‘Three decades following Ramos’ speech and 159 years after Gat Andres’ birth, Filipinos can ensure their future by joining the Unite to End Violence against Women initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General…’
AND of all the chapters of national history, there is none more stirring than the birth of the Katipunan and the cry of Andrés Bonifacio to his countrymen to rise up in arms.” [https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1992/11/30/speech-of-president-ramos-during-the-bonifacio-day-november-30-1992/]
We can only agree with Fidel V. Ramos when he (as President of the Philippines on November 30, 1992) told the crowd assembled at the Quirino Grandstand: “Yet, no nation and no people can afford to be selective about their history–choosing only the pleasant things to remember and relegating the unpleasant side to forgetfulness. We cannot stop at merely commemorating the memory of Bonifacio and the Katipunan. To do so would be merely to perpetuate our past mistakes. We must sanctify and ensure our future by the example of Bonifacio.”
Three decades following Ramos’ speech and 159 years after Gat Andres’ birth, Filipinos can ensure their future by joining the Unite to End Violence against Women initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General — a global campaign which commences on 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) and ends on 10 December (Human Rights Day). This multi-year advocacy calls on governments, development actors, civil society, women’s organizations, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN system to develop emergency response plans to eradicate violence against women and girls. When will Earthlings learn and act to end intimate partner violence (battering, psychological abuse, marital rape, femicide) and female genital mutilation, among others? Example: Putrajaya has reaffirmed its stand that female circumcision is part of Malaysian culture. The statement came following a flare-up when on November 9 (2018), Malaysian delegates to the Universal Periodic Review on human rights in Geneva, Switzerland, defended the practice of infant female circumcision as a “cultural obligation” in Malaysia. [https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/11/15/dpm-maintains-that-female-genital-mutilation-is-part-of-msian-culture/]
The “promise of the Sustainable Development Goals — to leave no one behind — cannot be fulfilled without putting an end to violence against women and girls.” [https://www.un.org/en/observances/ending-violence-against-women-day] Filipinos should also celebrate World Children’s Day by protecting the rights of every child, given that racism and discrimination against children based on their ethnicity, language, and religion are rife in countries across the world, according to a new UNICEF report. [https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/racism-and-discrimination-against-children-rife-countries-worldwide]
Bonifacio himself, having been orphaned at a tender age, had to take the role of a child-worker, selling quality walking canes in Manila’s streets in order to provide a livelihood for his siblings. A leadership mantle early in his life. Andres had to grow up in a hurry and in his maturation carried the burden of stewardship.
Ramos had also said on the Bonifacio Day of the Katipunan Centenary Year: “Later would follow the many griefs and tragedies of our national revolution…The denial to Bonifacio of a place of honor in the organization he had founded, and his treacherous assassination.”
Among those intrigued by the political murder of Bonifacio (who was the Pangulo of the Republika ng Haringbayang Katagalugan) is Generoso Senga (seventh AFP chief of staff since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president in 2001) who told me that his research paper for his Philippine History class when he was a University of the Philippines freshman in the 1960s was precisely this crime.
Be that as it may, the assessment of the Great Plebeian by a different Chief Executive (“The painful and agonizing task of deciding that war had to be waged, fell on the shoulders of Bonifacio. The delicate situation demanded first-class leadership; there was no time to vacillate, no time to hedge. And the great visionary knew this. He realized that any further delay in the revolutionary program would result in unto sufferings for his fellowmen, the countless deaths of Filipinos without the benefits of defense. He realized quite clearly, too, that any disruption in the war time table would bring about more uncertainties. And so he had to unite his men. He had to provide the necessary leadership, to lead the revolution during the darkest hour of the country.”https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/11/30/speech-of-president-macapagal-at-the-bonifacio-centenary-ceremonies/) is reflected in the testimonies of participants of the 1896 War of Independence, such as:
“The story goes, the guards posted outside the house spot a stranger acting suspiciously.
They bring him inside, and Bonifacio assigns Valenzuela to interrogate him. The stranger tells a bizarre tale. He confesses he is a spy (‘tiktik’). He has been sent to Caloocan, he says, by the Archbishop of Manila, Bernardino Nozaleda, with instructions to find out the Katipunan’s plans. The previous day, he babbles, the Archbishop had hosted a big meeting in his palace. Governor General Ramón Blanco had been there, and his deputy General Bernardo Echaluce, and other important military, religious and civic leaders. The meeting had decided to impose ‘juez de cuchillo’ (‘justice by the knife’; a reign of terror) in eight provinces around Manila, unleashing a massacre not only of any rebels who had taken up arms against Spain but also of the entire native population wherever the Katipunan had spread. After this mass slaughter, the region would be repopulated with 3,000,000 immigrants from China, whose recruitment and transportation, it was proposed, would be organized by the prominent Chinese businessman Carlos Palanca. [Sofronio G. Calderon, “Mga nangyari sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas ayon sa pagsasaliksik,” Volume II, Typescript, 1925]
“Did the spy really tell this fable, or has it been embellished in the retelling? We shall never know. Its details, for sure, are unbelievable. But beneath the fantasy it seemed to have a kernel of truth — the Spanish response to the Katipunan would be ruthless. The spy was not the first to warn of the ‘juez de cuchillo’; he was adding weight to a rumor that was already rife. Arrests had already begun. There had been no hint, yet, that the Spaniards might offer KKK members who surrendered any form of amnesty or leniency.” [http://www.kasaysayan-kkk.info/studies/andres-bonifacio-biographical-notes-part-v-november-17-1896—march-21-1897]
In our 21st century, Bonifacio’s legacy includes Philippine Navy’s offshore patrol vessel PS-17, which is reportedly ready (since July 7, 2022) to perform its territorial defense functions while assigned to the Palawan-based Western Command. With its 76-mm. Oto Melara automatic cannon, 25-mm. and 20-mm. light cannons and .50-caliber machine guns, BRP Andres Bonifacio is expected to live up to the standards of the Unang Pangulo. [https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1178415]
