THE CODE OF KALANTIAW

ARTICLE I
You shall not kill, neither shall you steal, neither shall you do harm to the aged, lest you incur the danger of death.
All those who infringe this order shall be condemned to death by being drowned in the river, or in boiling water.

ARTICLE II
You shall obey. Let all your debts with the headman be met punctually. He who does not obey shall receive for the
first time one hundred lashes. If the debt is large, he shall be condemned to thrust his hand in boiling water thrice.
For the second time, he shall be beaten to death.

ARTICLE III
Obey you: let no one have women that are very young nor more than he can support; nor be given to excessive lust.
He who does not comply with, obey, and observe this order shall be condemned to swim for three hours for the first
time and for the second time, to be beaten to death with sharp thorns.

ARTICLE IV
Observe and obey; let no one disturb the quiet of the graves. When passing by the caves and trees where they are,
give respect to them. He who does not observe this shall be killed by ants, or beaten to death with thorns.

ARTICLE V
You shall obey; he who exchanges for food, let it be always done in accordance with his word. He who does not
comply, shall be beaten for one hour, he who repeats the offense shall be exposed for one day among ants.

ARTICLE VI
You shall be obliged to revere sights that are held in respect, such as those of trees of recognized worth and other
sights. He who fails to comply shall pay with one month's work in gold or in honey.

ARTICLE VII
These shall be put to death; he who kills trees of venerable appearance; who shoot arrows at night at old men and
women; he who enters the houses of the headmen without permission; he who kills a shark or a streaked cayman.

ARTICLE VIII
Slavery for a doam (a certain period of time) shall be suffered by those who steal away the women of the headmen;
by him who keep ill-tempered dogs that bite the headmen; by him who burns the fields of another.

ARTICLE IX
All these shall be beaten for two days: who sing while traveling by night; kill the Manaul; tear the documents
belonging to the headmen; are malicious liars; or who mock the dead.

ARTICLE X
It is decreed an obligation; that every mother teach secretly to her daughters matters pertaining to lust and prepare
them for womanhood; let not men be cruel nor punish their women when they catch them in the act of adultery.
Whoever shall disobey shall be killed by being cut to pieces and thrown to the caymans.

ARTICLE XI
These shall be burned: who by their strength or cunning have mocked at and escaped punishment or who have killed
young boys; or try to steal away the women of the elders.

ARTICLE XII
These shall be drowned: all who interfere with their superiors, or their owners or masters; all those who abuse
themselves through their lust; those who destroy their anitos (idols) by breaking them or throwing them down.

ARTICLE XIII
All these shall be exposed to ants for half a day: who kill black cats during a new moon; or steal anything from the
chiefs or agorangs, however small the object may be.

ARTICLE XIV
These shall be made slave for life: who have beautiful daughters and deny them to the sons of chiefs, and with bad
faith hide them away.

ARTICLE XV
Concerning beliefs and superstitions; these shall be beaten: who eat the diseased flesh of beasts which they hold in
respect, or the herb which they consider good, who wound or kill the young of the Manaul, or the white monkey.

ARTICLE XVI
The fingers shall be cut-off: of all those who break idols of wood and clay in their alangans and temples; of those
who destroy the daggers of the tagalons, or break the drinking jars of the latter.
 ARTICLE XVII
These shall be killed: who profane sites where idols are kept, and sites where are buried the sacred things of their
diwatas and headmen. He who performs his necessities in those places shall be burned.

ARTICLE XVIII
Those who do not cause these rules to be obeyed: if they are headmen, they shall be put to death by being stoned and
crushed; and if they are agorangs they shall be placed in rivers to be eaten by sharks and caymans.
 SA AKING MGA KABATA

Kapagka ang baya’y sadyang umiibig

Sa langit salitang kaloob ng langit
Sanlang kalayaan nasa ring masapi
Katulad ng ibong nasa himpapawid

Pagka’t ang salita’y isang kahatulan

Sa bayan, sa nayo't mga kaharian
At ang isang tao’y katulad, kabagay
Ng alin mang likha noong kalayaan.

Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salita

Mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda
Kaya ang marapat pagyamanin kusa
Na tulad sa inang tunay na nagpala

Ang wikang Tagalog tulad din sa Latin,

Sa Ingles, Kastila, at salitang anghel,
Sapagkat ang Poong maalam tumingin
Ang siyang naggagawad, nagbibigay sa atin.

Ang salita nati’y tulad din sa iba

Na may alfabeto at sariling letra,
Na kaya nawala’y dinatnan ng sigwa
Ang lunday sa lawa noong dakong una.
 From Albo’s Log
Source: “Diario o derotero del viage de Magallanes desde el cabo se S. Agustin en el Brazil hasta el regreso a
Espana de la nao Victoria, escrito por Frandsco Albo” (Diary or route of the voyage of Magellan from the Cape of
S. Agustin in Brazil to the return to Spain of the Victoria ship, written by Francisco Albo)

On the 16th (March) we saw land, and went towards it to the N.W., and we saw that the land trended north, and that
there were many shoals near it, and we took another tack to the south, and we fell in with another small island, and
there we anchored: and this was the same day, and this island is called Suluano, and the first one is named
Yunuguan; and here we saw some canoes, and we went to them, and they fled; and this island is in 9 2/3° N. latitude
and in 189° longitude from the meridian. To these first islands, from the archipelago of St. Lazarus. . . .

Ytem. From the Strait of All Saints and Cape Fermoso to these two islands, there will be 106° 30' longitude, which
strait is with these islands in a straight course W.N.W. and E.S.E., which brings you straight to them. From here we
went on our course.

Leaving these islands, we sailed W., and fell in with the island of Gada, which is uninhabited, and there we provided
ourselves with water and wood. This island is very free from shoals.

From here we departed and sailed W., and fell in with a large island called Seilani, which is inhabited, and contains
gold; we coasted it, and went to W.S.W., to a small inhabited island called Mazaba. The people are very good, and
there we placed a cross upon a mountain; and from thence they showed us three islands in the W.S.W. direction, and
they say there is much gold there, and they showed us how they gather it, and they found small pieces like beans and
like lentils ; and this island is in 9 1/3° N. latitude.

We departed from Mazaba and went JST., making for the island of Seilani, and afterwards coasted the said island to
the N.W. as far as 10°, and there we saw three islets; and we went to the W., a matter of 10 leagues, and then we fell
in with two islets, and at night we stopped ; and on the morrow we went S.W. and 1/4 S., a matter of 12 leagues, as
far as 10 1/3°, and there we entered a channel between two islands, one called Matan, and the other Subo ; and Subo,
with the isle of Mazaba and Suluan, are E.W. 1/4 N.W.S.E.; and between Subo and Seilani we saw a very high land
to the north, which is called Baibai, and they say that there is in it much gold and provisions, and much extent of
land, that the end of it is not known.

From Mazaba and Seilani and Subo, by the course which we came, towards the south part, take care; for there are
many shoals, and they are very bad ; for this a canoe would not stop which met us in this course.
Prom the month of the channel of Subo and Matan we went west in mid-channel, and met with the town of Subu, at
which we anchored, and made peace, and there they gave us rice and millet and flesh; and we remained there many
days; and the king and the queen, with many people, became Christians of their free will.

We sailed from Subu, and went S.W. till 9 3/4° between the head of Subu and an island called Bohol; and on the W.
side of the head of Subu there is another, which is named Panilongo, and it belongs to black men ; and this island
and Subu contain much gold and much ginger, and it is in 9 1/3°, and Subu in 10 1/3°; and so we came out of the
channel, and came ten leagues to the S., and anchored off the island of Bohol, and there of the three ships we made
two, and burned the other, not having crews enough; and this island is in 9 1/2°.
 From Official Report on the Cavite Mutiny
Source: Rafael Izquierdo “Official Report on the Cavite Mutiny”

…It seems definite that the insurrection was motivated and prepared by the native clergy, by the mestizos and native
lawyers, and by those known here as abogadillos…

The instigators, to carry out their criminal project, protested against the injustice of the government in not paying the
provinces for their tobacco crop, and against the usury that some practice in documents that the Finance department
gives crop owners who have to sell them at a loss. They encouraged the rebellion by pretesting what they called the
injustice of having obliged the workers in the Cavite arsenal to pay tribute starting January 1 and render personal
service, from which they were formerly exempted…

Up to now it has not been clearly determined if they planned to establish a monarchy or a republic, because the
Indios have no word in their language to describe this different form of government, whose head in Filipino would
be called hari; but it turns out that they would place at the head of the government a priest… that the head selected
would be D. Jose Burgos, or D. Jacinto Zamora…

Such is… the plan of the rebels, those who guided them, and the means they counted upon for its realization.
 From Spanish Version of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872
Source: Jose Montero y Vidal, “Spanish Version of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872”

The abolition of the privileges enjoyed by the laborers of the Cavite arsenal of exemption from the tribute was
according to some, the cause of the insurrection. There were, however, other causes. The Spanish revolution which
overthrew a secular throne; the propaganda carried on by an unbridled press against monarchical principles,
attentory of the most sacred respects toward the dethroned majesty; the democratic and republican books and
pamphlets; the speeches and preaching of the apostles of these new ideas in Spain; the outbursts of the American
publicists and the criminal policy of the senseless Governor whom the Revolutionary government sent to govern the
Philippines, and who put into practice these ideas were the determining circumstances which gave rise, among
certain Filipinos, to the idea of attaining their independence. It was towards this goal that they started to work, with
the powerful assistance of a certain section of the native clergy, who out of spite toward the friars, made common
cause with the enemies of the mother country.

At various times but especially in the beginning of the year 1872, the authorities received anonymous
communications with the information that a great uprising would break out against the Spaniards, the minute the
fleet at Cavite left for the South, and that all would be assassinated, including the friars. But nobody gave
importance to these notices. The conspiracy had been going on since the days of La Torre with utmost secrecy. At
times, the principal leaders met either in the house of Filipino Spaniard, D. Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, or in that of the
native priest, Jacinto Zamora, and these meetings were usually attended by the curate of Bacoor, the soul of the
movement, whose energetic character and immense wealth enabled him to exercise a strong influence.
 From “Filipino Version of the Cavite Mutiny”
Source: Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, “Filipino Version of the Cavite Mutiny”

This uprising among the soldiers in Cavite was used as a powerful level by the Spanish residents and by the friars…
the Central Government in Madrid had announced its intention to deprive the friars in these islands of powers of
intervention in matters of civil government and of the direction and management of the university… it was due to
these facts and promises that the Filipinos had great hopes of an improvement in the affairs of their country, while
the friars, on the other hand, feared that their power in the colony would soon be a complete thing of the past.

…Up to that time there had been no intention of secession from Spain, and the only aspiration of the people was to
secure the material and education advancement in the country…
 From “The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and the Martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za”
Source: Edmund Plauchut, “The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and the Martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za”

General La Torre… created a junta composed of high officials… including some friars and six Spanish officials…
At the same time there was created by the government in Madrid a committee to investigate the same problems
submitted to the Manila committee. When the two finished work, it was found that they came to the same
conclusions. Here is the summary of the reforms they considered necessary to introduce:
1. Changes in tariff rates at customs, and the methods of collection
2. Removal of surcharges on foreign importations
3. Reduction of export fees
4. Permission for foreigners to reside in the Philippines, buy real estate, enjoy freedom of worship, and
operate commercial transports flying the Spanish flag
5. Establishment of an advisory council to inform the Minister of Overseas Affairs in Madrid on the necessary
reforms to be implemented
6. Changes in primary and secondary education
7. Establishment of an Institute of Civil Administration in the Philippines, rendering unnecessary the sending
home of short-term civil officials every time there is a change of ministry
8. Study of direct-tax system
9. Abolition of the tobacco monopoly

…The arrival in Manila of General Izquierdo… put a sudden end to all dreams of reforms… the prosecutions
instituted by the new Governor General were probably expected as a result of the bitter disputes between the
Filipino clerics and the friars. Such a policy must really end in a strong desire on the part of the other to repress
cruelly.

In regard to schools, it was previously decreed that there should be in Manila a Society of Arts and Trades to be
opened in March of 1871… to repress the growth of liberal teachings, General Izquierdo suspended the opening of
the school… the day previous to the scheduled inauguration…

The Filipinos had a duty to render service on public roads construction and pay taxers every year. But those who
were employed at the maestranza of the artillery, in the engineering shops and arsenal of Cavite, were exempted
from this obligation from time immemorial… Without preliminaries of any kind, a decree by the Governor withdrew
from such old employees their retirement privileges and declassified them into the ranks of those who worked on
public roads.
 Rizal’s Retraction
Source: Translated from the document found by Fr. Manuel Garcia, C. M. on 18 May 1935

I declare myself a catholic and in this Religion in which I was born and educated I wish to live and die.

I retract with all my heart whatever in my words, writings, publications and conduct has been contrary to my
character as son of the Catholic Church. I believe and I confess whatever she teaches and I submit to whatever she
demands. I abominate Masonry, as the enemy which is of the Church, and as a Society prohibited by the Church.
The Diocesan Prelate may, as the Superior Ecclesiastical Authority, make public this spontaneous manifestation of
mine in order to repair the scandal which my acts may have caused and so that God and people may pardon me.

Manila 29 of December of 1896

Jose Rizal
 From Eyewitness Account of the Last Hours of Rizal
Source: Michael Charleston Chua, “Retraction ni Jose Rizal: Mga Bagong Dokumento at Pananaw,” published 29
December 2016

Most Illustrious Sir, the agent of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia stationed in Fort Santiago to report on the events during
the [illegible] day in prison of the accused Jose Rizal, informs me on this date of the following:

“At 7:50 yesterday morning, Jose Rizal entered death row accompanied by his counsel, Señor Taviel de Andrade,
and the Jesuit priest Vilaclara. At the urgings of the former and moments after entering, he was served a light
breakfast. At approximately 9, the Assistant of the Plaza, Señor Maure, asked Rizal if he wanted anything. He
replied that at the moment he only wanted a prayer book which was brought to him shortly by Father March.

“Señor Andrade left death row at 10 and Rizal spoke for a long while with the Jesuit fathers, March and Vilaclara,
regarding religious matters, it seems. It appears that these two presented him with a prepared retraction on his life
and deeds that he refused to sign. They argued about the matter until 12:30 when Rizal ate some poached egg and a
little chicken. Afterwards he asked to leave to write and wrote for a long time by himself.

“At 3 in the afternoon, Father March entered the chapel and Rizal handed him what he had written. Immediately the
chief of the firing squad, Señor del Fresno and the Assistant of the Plaza, Señor Maure, were informed. They entered
death row and together with Rizal signed the document that the accused had written. It seems this was the
retraction.”

“At 5 this morning of the 30th, the lover of Rizal arrived at the prison …dressed in mourning. Only the former
entered the chapel, followed by a military chaplain whose name I cannot ascertain. Donning his formal clothes and
aided by a soldier of the artillery, the nuptials of Rizal and the woman who had been his lover were performed at the
point of death (in articulo mortis). After embracing him she left, flooded with tears.”
 Accounts of the Cry
Source: Guillermo Masangkay, “Cry of Balintawak”

On August 26th, a big meeting was held in Balintawak, at the house of Apolonio Samson, then cabeza of that barrio
of Caloocan. Among those who attended, I remember, were Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Tomas
Remigio, Briccio Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Pio Valenzuela, Enrique Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon. They were all
leaders of the Katipunan and composed the board of directors of the organization. Delegates from Bulacan,
Cabanatuan, Cavite, and Morong were also present.

At about nine o'clock in the morning of August 26, the meeting was opened with Andres Bonifacio presiding and
Emilio Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose was to discuss when the uprising was to take place. Teodoro Plata,
Briccio Pantas, and Pio Valenzuela were all opposed to starting the revolution too early...Andres Bonifacio, sensing
that he would lose the discussion then, left the session hall and talked to the people, who were waiting outside for
the result of the meeting of the leaders. He told the people that the leaders were arguing against starting the
revolution early, and appealed to them in a fiery speech in which he said:"You remember the fate of our countrymen
who were shot in Bagumbayan. Should we return now to the towns, the Spaniards will only shoot us. Our
organization has been discovered and we are all marked men. If we don't start the uprising, the Spaniards will get us
anyway. What then, do you say?"

"Revolt!" the people shouted as one.

Bonifacio then asked the people to give a pledge that they were to revolt. He told them that the sign of slavery of the
Filipinos were (sic) the cedula tax charged each citizen. "If it is true that you are ready to revolt... I want to see you
destroy your cedulas. It will be a sign that all of us have declared our severance from the Spaniards.
 Accounts of the Cry
Source: Pio Valenzuela, “Cry of Pugad Lawin”

The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Procopio, Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Aguedo del
Rosario, and myself was Balintawak, the first five arriving there on August 19, and I on August 20, 1896. The first
place where some 500 members of the Katipunan met on August 22, 1896, was the house and yard of Apolonio
Samson at Kangkong. Aside from the persons mentioned above, among those who were there were Briccio Pantas,
Alejandro Santiago, Ramon Bernardo, Apolonio Samson, and others. Here, views were only exchanged, and no
resolution was debated or adopted. It was at Pugad Lawin, the house, store-house, and yard of Juan Ramos, son of
Melchora Aquino, where over 1,000 members of the Katipunan met and carried out considerable debate and
discussion on August 23, 1896. The discussion was on whether or not the revolution against the Spanish government
should be started on August 29, 1896... After the tumultuous meeting, many of those present tore their cedula
certificates and shouted "Long live the Philippines! Long live the Philippines!"
 Accounts of the Cry
Source: Santiago Alvarez, “Cry of Balintawak”

We started our trek to Kangkong at about eleven that night. We walked through the rain over dark expanses of
muddy meadows and fields. Our clothes drenched and our bodies numbed by the cold wind, we plodded wordlessly.
It was nearly two in the morning when we reached the house of Brother Apolonio Samson in Kangkong. We
crowded into the house to rest and warm ourselves. We were so tired that, after hanging our clothes out to dry, we
soon feel asleep. The Supremo began assigning guards at five o'clock the following morning, Saturday 22 August
1896. He placed a detachment at the Balintawak boundary and another at the backyard to the north of the house
where we were gathered. No less than three hundred men assembled at the bidding of the Supremo Andres
Bonifacio. Altogether, they carried assorted weapons, bolos, spears, daggers, a dozen small revolvers and a rifle
used by its owner, one Lieutenant Manuel, for hunting birds. The Supremo Bonifacio was restless because of fear of
sudden attack by the enemy. He was worried over the thought that any of the couriers carrying the letter sent by
Emilio Jacinto could have been intercepted; and in that eventuality, the enemy would surely know their whereabouts
and attack them on the sly. He decided that it was better to move to a site called Bahay Toro. At ten o'clock that
Sunday morning, 23 August 1896 we arrived at Bahay Toro. Our member had grown to more than 500 and the
house, yard, and warehouse of Cabesang Melchora was getting crowded with us Katipuneros. The generous
hospitality of Cabesang Melchora was no less than that of Apolonio Samson. Like him, she also opened her granary
and had plenty of rice pounded and animals slaughtered to feed us. The following day, Monday, 24 August, more
Katipuneros came and increased our number to more than a thousand. The Supremo called a meeting at ten o'clock
that morning inside Cabesang Melchora's barn. Flanking him on both sides at the head of the table were Dr. Pio
Valenzuela, Emilio Jacinto, Briccio Pantas, Enrique Pacheco, Ramon Bernardo, Pantelaon Torres, Francisco
Carreon, Vicente Fernandez, Teodoro Plata, and others. We were so crowded that some stood outside the barn. The
following matters were approved at the meeting:

1. An uprising to defend the people's freedom was to be started at midnight of Saturday, 29 August 1896;
2. To be on a state of alert so that the Katipunan forces could strike should the situation arise where the enemy
was at a disadvantage. Thus, the uprising could be started earlier than the agreed time of midnight of 29
August 1896 should a favorable opportunity arise at that date. Everyone should steel himself and be
resolute in the struggle that was imminent; and
3. He immediate objective was the capture of Manila.

After the adjournment of the meeting at twelve noon, there were tumultuous shouts of "Long live the Sons of the
People!"