Primary Source: Secondary Source:
Santiago Alvarez Teodoro Agoncillo’s
“Memoirs of A General”
Author’s Background Born on July 25, 1872, Santiago
Alvarez, a revolutionary general and
founder and honorary president of
the first directorate of the
Nacionalista Party, was born in Imus,
Cavite. He was known as Kidlat ng
Apoy (Lightning of Fire) because of
his inflamed bravery and dedication
as commander in the battle of
Dalhican, Cavite.
When was the account He wrote his memoirs in 1927,
written? Alvarez was already fifty-five years
old. First published during the 1920s
in Sampaguita, a Tagalog weekly, the
memoirs are reproduced in this
volume together with the English
translation by Paula Carolina Malay.
Mention of Date (s)
Mention of Place
“Revolt of the Masse”
Eminent historian, poet, short story
writer, editor, and professor,
Teodoro A. Agoncillo was born on
November 9, 1912 in Lemery,
Batangas, a Tagalog province
southeast of Manila. He obtained a
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from
the University of the Philippines (UP)
in 1934. His career as historian began
quite late. From 1937 to 1941 he
worked as a technical assistant in the
Institute of National Language. He
began writing in the late 1920s and
early 1930s, his earliest publications
being Tagalog poems. In fact, most of
his writings up to the 1940s
consisted of Tagalog poems and
short stories in Tagalog and light
essays in both Tagalog and English.
There is a portent of his career,
however, in the still unpublished M.
A. thesis he submitted to the UP in
1935 titled “The Japanese
Occupation of Manchuria,” for which
he earned the Masterʼs degree in
History in 1939.
Agoncillo’s book was written in 1947
in order to hook the present onto
the past. The 1890s themes of
exploitation and betrayal by the
propertied class, the rise of a
plebeian leader, and the revolt of the
masses against Spain, are implicitly
being played out in the late 1940s.
Key personal ties

Sequencing of events

Differences between 2
accounts

Exercise No. 1
Worksheet: Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Tejeros Convention (1897)