Andres Bonifacio, Unang Pangulo ng 'Pilipinas': Setting the Historiographic Record Straight (Bonifacio Series VI)

PAG natapos na ang pamamayagpag ng ilehitimong Dilaw sa paraang masidhi, maitatama na ang kasaysayan ng bayang Taga-Ilog/Pilipinas... At ipagbubunyi na ng buong Bayan na ang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) ang Unang (pang-Himagsikang) Pamahalaan na itinatag ni Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro.


Rebolusyonaryong Pamahalaan

Nakakapagtakang ang mga Dilawan/elit na Pilipino na bilib na bilib sa imperyalistang Kalbong Agila ay ayaw paniwalaan ang Amerikanong historyador at tagapag-alaga ng "Philippine Insurgent Records" na si John R.M. Taylor na nagsabing ang Katipunan ay ang unang pamahalaang itinatag (ni Bonifacio) sa Pilipinas:

The Katipunan came out from the cover of secret designs, threw off the cloak of any other purpose, and stood openly for the independence of the Philippines. Bonifacio turned his lodges into battalions, his grandmasters into captains, and the supreme council of the Katipunan into the insurgent of the Philippines.

http://books.google.com/books?id=OOqFAAAAIAAJ&dq=editions:LCCN73171805

Ayon kay Jacinto Lumberas:

Ang Kapuluan ay pinamamahalaan na ng K.K.K. ng mga anak Anak ng Bayan, na siyang nagbukas ng Paghihimagsik; may Batas at Alintuntuning pinaiiral; sinusunod at iginagalang ng lahat sa pagtatanggol ng Kalayaan, pag-ibig sa kapatid, pag-aayos at pamamalakas ng mga Pamunuan. (The Archipelago is governed by the K.K.K. ng mga Anak ng Bayan, which initiated the Revolution: with Laws and Regulations which enforces; followed and respected by all for defending Freedom, fraternal love, constituting and consolidating the Leadership.)

http://images.cliofilipinas.multiply.multiplycontent.com/attachment/0/SShE1QoKCpEAADTSWiE1/KasPil1 M3 - Andres Bonifacio.pdf

Ang tinutukoy nila Taylor at Lumberas ay ang pagbuo ng isang panghimagsikang pamahalaan nila Bonifacio mula sa Katipunan. Noong Agosto 24, 1896, binuo ng mga pinuno ng Katipunan ang unang pamahalaang Pilipino. With Supremo Andres Bonifacio and members of the Supreme Council (Kataastaasang Kapulungan), heads of the supramunicipal (sangunian) and chapter (balangay) units of the Katipunan in attendance, the Katipuneros elected as leaders of the historic revolutionary government the following:

Andres Bonifacio - Supremo/President
Teodoro Plata - Secretary of War
Emilio Jacinto - Secretary of State
Aguedo del Rosario - Secretary of Interior
Briccio Pantas - Secretary of Justice
Enrique Pacheco - Secretary of Finance.

 http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?i=5=1

Unang Pangulo

Sa pagbabago o transformation ng KKK mula sa isang pagiging lihim na panghimagsik na samahan upang maging isang bukas at de facto na pamahalaan ng mga Tagalog* (lahat ng mga katutubong/indios mamamayan ng buong kapuluan), kikilos bilang isang organisadong pamahalaan ang mga anak ng Inang Bayan upang labanan at patatalsikin ang kolonyal na Kastila. Dito, ang pinuno ay walang iba kundi si Supremo/Generalissimo /PANGULONG Andres Bonifacio.

Itong pagbuo ng panghimagsikan o rebolusyonaryong pamahalaan na ito ang basehan ng isang artikulo sa isang Kastila-Amerikanong lathain kung saan itinanghal ang isang imahe ni Bonifacio na may titulong "'Presidente' de la Republica Tagala." Moreover, the election in the newly formed Katipunan national government called the Katagalan Republic was also recorded in a 1897 work by Spanish historian Jose M.del Castillo. Writing in his "El Katipunan" or "El Filibusterismo en Filipinas," Castillo reiterated the electoral results of what was, in effect, the very first national elections in the Philippine archipelago.

Pirma ni Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro bilang 
Pangulo ng Kataastaasang Kapulungan (Supreme Congress) 
ng  Haring-Bayang Katagalugan (Sovereign Tagalog Nation, or People)
Photo art: JB

Aside from the apparently very impartial, foreign sources, local evidences of the title of President held by Bonifacio exist. Sa testimonya ni Dr. Pio Valenzuela, isang dating pinuno sa KKK, sa mga Kastila, pinatotohanan niya ang paghalal kay Bonifacio bilang Pangulo o pinuno ng binuong panghimagsikang pamahalaan, kasama ng iba pang nahalal na Katipunero (partikular ang nahuling si Del Rosario na isa sa mga nahirang na isakatuparan ang panghimagsikang pamahalaan lalo ang aspetong lokal na pamamahala).  Additionally, there were the telling Katipunan/revolutionary communications dated March-April 1897 that fortunately survived and which were released by Epifanio de los Santos in the late 1980s. Said communications that included letters and other important documents pointed to Bonifacio as occupying the highest post in the revolutionary government through varying titles:

    Pangulo ng Kataastaasang Kapulungan

    (President of the Supreme Council)

    Ang Kataastaasang Pangulo

    (The Supreme President)

    Pangulo nang Haring Bayang Katagalugan

    (President of the Sovereign Nation of Katagalugan)

    Ang Pangulo ng Haring Bayan

    May tayo nang K.K. Katipunan nang mga Anak ng Bayan,

    Unang nag galaw nang Panghihimagsik

    (The President Sovereign Nation Founder of the Katipunan, Initiator of the  Revolution)

    Kataastaasang Panguluhan,Pamahalaang Panghihimagsik

    (Office of the Supreme President, Government of the Revolution)

http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?i=5=1

Pambansang Awit: "Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan"

Himno Nacional: Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan

 http://julionakpil.blogspot.com/

Ganap ang pamahalaang panghimagsikan na itinayo ng mga Katipunero at binuo upang mamahala hindi lamang sa yugto ng pakikibaka kundi sa panahong mapatalsik na ang mga kaaway na Kastila at inaayos at pinapalakas na ang bansa. Katunayan ay may pambansang awit pa ito. Kinomisyon ni Pangulong Bonifacio si Julio Nakpil y Garcia, isang  musikero at isang pinuno ng Katipunan at isa siya sa may hawak ng himagsikan sa hilaga ng Maynila (gamit ang alias na J. Giliw) upang gumawa ng isang himno nacional noong bandang Nobyembre 1896.

Ang Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan ay isang pang-martsang kanta. The final copy of the lyrics of  the National Anthem of secret-society-turned-revolutionary-government Katipunan are as follows:

Mabuhay yaong Kalayaan!
At pasulungin ang puri't kabanalan!
Kastila's mailing ng Katagalugan,
At ngayo's ipagwagi ang kahusayan!

http://www.oocities.org/valkyrie47no/himno.htm

KKK Flag flown in August 1896, outbreak of the Himagsikan

Photo art: JB

Siyempre pa, mayroon din watawat ang nanghihimagsik nang Kagalanga-galangang Katipunan nang mga Anak ng Bayan. Demokratiko ang mga Katipunero kaya maraming mga bandila subali't ang iwinagayway na watawat ni Bonifacio nang sumiklab ang Himagsikan ay ang sinasabing personal daw niyang bandila. Sa pulang bandilang ito ay nakaguhit sa gitna ang  isang puting araw na may maraming sinag at sa ilalim ay nakasulat patiyaha ang mga puting titik na K.K.K.

Ang bandilang ito ay unang iwinagaygay sa Balintawak noong Unang Sigaw nang punitin ng mga Katipunero ang kanilang mga sedula na sumisimbolo sa pagka-alipin sa banyagang Kastila. Ito rin marahil ang winagayway ni Pangulong Bonifacio noong Agosto 26, 1896 sa Balintawak, ilang araw matapos buuin ang pamahalang maghihimagsik mula sa Katipunan. Ibinandera din ito noong Agosto 30, 1896 sa unang malaking laban ng Himagsikan, ang Labanan sa San Jose del Monte.

Anomalous Histogriography

May journalistic at ebidensyang libro na, na mga banyagang Kastila o Kastilang-Amerikano pa kamo; may ebidensya pa ng isang kolonyal (Amerikano, si Taylor) na historyador na masasabing kasabayan ng mga nabuhay na Katipunero; mayroon ding pagpapatototo ng mga insider o taga-loob na Katipunero kung baga, kabilang si Valenzuela; at meron ding mga dokumento ng mga variations ng titulo ni Bonifacio bilang Pangulo. Sa madaling salita, hitik sa pagpapatunay na si Gat Bonifacio ang Unang Pangulo ng bansa (panghihimagsik na pamahalaan) subali't ayaw pa ring kilalanin??? 

Beyond being perplexing, it is highly anomalous how the government and mainstream Philippine historiography refuse to recognize Bonifacio as the very first leader of the nation, no matter that it was at that time a fledgling or formative and struggling one. Despite the seeming avalanche of local and international evidence and with the nation having had more than a century to set the record straight, the great, courageous, patriotic, and, as Apolinario Mabini puts it, 'sagacious,' Bonifacio can only be accorded the title "Father of the Philippine Revolution."  While being the instigator and head of the Himagsikan is a great title by itself, one wonders why there is the unexplainable refusal to recognize the government he and the Katipunero patriots formed.


TAGALOG = Pilipinas/Pilipino

Ang mukhang idinadahilan ng iba kung kaya hindi raw matatawag na pangulo ng bansa si Bonifacio ay ang paggamit ng salitang Tagalog o Katagaluan na katagang tumutukoy daw sa isang rehiyon o mga katutubong nagsasalita lang daw ng wikang Tagalog. Such interpretation amidst the loads of clarifications as to the usage or meaning of the words smacks of a deliberate historical confounding in the aim of  belittling the accomplishment and extent of Bonifacio's Katipunan Himagsikan. It is so clear that Tagalog and its derivative Katagaluan were used by Bonifacio as referring to all the inhabitants of the archipelago/the country itself.  As historian  Milagros Guerrero well puts it:

In his patriotic writings, Bonifacio expressed his concept of nationhood. In K.K.K Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Z.Li.B., Pagibig sa Tinubuaang Bayan, Hibik ng Filipinas sa Ynang Espana and Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog, he referred to the Philippine islands as sangkapaluan or Katagalugan.

 http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?i=5&subcat=13

Maliban kay Bonifacio, ang mga iba pang Katipunero tulad nila Carlos V. Ronquillo, na naging kalihim pa ng sumunod na pamahalaan ni Emilio Aguinaldo, at Hen. Macario Sakay ay nilinaw na ang salitang Tagalog/Katagalugan ay tumutukoy sa buong kapuluan ng ating bayan/bansa. Ipinaliwanag ni Ronquillo na ang Tagalog ay pinili ng Katipunan upang tumukoy hindi lang sa lugar/mga naninirahan sa Gitnang Luzon kundi sa buong bansa dahil mas angkop itong gamitin para sa ating lahi. 

Sapagka’t sa palagay naming ay ganito ang talagang nararapat ikapit sa tanang anak ng Kapilipinuhan. Ang tagalog o lalong malinaw, ang tawag na “tagalog” ay walang ibang kahulugan kundi ‘tagailog’ na sa tuwirang paghuhulo ay taong maibigang manira sa tabing ilog, bagay na di maikakaila na siyang talagang hilig ng tanang anak ng Pilipinas, saa’t saan mang pulo at bayan.

http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?i=5&subcat=13

Kaysa nga naman gamitin ang  Felipinas/Pilipinas na napaka-kolonyal ang tunog at palagiang nagpapahiwatig sa pagkakasakop ng bayan dahil batay ang pangalan o country name na ito sa  Kastilang hari na namumuno noong panahon unang sinakop ang bayan. Malinaw din itong pagtukoy sa buong bansa sa salitang Tagalog/Katagaluan para kay Hen. Sakay na isang Katipunerong nakasama/nakatulong nina Bonifacio noong Himagsikan laban sa Kastila.  Ayon kay Sakay, na siyang magpapatuloy bale ng Katipunan at magtatagay ng "Republika ng Katagalugan" sa kalagitnaan ng mahabang Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano (1899-1914),:

Ang mga Nayon, bayan Hucuman nitong Filipinas ay siyang tinatauag na Kapuluang Katagalugan, sa macatuid baga, ay gaya ng Jolo, Mindanao, Kabisayaan, Kailokohan iba't iba pang lupa na tunay na Tagalog.[28] (The villages and municipalities of this Filipinas are called Katagalugan Archipelago, which in effect, are the likes of Jolo, Mindanao, Visayas, Ilocos and all other different lands that are truly Tagalog.)

 http://banlawkasaysayan.multiply.com/photos/album/1/MACARIO_SAKAY_AND_THE_STRUGGLE_FOR_FREEDOM_mula_sa_jethernandez.multiply.com

**********

Tingnan din ang Ang BANSANG Tagalog at ang 'Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan'

http://jesusabernardo.blogspot.com/2011/12/ang-bansang-tagalog-at-ang-marangal-na.html

Unmistakable how historical records point to the establishment of the very first revolutionary government with the Supremo as the First President of the "Filipinos"/Tagalogs/Taga-Ilog and yet the apparent detractors of Bonifacio/Katipunan still confound the issue? When viewed along side the devaluation of Bonifacio in Philippine money, with the Supremo being demoted from the face of the P5.00 coin/bill down to sharing the P10.00 coin/bill, it is not hard to see an anti-Bonifacio conspiracy prevailing in society.

Conspiring against Bonifacio

Sabi nga ni Prop. Michael Briones Charlestone Chua, kasalukuyang pangalawang pangulo ng Philippine Historical Association, 'may mga pwersa sa lipunan na ayaw maituro ang mga aral' nila Bonifacio at ng Katipunan. Kung ang mga aral ng KKK ay binabara, lalo pa kaya ang pagiging pangulo ng Supremo.

In a later private communication through a social networking site, Chua clarified that what he meant was that there exists a "subconscious" conspiring and not really a "direct conspiracy." Whether subconscious, direct, or what have you, the point is that a conspiring to denigrate the Supremo has materialized or has been effected, actively working to downplay the Supremo, and that historians/academicians, among others,  are able to sense this.

With all his measured expressions of analysis, Chua is not alone in the perception that Bonifacio/Katipunan has been the subject of forces out to denigrate him. Even during the imperialist American occupation, Bonifacio's status and revolutionary achievements were minimized and attacked as part of the bid to despirit the Filipinos and subjugate their minds and hearts. As progressive American author William J. Pomeroy writes:

The textbooks introduced in the new schools portrayed him [Bonifacio] as a terrorist and advocate of force and violence destructive of democracy. The Commission under Governor-General William Howard Taft projected instead, counter-figure Jose Rizal, the moderately nationalist writer and doctor who was a reformist and who had denounced the revolution of 1896 as its beginning.

http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=vQPpEa02N5kC&printsec=frontcover&hl=tl

Outrageous 'Re-Inventing' Thesis

A recent and unbelievably outrageous 'demolish Bonifacio' work of sorts came from an American-authored "thesis" of dubious scholarship. Dubitable historian character, Glenn Anthony May, claimed that Bonifacio is an 'invented'/'re-created' hero, alleging that practically everything known about him is baseless, with the documents upon which the views about the national hero are based supposedly being forgeries. To prove his point, he ridiculously made a sweeping accusation that Filipino historians lied or falsified documents to 'recreate' the Supremo. In particular, he accused de los Santos of having forged documents including the 1897 communications indicating, among others, that Bonifacio was the first revolutionary President of the Philippines.

To not a few, May's thesis sucks essentially because it makes a grand conspiracy claim and yet, the work is of very poor scholarship marked by fallacious judgements and inconsistency. For one, his thesis shifted overtime, with the original conflicting with his final version as published in a book. As historian Malcolm H. Churchill points out, May initially accused Teodoro A. Agoncillo (who is not exactly a pro-Bonifacio historian) of 'inventing' Bonifacio but four years later in 1995, raised a ridiculous 'forgery thesis' in which he claims that the supposed forgeries done in collusion with de los Santos were made to "to present a more favorable view of Bonifacio than was justified, for the purpose (as May explicitly asserted) of sustaining the image of Bonifacio as a national hero." His forgery claim was also based on almost nothing but a deficient linguistic analysis of documents in a language (Tagalog) that is not his native tongue.

It's incredible how the non-native speaking May who has a "deficient" Tagalog, as described by Churchill, had the gall to scrutinize Philippine documents. The result, as in his 're-inventing' thesis, is woeful errors of judgment, as in his allegation that the fourth Bonifacio letter was 'forged' when it is but natural for a Manila Tagalog speaker (Bonifacio was from Tondo) to mostly use the passive voice. His work also reeks of fallacious logic and lack of supporting evidence, especially when viewed from an informed historical perspective. His allegation that de los Santos colluded with other historians to supposedly re-invent Bonifacio makes absolutely no sense, given that the de los Santos was partial AGAINST the Supremo based on how the latter reckoned that that the (power grab against and) assassination of Bonifacio was supposedly needed to "win the Revolution" [against Spain]. Why would a scholar who justified the killing of the Father of the Philippine Revolution forge documents hailing the Supremo?

It is no wonder that May's work encapsulating his outrageous thesis was REJECTED by the prestigious Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Press. "Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio" was turned down by ADMU in the early-1990s because the reviewers found that it failed to meet the publication standards, including the criterion "that the work employed methodology and truthful/factual knowledge about the Philippines and its language(s) and culture(s) in the scholarship efforts of foreigners and Filipinos alike."

May later found a publisher with apparently lower standards and in 1996,  his dubious work was published. If it were not a most apropos anti-Bonifacio demolition job, coming as it is on the centennial year of the Katipunan Himagsikan launched by Bonifacio, it was at the very least, a mediocre foreign scholar's irresponsible attempt to invent controversies and cash in on the popularity and timeliness of a towering Filipino historical figure.

Check out: Debunking the Outrageous Glenn May Thesis on Supremo Andres Bonifacio

http://jesusabernardo.newsvine.com/_news/2011/04/05/6412546-debunking-the-outrageous-glenn-may-thesis-on-supremo-andres-bonifacio

Filipino Conspirators

Another academician, the progressive Filipino-American literary academic, author and civic intellectual E. San Juan, also somehow perceives the forces 'conspiring' against Bonifacio. He laments "...how the figure of Andres Bonifacio has been attacked by American scholars eager to debunk the prestige of the hero...." San Juan senses the foreign elements that are part of the demolition job against the Supremo; however, some powerful local entities are also at work in minimizing the influence and prestige of Bonifacio and the Katipunan.

Andres Bonifacio in old P5 (Pilipino series)

As earlier pointed out, Bonifacio has been 'devalued' in Philippine money starting from the New Design series under the Cory Aquino administration when the P2 coin bearing his face was demonetized and the hero was made to share the P10 bill/coin with Gat Apolinario Mabini y Maranan. At that time, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, widely considered Bonifacio's nemesis because of the Tejeros Convention/Coup and the subsequent Bonifacio brothers' execution-cum-assassination, already occupied the P5 bill/coin where Bonifacio used to be before his 'promotion' to the P2 denomination (Flora &

Bonifacio in P2 (demonetized Flora & Fauns coin series)

Fauna series, Ferdinand Marcos regime). Instead of reinstating the Supremo in the P5 denomination (amidst the questionable decision to demonetize the P2 even when almost valueless 5c coins were retained), the Philippine government through the Central Bank chose to demote Bonifacio and join him with Mabini.

Emilio Aguinaldo now in P5 coin (& bill, previously) 

Check out : 

The Devaluation of a Hero & Promotion of a Counter-Hero: 

Where's Andres Bonifacio in the P5 Coin? (Bonifacio Series II)

This Bonifacio demotion in Philippine money is disconcerting on two grounds. One, it's a historically fallacious stretch to lump Bonifacio and Mabini in one coin/bill because while both were Katipuneros, the latter did not really work with the Supremo in a way that they could be associated together. The historically sounder move would have been to move Aguinaldo to share the P10 denomination with Mabini

Bonifacio now lumped with Mabini in P5 coin

who, after all, served as his Prime Minister and adviser during his turn-of-the-19th-century "Philippine Republic." Second, why should Bonifacio--the other unofficial national hero based on his November 30 birthday having been declared by law as a holiday, similar to the December 30 Rizal Day--be positioned lower than Emilio Aguinaldo in Philippine money?

Not even delving into why Bonifacio Day was renamed National Heroes' Day, the Supremo's
devaluation is alarming as it shows how the government seems to be slowly moving away from preserving the prestige and legacy of the ultimate Filipino revolutionary hero. After all, monetary designs have long been used in differing human civilizations as an effective way of teaching or promoting national figures.  With regards heroes and heroines, the rule, albeit unwritten, has mostly been that the historic figures appear on the front or obverse side in descending order of importance beginning with the lowest denomination. The rationale is that the greater the hero/heroine, the more his/her face should be /propagated in denominations with greater circulation, which are, of course, the lower-valued notes and coins. With Bonifacio down to the No. 3 spot (illogically lumped at that with Mabini in today's P10 coin), is it not clear that the government is in effect demoting Bonifacio's place in history and national consciousness via circulating Philippine money?

May mga pwersang pumipigil na makilala o maintindihan at maitanghal ng mga Pilipino ang Katipunan at si Supremo Bonifacio. Nakakalungkot na mukhang makapangyarihan o maimpluwensya ang mga taong ito. Nasa pamahalaan pa nga--mula pa sa (Republika ni Aguinaldo at) kolonyal na panahon ng Amerikano at hanggang sa ngayon, at lalo pa yatang lumakas pagkatapos ng panahon ng Batas Militar.

Bakit kaya at sino-sino kaya ang nasa likod ng pagmamaliit sa Katipunan at kay Bonifacio? Dalawang bagay lamang ang panggagalingan ng mga pwersang ito (na maaari ring nakikipagsabwatan sa isa't isa). Ang una ay maaring inapo ng mga nakatunggali ni, o mga may atraso, kay Supremo noong Himagsikan. Kapag umangat nga naman si Bonifacio ay sasama o mas sasama ang lagay ng kanilang ninuno sa kasaysayan. Maaring mga inapo o panatiko kaya ng kampo ni Aguinaldo?

Such a scenario is not at all implausible, given that the camp of Gen. Aguinaldo during the Himagsikan period  was involved in the the black propaganda against the Supremo. According to the memoirs of Gen. Santiago Alvarez, poison letters in rebel towns in Cavite, particularly in San Franciso de Malabon (today's Municipality of Gen. Trias) circulated after the Christmas of 1896. With Daniel Tirona, a Magdalo KKK faction officer as suspect, the smear propaganda contained allegations of the Supremo supposedly not believing in God; having low education; being  a mere lowly hired help in a firm dealing with tiles and with no other income; that he was an agent of the friars, with his sister being a paramour of a Spanish curate, etc.

Check out: The Tragedy of the Katipunan: The Supremo's Assassination-cum-Execution (Bonifacio Series IV)

Siyempre pa, ang lahat ng ito ay paninira lamang kay Gat Bonifacio--mahigit isandaang taon na ang nakalilipas. Makikita sa mga sinulat ng Supremo ang kanyang mataas na moral at paniniwala kay Bathala. Sabi nga ni Gat Apolinario Mabini:

Andres Bonifacio had no less schooling than any of those elected in the aforesaid assembly, and he had shown an uncommon sagacity in organizing the Katipunan.

http://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/history/mabini08.htm

Mukhang nagpapatuloy hanggang ngayon ang pagmamaliit kay Bonifacio. Sinulat ni Ed Aurelio Reyes ng grupong Kamalaysayan na may isang guro ng mataas na paaralan (high school) na nagturo na isa raw iliterado o hindi marunong magbasa at sumulat si Supremo. Bukod sa mukhang ang gurong iyon ang ignorante o hindi lubusang nagbabasa, lubhang kakatwa ang ganitong pahayag dahil si Bonifacio ay isang maalam na pinuno: makikita ito sa kagalingan niyang matukooy kung alin ang plagiarized na saligang batas sa hindi. Noong bandang Disyembre 1896, ayon pa rin kay Alvarez,  ay tinanggihan niya ang isang konstitusyon na ipinasa ni Edilberto Evangelista sa kadahilanang hango ito sa isang banyagang saligang batas. (Constrast such wisdom with Aguinaldo's approval in 1897 of the Biak-na-Bato Constitution that was almost entirely lifted from the Cuban Charter).

Ang pangalawang pwersang maaring bumabara sa sa pagkilala/pagtatanghal kay Supremo ay mga tao o grupong salungat sa mga ipinaglaban ni nito bilang pinuno ng Katipunan o sa mga ideyang ugnay sa kanya. Ilan sa mahahalagang pinaniwalaan o ipinaglaban ni Bonifacio ay rudimentaryo sosyalismo ("lahat ay pantay pantay") at tunay na kasarinlan na nakabatay sa (katutubong) Inang Bayan at hindi hango sa, o panggagaya lamang, ng istrakturang itinuro ng  banyaga. Sa madaling salita, mga pwersang monopoly capitalists, o mga kasapi/tuta ng kolonyal/imperyalistang bansa na ayaw maputol ang nagpapatuloy na hindi patas na pakikipag-ugnayan ng Pilipinas sa kanila.  Sa hanay kaya ng anti-Bonifacio monopoly capitalists kaya ay ang mga elit na negosyanteng Pilipino?

Ang Espana at Amerika kaya ay nahahawakan pa tayo at ayaw ng ganap na kasarinlan kagaya ng ibig ni Bonifacio? Kung titingnan ang Coat of Arms ng Pilipinas, nakabandera dito ang kolonyal na kasaysayan ng bansa. Sa kaliwa, sa asul na bahagi ay ang Kalbong Agila ng Estados Unidos at sa pulang bahagi sa kanan ay ang Lion-Rampant ng Espana. Di iilan ang nagtataka diyan--pangalan na nga ng bansa ay kolonyal, pati ba naman ang atin Coat of Arms ay kailangan pang lagyan ng sagisag ng mga Kanluranin na nanakop sa atin? Ang Coat of Arms ay isang sagisag at para sa isang "malayang bansa" ay hindi maaring pampaalala lamang ito. Isa pa, kung ito ang talagang intensyon eh bakit hindi kasama ang sagisag ng bansang Hapon na sumakop din sa Pilipinas noong Ikalawang Digmaan Pandaigdig??? Panghahamak sa isang tunay na malayang bansa na magkaroong ng sagisag na laging nagpapaalala ng kolonyal na nakaraan kung saan libo-libo, kung hindi daan-daang libo, ang namatay sa pakikipaglaban upang subukang makaalpas sa mga ito. Hindi pa nga siguro tunay na malaya/ganap ang Pilipinas at ito marahil ay may kinalaman sa pagpigil sa pagkilala sa pagiging Unang Pangulo at Pamahalaang (manghihimagsik) ni Bonifacio.

Pangulong Bonifacio...pagwawasto

Kailangan nang itama ang kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, ng 'Republika ng Katagaluan' para kay Bonifacio o iba pang mga Katipunero. Mahirap lumaki sa kasinungalingan, masamang maging zombie sa kasaysayan at pagkabansa. Ibigay ang titulong nararapat kay Supremo dahil ang pagtatanghal sa payak na pangyayaring ito ay isang mahalagang pagpupugay sa kanyang kadakilaan AT nagsisilbi na ring pagkilala sa pagsisikap, kalbaryo, at kabayanihan ng lahat ng mga nagkaisang Katipunero.

Si Gat Andres Bonifacio y de Castro ay hindi lang Supremo ng Katipunan. Hitik ang kasaysayan sa mga pruweba nagpapakita na siya ang tunay na Unang Pangulo ng ating bansang "Pilipinas." Dapat malampasan ang mga pwersang pumipigil sa pagkilala sa katotohanang ito dahil sasabay na dito ang pagkilala sa dakilang hangarin ng ating mga ninuno na mapalaya ang bayan at bumuo ng isang estado hindi lumuluhod sa banyaga at nakabatay sa kapatiran.

Bonifacio. Supremo ng Katipunan. Dakilang Manghihimagsik. Dakilang Bayani. Dakilang Pangulo.

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Additional References:

Alvarez, Santiago. The katipunan and the revolution: memoirs of a general: with the original Tagalog text. Paula Carolina S. Malay. Trans. Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992. http://books.google.com/books?id=F3q-krDckHwC&dq=SANtiago+alvarez+tejeros+forced&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Mabini, Apolinario. The Philippine Revolution. http://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/history/mabini08.htm 

Pomeroy, William J. The Philippines: colonialism, collaboration, and resistance. International Publishers Co, 1992.

Reyes, Ed Aurelio. BONIFACIO: Slain Again and Again. http://www.tribo.org/history/bonifacio.html; http://www.nhi.gov.ph/downloads/mp0119.pdf 

National Historical Institute. Today in History: August 26.  http://www.nhi.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_today_in_history&Itemid=1
  
______. Flags of the Revolution.  http://www.nhi.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=82&Itemid=5

Raw photo credits: 

http://www.museo-oriental.es/ver_didactica.asp?clave=138&loc=0
http://kasaysayan-kkk.info/default.template.0407.htm
http://julionakpil.blogspot.com/
 http://philmoney.blogspot.com/
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Wikipedia