Bonifacio Katipunan

BONIFACIO AND THE KATIPUNAN

Bonifacio• A man of scanty education but nevertheless

highly intelligent • Founded the Katipunan on the night of July 7,

1892; anchored on radical platform: liberate the country by force of arms

• Born in Tondo on November 30, 1863• Had 3 brothers and 2 sisters

• Read books: Rizal’z two novels, The Ruins of Palmyra, Hugo’s Les Miserables, Eugene Sue’s The Wandering Jew, the lives of the Presidents of the United States, International Law, the Penal and Civil Codes, some novels, and a book on the French Revolution

• First wife Monica – died of leprosy• Second wife Gregoria de Jesus – Lakangbini;

initiated into the Women’s Chapter of the Katipunan; took custody of the papers, revolvers, seals, and other paraphernalia of the society

• Bonifacio wrote a decalogue but set aside his own and adopted that of E. Jacinto, Kartilla, the primer for Katipuneros as official “teachings” of the society.

• In 1895 Bonifacio and Jacinto together with other members went to the interior of Morong (now Rizal) to find a place to hide in case of the discovery of society = caves of Makarok and Pamitinan; here initiation rites were held

• Bonifacio was the legitimate Father of Revolution, and without him it is extremely doubtful whether the Philippine Revolution could have become a reality at a time when everybody seemed in despair doing anything about it. Yet, in the present estimation he is overshadowed by Rizal as the national hero.

Katipunan

• Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan= Katipunan

• Recruit member by triangle method (slow) later changed in October 1892 ; new method members reached 100

• Signed their membership papers with their own blood

• Payment of entrance fee one real fuerte (25 centavos) and monthly due of a medio real (about 12 centavos)

Under Bonifacio’s leadership: Objectives

• Political – separation of the Philippines from Spain

• Moral – teaching of good manners, hygiene, good morals, attacking obscurantism, religious fanaticism, and weakness of character

• Civic – principle of self-help and the defense of the poor and the oppressed

Structure of Katipunan

• Its structure influenced by Masonry (initiation rites) and La Liga Filipina (organization)

• 3 governning bodies:–Kataastaasang Sanggunian or the Supreme

Council– Sangguniang Bayan or Provincial Council– Sangguniang Balangay or Popular Council

Kataastaasang Sanggunian or the Supreme Council

• Highest governing body of the society• Composed of a president, a fiscal, a secretary,

a treasurer, and a comptroller or interventor

• Provincial Council and Popular Council= represented respectively the province and the municipality or town– Each of these had a council similar to the

Supreme Council– Supreme Council + presidents of two other

councils, constituted the Katipunan Assembly

• Sangguniang Hukuman or Judicial Council – sat as a court of justice

• Secret Chamber = Bonifacio, Jacinto and Valenzuela

• October 1892 new recruitment method – any member could take in as many new members as he could get

• First Supreme Council – election October 1892–Deodato Arellano, Supremo

• Second Supreme Council – meeting February 1893–Roman Basa, Supremo

• Third Supreme Council – early 1895–Andres Bonifacio as Supremo

• Fourth Supreme Council – December 31, 1895–Andres Bonifacio as Supremo

• Fifth and last Supreme Council – August 1896–Andres Bonifacio as Supremo

Fifth Supreme Council

• Before the outbreak of the revolution, Bonifacio organized the Katipunan into a government revolving around a “cabinet” composed of men of his confidence

Andres Bonifacio – SupremoEmilio Jacinto – Secretary of StateTeodoro Plata - Secretary of WarBriccio Pantas – Secretary of JusticeAguedo del Rosario – Secretary of the

InteriorEnrique Pacheco – Secretary of Finance

Kinds of membership1. Katipon - wore black hood (a triangle of white

ribbon inside of which were the letter Z.Ll.B., Katipunan characters = A ng B meaning Anak ng Bayan – password; could graduate to kawal

2. Kawal or soldier – green hood with a triangle consisting of white lines; @ the 3 angles were the letters Z.Ll.B.; suspended from their neck was green ribbon with a medal at the end, with the letter K in the ancient Tagalog script @ the middle of the medal beneath was crossed sword and flag; password Gom-Bur-Za; graduate to Bayani

3. Bayani or patriot –red mask and sash with green borders, symbolizing courage and hope; front of the mask had white borders that formed a triangle with K’s arranged as if occupying the angles of a triangle, its base were the letters Z.Ll.B.; password Rizal

• To recognize each other: a member meeting another member placed the palm of his right hand on the breast, and as he passed the other member he closed his hand, bringing the index finger and thumb together

Katipunan Codes

• Precautions had to be taken to keep the society secret; several codes were made

Flags of Katipunan

• Benita Rodriguez + Gregoria de Jesus made a flag= red rectangular cloth with 3 Ks arranged horizontally in the form of a triangle; first official flag

• Personal flag of Bonifacio – red rectangular cloth at the center of which was a white sun with an indefinite number of rays; below the sun were 3 Ks arranged horizontally

• Mariano Llanera – black banner with a skull above the two cross-bones and the letter K, all in white = humurously called as “Llanera’s Skull”

• Gen. Pio del Pilar – equilateral triangle with a K at each angle; inside the triangle was a mountain with the sun rising behind it

• Magdalo faction – red rectangular banner with a white K in the ancient Tagalog script in the center of the sun with an indefinite number of rays; later the rays were limited to 8 represented the 8 provinces which first took up arms against the Spaniards; the first official banner of the revolutionary forces

• In Naik Assembly on March 17, 1897 – adopted a new flag = red rectangular cloth with a white sun (mythological with eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth) and rays in the middle; superseded the flag of Magdalo and became the first official flag of the Filipinos; symbol of Filipino nationality until the signing of the Truce of Biyak-na bato on December 14-15, 1897

Celebrations

• Annual celebrations showed nationalist temper

• February 17 recalled as the day of prayer in memory of Gom-Bur-Za

Emilio Jacinto

• “Brains of Katipunan”; youngest member• Born in Tondo on December 15, 1875• Enrolled at San Juan de Letran College and

later at the University of Sto. Tomas• Trusted friend and adviser of Bonifacio; • Author of articles which influenced the masses

to join the society• Editor of the society’s newspaper Kalayaan

Kartilla

• Adopted from Spanish Cartilla, primer for grade school students

• Consisted of 13 “teachings”

Bonifacio’s decalogue

• Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Z.Ll.B. – rules to be followed strictly by all members of the society

Women’s Chapter of Katipunan

• Limited to the wives, daughters, and sisters of the male members

• While men were holding their meeting in the backroom, the women, in order to draw away the suspicion of the authorities, danced and sang in the sala in full view of the passerby

Kalayaan

• Society’s organ; its name suggested by Dr. Pio Valenzuela

• Candido Iban and Francisco del Castillo bought the small printing press of Bazar El Cisne – lacked many types

• 4 Katipuneros employed at Diario de Manila stole types

• Jacinto was made editor, but Marcelo H. Del Pilar be made front editor to fool the Spaniards

• 9 by 12 inches in size

• 2000 copies in the first number, dated January 18, 1896 = actually came out in mid-March, distributed in Manila, Cavite, Morong (now Rizal), Kalookoan, Malabon and other places

• Bonifacio’s poem Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Bayan• Pen names:– Jacinto –Dimas-Ilaw– Bonifacio - Agap-ito Bagumbayan–Valenzuela – Madlang-Away

Expansion of the Katipunan

• The publication and distribution of the Kalayaan, with its incendiary (inciting fire) contents, immediately influenced the thinking and feeling of the masses in Central Luzons

• hundreds of people nightly joined the Katipunan in the towns of San Juan del Monte, San Felipe Neri, Pasig, Pateros, Mariquina, Kalookan, Malabon, and other places

• Katipunan extended to the provinces of Bulakan, Batangas, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Laguna

End