ANDRES

BONIFACIO

Biographical notes
Part II: 1892 – 1895

The Katipunan

Jan It is not known who instigated the Katipunan or first wrote its statutes. Bonifacio later
1892 used the title “Founder“(Maytayo) of the Katipunan. 1 Did he mean the sole founder?
Perhaps not, but he probably did want to be acknowledged as the principal founder, and
there are no grounds for disputing that claim. 2

History books relate that the association was both

conceived and founded in July 1892, in response to the
news that José Rizal was to be deported to the south, but
we now know that it had been conceived some months
earlier. Preserved in the military archives in Madrid is a
set of foundational documents dated January 1892,
drafted under the headings “Casaysayan”;
“Pinagcasundoan”; and “Manga daquilang cautosan”.

Separation from Spain is proclaimed here not just as a

goal, but as an action taken, a status in a sense attained
by the very act of its proclamation. Plainly and
unequivocally, it is a declaration of independence:

“from this day forward these Islands are separated from

[Spain] and …no other leadership or authority shall be
recognized or acknowledged other than this Supreme
Catipunan.”

Nor is there any doubt or equivocation about the extent of the territory over which the
Catipunan is to govern. It is to be the entire Archipelago, “which in time will be given a
proper name.” 3

1
 Masonry

March The Gran Oriente Español, a

1892 recently formed Masonic
jurisdiction in Spain under
the presidency of Miguel
Morayta, grants accreditation
to Nilad Lodge, the first all-
Filipino Masonic lodge in the
Philippines, leading to a
surge of Masonic
organizational activity in
Manila and the surrounding
provinces.

Masonic certificate issued by Lusong lodge in July 1893. Inscribed

on the scroll beneath the crest are the great democratic watchwords
of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”.

When joining a lodge, neophytes declared their adherence to a “Programa” which

affirmed that “Masonry considers all men are brothers, regardless of race, nationality or
social position. It believes in freedom of conscience and thought as an inherent right of
all people.” 4 In the absence of political parties and clubs, the lodges provide a measure
of organizational focus for liberal, reformist and anti-friar activists.

c. May Bonifacio joins a Masonic “Triangulo”

1892 called Taliba in the district of Trozo.5 He
takes the Masonic name “Sinukuan” in
honor of the legendary giant of Mount
Arayat in Pampanga.

Triangulo Taliba is chartered as a lodge in

November 1892. Elected as the Venerable
Master is José Dizon, a member of the
Katipunan. Other KKK members said to
have joined the lodge, either in 1892 or
later, include Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa Mount Arayat
(probably), Valentin Diaz, José Trinidad,
José Turiano Santiago, José Reyes
Tolentino, Eustaquio Javier, and Alvaro
Nepomuceno. 6

19 A revised version of the KKK constitution is drafted. 7 No copy of this version has yet
June been located.
1892

The Liga Filipina

2
3 July Bonifacio attends the famous meeting in Doroteo
1892 Ongjungco’s house on Calle Ilaya in Tondo at
which the Liga Filipina is launched (or
relaunched). 8

Most of those present are prominent members of

the Masonic Triangles and Lodges recently formed
in Manila, including José Dizon of Taliba, the
Triangle to which Bonifacio belongs.

The meeting is addressed by José Rizal, who just a

few days previously had returned to the
Philippines from Hong Kong. He is later alleged
to have said that the Liga Filipina, in accordance
with the Estatuto he has written, will be “the means
by which industry and commerce will be
developed, and the people, once they had made
themselves prosperous and united, will achieve
not only personal liberty but even national
independence.” 9 The Liga’s foremost task, in the
words of the Estatuto, is to “unite the whole
Archipelago into a compact body, vigorous and
homogenous”.

7 July The Gaceta de Manila and the afternoon paper El Comercio publish a decree issued by
1892 Governor General Despujol accusing Rizal of being a separatist and an enemy of
Catholicism, and ordering his deportation to the south. The decree does not mention the
Liga Filipina, and although intelligence agents had been watching Rizal since his arrival
in the Philippines, it seems it was not until 1896 that the Spaniards found out anything
about the Liga.

In the wake of Rizal’s deportation, however, nobody took his place at the helm of the
Liga Filipina, and it ceased to exist. It “died stillborn, “in his words. “After the first
meeting, nothing more was said about it...” 10

The Katipunan is born

7 July Most sources say the Katipunan was formally founded on this date, by Bonifacio,
1892 Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, Deodato Arellano, Valentin Diaz and others, in response
to the news of Rizal’s deportation.

The meeting is said to have been held in an apartment (accesoria) near the corner of
Azcarraga (now C.M. Recto) and Salinas (Elcano), where a large commemorative tableau
now stands, but the sources differ as to the precise address.

3
 According to Manuel Artigas y
Cuerva, the Katipunan was founded
in this accesoria (through the doorway
marked X) at 64 Azcarraga. 11 Other
sources show the same building, but
give the address as 72 Azcarraga. 12

According to Ladislao Diwa, however, the

Katipunan was founded in this accesoria at 734
Elcano. 13

Ladislao Diwa was one of the co-founders of the Katipunan.

Together with Valentin Diaz, he is said to have helped Teodoro
Plata to draft the association’s founding documents. 14 The
earliest known version of the statutes (“Casaysayan,” etc, dated
January 1892) may well be in his handwriting. 15

At that time Diwa was a court clerk in the district of Quiapo.

He is said to have first met Bonifacio at the University of Santo
Tomas, where he was a law student and Bonifacio was
distributing clandestine literature. 16

4
Aug The KKK constitution is revised again
1892 under the headings “Kasaysayan; Pinag-
kasundoan; Manga dakuilang kautusan”.
The document, which is written using the
“K” rather than the “C” used in the January
1892 version, specifies that the Katipunan
shall be directed by a “Central Chief” and
six Councilors (Kasanguni) who shall
together comprise the “great Council”
(dakilang Sangunian) – at this early stage
the term “Supreme Council”
(Kataastaasang Sangunian) is not yet
used. 17

The members of the association are to be

organized in a network of triangles in order
to safeguard secrecy and anonymity.
According to Ladislao Diwa, the initial
triangle comprised Bonifacio, Teodoro
Plata and himself. 18

Sept 2, One of the earliest Katipunan

1892 documents that still survives: as
Secretary (Kalihim) to the
Katipunan directorate, Bonifacio
signs at the bottom of this page
“Vzypzgzsz,” the coded form of
his alias, “Maypagasa”.

The document authorizes

Restituto Javier (alias
“Mangahas”) to establish
Katipunan triangles in
Mindanao. 19

c.Oct The first Supreme Council of the

1892 Katipunan is established with
Deodato Arellano as president. 20

Deodato Arellano

5
Dec The Katipunan abandons its triangle structure as unworkable, and adopts Masonic-style
1892 rites that make it possible for several recruits to be initiated at a single ceremony. 21

Feb Roman Basa, a clerk in the Comandancia General de Marina, replaces Deodato Arellano
1893 as president of the KKK Supreme Council. 22 According to Pio Valenzuela, it was
Bonifacio who instigated Arellano’s removal from the presidency (and from the Supreme
Council) on the grounds that he was a coward (“cobarde”) and failed to attend meetings. 23

The second incarnation of the Liga Filipina

April The Liga Filipina is re-established with Domingo Franco as president and Deodato
1893 Arellano (until recently the KKK president) as secretary-treasurer. 24 Soon thereafter,
Apolinario Mabini assumes the role of secretary.

The Liga retains the statutes written by

Rizal, and in republishing them it
provides a Tagalog translation of the
key sections alongside the Spanish
original.

It is interesting to note that the word

“catipunan” is used in the translation of
the Liga’s first objective. “To unite the
whole archipelago into a compact body,
vigorous and homogenous” is rendered
in the Tagalog as “Pisanin ang lahat ng
A*** sa isang catipunang malago, masicap
at iisa ang loob.” 25

To the original purposes of the Liga,

says Mabini, was added the collection of
Estatuto de La L.F.
funds for the support of La Solidaridad
and the propaganda campaign in
Spain. 26

Mabini says that the Liga was resurrected “on the initiative of Domingo Franco, Andres
Bonifacio and others,” and that Bonifacio was one of its most energetic organizers.
“[T]hanks to the efforts of Andres Bonifacio and others, popular councils in Tondo and
Trozo were soon organized. Later, others were formed in Santa Cruz, Ermita, Malate,
Sampaloc, Pandacan etc.” 27

Bonifacio becomes president of the Liga Filipina council in the district of Trozo, which is
named “Mayon” after the famous, very active volcano in the province of Albay. Other
members of the council include Ladislao Diwa, Epifanio Saguil, Alvaro Nepomuceno,
José Reyes Tolentino, José Trinidad, Luis Villareal, and José Dizon. 28 Most of these men
are also Bonifacio’s confrères in the Masonic lodge Taliba, which according to the
reconstituted Liga’s overall president, Domingo Franco, was the only lodge in which a
majority of the members belonged to the Liga. In every other lodge, Franco reported to
Marcelo H. del Pilar, the majority wanted to keep their distance from the Liga because

6
 they thought it too progressive (“una institución muy avanzada”). 29

The alias Bonifacio takes within the Liga is “Sandakan,” the name of the town in British
North Borneo (now Sabah) near where Rizal had hoped to acquire land and establish a
Filipino settlement. 30

4 Jul Active not only in his own Liga council, Bonifacio assists at the initiation of members into
1893 the “Talang Bakero” (Star of the Shepherds) council of the Liga Filipina, based in the
district of Binondo. 31

23 Jul Emilio Jacinto, later to become Bonifacio’s closest

1893 associate, figures for the first time in the documentary
record, delivering a rousing speech at a Katipunan
gathering at the age of eighteen:

“In the meantime, let us keep our spirits up with these

battle cries: Long live the Philippines! Long live
Liberty! Long live Dr. Rizal! Unity!”32

Twelve years older, Bonifacio had possibly known

Jacinto since the latter was an infant. Their mothers
worked in the same tobacco factory, and Jacinto’s
mother, Josefa Dizon, who was also a midwife, had
helped in the delivery and nursing of Bonifacio’s sister, Espiridiona. 33

Josefa Dizon was the sister of José Dizon, the Venerable Master of Bonifacio’s Masonic
lodge and an early member of the Katipunan. After Josefa’s husband died whilst Emilio
was still young, José Dizon more or less adopted the boy, and enabled him to study at
Letran and the University of Santo Tomas.

The end of the Liga Filipina

c.Sep The Supreme Council of the Liga Filipina orders the suspension of the Mayon council
1893 that Bonifacio heads, believing it is too militant. Bonifacio, however, defies the order and
continues to organize. 34

Oct The Supreme Council of the Liga Filipina decides that the entire organization should be
1893 dissolved “so that the disagreements amongst its members should not lead to its
discovery by the authorities.” 35

Many of the more militant members, Mabini relates, had stopped contributing to the
support of La Solidaridad because they felt the Spanish government would never heed its
campaign for reforms. When the Liga’s Supreme Council investigated this dissension
amongst the membership, “it transpired that those commissioned to organize the
people’s councils had not required previous assent to the society’s program as a
condition for membership in the society; and that, on the contrary, Andres Bonifacio,
who had recruited more members for the society with his tireless activity, was firmly
convinced of the uselessness of peaceful means. The Supreme Council, which was more
of an organizing committee because its members had not been elected by vote, saw

7
 clearly that, as soon as the rank and file elected their leaders according to the by-laws, the
program would be changed. The Council understood for the first time that the masses,
who the Spaniards believed to be brutish or at best indifferent, were in the vanguard
where political aspirations were concerned.” 36

Guillermo Masangkay agrees there was a class dimension to the

tensions that killed the Liga: “Some of those who joined the Liga
Filipina,” Masangkay relates, “more particularly those who
belonged to the so-called intelligent class, either for fear or other
reasons, did not want to join the Katipunan. They considered us
[Katipuneros] mere plebeians, and they wanted to divide the Liga
Filipina into two classes, the “alta” and the “baja,” the high and the
low.” For this reason, Masangkay suggests, the Katipuneros had
already abandoned the Liga before it was formally dissolved: “We,
however, considering that any divided movement would be fatal in
our campaign for freedom, decided to sever our connection with the Liga Filipina and
devote all our efforts [to the Katipunan].” 37

But why, for a few months in 1893, did Bonifacio work in two organizations with such
disparate strategies? The Katipunan was pledged to gain freedom by armed revolution;
the Liga Filipina, on the other hand, though implicitly separatist, pursued a gradualist,
reformist and pacific road to freedom. Masangkay’s reference to the need for unity
perhaps indicates that Bonifacio, himself and other Katipuneros saw the Liga in 1893 as a
means to an end, as a way of reaching and mobilizing liberal and progressive Filipinos
who would be reluctant in the first instance to join an avowedly revolutionary group, but
who might be persuaded to do so if they could be convinced that peaceful means had
already failed. It seems, however, that Bonifacio and the other KKK activists within the
Liga were impatient, and were more inclined to force the pace than to spend long
months, even years, in laborious discussion and debate.

Gregoria de Jesus

1893 Bonifacio begins courting Gregoria de Jesus, the first

cousin of his friend and fellow KKK founder Teodoro
Plata. (Plata’s mother, Juana de Jesus, was the sister
of Gregoria’s father). 38

“When I was about eighteen years old,” Gregoria

later recalled, “young men began to visit our house,
and among them was Andres Bonifacio, who came in
company with Ladislao Diwa and my cousin Teodoro
Plata, then a court clerk (escribano), but none of them
talked to me of love, since parents in those days were
extremely careful, and girls did not want people to
know that they already had admirers.” 39

“My father was Nicolas de Jesus, [a native of Caloocan], a master mason and carpenter
by occupation, and an office holder during the Spanish regime, having been second

8
 lieutenant, chief lieutenant, and gobernadorcillo. My mother was Baltazara Alvarez
Francisco of the town of Noveleta in Cavite province, a niece of General Mariano Alvarez
of [the Magdiwang council of the KKK] in Cavite, the first to raise the standard of revolt
in that province.”

“I attended the public schools and finished the first grades of instruction, equivalent to
the intermediate grades of today....To enable two brothers of mine to continue their
studies in Manila, I decided to stop studying and to join my sister in looking after our
family interests. Often I had to go out in the country to supervise the planting and the
harvesting of our rice, to see our tenants and laborers, or to pay them their wages on
Sundays.”

At first, Gregoria says, her parents were strongly opposed to Bonifacio’s courtship, but
there is no indication that they thought he was poor or socially inferior, or that they
worried their daughter would find it difficult to adjust to a less comfortable way of life.
Her father’s objection, Gregoria recalls, was that Bonifacio was a freemason and therefore
an enemy of the Church and likely to fall afoul of the authorities: “I learned that my
father was against Bonifacio’s suit because he was a freemason, and freemasons were
then considered bad men, thanks to the teachings of the friars.” 40

Oct Bonifacio is living at this time at 11E Calle de Sagunto [now Santo Cristo], Binondo. 41 E.
1893 Arsenio Manuel (who interviewed Espiridiona) indicates this was now the family home,
which presumably means Bonifacio had gone back to live with his siblings again after he
was widowed. At around this time, Manuel says, Espiridiona’s husband Teodoro Plata
was “living with the Bonifacios on Sagunto”. 42 Other sources say Ladislao Diwa and
Aurelio Tolentino (another early KKK member) also boarded at the Sagunto accesoria. 43

Calle Sagunto and Calle Madrid

6 Oct Gregoria de Jesus writes to the gobernadorcillo of Binondo saying she wishes to marry her
1893 boyfriend (novio), “Andres Bonifacio, a man from Tondo, of 11E Calle Sagunto. When
my parents found out my good intentions I was brought here to a house on Calle Madrid,
No. 28D. I am truly a prisoner here. I have no liberty at all. I appeal to your authority to
mediate and give me justice. Take me from here, summon my boyfriend, and fulfil the
necessary requirements of the Government so that we can get married. I ask justice from
you and hope that you listen because this appeal is addressed to anyone of goodwill
(magaang kalooban).” 44
9
 The gobernadorcillo subsequently summoned Gregoria so that she could explain her
predicament to him in person, but before going to see him she fell sick and went back to
Caloocan. On January 8, 1894 she sent a second letter to the Binondo gobernadorcillo
saying she had now recovered and would like to be summoned again, but how or when
the matter was eventually resolved is not known. 45

Re-organization of the Katipunan

4 Jan A revised version of the Katipunan constitution is drafted. 46 No copy of this version has
1894 yet been located, but it may have been at this juncture that the association becomes
known as the K.K. Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (K.K.K.N.M.A.N.B.). In the
August 1892 constitution the shorter title “Kataastaasang Katipunan” had been used.
The first “K.” of the “K.K.K.” is usually said to have stood for “Kataastaasan(g),” and the
second “K.” for “Kagalang-galang”. 47

At some point in 1894, apparently in accordance with the revised constitution, the
Katipunan adopts the basic structure it would retain until the revolution – with branches
(Balangay), grouped together, as soon as there were sufficient members in the district or
town, under the jurisdiction of popular councils (Sangunian Bayan). The first four
Sangunian Bayan to be formed, all based in Manila, are Laong-Laan in Santa Cruz;
Katagalugan in Tondo; Dapitan in Trozo; and Ilog Pasig in Binondo.

Above the popular councils there were intended to be provincial-level councils called
Sanguniang Hukuman, but it seems these never materialized.

1894 Another change within the Katipunan is the creation of the grade of Patriot (Bayani)
above the two existing ranks of Companion (Akibat) and Soldier (Kawal). 48 Bonifacio
himself produces the ritual for the elevation of a Kawal to the status of a Bayani. 49

10
 When conducting the ceremony, the Supreme President reflects on the martyrdom of the
priests José Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora in 1872 - a great wrong, he says,
that tore aside the veil that had covered the eyes of the Tagalogs. He then describes the
persecution that reformists and suspected filibusters continued to suffer, dwelling in
particular on the pain caused by separation – the separation of the patriots sentenced to
execution, imprisonment or deportation from their wives, children and aged parents.
His evocation of this distress, such as the pain of “the disconsolate mother down whose
cheeks flow the marks of her affliction,” prefigures a passage in the famous essay “Ang
dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog,” published in Kalayaan in 1896.

Marriage to Gregoria de Jesus

1894 In her memoir Mga tala ng aking buhay, Gregoria de Jesus says she married Bonifacio in
March 1893, but the letters quoted above show that this cannot be correct. Perhaps the
true date was March 1894.

“In deference to my parents,” she writes, “we were married in the Catholic church of
Binondo... with Restituto Javier and his wife as sponsors. But the week following, we
were married again in the house of our sponsor in what was then Calle Oroquieta before
the katipuneros at their request, since they gave no importance to the Catholic ceremony. I
remember that there was a little feast, attended, among others, by Pio Valenzuela, José
Turiano Santiago, Roman Basa, Marina Dizon, Josefa and Trining Rizal, and nearly all the
dignitaries of the Katipunan. That very night I was initiated as a member of the
Katipunan and assumed the symbolic name “Lakambini” in order to obey and practice
its sacred principles and rules.” 50

Restituto Javier, wedding sponsor, the Josefa Rizal, wedding

half-brother of José Turiano Santiago
Dulumbayan
Marina Dizon, wedding guest,
guest, sister of Jose Rizal
daughter of José Dizon and cousin of
Emilio Jacinto

1894 After their two weddings, Gregoria de Jesus relates, the couple stayed for about a week at
Restituto Javier’s house on Calle Oroquieta. One source suggests that Emilio Jacinto was
also living there at the time, as was Javier’s half-brother, José Turiano Santiago. 51 Then,
continues Gregoria, “we decided to look for a residence of our own and we found one on
Calle Anyahan in front of the San Ignacio chapel.” 52 She says Emilio Jacinto came to live
in their house, and she does not mention moving again until April 1896, when their
house was destroyed in a massive fire. 53 Tomas Remigio, who lived nearby, says
explicitly that the Bonifacios stayed in the Calle Anyahan property until that time. 54

11
Two regular visitors to the Bonifacios’ house, however, recalled that it was situated on
Calle Zurbaran. Pio Valenzuela specified that it was on “Zurbaran, near Oroquieta,” 55
and Simeona Rodriguez, a member of the KKK women’s section, remembered attending
meetings “in the house of Bonifacio in Zurbaran.” 56 Given that Anyahan (today Felix
Huertas) and Zurbaran (today V. Fugoso) intersect, and since Oroquieta is just a block
away, it seems likely that the Anyahan and Zurbaran houses were one and the same, and
that memories simply differed as to the exact address.

Two other veterans, Valentin Diaz and Santiago Alvarez, locate the Bonifacios’ house on
what today is Rizal Avenue, of which part was then Cervantes and part was
Dulumbayan. 57 Alvarez places the house on Calle Cervantes “in the San Ignacio area of
Bambang”. The house, he writes, “was of moderate size, with the floor not too much
raised from the ground; it had timber (tabla) walls and a roof thatched with nipa.” 58 It
seems likely this was actually the house on Anyahan/Zurbaran, but it could possibly
have been someone else’s house that was used for KKK meetings. 59

Nipa and timber houses in the

district of Sampaloc, c.1890s

12
c.1894 Whatever their precise address or addresses, it is clear that from 1894 to April 1896 the
Bonifacios made their home in the part of Santa Cruz known as Dulumbayan (literally
“edge of town”), a grid of streets whose main north-south thoroughfares were Cervantes
and Oroquieta.

At this time, of course, the Katipunan was still small, with perhaps not more than 300
members, but Dulumbayan was a neighborhood where it was relatively strong and well-
organized. The KKK branch in Santa Cruz, Laong Laan, was among the first to be
elevated (in 1894) to the status of a popular council (Sangunian Bayan (Sb.)), and most of
its officers lived in Dulumbayan. The president of Laong Laan, Tomas Remigio, later
claimed that, due to his efforts, the Katipunan had won more recruits in Dulumbayan
than it had in Tondo, and he seems to have believed Bonifacio decided to move to
Dulumbayan for this very reason. 60

Discord within the Katipunan

c.mid- Remigio’s relationship with Bonifacio, sad to say, was very fractious, and not solely due
1894 to a clash of personalities. Throughout 1894 and 1895, it seems, the Katipunan’s vitality
was diminished, its growth curtailed, by some wider internal discord. Unfortunately, we
only have Remigio’s side of the story, as recounted in two brief memoirs. 61

In one crucial respect, Remigio’s narrative is at variance with the standard version of
events. Most histories of the Katipunan relate that the office of KKK Supreme President
passed in a straightforward progression from Deodato Arellano (September 1892 to
February 1893) to Roman Basa (February 1893 to December 1894) and then to Bonifacio
(December 1894 to May 1897). Remigio, however, relates that at some point (his
chronology is hazy, but probably in mid-1894), Basa told him that “he was currently the
Supreme President and had replaced G. Andres, because, he said, of our disagreements
with the said gentleman.” 62

If Remigio’s recollection is correct, Basa and Bonifacio must both have held the position
of Supreme President twice, and the order of succession becomes Arellano (September
1892 to February 1893); Basa (February 1893 to circa December 1893); Bonifacio (circa
December 1893 to circa July 1894); Basa again (circa July 1894 to December 1894); and
finally Bonifacio again (December 1894 to May 1897). This sequence cannot be
corroborated from other sources, but it does seem plausible.

Other sources, in any event, do confirm that Basa as well as Remigio had serious
disagreements with Bonifacio between 1893 and 1895. 63

13
The main source of acrimony was the management of the KKK’s funds.

Remigio says he angered Bonifacio by persistently questioning and investigating the

finances of the Katipunan. He was prompted to do so, he relates, because some people
had noticed a change for the better in Bonifacio’s lifestyle: “Dahil sa mga napupuna nilang
mga kilos, ayos at pamumuhay ni G. Andres, na anila’y nabago sa dati.” 64

In an attempt to ease the friction, Supreme President Roman Basa summoned Bonifacio,
Remigio and several other KKK members to a meeting at the house of Restituto Javier on
Calle Oroquieta. This was perhaps seen as “neutral territory,” because Javier was close
to both men – he was one of Remigio’s fellow officers in Sb. Laong Laan, and as we noted
he had been the sponsor at Bonifacio’s wedding.

Remigio says that as soon as he raised the issue of the Katipunan’s finances, “Mr Andres
promptly reached under the round table at his side and got out a wooden cigar box. He
then said: ‘Here are the funds that they are always accusing me about.’ (He was really
referring to me). When he took out the contents of the box, which he said contained the
funds of the Katipunan, I and everybody else could see that there were just paper
receipts and IOUs in the names of Mr. Andres Bonifacio and others. Why did the funds
of the Katipunan become merely loan receipts? ‘The majority of members,’ Bonifacio
replied, ‘are poor, and because of their poverty they are always borrowing money, at
interest rates of an eighth, quarter or even half a peso a month, so we decided that the
funds of the Katipunan should be distributed or loaned to the members at a rate of just
saikolo (one sixteenth of a peso) per month.’” 65

“After this statement of Mr. Andres,” Remigio continues, “I

could not stop my feelings being inflamed, [so]...I asked the
members if the charging of interest was considered honorable
by the Katipunan. After some moments of silence, I added: ‘As
far as I am aware, the Katipunan was not founded in order to
lend money at interest or to foster bad conduct, especially
among our brothers. The Katipunan was established, so far as
I understand, in order to deliver our country from slavery.’
Then I asked another question: ‘ If the brothers who have
borrowed money do not repay their debts, what will happen to
the Association?’ That would not happen, some replied,
because the ones who owed money knew that it would be
needed at the time of revolution. I replied that I did not doubt
the honor and integrity of the brothers who borrowed money,
but that I was asking if it was honorable for the KKK ng mga
AnB to become a money-lending institution. When I said this, Tomas Remigio
the group of Mr. Andres offered their own arguments in
opposition to mine, but the discussion was futile because the
money had already been lent out.” 66

Roman Basa, the Supreme President, shared Remigio’s concerns about Bonifacio’s
handling of the Katipunan’s funds. He too believed that Bonifacio was too willing to
spend or loan the money of the Katipunan, and argued that “the money collected coming
as it did from the lifeblood or the members at so much sacrifice should be preserved and

14
 kept intact as much as possible for the future objectives of the society.” 67

Basa had other disagreements with Bonifacio. He “wanted to do away with the tedious
process of initiation” – not just the lengthy rituals for new recruits, perhaps, but also the
ceremonies that marked the elevation of members from the first grade, Akibat, to the
second, Kawal, and thence to the third grade, Bayani. Bonifacio, though, resisted such
changes. There was also friction between the two men over Basa’s son, Lucio, who acted
as a courier for the Katipunan but had not formally joined the association. Bonifacio
pressed Basa to consent to Lucio being initiated, but Basa refused, saying his son was still
too young. 68

Late Pio Valenzuela later recalled what Emilio Jacinto told him had happened after the
1894 meeting at Javier’s house about the missing funds. Basa, it seems, basically agreed with
Remigio that the accounts were muddled, and that the loaning of the society’s funds to
members was imprudent. This led to a confrontation between Basa and Bonifacio during
which they “insulted one another mutually”. Bonifacio then called a general meeting at
which he denounced Roman Basa, accusing him of having called the members of the
society thieves (“ladrones”) and the Katipunan a society of exploiters” 69 “Thieves” was
presumably the inference placed upon Basa’s doubts that all the money loaned to
members would be repaid, and “society of exploiters” the inference placed upon criticism
of the fact that the borrowers would have to pay interest on the sums they borrowed.
Those who heard Bonifacio’s speech at the general meeting, Valenzuela recounts, felt
insulted by Basa’s alleged remarks. 70

24-29 Perhaps recognizing that the tide

Dec of opinion was against him, Basa
1894 does not stand for re-election as
Supreme President, and Bonifacio
is elected his successor in a three-
way contest with José Turiano
Santiago and Manuel Ureta.
After the second stage of the
balloting process, José Turiano
Santiago is elected as secretary;
Emilio Jacinto as fiscal; and
Vicente Molina (Bonifacio’s
ninong) as treasurer. 71

Results of the first stage of the balloting

process, held on
December 26, 1894, as recorded by
Bonifacio himself

15
Feb Bonifacio delivers a speech at the KKK’s commemoration of the death anniversary of the
1895 three priests Burgos, Gomez and Zamora, who were executed by garrotte in 1872 after
being falsely convicted of complicity in the Cavite mutiny. He looks forward to the day
when the sun of Reason will blaze, and “those with debts will have to pay.” [“May araw
ring sisikat ang araw ng Katuiran, at magbabayad ang may mga utan.”] 72

1895 Masonic troubles

The Filipino lodges in Manila had been watched and intermittently harassed ever since
their inception in 1892, but from 1894 onwards the persecution became more intense,
cowing many Masons into passivity. Most of the brethren, one lamented, “suffer from a
weak nervous system and are predisposed to become panicky at the pop of a champagne
cork.” 73 Apolinario Mabini, writing to Marcelo H. del Pilar in January 1895, said much
the same thing: the Masons always inclined to prudence rather than audacity. The
police, he reported, had been ordered to raid Masonic meetings, and the lodges had again
suspended their work in order to avoid being prosecuted for unlawful assembly. 74

Bonifacio observed the same nervousness even within

the relatively “activist “ lodge to which he belonged,
Taliba, whose Venerable Master was his fellow
Katipunero José Dizon. In 1893, as noted above, Taliba
had been the only lodge in which a majority of the
members also belonged to the Liga Filipina. A minority,
perhaps about a third of the lodge’s thirty or so
members, belonged to the Katipunan. But by 1895 many
of the others had become scared. It is said that the
lodge, “alarmed by rumors that it was being identified
with seditious elements, convoked a junta blanca, or
informal session, to clear itself of the charge [i.e.
response to the crackdown just mentioned] and take a
stand against any separatist or revolutionary movement.
In the middle of the discussion, which was [as usual] in
Spanish, Bonifacio is said to have sprung up and roared
in Tagalog: “Iyan ba lang ang pag-uusapan natin? At
kakasti-kastila pa kayo!” (Is that all we’re going to talk
about? And in Spanish yet!), and he clapped on his hat
José Dizon
and walked out” in disgust. 75

In a sense, of course, the Masonic lodges were not political organizations. Their program
“strictly prohibited... any discussion regarding the behaviour and purposes of any
16
 political party, which may alter the fraternity existing between men united by a common
bond.” 76 Neither the secrets nor the obligations of Masonry, the program stressed to
members, were “in the least contrary to...the laws of your Government....” 77

Nevertheless, the Filipino Masons of the 1890s, not just militants like Bonifacio, must
have believed that the Masonic watchwords of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity were
fundamentally incompatible with Spanish colonial rule. Debates between lodge
members must have echoed the debates within the Liga Filipina, and indeed the
protagonists must sometimes have been the same people. Independence would have
been an aspiration shared by nearly all, but opinion would be deeply divided as to how
and when independence was to be achieved. Given that most Masons considered the
reformist Liga Filipina to be “too progressive,” it follows that an even greater proportion
would have wanted nothing to do with an overtly separatist, revolutionary organization
such as the Katipunan. Most, in all probability, were not aware until 1896 that the secret
society existed, because the Katipuneros, knowing their cautious, gradualist views,
would never have tried to recruit them.

Exasperated by the timidity and “prudence” of his Masonic brothers, Bonifacio seems to
have decided in the months before the revolution that attending Taliba lodge was no
longer time well spent. Others reached the same conclusion, including the Venerable
Master, José Dizon. With the militants gone, and the non-militants fearful, the lodge
more or less dissolved. By the middle of 1896, if not earlier, it was being whispered that
Taliba had become inactive (“no se hacia nada”) because José Dizon and Andres Bonifacio
were devoting more time to the Katipunan. 78

Expedition to the hills

10 and Bonifacio leads a group of Katipuneros from Manila to the Pamitinan caves, about 18
11 Apr miles north-east of Manila in the foothills of the Sierra Madre. The group is said to have
1895 included Emilio Jacinto, Aurelio Tolentino, Restituto Javier, and Guillermo Masangkay.
The purpose of the expedition, says Kalaw, was to reconnoitre the mountains above San
Mateo and Montalban “in order... to mature the... plans for the uprising.” 79 The massive
network of caves and underground passages at Pamitinan had by this time become a
destination for adventurous excursionists from Manila, including westerners such as
Robert MacMicking, Jean Mallat and Joseph Stevens. 80 But it was also a place filled with
legends. “The indios in the countryside,” writes Rizal in El Filibusterimo, “keep alive the
legend that their king, imprisoned and chained in the cave of San Mateo, will one day
return to free them from oppression. Every hundred years he breaks one of his chains, so
that now he already has his hands and his left foot loose, and only his left foot is still
bound. This king causes the earthquakes when he struggles or stirs himself.... For some
reason the indios call him King Bernardo, confusing him perhaps with Bernardo del
Carpio.” As we noted, this legend was one of Bonifacio’s own favorites, and he would
certainly have known that Pamitinan was one (amongst others) of the king’s reputed
abodes. How much importance he attached to this connection when he visited the caves
in 1895 can only be a matter of speculation. 81

17
 Aurelio Tolentino subsequently wrote a brief account of the expedition, recalling that the
Katipuneros had inscribed “Viva la Independencia Filipina!” on the cave walls (though in
reality the message was presumably in Tagalog, and presumably did not use the word
‘Filipina’.) Intrigued by Tolentino’s account, Teodoro M. Kalaw himself went to the caves
in 1931, accompanied by a number of KKK veterans (including Guillermo Masangkay)
and local guides. “We carried oil lamps which we held close to the walls to read the
various inscriptions there,” he relates. “There were places where the passageway was so
small and the roof so low that we had to crawl on our hands and knees to go ahead....
After half an hour or more of walking [we saw an inscription written by Katipunan
troops in 1897]. On the cave walls we also found the names of other visitors who had
preceded us,” going as far back as 1800. We crossed several small lakes filled with pieces
of charcoal. [Then our guide found a signature, and then we saw others ...] On the left
was the signature of Aurelio Tolentino, with the date [Wednesday] April 10, 1895. On
the right were those of Emilio Jacinto, Andres Bonifacio, Faustino Mañalak, Francisco del
Castillo, Valeriano Balida, Pedro Zabala, Guillermo Masangkay and the date, [Thursday]
April 11, 1895. [But we could not see the famous inscription “Viva la Independencia de
Filipinas!” that the late Aurelio Tolentino had mentioned in his account.] There were so
many erasures above and below the names that we could no longer read them.” 82

c. Nov Bonifacio’s wife is imminently expecting their first child, and Andres takes her back to
1895 her family home at 13 Calle Baltazar (now Zamora), Caloocan. 83

c. Nov Continuing discord

1895
By November 1895 Bonifacio and Jacinto had respectively been supreme president and
supreme fiscal of the Katipunan for almost a year. The society, they were keenly aware,
had not made great advances since its foundation in 1892. Its active membership could at
best be counted at around 300, and it had not yet expanded beyond Manila and a handful
of nearby towns. Some of its local sections were barely functioning, and others were
fractious.

Among the most troublesome sections, from Bonifacio’s perspective, was Laong Laan,
the Sangunian Bayan in Santa Cruz headed by Tomas Remigio. In 1894, as noted above,
Remigio had criticized Bonifacio for lending out money from the KKK’s coffers to
individual members. In 1895 there were further tensions. One fresh source of conflict
was Bonifacio’s insistence that all KKK members should provide the association with a
photograph of themselves. Bonifacio perhaps thought this would be a way of testing and
18
 confirming each member’s loyalty and commitment to the association, but Remigio and
others had serious misgivings about the idea, and feared (rightly) that the pictures would
sooner or later fall into the hands of the Spanish secretas. Remigio recalls that he went to
talk to Roman Basa about the issue, and Basa told him forthrightly that he was “not crazy
enough to do the bidding of Mr Andres and his associates, especially now that they were
angry” (“hindi siya ulol na ipagkakatiwala kina G. Andres, lalo na’t ngayong sila’y nagkakagalit
na”). 84

So angry, Remigio says, that Bonifacio and his associates sentenced him to death. They
condemned him as a traitor (“taksil”), Remigio got to hear, at a secret meeting held in
Sulukan, a barrio close to Dulumbayan, and agreed he should be killed by poison or by
“any means necessary, at any place, day or hour.” 85

A meeting was held to try and reach a peace. One evening, Remigio relates, his uncle
Isaias Toribio invited him, Bonifacio and Pio Valenzuela for a frank discussion behind
locked doors. Toribio said he had heard about the death sentence passed on Remigio
directly from “one of the agents of the Secret Chamber” (by whom he seems to have
meant Guillermo Masangkay). Bonifacio and Valenzuela both emphatically denied that
there was any truth to the story, but Remigio was not reassured. “Mr. Andres,” he said,
“as soon as I get home today I shall write a note which will read as follows: ‘If at some
time I should come to a bad end, my assassin is Mr. Andres Bonifacio,’ I shall make two
copies of this note, one of which I shall entrust to the care of my family and the other I
shall always keep on my person...” 86

“After I said these words,” Remigio continues, “we spoke for a little while longer, and
since my uncle Isaias was eager to put an end to our differences [the meeting] ended up
most amicably. 87

But as usual the amity was short-lived, and the disputes were still frequent (“malimit”),
according to Remigio. Bonifacio, he felt, was behaving like a dictator, always imposing
his own will (“dahil din sa ugali ni G. Andres na maghari at sundin ang lahat niyang
maibig”.) 88

Remigio says that three other critics of Bonifacio were also sentenced the death – Roman
Basa (the former Supreme President), Teodoro Gonzales (a former Supreme Council
member) and Isaias Toribio (Remigio’s uncle, who had never joined the Katipunan, but
who somehow was acquainted with its affairs). Toribio’s death sentence is also
mentioned in another, more contemporary source, the declaration made by Antonio
Salazar under Spanish interrogation in 1896. 89 None of the death sentences was actually
carried out.

30 Inevitably, these internal divisions continued to sap the Katipunan’s energy and inhibit
Nov its growth. Determined to invigorate the association, and to root out the malcontents, the
1895 miscreants and the timid, Bonifacio and Jacinto summoned the KKK’s leading activists to
to Dec meet in Caloocan on the morning of Saturday, November 30, 1895. The matters to be
1, 1895 discussed, they said, would affect every council and branch. 90 They warned the delegates
beforehand that the meeting might last the whole day, but in the event it continued right
through the night as well, not dispersing until eight o’clock on the Sunday morning. It
was held some distance from the población in a house surrounded by rice fields, and was

19
attended by about 35-40 people. 91

In total, the assembly in Caloocan decided that 46

individuals should be “separated” or “distanced”
from the society – the terms “itiwalag” and “ilayu”
seem to be used interchangeably in the minutes –
and many others, it is clear, will also be cast out
unless they show more commitment. Aside from
the numbers involved – perhaps a sixth of the
active membership – it is striking how many of the
expellees had at one time or another had belonged
to the society’s inner core. They included
Bonifacio’s predecessor as supreme president,
Roman Basa; the existing supreme secretary, José
Turiano Santiago; and five others thought to have
been sometime members of the Supreme Council –
Teodoro Gonzales, Restituto Javier, Faustino
Manalac, Tomas Remigio and Teodoro Vedua. 92

Of the 46 named expellees, 15 belonged to the Santa Cruz-based council Laong Laan (11
of whom were branded as “traitors”) and 11 to the Binondo-based council Ilog Pasig
(including 7 “traitors”). No representative from either of these councils seems to have
been present at the Caloocan assembly, and no records have been found to indicate that
S.B. Laong Laan continued to exist thereafter. Ilog Pasig was reduced to the status of a
branch. Several members of Laong Laan may well have left the Katipunan of their own
accord prior to being expelled.

Tomas Remigio, one of those denounced as a “traitor,” later recounted that he and others
dissolved Laong Laan and formed “a new organization, also committed to fighting for
national independence, called Binhing Payapa [Seed of Peace].” 93 It is probable that a
number of expellees from other councils and branches had similarly departed before
being ejected. 94 But this did not necessarily mean that their patriotism had waned, or that
they would not fight for freedom when the fateful moment came. The former members of
S.B. Laong Laan who established the breakaway Binhing Payapa, most notably, assigned
two of their leaders—Tomas Remigio and Lorenzo Alonso—to rendezvous with the
Katipuneros who gathered in Balintawak in August 1896. Bonifacio welcomed their
support, and reportedly assigned Remigio to take charge of the revolutionary forces in
Santa Cruz, the district where Laong Laan had been based. 95

In the course of the proceedings, the gathering in Caloocan is formalized as the first
meeting of the Supreme Assembly (Kataastaasang Kapisanan), which henceforth
becomes the society’s paramount decision-making body. Theoretically, it comprises the
members of the Supreme Council, the presidents of the popular councils (Sangunian
Bayan) and the presidents of branches (Balangay) not affiliated to popular councils, but
in practice the presidents are often accompanied by one or two other leading activists
from their sections. 96

The Supreme Assembly agrees that the grade of Patriot (Bayani - which had only been

20
 created in the previous year) should be abolished, and that henceforth there should again
be just two grades – Companion (Akibat) and Soldier (Kawal). The Assembly also
approves the establishment of a three-member Secret Council (Sanguniang Lihim) to
defend the Katipunan against whoever sought to disrupt or wreck the association, both
from within and without. 97

Dec The Bonifacios’ child, Andres Jr, is born in

1895 Caloocan. He is baptized on Christmas Eve,
with Pio Valenzuela acting as godfather. 98

24-25 Bonifacio presides over the second meeting of the KKK Supreme Assembly, held in his
Dec house in Dulumbayan. The discussion dwells again on issues of internal discipline; on
1895 plans to reinvigorate sections that had become inactive; and on how to put the
Katipunan’s finances on a firmer footing.

The Supreme Assembly, Bonifacio confirms, would henceforth be the body that elected
the members of the Supreme Council, and since the members elected under the old
arrangements in December 1894 had now completed their one-year terms, the elections
are duly conducted.

Bonifacio is re-elected as president; Emilio Jacinto is elected as secretary; Pio Valenzuela

as fiscal; Vicente Molina as treasurer; and Aguedo del Rosario, Balbino Florentino,
Pantaleon Torres, Hermenegildo Reyes, Francisco Carreon and José Trinidad as
councilors. 99

The customary confession of authorial guilt – “Responsibility for any errors in this work is entirely mine” –
is hereby forsworn. The content of these notes is only as reliable as the sources, which indubitably contain
lapses of memory both innocent and deliberate. On some issues the evidence is conflicting. As always,
comments and corrections are welcome, either beneath this post or to kasaysayan@googlemail.com

Many of the illustrations have been taken from the web, where many images get posted without proper
attribution. If credit is given below to “secondary sources” rather than the rightful owners I apologize, and
can either amend the acknowledgment or delete the image from the post.

Jim Richardson
revised July 2016

21
 PICTURE SOURCES

“Casaysayan” document – Archivo General Militar de Madrid

Masonic certificate – Archivo de Padres Agustinos de Filipinas, Valladolid
Mount Arayat – Rommel Diaz Photography/Trekearth.com (web)
Estatuto de la Liga Filipina – Archivo General Militar de Madrid
64 Azcarraga – Manuel Artigas y Cuerva
734 Elcano – Philippines Free Press
“Kasaysayan”document – Archivo General Militar de Madrid
Document dated September 2, 1892 – Emmanuel Encarnacion
Ladislao Diwa – Filipinas Heritage Library
Deodato Arellano – National Historical Commission of the Philippines
Estatuto de la Liga Filipina – Cultura Filipina
Emilio Jacinto (artist’s impression) – Flickr.com (web)
Guillermo Masangkay – Soledad Borromeo-Buehler
Gregoria de Jesus – Bahay Nakpil-Bautista
Manila map detail – University of Texas (web)
Binondo street scene – Unknown (web)
Restituto Javier – Pinoy History (web)
Josefa Rizal – Unknown (web)
Marina Dizon – Philippines Free Press
Manila map detail – University of Texas (web)
Houses in Sampaloc – museo santisima Trinidad (web)
Coins - imperio.numismatico.com (web)
Tomas Remigio – National Historical Commission of the Philippines
“K.K.K.Ll.V.Z.Ll.B.” document - Archivo General Militar de Madrid
“...ang araw ng Katuiran” document - Archivo General Militar de Madrid
José Dizon – Teodoro A. Agoncillo, Revolt of the Masses
Pamitinan cave – Unknown (web)
José Turiano Santiago – Philippines Free Press
Pio Valenzuela – Philippine National Library

1 Andres Bonifacio, “Notice of appointment, April 15, 1897,” in Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The
Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1956), 187.
2 There are a few hints in the sources that Bonifacio was at least primus inter pares amongst the association’s early

leaders. Epifanio de los Santos, for example, says it was he who asked one of the other founding members, Teodoro
Plata, to draft the association’s statutes. A later, revised set of founding documents (August 1892) appears to be in
Bonifacio’s own hand. His influence within the early Katipunan is also said to have been such that he was able to
depose the association’s first two presidents, Deodato Arellano and Roman Basa. Epifanio de los Santos, “Marcelo H.
del Pilar (Plaridel),” Philippine Review, V:8 (August 1920), 528; Agoncillo, Revolt of the Masses, 47, 71, 75, 321, 329.
3 “Casaysayan; Pinagcasundoan; Manga daquilang cautosan,” January 1892 [Archivo General Militar de Madrid

(hereafter AGMM): Caja 5677, leg.1.37].

4 Quoted in Reynold S. Fajardo, The Brethren: Masons in the Struggle for Philippine Independence (Manila: Enrique L.

Locsin and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, 1998), 104.

22
5 Fajardo, The Brethren, 97; Susana Cuartero Escobes, La masonería española en Filipinas, Tomo 1 (Santa Cruz de

Tenerife : Ediciones Idea, 2006), 140-3.

6 Fajardo, The Brethren, 114; 145; 184.
7 Gregorio F. Zaide, Documentary History of the Katipunan Discovery, second edition (Manila: Good Shepherd Press,

1932), 2.
8 Before he arrived in the Philippines from Hong Kong in late June 1892, Rizal was under the impression that the Liga

Filipina was already functioning. One of his purposes in returning to Manila, he wrote to Marcelo H. del Pilar on May
23, was “to strengthen (fortalecer) the Liga”. Teodoro M. Kalaw (comp.), Epistolario Rizalino, Tomo III (Manila: Bureau
of Printing, 1931), 338.
9 “Interrogation of the suspect José Rizal Mercado y Alonso,” November 20, 1896, in The Trial of Rizal, edited and

translated with notes by Horacio de la Costa (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1961), 83-4.
10 José Rizal, “Additions to my Defense,” December 26, 1896 in The Trial of Rizal, as cited, 133.
11 Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, Glorias nacionales: Andres Bonifacio y el ‘Katipunan’ (Manila: Libreria ‘Manila Filatelica,’

1911), 23.
12Agoncillo, Revolt of the Masses, 43; Carlos Ronquillo, Ilang talata tungkol sa paghihimagsik nang 1896−1897 [1898], edited

by Isagani R. Medina (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1996), 230.
13 Fernando Hernandez, “El ultimo superviviente del primer Katipunan,” Philippines Free Press, September 7, 1929, 62–

63 (quoting a piece written by Ladislao Diwa in 1928).

Hernandez, “El ultimo superviviente del primer Katipunan,” as cited.
14 De los Santos, “Marcelo H. del Pilar,” 528.
15 Ramon Guillermo, “’Ang manga Ualang Auang Jalimao’: The first Katipunan document and the mysterious letter

‘J’,” Philippine Studies, 63:3 (August 2015), 393-418.

16 E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol.1 (Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications, 1955), 155.
17 “Kasaysayan; Pinag-kasundoan; Manga dakuilang kautusan,” August 1892 [AGMM: Caja 5677, leg.1.34].
18 Hernandez, “El ultimo superviviente del primer Katipunan,” as cited.
19 Adrian E. Cristobal, Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 26.
20 José P. Santos, “Mga ulat ukol sa pagkakatatag ng Katipunan,” (typescript, n.d., Masangkay Papers) cited in

Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, The Cry of Balintawak: A Contrived Controversy. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University
Press, 1998), 195.
21 Zaide, History of the Katipunan, 4.
22 The date of February 1893 is given in José P. Santos, Si Bonifacio at ang himagsikan (Manila: n.pub, 1935), 14 (quoting

Ladislao Diwa); and Santos, “Mga ulat,” as cited, 195 (where the source seems to have been Teodoro Gonzales, who
was a member of the Supreme Council during Basa’s term as president.) See also Zaide, History of the Katipunan, 4,
citing a letter from Gonzales to Teodoro M. Kalaw dated November 29, 1924. Another source says Basa replaced
Arellano in January 1893 – La política de España en Filipinas, January 21, 1897, cited in Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, Galeria
de Filipinos Ilustres (Manila: Imp. Casa Editora “Renacimiento”, 1917), 393.
23 Pio Valenzuela, Declaration dated October 21, 1896, in Wenceslao E. Retana, Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. III

(Madrid: Imprenta de la viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 377.

24 Domingo Franco, Declaration dated September 29, 1896, in Retana, Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. III, 308.
25 Proceso del Dr. José Rizal Mercado y Alonso (Manila: Cultura Filipina, 1913), Appendix A, 9.
26 Apolinario Mabini, La Revolución Filipina (con otros documentos de la época), vol.II (Manila: Bureau of Printing,

1931), 297.
27Mabini, La Revolución Filipina, 297.
28 José Dizon, Declaration dated September 23, 1896, in Retana, Archivo, vol. III, 286; and Domingo Franco, Declaration

dated September 29, 1896 in ibid., 308.

29 Felipe Leal [Domingo Franco], Letter to Marcelo H. del Pilar, July 24, 1893, cited in Teodoro M. Kalaw, La masonería

filipina: su origen, desarrollo y vicisitudes hasta la época presente (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1920), f.p.126-7.
30 Juzgado de instrucción de la Capitania General de Filipinas, “Relación nominal de las personas que esteban

afiliados a la “Liga Filipina” con expresión de sus simbolicos y demas antecedents” [AGMM: Caja 5393, leg.9.9].
31 Talang Bakero, Record of meeting held on July 4, 1893 [AGMM: Caja 5393, leg. sn].
32 The Trial of Rizal, 93-4.
33 E. Arsenio Manuel, “New Data on Andres Bonifacio: Manila’s Foremost Hero,” Paper read at the First Andres

Bonifacio and Parian Lectures, November 28, 1989, 10.

34 Domingo Franco, Declaration dated September 29, 1896, as cited, 309.
35 Mabini, La Revolución Filipina, 298.
36 Ibid.
37 Guillermo Masangkay, Statement made at a luncheon at the Manila Hotel, January 29, 1943 [Masangkay Papers (on

microfilm), University of the Philippines, Diliman].

23
38 E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol.1 (Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications, 1955), 351.
39 Gregoria de Jesus, “Autobiography,” [1927] translated by Leandro H. Fernandez, Philippine Magazine, 27:1 (June
1930), 16.
40 De Jesus, “Autobiography,” 17.
41 Gregoria de Jesus, Letter to the gobernadorcillo of Binondo, October 6, 1893, quoted in Ambeth R. Ocampo, Bones of

Contention: The Bonifacio Lectures (Manila: Anvil, 2001), 87.

42 E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol.1 (Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications, 1955), 352.
43 A. B. German, “Ladislao Diwa: The ‘Unknown’ Angle in the KKK Triangle,” Sunday Times Magazine, June 27, 1965;

Ocampo, Bones of Contention, 82; E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol.II (Filipiniana Publications,
1970), 372.
44 Ocampo, Bones of Contention, 86-7.
45 Ibid.
46 Zaide, Documentary History, 2.
47 One memoirist, however, recalls the first “K.” as signifying not “Kataastaasan” but “Kamahal-mahala’t,” and a KKK

document in the Spanish archives suggests the second “K.” might at some time have been taken to mean “Kamahal-
mahalang” rather than “Kagalang-galang.”Artemio Ricarte, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino laban sa Kastila
(Yokohama: “Karihan Café,” 1927), 1; “Panuntunan,” n.d. (Archivo General Militar de Madrid, Caja 5677, leg.1.38).
48 Supreme Council, Record of meeting held on December 24-25, 1894 [AGMM: Caja 5393, leg.4.15]. Isabelo de los

Reyes and many later commentators say the first grade was called Katipon rather than Akibat, but although the word
Katipon is found in some KKK documents, it seems to be a general term used to refer to members of all grades. Isabelo
de los Reyes, La sensacional memoria de Isabelo de los Reyes sobre la revolución Filipina de 1896-97 (Madrid: Tip. Lit. de J.
Corrales, 1899), 71; Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, Andres Bonifacio y El ‘Katipunan’ (Manila: Libreria ‘Manila Filatelica’,
1911), 30–1; and Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press, 1956), 50–1.
49 Andres Bonifacio (attrib.), Ritual for the initiation of a Bayani, c.1894 [AGMM: Caja 5677, leg.1.40].
50 De Jesus, “Autobiography,” 17.
51 Diosdado G. Capino, Stories of Andres Bonifacio: His Life, Character and Teachings (Quezon City, Manlapaz Publishing

Co., 1967), 78.

52 De Jesus, “Autobiography,” 17.
53 Ibid.
54 “Tomas A. Remigio on the Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio, and the ‘Cry,’” in Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, The Cry of

Balintawak, 165-7. According to Remigio, the Anyahan house belonged to Numeriano Zamora, about whom no details
are known.
55 PioValenzuela, “Memoirs,” in Minutes of the Katipunan (Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1964), 104.
56 Capino, Stories of Andres Bonifacio, 59.
57 Valentin Diaz, Declaration dated September 23, 1896, in Retana, Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. III, 298.
58 Santiago V. Alvarez, The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General [1927]. Translated by Paula Carolina S.

Malay (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992), 5.

59 Aguinaldo himself recalls that he was initiated in “Bonifacio’s house on Calle Clavel, in Binondo,”a location which

is not corroborated by any other source. Aguinaldo was wrong about the year, too, claiming it had been 1895. Emilio
Aguinaldo, Mga gunita ng himagsikan [1928-46] (Manila: Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay, 1964), 31.
60 “Tomas Remigio on the Katipunan, “ as cited, 166-7.
61 Ibid., 164-79; and [Tomas Remigio,] “Kasaysayan ni Tomas Alup Remigio y Basilio,” n.d. [Masangkay Papers, UP

Diliman].
62 “Tomas Remigio on the Katipunan, “as cited, 167; 171.
63 Manuel, “Roman Basa,” in Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol.1, 93; Pio Valenzuela, Declaration dated October 21,

1896, as cited, 378.

64 “Tomas Remigio on the Katipunan, “as cited, 164.
65 Ibid., 168-9.
66 Ibid., 170-1.
67 Manuel, “Roman Basa,” in Dictionary of Philippine Biography, vol.1, 93.
68 Ibid. Manuel’s biographical entry on Basa is based partly on an interview with his son Lucio.
69 Pio Valenzuela, Declaration dated October 21, 1896, as cited, 378.
70 Ibid.
71 Supreme Council, Record of meeting held on December 26, 1894 [AGMM: Caja 5393, leg.4.15].
72 Andres Bonifacio, Fragment of a speech, c. February 1895 [AGMM: Caja 5677, leg.1.92].
73 Domingo Franco, quoted in Teodoro M. Kalaw, Philippine Masonry: its origin, development, and vicissitudes up to

present time [1920] Translated by Frederic H. Stevens (Manila: McCullough Printing Co., 1956), 116.

24
74 Apolinario Mabini, Letter to Marcelo H. del Pilar, January 22, 1895, in The Letters of Apolinario Mabini (Manila:
National Heroes Commission, 1965), 25. How was it, Mabini wondered, that “Freemasonry, being a lawful
association in Spain, could be unlawful in the Philippines, where it is practised exactly as Spanish Freemasonry.”
75 Fajardo, The Brethren, 175-6.
76 Quoted in Fajardo, The Brethren, 104.
77 Ibid., 105.
78 Antonio Salazar, Declaration dated September 18, 1896, in Retana, Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. III, 248. Salazar

was the Venerable Master of another Manila lodge, Modestia. Pio Valenzuela, likewise under interrogation, said that
another activist, Emeterio (actually Eleuterio) de Guzman, had been sentenced to death at about this same time. See
his declaration dated October 21, 1896, in Wenceslao E. Retana, Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. III (Madrid: Imprenta
de la viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios, 1897), 381.
79 Teodoro M. Kalaw, Aide-de-Camp to Freedom (Manila: Teodoro M. Kalaw Society, Inc., 1965), 225-8.
80 Joseph A. Scalice, “Pasyon, Awit, Legend: Reynaldo Ileto’s Pasyon and Revolution Thirty Years Later,” unpublished

MS, 2009, 46.

81 See Reynaldo C. Ileto, “Bonifacio, the Text and the Social Scientist”, Philippine Sociological Review, 32, (January-

December 1984), 19-28.

82 Teodoro M. Kalaw, Aide-de-Camp to Freedom (Manila: Teodoro M. Kalaw Society, Inc., 1965), 225-8.
83 De Jesus, “Autobiography,” as cited, 17.
84 Ibid., 172.
85 “Kasaysayan ni Tomas Alup Remigio y Basilio”. Unpublished MS, n.d. [Guillermo Masangkay Papers, University of

the Philippines Main Library, Diliman].

86 “Tomas A. Remigio on the Katipunan,” as cited, 176-9.
87 Ibid.
88 Ibid., 170-3.
89 Antonio Salazar, Declaration dated September 18, 1896, in Retana, Archivo del bibliófilo filipino, vol. III, 248.
90 Supreme Council, Notice to section presidents, November 26, 1895 [AGMM: Caja 5677, leg.1.45].
91 Valenzuela, Declaration dated October 21, 1896, as cited, 377.
92 Supreme Assembly, Record of meeting held on November 30 and December 1, 1895 [AGMM: Caja 5677, leg.1.41

bis].
93 “Tomas A. Remigio on the Katipunan,” as cited, 178-9.
94 Ibid.,176–9; and “Kasaysayan ni Tomas Alup Remigio at Basilio”, as cited.
95 “Tomas A. Remigio on the Katipunan,” as cited, 178-9.
96 Supreme Assembly, Record of meeting held on November 30 and December 1, 1895, as cited.
97 Ibid.
98 Valenzuela, Declaration dated October 21, 1896, as cited, 380-1.
99 Supreme Assembly, Record of meeting held on December 24-25, 1895 [AGMM: Caja 5393, leg.4.4].

25