November 29, 2011

• Keeping the flames alive

  Events

  Today, November 30, the Philippines celebrates the life of our true national hero, Andres Bonifacio, who valiantly died in the hands of a power-hungry mestizo who proclaimed himself a war time hero and president of the Republic. 

  Bonifacio never finished school. Circumstance forced him to work at a young age to raise his siblings. He was a man of the masses from the beginning. He started peddling cane and hand-made fans before he was able to work for foreign companies, first as a common worker, then a broker of goods, and finally a warehouseman.

  Bonifacio educated himself reading works on the French Revolution, biographies of American Presidents, and works by famous authors of the time like Victor Hugo and, yes, Jose Rizal.

  From the start, Bonifacio involved himself with the movement that hopes to change the situation of the natives, or indios, as the Spanish would call them. He first got invited to Jose Rizal's reformist movement, La Liga Filipina. But when Rizal was deported to Dapitan, the group disbanded and Bonifacio together with Teodoro Plata (a brother-in-law), Ladislao Diwa, Valentin Diaz, and Deodato Arellano founded a new movement.

  They believed that Spain would not agree with peaceful reforms, as such, they decided to take a more drastic form of action - revolution.

  The society called the Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Highest and Most Honorable Society of the Nation's Children) or Katipunan, was patterned after the Masons, of which Bonifacio was a part of.

  The spirit of the revolution was inspired by Rizal, and as such he was made honorary president of the Katipunan. Rizal, of course, never knew that. It was made out of Bonifacio's respect for the man, who he looked up to as a mentor.

  Bonifacio's humility is best demonstrated when he did not take the lead position in the group when it was founded on August 1892. He never became its president until in 1895 when the forces was already getting stronger and the preparation for the start of the armed revolution was drawing near. Eventually, the discovery of the Katipunan led the leadership to decide to act and the revolution began in August of 1896.

  Although prior to this, there were already pockets of resistance all over the archipelago, but it was the Katipunan that created a united front, giving a face to the revolution.

  Bonifacio died in the hands of comrades, whom he welcomed to his camp, not knowing of their standing order from Aguinaldo to execute him. It was a tragic execution that not only claimed the life of Bonifacio but also of his brothers, Ciriaco and Procopio. His wife, Gregoria de Jesus, was also allegedly raped by one of the assassins, Agapito Bonzon.

  Today, we commemorate the bravery, humility, and the dedication of Andres Bonifacio, who not only inspired a revolution but founded THE REVOLUTION that united the archipelago.

  Bonifacio was a testament to the strength of the toiling masses.

  (Source: Wikipedia | Photo credit: Kasaysayan KKK)

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