▪ The Kataastaasan,

Kagalanggalangang Katipunan
ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or
Katipunan is possibly the most
important organization formed in
the Philippine history.
▪ Formation – July 7, 1892.
▪ Founders – Andres
Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata,
Ladislao Diwa and others.
(1) a united Filipino nation
that would revolt against
the Spaniards for
(2) the total independence
of the country from Spain.
Deodato Arellano (1892-1893)
Roman Basa (1893-1895)
Andres Bonifacio (1895-1897)
The organizational structure of the
Katipunan; new members starting
out as “KATIPON,” then moving up
to “KAWAL” and eventually to
“BAYANI.” Members were to pay an
entrance fee of one real fuerte, a unit
of currency equal to 1/8 of a silver
real peso, as well as monthly dues
and other fees paid exclusively to the
Benefit Fund and collected at every
session or meeting.
Previous armed revolts had already
occurred before the foundation of the
Katipunan, but none of them
envisioned a unified Filipino nation
revolting against the colonizers.
For example, Diego Silang was known
as an Ilocano who took up his arms and
led one of the longest running revolts
in the country. Silang, however, was
mainly concerned about his locality and
referred to himself as EL REY DE
ILOCOS (The King of Ilocos).
Propaganda movements led by the
ILUSTRADOS (Filipino educated class
during the Spanish colonial period)
like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano
Lopez Jaena, and Jose Rizal did not
envision a total separation of the
Philippines from Spain, but only
demanded equal rights,
representation, and protection from
the abuses of the friars.
Marcelo H. del Pilar Graciano Lopez Jaena Jose Rizal
In the conduct of their struggle,
Katipunan created a complex
structure and a defined value
system that would guide the
organization as a collective aspiring
for a single goal. One of the most
important Katipunan documents
was the KARTILYA NG KATIPUNAN.
The original title of the document was
“Manga [sic] Aral Nang [sic]
Katipunan ng mga A.N.B.” or
“Lessons of the Organization of the
Sons of Country.”
The document was written by EMILIO
JACINTO in the 1896. Jacinto was only
18 years old when he joined the
movement.
The KARTILYA can be treated as
the Katipunan’s code of
conduct.
It contains FOURTEEN RULES
that instruct the way a
Katipunero should behave, and
which specific values should he
uphold.
Generally, the rules stated in the
Kartilya can be classified into TWO:
First group contains the rules that
will make the member an upright
individual.
Second group contains the rules
that will guide the way he treats
his fellow men.
1. The life that is not
consecrated to a lofty
and reasonable purpose
is a tree without a
shade, if not a
poisonous weed.
2. To do good for personal
gain and not for its own
sake is not virtue.
3. It is rational to be
charitable and love
one's fellow creature,
and to adjust one's
conduct, acts and
words to what is in itself
reasonable
4. Whether our skin be
black or white, we are
all born equal:
superiority in
knowledge, wealth and
beauty are to be
understood, but not
superiority by nature.
5. The honorable man
prefers honor to
personal gain; the
scoundrel, gain to
honor.
6. To the honorable man,
his word is sacred.
7. Do not waste thy time:
wealth can be
recovered but not time
lost.
8. Defend the oppressed
and fight the oppressor
before the law or in the
field.
9. The prudent man is
sparing in words and
faithful in keeping
secrets.
10. On the thorny path of
life, man is the guide of
woman (“parents”) and
the children, and if the
guide leads to the
precipice, those whom
he guides will also go
there.
11. Thou must not look upon
woman as a mere plaything,
but as a faithful companion
who will share with thee the
penalties of life; her (physical)
weakness will increase thy
interest in her and she will
remind thee of the mother
who bore thee and reared
thee.
12. What thou dost not
desire done unto thy
wife, children, brothers
and sisters, that do not
unto the wife, children,
brothers and sisters of
thy neighbor.
13. Man is not worth more because he is a king,
because his nose is aquiline, and his color
white, not because he is a priest, a servant of
God, nor because of the high prerogative that
he enjoys upon earth, but he is worth most
who is a man of proven and real value, who
does good, keeps his words, is worthy and
honest; he who does not oppress nor
consent to being oppressed, he who loves
and cherishes his fatherland, though he be
born in the wilderness and know no tongue
but his own.
14. When these rules of conduct shall be known to
all, the longed-for sun of Liberty shall rise
brilliant over this most unhappy portion of the
globe and its rays shall diffuse everlasting joy
among the confederated brethren of the
same rays, the lives of those who have gone
before, the fatigues and the well-paid
sufferings will remain. If he who desires to
enter (the Katipunan) has informed himself of
all this and believes he will be able to perform
what will be his duties, he may fill out the
application for admission.
As a document written for a community
whose main purpose is to overthrow a
colonial regime, we can explain the
CONTENT AND PROVISIONS OF THE
KARTILYA as a reaction and response
to certain value systems that they
found shameful in the present state of
things that they struggled against with.
For example, the fourth and the
thirteenth rules in the Kartilya are
petition of the essential equality
between and among men regardless
of race, occupation, or status.
Whether our skin be black or white,
we are all born equal: superiority in
knowledge, wealth and beauty are
to be understood, but not
superiority by nature.
Man is not worth more because he is a king, because
his nose is aquiline, and his color white, not because
he is a priest, a servant of God, nor because of the
high prerogative that he enjoys upon earth, but he is
worth most who is a man of proven and real value,
who does good, keeps his words, is worthy and
honest; he who does not oppress nor consent to
being oppressed, he who loves and cherishes his
fatherland, though he be born in the wilderness and
know no tongue but his own.
In the context of the Spanish
colonial era where the INDIOS were
treated as the inferior of the white
Europeans.
Rizal’s Letter to the Women of
Malolos when he was in London.
Katipunan’s recognition of women as
important partners in the struggle.
The Kartilya was instructive not just of the
Katipunan’s Conduct toward other people,
but also for the members’ development as
individuals in their own rights.
Generally speaking, the rules in the
Kartilya can be classified as either
directed to how one should treat his
neighbor or to how one should develop
and conduct one’s self.