Kartilya Ng Katipunan Ni Emilio Jacinto

The Kartilya ng Katipunan is a set of guiding principles and ideals that remain most relevant today amidst our nation’s crises. The revolution wears red of August: all its primary dates are of the amok month. The Katipunan was betrayed on August 19 and the ensuing drama, from Balintawak to Pinaglabanan, unfolds during the month’s final quarter. Dates are question. In prewar days the Cry of Balintawak was celebrated on August 26 at Pugad Lawin. Caloocan, scene of the Bonifacio uprising, was then a rustic town surrounded by fishpond, fields and forest. Balintawak was countryside; Pugad Lawin was deep woods; Pasong Tamo was a sylvan trail. To Caloocan, after the exposure of their secret society, fled Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto and followed by their men.

The exodus from Manila of the Katipunan began on August 19. By August 22 the number of Katipuneros grew to over a thousand and Bonifacio summoned them to a general meeting in the barrio of Balintawak, from there they went deep in to the woods of Pugad Lawin. The rank and file of the Katipunan was still undecided; they fled to Manila to avoid arrest, not to start an uprising. Few days the rebels were back in Balintawak and the Katipuneros raised the cry of revolt, it was the eve of St. Bartholomew (Patron Saint of knives & bolos), August 23 the point of no return for the Katipunan. Bonifacio’s Battle of Pinaglabanan said to have happened on August 29 -30. The assault on the garrison in San Juan and the attempt to seize the ammunition there and the reservoir dismally flopped; the fiasco from which Bonifacio and the Manila Katipunan would never recover. The Supremo fled to the mountains of Montalban.

And That, for the average Filipino, is the entire history of August, 1896: a Cry, an Uprising, a Battle and Defeat. But August of ’96 ended more gloriously, with the Cavite Revolution exploding on the last days of the month and triumphing in its initial battles, the Magdiwang taking Noveleta and the Magdalo taking Kawit. Why it’s the fiasco in Pinaglabanan rather than the victories in Cavite that was chosen to celebrate in August is a mystery. Since Bonifacio never won a battle, went to Kawit (against the advice of Jacinto) to meet the Magdiwang & Magdalo, who were well organized, for an election (of course who’ll win in an election in a place you have resistance). Emilio Aquinaldo won the presidency of the First Republic of The Philippines and the first in Asia, without being present during the election! And the rest of The Philippine history?…big lies & a big joke.