Richardson, Jim. "Roster of Katipuneros at Balintawak, August 1896." 2005.

Amidst all the debate about precisely when and where the revolution started, historians have often neglected to ask exactly who gathered in Balintawak or thereabouts in August 1896. In the absence of a complete roster – clearly an impossibility at this distance in time – the fullest listing is to be found in an interview given by the KKK veteran Guillermo Masangkay to the Manila newspaper Bagong Buhay in 1952.¹ In this interview, Masangkay recalled the names of 56 men who had met in Balintawak prior to the first encounters with Spanish forces. In the great majority of cases, he also recalled their occupations, and it is fascinating to note that nearly half the patriots on his list worked in some capacity or other for branches of the Spanish administration. The three 'government secret agents', it is presumed, had in the preceding months been supplying useful information to the Katipunan and misinformation to the Spaniards.

Read more »

Taylor, John R. M. "The Philippine Insurrection of 1896-97." The Philippine Insurrection against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction. Pasay City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1971 [1906]. 61-78.

[61]

Chapter III

The Philippine Insurrection of 1896-97

The Filipino insurrection of 1896-97 was planned and carried out under the auspices of a society, local to the Philippines, called the Katipúnan. According to Spanish writers on the subject, this organization was the outgrowth of a series of associations, formed by what afterwards became the revolutionary clique with the expressed purpose of securing reforms in the government of the Philippines, but whose unexpressed and ultimate object was to obtain the independence of the archipelago. In order to accomplish this purpose, a systematic attack was made on the monastic orders in the Philippines to undermine their prestige and to destroy their influence upon the great mass of the population. Among the societies actively opposed to the friars and perhaps to Spain the first formed was the Tagálog Center of the Spanish Orient, lodges of which had been established in the islands some five or six years before this formidable insurrection by Miguel Morayta and others, who had used similar methods to combat the influence of the friars in the Spanish peninsula. The Spanish Orient, which has no affiliation with and is not recognized by English and American Masons, may be regarded as the source of that propaganda in the Philippines which afterwards developed into the sanguinary Katipúnan. A grand master of the Spanish Orient presided over the Carbonari of Italy. Its proselytes formed the Katipúnan of the Philippines.

Read more »

Ileto, Reynaldo C. Excerpts from The Diorama Experience: A Visual History of the Philippines. Makati City: Ayala Foundation, 2004. 84-93.

[84]

Katipunan Initiation Rites
Manila, 1892

The arrest and exile of Jose Rizal convinced many Filipinos of the need for more radical measures to attain equality with, if not independence from, Spain. Andres Bonifacio, an admirer of Rizal and a member of La Liga Filipina (the Philippine League), proceeded to organize a secret society named Kataastaasan Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (The Highest and Most Venerable Association of the Sons and Daughters of the Nation). The Katipunan, as the KKK was commonly referred to, was a small confraternity, numbering only three hundred from 1892 to 1895. It drew its inspiration from European Freemasonry as well as from confraternities or sodalities approved by the Catholic Church.

Bonifacio was a native of Tondo, a warehouseman, apart-time actor in vernacular dramas or komedya. Although proficient enough in reading Spanish, he wrote and spoke Tagalog almost exclusively. In his writings, he spoke of history and revolution in terms that the common people could understand. This is evident in his manifesto, Ang Dapat Mabatid ng Mga Tagalog (What the Tagalogs Should Know).

Read more »

Richardson, Jim. "Ileto's Indeterminacies." 2005.

Pasyon and Revolution and other pieces by Ileto, it is not entirely flippant to suggest, might be seen as akin to the pasyon itself, as texts capable of generating multiple, even contradictory, meanings. These diverse meanings stem not just from the diverse interpretations of individual readers, but also from Ileto’s own inconsistency.

Perceptions or empirical realities?

Ileto, it has been said (BfB, 287), is interested principally in perceptions rather than behavior or attitudes, and indeed this statement can be supported by a host of quotes. The tenets of traditional empiricist historiography, Ileto maintains, - cause-and-effect, objective truth, common sense, the author-centric fixation of meanings etc. - are outmoded, and need to be rejected in favor of structuralist and phenomenological approaches that focus on collective discourses, mentalities and perceptions.

On the other hand, Ileto by no means forswears addressing traditional concerns. When analyzing the popular movements of the period 1840-1910, he makes innumerable statements about the character, attitudes and behavior of individuals as well as collectivities. This, one might argue, smacks strongly of what he scorns in other passages as fuddy-duddy, old-style history. He indicates, for example, that his purpose in examining literature like the pasyon, awit and poems is largely instrumental; he is seeking to complement conventional sources and to shed fresh light on the trajectories and ideologies of "concrete struggles", not merely on how they were perceived (P&R, 14-5; CI, 95; 103).

Read more »

Fast, Jonathan, and Richardson, Jim. "The Katipuneros: Revolutionary Leadership in City and Province." In Roots of Dependency: Political and Economic Revolution in 19th Century Philippines. Quezon City: Foundation for Nationalist Studies, 1979. 67-74, 129-30.

[67]

9

The Katipuneros: Revolutionary Leadership in City and Province

Rizal's view of the lowly character of the Katipunan was widely shared in ilustrado circles. In the opinion of Felipe Calderon, a plantation-owner and successful lawyer, the insurrection was “organized by the most ignorant element of the people.”¹ The first Filipino historian of the Katipunan, the propagandist Isabelo de los Reyes, stressed in a pamphlet published in 1900 that the revolutionary association was a “plebeian society,” whose members "belonged to the workmen and peasant classes" and among whose founders "there was not a single rich man, nor one of a learned profession."² Behind such observations lay either distaste or condescension. Later accounts, however, have often echoed this uncomplicated analysis of the Katipunan's composition more approvingly, presenting the insurrection as a salutary popular reaction against ilustrado gradualism and prevarication. The elaboration of this argument forms the central theme, for instance, of Teodoro Agoncillo's The Revolt of the Masses, which since its publication in 1956 has been generally accepted as the most authoritative study of the subject. The Katipunan, Agoncillo asserts at the outset, was a "distinctively plebeian society."³ Objectively, he writes, the "middle class" reformists had proven themselves "the bulwark of the Spanish reactionary party,” too concerned with their own position and consequently too cautious to make any real impact on the nature of colonial rule.⁴ Through their failure to provide effective leadership, their inability to understand the common people's aspirations and their snobbish aloofness they had won "the hatred of the masses" and direction of the nationalist cause had passed into other hands."⁵ The sentiments of the Katipuneros, Agoncillo agrees with Isabelo de los Reyes, were that "where there are learned men everything is brought to naught by discussions.” For this reason, they "did not want to admit the learned" into the association.⁶

Read more »

De Jesus, Gregoria. "Mrs. Andres Bonifacio's Letter to Emilio Jacinto Re Bonifacio's Arrest." In Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan, by Teodoro A. Agoncillo (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2002 [1956]), 394-8.

[394]

Appendix H:

Mrs. Andres Bonifacio's Letter to Emilio Jacinto Re Bonifacio's Arrest

Sila (ang mga taga Magdalo) ay nagdaos ng isang lihim na pulong at pinagpasyahang usigin siya at siya'y hamunin sa isang kagalitan, at kung siya'y mamuhi ay pagpapatayin sila o sila'y disarmahin at gapusin, (A. Bonifacio) na kasama ang kanyang mga kawal. Ng dumating ang mga kawal, sila ay nagpadala ng pasabi sa aming bahay na galing sa malayo, na isalong namin ang mga armas. Hindi namin inaalumana'y sila ay dumating, at ng sila'y malapit na sa aming bahay, kanilang kinubkod ang bahay at ang kanilang koronel ay pumanhik. Siya'y lumapit at itinanong kung saan siya patutungo; sumagot ang koronel at sinabing sila'y nagmamanmang patungo sa Indang; at sila'y naparaan sapagka't sila'y hindi pa nagaalmusal. Kanyang itinanong ang aming kalagayan at sinabing marahil ay kapos na kami ng mga pangangailangan. Sinabi naming hindi kami kinakapos at mabuti ang lagay namin dito kay sa Indang sapagka't may nagbibigay sa amin ng bigas na pinawa. Sumagat ang koronel: Mabuti ang kanilang kalagayan sa bayan sapagka't sila'y tumatanggap ng bigas na galing sa Naik, at kung iibigin ma'y magsama na tayo. Siya (ang aking asawa) ay sumagot: Ano ang aking gagawin sa Indang samantalang masama ang tingin

[395]

sa akin ng ating mga kapatid?

Read more »

De Jesus, Gregoria. "Nostalgia." In Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution, ed. and trans. Encarnacion Alzona. Manila, 1964. 177-81.
[177]

Nostalgia

The original poem in Tagalog has no title, but after reading it, we believe it can very well be titled Nostalgia. Perhaps Gregoria de Jesus, its author, had no time to polish it. Oriang, her pet name, is written at the end.

The following is an English version of it done by Professor Teodoro A. Agoncillo of the University of the Philippines.

Darling, ever since you left
Body and heart have been ill at ease
Slow is the flow of the blood in my veins
More so when I remember your kind treatment

Deep has been my sorrow
At your untimely departure and leaving me bereft
I had fears for what you will meet on the way
And, too, for your safety
I go to the window to peek

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Bonifacio, Andres. "Huling Paalam ni Dr. Jose Rizal." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola (Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963), 78-80.

[78]

Huling Paalam ni Dr. Jose Rizal

Pinipintuho kong Bayan ay paalam
lupang iniirog ng sikat ng araw
mutyang mahalaga sa dagat Silangan
kaluwalhatiang sa ami'y pumanaw.

Masayang sa iyo'y aking idudulot
ang lanta kong buhay na lubhang malungkot;
maging maringal man at labis alindog
sa kagalingan mo ay aking ding handog.

Read more »

Bonifacio, Andres. "The Cazadores." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola (Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963), 11-12.

[11]

The Cazadores*

The cazadores were sent here
allegedly to eradicate lawlessness,
but it is not fight they seek,
but chickens and cattle to steal.

The people who are living in peace,
to the Spaniards they are sent,
anything they see that can be eaten,
they grab like hungry ones.

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Constantino, Renato. “Historical Truths from Biased Sources.” In The Philippine Insurrection Against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction, by John R. M. Taylor. Pasay City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1971. ix-xii.

[ix]

Historical Truths from Biased Sources
by Renato Constantino

History continues to be enriched by new discoveries and new analyses. New truths are unfolded by developing viewpoints that reflect man's changing outlook and goals in each historical stage. There is no source, no matter how biased, that does not yield a bit of historical truth. No attempt at misrepresentation can escape ultimate exposure when a people who make their history critically examine the roles of individuals and groups in particular epochs. It is with this attitude that one should read John Roger Meigs Taylor's The Philippine Insurrection against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction.

Like the old chronicles written by Spaniards, Taylor's history is biased in favor of the colonizer but rich in data and revelations essential to a rediscovery and reassessment of Philippine history. The period Taylor covers is still relatively unknown to a majority of Filipinos. What we know contains so many distortions that it has produced attitudes which impede the correct handling of current problems.

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Ileto, Reynaldo C. "History and Criticism: The Invention of Heroes." In Filipinos and their Revolution: Event, Discourse, and Historiography (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998), 203-37, 279-82.

[203]

9

History and Criticism: The Invention of Heroes

The nationalist "invention" of Andres Bonifacio, though brought to the limelight by Glenn May in 1997, is an issue that begins for me in the early 1980s. Soon after the publication of my book, Pasyón and Revolution, I found myself engaged in a polemic with a University of the Philippines colleague concerning a relatively minor episode in Philippine history: an excursion that Bonifacio and eight fellow Katipuneros made to the mountains of Montalban and San Mateo in April 1895.¹

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Bonifacio, Andres. "The Last Appeal of the Philippines." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 9-11.

[9]

The Last Appeal of the Philippines*

Mother, in the east is now risen
the sun of the Filipinos' anger
that for three centuries we suppressed
in the sea of suffering and poverty.**

We, your children, had nothing to shore up
against the terrible storm of suffering,
the Philippines has but one heart,
and you are no longer our Mother.

Read more »

Schumacher, John N. Excerpt from Response to "The Making of a Myth: John Leddy Phelan and the 'Hispanization' of Land Tenure in the Philippines," by Glenn Anthony May. Philippine Studies 52.3 (2004), 314.

[314]

Response: John N. Schumacher, S.J.

Glenn May is not a historian ready to repeat without question the domnant or accepted histoncal orthodoxies, no matter how impressive the list of predecessors who have done so. He has shown it in more than one of his books, most notably in his book on Andres Bonifacio, Inventing a Hero. Though I myself cannot accept all his conclusions in that book, unfortunately his arguments were for the most part not met here with solidly-based counterarguments.

Read more »

Rizal, Jose. “The Voice of the Persecuted” and “The Family of Elías.” Noli me Tangere, trans. Soledad Lacson-Locsin. Makati City: Bookmark, Inc., 1996. 429-449.

[429]

50

The Voice of the Persecuted

Before the sun set, Ibarra stepped into Elías's boat, which was on the lake shore. The young man seemed upset.

"Forgive me, Señor," said Elías with a certain sadness upon seeing him. "Forgive me for having presumed to invite you to an appointment. I wanted to talk to you in complete freedom and here we will have no witnesses. Within an hour we will be able to return."

Read more »

Churchill, Malcolm H. "Exposing an Exposer: A Critical Look at Glenn May's Inventing a Hero." In Determining the Truth: The Story of Andres Bonifacio (Being Critigues of and Commentaries on Inventing a Hero, The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio), ed. Bernardita Reyes Churchill. Manila: The Manila Studies Association, Inc.; The National Commission for Culture and the Arts -- Committee on Historical Research; The Philippine National Historical Society, Inc., 1997. 52-68.

[52]

Exposing an Exposer: A Critical Look at Glenn May's Inventing a Hero

by Malcolm H. Churchill

There is a certain breed of American academic that brings to the study of the Philippines an unshakable sense of superiority. Believing that standing outside the culture provides greater insight, they fancy themselves objective, unmoved by emotion, and better able to understand the Philippines than Filipinos. Such an academic is Glenn May, author of the widely discussed and highly controversial new book, Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio.

Read more »

Ocampo, Ambeth R. "Andres Bonifacio: Old Questions and New Answers." Bones of Contention: The Bonifacio Lectures. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing Inc., 2001. 76-98.

[76]

Andres Bonifacio: Old questions and new answers

Professorial Chair Lecture
City College of Manila
November 30, 1997

When the Mayor of Manila, Alfredo S. Lim, and I signed the memorandum of agreement regarding the Distinguished Professorial Chair on Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan I knew that research on Bonifacio would yield more questions than answers. The challenge, according to Mayor Lim, was not to present more questions, but answers. To give you an example of my problem would mean remembering the round-table discussion sponsored by the Philippine Historical Institute in 1996 which was held in the viper's pit you probably know as UP Diliman. The discussion was initiated in the hope of resolving the long-running controversy of where and when the first Cry of the Revolution occurred. Was it Balintawak or Pugad Lawin? Was it August 23 or 26, 1896?

Read more »

Bernad, Miguel A. "What Kind of Man was Bonifacio?" Kinaadman 21 (1999): 241-266.

[241]

Review Article

What Kind of Man was Bonifacio?

Miguel A. Bernad S.J.

Many years ago an article was submitted to our editorial office, a critique of the Tagalog translation of Rizal's Adios, said to be by Bonifacio. We were of course happy to get such an article, competently written by a professor from another university. But I had a doubt which I proposed to the writer of the article: "How do we know that this Tagalog translation of Rizal's poem was by Bonifacio?"

Read more »

Arcilla, Jose S. "Who is Andres Bonifacio?" Philippine Studies 45 (Fourth Quarter 1997): 570-5

[570]

Who is Andres Bonifacio?

Jose S. Arcilla, S.J.

Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio.
By Glenn Anthony May. Madison: University of Wisconsin Center for Southeast Asian Studies and Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1996. 200 pages.

Historiography is actually the search for the truth that outlasts time and space. But historical truth is not identical with metaphysical truth for paradoxically, change characterizes history, which is the delicate balance between external stimuli and the corresponding human reaction.

History is also distinct from other academic sciences since its object no longer exists, except what survives from the past, the "relics" or sources of history. Basically, then, historiography is an intellectual process, a mental creation that is reined in by the available sources -- personal diaries, letters, memoirs, speeches, clothes, medals, official documents, etc. Unless based on these "objects" that are "out there" independent of one's thinking, what one writes, no matter how stylistic, cannot be "history" but instead fiction.

Read more »

Ileto, Reynaldo C. "Tradition and Revolt: The Katipunan." In Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1989 [1979]. 75-113.

[75]

Chapter 3
Tradition and Revolt: The Katipunan

The armed uprising against Spain in 1896 was initiated by a secret society called Kataastaasan Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (The Highest and Most Honorable Society of the Sons of the Country). The flame of rebellion that began in the outskirts of Manila spread quickly throughout the countryside of central and southern Luzon, as Katipunan chapters and other groups concertedly turned against the symbols and representatives of Spanish rule. It was during this time that the Cofradía based at Mount San Cristobal underwent a tremendous expansion. It attracted many, predominantly peasants, who had fled to the mountains and forests of southern Luzon in order to escape the bloody reprisals being inflicted by the Spanish army upon the populace at large. The Colorum Society, as the brotherhood came to be called, soon became involved in the revolution largely through the efforts of a pastor (pator) named Sebastian Caneo, a native of Taal, Batangas, who later settled in San Pablo, Laguna.¹ He was primarily responsible for interpreting separation from Spain as a sign that the world was about to undergo a substantive change, for which his brotherhood must prepare through prayer and participation in the struggle.

Read more »

Agoncillo, Teodoro A. "The Summing Up." Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2002 [1956]), 278-315.

[278]

Sixteen:

The Summing Up

THUS THE HEAVY curtain falls and the actors backstage prepare for the last act of the Katipunan revolt that temporarily ended in the Truce of Biyak-na-bato. From hereon the Revolution that Andres Bonifacio prepared and started takes on a new color, and a new element enters into it that complicates the pattern to an extent that only Rizal was seer enough to visualize. No qualm of conscience, no regrets, no sentimental lamentations accompanied and followed the removal of the Father of the Revolution, for all -- the living, that is -- were more concerned with the fate of the new-born nation. There were more sacrifices ahead, more bitter and more galling, that required singleness and intensity of purpose. There was not much time to look back and take stock of what had been accomplished. The immediate past was but a tiny speck, insignificant and hollow compared with what should be done in the days fast approaching. Morality was temporarily suspended because the epoch demanded absolute unity and a new set of values that would justify

[279]

and rationalize acts that in more fortunate times would be tagged indecent or atrociously inhuman. Justice that all freedom-loving peoples of all ages worship and demand of society can be fully realized only in time of peace and plenty. There has never been, nor will there ever be, justice in abnormal times no matter how educated and intelligent may be the individual members of society, for as a group, in a period of storm and stress, they lose their identity in a mass that is goaded and led by herd instincts.

Read more »

May, Glenn Anthony. "Historian says he's not questioning Bonifacio's heroism -- but historians' methodology -- Part I." Philippine Daily Inquirer 12.161 (Monday, 19 May 1997): G1-2

[G1]

The May 5 issue of the Inquirer featured an attack by Milagros Guerrero and Ramon Villegas on me and my recent book, "Inventing a Hero: the Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio." I would like to reply.

To be honest, I am profoundly saddened by the Guerrero-Villegas piece. One of my critics is a professor at the University of the Philippines and the other, the author of a valuable book on Philippine jewelry. I was aware that the former was preparing a critique of my book and I looked forward to it, hoping that it would raise important substantive issues.

Read more »

Cristobal, Adrian. "Downgrading Bonifacio Again." Philippine Daily Inquirer 11.359 (Monday, 2 December 1996): A8.

Downgrading Bonifacio Again

Heroes are created by popular demand, sometimes out of the scantiest materials. -- Gerald W. Johnson

There's nothing wrong in subsuming Andres Bonifacio's birthday under the more general National Heroes' Day so long as he is regarded as the most prominent member. This much was conceded by our editorialist last Saturday. Still, Rlzal ss commemorated on his martyrdom but not Bonifacio, whose inglorious death few remember, if at all (May 10, 1897 at Mt. Buntis, Maragondon, Cavlte). Probably this was the reason Nov. 30 used to be known in my school days as Bonifacio Day, as if somebody wanted to make him share Rizal's dominant place in our historical pantheon. The result is the continuing quarrel about which hero is the greater.

Read more »

Churchill, Malcolm H. "Determining the Truth About Forged Documents in Writing the Story of Andres Bonifacio." In Determining the Truth: The Story of Andres Bonifacio (Being Critigues of and Commentaries on Inventing a Hero, The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio), ed. Bernardita Reyes Churchill. Manila: The Manila Studies Association, Inc. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts -- Committee on Historical Research The Philippine National Historical Society, Inc., 1997. 43-51.

[43]

Determining the Truth About Forged Documents in Writing the Story of Andres Bonifacio

Malcolm H. Churchill

On April 7, 1995, Prof. Glenn A. May of the University of Oregon delivered a paper entitled "Andres Bonifacio, Inventing a Hero" to the Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in Washington, D.C. In his paper, May alleged that the documents on which the prevailing views about Andres Bonifacio are based are forged, and that we in essence know virtually nothing about the life of this leading actor in the Philippine Revolution against Spain.

Read more »

Abinales, Patricio N. (PN). "History and Histrionics." Pen & Ink: The Philippine Literary Quarterly 3 (1998): 40-3.

[40]

History and Histrionics
by PN Abinales

Who was Andres Bonifacio? Glenn May's response to this question, Inventing a Hero, attacked the canonical works on the subject by Agoncillo and earlier historians. His book, in turn, was the jumping-off point for a fierce debate and a new anthology of essays, under the editorship of Bernardita Reyes-Churchill, featuring a host of historians from UP and La Salle. PN Abinales, surveying the terrain from above, makes short shrift of both camps' positions.

Glenn A. May has once again raised the hackles of Filipino academics and writers with his new work, Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio (New Day, 1997). In this book. May re-examines the writings of Bonifacio and asserts that in light of the absence of the originals, the story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan may be based on forged documents. As evidence, May points to documentary discrepancies, notably concerning Bonifacio's purported handwriting and the (mis)use of turn-of-the-century idiomatic expressions, all of which he alludes to be possible forgeries perpetrated (and peddled) by the first generation of nationalist historians, notably Artemio Artigas [sic], Epifanio de los Santos and his son Jose. May, however, does not stop with incongruities found through paleography or handwriting-analysis. In the succeeding chapters of the book, he criticizes post-war Filipino historians -- notably Teodoro Agoncillo and Reynaldo Ileto -- for uncritically accepting the documents as authentic. Given that the empirical foundations of their arguments are "spurious," May says it is logical to assume that the nationalist narratives that Agoncillo and Ileto wove in their leading works (Revolt of the Masses and Pasyon and Revolution, respectively) have accordingly become questionable themselves.

Read more »

San Juan, E., Jr. "Truth and Inconsequence: Who Speaks Now? For Whom? And for What Purpose?" Rethinking Marxism 11.2 (Summer 1999): 80-85.

[80]

Truth and Inconsequence: Who Speaks Now? For Whom? And for What Purpose?

E. San Juan, Jr.

The current controversy over Nobel prizewinner and Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchu, and her authority as an indigenous spokesperson, brings into sharp relief the substantive issues of objectivity versus human interest in what has come to be
known as the "culture wars." It serves as a timely reminder that the dispute over truth (now referred to as the "truth-effect," after Foucault) and its representation is transnational in scope and perennial in nature. It evokes the memory of some durable controversies in the humanities and social science disciplines that have assumed new disguises since the "two cultures" of C. P. Snow or, much earlier, the anarchy/culture polarity of Matthew Arnold. Should the tale be trusted over the teller, as D. H. Lawrence once advised? Or is it the case that if there is no teller, there is no worthwhile tale?

Read more »

May, Glenn Anthony. "Vanishing Archives." Far Eastern Economic Review 157.4 (January 27, 1994): 34-5.

[34]

Crime: Vanishing Archives

Historical manuscripts disappearing from Philippine institutions

"Nalutas, nakawan sa National Library" ("Theft from the National Library is solved") read the headline in the Manila daily Balita on November 12, 1993. Accompanying the story was a photograph, showing the alleged thief, Rolando Bayhon, described as a researcher at the National Historical Institute, the government agency charged with the preservation of the Philippine historical heritage, and Rufino Fermin, the owner of the Money Tree Antique Store in the Ermita district of Manila. The stolen documents, which came from the Filipiniana-Asia Division of the Philippine National Library (PNL), include a number of papers signed by Emilio Aguinaldo, the president of the first Philippine Republic.

Read more »

Ocampo, Ambeth R. "Bonifacio: Myth and Reality." In Bonifacio's Bolo (Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 1995), 5-9. Originally appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on 5 July 1992.

[5]

Bonifacio: Myth and Reality

One hundred years ago this month, on the night of July 7, 1892, in a house on Azcarraga (now C.M. Recto) street, a group of men met to discuss the arrest and deportation of Rizal. They set up a secret society that was eventually to take center stage in the first phase of the Philippine revolution against Spain. The group was known as the Kataastaasang Kagalanggalang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan -- the Katipunan, or KKK for short. All this might sound like textbook history, but have you ever wondered how much we really know about the KKK and its ill-fated supremo Andres Bonifacio?

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Bonifacio, Andres. "Proclamation." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 4-5.

[4]

Proclamation

The valor that you have manifested in the fight against the Spanish enemy since the commencement of the revolution eminently proves that you are not disheartened by the signs of military preparations and imminent attack by Polavieja's army which, in so short a time, has already shown sheer cowardice and a slave's meanness of character in torturing and killing so many Filipino non-combatants. The burning of the children, the rape of the women whose honor and weakness were not even respected, the snuffing out of the lives of the aged who could not move and of the sucking infants, acts which would never have been done by honorable and brave men, call for immediate vengeance and punishment to the fullest extent.

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Bonifacio, Andres. "Love of Country." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 5-8.
[5]

Love of Country*

What love can be
purer and greater
than love of country?
What love? No other love, none.

Even when the mind repeatedly reads
and try to understand
the history that is written and printed
by humanity, this (love of country) can be seen.

Read more »

Bonifacio, Andres. "Bonifacio's Proclamation of August 28, 1896." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 4.

[4]

Bonifacio's Proclamation of August 28, 1896

This manifesto is for all of you: It is absolutely necessary for us to stop at the earliest possible time the nameless oppressions being perpetrated on the sons of the country who are now suffering the brutal punishment and tortures in jails, and because of this please let all the brethren know that on Saturday, the 29th of the current month, the revolution shall commence according to our agreement. For this purpose it is necessary for all towns to rise simultaneously and attack Manila at the same time. Anybody who obstructs this sacred ideal of the people will be considered a traitor and an enemy, except if he is ill or is not physically fit, in which case he shall be tried according to the regulations we have put in force. Mount of Liberty, 28th August 1896.

Andres Bonifacio

Biedzynski, James. Review of Inventing A Hero: The Postumous Re-Creation ofAndres Bonifacio, by Glenn Anthony May. Crossroads 11.2 (June 1998): 142-4.

[142]

Inventing A Hero: The Postumous Re-Creation ofAndres Bonifacio, by Glenn Anthony May. Madison:Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, 1996. 200pp., $40.00, cloth; $19.95, paper.

Andres Bonifacio occupies a hallowed [sic] in the pantheon of Filipino national heroes. Indeed, he is revered by Filipino nationalists as the virtual father of the nation and his image has been uplifted [sic] by Filipino nationalists eager to engage in nation-building. Nonetheless, there are relatively few biographies written about him. One reason for this is because there is very little source material on Bonifacio. In fairness, we ought to note that this occurs in many nations, particularly those whose existence has been of a short duration. Nation building is fine, but if its building blocks are defective or flawed, that can cause problems further down the road. What May objects to, and I think this is valid, is building national images around myths which have no historical foundation. Eventually, the truth comes out and what does one do when one learns one's history books are not accurate?

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McKay, Deirdre. Review of Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio, by Glenn Anthony May. Pacific Affairs 71.2 (Summer 1998): 282-3.

[282]

Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio. By Glenn Anthony May. Madison (Wisconsin): Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin (in cooperation with New Day Publishers). 1996. x, 200 pp. (B&W photos, maps.) US$40.00, cloth, ISBN 1-881261-182; US$19.95, paper, ISBN 1-881261-19-0.

Controversial and hard-hitting, Glenn May's text deconstructs the popular image of Philippine revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio. Released to coincide with the centenary of the Philippine Revolution, the author's stated intent is not to attack Bonifacio, the man, but rather to question the manner of his memorialization in a nationalist heroic pantheon. Thus, this book is primarily an investigation of historical methodologies, historians and the social contexts of their work. Almost incidental to this investigation we lose the image of Bonifacio as an historical figure.

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Cullather, Nick. Review of Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio, by Glenn Anthony May. Pilipinas 28 (Spring 1997): 143-4.

[143]

Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio. By Glenn Anthony May. Madison: University of Wisconsin Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 1996.

For the past fifteen years, Glenn Anthony May has been locked in single combat with nationalist historiography, the romantic, mildly-Marxist version of the past found in the works of Renato Constantino and Teodoro Agoncillo. "What bothers me about nationalist history," he wrote a decade ago, is "that it is often oversimplified or simply incorrect. If, some day, the Philippines is to be rebuilt on truly nationalist lines, the foundations will have to be made of something more solid than myths."¹

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Bonifacio, Andres. "Decalogue." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 1.

Decalogue*

I. Love God with all thine heart.

II. Bear always in mind that the love of God is also the love of Country, and this, too, is love of one's fellow-men.

III. Engrave in thy heart that the true measure of honor and happiness is to die for the freedom of thy country.

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Bonifacio, Andres. "What the Filipinos Should Know." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 2-3.

[2]

What the Filipinos Should Know¹

The Filipinos, who in early times were governed by our true countrymen before the coming of the Spaniards, were living in great abundance and prosperity. They were at peace with the inhabitants of the neighboring countries, especially with the Japanese with whom they traded and exchanged goods of all kinds. The means of livelihood increased tremendously, and for this reason, everybody had a nobility of heart, whilst young and old, including women, knew how to read and write in our autochthonous alphabet. The Spaniards came and offered us friendship. The self-governing people, because they were ably convinced that we shall be guided toward a better condition and led to a path of knowledge, were crumpled by the honeyed words of deceit. Even so, they [the Spaniards] were obliged to follow the customs of the Filipinos, their agreement having been sealed and made binding by means of an oath that consisted in taking a quantity of blood from each other's vein, mixing and drinking it, as a token of their true and loyal promise not to be faithless to what had been agreed upon. This was called the Blood Compact of King Sikatuna and Legazpi, who represented the King of Spain.²

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Bonifacio, Andres. "Letters to Emilio Jacinto." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 13-22.

[13]

Letters to Emilio Jacinto*

[*The following translations are those found in The Philippine Review, January-February, 1918, pp. 42-46.]

I.

Don Emilio Jacinto Pedernal,
Chief of the Army of the North.

Dear Brother: --

I have received all your letters and with them the money, powder, and saltpeter. Our brethren here are congratulating themselves and are grateful for what you have sent, which is of peremptory necessity in the battles, and for the aid which you say you have rendered.

The trouble of which you speak, which occurred in Manila on account of the proclamation of the carabineers and engineers, has greatly helped our brethren here. However, our enemies here are not growing less and these pueblos are still in danger, so we ask you there not to let up, and we will not rest, either, until we have rescued the pueblos they have taken from us, as you already know.

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Bonifacio, Andres. "Letters to Mariano Alvarez." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 12-13.

[12]

Letters to Mariano Alvarez

Mapagtiis 2 January 1897

President Mainam:

Do not fail to see me immediately, for I want that we talk privately about the incident that happened to me in the Magdalo Council and for you to explain to me how they were organized.

And. Bonifacio
Maypagasa

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Bonifacio, Andres. "Give Us Your Love." In The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio, trans. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and S. V. Epistola. Manila: Antonio J. Villegas; Manila Bonifacio Centennial Commission; University of the Philippines, 1963. 8-9.

[8]

Give Us Your Love*

For a moment listen to this lament,
slowly, with difficulty, the people are rising,
who for ages have been prostrate
in the midst of Spanish maltreatment.

You, dear ones, where are now
the courage and honor that should be spent,
to righteousness that we know,
don't be a traitor.

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Agoncillo, Teodoro A. "Philippine Historiography in the Age of Kalaw." In History and Culture, Language and Literature: Selected Essays of Teodoro A. Agoncillo, ed. Bernardita Reyes Churchill. Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2003. 3-29.

[3]

Philippine Historiography in the Age of Kalaw¹

Historical writings by Filipinos from the 1880s to the death of Teodoro M. Kalaw in 1940 are necessarily limited not only in number but also in scope. This may be ascribed to several reasons, principal among which are, first, because the Filipinos were not yet a free people, being then under the Spaniards and later under the Americans and therefore did not enjoy a wide latitude of freedom so necessary in intellectual and artistic flowering; second, the lack of inducement in the form of wide readership which, in turn, is dependent on the rate of literacy; and lastly, history as a discipline was, insofar as Filipinos were and still are concerned, not considered as important and popular as literature, particularly poetry. A survey of the historical works published during the period I call the Age of Kalaw, gives the impression that Filipinos are not historically minded, an impression that finds partial justification in the way we treat our libraries and archives. Our successive governments have not been kind to these two cultural institutions, and how our own government treated them affected the attitude of the great mass of the people, the educated as well as the half-educated and the uneducated.

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May, Glenn Anthony. "Introduction: History, Invention, and Nationalism." Inventing a Hero: the Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio. Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 1996. 1-17, notes 167-71.

[1]

This book tells a bizarre story about a famous man. The man in question is the Philippine national hero Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the Philippine Revolution of 1896, who died almost a century ago. The story concerns the successful efforts of a number of historians and one memoirist to transform Bonifacio in the years since his death.

In effect, Bonifacio has been posthumously re-created. He has been given a new personality and a childhood that may bear little resemblance to his real one. Literary compositions have been attributed to him that he almost certainly did not write, and, as a consequence, he has been credited with ideas he did not have. Key events in his life have been altered beyond recognition. The national hero who has emerged from this process of re-creation -- the Bonifacio celebrated in history textbooks and memorialized in statues around the Philippines -- is, in reality, something closer to a national myth.

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De Jesus, Gregoria. "Ilang Salita Lamang." In Jose P. Santos, Si Apolinario Mabini Laban Kay Hen. Antonio Luna. Manila: J. Fajardo, 1928. 9.

[9]

Ilang Salita Lamang


Matapos kong tunhayan ang obrang ito na may pamagat na "Si Aplolinario Mabini Laban Kay Gral. Antonio Luna" na sinulat ni G. Jose P. Santos ay ito ang aking naguing kurokuro at palagay, na siya'y (si Mabini) hindi dapat tawaging utak ng himagsikan pagkat wala naman siyang nagawa at naipaglingkod sa himagsikan at siya'y nasale noong kung baga sa isang handaan ay dumating siyang luto na ang ulam, nakahanda ang dulang at siya'y kasama ng mga huling nagsidulog upang tumikim at makisalo sa masasarap na luto.

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Joaquin, Nick. "Why Fell the Supremo?" A Question of Heroes. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing Inc., 2005 [1977]. 86-108.

[86]

Why Fell the Supremo?

Ilustrado means, literally, illuminated, and implies, as in medieval Europe, an esoteric group (for example, the illuminati) lifted above the mass of the people by a special intelligence. Even in our day of mass culture, illuminati exist: we have kept the legend of the mad scientist, who is our equivalent of the mad saint. Nevertheless, we can no longer comprehend a time when anybody who had gone beyond book lore and folklore was regarded as more than just a wise man, was deemed to be reading the world in the light of a supernatural illumination, and was feared as a sorcerer. The early philosopher-scientists of medieval Europe -- Roger Bacon, Petrus Peregrinus, Albert Magnus -- were popularly believed to be magicians and to have had traffic with the Devil; they were seers and sorcerers who could read the secrets of the earth and divine the future, and they gave rise to the Faust legend.

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De Jesus, Gregoria. Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus. Trans. Leandro H. Fernandez. Philippine Magazine 27.1 (June 1930): 16-18, 65-68.

[16]

Autobiography of Gregoria de Jesus
Translated and Annotated by Leandro H. Fernandez
Professor of History, University of the Philippines

From time to time documents of considerable interest on some phases of our country's history, particularly during the period of the revolution, appear locally, written by persons who were either participants in the events narrated or witnesses. These documents are generally written in either Spanish or in the vernacular and consequently are not accessible to many of our students to whom English has become the chief language of study. One such document is Gregoria de Jesus' Mga tala ng aking buhay, which, as its title indicates, is an autobiography of the wife of Andres Bonifacio. This interesting document has not yet been published in the original Tagalog, although a Spanish version of it had already been released and printed, thanks to the efforts of the young writer, Mr. Jose P. Santos, in the Free Press (issues of November 24, and December 1, 1928) under the title of La Princesa del Katipunan. Because of its importance, coming as it does from the pen of the wife of the Supremo, I have thought it worthwhile to attempt an English translation, which forms the basic part of this monograph.

I am greatly indebted to my friend, Mr. Jose P. Santos, who kindly furnished me with a copy of Mga tala ng aking buhay, as well as the picture appearing herewith.

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Larkin, John A. Review of Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio, by Glenn Anthony May. The Journal of Asian Studies 56.3 (August 1997): 858-9.

[858]

Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio. By Glenn Anthony May. Madison: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison in cooperation with New Day Publishers, Manila, 1996. xi, 200 pp. $40.00 (cloth); $19-95 (paper).

To most Filipino intelligentsia, the struggle for independence from 1872 to 1901 is the initial, defining event in the formation of their nation. The heroism and sacrifices of that era have provided models of proper action and justified the Philippine claim to separate, unique nationhood in the modern world. The period has about it a sacred quality, and foreign criticism of its heroes, no matter how rational, provokes Filipinos of diverse ideology. What Glenn May has published will surely arouse their resentment.

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Aguilar, Filomeno V., Jr. Review of Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio, by Glenn Anthony May. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 30.2 (September 1999): 396-9.

[396]

Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio. By Glenn Anthony May. Madison: University of Wisconsin Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 1996. Pp. xii, 200. Index.

Appearing in print amidst the nationalistic commemoration of the centenary of the Philippine revolution against Spanish colonial rule, May's book casts doubt upon the hallowed image of the revolutionary hero, Andres Bonifacio, and in so doing delivers the most controversial intervention in Philippine historiography in recent years. May's scrutiny of the memoirs of a famous revolutionary (Artemio Ricarte) and the works of three pre-and two post-World War II historians (Manuel Artigas, Epifanio de los Santos, and Jose P. Santos in the former category; Teodoro Agoncillo and Reynaldo Ileto in the latter) leads him to argue boldly and ambitiously that the conventional knowledge about Bonifacio has been based upon dubious sources, likely forgeries, unreliable evidence, and erroneous, logically flawed methods.

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Guerrero, Milagros C., and Ramon N. Villegas. "The Historian as Inventor." Public Policy 1.1 (October-December 1997): 137-42.

[137]

Review Essay

The Historian as Inventor

Milagros C. Guerrero and Ramon N. Villegas

Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Recreation ofAndres Bonifacio. By Glenn May. Quezon City: New Day Press, 1997.

I

The Philippine edition (New Day) of Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio by Glenn May was launched this year at the Far Eastern University. The American edition, published by the University of Wisconsin's Center for Southeast Asian Studies, was released earlier, in 1996.

In this book, May's thesis is that the national hero, Andres Bonifacio, "is mostly an illusion, the product of undocumented statements, unreliable, doctored, or otherwise spurious sources, and the collective imagination of several historians and a memoirist."

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Rafael, Vicente L. Review of Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio, by Glenn Anthony May. The American Historical Review 103.4 (October 1998): 1304-6.

[1304]

Glenn Anthony May. Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-creation of Andres Bonifacio. Madison: University of Wisconsin Center for Southeast Asian Studies. 1996. Pp. x, 200. Cloth $40.00, paper $19.95.

This book argues that nearly all of what we know about Andres Bonifacio -- one of the major figures of the Philippine Revolution of 1896 and long idolized by the nationalist left as the militant leader of a populist anti-colonial revolution -- is based on spurious sources of unknown or doubtful origins. Claims about his early life and his revolutionary involvement were most likely based on hearsay, unsubstantiated anecdotes, and willfully duplicitous accounts by Filipino nationalist writers -- in particular, Manuel Artigas; Epifanio de los Santos; his son, José P. Santos; and the revolutionary general, Artemio Ricarte -- motivated by a mix of personal and political agendas in the period before World War II. It is also likely that the writings long attributed to Bonifacio, from newspaper articles and nationalist poems to personal correspondence with other leaders, were actually penned by his contemporaries or, worse, forged in an effort to secure Bonifacio's place in the pantheon of national heroes.

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