POS 100 (I) - Intersession Semester SY 2017-2018

Legacy: The Katipunan and Revolutions with Andres Bonifacio and Macario Sakay vis-a-vis Philippine Independence edit

The Katipunan and Revolutions with Andres Bonifacio edit

Datu Magat Salamat (1550-1595), the Prince of Tondo, under the lineage of Lakan Dula, fought bravely to overthrow the Spaniards during the 300-year Spanish colonial rule in the Philippine archipelago. Salamat’s desire to recapture Tondo from the Spanish for land and rule have reached an unfortunate end upon the betrayal of a supporter from Cuyo, Palawan, Antonio Surabao. Magat Salamat’s demise in the gallows translated in another form of revolution after about 290 years, which was later known in Philippine History as the Katipunan, or the Kataastaasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK).

On the 7th of July 1892 in Azcarraga, Manila (now known as Recto Avenue), Andres Bonifacio and a few members of the La Liga Filipina organized and formed the revolutionary society whose goal is to achieve freedom from Spain and sovereignty in the Philippines.

Similar to Datu Magat Salamat’s cause of revolt against the Spaniards, Andres Bonifacio together with the Katipuneros sought to overthrow the Spanish rule in the Philippines, which brought about the 1896 revolution spearheaded by the Katipunan. Their revolution, in contrast with the uprising of the Lakans in Manila, was to obtain absolute independence which means separation from Spanish rule, ending the oppression and attaining the Filipino identity.

Succeeding the Philippine Revolution against Spain, was the Philippine-American War which lasted from 1898 with the Treaty of Paris, the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901, until 1902 with the signing of the Cooper Act that granted the Philippines to elect its own people in the government through the Philippine Assembly. In the duration of the American occupation in the Philippines, there were still remnants of the Katipunan that wanted a complete and absolute independence for the Philippines, a notable individual was Macario Sakay.

The Katipunan and Revolutions with Macario Sakay edit

Macario Sakay was an early member of the Katipunan with Andres Bonifacio being its Supremo, and being a native of Tondo, Manila - similar to Datu Magat Salamat, - was inclined “to liberate the Tagalog area from Spanish rule and to resist American imperialism.” (Cullinane, 61) The revolutionaries under the American colonizers were rebranded to be recognized as brigands, criminals, instead, which goes to show how the Philippines was still struggling to achieve independence from foreign rule - that those who decide to go against the dominion of the Americans at the time were labeled as “landrones, tulisanes, and bandoleros (outlaws or brigands), regardless of their political motivations.” (Cullinane, 55)

Sakay also ended up at the mercy of the American colonizers by 1907. Similar to Datu Magat Salamat, Macario Sakay was also betrayed by a fellow Filipino, Dr. Dominador Gomez - a nationalist from Manila. After being captured, Sakay and his associates were sentenced to be hanged for being “brigands” under the American rule. On the 13th of September 1907, Macario Sakay and Lucio De Vega (a close associate of Sakay) were hanged in the Bilibid prison yard, as a ruthless brigand.

Legacy: Magat Salamat Elementary School edit

The Magat Salamat Elementary School or Paaralang Magat Salamat was erected in the city of Manila to honor the last Datu to tule Tondo. The school is located in the 1st District of Manila, along the streets of Sta. Maria, Pavia, and Perla in Tondo, Manila.


References edit

[1]

  1. ^ Cullinane, Michael. 2009. “Bringing in the Brigands: The Politics of Pacification in the Colonial Philippines, 1902-1907.” Philippine Studies 57(1): 49-76.