The Katipunan in Cavite.

-Even before the outbreak of the revolution, the

Katipunan in Cavite was already divided into two factions representing two provincial councils.
The factions were known as the Magdaló and the Magdiwang. The former was led by
Baldomero Aguinaldo, with headquarters at Cavite el Viejo (now Kawit), and the latter by
Mariano Alvarez, with headquarters at Noveleta. The Katipuneros of Cavite were
very active, having raised the standard of revolt on August 31, 1896 when they attacked the
tribunál (municipal building) of San Francisco de Malabon. The Magdiwang, on the other
hand, attacked the Spaniards in Noveleta, shouting: "Panahon na! Mabuhay ang Kalayaan!"
(The time has come! Long live Lib- erty!) At Cavite el Viejo, the Magdaló, led by Candido
Tirona, took the offensive against the enemy garrison which was cap- tured without much
difficulty. Meanwhile, Emilio Aguinaldo marched against Bakood to intercept the Spanish
forces coming from Manila but was defeated. Aguinaldo retreated to Imus and here, in the
morning of September 5, he defeated the Spanish troops under the command of General
Aguirre. The latter, in his haste to escape the Filipinos, galloped furiously away, leaving
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HISTORY OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE

his sword behind him. In this encounter, the Spaniards lost hundreds of men and
sixty guns with ammunition. Aguinaldo returned to Imus the recognized hero of the
hour. From that time on, the Caviteños called him Generál Miong, not Capitán Miong.

The rebel triumphs fired the imagination of the people. Every male, young or
old, carried a bolo or a knife, ready to fight the hated Spaniard wherever he was
met. Aguinaldo was so inspired by the showing of the people and by the unity in all
the ranks that he issued two manifestoes on October 31 calling upon the people to continue
to fight until liberty was won.

Defeated in many sectors, the Spaniards decided to carry the fight to the
province of Cavite. Governor-General Ramon Blanco, egged on by the friars and the
Spanish populace, took the offensive in Cavite early in November. He assaulted Bina-
kayan and Noveleta, but was repulsed with heavy losses. The Filipinos, under
Aguinaldo, also suffered losses, one of the casualties being Candido Tirona, Aguinaldo's
bosom friend. Having defeated the Spaniards, Aguinaldo and his men created the positions
of Secretary of State and Secretary of the Interior. Jacinto Lumbreras was designated
Secretary of State, while Daniel Tirona was appointed Secretary of the Interior.

The successive defeats of the Spaniards led the friars to agitate against Governor-
General Blanco. They accused him of dilly- dallying and of incompetence. Their efforts
were rewarded when General Blanco was finally relieved as governor by the brutal
General Camilo de Polavieja on December 13, 1896. Po- lavieja began his campaigns in
Cavite early in January 1897 and partially succeeded in driving away the rebels from
several places. His order to massacre the civilians led Andres Bonifacio, then in Morong, to
issue a proclamation denouncing the Spanish brutality. Inch by inch, the Spaniards
captured the territory they had lost until about one-third of Cavite fell into their hands.

Bonifacio in Cavite.-The rivalry that existed between the Magdalo and the
Magdiwang factions of the Katipunan in Ca- vite led to a series of reverses early in
January 1897. In a mass movement such as that of the revolution, unity was
indispensable. To patch up matters, the Magdiwang faction invited Andres Bonifacio
to intervene in the conflict. At first Bonifacio refused, saying that his presence in
Morong was necessary. But upon the insistent request of Artemio Ricarte and
Mariano Alvarez,
THE REVOLUTION: FIRST PHASE
177

Bonifacio accepted the invitation. Accompanied by his wife and his brothers
Procopio and Ciriaco, Bonifacio went to Cavite toward the end of December 1896. He was met at
Zapote by Emilio Aguinaldo, Edilberto Evangelista, and a few other leaders, who wanted to meet
him personally. On December 31, an assembly of revolutionists was held at Imus to determine
whether the Katipunan should be superseded by another form of government. The Magdalo
faction believed that with the out- break of the revolution the Katipunan had ceased to be a secret
society and should, therefore, be superseded by one more in keeping with the demands of the
period. The Magdiwang men, on the other hand, contended that the Katipunan should
remain the government of the revolutionists because it already had a constitution and by-laws
recognized by all. The conflict was not resolved and the meeting ended without having
accomplished anything.

The Tejeros Convention.-As months passed by and as the rebels found themselves
on the receiving end of the armed power with the Spaniards, their leaders thought it timely and wise to
call another meeting of both factions in order to solve their internal problem. Consequently, on March
22, 1897, the two factions again met at Tejeros, a barrio of San Francisco de Malabon. The convention
was held at the estate-house of the friars which the rebels had captured earlier.

The session opened at about two o'clock in the afternoon with Jacinto Lumbreras a
Magdiwang, as presiding officer, and Teodoro Gonzales, also a Magdiwang, as secretary.
Severino de las Alas, a Magdiwang, took the floor and suggested that the convention assembled
should solve the problem of whether a new government should be established to take the place
of the Ka- tipunan. This suggestion led to one heated argument after an- other until both camps
almost came to blows. Lumbreras sensed the seriousness of the situation and immediately called
for a recess to cool off the hotheads. After an hour, the session was resumed with Bonifacio as
chairman. To resolve the issue, he prudently acceded to the wish of some that a new
government be established to replace the Katipunan. However, he stated, the principle that
the will of the majority should be respected and obeyed must be followed. The convention
adopted this principle unanimously.

With this thorny question resolved, the Republic of the

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HISTORY OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE

Philippines was proclaimed. Before the election, Bonifacio re- minded the
convention that whoever should get elected to any position should be
respected. This proposal was approved and the election got underway. Elected
were:
Emilio Aguinaldo ...
Mariano Trias..
Artemio Ricarte
..

Emiliano Riego de Dios Andres Bonifacio

President

Vice-President Captain-General Director of War Director of the Interior

When Bonifacio was being proclaimed, Daniel Tirona, a Magdaló, stood up

and said: "The position of Director of the Interior is an exalted one and it is
not proper that a person with- out a lawyer's diploma should occupy it. We have in
our pro- vince a lawyer, José del Rosario!" Bonifacio was hurt and felt that he
was insulted, for it had been previously agreed that who- ever got elected was to be
respected. He demanded, therefore, that Daniel Tirona retract what he said. But Tirona,
instead of apologizing to Bonifacio, disappeared from the scene. Boni- facio in his
anger whipped his pistol and was about to fire at Tirona when Ricarte held his arm,
thus preventing what might have been a tragic affair. The people began to leave the
hall, and Bonifacio, still angry, cried aloud: "I, as chairman of this assembly, and as
President of the Supreme Council of the Kati- punan, as all of you do not deny,
declare this assembly dissolved, and I annul all that has been approved and
resolved." With this statement, he left the hall, followed by his men.

The Second Meeting at Tejeros.-Aguinaldo, who was at Pasong Santol, a barrio

of Dasmariñas, was notified the fol- lowing day of his election to the Presidency. At first
he re- fused to leave his men who were preparing to fight the enemy, but his elder
brother, Crispulo Aguinaldo, persuaded him to take the oath of office, promising that
he would take his place and would not allow the enemy to overrun the place without
dying in its defense. Aguinaldo then acceded to his brother's request and
proceeded to Santa Cruz de Malabon (now Tanza), where he and the others
elected the previous day, with the ex- ception of Bonifacio, took their oath of office.

Meanwhile, Bonifacio and his men, numbering forty-five, again met at the
estate-house of Tejeros on March 23. All of them felt bad about the results of the
previous day's proceed- ings, for they believed that anomalies were committed
during
THE REVOLUTION: FIRST PHASE
179

the balloting. Convinced that the election held was invalid, they drew up a
document, now called the Acta de Tejeros, in which they gave their reasons for not
accepting the results of the convention held the previous day. From Tejeros,
Bonifacio and his men proceeded to Naik in order to be as far as possible from the
Magdaló men who, they thought, were responsible for the commission of anomalies
during the Tejeros election. Aguinaldo, wanting to bring back Bonifacio to the fold, sent a
delegation to him to persuade him to cooperate with the newly constituted
government. But Bonifacio refused to return to the revolutionary fold headed by Aguinaldo.

The Naik Military Agreement.-Bonifacio's anger over what he considered an

irregular election and the insult heaped on him by Daniel Tirona, a Magdaló, rankled
for long. At Naik, he and his men drew up another document in which they resolved to
establish a government independent of, and separate from, that established at
Tejeros. An army was to be organized "by persuasion or force" and a military
commander of their own choice was to take command of it. The document read:

We who sign these presents with our true names, all officers of the army
who have met in convention headed by the Supreme Chief [Bonifacio], on
account of the critical situation of the pueblos and the war, having
discovered the treason committed by certain officers who have been sowing
discord and conniving with the Spaniards, our enemies, corrupting the army
and being guilty of criminal neglect in the care of the wounded, have agreed to
deliver the people from this grave danger by the means hereinafter enu-
merated:

First: All combatants shall, by persuasion or force, be incor- porated in

an army corps and placed under the command of General Pio del Pilar.

Second: We shall recognize no one as being vested with full power except
Right in the first place, and those courageous officers who, since the
beginning of the war and until the present moment, have never gone back on
their oath and have conducted themselves loyally.

Third: Any disloyal person shall be punished on the spot, according to

his desserts.

Such is our agreement, and we swear before God and the country of
our birth that we shall keep it unto the grave.
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HISTORY OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE

Among the forty-one men who signed it were Bonifacio, Artemio Ricarte, Pio del
Pilar, and Severino de las Alas. The document posed a potential danger to the cause of the
Revolu- tion, for it meant a definite split in the ranks of the revolutionists and almost certain
defeat in the face of a united and well-armed
enemy.

The Trial and Execution of Bonifacio.-From Naik, Boni- facio, his wife, and two
brothers, with a handful of loyal fol- lowers, transferred to the barrio of Limbon, Indang. The
Naik Military Agreement came to the knowledge of Aguinaldo and, realizing the significance
of Bonifacio's intentions, he ordered the arrest of the Bonifacio brothers. A group of soldiers
under the command of Colonel Agapito Bonzon was dispatched to Lim- bon to effect the
arrest. Bonzon ordered his men to surround the perimeter of the zone of which Bonifacio's house was
the center. A skirmish was inevitable, and in the firing that fol- lowed Bonifacio was stabbed in the
larynx, his brother Ciriaco was killed, and his other brother Procopio was wounded. Boni- facio
was placed in a hammock and brought to Naik, the capital of the rebel government. On
April 28, Aguinaldo forwarded the Bonifacio case to the Council of War in Order "to conduct the
necessary trial. . . ." On April 29, personnel of the Council of War was completed, with
Colonel Pedro Lipana as the Judge Advocate. José Elisés was fiscal, while Plácido Martinez
and Teodoro Gonzales were appointed defense attorneys of Andres and Procopio, respectively.
The trial lasted from April 29 to May 4: The Council of War that tried the Bonifacio brothers
was composed of General Mariano Noriel, President, and Cri- sostomo Riel, General Tomás
Mascardo, Plácido Martinez (Bo- nifacio's attorney), Mariano Riego de Dios, Esteban
Ynfante, and Sulficio Antony, members.

Andres and Procopio Bonifacio were found guilty of treason and sedition in spite of the fact
that the evidence was not suf-. ficient to prove their alleged guilt. Bonifacio was returned to jail
pending the reading of the sentence. On May 8, Baldomero Aguinaldo, the Auditor of War,
wrote President Aguinaldo re- commending approval of the Council of War's decision,
namely, execution of the two brothers. On the same day, May 8, President Aguinaldo
commuted the death sentence to banishment. As soon as this order changing the death sentence
to banishment reached the headquarters of Generals Mariano Noriel and Pio del Pilar, they
immediately rushed to General Aguinaldo and
THE REVOLUTION: FIRST PHASE
181

asked him to withdraw his order. They reasoned that with Boni- facio alive the cause of the
Revolution would be prejudiced since he would continue to disrupt the unity of the revolutionary
forces. The two generals were seconded by Clemente José Zulueta, Dr. Anastacio Francisco,
and General Mamerto Natividad, all of whom hated Bonifacio, Under this pressure, General
Agui- naldo withdrew his order. In other words, the original decision of the Council of War stood.

Early on the morning of May 10, General Noriel ordered Major Lazaro Makapagál
to bring out the two brothers from jail. Makapagál was handed a sealed letter with orders to
read its contents after reaching Mount Tala. Makapagál chose four soldiers to accompany him
in his mission. Having reached the vicinity of the mountain, Makapagál, upon the request of
Boni- facio, opened the sealed letter. It contained an order to execute Andres and Procopio
Bonifacio. There was a warning that failure to comply with the order would be punished severely.
Without much ado, Makapagál followed the order. Bonifacio's grave was shallow, the hole
having been dug by bayonets. Makapagál placed a few twigs on the grave.