The Philippine Revolution

By the early 1890’s, it was becoming clear to many Filipinos that the peaceful campaign for reforms
would not succeed. The reforms that had been granted were minor. The evils of Spanish rule in the
Philippines were continuing. The abuses and injustices continued to be committed against the Filipinos. This
left the Filipinos with no other choice but to wage a different campaign with a new goal- armed revolution
and political separation from Spain. This campaign began when Bonifacio seceded from La Liga Filipina
and activated his secret revolutionary society, the Katipunan.
The Katipunan. On July 7, 1892, a day after Rizal was arrested by the Spanish authorities, Bonifacio
and a handful of trusted friends met in the house of Deodato Arellano on Azcarraga St. (now C.M. Recto
Ave.), in Tondo, Manila. There they decided to form a secret society called Kataastaasan, Kagalang-galang
na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan. It came to be known by its KKK initials or by its shortened name
Katipunan. Its principal aim was to win Philippine independence from Spain by means of armed revolution.
The Katipunan organization was largely patterned after that La Liga Filipina of which Bonifacio had
been a leading member. The highest body of the Katipunan was the Supreme Council, (Kataastaasang
Sanggunian). Each province was to have a provincial council (Sangguniang Bayan) while each town was to
be under a municipal council or Sangguniang Balangay.
The first set of officers of the Katipunan Supreme Council was composed of Deodato Arellano, president
or supremo; Andres Bonifacio, comptroller; Ladislao Diwa, fiscal; Valentin Diaz, treasurer; and Teodoro
Plata, secretary.
Not satisfied with the performance of Arellano, Bonifacio replaced him with Roman Basa early in 1893.
Still not satisfied, Bonifacio decided to assume the Katipunan presidency himself.
Katipunan Personalities. The leading personality of the Katipunan was of course, Andres Bonifacio.
History honors him as the “Father of the Katipunan,” having been its founder and leader. And because of his
humble origins- he came from a very poor family- he is known in Philippine history as the “Great Plebeian”.
Bonifacio was born to a poor family in Tondo, Manila, on Nov. 30, 1863. Orphaned at an early age, he
had to work hard since his early teens to support his three brothers and two sisters. He sold canes and paper
fans that he himself made. When he was old enough to be employed, he landed a job with an English
company in Manila.
Poverty prevented him from finishing the equivalent of today’s high school education. To improve his
education, Bonifacio read a lot during his free time in the evening. One of his favorite books was the
History of French Revolution. He also read prohibited literary works, including Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo and the Propaganda Movement’s newspaper, La Solidaridad. The ideas that he got from
his readings inspired him to plan the overthrow of Spanish rule by means of an armed revolution.
Bonifacio’s nationalistic ideas found expression in his poem Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Bayan (Love of the
Fatherland) and in the Katipunan decalogue, Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Duties of the
Sons of the People). The decalogue listed down the ten basic duties of the members of the Katipunan.
Together with the 13 principles enunciated in the Kartilla written by Emilio Jacinto, the decalogue
constituted the teachings of the Katipunan.
Another leading light in the Katipunan movement was the young Emilio Jacinto. Known as the “Brains of
the Katipunan.” Jacinto was the righthand man of Bonifacio. He wrote many of the Katipunan documents,
including the famous Kartilla. Together with Bonifacio and Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Jacinto edited the
Katipunan newspaper Kalayaan. This newspaper helped much in spreading the ideas of the Katipunan and
was a big factor in greatly increasing the membership of the KKK.
 Jacinto was born on December 15, 1875 in Tondo, Manila. He also came from a poor family. Despite
their poverty, his parents were able to send him to school. He obtained his bachelor of arts degree at the San
Juan de Letran College and took up law at the University of Santo Tomas. At 18, he gave up his law studies
to devote his time and energy to the Katipunan. He became Bonifacio’s trusted adviser and held the posts of
secretary and fiscal of the Katipunan.
When the Philippine Revolution of 1896 broke out, Jacinto took to the field as a Katipunan general in
Laguna. In Majayjay, Laguna, Jacinto died of an illness on April 6,1899. He was only 24 years old.
Katipunan Membership. Being a revolutionary society, the Katipunan tried its best to keep its existence
and its leadership unknown to the Spanish authorities. Bonifacio and the other KKK officials realized that
exposure meant arrest and imprisonment, torture and even death. To minimize the risk of discovery, a
“triangle system” of recruiting new members was originally adopted. A katipunero would recruit two
members to form a triangle each of whom did not know the other. Each one, in turn, would form a new
triangle by recruiting two members. Later on, however, this system was discarded as being complicated. It
was replaced by an initiation rite similar to that used by the Masons in accepting new members. The purpose
of the initiation rites was to test the courage, patriotism and loyalty of the prospective member.
Membership in the Katipunan was divided into three classes. The Katipunan was a first degree member
whose password was Anak ng Bayan (Son of the People). Second degree members were called kawal
(soldier) and their password was “Gom-Bur-Za.” A third degree member was called bayani (patriot) whose
password was “Rizal.”
Membership in the Katipunan was opened to the women. But to minimize the risk of discovery, only the
close relatives- who’s sisters and daughters- of katipuneros were admitted to the secret society. The women
performed invaluable services to the Katipunan. They served as fronts to deceive the Spanish authorities.
They would hold a party in a house and make merry by singing and dancing while their menfolk held secret
meetings in one of the rooms. The women also carried the secret documents of the Katipunan, since they
were less likely to be suspected by the authorities than the men. Among the prominent women katipuneras
were Bonifacio’s wife, Gregoria de Jesus; the Rizal sisters (Josefa and Trinidad) and Marina Dizon.
The ranks of the Katipunan came mostly from the masses. They included not only peasants and workers
but also soldiers, teachers, employees, merchants and even Filipino priests. A number of illustrados,
disillusioned by the failure of the peaceful campaign for reforms, also joined the Katipunan.
-Preparations of War. As its membership grew and spread in Manila and in the nearby provinces, the
Katipunan made preparations for war. Bolos, lances and such firearms as could be obtained were gathered
and stored in secret hiding places. War plans were prepared.
On April, 10,1895, Bonifacio and some of his trusted men scouted the hilly region of Montalban for a
suitable headquarters. In one of the caves there, they held a meeting in which they reaffirmed their decision
to go ahead with a revolution against Spain. Shortly thereafter, one of the katipuneros scribbled on the cave
walls the stirring words: Viva la Independencia Filipina! (Long live the Philippine independence!). Below
this war cry, Bonifacio and his men scribbled their names. This event has been called the “Cry of
Montalban.” It was a stirring declaration of the Filipinos’ decision to take up arms to win their freedom.
To ensure the success of the revolution that he was planning, Bonifacio sought the help of Japan. In May
1896, he and other Katipuneros had a secret meeting in Manila with the commander of a visiting Japanese
warship. The Katipuneros gave the Japanese, naval officer a written request to the Japanese emperor for aid
in their fight for freedom. But no Japanese aid reached the Katipunan.
The Katipunan also sought the support of Dr. Jose Rizal for the revolution. He enjoyed the respect of
many Filipinos. His reputation and prestige among them as a brilliant writer and a physician were already
established. And many of them were naturally proud of his achievements. In June 1896, Bonifacio sent Dr.
Pio Valenzuela to Dapital to talk to Rizal. But Rizal was not in favor of an early revolution. He reportedly
told Valenzuela that a revolution without enough funds and weapons would not succeed. He was said to
have suggested that the Katipunan wait some more before going ahead with the revolution. He suggested
that the wealthy and the educated Filipinos should be won over first to the Katipunan side. He also
suggested that Antonio Luna be made the military commander of the revolution.
But many of the rich and educated Filipinos were not sympathetic to the revolutionary cause of the
Katipunan. Many of them, especially the wealthy ones, refused to contribute money to the Katipunan for the
purchase of arms. One angry Filipino millionaire even threatened to expose the Katipunan to the authorities.
This attitude was understandable. These Filipinos had much to lose by joining a revolution -their properties,
their social status, and, possibly, even their lives, especially if the revolution failed.
For revenge or to force the uncooperative wealthy Filipinos to join the Katipunan, Bonifacio and the
other Katipunan leaders manufactured fake documents that were intended to be discovered by the Spanish
authorities. The prominent Filipinos who refused to give help were made to appear in the fake papers as big
contributors to the Katipunan. When the revolution broke out, many of these prominent Filipinos were
arrested by the colonial authorities and imprisoned. Some were executed.
Despite the failure of the attempts to enlist the aid of the educated and wealthy class, the Katipunan war
preparations went on. A Katipunan flag- a rectangular piece of red cloth with the letters “KKK” in the
center- was sewn by the women. As the misery and hardships of the peasants and workers in Manila and in
the provinces increased, so did the number of KKK members. By the time the revolution broke out, the
numbers had reached tens of thousands all over the archipelago. As the Katipunan membership grew, so did
the risk of betrayal or discovery.
Betrayal of the Katipunan. With such a big membership and mysterious night meetings of large groups
going on frequently, it was inevitable that the Spanish authorities would become suspicious. Soon, Spanish
friars and officials began receiving reports of a secret society plotting to overthrow Spanish rule. But
Governor General Ramon Blanco paid little attention to these reports since there was no concrete evidence
of such a plot.
It was only on August 19, 1896 that the Spanish authorities finally discovered the Katipunan. A talkative
katipunero Teodoro Patińo, a worker at the Diario de Manila, told his sister and a nun in an orphanage about
the Katipunan and its plans for revolution. Alarmed, the nun persuaded Patińo to confess everything he
knew to Father Mariano Gil, an Augustinian friar in Tondo. To father Gil and later to the Spanish
authorities, Patińo revealed everything that he knew about the Katipunan, its plans and its members.
On the basis of what Patińo disclosed, the Spanish authorities finally acted. That night, a reign of terror
began to descend on Manila as Spanish civil guards (Guardia Civil) swooped down on the homes of
suspected katipuneros and hauled them off to jail. Some of them were tortured into revealing other
katipuneros. A number of prominent Filipinos were also carted off to prison on suspicion of being
Katipunan members of sympathizers. On that day alone, hundreds of Filipinos were rounded up by the
guardia civil and locked up in prison.
The Outbreak of the Revolution. Bonifacio, Jacinto and the other top Katipunan leaders escaped to the
hills of Balintawak, north of Manila. A few days later, a mass meeting of katipuneros was held in the yard of
a son of Melchora Aquino in the sitio of Pugad Lawin in Balintawak. They discussed what they should do in
the wake of the discovery of the Katipunan and the mass arrests that followed.
After some heated discussions, the katipuneros who were there decided to begin the revolution. The
decision to fight having been reached. Bonifacio and the katipuneros took out their cedula certificates, the
symbol of the Filipino vassalage to Spain, and tore them to pieces at the same time shouting the stirring cry.
“Long live the Philippines! Long live the Katipunan!” This event came to be known in Philippine history as
the “Cry of Pugad Lawin”** The Philippine Revolution had finally begun.
_________________
 *Melchora Aquino was affectionately called Tandang Sora by the Katipuneros
__________________
**Historians disagree on the exact date and place of this event. Gregorio N. Zaide claims the “Cry” occurred
on Aug. 26, 1896 at Balintawak. Another historian, Teodoro Agoncillo, believes the event happened at Pugad Lawin
in Balintawak on Aug. 23.

The first shots of the Philippine Revolution were fired the following day when the katipuneros and a
large patrol of Spanish civil guards fought a big clash in the sitio of Pasong Tamo in Caloocan. Bonifacio
and his men retreated eastward to Balara (in what is now part of Quezon City).
The first real battle of the revolution took place on August 30 when Bonifacio led a force of about 800
katipuneros in attacking the Spanish arsenal in San Juan, del Monte (now the town of San Juan, Metro
Manila). Bonifacio’s attack was repulsed by the Spanish garrison with the aid of Spanish reinforcements.
More than 150 katipuneros were killed in the fighting. Many more were captured, some of whom were
executed by the Spaniards a week later.
In the meantime, the revolution had spread to several nearby Luzon provinces. To prevent the spread of
the revolution and to crush the rebels, Governor-Gen. Blanco placed eight Luzon provinces- Manila,
Laguna, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija- under martial law. These were the
first eight provinces to rise up in revolt against Spain.
Despite martial law and the brutal tactics used by the colonial authorities, the fires of revolution
continued to spread to other parts of the archipelago. Uprisings were reported in Iloilo, Negros, Aklan and in
Palawan. Because of his failure to crush revolution, Gov-Gen. Blanco was removed and replaced by Gen.
Camilo de Polavieja in December 1896.
-The Execution of Rizal. As the revolution spread, the Spanish colonial authorities became more harsh
than ever in their actions. Thousands of Filipinos in Manila were imprisoned on suspicion of being rebels.
Many of them were innocent and had nothing to do with the Katipunan. These prisoners were later joined by
captured katipuneros from outside Manila. Some of them suffered brutally in the hands of their Spanish
jailers. Others were executed. Many were exiled to such outlying Spanish colonies as Guam and Fernando
Po in Africa.
The most prominent of the Filipinos arrested by the authorities was Dr. Jose Rizal. When the Cuban civil
war broke out in 1895, Rizal offered to serve as a doctor in the Spanish army in the Cuba. His offer was
accepted. He left his exile in Dapitan and proceeded by ship to Cuba via Spain. But en route to Cuba, he was
arrested on charges of rebellion and sedition. Brought to Spain, he was returned right away to Manila to face
trial.
Despite his plea of innocence, a Spanish military court found Rizal guilty and sentenced him to death by
firing squad. The death sentence was approved by Gov-Gen Polavieja.
Inside his prison cell at Fort Santiago, Rizal wrote his famous poem Mi Ultimo Adios while awaiting his
execution. At dawn of December 30, 1896, a Spanish firing squad executed Rizal at the Luneta where a
monument now stands to honor his memory.
The Rise of Aguinaldo. The Katipunan revolution in Cavite began on August 31,1896 when katipuneros
under the command of Emilio Aguinaldo struck at the Spanish garrison in his hometown of Kawit and won.
Soon Cavite became a major battleground of the revolution. While Katipunan forces elsewhere were
suffering one defeat after another, the katipuneros in Cavite were surprisingly holding their own and
winning some victories over the Spanish troops.
As a result of the Katipunan successes in Cavite, the name of a 27-year old town mayor was fast
becoming popular. He was Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Magdalo faction of the Katipunan in Cavite
and, at the time the revolution broke out, the mayor of Kawit, where he was born on March 22,1869.
 Aguinaldo was an ilustrado. He belonged to a middle class family in Cavite. He studied at San Juan de
Letran College in Manila. The death of his father forced him to stop his studies. He took care of the family
farm and he went into business.
At the age of 25, Aguinaldo joined the Katipunan. As a katipunero, his symbolic name was Magdalo. On
August 31, 1896 Aguinaldo started the Katipunan uprising in Cavite by attacking and defeating the Spanish
garrison in Kawit. A week later, on September 5, he won another victory in Imus. Soon, he was being called
a general because of his military leadership.
The Downfall of Bonifacio. It happened that at the time of the revolution, there were two Katipunan
provincial councils in Cavite. One was the Magdiwang council headed by Mariano Alvarez, the uncle-in-law
of Bonifacio. The other was the Magdalo council of which Baldomero Aguinaldo, was the leader. The
Magdiwang group had its headquarters in Noveleta; the Magdalo council in Kawit.
Both factions fought the Spaniards. In the beginning, the two rival groups won a number of victories.
However, they fought independently of each other. They were not united. This disunity proved disastrous for
the Katipunan revolution in Cavite. When the Spanish forces under Gov-Gen. Polavieja launched an
offensive to crush the rebellion in Cavite, the divided katipuneros could not put up and effective defense.
In the face of these developments, the Magdiwang faction asked Bonifacio, the Katipunan supremo, to
come to Cavite to settle once and for all the Katipunan leadership in the province. A meeting of Cavite
katipuneros was held in Imus on Dec. 31,1896. However, instead of discussing the issue of leadership in the
province, the meeting discussed the future of the Katipunan.
The Magdalo group called for the establishment of a revolutionary government to replace the Katipunan.
The proposal divided the Imus assembly, for many of the Magdiwang faction opposed the proposal. The
meeting ended without any decision being reached.
In the wake of Spanish successes in the battlefields of Cavite, the katipuneros decided to hold another
meeting to settle the issue of what to do with the Katipunan- whether to continue it or have it replaced by a
revolutionary government as proposed by the Magdalo. The meeting was held in Tejeros, San Francisco d
Malabon (now the town of Gen. Trias in Cavite).
In Tejeros assembly, the Magdalo group won. The assembly voted to dissolve the Katipunan and to
establish in its place a new revolutionary government. An election of officers of the revolutionary
government was held. But before the voting took place, Bonifacio, as chairman of the assembly, obtained a
promise from everyone present to abide by the results of the election.
The Tejeros assembly turned out to be a disaster for Bonifacio. He lost the leadership of the revolution
that he had begun. The Katipunan that he created to carry out the revolution was abolished and replaced by a
revolutionary government. And it was the young Aguinaldo not Bonifacio who was elected president of the
new government.
Bonifacio was further humiliated when his election to the minor post of Director of the Interior was even
questioned by Daniel Tirona who said that the post “should not be occupied by one who is not a lawyer.”
Hurt and enraged by the turn of events, Bonifacio angrily ended the assembly and announced that he would
not recognize the new government.
Bonifacio left Tejeros determined to continue the Katipunan revolution under his leadership. In Naic,
Bonifacio and his followers were signed the Naic Military Agreement under which the Katipunan would
have its own army separate from that of Aguinaldo, Gen. Pio del Pilar, one of the signers, would be the
commander of Bonifacio’s army.
Bonifacio was not able to carry out his plans. At Indang, Cavite, a detachment of Aguinaldo’s troops
caught up with the Bonifacio party. A fight broke out. Bonifacio was captured while his brother Ciriaco was
killed.
 The Katipunan supremo was brought to the town of Maragondon where a military court of Aguinaldo’s
revolutionary government, presided over by Gen. Mariano Noriel, tried him for treason and sedition on May
4, 1897. Found guilty, Bonifacio was sentenced to death. Aguinaldo changed the sentence to exile but he
was persuaded by Noriel and del Pilar to carry out the original sentence. The two generals, former
supporters of Bonifacio, explained to Aguinaldo that Bonifacio’s execution would preserve the unity of the
revolution.
Bonifacio, together with his brother Procopio, was taken on May 10 to the hills near Maragondon where a
detachment of Aguinaldo’s troops under Major Lazaro Makapagal executed the Bonifacio brothers. With the
death of Bonifacio, Aguinaldo assumed complete leadership of the revolution.
The Pact of Biak-na-Bato. The death of Bonifacio did not change the fortunes of the revolutionary
forces. They suffered one defeat after another as the Spanish forces, with fresh reinforcements from Spain,
pressed their attacks in Cavite. By the end of June 1897, the Spaniards were in full control of Cavite.
Aguinaldo had to flee to Batangas where he joined forces with Gen. Miguel Malvar.
Despite their victories, however, the Spaniards could not crush the rebellion. The Filipinos continued to
fight on despite overwhelming odds. Governor-General Primo de Rivera, who had replaced Polavieja, tried
to end the rebellion by offering amnesty to the rebels. Although some rebels took advantage and
surrendered, many ignored the offer and continued the struggle.
Aguinaldo slipped through Spanish lines and arrived at Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan in July 1897. There
Aguinaldo established a new government that came to be known as the Biak-na-Bato Republic. It had a
constitution drafted by Felix Ferrer and Isabelo Artacho that was practically a word-for-word copy of the
Cuban Constitution of Jimaguayu. In November the rebels elected the officials of the Biak-na-Bato
Republic. They were as follows: Aguinaldo, president; Mariano Trias, vice-president; Antonio Montenegro,
Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Isabelo Artacho, Secretary of the Interior; Emilio Riego de Dios, Secretary of
War; Baldomero Aguinaldo, Secretary of the Treasury.
Gov-Gen de Rivera finally realized that while he might be able to defeat the rebels in combat, he could
not crush the revolution. Consequently, he considered the possibility of ending the rebellion through
peaceful negotiations. The opportunity came when a Manila lawyer, Pedro A. Paterno, offered his services
to de Rivera as a peace negotiator. On August 9,1897, Paterno arrived at Aguinaldo’s headquarters at Biak-
na-Bato carrying de Rivera’s offer of peace.
After four months of shuttling back and forth between Manila and Biak-na-Bato, Paterno was able to
arrange a peace agreement, the so-called Pact of Biak-na-Bato. The peace pact, made up of three separate
documents signed on December 14 and 15, 1897 provided for an end to the revolution. The forces of
Aguinaldo would lay down their arms. They would all be given amnesty and allowed to return to their
homes. Aguinaldo and his top officials would go on a voluntary exile to Hong Kong. They would be given
Php.800,000 by the Spanish government to be paid to them in three installments. Php. 400,000 upon leaving
the Philippines, Php. 200,000, when at least 700 arms have been surrendered to the Spanish authorities, and
the balance of Php. 200,000 upon the declaration of a general amnesty. In addition, Spain bound herself to
pay Php. 900,000 to the Filipino civilians who had suffered losses as a result of the revolution.
On December 27, 1897, Gen. Aguinaldo, with the Php.400,000 paid to him by Spain, left for Hong Kong
accompanied by 25 revolutionary leaders. The other Aguinaldo officials who were left behind asked Gov-
Gen. de Rivera to give them the balance of Php. 400,000 to be distributed to the needy ones among them.
The Spanish official gave them Php.200,000 which they then divided among themselves.
The Fighting Continues. The peace that Spain bought under the Pact of Biak-na-Bato was short-lived.
The lack of good faith between the rebels and the colonial government made a mockery of the peace
agreement.
Spanish soldiers exchanging shots with Filipino rebels in Cavite.
BTVTED 2-1
Group 4 Facilitators:
Cristilyn Briones
Rochella Cańada
Mark Lloyd Canillo
Claudeth Genon
Mylene Lorion
Rechille Panugaling