The KKK

and the
“Kartilya ng
Katipunan”
 The Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga anak ng
bayan (kkk) or katipunan is arguably the most important
organization form in the Philippine history.
 It was the only organization that envisioned : (1.) A united Filipino
nation, that will revolt against the Spaniards for (2.) The total
independence of the country.
 Though there are movements and organizations that founded prior
to the foundation of Katipunan, but none of them envisioned a
united Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers.
For example:
Diego Silang, was known as an ilocano who took up his arms
and led one of the longest running revolts in the country.
 However Silang was mainly concerned about his locality
and referred to himself as El Rey de Ilocos ( The King of
Ilocos ).
 The imaginations of the nation was largerly absent in the
aspirations of the local revolts before katipunan.
 On the other hand, propaganda movements led by the
ilustrados like Macelo H. del Pilar, Graciano lopez
Jaena, and Jose Rizal did not envision a total separation
of Philippines from the Spain, but only demanded equal
rights, representations, and protection from the abuses of
the friars.
 Katipunan created a complex structure and defined value
system that would guide the organization as a collective
aspiring for a single goal.
 One of the most important katipunan documents was the
Kartilya ng Katipunan. The original title of the
document was “Manga [sic] Aral Nang [sic] Katipunan
ng mga A.N.B.” or “Lessons of the organization of the
son of country”.
 The document was written by Emillio Jacinto in 1896.
Jacinto was only 18 years old when he joined the movement.
He was a law student at the University of Santo Tomas.
 Jacinto became the secretary of the organization and took
charge of the short lived printing press of Katipunan.
 On April 15, 1897, Bonifacio appointed Jacinto as a
commander of Katipunan in Northern Luzon. He was 22
years old that time.
 Jacinto died because of malaria at the age of 24 in Laguna
town of Magdalena.
 The Kartilya can be treated as Katipunan’s code of conduct . It
contains fourteen rules that instruct the way a Katipunero
should behave, and which the specific values should be
uphold.
 Generally, the rules stated in Kartilya can be classified into
two.
 The first group contains the rules stated that will make the
member an upright individual
 The second group contains the rules that will guide the way he
treats his fellow men.
Rules in Kartilya
I. The life that is not consecrated to lofty and reasonable purpose is a
tree without a shade, if not a poisonous weed.
II. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue
III.It is rational to be charitable and love one’s fellow creature, and to
adjust one’s conduct, acts and words to what is in itself reasonable.
IV. Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal:
superiority in knowledge, wealth and beauty are to be understood,
but not superiority by nature.
V. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel,
gain to honor.
VI.To honorable man his sword is sacred.
VII. Do not waste thy time: Wealth can be recovered but not time lost.
VIII. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in
the field.
IV. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping
secrets.
X. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and
children, and if the guide leads to the precipice those whom he guides
will also go there.
XI. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a
faithful companion who will remind thee of the penalties of life; her
(physical0 weakness will increase thy interest in her and she will
remind thee of the mother who bore thee and reared thee.
XII. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers
and sisters, that do not unto wife, children, brothers and sisters of thy
neighbor.

XIII. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose
is aquiline, and his color white, not because he is a priest, a servant
of God, nor because of high prerogative that he enjoys upon earth,
but he is worth most who is a man of proven and real value, who
does good, keeps his words, is worthy and honest; he who does not
oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he who loves and cherishes
his fatherland, though he be born in the wilderness and know no
tongue but his own.
 XIV. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the
longed for sun of Liberty shall rise brilliant over this most
unhappy portion of the globe and its rays shall diffuse everlasting
joy among the confederated brethren of same rays, the lives of
these who gone before, the fatigues and the well-paid sufferings
will remain. If he who desires to enter has informed himself of all
this and believes he will able to perform what will be his duties,
he may fill out the application for admission.
Analysis of “Kartilya ng Katipunan”
 Similar to what we have done to the accounts of Pigafetta, this
primary source also needs to be analyzed in terms of the
content and context.
 As a document written for a fraternity whose main purpose is
to overthrow a colonial regime, we can explain the content
and provisions of the Kartilya as a reaction and response to
certain value system that they found despicable in the present
state of things that struggled against with.
 Moreover, one can analyze the values upheld in the document
consistent with the burgeoning rational and liberal ideals in the
eighteenth and nineteenth century.
 Jacinto, an ilustrados himself, certainly got an understanding of
these values. Aside from the liberal values that can be dissected in
the document, we can also decipher certain Victorian and
chivalrous values in thetext.
 Aside from this, the Kartilyas was Instructive not just of the
Katipunan’s conduct toward other people, but also for the
members’ development individuals in their own rights.
 Generally speaking, the rules in the Kartilya can be classified as
either directed to how one should treat his neighbor or to how
one should develop and conduct one’s self. Both are essential to
the success and fulfillment of Katipunan’s ideals.
 All in all, proper reading of the Kartilya will reveal a more
thorough understanding of the Katipunan and the significant role
that it played in the revolution and in the unfolding of the
Philippine history, as we know it.