Blagadag (mga malayang kaisipan ni krelsmore)

The Gift....

2008-12-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

In the 25th of october... another chance has been given to me by the Maker to have a person to have me love.. thank you Maker for giving me another inspiration, a life and a direction. Thank you for your gift!

Warrior's Hero

2008-03-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

Davis is also a shoot-first type of player with a low shooting percentage. Health has been a big problem for Davis. His injuries caused him to miss 115 games over the last 4 years and limited him to 52 games. But in spite this, he gathered 9 assists per game, making him second in the NBA.

My Life in CDO

2008-01-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

Cruel Life

1 Ang kalungkutan na walang pamilya

2 Kakulangang Pinansyal

3 Nagkaroon ng sakit na umabot ng 3 Linggo

4 Hindi nakuha sa trabaho na gusto

5 Nagkasakit ulit... Allergy

6 Iniwan ng isang kaibigan

7 Nakasunog ng bahay nong bagong taon

8 Nagkasakit ulit... sa sikmura

... Alam ko my gusto kang sabihin sa akin Dakilang tagapagawa... Kaylangan ko lang sumunod at malaman un,,,

True Rastafarian

2008-01-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

“

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds…

”

“

Revelation reveals the truth …

”

“

It takes a revolution to make a solution …

”

Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley OM (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, guitarist, and activist. He is the most widely known performer of reggae music. Marley is regarded by many as a prophet of the Rastafari movement, although he was baptized by the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church in Kingston, Jamaica on November 4, 1980.

Marley was born in the small village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, (born in 1895), was a white Jamaican of English descent, who lived in Liverpool. Norval was a Marine officer and captain, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, a black Jamaican then eighteen years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. Marley was ten years old when his father died of a heart attack in 1955 at age 60.

Marley suffered racial prejudice as a youth, because of his mixed racial origins, and faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life.

Upon returning to Jamaica, Marley became a member of the Rastafari movement, and started to wear his trademark dreadlocks

Cancer diagnosis

In July 1977, Marley was found to have malignant melanoma in a soccer wound on his right hallux (big toe). Marley refused amputation, citing worries that the operation would affect his dancing, as well as the Rastafari belief that the body must be "whole"

Musical career

Marley is best known for his reggae songs, which include the hits "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Three Little Birds", "Exodus", "Could You Be Loved", "Jammin'", "Redemption Song", and "One Love". His posthumous compilation album Legend (1984) is the best-selling reggae album ever, with sales of more than 12 million copies.

WILLIAM WALLACE - THE TRUTH

2007-12-29T03:25:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the best-known account of the life of William Wallace is the 1995 film Braveheart, directed by and starring the actor Mel Gibson, written by Randall Wallace, and filmed in both Scotland and Ireland. This film was a commercial and critical success, winning five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. While the film is based on historic events, it contains numerous historical errors. The most prominent factual error is the suggestion that Wallace sired Edward III, who was born seven years after his death, through a romance with Isabella of France, a ten-year-old child at the time of his death whom he never met. Additionally, the nickname "Braveheart" originally referred to Robert the Bruce, not Wallace. Furthermore, William Wallace and, future king, Robert Bruce never actually met and were fighting effectively on different sides. Wallace was fiercely loyal to King John Balliol while Robert Bruce upheld his own claim to the Scottish throne.

In March 1998 Iron Maiden released the album Virtual XI which contained the 8:59 epic track "The Clansman", loosely based on the life of William Wallace. Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris states that the song was inspired by the films Braveheart and Rob Roy, starting first as two separate songs before they were melded into one

Che???

2007-12-16T21:06:00.001-08:00

Che Guevara, who did so much (or was it so little?) to destroy capitalism, is now a quintessential capitalist brand. His likeness adorns mugs, hoodies, lighters, key chains, wallets, baseball caps, toques, bandannas, tank tops, club shirts, couture bags, denim jeans, herbal tea, and of course those omnipresent T-shirts with the photograph, taken by Alberto Korda, of the socialist heartthrob in his beret during the early years of the revolution, as Che happened to walk into the photographer’s viewfinder—and into the image that, thirty-eight years after his death, is still the logo of revolutionary (or is it capitalist?) chic. Sean O’Hagan claimed in The Observer that there is even a soap powder with the slogan “Che washes whiter.”

But do you know he really is???Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14, 1928[1] – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che or just Che was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas.

As a young man studying medicine, Guevara travelled rough throughout South America, bringing him into direct contact with the impoverished conditions in which many people lived. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to the conclusion that the region's socio-economic inequalities could only be remedied by socialism through revolution, prompting him to intensify his study of Marxism and travel to Guatemala to learn about the reforms being implemented there by President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.

While in Mexico in 1956, Guevara joined Fidel Castro's revolutionary 26th of July Movement, which seized power from the regime of the dictator General Fulgencio Batista in Cuba in 1959. In the months after the success of the revolution, Guevara was assigned the role of "supreme prosecutor", overseeing the public show trials and executions of hundreds of military and civilian leaders associated with the previous regime. After serving in various important posts in the new government and writing a number of articles and books on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 with the intention of fomenting revolutions first in Congo-Kinshasa, and then in Bolivia, where he was captured in a military operation supported by the CIA and the U.S. Army Special Forces. Guevara was summarily executed by the Bolivian Army in the town of La Higuera near Vallegrande on October 9, 1967.

After his death, Guevara became an icon of socialist revolutionary movements and a cultural icon worldwide. An Alberto Korda photo of him has received wide distribution and modification, appearing on t-shirts, protest banners, and in many other formats. The Maryland Institute College of Art called this picture "the most famous photograph in the world and a symbol of the 20th century."

SO NOW YOU KNOW...

song of Zapata

2007-12-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

wealthy vampires
w/a cold hands of executioners...
execute executive decisions,
determined to destroy...
what 1,000,000 women, children & men
1910.. died, drowning in the rage of battle
mothers, half-naked...
infants clutching their necks running frantically...
tripping over the bodies of their dead sons...
teeth gnashing, swinging machete
spilling blood & mud & screaming...
land & liberty... were erased...
buried & burned.. along w/ the memory of the dead
along with the Ejido.

w/a smooth stroke of a pen...
and w/ the ghost of Nixon
present in their eyes... they smile
and pronounce the omnipotence of the free market
the prophets of profit...
extending the scourge of Columbus & Pizarro

The Freedom to buy things you could never afford
The Freedom for indians to buy corn...
that once flourished, overgrown in their backyards.
The Freedom to die of curable disease
The Freedom to watch their children stomachs swell & burst
The Freedom to starve & die w/o land or liberty

But Ramona... w/ eyes of obsidian...
peering through her blood & sweat
dreached mask... darting unseen...
changing direction w/ the swiftness of a bird...
through the shanties of the canyon
with every coyote, every insect...
every phylum of life urging her...
propelling her forward
The leaves & branches of the forest...
part for miles clearing her path.
the voices & screams beneath her feet...
echo in the deepest chasm of her soul...
hurling her towards the city...
history surging through her veins...
pursing through her fingers...
hurling her towards the city...
she caresses her trigger...
and the words of Magon fulfill her being
and w/ ewach shot she fires, she affirms her moments saying...
enough... enough...
no... I will see my own blood flow...
before you take my land or liberty

Tulo ng Pintura sa Tsinelas

2007-11-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

Sa abot ng aking naalala ito ang mga nangyari sa nakaraang tatlong linggo, marahil ay di ko na nalagay ng exato ang lahat ng detalye. Sa simula ng pagtungtong ko sa lupa ng Liyang sa may dakong Pilar, Bataan. Hindi ko manlang naramdaman na nasa ibang lugar ako marahil ay dahil sa Bataan din ako nakatira at sinamahan pa ng malakapatid na turinggan ng magkakasama sa bahay, sina Andoy, Da-le, Georgia, warden, Boy Higs, Joel, AGL, Pilo, Pau, Father bro, Erwin, Bro. Vear, Byongski, ian, at Meky,. Ito ang mga taong nakasama ko sa loob ng tatlong linggo, Sa unang araw ng pagpipinta mukha yatang napasabak sa matinding kuskos sa bawat pader, sulok, at gilid ng chapel. Bawat pawis, sugat at hangin na dumadaloy sa bawat isang kasama ay di ininda at wala manlang isang reklamo o tutol na narining ang bawat isa. Bawat pagod at hirap ay nilaan sa Dakilang Lumikha.Pagdating ng pangalawang Araw doon. Dumating na ang mga brush, rolers at mga gamit pangpinta. Un na siguro ang hudyat na simula na ng pagpipinta. Sinimulan na ang pagpinta. Bawat pahid ng brush sa dingding at pasada ng roler ay nagtatalsikan ang pintura sa iba't ibang bahagi ng katawan, isa sa mga natalsikan ay ang aking tsinelas. Dumating ang panahon na kinailangan nang akyatin ang matayog na tore at sinimulan na ni Buknoy ang pagsaka. Animo'y baston ng mykapal lamang ang kanyang pinanghahawakan na sandingan.

Natapos ang unang Linggo ng pagpipinta at pagsapit ng unang araw ng ikalawang linggo dunating na ang mga batang tutulong sa mga magkakasama. Sa una, para bang mga pasaway na bata ang bumungad sa amin. Kanya kanya silang alis, upo, kwento at takas. Pero dahan-dahan, habang unti- unti namin silang nagiging kaibigan, habang kami ay nagtatawanan at naguusap, animo'y munting lanngam na nagkakanya-kanya ay dahan-dahang nagsasama-sama. Ang trabaho na matagal ay biglang bumilis. Di ko rin malilimutan ang bawat oras ng paglamon. Ang pagkain na kahit anong hitsura ay nagmistulang isang lechon na nkahanda sa hapag kainan. Kahit puro pintura, dumi, at pawis ang kamay, walang iniindang dumi, patuloy pa rin sa paglamon. kahit buto na lamang, payuloy pa rin sa pagsimot. Sino bang makakalimot sa basketball championship na daig pa ang NBA sa pag-asam na manalo. Bawat bato, agaw, pasa at rebound ay lubha kong kinasiya at bawat siko, palo at suntok ay balewala sa bawat isa.

Dumating ang ikatlong Linggo at natapos na din ang pitong Chapel na noon ay mukhang bahay ng kalapati sa dungis at ng mapinturahan na ay mukha na ngang Chapel. At sa huling Linggo namin sa Liyang doon na nga namin sinimulan ang retreat. Ang mga estudyante na may pagkawild ay unti-unti nag napapatayo at sila na rin ang nagrerequest na sumayaw at umindak. Sila na rin, ang nagbubukas sa kwentuhan at mga patawa. dumating na nga ang araw ng graduation at parang gusto pa ng mga bata na tumagal pa sila sa sobrang saya at samahan na nadarama. At paghatid na sa kani- kanilang sasakyan at halos maubos ang buhok ni Buknoy sa sabunot at haplos na ginawa ng mga bata. At ang masasayang ala-ala nila Andoy na tila isang songbird sa hilig kumanta, si Da-le na El Kapitan sa galing sa pagcommand, Si Georgia na isang natural na komedyante, si Warden na mgaling na drayber at lider, si Boy Higs na nakaraos sa pagiging higad, si Joel na tahimik at makulit na kaibigan, si AGL na isang tunay na servant, si Pilo na isang batang natutong maging isang mature na lalaki,si Pau na isang masipag at magaling na pintor at gitarista, si Father bro na nagsimula nang pumasok sa seminaryo, Si Erwin na patuloy na nagiimprove sa pagorganisa, si bro. Vear na may pambihirang lakas at kabaitan, si Byongski na isang magaling na financer at cook, si Ian na isang tahimik pero isa palng marunong at masayahin na tao, si Meky na isang magaling na musikero at tagaturo at ang mga bata na sila, John Carlo, Jay Mar, patrick, john paul, richard, jay, angelito, jojo, arturo, robert, diomedes, jomar, archi, anthony, oscar, jomar II, marvin, aljon, alvin, rocky, herbert, carlito, christopher, rene, jc, johnly, rommel, jc, leonard, at tetet. sila ang mga taong humubog sa aking pagkataon at sa bilis ng panahon di ko manlang namalayan na tapos na ang tatlong masasaya at nakakapagod na linggo at habang ginagamit ko tsinekas na may tulo ng pintura ay sumisimbolo sa lubos na kasiyahan na naibigay ng Panginoon...

2007-11-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Ang buhay ni Ka Andres

Long ago, in the days when Tondo,

Manila

was a town dotted with rice fields, a poor couple was married in Tondo church. The groom was a short muscular Filipino named Santiago Bonifacio. He was a boatman who rowed people from Taguig, Rizal, to other towns along the

Pasig

River

. The bride, Catalina de Castro, was a mestiza born of a Spanish father and a Filipino-Chinese mother from Zambales. She worked as a maestra, or supervisor, in a cigarette factory in Meisic ("Maintsik"), which today is

Manila

’s

Chinatown

On November 30, 1863, Catalina gave birth to a baby boy in a small wood-and-nipa hut in Tutuban, a swamp-like part of Tondo. The name Tutuban means the place where they make tuba, an alcoholic drink made from coconuts. The proud parents named the boy Andres, after St. Andrew the Apostle, the patron saint of

Manila

Andres had three brothers and two sisters. Their names were Ciriaco, Procopio, Esperidiona, Troadio, and Maxima.

Young Andres learned to read and write the alphabet in Tagalog and Spanish from a caton, or primer book, given to him by an aunt. Later he went to school in Meisic. His teacher was Guillermo Osmena, a schoolmaster from

Cebu

Tondo had always been a poor man’s town. People from all over the country who came looking for work in

Manila

made Tondo their first home. In 1877, when Andres was 14 years old, 10,620 Spaniards and their household helpers lived in the walled city of

Intramuros

. By comparison, 26,266 people lived in Tondo.

Poor families like the Bonifacios had to work very hard just to make ends meet. But the 1870s was a time of great hardship. Outbreaks of cholera and rinderpest disease spread throughout the city. People fell ill and many work animals, such as carabaos and horses, died. Typhoons destroyed a lot of homes and farms. The price of food and other goods soared.

The money Andres’s mother earned in the cigarette factory was not enough to feed a family of sic growing children. By this time Andres’s father was working as a cargador at the busy docks of Binondo. He carried heavy loads of muscovado sugar and bundles of rattan. He had even served as a teniente mayor, or vice-mayor, of Tondo. But now he had caught a deadly disease called tuberculosis. He became too weak to keep his job. At home

Santiago

made walking canes and paper fans out of rattan. He also sewed other people’s clothes, a trade he learned from his father. Then Andres’s mother caught tuberculosis too. She died in 1881. Andres’s father died a year later.

Andres gave up his studies to work full time. At first he was a bodeguero (warehouse keeper) in a mosaic tile factory in Sta. Mesa in Sampaloc. Later he got a job as a clerk. After that he bought tar and ties as an agent for the English firm of J.M. Fleming & Company in Binondo.

In 1886 the Manila Railway Company had plans to build a railroad line from

Manila

to Dagupan, Pangasinan. They asked the Fleming company to help build the railroad. The railroad tracks would cut across Tondo. The Fleming company bought many houses, including the Bonifacio house in Tutuban, and knocked them down to make way for the railroad. Today, over a hundred years later, the trains still run through the Tutuban railroad station, near the place where Andres Bonifacio was born.

Andres was an honest and hard worker. He tried his best to feed and care for his brothers and sisters. He helped his two brothers find jobs. Ciriaco became a train conductor and Procopio worked for the Manila Railway Company.

Andres was always trying to find ways to make money for his family. He had beautiful penmanship and made attractive posters for companies such as clothes dealers. He had learned to make rattan walking canes and paper fans from his father. He continued to make them with his brothers and sisters in the evenings. By day their canes and fans were sold in the busy streets of

Manila

. Andres also wove and sold dozens of bamboo hats. In his free time he acted on stage with his brothers in moro-moero plays in Palomar, Tondo. Moro-moro plays were about the fight between Muslims and Christians.

After five years, Bonifacio left the Fleming company and joined a German firm named Carlos Fressel & Company. He worked there as a bodeguero and supply clerk. He was paid twelve pesos a month. By 1892 he was promoted to sales agent.

Bonifacio took great care to dress neatly and well even though he couldn’t afford to have stylish clothes. According to a close friend, Andres always wore an open coat with a matching necktie and black hat. Rain or shine, he always carried an umbrella.

Although he never finished high school, Andres Bonifacio was very smart. He knew Spanish and spoke a little English, which he learned while working for the Fleming company. He read foreign novels, as well as books about the French revolution, politics, law, and religion. Books opened his mind to new worlds. Andres learned that common people had rights and that freedom was a valuable thing to have. The

Philippines

had been a colony ruled by

Spain

since the sixteenth century. But the Filipino people did not have the same rights as the Spaniards. Inspired by new ideas, Andres began to dream that a better life was possible for his fellow Filipinos.

On July 3, 1892, a man named Jose Rizal started a group called La Liga Filipina. The group was made up mostly of Filipinos from the middle class. The educated middle class believed that

Spain

would grant much needed reforms if the

Philippines

were made a

province

Spain

and Filipinos became Spanish citizens.

Bonifacio admired Rizal. He had read his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Andres joined La Liga Filipina and worked hard to spread its teachings of charity and brotherhood.

La Liga Filipina was a peaceful group that did not believe in violence. But the Spanish government thought it was dangerous. They had Rizal secretly arrested and set away, or exiled, to Dapitan, a lonely island in the South.

When Bonifacio learned that Rizal had been exiled, he knew in his heart that the days of peaceful reform were over. He believed it would take no less than an armed revolution to free the

Philippines

from Spanish rule. Unlike Rizal and other people in the reform movement, Bonifacio believed that the

Philippines

should be totally separated from

Spain

In his essay "What the Filipinos Should Know," Bonifacio wrote in Tagalog: "Reason tells us that we cannot expect anything but more sufferings, more treachery, more insults, and more slavery. Reason tells us not to fritter away time for the promised prosperity that will never come….Reason teaches us to rely on ourselves and not to depend on others for our living. Reason tells us to be united…that we may have the strength to combat the evils in our country."

Bonifacio also wrote about how the Filipinos were tortured by the Spaniards. They were bound, kicked, and hit with gun butts. They were electrocuted and hung upside down like cattle. He said that Filipino prisoners were "thrown into the sea…shot, poisoned…."

For Bonifacio, it was time to take action.

On the night of July 7, 1892 – the same day he heard that Rizal had been exiled – Bonifacio met secretly with his friends at a house on

Azcarraga Street

(now Claro M. Recto) in Tondo. Together with his two friends Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata, he formed the first triangle of a secret society which bore the initials K.K.K. The three letters stood for Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan, or Katipunan, for short.

The name Katipunan shows how Bonifacio was influenced by Rizal. Instead of using the old Spanish spelling of the letter "c," Bonifacio used the Tagalog spelling of "k." Rizal had suggested the change in an article published two years earlier in the newspaper La Solidaridad. The "k," pronouched ka, was based on the ancient Tagalog script (I). Since the Katipunan was an underground society, its members used secret codes and passwords to communicate with each other.

The Katipunan had three aims. First, it wanted to free the

Philippines

from

Spain

, by force of arms if necessary. Its members, called Katipuneros, were taught to make and use weapons. Next came the moral, or spiritual, aim. The Katipunan saw all men, rich or poor, as equals. Third, the Katipuneros were taught to care for one another in times of sickness and need. The society took care of its sick. If a member died, the Katipunan helped to pay the cost of a simple funeral.

The people who joined the Katipunan came mostly from the poor working class, although some members, such as Dr. Pio Valenzuela and Mariano Alvarez, belonged to the middle class. The membership of the Katipunan grew to the thousands.

To keep the Katipunan from being discovered by the Spaniards, new members were enlisted through the triangle method. This is how it worked. A recruiter would ask two members to join. That recruiter would know the names of the two members, but the recruits themselves would not know each other. Thus a member’s knowledge about the group was limited and controlled. But the triangle method was slow. After October 1892, all Katipuneros could recruit as many members as they could.

Any man who wanted to join the Katipunan had to pass first a number of tests to prove his courage and sincerity. Wearing a black robe, the new recruit was led blindfolded into a darkly lit room. He was told to answer these questions: (1) "In what condition did the Spaniards find the Filipino people when they came?"; (2) "In what condition do they find themselves now?"; and (3) What hope do the Filipino people have for the future?"

This was followed by other tests for the would-be-Katipunero. The final test was the sandugoBlood compact). The recruit was asked to make a small cut on his left forearm with a sharp knife. He then signed the Katipunan oat in his own blood. Afterwards, the new member chose a symbolic name for himself. For example, Bonifacio was called "Maypag-asa" (Hopeful).

Women who joined the Katipunan were limited to the wives, daughters, or close relatives of the Katipuneros. The women’s chapter of the Katipunan was formed in July 1893. Only about thirty females were known to have joined this secret society. The women did not have to seal their membership with a blood compact. During Katipunan meetings, they wore green masks, and white sashes with green borders. Sometimes they carried revolvers or daggers. They usually served as lookouts in the outer sala (living room) while the men held their secret meetings in the backroom.

There were two important women in Bonifacio’s life. His first wife – a neighbor from Palomar named Monica – died of leprosy. He met his second wife when he was a 29-year old widower. Her name was Gregoria de Jesus.

Gregoria was a beautiful girl of 18 from Kalookan. Like Andres, she was the oldest child and a bright student who stopped studying to take care of her family. Gregoria looked after her younger sister and the family farm. On Sunday mornings she paid the workers. At home she sewed and wove cloth on the loom or helped her mother work around the house.

Andres and Gregoria were married twice. Their first wedding was held in

Binondo

Church

in March 1894. They were married again a week later in a house in Sta. Cruz. The ceremony was attended by members of the Katipunan. That evening Gregoria de Jesus became a member of the women’s chapter of the Katipunan. Her code name was "Lakangbini" (Goddess or Muse).

Andres and Gregoria had a baby boy. They named him Andres and he was their only child. On Holy Week of 1896, a fire destroyed their nipa-roofed house in Sta. Cruz. Homeless, the couple and their baby were forced to live in one house after another. The loss of their home was followed by an even greater loss, when young Andres died of smallpox.

On August 19, 1896, the Katipunan was found out. Father Mariano Gil, the Augustinian parish priest of Tondo, learned about it from Teodoro Patino, an unhappy member of the Katipunan. The Spanish police moved quickly to stop the revolution. Many Filipinos were arrested, jailed, and shot. Andres and Gregoria went into hiding.

The Katipunan was discovered before the rebels were ready for a fully armed struggle. But Bonifacio knew that the die had been cast. There was no turning back. The time had come for the Filipino people to engage the enemy in battle.

Bonifacio met with other Katipunan leaders in a place called Pugadlawin, on August 23, 1896. They tore up their cedulas (residence tax papers) and cried "Long Live the

Philippines

!" They vowed to fight the Spaniards down to the last man.

On August 30, Andres Bonifacio and his best friend, Emilio Jacinto, fought the first battle of the Philippine Revolution. Leading an army of eight hundred men, they attacked a gunpowder storehouse in San Juan del Monte (now

San Juan

, Metro Manila). Today the place is called Pinaglabanan, meaning battlefield. The storehouse was an important military post for the Spanish army, but it was defended by only a hundred men. Outnumbered, the Spaniards retreated to El Deposito, the place where the Spaniards stored the water supply for the city of

Intramuros

Encouraged by the Spaniards’ retreat, Bonifacio and his rebels advanced towards

Manila

. They were met by an army of soldiers sent by Ramon Blanco, the Spanish governor-general. Bonifacio’s men were driven back to Mandaluyong by the Spaniards. More than a hundred-fifty Katipuneros died. Another two hundred were captured. Some of them were shot at Bagumbayan Field, which is today called

Luneta

Park

In the area of

Manila

, the battle of Pinaglabanan and fighting in Kalookan sparked other small battles north and south of the

Pasig

River

, in places such as

Marikina

San Mateo

Pasig

, Pateros and Taguig. That same day Governor-General Blanco declared a state of war in eight provinces:

Manila

, Batangas, Bulacan,

Cavite

, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac. The Spanish government did not want the revolt to spread to other provinces. It was determined to punish the rebels and all who helped them.

In December 1896, Bonicaio was invited by the Katipuneros of Cavite to come to the town of

Imus

. Thanks to a string of victories led by Emilio Aguinald, the rebels now controlled most of the province. Bonifacio, as the highest officer, or Supremo, of the Katipunan, was asked to settle a dispute.

There were two rival Katipunan councils in

Cavite

. One council was the Magdalo, of which Aguinaldo was a member. The other was the Magdiwang council, headed by Mariano Alvarez, a relative of Bonifacio’s wife.

Bonifacio’s decision to come to

Cavite

proved to be the beginning of his downfall. There was a time when the two men – Aguinaldo and Bonifacao – respected and valued each other. The Supremo himself had admitted Aguinaldo into the Katipunan in his house in Binondo. Aguinaldo recalled this historic moment in his biography when he wrote, "That was the beginning of my acquaintance and friendship with Andres Bonifacio." And when news of Bonifacio’s defeat in the battle of Pinaglabanan reached the Katipuneros in

Cavite

, Aguinaldo, worried for the Supremo’s safety, sent his men to look for Bonifacio in the forests of Kalookan and Malabon.

But the friendship between the two men soured. Bonifacio and his army had suffered a number of defeats at the hands of the enemy. In contrast, Aguinaldo and his rebels had managed to boot the Spaniards out of most of

Cavite

. The feeling of regionalism between the Tondo native and the young man from Kawit,

Cavite

was very strong. Also, the two leaders differed in their political ideas.

Aguinaldo and the Magdalo group believed it was time to form a new kind of government. Aguinaldo had already suggested that the Katipunan government be changed to a revolutionary form of government modeled after the American system. Although he was only a Magdalo flag lieutenant at the time, his bold ideas challenged the power of the Supremo.

Bonifacio and the Magdiwang men believed that the Katipunan government was still useful. It could still answer the Filipino’s need for change. It had its own constitution and bylaws. In other words, at this point in our history there were two leaders with two different views on how to run the government.

The rivalry between the two groups weakened the rebels’ hold on

Cavite

. Aguinald’s Magdalo soldiers did not want to help defend the towns held by Magdiwang soldiers when they were attacked by the Spaniards. Bonifacio’s Magdiwang soldiers did not help the Magdalo rebels when the enemy attacked their towns. The result was that almost all the towns once held by the Katipuneros easily fell one by one to the Spaniards.

The rivalry worsened during the Tejeros convention held on March 22, 1897. The aim of the convention was to form a central revolutionary government that would unite the two councils. An election of officers was held in Tejeros. Although he was away fighting the Spaniards in Dasmarinas,

Cavite

, Emilio Aguinaldo was elected president of the new revolutionary government. Bonifacio was nominated for the position of director of the interior, but Daniel Tirona of Kawit stood up and questioned his ability to hold that job. Tirona said that the position needed someone with a law degree.

Bonifacio took Tirona’s words as an insult. He declared that, as the leader of the Katipunan, all the acts of the Tejeros convention were unlawful. Hurt and angry, he left with his wife, his two brothers, and some trusted bodygurads.

A day later Emilio Aguinaldo became president of the new revolutionary government. He was sworn into office along with other elected officials, most of whom were Cavitenos. Bonifacio was not present.

Bonifacio refused to recognize Aguinaldo’s government. He thought he was still the Supremo of the Katipunan government. In fact, he formed a new government wholly separate and independent from the one formed at the Tejeros convention. The following month he drafted a military agreement in Naic,

Cavite

. It was signed by about forty men.

Bonifacio and his men left Naic for barrio Limbon in the nearby town of

Indang

. On April 26, 1897, Bonifacio was arrested by two loyal officers of Aguinaldo – Colonel Agapito Bonzon and Aguinaldo’s brother-in-law Major Jose Ignacio Paua. Bonifacio and his men put up a fight. Andres’s brother Ciriaco was killed. The Supremo himself was shot in his left arm. Major Paua jumped at Bonifacio and stabbed the left side of his neck with a dagger.

From Indang, a half-starved and wounded Bonifacio was carried by hammock to Naic, which had become President Aguinaldo’s headquarters.

Andres Bonifacio was tried by the military court in Maragondon,

Cavite

. He was charged with treason and trying to overthrow the new president and his government. One witness even swore that he was paid ten pesos by Bonifacio to kill Aguinaldo. By some accounts Andres was not given a fair chance to defend himself.

On May 8, 1897, Andres and Procopio Bonifacio were sentenced to death. However, according to Aguinaldo, he changed their sentence and asked for them to be exiled instead. But Aguinaldo was advised by his generals to go ahead with the death sentence. They reasoned that Bonifacio’s death was necessary to protect the best interests of the revolution. Alive, Bonifacio would only threaten and divide the revolutionary forces.

On the early morning of May 10, 1897, a group of soldiers led by General Lazaro Makapagal brought Andres and Procopio from the Maragondon jail. This was the order of General Mariano Noriel, president of the council of war that tried the Bonifacio brothers. Makapagal had been handed a sealed letter, with strict orders to read it after reaching

Mt.

Nagpatong

in the Maragondon mountains. Only four soldiers were selected by the general to accompany him on this mission.

When the soldiers and their two prisoners reached

Mt.

Nagpatong

, Makapagal opened the sealed letter. It was an order from General Noriel to execute Andres and Procopio. Makapagal immediately carried out the general’s command and the Bonifacio brothers were shot. Using their bayonets and bolos (long knives), the soldiers dug a shallow grave for the two men. After covering the bodies with twigs and weeds, they hurriedly left to escape the Spanish troops who were combing the mountains of Maragondon.

The Bonifacio brothers were killed on Monday, May 10, 1897. Andres was only 34 years old.

Some twenty years passed. On March 17, 1918, Lazaro Makapagal came back to

Cavite

. He was accompanied by a group of government officials, two former

Cavite

generals, and former soldiers of the Philippine Revolution. They went to a lonely spot on a sugarcane field in the Maragondon mountains to find Andres Bonifacio’s grave. The place had changed a lot. An old and loyal servant of Bonifacio showed them the way and identified his master’s remains.

Bonifacio’s bones were placed in an urn and kept in the

Legislative

Building

(now the

National

Museum

). Bonifacio’s papers and personal belongings, including his revolver and bolo, were also kept here. In February 1945, during the battle to free

Manila

from the Japanese, the building and the remains of Andres Bonifacio were destroyed in a fire.

Today the Filipino nation honors Andres Bonifacio as the "Father of the Philippine Revolution." He was a leader who believed that the common could be organized and put into action. Indeed he was not disappointed for he found good patriots among them. Many were even willing to die for their country. Despite his poverty and lack of education, Bonifacio went beyond the steps taken by the educated and moneyed class of Filipinos pushing for peaceful change. Eventually even reformers such as Apolinario Mabini and Marcelo H. del Pilar realized that freedom could not be won from

Spain

without use of force.

To this day historians argue whether Bonifacio or Rizal was right. In June 1896 Bonifacio sent his aide Dr. Pio Valenzuela to Dapitan to meet with Rizal. On learning about the Katipunan, Rizal opposed the revolutionary aims of the society. It was not because he did not believe in the revolution. As a student of history, Rizal honestly believed that the Filipino people were not yet ready for an armed struggle in 1896. They still lacked weapons and funds for war.

Had Bonifacio listened to Rizal, there probably would have been no revolution. In the end, the people’s cry for freedom and justice brought down the walls of colonial power. The outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in August 1896 was the beginning of the end of three-and-a-half centuries of Spanish colonial rule in the

Philippines

Kanang Pulang Mata

2007-11-19T21:18:00.001-08:00

Akalain mo ba namang muntik nang di makadalo sa graduation itong si Buknoy sa dahilang pulang-pula ang kanyang kanang mata at sa sobrang hapdi noon ay kahit manlang idilat ay di niya magawa. Alas onse ang call time sa PICC (ang lugar na pagdarausan ng graduation) at nakaratay pa ang gagraduate na estudyante, pano nanngaling sa hayuk na inom kagabi at sobrang hapo ang kanyang mga mata at di na niya natanngal ang kanyang kontak lens. Alas dos na siya nakauwi kagabi kasama ang mga kaibigan galing sa inom. Dumating na ang kanyang mga magulang at sinabi "Buknoy, gising na graduation mo na di ba?" "opo," ika ni Buknoy, "pero sobrang sakit ng aking mata", muling bangit ni Buknoy habang pabaling-baling sa kanyang kama. Laking galit ang namumuo sa dibdib ni Buknoy sa dahilang ang daming pasakit at pahirap ang kanyang tinamo upang makarating sa ganoong punto sa kanyang buhay, ang gumraduate tapos hindi siya makakadalo. Halos naibunton ni Buknoy ang lahat ng galit sa kanyang bag habang paulit-ulit na sinusultok iyon. "Maghulos dili ka anak," banggit ng kanyang ina habang pinipigilan si Buknoy. Pinaupo sa isang tabi ng silid ang kanyang anak at dahan-dahang ipinagdasal siya. Habang nagaganap ang mga pangyayayri, na isip ni Buknoy ang tila isang imposibleng mirakulo na dinanas ng isang bulag na nakakita sa Galileo, sa pamamagitan ng paghawak ng kamay ni Hesus sa mga mata nito. At gaya nga non, na isip niyang, hindi iyon imposibleng mangyari sa akin. Umakyat na ang kapatid ni Buknoy dala ang gamot para sa mata at marahang pinatakan ang kanyang mata. At muli pang humiga si Buknoy upang hayaang dumaloy ang gamot sa kanyang mata. "Tara na, malalate na tayo" sabi ng ina ni Buknoy, at habang papunta sa lugar na pagdarausan ng pangyayari ay unti-unting naididilat na ni Buknoy ang kanyang mata, bagamat namumula pa ito. At nakarating na nga sila sa PICC, at doon tuluyang na ngang nabuksan ni Buknoy ang mga mata at sinabi sa sarili "meron pa ngang mirakulong nangyayari sa mundo ngayon kahit gaano man natin itango, kahit gaano kabilis ang takbo ng mundo, ang kaylangan lang nating gawin any maniwala." "Ito ang aking pulang mata na nagpapaalala sa araw ng aking graduation," iyon ang paulit-ulit na binabanggit ni Buknoy habang paakyat ng stage.

Ang Huling Alas

2007-11-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

Pagkatapos ng lahat ng pangyayari sa eskwela, dumating na araw ng paghuhukom, Final Encoding of Grades na at sa araw na iyon tatlo ang quiz ni Buknoy. Nawala sa loob nya na ganon karami ang mga pagsusulit na dapat nyang kunin. Sa pagkakaktaong iyon isa lang ang kanyang napag-aralan sa ganoong kadahilanan, isa lang din ang kanyang naipasa. Kinausap ni Buknoy ang isa sa kanyang mga prof. na kanyang kinompronta noong nakaraang mga araw. "Ma'm, ito na po ang listahan ng aking mga kagrupo," ika ni buknoy. "Nagpasa na ba kayo ngproj." bangit ng guro na wari'y daig pa nag tigre sa pandididlat ng mga mata. "Ndi pa po ma'm, pwede ko bang ipasa ito mamayang alas kwatro," pagsusumamo ni Buknoy sa kanyang maestra. "hindi pwede, bagsak ka na!" mariing pagtanggi ng propesor ni Buknoy habang naglalakad patunggong faculty. malungkot na paalis na si Buknoy ng biglang dumating ang isa sa kanyang mga kagrupo. "Ma'm, pwede po bang magpasa ng project mamaya?" sabi ng lider nila buknoy. Walang anu-ano'y biglang nag-iba nag ang pag-iisip ng propesor na wari mo'y hinipan ng hangin. "sige" tugon ng prof sabay alis. Pagkalipas ng ilang mga oras, naipasa na nga ng grupo ni Buknoy ang nasabing proyekto sa kanilang guro. At mga ilang sandali pa animo'y mga langgam na isa-isang naglalabasan sa kani-kanilang mga silid ang mga propesor patungo sa encoding machine. Nakita iyon ni buknoy at sinabi sa sarili na "yari na ako," nasa kamay na ng mga prof ang huling alas. Ang Alas ay maitutugma sa laro ng baraha. ito ang piinakamataas na halaga sa larong pusoy, kumbaga sa mahika, nasa mga propesor na ang kapangyarihang magbagsak at magpasa ng estudyante. Laking kaba sa dibdib ang nadama ni Buknoy habang ginagawa ang grades. Naglalaro sa munting isaipan ng estudyante ang posibilidad na bumagsak at pumasa. "Pano ang isa kong subject, galit na galit pa naman sa akin si ma'm" ika ni Buknoy ng may panghihina ng loob at muling yumuko at nag-isip. "Wala sa kanila ang huling alas, nasa akin ang huling alas" bulong ni Buknoy sa kanyang sarili at dali-daling pumunta ng chapel si Buknoy at nagsimulang magdasal.

"Panginoon,"ika ni Buknoy.

"Buong kababaang loob po akong nagsusumamo sa inyong kapangyarihan."

"Tulungan nyo po akong malampasan ang pagsubok na ibinigay nyo sa akin"

"Bigyan nyo po ako ng lakas ng loob na tanggapin ang plano nyo sa buhay ko"

"Panginoon, ang kalooban nyo po ang masusunod hindi ang sa akin"

"Mangyari na po ang dapat mangyari ayon sa inyong kagustuhan"

"itinataas ko po sa inyo ang lahat"

"Panginoon, kayo po ang aking Huling Alas"

Pagkatapos ng matinding pagdarasal, ani mo'y mga munting patak ng ulan ang mga luhang dumaloy sa mga mata ni Buknoy. Pagkatapos nito lumabas na ng simbahan si Buknoy ng batiin siya ng kanyang kamag-aral ng mga katagang "Congrats" Gagraduate ka na!!!

Ang "Kodigo"

2007-11-19T20:43:00.002-08:00

Kasagsagan ng mga pagsusulit at mraming pinapasa at pinapagawa sa skwela. Mga nasa alas dose na ng tangghali ng magkakaroon ng exam sa isang silid aralan. si Buknoy isang mag-aaral sa isang unibersidad sa may kahabaan ng taft. Naghahanda na siya sa isang quiz na magaganap. "Anjan na si Prof." sabi ng isang kamag-aral ni Buknoy. pumasok ang prof at nagbigay na ng pagsusulit sa klase. itong si Buknoy ay nakalimutan itabi ng maayos ang isang kopya ng kanyang notes sa subject na iyon. naglalakad ang prof ng makakita ng mga papel na nakapatong sa itaas ng mga gamit ni Buknoy. "Ano to?" tanong ng prof nya. "Ma'm ung "xerox" po", sagot ni Buknoy. binasa ng prof. ang nilalaman ng "XeroX". kinuha ng prof ang papel at kopya ng notes ni Buknoy at sinabing "lumabas ka na!". Dala ng pagkagulat, mabilis na binangit ni Buknoy " Mam di po ako lalabas", Di ko po ginawa ang binibintang nyo sa akin. natapos ang klase na di pinapansin ng prof ang pagsusumamo ni Buknoy. Ng lumabas ng pinto ang prof nilapitan agad ito ni Buknoy at sinabing "Ma'm pasensya na po kayo sa mga nasabi ko sa rum." di tumitinggin ang prof at galit na sinabing "kausapin mo ang chairperson at ang dean!." Malungkot na umalis si Buknoy at nakayukong naglalakad habang papunta sa opisina ng Chairperson. pumasok ng opisina si Buknoy ng makitang mabalis na lumabas ang kanyang prof mula sa kwarto ng chairperson kasama ng isa pang prof. "Pwede po bang makausap ang chairperson," bangit ni Buknoy sa isa sa mga SA (student assistant). "Mam may kaka usap raw po sa inyong estudyante," sabi ng SA sa chairperson na tila di mapakali sa dami ng ginagawang trabaho. "Ay marami akong ginagawa" sabi ng chairperson na nagmamadaling tapusin ang mga papeles na nakapatong sa itaas ng kanyang desk. "Kausapin mo nalang ulit ang prof mo, tapos na kami nag-usap". sambit ng chairperson na nagsimula ulit bumalik sa kanyang trabaho. Lumabas sa kwarto ng chairperson si Buknoy na mabigat ang loob at hinihintay ang prof na nagkaklase pa sa kabilang kwarto. pumatak ang alas dos ng maglabasan sa klase ang mga estudyante. Di mawaring pumasok si Buknoy at ang isa pa niyang kaibigan sa loob ng klasrum na may kaba sa dibdib. "ma'm," bigkas ni buknoy na tila gusto ng tumakas sa mga pangyayari. nagesplika si Buknoy sa mga totoong nangyari sa loob ng silid-aralan habang tumutulong ang ksama na kaibigan sa pagklaro ng mga pangyayari. di pinakinggan ng prof ang pagsusumamo ni buknoy at sinabing "Just make a 5-paged penalty stating, i promise not to cheat anymore". mariing kinlaro ni Buknoy na "paginawa ko po yan mam ibig sabihin po ba niyan an inaamin ko ang kasaklanan na di ko ginawa?" pasigaw na sinabi ng prof "ano nga bang ginawa mo diba nangodigo ka, ito nga at pareho ang sagot mo sa nakaharap sa iyo na pahina ng kopya mong notes!" buong katotohanan na sinabi ni Buknoy sa prof nya na "mam di ko po magagawa ang inuutos nyo sa akin, hindi po tlaga ako nangodigo." "Ah ganon pla, singko ka na!" sigaw ng prof at mabilis na umalis ang prof sa rum. Naiwan si buknoy na malungkot at malinis na konsensya lamang ang hawak laban sa mga binibintang ng kanyang prof.

Mga Bagang Namulat

2007-11-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

may isang bagang dumadaloy sa isang sanggol

sa panahon pa lamang ng kayang pagkamulat ito'y sumisibol

mga bagang tila di mapapansin... di makikita ng isang karaniwan

ngunit ito'y nadarama pag ika'y nakikinig... nagiisip

lumipas ang mga araw, munting baga namamatay... nanghihina

pinahuhupa ng mga kaalamang taliwas at saliwa

dinaraan sa pagnakaw ng kaalaman at paghuhugas sa katotohanan

mga tao'y nagsasabi na munting baga'y isang salot... mga panggulo sa lipunan

dala ng kamangmangan, ang kaalaman ay tuluyang naglaho

kasama rin ng pagkitil sa mga bagang tumatayo

mula pa sa panahon ni Macros hanngang kay GeMA daan-daan ang tinapos

pinapaslang ... binubuwag sa paraang marahas

munting baga'y lalong nagtago, binalot ng kaba at takot

ngunit ang baga ay may nakilalang nilalang na makapangyarihan

kapangyarihang kayang bumasag ng mga trono ng haring matayog

nakilala't unti-unting naging kaibigan

munting baga'y lumakas, nagkaroon ng tigas ng kalooban

itong baga'y unti-unting tumayo... sumigla

walamang karanasan, ang nilalang at munting pag-asa ang kayang naging sandigan

di man kayang sumalpok sa buwayang mabangis...

wari'y sandatang hangin ang kanyang binitbit

kagaya ng isang propetang binigyan ng misyon

isinasambit sa sangkatauhan ang nagaganap... nangyayari...

kaya habang sariwa pa ang diwa sa lupang ipinangako

wag sanang kalimutan ang bawat luha at dugong ipinako

kawangis ng isang manggang unti-unting nahihinog sa panahon

at sa loob natin padaluyin ang mga baga'y unti-unting pamulatin...