arms that triggered the Mexican
THE CRY
THE CRY, PUGADLAWIN, BALINTAWAK
OR BAHAY TORO
The Philippine Revolution against over
300 years of Spanish rule began with
Andrés Bonifacio, leader of the
Katipunan, a secret revolutionary society
that sought independence for the
Philippines from Spanish colonial rule.
In August 1896, in the sitio of Pugad
Lawin in Balintawak, now part of Quezon
City, the Katipuneros led by Andrés
Bonifacio rose up in revolt by tearing up
their “cedulas” which became a sign of
enslavement of the Filipinos. This event
called the “Cry of Pugad Lawin,”
officially regarded as the start of the
Philippine Revolution against Spain with
the use of violence and arms.
CRY OF REBELLION
● sweeping Spanish colonies
● marked the beginning of the
Philippine Revolution in 1896
which ultimately led to
Philippine Independence in
1898.
● After Bonifacio's death on May
10, 1897, in Maragondon,
Cavite, General Emilio
Aguinaldo continued the
revolution.
CRY OF DOLORES
● (Spanish: Grito de Dolores)
occurred in Dolores, Mexico, on
16 September 1810, when
Roman Catholic priest Miguel
Hidalgo y Costilla rang his
church bell and gave the call to
War of Independence.
● "El Grito de Independencia".
CRY OF YPIRAGA
● On September 7th, 1822 in
Brazil, near the Ipiranga river, a
Portuguese prince claimed
Brazil’s Independence.
Shouting “Independence or
Death!” he uttered the famous
“Cry of Ipiranga”, declaring the
colony’s Independence.
● a well-known expression in
Portuguese, still in use today,
meaning Freedom.
CRY OF MATANZA
● In Cuba, (February 24, 1895).
● In August 1896, northeast of
Manila, Filipinas similarly
declared their rebellion against
the Spanish historian, who
institutionalized the phrased for
the Philippines in his 1897
book, La Insurreccion en
Filipinas.
In August 1896, northeast of Manila,
Filipinos similarly declared their
rebellion against the Spanish colonial
government. It was Manuel Sastron, the
Spanish historian, who institutionalized
the phrased for the Philippines in his
1897 book, La Insurreccion en Filipinas.
All these “Cries” were milestones in the
several colonial- to-nationalist histories
of the world.
On August 19, 1896, Katipunan was
discovered by a Spanish friar, which
resulted in the start of the Philippine
Revolution. The revolution initially flared
up in Central Luzon.
The Philippine Revolution, called the
Tagalog War by the Spanish, was a
revolution, a civil war and subsequent
conflict fought between the people and
insurgents of the Philippines and the
Spanish colonial authorities of the
Spanish East Indies, under the Spanish
Empire.
Raging Conntroversy
Cry as the shouting of nationalistic
slogans in mass assemblies then there
were scores of such Cries.
Some writers refer to a Cry of Montalban
on April 1895, in the Pamitinan Caves
where a group of Katipunan members
wrote on the cave walls, “Viva la
indepencia Filipina!” long before the
Katipunan decided to launch a later in his life and with a fading memory,
nationwide revolution.
The historian Teodoro Agoncillo chose
to emphasize Bonifacio’s tearing of the
cedula (tax receipt) before a
crowd of Katipuneros who then broke
out in cheers.
Emilio Aguinaldo commissioned a
“Himno de Balintawak” to herald
renewed fighting after the failed peace of
the pact of Biyak na Bato.
On 3 September 1911, a monument to the
Heroes of 1896 was erected in what is
now the intersection of Epifanio de los
Santos Avenue and Andres Bonifacio
Drive –North Doversion Road.
August 26,1896- Cry of Balintawak
Cry of Pugadlawin- August 23,1896 is not
accurate.
Testimony of only one witness, Dr. Pio
Valenzuela is not enough to authenticate
and verify the issue
Different versions of first cry of the
revolution
Pio Valenzuela’s Controversial “Cry of
Pugad Lawin” (August 23, 1896)
This controversial version of the “Cry of
the Pugad Lawin” has been authorized
by no other than Dr. Pio Valenzuela, who
happened to be the eyewitness himself
of the event. In his first version, he told
that the prime staging point of the Cry
was in Balintawak on Wednesday of
August 26, 1896. He held this account
when the happenings or events are still
vivid in his memory. On the other hand,
he wrote his Memoirs of the Revolution
without consulting the written
documents of the Philippine revolution
and claimed that the “Cry” took place at
Pugad
Lawin on August 23, 1896.
“The first place of refuge of Andres
Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Procopio
Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Aguedo del
Rosario, and myself was Balintawak, the
first five arriving there on August 19 and
I, on August 20, 1896. The first place
where some 500 members of the
Katipunan met on August 22, 1896, was
the house and yard of Apolonio Samson
at Kangkong. Aside from the persons
mentioned above, among those who
were there were Briccio Pantas,
Alejandro Santiago, Ramon Bernardo,
Apolonio Samson, and others. Here,
views were only exchanged, and no
resolution was debated or adopted. It
was at Pugad Lawin, in the house,
store-house, and yard of Juan Ramos,
son of Melchora Aquino, where over
1,000 members of the Katipunan met and
carried out considerable debate and
discussion on August 23, 1986. The
discussion was on whether or not the
revolution against the Spanish
government should be started on August
29, 1986. Only one man protested and
fought against a war, and that was
Teodora Plata [Bonifacio’s
brother-in-law-Z]. Besides the persons
named above, among those present at
this meeting were Enrique Cipriano,
Alfonso Pacheco, Tomas Remigio,
Sinforoso San Pedro, and others. After
the tumultuous meeting, many of those
present tore their cedula certificates and
shouted “Long live the Philippines! Long
live the Philippines!”
Santiago Alvarez’s The “Cry of Bahay
Toro” (August 24, 1896)
This version of the “Cry” was written by
Santiago Alvarez, a well- known
Katipunero from Cavite and a son of
Mariano Alvarez. Santiago is a relative of
Gregoria de Jesus, who happened to be
the wide of Andres Bonifacio. Unlike the
author of the first version mentioned
(Valenzuela), Santiago Alvarez is not an
eyewitness of this event. As a result, this
version of him is not given of equal value
as compared with the other versions for
authors of other accounts are actually
part of the
historic event.
Sunday, August 23, 1896
As early as 10 o’clock in the morning, at
the barn of Kabesang Melchora
[Melchora Aquino-Z.], at a place called
Sampalukan, barrio of Bahay Toro,
Katipuneros met together. About 500 of
these arrived, ready and eager to join the
“Supremo” Andres Bonifacio and his
men ...
Monday, August 24, 1896 There were
about 1,000 Katipuneros ... The
“Supremo” decided to hold a meeting
inside the big barn. Under his leadership,
the meeting began at 10 o’clock in the
morning ... It was 12 o’clock noon when
the meeting adjourned amidst loud cries
of “Long live the Sons of the Country”
(Mabuhay ang mga anak ng Bayan)!
Gregoria de Jesus’ Version of the First
“Cry”
(August 25, 1896)
This version was written by no other
than the “Lakambini of the Katipunan”
and wife of Andres Bonifacio, Gregoria
de Jesus. She has been a participant of
this event and became the keeper of the
secret documents of the Katipunan. After
the Revolution in August 1896, she lived
with her parents in Caloocan then fled to
Manila when she was told that Spanish
authorities wanted to arrest her.
Eventually, she joined her husband in
the mountains and shared adversities
with him. In her account, the First “Cry”
happened near
Caloocan on August 25, 1896.
The activities of the Katipunan had
reached nearly all corners of the
Philippine Archipelago, so that when its
existence was discovered and some of
the members arrested, we immediately
returned to Caloocan. However, as we
were
closely watched by the agents of the
Spanish authorities, Andres Bonifacio
and other Katipuneros left the town after
some days. It was then that the uprising
began, with the first cry for freedom on
August 25, 1896. Meanwhile, I was with
my parents. Through my friends, I
learned that Spanish were coming to
arrest me. Immediately, I fled town at
eleven o’ clock at night, secretly going
through the rice fields to La Lorna, with
the intention of returning to Manila. I was
treated like an apparition, for, sad to say,
in every house where I tried to get a little
rest, I was driven away as if people
therein were frightened for their own
lives. Later, I found out that the
occupants of the houses which I had
visited were seized and severely
punished-- and some even exiled. One of
them was an uncle of mine whom
I had visited on that night to kiss his
hand, and he died in exile.”
Guillermo Masangkay’s The “Cry of
Balintawak” (August 26, 1896)
This version is written by the Katipunan
General Guillermo Masangkay. He is an
eyewitness of the historic event and a
childhood friend of Bonifacio. According
to him, the first rally of the Philippine
Revolution happened on August 26, 1896
at Balintawak. Correspondingly, the date
and site presented were accepted by the
preliminary years of American
government. Below is General Guillermo
Masangkay’s version of the “Cry of
Balintawak”.
“On August 26, 1896 a big meeting was
held in Balintawak, at the house of
Apolonio Samson, then the cabeza of
that barrio of Caloocan. Among those
who attended, I remember, were
Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del
Rosario, Tomas Remigio, Briccio Pantas,
Teodoro Plata, Pio Valenzuela, Enrique
Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon. They
were all leaders of the Katipunan and
composed the board of directors of the
organization. Delegates from Bulacan,
Cabanatuan, Cavite and Morong (now
Rizal,) were also present.
At about nine o’clock in the morning of
August 26, the meeting was opened with
Andres Bonifacio presiding and Emilio
Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose
was to discuss when the uprising was to
take place. Teodoro Plata [Bonifacio’s
brother- in-law ], Briccio Pantas, and Pio
Valenzuela were all opposed to starting
the revolution too early. They reasoned
that the people would be in distress if
the revolution were started without
adequate preparation. Plata was very
forceful in his argument, stating that the
uprising could not very well be started
without the arms and food for the
soldiers. Valenzuela used
Rizal’s argument about the rich not
siding with the Katipunan organization.
Andres Bonifacio, sensing that he would
lose in the discussion then, left the
session hall and talked to the people,
who were waiting outside for the result
of the meeting of the leaders. He told the
people that the leaders were arguing
against starting the revolution early, and
appealed to them in a fiery speech in
which he said: “You remember the fate
of our countrymen who were shot in
Bagumbayan. Should we return now to
the towns, the Spaniards will only shoot
us. Our organization has been
discovered and we are all marked men. If
we don’t start the uprising, the
Spaniards will get us anyway. What then,
do you say?”
“Revolt!” the people shouted as one.
Bonifacio then asked the people to give
a pledge that they were to revolt. He told
them that the sign of slavery of the
Filipinos were (sic) the cedula tax
charged each citizen. “If it is true that
you are ready to revolt,” Bonifacio
saved, “I want to see you destroy your
cedulas. It will be the sign that all of us
have declared our severance from the
Spaniards.”
With tears in their eyes, the people as
one man, pulled out their cedulas and
tore them to pieces. It was the beginning
of the formal declaration of the
separation from Spanish rule. With their
cedulas destroyed, they could no longer
go back to their homes because the
Spaniards would persecute them, if not
for being katipuneros, for having no
cedulas. And people who had no cedulas
during those days were severely
punished.
When the people’s pledge was obtained
by Bonifacio, he returned to the session
hall and informed the leaders of what
took place outside. “The people want to
revolt, and they have destroyed their
cedulas,” Bonifacio said. “So now we
have to start the uprising; otherwise the
people by hundreds will be shot.” There
was no alternative. The board of
directors, in the spite of the protests of
Plata, Pantas, and Valenzuela, voted for
the revolution. And when this was
decided, the people outside shouted:
“Long Live the Philippine Republic!”
I still remember Bonifacio as he
appeared that day. Although a mere
bodeguero (warehouseman) and earning
₱25 (Mex.) a month, he was a cultured
man. He always wore an open coat, with
black necktie, and black hat. He always
carried an umbrella. At the meeting that
morning of August 26, Bonifacio took off
his coat and was wearing only his shirt,
with collar and tie. Bonifacio’s hobby
was weaving bamboo hats. During his
spare time, he wove dozens of them and
sold them in Manila. Thus, he made extra
money.
At about 5 o’clock in the afternoon,
while the gathering at Balintawak was
celebrating the decision of the Katipunan
leaders to start the uprising, the guards
who were up in trees to watch for any
possible intruders or the approach of the
enemy, gave the warning that the
Spaniards were coming.
Led by Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and
other leaders of the Katipunan, the men
were distributed in strategic positions
and were prepared for attack of the civil
guards. I was with a group stationed on
the bank of a small creek, guarding the
places where the Spaniards were to pass
in order to reach the meeting place of the
katipuneros. Shots were then fired by
the civil guards, and that was the
beginning of the fire which later became
such a huge conflagration. ''
Pio Valenzuela had several versions of
the Cry.
In September 1896, Valenzuela stated
before the Olive Court , which was
charged with investigating persons
involved in the rebellion, only that
Katipunan meetings took place from
Sunday to Tuesday or 23 to 25 August at
Balintawak.
DIFFERENT DATES AND PLACES
Several accounts provide differing dates
and places for the Cry of Pugad Lawin.
Olegario Diaz, who was an officer of the
Spanish Guardia civil stated that the Cry
happened in Balintawak on August 25,
1896.
Historian Teodoro Kalaw wrote in his
1925 book entitled The Filipino
Revolution that the Cry took place during
the final week of August 1896 at
Kangkong, Balintawak. Santiago Alvarez,
a Katipunero and son of Mariano Alvarez
who was the leader of the Magdiwang
faction in Cavite, stated in 1927 that the
cry happened at Bahay Toro, now in
Quezon City on August 24, 1896.
Pío Valenzuela, Andrés Bonifacio’s close
associate, declared in 1948 that the
event took place on August 23, 1896, in
Pugad Lawin.
Some of the apparent confusion about
the place where it happened is in part
due to the double meanings of the words
“Balintawak” and “Caloocan” at the turn
of the century.
However, from 1908 until 1963, this event
was officially recognized as having
happened on August 26 in Balintawak.
Ultimately, the Philippine government
declared in 1963 a change from August
26 to August 23 in Pugad Lawin, Quezon
City.
In 1911, Valenzuela averred that the
Katipunan began meeting on 22 August
while the Cry took place on 23 August at
Apolonio Samson’s house in Balintawak.
From 1928 to 1940, Valenzuela
maintained that the Cry happened on 24
August at the house of Tandang Sora
(Melchora Aquino) in Pugad Lawin,
which he now situated near Pasong
Tamo Road.
In 1928 and 1930, A photograph of
Bonifacio’s widow Gregoria de Jesus
and Katipunan members Valenzuela,
Briccio Brigido Pantas, Alfonso and
Cipriano Pacheco, published in La
Opinion and was captioned both times
as having been taken at the site of the
Cry on 24 August 1896 at the house of
Tandang Sora at Pasong Tamo Road.
In 1935, Valenzuela, Pantas and Pacheco
proclaimed (The first Cry of the
revolution did not happen in Balintawak
where the monument is, but in a place
called Pugad Lawin.)
In 1940, a research team of the
Philippines Historical Committee (a
forerunner of the National Historical
Institute or NHI), which included Pio
Valenzuela, identified the precise spot of
Pugad Lawin as part of sitio Gulod,
Banlat, Kalookan City. In 1964 the NHI’s
Minutes of the Katipunan referred to the
place of the Cry as Tandang Sora’s and
not as Juan Ramos’ house, and the date
as 23 August.
In 1964, 1978 Valenzuela memoirs
averred that the Cry took place on 23
August at the house of Juan Ramos at
Pugad Lawin. The NHI was obviously
influenced by Valenzuela’s memoirs. In
1963, upon the NHI endorsement,
President Diosdado Macapagal ordered
that the Cry be celebrated on 23 August
and that Pugad Lawin be recognized as
its site.
In 1896 Valenzuela testified that when the
Katipunan consulted Jose Rizal on
whether the time had come to revolt,
Rizal was vehemently against the
revolution. Later, in Agoncillo’s Revolt of
the masses, Valenzuela retracted and
claimed that Rizal was actually for the
uprising, if certain prerequisites were
met. Agoncillo reasoned that Valenzuela
had lied to save Rizal
THE PUGADLAWIN MAKER
The prevalent account of the Cry is that
of Teodoro Agoncillo in Revolt of the
masses (1956):
It was in Pugad Lawin, proceed upon
leaving Samson’s place in afternoon of
August 22 and More than 1000 men of
Katipunan met in the yard of Juan A.
Ramos-son of Melchora Aquino on
August 23 morning
Bonifacio then announced the decision
and shouted: “Brothers, it was agreed to
continue with the plan of revolt. My
brothers, do you swear to repudiate the
government that oppresses us?” And
the rebels, shouting as one man replied:
“Yes, sir!” “That being the case,”
Bonifacio added, “bring out your cedulas
and tear them to pieces to symbolize our
determination to take arms!” .. . Amidst
the ceremony, the rebels, tear-stained
eyes, shouted: “Long live the
Philippines! Long live the Katipunan!
Macapagal ordered that the Cry of
Balintawak be called the “Cry of Pugad
Lawin,” and that it be celebrated on 23
August instead of 26 August.
Monument- installed in front of Vinzons
Halls in Diliman Campus of UP on
November 29, 1986
In 1962, Teodoro Agoncillo, together with
the UP Student Council, placed a marker
at the Pugad Lawin site. According to
Agoncillo, the house of Juan Ramos
stood there in 1896, while the house of
Tandang Sora was located at Pasong
Tamo.
On 30 June 1983, Quezon City Mayor
Adelina S. Rodriguez created the Pugad
Lawin Historical Committee to determine
the location of Juan Ramos’s 1896
residence at Pugad Lawin.
The NHI files on the committee’s
findings show the following:
In August 1983, Pugad Lawin in
barangay Bahay Toro was inhabited by
squatter colonies. The NHI believed that
it was correct in looking for the house of
Juan Ramos and not of Tandang Sora.
There was an old dap-dap tree at the site
when the NHI conducted its survey I
1983. Teodoro Agoncillo, Gregorio Zaide
and Pio Valenzuela do not mention a
dap-dap tree in their books.
Pio Valenzuela- main proponent of
Pugadlawin version was dead at the time
of NHI research
Teodoro Agoncillo tried to locate the
marker installed in August 1962 by the
UP Student Council. However, was no
longer extant in 1983.
On the basis of the 1983 committee’s
findings, the NHI placed a marker on 23
August 1984 on Seminary Road in
barangay Bahay Toro behind Toro Hills
High School, the Quezon City General
Hospital and the San Jose Seminary.
Cartographic Changes
Pugadlawin is not identified as barrios leaders with authority to initiate and
guide the revolution towards the
Kalookan and Balintawak- mark by establishment of sovereign nation
Spanish and American maps

1943- map of Manila mark Balintawak

separate from Kalookan and Diliman

1956, 1987, 1990 maps- confirms the

existence of Barangay Bahay Toro but
do not define their boundaries.
Pugadlawin is not on these maps.

Balintawak- no longer in Quezon City but

replace by Several barangay.

Barrio Banlat is now divided into

barangays Tandang Sora and Pasong
Tamo. Only bahay Toro remains intact.

Sofronio Calderon- it would be a mistake

to say that there is such as Pugadlawin

First, that “Pugad Lawin” was never

officially recognized as a place name on
any Philippine map before Second World
War. Second, “Pugad Lawin “ appeared
in historiography only from 1928, or
some 32 years after the events took
place. And third, the revolution was
always traditionally held to have
occurred in the area of

Balintawak, which was distinct from

Kalookan and Diliman.

“Pugad Lawin” is more romantic, it is

more accurate to stick to the original
“Cry of Balintawak.”

TURNING POINT

The Cry, however, must be defined as

that turning point when the Filipinos
finally rejected Spanish colonial
dominion over the Philippine Islands, by
formally constituting their own national
government, and by investing a set of