Andrés Bonifacio edit
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Andrés Bonifacio edit
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| Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro | |
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| Born | 30 November 1863 Tondo, Manila, Philippines |
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| Died | 10 May 1897 (aged 33) Maragondon, Cavite, Philippines |
| Cause of death | Execution |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Other names | Maypagasa, Supremo |
| Known for | Philippine Revolution |
| Political party | La Liga Filipina Katipunan |
| Spouse(s) | Gregoria de Jesus |
Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro (November 30, 1863 – May 10, 1897), son of Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro, was a Filipino revolutionary leader and one of the main rebel leaders of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule in the late 19th century. He is regarded as the "Father of the Philippine Revolution" and one of the most influential national heroes of his country. A freemason, Bonifacio was the founder of the Katipunan organization which aimed to start an independence movement against Spain.
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Bonifacio was born to a Tagalog father by the name of Santiagos Bonifacio, and a Spanish mestiza mother, Catalina de Castro of Zambales,1 in Tondo, Manila. His father was a cabeza de barangay (a leading barangay official). His mother died of tuberculosis in 1881 and his father followed suit a year after. According to popular anecdote, he peddled canes and fans to support his family.
He worked as a clerk and sales agent for Fleming and Company, a British trading firm, then transferred to Fressell and Company, a German firm, both in Manila. He married twice - his first wife was a woman named Monica, who died of leprosy, and Gregoria de Jesus, daughter of a wealthy family in Binondo. They were married in Binondo Church, despite her parents' objections.
Bonifacio, though projected by detractors as being illiterate, was in fact highly literate. He was taught Spanish since childhood owing to his mother's ancestry. He was also a fervent reader - his favorites were books on the French Revolution, The Lives of the Presidents of the United States of America, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables (which he translated into Tagalog), and Jose Rizal's Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Furthermore, the title 'bodeguero' would have the modern equivalent of a warehouse/inventory keeper, a job that would require adequate to above-average intelligence. He also wrote various revolutionary articles, manifestos, and poems, the most famous being Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa (Love of Motherland), a poignant and nationalistic piece popularized during the course of the Philippine Revolution against Spain and made into a song in the late 1970s.2
He was a Freemason. He also joined Rizal's La Liga Filipina (Spanish "The Philippine League"), a society that called for reforms in Spanish rule. However, the La Liga Filipina was disbanded shortly after Rizal was arrested and deported to the town of Dapitan in Mindanao a day after the group's only meeting.
After the La Liga Filipina was disbanded, Bonifacio realized the futility of peaceful struggle even for mere reforms. He then founded the underground organization that in the coming years would grow and send shock to the Spanish colonial rule and would drastically change the course of Philippine history and would give pride to every Filipino - the Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) or Katipunan, for short. With his wife Gregoria de Jesus and his uncle one day in a humble hut in Manila, Bonifacio resolved to change history with just a single pistol in hand for a start.
The contributions of Bonifacio to the Filipinos' revolutionary struggle to free themselves from the yoke of Spanish colonial rule, and Emilio Aguinaldo's political maneuverings that led to the revolutionary leader's murder by execution, can partly be gleaned from what a United States Library of Congress article has to say about the Filipino figure also sometimes referred to as the Great Plebeian:
| “ | After the Spanish arrested Rizal in July 1892, Bonifacio decided that the Philippines would only achieve independence through revolution. On July 7, he founded the Katipunan, a secret society open to both peasants and the middle class that employed Masonic rituals to impart an air of sacred mystery. It insinuated itself into the community by setting up mutual aid societies and education for the poor. By 1896, the Katipunan had over 30,000 members and functioned at the national, provincial, and municipal levels.
Following the execution of Rizal in 1896, Bonifacio proclaimed Filipino independence on August 23, 1896 (sic—Recent historical materials have determined the true date of the Cry of Balintawak (alternately called Cry of Pugad Lawin) to be August 24, 1896.3). This time, the Spaniards moved against him, forcing his flight to the Marikina mountains, while other forces headed by Emilio Aguinaldo were more successful and won control over some towns. When Bonifacio tried to rein him in, Aguinaldo ordered him arrested and charged with treason and sedition. He was tried and convicted by his enemies and executed on May 10, 1897. Today he is regarded as a national hero.4 |
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By 1896, on the eve of the revolution, the membership of the society had expanded dramatically. Estimates vary from 30,000 to 400,000.5
There is considerable controversy as to the level of heroism that should be attributed to Bonifacio, as well as to how his death should be viewed--a genuine execution for treason, or as a murder by coup plotters. Some historians, like Renato Constantino, see him as a champion of the masses who was slighted by ambitious members of the upper class. Others like Gregorio Zaide, favor Emilio Aguinaldo and company over him. Glenn Anthony May gives a controversial and widely dismissed theory that his role as a national hero was largely invented. Until now, there is considerable debate as to whether the Supremo should be considered the first Philippine President instead of Aguinaldo, one of Bonifacio's Katipunan generals who would be responsible for his arrest and execution on May 10, 1897.
Moreover, debates persist as to whether it is Bonifacio or Rizal who should be considered the Philippine national hero. Officially today, neither is considered the national hero, but both figures actually have national holidays named after them: November 30 for Bonifacio Day, and December 30 for Rizal Day.6 However, Rizal is unofficially venerated and taught as the national hero, including in public and even private schools. Renato Constantino contends that Rizal is an "American-sponsored hero" whom the U.S. administrators declared as the Filipino national hero during the colonial period. The nationalist historian points out that the Americans needed to sponsor a model hero who represents a repudiation of revolutionary movement in order to minimize the importance of the more radical Filipino heroes whose ideas could instill the continuation of resistance against American colonial rule.7 Rizal was selected over Andres Bonifacio who was "too radical" and Apolinario Mabini who was considered "unregenerate."8
Some analytical historians like Alejo Villanueva claim that what happened at Tejeros, Cavite was actually a coup de etat to wrest power from Bonifacio by the bourgeois or upper class represented by Aguinaldo (The circle or group of Aguinaldo and members of his class enjoyed privilege status even before the revolution. They would not allow a victorious president Bonifacio ordering land and wealth distribution as his first decree.) Hence, the Tejeros Convention was a farce intended to lure Bonifacio to the Caviteño territory. The presidential election was not a national election at all. Participation in the election primarily came from Caviteños. The other provinces in revolt, such as Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Laguna, and Batangas, were not participants. Bonifacio, who was too fueled with idealism, was too naive to understand maneuvering politicians. Had Bonifacio been able to get back to Manila he could have charged Aguinaldo and other Caviteño officers with treason and Philippine history would have taken a very different track. Bonifacio was not allowed to get out of Cavite. He was summarily tried and promptly executed with his brother Procorpio Bonifacio at a mountain in Maragondon, Cavite for the supposed crime of treason.9
There is considerable support to the Villanueva's Aguinaldo coup angle behind the Tejeros Convention in the light of stronger evidence pointing to the Bonifacio's presidency of the revolutionary government. Historians Guerrero, Encarnacion and Villegas point out that "the Katipunan became an open de facto government" after the Philippine Revolution broke out on August 24, 1896. Evidences that include rather recently-acquired documents show that Bonifacio was indeed the elected national president of the Katipunan revolutionary government, at least until the the early part of 1897, with Teodoro Plata, Emilio Jacinto, Aguado del Rosario, Briccio Pantas, and Enrique Pacheco, as Secretaries of War, State, Interior, Justice and Finance, respectively. Official letters and one appointment paper of Bonifacio addressed to State Secretary Jacinto reveal Bonifacio's various titles and designations, as follows:5
Incontrovertible proofs of the election of Bonifacio and his cabinet men to the helm of the Philippine revolutionary government months before the Aguinaldo camp executed or murdered the Supremo and his brother come from non-partisan, foreign accounts of the time. The first volume issue in 1897 of the "La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana" (February 8, 1897) described Bonifacio as the head of the local government and listed his cabinet officials. The Spanish historian Jose M. del Castillo wrote about the national elections of the revolutionary government, showing Bonifacio as President and the same names listed in La Ilustracion as the winning cabinet officials10. Moreover, the La Ilustracion carried an engraved portrait of Andres Bonifacio with the caption: Andrés Bonifacio. Titulado "Presidente" de la Republica Tagala. Grabado por Sampietro. "La Ilustración Española y Americana" Año 1897, Vol. I.11
Part of this controversy was shown in a Philipine documentary T.V. show Case Unclosed as its 5th episode entitled Lihim ng 1897 (Tagalog of "Secret of 1897").
Bonifacio's birthday on November 30 is celebrated as Bonifacio Day (Filipino: Araw ni Bonifacio) and is a public holiday in the Philippines.
There are many monuments to Bonifacio across the nation, the most famous being two sculptures, one by Napoleon Abueva and the other by Guillermo Tolentino, both National Artists.
In current Philippine currency, he is depicted in the 10-peso bill (currently out of production) and 10-peso coin, along with fellow patriot Apolinario Mabini.
Bonifacio was portrayed by Julio Diaz in Bayani (Hero), a feature film loosely based on his life directed by experimental auteur Raymond Red(the director of Wolfgang's Music Video for Meckam), and an educational television series also named Bayani.
Gardo Verzosa portrays Bonifacio in the 1998 film José Rizal.
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