Champion Of The Masses

There was nothing extraordinary about Andres Bonifacio as a child. Unlike Jose Rizal, he did not show signs of being a genius that would have given clues to his greatness when he grew up to be a man. Even the circumstances of his birth were commonplace.

Bonifacio was born to Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro, a Spanish mestiza, in a shack in Tondo, Manila, on November 30, 1863. He finished only the primary school under the tutalege of Guillermo Osmeña. He had to quit schooling to support himself and his younger brothers and sisters who were orphaned of both parents at an early age.

Having learned to read and write, the fourteen-year-old Andres became a clerk messenger of Fleming and Company, a business firm dealing in rattan, tar, and other trade articles. His siblings, in turn, made wooden canes and paper fans which Andres sold in the streets.

The family earnings were not enough, though. Andres had to move to Freshell and Company where he got a bigger salary as an agent. He held on the job until Revolution began in August 1896.

In the mean time, he devoted much in his effort to self-improvement. He became proficient in Tagalog and Spanish. Among the feew books he kept and read were Rizal's novel, the lives of the presidents, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and the French Revolution. These books prodded his spirit of rebellion and give him impulse to organize the Katipunan.

Bonifacio's appointment with destiny came on July 7, 1892 when he, long with Ladislao Diwa, Teodoro Plata and Deodato Arellano founded the Katipunan - an organization of the masses which started the Philippine Revolution. This organization spread rapidly in 1894 in the entire Philippines. Feeling that he was ready to lead a succesful revolt in 1896, he sent a man in Rizal, he was then an exile in Dapitan, asking Rizal to join the armed revolution Bonifacio was planning. Rizal firmly objected.

Bonifacio was left with no choice but to lead his men to the fight relying on his own guts and the overwhelming support of the workingmen who regarded him as their champion. Before he could act, however, the authorities discovered the Katipunan. More than 1,000 Katipuneros then assembled with him at Pugad Lawin, Caloocan, on August 23, 1896, either had to go into hiding or risked their lives in the battle field against the Spanish civil guards and Spanish soldiers.

Bonifacio and his men were poorly equipped to carry on the fight with the Spaniards. Bravely their faced the enemy and won uncertain victories and severe defeats. They had not been able to rise together on all fronts and take Manila as they had planned. But they had surrounded the capital city and wre in a position to rush in and overwhelm it when the Americans suddenly arrived.

However, the circumstances that led to the Supremo's execution did not lessen in anyway the stature of Andres Bonifacio in the eyes of the msses for whom he stood and fought. He was still their hero-brave, daring and a real fighter.