The Capture of Andres Bonifacio

With the emergence of Emilio Aguinaldo as the leader of the rigged elections at the
Tejeros Convention, Andres Bonifacio was appointed as the secretary of the interior. In addition
to the appointment to a low position in the organization, Bonifacio was ridiculed and questioned
by Daniel Tirona for his capability to perform his duties due to his lack of education. Bonifacio
did not recognize Aguinaldo as the new president of the rebel government.
This prompted Aguinaldo with the instigation of Pio Del Pilar, a general who was
appointed to lead all troops of the new rebel government, to send a troop to carry out Bonifacio’s
arrest. Bonifacio, not knowing their intentions, welcomed them into their camp. Aguinaldo’s
troops attacked first but Bonifacio ordered his men to stand down as he did not want to fight his
fellow countrymen. The arrest resulted in the death of his younger brother, Ciriaco, and his
brother Procopio being badly beaten up by the said troops. Bonifacio was stabbed in the neck
and shot in the arm. He was taken to Naic, Cavite on a stretcher where Aguinaldo waited. Also
according to some accounts, The founder of the women’s chapter of Katipunan and the spouse of
Bonifacio, Gregorio De Jesus, was sexually assaulted during the arrest.
They underwent a trial that was facilitated by Agunaldo’s peers and were given a lawyer
that admitted their guilt rather than defend them. This ensured that the trial will not go well for
the Bonifacio brothers and they were found guilty of treason. At first, with the consideration of
Bonifacio’s men and wanting to get the good side of them, Aguinaldo sentenced the brothers to
be exiled. But it was changed when Pio Del Pilar and another general heavily persuaded
Aguinaldo to give the death penalty as their sentence.
The brothers were taken to Maragondon Mountains where they were ordered to be
executed. The executioners were led by Lazaro Makapagal, which was the ancestor of former
presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. There are different accounts of
the execution and the first one was from Makapagal, who stated that the firing squad shot
Procopio first and Andres ran and had to be chased down.
Another account also from the execution party was told to Guillermo Masangkay,
Bonifacio’s trusted friend and adviser of the Supremo, that Procopio was shot first, Bonifacio
being unable to stand from the injuries he is enduring, was hacked to death to save bullets. After
that, the brothers, Procopio and Andres were buried in shallow graves in the mountains.
Bonifacio’s death marked a drastic change in the revolution’s aims.
 After the Tejeros convention, where Aguinaldo was declared the new president of the
new rebel government through a rigged election. Bonifacio was appointed as the secretary of
interior which at the time was a low position in an organization. To make matters worse, Daniel
Tirona criticized Bonifacio for his capabilities to perform the appointed role. Bonifacio didn’t
recognize the results of the election.

1. Aguinaldo, with the instigation of Pio Del Pilar, ordered the arrest of Bonifacio.
Del Pilar is a general appointed to lead all troops of the new rebel government
Bonifacio welcomed them into their camp. Aguinaldo’s troops attacked first but
Bonifacio ordered his men to stand down as he did not want to fight his fellow “Tagalogs”. The
arrest resulted in the death of his younger brother, Ciriaco, and his brother Procopio being badly
beaten up by the said troops. Bonifacio was stabbed in the neck and shot in the arm. He was
taken to Naic, Cavite on a stretcher where Aguinaldo waited. Also according to some accounts,
The founder of the women’s chapter of Katipunan and the spouse of Bonifacio, Gregorio De
Jesus, was sexually assaulted during the arrest.

2. The Brothers underwent a trial that was facilitated by Aguinaldo’s peers and were
given a lawyer that admitted their guilt rather than defend them. The trial didn’t g
well for the brothers and they were found for treason. Considering the situation,
Aguinaldo decided to lower the sentence of the brothers by exiling them. But again,
with the persuasion of Pio Del Pilar and another general, it was changed to execution
by the firing squad.

3. They were taken & executed in Maragondon Mountains, the executioners were led by
Lazaro Makapagal, which was the ancestor of the former presidents, Diosdado
Macapagal and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. According to Makapagal, Procopio was
shot first, and Andres had a chance to run and had to be chased down.

4. Another account was from, Guillermo Masangkay, which is a trusted friend and
advisor of Bonifacio. Masangkay stated that Procopio was shot first and Bonifacio,
being weak from the injuries, was unable to stand and was hacked to death to save
bullets.
After that, the brothers, Procopio and Andres were buried in shallow graves in the
mountains. Bonifacio’s death marked a drastic change in the revolution’s aims.