Document 372

Pio Valenzuela's Controversial "Cry of Pugad Lawin" (August 23,

1896)

"Cry of Pugad Lawin" (August 23, 1896)

The controversial "Cry of Pugad Lawin," which has been confirmed by no

other eyewitnesses of the event than Dr. Pio Valenzuela, is the second and
later version of the first rally of the Katipunan by Dr. Valenzuela himself. The
first version which he gave told of the "Cry of Balintawak" as the first staging
point of the Philippine Revolution. He related the first version, when events
were still fresh in his memory and as he abandoned the revolutionary cause
after its outbreak and fled to Biñan, Laguna, for safety. Taking advantage of
Governor General Ramon Blanco's proclamation of amnesty to the
revolutionists, Valenzuela returned to Manila on September 3, 1896, and
surrendered to Blanco. He was imprisoned in Fort Santiago, where, upon
investigation, he told Francisco Olive, the Spanish investigator, that the
"Cry" was staged at "Balintawak on Wednesday, August 26, 1896. However,
much later, Dr. Valenzuela, with a fading memory and without consulting the
written documents of the Philippine Revolution, wrote his Memoirs of the
Revolution. In his memoirs, he claims that the "Cry" was held at Pugad
Lawin on August 23. 1896, as follows:

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 Sam- son 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 resolucion 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, 1896. The discussion was on whether or not the revolution against the
Spanish government should be started on August 29, 1896. Only one man
protested and fought against a war, and that was Teodoro Plata [Bonifacio's
brother-in-law Z.12 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!"3

DR. PIO VALENZUELA in 1895

p. 142.

1 See W. E. Retana, Archivo del bibliofilo Filipino (Madrid, 1897), Vol. III,

A typescript of Dr. Valenzuela's Memoirs, together with his

autograph and personal photo, was given to me by the author when
I visited his home in Polo (now Valenzuela), Bulacan, on July 4,
1931, while researching for my first book on the discovery of the
Katipunan.