The following write up is sourced from the Bonifacio @ 150 Exhibit of the Santa Barbara Centennial Museum which will run until December 31, 2012 at the Museum Lobby. Afterwich it will be transferred to the Sta. Barbara Central Elementary School.
Andres Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863 in Tondo, Manila. His father Santiago was a tailor, a local politician and a boatman who operated a river-ferry; his mother, Catalina de Castro, was employed in a cigarette-rolling factory. The couple worked extremely hard to support Andres and his five younger siblings, but in 1881 Catalina caught tuberculosis and died. The following year, Santiago also became ill and passed away.
At the age of 19, Andres Bonifacio was forced to give up plans for higher education and begin working full-time to support his orphaned younger siblings. He worked for the British trading company J.M. Fleming & Co. as a broker or corredor for local raw materials such as tar and rattan. He later moved to the German firm Fressell & Co., where he worked as a bodeguero or grocer.
In 1892, Bonifacio joined Jose Rizal’s new organization La Liga Filipina, which called for reform of the Spanish colonial regime in the Philippines. The group met only once, however, since Spanish officials arrested Rizal immediately after the first meeting and deported him to the southern island of Mindanao.
After Rizal's arrest and deportation, Andres Bonifacio and others revived La Liga to continue pressure on the Spanish government to free the Philippines. Along with his friends Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata, however, he also founded a group called Katipunan.
Katipunan, or Kataastaasang Kagalannalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan to give its full name (literally "Highest and Most Respected Society of the Children of the Country"), was dedicated to armed resistance against the colonial government. Made up mostly of people from the middle and lower classes, the Katipunan organization soon established regional branches in a number of provinces across the Philippines. (It also went by the rather unfortunate acronym KKK.)
In 1895, Andres Bonifacio became the top leader or Presidente Supremo of the Katipunan. Along with his friends Emilio Jacinto and Pio Valenzuela, Bonifacio also put out a newspaper called the Kalayaan, or "Freedom." Over the course of 1896, under Bonifacio's leadership, Katipunan grew from about 300 members at the beginning of the year to more than 30,000 in July. With a militant mood sweeping the nation, and a multi-island network in place, Bonifacio's Katipunan was prepared to start fighting for freedom from Spain.
He met his second wife when he was a 29- year old widower. Gregoria was a beautiful girl of 18 from Kalookan. Like Andres, she was the oldest child and a bright student who stopped studying to take care of her family. Gregoria looked after her younger sister and the family farm. At home she sewed and wove cloth on the loom.
Andres and Gregoria were married twice. Their first wedding was held in Binondo Church in March 1894. They were married again a week later in a house in Sta. Cruz. The ceremony was attended by members of the Katipunan. That evening Gregoria de Jesus became a member of the Katipunan. As a member of the Katipunan, his wife, more popularly known as Aling Oriang, became the founder and the vice-president of the women’s chapter of KKK.
Aling Oriang was designated the code name “Lakambini” which is the equivalent of “goddess” or “muse” in Tagalog dialect.
Andres and Gregoria had a baby boy. They named him Andres and he was their only child.
On Holy Week of 1896, a fire destroyed their nipa-roofed house in Sta. Cruz. Homeless, the
couple and their baby were forced to live in one house after another. The loss of their home was followed by an even greater loss, when young Andres died of smallpox.
The Cry of Pugadlawin
News about the discovery of the Katipunan spread to Manila and nearby suburbs, and Andres Bonifacio immediately called for a general meeting. Various wings of the Katipunan gathered at the house of Juan Ramos in Pugadlawin on August 23, 1896. Ramos was the son of Melchora Aquino, also known as “Tandang Sora” and was later acknowledged as the Mother of the Katipunan."
Bonifacio asked his men whether they were willing to fight to the bitter end. Everyone shouted their approval, except for Teodoro Plata, who though that it was too soon for a revolution. Heartened by his men’s response, Bonifacio then asked them to tear their cedulas (residence certificates) to pieces, as a sign of their defiance and determination to rise against the Spaniards. The men immediately tore up their cedulas, shouting, Mabuhay ang Pilipinas (long live the Philippines) -known as the Cry of Pugadlawin.
The Cry of Pugad Lawin is a remarkable event in the history of Filipinos, when more than 500 members of the Katipunan tore their cedulas as a sign of rebellion against Spanish colonizers. The First Cry of Pugadlawin took place on August 23, 1896, through the leadership of Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the Katipunan
THE KATIPUNAN IS BORN
Andres Bonifacio founded the “Katastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipuanan ng mga Anak ng Bayan” (KKK) on July 7, 1892 in a house on Azcarraga street (now Claro M. Recto), in Tondo Manila.
The Katipunan had colorful beginnings. As a symbol of the member’s loyalty, they performed the solemn rite of sanduguan (blood compact), wherein each one signed his name with his own blood..
The members agreed to recruit more people using the “triangle system” of enlistment. Each original member would recruit two new members who were not related to each other. Each new member would do the same thing, and so on down the line. Members were also asked to contribute one Real (about 25 centavos) each month in order to raise funds for the association.
The KKK members agreed on the following objectives:
▪ The political goal was to completely separate the Philippines from Spain after declaring the country’s independence.
▪ The moral goal was to teach the Filipinos good manners, cleanliness, hygiene, fine morals, and how to guard themselves against religious fanaticism..
▪ The civic goal was to encourage Filipinos to help themselves and to defend the poor oppressed.
The “Kataastaasang Sanggunian” (supreme council) was the highest governing body of the Katipunan. It was headed by a supremo, or president. Each province had a “Sangguaniang Bayan” (Provincial Council) and each town had a “Sangguniang Balangay” (Popular Council).