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D. THE CRY OF PUGAD LAWIN: WHEN

AND WHERE?
Where and when? These are the two
questions asked of this significant event in the
history of the Philippines, the Cry of Pugad
Lawin/Balintawak.
How and when did this controversy
start?
Balintawak had always been the site for the
cry recognized by historians and students.
This was in all the books in Philippine history being
used in all schools. Aside from this, every August 26,
this event was commemorated in this place.
However, Teodoro Agoncillo stirred the controversy
when he said that the event actually happened on
August 23, 1896, not August 26, and the site was
Pugad Lawin and not Balintawak. This claim of
Agoncillo started the confusion among the
teachers and students of history.
There are five dates and places which are
cited as the actual place where this event
happened. These are August 20, 23, 24, 25
and 26 and the places are Balintawak,
Pugad Lawin, Kangkong, Bahay Toro and
Pasong Tamo.
Where did Agoncillo base his claim that the
cry happened on August 23 1896 and in
Pugad Lawin?
The historian, Ambeth Ocampo averred that
Agoncillo based his claim not on a primary
source but a "tertiary or at least, a second
generation translation."59 He wrote:
in 1989, after a series of articles on the
controversy over Balintawak and
Pugadlawin, I received a batch of photocopied
manuscripts with an invitation to peruse the
originals of what appeared to be the papers of
Bonifacio. Knowing that these were transcribed and
printed by Agoncillo in two separate books, I did not
bother to decipher Bonifacio's fine script. Months
later, on a lazy afternoon, I decided to compare the
Agoncillo transcriptions with the Bonifacio originals. I
was surprised to find discrepancies in the text.
While Agoncillo reproduced the orihinal sa
Tagalog," it proved to be slightly different from the
manuscripts. I realized immediately that Agoncillo
did not have access to the original Bonifacio papers.
He merely translated an English translation of the
Bonifacio papers, which were themselves translated
from Spanish by Epifanio de los Santos who
possessed the original Tagalog manuscripits. 60
Actually, Agoncillo's claim that the Cry
happened in Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896
was based on Pio Valenzuela's account. A
photograph showing the latter with the
granddaughter of Melchora Aquino named Monica
Ramos, and other revolutionists stated that
place, Pugad Lawin, was the site of the
general meeting of the Katipunan on
August 23, 1896. In that meeting, it was
determined that the fighting against the
Spaniards would start and thus, the "Cry"
marking the start

of the Philippine revolution against Spain.

Pugad Lawin, in fact was within the Balintawak
area and should not be much of an issue except
for the date which was from what was known
earlier was August 26, 1896 to August 23, 1896.
But a stickler to accuracy as he was known for.
Agoncillo replaced Balintawak to Pugad Lawin.
Valenzuela's grandson, Arturo Valenzuela, in
his unpublished work which was based largely on
his grandfather's memoirs elaborated that the First Cry of
Balintawak was held on August 23 in the backyard of
Tandang Sora's house They moved to Malanday on
August 26, 1896. Thus, when the Spaniards arrived in
Pasong Tamo, they found no katipuneros in the place,
iney shot two farmers they saw in the place and then
reported a "Cry of Balintawak. This was the reason,
according to Valenzuela's grandson why his
grandfather, who was under Spanish interrogation
in 1896, referred to the date of the "Cry as
August 26.
O ALOust 26,

Had the memoirs of Valenzuela matched the signed

testimony he gave to the Spaniards when he was
interrogated, there could have been no issue
on this historical event. But his memoirs
published by Wenceslao Retana stated that the
former mentioned that the "Cry happened in
Balintawak on August 26. However, his
memoirs which were published after the war
stated that the “Cry happened in Pugad Lawin on
August 23, 1896. Thus, the inaccuracy.
The late historian, Pedro Gagelonia wrote:
The controversy among the historians
continues to the present day. The 'Cry of
Pugad Lawin' (August 23, 1896)-cannot be
accepted as historically accurate. It lacks
positive documentation and supporting
evidence from eyewitnesses. The testimony
of only one eyewitness (Dr. Pio Valenzuela) is
not enough to authenticate and verify
controversial issue in history. Historians and their
living participants, not politicians and their
sycophants, should settle this controversy.
81
Why was Valenzuela's account of the “Cry
doubted by historians like Gagelonia despite
the fact that the renown historian Teodoro
Agoncillo referred to him as the most credible
authority on the issue citing his being educated
and a close friend of Bonifacio as well as his
possession of retentive memory, the degree of his
involvement in the event, and his narrative
ability, three factors which are important in
historical recollection?
Simply because in many instances when
Valenzuela was interviewed he gave conflicting
statements on this significant event of 1896.
These statements and the dates when
Valenzuela gave them are shown in the matrix
below:

YEAR STATEMENTS GIVEN

*
a

STATEMENTS OF PIO VALENZUELA They

remained in Balintawak Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday."
www
ND

September 2 & 3, 1896 Statements given to

Spanish interrogators
September 6, 1896 after his surrender in Manila
.

The fight between the Guardia Civil and the rebels in

Banlat and Balintawak took place Wednesday
August 26. .. During the three days prior to that,
he was in the company of Andres Bonifacio...
in a house in Balintawak. "... at kinabukasang
ika 23, ay muling nagkatipon sa kankong, sa
bahay ni Apolonio Samson.. Pipagtalunan sa pulong na ito
kung ipagpapatuloy o hindi ang
August 31, 1911 statements
ORAL
WWW
V

paghihimagsik at nagkasalungatan ng mahaba si Andres

Bonifacio at! Teodoro Plata. Nagpasiya ang karamihan na ipagpatuloy ang
laban. Pinagtalunan din naman kung kailan gaganapin ang paghihimagsik at
pinagkasunduan na sa ika 29 ng gabi ay lulusubin ang Maynila sa daang
Sta. Mesa magdadaan, at pasisimulan sa ika 5 ng hapon ang pagtitiponsa San
Juan del Monte at mula doon papasukin Maynila sa gabi sa oras na
kinakailangang ipasok Natapos ang pulong ng mag ika 6 ng
hapon. Kinabukasan, ika 24, ay kami lumipat sa Paso de
Laha sa bahay ni Felix Doopa (sic: Oropa) at doo'y
sinulat mula sa umaga hanggang hapon ni Emilio Jacinto
ang mga kalatas na yaon ay sinasaysay ang manga
pinagkasunduan sa pulong noong ika 23. Ng gabi ring yaon
ika 24 kami ay lumipat sa nayon ng Pasong-tamo sa bahay ni
Aling Melchora." "The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio
Jacinto, Procopio Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Aguedo del Rosario, and myself was
Balintawak, the first five of us arriving there on August 19, and I on August 20,
1896 The first place where some 500 members of the Katipunan was
the house and yard of Apolonio Samson at Kangkong, on August 22. . . . Here
views were only exchanged and no resolution was debated or adopted. It was in
the house, storehouse, and yard of Juan Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino,
in Pugad Lawin that over 1,000 members of the Katipunan met and debated
lengthily on August 23, 1896. The discussion was 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 cedulas and shouted, “Long live the
Philippines! Long live the Katipunan."
1930's statements
.

1935 statements together with Briccio Brigido Pantas and Cipriano

Pacheco
“Hindi sa Balintawak nangyari ang unang sigaw ng
paghihimagsik na kinalalaguian ngayon ng bantayog,
kundi sa pook na kilala sa tawag na Pugadlawin."

Because of these conflicting statements of

Valenzuela, another historian, John N.
Schumacher, S. J expressed doubt on his credibility.
He stated:
I would certainly give much less credence to all
accounts coming from Pio Valenzuela, and to the
interpretations Agoncillo got from him verbally, since
he gave so many versions from the time he
surrendered to the Spanish authorities and made
 various statements not always compatible with one
another up to the time when as an old man he was
interviewed by Agoncillo. 62
In the account of the Filipino revolution by Antonio
Mendoza Guevarra, referred to as Matatag, he
wrote:

August 25, 1896. This day two companies of Guardias

Civiles, one of artillery and the other of intanty, scaled the hill,
coming upon us in the area called Pasong Tamo. The fight
began at once. The brothers of the Katipunan had among them only
four ancient flintlocks, which a nean downpour rendered out of
commission in no time. The Katipuneros scattered, the enemy troops
withdrawing. Thanks to God we suffered no casualty despite
the closely fought skirmish and our being poorly armed. This was
an account of the thick woods, rough terrain, and the timely and
providential rain that saved us from the Spaniards who
outnumbered us and had better arms.
Other accounts of the "Cry" included the following: General Guillermo
Masangkay stated that it was August 26, 1896: Lt. Olegario Diaz, recalled the event as
having happened on August 24, 1896: Gregoria de Jesus, Bonifacio's widow in her memoirs
stated that the "Cry" happened on August 25, 1896 in Pasong Tamo (Caloocan not Makati);
Santiago Alvarez, a katipunero from Cavite, referred to the event as having taken place
on August 25, 1896 in Bahay Toro which was also in Caloocan.
Zafra in 1960 made a review of the literature related to the
'cry' from 1896 to 1956 which revealed the following:

Year Published
Place
 Author Olegario
Diaz Manuel
Artigas y
Cuerva
Teodoro
Kalaw
1896
1911
Date of Cry 25 August 1896 20 August 1896
Balintawak
Balintawa
k

1925
last week of
August

1926
1927
1932
1948
Leandro
Fernandez
Santiago Alvarez
Guillero
Masangkay
Pio Valenzuela
Conrado Benitez
Gregorio F.
Zaide Teodoro A.
Agoncillo
Kangkong
 in
Balintawak
Balintawak
Bahay Toro

Balintawak
Pugad
Lawin
Kangkong
Balintawak
20 August 1896 24 August 1896 26 August 1896 23 August 1896
20 August
1896 26 August
1896 23
August 1896
1954

1954
1356
Pugad Lawin

As can be gleaned from the above data, there were several dates
and places mentioned in the works of the above-mentioned authors related to the
"cry". Encarnacion 5 wrote: "While the sole aim was to pinpoint the start of the 1896
Philippine Revolution, Bonifacio's cry often led to different interpretations. And as time
went on the event became more absurd. Government issued policies that changed the
date of the CN commemoration from “24 August 1896" to 26 1897, 26 August 1896 in 1911,
and to 23 August 1896 in 1963. Likewise, the place identified kept on changing as more
frivolous surveys muddled the significance of that event." 20. Still on this
controversy, Adrian Cristobal wrote:86
The official dating and placing of the revolutionary "cry – 23 August
1896 in Pugad Lawin has been challenged by a new breed of historians, Dr.
Milagros C. Guerrero, Ramon N. Villegas and Emmanuel Encarnacion. The
"more accurate time and place was 24 August 1896 at the barn of Melchora Aquino,
a.k.a Tandang Sora, in what is now barangay Banlat in Quezon City. Of course like
Agoncillo, the new breed of historians were not there when it happened, but
they based their contention on many other sources and on the fact that
Pugad Lawin could not be located in the cartography of the period.
Reading No.13
mars
5..
TAN

CRY OF PUGAD LAWIN

l
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(An excerpt from the book "plo Valenzuela and the

Katipunan by Arturo E. Valenzuela Jr. published
by the National Historical Institute in 1992.)
30
-

Arturo E. Valenzuela Jr. is the eldest son of Dr. Plo

Valenzuela's son Arturo. He is a well-travelled
orchitect. His book, "plo Valenzuela and the
Katipunan," was based on the unpublished
memoirs of his grandfather which was handed to
him by two of his aunts, magazine articles written
by historians, and researches he did at the
National Library.
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instakawha
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At dusk of August 20, 1896, Valenzuela riding in a

calesa, slipped through a cordon of Spanish |
guards. He joined Bonifacio and his brother
 Procopio and Circiaco, Jacinto, Teodoro Plata,
Deodato Arellano, and Aguedo del Rosario in a
house owned by Apolonio Samson in Barrio
Kangkong which was within the jurisdiction of
Balintawak in Caloocan, then a part of the province
of Manila. The first rally of the Katipunan was held
at the yard of that house on August 22. About 500
members were in attendance. Views were
exchanged, but no resolution was debated upon or
adopted during the assembly. Aside from those
persons already mentioned, the Katipuneros
who were present in that historical meeting
included Briccio Pantas, Alejandro Santiago
and Ramon Bernardo.
On the same day, the group moved to
Pugadlawin, to the house of Katipunero Juan
Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino. Some 1,000
Katipuneros followed him. The next day, August 23,
many Katipunan leaders like Enrique Pacheco and
his sons Cipriano and Alfonso, Guillermo
Masangkay, Francisco Carreon, Nicodemus
Carreon, Tomas Remegio, and Sinforoso San Pedro,
arrived.
On that day, a general assembly was held to decide
whether or not to start the uprising | immediately. It
was a stormy gathering. Some Katipuneros including
Teodoro Plata, provoked a heated debate with
Bonifacio when they argued that since they lacked
arms, the Katipunan was not prepared to go to war,
hence, it was premature to start the uprising. The
Katipunan had only 2,000 bolos made in
Meycauyan and Binakayan, and a number of
bamboo spears. Thus, the question remained
unsettled.
Kleidunt w
7

After the tumultuous meeting, many of those

present tore their cedulas (resident certificates)
and shouted, "Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay
ang Katipunan.” (In 1963, this event was
memorialized as the "Cry of Pugadlawin"). it
That same afternoon, the group left for the house in
Pasong Tamo of Melchora Aquino, the widow of
 Fulgencio Ramos. She was better known as
"Tandang Sora", being 84 years old at that time.
Their number grew to about 5,000. Aquino had them
quartered in the area. They subsisted mainly on rice
and other farm products grown there.
On August 25th, a Katipunero sentry observed the
arrival of Spanish Civil Guards in the area. Bonifacio
hastily organized 10 companies, assigning a hundred
men to each company and dispersing the rest. Only
Bonifacio and Valenzuela had guns. The rest were
armed with bolos and bamboo spears. In deference
to his Supremo, Valenzuela had exchanged guns
with him, since Bonifacio's firearm was of inferior
quality.
One of the company commanders, Pascual Deato
of Polo, crawled towards the enemy's camp. About
two kilometres away, Bonifacio, Jacinta, and
Valenzuela took their positions on horses as the
ten companies gradually encircled it. From the
report, it was evident that the Civil Guards were
outnumbered 25 to 1.
UGIN
L

As native bolos were no match for rifles, the Katipuneros' only recourse
was to bear upon the ranks of the enemy and tear them apart by sheer weight and
force of number.
 Detecting the Katipunero's movement, however, the Civil Guards
retreated in force. Eager to deliver the coup de grace, the Katipuneros went after
them in hot pursuit but were stopped dead in their tracks by the arrival of the
Spanish cavalry reinforcement. The Clvil Guards opened hire as the Katipuneros
attacked and engaged them in hand-to-hand fighting that resulted in the death of
two Katipuneros and one Civil Guard.
After the short skirmish, the Katipuneros withdrew to Balara, then a part
of Marikina. There, on August 26, they held another meeting during which it was decided that
open hostilities were tol start on the 29th, Valenzuela was assigned to go to Pateros and Binan,
Laguna to relay the decision to the people. Also on the 26th, the military authorities in Manila sent a
contingent of artillery men to Pasong Tamo in the hope of finding the rebels. They were
acting on the report of the Spanish officer who had commanded the Civil Guards and
infantrymen the previous day.
The government soldiers found the place deserted when they
arrived. Sighting, instead, two farmbands on their way home, the bloodthirsty
Spaniards shot them to dead.
At last, they had something to report to their superiors They let it be
known that a severe battle had taken place. This was the origin of the widely
circulated story that the "Cry of Balintawak occurred on August 26.
The following day, August 27, the Katipuneros set forth for Malanday,
also in Marikina, while Valenzuela left on a mission that would bring him to
Pateros by boat.
On August 28, the Katipuneros proceeded to barrio Hagdang-Bato
in Mandaluyong, where Bonifacio issued his formal war manifesto calling on all
towns to rise in arms and attack the Walled City the next day, August 29.
Obviously, owing to lack of arms and inadequate coordination with other
Katipunan leaders, the scheduled general attack on Manila on the evening of
the said day fell through. Instead, public repudiation of Spanish rule was made in a
symbolic act known as the "Cry of Balintawak." Also, on the same evening, the
Katipuneors who were still gathered in Mandaluyon decided to attack the Spanish
armory in nearby San Juan del Monte on the early morning of the following day.
 in Pateros, meanwhile, Valenzuela went about informing the
people of the planned uprising and was told they were ready to fight. That same
night, they engaged the Civil Guards in an encounter where one Katipunero was killed.
While in Pateros, Valenzuela acquired another gun, a rifle donated by a
Filipino priest from Pasig, Fr. Victor Ramos.
The next day, August 30, Bonifacio, Jacinto, and their fellow Katipuneros
attacked the Polvorin, a Spanish powder depot in San Juan del Monte. The attack was
a failure and resulted in heavy casualties on the part of the Katipunan. Demoralized,
Bonfacio and his surviving men retreated to the bills of Marikina and San Mateo.
At about the same time, Valenzuela, accompanied by several
Katipuneros, travelled to Binan by land to relay the "Cry of Balintawak” to another
priest, Fr. Silvino Manalo.