Group 2

BS-MATH III

Members:

Lizette Agkis
Nicole Atienza
Dessa Diaz
Aingely Gunida
Tricia May Manalo
Renzo Morauda
Mary Jeniel Pondivida
Maria Andrea Tagbo

Primary Source: The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General by

Santiago Alvarez (1927)

Objectives of the Author

In the preface of Santiago Alvarez’s narrative, The Katipunan and the Revolution:
Memoirs of a General, he wrote that Mr. Lope K. Santos was the one who encouraged him to
write this memoir. He was deeply grateful to this colleague and friend of him, whose nationalist
sentiments inspired him to pursue the endeavor. Alvarez stated that Mr. Lope K. Santos insisted
that since he was one of the generals who guided the Revolution, he could provide a greater
insight about the various aspects of the Revolution. Also, Mr. Lope K. Santos believed that the
youth would directly benefit from Alvarez's memoir, thus by writing about his personal
experiences, he would be doing a great service to the Filipino youth.

The main objective of Santiago Alvarez’s book in writing this memoir was to educate the
youth about the revolution's history and the fading struggle of the revolutionaries. He aimed to
present the various perspectives on the revolution that could be used soon in a narrative about
history, not only as an eyewitness but also as an active participant, as one of the generals who led
this historical event.

Alvarez wrote this narrative based from the notes of their experiences that he was able to
keep until he started writing this at such an old age. He was determined to reconstruct those
events happened from the Revolution from his notes instead of having anyone else to do it after
his death since the notes appeared disjointed and unclear to anyone else who will try to read it
and may become useless and insignificant on writing historical accounts in the future.
 He authored the book without diminishing the dignity or glory of the revolution. He
writes of the accomplishments, failures, bravery, and brutality, providing the raw material for
recreating these characteristics of the Filipino. In writing this narrative, he attempted to write the
history of the Katipunan and the Revolution based from the actual happenings that he saw and
knew, and he also tried to be as objective as possible for the sake of the noble truth.

Date Written/Published

Santiago Alvarez wrote The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General in 1927,
when he was turning fifty-five years old. His work was first published on July 1927 in Tagalog
weekly magazine, Sampaguita, having 36 parts. In 1977, Carolina Malay completed translating
the original Tagalog version of this narrative into an English version which she started working
on from June 1973.

Secondary Source: The Revolt of the Masses by Teodoro Agoncillo (2002)

Twelve: Seeds of Discontent

Objectives of the Author

The objective of Teodoro Agoncillo in this book “The Revolt of the Masses” is mainly to
provide a comprehensive analysis of the Philippine revolution against Spanish colonial rule.
Furthermore, in this chapter “The Seed of Discontent”, it likely scrutinizes specific objectives
that focuses more on different sectors of society and the viewpoint of various events and
individuals.

The first objective is Agoncillo wants to identifying the root causes of the Filipino people
being “discontent”. From the title of this chapter itself, he wants to determine why the people or
the rebels during Spanish regime were keenly aspiring for a change. In this chapter, it shows how
the Katipunan with its two factions, Magdiwang and Magdalo were fighting for their territorial
rights in the province of Cavite. This is only one of those events that became the result of being
discontent of the rebels. Generally, in a broader aspect, this book of Agoncillo sheds light on
issues such as social inequality (racial hierarchy, access to education, legal discrimination),
economic exploitation (forced labor, land dispossession, taxation), political oppression (freedom
restriction, discriminatory policies), and cultural suppression (language suppression, religious
imposition) all of which played significant role in inspiring the urge for transformation and
defiance against Spanish colonial domination.
 For the events and individuals involved, Agoncillo as his second objective, wants to offer
his readers their critical perspectives that substantially affect Philippine society and nation-
building.

In examining events related to political dynamics, the author presents the leadership
approach in the early stages. Bonifacio being the President and Supreme Council of the
Katipunan had a leadership approach that combined the elements of democratic and
transformational leadership. He recognizes the principle that the people should always respect
and obey the will of the majority. During the electoral process, he always reminds his
jurisdiction that they have to abide the decision of the majority whatever may be the social
standing of the elected individual.

Aside from this, the readers could also see the viewpoints of those individuals that have
personal ambitions. During the time that the leaders of Magdiwang and Magdalo decided to call
a convention at Imus due to consecutive defeats of towns in Cavite, those two factions have
different goals in mind: Aguinaldo of Magdalo wanting to establish a revolutionary government
meanwhile Villanueva of Magdiwang favoring Bonifacio to occupy the presidency if a new
government was to established. It shows how they have their own intentions set up into their
minds.

Lastly, during the election at the estate-house of Tejeros, a conflict occurred when Tirona
opposed Bonifacio as the elected Director of Interior, he stated that one of the requirements for
that position is to have a lawyer’s diploma, and instead of supporting Bonifacio, he rather
suggest an individual who is a lawyer in the province. Bonifacio being the Chairman of the
election, did not like the statement of Tirona resulting to a gunpoint situation. Additionally, in
Bonifacio’s perspective, as what he wrote to his letter to Alvarez, he never expected that his
complacency and faithfulness would be rewarded with insult from those false patriots.

Furthermore, since Bonifacio is the main character of this book, Agoncillo through
writing, paved the way for writing the biography of Andres Bonifacio, an unknown man whom
even his surviving sister could not give a clear account of about his life/biography. At that time,
the popular hero, as Bonifacio was called, did not have clear and accurate data about his
childhood. However, there are so many documents about his trial and death that the average
student can distinguish which documents are reliable and classify those which are not. Agoncillo
wants his readers to learn through his comprehensive analysis of primary sources a different
perspective on what really happened during the early times where the Katipunan and Bonifacio
were fighting to end the Spanish colonial rule.

Date Written/Published
Revolt of the Masses by Teodoro Agoncillo was written in 1947 as the author's winning
entry in a national Bonifacio biography contest held in 1948. In 1956, the manuscript was
publicized by the College of Liberal Arts of the University of the Philippines. In 2002, a new
edition of the book was published by the University of the Philippines Press in Quezon City.