Gypsy Camp Blog

Every November 30 the Philippines celebrates Andres Bonifacio day. Dubbed as the “Father of the Philippine Revolution”, Andres Bonifacio was one of the major leaders in the Philippine revolution against the Spanish rule. He was also attributed as being the founder of the Katipunan. The group’s purposes were defend the Filipino people who were exploited by the Spanish government, institute much needed morals and most importantly free the Filipinos from the oppression of the Spaniards by revolution.

Public holidays are usually declared to commemorate a hero’s death. But Andres Bonifacio Day deviates from this norm. This public holiday was enacted not to honor his death but to celebrate his birth. To grasp this odd phenomenon, one only has to study history and he will find out that Andres Bonifacio died not in the hands of our enemies but in the hands of his fellow countrymen.

Many known historians argue that Andres Bonifacio’s death was a case of a well known struggle between “rich versus poor”, Andres Bonifacio being the champion of the masses and Emilio Aguinaldo who embodies the bourgeois or upper class. Despite this theory, I simply do not think that it was popular “rich versus poor” political struggle that led to the death of Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio. It was, I think, Andres Bonifacio’s too much politicizing.

Excessive politicizing became the key reason why Andres Bonifacio lost his place in the revolutionary government. At that time the revolutionary government elected Emilio Aguinaldo as their president and the “El Supremo” (The Supreme leader) of the Katipunan by majority vote was elected to the position of director of the interior. Yet despite the majority vote, a fellow Katipunero, Daniel Tirona, doubted Andres Bonifacio’s capacity to hold the position as secretary of the interior citing that such position belonged to a lawyer.

This issue ‘heaped coals’ on Andres Bonifacio’s head, so to say. To him, the remarks were insulting since there was no mention of any qualification that was necessary to hold such position. Because of this, Andres Bonifacio declared the invalidity of the proceedings and refused to coordinate with the Aguinaldo’s revolutionary government.

Because of this, Andres Bonifacio’s actions were considered treason against the revolutionary government. He was then tried and sentenced to death. Somehow, President Aguinaldo brought down the sentence to banishment but for some unknown reason that order was not carried out and Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio died of execution. According to some historians, they believe that someone pressured Aguinaldo to withdraw his decision because Bonifacio would only tend to bring division in the revolutionary government. Excessive politicizing has once again achieved what it is intended for. Excessive politicizing has brought about political deception, has taken advantaged of situations, has exploited the loop holes of the system, and has brought wavering principles that resulted in partisan politics without regard to integrity.

Today, our society is feeling the pain of foolish politics. Foolish politics has caused government officials to continue to pollute the system knowing that the Ombudsman can always delay or dismiss their cases. This usually happens if that government official is close to the president. Foolish politics has turned important court decisions against the weak. Foolish politics has caused those who guard society to disregard criminals who have friends in power. Foolish politics is the reason why we see persons of doubtful integrity hold government position as if our lives were not at stake.

A just and humane society became a figment of our imaginations when Andres Bonifacio died in Mount Nagpatong in Maragondon, Cavite, the place where he had his final breath. Excessive politicizing kills and will continue to do so. History is still repeating itself.

Zigfred Diaz is a big fan of Andres Bonifacio but this is not what his blog is all about. He has interesting thought on several topics including Philippine politics and Current events, money management, investments, law and business. Go visit his blog today!

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