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Lesson 9
THE FIRST CRY OF THE
REVOLUTION (AUGUST 1896)

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, you should be able
to:
1. Identify the
conflicting views about the First Cry of the
Revolution
2. Fxamine each source in its account of the start of the
revolution
3 Formulate arguments tor and against a
particular
primary source

**'****"****'****

Historical Context
The Philippine Revolution of 1896 began with what later
became known as the "First Cry" or the initial move of the
Filipinos to begin the revolution for independence. This they did
by tearing up their cedulas and proclaiming the start of the fight
for independence. The event happened after the Katipunan was
exposed on August 19, 1896 and the Spaniards began to crack
down on suspected rebels. The Katipunan Supremo Andres
 THE FIRST CRY OF THE REvOLUTION (AUCUsT 1896) 113
proceed to a designated meting place outside the city to decide
pro

their next move. The original plan was to start the revolution
on their
at the end of August but following the arrests of the Katipuneros,
Bonifacio found it wise to begin the revolution that day and
attack Manila at the end of the month.
In 1911, a monument to the Heroes of 1896 was erected in
Balintawak where beginning in 1908, it was believed that the
first cry occurred there on August 26. However, the date and
place of the event were later contradicted by different Katipunan
personalities who claimed that they were there at the time. In
1963, the National Historical Commission (today's National
Historical Commission of the Philippines [NHCP]) decided that,
following extensive research of primary sources, the First Cry of
the Philippine Revolution of 1896 happened on August 23, 1896
at Pugad Lawin, now part of Project 8 in Quezon City.
The controversy, however, persists, with historians and
other personalities (especially the descendants of the Katipunero
witnesses) claiming that the official date and place are wrong.

newspaper Bagong Buhay

FIGURE 24. Photo published in the daily
on August 23, 1896
claiming that the First Cry happened
 ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES

114
Dr. Pio Valenzuela's Account
The official date and place
of the First Cry werelargely hao.
based
official of the Katininn.
on the account of Dr.
Pio Valenzuela, an unan
who was present durine th
and a friend of Andres Bonifacio,
event. His account was published as Memoirs of the K.K.K,aand

the Philippine Revolution (Manila, n.d.)

The Account
The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio
Teodoro Plata, Aguedo del
Jacinto, Procopio Bonifacio,
Rosario, and myself was Balintawak, the first five ariving
there on August 19, and I, on August 20, 1896. The first

place where some 500 members of the Katipunan met

on August 22, 1896 was the house and yard of Apolonio
Samson at Kangkong. Aside from the persons mentioned
above, among those who were there were Briccio Pantas,
Alejandro Santiago, Ramon Bernardo, Apolonio Samson,
and others. Here, views were only exchanged and no
resolution was debated or adopted. It was at Pugad Lawin,
in the house, store-house and yard of Juan Ramos, son
of Melchora Aquino, where over 1,000 members of the
Katipunan met and carried out considerable debate and
discussion on August 23, 1896. The discussion was wbether
or not the revolution against the Spanish government should
be started on August 29, 1896. Only one man protested and
fought against a war and that was Teodoro Plata. Besides the
persons nanmed above, among those present at this metimg
were Enrique Cipriano, Alfonso Pacheco, Tomas Remigio,
Sinforoso San Pedro, and others. After the tumultuoS
meeting many of those present tore their cedula certificates
and shouted "Long live the Philippines! Long live the
Philippines!"
 ID
THE FIRST CRY OF THE REvoLUTION (AucUST 1896)
115
Santiago Alvarez's Account
In 1927, a pre-World War II Tagalog weekly magazine
name Sampaguita began publishing the Katipunan memoirs of
Cen. Santiago Virata Alvarez, (nom-de-guerre: Kidlat ng Apoy)
one of the leaders of the Cavite revolution. The series appeared
in 36 parts. It told the story of the Philippine Revolution starting
in March 1896 until late 1897 interspersed with personal
accounts and stories of events during the revolution taken from
Alvarez' notes. The series was later published as a book, titled
The Katipunan and the Revolution (QC: ADMU, 1992) with an
English translation by Paula Carolina Malay.
The story of the First Cry is found in Chapter 6 of the
memoirs. Alvarez presents an account devoid of any dramatic
description as it is merely a narration of the events that
happened in Bahay Toro (now part of Project 8 in Quezon City)
on August 24, 1896.
The Account
We started our trek to Kangkong at about eleven that
night. We walked through the rain over dark expanses of
muddy meadows and fields. Our clothes drenched and our
bodies numbed by the cold wind, we plodded wordlessly. It
was nearly two in the morning when we reached the house
of Brother Apolonio Samson in Kangkong. We crowded into
the house to rest and warm oursewes. We were so tired that,
after hanging our clothes out to dry, uwe soon fell asleep..
The Supremo began assigning guards at five o'clock the
following morning, Saturday 22 August 1896. He placed
a detachment at the Balintawak boundary and another
at the backyard to the north of the house where uwe were
gathered..
116 ANALYZING PRiMARY SOURCES
No less than three hundred men assembled at the
bidding of the Suprenno Andres Bonifacio. Altogether, th
carried assorted weatpons, bolos, spears, daggers, a do0zen
Zen
small revolvers and a rifle used by its owner, one Lieutenan
Lant
Manuel, for hunting birds. The Supremo Bonifacio was
Testless because of fear of a sudden attack by the enemy
my.
He was worried over the thought that any of the couriers
by Emilio Jacinto could have beem
carrying the letter sent
the enemy would sureky
intercepted; and in that eventuality,
know their whereabouts and attack them on the sly. He
decided that it was better to move to a site called Bahav
Toro.
At ten o'clock that Sunday morning, 23 August 1896,
we arrived at Bahay Toro. Our number had groun to more
than 500 and the house, yard, and warehouse of Cabesang
Melchora was getting crouwded with us Katipuneros,
The generous hospitality of Cabesang Melchora was no less
than that of Apolonio Samson. Like him, she also opened
her granary and had plenty of rice pounded and animals
slaughtered to feed us.
The following day, Monday, 24 August, more
Katipuneros came and increased our number to more than a
thousand. The Supremo called a meeting at ten o'clock that
morning inside Cabesang Melchora's barn. Flanking him on
both sides at the head of the table were Dr. Pio Valenzuela,
Emilio Jacinto, Briccio Pantas, Enrique Pacheco, Ramon
Bernardo, Pantelaon Torres, Francisco Carreon, Vicente
Fernandez, Teodoro Plata, and others. We were so crowded
that some stood outside the barn.
The following matters were approved at the meeting:
1. An uprising to defend the people's freedom was to be
started at midnight of Saturday, 29 August 1896...
 THE FIRST CRY OF THE REVOLUTION (AUCUST 1896) 117
4. To be on a state of alert so that the Katipunan forces
could strike should the situation arise where the
enemy uwas at a disadvantage. Thus, the uprising
could be started earlier than the agreed time of
midnight of 29 August 1896 should a favorable
opportunity arise at that date. Everyone should
steel himself and be resolute in the struggle that was
imminent....
5. The immediate objective was the capture of
Manila...
After the adjournment of the meeting at twelve noon,
there were tumultuous shouts of "Long live the Sons of the
People!"
Guillermo Masangkay's Account
friend and fellow
Jn 1932, Guillermo Masangkay,
a
recounted his experiences as
Katipunero of Andres Bonitacio,
movement. n an interview with
a member of the revolutionary
said that the First
the Sunday Tribune magazine, Masangkay
Balintawak on August 26, 1896. In the first
Cry happened in
his account that was used by the
decade of American rule, it was
date and place of the
government and civic officials to fix the
the erection of the "Monument
capped with
First Cry which was
to the Heroes of 1896" in that place.
published
interview in the newspaper Bagong
However, in an his narrative
Masangkay changed
Buhay on August 26, 1957, 23, 1896, similar to
revolution began on August
stating that the date was
But Masangkay's
the assertion of Dr. Pio Valenzuela. Soledad Buehler-
his granddaughter,
later changed again when Masangkay papers,
that
including the
borromeo, cited sources,
the original date was August 26.
 BS
P
SoURCEs
118 ANALYzING PRIMARY
The Account
On August 26, a big meeting was held in Balintawab
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
Pio Valenzuela
Remigio, Briccio Pantas, Teodoro Plata,
Enrique Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon. They uwere 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
Emilo Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose was to discuss
when the uprising was to take place. Teodoro Plata, 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 uwere started without adequate
preparation. Plata was very forceful in bis argument, stating
that the uprising could not very well be started without 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 wh0 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 u5
anyway. What then, do you say?"
 THE FIRST CRY OF THE REvOLUTION (AUGUST 1896) 119
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.
1f it is true that you are ready to
revolt," Bonifacio said,
I want to see
you destroyed your cedulas. It
will be the
sign that all of us have declared our
Spaniards."
severance from the
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...
When thepeople's pledge was obtained by Bonifacio, he
returned to the session hall and
took place outside. "The
informed the leaders of what
people want to
revolt, and they
destroyed their cedulas," Bonifacio said, we have to"So now
start the uprising, otherwise the
shot." There
people by hundreds will be
alternative.
was no The board of
spite of the protests of Plata, Pantas, and directors, in
for the revolution. And Valenzuela, voted
when this was decided, the people
outside shouted, "Long Live the Philippine Republic."