Jose Rizal

Jose Rizal was a brilliant and multi-talented man. He was a doctor, a novelist, and the founder of La Liga, a peaceful anti-colonial pressure group that met just one time in 1892 before the Spanish authorities arrested Rizal. Jose Rizal inspired his followers, including the fiery rebel Andres Bonifacio, who attended that single original La Liga meeting and reestablished the group after Rizal's arrest. Bonifacio and two associates also tried to rescue Rizal from a Spanish ship in Manila Harbor in the summer of 1896. By December, however, the 35-year-old Rizal was tried in a sham military tribunal and executed by a Spanish firing squad.

Andres Bonifacio
Andres Bonifacio, from an impoverished lower-middle class family in Manila, joined Jose Rizal's peaceful La Liga group, but also believed that the Spanish had to be driven from the Philippines by force. He founded the Katipunan rebel group, which declared independence from Spain in 1896 and surrounded Manila with guerrilla fighters. Bonifacio was instrumental in organizing and energizing the opposition to Spanish rule. He declared himself president of the new independent Philippines, although his claim was not recognized by any other country. In fact, even other Filipino rebels challenged Bonifacio's right to the presidency, since the young leader did not have a university degree. Just one year after the Katipunan movement began its revolt, Andres Bonifacio was executed at the age of 34 by a fellow rebel, Emilio Aguinaldo.

Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo's family was relatively wealthy and held political power in the city of Cavite, on a narrow peninsula that juts out into Manila Bay. Aguinaldo's comparatively privileged situation afforded him the opportunity to get a good education, just as Jose Rizal had done. Aguinaldo joined Andres Bonifacio's Katipunan movement in 1894, and became general of the Cavite area when open war broke out in 1896. He had better military success than Bonifacio, and looked down upon the self-appointed president for his lack of education. This tension came to a head when Aguinaldo rigged elections and declared himself president in place of Bonifacio. By the end of that same year, Aguinaldo would have Bonifacio executed after a sham trial.

Aguinaldo went into exile in late 1897, after surrendering to the Spanish, but was brought back to the Philippines by American forces in 1898 to join in the fight that ousted Spain after almost four centuries. Aguinaldo was recognized as the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines, but was forced back into the mountains as a rebel leader once more when the Filipino-American War broke out in 1901.

Teodoro Plata
Teodoro Plata (died February 6, 1897) was a Filipino patriot, and a co-founder of the Katipunan, the secret society which sparked the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule in 1896. He met Andrs Bonifacio at a boarding house in Manila along with Ladislao Diwa who was then a law student at the University of Santo Tomas. Bonifacio, Diwa and Plata were allfreemasons who were inspired by the nationalistic objectives of the Propaganda Movement in Europe. Plata was a member of La Liga Filipina, which was founded by Jos Rizal to push for reforms in the Spanish colonial administration. But he agreed with Bonifacio and Diwa who believed that the time was ripe for an armed uprising. On July 6, 1892, upon learning of Rizal's exile to Dapitan island in Mindanao, Plata, Bonifacio and Diwa decided to form a secret society to prepare for a revolution against Spain. The following day, they met with their friends and fellow freemasons Deodato Arellano, Valentin Daz and Jos Dizon at a house in Tondo and established the Katipunan. In 1892, he served as the secretary of the secret society with Arellano as president, Bonifacio as comptroller, Diwa as fiscal, and Daz as treasurer. In 1893, under the presidency of Romn Basa, Plata served as councilor and it was at this time that the society organized a women's auxiliary section. One of its first members was Plata's cousin Gregoria de Jess, who wrote in her autobiography that Plata was Bonifacio's constant companion when he would call at their house in Caloocan to court her. In August 1896, immediately before the discovery of the Katipunan, Plata was elected secretary of war in the last Supreme Council that was constituted by Bonifacio like a government cabinet. When the Spanish started arresting Katipunan members of August 19, 1896, Bonifacio called for a general assembly at Pugadlawin, a place in Balintawak (which was then under the town of Caloocan). The meeting on August 23 was attended by about 1,000 Katipuneros and there ensued a debate on whether they should commit themselves to an uprising. Plata opposed the declaration of hostilities because they had few arms and ammunition. But the final vote decided on starting the rebellion and the Katipuneros tore their residence and identity certificates. A few weeks later, however, Plata was arrested and, after a military trial, he was executed by musketry on February 6, 1897 along with Apolonio de la Cruz, Vicente Molina, Hermenegildo de los Reyes, Jos Trinidad, Pedro Nicodemus, Feliciano del Rosario, Gervasio Samson and Doroteo Domnguez.

Ladislao Diwa
Ladislao Diwa y Nocon (June 27, 1863 March 12, 1930) was a Filipino patriot who was among the founders of the Katipunan that initiated the Philippine Revolution against Spain in 1896. He was born in San Roque, Cavite to Mariano Diwa and Cecilia Nocon and was educated at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and later studied for the priesthood at the University of Santo Tomas. But he had to abandon his ecclesiastical studies just before his ordination because of his father's strenuous objections. He studied law instead and it was while he was studying law that Diwa met Andrs Bonifacio who often distributed propaganda material, authored by Jos Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar during the Propaganda Movement in Spain, inside the university campus. The two became close friends and Diwa later boarded with Teodoro Plata at Bonifacio's house inTondo, Manila. After finishing his law studies, Diwa was named a clerk in a district court of Quiapo, Manila. While an employee of the court, Diwa joined La Liga Filipina and became secretary of La Liga's council in Trozo in Tondo, under the presidency of Bonifacio. However, Rizal was arrested a few days after establishing La Liga and he was deported to Dapitan island. Although they were members of La Liga which espoused the peaceful reform of the Spanish colonial government, Diwa, Bonifacio and Plata were apparently convinced that an armed uprising was the only way to attain independence from Spain. After hearing of Rizal's deportation, they founded a secret society and called it Katipunan in Tondo on July 7, 1892. The meeting was also attended by Deodato Arellano, Valentin Daz and Jos Dizon. Adopting the symbolic name Balete, Diwa formed the Katipunan's first triangle with Bonifacio and Plata and became the society's fiscal. He later formed a triangle of his own withRomn Basa and Teodoro Gonzales, who would respectively become president and councilor of the Katipunan's supreme council. The following year, Diwa continued to serve as councilor. Diwa contributed to the Katipunan's expansion to the countryside because of his transfer to the court of a justice of the peace in Pampanga province. Katipuneros in Bulacan, Tarlacand Nueva Ecija claim to have been inducted into the Katipunan by Diwa himself. One of the most notable was Francisco Macabulos, who would become one of the most successful Filipino generals of the revolution. The Spanish authorities arrested Diwa shortly after the Katipunan was uncovered in August 1896. He was arrested in Betis, Bacolor, Pampanga and brought to Manila. He was imprisoned at Fort Santiago in the same cell as Teodoro Plata, who was arrested earlier. The Spanish then unleashed a series of executions to quell the uprising, including that of Rizal who was executed by musketry on December 30, 1896. On February 6, 1897, Plata was brought out of their common cell and executed at the field of Bagumbayan. Four days later, Diwa was unexpectedly released in a prisoner exchange between the Spanish authorities and the Filipino revolutionists. He fled to Cavite to join the

revolutionary troops of Mariano Tras but the entire province was then under siege and he had to covertly cross enemy lines. After joining the revolutionists, he became active in combat and became instrumental in the surrender of the Spanish forces under Leopoldo Garcia. Because of this, Diwa was promoted to colonel in the revolutionary army. When the First Philippine Republic was organized, he was named first civil governor of Cavite. When the Philippine-American War broke out in 1898, Diwa again rejoined Tras, who appointed him his secretary. After Aguinaldo's capture in Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901, they both surrendered to the Americans in Indang, Cavite. Diwa was later named clerk of court of the Court of First Instance of Cavite. He also taught at the Ligaya College, which he co-founded in his hometown. He then retired to his farms in Tagaytay and Mendez. He died of nephritis on March 12, 1930. He was married twice His first wife was Delisa Dandan with whom he had three children. His second wife was Honorata Crescini with whom he had five children. The Caridad Elementary School in Cavite City was renamed Ladislao Diwa Elementary School in his honor in November 1964.

Deodato Arellano
Deodato Arellano (July 26, 1844 October 7, 1899) was a Filipino patriot who was among the founders of the Katipunan that started the Philippine Revolution against Spain. He was born in Bulacan, to Juan and Mamerta de la Cruz, who changed their family name to Arellano when the Spanish colonial government decreed in 1849 that the natives change their surnames with ones picked from a Madrid directory. Arellano studied bookkeeping at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila (now Ateneo de Manila University) and later worked as assistant clerk at the arsenal of the colonial army in Manila. He was married to Hilaria del Pilar, a sister of Marcelo H. del Pilar. Along with del Pilar, Arellano was an active freemason. He also solicited funds for Filipino expatriates in Spain when del Pilar had to flee to Spain because of allegedly subversive articles that appeared in the newspaper that del Pilar published, Diariong Tagalog (Tagalog Newspaper), in the Philippines. In 1892, Arellano and other freemasons, like Andrs Bonifacio, joined La Liga Filipina, which was founded by Jos Rizal upon his return to the country. Arellano was elected the league's secretary but Rizal was deported to Dapitan island, in Mindanao, a few days later. On July 7, 1892, when the government announced Rizal's deportation, Arellano, Bonifacio, Ladislao Diwa, Teodoro Plata, Valentn Daz, and Jos Dizon founded the Katipunan. He was elected the first president of its supreme council. When the revolution broke out in August 1896, Arellano repaired to Bulacan and joined Gregorio del Pilar's brigade, becoming its commissary officer. He fought in the battles in Bulacan during the Philippine-American War, but he contracted tubercolosis in the course of the war and died of the disease while he and his fellow

revolutionists were fighting in the Cordillera Mountains. His comrades buried him in the town cemetery of La Trinidad, Benguet.

Emilio Jacinto
Emilio Jacinto y Dizon (December 15, 1875 April 16, 1899), was a Filipino revolutionary known as the Brains of the Katipunan. Born in Manila, Jacinto was proficient both in Spanish and Tagalog, but preferred to speak in Spanish. He attended San Juan de Letran College, and later transferred to the University of Santo Tomas to study law. He had Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmena and Juan Sumulong as classmates. He did not finish college and, at the age of 19, he joined the secret society called Katipunan. He became the advisor on fiscal matters and secretary to Andrs Bonifacio. He was later known as Utak ng Katipunan. Jacinto also wrote for the Katipunan newspaper called Kalayaan. He wrote in the newspaper under the pen name Dimasilaw, and used the alias Pingkian in the Katipunan. Jacinto was the author of the Kartilya ng Katipunan as well. After Bonifacio's death, Jacinto pressed on the Katipunan's struggle. Like general Mariano lvarez, he refused to join the forces of general Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Katipunan's Magdalo faction. He contracted malaria and died in Magdalena, Laguna, at the age of 23. His remains were later transferred to the Manila North Cemetery. In 1970s, his remains was transferred and enshrined in Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park in Quezon City. His shrine was decorated by a defiant lifesize bronze sculpture of him riding a horse and depicting his days in the revolution. His likeness used to be featured on the old 20 peso bill circulating from 1949 to 1969, and also on the old 20 centavo coin. and by the way guys Emilio Jacinto is one of the most famous Filipino heroes.

Jos Turiano Santiago

Jos Turiano Santiago (July 13, 1875-1942?) was a Filipino patriot who was among the leaders of the Katipunan that sparked the Philippine Revolution against Spain in 1896. Santiago joined the Katipunan in 1893 and was among those tasked to organize popular councils in key areas in Manila and its environs. He was elected secretary of the secret society's second Supreme Council under the presidency of Roman Basa. It was at this time that he met Marina Dizon, daughter of Katipunan founder Jose Dizon and member of the Katipunan's women's auxiliary. In the same year, Santiago and Marina, who was already his fiancee, witnessed the wedding of Andrs Bonifacio to Gregoria de Jesus. The wedding sponsors were Santiago's half-brother and fellow Katipunan member Restituto Javier and his wife. Santiago himself married Marina Dizon on September 16, 1894 in the church of Binondo, Manila. They would eventually have eight children. The following year, Santiago was elected secretary of the secret society but he and his halfbrother Restituto Javier were accused of betraying the secret society because a priestprofessor of the University of Santo Tomas got hold of a coded message of the Katipunan. Since the priest was a friend of Javier's sister, the Katipunan suspected that Santiago and Javier revealed the society's existence and the two were expelled although they were never proven guilty. The Katipunan would not be uncovered until August 1896 and neither Santiago nor Javier had anything to do with it. Nonetheless, the half-brothers were among those who were arrested by the Spanish authorities and detained for months. Santiago's father-in-law was also arrested and executed. Javier was later banished to the Canary Islands. Santiago, however, was released on September 11, 1897. But he remained in contact with revolutionary forces and was appointed representative of Nueva Ecija in the Malolos Congress in 1898. When the Americans took Manila, Santiago and his wife tried to live normal lives in Meycauayan, Bulacan but had to flee to Tarlac in the course of the Philippine-American War. The couple tried to settle down in Manila anew but Santiago was later exposed as an insurgent and he had to flee to Hong Kong. When peace restored in the Philippines, Santiago returned and lived a normal life as an accountant and auditor for several companies in Manila. He died during the Japanese Occupation.

Gregoria de Jess
Gregoria de Jess (9 May 1875 15 March 1943), also known as Aling Oriang, was the founder and vice-president of the women's chapter of the Katipunan of the Philippines. She was also the custodian of the documents and seal of the Katipunan. She marriedAndrs Bonifacio, the supremo of the Katipunan, and played a major role in the Philippine Revolution. She has one son from Andrs Bonifacio and five children from Julio Nakpil. Gregoria de Jess was born in the city of Caloocan to a Catholic middle-class family. Her father, Nicols de Jess, was a carpenterwho later served as a gobernadorcillo. As a young girl, she was an exceptional student and a silver medal recipient in an examination organized by the governor general and parish priest. When she became a secondary school student, she was induced by her parents to stay home and look after her younger sister and the family's farm, since both of her older brothers moved to Manila to continue their education. When Gregoria de Jess was only 18 years old, Andrs Bonifacio fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. He revealed his intentions to her parents, but her father refused and was against their marriage because Andrs was a Freemason. After almost six months, she had fallen in love with him. She revealed that to her father and asked for his approval on their marriage and the father agreed. Before they got married on March 1893, she joined the katipuneros. They got married at Binondo Church. A week later, they were married again in the presence of the Katipuneros, who did not approve of their marriage in a Catholic church. On the evening of the same day, the womens chapter of the Katipunan was formed, and she was appointed its vice -president and the custodian of the Katipunan documents. She was designated the code name "Lakambini" (Tagalog for goddess or Muse) and swore to remain loyal to the Katipunan's holy purposes. The Spanish police usually came unannounced, and Gregoria used to gather all the documents and drive her car all night and return only when it is safe. A year later, she returned to her family's house, because she was pregnant. She gave birth to their only son, who she christenedAndrs, after her husband. Two months later, during the Holy Week of 1896, Gregoria and her husband returned to Manila to find their house destroyed by a fire. The couple were forced to live in friends' and family houses, but had to move quickly from house to house. A few months later, their child, Andrs, died of smallpox. On 19 August 1896, the Katipunan was exposed and its secrets were revealed by Teodoro Patino, a disgruntled member. The Spanish forces reacted quickly to halt the revolution. Many Filipinos were arrested, jailed, and shot, but Andrs and Gregoria were hiding. The Spanish government was able to tighten its surveillance over the Katipunan. The remaining Katipuneros gathered and planned an attack on a Spanish gunpowder storehouse. With an army of almost 800, the Katipuneros were successful in their first attack, and were encouraged to advance to Manila, but Spanish reinforcements arrived, routing the Katipuneros. Hundreds of the Katipuneros were killed and captured. Furthermore, an inner conflict between Andrs and Emilio Aguinaldo, another leader of the Katipunan, had weakened them. On 8 May 1897, Andrs was captured by Aguinaldo's officers, and was sentenced to death.

Julio Nakpil, a commander of the Katipunan troops in northern Philippines. The two fell in love, and were married in a Catholic church on 10 December 1898 in Manila. After the end of the Philippine Revolution and after peace was restored in the Philippines, Gregoria lived with her husband and eight children in a house with a well-known Filipino philanthropist, Dr. Ariston Bautista, and his wife, Petrona Nakpil. The doctor took good care of her and her children and helped raise them and educate them. De Jess died in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

Po Valenzuela
Po Valenzuela (July 11, 1869April 6, 1956) was a Filipino physician and patriot who was among the leaders of the Katipunan that started the Philippine Revolution against Spain. Valenzuela City in northern Metro Manila was named after him. He wrote his memoirs of the Philippine Revolution in the 1920s, but historians have since been wary of his autobiography because of some inconsistencies in his version of events, particularly about his meeting with Jos Rizal in Dapitan in 1896. Valenzuela was the first mayor (American regime) of municipality of Polo (now Valenzuela City) from 18991900 before he became the governor of Bulacan province from 1921-1925. Valenzuela was born in Polo, Bulacan (Now Barangay Polo, Valenzuela City) to Francisco Valenzuela and Lorenza Alejandrino, who both came from wealthy families. After he was tutored at home, he was brought to Manila to study at Colegio de San Juan de Letran. In 1888, he enrolled at University of Santo Tomas and finished his Licenciado en Medicina in 1895. He practices his profession in Manila and Bulacan. In July 1892, when he was a medical student and the Katipunan was barely a week old, he joined this secret organization. He became a close friend of its founder, Andrs Bonifacio, and was godfather to the Supremos and Gregoria de Jesss first child. After their house burned down, Bonifacio and his family lived with Valenzuela in the latters house. He was elected fiscal of the secret society in December 1895. He was inducted together with the other elected officials at Bonifacio's home on New Year's Day in 1896. Shortly after his induction, Valenzuela moved to San Nicolas district in Manila so he could supervise the publication of the secret society's official organ. Valenzuela claimed in his memoirs that he was supposed to be the editor of the publication but Emilio Jacintowould eventually be the one to supervise its printing.

Valenzuela said he was the one who suggested the name Kalayaan (Freedom) for the publication. To mislead the Spanish authorities, he also suggested that they place the name of Marcelo H. del Pilar as editor and Yokohama, Japan as the place of publication. Kalayaan's first number, dated January 18, 1896, came out in March 1896 and consisted of a thousand copies which was distributed to Katipunan members all over the country. However, the publication only came out with one more issue because the Katipunan had already been uncovered by the Spanish authorities. He considered the publication of Kalayaan as the most important accomplishment of the secret chamber of the Katipunan, which he claimed consisted of himself, Bonifacio and Jacinto. In a meeting of the secret chamber in July 1896, they decided to assassinate the Spanish Augustinian friar who uncovered the Katipunan to the authorities, but they failed to accomplish the mission. Valenzuela also claimed that after the discovery of the Katipunan, he and Bonifacio distributed letters implicating wealthy Filipinos, who refused to extend financial assistance to the Katipunan. He was a member of the committee that was tasked to smuggle arms for the Katipunan from Japan. He was also with Bonifacio, Jacinto and Procopio Bonifacio when they organized the Katipunan council in Cavite. At the secret general meeting called by Bonifacio on the night of May 1, 1896 at Barrio Ugong in Pasig, Valenzuela presented to the body a proposal to solicit contributions to buy arms and munitions from Japan. The proposal was approved on condition that it first be approved by Jos Rizal, who was in exile in Dapitan in Mindanao. Valenzuela was tasked to discuss the matter with Rizal and he left for Dapitan on June 15, 1896. However, Rizal told him that the revolution should not be started until sufficient arms had been secured and the support of the wealthy Filipinos had been won over. When the Katipunan was discovered, he fled to Balintawak on August 20, 1896, but he later availed of an amnesty that the Spanish colonial government offered and he surrendered on September 1, 1896. He was deported to Spain where he was tried and imprisoned in Madrid. He was later transferred to Mlaga, Barcelona and then to a Spanish outpost in Africa. He was incarcerated for about two years. He returned to the Philippines in April 1899. In Manila, he was denounced to the American Military authorities as a radical propagandist and once more imprisoned up September of the same year. To suppress aggressive leadership upon his release, he was made municipal president of Polo. From 1902 to 1919, he served as president of the military division of his district. From 1919 to 1925, he served the people of Bulacan for two terms as provincial executive. As governor, he was uncompromising against graft and corruption in the government. After he retired from politics, he wrote his memoirs on the revolutionary days. He also practiced his medical profession, but only for philanthropic purposes. He was married to Marciana Castro by whom he had seven children. Early in the morning of April 6, 1956, he died in his hometown.