#boni150

[gerilya]

ITAK NI ANDRES Shirt by Gerilya 2013

[indiohistorian]

You're a fan of Bonifacio aren't you. How about Jose Rizal? Just asking :))

I’m a fan of all the noble heroes of our past. That includes their wrinkles, their depravity, their failures and their triumphs.

This means, I’m a fan of both men: Rizal and Bonifacio. I don’t see that conflicting in any way, because both complimented each other and history attests that they were fighting the same cause. Rizal himself, saw that revolution was the logical conclusion of his efforts. Bonifacio just made it a reality. If you want to understand what I mean, I recommend you read Floro Quibuyen’s “A Nation Aborted.” :)

PS: The name of this blog "Indio Bravo" is Rizalian.

[gerilya]

SUPREMO BONIFACIO DIgital Art by Gerilya Mural Study for NCCA Urban Artscape Project 2013

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

November 30: 150th birthday of Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonialism.

#boni150

[comrademango]

Casadores - Dong Abay

(Awit na hango mula sa tula ni Andres Bonifacio na 'Ang Mga Cazadores')

[indiohistorian]

Composed by Filipino rock musician, Ebe Dancel, the heart-wrenching song tells of the fictional letter of Andres Bonifacio to his wife Gregoria de Jesus (Oriang), after he was tried and executed by the Magdalo faction at the mountains of Cavite. Oriang searched the body of her husband in the mountains for months to no avail. The song fully encapsulated the humanity of Andres. I first heard this song at Ballet Philippines’ Rock Supremo, holding up my tears, as they portrayed the song through ballet. You can watch Rock Supremo of BP tonight at the BGC Amphitheater at 7:00pm.

PS. The nome de guerre of Andres was ‘Maypagasa,’ while Oriang's was ‘Lakambini.’

—-

Kung ito na ang huli kong liham Ayoko syang masayang sa isang paalam Sa isang paalam Dahil ako ay mabubuhay sa yong mga alaala At sa puso mo, diwa ko’y titira

Di mo na ako kailangang hanapin pa Pikit ka lang sinta, ako ay nariyan na

Sa buhay mang ito o sa kabilang mundo Hangga’t may pag asang dumadaloy sa akin at sa'yo Hangga’t pag-ibig ay panig sa atin, kumagat man ang dilim 'Wag mangamba, dahil liwanag tayo ng isa’t isa

O Lakambini ko, buhay ng buhay ko Sa'n ka man patungo, dalhin mo ako ‘Wag ka nang matakot, mundo’y hayaan mong umikot Darating din ang panahon ng hinahon

Di mo na ako kailangang hanapin pa Pikit ka lang sinta, ako ay nariyan na

Sa buhay mang ito o sa kabilang mundo Hangga’t may pag asang dumadaloy sa akin at sa'yo Hangga’t pagibig ay panig sa atin, kumagat man ang dilim ‘Wag mangamba, dahil liwanag tayo ng isa’t isa

[indiohistorian]

When Bonifacio was born, there was nothing spectacular about him, save that what he would eventually do for his people he lovingly called Haring Bayang Katagalugan. Through the years, he has been used as a propaganda of Marxism, a political tool by Quezon against Aguinaldo, a hero who would be pitted against another hero, Jose Rizal. But remove all these embellishments, and we have a man who was as normal and commonfolk as we all are and could be. His idea of progress encapsulated in the Tagalog word “ginhawa” still reverberates in our national consciousness.

We now know that he was not that poor as proletariat (Mabini was poorer than him), he was not that impatient and impulsive as portrayed in many monuments (the screaming Bonifacio stereotype), that to say that he was from Tondo doesn’t mean he was a goon or a political warlord, but one who simply lived in one of the most exciting economic quarters in the Spanish province of Manila that is, as a presenter in the Bonifacio 150 conference at UP would say, a hotbed for new and radical ideas. We know from historical records that his tactics in Manila (countering the accusations of the Magdalo faction that he was not a good strategist), although foiled, was still ingenious given that he was managing troops larger than that of Cavite. We also know that although he did not finish school, he was an avid reader, who read Victor Hugo, the biographies of American presidents, who was a fan of the ideas of Rizal embedded in the two Rizalian novels of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. It is safe to say that in the context of the entire Asian region, the idea that a colonized man, an indio can rise up and govern his country without the strength of world superpowers was not only inspired by Rizal—it was revolutionary in Asia at the time. He established a nationwide movement of Filipino revolutionaries he called KKK or Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, the first group of that nature in Asia.

Bonifacio’s death is still an issue of controversy, and that his death brought about by his fellow revolutionaries in Cavite only proves that the problems of the ‘social cancer’ written by Rizal is still true, and that even in the injustice done to him, the Filipino people still applauds him louder than Aguinaldo.

Gregoria de Jesus, who searched the mountains to look for his body, and Artemio Ricarte, including Macario Sakay, who continued his legacy even after the Biak-na-Bato pact. Only a heart like Bonifacio could set ablaze hearts like these heroics.

We honor the man, for who he really is. He believed that freedom, even if it is at a high cost, can be sought and achieved, despite the depravity of his nation. It is to this that tearfully, this historian acknowledge the giant that was Andres. “Aling pag-ibig ang hihigit kaya, sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila… sa pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa. Wala na nga. Wala.”

Salud, Supremo! Maligayang ika-150ng kaarawan! The first president of the Filipino nation.

*The Andres Bonifacio bust by the great Filipino sculptor Guillermo Tolentino, displayed at the National Art Gallery. Take note of Bonifacio’s name in Baybayin below the bust.