A Guided Critical Analysis of the Accounts Based on Primary and Secondary Text Sources
Primary Source: Secondary Source:
Santiago Alvarez’ Teodoro Agoncillo’s “Memoirs of a General” “Seeds of Discontent” Author’s Santiago Alvarez was a background revolutionary general and a Teodoro Agoncillo was one of the founder and honorary president pre-eminent Filipino historians of of the first directorate of the the 20th century. He and his nationalista party. Also knows as contemporary Renato Constantino “ kidlat ng apoy” (lighting of fire) were among the fisrt Filipino because of his inflamed bravery historians who earned renown for and dedication as commander of promoting a distinctly nationalist cavite’s famous battles point of view of Filipino history. He ( particularly that in dalahican) , was also an essayist and a poet. he was rejoiced in the present- Life born in lemery, batangas, day cavite city as the “hero” of Agoncillo obtained a bachelor’s the battle of dalahican. degree in philosophy from university of the Philippines in 1934 and a master’s degree in the arts from the same university. When was the account Santiago Alvarez wrote his The account was written in 1947 written? memoirs in 1927 when he was and was later published in 1956. fifty-five years old. It was then published from July 24, 1927 to April 15, 1928, in the Tagalog weekly, Sampaguita. March 25, 1897 – December 1896 – Bonifacio assembly at Tejeros left for Cavitwe convened January 2, 1897 – Bonifacio March 26, 1897 – another wrote to his uncle, Mariano meeting called by Pres. Alvarez about the Mention of Baldomero Aguinaldo, but Magdiwang rebels; a dates only some Magdiwang parade took place in leaders attended. Noveleta March 27, 1897 – April 1897 – Spaniards revelations surfaced captured the town about the meeting that March 22, 1897 – a battle had taken place in Tanza happened between the Spaniards and Magdalo soldiers in Salitran; Aguinaldo’s birthday; and a meeting at Tejeros occured. Supremo Andres Supremo Andres Bonifacio Bonifacio Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo Daniel Tirona Key personal ties Santiago V. Alvarez President Baldomero (Magdiwang) Aguinaldo Daniel Tirona – broke the meeting rules and insulted the elected Jose del Rosario Mariano Alvarez President Baldomero Aguinaldo – leader of Magdalo Sequencing of The Tejeros Convention Katipunan in Cavite divide Events was the meeting held on into 2 factions: March 22, 1897 between Magdalo and Magdiwang the Magdiwang and Bonifacio was called in his Magdalo factions of the theatre of Battle in Katipunan at San Montalban and Mariquina to Francisco de Malabon, mediate on the rift between Cavite. Magdalo and Magdiwang. Mr. Severino de las Alas Esteban San Juan invited and Andres Bonifacio had them for a parade around an argument triggering Imus and had a parade. General Apoy. With the growing The argument was then suspension of both parties settled by Trinidad who is against each other, a Jose Rizal’s sister along convention assembly was with his widow. held in Imus which was Misunderstandings arise meant to mend the rift between Andres Bonifacio between two factions. and Daniel Tirono, The assembly ended with causing the former to aim no tangible results and was his revolver at the latter. rescheduled. Bonifacio declared all The Magdiwang organized happenings during the another assembly while the convention as null and Magdalo battled the void and left quickly. Spanish. President Baldomero Election occurred. Aguinaldo requested a Daniel Tirona objected with reconciliation meeting at the election of Jose Del Terejos. Rosario as better officer. The Magdalo faction did Bonifacio pulled a gun not appear. against Tirona. Those elected in Tejeros Election was annulled. Convention knelt before Bonifacio sent a letter to his the crucifix and took their uncle in law, Mariano oath under Fr. Cenon Alvarez mentioning that he Villafranca was belittled during the Magdalo troops guard the assembly. He also wrote to oath-taking ceremonies Emilio Jacinto stating that inside the parish in Tanza. he was against the idea of establishing a new government. Differences between the The events from this book focused Tejeros Convention occurred on two accounts more on the election that occurred in March 22, 1897 which was ( in general) Tejeros convention, and also what Aguinaldo’s birthday. It was not happened during the election day in mentioned that the Magdalo President Tejeros. It is focused on a specific Baldomero Aguinaldo intended to event and how does the delegation continue the disrupted assembly, of the people had been done. And it however the Magdalo members didn’t wasn’t mentioned in here that show up on the agreed place. Andres Bonifacio wrote a letter to Agoncillo’s events covered up what his uncle, and it is said that the happened before the Tejeros Tejeros Convention occurred on convention ensued. He mentioned March 25. 1897. important events that took place before or prior to the said convention. The author is one of the members of Magdiwang and was also present in the Tejeros convention which leads it to being bias because he was only able to write his experience and the group where he belonged from his own perspective. He was not an ordinary spectator trying to recollect what had transpired before his eyes He was in a position to know the authenticity of the narratives that historians can only dream of. His privilege of being part of the leaders of the Katipunan enabled him a concrete picture of events. In writing this memoir, he stated that: “I will attempt to write down what I saw and what I know about the Katipunan and the Revolution”, a subtle way of assuring his readers of the truthfulness of his account. Santiago Alvarez wanted to write a narrative of the Revolution as it happened, “in the interest of honorable truth, acceptable to all”. He wanted to shed lights on the different facets of the Revolution, for the youth whom he considered as the direct beneficiary of his work. He argued that he “personally labored to write his memoirs instead of others after his death, believing that his notes would be of little value since it was disjointed and unclear to anyone other than himself”. Aside from honoring the fallen compatriots during the dark days of the Revolution, he was also inclined to believe that his work will serve as a worthy addition to what General Artemio Ricarte has done in terms of publishing the latter’s memoir. He also intended this work as an encouragement to other generals of the Revolution to write their own recollection.In this work, readers are given a chance to concretize their own historical analysis. Alvarez supplied his reader the raw materials to develop an independent inquiry devoid of coloration. On the internal struggle within the Katipunan, he gave his reader a new insight, a new perspective. Of course, his is a point of view of a disgruntled nationalist, a recipient of unfortunate turn of events, being on the side of the Magdiwang. He undeniably captured the feeling of a patriot in his portrayal of the tragedy of Bonifacio’s life. He made you realize the heavy burden of waging a revolution, its complexities, and its uncertainties. He elucidated on the motives of each actor, and painted the general atmosphere of the period. Meanwhile, the secondary source was more complex than the primary source because it narrated events that occurred before, during and after the assembly. But there was also events that weren’t at all mentioned in the primary source and vice versa.This article showcased how the rivalry between the two factions has begun and developed that continued until the proceeding meetings and election. Furthermore, I have noticed that there was a discrepancy of information between the two articles. It is seen on the date of when the Tejeros Convention was happened. The article “Katipunan and the Revolution” stated that it was held on March 25, 1897 while the other article, “Seeds of Discontent”, asserted that the convention happened on March 22, 1897. Given this information incongruity, it may result to confusion for readers and the validity of the articles was doubted. Latterly, both sources have awaken the youth about the history, thus it helped student especially in the modern day realize how a memoir of someone can be a huge impact of the history.