The traitor Honorato Quisunbin, who in an evil moment denied his
country, died yesterday.
To-day, one no less a traitor and renegade to his mother country,
has also died. He who has been the cause of so many husband-less
wives and fatherless children, has received a punishment for his
crimes which will prevent him from repeating them.
We will allot to-morrow, for the punishment of the remainder if
they do not change their conduct, but continue to follow the steps
of the above mentioned. For this reason, beloved compatriots now
that you have witnessed the punishment given to those who have left
the path marked by our authority which our government conferred on
us although we are unworthy of it, but as we have been appointed,
we have forcibly to obey all the decrees published, for the crimes
which are punishable by death and which are as follows:
1st. All those who have any public or private communication with
the enemy and serve them as guides;
2nd. All those who attack and rob in a band;
3rd. Violation or abuse;
4th. Incendiarism;
5th. All those who receive any position or employment in the
service of the enemy.
(Signed) THE COMPATRIOTS.
This race hatred is illustrated very clearly in the definition of
the Katipunan given by Romualdo Teodoro de J., when he said that its
aim was to kill all Spaniards and take possession of the islands. No
particular hatred was shown to any class; it was all Spaniards of
all classes and conditions who were to be assassinated. It is also
clearly depicted in the Act of Session of the Katipunan Sur already
quoted (See page 81; also foot-note page 80).
Note 76. What Sr. Diaz intends by Tagalog Katipunan is not quite
clear. The whole society was practically confined to the Tagalog
provinces and was insignificant in extent even beyond the city of
Manila and its suburbs. There was no other Katipunan.
In November 1895 the assembly of the Katipunan was composed of
ten individuals of the Supreme Council, and the presidents of the
popular sections who were entitled to assist in virtue of holding
some office therein.
In January of the following year of 1896, after the annual election,
the assembly was composed as follows:
President Andres Bonifacio.
Secretary Emilio Jacinto.
/ Vicente Molina.
Treasurer + Pantaleon Torres.
\ Hermenegildo Reyes.
/ Francisco Carreon.
| Jose Trinidad.
Councillors + Balbino Florentino.
\ Aguedo del Rosario.
Fiscal Pio Valenzuela.
Note 77. The question of the amount and the source of the supply of
arms possessed by the Katipunan has always been one of dispute. Some
suppose the rebels to have been well armed, whilst others reckon the
number of serviceable guns to have been very small.
Among the papers and documents belonging to the Katipunan Sur, seized
by the Spanish authorities, is the following:
"Commissioned for the purchase of arms:
D. Gabino \
D. Juan + Tantoko
D. Antonio |
D. Ezequiel /
D. Epifanio Ramos.
D. Victoriano Luis
for the distinct armories of Manila."
In a letter of the Secretary to the President D. Agustin Tantoko
(a native priest; see page 79):
"I believe we can obtain the dynamite by bribing some of the harbor
employees."
This letter has a foot-note which says: "When you have read this,
destroy it."
Numeriano Adriano testified (fols. 1,309-1,312) that Andres Bonifacio
had collected 10,000 pesos for the purchase, in Japan, of 4,000 rifles
with abundant ammunition.
He also stated that the arms had been purchased and were to be landed
near by the mountains of San Mateo and in the Batanes islands, from
whence they would be brought to Manila.
That "Andres Bonifacio went to San Mateo with men to receive and
arrange arms, whilst Deodato Arellano and Timoteo Paez were encharged
to send people to Batanes to the same end."
Also that "It is said that many of the insurgents in the province of
Cavite bear arms of different systems, and he supposed that they must
have been acquired by the rich and wealthy persons of that province,
such as Francisco Osario and others, who knowing perhaps of the
existence of the Liga of Manila, its form and object, had formed
their own also, in the said province, in order to unite to that of
Manila and make common cause therewith."
Domingo Franco declared (fols. 1,381-1,382), in answer to a question
during his trial, as to what he knew in reference to the purchase of
arms and ammunition, that "all he knew was that arms and ammunition
had been purchased, because at the end of 1895, or the beginning
of 1896, he saw Francisco L. Rojas in his office in Calle Jolo, and
the said Rojas told him that he had received a quantity of arms and
ammunition." He stated moreover, that he did not know the make or
number, nor where they had been landed.
Tomas Prieto of Nueva Caceres mentioned the receipt of 50 arms from
Bato. He also stated that Mariano Melgarejo, according to references
from Macario Valentin, received a load of arms in eleven cases from
Pasacao."
Pio Valenzuela affirmed that the arms borne by the rebels were for
the most part domestic bolos [71] and lances, and that the chiefs
were armed with revolvers." These revolvers were, he affirmed,
acquired from the Maestranzi de Artilleria.
Juan Castaneda declared that "the Japanese offered to land here 100,000
rifles with their ammunition, the expense of which should be paid in
a fixed number of years."
Numeriano Adriano also affirmed that it had been decided to purchase
arms in Japan and that one of the islands of the Archipelago should
be given to Japan in exchange for its aid.
Domingo Abella affirmed that he had visited Francisco Rojas in his
office for the purpose of finding out if the arms which the tailor
Luis Villareal had ordered for the society, had arrived; and that
although Francisco Rojas did not belong to the society, he was
encharged to portion out the arms and commissioned to bring them to
Manila. Francisco told him that he could not provide him with any as
they were all sold.
The net cost of the arms and ammunition necessary to carry out
the revolt was considerable, and as their introduction into the
country would have to be very carefully planned, and be carried out
with the greatest secrecy, the original cost would be considerably
increased. Large sums of money were therefore necessary to cover
expenses. Although the entrance fees and monthly subscriptions were
considerable they could not produce the amount necessary to provide
for the revolution, especially when there existed such a wide spread
tendency among those who handled the funds, to absorb them as a sponge
absorbs water. Castillo in his work concerning this association and
its funds says [72]:
"Undoubtedly it (the Katipunan) possessed large sums of money,
only the most insignificant part of which, according to report, was
discovered in the possession of Pio Valenzuela, preserved in gold and
amounting, we believe, to less than 30,000 pesos. These resources
could not cover the extraordinary expenses of the propaganda, that
of the Commissioners sent to Japan to treat with that power on the
question of a protectorate, and that of the coming war expenses which
were without doubt, very considerable.
"The Indian is not so selfish or so patriotic that he would, without
immediate advantage to himself permit himself the extravagance
of abandoning the sedentary life he usually leads, to launch out
into the field of adventures of doubtful result. Those who from the
headquarters of the revolution directed those torpid masses must
have realised this, and to make sure of the exit, caused money to be
distributed to all the affiliated and to their families, giving them
at the same time rice in abundance.
"On the morning of the events which took place at San Juan del Monte,
two women who live in the Santa Mesa road, were engaged in giving money
to the taos [73] who passed that way, advising them to unite themselves
with the insurrectos to the end of killing all the Spaniards....
................................................................
"This money set aside for distribution in San Juan del Monte, in
Pasig and in the pueblos on the banks of the river, must have come
from a well stocked treasury......................................
.................................................................."
A little further on, the author gives a very broad hint as to one
probable source of funds when he asks the question, where is the
million and a half pesos which constitute the default in the public
treasury of Manila?
"It would be a curious coincidence," says the author, "if part of
this amount perhaps the greater part should have served as funds from
which the expenses of the revolution and the war were paid."
Note 78. The initiations into the Katipunan were grotesque in the
extreme. The person introduced for initiation was placed in a room
draped in black, with its walls hung with mottoes in Tagalog dialect
such as: "If you have courage you may continue," "If you have been
brought here by your curiosity, retire." Upon a table was placed a
skull, a loaded revolver and a bolo. A paper upon which were written
three questions lay also upon the table. These questions were: "In
what state did the Spaniards find the Tagalog people at the time of
the conquest? In what state are they found now? What future can it
hope for?
The initiated previously instructed by his god-father, or by the
person who catechised him, was to reply that, at the time of the
arrival of the Spaniards, the Filipinos living on the coasts enjoyed
a certain amount of civilization, since they already had cannons and
silk dresses, that they enjoyed political liberty, sustained diplomatic
(sic) relations and commerce with the neighboring countries of Asia;
had their own religion and writing; in a word, lived happy with their
independence. A certain amount of civilization may be. Let us see
what that certain amount was:
"Barely clothed, and more often naked, revelling day and night in
drunkenness, given to the practice of infanticide, holding virginity
as a dishonor, having among them people who practiced defloration as a
profession, ignorant of the value and uses of money, making use of men,
women and children to pay debts, in continual warfare with one another
and enslaving their prisoners, practicing wholesale murder of slaves on
the death of a chief or important personage, adoring and sacrificing
to rocks, trees, crocodiles and idols of wood; lacking religion, but
having in its stead most bestial and absurd superstitions; without
temples, monuments or even literature, although they possessed a
species of written language. The only human ideas they possessed were
adopted from the Chinese, Japanese and Borneo Mohammedans whom they
imitated after the manner of apes. This, historians tell us, was the
condition of this people 340 years ago! when the missionaries planted
the Cross on Philippine soil, and brought to the benighted natives
the gospel." So much for the certain amount of civilization.
Cannons and silk dresses: of a kind; as to the cannons, where
did they all come from? Bought from or exchanged with the Borneo
moros probably. As to these and the silk dresses, the savages of the
south-sea islands enjoyed the use of such things and enjoyed them with
better knowledge of how to use them! They enjoyed political liberty;
let us see what Morga the historian who speaks most glowingly of the
ancient civilization of the Filipino peoples, has to say on this point.
He says: "In all these islands the people had neither kings nor lords
to dominate them as in other kingdoms and provinces. But in each
island were many chiefs from among the same natives, some greater
than others each one with his subjects, by groups and families, who
obeyed and respected them. Sometimes these chiefs were at peace with
one another and some times at war.... The superiority which these
chiefs had over the people of their group was such that they held
them as subjects, with power to treat them well or ill, disposing of
their persons, children and estates at their will, without resistance
or the necessity of giving account to anyone, and for very slight
offences they killed and wounded them and made slaves of them; and
if it happened that one of the chiefs were bathing in the river and a
native passed in front of him or looked upon him with want of respect,
and for other similar things, they made slaves of them for ever." This
is a good and practical kind of political liberty, just the kind of
liberty the country would enjoy if in the hands of the leaders of the
Federal Party, so anxious for liberties for themselves and coercion
for those who do not agree with their way of thinking.
Diplomatic relations and commerce with the neighboring countries of
Asia: As to the diplomatic relations the mere idea of such a thing is
preposterous. If we are to concede the use of diplomatic relations
to the ancient Tagalog people, then we must consider as diplomatic
relations such customs as the passing of the "peace pipe" practiced
by the indian of the United States, and the giving and accepting of
young women for sensual convenience practiced in many of the islands
of the Pacific up to the present day. As to their foreign commerce
let us listen once more to Morga. "Their contracts and negotiations
were as a rule illicit, each one considering the best way to come
off successful in his business."
Their own religion: For a religious system they worshiped their
ancestors and performed human sacrifices. The Spaniards found in
these islands less than a million inhabitants, who were divided
into innumerable tribes governed by rulers who had no more title of
sovereignty than that they were enabled to impose upon the people by
brute force and untold cruelties. The inhabitants formed a jumble of
inferior races some more or less pure in blood, others intermixed;
people speaking many dialects. They all lacked religion, in the proper
sense of the word; they lacked morals, in fact they were wanting in
everything that raises man above the level of the brute creation.
As to their own writing, certain it is that they possessed a crude and
very inefficient manner of writing, but what is very remarkable is,
that in spite of their possessing a system of script, not a single
piece of their literary work has yet been discovered nor even a written
tradition. This goes to prove that either the Filipinos were at that
time too deep in the savage ages to realise the importance of writing,
or that the form of script was useless for practical purposes.
To the second question the initiated replied that the friar
missionaries had done nothing to civilize the Filipinos, as they
considered the civilization and illustration of the country to be
incompatible with their interests [74].
To the third question the initiated was to reply that they had
faith, courage and constancy to aid them to remedy these evils in
the future. [75]
The master of ceremonies warned him that he was taking a very important
and very solemn step, and he was recommended to retire if he did not
feel courage enough to continue since he would uselessly expose his
life. If the initiated insisted in continuing with the mysteries of
the initiation he was presented to the reunion of the brethren to
be tried by the proofs assigned, which were very similar to those
adopted in universal masonry, but surrounded with more paganism,
if that be possible. He was blindfolded and made to discharge a
revolver against an imaginary enemy, a person he was made to believe
really was present and awaiting there the executionary bullet which
should make him pay the penalty of a treason. If he passed through
the proofs successfully he was introduced into the hall of oaths and
there with his own blood, drawn by means of an incision made in the
left arm between the shoulder and the elbow, he signed the oath.
Note 79. See note 50, pages 171, 173 and 174.
Note 80. The liberty of the Tagalog people; the chief aim which gave
rise to the revolt. The first thing the separatists desired was to
get rid of the Peninsular Spaniard; the next to go would have been the
insular Spaniard, then the Spanish mestizo, then the Chinee half-caste
and the Chinee; after which would come the gradual extinction of the
various tribes. In the mean time the country would suffer considerably
and at last...? See page 69, last four lines of the first paragraph.
It is well nigh impossible to imagine to what the liberty of the
Tagalog people would mean if it were put into practice. If the
South American states which are recognized as independent, are
unable to govern themselves in spite of the political superiority
of the people inhabiting them over the peoples of this archipelago,
without an unending series of revolutions, what might we expect from
the Philippines? Give the country independence with one of the native
"commissioners" as president of the republic and how long do you
suppose it would be before Pedro Paterno at the head of some 5 or
6,000 men would march into Manila to depose the president and proclaim
himself Emperor Pedro I? And before the new Emperor could install
himself in Malacanan he would have at his heels a thousand and one
petty chiefs, princes, kings and perhaps even a few ambitious queens!
It is over a half a century ago since the South American Republics
became independent, and at that time the rest of the world cared but
little for the consequences of such a step. But this indifference of
the nations can never exist here in the Orient at the commencement
of this XX Century. It would never suit the rest of the world to
see independence declared in the Philippines and especially if that
independence left the reins of government in the hands of the Tagalog
people.
The question of the expulsion from the country or the destruction of
the Spaniards has been spoken of under several notes; the idea was,
doubtless, a semi-savage interpretation of the preachings and teachings
spread abroad by the Bible societies in all parts and especially in
Spanish countries. And this becomes the more probable when we call
to mind what the El Imparcial of the 26th of August 1896 published
concerning this identical point. Speaking of the state of the country
in general as a result of the insurrection, it says:
"The minister of Foreign affairs received a telegram yesterday from
General Blanco manifesting that more arrests had been made.........
...................................................................
The conjuration had ramifications in various parts of the Archipelago,
and in it figured not only masonic societies but also Bible
societies..........................................................
...................................................................
The propaganda of filibusterism is encharged to the colporteurs
of evangelical books, who wander all over the Archipelago selling
protestant publications."
Note 81. These three native priests were among the prime movers of
the rebellion of 1872, a revolt which was planned out in the houses
of Joaquin Pardo de Tavera and Jacinto Zamora. The three priests were
executed by the garrote together with Francisco Saldua. Gomez left
the sum of 200,000 pesos to his natural son, born to him before he
entered the priesthood. In his will he strongly counselled his son to
be ever faithful to the Spanish authorities. I had intended to give a
brief outline of the revolt of '72 but space will not permit. Taking
it as a whole, it differed little from the revolt of '96 with the
exception that it was directly brought about by the propagators of
revolutionary ideas then rampant in Spain, and by the emissaries of
the revolutionary government then established.
Note 82.--See note 20.
Note 83. The oath taken by the katipuneros was as follows:
K. K. K.
N. M. A. N. B.
Section....
I declare that on account of my entrance into the K. K. K. of
the A. N. B. I have sworn a solemn oath in my native pueblo and
in the presence of a superior of the Junta of the Katipunan,
to do away with everything that is possible and even with that
which is to me most near and dear and appreciated in this life,
and to defend the cause to victory or to death. And in truth of
this I swear also to be obedient in everything and to follow in
the fight wherever I am led.
And in proof of what I have said I place my true name with the
blood of my veins at the foot of this declaration."
Note 84. Pio Valenzuela, who gave some of the most interesting and
reliable information concerning the inner life of the Katipunan,
testified (fols. 1,663-1,673) that on the 30th of November 1895,
the birthday of Bonifacio, a meeting was held in Caloocan, in
a house situated in the rice fields, some thirty five or forty
individuals assisting thereat, among them being the witness. This
meeting continued all day and all night till the following day, the
first of December. At this meeting they pronounced the death sentence
upon the tailor Guzman for publishing the secrets of the Katipunan;
this sentence was signed by all present including the witness, after
he had made many observations against it, observations the rest would
not listen to. One of the lighter punishments meted out was the public
exposition in the lodge rooms of the picture of the person punished,
with the word traitor written over or under it.
Note 85. The Katipunan enjoyed a peculiar and special organization,
which was given to it in order to avoid surprises and treachery. The
assemblies were always held in secluded places and under the cover
of the greatest secrecy. Sometimes they were held at midnight in the
open cornfields so as not to attract the attention of those indians
who were not members of the society. Valenzuela relates how a secret
meeting was held in the pueblo of Pasig at midnight, on one occasion
to arrange the matter of the annexation of the Islands to Japan in
case that nation did not care to declare a protectorate over them.
The Council of Ministers of the Supreme popular Council was as follows:
President Andres Bonifacio.
War Teodoro Plata.
State Emilio Jacinto.
Interior Aguedo del Rosario.
Justice Birecio Pantas.
Finance Enrique Pacheco.
Note 86. Pio Valenzuela mentioned one occasion upon which such a
meeting of the society was held, he himself assisting thereat, in
the house of Andres Bonifacio. It was a supper given in honor of the
baptism of a child to which the said Valenzuela was god-father. After
the supper, which served as a shield under the which the work of the
lodge was to be done, an election was held for the Supreme and the
Popular Councils, and the sections. Some thirty members were present.
Another case he mentioned was that of a meeting held on the birthday
of Bonifacio 30th of November 1895.
The Katipunan moreover had its own festivals. This is how Valenzuela
describes them:
"The Katipunan held its festival, according as Andres Bonifacio had
told the witness, on the 7th of July, anniversary of the foundation
of the society; it also celebrated another anniversary on the 28th
of February, the date of the execution of the three native priests,
Burgos, Gomez and Zamora (see note 81). On that day a catafalque draped
with black cloth, was erected in each one of the popular Councils,
having four hachones [76], one in each of its four angles, adorned
with crowns made with plants named Macabuhay [77]. All the members
filed before the funeral pile, reciting prayers for the dead and
swearing to avenge the death of the three priests.
Note 87. Roman Baza, who was one of the many who suffered the death
penalty for his treason, undertook to educate in ultra-democratic
ideas, (as Isabelo de los Reyes is doing in our days), all he came
in contact with. He printed and spread abroad the "rights of man"
of the French revolution.
He was at one time president of the Katipunan (see p. 44) but being
a man little suited to carry out to a successful issue the set
plans of the society, Bonifacio determined to remove him, by what
Sr. Diaz terms a coup-d'etat, but more properly called an underhand
trick. Bonifacio, at that time treasurer, forced a conflict on the
subject of the financial conditions of the society, being denounced
as an exploiter for his pains. The quarrel was settled by an election,
Bonifacio by his unholy influence carrying all before him.
It was during the presidency of Baza that the Katipunan society for
women was founded, "the object of which was mutual succor (!). The
institution serving at the same time to dissimulate the meetings of
the male Katipuneros. Whilst the latter were holding their sessions
in a retired room, the women were in the salon with some young men
dancing, singing or eating. The presidentess of this society of mutual
succorers was Mariana Dizon.
To secure admission it was necessary to be a daughter or sister of
one of the male members. Mariana Dizon later on married Jose Turiano
Santiago, and as a result, the female Katipunan, as an organization
was broken up, the late members however continuing to shield as before,
the labors of the Katipunan reunions.
Note 88. See notes 74, 75 and 93. Part of the local and provincial
Spanish press has not failed to give the public a rehash from time to
time, of the greater part of the inventions of the separatists. It is
needless to say, however, that in this it has failed to receive the
support of representative Spaniards who look upon such an action as
little to the honor of the good name of Spain. As to the corresponding
English-speaking press in this connection, the less said the better
for the good name of American journalism.
Note 89. Jose Dizon Matanza stated during his trial (fols. 1,132-1,138)
"that Pio Valenzuela sought money from the wealthy, and as he (the
prisoner) understood, from a statement of Bonifacio, had collected
over a thousand pesos for the object of covering the expenses of the
trip which he made to Dapitan to confer with Rizal; and in order to
fool the authorities he took with him a blind individual with his
guide, that Rizal might perform a cure or some operation upon the
blind man. The motive of the conference was the proposition to Rizal
of the armed rebellion, etc., etc."
Valenzuela himself spoke of this trip to Dapitan (see note 16, p. 133)
as follows:--
"In the month of May of that year 1896, a reunion was held in
Pasig and there it was agreed to send a commission to Japan ... and
it was agreed also to commence the armed rebellion, settling the
manner in which it should be carried out, but it was decided that,
previous to taking action it would be wise to consult with Rizal,
the witness being chosen as emissary. The schoolmaster of Cavite
Viejo, by name Santos, proposed that a blind man named Raymundo Mata
should accompany Valenzuela that Rizal might cure him. The witness
embarked on the S. S. Venus at the end of May, meeting on board,
one of Rizal's sisters, and his (Rizal's) querida, an American or
English woman named Josefina; and arriving at Dapitan, the witness
went ashore with the two women and a servant that accompanied them,
making their way to the house of Rizal, etc., etc."
According to a statement of Isabelo de los Reyes, "Rizal, as has
been clearly proved at the trials (of traitors) advised them to wait
another two years, as they lacked arms."
I wonder if Rizal foresaw the war to break out two years later between
Spain and the United States! His intense desire to go to Cuba would
give one that idea.
Note 90. Negotiations indeed! Who can imagine the circumspect and
formal little nation of Japan admitting negotiations with a warehouse
porter, a man who was representative only of the worst of the lowest
classes! Sr. Diaz probably made this statement from hearsay por boca de
ganso as they say in Spanish. If any negotiations took place between
Bonifacio and the Japanese Government they were on a par with those
between the late U. S. Consuls of Singapore and Hong-Kong, and a few
other irresponsible people, and Aguinaldo, the leader of the Katipunan.
Note 91. As has been seen in the foregoing notes, it was the
intention of the separatists to make purchases of arms and their
necessary ammunition in Japan. Those wealthy Filipinos who were
owners of steamships were looked to as the chief assistance in the
transportation and landing of the said arms, etc.
The date of the arrival of the arms, according as appeared from
evidence given during the trial of Francisco L. Roxas, was to have
been the 31st of December 1896. Lorenzo de la Paz, however, stated
that it was the 1st of September of the said year. Others claimed
it to be the 13th of September or the 30th of November. As may be
easily seen, there was no lack of disagreement among the chiefs
of the revolt, and perhaps, as far as the majority were concerned,
still more exploitation.
Note 92. Pio Valenzuela y Alejandrino was a licentiate of Medicine,
and one of the members of the inferior Supreme Council of the
Katipunan. According to his own story he entered the files of the
society under compulsion at the hands of Andres Bonifacio, who on
the strength of a love affair, gave him the alternative of death or
membership in the Katipunan (see p. 132). In his declaration during
his trial (fol. 142-147) on the 6th of September 1896, he recorded
how on the 30 day of November, S. Andrew's day of the year 1895,
he was presented by Andres Bonifacio to various Katipuneros as
"brother" Medico (Doctor), Bonifacio stating that from that time he
(Valenzuela) would be the doctor of the society. He also stated how,
in the following month of January and in another meeting, he was
nominated Fiscal, and official doctor with a salary of thirty pesos
monthly, a salary he had no little difficulty in collecting. He was
commissioned in May 1896 to go to Dapitan to hold a conference with
Rizal concerning armed rising against the supreme authority of Spain
in the Archipelago; but Rizal was shrewder and more far-sighted than
the others and would not consent to the carrying out of the scheme as
proposed by Bonifacio. On the return of Valenzuela Bonifacio imposed
upon him a strict silence concerning the outcome of the conference;
but being pressed by certain members of the society, among whom were
Emilio Jacinto, Secretary of the Supreme Council, and capita Ramon
of Pandacan, he revealed the secret of Rizal's opposition to a plan
he feared would be abortive. When once the cat was out of the bag the
facts soon became public among the principal members, with the result
that many who had promised funds for the purchase of arms etc. in
Japan, refused to pay the amounts promised. Among these was a colonel
of Malabon who had promised 500 pesos for the said object. This breach
of confidence on the part of Valenzuela brought about the separation
of himself and Bonifacio, and the former presented his resignation
as doctor and fiscal of the society. Bonifacio opposed the idea of
his resignation but it was finally accepted, and the former friends
parted company each to work in his own sphere.
Valenzuela was in fact one of the chief movers of the rebellion;
this was confessed by Domingo Franco, the late president of the then
defunct Liga Filipina. "The rebellion," says he, "was produced by a
foolish child, whose name it would dirty the tongue to pronounce,
because after being the author of all (this however is somewhat
inexact) has given himself up to the authorities to denounce those
he has succeeded in misleading."
During his trial in the Bilibid prison, before Col. Francisco Olive
y Garcia on the 2nd of September 1896, he gave some of the most
interesting and reliable information that has yet been gathered
concerning the interior workings and doings of the Katipunan.
When the Guardia Civil set out from Manila to break up Bonifacio's
party in Caloocan, several of those forming the leadership fled,
and among them Valenzuela. He entered Manila by way of Sampaloc,
passing through Quiapo to the Escolta and down the Pasaje de Perez,
embarking there on one of the lake steamers. On arrival at Binang he
went to the house of the co-adjutor D. Silvino Manaol (native priest),
to whom he recounted what had taken place. The co-adjutor asked of
the parish priest the proclamation of the Governor General conceding
pardon to those who should present themselves [78]. Having read it
with care and under the advice of the co-adjutor, he set out for the
capital disembarking at the Ayala bridge from whence he took a quiles
and went immediately to the palace of the Governor to present himself
to him. The Governor General was not at home so Valenzuela at once
started for the offices of the Military Government.
Speaking of this giving up of himself of Valenzuela, Sr. Jose
M. del Castillo y Jimenez says: "The forty-eight hours conceded by
the proclamation of the Governor Blanco were about to close when
there reached the palace of Sta. Potenciana, worn out, bathed in
perspiration, and almost in a period of agony, Pio Valenzuela, an
important person of revolution he being in such a condition that it
was necessary to assist him previous to his passing into the presence
of Gov. Blanco. When he had come to himself and was in a condition
to make an explicit and ample confession he had two hours conference
with the Governor, giving information of as such as he knew."
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"Valenzuela and Rosario were of great utility in clarifying the facts
and especially in the explanation of the cipher documents discovered
in the house of Villaruel and others."