UNDRESS BONIFACIO!

Andres Bonifacio – one of the most renowned heroes of all time in our country. We see him whenever we pick ten-peso coins. We reminisce his glory by his national holiday during November 30, annually. But despite all these facts and all the other information about Andres Bonifacio that was given to us by our elementary teachers; do we really know everything about him and are we sure that those facts that we used to know are 100% correct? Well let’s take a closer look at his life and completely undress Bonfacio to reveal his concealed secrets.


 Before we get to the interesting part, let’s have a recap about the basic information about his life. Andres Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1963 on Tondo, Manila. And he died on May 10, 1897 at Mount Buntis; he was 34 years old then. Now, for the interesting part:

1. Bonifacio was named after a saint.

As we all know Filipino people are very religious persons. So the parents of Bonifacio; in the hope of raising their child as a good man, named their son after the patron saint of Manila – St. Andrew, which in fact having the same feast day as Bonifacio’s birthday.

2. Bonifacio may not have been from Tondo.

One of our country’s historians, Mr. Ambeth Ocampo revealed that Bonifacio’s name was not found in Tondo’s list of residents and taxpayers. This statement was from Dr. Doeppers of University of Wisconsin. Maybe Bonifacio came from another city or simply just an unregistered citizen. But then again, if Bonifacio was not a bona fide resident of Tondo, therefore he won’t have his own cedula because he does not pay his taxes, then what did he tear up during the historical “Cry of Pugadlawin”?

3. Of what descent was Bonifacio’s mother?

Bonifacio’s mother is Catalina de Castro. She was a mestiza – born of a Spanish father and a Fil-Chinese mother. Then that makes Bonifacio ¼ Spanish and 1/8 Chinese. But no matter what nationality he has, his blood still runs through Filipino roots.

4. How many wives did Bonifacio have?

As a matter of fact, he had two wives. His first wife was named Monica, but she died of leprosy. Then Bonifacio met another girl in Kalookan in the identity of Gregoria de Jesus. Bonifacio was a 29 year old widower and Gregoria was only 18 when they met. And they got married not just once, but twice. First, in Binondo Church; and the second one was held in Sta. Cruz.

5. Where did Bonifacio die?

I think I already told the answer to this question, but guess again. Everything in our history is not 100% accurate. So, we all know that Bonifacio was killed at Mt. Buntis, together with his brother Procopio. But alas! That statement is incorrect. According to the people who lived near the mountain, Bonifacio was killed in Mt. Nagpatong. This is not a green joke, this is certainly a fact.

There’s a saying: “To know somebody, you have to step into his shoes and walk around with it.” We don’t have to take it literally though, but it’s absolutely right. Our history is full of mystery (what-a-rhyme!). Nobody really knows what happened during a certain event that occurred in our past. Maybe other statements are just opinions brought by false information and other factors that affected are geological timeline. Now that we finished undressing Bonifacio, we learned another thing or two about his past that is certainly not in any of your history books. So if you need to know more about someone, UNDRESS him! 

                                                                                                             - Figueroa, Marco U.