They founded newspapers in Spain; they wrote violent articles, they made speeches, they obtained the support of some Liberals and anti-clericals in the Peninsula, and numbered many adherents in the islands. Still, they were comparatively harmless. Not so, however, was a society which was formed of very different elements. Taking a hint, perhaps, from the murderous brotherhood of the Ku-Klux-Klan, some resolute and courageous Tagals imagined and formed that terrible secret society, the Katipunan. There is no K in the Spanish alphabet, but this letter is found in the Malay dialects, and consequently in Tagal. Therefore, the symbol of the society, K.K.K., was as distinctly anti-Spanish as was the full title, which was represented by the initials—
N M A N B
The words corresponding to these initials were:—
| Kataas-taasan | Kagalang-gálang | Katipunan |
| or Sovereign | Worshipful | Association |
| Nang | Manga | Anac | Nang | Bayan |
| of the | (plural) | sons | of the | Country. |
They used signs and passwords. There were three grades of members:—
| 1st grade | Katipun | word Anak nang bayan. |
| 2nd grade | Kanal | word Gom-bur-za.[1] |
| 3rd grade | Bayani. |
Andrés Bonifacio, a warehouse-keeper in the service of Messrs. Fressel & Co., of Manila, was the guiding spirit of this society, and at the meeting of 1st January, 1896, the Supreme Council was elected as follows:—
| President | Andrés Bonifacio. |
| Fiscal and Doctor | Emilio Jacinto ó Dison, alias Ping Kian. |
| Treasurer | Vicente Molina. |
| Councillors | Pantaleon Torres. |
| Hermengildo Reyes. | |
| Francisco Carreon. | |
| José Trinidad. | |
| Balbino Florentine | |
| Aguedo del Rosario. |