16 APRIL

Signature of Supremo Andres Bonifacio as Maypagasa
(reflection as art rendering)

1897 - Philippine revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio y de Castro ascribes the failure of the Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) forces in defending Cavite against Spanish troops to factionalism within the movement; in a letter to Emilio Jacinto y Dizon, newly appointed Supreme Commander of all revolutionary forces in Manila, Supremo Andres Bonifacio relays how the Magdalo faction led by Capitan Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy has negotiated with the Spaniards to abandon the Revolution and explains that he needed to nullify all the resolutions that were adopted in the fraudulent and scandalously anomalous Tejeros Convention owing to the dirty tactics of Magdalo in the bid to discredit him and the Katipunan; Generallissimo Bonifacio also reports about the deceitfulness of Aguinaldo and Magdalo in apparently scheming to abandon the Revolution and forge a deal with the enemy Spaniards:

Ang nasabing Capitan Emilio [Aguinaldo] ay mag ginawang Condiciones na ibig na hingin sa kaaway na gaya ng paalisin ang mga fraile, diputados a Cortes at iba pang mga bagaybagay, at itoy ipinahatid sa kay M. Mariano Alvarez at hinihingi ang kanyang pag ayon, itoy isinanguni sa akin at ng hindi namin sang ayunan ay ang ginawa ng taga Imus, ay sinulatan ng lihim ni Cap. Emilio ang mga Pangulo sa Bayang sakop ng Magdiwang.

1899 - Emilio Jacinto y Dizon, young Filipino patriot, revolutionary, and freedom-fighting leader dubbed the "Brains of the Revolution," dies from malaria and/or a gunshot wound in the mountains/forests of Majayjay, Laguna at the age of 24 during the bloody and protracted Philippine-American War (1899-1914); considered one of the greatest, noblest of Filipino heroes, Jacinto became a key revolutionary official during the first phase of the Revolution against Spain (1896-1898) when he became a confidante and trusted official of Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro, leader of the underground-society-turned-revolutionary-government Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK);  Jacinto embraced with conviction and enthusiasm the Katipunan that sought the liberation of the Philippine archipelago from the yoke of Spanish rule when he was only a pre-law student, eventually occupying several posts including being Fiscal, KKK Secretary of State, and military leader;  when Generallissimo Bonifacio fell victim to the virtual coup of the fraudulent Tejeros Convention and eventual execution-cum-assassination perpetrated by the forces of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, Jacinto gravely grieved, refused the offer to join the new government, while continuing to fight the Spaniards and, later, the imperialist Americans, separate from the forces of Aguinaldo;  an ethical and very intelligent and cunning militant leader who escaped arrest  and death during several bloody encounters with the enemies in Laguna, Jacinto managed the Katipunan printing press,  also supervised the gunpowder, and would be noted in history for his important editorship of the revolutionary organ Kalayaan, authorship of the ten-point ethical code/primer of the KKK, the Kartilya, A La Patria, A Mi Madre and "Liwanag at Dilim," a series of articles dealing with liberty, human rights, equality, patriotism, and labor;  Jacinto's death came exactly a day and two years after his last Katipunan government appointment--Commanding General of the Northern District of Manila--less than a month before Bonifacio was eliminated by the camp of Aguinaldo.




Jacinto photo cropped from P20, English series:  http://images03.olx.com.ph/ui/11/00/74/1295415909_158839674_1-Pictures-of--PHILIPPINES-20-PESOS-1949-Bonifacio-and-Jacinto.jpg



Raw photo image: http://kasaysayan-kkk.info/gallery.kkk.htm

 Photo art: JB