NEWSSTAND

The most important book

of our time
By: John Nery - @jnery_newsstand
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 10:11 PM December 02, 2013

Last Friday, among several other titles, the Ateneo de Manila University Press
launched “The Light of Liberty: Documents and Studies on the Katipunan, 1892-
1897,” by the historian Jim Richardson. It is, in my view, the most important book
of this generation.

I base my conclusion on three premises. First, and in the words of the Inquirer’s
Bonifacio Day editorial last Saturday: “The Philippine Revolution of 1896 is the
primary and formative experience of Philippine nationhood, and that revolution
was principally [Andres] Bonifacio’s doing.” A work that allows us to reclaim this
truth with all the innocence of rediscovery, while at the same time connecting
other nation-forming experiences of our history in one integrated narrative, is
important by definition.
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Second, the true character of the Katipunan, the revolutionary organization

Bonifacio founded, has been obscured by what Richardson describes as “a paucity
of sources,” into which abyss ideologues and popularizers have willingly entered.
This “crying shortage of reliable sources,” he writes in his preface, “has tempted
historians to write history as they wish it had been, and has allowed every species
of fallacy to flourish, from wild conjecture and fanciful exegesis to hagiography
and myth-making; from simple error to outright fabrication.” A work that succeeds
in offering “a corrective to the worst excesses,” then, to use Richardson’s own
modest phrasing, is not only welcome but necessary to the national project.
Third, Philippine society continues to be divided according to ideological
constructs that would have made no sense to the Katipuneros and revolutionaries
themselves: reform versus revolution, Rizal versus Bonifacio, ilustrado versus
plebeian, rich versus poor. A work that shows convincingly just how much
Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and other organizers of the Katipunan saw themselves as
continuing the work of Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar and other propagandists, one that
demonstrates beyond any doubt that those who joined the Katipunan were not
only the “unlettered” but also the learned, that its membership came from all
classes, a study above all that proves that the Katipuneros knew what they needed
to do not only to fight for liberty but to conduct themselves according to liberty’s
highest standards, is consciousness-altering.

“The Light of Liberty” is all of the above, and then some. It is so primarily because
it presents 73 Katipunan documents—56 of which have not yet been published in
book form, 52 of which come from the Archivo General Militar de Madrid (AGMM).
In other words, documents that the Spanish colonial regime confiscated from the
revolutionaries and then managed to keep. The AGMM documents are particularly
important for one more reason: None of them were used in the writing of the main
books on the Katipunan that generations of Filipinos have grown up on, such as
Teodoro Agoncillo’s “Revolt of the Masses.”

(As Richardson notes more than once, and as I have had occasion to mention in
this space, much of the book’s content can be read off two websites, “Bonifacio
Papers” and “Katipunan: Documents and Studies.” That the most important book
of our time is largely available online raises the inevitable question: What makes a
book? But let’s leave that for another time.)

Richardson is modest about his book’s worth: “The documents do not spring any
huge surprises, but they do revise or clarify several points of detail.” Well, perhaps
for the academic historian. But for the ordinary Filipino, the information in this
book—logically organized, carefully cited, superbly translated (or paraphrased, as
the case may be) from the original Tagalog—will be a revelation.
Just one example. In my view, Agoncillo and Isabelo de los Reyes (his “La
sensacional memoria de Isabelo de los Reyes sobre la revolucion Filipina de 1896-
97” was the first history of the Katipunan) erred egregiously when they
propagated the view of the Katipunan which they found congenial: that it was an
organization of illiterate peasants. Richardson’s documentation, especially the
Table from page 416 to 448, disproves this simplistic thesis.

To my mind, “The Light of Liberty” allows the modern Filipino reader to begin to
see the Katipunan for what it truly was. I will not quote from the last paragraph of
Richardson’s preface, which makes the case emphatically. (This is not available
online.) But let me quote a good chunk of the paragraph before that, which offers a
good summing-up.

“The Katipunan … was at its core a modern, forward-looking organization,

rationalist and secular. It was not the first association to launch a revolt against
Spanish rule, for outbreaks of resistance had begun with the conquest, and it did
not initiate the discourse on liberalism, modernity, and Philippine nationhood,
which is customarily said to have begun in the 1860s. The originality of the
Katipunan, the singular, momentous achievement of the Katipuneros, lay in
connecting the anticolonial impulse with the contemporary discourse, and in
launching a revolution that was ’nationalist’ in the full, inclusive, nationwide sense
of the word. The KKK called upon all the people of the archipelago to unite, to fight
for freedom, and to found a new nation.”

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/66619/the-most-important-book-of-our-

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https://www.scribd.com/document/399336249/Kartilya-by-Jim-Richardson-doc
Emilio Jacinto (attrib.), Katipunan nang manga A. N. B. – Sa
may nasang makisanib sa katipunang ito [The “Kartilya”].
Sources: Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997)
46; José P. Santos, Buhay at mga sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto (Manila: José Paez Santos, 1935), 59–63.

Taught in schools and debated in universities, the “Kartilya” is the best known of
all Katipunan texts. Making manifest the KKK’s principles and teachings, it was printed
as a small pamphlet for new members. It is the only document of any length set in print
by the Katipunan prior to August 1896 that is known to be still extant.

The earliest reference to the Kartilya yet found is in the minutes of a Supreme
Assembly meeting held in December 1895, which say the manifesto (“pahayag”) will be
priced at 4 kualta per copy. Whether it is the KKK branches or the individual recruits
who are to be charged this amount is not clear, and nor is it known whether the title
phrase - “To those who want to join this Katipunan” - truly means potential recruits, or
in practice should be taken to mean “To those who have just joined this Katipunan.” If
copies were sold to potential as well as actual recruits, needless to say, there was a
heightened risk they might fall into the wrong hands.

The Kartilya was still in use during the first phase of the revolution, and Bonifacio was
planning to print more copies shortly before he was killed. It may still have been used
during the second phase of the revolution, for a version survives in the Philippine
Insurgent Records that is stamped with the seal used by Artemio Ricarte in 1899. This
version contains basically the same text as is transcribed here, but it bears a different
title – “Final Declaration on Admission to the Katipunan” (Katapusang pamamahayag
sa pagpasok sa K.) – and it omits the famous footnote that says “the word Tagalog
means all those born in this Archipelago.”

Authorship of the Kartilya has always been credited to Emilio Jacinto, and there
is little doubt this attribution is sound: it dates back to the Sensacional memoria of
Isabelo de los Reyes, whose sources included several senior KKK veterans, and it has
never been challenged. Bonifacio, the story goes, had originally intended that his
“Decalogue” should be printed and handed to new recruits, but he then read Jacinto’s
Kartilya and decided it was superior. The two texts, though, are not really
comparable. Bonifacio seeks only to enumerate the duties of Katipunan members,
Jacinto couches his primer, four times as long, rather as a statement of aspirations and
ethical values. Bonifacio lists ten obligations; Jacinto presents twelve “guiding
principles” and fourteen “teachings”.

In its structure the Kartilya resembles the declaration used in Manila’s Masonic
lodges, a declaration that had presumably been written in Spain around 1889 when the
grand order to which the lodges were affiliated – the Gran Oriente Español - had been
founded by Miguel Morayta. The Kartilya is addressed “To those who want to join the
Katipunan”; the Masonic document to “los profanos que deben inscribirse en la
Sociedad.” The preamble to the Kartilya echoes the Masonic document’s stated
purpose, which is to ensure that candidates fully understand the association’s objectives
before making a commitment they might later repent. The division in the Kartilya
between principles (“layon”) and teachings (“aral”) broadly parallels the division in the
Gran Oriente’s manifesto between the “Programa Masonica” and the “Codigo
Masonico.” And the Kartilya, finally, like the document used in the lodges, asks
neophytes to pledge their allegiance to the association’s objectives and to affirm with
their signature that they are becoming members of their own free will (“ninais ng loob
ko”).

There are also parallels between the content of the two documents. Recruits to the
lodges were advised that Masonry “considera como hermanos todos los hombres”; that
they should renounce “todos los vicios”; and should “defenderás al oprimido.” Within
the Katipunan, said the Kartilya, “all are equal and true brethren.” Members had to
“renounce disorderly habits” and to “defend the oppressed.”

Other influences may be identified more tentatively. The admonitions to regard a

woman as a “helpmate” rather than a “plaything,” and to “have due regard to her
weakness” may be Biblical in origin. The adage that “an honorable man’s word is his
bond” may be traced back to Cervantes; and the thought that “time lost is lost forever”
may have come from Benjamin Franklin. One precept is perhaps taken from Rizal. A
“life which is not dedicated to a great idea is useless,” declares Rizal’s fictional
insurrectionist Simoun in El Filibusterismo: “It is a pebble lost in the field, when it
should form part of some building.” “Life which is not consecrated to a lofty and sacred
cause,”Jacinto writes, varying the metaphor, “is like a tree without shade, if not a
poisonous weed.”

To emphasize Enlightenment influences on Katipunan thinking, some say, effaces

the originality of documents like the Kartilya, which may be found in the nuances of
their Tagalog and their resonance with the native psyche, familial bonds, folk
Christianity, indigenous dissident traditions and so on. Such arguments may be true up
to a point, but often they seem nebulous, reliant more on wishful assertion than on
substantiating chapter and verse. The Tagalog words that resound loudest in the
Kartilya, beyond doubt, are the equivalents of the Enlightenment’s defining
watchwords: Liberty (“Kalayaan”), Equality (“lahat ng tao’y magkakapantay”),
Fraternity (“kayong lahat ay magkakapatid”), Reason (“Katuiran”), Progress
(“Kagalingan”) and Enlightenment itself (“Kaliwanagan”). Most, perhaps all, of these
Tagalog equivalents had already been employed by ilustrado writers like Rizal and Del
Pilar before the KKK was founded. The revolutionary originality of the Katipunan lay
not in its idiom, but in its objectives and its deeds.

===========================================

Tagalog text
KATIPUNAN
NANG MANGA

A. N. B.
SA MAY NASANG MAKISANIB
SA KATIPUNANG ITO

Sa pagkakailangan, na ang lahat na nagiibig pumasuk sa katipunang

ito, ay magkaroon ng lubos na pananalig at kaisipan sa mga layong
tinutungo at mga kaaralang pinaiiral, minarapat na ipakilala sa kanila ang
mga bagay na ito, at ng bukas makalawa’y huag silang magsisi at tuparing
maluag sa kalooban ang kanilang mga tutungkulin.

Ang kabagayang pinaguusig ng katipunang ito ay lubos na dakila at

mahalaga; papagisahin ang loob at kaisipan ng lahat ng tagalog (*) sa
pamagitan ng isang mahigpit na panunumpa, upang sa pagkakaisang ito’y
magkalakas na iwasak ang masinsing tabing na nakabubulag sa kaisipan at
matuklasan ang tunay na landas ng Katuiran at Kaliwanagan.

(*) Sa salitang tagalog katutura’y ang lahat nang tumubo sa Sangkapuluang ito; sa
makatuid, bisaya man, iloko man, kapangpangan man, etc., ay tagalog din.

Dito’y isa sa mga kaunaunahang utos, ang tunay na pagibig sa bayang

tinubuan at lubos na pagdadamayan ng isa’t isa.

Maralita, mayaman, mangmang, marunong, lahat dito’y

magkakapantay at tunay na magkakapatid.

Kapagkarakang mapasok dito ang sino man, tataligdan pilit ang

buhalhal na kaugalian, at paiilalim sa kapangyarihan ng mga banal na utos
ng katipunan.

Ang gawang lahat, na laban sa kamahalan at kalinisan, dito’y

kinasusuklaman; kaya’t sa bagay na ito ipinaiilalim sa masigasig na
pakikibalita ang kabuhayan ng sino mang nagiibig makisanib sa katipunang
ito.

Kung ang hangad ng papasuk dito’y ang tumalastas lamang o mga

kalihiman nito, o ang ikagiginhawa ng sariling katawan, o ang kilalanin ang
mga naririto’t ng maipagbili sa isang dakot na salapi, huag magpatuloy,
sapagkat dito’y bantain lamang ay talastas na ng makapal na nakikiramdam
sa kaniya, at karakarakang nilalapatan ng mabisang gamut, na laan sa mga
sukaban.

Dito’y gawa ang hinahanap at gawa ang tinitignan; kaya’t hindi dapat
pumasuk ang di makagagawa, kahit magaling magsalita.

Ipinauunawa din, na ang mga katungkulang ginaganap ng lahat ng

napaaanak sa katipunang ito ay lubhang mabibigat lalung lalu na, kung
gugunitain na di mangyayaring maiiwasan at walang kusang pagkukulang
na di aabutin ng kakilakilabot na kaparusahan.

Kung ang hangad ng papasuk dito, ang siya’y abuluyan o ang

ginhawa’t malayaw na katahimikan ng katawan, huag magpatuloy, sapagkat
mabigat na mga katungkulan ang matatagpuan, gaya ng pagtatangkilik sa
mga naaapi at madaluhong na paguusig sa lahat ng kasamaan; sa bagay na
ito ay aabutin ang maligalig na pamumuhay.

Di kaila sa kangino paman ang mga nagbalang kapahamakan sa mga

tagalog na nakaiisip nitong mga banal na kabagayan (at hindi man), at mga
pahirap na ibinibigay na naghaharing kalupitan, kalikuan at kasamaan.

Talastas din naman ng lahat ang pagkakailangan ng salapi, na sa

ngayo’y isa sa mga unang lakas na maaasahang magbibigay buhay sa lahat;
sa bagay na ito, kinakailangan ang lubos na pagtupad sa mga pagbabayaran;
piso sa pagpasuk at sa buan buan ay sikapat. Ang salaping ito’y
ipinagbibigay alam ng nagiingat sa tuing kapanahunan, bukod pa sa
mapagsisiyasat ng sinoman kailan ma’t ibigin. Di makikilos ang salaping
ito, kundi pagkayarian ng karamihan.

Ang lahat ng ipinagsaysay at dapat gunitain at mahinahong

pagbulaybulayin, sapagkat di magaganap at di matitiis ng walang tunay na
pagibig sa tinubuang lupa, at tunay na adhikang ipagtangkilik ang
Kagalingan.

At ng lalung mapagtimbang ng sariling isip at kabaitan, basahin ang

sumusunod na

MANGA ARAL NANG

KATIPUNAN NG MGA A.N.B
----------
Ang kabuhayang hindi ginugugol sa isang malaki at banal na kadahilanan
ay kahoy na walang lilim, kun di damong makamandag.
Ang gawang magaling na nagbubuhat sa pagpipita sa sarili, at hindi sa
talagang nasang gumawa ng kagalingan, ay di kabaitan.

Ang tunay na kabanalan ay ang pagkakawang gawa, ang pagibig sa kapua at

ang isukat ang bawat kilos, gawa’t pangungusap sa talagang Katuiran.

Maitim man at maputi ang kulay ng balat, lahat ng tao’y magkakapantay;

mangyayaring ang isa’y higtan sa dunong, sa yaman, sa ganda…; ngunit
di mahihigtan sa pagkatao.

Ang may mataas na kalooban inuuna ang puri sa pagpipita sa sarili; ang
may hamak na kalooban inuuna ang pagpipita sa sarili sa puri.

Sa taong may hiya, salita’y panunumpa.

Huag mong sasayangin ang panahun; ang yamang nawala’y mangyayaring

magbalik; nguni’t panahong nagdaan na’y di na muli pang magdadaan.

Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi, at kabakahin ang umaapi.

Ang taong matalino’y ang may pagiingat sa bawat sasabihin, at matutong

ipaglihim ang dapat ipaglihim.

Sa daang matinik ng kabuhayan, lalaki ay siyang patnugot ng asawa’t mga

anak; kung ang umaakay ay tungo sa sama, ang patutunguhan ng
inaakay ay kasamaan din.

Ang babai ay huag mong tignang isang bagay na libangan lamang, kundi
isang katuang at karamay sa mga kahirapan nitong kabuhayan; gamitan
mo ng buong pagpipitagan ang kaniyang kahinaan, at alalahanin ang
inang pinagbuhata’t nagiwi sa iyong kasangulan.

Ang di mo ibig na gawin sa asawa mo, anak at kapatid, ay huag mong

gagawin sa asawa, anak, at kapatid ng iba.

Ang kamahalan ng tao’y wala sa pagkahari, wala sa tangus ng ilong at puti

ng mukha, wala sa pagkaparing kahalili ng Dios, wala sa mataas na
kalagayan sa balat ng lupa; wagas at tunay na mahal na tao, kahit laking
gubat at walang nababatid kun di ang sariling wika, yaong may
magandang asal, may isang pangungusap, may dangal at puri; yaong di
napaaapi’t di nakikiapi; yaong marunong magdamdam at marunong
lumingap sa bayang tinubuan.

Paglaganap ng mga aral na ito at maningning na sumikat ang araw ng

mahal na Kalayaan dito sa kaabaabang Sangkalupuan, at sabugan ng
matamis niyang liwanag ang nangagkaisang magkalahi’t magkakapatid
ng ligaya ng walang katapusan, ang mga ginugol na buhay, pagud, at mga
tiniis na kahirapa’y labis nang natumbasan.

Kung lahat ng ito’y mataruk na ng nagiibig pumasuk at inaakala niyang

matutupad ang mga tutungkulin, maitatala ang kaniyang ninanasa sa
kasunod nito.

===========================================

SA HKAN. NG ________________________________

Ako’y si______________________________________
taong tubo sa bayan ng __________________________

hukuman ng ______________________ang katandaan ko

ng___________taon, ang hanap-buhay______________

ang kalagayan________________________________

at nananahan sa______________________________

daan ng____________________________________

Sa aking pagkabatid ng boong kagalingan ng

mga nililayon at ng mga aral, na inilalathala ng
KATIPUNAN ng mga A.N.B. ninais ng loob ko ang
makisanib dito. Sa bagay na ito’y aking
ipinamamanhik ng boong pitagan, na marapating
tangapin at mapakibilang na isa sa mga anak ng
katipunan: at tuloy nangangakong tutupad at
paiilalim sa mga aral at Kautusang sinusunod dito.

______________________ika
____________ng buan ng
_________________

____________________ng taong 189__.

Nakabayad na ng
ukol sa pagpasuk
Ang Taga-ingat na yaman

===========================================
English translation
ASSOCIATION
OF THE
SONS OF THE PEOPLE

To those who want to join this association.

In order that all who want to enter this Association may have a full understanding
and knowledge of its guiding principles and main teachings, it is necessary to make
these things known to them so that they will not, tomorrow or the next day, repent, and
so that they may perform their duties wholeheartedly.

This Association pursues a most worthy and momentous object: to unite the
hearts and minds of all the Tagalogs (*) by means of an inviolable oath, in order that this
union may be strong enough to tear aside the thick veil that obscures thought, and to
find the true path of Reason and Enlightenment.

(*The word Tagalog means all those born in this Archipelago; even a person who is a
Visayan, Ilocano, or Kapampangan, etc. is therefore a Tagalog too.)

One of the foremost rules here is true love of the native land and genuine
compassion for one another.

Poor, rich, ignorant, wise – here, all are equal and true brethren.

As soon as anybody enters here, he shall perforce renounce disorderly habits and
shall submit to the authority of the sacred commands of the Katipunan.

All acts contrary to noble and clean living are repugnant here, and hence the life
of anyone who wants to affiliate with this Association will be submitted to a searching
investigation.

If the applicant merely wishes to know the secrets of the Association, or to seek
personal gratification, or to know who is here in order to sell them for a handful of
silver, he cannot proceed, for here the many who are watching him will already know his
intentions, and will immediately have recourse to an effective remedy, such as befits
traitors.

Here, only actions are demanded and esteemed; hence anybody who is not
willing to act should not enter, no matter how good a speaker he might be.
It is also announced that the duties to be performed by the members of this
association are exceedingly hard, especially if one remembers that there can be no
dereliction or wilful evasion of duty without the exaction of a terrible punishment.

If an applicant merely desires financial support relief or wants to lead a life of

bodily comfort and ease, he had better not proceed, for he will encounter weighty tasks,
like the protection of the oppressed and the relentless fight against all that is evil. In
this way, his fate will be a vexatious life.

Nobody is unaware of the misfortune that threatens the Filipinos who

contemplate these things that are sacred (and even those that are not) and the sufferings
they are made to endure by the reign of cruelty, injustice and evil.

Everybody also knows the need for money, which today is one of the main things
upon which we depend to bring sustenance to all. In this regard, the punctual payment
of dues is required: one peso upon entry and then twelve and a half centimos each
month. The custodian of the funds will periodically render an account to the members,
and each member has a right to examine the accounts, should he so wish. The funds
cannot be expended without the consent of the majority.

All this must be thought over and deliberated upon calmly, as it cannot be
accomplished or endured by anyone who has no love for his native land and no genuine
desire to promote Progress.

And for the upliftment of your mind and virtue, read the following

TEACHINGS OF THE
KATIPUNAN OF THE SONS OF THE PEOPLE
A life that is not dedicated to a great and sacred cause is like a tree without a
shade, or a poisonous weed.

A good deed lacks virtue if it springs from a desire for personal profit and not
from a sincere desire to do good.

True charity resides in acts of compassion, in love for one’s fellow men, and in
making true Reason the measure of every move, deed and word.

Be their skin dark or pale, all men are equal. One can be superior to another in
knowledge, wealth and beauty... but not in being.

A person with a noble character values honor above self-interest, while a person
with an ignoble character values self-interest above honor.

An honorable man’s word is his bond.

Don’t waste time; lost wealth may be recovered, but time lost is lost forever.
Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor.

An intelligent man is he who takes care in everything he says and keeps quiet
about what must be kept secret.

Along the thorny path of life, the man leads the way and his wife and children
follow. If the leader goes the way of perdition, then so do those who are led.
Do not regard a woman as a mere plaything, but as a helpmate and partner in the
hardships of this existence. Have due regard to her weakness, and remember the
mother who brought you into this world and nurtured you in your infancy.
What you would not want done to your wife, daughter and sister, do not do to the
wife, daughter and sister of another.
A man’s worth does not come from him being a king, or in the height of his nose
and the whiteness of his face, or in him being a priest, a REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD,
or in his exalted position on the face of this earth. Pure and truly noble is he who,
though born in the forest and able to speak only his own tongue, behaves decently, is
true to his word, has dignity and honor, who is not an oppressor and does not abet
oppressors, who knows how to cherish and look after the land of his birth.
When these doctrines have spread and the brilliant sun of beloved liberty shines
on these poor Islands, and sheds its sweet light upon a united race, a people in
everlasting happiness, then the lives lost, the struggle and the suffering will have been
more than recompensed.
--------------------------

If the applicant understands all this, and believes he will be able to fulfil these
duties, he should put his request in writing, as follows:

TO THE PROVINCIAL DIRECTORATE

OF _____________________________________________

I, _____________________________________________

NATIVE OF THE TOWN OF ______________________________

PROVINCE OF _________________________MY AGE

IS___________YEARS, OCCUPATION_____________________

MARITAL STATUS____________________________AND RESIDENT

AT ____________________STREET OF ________________________
Having fully understood the principles and teachings proclaimed by the
Katipunan of the Sons of the People, I wish with heart and soul to become a
member. Respectfully, therefore, I beg to be deemed worthy of admission and to be
counted as one of the sons of the association, and I pledge to comply with its teachings
and submit to its Orders.

[Sgd.]

the ____________of the month of _________________

____________________of the year 189__.

Entrance fee has been paid.