Jose Rizal walked out with a firm step. The air was still cool, and the dew wet his face for the last time. “How beautiful this morning is,” said Rizal. “My child,” replied a priest walking on his right, “it would be even more beautiful if . . .” The good-hearted priest could not finish his sentence because the official guards whisked him away from Rizal’s side.
[134] The firing squad was ready. The front line, which was to fire, consisted of Filipinos. Behind them stood a line of Spanish soldiers, just in case the native soldiers refused to shoot a leader of their people.
Dr. Rizal protested to the commandant, who wanted him bound and shot in the back. “I am not a traitor,” said Dr Rizal. “I am only following orders,” answered the officer. “If that’s the case then just don’t let me be shot in the head,” said Rizal. The officer granted this request.
How calmly the Filipino hero stood in the center of the field, as if opposing the power of Spain with his attitude: “My body may be destroyed, but my spirit will live on. And this destruction of my body will bring about the destruction of Spanish power in the Philippines.” A Spanish doctor was amazed at his colleague’s calmness and asked permission of the commandant to examine the pulse of the Filipino doctor who was facing death. He shook his head in astonishment when he found that the pulse rate was normal.
Jose Rizal was facing death. A volley of shots rang out. As the Filipino hero dropped, he was seen to be struggling to fall as he wanted. He succeeded and lay with his unscathed face to the sky. So fell the noble Filipino fighter in 1896. In appreciation and respect, his people have built a monument to him at his place of death, and this place of tragedy is now called the Luneta Square.36
Among those watching was someone who was not known to the crowds but who was to be remembered in history. With his bolo at his waist, Andres Bonifacio, former secretary of La Liga Filipina and now leader of the Katipunan, awaited the moment to attack in order to free his teacher and comrade-in-arms from the jaws of death. But the group with him had long been prepared to thwart this hopeless idea. They were awaiting a better moment to attack, to strike out in unison with a single blow. With tears streaming down his face, his teeth chattering, and his bolo still hidden in his sarong, Andres followed the advice of his followers and watched helplessly as his teacher and comrade-in-arms fell to the earth.37
[135] His bolo was not to stay hidden in his sarong for long. When he felt the moment was right, he drew it out and, with a small but courageous band, attacked the Spanish fort at Balintawak on the outskirts of Manila in 1898 (?).38 Clearly he chose the right moment. Throughout the island of Luzon, flanked by the other islands of the Philippines, the independence flag fluttered in answer to the cry of Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the Katipunan: “Citizens of our nation, the hour of our final hope is at last upon us!”39
Everywhere guerrilla groups sprang up. In almost all fields of battle the Spanish troops retreated or surrendered. The Filipino officers carried out all kinds of guerrilla strategies that amazed the whole world. Take a look at the European and American newspapers of that time: the world was completely taken aback by the skill, astuteness, and valor of this tiny unheard-of nation in the Pacific, now making itself known with a clear, ringing cry in the fight against a powerful empire. The names of the fighting units, and commanders like Generals Luna, Malvar, and Ricarte,40 echoed throughout the cities and villages of the Philippine Islands.41 Above all resounded the name of General Aguinaldo, the former village school teacher: adroit, sharp, and ignorant of the word defeat, a supreme guerrilla strategist.
Finally the Spanish army was driven from every corner of the islands except the capital city of Manila. At that precise moment the American armada sailed into the port of Manila to intervene. When their imperialist aims became clear, the Filipino people turned their fighting units against the modern American army. For about a year the bitter struggle raged on under the leadership of Aguinaldo.42
During the two- or three-year war of independence fought against two rich and powerful nations with a wealth of arms and military experience, much went on among the rebels themselves. Differences arose that gradually hardened into conflict and finally into enmity. The differences between Aguinaldo and Bonifacio ended in the murder of Bonifacio, while those between Aguinaldo and Mabini caused Mabini to break off relations.43
In the Philippines this conflict and enmity generally is interpreted as stemming from personal differences alone. But I believe they developed from a difference of intentions between the various classes in the struggle, as represented by Aguinaldo, Mabini, and Bonifacio.
[136] This is only my own opinion. Filipino historians are not clear on this point or have not turned their attention to this interpretation. I have not been able to obtain complete data on which classes were the main supporters of the various leaders. There is a possibility that Aguinaldo had his base—at the end if not from the beginning of the revolution—primarily among the Filipino rich peasants and bourgeoisie. Mabini represented the radical democratic intelligentsia and a section of the common people, while Bonifacio appears to have represented the murba of the cities and villages.44
In the midst of the revolution the star of Bonifacio—the founder of the Katipunan and the one who began the revolution—remained high, protected by Aguinaldo’s stunning successes on the battlefield. It’s not that Bonifacio was any less willing to fight or less brave, but Aguinaldo was the one who really understood the strategy of guerrilla war, just as Bonifacio was the one who held in his hand the strategy of party building and revolutionary politics. How much better it would have been had the rebels been able to unite and place party and political matters under Bonifacio and military matters under Aguinaldo, thus coordinating the entire revolution. Such organizational, political, and military coordination was impossible, however, as Filipino society had not yet developed the necessary experience and consciousness. Further, the cruel and powerful Spanish imperialism had not permitted the growth of strong organization and action in underground work. Revolutionaries had been forced to work in small groups, particularly in the cities, and were not able to have much contact with each other.
[137] At one conference Aguinaldo was chosen as president and Mabini as minister of foreign affairs. Representation at the conference did not reflect the real balance of forces between Aguinaldo and Bonifacio. It could be said that Bonifacio’s group was represented only by Bonifacio himself, who had been trapped into attendance. Bonifacio, who came with no preparation for what was to occur, was given the title of director of one of the government departments and was insulted as an ignoramus. He felt not only deceived by this fabricated election of Aguinaldo’s, but also humiliated. He made his offended feelings known and angrily left the “elections” for home.45
On the way he was overtaken by one of Aguinaldo’s units. Aguinaldo apparently realized that if Bonifacio were to organize opposition to him, Aguinaldo’s victory could not be assured or that if it did come it would not be as easy as in his recent conference. For this reason Bonifacio had to be betrayed and stabbed in the back before he could make preparations. Such an attitude is not uncommon among leaders filled with the desire to be great but lacking good character and intelligence. In the fight along the way, Bonifacio, aided only by his younger brother, met his end as a hero. Aguinaldo lived on. Although the history books do not tell it quite like that, the above is how the people tell Bonifacio’s story.
So it was that the teacher and his pupil, the president and the secretary of La Liga Filipina-Rizal and Bonifacio—both died tragically at a young age. But there was a difference: Jose Rizal was executed by the oppressors of his nation for everyone to see, while Andres Bonifacio was murdered by his own people, his comrades in the struggle against foreign power. Jose Rizal represented the Filipino middle class and intelligentsia while Andres Bonifacio represented the common people.
This difference is evident in the treatment accorded the anniversaries of the deaths of these two Filipino heros. On the anniversary of Rizal’s