Lesson 9 THE FIRST CRY OF THE REVOLUTION (AUGUST 1896) Learning Outcomes |}. ‘At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. Identify the conflicting views about the First Cry of the Revolution ‘i 2. Examine each source in its account of the start of the revolution f 3. Formulate arguments for’ and against a particular primary source Historical Context The Philippine Revolution of 1896 began with what later became known as the “First Cry” or the initial move of the | Hipage to begin the revolution for independence. This they did eoncivg up their cedulas and proclaiming the start of the fight ape dena, The event happened after the Katipunan was paca ugust 19, 1896 and the Spaniards began to crack on suspected rebels, The Katipunan Supremo AndresTHE FIRST CRY Oo; F THE REVOLUTION ( Aucu: ST 1896) 113 roceed to a designated Meeting p] on their next move. The original t the end of Aueust but following the ifacio foun is ou Bon Manil it wise to begin the revi ek attack Manila at the end of the month revolution that da id nth. at day an lace o a eee the city to decide S te © start the revolution atipuneros, In 1911, a Monument to th, Balinrawak where beginning Fa Hana 1896 was erected in first er crac there on August 26 pa believed that the place ©: i 1e event were later contradicted ao the date and personalities who claimed that they we: y different Katipunan 1960 jal Commision of ve Commision todays Nevo followin nission of the Philippines [NHCP eS ienetoual ‘ollowing extensive research of primary so 1) decided that, the Philippine Revolution of 1896 happen py the First Cry of at Pugad Lawin, now part of Project 8 in os 23, 1896 ity. The controver: oversy, however, persists, with histori other personalities (especially the des. # istorians and 7 Aa cendants of the Kati witnesses) claiming that the official date and place ar Katipunero e wrong. TIS Sri aes ee = 1g Buhay ily newspaper Bagon: 3, 1896 FIGURE 24, Photo published in the dal claiming that the First Cry happened on August 2ES IMARY sourc 1 l 4 ANALYZING PR quela’s Account ate and place of the Dr. Pio Valen The official di count of First Cry were largely baseg icial of the Katipun, i enzuela, an official iPuinay Dr Fits: who was present during 4, res ublished as Memoirs of the K-K.K, ang ‘Manila, n.d.) ‘on the ac and a friend of And: event. His account was Pp the Philippine Revolution ( f The Account : ply | Q The first place of refuge of Andres Boe Palio j io Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Aguedo del lacey creat was Balintawak, the first five arriving one August 19, and I, on August 20, 1896. The first | place where some 500,members of the Katipunan met on August 22, 1896 was the house and yard of Apolonio | Samson at Kangkong. Aside from the persons mentioned | above, among those who were there were Briccio Pantas, | Alejandro Santiago, Ramon. Bernardo, Apolonio Samson, and others. Here, views were only exchanged and no | resolution was debated or adopted. It was at Pugad Lawin, | in the house, store-house and yard of Juan Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino, where over 1,000. members of the Katipunan met and carried out considerable debate and discussion on August 23, 1896. The discussion was whether or not the revolution against the Spanish government should be started on August 29, 1896, Only one man protested and fought against a war and that was Teodoro Plata Besides the Persons named above, among those Tomas Remigio, » After the tumultuous o ‘nt tore their cedula certificates Long live the Philippines! Long live the mecting many o and shouted PhilippinesseTHE First Cry OF THE REVOLUTION. (AUG UST 1896) WS Santiago Alvarez’s Account In 1927, a pre-World War II named Sampaguita began publishing the Kati uy aa Santiago Vira Alvarez, (nom-de-guerre Rule , erre: Kid ae the “a ai “ the Cavite revolution. The series appeared in 36 parts. the story of the Philippine Revolution starting arting, in March 1 il la in ar nee until late 1897 interspersed with personal accounts and stories of events during the revolution t ; ‘agalog weekly magazine at ng Apoy) ‘ : aken from 2. Alvarez’ notes. The series was later published as a book, titled The Katipunan and the Revolution (QC: ADMU, 1992) wit! English translation by Paula Carolina Malay. > han The story of i i i ; a the First Cry is found in Chapter 6 of the memoirs. pared Presents an account devoid of any dramatic description as it is merely a narration of the events that happened in Bahay Toro (now part of Project 8 in Quezon City) on August 24, 1896. . The Account | We started our trek to Kangkong at about eleven that night. We walked through the rain over dark expanses of muddy meadows and fields. Our clothes drenched and our bodies numbed by the cold wind, we plodded wordlessly. It was nearly two in the morning when we reached the house of Brother Apolonio Samson in Kangkong. We crowded into the house to rest and warm ourselves. We were so tired that, after hanging our clothes out to dry, we soon fell asleep... The Supremo began assigning guards at five o'clock the following morning, Saturday 22 August 1896. He placed a detachment at the Balintawak boundary and another at the backyard to the north of the house where we were gathered....RIMARY SOURCES 1 16 ANALYZING P hundred men assembled at the Andres Bonifacio. Altogether, they bolos, spears; daggers, a dozen No less than three bidding of the Supremo carried assorted weapons, small rei i k Manuel, for bunting bir restless because of fear 0, intercepted; and in that eventuality, the enemy Bond Purely know their whereabouts and attack them on the sly. He decided that it was better to move toa site called Bahay Toro. At ten o'clock that Sunday morning, 23 August 1896, we arrived at Bahay Toro. Our number had grown to more than 500 and the house; ‘yard, and. warehouse of Cabesang Melchora was. getting \ crowded with us Katipuneros, than that of Apolonio' Samson: Like him, she also opened slaughtered to feed us.:,. The following day, Monday, 24 August, Katipuneros came and increased our nu thousand. The Supremo called a meetii morning inside Cabesang Melchora’s both sides at the head of the table w, Emilio Jacinto, Bri Bernardo, Pantelaon Torres, F, Fernandez, that some s more mber to more than a mg at ten o’clock that barn, Flanking him on ere Dr. Pio Valenzuela, The following 1, matters were approved at the meeting: An uprising to defe 1 end the people's freedom was to be started at midnight of Saturday, 29 August 1896.... Pe aT AT err a ANNI Pag it e Lieute: | Ivers and a rifleused by its owner, one I ttenant ee birds. The Supremo Bonifacio was f a sudden attack by the enemy | He was worried over the thought that any eee iurier carrying the letter sent by Emilio Jacinto cou ave been | ¢ The generous hospitality of Cabesang Melchora was no less | her granary and had plenty of rice pounded and animals |THE First Cry OF THE REVOLUTION (4 ucust 1896 » 117 4, To be ona state of alert so tha ; t the could strike should the situati om enemy was i T or sat @ disadvantage. Thus th oe ie earlier than the oe ar r ced Lim rabsah ct 29 August 1896 should a aoe ence Se at that date. Everyone sh: , steel himsel If and be resolute in the st a gee! bimtel struggle that was Katipunan forces arise where the 5. The immediate objecti: | ect, 1 Manila... ace Laem LEICA EES "| bey After e aa coed of the meeting at twelve noon there were tumultuous shouts of “Long live the Sons of the People!” Guillermo Masangkay’s Account In 1932, Guillermo Masangkay, a friend and fellow Katipunero of Andres Bonifacio, recounted his experiences as e revolutionary movement. In an interview with a member of th Masangkay said that the First the Sunday Tribune magazine, Cry happened in Balintawak on August 26, 1896. In the first decade of American rule, it was his account that was used by the fficials to fix the date and place of the government and civic o: d with the erection of the “Monument First Cry which was cappe to the Heroes of 1896” in that place. nterview published in the newspaper Bagong Masangkay changed his narrative an on August 23, 1896, similar to Pio Valenzuela. But Masangkay’s dare was hen his granddaughter, Soledad Buehler- s, including the Masangkay papers» that However, in an i Bubay on August 26, 1957, stating that the revolution beg: the assertion of D: later changed again w Borromeo, cited source: the original date was August 26.URCES 118 svsrvzve primary SO} ) | . : | The Account big meeting was held in Balintay, | On August 26, 4 918 Samson, then the cabezq OF the, (onto at the house of A those who attended, I Temembe, je loocan. barrio of Ca ifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del ee Toma, were Bonifacio, Pantas, Teodoro Plata, ° alenzue] Remigio, Briccio and Francisco Carreon, Toey Were Enrique denna see and composed the’ boarg of leaders) of ;the rganization. Delegates from Bulacan, directors of Oe a Morong (now Rizal) were qj, Cabanatuan, » a, all eri : ine o’clock in the morning of August 26, the AS abou ned with Andres Bonifacio Presiding ang Ena ae Lane as secretary. The purpose was to discuss tons eae was to take place. Teodoro Plata, Briccio pei ad Bs Valenzuela were all opposed to Starting the revolution too early. They reasoned that the People woulg be in distress if the revolution were started witho, preparation. Plata was very forceful in his argu that the uprising could not very well be started and food for the soldiers, Valenzuela used Riz about the rich not siding with the Katipunan organization. Andres Bonifacio, sensing that he would lose in the | ut adequate al’s argument discussion then left the session hall and talked to the people who were waiting outside for the result of the meeting of the leaders, He told the beople that the leaders were arguing | 48dinst starting the revolutic and appealed to them in 4 fiery speech in which * “You remember the fate of | Our countrymenTHE FInsT CRY OF THE REVOLUTION (AUGUST 96) 119 “Revolt,” the people shouted as one. Bonifacio then asked the people to give a pledge that they were to revolt. He told them that the sign of slavery of the Filipinos were (sic) the cedula tax charged each citizen. “If it is true that you are ready to revolt,” Bonifacio said, “I want to see you destroyed your cedulas. It will be the sign that all of us have declared our severance from the Spaniards.” With tears in their eyes, the people, as one man, pulled out their cedulas and tore them to pieces. It was the beginning of the formal declaration of the separation from Spanish rule.... When the people’s pledge was obtained by Bonifacio, he returned to the session hall and informed the leaders of what took place outside. “The people want to revolt, and they destroyed their cedulas,” Bonifacio said, “So now we have to start the uprising, otherwise the people by hundreds will be shot.” There was no alternative. The board of directors, in spite of the protests of Plata, Pantas, and Valenzuela, voted for the revolution. And when this was decided, the people outside shouted, “Long Live the Philippine Republic.”ROE 120 Aavatyzine Prisany sou Be i the :28. Bagong Buhay (published August 26, 1957) featuring an article on First Cry of th i anak! le Revolution based on the accounts of Guillermo Mas:a que Finst CRY OF THE REVOLUTION (AUG UST 18) *) 121 Guide Questions _| who are the three primary sources of the story? How did story? How di 1. a F they participate in the revolution? 2. According to the accounts, where and when did the fi fe first cry of revolution happen? 3, What is the significance of the teari e Wee cedtlas signify? ing of the cedulas? What 4, What are the similarities and differences among the three accounts? 5. How does the National Historical Commission of the Philippines verify or authenticate the historical accounts? Activity 1 | _ Activity 1 Access and watch the YouTube video titled “Xiao Time: Ang Unang Sigaw ng Himagsikan sa Balintawak, Kalookan” posted by PTV. Then answer the following questions: 1, What does the video tell you about the many different accounts? 2. Is there a chance that all sources are valid? What other information on the revolution did you learn from the video? Activity 2 Form groups of at least seven members. Research on one primary source and his/her account of a recent event. Develop five to ten arguments that support the account or that show the reliability of the source. ‘Afterwards, present them in class and be ready to answer questions that may be raised by your classmates.