The Light of Liberty : Documents and Studies on the Katipunan, 1892-1897

552 Pages·203·16.611 MB·English

by  Jim Richardson

The Light of Liberty

The Light of Liberty
Documents and Studies
on the Katipunan, 1892−1897
Jim Richardson
ATENEO DE MANILA
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Ateneo de Manila University Press
Bellarmine Hall, Katipunan Avenue
Loyola Heights, Quezon City
P.O. Box 154, 1099 Manila, Philippines
Tel.: [phone] / Fax [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ateneopress.org
Copyright © 2013 by Ateneo de Manila University
and Jim Richardson
Cover design by Karl Fredrick M. Castro
Book design by Paolo Tiausas
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the written permission of the Publisher.
The National Library of the Philippines CIP Data
Recommended entry:
Richardson, Jim .
The light of liberty : documents and studies on the Katipunan,
1892–1897 / Jim Richardson. – Quezon
City : Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013.
p. ; cm.
ISBN 978-971-550-852-0

1. Philippines--History--Autonomy and independence movements--
Sources. 2. Philippines--History--Sources. 3. Revolutionaries--Philippines--
Sources. I. Title.

DS653 959.9026 2013 P320130715
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
About the documents xx
Glossary and abbreviations xxiv
Chapter 1. Foundational documents
1.1. “Casaysayan; Pinagcasundoan; Manga daquilang
cautosan,” January 1892 1
1.2. “Kasaysayan; Pinag-kasundoan; Manga dakuilang
kautusan,” August 1892 20
Chapter 2. 1892−1895
2.1. Center, Fragment of appointment, c. September 1892 41
2.2. Center, Draft appointment, September 11, 1892 43
2.3. Supreme Council, Meeting held on December 24−25, 1894 44
2.4. Andres Bonifacio, Fragment of a speech, c. February 1895 46
2.5. Sb. Katagalugan, Note to the President of the
Supreme Council, March 30, 1895 48
2.6. Emilio Jacinto, “¡¡Gising na, mga tagalog!!”
October 23, 1895 49
2.7. Sb. Katagalugan, Letter to officeholders,
November 17, 1895 54
2.8. Supreme Council, Notice to section presidents,
November 26, 1895 57
2.9. Supreme Assembly, Meeting held on November 30
and December 1, 1895, in Caloocan 60
2.10. Supreme Assembly, Meeting held on
December 24−25, 1895 76
Chapter 3. Membership documents
3.1. Oath, c. 1894 85
3.2. Andres Bonifacio, Ritual for the initiation
of a Bayani, c. 1894 87
3.3. Initiation rites, c. 1896 100
3.4. Initiation rites [different version], c. 1896 119
vi CONTENTS
3.5. Andres Bonifacio, “Katungkulang gagawin
ng mga Z.Ll.B.” [the “Decalogue”], c. 1896 126
3.6. Emilio Jacinto, Katipunan nang manga A. N. B.
—Sa may nasang makisanib sa katipunang ito
[The “Kartilya”] 129
3.7. Oath, c. 1896 138
Chapter 4. January−February 1896
4.1. Supreme Assembly, Meeting held on January 1, 1896 141
4.2. Supreme Council, Meeting held on January 5, 1896,
in Mandaluyong 149
4.3. Supreme Council, Meeting held on January 6, 1896,
in Malabon 151
4.4. Supreme Council, Notice to all KKK members,
January 25, 1896 154
4.5. Supreme Council, Meeting held on February 1, 1896,
in Polo 161
4.6. Supreme Council, Meeting held on February 11, 1896 163
4.7. Supreme Council, Meeting held on February 21, 1896 164
Chapter 5. Kalayaan
5.1. Notes on Kalayaan, the Katipunan paper 169
5.2. Emilio Jacinto, “Sa mga kababayan,” c. March 1896 175
5.3. Emilio Jacinto, “Pahayag,” c. March 1896 179
5.4. Pio Valenzuela, “¡Katuiran din naman!” c. March 1896 186
5.5. Andres Bonifacio, “Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog,”
c. March 1896 189
5.6. Andres Bonifacio, “Pagibig sa tinubuang Bayan,”
c. March 1896 193
5.7. Emilio Jacinto, “¡¡¡ Gomez, Burgos, Zamora !!!”
April 30, 1896 206
5.8. Emilio Jacinto, “Sa Bayang tinubuan,” undated 210

Chapter 6. March−August 1896
6.1. Supreme Council, Meeting held on March 8, 1896 213
6.2. By. Silanganan, Meeting held on March 15, 1896 215
6.3. Supreme Council, Meeting held on March 15, 1896 217
6.4. Supreme Council, Notice to members of the KK,
March 15, 1896 220
6.5. Supreme Assembly, Meeting held on March 22, 1896, in
Mandaluyong 224
6.6. Supreme Council, Meeting held on March 29, 1896, in Pasig 230
6.7. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 2, 1896,
in Noveleta 232
6.8. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 3, 1896, in Kawit 233
CONTENTS vii
6.9. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 5, 1896 235
6.10. Supreme Council, Notice to all KKK members,
c. April 6, 1896 238
6.11. Supreme Council, Meeting held on April 19, 1896 244
6.12. Supreme Council, Notice to members of the KK,
May 27, 1896 248
6.13. Sb. Mahiganti, Meeting held on May 30, 1896 250
6.14. Supreme Council, Meeting held on June 21, 1896,
in Sta. Ana 253
6.15. Supreme Council, Meeting held on June 24, 1896,
in Pandacan 255
Chapter 7. Kamaynilaan and Morong,
August 1896–September 1897
7.1. Roster of Katipuneros at Balintawak, August 1896 259
7.2. Andres Bonifacio, Draft notice of appointment,
August 26, 1896 262
7.3. Supreme Council, Letter to Mariano and
Santiago Alvarez, October 29−30, 1896 264
7.4. High Executive, Letter to leaders, December 3, 1896 271
7.5. Emilio Jacinto, Letter to Isidoro Francisco,
December 8, 1896 273
7.6. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to the High Military Council,
December 12, 1896 275
7.7. High Council, Letter to leaders, December 15, and
result of election held on December 17, 1896 283
7.8. High Council, December 18, 1896 285
7.9. Emilio Jacinto, Letter to the High Council of the
Northern District, December 23, 1896 288
7.10. High Council, Demand for donations, c. December 1896. 290
7.11. High Council, Christening certificate, February 23, 1897 291
7.12. High Council, Marriage certificate, c. February 1897 292
7.13. High Council, Draft appointment, February 15, 1897 294
7.14. Emilio Jacinto, Letter to Julio Nakpil, April 11, 1897 295
7.15. High Council, Letter to Fr. Cipriano Ortiz,
September 28, 1897 296
Chapter 8. Cavite: Politics in a Time of Revolution
8.1. Andres Bonifacio, “Mararahas na manga Anak ng Bayan,”
February or March 1897 301
8.2. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Julio Nakpil,
February 13, 1897 304
8.3. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, March 8, 1897 310
8.4. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto,
c. March 15, 1897 312
viii CONTENTS
8.5. The Sovereign People, Declaration, March 23, 1897
[the “Acta de Tejeros”] 320
8.6. Artemio Ricarte, Declaration, March 24, 1897 342
8.7. Andres Bonifacio, Notice of appointment, April 15, 1897 346
8.8. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 16, 1897 349
8.9. Andres Bonifacio and others, Declaration, c. April 19, 1897
[the “Naik Military Agreement”] 355
8.10. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Julio Nakpil, April 24, 1897 384
8.11. Andres Bonifacio, Letter to Emilio Jacinto, April 24, 1897 389
Appendices
A. Notes on the Katipunan in Manila, 1892−1896 399
Table 1. Katipunan activists in Manila, 1892−1896 416
Table 2. Katipunan councils and branches 449
in Manila, 1892−1896
B. Revolution or Religious Experience? 452
C. Kabulaanan: the bogus “Minutes of the Katipunan” 466
D. Bonifacio’s letters to Emilio Jacinto 477
E. A note on the authenticity of
“Ang dapat mabatid ng mga tagalog” 485
F. Research note 494
Bibliography 496
Index 501
Acknowledgments
The essence of this book lies in the documents, so my foremost debt of grati-
tude is to the archivists at the Archivo General Militar de Madrid and to
the staff who took such care in supplying me with legible photocopies from
the fragile originals. For assistance in locating other important primary
sources, I am grateful to Cayetano Sánchez Fuertes, OFM, at the Archivo
Franciscano Ibero-Oriental in Madrid; and Constantino Mielgo Fernández,
OSA, and Carlos Alonso, OSA, respectively the librarian and archivist of the
Real Colegio Seminario de los Padres Agustinos in Valladolid. For giving me
the initial leads to these treasure troves, for searching out materials in other
Spanish depositories, and for her invigorating scholarly belligerence, I extend
my special thanks to Raquel A. G. Reyes.
I first wrote the essays and notes in this volume for two websites, Ari
Ngaseo’s “Bonifacio Papers” blog (http://bonifaciopapers.blogspot.com/)
and my own “Katipunan: Documents and Studies” site (http://kasaysayan-
kkk.info/). In the course of my research, many individuals have generously
shared their knowledge, insights, and sources and I thank them all: Digna
B. Apilado, Roberto Blanco Andrés, Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, Emmanuel
Franco Calairo, Michael Charleston Chua, Fe Susan Go, Paul Guerrero,
Reynaldo C. Ileto, Ambeth R. Ocampo, Oona Paredes, Mike G. Price, Ruben
V. Reyes, Wigan Salazar, John N. Schumacher, SJ, John T. Sidel, and Megan
C. Thomas. I am indebted to Glenn Anthony May for his detailed observa-
tions on drafts of a number of the pieces here. Even though I have contested
his doubts about key documents, sometimes combatively, his responses have
invariably been most constructive and cordial. Collectively, these scholars
have rescued me from errors beyond count. I readily accept, in time-honored
fashion, full responsibility for the mistaken interpretations that may remain,
but not for every mistake of fact, because they come unavoidably with the
territory.
The “Katipunan: Documents and Studies” site has now been in exist-
ence for six years, and the number of visits has been gratifyingly high. It has
also been good to see some of the material (usually with due attribution)
floating elsewhere in the Philippine galaxies of cyberspace. The level of crit-
ical engagement with the website’s content, however, and feedback on points
of detail, have been disappointing. I am therefore inordinately thankful to
the few readers who have sent me compliments, comments, and corrections,
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
notably Ian Alfonso, Erwin S. Fernandez, Roberto Prudente, Edgar Millan,
Arnold Arnaiz, Vernon Totanes, and Bobby Manasan.
Way before the days of websites, my interest in the Katipunan and its
times was stimulated by conversations with two good friends now sadly
deceased, Cirilo S. Honorio of the Kapatirang Alagad ni Bonifacio, and
Jonathan Fast, with whom I used to discuss late- nineteenth century Manila
whilst kicking a football about on Clapham Common.
Finally, I want to express my appreciation as always to my wife Clarita
Policarpio Richardson, not just for her kindness and tolerance, but also for
her vital assistance, as the native Tagalog speaker in residence, in fathoming
the meaning of difficult texts.