
To Brother Mr. Julio Nakpil [Guiliw], President of the High Council in the town of
Pasig.
My Brother Guiliw: I have received here your letter written on 30th January last,
and, having understood what you say in it, my reply is as follows.
I received your [earlier?] letter twice already, and have also replied, but what I
don’t know is whether you received it, although I have reminded you to reply to it
within the present month.
Together with your letter to which I am now replying, which reached me on the
[blank] of the present month, I received the National Hymn and I will comply with
the special request that has been made to you in this regard.
The friar Antonio Piernavieja is well, and together with this I am sending you, so
that you can do what is necessary, the letter of the said friar to his son giving news of
his current situation and going on to say that he has the desire to give us a contribu-
tion. In relation to this donation, and to what you said about the son settling with us
to contribute the amount of $1,000: in my opinion we could ask for $5,000— five thou-
sand pesos, because my information is that they have lots of money and this amount
would not totally overwhelm them; so it is up to you to agree. Then you can go ahead
and tell the son that his father will not be killed, nor even suffer hardship, because I
have instructed the guards of the prison that he should not be made to work.
I am overjoyed by your news about Gen. Francisco de los Santos, and if you are
going to write to him could you tell him that I applaud him.15
Whatever happens in relation to the letter of Piernavieja to his son, please can I
know as soon as possible.
Myself and some people from there have a plan to position ourselves in the town
of Bakood so that we are nearer to there; and one other thing is that it will not take
long there for the necessary preparations to be made for our return home, because I
appreciate very gravely the need for us to group together there.16
May the Creator take care of you all there; and accept the embrace that we send.
Malabon, February 13, 1897

And.: Bonifacio
Maypagasa
1 Gregorio de Santiago Vela, Ensayo de una biblioteca Ibero-Americana del Orden de San
Agustin, vol. 6 (Madrid: Imp. del Asilo de Huérfanos del Sagrado Corazon de Jesús, 1922),
313.
2 José Rizal, Noli me tangere: novela tagala (Manila: Instituto Naciónal de Historia, 1978), 79.
This is an offset of the first edition, as published in Berlin by the Berliner Buchdruckerei-
Actien-Gesellschaft in 1887. Many other editions omit Rizal’s footnotes.
3 Epifanio de los Santos, “Marcelo H. del Pilar,” Philippine Review 5, no. 9 (September 1920):
587.
4 John Foreman, The Philippine Islands, 3d edition (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906),
203.
5 José M. del Castillo y Jiménez, El Katipunan ó El Filibusterismo en Filipinas (Madrid: Imp. del
Asilo de Huérfanos del Sagrado Corazon de Jesús, 1897), 347.
6 Telesforo Canseco, “Historia de la insurrección Filipina en Cavite,” in Pedro S. de Achutegui,
SJ, and Miguel A. Bernad, SJ, Aguinaldo and the Revolution of 1896: A Documentary History
(Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila, 1972), 336.
7 Artemio Ricarte, Memoirs (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1963), 12; La Democracia,
July 12 and 14, 1906, cited in Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson, eds., The
Philippine Islands, 1493−1898, vol. 52 (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1907), 192–93;
Martin F. Venago, Ang mga Paring Pilipino sa Kasaysayan ng Inang Bayan (Maynila: n.pub,
1929), 7, 41–42.
8 Vital Fité, Las desdichas de la patria: politicos y frailes (Madrid: Imprenta de Enrique Fojas,
1899), 79; Castillo y Jimenez, El Katipunan, 347; Foreman, The Philippine Islands, 203.
156.
10 Ricarte, Memoirs, 12; Canseco, “Historia,” 340; personal communication from John N.
Schumacher, SJ, January 2, 2006.
Enrique L. Locsin and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines,
1998), 106.
12 Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution, with the Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus, edited
and translated by Encarnación Alzona (Manila: Heirs of Julio Nakpil, 1964), 90–92,137.
13 http://www.oocities.org/valkyrie47no/himno.htm (accessed December 4, 2012).
14 http://www.oocities.org/valkyrie47no/pantayan.htm (accessed December 4, 2012).
15 Francisco de los Santos is one of the countless heroes of the Katipunan about whom the
historical record is virtually silent. He was appointed as a general by Bonifacio soon after the
outbreak of the revolution, and subsequently was involved in the fighting in and around the
municipality of San Mateo. He also served as a general in the second phase of the revolution.
In 1901 the Americans deported him to Guam together with Apolinario Mabini, Artemio
Ricarte, and other intransigents. Artemio Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino laban sa
Kastila (Yokohama: “Karihan Café,” 1927), 132.
16 In expressing the desire to return “there,” Bonifacio might mean either to the Manila area in
general or specifically to where Nakpil was, probably in the vicinity of Pasig or San Mateo.
8.3
Andres Bonifacio
Letter to Emilio Jacinto, March 8, 1897
Facsimile of the original letter, in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City:
Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 146–47.
The first of four surviving letters that Bonifacio sent to Jacinto from Cavite,
this brief note was sent together with a consignment of cartridges—a smaller
consignment, Bonifacio says, than had been hoped, but no more could be
spared.
Bonifacio asks Jacinto to use the “code of the 2nd degree” if he has to
write anything in confidence because, he says, Jacinto’s letters are reaching
him already opened. The code Bonifacio himself occasionally employs,

however, here and in his other extant letters, is the simple substitution cipher
that had been used within the Katipunan from the outset.
Tagalog Text
ANDRES BONIFACIO
MAYPAGASA
P. ng K. Kapulungan
Kap. na Pingkian
Tungkol sa sinasabi ninyong tao na kukunan ng revolver ay walang nakakikilala
at ang sinasabi ninyong Capitang Vzrñnllc ny llnpntny lln sn jnbnllnl sn [Mariano ay
napatay na sa labanan sa] Aromahan.
Kung kayo’y may isusulat ditong lihim ay kinakailangang gamitin natin ang
Clave ng 2o grado sa pagkat madalas na mang yari na dumating ditong bukas ang
sulat ninyo.
Ang Capsula ay 800 lamang nakuhang yari bagamat isang libo at hangang dalawa
pa ang ipinagkakaloob dito ng Magdiwang nakagawa lamang kayo diyan ng tulong,
sapagkat walang humpay ang paglalaban ay naagad ang Capsula at walang yaring na
kuha kundi iyan lamang.
Kapagkatapos na mapirmahan ninyo ang poder ay karakarakang ipadala ninyo
sa talagang pagdadalhan ng may dala.
Ang inyong kapatid
And... Bonifacio
Maypagasa
8/3/97
Brother Pingkian,
Regarding the person from whom you say the revolver will have to be recovered,
nobody knows him here; and the Captain Mariano you mention was killed in the
fighting at Aromahan.2
If you have to write anything here that is secret, we must use the code of the 2nd
degree, because here I usually receive your letters open.
There are only 800 live cartridges, though the Magdiwang here would like to give
you 1,000 or even 2,000 in exchange for your aid from there. But because the fighting
here shows no sign of abating, cartridges are being used quickly, and this is all that can
be got.
As soon as you have signed the authorization, have the bearer take it immediately
to where it must go.
Your brother,
AND... BONIFACIO.
Maypagasa.
8-3-97
1 This translation is my own, but in places it follows the English version published in
Philippine Review, in 1918. Although that version was retranslated from Spanish rather
than directly from the Tagalog, it generally retains the meaning of the original quite well.
Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [English version], Philippine Review (Revista
Filipina) 3, nos. 1–2 (January–February 1918): 43.
2 The identity of Captain Mariano is not known, and neither is the exact location of
Aromahan, but the fighting at this time was concentrated in and around Las Piñas, Zapote,
and Bacoor.
8.4
Andres Bonifacio
Letter to Emilio Jacinto, c. March 15, 1897
Transcription by Ambeth R. Ocampo from a photocopy of the original letter, appended to
his “Andres Bonifacio: Mito o Realidad?” First Annual Andres Bonifacio/ Parian Lectures,
Bulwagang Katipunan, Manila City Hall, November 29, 1989 (mimeograph).1
This letter is undated, but its content suggests it was written around the
middle of March 1897.2 Bonifacio refers to events in mid to late February
in a manner that suggests they had happened weeks rather than days ago,
but presumably he was writing prior to March 22, because otherwise he
would surely have mentioned the fateful convention held on that day in the
friar estate house at Tejeros. But although the convention has not yet been
held, it is imminent, and Bonifacio already knows that the Magdalo faction
want Emilio Aguinaldo to be elected president. As he tells Jacinto, and as
the letter itself testifies, the enmity (pagkakaalit) between the Magdalo and
Magdiwang factions is “very great.”
Tagalog Text
ANDRES BONIFACIO
MAYPAGASA
P. ng K. Kapulungan
M. Emilio Jacinto Pingkian

K na Punong hukbo sa Hilagaan
Minamahal na kap.: tinangap kong lahat ang mga sulat na inyong ipinadala sa
akin at gayon din naman ang kalakip na salapi, polvora at salitre. Ang ating mga
kapatid dito ay malabis ang tua at pasasalamat sa inyong ipinahatid ditong mga
kailangang mahigpit sa pakikipaglaban, at gayon din sa balitang tulong na inyong
ginagawa diyan.
Sa gulong ibinabalita ninyong nangyari sa Manila, tungkol sa panghihimagsik
ng mga Carabinero at Yngeniero ay malabis na tulong ang ibinigay sa mga kapatid
dito, gayon ma’y hindi mandin nagbabawas ang mga kalaban dito at may malaki
ding kapanganiban ang mga bayang ito; kaya’t isinasamo ng lahat dito na huag na
ninyong lubayan diyan at dito naman ay di namin tutugutan hangang sa mabawi ang
mga naagaw na bayang inyo ng talastas.
Mahigpit na kinakailangan ang inyong tipunin ang lahat ng baril diyan at kahit
na iyong pagbayaran na magin ari lamang ng Katipunan at abutin ang magkaroon
tayo ng tunay at naayos na mga kawal ng panghihimagsik. Kung magawa na ninyo sa
madaling panahon ang pagaa [?] na ito ay may kagaanan nang isalakay sa alin mang
bayan inaakala [?] ninyong makakayanang pasukin at may tibay na di karakaralang
mababawi ng kaaway.
Ang mapaloob sa isang bayan ay totoong kailangan sa pagkat doo’y
makapagaayos na maigi at makapagtatayo tayo ng maestranza at lahat ng ibig
nating gawin ay magagawa, bukod pa sa tayo’y makalalamang sa kaaway sa pagka’t
malalagay tayo sa ofensiva hangang walang maraming sandatang magagamit.
Kasabay na tinanggap ko ang isang sulat ng Kap. na si M. Rogelio, na hinihiling
sa akin ang siya’y padalhin [han?] ko ng mga kasangkapan gamit sa kapsula and
gayon din naman ang mga taong marurunong gumawa. Yto’y kinilala kong kailangan
buhat pa ng una kaya’t ako’y nagpahanda na ng mga nasabing kasangkapan na
kasabay nitong aking ipinahatid na may kasamang mga tao nagagawa.
Dito’y kinukulang na ng magamit na kapsulang walang laman sa pagkat ang

mga kaaway ay llzbztñd llz vzlldñll llz ñtcy ztñllg llzgzgzvñt [nabatid na mandin
na itoy ating nagagamit], kayat muling pñllxpxjct [pinupulot] kung may kalabisan
diyan ay kami inyong padalhan.
Kalakip din nitong inyong tatangapin ang isang balutang piston na dadagdagan
pa sa pagdaraan sa Llcbqjqtz [Nobeleta] ang 500 na gagawing isang libo.
Dito’y tumangap ang mga kapatid ng llzvztzy [namatay] na si M. Dñvzszjzllg
[M. Dimasalang] ng isang sulat na galing sa Fcllgkcllg [Hongkong] na padala ng
kanilang pinsang nananahan doon, na ipinagbibigay alam na dooy dumating
ang dalawa kataong ating inutusan na si Lckscll [Jokson] at si Zjqfzlldrñllc
[Alehandrino,] nakapua ito walang maipakitang pcdqr [poder] at gayon din naman
walang pñjnk llz [pilak na] dooy dumarating; kayat pinangahasan na nila ang
szjzpñllg llzjzjzgzk [salaping nalalagak] doon ni Rñsnj zt fxvñfñllgñ txjc’y llg pcdqr
zt szjzpñ [Risal at humihingi tuloy ng poder at salapi.] Ang bagay na ito ay malabis
na ipinagtataka ng mga kapatid dito sa Magdiwang; sapagkat ang mga hinihinging
ito’y naipadala ng lahat ay kung bakit at hindi dumarating doon, na hindi maalaman
na kung ito’y fñwngn [hiwaga] ng mga Kap sa Sb. Vzgdnjc [Sb. Magdalo] o kaya llg
ztñllg [ng ating] mga ñllxtxszll [inutusan] doon. Sa bagay na ito ang mga kapatid
na taga Vzgdñwzllg [Magdiwang] ay siya na laman kakaya at sampo natin diyan
at hindi pzpzkñkñzjzvñll nllg vgz tzgz Vzgdñwzllg [papakikialamin ang mga taga
Magdiwang3 [Magdalo]. Ang pcdqr [poder] ay aking ipinahatid sa inyo at si Kap
na Nakpil ay makatala diyan. Ang pcdqr [poder] ay ipinawad sa ngalan ng Kcvñtq
[Komite] doong natatayo na sa pagka’t siyang sa sulat ay hinihiling. Baga mat
nangyayari ito ay may maaasahan kaming darating na zrvzs [armas] sa madaling
panahon at siyang inaantay ng kababayang M. Pzsñzllc [M. Pasiano] sa talagang
salitaang pag zzfxllzll [aahunan]
Ang hinihiling ninyong mga taong marurunong maglagay ng Bzjztqk [balatek]
ay akin ng ipinasundo sa Mzrñgxlldc’g [Marigundo’g] ay hindi pa dumarating ito
kapag karakang sumapit dito ay aking ipahahatid diyan.
Sa una kong sagot sa inyong sulat na tinangap ko ay aking nakaligtaan ang
isinasanguni ninyong si V. Fernandez; ito’y batid na ninyong malakin [?] totoo ang
kataksilang ginawa sa Bayan, sa Katipunan at atin, kayat inaantay ko na sa madaling
panahon ay inyong gagawin sa kanya ang nauukol na kaparusahan. Yto’y inaakala
kong inutusan diyan ng mga vzñllgñtñllg tzgz Vzgdzjc zt llg vzxpztzll dñyzll zllg
[maingiting taga Magdalo at ng maupatan diyan ang] ating mga tao zt vzñpzsck
dñtc [at maipasok dito] ang mga baril. Kung dumating na diyan ang umalis dito na
si M. Nntñbñdnd [M. Natibibad] na inaakala kong napatungo diyan at tñllxkxjnll
[tinukulan] din gaya ng una umupat diyan kayat kayo ang bahala diyang mag ingat
sa kanila at gawin ninyo ang nararapat na katuiran.
Dito’y jzjxllg vzjnkñ nllg pngknknnjñt [lalung malaki ang pagkakaalit] ng
dnjnwnllg [dalawang] Sb. dahil sa ang Vzgdnjc [Magdalo] ay fñllñfñjñllg lln
sñjn [hinihiling na sila] ng vnvnfnjn sn jnfnt [mamahala sa lahat] at sa bxcllg

Kntngnjxgnl [buong Katagalugan,] sa pagkat di umano’y walang nakikilala
diyan at sa buong europa kungdi ang Gcbñqrllc [gobierno] ng Yvxs [Ymus.] Yto’y
kamakalawa nangyari sa pagsasadya nila dito sa Vnjnbcll [Malabon] kasama si P.
Dnlldnll [P. Dandan] na isa sa mga kaayon nila.
Ang pagtatatag na inaakalang gawin ay ganito Presidente at General en Jefe
ay si Vzgdzjc [Magdalo]; Director de Obras Militares ay si Bnjdcvqrc [Baldomero]
at ang mga taga Vzgdñwzllg [Magdiwang] ay pawang lalagay na sub-director o
sub-ministro. Ang balak na ito ay totoong ñkñllnpxct [ikinapuot] ng mga vñllñstrcs
[ministros] ng Vzgdñwnllg [Magdiwang] at nahalata ang kanilang pcjñtñkn lln kxllg
vzpñpñjñll nllg Yvxs [politika na kung mapipilin ang Ymus] ay sila ang vnvnfnjn
dñtc [mamahala dito] sa Vzjnbcll [Malabon]. Nzkzsxsxkjzv [Nakasusuklam] na
totoo ang kasakiman ng taga Vzgdzjc [Magdalo] at siyang nagigindahil ng malimit
nilang pagka pahamak.
Dito’y may bubuan na ng tanso at sa ngayo’y nakagagawa na ng cañon mabuti
sa kabila sa pagka’t hindi na nagkakailangan ng crisol at carbón de Kock: kundi
ginagawa nalamang dito ng isang taga Maynila. Kayo’y magpahanap diyan ng tanso
at ipadadalhan ko kayo ng kanyon sa madaling panahon at mga bocamarta.
Ang inyong tula ay tinatagalog ni Binong at ang hindi pa ikalimbag ay sa
kaualang ng titik sa Kastila.
Ang tugtugin ng Kap. na Nakpil ay hindi pa tutugtog sa pagka’t dito’y totoong
gulo at ligalig sa pakikipaglaban.
Ako’y hindi pa makauwi diyan sa pagka’t inaantay kong dumating ang ating
zrvzs [armas] at ng tayo’y makabahagi at kundi man ito ay kahit ang ipinasok ni
Lucino dito, na hindi ko magawang ilabas ngayon lalo ng maguipit dito.
Si Luciano ay malakas na at nakakalakad at ang kanyang Riffle ay nasasa kanya
na at hindi ko nakukuha. Ang Mauser tatangapin ninyo sa mag dala nito, pagingatan
laman na huag mawawala sa pagka’t ito’y ang una nating sandatang na gamit sa
panghihimagsik.
Sa inyong ina ay ipinadala ko ang sampong piso muna at ang nalalabi dito ay
siya kong ipinababaon at ginagamit namin dito kinakailangan ang ako’y inyong
padalhan pa din at ng maibigay kong gratificacion sa gumagawa ng cañon at iba
pang kakailanganin gaya ng pana at iba pa. Ang mga taong may taglay nito ay akin
pinabauanan at ang dalawang gagawa ng kapsa ay binigyan ko ang familiang na
iwan ng magasgasta.
Tungkol sa Kap. kong Ciriaco ito’y siyang dumating dito na maydala ng lahat
ninyong padala at dito ay hindi na muna siya makalalabas. Kung tungkol sa akin at
ipangangahas ako ng kahit sino na makagawa ng kasamaan ay may kapatuntulutan
kayo na gawin ang talagang nararapat na hinihiling ng matuid. Si Nonay na naiwan
diyan ay kayo namuna ang bahalang tumingin sa kanya sa pagkat dito’y totoong
panganib ang kalagayan kayat hindi ko minamagaling sa ngayon na papasukin dito.
Si Nicolas de Lara ay aking ipinapiit din at ginawa sa kanya ang pagsisiyasat na

nararapat [?] kinakailangan na ipadala ninyong agad dito ang informe ng mga taong
tunay na nakababatid ng nangyayari sa salapi.
Tangapin ninyo ang ipinahahatid kong mahigpit na yakap.
Andres Bonifacio
Don Emilio Jacinto, Pingkian

Supreme Chief of the Army of the North.
Dear Brother: I have received all the letters you have sent to me, and with them
the money, gunpowder, and saltpeter. Our brethren here are very pleased, and are
grateful for what you have sent, which is urgently needed in the battles here, and
likewise for the aid it is said you have rendered there.
The disturbance you mention, created in Manila by the revolt of the carabineers
and engineers, has greatly helped our brethren here.5 However, our enemies here are
not as yet growing weaker, and these towns are still in great danger, so everybody
here asks you not to let up there, and we will not rest, either, until we have recaptured
the towns they have taken from us, about which you have been informed.
There is an urgent need for you to gather up all the guns there, even if you have
to pay for them. They must become the property of the Katipunan so that we can
have soldiers of the revolution who are properly armed and ready. If you can under-
take this task soon, it will be easy to invade whatever town you wish and fortify it in
such a way that it will not be easy for the place to be retaken by the enemy.
The occupation of a town is truly a necessity, because it will give us time to
prepare ourselves properly, to establish an armory, and to be able to do everything
we want to do; besides it will give us an advantage over the enemy, because otherwise
we would have to take the offensive without having many weapons at our disposal.
I also received a letter from brother Don Rogelio,6 who asks me to send him
tools for making cartridges, and also people who know how to make them. I had
already recognized this need previously, so I had the said tools prepared at the same
time as the things I sent you there, together with the operatives.
Here there is a shortage of empty cartridges, because the enemies have now
found out that we are using them, and so they now pick them up; if you have a
surplus there, please send us some.
You will receive herewith a consignment of percussion caps, whose number will
be increased from 500 to 1,000 when they pass through Noveleta.
Here the brother and sisters of the late Don Dimasalang7 have received a letter
from Hongkong, sent by a cousin of his who resides there, reporting the arrival of
our two emissaries Jocson and Alejandrino.8 They are unable to show any authori-
zation, and moreover no silver has arrived there, so they used the money deposited
there by Rizal and are asking, besides, for further authorization and money. This
astonishes the brethren here in Magdiwang very much because all this that is being
requested has already been sent. It is not known whether it has not arrived there due
to some mysterious doings on the part of the brethren of Magdalo or, perhaps, of our
agents there. For this reason the brethren of Magdiwang, together with our brethren
there, will pay for everything, so that the Magdalo people will not get involved. I am
sending you the authorization in order that you may sign it together with Brother
Nakpil.9 The authorization has been made out in the name of the committee organ-
ized there, as requested in the letter. Despite what has happened, we hope that
weapons will arrive in the near future, and they are being awaited by the compatriot
Don Paciano10 at the agreed landing point.
The men you requested who know how to set spear traps I have enlisted from
Maragondon, but they have not yet arrived; as soon as they arrive, I shall have them
go there.
In my first reply to your letter, I overlooked your inquiry concerning V.
Fernandez. This man, as you know, has committed a great crime against the People,
the Katipunan, and ourselves, and so I expect that you will soon hand him the punish-
ment he deserves.11 I think he is an agent there of the spiteful Magdalo people, and
will try to deceive our people there and bring the guns here. I believe the person who
left here, M. Natividad,12 is now on his way there and has been assigned above all to
sow intrigue like the one before. When he arrives there, you should beware of them
[presumably meaning Natividad and Fernandez] and act with due prudence.
Here the enmity between the two Sangunian Bayan is very great, because
Magdalo wants to rule everybody and the whole of Katagalugan, because—they say—
nothing but the government of Imus is recognized there and throughout Europe.
This happened two days ago, when they came to Malabon accompanied by Padre
Dandan,13 who is one of their allies.
The government that is being planned is this: president and general-in-chief is
Magdalo14; director of military works is Baldomero,15 and the Magdiwang people
will be given positions as subdirector or subminister. This plan truly disgusted the
ministers of Magdiwang, who know that if the Imus people are elected as a result of
this politicking they will govern here in Malabon. The selfishness of the Magdalo
people is truly sickening, and has come to be the cause of their many reverses.
There is a copper foundry here and at present it makes better cannon than on
the other side because it needs neither a crucible nor coke. A resident of Manila here
knows how to make them. Seek out some copper there, and I can send you some
cannons and lantakas straight away.
Your poem was translated into Tagalog by Binong,16 but it has not yet been
printed, owing to the lack of Spanish type.
The musical piece of Nakpil has not yet been performed, because the fighting
here has caused so much turmoil and trouble.
I cannot yet return there, because I am awaiting the arrival of our arms, so that
we can get our share; even that will be no more than those brought here by Lucino,17
which I cannot take away now due to the grave shortage here.
Luciano is already strong and able to walk18 and his rifle is still in his posses-
sion; I have not yet taken it back. You will receive the Mauser from the bearer of this;
take special care of it and don’t lose it, because it was the first weapon that we used
in the revolution.
I sent your mother 10 pesos for now, and put the balance towards our rations
and expenses here. You need to send me some more, because I have to pay the maker
of the cannon and other necessities such as arrows etc. I paid the expenses of the
bearers of this, and have given an allowance to the family of the two cartridge makers.
As regards my brother Ciriaco, he was the bearer of all you that sent here and is
unable to leave here for the present. For my part, if any person dares to use my name
for illicit purposes, you are free to deal with him in whatever way is just and proper.
As to Nonay,19 who remained there, I ask you to look after her for the time being,
because the situation is very dangerous here and I do not think it is prudent for her
to come here at present.
I gave orders for Nicolas de Lara20 to be detained and he is to be subjected to a
proper investigation; you should send here straight away the report of those people
who really know what happened to the money.
Receive the close embrace that I send you.
Andres Bonifacio
1 I am most grateful to Professor Ocampo for granting me permission to reproduce his

transcription.
3 Although the text says “Magdiwang” this must be a slip of the pen, because from the
context it is clear Bonifacio means “Magdalo.”
Philippine Review in 1918. Although that version was retranslated from Spanish rather than
from the Tagalog, it generally conveys the meaning of the original quite well. There is,
however, one instance where it goes significantly awry, suggesting that a letter from Rizal
had just been received in Cavite (more than three months after his execution) via Hong
Kong. The relevant sentence, in fact, says the letter was from a cousin of Rizal in Hong
Kong. Epifanio de los Santos, “Andres Bonifacio” [English version], Philippine Review 3,
nos. 1–2 (January−February 1918): 42–43.
5 Most histories fail to mention this revolt. The bare details are sketched as follows by
Frederic Sawyer: “The Spanish Volunteers in Manila committed many arbitrary and even
outrageous actions, and aroused the hatred of the natives far more than the regular troops
did. They allowed their patriotism to carry them into most lamentable excesses. On the
25th February a rising and mutiny of the Carabineers or Custom-House Guards took place
in Manila at the captain of the port’s office. The scheme miscarried and was only partially
successful. The officer on duty was shot, and also the sergeant and the rebels made off
with some rifles and ammunition. The volunteers and some troops hastily called together
pursued the rebels through Tondo as far as the Leper Hospital, till nightfall, the last volley
being fired at 6.15 p.m. In this affair the mutineers lost a great many men, but some of
them got away and joined the rebels.” Frederic H. Sawyer, The Inhabitants of the Philippines
(London: S. Low, Marston & Co., 1900), 89.
6 Brother Rogelio is probably Rogelio Borja who, prior to the revolution, had been one of the
leaders of Sb. Makabuhay in Mandaluyong and was now prominent in the administration
of the liberated areas of Pasig.
7 One of the pennames of José Rizal, who had been executed on December 30, 1896.
8 Feliciano Jocson and José Alejandrino.
9 Julio Nakpil, who at this time was the head of the KKK civil administration in the Northern
District.
10 Paciano Rizal, the elder brother of José Rizal.
11 Vicente Fernandez was a lawyer from Siniloan, Laguna. Bonifacio’s bitterness towards him
stemmed from the events of August 29, 1896, when a co-ordinated attack upon Manila had
been planned in which Fernandez was supposed to lead a contingent of troops towards
Intramuros via Calle de San Marcelino. For some reason his contingent did not materialize,
and when Bonifacio later came face to face with Fernandez in Cavite, according to Alvarez,
he ordered his immediate arrest for negligence of duty. “But the Supremo’s order,” Alvarez
recounts, “was taken as a joke and ignored... so he stopped talking and kept his thoughts to
himself.” Santiago V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of a General,
translated by Paula Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press,
1992), 20, 67, 224.
12 Mamerto Natividad Jr., from Bacolor, Pampanga, had joined the Magdalo forces in Cavite
after the outbreak of the revolution; he stayed for a time in the house of the Magdalo
president, Baldomero Aguinaldo, in the town of Binakayan. Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang Talata
tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896–1897 [1898], edited by Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press, 1996), 769.
13 Fr. Pedro Dandan, a coadjutor at Manila Cathedral prior to the revolution and a veteran of
the campaign to advance the Filipino “secular” clergy. Following the Cavite mutiny in 1872,
he had been exiled with other reformists to the Marianas.
14 The alias of Emilio Aguinaldo.
15 Baldomero Aguinaldo, president of the Magdalo Council and first cousin of Emilio
Aguinaldo.
16 “Binong” is usually a contraction of the forename Severino, and the translator mentioned
here was probably Severino de las Alas, a University of Santo Tomas graduate from Indang
who was with the Magdiwang Council in San Francisco de Malabon at this time.
17 Most likely Lucino de la Cruz who, prior to August 1896, had been a KKK activist in the
Manila district of Trozo. In October 1896, he was elected second in command (to Luis
Malinis) of the troops based at Balara, and subsequently travelled from Balara to Cavite at
about the same time as Bonifacio, perhaps as the head of the Supremo’s escort party.
18 Luciano San Miguel, one of the leading generals of the Magdiwang Council, had been
seriously wounded in mid-February 1897, when resisting the Spanish assault on Silang and
Bacoor. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 79.
19 The informal, affectionate name of Bonifacio’s sister, Espiridiona. Leopoldo R. Serrano,
“Mga Pangyayari sa Buhay ni Andres Bonifacio,” Historical Bulletin 4, no. 3 (September
1960): 93.
20 Nicolas de Lara had been the high treasurer (Mataas na Tagaingat yaman) of the KKK civil
administration in the Northern District. The nature of his misdemeanor is not known, but
perhaps can be surmised.
8.5
The Sovereign People
Declaration dated March 23, 1897 (The “Acta de Tejeros”)
Photographs of the first, fifth, and sixth pages of the original document in Carlos Ronquillo,
Ilang Talata tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896−1897 [1898], edited by Isagani R. Medina
(Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1996), 98, 100, and 101 respectively; and a
transcription by Ambeth R. Ocampo of the second, third, and fourth pages from a photocopy
of the original document, appended to his “Andres Bonifacio: Mito o Realidad?” First Annual
Andres Bonifacio/ Parian Lectures, Bulwagang Katipunan, Manila City Hall, November 29,
1989 (mimeograph).1
The document transcribed below does not bear any heading or title, but is
widely known as the “Acta de Tejeros.” It proclaims that the convention held
at Tejeros the previous day had been so disorderly, so tarnished by skulldug-
gery, that its decisions were illegitimate and invalid. Patriots who remain
true to the ideals of the Katipunan, the signatories in effect affirm, should
not recognize the government or republic instituted at the convention, and
should disregard the election of its leaders— Emilio Aguinaldo as president,
Mariano Trias as vice president, Artemio Ricarte as captain general, Emiliano
Riego de Dios as director of war, and Andres Bonifacio as director of the
interior.
The Tejeros Convention was a pivotal event in the Philippine revolution,
and its consequences remain contentious to this day. Because the protesta-
tions voiced in the “Acta” failed to nullify its outcome, it was the point at
which the overall leadership of the struggle against Spain passed from the
Katipunan to the nascent government, and from Bonifacio to Aguinaldo. And
it had a deeper significance beyond organizational structures and personali-
ties, some nationalist historians argue, because it symbolized the seizure of
the revolutionary movement by the Caviteño elite, and the defeat of the revo-
lution of the masses.2
Here it is not intended to revisit the debates about class and ideology,
or to attempt to give an overview of the revolution in Cavite, but rather to
focus on the Tejeros Convention and its politics in the narrow sense—on how
the delegates were aligned, on its outcome, and on this angry repudiation, the
“Acta,” written in its immediate aftermath.
Above the signatures on the “Acta” are penned the words “Ang Haring
bayan” (The Sovereign People), which suggests that the signatories profess
to be voicing the will of the nation at large. They issue the proclamation, too,
“in the name of the Katipunan.” But most insistently they speak and act on
behalf of the particular territorial unit they call the Magdiwang Presidency
within the Katipunan. “We ratify this document,” they affirm, “under a
binding oath to commit our lives and wealth to the defence and support of
our said Presidency.”
What at first sight is most puzzling about the “Acta” is that it rejects
the outcome of a convention at which Magdiwang partisans had supposedly
been in a clear majority. When one reads the grounds advanced by the signa-
tories for nullifying the proceedings—dark conspiracies, ineligible electors,
premarked ballot papers—the questions that repeatedly spring to mind are
therefore, “Why did you, as leaders of the Magdiwang, allow these things to
happen? Why did you lose control?”
A closer look at the Tejeros drama, however, suggests that these might be
the wrong questions to ask.
Magdiwang and Magdalo

The Magdiwang first came into existence as an ordinary balangay
(branch) of the Katipunan in the town of Noveleta, constituted on April 2,
1896, at a ceremony presided over by Bonifacio. The following day, Bonifacio
presided over a similar ceremony in the neighboring town of Kawit, at which
the Magdalo branch was inaugurated. Growing rapidly, the two branches
were soon elevated to the status of popular councils (Sangunian Bayan),
which meant that they could form branches of their own and establish
their own areas of jurisdiction. The demarcation between the two councils
became more pronounced and formalized in the course of the early engage-
ments with Spanish forces in September and October 1896, and even more
so once the province of Cavite had been liberated from Spanish authority.
The Magdiwang and Magdalo Councils then transformed themselves into
regional governments, each with their own presidents, cabinets, officials,
military units and, to a degree at least, mutually agreed territories.
From its capitals in northern Cavite—at first Noveleta and later San
Francisco de Malabon—the Magdiwang Council extended its influence
southwards and westwards to the towns of Rosario, Tanza, Naik, Ternate,
Maragondon, Bailen, Magallanes, Indang, and Alfonso, and also to Nasugbu,

Tuy, and Look in the province of Batangas. The Magdalo Council, similarly,
from its capitals in northern Cavite—at first Kawit and later Imus—extended
its influence due southwards to the towns of Carmona, Dasmariñas, Silang,
Amadeo, and Mendez. Northwards, the Magdiwang counted San Roque
within its jurisdiction, and Magdalo counted Bacoor. The western part of the
province, in broad terms, was Magdiwang territory, and the eastern part was
Magdalo.
The oft-recounted rivalry between the Magdiwang and Magdalo, in
short, was confined to a relatively small geographical area—the province of
Cavite and parts of Batangas. Nor should the level of antagonism be exag-
gerated. Frictions were frequent, but they never culminated, so far as is
known, in physical violence. There were times, too, when relations were rela-
tively cordial, and when Magdiwang and Magdalo troops fought side by side
against the Spanish foe. The vagaries of this uneasy coexistence, it might be
argued, assumed a historic significance beyond their due simply because the
Magdiwang and Magdalo Councils alone, in Cavite, had liberated an expanse
of territory in which they and revolutionists from elsewhere could move and
communicate freely, or could hold gatherings like the Tejeros Convention.
The Magdiwang, Andres Bonifacio, and the Katipunan Supreme Council

Andres Bonifacio was invited to Cavite by the Magdiwang president,
Mariano Alvarez, and from the time he arrived in the province in mid-
November 1896, he was closely associated with the Magdiwang Council.3
He took up residence, and established his headquarters in San Francisco
de Malabon, the Magdiwang capital, and he sometimes led Magdiwang
troops in battle. It is more than likely that he also attended meetings of the
Magdiwang Council. No documentary sources have yet been found, however,
that substantiate the claims of Aguinaldo and other Magdalo partisans
that Bonifacio somehow displaced Mariano Alvarez as overall head of the
Magdiwang Council.4 The title by which Bonifacio was most widely known
in Cavite was simply “the Supremo,” and his status and authority, as the
Magdiwang memoirists Ricarte and Alvarez indicate, derived primarily from
his position as head of the Supreme Council of the Katipunan. Alvarez, in
particular, consistently draws an explicit distinction between the Magdiwang
government on the one hand and Bonifacio and the KKK Supreme Council
on the other.5
It is not known whether Bonifacio acted alone in the name of the
Supreme Council whilst in Cavite, or whether he actually reconstituted the
body at this time. The only other person then in Cavite thought to have been a
Supreme Council member immediately prior to the revolution was Francisco
Carreon, but other possible appointees (aside from Caviteños) could have
been Alejandro Santiago (president of the Tondo-based Katagalugan Council
of the KKK in 1896); Teodoro Gonzales (who had been on the Supreme
Council around 1893−1895); Apolonio Samson (a KKK leader in Caloocan
and Novaliches); and Bonifacio’s brother Procopio (who had headed a KKK
branch in the Manila district of Santa Cruz).
The Imus assembly

Towards the end of December 1896, Bonifacio presided over an assembly
of Magdiwang and Magdalo leaders, convened by the Magdalo in their
capital of Imus to discuss whether to retain the existing Katipunan struc-
ture or to establish a revolutionary government.6 The Magdiwang favored
the former option, and the Magdalo the latter, and after heated exchanges
the meeting broke up without resolution on this key point. Nevertheless, the
assembly did agree, according to Ricarte and Alvarez, to appoint Bonifacio
to head a “legislative committee” or “congress” (“Lupung Tagapagbatas” or
“Kapulungan”) and to authorize him to appoint as its members “some people
he considered to be worthy” (ilang taong inaakala niyang karapat-dapat).7 It
is not known whether Bonifacio ever did appoint members to this body, or
whether it ever met, but in the early months of 1897, he was using the title
“President of the Supreme Congress” (P. ng K. Kapulungan) and some of
his communications were stamped with a seal bearing the words “Sovereign
Nation of Katagalugan—Supreme Congress” (Haring Bayan Katagalugan—
Kataastaasang Kapulungan). Even if the Congress never convened—due
perhaps to the exigencies of war—it appears that Bonifacio believed that it
should convene when circumstances permitted, and that it would be a step
towards establishing a revolutionary government.
The Tejeros Convention: (i) The agenda

Three months after the Imus assembly, on March 22, 1897, leading repre-
sentatives of the two councils convened again, this time in Magdiwang terri-
tory at the casa hacienda in Tejeros. Though its fateful consequences are well
known, almost everything else about the convention is shrouded in doubt,
not least because the sources available are few, partisan, and conflicting.
One of the critical uncertainties about the Tejeros gathering is its
purpose, its planned agenda. Ricarte and Alvarez—the only actual partici-
pants to leave memoirs—both say the original intention was to discuss how
to defend the liberated territory of Cavite against the Spanish offensive then
being led by General Lachambre.8 Only once the convention was under way,
they maintain, did the idea of establishing a revolutionary government get
mooted and agreed upon.
This version of events, however, is contradicted by a contemporary letter

that pertains to the invitation to the Tejeros meeting. This letter, sent by the
president of the Magdalo Council, Baldomero Aguinaldo (a cousin of Emilio),
to Felix Cuenca and Mariano Noriel, two prominent Magdalo members in
the town of Bacoor, clearly indicates that the formation of a government and
the election of its leaders were mentioned in the invitation. The full Tagalog
text of this letter is reproduced as an addendum to these notes. Writing on
March 21, 1897, Aguinaldo informs Cuenca and Noriel that he had received a
copy of this invitation the night before from the president of the Magdiwang
Council (Mariano Alvarez). “We have been invited,” Aguinaldo writes, “to
go tomorrow, the 22nd, to the hacienda of Tejeros” in order to elect a Kgg na
pulungan ng hihimacsic (“Gobierno revolucionario”) at pulungan din naman ng
hihimacsic sa bauat hucuman (“Gobierno Provincial”). Aguinaldo asks Cuenca
and Noriel to consider who would be worthy candidates, impresses upon
them the importance of going to the convention (unless the Spanish offen-
sive made it too dangerous to travel), and directs them to send word urgently
to KKK presidents in other towns telling them also to attend without fail.
There seems to be little doubt, then, that the election of a revolutionary
government was on the Tejeros agenda from the outset.9 On close reading, in
fact, neither the “Acta” nor the account of the convention given by Bonifacio
in his letter to Jacinto, dated April 24, 1897 (document 8.10), contends
otherwise. The “Acta” does not protest against the election in principle. “As
regards the election,” the relevant passage begins, we came to an agreement
with…the Magdalo Presidency…and [the election] was accordingly held yesterday
[emphasis added]. The reason why the election should be annulled, according
to the “Acta,” is not that it was unsanctioned or unplanned, but that it was
blighted by misconduct.
Bonifacio tells Jacinto that at Tejeros he had argued that the elec-
tion should not proceed “because the representatives from other provinces
(hukuman) were not present, aside from which I said that a decision had
already been reached [about this matter] at the meeting held in the town of
Imus.”10 But, he reports, the majority had been determined to press ahead
with establishing a government, and had brushed his arguments aside. He
does not suggest, though, that the proposal to hold elections had been raised
without any prior notice.
Bonifacio had a valid point when he argued that the elections should
be deferred until such time as delegates from other provinces (“hukuman”)
could attend and the new revolutionary government and the republic could
be established on a more representative foundation. He rightly foresaw that
any government formed at Tejeros might claim to be national in scope but
in reality would be composed almost entirely of men from a single province,
Cavite. Given the deteriorating military situation, on the other hand, there
was little realistic prospect that a more broadly representative congress would
be feasible in the near future. Those who wished to press ahead with the
elections at Tejeros might therefore acknowledge that the government they
proposed would not be ideal, but would still be able to counter Bonifacio’s
arguments by saying that his Katipunan Supreme Council had over time
become even less representative of the revolution as a whole.
The Tejeros Convention: (ii) The delegates

Nobody knows the total number of delegates who attended the Tejeros
Convention, but the sources give the names of twenty-six.
Alvarez names 15 participants on the Magdiwang side when he first
narrates the events at Tejeros (in chap. 32 of his account), and to these can
be added— by virtue of their close association with the Magdiwang Council—
Andres Bonifacio and a prominent member of his staff, Teodoro Gonzales.11
No other sources, so far as is known, add any further names. The full list of
these 17 delegates, together with their respective hometowns, is as follows:-
Mariano Alvarez (Noveleta)

Pascual Alvarez (Noveleta)
Santiago Alvarez (Noveleta)
Andres Bonifacio (Manila; staying in San Francisco de Malabon)
Severino de las Alas (Indang)
José del Rosario (Tanza)
Teodoro Gonzales (Manila; staying in San Francisco de Malabon)
Jacinto Lumbreras (San Francisco de Malabon)
Diego Mojica (San Francisco de Malabon)
Pablo Mojica (San Francisco de Malabon)
Santos Nocon (San Francisco de Malabon)
Artemio Ricarte (Batac, Ilocos Norte; living in San Francisco de Malabon)
Emiliano Riego de Dios (Maragondon)
Santiago Rillo (Tuy, Batangas; formerly Maragondon)
Luciano San Miguel (Noveleta)
Mariano Trias (San Francisco de Malabon)
Ariston Villanueva (Noveleta)
From the Magdalo side, meanwhile, Emilio Aguinaldo recalls in his

memoir that many delegates were unable to go to the Tejeros Convention
because Magdalo towns were then bearing the brunt of the Spanish
onslaught.12 He names only 4 who attended, and from other sources Medina13
has identified 5 more, making a total of 9, as follows:-
Baldomero Aguinaldo (Kawit)

Crispulo Aguinaldo (Kawit)
Felix Cuenca (Bacoor)
Tomas Mascardo (Kawit)
Antonio Montenegro (Manila; staying in Imus)
Sixto Sapinoso (Imus)
Daniel Tirona (Kawit)
Cayetano Topacio (Imus)
Licerio Topacio (Imus)
The Magdiwang and its associates, the memoirists record, not only
had clearly the greater number of these “named” individuals, who presum-
ably included all the most influential delegates, but also held the chair at
the convention and provided its secretaries. The presiding officer was at first
Jacinto Lumbreras, and subsequently Andres Bonifacio, and the secretaries
are said to have been Artemio Ricarte and Teodoro Gonzales.
The leading protagonists, according to Alvarez, mostly sat at a long table,
whilst everyone else stood in groups around the sides. Although it is safe to
assume that the overwhelming majority came from Cavite, there was also a
significant contingent from Batangas to the south and a few from provinces
to the north. Ronquillo relates that the large upstairs sala in the Tejeros estate
house was “absolutely filled to capacity,” but none of the memoirists hazards
an estimate of how many people were present in total, or says how many were
entitled to vote. According to one account, the votes cast in the election for
president totaled 256, but even if this figure is accurate it is impossible, given
the allegations of irregularities, to know whether it reflects the true number
of electors, accredited or otherwise.14
The Tejeros Convention: (iii) The balance of opinion

Since the “rank-and-file” delegates who stood around the long table
are obscured by so many intractable unknowns, any discussion about what
happened at Tejeros must inevitably return to the more prominent, seated
figures whose names the memoirists recall. There is no reason, in any event,
to suppose that the prominent figures did not represent the overall balance
of opinion at the meeting, and there is no evidence that their leadership was
challenged, or their wishes thwarted, by some kind of “rank-and-file” revolt.
If we assume that the “rank-and-file” delegates backed their respective
leaderships, and if the Magdiwang majority had been as clear-cut as Alvarez,
Ricarte, Aguinaldo, and countless secondary sources say, then the wishes of
the Magdiwang Council, to state the obvious, would have prevailed.
But they did not, as the “Acta” incontrovertibly testifies. Bonifacio’s
attempt to persuade the assembled delegates to defer the election of a govern-

ment might suggest that he recognized from the very start that he and his
Magdiwang allies did not hold a secure majority. The convention’s rejection
of his arguments must have immediately confirmed his fears.
To explain why the convention decided to press ahead with the elec-
tions, and why Aguinaldo was elected as president rather than Bonifacio,
we need to look more attentively at the allegiances of some of the delegates
who Santiago Alvarez and other sources identify as leaders or allies of the
Magdiwang camp.
Alvarez was a member of the Magdiwang inner circle: captain general
of the Magdiwang’s troops, son of the council’s president, and cousin of the
council’s interior minister. His memoir contains a huge wealth of informa-
tion about the revolution of 1896−1897, in general, and about events in Cavite
in particular, that cannot be found in any other source. Anyone who has
read it, though, will know that its structure is somewhat disjointed, its style
discursive, and its detail occasionally self-contradictory. Reading through his
account as a whole, rather than his first and fullest Tejeros narrative in isola-
tion, it soon becomes apparent that at least 6 of the 17 individuals he describes
in his chapter 32 as prominent Magdiwang leaders or allies had either broken
away from the council by the time of the convention on March 22, or would
not necessarily act in concert with their Magdiwang colleagues.
Mariano Trias, firstly, who had taken office around January 1897, as the
Magdiwang minister of welfare and justice, is said by Alvarez and Ricarte
to have switched his allegiance to the Magdalo Council in February
1897, following disputes with his colleagues over military and personal
matters. Trias, recounts Alvarez, had started to organize his own private
army, and to commission his own subordinate officers, independently
of the unified Magdiwang command. Rebuked by other Magdiwang
ministers, and by Alvarez himself as captain general of the Magdiwang
forces, Trias had defected to the Magdalo forces, accepting the rank of
lieutenant-general and taking with him two senior officers, Mariano San
Gabriel and Julian Montalan, and their respective troop detachments.
Surprisingly, though, he retained his position as a Magdiwang minister.
At one point he tendered his resignation, but it was not accepted.15
Trias not only depleted Magdiwang military strength by his action, he

also persuaded Emiliano Riego de Dios, the Magdiwang minister of
development, to move over to the Magdalo camp as well. Riego de Dios
departed, Alvarez recalls, without even the courtesy of tendering his
resignation as a Magdiwang minister.16
José del Rosario, a lawyer who served for a time as a colonel on Alvarez’s
own staff, became a secret ally (lihim na kapanalig) of the Magdalo secre-
tary of war Daniel Tirona.17 The Tejeros Convention came to an abrupt
and chaotic end, famously, after Tirona shouted that “José del Rosario,
the lawyer” was better qualified to fill the position of director of the inte-
rior than Andres Bonifacio, whom the delegates had just elected.
Teodoro Gonzales, a lawyer attached to Bonifacio’s staff, is described by

Alvarez as another defector to the Magdalo camp. Gonzales himself, in a
brief comment published as an appendix to Alvarez’s work, says that he
remained with the Supremo up to the time of the Tejeros Convention,
but confirms that they had then “parted ways.”18
Santiago Rillo, suggests Alvarez, also aligned himself with the Magdalo
leadership prior to the Tejeros Convention.19 Another account says
that Rillo played an important role in swaying the convention against
the Magdiwang attempt to defer the establishment of a revolutionary
government.20
Severino de las Alas, records Alvarez, was among those who argued most
forcefully at Tejeros that the formation of a revolutionary government
should not be deferred, and should be given precedence above all else.21
Mariano Trias and Emiliano Riego de Dios, in sum, though nominally

still members of the Magdiwang Council, had in effect aligned themselves
with the Magdalo camp before the Tejeros Convention, and José del Rosario,
Teodoro Gonzales, Santiago Rillo, and Severino de las Alas sided at the
convention with those who wanted, without further delay or ado, to see the
Magdalo, the Magdiwang, and all the other KKK councils subsumed under a
single revolutionary government.
If these six individuals are removed from the “Magdiwang list” and
reassigned together with the nine on the “Magdalo list” to a new “revolu-
tionary government” or “pro-republic” list, the balance suddenly tilts. The
initial count of 17-9 in favor of the Magdiwang is converted to 11-15, and the
Magdiwang become the minority. It is possible, in fact, that the ratio became
10-16, or even 9-17, because Alvarez also hints that question marks hung over
the Magdiwang loyalties of his deputy captain general, Artemio Ricarte, and
his own cousin, Pascual Alvarez, the minister of the interior. About a month
before the Tejeros Convention, he relates, Bonifacio received word that the
Magdalo secretary of war, Daniel Tirona, wanted to lure Ricarte and Pascual
Alvarez away from the Magdiwang army by commissioning them as generals
in the Magdalo army. When the Supremo confronted the three men about
this allegation, Pascual Alvarez and Ricarte “laughed it off as a private joke,
but glanced at secretary Tirona” (lihim na nagtawanan at sinulyapan lamang
ang kagawad Tirona).22 Ricarte confirms in his own memoir that the reports
Bonifacio heard were correct, and that Tirona personally had secretly handed
the commissions to Pascual Alvarez and himself.23
Alvarez’s memoir, as already remarked, is not internally consistent;
points of detail frequently differ from one chapter to another. When he
briefly returns to the subject of the Tejeros Convention towards the end of his
narrative, however, there is a more fundamental discrepancy. It is almost as
if, looking back at what he has written, it strikes him that his initial portrayal
of the convention as Magdiwang-dominated has been refuted by the weight
of his own evidence about the defections of his erstwhile colleagues. Having
said in chapter 32 that the meeting was convened at the instigation of
Bonifacio and the Magdiwang, he recalls in chapter 77 that it was summoned
by the Magdalo Council. Having previously assigned Emiliano Riego de Dios,
Santiago Rillo, Severino de las Alas, and Teodoro Gonzales to the Magdiwang
camp, his later recollection is that by the time of Tejeros they had become
“partisans of the Magdalo government” (nagtatanggol ng pamahalaang
Magdalo). These concluding reflections, suggesting that the Magdalo lead-
ership was already taking the initiative, and gaining the ascendancy, before
Tejeros, tally much more closely with the evidence scattered elsewhere, both
in Alvarez’s own memoir and in the other sources.
The Tejeros Convention: (iv) The elections

A substantial proportion of the Tejeros delegates commonly described
as “Magdiwang,” therefore, in reality no longer aligned themselves with the
Magdiwang camp and should more accurately be categorized as “independ-
ents.” Reclassifying these individuals not only tips the balance of delegates,
but casts a different light on the results of the elections at Tejeros and chal-
lenges the impression customarily given by historians that most of the
winning candidates were Magdiwang “loyalists.”24
Before the convention ended in uproar, the delegates voted to fill five
leading positions in the revolutionary government. Ricarte’s listing of the
candidates who stood for these positions shows that neither camp schemed
or voted as a cohesive bloc. Assuming he remembered correctly, not one of
the five elections at Tejeros was a straightforward contest between a single
Magdalo candidate and a single Magdiwang candidate. If we annotate his
listing with the known or probable affiliations of the respective candidates,
the picture is as follows:-
For president, Emilio Aguinaldo [Magdalo] was elected over Mariano Trias
[independent] and Andres Bonifacio [Magdiwang “loyalist” ally].
For vice president, Mariano Trias [independent] was elected over Andres
Bonifacio [Magdiwang “loyalist” ally], Severino de las Alas [independent], and
Mariano Alvarez [Magdiwang “loyalist”].
For captain general, Artemio Ricarte [independent] was elected over Santiago
Alvarez [Magdiwang “loyalist”].
For director of war, Emiliano Riego de Dios [independent] was elected over
Ariston Villanueva [Magdiwang “loyalist”], Daniel Tirona [Magdalo], and
Santiago Alvarez [Magdiwang “loyalist”].
For director of the interior, Andres Bonifacio [Magdiwang “loyalist” ally] was
elected over Mariano Alvarez [Magdiwang “loyalist”] and Pascual Alvarez
[independent].25
Some candidates, evidently, were nominated as individuals rather than

as standard-bearers of their respective councils. Any conspiracies afoot were
too devious, too complex for a latter-day observer to detect or comprehend.26
But the overall outcome was clear. Magdiwang “loyalist” candidates were
defeated in four of the five contests, and the only victorious candidate aligned
with the Magdiwang “loyalists” was Bonifacio himself.
The “Acta de Tejeros”: (i) Signatories and nonsignatories

The day after the convention Bonifacio and the “loyalist” core of the
Magdiwang leadership, still at the Tejeros estate house, drafted and signed
the “Acta,” insisting that the elections lacked any legitimacy. Three of the
victorious candidates, Aguinaldo, Trias, and Riego de Dios, proceeded to
swear their oaths of office before a large crucifix in the convento at Tanza,
about a mile distant from Tejeros. Severino de las Alas, Santiago Rillo, and
other “prorepublic” Magdiwangs were in the cheering crowd. Artemio Ricarte,
meanwhile, oscillating between the two camps, first affixed his signature to
the “Acta,” then made his way to the ceremonies at the Tanza convento, took
his oath as captain general, and then went back to Tejeros and made a written
declaration saying that he had taken his oath under duress.
Of the 7 individuals named by Santiago Alvarez as having been members
of the Magdiwang cabinet in January 1897, 4 signed the “Acta”—Mariano
Alvarez, Jacinto Lumbreras, Diego Mojica, and Ariston Villanueva; and three
did not—Mariano Trias, Emiliano Riego de Dios, and Pascual Alvarez. The
signatories also included the most senior figures in the Magdiwang mili-
tary high command—Santiago Alvarez, Artemio Ricarte, and two brigadier
generals.27 With the addition of a few more names, and a little additional
detail, the most notable “Acta” signatories and their respective positions can
be listed as follows:-
Mariano Alvarez (Noveleta), president of the Sb. Magdiwang; gobernadorcillo of

Noveleta prior to the revolution.
Santiago Alvarez (Noveleta), captain general of the Magdiwang army.
Andres Bonifacio (Manila, but staying in San Francisco de Malabon), president

of the Sovereign Nation, president of the Supreme Council of the Katipunan,
president of the Supreme Congress.
Jacinto Lumbreras (San Francisco de Malabon), minister of state of the Sb.

Magdiwang and acting president when Mariano Alvarez was absent.
Epifanio Malia (Noveleta), captain in the Magdiwang army.
Diego Mojica (San Francisco de Malabon), minister of finance in the Sb.

Magdiwang; formerly president of the Sb. Mapagtiis (the Katipunan Council in
San Francisco de Malabon, which was merged into the Magdiwang government
in early 1897).
Santos Nocon (San Francisco de Malabon), brigadier general in the Magdiwang

army.
Nicolas Portilla (San Francisco de Malabon), brigadier general in the Magdiwang

army; formerly secretary of Sb. Mapagtiis.
Nicolas Ricafrente (Noveleta), president of the Magdiwang municipal council of

Noveleta.
Artemio Ricarte (Batac, Ilocos Norte; living in San Francisco de Malabon), deputy
captain general of the Magdiwang army; formerly treasurer of Sb. Mapagtiis.
Luciano San Miguel (Noveleta), brigadier general in the Magdiwang army.
Ariston Villanueva (Noveleta), minister of war of Sb. Magdiwang; past goberna-

dorcillo of Noveleta.
About the other thirty-odd signatories, only snippets of information

can be gleaned—that Andres Villanueva, for example, was the son of Ariston
Villanueva, and that the Olaez and Angkiko families were prominent in the
town of Noveleta. Still resisting the temptation to dwell on the question of
class, it should just be noted that the Magdiwang leaders occupied much the
same position in their communities as did their Magdalo counterparts. They
were not big landowners, because the haciendas in northern Cavite were all
held by the religious corporations. Some had only modest means. But collec-
tively, by virtue of their political influence, relative educational attainment,
and relative wealth, they were indisputably members of the local elite.
More precisely, they belonged to the elite of Noveleta and San Francisco
de Malabon, two towns little more than four miles apart. The defection of
leaders from other towns—men like Severino de las Alas from Indang, José
del Rosario from Tanza, Emiliano Riego de Dios from Maragondon, and
Santiago Rillo from Tuy in Batangas—had dramatically narrowed the territo-
rial range of the Magdiwang’s representation and authority.
The “Acta de Tejeros”: (ii) Outrage and estrangement

The primary purpose of the “Acta,” as already noted, was to nullify the
Tejeros elections. Copies of the document were to be dispatched to KKK
branches of the same accord (caayon), and members who had not attended
the convention would thereby be informed why its outcome was illegitimate.
The majority at Tejeros, the “Acta” affirms, had been gained by fraud. Almost
all the ballot papers for their candidates had been marked by just one person,
and had been issued to people who were not entitled to vote. The document
also reiterates one of the arguments Bonifacio had advanced for postponing
the elections—that a number of delegates had been unable to attend.
So deep was their resentment, though, that the “Acta” signatories
did not wish to confine their statement to the immediate injustice of
the elections. They wanted to place on record as well a number of griev-
ances against the Magdalo that predated Tejeros, going back even to
the outbreak of the revolution in Cavite when “we began the revolt and
they came later.” After the Magdalo had joined the fray, the Magdiwang
had helped them with donations of cash, food, and livestock, and when
Magdalo towns had come under Spanish attack many Magdiwang soldiers
had sacrificed their lives in their defence. None of this fraternal assist-
ance, the “Acta” observes, had ever been reciprocated, and now it had been
rewarded by “an attempt to take our Presidency away from us by fraud.”
The Magdiwang Council, the “Acta” declares, is not willing to be subor-
dinate to a government that is illegitimate. If anyone is to be subordinated,
say the signatories with the hint of a threat, it should be “them” (meaning
Magdalo), because they were the ones who “caused all the trouble” and who
ought to be put to right.
But in the immediate future the “Acta” envisages only that loyal revolu-
tionists will keep their distance (paglayo) from the Magdalo presidency, and
will be prepared to defend the Katipunan and the Magdiwang presidency to
the death. Beyond this talk of separation, the “Acta” says nothing about what
should happen next. No call is raised for the election to be rerun. There is no
pledge of loyalty to the Supreme Council of the Katipunan as the still-rightful
directing body of the revolution, nor any proposal that the Supreme Congress
should be convened to frame a constitution, as had been agreed at the Imus
assembly held three months previously. Thoughts about the way forward had
momentarily got lost in a spate of recrimination.
Conclusion
Very probably the Magdiwang “loyalists” had good cause to be resentful;
very probably the elections at Tejeros were indeed marred by malpractice.
But this does not mean, of course, that the overall outcome would have been
different had they been orderly and clean. If the proclaimed result had been
a travesty of the convention’s will, then surely the outcry after the meeting
would have been much stronger, and would have prevailed.
It would be wrong to ask why the Magdiwang partisans “lost control”
at Tejeros, these notes have sought to show, because they had not been “in
control” even when the convention was called to order. If there had been a
time when the Magdiwang, Bonifacio, and their allies held the upper hand
over the Magdalo, that time had already passed. Magdiwang prestige and
influence did not suddenly collapse without warning at Tejeros; they had
already been in decline in the weeks before. A more pertinent line of ques-
tioning might be to ask what exactly were the causes of the internal discord
within the Magdiwang camp; what precipitated the defections that debili-
tated its strength and presaged its dissolution. The available sources, alas,
allude to these causes only vaguely, and often not at all.
Tagalog Text28
[Seal]29
Dito sa Tejeros sacop ng bayang Mapagtiis ng Panguluhang Magdiuang ngayong

icadalauampu,t, tatlo ng Marzo ng isang libo ualong daan siyam na po,t, pito. Acong
Ministro de estado na sanlang Presidente na guinoong Jacinto Lumbreras Bagong
Bayan, mga capua Ministros, Generales, Mariscales, Brigadieres, Coroneles, mga
guinoong Pangulo, at iba pang mga pinuno sa mga bayan bayang sacop ng sinabi
nang Panguluhan na may canicaniyang tungcol na taglay, paua caming lampas na sa
paghanang edad o taong nalacaran, caming lahat ay nagcapisan, gayon din ang mga
maguinoong Andres Bonifasio Maypag asa, Marangal na Supremo, at Mariano Alvarez
Mainam, casalucuyang Presidente at aming pinagcaisahan itong mga somosonod—
Una una: Bagay sa paghahalal ng isang Presidente, mga Ministros, generales
at iba pang tungcol na marapat, na pinagcaisahan30 namin ng cabilang Presidencia
Panguluhang Magdalo, at sa catunaya,i, ginaua cahapon sa nasabing Tejeros, datapua
hindi naming masangayonan sapagca,t, ualang cahusayan, nahalata naming totoo ang
pag api sa aming Presidencia, dahil sa isa halos ang manunulat ng canilang papeleta
ng pag hahalal, cahima,t, ualang cabuluhang tauo ay binigyan upang macarami sila,
napagquilala namin na sila,i, magca catiyap na sa dahilang ito,i, pinauaualan naming
halaga ang nangyaring yaon, at sa catunaya,i, ualang casulatang maayos na ibinangon
na dapat naming pagfirmahan, at ang isa pang malaquing caculangan, ay hindi
nahaharap at uala roon ang iba naming capatid na Pinuno.
Ycalaua: Aming natuclasan ang mga lihim nilang gaua upang masacupan
nila ang aming Presidencia ay nangahas ng hindi catuiran, na ang General Emilio
Aguinaldo, ay nag anyaya sa mga Pangulong nasasacupan namin ng isang bagay na
hindi sinaisay sa mag liham na limbag; cun ano ang dahil, at hindi pinaalaman dito sa
aming Panguluhan.
Ycaatlo: Ang dalauang bayan nasasacupan nila na Silang at Marinas ay naagao
ng mga caauay na Castila, at dahil dito,i, maraming totoo ang mga caual na namatay
dito sa amin, bucod pa ang mga gugol na ilac, mga hayop, bigas, maraming totoong
nasugatan at iba pang caabalahang malaqui, nguni’t ang aming mga bayang
nasasacupan, ay sa aua ng Dios uala ni isang naaagao ang sinabi nang caauay.
Ycaapat: Ni minsa,i, hindi cami humihingi ng anumang saclolo sa canila, cundi
sila, sila sa amin.
Icalima: Ang mga tauo namin, halos arao gabi ay na sa laban, sa pag tatangol sa
canila, bucod pa ang ibang malalaquing carapatan, at ang igaganti, ay ang macuha sa
lalang ang aming Presidencia.
Ycaanim: Cami ang nag simula ng caguluhan at sila,i, huli. Sa bagay na ito na
napagtalastas naming hindi samahan sa capatid ang paquita nila sa amin, ay nagca isa
naman cami sa pag layo sa canila na di maaaring masacupan itong aming Panguluhan,
cahit anomang masapit, subali sila ang pasacop at catuiran, yayamang sa canila mula
ang lahat ng sigalot. Ybinangon namin itong casulatan sa ilalim ng matibay na
panunumpa, nananagot ang aming buhay at yaman sa pag tatangol at icapanatag
ng nabanguit nang aming Presidencia, caming lahat at ang iba pang nasasacupan
at pasasacop ay napaiilalim sa casulatang ito; ang sinoman sa amin na mapahamac
ng sa lihim man at hayag o mamatay ng sa masamang paraan, ay pag uusigin ng
calahatan na di titiguilan hangang sa di matuclas ang may badha ng pagayong bagay
cun sacali, at lapatan ng tapat na parusa pinagcaisahan din namin, na ang sinoman
sa amin at mag lilo sa usapang ito, ay pag tutulungan ng calahatan na di caaauaan;

gayon din naman, pagpipilitan naming pag tiyagaan ang mga taung may acalang
mag tacsil31 ng sa di catuiran laban sa K.K.K. at sa Panguluhan o sa aming lahat na
magcacapatid, ang mga ito,i, mahigpit naming huhulihin at ipadadala sa Presidencia
ng sa madaling panahon ay maparusahan. Tinapos itong pinagcayarian na sa ngalan
ng banal na Catipunan, caming lahat ay nag titic ng aming pangalan, apellido at
ngalan sa nasabing Catipunan, na baga ma,t, cami ay marami; ay iisa ang loob, tapang,
pag mamasaquitan, cahihiyan at buhay, ang catibayang ito,i, iingatan sa Presidencia,
at mag papadala ng saling limbag sa mga bayang caayon na ingatan naman ng mga
Pangulong capatid o ibang puno. Niyari ito sa nasabing buan, arao at taon—
Ang Haring bayan

J. Lumbreras
And. Bonifacio Mariano Alvarez Artemio Ricarte

[Maypagasa] [Mainam] [Vibora]
Santiago Alvarez Santos Nocon Diego Moxica

[Apoy] [Buhat] [Katibayan]
Andres Villanueva Jose Coronel Nicols P. Ginicu [?]

[Gumamela] [Alimbuyuguin] [Mangyari] [?]
Marcelo Lumbreras Ricardo Garcia

[M/Batangbago] [?] [Tanauin] [?]
Alfonso Siacon [?] Lucio Riel [?]

[alias illegible] [Kapayapaan]
[Two signatures and A. Villanueva

aliases illegible] [Kampupot]
L. San Miguel Damaso [?]

[Maon] [?] [Mag-patay] [?]
Dioncio Kases [?] Nicolas Ricafrente

[Mabuti] [Saklolo] [?]
Bernardo Espineli [?] Angkiko [?]

[alias illegible] [alias illegible]
Isabelo Borromeo [?] Adriano Olaez

[Guiami] [?]
Epifanio Malia Mariano Alvarez32
P. Villana [?] Jacinto Angkiko

[Buan] [?] [Maagap]
[illegible] Gregorio Ricafrente

[alias illegible]
Here at Tejeros, within the jurisdiction of the town of Mapagtiis34, of the

Magdiwang presidency, this twenty-third day of March one thousand, eight hundred
and ninety-seven. I, the minister of state and acting president, Mr. Jacinto Lumbreras,
Bagong Bayan,35 fellow ministers, generals, marshals, brigadiers, colonels, presidents,
and other leaders from the towns within the jurisdiction of the said presidency having
offices with which they are vested, each of us of legal age and competent, have convened
together, and also with Messrs. Andres Bonifacio, Maypagasa, esteemed Supremo; and
Mariano Alvarez, Mainam, the present president; and our agreement is as follows:
First: As regards the election of a president, ministers, generals, and other
necessary officers, we came to an agreement with the other presidency, the Magdalo
presidency, and [the election] was accordingly held yesterday at the aforementioned
Tejeros, but we are not content because it was not well conducted. We discovered
that our presidency in truth was wronged, because almost all their ballot papers were
written by just one person, and [issued to] unqualified people so as to give them a
majority. We have learned that they conspired together, and for this reason we consider
that what happened there was invalid. No document, in fact, was prepared to formalize
the new arrangements, which needed our signed endorsement. Yet another major
deficiency was that some of our brother chiefs were elsewhere and unable to attend.
Second: We have discovered their secret moves, audacious and improper, to place
our presidency under their control. For some reason not known here in our presidency,
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo invited the presidents in our jurisdiction to consider a matter
not mentioned in the printed letter.36
Third: Two towns under their jurisdiction, Silang and Marinas,37 were captured
by the Spanish enemy, and very many of our soldiers died as a result, and in addition
to our having made contributions of cash, animals and rice, we had many wounded
and suffered other great losses. But thanks to the mercy of God, not one of the towns
under our jurisdiction has been captured by the said enemy.
Fourth: Not once have we solicited any kind of aid from them, whereas they have
from us.
Fifth: Our people have been fighting practically day and night in order to defend
them, as well as contributing greatly in other ways, and the reward has been an
attempt to take our presidency away from us by fraud.
Sixth: We began the rebellion and they came later. In this regard, we have real-
ised that their actions towards us are not those of true brothers, and we have agreed
to distance ourselves from them so that our presidency cannot be made subordinate,
whatever happens. But they are the ones who should submit and be put to right,
because they caused all the trouble. We ratify this document under a binding oath to
commit our lives and wealth to the defence and support of our said presidency. All of
us, other affiliates and those who wish to become affiliates, will abide by this docu-
ment. Should any amongst us come to suffer misfortune, openly or secretly, or be wick-
edly killed, we shall all investigate and shall not rest until the perpetrator, if such there
be, is found and duly punished. We resolve also that should any amongst us betray
this compact, we shall all turn upon him without mercy. We shall likewise act vigor-
ously to track down individuals who presume to commit some vile treason against
the K.K.K. and the presidency, or against any of our brethren. We shall pursue them
relentlessly and despatch them to the presidency as soon as possible for punishment.
We conclude this compact in the name of the revered Catipunan, all signing with our
names, surnames and names in the said Catipunan. Although we are many, we are
united as one in our sentiment, courage, solidarity, unworthiness and life. This reso-
lution will be kept securely in the presidency, and printed copies will be despatched
to towns of the same accord to be likewise safely kept by brother presidents or other
leaders. This was done on the month, day, and year above written.
Addendum38
[seal]
Sangunian Bayan
Magdalo
Kgg. G. Felix Cuenca at G. Mariano Noriel Gargano
Capag tangap nio po yaring calatas ay mangyaring isaisip ang cung sino ang mga
maguinoong nararapat sa Kgg na pulungan ng hihimacsic (Gobierno revolucionario)
at pulungan din naman ng hihimacsic sa bauat hucuman (Gobierno Provincial) alang
alang sa isang Kalatas ng G. Presidente sa Magdiwang na tinangap co po ng may
alas 12 nitong gabi at doo,i, tayo inaanayahan na mangyaring macarating bucas 22
na lumalacad sa Hacienda ng Tejeros upang doo,i, magaua ang tinatauag na sabing

butusan sa pag hahalal ng mga punong nasambit sa itaas.
Caya po sabagay na ito ay inaasahan co na ang inñong mga Kamahalan haharap
dito sa bahay Hacienda (cung ualang malaquing panganib) datapua,t, mag lalagay
capo ng sucat macatauan sa pamamahala ng inñong tuncol dian sa panguluhan sa alas
seis ng umaga nang nasabing arao.
Haligue, 21 ng Marzo
Ang Plo.
B. Aguinaldo

H.K.: Pagsabihan mo po ang mga G. Plo ng taga ibang bayan dian at ipagsauna
na huag mag culang.
1 I am most grateful to Professor Ocampo for granting me permission to reproduce his

transcription.
2 Given the paucity of documentary evidence on Tejeros, the key primary sources remain
the memoirs of four protagonists—Artemio Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino laban
sa Kastila (Yokohama: “Karihan Café,” 1927); Santiago V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the
Revolution: The Memoirs of a General, translated by Paula Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City:
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992); Emilio Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan
(Manila: Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay, 1964); and Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang Talata tungkol sa
Paghihimagsik nang 1896–1897, edited by Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City: University of
the Philippines Press, 1996) —and the account of an unsympathetic observer —Telesforo
Canseco, “Historia de la Insurrección Filipina en Cavite” [1897]. The references here to
Alvarez’s work are to his original 1927 Tagalog text, as reproduced in the 1992 edition, and
the translations depart in some instances from Malay’s. Notable contributions to the volu-
minous secondary literature include Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The
Story of Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines,
1956); The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, translated by Teodoro A. Agoncillo with
the collaboration of S. V. Epistola (Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial
Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963); Carlos Quirino, The Young Aguinaldo:
From Kawit to Biyak-na-Bato (Manila: Aguinaldo Centennial Year, 1969); Alfredo B. Saulo,
Emilio Aguinaldo: Generalissimo and President of the First Philippine Republic—First Republic in
Asia (Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House, 1983); Glenn Anthony May, Inventing a Hero:
The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio (Madison: Center for Southeast Asian
Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996); Milagros C. Guerrero, “The Katipunan
Revolution,” in Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People, vol. 5 ([Hong Kong]: Asia
Publishing Company, 1998), 171–97; Ambeth R. Ocampo, The Centennial Countdown (Pasig
City: Anvil Publishing, 1998); and Glenn Anthony May, “Warfare by Pulong: Bonifacio,
Aguinaldo and the Philippine Revolution against Spain,” Philippine Studies 55, no. 4 (2007):
449–77.
3 Many sources state that Mariano Alvarez was the uncle of Bonifacio’s wife, Gregoria de
Jesus, but he was actually the uncle of her mother, Baltazara Alvarez. It is believed that
Baltazara was living in Caloocan (in the province of Manila) in the years immediately prior
to the revolution, but she apparently still visited Noveleta regularly on business, as a vend-
edora al por menor en ambulancia de generos efectos de Europa y productos del país y China. See
Medina’s notes in Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 124; and Emmanuel Franco Calairo, Noveleta:
Bayan ng Magdiwang (Dasmariñas, Cavite: Cavite Studies Center, De La Salle University),
308–10.
4 Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 553; Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita, 142; Saulo, Emilio Aguinaldo, 119.
5 See, for example, Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 326.
6 These notes follow the usual custom of referring to the gathering at Imus as an “assembly”
and to the gathering at Tejeros as a “Convention,” but the Tagalog sources use the same
words for both—pulong (meeting) and kapulungan (congress).
7 Ricarte, Himagsikan, 37. See also Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 306, whose
account is very similar. Ricarte’s memoir was published in instalments in the Manila weekly
magazine, Sampagita, in 1926, and the same magazine serialized Alvarez’s work in a like
manner in 1927–1928. In his foreword, Alvarez indicates that he has read Ricarte’s memoir,
and a comparison of the respective Tagalog texts shows that he draws heavily on Ricarte in
many places.
8 Ricarte, Himagsikan, 55; Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 320. In his letter to Jacinto
dated April 16, 1897 (document 8.8), contrary to these accounts, Bonifacio suggests the initial
reason for convening the Tejeros meeting was to discuss Spanish peace overtures.
9 The invitation, or summons (paanyaya), to the convention, Ricarte and Alvarez both report,
was signed by the secretary of the Magdiwang Council, Jacinto Lumbreras. It is quite
possible, of course, that a copy of the invitation will someday be found, in which case the
speculation and debate on this particular issue might be laid to rest. Even though the elec-
tion of a revolutionary government seems to have been on the agenda from the outset, the
formation of a republic may have been proposed only after the convention was under way.
10 Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 24, 1897 (document 8.11). The assembly at
Imus, as noted earlier, had authorized Bonifacio to appoint and convene a “Kapulungan”—
some kind of constitutional and/or legislative congress. Ricarte says that Bonifacio repeat-
edly asked Baldomero Aguinaldo (who had acted as secretary at Imus) to supply him with a
certified copy of the assembly’s resolution on this matter, but that such a document was never
produced. That issue aside, the sources are entirely silent on the fate of the “Kapulungan.”
Bonifacio’s letter indicates that he felt the Imus assembly’s decision still stood, or could at
least be resurrected. Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino, 37.
11 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 318–22.
12 Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita, 208.
13 Medina in Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 777.
14 Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 642; Telesforo Canseco, “Historia de la Insurrección Filipina en
Cavite” [1897], 77.
15 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 304–5, 313. Alvarez recalls the exact date on which
Trias transferred (lumipat) to the Magdalo Council as being February 10, 1897. Ricarte gives a
similar account of the defection of Trias in Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino, 46.
16 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 457.
17 Ibid., 326.
18 Teodoro Gonzales, “Isang Puna ni Teodoro Gonzales tungkol sa Katipunan at Paghihimagsik,”
in Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 468.
20 Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 642.

22 Ibid., 316.
23 Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino, 49. In a separate autobiographical note, Ricarte
states that he was handed his appointment by Tirona on February 24, 1897, and that it
was signed by Emilio Aguinaldo as the Magdalo captain general and general in chief.
“Documentos expedidos al ciudadano Sr. Artemio Ricarte y Garcia con el simbolico ‘Vibora’
por el Gobierno de Filipinas en la revolución del año de l898, cuyos originales se encuen-
tran depositados en la sociedad Comercial o Club Comercial titulado Banal na Kalayaan
como iniciador y Presidente de la misma.” Philippine Revolutionary Records, Reel No. 39,
Document No. 703.
24 For example, Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses, 209. Agoncillo is here following Ricarte,
Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino, 53.
25 Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino, 56–58; Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution,
321–22. Alvarez’s recollection of which leaders stood for which posts differs slightly from that
of Ricarte; he does not mention the candidacies of Mariano Trias for president; Severino de
las Alas for vice president; or Pascual Alvarez for director of the interior.
26 Carlos Quirino claims that the candidacy of Magdiwang minister Mariano Trias in the presi-
dential contest was a Magdalo plot that succeeded in splitting the Magdiwang vote between
Trias and Bonifacio, thus handing victory to the single Magdalo candidate Aguinaldo.
Quirino does not provide any evidence for this assertion, however, and it seems highly
speculative. In any event, if we are to believe Canseco’s account—the only account that gives
an actual tally of the votes cast—Aguinaldo’s total was higher than those of the other two
candidates combined: 146 as against 80 for Bonifacio and 30 for “Mariano Alvarez,” perhaps
meaning Mariano Trias. The Trial of Andres Bonifacio: The Original Documents in Tagalog Text
and English Translation. Translated by Virginia Palma-Bonifacio with an historical introduc-
tion by Carlos Quirino and preface by Miguel A. Bernad, SJ (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila,
1963), 6; Telesforo Canseco, “Historia de la Insurrección Filipina en Cavite,” 77.
27 A full listing of the signatories of the “Acta” has never been published. Historians who
have seen the original document say that it bears 45 signatures. Of these, 31 signatures
appear on the pages whose photographs have been published, and a few of these, as indi-
cated in the transcription here, are wholly or partly illegible. From the published photo-
graphs, it appears that the most senior Magdiwang office-holders and commanders took
precedence and signed the document first. It is thus unlikely that further names of equal
prominence appear on the subsequent page or pages of signatures. Of necessity, though,
the comments essayed here about who signed, and who did not sign, the “Acta” are slightly
tentative.
28 The original document is believed currently to be in the private collection of Emmanuel
Encarnacion. There are at least two Tagalog versions of the text that differ from the orig-
inal—Tenepe [José P. Santos, Teresita Santos, and Nena Santos], “Si Andres Bonifacio at
ang Katipunan,” unpublished manuscript, 1948, 135–37; and a version from the collection of
Antonio K. Abad. Obviously not copied from the original, these versions are in fact retransla-
tions into Tagalog from either the Spanish of Epifanio de los Santos or Philippine Review’s
English. Both these versions are reproduced by Isagani R. Medina in his annotated edition
of Ronquillo’s Ilang Talata. In 1933, José P. Santos published photographs of some of the
signatures on the “Acta,” but a more-or-less authentic version of the original Tagalog text
was not placed in the public domain until 1996, when Medina included the document in his
edition of Ronquillo’s memoir. Wishing to render the text in a form familiar to the youth of
the 1990s, however, Medina decided to modernize the orthography of the document (binago
ko ang pagbaybay). Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 93–99; José P. Santos, Was Aguinaldo Right to Have
Caused Bonifacio’s Death? May Katuwiran o Wala si Aguinaldo sa Pagkakabaril kay Bonifacio?
([Manila]: Imprenta Manila, 1933), 5.
29 The front page of the document has been stamped with some kind of official mark, but in the
published photographs the detail is too faint to distinguish.
30 Pinagcaisahan is the last word on the first page of the original document, and from this point
until the word tacsil in the final paragraph the text has been copied from Ambeth Ocampo’s
transcription. If that transcription is compared to the Spanish translation of the “Acta”
published by Epifanio de los Santos in 1917, however, it appears that a chunk of text from
the section beginning Ica-anim to that beginning Icalaua has been transposed; and here an
attempt has been made to restore that chunk to its proper place.
31 Tacsil is the first word on the fifth page of the original document, and from this point until
the end of the signatures, the text has been copied from photographs. It is not known,
however, whether there are one or two further pages of signatures.
32 A namesake of the Magdiwang president, and probably a relative.
33 The “Acta de Tejeros” was first brought to light by the historian Epifanio de los Santos, who
is believed to have acquired the original document in 1904. In 1917, he included a Spanish
translation of the text in a biographical sketch of Bonifacio that he wrote for the magazine
Philippine Review (Revista Filipina). His article, including the document, was then trans-
lated into English for publication in a subsequent issue of the same magazine. The English
version, a translation from the Spanish rather than from the original Tagalog text, has
subsequently been used by virtually everybody who has written on the subject. Epifanio
de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [Spanish version], Philippine Review (Revista Filipina) 2,
no. 11 (November 1917): 71; Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [English version],
Philippine Review (Revista Filipina) 3, nos. 1−2 (January−February 1918): 46–47.
34 The Katipunan name for San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias).
35 Bagong Bayan—“New Nation”—was the Katipunan alias of Jacinto Lumbreras.
36 What letter is being mentioned here is not known, but the matter Aguinaldo raised with
the Magdiwang presidents is probably the possibility of peace negotiations with the Spanish
colonial government. Aguinaldo had recently been contacted by two Spaniards acting
as intermediaries for the government who had asked whether the revolutionists might be
willing to lay down their arms in return for some kind of pardon or amnesty. He had then
consulted Mariano Alvarez, the Magdiwang president, on these overtures, and Alvarez had
in turn consulted Bonifacio. When they both forcefully rejected the idea of any negotiated
settlement, Aguinaldo then proceeded, without their knowledge or consent, to sound out the
views of the presidents of the KKK branches affiliated to the Magdiwang. Andres Bonifacio,
Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 16, 1897 (document 8.8); Quirino, The Young Aguinaldo, 132–34.
37 Dasmariñas.
38 Pedro S. de Achutegui, SJ, and Miguel A. Bernad, SJ, Aguinaldo and the Revolution of 1896: A
Documentary History (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila, 1972), 343.
8.6
Artemio Ricarte
Declaration dated March 24, 1897
Photograph of the first page of the original document in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of
the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 131; photograph of the final four
lines of the original document in Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang Talata tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang
1896−1897 [1898], edited by Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City: University of the Philippines
Press, 1996), 89; and transcription by Medina of the whole document in the same vol., 88, 90,
91.1
In this declaration Artemio Ricarte recounts how on March 23, “with great
reluctance,” he had taken his oath of office as general-in-chief (Pangulong
Hukbo) of the revolutionary army, the position to which he had been elected
at the Tejeros Convention the previous day.
Bonifacio sent this declaration to Emilio Jacinto together with his letter,
dated April 24, 1897 (document 8.11), but Ricarte’s account of events differs
significantly from Bonifacio’s own. Ricarte relates that he had been invited
to the ceremony at which he felt compelled to take his oath, held in the
convento at Tanza, by Emiliano Riego de Dios, the Magdiwang minister of
development, and that the event had also been attended by Mariano Trias,
the Magdiwang minister of grace and justice, Santiago Rillo, Vicente Riego
de Dios, and other leaders from towns under the Magdiwang Council’s juris-
diction. Bonifacio, on the other hand, describes the event as a meeting of the
“Imus people,” meaning the Magdalo camp. The leaders still regarded by
Ricarte as “Magdiwang,” in other words, Bonifacio regards as having defected
to his adversaries.
Tagalog Text
Ako si Artemio Ricarte “Vibora” may katampatang taong, taga bayan ng

Batak, lalauigan ng Hukuman ng Ilocos Norte, kapatid sa K.K.K. ng mga A.N.B., at
tumatahan dito sa Mapagtiis o Malabon sakop ng S.B. Magdiuang o Noveleta, ay
nagsasaysay ng boong katotohanan at hanggang sa labi ng hukay ay aking haharapan.
Na sa oras na ikaanim ng hapon kahapon alinsunod sa isang liham sarinlan na
kalakip nito, ay sumapit ako sa Convento ng bayan ng Tanza o Panguagui, at nadatnan
ko ang Kgg. na Dakilang G. Emiliano Riego de Dios, Ministro de Fomento, at Kgg.
na Dakilang G. Mariano Trias, Ministro de Gracia y Justicia ng S.B. Magdiuang, pati
G. Santiago Rillo, Vicente Riego de Dios, at iba’t iba pang Guinoo sa bayan bayang
nasasakupan nitong nasabing S.B.; at gayon din na nadatnan ko ang ilang Matataas
na G. Pinuno sa S.B. Magdalo, at sa pagdating ko, ay namasdang kong nakahanda ang
isang Crucifijo sa guitna ng Antesala ng nasabing Convento; at ang mga G. Pinunong
nabangguit na, ay kapagkaraka’y nagsabi ng kadahilanan ng pagkahiling nila na
ako’y humarap doon, at ualang ibang dahil, kundi ang pagtanggap sa pamamagitan
ng isang panunumpa sa harapan ng Crucifijo at sa masid ng kalahatan o ilang bayan,
ng katungkulang pagka Pangulong Digma ng Katagalugan, ayon sa kinalabasan ng
pagkapulong ng arao na ika 22 nitong lumalakad na buan; sa bagay na ito, ay ipinakita
ko muli sa kalahatang naroroon, ang malaking2 kaayaoan kong tumanggap ng
naturang katungkulan sa mga kadahilanang sumusunod:
Una—Aking pinasasalamatan ang paglabas ko sa paghalal na ito, na maging
Pangulong Hukbo ng buong Katagalugan; datapua kinikilala kong may karumihan
o kalabuan ang pagkaparaan ng pagkahalal sa akin; sapagkat napaguari ko na hindi
nasunod ang tunay na kalooban ng mga taong bayan at;
Ikalaua—Iginagalang ko ang naturang katungkulan, at natatalastas ko ang
kaniyang kalakhan at kapangyarihan; at gayon din na natatakot ako ang buong
aking nakakayanan sa lahat ng bagay, na lubhang kulang na kulang at maliit na
maliit sa dahilang ito, natalos at napagkilala ko ang di ko karapatan; sa lahat ng ito,
at hindi maaamin ng konsiyensiya ko ang pagtanggap ng nasabing katungkulan:
Gayon ang unang isinagot ko sa mga G. at mga taong bayang naroroon na sari saring
pinagbuhatan, na aking nakaharap sa Convento at nagpatalastas sa akin ng pagsumpa
sa pagtanggap sa gabing yaon ng nasabing katungkulan.
Ako’y nagsabi rin na kung sa gabing ito’y maghahandog ng panunumpa sa
pagtanggap na nasabi ng katungkulan, ay hindi ako makakaayon, dahil
Una—Sa uala sa Kapulungan ang mga karamihang pinunong humarap sa
paghahalal, lalung lalo na ang President ng pagkapulong sa nasabing oras na ika 22
nitong lumalakad na buan;
Ikalaua—Sa pagkatanto ko na kung ito’y gagauin, siya ang pagmumulan ng
malaking kaguluhan at hindi ipagkakaisa ng mga bayan bayan, anupa’t ipinahalata ko
sa kalahatan ang totoong hindi pag ayon, hanggang sa ako’y humingi sa kaginoohan
at sa taong bayan, ng dalauang bagay:
Patayin ako sa oras ng gabing yaon, sa kadahilanang nasasabi sa itaas na ito o
bigyan ako ng tatlong oras na pahintulot o isang oras kaya at ng mapag isip ko ang
mga bagay bagay na nararapat sa pagtanggap ng nasabing katungkulan; itong
ikalauang bagay na hiniling ko, ay ginagaua kong paraan lamang, upang makaalis
ako sa Kapulungang yaon. Ang lahat na aking hiniling, ay ualang nangyari, sapagka’t
ualang umayon ni kahit isa man lamang; sa madaling salita, sa himok at pag amu
amo’y kalahatan sa pamamagitan ng Kgg. na Dakilang G. Emilio Aguinaldo,
Pangulong Digma ng S.B. Magdalo, na sa oras ng ikaualo ng gabi, ay naghandog ng
panunumpa, ang Kgg. na Dakilang G. Mariano Trias, Ministro de Gracia y Justicia
ng S.B. Magdiuang bagaman, aking mauulit, na hindi maaamin ng aking kalooban,
sa oras na ikaisa ng hatinggabing yaon, ay naghandog din ako ng panunumpa ng

pagtanggap ng katungkulang pagka Pangulong Hukbo ng buong Katagalugan.
Ito ang buong katotohanan na kailanma’y hindi ko matatalikdan kaya’t sa arao
na ito ika 24 ng buan ng Marzo ng taong isang libo, ualong daan, siam na put pito, ay
linagdaan ko ng tunay kong pangalan, apellido at pamagat na tinataglay.
G. Artemio Ricarte
Vibora
-----------------
The attached letter,3 written in Spanish, reads as follows:-
SR. D. ARTEMIO RICARTE.
Mi querido amigo y hermano: - Suplicamos todos á su persona se sirva honrar en

esta invitación en honor de la República qe. formamos en esta casa convento de este
pueblo. Asi esperamos en el mismo momento, qe. V. se entere de esta venga pronto.
Sin más y reciba nuestros aftos. recuerdos.
s.s.q.b.l.m. [abbreviation for seguro servidor que besa la mano].
E. RIEGO DE DIOS
English translation4
I, Artemio Ricarte [Vibora], of legal age, of the town of Batak in the provincial
jurisdiction of Ilocos Norte, a brother of the K.K.K. ng mga A.N.B. and residing here
at Mapagtiis, or Malabon, under the jurisdiction of the S.B. Magdiwang, or Noveleta,
declare the following to be the whole truth that I shall maintain to the grave.
That at six o’clock yesterday afternoon, in conformity with the attached letter
[see below], I went to the convento of the town of Tanza, or Panguagui, and there I
found the Honorable Don Emiliano Riego de Dios, minister of development, and the
Honorable Don Mariano Trias, minister of grace and justice of the S.B. Magdiwang,
together with Srs. Santiago Rillo, Vicente Riego de Dios, and other gentlemen from
the towns under the jurisdiction of the said S.B., and likewise I found various high
chiefs of S.B. Magdalo. Upon my arrival I noticed that a crucifix had been prepared
in the center of the hall of the said convento; and the aforementioned chiefs there-
upon informed me of the reason why they had requested my presence there, which was
none other than that I should take an oath of office, before the crucifix and watched by
people from all or some of the towns, as president of war of Katagalugan, in conformity
with the outcome of the convention held on the 22nd of the current month. In this
regard I again stated to all those present there my great reluctance to accept said office
for the following reasons:-
First—That I appreciated having been elected president of war of all Katagalugan
in this election, but that I recognized there had been dirty or shady practices in the
manner of my election, because I understood that it had not been in conformity with
the true will of the people.
Second—That I respected the said office and realized its importance and authority;
and that I was fearful in all respects about my abilities. I considered myself very defi-
cient and inadequate, and recognized that I did not have the necessary competence,
and that on account of all this I could not in good conscience accept the said office.
This was my first reply to the gentlemen and other people present there, from various
places, whom I met at the convento, and who advised me that I must take the oath of
office that very night.
I also stated that if the oath of said office was to be administered that very same
night I could not agree, because:
First—The majority of the chiefs present at the election, and especially the pres-
ident of the convention held at the said time, the 22nd of the present month, were
absent from the Assembly.
Second—I knew that if this was done, it would cause much disturbance and
discord in the towns; in short, I gave them all to understand that I strongly disagreed,
to the extent that I requested of the gentlemen and the townspeople two things:
That they kill me that same night, for the reasons above cited, or that they give
me three hours, or at least one hour, to think over what I must necessarily do in order
to accept said office; this second request was but a mere pretext, in order to enable me
to absent myself from that Assembly. I obtained nothing of what I requested, because
not even one of them gave me his assent. To be brief, at the request and supplication
of all, His Excellency Don Emilio Aguinaldo, president of war of S.B. Magdalo, took
the oath at about eight o’clock in the evening, together with His Excellency Mariano
Trias, minister of grace and justice of S.B. Magdiwang, and though, I again repeat, I
could not in good conscience accept it, I also took the oath as president of war of all
Katagalugan, at about one o’clock that night.
This is the whole truth which I shall never be able to retract, hence, on this day
the 24th of the month of March, of the year one thousand, eight hundred and ninety-
seven, I sign my real name, surname, and the alias I bear.
Don Artemio Ricarte

Vibora
----------------------
English translation of the attached letter5
SR. D. ARTEMIO RICARTE
My dear friend and brother: - We all pray you to deign to respond to this invita-
tion in honor of the Republic that we are organizing here in the parochial house of
this town. We therefore hope that you will come immediately after this comes to your
attention.
Without anything further, receive our affectionate regards.
Your constant servant, who kisses the hand,

E. RIEGO DE DIOS
1 The original document is believed to be in the private collection of Emmanuel Encarnacion.

2 Malaking is the final word on the first page of the document; the preceding text has therefore
been transcribed from the photograph in Cristobal’s book, and the subsequent text (with
the exception of the last four lines) from Medina’s own transcription. Wishing to render the
text in a form familiar to the youth of the 1990s, however, Medina decided to modernize the
orthography of the document (binago ko ang pagbaybay). I have sought to restore the orthog-
raphy to Ricarte’s own, but this has meant making some guesses that might be wrong.
3 Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [Spanish version] Philippine Review (Revista
Filipina) 2, no. 11 (November 1917): 71.
4 This translation is mine, but it draws heavily on the English version of De los Santos’
“Andrés Bonifacio,” in Philippine Review 3, nos. 1−2 (January−February 1918): 46; and on the
translation by José M. Alejandrino in José Alejandrino, The Price of Freedom (Manila: M.
Colcol, 1949), 56–57.
5 De los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [English version], 46.
8.7
Andres Bonifacio
Notice of appointment, April 15, 1897
Photograph of the original document in Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The
Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 187.
Bonifacio and many leaders of the Magdiwang Council of the Katipunan

in Cavite refused to recognize the revolutionary government established at
the Tejeros Convention on March 22, 1897. The convention, they declared,
had been so tarnished by dishonesty and intrigue that its outcome lacked
any legitimacy. Thereafter, as this and other documents show, Bonifacio
continued to act as if he, and not Emilio Aguinaldo (who had been elected
president at Tejeros), still led the revolution and the emergent nation.
This document appoints Emilio Jacinto as commander of the army in the
Northern District of Manila (Pangulong hukbo sa dakong Hilagaan ng Maynila).
Jacinto had been using the titles head of the army (“Punong Hukbo”) and war
president (“Pangulong Digma”) in the Northern District for some months
previously, so in effect this document appoints him to a position he already
held. Its intended purpose was to reinforce Jacinto’s position by enabling
him, whenever the need arose, to show the source of his authority.
Revolutionists who acknowledged the authority of the government
established at Tejeros, needless to say, would regard Bonifacio’s action in
making such appointments as at best unauthorized and invalid, and at worst
treasonous. High-level appointments in the revolutionary army, they would
insist, were now a matter for Aguinaldo himself as the newly elected presi-
dent, or possibly for his director of war and general-in-chief.
As indicated in the transcription below, Bonifacio penned Jacinto’s name
and military title on a printed form that was designed to be used for making a
series of appointments, civil as well as military. The form affirms Bonifacio’s
authority for making such appointments in various ways. Beneath his name
at the top of the form is printed the title “President of the Sovereign Nation
of Katagalugan,” and then, as if to emphasize his unique status, “Founder of
the K. K. Katipunan of the Sons of the People and Prime Instigator of the
Revolution.” The main text makes it known that the appointment has been
made by the “Supreme Presidency of the Sovereign Nation,” and the seal at
the foot of the document, as can be seen, bears the legend “Sovereign Nation
of Katagalugan—Supreme Congress.” No less significantly, Bonifacio decrees
that the rank bestowed upon Jacinto be recognized and respected by all
subjects of the “Government of the Revolution.”
Two of these terms are not known to appear on any earlier document,
and therefore may well have been adopted by Bonifacio in the aftermath
of the Tejeros Convention and as an explicit challenge to its outcome. The
first apparent innovation is the term “Supreme Presidency” (“Kataastaasang
Panguluhan”). Although obviously very similar to Bonifacio’s long-standing
title within the Katipunan—“Supreme President” (“Kataastaasang Pangulo”),
the shift to the word “Presidency” seems to suggest an executive wing of
government, a presidential office, rather than solely the president as an indi-
vidual. The term “Presidency” (Panguluhan) was also being used at this time
by both the Magdiwang and Magdalo Councils in Cavite, and the designation
“Supreme Presidency” would therefore make more explicit the subordination
of such localized, zonal executives to the central executive, in other words, to
Bonifacio and his office.
Secondly and more plainly, the reference in the document to a
“Government of the Revolution” (“Pamahalaan nang Panghihimagsik”)
signals Bonifacio’s wish to affirm at this critical juncture that a legitimate
government did exist in the Sovereign Nation of Katagalugan. This was
not—any longer—the Supreme Council that had governed the Katipunan,
for the Katipunan was a body to which only initiates or kapatid belonged.
This was a body, like any other national government, whose authority
should be acknowledged and obeyed by each and every citizen. And most
emphatically, of course, it was not the government just recently constituted
at Tejeros.
Tagalog Text
M. ANDRES BONIFACIO MAYPAGASA

PANGULO NANG HARING BAYANG KATAGALUGAN, MAYTAYO NANG
K. K. KATIPUNAN NANG MANGA ANAK NANG BAYAN AT UNANG
NAG GALAW NANG PANGHIHIMAGSIK
SA PAGKAKILALA sa tapat na paglilingkod at pag-tatangol

sa Bayang tinubuan ni M. Emilio Jacinto Pingkian itong
Kataastaasang Panguluhan sa pag-ganap nang kaniyang
kapangyarihang tungkol, minarapat na inihalal ang nasabing
kapatid sa katungkulang Pangulong hukbo sa dakong
Hilagaan ng Maynila.
Upang mapagkilala at sundin sa buong sakop nang
Pamahalaan nang Panghihimagsik at gamitin sa kaniya ang
nararapat sa pitagan aking iginawad itong Katunayan dito sa
Kataastaasang Panguluhan nang Haring Bayan ngayong ika 15
nang Abril nang 1897.
Ang Pangulo ng Haring Bayan
.
And. . Bonifacio
Maypagasa
[Seal—“HARING-BAYANG KATAGALUGAN—
KATAASTAASANG KAPULUNGAN”]
English Translation
M. ANDRES BONIFACIO MAYPAGASA

PRESIDENT OF THE SOVEREIGN NATION OF KATAGALUGAN, FOUNDER
OF THE K. K. KATIPUNAN OF THE SONS OF THE PEOPLE AND PRIME
INSTIGATOR OF THE REVOLUTION
In recognition of the loyal service and protection given by Don Emilio Jacinto
[Pingkian] to the native land, this Supreme Presidency hereby exercises its due
authority to appoint the aforementioned brother to the position of commander of
the army in the Northern District of Manila.
In order that all those subject to the government of the Revolution may know
and comply, and accord him due respect, I make this appointment here at the
Supreme Presidency of the Sovereign Nation today the 15th of April 1897.

And.: Bonifacio
8.8
Maypagasa
Andres Bonifacio
Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 16, 1897
Facsimile of original letter in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City:
Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 146–47.
In this letter Bonifacio tells Jacinto for the first time about the Tejeros
Convention held the previous month. The meeting, he says, had ended in
chaos (gulo) and consequently had no significance (nawalang kabuluhan).
Implicit in his letter, on the other hand, is a bitter recognition that not all
the revolutionary forces still recognize the authority of the Katipunan.1
Tagalog Text
ANDRES BONIFACIO
MAYPAGASA
P. ng K. Kapulungan
Naik ika 16 ng Abril 1897

M. Emilio Jacinto Pingkian

Kgg. na Pangulong hukbo
Buhat sa mga kaguluhan dito sa pagka pasok ng kalaban sa mga bayan ng Silang,
P. Dasmarinas, Bakood, Ymus, Kawit, Noveleta, Malabon, Tansa at Salinas, ay hindi
ako bigyang panahun na makasulat sa inyo na sagutin ko ang inyong mga sulat sa
akin, gayon mag pinilit kong makasulat diyan at maipadala sa ating Kapatid na si
M. Nlltcllñllc Gxqbnrn [Antonino Guevara] na may malaking bagay na sa inyo’y
ipagsasabi.
Ang inyong ipinadala dito ay aking tinangap na dalawang tarrong polvora, isang
bayong na capsulang walang laman at tatlong pung piso. Sa sulat ay nasasabing
limang pu, datapua’t ito lamang ang idinating sa akin sa pagka’t di umano’y kinuha
uli ng Kap. na Nakpil ang dalawang pung piso.
Ang sunod sunod na pagka agaw ng kalaban sa mga bayan ng nasabi sa unahan
nito, ay buhat sa kakulangan nang pagkakaisa at pananatili ng dating kaugalian na
pag iiringan ng mga pinuno na magpahangan ngayo’y nananatili pa, kahit inaabot na
ang mahigpit na kalagayang tinatawid ng bayan.
Dito’y may tinangap na sulat si Capitang Emilio, na padala ng isang Jesuita na
nagngangalang Pio Pi at isang Kastila na si Rafael Comenge ng hindi pa na aagaw
ang Ymus, doo’y hinihikayat ang mga pinuno ng Revolucion nabigyan na ng hanga
itong paglalaban at di umano’y bibigyan tayo ng laganap na kapatawaran. Ang
nasabing Capitan Emilio ay mag ginawang Condiciones na ibig na hingin sa kaaway
na gaya ng paalisin ang mga fraile, diputados a Cortes at iba pang mga bagaybagay,
at itoy ipinahatid sa kay M. Mariano Alvarez at hinihingi ang kanyang pag ayon, itoy
isinanguni sa akin at ng hindi namin sang ayunan ay ang ginawa ng taga Ymus, ay
sinulatan ng lihim ni Cap. Emilio ang mga Pangulo sa Bayang sakop ng Magdiwang.
Ang Presidente na si M. Mariano sa mapagtalastas ito ay tumawag ng pulong
at singuni ang kalooban ng lahat, doo’y pinagkaisahang ipatuloy ang pakikilaban sa
Kastila at aagaw ng ano pamang pakikipagyari. Sa pulong na ito, ay pinagkaisahan
na ibangon ang Gobierno ng revolucion; datapuat ang kinalabasan ay gulo, sapagka’t
natuklasan ng lahat ang daya ng taga Magdalo, kayat nawalang kabuluhan ang
pulong na yaon.
Sa mga kaguluhan dito at pagkatalo, ay ang mga tao rito ay nasira ang mga loob,
at si Tirona, Kelles, Jose del Rosario na Mtro de guerra, Tte general at director de
guerra ay nang si pagprisinta na sa Kastila kasama ng makapal na pinuno at taong
bayan na taga Tansa, ito’y taong Magdalong lahat.
Sa mga kataksilang ito na namasdan ng mga kawal ni Capitang Emilio, ang lahat
halos (ng mga K) ay naglulumuhod sa akin, na silay ilayas ko na at dalhin diyan sa
atin; datapua’t hindi ko payagan ito sa pagkat ako’y naaawa sa makapal na taong
bayan na walang kasalanan ay siyang aabutin ng katakot takot na pagkaligalig at
kamatayan.
Ang mga taga Batangan ay napaiilalim sa kapangyarihan ng K.S. at kumikilala

sa ating kapangyarihan at sa makalawa ay sisimulan nila ang pagsalakay sa walong
bayan. Sa pagsalakay na ito ay humingi sa akin ng saklolo at pinadalhan ko naman ng
dalawang pung barilan at dalawang pung sandatahan at ng umaakay na General ay
ang Kapatid na si M. Artemio Ricarte.
Ang bayan ng batangan ay nagtayo na ng isang Gobierno Provincial at ang
general nila ay nag ngangalang M. Miguel Malvar, taong matalino at marahil ay
mabuti kaysa mga dating kilala nating generales dito sa Tangway.
Kung palaring makuha ang bayan ng Lipa na isa ito walong bayan papasukin,
ay doon nila ako inaayayahan lumagay at ng maitawid di umano sa Camarines
ang panghihimagsik, kayat sa bagay na ito ibig kong maalaman kung ako’y lalong
kailangan diyan ay diyan ako paparian at kung hindi ay dito ako mangangasiwa na.
Kinakailangang totoo ang tayo’y magkaroon ng continuacion sa pag galaw at ng
lumaganap na mabuti ang panghihimagsik sa Sangkapuluan, kayat ibig kong mabatid
na kung kayo’y nakasapit na sa dakong Bulakan at Nueva Ecija, at kung hindi pa ay
magiiwan ako dito ng makapangasiwa at patungo tayo doon; sa pagkat kung hindi tayo
kikilos, diya’y batid ninyo, na naririan si Vnvqrtc Llntñbñdnd [Mamerto Natividad],
ay itoy di malayong gawin sa dakong iyan ang ginawa niya ditong paninira sa atin.
Ang armas ay hindi pa dumarating mag pahangang ngayon at ito’y isa pa na
nagiging dahil[an] ng aking ikinatitigil dito.
Ang inyong ina ay na sasa Marigundong na kasama ng kanyang kamaganak
doon at wala namang ano pamang sakuna ng pinagdadaanan.
Tangapin ninyo ang aking mahigpit na yakap.
Ang K. Plo.

And... Bonifacio
Maypagasa

KAPULUNGAN”]
ANDRES BONIFACIO
MAYPAGASA
President of the Supreme Congress
Naik, April 16, 1897

Sr. Emilio Jacinto [Pingkian]

Most Respected Chief of the Army:-
Due to the turmoil here and the entry of the enemy into the towns of Silang, P.
Dasmariñas, Bacoor, Imus, Kawit, Noveleta, Malabon, Tansa, and Salinas, I have not
had time to write to you in answer to your letters to me. So I shall try hard to write a
letter there now, and the bearer will be our brother Don Antonino Guevara,3 who has
most important things to tell you.
I received what you sent me here: two cans of gunpowder, a sackful of empty
cartridge shells, and 30 pesos. In the letter it says 50, but that is all that reached me,
because again Brother Nakpil is said to have taken the 20 pesos.
The successive capture of the aforementioned towns by the enemy is due to the
unity and resolution that formerly prevailed having now been lost and spurned by the
leaders. They maintain that attitude even though the situation befalling the people is
dire.
Here Capitan Emilio has received a letter, sent by a Jesuit called Pio Pi and a
Spaniard, Rafael Comenge; this was when Imus had not yet been captured.4 The letter
urged the leaders of the Revolution to give up this cause for which we are fighting, and
said we would be given an absolute pardon. The said Capitan Emilio set out conditions
he wanted to seek from the enemy, like expulsion of the friars, deputies in the Cortes,
and other things, and relayed this to Don Mariano Alvarez,5 requesting his assent. He
consulted me, and we did not assent. What the Imus people then did was that Capitan
Emilio wrote in secret to the presidents of the towns under the Magdiwang.
President Don Mariano learned of this, and called a meeting and sounded out
everyone’s feelings. There it was resolved to continue the fight against the Spaniards
and to reject any type of reconciliation. At this meeting it was agreed to establish the
government of the revolution, but the outcome was chaos, because everybody discov-
ered the deceit of the Magdalo people, so that meeting lost any significance.
Due to the turmoil here and the defeats, the resolve of people here was broken,
and Tirona,6 Cailles,7 and José del Rosario,8 who were minister of war, lieutenant-
general, and director of war, surrendered to the Spaniards, and were followed by many
leaders and citizens from Tansa; these are all Magdalo people.
Having witnessed this treachery on the part of Capitan Emilio’s soldiers, nearly
all (the brethren) came to me on their knees asking me to let them get away, and to
take them there to our place. But I could not consent to this, because I pity the great
number of innocent citizens who would face the most dreadful troubles and slaughter.
The Batangas people are under the authority of the Supreme Council, and recog-
nize our authority. The day after tomorrow they will commence attacks on eight towns.
For this offensive they requested my assistance, and so I sent them twenty riflemen
and twenty bolo men, and the general in command is Bro. Don Artemio Ricarte.
The people of Batangas have already established a provincial government. Their
general is called Don Miguel Malvar,9 a very intelligent man, and better, perhaps, than
the generals we have so far come to know here in Tangway.10
If they have the fortune to take the town of Lipa, which is one of the eight towns
to be invaded, they will invite me to base myself there, in order to be able, as they say,
to carry the revolution into Camarines. For this reason I wish to know whether I am
more needed there, in which case I shall go there; and if not, I shall direct matters here.
It is essential for us to agree on how the resistance should best be continued
and the revolution extended throughout the Archipelago. I therefore wish to know
whether you have gone yet to Bulacan and Nueva Ecija. If not, I shall leave the direc-
torate here and we shall go there, because if we do not make a move, you know that
Mamerto Natividad11 is there, and before long he will be doing in that place what he
did here: slander us.
The arms have not yet arrived up until now, and this is yet another reason that is
detaining me here.
Your mother12 is at Maragondon together with her relative there, and no misfor-
tune whatever has befallen her.
Receive my affectionate embrace.
The Supreme President,

And... Bonifacio
Maypagasa.
1 Bonifacio specifically mentions that the Batangas units then in Cavite recognized the
authority of the Katipunan Supreme Council, the unstated corollary being that they did not
recognize Aguinaldo’s authority. His reference to the Katipunan Supreme Council at this
juncture is a little surprising, even anachronistic, because by this time he had started to issue
appointments (e.g., document 8.7) instead in the name of the Government of the Revolution
(“Pamahalaan nang Panghihimagsik”).
directly from the Tagalog, it generally retains the meaning of the original quite well. Epifanio
de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [English version], Philippine Review (Revista Filipina) 3,
nos. 1–2 (January–February 1918): 44.
3 Antonino Guevara was an ilustrado from San Pedro Tunasan, Laguna, where he leased sugar
fields on the Dominican hacienda and owned cane crushers. By his own account he went to
Manila to join the Katipunan in early August 1896—almost on the brink of the revolution—
and was introduced to the society by Mariano Crisostomo, a lawyer from Bulacan. Antonino
Guevara y Mendoza, History of One of the Initiators of the Filipino Revolution, translated from
the Spanish by O. D. Corpuz (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1988), iv–v, 4.
4 Aguinaldo had, in fact, received two separate letters broaching the possibility of peace nego-
tiations, one from the Jesuit Superior Fr. Pio Pi and the other from the fiscal general of the
colonial government, Rafael Comenge. These overtures are discussed in the commentary on
the “Naik Military Agreement” (document 8.9).
5 President of the Magdiwang Council.
6 Daniel Tria Tirona, a graduate of the Jesuit-run Escuela Normal, was studying law at the
University of Santo Tomas when the revolution broke out. He became Magdalo director of
war (“Tagapangasiua ng laban”) in November 1896, when the previous holder of that office,
his brother Candido Tria Tirona, was killed during the battle of Binakayan.
7 Juan Cailles, another graduate of the Jesuit-run Escuela Normal, had been a schoolteacher in
the town of Tanza prior to the revolution.
8 José del Rosario, the son of a former capitan municipal of Tanza, had graduated in law from
the University of Santo Tomas in 1892. His wife was the sister of Mariano Trias, the some-
time Magdiwang minister of grace and justice. Like Trias, José del Rosario had originally
been associated with the Magdiwang Council (as a colonel on the staff of Santiago Alvarez),
but prior to his surrender, as Bonifacio says, had moved over to the Magdalo camp. Bonifacio
probably errs, though, in describing him as the Magdalo “director of war.” In his subsequent
letter to Jacinto, dated April 24, he describes Del Rosario instead as the Magdalo “minister of
the interior,” which again is not corroborated by other sources.
9 Miguel Malvar came from a prominent landed family in Santo Tomas, Batangas, of which he
was the gobernadorcillo in 1890−1892. He had become prosperous in his own right as a sugar
trader, and had bought lands on the slopes of Mount Makiling and in Santo Tomas that
he planted to oranges. E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol. 1 (Quezon
City: Filipiniana Publications, 1955), 269.
10 The term “Tangway” referred originally to the Cavite peninsula, but later came to be used, as
here, to refer to the province of Cavite in general.
11 Mamerto Natividad Jr. was born in 1871 to a family that owned agricultural lands in both
Pampanga and Nueva Ecija. By the age of 13, it is said, he was supervising two of his father’s
farms in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, where he was “known for enforcing strict discipline” among
the tenants. He joined the revolutionary forces after his father Mamerto Natividad Sr.,
himself a Katipunero, had been executed by the Spaniards. He went to join the Magdalo
forces in Cavite with his two brothers in about November 1896, and they stayed for a time
in the house of the Magdalo president, Baldomero Aguinaldo, in the town of Binakayan.
E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol. 2 (Quezon City: Filipiniana
12 Josefa Dizon, who had been a midwife by occupation. Her husband Mariano Jacinto, a
tenedor de libros, had died whilst Emilio was still young.
8.9
Andres Bonifacio and others

Declaration, c. April 19, 1897 (“The Naik Military Agreement”)
Photographs of the first page of the original document in Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang Talata
tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896−1897 [1898], edited by Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press, 1996), 111; and of the second page of the document in
Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc.,
1997), 127.1
The document transcribed below, generally known as the “Naik Military

Agreement,” proclaims that “some leaders”—meaning, but not naming,
Emilio Aguinaldo and others—have betrayed the revolution, and that their
authority should therefore not be recognized by the revolutionary army. All
officers and troops, it affirms, will henceforth be united, “by persuasion or
force,” under the command of Gen. Pio del Pilar.
The contested republic

The “Naik Military Agreement” was signed by many of the same indi-
viduals —most notably Andres Bonifacio and the leaders of the Magdiwang
Council—who, four weeks earlier, on March 23, 1897, had put their names to
the so-called Acta de Tejeros (document 8.5) in a move to nullify the outcome
of the Tejeros Convention held the day before.2 They thereby denied that a
republic, or a revolutionary government, had just come into being and repu-
diated Aguinaldo’s election as president.
This action did not have any immediate effect—Aguinaldo took his oath
of office that same night, March 23—and nor did it achieve its objective in the
longer run. But for a period of about a month until April 24, the opposition
voiced in the “Acta” seems to have deterred Aguinaldo from exercising his
presidential powers or completing the formation of his cabinet.
In one of Bonifacio’s letters to Emilio Jacinto there is an intriguing
passage in which he relates that Magdiwang representatives had met with
Aguinaldo shortly after he had sworn his oath as president and had persuaded
him “to resign the office of which he wanted to possess himself.” Aguinaldo
had then issued a circular to all the towns in Cavite, according to Bonifacio,
acknowledging that the elections at Tejeros had been invalid and affirming
that the relationship between the Magdiwang and Magdalo Councils should
therefore revert to its former basis.3
No copy of Aguinaldo’s circular has yet been found, but a letter written
by Mariano Trias, who had been elected vice president at Tejeros, is evidently
phrased along the same lines. It is the first document to come to light that
corroborates Bonifacio’s version of events. Dated April 3, 1897, the letter is
addressed to the town president of Amadeo, a town within the Magdalo zone
of Cavite. Trias writes as follows:
In relation, sir, to your message dated the first of the present month, now received
here, enquiring about the leaders recently mandated by the two councils acting
together at our convention at the Hacienda of Tejero, and duly ratified by us at
the Convento of Tansa, and [asking] whether it has really been agreed that the
leadership should again be as before, and that the aforesaid meeting of ours has
no standing. This is all true, because Capitan Emilio Aguinaldo, Daniel Tirona,
Mariano Alvarez, Diego Moxica, Ariston Villanueva, Mariano Trias, Andres
Bonifacio, Vicente Arnaldo, and Padre Manuel Trias4 are now truly united in
endorsing the authority of the aforementioned former leaders in all the areas
under their jurisdiction, with the exception that the General in command of all
the soldiers is to be Sr. Artemio Ricarte, Vivora, and not Santiago Alvarez, Apoy.5
Eleven days before he wrote this letter, Mariano Trias had taken his oath
of office as vice president of the Philippine Republic, but he does not sign
this letter as vice president. He signs it as “Ministro de Gracia y Justicia,” the
position he held in the Magdiwang Council. Aguinaldo, similarly, despite
having just taken his oath as president of the Republic, was at the same time
still using his Magdalo title, “Pangulong Digma” (President of War) and his
letters still bore a Magdalo ink stamp rather than any mark of the Republic.6
This was not due merely to oversight or force of habit. At this moment
Aguinaldo and Trias accepted—publicly if not privately, pro tempore if not
permanently—that their election as president and vice president on March 22,
and their assumption of office on March 23, lacked legitimacy.
History books tend to overlook this hiatus in the formation of the
Republic, thereby making events seem more straightforward than they actu-
ally were. The outcome of the Tejeros elections, as Bonifacio told Jacinto, was
indeed abrogated by both sides. Though the convention was a crucial step
in Aguinaldo’s ascendancy over Bonifacio, it was not as conclusive as has
been supposed. Aguinaldo recognized that it would be judicious to defer his
assumption of presidential powers until such time as the postelection recrim-
inations had subsided and the dissentients had been mollified or neutralized.
It remains beyond doubt, however, that Aguinaldo wanted to assume

the position of president just as soon as he could overcome the challenge to
his authority from Bonifacio and the Magdiwang camp.7 He and his allies
finally prevailed only in the days that followed, not by any democratic process
(which the Spanish offensive made less and less feasible) but by political
maneuvering and by gaining a decisive predominance amongst the officers
and ranks of the revolutionary armies.
Military crisis
The factionalism within revolutionary ranks reached this fateful climax
amidst a grave and deepening military crisis. When the Tejeros Convention
met on March 22, 1897, only two towns in Cavite had been recaptured by the
Spanish enemy—Silang and Dasmariñas, both within the Magdalo Council’s
area of jurisdiction. But the pace of the Spanish advance then suddenly
quickened, and all the liberated territory in the north of the province was
lost within the space of little more than two weeks. Imus, the Magdalo
capital, fell on March 25, and San Francisco de Malabon, which served both
as the Magdiwang capital and as Bonifacio’s headquarters, fell on April 6.
In desperate defensive battles the Magdalo and Magdiwang armies both
suffered heavy casualties, as did the contingent under Bonifacio’s personal
command, sometimes known as the Balara troops.8
Retreating southwestwards, the revolutionists came to a halt during the
second week of April 1897, in the town of Naik, which hitherto had nominally
been within the Magdiwang Council’s area of jurisdiction. Here the three
groups each sought to regather their military strength and assert a measure
of political authority: (i) Emilio Aguinaldo, president-elect of the contested
Republic, and his allies, supported by the Magdalo army; (ii) Mariano
Alvarez, his son Santiago Alvarez, and other Magdiwang partisans who did
not recognize the Republic; and (iii) Andres Bonifacio, the titular president
of the Sovereign Nation of Katagalugan, and his associates, who likewise did
not recognize the Republic. These three groups found themselves through
force of circumstance not only in the same small town, but also at times in
the very same building, the casa hacienda of the Recollect-owned Naik estate.9
This conjuncture lasted for only a matter of days—roughly from April 9 to
April 19—but was critical to the outcome of the internecine struggle, for it
set the seal on Aguinaldo’s ascendancy, the Magdiwang’s dissolution and
Bonifacio’s isolation.
Looking back, we know that the internal discord culminated in tragedy.
Before the month of April came to an end, Bonifacio had been arrested and
imprisoned by Aguinaldo’s troops, and within another ten days he had been
tried by a military court for plotting to overthrow the government, found
guilty, sentenced to death and executed. But hindsight should not force the
conclusion that this grim denouement was inevitable, or could have been
foretold from the moment Aguinaldo had been elected president at Tejeros.
Soon after the revolutionists arrived in Naik, recounts Santiago Alvarez, there
was a tense confrontation between Aguinaldo and Bonifacio, but it ended
with the two leaders embracing and the onlookers feeling elated that fraternal
fellowship and solidarity had been rekindled “among comrades united in a
common cause.”10 For about a week, Alvarez writes, a spirit of “close broth-
erly co-operation” prevailed.11
Rifles and commissions

This reconciliation was not in any way superficial or bogus, at least on the
part of Bonifacio and the Magdiwang leaders. Demonstrating their goodwill
and trust in the most practical manner possible, they authorized the troops
under their command to lend a substantial number of firearms to Magdalo
soldiers. Since nobody willingly hands a gun to an enemy, they cannot at
this point have regarded the Magdalo soldiers as enemies, actual or poten-
tial. They saw them as comrades, literally as comrades-in-arms, whose most
immediate and paramount concern, like theirs, was to defend themselves and
the town of Naik against a Spanish attack, which was expected imminently.
When the Magdalo soldiers asked to borrow the guns, Santiago Alvarez
relates, he as captain general of the Magdiwang army, other Magdiwang
leaders, and Bonifacio, gave their consent unanimously and gladly. Their own
troops, he recalls, were still fatigued from their recent battle to defend San
Francisco de Malabon, whereas the Magdalo troops had rested for a few days
and were ready to return to the field. As firearms were scarce, it made sense
from a military standpoint to lend the guns to the Magdalo soldiers, who
would otherwise go to the front armed only with bolos, spears, or daggers.
The Magdiwang units accordingly handed over most of their guns—about
two-thirds, Alvarez estimates—to the Magdalo soldiers, and the Balara troops
under Bonifacio’s command did the same. As agreed, the Magdalo troops
then departed with the guns and took up defensive positions in the trenches
that had been dug around the approaches to the town.12
The Spanish attack, however, did not materialize as soon as anticipated.
The Spanish commander, General Lachambre, was recalled to Manila to serve
as acting governor general, and there was a lull in the fighting for about three
weeks, until the beginning of May.13 This brief respite gave the Magdiwang
and Balara troops sufficient time to rest, and after a week or so they asked for
their weapons back. But the Magdalo soldiers refused, saying that they had
been ordered by their officers not to return the guns to Magdiwang or Balara
hands. Some of the soldiers to whom the rifles had been loaned, moreover,
no longer had them, because their officers had requisitioned them, or had
ordered that they be given to other Magdalo men.14 When the Magdiwang
leaders and Bonifacio had authorized the loan of the firearms, Alvarez
remembers bitterly, “nobody had any inkling or foreboding of the utter injus-
tice that would result from the sincere gesture of friendship they offered.”15
A large number of Magdiwang and Balara troops had in effect been
disarmed. To have a chance of bearing rifles again, it immediately became
clear, they would be required to leave their units and enlist in the Magdalo
army, which was in the process of becoming the army of the revolutionary
government.16 The Magdalo commanders, says Alvarez, went around the
Magdiwang units distributing commissions in the Magdalo army to any
soldier, regardless of rank, who was willing to join.17
The loss of weapons, Alvarez relates, deepened a decline in Magdiwang
strength that had begun some two months earlier. In early February, the
Magdiwang minister of welfare and justice, Mariano Trias, had defected to
the Magdalo army, accepting the rank of lieutenant-general and taking with
him two senior officers, Mariano San Gabriel and Julian Montalan, and
their respective troop detachments.18 Trias also persuaded Emiliano Riego
de Dios, the Magdiwang minister of welfare, to defect as well, which in turn
very likely led to the secession of forces from his home town of Maragondon,
whose officers included his brothers Vicente and Mariano Riego de Dios.19
By the time of the Tejeros Convention in March, it is clear that 2,000 or more
soldiers from towns in Batangas that were nominally within the Magdiwang
area of jurisdiction had also shifted to the Magdalo camp under the direction
of their officers, notably Santiago Rillo.20 Emilio Aguinaldo, in his memoirs,
recalls the Magdalo forces being joined at about the same time by Juan
Cailles, a colonel from the Magdiwang town of Tanza, and by Maj. Gregorio
Jocson and his troops from the Magdiwang town of Naik.21
Cumulatively, these defections tipped the balance of strength between
the two armies. The Magdiwang, initially the stronger, became much the
weaker. In January 1897, Alvarez estimates, the Magdiwang had about 3,400
men with guns, while the Magdalo had about 2,000. But by March or April
the number of men with guns in the Magdiwang ranks had dwindled to
about 400, while the Magdalo army could count as many as 5,000 men under
arms.22
Though it pains him to do so, Alvarez frankly admits that the Magdalo
ascendancy—political as well as military—sprang in part from the deficiencies
of his own side. “A hidden, grave disease,” he writes, “crept in little by little
to vitiate the Magdiwang government and the Supreme Council of the Sons
of the People headed by the Supremo Andres Bonifacio….and were it not for
their sworn dedication to defending the freedom of the Mother Country, it
might perhaps be said they were undone by stupidity or incompetence.”23

Alvarez neither details the symptoms of the “disease” nor gives any examples
of “stupidity or incompetence,” and latter-day historians can only speculate
about what he means.
When he turns from the causes to the consequences of the Magdiwang
army’s decline, however, Alvarez is far clearer. The Magdalo command’s
refusal to return the rifles borrowed from the Magdiwang and Balara troops,
he indicates, virtually sounded the death knell of the Magdiwang army
as a separate command. As the bulk of their forces were absorbed into the
Magdalo army, he and his senior officers were left in control of little more
than a rump or remnant. Bonifacio, meanwhile, found his position and influ-
ence “virtually negated.”24 People who came to the casa hacienda in Naik to
seek assistance, advice, or arbitration on some matter were no longer able to
see him. They were directed instead, Alvarez relates, to the rooms occupied by
the embryonic government of the Philippine Republic. The way to Bonifacio’s
door was literally blocked, presumably by armed guards.25
The charge of treason

Bonifacio and the Magdiwang leaders thus found themselves deliber-
ately marginalized, and the Naik Military Agreement might be seen as their
last, forlorn attempt to reverse the tide. But unless further evidence comes
to light, we shall never know for certain what impelled the signatories. The
Agreement itself, a very brief document probably drafted in haste, condenses
the reasons for branding “certain leaders” as traitors in a single sentence.
The traitors, it says, had broken the unity of the revolutionary forces—an
accusation that perhaps embodies the signatories’ overall resentment at the
Magdalo ascendancy. The traitors had deceived or tempted away (pag hibo)
the soldiers—an accusation that probably expresses the particular resentment
stirred by the dispute over rifles and commissions. And, most crucially, they
had betrayed the revolution by coming to an agreement with the Spanish
enemy (pag ayon sa kaauay na Kastila).
The charge of treason sprang in part from Aguinaldo’s reaction some
weeks earlier to letters he received from two Spaniards urging a negotiated
peace, one from Rafael Comenge, the fiscal general of the colonial govern-
ment, and the other from Fr. Pio Pi, superior of the Society of Jesus, who
wrote at the behest of the auditor general of the army. In his letter, dated
March 14, Father Pi asked Aguinaldo whether he would be willing to meet
the auditor general or some other representative of the government to discuss
a cessation of hostilities. “It may well be,” he wrote, “that among your own
desires and objectives, there are some which are just and merit attention: if
regarding these complaints some agreement should be reached which would
terminate the war, I am certain that an immediate amnesty would be granted,

with more liberal terms than the amnesty already given.”26
The day after he received the letter, Aguinaldo later recalled, he asked its
bearer to show it also to Bonifacio and the Magdiwang Council. Bonifacio’s
reaction, the word got back to Aguinaldo, was to ask angrily “Why was this
letter written to Capitan Emilio and not to me?”27 According to Bonifacio
himself, Aguinaldo was willing to abandon the revolution provided the
Spanish government agreed to expel the friars from the Islands, to give repre-
sentation to the Philippines in the Cortes, and to grant certain other conces-
sions. When the Magdiwang Council and Bonifacio categorically rejected his
proposal that the revolutionists should embark on peace talks on this basis,
Aguinaldo wrote without the Magdiwang Council’s knowledge to the town
presidents within the Magdiwang’s area of jurisdiction to sound out their
views on a negotiated peace.28
Aguinaldo replied to Father Pi’s letter on March 17. He specified nothing
about the terms or concessions he wished to discuss, but said he was willing to
meet “any delegate of [the colonial] government who comes to the territory
under my command,” and he suggested Tuesday, March 24, as a convenient
date.29 If Bonifacio was annoyed that the Spanish authorities, through Father
Pi, had approached Aguinaldo rather than himself as the foremost leader of
the revolution, he would have been even more incensed had he known that
Aguinaldo spoke in his reply about “the Republic” and “the government of
which I am head”—five days before a republic had been initiated, or he had
been elected as its president, at the Tejeros Convention.
At that convention, on March 22, the Spanish peace overtures were
debated, Bonifacio argued strongly against conciliation, and the delegates, he
told Jacinto, had overwhelmingly backed his view that the fight should go on,
that freedom was not negotiable.30
At more or less the same time, in any event, the Spanish auditor general
decided not to pursue the idea of talks with Aguinaldo. Perhaps he and other
Spanish officials felt they lacked the proper authority, and needed first to get
directions from the government in Madrid.31 More crucially, though, they
may have believed that victories on the battlefield would very soon render
talks and concessions unnecessary. The capture of the town of Imus on
March 25, in particular, was hailed by the Spaniards as “the fall of the insur-
recto capital,” heralding the day when the flag of Spain would again fly trium-
phant over Cavite and when nothing of the rebellion would remain “except
the memory of its aberrations and outrages.” Hoping to hasten that day and
to minimize further bloodshed, Governor General Polavieja issued a procla-
mation on March 26, offering an amnesty or pardon to all insurgents who laid
down their arms in the next two weeks.32
The response in the Magdalo camp to the amnesty proclamation,

Bonifacio notified Jacinto, was “despicable.” Daniel Tirona, the minister of
war, had traitorously accepted the pardon (nag si suklob sa indulto) and gone
over to the Spaniards. So, too, had two military commanders, Juan Cailles
and José del Rosario, and nearly all the people in the town of Tanza, including
the parish priest, the whole lot of them henchmen and partisans of Aguinaldo
(kabig o partidos ni Capitan Emilio).33 Soon afterwards, another member of
the Magdalo cabinet—Cayetano Topacio, the minister of finance—had been
caught as he was about to flee the liberated zone. Presumably hoping to
ingratiate himself with the Spaniards, he was taking with him two Spanish
prisoners and a Spanish woman. Bonifacio had ordered his men to tie up
Topacio, who was subsequently tried before a council of war. But he had not
been punished, Bonifacio reported to Jacinto, because of the “favoritism” that
prevailed in Cavite and “people covering up for each other.”34
Bonifacio’s letters thus confirm that the charge of treason leveled against
Aguinaldo and his allies rested on two main counts. First, the Aguinaldo
camp had signaled their willingness to enter into peace negotiations with
the Spaniards, to abandon the cause of freedom and to settle instead for a
list of reforms and concessions. And then, second, some amongst them had
hastily accepted the Spanish offer of amnesty, and instead of being punished
their capitulation had been practically condoned. Bonifacio mentioned these
two issues when he wrote to Jacinto on April 16, and reiterated them in much
the same manner when he wrote again on April 24. Since the Naik Military
Agreement was signed between those dates—on or around April 19—it is safe
to conclude that its signatories were more inflamed by these issues than any
other.
No doubt the indictment was embellished by flying rumors and fanciful
suppositions, but its force stemmed, too, from a certain political logic. The
premise that Aguinaldo and his allies had become “traitors” vindicated
the efforts of Bonifacio and the Magdiwang leaders to nullify the outcome
of the Tejeros Convention, and intensified their outrage at the loss of their
firearms. Why, some asked, had Aguinaldo’s partisans been so determined
to win control of the Republic instituted at Tejeros? Why had the officers of
the Magdalo army so adamantly refused to return the rifles loaned by the
Magdiwang troops and the Balara men? Why would they want to head a
Republic, or to command its army, if they were predisposed to abandon the
cause of liberty, to accept the Spanish amnesty? If Aguinaldo and his allies
were indeed traitors, according to this hostile logic, there could be only one
answer. They were not content to yield to the enemy just as individuals, or to
lay down just their own weapons. They wanted every revolutionist to abandon
the struggle; they wanted the entire revolutionary army to be disarmed and
disbanded. “Many people,” Bonifacio told Jacinto, “strongly suspect that

they strive so hard to get control of the government in order to surrender the
whole Revolution.”35
The meeting at the casa hacienda

Convinced that the revolution was being betrayed, Bonifacio and the
Magdiwang leaders hurried to preempt the betrayal. They needed to alert
other revolutionists to the danger, and most urgently they needed to persuade
the officers and troops of the Magdalo army that their own commander-in-
chief was double-dealing. Every officer and soldier in the army headed by the
“traitor” Aguinaldo, they hoped, would see that they had a patriotic duty to
defect, and to transfer their allegiance to an army headed by commanders
who remained steadfast to the cause. If the Magdalo army could be won
over, they visualized, Aguinaldo would be left discredited and isolated, and
the forces of the revolution would remain intact to fight and win another day.
Their ambition, in short, was to depose Aguinaldo by a putsch, a coup of the
state as yet unborn.
The scheme had a very modest, very momentary success. Two senior
Magdalo generals—Pio del Pilar and Mariano Noriel—found the case against
Aguinaldo plausible, and decided to turn against him. Recognizing the value
of their defection, and hopeful that it might prompt a general exodus from
the Magdalo ranks, Bonifacio and the Magdiwang leaders designated Pio
del Pilar as captain general of the new army rather than one of their own
generals, and they also gave Noriel a position befitting his seniority.
On or about April 19, the plotters met at the casa hacienda in Naik to
constitute the new army, to confirm Pio del Pilar’s appointment as its head,
and, presumably, to discuss strategy and tactics, to decide exactly how to
proceed.
At this point, regrettably, it becomes impossible to know both sides of
the story. Bonifacio does not mention the meeting in the letter he wrote to
Jacinto on April 24, and neither do Santiago Alvarez or Artemio Ricarte—two
other prominent participants—in their respective memoirs. The only first-
hand accounts that mention the meeting, so far as is known, both come from
the camp the signatories of the Naik Military Agreement denounced as trai-
torous, one written by Lazaro Macapagal, a major in the Magdalo army, and
the second by none other than Aguinaldo himself.36
Macapagal recalls that on the day in question he had been assigned by
Aguinaldo to head a scouting mission in the hills to the south of Naik. He
took along sixty men with rifles, and they spent the day exploring the terrain
and planning what route the army should take if it was forced to retreat
from Naik in the face of a concerted Spanish attack. When they returned to
the town that evening, they were intercepted by one of Macapagal’s fellow
officers. The officer told Macapagal that Gen. Pio del Pilar had given orders
that the scouting party should proceed directly to the casa hacienda, where
the troops would be reviewed (rerevistahin) and some food had been prepared.
Once they reached the estate house compound, Macapagal relates, the
soldiers were divided into three companies to get their meal ration in turn.
A colonel, Escolastico Salandanan, then appeared with Ciriaco Bonifacio, the
brother of the Supremo. The colonel ordered the first group of men to follow
him upstairs to be fed, but Ciriaco remained downstairs, apparently keeping
watch. When the colonel came downstairs again, he faced the rest of the
soldiers and said “Attention. Listen, from now on, I (pointing a finger to his
breast) will be your officer in command. Whomever I order you to shoot, you
must shoot him at once, ha?” he shouted loudly. “Yes, Sir,” they answered.
He then commanded the second group of men to follow him upstairs, and
Ciriaco again stayed with the remainder. The next time Colonel Salandanan
came down the stairs he was accompanied by a group of armed Balara men,
who he posted at the gate, ordering them to shoot anyone who tried to enter
or leave the compound without his permission. Once the guards were in place,
he brought the last lot of Magdalo men upstairs, but left Macapagal behind
in the compound with Ciriaco still on guard. Referring to himself in his narra-
tive as “the major,” Macapagal continues:
For quite some time, the major paced back and forth between the door [of the
estate house] and the horse stables….he felt uneasy and wondered why such
things happened….[He could not get out of the compound] because the guards
at the gate would shoot him…. The Supremo’s brother was also watching him….
Whilst [the major] was still pacing between the stable and the door…Ciriaco
[went to sit on a bench] with some of the guards at the gate. The major went on
walking back and forth, sometimes glancing at his guard so that once the guard
was not looking he could escape….[Eventually] he saw Ciriaco looking the other
way….[The major] was then near a handrail which served as a division between
the horses in the stable. With lightning speed, while his guard was not looking,
he climbed the handrail, lifted himself up the wall and was able to jump down
outside. Being free, he could now run to the house where General Aguinaldo was
staying to inform him of what had happened.37
Upon hearing Macapagal’s breathless, startling news, Aguinaldo imme-

diately ordered troops to hasten to the casa hacienda and take up positions
around the perimeter walls. There they waited, Macapagal says, “for the signal
to attack and massacre (puksain) all those who had treacherously captured
the Magdalo soldiers.”38 As soon as he received word that everything was
set, Aguinaldo went to the scene, and after discussing the situation with his
officers he walked up to the gate with two of his generals and a small detach-
ment of troops. The officer of the guard halted them, but very courteously:
“Please, sir, do not feel offended, but nobody is allowed to enter. Those are
the orders of the Supremo.”39 “Is that so?” Aguinaldo responded. “Why, is it
a secret what they are doing upstairs? Why should they exclude even us who
are comrades in the defense of our country? Those orders must only apply to
strangers and the enemies of our country, but you know me, don’t you?” he
asked the officer.40
“I do know you, sir,” the guard replied, and he let Aguinaldo and his
companions pass. Ordering the others to remain within the compound, and
only to move if they heard him fire a signal shot, Aguinaldo walked on alone
to the estate house door, where he was again halted by a guard and again
allowed to pass. Once inside the building, he crept upstairs to the room where
Bonifacio and the Magdiwang leaders were meeting. Looking through a
small crack in the closed door, he saw Bonifacio reading out an anonymous
letter. The letter alleged that he, Aguinaldo, was planning to surrender all the
weapons held by the revolutionists in Cavite to the Spanish government, as
requested by Rafael Comenge and Fr. Pio Pi. Aguinaldo was about to confirm
the surrender, the letter claimed, in a message to Acting Governor General
Lachambre, which would be carried to Manila by a Spaniard who was then
being detained, though in comfortable circumstances, by one of the senior
Magdalo commanders.41
What most surprised and alarmed Aguinaldo was the presence at the
meeting of the Magdalo generals Pio del Pilar and Mariano Noriel. From their
facial expressions, he writes, he could see that they were carried away by the
anonymous letter, which they scrutinized very closely. And then Aguinaldo
heard Bonifacio say “I hope that our new Captain General, Pio del Pilar… will
act diligently and with the utmost haste will put an end to the factional divi-
sions, so that all the troops of our government can be united into a single
army!”42
At this point, Bonifacio’s brother Procopio suddenly appeared at
Aguinaldo’s side. “So, you are here!!!” Procopio exclaimed. “Look who’s here,
listening to our meeting!” he shouted out, pushing open the door. Aguinaldo
took four paces into the room and greeted the astonished gathering with a
polite “Good evening to you all.” Andres Bonifacio, who was presiding over
the meeting, responded with equal politeness. “Come in and listen to our
meeting,” he said. “Thank you,” Aguinaldo replied, “but if you really needed
me, then you should have invited me, in which case I would have joined you
without hesitation. So, I bid you all farewell, sirs.”
Quickly he left the room and went looking for the Magdalo troops who
had gone to the estate house after being promised an evening meal. He
found some of the men, confined in pitch darkness, behind the first door he
unlocked, and told them to go to the outside balcony and await further orders
or his signal shot. Ciriaco Bonifacio then came looking for him, saying his
brother Andres wanted him to return to the meeting. Aguinaldo followed
Ciriaco back to the meeting room, but again made his excuses and wished
everyone a firm “Goodnight.” He resumed his search of the house and its
bodegas, and was eventually able to locate and liberate all the remaining
Magdalo troops. Whilst he was doing this, he says, a soldier came running
with news that Andres Bonifacio and almost everyone else who had been at
the meeting had just hustled down the stairs, across the compound and off
into the night. “It was good things happened that way,” Aguinaldo reflects,
“because it avoided a fight with our fellow revolutionists, the spilling of our
blood, all for the sake of just one person!”43
“For the sake of just one person.” Aguinaldo wrote his memoir thirty or
more years after the event, but it is clear that his words do faithfully reflect
his feelings at the time, and the thinking that guided his response. He held
Andres Bonifacio alone culpable for instigating the failed coup. Everyone
else he was prepared not necessarily to forgive, but at least to conciliate, to
attempt to win over.
Apologies
Aguinaldo’s first priority was to deal with the plotters from within his
own camp, Pio del Pilar and Mariano Noriel. They had remained at the casa
hacienda when Bonifacio and the Magdiwang leaders had suddenly departed,
and Aguinaldo summoned them as soon as all the detained Magdalo troops
had been set free and were eating their long-delayed supper. The two generals
came straight away, he recalls, but understandably they felt apprehensive and
embarrassed. He assured them immediately that he bore no grudges against
them, and did not propose to punish them in any way, not even to strip them
of their rank. He accepted that it was only their deep patriotism that had
led them to switch their allegiance. Placed in their position, he said, he too
might have been swayed by Bonifacio’s rhetoric and might have accepted a
high position in his army. But, he avowed, the allegations of Bonifacio and
the contents of the anonymous letter were lies, the inventions of people with
dirty consciences (maruruming budhi), people who were more interested in
factionalism (magkahati-hati) and intrigue than in “delivering our Mother
Country from enslavement.”
When he had finished this little peroration, says Aguinaldo, the generals
both exclaimed “Mother of Christ!” They admitted that what he had said was
true, and thanked him effusively for saving them from their folly and sparing
their lives. “We were blinded by false promises, sir,” they said. “We own our
mistake.” The misunderstanding, Aguinaldo concludes, was patched up, and
the matter was closed.44
Departures
Bonifacio, meanwhile, left town that same night.45 Together with his
brothers and the Balara men he went to the neighboring municipality of
Indang, from where he wrote to Jacinto saying that he was intending to return
to the vicinity of Manila. So long as he remained in Cavite, he recognized
bleakly, his life was in serious danger, not so much from the Spanish enemy as
from the “leaders here, most of whom have wicked intentions.”46 Two of his
closest Katipunan associates from Manila, Francisco Carreon and Alejandro
Santiago, also went to Indang, as did a handful of the Magdiwang parti-
sans who were most implacably opposed to Aguinaldo’s leadership, notably
Ariston Villanueva, Diego Mojica, and Santos Nocon. Another key signatory
of the Naik Military Agreement, the mercurial Artemio Ricarte, also headed
off, claiming he was going to assist the revolutionists in Batangas.47
Co-option
The exodus of his most refractory antagonists made it easier for
Aguinaldo to take the next step in consolidating his authority, which was to
propitiate the relatively less refractory Magdiwang leaders who had remained
in Naik. Meeting them individually and in groups, he was able within the
space of two or three days to convince them, as he had convinced his two
dissident generals, that he was not about to betray the revolution and that
he wanted them at his side, serving the nation, in government or in battle.48
Most importantly, Aguinaldo persuaded the Magdiwang leaders still
in Naik to accept at last the legitimacy of the Republic instituted at Tejeros
on March 22, and his election as its president, and they agreed to collabo-
rate with him and his fellow Magdalo leaders in completing the business left
unfinished at Tejeros. The Republic did not have to be held in abeyance any
longer.
Belatedly, some minutes (acta) were produced as a formal record of
the decisions taken at Tejeros, and the Magdiwang leaders accepted their
validity, thereby recanting their previous insistence that the convention’s
decisions were null and void.49 They also allowed that, in accordance with
these “acta,” the five still-vacant positions in the cabinet should be filled by
people who held the trust of the president (dapat maguing mga taung katiuala
ng Presidente). Rather than hold elections to fill the positions, they agreed, it
was therefore better to leave it to Aguinaldo to appoint whoever he wished
(ipagpaubaya sa sariling palagay).50
Aguinaldo now felt secure enough to be magnanimous towards his

erstwhile critics. Pursuing his strategy of conciliation and co-option almost
to an extreme degree, he appointed Mariano Alvarez, the president of
the Magdiwang Council, to the post of Director de Fomento; and Jacinto
Lumbreras, the Magdiwang minister of state, to be his Director de Estado. His
appointees as Director de Gobernación and Director de Gracia y Justicia, respec-
tively Pascual Alvarez and Severino de las Alas, were also former Magdiwang
members, though they had distanced themselves from the council some weeks
before, around the time of the Tejeros Convention.51 More surprisingly still,
Aguinaldo permitted Artemio Ricarte to retain his position as captain general
(or General en Jefe) of the republic’s armed forces. Ricarte had been elected to
this position at Tejeros on March 22, but after swearing his oath of office on
March 23, had issued a formal protest that he had only done so under duress.
Subsequently, as we have noted, he had signed the Naik Military Agreement,
and at the time the government was being formed he was not even around.
On April 24, at eight o’clock in the morning, Mariano Alvarez, Jacinto
Lumbreras, and two of the other new ministers swore their oaths of office
in front of Aguinaldo, and an hour later the cabinet held its first session.52
Around the same date, maybe later that same day, a larger, more open meeting
was held to announce that the Republic conceived at Tejeros had now been
born. According to the historian Teodoro M. Kalaw, the revolutionists agreed
at this assembly to reorganize the army, forming “new fighting units” (which
were presumably intended to integrate the hitherto separate Magdalo and
Magdiwang commands) and adopting a single set of rules governing ranks
and commissions.53 The insignia, salutes, and signals of the army are likewise
said to have been revised and standardized.54 And the flag of the revolution,
it was agreed, should have as its central symbol a “mythological sun” (i.e., a
sun with a human face) rather than the “baybayin K within a sun” hitherto
employed throughout the Katipunan.55
The Republic affirmed

Having quieted the dissenters in Naik, the pro tempore headquarters of
the revolution, Aguinaldo next wanted to ensure his authority was recognized
elsewhere. The moment his government was in place, he instructed his clerks
to make copies of a circular for dispatch to the town presidents in all the
municipalities that couriers could readily reach. Writing for the first time on
notepaper bearing the rubric “Republica Filipina—Presidencia” he warned the
town chiefs that any lack of support for, or even indifference to, the govern-
ment would not be tolerated. “Having been elected President of our Nation,”
he informed them, “at a meeting held in [San Francisco de] Malabon on the
22nd of March, I have begun from this day, the 24th of the present month, to
exercise the responsibilities of the aforesaid Office.”56 “I wish to impress upon

you,” he pronounced,
[T]hat in the fulfillment of its duties the Government must be supported by

everyone, and that if you give it your assistance you will deserve not only the
thanks of the whole country but mine as well; but, on the other hand, if you
should fail to give me the assistance which I request of you my regret will be great,
for I shall consider your indifference to matters affecting our country as a sign of
a lack of patriotism, which will be punished with the utmost severity and without
delay.57
It may be telling that a copy of the same circular was individually

addressed to the president of the regional government of Batangas, Miguel
Malvar.58 Earlier in the month, Malvar had been in Cavite, staying in
Indang—the municipality to the east of Naik—whilst he made prepara-
tions to launch an offensive in his own province. Word had gone round that
Bonifacio had visited Malvar at this time, and Aguinaldo had good reason to
suspect that Bonifacio saw Malvar as a potential ally in the internecine power
struggle. On April 16, Bonifacio had written to Jacinto that the leaders of the
Batangas regional government acknowledged his authority and placed them-
selves under [napaiilalim] the Katipunan Supreme Council. Their general,
Malvar, he confided, was a “better man” than “the generals here in Cavite.”
Very shortly, Bonifacio continued, the Batangueños were intending to launch
simultaneous attacks on the Spanish garrisons in eight towns, and he was
sending forty of his own troops to the province to join them in battle.59
The adherence of the Batangas revolutionists to the Katipunan, however,
was not as solid or unambiguous as Bonifacio wanted to believe. Malvar’s
main intent was simply to fight the Spaniards, and to this end he was willing
to forge alliances with anyone who could help.60 Whilst he was securing
troops from Bonifacio he was simultaneously appealing to Aguinaldo for
ammunition, powder, and lead for refilling spent cartridges, and for two
gunsmiths who could repair faulty rifles. He also repeatedly asked Aguinaldo
for supplies of rice to feed his troops.61 Even if Malvar had been inclined
to support Bonifacio, moreover, he would not have had the backing of the
Batangas regional government as a whole. His interior minister, Santiago
Rillo, had been one of the prime movers behind Aguinaldo’s election at
Tejeros, and had subsequently taken it upon himself to be the president’s eyes
and ears in the Batangas government. “It is said,” he warned Aguinaldo, “that
General Malvar…is borrowing rifles from the Supremo. That being the case,
you must summon him in order that you may have a talk with him. I shall be
on the alert with regard to the other chiefs here in Batangas….”62
It is not known whether Aguinaldo did summon Malvar for a cautionary

chat, or whether his April 24 circular had the desired effect, but there is no
record of any further contact between Malvar and Bonifacio, and no question
that Malvar fully accepted the authority of the new government.
Acquiescence
Once the Magdiwang leaders in Naik had decided to support and partici-
pate in the new government, those who had left the town in the wake of the
abortive coup obviously had a difficult choice to make. Continued resistance
to Aguinaldo, in effect, would now mean breaking as well with their own asso-
ciates, including their relatives and friends, and in the short term was likely
to be both dangerous and fruitless. Bonifacio had made it known that he had
decided to leave Cavite for the north, and Ricarte had already headed off to
the south. Realistically, the only options for the Magdiwang holdouts were
either to make their own peace with Aguinaldo or to depart the scene them-
selves, perhaps to fight elsewhere or perhaps just to lie low.
At this point, the preeminent figure among the holdouts was Santiago
Alvarez, son of Mariano, cousin of Pascual, and captain general of the
dwindling Magdiwang army. He decided that the confrontation must be
brought to a stop. Thirty years later, he explained his thinking at the time
very cogently in his memoirs, and surely his views would have been shared
by many others. So desperate was the military crisis, he recalls saying to the
Magdiwang general Luciano San Miguel, so great the danger of defeat, that
unity had become paramount.
Right now, the enemy is overwhelming us; we are weak and without strong
defenses. We shall be forced to withdraw to scattered encampments in the moun-
tains and the back country, each one fending for himself. If we are not united,
there will not be the single Government we need to implement our common
decisions. The result will be chaos; our plans and policies will be divergent and
partisan. What nation will have dealings with us if this happens, if we carry on
our Revolution but our laws are enacted the benefit of selfish interests and not for
the Country and the cause of Liberty?63
In such dire circumstances, Alvarez recalls telling San Miguel, “I recog-

nize the establishment of the ‘Philippine Republic’ wholeheartedly and gladly,
even though my reason and convictions led me to oppose it.”64 Likewise, he
continued,
I hail the well-deserved promotion of Artemio Ricarte to the position of captain

general, and welcome, too, the worthy appointment of the president of the
Magdiwang, Mariano M. Alvarez, to his new post of minister of welfare, an office

that he is serving well, although he is suffering from rheumatism and is pres-
ently unable to go to his office. I myself am continuing to serve, although it is not
me who is the general in chief of the ‘R. Filipina’ but General “Vibora.” I am still
with the Magdiwang army up to now, but I cannot say that we should keep our
Army separate from theirs, because I believe in Unity and not in “Everybody for
himself.”65
Alvarez remembers this discussion as having taken place on April 29, the
day after Bonifacio had been arrested by Aguinaldo’s troops and imprisoned
in the Naik estate house. San Miguel had just told him that some Magdiwang
leaders, notably Ariston Villanueva and Diego Mojica, had hatched a plan to
send a detachment of soldiers to liberate the Supremo, but that this plan had
been abandoned due to a sudden resumption of the Spanish offensive. “I am
thankful that the plan did not materialize,” Alvarez responded.
What good will it do if a small number of comrades split away and display the
measure of their force? If that happens, the thick ranks of the enemy will ride to
victory over our own follies, and we shall be defenseless against them because
of evil intrigues, of brother subjugating brother, when our blood and our lives
should be consecrated to no other purpose than the Liberty of the Motherland.66
A day or so later, Alvarez recounts, he heard disturbing rumors that he

and other Bonifacio partisans (maka-Bonifacio) were soon to be arrested
and interrogated in the same manner as the Supremo himself, accused of
plotting to assassinate Aguinaldo and overthrow the government. Alvarez
decided it would be best to speak to Aguinaldo directly, and went to find
him in a village between Naik and Indang, where he was holding a meeting
with some of his ministers and generals. When he entered the room, he says,
everybody received him cordially, and said nothing to fracture their long-
standing comradeship and friendship (Walang anumang naging salitaan na
dapat makasira sa dating pagsasama at pag-iibigan). Though the encounter was
tense, it ended, Alvarez says, with some light-hearted jests (biruan) and with
Aguinaldo saying to him “We are hoping that you will not part ways with us”
(Huwag ka sanang hihiwalay sa amin). “No,” Alvarez replied, “I shall never part
from you in the defense of the Motherland” (Hindi. Kailan ma’y di ako nahi-
walay sa inyo sa pagtatanggol ng Inang Bayan).67
“Unto the grave”

The men who signed the Naik Military Agreement pledged to stay true
to their word “unto the grave.” In actuality, the document was a dead letter
almost before the ink was dry. Pio del Pilar, we noted, the designated captain
general of the stillborn army, returned to Aguinaldo’s embrace the same night,
as did Mariano Noriel, the only other senior defector from Magdalo ranks.
Nearly all the Magdiwang signatories reached various degrees of accommo-
dation with the embryonic republic over the next few days.
Bonifacio, it seems, did not even know that his erstwhile allies had
become reconciled to Aguinaldo and the Republic, or that his own authority
in Cavite was now practically nonexistent. Shortly after arriving in Indang
from Naik, he is said to have issued an order reaffirming the appointments of
a small number of leaders he believed to be still loyal—Diego Mojica, Santos
Nocon, Artemio Ricarte, Silvestre Domingo, and a few others—but in effect
dismissing from office every other civil and military chief in the province.68
It seems unlikely that this order was ever circulated, and it certainly went
unheeded. On April 27, Bonifacio sent a brief note to the man who had first
invited him to Cavite some five months earlier, his wife’s relative, Mariano
Alvarez. Evidently unaware that Alvarez had now abandoned his opposition
to the Republic, and had in fact just accepted a seat in Aguinaldo’s cabinet,
Bonifacio beseeched Alvarez to send food supplies to him and his men—
“the loyal soldiers of the Mother Country”—without delay, in keeping with a
promise he had given a week earlier when Bonifacio had bidden him farewell.
The behavior of many of Alvarez’s coprovincianos, Bonifacio confided, had
insulted and pained him deeply; they had shown themselves to be “spurious
patriots.”69
On the very same day Bonifacio wrote to Alvarez, a detachment of
government troops took up positions close to his encampment, and early
the next morning, April 28, they advanced towards the trenches dug around
the camp. There was a brief skirmish, in which Ciriaco Bonifacio was killed,
and Andres and his other brother Procopio were then quickly disarmed and
placed under arrest. The accounts of this incident are conflicting, and the
details are still debated to this day, but it is clear that Bonifacio’s Balara
men—their number at this point is not known—put up barely any resist-
ance. Some of them were later questioned by the judge advocate appointed
to investigate the charges against Bonifacio and his brother. One testified
that when the government troops neared his trench, they called out, asking
whether it was necessary for them to fight one another. “No,” he answered,
and thereupon he and his companion were immediately disarmed (ay
sinamsam agad ang kaniyang baril sampuo ng sa kaniyang isang kasama).70
Another told much the same story. Bonifacio, he said, had ordered the men
in the trenches to shout out “Halt!” if any troops approached, and to open
fire if three such shouts were ignored. But the men did not obey these orders,
the soldier testified, because they did not regard the government troops as
enemies. The government troops then asked for their guns, and they yielded
their guns straightaway.71
“Why,” asks Santiago Alvarez, without offering an answer, “Why did
the followers and comrades of the Supremo Bonifacio fail at that shameful,
calamitous moment to give up blood and life in defense of the true Hero?”72
The bitter truth was that some of those Bonifacio had regarded as allies
not only failed to defend him, but even contributed to his conviction and
execution. Pedro Giron, most notoriously, a commander of the Balara men
and a signatory of the Naik Military Agreement, told the judge advocate that
Bonifacio had assigned him to go to Aguinaldo, demand that he relinquish
his claim to the presidency forthwith, and press him to submit to Bonifacio’s
authority. If Aguinaldo rejected this ultimatum, he was to be killed, and in
anticipation of this outcome, Giron said, Bonifacio had paid him P10 in
advance to commit the deed.73 Pio del Pilar, whom Bonifacio had hoped
would draw away the Magdalo army from Aguinaldo, “testified in the pres-
ence of many” about the plot in which he had been a prime party. So, too,
did Modesto Ritual, a colonel who had also signed the Military Agreement.
These two men, it seems, did not appear as witnesses at the formal hearings,
but the judge advocate nevertheless took cognizance of their accounts when
he submitted his report on the investigation to the Council of War.74 And
appointed to preside over the Council of War convoked to pass judgement
on the investigation, strange to say, was another repentant participant in the
abortive putsch, Mariano Noriel.
Having deliberated, the Council of War recommended that Andres
and Procopio Bonifacio should be sentenced to death for their “unfortu-
nate deeds” (mga guinagauang saui).75 The case was then referred to Emilio
Aguinaldo, who decided initially that the death sentence should not be
imposed and that the brothers should instead be sent away under guard to
an indefinite, isolated exile. After this decision was announced, however, a
number of his commanders and advisers pressed him to reverse his decision
and endorse the Council of War’s recommendation. And the men who at last
persuaded him to have Andres Bonifacio and his brother killed, Aguinaldo
later recalled, were the two Magdalo generals who had fleetingly been their
co-conspirators, Pio del Pilar and Mariano Noriel.76
Del Pilar, Noriel, Ritual, and Giron were not, of course, representative of
Bonifacio’s former allies as a whole. Most, like Santiago Alvarez, were doubt-
less shocked by his arrest and horrified at his subsequent execution. But they,
despite their anguish, accepted that the discord had to end, that the challenge
to Aguinaldo had failed and had to be dropped. The only men who ultimately
stayed loyal to the Naik Military Agreement “unto the grave” were Ciriaco,
Procopio, and Andres Bonifacio.
The tragedy of the revolution

How are we, more than a century later, to comprehend this tragedy of
the revolution? Many issues, it is clear, were not in contention. Neither the
primary sources nor the memoirists tell of ideological conflicts between
the revolutionists, or of heated debates about how the economy and society
should be reshaped once freedom had been attained. They do not mention,
either, any discord over how the liberated areas should be governed, or
over such matters as whether Tagalog or Spanish should be adopted as the
language of government. Bonifacio’s allies in the Magdiwang leadership, his
co-signatories to the Military Agreement, belonged to the relatively well-
educated and well-to-do principalia, the same strata of Caviteño society as the
Magdalo leaders they condemned as “traitors.” The two camps were not set
apart by class antagonisms, or by cultural, regional, or linguistic divisions. It
is safe to say, too, that the spoils of political office cannot have been at the
root of the rivalry, for amidst the military crisis there were none to be had: no
luxuries or trappings to enjoy, no lucrative contracts to skim, no sinecures to
bestow on family and friends.
What did preoccupy the revolutionists, to state the obvious, was waging
the revolution. The overriding priorities were practicalities: fighting battles,
obtaining arms and ammunition, constructing trenches, feeding and quar-
tering the troops, treating casualties, providing for widows and orphans,
helping refugees, raising funds, securing food supplies for the civilian
population, and maintaining law and order. It is these issues that figure
most frequently in the contemporary documents, and are mentioned most
often by the memoirists as sources of friction amongst the revolutionists.
Literally from the moment the revolution began in Cavite, the Magdiwang
and Magdalo camps exchanged taunts and recriminations about who first
raised the flag of rebellion, about whose troops fought most valiantly, or had
retreated from an engagement too soon, had allowed such-and-such a town to
fall to the enemy, had neglected to cover a flank, or had promised to partici-
pate in a joint action but then failed to show up.
As the military situation became ever more desperate in March, April, and
May 1897, the recriminations became sharper, and escalated, as we have seen,
into insinuations and accusations that the other side was losing its stomach
for the fight, was going into hiding, was parlaying with the Spaniards, or was
about to surrender.
Contrarily, however, protagonists on both sides were acutely conscious
that disunity at this desperate time could only damage the army’s morale
and effectiveness and hand a further advantage to the Kastila. In the absence
of fundamental differences of outlook, or spoils to squabble over, the divide
between the Magdalo and Magdiwang camps became less clear-cut. Their
partisan rancor became less constant, more mutable, and intermittent. In
early April 1897, as we noted, the passions aroused at the Tejeros Convention
seemed to have cooled, and for a while relations between the two were again
comradely. As the advance of the Spanish forces displaced the Magdalo and
Magdiwang leaders from their respective hometowns and bailiwicks, the
original territorial raison d’être for two separate governments was largely lost,
and an increasing number of leaders and adherents shifted their allegiance
from one to another—overwhelmingly, from February 1897 onwards, in the
Magdalo camp’s favor, but not exclusively so, as the fleeting defections of Pio
del Pilar and Mariano Noriel showed. Others, such as Artemio Ricarte, moved
back and forth between the two.
The rapidity and finality with which the plot against Aguinaldo collapsed
has to be seen, therefore, in the context of great volatility and fluidity. Most of
the Magdiwang leaders who put their names to the Naik Military Agreement,
it would seem, recognized immediately that the attempted putsch had been
an ill-conceived, ill-executed disaster, a debacle that had merely played into
Aguinaldo’s hands. The Magdalo officer corps and their troops, the drama
at the casa hacienda had manifestly shown, were not inclined to defect en
masse. The officers and troops of the Magdiwang and Balara armies, the
events had also shown, did not want to fight their Magdalo counterparts.
They had allowed Aguinaldo himself to walk up to the door of the room
where the plotters were meeting, and had not fired a single shot to prevent
him and his troops from taking control of the building. If their troops were
not prepared to make a stand at that moment, there was not the slightest
chance that the Magdiwang leaders and Bonifacio would be able to take
over the entire revolutionary army, in the words of the Military Agreement,
“by persuasion or force.” In an instant, that threat was exposed as empty,
and Aguinaldo knew that the resistance to the Republic and his presidency
had been hugely compromised and diminished. Any further resistance to
Aguinaldo’s supremacy at that point, the Magdiwang camp understood,
would be futile and potentially fatal. Mariano Alvarez and Jacinto Lumbreras,
we saw, responded at once to Aguinaldo’s astute, conciliatory overtures and
decided within days to join his cabinet.
Bonifacio also knew that his life was in danger, and he, too, must have
realized that any military engagement with the Magdalo forces at that junc-
ture would be lost. He alone amongst the principal signatories of the Military
Agreement, however, explicitly and adamantly still refused to acknowledge
the legitimacy of the Republic and Aguinaldo’s presidency. In his testimony
before the judge advocate investigating the charges against him, he reiterated
that the decisions taken at the Tejeros Convention had been annulled,
and insisted he did not know that a government had been formed, or that
Aguinaldo had taken his oath of office as its president.77
Bonifacio, we have seen, had intended to leave Cavite. He and his
companions had already started out on their trek when the government
troops came to arrest him. Rather than acknowledge a Republic headed by a
rival he believed was about to betray the revolution, he wanted to rejoin the
Katipuneros in the province of Manila, revolutionaries he trusted would never
surrender or compromise the ideal of liberty. Aguinaldo and his generals were
right to fear he would always remain a recalcitrant rebel, and he was right to
fear they would not.
The Tagalog text78
Kaming nangagtala ng tunay naming mga pangalan sa ibaba nito ay pauang

mga pinuno ng Hokbo ay nangag kapulong na pinanguluhan ng Kataastaasang P,lo
tungkol sa guipit na kalagayang tinatauid nitong mga bayan at ng panghihimagsik;
buhat sa napag aninao na Kataksilang gaua ng ilang mga pinuno sa pag sira ng
matibay na pagkakaisa, pag ayon sa kaauay na Kastila at pag hibo sa mga kaual;
bukod dito ang pagpapaubaya sa pangangasiua sa mga sugatan sa kadahilanang ito
aming pinagkaisahan na iligtas ang bayan dito sa malaking panganib sa pamaguitan
ng mga paraang sumusunod.
Una: ang lahat ng hokbo ay pipisanin sa pamamaguitan ng matuid o sa pilitan at
mapapailalim sa pamamahala ng Kagg. na si M. Pio del Pilar.
Ykalaua: uala kaming kikilalaning makapangyarihan sa lahat kundi ang una
ang matuid at ang lahat ng tapat na mga pinuno na buhat ng una at magpahangang
ngayon ay di nasisilipan ng Kataksilan at pag talikod sa pinanumpaanan.
Ykatlo: ang sino pamang gumamit ng kataksilan, karakarakang lalapatan ng
katapusang parusa.
Yto ang aming pinagkaisahan na pinanumpaanan sa harap ng Dios at ng bayang
tinubuan na di tatalikuran magpahangang libingan.
Andres Bonifacio79 Pio del Pilar80

Maypagasa
Esteban San Juan81 Modesto Ritual82
Mulanin
M. A. Mainam83 P. Giron84
Palaso
A .Villanueva85 E. Izon
Kampupot
Andres V. Gumamela86 Escolastico Gillardo
Conteral Ba…[?]
Jacinto Lumbreras87 Felipe Gervasin

Bagong bayani
G. Artemio Ricarte88 Casimiro Vizcarra [?]

Vibora
Santiago A. Apoy89 L. San Miguel90

Maku-Lam [?]
English Translation
We who sign this below with our true names, all leaders of the Army convened at
a meeting presided over by the Supreme President to discuss the critical situation of
the pueblos and the revolution; having discerned that certain chiefs have committed
Treason by destroying the strength that comes from unity, by coming to an agreement
with the Spanish enemy and deceiving the soldiers, and also by neglecting to tend to
the wounded, it is therefore our resolve to rescue the people from this grave danger by
the following means:
First: all troops shall be unified, by persuasion or force, under the command of
the Most Respected Mr. Pio del Pilar.
Second: we shall recognize no authority other than reason, and all the loyal
leaders who from the outset and until now have been seen not to have committed
Treason or turned their backs on their sworn duty.
Third: whoever commits treason shall immediately merit the ultimate
punishment.
This is our agreement, and we swear before God and the country of our birth not
to betray it unto the grave.
[signatures]
1 The “Naik Military Agreement” was first brought to light by the historian Epifanio de los
Santos, who is believed to have acquired the original document in 1904. In 1917, he included
a Spanish translation of the text in a biographical sketch of Bonifacio he wrote for the maga-
zine, Philippine Review (Revista Filipina). His article, including the document, was then trans-
lated into English for publication in a subsequent issue of the same magazine. The English
version, a translation from the Spanish rather than from the original Tagalog text, has subse-
quently been used by virtually everybody who has written on the subject. Epifanio de los
Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [Spanish version] Philippine Review (Revista Filipina) 2, no. 11
(November 1917): 71–72; “Andrés Bonifacio” [English version], Philippine Review (Revista
Filipina) 3, nos.1−2 (January−February 1918): 47.
2 The original document is said to bear 41 or 42 signatures, but here it has been possible to
transcribe only the first 17, which appear on the second page of the document. It is likely,
though, that this list of 17 does include most if not all the leading signatories. The remaining
24 or 25 names are presumably appended on the third and subsequent pages of the docu-
ment, copies of which have yet to be placed in the public domain. Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The
Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the
Philippines, 1956), 232; Isagani R. Medina, “Panimula,” in Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang Talata
tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896–1897 [1898], edited by Isagani R. Medina, (Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press, 1996), 104.
3 Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 24, 1897 (document 8.11). The protest
Bonifacio mentions was very probably the “Acta de Tejeros” (document 8.5).
4 Emilio Aguinaldo, as noted, was president of war in the Magdalo Council; Daniel Tirona
was the Magdalo minister of war; Mariano Alvarez was president of the Magdiwang
Council; Diego Moxica was the Magdiwang minister of finance; Ariston Villanueva was the
Magdiwang minister of war; Mariano Trias, as noted, was the Magdiwang minister of grace
and justice; and Andres Bonifacio was president of the sovereign nation (Pangulo ng Haring
Bayan) and president of the Katipunan Supreme Council. The inclusion of Vicente Arnaldo
in this list of top-ranking revolutionary leaders is something of a mystery, because such a
name does not appear in any of the familiar sources. Artemio Ricarte, however, says in his
memoir that his adjutant and secretary was called Francisco Arnaldo, so perhaps this is the
same man. Francisco Arnaldo was killed in combat shortly after the date of this letter. Padre
Manuel Trias, an uncle of Mariano Trias, was the parish priest of San Francisco de Malabon
and a prominent figure in the Magdiwang Council, albeit probably not an officeholder.
5 Mariano Trias, Letter to the President in Mapagibig (Amadeo), April 3, 1897 (“Historia Civil
de Filipinas,” Tomo 6.6, 228-9 (on microfilm), University of Santo Tomas archives).
6 For example, Emilio Aguinaldo, Note to the town president of Naik, April 3, 1897, in Pedro
S. de Achutegui, SJ, and Miguel A. Bernad, SJ, Aguinaldo and the Revolution of 1896: A
Documentary History (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila, 1972), 399. There is, however, an ambi-
guity about the continued use of the ink stamp. “Magdalo” (Victory) had since 1896 been the
name of a Katipunan Council and its army, but it was also Aguinaldo’s own alias and nom
de guerre. A stamp that bore the words “Pangulong Digma—Magdalo,” therefore, originally
signifying “President of War of the Magdalo Council,” could later have served equally well to
signify “War President [of the Republic]—Aguinaldo.” The stamp remained in use even after
Aguinaldo assumed his presidential powers.
7 It might be significant that on April 7, Aguinaldo ordered the town presidents in the
Magdiwang as well as the Magdalo area of jurisdiction to conscript all the men in their
towns for military service, urged them to set aside “all dissensions and disagreements,” and
reminded them “of the necessity of praying to the Holy Virgin for the success of our cause.”
Some of his supporters, moreover, began to address him as “Presidente.” Emilio Aguinaldo,
Circular to the presidents of eight towns, April 7, 1897, in The Philippine Insurrection against
the United States, a compilation of documents with notes and introduction by John R. M.
Taylor, vol. 1 (Pasay City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1971), 298; Severino de las Alas,
Letter to Emilio Aguinaldo, April 20, 1897 [Philippine Insurgent Records, AGO 460111-
152; microfilm reel 84]; and Santiago Rillo de Leon, Letter to Emilio Aguinaldo, April 18,
1897 [Philippine Insurgent Records, Book A.4; microfilm reel 83]. The full form of address
employed by Rillo is “Cgg. at Cat.taang Presidente ng Gobierno Nacional ng Catagalugan”—
“Most Honorable and Most Elevated President of the National Government of Catagalugan.”
8 Balara, on the western side of the Marikina Valley, was one of the Katipunan’s largest mili-
tary encampments in the early days of the revolution, and seems to have been Bonifacio’s
own base from early October until he left for Cavite in November 1896. The detachment from
Balara that followed him to Cavite, mostly troops from Manila and Bulacan, arrived in San
Francisco de Malabon in January 1897. Quite possibly they made the journey at Bonifacio’s
personal instigation or order, and many remained with him until his arrest in April 1897.
Santiago V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of a General, translated
by Paula Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992), 312. The
references in these notes to Alvarez’s work are to his original 1927 Tagalog text, as repro-
duced in the 1992 edition, and the translations depart in some instances from Malay’s.
9 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 326–29.
10 Ibid., 327. The Tagalog reads, Ang lahat ng naroong kaharap ay nalugod at nasiyahan sa gayong
pagpapanayam; nabuhay ang dating pag-iibigan ng magkakapatid sa iisang mithi, at nagyakap ang
dalawang Puno. The same incident is related by Artemio Ricarte in his memoir, Himagsikan
nang manga Pilipino laban sa Kastila (Yokohama: “Karihan Café,” 1927), 68.
11 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 328. The Tagalog phrase is pagsasamahan ng
magkakapatid sa iisang layon.
12 Ibid.
13 Carlos Quirino, The Young Aguinaldo: From Kawit to Biyak-na-Bato (Manila: Aguinaldo
Centennial Year, 1969), 146–47; Filipinos at War (Manila: Vera Reyes Inc., 1981), 138.
15 Ibid., 328. The Tagalog reads: Walang sinumang naghinala o nangamba sa kasahulan o pagkaapi
na magiging bunga ng tapat at palagay na loob na pakikipagibigan.
16 In their respective memoirs, both Aguinaldo and Alvarez invariably refer to “the Magdalo
army” when recounting the events of early April 1897, even though the Tejeros Convention
had agreed on March 22 to institute a national government. The term “the government
army,” it seems, becomes more valid only after April 24, the date when Aguinaldo assumed
his presidential powers and when (or roughly when) the armed forces were in theory
reorganized.
17 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 328. Alvarez does not say whether the Magdalo
also distributed commissions to the Balara troops.
18 Ibid., 304–5, 313. Alvarez recalls the exact date on which Trias transferred (lumipat) to the
Magdalo Council as being February 10, 1897. Ricarte gives a similar account of the defection
of Trias in Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino, 46.
19 Ibid., 457.
20 Glenn Anthony May, Battle for Batangas: A Philippine Province at War (New Haven and
London: Yale University Press, 1991), 56−57.
174–75, 190.
22 It is not clear whether the Magdiwang army was left with about 400 firearms before or after
the Magdalo refused to return the rifles given them on loan. Elsewhere in his narrative,
though, Alvarez indicates that the Magdiwang had already become much the smaller of the
two armies when the Tejeros Convention was held on March 22. Alvarez, The Katipunan and
the Revolution, 323, 460.
23 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 460. The Tagalog is as follows: Dumating ang lihim
na masamang sakit at unti-unting dumapo sa katawan ng Kataas-taasang Sanggunian ng mga
Anak ng Bayan na pinapatnugutan ng Supremo Andres Bonifacio at sa pamunuang Magdiwang…
at marahil maipalalagay na kamangmangan o kawalan ng kaya, kung di sa paniwala at pag-asa sa
sinumpaang ipagtanggol ang kalayaan ng Inang Bayan.
24 Ibid., 329. The Tagalog phrase is parang nawalan ng kabuluhan ang kapangyarihan ng Supremo.
25 Ibid. The Tagalog reads as follows: Ang lahat ng taong magsadya sa Pamahalaan upang
magsakdal or kaya’y pahatol sa Pamunuan, ay hindi na nakarating man lamang sa harap ni
Bonifacio, palibhasa sa pintuan pa’y hinaharang na itinuturong doon magsadya sa tanggapan ng
Pamahalaang-bayan, at iyon daw ang may kapangyarihan.
26 Pio Pi, SJ, Letter to Emilio Aguinaldo, March 14, 1897, in Achutegui and Bernad, Aguinaldo
and the Revolution of 1896, 317.
27 Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan, 157–58; Quirino, The Young Aguinaldo, 133.
28 Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 16, 1897 (document 8.8).
29 Emilio Aguinaldo, Letter to Pio Pi, SJ, March 17, 1897, in Achutegui and Bernad, Aguinaldo
and the Revolution of 1896, 322.
30 Bonifacio, Letter to Jacinto, April 24, 1897.
31 Milagros C. Guerrero, “The Katipunan Revolution,” in Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino
People, vol. 5 ([Hong Kong]: Asia Publishing Company, 1998), 191.
32 Achutegui and Bernad, Aguinaldo and the Revolution of 1896, 290–91, 420–21.
33 Bonifacio, Letter to Jacinto, April 24, 1897. The Tejeros Convention ended in uproar, it may
be recalled, after Daniel Tirona had shouted out that “José del Rosario, the lawyer” was
better qualified than Bonifacio to fill the position of director of the interior. One wonders
how Bonifacio felt, not many days later, when he heard that both men had surrendered.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.
36 Lazaro Macapagal, Untitled memoir in Tagalog, c. 1930s, in Achutegui and Bernad, Aguinaldo
and the Revolution of 1896, 358–61; Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan, 198–205. It is only
Aguinaldo’s account that specifies April 19 as the precise date on which the meeting was
held.
37 Ibid., 367.
38 From the memoirs of Macapagal and Aguinaldo it is not entirely clear what the conspira-
tors at the casa hacienda hoped to achieve by detaining the Magdalo soldiers—perhaps they
wanted to keep word of the gathering from reaching Aguinaldo too soon, or perhaps they
intended that Gen. Pio del Pilar would shortly address them all, and convince them to join
the ranks of the new army under his command.
39 Macapagal, Untitled memoir, 359.
40 Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan, 200.
41 Ibid., 201.
42 Ibid., 202.
43 Ibid., 203. The Tagalog reads: Mabuti na lamang at ganito ang nangyari, at naiwasan ang kami-
kaming magkakasamang manghihimagsik ang nagkabuhusan ng sariling dugo, dahil sa kapa-
kanan ng isang tao lamang!
44 Ibid., 204–5; Agoncillo, Revolt of the Masses, 235.
45 Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan, 206.

47 Santiago Alvarez says that Ricarte, in fact, went first to Indang, where he joined many of the
other fugitives from Naik in celebrating the baptism of his—Alvarez’s—infant daughter in
the Catholic church on April 21. Aguinaldo claims that Ricarte never reached Batangas at
all, and instead went into hiding (ikinubli) with the remnants of the Magdiwang army in a
remote barrio in southern Cavite called Kaytitingga. This allegation may be true, but it is
also unjust. Once the last of the liberated towns, Magallanes, had fallen to the Spaniards
in mid-May 1897, all the revolutionists—including Aguinaldo himself—could be described as
having gone into hiding. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 332–33; Aguinaldo, Mga
Gunita ng Himagsikan, 235; May, Battle for Batangas, 59.
48 The first tangible consequence of the rapprochement, it seems, was an agreement on the
critical issue of rice supplies. On April 22, or thereabouts, Aguinaldo secured the consent of
Magdiwang president Mariano Alvarez to the stocks of the staple hitherto under Magdiwang
control being consolidated in a single government store. Antonio Virata, Letter to Mariano
Noriel, April 22, 1897 [Philippine Revolutionary Records, P9], cited in Glenn Anthony May,
“Civilian Flight during the Philippine Revolution of 1896,” in Florentino Rodao and Felice
Noelle Rodriguez, eds., The Philippine Revolution of 1896: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary
Times (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2001), 135–36.
49 These acta have not been located. They should not, of course, be confused with the docu-
ment known by posterity as the “Acta de Tejeros,” which was signed by Bonifacio and the
Magdiwang leaders on March 23, 1897, in an attempt to nullify the Tejeros Convention.
50 Declaration dated Naik, April 23, 1897 [Philippine Insurgent Records, AGO 460111-125;
microfilm reel 84]. The signatories to this declaration were Vice-President Mariano Trias
(who as member of the Magdiwang Council himself may have acted as a mediator on
Aguinaldo’s behalf ) and the Magdiwang leaders Mariano Alvarez, Jacinto Lumbreras,
Pascual Alvarez, Cornelio Magsarili, and Ambrosio Mojica.
51 Some sources maintain that Severino de las Alas was a signatory to the Naik Military
Agreement, and Aguinaldo recalls having seen Pascual Alvarez at the meeting in the casa
hacienda on April 19. However, neither man’s signature appears on the portion of the
document that has been photographed and published, and likewise neither of their names
appears on the published pages of the “Acta de Tejeros.” Evidence that Severino de las Alas
had already left the Magdiwang camp is provided by a cordial letter he sent to Aguinaldo
on April 20, addressing him as “Respected President” before he had assumed presidential
powers and pledging to “remain at your command.” De las Alas, Letter to Aguinaldo, April
20, 1897.
52 Signed oaths of office, dated Naik, April 24, 1897 [Philippine Insurgent Records, AGO
460111-173 (Mariano Alvarez); and AGO 460111-176 (Jacinto Lumbreras); microfilm reel 84].
Severino de las Alas took his oath of office two days later. The full roster of the cabinet was
thus Emilio Aguinaldo, Presidente; Mariano Trias, Vice-Presidente; Artemio Ricarte, General
en Jefe; Emiliano Riego de Dios, Director de Guerra; Mariano Alvarez, Director de Fomento;
Jacinto Lumbreras, Director de Estado; Pascual Alvarez, Director de Gobernación; Severino de
las Alas, Director de Gracia y Justicia; and Baldomero Aguinaldo, Director de Hacienda. Only
the two Aguinaldos had originally been members of the Magdalo Council; the seven others
had at some time or another all belonged to the Magdiwang Council.
53 Teodoro M. Kalaw, The Philippine Revolution [1925] (Mandaluyong: Jorge B. Vargas
Filipiniana Foundation, 1969), 53.
54 Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino, 69.
55 Kalaw, The Philippine Revolution, 53; Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 511.
56 Emilio Aguinaldo, Circular to town presidents, April 24, 1897 [in Tagalog] [Philippine
Insurgent Records, AGO 460111-197; microfilm reel 84]. The Tagalog reads: Halal sa pulong
ng bayan na guinaua sa Malabon ng ikadalauampo at dalaua ng Marzong nagdaan, Presidente
ng ating Nacion, buhat sa arao ng ika 24 ng buang lumalakad, nagpasimula ako ng pag ganap sa
Katungkulang nabangit. The translations of selected “insurgent” documents made under US
direction in the early 1900s contain a minefield of errors. In this instance, a crucial chunk
of the original Tagalog has been skipped, giving rise to the misinformation that Aguinaldo
was elected on April 24, rather than on March 22. This faulty translation is reproduced in
a number of subsequent sources, notably Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses: The Philippine
Insurrection against the United States, vol. 1, 301; Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses, 390.
57 Emilio Aguinaldo, Circular to town presidents, April 24, 1897. The Tagalog reads: Ulit ko, ang
Gobno. sa pagtupad ng kaniyang tungkol ay kailangan ang tulong ng lahat; kung ilauit niniyo ang
tulong na iyan ay pasasalamatan ko sa boong puso, sa ngalan ng bayan at sa ngalan kong sarile; at
kung hindi, sa makatuid kung iniyong ikait, ay daramdamin kong labis, sa pagka’t titingnan kong
isang di pag ibig at pag lingap sa ating bayan, tangi na kung maguing isang pagsuay at may karapa-
tang lapatan ng parusa, ay gagauain ito ng ualang liuag.
58 Emilio Aguinaldo, Letter to the President of the Regional Government of Batangas, April 24,
1897 [Philippine Insurgent Records, AGO 460111-22; microfilm reel 84].
60 May, Battle for Batangas, 59.
61 Miguel Malvar, Letter to Emilio Aguinaldo, April 14, 1897 [Philippine Insurgent Records,
AGO 460111-17; microfilm reel 84]; and Miguel Malvar, Letter to Emilio Aguinaldo, April 17,
1897 [Philippine Revolutionary Records, P7], cited in May, Battle for Batangas, 58–59.
62 Santiago Rillo de Leon, Letter to Emilio Aguinaldo, April 14, 1897 [Philippine Insurgent
Records, Books A.4; microfilm reel 83].
63 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 338. The Tagalog reads: Ngayon, tayo’y nalu-
lupig na ng mga Kaaway: mahina at walang maipagmalaking tanggulan. Daranasin natin
ang mapangkat-pangkat at magkani-kanyang kuta sa mga bundok at parang. Kung tayo’y
di magkakaisa, walang isang Pamahalaang dapat panggalingan ng atin ding pinaglakip ng
kapasyahan; lalabas na magulo, at magkakani-kanya tayong kapalakaran at pananagutan. Sa
ganito’y aling bansa ang sa ati’y makikitungo, sa tayo’y magiging Manghihimagsik, na ang batas
ay sa ating ding sariling kapakanan at hindi sa Bayan na siyang kinakailangan ng Kalayaan?
64 Ibid., 337. The Tagalog reads: Buong puso at lugod na kinikilala ko ang pagkakapagtayo ng
“Republica Filipina” bagaman ang pangyayari’y laban sa aking katwiran at pananalig.
65 Ibid. The Tagalog reads: Gayon din, minabuti ko ang karapat-dapat na pagkataas sa tungkuling
Kapitan Heneral ni hral. Artemio Ricarte, at minabuti rin ng Pangulo ng MAGDIWANG na si
hral. Mariano M. Alvarez, ang minarapat sa kanyang bagong tungkuling Director de Fomento ng
“R. Filipina,” tungkuling pinaglilingkuran at kung kaya lamang ang nabanggit na Direktor ay di
makadalo sa tanggapan ng Pamahalaan, ay kasalukuyang di makalakad dahil sa sakit na reuma.
Ako ma’y patuloy rin sa paglilingkod na inyong talastas, datapwa’t hindi ako ang Pangulong Digma
ng “R. Filipina” kundi si hral. “Vibora.” Ako ang sa Hukbong MAGDIWANG hangga ngayon hindi
ako makapagsasabi na ihiwalay natin ang ating Hukbo sa kanila, sapagka’t kapanalig ako ng
Pagkakaisa at di ng Kani-kanya. Vibora—Viper —was the nom de guerre of Artemio Ricarte.
66 Ibid. The Tagalog reads: Salamat at di itinuloy; and Ano ang sasapitan ng kaunting magka-
kasama na maghihiwa-hiwalay at magsusukat ng kani-kaniyang lakas? Kung magkakagayo’y sa
ibabaw ng atin ding kapalaluan magdaraan ang makapal na Kaaway, sapagka’t walang pagta-
tanggol na magagawa laban sa kanila, dahil sa masamang pagiimbot, na lupigin ng kapatid ang
kapatid din niya, gayong ang ating dugo at buhay ay walang sadyang pinaglalaanan kundi ang
Kalayaan ng Inang-Bayan.
67 Ibid., 358.
68 Antonino Guevarra, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, May 3, 1897, quoted in Epifanio de los Santos,
“Andrés Bonifacio” [Spanish version], 75.
69 Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Mariano Alvarez, April 27, 1897, in José P. Santos, Si Andrés
Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan (Manila: n.pub, 1935), 26. José P. Santos has been much
maligned, and insinuations that he fabricated historical documents seem ill-founded. It is
true, though, that he did not always render their texts accurately. It is a pity that a photo-
graph of this letter has never been published, and that its present whereabouts are unknown.
70 Domingo San Juan, Testimony, April 30, 1897 [Mga Kasulatan sa Paglilitis, 24, Philippine
Insurgent Records, microfilm reel 83].
71 Biviano Rojas, Testimony, April 30, 1897 [Mga Kasulatan sa Paglilitis, 19, Philippine
Insurgent Records, microfilm reel 83]. The Tagalog reads: ay dumating ang nasabing mga
kaual, ang mga sundalo niyang kasamahan ay hindi sumunod ang ibinatas ng nasabing Andres
na kung sacaling darating ay sigauan ng alto at kung sa tatlong pag sigao at hinde rin tumitiguil ay
rapido; kaya’t, ng malapit na sa Bateria ay ang ginaua ng nag sasaysay sinalubong at sinabe niyang
hinde kalaban, sa bagay na ito ay hininge nang nasabing mga kaual ang kanilang mga baril, ay
agad naman nilang ibinigay.
72 Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution, 335. The Tagalog reads: Ano at bakit ang mga
kapanalig at kaakbay ng Supremo Bonifacio sa karumal-dumal na sakunang iyon ay di nakapa-
ghandog ng dugo at buhay sa pagtatanggol ng tunay na Bayani….?
73 Pedro Giron, Testimony, April 30, 1897 [Mga Kasulatan sa Paglilitis, 20–21, Philippine
Insurgent Records, microfilm reel 83].
74 Pantaleon Garcia (Judge Advocate), Report to the Council of War, May 4, 1897. [Mga
Kasulatan sa Paglilitis, 35, Philippine Insurgent Records, microfilm reel 83].
75 Statement and Judgment of the Council of War, May 6, 1897 [Mga Kasulatan sa Paglilitis, 42,
Philippine Insurgent Records, microfilm reel 83].
76 Emilio Aguinaldo, “Sa mga Kinauukulan,” statement dated Kawit, March 22, 1948. A photo-
graph of this statement was published in Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses, 296.
77 Andres Bonifacio, Testimony, May 4, 1897 [Mga Kasulatan sa Paglilitis, 27, 31–32, Philippine
Insurgent Records, microfilm reel 83]. Aguinaldo did not assume his presidential powers, we
have noted, until April 24, and it is entirely possible that news of that development had not
reached Bonifacio prior to his arrest on April 28. It is inconceivable, though, that he was not
aware (hindi nia natatanto) Aguinaldo had taken his oath of office on March 23, the day after
the Tejeros Convention. Perhaps he was misquoted, or perhaps he believed, as he intimated
in his letter Jacinto, dated April 24, that Aguinaldo had retracted his oath.
78 There are at least two Tagalog versions of the text that differ from the original—Tenepe
[José P. Santos, Teresita Santos and Nena Santos], “Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Katipunan,”
unpublished MS, 1948, 130; and a mimeographed version bearing the date November 10,
1934, from the collection of Antonio K. Abad. Obviously not copied from the original, these
versions are in fact retranslations into Tagalog from either the Spanish of Epifanio de los
Santos or Philippine Review’s English. Both these versions are reproduced by Medina in his
expansively annotated edition of Carlos Ronquillo’s Ilang Talata. It remains a mystery why
José P. Santos found it necessary in 1948 to retranslate the text into Tagalog when he had
inherited the original Tagalog document from his father, Epifanio de los Santos. The most
likely explanation is simply that the original was temporarily mislaid, lost, or otherwise not
on hand. This issue is discussed at greater length in “Bonifacio’s letters to Emilio Jacinto”
(Section B.2). A more-or-less authentic version of the original Tagalog text was not published
until 1996, when Medina included it in his edition of Ronquillo’s memoir. Wishing to
render the text in a form familiar to the youth of the 1990s, however, Medina decided to
modernize the orthography of the document—binago ko ang pagbaybay. Perhaps for the first
time, therefore, the transcription above renders the “Naik Military Agreement” exactly as it
was written. Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 109−12.
79 Andres Bonifacio (from Manila), President of the Sovereign Nation, President of the
Supreme Council of the Katipunan.
80 Pio del Pilar (Makati, province of Manila), general of the Magdalo army.
81 Esteban San Juan (San Francisco de Malabon), colonel in the Magdiwang army.
82 Modesto Ritual (Nueva Ecija) colonel, but it is not known in which army.
83 Mariano Alvarez (Noveleta), president of the SB Magdiwang; gobernadorcillo of Noveleta
prior to the revolution.
84 Pedro Giron (Baliuag, Bulacan), colonel of the Balara men.
85 Ariston Villanueva (Noveleta), minister of war of SB Magdiwang; gobernadorcillo of Noveleta
prior to the revolution.
86 Andres Villanueva, major or colonel in the Magdiwang army; son of Ariston Villanueva.
87 Jacinto Lumbreras (San Francisco de Malabon), minister of state of the SB Magdiwang.
88 Artemio Ricarte (Batac, Ilocos Norte), deputy captain general of the Magdiwang army.
89 Santiago Alvarez (Noveleta), captain general of the Magdiwang army.
90 Luciano San Miguel (Noveleta) brigadier general in the Magdiwang army.
8.10Andres Bonifacio
Letter to Julio Nakpil, April 24, 1897
After leaving Naik, about April 19, 1897, Andres Bonifacio journeyed some
twenty kilometers southwards to the municipality of Indang. According to
Santiago Alvarez, he was planning to finally leave Cavite and journey north to
the mountains above San Mateo, closer to Manila, and he was accompanied
“not only by his troops, but also by followers, men and women, old and young
alike.”1
Nakpil, the president of the High Council in the Northern District, seems
to have moved back and forth in the early months of 1897 between the seat of
the civil administration in Pasig and the armed encampments in the Sierra
Madre, including the base near San Mateo to which Bonifacio reportedly
intended to head.2
Bonifacio tells Nakpil he is only delaying his departure from Cavite
because he is waiting to hear what had been decided “between my emissary
Mr. Antonino Guevarra and yourself in relation to our planned attack in the
Southern District (Laguna), so you must send him back immediately in order
that we can take the necessary action as soon as possible.”
Tagalog Text
Sinaguto [sic] ito

ng ika 30 ng Abril 1897
ANDRES BONIFACIO
MAYPAGASA
P. ng K. Kapulungan
M. Julio N. Nakpil, Giliw,

M. na P. ng Sangunian sa dakong Hilagaan
Minamahal na Kapatid: buhat sa sunodsunod na pagka-agaw ng Kastila sa mga

bayan ng Silang, Dasmariñas, Ymus, Bakood, Kawit, Noveleta, Salinas, Malabon at
Tanza ay siyang kadahilanan ng di ko pag sulat dian sa inyo.
Tungkol sa mailigpit ninyong salapi ay inyong tipunin dian at di nararapat na
inyong ipagkaloob sa kangino pa man, sapagka’t tayo ang nagpadala ng Poder sa
Hong Kong ay tayo ang siyang mapapahiya kung walang maibigay tayong salapi,
sapagka’t ang salaping nailigpit dito ay halos ubos na sa kagugugol ng mga Pinuno
dito sa kanilang pagkakailangan at Panghihimagsik.
Ang mga kapsulang vacio at mga tanso na inyong natitipon dian ay inyong
itagong mabuti at kasama ka na darating dian ang mga mangagawa ng kapsula at
kanon.
Tungkol sa taung inyong ipinahatid dito na nagngangalan Benito de Guzman ay
hindi ko nalaman ang kanyang pagkawala at kun sa akala ninyo na iyan ay masama ay
inyong dakpin.
Ako at sampu ng mga kawal na nararito sa Tangway na may dalawangpung
Remington at Mauser at mga dalawangpung de piston gayon din ang may mga
isang libong sandatahan ay handa sa pag uwi dian na na sa sa labas na ng bayan ng
Indang at tanging inaantabayanan ang inutusan ko dian si M. Antonino Guevarra na
makikipagyari sa inio rian tungkol sa binabalak namin pagsalakay sa dakong Silangan
(Laguna); kaya’t marapatin ninyong pabalikin agad dito upang magawa sa madaling
panahon ang nararapat.
Tungkol sa pagtitipon ng salapi ito’y kung mapasok tayo ng bayan ay madali na

ang pag hingi o pag samsam sa manga mayayaman.
Kinakailangan kayo’y sumirkular sa mga bayan ng Bulakan at Nueva Ecija na
ipakilala ninyo [?] ang kapangyarihan tungkol sa pamaguitan ng Nombramiento
na aking ipinadala sa inyo tuloy gisingin ang kanilang kalooban sa pag galaw at
huag ikasira ng loob ang pagkapasok ng Kastila nitong mga bayan ng Tangway,
sapagka’t ang Revolucion sa nangyaring ito ay lalong lumaganap at lumaki sapagka’t
tumawid sa mga bayan ng Batangan at Silangan at marahil tumawid pa ng Tayabas,
Mindoro at Camarines, bukod dito’y dapat ikatira ang pagkakaayon sa Kastila ng
ilang mga kababayan, sapagka’t sila ang doo’y gagawa ng paraan papagtananin ang
mga sundalong tagalog, ..gaya ng nangyayari ngayon sunodsunod na pag tatanan.
Kalakip nito na inyong tatangapin ang isang sulat na kasagutan na ipinadala
dito ni M. Lucrecio Bachiller, Mataginting sa ipinadala dito na mangyaring inyong
ipahatid sa madaling panahon upang magawa nito ang kinakailangan pag aayos sa
kanyang mga kawal.
Gayondin naman ipinahatid ko dian sa inyo sa pamamagitan ni M. Antonino
Guevarra ang mga nombramiento ninyo ng inyong Kalihim at ng kay Gral. Emilio.
Tangapin ninyo ang mahigpit na yakap.
Limbon (Indan), 24 Abril 1897
Ang Plo. ng H. B.
Andres Bonifacio
Maypagasa
H.L.
Ang hukbo ng kapatid na si M. Lucrecio Taginting na dapat mapailalim sa

inyong pangangasiwa ay kinakailangang inyong pagsadiain at pagsiyasatin ang mga
kinakailangan nila.
Gayon din kung kayo’y may labis na polvora ay sila’y [?] inyong bigyan upang sa
paraang ito ay huag na lumayo sa atin.
Kalakip na inyong tatangapin ang mga limbag na tula ni M. Rizal at ang Cartilla
ay saka na magpapalimbag kami.
Vale

KAPULUNGAN”]
English Translation
Replied to this on April 30, 18973
ANDRES BONIFACIO
MAYPAGASA
Pres. of the Sup. Congress
Mr Julio N. Nakpil, Giliw

Exalted President of the Council in the Northern District
Dear Brother: The successive capture of the towns of Silang, Dasmariñas, Imus,
Bakood, Kawit, Noveleta, Salinas, Malabon, and Tanza by the Spaniards has meant
that I have not been able to write to you there.
Regarding the money you are keeping, gather it together yourself; you must not
entrust it to anyone else at all, because we were the ones authorized to send it to Hong
Kong and we are the ones who will be embarrassed if we have no money to hand over,
because the funds held here have almost all been spent by the chiefs here on their
necessities and the Revolution.
The empty cartridge shells and coppers4 you are collecting there must be well
hidden by you, and you should personally accompany the cartridge and cannon
workers when they go to that place.
Regarding the person you sent here named Benito de Guzman, I don’t know
about his disappearance, and if you think he is a bad person you should have him
arrested.
Myself and the soldiers here in Cavite have twenty Remingtons and Mausers and
about twenty percussion rifles; we also have about a thousand volunteer troops ready
to return home there who are now outside the town of Indang and are only waiting
upon what was decided between my emissary Mr. Antonino Guevarra and yourself in
relation to our planned attack in the Southern District (Laguna), so you must send him
back immediately in order that we can take the necessary action as soon as possible.
Regarding the collection of funds here, when we enter the towns it is easy to
solicit or sequester from the wealthy.
You need to make your authority known around the towns of Bulacan and Nueva
Ecija, using the appointments I have sent you; awaken their resolve to be active and
don’t let their spirit be broken by the Spanish advances here in the towns of Cavite,
because the Revolution here is spreading and getting much stronger due to the towns
of Batangas and Laguna crossing over, and perhaps Tayabas, Mindoro, and Camarines
will cross over also; this aside, it is necessary to counter the agreement the Spaniards
have made with a few compatriots, because they are the ones who will find ways to
make the Tagalog soldiers desert…like the succession of desertions that is happening
now.
Together with this you will receive a letter which is a reply sent here by Mr.
Lucrecio Bachiller, Mataginting,5 which you need to act and convey your instructions
upon quickly in order that the requirements of his soldiers can be organized.
Likewise, I have also sent you there, through Mr. Antonino Guevarra, your
appointment and those of your secretary and General Emilio.6
Receive a firm embrace.
Limbon (Indan), 24 Abril 1897

Andres Bonifacio
[Maypagasa]
P.S.
The army of brother Mr. Lucrecio Taginting must be under your authority and
you must be the one who investigates and takes care of their needs.
Likewise, if you have a surplus of powder, please give it to them in order that by
this means they do not become distant from us.
Together with this, you will receive the printed copies of Mr. Rizal’s poem, and we
will also be printing the Cartilla.
Adieu
1 Santiago V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of a General, translated by
2 Julio Nakpil, Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution, edited and translated by Encarnacion
Alzona (Quezon City: Academic Publishing, 1997), 47.
3 This note is written at the top of the letter in a different hand, presumably that of Nakpil or
his secretary. By the date the reply was dispatched, Bonifacio had already been arrested and
brought before the military court in Maragondon.
4 “Coppers” in this context probably means the copper boxes in which gunpowder was
transported.
5 Bachiller’s Katipunan name, meaning Vibrant or Sonorous.
6 Emilio Jacinto.
8.11
Andres Bonifacio
Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 24, 1897
Facsimile of the original document in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution
(Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 146–47.
Bonifacio’s communications with Jacinto and Nakpil in the north had become
very problematic, relying on his couriers being able to get across enemy lines
or through enemy-held territory. Writing here, Bonifacio does not know
whether Jacinto has received his previous letter, dated April 16, and so he
repeats (adding more detail) the key points he had relayed already: that much
of the liberated territory in Cavite had now been retaken by the Spaniards;
that a number of Magdalo leaders had surrendered; and that the decisions of
the Tejeros Convention had been nullified. Together with his letter, Bonifacio
enclosed the declaration written by Artemio Ricarte (document 8.6) a month
earlier—March 24—recounting how, “with great reluctance,” he had taken his
oath of office as general-in-chief of the revolutionary army, the position to
which he had been elected at Tejeros.
Bonifacio also tells Jacinto, as he had told Nakpil in his letter of the same
date (document 8.10), that he is currently camped outside the town of Indang
with about 1,000 troops, and is only delaying his departure from Cavite,
because he is waiting for his emissary Antonino Guevara to return from the
north and report back to him on what Jacinto and Nakpil thought about
his plans for mounting an offensive in Laguna. Bonifacio had dispatched
Guevara northwards a week or so earlier, bearing his letter to Emilio Jacinto
dated April 16, and with instructions to meet both Jacinto and Nakpil and
sound out their views on the military situation. Guevara, in a brief memoir
that he dedicates to Emilio Aguinaldo, mentions neither this particular
mission nor, in fact, the names of Bonifacio, Jacinto, and Nakpil at all, a
silence which, as O. D. Corpuz sadly notes, “reflects one of the tragedies of the
Revolution.” On April 24, the day that Bonifacio wrote to Nakpil from Indang
saying he was anxiously awaiting the outcome of the critical discussions
Guevara was supposed to have in the north, Guevara was actually (according
to the chronology of his memoir) in or around Indang himself, and had been
there for two days.1 Even if he was not in the immediate vicinity of Bonifacio’s
headquarters, he could surely have sent a messenger to convey his crucial
news, and Bonifacio, his troops, and followers could then have decided to
move off either northward to the provinces of Manila and Morong or east-
ward into Laguna. Instead, they waited a while longer, and for Bonifacio
those additional days waiting were to mean death.
Tagalog text
ANDRES BONIFACIO
MAYPAGASA
P. ng K. Kapulungan
M. Emilio Jacinto Pinkian
Minamahal kong kapatid: tinangap ko ang inyong sulat, taglay ang kabilangang
araw na ika labingsiyam ng umiiral at nabatid ko ang lahat ng doo’y nasasabi.
Magbuhat ng mapasok ang bayan ng Silang ng kaaway at magpahanga ngayong
mga araw na ito ay wala kaming ibang inaatupag kundi ang pag tatangol sa guipit
na kalagayan ng bayan; ito ang kadahilanan ng di ko pagsulat dian; nguni’t bago ko
tinangap ang inyong sulat ay ako’y nagpadala sa inyo ng sulat sa pamaguitan ni M.
Antonino Guevara na taga S. Pedro Tunasan na ngayo’y inaakala kong sumapit na sa
inyong kamay; doo’y akin ibinabalita sa inyo ang mga nangyaring napagsapit nitong
mga bayan sakop nitong Tangway na nakuha ng Kastila ang Silang, Dasmariñas,
Ymus, Bakood, Kawit, Noveleta, Malabon, Salinas at Tanza; tatlo o apat ang mga
bayang ito ay nakuha ng kaaway ng walang laban at marahil ay makukuha pa ang
nangatitirang bayan kung ang pag sasarilinan at kakulangan ng pagkakaisa ay
mananatili, ito’y siyang tanging kadahilanan ng ikinapapahamak ng mga bayan
dito tungkol sa pulong na guinawa dito ng ika 22 ng buang nagdaan, yao’y ginawa sa
kadahilanan may tinangap na sulat sa isang Jesuita at isang Kastila na nagngangalang
Pio Pi at Rafael Comenge na ipinadala kay Kapitan Emilio Aguinaldo sa sulat na ito’y,
nasasabi na tayo’y bibigyan ng laganap na kapatawaran (Yndulto mas amplio) o kaya
makipagusap sa kanila at sabihin kung ano ang ibig natin. Yto’y kapwa ipinadala ng
taga Ymus sa mga pinuno ng Magdiwang na may kalakip ng mga condiciones na ibig
hingin sa Kastila na pakikipagyari. Ang taga Magdiwang ng ito’y hindi sangayunan
sa kadahilanang ako’y wala sa Tangway at na sa sa Look (Batangan) ng mga araw na
yaon bukod pa sa niwawalan nilang kabuluhan ang mga katauhan ng Jesuita at ni

Comenge na di makapakikialam sa mga bagay na ito.
Sa matanto ng taga Ymus ang kasagutan ng taga Magdiwang si Capitan Emilio
ay lihim na sumulat sa mga Pangulong bayan sakop ng Magdiwang ng tungkol
sa nasabing pakikipagyaring gawin sa Kastila; ito’y ng mabatid ng Presidente ng
Magdiwang ay karakarakang nagpatawag ng Pulong at sampung ako’y ipinasundo
sa Look at guinawa na nga ang nasabing Pulong. Doo’y halos ang lahat sa akin
pagpapaaninao ng kasamaan ng pakikipagyari sa Kastila ay wala na hindi ang ibig ay
laban.
Sa pagka’t ang karamihan sa Pulong na ito ay minagaling na itayo ang isang
Pamahalaan (Gobierno), bagama’t ipinaunawa ko na ito’y hindi mangyayari sapagka’t
wala doon ang pinakakatawan ng taga ibang hukuman at bukod pa sa rito’y ipinagsabi
ko na mayroon ng pinagkayarian sa Pulong na guinawa sa bayan ng Ymus; ang lahat
ng ito’y niwawalan kabuluhan ng karamihan at di umano’y sa kaguipitan tinatawid
ng mga bayang ito’y ay wala ng panahon ay makapag aantabay pa na dumating ang
taga ibang bayan at yaong Pulong na guinawa sa Ymus ay winala rin kabuluhan
sapagka’t di rao magawa ang acta. Gayon ma’y akin ipinagsabi sa lahat na kaharap
sa Pulong na yaon na kung kalooban ng mga taung bayan ang siyang masusunod na
makapangyayari sa paghahalal ng mga Pinuno ako’y sumasangayon.
Ng gawin ang paghahalal ay lumabas na Presidente de la Republica ay si M.
Emilio Aguinaldo, Vice presidente ay si M. Mariano Trias, General en Jefe si M.
Artemio Rikarte, Director de grra. M. Emiliano R. de Dios, ito’y isinigaw na lamang
sapagka’t gabi na gayondin naman isinigaw akong pinagkaisahan Director del
Ynterior na ipinag viva pa na gaya ng ibang nahalal; datapwa’t ng ito’y matapos
na at sinisimulan ang pag hahalal ng Director de Hacienda si M. Daniel Tirona ay
nagsabing may sumisigaw na ihalal sa katungkulan Director del Interior si M. José
del Rosario; tuloy ipinagsabi na ang katunkulan Director del Interior ay totoong
mabigat at kinakailangan ang isang marunong ang tungkulan nito, ito’y sinabi
kapagkatapos na ipagturing na hindi sa pag hamak niya sa akin. Ang kasagutan ko
sa kanya ay sa lahat ng katungkulan yaon ay kinakailangan ang taung marunong,
datapwa’t sino ang wika ko sa nangag si labas ang kanyang maituturong marunong?
gayon ma’y sumigaw rin ng ganito: Isigaw ninyo anya ¡Director del Interior José del
Rosario, Abogado! Wala rin sumunod sa kanya hangan sa makaapat na ulitin kun di
mangilanngilan at sigaw rin ay ako. Sa kaguluhang ito ang Presidente ng Magdiwang
ay ipinahayag na yao’y hindi kapulungan ng mga taung mahal, kaya’y sinabi niya na
walang kabuluhan ang doo’y mga pinagusapan. Bukod dito’y bago sinimulan ang
paghahalal ay matuklasan ko ang mga panguupat ng ilan taga Ymus na di umano’y di
nararapat na sila’y pamunuan ng taga ibang bayan. Kaya’t ipinahahalal na maguing
Presidente ay si Capitan Emilio. Kapagkarakang ito’y mabatid ko ay akin sinabi rin
na ang kapulungang yaon ay totoong marumi sapagka’t gayon ang ipinamamarali
ang isiahihibo [?] sa tawo at itanong ko na kung ibig nilang isaisahin kong ituro ng
daliri ang gumagawa ng gayon ang aking ituturo ang karamiha’y sumagot ng huag na.
Sinabi ko rin naman na kapag hindi nasunod ang talagang kalooban nang bayan ay
hindi ako makakikilala sa kanino pa mang Pinuno lumabas at kapag di ako kumilala
ay di rin naman kikilalanin ng mga taga rian sa atin. Ang lumabas na general na si M.
Artemio Rikarte ay isinigaw rin sa kapulungang yaon na ang kanyang pagkahalal ay
sa masamang paraan.
Ang mga taga Ymus ay ng kinabukasan sila sila ay nagkapulong sa Convento ng
Tanza at doo’y pinilit na isaisang pinapanunumpa ang nangahalal at siya ninyong
mapagkikita sa kalakip nitong isang kasulatan ni M. Artemio Rikarte.
Ang taga Magdiwang lalong lalo ang mga taga Malabon ay gumawa [?] ng isang
protesta sa ipinatawag si Kapitan Emilio at Daniel Tirona at sa isang pag haharap ay
pinabitiwan sa kanya ang kapangyarihang ibig niyang kamkamin; kaya’t sa gabi ring
yaon ay gumawa siya ng isang Circular na ipinahayag niya sa lahat ng bayan sakop ng
Tangway na ang kapulungan guinawa na pagkahalal sa kanya ay wala ng kabuluhan at
malagay na muli sa dating kalagayan ng Magdiwang at Magdalo.
Ako at sampu ng ating mga kawal na ma’y mga dalawang pung na baril na
Remington at mga dalawang pung baril na de piston na may katampatan kasangkapan
ang nagsi labas na nang bayan ng Indang sa nayong Halang na talagang gayak sa
pag uwi diyan. Kaakbay rin naman namin ang makapal na sandatahan na may mga
isang libo, kaya’t wala kaming ibang inaantay kun di ang inyong pagkakayarian ni M.
Antonino Guevarra ayon sa aming salitaan nito. Antay ko sa madaling panahon ang
inyong marapatin pagkasunduan diyan tungkol sa amin binabalak ng nasabing M.
Guevarra.
Tungkol sa armas na ating inaantay ay tila hindi maaasahan sapagka’t sa sulat
ni Jokson ay humihingi ng dalawang pung libo; dito’y ang salaping na iipon ay halos
naubos na sa kagugugol ng mga Pinuno sa kailangan nila at Panghihimagsik.
Kalakip din nitong sulat na ito na inyong tangapin ang salin ng “Manifiesto
Revolucionario” namin sanang ilalathala ito’y nasusulat din sa wikang ingles
datapwa’t sa pagka’t tila totoong mahaba ay kayo na ang bahalang maghusay upang
magamit natin kapagkarakang tayo’y magkaayos-ayos; gayon din kalakip nito
ang alfabeto de numero na guinagamit sa pakikipagsulatan sa Hong Kong; ito’y
kinakailangan ipaglihim sa kay Vnvqrtc Llntñbqdnd [Mamerto Natibedad].
Ang Hukuman ng Batangan ay nagbangon ng isang Gobierno Provincial at
ito’y isinusukob sa akin kapangyarihan na pinatutunayan ng apat na sulat na sa aki’y
ipinadala at doo’y ipinadala kong saklolo ang dalawang pung baril at dalawang pu’t
limang sandatahang Balara; gayon din si Lucino na may kasamang ilan barilan upang
sila’y makatulong sa kasalukuyang paglusob doon ng mga taga roon sa walong bayan
sabay-sabay.
Tungkol sa balitang napatay si Procopio ito’y hindi totoo kahit nanganib ng
malaki.
Kayo’y ibinalita rin naman dito ng buang katatapos na pinatay ng mga
Carabineros sa kadahilanang di umano’y kayo’y nagbigay ng isang masamang

kautusan, ito’y sapagka’t balita ng taga Ymus ay hindi ko pinaniwalaan at itinuring
kong isang kasukaban dating gawa ng mga taung ito.
Tungkol sa pagiipon ng salapi ay inaakala kong hindi kailangan ang tayo’y
magpalimos kundi ang nararapat ang tayo’y magpumilit na pumasok ng mga bayan-
bayan at humingi o sumamsam sa kanino pa mang mayaman. Ang K. na si M.
Nakpil ay sumulat sa akin na itinatanong na kun ang salaping may mga apat na raan
mahiguit na kanyang naaipon ay kung nararapat na ibigay sa kay Vnvqrtc Llntñbqdnd
[Mamerto Natibedad], ito’y huag ninyong pahintulutan mangyari, sapagka’t iya’y
hindi tapat ang pakikisama sa atin at iya’y malaki ang hilig sa taga Magdalo.
Isang kasuklam suklam na balita ang akin maipapasabi sa inyo tungkol sa
kasukaban gawa ng mga pinuno ng S. Magdalo na nag si sukob sa indulto o umayon sa
Kastila ito’y si Daniel Tirona, Mtro. de Guerra, Jose del Rosario, Ministro del Interior,
José Caelles, teniente Gral., gayon din halos lahat ng mga taga Tanza sampu ng Cura
doon; ang lahat ng ito’y pawang kabig o partidos ni Capitan Emilio; kaya’t malabis ang
hinala ng marami na kun kaya’t malabis na nagpumilit na sila’y maguing Gobierno
ay ng upang maisuko ang boong Revolucion. Ng lingong nagdaan ay ipinagapos ko
sa ating mga kawal ang isa rin sa mga Ministro ni Capitan Emilio sa kadahilanang
nahuling magtatanan, kaakbay ang dalawang Kastila bihag at isang señora isa sa
mga Kastilang ito ay nagsabi ng totoo na sila ay magtatanan; ito’y pinaghatulan sa
Sangunian Digma at ang kinalabasan ay ang dati rin palakad dito ng pag tatakipan o
favoritismo; datapwa’t ang espediente na tinalaan na ng nasabing Ministro na si M.
Cayetano Topacio ay naiwan sa akin ay gayon din ang sa Kastila. Yto’y isa sa manga
kadahilanan ng aming pagpupumilit na mapaalis dito sapagka’t hindi lamang sa
kaaway na Kastila nanganganib ang amin buhay kun di lalo’t higit pa sa mga pinuno
dito na ang karamiha’y may masasamang kilos.
Ang limbagan mga librong kailangan, mapang malaki at mga kasangkapan sa
paggagawaan ng kapsula ay aming dalang lahat.
Ang mga Cuchara na inyong ipinadadala sa kapatid ni Dimas ay hindi maibigay
sa kanila sapagka’t sila’y nagsialis na, na tumungo sa dakong Silangan (Laguna). Ang
inyong ina na na sa Marigondong ay aming ipinatawag at magpahangangayo’y siya
naming inaantabayanan.
Tangapin ang mahigpit na yakap na pahatid ko buhat dito.
Limbon 24 Abril 1897
Ang Plo. ng H. B.
And ... Bonifacio
Maypagasa

KAPULUNGAN”]
Don Emilio Jacinto Pinkian
My dear Brother:- I received your letter dated the 19th of the present month and
took note of everything you say in it.
From the time the enemy entered the town of Silang until the present day our
endeavors have been limited to ameliorating the desperate plight of the people, and
this is one of the reasons I haven’t written there. Before I received your letter, however,
I sent you a letter through Don Antonino Guevara, of San Pedro Tunasan, and I
presume the letter must already be in your hands. Therein I related to you the fate that
has befallen the towns here in the district of Tanway taken by the Spaniards—Silang,
Dasmariñas, Imus, Bacoor, Kawit, Noveleta, Malabon, Salinas, and Tanza. Three or
four of these towns were taken by the enemy without any struggle, and if selfishness
and a lack of unity prevail the remaining towns might also be taken. This is the sole
cause of the reverses in the towns here. As to the convention held here on the 22nd of
last month,3 it was held because letters were received from a Jesuit and a Spaniard,
Pio Pi and Rafael Comenge by name, addressed to Capitan Emilio Aguinaldo.4 These
letters state that we will be granted a complete pardon (indulto mas amplio) or, alter-
natively, we can talk to them and tell them what we are seeking. Both letters were
brought by the Imus people to the Magdiwang chiefs, together with a list of the
conditions they want to seek from the Spaniards in order to reach an agreement. The
Magdiwang people did not agree, for the reason that I was away from Tanway at that
time, at Look (Batangas); besides, they attach no importance to the personages of the
Jesuit and Comenge, who should not meddle in these matters.
When the Imus people received the reply of the Magdiwang people, Capitan
Emilio wrote secretly to the chiefs of the towns under the jurisdiction of Magdiwang
about making the said agreement with the Spaniards. When the president of
Magdiwang5 learned this, he immediately called a meeting and sent someone to fetch
me from Look, and the said meeting was then held. Nearly everybody there agreed
with me that it would be wrong to reach a settlement with the Spaniards, and nobody
wanted to abandon the fight.
The majority at this meeting wanted to establish a government (Gobierno), even
though I explained this was not possible on account of the lack of people there from
other districts, and aside from this I said that an agreement had already been reached
at the meeting held in the town of Imus.6 The majority gave no importance to all this,
saying that due to the critical situation of the towns here there was no time to wait
for people from other places to arrive, and also that the meeting held in Imus lacked
validity, because no record of the proceedings had been made, it was said. In any event,
I told everybody present at that meeting that if it was the will of the people to go ahead
and elect leaders, then I would be in accord.
When the voting took place the outcome was that Don Emilio Aguinaldo was
elected as president of the Republic; Don Mariano Trias7 as vice president; Don
Artemio Ricarte8 as general in chief; Don Emiliano R. de Dios9 as director of war. This
was all by acclamation, as it was already night. I was elected director of the interior,
also by acclamation, and was cheered by all, in the same way as the others who had
been elected, but when the cheering was over and the election of a director of finance
was about to begin, Don Daniel Tirona10 said there were voices shouting for Don José
del Rosario11 to be elected to the position of director of the interior. He went on to say
that the office of director of the interior was a most exacting one, and that a learned
man was needed to fill this office, and he said this after stating that it was not his
intention to offend me. My reply to him was that all the offices required learned men,
but who among those who had been elected, I asked, could he point out to me as being
learned? Still, he called out like this: Shout, he cried, director of the interior José del
Rosario, Lawyer! Only a few followed him the four times that he shouted it, and again
people shouted for me. In view of this turmoil, the president of Magdiwang declared
that this was not a convention of honorable men and so everything done there lacked
validity. This aside, before the voting began, I discovered the intrigues of some of the
Imus people, who had been saying it was not right for them to be governed by men
from other towns, and that Capitan Emilio should therefore be elected as president.
As soon as I heard of this, I also said that the meeting was truly dirty, because this
was a deceit they were pressing on the people, and I asked whether they wished me
to point out one by one, those who were conducting themselves in this manner. The
majority said not to bother. I also said that if the manifest will of the people was not
followed, I would not recognize any of the leaders elected, and that if I did not recog-
nize them, they would likewise not be recognized by the people there in our place. Don
Artemio Ricarte, who was chosen as general, also declared at that meeting that his
election was due to bad practices.
The Imus people met the next day at the convento in Tanza, and there they
compelled those who had been elected to take the oath, one by one, as you can see in
the document by Don Artemio Ricarte that is sent herewith.12
The Magdiwang people, especially those from Malabon, drew up a protest13
which they put to Capitan Emilio and Daniel Tirona, and at a meeting they made him
resign the position of authority he wanted to seize. That same night he accordingly
issued a circular, which was published in all the towns of Tanway, to the effect that
the convention at which he was elected had been invalid, and that the situation of the
Magdiwang and Magdalo should revert to as it had been before.
Together with our soldiers, totaling about twenty armed with Remington rifles
and about twenty with muzzle-loaders, with the necessary implements, I have already
left the town of Indang for the barrio of Jalang, with the firm intention of returning
there. We also have with us a multitude of bolomen, numbering about 1,000. There is
nothing for which we are waiting other than whatever you and Don Antonino Guevarra
will decide in relation to our news here. I am waiting to know soon what you may see
fit to agree there regarding what we have planned with the said Don Guevarra.14
As to the arms for which we are waiting, it does not seem hopeful, because
Jocson’s15 letter asks for 20,000 pesos, and the money collected here has nearly all
been spent by the chiefs for their necessities and the Revolution.
Together with this letter you will receive the translation of the “Revolutionary
Manifesto” that we are going to publish. It has been written in English as well, but as
it seems very long I entrust you with its arrangement so that we can use it as soon as
we are properly organized. Also herewith is the numerical code to be used for letters to
Hongkong; you must keep this secret from Mamerto Natividad.16
The district of Batangas has organized a provincial government, which four
letters sent to me affirm is under my authority. I sent twenty riflemen and twenty-five
Balara bolo men to help them; Lucino also went there with several riflemen in order
to aid in the assault the people there are currently launching simultaneously on eight
towns.
As to the report of Procopio’s17 death, there is no truth to it, but he was in serious
danger.
News was also received here last month that you had been killed by the carab-
ineers because, it was said, you had given a bad order; but as this news came from
Imus, I did not believe it and I treated it as one of the usual duplicities of these people.
As to the collection of money, I believe we need not beg, but should solicit or
take it from whoever is wealthy. Brother Don Nakpil wrote me, asking whether the
money collected by him, almost four hundred pesos or so, should be given to Mamerto
Natividad. Do not allow this to happen, because that man is not sincere in his friend-
ship with us, and he is very close to the Magdalo people.
A piece of sickening news I can tell you is the treachery committed by the chiefs
of the Magdalo Council who have applied for pardon or gone over to the Spaniards.
These are Daniel Tirona, minister of war; José del Rosario, minister of the interior;
José Cailles18, lieutenant-general; and nearly all the Tanza people, even the parish
priest there, the whole lot of them henchmen or partisans of Capitan Emilio. For
this reason, many people strongly suspect that they strive so hard to get control of
the government in order to surrender the whole Revolution. Last week I ordered our
soldiers to tie up another of the ministers of Capitan Emilio because he was caught as
he was about to escape with two Spanish prisoners and a lady. One of these Spaniards
told the truth that they were going to escape. He [the minister] was tried by a council
of war, but the outcome, as usually happens here, was that everybody covered up
for each other, or favoritism. However, the record of the case against the minister
mentioned, Don Cayetano Topacio,19 remains in my possession, as does that against

the Spaniards. This is one of the reasons why we desire to leave here, because our life
is in danger not only from the Spanish enemy, but still more so from the leaders here,
most of whom have wicked intentions.
We have taken away everything: the printing press, the necessary books, the big
map, and the tools for making cartridges.
The spoons you sent for the brother and sisters of Dimas20 could not be given to
them because they have already left in the direction of Silangan (Laguna). We have
sent for your mother, who is now in Maragondon, and we are still waiting for her.
Receive the close embrace that I send you from here.
Limbon, April 24, 1897

And ... Bonifacio

Maypagasa
1 Antonino Guevara y Mendoza, History of One of the Initiators of the Filipino Revolution, trans-
lated from the Spanish by O. D. Corpuz (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1988), ii, 7–8.
directly from the Tagalog, it generally retains the meaning of the original quite well. Epifanio
de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [English version], Philippine Review (Revista Filipina) 3,
nos. 1–2 (January–February 1918): 44–46.
3 The Tejeros Convention.
4 Emilio Aguinaldo was captain general of the Magdalo forces at this time. In calling him
“Capitan” in this letter, Bonifacio is presumably referring not to his military rank but to the
position he held prior to the revolution, capitan municipal of his home town of Kawit.
5 Mariano Alvarez.
6 This must refer to what is known as the Imus assembly, held around the end of December
1896, at which Bonifacio was reportedly appointed to head a “legislative committee” or
“congress” (“Lupung Tagapagbatas” or “Kapulungan”) and authorized to appoint as its
members “some people he considered to be worthy.” Artemio Ricarte, Himagsikan nang
manga Pilipino laban sa Kastila (Yokohama: “Karihan Café,” 1927), 37. See also Santiago V.
Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: The Memoirs of a General, translated by Paula
Carolina S. Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992), 306.
7 Mariano Trias had for a time served as the Magdiwang minister of welfare and justice, but is
said by Santiago Alvarez to have switched his allegiance to the Magdalo Council in February
1897, following disputes with his colleagues over military matters. Alvarez, The Katipunan
and the Revolution, 304–5; 313.
8 Prior to the Tejeros Convention Artemio Ricarte was deputy captain general (to Santiago
Alvarez) of the Magdiwang Council.
9 Emiliano Riego de Dios was for a time the minister of economic development in the
Magdiwang Council, but prior to the Tejeros Convention became a partisan of the Magdalo
camp.
10 Daniel Tirona was secretary of war of the Magdalo Council.
11 José del Rosario was a colonel on the staff of the Magdiwang captain general, Santiago
Alvarez.
12 Artemio Ricarte’s statement is dated March 24, 1897.
13 This might refer to the so-called Acta de Tejeros, or at least to another protest in similar
terms.
14 In the letter he wrote to Julio Nakpil on the same date (document 8.10), Bonifacio makes
it plain that what he was planning was an attack somewhere in the “southern district
(Laguna).”
15 Feliciano Jocson, who together with José Alejandrino, had been attempting to procure arms
in Hong Kong.
16 Mamerto Natividad Jr., from Bacolor, Pampanga, had joined the Magdalo forces
in Cavite after the outbreak of the revolution; he stayed for a time in the house of
the Magdalo president, Baldomero Aguinaldo, in the town of Binakayan. Carlos
Ronquillo, Ilang Talata tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896−1897 [1898], edited by
Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1996), 769.
17 Procopio Bonifacio, one of the brothers of Andres.
18 Juan Cailles, previously a colonel in the Magdiwang council.
19 Cayetano Topacio, minister of finance in the Magdalo Council.
20 “Dimas” here is presumably a shortened form of “Dimasalang,” which was one of the pen
names of José Rizal. His brother Paciano and one or more of his sisters, it appears, had been
with the revolutionary forces in Cavite until shortly before this letter was written.
APPENDIX A
Notes on the Katipunan in Manila, 1892−1896
Now that researchers have access to the Katipunan documents in the Spanish mili-
tary archives, it is possible to discern more clearly how the Katipunan developed
in Manila—both city and province—prior to launching the revolution in August
1896. Utilizing these documents in conjunction with more familiar sources, this
piece focuses in particular on the thorny, oft-debated issue of the Katipunan’s class
composition.
The two tables that follow these notes present information on (i) the members
of the KKK Supreme Council and the leading activists at a local level (table 1); and (ii)
the names and locations of the KKK’s councils and branches (table 2). Many, perhaps
most, of the individuals listed in the first table have been forgotten by posterity, and it
is hoped the listing might encourage their descendants and families, as well as histo-
rians, to retrieve more of a past now sadly lost.
It is recognized that numerous errors inevitably lurk in the detail of the tables,
and it is manifest that there are still countless unknowns. Corrections, and the rectifi-
cation of omissions, will be very welcome.
The class composition of the Katipunan in Manila

When the Katipunan surfaced in 1896 it got called “plebeian,” and the adjec-
tive has stuck like a limpet. In its original, ancient Roman sense, the term described
every citizen who did not belong to the ruling patrician caste, and it hence embraced
merchants, artisans, farmers, and laborers alike. If that broad, inclusive meaning is
intended when the “plebeian” label is attached to the Katipunan, nobody could
quarrel, but most often something else is meant. Isabelo de los Reyes, the first writer to
describe the brotherhood as una asociación plebeya, made it very plain he had in mind
not the generality of the Manila citizenry, but specifically the pobres y ignorantes.1 Fifty
years later, Teodoro Agoncillo made the point even more emphatically. The Katipunan,
he wrote, drew its members from the unlettered “have-nots,” the “despairing spirits,
the oppressed, the downtrodden,” from the “lowest stratum of society.”2 Other histo-
rians have contested the categorical, sweeping character of this portrayal, especially
in relation to the KKK leadership as distinct from the rank and file, but until now the
debate has been constricted by a shortage of reliable information. It has been difficult
to assess the validity of the orthodoxy painted with such forceful brushwork by Isabelo
de los Reyes and Teodoro Agoncillo, as Glenn May remarks, because the sources on
the Katipunan—as it expanded in provinces like Cavite as well as in Manila—“allow us
to identify no more than a hundred or so members.”3
As a step towards rectifying this deficiency, table 1 lists the names of over 200
men and women who were active in the Katipunan in the city and province of Manila,
399
400 APPENDIX A
and wherever possible—in 136 cases—indicates their occupation. Almost all those on
the list held office in one or more of the KKK’s branches (Balangay) or popular coun-
cils (Sangunian Bayan), and to some extent the focus therefore remains on the leader-
ship rather than the entire membership of the organization. Until the beginning of
1896, however, the entire membership barely exceeded 300, and in many branches the
officeholders were quite probably almost as numerous as those who did not hold office.
Since at least half those listed were KKK members prior to 1896, the data presented
here for the city of Manila (though not the province) covers a not insignificant frac-
tion of the pre-1896 membership as a whole.
Before trying to assess what the occupations of the Katipunan activists tell us
about their social position, it is necessary to look very briefly at the overall structure of
employment in the city, which was highly fragmented and diverse. Only in the tobacco
factories and along the waterfront were large numbers of workers concentrated in
one place. The great bulk of the workforce was scattered in small workshops, in small
shops and offices, in private homes, in markets, and on the streets. In 1903, the only
proximate date for which statistics are available, the working population of the city
was counted as 132,858, and in descending order (and rounded to the nearest hundred)
the largest occupational categories were laborers (22,400); merchants (12,000); serv-
ants (10,500); sailors (9,700); launderers (7,800); salesmen (7,700); seamstresses (7,100);
tobacco workers (6,800); coachmen (5,600); clerks (4,800); carpenters (4,700); and
cooks (3,400). The other categories that included more than one thousand people were
agriculturalists, boatmen, fishermen, constabulary and police, engineers and firemen,
machinists, messengers, shoemakers, tailors, watchmakers and jewelers, and painters
and glaziers.4
How, then, does the occupational profile of the KKK compare and contrast with
that of the working population at large? Table 1, as mentioned, lists the occupations
of 136 activists, and the first point to make is that they do indeed reflect the wider
pattern of diversity and fragmentation. Numerous occupations only figure once or
twice—there is a cook, a postman, a lottery ticket seller, a pharmacist, 2 mechanics,
2 bookkeepers, and so on. There are 3 barbers, 3 tailors, and 3 waterworks employees.
In aggregate, these occupations that figure only once, twice, or three times on the list
account for 45 of the total cohort. The remainder—91—can be assigned more readily
into definite categories, each segmented by many gradations of rank and status,
but categories nonetheless. The largest category, by a clear margin, is that of clerks
(escribientes), of whom there are 32, including 9 who worked in courts of law. The
second largest category comprises another 21 activists whose occupations might be
described in other times and climes as white collar, and for which the contemporary
Spanish terms were dependiente (employee or, again, clerk) and personero (agent,
representative). Two categories, by the same token, could definitely be described as
blue collar—there are 15 tabaqueros and 11 workers in the printing trades. And lastly,
the list includes 12 Katipunan members who served in the Spanish army, the Manila
police force (the Guardia Civil Veterana) or the customs and excise guards (carabineros).
Most commonly and typically, therefore, the Katipunan activists were clerks,
employees, agents, tobacco workers, printers, and service personnel. They were
indubitably proletarians in the Marxist sense, because they did not own any means
APPENDIX A 401
of production and had to sell their labor in order to earn a living. Nevertheless, it is
clear that Isabelo de los Reyes, Teodoro Agoncillo, and others were wrong to clas-
sify them as collectively belonging to “the lowest stratum of society.” Their wages or
salaries were either around or above the median for the city in the mid-1890s. Clerks
were generally paid about P25 a month, but those who reached senior positions, as
did Roman Basa (Bonifacio’s predecessor as KKK president) at the Comandancia de
Marina, earned over twice that amount.5 Dependientes and personeros would mostly
earn between P15 and P20 monthly, and the wages of skilled workers in the tobacco
and printing industries were in much the same range. Andres Bonifacio was paid P20
or P25 a month for his labors as a bodeguero, and supplemented his income by making
stylish walking canes and paper fans, and by employing his talent for calligraphy.6
Lower-paid occupations, by contrast, are conspicuously absent, or at least
underrepresented, in the cohort. Only 1 KKK activist in the city is listed as a laborer
(jornalero), and yet laborers comprised one-sixth of Manila’s working population.
There is not a single servant, nor a single sailor, launderer, seamstress, or coachman,
and yet these modes of employment each occupied thousands. These were the people
who truly had to scrape by on the most meager wages, and these were the people,
together with the unfortunates who had no regular means of livelihood, who truly
belonged to “the lowest stratum.” Women who worked as seamstresses or lavanderas
made as little as P0.20 a day, equivalent to about P5 a month. Servants, male as well
as female, got between P5 and P10 monthly. Laborers got about P10. Sailors and
coachmen were slightly better off, earning perhaps P12 a month, but even that was less
than half the standard salary of an escribiente.7
If many Katipunan leaders were not “poor” by contemporary standards, neither
were they “ignorant.” Again the information is highly incomplete, but 5 KKK activ-
ists are known to have graduated from the University of Santo Tomas, the pinnacle of
higher education in the colony—Pio Valenzuela in medicine; Feliciano Jocson in phar-
macy; Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Gonzales in law; and José Turiano Santiago as a
perito mercantil. Three others started law courses at the university but did not finish—
Teodoro Plata, Aurelio Tolentino and Emilio Jacinto—and several of the escribientes
had completed at least two or three years of the segunda enseñanza at the Colegio de
San Juan de Letran, the Ateneo Municipal, or in private schools, and would therefore
have been regarded as well educated by the standards of the day. The printers would
likewise need to have attained a relatively high standard of literacy.
De los Reyes and Agoncillo did not have any derogatory intent when writing about
the Katipunan. On the contrary, both men were intensely patriotic, radical in outlook,
and broadly sympathetic to the KKK and its aspirations. Both of them, too, had the
opportunity to talk to leading members of the organization. De los Reyes relates
that in writing his account he drew upon his conversations with two of the KKK’s
founders (Ladislao Diwa and Valentin Diaz); with five other sometime members of the
organization’s Supreme Council and/or its August 1896 “War Cabinet” (José Turiano
Santiago, Restituto Javier, Aguedo del Rosario, Briccio Pantas, and Enrique Pacheco);
and with a leading member of the women’s section (Marina Dizon).8 Decades later,
Teodoro Agoncillo interviewed two surviving members of the Supreme Council—Pio
Valenzuela and Guillermo Masangkay—and also talked with Marina Dizon.9
402 APPENDIX A
Both historians, then, saw the Katipunan positively and met some of its key
figures. Why, therefore, should Isabelo de los Reyes tell his readers that only one
Katipunan activist—the physician Pio Valenzuela—had a “learned profession” (carrera
académica), when he spoke with at least three others who had been to college or
university (Diwa, Pantas, and Turiano Santiago) and when he should have known of a
few more in the KKK’s ranks.10 Why did Teodoro Agoncillo maintain that within the
“supremely plebeian” Katipunan there were “at best two or three [members who] were
small merchants or court clerks,” when he easily could have counted half a dozen indi-
viduals in each of those two categories?11 Partly, for sure, because they wanted to argue
a case, and were striving for polemical effect. But perhaps the answer also lies partly in
the backgrounds of the two historians. Both were well to do; both went to university in
times when very few Filipinos could. Although they challenged the conventions and
conservatism of their peers, they were both ilustrados, and they appraised Philippine
society and social status from an elevated ilustrado perspective. The Katipunan was
una asociación terrible, de los Reyes writes, “because it was composed of plebeian and
ignorant people,” people who “say little and perhaps think little as well.”12 Agoncillo
related in later life how he had “personally known a few of the original founders and
members of the Katipunan, and found them to be completely in the class of Bonifacio:
poor and not so literate.”13 Yes, Bonifacio was indeed “poor” by ilustrado standards,
but not by the standards of most Manileños in the 1890s. “Not so literate”? Bonifacio
was fully literate in Tagalog and read books in Spanish. Again, by what rarefied
measure was Agoncillo judging the KKK president?
The two men who established the historiographical orthodoxy on the Katipunan,
it is thus clear, found it difficult to delineate the social milieu in which the brother-
hood emerged and grew. De los Reyes did at least draw a distinction between two
strata above the masses, el elemento rico del país and el elemento medio ó burgués. The
former, he observes, was conservative and for reasons of self-interest did not want to
disturb the status quo, whilst the latter sought reforms through peaceful means. As his
phrase “medio ó burgués” indicates, however, he does not identify any middle element
that was not burgués. Agoncillo, still more reductively, saw the society of the time as
a simple binary, as being divided between “the intellectuals and the wealthy” on the
one hand and the pobres y ignorantes on the other. Any intermediate strata he lost
in a blind spot. He does frequently refer to “the middle class,” but the way in which
he defines the term puts his elision beyond doubt. In the late-nineteenth century, he
writes, “the middle class” was constituted by “the intellectuals and the wealthy.”14
Who he therefore thinks constituted the “upper class,” he does not tell.
The Katipunan and Masonry

This failure to distinguish an elemento medio that was not burgués, or that was
not constituted by “the intellectuals and the wealthy,” leads de los Reyes and Agoncillo
to misrepresent not only the nature of the Katipunan itself, but also its relationship to
masonry and the Liga Filipina. At the time the Katipunan was formed, the patriotic
and progressive campaign had found a semblance of organizational structure in the
masonic lodges, the first of which, Nilad, was inaugurated in January 1892.
The Katipunan’s founders, Agoncillo’s classic account relates, included Andres
APPENDIX A 403
Bonifacio, Deodato Arellano, Valentin Diaz, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa and Jose
Dizon.15 Agoncillo mentions that Bonifacio was a mason, but neglects to observe that
all the others were, too, and that all except Arellano probably belonged to the same
masonic triangle (later a lodge), Taliba.16 And the reason for this omission, one can
only suspect, is that such an observation would throw into relief the inadequacy of
the simplistic class analysis that Agoncillo presents. For the masons of the time, he
says, were “intellectuals and middle-class Filipinos, [who] were rather careful in their
demands for liberty.”17 The fact that the men he names as the founders of the “lower
class” Katipunan were all masons is thus mightily awkward, and he chooses the easy
solution of leaving it unsaid.
Including the six already mentioned, a total of twenty-two men listed in table 1
are recorded as being masons, and many more could be added if the table were to be
expanded to include KKK members who did not hold office in the local sections. At
least twelve members of Walana Lodge, for instance, are known to have joined the
Katipunan, and eleven members of Taliba. Spanish intelligence agents believed that
two other lodges, Modestia and Dalisay, also counted many Katipuneros amongst
their members. And at least six women who were active in the Katipunan, including
two of the most prominent members of the women’s section—Josefa Rizal and Marina
Dizon—were active as well in Semilla, the women’s “Lodge of Adoption” that was
linked to the all-male masonic lodges.
It is indisputably correct, though, to identify the lodges as essentially “middle
class” in their appeal and composition. “Masonry is not in need of the well to do,” stip-
ulated the masonic rules of the time, “but it does not admit one who does not have a
profession, an art, a trade, or an income that will enable him to support his family and,
in addition, to help defray the expenses of Masonry and assist the needy.”18 The needy
themselves could not afford to join the lodges. Upon admission to the craft, members
had to pay an initial recepción fee of P7—the equivalent for a low-paid worker to more
than a month’s wages—and thereafter to pay a monthly subscription of P0.40.19
Members were also sometimes asked to make a regular monthly contribution—in
1894, this was set at P0.50—to support the propaganda campaign in Spain.20 And yet
many Katipunan activists did manage to bear this financial burden. They must also
have had at least a reasonable facility in a language that the “pobres y ignorantes”
could not speak, for the business and rituals of the lodges were conducted in Spanish.
The Katipunan and the Liga Filipina

Rightly portraying masonry as embodying “middle class” aspirations, in sum,
whilst at the same time mistakenly portraying the Katipunan as emanating from “the
lowest stratum,” leads de los Reyes and Agoncillo to minimize the overlap between
the memberships of the Katipunan and the masonic lodges. At the price of being
repetitive and belaboring the point, it is possible to identify a very similar overlap
between the memberships of the Katipunan and the Liga Filipina, the reformist
organization launched fleetingly by Jose Rizal in 1892, and later resurrected for a few
months in 1893.21 Twenty-four of the Katipunan activists listed in table 1 are shown
to have been members of the Liga Filipina, among them 13 of the 28 known members
of the KKK Supreme Council—Andres Bonifacio, Roman Basa, Deodato Arellano, José
404 APPENDIX A
Turiano Santiago, Briccio Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, Valentin Diaz,
Ildefonso Laurel, Tomas Remigio, Tranquilino Torres, José Trinidad, and Teodoro
Vedua. Since the information is patchy, there may in reality have been several more.
Again, the fact that so many activists in the “middle-class” Liga also joined the
ranks of the Katipunan signals a contradiction within the accounts of de los Reyes and
Agoncillo that they fail to confront. De los Reyes relates that the bourgeois members
of the Liga believed clandestine plotting and political leadership should be the prerog-
atives of their class alone. He also reports, however, that Bonifacio belonged to the
Liga Filipina, and that the men he recruited to constitute the first Supreme Council
of the Katipunan came from the Liga, too, specifically from the Liga council in the
district of Trozo over which Bonifacio presided.22
In Agoncillo’s rendition the internal contradiction is still starker. At the conclu-
sion of Revolt, echoing and embellishing de los Reyes, he condemns the “intellectuals
and the wealthy” for arrogantly believing “that they alone could change the color of
the landscape” and for setting up “a sort of caste system from which the “commoners”
were contemptuously excluded. “Hence the Liga Filipina.”23 In diametric contrast,
he maintains, “none” of the charter members of the Katipunan “were of the middle
class.”24 But elsewhere in the book, with blithe inconsistency, he, too, tells his readers
that the Katipunan was founded by Liga members.25 How these “plebeians,” or
“commoners,” had managed to penetrate the Liga’s wall of contemptuous exclusion,
he does not tell.
Amidst the illogicality, Agoncillo’s discussion of the Liga does nonetheless
contain a kernel of truth. He is wrong to talk of a caste system, wrong to assert that
commoners were excluded. But it is valid to say in broad terms that within the Liga a
schism developed between the wealthier members and the less wealthy, and that those
who joined the Katipunan fell into the latter bracket. Of the 24 Katipuneros shown in
table 1 to have been sometime Ligueros, no fewer than 13 can be categorized as escri-
bientes; 5 as blue-collar workers (2 warehousemen, 1 tabaquero, 1 barber, and 1 cook);
2 as professionals (both bookkeepers); 1 as a personero; 1 as a customs official; and 1
as an artisan. The occupation of the other is not known. However, if for comparative
purposes a list is made of the Ligueros who did not join the Katipunan (and hence do
not figure in table 1) a strikingly different picture emerges. Among the 37 such individ-
uals whose occupations are known, there are just 5 escribientes and not one blue-collar
worker. Six, contrarily, are businessmen (comercios), 5 are manufacturers (industriales),
and 3 are property owners (propietarios)—all categories that are completely unrepre-
sented in the list of Ligueros who did join the Katipunan. No fewer than 11 are profes-
sionals (5 lawyers, 2 physicians, 1 teacher, 1 notary, 1 dentist, and 1 bookkeeper), and
the remainder comprise 2 contractors, 2 employees, 1 silversmith, 1 infantry officer,
and 1 student.26
The disparity between these two groups—the Ligueros who joined the KKK and
those who did not—is too wide to have been a matter of chance. Whilst the Liga won
adherents from right across the intermediate social strata, the Katipunan’s founders
belonged solidly to the “lower-middle” and “middle-middle” strata; virtually none
came from the “upper-middle” layer. And sometimes the tensions within the Liga
were undoubtedly interpreted by the protagonists in what might loosely be seen as
APPENDIX A 405
class terms. Some of the Katipuneros detected and resented a deep-seated elitism
amongst the industriales, propietarios, and abogados who belonged to the Liga.27
These wealthy men, it was felt, disdained ordinary people, failed to understand their
grievances, and feared that any revolution “from below” would lead either to dictator-
ship or chaos. The founders of the Katipunan, not so remote from the ordinary people,
had fewer assets and privileges to worry about losing. They had greater confidence
in the masses, and therefore had fewer reservations about seeking separation from
Spain immediately rather than at some indefinite date in the future when the “pobres
y ignorantes” would have acquired sufficient education and civic sense to be “ready”
for independent nationhood. And linguistically they had the ability to engage more
directly with the masses, to adopt Tagalog as the language of patriotic resistance in
place of the Spanish that prevailed in the masonic lodges and the Liga Filipina.
The Katipunan and the principalia

The founders of the Katipunan became disenchanted with the Liga because
it failed to give effective, militant direction to the patriotic campaign. They saw the
Liga’s energies being dissipated, reports de los Reyes, in the continual bickering of
its ilustrado members, who seemed to be inflamed less by verdadero patriotismo than
egoismo pueril. In consequence, Bonifacio and his confrères had concluded that “where
there are learned men [doctos] everything is brought to naught by discussions.” For
this reason, the KKK’s founders did not want to allow ilustrados to join the organiza-
tion unless they were prepared to curb their bombast, do what they were told, and work
hard.28 This seems a very plausible representation of the position the Katipuneros
would take. Agoncillo, though, seriously distorts their standpoint by suggesting
that they did not wish to admit the wealthy and the learned under any condition. He
implies, in other words, that the Katipunan adopted a “lower class” exclusiveness that
mirrored what he calls the “middle class,” caste-like exclusiveness of the Liga.29 This
was just not so. The Katipunan welcomed recruits from any background so long as
they were of sound character (tunay na loob), were committed to the cause of freedom,
and were prepared to abide by its decisions and internal discipline.
The Katipunan, its founders envisaged, would before long govern the entire
archipelago, expanding to all areas and embracing all classes. Conscious that the elite
and substantial sections of the middle class were frightened by the prospect of revolu-
tion and separation from Spain, the Katipunan responded not by shutting them out
but by seeking to win them over. José Dizon and Pio Valenzuela, KKK activists who
themselves came from well-to-do backgrounds, were assigned specifically to contact
personas de posición oficial y de distinción de los pueblos, and by mid-1896, Valenzuela
later recalled, there were about a hundred middle-class members in Manila and the
provinces.30 The majority of Katipuneros, observed Domingo Franco, the former
president of the Liga Filipina, came from la plebe ó pueblo bajo, but their leaders were
“people of a certain status, or who held or had previously held municipal positions”
(personas de cierta representación ó que han ejercido ó ejercen cargos municipals).31
By actively seeking middle-class recruits in the provinces, the city-based
Katipuneros themselves sowed the seed of the subsequent ascendancy of rural-based
leaders in the revolutionary movement. Writing in the 1970s, the inimitable Nick
406 APPENDIX A
Joaquin gently mocked Marxist historians for wrangling about exactly when the
“proletarian uprising” of August 1896 had been “captured” by the bourgeoisie. At
first, he noted, it was said that the capture was effected at the Malolos Congress in
late 1898, but then the date was pushed back to the Tejeros Convention of March 1897.
Some future egghead theorist, Joaquin predicted, would declare that the capture took
place at Balintawak, at the moment the revolution was launched.32
It is tempting to boast that this present egghead piece has fulfilled Joaquin’s
prophecy, and even gone further back, finding el elemento medio in the Katipunan
from the very outset. But in the city, as we have noted, the majority of the middle-class
Katipuneros were not “bourgeois” in the Marxist sense. Class relations in the country-
side, though, were very different. There, a much larger proportion of the middle class
could legitimately be called “bourgeois” because they grew cash crops, employed wage
laborers, or both. Many of the principales, the municipal officeholders whose support
was specifically solicited by Katipunan leaders, like José Dizon and Pio Valenzuela, fell
into this category themselves.
It is common knowledge that in 1896, principales came to head many KKK
sections in the provinces surrounding Manila, and that when the main locus of
the revolution shifted to Cavite, as we have seen, the principalia faction led by
Emilio Aguinaldo took control of the movement and had Bonifacio executed.
The case advanced here does not seek to deny or minimize the significance of the
changes in revolutionary leadership and direction that took place at Tejeros, or
later at Malolos. Much less studied, barely even remarked, however, is the promi-
nence of principales in the Katipunan within the province of Manila. The debate
at which Nick Joaquin poked fun, in other words, could have more life in it yet.
In the KKK sections based in the city itself, only two activists are known to have
held municipal positions—Julian Nepomuceno was at some time teniente tercero of
the gremio de mestizos in the district of Santa Cruz; and Valentin Diaz, before moving
to the capital, had reportedly held office in the town of Tayug, Pangasinan. In the
province of Manila, however, principales are recorded as being active in the local
KKK branches in virtually every town for which information is available, including
Caloocan, Mandaluyong, and Pasig, the three towns where support for the organiza-
tion was strongest.
In Caloocan, where Bonifacio’s father-in-law had once been the capitan munic-
ipal, the KKK council was headed in 1896 by the then incumbent of that post, Silverio
Baltazar, and according to local histories the very first fatality of the revolt was a cabeza
de barangay in Barrio Dulong Kalzada, Simplicio Acabo. Among the leading activists
of the Mandaluyong-based Makabuhay Council were Sinforoso San Pedro, who is
said to have been a capitan municipal pasado ; 33 Romualdo Vivencio, whose appella-
tion “Kapitan Maldo” suggests he might also have held the office; and Buenaventura
Domingo, who was a teniente mayor (chief deputy to the capitan) in the town. In
Pasig, the secretary of the Nagbangon Council, Francisco de la Paz, was a past teniente
mayor, and Valentin Cruz, the president of the Santolan branch, had been a cabeza
de barangay. Principales active elsewhere in the province included Ramon Bernardo,
a past capitan municipal in Pandacan who was the KKK president in the town and
later became a general in the revolutionary army; “Kapitan” Tomas Montillano, who
APPENDIX A 407
was the KKK president in Muntinlupa; Apolonio Samson, a teniente who headed the
branch in Novaliches; and Pio del Pilar, a teniente who was the secretary of a branch
in Makati.
It is possible that this list could be greatly extended. Isagani Medina, a histo-
rian who looked at the “Sediciones y Rebeliones” files in the Philippine National
Archives, states that in no fewer than nine towns in the province of Manila—
Makati, Malibay, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Navotas, Novaliches, Parañaque,
San Mateo, and Taguig—men who acted as Katipunan “special agents” subse-
quently served as municipal presidents in the early years of the American occu-
pation.34 Even assuming that Medina’s sources are not secret-service fictions, of
course, not all these individuals would necessarily have held office before the revo-
lution, but given the continuity of municipal leadership between one imperial
dispensation and the next it is likely that most did belong to principalia families.
Had the Katipunan confined its appeals and recruiting efforts to the “lower
classes,” to state the obvious, it would not have admitted so many principales, and
they would not wish to have joined. It is also noteworthy that the organization’s
fervent desire to mobilize all classes—the entire bayan—culminated after August 1896
in the appointment to senior positions in the revolutionary movement of “middle-
class” men who had never joined the Katipunan. To direct the High Council (Mataas
na Sangunian) in the region to the north and east of the capital, to cite the most
striking example, Bonifacio appointed as president Isidoro Francisco, a leather manu-
facturer who had once belonged to the council of the Liga Filipina; and as secretary he
appointed Julio Nakpil, a piano teacher from a wealthy background who had also been
an active member of the Liga.35
But by this time the Katipunan no longer existed in its original form. It had
suddenly ceased to be a close-knit, clandestine brotherhood and had become, in some
areas, the de facto government. Bonifacio himself ceased using the title “President of
the Katipunan” and instead signed his proclamations and letters “President of the
Sovereign Nation” (Pangulo ng Haring Bayan).
Subsequently, the revolution became much more heterogeneous and complex,
its leadership and direction varying greatly in different regions and at different
times. All that lies way beyond the scope of these notes. Here the focus has been on
the “original,” or tunay na, Katipunan as it was born and developed in Manila, a city
and province which outside the conventos of Intramuros was dynamic, cosmopolitan,
and rapidly modernizing. The early Katipuneros, be they college-educated profes-
sionals like Deodato Arellano and José Turiano Santiago, clerks like Roman Basa and
Teodoro Plata, or manual workers like Aguedo del Rosario and Domingo Moriones,
lived in a milieu that pulsated with liberal ideas and aspirations to progress. They were
emphatically not tradition-bound, or backward looking, or still wedded in any deep
sense to the “dark underside” of Tagalog folk beliefs and superstitions.
Remembering the Katipuneros

Leaving behind the academic arguments, it would be gratifying to think that
the listing in table 1 might contribute in a small way to restoring the Katipuneros
to the historical record. The late-nineteenth century, it is true, is the most studied
408 APPENDIX A
and commemorated period in Philippine history. But whilst the major episodes and
personalities of that era have their place in school and college texts and in the collec-
tive consciousness, the Katipunan and its activists have been remembered only in very
partial and selective way. Bonifacio, of course, is celebrated as a hero second only to
Rizal; Emilio Jacinto is accorded the sobriquet “The Brains of the Katipunan”; and Pio
Valenzuela’s hometown of Polo in Bulacan was renamed after him, and has become a
city. Macario Sakay has a special place in the national pantheon because he continued
the fight for kalayaan longer than anybody, and was sent by the Americans to the
gallows.
A few more of the Manila activists are commemorated locally in the names of
streets, plazas, and schools, but particulars of their lives are scanty in the extreme.
The “Thirteen Martyrs of Bagumbayan,” for example, were a group who were shot—
pasados por las armas, to use the Spaniards’ phrase—on January 11, 1897, and they
included at least six KKK activists. To mark the 110th anniversary of their execution,
Ambeth Ocampo attempted to write a few lines on each of them in his long-running
“Looking Back” newspaper column. About the president of the important Tondo-
based Katotohanan branch of the Katipunan, however, he was able to note merely that
“Braulio Rivera (1867−1897) was a member of the Katipunan.” And about another of
the martyrs, he expressed his regret that “Eustacio Mañalac is the person we know
so little about. Nobody has even done basic research to even find out his date of birth
and simple biographical data like marital status, children, occupation, among others.
All we are told is that he was a mason and was rounded up as a suspected Katipunero
when the Katipunan was exposed in August 1896.”36
The reason why people know nothing about Eustacio Mañalac is that the martyr
was in reality Faustino Mañalac (or Mañalak), a sometime member of the KKK
Supreme Council. It is tempting to jest that a good starting point for the basic research
Ocampo frankly accepts still needs to be done would be to get the poor man’s name
right. But the mistake did not originate with Ocampo; he merely inherited it. The
same slip appears in several other sources, even some of which are normally reliable.37
And yet in lists of the “The Thirteen Martyrs of Bagumbayan” published in the early
twentieth century, Faustino Mañalac is named correctly.38 At that time many patriotic
associations, labor unions, and mutual benefit societies counted Katipuneros among
their members and still honored the memories of the fallen. Almanacs recorded the
anniversaries of the 1896 and 1897 executions at Bagumbayan and at least one—the
calendario of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente—accorded each of the martyrs his own
day, in the manner of saints.39 By the 1930s, though, the lesser-known martyrs had
started to fade from view.
This was partly because the revolutionary generation had begun to pass away,
but that does not seem to be the sole explanation. In a stimulating discussion about
popular remembrance of the revolutionary period, Reynaldo Ileto draws a contrast
between the revolution against Spain, which he says remains “deeply etched in
the collective memory” and the subsequent war against the United States, which is
“largely forgotten.”40 During the early-twentieth century, for obvious reasons, the
new American dispensation obliterated the war of 1899−1902 from official history in
a far more glaring and systematic manner than the revolution of 1896−1897, which
APPENDIX A 409
it was happy to allow had been more or less justified. But this dichotomous stance
distorted the whole picture, because the second phase of resistance against foreign
rule could not be arbitrarily separated from the first. Many patriots fought in both,
but their story was told only in part, so in a sense their heroism was compromised,
even diminished. Many prominent veterans were still addressed with their military
ranks—General Aguinaldo and General Sandiko, for example—but the details of their
exploits rarely got publicly recounted, and hardly any published their memoirs. One of
the few who did, Gen. José Alejandrino, eloquently expressed his bitterness at the way
the younger generation showed no respect for “the ones who wrote with their blood
the most brilliant pages in our history,” heroes who by the 1930s had been fated to
become “a miserable legion of forgotten, old and now broken-down decrepit.” The
generation that had come to maturity under American rule, Alejandrino grieved, had
not “had the opportunity to read books other than those written by foreigners who do
not sympathize either with our race or our aspirations.”41
In a political and cultural climate that had changed profoundly since their prime,
the revolutionaries were too often seen as relics; their voices were unheeded and their
valor disregarded, or worse still challenged and belittled. Some, like Alejandrino,
protested loudly, but others apparently became resigned to the younger genera-
tion’s disinterest and disrespect, and became reticent, even silent, about their pasts.
This self-imposed reserve is illustrated, perhaps, in the brief notes on four surviving
leaders of the Katipunan included in the biographical directory section of Miguel
Cornejo’s weighty Commonwealth Encyclopaedia, published in 1939. Based on infor-
mation supplied by the subjects themselves, the entries record that Teodoro Gonzales
had been among the signatories of the 1898 Malolos Constitution and that in later
life he had been the registrar of deeds for the province of Rizal; that Sinforoso San
Pedro had served as provincial treasurer in Antique; that José Turiano Santiago had
been a member of the Manila municipal board between 1922 and 1925; and that Pio
Valenzuela had been the governor of Bulacan. Not one of the entries mentions the
Katipunan at all.42
Now, after more than a hundred years of deepening amnesia, the fascinating
minutiae of revolutionary lives and times have largely been lost forever. The informa-
tion needed to fill the bulk of the innumerable gaps in the biographical data tabulated
here cannot now be retrieved. But surely it is still worthwhile to attempt to find out
more about those who “wrote with their blood the most brilliant pages” in Philippine
history. Sixteen of the Katipuneros listed here paid the ultimate price for their patri-
otism in front of firing squads at Bagumbayan: Roman Basa, Apolonio de la Cruz,
Eugenio de los Reyes, José Dizon, Doroteo Dominguez, Rafael Gutierrez, Valentin
Lagasca, Faustino Mañalak, Geronimo Medina y Cristobal, Vicente Molina, Benedicto
Nijaga, Teodoro Plata, Hermenegildo Reyes, Braulio Rivera, Marcelo Santos, and José
Trinidad. Others died in battle, and Macario Sakay on the scaffold a decade later.
They, and all the kapatid of the Katipunan, should belatedly be accorded the recogni-
tion and honor they are due.
410 APPENDIX A
Notes on the Tables
Table 1—Katipunan activists in Manila, 1892−1896

Table 1 lists over two hundred KKK activists by name and forty or so by alias,
ordered according to whether they were members of (i) the Supreme Council
(Kataastaasang Sangunian); (ii) Popular Councils (Sangunian Bayan, Sb.), Branches
(Balangay, By.) or the women’s section in Manila and the suburbs; and (iii) the Sb. and
By. in the province of Manila. Within each section the activists are ranked more or
less according to seniority, the presidents (Pangulo) being placed first, the secretaries
(Kalihim) second, and the fiscals (Tagausig), though some fiscals might have disputed
this order of precedence. Most sections elected a president, secretary, fiscal, and treas-
urer, but other offices varied in number and nomenclature between sections. On the
Supreme Council those designated as councilors (Kasanguni) held specific posts with
that title, but in some of the Sangunian Bayan and Balangay the term may have been
used to refer to any council or branch member.
The first column lists the activists’ name, their Katipunan alias, and the position
they held within their section. For the members of the Supreme Council, birth and
death dates have also been given where known. The second column lists the activist’s
occupation in 1896, previous occupations, and (in a few cases) the positions they held
within the structure of local government. The third column lists their place(s) of resi-
dence and their known interrelationships and connections with other leading KKK
members. The fourth and final column summarizes whatever information is avail-
able about attendance at college and university; membership in masonic lodges and/
or the Liga Filipina; punishments suffered—imprisonment, deportation, or execution
in reprisal for revolutionary activity; and involvement in later attempts to reignite the
Katipunan flame.
The constant refrain here is “where known.” If an activist is not shown, say, as
being related to someone else in the Katipunan, it could either mean that they were
not, or just that no information is available. Another obvious point to make is that the
table covers a period of four years, from mid-1892 until mid-1896. It does not repre-
sent the KKK at any fixed point in time. Katipuneros, like everyone else, switched
jobs, moved house and so on, and the organization itself was in constant flux. New
members joined, others left; new sections were formed; others dissolved. Internal
elections were held and offices changed hands. In many instances two or three indi-
viduals are listed as occupying the same position, occasionally reflecting a discrepancy
between different accounts but more often simply indicating changes from one year or
even month to another.
From the detail of the table emerges a sketchy impression of the various ways
in which the activists became acquainted with one another—the linkages that gave
a KKK section its initial nucleus and cohesion. Several of the early members, as we
have seen, had already participated together in the patriotic campaign as members
of the masonic lodges and the Liga Filipina. Others, as is well known, were related
to one another by blood, marriage, or sponsorship ties. In many cases, they were
simply friends or neighbors, and the table highlights little clusters of KKK activists
APPENDIX A 411
concentrated in particular localities—along Calle Dulumbayan in Santa Cruz, for

example, or Calle Sande in Tondo. But it is also interesting to note that in many
cases the initial link or bond was forged in the workplace. That the organization
had several members in the print shop of the Diario de Manila is mentioned in many
histories, because this was where the member who betrayed the KKK in August 1896
was employed, and where the Spanish authorities then discovered receipts and other
incriminating documents that led to many arrests. The table indicates that work-
place friendships and solidarities also helped gain the organization recruits at the
El Oriente tobacco factory in Quiapo, in the waterworks company and in govern-
ment offices like the Intendencia (the treasury) and the Inspectorate of Mines.
Tantalizing glimpses of the way in which the activists perceived themselves
and their revolutionary moment are offered by some of the aliases (pamagat) they
adopted, not just within the Katipunan itself but also in the masonic lodges and the
Liga Filipina. It should be noted that although Macario Sakay is often said to have
used the name Dapitan (Rizal’s place of exile), his original Katipunan alias was
Pakulin (Boiling). Pio Valenzuela’s alias within the Katipunan, similarly, was Dimas
Ayaran (Untouchable), not as is often related Madlangaway (Public affray), which
was just the nom de plume he took when writing for Kalayaan, the Katipunan paper.
It is intriguing that the alias taken within the Liga Filipina by Ildefonso Laurel was
Ravachol, the name of a half-Dutch, half-Alsatian agitator who in 1892 was convicted
of exploding a series of bombs in Paris. Ravachol went to the guillotine in July 1892,
shouting Vive l’Anarchie! and became an instant anarchist hero in both France and
Spain.43 Bonifacio’s chosen alias in the Liga was Sandakan, presumably after the
town in British North Borneo where Jose Rizal wanted to establish a Filipino colony,
a haven where the “exiled and persecuted” might be “free, independent, and happy.”44
Table 2. Councils and branches of the Katipunan in Manila, 1892−1896

In order to minimize the risk of detection, veterans later recalled, the KKK was
initially built as a network of three-person “triangles,” with activists each having
a duty to enlist two new adherents from among people they knew sufficiently well
to trust. The rate of growth achieved by this method was very slow, however, and by
1894, the organization was beginning to build the two-tier structure of councils and
branches—Sangunian Bayan (Sb.) and Balangay (By.)—that it was to retain until the
revolution. A few successful Balangay expanded to become Sangunian Bayan with
affiliated Balangay of their own, and sections that did not thrive, both Sb. and By.,
were dissolved. As we have seen, the months immediately prior to August 1896, in
particular, were a time not only of rapid growth for the Katipunan, but also of internal
tension and flux.
Table 2 lists the names of all known Sb. and By. according to district (for Manila
and its suburbs) and town (for the province of Manila), and where possible specifies
the dates they were formed. The names of the councils and branches are embodied
also in table 1, but here the overall structure is set out more clearly, unencumbered
by other detail. The geographical classification should not be interpreted too rigidly.
The sphere of operation of some Sangunian Bayan—Sb. Dimahipo in Malabon, for
example—was more or less coterminous with the boundaries of a municipality, but in
412 APPENDIX A
others it was not. In the city, for instance, Sb. Katagalugan was rooted in Tondo, but
at one time it had an affiliated Balangay in the neighboring district of Santa Cruz and
another beyond the suburbs in the town of Caloocan. In the province of Manila, simi-
larly, activists within Sb. Makabuhay, which was principally based in Mandaluyong,
also sought recruits in the neighboring province of Morong and as far afield as
Bulacan.
A note on sources
In 1896, the intelligence officers of the Guardia Civil sifted through masses of
captured KKK documents looking for evidence against the instigators of the rebellion.
Later, probably sometime in 1897, the information gathered by the Spanish secretas
was summarized in tabular form in a handwritten document headed “Relación de
todos los individuos que figuran en el legajo de documentos del Katipunan, pertene-
ciente a Andres Bonifacio con los nombres propios, simbólicos y en clave.”45
It is this “Relación” that is the main source of the fresh information on the iden-
tities, aliases, occupations, and places of residence of KKK activists that is presented
here in table 1. Intelligence reports as a generality, of course, must be regarded
with extreme suspicion, but in this instance the “Relación,” as its full title states, is
grounded in large measure on the captured Katipunan documents, and wherever its
content can be checked against other sources it holds good. Valuable as this source is,
though, it inevitably contains many gaps; its inventory of the KKK leadership is far
fuller for 1896 than for previous years, and its coverage of Tondo, Santa Cruz, and the
other arrabales of Manila is far fuller than that of the province beyond.
In order that at least some of the lacunae are filled, the table also incorporates
data from other sources, wherever possible from sources whose authors consulted
original Katipunan documents and/or spoke to prominent KKK members.46 Even the
best sources, needless to say, are fallible. Whilst they have been checked against each
other as far as possible, some of their fallacies will ineluctably have found their way
into the tables presented here. Other mistakes will be mine, and it is only for those
that I accept the blame!
A separate caution needs to be sounded about the listing of the members of the
Supreme Council. The original KKK documents in the Madrid military archives iden-
tify the Supreme Council’s membership in full only at a single juncture, when votes held
on the night of December 24/25, 1895, resulted in the reelection of Andres Bonifacio as
president; the reelection of Vicente Molina as treasurer; the election of Emilio Jacinto
and Pio Valenzuela respectively as secretary and fiscal; and the election of Francisco
Carreon, Aguedo del Rosario, Balbino Florentino, Hermenegildo Reyes, José Trinidad,
and Pantaleon Torres as the six councilors (Kasanguni). Most of those elected formally
swore their oaths of office on New Year’s Day. The original documents also establish
that two other activists—Gregorio Coronel and Enrique Pacheco—were elevated to the
Supreme Council about March 1896. But for all other times in the Katipunan’s history,
reconstruction of the Supreme Council’s membership depends on the recollections of
veterans, which Soledad Borromeo-Buehler has conveniently summarized and shown
as having discrepancies that cannot be reconciled.47 The approach adopted in table
1 is liberal and inclusive—all those recalled by one or more of the veterans as having
APPENDIX A 413
been sometime members of the Supreme Council are included in the Supreme Council
section of the table. This probably means that a few nonmembers have crept in, but
perhaps that is preferable to the alternative—a more stringent approach that would
mistakenly leave a few actual members out. There is little doubt, in any case, that the
activists included as a result of faulty memories would at least have been close to the
Supreme Council, its discussions and its initiatives.
Information on the women’s section of the KKK is very scarce, and also
conflicting. Agoncillo, for example, relates that Josefa Rizal was its president, whilst
other historians say Marina Dizon. Gregorio Zaide opted for the latter in his 1939
History of the Katipunan, but later changed his mind and accepted Pio Valenzuela’s
recollection that the women members did not elect any officers. No primary docu-
ments have yet been located that resolve this issue, and officeholders have therefore
not been identified here. Most sources are agreed, however, that aside from Rizal and
Dizon the section’s most active members were Gregoria de Jesus, Simeona de Remigio,
and Benita Rodriguez.48
de 1896-97 (Madrid: Tip. Lit. de J. Corrales, 1899), 74; Isabelo de los Reyes, La religión del
Katipunan, Segunda edición (Madrid: Tip. Lit de J. Corrales, 1900), 37.
(Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 46, 62, 106.
3 Glenn A. May, Battle for Batangas: A Philippine Province at War (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1991), 39.
4 United States, Bureau of the Census, Census of the Philippine Islands 1903, vol. 2 (Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1905), 1003.
5 E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol. 1 (Quezon City: Filipiniana
6 Guillermo Masangkay, “Días que precedieron a la fundación del Katipunan,” La Vanguardia,
November 30, 1931; Jesus V. Merritt, “Books in the Loves of our Great Men,” Philippines Free
Press 33, no. 2 (November 25, 1939): 17; José P. Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan
(Manila: n.pub., 1935), 2.
7 Gilda Cordero-Fernando, “The Low Cost of Living,” in Turn of the Century (Quezon City:
GCF Books, 1978), 88–108.
8 De los Reyes, Sensacional memoria, 10.
9 Agoncillo, Revolt of the Masses, xii.
11 Teodoro A. Agoncillo, A Short History of the Philippines (New York: The New American
Library, 1969), 78.
12 De los Reyes, Sensacional memoria, 78; De los Reyes, Religión del Katipunan, 37.
13 Teodoro A. Agoncillo, “Philippine Historiography in the Age of Kalaw,” in History and
Culture, Language and Literature: Selected Essays of Teodoro A. Agoncillo, edited by Bernardita
Reyes Churchill (Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2003), 16.
14 Agoncillo, Revolt of the Masses, 282.
15 Ibid., 43–44.
Enrique L. Locsin and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, 1998), 114–19.
18 “Masonic Program and Code,” reproduced in Fajardo, The Brethren, 106.
19 Masonic certificate of Don Anselmo Reyes y Tolentino, Modestia Lodge, 1893 [Archivo
General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5393, leg.213.8.1].
414 APPENDIX A
20 Fajardo, The Brethren, 136.

21 The Liga of 1892 was stillborn, Rizal testified at his trial, because three days after its initial
meeting the governor general had ordered that he be detained and deported to Mindanao.
The association was revived in April 1893, but was disbanded in October that same year,
partly due to fears of official repression and partly to internal discord. José Rizal, “Adiciones
á mi Defensa,” in Proceso del Dr José Rizal Mercado y Alonso (Manila: Cultura Filipina, 1913),
66; De los Reyes, Sensacional memoria, 87; Domingo Franco y Tuason, Testimony dated
September 29, 1896 in Wenceslao E. Retana, ed., Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid:
Imprenta de la viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 309.
24 Ibid., 46.
25 Ibid., 40, 42.
26 Wenceslao E. Retana, Vida y escritos del Dr. José Rizal (Madrid: Victoriano Suárez, 1907),
245−49; Juzgado de instrucción de la Capitania General de Filipinas, “Relación nominal
de las personas que esteban afiliados a la ‘Liga Filipina’ con expresión de sus simbolicos y
demas antecedents” [Archivo General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5393, leg.9.9].
27 “Statement of Mr Guillermo Masangkay made at the Manila Hotel’s luncheon on January
29, 1943” [Masangkay Papers, UP-Diliman].
30 Declaration of Antonio Salazar y San Agustin, in Wenceslao E. Retana, ed., Archivo del
bibliofilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid: Imprenta de la viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 196;
Pio Valenzuela, “Memoirs,” translated by Luis Serrano from an unpublished manuscript
in Tagalog (c. 1914) and reproduced as appendix A, in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila:
31 Declaration of Domingo Franco y Tuason in Retana, ed., Archivo, vol. 3, 240.
32 Nick Joaquin, A Question of Heroes (Manila: National Book Store, 1981), 96.
33 Milagros C. Guerrero, “Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan,” in Kasaysayan: The Story of the
Filipino People, vol. 5 ([Hong Kong]: Asia Publishing Company, 1998), 154.
34 Isagani R. Medina, “The Katipunan Movement in the Provincia de Manila (Kamaynilaan),”
in Isagani R. Medina, May Tainga ang Lupa: Espionage in the Philippines (1896−1902) and
Other Essays (Manila: UST Publishing House, 2002), 118–26.
35 Julio Nakpil, “Notes on Teodoro M. Kalaw’s ‘The Philippine Revolution,’” in Julio Nakpil and
the Philippine Revolution, with the Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus (Manila: Heirs of Julio
Nakpil, 1964), 46.
36 Ambeth Ocampo, “The Thirteen Martyrs,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 12, 2007.
37 Pedro A. Gagelonia, Philippine History (Manila: National Book Store, 1974), 110; E. Arsenio
Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol. 1 (Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications,
1955), 42.
38 Almanaque Manila galante para el año 1912 (Manila: Imprenta, Litografia y Encuadernacion
de Juan Fajardo, c. 1911), 24; Calendario de la Iglesia Filipina Independiente para el año del Señor
1913 (Manila: Imprenta y Litografia de Juan Fajardo, 1912), 19.
39 Calendario de la Iglesia Filipina Independiente, as cited.
40 Reynaldo C. Ileto, Filipinos and Their Revolution: Event, Discourse and Historiography (Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998), 240; “Philippine Wars and the Politics of
Memory”, positions 13, no. 1 (2005): 218–19.
41 José Alejandrino, The Price of Freedom: Episodes and Anecdotes of our Struggle for Freedom,
translated by Jose M. Alejandrino (Manila: M. Colcol, 1949), ix−x [Alejandrino’s memoir was
first published in 1933 under the title La senda del sacrificio]. The generations who grew to
maturity during the American period were not, of course, completely oblivious to the revolu-
tion and its heroes. In 1929, as discussed in appendix B, the National Library mounted an
exhibition of revolutionary memorabilia that reportedly attracted large numbers of young
Filipinos. But in the eyes of veterans like José Alejandrino such occasions were doubtless far
too rare and fleeting.
APPENDIX A 415
42 Cornejo’s Commonwealth Directory of the Philippines, 1939 Encyclopaedic edition (Manila:

Miguel R. Cornejo, 1939), 1762, 2106, 2114, 2200. The omission of any reference to the
Katipunan is particularly surprising in the case of José Turiano Santiago, because in the
early 1900s he had been at the forefront in organizing KKK commemorations and celebra-
tions. See Luis Camara Dery, “Bantayog ni Inang Bayan: Panibagong Pagbibigay Kahulugan
kay Andres Bonifacio,” Unitas 80, no. 4 (2007): 349, 351.
43 Benedict Anderson, Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-colonial Imagination (London
and New York: Verso, 2005), 113–14.
44 Quoted in Leon Ma Guerrero, The First Filipino: A Biography of Jose Rizal (Manila: National
Historical Institute, 1979), 407.
45 Archivo General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5393, leg.9.10.
46 In addition to the works cited elsewhere in these notes, those used most extensively are
Olegario Diaz, interim commander of the Manila detachment of the Guardia Civil Veterana
[Untitled] Report on the Insurrection against Spain, dated October 28, 1896, in Wenceslao E.
Retana, ed., Archivo del bibliofilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid: Imprenta de la viuda de M. Minuesa
de los Rios, 1897), 332–61; Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, Glorias nacionales: Andres Bonifacio y El
‘Katipunan’ (Manila: Libreria ‘Manila Filatelica,’ 1911); and Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang Talata
tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896−1897 [1898], edited by Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press, 1996).
47 Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, The Cry of Balintawak: A Contrived Controversy (Quezon City:
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998), 194–97.
48 Gregorio F. Zaide, Manila during the Revolutionary Period (Manila: National Historical
Commission, 1973), 44, citing a letter sent to him by Pio Valenzuela, dated December 19,
1931; Gregorio F. Zaide, History of the Katipunan (Manila: Loyal Press, 1939), 21; Agoncillo,
Revolt of the Masses, 55.
416
APPENDIX A, TABLE 1
Katipunan activists in Manila, 1892−1896
Supreme Council (Kataastaasang Sangunian)
Andres Bonifacio Warehouseman (bodeguero) Calle San José, Trozo (in Aug. 1896); Taliba Lodge ([Sinukuan]legendary giant
(1863−1897) [Maypagasa of C. Fressel y Cia, a German- formerly Lavezares, San Nicolas; of Mount Arayat, Pampanga); Liga Filipina
(There is Hope)]. Kalihim owned trading company Dulumbayan, Santa Cruz and numerous ([Sandakan] town in North Borneo where José
(1892−1893); tagausig on Calle Nueva, Binondo; other addresses. Rizal planned to establish a Filipino colony).
(1893−1894); kalihim (1894); walking-cane maker;
Husband of Gregoria de Jesus; brother- At Balintawak (Aug. 1896); pangulo of the “War
pangulo (1895−1896). calligrapher. Formerly an
in-law of Teodoro Plata; sometime Cabinet” (Aug. 1896).
agent with J.M. Fleming
fellow boarder with Ladislao Diwa,
& Co., a British trading Pangulo ng Haring Bayan (1896-1897).
Teodoro Plata, and Aurelio Tolentino;
company.
sometime lodger with Briccio Pantas. Killed by troops of the Aguinaldo government,
May 1897.
Roman Basa (1848−1897) Clerk (oficial segundo) de la Concepción and San Miguel, Santa Liga Filipina ([Baesa bata] Child of Baesa).
[Liwanag (Light)]. Comandancia General de Cruz; formerly Asunción, San Nicolas.
Executed at Bagumbayan, February 6, 1897.
Marina.
Pangulo (1893−1894). Took in Ladislao Diwa as a boarder;
wedding sponsor of José Turiano
Santiago and Marina Dizon.
Deodato Arellano (1844−c. Clerk at the Maestranza de Corner of Azcarraga and Salinas, San Ateneo Municipal.
1898) Artillería. Nicolas.
Lusong Lodge ([Buan] Moon); Liga Filipina;
[Santol (Fruit – Genus Brother-in-law of Marcelo H. del Pilar. Cuerpo de Compromisarios.
Sandoricum)].
Imprisoned, 1896.
Pangulo (1892−1893).b
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Supreme Council (Kataastaasang Sangunian.
Emilio Jacinto (1875−1899) Student (preparatory courses Calle Oroquieta, Santa Cruz; formerly Colegio de San Juan de Letran; Universidad de
[Pingkian (Flint)]. for law). Calle Magdalena, Trozo. Santo Tomás.
APPENDIX A
Tagausig (1894−1895); Nephew of José Dizon; cousin of Marina At Balintawak (Aug. 1896); minister of State in the
kalihim (Dec. 1895). Dizon. “War Cabinet” (Aug. 1896); punong Hukbo (Feb.
1897); pangulo ng Hukbo sa dakong Hilagaan ng
Maynila (Apr. 1897).
Died of malaria, 1899.
José Turiano Santiago Bookkeeper. Husband of Marina Dizon; half-brother Universidad de Santo Tomás.
(1875−1942) of Restituto Javier.
Taliba Lodge ([Nereo] Nero); Liga Filipina.
[Tik Tik (Spy]).
Imprisoned, 1896−1897.
Kalihim (1894−1895).
Briccio Pantas (?−c. 1930) Secretario del juzgado de Calle Lemery, Tondo. Liga Filipina.
[Bungahan (Fruitful)]. Quiapo.
Took in Andres Bonifacio as a lodger. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896); minister of Justice in
Kalihim (1893). the “War Cabinet” (Aug. 1896).
Deported to Chafarinas, Africa; Partido
Nacionalista (1901).
Teodoro Plata (c. 1859−1897) Escribano del juzgado de Brother of Hermogenes Plata; Escuela Municipal; possibly started the law course
[Pangligtas (Salvation)]. Mindoro; formerly oficial de brother-in-law of Andres Bonifacio at the Universidad de Santo Tomás, but did not
mesa del juzgado de Binondo. (Plata married Bonifacio’s sister complete it.
Kalihim (1892−1893).
Espiridiona); first cousin of Gregoria
Taliba Lodge; Liga Filipina ([Balany] Charisma).
de Jesus; sometime boarder with
Andres Bonifacio on Calle Sagunto, At Balintawak (Aug. 1896); minister of war in the
San Nicolas; sometime boarder with “War Cabinet” (Aug. 1896).
Ladislao Diwa and Aurelio Tolentino.
417
418
Pio Valenzuela (1869−1956) Physician. Calle Lavezares, San Nicolas. Colegio de San Juan de Letran; Universidad de
[Dimas Ayaran Santo Tomás.
Baptismal sponsor of the child of
(Untouchable)].
Andres Bonifacio and Gregoria de Jesus; At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Tagausig (Dec. 1895); courted the daughter of Pantaleon
Imprisoned in Barcelona, Malaga, and Melilla
mangagamot (1896). Torres.
(Spanish Morocco).
Ladislao Diwa (1863−1930) Escribano for the province Sometime boarder with Roman Basa Colegio de San Juan de Letran; Universidad de
[Baliti (Tree – Genus Vicus)]. of Pampanga (1893−1896); and at another time with Andres Santo Tomás.
formerly curial del juzgado de Bonifacio and Teodoro Plata.
Tagausig (1892−1893). Taliba Lodge ([Baguio] Storm); Liga Filipina
Quiapo (1892).
([Baguio] Storm).
Vicente Molina (?−1897) Concierge at the Intendencia, Baptismal sponsor of Andres Bonifacio Mason; lodge unknown.
[Maniangat (Raised)]. the government treasury. and Restituto Javier.
At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Tagaingat-yaman
(1893−1896).
Hermenegildo Reyes Employee of a commercial Mason, lodge unknown.

(?−1897) company on Calle Anloague,
Organizer in Sampaloc (1894); tagausig of Sb.
Binondo; formerly a customs
[Talibong (Dagger)]. Dapitan (1895−1896).
officer.
Kasanguni (Dec. 1895); taliba At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
and tagalibot (Feb. 1896).
APPENDIX A
Francisco Carreon Employee of a sombrereria Calle José, Trozo. Pangulo of By. Silanganan (1894);
(1865−1946) (hatstore); formerly
Brother of Nicomedes and Placido pangulo of Sb. Dapitan (1895).
carabinero (customs guard);
APPENDIX A
[Silanganan (East)]. Carreon; nephew and sometime fellow

blacksmith; laborer; and At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
employee of José Dizon.
Kasanguni (Dec. 1895) and employee at the Casa
Partido Nacionalista (1901); pangalawang pangulo
manunulat (Feb. 1896). Moneda (mint).
of the government of the Kapuluang Katagalugan
(1902). Imprisoned, 1906−1914.
Gregorio Coronel Dueño de telares (cloth Malabon. Pangulo of By. Masikap (1896).
manufacturer ).
[Leon (Lion)].
Kasanguni and tagapamahala
ng “Basahan ng Bayan” (c.
Mar. 1896).
Aguedo del Rosario (1865−?) Maestro encuadernador Kalihim of Sb. Katagalugan (1894−1895).
[Tagaisok (Native of Isok, a (binder) at Ramirez y Cia,
At Balintawak (Aug. 1896); minister of government
barrio of Boac, Marinduque)]. printers of the Diario de
in the “War Cabinet” (Aug. 1896).
Manila.
Kasanguni (Dec. 1895) and
Imprisoned, 1896; Partido Nacionalista (1901);
pangalawang kalihim (Feb.
government of the Kapuluang Katagalugan (1902).
1896).
Valentin Diaz (1849−1916) Oficial de mesa del juzgado de Calle Soler, Santa Cruz; formerly Calle Taliba Lodge; Liga Filipina ([Tupas] ?).
[Walangulat (Discrete)]. Binondo. Salinas, San Nicolas.
Kasanguni (1892−1893). Partido Nacionalista (1901).
Balbino Florentino Draughtsman and student.
[Silang (East)].
Kasanguni (Dec. 1895);
tagatulong sa pagsulat (Feb.
1896) and tagapangasiwa (c.
Mar. 1896).
419
420
Teodoro Gonzales (?−c. Lawyer with the Monroy law Calle Dulumbayan, Santa Cruz. Universidad de Santo Tomás.
1940) [Bathala (Almighty)]. office.
Tagausig of Sb. Laong Laan.
Kasanguni (1893−1895).
Restituto Javier Employee of Fressel y Cia, Calle Oroquieta, Santa Cruz. Tagausig of Sb. Laong-Laan.
(1873−1936) [Mapangahas a German-owned trading
Husband of Benita Rodriguez; half- At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Adventurous)]. company on Calle Nueva,
brother of José Turiano Santiago;
Binondo; formerly employed Deported to Africa (Penon de la Gomera).
Kasanguni (1893−1894). wedding sponsor of Andres Bonifacio
at the Customs; telephonist.
and Gregoria de Jesus; fellow employee
of Andres Bonifacio.
Ildefonso Laurel Liga Filipina ([Ravachol] Anarchist guillotined in

Paris in July 1892).
[Maytiaga (Constant)].
Kasanguni (1892); delegate to
Hong Kong (Sept. 1892).
Faustino Mañalak (?−1897) Clerk/cobrador (collector) for Husband of Marta Saldana. Kalihim of By. Ilog Pasig (Feb. 95); pangulo of By.
the Capitanía del Puerto. Ilog Pasig.
[Mayon (Volcano in the
Bicol Region)]. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Kasanguni (1894−1895). Executed at Bagumbayan, January 11, 1897.
Guillermo Masangkay (c. Kuridor (buyer and seller); Palomar area of Tondo. Modestia Lodge.
1867−1963) formerly a laborer and
Friend of Andres Bonifacio since Officer of Sb. Dapitan (1895);
boatman on the Pasig River.
[Alakdan (Scorpion]). boyhood.
Pangulo of By. Silanganan (Mar. 96).
Kasanguni (1894).
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) TABLE 1.
Enrique Pacheco Clerk for the Manila civil Calle Sande, Tondo. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896); minister of Finance in
government. the “War Cabinet” (Aug. 1896).
[Makabuhay (Resurrection)]. Father of Alfonso and Cipriano Pacheco.
APPENDIX A
Imprisoned, 1896.
Kasanguni (c. Mar. 1896).
Tomas Remigio (1867−1916). Clerk in private law offices; Calle Oroquieta, Santa Cruz. Mason, lodge unknown; Liga Filipina ([Malingap]
[Toremige (Play on name)]. formerly with the Inspección Cautious).
Husband of Simeona de Remigio.
General de Obras Publicas
Kasanguni (1893). Pangulo of Sb. Laong-Laan; Binhing Payapa.
and the Intendencia, the
government treasury. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Deported to Spain; imprisoned in Barcelona and
Cartagena, 1897-9.
Pantaleon Torres Clerk at the Intendencia, the Calle José, Trozo. Mason; lodge unknown.
government treasury.
[Bulalakaw (Meteor)]. Daughter courted by Pio Valenzuela. Kalihim of a council in Trozo (1894); pangulo of By.
Dimasalang (1895).
Kasanguni (1895−1896);
tagalaan (Feb. 1896). At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Deported to Jolo, c .1896; Partido Nacionalista,
(1901); brigadier general, (1901).
Tranquilino Torres. Clerk at the Intendencia, the Calle Elcano, San Nicolas. Walana Lodge ([Helvecio] Swiss); Liga Filipina
government treasury. ([Timog] South).
Kasanguni (1895).
José Trinidad (?−1897) Clerk at the Tambunting Palomar section of Tondo. Mason, lodge unknown; Liga Filipina.
[Subiang (Splinter)]. pawnshop.
Kasanguni (1894−1896);
tagatulong sa pagsulat (Feb.
1896).
421
422
Doroteo Trinidad. Jeweler.

Kasanguni (1895).
Teodoro Vedua Employee of a business Calle Diez, Tondo. Liga Filipina ([Alon] Wave).
house.
[Kalasag (Shield)]. Tagausig of Sb. Dapitan (1895).
Kasanguni (May 1896).
Popular councils (Sangunian bayan) and Branches (Balangay)
Manila and suburbs

Binondo—Sb. Ilog Pasig
Faustino Mañalak (Kalihim; pangulo) see Supreme Council.
Alejo Garcia [Mainit (Hot)].
Pangulo.
Antonio Arocha Sergeant in the customs
[Dorado (Gold)]. guard (carabineros).
Pangulo (1895).
Marcelo Santos [Talim Captain of the customs Husband of Macaria Pangilinan. Mason, lodge unknown.
(Blade)]. launch Caridad.
Executed at Bagumbayan, January 25, 1897.
Taliba (1895); pangulo.
Miguel Santos [Matapang Sergeant in the customs Imprisoned, 1896.
(Brave)]. guard (carabineros).
Kasanguni.
Also: Bato (Rock) (tagausig) (1895); and Bukanan (Opening) (tagaingat-yaman) (1895).
APPENDIX A
Ermita, Concepción and Paco (Dilao)—By./ Sb. Mahiganti
Rafael Gutierrez [Ilagan Foreman of water supply At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Dodge)]. workers (fontaneros).
Pangulo (1895−1896).
APPENDIX A
Hilario Rubio [Buhawi Water supply worker Calle Concepción, Ermita.

(Tornado)]. (fontanero) or fireman.
Kalihim (1895−1896).
Apolinario Solloza. Plumber (fontanero) at the Imprisoned, 1896.
Kalihim. Ayuntamiento, the city hall.
Julian Aguila [Gahas Employee of a business on Calle Concepción, Ermita.
(Impetuous)]. Calle Anloague, Binondo.
Kasanguni.
Ermita, Concepción and Paco (Dilao)−By. Pandayan

Baga (Embers) pangulo; Bukal (Fountain) kalihim; Bagyo (Storm) tagausig; and Iba (Different) tagaingat-yaman (all Mar. 1896).
Ermita, Concepción and Paco (Dilao)—By. Tagailog

Hilario Rubio (pangulo) (Mar. 1896)—see Sb. Mahiganti.
Sampaloc—By. Bagong Silang

Deogracias Fajardo. Printer. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Pangulo. Deported to Africa.
423
San Nicolas and Intramuros—By. Maluningning
424
Inocencio Marcial [Matulin Oficial de mesa del juzgado de Calzada de Bilibid, Santa Cruz.
(Swift)]. Intramuros.
Pangulo (Jan. 1895).
Geronimo Medina y Corporal in the infantry. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).

Cristobal [Burgos (Priest Executed at Bagumbayan, January 11, 1897.
martyred in 1872)].
Taga lihim (1895).
Leopoldo Soriano [Bubuyog Calle Solana, Intramuros.
(Hornet)].
Tagausig (Jan. 1895).
Mariano Paquitan [Sikat Calle Magallanes, Intramuros.
(Brightness)].
Taga pag tago ng salapi (Jan.
1895).
Perfecta Simeon.
Tagaingat-yaman.
Brigido Florendo [Nalagda Corporal in the Infantry. Calle Legaspi, Intramuros.
(Robust)].
Kasanguni.
Petronilo Linguistia Zamora Calle Anda, Intramuros. Imprisoned, 1896.
[Buhawi (Tornado)].
Kasanguni.
Santa Cruz—Sb. Laong Laan

Tomas Remigio (pangulo)—see Supreme Council.
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Santa Cruz—Sb. Laong Laan.
Julian Nepomuceno [Digma Clerk. Calle Oroquieta, Binhing Payapa.
(War)]. Santa Cruz.
Teniente tercero del
Pangulo.
APPENDIX A
tribunal de naturales
de Santa Cruz.
Manuel Ureta [Mahusay Agent of Casa Ullman, a Calle Misericordia, Santa Cruz.
(Skillful)]. trading company.
Pangulo.
Pedro Trinidad [Maliksi Clerk at the Intendencia, the Calle Oroquieta, Santa Cruz. Binhing Payapa.
(Fast)]. government treasury.
Kalihim (1896).
Teodoro Gonzales (tagausig)—see Supreme Council.
Restituto Javier (tagausig)—see Supreme Council.
Doroteo Dominguez [Abang Silversmith with shop on Calle Oroquieta, Santa Cruz. Binhing Payapa.
(Waiting)]. Calle Solana, Intramuros.
Tagaingat-yaman.
Teodorico Guerrero [Kislat Clerk at Ramirez y Cia, Calle Oroquieta, Santa Cruz. Binhing Payapa.
(?)]. printers of the Diario de
Kasanguni. Manila.
Emiliano Morales [Lahasa Director of the Comedia Calle Dulumbayan, Santa Cruz.
(?)]. Kasanguni. tagala at the Teatro
Cervantes.
Santa Cruz—By. Dimasalang

Pantaleon Torres (pangulo)—see Supreme Council.
425
(Cont’d) Santa Cruz—By. Dimasalang.
426
Pablo Manuel. Employee of Fressel y Cia, Fellow employee of Andres Bonifacio. Imprisoned, 1896.
Pangulo. a German-owned trading
company on Calle Nueva,
Binondo.
Lorenzo Alonso. Sculptor. Calle Misericordia, Santa Cruz. Binhing Payapa.
Pangulo.
Doroteo Lopez Perez [Gilang Student. Calle Benavides, Tondo.
(?)].
Kalihim.
Cosme Tolentino [Lili (?)]. Binder at Ramirez y Cia, Calle Dulumbayan, Santa Cruz.
Tagaingat-yaman. printers of the Diario de Manila.
Santa Cruz—By. Tanglaw

Procopio Bonifacio [Pisaw Railway baggage master and Brother of, and sometime boarder with, Killed by troops of the Aguinaldo government,
(Machete)]. tar broker. Andres Bonifacio. 1897.
Pangulo.
Also: [Mataas (High)]. (Kalihim) (1896).
Santa Cruz—By. Kalingaan

Nicolas Rivera [Pana Cook. Dulumbayan, Santa Cruz. Member of the Liga Filipina.
(Arrow)].
Deported to Africa.
Pangulo (1896).
Partido Nacionalista (1901); minister of State in
the government of the Kapuluang Katagalugan
(1902). Imprisoned, 1902.
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Santa Cruz—By. Kalingaan.
Mariano de la Rosa [Balawis
(Rebel)].
Kalihim (Mar. 1896).
APPENDIX A
Domingo Moriones Laborer. Dulumbayan, Santa Cruz. Deported to Africa, 1897.

[Maugong (Roaring)].
Partido Nacionalista (1901); minister of war in the
Tagausig (Mar. 1896).
government of the Kapuluang Katagalugan (1902).
Imprisoned, 1902.
Felipe Macario [Maalab Tabaquero at El Oriente Bo. San Roque, Sampaloc.
(Ardent)]. factory.
Taga-ingatyaman (Mar. 1896).
Severino Ramos [Maktan
(Island where Magellan was
killed)].
Mabalasig (Mar. 1896).
Benigno de la Marca [Mailap Corredor (broker/ agent)
(Elusive)]. of Puerta del Sol, a luxury
Taliba (Mar. 1896). goods store on Calle Escolta,
Binondo.
Pablo Borlongan [Uli-uli
(Whirlpool)].
Tagalaan (Mar. 1896).
Felipe Santos. Binder at Ramirez y Cia, Dulumbayan, Santa Cruz.
Maniningil. printers of the Diario de
Manila.
Quiterio Salvador [Balagtas Binder at at Ramirez y Cia, Dulumbayan, Santa Cruz. Deported to Jolo, 1896.
(Renowned Tagalog poet)]. printers of the Diario de
Maniningil. Manila.
427
Tondo—Sb. Katagalugan
428
Alejandro Santiago Clerk at a fundación de chinos; Calle Camba, Binondo; formerly Clavel, Mason, lodge unknown.
[Halimaw (Ferocious)]. printer at El Resumen. San Nicolas.
Pangulo (1894−1896).
Partido Nacionalista (1901); minister of
government in the government of the Kapuluang
Katagalugan (1902). Imprisoned, 1903.
Aguedo del Rosario (Kalihim)—see Supreme Council.
Salustiano Cruz [Matunog Postal clerk. Calle Zaragoza, Tondo. Liga Filipina ([Dimalipasangua] ?).
(Resonant)].
Pangulo (1894) of By. Katotohanan.
Kalihim (1896).
Partido Nacionalista (1901); government of the
Kapuluang Katagalugan, (1902).
Pedro Zabala [Pagpalain Warehouseman; corredor Calle Ilaya, San Nicolas. Liga Filipina ([Liuayuay] Dawn).
(Bless)]. (broker) for Germa y Cia on
Tagausig. Calle San Jacinto, Binondo.
Eleuterio de Guzman [Lintik Tailor with a shop on Calle Calle Sande, Tondo.
(Lightning)]. Solana, Intramuros.
Tagaingat-yaman
(1894−1895).
Lino Villanueva [Labon Tabaquero at El Oriente Calle San Pedro, Santa Cruz. Tagaingat-yaman (1894) and pangulo (1895) of By.
(Swamp)]. factory and owner of a Kabuhayan.
Tagaingat-yaman (1896). carinderia.
Irineo Francisco [Subdan Tabaquero at El Oriente Bo. Sapa, Tondo.
(?)]. factory.
Mabalasig (1894); tagausig
(1896).
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Tondo—Sb. Katagalugan.
Apolonio de la Cruz Rayador (printworker) at Divisoria, San Nicolas. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
[Dinalitiwan (?)]. Ramirez y Cia, printers of the
Mabalasig. Diario de Manila.
APPENDIX A
Eleuterio Reyes [Limbas Businessman. Plaza de Leon XIII, Tondo.

(Bird of prey)]. Mabalasig
(1896).
Justo Bautista [Alipato Barber with shop on Calle de
(Flying ember)]. San Pedro, Santa Cruz.
Taliba.
Juan Santiago [Sagsag Binder at Ramirez y Cia,
(Vigorous)]. printers of the Diario de
Taliba (1894). Manila.
Lazaro Ortiz Calle Bankusay, Tondo.
[Makapangyarihan
(Powerful)]. Tagalaan.
Tondo—By. Kabuhayan
Lino Villanueva (pangulo; tagaingat-yaman)—see Sb. Katagalugan.
Benito José [Palaso Salt retailer. Calle Sande, Tondo.
(Arrowhead)].
Pangulo (1894).
Hilarion Cruz [Batong buhay Tabaquero. Calle Palumbang, Tondo. Liga Filipina ([Bandita] ?).
(Living rock)].
Deported to Africa.
Pangulo (1896).
Eusebio José [Bala (Bullet)] (kalihim) (1894)—see By. Pagtibain below.
429
(Cont’d) Tondo—By. Kabuhayan.
430
Alfonso Pacheco [Asana Employee of the Fabrica de Calle Sande, Tondo.

(Narra)]. Paraguas de C. Gessell.
Kalihim (1896).
Cecilio Briones.
Tagausig (1894).
Esteban Cruz [Buan Beltmaker; metalworker. Calle Sande, Tondo.
(Moon)]. Tagausig (1896).
Leonardo Tiempo [Panaga Lottery ticket seller. Bo. Lecheros, Tondo.
(?)]. Tagaingat-yaman (1896).
Crispulo Chacon [Mabulu Tabaquero at El Oriente Bo. Palumpong, Tondo. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Hairy) ]. factory.
Mabalasig (1894)
Florentino Centeno [Batikan Binder at Ramirez y Cia, Calle Aguila, Tondo.
(Tried and tested)]. printers of the Diario de
Pangalawang Kalihim (1894). Manila.
Marcelo Cristobal.
Mabalasig (1896).
Luis Clemente [Mabilis Barber. Calle Lemery, Tondo.
(Swift)].
Taliba (1894).
Bernardo José [Halo (Stir, Carpenter. Bo. Lecheros, Tondo.
Mixture)].
Taliba (1896).
Julian Cruz. Tabaquero at the Fabrica de la Bo. Bancaso, Tondo.

Tagalaan (1896). Barraca.
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Tondo—By. Kabuhayan.
Placido Carreon [Liwayway Personero de un chino. Calle Sande, Tondo.
(Dawn)]. Kasanguni.
Brother of Francisco and Nicomedes
APPENDIX A
Carreon.
Modesto Quitain [Opso (?)]. Escribiente del juzgado de Gagalangin , Tondo.
Kasanguni. Quiapo.
Tondo—By. Katotohanan
Braulio Rivera [Guitna Clerk at the Inspectorate of Bo. Sapa, Tondo. Executed at Bagumbayan, January 11, 1897.
(Center)]. Tagausig (1895); Mines.
Pangulo (1896).
Moises Buzon Clerk. Bo. Lecheros, Tondo. Deported to Africa.

[Makapangyarihan
(Powerful)]. Kalihim (Mar.1896).
Jorge de Lara, “Kabalisian” Clerk at the Inspectorate of Calle Zaragoza, Tondo. Liga Filipina ([Kabalisian] Restless).
[Restless]. Tagaingat-yaman; Mines.
kalihim (1895−1896).
Hermogenes Plata [Kidlat Customs clerk. Calle Salinas, San Nicolas. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Lightning)].
Brother of Teodoro Plata.
Tagausig (1894).
Pastor Santos [Matugalo Lithographer at at Ramirez y Bo. Huertas, Tondo. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(?)]. Cia, printers of the Diario de
Tagausig (1896). Manila.
Leon Cruz Decena [Patalim Clerk at the Inspectorate of Calle Zaragoza, Tondo. Liga Filipina ([Dimakalag] Tied).
(Dagger)]. Mines.
Tagaingat-yaman (1894).
431
(Cont’d) Tondo—By. Katotohanan.
432
Policarpio Tarlak [Pagsanhan Lithographer; printshop Calle Sande, Tondo. Imprisoned, 1896.
(Town in Laguna)]. supervisor at Ramirez y
Tagaingat-yaman (1896). Cia, printers of the Diario de
Manila.
Benito Camposn [Talaga Employee de los Chinos en la
(Devoted)]. Aduana.
Pangalawang kalihim (1894).
Rufino Domingues [Sibat
(Spear)].
Taliba (1896).
Vicente Cuadrado [Araw Employee de los Chinos en la Calle Azcarraga, Tondo.
(Sun)]. Mabalasig (1894). Aduana.
Uncle of Andres Bonifacio.
Doroteo de Lara [Sinukuan Clerk at the Inspectorate of Calle Zaragoza, Tondo.
(legendary giant of Mount Mines.
Arayat, Pampanga)].
Mabalasig (1896).
Tondo—By. Pagtibain
Cipriano Pacheco [Hininga Customs clerk. Calle Sande, Tondo. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Breath)].
Son of Enrique Pacheco.
Pangulo (Mar. 1896).
Estanislao Vargas [Manalo Employee of the Fabrica de Calle Gagalangin, Tondo.

(Triumph)]. Paraguas de C. Gessell.
Kalihim (Mar. 1896).
Doroteo Gasingan. Clerk at the military finance Calle Bankusay, Tondo.
Tagausig (1896). office (Intervención).
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Tondo—By. Pagtibain.
Eusebio José [Bala (Bullet)]. Tabaquero at El Oriente Calle Gagalangin, Tondo. Kalihim of By. Kabuhayan (1894).
Tagaingat-yaman factory.
(Mar. 1896).
APPENDIX A
Felis Castillo. Fisherman. Calle Bankusay, Tondo.

Mabalasig (Mar. 1896).
Alberto Clemente. Blacksmith. Callejon Aguila, Tondo.
Taliba (Mar. 1896).
Agapito Victorio. Tailor employed by the Casa Bo. Bancaso, Tondo.
Tagalaan. de Meyed.
Tondo—Palomar District—Sb. Pingkian with two Balangays.

Details unknown.
Trozo—Sb. Dapitan
Francisco Carreon (pangulo)—see Supreme Council.
Hermenegildo Reyes (tagausig)—see Supreme Council.
Teodoro Vedua (tagausig) (1895)—see Supreme Council.
Nicomedes Carreon. Cobrador (collector) for the Calle Magdalena, Trozo. Tagaingat-yaman of By. Silanganan (1894).
Kalihim (1895−1896). Tipo-litografía de Chofré y
Brother of Francisco and Placido
Cía. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Carreon; nephew of José Dizon.
Murdered, c. 1897.
Guillermo Masangkay (kasanguni)—see Supreme Council
433
Trozo—By. Alapaap
434
Rufino Concha.
Pangulo (1894).
Estanislao de los Santos
[Paku (Nail)].
Pangulo (1895).
José Reyes Tolentino [Prim Bookkeeper for Luciano Taliba and Modestia Lodges ([Prim] ?);
(?)]. Kasanguni. Cordoba. Liga Filipina.
Also: Tambuli (Bugle) (kalihim) (1895).
Trozo—By. Silanganan
Juan Cruz [Matapang Barber. Calle Magdalena, Trozo. Liga Filipina.
(Brave)].
Officer of Sb. Dapitan (1895).
Pangulo (1895−1896).
Deported to Africa, c. 1896. Imprisoned, 1903.
Guillermo Masangkay (pangulo) (1896)—see Supreme Council.
Heraclio Santos Peres Officer of Sb. Dapitan (1895).
[Matigas (Hard)].
Partido Nacionalista (1901).
Pangulo (1896).
Canuto Villanueva [Tagailog
(Person of the River)].
Kalihim (1896).
Melecio Ruestra [Buhawi Draughtsman. Bo. Mamante, Tondo. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Tornado)].
Kalihim (1896).
Macario Sakay, Tagausig (1896)—see Sb. Maypagasa below.
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Trozo—By. Silanganan.
Gregorio Mariano [Maligaya Aduanista (customs official). Lusong Lodge ([Dula] Drama); Liga Filipina
(Happy)]. ([Baesa bata] Child of Baesa).
Tagaingat-yaman (1896).
APPENDIX A
Kasanguni, By. Alapaap.

Roman Ramos (tagaingat-yaman) (1896)—see By. Dimasayaran below.
Trozo—Sb. Maypagasa
Macario Sakay [Pakulin Personero (sales agent); Calle Magdalena, Trozo. Tagausig of By. Silanganan (1896).
(Boiling)]. formerly tailor; apprentice
Brother of Francisco and Placido At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Pangulo (June 1896). calesa maker.
Carreon; nephew of José Dizon.
Partido Nacionalista (1901). Imprisoned,
1901−1902; amnestied in 1902 but returned to the
field and became president of the government of
the Kapuluang Katagalugan (1902). Surrendered
in 1906.
Executed in Bilibid Prison, 1907.
Canuto Villanueva (kalihim) (June 1896)—see By. Silanganan above.
Trozo—By. Dimasayaran
Roman Ramos [Palanyag Employee at the Maestranza, Imprisoned, 1896.
(Former name of town of the government arsenal.
Executed in Bilibid Prison, 1907.
Parañaque)].
Tagaingat-yaman.
Also: Linta (Leech) (pangulo); Lintik (Lightning) (kalihim); and Likad (?) (tagausig) (all June 1896).
435
Trozo—By. Silanganan
436
Juan Cruz (pangulo) (June 1896)—see By. Silanganan above.

Lucino de la Cruz [Ipo Ipo KKK General.
(Whirlwind)].
Tagausig (June 1896).
Also: Baguio (Storm) (kalihim) (June 1896).
Women’s Section (Tagalog name unknown)

Gregoria de Jesus. Helped supervise her Caloocan (prior to marriage).
family’s farm (prior to
Wife of Andres Bonifacio; cousin of
marriage)
Teodoro Plata.
Simeona de Remigio. Wife of Tomas Remigio.
Marina Dizon. Calle Magdalena, Trozo (prior to Semilla Lodge of Adoption ([Hamog] Dew).
marriage).
Daughter of José Dizon; cousin of
Emilio Jacinto (but regarded him as
a brother because his mother, Joséfa
Dizon, brought her up); second wife of
José Turiano Santiago.
Joséfa Rizal. Sister of José Rizal. Semilla Lodge of Adoption ([Sumikat] Rise).
Benita Rodriguez. Wife of Restituto Javier; sponsor at

wedding of Andres Bonifacio and
Gregoria de Jesus.
Angelica Lopez. Calle Jolo, Binondo. Semilla Lodge of Adoption
Niece of José Rizal.
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Women’s Section.
Trinidad Rizal. Sister of José Rizal. Semilla Lodge of Adoption ([Sumibol] Grow].
Delfina Herbosa. Niece of José Rizal. Semilla Lodge of Adoption
APPENDIX A
Macaria Pangilinan. Wife of Marcelo Santos.

Marta Saldana. Wife of Faustino Manalak.
Trinidad Tecson. Dealer in cattle, seafood, and Semilla Lodge of Adoption
salt.
Affiliation unknown.
Miguel Araullo [Morgan (?)]. Hacienda administrator.
Delegate in Negros
Occidental (1892).
Pascual Casimiro [Pagasa Clerk in the Forestry office. Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
(Hope)].
Binhing Payapa.
Imprisoned, 1896. Imprisoned again in 1900.
José Dizon. Engraver at the Casa Moneda Calle Magdalena, Trozo. Taliba Lodge ([Montgomery] Personal name);
(mint). Liga Filipina.
Father of Marina Dizon; uncle of Emilio
Jacinto; uncle of Francisco, Nicomedes Executed at Bagumbayan, January 11, 1897.
and Placido Carreon.
Eugenio de los Reyes Sergeant on the Customs Mason, lodge unknown.
[Katigasan (Tenacity)]. launch Caridad.
Ponciano Herrera [Milan

(?)]. Delegate in Nagtajan.
437
(Cont’d) Affiliation unknown.
438
Feliciano Jocson. Pharmacist with drugstore on Calle Concepción (El Dorado), Quiapo. Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
Calle de Escolta, Binondo.
Universidad de Santo Tomás.
Dalisay Lodge.
Killed in internal feud, 1898.
Valentin Lagasca [Katiagaan Carabinero (customs guard). Mason; lodge unknown.
(Constancy)].
Pangulo of a council or
branch; details unknown. Executed at Bagumbayan, January 25, 1897.
Benedicto Nijaga. Second lieutenant in the Executed at Bagumbayan, January 11, 1897.
infantry.
Aurelio Tolentino [Espartaco Escribano (court employee) in Sometime boarder with Andres Colegio de San Juan de Letran; Universidad de
(Spartacus)]. Morong; formerly oficial de Bonifacio. Santo Tomás (unfinished).
mesa in Tondo and Bulacan
Modestia Lodge ([Pangahas] Intrepid); Liga Filipina.
and Morong; teacher.
Imprisoned, 1896−1897. Partido Nacionalista
(1901). Nominal head of the Ricarte government
(1904). Imprisoned, 1904−1907
Provincia de Manila
Caloocan—By./Sb. Dalisayan
Silverio Baltazar. Occupation in 1896 Caloocan. Had studied law.
Pangulo (1896). unknown, but formerly a
corporal in the army.
General treasurer in the “War Cabinet” (Aug.
Capitan municipal of
1896).
Caloocan.
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Caloocan—By./Sb. Dalisayan.
Quirino Cordero [Tupas (?)]. Tabaquero at El Oriente Caloocan.
Pangulo (May 1896). factory.
APPENDIX A
Ignacio Sanchez [Magiliwin Postman. Caloocan.

(Affectionate)]. Pangulo
(1895); tagausig (1896). Cartero.
Joaquin Rodriguez [Mahigpit Caloocan.
(Strict)]. Kalihim.
Cornelio Sanchez Tabaquero at El Oriente Caloocan.
[Sampalukan (Tree, Genus factory.
Tamarindus)]. Kalihim
(1895); tagausig (1896).
Mateo Hernandez Tabaquero at El Oriente Caloocan.
[Kalumpang (Tree, Genus factory.
Sterculia)]. Tagausig (1895).
Arcadio de Jesus [Marikit Caloocan.
(Handsome)]. Tagausig.
Francisco Garcia [Kalaos Tabaquero at El Oriente Caloocan. Mason; lodge unknown.
(Bitter)]. Tagaingat-yaman factory.
(1896).
Timoteo Enriquez [Balete Tabaquero at El Oriente Caloocan.
(Tree, Genus Vicus)]. factory.
Tagausig (1896).
Ciriaco Asistio. Caloocan.
Mabalasig (1896).
Dionisio Maglayon [Panday Tabaquero at El Oriente Caloocan.
(Blacksmith)]. factory.
Taliba (1896).
439
(Cont’d) Caloocan—By./Sb. Dalisayan.
440
Marcelo Badel [Tubung Secret policeman. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).

(Strong)].
Imprisoned, 1896.
Las Piñas
Details unknown.
Makati and Malibay—By. Magtagumpay

Pio del Pilar [Pang-una Farmer; formerly army Bo. Culi-Culi.
(First)]. conscript.
Kalihim.
Teniente del barrio.
Also: José Victor (pangulo); and Pascual Rodriguez (tagaingat-yaman).
Makati and Malibay—name of branch unknown.

Eusebio Aspilleda (pangulo).
Malabon—By./ Sb. Dimahipo

Adriano Jesus [Mapilit Dueño de telares (cloth Malabon.
(Insistent)]. manufacturer).
Pangulo (1895−1896).
Eugenio Goson [Madarag Tabaquero at El Oriente Malabon.
(Stamping feet in anger)]. factory.
Kalihim.
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Malabon—By./ Sb. Dimahipo.
Isabelo Reyes [Laot (Deep)]. Tabaquero at El Oriente Malabon.
Tagaingat-yaman factory.
(1895−1896).
APPENDIX A
Also: Tala (Star) (tagausig) (1896).
Malabon—By. Masikap (based in Tambobong)

Gregorio Coronel (pangulo)—see Supreme Council.
Also: Ciriaco Antonio (pangulo); Dayap (Lemon) (kalihim); Maghusay (Order) (tagausig); and Balbino Ignacio [Bomba (Bomb)] (tagaingat-yaman).
Malabon—By. Tangulan (based in Bo. Tinajeros)

Damaso Huat [Tubig (Water)] (pangulo).
Also: Ugong (Roar) (kalihim); Sinukuan (legendary giant of Mount Arayat, Pampanga) (tagausig); and Matuid (Straight) (tagaingat-yaman).
Malabon—By. Di-Matitigan
Severino Roxas (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By./ Sb. Makabuhay

Laureano Gonzales [Palakul Secretary of the tribunal Mandaluyong.
(Axe)]. Pangulo (Apr. 1896). (local court).
Rogelio Borja [Magiliwin Mechanic. Mandaluyong. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Affectionate)].
Kalihim of By. Makabuhay
(1895−1896); pangulo of Sb.
Makabuhay (Jan. 1896).
441
(Cont’d) Mandaluyong—By./ Sb. Makabuhay.
442
Sinforoso San Pedro. Past capitan municipal. Mandaluyong.

Kasanguni.
Pioquinto Pablo [Banag
(Glimmer)]. Kasanguni.
Lucio Ruiz [Suligui (Spear)].
Kasanguni.
Also: Bakal (Iron] (pangulo), Bituin (Star) (kalihim), and Dupil (Amulet) (tagaingat-yaman) (all June 1896); and Tawas (Freed)(tagaingat-yaman) (c. Jan. 1896).
Mandaluyong—By. Bayanihan
No details known.
Mandaluyong—By. Bituin
Julian Enriquez (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Dimahipo
Rudesindo Bernardo (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Ilog San Juan

Felipe Arcangel [Tampoy (Tree, Genus Syzgium)] (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Kalentong
Vicente Leyva Milk seller. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896); KKK General.
[Kalentong (?)].
Pangulo.
APPENDIX A
Mandaluyong—By. Kidlat
Romualdo Vivencio Known as “Kapitan Balakbak, Mandaluyong. Pangulo of By. Sapa (Mar. 1896).
[Tala (Star)]. Maldo”—suggesting he had
Pangulo. served as capitan municipal.
APPENDIX A
Mandaluyong—By. Magtibay
Adriano Benito [Bulaklak (Flower)] (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Magwagi (based in Bo. Barangka)

Nicolas de Guzman (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Malanday
Leon Bautista [Maasahan Lieutenant in the local police Mandaluyong.
(Dependable)]. (cuadrilleros).
Pangulo.
Also: Marcos Castaneda [Limbo (Halo)] (Kalihim); Ignacio Aguilar [Hapon (Afternoon, or Japan)] (Tagausig); Vicente Castillo [Mairugin (Amorous)].
(Tagaingat-yaman); Sixto de la Cruz [Katam (Carpenter’s plane)] (Mabalasig); Catalino Torres [Mulawin (Molave tree, Genus Vitex)] (taliba and maniningil).
Mandaluyong—By. Manolo
Adriano Gonzalez (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Mapagibig
Patricio José (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Marikit
443
No details known.
Mandaluyong—By. Matunog
444
Felipe Sanchez. Sergeant in the local police Hagdang Bato, Mandaluyong

Pangulo. (cuadrilleros).
Mandaluyong—By. Nagliwanag
Guillermo Vasquez (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Sapa
Romualdo Vivencio (Pangulo) (Mar. 1896)—see By. Kidlat.
Also: Victoriano Domingo [Buhawi (Tornado)] (kalihim) (Mar. 1896); Raimundo Bernardo [Baso (Glass)] (tagaingat-yaman) (Mar. 1896); and Hugo Magdaleno
[Lagari (Saw)] (tagausig) (Mar. 1896).
Mandaluyong—By. Sikat
Liborio de Guzman [Makahinga (Breathe)] (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Simbulan (based in Bo. Hagdang Bato)

Valentin Francisco [Mabait (Good)] (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Sinukuan
Mariano de Guzman (pangulo).
Mandaluyong—By. Tahimik
Gregorio Villanueva [Tahimik (Quiet)] (pangulo).
APPENDIX A
Mandaluyong—By. Tala (based in Bo. Buhanguin)
Buenaventura Domingo Teniente mayor.
[Gatdula (a Filipino
surname)]. pangulo.
APPENDIX A
Mandaluyong—By. Tangkilik (based in Bo. Barangka)

Valentin Victorino [Kules (?)] (pangulo).
Marikina—name of branch unknown.

Hermogenes Bautista Farmer; formerly in the Marikina. KKK General; Punong Hukbo (Dec. 1896).
[Barras (Bars)]. infantry, the Guardia Civil
Pangulo. Veterana and the Guardia
Civil.
Montalban and San Mateo—name of branch unknown.

Licerio Geronimo. Farmer, boatman, seller of Bo. Wawa, Montalban. KKK General.
Pangulo. wood and rattan; formerly
in the infantry and Guardia
Civil Veterana.
Felix Umali. Field laborer. Bo. Wawa, Montalban.
Kasanguni.
Baptismal sponsor of Licerio Geronimo.
Muntinlupa—name of branch unknown.

Tomas Montillano. Known as “Kapitan”—
Pangulo. suggesting he had served as
capitan municipal.
445
Navotas—name of branch unknown.
446
Silvestre Pascual [Pam Beteng (Family nickname ?)] (pangulo).
Novaliches—By. Karitas
Apolonio Samson. Farmer. Bo. Kangkong, Caloocan. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
Pangulo. Government of the Kapuluang Katagalugan
Teniente del barrio.
(1902). Imprisoned, 1904.
Pandacan—name of branch unknown.

Ramon Bernardo [Salago Mechanic. Res.: Mandaluyong, on right bank of At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Shrub, Genus Wistroemia)]. the Beata River, which joins the Pasig
Past capitan municipal. KKK General.
Pangulo. between Santa Ana and Pandacan.
Miguel Resurreccion [Baga Grass (fodder) cutter. At Balintawak (Aug. 1896).
(Embers)]. Pangulo.
Parañaque—name of branch unknown (based in Bo. Dongalo).

Sabas de Guzman. Businessman. Parañaque. Attended college.
Pangulo.
Pasay—By. Kaliwanagan
Valentin Esguerra. Sitio Camachile, Santa Ana. Killed in action, 1899.
Pangulo.
Pasig—By./ Sb. Nagbangon

Eulalio Santiago [Magaling Tailor. Pasig.
(Skillful)]. Pangulo.
APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) Pasig—By./ Sb. Nagbangon.
Francisco de la Paz [Timog Past teniente mayor.
(South)]Kalihim.
APPENDIX A
Also : Yantok (Rattan) (tagausig); Flaviano Espinosa [Nagbago (Renewed)] (tagaingat-yaman); [Kakawate (Tree, Genus Gliricidia)]; [Habagat (Monsoon)],
[Magingat (Beware)]; and [Mabato (Rocky)] (kasanguni).
Pasig—By. Pinaglabanan
Halo (Stir, Mixture) (pangulo).
Pasig—By. Santolan
Valentin Cruz [Gugol Cabeza de barangay (1888); Ugong, Pasig. Deported to the Marianas.
(Expense)]. cabeza de barangay del gremio
Pangulo. de mestizos (1894).
Pateros—By. Magtanggol
Macario Almeda [Kidlat (Lightning)] (pangulo).
Also: Vicente Candachoy [Maningas (Ardent)] (pangalawang pangulo); Marcos Lozada [Bakal (Iron)] (kalihim); and Hipolito Francisco [Lumaya (Free)]
(tagaingat-yaman).
San Juan del Monte—By. Marikit

Andres Soriano. Secretary of the local tribunal San Juan del Monte.
Pangulo. (court).
Also: Venancio Pucan Cruz (pangulo).

447
San Mateo—see Montalban.

Santa Ana—By./ Sb. Kasilawan
448
Narciso Tibay [Santol (Fruit Cajista (compositor) at the Santa Ana.

tree, Genus Sandoricum)]. Imprenta de los Amigos del
Pangulo. País.
Also: Teodoro (or Jacinto) Calasanz (pangulo) and Valentin Matabagdal [Walang Takot (Fearless)] (tagaingat-yaman).
Santa Ana—By. Agapan (based in Bo. Lumayan)

Nagtangol (Defended) (pangulo).
Santa Ana—By. Matatag (based in Bo. San Roque)

Salamin (Mirror, Glasses) (pangulo).
Santa Ana—By. Tagisan (based in Bo. Suaboy)

Araru (Plow) (pangulo).
Taguig—Details unknown.
Cuerpo de Compromisarios: Group of patriotic Filipinos who, between 1894 and 1895, made regular financial contributions to support the propagandistas in
Spain, specifically Marcelo H. del Pilar and the journal La Solidaridad.
Binhing Payapa: Patriotic secret society formed in 1894 or 1895, following disagreements within the Katipunan. Some of its leading members nevertheless
joined forces with the Katipunan following the outbreak of the revolution.
Partido Nacionalista: Formed by Katipunan veterans and young militants within the nascent labor movement in August 1901, but immediately pronounced
seditious and banned by the American governor general William Howard Taft. Not to be confused with the party of the same name that was formed with
American permission in 1907.
Government of Katagalugan: Constituted in November 1901 by Katipunan veterans and other patriots after the Partido Nacionalista had been outlawed, and
APPENDIX A
dedicated to continuing guerrilla warfare against the American occupation.

APPENDIX A 449
APPENDIX A, TABLE 2
Popular councils (Sangunian Bayan—Sb.) and branches (Balangay—By.) of
the Katipunan in the city and province of Manila, 1892−1896
1. MANILA AND SUBURBS
Binondo Sb. ILOG PASIG [Pasig River]. Formed in 1894; downgraded to By. Ilog
Pasig, c. Dec. 1895.
Two branches formed in 1894; names unknown.

Ermita, Sb. MAHIGANTI [Revenge]. Formed as By. Mahiganti, probably in
Concepción and 1895; raised to Sb. in Mar. 1896.
Paco (Dilao)
By. Pandayan [Forge]. Formed in Mar. 1896.
By. Tagailog [People of the River]. Formed in Mar. 1896.
Sampaloc By. Bagong Silang [New East]. Probably formed in 1896 under the
jurisdiction of Sb. Katagalugan.
San Nicolas and By. Maluningning [Brilliance]. Date of formation unknown. Possibly
Intramuros under the jurisdiction of Sb. Ilog Pasig.
Santa Cruz Sb. LAONG LAAN [Always Ready, a nom de plume of José Rizal].
Formed in 1894.
By. Dimasalang [Untouchable, a nom de plume of José Rizal]. Formed

in 1894.
By. Tanglaw [Luminous]. Formed in 1894.
By. Kalingaan [Protection]. Formed in Mar. 1896 under the jurisdiction

of Sb. Katagalugan.
Tondo Sb. KATAGALUGAN [Land of the Tagalogs]. Formed in 1894.
By. Kabuhayan [Livelihood]. Formed in 1894.

By. Katotohanan [Truth]. Formed in 1894.
By. Pagtibain [Strengthen]. Formed in Mar. 1896.
Sb. PINGKIAN [Flint; the KKK alias of Emilio Jacinto]. Formed in the
Palomar area, c. June 1896.
Two branches formed c. June 1896; names unknown.

Trozo Sb. DAPITAN [Town in Mindanao to which José Rizal was exiled].
Formed in 1894; downgraded to By. Dapitan, c. Mar. 1896.
By. Alapaap [Heavens]. Formed in 1894

By. Silanganan [East]. Formed in 1894.
Sb. MAYPAGASA [There is Hope; the KKK alias of Andres Bonifacio].

Formed in June 1896.
450 APPENDIX A
(Cont’d) MANILA AND SUBURBS.

(Cont’d) Trozo By. Dimasayaran [Untouchable; the KKK alias of Pio Valenzuela].
Formed in June 1896.
By. Silanganan [East]. Previously under Sb. Dapitan.
Women’s Section. Tagalog name unknown.
2. THE PROVINCE OF MANILA
Caloocan By./Sb. DALISAYAN [Purity]. Formed as By. Dalisayan, probably in

1895, though a KKK branch did exist in Caloocan earlier. In Mar. 1896,
By. Dalisayan was under the jurisdiction of Sb. Katagalugan; it was
raised to become a Sb. itself around May 1896.
Names of branches unknown.

Las Piñas No details known.
Makati (San By. Magtagumpay [Triumph]. Probably formed c. July 1896 under the
Pedro Makati, jurisdiction of Sb. Kasilawan.
or Sampiro) and
Malibay Also a branch whose name is unknown.
Malabon By./Sb. DIMAHIPO [Untouchable]. Formed as By. Dimahipo, probably
(Tambobong) in 1895; raised to a Sb. in Jan. 1896.
By. Masikap [Fervent] in Tambobong. Formed in Jan. 1896.

By. Tangulan [Defense] in Bo. Tinajeros. Formed in Jan. 1896.
By. Di-Matitigan [Unobservable].
Mandaluyong By./Sb. MAKABUHAY [Resurrection]. Formed as By. Makabuhay,
(San Felipe Neri) probably in 1895; raised to a Sb. in Jan. 1896.
By. Bayanihan [Co-operation].

By. Bituin [Star].
By. Dimahipo [Untouchable].
By. Ilog San Juan [San Juan River].
By. Kalentong [?].
By. Kidlat [Lightning].
By. Magtibay [Strengthen].
By. Magwagi [Triumph] in Bo. Barangka.
By. Malanday [Flat].
By. Manolo [Personal name].
By. Mapagibig [Loving].
By. Marikit [Handsome].
By. Matunog [Resonant].
By. Nagliwanag [Shining].
By. Sapa [Stream]. Formed in March 1896.
By. Sikat [Brightness].
By. Simbulan [?] in Bo. Hagdang Bato.
APPENDIX A 451
(Cont’d) THE PROVINCE OF MANILA.

(Cont’d) By. Sinukuan [legendary giant of Mount Arayat in Pampanga]
Mandaluyong By. Tahimik [Quiet].
(San Felipe Neri) By. Tala [Star] in Bo. Buhanguin. Formed in Jan. 1896.
By. Tangkilik [Support] in Bo. Barangka.
Marikina Name of branch unknown.

Montalban and Name of branch unknown.
San Mateo
Muntinlupa Name of branch unknown.
Navotas (San Jose Name of branch unknown.
de Navotas)
Novaliches By. Karitas [Charity].
Pandacan Name of branch unknown.
Parañaque Name of branch unknown, based in Bo. Dongalo.
(Palanyag)
Pasay (Pineda) By. Kaliwanagan [Clarity].
Pasig By./Sb. NAGBANGON [Rose up]. Formed as By. Nagbangon, probably
in 1895; raised to a Sb. in Mar. 1896.
By. Pinaglabanan [Battlefield]. Formed in Mar. 1896.

By. Santolan [Place name].
Pateros By. Magtanggol [Defender].
San Juan del By. Marikit [Handsome]. Probably formed in 1896 under the
Monte jurisdiction of Sb. Makabuhay.
Santa Ana By./Sb. KASILAWAN [Glare]. Formed as By. Kasilawan, probably in
early 1896 under the jurisdiction of Sb. Makabuhay; it was raised to
become a Sb. itself in June 1896.
By. Agapan [Alacrity] in Bo. Lumayan. Formed in June 1896.

By.Matatag [Firm] in Bo. San Roque. Formed in June 1896.
By. Tagisan [Battle] in Bo. Suabong. Formed in June 1896.
Taguig Details unknown.
APPENDIX B
Revolution or Religious Experience?
This piece attempts to explain a conundrum. None of the Katipunan activists named
in the documents in this volume is known to have been a peasant. None of the docu-
ments mentions the peasantry or rural discontent. Although several invoke the
Almighty, very few allude directly to the beliefs and practices of Catholicism, either
orthodox, heretical, or syncretic. And yet academic discussion on the Katipunan in
recent decades has dwelt above all else on the society’s supposed affinities with the
dissident peasant brotherhoods of the Tagalog region. The Katipunan, says one
widely used American college text, displayed “strong elements of religious revivalism
and peasant faith”; it was “linked directly to the socioreligious tradition of popular
movements.”1 Bonifacio, another affirms, “articulated the millenarian themes of the
peasantry.”2 A handbook on Philippine studies says outright that the Katipunan was
a peasant movement, and a historical dictionary says Bonifacio was a peasant.3
Pasyon and Revolution

Such assertions attest to the far-reaching influence of the work of Reynaldo Ileto,
particularly his famed book, Pasyon and Revolution, in which he devotes two chapters
to the Katipunan.4 This is not to say he would necessarily endorse the assertions, for
as he knows authors cannot control the meanings attached to what they write. His
book is capable of multiple, even contradictory readings.
The Philippine revolution, Ileto observes, has conventionally been interpreted
from elite perspectives, even by nationalist and radical historians. Urban and ration-
alist in orientation, and relying on Spanish and English sources, historians have
persistently failed to consider the view “from below.” They have consequently failed
also to understand why peasants and other lower-class Filipinos joined the revolution.
They have portrayed 1896:
[A]s the climax of a liberal awakening, when Enlightenment ideas imbibed by Europeanized
Filipino intellectuals since the 1880s finally became translated into a mass movement.
When viewed “from below,” however, the religious dimension of the movement is unmis-
takable. In exhorting the lower classes to participate, the Katipunan leadership juxtaposed
events of colonial history with biblical images of the Fall from Eden; joining the rebellion
was interpreted as a redemptive act.5
Ileto’s declared mission is to shift the study of the revolution away from its
“enlightenment/modernist foundations.” He explicitly asks his readers to “cease, for
the moment, to regard the Katipunan as a radically unique phenomenon” so that “we
can begin to examine its roots in Philippine society and culture.”6 He constructs his
case with great skill, taking care to preempt many of the objections he knows old-
school empiricists will raise. The middle-class origins of the Katipunan leadership, he
452
APPENDIX B 453
accepts, “urban or provincial, are all too obvious.”7 He concedes that the Katipunan did
have some ancestry in the propaganda movement and that 1896 was in some degree the
culmination of a nationalist tide that stemmed from heightened Westernization.8 He
acknowledges that the Katipunan “drew its inspiration from European Freemasonry,”
and that Bonifacio was “inspired by the writings of ilustrados like Rizal.”9 The primi-
tive-to-modern construct adopted by previous historians, he thinks, exaggerates these
linkages and conceals the linkages with the folk millenarian tradition, but he does not
totally reject the conclusions drawn from this construct, and even acknowledges the
“usefulness” of the construct itself for certain purposes.10
But all this, Ileto cogently argues, is just a partial view of the Katipunan, the view
“from above.” His own focus is not on the backgrounds and intentions of KKK leaders,
on the historical content of their writings, or events “as they actually happened,”
but on collective discourses and mentalities, on how leaders, texts, and events were
perceived, understood, and experienced by the masses.
Locating the Katipunan’s roots

Regrettably, it is true that generations of historians have neglected to look at
the revolution from within, from the perspective of the masses or even that of rank-
and-file activists and combatants. If they had done so, however, if they had foraged
for the Katipunan’s roots in Philippine society and culture, they would surely have
begun their search in the place where the Katipunan was born, and to which it was
practically confined from 1892 to 1895, the bustling, modernizing, and cosmopolitan
city of Manila. Pasyon and Revolution, however, does not examine life in the colonial
capital in the 1890s, or the experiences and perceptions “from below” of the city clerks,
government employees, business agents, tobacco workers, and printers who consti-
tuted the bulk of the KKK’s early membership.
The second obvious area to search would be the poblaciones in the provinces
around Manila. When the Katipunan suddenly burgeoned in the early months of
1896, and branches were at last established in the provinces to the north and south of
the capital, they were headed in most places by principales—municipal officeholders—
and other members of the local elite. In Cavite, most famously, the key figures in the
dominant Magdalo and Magdiwang Councils were respectively Emilio Aguinaldo, the
capitan municipal of Kawit, and Mariano Alvarez, the capitan municipal of Noveleta.
Men of wealth, education, or status from the province of Bulacan who joined the
Katipunan or its forces included Isidoro Torres, Mariano Crisostomo, and Gregorio
del Pilar; from Nueva Ecija there were Mariano Llanera and Mamerto Natividad;
in Batangas there were Miguel Malvar, Nicolas Gonzales, Ananias Diokno, Arcadio
Laurel, and Santiago Rillo de Leon; and from Laguna there were Paciano Rizal and
Antonino Guevara. To understand the dynamics of the revolution in the Tagalog prov-
inces, to explain the support the Katipunan attracted “from below” outside Manila,
it would therefore be apposite to examine the collective biographies and motivations
of the men and women who followed these elite leaders. This is not to imply that
the masses who answered the Katipunan’s call in Cavite and elsewhere necessarily
lacked “autonomy” or “agency” when they joined KKK branches and military units
headed by the principales, simply that the commitment to the patriotic cause was
454 APPENDIX B
shared across class boundaries. But the world view of ordinary provincial townsfolk is
another subject that is not explored in Pasyon and Revolution.
Ileto’s decision not to search for the Katipunan’s roots in its two main seedbeds,
the city and the poblaciones, inevitably colors his entire discussion and distorts his
portrayal of the revolutionary society. It conceals from the outset the innovative,
distinctively modern characteristics he believes previous historians of the Katipunan
have exaggerated.
Such criticisms, he would retort, willfully miss his point, because his express
purpose is to look at the Katipunan from the perspective of its “wide rural base”11 and
specifically to highlight its similarities in idiom, form, and ideology to the millenarian
peasant brotherhoods of central and southern Luzon. So important were the brother-
hoods, or katipunan, he suggests, that in “order to mobilize large numbers of Filipinos,
the revolutionary Katipunan had to speak the common language of katipunans.”12 It
“of necessity absorbed the characteristics of earlier [brotherhoods and societies], and
the potency of existing religious symbols and linguistic usage.”13
But in reality the size and significance of the rural brotherhoods in 1896−1897 is
questionable; the attention Ileto gives to them seems disproportionate. The Cofradia
de San José, for instance, had its brief heyday a full five decades before the revolu-
tion, and its main stronghold, the mountainous Tayabas-Laguna borders, was not an
area where the Katipunan attracted a large number of recruits. In the areas where the
Katipunan was strongest in 1896−1897, conversely, the brotherhoods seem to have
been either nonexistent or small and marginalized. In Cavite and Batangas, most
notably, they seem barely to figure in the historical record at all. In Central Luzon the
Santa Iglesia, headed by Felipe Salvador, had not yet become a real force beyond a
handful of towns in Pampanga. Its first recorded participation in the revolution seems
to have been in late 1897, after Bonifacio was already dead and the Katipunan’s original
“brotherhood” character was already lost. Farther north, in Tarlac and Pangasinan,
a fraternity known as the Guardia de Honor rebuffed the approaches of KKK activ-
ists, according to one account, because its leader was “disturbed by the Katipunan’s
Tagalog leadership and repelled by its secularism.”14
Back down south on the Tayabas-Laguna borders, finally, there was the Colorum
society, a brotherhood with which Ileto explicitly says the Katipunan had an “ideo-
logical kinship.”15 Again, this eschatological cofradia did not participate directly in the
revolution during Bonifacio’s lifetime, but in June 1897 a large crowd of its devotees
marched in procession into the town of Tayabas, the provincial capital, with the inten-
tion of capturing the Spanish garrison. According to the Katipunan general Artemio
Ricarte, the Colorum had been told by their pastors that the “Holy Voice” had ordered
them to go to the barracks in the center of town, and then untie the ropes they always
wore around their waists. After prayers, they would be given a signal to throw all their
ropes over the barracks wall simultaneously, and with divine help the soldiers and
Guardia Civil on the other side would become entangled and immobilized. But before
this plan could be put to the test, Ricarte relates, the Spanish enemy:
[P]robably warned by some other voice of the eternal father very different from that of the
Colorums began to fire so effectively on the procession that several of the enlightened were
APPENDIX B 455
immediately put out of action. [Their leader Juan Magdalo, who was dressed as St. John
the Baptist] took to shameful flight, followed by his men, abandoning on the road the dead
and severely wounded…. in my opinion this defeat was a punishment which St. John the
Baptist had inflicted upon them, because Juan Magdalo had dared, ignorant man that he
was, to wear the clothes of the saint, or perhaps the eternal father himself wished to give
them a good lesson, because they were too fanatical or arrogant (lubhang pagkapaniwalain
o kapalaluan).16
Thereafter, says Ricarte, the Colorum never confronted the enemy again,
although they did sometimes assist the Katipunan by giving its troops food and
“other little necessities.” His narrative does not suggest he felt very much “ideological
kinship” with the cofradia. A less caustic account of the same episode may be found in
the memoirs of another Katipunan general, Santiago Alvarez, but even he describes
the Colorum’s sole engagement as a “self-inflicted debacle.”17
The Katipunan welcomed whatever support it got from the millenarian broth-
erhoods, just as it welcomed support from any and every quarter. But building the
broadest possible unity against Spain, the Katipunan realized, meant that differences
of class, education, regional background, and religion had to be set aside for the sake
of the common cause. Even if the Katipunan’s leaders in central and southern Luzon
had shared the dreams of the brotherhoods (which they did not), they would not
have wished to antagonize their elite friends, relatives, associates, and sympathizers
by siding with the brotherhoods and looking forward to some kind of fundamental
social and economic leveling. Katipunan literature never discusses the redistribution
of land, or any other specific measures to tackle rural inequality and injustice. If the
brotherhoods had faith, as Ileto says, that once kalayaan (liberty) was attained society
would inevitably “be turned on its head… all men would be brothers, leaders would be
Christlike, all forms of oppression would end and property would be shared,” it was
not a faith that the Katipunan ever proclaimed or fostered.18
The idiom of dissent and hope

Where, then, are the supposed affinities between the Katipunan and the brother-
hoods to be found? Their main bases were in different areas, and their memberships,
in 1896−1897, are not known to have overlapped. The Katipunan did not, as an organi-
zation, crusade for a particular religious credo or a new egalitarian utopia. It did not
divide mankind starkly into believers and nonbelievers, the righteous and the wicked,
or the saved and the damned. It did not foretell an impending God-sent apocalypse
that would destroy the corrupt and sinful world. Similarities in structure between the
KKK and the traditional brotherhoods also seem remote or tenuous. The Katipunan’s
formation as a secret brotherhood, for example, its initiation rituals and its symbolism
long predated its expansion from the city to the provinces and its contact with any
millenarian sects. When it was first established, according to one of the founders, it
took an Italian secret society as its organizational model.19
The solitary area in which Ileto does demonstrate a large measure of common-
ality is the realm of idiom, or at least vocabulary; his signal achievement is to have
charted the structure (not content) of thought and discourse in nineteenth-century
456 APPENDIX B
Tagalog society. The code required to comprehend Tagalog dissidence in the nine-
teenth century, he argues, lies most crucially in the pasyon, the verse chronicle of
Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection recited in Catholic Filipino communities
during Holy Week. Pasyon verses concerning the Second Coming, he says, provided
the peasantry with powerful images of transitions from death to life, ignorance to
knowledge, darkness to light, and despair to hope. They provided Tagalog rebels
with the language and imagery for expressing their “values, ideals and even hopes for
liberation.”
That popular protest drew its vocabulary principally from Christianity is not
presented as a startling revelation. Ileto acknowledges, indeed, that it could scarcely
have been otherwise. The Tagalog region had been subject to intensive Catholic evan-
gelism ever since its conquest by Spanish “cross and sword” in the late-sixteenth
century. Indigenous religions had been suppressed or driven to the hills, and secular
political currents had been excluded by friar-administered censorship. The Bible, the
pasyon, and devotional tracts were virtually the only material available for ordinary
country-dwellers to read.
Ileto also acknowledges that the pasyon idiom was not inherently radical; it
did not belong to the masses and the dissident tradition alone. In the Philippines as
everywhere else, the Bible story can be construed from diametrically opposed stand-
points. The pasyon, like the scriptures, might be used to inculcate loyalty to Spain,
the Church, and the status quo; to encourage resignation to worldly injustice and
suffering by promising the poor, meek, and humble their reward in the afterlife. The
pasyon idiom was infinitely versatile. It might be employed by a heretical millenarian
brotherhood, but it might equally be used within a conservative, orthodox religious
fraternity.
Religious language and imagery, it may also be readily shown, were used not just
by peasant prophets but by the educated elite. Whether ilustrado writers employed
the idiom unconsciously, because of their own Catholic upbringings, or deliberately
in order to reach a religiously attuned audience, they commonly phrased their liberal
and patriotic ideas in religious terms. The much-travelled physician and polymath
José Rizal, for example, who deplored religious fanaticism and superstition, called
his own labors a “mission” and a “crusade.” Describing love of country and liberty as
“sacred,” he “preached” that the path towards individual and national “redemption”
led through virtue, suffering, and sacrifice.20 Although he normally wrote in Spanish,
Rizal’s well-known letter “To the Young Women of Malolos,” written three years
before the Katipunan was founded, develops these themes in the exact language of
the Tagalog pasyon. To bring the country honor and prosperity (puri at ginhawa), he
advised, required minds that were clear (matuid na isip) and hearts (loob) that were
pure, brave, and strong. Knowledge (karunungan) and reason (katuiran), he said, would
provide the light (liwanag) necessary for Filipinos to journey (lakad) on the difficult
road (daanang hirap) that lay ahead.21 This point could be greatly expanded; indeed
a sequel to Ileto’s book might even be written entitled Pasyon and Bourgeois Reform!
The imagery of the pasyon could even be invoked by American to whom the
thought world of the Tagalog peasantry was entirely alien and unknown. When the
APPENDIX B 457
Yale-educated lawyer Francis Burton Harrison arrived in Manila as governor general

in 1913, he declaimed as follows:
People of the Philippine Islands, a new era is dawning. We place within your reach the
instruments of your redemption. The door of opportunity stands open and under Divine
Providence the event is in your hands.22
In these three short sentences, Ileto notes, Governor General Harrison crammed
no less than five important pasyon themes: the triumph of light over darkness, the
approach of a new era, the opened gates, divine blessing, and personal participation in
a glorious act of redemption. “Bonifacio himself,” Ileto concludes, “had done no better
in 1896!”23
Consciously or unconsciously, by design or by accident, peasant prophets,
nationalist revolutionaries, ilustrados, and even American colonialists can therefore
all be seen as delivering messages which, no matter how divergent, were interpreted
by poorer, less educated Filipinos according to a Christian frame of reference and
infused with millennial connotations. The pasyon idiom, in this sense, was well-nigh
universal, permeating the whole religious and political discourse of Tagalog society.
The Katipunan, it logically follows, did not need to learn the “language of katipunans”
in order to reach the Tagalog masses, because there was no such special language. It
could just use the ordinary language of the times.
Reading the idiom: Bonifacio, Aguinaldo, and Sakay

Even if the pasyon idiom was ubiquitous, it can be argued, a distinction should be
made between the masses, whose construction of meaning it delimited, and who used
it authentically, and the elite, who could stand apart from it, manipulate it for their
own ends, and alienate its words from their original, full meaning.24 How do we know,
though, where to draw the line between these two groups? How do we know whether
an individual employing pasyon language and structures actually shares mass percep-
tions? How, for example, can analysis of the idiom help us better understand Bonifacio
and the reasons for his fatal breach with Aguinaldo and his allies?
Here we have started to stray away from audience perception towards the realm
of authorial intent, which poststructuralists often claim is irrelevant. Ileto some-
times argues that the intentions and “true character” of Bonifacio are irrelevant and
unknowable, and that what really matters is how they were perceived. Bonifacio, he
says, “cannot be pinned down to a particular meaning or truth.”25 Elsewhere, however,
he succumbs to the temptation to proffer his own meanings and truths. Most of the
accusations leveled against Bonifacio by his enemies—that he was “an ignoramus,
an outsider from Tondo, a poor military strategist, a Mason, a monarchist, a tulisan
[bandit] even”—says Ileto tendentiously, “are valid.”26
If Bonifacio is “knowable” to a degree, then, what was his own standpoint? Did
he consciously tailor his appeals to a pasyon-attuned audience, or did he actually
share to a large degree the millenarians’ world view? Again, there is indeterminacy
in Ileto’s arguments. In some passages, he suggests that Bonifacio belonged with the
elite in this regard. The Katipunan supremo, he says, and “other Filipino nationalists
458 APPENDIX B
of some education” found in the folk legend of Bernardo Carpio “a popular perception
of events on which to hinge their separatist ideas.”27 Similarly, “Bonifacio was so adept
at tapping popular feelings to serve his revolutionary ends that he was unavoidably
incorporated into the folk view of events.”28 Surely the reader must infer from these
passages that Bonifacio’s nationalist, revolutionary ideas and ends were somehow
more “modern” than the ideas and ends of the Tagalog masses.
But in other passages, contrarily, Ileto indicates that Bonifacio did not “stand
apart” from the millenarians’ thought world. He held the same world view himself.
“There was something,” Ileto writes, “about Bonifacio’s mentality that a believer in
enlightenment liberalism like Carlos Ronquillo found disturbing, and decried as a
‘dark underside.’”29 Bonifacio, he intimates, like the millenarians but apparently
unlike Aguinaldo, believed that spiritual preparation was as important as mili-
tary preparation in gaining victories on the battlefield. It was his “preoccupation
with ‘sacred ideals’ and moral transformation”30 that led to his downfall in 1897, at
the hands of the Caviteño elite, many of whom regarded the original Katipunan as a
“bandit gang,” fanatical and illicit. They saw Bonifacio’s removal as necessary to rid the
Katipunan of its dark, “unsavory characteristics,” and to remold it as a liberal nationalist
movement whose aspirations would be deemed legitimate by “civilized” nations.31
If Aguinaldo and other Caviteño principales had really held such a jaundiced view
of the original Katipunan, one might ask, why had they joined it in the first place?
How could they have regarded it as a “bandit gang” when they knew its leaders were
city clerks, government employees, business agents, tobacco workers, and printers? In
any event, it is difficult to see how disparities of idiom and style can help explain the
schism because Aguinaldo himself, as Ileto recognizes, was “an effective orator in the
traditional idiom of struggle.”32 His speeches in florid Tagalog moved his followers
deeply. Some believed he had “magic powers; he could foresee the future; he was invul-
nerable; he had a magic sword by waving which he could turn bullets in their flight.”33
He was protected, it was said, not just by his potent anting-anting, but also by a mystic
in his entourage.34 Aguinaldo, in other words, was perceived and idolized by many
among the Tagalog masses as a charismatic leader very much in the traditional mould.
When he used the same vocabulary, the same idiom, as Bonifacio and other leaders
of the “original” Katipunan, therefore, there is no reason to suppose that the Tagalog
masses somehow attached a different meaning to his words and gestures. If, say,
Aguinaldo used the phrase “sacred liberty” (banal na kalayaan), they would interpret
it in the same manner as if they heard it from Bonifacio. Is it possible, then, for histo-
rians to make judgments and distinctions that many rank-and-file revolutionists of
1896−1897 did not make themselves? Without going beyond the words of Bonifacio and
Aguinaldo, how can we decide, as Ileto ventures to do, that for one man the traditional
idiom of struggle was laden with deep significance and conviction, but for the other
was just “rhetoric”; that for one kalayaan held the promise of abundance, harmony,
and contentment whilst for the other it was merely an “abstract notion,” or an aspira-
tion, confined to political independence, not to broad economic and social change?35
If serious class and ideological differences really underlay the 1897 schism, moreover,
why—after Bonifacio’s death—did his followers not launch their own separate struggle
(as conditions would certainly have allowed) rather than accept Aguinaldo’s authority?
APPENDIX B 459
Similarly thorny questions arise when Ileto’s focus moves on to the latter stages
of the Philippine-American War, when leadership of the military resistance in the
Tagalog region had passed back from elite elements to less illustrious individuals who
were veterans of the early Katipunan, most notably Macario Sakay. As in the 1890s,
the pasyon idiom was being turned to any political purpose under the Philippine sun,
not least by ilustrado nationalists such as Pascual Poblete and Dominador Gomez who
argued that the armed struggle should be abandoned in favor of constitutional agita-
tion for independence. Seeming to forget his earlier acknowledgment that the pasyon
idiom did not belong to the masses and the dissident tradition alone, Ileto presents
this rhetoric as a new phenomenon. “One can imagine,” he writes, “the surprise and
disbelief of the revolutionaries at such co-optation of their language by collaborators in
the towns.”36 Most infuriating to the Katipunan veterans headed by Macario Sakay,
he says, would have been the elite’s “abuse of the term ‘kalayaan.’ The word was alien-
ated from its original, full meaning by collaborators and plain politicians….”
Distinctions between authentic and false meanings, however, between sincerity
and deceit, were still not drawn by the revolutionists in class terms in the early 1900s.
Katipunan and elite nationalism were still not perceived as antagonistic. The anti-
imperialist armed resistance did not fundamentally change in political orientation
when its direction passed back to the Katipunan die-hards. They did not, Ileto himself
recognizes, “consider the oppressive acts of fellow Filipinos as an aspect of class
conflict.”37 Sakay and his associates, it appears, actually succumbed to the ilustrado
rhetoric. Not once, but twice. In 1901 they accepted positions in a Nacionalista
Party founded by Pascual Poblete on a platform of peace, order, and independence
“in opportune time… under the protectorate of the United States.”38 Scared even by
limited nationalist demands, the colonial government prohibited the party from func-
tioning and Sakay and others then returned to the hills. In 1906, though, Dominador
Gomez persuaded them to surrender in order to satisfy the American condition
that “general and complete peace” be established before elections could be held to a
Philippine Assembly. The Assembly, the ilustrado told the guerrillas, would be the
“gate of kalayaan,” and they accepted his word. Partly, Ileto suggests, the surrender
showed regrettable naïveté. Nevertheless, he remarks, it also reflected the idea found
in the dissident folk tradition that kalayaan could not be realized until Filipinos had
shown themselves worthy of it. A “traditional” idea maybe, but this, too, was precisely
the belief of Dominador Gomez’s ilustrado contemporary, José Rizal. It was one of his
reasons, indeed, for opposing the Katipunan’s original call to arms in 1896.
Reading the idiom: A Katipunan initiation ritual

Ideas and symbols that seem “traditional,” therefore, are not necessarily exclusive
to the dissident folk tradition, and their source may in fact lie elsewhere. Notions of
moral rebirth, or the people’s “readiness” for liberty, or light dispelling darkness, or the
theme of “negligent Mother Spain” can be found just as readily in the Enlightenment-
influenced patriotic discourse of the propagandistas as they can in folk Catholic patri-
otic discourse. Insistently, however, Ileto privileges “folk” interpretations of patriotic
texts over “modernist” interpretations, and sees the nineteenth-century Philippines
through the pasyon’s prism.
460 APPENDIX B
His discussion of a Katipunan initiation ritual, to cite a prime example, dwells at

length on its imagined resemblance to the observances of Easter, but relegates almost
to a passing nod its far more obvious parallels with the rites of masonry.39 The ritual,
he contends, was “an adaptation of the Catholic Easter Vigil ceremony enhanced by
Masonic symbols.”40 It marks the passage of the neophytes, he says, from “kapana-
tagan (level surface) to karurukan (tip of an elevation); the image of Mount Calvary
is clearly alluded to.”41 The word “kapanatagan,” however, does not mean “level
surface”; it derives from the root panatag and means “tranquility.”42 The translation of
karurukan as “tip of an elevation,” or “pinnacle,” does reflect today’s usage, but seem-
ingly not that of the late-nineteenth century— when it generally denoted “throne,” or
“seat of honor”—and does not fit in the context of the ritual document. Within the
Katipunan, it is clear from other documents, karurukan either meant “Lodge” or, more
generally, “session,” “meeting,” or “summit meeting” in the modern sense. Sometimes
a karurukan was convened to initiate new members, sometimes to deal with the
routine business of the society, and sometimes to discuss revolution.
Kapanatagan, in short, does not connote a “level surface,” and karurukan does not
in this instance connote a “pinnacle.” Ileto’s suggestion that the document’s heading,
Pagbubukas ng Karurukan (lit. “Opening of the Pinnacle”) refers to the “gate of the
society, at the summit of which is presumably a symbolic mountain,” is mistaken, and
the supposed allusion to Mount Calvary is a flight of fancy.
Equally specious is the connection Ileto makes between the pasyon and a different
version of the Katipunan ritual, in which the initiate has to answer three questions in
writing. The room to which the neophyte is led to take the test, he says, has “only
a single point of illumination,” patterned “after the Easter candle.”43 In reality, the
test in the dimly lit room is a direct replication of masonic ritual. The Katipuneros
called the room the Silid ng Panilayan, the precise equivalent of the masonic Gabinete
de Reflexiónes, or “Chamber of Reflection.” As did the Freemasons, the Katipuneros
draped the room in black, hung admonitory messages on the walls and furnished it
with a simple desk on which a single candle or oil lamp flickered.
Ileto mentions none of this detail, interested only, it seems, in highlighting what
he perceives as the influences of folk Christianity. The entrance to the Lodge, he notes,
is called the mahal na pinto, which he translates as “holy gate.” In the pasyon and
related texts, he says, the “holy gate” is the barrier to man’s complete fulfillment that
can only be opened by Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection.44 The Katipunan’s
leaders, he says, incorporated the term into their initiation ritual and “gave it another
layer [of significance], a ‘nationalist’ one.” But the more mundane, far likelier, gene-
alogy of the term is once again masonic. Mahal na pinto, in the context of the initia-
tion ceremony, should be translated not as “holy gate” but as “respected door” (to the
Lodge), just as Mahal na Karurukan should be translated in conformity with masonic
usage as “Respected Lodge.” “Noble,” “worthy,” “esteemed,” even “worshipful” might
be other options, but not “holy.”
The same tree?

An initiation ceremony that is demonstrably modeled on the rites of masonry—
which in the 1890s was the organizational embodiment of progressive, “enlightened,”
APPENDIX B 461
middle-class patriotism—is thus interpreted by Ileto as he imagines it might have

been perceived by an “unlettered peasant.”45 There is no direct evidence that this was
the case, but it might have been. It is impossible to refute this line of argument.
Ileto, in short, adopts what he posits to be the perspective of the rural masses as
his own. This perspective, it has been argued here, is even more partial and episte-
mologically problematic than the view “from above” taken by previous historians, but
from an analytical standpoint it has a deeper flaw. Historians who have taken the view
“from above” have traditionally characterized social and political movements as being
variously religious and secular, backward-looking and progressive, parochial and
nationalist. Ileto regards these binary constructs as an impediment to understanding
the view “from below” because they are determined by “elite definitions.”46 But rather
than suggesting alternatives to “elite-defined” constructs for differentiating move-
ments, the perception categories of folk Christianity that he adopts seem to blur the
differences between movements altogether. All movements finish up cast in the same
millenarian mould.
Reciting a roll-call of rebel heroes, Ileto thus contends that it “makes little differ-
ence” whether we speak of a de la Cruz or a Sakay, Rios or Caneo, Bonifacio or de
Guzman, Labios or Salvador, for all these leaders and the movements they led were
“part of the same tree.”47 Bonifacio, who read Victor Hugo and wrote about Reason,
is thereby allied with Januario Labios, a charismatic mystic who recited incomprehen-
sible semi-Latin prayers, claimed direct communication with God, the Virgin Mary,
and the Saints, and foretold a cataclysmic deluge. Bonifacio is seen as little different
from Ruperto Rios, a rustic prophet who professedly spoke with European emperors,
climbed to heaven up a rope and kept independence in a magic box. He is linked to
Felipe Salvador, leader of the Santa Iglesia sect, who foresaw an imminent final reck-
oning when the corrupt universe would be transformed, when the unbelieving rich
would be destroyed by fire and flood, and the faithful poor be showered with gold and
jewels.
After the publication of Pasyon and Revolution, Ileto relates, the granddaughter of
a Katipunero rebuked him for suggesting that a twentieth-century millenarian sect,
called the Lapiang Malaya, had “carried on the Katipunan tradition.” The leader of the
sect, Valentin de los Santos, predicted a Second Coming attended by “slashing swords”
that would “chop off the heads of the anti-Christ.” In 1967, he led his followers, armed
with sacred bolos, bullet-defying uniforms and anting-anting, against a Constabulary
phalanx in downtown Manila. Scores were killed.48 Valentin de los Santos, was a
“fanatic,” the Katipunero’s descendant protested, whilst her grandfather had “believed
in liberal principles.” And so, she asked, how dare Ileto draw a link between the two
men?49
The logic of national unity

Any descendant of Katipuneros who reads this book, it is hoped, will not find
similar cause for offense. The Katipunan is depicted as its founders and principal
leaders would have wished, for the texts are their own. Among their clearest and most
unequivocal messages—a message that never altered from the time the Katipunan was
conceived until its final incarnation in the fugitive government headed by Macario
462 APPENDIX B
Sakay—is that it sought to represent the entire nation, the bayan. It shared the ambi-
tion of the elite-led Liga Filipina (to which Bonifacio and other early KKK leaders
belonged) to unite the country into isang catipunang malago, masicap at iisa ang loob
(“a vigorous, determined association, one at heart”).50 The Katipunan’s own Kartilya
stressed to members that in order to find the true path of “Reason and Enlightenment”
(Katuiran at Kaliwanagan) it was essential to “unite the hearts and minds of all the
Tagalogs” (papagisahin ang loob at kaisipan ng lahat ng tagalog).51
It is the Katipunan’s aspiration to unite the whole bayan that finally solves the
conundrum posed at the beginning of this piece. Unity was seen not only an ideal; it
was a pragmatic imperative. The logic of unity, the need to win support for the revolu-
tion from across all sections of the population, obliged the Katipunan to sidestep or
downplay economic, social, and ethnolinguistic divisions. Peasants as individuals do
not figure in the documentary record simply because few, if any, were prominent in the
KKK leadership between 1892 and 1897. But peasants as a category are missing for the
same reason that hacenderos are missing, and workers, and capitalists. Class conflict
was inimical to the overriding goal of national solidarity. The existence of different
ethnolinguistic groups is acknowledged just once, in a footnote to the Kartilya, which
famously says the term “Tagalog” encompasses them all—sa makatuid, bisaya man, iloko
man, kapangpangan man, etc., ay tagalog din.”52 Sectional interests, in other words, had
to be moderated or muted for the sake of the wider interest of the “entire subject and
subjugated population of these Islands.”53 Aspirations had to be articulated as moral
principles rather than as a program of action, as generalities rather than specifics. The
watchword of equality, most pertinently, was construed as meaning that each citizen
should be equal in being, in rights, and before the law, but was not expounded by
Bonifacio or Jacinto as promising the equalization of wealth, or even opportunity.
The paramount desire for unity might also partially explain the virtual silence in
the documents on the inherently divisive subject of religion. Here, though, the picture
is more complex. The manifestos and correspondence of the Katipunan Councils in
Cavite, not included in this volume, contain abundant evidence of Catholic religi-
osity, including appeals to the Virgin Mary for her blessing and protection in the
fight against Spain.54 At this provincial level, almost certainly, a larger proportion of
the KKK leaders were practising Catholics themselves, and obviously they knew that
Catholicism was deeply embedded in the lives of the vast majority of the population.
Masses, novenas, and recitations of the rosary, they felt, would fortify the spirit and
resolve of the people in desperate times. In that context, Catholicism was a source of
unity and strength. The millenarian sects were not, in any context.
Bonifacio himself was probably not a practising Catholic, although he was said
to own a wooden amulet bearing the images of Nuestra Señora del Pilar and Santiago
de Galicia.55 His widow recalls in her brief memoir that although they married in a
Catholic church—in deference to her parents— they had a second ceremony the
following week because the Katipuneros did not recognize the church marriage as
valid.56 Bonifacio, and Jacinto, too, envisaged that every KKK member, every citizen of
the emergent nation, would believe and trust in God Almighty, the Supreme Creator,
but they took the masonic view of faith as a matter of individual conscience and
choice. They never invoke the pre-Hispanic deity Bathala, or Jesus Christ. They never
APPENDIX B 463
speak about messages from Heaven, or magic incantations, or anting-anting. When

Bonifacio writes from Cavite to Jacinto and other KKK commanders in the north, he
says nothing about his religious beliefs or the importance of spiritual preparation for
battle. He worries, with good reason, about weaponry, about how many Remingtons
and Mausers the forces have, how many cartridges, how many cannons, and how
much gunpowder.
1 David Joel Steinberg, The Philippines: A Singular and a Plural Place, 4th ed. (Boulder, Co.:
Westview Press, 2000), 63, 85.
2 P. N. Abinales and Donna J. Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines (New York and
London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005), 111.
3 Damon L. Woods, The Philippines: A Global Studies Handbook (Santa Barbara, Cal.: ABC-Clio,
2006), 121; Artemio R. Guillermo and May Kyi Win, Historical Dictionary of the Philippines
(Lanham, Md. and London: Scarecrow Press, 1997), 112.
4 Reynaldo Clemeña Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840–
1910 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1979).
5 Reynaldo C. Ileto, “Religion and Anti-Colonial Movements,” in Nicholas Tarling, ed., The
Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, vol. 2, pt.1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1992), 231.
6 Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution, 100.
7 Reynaldo C. Ileto, “Bonifacio, the Text and the Social Scientist,” Philippine Sociological
Review 32 (January−December 1984): 26.
8 Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution, 98; Filipinos and Their Revolution: Event, Discourse and
Historiography (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998).
9 Reynaldo C. Ileto, The Diorama Experience: A Visual History of the Philippines (Makati City:
Ayala Foundation, 2004), 84; “Bonifacio, the Text and the Social Scientist,” 26; Pasyon and
Revolution, 103.
10 Reynaldo C. Ileto, “Critical Issues in Understanding Philippine Revolutionary Mentality,”
Philippine Studies 30 (First Quarter, 1982): 100.
12 Ibid., 101.
13 Ileto, Filipinos and Their Revolution, 214–15.
14 David R. Sturtevant, Popular Uprisings in the Philippines, 1840–1940 (Ithaca and London:
Cornell University Press, 1976), 101.
16 Artemio Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino Laban sa Kastila (Yokohama: Karihan Café,
1927), 130–31; Memoirs (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1963), 84.
17 Santiago Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General. Translated by
19 A. B. German, “Ladislao Diwa: The ‘Unknown’ Angle in the KKK Triangle,” Sunday Times
Magazine, June 27, 1965; Emmanuel Franco Calairo, Ladislao Diwa at ang Katipunan (Cavite
Historical Society, 1996), 12–13.
20 For Rizal’s use of religious terminology in Spanish, see for example “Una esperanza,” La
Solidaridad 2, no. 35 (July 15, 1890): 154; “Como se gobiernan las Filipinas,” La Solidaridad 2,
no. 45 (December 15, 1890): 280; and “Carta a Del Pilar,” June 22, 1889, in Teodoro M. Kalaw
(comp.) Epistolario Rizalino, Tomo 2 (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1931), 201.
21 José Rizal, “Sa mga Kababayang Dalaga sa Malolos” (February 1889), in Kalaw, Epistolario
Rizalino vol. 2, 122−39.
22 Reynaldo C. Ileto, “Orators and the Crowd: Philippine Independence Politics, 1910–1914,”
in Peter W. Stanley, ed., Re-appraising an Empire: New Perspectives on Philippine-American
History (Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 1984), 100.
464 APPENDIX B
23 Ibid.
24 Ileto, “Critical Issues,” 96.
25 Ileto, “Bonifacio, the Text and the Social Scientist,” 25.
27 Ibid., 126. Emphasis added.
28 Ibid., 137. Emphasis added.
31 Reynaldo C. Ileto, “Outlines of a Non-Linear Emplotment of Philippine History,” in
Lim Teck Ghee, ed., Reflections on Development in Southeast Asia (Singapore: Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies, 1988), 152.
33 John R. M. Taylor, The Philippine Insurrection against the United States, vol. 2 (Pasay City:
Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1971), 175.
34 Years later Aguinaldo put it on record that he had never used anting-anting during the revo-
lution. “Ah yes,” some say, unanswerably, “he would say that. All anting-anting owners deny
they have anting-anting. It is a secret they share only with God.” Aguinaldo’s statement was
published in the Philippines Free Press, October 5, 1929.
35 Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution, 136, 153. Ramon Guillermo makes similar points in a slightly
different context in his “Pantayong Pananaw and the History of Philippine Political
Concepts,” Kritika Kultura 13 (2009): 107–16, as does Joseph A. Scalice in his unpublished
paper “Pasyon, Awit, Legend: Reynaldo Ileto’s Pasyon and Revolution Thirty Years Later”
(2009).
36 Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution, 219–20. Emphasis added.
37 Ibid., 217.
38 Platform of the Nacionalista Party, reproduced in United States War Department, Annual
Reports for the F.Y. ended 30 June 1903, vol.7 [Report of the Philippine Commission]
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903), 39–40.
39 Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution, 114−22. The ritual discussed by Ileto is transcribed and trans-
lated in this volume as document 3.4.
40 Ileto, The Diorama Experience, 85.
42 Ileto seems here to be confusing kapanatagan with the similar word kapatagan, whose root
is patag, and which could indeed be rendered as “level surface.”
43 Ileto, The Diorama Experience, 85.
45 Ibid., 114.
46 Ibid., 9.
47 Ibid., 316.
48 Sturtevant, Popular Uprisings in the Philippines, 258.
50 “Estatutos de la Liga Filipina,” in Proceso del Dr José Rizal Mercado y Alonso (Manila: “Cultura
Filipina,” 1913), 9. In this versión of the Estatutos, which possibly dates from 1893, the Liga’s
aims are printed in a Spanish-Tagalog parallel text format. In the original Spanish, as penned
by José Rizal, this first aim is expressed as Unir todo el A[rchipielago] en un cuerpo compacto,
vigoroso y homogeneo.
51 Katipunan nang manga A. N. B.—Sa may Nasang Makisanib sa Katipunang Ito [The Kartilya], in
José P. Santos, Buhay at mga Sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto (Manila: José Paez Santos, 1935), 60.
52 Ibid. Today, of course, other ethnolinguistic groups would deeply resent Tagalogs proposing
that their name should serve as shorthand for the whole population, and that Katagalugan
should be the new name of the archipelago. Whether any such objections were raised in the
1890s is simply not known.
53 “Kasaysayan; Pinag-kasundoan; Manga Dakuilang Kautusan,” August 1892 (Archivo
General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5677, leg.1.34).
54 John N. Schumacher, “The Religious Character of the Revolution in Cavite, 1896−1897,”
Philippine Studies 24 (1976): 399–416; Pedro de S. Achutegui and Miguel A. Bernad, Aguinaldo
APPENDIX B 465
and the Revolution of 1896: A Documentary History (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila, 1972); and
the documents in the “Historia Civil de Filipinas” collection available on microfilm in the
University of Santo Tomas archives.
55 Jaime C. Laya, “Promising Protection to the Worried and Hope to the Lovelorn,” Manila
Bulletin, November 7, 2011. In theory, the Catholic Church would deem Bonifacio to be in
a state of grave sin because he was a mason, and so would not permit him to receive Holy
Communion even if he so wished. It seems, though, that the penalty of excommunication
was not strictly enforced in the late−nineteenth-century Philippines.
56 Gregoria de Jesus “Mga Tala ng Aking Buhay,” in Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution,
with the Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus (Manila: Heirs of Julio Nakpil, 1964), 158.
APPENDIX C
Kabulaanan: The bogus “Minutes of the Katipunan”
Anyone looking for information on the 1896 revolution will sooner or later come
across a book, titled Minutes of the Katipunan, last reprinted by the National Historical
Institute in 2011. Virtually every historian who has cited this source has cautioned
readers that it is unreliable, and yet falsehoods from its pages often get presented as
fact in the scholarly and popular literature.
This piece examines the origins of these “Minutes” (“Akta”), sketches their influ-
ence on subsequent scholarship, and seeks to demonstrate beyond any doubt that
they are utterly spurious.
Acquisition and refutation

The “Akta” were first brought to light by Col. Pedro Cortés, a soldier of the
Philippine-American War and before that, he claimed, one of the founders of the
Katipunan.1 In the mid-1920s Colonel Cortés contacted the National Library and
offered for sale a collection of documents in which the “Akta” were purportedly the
main treasure. Before a deal had been struck the old revolucionario died, but his son
David later resumed the negotiations and the sale was completed in October 1927. The
director of the National Library, Epifanio de los Santos, paid the vendor the handsome
sum of P1,000, equivalent at that time to almost twice what a seamstress or driver
would be paid in a whole year.
The “Akta” were then shown to interested visitors to the National Library as
“the true minutes of the Katipunan.” Written (or at least bound) in a single volume
of 113 pages, they comprise 59 documents inscribed in a simple code of numbers and
symbols, and they span the history of the Katipunan from its establishment in 1892
to the eve of the revolution.2 The great majority are supposedly the formal records
of meetings of the KKK’s “Supreme Government” (“Kataastaasan Pamahalaan”).3
At the end of the volume is a further document, handwritten in uncoded Tagalog
and supposedly signed by Andrés Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, and Tandang Sora in
Balintawak on August 21, 1896 that certifies the preceding records as authentic and
directs that henceforth all documents will not be in code but patuluyan (literally, “go
ahead”), which the English editions render as “in ordinary writing.”
In April 1928, Epifanio de los Santos died in post, and the National Library was
then without a director until Teodoro M. Kalaw took up the appointment in February
1929. During this interregnum, some surviving members of the Katipunan pointed out
four fundamental flaws in the “Akta”:
• Many things described in the documents simply never happened; they were
downright fibs (lubos na kabulaanan).
• Some of the individuals listed in the documents as being members of the
Katipunan’s supreme body had never been members of that body.
466
APPENDIX C 467
• The code used in the book, a code of numbers and symbols, had not been
used by the Katipunan.
• The signature of Bonifacio affixed to the final document was not genuine.4
In light of this refutation, Kalaw decided that the documents should be decoded
in their entirety, a measure that his predecessor had evidently not felt pressing. No
less wisely, he also tried to determine the provenance of the documents, a matter that
his predecessor had seemingly neither clarified in writing anywhere nor discussed
with other members of the National Library staff. Kalaw, it seems, went himself to
the hometown of Pedro Cortés—Santa Cruz, Laguna—to talk to some of his relatives
and old comrades-in-arms. Cortés, he was told, had become a close friend of Emilio
Jacinto, the former secretary of the KKK Supreme Council, when the latter had been
living in Bubukal, a barrio of Santa Cruz, in around 1898−1899. Before his death in
1899 from malaria, Jacinto had given Cortés the “Akta” and other documents. To save
them from being burned, lost or mutilated, Cortés had later hidden them in an iron
chest owned by a local optician.
Exhibition
Kalaw was not greatly reassured by the saga told in Laguna, and he personally
remained highly skeptical about the “Akta.”5 The documents, however, had by now
aroused considerable public interest. This was a time when patriotism was resurgent
in the Philippines, the passionate desire for independence stoked by frustration at the
slow pace of progress towards its attainment. Kalaw was himself a fervent and distin-
guished nationalist, and he wanted the National Library not only to be a custodian of
the nation’s patriotic heritage but also to help keep the flame brightly burning. Six
months after his appointment, to afford the public what his Assistant Director Eulogio
B. Rodriguez called “highly practical lessons in patriotism,” the Library mounted a big
exhibition of Katipunan and other memorabilia from the 1890s —books, pamphlets
and papers, photographs and banners, amulets and insignia. Also on display were the
hat and shoes Rizal wore when he was executed, the chair Bonifacio supposedly used
when he presided over meetings of the Katipunan Supreme Council, and a casket that
supposedly contained part of his skull and other bones.6 These bodily remains, like
the “Akta,” had been acquired and represented as genuine during the directorship of
Epifanio de los Santos, but their authenticity had similarly been called into serious
question.7 Despite his own doubts, Kalaw realized the controversies enhanced the
appeal of the items, and he decided the bones and the “Akta” should be featured as
star exhibits. Sober historical truth, as usual, took second place to showmanship and
propaganda.
The exhibition opened at the National Library (then located in the Legislative
Building at the top of Taft Avenue) on August 26, 1929, a day chosen, according to
Assistant Director Eulogio B. Rodriguez, because it was the anniversary of the Cry
of Balintawak, a “day which is very dear to the hearts of the people.”8 The event was
originally scheduled to last for just three days, but it drew such large and enthusi-
astic crowds, up to 1,500 a day, that it was extended to run for two weeks. High school
and college students arrived literally by the truckload from all over Manila and
468 APPENDIX C
the neighboring provinces. The hall was full at all hours of the day, palpable proof,
Rodriguez rejoiced, that “those of our forebears ‘who fell during the night’ have not
been forgotten.” A congressman, Benito Soliven, was equally enthused. “The exhibit,”
he said, “has demonstrated that there exists a strong and living bond that unites the
young citizenry of today with the patriots and heroes of yesterday. The shades of the
martyrs of the revolution for the emancipation of the Philippines may rejoice at the
sight of their children who continue the work they left unfinished.”9
Publication and a second refutation

And, as anticipated, the “Akta” caused special excitement. Young visitors were
fascinated, said Rodriguez, by the “minutes of the Katipunan, written by Jacinto in
cipher, and the blood compact of the organization, also in cipher and signed with
blood…and they wished to know on the spot the secret of the ciphers.” In response
to this level of interest, he announced, the decision had already been taken to publish
“these historical documents” soon.
Many veterans of the Katipunan visited what Rodriguez called the “temporary
temple of the sacred relics of their cause,” and undoubtedly they would have been
enormously heartened by the enthusiasm the exhibition aroused. They very much
wanted the spirit of their struggle and the memory of their fallen comrades to be kept
alive and honored. But those who knew most about the Katipunan’s past emphatically
did not believe these ends would be well served by the National Library publishing
a collection of bogus documents embellished with the fanciful annotations of their
source, Col. Pedro Cortés.
Kalaw decided to press ahead with publication, but acknowledged the continuing
dispute by qualifying the words Akta ng Katipunan in the title of the booklet with
the adjective Pinagtatalunang (“Controversial”) and by writing words of caution in
his preface. Whilst he mentioned the objections raised by the Katipunan veterans,
however, Kalaw stated that opinion was “divided,” and that other veterans had said
the “Akta” should “be accepted as true, although some events (had been) deliberately
distorted owing to the march of events and other reasons, which only Bonifacio and
Jacinto could really tell.” He noted that the “Akta” contain references, for example, to
generous donations of cash to the Katipunan from wealthy Filipinos, and to prom-
ises of military support from the Japanese government. Those who thought the docu-
ments genuine, he reported, maintained that these falsehoods were not the inventions
of a forger but rather attempts by the KKK leadership to inflate the organization’s
resources, connections, and strength so as to impress and encourage potential recruits.
This argument contains a germ of truth, because Katipunan organizers did make
claims of this nature. But what would be the point, Kalaw might have asked, of labo-
riously encoding such fictions in detail in secret Supreme Council documents that
potential recruits would never get to read?
Kalaw’s preface to the “Akta” pamphlet, dated June 7, 1930, thus carried the false
intimation that opinion among the veterans was evenly balanced, and that there was
still an onus on the objectors to prove their case. “Therefore, speak!” he concluded
melodramatically. “Those who like to contradict, explain! Give your own opinion!
Opinions are needed now, so that these documents may be truly judged.”
APPENDIX C 469
Kalaw’s declaration that the issue was not yet settled would have dismayed the
objectors, for they believed they had already exposed the fatal flaws in the “Akta”
a year or so previously, and had said all that needed to be said. Any veterans who
thought the documents genuine, they would feel, had never been close to the Supreme
Council of the Katipunan and knew very little about either its membership or its
deliberations. Headed by José Turiano Santiago, the objectors swiftly rose to Kalaw’s
challenge. On July 27, 1930, having constituted themselves as a committee, they issued
a formal statement which they hoped would set the record straight beyond any further
equivocation.10 It deserves to be transcribed in full:
Comité de los Antiguos Miembros del K...K...K... Ll... V...Z...Ll...B...

213-4 Moriones, Tondo
Manila
The undersigned, having been leading members of the [Katipunan], have gathered together
on their own initiative, because of the publication of [Ang Pinagtatalunang Akta], in order
to examine that booklet and deliberate over the nature of the documents contained therein
which are said to pertain to the K...K...K... and, after having read and carefully studied each
and every one of the documents, agree and unanimously declare:
1. That the K...K...K... began to exist as a secret society only on 6 June 1892 and that the
admission of new recruits did not commence until the month of August of the same year.
2. That the K...K...K... used in its official correspondence, from the beginning until the start
of the revolution, a cipher which involved changing letters in the alphabet, assigning them
with different designations and significations. It never used another cipher, besides the one
in which the Pacto de Sangre is written which is deposited in the National Library.
3. That the leadership of the K...K...K..., up until the start of the revolution on 26 August
1896, never included the names of Mariano Jacinto, Mariano Crisostomo, Pedro Cortés and
Vicente Fernandez. Those others mentioned as signatories of the [“Akta”] under discussion
became affiliated with the society only much later, like Pío Valenzuela, who was initiated
on 21 March 1895, José Dizon on 15 July 1896, and Feliciano Jocson and Antonino Guevara
around the year 1895.11
4. That, for this reason, the undersigned are honestly convinced the minutes which appear
in [Ang Pinagtatalunang Akta] are false, fabricated and manipulated by someone who did
not have any knowledge of the functions, practices and procedures of the K...K...K... These
are apocryphal documents made by those who could not give any credible explanations
about the same.
IN WITNESS THEREOF, we affix our signatures now in Tondo, Manila, on 27 July 1930.
José Turiano Santiago, President

Pío Valenzuela, Member
Teodoro Gonzales, Member
Briccio Pantas, Member
Pío H. Santos, Member
470 APPENDIX C
Esteban Flugio, Member

Felipe Fulgencio, Member
Guillermo Masangkay, Member
Fidel Nobel, Member
Francisco Carreon, Member
Tómas Villanueva, Member
The signatories, it is important to stress, included almost all, if not absolutely all,
the members of the KKK Supreme Council still living. José Turiano Santiago had been
its secretary (Kalihim) from 1893 to 1895; Pío Valenzuela had been its fiscal (Tagausig)
from December 1895 to August 1896; and Teodoro Gonzales, Briccio Pantas, Guillermo
Masangkay and Francisco Carreon had at some time or another all been councilors.
On other aspects of Katipunan history they had sharp disagreements, but on the
“Akta” they spoke with total unanimity. And with incontrovertible authority. They
knew from direct personal experience that the code of numbers and symbols was a
sham; they knew the documents bore wrong names and wrong dates; and they knew
their contents were largely imaginary.
The devastating indictment of the “Akta” delivered by the Comité de los Antiguos
Miembros should have drawn the matter to a close for evermore, and consigned the
booklet published by the National Library to the oblivion it deserved. Unfortunately,
it did not.
The refutations diluted: Gregorio F. Zaide

The first substantial work on the KKK to appear after the veterans’ conclusive
exposure of the “Akta” as fake was Gregorio F. Zaide’s History of the Katipunan in 1939.
“The living Katipuneros have passed their verdict!” he declares. “We cannot help but
accept the judgment that the Cortés documents are surreptious [sic].”12 Zaide was the
most accomplished and prolific historian of the time, and his works remain influential
to this day. It is a pity, therefore, that his ringing endorsement of the veterans’ verdict
is not his sole and definitive comment on the matter, and that he makes other remarks
that have much less certitude. The authenticity and veracity of the documents was
“doubtful” and “under dispute,” he writes, but they could still be used so long as “great
care” was taken. Worse, he uses the “Akta” at least once in his own narrative, flagging
their erroneous detail only with a limp “it is said” signal. And in his annotated bibli-
ography, worse still, he claims that they “throw interesting light on the story of the
society.”13 They do not.
The refutations rebutted: Teodoro A. Agoncillo

Zaide’s role in prolonging the currency of the “Akta,” however, pales beside that
of Teodoro A. Agoncillo, his successor as the nation’s best-known historian and the
author of what is still the standard work on Bonifacio and the Katipunan, The Revolt
of the Masses. The code in which the “Akta” are written, Agoncillo writes, is “genuine.”
There is “no doubt,” he pronounces magisterially (albeit a trifle opaquely), “that where
a document [in the “Akta”] has no element of exaggeration, it is genuine and the
events narrated therein actually took place.”14
APPENDIX C 471
No other historian of any stature had endorsed the “Akta” so positively before,
and none has since. The evidence that led Agoncillo to this verdict therefore requires
examination at some length, because if his case for the “Akta” being genuine does not
stand close scrutiny, then no other case is left.
In the course of his researches, Agoncillo says, he has obtained a photographic
copy of a document that resolves two of the fundamental problems with the “Akta”
first pointed out by the KKK veterans in 1928 or 1929—that the numerical code
in which they are written was not used by the Katipunan and that the signature of
Bonifacio affixed to the final, uncoded document was not genuine.15 Agoncillo
reproduces his photographic copy as an illustration in Revolt above a caption saying
that it is ““an important Katipunan document hitherto unknown to students of the
Revolution.”16 Agoncillo’s decision to give credence to the “Akta,” it becomes clear, is
founded entirely on this single sheet bearing just a dozen or so lines of handwriting.
It is, he claims, an order signed by Bonifacio and Jacinto in Balintawak on August 21,
1896, and it directs that “From now on all papers shall not be written in [alphabet-
ical] cipher but in numbers.”17 This switch was necessary, Agoncillo suggests, because
the Spanish authorities had by then discovered caches of Katipunan documents and
broken the alphabetical cipher.
Readers of Revolt who are acquainted with the “Akta” might at first be puzzled at
this. An order to write “all papers” in a numerical code would directly contradict the
final document in the “Akta,” purportedly signed on the same day in the same place,
which as mentioned stipulates that the use of code (“Clave”) shall be discontinued
and that Katipunan documents shall henceforth be in “ordinary writing.” When
the reader turns to a lengthy endnote, however, a very different picture emerges.
Bonifacio’s signed instruction that “all papers” should henceforth be in numerical
code, Agoncillo infers, did not in fact mean “all papers” at all. It referred only to
communications between himself and Emilio Jacinto, and indeed only those two men
“were privy” to the numerical code, “presumably to minimize the danger of discovery
to the authorities.”18
Bonifacio and Jacinto, if this story is to be believed, must have signed a formal
directive that affected no one but themselves. Agoncillo then makes the assumption,
without any stated basis, that the new numerical code must have been exactly the
same code that Teodoro M. Kalaw and his National Library colleagues had discovered
in 1929−1930 to be the key to deciphering the “Akta.” He reproduces the code in its
entirety, from “A=+” to “Z=1.”19 Bonifacio’s directive dated August 21, 1896, Agoncillo
confidently concludes, not only shows the code of the “Akta” to be “genuine” but also
explains why the Katipunan veterans had disputed its existence. Because the numer-
ical code had not been devised until August 1896, and because it was to be used only by
Bonifacio and Jacinto, the veterans simply never knew about it.
Agoncillo’s explanation gives the whole argument a new twist. Nobody before
him, so far as is known, had suggested that the “Akta” documents were anything
but the originals, written more or less contemporaneously with the meetings whose
proceedings they purport to record, starting in 1892. If the numerical code was only
devised in August 1896, this obviously could not have been the case. In claiming to
have solved the riddle of the code nobody knew, therefore, Agoncillo is obliged to
472 APPENDIX C
deduce that someone—Emilio Jacinto himself, he supposes—must have patiently tran-

scribed the “Akta” in their entirety from their original alphabetical cipher into the new
code of numbers and symbols.
Having completed the painstaking transcription, Agoncillo suggests, “it is
possible that Jacinto, while in Laguna, signed [the final document] with the name
of his chief, since Bonifacio was in Cavite. Jacinto, I believe, had no ulterior motive
in doing so—if he did execute it—for he probably tried to transcribe the Katipunan
minutes into the new code and so had to sign the name of Bonifacio.”20
Why on earth, one has to ask, would Jacinto think it important in 1896 or 1897, in
the midst of a desperate military struggle, to spend time transcribing old Katipunan
documents from an alphabetical cipher into a numerical code to which only he and
Bonifacio were privy?21
Agoncillo’s mistake
So bizarre is Agoncillo’s version of events that it arouses deep suspicions about
the document upon which it has been constructed—the “numerical code direc-
tive” supposedly signed by Bonifacio in Balintawak. Agoncillo was a professor who
always impressed upon his students the fundamental importance of primary sources.
“No document, no history,” he went so far as to say, whilst at the same time happily
ignoring such a harsh maxim. He also prided himself, as he writes in his foreword to
Revolt, on subjecting his sources to “severe scrutiny,” on always looking “for loopholes,
inconsistencies and inaccuracies,” and on giving his reasons for “dismissing that
authority and for accepting that document.”22 Scholars, he declared elsewhere, should
always “doubt everything until proven otherwise”; “doubt everything, including your
parentage!”23
But when it came to the “numerical code directive” and the “Akta,” sad to say,
Agoncillo failed to heed his own sage counsel. As already noted, he reproduces his
own photographic copy of the document as an illustration in Revolt. The original, its
possessor told him, had been destroyed. Unfortunately, the photographic copy was
not entirely legible, and as reproduced in the 1956 edition of The Revolt it is even less
so. In the 2002 edition this problem is further exacerbated by brutal cropping of the
photograph and a further deterioration in image quality—to such a degree, in fact, that
nobody at the printers or publishers noticed until too late that the image has been
printed upside down!
Since Agoncillo himself had difficulty in reading his own copy, the transcrip-
tion he provides beneath the illustration is interspersed with question marks where
he found words “hardly legible” and dots where he could not make out a word at all.
The text is therefore incomplete and somewhat tentative. In the present context, the
crucial sentence may be translated as, “Therefore…from now onwards whatever docu-
ments are created will not be rendered in cipher but in numbers.” Beneath the text
of the order, as mentioned, the document bears the names of Bonifacio and Jacinto
(as Pinkian), and beneath the latter’s name is written a sequence of numbers and
symbols—“6+21+12+12197+8+.” If this sequence is decoded, it reads “TADANGSARA,”
which can only be a miswriting or misreading of Tandang Sora— the name affection-
ately given to Melchora Aquino, an octogenarian patriot who is honored in histories
APPENDIX C 473
of the revolution for helping to provision the Katipuneros who gathered in Balintawak
in August 1896.
All this begins to ring a bell, to prompt a feeling of déjà vu. Tandang Sora, as
mentioned earlier, had also supposedly joined Bonifacio and Jacinto in signing the
final, uncoded document in the “Akta.” That seemed strange, because the uncoded
document had authenticated all the preceding, coded KKK records dating back to
1892, which she would not have been qualified to do. Now, stranger still, the old lady
is purportedly inscribing her name in a numerical code to which only Bonifacio and
Jacinto are meant to be privy. Far from seeking to explain this conundrum, Agoncillo
does not even mention that Tandang Sora’s name appears on the document.
It may also be recalled that the final document in the “Akta,” just like Agoncillo’s
“numerical code directive,” was supposedly signed in Balintawak on August 21, 1896.
The ringing bell gets louder. And both documents, of course, have a similar purpose,
to effect a switch from one form of writing to another. Finally, the accumulation of
similarities points to the answer. The “numerical code directive” does not just bear an
uncanny resemblance to the final document in the “Akta,” it is one and the same. In
short, Agoncillo inadvertently uses the “Akta” to authenticate the “Akta.”
How this came about can only be guessed. Agoncillo’s photographic copy of the
document presumably originated from the National Library, but who made it, and
when, is simply not known. It cannot even be said for certain that his copy was taken
directly from the final “Akta” document; it may have been a copy of a copy and the odd
word may have got altered. Enough of the text is identical, however, to leave no room
for doubt. As transcribed by Agoncillo, the text of the crucial sentence on the switch
of code reads, Kaya…ngayon ang lahat ng anomang kasulatang gaganapin ay hindi magla-
laman (?) sa Clave kundi sa bilang. As transcribed by National Library staff in 1930,
and published in Ang Pinagtatalunang Akta, it reads, Kaya mula ngayon ang lahat ng
anomang Kasulatan gaganapin, ay hindi nag dadaan sa Clave kundi patuluyan. The critical
difference—the only difference of any significance throughout the two transcriptions—
thus lies at the sentence’s end. Agoncillo reads it as meaning that alphabetical cipher
should be discarded in favor of numerical code. The publications of the National
Library in 1930, and the National Heroes Commission in 1964, read it as meaning that
numerical code should be discarded in favor of “ordinary writing.” Squinting long and
hard at the illustration in Revolt does not help. The very faint script looks marginally
more like patuluyan than sa bilang, but it is impossible to be sure. The overwhelming
probability, though, is that the National Library staff read the document correctly—
because they were working with the original—and that Agoncillo erred because he was
working with a photographic copy which was barely legible and which was possibly a
copy of a copy. And, as we saw, the story Agoncillo built upon his reading of the docu-
ment was simply not coherent.
Agoncillo could have avoided his mistake had he recognized the near identity of
the final “Akta” document and his “numerical code directive.” But he wrote Revolt, as
he later recalled, “on the spur of the moment” and in haste, to meet the deadline of a
government-sponsored “Bonifacio biography” contest. He had “no time even to edit,”
let alone to “polish.” In retrospect, he felt, the “phraseology” could have been better.
Nevertheless, he affirmed proudly, “The facts will stand and my conclusions will
474 APPENDIX C
stand.”24 In this instance his confidence was misplaced, because his facts and conclu-
sions do not stand. He was wrong to call the “Akta” genuine, and wrong to give any
credence to the “numerical code directive.” He fell victim to the perils of haste, and it
should be a warning to us all.
That said, Agoncillo was able even when working at speed to recognize that the
“Akta,” though “genuine” in his view, could not be relied upon as a factual source.
All his other sources, for example, told him that Deodato Arellano and Roman Basa
preceded Andrés Bonifacio as presidents of the Katipunan, whereas the “Akta” say
Bonifacio was president from the start. Agoncillo rightly discounted what the “Akta”
said. His other sources, similarly, related that leading Katipuneros visited a Japanese
ship in Manila harbor in May 1896, whereas the “Akta” place the episode in February
that year.25 Again, he rightly discounted what the “Akta” said. And the man who
brought the “Akta” to light, Pedro Cortés, whose name is affixed to the documents as a
member of the Katipunan’s supreme body from the outset, is rightly never mentioned
by Agoncillo as having any place in the leadership at all.
Postscript: The “Akta” live on

In his preface to Minutes of the Katipunan—the 1964 English edition of the
“Akta”—the historian Carlos Quirino observes that the documents “remain seemingly
as controversial as ever.”26 Quirino was then the director of the National Library, as
Teodoro M. Kalaw had been when the Tagalog edition was published in 1930, and
his preface follows Kalaw’s in alerting readers to some of the “glaring mistakes”
and “grievous inconsistencies” with which the “Akta” are littered. Again like Kalaw,
though, Quirino found it impossible to reject the “Akta” completely, or to resist the
temptation to publish the documents.27 He, too, leaves readers with the impression
that the matter deserves further debate. The 1930 edition, he writes, was “based on
the coded manuscript which once belonged to one of the founding members of the
revolutionary society,” which suggests he accepted that the “Akta” at least had a sound
provenance. And in a footnote he quotes the pronouncements of Agoncillo that the
numerical code is “genuine,” and that where an “Akta” document has “no element of
exaggeration,” it is “genuine.”
Quirino’s preface is carried unchanged in subsequent editions of the Minutes
published by the National Historical Institute, and so far as is known the debate about
the “Akta” has not progressed any further. The baleful consequences of reprinting
these bogus documents, however, persist to this day, and can readily be found even in
cyberspace. An edition of the Manila Bulletin Online, for example, relays the nonsense
that Apolinario Mabini “played a vital part in the establishment of the Katipunan….
Andrés Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto frequently consulted Mabini, and, at their
request, Mabini wrote the political platform of the Katipunan.”28 An online bookstore
advertises the Minutes of the Katipunan with the legend that “This book reveals how
the Katipunan was started.”29 And little nuggets of misinformation from the “Akta”
still find their way into other books, like for instance the National Historical Institute’s
five-volume collection of minibiographies titled Filipinos in History. The bibliography
of that chronically fallible work, though, brings at last a thin smile. Perhaps inadvert-
APPENDIX C 475
ently, it tells a probable truth that others have been reluctant to tell. It gives a name
for the author of the Minutes of the Katipunan, and the name it gives is Pedro Cortés.30
1 The first part of this account is mainly based on the preface Teodoro M. Kalaw wrote for
the first, Tagalog edition of the “Akta” in 1930. This preface is reproduced in translation
in the subsequent English editions. Ang Pinagtatalunang Akta ng Katipunan, Paunawa ni
T. M. Kalaw (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1930); Minutes of the Katipunan, with a preface
by Carlos Quirino (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1964; and Manila: National
Historical Institute, 1978, 1996, and 2011).
2 Cryptographers draw a distinction between codes and ciphers. Codes assign a secret
meaning to a word or phrase (e.g., “The roses in the garden are beautiful” might mean “The
meeting will be on Saturday night”), whilst ciphers involve the substitution of each letter in
a message for another letter, number or symbol. Technically, therefore, both the alphabetical
and numerical substitution systems discussed in this piece are ciphers. To avoid excessive
repetition, however, and to make the distinction between the two systems clearer, the word
“cipher” will be used here in relation to the alphabetical system, and the word “code” will be
used in relation to the system of numbers and symbols.
3 The errors that are legion in the “Akta” documents thus begin even in their headings, because
the highest body of the Katipunan was not, in fact, called the Kataastaasan Pamahalaan; its
title was the Kataastaasang Sangunian—Supreme Council.
4 Kalaw, “Preface,” in Minutes, vii; Gregorio F. Zaide, History of the Katipunan (Manila: Loyal
Press, 1939),78. Zaide notes that the doubts of the Katipunan veterans were reported in the
Madrid newspaper La Defensa on February 12, 1929, and presumably they were reported, too,
in Manila.
5 “Academico…por su mismo!” Philippines Free Press 24, no. 31 (August 2, 1930): 62–63.
6 Eulogio B. Rodriguez, “The Katipunan Exhibition of the National Library,” Philippine
Magazine 26, no. 5 (October 1929): 277, 287–88; “At K.K.K. Exhibition,” Philippines Free Press
23, no. 35 (August 31, 1929): 33; “Katipuniana,” Philippines Free Press 23, no. 37 (September 14,
1929): 54–55; and “Last Glimpses of Katipunan Exhibition,” Philippines Free Press 23, no. 38
(September 21, 1929): 34–35.
7 For a detailed discussion of Bonifacio’s purported remains, which concludes that they were
probably not authentic, see Ambeth Ocampo, Bones of Contention: The Bonifacio Lectures
(Manila: Anvil, 2001), 12–75.
8 Rodriguez, “The Katipunan Exhibition,” 277.
9 Ibid., 288.
10 The Spanish original and an English translation of this statement are included in the
documentary appendices to Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, The Cry of Balintawak: A Contrived
Controversy (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998), 94–97.
11 Aside from occasional absences, exactly the same twelve names are implausibly appended
to all the documents headed “Government” or “Supreme Government” throughout the
purported time span of the “Akta”—1892 to 1896: Andrés Bonifacio, Mariano Jacinto,
Pío Valenzuela, Pedro Cortés, Feliciano Jocson, Antonino Guevara, José Dizon, Mariano
Crisostomo, Emilio Jacinto, Teodoro Plata, Briccio Pantas, and Vicente Fernandez. None
of the original names disappear over the years, and no new names appear. Of the twelve
names, eight are disputed by the veterans in this statement and four left undisputed (Andrés
Bonifacio himself, Emilio Jacinto, Teodoro Plata, and Briccio Pantas), but of these four
Bonifacio alone was a member of the supreme body from beginning to end. Valenzuela was
elected to the body in December 1895. Besides placing Cortés himself on the KKK Supreme
Council from the very outset, the documents accord the same honor to two of his Laguna
coprovincianos—Vicente Fernandez, and Antonino Guevarra. These men, like Cortés, were
significant figures in Laguna and elsewhere in the Southern Tagalog region during the revo-
lutionary period, but not in prerevolutionary Manila.
476 APPENDIX C
12 Zaide, History of the Katipunan, 78.

13 Ibid., 55–56, 193. Zaide’s equivocations about the “Akta” are especially surprising in the light
of his absolutely categorical dismissal of another bogus document the National Library had
acquired from Col. Pedro Cortés. As a devout Catholic, the historian was greatly exercised
by the story (which had been in circulation for decades) that the Spanish authorities had
discovered the Katipunan as a result of Fr. Mariano Gil, the parish priest of Tondo in 1896,
breaking “the sanctity of sacramental confession” and passing on what he had learnt in the
confessional from either a Katipunero or a relative of a Katipunero. Zaide investigated this
story assiduously, and devoted about a quarter of his book to demonstrating its falsity. “The
only document,” he writes, “which the accusers of Father Gil can cite to verify their asser-
tion that the seal of confession was violated is found in the Katipunan papers of Col. Pedro
Cortés….[It] is nothing but a figment of Cortés’ imagination.” Ibid., 77–78.
15 When he was working on his book in the late 1940s, Agoncillo interviewed Pío Valenzuela
and Guillermo Masangkay, who by then were possibly the last two KKK Supreme Councilors
still alive. As members of the Comité de Antiguos Miembros both had inspected the “Akta,”
both had signed the statement rejecting them as fake, and both would have been more
than willing to explain their objections to Agoncillo in detail. It is difficult to believe the
subject never got raised when he spoke to them. Readers of Revolt, however, are not told that
Valenzuela, Masangkay, and the other senior KKK veterans had repudiated the “Akta” years
earlier. Agoncillo chooses instead just to quote a brief passage from Kalaw’s preface to Ang
Pinagtatalunang Akta, which merely summarizes the objections of unidentified veterans in
a single sentence and does not indicate the weight of authority they carried. And even this
brief quotation is clipped to cut out the hugely awkward fact that the purported supreme
body documents bear the names of Pedro Cortés and other individuals who were never
members of the supreme body.
17 Ibid., 54.
18 Ibid., 324.
19 Ibid., 54.
20 This hypothesis would explain why Bonifacio’s signature on the document, as the veterans
had recognized, was not authentic. It would not explain, however, why Jacinto’s own signa-
ture on the document did not look authentic either.
21 Agoncillo maintains that Bonifacio and Jacinto soon jettisoned the numerical code in favor
of two private alphabetical ciphers, but it is interesting to note that the letters Bonifacio sent
to Jacinto in 1897 (which Agoncillo translated into English) employ very little cipher, and
the few words that are enciphered are in the old alphabetical key that had been used (albeit
irregularly and with minor variations) within the Katipunan since its foundation.
22 Agoncillo, Revolt of the Masses, xiii.
23 Ambeth R. Ocampo, Talking History: Conversations with Teodoro A. Agoncillo (Manila: De La
Salle University Press, 1995), 12, 29.
24 Ibid., 20.
25 Japanese primary sources on the visit of this vessel—the Kongo—were examined by Josefa M.
Saniel for her Japan and the Philippines, 1868−1898, 3d ed. (Manila: De La Salle University
Press, 1998), 192–93, 212–13, 221 and 240–41. Saniel confirms that the visit took place in
May 1896, not February, and also mentions other points of detail in the “Akta” that she has
checked and found to be false.
26 Minutes of the Katipunan, v. The word “Controversial,” though, is conspicuously omitted from
the English edition’s title.
27 The 1964 and subsequent editions include as appendices a variety of other documents on
the Katipunan. These other documents have no connection with the “Akta,” and many are of
great interest and value.
28 http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/07/23/OPED2004072314618.html (accessed on April 23, 2006).
29 http://www.heritageartcenter.com/fil_monographs.aspx (accessed on April 23, 2006).
30 Filipinos in History, vol. 5 (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1996), 342.
APPENDIX D
Bonifacio’s letters to Emilio Jacinto
This piece recounts the history of the four letters included in this volume from
Bonifacio to Jacinto (documents 8.3, 8.4, 8.8, and 8.11), and sets out the grounds for
dismissing any doubts about their authenticity.
Translations and retranslations

The four letters were acquired in 1904 by the historian and collector Epifanio de
los Santos, and in 1917 he included a Spanish translation of the texts in a biographical
sketch of Bonifacio he wrote for the magazine, Philippine Review (Revista Filipina).1
His article, including the letters, was then translated into English for publication in a
subsequent issue of the same magazine.2
Epifanio de los Santos died in 1928, and his collection was inherited by his eldest
son, José P. Santos, who was also a historian. Two decades later, Santos included
Tagalog versions of the letters in the manuscript he submitted in the government-
sponsored Bonifacio biography contest of 1948.3 Teodoro Agoncillo published very
similar Tagalog versions in 1956 in his classic work The Revolt of the Masses, and in
1963 he published the same versions (together with slightly amended versions of
Philippine Review’s English translations) in a compilation, entitled The Writings and
Trial of Andres Bonifacio.4
In the 1980s, one of the daughters of José P. Santos sold the letters to a dealer, who
subsequently sold them to their present owner, the well-known collector Emmanuel
Encarnacion.
In 1989, Ambeth Ocampo was able to examine photocopies of the letters, and
was surprised to find discrepancies between the originals and the Tagalog versions
published by Agoncillo.5 The meaning was much the same, but the language differed
all the way through. The reason for the discrepancies, Ocampo realized, was that the
versions published by Agoncillo were not transcriptions of the original texts. They
were retranslations into Tagalog from the Spanish of Epifanio de los Santos or from
the Philippine Review’s English translation.
Imputations of knavery and fakery

The disparities between the different Tagalog texts are discussed at length by
Glenn May in his iconoclastic book, Inventing a Hero, and they led him to conclude that
the letters are “patently untrustworthy” and “probably bogus.” That damning verdict, in
turn, is a crucial part of his overall thesis that Bonifacio is an “invented hero.”6
May establishes that the versions published in The Revolt of the Masses and The
Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio had initially been created not (as Ocampo had
assumed) by Agoncillo, but by José P. Santos. Agoncillo had subsequently made some
minor stylistic amendments, but had basically reproduced the Santos versions.
477
478 APPENDIX D
This raised an obvious question. Why on earth should José P. Santos, who had
inherited the original Bonifacio letters from his father, wish to produce new Tagalog
versions that in each case differed from the originals from the first sentence to the
last?
The answer to this question, May suggests, is that Santos detected “major
defects” in the letters published by his father and realized that they might be fakes.
Santos, he observes, was himself an accomplished writer in Tagalog who would have
been able “to spot stylistic hints in the Bonifacio letters that they were not the bona
fide literary creations” of the hero. Not willing to admit his suspicions, Santos decided
“to disguise, as best he could, all traces of the documents’ deficiencies” by transcribing
them in a deliberately inaccurate, significantly distorted form. In order to “cover up
the fact” that they “appeared to be forgeries,” he set about producing versions that
would appear more authentic. The versions produced by Santos, May alleges, were not
(as Ocampo had maintained) straightforward retranslations, but calculated, dishonest
rewritings.
May admits that this accusation of gross historiographical malpractice is “some-
what speculative,” but it is nevertheless the cornerstone of his whole case that the
Bonifacio letters are “probably bogus.” He does have other worries: the “dubious prov-
enance” of the letters; the credibility of stories told about their survival; and the mark-
edly different penmanship he saw on one of the letters.7 He accepts, however, that
none of these subsidiary concerns proves the letters to be forgeries. The difference in
handwriting, for example, could simply be due to the fact that Bonifacio dictated that
particular letter to a secretary, whereas he penned the others himself. Nor does May
find any problems in the content of the letters. They contain nothing, he agrees, that is
manifestly false or anachronistic, and Bonifacio’s signatures do not look to be forged.
May’s case therefore stands or falls solely on whether José P. Santos, then the
owner of the letters, so doubted their authenticity that he rewrote them.
Determining the truth

What then, is the precise nature of the “major defects” that May believes Santos
detected in the original letters and sought to rectify? In reworking the texts, May
contends, Santos repeatedly made two types of change. First, he “consistently made
an effort to personalize the letters more” by inserting possessive pronouns, thereby
altering phrases like sa mga kapatid dito to sa mga kapatid natin dito, and ang mga
kalaban dito to ang ating mga kalaban. These are the only examples May gives, and they
do not serve his case well. On the contrary, they strengthen the case for concluding
that the Santos versions are retranslations, because both appear in Philippine Review’s
English translation of 1918—“our brethren here” and “our enemies here”—and the
latter also appears in the Spanish translation of Epifanio de los Santos: nuestros
enemigos de aqui.
The second, larger batch of alterations May deems to be significant is the trans-
formation of verb forms so that the “goal-focus” constructions that predominate in
the original texts are largely replaced by “actor-focus” constructions. This pattern of
changes, as May remarks, can be found “time and time again” in Santos’s versions.
Santos switched the verb forms, May surmises, because he realized that the “Bonifacio
APPENDIX D 479
letters used far more goal-focused verbs than a man of Bonifacio’s era would be
expected to use.”
It is not clear what weight May attaches to this thread of his argument. Although
most late-nineteenth century writers of Tagalog favored “actor-focus” constructions,
he acknowledges, there were “exceptions,” among them the illustrious propagandista
Marcelo H. del Pilar. It might be pertinent that the four writers whom May cites as
employing predominantly “actor-focus” constructions—José Rizal, Carlos Ronquillo,
Santiago Alvarez, and Emilio Aguinaldo—all had their early schooling in the southern
Tagalog provinces, whereas Bonifacio and del Pilar came respectively from Manila
and Bulacan. In any event, Santos would have known that styles varied. He would not
have been surprised that Bonifacio favored “goal-focus” constructions in his letters,
and contrary to May’s conjectures it would not even have occurred to him that pains-
takingly switching the verb forms would somehow enhance the letters’ authenticity.
May illustrates his point with three examples, again taken from the undated
letter. The clause tinangap ko ang isang sulat (“a letter was received by me”), he notes,
is re-rendered by Santos as tumanggap ako ng sulat (“I received a letter”). The goal-
focus form tatangapin, similarly, is replaced by the actor-focus tatanggap; and the
clause Tinangap kong lahat ang mga sulat na inyong ipinadala sa akin… is refashioned
as Sumakamay kong lahat ang ipinadala mong sulat… Once again, it is the Spanish and
English translations published in 1917−1918 that exonerate Santos and deliver the
decisive rebuttal to May. In all three cases, both the Spanish and English versions
construct the relevant clauses in an active, actor-focused form, the English rendi-
tions of Philippine Review respectively being “I…received a letter”; “you will receive”;
and “I have received all your letters.” When working on their translations, Epifanio
de los Santos and Philippine Review presumably felt that strictly accurate renditions
in the passive form—“a letter was received by me” etc.—would appear awkward in
the Spanish and English, and hence they decided to render the passages more freely,
employing active constructions.
Each and every one of the five specific examples chosen by May to support his
argument—two possessive pronouns and three altered verb forms—can thus be traced
back to the Spanish or English translations. José P. Santos was not the originator of
these changes, merely their inheritor.
Supposing just for a moment, though, that May was right, that Santos, a skilled
and knowledgeable Tagalista, did rework the original texts to make them look more
authentic. Supposing he had inserted a few possessive pronouns. Supposing he had
altered the verb forms. Why should he also want to change a host of the verb roots—
for instance, from tangap to kamay in one of the specific examples cited above? Why
should he want to change the spelling of tangap in its diverse forms to tanggap,
when he would have known that a single “g” was still the norm in the late-ninetenth
century? (Agoncillo, incidentally, recognized this anachronism, and when revising
the Santos versions took the decision to delete all the second “g”s.) And why, above
all, should Santos make innumerable changes that are entirely unrelated either to the
addition of possessive pronouns or the alteration of the verb forms? How might he
think he was making the text more “authentic” by changing the phrase tarrong polvora
(jars of gunpowder) to latang pulbura? Or altering the word kaligaligan (disorder) to
480 APPENDIX D
kaguluhan, or the word panghihimagsik (revolution) in one instance to Revolucion and

in another to himagsikan? Or altering the close embrace of the valediction from ang
aking mahigpit na yakap to ang aking magiliw na yakap?
Anyone who really “rewrote” texts in the manner May alleges would surely
confine his attention to the passages he thought were problematic; he would not
rework practically every last phrase and clause. The great majority of the changes in
Santos’s versions have no pattern, and nor do they fundamentally change the meaning
of the text. The words used, in most instances, are more or less synonyms for the words
used in the originals. May calls the Santos versions “selective rewritings,” but closes
his eyes to the hundreds of changes that are palpably not selective. He imputes a
crime, identifies a culprit and posits a motive, but in the end his case collapses because
the modus operandi of the perpetrator simply does not fit his theory.
Retranslations, not rewritings

The real reason for the disparity between the original Tagalog texts of the
Bonifacio letters and the versions created by José P. Santos, therefore, is simply that
the Santos versions are indeed complete retranslations, either from the Spanish of
Epifanio de los Santos or the English of Philippine Review.8 Ambeth Ocampo got it
right in 1989 after all, though he erred in attributing the retranslations to Agoncillo.
The basic question posed by Glenn May, of course, remains legitimate. Why
should José P. Santos want to produce new Tagalog versions of the letters when he
owned the originals? Issues of historical accuracy and probity aside, reproducing the
authentic texts would have been a much easier option. The only plausible explanation
is that for some reason Santos did not have the original letters to hand in 1948, when
he wrote his Bonifacio biography (which was entirely in Tagalog), and that he there-
fore decided to make (or asked someone else to make) Tagalog translations from his
father’s Spanish or Philippine Review’s English.
Authenticity
Although the fact that the Santos versions are retranslations, not rewritings, does
not in itself prove that the original letters are genuine, the case put forward by May in
Inventing a Hero is the only serious challenge to their authenticity that has ever been
mounted. If his allegations and misgivings can now be laid to rest, then so can the
whole debate.
In 1996, probably when May’s book had already gone to press, Isagani R. Medina
published (woefully inaccurate) extracts from the original text of Bonifacio’s letter
to Jacinto dated April 24, 1897 in his expansively annotated edition of the memoirs of
Carlos Ronquillo, together with a photograph of parts of the letter.9 This was the first
time, so far as is known, that any portion of the original letters had been placed in the
public domain. The following year, far more crucially, Adrian E. Cristobal included
complete, legible facsimiles of the letters dated March 8, April 16, and April 24, 1897
in the first, coffee-table edition of his book, The Tragedy of the Revolution, gratefully
acknowledging their present owner, Emmanuel Encarnacion.10 Since that time, neither
May nor any other historian has raised any fresh questions about the authenticity
either of those three letters, or of the fourth, the letter written around March 15, 1897.
APPENDIX D 481
Corroboration from a letter to Julio Nakpil

Further compelling evidence that the letters are genuine is provided by a letter
(document 8.10) written by Bonifacio to Julio Nakpil that is preserved in the Madrid
military archives. This letter bears exactly the same address and date—Limbon, April
24, 1897—as one of his letters to Jacinto. The key similarities between this letter to
Nakpil and the facsimile letters to Jacinto inserted in Cristobal’s book are as follows:-
Stationery: The notepaper on which the letter to Nakpil is written looks to be the same
size, and to have the same printed letterhead, as the facsimile letter dated March 8, 1897.
The letterhead has the name “ANDRES BONIFACIO” written in a shallow arch above
his Katipunan name, “MAYPAGASA” and his title, “P. ng K. Kapulungan”—Pangulo ng
Kataastaasang Kapulungan, or President of the Supreme Congress.11
Seal: The seal on the letter to Nakpil, stamped to the left of the signature, looks to be the
same as on the facsimile letters dated April 16 and 24, 1897. At the center is the Katipunan
symbol, the letter “K” in the prehispanic baybayin script, from which rays shine out in
all directions to the inner circle of the border. Around the border, between the inner and
outer circles, are the words “HARING BAYAN KATAGALUGAN * KATAASTAASANG
KAPULUNGAN”—“Sovereign Nation of Katagalugan * Supreme Congress.”
Signature: The signature and its accompaniments look the same as on the facsimile letter
dated April 24, 1897. Above the name is the abbreviated title “Ang Plo ng H. B.”—“The
President of the Sovereign Nation.” The name is written in a strikingly distinctive, almost
ornate style. The “A,” “n,” and “d” of the forename are written in a regular script, but then
there is a triangle of dots, and possibly the “r,” “e,” and “s” follow in a much smaller super-
script. A line from the final “o” of Bonifacio swoops back leftwards beneath the signature
and underlines the appended KKK name, “Maypagasa.”
Handwriting: Perhaps, one day, the paper, ink, language, and handwriting of these letters
will be subjected to detailed professional analysis. I am not qualified in any of these areas,
and the decisions about submitting the documents for analysis are obviously not mine to
take. To a strictly amateur eye, however, the penmanship on the two letters dated April 24
(and the letters to Jacinto dated March 8 and April 16) does look like it could come from
the same hand. At first sight, it is true, the overall appearance of the two April 24 letters is
quite dissimilar. On the letter addressed to Jacinto, the writing is neater and more densely
packed on the page. It is a much longer letter, contains more detail and was written with
greater care. The letter to Nakpil, by comparison, is a hasty note. But beyond the vari-
ations in penmanship that may have resulted from speed, posture, or whatever, there are
distinct commonalities in the forward slant of the writing and the shaping of the characters.
Bonifacio liked calligraphy, and traces of his practiced elegance survived in his handwriting
even when he rushed, as for instance in the flourishes that adorn his capital “I”s , “P”s, and
“T”s.
Content: In terms of content, there are several parallels between the letter to Nakpil and the
facsimile letter that bears the same date of April 24, 1897. Most notably:-
482 APPENDIX D
• Both letters refer to the Spanish attacks on the Cavite towns of Silang, Dasmarinas,
Imus, Bakood, Kawit, Noveleta, Salinas, Malabon, and Tanza, and with just one excep-
tion (the inversion of Salinas and Malabon) they both list these nine towns in that
order.
• Both letters report on the weaponry and men at the writer’s immediate disposal in
Indang, and tally them almost identically—about twenty breech-loading rifles (speci-
fied as Remingtons in the Jacinto letter, Remingtons and Mausers in the Nakpil
letter), about twenty older rifles, and about 1,000 volunteers (sandatahan).
• Both letters state that the sandatahan are ready to return there (pag uwi dian, meaning
to the north) and are waiting only for the writer’s orders, which will in turn depend
on him hearing the outcome of discussions Jacinto and Nakpil are supposed to have
had with Antonino Guevarra, who had been entrusted by Bonifacio to deliver other
communications to them in the recent past.
• Both letters refer to the financial straits of the revolution, and describe the problem in
almost identical terms. Funds, says the letter addressed to Jacinto, are halos naubos na
sa kagugugol ng mga Pinuno sa kailangan nila at Panghihimagsik. Funds, says the letter
to Nakpil, are halos ubos na sa kagugugol nga mga Pinuno dito sa kanilang pagkakai-
langan at Panghihimagsik.
• Both letters suggest that the best way of raising money is to get it from the rich, a
process which they describe in almost identical terms. When we enter the towns, says
the letter to Jacinto, we should humingi o sumamsam sa kanino pa mang mayaman. Upon
entering the towns, says the letter to Nakpil, madali na ang pag hingi o pag samsam sa
manga mayayaman.
• Both letters allude to money Nakpil had collected (for the purchase of arms and
ammunition from Hong Kong), and emphasize the writer’s concern that this money
should not be handed over to someone else—not to anyone else in the letter to Nakpil;
specifically not to Mamerto Natividad in the letter to Jacinto.
Cumulatively, these resemblances of style and substance are so striking that they
put to the authenticity of the letters to Jacinto beyond any reasonable doubt.12
Reputations
In his edition of Ronquillo’s memoirs, Isagani Medina published transcriptions
and illustrations of two other documents whose authenticity Glenn May questions
in Inventing a Hero: the declaration known as the Acta de Tejeros, dated March 23,
1897 (document 8.5); and a statement written by Artemio Ricarte, dated March 24,
1897 (document 8.6). Like the four letters from Bonifacio to Jacinto, these two docu-
ments, and another known as the Naik Military Agreement (document 8.9), were for
many years in the possession of the Santos family. Exactly as in the case of the letters,
Epifanio de los Santos incorporated Spanish translations in the brief biography of
Bonifacio he published in 1917; English translations were published in 1918, and José
P. Santos included retranslations into Tagalog in the manuscript he submitted in the
1948 Bonifacio biography competition.13 Again, as in the case of the letters, nobody
has expressed any fresh doubts about the authenticity of the documents in the ten or
more years since the original Tagalog texts were placed in the public domain.
APPENDIX D 483
Glenn May does not discuss these documents in any detail in Inventing a Hero,
but, as with the letters, he does cast serious aspersions upon their authenticity. Not, in
this instance, because José P. Santos had produced Tagalog versions that differed from
the original texts (which May perhaps did not realize); not because the documents
looked like fabrications in any photographs May might have seen; and not because he
thought their content looked suspect. In this instance, he stigmatizes the documents
solely on the basis of their ownership and publication by the Santos family.
Epifanio de los Santos, he writes, “added little of consequence to our knowledge
of Bonifacio and, far more significantly, placed into circulation a number of documents
of dubious historical value.” In reality, the brief article on Bonifacio that Epifanio de
los Santos published in 1917 remained a key source throughout the twentieth century,
and most if not all of the ten associated documents that he and Philippine Review trans-
lated and placed in the public domain will always remain key sources—four letters
from Bonifacio to Jacinto; the “decalogue” Bonifacio wrote for Katipunan members;
the essay “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog”; the poem “Pag-ibig sa tinubuang
Bayan”; the Acta de Tejeros; the Ricarte letter; and the Naik Military Agreement. Not
a single one of these ten documents has been proven to be bogus, and most if not all
have immense historical value.
José P. Santos, says May, “probably” tried to make dubious documents look more
authentic. He did not; he simply published retranslations from the Spanish or English.
His work, says May, “does not deserve the respect” that historians have given it over
the years. It does; a case could be made, in fact, that José P. Santos got closer to the
Katipunan and the Katipuneros than any other historian before or since, Agoncillo
not excepted.
José P. Santos and his father, alleges May, “helped to foster the notion that the
Bonifacio-Jacinto correspondence was authentic.” Yes, they did, because the letters are
authentic. And by fostering the notion that the letters are genuine, May continues,
they contributed to the image of “Bonifacio the patriotic, Bonifacio the honorable,
Bonifacio the misunderstood.” Why this image should cause May disquiet is a good
question. In responding to the furor that greeted Inventing a Hero, he assured his critics
that he had neither questioned Bonifacio’s “indisputable heroism” nor even asserted
that “Bonifacio is any bit less heroic than he has appeared to be in the accounts of
earlier historians.” But in truth he had. At the conclusion of his chapter on Bonifacio’s
letters to Jacinto, he reiterates his verdict that they are “probably bogus” and adds that
with two possible exceptions
[N]ot a single document or text heretofore thought to be composed by Bonifacio can be

shown conclusively, or even convincingly, to have been actually written by him. Without the
Bonifacio letters, the picture of the national hero that emerges is very different and much
less heroic…. in the end, I believe that all of us are better off without the Bonifacio-Jacinto
correspondence.
May is wrong. We still have the letters, and in Bonifacio, undiminished, we still
have a true patriotic hero.
484 APPENDIX D
1 Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio,” Philippine Review (Revista Filipina) 2, no. 11
(November 1917): 67–70.
2 Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [English version], Philippine Review (Revista
Filipina) 3, nos. 1−2 (January−February 1918): 42–45.
3 Tenepe [José P. Santos, Teresita Santos and Nena Santos], “Si Andres Bonifacio at ang
Katipunan,” unpublished MS, 1948, 126–33.
4 Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan
(Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 408–19; The Writings and Trial of Andrés
Bonifacio, translated by Teodoro A. Agoncillo with the collaboration of S.V. Epistola (Manila:
Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines,
1963), 13–22.
5 Ambeth R. Ocampo, “Andres Bonifacio: Myth and Reality,” in his Bonifacio’s Bolo (Pasig
City: Anvil, 1995), 8.
6 Glenn A. May, Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio (Madison:
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996), 53–81.
7 “Clearly,” May writes, “one of the letters was written in a very different hand from all the
others. The writing slanted in a different direction. The writer formed all of his letters differ-
ently.” Bonifacio’s signature, however, “appeared to be similar” to the signatures on the
other letters. May does not say which letter he is talking about, but most likely it is the letter
written around March 15, 1897 (document 8.4). May, Inventing a Hero, 75.
8 So complete was the process of retranslation, in fact, that it even swept away a few authentic
fragments of Bonifacio’s original Tagalog that had survived in the Spanish and English
translations. Although the Katipunan leader wrote the letters almost entirely in normal
Tagalog, he inscribed a scattering of words in cipher. Epifanio de los Santos deciphered these
words and inserted them in parentheses, in normal Tagalog, at the appropriate points in his
Spanish renditions. Philippine Review followed the same practice when rendering the texts
in English. When he retranslated the texts back into Tagalog, strange to say, José P. Santos
chose not to incorporate these authentic fragments in his versions but to retranslate the
corresponding words from the Spanish or English.
9 Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang Talata tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896-1897, edited by Isagani R.
Medina (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1996), 43.
10 Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc.,
1997) 146–47.
11 Prior to the revolution, the Katipunan’s highest body had been known as the Kataastaasang
Sangunian. It is not known precisely when or where the Kataastaasang Kapulungan was
constituted in its stead.
12 Further corroborating the authenticity of the letter to Jacinto dated April 16, 1897, is
Bonifacio’s reference in the postscript of his April 24 letter to Nakpil to “the appointment
of Gral. Emilio” that he had recently sent through Antonino Guevara. In all probability,
this was the appointment, dated April 15, 1897 (document 8.7), of Jacinto as Commander of
the Army in the Northern District (“Pangulong hukbo sa dakong Hilagaan ng Maynila”), a
photograph of which appears in Agoncillo’s Revolt of the Masses. For access to this document,
Agoncillo acknowledges the “courtesy of José P. Santos.” If Santos owned the original of this
appointment document, the likelihood obviously increases that he also owned the original of
a letter that Antonino Guevarra was asked to take north at the same time, that is, the letter
from Bonifacio to Jacinto dated April 16, 1897. Agoncillo, Revolt of the Masses, 186.
13 For all three documents, Medina provides transcriptions of three different Tagalog versions:
(i) the original texts, which at the time of his writing were in the collection of Jorge de los
Santos; (ii) the retranslations included by José P. Santos in his “Si Andres Bonifacio at ang
Himagsikan”; and (iii) different retranslations, from the collection of the late Antonio K.
Abad. Ronquillo, Ilang Talata, 84–112.
APPENDIX E
“Ang dapat mabatid ng mga Tagalog”:
A note on the authenticity of the Tagalog text
One of the most famous texts in this volume is the patriotic rallying call “Ang dapat
mabatid ng mga Tagalog” (document 5.5), which historians generally accept was
written by Andres Bonifacio for Kalayaan, the Katipunan newspaper. The sole dissen-
tient from this consensus has been Glenn May, who argues in his book, Inventing a
Hero, that the Tagalog text known to generations of Filipino students was most prob-
ably crafted not by Bonifacio in 1896, but by José P. Santos, the historian who first
published the text in the 1930s. May alleges, in effect, that Santos translated the article
back into Tagalog from a previously published Spanish or English translation and
then falsely presented his retranslation as the original.
This note examines May’s case in detail, demonstrates that his allegation is base-
less, and establishes beyond reasonable doubt that the text is authentic.
The source of the Tagalog text

José P. Santos reproduced the Tagalog text of “Ang dapat mabatid” in a brief
biography of Bonifacio he published in 1935, under the title Si Andres Bonifacio at ang
Himagsikan.1 Jose P. Santos had copied the text from the original, he wrote, “without
making any changes, even in the manner and style of the writing” (sinipi ko ng walang
anumang pagbabago, maging sa ayos at paraan ng pagkakasulat).2
May’s first objection or suspicion is that Santos was “uninformative” about
where the original was located.3 But he is wrong to suggest that there was any secret or
mystery as to the whereabouts of the text. Its location was made known to the readers
of Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan very forthrightly via the tributes to Santos
and his work printed at the end of the booklet. “As regards facsimiles, records and
other documents of the revolution,” one plaudit reads, “we can say without doubt that
the collection of Pepe Santos currently has no equal. It is also to Pepe Santos’s credit
that he alone in the whole world is taking special care of the original documents, of
many handwritten letters of Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto, which cannot be
found or seen anywhere else.”4 Santos, another testimonial relates, had inherited “all
the documents” in his collection pertaining to Bonifacio and Jacinto from his father,
the renowned historian Epifanio de los Santos.5 We know, in short, where the text was
in 1935, and we know how José P. Santos had acquired it.
May’s next worry is that Santos did not describe the exact nature of the original,
that he neglected to say whether he had copied the text from a complete copy of
Kalayaan or from a separate manuscript, perhaps from a handwritten draft.6 If Santos
did possess a copy of Kalayaan, May asks, why did he not reproduce the original
Tagalog text of the contributions attributed to Emilio Jacinto—“Sa mga kababayan”
and “Pahayag”—when he published a collection of Jacinto’s writings?7
485
486 APPENDIX E
This is a good question, but it well-nigh supplies its own answer. The answer,
almost certainly, is that Santos did not have a printed copy of Kalayaan in its entirety.
He might have had just some pages of the actual newspaper, but it is much more likely
that he had just some of the individual contributions, probably in the form of hand-
written manuscripts on loose sheets of paper. He hinted as much himself. In his book
on Jacinto, he informed his readers that he was unable to reproduce the piece enti-
tled “Sa mga kababayan” because “the first pages” of the copy in his safekeeping were
missing.8 Since the piece is quite brief, it is unlikely that any printed version could
have occupied more than a couple of pages, whereas a handwritten copy on small
sheets of paper might well have done. In his work on Bonifacio, similarly, Santos
noted that he had been obliged to insert question marks in his transcription of the
poem “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan” at points where the original text was illegible,
which again suggests he was working with a handwritten rather than a typeset copy.9
Circumstantial evidence can also be drawn from the writings of Santos’s father.
He, too, like his son after him, wrote brief biographies of both Bonifacio and Jacinto
and in each reproduced a number of their works, albeit in his case in Spanish transla-
tion rather than in the original Tagalog.10 What is pertinent here is that in his 1917
work on Bonifacio he included his own translations of “Ang dapat mabatid” and
“Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,” but in his 1918 biography of Jacinto he did not publish
his own translations of either “Sa mga kababayan” or “Pahayag.” He merely made
mention of “Sa mga kababayan” and reproduced a portion of the earlier translation
of “Pahayag” made by Juan Caro y Mora.11 If copies of those two articles had been
available to him, to echo May’s valid point, he surely would have published his own
translations. Epifanio de los Santos, in other words, translated the same two Kalayaan
pieces whose Tagalog texts his son transcribed two decades later, and did not translate
the same two Kalayaan pieces that his son did not transcribe. It is therefore unlikely
that Epifanio de los Santos ever owned (or even copied) Kalayaan in its entirety, and
it is therefore much more likely that the collection he bequeathed to his son included
“Ang dapat mabatid” and “Pag-ibig sa tinubuang Bayan” in the form of loose, prob-
ably handwritten, manuscripts.
The possibility of discrepant Tagalog texts

Whatever its exact form, the text of “Ang dapat mabatid” that Epifanio de los
Santos acquired and translated was obviously in Tagalog. He did possess the Tagalog
text in some form. When he died in 1928, the document passed to his son and when
he, José P. Santos, came to write Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan in 1935, it might
be presumed, he still had the original in his possession and was able to copy it, as he
said he did. What conceivable reason, then, could he have had, as Glenn May suspects,
for fashioning a fresh Tagalog text, for laboriously retranslating the piece back into
Tagalog from the Spanish?
Sometimes, though, the improbable happens. Amongst the Katipunan docu-
ments Santos inherited from his father were four letters Bonifacio wrote to Jacinto,
and when he came to write a further biography of Bonifacio in 1948, he incorporated
retranslations of these letters in his manuscript rather than the authentic texts.12 He
did not, so far as is known, state that the letters had been copied from the originals,
APPENDIX E 487
and it is only fair to note also that the work was unpublished. It may have been
unedited, or at least unpolished. Given the passage of time and the disruption of war,
there is a stronger chance that Santos’s collection had become scattered by 1948, and
items mislaid.
For some reason, in any event, the letters were retranslated, and in these circum-
stances the possibility that the text of “Ang dapat mabatid” likewise got retranslated
cannot be dismissed until we have considered the remainder of May’s case. May
always takes care, moreover, to qualify his arguments with words like “probably.” He
never claims to be certain that the Tagalog text is a retranslation, or that José P. Santos
was the perpetrator. It is possible, he would say, that the Tagalog text possessed by
Epifanio de los Santos was itself inauthentic, and had been fabricated before José P.
Santos was even born. The text’s disputed authenticity, therefore, needs to be seen as
a separate issue from the imputation of Santos’s culpability, even though the two are
liable to get intertwined. In an effort to lessen the entanglement in the discussion that
follows, the shorthand employed for “the Tagalog text published by Santos in 1935”
will not be “the Santos text” but “the extant text.”
If, as deduced above, José P. Santos copied “Ang dapat mabatid” from a hand-
written manuscript, it follows that the extant text might not be exactly the same as
that printed in Kalayaan. A few words might have been changed, and a few added or
deleted, before it was set in type.
Glenn May, however, believes the differences between the as-yet-untraced text
printed in Kalayaan and the extant text to be far greater. The first was written in 1896,
but the second, he maintains, was “probably” fashioned by Santos in the 1930s from a
Spanish or English translation. In this process of retranslation, May contends, Santos
preserved “the basic ideas” of the original, but “it is not at all likely that the vocabu-
lary, images, symbols, metaphors and the like…survived in anything like their original
form. Some of them may even have undergone a radical transformation.”13
The Spanish translation of Juan Caro y Mora

May attempts to demonstrate that the extant text is substantially different from
the lost Kalayaan text by comparing it to the Spanish translation made by Juan Caro
y Mora in 1896 or 1897, a translation that was undisputedly made from a printed copy
of Kalayaan.14 If he can show that this translation is incompatible with the extant text,
May believes, the only logical conclusion must be that the extant text is not authentic.
To illustrate his case, he focuses on the points at which he believes the Spanish and
Tagalog texts diverge most markedly, and to gauge the weight of his argument it is
necessary to address in turn each of the three specific examples he puts forward.
May first points to what he sees as an incongruity between the noun bienestar in
the translation by Caro y Mora and kaguinhawahan in the Tagalog text.15 “Bienestar”
means “well-being” with connotations of “peace of mind and tranquility,” whereas
kaguinhawahan, he says, could be translated as “prosperity” but also connotes “a
general ease of life [and] relief from pain, sickness or difficulties.” These distinctions
seem rather fine, but he seems to be saying that bienestar primarily means “mental
comfort” whereas “kaguinhawahan” primarily means “material and physical comfort.”
But translation, as he well knows, is a difficult, subjective, and imprecise art, and
488 APPENDIX E
one translator’s choice of words and sentence constructions will always be different
from another’s. The question to be asked is not whether bienestar is the ideal word to
convey the meaning of kaguinhawahan in that particular context, but whether it was a
plausible or likely choice for Caro y Mora to have made when he set about translating
“Ang dapat mabatid” in 1896 or 1897. We must imagine him sitting at his desk, a copy
of Kalayaan spread out before him, a couple of dictionaries to hand. Let us suppose he
is pondering how best to render the word “kaguinhawahan” and that he turns first to
the Vocabulario de la lengua tagala of Juan de Noceda and Pedro de Sanlucar. It offers,
of course, a variety of equivalents for the word, its root and its relations and, contrary
to May’s nice distinctions, bienestar is indeed among them.16 Caro y Mora thinks
bienestar is an apt choice, but checks also to see what Pedro Serrano-Laktaw’s more
contemporary Diccionario Hispano-tagalog advises. He looks up the entry for biene-
star and finds the confirmation he is seeking: Kalagayang mabuti nang pagkabuhay;
kaginhawahan.17
May’s second illustration of the supposed incongruence between the Caro y Mora
translation and the Tagalog text published by Santos can be readily subjected to the
same scrutiny. There are two phrases in the Spanish translation that include the word
justicia—el día de justicia and enseña la justicia. These are not suitable equivalents, May
argues, for the Tagalog phrases to be found at the corresponding points in the extant
text—ang araw ng katuiran and ytinuturo ng katuiran. Caro y Mora’s words, he contends,
“do not come close to the meaning of the Tagalog ones.” So here again, he concludes,
the extant text must be different from the authentic Kalayaan text. “It seems unlikely,”
he writes, “that the word katwiran (katuiran) was actually in the Tagalog original,
for, had it been, the most logical translation would have been razón.”18 But again his
point is confounded by the dictionaries that Caro y Mora might have consulted, which
both confirm justicia as a valid option. The Vocabulario advises that catouiran could
be translated as razón, but that it also connotes justicia conforme á la razón.19 Serrano-
Laktaw’s Diccionario, similarly, says that katowiran could be translated as either razón
or justicia.20
The third incongruity May perceives between the Caro y Mora translation and
Tagalog text is a word “missing.” In the Tagalog text the sentence in question reads,
Ngayon sa lahat ng ito’y ano ang mga guinawa nating paggugugol nakikitang kaguin-
hawahang ibinigay sa ating Bayan? This might be translated as “Now, after all this,
after everything we have done, what prosperity have we seen bestowed upon our
Country?”21 But the Caro y Mora translation, May observes, makes no reference to
“prosperity” at all: Ahora, después de todo esto, qué es los que hemos recibido de ella por
tanto gasto que sea digno de mencionarse? (“Now, after all this, is there anything worth
mentioning that we have received from her [Spain] in return for such expense?”) “In
light of that Spanish version of the text,” May asks rhetorically, “how likely is it that
the real original would have included the root word ginhawa?”22
Nobody, of course, can know why the Spanish translation contains no equiva-
lent for kaguinhawahan. It is possible that at this precise point there is a divergence
between the Tagalog text copied by Santos and the version printed in Kalayaan. It is
possible that Caro y Mora made a slip. Much more likely, Caro y Mora simply decided
not to translate kaguinhawahan because he felt he could convey the sense of the
APPENDIX E 489
sentence without offering a direct equivalent. Strangely, though, none of these possi-
bilities is mentioned by May.
When he suggests that kaguinhawahan could not be rendered as bienestar, in
sum, or that justicia “does not come close to the meaning” of katuiran, May is just
plain wrong. When he speculates that a single word “missing” from the translation
suggests it was absent, too, from the Kalayaan text, he is unconvincing. Rather than
explore a variety of possible explanations for the mismatches he perceives between
the Caro y Mora and the Tagalog texts, he offers only one explanation, and in truth
it seems predetermined. He never wonders whether the extant text might have been
different from the final Kalayaan text, but nevertheless still be authentic because it
was written in 1896, and was a draft of the Kalayaan text. He never allows that the
Caro y Mora translation might in places be somewhat loose and free. So deep is his
distrust of José P. Santos, so entrenched his suspicions that he jumps straightaway to
the conclusion that each mismatch makes the extant text more and more problematic,
more and more likely to have been fabricated by Santos himself in the 1930s.
The Spanish translation of Epifanio de los Santos

The identification of disparities between the Spanish of Caro y Mora and the
Tagalog of the extant text is the closest that May gets, so far as “Ang dapat mabatid” is
concerned, to submitting any hard evidence against Santos. The issue of translation is
central to his case. It is strange, then, that he did not take time to take an equally close
look at the second well-known translation of “Ang dapat mabatid” into Spanish, the
translation published by Epifanio de los Santos in 1917.23
May does mention this translation fleetingly, noting that it differs “so substan-
tially” from Caro y Mora’s earlier version “that we might justifiably wonder if
[Epifanio de los Santos] had consulted [Caro y Mora’s version] at all.”24
It would surely have been pertinent, then, for May to discuss some of these
substantial differences, and to examine in particular whether they shed any light on
the disparities he has discerned between the Caro y Mora translation and the Tagalog
text published by José P. Santos.
Had he done so, what would he have found? De los Santos’s translation, he would
have found, offers precisely the Spanish equivalents that he, May, believes to be so
significantly absent in Caro y Mora’s translation. May, it will be recalled, suggests that
the word “bienestar” (well-being) was unlikely to have been chosen by Caro y Mora as
an equivalent for kaguinhawahan (prosperity; material and physical comfort). De los
Santos, at the equivalent point in the text, does indeed employ the word prosperidad.
At the points where May suggests that the phrases “el sol de la razón” and “enseña la
razón” would match the extant text better than Caro y Mora’s “el día de justicia” and
“enseña el justicia,” Epifanio de los Santos does indeed employ those exact phrases.
And where Caro y Mora omitted any direct equivalent for the word “kaguinhawahan,”
de los Santos supplies the Spanish term desahogo (material comfort).25
It might therefore be argued that at the three specific points May has highlighted,
Epifanio de los Santos’s translation happens to be a closer match for the Tagalog text
later published by his son, José P. Santos, than Caro y Mora’s translation. “In which
490 APPENDIX E
case,” May might say, “it seems more likely that José P. Santos fabricated the Tagalog
text using his father’s translation rather than Juan Caro y Mora’s.”
But it doesn’t, because at other points Caro y Mora’s translation is demonstrably
the closer match. In the first paragraph of the Tagalog text, for example, there is a
reference to a time when the Spaniards had “not yet” (hindi pa) arrived in the Islands.
Caro y Mora offers the precise equivalent no aun, but de los Santos reworks the phrase
to read “prior to” (con anterioridad) the arrival of the Spaniards. Into a later paragraph
de los Santos inserts an exclamatory ¡ay! an embellishment that Caro y Mora did not
feel necessary. The Tagalog text calls on patriots to spread the mga mahal at dakilang
aral, a phrase which Caro y Mora renders in full as nobles y grandes doctrinas, but which
de los Santos abbreviates to la buena nueva (good news). And the final exhortation in
the Tagalog text, ating idilat ang bulag na kaisipan, is rendered scrupulously by Caro
y Mora as abramos los ojos de nuestro ciego entendimiento (open the eyes of our blind
intellect) whereas de los Santos introduces a metaphor of dispersing mists—disipemos
las nieblas de nuestra inteligencia.
If the 1897 Spanish translation matches the Tagalog text better in some places
and the 1917 Spanish translation matches it better in others, the likelihood surely
increases that the Tagalog text predates both, and was indeed the source of both. The
alternative hypothesis, that José P. Santos or someone else picked and mixed from the
two translations when they fabricated the Tagalog text at a later date, seems highly
improbable. It becomes still more far-fetched when one looks again at the Tagalog
text and finds words and phrases for which equivalents do not appear in either of the
Spanish translations. Caro y Mora’s translation, even in the title, refers to the native
inhabitants of the Islands as los indios. De los Santos’s translation refers to los Filipinos,
and later to los isleños. But the term employed in the Tagalog text, as one would expect
in a Katipunan document, is ang mga Tagalog. Both translations, similarly, refer to the
country namelessly as las islas, whereas the term found in the Tagalog text, again as
one would expect, is “Katagalugan.”
Not a single word or phrase in the Tagalog text, in fact, looks to be incongruous,
jarring, or anachronistic, and May does not point to any that do. He thinks that “the
person who made the crucial linguistic choices” in the text was “a historian writing
in the 1930s, not the revolutionary of the 1890s,” but he does not substantiate his
suspicions by identifying exactly what he thinks looks out of place.26 The vocabulary,
images, and metaphors in the text, in truth, are so strikingly in keeping with other
Katipunan documents that their concoction in the 1930s from a couple of Spanish
translations would have been nothing less than a work of genius.
Authenticity, authorship, and orthography:

The evidence from “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan”
No printed copy of Kalayaan has yet been located, and perhaps none has survived.
The original document from which José P. Santos transcribed the Tagalog text of “Ang
dapat mabatid” has never been placed in the public domain, and might also have been
lost. The copper-bottomed, conclusive evidence that would definitively establish the
authenticity of the text may never be found. Reinforcing all the arguments detailed
above, however, a further powerful indication of its authenticity is provided by a
APPENDIX E 491
surviving manuscript copy of the other famous contribution to Kalayaan attributed to

Bonifacio, the poem “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan.”
These two texts, we noted earlier, have to a degree shared a common history.
Epifanio de los Santos translated both into Spanish; José P. Santos published both
texts in Tagalog for the first time in Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan. And, more
latterly, Glenn May questions the “content and reliability” of “Pagibig sa tinubuang
Bayan” in the pages of Inventing a Hero in the same way, and for the same reasons, as
he questions the authenticity of “Ang dapat mabatid.”27
The surviving manuscript copy of “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan” (document 5.6)
establishes beyond question that neither José P. Santos nor anybody else concocted
the poem’s known Tagalog text in the twentieth century. The manuscript text is not
identical to that published by Santos, but the significant discrepancies are confined
to just a handful of the poem’s twenty-eight stanzas. In the rest, the degree of identity
between the two texts is massively greater than a fabricator working from Spanish
versions could ever achieve. José P. Santos, as he said he did, copied “Pagibig sa
tinubuang Bayan” from a text written in 1896, and there is absolutely no reason to
doubt that he copied its companion piece, “Ang dapat mabatid,” from an original as
well.
Conclusion
Glenn May asks legitimate questions in Inventing a Hero, but does not come up
with the right answers. He is mistaken about “Ang dapat mabatid,” about “Pagibig
sa tinubuang Bayan,” and about the letters Bonifacio wrote to Jacinto from Cavite in
1897.
May’s misjudgment of “Ang dapat mabatid,” we have seen, stems in large degree
from his misjudgment of the historian who published the Tagalog text, José P. Santos.
May does not argue that any words or phrases in the text look misplaced or strange,
or that the orthography is anachronistic. His only worry about the actual text is that
he thinks it departs at certain points from a Spanish translation made from the text
in Kalayaan. His telling presumption that this perceived mismatch calls the Tagalog
text into doubt (rather than the Spanish translation) is symptomatic of his entire case.
Time and again, he disputes the authenticity of a document not on its own merits, but
on the basis of his belief that José P. Santos was a dissembler and a fraud.
Santos was unlikely “to have seen anything wrong” in fabricating “Ang dapat
mabatid” and other Katipunan texts, May alleges, because he had a “track record”
of dubious practices, and because he “did such bizarre things with the Bonifacio
letters.”28 But in reality Santos did not have a dodgy track record, and he did not do
anything bizarre. Each of May’s charges is unjust. Santos, says May, “failed to reveal
the sources he relied on.” In fact, Santos told his readers quite plainly that he had
copied “Ang dapat mabatid” and “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan” from the “originals,”
although it is true he omitted to describe the nature of the originals. Santos, says May,
“failed to indicate where important documents were located.” Again, Santos’s readers
were left in no doubt where the documents were located; they were in his own private
collection.
492 APPENDIX E
In relation to the Bonifacio letters, says May, Santos “covered up the possible
wrongdoing of his father, and produced faulty transcriptions of documents he
probably thought to be forgeries.” This charge is false on two counts—there was no
wrongdoing and hence no cover-up either. Santos’s father translated some genuine
Bonifacio letters into Spanish. Santos had not the slightest doubt the letters were
genuine. Three decades later Santos retranslated the letters into Tagalog from the
Spanish because he did not have the originals to hand. He never claimed, so far as is
known, that the retranslations were the original texts. He was writing in Tagalog for
a Tagalog readership, and he wanted that readership to know what Bonifacio wrote
to Jacinto. He could not reproduce the actual texts of the letters, but he could at least
convey their thrust, and he did so.
1 José P. Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan (Manila: n.pub, 1935), 6–7.
2 Ibid., 10.
3 Glenn A. May, Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio (Madison:
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996), 41.
4 “Sa mga autografia, mga tala at iba pang mga ulat ng himagsikan, maaaring sabihin natin ng
walang pag-aalinlangan na walang kapantay ngayon ang koleksyon ni Pepe Santos. Isang kapu-
rihan din ni Pepe Santos na siya lamang ang tanging nag-iingat ngayon sa buong daigdig ng mga
orihinal na dokumento o ng maraming sulat kamay nina Andres Bonifacio at Emilio Jacinto, na
wala sinoman at hindi nakakita maging saan man.” Quotation from Pagkakaisa, February 15,
1931, in Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio, 44.
5 Quotation from Sunday Tribune Magazine, November 23, 1930, in Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio,
44.
6 May, Inventing a Hero, 41.
7 Ibid., 157–58; José P. Santos, Buhay at mga Sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto (Manila: José P. Bantug,
1935).
8 “Nagkaroon kami ng sipi ng kanyang makatas na lathalang Sa mga kababayan na lumalabas sa
unang bilang ng Kalayaan, nguni’t ang mga unang dahon ng siping iniingatan namin ay nawala at
siya ngayong hindi ko makita.” Santos, Buhay at mga Sinulat, 66.
9 Santos, Si Andres Bonifacio, 10.
10 Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio,” Revista Filipina 2, no. 11 (November 1917): 59–82;
and idem, “Emilio Jacinto,” Philippine Review 3, no. 6 (June 1918): 412–30.
11 “Manifiesto.” Translation, into Spanish by Juan Caro y Mora, of Dimas Alan, “Pahayag,” in
Wenceslao E. Retana, ed., Archivo del bibliofilo filipino, vol. 3 (Madrid: Imprenta de la viuda de
M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 58–64.
12 Tenepe [José P. Santos, Teresita Santos, and Nena Santos], “Si Andres Bonifacio at ang
Katipunan,” unpublished MS, 1948, 126–33. This issue is discussed at length in “Bonifacio’s
letters to Emilio Jacinto” (appendix D).
14 “Lo que deben saber y entender los indios,” Translation into Spanish by Juan Caro y Mora
of Agap-ito Bagum-bayan, “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga Tagalog,” in Retana, ed., Archivo del
bibliofilo filipino, vol. 3, 64–68.
15 May, Inventing a Hero, 153, 159–60.
16 Juan de Noceda and Pedro de Sanlucar, Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios
religiosos doctos y graves [1753] (Manila: Imprenta de Ramirez y Giraudier, 1860), 450.
17 Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Diccionario Hispano-tagalog, Primera parte (Manila: Estab.
Tipografico “La Opinion,” 1889), 90.
18 May, Inventing a Hero, 160–61.
19 De Noceda and de Sanlucar, Vocabulario, 541, 592.
20 Serrano-Laktaw, Diccionario, 325, 495.
APPENDIX E 493
21 May, Inventing a Hero, 160. May has inherited an error here from Ileto’s Pasyon and Revolution,
mistranscribing the ninth word in this sentence as guinhawa (prosperity, comfort) rather
than guinawa (act, deed). Reynaldo Clemeña Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements
in the Philippines, 1840−1910 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1979), 104.
23 “Lo que deben saber los Filipinos” in de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio,” 64.
24 May, Inventing a Hero, 39. De los Santos certainly saw Juan Caro y Mora’s translation, but
presumably felt it was unsatisfactory and thought he could do better. De los Santos, “Emilio
Jacinto,” 419.
25 De los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio,” 64.
27 Ibid., 39–41.
28 Ibid., 158.
APPENDIX F
Research note
Documentation on the Katipunan, its antecedents and milieu, is today significantly

more accessible than in the past, and in both Spain and the Philippines there is a mass
of material yet to be explored.
At the Archivo General Militar in Madrid there are numerous KKK papers that
have not been included in this compilation, including correspondence of the regional
council headed in 1897, by Julio Nakpil. I also saw (but did no more than skim) a
boxful of fascinating documents on Manila’s masonic lodges in the 1890s; an official
report on the uprising in Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija led by Adriano Novicio in 1884;
and a file on a Tagalog insurrectionist society, completely forgotten in the historical
record, that was active in 1873. They called themselves los numerados, because each
member had a number. The Archivo de Padres Agustinos de Filipinas in Valladolid
preserves some of the papers of Fr. Mariano Gil, the parish priest of Tondo who was
credited with “discovering” the Katipunan in August 1896, after a traitor had directed
him to the KKK printing press. These papers include an annotated listing of hundreds
of Katipuneros, masons, Liga Filipina members, and other agitadores the Spanish
authorities believed to be implicated in the separatist conspiracy. Similar intelligence
reports may be found in the Archivo Franciscano Ibero-Oriental in Madrid. The hold-
ings of the Dominican archive in Avila, the Archivo de la Provincia del Santísimo
Rosario, include countless untapped documents on the revolution in Cavite. Also
likely to reward further investigation are the Sección de Ultramar in the Archivo
Histórico Nacional in Madrid and the papers of Camilo Polavieja, governor general
of the Philippines in 1896−1897, which are in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville.1
There is also much still to dig into in the Philippines. In the National Archives
the “Sediciones y Rebeliones” folders certainly deserve closer attention, as do
the papers of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia y Seguridad in the library of the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts.2 The archives of the University of Santo
Tomas and the Dominican Philippine Province also have rich seams yet to be mined,
including copies of the documents relating to Cavite held in Avila. At the Ateneo de
Manila’s Rizal Library there is wealth of material gathered by the Jesuit historians
Pedro de Achutegui and Miguel Bernad when they were working on Aguinaldo and
the Revolution of 1896: A Documentary History.3 The University of the Philippines Main
Library in Diliman has unpublished material on the Katipunan collected by the histo-
rians Teodoro A. Agoncillo and José P. Santos, and also has a microfilm copy of the
papers of the Katipunero Guillermo Masangkay.
Some of the most significant Katipunan documents, notably Bonifacio’s letters
to Jacinto, the “Acta de Tejeros,” and the Naik Military Agreement, are in the private
collection of Emmanuel Encarnacion. Over the years, Encarnacion has granted several
scholars access to his collection, and most of the key texts have been photographed
494
APPENDIX F 495
and placed in the public domain. It is to be hoped that photographs of other impor-
tant KKK documents from other private collections can be published or posted in
cyberspace in due course. One item included in this compilation—the draft appoint-
ment written by Bonifacio on August 26—is especially tantalizing because it is
evidently taken from a ledger in which other draft appointments, letters or messages
must presumably have been inscribed around the same time, the absolutely critical
time when the revolution was just about to be launched. If anybody knows where this
ledger is to be found, do please tell!
1 Luis E. Togores Sanchez, “Fuentes documentales y bibliográficas españolas para el estudio

de la Revuelta Tagala de 1896/97 en Filipinas,” Revista Española del Pacifico 6 (1996): 71–81.
2 Bernadita Reyes Churchill, Eden Manalo Gripaldo, and Digna Balangue Apilado, eds.,
The Movement for Independence in the Philippines (1896−1898): Calendar of Documents in the
Archives of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia de Manila (Manila: National Commission for Culture and
the Arts, 2011).
3 Ambeth Ocampo, “Rape in 1896,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 2, 2011.
Bibliography
Abad, Antonio K. General Macario L. Sakay: Was He a Bandit or a Patriot? With an intro-
duction by Teodoro A. Agoncillo. Manila: J. B. Feliciano & Sons, 1955.
Achutegui, Pedro de S., and Miguel A. Bernad. Aguinaldo and the Revolution of 1896: A
Documentary History. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila, 1972.
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan.
Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956.
Aguinaldo, Emilio. Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan. Manila: Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay,
1964.
Alejandrino, José. The Price of Freedom: Episodes and Anecdotes of Our Struggle for
Freedom [1933]. Translated by José M. Alejandrino. Manila: M. Colcol, 1949.
Alvarez, Santiago. The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General [1927].
Translated by Paula Carolina S. Malay. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University
Press, 1992.
Artigas y Cuerva, Manuel. Andres Bonifacio y El ‘Katipunan.’ Manila: Imprenta de ‘La
Vanguardia,’ 1911.
———. Glorias nacionales: Andres Bonifacio y El ‘Katipunan.’ Manila: Libreria ‘Manila
Filatelica,’ 1911.
Azurin, Arnold. “Blinders and Blindspots in Philippine Historiography.” UP-CIDS
Chronicle 3, no. 1 (January−June 1998): 19–32.
Borromeo-Buehler, Soledad. The Cry of Balintawak: A Contrived Controversy. Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998.
Calairo, Emmanuel Franco. Ladislao Diwa at ang Katipunan. Cavite Historical Society
Inc., 1996.
———. Noveleta: Bayan ng Magdiwang. Dasmariñas, Cavite: Cavite Studies Center, De
La Salle University, 2000.
Calderon, Sofronio G. Diccionario Ingles-Español-Tagalog. Manila: Libreria y Papeleria
de J. Martinez, 1915.
Canseco, Telesforo. “Historia de la insurrección filipina en Cavite.” 1897. [Manuscript
in the Dominican Archives, Quezon City; typed copy available on microfilm at the
Rizal Library, Ateneo de Manila University].
Castillo y Jiménez, José M. del. El Katipunan o El Filibusterismo en Filipinas. Madrid:
Imprenta del asilo de huérfanos del S. C. de Jesús, 1897.
Churchill, Bernardita Reyes, ed. Resistance and Revolution: Philippine Archipelago in
Arms. Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2002.
———. Determining the Truth: The Story of Andres Bonifacio. Manila: Manila Studies
Association et al., 1997.
Churchill, Bernadita Reyes, Eden Manalo Gripaldo, and Digna Balangue Apilado,
eds. The Movement for Independence in the Philippines (1896–1898): Calendar of
Documents in the Archives of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia de Manila. Manila: National
Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2011.
496
BIBLIOGRAPHY 497
Churchill, Bernadita Reyes, and Francis A. Gealogo, eds. Centennial Papers on the
Katipunan and the Revolution. Quezon City: Manila Studies Association; Manila:
NCCA Committee on Historical Research, 1999.
Corpuz, Onofre D. Saga and Triumph: The Filipino Revolution against Spain. Manila:
Philippine Centennial Commission, 1999.
The Court Martial of Andres Bonifacio. With prefatory note by Teodoro M. Kalaw and
translated into English from the original Tagalog by Paz Policarpio. Manila:
Manila Book Co. Inc., 1926.
Cristobal, Adrian E. The Tragedy of the Revolution. Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing
Inc., 1997.
Cruz, Hermenegildo. Kartilyang Makabayan: Mga Tanong at Sagot ukol kay Andrés
Bonifacio at sa KKK. Manila: n.pub., 1922.
De Jesus, Gregoria. Mga Tala ng Aking Buhay at mga Ulat ng Katipunan. Manila:
Limbagang Fajardo, 1932.
De los Reyes, Isabelo. La sensacional memoria de Isabelo de los Reyes sobre la revolución
Filipina de 1896–97. Madrid: Tip.Lit. de J. Corrales, 1899.
———. La religión del Katipunan. Segunda edición. Madrid: Imprenta lit. de J. Corrales,
1900.
De los Santos, Epifanio. “Andres Bonifacio” [Spanish version], Philippine Review
(Revista Filipina) 2, no. 11 (November 1917): 59–82.
———. “Andres Bonifacio” [English version], Philippine Review (Revista Filipina) 3, nos.
1–2 (January−February 1918): 34–58.
———. “Emilio Jacinto” [parallel Spanish and English]. Philippine Review 3, no. 6 (June
1918): 412–30.
Dery, Luis Camara. Awit kay Bayan: Ang Larawan ng Pilipinas ayon sa mga Tula’t
Kundiman na Kinatha noong Panahon ng Himagsikan. Manila: De La Salle
University Press, 2003.
———. “Bantayog ni Inang Bayan: Panibagong Pagbibigay Kahulugan kay Andres
Bonifacio.” Unitas 80, no. 4 (2007): 347–65.
Fajardo, Reynold S. The Brethren: Masons in the Struggle for Philippine Independence.
Manila: Enrique L. Locsin and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons,
1998.
Fast, Jonathan, and Jim Richardson. Roots of Dependency: Political and Economic
Revolution in 19th century Philippines. Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist
Studies, 1979.
Gómez-Arnau, Carmen Molina. “Los movimientos emancipadores en Filipinas
durante el período español. El Katipunan.” Ph.D. dissertation, Universidad
Central de Madrid, 1995.
———. “Apuntes sobre el Katipunan.” Revista Española del Pacifico 6 (1996): 47–70.
Gripaldo, Rolando M. Liberty and Love: The Political and Ethical Philosophy of Emilio
Jacinto. Manila: De La Salle University Press, 2001.
Guerrero, Milagros C., Emmanuel N. Encarnacion, and Ramon N. Villegas. “Andres
Bonifacio and the 1896 Revolution.” Sulyap Kultura 2 (1996): 3–12.
———. “Balintawak: The Cry for a Nationwide Revolution.” Sulyap Kultura 2 (1996):
13–21.
498 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Guerrero, Milagros C., and John N. Schumacher, SJ. Reform and Revolution. Vol. 5 of
Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People. Hong Kong: Asia Publishing Co, 1998.
Guillermo, Ramon. “Pantayong Pananaw and the History of Philippine Political
Concepts.” Kritika Kultura 13 (2009): 107–16.
Ignacio, Miguel Samio. Feliciano Jokson: datos biográficos. Manila: Renacimiento
Filipino, 1912.
Ileto, Reynaldo C. Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840–
1910. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1979.
———. “Tagalog Poetry and Perceptions of the Past in the War against Spain.” In
Perceptions of the Past in Southeast Asia, edited by Anthony Reid and David Marr.
Singapore: Heinemann, 1979.
———. Filipinos and Their Revolution: Event, Discourse and Historiography. Quezon City:
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998.
Joaquin, Nick. A Question of Heroes. Makati: Ayala Museum, 1977.
Jose, Vivencio R. “Katipunan External Affairs: Bonifacio’s Politics and Foreign Policy.”
Diliman Review 49, nos. 1−2 (2001): 3–32.
Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution, with the Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus.
Manila: Heirs of Julio Nakpil, 1964.
Kalaw, Teodoro M. La masonería filipina: su origen, desarrollo y vicisitudes hasta la época
presente. Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1920.
———. The Philippine Revolution [1925]. Mandaluyong: Jorge B. Vargas Filipiniana
Foundation, 1969.
Kasundugo. “Ang Katipunan at si Gat. Andres Bonifacio.” n.p., n.d. Typescript 1947
[Filipiniana Division, National Library].
Llanes, Ferdinand C., ed. Katipunan, Isang Pambansang Kilusan. Quezon City: Trinitas
Publishing Inc., 1994.
Manuel, E. Arsenio. Dictionary of Philippine Biography. 4 vols. Quezon City: Filipiniana
Publications, 1955–1995.
Matatag [Antonino Guevara y Mendoza]. History of One of the Initiators of the
Philippine Revolution. Translated from the Spanish by O. D. Corpuz. Manila:
National Historical Institute, 1988.
May, Glenn A. Battle for Batangas: A Philippine Province at War. New Haven and
London: Yale University Press, 1991.
———. Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio. Madison:
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996.
———. “Warfare by Pulong: Bonifacio, Aguinaldo and the Philippine Revolution
against Spain.” Philippine Studies 55, no. 4 (2007): 449–77.
Medina, Isagani R. Andres Bonifacio. Manila: Tahanan Books/Bookmark, 1992. (The
Great Lives Series).
———. May Tainga ang Lupa: Espionage in the Philippines (1896–1902) and Other Essays.
Manila: UST Publishing House, 2002.
Minutes of the Katipunan. With a preface by Carlos Quirino. Manila: National Heroes
Commission, 1964.
Molina, Antonio J. Ang Kundiman ng Himagsikan. Manila: Institute of National
Language, 1940.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 499
Noceda, Juan de, and Pedro de Sanlucar. Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por
varios religiosos doctos y graves [1753]. Manila: Imprenta de Ramirez y Giraudier,
1860.
Ocampo, Ambeth. “Andres Bonifacio: Mito o Realidad?” First Annual Andres
Bonifacio/Parian Lectures, Bulwagang Katipunan, Manila City Hall, November
29, 1989 (Mimeograph).
———. Bones of Contention: The Bonifacio Lectures. Manila: Anvil, 2001.
Ochosa, Orlino A. Bandoleros: Outlawed Guerrilla of the Philippine-American War, 1903–
1907. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1997.
———. Pio del Pilar and Other Heroes. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1997.
Paglinawan, Mamerto. Diksionariong Kastila-Tagalog (Diccionario Hispano-Tagalog).
Maynila: Limbagang “El Progreso,” 1913.
Ang Pinagtatalunang Akta ng Katipunan. Paunawa ni T. M. Kalaw. Manila: Bureau of
Printing, 1930.
Quirino, Carlos. The Young Aguinaldo: From Kawit to Biyak-na-Bato. Manila: Aguinaldo
Centennial Year, 1969.
Retana Wenceslao E., ed. Archivo del bibliófilo filipino. 5 vols. Madrid: Imprenta de la
viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1895–1897.
Reverter y Delmas, Emilio. Filipinas por España: narración episódica de la rebelión en el
archipiélago Filipino. Barcelona: Editorial de Alberto Martin, 1897.
Ricarte, Artemio. Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino laban sa Kastila. Yokohama: Karihan
Café, 1927.
———. Memoirs. With an introduction by Armando J. Malay. Manila: National Heroes
Commission, 1963.
Ronquillo, Carlos. Ilang Talata tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896–1897 [1898]. Edited
by Isagani R. Medina. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1996.
Salazar, Z. A. Agosto 29–20, 1896: Ang Pagsalakay ni Bonifacio sa Maynila. Salin ni
Monico M. Atienza. Quezon City: Miranda Bookstore, 1995.
———. Ang Kartilya ni Emilio Jacinto at ang Diwang Pilipino sa Agos ng Kasaysayan
(Bagong Kasaysayan 6). Quezon City: Palimbagan ng Lahi, 1999.
———. Wika ng Himagsikan, Lengguwahe ng Rebolusyon: Mga Suliranin ng
Pagpapakahulugan sa Pagbubuo ng Bansa (Bagong Kasaysayan 8). Quezon City:
Palimbagan ng Lahi, 1999.
Salazar, Z. A., E. Yulo, and A. Navarro. Talaarawan 1997: Himagsikang Pilipino; Digma
ng mga Anak ng Bayan 1897. Mandaluyong City: Palimbagang Kalawakan, 1996.
Sanchez, Luis E. Togores. “Fuentes documentales y bibliográficas españolas para
el estudio de la Revuelta Tagala de 1896/97 en Filipinas.” Revista Española del
Pacifico 6 (1996): 71−81.
Santos, José P. May Katwiran ba o Mali si Aguinaldo sa Pagkakabaril kay Bonifacio?
Manila: n. pub., 1933.
———. Buhay at mga Sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto. Manila: Jose Paez Santos, 1935.
———. Ang Mahiwagang Pagkapatay kay Andres Bonifacio. Manila: n. pub., 1935.
———. Ang Sigalot ni Bonifacio at ni Aguinaldo. Manila, 1935.
———. Mga Kasulatang Lumiliwanag sa Pagkakapatay kay Andres Bonifacio. Manila: n.
pub., 1935.
500 BIBLIOGRAPHY
———. Los Alfabetos del Katipunan. Manila: n. pub., 1935.

———. Was Aguinaldo Right to Have Caused Bonifacio’s Death? Manila: n.pub, 1935.
———. Si Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan. Manila: n.pub, 1935.
———. Ang Tatlong Napabantog na “Tulisan” sa Pilipinas. Gerona, Tarlac: José Paez
Santos, 1936.
Sastron, Manuel. La insurrección en filipinas y guerra Hispano-Americana en el archip-
iélago. Madrid: Imp. De la Sucesora de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1901.
Saulo, Alfredo B. Emilio Aguinaldo: Generalissimo and President of the First Philippine
Republic—First Republic in Asia. Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House, 1983.
Schumacher, John N. “Recent Perspectives on the Revolution.” Philippine Studies 30,
no. 4 (1982): 445–92.
———. “The Civil and Religious Ethic of Emilio Jacinto.” In Morality, Religion and the
Filipino, edited by Rene B. Javellana. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University
Press, 1994.
Serrano Laktaw, Pedro. Diccionario Hispano-Tagalog. Manila: Estab. Tipográfico La
Opinión, 1889.
———. Diccionario Tagalog-Hispano. Manila: Imprenta de Santos y Bernal, 1914.
Serrano, Leopoldo R. “Mga Pangyayari sa Buhay ni Andres Bonifacio.” Historical
Bulletin 4, no. 3 (September 1960): 90–99.
St. Clair, Francis. The Katipunan, or the Rise and Fall of the Filipino Commune. Manila:
Tip. “Amigo del Pais,” 1902.
Taylor, John R. M. The Philippine Insurrection against the United States. 5 vols. Pasay
City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1971.
Tenepe [José P. Santos, Teresita Santos, and Nena Santos]. “Si Andres Bonifacio
at ang Katipunan.” Typescript. 1948. [Filipiniana Division, University of the
Philippines Library].
The Trial of Andres Bonifacio: The Original Documents in Tagalog Text and English
Translation. Translated by Virginia Palma-Bonifacio with an historical introduc-
tion by Carlos Quirino and preface by Miguel A. Bernad, SJ. Manila: Ateneo de
Manila, 1963.
The Trial of Rizal. Edited and translated with notes by Horacio de la Costa. Manila:
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1961.
Ventura, Sylvia Mendez. Supremo: The Story of Andres Bonifacio. Makati: Tahanan
Books, 2001.
The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio. Collected and translated with notes
by Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Bonifacio Centennial
Commission, 1963.
Zaide, Gregorio F. Documentary History of the Katipunan Discovery. Manila, 1931; 2d ed.
Manila: Good Shepherd Press, 1932.
———. History of the Katipunan. Manila: Loyal Press, 1939.
———. The Philippine Revolution. Manila: The Modern Book Co., 1954.
Index
Acabo, Simplicio, 406 Alvarez, Santiago (Apuy), 224, 232, 234 281,
“Acta de Tejeros,” 320–41, 341n33, 355, 325, 327, 330–31, 356–58, 363, 370, 381n47,
381n49, 482, 494 384n89, 384, 455, 479
Acto ng Alsamiento, 250–51 Andaya, Alejandro, 261
Agapan (By.), 253; Santa Ana, 448 table 1, 451 “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga Tagalog,” 172,
table 2 189–92; authenticity, authorship and
Agap-Ito Bagum-bayan. “Ang dapat mabatid orthography, 485–93
ng mga Tagalog,” 173 Ang Pinagtatalunang Akta ng Katipunan,
Agoncillo, Teodoro A., 401, 494; on 466–76
intellectuals/wealthy, 402; on Katipunan, Angkiko family, 332
399; on occupations of members, 400– Anting-anting, 458, 462, 464n34
401; The Revolt of the Masses, 404, 470– “Apuy,” 253
72, 477; on “supremely plebeian,” 402 Aquino, Melchora, 466, 472–73
Aguilar, Ignacio (Hapon), 443 table 1 “Araru,” 448 table 1
Aguinaldo, Baldomero (Mabangis), 233, Araullo, Miguel (Morgan), 437 table 1
319n12, 324, 326, 339n10, 354n11, 381n52, Arcangel, Felipe (Tampoy), 442 table 1
398n16 Archivo de la Provincia del Santísimo Rosario
Aguinaldo, Crispulo, 326 (Avila), 494
Aguinaldo, Emilio (Magdalo), 224, 233, 263, Arnaldo, Francisco, 378n4
264, 267, 295–96, 299, 313, 325, 330, 336, Arnaldo, Vicente, 356, 378n4
345, 347, 355–57, 359, 363–66, 370, 373, Archivo de Padres Agustinos de Filipinas
378n4, 382n57, 389–98, 406, 409, 453, (Valladolid), 494
458, 479; excommunication of, 306; Archivo Francisco Ibero-Oriental (Madrid),
president, 320 494
Agustines, Crispiniano (Mabagsik), 162, 223, Archivo General de Indias (Sevilla), 494
224n1 Archivo General Militar (Madrid), 494
A.I.B., “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,” 173 Archivo Histórico Nacional (Madrid), 494
Akibat (Companion), 74, 44, 88 Arellano, Deodato (Santol), 23, 24, 25, 402–3,
Alapaap (By.), 69; Trozo, 434 table 1, 449 table 2 407, 416 table 1, 474
“Alang-alang,” 228 Arocha, Antonio (Dorado), 65, 72, 422 table 1
Alegre, Tomas, 260 Asistio, Ciriaco, 439 table 1
Alejandrino, José, 43, 319n8, 398n15, 409 Aspilleda, Eusebio, 440 table 1
Almeda, Macario (Kidlat), 447 table 1 Associate (Katipon), 88
Alonso, Lorenzo, 62, 64, 71, 426 table 1 Ateneo de Manila University. Rizal Library,
Alvarez, Baltazara, 339n3 494
Alvarez, Mariano (Mainam), 268–69, 281, Ateneo Municipal, 401
306, 322, 324–25, 330–31, 336, 338n3, 352, Authority of the People (Kapangyarihan ng
356–57, 371, 375, 378n4, 381n50, 384n83, Bayan), 44
453; chief of revolutionary forces, 262;
director de foment, 368; viceroy, 269 Bachiller, Lucrecio, 388
Alvarez, Pascual (Bagong Buhay), 232, “Badarag,” 145
325, 328, 330, 381n50; director de Badel, Marcelo (Tubung), 62, 66, 72, 261, 440
gobernación, 368 table 1
501
502 INDEX
“Baga,” 213, 423 table 1 Blanco, Ramón, 172, 270

Bagong Buhay (Newspaper), 259 Bonifacio, Andres, 23–25, 41, 44, 57, 69, 71, 76,
Bagong Silang (By.): Sampaloc, 423 table 1, 80, 83, 87–89, 145–46, 149, 164, 166, 232,
449 table 2 233, 237, 244, 246, 248, 253, 260, 264, 268,
“Baguio,” 436 table 1 271, 274, 322, 325, 330–31, 336, 356–57,
Bagumbayan, executions, 46, 207, 408, 409 359, 363–67, 370, 373, 378n4, 402, 403,
Bagumbayan, Agapito. See Bonifacio, Andres 416 table 1, 457–58, 466, 474; amulet,
“Bagyo,” 423 table 1 462; on By. Mahiganti, 213; “Ang Dapat
“Bakal,” 149 mabatid ng mga tagalog,” 193: Tagalog
“Balabad,” 255 text, 189–91; “Decalogue,” 126–27, 130,
Balara, 273, 281n2, 282n6, 307, 379n8 206n8; director of interior, 320; draft
Balara troops, 319n17, 357, 358–60, 362, 362, notice of appointment, 262–63; on fire
364, 367, 372–73, 375 in Manila, 235; fragment of a speech,
Balintawak, 62, 255, 259–62; meeting, 225 46–47; inspiration, 453; letters to Julio
Baltazar, Francisco. Florante at Laura, 207 Nakpil, 304–10, 384–89; letter to the
Baltazar, Silverio, 406, 438 table 1 High Military Council in Northern
Baptism (Pagbibinyag), 291 District, 275–82; letters to Emilio Jacinto,
Basa, Roman (Liwanag), 45, 61, 65, 72, 401, 310–20, 349–54, 389–98: authenticity,
403, 409, 416 table 1, 474 477–84; KKK’s secrecy, 249; Naik
Basahan ng Bayan, 74, 148, 219, 220n2, 237, 244 Military Agreement, 355–84; notice
Batangas: brotherhood, 454; Magdiwang of appointment, 346–49; “Pag-ibig sa
Council, 322, 359; protagonists in, tinubuang Bayan,” 172, 174, 193–206:
326; provincial government, 353, 396; “President of the Sovereign Nation,” 407;
revolution, 388; under Supreme Council, reelection, 412; on revolution, 255; ritual
352, 369 for the initiation of a Bayani, 87–89;
“Bato,” 422 table 1 94–100; Supreme Council president, 220,
Bautista, Hermogenes, 271, 279, 281, 283, 445 223, 269, 302; undated proclamation,
table 1 301–4
Bautista, Justo (Alipato), 429 table 1 Bonifacio, Ciriaco, 23, 364, 366, 372
Bautista, Leon (Maasahan), 443 table 1 Bonifacio, Procopio, 260, 323, 373, 398n17, 426
Bayanihan (By.): Mandaluyong, 442 table 1, table 1
450 table 2 Borja, Rogelio (Magiliw), 80, 149, 223, 228,
Bedaña, Bonifacio, 288 260, 319n6, 441 table 1
Belen, Patricio, 260 Borlongan, Pablo (Uli-uli), 427 table 1
Benito, Adriano (Bulaklak), 443 table 1 Briones, Cecilio, 430 table 1
Bernad, Miguel. Aguinaldo and the Revolution Buehler, Soledad Borromeo-, 412
of 1896: A Documentary History, 494 “Buhawi,” 213, 228
Bernardo, Andres, 285 “Bukal,” 423 table 1
Bernardo, Raimundo (Baso), 444 table 1 “Bukanan,” 422 table 1
Bernardo, Ramón (Salogo), 255, 262, 406, 446 Bulacan, 271, 283; elite, 453; recruits, 412;
table 1 subversives, 306
Bernardo, Rudesindo, 442 table 1 Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora, 2, 21, 46–47, 88,
Binhing Payapa (Seed of Peace), 61, 62, 448 167, 206–9
table 1 Buzon, Moises (Makapangyarihan), 431 table 1
Binondo: Sb. Ilog Pasig, 61, 248, 265, 422 table
1, 449 table 2 Cailles, Juan, 354n7, 359, 362, 396, 398n18
Bituin (By.): Mandaluyong, 442 table 1, 450 Calasanz, Teodoro, 448 table 1
table 2 Caloocan, 406; Assembly, 61, 62; By./Sb.
“Bituin,” 149 Dalisayan, 438–40, 450 table 2
INDEX 503
Camay (Rank), 87 Coronel, Gregorio (Leon), 152, 219, 228, 243,

Campon (Rank), 87 244, 246, 412, 419 table 1
Campos, Benito, 146, 432 table 1 Corpuz, O.D., 389
Candanchoy, Vicente (Maningas), 447 table 1 Cortés, Pedro, 466, 467, 468, 476n13; Minutes
Caro y Mora, Juan, 486, 487–89 of the Katipunan, 474
Carpio, Bernardo: folk legend, 458 Cortes, Representation in, 4, 16
Carreon, Francisco (Silanganan), 69, 70, 74, Council of War, 97, 362, 373, 396
80, 146, 161, 164, 166, 237, 244, 246, 261, Covenant. See “Pinagcasundoan” and “Pinag-
323, 367, 412, 419 table 1, 433 table 1, 470 kasundoan”
Carreon, Nicomedes (Kalapati), 82, 159, 261, Crisostomo, Mariano, 453
433 table 1 Cristobal, Adrian E. The Tragedy of the
Carreon, Placido (Liwayway), 431 table 1 Revolution, 480
Cartridge consignment, 312 Cristobal, Geronimo (Burgos), 72, 82, 159, 223,
“Casaysayan” (Narrative), 1, 2, 3; English 246, 261, 409, 424 table 1.
translation of, 15–18; Tagalog text, 6–9 Cristobal, Marcelo, 430 table 1
Casimiro, Pascual, 437 table 1 Cruz, Donato Abella, 243
Castaneda, Marcos, 443 table 1 Cruz, Esteban (Buan), 54, 430 table 1
Castillo, Felis, 433 table 1 Cruz, Hilarion (Batong buhay), 429 table 1
Castillo, Vicente, 443 table 1 Cruz, Juan (Matapang), 69, 80, 145, 215–16,
Catholic Easter Vigil ceremony, 460 260, 434 table 1, 436 table 1
Cavite, 354n10, 454; elite, 458; key figures, 453; Cruz, Julian, 430 table 1
locus of revolution, 406; Magdalo zone, Cruz, Mariano, 285
356–57; Malvar in, 369; recaptured by Cruz, Salustiano (Matunog), 146, 224, 228,
Spaniards, 361–62, 365, 389; revolution, 248, 260, 428 table 1
262, 321–23, 374, 388, 406, 494 Cruz, Valentin (Gugol), 224, 230n1, 406, 447
Cavite Mutiny, 46, 88, 306 table 1
Centeno, Florentino, 430 table 1 Cry of Balintawak, 467
Center (Ubod), 41–43 Cuadrado, Vicente (Araw), 432 table 1
Central Luzon, 454; peasant brotherhood, 454 Cuenca, Felix, 324, 326, 337
Chacon, Crispulo (Mabulu), 62, 66, 73, 430 Cuerpo de Compromisarios, 448 table 1
table 1, 260 Cuerpo de Vigilancia y Seguridad, 55
Chamber of Reflection, 101–3, 116, 120, 138 Cuisa, Epifanio, 282
Christianity, 456
Clemente, Alberto, 433 table 1 Dalisay (masonic lodge), 403
Clemente, Luis, 430 table 1 Dalisayan (By./Sb.), 66, 69, 72; Caloocan,
“Codigo Masonico,” 127, 130 438–40, 450 table 2
Cofradia de San José, 454 Dandan, Pedro, 319n13
Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 401 Dapitan (Sb.), 66, 72; Council, 159; popular
Colorum society, 454, 455 council (Sb.), 215; Trozo, 433 table 1, 449
Comenge, Rafael, 352, 354n4, 360, 365, 394 table 2
Companion (Akibat), 88 De Achutegui, Pedro. Aguinaldo and the
Concepcion: Sb. Mahiganti, 423 table 1; By. Revolution of 1896: A Documentary
Pandayan, 423 table 1, 449 table 2; By. History, 494
Tagailog 423 table 1, 449 table 2 De Dios, Emiliano Riego, 270, 320, 325, 327–30,
Concha, Rufino, 434 table 1 332, 342, 344, 359, 395
Cordero, Quirino, 248, 439 table 1 De Dios, Mariano Riego, 359
Cornejo, Miguel. Commonwealth Encyclopedia, De Dios, Vicente Riego, 342, 344, 359
409 De Guzman, Benito, 387
504 INDEX
De Guzman, Eleuterio (Lintik), 54, 55, 66, 70, De los Santos, Estanislao (Paku), 69, 434
72, 76n11, 428 table 1 table 1
De Guzman, Liborio (Makahinga), 444 table 1 De los Santos, Eugenio, 285
De Guzman, Marcelino, 285 De los Santos, Eulogio, 285
De Guzman, Mariano, 444 table 1 De los Santos, Francisco, 271, 308, 309n15
De Guzman, Nicolas, 443 table 1 De los Santos, Jorge, 484n13
De Guzman, Sabas, 446 table 1 De los Santos, Valentin, 461
De Jesus, Adriano (Mapilit), 145 ,223, 246 De Remigio, Simeona, 62, 413, 436 table 1
De Jesus, Arcadio (Marikit), 66, 72, 439 table 1 De Volney, Constantin-Francois. Las Ruinas de
De Jesus, Gregoria (Lakambini), 48, 338n3, Palmira, 179–80
413, 436 table 1 Decena, Leon Cruz (Patalim), 146, 431 table 1
De la Cruz, Apolonio (Dinalitiwan), 81, 147, “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the
148, 237, 260, 409, 429 table 1 Citizen,” 172
De la Cruz, Juan (Karim), 66, 72, 282 Del Carmen, Isaac, 260
De la Cruz, Julian, 286–87 Del Castillo, Francisco, 170
De la Cruz, Leon, 291–92 Del Pilar, Gregorio, 453
De la Cruz, Lucino (Ipo Ipo), 279, 282, 319n17, Del Pilar, Marcelo H., 24, 172, 175, 209, 305,
436 table 1 479
De la Cruz, Pantaleon, 66, 72 Del Pilar, Pio (Pang-una), 299n1, 355, 363–66,
De la Cruz, Pedro (Mapagtangol), 85 372–73, 375, 377, 384n80, 407, 440 table 1
De la Cruz, Sixto, 443 table 1 Del Rosario, Aguedo (Tagaisok), 24, 57, 64, 68,
De la Marca, Benigno (Mailap), 427 table 1 69, 70, 71, 74, 75, 145, 146, 164, 166, 194,
De la Paz, Candido, 285 223, 228, 230, 243, 244, 246, 248, 253, 260,
De la Paz, Francisco (Timog), 406, 447 table 1 401, 407, 412, 419 table 1, 428 table 1;
De la Paz, Honorato, 284 Supreme Council councilor, 160
De la Paz, Ponciano, 283, 286 Del Rosario, Gregorio, 64, 71
De la Paz, Sixto, 285 Del Rosario, José, 325, 328, 332, 354n8, 362,
De la Rosa, Marcelo, 64, 71 380n26, 395
De la Rosa, Mariano (Balawis), 427 table 1 Diario de Manila, 170, 171, 411
De Lara, Doroteo (Sinukuan), 432 table 1 Diariong Tagalog, 172
De Lara, Jorge (Kabalisian), 146, 431 table 1 Diaz, Olegario, 24, 415n46
De Lara, Nicolas, 271, 318, 320n20 Diaz, Valentin (Walangulat), 23, 25, 41, 193,
De las Alas, Severino, 319n16, 325, 328–30, 332, 401, 402, 403, 406, 419 table 1
368, 381n51 Dimahipo (By./Sb.), 65, 69, 71, 151, 152, 411,
De Leon, Santiago Rillo. See Rillo, Santiago 440 table 1, 450 table 2; Mandaluyong,
De Lerena, Federico, 88 442 table 1, 450 table 2
De los Reyes, Estanislao, 80 Dimas Alan, “Pahayag,” 172, 173, 179–86
De los Reyes, Eugenio (Katigasan), 401, 403, “Dimas Alang,” 230n3
409, 437 table 1 Dimasalang (By.), 69, 71, 398n20; Santa Cruz,
De los Reyes, Genaro, 287 425–26, 425 table 1, 449 table 2
De los Reyes, Isabelo, 88, 101, 129, 171; “Dimas Ayaran,” 230n3. See also Valenzuela,
bourgeois members, 404; brotherhood, Pio
399; Katipunan, 402; occupations of Dimasayaran (By.), 68; Trozo, 435 table 1
members, 400 Di-Matitigan (By.): Malabon, 441 table 1, 450
De los Santos, Epifanio, 24, 206n8, 378n1, table 2
466, 467; on Bonifacio’s letters, 485; Diokno, Ananias, 453
“Ang dapat mabatid,” 486; Philippine Diwa, Ladislao (Baliti), 23, 25, 41, 401, 402, 418
Review, 477, 478, 479, 482–83; Spanish table 8
translations of “Ang dapat mabatid,” 489 Dizon, José, 24, 402, 405, 406, 409, 437 table 1
INDEX 505
Dizon, Josefa, 171, 354n12 Florendo, Brigido (Nalagda), 424 table 1

Dizon, Marina, 62, 401, 403, 413, 436 table 1 Florentino, Balbino (Silang), 69, 74, 75, 81,
Domingo, Buenaventura (Gatdula), 149, 228, 145, 146, 148, 149, 164, 166, 219, 237, 243,
406 244, 246, 274, 412, 419 table 1; Supreme
Domingo, Rosendo (Lingab), 64, 71 Council councilor, 160
Domingo, Silvestre, 372 Florentino, Juan, 65, 72
Domingo, Victoriano (Buhawi), 444 table 1 Flores, Andres (Matigas), 64, 71
Domingues, Rufino (Sibat), 432 table 1 Folk tradition, 453, 459
Dominguez, Doroteo (Abang), 64, 71, 409, 425 Foreman, John, 305
table 1 Francisco, Hipolito (Lumaya), 447 table 1
Dominican Philippine Province, 494 Francisco, Irineo (Subdan), 146, 428 table 1
Dulumbayan (District of Manila), 76, 224, Francisco, Isidoro (Añora), 271, 273–75, 283,
235, 411 304, 407
“Dupil,” 145, 149 Francisco, Valentin (Mabait), 444 table 1
Duque, Faustino, 170, 171 Franco, Domingo, 405
Duque, Francisco (Mabangis), 162 Fransico, Miguel, 285
Fraternity (Kayong lahat ay magkakapatid), 131
Eco Filipino, 88, 96 Frineza, Felicisimo, 294–95
El Cisne (Printing Press), 170
El Comercio, 170 Gabinete de Reflexiónes, 460
El Filibusterismo, 46, 55, 130 Gaceta de Manila, 22
El Heraldo de Madrid, 171, 173 “Gagalangin,” 247
El Oriente (tobacco factory), 152, 411 “Gahis,” 213
Encarnacion, Emmanuel, 477, 480, 494 Garcia, Alejo (Mainit), 65, 72, 422 table 1
Enlightenment (Kaliwanagan), 131 Garcia, Francisco (Kalaos), 439 table 1
Enriquez, Julian, 442 table 1 Garcia, Pantaleon, 383n74
Enriquez, Timoteo (Balete), 439 table 1 Gasingan, Doroteo, 433 table 1
Equality (Lahat ng tao’y magkakapantay), 131, Geronimo, Licerio, 445 table 1
462 Gil, Fr. Mariano, 169, 494, 476n13
Ermita: Sb. Mahiganti, 423 table 1, 449 table 2; Giron, Pedro, 373, 383n73, 384n84
By. Pandayan, 423 table 1; By. Tagailog, Gobierno Provincial, 324
423 table 1 Gobierno Revolucionario, 324
Escuela Normal, 354n6 Gomez, Dominador, 459
Esguerra, Valentin, 446 table 1 Gomez, Mariano, 2, 21, 46–47, 88, 167, 206–9
Espinosa, Flaviano (Nagbago), 447 table 1 Gonzales, Laureano (Palakul), 441 table 1
Espiritu, Enrique, 286 Gonzales, Nicolas, 453
Ethnoliguistic groups, 464n52 Gonzales, Teodoro (Lathala), 23, 61, 64, 71, 323,
325–29, 409, 425 table 1, 470; education,
Fajardo, Deogracias, 260, 423 table 1 401, 420 table 1
Fajardo, Juan, 260 Gonzalez, Adriano, 443 table 1
Falconete, 273, 279, 281n5, 282n6 Gonzalez, Narciso, 72
Felipe, Julian, 307 Goson, Eugenio (Madarag), 151, 440 table 1
Fernandez, Ulpiano, 170, 171 Gran Oriente Español, 127; manifesto, 130
Fernandez, Vicente, 317, 319n11 Great Council (Dakilang Sangunian), 22
Fernando, Claro, 285 Guardia Civil, 3, 17, 412, 454
Filipinos in History, 474 Guardia de Honor, 454
Financial assistance, to members, 242 Guerrero, Juan (Kalipulako), 65, 72
Fischer, Leo, 206n8 Guerrero, Milagros C., 263
Flamenco, Braulio (Patung), 162 Guerrero, Teodorico (Kislat), 64, 71, 425 table 1
506 INDEX
Guevarra, Antonino, 174n2, 352, 354n3, 384, 291–92, 294, 312–20, 342, 347, 355, 389;
387–89, 394–96, 453, 484n12 education, 401; “Gising na nga tagalog!!”,
Gutierrez, Rafael (Ilagan), 70, 146, 145, 163, 50–54; “Gomez, Burgos, Zamora!!!,”
213, 223, 248, 251, 261, 409, 423 table 1 206–9; Kalayaan editor, 170–71, 173;
Guzman, Marcelino, 285 “Kartilya,” 129–31; letter to High Council
of Northern District, 288–89; letter
Haligue (Rank), 87 to Isidoro Francisco, 273–75; letter to
“Halo,” 447 table 1 Julio Nakpil, 295–96; reelection, 412; on
Hari ng Bayang Pilipinas (King or ruler of the revolution, 255; “Sa Bayang tinubuan,”
Philippine nation), 22 210–11; “Sa mga Kababayan,” 173, 174,
Harrison, Francis Burton, 457 175–79; Supreme Council secretary, 160,
Herbosa, Delfina Rizal, 48, 437 table 1 220, 223; Supreme Military Commander,
Hernandez, Mateo (Kalumpang), 69, 439 286; writings, 485–86
table 1 Jacinto, Mariano, 354n12, 469, 475n11
Herrera, Ponciano (Milano), 59, 70, 437 table 1 Jaramillo, Nicolas, 270
High Executive (Mataas na Sangunian): “Jasmin,” 167, 223, 243, 247
christening certificate, 291–92; Javier, Luciano, 42
demand for donations, 290–91; draft Javier, Restituto (Mangahas), 23, 41, 42, 44, 61,
appointment, 294–95; letters, 271–72, 62, 65, 71, 261, 401, 420 table 1, 425 table 1
283–84, 285–87, 296–97; marriage Jesus, Adriano (Mapilit), 69, 74, 151, 440 table
certificate, 292–94; 1
“Himno Nacional,” 307 Joaquin, Nick, 405
Huat, Damaso (Tubig), 152, 441 table 1 Jocson, Feliciano, 319n8, 282n6, 398n15, 438
table 1, 469, 475n11; education, 401
“Iba,” 423 table 1 Jocson, Gregorio, 359
Iban, Candido, 170 Joloanos, 3, 16
Ileto, Reynaldo. Pasyon and Revolution, 408, José, Benito (Palaso), 73, 429 table 1
452, 453, 454, 461; on Bonifacio, 457–58 José, Bernardo (Halo), 430 table 1
Ilog Pasig (Sb.), 61, 65, 72; Binondo, 422 table José, Eusebio, 429 table 1, 433 table 1
1, 449 table 2 José, Patricio, 443 table 1
Ilog San Juan (By.): Mandaluyong, 442 table
1, 450 table 2 Kabuhayan (By.): Tondo, 69, 73, 80, 429–31
Ilustrados, 8, 17, 402, 405, 453, 457 table 1, 449 table 2
Imus Assembly, 323, 333, 339n10, 397n6 “Kalatsutsi,” 255
Independence, 1, 20 Kalaw, Teodoro M., 368, 466–69, 471, 474,
Indigenous religions, 455 474n1
Initiation rites, 100–104, 119–20, 460; opening Kalayaan (Katipunan paper), 3, 5, 25, 88, 138,
of the lodge, 111–18, 123–26 169–75, 224n2, 241, 459, 485, 490–91;
Inocencio, Mariano (Ating-ating), 64, 71 “balita,” 173; contents, 172–73; copies
Insignia, 368, 467 printed, 171; physical appearance, 171;
Intramuros: By. Maluningning, 424 table 1; texts, 173–75; title and masthead, 172
449 table 2 Kalentong (By.): Mandaluyong, 442 table 1,
Itiwalag, 61, 64–66, 155, 240 450 table 2
Kalingaan (By.): Santa Cruz, 426–27 table 1,
Jacinto, Emilio (Pingkian), 25, 44–45, 57, 62, 449 table 2
67, 69, 74–73, 77, 79–81, 129, 141, 145–46, “Kalipulako,” 52, 71, 76n10
148–49, 152, 162, 164, 166, 193–94, 232, Kaliwanagan (By.), 446 table 1, 451 table 2
233, 237, 244, 246, 248, 253, 417 table “Kampilan,” 159
1, 466, 467, 260, 264, 268, 273–75, 280, “Kamumo,” 162
INDEX 507
Kapanatagan, 460, 464n42 Katotohanan (By.): Tondo, 431–32 table 1, 449

“Kapit,” 81, 145 table 2
Karitas (By.): Navotas, 446 table 1 “Katuiran din naman,” 173–74, Tagalog text,
Kartilya, 82, 129–38, 159, 462 187; English translation, 188
Kasanguni (Councilors), 22, 149, 410, 412 Kawal (Soldier), 74
“Kasaysayan” (Narrative), 20–26, 32–33 Kidlat (By.): Mandaluyong, 443 table 1
Kasilawan (By./Sb.), 253; Santa Ana, 448 table Kongo, 265, 476n25
1, 451 table 2
Kataastaasang Kapisanan. See Supreme La Liga Filipina, 271, 402–3, 410, 414n21, 462
Assembly La Solidaridad, 175, 178, 209
Kataastaasang Katipunan, 21 Labios, Januario, 461
Kataastaasang Sangunian. See Supreme Lagasca, Valentin (Katiagaan), 261, 409, 438
Council table 1
Katagalugan (Nation), 38n1, 52, 99, 101–2, Laktaw, Pedro Serrano. Diccionario Hispano-
118n2, 158, 178, 191, 200, 290, 317, tagalog, 488
323, 344–45, 347–49, 464n52, 490; Land, redistribution, 455
Government of, 448 table 1 Laong Laan (Sb.): Santa Cruz, 61-62, 64, 68, 71,
Katagalugan (Sb.), 48–49, 54-57, 69, 145–46, 424–25 table 1, 449 table 2
149n1, 227, 229, 242–43, 246, 248, 257n, Lapiang Malaya, 461
412; Tondo, 411, 428–29 table 1, 449 Las Piñas, 440 table 1, 450 table 2
table 2 Laurel, Arcadio, 453
Katipon (Rank), 88 Laurel, Ildefonso (Maytiaga), 43, 404, 420
Katipunan, class composition, 332, 374, table 1
399–407, 452, 455, 458–9, 462; “cleansed” Legaspi, Silvestre (Panahun), 233
of bad elements, 219; code, 20, 25, 40n18, Leyva, Vicente (Kalentong), 261, 442 table 1
128n3–4, 219, 243, 310, 467; duties of the Liberty (Kalayaan), 3, 120, 131, 172, 408, 458–59
Sons of the People, 70, 74, 81, 126–28, “Linta,” 435 table 1
134–37; elections, 44–46, 81–83, 135, “Lintik,” 213
146–47, 161n1, 166, 271–72, 279–80, “Liwayway,” 69, 224
283–85; finances, 34, 38, 69–71, 76, 83, Llanera, Mariano, 453
135, 146–47, 159, 161, 250, 283, 290, Lodge of Adoption, 403
297, 298n1, 374, 387, 482; founding of, “Loob,” 145, 246
1–6, 20–25; initiation rituals, 87–126, Lopez, Angelita Rizal, 48, 436 table 1
459–60; leaflet to incite anger, 237; and Lopez, Doroteo, 65
Liga Filipina, 403–5; and masonry, Love of Country. See “Pagibig sa tinubuang
402–3; network of three person triangles, Bayan”
23, 411; nomenclature, 21–22, 281, Lozada, Marcos (Bakal), 447 table 1
410; occupational profile, 400–401; Lumbreras, Jacinto (Bagong Bayan), 325–26,
official gazette (Atasan), 223, 228; and 330–31, 336, 341n35, 368, 375, 381n50,
principalia, 405, 406; roots, 453–55; 384n87
signals, 54, 73–74, 219, 243; unity, 35, 53,
60, 95, 125, 206, 268, 352, 360, 370, 371, “Mabalasik,” 232
374, 377, 394, 455, 462; women’s section, “Mabato,” 447 table 1
48, 399, 413, 436–37 table 1, 450 table 2 Mabini, Apolinario, 309n15, 474
Katipunan chapters: Hong Kong, 43; “Mabuti,” 232
Mindanao, 41 Macapagal, Lazaro, 363–64
Katipuneros, 407, 410; at Balintawak, 259–62; Macario, Felipe (Maalab), 427 table 1
execution, 409; remembering, 407–9 Madlangaway. “Katuiran din naman,” 173–74.
See also Valenzuela, Pio
508 INDEX
Magampon, Domingo, 280 Mañalak, Faustino. See Mañalac, Faustino

“Magdalena,” 213 (Mayon)
Magdaleno, Hugo, 444 table 1 Mandaluyong, 406, 407; By. Bayanihan, 442
Magdalo (By.), 233, 234, 237 table 1, 450 table 2; By. Bituin, 442 table
Magdalo Council, 263, 312, 321–22, 348, 356, 1, 450 table 2; By. Dimahipo, 442 table 1,
378n4, 453 450 table 2; By. Ilog San Juan, 442 table
Magdalo, Juan, 455 1, 450 table 2; By. Kalentong, 442 table
Magdiwang (By.), 232, 237, 453 1, 450 table 2; By. Kidlat, 443 table 1, 450
Magdiwang Council, 264, 270, 301, 312, 321–23, table 2; By. Magtibay, 443 table 1, 450
325, 346, 348, 356, 378n4 table 2; By. Magwagi, 443 table 1, 450
Maglayon, Dionisio (Panday), 439 table 1 table 2; By. Malanday, 443 table 1, 450
Magsarili, Cornelio, 270, 381n50 table 2; By. Manolo, 443 table 1, 450 table
Magtagumpay (By.): Makati/Malibay, 440 2; By. Mapagibig, 443 table 1, 450 table
table 1, 450 table 2 2; By. Marikit, 443 table 1, 450 table 2;
Magtanggol (By.): Pasig, 447 table 1, 451 table By. Matunog, 444 table 1, 450 table 2; By.
2 Nagliwanag, 444 table 1, 450 table 2; By.
Magtibay (By.): Mandaluyong, 443 table 1, Sapa, 444 table 1, 450 table 2; By. Sikat,
450 table 2 444 table 1, 450 table 2; By. Simbulan,
Magwagi (By.): Mandaluyong, 443 table 1, 450 444 table 1, 450 table 2; By. Sinukuan,
table 2 444 table 1, 451 table 2; By. Tahimik, 444
Mahal na Karurukan, 460 table 1, 451 table 2; By. Tala, 445 table 1,
Mahiganti (By./Sb.), 70, 73, 163, 213–14, 246, 451 table 2; By. Tangkilik, 445 table 1, 451
249–52; May 30, 1896 meeting, 251–52; table 2; By./Sb. Makabuhay, 441–42 table
Ermita, Concepcion and Paco (Dilao), 1, 450 table 2; center of KKK activity, 220
423 table 1, 449 table 2 “Manga dakuilang kautusan” (Principal
Makabuhay (By./Sb.), 70, 145, 149, 228, 244, orders), 27, 34; authorship, 23; for
247, 406, 411; Mandaluyong, 441–42 councilors, 37; duties of the head, 36;
table 1, 450 table 2 English translation of, 20, 34–38; head
“Makahia,” 229, 242, 244 of the army, 38; prosecutor, 37–38; rules
Makati, 407; By. Magtagumpay, 440 table 1 for all, 38; secretary (for assistants), 37;
Malabon: By. Di-Matitigan, 441 table 1, 450 Tagalog text, 27–32
table 2; By. Tangulan, 441 table 1, 450 “Manga daquilang cautosan” (Principal
table 2; By./Sb. Dimahipo, 440–41 table orders), 1, 5, 7 ; Tagalog text, 11–18 ;
1, 450 table 2; Masikap (By.), 441 table 1, English translation, 20
450 table 2 Manila, 4, 35, 283, 453; Katipunan activists,
Malanday (By.): Mandaluyong, 443 table 1, 399–415, 416–37 table1; Katipunan
450 table 2 councils and branches, 449–50 table 2;
Malia, Epifanio, 331 masonic lodges, 494
Malibay, 407; Magtagumpay (By.), 440 table 1, Manila Bulletin, 474
450 table 2 Manolo (By.): Mandaluyong, 443 table 1, 450
Malinban, Juan, 288 table 2
Malolos Congress (1898), 406 Manuel, Pablo, 426 table 1
Malolos Constitution (1898), 409 Mapagibig (By.), 443 table 1; Mandaluyong,
Maluningning (By.): San Nicolas, 72, 449 450 table 2
table 2 “Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan,” 307
Malvar, Miguel, 353, 354n9, 369, 453 Marcelo, Sarhento, 261
Mañalac, Faustino (Mayon), 61, 62, 65, 72, 261, “Marcha Filipina Magdalo,” 307
409, 420 table 1, 422 table 1 Marcial, Inocencio (Matulin), 80, 81, 424
table 1
INDEX 509
Mariano, Gregorio (Maligaya), 435 table 1 reelection, 412, 418 table 1; Supreme
Marikina, 407, 445 table 1, 451 table 2 Council treasurer, 160
Marikit (By.): Mandaluyong, 443 table 1, 450 Monoalphabetic substitution cipher, 20
table 2; San Juan del Monte, 447 table 1, Montalan, Julian, 327, 359
451 table 2 Montalban, 445 table 1, 451 table 2
Martinez, Lorenzo, 260 Montillano, Tomas, 406, 445 table 1
Masangkay, Guillermo (Alakdan), 215, 223, Montenegro, Antonio, 326
259–60, 301, 401, 420 table 1, 433 table 1, Morales, Emiliano (Lagasa), 64, 71, 425 table 1
434; table 1, 466n15, 470, 494 Moriones, Domingo (Maugong), 407, 427
Mascardo, Tomas, 326 table 1
Masikap (By.), 441 table 1, 450 table 2, 450 Morong, 264, 268, 271, 283, 294
table 2 Mother Spain, 4, 125
Masonry, 24, 25, 103, 115, 127, 130, 306, 402–3, Mount Calvary, 460
460, 462 Mount Masuyod, 281
Mata, Raymundo, 235n1 Moxica, Diego, 356, 378n4
“Mataas,” 426 table 1 Muntinlupa, 445 table 1, 451 table 2
Mataas na Sangunian. See High Council
Matabagdal, Valentin (Walang takot), 253, Na La Anak Bayan (With the Sons of the
448 table 1 People), 74
Matandang kalayaan (Old liberty), 120 Nacionalista Party, 459
Matatag (By.), 253; Santa Ana, 448 table 1, 451 Nadal, Antonio (Mercurio), 65, 72
table 2 “Nagbago,” 447 table 1
“Matigas,” 253 Nagbangon (By./Sb.), 230, 406; Pasig, 446
“Matuid,” 441 table 1 table 1, 451 table 2
Matunog (By.), 224; Mandaluyong, 444 table Nagliwanag (By.): Mandaluyong, 444 table 1,
1, 450 table 2 450 table 2
May, Glenn. Inventing a Hero, 477, 478, 479, Nagtangol (Pangulo), 448 table 1
480, 482–83, 484n7, 486; on “Ang dapat Naik Military Agreement, 355–84, 378n1,
mabatid ng mga Tagalog,” 488–89, 491– 381n51, 482, 494; charge of treason, 360–
92; on “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,” 63; contested republic, 355–57; meeting
491; sources on the Katipunan, 399 at casa hacienda, 363–66; military crisis,
Maypagasa (Sb.), 154; Trozo, 435 table 1, 449 357–58; republic affirmed, 368–70; rifles
table 2 and commission, 358–60; tragedy of the
Medina y Cristobal, Geronimo. See Cristobal, revolution, 374–76
Geronimo Nakpil, Julio (Giliw), 276, 283, 291–92, 295–98,
Medina, Isagani R., 262; on Bonifacio’s letters, 304–10, 319n9, 398n14, 407, 494; and
480, 482, 484n13; on “Sediciones y Andres Bonifacio, 481, 484n12; secretary,
Rebeliones,” 407 271
Middle class, 402, 403, 404, 405, 407 Nangungulo (The President), 41
Miguel, Tito, 261 National Archives. “Sediciones y Rebeliones,”
Millenarian brotherhoods, 455, 456 494
Minutes of the Katipunan, 466–76 National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Modestia (masonic lodge), 403 Cuerpo de Vigilancia y Seguridad, 494
Mojica, Ambrosio, 381n50 National Heroes Commission, 473
Mojica, Diego, 270, 325, 330–31, 367, 371–72 National Library, 467, 473
Mojica, Pablo, 325 National unity, 461–63
Molina, Vicente (Maniangat), 45, 68, 69, 75, Natividad, Mamerto, 319n12, 354n11, 396,
80, 146, 147,164, 223, 244, 248, 261, 409; 398n16, 453
510 INDEX
Navarro, Julio, 261 Pandayan (Sb.): Ermita, Concepcion and Paco

Navotas, 407, 451 table 2; By. Karitas, 446 (Dilao), 423 table 1
table 1 Pangasinan, 454; uprising, 494
Nepomuceno, Julian (Digma), 64, 71, 406, 425 Pangilinan, Macaria, 437 table 1
table 1 Pantas, Briccio (Bungahan), 23, 261, 401, 403,
Nieva, Gregorio, 206n8 417 table 1, 470
Nijaga, Benedicto, 409, 438 table 1 Paombong, 305
Nilad: masonic lodges, 402 Paquitan, Mariano (Sikat), 424 table 1
Noceda, Juan de. Vocabulario de la lengua Parañaque, 407, 446 table 1, 451 table 2
tagala, 488 Parola, 230n2
Nocon, Santos, 325, 331, 367, 372 Partido Nacionalista, 448 table 1
Noli me Tangere, 305 Pasay: By. Kaliwanagan, 446 table 1, 451 table
Noriel, Mariano, 324, 337, 363–66, 372–73, 375 2
Novaliches, 407; By. Karitas 446 table 1, 451 Pascual, Silvestre (Pam Beteng), 446 table 1
table 2 Paseo, Mariano, 285
Novicio, Adriano, 494 “Pasig Pantayanin,” 307
Nueva Ecija, 283; uprising, 494 Pasig, 291, 406; By. Pinaglabanan, 447 table
Numerical code, 476n21 1, 451 table 2; By./Sb. Nagbangon, 446
table 1, 451 table 2
Oath of allegiance, 85–87, 101, 138–39 Pasong Kawayan, 281
Ocampo, Ambeth; on Bonifacio’s letters, 477, Patriot (Bayani), 88
480; “Looking Back,” 408 Pasyon, 456, 457; and revolution, 452–53
Olaez family, 332 Pateros: By. Magtanggol, 447 table 1, 451
Opening of the Lodge, 123 table 2
Ortiz, Lazaro (Makapangyarihan), 429 table 1 Patrisia (Girl), 291
Peasantry, 452; Tagalog dissidence, 456
Pablo, Pioquinto (Banag), 442 table 1 People’s Library. See Basahan ng Bayan
Pacheco, Alfonso (Asana), 430 table 1 Peres, Heraclio Santos (Matigas), 434 table 1
Pacheco, Cipriano (Hininga), 67, 74, 145, 148, Perez, Andres, 66, 72
224, 261, 432 table 1 Perez, Doroteo Lopez (Silang), 71, 426 table 1
Pacheco, Enrique (Macabuhay), 223, 228, 243, Philippine-American War, 282n8, 459, 466
244, 247, 261, 401, 412, 421 table 1 Philippine Assembly, 459
Paco (Dilao): Sb. Mahiganti, 423 table 1; By. Philippine currency, 220n1
Pandayan, 423 table; By. Tagailog 423 Plebian, 399, 404
table 1 Pi, Pio, 352, 354n4, 360, 365, 380n26, 394
“Pagatpat,” 69 Piernavieja, Antonio, 305–7
Pagbubukas ng Karurukan, 460 Pilaristas, 25
“Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,” 173, 200–205, “Pinagcasundoan” (Covenant), 1, 4, 5, 9–11,
486, 490, 491 18–20
“Pagsanjan,” 228 “Pinag-kasundoan” (Covenant), 27, 33–34
Pagtibain (By.): Tondo, 432–33 table 1, 449 Pinaglabanan (By.), 230; Pasig, 447 table 1, 451
table 2 table 2
“Pahayag” (Manifesto), 179–86, 486 Pingkian, (Sb.): Tondo, 433 table 1, 449 table 2
“Paku,” 145, 247 Plata, Hermogenes (Kidlat), 146–48, 160–61,
“Palakul,” 145, 255, 247 261, 431 table 1
Pampanga, 319n12, 354n11, 398n16, 454 Plata, Ladislao, 403
Pandacan, 255, 446 table 1, 451 table 2 Plata, Teodoro (Pangligtas), 23, 25, 41, 261,
Pandayan (By.), 213 402, 407, 409, 417 table 1; education, 401
INDEX 511
Plauchut, Edmund, 209 Rios, Ruperto, 461

Poblete, Pascual, 459 Ritual, Modesto, 373, 384n82
Polavieja, Camilo, 494 Rivera, Braulio (Guitna), 408, 409, 431 table 1
Popular Councils, 160, 233, 410, 422–48 Rivera, Nicolas (Pana), 426 table 1
Portilla, Nicolas, 331 Rizal, José, 21, 48, 250, 398n20, 403, 459, 479;
“Programa Masonica,” 127, 130 “El Amor Patrio,” 172; “To the Young
Progress (Kagalingan), 131 Women of Malolos,” 456
Propaganda movement, 175, 407, 453, 459 Rizal, Josefa, 48, 403, 413, 436 table 1
Provincia de Manila, 438–48 Rizal, Paciano, 319n10, 453
Punong dakila (Paramount Chief ), 21 Rizal, Trinidad, 437 table 1
Punong Ubod (Central Chief ), 21, 22 Rizalistas, 25
Rodriguez, Benita, 62, 413, 436 table 1
Quirino, Carlos, 340n26, 474 Rodriguez, Eulogio, 70
Quitain, Modesto (Opso), 66, 73, 431 table 1 Rodriguez, Eulogio B., 467–68
Rodriguez, Joaquin (Mahigpit), 439 table 1
Ramos, Roman, 261, 435 table 1 Rojas, Biviano, 383n71
Ramos, Severino (Maktan), 427 table 1 Ronquillo, Carlos, 458, 479, 480
Ravachol. See Laurel, Ildefonso Roxas, Severino, 441 table 1
Reason (Katuiran), 131 Rubio, Hilario (Buhawi), 423 table 1
Reformist newspapers, 4 Ruestra, Melecio (Buhawi), 215, 260, 434
Regidor, Manuel, 88 table 1
Religion: language and imagery, 456; Ruiz, Lucio (Suligui), 442 table 1
revivalism, 452 Rural masses, 461
Remigio, Tomas (Toremige), 61, 62, 64, 71, 261,
404, 421 table 1, 424 table 1 “Sa mga kababayan,” 173–76, 485–86
Republica Filipina-Presidencia, 297, 368 Sakay, Macario (Pakulin), 260, 408, 409, 411,
Resurreccion, Miguel (Baga), 261, 446 table 1 434 table 1, 435 table 1, 459, 462
Retana, Wenceslao, 171; on “Pahayag,” 180 “Salamin,” 448 table 1
Retranslation, Process of, 484n8 Salandanan, Escolastico, 364
Reyes, Eleuterio (Limbas), 243, 247, 429 table 1 Salazar, Antonio, 170
Reyes, Eugenio (Matigasan), 65, 72 Saldana, Marta, 62, 437 table 1
Reyes, Felipe (Kainta), 65, 72 Salvador, Felipe, 454, 461
Reyes, Hermenegildo (Talibong), 69, 70, 80, Salvador, Moises, 24
145, 146, 149 164, 167, 244, 246, 261, 409, Salvador, Quiterio (Balagtas), 427 table 1
412, 418 table 1, 433 table 1; Supreme “Salve Patria,” 307
Council councilor, 160 Sampaloc: By. Bagong Silang, 423 table 1, 449
Reyes, Hermogenes, 237 table 2
Reyes, Isabelo (Laot), 69, 152, 248, 441 table 1 Samson, Apolonio, 262, 323, 406, 446 table 1
Reyes, Telesforo (Marahas), 64, 70 San Francisco de Malabon, 301, 305, 321–22,
Ricafort, Lucas, 282 357
Ricafrente, Nicolas, 331 San Gabriel, Mariano, 327, 359
Ricarte, Artemio (Vibora), 263, 306, 325–26, San Juan del Monte: By. Marikit, 447 table 1,
330–31, 353, 356, 363, 367, 370, 372, 378n4, 451 table 2
384n88, 389, 454, 482; captain general, San Juan, Esteban, 384n81
320; general en jefe, 368; declaration, San Mateo, 407, 445 table 1, 451 table 2
342–46 San Miguel de Mayumo, 305
Rillo de Leon, Santiago. See Rillo, Santiago San Miguel, Luciano, 319n18, 325, 331, 370,
Rillo, Santiago, 325, 328–30, 332, 342, 344, 359, 384n90
369, 453
512 INDEX
San Nicolas: By. Maluningning, 424 table 1, Santos, Prudencio, 285

449 table 2 Sapa (By.): Mandaluyong, 444 table 1, 450
San Pedro, Sinforoso, 406, 409, 442 table 1 table 2
Sanchez, Cornelio (Sampalukan), 69, 145, 439 Sapinoso, Sixto, 326
table 1 Sayo, Hilario, 260
Sanchez, Felipe, 444 table 1 Secret Council (Sangunian Lihim), 73, 167
Sanchez, Ignacio (Magiliwin), 69, 80, 229, 439 Seguisman, Marcelino, 285
table 1 Sikat (By.): Mandaluyong, 444 table 1
Sancho, Miguel (Matapang), 65, 72 Silanganan (By.): March 15, 1896 meeting,
“Sandakan.” See Bonifacio, Andres 215–16; Tagalog text, 216–17, 450 table 2
Sandiko, Teodoro, 409 Silanganan (By.): Trozo, 434–35 table 1, 436
Sanguniang Bayan (Sb.), 37, 57, 61 , 149, 270, table 1, 449 table 2
411, 462. See also Popular councils Silid ng Panilayan, 460
Sanlucar, Pedro de, 488 Simbulan (By.): Mandaluyong, 444 table 1,
Santa Ana: By. Agapan, 448 table 1, 451 table 450 table 2
2; By./Sb. Kasilawan, 448 table 1, 451 Simeon, Perfecta, 81, 424 table 1
table 2; By. Matatag, 448 table 1, 451 Sinukuan (By.): Mandaluyong, 444 table 1,
table 2; By. Tagisan, 448 table 1, 451 451 table 2
table 2 “Sinukuan,” 441 table 1
Santa Cruz: By. Dimasalang, 425–26 table 1, Soldier (Kawal), 88; distinction, 160
449 table 2; By. Kalingaan, 426–27 table Soliven, Benito, 467
1, 449 table 2; By. Tanglaw, 426 table Soriano, Andres, 447 table 1
1, 449 table 2; Sb. Laong Laan, 424–25 Soriano, Leopoldo (Bubuyog), 424 table 1
table 1, 449 table 2; Southern Luzon: peasant brotherhood, 454
Santiago, Alejandro (Halimaw), 48, 54, 69, 70, Sovereign Nation of Katagalugan (Haring-
74, 75, 80, 145, 146, 171, 223, 260, 323, 367, Bayang Katagalugan), 269, 290, 321, 323,
428 table 1 348, 357, 378n4, 407, 481
Santiago, Calixto, 261 Spanish friars, 3, 53, 305–6
Santiago, Eulalio (Magaling), 230, 446 table 1 Sta. Ana, Atilano (Mulanon), 271, 284, 286–87
Santiago, José Turiano (Tiktik), 44–45, 57, Suhay (Rank), 87
61–62, 69, 71–72, 74, 82, 85, 87, 429 table “Sumisikat,” 247
1, 243, 247, 403, 407, 409, 417 table 1, Supreme Assembly (Kataastaasang Kapisanan),
469–470; education, 401, 402 55, 60, 61, 69, 74, 81, 82, 129, 141, 145, 160,
Santo Domingo, Feliciano, 285 220, 262; contributions, 229; elections,
Santolan (By.): Pasig, 447 table 1, 451 table 2 161; on fees paid by members, 160;
Santos, Calixto, 283–85 meetings: November 30 and December
Santos, Eugenio, 261 1, 1895, 60–75; December 24–25, 1895,
Santos, Eustaquio (Urani), 66, 73 76–80; January 1, 1896, 141–52; March 22,
Santos, Felipe, 287, 427 table 1 1896, 167, 224–30; c. May 3–4. 1896, 224,
Santos, Francisco, 286 230n1; May 30–31, 1896, 225, 248–250;
Santos, José P., 193–94, 206n4–5, 477, 478, August 24, 1896, 225, 262–63; orders,
479, 494; Si Andres Bonifacio at ang 158–60, 241–42; signs, 242–43
Himagsikan, 485, 486, 491; versions of Supreme Council (Kataastaasang Sangunian),
Bonifacio’s letters, 480, 482–83 22, 41, 69, 70, 81, 146, 147–49, 151–52, 271,
Santos, Marcelo (Talim), 65, 72, 409, 422 table 1 283–85, 296–99 322–24, 353n1, 369, 410,
Santos, Miguel (Matapang), 422 table 1 475n3, 484n11; on anniversary of Gomez,
Santos, Norverto, 285 Burgos, and Zamora, 167; meetings:
Santos, Pastor (Matugalo), 260, 431 table 1 December 24–25, 1894, 44–45; January
Santos, Pio H., 260 5, 1896, 149–51; January 6, 1896, 151–53;
INDEX 513
February 1, 1896, 161–63; February 11, Tecson, Trinidad, 437 table 1

1896, 163–64; February 21, 1896, 164–67; Tejeros Convention (1897), 295–97, 312, 320–
March 8, 1896, 213–15; March 15, 1896, 41, 346, 349, 355, 357, 359, 361–62, 368,
217–24; March 29, 1896, 230–31; April 2, 375, 380n22, 389, 406; agenda, 323–25;
1896, 232–33; April 3, 1896, 233–35; April balance of opinion, 326–27; delegates,
5, 1896, 235–37; April 19, 1896, 244–47; 325–26; elections, 329–30
June 21, 1896, 253–54; June 24, 1896, The Sovereign People, declaration, 320–41
255–57; letter to Mariano and Santiago “Thirteen Martyrs of Bagumbayan,” 408
Alvarez, 264–71; members, 44, 61, 159– Tibay, Narciso (Santol), 253, 448 table 1
60; 399, 412–22 table 1; notices, 57–60, Tiempo, Leonardo (Panaga), 430 table 1
154–61, 220–24, 238–44, 248–50; orders Tirona, Candido Tria (Sukat na), 233, 235n1
and decisions, 160–61, 223, 247, 242–44; Tirona, Daniel, 326, 328, 330, 354n6, 356, 362,
on “signals,” 219 378n4, 379n33, 395
Supreme Presidency, 347 Tolentino, Aurelio (Espartaco), 438 table 1;
Suput ng saklolo, 100 education, 401
Tolentino, Cosme (Lili), 426 table 1
Tagabalita (Periodico), 8 Tolentino, Igmidio, 72
Tagailog (By.), 213; Ermita, Concepcion and Tolentino, José Reyes (Prim), 434 table 1
Paco (Dilao), 423 table 1 Tondo: By. Kabuhayan, 429–31 table 1, 449
Tagalog region: Catholic evangelism, 456 table 2; By. Katotohanan, 431–32 table 1,
“Tagasapa,” 228 449 table 2; By. Pagtibain, 432–33 table
Tagawa, José Moritaro, 265, 267, 270n4 1, 449 table 2; Sb. Katagalugan, 428–29
Taginting, Lucrecio, 388 table 1, 449 table 2; Sb. Pingkian, 433
Tagisan (By.), 253; Santa Ana, 448 table 1, 451 table 1, 449 table 2
table 2 Topacio, Cayetano, 326, 362, 397, 398n19
Taguig, 407, 448 table 1, 451 table 2 Topacio, Licerio, 326
Taguyod, Cosme, 261 Torres, Catalino (Mulawin), 443 table 1
Tahimik (By.): Mandaluyong, 444 table 1, 451 Torres, Isidoro, 453
table 2 Torres, Pantaleon (Bulalakaw), 68, 69, 75, 80,
Taiño, Severino, 299n1 145, 146, 149, 164, 166, 223, 230, 233, 237,
Tala (By.): Mandaluyong, 445 table 1, 451 244, 246, 248, 261, 412, 421 table 1, 425
table 2 table 1; Supreme Council councilor, 160
Talega, 160 Torres, Tranquilino, 404, 421 table 1
Taliba (masonic lodge), 403 Traitors (Taksil), 61, 70–72, 82, 98–100, 103,
“Talisay,” 224, 227, 229, 242, 244 118, 128, 135, 146, 148, 159-60, 243, 247,
Tambobong, 152 279–80, 335, 341n30–31, 360, 362–63, 374,
“Tambuli,” 69, 434 table 1 494
Tangkilik (By.): Mandaluyong, 445 table 1, Trials (Subok), 35, 74, 88, 95, 98, 101–3, 113, 119
451 table 2 Trias, Manuel, 356, 378n4
“Tanglaw,” 215 Trias, Mariano, 270, 325, 327, 330, 340n26, 342,
Tanglaw (By.): Santa Cruz, 80, 142, 145, 426 344–4, 354n8, 359, 378n4, 381n50, 395;
table 1, 449 table 2 ministro de gracia y justicia, 356; vice
Tangulan (By.), 152; Malabon, 441 table 1, 450 president, 320
table 2 Trinidad, Doroteo, 422 table 1
Tarlac, 454 Trinidad, José (Subiang), 72, 81, 145–46,
Tarlak, Policarpio (Pagsanhan), 432 table 1 148–49, 160, 164, 166, 237, 244, 261, 404,
“Tawas,” 145 409, 412, 421 table 1
Tayabas-Laguna, 454 Trinidad, Pedro (Maliksi), 64, 71, 425 table 1
Teatro Colon, 237, 244, 247
514 INDEX
Trozo: By. Alapaap, 434 table 1, 449 table 2; Victorino, Isabelo, 284
By. Dimasayaran, 435 table 1, 449 table 2; Victorino, Valentin (Kules), 445 table 1
By. Silanganan, 434–35 table 1, 436 table Victorio, Agapito, 433 table 1
1, 449 table 2; Sb. Dapitan, 433 table 1, Vienna chairs, 237
449 table 2; Sb. Maypagasa, 435 table 1, Villanueva, Andres, 332, 384n85
449 table 2 Villanueva, Ariston, 270, 325, 330–32, 356, 367,
371, 378n4, 384n85
“Ugong,” 441 table 1 Villanueva, Canuto (Tagailog), 434 table 1,
Umali, Felix, 445 table 1 435 table 1
Units (Hukuman), 57 Villanueva, Gregorio (Tahimik), 444 table 1
University of Santo Tomas, 354n6; Archives, Villanueva, Lino (Labon), 69, 80, 246, 428
494 table 1, 429 table 1
University of the Philippines. Main Library, Villanueva, Tomas (Ipil), 215
494 Villanueva, Tomas, 260, 470
Ureta, Manuel (Mahusay), 44, 64, 71, 425 Villeta, Alfredo, 172
table 1 Vivencio, Romualdo (Tala), 406, 443 table 1,
Uy, Jocelyn, 230n2 444 table 1
Valenzuela, Pio, 25, 47, 61, 69, 71–72, 75, Walana Lodge, 403
81, 102, 145–47, 149, 152, 162–63, 164, War cabinet, 401, 416, 417, 419, 421, 438
166, 215, 224, 230, 232, 233, 237, 244, What the Tagalogs should Know. See “Ang
246, 247, 248, 262, 405, 406, 408, 470; Dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog”
Bulacan governor, 409; in Dapitan, Writings and trials of Andres Bonifacio, The, 477
251; education, 401, 402; Katipunan
membership, 169; “Katuiran din naman,” “Yantok,” 447 table 1
174, 186–87; physician, 223; printing
press, 170–71, 173; reelection, 412, 418 Zabala, Pedro (Pagpalain), 62, 66, 72, 146, 148,
table 1; salary, 219, 229, 242; Supreme 260, 428 table 1
Council fiscal, 160, 163 Zaide, Gregorio. History of the Katipunan, 413,
Vargas, Estanislao (Manalo), 262, 432 table 1 47, 476n13
Vasquez, Guillermo, 444 table 1 Zalazar, Justo, 66, 72
Vedua, Teodoro (Kalasag), 61, 72, 404, 422 Zamora, Jacinto, 2, 21, 46–47, 88, 167, 206–9
table 1, 433 table 1 Zamora, Petronilo Linguistia (Buhawi), 424
Velazco, Luis (Kulog), 64, 71 table 1

Jim Richardson - The Light of Liberty

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Jim Richardson - The Light of Liberty

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Light of Liberty

The Light of Liberty

Copyright © 2013 by Ateneo de Manila University

Cover design by Karl Fredrick M. Castro

The National Library of the Philippines CIP Data

DS653 959.9026 2013 P320130715

About the documents xx

Glossary and abbreviations xxiv

Chapter 1. Foundational documents

Chapter 3. Membership documents

3.5. Andres Bonifacio, “Katungkulang gagawin

Chapter 4. January−February 1896

Chapter 6. March−August 1896

6.9. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 5, 1896 235

Chapter 7. Kamaynilaan and Morong,

Chapter 8. Cavite: Politics in a Time of Revolution

8.5. The Sovereign People, Declaration, March 23, 1897

notably Ian Alfonso, Erwin S. Fernandez, Roberto Prudente, Edgar Millan,

One eminent contemporary of the Katipunan said it wanted to establish

of manifestos, handbills, or newspapers nor to the preservation of internal

from simple error to outright fabrication. If nothing else, it is hoped this

kept records of its meetings, and collected subscriptions. Recruits joined as

considered themselves masters of their equals by virtue of birth or title, and as

Every effort has been made to transcribe the documents as accurately as

There have been two main difficulties of translation. First, it is impos-

The Katipunan cipher

Tagalog/Spanish KKK Cipher

The Light of Liberty

1 Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Diccionario Hispano-Tagalog (Manila: Estab. Tipográfico La Opinión,

Anak ng Bayan A.N.B Sons of the People

Salapi Half a peso – 80 kualta

or detrimental, they might see as almost incidental, even irrelevant, to the

made to Spaniards as employers, either as hacenderos in the countryside or

A just cause, guided by God and Reason

Again prefiguring themes developed in Kalayaan four years later, the

Pag sasaysay ng mga cadahilanan ng pag jiualay ng Capuloang ito sa nag

ay pararatangan agad ng ganang cabulaanan, paratang na pag dacay diringuin at di na

Manga Daquilang Cautosan

Sa pag tupad nang manga nalalaman sa nangungunang Pinagcasundoan ay

sa magpaquita nang mabuting gaua, pag tupad nang catungculan, carunongan at

Pag lilicja ng Caja Real o “Sisidlang Jare”

2. The expropriation of our meager profit if we practice any industry, so that we

Written in August 1892, this founding document is based in part on the

Deciphered, this becomes:-

This proclamation is worded in practically the same terms as in the

The founding of the Katipunan

• Within another few weeks or months—in December 1892, according

Later historians of the Katipunan, such as Zaide and Agoncillo, kept

Alinsunod sa lahat nang manga gauang kapusungan na nanga sasaysayan sa una,

Manga dakuilang kautusan

Alinsunod sa nangungunang kasaysayan at pinagkasundoan, ay sa boong

at manga bayang karatig datapuat ang kaibhan ay nasasakop ang sa bayanbayang

Huag kalilingatan na ang kanikaniyang kabig ay hindi nag sasanay sa manga

Duties of the Head

Head of the Army

Rules for all

appointment on behalf of the president, Deodato Arellano, who for some

Tagalog text (deciphered)

...pinagbilanan na ang balang magagawa ay ipag bigay alam dito sa Ubod sa

Assuming this draft became a formal appointment, Ildefonso Laurel was

Alang alang na si G. I. L. at [?] tauwong tunay sa bayan ng Sta Rosa Hukuman

was elected as president; José Turiano Santiago as secretary; Emilio Jacinto as

Kgx na Karurukan ng mga Kawal

Pangulo Halal Kalihim Halal