Andrés Bonifacio

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This article is about the person Andres Bonifacio. For other uses, see Bonifacio.
‹ The template below (Spanish name) is being considered for merging. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. ›
This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Bonifacio and the
second or maternal family name is de Castro.

Supremo

Andrés Bonifacio

An engraving of Bonifacio from 1897.[1]

Supreme Leader of the Sovereign Tagalog Nation

In office
August 24, 1896 – March 22 or May 10, 1897

Vice President Gregoria de Jesús

 Office established
Preceded by
Román Basa (as Leader of the Katipunan)

Office abolished
Succeeded by Emilio Aguinaldo (as President of Tejeros

Revolutionary Government)

Personal details

Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro

Born November 30, 1863[2]

Tondo, Manila,[2] Captaincy General of the
Philippines

May 10, 1897 (aged 33)

Died Maragondon, Cavite,
Captaincy General of the Philippines

Cause of death Execution

Resting place Unknown

Nationality Filipino

La Liga Filipina
Political party
Katipunan

Monica (c. 1880–1890, her death)

Spouse(s)
Gregoria de Jesús (1893–1897, his death)

Andrés de Jesús Bonifacio Jr. (born in

Children
early 1896, died in infancy)
 Education Self-educated

Signature

Military service

Nickname(s) Maypagasa

Allegiance Katipunan

Years of service 1895–1897

Rank Supremo

Philippine Revolution

 Cry of Pugad Lawin

 Battle of Manila (1896)
Battles/wars  Battle of San Juan del Monte
 Battle of Pasong Tamo
 Battle of San Mateo and
Montalban

Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro (Tagalog pronunciation: [anˈdɾes bonɪˈfaʃo], November 30, 1863 –

May 10, 1897) was a Filipino revolutionary leader and the president of the Tagalog Republic. He
is often called "The Father of the Philippine Revolution".[3][4] He was one of the founders and later
Supremo (Supreme Leader) of the Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga
Anak ng Bayan or more commonly known as the "Katipunan", a movement which sought the
independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Philippine
Revolution.[5][6] He was also one of the Filipino historical figures to be recommended as a national
hero of the Philippines.[7]

Contents
 1Education and early life
  2Marriages
 3Early political activism
 4Katipunan
 5Philippine Revolution
o 5.1Start of the uprising
o 5.2Campaigns around Manila
o 5.3Bonifacio in Cavite
o 5.4Haring Bayang Katagalugan
o 5.5The Tejeros Convention
 6After the Tejeros Convention
 7Trial and death
 8Historical controversies
o 8.1Trial and execution
o 8.2Bonifacio as first Philippine President
o 8.3Bonifacio as national hero
o 8.4Bonifacio's bones
 9List of works
 10Portrayal in the media
 11See also
 12Notes
 13References
 14External links

Education and early life[edit]

Andrés Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863, in Tondo, Manila,[8] and was the first of six
children of Catalina de Castro, a Spanish Mestiza, and Santiago Bonifacio,[9] an Alkalde[10] of
Tondo.[4][11] He learned the alphabet through his mother's sister. He was later enrolled in
Guillermo Osmeña's private school,[12][13] and learned English while employed as a clerk-
messenger by a British firm.[14] Some sources assert that he was orphaned at an early age,[15][16] but,
considering the existence of an 1881 record that has Bonifacio's parents listed as living in Tondo,
it is disputed by others.[17]

Bonifacio was blessed with good hands in craftsmanship and visual arts that he made canes and
paper fans, which he and his young siblings sold.[18] He also made posters for business firms. This
became their thriving family business that continued on when the men of the family, namely
Andres, Ciriaco, Procopio, and Troadio, were employed with private and government companies,
which provided them with decent living conditions.[19]

In his late teens, he worked as a mandatario (agent) for the British trading firm Fleming and
Company,[20] where he rose to become a corredor (broker) of tar, rattan and other goods. He later
transferred to Fressell and Company, a German trading firm, where he worked as a bodeguero
(storehouse keeper) responsible for warehouse inventory. He was also a theater actor and often
played the role of Bernardo Carpio, a fictional character in Tagalog folklore.[21]
Not finishing his normal education, Bonifacio enriched his natural intelligence with self-
education. He read books about the French Revolution, biographies of the Presidents of the
United States, books about contemporary Philippine penal and civil codes, and novels such as
Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Eugène Sue's Le Juif errant and José Rizal's Noli Me Tángere and
El filibusterismo. Aside from Tagalog and Spanish, he could speak and understand English,
which he learned while working at J.M. Fleming and Co.[22][self-published source?]

Marriages[edit]
Andres Bonifacio was married twice: first to a certain Monica in Palomar, Tondo.[23] She was
Bonifacio's neighbor in Tondo. Monica died of leprosy[24] and they had no recorded children.

In 1892 Bonifacio, a 29-year-old widower, met the 18-year-old Gregoria de Jesús[25] through his
friend Teodoro Plata, who was her cousin. Gregoria, also called Oriang, was the daughter of a
prominent citizen and landowner from Caloocan.[26] Gregoria's parents did not agree at first to
their relationship as Andrés was a freemason and freemasons were then considered enemies of
the Catholic church.[27] Her parents eventually gave in and Andrés and Gregoria were married
through a Catholic ceremony in Binondo Church in March 1893 or 1894. The couple also were
married through Katipunan rites in a friend's house in Santa Cruz, Manila on the same day of
their church wedding.[28]

They had one son, born in early 1896,[29] who died of smallpox in infancy.[24][30]

Early political activism[edit]

Main article: La Liga Filipina

In 1892 Bonifacio was one of the founding members[31] of José Rizal's La Liga Filipina,[32] an
organization which called for political reforms in Spain's colonial government of the Philippines.
[33]
However, La Liga disbanded[34] after only one meeting as Rizal was arrested and deported to
Dapitan in Mindanao.[35][36] Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini and others revived La Liga[37] in Rizal's
absence and Bonifacio was active at organizing local chapters in Manila. He would become the
chief propagandist of the revived Liga.[36]

La Liga Filipina contributed moral and financial support to the Propaganda Movement of
Filipino reformists in Spain.[38]

Katipunan[edit]
Main article: Katipunan

On the night of July 7, 1892, the day after Rizal's deportation was announced, Bonifacio and
others officially "founded" the Katipunan, or in full, Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galang na
Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan ("Highest and Most Respected Society of the Country's
Children"; Bayan can also denote community, people, and nation).[39] The secret society sought
independence from Spain through armed revolt.[40][41] It was influenced by Freemasonry through
its rituals and organization, and several members including Bonifacio were also Freemasons.[42]
Within the society Bonifacio used the pseudonym May pag-asa ("There is Hope").[43] Newly
found documents though suggest that Katipunan has already been existing as early as January
1892.[44][45][46]

For a time, Bonifacio worked with both the Katipunan and La Liga Filipina. La Liga eventually
split because some members like Bonifacio lost hope for peaceful reform and stopped their
monetary aid.[42] The more conservative members, mostly wealthy members, who still believed in
peaceful reforms set up the Cuerpo de Compromisarios, which pledged continued support to the
reformists in Spain. The radicals were subsumed into the Katipunan.[40] From Manila, the
Katipunan expanded to several provinces, including Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan,
Pampanga, and Nueva Ecija.[47] Most of its members, called Katipuneros, came from the lower
and middle classes, and many of its local leaders were prominent figures in their municipalities.
[48]
At first exclusively male, membership was later extended to females, with Bonifacio's wife
Gregoria de Jesús as a leading member.[49]

From the beginning, Bonifacio was one of the chief Katipunan officers, although he did not
become its Supremo (supreme leader) or Presidente Supremo (Supreme President)[50] until 1895.
He was the third head of the Katipunan after Deodato Arellano and Román Basa. Prior to this, he
served as the society's comptroller and then as its 'fiscal' (advocate/procurator).[51][52] The society
had its own laws, bureaucratic structure and elective leadership. For each province involved, the
Katipunan Supreme Council coordinated with provincial councils in charge of public
administration and military affairs, and with local councils in charge of affairs on the district or
barrio level.[53][54]

Within the society, Bonifacio developed a strong friendship with Emilio Jacinto, who served as
his adviser and confidant, as well as a member of the Supreme Council. Bonifacio adopted
Jacinto's Kartilya primer as the official teachings of the society in place of his own Decalogue,
which he judged as inferior. Bonifacio, Jacinto and Pío Valenzuela collaborated on the society's
organ, Kalayaan (Freedom), which had only one printed issue. Bonifacio wrote several pieces
for the paper, including the poem Pag-ibig sa Tinubúang Lupà (approx. "Love for One's
Homeland[55]) under the pseudonym Agapito Bagumbayan. The publication of Kalayaan in March
1896 led to a great increase in the society's membership. The Katipunan movement spread
throughout Luzon, to Panay in the Visayas and even as far as Mindanao.[56] From less than 300
members in January 1896,[47] it had 30,000 to 40,000 by August 1896.[56]

The rapid increase in Katipunan activity drew the suspicion of the Spanish authorities. By early
1896, Spanish intelligence was aware of the existence of a seditious secret society, and suspects
were kept under surveillance and arrests were made. On 3 May, Bonifacio held a general
assembly of Katipunan leaders in Pasig, where they debated when to start the revolution. While
some officers, especially Bonifacio, believed a revolution was inevitable, some members,
especially Santiago Alvarez and Emilio Aguinaldo both of Cavite, expressed reservations and
disagreement regarding the planned revolt due to lack of firearms. The consensus was to consult
José Rizal in Dapitan before launching armed action, so Bonifacio sent Pío Valenzuela to Rizal.
Rizal turned out to be against the revolution, believing it to be premature. He recommended
more preparation, but suggested that, in the event the revolution did break out, they should seek
the leadership of Antonio Luna, who was widely regarded as a brilliant military leader.[57]