PHILHIS

200 THE REVOLT OF THE

MASSES
masses:the stary of Bonifocio and theanQuezn CityUniersity of thePhilippines Press.
Twelve days,and cost the insurgents the death of CrispuloAguinaldo and General
Zabala. On March 25,the Span-iards charged the Filipino lines with all their fury
andsueceeded in driving out the rebels with heavy losses.Imus was occupied by the
enerny on the same day. Pressddby General Lachambre in the direction of Noveleta
and bythe victorious enemy in the Imus-Dasmariñas sector, Gen-eral Aguinaldo
transferred his headquarters from Imus toSan Francisco de Malabon, the Magdiuang
stronghold.
Seeds of Discontent
N THE FIRST flush of rebel victory climaxing theGeneral Blanco to smash the insurgent
power, theKatipunan of Cavite, divided into two factions, theMagdiwang and the
Magdalo, immediately proceeded toreorganize the province along partisan lines. Each
fac-tion exercised sovereign power over a number of towns,including those in Batangas
bordering Cavite. Thus,Talisay, a town in Batangas, was under the Magdalo gov-
ernment, while Nasugbu, Tuwi and Look, in the sameprovince, belonged to the
Magdiwang. As independententities,the leaders of the two provincial councils nevergot
together to elect one supreme council that would holdsway over the entire province. The
Magdiwang,proceed-ing with its election independently of the Magdalo,chosethe
following men to administer its government: MarianoAlvarez,President; Pascual
Alvarez,Executive Secretary;Emiliano Riego de Dios, Minister of the Interior
The situation of the rebels was serious by mid-March1897,and the future looked dark.
On the one hand,, theirarms and ammunition were not sufficient to turn thetide of battle,
while on the other, there was no unifiedcommand that could take the initiative and the
responsi-bility in the face of their critical situation. The conflict ofcommand in their ranks
led to disastrous results, andthe jealousies among the leaders gave the enemy
theneeded opportunity to disperse and rout them with dis-astrous consequences. Yet, in
spite of this, the Span-iards were not able to consolidate their gains effectively,for they
did not have an effective general plan of combatto fall back upon. Moreover, the war of
liberation in Cubahad sapped the resources and manpower of Spain, andthe raw
recruits,who were unaccustomed to tropical cli-mate and terrain, felt weary and
miserable. Demoraliza-tion set in, leading, in April 1897, to the resignation ofGovernor-
General Camilo de Polavieja, who feigned ill-health to save face. The insurgents,
though racked withpetty jealousies and lacking a responsible unified com-
mand,nevertheless employed with effective results theguerrilla tactics that harassed and
depleted the ranks ofthe enemy. And the Spanish populace of Manila and ofthe distant
provinces, nervous and impatient owing tothe dearth of soldiers to protect them, were
demoralizedand found themselves unable to cope with the rapidlychanging scene.
Thus, stalled on all fronts, both
202
THE REVOLT OF THE MASSES
(Pagpapauniad); Mariano Trias, Minister of Grace andJustice; Ariston Villanueva,
Minister of War; SantiagoAlvarez, Commander-in-Chief, Diego Moxica, Ministerof
Finance; Artemio Ricarte and Mariano Riego de Dios,Military Commanders with the
rank of Brigadier-Gen-eral. On the other hand, the Magdalo elected the follow-ing to
take the reins of its government: BaldomeroAguinaldo, President; Candido Tirona,
Minister of War;Cayetano Topacio, Minister of Finance; Emilio Aguinaldo,Commander-
in-Chief; Edilberto Evangelista,LieutenantGeneral; Vito Belarmino and Crispulo
Aguinaldo, Mili-tary Commanders with the rank of Brigadier-General.Since the
organization of the Magdiwang, its capital hadbeen Noveleta, but in the early part of
November,whenGeneral Blanco began his offensive, the capital wasmoved to San
Francisco de Malabon and later to Naik.The Magdalo, for its part, had its capital in Kawit
andwhen it fell, Imus, San Francisco de Malabon, Naik andMaragondon successively
became its seat.?
An attempt was made by both factions to make theirrespective armies wear the same
uniform. It was agreedto adopt the following insignia: for the President's cap, asun with
golden rays on a white background, a K(Katipunan),' and the letters A.N.B. (Anak ng
Bayan) inthe middle. The same insignia was used for the sleeves.The Minister had the
same insignia as the President'sexcept that the letters A.N.B. were not included.
Thebands on the sleeves of a Minister, including the K, wereof different colors
according to the Ministry to which eachbelonged. The Minister of War had a red K on a
whitebackground, a sun on the cap, a sun on the left breastbut none on the sleeves.'
The plan, however, did not gobeyond the paper stage, as the rebels did not have
themeans to buy the uniform.
When Cavite, led by its rival factions,successfully rosein revolt, the leaders fell into
disputes arising from thedesire of one group to lord it over the other.Since bothgroups
were responsible for the rebel victories, neither
Seeds of Discontent
203
would bow to the other or allow itself to be placed underits rivai's command. There was
no serious open breach,but the silent conflict, more ominous than it appeared onthe
surface, threatened to wreck the unity that in thebeginning had done much to prevent
the foe fromoverrunning the whole province and annihilating the revo-lution at its very
inception, It was this conflict,more thananything else, that led to the rebél's defeat at the
handsof Polavieja. The Magdiwang faction,believing that as theinitiator of the revolution
in Cavite it had the priority rightto rule over the insurgents of the province,looked
withdisdain at the way the Magdalo men refused to cooperatewith it.The Magdalo
followers, believing that most of thevictories in the whole territory were won by their
leaders,wanted to appear the stronger and,therefore,the betterfitted to rule.
The situation, though not so serious on the surface,led the Magdiwang men to invite
Andres Bonifacio to visitCavite and see for himself all that had been accomplishedby
the revolutionists in that area and to intervene in theconflict. A delegate was sent to look
for the Supremo inthe mountains of Montalban and Mariquina to apprisehim of the
urgent necessity of mediating on the wideningrift between the two popular councils.
Bonifacio,informedof the situation, refused to heed the request of theMagdiwang
leaders on the ground that in order to succeedin the revolution against Spain entourage
at Zapote. It was at thispreliminary meeting that a misunderstanding arose.
204
THE REVOLT OF THE MASSES
Seeds of Discontent
205
between the Magdalo leaders and Bonifacio, for the former,rightly or wrongly, saw from
Bonifacio's gestures andbehavior that he regarded himself superior and “acted asif he
were a king."' Even so, the hard feelings thatBonifacio's unconscious and unintentional
actionsengendered remained submerged and flared up only inthe Imus Assembly.
Bonifacio was brought by the rebel leaders to the houseof Juan Castañeda in Imus,
where he was visited byBaldomero Aguinaldo, Daniel Tirona, Vicente Fernandezand
others. The Supremo, upon seeing Fernandez,orderedhis arrest. For Bonifacio,
remembering that Fernandezwas the same man,who had promised, before the battleof
San Juan, to attack the Spaniards in Laguna and Morongsimultaneously with
Bonifacio's offensive in San Juandel Monte but whose promise was never carried out,
nowsaw his chance tó punish the offender. Bonifacio blamedhim for the defeat in San
Juan and was determined thathe should not go unpunished. As Supreme Head of
theKatipunan, Bonifacio took it for granted that he would beobeyed by all. To his
surprise and dismay, the Magdalochieftains, to whom Fernandez had run for
shelter,refused to give up their man. The Supremo by then hadrealized that he had very
little, if any, influence in theMagdalo area." With doubts crisscrossing his mind
andmisgivings assailing his heart, Bonifacio, on January 2,1897,wrote from San
Francisco de Malabon to his uncle-in-law,Mariano Alvarez:

President Mainam:Don't fail to come this very momentforlwant to talk to you privately
about what happened to mein Magdalo and so that you might explain their
organizationto me.

Noveleta amidst the enthusiastic acclamation of the peo-ple. At three in the afternoon, a
parade took place in whichBonifacio, riding in a carriage and flanked on both sides
bythe Magdiwang soldiers in red uniform, was the object ofthe demonstration. As the
parade wound its way towardSan Francisco de Malabon, the people shouted,"Long
livethe ruler of the Philippinesl" to which Bonifacio answered:“Long live Philippine
liberty!" Upon arriving at Malabon, hewas quartered in the house of Santos Nocon and,
later, inthe house of Mrs. Estefania Potente, where he stayed un-til the Spaniards
captured the town in April 1897.1°
THE MISUNDERSTANDING THAT existed between the followersof the Magdiwang and
the Magdalo, so destructive of theKatipunan plans, deepened into mutual suspicion
andjealousies that resulted in military reverses in severalsectors. Polavieja's counter-
offensives led to the fall ofseveral towns hitherto held by the rebels, and the attitudeof
non-cooperation exhibited by one faction when the otherwas harassed by the enemy
led,as it must, to disaster inthe field. The situation, both camps believed, could onlybe
remedied by coming together and threshing outdifferences of opinion and solving,
ultimately, the questionof leadership in the province.For this purpose, the leadersof the
Magdiwang and the Magdalo decided to call aconvention or assembly at Imus."

In the assembly hall, the two factions met* and ex-changed the usual greetings.
Bonifacio entered, pro-ceeded to the head of the table and unceremoniouslyoccupied
the chair. He beckoned to the Magdiwang Min-isters to sit at his right side. This obvious
partiality to theMagdiwang was resented by the Magdalo, for as SupremeHead of the
Katipunan who was called upon to mediatebetween the two factions,Bonifacio was
expected to showimpartiality. But his actions in the case were motivated
Meanwhile, Esteban San Juan invited Bonifacio toattend the demonstration of the
Magdiwang rebels'inNoveleta:Accompanied by San Juan himself,.BaldomeroAguinaldo
and Candido Tirona, Bonifacio arrived at
·On December 31,1896
206
THE REVOLT OF THE MASSES
by his regard for his wife's uncle, Mariano Alvarez,thePresident of the Magdiwang-a fact
that aggravated thesituation. Even so, the Magdalo men did not show theirresentment
but kept silent in order to prevent furthermisunderstanding between the followers of both
camps.Seeing that Bonifacio had called his Ministers, BaldomeroAguinaldo, President
of the Magdalo, without being in-vited, sat to the left of Bonifacio. General Emilio
Aguinaldo,seeing his position as a purely military one, was contentto be a mere
observer. He had, however, a plan of hisown. Since it was the intention of his faction to
proposethe establishment of a revolutionary govemment, he haddecided beforehand
that in the coming election 'for thepresidency he would nominate and support
EdilbertoEvangelista, since'among them all “Evangelista was thebest educated."12
Bonifacio knew of Aguinaldo's activeelectioneering in favor of Evangelista and was
deeply hurt,for as founder and Supreme Head of the Katipunan he feltthat the
presidency should be given to him as a reward.
The assembly opened with Bonifacio as Chairman. Itwas evident, when Baldomero
Aguinaldo made the pro-posal to establish a revolutionary government, that thetwo
factions would never come to an understanding. TheMagdalo men contended that the
continuance of theKatipunan govenment was no longer necessary, for sincethe start of
the Revolution the Society had ceased to re-main a secret society and must therefore
be supplantedby one that would better fit the situation. The Magdalopeople further
contended that being small, Cavite mustnot be divided between the two factions. On the
otherhand, the Magdiwang followers argued that the Katipunanalready had a
constitution and by-laws duly approved andenforced in the Islands and that, by virtue of
this, provin-cial and municipal governments in and around Manila hadalready been
established. There.was, therefore, no ne-cessity of establishing a new govemment."
Even so,theMagdiwang Minister of War, Ariston- Villanueva, stood upand said that if a
new government was to be established,

Seeds of Discontent
207
Andres Bonifacio,who had organized and planned the en-tire revolutionary movement,
must of right occupy the presi-dency without any election. Further, he pointed out thatas
Chairman and Supremo,Bonifacio should be given blan-ket authority to appoint the
Ministers. The Magdalo groupstrenuously objected and insisted on an election. The dis-
cussion became heated and did not accomplish any tangi-ble result. The assembly was
adjourned and each factionleft without any definite understanding.'4
Suspicions and jealousies continued to plague theranks of the rebels, and even among
the members of thesame faction petty quarrels continued to come up. TheMagdalo
followers suspected the Magdiwang of courtingthe favor of the Spaniards, while the
same suspicion wasaroused in the Magdiwang as regards the Magdalo. In asituation
where the Magdalo needed the help of theMagdiwang, the latter, to which Bonifacio
belonged, re-fused to come to the aid of the former.15 Moreover,theMagdiwang
followers were themselves occupied, now andthen, with pettyjealousies and quarrels
that tended todemoralize the soldiers. Thus, when the town fiesta ofSan Francisco de
Malabon was held in January 1897,the rebels, then enjoying the aftemoon games, were
dis-turbed by a series of rife shots that sent them scamper-ing away to places of safety.
Thinking that the enemywas approaching, Ariston Villanueva and Santiago
Alvarezgathered their men and prepared to meet an attack. Theylater found out that the
rifle shots came from the men ofCaptain Mariano San Gabriel, also a Magdiwang
man,who, trigger-happy, had fired several shots in the air.Alvarez's men tried to disarm
the offending soldiers, butinstead were themselves disarmed. Alvarez was furiousand
demanded that San Gabriel disarm his men. Thelatter refused and left for Noveleta. It
was only throughRicarte's intervention that the two men, Alvarez and SanGabriel, were
brought together again as comrades. 16
The situation had not eased up a bit when the leadersof the Magdiwang planned to hold
another convention, this
208
THE REVOLT OF THE MASSES
time in the estate-house of Tejeros, a Magdiwang territorysituated about two kilometers
from San Francisco deMalabon and about half a kilometer from the town properof
Salinas. The government under the Magdalo,comprisingthe towns of Káwit, Bakood ard
Imus, was at the timeseriously threatened by the Spanish army which occupiedthe
estate-house of Salitran and which had dug in as apreparatory step to the battle that
was about to commence.General Emilio Aguinaldo, leading the Magdalo soldiers,faced
the Spaniards in Salitran, a barrio between the townsof Imus and Dasmariñas. It was
March 22, 1897, Aguinaldo'sbirthday, when simultaneously the battle raged and
theassembly convened at Tejeros.
The delegates, mostly belonging to the Magdiwang,lazily trooped that sultry afternoon to
the spacious es-tate-house of Tejeros. Some of the men were barefoot;others wore buri
hats or were dressed in barong Tagalog.They came from all directions: from
Kawit,Noveleta andImus to the north; from Tanza to the west; and from SanFrancisco
de Malabon to the northeast. The estate-house,surrounded by stone walls and built in
the middle of thesix-hectare farm owned by the friars and now in rebelhands, had a 60-
meter frontage. The entrance was throughan arched gate connected to the rear arched
gate by along and wide corridor. To the right, a few meters from thefront gate, were the
stairs. Directly opposite the stairswas a storage room, and next to it, to the rear, was
thechapel. Directly opposite this and next to the stairs wasanother storage room. Up the
stairs was the big hall,withthe doors of thirty-four rooms opening to it. In the rear of
aroom to the right were the dining room and the azotea thatcommanded a beautiful view
of the fields around and themurky Ilog Kawayan on whose banks thick clumps of bam-
boo protected the house from the glare of the sun. Theestate-house stood alone in that
wide expanse of riceland.17Directly opposite the house and across the road was
morericeland (tubigan).The long road that commenced from thetown of Salinas led
directly to San Francisco de Malabon,
Seeds of Discontent
209
and half a kilométer from the estate-house it branchedoff to the right, where a bridge
connected the latter townto the town of Tanza or Santa Cruz de Malabon. 18
It was this place, the former summer resort of thefriars, that witnessed the first important
election heldunder the auspices of the Katipunan government. Aninvitation was sent by
the Magdiwang chieftains to theMagdalo followers to attend the meeting, but because
ofthe battle then raging around the locality not all theMagdalo leaders were able to
attend. The Magdiwang wasrepresented by Andres Bonifacio,Mariano
Alvarez,PascualAlvarez, Santiago Alvarez, Luciano San Miguel, MarianoTrias, Severino
de las Alas, Santos Nocon and others,while the Magdalo was represented by
BaldomeroAguinaldo, Daniel Tirona, Cayetano Topacio, AntonioMontenegro and
others. The estate-house buzzed withlife as more rebels, some of them uninvited, came
to theconvention. It was past two in the afternoon when themeeting was formally
opened.

Jacinto Lumbreras, acting president of the Magdiwang,took the chair and opened the
convention'" with intro-ductory remarks summing up the purpose of the meet-ing. To his
right sat Teodoro Gonzales, also a Magdiwang,who acted as secretary. Severino de las
Alas, a Mágdiwang,immediately took the floor and explained that before dis-cussing
ways and means of defending such a small areaas Cavite, the convention assembled
should firstof allagrec upon the kind of government that should be set upto administer
the whole country under the prevailing cir-cumstances. “From this government," he said,
"any thingthat is necessary in the defense of the country can ema-nate." The presiding
officer, however, reminded thespeaker that a government had already been
establishedupon the founding of the Katipunan,its Supreme Coun-cil,its Provincial
Councils and its Popular Councils, andthat the mecting was called to adopt defensive
meas-ures. At this juncture, Bonifacio spoke and supple-mented Lumbreras'
explanation, calling the attention of
210
THE REVOLT OF THE MASSES
those assembled to the Katipunan flag with a K in the mid-dle, which embodied the ideal
of the revolutionists, namely,liberty. De las Alas, not contented with the Supremo's ex-
planation, countered that the K in the flag of the Katipunandid not in any way identify the
kind of government that theyhad, whether such govemment was monarchical or repub-
lican. Bonifacio remarked that all the Katipuneros, from theSupreme Head to the lowest
member, recognized the prin-ciple of Unity, Fraternity and Equality. “It can be seen,"
hesaid, "that the Government of the Association of the Sons ofthe People is republican
in form."
The discussion was going nowhere and tempers ranhigh as the men insisted on their
own points of view. Sofar, the discussion was between the men of the samefaction. In
an unfortunate moment, a Magdalo man,Antonio Montenegro, stood up and, shouting at
the top ofhis voice, took issue with Bonifacio.“If we do not act uponthe suggestion of Mr.
de las Alas,"he said, "we, the rebels,will be likened unto a mere pack of highway
robbers, orworse, like animals without reason." The words, utteredin good faith and in
the belief that something must bedone to have a new government òrganized, touched
off asensitive spot in the hearts of the Magdiwang listeners.Santiago Alvarez, a
Magdiwang, pricked to anger,took thefloor and, throwing a malicious side-glance at
Montenegro,retorted: "We, the rebels of Cavite, especially those underthe Magdiwang,
recognize the Government organized bythe Association of the Sons of the People. And
if you wantto set up another form of government, you can go back toyour own province
and wrest the authority from theSpaniards, as we have already done. As such; you can
dowhatever you want to and nobody would interfere withyou. We of Cavite," he added
with a meaning ful11 ofbitterness, "we of Cavite do not need and will never needany
adviser of your own standing only."
Seeds of Discantent
211
inside the hall. Lumbreras,sensing the explosive situation,tactfully called a recess to
give sufficient time for the angrymen to cool off. At the end of an hour, the meeting
wasresumed. Jacinto Lumbreras, seeing that it would be use-less for him to continue to
preside in such an atmosphere,refused to take the chair, saying: “As the question
underdiscussion is completely outside of what is mentioned inthe agenda of the meeting
and is concerned instead withthe establishment of an over-all government of the revolu-
tion, I should not continue to preside over this session."Then he took his seat among the
members, and AndresBonifacio, who was acclaimed by all to succeed him,tookthe chair
as the presiding officer by virtue of his being thePresident of the Supreme Council of the
Katipunan. He thencalled the meeting to order and said: "As you desire to setup a
supreme government to direct the revolution, abolish-ing what was organized by the
Katipunan and repudiatingthe resolution approved in the Assembly of Imus,2° as Presi-
dent of the Supreme Council of the Katipunan,I accede toyour just petition, but first of all
I want to ask you to recog-nize a principle as a basis of agreement in this or in
othermeetings, which is: that we respect and obey the will of themajority." Those
present saw the justice and wisdom of hisproposition and assented unanimously.
Pandemonium reigned as the voiceof Santiago Alvarezboomed inside the spacious
sala. His bodyguards, plantednear the stairs, moved ominously-all set to fire at those
The Republic of the Philippines was then and thereproclaimed amidst enthusiastic
hurrahs. With a new formof government determined to take the place of theKatipunan,
the election of officers was then prepared. Nineofficers were to be elected by popular
vote, namely, Presi-dent, Vice-President, Captain-General,Director of War,Director of
Interior, Director of State, Director of Finance,Director of Fomento and Director of
Justice. Before pro-ceeding with the election, Bonifacio, probably assailed bydoubts and
aware of his limitations, called the attentionof all the electors representing the different
regions ofthe Philippines to the principle that whoever would beelected should be
recognized and respected regardless ofhis social condition and education. The
proposal, made
214
THE REVOLT Of THE MASSES
in the form of a mere statement and reminder, was ap.proved, for in that convention
very few, if any, were menof high intellectual attainments. The ballots were pre-pared
and distributed. The balloting was made succes-sively, that is, the office of the
President was first votedupon, after which the other offices were filled in singly.After an
hour, the ballots were cast for the presidency,and Emilio Aguinaldo won in absentia
over Andres Bonifacioand Mariano Trias. The President-elect was proclaimedwith loud
shouts and applause.
Before the ballots were cast for the Vice-Presidency,Severino de las Alas stood up and
suggested that in asmuch as Bonifacio had received the second largestnumber of votes
he should automatically be allowed tooccupy the Vice-Presidency. The men assembled
appearedlukewarm to the suggestion, there being no one whoapproved or disapproved
it. Conscquently, Bonifaciodecided to continue with the election of the Vice-President.
Mariano Trias was elected to the position overAndres Bonifacio, Severino de las Alas
and MarianoAlvarez. The election of the Captain-General came nextand Ricarte, the
acting Secretary of the convention, cameout over Santiago Alvarez. With a modesty that
sprangfrom the realization of the responsibility attached to theposition, Ricarte stood up
and declared: “None better thanI know my own limitations and fitness: the position
withwhich this assembly honors me is beyond my scant abilityand strength; to me it is a
very honorable position but itshorizon is too wide for me: so I request the assembly
notto resent my refusal to accept it." Ricarte's modesty,genuine or assumed, proved
effective. Cries of disapprovalfollowed his request to be relieved, and the
disturbancecreated by the enthusiastic followers of the General forcedBonifacio to call
the meeting to order. Then: "It is gettingdark,” he said, "so we have to proceed to the
election toother positions." Somebody suggested that in order toexpedite the election to
the remaining positions, theelectors should step to one side when their candidates

Seeds of Discontent
215
were called, a proposal that was immediately approved.In this manner, the following
were elected: Director ofWar, Emiliano Riego de Dios, who won over AristonVillanueva,
Daniel Tirona and Santiago Alvarez;Directorof Interior, Andres Bonifacio, who won over
Mariano Alvarezand Pascual Alvarez.
The election of Bonifacio gave rise to an incident thatnearly ended in a bloody affair.
Amidst the acclamationsthat followed the announcement of his election, DanielTirona, a
Magdalo man, stood up and said: “The position ofDirector of the Interior is an cxalted
one and it is notmeet that a person without a lawyer's diploma shouldoccupy it. We have
in our province a lawyer, Jose delRosario; therefore, we should protest against the
electedand acclaimed." And, shouting at the top of his voice, headded: "Let us vote for
Jose del Rosario!" No one, however,took up the sugeestion which was shouted four
times.Nevertheless, Bonifacio felt insulted and he turnedcrimson with anger. Controlling
himself, he demandedthat Daniel Tirona retract what he had said. “Did we notagree," he
added, “that we have to abide by the decisiónof the majority whatever may be the social
standing ofthe elected?" He insisted that Tirona give satisfaction tothe assembly for his
defamatory words. But Tirona ignoredBonifacio and tried to lose himself in the crowd. In
theflush of his anger, Bonifacio whipped out his pistol to fireat Tirona but Ricarte
grabbed his hand and thus preventedwhat might have been a tragic affair. The people
thenbegan to leave the hall,and Bonifacio, frustrated anddeeply wounded in feeling,
cried aloud: "I, as chairmanof this assembly, and as President of the SupremeCouncil of
the Katipunan, as all of you do not deny,declare this assembly dissolved, and I annul all
thathas been approved and resolved." With this parting state-ment, he left the
hall,followed by his men.2'
THE SEED OF DISCONTENT,resulting from his failure to getthe presidency,and which
was watered by the unfortu-
216
THE REVOLT OF THE MASSES
nate attitude of Daniel Tirona, who, by another sad coin-cidence, belonged to the
opposite faction, found fertileground in Bonifacio's heart and mind. Aside from the
factthat as founder of the Katipunan and the initiator of theRevolution he believed he
should have been given thepresidency, he contented that irregularities were com-mitted
by the Magdalo men and that he would have beenelected had it not been for the
premeditated frauds ofthe rival faction. Writing to his uncle-in-law,MarianoAlvarez, he
said:22
MY DEAR GENERALMANAM:
Our recently ended election at Mapagtiis [SanFrancisco de Malabon| has left a large
poisonous thorn inmy heart. I reiterate to you my nullification of all that hadbeen agrced
upon there. Ay, General, I never expectedthat my complacency and faithfuiness would
be rewardedwith avarice and insult upon my person by your fellow-townsmen who are
false patriots. I shall make themrealize when I set foot on Morong soil that it was not
Iwhom they insulted but the whole country.
Send me food at once and faithful soldiers of the MotherCountry here at Limbon as a
fulfillment of your promisedhelp when I left in disquietude. Your suprerho,
And.Bonifacio,Maypagasa.
Giving vent to his resentment over the procedure andresults of the elections, Bonifacio,
in a letter to his friend,Emilio Jacinto,then in Laguna explained his side andgave the
background of the event:??
The majority of those in the convention determinedto organize a government; but 1
gave them to understandthat this could not be dane on account of the absence ofthe
representatives of other districts, aside from an agree-ment having already been made
at the convention atImus;that all this annulled the majority, because in viewof the
present critical situation of these pueblos therewas no time to wait for the
representatives from ather
Seeds of Discontent
217
places, and the Imus Convention lacked validity on ac-count of the alleged absence of
the minutes.Neverthe-less,I assured those present there that in case the mani-fest will
of the people governed in the election of officers, Iwould respect it.
Moreover,before the election began, I discovered theunderhand work of some of the
Imus crowd who had quietlyspread the statement that it was not advisable that theybe
governed by men from other pueblos, and that theyshould for this reason strive to clect
Captain Emilio asPresident.As soon as I heard of this, I said that this meetingwas dirty
work, becausc this was what they were afterand they were deceiving the people, adding
that if theywished me to point out, one by one, those who wereconducting themselves in
this matter, I would do so.Themajority said that this was no longer necessary. I alsosaid
that if the manifest will of the people was not compliedwith,I would not recognize the
chiefs elected, and ifl didnot recognize them they would not be recognized by ourpeople
there, either. Don Artemio Ricarte, the General-elect, also said at the meeting that this
election was dueto bad practices.

82
THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION
was promoted to lieutenant general,Maj.Lucas Camerino to lieu-tenant colonel,and
Capt.Antaro Riel to major.
the Supremo Andres Bonifacio,Messrs.Mariano M.Alvarez,PascualAlvarez, Ariston
Villanueva,Mariano C.Trias,Diego Mojica.Emiliano R.de Dios,Santiago
V.Alvarez,Artemio Ricarte,SantosNocon,Luciano San Miguel,Pablo Mojica,Severino de
las Alas,andSantiago Rillo,all of them of the Magdiwang. Among the Magdaloseated at
the head table were Messrs.Baldomero Aguinaldo,DanielTirona,and Cayetano Topacio.
The Revolution was facing a grave crisis.The Katipunan forces inCavite were suffering
defeat after defeat with great loss5 of life.Magdalo territories had passed to Spanish
hands after the Battlesof Salitran,Zapote,and Dalahikan Imus,the rebel capital,was ina
state of imminent collapse. To strengthen defenses so that theycould stop the Spanish
advance into the rest of the province thatwas still held by the Magdiwang and to forestall
the loss of morelives,the Supremo Bonifacio,with the approval of other revolution-ary
leaders, called a meeting of the Magdalo and Magdiwang lead.ers This
meeting,scheduled for 24 March 1897,was postponed forthe next day because of the
death of Lt. Gen. Crispulo Aguinaldo.Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo's brother, on that day in the
Battle ofSalitran.
The Magdiwang leaders were waiting for their Magdalo counter-parts at the Tejeros friar
estate house,the designated place,longafter lunch on that day.They had to start in the
afternoon ta allowthe usual enemy raids,which came in the morning,'to subsidebefore
they ventured out to Tejeros,a village in the municipality ofSan Francisco de
Malabon.When the Magdalo group finally cameat about five in the afternoon,they
brought with them the sad newsof the death of General Magdalo's own brother. Heading
a smallgroup. General Magdalo recounted the circumstances of the heroicdeath of his
patriot brother.Then he begged to be excused to attandto arrangements for his beloved
brother's funeral. Thus,the meetingwas put off for the next day at the same place.
But before dispersing,Secretary of the Treasury Diego Mojicaproposed a resolution of
condolence and prayers for patriots who haddied heroically like Lt. Gen. Crispulo
Aguinaldo The SupremoBonifacio thought this was superfluous and objected to such a
reso-lution True love of country," the Supremo argued,"and service tothe cause of
freedom for the Motherland are the most noble attrib.utes that would ensure one's place
in heaven. Lt. Gen. CrispuloAguinaldo and the comrades who died before him are all
truly blessedand are now in their respective places in the heavenly
kingdom.Moreover,they will always occupy an honored place in the historyof our
country.
32
The assembly at Tejeros was finally convened on 25 March 1897.The invitations to the
meeting were signed by Secretary JacintoLumbreras of the Magdiwang Council, and he
presided over the as-sembly.Seated with Lumbreras at the long presidential table were

THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION

83
the Supremo Andres Bonifacio,Messrs.Mariano M.Alvarez,PascualAlvarez, Ariston
Villanueva,Mariano C.Trias,Diego Mojica.Emiliano R.de Dios,Santiago
V.Alvarez,Artemio Ricarte,SantosNocon,Luciano San Miguel,Pablo Mojica,Severino de
las Alas,andSantiago Rillo,all of them of the Magdiwang. Among the Magdaloseated at
the head table were Messrs.Baldomero Aguinaldo,DanielTirona,and Cayetano Topacio.
It must be mentioned that,before the assembly was convened,Secretary of War Ariston
Villanueva of the Magdiwang Councilreceived the confidential information that Mr.
Daniel Tirona of theMagdalo faction was set to undermine the proceedings of the
assem-bly and that he had already succeeded in enjoining many amongthe Magdiwang
leaders to ally with him Secretary Villanueva keptsilent, but nevertheless alerted
Captain General Apoy, who hadtroops in readiness for any sudden eventuality.
The leaders were seated at the presidential table, as previouslydescribed,and all the
others were standing in groups on both sidesof those seated.After Chairman Jacinto
Lumbreras had declared thheassembly open,he announced the main topic of
discussion,which washow to bolster the defenses in the areas still under Magdiwang
con-trol Presentiy,Mr.Severino de Ina Alas rose to speak,and when hewas recognized
he said."Before we diseuss minor details, let us firsttackle the major issue such as what
kind cf government we shouldhave and how we should go about establishing it. Once
we makea decision about these questions,the problem of organization andstrengthening
of defenses will be resolved."
"As initiator of the Revolution,"Chairman Lumbreras replied,"theKatipunan now holds
authority over the islands. It has a govern-ment of law and a definite program. It is
obeyed and respected byall because it stands for freedem,brotherly love,and a well-
organ-ized and well-run government. The purpose of this meeting is todiscuss the best
measures to take to strengthen the Magdiwanggovernment vis-å-vis the enemy. We
should avoid surrendering theheadquarters of the Katipunan army should the Magdalo
eventuallylose out
The chair next recognized the Supremo.He concurred with whatChairman Lumbreras
had just said and explained that the "K" inthe middle of the sun in the Katipunan fing
used in the Revolutionstood for Kalayaan(Freedom).
Mr.Severino de las Alas spoke again. He countered that theletter "K" and the sun on the
flag did not indicate whether the revo-lutionary government was democratic or not.
The Supremo replied that from the rank and file to the highestlevels,the Katipunan was
united in its respect for universal broth-erhood and equality of men. It was risking
bloodshed and life itself

THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION

84
in its struggle against the king, in order to establiah n sovereignand free government.In
short,it stood for people's sovereignty,nota government led by only one or two.
Mr.Antonio Montenegro spoko in defense of Mr.Severino de lasAlas's stand. He argued
that if they would not agree on the kind ofrevolutionary government they were to have
and that if thay wereto let the statun quo prevail,then they who were in the
Revolutionwould be no better than a pack of bandits or of wild, mindlessanimala.
General Apoy wns hurt by thesn words of Mr.Montenegro.Hequickly stood up and
looked angrily nt the previous speaker.
"We of the Katipunan," he began,"are under the jurisdiction ofour respected Highest
Council of the Sons of the People.This Coum.cil is the defender of, and has authority
ever,the Magdiwang andMagdalo governments of Cavite. We nre true revolutionaries
fight-ing for freedom of the native land. We are not bandits who robothers of their
property and wealth. Nor should we be likened tobeasts,for we know how to protect and
defend others,especially thepoliticnl refugees who seek asylum with ua.We are rational
and wedo not expose those who talk big but do not accompliah anything.Ifyou want to
establish a different kind of government that is to yourHiking,you muat do as we have
done:Go back to your localities andsnatch them from Spanish controll Then you can do
what pleasesyou; but don't you dare seek refuge among cowards who might callyou
bandits and beasta.And for everybody's satiafaction,I am nawerdering your arrent!"
Captain General Apoy stopped speaking and looked intently at theperson he was
alluding to and ordered a detachment under Maj.Damaso Fojas to keep him under
guard. After a siort while,DeJose Rizal'n niater,Trining,and his
widow,Josephine,pleaded withGeneral Apoy not to arrest Mr. Montenegro,but to let him
atay atthe estate house where they themaelves were ntaying.They volun-teered to be
held personally responsible for Mr.Montenegro whilein their custody. Captain General
Apoy easily neceded to therequest.
The strong and excited denunciation by Captain General Apoy ofMr.Montenegro alerted
the Magdiwang troops.The leaders eyedeveryone suspiciously and were only awniting a
signal from GeneralApoy for them to begin shooting.Disorder ensued and disrupted
theassembly.
When order was restored,some wanted the convention ndjourned,but the Supremo
Bonifacio prevailed upon the cthers to continue.However,the presiding
officer,Mr.Lumbreras,refused to resumehis role of chairman. He wanted to yield the
chair to the Supremowhom he thought to be the rightful chairman.
THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION
85
The Katipunan,as you know,"Mr.Lumbreran explained,"wasresponsible from the
beginning for the apread of the revolutionarymovement throughout the Philippines.But
because of the disaffec.tion of some,this assembly was called to establinh a new overall
revo.Iutionary couneil. If we are to pursue this ambitious and importantundertaking,only
the Supremo has the right to preside at this as.nembly,for he is the Father of the
Katipunan and the Revolution.”
Mr.Lumbreras's speech was well received and his proposal wasunanimously
nccepted.The Supremo Bonifacio ansumed the chairmanship accordingly and
said,“Your aim is to establish a new over.all government of the Katipunan of the Sons of
the People.Thiswould repudiate the decimiona made at the meeting held at the
friarestate house in Imus. In my capacity as "President-Supremo" of theMost Venerable
Katipunan of the Sons of the People,I agree andsympathize with your aspirations. But I
wish to remind you thatwe should respect all decisions properly dincussed and
approved inall our meetinga.We should respect and abide by the wishes of themajority."
Because of a repeated clamor for the approval of the establish.ment of a government of
the Philippine Republic,the chair proceededto prepare for an election to the following
positions:president,vice-president, minister of finance, minister of welfare, miniater
ofjustice,and captain general.
Because of a repeated clamor for the approval of the establish.ment of a government of
the Philippine Republic,the chair proceededto prepare for an election to the following
positions:president,vice-president, minister of finance, minister of welfare, miniater
ofjustice,and captain general.
The Supremo spoke ngain before the election began. He said thatthe candidate who
would get the most number of votes for eachposition should be the winner, no matter
what his station in life orhis educationnl nttainment.What should matter was that the
can-didate had never been a traitor to the cause of the Motherland.Everyone agreed
and there were shouta of approval such as,"Thatis how it should be-equality for
everyonel Nobody should be highernor lower than the other.May love of country
prevail!"
The Supremo Bonifacio nppointed Gen.Artemio Ricarte as secre-tary.Then,with the help
of Mr.Daniel Tirona,he distributed piecesof paper to serve ns ballots.When the ballots
had been collectedand the votes were ready to be canvassed,Mr.Diego
Majica,theMagdiwang secretary of the treasury,warned the Supremo that manyballots
distributed were already filled out and that the voters hadnot done this themselves.The
Supremo ignored this remark. Heproceeded with the business at hand as if nothing
unusual hadhappened.
When the votes for president were counted, Mr.Emilio Aguinaldowon over Mr.Andres
Bonifacio,the Supremo.The winner wanacclaimed by applause and shouts of
"Mabuhay!"(Long live!)
Mr.Severino de las Alas spoke again to say that since theSupremo Benifacio had
received the second highest number of vates
86
THE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION
for the presidency, he should be proclaimed vice-president of thegovernment of the
Philippine Republic.When nobody signifiedapproval or disapproval of the proposal,the
presiding officer,theSupremo Bonifacio,ruled that the election be continued. For
vice.president,Mr.Mariano Trias won over Mr.Mariano Alvarez and theSupremo
Bonifacio.General Vibora was elected captain over GeneralApoy.General Vibora
demurred,saying that he had neither the abil.ity nor the right to assume the new
position.But General Apoy cutshort his objections by saying that he personally vouched
for Gen.eral Vibora's competence and right to occupy the position to whichhe was
elected.General Apoy's endorsement was greeted with shoutaof"Long live the newly
elected captain generall"
Mr.Baldomero Aguinaldo,the Magdalo president, did not leaveSan Francisco de
Malabon that night,in order to convince theMagdiwang leaders to reconvene the
disrupted meeting the follow.ing day.They agreed to his proposal. That same
night,rumor hadit that Messrs.Mariano Trias,Daniel Tirona,Emiliano R.de Dios,Santingo
Rillo,and others were in the pariah house of the Catholicchurch nt Tanza(Santa Cruz de
Malabon),and that they wereconferring with the priest,Fr.Canon Villafranca.Many
attested toseeing them,but no one knew what they talked about.
My brethren,the office of secretary of the interior is of so greata scope and of such
sensitivity that we should not entrust it to onewho is not a lawyer.One among us here is
a lawyer. He is Mr.Jose del Rosario.Let us reconsider the choice for the last position,for
he has no credentinls to show attesting to any educationalattainment.
Then in as loud a voice as he could muster,Tironn shouted,"Letus elect Mr.Jose del
Rosario,the lawyer!"
Greatly embarrassed,the Supremo Bonifacio quickly stood up andsaid,"We agreed to
abide by the majority vote and accopt its choiceno matter what the station in life of the
person elected. Andbecause of this, I demand from you,Mr. Daniel Tirona,an
apology.You must restore to the voters and the one they elected the honoryou have
only now bosmirched."
Then he pulled out his revolver and tock aim.
Instead of replying. Mr.Tirona ignored the Supremo's remarksand,perhaps because of
fear,he slid away and got lost in the crowd.Disorder ensued as the convention secretary
tried to disarm theSupremo,who was intent on shooting Mr.Tirons,The people beganto
disperse and the Supremo adjourned the meeting with thesewords:

TE KATIPUNAN AND THE REVOLUTION

87
In my capacity as chairman of this convention and ns President.Supremo of the Most
Venerable Katipunan of the Sons of the Peoplewhich association is known and
acknowledged by all,I herebydeclare null and void all matters approved in this meeting."
Then he left quickly and was followed by his aides and someothers present.
Mr.Baldomero Aguinaldo wanted the elections to be finished beforeit got too dark. To
facilitate the counting of votes, he suggested thatfor all other positions to be voted
upon,voters should stand on oneside of the hall if in favor and on the other side if
against.The sug.gestion was ndopted for the reat of the election. For the poaition
ofsecretary of war,Mr.Emiliano R.de Dios was elected overwhelm-ingly over
Messrs.Santingo V.Alvarez,Ariston Villanueva,and Dan-iel Tirona.After the vaters had
given the proper honors to the newsecretary of war,they proceeded to elect the
secretary of the inte-rior.Mr.Andres Bonifacio,the Supremo,won over
Mr.MarianoAlvarez.The crowd broke into shouts of "Mabuhay!" Mr.DanielTironn
requested for a restoration of order and then spoke aloud:
On the requeat of Magdalo Pres.Baldomero Aguinaldo, a meetingwas called at the
same friar estate house in Tejeros.,Called on theday after the tumultucus convention, its
purpose was to continue andrevalidate the proceedings of the election meeting, to
revive theirformer alliances,and to restore cordiality and fraternal love in
theirrelations.Aside from the Supremo Andres Bonifacio,among theMagdiwang leaders
who attended were Messrs.Marinno Alvarez,Diego Mojica, Ariston Villanueva,Pascual
Alvarez,JacintoLumbreran,Santingo Alvares, Artemio Ricarte,Nicalas Portilla,Santos
Nocon,and Fr.Manuel Trias,the parish priest of SanFrancisco de Malabon.They waited
until five that afternoon,butnone of the Magdalo members came, not even their
president whohad initiated what would have been a reconciliation meeting.
That same night it was rumored that the Magdalo leaders werecurrently holding their
own meeting at the parish house in Tanza.Though it had reason to be apprehensive
because the Magdalo weremeeting in territory under ita jurisdiction,the Mngdiwang
leadershiplooked the other way because the Mngdalo were hard-pressedfor meeting
places since its territories had all been taken by theSpanish enemy.
The next morning,27 March 1897,eyewitnesses who had spiedon the proceedings
revealed that,indeed,a mecting had taken placeat the Tanza parish house and that the
Supremo's decisions regarding the election at the friar estate house were not
respected.Theserevelations surfaced despite denials from many sectors.
At the gathering in the Tanza parish house,those elected at theTejeros convention knelt
before a crucifix and in the name of theHoly Father,the highest pontiff of the Roman
Catholic church,in-voked the martyred sainta and solemnly took their
office.Fr.CenonVillafranca officiated.With Messrs.Severino de las Alas and Daniel