The Katipunan; or, The Rise and Fall of the Filipino Commune

by Francis St. Clair

Pio Valenzuela in recounting the forms and ceremonies practiced upon his initiation, said:

“Once in the house[28], they spoke of many things, en résumé, that the aim of the association was to obtain the independence of the Philippines, oppressed and enslaved by the Spaniards. Placing, later on, a dagger at his breast, they obliged him to throw himself upon it, a thing which the witness could not pluck up courage enough to do; whereupon they placed it in his hand, leading him to a man whom he recognized to be seated, and ordered him (the witness) to strike him with the dagger, a thing which he dare not do either. He was then conducted into a room and addressed by a person he knew to be Bonifacio by the voice, who informed him that he could not retrace his steps because he knew of the existence of the society, but he could not assist at the juntas nor could they teach him the signs of recognition till he had been re-initiated; they moreover made him sign two sheets of blank paper, causing him to swear never to reveal the existence of the society to anyone, under the pain of assassination. They then removed the bandage which he was blindfolded and he saw around him eight or nine individuals dressed in cloaks and hoods; he signed the two sheets of paper and was again blindfolded and conducted to a considerable distance from the house where the bandage was again removed.

Another member of the Katipunan in his declaration made on the 22nd of September 1896, stated that during the month of February 1893, one Sunday morning, a certain Estanislao Legaspi entered his store, telling him to accompany him in a calesa. He listened to tirades against the Spanish Government till their arrival at the house of a certain Tranquilino Torres, in calle Elcano. Here “his eyes were bandaged by Legaspi and he was handed over to the care of another individual who conducted him to the upper story of the house and made him sit down; he then heard a person whom he knew to be Legaspi by his voice speak, saying several things against the Spanish Government, demanding of him an oath of blind obedience, and a defense of the Philippines till the shedding of the last drop of his blood, threatening him with fearful punishments if he should turn traitor. This ceremony being terminated, his eyes were unbound and he saw, on a table, a skull which they made him kiss, and Legaspi handed him a lance commanding him to wound himself in the arm; but he felt a feeling of faintheartedness come over him, and manifested to those present that he had not courage enough to wound himself and wished that the oath he had taken be enough; he was dispensed from the operation. When the bandage was removed the eight individuals composing the junta were masked with black hoods, but after he kissed the skull and attempted to wound himself they removed the hoods and he then recognized Estanislao Legaspi who presided, Mariano de Vera, Teodoro Plata and Juan de la Cruz who was a clerk of the Tabacalera, and who had led him upstairs; he did not know the other three. The witness paid two pesos as entrance fee promising to pay 50 cents monthly. He asked Legaspi what association it was, and he replied that it was the Liga Filipina.”

In the daily report of the secret police department made to General Blanco on the 30th of June 1896, is the following notice:

“Herewith is given translated most faithfully from Tagalog, the result of an interview held with a well-to-do indian who belonged to the most popular of the masonic lodges, who tried to draw into it a friend. Questioned upon certain affairs, he said: “In the masonic lodges of San Juan del Monte and of Pandacan, the whole pueblo, rich and poor, is inscribed.”

“In the reunions the brethren attend blind-folded, and the chiefs with the face covered.”

“The person who desires to enter the lodge is obliged to have his face covered and his eyes bandaged in sign of blind obedience; the proofs are carried out and signature made as follows. The person receiving the initiated takes a dagger and gives it to him saying to him: do you swear to be steel like that which you hold in your hand and not to bend in the exigencies which oppress and vex us, and to labor in pro of the independence of your enslaved country? I swear answers the person to be initiated. Do you swear not to have father, mother, wife, child nor any relative but the revenging arm which shall sleep and live with you? I swear. They then surround him with arms of all classes and say to him: here is thy family, thy only work, and may it give thee thy life and open thy eyes for thy good of the country. They then make a small incision in the form of a cross in the right arm near the shoulder.”

“At present our meetings are held at night and in the most lonely fields, with the object of not being surprised.”

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“It is well known among us masons that Rizal is attributed with the faculty of being able to translate his person instantaneously from one point to another.”