Filipino Version

The Filipino version is told by Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera.

According to him, the so-called Cavite Mutiny was merely a
response by native soldiers and laborers to the harsh policy of the
new governor-general, Rafael de Izquierdo, who whimsically
terminated old-time privileges such as exempting them from
paying annual tribute and from performing forced labor or polo.

According to the accounts, the mutiny was blown up into a

revolution by Spanish authorities and friars as a method for
Filipinos to seek independence from the Spanish crown.

 Trinidad H.Pardo de Tavera (April 13, 1857 - March 26,

1925) was a Filipine physician historian and politician of
Spanish and Portuguese descent. Trinidad known by his
name, Pardo de Tavera was known for his writings about
different aspects of Philippins culture.

 On January 27, 1872 Governor-General Rafael Izquierdo

approved the death sentences on forty-one of the
mutineers.

 Tavera believed that the Spanish friars and Izquierdo

used the Cavite Mutiny as a powerful lever to overthrow
the Spanish government in the Philippines.

 It's worth noting that the Central Governance in Madrid

stated at the time that the friars would be stripped of all
rights of interference in areas of civil government and
educational direction and management to preserve
authority in the Philippines..

Following the rebellion, some Filipino troops were disarmed and

transported to Mindanao, a small island off the coast of the
Philippines.

 Those accused of assisting the mutineers directly were

apprehended and executed.

 The colonial administration and Spanish friars exploited

the rebellion to accuse three secular priests known as
Gomburza: Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto
Zamora.

 On February 17, 1872, they were killed by garrote at

Luneta, popularly known as Bagumbayan in Tagalog. LESSON 3 - THE FIRST CRY OF THE REVOLUTION

The discrediting of the Grito de Balintawak legend was one of

Agoncillo's main themes. It has been commonly assumed since
the turn of the century that the first scream of the revolution took
place at Balintawak, Caloocan. Then came Agoncillo, who cited the
exact date of the shout as August 23, 1896, and the precise
location as Pugadlawin, not Balintawak. Despite these being
academic facts, the Balintawak culture is still alive and well. Nick
Joaquin continues to advocate for Balintawak. According to
revolutionary sources, the Balintawak tradition was more popular
than the Pugadlawin tradition.
Pio Valenzuela' Account Pio Valenzuela took a step back on another point. Valenzuela
testified in 1896 that when the Katipunan asked Jose Rizal if the
Except in our textbooks, this debate remains unsolved. What was moment had come to rebel, Rizal was adamantly opposed to it.
startling was learning that the Cry had five distinct dates August Valenzuela later reversed his assertion in Agoncillo's Revolt of the
20, 23, 24, 25, and 26 and five different places for the first cry: People, claiming that Rizal was supporting the revolt provided
Balintawak, Pugadlawin, Kangkong, Bahay Toro, and Pasong Tamo, certain conditions were satisfied. Valenzuela had lied to save Rizal,
depending on which book one read. Agoncillo reasoned.

Pio Valenzuela had numerous Cry variations. It will be able to

identify what happened only when they have been compared and
reconciled with the other accounts. On the morning of August 23rd, more than 1,000 Katipunan
members gathered in the yard of Juan A. Ramos, son of Melchora
Was there a gathering on the 23rd of August 1896 at Pugad Lawin, Aquino. The question of whether the uprising against the Spanish
after the conference at Apolonio Samson's house in Hong Kong? government should begin on the 29th was debated extensively.
At Kangkong or Pugad Lawin, were the cedulas torn? Only one individual objected... However, he was overridden in his
position... The decision was then revealed by Bonifacio, who
Valenzuela said only that Katipunan meetings took held from
screamed, "Brothers, it was agreed to continue with the
Sunday to Tuesday or 23 to 25 August in Balintawak before the
insurrection plan." Do you pledge to oppose the oppressive
Olive Court in September 1896, which was entrusted with
government, my brothers? "And the rebels screamed, "Yes, sir!" as
investigating those implicated in the revolt.
one guy answered. "Bring out your cedulas and rip them to pieces
to signify our desire to take arms!" Bonifacio said, With tear-
According to Valenzuela, the Katipunan began gathering on
streaked eyes, the rebels shouted: "Long live the Philippines!"
August 22, 1911, and the Cry took place on August 23, 1911, at
during the event. Katipunanlarms! Long live the Katipunanlarms!
Apolonio Samson's residence in Balintawak.
Agoncillo utilized his enormous clout to lobby for a change in the
Valenzuela said that the Cry took place on August 24, 1928, in the
recognized site to Pugad Lawin, as well as a change in the date to
residence of Tandang Soral (Melchora Aquino) at Pugad Lawin,
August 23, 1896. Without official discussions recommendations to
which he currently owns near Pasong Tamo Road. A photograph
or President Macapagal, the National Heroes Commission (a
of Bonifacio's widow, Gregoria de Jesus, and Katipunan members
predecessor of the NHI) was established in 1963.
Valenzuela, Briccio Brigido Pantas, Alfonso, and Cipriano Pacheco,
published in La Opinion in 1928 and 1930, was captioned both
times as having been taken at the site of the Cry on August 24,
1896 at Tandang Sora's house on Pasong Tamo Road. Teodoro Agoncillo and the UP Student Council erected a plaque at
(https://sites.google.com/site/katipunandocumentsandstudies/st the Pugad Lawin site in 1962. In 1896, the home of Juan Ramos
udies/notes-on-the- cry-of-august-1896) stood there, according to Agoncillo, while the house of Tandang
Sora stood in Pasong Tamo. The Pugad Lawin Historical
"Na hindi sa Balintawak nangyari ang unang sigaw ng
Committee was established by Quezon City Mayor Adelina S.
paghihimagsik na kinalalagian ngayon ng bantayog, kung di sa
Rodriguez on June 30, 1983, to determine the site of Juan Ramos'
pook na kilala sa tawag na Pugad Lawin," declared Valenzuela,
1896 home in Pugad Lawin.
Pantas, and Pacheco in 1935. (Not in Balintawak, where the
monument is located, but in Pugad Lawin, where the revolution's
initial cry was heard.)
The NHI files on the committee's findings show the following:
The specific location of Pugad Lawin was determined as part of
sitio Gulod, Banlat, Kalookan City, by a study team of the In August 1983, Pugad Lawin in barangay Bahay Toro was
Philippines Historical Committee (a predecessor of the National inhabited by squatter colonies.
Historical Institute or NHI) in 1940, which included Pio Valenzuela.
The location of the Cry was Tandang Sora's, not Juan Ramos', The NHI believed that it was correct in looking for the house of
according to the NHI's Minutes of the Katipunan in 1964, and the Juan Ramos and not of Tandang Sora. However, the former
date was August 23. residence of Juan Ramos was clearly defined.

According to Valenzuela's memoirs (1964, 1978), the Cry occurred There was an old dap-dap tree at the site when the NHI conducted
on August 23 at Juan Ramos' residence in Pugad Lawin. its survey I 1983. Teodoro Agoncillo, Gregorio Zaide and Pio
Valenzuela's memoirs had a clear impact on the NHI. Following Valenzuela did not mention a dap-dap tree in their books.
the NHI's approval, President Diosdado Macapagal decreed that
Pio Valenzuela, the main proponent of the "Pugad Lawin" version,
the Cry be commemorated on August 23 and that Pugad Lawin be
was dead by the time the committee conducted its research.
designated as the location.
Teodoro Agoncillo tried to locate the marker installed in August
The Cry took place on August 23 in Juan Ramos' home in Pugad
1962 by the UP Student Council. However, was no longer extant in
Lawin, according to Valenzuela's memoirs (1964, 1978). The
1983.
memoirs of Valenzuela had a significant effect on the NHI.
Following the ratification of the NHI, President Diosdado
Macapagal said that the Cry would be celebrated on August 23
and that Pugad Lawin would be the site. In spite of the above findings and in the absence of any clear
evidence, the NHI disregarded its own 1964 report that the Jose Rizal was said to have signed it just before his death. There
Philippine Historical Committee had determined in 1940 that the were several witnesses, the most of them were Jesuits. On May
Pugad Lawin reside nce was Tandang Sora's and not Juan 13, 1935, the document was made public for the first time. Fr.
Ramos's and that the specific site of Pugad Lawin was Gulod in Manuel A. Gracia discovered it in the Catholic hierarchy's archive
Banlat. in Manila. However, only copies of the original document were
revealed to the public. However, according to Fr. Pio Pi, a Spanish
The presence of the dap-dap tree at the Pugad Lawin site Jesuit, Rizal's retraction was transcribed precisely and published
established by Agoncillo and the NHI is irrelevant, because none of in Spain in 1907, and then republished in Manila. Fr. Gracia, who
the principals, such as Pio Valenzuela, Santiago Alvarez, and discovered the original manuscript, transcribed it word for word.
others, historians such as Zaide - and even Agoncillo himself There were different variations of the text in both copies.
before that instance-mentioned such a tree. mentioned such a tree. Furthermore, the date of the signature was clearly stated in the
original Spanish paper that Rizal allegedly signed. The year was
The NHI installed a marker on Seminary Road in barangay Bahay
1890, and the date was "December 29, 1890." Later, an allegedly
Toro, behind Toro Hills High School, the Quezon City General
genuine paper with the date "December 29, 189C" emerged. The
Hospital, and the San Jose Seminary, on August 23, 1984, based
number "0" was clearly changed to resemble the letter C. Then,
on the conclusions of the 1983 committee. Ang Sigaw ng Pugad
later, another ostensibly original version surfaced. The d time. So,
Lawin (1896) Sa paligid ng pook na ito, si Andres Bonifacio at mga
which one is it? ate is "December 29, 1896." The "0" became a "6"
isang libong Katipunero at nagpulong noong umaga ng ika-23
this
Agosto 1896, at ipinasyang maghimagsik laban sa Kastila sa
Pilipinas, at ipinasyang maghi Ang kanilang mga sedula na naging
tanda ng pagkaalipin ng mga Pilpino ay pinag-pupunit ang kanilang
mga sedula na naging tanda ng pagkaalipin ng mga Pilpino. Ito Those who felt the Rizal retraction paper was faked said that the
ang kaunaunahang sigaw ng Bayang Api na pinatibayan sa forger of Rizal's signature was Roman Roque, the same guy who
pamamagitan ng paggamit ng sandata laban sa bansang Espanya. forged Urbano Lacuna's signature, which was used to capture
Aguinaldo. Lazaro Segovia, they claim, was the brains behind both
(On this site, Andres Bonifacio and a thousand Katipuneros met on Lacuna's and Rizal's signature forgeries. During the closing days
the morning of August 23, 1896, and decided to revolt against the of the Filipino-American conflict, they were contacted by Spanish
Spanish colonial government in the Philippines; as a symbol of friars who wanted to fake Rizal's signature.
their resolve, they tore up their tax receipts, which were symbols of
the Filipinos' oppression; this was the first Cry of the Oppressed
Nation against Spain that was enforced with the use of arms.)
Antonio K. Abad told the story after hearing it from Roman Roque
However, the name "Pugad Lawin" is controversial. Zaide recounts himself, as they were neighbors. The retraction debate continues
Valenzuela's reference of the place in a footnote rather than in the to rage like a wildfire in the middle of the night. Others. think that
body of text in History of the Katipunan (1939), implying that the the friars manufactured Rizal's alleged retraction in order to divert
Historian considered the subject unresolved. Rizal's heroism, which was concentrated on the friar abuses.

Lesson 4 - Retraction of Rizal Antonio K. Abad

The validity of Jose Rizal's retraction paper is also a major topic of

discussion. Since Father Manuel Garcia, C.M. found Rizal's
retraction letter in 1935, its substance has been a source of Fr. Pio Pi, who reproduced Rizal's retraction precisely, was also a
debate among academics and Catholics. The National Hero major figure during the revolution. Andres Bonifacio said that it
himself was believed to have signed the letter, which was dated was he who informed Aguinaldo of the halt of agitation in
December 29, 1896. exchange for amnesty.

"I proclaim myself a Catholic, and I desire to live and die in this
religion in which I was born and educated," it said. Whatever in my
Source: wikipedia.com
words, thoughts, publications, and actions has been antithetical to
my character as a son of the Catholic Church, I apologise
wholeheartedly."
Many people believe that Josephine Bracken's autobiography,
written on February 22, 1897, was likewise faked, and that it was
forged horribly. The notion that they were married according to
The debate over whether the National Hero actually wrote a
Catholic rites. was confirmed by a document purportedly written
retraction document is largely a matter of opinion, as no amount
by Josephine herself. However, a thorough examination reveals a
of evidence is likely to persuade the two opposing groups -the
significant discrepancy between the document's handwriting and
Masonic Rizalists (who are convinced Rizal did not retract) and the
those of previous letters sent by Josephine to Rizal.
Catholic Rizalists (who are convinced Rizal did retract) to agree.

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