Andres Bonifacio’s heroism honored in perpetuity in Filipinos’ hearts and minds

Published November 30, 2022, 12:05 AM

by Manila Bulletin

Andres Bonifacio’s heroism is honored today by the Filipino nation on his 159th birth anniversary. His preeminent stature as a national hero whose birth date is declared a non-working public holiday is anchored on his role as the Father of the Philippine Revolution.

His “Monumento” is a popular landmark located on a rotunda that marks the northern terminal of the country’s most well-known national highway, EDSA in Caloocan City, Metro Manila. While Jose Rizal died at age 35, Bonifacio’s death occurred at age 34, underlining the gallantry of the youthful leaders of the revolution that sought to end more than three centuries of Spanish colonialism.

He is hailed as the Father of the Philippine Revolution. In 1892, he joined Rizal in establishing La Liga Filipina that advocated for political reforms in Spain’s colonial government in the Philippines. This triggered Rizal’s deportation to Dapitan in Zamboanga. Together with Apolinario Mabini and others, Bonifacio revived La Liga in Rizal’s absence and was active in organizing local chapters in Manila. He also became its chief propagandist. 

It could be gleaned that Bonifacio discerned, too, the need for a gradualist approach in bringing about social change. But he and his youthful fellow reformists must have felt the severity of the Spanish response that pushed them into eventually waging an armed revolution to overthrow an unjust and well-entrenched colonial regime.

Thus, he and his colleagues decided to establish the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang, Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or more commonly known as the Katipunan, a movement which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Tagalog Revolution.

Noted historians Teodoro Agoncillo and Milagros Guerrero cite Bonifacio as having “reorganized the Katipunan into a revolutionary government, with himself as president (pangulo) of a nation-state called “Haring Bayang Katagalugan” (‘Sovereign Nation of the Tagalog People’ or ‘Sovereign Tagalog Nation,’) also “Republika ng Katagaluguan” (‘Tagalog Republic,’ Republica Tagala in Spanish), wherein “Tagalog” referred to all those born in the Philippine islands and not merely the Tagalog ethnic group. Hence, some historians have argued that he should be considered the first president of the Philippines.”

It has become well-known that, following a power struggle with the Cavite-based forces of Emilio Aguinaldo, he was killed in Maragondon, Cavite. Subsequently, Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence from the balcony of his home in Kawit, Cavite. 

History and posterity have given ample recognition to Andres Bonifacio’s heroism and greatness. Apart from the observance of a non-working public holiday on his birth anniversary he has been honored extensively in other ways. The headquarters of the Philippine Army was named after him. It is now one of the leading commercial, financial and residential hubs in Metro Manila. There is a Liwasang Bonifacio near the Manila City Hall.

But it is in the hearts and minds of millions of grateful Filipinos where the heroism of Andres Bonifacio lives in perpetuity.