Saturday, June 5, 2010

Further Notes on Andres Bonifacio's Parents and Siblings

Santiago Bonifacio , Andres' father:
"His father ,a tailor had served as teniente mayor of Tondo"(Constantino 1993:166,quoting Esteban de Ocampo,"The Life and Achievements of Bonifacio".Philippine Historical Bullitin.December,1966 issue) . Being a teniente mayor of Tondo (a town have three teniente mayor) meant that the Bonifacio family belonged to the "principales" or one of the prominent /
principal families of the town of Tondo : "Principales-Spanish term to designate the pre-Spanish datus or chiefs and their descendants.Their collectivity,called principales, was composed in the Philippines,of the following officials: Gobernadorcillos,who presided,tenientes,jueces de sementeras,de policias,y de ganados, capitanes pasados annd cabezas de barangay." (see Glossary of Fidel Villaroel ,1999:xxi )
Another question arises:Was Bonifacio a descendant of pre-Spanish datu/ ruling class ?
A genealogical research is needed to answer this question.

Being a teniente mayor meant that Andres' father even though "he worked as a tailor...he served as one of the assistants to the gobernadorcillo,or native leader of the town...To be eligible for the post of teniente mayor,one had to be a good municipal employee and possess the qualifications of a gobernadorcillo,In short,although teniente mayor Bonifacio was not well- to -do,but her was neither ignorant nor dirt poor."(Ventura 2001:16)

Catalina de Castro : Mother of Andres Bonifacio

Catalina de Castro,Andres'mother a half indio/Filipino ,half Spaniard. She was a cabecilla/head of a department in a cigar factory ( owned by a Spaniard?) (see Sylvia M.Ventura."Supremo:The Story of Andres Bonifacio.2001,p.16) Because she suffered (and died ) of tubercolosis, she was not able to nurse Esperidiona(Nonay).It was the midwife and co-worker in the cigar factory named Josefa Dizon who served as the wet nurse of Esperidiona ,who was born on December 14,1875. Dizon was the mother of Emilio Jacinto,the Secretary of the Katipunan Supreme Council.(Isagani R.Medina.inBernardo LM. Karganilla.1996.p.29)

On Troadio Bonifacio:Lizza G. Nakpil wrote:"After the death of the older Bonifacio brother,Troadio was said to have sailed to Paris to avoid the same fate. Nothing has been heard of him since,neither of Maxima."(Karganilla.1996:29).However ,the latest news on Troadio (Jose P. Santos. 1935:1) was that Troadio was living in Macao.
Did both of them hide to escape the the rumored plan of Aguinaldo to "exterminate" the Bonifacio clan and die hard followers? There were incidents that justified Troadio's and Maxima's fears : Julio Nakpil, a secretary of the Katipunan command north of Manila,claimed that Aguinaldo ordered Severino Taino to find and assasinate him(Nakpil--D).
(see Julio Nakpil. "Miscellaneous Notes" in Encarnacion Alzona .Reprinted.1997 :62-63).Another was the mysterious disappearance and death of Feliciano Jocson,the pharmacist turn revolutionary,who opposed Aguinaldo's Capitulation/Surrender of Biak-na- Bato in 1897 and wanted to continue the revolution against Spain. (see Artemio Ricarte."Memoirs ..."1992:66-67 and Santiago Alvatrez.1992:201-204)

2 comments:

  1. Yes , indeed , Troadio never returned to the Philippines after going to Macao.

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    1. thats interesting do you have proof/evidence of this

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