Death Of Bonifacio (thought Paper).docx

San Pedro, Janine Krystel S. 1J - MT

Thoughts on the Death of Bonifacio “Aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya sa pagka-dalisay at pagka-dakila gaya ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa?” – Andres Bonifacio. An exceptional quote from the man known as Supremo and acknowledged as the Father of Katipunan and the Filipino revolution, showing his declaration of nationalism as the greatest form of love that can be done for his country. He launched the revolution against the Spaniards and prepared his life in exchange for the independence and freedom of his country and its people. However, his sacrifices and intentions have turned into vain when his life has fallen into the hands of his very own countrymen. How the man considered as the father of revolution fighting for freedom suddenly became a traitor to his country? Worse part is that his death was peppered with deceptions and secrets that even a hundred years later, his death is still a misery to all of us. Thus, through reading excerpts from three sources and conducting further researches about the story leading to his death, I will attempt to discover the truth and which of the three informants namely Agoncillo, Alvarez, and Aguinaldo is the most credible one. Teodoro Agoncillo is a renowned Filipino historian during the 20th century and was popularly known as the author for History of Filipino People, a collection of historical events in the Philippines. Agoncillo’s accounts for the death of Bonifacio was originally published in the 1960s, meaning, it was not created at the same time of the event it describes. Similarly, the accounts of Agoncillo make use of secondary-source of information, which contributes to the knowledge that this source is not entirely reliable. Even though that it was observed that Agoncillo’s version is similar to other resources, including Alvarez’s, it is likely that alterations and biases may occur for he was not present in the event itself. The version of an eyewitness or a participant of a particular historical event could be completely different from the version of a historian. Besides, his book was also intended for a huge audience of Filipino people, which makes it more likely to have discrepancies. The excerpt from Emilio Aguinaldo’s True version of the Philippine Revolution have provided the events starting from his oath taking down to Bonifacio’s death, in his personal pointof-view. Taking under consideration that it has been written by Aguinaldo himself, a primary source, and the events included were written logically in accordance with other resources, one would still doubt the credibility of Aguinaldo’s personal version. According to Aguinaldo, he himself was the one who ordered for the execution of the Bonifacio, but his writings also show that he pitied the two brothers and the execution order was against his will. The rivalry between Aguinaldo and Bonifacio was popularly known in the history of Philippine Revolution, and there could be a possibility that his versions of the story leading to Bonifacio’s death are altered and biased. Furthermore, the conversations included in his narrations are not entirely believable, especially in the given conversations of Colonel Bonson and Supremo, for it is not possible that he could have possibly known the exact exchanged words between the two when he was not even present in that situation. The very detailed narrations of Aguinaldo for each event make it more suspicious, and there is a high chance for Aguinaldo to cover up these stories to appear clean and

San Pedro, Janine Krystel S. 1J - MT

innocent in the eyes of Filipino people. Nonetheless, given that it is a primary source of information written by Aguinaldo, one will never be sure about the accuracy of the given contents. The memoirs of the General written by the Alvarez, which were based on his notes about the occurrences and accounts of the Revolution and Katipunan itself, started on March 14, 1896, and was first publicly published during the 1920s in Sampaguita weekly. Santiago V. Alvarez was the son of Mariano Alvarez and recognized as the general of the Magdiwang faction. From the years 1896 to 1901, he affirmed to be one of the people who guided the Revolution of the Filipino people against the Spaniards, given that he was already an active member of Katipunan even before the outbreak of the Revolution. Furthermore, the memoirs are known to tell the story of the events happened during 1896 to 1897 and have also included several times of what might possibly have led to Bonifacio's trial execution, including the behavior of Magdalo and Magdiwang towards each other and towards the prosecution of the Filipino Revolution. In my opinion, through conducting researches, Alvarez’s book is the most credible one among the three accounts of Bonifacio’s death for various reasons. First, the timeline of the events included in his memoirs are in lined with historical information gathered from other reliable sources, which could contribute to the credibility of the information that he has given. Alvarez had also included that the reason behind his writing is to "shed light on the different facets of the revolution.. in the interest of honorable truth" (Churchill, 1997), and given that he is very much loyal to Bonifacio, the possibility for him to alter the stories leading Bonifacio’s death is very unlikely. Lastly, the conditions given make him not only an eyewitness or primary source, but also an active participant of the important events that could lead us to the possible story leading to Bonifacio’s death, hence, making him the most reliable one.