Martyrdom of a People’s Leader

To his last breath, Bonifacio was devoted to the main objective of the KKK, which was separation from Spain. Aguinaldo and his clique, in contrast, would not long after yield their arms in exchange for P400,000 and accept exile to Hong Kong and the continuation of Spanish sovereignty in accordance with the Pact of Biak na Bato, in which Pedro Paterno negotiated for the Spanish colonial government.

By Alexander Martin Remollino 
Bulatlat.com

Among the more tragic chapters in the history of the Filipino people is the execution of Andres Bonifacio, founder of the Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK), which began to wage a revolutionary struggle against Spanish colonial rule in 1896, on Mt. Buntis, Maragondon, Cavite on May 10, 1897.

Unlike Jose Rizal and Macario Sakay, who were executed by soldiers of occupying powers, Bonifacio died in the hands of fellow Katipuneros. This makes his death doubly tragic.

But why did the Supremo, as Bonifacio came to be known among his fellow Katipuneros, have to die -- and in such a manner?

In his book The Price of Freedom, Gen. Jose Alejandrino, one of the officers who served under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, wrote of Bonifacio's death, thus: "In crying over the spilled blood of Andres Bonifacio, let our grief be assuaged by the thought that it was not shed in vain, because it served to establish firmly our much-needed unity for the overthrow of the forces of tyranny, in the same way that Rizal's blood tinged with scarlet the rays of our early dawn." There is in this passage the implicit suggestion that at the time of his death, Bonifacio had become a divisive force, therefore a threat to the Revolution -- and had to be eliminated.

But was he really a threat to the Revolution?

His origins

To answer this question accurately it is necessary to delve first into the origins of the man.

Andres Bonifacio was born into a lower middle-class family in Tondo in 1863. His mother, Catalina de Castro, a Zambaleña born of a Spanish father and a Filipino-Chinese mother, used to work as a cabecilla (supervisor) in a cigarette factory. His father was a tailor and boatman who had served as a teniente mayor of Tondo.

Bonifacio was orphaned before he could reach his 20s. He had to quit his studies in order to support his brothers and sisters. He worked, at various times, as a peddler of walking canes and paper fans which he himself made, a warehouse keeper in a mosaic tile factory, a clerk, a messenger and subsequently an agent of tar and ties for the English firm J.M. Fleming and Co., and, a few years before the Revolution, a warehouse keeper and subsequently a supply clerk and a sales agent for the German firm Fressel and Co.

Education

Bonifacio's education, which may be considered somewhat unconventional, was instrumental in his later political development. Though he was scantily schooled, not having reached beyond the second year of what in his time was equivalent to high school, he was certainly not lacking in intelligence.

His incomplete education was enough for him to be fluent in Spanish to be able to translate Rizal's "Ultimo Adios" into Tagalog; this translation he titled "Pahimakas". His was the first translation of the said poem into any language, way ahead of the now-famous English translation by the noted linguist Charles Derbyshire.

Not only that - he would himself become a fine writer. Virgilio Almario's Panitikan ng Rebolusyon 1896, which contains and analyzes the works of Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto, includes a Spanish poem, "Mi Abanico," which, according to his sister Espiridiona, was written by the would-be revolutionary leader in his early teens. He would also write a number of Tagalog protest poems: "Ang mga Cazadores", "Katapusang Hibik ng Pilipinas" (apparently written in response to the poems "Hibik ng Pilipinas sa Inang Espanya" by Hermenegildo Flores and "Sagot ng Espanya sa Hibik ng Pilipinas" by Marcelo del Pilar), and the immortal "Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Bayan"--some of the lines of which would be set to music more than 70 years later by Luis Salvador Jorque and repeatedly performed in rallies and militant cultural presentations. His pen was also responsible for "Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Anak ng Bayan," a code of conduct for Katipuneros, and "Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog", an essay which, though short, relates quite lucidly the hardships of the Philippines under Spanish colonial rule and calls upon the Filipino people to rise against oppression.

From his work with J.M. Fleming and Co., Bonifacio would learn a little English.

He also had a high appreciation of the value of learning, and strove mightily to compensate for his lack of formal education by studying on his own. The image of Bonifacio reading well into the night after work is now legendary. And he was widely read: he read Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, Eugene Sue's The Wandering Jew, Rizal two novels (Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo), biographies of Presidents of the United States, two volumes of History of the French Revolution, Ruins of Palmyra, five volumes of the Bible, Religion Within the Reach of All, and books on international, criminal, and civil law. He was also an avid reader of La Solidaridad, the official paper of the Filipino reform movement in Spain.

In 1892, Rizal founded La Liga Filipina, a group that advocated reforms within the Spanish colonial system. Bonifacio would join the group and become one of its most active organizers. The Spanish authorities thought La Liga a subversive organization and had Rizal exiled to Dapitan.

From reformist to revolutionary

It is said that Bonifacio was influenced by the ideas of Marcelo del Pilar, who would be sympathetic to the revolution he would lead, and by Rizal's two novels; and inspired by the story of the French revolution. These stirred in Bonifacio a strong passion for freedom and justice.

In 1892, Rizal founded La Liga Filipina, a group that advocated reforms within the Spanish colonial system. Bonifacio would join the group and become one of its most active organizers. The Spanish authorities thought La Liga a subversive organization and had Rizal exiled to Dapitan.

This convinced Bonifacio of the futility of the campaign for reforms. He came to the conclusion that revolution was the only way to free the Filipino people from Spanish colonial oppression. On the evening of July 7 -- the same day he was informed of Rizal's exile -- he presided over a secret meeting with some of his friends in Azcarraga Street (now C.M. Recto Avenue), where they would establish the KKK. It would be a secret society that would advocate separation from Spain and the dismantling of the huge friar estates. The organization's leadership, being close to the masses due to its lower middle-class composition, would recruit mostly from the peasantry and the working classes.

The revolution would erupt in 1896 after being forced into the open. One of the KKK's members, Teodoro Patiño, had a misunderstanding with one of his comrades and, as an act of vengeance, betrayed the organization's secrets to his sister. The woman would reveal what her brother had told her to a priest. Soon the Spanish authorities would be on the hunt for the KKK, and its members had no choice but to fight back.

The fall of Bonifacio

In the beginning the Revolution seemed headed for failure. However, the unity of the masses would breathe and breathe strength into it. The elite, who had been antagonistic toward the Revolution at the outset, would gradually gravitate toward it as it gained strength.

It was from the elite sections of the revolutionary leadership that the death blow to Bonifacio would come. In Cavite, the Katipunan had two rival councils: the Magdiwang headed by the Supremo's uncle-in-law, Gen. Mariano Alvarez (after whom the town of GMA in the said province would later be named), and the Magdalo, which was headed by the Aguinaldo cousins Baldomero and Emilio. Magdalo was Emilio Aguinaldo's nom de guerre.

Both the Magdiwang and the Magdalo councils had been winning victories in the province. This made Cavite the most successful area for the Revolution.

On Sept. 5, 1896, Emilio Aguinaldo won an important victory in Imus. The man, who was then known as Kapitan Miong, became Heneral Miong to his followers. On Oct. 31, he issued two decrees calling on the Filipino people to "follow the example of civilized European and American nations" and fight for freedom.

In one of the decrees, General Aguinaldo announced the establishment of a provisional government in the towns that had been taken over. This government, according to the decree, had a Revolutionary Committee tasked with continuing the war until all the Philippine islands were freed.

Another decree announced that there was to be created a "central committee of the Revolution" tasked with continuing the war and organizing an army for the defense of the towns and provinces under the "Republican Government."

Both decrees noticeably made no mention of the parent organization, indicating that these were preemption of the revolutionary leadership.

Meanwhile, the rivalry between the two councils worsened as Bonifacio's men were suffering in the fields and Aguinaldo's men continued to win battles. This prompted the Magdiwang to invite Bonifacio to visit Cavite and intervene in the conflict.

An assembly was called in Imus on Dec. 31 supposedly to determine the leadership of the province and end the rivalry between the Magdiwang and the Magdalo. There was a division in the assembly. Those who favored the continuation of the KKK reasoned that it already had its by-laws, it still had to complete its mission of securing independence, and that governments had been established in several towns and provinces in accordance with its constitution. Meanwhile, those against its continuation argued that it was a secret society and should have stopped existing when the Revolution was forced into the open. The leaders agreed to meet again.

Another meeting was held in Tejeros on March 22, 1897. The assembled leaders decided to elect officers of the revolutionary government.

Bonifacio reluctantly presided over the election. The top four positions, namely, President, Vice President, Captain General, and Director of War would go respectively to Emilio Aguinaldo, Mariano Trias, Artemio Ricarte, and Emiliano Riego de Dios -- all members of the Cavite elite, which monopolized the convention to begin with since the other areas (Laguna, Batangas, Tarlac, Pampanga, Manila, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan) were not represented.

The erstwhile Supremo would be elected to the position of Director of the Interior. But his election was contested by Daniel Tirona on the ground that he was not qualified since he was not a lawyer. This was an obvious attack on his social position, which had prevented him from completing his formal education. He refused to recognize the results of the convention -- an act for which he would later be arrested and tried. He was sentenced to death, and was executed on May 10.

Summing up

Was Andres Bonifacio, then, a threat to the Revolution?

The Tejeros convention was , in the first place, a travesty of democracy which was one of the aims of the Revolution. The Cavite elite exploited Bonifacio's isolation in the convention to outmaneuver him and seize the leadership for themselves. He thus had every right to reject the results of the mock election, which Ambeth Ocampo brands "the first dagdag-bawas."

To his last breath, Bonifacio was devoted to the main objective of the KKK, which was separation from Spain. Aguinaldo and his clique, in contrast, would not long after yield their arms in exchange for P400,000 and accept exile to Hong Kong and the continuation of Spanish sovereignty in accordance with the Pact of Biak na Bato, in which Pedro Paterno negotiated for the Spanish colonial government.

Thus the real threat to the Revolution -- and its ultimate bane -- was Aguinaldo, who thought nothing of giving up the struggle the moment he was assured by the Spanish authorities of a comfortable life away from the field of battle. It was he who divided the revolutionary movement with his hunger for power, and later compromised it when doing so was in accordance with his interests as a man of means.

Gen. Alejandrino's flowery passage on the death of Andres Bonifacio, therefore, is a grave insult to the memory of a man who in the first place fathered the Revolution and gave no small amounts of his talents and strengths to it. Bulatlat.com

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