1. Bonifacio once dressed as a woman.

Thats what historian Ambeth Ocampo revealed in his book, Dirty Dancing (Looking
Back 2).
Armed with his legendary bolo, Andres Bonifacio was about to pass through a Guardia
Civil checkpoint in Balintawak. To conceal his identity, he decided to wear womans
clothes. Our cross-dressing hero then handed his weapon to an unidentified friend.
Of course, Bonifacio eventually outsmarted the Spanish soldiers but his weapon
allegedly destroyed during the Liberation of Manilahas never been found.

2. His ONLY existing photograph.

Mention Andres Bonifacio and most people, students even, will imagine a man in his
early thirties wearing camisa de chino and red shorts. However, history reveals that
Bonifacios only existing photograph is the one in which he wears a coat and tie.
According to historian Ambeth Ocampo, it is believed that Bonifacio only rented his
middle-class attire for the studio portrait. Others suggest that the now faded
photograph was taken on his wedding day.

3. His favorite food is.

Nilitsong manok sa zaha, Andres Bonifacios favorite dish. (Image source: Adoras
Box)
We all love lechon manok but Andres Bonifacio preferred cooking it the traditional way.
Featured in Milagros S. Enriquezs Kasaysayan ng Kaluto ng Bayan, the nilitsong
manok sa zaha is prepared by wrapping the chicken in banana and sampaloc leaves
before grilling it in charcoal. It is then served with a sarsa made from chicken liver and
lemongrass.
Gregoria de Jesus, Bonifacios wife who was 12 years younger than him, also had her
own favorite: the pinatisang alimango. It is made by cooking blue or mud crabs in fish
sauce (patis) to make the aligue extra saucy.
Other well-loved Katipunan dishes include nilasing na manga, pinalundag na bulig,
andpindang ng kalabaw.

4. Gregoria de Jesus was Bonifacios second wife

Gregoria De Jesus.

Bonifacio was first married to a neighbor named Monica, but she died due to leprosy.
And the second time Andres feel in love, it was with Gregoria de Jesus known
as Oriang in the Katipunan.
They had a child named as Andres too who eventually died because of an unknown
disease.

6. Bonifacio as a theater actor.

Prior to the founding of Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio was a part-time actor who
appeared in several moro-moro plays.
As a theater actor, he often played the role of Bernardo Carpio, a fictional
character in Tagalog folklore. Other notable historical figures who were also wellknown theater actors include Aurelio Tolentino and Macario Sakay.

5. Bonifacio was a middle-class Filipino

with a white-collar job.

Image source: Flickr

Contrary to popular belief, Bonifacio was not a downtrodden indio who barely managed
to eat three times a day.
Born to a half-Spanish mother, Andres Bonifacio actually came from a middle-class
family. Jim Richardson, a British historian, discovered that out of 200 Katipuneros,
only one worked as a laborer. The restincluding Andres Bonifaciowere mostly whitecollar employees. As a bodeguero, Bonifacio worked for a German-owned
company not to carry heavy stuff, but to manage its warehouse inventory.

7. Bonifacio was hacked to death with

a bolo.

Andres Bonifacios final moments. (Image source: Prof. Michael Xiao Chua)
Accused of treason, Andres and his brother, Procopio Bonifacio, were sentenced to die
in the hands of Aguinaldos men. On May 10, 1897, the execution team led by Lazaro
Macapagal brought the Bonifacio brothers to the bushy mountain of Maragondon.
There, several gunshots instantly killed the twoat least, according to orthodox
interpretations.
And then came Gen. Guillermo Masangkay. According to his accounts, one of
Macapagals men admitted that while Procopio was shot to death, Andres was stabbed
using a bolo (large Filipino machete). In 1918, skeletal remainsallegedly of
Andres Bonifaciowere exhumed in Maragondon. It included a fractured skull
which supported Masangkays version of story.
The death by bolo theory has long been supported by several historians as well as the
heros great-great-grandnephew himself, Atty. Gary Bonifacio