Case Study: Where did the Cry of Rebellion Happened?

INTRODUCTION

In August 1896, The Cry of Pugad Lawin or Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin was the beginning of
the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule where in the members of the Katipunan secret
society: Katipuneros which led by Andres Bonifacio rose up in revolt. The historical event
marked the beginning of Philippine revolution and their act of defiance against spanish empire.
By tearing up their cedulas became a sign of enslavement of the Filipinos. Originally the term
"Cry" referred to the first skirmish between the Katipuneros and the Civil Guards. Other
definitions of the term have been made over the years, but today it is popularly understood to
refer to the tearing of community tax certificates by the rebels to mark their separation from
Spain.

Because of differing accounts and the ambiguity of place names in these accounts, the
exact date and place of the Cry is disputed. Various accounts give differing dates and places for
the Cry of Pugad Lawin. Balintawak. Santiago Alvarez, a Katipunero and son of Mariano
Alvarez, the leader of the Magdiwang faction in Cavite, stated in 1927 that the Cry took place in
Bahay Toro, now in Quezon City on August 24, 1896. Next is an officer of the Spanish guardia
civil, Lt. Olegario Diaz. He stated that the Cry took place in Balintawak on August 25, 1896. On
the other hand, Historian Teodoro Kalaw in his 1925 book The Filipino Revolution wrote that
the event took place during the last week of August 1896 at Kangkong, Pío Valenzuela, a close
associate of Andrés Bonifacio, declared in 1948 that it happened in Pugad Lawin on August 23,
1896. Historian Gregorio Zaide stated in his books in 1954 that the "Cry" happened in
Balintawak on August 26, 1896. Fellow historian Teodoro Agoncillo wrote in 1956 that it took
place in Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896, based on Pío Valenzuela's statement. Accounts by
historians Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnacion and Ramon Villegas claim the event to
have taken place in Tandang Sora's barn in Gulod, Barangay Banlat, Quezon City. And Finally,
from 1908 until 1963, the official stance was that the cry occurred on August 26 in Balintawak.
In 1963 the Philippine government declared a shift to August 23 in Pugad Lawin, Quezon City.
BODY: Events

The news about the discovery of Katipunan spread to Manila and nearby suburbs that
made Andres Bonifacio immediately call for a general meeting. Various wings of the Katipunan
gathered at the house of Juan Ramos in Pugadlawin on August 23, 1896. Ramos was the son of
Melchora Aquino, also known as the "Mother of the Katipunan." Bonifacio asked his men if they
were willing to fight to the bitter end. And so everyone shouted their approval, except for
Teodoro Plata, who thought that it was too soon for a revolution. And by his men’s response,
Bonifacio then asked them to tear their cedulas to pieces as a sign of their defiance and
determination to rise against the Spaniards. The men immediately tore up their cedulas, shouting,
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas known as the Cry of Pugadlawin. Cavite soon became the center of the
Revolution, and the Katipuneros there divided themselves into the Magdalo and Magdiwang
factions. Baldomero Aguinaldo, brother of Emilio Aguinaldo, headed the Magdalo group, which
was located in Kawit. On the other hand, General Mariano Alvarez led the Magdiwang group,
which was stationed in Noveleta. The two groups fought in separate battles. Emilio Aguinaldo
overran Kawit on August 31, 1896, while Alvarez attacked Noveleta. In Bacoor, Aguinaldo tried
to intercept Spanish reinforcements coming from Manila but he was repulsed and forced to
retreat to nearby Imus. On the morning of September 5, he defeated the Spanish troops under the
command of General Aguirre. That cost a hundred dead Spaniards and 60 weapons that was
confiscated. Aguinaldo then hailed as a hero and the adoring Caviteños referred him from
Kapitan Miong to General Miong. General Aguinaldo’s numerous victories in the battlefield
made him the acknowledged revolutionary leader in Cavite.

By the defeat of the Spaniards in Cavite, Camilo de Polavieja replaced Ramon Blanco as
governor general on December 13, 1896. Polavieja was more successful than his predecessor and
slowly regained one-third of the province. While Aguinaldo was recognized as leader by the
Magdalo faction, Bonifacio was recognized as the leader of the Katipunan by the Magdiwang
faction. On March 22, an assembly was held at Tejeros to elect officers of the revolutionary
government. Aguinaldo won as president while Bonifacio was relegated as the Director of the
Interior. Bonifacio later formed the Naic Military Agreement, essentially creating a government
contending Aguinaldo's. Soon after, Bonifacio was captured, stood trial, and was sentenced to
death by a War Council of Aguinaldo's government. Aguinaldo initially commuted the sentence
to deportation but later reversed the commutation upon pressure from Pio Del Pilar and other
officers. On orders from General Mariano Noriel, Andres Bonifacio was executed at the foothills
of Mt. Buntis by Major Lazaro Makapagal on May 10, 1897.
 However, Bonifacio’s death did not become a hindrance for the Filipinos from fighting
for their freedom. The Spanish government, for its part, doubled its efforts in trying to control
Cavite, which was considered the seat of the Revolution. The rebels, however, stood their ground
but Aguinaldo realized that Cavite was no longer safe for his men so they moved to Batangas
where they temporarily set up camp in the town of Talisay. But unfortunately, Spanish soldiers
were able to pursue them there. Thus, they retreated to Morong on June 10, 1897 and proceeded
to Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan.

BODY: Where did it happened?

The celebration of the "Cry" was not a contentious issue two decades after the revolution.
Ceremonies were held in Kangkong, where KKK veterans agreed that pasya or the revolt's
decision had been made, and in Balintawak, where the famous statue of a bolo-waving, flag-
holding Katipunero stood to commemorate the unang labanan, or their first encounter with
Spanish forces, which took place a few kilometers to the north-east. How did it come to be that
the “Cry” is now honored as the “Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin” at a place in Bahay Toro where no
KKK veteran has ever found the pasya or the unang labanan? The cry of Pugad Lawin,
regrettably, is long, tangled and hard to unravel. It is also a case study in the hazards of oral
history. And then reporters and historians misrepresent what they said.

In Kangkong 1917, the Labi ng Katipunan, a Katipunan veterans' organization,

constructed a memorial near Apolonio Samson's house on the Kaingin Road in neighborhood
Kangkong, where they remembered the decision to revolt had been made. “Sa pook na ito,” the
inscription stated, plainly and simply, “...ipinasya ng KKKNMANB ang paghihimagsik noong
ika-23 ng Agosto 1896”.

In Pio Valenzuela’s “Memoirs”, Valenzuela continued to connect Pugad Lawin with

Melchora Aquino's house in 1940, as he had in the 1910s and 1920s, according to Serrano's
testimony. Except, in the terms of his "Memoirs," that is. Valenzuela describes the decision to
revolt. In the "home, storehouse, and yard of Juan Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino, in Pugad
Lawin" in his "Memoirs," as previously mentioned, in a single line that has confused the whole
subject.
 Teodoro Agoncillo and Isagani Medina have claimed in recent decades that this suggests
the pasya site was not at Melchora Aquino's house, but rather three kilometers to the south west
of Pasong Tamo, in Bahay Toro. However, Luis Serrano, who accompanied Valenzuela to
Pasong Tamo in 1940 and later translated the veteran's "Memoirs," did not reach the same
conclusion. Pio Valenzuela is the star witness for the "Pugad Lawin in Bahay Toro" stance, and
his "Memoirs" is the primary document. However, in his "Memoirs," he makes no reference of
Bahay Toro as the pasya location, and there is no indication that he ever did. In whatever version
of his story, no. Valenzuela's appearance as the star witness for a version of events — the official
"Pugad Lawin in Bahay Toro" version – to which he did not adhere is ironic, to say it mildly.

Teodoro Agoncillio – initiator of Pugad Lawin’s relocation. When retelling the story
of the "Cry" in Revolt, Agoncillo chose to follow Valenzuela's "Memoirs" and indicate that the
pasya was taken at Juan Ramos' house in Pugad Lawin. Agoncillo, on the other hand, does not
agree with Valenzuela's version of events. One of his departures is particularly relevant in this
regard. Ramos and his mother, according to Valenzuela, both lived in "Pugad Lawin near Pasong
Tamo." Agoncillo, on the other hand, claims that Ramos lived in "Pugad Lawin" (without
elaborating), but that his mother lived in Pasong Tamo, and that the two locations were a long
way away. The Katipuneros received word that the Guardia Civil were approaching shortly after
the cedulas were torn in Ramos' yard in Pugad Lawin on August 23, according to Agoncillo in
Revolt, and they swiftly marched off in the dark to Pasong Tamo, landing at Melchora Aquino's
house the next day. In a 1960 article, Agoncillo retells the event, adding that "rebels walked pell-
mell through the night to Pasong Tamo" from Pugad Lawin.
CONCLUSION: Discussion and End

A lot of evidences and events has presented in the body part of this case study. Now, let’s
answer the question why we conducted this study, “Where did the cry of rebellion happened?”

All of the events from the "cry" took place in the municipality of Caloocan in the
province of Manila. Detailed maps of a municipality were thought to be non-existent during the
Spanish era, or that if they did exist, they would not be able to survive due to the numerous
conflicts that inflicted serious damage, most of which occurred in places where documentation
were buried. The actual location had already perplexed historians, and things got even more
convoluted when the name "Pugad Lawin" alludes to not one but two locations. The first was
commemorated in the Bahay Toro, where Melchora Aquino's son had resided. The other was
said to be Melchora's own residence. It was 3 kilometers away from his sons' house. This was in
the barrio of Banlat, at Pasong Tamo.

According to Medina, I., these occurrences did not occur at the same time or in the same
location to avoid any misunderstandings or false information. Several reports did not precisely
identify the chronology of events. It's a good thing historians have spent so much time studying
the "cry." The term Pagpupunit was coined shortly after the pasya, according to Teodoro
Agoncillo. Isagani Medina, on the other hand, insisted that the Pagpupunit occurred before the
decision to revolt. Finally, according to Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, the cry should signify
"unang Laban."

Knowing the particular location where the cry occurred is as difficult as knowing the
exact day when it was recorded. There were also other tales with differing claims to the historical
event's location. After leaving the house of Apolonio Samson in Kangkong on August 22, 1896,
they went to the Bahay Toro, which he said was Melchora Aquino's residence, according to
Santiago Alvarez. The Supremo convened all of the Katipuneros from the several local
provincial councils here. The Katipuneros convened at Melchora Aquino's barn, commonly
known as Tandang Sora, the following day, August 24, 1896, after Andres Bonifacio requested
another meeting.

The Katipuneros raised their cedulas and tore them apart on that day, signaling their will
to fight back. The same can be said of Dr. Valenzuela's memoirs, albeit they differ in terms of
the date of the occurrence and the owner of the property in Bahay Toro. According to him, it was
Melchora's son Juan Ramos who owned the land. He also mentioned Pugad Lawin as the
location of the Bahay Toro. Teodoro Agoncillo, a well-known historian at the time, researched
this case. According to his findings, Melchora Aquino and Juan Ramos resided separately yet
close to one other.

The Philippine Revolution, also known as the Cry of Balintawak, was a watershed
moment in Philippine history, reawakening a proud feeling of nationality in future generations of
Filipinos. During an era of intense struggle and warfare, Filipinos from many origins came
together to fight colonialism.
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Cry of Pugad Lawin. (n.d.). Https://En.m.Wikipedia.Org. From https://en.m.wikipedia.org

Cry-of-Pugad-Lawin. (2020, January 11). Www.Philippine-History.Org. https://www.philippine-

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