Dr.

Pio Valenzuela's Account The offcial date and place of the first cry, were largely based om the
account of Dr. Pio Valenzuela, an official of the Katipunan and a friend of Andres Bonifacio, who was
present during the event. this account was published as Memoirs of the Ka the Philippine Revolution
(Manila, n.d.) The Account The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilin Jacinto, Procopio
Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Aguedo de 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, in the house, store-house and yard of Juan Ramos, son of
Melchora Aquino, where over 1,000 members of the Katipuman met and carried out considerable
debate and discussion on August 23, 1896. The discussion was whether or not the revolution against the
Spanish government should be started on August 29, 1896. Only one man protested ad fought against a
war and that was Teodoro Plata, Besides the persons named above, among those present at this
meeting were Enrique Cipriano, Alfonso Pacheco, Tomas Remigio Sinforoso San Pedro, and others. After
the tumultuous meeting many of those present tore their cedula certificate and shouted "Long live the
Philippines! Long live it Philippines!"

Santiago Alvarez's Account

In 1927, a pre-World War I Tagalog weekly magazine named Sampaguita began publishing the Katipunan
memoirs of Goa. Santiago Virata Alvarez, we of the leaders of the Cavite revolution. The series appeared
9a16 pars. It cold the story of the Philippine Revolution starting * March 1896 until late 1897
interspersed with personal accounts and stories of events during the revolution taken from Alvarez'
notes. The series was later published as a book, titled The Katipunan and the Revolution (QC: ADMU,
1992) with an English translation by Paula Carolina Malay. The story of the First Cry is found in Chapter 6
of the memoirs. Alvarez presents an account devoid of any dramatic description as it is merely a
narration of the events that happened in Bahay Toro (now part of Project 8 in Quezon Citv) on August
24, 1896. The Account 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 fell 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 le bidding of the supremo Andres Bonifacio, Altogether,
they carried assorted weapons, bolos, spears, daggers, a doze. small revolvers and a rifle used by its
owner, one Lieutenant Manuel, for hunting birds. The Supremo Bonifacio w restless because of fear of a
sudden attack by the enemy, He was worried over the thought that any of the courier, carrying the
letter sent by Emilio Jacinto could have been intercepted; and in that eventuality, the enemy would
surer, 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 18%, we arrived at Bahay Toro.
Our number 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.

- 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. S. The immediate objective was the capture
Manila. After the adjournment of the meeting at twelve noon, there were tumultuous shouts of "Long
live the Sons of the People!" Guillermo Masangkay's Account In 1932, Guillermo Masangkay, a friend
and fellow Katipunero of Andres Bonifacio, recounted his experiences as a member of the revolutionary
movement. In an interview with de Sunday Tribune magazine, Masangkay said that the First Cry
happened in Balintawak on August 26, 1896. In the first decade of American rule, it was his account that
was used by the government and civic officials to fix the date and place of the Fist Cry which was capped
with the erection of the "Monument to the Heroes of 1896" in that place. However, in an interview
published in the newspaper Bagong Buhay on August 26, 1957, Masangkay changed his narrative Rating
that the revolution began on August 23, 1896, similar to de assertion of Dr. Pio Valenzuela. But
Masangkay's date was hats changed again when his granddaughter, Soledad Buchler- borromeo, cited
sources, including the Masangkay papers, that the original date was August 26.

On August 26, a big meeting was held in Balintawak at the house of Apolonio Samsson, then the cabeza
of the 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 al leaders of the Katipunan and composed the board of directors of the
organization. Delegates from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite, and Morong (now Rizal) were also present.
At about nine o'clock in the morning of August 26, the meeting was opened with Andres Bonifacio
presiding and Emilo 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. They reasoned that the people would be in distress if the revolution were started without
adequate preparation. Plata was very forceful in his argument, stating that the uprising could not very
well be started without arms and food for the soldiers. Valenzuela used Rizal's argument about the rich
not siding with the Katipunan organization. Andres Bonifacio, sensing that he would lose in 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 it a fiery speech in which he said. "You remember the fate d our
countrymen who were shot in Bagumbayan. Should we return now to the towns, the Spaniards will only
shoot is, our organization has been discovered and we are all marked men. If we don't start the uprising,
the Spaniards will get t 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," Bonifacio said, " want to see you destroyed your
cedulas. It will be the sign that all of us have declared our severance from the Spaniards. With tears in
their eyes, the people, as one man, pulled out their cedulas and tore them to pieces. It was the
beginning of the formal declaration of the separation from Spanish rule.... When the people's pledge
was obtained by Bonifacio, he returned to the session hall and informed the leaders of what took place
outside. "The people want to revolt, and they destroyed their cedulas," Bonifacio said, "So now we have
to start the uprising, otherwise the people by hundreds will be shot." There was no alternative. The
board of directors, in spite of the protests of Plata, Pantas, and Valenzuela, voted for the revolution. And
when this was decided, the people outside shouted, "Long Live the Philippine Republic.