Pugadlawin, Balintawak or

Bahay Toro?
Learning Outcomes:
1. Demonstrate the ability to formulate arguments in favor or against a
particular issue using primary sources.
 Balintawak: The Cry for a National Revolution
Milagros C. Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnacion, Ramon N. Villegas
June 6, 2003
19th Century journalists used the phrase “el grito de rebelion” or “the
Cry of Rebellion” to describe the momentous events sweeping the
Spanish colonies; in Mexico it was the “Cry of Dolores” (September 16,
1810), Brazil “City of Ypiraga” (September 7, 1822), and in the Cuba the
“Cry of Matanza” (February 24, 1895). In August 1896, northeast of
Manila, Filipinos similarly declared their rebellion against the Spanish
colonial government.
Manuel Sastron
• https://archive.org/details/lains
urreccinen00sastgoog
Cry of Montalban
On April 10,1895, Bonifacio and his confidantes searched the
Hill of Montalban to find a good meeting place. There they
decided to stage a revolution against Spain. It was manifested
when they shouted the famous war cry "LONG LIVE THE
PHILIPPINES!" This event is known as CRY OF MONTALBAN.
The Katipunan asked for Dr. Jose Rizal's support in their plan
through Pio Valenzuela but Rizal rejected the plan for a
bloody revolution. His rejection was based on two grounds:
UNPREPAREDNESS OF THE PEOPLE and LACK OF FUNDS AND
WEAPONS. He stressed that pursuing it would be a national
suicide. He suggested ANTONIO LUNA to be the Commander
of the Revolution owing to his expertise in military science
and tactics.
Bonifacio knew that bolos as weapons were no match to the
rifles and cannons of the spaniards so he negotiated with
Admiral Kanimura, the captain of the ship Kongo, but the
Japanese declined to support.
Raging Controversy
Teodoro Agoncillo

The historian Teodoro Agoncillo chose to emphasize

Bonifacio’s tearing of cedula before a crowd of
Katipuneros who then broke out in cheers.
However, Guardia Civil Manuel Sityar never mentioned in his memoirs
(1896-1898) the tearing or inspection of cedula, but did note the pacto
de sangre (blood pact) mark on every single Filipino he met in August
1896 on his reconnaissance missions around Balintawak.
Some writers consider the first military engagement with the enemy as
the defining moment of the Cry. To commemorate this martial event
upon his return from exile in Hongkong, Emilio Aguinaldo
commissioned a “Himno de Balintawak” to herald renewed fighting
after the failed peace of the pact of Biak na Bato.
Monument to the
Heroes of 1896
On September 3, 1911, a monument to the Heroes of 1896 was
erected in what is now the intersection of EDSA and Andres
Bonifacio Drive-North Diversion Road. From that time until 1962,
the Cry of Balintawak was officially celebrated every August 26.
In 1962, the observance's name was officially changed to "Cry of
Pugad Lawin" and its date moved to August 23. The monument
was dismantled in 1968 by the Bureau of Public Highways (BPH;
now the Department of Public Works and Highways), to give way
for the extension of the Manila North Diversion Road (MNDR;
now the North Luzon Expressway) and the construction of the
Balintawak Cloverleaf. The sculpture was stored along with
garbage at a field office of the BPH. As a response various student
groups campaigned to preserved the monument. The National
Historical Commission (NHC) under its Chairman Carmen
Guerrero Nakpil coordinated with University of the Philippines
President Carlos P. Romulo for the relocation of the statue to the
university's Diliman campus. The monument was inaugurated
again on November 29, 1968 in front of the UP Vinzons Hall.
But the issue did not rest there. In 1970, the historian Pedro A.
Gagelonia pointed out:
The controversy among historians continues to the present day. The
“Cry of Pugad Lawin” (August 23, 1896) cannot be accepted as
historically accurate. It lacks positive documentation and supporting
evidence from the witness. The testimony of only one eyewitness (Dr.
Pio Valenzuela) is not enough to authenticate and verify a controversial
issue in history. Historians and their living participants, not politicians
and their sycophants, should settle this controversy.
Conflicting Accounts
• Pio Valenzuela had several versions of the Cry. Only after they are
compared and reconciled with the other accounts will it be possible
to determined what really happened.
• Was there a meeting at Pugad Lawin on 23 August 1896, after the
meeting at Apolonio Samson’s residence in Hong Kong? Where were
the cedulas torn, at Kangkong or Pugad Lawin?
Pio Valenzuela
Dr. Pio Valenzuela is one of the surviving witnesses of the Cry of Pugad Lawin,
and this is confirmed by the list drawn up by Guillermo Masangkay (who himself
was present). If we are to believe Masangkay, Dr. Valenzuela would be the only
doctor participating in the cry. However, it seems that his statements are not
consistent. His first statement mentions a "Katipunan meeting" happening
between August 23 and 25 at Balintawak. His second statement, made some 15
years later, mentions the cry to happen at the house of Apolonio Samson in
Kangkong, south of Balintawak, on August 23. His third statement, made
another six years later, tells of the cry occurring at the house of Melchora
Aquino (also known as Tandang Sora) at Pacpac-Lawin (Pugad Lawin) near
Pasong Tamo, also on August 23. Pugad Lawin is further north of Balintawak. His
fourth statement, made before Masangkay and other surviving Katipunan
members recalled the event, tells a meeting at Kangkong on August 22, but the
cry occurred at the house of Juan Ramos (Melchora Aquino's son) at Pugad
Lawin near Bahay Toro the day after, which is August 23. While Valenzuela
seems to be firm on the date, August 23, he is apparently uncertain on where
the cry actually occurred. As it is, Valenzuela is not known for having
impeccable memory. This is demonstrated with his recollections of his meeting
with Rizal at Dapitan, months before the launch of the Revolution. His confusing
statements threw doubt to the cry itself. Did it really happen or not?
Bahay Toro Not Balintawak
• In 1933 and 1935, Valenzuela was supported by fellow revolutionaries Cipriano Pacheco and
Briccio Pantas in declaring that the cry occurred at the placed called "Pugad Lawin", not in
Balintawak. They also confirm Valenzuela's statement that there was a meeting before the cry
at Kangkong. Meanwhile, in 1940, the site of "Pugad Lawin" was identified as Sitio Gulod in
Barrio Banlat, which is also believed to be the site of Melchora Aquino's house. Did
Valenzuela believe that Juan Ramos and Melchora Aquino live in the same home? In 1964,
the so-called "Minutes of the Katipunan" as released by the National Historical Institute (NHI)
also refers to the cry happening on August 23. However, later research observes that the
Minutes are "fake." This is a claim supported by the remaining veterans of the Revolution at
the time of release. At any rate, the Minutes did not help. Sure, there must be a place called
"Pugad Lawin," but to where it is located exactly is another question. Of course, after the
formation of Quezon City in 1939, a large chunk of the Balintawak area was claimed. To this
day, there are two Balintawaks, a fraction in Quezon City, and another fraction in Caloocan
City. It would be the city's pride to have their place be the location of the famous cry.
• The date also became a subject of debate when Masangkay gives two possible dates of the cry,
August 24 and 26. This, and Julio Nakpil's mention of a primer grito (first cry) in 1925, seems to
forward a new possibility: There might have been two Cries of Pugad Lawin. Another veteran,
Santiago Alvarez, mentioned in his memoirs a cry at Bahay Toro, a place between Pasong Tamo
and Kangkong, on August 24. Of course, to be fair, neither Nakpil (the husband of Gregoria de
Jesus) nor Santiago Alvarez were included in Masangkay's list. However, they seem to support
Masangkay's claim of a cry on August 24 and 26. Also, this also throws "Pugad Lawin" into doubt,
since neither Masangkay nor Francisco Carreon (Macario Sakay's right hand man) remembers
Pugad Lawin, but seems to recall Bahay Toro. For an event attended by more or less 1,000
members (Pacheco even remembers some 2,000 members attending), is it too difficult to correctly
recall something so significant in our history? Does the confusion mean that there has not been a
cry at all? Or does this only mean that our memory has been dulled throughout the years?
• In the 1980s, the search for Pugad Lawin continued. This time, there seems
to be stronger evidence of the cry happening at Pugad Lawin near Bahay
Toro than at Pugad Lawin near Pasong Tamo. It is also concluded that it is the
house of Juan Ramos in Bahay Toro, not in the house of Melchora Aquino in
Pasong Tamo, where the cry happened. This is supported by the recollection
of the descendants of Juan Ramos, who pointed out where his house is
located. Thus, from August 23, 1984 to this day, the official marker for Pugad
Lawin lies in Bahay Toro, which is now part of Quezon City. Nevertheless,
even to this day, there is still the chance that the location of Pugad Lawin
may be changed later on, provided new evidence surfaces in the future.
Two Cries of Pugadlawin

• Historian Teodoro Agoncillo, whose seminal work "The Revolt of the

Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan" (1956) helped
organize Katipunan history as we know it today, had the privilege to
interview both Masangkay and Valenzuela, among other surviving
veterans of the Revolution. Seeing the similarities and the differences
between the accounts of the Katipuneros, Agoncillo tried to find
possible independent sources to validate their claims. For one, he
consulted the Manila Observatory. This is to know which days from
August 22 to 28 (just before the first battle at Pinaglabanan in San Juan)
may fit the weather described by the existing accounts.
• He came to the conclusion that only August 23 may be the viable date to do the
cry, because the rest of the days considered are rainy days. It will prove difficult to
assemble a thousand people at the yard of someone else's house, and then tear
up cedulas into pieces. Agoncillo also notes that August 23 is a windy day. It will
be easier for them to clean up, which may explain why Manuel Sityar, one of the
guardia civil officers patrolling the area at the time, did not notice them. Agoncillo
does not seem to agree to the current site recognized as Pugad Lawin at Bahay
Toro. However, the marker he placed to denote the location of Pugad Lawin has
disappeared. Despite the reputation of Agoncillo, other historians do not seem to
share his ideas all of the time. The location of Pugad Lawin is case in point.
• Nevertheless, to this day, there seemed to be supporters of the notion of "two cries." One
of them would be Soledad Borromeo-Buehler, a descendant of Masangkay, in her book "The
Cry of Balintawak: A Contrived Controversy" (1998). What supports this claim is the
supposed meeting that took place before the cry, and the supposed battle that took place
after the cry. It is forwarded that there were at least two meetings and two skirmishes prior
to the Battle of Pinaglabanan on August 30. On August 24, there must have been a meeting
at Kangkong, and on August 26, there must have been a meeting at Balintawak. In between,
there is August 23, and August 25. There are two opportunities wherein the Katipunan may
have gathered their forces. Consequently, there are two opportunities for the Katipunan to
encounter Spanish forces, something that may be derived from the account of Manuel Ros,
another guardia civil officer assigned to the area. This does seem to coincide with
Masangkay's claim of two cries on August 24 and 26. At any rate, she concludes that the
"Cry of Pugad Lawin" as we know today is a "hoax."
• There also seems consensus among other Katipunan members who were absent from
the cry that there must have been a momentous event on August 24. For instance, the
Biak-na-Bato Constitution acknowledges that the Revolution began on August 24, and it
was a document ratified by at least one of the Katipuneros who attended the cry,
Cipriano Pacheco. The date was also agreed upon by Emilio Aguinaldo, who supposedly
received the news about the decision to start the Revolution. Of course, just like
Valenzuela, Aguinaldo may not be the most reliable source to consider. Historians
Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnacion, and Ramon Villegas also agree to August
24, even though they claim only a singular "Cry of Balintawak" which happened at the
house of Melchora Aquino at Sitio Gulod in Barrio Banlat. It is now part of Quezon City.
• However, the question of where the cry happened will float again. Did
the two cries happen at Pugad Lawin? Or is Pugad Lawin some code
name for a set location to congregate? If it happened in different
places, does that explain why there are two Pugad Lawins as well, one
near Pasong Tamo and one near Bahay Toro? Or perhaps, as old maps
confirm, Pugad Lawin is not a real place at all? in this case, it might be
better to revert to "Cry of Balintawak." Where there two cedulas to
tear with in the first place, or there were two groups of people who
chose to tear their cedulas? Speaking of groups of people, it is
interesting to see who attended the said event, at least.
• Melecia Ruestra • Roman Ramos • Rafael Gutierrez
• Pastor Santos • Tito Miguel • Guillermo Masangkay (himself)
• Salustiano Cruz • Aguedo del Rosario • Pedro Zabala
• Procopio Bonifacio • Apolonio Cruz • Briccio Pantas
• Juan de la Cruz • Alejandro Santiago • Estanislao Vargas
• Emilio Jacinto • Deogracias Fajardo • Apolonio Samson
• Andres Bonifacio • Juan Fajardo • Julio Navarro
• Pio Valenzuela • Rogelio Borja • Alejandro Andaya
• Vicente Leyva • Isaac del Carmen • Marcelo Badell
• Ramon Bernardo • Hilario Sayo • Macario Sakay
• Geronimo Medina y Cristobal • Cipriano Pacheco • Nicomedes Carreon
• Vicente Molina • Teodoro Plata • Francisco Carreon
• Miguel Resurreccion • Jose Trinidad • Sarhento Marcelo
• Patricio Belen • Hermogenes Plata • Valentin Lagasca
• Crispulo Chacon • Tomas Remigio • Eugenio Santos
• Lorenzo Martinez • Pantaleon Torres • Calixto Santiago
• Tomas Villanueva • Enrique Pacheco • Restituto Javier
• Pio Santos • Faustino Manalac • Hermenegildo Reyes
• Tomas Alegre • Cosme Taguyod
The Pugad Lawin marker
• The prevalent account of the Cry is that of Teodoro Agoncillo in Revolt of the masses (1956):

• It was in Pugad Lawin, where they proceeded upon leaving Samson’s place in the afternoon
of the 22nd, that the more than 1,000 members of the Katipunan met in the yard of Juan A.
Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino,…in the morning of August 23rd. Considerable discussion
arose whether the revolt against the Spanish government should be started on the 29th.
Only one man protested… But he was overruled in his stand… Bonifacio then announced
the decision and shouted: “Brothers, it was agreed to continue with the plan of revolt. My
brothers, do you swear to repudiate the government that oppresses us?” And the rebels,
shouting as one man replied: “Yes, sir!” “That being the case,” Bonifacio added, “bring out
your cedulas and tear them to pieces to symbolize our determination to take arms!” .. .
Amidst the ceremony, the rebels, tear-stained eyes, shouted: “Long live the Philippines!
Long live the Katipunan!
• Agoncillo used his considerable influenced and campaigned for a change in the recognized site to Pugad
Lawin and the date 23 August 1896. In 1963, the National Heroes Commission (a forerunner of the NHI),
without formal consultations or recommendations to President Macapagal.

• Consequently, Macapagal ordered that the Cry of Balintawak be called the “Cry of Pugad Lawin,” and that it
be celebrated on 23 August instead of 26 August. The 1911 monument in Balintawak was later removed to a
highway. Student groups moved to save the discarded monument, and it was installed in front of Vinzons Hall
in the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines on 29 November 1968.

• In 1962, Teodoro Agoncillo, together with the UP Student Council, placed a marker at the Pugad Lawin site.
According to Agoncillo, the house of Juan Ramos stood there in 1896, while the house of Tandang Sora was
located at Pasong Tamo.

• On 30 June 1983, Quezon City Mayor Adelina S. Rodriguez created the Pugad Lawin Historical Committee to
determine the location of Juan Ramos’s 1896 residence at Pugad Lawin.
The NHI files on the committee’s findings
show the following:
a. In August 1983, Pugad Lawin in barangay Bahay Toro was inhabited by squatter
colonies.• The NHI believed that it was correct in looking for the house of Juan
Ramos and not of Tandang Sora. However, the former residence of Juan Ramos
was clearly defined.• There was an old dap-dap tree at the site when the NHI
conducted its survey I 1983. Teodoro Agoncillo, Gregorio Zaide and Pio
Valenzuela do not mention a dap-dap tree in their books.
b. Pio Valenzuela, the main proponent of the “Pugad Lawin” version, was dead by
the time the committee conducted its research.

c. Teodoro Agoncillo tried to locate the marker installed in August 1962 by the UP
Student Council. However, was no longer extant in 1983.
• In spite of the above findings and in the absence of any clear evidence, the NHI disregarded
its own 1964 report that the Philippine Historical Committee had determined in 1940 that
the Pugad Lawin residence was Tandang Sora’s and not Juan Ramos’s and that the specific
site of Pugad Lawin was Gulod in Banlat.

• The presence of the dap-dap tree in the Pugad Lawin site determined by Agoncillo and the
NHI is irrelevant, since none of the principals like Pio Valenzuela, Santiago Alvarez, and
others, nor historians like Zaide- and even Agoncillo himself before that instance-
mentioned such a tree.

• On the basis of the 1983 committee’s findings, the NHI placed a marker on 23 August 1984
on Seminary Road in barangay Bahay Toro behind Toro Hills High School, the Quezon City
General Hospital and the San Jose Seminary. It reads:
Ang Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin
(1896)
• Sa paligid ng pook na ito, si Andres Bonifacio at mga isang libong Katipunero at nagpulong noong
umaga ng ika-23 Agosto 1896, at ipinasyang maghimagsik laban sa Kastila sa Pilipinas. Bilang
patunay ay pinag-pupunit ang kanilang mga sedula na naging tanda ng pagkaalipin ng mga Pilpino.
Ito ang kaunaunahang sigaw ng Bayang Api laban sa bansang Espanya na pinatibayan sa
pamamagitan ng paggamit ng sandata.

• (On this site Andres Bonifacio and one thousand Katipuneros met in the morning of 23 August 1896
and decided to revolt against the Spanish colonial government in the Philippines. As an affirmation
of their resolve, they tore up their tax receipts which were symbols of oppression of the Filipinos.
This was very first Cry of the Oppressed Nation against Spain which was enforced with use of arms.)

• The place name “Pugad Lawin “, however, is problematic. In History of the Katipunan (1939), Zaide
records Valenzuela’s mention of the site in a footnote and not in the body of text, suggesting that
the Historian regarded the matter as unresolved.
Cartographic Changes
• Was there a Pugad Lawin in maps or literature of the period?

• A rough sketch or croquis de las operaciones practicadas in El Español showed the movements of Lt.
Ros against the Katipunan on 25, 26, and 27 August 1896. The map defined each place name as sitio
“Baclac” (sic: Banlat). In 1897, the Spanish historian Sastron mentioned Kalookan, Balintawak, Banlat
and Pasong Tamo. The names mentioned in some revolutionary sources and interpretations- Daang
Malalim, Kangkong and Pugad Lawin- were not identified as barrios. Even detailed Spanish and
American maps mark only Kalookan and Balintawak.

• In 1943 map of Manila marks Balintawak separately from Kalookan and Diliman. The sites where
revolutionary events took place are within the ambit of Balintawak.

• Government maps issued in 1956, 1987, and 1990, confirm the existence of barangays Bahay Toro,
but do not define their boundaries. Pugad Lawin is not on any of these maps.
• According to the government, Balintawak is no longer on the of Quezon City but has been replaced by several barangays. Barrio
Banlat is now divided into barangays Tandang Sora and Pasong Tamo. Only bahay Toro remains intact.

• Writer and linguist Sofronio Calderon, conducting research in the late 1920s on the toponym “Pugad Lawin,” went through the
municipal records and the Census of 1903 and 1918, could not find the name, and concluded that “Isang…pagkakamali… ang
sabihing mayroong Pugad Lawin sa Kalookan.” (It would be a mistake to say that there is such as Pugad Lawin in Kalookan.)

• What can we conclude from all this?

• First, that “Pugad Lawin” was never officially recognized as a place name on any Philippine map before Second World War. Second,
“Pugad Lawin “ appeared in historiography only from 1928, or some 32 years after the events took place. And third, the revolution
was always traditionally held to have occurred in the area of Balintawak, which was distinct from Kalookan and Diliman.

• Therefore, while the toponym “Pugad Lawin” is more romantic, it is more accurate to stick to the original “Cry of Balintawak.”
Determining the Date
• The official stand of NHI is that the Cry took place on 23 August 1896. That date,
however, is debatable.

• The later accounts of Pio Valenzuela and Guillermo Masangkay on the tearing of
cedulas on 23 August are basically in agreement, but conflict with each other on
the location. Valenzuela points to the house of Juan Ramos in Pugad Lawin, while
Masangkay refers to Apolonio Samson’s in Kangkong. Masangkay’s final
statement has more weight as it is was corroborated by many eyewitnesses who
were photographed in 1917, when the earliest 23 August marker was installed.
Valenzuela’s date (23 August ) in his memoirs conflict with 1928 and 1930
photographs of the surveys with several Katipunan officers, published in La
Opinion, which claim that the Cry took place on the 24th.
The Turning Point
• What occurred during those last days of August 1896? Eyewitness accounts mention captures,
escapes, recaptures, killings of Katipunan members; the interrogation of Chinese spies; the arrival
of arms in Meycauyan, Bulacan; the debate with Teodoro Plata and others; the decision to go war;
the shouting of slogan; tearing of cedulas; the sending of letters presidents of Sanggunian and
balangay councils; the arrival of civil guard; the loss of Katipunan funds during the skirmish. All
these events, and many others, constitute the beginning of nationwide revolution.

• The Cry, however, must be defined as that turning point when the Filipinos finally rejected Spanish
colonial dominion over the Philippine Islands, by formally constituting their own national
government, and by investing a set of leaders with authority to initiate and guide the revolution
towards the establishment of sovereign nation.

• Where did this take place?

• The introduction to the original Tagalog text of the Biyak na Bato Constitution states:

• Ang paghiwalay ng Filipinas sa kahariang España sa patatag ng isang bayang may sariling
pamamahala’t kapangyarihan na pangangalang “Republika ng Filipinas” ay siyang layong
inadhika niyaring Paghihimagsik na kasalukuyan, simula pa ng ika- 24 ng Agosto ng taong
1896…

• The Spanish text also states:

• La separacion de Filipinas de la Monarquia Española, constituyendose en Estado

Independiente y soberano con Gobierno propuio, con el nombre de Repulica de Filipinas,
es en su Guerra actual, iniciada en 24 de Agosto de 1896…
• (The separation of the Philippines from the Spanish Monarchu, constituting an independent
state and with a proper sovereign government, named the Republic of the Philippines, was
the end pursued by the revolution through the present hostilities, initiated on 24 August
1896…)

• These lines- in a legal document at that – are persuasive proof that in so far as the leaders
of the revolution are concerned, revolution began on 24 August 1896. The document was
written only one and a half years after the event and signed by over 50 Katipunan members,
among them Emilio Aguinaldo , Artemio Ricarte and Valentin Diaz.

• Emilio Aguinaldo’s memoirs, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan (1964), refer to two letters from
Andres Bonifacio dated 22 and 24 August. They pinpoint the date and place of the crucial
Cry meeting when the decision to attack Manila was made:
• Noong ika-22 ng Agosto, 1896, ang Sangguniang Magdalo ay tumanggap ng isang lihim na sulat mula sa
Supremo Andres Bonifacio, sa Balintawak , na nagsasaad na isamng mahalagang pulong ang kanilang
idinaos sa ika-24 ng nasabing buwan, at lubhang kailangan na kame ay mapadala roon ng dalawang
kinatawan o delegado sa ngalan ng Sanggunian. Ang pulong aniya’y itataon sa kaarawan ng kapistahan
ng San Bartolome sa Malabon, Tambobong. kapagkarakang matanggap ang nasabing paanyaya, an
gaming Pangulo na si G. Baldomero Aguinaldo, ay tumawag ng pulong sa tribunal ng Cavite el Viejo…
Nagkaroon kami ng pag-aalinlangan sa pagpapadala roon ng aming kinatawan dahil sa kaselanang
pagdararanang mga pook at totoong mahigpit at abot-abot ang panghuli ng mag Guardia Civil at
Veterana sa mga naglalakad lalung-lalo na sa mag pinaghihinalaang mga mason at Katipunan. Gayon pa
man ay aming hinirang at pinagkaisahang ipadalang tanging Sugo ang matapang na kapatid naming si G.
Domingo Orcullo… Ang aming Sugo ay nakarating ng maluwalhati sa kanyang paroonan at nagbalik din
na wala naming sakuna, na taglay ang sulat ng Supremo na may petsang 24 ng Agosto. Doon ay wala
naming sinasabing kautusan, maliban sa patalastas na kagugulat-gulat na kanilang lulusubin ang
Maynila, sa Sabado ng gabi, ika-29 ng Agosto, at ang hudyat ay ang pagpatay ng ilaw sa Luneta. Saka
idinugtong pa na marami diumano ang nahuli at napatay ng Guardia Civil at Veterana sa kanyang mga
kasamahan sa lugar ng Gulod …
• (On 22 August 1896, the Magdalo Council received a secret letter from Supremo Andres
Bonifacio, in Balintawak, which stated that the Katipunan will hold an important meeting on the
24th of the said month, and that it was extremely necessary to send two representatives or
delegates in the name of the said Council. The meeting would be timed to coincide with the
feast day of Saint Bartolomew in Malabon, Tambobong. Upon receiving the said invitation, our
President, Mr. Baldomero Aguinaldo, called a meeting at Tribunal of Cavite el Viejo…We were
apprehensive about sending representatives because the areas they would have pass through
were dangerous and was a fact that the Civil Guard and Veterans were arresting travelers,
especially those suspected of being freemasons and members of Katipunan. Nevertheless, we
agreed and nominated to send a single representative in the person of our brave brother, Mr.
Domingo Orcullo… Our representative arrived safely at his destination and also returned
unharmed, bearing a letter from the Supremo dated 24 August. It contained no orders but the
shocking announcement that the Katipunan would attack Manila at night on Saturday, 29 August,
the signal for which would be the putting out of the lamps in Luneta. He added that many of his
comrade had been captured and killed by the Civil Guard and Veterans in Gulod…)
• The first monument to mark the Cry was erected in 1903 on Ylaya Street in Tondo, in
front of the house were Liga Filipina was founded. The tablet cites Andre Bonifacio as
a founding member, and as “ Supreme Head of the Katipunan, which gave the first
battle Cry against tyranny on August 24, 1896.”

• The above facts render unacceptable the official stand that the turning point of the
revolution was the tearing of cedulas in the “Cry of Pugad Lawin” on 23 August 1896,
in the Juan Ramos’s house in “Pugad Lawin” Bahay Toro, Kalookan.

• The events of 17-26 August 1896 occurred closer to Balintawak than to Kalookan.
Traditionally, people referred to the “Cry of Balintawak” since that barrio was a
better known reference point than Banlat.
• In any case, “Pugad Lawin” is not historiographically verifiable outside of the statements of
Pio Valenzuela in the 1930s and after. In Philippine Historical Association round-table
discussion in February this year, a great granddaughter of Tandang Sora protested the use
of toponym “Pugad Lawin” which, she said, referred to a hawks nest on top of a tall
sampaloc tree at Gulod, the highest elevated area near Balintawak. This certainly negates
the NHI’s premise that “Pugad Lawin” is on Seminary Road in Project 8.

• What we should celebrate is the establishment of a revolutionary or the facto government

that was republican in aspiration, the designation of Bonifacio as the Kataastaasang Pangulo
(Supreme Presiddent), the election of the members of his cabinet ministers and Sanggunian
and Balangay heads which authorized these moves met in Tandang Sora’s barn near Pasong
Tamo Road, in sitio Gulod, barrio Banlat then under the jurisdiction of the municipality of
Kalookan. This took place at around noon of Monday, 24 August 1896.
• It is clear that the so-called Cry of Pugad Lawin of 23 August is an
imposition and erroneous interpretation, contrary to indisputable and
numerous historical facts.

• The centennial of the Cry of Balintawak should be celebrated on 24

August 1996 at the site of the barn and house of Tandang Sora in
Gulod, now barangay Banlat, Quezon City.

• That was when and where the Filipino nation state was born.