Cry of Pugadlawin - Pio Valenzuela
The first cry happened in Pugadlawin Arguments
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Dr. Pio Valenzuela was the only eyewitness who accounted that the cry happened in
Pugad Lawin.
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Dr. Pio Valenzuela is a Filipino physician and revolutionary leader, a member of the
Katipunan, and also an acquaintance of Andres Bonifacio
Teodoro Agoncillo's Revolt of the Masses (1956)
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Agoncillo used his considerable influence and campaigned to change the date and venue
of the first cry to Pugadlawin, on August 23, 1896, he cited as his principal source Dr. Pio
Valenzuela, a close associate of Bonifacio.
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Teodoro Agoncillo's Revolt of the Masses contributes to this argument that the cry
happened in Pugad Lawin. In his book, he states that the cry happened at the Pugad
Lawin: the house, storehouse, and yard of Juan Ramos the son of Melchora Aquino where
over 1000 katipuneros met and carried out considerable debate and discussion on August
23, 1896. The discussion was on whether or not the revolution against the government
should be started on August 29, 1896, after the tumultuous meeting many of those
present tore their cedula certificates and shouted "long live the Philippines, long live the
Philippines".
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Teodoro A. Agoncillo said that Bonifacio scheduled a general assembly of the Katipunan
for Aug. 24, 1896, the Feast of San Bartolome, in Malabon. The church's patron saint is
Saint Bartholomew the Apostle whose feast day falls on every 24th day of August. This
date was chosen to enable Katipuneros to pass security checkpoints carrying their bolos
because Malabon is famous for manufacturing a long-bladed weapon called “
sangbartolome.” Bonifacio and his men were in Balintawak on August 19. They left
Balintawak for Kangkong on August 21, and on the afternoon of August 22, they
proceeded to Pugad Lawin. The next day, August 23, in the yard of Juan Ramos, son of
Melchora Aquino, better known as “Tandang Sora,” the Katipuneros listened to the
rousing speech of Bonifacio, tore their cedulas, and vowed to fight.
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In Wenceslao Emilio’s five-volume compilation of historical documents, Archivo del
Bibliofilo Filipino, Valenzuela’s signed testimony before Spanish interrogators dated
September 1896 stated that the Cry of Balintawak was held in Balintawak on Aug. 26,
1896. Years later, in his memoirs published in English after World War II, Valenzuela
stated that the Cry was actually held in Pugad Lawin on Aug. 23, 1896. Agoncillo explained
that the September 1896 account was extracted from Valenzuela under duress or threat
and couldn’t be trusted.
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In 1963, president Macapagal ordered that the cry of Balintawak shall be called the cry of
Pugad Lawin. And it should be celebrated on August 23 instead of August 26.
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In 1935, Pio Valenzuela, Briccio Pantas, and Enrique Pacheco who are part of the
Katipunan proclaimed that the first cry of the revolution did not happen in Balintawak
where the monument is, but in a place called Pugad Lawin.
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In 1940, a research team of the National Historical Institute (NHI) which included
Valenzuela, identified the Pugad Lawin as part of sitio Gulod, Banlat, Kalookan City. In
1964, NHI described the date to be August 23, 1896.
References:
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Ocampo, Ambeth R. (1995). Bonifacio’s bolo. Anvil Pub. p. 8. ISBN 978-971-27-0418-5.
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Guerrero, Milagros; Encarnacion,Emmanuel; Villegas, Ramon (1996), “Balintawak: the Cry
for a NationwideRevolution”, Sulyap Kultura, NationalCommission for Culture and the
Arts, 1(2): 13 – 22.
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Borromeo-Buehler, Soledad M. (1998), The cry of Balintawak: a contrivedcontroversy : a
textual analysis withappended documents, Ateneo de ManilaUniversity Press, ISBN 978971-550-278-8.
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Zaide, Gregorio (1990). “Cry of balintawak”. Documentary Sources of Philippine History.
8:
307
–
309.
Retrieved
from:
https://www.academia.edu/48962633/Module_9_Cry_of_Pugad_lawin_or_Cry_of_Bali
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