THE DEATH OF “THE SUPREMO”
From LAZARO MAKAPAGAL’s account, 1928
1. Is Lazaro Makapagal's account reliable and trustworthy? Why?
Andres Bonifacio, the Supremo of the Katipunan during the 1896 Philippine Revolution,
had vague details about his death. Some multiple anecdotes and versions have been written by
various people. Lazaro Makapagal himself, the commander who ordered to kill the Bonifacio
brothers, wrote two public statements about what happened — first to the Philippine Free Press
in 1928 and second in a detailed letter to historian Jose P. Santos in 1929. If we compare his two
versions, there are still differences between them. Other events were written by Santiago Alvarez
in his memoirs which Makapagal allegedly told him in person. The versions of Makapagal and
Alvarez were published almost in the same period, more than 30 years ago after the execution of
the Bonifacio brothers, therefore the details of the narrative were quite suspicious.
According to some historiographers, Lazaro Makapagal’s testimony should be trusted
because he was the eyewitness of the execution of Andres and Procopio Bonifacio since he was
the one who led the execution. But I presume that Makapagal’s account has discrepancies. Thus,
it is not enough to claim that his account is reliable. The following observations support my
argument:
In Lazaro Makapagal’s account, he has some biases on Emilio Aguinaldo. He only
mentioned Gen. Mariano Noriel in his statement as the one who ordered him to kill the
Bonifacio brothers. But in 1948, Emilio Aguinaldo wrote a letter to Jose Santos—
admitting that he was involved in the execution of the Bonifacio brothers but under the
pretenses that he was pressured by Council of War members General Mariano Noriel and
General Pio del Pillar. But he was still the one who ordered to kill Bonifacio because he
was the commander and the decision-maker.
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It was detailed in Makapagal’s account that Andres Bonifacio knelt, pleaded for his life,
and even tried to escape. However, Andres Bonifacio had been wounded twice, stabbed
in the neck, and shot in the arm at the time of his arrest some two weeks earlier. He had
been locked without treatment so he would have been too weak to stand, unable to kneel,
or much less walk. So, why would he kneel, beg, and even try to run into the woods to
escape? Besides, it sounds so unlikely that a once-proud Supremo will kneel and beg to
spare his life.
Makapagal claimed that Andres was hacked to death by shooting him from behind but
according to the person who found the remains of the Supremo, Gen. Guillermo
Masangkay, one of Makapagal’s men admitted that Andres was stabbed using a bolo
(large Filipino machete). This theory is supported by the evidence of Andres’ fractured
skull and by a farmer who claimed to see five men hacking a man in a
hammock. The “death by bolo” theory has long been supported by several historians as
well as the hero’s great-great-grandnephew himself, Atty. Gary Bonifacio.
References:
Agoncillo, Teodoro. 1956. The revolt of the masses: The story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan,
Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
Aguinaldo, Emilio. 1967. The plot against Aguinaldo. In My memoirs: General Emilio F.
Aguinaldo, President, first Republic of the Philippines, trans. Luz Colendrino-Bucu.
Manila: Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay.
Alvarez, Santiago V. 1992. The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General, trans.
Paula
Carolina S. Malay, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Flores, W. (2013). The untold stories of Andres Bonifacio and his family. [Link].
[Link]
bonifacio-and-his-family
Ocampo, A. (2019). Bonifacio’s death: An eyewitness account. [Link].
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