The Cry of Pugadlawin

The news of the discovery of the Katipunan spread throughout Manila and the suburbs. Bonifacio, informed of the discovery, secretly instructed his runners to summon all the leaders of the society to a general assembly to be held on August 24. They were to meet at Balintawak to discuss the steps to be taken to meet the crisis. That same night of August 19, Bonifacio, accompanied by his brother Procopio, Emilio Jacinto, Teodoro Plata, and Aguedo del Rosario, slipped through the cordon of Spanish sentries and reached Balintawak before midnight. Pio Valenzuela followed them the next day. On the 21st, Bonifacio changed the Katipunan code because the Spanish authorities had already deciphered it. In the afternoon of the same day, the rebels, numbering about 500, left Balintawak for Kangkong, where Apolonio Samson, a Katipunero, gave them food and shelter. In the afternoon of August 22, they proceeded to Pugadlawin. The following day, in the yard of Juan A. Ramos, the son of Melchora Aquino who was later called the "Mother of the Katipunan", Bonifacio asked his men whether they were prepared to fight to the bitter end. Despite the objection of his brother-in-law, Teodoro Plata, all assembled agreed to fight to the last. "That being the case, " Bonifacio said, "bring out your cedulas and tear them to pieces to symbolize our determination to take up arms!" The men obediently tore up their cedulas, shouting "Long live the Philippines!" This event marked the so-called "Cry of Balintawak," which actually happened in Pugadlawin.