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Andrés Bonifacio

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Andrés Bonifacio
A photo engraving of Andrés Bonifacio
AllegianceKatipunan
RankRevolution leader
Battles / warsPhilippine Revolution
This article is about the person Andrés Bonifacio. For other uses, see Bonifacio (disambiguation).

Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro (November 30, 1863 – May 10, 1897) was one of the chief leaders of the revolution of the Philippines against Spanish colonial rule. The 1896 Philippine Revolution was the first revolution in Asia against European colonial rule.

Early life

He was born to a Tagalog father and a Spanish mestiza mother, Catalina de Castro of Zambales[1], in Tondo, Manila. His father was a cabeza de barangay (a leading barangay official). He was orphaned at a young age. According to popular anecdote, he peddled canes and fans to support his family.

Later, he worked as a clerk in a British firm in Manila. He married twice - his first wife was a woman named Monica, who died of leprosy. He read books about the French Revolution, Les Miserables, and the novels of local reformist and future national hero Jose Rizal, among others.

According to historians, Bonifacio - though projected by detractors as being unlettered - was in fact very literate because a British firm would not have hired him as a clerk if he was not. He was also highly intellectual to be keeping serious novels and political books, many were not even written in his native tongue. He also authored countless articles and poems in the course of organizing the revolution.

He was a Freemason. He also joined Rizal's La Liga Filipina (Spanish "The Philippine League"), a society that called for reforms in Spanish rule. However, the Liga was disbanded shortly after Rizal was arrested and deported to the town of Dapitan in Mindanao a day after the group's only meeting.

The Katipunan

The Republika ng Katagalugan (Tagalog Republic), with him as President and the members of the Katipunan high council as his cabinet. "Tagalog", in this sense, was a term used to refer to the Philippines as a whole, not the ethnic group.

On the night of July 7, 1892 (the eve of Rizal's arrest, in fact), Bonifacio founded the Katipunan, a revolutionary secret society which would later spark the Philippine Revolution of 1896 against Spanish rule. In this period, he met his second wife, Gregoria de Jesus, who became a rebel leader in her own right. His right-hand man was Emilio Jacinto. Within the society, Bonifacio's codename or nom de guerre was Maypagasa (There is hope).

With the establishment of the Katipunan, Andrés Bonifacio became popularly known as the Father of the Revolution and eventually held the title of Supremo.

He wrote the patriotic poem, Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa (loosely, Love for the Motherland), which saw print in the first and only issue of the Katipunan periodical, Kalayaan (Freedom), edited by Jacinto. Allegedly, he also made the first translation of Jose Rizal's final poem, Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell) into Tagalog.

Just before the Revolution broke out, he formed a revolutionary government called "Republika ng mga Katagalugan" with himself as the president.

Downfall

While Bonifacio's personal campaigns were less than successful, the revolutionaries in Cavite had greater success, led by officers coming from the upper classes, including the celebrated Emilio Aguinaldo. Thus, they sent out a manifesto calling for a revolutionary government of their own, disregarding Bonifacio's leadership.

A council comprising of Bonifacio's men and the Magdalo and the Magdiwang, two locally-based rival Katipunan factions, held a convention in Tejeros, Cavite to establish a unified front and settle the issue of leadership of the revolutionary movement. The Magdalo faction was led by Baldomero Aguinaldo, cousin to Emilio Aguinaldo. In the elections, the Cavitenos voted their own Emilio Aguinaldo President. Bonifacio, due to the lack of a power base in the province, was voted Director of the Interior.

However, a member of the Magdalo faction, Daniel Tirona, questioned Bonifacio's qualifications for high office, declaring him uneducated and unfit for the position. Bonifacio was slighted, all the more so since he had previously asked that the results of the election be respected by all. Invoking his authority as Supremo, he threatened those in attendance with a pistol and declared the results of the Tejeros Convention as null and void and left in a rage. Later, he wrote to Jacinto about his misgivings about the whole matter, as he suspected Tirona of spreading black propaganda against him and fixing the ballots (as some other leaders also suspected).

It is believed the Supremo from this point headed towards Batangas to lead another Katipunan faction where he would establish his own government. Word of this got back to the Magdalo group. In fear of a separate rival government along with an ongoing revolution, Aguinaldo ordered the arrest of Bonifacio and his brothers. The Magdalo soldiers caught up with Bonifacio in the town of Indang. They surrounded the house and asked Bonifacio and his men to disarm and come out peacefully. Bonifacio refuted and stated that bullets would settle this matter. The stand off lasted through the night.

At dawn, the soldiers closed in and opened fire. Bonifacio ordered his men not to shoot. His men yelled, "Brothers, don't shoot! Tell us what you want?" The soldiers made their way in. Procopio Bonifacio was tied up and beaten with a revolver. Ciriaco Bonifacio was held down by two soldiers and shot to death. Bonifacio was stabbed and beaten with a rifle butt. Gregoria de Jesus(wife of Andres Bonifacio) recounted that after the capture of the Supremo, the leading officer approached her, asking where they had stashed the Treasury money.

The brothers were taken to Naic and tried in a kangaroo court headed by General Mariano Noriel. Both were charged with treason and sedition, punishment was death by firing squad. In Emilio Aguinaldo's biography, Aguinaldo claims he superseded this judgment and ordered the Supremo to be exiled and banished to Mt. Nagpatong. Major Lazaro Makapagal, along with four soldiers, was given orders to lead the Bonifacio brothers to Mt. Nagpatong. Makapagal was also given a sealed envelope with strict orders not to open it until they reached the mountains. On May 10, 1897, at Mt. Nagpatong, Major Lazaro Makapagal opened the letter, faced the Supremo and his brother, and read its contents aloud. Andres and Procopio were to be executed by firing squad or he himself would be shot. It was signed by General Mariano Noriel. Makapagal turned his back and his soldiers opened fire on the Bonifacio brothers. The Supremo was only 34 years old. Fearing their gunfire being heard by Spanish forces, they quickly dug a shallow grave and covered the two bodies with twigs and branches. Co-patriots of the Revolution regarded this an ugly blot laid at Aguinaldo's door, though Aguinaldo originally wanted them banished instead.

In 1918, an expedition lead by one of the former soldiers found the grave of Andres Bonifacio. His remains were exhumed and placed in a urn at the Legislative Building (today National Museum) in Manila. In 1945, near the end of WWII during the Battle of Manila, the building was completely destroyed. The Supremo's remains are lost forever.

Controversy

Some historians, like Renato Constantino, see him as a champion of the masses who was slighted by ambitious members of the upper class. Others like Gregorio Zaide, favor Aguinaldo and company over him. Glenn May goes as far as saying that his role as a national hero was largely invented. Also, there is debate whether he should be considered the first Philippine President instead of Aguinaldo and the national hero instead of Rizal until now.

Some analytical historians, claim that what happened at Tejeros, Cavite was actually a coup de etat to wrest power from Bonifacio by the bourgeois or upper class represented by Aguinaldo. (Aguinaldo and members of his class enjoyed more privilege status even before the revolution. They would not allow a victorious president Bonifacio ordering land and wealth distribution as his first decree.) Hence, the Tejeros Convention was a farce intended to lure Bonifacio to the Caviteño territory. The presidential election wasn't a national election at all. Participated only by mostly Caviteños. The other revolting provinces such as Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Laguna, Batangas, and others, were not participants. Bonifacio, who was too fueled with idealism, was too naive to understand maneuvering politicians. Bonifacio was not allowed to get out of Cavite. He was tried then executed promptly for treason. Many now asks: Had Bonifacio able to slip to Manila could he have declared that the Aguinaldo was the one who betrayed the revolution?

Today

Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City, sculpted by Guillermo Tolentino
Andrés Bonifacio (right) on the 10-peso bill

Bonifacio's birthday on November 30 is celebrated as Bonifacio Day (Filipino: Araw ni Bonifacio) and is a public holiday in the Philippines.

There are many monuments to Bonifacio across the nation, with the most famous being two sculptures, one by Napoleon Abueva and the other by Guillermo Tolentino, both National Artists.

In current Philippine currency, he is depicted in the 10-peso bill (currently out of production) and 10-peso coin, along with fellow patriot Apolinario Mabini.

In film

Bonifacio was portrayed by Julio Diaz in Bayani (Hero), a feature film loosely based on his life directed by experimental auteur Raymond Red, and an educational television series also named Bayani.

In Jose Rizal, a film about the national hero, he was portrayed by Gardo Verzosa.

References

  • Zaide, Gregorio F. (1984). Philippine History and Government. National Bookstore Printing Press. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  • Ocampo, Ambeth. Bones of Contention: The Bonifacio Lectures
  • Agoncillo, Teodoro. The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan
  • Constantino, Renato. The Philippines: a Past Revisited
  1. ^ http://www.visitzambales.com/newlayout/index.php?action=people&part=intfacts

Further reading

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