Acbang, Roselyn M.

HT 132

RPH: BACKGROUND OF KATIPUNAN

The katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by Filipino anti-spanish people
in manila in 1892, which was aimed primarily to gain independence from spain through
revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots andres bonifacio, Teodoro Plata
Ladislao diwa and others on the night of july 7, in a house on Azcarraga street (now Claro
M. Recto), in Tondo Manila. When Filipino writer jose rizal was sentenced to banished to
dapitan. Initially,katipunan was a secret organization until its discovery in 1896 that led to
the outbreak of Philippines Revolution. The word “katipunan” (literally means association)
came from the root word “tipon”, and indigenous tagalog word,meaning “society” or “gather
together” The Katipunan had colorful beginnings. As a symbol of the member’s loyalty, they
performed the solemn rite of sanduguan (blood compact), wherein each one signed his
name with his own blood.

The Leaders of the Katipunan are Deodato arellano as supremo, Ladislao Diwa as fiscal,
Teodora Plata as secretary, Valentine Diaz as treasurer and Andres Bonifacio as the
controller. The Katipunan has objectives, as the brotherhood was popularly known, were
threefold: political, moral, and civic. They advocated for freedom from the yoke of Spain, to be
achieved through armed struggle. They also saw it as their personal responsibility to help the
poor and the oppressed, and to teach them good manners, hygiene, and morality. Aspirant
applicants were given standard initiation rites to become members of the
society. At first, Katipunan was only open for male Filipinos; not later then,
women were accepted in the society.  The Katipunan has its own
publication, Ang Kalayaan (The Liberty) that had its first and last print on
March 1896.

The katipunan had three aims, namely; to unite Filipinos into solid nation; to
win Philippine independence by means of an armed conflict (or revolution); to
establish a communist republic after independence. The rise of the katipunan
signalized the end of the crusade to secure reforms from spain by means of a
peaceful campaign. The propaganda movement led by rizal, del pilar, jaena
and others had failed its mission; hence, Bonifacio started the militant
movement for independence.

The Katipunan is discovered when there’s a rumor about secret revolutionary society
had long been in circulation, although no solid evidence could be found to support them.
The big break as far as the Spanish authorities was concerned, came on August 19, 1896
when a KKK member, Teodoro Patiño told his sister Honoria about the existence of the
Katipunan. Patiño was a worker in the printing press of Diario de Manila. Honoria was then
living with nuns in a Mandaluyong orphanage. The information upset Honoria so much that
she told the orphanage’s Mother Superior, Sor Teresa de Jesus, what her brother had
revealed. Sor Teresa suggested they seek the advice of Father Mariano Gil, the parish
priest of Tondo. After hearing Patiño’s revelations, Father Mariano Gil-accompanied by
several Guardias Civiles immediately searched the premises of Diario de Manila and found
evidence of the Katipunan’s existence. The governor general was quickly informed. The
printing press was padlocked and hundreds of suspected KKK members were arrested.