The document describes the first rally of the Philippine Revolution occurring on August 26, 1896 in Balintawak according to eyewitness General Guillermo Masangkay. It details a meeting held among Katipunan leaders where Andres Bonifacio advocated for starting the revolution early despite opposition. Bonifacio appealed to crowds outside who destroyed their cedula tax certificates, marking the beginning of open revolt against Spanish rule.
The document describes the first rally of the Philippine Revolution occurring on August 26, 1896 in Balintawak according to eyewitness General Guillermo Masangkay. It details a meeting held among Katipunan leaders where Andres Bonifacio advocated for starting the revolution early despite opposition. Bonifacio appealed to crowds outside who destroyed their cedula tax certificates, marking the beginning of open revolt against Spanish rule.
The document describes the first rally of the Philippine Revolution occurring on August 26, 1896 in Balintawak according to eyewitness General Guillermo Masangkay. It details a meeting held among Katipunan leaders where Andres Bonifacio advocated for starting the revolution early despite opposition. Bonifacio appealed to crowds outside who destroyed their cedula tax certificates, marking the beginning of open revolt against Spanish rule.
The document describes the first rally of the Philippine Revolution occurring on August 26, 1896 in Balintawak according to eyewitness General Guillermo Masangkay. It details a meeting held among Katipunan leaders where Andres Bonifacio advocated for starting the revolution early despite opposition. Bonifacio appealed to crowds outside who destroyed their cedula tax certificates, marking the beginning of open revolt against Spanish rule.
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as doc, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 6
This version is written by the
Katipunan General Guillermo
Masangkay. He is an eyewitness of the historic event and a childhood friend of Bonifacio. According to him, the first rally of the Philippine Revolution happened on August 26, 1896 at Balintawak. Correspondingly, the date and site presented were accepted by the preliminary years of American government. Below is General Guillermo Masangkay’s version of the “Cry of Balintawak”.
(Source: Zaide, Gregoria and Zaide,
Sonia. (1990). Documentary Sources of Philippine History. Vol. 5. Manila: National Book Store.)
“On August 26th [1896
-Z.], a big meeting was held in Balintawak, at the house of Apolonio Samson, then the cabeza of that barrio of Caloocan. Among those who attended, I remember, were Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Tomas Remigio, Briccio Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Pio Valenzuela, Enrique Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon. They were all leaders of the Katipunan and composed the board of directors of the organization. Delegates from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite and Morong (now Rizal,) were also present.
At about nine o’clock in the
morning of August 26, the meeting was opened with Andres Bonifacio presiding and Emilio Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose was to discuss when the uprising was to take place. Teodoro Plata [Bonifacio’s brother-in-law – Z.], Briccio Pantas, and Pio Valenzuela were all opposed to starting the revolution too early. They reasoned that the people would be in distress if the revolution were started without adequate preparation. Plata was very forceful in his argument, stating that the uprising could not very well be started without This version is written by the Katipunan General Guillermo Masangkay. He is an eyewitness of the historic event and a childhood friend of Bonifacio. According to him, the first rally of the Philippine Revolution happened on August 26, 1896 at Balintawak. Correspondingly, the date and site presented were accepted by the preliminary years of American government. Below is General Guillermo Masangkay’s version of the “Cry of Balintawak”. (Source: Zaide, Gregoria and Zaide, Sonia. (1990). Documentary Sources of Philippine History. Vol. 5. Manila: National Book Store.) “On August 26th [1896-Z.], a big meeting was held in Balintawak, at the house of Apolonio Samson, then the cabeza of that barrio of Caloocan. Among those who attended, I remember, were Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Tomas Remigio, Briccio Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Pio Valenzuela, Enrique Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon. They were all leaders of the Katipunan and composed the board of directors of the organization. Delegates from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite and Morong (now Rizal,) were also present. At about nine o’clock in the morning of August 26, the meeting was opened with Andres Bonifacio presiding and Emilio Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose was to discuss when the uprising was to take place. Teodoro Plata [Bonifacio’s brother-in-law – Z.], Briccio Pantas, and Pio Valenzuela were all opposed to starting the revolution too early. They reasoned that the people would be in distress if the revolution were started without adequate preparation. Plata was very forceful in his argument, stating that the uprising could not very well be started without the arms and food for the soldiers. Valenzuela used Rizal’s argument about the rich not siding with the Katipunan organization. Andres Bonifacio, sensing that he would lose in the 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 people that the leaders were arguing against starting the revolution early, and appealed to them in a fiery speech in which he said: “You remember the fate of our countrymen who were shot in Bagumbayan. Should we return now to the towns, the Spaniards will only shoot us. Our organization has been discovered and we are all marked men. If we don’t start the uprising, the Spaniards will get us anyway. What then, do you say?” “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 saved, “I want to see you destroy 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. With their cedulas destroyed, they could no longer go back to their homes because the Spaniards would persecute them, if not for being katipuneros, for having no cedulas. And people who had no cedulas during those days were severely punished.
