The Katipunan

The Katipunan: The Rise and Fall of the Filipino Commune

Author: J. Brecknock Watson (AKA Francis St. Clair)

Triangular logo of the Katipunan with the letters K. K. K. Z. Ll. B.

[Contents] Original Title Page. The Katipunan Or The Rise and Fall of the Filipino Commune By Francis St. Clair Manila Tip. “Amigos del Pais,” Palacio 258 1902 [Contents] To the Honorable Filipinos

Who, True to the

Principles of

Patriotism

have not harbored in their hearts sentiments of ingratitude toward that noble Nation which raised them to the level of civilization to which they have attained, not have at any time conspired against the lawfully constituted authorities, Spanish or American, of this Archipelago.

To such honorable Filipinos as these, it gives me the greatest pleasure to dedicate this small work, as a token of the genuine respect in which they are held by

The Author.[7]

[Contents]

Introduction «Manila, 21st (Aug. ’96).—The Governor General to the Colonial Minister:

Vast organization of secret societies discovered with anti-national tendencies.

Twenty-two persons detained, among them the Gran Oriente (of Philippine freemasonry) of the Philippines, and others of importance.

—Blanco.

Such was the telegram sent by Gen. Blanco and read by Sr. Castellano in the Spanish Camara, announcing the discovery of [8]the revolutionary movement headed by the Katipunan, the bastard child of Filipino freemasonry.

Freemasonry in the Philippines was but a pretext: under this pretext the enemies of Spain, in days of Spanish rule, and the enemies of the U. S. in these days of American rule, put themselves into close and secret communion, to earn out plans of revolt.

This Filipino masonry cast its net far and wide, and in its meshes were caught many fish of all classes and conditions; some of them men of money who sought in masonry what money could easily purchase,—honors and titles, grand crosses and medals; others were men whose pockets were more or less replete, and whose aims were of a great variety of natures; whilst others were men whose treasuries were more or less empty and who sought in masonry what they did not care to earn by honest labor—a livelihood.

Masonry was imported into the Archipelago, shortly after the Spanish Revolution, and was, during the first years of its life, confined to Spaniards; but later on it opened its doors to half-castes and indians. In 1887 it extended by leaps and bounds; but [9]upon the coming of Gen. Weyler to the Archipelago, as Governor General, in 1888, it dwindled away almost into nothingness. Gen. Weyler was, and has ever shown himself, a patriotic Spaniard; and he would not permit the existence here, under his Governorship, of anything which tended to the detriment of his country. Well did the masons of the Philippines and elsewhere know this, and hence the vicious and cruel campaign they carried on against him both in the Peninsular and Cuba, but more especially in the U. S. of America.

The Katipunan, the bastard child of filipino masonry, that ungrateful offspring which was unfaithful even to the mother which brought it forth, was a society within the bosom of which was redeveloped the malay instinct which had lain dormant for some three centuries. This instinct, brutal, savage, intensely ignorant, immoral, ungodly; an instinct found still among some of the uncivilized tribes of the mountain fastnesses of Luzon; an instinct once almost blotted out after many years of most difficult labor and self-sacrifice on the part of the Religious Orders, once again burst forth in all its strength.[10]

The indian left to himself, deprived of the curbing influence of the christian religion, speedily falls back into the condition of depravity in which Urdaneta and Legazpi found him. The malay instinct, like the volcano, vomits forth when least expected; the history of the revolt of the Tagalogs gives overabundant proof of it. Take one by one the many leading characters in the revolution, and the instinct will be found so plainly marked, that it is unmistakable. Take for instance Marcelo H. del Pilar, in whose brain was conceived the plot of the Katipunan farsical-tragedy; Andrés Bonifacio, whose duty was the materializing of the plot; the Lunas, Juan especially, who had some time previous, in Paris, given an example of how easily the malay burned through the veneer of civilization to which the Filipino indian is susceptible; and so on, including the Aguinaldos, the Mabinis, the Agoncillos and even many of those, who in these days boast in public of their americanist ideas, and in private plot with treacherous zeal to overthrow the government of those they call their deliverers from Spanish tyranny. In them all may be traced the strange instinct of the old time filipino [11]indian. Entering the fold of freemasonry, they threw off the bridle of religion which restrained them; loosing respect for Almighty God and for their faith they soon lost respect for others and for themselves. The result is well known. History, the history of the last five or six years, has shown it to us.

It is of this society of notables—for such is the meaning of the full title of the Katipunan—that I wish to say a few words in the following pages. I have taken as a foundation for my study, a very concise statement of the whole situation, drawn up by Capt. Olegario Diaz, Commander of the Guardia Civil Veterana de Manila. This document being an official statement, is of vital interest in the study of the birth, life and internal corruption of that diabolical association which, gigantic though it was, comparatively speaking, could, by reason of its infantility, have been easily stifled, had it been dealt with, with a strong hand. I have taken the document as a base, and by a series of notes in the form of a somewhat more lengthy appendix, have endeavored to provide my readers with a file of interesting items of historical value.[12]

This pamphlet is not intended to be a history of the rebellion; I have endeavored to confine myself to the society which brought about the revolt, and if at any time I have strayed from the path I laid out for myself, it has been because there was by the wayside some flower I wished to pluck to add to the bouquet I herewith present to you.[13]

[Contents] Statement of Capt. Olegario Diaz1