Revisiting history
I spent the entire day yesterday with the rest of my PI 100 classmates going around the province of Cavite. We were re-tracing one of the most controversial events in Philippine History - the death of Andres Bonifacio.
And of course Emilio Aguinaldo was involved. In the death and in the trip.
Our first stop was Aguinaldo shrine. I had been there before, but I guess I never explored it as much as we did yesterday, because I never noticed this picture:
If you do not recognize the men in this picture, they are Jose Rizal (left) and Andres Bonifacio (right). This portrait was hanging above the door frame at the end of a corridor in Aguinaldo's house. The entire corridor was a sort of gallery of his generals.
We all know how the Katipunan members respected and revered Rizal, after all. And for Aguinaldo to have Bonifacio's portrait up on the wall, right next to Rizal's, it says something. Upon seeing this portrait, somehow I was touched. My respect for Aguinaldo (which I must tell you is very very little) went up a few notches.
By the time we finished the field trip, my respect for him and his men went down to practically zero.
We got to the Bonifacio Shrine in Maragondon, Cavite, a place I didn't even know existed. This was where the alleged bones of Andres Bonifacio were found, which means that more or less, this was where he was executed.
There is only one account of that execution. It belongs to Lazaro Makapagal, the executioner. In his statement, he narrated that Andres Bonifacio begged for his life, that he tried to run away, and that he was finally shot in the back.
However, we must note that written history is not necessarily accurate.
(I am ashamed to declare that the piece of information I am about to share now is something that I just found out yesterday. As a self-proclaimed history nerd, I really should have known about this ages ago.)
There is oral history - others may call it "historical chismis" - that says that Bonifacio was not shot to death. He was, in fact, hacked with a bolo.
Seriously, I was scandalized by this information. The thought of Filipinos killing their fellow Filipinos during a time of foreign invasion is just sickening. And all for what? For political power and triumph? Sadly, some things really do not change. And indeed, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Sir Xiao Chua, our tour guide for the day, emphasized that we must remember that Aguinaldo was very young during this time. He was merely 27 years old, whereas his advisers - Mariano Alvarez and Pio del Pilar - were much, much older. However, I personally can't accept this line of reasoning as an excuse. This implies that at 27 years old, Aguinaldo was a very impressionable leader who had no political will. We must remember that even before being elected president, Aguinaldo was already a high-ranking military official. He must have had some kind of firmness to have assumed that position, don't you think? I'd rather believe that Aguinaldo became thirsty for power later on in the Revolution, which is why he went on and listened to his bad advisers, rather than him being young and having "no choice" in the matter.
But I don't think anything will make me like Aguinaldo anymore, anyway. Not after what I learned yesterday.
On a more personal note, yesterday's trip made me miss history so much. I felt really bad that I didn't know about the oral history regarding Bonifacio's death. I really should read more.
And of course Emilio Aguinaldo was involved. In the death and in the trip.
Our first stop was Aguinaldo shrine. I had been there before, but I guess I never explored it as much as we did yesterday, because I never noticed this picture:
If you do not recognize the men in this picture, they are Jose Rizal (left) and Andres Bonifacio (right). This portrait was hanging above the door frame at the end of a corridor in Aguinaldo's house. The entire corridor was a sort of gallery of his generals.
We all know how the Katipunan members respected and revered Rizal, after all. And for Aguinaldo to have Bonifacio's portrait up on the wall, right next to Rizal's, it says something. Upon seeing this portrait, somehow I was touched. My respect for Aguinaldo (which I must tell you is very very little) went up a few notches.
By the time we finished the field trip, my respect for him and his men went down to practically zero.
We got to the Bonifacio Shrine in Maragondon, Cavite, a place I didn't even know existed. This was where the alleged bones of Andres Bonifacio were found, which means that more or less, this was where he was executed.
There is only one account of that execution. It belongs to Lazaro Makapagal, the executioner. In his statement, he narrated that Andres Bonifacio begged for his life, that he tried to run away, and that he was finally shot in the back.
However, we must note that written history is not necessarily accurate.
(I am ashamed to declare that the piece of information I am about to share now is something that I just found out yesterday. As a self-proclaimed history nerd, I really should have known about this ages ago.)
There is oral history - others may call it "historical chismis" - that says that Bonifacio was not shot to death. He was, in fact, hacked with a bolo.
Seriously, I was scandalized by this information. The thought of Filipinos killing their fellow Filipinos during a time of foreign invasion is just sickening. And all for what? For political power and triumph? Sadly, some things really do not change. And indeed, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Sir Xiao Chua, our tour guide for the day, emphasized that we must remember that Aguinaldo was very young during this time. He was merely 27 years old, whereas his advisers - Mariano Alvarez and Pio del Pilar - were much, much older. However, I personally can't accept this line of reasoning as an excuse. This implies that at 27 years old, Aguinaldo was a very impressionable leader who had no political will. We must remember that even before being elected president, Aguinaldo was already a high-ranking military official. He must have had some kind of firmness to have assumed that position, don't you think? I'd rather believe that Aguinaldo became thirsty for power later on in the Revolution, which is why he went on and listened to his bad advisers, rather than him being young and having "no choice" in the matter.
But I don't think anything will make me like Aguinaldo anymore, anyway. Not after what I learned yesterday.
On a more personal note, yesterday's trip made me miss history so much. I felt really bad that I didn't know about the oral history regarding Bonifacio's death. I really should read more.