The Katipunan
wouldn't have been possible if the propaganda movement hadn't existed.
These events had to happen in order for the Katipunan to be born.
The first signs of national
consciousness began to take form only as articulators who could project
the different grievances and aspirations of the people. These articulators
are the ilustrados. These people belonged to the classes that benefited
from the economy of the Philippines back then. It is the articulation of
their ideas that would help awaken the Filipinos' sense of nationality
and would also help them mobilize and create the Katipunan.
The first step in the development
of a national consciousness was the taking away of the term Filipinofrom the creoles and infusing it later to the people. Once,
the term Filipino was applied only to the creoles, the Spaniards
born in the Philippines. As the economy progressed, the term later applied
to the Chinese mestizos and urbanized natives who benefited from the said
development. And as time went on, through the propaganda work of the ilustrados,
they took the term and later infused to the entire people living in the
Philippines.
The propaganda movement was
composed of three phases (see Table). The first phase was Juan Atayde's
group, the Circulo-Hispano Filipino. It died at birth due to lack
of funds and lack of cinfidence of its members in Atayde. Miguel Morayta
tried to revive it by forming the Asociacion Hispano-Filipino. Its
objectives are stated in the table.
The next phase was the organization
of the La Solidaridad. It was formed because many Filipinos did
not support Morayta's group, so its formation was a sort of a rival of
the latter's group. Established in Barcelona on December 13, 1888, it had
greater objectives than the Morayta group. Its President was Galicano Apacible,
vice-president was Graciano Lopez-Jaena and treasurer as Mariano Ponce.
(for more information, see table)
The third phase was Rizal's
La Liga Filipina. It was organized upon Rizal's return to the Philippines
on July, 1892. Among its members were Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the
Katipunan.
The Liga temporarily
became inactive because of Rizal's capture four days later but was later
revived through the efforts of Bonifacio and Domingo Franco. But a few
months later, its Supreme Council dissolved the Liga, because they
found out that its supporters would not give funds anymore because they
believed that peaceful means for reforms were futile. So the Liga split
into two groups, the conservatives forming the Cuerpo de Compromisarios,
and the more radical people who were led by Bofinacio formed the Katipunan.
People from different social
classes join the Katipunan, from the ilustrados down to the peasants.
The ilustrados wavered between reform and revolution while the peasants
campaigned only for revolution. It is this "uncertainty" of the ilustrados
which would later corrupt the Katipunan.
The first officers of the
Katipunan were:
Deodato Arellano-president
Andres Bonifacio-comptroller
Ladislao Diwa-fiscal
Teodoro Plata-secretary
Valentin Diaz-treasurer
The original leadership was
composed of people belonging to the middle class. It was organized in the
house of the son of Melchora Aquino. Its main objective is separation from
Spain and consequently, deomcracy. But the meddling of the ilustrado class
later distorted this objective into compromise as will discussed in the
next chapters.
