The Katipunan Part 10

sent by Emilio Aguinaldo, capitan munic.i.p.al of Cavite Viejo, and a quant.i.ty of mangoes purchased by Cipriano Pacheco, and also a picture."

Jose Dizon Matanza questioned on the same subject, affirmed (fols. 1,132-1,138) that he was invited to the "Bazar j.a.pones," to salute and welcome the commander of the cruiser (Kongo).... When he arrived they gave him iced water.... About an hour afterwards there arrived an officer of the s.h.i.+p who said he was the doctor, and soon after the commander arrived; all saluted him.... On the evening of the same day Bonifacio, Valenzuela and the witness went to Nagtajan to the house where lived the j.a.panese who kept the Bazar.... Bonifacio told them they had a letter to give them. Three or four days later on, Valenzuela presented himself at the house of the witness with a letter in Tagalo which read more or less as follows: (here follows what the witness remembered of the letter.) Bonifacio signed it as president of the Supreme Council of the Katipunan, Jacinto as secretary, Valenzuela as Fiscal and the witness with the name of Jose Talin.... After the departure of the Commander, the witness enquired of Bonifacio what result the letter had obtained, Andres replying that the Commander had taken a copy of it, returning the original, because the persons signing it were not representative; but that the said officer was very pleased with the pictures given in the name of the Katipunan, and with the melons and mangoes sent from Cavite."

Isabelo de los Reyes affirms that: "When the j.a.panese cruiser Kongo visited the port of Manila in May 1896, the Supreme Council of the Katipunan went to salute its commander in the upstairs of the Bazar j.a.pones, situated in the plaza del Padre Moraga, and handed him a ma.n.u.script setting forth their desire for the aid and a.s.sistance of j.a.pan towards the gaining of independence for the Philippines. They also offered him a picture and some native fruits."

"The commander received them well and even regaled them with iced drinks and coffee, but did not dare to accept the doc.u.ment, limiting himself to the taking of a copy of it and promising to transmit their desires to the Emperor; he also invited them to make a voyage to his country. Nothing has since been heard of the commander."

So much for the testimony given concerning the Kongo and its commander.

Information I have obtained from j.a.panese semi-official sources on this point, shows that the Kongo steamed into Manila bay in 1896 in the same manner as it did recently, on a non-official visit. As was customary, the j.a.panese Commander and other officers visited the j.a.panese Bazaar in Plaza Moraga as well as other j.a.panese business houses. The Bazar j.a.pones was a center to which friends and acquaintances gathered to salute the visiting officers. Upstairs were prepared iced drinks, etc. for those who cared to take them. Bonifacio and others, uninvited, walked in and presented themselves and their pet.i.tion and offerings. The latter the commander accepted; the pet.i.tion he did not accept: in this he showed good sense. As to the supposed copy which he promised to take, evidence goes to show that it was not taken, but that the said commander merely made a few notes of it on a sc.r.a.p of paper. The proprietors of the Bazar ridicule the idea that the commander favored the pet.i.tion or received the so-called commission with pleasure; their opinion is that to which any investigator of the affair would come, that the Commander was a gentleman and did not wish to hurt the feelings, by his refusal, of even such ignorantes as those who at that time forced themselves upon him.

Note 70. The idea that the Liga was but an introduction to the Katipunan is not borne out by the facts of the case. The Liga Filipina was a foundation of Rizal, whilst the Katipunan was a conception of Pilar who, finding Rizal was carrying all before him, determined not to be out-done by his former companion. The very fact of the enmity existing between the two leaders is proof enough that the two societies were not one and the same thing, although after their foundation they walked arm in arm. The Liga, as an a.s.sociation, was eventually dissolved, and from it was formed the Compromisarios (see note 63) and this body continued its functions till the outbreak of the revolt. The vicissitudes of the Liga did not lessen Rizal's influence. Ever ready to tell a lie or act one if it were to his own advantage, Rizal permitted the free use of his name in connection with the Katipunan also. To the vast majority of the oath-bound, the Katipunan was but the Liga under another form; and in order that the people should not know of the rivalry existing between himself and Pilar, Rizal gave no signs of disfavor towards the foundation of the new society; in fact he rather favored it, seeing that under the circ.u.mstances it would make him figure as its "hero," and he would thus be enabled to take the wind out of Pilar's sails. The only objection raised by Rizal to the work of the Katipunan, was that which he made to Valenzuela: that the time had not yet come for armed rebellion.

As long as he held supreme influence Rizal was satisfied; but as the separatist element was becoming weary at the long absence of its "Moses" and had begun to wors.h.i.+p the "calf" (not a golden one, by the way) "Moses" got angry and threw down, in disgust, the "tables of the law."

In its beginning, Rizal was the idol of the Katipunan, in the same way as Morayta (note 13) was the idol of the rebellious Filipinos in Madrid, and others parts of the Peninsular. Isabelo de los Reyes [60] would have us believe that the foundation of the Katipunan was a result of the indignation of the people, consequent upon the deportation of Rizal. This, in the face of facts, is a very poor argument and demonstrates either the ignorance or the bad faith of Reyes. And he himself contradicts it a few lines further on by saying "that without knowing Rizal, the Katipunan acclaimed him its honorary President." This latter they certainly did but not "without knowing"

him. They did so because they knew nothing of his disagreement with Pilar, the real founder of their society, and because the aim of the two societies was practically one.

Note 71. The similarity of character between the Liga and the Katipunan has always been a matter of discussion. Some writers would draw a hard and fast line between the two, considering them as oil and water, two bodies enemies one of the other; others looking upon them as two oils, the one vegetable and the other mineral which, although differing in nature, mix together thoroughly.

Reyes, in his oft-quoted "Memoria" to the then Gov. General, Primo de Rivera, in a mad attempt to prove that the insurrection was owing to the "friars" and that they attempted to invent the Katipunan plot to cover up their treason, says:

"Above all, the friars committed the criminal and suicidal infamy of calumniously including in the Katipunan the millionaire and aristocratic element, and the middle cla.s.ses, the fact being that they had nothing in common with the plebeian a.s.sociation which they not only despised for its low condition, but which the few who knew of its existence must have hated, if not for egotism, for the socialistic tendencies of the said group."

Such a.s.sertions scarcely deserve comment, for from beginning to end, the proceedings against the separatists were in the hands of the civil authorities, the members of the Religious Orders having no influence whatever in the matter, although it was they who, by their watchfulness over the interests of the country had detected symptoms which they, as true patriots, made known to the civil authorities. True it is also that a friar, Padre Mariano Gil, made known, at a critical moment, the plot of the diabolical society, in time to prevent the bloodthirsty fiends rising in a night and cutting the throats of those who had been their benefactors; but the "friar" was never a secret service agent of the Government. What he did was what every patriotic Spaniard would have done under the circ.u.mstances. It was the civil authorities who, upon the discovery of the plot, caused the arrest of those complicated, and who tried and pa.s.sed judgement upon the guilty. If millionaires and others were counted among the members of the Katipunan it was because they were guilty of the same treason as the katipuneros and not because they were "included" by the "friar".

"... a.s.sociation which they not only despised for its low condition, but which the few who knew of its existence must have hated, if not for egotism, for the socialistic tendencies of the said group."

So says Isabelo de los Reyes, the founder of the late Filipino Democratic Party, and the Workman's Democratic Union, the most socialist movement in the history of the Philippines. So much for the Liberty, Equality and Fraternity which they all professed.

Another writer, C. de Valdez, a nom-de-plume under which I recognize as hidden one whose knowledge on this subject was very extensive, who for the study of the question had at his disposition innumerable doc.u.ments of vital importance, gives as his opinion: "It has been said that the Liga was a society into the which there entered only elements of a certain culture, and the people of money; whilst the Katipunan was formed for the poor and laboring cla.s.ses. If by this it is intended to signify that they were two close societies, the one which should comprehend what we might call the aristocracy and the other the common people, we cannot agree with the opinion, because it is in contradiction with the facts. There existed a free communication between both societies and the prominent personages of the Liga mixed with the humble ones of the Katipunan, taking active part in the labors and forming part of the reunions and a.s.semblies [61]; in the same way the individuals of common cla.s.s entered the files of the Liga without any distinction of cla.s.s being drawn between them."

The writer goes on to show that the three main things needed for the Revolution were 1st: an active propaganda of separatist ideas; 2nd: funds to cover expenses and to purchase arms, and 3rd: a considerable number of persons ready to take up arms in the field. The first two of these main things were to be attended to by the Liga and the third by the Katipunan.

"In the greatest utility in attaining the ultimate end of the initiators and directors of the conspiracy, must be sought the distinction between the Liga and the Katipunan, and the difference which the one or the other society enjoyed."

"In all other things, both societies, or both organisms of the same society, co-exist, and display their activity jointly, the campaign of the Katipunan or that of the Liga being the most active; according as the necessities with which the one or the other were preferentially encharged to satisfy the final triumph of the revolt, might be of the greatest urgency or immediate utility."

The fact is that the Liga and the Katipunan were the distinct foundations of two personal enemies, both of whom wished to hold for himself the position of supreme chief of the movement. (See note 70).

D. Manuel Luengo, Civil Governor of Manila, in a report to the Minister of Foreign affairs, speaking on the subject of the Katipunan, says:

"To carry to a head their fearful and criminal idea, they found it necessary to recruit many people of all cla.s.ses and from all the provinces, seeking a useful means to facilitate the conjuration. And the indian being by reason of his ignorance and his barbarianism, like all peoples of his kind, easily fanaticised, they set to work to fanaticise the ma.s.ses, these hordes of childish people, these ignorant laborers; and they fanaticised them by means of the pacto-de-sangre, making them swear war to the death to Spaniards, practicing an incision in the left arm, and with the blood which flowed from the wound made them sign their frightful oath."

"The masonic attributes discovered, and the "ap.r.o.n" [62] upon which appeared the head of a Spaniard suspended by the hair, by the hand of a criminal indian, whilst with the other hand a dagger was plunged into the throat, evidenced, in a notorious manner, that this Society was found well provided with masonic rites."

Note 72. Deodato Arellano, Bonifacio, Dina and Plata, it will be remembered, were energetic workers of the Liga. They had entered into the scheme of Rizal's a.s.sociation before Pilar's idea of a similar society had become known. Two months or so after the foundation of the Liga, at the time when its founder was deported to Dapitan, it was decided to take up Pilar's project and see what could be done towards carrying it to a successful issue.

Jose Dizon y Matanza (fols. 1,129-1,131) testified that "on the same day in which General Despujols ordered the publication in the Gaceta of the deportation of Rizal, there gathered in a house in calle Ilaya, Bonifacio, Arellano, Valentin Diaz, Teodoro Plata, Dina and the witness; and they agreed to form a society to be known as the Katipunan, the object and ends of which were to be filibusterism, or, in other words, the liberty of the country from Spanish rule; the six persons present immediately proceeded to perform upon themselves the incision of the pacto-de-sangre, signing with their own blood a blank paper, placing after the signature, the symbolic name each chose for himself. They then drew up the programme of the Society. This programme was composed of 6 articles, viz.: 1st: to const.i.tute a secret society known as the Katipunan; 2nd: that the organization was to be by triangles, to the end that no more than three members should know one another; 3rd: that the initiated should pay one real entrance fee, and a half real as a monthly subscription; 4th: that as the number of the members increased they should found one or more balangay in each district; 5th: to try to gather funds to carry out the purposes of the society; 6th: that when the opportunity occurred they should reform these articles.

They also agreed upon the form of oath which should be taken by the initiated, which was to promise to shed even the last drop of blood for the liberty of the Philippines.

The Katipunan was founded upon masonic usage adapted to the character of the a.s.sociation. Its formation was one of triangles, each new Katipunero being bound to attract to the a.s.sociation, two others to occupy the opposite angles. This formation was eventually changed on account of the extent to which the society extended, its management becoming very difficult. The particular triangles were broken up and the a.s.sociation formed in three degrees. The first degree was composed of the recently initiated members. These each possessed a mask and some form of arm, either fire-arm or bolo, the cost of which was borne by the member possessing it. The members who enjoyed the second degree also possessed masks and wore as a regalia a ribbon to which was attached a medal bearing a letter (equivalent to K) of the old-time form of script of the pre-Spanish filipino; also a sword and banner crossed.

The third degree members possessed red masks, the color being distinctive of the degree, in the same way as the color of the second degree was green, and that of first, black. These colors were symbolic: green signified hope, and red, war. Black was but a general color common to bandits all the world over. The masks of the third degree bore a triangle with three K's in the upper part, in the ancient Filipino script, and at the base the letters Z. Ll. B. (see at commencement of book). The inferior inscription signified "sons of the people."

Each degree had its pa.s.s words and the members only knew those of their own degree.

This was the latter form of the Katipunan in which it differed somewhat from the Liga.

Pilar's plan was revolutionary; Bonifacio's truly anarchistic.

Among the "chosen people" who testified before the Schurman Commission were two of the three native members of the present U. S. Commission, Tavera and Legarda. Both of these, among many other statements which will not hold water, had something to say on the subject of the Katipunan.

Legarda stated that: (see Report of the Philippine Commission, 1900; vol. II page 377.)

"This Society of Filipinos (the separatist element) united itself to the masonic society in Spain, and they established branches here; and this masonic society which was a true masonic society with all the characteristics of Masonry, converted itself afterwards into the Katipunan society. This society, the Katipunan, made great progress here in the Philippines, for they had to do greatly with the common people; they never had anything to do, or mixed at at all, with the higher cla.s.s of people here in the Philippines [63]. As a result of this the society gained much credit and power, and undermined the forces which were in existence, especially the native regiments of Tagalogs. This was in 1896; the Revolution broke out at San Juan del Monte in August. A curious fact that must be noted was that a friar, who was the priest of Tondo, was the cause of its breaking out; for Gen. Blanco knew of this movement of the people and what was going on [64], and was in favor of making concessions to the people. This friar denounced the society, for he had a very intimate friend who was a filipino, and he caused this friend to be introduced into the Katipunan society [65], and this friend afterwards became the leader of the revolution himself. This Filipino was named Andres Bonifacio, and later on he was chief of the revolution and chief of the Katipunan society. He took refuge in Cavite, and all that province rose up. Aguinaldo who was Munic.i.p.al Captain in Cavite Viejo that time, was also a member of the Katipunan. When he heard that the Civil Guard was going to arrest him, he revolted too. He met a man who was his superior in the society--that is, Bonifacio--and as his ambition was his moving spirit, he caused Bonifacio to be shot."

Tavera gave his opinion as follows: (see same Report, page 399. Vol II).

"The conviction was strong among the Filipinos that they would not succeed in attaining anything by any other means than force. This being the case, the idea occurred to some Filipinos to found a system of masonry here. There were some lodges of the masonic order here, and the idea presented itself to form a sort of political masonry, which was created and called the Katipunan. This Katipunan society was naturally a secret society and had, I think, about 400,000 members, princ.i.p.ally in the Tagalog provinces and of the people of the valley of the Pasig River. I think in Manila and in the valley of the Pasig there were 80,000, naturally, as there were so many, and as they were so strong, the idea of a revolution was a natural consequence. The princ.i.p.al agitator of all this movement was a man named Andres Bonifacio, who stirred up and directed it. The political movement in the Philippines was started, as was natural, by the aristocracy of wealth and of intelligence, but the Katipunan society was formed entirely of the elements from the lowest cla.s.s of society. Bonifacio was a man without education. He was employed in one of the business houses at a small salary, of perhaps $30 or $40 (Mexican) a month. They went on arranging their affairs very quietly and very secretly, awaiting a proper moment for action, which they believed would be the time of General Blanco's departure from the Philippines. Gen. Blanco was a man who was well thought of here [66], for he had a great deal of tolerance for the people [67]. He did tolerate masonry, and they believed that he also tolerated the existence of the Katipunan society. One day the priest of Tondo, Padre Gil, through the confession of a woman [68], learned of the existence of the Katipunan society, for the woman's husband was a member [69]. This Father Gil informed the General, so the Katipunan society was discovered.

As the reader can easily see for himself there is considerable difference between the statements of these two persons; a comparison of these with the real facts of the case will show how easy it is for a certain element to distort truth when it serves its purpose. I have quoted these two "chosen" people, not that their statements may go down to posterity as history (which has been distorted sufficiently), but because both Tavera and Legarda formed part of Aguinaldo's mock government--the Filipino Commune; and therefore both of them had plenty of occasion to know the real facts of the case, facts they evidently desired, for some reason, to distort.

Note 73. See notes 70 and 71.

Note 74. Herein the katipuneros showed their madness. So fanaticised did they become that nothing of a nature or character Spanish was allowed to remain. They carried this anti-Espanolism to the utmost extreme. Those of the native clergy who sympathised with the Katipunan frequently tore down the images of the saints in the churches, merely because the said saints were Spanish or painted them black in order to work the easier upon the imagination of the people.

It was this hatred for things Spanish that gave rise to the bitterness demonstrated against the Religious Orders. The friar was a Spaniard, the most Spanish, as a general rule, of all the Spaniards in the Archipelago, and as such became the princ.i.p.al target.

(See page 148).

Note 75. The revolution ever showed unmistakable signs of a bitter race hatred. When the revolt first broke forth this race hatred was confined to Spaniards; and it was not until the breaking out of the insurrection against the lawful authority of the U. S. that it became general. Till then anyone but a Spaniard could go from end to end of the Archipelago without molestation; but when the promises of independence and other things of a like nature, made by the American Consuls of Hong-Kong and Singapore, and other irresponsible persons, failed to materialize, the self-a.s.serted leaders of the people lost confidence in the white man and race hatred commenced to include all white people. When Aguinaldo's hordes of semi-savages commenced their attack upon the American forces, the effects of this race-hatred were felt more than ever before in the history of the country. Not only was the white man to be destroyed, but all those who sympathised with him--the Filipinos determined to "stagger humanity." And how they were going to do it is demonstrated in a doc.u.ment signed by Aguinaldo, captured by the American forces and published by the War Department of the U. S. on the 5th of September 1900. The following are a few extracts from it: