The Death of Andres Bonifacio

The death of Andres Bonifacio, the Supremo of the Katipunan, is a subject of controversy that has not settled down to this day.  Emilio Aguinaldo, who was elected in absentia as President of the newly established revolutionary government in Cavite, is being accused of having eliminated Bonifacio because he was allegedly looked upon as a rival. 

This accusation has reverberated the intense political campaign of the 1930s where Manuel L. Quezon deliberately linked Aguinaldo to the killing of General Antonio Luna and Bonifacio.  The alleged bones of Bonifacio that were dug in Cavite were paraded in the streets of Manila, drawing away public sympathy from Aguinaldo, resulting in his lopsided defeat in the 1935 elections.  

But a study of the series of events that transpired from the Tejeros elections on March 22, 1897, to the two Actas (Acta de Tejeros and Acta de Naic) and to the execution of the Bonifacio brothers on May 10, 1897, would show that Bonifacio had placed himself in a situation that his role in the revolutionary movement had become untenable.  

Andres Bonifacio was charged with sedition, tried by a Court Martial, found guilty, and sentenced to be shot. His sentence was commuted by President Emilio Aguinaldo to banishment, but the plea of several generals of the revolution made him recall the order, leading to the execution of the two brothers.

Bonifacio was arrested on April 27, 1897, on the strength of an order issued by Aguinaldo. The order was based on a letter from the presidente (mayor) of the town of Indang, Severino Delas Alas, complaining that the troops of Andres Bonifacio had attacked the town. (Ronquillo, 109).

The attack on the town of Indang came after the refusal of the townspeople to provide Bonifacio and his men with food and provisions. Bonifacio cursed the townspeople as traitors to the revolution and threatened to burn the town starting with the convent and the church (Alvarez[Recalling], 120).

Bonifacio's disassociation with the newly established government came into the open after he refused to accept his defeat in the election held at the Tejeros Convention on March 22, 1897. On the day of the election, he walked out and declared that the elections were null and void because according to him the will of the majority was not followed, citing Tirona's actuation questioning his qualification for the position of Director of Interior.

The following day, Bonifacio made a different declaration. This time, he said he was cheated. He and forty or so members of the Magdiwang Council issued a document known as the "Acta de Tejeros" demanding that those elected resign their positions on the basis that their election was invalid by virtue of irregularities committed during the election.

His demand was not accepted by the Magdalos who contended that there was no cheating and the declaration by Bonifacio that the proceedings were null and void was superseded by the will of the majority who stayed and continued the proceedings under the chairmanship of Santiago Rillo of the Batangas delegation.

Failing in this demand he and the same Magdiwang officials and two Magdalo generals signed a document on April 19, 1897, known as the "Acta de Naic" which was, in essence, a coup d'etat against the newly established Philippine government of President Emilio Aguinaldo. The coup was thwarted by Aguinaldo himself and Bonifacio with a few remaining followers left Naic and encamped in Limbon. President Aguinaldo allowed Bonifacio and his co-plotters to leave scot-free and even forgave his two generals who participated in the coup (Delos Santos, 47; Ronquillo 106-109).

When the government soldiers sent to carry out the arrest order arrived at Limbon, the thirty-five followers of Bonifacio did not put up a fight and surrendered their weapons voluntarily. However, Ciriaco, the brother of Andres, fired at the arresting officers killing two of them. On the return fire, Ciriaco was killed and Bonifacio was hit in the arm by a rifle shot while aiming his revolver (Kalaw[Court Martial], 5,17,20,22 and 23; Ronquillo, 144; Corpuz, 124). He was also stabbed near the neck by General Paua.

The two brothers were brought to Maragondon where a Council of War was convened to try them for the crime of sedition. The brothers were found guilty and sentenced to die by shooting. The full details of the trial can be read in Teodoro M. Kalaw's book, "The Court-Martial of Andres Bonifacio".

President Aguinaldo commuted the sentence to indefinite exile (Kalaw[Court Martial], 39), but despite the commutation order, the brothers were nonetheless executed. On March 22, 1948, Aguinaldo revealed in a handwritten note that he recalled the commutation order after his generals, notably Noriel and Del Pilar, pleaded with him. The two generals mentioned the plot to assassinate him when Bonifacio launched the coup d'etat on the 19th of April. (Zafra, 232-237)

They maintained that there will be no peace for as long as Bonifacio was alive and if he (Aguinaldo) still wanted them to live ("at kung ibig ninyong mabuhay pa tayo") and for the sake of tranquility and unity among the various revolutionary forces, he should recall the commutation order, which he did.

Here is a quote containing the opinion of retired justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Abraham Sarmiento (Ronquillo,71) on the legality of the Bonifacio trial:

1) As to the trial of Andres and Procopio Bonifacio, that the trial was null and void, the Council of War having deprived both accused of due process;

2) As to the evidence against the accused, that although the verdict of the War Council was based on no competent evidence, it is nonetheless a historical fact that Andres Bonifacio had sought to set up a rival government in defiance of the Tejeros Government; and

3) As to the execution of the accused, that the execution of Bonifacio was Aguinaldo's discretion (in view of the Acta de Tejeros and the Naik Military Agreement).

The trial of Bonifacio was the first and only act of court proceedings ever conducted by the revolutionaries.  In this regard, they looked up to the Spanish military system of justice (Codigo de Enjuiciamento Militar Espanol) as a model.  It would be a mistake to judge the system of justice of the Spanish colonial administration  that was adopted by the inexperienced revolutionary officers of Aguinaldo who composed the Council of War that tried the Supremo Bonifacio with the system of jurisprudence of the independent Republic of the Philippines.  The two are far apart in terms of objectives, substance, and methodologies.  On the other hand,  it can be said that the effort exerted to try  Bonifacio instead of just simply summarily shooting him without trial, in the manner that Bonifacio himself would have wanted to do to those who would have opposed his Acta de Naic, and also, the fact that the trial proceeded despite the dangers occasioned by the Spanish offensive is highly commendable. 

It is also noteworthy to mention what Apolinario Mabini said to Aguinaldo after he was named secretary of the revolutionary government on June 11, 1898.  Mabini decried the cold treatment accorded to Bonifacio because if it happened to him, said Mabini, he would have applied summary judgment (juicio sumaresimo or shot without the benefit of trial) on Bonifacio and his companions. (Ronquillo, 27)

SOURCES:

1. Alvarez, Santiago V.: “Recalling the Revolution, Memoirs of a Filipino General,” translation by Paula Carolina S. Malay and Introduction by Ruby R. Paredes, published in cooperation with Ateneo de Manila University Press, University of Wisconsin Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 1992

2. Corpuz, Onofre D.: “Saga and Triumph – The Filipino Revolution Against Spain,” University of the Philippines Press and Cavite Historical Society, 2002

3. De los Santos, Epifanio: "Andres Bonifacio," pages 34-58, The Philippine Review (Revista Filipina), G. Nieva: Manila, P.I., January 1918, University of Michigan Library 2005, http://name.umdl.umich.edu/ACP0898.0003.001

4. Kalaw, Teodoro M.: "The court-martial of Andres Bonifacio: with prefatory notes, tr. by Paz Policarpio-Mendez,"; University of Michigan Library 2005, http://name.umdl.umich.edu/ADL9481.0001.001

5. Ronquillo, Carlos: "Ilang Talata Tungkol sa Panghihimagsik ng 1896-1897," edited by Isagani Medina, University of the Philippines Press, 1996

6. Zafra, Nicolas: "Riptide to Tejeros, ‘The Making of a Nation," Filipino Heritage, Lahing Pilipino Publishing, Inc. Philippine Copyright, vol. 8, 1978

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