ScSc 12n – Readings in Philippine History

Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences

Visayas State University

Lesson 2.5: Historical Source during the

Period of Revolution

Lesson Summary
This lesson will be focused on the content and context analysis of
primary sources from the Reform and Propaganda period in Philippine history.
The primary source materials to be tackled in this particular lesson are the
writings of Jacinto and Bonifacio.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Name documents from the revolutionary period in Philippine history.
2. Make a document analysis of a particular primary source from the
revolutionary period in Philippine history.

Motivation Question
Are you familiar with the Oakwood mutiny of 2003?
Are you familiar with the Sen. Antonio Trillanes?
He was once part of a group called
“Magdalo” that mutinied against the then
president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Did you know that the emblem the group
was using was originally from the
Magdalo faction of the Katipunan lead by
General Emilio Aguinaldo?
How well do you know the revolution of
1896? Figure 1 The flag of the Magdalo faction of
the Katipunan (from:
http://www.samahangmagdalo.org/site/)

Discussion
The revolution of 1896 against the Spaniards is an event that is always
highlighted in the discussion of Philippine history. It was in this time that the
Filipinos rose against the Spanish colonials and the friars who have controlled
the land for some 330 years. It was in this latter part of the 19th century that
 ScSc 12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

many events have caused many unrests boiling to the revolution. In his book,
Constantino (1974), he has credited the social unrest to many factors, such as
agricultural, economic, and socio-political. During those times, the economy of
the Philippine colony was low due to the decrease in the value for hemp and
sugar and an increase in prices for imported goods. Aside from that pestilence
and locust attacks became a common thing that remained difficult to solve for
the common people. Finally, the Spaniards and friars who ran the country were
still discriminative of the natives even when they have already given privileges
such as education. These were some of the things fought against by the
reformists and propagandists (Rizal, del Pilar, etc.) in their works. In 1896,
before his death, Marcelo H. del Pilar declared his support to the revolution and
insurrection as the last remedy.

The Katipunan

When talking about the Katipunan, one might automatically picture a

figure of Bonifacio raising his bolo in one hand and holding a revolver in the
other, while seemingly charging forward into the abyss with his companions.
This particular image of the Katipunan has been immortalized by many artists
in their work, like in Carlos “Botong” Francisco. Inspiring as it is, the Katipunan
never started so boldly as that image portrays. The Katipunan, or the Kataas-
taasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga anak ng Bayan, started as a
secret organization which is an off-shoot La Liga Filipina founded by Rizal. The
Katipunan was founded by lower to middle-class Filipinos in the name of
Deodato Arellano, Andres Bonifacio, Ladislao Diwa, Teodoro Plata, Jose Dizon,
and Valentin Diaz. Arellano and Bonifacio were members of Liga Filipina, with
the former being its secretary. It was in Arellanos’ house that they created the
Katipunan on June 26, 1892, shortly after Rizal was exiled in Dapitan. Arellano
became the organization’s first president.
Membership in the Katipunan followed a certain initiation rite. In Isabelo
de los Reyes’ memoir (1896), he recalled several rituals for the initiation of a
would-be member. This included some questions about the intention of the
initiate for joining (whether genuine or out of curiosity) and also tasks of
courage and willingness to fight for the organization and the country. One
accepted, the new member will sign a document of their oath to the
organization using their blood. They will then be given the basic rank which is
Katipon. Before 1895, Katipunan was said to have three grades or degrees:
Katipon (Associate), Kawal (Soldier), and Bayani(Hero). It was in November
1895 that the three grades were reduced to two with the emergence of the
Akibat (Companion) and the abolition of the Bayani. The grades were then the
Akibat and the Kawal. The grade Katipon was reduced to mere membership and
not a grade itself (Richardson, 2006-18).
The Katipunan was steadily and secretly growing in numbers, aided by
the charisma of Bonifacio who was a very active member of the La Liga Filipina
until it disbanded in 1894. By 1895, Bonifacio became the president of the
Katipunan and started to prepare the Katipunan for revolution. Aided by his
close trusted friend and advisor, Emilio Jacinto – the Brains of Katipunan, they
spread the ideologies of the Katipunan through their newsletter called
 ScSc 12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

“Kalayaan”. Jacinto would also make the Cartilla (Kartilya) of the Katipunan,
which are the guiding principles and basic teachings of the Katipunan.

Figure 2 Botong Francisco’s mural of Bonifacio and the Katipunan.

Image from: https://nolisoli.ph/34743/national-museum-now-opens-
botong-franciscos-greatest-work-to-the-public/

TheKatipunan Code of Conduct

• The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is

a tree without a shade, if not a poisonous weed.
• To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not a
virtue.
• 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.
• Whether our skin is black or white, we are all born equal: superiority
in knowledge, wealth, and beauty are to be understood, but not
superiority by nature.
• The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel,
gain to honor.
• To the honorable man, his word is sacred.
• Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.
• Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in
the field.
• The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.
• On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of the woman and the
children, and if the guide leads to the precipice, those whom he
guides will also go there.
• 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.
 ScSc 12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

• 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.
• 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 the
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 be oppressed, he who loves and
cherishes his fatherland, though he is born in the wilderness and
know no tongue but his own.
• 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.
[translation by Gregorio Nieva, 1918]
from: http://www.philippinemasonry.org/kartilya-ng-katipunan.html

Figure 3 The most popular design of the Katipunan Flag.

Eventually, the secrecy of the Katipunan was broken and revolution

became inevitable. As written by Guerrero, et. al. (2003):
By April or May 1896, the existence of the Katipunan was
already known to the Guardia Civil Veterana. In August, the confession
of Teodoro Patino’s sister to Fray Mariano Fil, the Augustinian curate of
Tondo, merely confirmed what the government already knew. The priest
persuaded the authorities of the grave danger the society posed to the
Spanish community. Reacting to the ensuing hysteria and acting on
information collated over a long period of time, the government had
numerous prominent residents arrested and detained; houses were
raided and searched. Governor-General Ramon Blanco was urged to
apply the “juez de cuchillo” or total annihilation of the Filipino
population in a prescribed zone within the areas of uprising.
 ScSc 12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

This order of the governor-general was answered by the Cry of

Balintawak on August 23, 1896. The said event is somewhat an official
declaration of war of the Katipunan against the Spaniards. It is highly contested
that the Katipunan is seen as a government taking the reins from Spain, but
many historians like Taylor, Zaide, and Agoncillo has viewed Katipunan as the
first established government in the Philippines (Guerrero, et. al, 2003). It is said
that on the onset of the revolution, the lodges of the Katipunan where
transformed into battalions with their grandmasters turned into captains.
Bonifacio would be known as their supreme leader.
August 30, 1896, Governor-General
Ramon Blanco’s declaration of Martial Law in the
Trivia: The eight
critical eight provinces (Manila, Cavite, Laguna,
provinces would later
Bulacan, Batangas, Tarlac, Pampanga, and Nueva
on be represented by
Ecija), the Katipunan started attacking Spanish
the eight rays in the sun
garrisons. With the seat of the government in the
of the Philippine Flag.
capital, Manila, the Spanish forces forced out the
Katipunan in Manila to the other neighboring
provinces. Eventually, this led to the decision of the supremo Andres Bonifacio
and the other Katipunan leaders to create a meeting to unify all of the
Katipunan to formally create the first republic of the Philippines. This meeting
would later become known as the Tejeros Convention. Bonifacio’s vision of
unifying with the others in this event would later become a venue of dissent
against him by the other Filipinos. It would lead to the order of Emilio Aguinaldo,
the elected president, to execute him in 1897.