Cry of Rebellion: A Philippine Revolution (PDF)

1  THE CRY FOR A NATIONWIDE REVOLUTION PUGADLAWIN OR BALINTAWAK? MILAGROS C. GUERRERO EMMANUEL N. ENCARNACION RAMON N. VILLEGAS 2 EL GRITO REBELION DE “THE CRY OF 3 REBELION”  “CRY OF MEXIC DOLORES” SEPTEMBER 16, 4...

1  THE CRY FOR A NATIONWIDE REVOLUTION PUGADLAWIN OR BALINTAWAK? MILAGROS C. GUERRERO EMMANUEL N. ENCARNACION RAMON N. VILLEGAS 2 EL GRITO REBELION DE “THE CRY OF 3 REBELION”  “CRY OF MEXIC DOLORES” SEPTEMBER 16, 4  “CRY OF BRAZIL YPIRANGA” SEPTEMBER 7, 5  “CRY OF CUBA MATANZA” FEBRUARY 24, 6  IN AUGUST 1896, NORTHEAST OF MANILA, FILIPINOS SIMILARLY DECLARED THEIR REBELLION AGAINST 7 “SIGA 8  SOME WRITERS REFER TO A CRY OF MONTALBAN ON APRIL 1895, IN THE PAMITINAN CAVES WHERE A GROUP OF KATIPUNAN MEMBERS WROTE ON THE 9 CAVE WALLS, “VIVA LA  SOME WRITERS CONSIDER THE FIRST MILITARY ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ENEMY AS THE DEFINING MOMENT OF THE CRY. 10  THE HISTORIAN TEODORO AGONCILLO CHOSE TO EMPHASIZE BONIFACIO’S TEARING OF THE CEDULA (TAX RECEIPT) BEFORE A 11 CROWD OF KATIPUNEROS  CRY OF BALINTAWAK CRY OF 12 ? PUGAD  OUTLINE 1. RAGING 2.CONTROVERSY CONFLICTING 3. THEACCOUNTS PUGAD LAWIN 4.CARTOGRAPHIC MARKER 5. CHANGESTHE DETERMINING 6. THE TURNING DATE 13 POINT  RAGING CONTROVE 14  RAGING CONTROVERSY On 3 September 1911, a monument to the Heroes of 1896 was erected in what is now the intersection of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and Andres Bonifacio Drive, North Diversion Road (Balintawak Cloverleaf Interchange). From that time on until 1962, the Cry of Balintawak was officially celebrated every 26 August. 15 16 17  RAGING CONTROVERSY It is not clear why the 1911 monument was erected in that site. Eyewitnesses cited Balintawak as the better-known reference point for a larger area. Yet, eyewitnesses and historians disagreed on the site and date of the Cry. 18 CONFLICTIN ACCOUNTS G 19  CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS Pio Valenzuela had several versions of the Cry. Only after they are compared and reconciled with the other accounts will it be possible to determined what really happened. In September 1896, Pio Valenzuela stated before the Olive Court (military tribunal headed by Colonel Francisco Olive), which was charged with investigating persons involved in the rebellion, that only Katipunan meetings took place from Sunday to Tuesday or 23 to 25 August at Balintawak. 20 21  CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS In 1911, Valenzuela stated that the Katipunan began meeting on 22 August while the Cry took place on 23 August at Apolonio Samson’s house in Kangkong, Balintawak. 22 23  CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS From 1928 to 1940, Valenzuela maintained that the Cry happened on 24 August at the house of Tandang Sora in Pugad Lawin, which he now situated near Pasong Tamo Road known as the Daang Malalim. A photograph of Gregoria de Jesus and Katipunan members, Valenzuela, Briccio Pantas, Alfonso and Cipriano Pacheco, published in “La Opinion” in 1928 and 1930, was captioned as having been taken at the site of the Cry on 24 August 1896 at the house of Tandang Sora at Pasong Tamo Road. 24  CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS In 1935, Valenzuela, Pantas and Pacheco proclaimed “na hindi sa Balintawak nangyari ang unang sigaw ng paghihimagsik na kinalalagian ngayon ng bantayog, kung di sa pook na kilala sa tawag na Pugad Lawin.” 25 26  CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS In 1940, a research team of the Philippines Historical Committee (founded in 1935) which included Pio Valenzuela, identified the precise spot of Pugad Lawin as part of Sitio Gulod, Banlat, Kalookan City (now Tandang Sora Quezon City). 27 28  GULOD BANLAT KALOOKAN MELCHORA AQUINO’S HOUSE NEAR PASONG TAMO APOLONIO SAMSON’S HOUSE 29  CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS Valenzuela memoirs (which Agoncillo says dated from the early 1920s) claimed that the Cry took place on 23 August at the house of Juan Ramos at Pugad Lawin. 30  CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS John N. Schrumacher, S.J, of the Ateneo de Manila University was to comment on Pio Valenzuela’s credibility: “I would certainly give much less credence to all accounts coming from Pio Valezuela, and to the interpretations Agoncillo got from him verbally, since Valenzuela gave so many versions from the time he surrendered to the Spanish authorities and made various statements not always compatible with one another up to the time when as an old man he was interviewed by Agoncillo.” 31  PUGAD MARKER LAWIN 32 The prevalent account of the Cry is that of Teodoro Agoncillo in Revolt of the masses (1956): It was in Pugad Lawin, where they proceeded upon leaving Samson’s place in the afternoon of the 22nd, that the more than 1,000 members of the Katipunan met in the yard of Juan A. Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino,…in the morning of August 23rd. Considerable discussion arose whether the revolt against the Spanish government should be started on the 29th. Only one man protested… But he was overruled in his stand… Bonifacio then announced the decision and shouted: “Brothers, it was agreed to continue with the plan of revolt. My brothers, do you swear to repudiate the government that oppresses us?” And the rebels, shouting as one man replied: “Yes, sir!” “That being the case,” Bonifacio added, “bring out your cedulas and tear them to pieces to symbolize our determination to take arms!”... Amidst the ceremony, the rebels, tear-stained eyes, shouted: “Long 33  PUGAD LAWIN Agoncillo used his considerable influence and campaigned for MARKER a change in the recognized site to Pugad Lawin and the date 23 August Consequently, Macapagal ordered that the Cry of Balintawak be called the “Cry of Pugad Lawin,” and that it be celebrated on 23 August instead of 26 August (Proclamation No. 149, s. 1963). The 1911 monument in Balintawak was later removed from the highway. Student groups moved to save the discarded 34 monument, and it was installed in front of Vinzons Hall in the 35  PUGAD LAWIN MARKER In 1962, Teodoro Agoncillo, together with the UP Student Council, placed a marker at the Pugad Lawin site. According to Agoncillo, the house of Juan Ramos stood there in 1896, while the house of Tandang Sora was located at Pasong Tamo. On 30 June 1983, Quezon City Mayor Adelina S. Rodriguez created the Pugad Lawin Historical Committee to determine the location of Juan Ramos’s 1896 residence at Pugad Lawin 36  PUGAD LAWIN The NHI files on the committee’s findings show the following: MARKER In August 1983, Pugad Lawin in barangay Bahay Toro was inhabited by squatter colonies. The NHI believed that it was correct in looking for the house of Juan Ramos. However, the former residence of Juan Ramos was clearly defined. There was an old dap-dap tree at the site when the NHI conducted its survey in 1983. Teodoro Agoncillo, Gregorio Zaide, and Pio Valenzuela do not mention a dap-dap tree in their books. Pio Valenzuela, the main proponent of the “Pugad Lawin” version, was dead (1956) by the time the committee conducted its research. 37 Teodoro Agoncillo tried to locate the marker installed in August  Erythrina Variegata Tiger's claw or Indian coral tree 38  PUGAD LAWIN In spite of the above findings and in the absence of any clear MARKER evidence, the NHI disregarded its own report that the Philippine Historical Committee (PHC) had determined in 1940 that the Pugad Lawin was Tandang Sora’s residence and that the specific site of Pugad Lawin was Gulod in Banlat, Kalookan. The presence of the dap-dap tree in the Pugad Lawin site is irrelevant, since none of the principals like Pio Valenzuela, Santiago Alvarez, and others, nor historians like Gregorio Zaide and even Agoncillo himself before that instance- 39 mentioned such a tree.  PUGAD LAWIN MARKER On the basis of the 1983 committee’s findings, the NHI placed a marker on 23 August 1984 on Seminary Road in barangay Bahay Toro behind Toro Hills High School, the Quezon City General Hospital, and the San Jose Seminary. 40  CARTOGRA CHANGES PHIC 41  CARTOGRAPHIC Was there a Pugad Lawin in maps or literature of the period? CHANGES A rough sketch or croquis de las operaciones practicadas en el Español showed the movements of Lieutenant Ros against the Katipunan on 25, 26, and 27 August 1896. The map defined the place named “Sitio de Baclac” (Banlat). In 1897, the Spanish historian Manuel Sastron mentioned Kalookan, Balintawak, Banlat and Pasong Tamo. The names mentioned in some revolutionary sources and interpretations - Daang Malalim, Kangkong and Pugad Lawin - were not 42 identified as barrios. 43  CARTOGRAPHIC In 1943 map of Manila marks Balintawak separately from CHANGES Kalookan and Diliman. The sites where revolutionary events took place are within the ambit of Balintawak. Government maps issued in 1956, 1987, and 1990, confirm the existence of barangays Bahay Toro, but do not define their boundaries. Pugad Lawin is not on any of these maps. According to the government, Balintawak has been replaced by several barangays. Barrio Banlat is now divided into barangays Tandang Sora and Pasong Tamo. Only Bahay Toro remains intact. 44  CARTOGRAPHIC Writer and CHANGES linguist Sofronio Calderon, conducted research in the late 1920s on the toponym “Pugad Lawin,” went through the municipal records and the Census of 1903 and 1918, could not find the name, and concluded that “Isang pagkakamali ang sabihing mayroong Pugad Lawin sa Kalookan.” 45  CARTOGRAPHIC What can we conclude from all this? CHANGES First, that “Pugad Lawin” was never officially recognized as a place name on any Philippine map before Second World War. Second, “Pugad Lawin“ appeared in historiography only from 1928, or 32 years after the “Cry” took place. Third, the revolution was always traditionally held to have occurred in the area of Balintawak, which was distinct from 46 Kalookan and Diliman.  CARTOGRAPHIC CHANGES Therefore, while the toponym “Pugad Lawin” is more idealistic, it is more accurate to stick to the original “Cry of Balintawak.” 47  DETERMINI THENG DATE 48  DETERMINING The official stand of NHI is that the Cry took place on 23 THE DATE August 1896. That date, however, is debatable: The later accounts of Pio Valenzuela and Guillermo Masangkay on the tearing of cedulas on 23 August are basically in agreement, but conflict with each other on the location. Valenzuela points to the house of Juan Ramos in Pugad Lawin, while Masangkay refers to Apolonio Samson’s in Kangkong… Valenzuela’s date (23 August) in his memoirs conflict with 1928 and 1930 photographs of the surveys with several Katipunan officers, published in La Opinion, which 49 claim that the Cry took place on the 24th.  THE TURNING 50  WHAT OCCURRED DURING THOSE LAST DAYS OF 51 AUGUST 1896?  THE TURNING POINT Eyewitness accounts mention captures, escapes, killings of Katipunan members; the interrogation of Chinese spies; the arrival of arms in Meycauyan, Bulacan; the debate with Teodoro Plata and others; the decision to go war; the shouting of slogan; tearing of cedulas; the sending of letters presidents of Sanggunian and balangay councils; the arrival of civil guard; the loss of Katipunan funds during the skirmish. All these events, and many others, constitute the beginning of nationwide revolution. 52  THE TURNING POINT The Cry, however, must be defined as that turning point when the Filipinos finally rejected Spanish colonial dominion over the Philippine Islands, by formally constituting their own national government, and by investing a set of leaders with authority to initiate and guide the revolution towards the establishment of sovereign nation. 53 WHEN DID IT TAKE PLACE? 54  THE TURNING The introduction to the original Tagalog text of the POINT Biyak na Bato Constitution states: Ang paghiwalay ng Filipinas sa kahariang España sa patatag ng isang bayang may sariling pamamahala’t kapangyarihan na pangangalang “Republika ng Filipinas” ay siyang layong inadhika niyaring Paghihimagsik na kasalukuyan, simula pa ng ika- 24 ng Agosto ng taong 1896… 55  THE TURNING The Spanish text also states: POINT La separacion de Filipinas de la Monarquia Española, constituyendose en Estado Independiente y soberano con Gobierno propuio, con el nombre de Republica de Filipinas, es en su Guerra actual, iniciada en 24 de Agosto de 1896… (The separation of the Philippines from the Spanish Monarchy, constituting an independent state and with a proper sovereign government, named the Republic of the Philippines, was the end pursued by the revolution through the present hostilities, initiated on 24 August 1896…) 56  THE TURNING POINT These lines, in a legal document, are persuasive proof that in so far as the leaders of the revolution are concerned, revolution began on 24 August 1896. The document was written only one and a half years after the event and signed by over 50 Katipunan members, among them Emilio Aguinaldo , Artemio Ricarte, and Valentin Diaz. 57  THE TURNING POINT Emilio Aguinaldo’s memoirs, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan (1964), refer the two letters from Andres Bonifacio dated 22 and 24 August. They pinpoint the date and place of the crucial Cry meeting when the decision to attack Manila was made: 58  “On 22 August 1896, the Magdalo Council received a secret letter from Supremo Andres Bonifacio, in Balintawak, which stated that the Katipunan will hold an important meeting on the 24th of the said month, and that it was extremely necessary to send two representatives or delegates in the name of the said Council. Upon receiving the said invitation, our President, Mr. Baldomero Aguinaldo, called a meeting at Tribunal of Cavite el Viejo… We were apprehensive about sending representatives because the areas they would have to pass through were dangerous… Nevertheless, we agreed and nominated to send a single representative…, Mr. Domingo Orcullo… Our representative arrived safely at his destination and also returned unharmed, bearing a letter from the Supremo dated 24 August. It contained no orders but the shocking announcement that the Katipunan would attack Manila at night on Saturday, 29 August, the signal for which would be the putting out of the lamps in Luneta. He added that 59  THE TURNING POINT The first monument to mark the Cry was erected in 1903 on Ylaya Street in Tondo, in front of the house were Liga Filipina was founded. The tablet cites Andres Bonifacio as a founding member, and as “Supreme Head of the Katipunan, which gave the first battle Cry against tyranny on August 24, 1896.” 60  THE TURNING POINT In Philippine Historical Association round-table discussion in February 2003, a great granddaughter of Tandang Sora protested the use of toponym “Pugad Lawin” which, she said, referred to a hawks nest on top of a tall sampaloc tree at Gulod, the highest elevated area near Balintawak. 61  THE TURNING POINT It is clear that the so-called “Cry of Pugad Lawin” of 23 August 1896 is an erroneous interpretation, contrary to indisputable and numerous historical facts. 62  THE TURNING Yet, we mustPOINT respect and commemorate with what has been proclaimed by the government, that the cry for nationwide revolution, the “Cry of Pugad Lawin” happened on 23 August 1896, in the Juan Ramos’s house in “Pugad Lawin”, Bahay Toro, Kalookan. 63  THANK 64 YOU