Life and Times of Andres Bonifacio
Life and Times of Andres Bonifacio
Andres Bonifacio simmered with rage and humiliation. The movement that he had created to oppose Spanish colonial rule inthe Philippines had just voted (likely in a rigged election) to make his rival Emilio Aguinaldo president in his stead. Bonifacio was given the lowly consolation prize of an appointment as Secretary of the Interior in the revolutionary government.
When this appointment was announced, however, delegate Daniel Tirona objected on the grounds that Bonifacio did not have a law degree (or any university diploma, for that matter). Incensed, the fiery rebel leader demanded an apology from Tirona. Instead, Daniel Tirona turned to leave the hall; Bonifacio pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him down, but General Artemio Ricarte y Garcia tackled the former president and saved Tirona's life.
Who was this scrappy and hot-headed rebel leader, Andres Bonifacio? Why is his story still remembered today in the Republic of the Philippines?
Bonifacio's Birth and Early Life:
Andres Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863 in Tondo, Manila. His father Santiago was a tailor, a local politician and a boatman who operated a river-ferry; his mother, Catalina de Castro, was employed in a cigarette-rolling factory. The couple worked extremely hard to support Andres and his five younger siblings, but in 1881 Catalina caught tuberculosis ("consumption") and died. The following year, Santiago also became ill and passed away.
At the age of 19, Andres Bonifacio was forced to give up plans for higher education and begin working full-time to support his orphaned younger siblings. He worked for the British trading company J.M. Fleming & Co. as a broker or corredor for local raw materials such as tar and rattan. He later moved to the German firm Fressell & Co., where he worked as a bodeguero or grocer.
Family Life:
Andres Bonifacio's tragic family history during his youth seems to have followed him in to his adulthood. He married
Andres Bonifacio simmered with rage and humiliation. The movement that he had created to oppose Spanish colonial rule inthe Philippines had just voted (likely in a rigged election) to make his rival Emilio Aguinaldo president in his stead. Bonifacio was given the lowly consolation prize of an appointment as Secretary of the Interior in the revolutionary government.
When this appointment was announced, however, delegate Daniel Tirona objected on the grounds that Bonifacio did not have a law degree (or any university diploma, for that matter). Incensed, the fiery rebel leader demanded an apology from Tirona. Instead, Daniel Tirona turned to leave the hall; Bonifacio pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him down, but General Artemio Ricarte y Garcia tackled the former president and saved Tirona's life.
Who was this scrappy and hot-headed rebel leader, Andres Bonifacio? Why is his story still remembered today in the Republic of the Philippines?
Bonifacio's Birth and Early Life:
Andres Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863 in Tondo, Manila. His father Santiago was a tailor, a local politician and a boatman who operated a river-ferry; his mother, Catalina de Castro, was employed in a cigarette-rolling factory. The couple worked extremely hard to support Andres and his five younger siblings, but in 1881 Catalina caught tuberculosis ("consumption") and died. The following year, Santiago also became ill and passed away.
At the age of 19, Andres Bonifacio was forced to give up plans for higher education and begin working full-time to support his orphaned younger siblings. He worked for the British trading company J.M. Fleming & Co. as a broker or corredor for local raw materials such as tar and rattan. He later moved to the German firm Fressell & Co., where he worked as a bodeguero or grocer.
Family Life:
Andres Bonifacio's tragic family history during his youth seems to have followed him in to his adulthood. He married