Biyaheng Bonifacio - Binondo and Tondo (Jun 8, 2013): Binondo Church and Katipunan Foundation Site

Binondo Church - Manila

Historical Note:

This is the place where Andres Bonifacio married his second wife - Gregoria de Jesus of Caloocan in 1893.  They had one son named after him who died in infancy of smallpox.  His first wife, Monica died of leprosy.

Travel Note:

From Caloocan, I asked Gel and Kris if they'd be willing to finish the entire Metro Manila leg of the tour  that afternoon since it was only 2:30 PM when we finished taking our pictures at the Cry of Pugad Lawin shrine.  So when they agreed, we decided as well to utilize Manila's lightrail transit system to speed up our travel time.  

We boarded a southbound LRT1 train at its Roosevelt station and paid P15/person for the trip.  We originally planned to get off at Doroteo Jose station but decided to get off instead at Carriedo station where we have the option of taking either a jeep or a kuliglig (if Bangkok has its tuktuk, Manila has this sort-of-DIY transport platform made out of welded GI pipes and powered by a second-hand outboard motor).  As we walked along the streets of Sta Cruz, we decided to hire a kuliglig to take us to Binondo Church (the driver charged P60 and drove less than 10 minutes to the site)


Katipunan Foundation Site - Elcano corner Recto Sts, Manila

Historical Note:

 After hearing of Jose Rizal's deportation to Dapitan in July 7, 1892 , Andres Bonifacio and a handful of like-minded followers founded the Katipunan - a secret society with aims to free the entire Philippines from Spanish rule through armed revolt. 

The Katipunan soon expanded into several provinces including Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija.  The rituals and organizational structure of the Katipunan was influenced by Freemasonry and most of its members came from the lower and middle classes with many of its local leaders being prominent figures in their municipalities.

Do take note that Bonifacio did not immediately become the Katipunan's Supremo until 1895.  He was actually the third head of the Katipunan after Deodato Arellano and Roman Basa.  Prior to this, he served as the society's comptroller and then as its fiscal.  

The Katipunan even had a propaganda paper called Kalayaan (Freedom).  Bonifacio collaborated with Emilio Jacinto and Pio Valenzuela in releasing the Kalayaan's single issue in March 1896 which then led to a great increase in membership - from less than 300 members in January 1896 to between 30,000 to 40,000 by August 1896.

Just imagine how much impact social media might have had back then to the Katipunan!!!

Source

 
Travel Note:

From Binondo Church we hired another tricycle (we offered to pay the driver P60 for the trip) to take us to the corner of Elcano and Recto streets in Tondo, Manila.  It took the driver about 10 minutes to drive us to the site.