Andres
Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863 to Santiago and Catalina de Castro. His
father was a tailor, local politician and a boatman while his mother was a
factory worker.
Unfortunately,
Catalina died due to tuberculosis in 1881 and after a year, Santiago too,
passed away leaving Andres and his siblings orphaned. To provide for his
siblings, he worked as a craftsman and then as clerk-messenger and agent of
foreign commercial firms in Manila.
He
married Monica but she died young due to leprosy. Bonifacio's second wife,
Gregoria de Jesus, came from the Caloocan area of Metro Manila. They married
when he was 29 and she was just 18; their only child, a son, died as an infant.
He grew
up in the slums and knew from practical experience the actual conditions of the
class struggle in his society. He joined the Liga Filipina, organized by Jose
Rizal in 1892 to unify and intensify the nationalist movement for reforms. When
the Liga was disbanded upon the arrest and banishment of Rizal in Dapitan,
Bonifacio formed the Katipunan in 1892. He provided the unifying point for the
Filipino’s campaign for freedom, independence and equality.
Katipunan,
or Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan was devoted
to prepare resistance against the colonial government. Most members were from
middle and lower classes but soon recognized by many provinces in the
country. In 1895, Andres became the top
leader or Presidente Supremo of the Katipunan.
When
the society was exposed on August 19, 1896, it had about 10,000 members. On
August 23 Bonifacio and his followers gathered at Balintawak and decided to
begin the armed struggle. Bonifacio kicked off the revolt by leading thousands
of his followers to tear up their community tax certificates or cedulas to
signal their rejection to pay taxes to the Spanish colonial regime. Two days
later the first skirmish took place and a reign of terror by the Spaniards soon
followed.
Andres himself
led an attack on the town of San Juan del Monte, intent on capturing Manila's
metro water station and the powder magazine from the Spanish garrison. But, the
Spanish troops inside managed to hold off Andres’ forces until reinforcements
arrived. Andres was forced to withdraw to Marikina, Montalban, and San Mateo.
The
group in Cavite, led by Emilio Aguinaldo had the greatest success in driving
the Spanish out. By October of 1896, Aguinaldo's forces held most of the
peninsula. As a more successful military leader and a member of a much
wealthier, more influential family, Aguinaldo felt justified in formed his own
rebel government in opposition to Andres. On March 22, 1897, Aguinaldo rigged
an election at the rebels' Tejeros Convention to show that he was the proper
president of the revolutionary government.
To Andres'
shame, he not only lost the presidency to Aguinaldo, but was appointed to the
lowly post of Secretary of the Interior. Daniel Tirona questioned his fitness
even for that job, based on Andres’ lack of a university education.
Andres declined
to recognize the new rebel government. Aguinaldo sent a group to arrest
Bonifacio. Aguinaldo’s troop shot down his brother Ciriaco, seriously beat his
brother Procopio, and some reports say that they also raped Andres’ young wife
Gregoria.
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Aguinaldo
had Andres and Procopio tried for treason and sedition. After a one-day sham
trial, both Bonifacios were convicted and sentenced to death. On May 10, 1897,
both Procopio and Andres were shot dead by a firing squad on Nagpatong
Mountain. Some accounts say that Andres was too weak to stand, due to untreated
battle wounds, and was actually hacked to death in his stretcher instead.
Andres
was just 34 years old.
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