The Cry of Pugadlawin revisited
By Rudy A. Arizala
28 August 2007
Before the month of August come to a close, let us remind ourselves on what happened in our country in 1896, especially the so-called "Cry of Balintawak" which actually occured in the barrio of Pugadlawin.
That event has become merely a footnote to our history.
According to historians, the premature disclosure of the existence of a secret society, the Katipunan, by Teordoro Patiño through the confessional box to Spanish friar Fr. Gil, led Andres Bonifacio and his men to flee Manila and seek refuge in its environs. At first they went to barrio Kangkong and then on 23 August 1896. They gathered at barrio Pugadlawin in the yard of Juan Ramos, the son-in-law of "Tandang Sora" (Melchora Aquino). There, as a sign of protest against Spánish rule in the Philippines, Bonifacio and his men tore up their "Cedulas" (Residence Tax Certificates); shouted "Long live the Philippines!";and decided what next to do.
Teodoro Plata, the brother-in-law of Bonifacio, expressed the opinion that before they stage a revolution or uprising, they should first have money, firearms and ammunitions. The more than one thousand men which gathered at Pugadlawin were only armed with a dozen revolvers, a rifle, and the rest with bolos, daggers, spears and wooden lances. But Plata was overruled by Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto. The majority opted to start the revolution right that day. From Pugadlawin they marched the next day (24 August) toward a nearby barrio called Pasong Tamo, to the farm of Melchora Aquino where they were fed by the kindly old woman with 100 cavans of rice and 10 carabaos which were slaughtered.
But this "barrio fiesta" atmosphere at the farm of Tandang Sora did not last long. A contingent of well-armed Spanish security forces consisting of native (indios) soldiers and three Spaniards happened to reconnoiter the place. Thus, the first "skirmishes" between Bonifacio´s peasant army and Spanish forces occurred at Pasong Tamo on 26 August 1896, marking the first stage of the Katipunana revolution against Spain.
From that first encounter, Bonifacio and his men marched toward "Hagdang-bato" in Mandaluyong where they received food and other supplies as well as additional men and firearms. At Hagdang-Bato, Bonifacio planned to launched a simultaneous and concentrated attack on Manila by various Katipunan forces. The attack on Manila was scheduled on 29 August 1896, through an agreed signal - the firing of a canon ball.
However, for unknown reason, Bonifacio failed to give that signal to attack Manila. Historian Marconi Dioso in his book "Trilogy of Wars"wrote: " But the signal for the general assault against Manila was never given by Bonifacio . . . This signal fiasco can be attributed to Bonifacio´s lack of military discipline during that very early phase of the revolution."
Instead, Bonifacio attacked the Spanish aresenal in San Juan del Monte, but failed. It could be said that the "Battle of San Juan del Monte" was the "Waterloo" of Bonifacio. Again, according to historian Dioso: "By mid-morning the battle was over. Ninety-five Katipuneros lay dead with many of their corpses littering the roadways. Spanish casualties were small: three killed and fifteen wounded. This was undoubtedly a clear victory for the forces of Echaluce. The next morning when John Foreman, a British trader and earstwhile historian, rode over to San Juan del Monte with a Castillian friend, he described the scene before him: ´The rebel slain had not yet been removed. We came across them everywhere-in the fields and in the gutters of the highroad. Old men and youth had joined in the scrimmage and, with one exception, every corpse we saw was attired in the usual working dress (of peasant)."
The rest is history. Aguinaldo, a landlord of Cavite, took over the command of the Katipunan peasant army; won several battles in his home province of Cavite until the truce of Biak-na-Bato hammered by Don Pedro Paterno. Under said peace treaty, Aguinaldo and some of his top leaders would go on exile abroad but receive monetary compensation. Aguinaldo reportedly spent part of that money in purchasing rifles, ammunitions and other weapons from Japan. Unfortunately, that shipload of armaments never reached the Philippines for it was shipwrecked somewhere in Japan sea due to a storm.
Aguinaldo then met U.S. Commodore Dewey in Hong Kong and had a deal with him. Aguinaldo and his men would return to the Philippines and continue the revolution against Spain provided the Americans would give assistance or help in liberating the Philippines from Spain.
But such deal did not happen. Thru a "mock battle" in Manila between the U.S. forces and the remaining Spanish forces in the Philippines, the latter surrendered to the the U.S. forces in the Philippines. With Commodore Dewey´s victory in the Battle of Manila Bay against Spanish armada led by Admiral Montojo, followed by the 1898 Treaty of Paris whereby Spain sold the Philippines to the U.S. in the amount of US 20 million dollars, Aguinaldo and his men have to fight the forces of what they think at first were their friends and allies.
Aguinaldo and his peasant army continued to fight for freedom but had to retreat up North in Luzon due to superior enemy forces. A boy general, 21 year old Gregorio del Pilar and his handpicked 60 soldiers tried to defend Tirad Pass from the pursuing American forces in pursuit of Gen. Aguinaldo and his men. In the process, the boy general was killed and according to a U.S. officer, " we left him alone in his own glory"- his dead body rotting under the noonday sun until another U.S. army officer came by and gave the body of young Gregorio del Pilar a decent burial.
Thru a "ruse de guer", Col Funston of the U.S. army, using the native Macabebe mercenary soldiers dressed in Katipunero uniforms, was able to penetrate the headquarters of Aguinaldo in Palanan. Aguinaldo was taken prisoner and brought to Manila. Col. Funston was promoted to General. Shortly, thereafter, Aguinaldo swore allegiance to the Stars and Stripes. Other Katipinero generals were either killed, captured or surrendered to the U.S. Forces. Gen. Miguel Malvar of Batangas was the last General of the Aguinaldo Army to surrender to the Americans. Another Katipunero leader Sakay was captured and hang by the Americans. Gen. Artemio Ricarte or "Viborta" was banished to Guam, then went on exile to Japan. Ricarte during WW II retunred to the Philippines under the banner of the Rising Sun. Apolinario Mabini, the close adviser, "hefe de gabinete" of Aguinaldo and foreign affairs secretary was banished or exiled to Guam by the Americans. Homesick and
tired of eating "canned sardines" in American concentration camps in Guam, he pledged allegiance to the Stars and Stripes so that he would be able to return to the Philippines. He died of cholera at his nipa house under Nagtahan bridge in Manila during a cholera epidemic in the city.
In war or revolution, it is said "the victors write history". I shall neither write history of the Filipino struggle for freedom nor judge them. I would simply quote what Thomas Gray wrote in his "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," which states: "Let not Ambition mock their useful toil / Their homely joys, and destiny obscure; / Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile / The short and simple annals of the Poor."
But perhaps as a footnote to history, may I remind readers: There was once a Filipino peasant army who with bolos and wooden lances, fought for freedom against superior enemy forces. "They lost the battle, but not their struggle for freedom."