Andrés Bonifacio

Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro (Tagalog: [anˈdɾes (anˈdɾez-) bonɪˈfaʃo], Spanish: [anˈdɾes βoniˈfaθjo]; November 30, 1863 – May 10, 1897) was a Filipino revolutionary leader. He is often called "The Father of the Philippine Revolution", and considered a national hero of the Philippines.

He was a co-founder and later Kataastaasang Pangulo (Spanish: Presidente Supremo, “Supreme President”, often shortened by contemporaries and historians to Supremo) of the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan more commonly known as the "Katipunan", a movement that sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Revolution.

Bonifacio reorganized the Katipunan into a revolutionary government, with himself as Pangulo (President) of a nation-state called Haring Bayang Katagalugan (“Sovereign Nation of the Tagalog People” or “Sovereign Tagalog Nation”), also Republika ng Katagaluguan (Spanish: República Tagala, “Tagalog Republic”), wherein "Tagalog" referred to all those born in the Philippine Islands and not merely in Tagalog-speaking regions Hence, some historians have argued that he should be considered the First President of the Tagalogs instead of the Philippines; that is why he is not included in the official list of Presidents.

Bonifacio was executed in 1897 by Major Lázaro Macapagal under orders of the Consejo de la Guerra (Council of War) led by General Mariano Noriel, on the basis of committing sedition and treason against the government. In retrospective decades, Bonifacio is now considered one of the greatest, most influential and prominent historical figures in the Philippines for his revolution.

Andrés Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863, in Tondo, Manila, and was the first of six children of Catalina de Castro, a tornatrás from Zambales, and Santiago Bonifacio, a native of Taguig. His parents named him after Saint Andrew the Apostle, the patron saint of Manila on whose feast day he was born. He was baptized on December 3, 1863 by Fr. Saturnino Buntan, parish priest of Tondo Church. He learned the alphabet from his aunt. He was enrolled in Guillermo Osmeña's private elementary school and also in Escuela Municipal de Niños on Calle Ilaya in Tondo. He reached the third year in a private secondary school in Manila.

Some sources assert that he was orphaned at an early age, but the existence of an 1881 record that has Bonifacio's parents listed as living in Tondo leaves this disputed. To support his family financially, Bonifacio made walking canes and paper fans, which he and his young siblings sold (after they were orphaned, according to the traditional view). He also made posters for business firms, and this became their thriving family business that continued when Andrés and his brothers Ciriaco, Procopio, and Troadio, were employed with private and government companies, which provided them with decent living conditions.

In his late teens, he first worked either as an agent or mandatario (messenger) for the British trading firm Fleming and Company, where he rose to become a corredor (broker) of tar, rattan and other goods. He later transferred to the German trading firm Fressell and Company, where he worked as a bodeguero (storehouse keeper) responsible for warehouse inventory. He was also a theater actor and often played the role of Bernardo Carpio, a fictional hero in Tagalog folklore.

Not finishing his formal education, Bonifacio turned to self-education by reading books. He read books about the French Revolution, biographies of the presidents of the United States, books about contemporary Philippine penal and civil codes, and novels such as Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Eugène Sue's Le Juif errant and José Rizal's Noli Me Tángere and El filibusterismo. Aside from Tagalog and Spanish, he spoke some English due to his work in a British firm.