Chap

ter

10
BONIFACIO AND THE KATIPUNAN
(1892 1896)

The failure of the reform movement led even a reformist like

Marcelo H. Del Pilar to think of revolution. Insurrection, Del Pilar
wrote in La Solidaridad, is the last remedy, especially when people
have acquired the belief that peaceful means to secure the remedies
for evils prove futile. With Rizals La Liga Filipina, the struggle
changed its recourse from reform to revolution.
Upon Rizals arrest and exile to Dapitan, Andres Bonifacio, saw
the futility of the peaceful campaign for reforms. He had a different
idea; he would teach the people to depend for themselves for their
salvation. He organized the Katipunan- the revolutionary society
responsible for the Philippine Revolution of 1896.

THE FOUNDING OF THE KATIPUNAN

July 7, 1892- The newspapers published Rizals arrest and the

governor-generals order to banish him to Dapitan
A small group of patriotic Filipinos
-This group met at a house on Azcarraga Street, Manila (now
Claro M. Recto Avenue)
-Created a secret society
-These men were: Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Valentin Diaz,
Ladislao Diwa, Deodato Arellano, and one or two others.
-They all belonged to the lower class of society
-Arellano was the most educated among them
- Organized KKK o Kataastaasan Kagalanggalangang na
Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan; (in English, Supreme and
Venerable Association of the Sons of the People)
Founders of Katipunan- performed the blood compact ritual
Blood Compact
-A sign of patriotism and love of things that were Filipino
-An ancient Filipino custom of sealing friendship or brotherhood
(kapatiran)
Triangle System
-The members of Katipunan used this method to recruit Filipinos
to become members.
-Example: Member Jose would recruit Pedro and Juan to become
members. The new
members knew Jose but they dont
know each other.
-Used to minimize the danger of discovery by the Spanish
authorities
A new system similar to Masonry
- was adopted to speed up the process of enlisting members
-each member would pay a membership fee and monthly dues

THE AIMS AND STRUCTURE OF THE KATIPUNAN

Andres Bonifacio
-conceived the idea of organizing the Katipunan
-laid down the three primary objectives of the Katipunan: civic,
political, and moral
Three Primary Objectives of the Katipunan
-Civic objective (based on the principle of self-help and defense
of the weak and poor)
-Political objective (separation of the Philippines from Spain;
secure the independence
of the colony
-Moral objective (focused on the teaching of good manners,
hygiene, and good moral
character)
Katipuneros
- The Katipunan members
- were urged to help sick comrades and their families
Damayan
- In case of death, Society paid the funeral expenses

THE KATIPUNAN GOVERNMENT

Bonifacio
- had seen and attended the only meeting of La Liga Filipina
- took note this societys structure
- borrowed the structure of La Liga

Three Governing Bodies

- Kataastaasang Sanggunian/ Supreme Council (highest of these
governing bodies)
- Sangguniang Bayan/ Provincial Council
- Sangguniang Balangay/ Popular Council
- Equivalent of the central, provincial and the municipal
government
Sangguniang Hukuman/ Judicial Council
- passed judgment on members who violated the rules of Society
Katipunan Assembly
Composed of:
- Supreme Councils members
- Presidents of the Provincial and Popular Councils
Secret Chamber
- Composed of Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, and Pio Valenzuela
- Sentenced members who exposed the secrets of the Katipunan
- Punishment: expulsion from the Society

THE KATIPUNAN ELECTIONS

Slow and Ineffectiveness of Triangle Method
- Only 100 were new members at the end of 1892
- became the reason why all members were allowed to get as
many new members as
circumstances permitted
Increased of membership of the Society
- the Katipunan had enough members
- was then thought that a set of officers would be elected
Elected Officers of the first Supreme Council
- President/ Supremo: Deodato Arellano
- Comptroller: Andres Bonifacio
- Fiscal: Ladislao Diwa
- Secretary: Teodoro Plata
- Treasurer: Valentin Diaz
Arellano(busy man) as the President of Katipunan
- was not very active in the Society, as observed by Bonifacio
- early in 1893, he was replaced by Roman Basa through an
election
Second Supreme Council Officers
- Supremo: Roman Basa
- Fiscal: Bonifacio
- Secretary: Jose Turiano Santiago
- Treasurer: Vicente Molina
-Elected Councilors: Briccio Brigido Pantas, Restituto Javier,
Teodoro Plata, Teodoro
Gonazales, and Ladislao Diwa
Bonifacio, early in 1895
- was not contented of Basa as supremo
- had elected himself as replacement of Basa
- remained the Supremo of the Katipunan until the establishment
of the revolutionary
government in Tejeros, Cavite

MEMBERSHIP

Three Kinds of Katipunan

members:
first
grade
(
katipon )
- second grade (
kawal )

- third grade ( bayani

)
Passwords
-Anak ng Bayan
- Gom-Bur-Za
- Rizal

How to be recognized each other

- In the streets, a member, upon meeting another
member, would place the palm of his
right hand on his breast, and
as he passed the other member he would close his hand
and bring
his index finger and his thumb together.

THE KATIPUNAN CODES

A System of Writing was invented by Bonifacio
- to make it difficult for the Spaniards to read the
Katipunan letters or any written
communication.
FIRST SECRET CODE
Spanish
Equivalen
Spanish
Equivalen
Alphabe
t in the
Alphabet
t in the
t
Katipunan
Katipunan
Alphabet
Alphabet
A
Z
M
V
B
B
N
I
C
C
O
C
D
D
P
P
E
Q
Q
E
F
H
R
R
G
G
S
S
H
F
T
T
I
R
U
M
J
L
V
M
K
K
W
W
L
J
X
U
LL
N
Y
Y
Three more Katipunan alphabets
- were devised by Bonifacio
- Last of which was made in Cavite in March 1897
Changes in the codes of the Katipunan
- necessitated by Spaniards discovery of the previous
codes
- people considered as enemies by the Katipunan

THE KATIPUNAN FLAGS

Benita Rodriquez- requested by Bonifacio to make a flag for the
Katipunan
Gregoria de Jesus- Bonifacios wife; helped Benita and a flag was
made
Flag- a symbol of their unity

Official Flag of the Katipunan

- consisted of a rectangular piece of red cloth with three
white letter Ks arranged
horizontally in the middle
- it was changed a few weeks after the revolution broke
out in August 1896
New Official Flag of the Katipunan
- consisted of a red rectangular piece of cloth with a white
sun and eight white rays in the middle. Inside the circle representing
the sun was the letter K in the ancient Tagalog script.
Bonifacios own personal flag
- consisted of a red rectangular piece of cloth with a white
sun were the three Ks arranged horizontally.

THE TEACHINGS OF THE KATIPUNAN

Ten Commandments for the members
- prepared by Bonifacio
- to guide the Katipuneros in leading a highly moral life.
-He called this commandments: Katungkulang Gagawin
ng mga Anak ng Bayan ( Duties
of the Sons of the People )
- may be described as a Decalogue.
1. Love God with all your heart
2. Bear always in mind that the love of God is also love of
country,
And this, too, is love of ones fellowmen.
3. Engrave in your heart that the true measure of honor
and happiness is to die for the freedom of your country.
4. All your good wishes will be crowned with success if you
have serenity, constancy, reason and faith in your acts
and endeavor.
5. Guard the mandates and aims of the K.K.K. as you
guard your home.
6. It is the duty of all to defend, at the risk of their own
lives and wealth
anyone who run great risks in the performance
of his duty.
7. Ou responsibilities to ourselves and the performance of
our duties
will be the example set for our fellowmen to
follow.
8. In so far as it is within your power, share your means
with the poor
and the unfortunate.
9. Diligence in the work that gives sustenance to you is
the true basis
of love-- love for your own self, for your wife
and children, and
for your brothers and countrymen.
10. Punish any scoundrel and traitor and praise all good
work. Believe,

Likewise, that the aims of K.K.K. Are Gpdgiven, for the will of
the people is also the will of God.
- these two writings of the great katipuneros constituted
the Teachings of the Katipunan.

THE WOMEN OF THE KATIPUNAN

Bonifacio suggested that women be taken as members of
the Katipunan.
Eligible for membership
-only the wife, sister, daughter of a Katipunero, and a few selected
women to minimize the danger of exposing the Society to women
who were not reliable.
Katipuneras duty
-Helped the male members in propagating the ideas and ideals of
the Society.
-Make the police authorities believe that no Katipunan meeting was
being held in the house
-They engaged in dancing and singing in full view of the people on
the street while the male members were holding a meeting in a
room behind a sala, where the women were singing and dancing.
Prominent Women Members of the Katipunan
-President: Josefa Rizal
-Vice President: Gregoria de Jesus
-Secretary: Marina Dizon
-Fiscal: Angelica Lopez Rizal (Rizals niece)
-Keeper of the Katipunan documents: Gregoria de Jesus

THE KALAYAAN
Bonifacio and Jacinto believed that a printing press was
needed to easily propagate their revolutionary ideas.
The organization had no money to purchase a printing
machine
Candido Iban and Francisco del Castillo
-Two Visayan patriots from Kalibo, Capiz
-gave the Katipunan the money to purchase a printing
press
-won one thousand pesos in a lottery
The printing press
-was worth four hundred pesos
-once transferred to the house of Bonifacio
Jacinto purchased some templates for the Katipunan
newspaper (other templates were stolen from a Spanish printing
press)
Ulpiano Fernandez and Faustino Duque
-Two experienced printers
-both Katipuneros
-managed the press
Dr. Pio Valenzuela
-Suggested the name of the newspaper, KALAYAAN

Kalayaan
-Came out in the middle of March 1896
-written in Tagalog
-contained articles written by Bonifacio, Jacinto, and Valenzuela
-they put the place of publication: Yokohoma
to mislead the
-editor: Marcelo H. Del Pilar
Spanish
authorities
-Jacintos Pahayag (Manifesto) and Bonifacios poem, Pag-ibig sa
Tinubuang Lupang (Love of Country) were also published
-easily influenced many Filipinos to become members of the Society
-writers didnt sign their true names for them not to be discovered
Pen Names
-Jacinto: Pingkian and Dimas-Ilaw
-Bonifacio: Agapito Bagumbayan
-Valenzuela: Madlang-Away
January 1896- the total number of members didnt exceed 300
Places where Kalayaan was distributed and reached a total
number of membership of 30 000:
-Pampanga, Tarlac, and in the Tagalog provinces, from
Manila in the center to Nueva Ecija on the north, and Batangas on
the South.
Kalayaan was destroyed by Fernandez and Duque
-to prevent confiscation from Spanish authorities
Fiery pen, revolutionary spirit, and political will of
Bonifacio-Jacinto tandem in the newspaper- proved effective
and unifying the people towards kalayaan

TWIN SOULS OF
THE KATIPUNAN
Andres Bonifacio and
Emilio Jacinto
-both believed that that
they should change their
strategy and tactics
Katipunan, a different
society from La Liga
-Katipunan
aimed
to
make the Philippines a
free country by force of arms; La Liga used evolutionary of peaceful
means.
Andres Bonifacio
-Born on: November 30, 1863
-In: a small nipa house on what is now Azcarraga Street near the
present Manila Railroad station
-Parents: (belonged to the middle class)
Santiago Bonifacio (was a tailor, a boatman, and a
former municipal official in Tondo)
Catalina de Castro (Spanish-Chinese of Filipino origin
from Zambales; worked at a cigarette factory)
-Bonifacios parents died while he was in his teens and so he had to
support the family
Brothers: Ciriaco, Procopio, and Troadio
Sisters: Espiridiona and Maxima
-he sold canes and paper fans in his early years

-Due to poverty, he was not able to finish the equivalent

grade four today
-He worked: as a messenger of J.M Fleming and Co., an
English trading firm;
An agent of the German trading, Fressel and
Co.
-He read newspapers and books at night and all written in Spanish
-He taught himself to read and write in Spanish and became literate
He read the following books:
-Original Spanish version of Rizals Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo
-French Revolution of 1789
When Rizal was executed on December 30, 1896
-Bonifacio felt sad and angry because a great Filipino was executed
(his cause to fight for justice and liberty)
Bonifacio was anti-friar and anti-Spanish
- Whether they were friars, civil employees or officials, for him, they
were all the same: greedy, immoral, cruel, and lazy.
Tapunan ng Lingap and Ang Mga Cazadores
-poems written in Tagalog by Bonifacio
-attacked the Spaniards furiously
-He called the Spaniards white cattle
Huling Hibik ng Pilipanas
-Bonifacios poem which openly called for independence from
colonial rule.
Revolution of 1896
-the Katipunan Revolution
-sowed the seeds of the national independence in the masses
minds
-Bonifacio: leading thinker of the Revolution of 1896.
Emilio Jacinto
-twin soul of Bonifacio in the Katipunan
-born in: Tondo, Manila
-on: December 15, 1875
-his father died at his early age
-he was sent by mother to his uncles house for support
-first studied at San Juan de Letran
-transferred to the University of Santo Tomas and studied Law.
-about 18, he heard about Katipunan and immediately joined.
-was loved by Bonifacio because of being serious-minded, humble,
intelligent, and industrious.
-he wrote in Tagalog except for one poem in Spanish, A Mi Patria
(To My Country)
-wrote such pieces: Kartilla, Liwanag at Dilim, Pahayag, Sa Mga
Kababayan, and others.
Bonifacio and Jacinto wrote in Tagalog
-believed that the people could be reached through their
own language
-the very reason why they succeeded in uniting the people behind
them
The reformists failed
-Because they wrote for the intellectuals and Spaniards who read
only in Spanish

Jacinto fought side by side with Bonifacio as the Revolution

broke out
Jacinto was assigned by Bonifacio to lead rebels in Laguna
April 6, 1899 in Mahayhay, Laguna
-Jacinto died at the young age of twenty-four.