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.

Biyaheng Bonifacio - Brgy Bahay Toro, Quezon City (Jun 8, 2013): Cry of Pugad Lawin Shrine

Historical Note:

In the last days of August 1896, Bonifacio called for a mass gathering of Katipunan members in Caloocan (Balintawak was considered the official site between 1908 and 1963 but the Philippine government decided to change it to Pugad Lawin, Quezon City in 1963) .  It was during this period that they decided to start a nationwide armed revolution against Spain and they did so by tearing up their cedulas (community tax certificates). 

Personal Note:

I deliberately posted this on June 12 as my way of celebrating our Independence Day for one reason:  I agree that the "Cry of Pugad Lawin" was the flashpoint of the Philippine Revolution but I also believe that this single event is even more historic than the first flag raising ceremony held in Kawit, Cavite.  Just imagine thousands of Katipuneros converging on this site and shouting their hearts out and declaring open rebellion on their colonizers!  If ever there would be a functional time machine right now with an option to go back at any given time - I'd choose this event and readily shake hands with the Supremo!!!  

Travel Note:

From Diliman, Quezon City, we rode a cab going to the area near the Roosevelt station of LRT1 (due to traffic near North Edsa, we ended up paying P120 for the 30 minute cab ride).  We then walked towards Congressional Ave. near the S&R outlet to ride a tricycle to the Pugad Lawin Shrine (we paid the tricycle driver P70 for the round-trip ride).

Biyaheng Bonifacio - Rodriguez, Rizal and Diliman, Quezon City (Jun 8, 2013): Pamitinan Cave and Krus na Ligas

Pamitinan Cave - Rodriguez, Rizal

Historical Note:

Early leaders and members of the Katipunan including Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Restituto Javier, Guillermo Masangkay, Aurelio Tolentino, Faustino Manalak, and Pedro Zabala conducted secret initiation rites in the cave and wrote on the walls "Viva la Independencia!"

Travel Note:

Gel and I commuted via LRT2 going to Cubao and met Kris at the McDonald's branch near the station to have a quick breakfast before 7:00 AM.  We then waited for a commuter van that will take us to Rodriguez, Rizal (we paid P50/person for the trip).  Travel time from Cubao to Rizal (near Eastwood Residences) was nearly an hour. We then hired a tricycle for P60 to take us to the Wawa Dam site.  We arrived at the site before 8:30 AM.

We went immediately to the local tourism office and they asked Mike, one of their staff to guide us to the Paminitan cave since they already removed the temporary hanging bridge.  They also informed us that we can't go inside the cave due to safety concerns but we also told them that we only needed to take pictures outside of the cave.

Little did we know how much of an 'adventure' this trip would be :) 

 Gel and Kris enjoying the tricycle ride going to the Wawa dam site.

 Me and Kris in front of the local tourism office.  Shown in the background is a tarp for the Biyaheng Bonifacio Tour

Just before we crossed the river.  Mike, our guide, initially thought this route would be our quickest option but after a quick glance at the water, he decided to look for another spot for us to cross. The cave can be seen across the river just above the group of greenery to our left.

 Our new friends:  Tam-tam (L) and Jan-jan (R).  While crossing the river, these two kids told us:  "marami pong teroristang nagpupunta dito (there are many terrorists visiting this place)"  I initially wanted to laugh out loud but I controlled myself....Gel being a devoted teacher, gently corrected the boys and told them:  "baka naman turista and ibig ninyong sabihin? (You may be thinking of tourists, not terrorists, right?"  Gel really has charisma for kids :) 

 "Saklolo?"  :)

 Picture taken by one of the kids.

 It took us a good 30 minutes to cross the river and climb up the mouth of the cave.  Good thing we decided to wear hiking sandals that day AND bring drinking water :)

 We would have wanted to see the "Viva la Independiencia" inscription of the Katipuneros but the cave was 'locked' that day.

 We also saw a memorial for all Japanese soldiers killed during a battle in World War 2.

 By the time we made it back to the tourism office, it was nearly 11:00 AM.  Good thing that we  were back since we were seeing rain clouds nearby.

 On our way back to Eastwood Residences, we saw a small-time quarry operation  with workers manually doing the digging without safety harnesses!  I even saw a guy standing at the side of a mountain (about 20 stories high) using just a pick-axe...

Krus na Ligas - Diliman Quezon City

Historical Note:

The site was used as a resting place by Bonifacio and his men during the revolution.


Travel Note:

From Rodriguez, Rizal, Mike, our guide, told us to take a van that will pass through Commonwealth Ave going to Philcoa (near University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City).  What's good about Mike's suggestion was that the route saved us needed time to get to our next destination.  Travel time to Philcoa was about 50 minutes.  We then boarded a "UP-ikot" jeepney. 

 We took this picture of Bonifacio at the pedestrian overpass at Philcoa just before boarding a jeepney that will take us through UP Diliman and to our destination.  Do inform the jeepney driver that you're headed for "Krus na Ligas."  I unfortunately mentioned to the driver that we were headed for Holy Cross Parish which is a different church located inside the campus premises :)  Whatever prompted me to say "Holy Cross Parish" to the driver, well, I can't remember it anymore hahaha!  

Once the driver tells you that you're now in Krus na Ligas, you can either walk to the site (just ask around for directions to the church) or ride a tricycle (the driver without blinking an eye, charged us P38 for an incredible less-than-300-meter-ride!)

 After taking our pictures at the site, we proceeded to walk back to the main road and chanced upon a local eating place called "Carinderia Sefali."   It was actually Gel and Kris who saw the place and since they noticed two foreigners eating there, they figured that the food must be good :)

 Yup, food was definitely good and the place was cozy.  We even noted several students who dined after we left.  Must be a 24-hour eating place popular to UP students...