AS the nation marks the 155th birth anniversary of national hero Gat. Andres Bonifacio, a prominent historian and author pointed out that the people who killed him used self-defense as their excuse to brutally kill the revolutionary leader.
Ambeth R. Ocampo, former chairman of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, wrote that “nanlaban” was the basis for the killing of Bonifacio. He noted that “nanlaban” was also invoked in another controversial killing, that of Gen. Antonio Luna’s.
In his Nov. 23 column for the Inquirer, Ocampo stated: “During Bonifacio’s trial, the prosecution claimed that Bonifacio resisted arrest in Limbon, on April 23, 1897. Aguinaldo’s soldiers were said to have merely returned fire in an encounter that left Andres Bonifacio wounded; his elder brother, Ciriaco, dead; and his younger brother, Procopio, beaten unconscious with fists, boots and rifle butts.”
Worse, he said, the arresting officer identified as Col. Agapito Bonzon sexually abused Bonifacio’s wife Oryang.
Ocampo said Bonifacio pleaded to the court to allow the presentation of his confiscated guns to prove that no bullet was discharged by him and that those sent to arrest them shot at them without provocation. His plea fell on deaf ears and he and his brother, declared guilty of treason, were executed in May 1897.
Today, the nation pays homage to Bonifacio in time for his 155th birth anniversary.
At the Museo ng Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio in Cavite, local officials and the NHCP will honor the “Supremo” in fitting wreath-laying rites.
The activity will be graced by NHCP and local officials, NHCP’s Research, Publications, and Heraldry Division Chief Alvin Alcid, and officials and staff of NHCP’s Cavite Cluster Museums, headed by Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo curator Haidee Paulette Bedruz.
The historic trial house, now converted to an interactive museum, was where Bonifacio, the acknowledged “Supremo” as one of the founders of the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK), was jailed, tried and eventually executed.
Born on Nov 30, 1863 in Tondo, Manila, Bonifacio rose to become the tough leader who incited “The Cry of Pugadlawin” against Spain, when Katipunan followers and revolutionaries tore their resident certificates or cedulas en masse to symbolize their defiance against the Spanish colonizers.
He was the eldest in a brood of five. His siblings were Ciriaco, Procopio, Troadio, Esperidiona and Maxima.
He was married to Gregoria de Jesus, his second wife as his first wife–Monica–died of leprosy a year after their marriage.
The two were married in 1892, both in Catholic and Katipunan rites. Gregoria chose “Lakambini” as her nom de guerre. (with reports from PNA)
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