TEJEROS CONVENTION

AND THE DEATH OF

BONIFACIO
By: Frondozo, Ibañez, Gadian
 INTRODUCTION

• The convention was called to discuss the defense of Cavite against the
Spaniards during the Philippine Revolution.
• It organized an assembly of predominantly Magdiwang members to elect
leaders for the revolutionary government
Two Rivals Factions Of The Katipunan
• Magdiwang – formed in Noveleta, Cavite on April 2, 1896
(Under Mariano Alvarez)
• Magdalo – formed in Kawit, Cavite on April 3, 1896
(Under Baldomero Aguinaldo)
• These two are elevated by Kataastaasang Sanggunian
(Katipunan Supreme council) to the status of Sanggunian
Bayan
• These two were authorized to form balangays under them
and to expand their influence
• Grew in Spanish
• Began their own regional government with separate
leaderships, military units and ‘mutually agreed territories.
 March 22, 1897 by Jacinto Lumbreras
• The assembly at Tejeros was convened on March 22, 1897 and was presided by
Secretary Jacinto Lumbreras.
• The two factions met at the administration building of the friar estate in
Tejeros, San Franscisco de Malabon in Cavite.
• The declaration of the agenda, which is to discuss how to secure the areas
under the Magdiwang control, was made and was immediately countered by
Severino de las Alas, who imposed that the important matter that should be
tackled is the form of the government the Katipunan should have.
• Bonifacio proceeded with the election of officials, stressing that the person who
gets most of the votes must be declared and respected as the winner, regardless
of his state in life.
 March 22, 1897 by Jacinto Lumbreras
• Some of the present were also from parts of Batangas and some provinces to the north.
Hence it is difficult to determine the exact number of voters present then.
• 26 names were recorded, 17 of whom were from Magdiwang (Santiago Alvarez) and 9 from
Magdalo (Emilio Aguinaldo and Carlos Ronquillo)
• According to historian Jim Richardson, a substantial number of delegates present, though
affiliated with Magdiwang, could be more accurately be tagged as “independents” who did
not necessarily support Bonifacio. This brings in new factors to the election that took place.
• Records only mention those who won, but not the number of votes.
 THE ELECTION RESULTS WERE AS FOLLOWS:
Position Winner Affiliation Other Contenders
Mariano Trias (independent)
President Emilio Aguinaldo Magdalo
Andres Bonifacio (Magdiwang ally)

Andres Bonifacio (Magdiwang ally)

Vice
Mariano Trias Independent Severino de las Alas (independent)
President
Mariano Alvarez (Magdiwang)

Captain
Artemio Ricarte Independent Santiago Alvarez (Magdiwang)
General

Ariston Villanueva (Magdiwang)

Director of
Emiliano Riego de Dios Independent Daniel Tirona (Magdalo)
War
Santiago Alvarez (Magdiwang)

Director of Mariano Alvarez (Magdiwang)

Andres Bonifacio Magdiwang ally
Interior Pascual Alvarez (independent)
 CONTINUATION…
• Mariano Alvarez, in a letter to his uncle-in-law, noted that fraudulence marred the
voting process in Tejeros:
[…] Before the election began, I discovered the underhand work of some of the Imus
crowd who had quietly spread the statement that it was not advisable that they be governed by
men from other pueblos, and that they should for this reason strive to elect Captain Emilio as
President.”
• These events were greatly upstaged, in memory at least, by the ensuing tiff that
occurred between Andres Bonifacio and Daniel Tirona.
• The latter raised provocations when he insinuated that Bonifacio was unfit to take on
his position owing to a lack of credentials.
• Tirona loudly called for the election of one Jose del Rosario, a lawyer. The proverbial
salt had been rubbed against the wound—what vexed Bonifacio most was not so much
the attack on his credentials but rather the lack of due process.
• He had, after all, reminded the assembly gathered at Tejeros that the will of the
majority—however divergent from each individual’s, must be respected at all costs.
 “Acta de Tejeros”
• What is ACTA de Tejeros?
• -It was a document prepared on March 23,
1987 which proclaimed events at Tejeros
Convention on March 22, 1897 to have been
disorderly and tarnished by chicanery.
• The first page of the “Acta de Tejeros” was signed by
Andres Bonifacio and leaders of the KKK’s
Magdiwang council on March 23, 1897
• Signatories to this petition rejected the republic
instituted at Tejeros and affirmed their steadfast
devotion to the Katipunan’s ideal.
• Proclaimed that the Convention and its decision were
illegitimate and invalid.
THE DEATH OF
BONIFACIO
Maragondon,
Cavite (May 10, 1897)
 

WHY DID AGUINALDO SEND BONIFACIO TO HIS DEATH?

DEATH OF BONIFACIO
• . Complaints that are presented to Emilio
Aguinaldo by Severino de las Alas &
• The conflict ultimately started after the events of the
Colonel Jose Coronel:
Tejeros Convention.
 Andres Bonifacio had been paid by the
• Bonifacio, who felt that the Magdalo faction friars to organize the Katipunan and to
maneuvered to rig the elections (most of the cabinet send forth unarmed Filipinos into a
was from Magdiwang) struggle against the Spanish government.
• Aguinaldo was elected and won as President  He had ordered his men to burn the church
and convent of Indang should the
• Bonifacio made his way to Naic with 40 other Spaniards capture the town.
generals, including some of Aguinaldo’s men, to  Bonifacio’s men stole carabaos and other
further denounce the results of Tejeros, creating the work animals by force and killed them for
Naic Military Agreement (a document in which they food.
resolved to establish a government independent of  That Andres Bonifacio had misspent all
and separate from that established at Tejeros on
the funds of the Katipunan.
April 1897).
 Andres Bonifacio intended to surrender
• Bonifacio gathered his adherents and forces in the with all his men to the Spaniards.
barrio of Limbon (Indang) preparatory to leaving
Cavite province and going to the mountains of San
Mateo (Manila province) and Bulacan.
 I FAC I O
DEATH O F BON
R e p u b li c received
h e Philippine o
e n t h e P re s i d e n t o f t
se n t C o lo nels Agapit
• Wh y
h a r g e s, h e immediatel i th a l l t h e ir forces to
these c e I g n acio Paua w
d J o s
Bonzon an
bo n . , b u t w e re met with
L im y
v e d t h e p a rty cordiall
ecei
• Bonifacio r ing to fight
a tt ac k . d o w n , r e fu s
e r e d h is m en to stand ade in vain.
n i fa c io o r d h a t w e r e m
• Bo
o w T a g a lo gs,” cries t th e arm by
his “fe ll s s h o t in
f ir e d , B onifacio wa
e r e aua.
• Few shots w stabbed in the neck by P
Bonzon and g a i n b u t A lejandro
u t t o s t ab Bonifacio a g r a p pling with
as a b o u a a n d
• Paua w e w h i m s elf upon Pa
h r
Santiago t il l m e, n ot him!” r
him shoute
d: “ K
s s h o t d e a d. His othe
a
's b r o th e r , Ciriaco, w
• Bonifacio copio, was beaten.
brother, Pr
o
r a p e d b y Bonzon.
a s
g o r i a de Jesus, w
• His wife, G r e
n d e d , w a s carried in a
c io , s ta r v ed and wou
• Boni fa
Naic.
hammock to
 DEATH OF BONIFACIO
• The trial was a sham. Tried by a jury of Aguinaldo’s peers and defended by a lawyer who
declared his guilt, Bonifacio was assured of an unfavorable verdict
• He was not allowed to confront the witness who charged him with conspiracy, on account of
the said witness having died in battle. (the witness was present during the trial)
• Bonifacio was found guilty of treason.
• Aguinaldo, not wanting to further anger any of Bonifacio’s supporters and not seeing the
threat of a living Bonifacio, commuted his sentence to exile
• Noriel and del Pilar, who were both signatories of the Acta de Naic, argued otherwise and
strongly urged for death sentence. The order was given and signed by Aguinaldo’s hand.
• Andres and Procopio, were taken to the mountains of Maragondon, still reeling from his
injuries and blood loss, was taken there in a hammock.
• The execution party was led by Lazaro Macapagal, who shared multiple accounts of the
execution with contemporaries.
DEATH OF BONIFACIO
• Macapagal read the sentence out loud, armed with a written letter from
Aguinaldo.
“In one account, he turned away before having his men shoot
Procopio and Andres. In another account, Procopio was shot first, the
Supremo tried to run away, and Macapagal had to chase and gun him
down.”
• Another version comes from other people in the execution party (Guillermo
Masangkay)
“Procopio was shot first, and Andres, unable to stand properly, was
hacked down in order to save bullets. In any case, the brothers were
buried in shallow graves on the mountain.”
 ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT
 The Tejeros Convention was written by an eyewitness who
personally experienced the event (Primary Source)
 Mainly focused on what happened during the convention
 Political disunities still exists up to this day.
 If only we allow the events that happened at Tejeros to teach us the
importance of understanding, cooperation, and unity, we may have
been living in a more harmonious society today.
 The Death of Bonifacio made us realize that we are still struggling
to achieve liberty up to this date—Liberty not from the colonizers
but from our fellowmen.
 CONCLUSION
• From the Tejeros Convention till his last breath, Bonifacio lives on in the struggle for true
independence. A hundred years on, some things still didn’t change. The nation is still
dominated by foreign interest, semi-feudal relationships, and systemic profiteering at the
expense of the Filipino people. Andres Bonifacio may have perished in the mountains of
Maragondon, but his spirit still inspires and leads the Filipino people in their search for
freedom.
• Bonifacio was the man who established KKK, the man who had taught the Filipino people
the true way to shake off the Spanish yoke; the man from whose mouth, and whenever he
spoke with the officials of the forces, always came the fol­lowing expressions:
• “Commit no acts that will cast a stain upon your name.”
• “Fear history, for in it none of your acts can be hidden!”