Cry of rebellion

Where Did the Cry of Rebellion Happen?

“Cry”

translated from the Spanish el grito de rebelion (cry of rebellion) or el grito for short

Originally, the term "cry" referred to the first clash between the Katipuneros and the Civil
Guards (Guardia Civil).

The cry could also refer to the tearing up of community tax certificates (cédulas personales) in defiance
of their allegiance to Spain. This was literally accompanied by patriotic shouts

The cry of rebellion is an event that swept the Spanish colonies including the Philippines in 1896.
However, there is a confusion as to where and when the Cry of Rebellion really took place.

There are four places identified where the Cry of Rebellion took place:

Balintawak

Kangkong, Balintawak

Pugad Lawin

Bahay Toro

With four different dates: 23, 24, 25, or 26 August 1896

Different places and dates of the cry

Guardia civil, Lt. Olegario Diaz. Balintawak, August 25, 1896

Filipino historian, Teodoro Kalaw. Kangkong, Balintawak, last week of August 1896

Katipunero, leader of Magdiwang faction in Cavite, Santiago Alvarez. Bahay Toro in Quezon City, August
24, 1896

Katipunero, Pio Valenzuela. Pugad Lawin, August 23, 1896

Historian Gregorio Zaide. Balintawak, August 26, 1896

Historians Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnacion, and Ramon Villegas. Tandang Sora’s barn in
Gulod, Barangay Banlat, Quezon City. August 24, 1896.
“Cry of Balintawak”

Guillermo Masangkay

On August 26, a big meeting was held in Balintawak, at the house of Apolonio Samson, cabeza of barrio
Caloocan. Leaders of the Katipunan, which Masangkay stated, Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Pio
Valenzuela, Enrique Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon were present on the said meeting. There were also
delegates from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite, and Morong.

The meeting was opened at nine o’ clock in the morning of August 26 presided by Bonifacio and Jacinto
as his secretary. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss when the revolt was to take place. Plata,
Pantas, and Valenzuela opposed in starting the revolution too early.

Bonifacio, sensing that he would lose in the discussion of the revolution, went outside to talked to the
people who were waiting for the meeting’s result. He told them that the leaders were arguing against
starting the revolution early and appealed to the people in a fiery speech:

“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 uprising, the Spaniards will get us anyway. What then,
do you say?

“Revolt!” the people shouted as one.

After that, Bonifacio asked the people to give a pledge that they were to revolt. He told them that the
sign of slavery of the Filipinos were the cedula tax charged to each citizen.

“If is true that your 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.

“Cry of Pugad Lawin”

Pio ValenZuela

The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Procopio Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Agueda
del Rosario, and Pio Valenzuela was Balintawak, the first five arriving there on August 19, and Valenzuela
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 aforementioned 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!”

Conclusion

According to Guerrero, Encarnacion, and Villegas, all the places are in Balintawak, then part of Caloocan,
now, in Quezon City.

Bonifacio and his troops may have been moving from one place to another to avoid being located by the
Spanish government, which could explain why there are several accounts of the Cry.

Some of the apparent confusion is in part due to the double meanings of the terms "Balintawak" and
"Caloocan" at the turn of the century. Balintawak referred both to a specific place in modern Caloocan
City and a wider area which included parts of modern Quezon City. Similarly, Caloocan referred to
modern Caloocan City and also a wider area which included modern Quezon City and part of modern
Pasig. Pugad Lawin, Pasong Tamo, Kangkong and other specific places were all in "greater Balintawak",
which was in turn part of "greater Caloocan".