CRY OF PUGADLAWIN

DEFINITION OF THE CRY

The word “cry” comes from the Spanish el grito de rebelion (cry of rebellion) or el grito for
short. Thus the Grito de Balintawak is similar to the Grito de Dolores of Mexico (1810). But
the “el grito de rebelion” strictly refers to a decision or call to revolt. It doesn’t necessarily
mean shouting, unlike the Filipino term Sigaw or Sigao.

Originally the term “cry” referred to the first clash between the members of Katipunan and the
Civil Guards (Guardia Civil).
The cry could also refer to the tearing up of cedulas (community tax certificates) in resistance
to Spanish government.

The cry can also be referred to in the inscriptions of “Viva la Independencia Filipina” which
was literally accompanied by patriotic shouts.

● First accepted venue and date was “Balintawak” dated August 26 in 1963.

● It was changed to “Pugad Lawin” on August 23 through the issuance of former President
Diosdado Macapagal of Proclamation No. 149 series of 1963.

● Ambeth Ocampo even enumerated five different places like Balintawak, Pugad Lawin,
Kangkong, Bahay Toro, and Pasong Tamo in different dates like 20, 23, 24, 25 or 26 of August
1896.

● The August 26 in Balintawak and August 23 in Pugad Lawin happened to be the two (2)most
famous versions because of the reputation of historians who wrote it according to their sources.

• The “cry” may be understood as decision to revolt, the tearing of community certificates or
cedulas, or the encounter with Spanish forces

Teodoro Agoncillo

Agoncillo’s book entitled “Revolt the Masses” (1956)

"It was in Pugad Lawin, where they proceeded upon leaving Samson's place in the afternoon
of the 22nd, that the more than 1,000 members of the Katipunan met in the yard of Juan A.
Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino. In the morning of August 23rd. Considerable discussion arose
whether the revolt against the Spanish government should be started on the 29th. Only one man
protested. But he was overruled in his stand. 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!"
Renato Constantino’s Book

In Renato Constantino's Book entitled "The Philippines: A Past Revisited", he had

similar accounts with Agoncillo & Guerero.

"He summoned Katipunan leaders to a mass meeting which was held in Pugadlawin, in the
yard of a son of Melchora Aquino (Tandang Sora), mother of the Katipunan. The meeting was
a stormy one. Some believed it was premature to start the Revolution,but after much discussion
the decisiveness of Bonifacio and Jacinto won the day. As a sign that they had broken all their
ties with Spain and would fight her domination to the last, the Katipuneros tore their cedulas
(certificate of citizenship) to pieces,shouting, "Long live the Philippines!"

Valenzuela Account

In 1935,Pio Valenzuela along with Briccio Pantas and Enrique

Pacheco said "The first Cry of the revolution did not happen in Balintawak where the
monument is, but in a place called Pugad Lawin."

"It was at Pugad Lawin, the house, store-house, and yard of Juan Ramos, son of Melchora
Aquino, where over 1,000 members of the Katipunan and carried out considerable debate
and discussion on August 23,1896”.

(Valenzuela kinda gawa gawa the word “Pugad Lawin” because he saw a nest of a bird in
Tandang Sora's backyard)

• In 1940,a research team of a forerunner of the National Historical Institute (NHI) which
included Valenzuela, identified the location as part of sitio Gulod, Banlat, Kalookan
City
• In 1964,the NHI described this location as the house of Tandang Sora
• 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.
But be careful with Pio Valenzuela's account. John N. Schumacher, S.J, of the Ateneo de Manila
University comment on Pio Valenzuela's credibility. -He said that "I would certainly give much
less credence to all accounts coming from Pio Valenzuela, and to the interpretations Agoncillo
got from him verbally, since Valenzuela gave so many versions from the time surrender to the
Spanish authorities and made various statements not always compatible with one another up to
the time when as an old man he was interviewed by Agoncillo. Pio Valenzuela backtracked on
and yet another point. 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 pre-requisites were met. Agoncillo reasoned that Valenzuela
had lied to save Rizal."

The first annual commemoration of the Cry occurred in Balintawak in 1908 after the American
colonial government repealed the Sedition Law. In 1911 a monument to the Cry (a lone
Katipunero popularly identified with Bonifacio) was erected at Balintawak; it was later
transferred to Vinzons Hall in the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City. In 1984,
the National Historical Institute of the Philippines installed a commemorative plaque in Pugad
Lawin.

TEARING OF CEDULA

• Not all statements describe the tearing of cédulas in the last days of August but the
version of Agoncillo, which was based on the later statements of Pío Valenzuela
including the others who insisted that the cry happened in Pugad Lawin instead of
Balintawak, was the source of the current stance of the Philippine government official
commemorations.
• Bonifacio and many others had escaped to Pugad Lawin.
• During their meeting at the house of Juan Ramos on August 23, 1896, Bonifacio
urged his supporters to tear into pieces their cédulas (residence certificates) as a sign
of revolt against the Spanish government.
• Being highly motivated by the killings and arrest of their fellow members in Manila,
they tore up their cedulas and let out the cry “Long live the Philippines,” which is
known as the Cry of Pugad Lawin in Philippine history.
• He released a manifesto on the 28th for all their supporters in the surrounding towns
to take up arms on the impending strike on Manila which would happen on August
29th.
• The revolt eventually increased in strength and spread to eight provinces –Manila,
Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Tarlac, Laguna, Batangas, and Nueva Ecija — which
were subsequently represented by the eight rays of the sun in the present Filipino flag.

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines posits that the difference in accounts
may be due to the confusion between sources as to what the “Cry” was exactly. There are
three interpretations of what the Cry of Pugad Lawin was, but the NHCP considers it the day
that the Katipunan decided to formally revolt. In 1986, the National Historical Institute (NHI)
convened to resolve the historical controversy surrounding the Cry. After their meeting on
August 14th, 1986, the NHI passed NHI Board Resolution No. 2, series of 1986, where they
declared the event officially the “Cry of Pugad Lawin,” having occurred on August 23 rd,
1896. The evidence for this decision came from various historical records, as well as the
Biak-na-bato constitution.

The Biak-na-Bato constitution is the document drafted and declared by the leaders of the
revolutionary government. The document states in its introduction that the revolution started
on the 24th of August 1896, placing the date of the cry one day earlier, on August 23rd.

MALACAÑANG

RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT

OF THE PHILIPPINES
MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROCLAMATION NO. 149

DECLARING FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 1963, AS A

SPECIAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN QUEZON CITY

WHEREAS, the 23rd day of August marks the sixty-seventh anniversary of the “Cry of
Pugad Lawin,” a historic event in our struggle for freedom; and

WHEREAS, the people of Quezon City where the event took place should be given
ample opportunity to celebrate the event with appropriate ceremonies;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Diosdado Macapagal, President, of the Philippines, pursuant to

the authority vested in me by section 30 of the Revised Administrative Code, do hereby
declare Friday, August 23, 1963, as a special public holiday in Quezon City.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen
hundred and sixty-three.

DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL
President of the Philippines