Andrés Bonifacio

Early life and education

Andrés Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863, in Tondo, Manila, and was the first of six children of Catalina de Castro, a tornatrás from Zambales, and Santiago Bonifacio, a native of Taguig. He was baptized on December 3, 1863 by Fr. Saturnino Buntan, parish priest of Tondo Church. He learned the alphabet from his aunt. He was enrolled in Guillermo Osmeña's private elementary school and also in Escuela Municipal de Niños on Calle Ilaya in Tondo. He reached the third year in a private secondary school in Manila. but the existence of an 1881 record that has Bonifacio's parents listed as living in Tondo leaves this disputed. To support his family financially, Bonifacio made walking canes and paper fans, which he and his young siblings sold (after they were orphaned, according to the traditional view). He also made posters for business firms, and this became their thriving family business that continued when Andrés and his brothers Ciriaco, Procopio, and Troadio, were employed with private and government companies, which provided them with decent living conditions.

In his late teens, he first worked either as an agent or mandatario (messenger) for the British trading firm Fleming and Company, where he rose to become a corredor (broker) of tar, rattan and other goods. He later transferred to the German trading firm Fressell and Company, where he worked as a bodeguero (storehouse keeper) responsible for warehouse inventory. He was also a theater actor and often played the role of Bernardo Carpio, a fictional hero in Tagalog folklore.

Not finishing his formal education, Bonifacio turned to self-education by reading books. He read books about the French Revolution, biographies of the presidents of the United States, books about contemporary Philippine penal and civil codes, and novels such as Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Eugène Sue's Le Juif errant and José Rizal's Noli Me Tángere and El filibusterismo. Aside from Tagalog and Spanish, he spoke some English due to his work with Fleming and Company.

Marriages Bonifacio's first wife, Mónica (surname unknown), was his neighbor in Palomar, Tondo. She died of leprosy and they had no recorded children.

In 1892, Bonifacio, then a 29-year-old widower, met the 18-year-old Gregoria de Jesús through his friend Teodoro Plata, who was her cousin. Gregoria, nicknamed “Oriang”, was the daughter of a prominent citizen and landowner from Caloocan. Her parents initially disapproved of their relationship for Bonifacio was a Freemason, the movement being at odds with the Catholic Church. They eventually acquiesced, and Andrés and Gregoria were married in a Catholic ceremony at Binondo Church in March 1893 or 1894. The couple were married later that day in separate Katipunan rites at a friend's house in Santa Cruz, Manila.

They had one son, Andrés, in early 1896 who died of smallpox in his infancy.

Early political activism

In 1892, Bonifacio became one of the founding members of José Rizal's La Liga Filipina, an organization that called for political reforms in Spain's colonial government of the Philippines. However, La Liga disbanded after only one meeting, for Rizal was arrested and deported to Dapitan in the Zamboanga Peninsula region. Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, and others revived La Liga in Rizal's absence and Bonifacio was active at organizing local chapters in Manila. He would become the chief propagandist of the revived La Liga.

Katipunan

On the night of July 7, 1892, the day after Rizal's deportation was announced, Bonifacio and others officially "founded" the Katipunan, or in full, Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan ("Highest and Most Respected Society of the Country's Children"; Bayan can also denote community, people, and nation). The secret society sought independence from Spain through armed revolt. It was influenced by Freemasonry through its rituals and organization, and several members including Bonifacio were also Freemasons. Within the society Bonifacio used the pseudonym May pag-asa . Recently discovered documents, however, suggest that Katipunan had already been in existence since at least January 1892.

For a time, Bonifacio worked with both the Katipunan and La Liga Filipina. La Liga eventually split because some members like Bonifacio lost hope for peaceful reform and stopped their monetary aid. Most of its members, called Katipuneros, came from the lower and middle classes, and many of its local leaders were prominent figures in their municipalities. Initially exclusively male, membership was later extended to females, with Bonifacio's wife Gregoria de Jesús as a leading member.

From the beginning, Bonifacio was one of the chief Katipunan officers, although he did not become its Presidente Supremo (Supreme President) until 1895. He was the third head of the Katipunan after Deodato Arellano and Román Basa. Prior to this, he served as the society's comptroller and then as its fiscal (advocate/procurator). The Katipunan had its own laws, bureaucratic structure and elective leadership. For each province involved, the Katipunan Supreme Council coordinated with provincial councils in charge of public administration and military affairs, and with local councils in charge of affairs on the district or barrio level.

Within the society, Bonifacio developed a strong friendship with Emilio Jacinto, who served as his adviser and confidant, as well as a member of the Supreme Council. Bonifacio adopted Jacinto's Kartilya primer as the official teachings of the society in place of his own Decalogue, which he judged as inferior. Bonifacio, Jacinto and Pío Valenzuela collaborated on the society's organ, Kalayaan (Freedom), which had only one printed issue. Bonifacio wrote several pieces for the paper, including the poem Pag-ibig sa Tinubúang Lupà (approx. "Love for One's Homeland" ) under the pseudonym Agapito Bagumbayan. The publication of Kalayaan in March 1896 led to a great increase in the society's membership. The Katipunan movement spread throughout Luzon, to Panay in the Visayas and even as far as Mindanao. From less than 300 members in January 1896,

Philippine Revolution

Start of the uprising Spanish authorities confirmed the existence of the Katipunan on August 19, 1896. Hundreds of Filipino suspects, both innocent and guilty, were arrested and imprisoned for treason. José Rizal (José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Realonda) was then on his way to Cuba to serve as a doctor in the Spanish colonial army in exchange for his release from Dapitan. When the news broke, Bonifacio first tried to convince Rizal, quarantined aboard a ship in Manila Bay, to escape and join the imminent revolt. Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and disguised themselves as sailors and went to the pier where Rizal's ship was anchored. Jacinto personally met with Rizal, who rejected their rescue offer. Rizal himself was later arrested, tried and executed on December 30. The Supreme Council of the Katipunan declared a nationwide armed revolution against Spain and called for a simultaneous coordinated attack on the capital Manila on August 29. Bonifacio appointed generals to lead rebel forces to Manila. Other Katipunan councils were also informed of their plans. Before hostilities erupted, Bonifacio reorganized the Katipunan into an open, de facto revolutionary government with himself as Supremo of the rebel army and the Supreme Council as his cabinet. On August 28, Bonifacio issued the following general proclamation:

This manifesto is for all of you. It is absolutely necessary for us to stop at the earliest possible time the nameless oppositions being perpetrated on the sons of the country who are now suffering the brutal punishment and tortures in jails, and because of this, please, let all the brethren know that on Saturday, the 29th of the current month, the revolution shall commence according to our agreement. For this purpose, it is necessary for all towns to rise simultaneously and attack Manila at the same time. Anybody who obstructs this sacred ideal of the people will be considered a traitor and an enemy, except if he is ill; or is not physically fit, in which case he shall be tried according to the regulations we have put in force.

Mount of Liberty, 28 August 1896 – ANDRÉS BONIFACIO

On August 30, 1896, Bonifacio personally led an attack on San Juan del Monte (now San Juan City) to capture the town's powder magazine and water reservoir which supplied Manila. The defending Spaniards, outnumbered, fought a delaying battle until reinforcements arrived. Once reinforced, the Spaniards drove Bonifacio's forces back with heavy casualties. Bonifacio and his troops regrouped near Mariquina (now Marikina), San Mateo and Montalban (now Rodríguez). San Pedro Macati (now Makati) and Taguig. The conventional view among Filipino historians is that the planned general Katipunan offensive on Manila was aborted in favor of Bonifacio's attack on San Juan del Monte, which sparked a general state of rebellion in the area. However, more recent studies have advanced the view that the planned offensive did push through and the rebel attacks were integrated; according to this view, Bonifacio's San Juan del Monte battle was only a part of a bigger, unrecognized "Battle for Manila". Despite his reverses, Bonifacio was not completely defeated and still considered a threat, with the revolt having spread to surrounding provinces by the end of August.

Milagros C. Guerrero and others have described Bonifacio as "effectively" the commander-in-chief of the revolutionaries. They assert:

As commander-in-chief, Bonifacio supervised the planning of military strategies and the preparation of orders, manifests and decrees, adjudicated offenses against the nation, as well as mediated in political disputes. He directed generals and positioned troops in the fronts. On the basis of command responsibility, all victories and defeats all over the archipelago during his term of office should be attributed to Bonifacio.

Eventually, an 1897 power struggle in Cavite led to command of the revolution shifting to Emilio Aguinaldo at the Tejeros Convention, where a new government was formed. Bonifacio was executed after he refused to recognize the new government. The Aguinaldo-led Philippine Republic , often labelled the "First Philippine Republic", was formally established in 1899, after a succession of revolutionary and dictatorial governments (e.g. the Tejeros government, the Biak-na-Bato Republic) also headed by Aguinaldo.

Campaigns around Manila By December 1896, the Spanish government recognized three major centers of rebellion: Cavite (under Mariano Álvarez, Emilio Aguinaldo and others), Bulacan (under Mariano Llanera) and Morong (under Bonifacio). The revolt was most successful in Cavite, which mostly fell under rebel control by September and October 1896.

While Cavite is traditionally regarded as the "Heartland of the Philippine Revolution", Manila and its surrounding municipalities bore the brunt of the Spanish military campaign, becoming a no man's land. Rebels in the area were generally engaged in hit-and-run guerrilla warfare against Spanish positions in Manila, Morong, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga.

From September to October 1896, Bonifacio supervised the establishment of Katipunan mountain and hill bases like Balara in Mariquina, Pantayanin in Antipolo, Ugong in Pasig and Tungko in Bulacan. Bonifacio appointing generals for these areas, or approving selections the troops themselves made. The Magdalo and Magdiwang clashed over authority and jurisdiction and did not help each other in battle. After multiple letters were sent to Bonifacio urging him to come, in December 1896 he traveled to Cavite accompanied by his wife, his brothers Procopio and Ciriaco, and some troops, including Emilio Jacinto, Bonifacio's secretary and right-hand man. Jacinto was said to be against Bonifacio's expedition to Cavite. The Bonifacio brothers stayed in San Francisco de Malabón (present-day General Trias) during this time.

Upon his arrival at Cavite, friction grew between Bonifacio and the Magdalo leaders. Apolinario Mabini, who later served as Emilio Aguinaldo's adviser, writes that at this point the Magdalo leaders "already paid little heed to his authority and orders." Bonifacio was partial to the Magdiwang, perhaps due to his kinship ties with Mariano Álvarez, or more importantly, due to their stronger recognition of his authority. Another time, Bonifacio ordered the arrest of Katipunan general Vicente Fernández from La Laguna, who was escorting Magdalo leaders paying their respects to Bonifacio, for failing to support his attack in Manila, but the other Magdalo leaders refused to surrender him. Townspeople in Noveleta (a Magdiwang town) acclaimed Bonifacio as the ruler of the Philippines, to the chagrin of the Magdalo leaders, with Bonifacio replying: "Long live Philippine liberty!". The Spanish, through Jesuit Superior Pío Pi, wrote to Aguinaldo about the possibility of peace negotiations. Bonifacio believed Aguinaldo was willing to surrender the revolution.

On December 31, Bonifacio and the Magdalo and Magdiwang leaders held a meeting in Imus, ostensibly to determine the leadership of Cavite in order to end the rivalry between the two factions. The issue of whether the Katipunan should be replaced by a revolutionary government was brought up by the Magdalo, and this eclipsed the rivalry issue. The Magdalo argued that the Katipunan, as a secret society, should have ceased to exist once the Revolution was underway, and that Cavite should not be divided. Bonifacio and the Magdiwang contended that the Katipunan served as their revolutionary government since it had its own constitution, laws, and provincial and municipal governments. Edilberto Evangelista presented a draft constitution for the proposed government to Bonifacio but he rejected it as it was too similar to the Spanish Maura Law. Upon the event of restructuring, Bonifacio was given carte blanche to appoint a committee tasked with setting up a new government; he would also be in charge of this committee. He tasked Emilio Aguinaldo to record the minutes of the meeting and requested for it to establish this authority, but these were never done and never provided.

Tejeros Convention

On March 22, 1897, the revolutionary leaders held an important meeting in a friar estate residence at Tejeros to resume their discussions regarding the escalating tension between the Magdalo and Magdiwang forces and also to finally settle the issue of governance within the Katipunan through an election. Amidst implications on whether the government of the Katipunan should be established as a monarchy or a republic, Bonifacio maintained it should be the latter. According to him, they were all in opposition to the Spanish Crown, and all of the government's members of any given rank should serve under the principle of liberty, equality, and fraternity, upon which republicanism was founded.

Before the election began, he asked that the results be respected by everyone, and all agreed. The Magdalo faction voted their own Emilio Aguinaldo as President in absentia, as he was in the ongoing battle of Pérez Dasmariñas. The resulting revolutionary government established at Tejeros, calling itself the República de Filipinas (Republic of the Philippines) around a month later, was later superseded by a number of reorganized revolutionary governments also headed by Aguinaldo. These included the República de Filipinas of November 1897, commonly known today as the "Republic of Biak-na-Bato", the Hong Kong Junta government-in-exile, the dictatorial government under which Philippine independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898, and the revolutionary government now commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or "Malolos Republic", inaugurated on January 23, 1899 as the República Filipina (Philippine Republic). The 1899 government is now officially considered to be the true "first" Republic of the Philippines, with the present-day government of the Philippines thus being the "fifth" Republic.

Bonifacio received the second-highest number of votes for President. Though it was suggested that he be automatically be awarded the Vice Presidency, no one seconded the motion and the election continued. Mariano Trías of the Magdiwang was elected Vice President, while Bonifacio was the last to be elected, as Director of the Interior. Daniel Tirona protested Bonifacio’s appointment on the grounds the office should not be occupied by a person without a lawyer's diploma, suggesting a prominent lawyer for the position such as José del Rosario. Insulted and angered, Bonifacio demanded an apology, as voters had agreed to respect the election results. Tirona ignored Bonifacio's demand for an apology, which drove Bonifacio to draw his gun and again nearly shot Tirona, who hid among the people, but Bonifacio was restrained by Artemio Ricarte of the Magdiwang, who had been elected Captain-General. Bonifacio declared: "In my capacity as chairman of this convention, and as Presidente Supremo of the Most Venerable Katipunan of the Sons of the People, which association is known and acknowledged by all, I hereby declare null and void all matters approved in this meeting." He then promptly left the premises.

Repudiation of Tejeros election results On March 23, 1897, the day after the Tejeros Convention, Aguinaldo surreptitiously took his oath of office as President in a chapel officiated by Catholic priest Cenon Villafranca, who was under the authority of Pope Leo XIII in Rome. According to General Santiago Álvarez (son of Mariano), guards were posted outside with strict instructions not to let in any unwanted partisan from the Magdiwang faction while the oath-taking took place. Artemio Ricarte also took his office "with great reluctance" and made a declaration that he found the Tejeros elections "dirty or shady" and "not been in conformity with the true will of the people."

Meanwhile, Bonifacio met with his remaining supporters and drew up the Acta de Tejeros, wherein they gave their reasons for not accepting the election results. Bonifacio alleged the election was fraudulent due to cheating and accused Aguinaldo of treason for his negotiations with the Spanish. In their memoirs Santiago Álvarez and Gregoria de Jesús both alleged that many ballots were already filled out before distribution, and Guillermo Masangkay contended there were more ballots prepared than voters present. Álvarez writes that Bonifacio had been warned by Caviteño leader Diego Mojica of the rigged ballots before the votes were canvassed, but he had done nothing. The Acta de Tejeros was signed by Bonifacio and 44 others, including Ricarte, Mariano Alvarez and Pascual Álvarez. In a later meeting on April 19 in Naic, another document, the Naic Military Agreement, was drawn up which declared that its 41 signatories, "... having discovered the treason committed by certain officers who have been sowing discord and conniving with the Spaniards [and other offensive acts]", had "agreed to deliver the people from this grave danger" by raising an army corps "by persuasion or force" under the command of General Pio del Pilar. The document's 41 signatories included Bonifacio, Ricarte and del Pilar. The meeting was interrupted by Aguinaldo and del Pilar. Mariano Noriel and others present then promptly returned to Aguinaldo's fold. Aguinaldo attempted to persuade Bonifacio to cooperate with his government, but Bonifacio refused and proceeded to Indang, Cavite planning to get out of Cavite and proceed back to Morong.

Arrest, trial, and execution

In late April, Emilio Aguinaldo fully assumed the presidential office after consolidating his position among the Cavite elite, with most of Bonifacio's Magdiwang supporters shifting allegiance to Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo's government then ordered the arrest of Bonifacio, who was then moving out of Cavite.

In April 1897, Aguinaldo ordered the arrest of Bonifacio after he received a letter that Bonifacio had burned down a village and ordered the burning of the parish house and church of Indang when the townspeople were unable to provide the required supplies and provisions. Many of the principal men of Indang, among them Severino de las Alas (a loyalist and supporter of Bonifacio), presented Aguinaldo with several complaints against Bonifacio that the Supremo's men stole carabaos and other work animals by force and butchered them for food. On April 25, a party of Aguinaldo's men led by Colonel Agapito Bonzón and Major José Ignacio "Intsik" Paua caught up with Bonifacio at his camp in barrio Limbon, Indang. The unsuspecting Bonifacio received them cordially. Early the next day, Bonzón and Paua attacked Bonifacio's camp. Bonifacio was surprised and refused to fight against "fellow Tagalogs", ordering his men to hold their fire, but shots were nevertheless exchanged. Bonifacio was shot in the arm by Bonzón, and Paua stabbed him in the neck but was prevented from striking further by one of Bonifacio's men, who offered to die in Bonifacio's place. Andrés's brother Ciriaco was shot dead, while his other brother Procopio was beaten, and his wife Gregoria may have been raped by Bonzón. From Indang, a half-starved and wounded Bonifacio was carried by hammock to Naic, which had become President Aguinaldo's headquarters.

Bonifacio's party was brought to Naic initially and then to Maragondon, Cavite, where he and Procopio stood trial on May 5, 1897, on charges of sedition and treason against Aguinaldo's government and conspiracy to murder Aguinaldo. The jury was composed entirely of Aguinaldo's men and even Bonifacio's defence lawyer himself declared his client's guilt. Bonifacio was barred from confronting the state witness on the charge of conspiracy to murder on the grounds that the latter had been killed in battle. However, after the trial the witness was seen alive with the prosecutors.

The Bonifacio brothers were found guilty, despite insufficient evidence, and were recommended to be executed. Aguinaldo commuted the sentence to deportation on May 8, 1897, but Pío del Pilar and Mariano Noriel persuaded him to withdraw the order for the sake of preserving unity. In this they were seconded by Mamerto Natividad and other bona fide supporters of Aguinaldo. The Bonifacio brothers were executed on May 10, 1897, in the mountains of Maragondon. Apolinario Mabini wrote that Bonifacio's death demoralized many rebels from Manila, La Laguna and Batangas who had come to help those in Cavite, and caused them to quit.

Teodoro Agoncillo writes that Bonifacio's declaration of authority in opposition to Aguinaldo posed a danger to the revolution, because a split in the rebel forces would result in almost certain defeat by their united and well-armed Spanish foe.

Historians have also discussed the motives of the Cavite government to replace Bonifacio, and whether it had the right to do so. The Magdalo provincial council which helped establish a republican government led by one of their own was only one of many such councils in the pre-existing Katipunan government. Therefore, Constantino and Alejo Villanueva write that Aguinaldo and his faction may be considered counter-revolutionary as well – as guilty of violating Bonifacio's constituted authority just as they considered Bonifacio to violate theirs. Aguinaldo's own adviser and official Apolinario Mabini writes that he was "primarily answerable for insubordination against the head of the Katipunan of which he was a member". Constantino and Villanueva also interpret the Tejeros Convention as the culmination of a movement by members of the upper class represented by Aguinaldo to wrest power from Bonifacio who represented the middle and lower classes. Regionalism among the Cavite rebels, dubbed "Cavitismo" by Constantino, has also been put forward as motivation for the replacement of Bonifacio. Mabini considered the execution as criminal and "assassination...the first victory of personal ambition over true patriotism." He also noted that "All the electors [at the Tejeros Convention] were friends of Don Emilio Aguinaldo and Don Mariano Trías, who were united, while Bonifacio, although he had established his integrity, was looked upon with distrust only because he was not a native of the province: this explains his resentment."

Execution There are differing accounts of Bonifacio's execution. The commanding officer of the execution party, Lázaro Macapagal, said in two separate accounts that the Bonifacio brothers were shot to death, which is the orthodox interpretation. Macapagal's second account has Bonifacio attempting to escape after his brother is shot, but he is also killed while running away. Macapagal writes that they buried the brothers in shallow graves dug with bayonets and marked by twigs.

However, another account states that after his brother was shot, Andrés was stabbed and hacked to death. This was allegedly done while he lay prone in a hammock in which he was carried to the site, being too weak to walk. This version was maintained by Guillermo Masangkay, who claimed to have gotten this information from one of Macapagal's men. After bones said to be Bonifacio's – including a fractured skull – were discovered in 1918, Masangkay claimed the forensic evidence supported his version of events.

The term Tagalog historically refers to an ethnic group, their language, and script. Historians have thus viewed Bonifacio's concept of the Philippine nation as restricted to the Tagalog-speaking regions of Luzon, as compared to Aguinaldo's view of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (comprising the modern Philippines). In their memoirs, Emilio Aguinaldo and other Magdalo people claim Bonifacio became the head of the Magdiwang, receiving the title Harì ng Bayan ("King of the Nation") with Mariano Álvarez as his second-in-command. Renato Constantino writes that Rizal is a "United States-sponsored hero" who was promoted as the greatest Filipino hero during the American Occupation period of the Philippines – after Aguinaldo lost the Philippine–American War. The United States promoted Rizal, who was taken to represent peaceful political advocacy, instead of more radical figures whose ideas could inspire resistance against American rule. Specifically, Rizal was selected over Bonifacio who was viewed as "too radical" and Apolinario Mabini who was "unregenerate."

Historian Ambeth Ocampo gives the opinion that arguing for Bonifacio as the "better" hero on the grounds that he, not Rizal, began the Philippine Revolution, is moot since Rizal inspired Bonifacio, the Katipunan, and the Revolution. Even prior to his banishment to Dapitan, Rizal was already regarded by the Filipino people as a national hero, having been elected as honorary president by the Katipunan. Teodoro Agoncillo gives the opinion that Bonifacio should not replace Rizal as national hero, but they should be honored "side by side". According to the website of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts:

Despite the lack of any official declaration explicitly proclaiming them as national heroes, [Rizal and Bonifacio] remain admired and revered for their roles in Philippine history. Heroes, according to historians, should not be legislated.

Their appreciation should be better left to academics. Acclamation for heroes, they felt, would be recognition enough.