Not for the sensitive souls: 5 things you prefer not to know about Andres Bonifacio



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1. He was not a plebeian.

In his only remaining photo (his wife Oriang and he lost everything in the fire of a house), Bonifacio wears a tie, short tie. This is the first clue. It is certainly several nicks dress above the proletariat of the nineteenth century. The Bonifacio to camisa chino, panuelo, and a red pajamas folded many school plays was the romantic creation of 60 radicals. He also read Voltaire. This is the second clue. A semi-literate indio would never have been able to join the two exclusive clubs of the time: Masonry and Philippine Liga, which Jose Rizal founded shortly before his exile at Dapitan.

Engraving of the leader of the Filipino insurgents Andrés Bonifacio of the number of February 8, 1897 of the Ilustración Española y Americana, Hispano-American weekly.

Yes, he was from Tondo, but not everybody isla bato or Baseco. There are actually many wealthy families of Tondo. The best evidence comes from his sister Espiridiona in 1954: "… we were not as poor as rats, as some writers describe it. It was not because we made fans and canes that we were without resources. In fact, the family business was doing pretty well and some of our fans were selling between 50 and 100 pesos. Another proof: his work: Bonifacio was a salesman (the word "bodeguero" was a failure of translation) for a British and later German trading company. It's probably the equivalent of the 1890s to work for … hmm a BPO?

2. C & # 039; was a poor military commander

Bonifacio wanted an uprising against the best advice of José Rizal. But the talented underground organizer has proved inept on the battlefield. The "Battle of Pinaglabanan", the raid on the Spanish polvoron in San Juan, was a debacle. Bonifacio did not even show up.

He was fleeing in the hills of Montalban in 1897 (a historian calls it a strategic retreat) when the Katipuneros of Cavite invited him to mediate between the warring factions Magdiwang and Magdalo. He ended up taking sides. When the leaders came to the vote, he lost the presidency to the benefit of Emilio Aguinaldo, who was not even present during the vote because he was busy fighting the Spanish. Was it "cavitismo" or regionalism? Or did the Katipuneros simply feel that they needed a better battlefield commander like Aguinaldo in wartime?

Andrés Bonifacio 1963 stamp of the Philippines

3. He framed Antonio Luna.

During his exile from Dapitan, Rizal advised the emissary of Bonifacio, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, to tell him that if Katipunan insisted on an uprising, it would be better to call on the services of Antonio Luna, a chemist by training. who also studied military tactics in Spain. Luna declined. However, when the Spaniards began to crack down, Bonifacio involved Luna and other important citizens of Manila who were unaware of the Katipunan plot. It was at Fort Santiago that were Luna and other people beaten by the Spanish authorities. (Communist leader Jose Maria Sison may have taken a page from Bonifacio's game book, and another intriguing story is that he allegedly plotted the bombing of Plaza Miranda in 1971 to force the people of Marcos to weigh heavily on the population and the cause of the rebellion.)

Boni by Botong. The mural Bonifacio (1964) painted by Carlos "Botong" V. Francisco. Photograph of www.philippinefolklifemuseum.org

4. He was a coup plotter

In 1897, Bonifacio presided over the Tejeros convention at Cavite, where the Katipuneros were to elect a new direction. La Supremo reminded everyone that the results were binding for everyone. But that ended with his release. Historians blame Candido Tirona for questioning the post of Interior Minister for the position of Vice-President of the Interior for the fourth time because he was not a lawyer. For this blasphemy, the sovereign drew his pistol and almost fired on Tirona. Colder heads came in and everything would have gone well. But Bonifacio was already royally stung: he declared all results null and void, including the election of Aguinaldo in absentia to the presidency. He then joined a dissident faction. This movement would have divided the revolution at a time when the Spaniards were on the offensive. President-elect Aguinaldo quickly dispatched troops to arrest the Bonifacio brothers. They were convicted of treason and sentenced to exile. Curiously, it is one of the former conspirators of Bonifacio, Pio del Pilar, who convinced Aguinaldo that Bonifacio alive was a danger to the revolution. In the end, the supreme leader was betrayed by one of his fellow conspirators.

5. He fell on his knees and prayed for his life.

So he was not a-tapang a-tao, as the ditty goes? In the book Revolt of the masses by Teodoro Agoncillo, the story of the last moments of supremacy seems devoid of heroic. It was May 10, 1897 in Maragondon, Cavite. Commander Lazaro Makapagal received a sealed letter and was asked to bring four men and bring brothers Andres and Procopio to Mount Tala. The order was for him to open the letter when they arrived at Mount Tala and read the contents to the Bonifacio brothers. The young Procopio was the first to be taken away and shot. In the book of Agoncillo: "(Makapagal) returned to the Supremo who, on seeing him approach, said: You killed my brother. Now, I implore you to free me.

The major said, "I'm sorry." It was at that time that Andres was kneeling and said, "Forgive me, brother." Realizing that the major was determined to execute his order, Bonifacio ran. His executioners have caught up with him. Bonifacio was too weakened by the bullet wounds he had sustained on his neck and arms when he was arrested a few days earlier.

Seen today, these stories will seem scandalous, even offensive. We must remember that they occurred at a given time and place. It would be like complaining of owning a slave by George Washington. Or be confused as to how a great military commander like Alexander can lie down with one of his generals. Or find insolence in the call of Jesus Christ to his mother as "woman". The story then passed can not be judged by today's ethical standards. There were circumstances that surely explain why the heroes acted in one way or another.

Carlo San Jose's poster design reproduced with permission.

Have you always read what you just read? Remember the cliché that heroes are also human beings. Even Marvel makes humans with real cardboard heroes. In the movie Civil warIron Man separates the Avengers because he could not forgive Bucky, aka the Winter Soldier, for killing his parents. In Infinite Wars, the Avengers lose their only chance of defeating Thanos because Star-Lord was too emotional.

Bonifacio has done great things that we all know to secure his place in our pantheon of heroes. I will end with the opening stanza of a poem written:

Al pagibig pa ang hihigit kaya

His pagka-dalisay pagka-dakila

Have you ever bought a tinubuang lupa?

Aling pagibig pa? Wala na nga, wala.

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