Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General

by Santiago Alvarez

Translated by Carolina Malay

About the Author

Santiago V. Alvarez (July 25, 1872 – October 30, 1930), the only child of revolutionary general Mariano Alvarez
and Nicolasa Virta, was born in Imus but was raised in Noveleta, Cavite. He was known as Kidlat ng Apoy (Lightning of
Fire) because of his inflamed bravery and participation in the Battle of Dalahican.
Santiago was among the first in Cavite to take up arms against Spain. All through the Revolution, he fought side
by side with his father. In the 36-hour battle in Dalahican, one of the bloodiest encounters during the Revolution, he
scored a decisive victory and repulsed the Spanish troops.
When the American civil government was established in the Philippines in 1901, Santiago assisted in the
organization of the Nacionalista Party, where he later became president of its directorate.
During the 1920s, his memoirs were published in Sampaguita, a Tagalog weekly, in 36 installments (from July
24, 1927 to April 15, 1928). These were reproduced in book form and translated in English by Paula Carolina S. Malay.
Malay graduated from the University of the Philippines. She taught economics at various universities during the
1950s and 1960s. She turned to translation and writing during the martial law period.
---------------------------------

The events I have related in this account of the Katipunan and the Revolution reverberate with shouts of “Long
live our patriots!” and “Death to the enemy!” These were in answer to the enemy’s assaults with mausers and cannons, the
latter fired from both land and sea.
The Magdiwang government honored me with an appointment as captain general, or head of its army. Gen.
Artemio Ricarte was lieutenant general.
I will now attempt to write what I saw and what I know about the Katipunan and the Revolution. First, I shall
narrate the events relating to the Revolution beginning from 14 March 1896; then I shall deal with the organization and
activities of the Most Venerable Supreme Society of the Sons of the People (Kamahalmahalan at Kataastaasang
Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan). The Katipunan account is based on records which were entrusted to me by the
original founder of the Katipunan. In the interest of honorable truth, I shall now attempt to write a history of the
Katipunan and the Revolution which I hope will be acceptable to all. However, I realize that it is inevitable that, in the
narration of actual happenings, I shall run the risk of hurting the feeling of contemporaries and comrades-in-arms. I would
like to make it clear that I shall try to be as possible and that it is far from my intention to depreciate anyone’s patriotism
and greatness.
I shall be honored if these memoirs become a worthy addiction to what Gen. Artemio Ricarte as already published
in this weekly.
On 14 March 1896, a Saturday, I accompanied Emilio F. Aguinaldo and Raymundo Mata to Manila for their
initiation into the Katipunan secret society. Messrs. Aguinaldo and Mata were prominent townsmen of Kawit in Cavite,
my home province. Reaching Manila at about five in the afternoon, we waited for the appointment time at the quarters of
Jacinto Lumbreras, a Katipunan member. He was the caretaker of the central telephone exchange on San Jacinto Street in
Binondo.
At about seven o’clock in the evening, a Katipunan director arrived to take us to the Katipunan headquarters.
Before leaving Lumbreras’ place, my two companions were blindfolded. Then we got into a calesa (horse cart) and
reached the home of Andres Bonifacio, the Katipunan Supremo, after about an hour’s ride. It was a moonlight night and
since the street was well-lit, we could see the house clearly. It was of moderate size, the floor not too much raised from
the ground; it had wooden walls and a roof thatched with nipa (palm leaves). The house was located on Cervantes Street
(now Rizal Avenue) in the San Ygnacio area of Bambang. It was surrounded by many guards, some of them police who
were Katipunan members. Directing operations was Gregoria de Jesus, the wife of the Supremo Bonifacio.
We were led into a room in the inner part of the house. On a table covered with the black cloth were the skull and
crossbones from a human skeleton. Lying beside the skull and crossbones were the following paraphernalia: a new long-
bladed weapon, an old revolver, a small knife with a sharp edge, a new pen, a copy of the Katipunan “primer” and a sheet
of paper on which were written blooded-colored characters. On both sides of the table were Katipuneros blindfolded with
the black cloth. On the wall behind the skull was a rectangular banner were three K’s arranged as in a tripod; all were in
white paint. Meanwhile, a woman look out was heard to say, “Cool!” which was the code word for “all clear”. Shortly
afterward, the guides led the blindfolded into the house. The woman lookout told the guard, “They’re all here. Nobody
else is coming. Alert your comrades about tighter security.”
Or execution, they pledge to destroy oppression by signing their names in their own blood. When the ritual was
over, the happy crowd of Katipunan members warmly embraced the neophytes amid shouts “Brother! Brother!”
Still blindfolded, the neophytes were then escorted down the house cordially sent off with a repetition of fraternal
embraces. I then took over escorting Aguinaldo and Mata. When we had walked some distance from the Supremo’s
house, I took off their blindfolds. We proceeded to comrade Jacinto Lumbreras’ quarters at the telephone exchange, where
we retired for the night. Incidentally, Lumbreras’ wife delivered a baby that night, and we were witnesses to that event.
Emilio Aguinaldo asked me to accompany him to see the Supremo Bonifacio again to learn more about the
Katipunan. We made the trip to Manila on a Monday, 6 April 1896.
 In those days, we Cavite folk traveled to and from Manila aboard Spanish vessels called “Ynchausti boats.” They
bore names like “Isabel”, “Dominga”, and others. These vessels were purchased by Mr. Luis Yango; their operations are
now managed by his son, Teodor.
We left the pier at Cavite at seven in the morning, and an hour later we were in Manila. Aguinaldo went to the
port office to attend to some business while I waited outside. When he comes out after about ten minutes, he was agitated.
His face was flushed and his steps were longer than usual. I asked him what was the matter. He was upset over the
superciliousness of one Ramon Padilla, with whom he had exchange some sharp words. He said that Padilla, who was a
functionary in the port office, tried to impress people with superior airs but only succeeded in showing how rude and
uncouth he really was.
We talked while walking, and soon we reached Lavezares Street in Binondo where Dr. Pio Valenzuela was living
in a rented house. Dr. Valenzuela was then the provisional chairman of the Katipunan. In the house we met the Supremo,
Andres Bonifacio, his wife Gregoria de Jesus; Jose Dizon; and Dr. Valenzuela himself. We were welcomed cordially with
fraternal embraces. They said they already knew Mr. Aguinaldo, but they did not recognize him since he had been
blindfolded during their first encounter.
After we were seated, we happily exchanged news and talked about the progress of the Katipunan. Once in a
while, brother Aguinaldo hesitated, which promoted the observant Bonifacio to ask solicitously if anything was bothering
him. I volunteered the information that he had had some unpleasant experience with an official at the port office and that
was what probably was on his mind. I had scarcely finished what I was saying when the Supremo’s face flushed and his
voice shook as he said, “It is necessity to defend the honor of our brother here.”
Immediately, he sent Dr. Pio Valenzuela and Jose Dizon to the house of Ramon Padilla for redress to the dishonor
he has showed to brother Aguinaldo. In default of an apology, the two emissaries were to be seconds in duel. The
Katipunan continued to spread. It was Good Friday in the month of April 1896. At nine o’clock in the morning, the
Supremo Andres Bonifacio, accompanied by Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Emilio Jacinto, and Pantaleon Torres, arrived in the
town of Noveleta, Cavite province to establish a provincial council of the Katipunan.
The council came to be known as the Magdiwang. The following were its officers: Mariano Alvarez, president;
Pascual Alvarez, secretary; Dionisio Alvarez, treasurer; Valentin Salud, prosecutor; Benito Alix, sergeant-at-arms;
Nicolas Ricafrente, Adriano Guinto, Emeterio Malia, and Valeriano Aquino, directors.
While both councils approved their respective regulation uniforms, with a common set of rank insignias, very few
were able to comply because of unsettling events coming one after the other.
On Saturday, 28 September 1896, Captain General Apoy and General Vibora prepared to go to the field to inspect
the fortifications to the west along the Cavite-Batangas border, which were under the command of Brig. Gen. Eleuterio
Marasigan and Col. Luciano San Miguel. But before the two generals could leave, the commander of the troops defending
Dalahikan, Major Aklan, came to the war ministry to report that they had sighted the enemy fortifying the narrowest neck
of Dalahikan. The enemy activity, which had started in the night, included the massing of Spanish troops.

****
Name
The Tabon Caves
by Robert B. Fox

The following readings discuss the findings on the remains of what was then considered the earliest known human
remains in the Philippines – Tabon Man in the Tabon Caves, Palawan.

 Robert B. Fox. The Tabon Caves: Archaeological Explorations and Excavations on Palawan Island, Philippines
(Manila, 1970) p. 40.

Tabon Man – During the initial excavations of Tabon Cave, June and July, 1962, the scattered fossil bones of at
least three individuals were excavated, including a large fragment of a frontal bone with the brows and portions of the
nasal bones. These fossil bones were recovered towards the rear of the cave along the left wall. Unfortunately, the area in
which the human fossil bones were discovered had been disturbed by Megapode birds. It was not possible in 1962 to
establish the association of these bones with a specific flake assemblage. Although they were provisionally related to
either Flake Assemblage II or III, subsequent excavations in the same area now strongly suggest that the fossil human
bones were associated with Flake Assemblage III for only the flakes of this assemblage have been found to date in this
area of the cave. The available data would suggest that Tabon Man may be dated from 22,000 to 24,000 years ago. But,
only further excavations in the cave and chemical analysis of human and animal bones from disturbed and undisturbed
levels in the cave will define the exact age of the human fossils.
The fossil bones are those of Homo sapiens. These will form a separate study by a specialist which will be
included in the final site report for Tabon Cave. It is important, however, because of a recent publication (Scott, 1969),
that a preliminary study of the fossil bones of Tabon Man shows that it is above average in skull dimensions when
compared to the modern Filipino. There is no evidence that Tabon Man was “… a less brainy individual…” [Scott (1969)
36]. Moreover, Scott’s study includes many misstatements about the Tabon Caves, always the problem when writers work
from “conversations.”

 William Henry Scott. Prehistoric Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History (Revised Edition)
(Quezon City, 1984), pp. 14-15.

Tabon Man – The earliest human skull remains known in the Philippines are the fossilized fragments of a skull
and jawbone of three individuals who are collectively called “Tabon Man” after the place where they were found on the
west coast of Palawan. Tabon Cave appears to be a kind of little Stone Age factory: both finished tools and waste cores
and flakes have been found at four different levels in the main chamber. Charcoal left from cooking fires has been
recovered from three of these assemblages and dated by C-14 to roughly 7,000 B.C., 20,000 B.C., and 28,000 B.C. with
an earlier level lying so far below these that it must represent Upper Pleistocene dates like 45 or 50 thousand years ago…
Physical anthropologists who have examined the Tabon skullcap, agreed that it belonged to modern man – that is, Homo
sapiens as distinguished from those mid-Pleistocene species nowadays called Homo erectus. Two experts have given the
further opinion that the mandible is “Australian” in physical type, and that the skullcap measurements are mostly nearly
like those of Ainus and Tasmanians. What this basically means is that Tabon Man was “pre-Mongoloid,” Mongoloid
being the term anthropologists apply to the racial stock which entered Southeast Asia during the Holocene and absorbed
earlier peoples to produce the modern Malay, Indonesian, Filipino, and Pacific people’s popularity – and unscientifically –
called, “the brown race.” Tabon Man presumably belonged to one of those earlier peoples, but, if decently clothed in
flesh, T-shirt, and blue jeans, might pass unnoticed in Quiapo today, whatever his facial features are concerned, nothing
can be said about the color of his skin or hair, or the shape of his nose or eyes – except one thing: Tabon Man was not a
Negrito.
 The Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History
by William Henry Scott

There are some narratives that have been previously accepted in Philippine history as facts but later were found
out to be historical errors. It is to the credit of many historians who investigate and take position of what they have
discovered out in their careful research. These unhistorical accounts include the Maragtas story, the Code of Kalantiaw,
and the Legend of Princess Urduja.
Maragtas is the story about the ten Malay datu from Borneo who settled into the Philippine islands. According to
the Maragtas, at around 1250 A.D., ten Bornean datu and their families left their kingdom in search of new homes across
the sea to escape the merciless rule of Sultan Makatunaw. Led by Datu Puti, the Borneans landed in the island of Panay
and bought the lowlands from the Ati king named Marikudo in exchange for one gold saduk (native hat) and a long gold
necklace for Queen Maniwangtiwang. After the land sale and pact of friendship, the Atis went to the hills. The Malay
datus settled in the lowlands.
Datus Puti, Balensusa, and Dumangsil sailed northward to Luzon and landed in the region around Lake Bonbon
(Taal). There they built their settlements. Dumangsil and Balensusa’s families occupied other neighboring regions now
known as Laguna and the Bicol Peninsula. Datu Puti left for Borneo after he knew that his men were leading peaceful
lives.
The other seven datu stayed in Panay. They divided the island into three districts. Hantik (now Antique) was
under Datu Sumakwel. Datu Paiburong ruled Irong-Irong (now Iloilo). Datu Bangkaya governed Aklan (now Aklan and
Capiz).
Led by Datu Sumakwel, a political confederation of barangays (Madya-as) was formed for purposes of protection
and close family relations. The story was told by Fr. Francisco Santaren, further describes the expansion of the Malay
settlers to other parts of the archipelago. The legal code written by Datu Sumakwel also known as the Maragtas Code was
previously known as the “oldest known written body of laws” in the Philippines.
William Henry Scott made the study of prehistoric source materials for the study of Philippine history, the subject
of his doctoral dissertation at the University of Santo Tomas. He defended his paper before well-known historians on June
16, 1968. The panelists include Teodoro Agoncillo, Gregorio Zaide, Mercedes Grau Santamaria, Nicolas Zafra, and
Father Horacio de la Costa, SJ.
The research of Scott showed that Maragtas is not a prehispanic document but a book written by Pedro
Monteclaro, a local historian of Panay. Monteclaro’s publisher in 1907, noted that this Maragtas should not be considered
as facts, all of which are accurated and true. The publisher pointed out that many of the author’s data do not tally with
what we hear from old men. The author wrote that two of his manuscripts were rotten and hardly legible. None of these
written materials was preserved for future generations. He made no explanation about the date as well as the origin of his
sources. Neither were there claims to clarity. There is no tradition of recording history nor legal decision in Panay during
the precolonial times. Thus, the Maragtas could neither support the presence of any pre-Spanish Confederation of Madiaas
(also spelled Madyaas) nor uphold the existence of a Sumakwel Code.
Previously regarded as the second oldest legal code in the Philippines was the ode of Kalantiaw. This code was
said to be a set of ancient laws promulgated in 1433 by Datu Bendara Kalantiaw (Spanish Spelling, Calantiao) of Aklan,
the third Muslim ruler of Panay.
The code itself was contained in one of the chapters of the Las antiguas leyendas de la isla de Negros (Ancient
Legends of Negros Island) written by Fr. Jose Maria Pavon, a Spanish secular priest who became a parish priest of
Himamaylan, Negros Occidental in 1838 – 1839. Jose E. Marco of Negros Occidental discovered the alleged Pavon
manuscripts and presented it to Dr. James Robertson, Director of the Philippine Library and Museum in 1914. According
to Marco’s confession, he obtained the two manuscript volumes from someone who had stolen the from the Himamaylan
convento during the Revolution.
Director Robertson had the Pavon manuscripts published in its English translation in 1917. The Philippine Studies
Program of the University of Chicago reprinted the translation in 1957. Eventually, Filipino historians and textbook
writers acknowledged the authenticity of the Pavon manuscripts without any doubt.
In the unprecedented doctoral study of Scott, he concluded that the Pavon manuscripts were not genuine and that
the Code of Kalantiaw was a hoax. He presented his serious objections to this fake “historical” code. They were as
follows:
1. There is no evidence that Fr. Pavon, the alleged author of the manuscript, was ever in the Philippines in 1838,
or parish priest of the town in 1839, the dates of the manuscript. The discoverer of the alleged manuscript,
Jose E. Marco, was also involved in the sale of other fake historical documents. There is no historical
evidence for the existence of Datu Kalantiaw, or code of his name other than the documents presented by Jose
E. Marco.
2. The contents of the manuscript are dubious value. For example, the author prays for the preservation of the
King of Spain in 1838 and dedicates a book to him in 1839, but Spain had no king between 1833 and 1874.
3. The author also states that the month of November was called a bad month for it brought air laden with
putrified microbes of evil fevers. It was only in the 1850s that Louis Pasteur discovered the theory of
infectious germs. The word “microbe” itself was invented by Dr. Charles Emmanuel Sedillot. He proposed
the term for the first time in a lecture before the Academy of Sciences in 1878.
4. The Kalantiaw Code contains many strange edicts that contradict the character of the Filipinos. For example,
the code prescribed death penalty for the crime of trespassing on the datu’s house, but imposed only a year’s
slavery for stealing his wife.

Eventually, Scott’s doctoral dissertation was published by the UST Press (Unitas, Vol, 41, 1968). The following
year, it was reissued with the title, Prehistoric Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History (UST Press, 1969).
The same book was published in the second revised edition by New Day Publishers (Quezon City) in 1984. In the last
chapter of the book, Looking for the Prehistoric Filipino issued in 1922 by the New Day Publishers, Scott’s conclusions
have not been challenged by any historian to date.
 References

Criteria for Evaluating Sources. Meriam Library at California State University. Retrieved from
http://csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval-websites.pdf.

Fraenkel, J.R., and Wallen, N.E. (n.d.). Main Points. Retrieved from
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072981369/student_view0/chapter22/main_points.html

Fox, R. (1970). The Tabon Caves. Manila: National Museum. Historical Data Papers. Philippine National Library,
Microfilm Collection

Garraghan, G.J. (1946). A Guide to Historical Method, Fordham University Press: New York.

Gottschalk, L. (1950). Understanding History: A Primer of Historical, Alfred A. Knopf: New York

Key, J. (1997) Historical. Retrieved from

McCullagh, B.C. (1984). Justifying Historical Descriptions, Cambridge University Press: New York

R.J. Shafer. A Guide to Historical Method, The Dorsey Press: Illinois (1974)