The KKK and the

“Kartilya ng
Katipunan
The Katastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan is arguably the
most important formed in the Philippine history. While anti-colonial
movements, efforts and organizations had already been established
centuries prior to the foundation of the Katipunan, it was only this
organization that envisioned (1) a united Filipino nation that would
revolt against the Spaniards for (2) the total independence of the
country from Spain. Previous armed revolts had already occurred
before the foundation of the Katipunan, but none of them
envisioned a unified Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers
For example, Diego Silang was known as an Ilocano who took up his
arms and led one of the longest running revolts in the country.
Silang, however, was mainly concerned about his locality and
referred to himself as El Rey de Ilocos (The King of Ilocos). The
imagination of the nation was largely absent in the aspirations of
the local revolts before Katipunan. On the other hand, the
propaganda movements led by the ilustrados like Marcelo H. del
Pilar. Graciano López Jaena, and Jose Rizal did not envision a total
separation of the Philippines from Spain, but only demanded equal
rights, representation, and protection from the abuses of the friars.
In the conduct of their struggle, Katipunan created a complex
structure and a defined value system that would guide the
organization as a collective aspiring for a single goal. One of the
most important Katipunan documents was the Kartilya ng
Katipunan. The original title of the document was "Manga [sic] Aral
Nang [sic] Katipunan ng mga A.N.B." or "Lessons of the
Organization of the Sons of Country." The document was written by
Emilio Jacinto in the 1896. Jacinto was only 18 years old when he
joined the movement. He was a law student at the Universidad de
Santo Tomas. Despite his youth, Bonifacio recognized the value and
intellect of Jacinto that upon seeing that Jacinto's Kartilya was much
better than the Decalogue he wrote, he willingly favored that the
Kartilya be distributed to their fellow Katipuneros. Jacinto became
the secretary of the organization and took charge of the short-lived
printing press of the Katipunan. On 15 April 1897,
Bonifacio appointed Jacinto as a commander of the Katipunan in
Northern Luzon. Jacinto was 22 years old. He died of Malaria at a
young age of 24 in the town of Magdalena, Laguna The Kartilya can
be treated as the Katipunan's code of conduct. It contains fourteen
rules that instruct the way a Katipunero should behave, and which
specific values should he uphold. Generally, the rules stated in the
Kartilya can be classified into two. The first group contains the rules
that will make the member an upright individual and the second
group contains the rules that will guide the way he treats his fellow
men.
The Kartilya can be treated as the Katipunan's code of conduct. It
contains fourteen rules that instruct the way a Katipunero should
behave, and which specific values should he uphold. Generally, the
rules stated in the Kartilya can be classified into two. The first group
contains the rules that will make the member an upright individual
and the second group contains the rules that will guide the way he
treats his fellow men.
The 14 translated version of
the rules in Kartilya.
 1. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable
purpose is a tree without a shade, if not a poisonous weed.

 2. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not
virtue.

 3. It is rational to be charitable and love one’s fellow creature,

 4. Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal:

 5. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the

 7. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.

 8. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the
field.

 9. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.

 10. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the
children, and if the guide leads to the precipice, those whom he guides will
also go there.
 11. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a faithful
companion who will share with thee the penalties of life: her (physical)
weakness will increase thy interest in her and she will remind thee of the
mother who bore thee and reared thee.

 12. What thou dost not desire done unto the wife, children, brothers and
sisters, that not unto wife, children, brothers and sisters of thy neighbor.

 13. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline,
and his color white, not because he is a priest, a servant of God, nor because of
the high prerogative that he enjoys upon earth, but he is worth most who is a
man of proven and real value, who does good, keeps his words, is worthy and
honest; he who does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he who loves
and cherishes his fatherland, though he be born in the wilderness and know no
tongue but his own.
 14. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the
longed. For sun of Liberty shall rise brilliant over this most
unhappy portion of the globe and its rays shall diffuse everlasting
joy among the confederated brethren of the same rays, the lives
of those who have gone before, the fatigues and the well-paid
sufferings will remain. If he who desires to enter has informed
himself of all this and believes he will be able to perform what
will be his duties, he may fill out the application for admission.
As the primary governing document, which determines
the rules of conduct in the Katipunan, properly
understanding the Kartilya will thus help in
understanding the values, ideals, aspirations, and even
the ideology of the organization.
Analysis of the “Kartilya ng
Katipunan”
Similar to what we have done to the accounts of Pigafetta, this
primary source also needs to be analyzed in terms of content and
context. As a document written for a fraternity whose main purpose
is to overthrow a colonial regime, we can explain the content and
provisions of the Kartilya as a reaction and response to certain
value systems that they found despicable in the present state of
things that they struggled against with. For example, the fourth and
the thirteenth rules in the Kartilya are an invocation of the inherent
equality between and among men regardless of race, occupation, or
status. In the context of the Spanish colonial era where the indios
were treated as the inferior of the white Europeans, the Katipunan
saw to it that the alternative order that they wished to promulgate
through their revolution necessarily destroyed this kind of unjust
hierarchy.
Moreover, one can analyze the values upheld in the document as consistent with the
burgeoning rational and liberal ideals in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
Equality, tolerance, freedom, and liberty were values that first emerged in the
eighteenth century French Revolution, which spread throughout Europe and reached
the educated class of the colonies. Jacinto, an ilustrado himself, certainly got an
understanding of these values. Aside from the liberal values that can be dissected in
the document, we can also decipher certain Victorian and chivalrous values in the text.
For example, various provisions in the Kartilya repeatedly emphasized the importance
of honor in words and in action. The teaching of the Katipunan on how women should
be treated with honor and respect, while positive in many respects and certainly a
significant stride from the practice of raping and physically abusing women, can still be
telling of the Katipunan's secondary regard for women in relation to men. For example,
in the tenth rule, the document specifically stated that men should be the guide of
women and children, and that he should set a good example, otherwise the women and
the children would be guided in the path of evil, Nevertheless, the same document
stated that women should be treated as companions by men and not as playthings that
can be exploited for their pleasure.
In the contemporary eyes, the Katipunan can be criticized because
of these provisions. However, one must not forget the context
where the organization was born. Not even in Europe or in the
whole of the West at that juncture recognized the problem of
gender inequality. Indeed, it can be argued that Katipunan's
recognition of women as important partners in the struggle, as
reflected not just in Kartilya but also in the organizational structure
of the fraternity where a women's unit was established, is an
endeavor advanced for its time. Aside from Rizal's known Letter to
the Women of Malolos, no same effort by the supposed
cosmopolitan Propaganda Movement was achieved until the
movement's eventual disintegration in the latter part of the 1890s.
Aside from this, the Kartilya was instructive not just of the
Katipunan's conduct toward other people, but also for the
members' development as individuals in their own rights. Generally
speaking, the rules in the Kartilya can be classified as either
directed to how one should treat his neighbor or to how one should
develop and conduct one's self. Both are essential to the success
and fulfillment of the Katipunan's ideals. For example, the Kartilya's
teachings on honoring one's word and not wasting time are
teachings teachings on honorineelopment, while the rules on
treating the neighbor's wife, children, and brothers the way that
you want yours to be treated is an instruction on how Katipuneros
should treat and regard their neighbors. All in all, proper reading of
the Kartilya will reveal a more thorough understanding of the
Katipunan and the significant role that it played in the revolution
and in the unfolding of the Philippine history, as we know it.