Corpuz, O. D. Excerpts from The Roots of the Filipino Nation, Vol. II. Quezon City: AKLAHI Foundation, Inc., 1989. 211-19, 243-55.

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The Original Katipunan

The 7 July decree deporting Rizal to "one of the Southern islands" also provided for stricter rules throughout the archipe-

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lago against the entry and circulation or possession of Rizal's writings, as well as of every manifesto or handbill "directly or indirectly attacking the Catholic religion or the national unity." A decree the next September dismissed a number of persons from government employment in Batangas, Binondo, and Pampanga and ordered the "enforced change of domicile" (euphemism for exile) of Doroteo Cortes and Ambrosio Salvador of Manila; Antonio Roxas of Bulacan; Mariano Alejandrino of Pampanga; Leon Apacible of Batangas; Jose Basa of Cavite; and Vicente Reyes of Laguna.

But the Katipunan was in no position to take action. Isabelo de los Reyes, who claims intimate knowledge of the origin and development of the Katipunan, wrote of its handful of founders that Jose Dizon was an employee in the Mint; Deodato Arellano was a clerk in the arsenal; Bonifacio was a warehouseman in a brick factory; and the others "clerks, assistants of the Secretaries, or clerks of courts. Among them there was not a single rich man, nor one of a learned profession...."

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Richardson, Jim. "Documents of the Katipunan: the Supreme Council, March 15, 1896". (May 2006).

Introduction

Transcribed below (in the original Tagalog, followed by an English translation) is a document of the Katipunan Supreme Council dated March 15, 1896. Written in a neat calligraphic script by Bonifacio himself, the document details the agenda and arrangements for a meeting to be held in Mandaluyong the following Sunday, March 22. Then still separated from Manila by open country, Mandaluyong was fast becoming a major centre of KKK activity, and by the outbreak of the revolution it had as many as fifteen separate Sangunian Balangay or local councils. The Spaniards rightly labelled the town an insurrecto stronghold -- a "baluarte del Katipunan".

The meeting on March 22 is to be a session of the "K.K." or Kataastaasang Kapisanan (Supreme Assembly), a body that comprised the members of the Kataastaasang Sangunian (Supreme Council) plus principal officers of the local councils.

Bonifacio and Jacinto signed the document as the president and secretary of the Supreme Council. Beneath their signatures is a list of topics for discussion at the meeting on March 22, and beneath that list fifteen other leading Katipuneros have signed their code names (some in cipher, some not) to confirm that they will attend the meeting.¹

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Richardson, Jim. "Andrés Bonifacio in Cavite, February 13, 1897". (March 29, 2006).

Introduction

Transcribed below (in the original Tagalog, followed by an English translation) is a previously unpublished letter that Bonifacio wrote on February 13, 1897 to Julio Nakpil, the president of the Katipunan government in the "Northern District", the region to the north and east of the capital.

This brings the total number of known "Bonifacio letters" to nine -- four to Emilio Jacinto, two to Mariano Alvarez, two (1, 2) to Julio Nakpil and one to the High Military Council in the Northern District. In date order, they are as follows:

To the High Military Council in the Northern District, December 12, 1896.
To Mariano Alvarez, January 2, 1897.
To Julio Nakpil, February 13, 1897.
To Emilio Jacinto, March 8, 1897.
To Emilio Jacinto, undated but probably about March 16, 1897.
To Emilio Jacinto, April 16, 1897.
To Emilio Jacinto, April 24, 1897.
To Julio Nakpil, April 24, 1897.
To Mariano Alvarez, April 27, 1897.

Readers of this website will be aware that the provenance of some of the letters has been contested, but the balance of probability now is that most are authentic.¹ Aside from its significance as an addition to the still slender corpus of Bonifacio’s known writings, the letter transcribed here is interesting mainly for its references to Fr Antonio Piernavieja, a Spanish friar then being held captive by Katipunan forces.

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